Zim Online
Tue 24 January
2006
BULAWAYO - At least 5 000 Zimbabwean teachers deserted the country
in the
past 12 months because of worsening economic hardships, according to
the
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ).
The PTUZ, one of
two unions representing Zimbabwe's about 112 000 teachers,
said preliminary
findings of a survey it is carrying out, showed that the
majority of the
country's teachers had left for better paying jobs in
countries such as
Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa and New Zealand.
"The majority of
teachers left for Swaziland and Lesotho because the two
countries were
advertising for mathematics and science teachers in local
(Zimbabwean)
newspapers . . . (while) some of the teachers moved to South
Africa and New
Zealand," PTUZ secretary general Raymond Majongwe told
ZimOnline.
Majongwe said there was also a smaller number of teachers
who quit but chose
to remain in the country working in other sectors of the
economy where
salaries and working conditions are comparatively
better.
He said: "Teachers in this country are poorly paid and despite
the 231
percent salary increment awarded by government this year, teacher's
salaries
remain the lowest and teachers have no option but to leave the
profession
and so far about 5 000 of them have left."
Education
Minister Aeneas Chigwedere, who is in Egypt for the African Cup of
Nations
soccer tournament, could not be reached there by telephone for
comment on
the matter.
But the Harare administration has in the past said it was
planning to widen
its bonding system to include other professionals such as
teachers, lawyers
or engineers trained at state institutions in order to
stem a massive brain
drain that has seen the country losing some of its best
skilled manpower to
neighbours and countries further abroad.
Zimbabwe
already bonds nurses and doctors although it has continued to lose
health
staff to other countries where conditions and salaries are better.
The
exodus of skilled staff has been massive in other sectors such as
education
where trainees are not bonded on completing their courses.
Many of Zimbabwe's
university-trained lawyers, engineers or accountants have
ended up taking
menial jobs such as waiters and waitresses in restaurants in
London and
other Western cities after fleeing home because of hunger, poor
pay and in
some cases political violence.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of a severe
economic crisis that critics blame on
repression and wrong policies by
President Robert Mugabe. The crisis has
manifested itself through shortages
of food, fuel, electricity, essential
medical drugs and other basic
commodities while inflation stands at 585.8
percent.
Mugabe
denies mismanaging Zimbabwe and instead claims the country's problems
are
because of sabotage by Western countries out to fix his government for
seizing land from whites and redistributing it to landless blacks. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Tue 24 January 2006
HARARE - Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
governor Gideon Gono today presents
the much-awaited 2005 fourth quarter
monetary policy review amid indications
that his options are narrowing and
that the economy is heading deeper into
muddy waters.
The
review comes at a time Zimbabwe's six-year economic crisis appears
to be
escalating and when the country's circle of friends is thinning.
There are increasing signs that even fellow African countries that
have
sided by Zimbabwe throughout the six years since its political and
economic
crisis started in 2000 may now be beginning to distance themselves
from
President Robert Mugabe's government.
Political analysts say an
unusually tough report by the African
Commission on Human and People's
Rights that was released earlier this month
condemning human rights abuses
by the Harare government may be proof that
the continent was finally waking
up to the excesses of Mugabe and his ruling
ZANU PF party.
The
increasing isolation of Zimbabwe by the international community
poses
serious challenges for Gono as he presents his review statement this
afternoon, according to analysts.
"One thing that Gono will try
to take into account during his
presentation is that even those we used to
take as our friends are getting
fed up with our situation and that this has
ramifications on our ability to
survive as an economy," said an economist
with a Harare commercial bank.
The economist, whose name and the
name of his bank cannot be revealed
for professional reasons, said the
central bank chief has his work cut out
today as he reviews the performance
of the economy and comes up with a new
economic package to appease a restive
nation eager to know what strategies
he has to ease their
plight.
Chief among the many pressing issues Gono is expected to
tackle are,
rising inflation, a weakening local currency, and boosting the
productive
capacity of industry.
Zimbabwe's annual inflation
ended 2005 pegged at more than 585
percent.
At his appointment
two years ago, Gono identified tackling inflation
as his number one
priority, declaring that "failure was not an option" in
his mission to tame
the key rate.
Gono anticipated that by this time, inflation would
have been brought
to single digit levels, the Zimbabwe dollar would have
gained lost glamour
to trade at single and market prescribed rate against
the world's major
currencies.
These self-set targets have not
been achieved.
Instead, the RBZ chief has consistently found
scapegoats in almost all
his presentations at business and political
platforms.
First, it was the financial sector that he so ravaged to
the extent
that more than seven financial institutions were shut down in one
year and
about five bank executives had to leave the country
unceremoniously. He said
then that bankers were engaging in financial
prostitution.
Then it was the platinum producers who were
subsequently ordered to
close offshore bank accounts and open local accounts
from which he could
access the currency at will.
Some reports
have suggested that Gono accessed millions of hard
currency from these
accounts to pay the International Monetary Fund which
was threatening to
expel Zimbabwe from the Fund last year.
In the third quarter policy
statement, Gono shifted blame to farmers
whom he said were not utilising
land. He also blamed farm invasions for
retarding economic
growth.
"He is not likely to depart from the policy of
scapegoatting that
characterises most official presentations," said James
Jowa, an economist
with a local financial institution.
"He will
find some sector to attack most likely exporters although the
problem is not
of their own making," said Jowa, adding that exporters have
failed to
generate more hard cash receipts because like every sector of the
economy
they were operating in an environment that is not conducive for
business.
Jowa expected Gono to come up with sectoral measures
to try and
address the monetary rot but ruled out any new and robust
measures by the
governor to tackle the underlying causes of Zimbabwe's
economic problems.
"He could come up with more sectoral measures
but it is difficult to
find anything new," he said.
Jowa added
that Gono's liberalisation of the foreign exchange market
had allowed some
stability in the rate of exchange but predicted more
problems for the local
dollar which he said was shedding off value every
day.
"There
has been some stability in the exchange rate due to the
liberalisation but
the gap between interbank rate and parallel rates has
widened again," he
said.
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce president Luxon Zembe
concurred
saying Gono was likely to focus his policy statement on exchange
rate
management.
"I see him reinforcing the liberalisation of
the exchange market so
that exporters' viability can be enhanced," said
Zembe.
The Zimbabwe dollar is currently trading at about $120 000
per United
States unit on the parallel market compared to the interbank rate
of about
$96 000 per unit.
A British pound sterling unit is
fetching about $160 000 compared to
about $147 000 on the interbank
rate.
"I expect him to narrow the gap between the parallel market
rate and
the interbank rate," Zembe added.
But Jowa said wiping
off the foreign currency black market completely
would remain a mirage until
Zimbabwe is able to get vital support from the
international community to
help stabilise the local currency.
"We need to address the supply
side of the economy and solicit for
support from outside to ensure
consistent availability of foreign currency,"
Jowa said.
Gono
is not likely to dole out funds to parastatals like in the past
as he is
reported to have told President Robert Mugabe that parastatals were
Zimbabwe's Achilles heel.
He is also not likely to dish out
money to the agricultural sector
like he did in the past two years after he
revealed that most farmers had
not put the money to its intended purpose,
the analysts said.
Zimbabwe is grappling a severe economic crisis
described by the World
Bank as unseen in a country not at war. -
ZimOnline
UNICEF "greatly disturbed" about increasing
numbers of reported child sexual
abuse cases. Urges communities to be more
vigilant and break the culture of
silence
HARARE 23 January 2006 - In
the wake of a worsening orphan crisis and
accusations this week against a
headmaster who allegedly raped six primary
school pupils, the United Nations
Children's Fund today repeated its call
for communities to speak out against
all forms of child abuse.
UNICEF said it was horrified at the continued
sexual abuse of children, most
of them primary school pupils, and by those
in trusted positions. Anecdotal
evidence from local NGOs and clinics around
Harare show child sexual abuse
is rampant. Last year alone, a local NGO
recorded 4146 cases of sexual abuse
against children in its area of
operation alone.
"This is an utterly intolerable violation of children's
rights," said UNICEF's
Representative in Zimbabwe, Dr Festo Kavishe. "At a
time when Zimbabweans
are making phenomenal efforts to absorb more than one
million orphans, there
appears a small number who prey on the most
vulnerable of children. It seems
that every day there are fresh reports in
the local media about children
being abused, sometimes at their schools,
other times by family members, but
mostly by figures of authority, trusted
figures. Community leaders need to
be explicit in their condemnation of such
abuse."
Despite growing public concern against child sexual abuse,
together with a
child friendly judiciary system in Zimbabwe, reported cases
continue to
rise. Recently, school staff members were charged with abusing
52 girls
from one boarding primary school near Marondera (just outside the
capital),
while in Harare 14 primary school girls were also allegedly abused
by staff
members.
UNICEF, in partnership with Government ministries
and several NGOs supports
a national campaign on 'Zero Tolerance Against
Child Abuse'. "Zero tolerance
means ending all forms of abuse against
children," said Dr Kavishe. "It
means stamping out every horrible facet of
child abuse and exploitation."
As part of the campaign, UNICEF supports
the training of trainers' workshops
and community-based education.
Participants include government officials,
NGOs, journalists, police and
teachers. The children's agency says it is
currently stepping up its work
with communities, seeking to further educate
them to spot the signs of child
abuse and to tenaciously protect their
children by establishing and
supporting functional child protection
committees, where children themselves
are represented.
"Community leaders, teachers, mums and dads - these
people are the front
line in the fight against child abuse," said UNICEF's
head of child
protection, Jose Bergua. "If perpetrators are going to be
stopped, if
children are going to have the confidence to speak out against
these evils,
then authority figures need to make it patently clear that
child abuse in
their communities will not be stomached. Silence on this
issue shelters the
perpetrators and is a crime against
children."
UNICEF says it remains necessary in Zimbabwe to create a
culture of
prevention of child abuse, to mobilise public opinion and action,
to
continue to disseminate prevention programs, and to encourage the
denunciation of abuse.
UNICEF also says that children who are raped
are the most vulnerable to
contracting HIV/AIDS and the organisation called
on all Zimbabweans to
vigorously protect these "invisible
children".
"For those children who suffer abuse, the impact can last a
lifetime," added
Dr Kavishe.
For further information, please
contact:
James Elder, UNICEF Zimbabwe Communication Officer, Tel +263
(0)91 276120,
jelder@unicef.org
Reuters
Mon Jan 23, 2006 12:45 PM ET
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Five
African states will propose who should be the next
head of the 53-nation
African Union and present their choice to a summit to
end a stalemate over
Sudan's bid for the post, an AU official said on
Monday.
The
official, who asked not to be named, said the five countries are Egypt,
Gabon, Zimbabwe, Djibouti and Burkina Faso, each representing one of the
five main regions of Africa. Their choice would go before the summit on
Tuesday, he said.
Sudan, under fire for rights abuses, nominated
itself to chair the AU, based
on a tradition that the summit host becomes
the organization's next leader.
Sudan wants to succeed Nigeria, which has
held the post for nearly two
years.
Sudan's leadership bid sparked
criticism from rights groups that say a
Sudanese presidency would hurt AU
efforts to improve Africa's record on
democracy and human rights. Several
African regional blocs also oppose it.
[ This
report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 23 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - Zimbabwe's precarious
food security
situation could improve if imports continue to close the gap
between
national production and consumption requirements, but transport
bottlenecks
may prevent many communities from accessing staple
commodities.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) noted in
its latest
report that the government had made considerable progress in
procuring maize
from outside the country to address the food
deficit.
"If the annual deficit was spread evenly throughout the
marketing year, it
would average about 92,000 mt per month. The current
maize importation rate
of about 80,000 mt per month is making up a
considerable proportion of that
monthly gap," FEWS NET commented.
The
remaining gap could be closed by other food imports via aid agencies,
but
FEWS NET said it was worrying that the "rather comfortable national
maize
availability picture is not reflected at sub-national levels".
Maize
grain and maize-meal were rarely available in both urban and rural
markets.
"In each district the availability of maize is lowest in the remote
parts,
furthest from markets. This scenario suggests serious in-country
maize
distribution bottlenecks," the report added.
Aid workers estimated that
up to 5 million people were going need food aid
from mid-2005 until about
April this year, following last year's failed
harvest.
A humanitarian
official in Zimbabwe told IRIN that it was difficult to
ascertain to what
extent the food deficit has been cut.
"We rely on information from the
South African side, in terms of how much
Zimbabwe has bought from South
Africa, but the issue is whether maize is
available to Zimbabweans, and how
much is available," the aid worker said.
"We are in the depths of the hunger
period, between now and April, and where
the government's imported food is
going is something we are unable to
answer."
The aid official pointed
out that the disparity between official import
figures and the availability
of food on the ground could be linked to the
ongoing critical shortage of
foreign currency in Zimbabwe, which has
resulted in a scarcity of imported
fuel and hampered the transportation of
food to areas in need.
BBC
Zimbabwe's
professional cricketers will not begin contract talks until
outstanding
wages have been paid.
Match fees dating back to August, four months
back pay and transport
costs are being sought by 35 players.
"A
meeting was held to discuss some Zimbabwe Cricket ideas for making
progress
on negotiations," players' representative Clive Field said.
"But
they have dug their heels in and are all adamant there will be no
talks
until payments have been fully made."
It is the latest problem for
Peter Chingoka, who retained his position
as head of an interim board when
the Zimbabwean government took control of
the board at the beginning of the
year.
A deadline of 31 January has been set by the government's
Sports and
Recreation Commission for the interim committee to resolve all
player
issues.
Last week the government-appointed committee
governing cricket in
Zimbabwe decided to suspend the team's Test status for
the remainder of the
year.
By Lance
Guma
23 January 2006
An acute foreign currency shortage is
said to be seriously affecting
the dipping of cattle in most rural areas in
Zimbabwe. A visit to the
Masvosva area of Rusape by our correspondent Lionel
Saungweme has revealed
that cattle have not been dipped for 3 months.
Particularly worrying is that
during the rainy season cattle should be
dipped weekly, as the tall grass
means ticks are most prevalent at that
time.
The headman in the area was quick to deny accusations coming
from the
villagers that government was neglecting the welfare of their
cattle. He
said it was the fault of the villagers for not paying up their
subscriptions, which in turn are used to finance the cattle dipping. The
villagers responded by taking out their payment books to show that they were
indeed fully paid up.
Some people who are slightly well off or have
relatives abroad are
importing their own chemicals and spraying their cattle
using water guns
Further investigations by our correspondent show that
locally based
companies involved in making these chemicals are struggling
with foreign
currency shortages and cannot get all the inputs needed for
production.
It's obviously much cheaper to dip cattle than suffer
the economic
disaster of allowing them to die of preventable diseases, but
with no forex
and no inputs people are put in an impossible situation.
Experts predict
that due to the disastrous land reform program alone it will
take a hundred
years for the beef herd to return to the level it was once
at. This new
crisis just adds to an already critical
situation.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
By
Tererai Karimakwenda
23 January 2006
As the most arid
region in the country Matabeleland province has
suffered from water
shortages for as long as many Zimbabweans can remember
and nothing has been
done. The situation continues to deteriorate and some
areas of Bulawayo have
now gone without water for 6 months. The NGO Bulawayo
Agenda say enough is
enough. They have organised an all-stakeholders water
conference this coming
weekend, and invited the City Council, civic society,
The Zimbabwe National
Water Authority (ZINWA), the Bulawayo Residents
Association (BURA), the
Matabeleland Zambezi Water Trust and The
Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project.
Bulawayo Agenda director Gordon Moyo
told us this is a very serious matter
that lies at the heart of basic human
rights and they hope to get
commitments from all responsible parties as to
the way forward.
Moyo said the Bulawayo areas of Entumbane, Magwegwe and Cowdry Park
have had
no running water for 6 months now and this cannot be allowed. He
said every
time there are elections, the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project,
headed by
Dumiso Dabengwa, makes promises to rejuvenate activities and
resolve the
water crisis. But nothing ever happens after the elections. Moyo
said they
decided to have this conference now when there are no elections
and they
have decent rainfall. He said this will bring about real debate
about the
issues and give the public a chance to grill those responsible.
Bulawayo
governor Cain Mathema has also been invited. Moyo said: "We don't
want cheap
electioneering or politicking, just real practical solutions."
To
illustrate how much the water crisis in Matabeleland has been
ignored Moyo
explained that The Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project was
conceived back in
1912 and to this day no real progress has been made. He
believes the
government has not been committed, and this violates the rights
of those
people who have gone without water for extended periods. He said:
"This is
so serious it goes all the way up to the United Nations level and
the
African Union level".
An activist once walked from Victoria Falls
to Harare with a
wheelbarrow to bring attention to Matabeleland's water
problems, and it is
hoped some resolutions will be made as well as
commitments that will bring
results. Moyo said the response from government
officials has been positive
so far. It remains to be seen whether they will
actually show up and
participate in a meaningful way at the conference, then
take the resolutions
and implement policies that will bring tangible results
to the residents of
Matabeleland.
SW
Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
By Lance
Guma
23 January 2006
A group of Zimbabweans under the
banner of Concerned Zimbabweans
Abroad (CZA) based in South Africa held a
successful picket at a local
clinic Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace
visited. According to the
coordinator Jay Jay Sibanda, they received
information from a Zimbabwean
working at the Garden City Clinic in
Johannesburg that Mugabe was due to see
a neurologist last week. The group
took the opportunity to register their
displeasure with the hospital for
accommodating someone who had destroyed
the health care system in his own
country and was now seeking treatment
elsewhere.
The
demonstration started around 14:00 hours on Saturday and Sibanda
says they
gave their petition to the Clinic Manager after about 30 minutes.
Despite
harassment from Hospital security that wanted to move them from the
front of
the hospital, the group resisted and stood their ground. Although
they did
not see Mugabe himself, his wife Grace drove by the demonstration
and
Sibanda's group was barred by security details from handing her the
petition. The security guards advised them they could only do so under
police escort.
The protesters waved placards urging Mugabe to
go back to Zimbabwe and
get treated by witch doctors since he had destroyed
the health system. Other
placards read, 'Garden City, why accept blood
money' with some even urging
him to go under a treatment regime of one
aspirin a month just like
Zimbabweans are having to do in their hospitals.
Garden City Clinic
meanwhile are disputing that Mugabe came in for
treatment.
In a press release forwarded to us by Sibanda himself,
Leoni Beaurain,
General Manager of the Clinic confirmed that President
Robert Mugabe and his
wife Grace had visited the hospital on Thursday and
Friday to see a family
member of Mrs Grace Mugabe who is a patient in the
hospital. Beaurain
stressed that Mugabe himself is not a patient or
receiving any treatment at
the hospital.
Robert Mugabe
rated 4th on list of world's worst dictators
By Violet
Gonda
23 January 2006
Zimbabwe has again hit
international headlines and sadly all for the
wrong reasons. Robert Mugabe
seems to be climbing rapidly up the ladder of
the world's worst dictators.
The Zimbabwean dictator who turns 82 in
February has been named again as one
of the top 10 world's worst dictators
by US-based news magazine Parade,
published on January 22nd.
The publication, which gets distributed
with every newspaper in the
US, ranked Mugabe 4th in its list of dictators.
Last year the magazine had
ranked Mugabe 9th. The publication defined a
"dictator" as a head of state
who exercises arbitrary authority over the
lives of his citizens and who
cannot be removed from power through legal
means.
The Top-10 list is headed by Omar al-Bashir of Sudan,
followed by Kim
Jong-Il of North Korea, Than Shwe of Burma, Robert Mugabe of
Zimbabwe. He is
ahead of the presidents of Uzbekistan, China, Saudi Arabia,
Turkmenistan,
Iran and old friend Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial
Guinea, who holds
onto 10th position.
The heads of states are
accused of terrorizing and abusing the rights
of their own
people.
Mugabe's repressive regime has over the years successfully
trampled
human rights and crippled the opposition in Zimbabwe. There is no
rule of
law in the country and for the last 6 years elections have been a
farce.
There is no press freedom and freedom of expression is but a dream in
Zimbabwe, with the latest assault being the confiscation of passports
belonging to perceived government critics.
Last year some
700,000 people were made homeless after Mugabe
sanctioned his so called
"clean up exercise" Operation Murambatsvina. The
United Nations described
this operation a disastrous venture that affected
the lives of at least 2.1
million people.
The Parade publication said, " Life in Zimbabwe has
gone from bad to
worse: It has the world's highest inflation rate, 80%
unemployment and an
HIV/AIDS rate of more than 20%. Life expectancy has
declined since 1988 from
62 to 38 years. Farming has collapsed since 2000
when Mugabe began seizing
white-owned farms, giving most of them to
political allies with no
background in agriculture."
Meanwhile
it seems pressure is mounting from all sides against the
octogenarian. The
tide seems to be changing in terms of how African states
view the crisis in
Zimbabwe. Last month in an unprecedented move, the
African Union Commission
on Human and People's Rights issued a report
criticizing the regime's
appalling human rights record.
This week the African leaders meet
in Khartoum Sudan for the 2 day
African Union summit and observers say some
of the newly elected African
leaders are not going to give Mugabe such an
easy ride flouting
international law. One source said, "Although not much
may be said publicly,
the room is going to get hot for the old
man."
The irony of the AU summit is that this year it's being held
in a
country where the leader Omar al-Bashir of Sudan is top of the list of
the
world's worst dictators. Al Bashir is reported to have killed at least
180,000 civilians in Darfur in western Sudan and driven 2 million people
from their homes. He has recently stopped burning villages in the region,
although this is said to be because there are no more villages left to
burn.
It's reported that five African leaders have asked Sudan to
withdraw
its bid to head the AU because the appointment could sink Darfur
peace talks
and dent the group's credibility. Sudan has nominated itself to
chair the
53-member AU, based on a tradition that the host of its summit
becomes next
head. Human rights groups say a Sudanese presidency would
damage AU efforts
to improve the continent's record on democracy and human
rights
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
The Herald
(Harare)
January 21, 2006
Posted to the web January 23,
2006
Tawanda Kanhema
Harare
MANY young black Zimbabwean women
and some men go to extremes in their quest
for beauty.
For the
generality of young black Zimbabwean women, beauty lies, not in the
eyes of
the beholder as many would want them to believe, but on the lighter
end of
the complexion scale, and are prepared to break the law to pursue
their
desires.
And indeed, an increasing number of women and some men are
spending a
fortune on banned skin lighteners and skin bleaching pills to
lighten their
complexions.
A fresh and deep market for skin
lightening cosmetics illegally imported
from China, Zambia and the
Democratic Republic of Congo, where the use of
these cosmetics is allowed,
has resurfaced in the country's towns and
cities.
It is no farce, as
some women are paying dearly to alter their complexion.
"I have always
heard Congolese and Zambian women saying beauty comes from
within, and I
thought they were right, until I understood that they meant
from within
bottles, jars and tubes," remarked an official at Chirundu after
Zimra
officials at the border post early this month had seized a 30-tonne
truck
loaded with contraband of skin lighteners suspected to have been
destined
for Zimbabwe.
Like any smuggled commodities, skin lighteners have become
overnight
money-spinners as Zimbabwean cross border traders are bringing in
these
creams and cosmetics through Chirundu and Kariba.
Cross-border
traders, fearing detection from officials at the border, simply
remove the
packs and stuff the lotion tubes into other goods before
smuggling them into
the country.
Despite the euphoria that the skin lighteners have created,
most users are
not aware of the dangers of using these products.
Skin
lightening cosmetics like Movate, Diproson, Bu-tone, Ambi and Top
Lemon,
some of which contain high levels of skin damaging substances like
hydroquinone and mercury were banned in Zimbabwe, and are classified as
dangerous drugs for external use.
Their side effects are usually seen
after four years of use. Due to their
adverse side effects, these
photo-sensitive cosmetics were banned under the
Dangerous Drugs
Act.
Most of the creams sold in Zimbabwe are either labelled in Chinese,
which
locals cannot read or not labelled at all, resulting in skin damage
among
unknowing consumers.
One of the popular skin lighteners being
used in the country, Top Lemon
Complexion Cream, has no labels showing its
skin lightening ingredients.
Most creams contain hydroquinone, kojic acid,
azelaic acid and arbutin.
Skin lighteners containing these ingredients
were banned after they had been
found to cause skin irritation, nail
discolouration, and hyper-pigmentation,
a situation where patients ended up
with dark and discoloured facial skin.
Posters showing the banned brands
of skin lighteners have been pasted on
notice boards on Zimbabwe's borders
with Zambia, and health inspectors were
deployed to search travellers and
make sure that they don't bring these
drugs into the country.
Despite
the ban on these skin damaging cosmetics, which have also been
outlawed in
South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania, their use has become
widespread, due to
the prevailing belief among women that a lighter
complexion is more
attractive and is associated with better hygiene.
Salons and flea markets
in Harare, Kariba, Bulawayo and other towns are
making brisk business
selling these cosmetics, which are being smuggled into
the country by
cross-border traders. Some Chinese retail shops are also
bringing in some
skin lightening creams.
"I prefer skin lighteners because they remove
blemishes and make my skin
clear," said a Harare woman who uses skin
lighteners, "I have not had any
side effects since I started using
them."
She, however, professed ignorance on the dangers of using the
creams, saying
she had been using them for over five years.
A snap
survey showed that men generally prefer lighter women, and women
themselves
look up to their lighter counterparts as more attractive.
This has led to
the perception that people who are lighter in complexion are
more beautiful,
and many have tried to alter their complexion with
disastrous
consequences.
"Most women seem to mistakenly associate a light complexion
with beauty, and
this is a tragic stereotype for our sisters, because these
skin lightening
creams have chemicals that damage the skin over a period of
time," said Miss
Fortune Mhlanga, a science student at Bindura University.
She said skin
lightening creams containing mercury and hydroquinone lighten
the skin by
interrupting the production of melanin and therefore reduce
pigmentation.
"The ingredients in skin lighteners interrupt the
production of melanin in
order to reduce tanning and pigmentation of the
skin. This often results in
skin cancer later in life due to the exposure of
skin cells to ultra violet
(UV) radiation," she said,
adding,
"Various ingredients use various methods, but the end result is
that they
either deactivate or damage melanin producing cells, or interrupt
the
production of tyrosine, a chemical that is needed to produce melanin,
which
protects skin cells from UV radiation."
Countries like Japan,
South Africa and parts of Europe banned the use of the
most popular skin
lightener, hydroquinone, after it was universally rejected
by dermatologists
due to its damaging properties and it's toxic side
effects.
Research
into the properties of this drug showed that prolonged use of high
concentrations may result in serious side effects. Exposure to sun after the
use of skin lighteners containing hydroquinone reverses its effects and
causes re-pigmentation.
In South Africa, skin lighteners were banned
in 1987 after community
organisations and skin doctors pushed for a law
against the sale and use of
skin lighteners. Only limited amounts of the
drug are permitted in hair dyes
because it has been shown to cause
irreversible skin damage.
A tube of Diproson in Zimbabwe currently costs
anything between $300 000 and
$500 000 in salons and flea markets in Harare,
Bulawayo and Kariba, and
according to vendors, the market is growing,
especially in Harare.
"Women of all ages, come here looking for Diproson,
Top Lemon Complexion
Cream. We sometimes run out of stocks because the
demand is high," said a
receptionist at a salon in town.
The use of
skin lightening creams was rampant throughout Africa from the
1930's to the
late 1970s, when many governments took a stance against all
cosmetics
containing high levels of hydroquinone and mercury, which have
serious side
effects.
New Zimbabwe
By
Silence Chihuri
Last updated: 01/24/2006 01:42:24
IN THE heat of debate,
people sometimes miss the bigger picture about issues
or worse still,
sacrifice integral aspects of that given situation leading
to piece meal
perceptions that have a tendency to spell disaster at a future
interval.
This has been a consequence to Zimbabwean politics where
certain wrong
things have been done but allowed to filter through the
political mill
because it was convenient at the time or maybe it was just
less
controversial to cover up.
It is hard sometimes to address a
situation without invoking either sad
feelings or inflicting pain or hard
feelings, but this can be necessary at
times because it is the only way long
lasting solutions can be found.
Sometimes it has to appear even personal
because personal tendencies affect
national interests (especially in
politics and government), and these two
can hardly be separated.
One
or two things have been mentioned lately that need to be closely
analysed
and even though these are predominantly minority views, these could
be
potentially poisonous and could distort constructive engagement and
therefore they should be erased without trace from the political picture.
Someone mentioned about something to the effect that a few Ndebele people
were trying to hijack the MDC Party or that Welshman Ncube was using a few
Shona people to advance a Ndebele agenda.
The foregoing is not only a
sad conviction but it does point to a much more
serious and deep seated
problem of failing to realize that Zimbabwean
politics can only be workable
with the full participation of not just Shonas
and Ndebeles, but all the
other tribal components of our country, including
white Zimbabweans as
well.
Let us say we were all that mean, and we supposed for example, that
the
Ndebeles succeeded with "running away" with the MDC, (whatever that
means),
or that they successfully "hijacked" the party (using whatever
means),
surely their first port of call would be at the Shonas and any of
the other
tribes so as to complete the political equation. The same thing
would apply
to the Shonas (or any other tribe for that matter), because in
the event
that the Shonas successfully managed to hold on to "their MDC",
then they
would still need the requisite Ndebele (or other), content to
ensure tribal
balance was achieved so as to come up with a workable
political arrangement.
Such is the natural aspect of the national
politics of our country that
anyone who thinks that they can ignore it
either in the heat of debate, or
in a moment of weakness (better known as
madness), would only do so at their
own demise. Shonas may constitute the
biggest tribe in Zimbabwe but they
will never be "big enough" to wantonly
stampede upon the other smaller
tribes because the proportion of Shonas is
only relative to the other
demographic components of our country. The same
is with regards to the
Ndebeles. Therefore any notion about anybody trying
to steal any political
mileage using anyone is utter nonsense that must be
dismissed with the
commensurate contempt.
Another equally warped view
that surfaced was that politics is a voluntary
game and that who ever was in
it was in there of their own personal
volition, meaning such people should
not be criticised or else they would
withdraw their "free" services to the
public. I personally do not see
anything voluntary about politics because
this is arguably one of the
largest industries in the world in which some of
the largest sums of money
do the rounds. Of course there seems to be this
voluntary lack of
accountability and scruples that follow politics but that
should never be
mistaken to mean that the field was some kind of charitable
arrangement for
the benefit of the citizens. In fact political careers can
be some of the
most rewarding occupations if properly and scrupulously
pursued.
However, the fact that taxpayer's money is usually (quite
controversially,
if not extortionately) obtained so as to fund the grandiose
bandwagon that
is politics and government especially in Africa, then this
would surely call
for even more scrutiny of the sector. Such scrutiny should
start right from
those in opposition because they should be fully aware that
they are not
simply replacing one bad state of affairs with another.
Opposition parties
(the MDC in our case) also take a considerable chunk of
taxpayers money and
they should rightfully account for such money no matter
how little it can
seem to be.
There is a lot of self-help and self
access to national capital (better
known as plunder) that African
politicians exercise while in their
influential positions and this is what
usually gives them an edge over their
people. The idea is to keep the
generality of the people greatly
impoverished and dependent rather than
independent, thereby creating a
submissive lot who can only voice their
hunger and not anger. Criticism is
usually far and between because most of
our people have to literally sing
for their supper. As long as everything
that helps our case is perceived as
taboo, then it will be very difficult
for us to effectively put our
political leadership to task because they will
continue to get away with
crimes of humanity just because criticising them
is more crime than the way
they exploit us.
Silence Chihuri is a regular
opinion writer on New Zimbabwe.com and can be
contacted at silencechihuri@hotmail.com
New Zimbabwe
By Tendai Padenga
Last updated: 01/24/2006 01:49:07
THE
Zimbabwe government needs to wake up to realise the inherent power that
lies
within the Non Resident Zimbabweans (those in the Diaspora) and set up
a
powerful roadmap for engaging them into business in Zimbabwe for the
economic
growth and development of the country.
The Ministries of Industry and
Finance should set ground breaking rules and
conditions that make it more
comfortable for the non-resident Zimbabweans to
engage in value addition
business in Zimbabwe as the government cannot in
any way do it on its own, at
all.
Here I am referring to special tax concessions and security for
the
non-resident Zimbabweans' investment as much as industrial land
acquisition
facilities to be set in place, instead of the government merely
encouraging
the non-resident Zimbabweans to just send money to their
relatives.
On the other hand, the non-resident Zimbabwean communities
also need to
realise that they hold the key to the scientific and industrial
revolution
for the economic development of Zimbabwe. They should start
maximising on
global intellect by simply identifying small ideas with great
potential for
the scientific and industrial revolutionirisation of
Zimbabwe.
Why I am persuaded to believe so, is mainly because the Indian
Scientific
and Industrial revolution was achieved through, to some extent,
the Non
Resident Indians (NRI). Soon after India's independence the then
Indian
Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, realised that the Indian
Scientific
and Industrial development revolution could not in anyway be
achieved in its
totality without the inclusion of NRI.
Consequently, a
more economic friendly industrial policy was put in place in
favour of the
NRI and they were constantly involved and encouraged to
participate at all
levels in the same, and a more clearer and road worthy
policy was finally
arrived at and the Indian vehicle for Scientific and
industrial Revolution
took off slowly. To date, these Policies are still in
place and witnessing
the Global recognition of India as a global technology
giant. By the early
80's people like Dhirubhai Ambani, the Tatas, Mahindra
and Mahindra, Narayana
Murthy, Azim Premji (these are now USD Billion dollar
companies) had already
put the proper focus of the Indian scientific and
industrial revolution in
place, and the road ahead was now clear.
When the late Indian Prime
Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, came into power he
managed by the late 80's to
improve and add much value to the initial road
map and the government had
also realised it could also benefit from the same
and was also setting up
subsidiaries (which were autonomous and had the full
power to appoint their
own Chairman, board of directors and CEO based on
internationally acceptable
management competencies) hence BSNL with
subsidiaries like MTNL began to take
more defined shapes. When Prof.
Manmohan Singh was the Finance Minister in
Narasimha Rao's government of the
90's, he introduced the most recognised
Indian landmark economic reforms
which liberalised the economy and opened
more doors for NRI by increasing
the tax free bands for a formative period
thus allowing NRI to grow their
companies by involving or sourcing funds from
their colleagues abroad. A new
breed of NRI entrepreneurs was born, marking
the entry of NRI in the airline
industry (the likes of Subrata Roy's Air
Sahara). Today the NRI plays a
powerful part in the Indian economy and is
acknowledged by the government of
India. Most of these NRI ventured into
technology partnerships with either
workmates, neighbours, friends or still
other NRI and came back to India in
splendour and glory, yet they had left in
shackles and chains of
frustration.
Should we then become Indians, you
might want to ask? No, not in a million
years, what I am simply highlighting
is NRZ holds the much needed key to the
scientific and industrial revolution
of Zimbabwe. How? The governement
cannot initiate this, given our current
situation which is totally different
from the Indian one, the NRZ needs to
come up and draft a document
requesting the governement to consider them and
above all acknowledge that,
yes, they are part of the solution to the
economic revival. The NRZ, thus,
needs to be more organized and adopt a
systematic approach to these issues
and highlight exactly how they want to be
incorporated into the economic
revival strategy.
After that, an NRZ
delegation should be dispatched to go and meet with the
respective Ministries
(Higher Education and Technology, Science and
Technology, Industry and
Commerce, Manpower, Finance etc) and discuss in
great depth the logistics
they need covered and clarify with great detail to
some amendments to the
Zimbabwe Companies Act and the waiver of unnecessary
bureaucratic
communication protocol and serious waiver of duty on all
industrial equipment
and inputs not locally available, earmarked for NRZ
Industrial Parks. Once it
has been agreed and the NRZ community is satisfied
with the documents and or
contracts, then technology transfer partnerships
can be initiated with the
government playing a central role and the NRZ
professional task force
participating at all levels.
Which areas should the NRZ engage themselves
in, then? I would want to
highlight just a few cases amongst a wider spectrum
of others. There are a
lot of Zimbabwean pharmacists and those in the area of
bioinformatics the
world over. If they make a call to start up a contract
bulk drug
manufacturing company in Zimbabwe and convince their workmates
and
neighbours that this is what they have come up with and clearly register
the
company and go into technology transfer with countries like India
to
manufacture the bulk drugs in Zimbabwe on contract basis, under
established
conditions with the parent holding companies, we surely will
create more
jobs for our friends back home and most importantly bring down
the prices of
bulk drugs like the TB drugs, anti retroviral drugs etc. This
way, we can as
well start manufacturing for our neighbours and exporting to
regional
countries, without such capabilities, and who knows if we meet
the
international cost and competence requirements, we might even
start
participating in global contracts for bulk drug manufacturing and earn
the
much needed forex.
Also to consider is the software industry,
which I feel does not require
much capital provided the government works very
hard on waivering the duty
and taxes on computer components as a sure way to
not only increasing PC
penetration, but also encourage NRZ or local business
community wishing to
engage in software development and call centers to do so
without any
unnecessary obstacles.
The information security and
business continuity is a significant emerging
global business opportunity,
one that I feel Zimbabwe needs to address
properly. I would like to give
credit to Afrosoft
(http://www.afrosoft.co.zw) for their
biometric application security
product, which shows how possible it is to
develop world class security
oriented software in Zimbabwe, all we need is to
be more focused and attack
with great might and to do this, we desperately
need the government and NRZ
to participate sincerely.
Which areas then
should Zimbabwe participate in with respect to tapping this
hot segment?
Zimbabwean companies, with the much needed participation of NRZ
and
government of Zimbabwe, can participate in the information security
market by
offering products for the following segments:
1. Authentication: there is
a great need for Industry standard
authentication solutions to protect the
mission-critical data assets for
companies and help them harness the power of
e-business.
2. Web access management: Web access management solutions
enable companies
to improve relationships, generate revenue and reduce costs
by providing
secure access to Web-based applications and services. Zimbabwean
companies
can look at providing software that protects access to
mission-critical Web
applications and resources on intranets, extranets and
portals. Solutions
that provide a central point of management and enforcement
while enhancing
end user experience through single sign-on functionality for
Web
applications that are required by global customers today.
3.
Developer solutions: e-security tool kits that help lower the cost
of
software development, shorten time-to-market for new products and
increase
revenue with new market opportunities, also represent a major
opportunity
for Zimbabwean Software Companies. Using these, customers can
quickly and
cost effectively build state-of-the-art encryption and digital
signing
technology into business applications and Web services, including
browsers,
wireless devices, e-commerce servers, e-mail systems and VPN
products
These are just a few of the many possible areas NRZ can engage
to kick-start
the economic recovery and creation of employment in Zimbabwe. I
should point
out, there is nothing extra-ordinary about Indians, it's just
that they are
highly organised and have the much needed desire to see India
become a
global giant and bring back the World Trade Center again to 'Patna'.
If we
agree totally, that this is what we want our children to inherit, a
global
culture of business excellence, locally, then they will surely inherit
that.
"All that I have written is not the solution in its own, look in
the mirror,
Yes, there is the solution" the late Stanley Tookie
Williams
Tendai Padenga is a Zimbabwean studying for Master of Computer
Applications
with electives in Artificial Intelligence and Neural Networks at
Jamia
Millia Islamia University in New Delhi. He can be contacted at:
tepadenga@yahoo.co.uk
http://www.queensu.ca/samp/sampresources/samppublications/policyseries/policy39.htm Download this document Executive
summary In an effort to try and
understand the future course of the brain drain, the Southern African Migration
Project (SAMP) carried out a survey of final-year college and university
students in Zimbabwe. The survey aimed to obtain information on the demographic
profile of the student body; their attitudes towards national issues and
government policies; satisfaction and expectations about economic conditions and
about the future; likelihood of leaving after graduation; reasons for moving;
most likely destinations; perceived conditions in the most likely destination;
and length of stay in the most likely destination. Answers to questions were
analysed by gender, age, rural/urban background and other variables. The university students were
from faculties of Law, Science, Engineering, Commerce, Medicine/Pharmacy and
Arts/Humanities. The colleges included technical, commercial and teacher
training institutions located in several urban centres. A total of 1,192
questionnaires were administered in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru or Masvingo. The
students came from all over the country including some of the more remote rural
areas. The survey first looked at
student attitudes towards Zimbabwe and found that: Given the prevailing
pessimism, it is not surprising that leaving the countr y after graduation is at
the forefront of many student minds. Nearly three quarters of the students
indicated that they had given the matter of leaving a great deal of
consideration. Gender, age and socioeconomic status made little dif ference to
the answer. Only 6% of the students had not considered moving abroad. Just over
half (56%) said that they were likely to emigrate within six months of
graduating. Some 70% said it was likely they would have left the country within
two years. Over a quarter of students had already applied for or were in the
process of applying for a work permit in another country. Around 15% had applied
for or were in the process of applying for permanent residence in another
country. A similar proportion were seeking citizenship of another
country. Southern Africa is the
preferred destination for 36% of the students, followed by Europe (29%), and
North America (24%). Less than one per cent listed the rest of Africa as their
preferred destination. Students are relatively confident of their ability to end
up in their preferred destination. Nearly 40% felt it likely they would move
within Southern Africa, while 28% and 22% said it was likely they would end up
in Europe and North America respectively. To what extent do family
ties and obligations act as brakes on emigration? In many countries, they
probably would. Not in contemporary Zimbabwe. An astonishing 77% of students
said that they were being encouraged or strongly encouraged to leave the country
by their families. Why are families so eager for their offspring to leave? The
answer surely lies in the fact that many families need household members to
leave and r emit funds, just for survival. Several subsidiary questions
therefore arise. Will those who leave do so permanently or on a temporary basis?
Once gone will they continue to maintain links with Zimbabwe? And, in
particular, will they remit funds once they have left? The survey found the
following: Students have strong
opinions on government policies to stop or control the brain drain.
Overwhelmingly, they feel that political measures targeted at individuals will
be ineffectual and that government should concentrate instead on fostering
economic development and growth. While it is obviously not possible to prevent
people from migrating to developed countries for better prospects in this era of
globalisation, the adverse impact of such movements on economic development
merit urgent attention. The survey showed that a coercive approach to the brain
drain would only intensify the level of discontent and for most of the students
would make absolutely no difference to their emigration intentions. The best way
to curb the high rates of skilled labour migration lies in addressing the
economic fundamentals of the country in a way that will ultimately improve
living standards.
Southern African Migration Project
(SAMP)
Extracted from Migration Policy Series No. 39
2005
- Acrobat PDF version (118KB)
If you do
not have the free Acrobat reader on your computer, download it from the Adobe
website by clicking here.
Zimbabwe is experiencing a crippling flight of professional and skilled
people that has escalated to levels that have serious implications for economic
growth and development. Previous studies have discovered extremely high levels
of dissatisfaction amongst professionals with the cost of living, taxation,
availability of goods, and salaries. Unhappiness goes deeper than economic
circumstances to include housing, medical services, education and a viable
future for children. There is an urgent need for policies to curb the massive
brain drain and offer incentives to make staying and working in the country
attractive for professionals and skilled people. Policy-makers also need to be
able to predict the size and direction of future flows of professional and
skilled emigrants.
Mail and Guardian
Harare, Zimbabwe
23 January 2006
02:39
Farmers and vegetable vendors in the Zimbabwean capital
Harare
are locked in a bitter turf war after the authorities closed down the
city's
main outdoor market to stop the spread of cholera, local reports said
on
Monday.
Thousands of small-scale farmers were left
stranded earlier this
month after they arrived at the popular Mbare Msika
market to sell their
fresh produce, only to find the city authorities had
closed it down citing
fears of cholera.
Cholera has
already killed 14 Zimbabweans, three of them from
Harare.
When some of the farmers tried to sell their produce at a
smaller market in
the eastern township of Mabvuku, they were chased away by
street vendors who
accused them of charging lower prices and pinching their
customers, the
state-controlled Herald newspaper reported.
"We don't want to
see these people here because they are
stealing our customers," one unnamed
female vendor told the Herald.
Vendors are struggling to eke
out a living following a
controversial clean-up campaign in the middle of
last year.
Thousands of vendors were arrested and hundreds of
flea market
stalls demolished. The traders are now supposed to operate only
from
designated areas.
But the farmers -- many of whom
live in outlying rural areas --
also appear desperate to maintain their
trade in Zimbabwe's highly
inflationary environment.
"There is no need for farmers and vendors from this suburb to
fight for
customers. We are also in business and we should be allowed to
sell," farmer
Nicholas Mazambani told the paper.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights group meanwhile lays the
blame for Harare's public health
crisis squarely with the authorities, who
they said had failed to organise
proper waste disposal. - Sapa-DPA
africast
MAPUTO, January 23 -- The
much-maligned rat is soon to become a hero in
Mozambique as rats have been
trained to sniff out landmines as part of the
country's mine-clearance
programme.
"In November 2003 (during a test exercise), the animals found
nine mines in
one day along the Limpopo railway," said Bart Weetjens,
director of APOPO,
the Belgian research company that trains the rodents in
Tanzania.
As part of the trial, the rodents found 20 mines and other
explosives along
the line in Gaza province. The line runs between Maputo
port and southern
Zimbabwe.
The rats didn't miss one
explosive.
"The success of the Limpopo trials was a strong motivation for
the whole
team," said Weetjens.
Now 16 rodents are set to tackle
southern Mozambique, starting in March.
Vast areas of Mozambique are
still littered with anti-personnel landmines
that were used during the
16-year civil war that followed independence from
Portuguese
rule.
Better than dogs Dogs were used in 1994 to de-mine large tracts of
land when
the civil war ended, but the African Giant Pouch Rat (Cricetomys
gambianus)
has been found to be more effective because they're cheaper to
train and
easier to maintain and transport.
It costs about $2 000 to
train a rat, while it can cost over $10 000 to
train a dog. The rats'
training starts when they're five weeks old.
They are trained to walk on
a leash and will stop once their sensitive noses
pick up the TNT that is in
the buried explosive.
APOPO also plans to use the rats in other landmine
hotspots, which include
Angola, Sudan, and Cambodia.
Meanwhile,
researchers at the University of Montana in the US are using
honeybees to
screen large areas of unexploded bombs.
According to the Landmine
Survivors Network in Washington DC, which is an
organisation that provides
counselling services to mine victims throughout
the world, an estimated 80
million mines lay buried in more than 60
countries.
Each day 50
people, many of them children, are killed or maimed worldwide. -
Africaneye
zoutnet
By:
Linda van der Westhuizen
Sixty needy Zimbabwean families were helped to
survive by a generous
donation from the pastors' fraternity in Makhado
(Louis Trichardt).
"You should see the joy on their faces when they
receive one 'baked beans'
tin of maize seed," says Mr Pierre de Jager,
formerly from Louis Trichardt.
The donation of R1 000 covered maize seed and
fertilizer, enough to save 60
families from starvation.
Pierre says
that one tin of maize seed enables each of the 60 families to
plant a small
(10m x 10m) garden that will yield a crop of 100 to 120kg of
maize to
prevent starvation. This can only be done if a unique and specific
farming
method is used accurately.
"The aim is to help each family to eventually
plant a 50m x 50m maize field
that is a quarter hectare. With this farming
method they will be able to
harvest three tons from a quarter hectare. The
first ton could be for food,
the second ton could be used to pay the
children's education and the third
ton could be profit," says Pierre. He was
appalled when he realized that
many parents could no longer afford education
for their children and that
teenagers were illiterate and could not speak
English. Even worse than the
illiteracy is the poverty and even
starvation.
While Pierre was conducting a training session on this unique
farming
method, one of his trainees reported the death of a fellow villager.
He had
died from hunger.
"They told me that the giant they face is
not poverty, it is hunger," Pierre
said. In the Matopo Hills area all crops
have failed totally for the past
eight years.
The method Pierre
teaches is called Farming God's Way. With this method, a
hectare will yield
a crop of ten tons. A normal crop is six to seven tons
per hectare.
Currently, the national average produced is not even one ton
per hectare but
300kg. The most successful crop by Brian Oldrieve from
Zimbabwe, who
developed this method, was a record of 16 tons per hectare.
In the Matopo
area, a couple of groups have undergone the Farming God's Way
training with
Pierre and his interpreter and are now growing their own
maize. People who
come for training range from 80-year-old grannies to very
young boys and
girls.
Those who want to support Farming God's Way or Pierre and Rentia
de Jager or
need more information can contact Hannetjie Boshoff on (015) 516
4145.
Pierre's email is ppdejager@yahoo.com
Pierre and
Rentia thank the pastors fraterityl for the financial donation as
well as an
independent home church group for their support, including a very
welcome
laptop computer and generator.