SITREP 3 JANUARY 2002
COMMERCIAL FARMERS' UNION
Farm invasions and Security
Report
Thursday 3rd January, 2002.
This report does not purport to cover
all the incidents that are taking
place in the commercial farming areas.
Communication problems and the fear
of reprisals prevent farmers from
reporting all that happens. Farmers
names, and in some cases farm names, are
omitted to minimise the risk of
reprisals.
NATIONAL REPORT IN
BRIEF
Mashonaland West (North) - Karoi: A group of over two hundred
people,
consisting mainly of ZANU PF youths, intimidated workers at a Karoi
farm,
stripped, and assaulted ten suspected opposition supporters, one
seriously.
The assaulted workers have declined to report the incident to the
police for
fear of retribution.
Midlands -Kwekwe - On New Years Eve, on
Mooirivier Farm, about 70 people
arrived during the night and severely beat
the farm workers in the farm
village, injuring several. Two nights later,
there was an attempted break in
at the homestead.
Mashonaland West (South)
Chegutu/Suri-Suri: - On Ardlui Farm two Municipal
tipper trucks arrived
loaded with about 40 ZANU (PF) youths armed with three
quarter inch iron bars
etc. The two farmers were abducted, and subsequently
assaulted with fists,
resulting in one of them losing hearing in one ear.
Two of the foremen were
assaulted. The farmers and the workers were made to
chant ZANU (PF) slogans
etc. On San Fernando the farmer had a stone
catapulted at him, which cracked
his windscreen.
Central Mashonaland - Bindura - The area has been generally
quiet over the
Festive Season, with the exception of the movement of the
Youth Brigade,
attempting to gather youths on various farms. On Zakwana Farm,
on the 1st of
January 2002, a group of people arrived and began chanting and
singing. Some
of the labourers were beaten, and the illegal settlers moved
onto the
fields, where the farmer has grown soya beans, and claimed the crop
as their
own. Discussions are under way between the owner and the settlers to
resolve
the issue.
Manicaland - Chimanimani: There are now 17 structures
on Charleswood farm
and there is an Army Lieutenant in permanent
residence.
Masvingo - Chiredzi: On Palm River Ranch harassment continued over
the
holiday period, by an individual called Mr Mapanzure, who continues to
wreak
havoc in both communal and commercial sectors. He arrived, drunk, on
Palm
River Ranch, with 500 illegal occupiers. Police and other officials
are
meeting today to try to resolve the issue.
Mashonaland East - Wedza -
W.V. Kwaipa, allegedly took 3 people to the base
camp at Chakadenga, where he
beat them so severely that one died, a further
person died on arrival in
hospital, and the third was severely injured.
Support Unit arrived and took
Kwaipa away. He arrived back in the area the
next day and has been sending
youth around demanding money, in case he has
to make a court appearance. He
has also informed labour on several farms
that they are not allowed to plant
maize without his permission, i.e. around
their houses in the farm villages,
and that they must pull out any maize
they have planted by today, or he will
destroy the farm villages. He also
told the owner of Chakadenga that he must
remove all his cattle.
Matabeleland - No report received.
General -
Section 8 Orders continue to be served countrywide. . A2
resettlement is
taking place with ZANU (PF) M.P.'s, one of whom is a Deputy
Minister, as well
as highly placed civil servants from the Military, Local
Government, the
Police Force, Ministry of Lands etc. moving on to properties
and in quite a
few cases wanting to move into the owners home. On one
property, a ZANU (PF)
M.P. gave the manager thirty days to leave the
property, and his wife has
measured up for curtains in the house.
REGIONAL
NEWS
MANICALAND
General: Several Section 8 Orders have been
issued.
Nyazura: War Vets on Clare Farm are trying to force the Manager to
allow
them the use of the tobacco curing barns. The police have been called
in to
resolve the matter.
Old Mutare: On Wlvedvrien farm dairy cattle ate
23 maize plants belonging to
settlers, as a result of which the owner and
father were barricaded in the
homestead. The situation was eventually
resolved.
Chimanimani: There are now 17 structures on Charleswood farm and
there is an
Army Lieutenant in permanent residence.
MASVINGO
Chidza
Farm - despite the fact that the property is delisted, illegal
occupiers are
still present, and problems continue. 43 communal cattle are
on the farm and
the owner has been prevented from planting 130ha of sorghum
in a land, in
which illegal occupiers have half-heartedly planted 2ha of
crops.
On
Heathcote farm the owner has received a Section 8 Order. On Lamotte
farm
illegal occupiers are still present and problems continue.
Clipsham
farm is inundated with illegal occupiers. On Beauty farm disruption
of cattle
management continues. The owner has received a Section 7 Notice
for
Waterfalls and Ledard farm.
Lothian farm -The owner's homestead has again
been broken into and is now
being occupied by Mr Maseva.
Yellom and Marah
farms- the owner's house has been broken into and is
occupied by property
belonging to "Kid Muzenda" On Bon Air farm a donkey
belonging to the illegal
occupiers has been chopped with an axe, at the base
of its spinal cord. The
matter has been reported to the SPCA.
Chiredzi: On Palm River Ranch
harassment continued over the holiday period
by an individual called Mr
Mapanzure, who continues to wreak havoc in both
communal and commercial
sectors. He arrived, drunk, on Palm River Ranch,
with 500 illegal occupiers.
Police and other officials are meeting today to
try to resolve the
issue.
On BJB Ranch - the owner has received a Section 8 Order. Meetings were
held
over the holiday period between the owner and illegal occupiers, who
were
extremely hostile and angry - a deadlock was reached. The meeting
was
interrupted by M.P. Baloyi, who said that the owner's cattle had every
right
to stay on his farm and should not be interfered with.
Nashanga and
Chigwete Ranches - the owner has received Section 8 Orders for
both of these
properties. The Army and the Police have been preventing him,
and his
anti-poaching unit, from entering the properties for the past six
weeks, but
they suddenly left before Christmas. A Land Cruiser and a
tractor, which had
been stolen by the illegal occupiers, were recovered
several days later and
police have refused to prosecute.
On Saccharine farm and Maioio Ranch
officials from Agritex have been
visiting the property making statements that
they will return to claim their
plots, which they had pegged earlier in the
year.
On Favershalm Ranch harassment continued over the holiday period.
Pressure
from illegal occupiers continued on Eaglement Ranch
Section 8
Orders have been received on Buffalo Range, Crown Ranch, Melrose
Ranch, and
Glendevon.
Mwenezi: In general farm gates are being left open, fences
continue to be
cut, snaring and burning, building and deforestation continue
unabated.
Section 8 Orders have been issued to the following properties:
Wentzelhof
Ranch, Battlefieds Ranch, Merrivale Ranch, Benjani Ranch, Malumba
ranch,
Valley Ranch, Asveld Ranch, Lot 21A of Nuanetsi Ranch, Alandia Ranch,
Turf
Ranch, Sheba Ranch, Umjanjele Ranch, Sarahuni Ranch, Mcheni Ranch,
Sonop
Ranch.
On Lumbergia Farm - continued problems concerning the
management of cattle.
The breeding herd have been forced onto the main Beit
Bridge - Masvingo
highway. The police, who are alleged to be siding with the
settlers, are
providing very little assistance. Poaching and slaughter of
livestock is
rife.
On Rienette Ranch a gate has been stolen that leads
onto the railway line,
and illegal occupiers have broken a pipeline.
On La
Pache Farm the owner's cattle have been eating illegal occupiers
crops, but
crops have not had adequate protection. As a result, the owner's
cattle were
put into a kraal for the day. Police did resolve, however, that
the owner was
at fault for not complying with illegal occupiers demands to
remove the
cattle, or confine them to a kraal at night.
On Quagga Pan the owner's cattle
strayed into the illegal occupiers crops
and as a result, he was locked
outside his security fence. The owner managed
to persuade the occupiers that
this matter was for the police to resolve.
The cattle were then driven 5km to
the end of the farm and confined to a
kraal for the day. 4 animals were axed
on their backs during this incident,
and are undergoing treatment. The DA,
CIO and police met with the owner the
following day and a satisfactory
agreement was reached.
Asveld Ranch- the owner had two calls from a Bulawayo
businessman, who had
presumably been given, plots on his property.
Malumba
- the owner has received calls from Harare businessmen, who has been
given
plots on the property.
Save Conservancy Area ; poaching and snaring
continue.
On certain properties, owners have had harassment from illegal
occupiers and
farm workers and foremen been beaten up and chased off the
farm. Police have
been slow to respond.
MIDLANDS
Chivhu: On Welkom,
Chipisa and Landsdowne Farms, all beef cattle have been
sold. The owner has
been told to move all remaining animals, a few dairy
cows and some horses, as
soon as possible. On Ingolubi, the cattle are being
chased from paddock to
paddock and mixed up. On Monday, on Veeplaats, 5
horses were chased onto the
main road and three were killed, and on
Wednesday, cattle were chased on to
the main road and, again, three were
killed. There are now no more cattle on
this farm and the owner has been
told to vacate, even though he has never
been served a Section 8 Order. On
Jackals Bank, a farm of only 405 Ha, the
owner was told to clear part of the
farm of cattle. The farm has never been
designated.
Kwekwe: Pivot sprinklers have been stolen from Jenville. On
Brimley Estates,
there was a break in on Sunday night and food; money, a
cellphone and a
calculator stolen. The thieves were not heard, probably
because occupiers on
neighbouring Wajere had brought in tractors and were
making a lot of noise
and disturbance. Riverbend Farm was broken into on
Monday night, the same
gang who were at Brimley are suspected, but it seemed
that only cold drinks
and food were stolen. Previously, irrigation equipment
was stolen and the
police know who the culprit is, but are afraid to arrest
him. On rented
grazing on Sable, four cattle were stolen on the 26th
December, and on
Belgrave hunting dogs attacked a kudu. Police are
responding. A number of
section 8 Orders have been issued in the area. So
far, it appears that all
farmers have been told they may continue farming.
Poaching and snaring
continues unabated. On New Years Eve, on Mooirivier
Farm, about 70 people
arrived during the night and beat up the farm workers
in the farm village
severely injuring several. Two nights later, there was an
attempted break in
at the homestead.
MASHONALAND
CENTRAL
Bindura - The area has been generally quiet over the Festive
Season, with
the exception of the movement of the Youth Brigade, attempting
to gather
youths on various farms. On Zakwana Farm, on the 1st of January
2002, a
group of people arrived and began chanting and singing. Some of
the
labourers were beaten, and the illegal settlers moved onto the fields,
where
the farmer has grown soya beans, and claimed the crop as their
own.
Discussions are under way between the owner and the settlers to resolve
the
issue.
Glendale - Two farms in the area reported that their Security
Guards had
been forced out of their houses and off the farms. The farms
involved are
Mukoko and Murifumbi. Generally, the area has been quiet with
plenty of
ploughing by the DDF tractors taking place.
Shamva - This area
has been relatively quiet over the Festive Season, with
only one report of an
attempted stoning of a vehicle near SOS Village.
Mvurwi - On Farfields Farm a
work stoppage was called on the 17th of
December 2001, as the settlers were
demanding to move into the labourers'
houses. The owner agreed, and said that
all the contract workers would be
relocated to Eastwolds, whereupon the
settlers were told to vacate the barns
so that they could be used for
tobacco. Once the labour force had vacated
their houses, the settlers refused
to move, claiming that the accommodation
was inadequate. On the 28th of
December another work stoppage was called as
the settlers refused to have the
tobacco, which had been collected from
Amersham, after a hail storm, and
brought to Farfields, loaded into the
barns and alternative barns had to be
found. On The 30th of December, the
illegal settlers demanded to speak to the
owner. He was ordered to remove
all bulk curers, moveable assets and the
labour to Eastwolds Farm
immediately. The farm manager was given 48 hours to
vacate the farm. The
labourers then returned to work. The settlers went to
the surrounding farms
and returned with settlers from Msitwe and Delken Farms
and threatened the
manager. Later in the day the youth from Birkdale Farm and
Chingoma Farm
arrived, surrounded the manager's house, and threatened his
wife in his
absence. The labourers refused to attend a pungwe. The manager
returned with
the Police and the situation was diffused. The youth left the
farm at 3am,
after beating two of the labourers from Farfield. They were
taken to a
doctor in Mvurwi, who provided them with a medical report. The
owner spoke
to the Member In Charge at the ZRP who sent representatives back
with him to
speak to the illegal settlers. The owner was given back the use
of the bulk
curers, and the settlers were told not to interfere with the
farming
operations. Both the settlers and the labour were warned to coexist.
They
were told that if the problems persisted then only 14 labourers would
be
allowed to remain and tend the crops, and the settlers were threatened
with
removal back to the reserve. On Msonedi Estate the owner was stopped
from
sending his labourers to another farm where they undertake piece
work,
whilst the farming operations had been halted on his farm. Quite a
number of
farmers in the area have been doing this to supplement their
labourer's
wages. The owner has gone to speak to the Member in Charge to see
if the
situation can be resolved.
Horseshoe - At Amajuba Farm the war
veterans demanded that one of the
labourers be dismissed immediately, and
that all the employees who had been
forced off the farm, and are living in
Harare,
be dismissed as they are MDC supporters. They then said that if this
were
done peace would prevail on the farm. At Tiaseka Farm the owner was
asked to
provide transport for the war veteran Shadreck, and the youth to the
farm in
order to begin with the "Education Of The People." The farmer refused
but
they came anyway. Shadreck, , assaulted three workers, which was reported
to
the police, by the owner, but no charges were laid as further
victimization
was feared. At Dunaverty an armed robbery took place in the
early hours of
New Years morning between 3 and 3:30am. The guard was held at
gunpoint by 2
armed robbers. They said they would shoot the guard as he would
be able to
identify them. They made off with money, a radio and weapons. They
were
apprehended 500m from the Police Station, but managed to escape. All
the
firearms were recovered. The Police believe the robbers to be the same
as
the 2 who murdered someone in the Kachuta area, NW of Guruve. It
was
reported that the Police had enlisted the help of the CIO and the
detail
known as CHIGADORA, visited the farm and said that the robbery was
committed
by 15 MDC youths, whose leader is from Harare and whose name is
BITTI. They
went on to tell the labourers that if Zanu PF lost the elections
the army
would come in and sort it out ( another Gukurahundi).. At Muzhanje
Farm the
office was broken into early on New Year's morning, whilst the
farmer was
away. At Norwe Farm the labour force went on strike as there is no
maize
meal in the store. The manager has reported that the meal has been
ordered
but that it had not as yet been delivered. The Police were called in.
The
strike was called off today and the labourers are back at
work.
Victory Block - On the morning of the 2nd of January 2002, a
lorry,
belonging to the owner of Msitwe Farm, unfortunately struck a
settler's
child, who ran across the road. The farmer's driver drove the
lorry. The
child has been taken to the hospital in Mvurwi and no further
details are
available. On Kelson Ranch at 1.15 pm on the 2nd of January 2002
a Mr.
Maremo and three youths arrived on the farm. They were accompanied by a
tall
bearded man, and a driver in a Toyota Raider, registration no: 749 - 953
Q,
which was dark grey in colour. They gathered outside the security gate
of
the farmhouse, where they assembled all the farm workers and women.
They
demanded to see the owner, who was having his lunch and refused. The
owner's
son went out to speak to them. They demanded extra money in addition
to the
gratuities, which had already been paid to the farm workers. They
wanted to
know why the farmer was continuing to feed the farm workers. They
then
ordered all the farm workers to vacate their houses and leave the
farm
within the next two weeks. They attempted to abduct the owner's son, to
be
held as a hostage, until their demands were met. After some manhandling,
Mr.
Maremo said that they were to take this as a warning, and that they would
be
back on Monday to carry out his threats. The Police at Mvurwi have
been
informed.
Centenary - The area has been relatively quiet over the
festive season with
only one report from Kungwa Farm where an incident
occurred but was resolved
peacefully.
MASHONALAND WEST
(NORTH)
Karoi : A group of over two hundred people, consisting mainly of ZANU
PF
youths, intimidated workers at a Karoi farm, stripped, and assaulted
ten
suspected opposition supporters, one seriously. The assaulted workers
have
declined to report the incident to the police for fear of
retribution.
MASHONALAND EAST
Beatrice: On Nebo Farmthe labour had
been threatened by illegal settlers, if
they didn't attend a meeting to be
held later that day. Brakveld 'A' Farm -
10 members of the labour force were
beaten up by illegal settlers that
night. Constantia Farm - 6 labourers were
beaten up and the remainder
threatened that night.
GENERAL -
House/workshop break-ins and general crime on the increase, mainly
due to
apathy on behalf of local ZRP
Enterprise\Bromley\Ruwa: No report
received
Featherstone: Calais The owner was warned that all dairy cattle must
be
moved off farm. The DA was advised and gave the owner a letter,
saying
settlers are not to interfere with the dairy or the animals. 10 days
later
illegal settlers chased the animals to the neighbouring farm for the
owner's
brother to milk. The DA was advised and called a meeting with
settlers -
situation still not resolved. Lot 2 Kuruman The owner was told to
remove all
cattle from the farm (mainly dairy). PA advised, and told DA to
inform the
settlers to leave the cattle alone. DA not being co-operative on
this farm.
Situation not resolved. Sable Flats Workers assaulted and told to
move out
of houses. Increase in theft of irrigation equipment and fencing,
and
poaching and snaring activities increased. Perseverance Farm -
Continuous
threats and workers being harassed.
Harare South : Auks Nest -
A delegation arrived and told the owner that
everyone had to be off the farm,
by 12 noon the following day, and all the
sheds had to be opened. Some
illegal settlers arrived the next day, and the
owner was
uncooperative.
Macheke Virginia: Marylands 8 Labour seriously assaulted by
Illegal
Settlers. The owner was not on the farm at the time, and the clerk
attempted
to take the victims to the hospital in the farm truck, but was
stopped by
the illegal settlers, who threatened to burn the vehicle if they
were taken
to hospital . The owner arrived on the farm, and was able to
negotiate for
the labour to be taken to the hospital, and for the Police to
take
statements. The DA visited the farm and informed the owner that a cow
should
be slaughtered to appease the illegal settlers, and that the Labour
should
all attend a party in Murehwa.
Fault Farm - Chief Inspector Dube
arrived at Macheke Club to plough and
plant his maize, He asked for a room
from the club, which was refused, but
he proceeded to plough up the land
surrounding the club.
Springs Farm - RRB 00432 . One cow slaughtered and calf
hamstrung. Police
reacted but no suspect caught.
Mignon RRB 00443 Ambush
laid to catch the thieves of 60 irrigation
sprinklers, 4 thieves came but no
one caught. Matter reported to the Police.
The suspect is known.
Spes Bona
- Theft of battery, linked to man who stole pump from Koodoo Range
Thief
apprehended.
Chirunji - Neighbour found three Illegal Settlers all armed with
guns on the
farm, they said that they were hunting "pigs". Local security
company is
following up incident.
Marondera North : A2 settlers have been
to inspect allocated plots on
various farms - some
without section 8
Orders. They are in possession of a 99 year lease
agreement signed by
Minister Made. There has been a request for an owner to
vacate his homestead
for the settlers.
Marondera South:
Nothing to report.
Wedza: HULL - 10
yearling heifers missing - Brand FFF. Markwe - A cow was
caught in a snare on
Numwa
Rusfontein - This farm received a Section 8 Order last week - it
was
acquired by Government and resettled 6 years ago!!
W.V. Kwaipa
allegedly took 3 people to the base camp at Chakadenga, where he
beat them so
severely that one died, a further person died on arrival in
hospital, and the
third was severely injured. Support Unit arrived and took
Kwaipa away. He
arrived back in the area the next day and has been sending
youth around
demanding money, in case he has to make a court appearance. He
has also
informed labour on several farms that they are not allowed to plant
maize
without his permission - i.e. around their houses in the farm
villages, and
that they must pull out any maize they have planted by today,
or he will
destroy the farm villages. He also told the owner of Chakadenga
that he must
remove all his cattle.
Welton - 4 dogs were shot but the poachers got
away
Msasa - Illegal settlers, from a neighbouring farm, cut fences to take
2
scotch carts through to Markwe. The Police did react.
Mbima - A DDF
tractor arrived on Friday and has been ploughing up a Rhodes
grass
pasture.
Merryhill - a cow was slaughtered.
Brickleigh - A letter was
received addressed to the owners' son, saying that
this was a final reminder
that he was supposed to be off the farm by the end
of October. He now had
until the 28th to get off. If he failed to comply, he
must be man enough to
face the consequences. The letter was signed by warvet
Sigauke
Makukasu.
MASHONALAND WEST SOUTH
Norton: - Wilbered Farm report that a
neighbouring farmer is cultivating for
the occupiers. On Tilford a lot of
building is taking place, some of which
is of a permanent
nature.
Selous: - On Exwick - Wing Commander Mazamban has made further
threats
regarding taking over the homestead. Makoni has tapped in to the
water
supply leaving the owner with virtually no
water.
Chegutu/Suri-Suri: - On Ardlui Farm two Municipal tipper trucks
arrived
loaded with about 40 ZANU (PF) youths, armed with three quarter inch
iron
bars etc. The two farmers were abducted, and subsequently assaulted
with
fists, resulting in one of them losing hearing in one ear. Two of
the
foremen were also assaulted. The farmers and the workers were made to
chant
ZANU (PF) slogans etc. On San Fernando the farmer had a stone
catapulted at
him, which cracked his
windscreen.
Kadoma/Chakari/Battlefields - On Railway Farm 4 continual
harassment has
been taking place for some time, with the owner forced to
attend ZANU (PF)
meetings, and to supply beer etc, under serious threats. He
was forced to
give the illegal occupiers a cow for Christmas. They chose the
Beefmaster
Bull, valued at approximately $150 000.00, which they shot and
ate. Police
are not prosecuting. The owner's cattle have become wild, due
to continual
harassment by illegal occupiers, and some of them got into
unfenced maize,
being grown by illegal occupiers. The owner had $108 000.00
extorted from
him, which he had to pay under duress. He was abducted from
his house, late
at night, by a militant group of illegal occupiers, armed
with knobkerries,
and told to move out of his house the next day. Illegal
occupiers have also
stopped all work on his chicken unit. Eventually he had
to agree to give
the illegal occupiers the 72 cattle remaining on the
property.
On Normandy North Illegal occupiers beat up the owner's driver,
for
collecting the body of a deceased foreman from the farm village.
The
worker, who was staying in the house, whilst the owner was away
for
Christmas, also had the owner's cellphone confiscated by illegal
occupiers.
A large deep freeze of meat was stolen, as the owner had to
de-stock all his
beef, dairy, and the majority of his sheep, due to rampant
stock theft,
which Chief Inspector Makaza did nothing about. When the owner
phoned Chief
Inspector Makaza he just laughed. On Alabama the owner and
manager are
being forced to move off all their property, and to hand over the
keys to
two of the homesteads. They are now camping in the third homestead,
with
hardly any furniture. Chief Inspector Makaza is doing nothing to
resolve
this situation. On Hellaby Farm the house was broken into and the
owner has
been forced out of his house. On Kanyemba there is heavy snaring
amongst
the cattle with one calf slaughtered recently. Lots of illegal
mining is
also taking place, both on this farm and throughout the Kadoma
district.
The Mining Commissioner is unable to control the situation due to
no backup
from Police. On Blue Grass the owner has to move all his property
off. On
Mazarati illegal occupiers are still living in the owner's house and
there
is little, or no help from Chief Inspector Makaza.
General -
Section 8 Orders continue to be served within the area. A2
resettlement is
taking place with ZANU (PF) M.P.'s, one of whom is a Deputy
Minister, as well
as highly placed civil servants from the Military, Local
Government, the
Police Force, Ministry of Lands etc. moving on to properties
and in quite a
few cases wanting to move into the owners home. On one
property, a ZANU (PF)
M.P. gave the manager thirty days to leave the
property, and his wife has
measured up for curtains in the house. A2
settlers are being given thirty
days to establish a presence on the property
and being told that they will
forfeit it if they do not. Chegutu District
Administrator has been moving
around farms getting the farmers to plough for
the illegal occupiers. In the
current climate of terror, farmers feel it is
unwise not to
comply.
Visit the CFU Website www.mweb.co.zw/cfu
DISCLAIMER
The
opinions in this message do not necessarily reflect those of the
Commercial
Farmers' Union which does not accept any legal responsibility
for
them.
News24
Zim 'terror teens' on warpath
Harare - The ruling Zanu-PF
party, through the deployment of war veterans,
has turned several schools in
remote rural areas into makeshift military
barracks to train youths to
campaign against the opposition in the run-up to
the March presidential
election.
The veterans are using sticks as guns in the military drills.
The recruits,
some allegedly forced to join the militias, undergo 10-day
training
sessions.
Welshman Ncube, the Movement for Democratic Change
secretary-general, said
the schools were mainly concentrated in Gokwe,
central Zimbabwe, and many
parts of Mashonaland where-Zanu PF commands huge
rural support.
Hundreds of youths from all over the country have been
trained at the Border
Gezi national service training school in Mount Darwin.
One youth said:
"Every morning, we toyi-toyed for about 30 kilometres. We
were taught other
military skills, such as how to handle guns."
On
Monday, recent graduates from training centres terrorised western
townships
of Harare, smashing windows, looking for food and taking clothing
from
washlines in the name of Zanu-PF.
Residents complained that police stood
idly by while youths damaged their
property for about two-and-a-half
hours.
Police stepped in to protect youths
Armed with sticks,
stones and other weapons, they looted grocery shops, flea
markets and
vegetable stalls. More than 70 houses were destroyed in
the
chaos.
Initially, the youths had overwhelmed the residents until
their victims
ganged up against them, resulting in running
battles.
Police stepped in to protect the Zanu-PF youths, now outnumbered
by angry
residents.
A member of the militia, hiding in a maize patch
after looting clothes from
one house, was assaulted by the residents when he
tried to rejoin his
retreating colleagues.
A woman, who lost her New
Year shopping, complained: "The police are
abetting the violence. How else
could anyone explain their behaviour when
they are supposed to protect us
from these villains?"
The youths were brought in from outlying villages
in five hired buses to a
so-called war veterans' base outside Harare from
where they launched their
attack.
Living in dread before March
elections
Learnmore Jongwe, the MP for Kuwadzana, said: "It has become
apparent that
this so-called national youth service is, in fact, a Zanu-PF
party service
where murderers were being trained."
The youths are
ostensibly recruited for national service but, in their
now-familiar green
uniform, are reported to have unleashed a wave of terror
against MDC
members.
The Gokwe training programme appears to have a similar
objective.
New recruits are forcing people to join them in toyi-toyi
sessions where
Zanu-PF slogans are chanted.
In urban centres, many
Zimbabweans are dreading the remaining 90 days before
the presidential
election.
They fear an upsurge of violence and bloodshed before and
immediately after
Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai square up against each
other in March.
Zim Independent
Violence spreads to Ruwa, Chinhoyi
Staff
Writers.
POLITICAL violence has been given further impetus following the
unleashing
of the Zanu PF-sponsored National Youth Service brigade, with
roving members
creating mayhem in Harare, Ruwa and Chinhoyi this
week.
The brigade has been on a reign of terror since its members
graduated a
month ago from the Border Gezi training camp in Mt
Darwin.
Most of the violence has been targeted at members of the
opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) and the unsuspecting
public.
Last Saturday, five members of the MDC reportedly went missing in
Bindura
following an attack by suspected members of the brigade.
The
MDC’s information and publicity secretary, Learnmore Jongwe, confirmed
the
attack yesterday and said among those missing was a well-known party
cadre,
Moffat Chivaura.
Chivaura had accompanied relatives to a Bindura cemetery
to perform family
rites at the grave of the late Trymore Midzi, an MDC member
who was murdered
by suspected Zanu PF thugs, including brigade members,
before Christmas.
Chivaura was attacked by the same mob.
“All the
family members managed to escape except Chivaura who is in his
early 50s. The
incident was reported to Bindura’s Chiwaridzo police station
and up to now he
hasn’t been found,” said Jongwe.
On Monday, members of the brigade went
on the rampage in Harare’s Kuwadzana
Extension, destroying property worth
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Brigade members went on the rampage
again in Ruwa on Wed-nesday
indiscriminately beating up residents for
allegedly supporting the MDC.
Eye-witness accounts say one man was so
severely assaulted he had to be
taken to Parirenyatwa Hospital for treatment.
A Ruwa police officer who was
in civilian clothes was caught up in the attack
and severely assaulted. At
Ruwa Rehabilitation Centre, the brigade allegedly
assaulted a pregnant
woman.
According to unconfirmed reports, the
youths also assaulted guests at a
wedding party at the Centre’s hall after
being denied free beer.
Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena who promised to
investigate the matter
had not replied by yesterday evening.
Reports
from Chinhoyi say there have been disturbances there since Tuesday.
National
Youth Service brigade members have raided shops, looted property
and
distributed it to people at random.
In some cases, the youths, with the
assistance of war veterans, allegedly
ended up selling the looted goods and
pocketing the money.
Big retail stores such as OK and TM also fell victim to
looting by the
youths.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions has
condemned the attacks on innocent
people.
In a statement yesterday it
said it strongly condemned “harassment and
beatings of ordinary citizens
which are being allegedly perpetrated by gangs
of youths”.
“It is of
great concern,” the ZCTU said, “that the law enforcement agents
are not doing
enough to quell this violence...In cases where the police have
acted, it
seems the law is applied selectively."
Zim Independent
CIO harass food aid workers
Blessing
Zulu
MEMBERS of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) are stalking food
aid
distributors in rural areas in violation of a memorandum of
understanding
signed between the government and the World Food Programme, the
Zimbabwe
Independent has established.
Some of those involved in the
relief effort in Muzarabani say there have
been attempts to intimidate them.
This is seen as reflecting official
concern that food aid could be used to
enhance the prospects of Movement for
Democratic Change presidential
candidate Morgan Tsvangirai.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has stressed
that famine relief should not be
hijacked by any party.
United Nations
Development Programme resident representative in Zimbabwe,
Victor Angelo,
said the government was only expected to provide security to
those engaged in
relief work.
“The government, according to our agreement, is expected to
provide our
members with security
to facilitate their work and
intimidation would be a sad development,” he
said on Wednesday.
Aid
agency workers in the Lower Gweru area have been approached and quizzed
by
men they were able to identify as CIO operatives. There have also
been
reports of intimidation from Matabeleland.
Another UN official who
refused to be named described the move as
predictable.
“The government
of Zimbabwe is now notorious for breaking promises. We
thought it would end
with the Abuja Agreement but now they are reneging on
the agreement we made
(on food supplies). This is a very unfortunate
development that must be
condemned in any democratic country,” the official
said.
The WFP has
taken steps to ensure the food distribution exercise
is
apolitical.
“As the operation takes place during the run-up to the
presidential election
and related political campaigning, strong monitoring of
all commodity
movements
and distribution is critical to ensure the food is
not being misused,” the
WFP said in a recent report.
A member of an
NGO distributing food in Mashonaland Central said he feared
for his life as
members of the CIO always trailed him.
“They know very well that we give
aid to the needy yet they come to us
Nicodemously and ask us what criteria we
are using. We cannot carry out our
job with this interference as we are
closely monitored. It’s a risky
business taking into cognisance that areas
like Muzarabani are volatile,”
said the official who declined to be named for
fear of victimisation.
Hans Sittig, the co-coordinator of
non-governmental organisation Help, said
they lost millions of dollars in
Chimanimani after being accused of
campaigning for the opposition last
year.
“We lost US$29 000 worth of food after being accused of campaigning
for the
MDC,” Sittig said. “The CIO operatives claimed that we were
distributing MDC
T-shirts and cards. That was hogwash because we use our own
Help T-shirts.
We were also working with the local authorities in
distributing food to the
needy and the accusation took us by
surprise.”
Sittig said the police did not help matters when called to
assist.
“They actually arrested nine of our members although the perpetrators
were
known so-called war veterans,” said Sittig.
He was questioned by
the police in September when he went to Matabeleland to
assess the food
situation there.
The government recently reversed its stance against NGOs
taking part in food
relief. But it remains suspicious of donors.
The
WFP has named the following NGOs as potential food distributors:
World
Vision, Care, Save the Children (UK), Oxfam, Organisation of
Rural
Associations for Progress, Farmers Community, CRS, MSF/Spain,
Christian
Health Care, and Catholics for Overseas Development
(Cafod).
Zim Independent
Invaders cause havoc on unlisted farm
Abeauty
Mangezi
GOVERNMENT’S chaotic land resettlement programme has on one farm
in
Raffingora displaced 102 farm workers — replacing them with 31 settlers
—
and disrupted a viable ostrich enterprise which earns the country
US$20
million in foreign currency annually.
Junction Farm owner Scott
Brown told the Zimbabwe Independent that although
he was in full support of
the principle of land resettlement and
redistribution, he did not support the
chaotic and illegal manner in which
the process was being carried
out.
Junction Farm, according to Brown, is unlisted and does not meet any
of the
government’s own criteria for resettlement. Despite assurances
from
government that settlers would be moved to listed farms, illegal
occupiers
abound at the farm. Their presence had disrupted the planting of
paprika,
maize and soya beans.
“The farm has become seriously
under-utilised — one of the ills the
government was trying to correct. The
settlers have not yet prepared any
land or planted any crops to this date,”
Brown said.
There are 31 invaders who have displaced the 102 workers and
their families
which the farm was supporting. The arrival of the invaders’
cattle, goats,
dogs, donkeys and chickens had seriously affected the ostrich
enterprise.
Zimbabwe and international law (especially EU regulations)
prohibit poultry
on an ostrich farm.
Junction Farm was illegally
resettled on August 6 last year and then pegged
by Agritex officials on
August 10. It should have been evacuated under the
terms set out in the Abuja
accord, Brown says.
The accord had, among other points, agreed there would be
no further
invasions of farmland and an acceleration of delisting of farms
that did not
meet the set criteria. Brown said he was the victim of a
procedural error.
“The farm listed on Friday, 14 December was ‘Junction
Farm’ and this was the
half owned by our neighbour, Nick Arkell who also owns
Buwi Farm,” he said.
The original farm was divided many years before
Brown bought it and his half
is still not listed — “although the government
would believe they have”, he
said.
Brown said he was of the opinion
that if the government was serious about
land reform, the quickest way to
achieve this would be to implement the rule
of law transparently and fairly
for all citizens.
The Herald
Blood bank reaches critical levels
Health
Reporter
THE national blood bank has reached critical levels with only 295
units left
instead of the required minimum of 2 500.
The National
Blood Trans-fusion Services (NBTS) yesterday said the situation
was desperate
as there were only 19 units of group O blood, which has the
largest
demand.
Just before Christmas, there were 679 units of blood in the
national blood
bank and these were almost depleted by the bloody Christmas,
which saw 80
people perish in road accidents and 224 others seriously
injured.
"During the school holidays we have always depended on our adult
donors, but
with the high demand of blood and blood products it appears
donations from
this category are insufficient.
"Our call is,
therefore, going to the regular donors who are due for
donation to please
visit the various NBTS centres to give blood," said NBTS
spokes-man Mr
Emmanuel Masvikeni.
Zimbabweans are no longer as enthusiastic as they
used to be in donating
blood, especially with the rising HIV and Aids
prevalence in the country
MSNBC
Zimbabwe opposition warns violence may lead to
war
HARARE, Jan. 4 — Zimbabwe's main opposition leader on Friday
accused
President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party of driving the
country
towards a civil war by deploying ''shock troops'' to lead a
violent
re-election campaign.
Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), accused
ZANU-PF of using a militia trained under the
guise of a national youth
training service to terrorise the opposition ahead
of presidential elections
in March.
Tsvangirai, who poses the
biggest challenge to Mugabe since the
77-year-old former guerrilla leader
came to power in 1980, said four MDC
members had been killed by ''ZANU-PF
shock troops'' in the last 10 days.
''Zimbabwe is teetering on the
brink of a low intensity civil war
owing to the activities of the ZANU-PF
government-sponsored militias,'' he
said in a statement.
''The
militias have been involved in wanton beating of innocent
people and the
destruction of homes in both rural and urban areas,''
Tsvangirai said,
responding to newspaper reports on the activities of the
new youth
brigades.
ZANU-PF has denied that is mounting a campaign to intimidate
voters
and the opposition ahead of the polls.
Tsvangirai said the
youth brigades were tarnishing the image of
Zimbabwe's security forces by
sometimes wearing army and police uniforms.
He said their activities
were ''a serious violation of human rights
and if the government fails to
heed our calls we will have no option but to
appeal to the International
Court of Justice in The Hague.''
On Monday, the MDC said ZANU-PF
militants went on a ''terror run'' in
two Harare townships, assaulting and
harassing residents as part of Mugabe's
re-election campaign.
CRITICAL
ELECTION
During the week the MDC also alleged that ZANU-PF was
deploying some
of its militants dressed in MDC T-shirts to give the
impression the
opposition was also involved in violence. ZANU-PF denied the
charge.
Mugabe, who will be 78 next month, has been in power since the
former
Rhodesia gained independence from Britain in 1980.
Political
analysts say he has a tough task retaining power in a
country hit by a severe
economic and political crisis blamed on government
mismanagement.
Mugabe -- who calls the MDC a front for Western interests -- says he
will win
the elections on his record as a liberation fighter and defender of
the
rights of Zimbabwe's black majority.
The Zimbabwean leader has said
his re-election effort will be run
like a military campaign -- which critics
say shows the party will be
stepping up political violence.
The MDC
says the recent killing of its four members has brought to 87
the number of
opposition activists and supporters killed since February
2000.
Zim Independent
Independent Comment
AS just about every
observer noted in their end-of-year reports on Zimbabwe,
one of the chief
casualties of President Mugabe’s land occupations has been
self-sufficiency
in food production. Despite predictions of a bountiful
harvest by government
spokesmen, the facts on the ground speak for
themselves: Zimbabwe is having
to go cap in hand to the United Nations and
other international agencies for
food aid. Crop production will be down at
least 40% this year while 3 000
firms that rely on the agricultural sector
face closure, according to
reports.
So in addition to the tens of thousands of farm workers
dispossessed we can
expect thousands more to be laid off in downstream
sectors.
This will not only impact on companies that supply seeds, chemicals
and
fertilisers. Firms involved in manufacturing and supply of finished
products
to the agricultural sector will also be hit. The ripple effects
throughout
the economy will compound GDP contraction.
This is a stark
prospect for the New Year. But the picture gets bleaker. In
the place of a
sophisticated agricultural system involving tractors, combine
harvesters,
irrigation systems and new seed varieties, a system that fed the
nation while
at the same time earning valuable forex from exports, the
country has been
reduced to a patchwork of plots, many unable to produce
more than a fraction
of the output realised only a year ago.
Over a century of progress in
agricultural science and development has been
cast to the wind together with
advanced conservation techniques that
protected wildlife and
woodland.
The social impact of the mass dispossessions of farm workers
will be felt in
urban drift and social destitution. While the human and
economic costs will
be enormous, there is also the political price to
consider: the steady
erosion of Zimbabwe’s democratic façade.
While a
Supreme Court packed by government sympathisers appears willing to
lend a
semblance of legitimacy to violent land seizures by turning a blind
eye to
wilful disobedience of previous court orders by police and other
officials,
not to mention serious criminal offences by land invaders, the
rest of the
world will be less indulgent.
Terrorising and then dispossessing
law-abiding citizens whose only offence
was to exercise their constitutional
rights of appeal through the courts is
not recognised in many other countries
as a lawful or legitimate pursuit of
government. Then there is the raft of
laws that propose to roll back the
democratic gains of the previous decade
including rights to expression and
assembly.
The perception of
Zimbabwe as a rogue state that tailors the law to its
latest electoral needs
is not confined to the international media as Sadc
ministers and South
Africa’s ANC conveniently choose to believe. A death
toll of over 85,
numerous cases of abductions, beatings and torture of
perceived opposition
supporters, and brutal depredations on farms by
government-funded militias
are not the invention of the media. They are
realities many Zimbabweans
experience on a daily basis. By conniving with
Zanu PF in its media
conspiracy theories, foreign well-wishers have become
part of the
problem.
How can those genuinely concerned about Zimbabwe’s fate assist?
Firstly, the
lesson from Zambia is that election observers need to be in
place at least a
month before the election to ensure preparations are
transparent and
procedural, not opaque and arbitrary as has been the case to
date here. The
24 000 NGO monitors who played a key role last year in
spotting suspicious
ballot boxes being brought in to centres and other
irregularities will not
be present this year as a result of new regulations.
Instead civil servants
will be appointed by the Electoral Supervisory
Commission to monitor the
poll.
The ESC and Registrar-General’s office
are manifestly not up to the task
ahead of them, largely because they have
difficulties understanding the word
“independent” and because they are
starved of funds by government. They need
all the help they can get despite
misplaced assertions of their ability to
perform.
But just as Zanu PF
is moving into top gear ahead of the March poll, so
civil society should be
preparing now to blow the whistle on a mismanaged
election. There is nothing
to prevent them exercising their constitutional
right to observe and comment
on the process as it unfolds, drawing attention
to anomalies and documenting
political coercion.
The new president of Zambia lacks legitimacy because
he is the product of a
flawed election in which, according to the European
Union, there were
“glaring irregularities”. We can understand how such
allegations might
infuriate those on both sides of the Zambezi attempting to
procure their own
return. But to repeat such a botched exercise here would
promote instability
and further damage the region’s reputation.
That
should be made clear to Sadc before it attempts another of its
cover-ups.
What we need is a clear enunciation of those principles for
democratic
elections laid down by the Sadc parliamentary forum in March last
year.
Organisations that cannot enforce their own standards are rightly
denied the
respect they seek.
Zim Independent
Muckraker
THE government, it seems, is having
to do some nimble footwork to reverse
the impression given by Jonathan Moyo
that it is completely ignorant of how
the South African media is
structured.
Moyo told foreign correspondents just before Christmas that
South Africa’s
newspapers, allegedly intent upon demonising President Mugabe,
were all
staffed by ex-Rhodesians. He cited the Sunday Times, among others,
as part
of the “apartheid press” and referred by name to SABC executive Chris
Bishop
as an example of “ex-Rhodesian” editors at work in South African
newsrooms.
Now Stan Mudenge has moved to clarify the picture. Last
Saturday and on
Monday the Herald was obliged to carry stories which, while
certainly more
accurate than Moyo’s clumsy remarks, were still less than
honest. The spin
now is that the South African press is
British-owned.
For instance, the Herald on Saturday quoted Mudenge as
saying Pearson plc
“own and publish Business Day and the Financial Mail”. The
impression given
was that they wholly owned these publications.
On Monday
his statement had been revised to read: “The British media group
Pearson plc,
in partnership with Johnnic, a consortium of black
entrepreneurs chaired by
former ANC secretary-general Cyril Ramaphosa, are
owners and publishers of
two leading South African financial papers,
Business Day and the Financial
Mail.”
From this factual step back, Mudenge took a giant leap forward:
“The British
own 90% of the South African English press,” he claimed. And
then, in
apparent reference to Moyo’s generalisations, he went on: “It’s not
just
about a few apartheid guys and Rhode-sians managing the papers but they
are
in fact owned by the British who control and determine the
editorial
contents of the papers.”
He referred to the Scott Trust
which owns the Guardian Media Group, owners
of 87% of the Mail &
Guardian. But he made no mention of the safeguards the
trust provides against
proprietorial intervention in the editorial policy of
its newspapers. Nor
did he mention South Africa’s largest circu- lation
paper, the Sunday Times,
wholly owned by Johnnic, which Moyo had named as
central to his
apartheid/Rhodesian conspiracy theory. As neither the owners
nor editor of
the paper are white, this might have proved difficult to
sustain and Mudenge
wisely thought better of it!
But Mudenge did once again hold aloft his
key piece of evidence of British
machinations: the Westminster Foundation.
And to what extent had this
sinister organisation penetrated Zimbabwe’s media
scene? The grand sum of £4
000 had been given to a magazine called Megabuck,
it seems, and a further
£20 000 to the Daily News. These modest amounts were
taken by Mudenge to
mean the British were “pouring” money into the
independent media. But £20
000 is of course rather less than the £1 million
Tiny Rowland gave Zanu PF!
At the centre of the conspiracy is baked beans
magnate, Sir Anthony (Tony) O
’Reilly who, it will be recalled, used to host
President Mugabe at his Irish
castle. That relationship soured when O’Reilly
transferred his affections to
Nelson Mandela. While O’Reilly’s Independent
Group owns papers in Britain
and Ireland, it also owns the Independent chain
in South Africa which used
to be the Argus Group in which Anglo American were
significant stakeholders.
It is true, as the Herald report suggests, that
South African journalists
accuse Independent papers of spinelessness in their
dealings with the ANC
government, although it is difficult to understand why
the Herald — and
particularly Lovemore Mataire whose byline appears on the
piece — would
regard spinelessness as an offence!
Mudenge didn’t say
why it was okay for the Zanu PF government to take up the
Argus shares in
what is now Zimpapers in 1980 but not okay for O’Reilly to
do the same in
South Africa in 1994. Although O’Reilly might have accepted a
British
knighthood, he remains very much an Irish nationalist at heart and
many
observers may have suppressed a chuckle at Mudenge’s attempt to situate
the
buccaneering Irishman at the centre of a British imperialist cons-
piracy.
Only in Zimbabwe would a minister — with the help of gullible
reporters — get
away with such nonsense!
As for Mudenge’s accusation that the British
connection explains why the
South African media is so “rabidly anti-Zimbabwe”
and trying to “make the
government of the day unpopular”, there is no
explanation as to why
black-owned and government-owned media in South Africa
seem to be of the
same view about the Mugabe regime!
As the South
African Editors Forum chair Mathatha Tsedu said in response to
Moyo’s recent
vituperations, if the Zimbabwe government wants to clean up
its image it
should first look at what it is doing to the country.
This whole episode
of press-bashing appears to have been sparked by a report
in the Sunday Times
of troop deployments in Matabeleland. At his press
conference with foreign
correspondents Moyo denied that John Nkomo had
commented on the issue despite
news agency reports quoting the minister that
were picked up by a number of
media organisations. There was “no way” Nkomo
could have commented on such
deployments because he was not Defence
minister, Moyo implausibly
argued.
This is all very revealing. First of all there was no point
denying remarks
made by another minister when reports of those remarks were
carried in all
the media and have not been disputed by the minister
concerned. Just because
the remarks proved embarrassing in terms of
Zimbabwe’s claims to be
conducting a free and fair poll doesn’t make them
inadmissible.
But even more disingenuous were Moyo’s comments on the
structure of the
South African media. Having lived and worked for some years
in Joha-nnesburg
Moyo knows perfectly well the Sunday Times is owned by black
empowerment
group, Johnnic. It even carries the Johnnic logo on its
masthead.
As for Chris Bishop, cited by Moyo as an example of
ex-Rhodesian editorial
control, he first came to Zimbabwe in the mid-1990s.
He then went to South
Africa at the end of the decade to take up a SABC post.
From there he headed
Botswana Television for a while before returning to the
SABC. He has never
been a Rhodesian or ex-Rhodesian.
Moyo is probably
thinking of John Bishop who was a BSAP officer before
joining RBC and then
moving to South Africa in the late 1970s where he
joined the SABC, retiring
in 1994.
This is not the first time Moyo has got his facts wrong. We
recall the
casual way he told everyone that our assistant editor Joram Nyathi
had been
involved at the Financial Gazette in the 1970s.
Moyo cannot plead
ignorance in this case. He knows who owns what newspapers
in South Africa and
who their editors are. So why does he make such
misleading comments? Because
that is what pleases Mugabe.
In order to satisfy his master’s
increasingly untenable position, Moyo is
obliged to tell stories he knows to
be untrue.
There is a funny ending to this story. When Moyo had finished
ranting and
raving about the apartheid press and the assembled foreign
correspondents
were preparing to leave Munhumutapa Building, the minister
approached one of
Agence France Presse’s correspondents here, an American,
and promised that
next time he would have his remarks translated into French
so the AFP
correspondent could understand him better!
Why is President
Mugabe writing stories under a nom de plume in the Herald?
In last Friday’s
edition the paper carried a picture of the president on its
opinion page. But
it was bylined “Tim Chigodo”. The story, “MDC unleashes
its hooligans”, was
clearly inspired by the person who describes himself on
the Zanu PF website
as a “script-writer”. And it evidently reflects the
president’s thinking with
the now-customary childish accusations that the
MDC is employing violence in
a vain attempt to stop the land exercise.
“In an effort to please its
British and American backers the opposition has
engaged in dirty and
deplorable acts to discredit the programme which has
economically empowered
the landless majority,” the article claimed.
So we must conclude it was
an authentic piece of propaganda rather than
journalism. After all, who,
other than Zanu PF’s myopic leadership, could
claim landless peasants have
been “empowered” when they have not been given
the means to produce food and
chefs have anyway been given the best land?
And who in their right mind would
accuse the MDC of “employing violence” in
the same week that four MDC
supporters were murdered by Zanu PF thugs who
act with impunity?
No real
journalist would write such things. They are obviously the product
of Zanu
PF’s deceitful publicity department. But why publish a picture of
the
president and call him “Tim Chigodo”? We don’t get it.
The Independent on
December 21 carried a story about chefs taking prime
farms under the model A2
commercial settlement scheme. South Africa’s Sunday
Independent picked up the
story virtually verbatim two days later. And the
Daily News published the
details last Thursday, quoting the Sunday
Independent. Despite this curious
circuitry we are pleased the news is
getting out.
What Zanu PF has
been billing as a “land to the people” exercise with over
100 000
beneficiaries is evidently a “land to some people first” scheme.
Despite
evidence that opposition personalities and other non-Zanu PF
individuals are
among the beneficiaries, the Minister of Lands uses his
discretion in
awarding farms under the A2 scheme. This means it remains an
entirely
partisan process open to abuse.
As a government spokesman so disarmingly
put it: “Any liberation war veteran
is guaranteed land under this
arrangement...It does not matter whether he is
a retired army general, a
party functionary or police commissioner.” Nor
does it matter, it seems, if
he has no idea how to farm!
This needs to be brought to the attention of
the gullible Sadc ministers who
said how pleased they were that land reform
was now being carried out
legally and that the country was returning to
“normality”.
We had another example of “normality” on December 18 when a
group of Zanu PF
supporters descended on the Chegutu mayoral offices. They
ordered the
workers out and locked the doors. They said they would only
reopen them when
the recently elected mayor, Francis Dhlakama, had
quit.
Dhlakama then contacted the officer-in-charge of the Chegutu ZRP,
Paul
Chinakidzwa, who said there was nothing he could do. His hands were
tied, he
said.
Here is a case of ruling-party supporters taking the
law into their own
hands in an effort to thwart a democratic outcome. Instead
of upholding the
law the police admitted they were unable to act because it
was a political
issue.
What could be more symptomatic of Zimbabwe’s
descent into anarchy? Those
Sadc ministers who short-changed the people of
this country in the interests
of political solidarity during their visit last
month need to be acquainted
with how the government interpreted their message
of support.
The ministers praised the Zimbabwe authorities for “ensuring
acts of
violence were dealt with in accordance with the rule of law,
irrespective of
the political affiliation of the alleged perpe-
trators”.
“It would be difficult to imagine a more discreditable
statement being made
on the Zimbabwean situation,” political analyst, Brian
Raftopoulos, has
commented.
We agree. By colluding with Stan Mudenge
and putting out a deceitful
communiqué, Sadc ministers now need to be held
accountable for aiding and
abetting lawlessness.
We are not usually
sympathetic to the pretensions of Registrar-General
Tobaiwa Mudede whose
service record has been less than distinguished. But
his reply to the silly
conspiracy theories of the Sunday Mail’s Munyaradzi
Huni were well worth a
read last weekend.
Huni, whose sole function at the Mail is evidently to
write dictated stories
aimed at rubbishing the MDC, claimed the RG’s office
issued MDC officials
with blank passports. Mudede flatly denied the
report.
“When issuing a passport the department does not look at a
person’s colour,
creed, religion, or political affiliation,” he said. “The
Zimbabwean
passport is issued to citizens and all applications are processed
on the
same basis. We are legally duty-bound to issue
a passport to a
citizen of Zimbabwe on receipt of his/her appli- cation.
Issuance of a
passport can only be withheld for security reasons on the
recommendation of
the police, chief immigration officer, law courts or any
other
informant.”
While we are not entirely happy with the reference to “any
other informant”
or the claim that everybody is treated the same when some
passports are of
shorter validity than others, this nevertheless represents a
useful
statement of policy and is a significant departure from Mudede’s
previous
position that a passport was a privilege, not a right.
But he
didn’t stop there. In taking apart Huni’s story, Mudede included this
telling
comment: “Munyaradzi Huni has dramatised the issue for reasons best
known to
himself. He does not even know our passport issuing office
and
procedure.”
Not satisfied with that scathing put-down, Mudede
added this sting in the
tail: “Huni mentioned to the Deputy Registrar-General
on the phone that he
was under pressure to publish the story. Perhaps he can
state to the public
who pressured him to this extent.”
The answer to
that must be evident to all. Not even its closest admirers
would accuse the
Sunday Mail of being anything other than a Zanu PF
mouthpiece. Here we have
further evidence of an ongoing row between the
politicians around the
president, keen to use and abuse the RG’s office as
part of their “total war”
electoral strategy, and a public office holder
increasingly aware that there
may be life after Mugabe, publicly rebutting
partisan disinformation being
put out in the government press about his
office. Mudede made sure his reply
was published by sending it to other
papers.
We have already seen
spats in Chegutu between Zanu PF and officials of the
RG’s office over the
voters’ roll. But replying to the Sunday Mail’s
attempts to implicate the
RG’s office in supporting the MDC, Mudede had this
to say: “Looking at the
manner and the covert intention of the author of
this article, it is our
strong belief that he is pretending to be an
innocent person in this plot. We
believe that it is not the voters’ rolls
that are in the pocket of the MDC
but Munyaradzi Huni himself and the person
behind his authorship.”
What on
earth can he mean: that Jonathan Moyo is the MDC’s biggest
vote-winner?
That’s certainly what most people think.
Is there anybody left who still
thinks the government was sincere in its
tribute to Joshua Nkomo after the
events of last week? If so, why name a
shabby second-rate airport after him?
Why not name the country’s main
airport after him? Wouldn’t that have been a
fitting tribute?
It is extraordinary how far Joseph Msika, Dumiso
Dabengwa and Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu are prepared to go in accepting a second-
class honour for the
country’s founding father. In doing so they have
demonstrated they have
learnt nothing about what people in Bulawayo feel
about the hollow unity
accord and their demeaning role in keeping it
alive.
Few Zimbabweans will be sorry to see the departure of Palestinian
ambassador
Ali Halimeh. At every opportunity he had unprofessionally confused
his role
with that of a cheerleader for Zanu PF. He was at it again last
Thursday at
his farewell dinner where he expressed support for President
Mugabe’s stance
on land redistribution and said under a true democracy people
should be
given an opportunity to decide their destiny in line with their own
culture
and priorities.
This comes from the representative of a state that
has never held a single
election. And supposing the ruling party in any state
establishes a culture
of violence and intimidation because it is scared of
losing? What are the
people to do then Cde Halimeh? You didn’t
say.
Criticising the international media, he said: “No one has a right to
promote
your image but yourselves. Nobody has a right to tell you what to
do.”
But, again, he didn’t define “yourselves”. He meant of course the
regime he
has so assiduously supported all these years. Now at last he has
called it a
day. But in placing the state of Palestine squarely on the side
of Zanu PF
he has done his government a disservice.
We should not be
too harsh. For many years Halimeh had refused to return to
Palestine, making
Zimbabwe his permanent home. Perhaps in abandoning
President Mugabe’s sinking
ship he is sending a signal. But we shall only
really know how bad things are
when Mengistu is spotted boarding a plane
out!
Zim Independent
National cattle herd down by over 45%
Augustine
Mukaro
ZIMBABWE is bracing itself for serious beef shortages this year amid
a
dramatic decline in the national herd due to the farm invasions
spearheaded
by Zanu PF mobs and so-called war veterans, forcing farmers to
embark on
accelerated destocking.
The beef herd has experienced a
record decline of 45% in the commercial
breeding sector over the past year, a
situation described by the Commercial
Farmers Union (CFU) as
“catastrophic”.
Recent figures from the Central Statistical Office show a
disturbing trend.
Females bulled in the 12 months to March 31 1999, 2000
and 2001 are 508 000,
436 000 and 378 000 respectively. In the September CSO
survey, bulling
intentions for the period up to March 2002 declined to 282
000 head.
The commercial herd normally supplies up to 80% of exportable
beef, which
potentially earns Zimbabwe foreign currency of up to US$60
million per
annum.
In a statement to the Zimbabwe Independent, the CFU
said the commercial beef
industry was under siege.
“To say that the
commercial beef industry in Zimbabwe, like agriculture in
general, is under
siege is an understatement.
“This is nothing short of catastrophic because,
unlike crop or chicken
production, cattle breeding/production is a long-term
business,” the CFU
said.
The Cattle Producers Association said it was
extremely concerned at the
ongoing destocking taking place on commercial
farms.
“Reasons for this level of destocking are clear. Prior to the
land
invasions, poor viability was a major factor — and still is. The growth
of
the parallel market for foreign exchange has led to soaring costs
of
production without a matching increase in beef producer prices,” the
CPA
said.
It said the onset of farm invasions in February 2000 and the
subsequent
gazetting of 85% of the land owned by CFU members caused an
escalation in
destocking as a result of direct intimidation and extreme
uncertainty.
Since mid-2001, a number of events have exacerbated the
pressure on
commercial farmers to destock, the CFU said.
In August the
outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) caused the
immediate suspension
of beef exports. This created marketing problems and
impacted negatively on
viability. Although the FMD situation was relatively
contained, thanks to the
Department of Veterinary Services, the continued
illegal movement of cattle
related to farm occupations remained a threat.
The CFU said in October,
the introduction of price controls on so-called
basic commodities such as
beef interfered with the market. At the end of the
day, commodities could not
be sold for less than they cost to produce.
The gazetting of Statutory
Instrument 338 in November and the ministerial
statement that maximum farm
size regulations would be enforced on the few
commercial farms that remained
unlisted for acquisition had introduced
additional pressure on cattle
producers.
Amidst all the doom and gloom surrounding the beef industry, one
positive
development was the resumption of beef exports in December to South
Africa,
the CFU said.
“Potential markets in Libya and Malaysia are
also in the development stage
and could become a reality soon. It is
important to note however, that any
export market prepared to pay for our
beef requires veterinary standards to
be maintained and industry therefore
needs to have greater discipline than
has been evident of late,” the CFU
said.
Zim Independent
Govt sets up land-grab command centre
Forward
Maisokwadzo
GOVERNMENT has set up a command centre in the capital to
spearhead the
widely-condemned fast-track land grab, it has been
learnt.
The centre, which falls under the President’s Office, is being
manned by
officials from the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture and experts on
the
sector drawn from other line ministries.
It will be housed at the
defunct Production Services Unit which used to fall
under the Ministry of
Information and Publicity.
Those reporting to the centre will include
officials from the Department of
Veterinary Services, Agritex and the tsetse
control department, among
others.
A visit to the site by the Zimbabwe
Independent this week revealed that
refurbishment work was underway and
government workers were busy
partitioning the offices.
Sources in the
Ministry of Agriculture said equipment such as computers had
already been
sourced and the cash-strapped government had set aside millions
of dollars to
finance the centre.
“Anything to do with land redistribution and
acquisition will be captured at
the centre, and this includes all the
logistics and dissemination of
information,” said a government
source.
“The major aim to establish the centre is to give an impetus to
the land
redistribution exercise.”
Zimbabwe’s economy has worsened
dramatically since pro-government militants
began invading commercial farms
in February 2000 in support of President
Mugabe’s campaign to punish
perceived political opponents.
The country now faces serious food
shortages due to reduced agricultural
output resulting from the
invasions.
Critics blame Zimbabwe’s economic crisis on government’s
ill-conceived and
arbitrary land seizures but Mugabe has accused local whites
and western
governments opposed to his controversial land programme of
sabotaging the
economy.
The costs of the command centre and the
identity of its director could not
be established yesterday but its budget
will be drawn from the Ministry of
Lands.
December Inflation Rate Expected To Hit 109%
Zimbabwe Independent
(Harare)
January 4, 2002
Posted to the web January 4,
2002
Godfrey Marawanyika
THE country's inflation rate, which
has soared to dizzy heights of triple
digit figures, is expected to hit 109%
for the month of December.
November inflation is at 103,08%. Zimbabwe's
soaring inflation rate has been
a major problem, stifling economic growth and
development. For almost four
years this was mainly due to continued
expenditure overruns by the
government.
Even the price controls, which
were effected by the government during the
third quarter of the year, might
fail to curtail the run-away inflation
rate, mainly due to the failure by the
Central Statistical Office to
effectively assess where consumers were
purchasing commodities.
Since the introduction of price controls, a
thriving black market of all the
basic commodities has emerged where the
goods are being sold over and above
the gazetted prices. This has been
compounded by the steady growth of money
supply with no expectations of
interest rates going down.
Economist John Robertson said inflation might
reach 109%. "I forecast that
it might reach between 108%-109%, because the
price controls have only hit
about 30% of various sectors," Robertson said.
"The rise in inflation is
expected to reach these high figures in direct
response to President
Mugabe's speech in Victoria Falls that government was
going to widen the
price controls base."
He said technically, this
would not work, citing for example the issue of
school fees at boarding
schools.
"Even if the government says they are introducing controls,
boarding schools
will definitely not agree to that because they will only be
able to afford
one meal a day if they peg the fees at last year's levels," he
said.
"The inflationary pressures from the previous year are still there
so
prospects of inflation going downwards are almost
non-existent."
Another analyst said inflation might reach 109% due to the
government's
over-reliance on domestic funding.
"Inflationary
pressures are still there as government is relying on domestic
funding in the
absence of international financiers," said the analyst.
The analyst said
the re-introduction of the price controls would see
inflation going
up.
The central bank has since August been trying to tame the inflation
bug by
maintaining a tight monetary policy characterised by high positive
real
interest rates of more than 10%.
CSC seeks new markets in
Asia
Stanley James
A delegation from Asian and Middle East
countries is expected in the country
during the first quarter of the year to
finalise a deal with the
cash-strapped Cold Storage Company (CSC) on beef
exports to that region.
The delegation will comprise ministers of trade
and commerce from Malaysia,
Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates among
others.
Negotiations will centre on the CSC gaining markets into various
countries
within that region.
CSC acting marketing director Isaiah
Machingura confirmed this week they
were expecting the delegation during the
first quarter of the year.
He did not specify the expected levels of
exports to the region saying these
were still being worked out.
The
CSC's export market base has been severely affected by the suspension of
beef
exports to the European Union market.
The situation has created
uncertainity about the viability of the beef
industry which has been
prejudiced of millions of dollars in profits since
August 2001, when the
self-imposed suspension came into effect.
The commercialised CSC also
intends to tap other markets in North Africa.
Machingura said the
suspension of beef exports was likely to be lifted
during the course of the
year following negotiations between industry
stakeholders and EU
officials.
"There are indications that the suspension of the beef exports
to the EU
will be lifted soon," said Machingura.
He said that the
company still continued to supply beef to South Africa
under an agreement
which was sealed between the two governments a few years
ago.
Tourism
revenue monitoring enhanced
Godfrey Marawanyika
THE Tourism
Revenue Form (TR1), which will result in intensified monitoring
of foreign
currency movements within the tourism sector became operational
on Wednesday,
a month after the initial proposed launch.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ), in conjunction with the Zimbabwe Tourism
Authority (ZTA), have put in
place the new monitoring mechanism as a
stop-gap measure to avoid leakages
within the sector.
Initially the forms were supposed to be operational
from December 1, but due
to complications and the non-availability of a clear
set of guidelines, this
was delayed by a further 30 days.
The document
was also delayed for public disbursement due to the
non-availability of
quality printing ink and to allow for consultations with
concerned
parties.
Central bank officials said both the RBZ and the ZTA would meet
the costs of
printing the forms.
Although the tourism sector is the
third highest contributor towards the
country's gross domestic product after
agriculture and mining, the
government has on several occasions complained of
forex leakages in the
sector.
The introduction of the TR1 form will
facilitate the recognition of the
tourism industry as an export industry for
export incentives purposes,
enhance data collection and simplify the foreign
exchange generation by the
industry for balance of payment
purposes.
The TR1 form ensures that the ministers of Finance and Economic
Development
and Environment and Tourism assess tourism sector
earnings.
"The ministers of Finance and Economic Development and
Environment and
Tourism quantify the tourism sector contribution towards
national foreign
currency earnings in order to determine appropriate policies
and incentives
for the sector," reads the TR1 form.
The central bank
and ZTA said once the form was introduced it would
facilitate the tourism
industry being an export industry.
Some of the tourism sectors that are
covered by the act include
boats/houseboats, boatels, hotels, hostels, inns,
lodges, motels,
self-catering accommodation, camps, farmhouses and
caravan/camping parking
facilities.
Tour operators who provide hunting
or fishing safaris for tourists,
photographic tours, special interest tours -
including for historical,
scientific or botanical purposes - and sight-seeing
tours, including tours
for animal viewing, are also supposed to complete the
form.
Once the TR1 form is implemented, all receipts from international
credit
cards would be split between dealers and operators. Authorised dealers
will
get 40% and tourism operators 60%.
"However, for purposes of Form
TR1, the tourism operator should record 100%
of international credit card
receipts. The respective allocations must be
indicated on the monthly foreign
currency analysis form," the document
reads.
"This form assists in the
daily analysis of the tourism operator's banking
and should be completed by
the operator on a daily basis. Where the operator
has not banked anything, a
nil return should be entered."
Econet now largest mobile operator in
Nigeria
ECONET Wireless has become the largest mobile network in Nigeria
with over
200 000 subscribers, barely four months after it commenced
services, while
the switching capacity of its Zimbabwean network is being
expanded by 70
000.
Group chief executive officer, Strive Masiyiwa
told shareholders attending
Econet's annual general meeting in Harare this
week that management is happy
with the progress made since the launch of the
Nigerian network, which is
experiencing unprecedented demand, particularly
from pre-paid customers.
"We are very excited about Nigeria where the
network has expanded to 200 000
subscribers, making Econet the single largest
network operator in that
country," Masiyiwa told shareholders via a telephone
link from his
Johannesburg offices.
"The huge subscriber base has been
driven by the popular pre-paid product,
Buddie, which has received tremendous
response from the market."
Econet beat the regulator's deadline by three
days and launched its Nigerian
network on August 6 2001, becoming the first
GSM network operator to offer
services ahead of its South Africa-based rival,
MTN.
Demand for services was so high on launch day that more than 30 000
contract
packages were sold in the commercial capital, Lagos,
alone.
Masiyiwa said the Nigerian market presented a huge potential for
Econet, and
management expects to connect up to as many as 50 000 new
customers every
month during the course of the year.
The Nigerian
operation now also offers a full international roaming service
in addition to
the pre-paid and contract mobile services.
Under a special technical
support agreement, Econet Wireless International
is paid a certain percentage
of the revenue generated by each subscriber
connected to the Nigerian
network.
On Zimbabwe, where Econet is the largest network operator,
Masiyiwa said
demand for both pre-paid and contract mobile services continues
to outstrip
supply. He said thousands of prospective customers continue to
inquire about
the possibility of connecting to the Econet
network.
"Demand in Zimbabwe is extremely high and far exceeds our
capacity to
supply. If we were running a waiting list, by now it could have
easily
exceeded 100 000," Masiyiwa said.
He told the shareholders that
Econet would invest to expand the switching
capacity by up to 70 000
subscribers by the end of the first half of this
year.
"This however
does not necessarily mean that we will automatically add
another 70 000
customers to the network. But the expansion will at least
help to ease
congestion and also give us the flexibility when we decide to
add more
customers," said Masiyiwa.
He commended the Zimbabwean management team
and staff for running the Econet
network, which has maintained its market
leadership position since he left
the country almost two years
ago.
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe is currently the largest mobile operator in
the
country with over 134 000 subscribers, and is also the dominant player
in
the pre-paid market through the now globally recognised brand,
Buddie.
Masiyiwa said Econet has been able to attract and retain key
personnel
because of the opportunities that the group now offers to its staff
to work
on its international operations in such countries as Nigeria, South
Africa,
Lesotho, the UK and New Zealand.
The group currently employs
more than 1 000 people of 17 different
nationalities in its international
operations.
He also confirmed that work on the long-awaited shareholder
circular on
Econet's international operations in the core areas of satellite,
mobile,
fixed and Internet services was almost complete and will be released
to
shareholders once it has been cleared by Zimbabwe Stock Exchange
(ZSE).
Masiyiwa told the AGM that preparation of the document, currently
running
into 70 pages, had taken longer than anticipated due to an extensive
legal
verification exercise that was undertaken by international lawyers
and
auditors.
"It has been a very thorough exercise and I am glad to
say that most of the
work has been completed. We have received tremendous
support from the
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange who have been extremely helpful in
guiding us
through their requirements. We are now in the final stages of the
exercise
and I can assure you that the document will be out soon," he
said.
Through UK-registered Econet Wireless Ltd, the group's investments
include
the Nigerian mobile network; the fixed and mobile network in Lesotho;
a
satellite operation in the UK; and the recently won
second-and-a-half
generation GSM licence in New Zealand. - Staff
Writer.
Work-place fatalities drop
Stanley James
ZIMBABWE'S
fatal accidents rate in the industrial sector eased from 114 in
2000 to 58
during the year 2001, official figures released this week show.
According
to Matthew Ncube, the National Social Security Authority's
assistant general
manager for occupational health, safety research and
policy development, the
decline in fatal accidents was largely due to
stringent safety measures being
implemented.
"For the year ending December 31 2001, a total of 58
accidents was recorded,
a drop from the previous year where the industrial
sector registered 114
accidents," Ncube said.
Of the fatal accidents
which were recorded during the just-ended year, the
mining industry accounted
for the greater number, amounting to 31 accidents.
Other sectors such as
the construction, agriculture and manufacturing, among
others, had an average
of four casualties each.
Analysts this week said that the decline might
have been because of the
sudden drop in activity in the construction industry
which continued to
register little activity because of the harsh economic
climate.
Ncube said that there were concerted efforts in taking measures
which
fostered safe working conditions at construction sites.
"We are
still working on various mechanisms to ensure that we control
fatal
accidents. In fact there have been effective measures to increase
factory
inspectors at major sites around the country," he said.
The
control and monitoring of safety measures at workplaces continued to
be
hindered by the shortage of staff.
Ncube said the department had
taken a leading role to ensure that a new code
of conduct to meet demands at
industrial level would be formulated.
"As we enter the new year, it is
essential to create a conducive environment
in which casualties at
work-places continue to be strictly controlled and
monitored," he
said.
Annual broad money growth increases
ANNUAL broad money
(M3)/1 growth increased to 83,5% in September, from 99,5%
in August,
reflecting increases in both narrow and quasi-money.
Narrow money grew by
6,4 percentage points to 124,3% and quasi-money, 3,4
percentage points to
53,6%.
Growth in narrow money emanated from increases in demand deposits
of $45,09
billion and notes and coin in circulation, $12,17 billion.
Long-term
deposits rose by $13,23 billion.
Deposits with maturities of
over 30 days, Class C and other share deposits
at Building Societies grew by
$12,75 billion. Savings deposits at commercial
banks and building societies
rose by $9,72 billion and $6,59
billion respectively. At the People's Own
Savings Bank (POSB), savings and
time deposits registered respective
increases of $4,08 billion and $482,1
million.
Year-on-year, M3 growth
was underpinned by domestic credit expansion of
$95,11 billion coupled with a
$273,7 million improvement in net foreign
assets. Private sector credit went
up by $35,87 billion, with deposit money
banks' bills discounted and loans
and advances contributing $14,06 billion
and $11, 37 billion respectively.
Offshore financing, however, declined by
$1,36 billion.
Lending by
other banking institutions/2 to the private sector grew by $4,90
billion.
This emanated from increases in mortgage advances, $2,31 billion;
other loans
and advances, $1,23 billion and; bankers' acceptances, $1,18
billion. Lending
for hire purchase registered a decline of $181,2 million.
Net credit to
government rose by $53,68 billion, with $32,58 billion from
deposit money
banks and $17,76 billion from the Reserve Bank. Other banking
institutions
accounted for $3,33 billion. Claims on public enterprises also
grew by $5,55
billion.
Month-on-month, M3 grew by $10,63 billion, stemming from
increases of $6,85
billion and $3,78 billion in quasi and narrow money,
respectively. Domestic
credit growth of $17,16 billion, was underpinned by
respective increases of
$12,86 billion and $5,69 billion in credit to the
private sector and
government. Month-on-month claims on public enterprises,
however, declined
by $1,39 billion.
Total deposits with the banking
sector rose by $8,87 billion to $204,24
billion in September. This was due to
increases of $8,09 billion at
commercial banks; $1,61 billion at merchant
banks; $563,6 million at finance
houses and; $106,5 million at the POSB.
Building societies, however,
recorded a decline of $1,44
billion.
Savings deposits grew by $2,53 billion to $41,63 billion -
arising from
increases at commercial banks, $1,53 billion; building
societies, $842
million and the POSB, $152,2 million.
Deposit
liabilities with maturities of under 30 days went up by $3,25
billion to
$27,05 billion, due to increases of $3,95 billion and $835,3
million at
commercial banks and finance houses, respectively. This was
against a decline
of $1,73 million realised at building societies.
Total long-term deposits
rose by $2,31 billion to $29,64 billion in
September.
Growth were
recorded as follows: commercial banks, $2,55 billion; finance
houses, $427,3
million and merchant banks. $164,7 million and; merchant
banks $164,7
million. At building societies, however, long-term deposits
fell by $831,4
million.
Demand deposits increased from $88,85 billion in August to $90,
09 billion
in September, largely indicating an increase of $1,25 billion at
merchant
banks and, $39,1 million at commercial banks, which more than offset
a $46,9
million decrease at discount houses.
The month of September
saw total loans and advances grow by $9,4 billion to
$88,35 billion, mainly
accounted for by an increase of $9,01 billion at
commercial banks and $33,4
million at merchant banks. Mortgage lending also
rose, by $276,3 million to
$12,19 billion. - Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Forex parallel market rates
weaken
Forward Maisokwadzo
FOREIGN currency parallel market rates
have started weakening on the back of
tight demand in a shortage-hit market
as buyers deserted the market after
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe put in place
stringent measures to quash the
once-thriving market.
Analysts this
week said the down swing in rates was also a direct
consequence of the
government's re-introduction of price controls on
basic
commodities.
"Demand is not as much as it was from the industry
during the middle of last
year," said independent economist, John Robertson
referring to the current
fall in rates on the foreign currency parallel
market.
"With the current unsustainable official rate and price
controls
manufacturers cannot make goods under such an
environment."
He said business could not function on a profit or break
even basis when
industry could not recover their high input
costs.
"The ultimate is that shrinkage in demand will result in prices
going down,
a negative factor to the performance of the manufacturing
industry," he
said.
Before the end of the year the Zimbabwe dollar was
going for between 300 and
350 per US unit but now it's around 250 and 270.
Even the South African rand
plunged further as it used to sell for between
30-35 but now is around 15-20
to the Zimbabwe dollar.
Analysts said
indications were that the rand would continue sliding amid
high dwindling
foreign receipts.
"We are heading for the worst as indications are that
many manufacturing
firms will not re-open and those which open will not
operate at full scale,"
said Robertson.
Government which, out of
desperation, reverted to the socialist command
economy, declared parallel
market dealings illegal.
"Transactions are being done clandestinely and
indications are that rates
are going for below 300 to the US unit," a dealer
said.
Stockmarket forecast to weather economic storm
Forward
Maisokwadzo
THE stockmarket is resilient enough to maintain an upward
swing despite the
likelihood of economic turbulence because of negative
economic factors
prevailing in the country, analysts have
said.
Responding to concerns that the upswing which resumed early last
year after
decades of negative growth could be cut short, analysts said the
bourse
would survive the turbulence.
"Strong economic fundamentals,
mainly declining and stable interest rates,
will fuel the recovery of the
stockmarket," one analyst said.
Stocks ended the year lower as investors
digested consumer confidence data,
such as the reintroduction of price
controls and high inflation figures
towards year-end, sparking a sell-off
into strength on the premise the
market had run ahead of
itself.
However, the market opened the year fairly active but soft, with
the main
industrial index dipping 414,36 points to close at 45 937,53 by
Wednesday
afternoon.
"The market is correcting itself but indications
are that it will maintain
its upward trend," said one analyst.
A lot
has changed since the deliberate reduction of interest rates which
resulted
in financial stocks becoming the top performers on the local bourse
and
market watchers still believe financial counters will climb.
Although
several counters gained 25 cents, significant gains were in ABCH,
up 200
cents to 10 200 and blue chip Old Mutual put on 900 cents to 37
100.
Analysts predicted the high activity on the stockmarket to be
maintained
during the year despite confidence knocks in the form of rising
negative
fundamentals, widespread industrial unrest and the 2002 budget which
failed
to give clues and direction of the country's crumbling
economy.
They said although investors were trading cautiously in view of
the
forthcoming presidential election in March, the stockmarket still
remained
attractive for many investors.
Two major deals were seen on
the bourse this week, with 51 million shares in
NMB changing hands on Monday
and a special bargain on 15 million Century
Holdings
shares.
Zimbabwean exporters begin to benefit from regional
FTA
Godfrey Marawanyika
ZIMBABWEAN exporters have begun to make
use of the introduction of the
Southern African Free Trade Area (FTA) as
evidenced by a demand of the
latter's certificates.
The sudden demand
comes in the wake of the initial failure by the country to
produce the Rules
of Origin certificates used by exporters as an
authenticating document in the
free trade area.
Under Zimbabwean law, only two industrial representative
bodies - the
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) and the
Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) - are the issuing authorities of
the certificates.
The certificates that started to be disbursed during
the third quarter of
last year are now in high demand.
James Jowa, an
economist with ZNCC, confirmed that the certificates were now
available and
were on sale.
"The Rules of Origin certificates are now available for
purchasing either at
ZNCC or CZI and they're selling quite well," Jowa
said.
He said although there were security feature problems associated
with the
initial printing that had since been rectified.
In June last
year one of the country's main printing companies, Fidelity
Printers, failed
to produce the certificates to the satisfaction of the two
issuing
authorities, making the participation of Zimbabwean companies in the
free
trade area virtually impossible.
Officials from both the CZI and the ZNCC
said the Common Market for Eastern
and Southern Africa (Comesa) certificates
were selling better due to the
absence of stringent rules.
Zimbabwe
now has the certificates for both Comesa and Sadc.
Delays in the
disbursement of the certificates was exposing the country's
market to that of
competitors, as foreign companies could export their
products into the
country whilst Zimbabwean exporters could not.
Preferential tariff rates
are granted only to goods that meet Sadc Rules of
Origin criteria. The
Revenue Authority is the designated authority for the
verification of the
certificates of origin.
The Zimbabwe Independent has it on good authority
that the certificates were
printed locally, but for security reasons, cannot
publish the name of the
company.
The printing of the certificates was
initially supposed to be done by a
South African company but disagreements
over the security features from
Zimbabwe and two other regional countries
scuttled the deal.
Tanganda releases impressive results against
odds
Forward Maisokwadzo
TANGANDA Tea Company has produced a
sterling set of results for the 12-month
period ended October
31.
Tanganda is among the companies that reported inflation-adjusted
accounts in
accordance with IAS 29 and Zimbabwe Stock Exchange
requirements.
On a historical cost basis, turnover went up by 128% to
$1,93 billion
compared to $845 million the previous year.
Exports
increased by 159% to $1,43 billion compared to last year's $556
million.
Earnings per share were up 550 cents compared to 221 cents in the
previous
period, while operating profit improved to $695 million
from $254 million
last year.
"Tanganda managed to produce pleasing results on the back of a
woeful
economic environment that Zimbabwean companies are operating in," said
one
analyst.
The company's impressive performance resulted in the
balance sheet remaining
strong with cash-flows giving rise to a net positive
position of $158
million at the end of the period under review compared to
last year's $125
million.
Tanganda attributed the impressive
performance to the increase in tea
production during the period under
review.
Made-tea production increased by 6% to 10 938 tonnes compared to
last year's
10 361 tonnes.
The company managed to perform well despite
farm occupations and the
attendant violence which disrupted agricultural
production.
The high rate of inflation has also eroded consumers
disposable incomes.
In a statement accompanying the company's financial
results, Tanganda said
while grades improved, quality suffered from periods
of heavier-than-normal
rains and a hotter period in October.
Tea
export prices began strongly but were poor for most of the year.
Tingamira
EPZ however made a substantial contribution to earnings.
Tanganda has
interest in producing, packing and distributing tea products.
On the
outlook, the company predicts its beverage division will exhibit
strong
growth.
It has also embarked on an export drive to increase
earnings.
The company expects to benefit from improved tea prices that
have begun to
increase slightly.
Cairns hit by low
demand
Stanley James
THE macro-economic instability in the
manufacturing sector has adversely
impacted on Cairns Foods Ltd, leading to a
decline in performance for the
trading period ended August 2001.
In
its annual report, Cairns Foods said during the period the food
manufacturing
firm went through a lean spell characterised by reductions in
volume of
sales, output and high production costs.
Chairman Elias Ngugama said that
the overall performance of the group had
been negatively affected by the
downturn in the manufacturing sector.
"The country's manufacturing sector
experienced a major downturn
characterised by escalating production costs,
depressed product demand and
foreign currency shortages," Ngugama
said.
"The group achieved, in historic terms, a turnover of $1,21 billion
and a
commendable profit after tax of $117 million. Our associate,
Charhons,
performed well and made significant contribution to these results,"
he said
in the group's annual report.
The Cairns group is part of the
demerged Astra Holdings Ltd which was
separated into three separate business
entities to enhance shareholder
value.
The group posted a negative
cash-flow largely due to the increase in working
capital arising from a
deliberate policy to keep high stock levels and
capital expenditure which was
limited to $67 million.
Ngugama said this resulted in a surge in the
level of net borrowings which
totaled $195 million.
Overal volumes of
output for the group's subsidiaries in the chips and
snacks division,
groceries sector, canning and winery were down by 9%.
Ngugama said that
in order to contain low production volumes, the group's
management had to
adopt aggressive cost-saving measures, which, to a large
extent, minimised a
further decline in margins.
Management was considering further
re-equipping and expansion plans,
focusing especially on the cereals and
canning businesses.
Ngugama said that the future remained bleak as it was
inevitable that the
level of disposable incomes would continue to be eroded
hence adversely
impacting on the volume of sales for Cairns.
"Looking
to the year ahead, the economy is expected to face high levels of
inflation,
foreign currency shortages and rising input costs. This, coupled
with
cautious customer spending, will inhibit real growth in volumes,"
he
said.
Ngugama however said the company would explore potential
regional markets.
Financial sector reaps rewards of reform
THE
financial system has benefitted immensely from the economic
reforms
instituted in the early 1990s, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
says.
In its weekly economic commentary, the RBZ said the opening up of
the
financial services sector saw the entrance of new players and the
emergence
of more innovative products and service delivery. This led to
increased
competition and deepening of the sector.
"The competition
has been characterised by both price and product
differentiation, as banks
increasingly focus on profitable niche markets,"
the bank said.
"A
wide range of products and services has been introduced in the
service
delivery, including personalised and priority banking. In addition,
banks
have also introduced wider services, including bancaassurance,
in-store
banking, telebanking and electronic banking."
Measured by the
volume of bank deposits and loans, financial intermediation
had expanded
significantly over the last decades.
Total bank deposits rose from $9
billion in 1990 to $179,4 billion by
end-September 2001, while loans
increased from $5,7 billion to $133 billion.
Reflecting this, financial
deepening - measured by the ratio of the stock of
money (M3) to gross
domestic product - improved from 22% in 1990 to 37% by
the end of
2000.
"Several financial institutions have also exploited the stock
exchange as a
source of equity capital. Listed banks have managed to raise
relatively
cheaper share capital, to comply with capital adequacy
requirements," the
central bank said.
"A stronger equity capital base
also enables banks to embark on certain
projects which cannot be funded from
retained earnings and debt finance."
The RBZ said better performance by
financial institutions had also
contributed to increased activity on the
equities market. - Staff Writer.
Comment from The Cape Argus (SA), 3 January
SA's only way out of
trouble is to get tough with Mugabe
Cape Town - About 10 weeks from
now, Zimbabwe is due to go to the polls. All
indications are that it could
lead to a catastrophe southern Africa hasn't
seen in decades. If the
government of South Africa doesn't take decisive
action in the next few
weeks, our currency will most likely lose another
half of its value and we
will be overwhelmed by several million refugees. We
have many months of
strong evidence that Robert Mugabe has become so
unpopular among his citizens
that it is highly unlikely that he could win
the election. We have even
stronger evidence that he will not willingly
leave office. It is virtually
certain that he will rig the election, stop
opposition supporters from
voting, disrupt the election process or simply
not accept the results.
Despite utter provocation, Zimbabweans have been
very patient and peaceful
the last year or two. They probably remember the
suffering that their own war
for liberation brought to their people. But
this patience has now worn out.
If Mugabe uses his military, fat from raping
the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, against his own people to stay in
power, there will be a violent
resistance. It could escalate into a civil
war, which will destabilise all
Zimbabwe's neighbours. Mugabe has recently
said openly, referring to the
election: "This is no longer just a contest.
This is a revolutionary
war."
The last thing Africa, especially southern Africa, needs now is
for one of
its most prominent and once powerful and prosperous countries to
turn into
an Angola, Somalia or Liberia. It will make a joke of Thabo Mbeki's
New
Partnership for African Development. It will scare tourists and
investors
off the entire region. It will lead to large scale starvation
inside
Zimbabwe, and millions will cross the borders into neighbouring
states,
especially South Africa. It will be too heavy a burden on our
infrastructure
and service delivery, and the working classes, the unemployed,
the old and
the sick in South Africa will pay the highest price. This likely
disaster is
just a few weeks away, yet I see little urgency in Pretoria,
Gaborone,
Maputo, Lusaka and Dar es Salaam to avert it or deal with it. Are
we going
to wait for it to happen before we start making plans, and then will
we ask
the Western world to come and help? There is only one man who can take
a
decisive lead now, and that is President Thabo Mbeki. The time
for
demonstrations of "African solidarity" or"solidarity between
former
liberation movements" is over. The crisis is upon us. The other
countries in
the region have repeatedly shown they are not willing or able to
deal with
Mugabe, and most have turned their eyes to Pretoria for
action.
Mbeki has the ear of the British government and that of the
Commonwealth.
These two bodies should be co-opted into the southern African
rescue plan
for Zimbabwe. Speak very loudly and carry an enormous stick,
should be the
approach. Mugabe, his senior Zanu-PF comrades and his generals
should be
warned of very serious consequences if they interfere with or rig
the
election. A minimum requirement should be that election monitors of
Southern
African Development Community countries and the Commonwealth be
given full
and safe access to all parts of Zimbabwe before and during the
election.
Mugabe's credibility is so low that even if he did not interfere
with the
election and won, Zimbabweans and the rest of us will still believe
that he
rigged it. But while that process of negotiations with Zanu PF is
going on,
we should be preparing refugee camps on our border and prepare to
feed
hundreds of thousands, if not millions. At the same time, our
security
forces should start deploying on our northern border to ensure
stability and
law and order. The best outcome at this late stage would
perhaps be to
persuade the Zanu PF leadership to forcibly oust Mugabe and to
postpone the
elections for a few months for things to settle down a bit.
Rightly, Mugabe
should face an international tribunal on charges of gross
human rights
violations, if not genocide, after the slaughter of some 20 000
people in
Matabeleland in the 1980s. But Mugabe knows that he will face
justice if he
is no longer the president, which is probably the main reason
why he is
clinging to power.
Perhaps the uncomfortable compromise
would be to offer him and some of his
top generals and ministers asylum
somewhere else - perhaps he could go to
some Arab dictatorship, like Uganda's
Idi Amin many years ago. But the main
issue is that the contingency plans
should be made now. If we wait for the
disaster to happen before we prepare,
we will pay a very dear price. This
time, we will not be able to blame
colonialism, Western imperialism or
apartheid. It is a disaster purely made
in Africa. If we don't deal with it
quickly and decisively, we will end up
not only paying a heavy material
price, but also the price of an undermined
self-esteem as Africans.
From ZWNEWS, 4
January
Rand, regional shortages threatens
SA food security
The South African milling industry has warned that the
precipitate fall in the rand exchange rate and southern African regional food
shortages are putting economic policy in jeopardy. As far back as the end of
November, the National Chamber of Milling said that bulk maize prices had risen
107% over the course of the year, and that it expected this to feed through to a
60% increase in the price of maize to consumers. Wheat prices, due mainly to the
fall in the rand’s exchange rate, had risen 27%. Since then, the rand has fallen
a further 25%. The weakening of the South African currency has been blamed in
large part on the deteriorating political situation in Zimbabwe. "At these
prices, consumers will be unable to afford maize meal as a staple food", the
Chamber said. "These increases must surely raise a red flag as to the status of
household food security in South Africa." The Chamber also warned of the effects
of exports of grain to other countries in the region. The disruptive effects of
farm invasions in Zimbabwe and erratic rains last season have added another
burden to the region’s maize supplies. In the past, Zimbabwe would have used its
grain reserves and imports to cover the deficit. But the reserves have been run
down to virtually zero, and the damage to Zimbabwe's export industries resulting
from political turmoil has meant that there is no foreign currency to pay for
imports. "The only containing factor on further maize price increases currently,
is the inability of the road and rail transportation system to effectively
export just over a million tons of local maize that is rumoured to be destined
for export markets," the Chamber said, in an apparent reference to plans for
food aid distribution in Zimbabwe and elsewhere.
CNN
Zimbabwe names 100,000 to get land
January 4, 2002 Posted: 10:08 AM EST
(1508 GMT)
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Zimbabwe's government has published the first list
of names of about 100,000 blacks scheduled to receive land seized from white
farmers under its controversial "fast track" land reform programme.
The names included politicians and loyalists to President Robert Mugabe.
The plan to redistribute farms to landless blacks has been marred by the
violent occupation of hundreds of farms by ruling party militants and has
plunged Zimbabwe into a political and economic crisis.
The majority of Zimbabwe's commercial farmland has been in the hands of
whites, who make up less than half a percent of the country's population.
But human rights groups have said the government was less interested in
correcting Zimbabwe's unfair land allocation than in attracting political
supporters ahead of presidential elections in March.
The list identifies Zimbabweans who applied under a government programme
offering parcels of land for commercial farming, and does not include squatters
who have already resettled on former white-owned farmland.
About 8.5 million hectares (20 million acres) of farmland -- about 95
percent of the farms owned by about 4,000 white farmers -- are being
nationalised.
Included among listed recipients is Tony Gara, a wealthy former
deputy government minister who owns a chemicals business and a chain of hair
salons.
Gara was censured by churches in Zimbabwe for comparing Mugabe to
Jesus and describing him as "a son of God."
Several politicians, a government research scientist, two former
broadcasters with the state radio station, an award-winning athlete from the
national police force and six senior journalists with the state-run Herald
newspaper were also among those on the list to receive farmland.
Joseph Chinotimba, a leader of a militant group that has organised
scores of violent farm occupations, has defended his inclusion on the list for
land on the outskirts of Harare, saying: "I deserve it."
The government says applications were granted to those committed to
retaining the productivity of seized land.
The Herald quoted Ivy Ncube, one of its reporters scheduled to
receive land, as saying she was looking forward to the chance to "venture into
tobacco farming."
"I cannot believe I now have my own portion of land. What a wonderful way
to begin a New Year," she said.
The land seizure programme has disrupted production of tobacco, the main
hard currency earner, and corn, the staple food, deepening the nation's worst
economic crisis since independence in 1980 and raising the spectre of food
shortages.
MSNBC
Zimbabwe politicians, journalists get seized
land
HARARE, Jan. 4 — The Zimbabwean government published on
Friday more names of
new land owners, including politicians and journalists,
who have benefited
from President Robert Mugabe's seizure of white-owned
farms.
The latest list published in the state-owned Herald newspaper
includes
dozens of leading personalities, many of them associated with
Mugabe's
ruling ZANU-PF party.
The government began this week
releasing the names of new land owners
who have sought commercial farm plots
seized under a controversial programme
of redistributing white-owned farms to
landless blacks.
Friday's list included Transport and Communications
Deputy Minister
Paul Mangwana, four ZANU-PF members of parliament, and Paul
Madzore, a
parliamentarian from the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change.
It also named seven journalists working for state media, a
prominent
musician and a town mayor.
The Herald has published more
than 1,000 names a day since Monday and
the government says more than 100,000
applicants have sought commercial farm
plots under the programme.
The first list included Agripa Gava, an executive member of the
independence
war veterans association, and former local government deputy
minister Tony
Gara.
''NOT FOR CRONIES''
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made
says the lists of names would show
the world that land reform enjoyed
national support and was not merely for
cronies of government
leaders.
The land drive began in February 2000 when self-styled war
veterans
invaded hundreds of white-owned farms. Two months later, the
government
began listing farms targeted for seizure under the
''fast-track
resettlement'' programme.
To date nearly 5,000 farms
have been listed under the plan.
Critics accuse Mugabe of using the
land issue to win votes ahead of
presidential elections scheduled for March
in which he faces a stiff
challenge from MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Last Friday, Zimbabwe's High Court ordered that a white
farmer
evicted from his two farms under the land programme be allowed to
retrieve
property from the farms.
Guy Watson-Smith appealed to the
High Court after he was evicted in
September from his Elim and Alamein farms,
among the largest white-owned
farms in Zimbabwe.
Watson-Smith said
in court papers the eviction was instigated by
retired army commander Solomon
Mujuru, a senior member of ZANU-PF party.
The Commercial Farmers
Union, grouping 4,500 mostly-white farmers,
said Mujuru was among ZANU-PF
officials, including civil servants and army
officers, who are taking up
farming plots under the land reform programme.
White farmers say the
government has failed to honour a pact brokered
in Nigeria in September to
implement a fair and orderly land reform
programme in exchange for funding
from former colonial power Britain.
Mugabe's government has insisted
it is complying with the agreement.
Transport and Communications Deputy Minister Paul Mangwana,
Four
ZANU-PF members of parliament,
Paul Madzore, a parliamentarian from the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
A prominent musician
A town
mayor.
Agripa Gava, an executive member of the independence war veterans
association,
Tony Gara, a wealthy former deputy government minister who owns
a chemicals business and a chain of hair salons.
A government research
scientist,
Two former broadcasters with the state radio station
An
award-winning athlete from the national police force
Six senior journalists
with the state-run Herald newspaper
Joseph Chinotimba, a leader of a
militant group that has organised scores of violent farm occupations, has
defended his inclusion on the list for land on the outskirts of Harare, saying:
"I deserve it."
16 Heads of States for Summit
Daily Times
(Blantyre)
January 3, 2002
Posted to the web January 3,
2002
Mabvuto Banda
Blantyre
UGANDAN President Yoweri Museveni
and his arch-foe Rwanda's Paul Kagame will
join the 14 leaders from the
Southern African Development Community (Sadc)
next week in Blantyre for an
extraordinary summit to discuss the
inter-congolese dialogue in the Great
Lakes region.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lilian Patel said yesterday at
a news conference
in Blantyre the summit will discuss ways to raise funds for
the
Inter-congolese dialogue and not the Zimbabwe crisis.
"The heads
of states will not discuss the Zimbabwe situation because it is
not a
conflict but an internal problem. The agenda is to meet and raise
funds for
the dialogue which will involve about 300 delegates and take 45
days," said
Patel who is also Sadc chairperson for the Council of Ministers.
Sadc,
being criticised by western leaders for failing to stop Robert
Mugabe's
seizure of white-owned farms, in September had a land summit in
Harare where
Muluzi, as SADC chairman, warned that political instability in
Zimbabwe would
snowball across the southern African region if not stopped.
Patel told
journalists that the Sadc leaders plus presidents Museveni and
Kagame will be
in attendance to help resolve the war in the Great Lakes
region.
"They
have all confirmed that they will be coming for the urgent meeting
whose
agenda will be to fund raise for the Inter-congolese meet to happen,"
she
said.
Patel said the summit, which will cost Malawi about K50 million to
host,
will urge needs countries to raise fund for the dialogue to work. She
said
that Malawi is the only country that has pledged US$100,000 (K6.7
million)
to resolve the war.
"South Africa have pledged to host and we
want more countries to come
forward before we ask donors to help us," she
said.
The 14-member regional grouping mandated Muluzi in August to help
former
Botswana President Ketumire Masire to accelerate the implementation of
peace
in the diamond-rich Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Patel
said Masire is also coming as the head of the inter-Conglose dialogue
and the
African Union will attend as observers.
The Congolese war escalated in
1998 after Rwanda invaded Kinshasa, accusing
it of supporting Hutu rebels who
were using the DRC as a base for attacks.
Burundi and Uganda joined in
backing some rebel groups fighting late Laurent
Kabila government while
Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia backed Kabila by
sending troops into the
Congo.
FinGaz
Zim ranked riskiest investment destination
Staff
Reporter
1/4/02 1:39:59 AM (GMT +2)
ZIMBABWE was the riskiest
investment destination in the world at the end of
last year, according to
latest ratings by the influential Economist
Intelligent Unit
(EIU).
The southern African country, grappling with its worst
economic and
political crisis, had a risk rating of E, which is reserved only
for the
riskiest countries.
A rating of A is given to countries
considered less risky investment
destinations.
Only flash
point
Zimbabwe had a country risk score of 82 out of a possible
100, closely
followed by the Sudan that had a score of 79 and a risk rating
of D.
Other southern African economies had an average country risk rating
of D,
making Zimbabwe the only flash point in the region.
The best
performing regional economy in terms of investor perception was
Botswana,
which had a B rating and a country risk score of 25.
Botswana even
outperformed some developed countries such as Australia, which
scored 26 and
had a B rating.
Economic analysts this week said Zimbabwe’s rating by the
EIU further
condemned the country at a time it is facing a crippling economic
crisis,
drama-tised by endemic shortages of foreign currency and an
unprecedented
closure of companies.
Chasing away
investors
Economist Witness Chinyama said the poor rating
effectively chased away
foreign investors and would worsen Zimbabwe’s hard
cash problems.
"It means that we have to rule out international investors
and that those
already here will continue to move out," he
said.
Galloping inflation
The EIU is a
London-based economic think-tank whose reports and analyses are
used by
investors and analysts globally to make investment decisions.
Consultant
economist John Robertson said Zimbabwe’s case was worsened by the
fact that
it was one of the countries in the world with galloping inflation.
"We
are in a peculiar situation because we currently have the highest level
of
inflation for a country not engaged in a civil war," Robertson
noted.
Zimbabwe’s annualised inflation surged to a record 103.8 percent
high in
November last year and is expected to rise further this year due
to
shortages of hard cash and basic foodstuffs.
Deteriorating
political climate
Fellow southern African country Angola,
battling with a civil war for more
than two decades, had a risk rating of D
and a score of 77.
Zimbabwe’s economic woes are compounded by a
deteriorating political climate
and murders of opponents of President Robert
Mugabe ahead of presidential
elections in March.
The unfolding
political crisis has been spawned by Mugabe’s quest to stay in
power at any
cost and his controversial programme to seize prime commercial
farm land
ostensibly to resettle landless blacks but which in reality
benefits mostly
his cronies.
Sanctity of property rights
At least
4 000 farms have so far been targeted for compulsory acquisition by
the
government since February 2000, a move that has raised fears about
the
sanctity of property rights in the country and also led to food
shortages.
Mugabe’s critics say the 77-year-old leader, facing possible
defeat in the
presidential poll by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, is
using the land
redistribution programme to try to revive his flagging
political support.