Zim Online
Friday 05 January 2007
HARARE -
Zimbabwe's capital Harare was on Thursday plunged into darkness
after
striking workers at state-owned Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
(ZESA)
switched off power supplies to the city.
The ZESA workers, who join state
doctors who have since last week abandoned
hospitals protesting against poor
salaries and working conditions, downed
tools after reaching a deadlock with
management over salary and wage hikes
for this year.
The workers were
reportedly demanding a 1 150 percent salary hike to cushion
them against the
country's galloping inflation, which at 1098.8 percent is
the highest in the
world.
But management at the power utility that is virtually bankrupt due
to years
of maladministration and corruption were offering to hike salaries
by 144
percent.
ZESA spokesperson James Maridadi confirmed the job
action but said workers
had agreed to return to work late Thursday, a claim
that could not be
immediately confirmed with workers whose representatives
were not available
for comment.
Maridadi said: "They (workers)
deliberately caused the interruption of
supply. They have no reason to go on
strike. They must wait for arbitration
(of the salary dispute)."
ZESA
had earlier attempted to explain power blackouts in Harare and other
major
cities as a result of a breakdown in transmission equipment but
insiders
said while this was partly true, the major reason was because
disgruntled
workers had switched off supplies.
Economic analysts this week said
Zimbabwe is likely to sink deeper into
crisis in 2007 warning that
Zimbabweans should brace up for a fresh round of
price increases and
worsening living conditions on the back of the free-fall
of the Zimbabwe
dollar against major currencies.
Some analysts project that inflation
will this year climb past the 4 000
percent mark, which was forecasted by
the International Monetary Fund late
last year and inflict more hardships on
poor Zimbabweans.
Zimbabwe has since 1999 been grappling with an
agonising economic meltdown,
critics blame on repression and mismanagement
by President Robert Mugabe, a
charge the veteran leader denies.
As a
result of a poor grain harvest, up to two million Zimbabweans are
living on
the benevolence of international food aid agencies who however
warn that
adequate future supplies are not guaranteed due to funding
shortfalls. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 05 January 2007
HARARE -
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he is ready to work
with
reformists in the ruling ZANU PF party to end Zimbabwe's crisis, but
analysts said the former trade unionist would find no suitors in a governing
party that considers him severely weakened following a split in the
opposition two years ago.
The opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC), which burst onto the
political scene in 1999 and very nearly
swept President Robert Mugabe and
ZANU PF from power in elections in 2000
and 2002, has floundered recently
after an acrimonious split within its top
leadership over tactics to
confront ZANU PF.
Several internationally
backed attempts to bring ZANU PF and the MDC onto
the negotiating table have
all ended in failure with both parties bickering
on
pre-conditions.
"Within ZANU PF a significant body of opinion today is in
favour of a
solution to the national crisis. We are ready to co-operate and
work with
committed patriots who see sense in what we seek to achieve,"
Tsvangirai
said in a New Year's address.
"We need to realign our
positions and embrace those willing to join hands
and save Zimbabwe from
further damage. Mugabe and ZANU PF must be stopped
from continuously abusing
well-meaning Zimbabweans," he added.
Critics, including the MDC, say
Mugabe is solely responsible for a
seven-year economic meltdown that has
impoverished the majority, as runaway
inflation continues in four-digit
levels, unemployment rise over 80 percent
while shortages of foreign
currency, fuel and food persist.
Analysts however said Tsvangirai's call
was certain to be rebuffed by both
hawks and doves in ZANU PF who appear
united in blaming the opposition
leader for inviting several Western nations
to impose sanctions on top
government officials and their relatives.
Mugabe's government says the visa
and financial sanctions are hurting the
majority the most.
They added that in any event, there was little
practical incentive for ZANU
PF - that enjoys absolute parliamentary
majority and recently swept rural
council polls - to accommodate its
nemesis, Tsvangirai, who appears crippled
by a split in his Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party over
participation in Senate elections in
2005.
The split led to the rise of two competing MDC factions, the larger
one led
by Tsvangirai and the smaller by academic Arthur Mutambara - this at
a time
when ZANU PF was reinforcing its decades-long grip on
power.
"In ZANU PF there are many hawks who find no basis for a common
strategy, a
common vision with the MDC and really feel the MDC must be
crushed once and
for all so that ZANU PF rules in perpetuity," Eldred
Masunungure, chairman
of the political science department at the University
of Zimbabwe said.
"So it (Tsvangirai's overture) is a long shot really
also because if there
is anything that unites ZANU PF the most, it is its
opposition to the very
principles that the MDC stands for," he
added.
Critics accuse Mugabe, Zimbabwe's sole ruler since independence in
1980, of
using heavy policing to keep opponents at bay.
They however
say there could be open dissent within his party over plans to
extend his
rule by two more years to 2010, which has the open backing of
eight of ZANU
PF's 10 provincial executives.
"But in the long run there could be some
reformists within ZANU PF who are
opposed to this harmonization of
elections," Masunungure told ZimOnline.
"So as the succession boils over
we may see a very broad alliance including
doves within ZANU PF and the MDC
coming together to form a common strategy,"
said the respected Masunungure,
suggesting all hope may not be lost on
possible co-operation in the long
term between elements in the governing
party and the
opposition.
Mugabe has previously branded Tsvangirai and the MDC a puppet
of the West,
arguing that the opposition is a front for Western countries
fighting his
government over his controversial policy of seizing land from
white
commercial farmers to resettle blacks. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 05 January 2007
BULAWAYO -
At least 25 villagers were by late last night still locked up in
police
cells since they were arrested earlier this week for allegedly
invading a
farm on the outskirts of Bulawayo city.
The villagers are part of about
160 people who claim they were resettled on
Springs Farm by the government
during its chaotic land redistribution
exercise implemented over the past
six years.
But the police claim the villagers unlawfully settled on the
farm, which the
law enforcement agency claims belongs to it.
A police
spokesman, Oliver Mandipaka, told ZimOnline the villagers will
appear in
court today facing charges of public violence after they allegedly
attempted
to assault police officers who had been sent to evict them from
the
farm.
"(The) villagers were arrested on Tuesday morning at Springs Farm.
They are
being charged with public violence after they tried to assault
police
officers who had gone to evict them. They will appear in court
tomorrow
(Friday)," he said.
But some of the farm settlers who
escaped arrest told ZimOnline that police,
some of them armed with guns, had
raided the farm early on Tuesday morning,
beating up everyone on site,
before selecting about 25 of their colleagues
who they
arrested.
"They drove into the farm at about eight in the morning and
started beating
us up, saying we were very stubborn as we had returned when
they first
evicted us last month. They then singled out 25 of our colleagues
who they
accused of being the ring leaders and arrested them," said a
villager, as he
packed up his belongings to leave the farm.
The
villager, who requested not to be named for fear of victimisation, said
he
was unsure where to take his wife and three children because his old
rural
home was long destroyed after he abandoned it to come and settle at
Springs
Farm.
"We do not know where they want us to go, but remaining here will
only make
it worse as the police have since maintained a regular presence
here and
have even threatened to arrest more of us and burn our belongings,"
said
another settler, who said he would try putting up with his elder
brother's
family in Bulawayo.
But the eviction of the farm settlers
is just one among several such
incidents where powerless villagers have been
driven off former white farms
to make way for either top government
officials, the army or police.
Many senior officials of President Robert
Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF party and
government own several farms, some up to
six each, despite the government's
one-man-one-farm policy.
The
government and ZANU Pf officials have ignored several calls by Mugabe to
give up excess farms.
The controversial land redistribution exercise
is blamed for derailing the
mainstay agricultural sector and causing a 60
percent drop in food output,
to leave once self-sufficient Zimbabwe
dependent on handouts from
international food relief agencies. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 05 January 2007
MASVINGO -
At least 50 people have been hospitalized over the past two weeks
in
Zimbabwe's southern Masvingo province after they allegedly ate meat
contaminated with the foot-and-mouth disease.
Although no deaths have
been reported so far, about 20 people are still
detained at Neshuro rural
hospital in Mwenezi district while another 30 had
been discharged from
Bondolfi Mission Hospital.
Masvingo provincial veterinary officer Dr
Charity Sibanda, confirmed the
matter saying the veterinary department had
suspended the movement of cattle
in the province to contain the
disease.
"I can confirm the outbreak of the disease but so far no one has
died. We
have since put Masvingo and Mwenezi (districts) under quarantine to
avoid
the spread of the disease.
"According to our reports over 50
people have been affected after eating
contaminated meat but some have since
been discharged from hospital," said
Dr Sibanda.
Sibanda said efforts
to contain the disease were being hampered by a
critical shortage of
personnel and foreign currency to buy vaccines.
Farmers who spoke to
ZimOnline yesterday said the situation was desperate as
they watched their
cattle succumb to the disease because of lack of
medicines.
"We are
just watching our cattle die because the department of veterinary
services
is telling us that it does not have adequate vaccines," said
Julius
Mutubuki, a farmer near Bondolfi mission.
The latest outbreak of the
disease will likely threaten efforts by the
Zimbabwe government to resume
beef exports to the European Union which were
suspended in 2001 after an
outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease.
The Harare authorities last year
said they had put in place adequate
measures to control the disease and
expected the EU to lift the suspension
of beef imports from
Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is losing an estimated US$38 million every year in
potential
earnings from beef exports as a result of the EU ban. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 05 January
2007
BULAWAYO - The government of Nepal has
tightened visa requirements for
Zimbabwean nationals visiting that country
following allegations that some
Zimbabweans were involved in suspicious
activities while in the Asian
country.
In the past, Zimbabweans
visiting Nepal were issued visas on arrival in the
country.
But on
Wednesday, Nepal's Foreign Ministry spokesman Yadav Khanal said
foreigners
wishing to visit the country should first secure visas from
embassies in
their country before traveling to Nepal.
Three other African countries,
Nigeria, Ghana and Swaziland were also
targeted under the new measures
announced on Wednesday.
"Nationals of Ghana, Nigeria, Swaziland and
Zimbabwe will not be given entry
visas at the airport or immigration posts
along the border. This will affect
all people holding ordinary passports,"
Khanal said.
Several Zimbabweans have been arrested in Nepal for
allegedly trying to
smuggle drugs into the country. Zimbabwean nationals are
also accused of
committing serious crimes whilst in the Asian
nation.
At least three million Zimbabweans, a quarter of the country's 12
million
population, are spread in all corners of the earth after fleeing
economic
hardship and political persecution at home. -
ZimOnline
New Zimbabwe
By Staff
Reporter
Last updated: 01/05/2007 08:02:56
DOCTORS at Zimbabwe's state
hospitals have gone on strike for better pay to
combat galloping inflation,
marooning sick patients in packed waiting rooms
in the latest sign of the
country's economic meltdown.
Economic analysts warned that workers in
other sectors could also boycott
work as they grapple with a deep recession,
which critics blame on policies
of Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwe
president.
Today junior doctors at the country's major state hospitals
intensified
industrial action that started at the end of last month, and has
now
paralysed operations at major health institutions.
Only nurses
were working with the help of senior doctors, who work on a part
time basis
because they also run private surgeries. Staff at private medical
clinics,
where fees are higher, did not join the strike.
At Harare's Parirenyatwa
Hospital - Zimbabwe's largest hospital - only
part-time doctors were working
and attending to emergencies, according to an
official notice at the
hospital. Several patients lay on stretchers in a
packed waiting room with
no help in sight.
Some said they had been waiting for treatment for
several days for
everything from injuries to medical reviews in hospitals
already hit by
frequent shortages of medicines.
"The strike
continues. If they (the government) give people the 400% salary
increment we
hear they have planned for this January, then it will
intensify," Kudakwashe
Nyamutukwa, the head of the Hospital Doctors
Association, said. "The
minister (of health) remains arrogant and refuses to
talk to us. We served
him with a letter five weeks ago and he has not
responded."
David
Parirenyatwa, the health minister, said he was not aware of the
strike,
which has affected operations at public health facilities used by
the
majority of the population. But Mugabe's government has singled out
health
workers among government employees barred from boycotting work
because they
offer essential services.
This is the second strike in seven months by
the doctors who are demanding,
among other things, salaries of up to five
million Zimbabwe dollars ($20
000) from the current $88 000 ($352), as well
as increased motor vehicle
allowances. The Zimbabwe dollar is officially
pegged at 250 to the US
dollar, but trades at up to 3 000 on a thriving
black market. - Reuters
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
COLUMN
January 4, 2007
Posted to the web January 4,
2007
Kumbirai Mafunda
Harare
A SURPRISINGLY frank report by the
economic affairs committee of the ruling
ZANU PF party will leave
Zimbabweans baffled as to why the economy continues
to hobble.
In its
report to the central committee, the party's economic affairs
committee,
chaired by Mberengwa-Zvishavane Senator Richard Hove, aptly
diagnoses the
ills afflicting the economy, now entering an eighth straight
year of
recession. The report is couched in reformist language that even the
IMF
would be proud of.
The committee notes that most sectors of the
economy have registered a
massive decline, and blames the collapse on price
controls and an unviable
exchange rate, which at $250 to the American
greenback is way overvalued.
"The (manufacturing) sector experienced
viability problems especially for
companies whose output faced price
controls and loss of export
competitiveness on the basis of an overvalued
exchange rate," reads part of
the committee's report.
As remedy to
the crisis, the committee recommends that government overhaul
the current
exchange rate system for "a realistic exchange rate", and dumps
all controls
on pricing.
"Other policy initiatives that will resuscitate the
manufacturing sector
include implementing an exchange rate regime which will
ensure viability of
manufactured exports as well as increasing foreign
currency availability;
removal of price distortions to ensure viability of
manufacturing industries
and sustainability of production," the committee
says.
The government imposed price controls in 2001 in an attempt to
curtail
rising prices of commodities while the exchange rate has largely
remained
static since January when the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
introduced a
new system where rate movements are determined volumes traded
daily.
But the imposition of price controls, which are reminiscent of the
communist
era, has resulted in the disappearance of most basic commodities
from
supermarket shelves to the black market.
Another repercussion of
the price controls has been the arrest of several
business executives. The
ZANU PF report appears to contradict previous
sentiment in government that
private business is profiteering and has
opposition leanings. Hove's
committee says the economy cannot recover
without the partnership of the
private sector.
In addition, the ZANU PF committee says it recognises
that the country could
not survive without foreign investment, urging
government to lessen direct
involvement in the economy and concentrate only
on creating "an enabling
environment."
The economic affairs is also
at variance with President Robert Mugabe's
recent tirade against Finance
Minister Herbert Murerwa, and backs an end to
all remaining central bank
quasi-fiscal spending and subsidies.
After going through the central
committee's economic report one is left
wondering where the government is
missing the point in its attempts to fix
the ailing economy. Or is there
another ZANU PF somewhere, different from
the one that clearly knows what
needs to be done to at least slow the
decline?
Financial Gazette (Harare)
January 4,
2007
Posted to the web January 4, 2007
Njabulo Ncube, Rangarirai
Mberi
Harare
ZIMBABWE'S diamond rush has prompted the World Diamond
Council (WDC) to
launch an international probe into allegations that the
rough stones from
this country are being smuggled into South Africa and
blended with "blood
diamonds" from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC) for export. It is
understood that the WDC probe will focus on
allegations that diamonds from
River Ranch Mine, in which ZANU PF bigwig
Solomon Mujuru has a disputed
stake, are being mixed with illicit diamonds
from the Congo and sold validly
on the world market under a Kimberley
Process Certificate (KPC). The New
York-based WDC regulates the global
diamond market.
A couple of years ago, senior Zimbabwe government and
army officials were
named in a UN report as having profited from the looting
of diamonds in the
DRC during Zimbabwe's military involvement in the
mineral-rich Congo.
The WDC's moves put Zimbabwe at great risk of
being blacklisted as a source
of legitimate diamonds. The country is a
signatory to the Kimberley Process,
established in 2002 to certify diamonds
originating from sources that are
free of conflict or rights
abuses.
A blanket ban on Zimbabwe's stones would hurt producers such as
Murowa
Diamonds and River Ranch itself. Last year, Murowa, 22 percent owned
by
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed miner Rio Zim, produced 189 658 carats of
diamonds in the nine months to September. In the 2006 third quarter, Murowa
produced 56 660 carats.
Although no official output data was
available from River Ranch, the mine is
understood to have the potential to
earn US$20 million in sales per year.
Its plant, which can churn out 100
tonnes of ore an hour, is reputed to be
10 times larger than that of
Murowa.
While government claims to have thrown a tight security cordon
around
Marange and arrested up to 18 000 illegal miners in a bid to halt the
booming trade in diamonds, the WDC says the illegal sale of diamonds is, in
fact, increasing.
WDC chairman, Eli Izhakoff, has now written to the
incoming chair of the
Kimberley Process, Karel Kovanda, expressing concern
over the smuggling of
rough diamonds from Marange and River Ranch, alleging
the rough diamonds
from these two areas of Zimbabwe were being combined with
blood diamonds
from the DRC for export.
Izhakoff stressed that all
rough diamond exports from Zimbabwe and the DRC
should be suspended pending
further scrutiny.
Said Izhakoff in a letter to Kovanda: "While remaining
mindful of Zimbabwe's
membership of Kimberley Process, such illegal exports
present a clear threat
to the integrity of the legitimate export process as
a whole. In addition,
we have heard that the River Ranch diamonds are being
mixed with production
from the DRC. We appeal to the chair and participant
nations of the
Kimberley Process to act swiftly and in unison, to resolve
this situation
and protect the legitimate and law-abiding
industry."
The WDC said the governments of Zimbabwe, South Africa and the
DRC should
ensure that illicit diamonds were not exported under the
Kimberley Process
Certificate Scheme.
He said: "In addition, we
appeal to all rough diamond importing countries to
carry out appropriate
inspections of all parcels of rough diamonds emanating
from Southern Africa
to ensure that they do not contain Zimbabwean and
Congolese
production."
Kovanda, the new Kimberley Process boss, responded: "I fully
agree that the
situation in Zimbabwe needs to be carefully monitored, and
that participants
and observers must take further action to ensure that the
Kimberley Process
is not negatively affected by these
events."
Government sources said Zimbabwe informed the Kimberley Process
Plenary
Session in Gaborone, Botswana, last year of the problems it was
facing in
stemming the diamond rush in Marange.
But the European
Commission, the next chair of the Kimberley Process, has
asked the
Zimbabwean government for more frequent updates on the diamond
saga.
Zimbabwean government officials now fear that this new probe
will give its
EU critics fresh ammunition in their campaign for the renewal
of sanctions
against members of President Robert Mugabe's regime. The EU
decides on the
sanctions early next month.
Herald columnist Nathaniel
Manheru wrote at the weekend that if the WDC went
ahead and recommended a
diamond ban on Zimbabwe, "Europe will be happy to
oblige and we are taught a
year-long lesson."
. . . As Bubye accuses rivals of flexing political
muscle
Clemence Manyukwe
Staff Reporter
BUBYE Minerals,
embroiled in a diamond dispute with River Ranch Limited,
whose shareholders
include retired general Solomon Mujuru and senior ZANU PF
member Tirivanhu
Mudariki, has accused its rivals of using their political
influence to
agitate for the prosecution of its owners.
Bubye Minerals director Adele
Farquhar told The Financial Gazette yesterday
that the diamond sanctions
threat now facing Zimbabwe arose primarily from
River Ranch Limited's
violation of the Kimberley Process by mining diamonds
since June 20, 2006,
when a court order upholding Bubye Mineral's ownership
of the mine was in
force.
The investigating officer in the case in which Farquhar and her
husband are
accused of stripping the mine of assets said recently he had
gathered
sufficient evidence to justify the couple's prosecution by the
Attorney
General's Office.
But the Bubye Minerals director
insisted yesterday: "River Ranch Limited
originally made these claims
against Bubye Minerals and KPMG in a civil
suit, case number HC 10814/04,
requesting 'an accounting of the handling of
the assets of River Ranch
Limited' during and after the liquidation process.
"When this case came
to court, Justice Tendai Uchena dismissed River Ranch
Limited's claim,
awarding punitive costs against River Ranch, on the basis
of the existing
partnership agreement between Bubye Minerals and River Ranch
Limited."
Farquhar added that in terms of that agreement, Bubye
Minerals had
successfully argued that the board of directors of River Ranch
was illegally
constituted, and therefore lacked the locus standi to act on
behalf of the
company. This meant it had no right to resort to such legal
action before
the underlying partnership issues were
resolved.
"As Bubye Minerals has consistently refused to succumb
to this type of
attempted extortion, River Ranch Limited has used its
political influence to
pursue criminal allegations which failed to stand,
and were indeed
dismissed, by a civil court," Farquhar charged.
She
added that Zimbabwe risked being blacklisted because of River Ranch's
violation of the Kimberley Process Certification scheme, which demands clear
ownership of stones for export.
She said the company's recent Supreme
Court appeal against Justice Lawrence
Kamocha's judgment handing the mine to
River Ranch Limited in reversal of
four previous High Court orders, means
that the mine is still in dispute and
any attempt to deal in the diamonds
would invite sanctions.
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
January 4, 2007
Posted to the web January 4,
2007
Stanley Kwenda Staff Reporter
Harare
TERTIARY institutions
across the country might not open on Monday next week
as scheduled following
a steep rise in tuition fees that students have vowed
to resist, describing
the increment as "an attempt to deprive them of their
right to
education."
Polytechnic colleges have increased tuition and accommodation
fees from $11
000 to over $350 000 per term, making it difficult for many
students to
continue with their studies. Many of the students come from poor
families
that earn far less than $100 000.
The latest fee
structure at Harare Polytechnic College will see non-resident
National
Certificate (NC) and National Diploma (ND) students paying $115 000
while
Higher National Diploma (HND) students will pay $155 000.
Bachelor of
Technology and Block Release students in the same category will
be required
to pay $155 000 and $115 000 respectively.
Accommodation and food for a
term will cost $200 000, meaning that a
resident student will have to pay
fees totalling over $350 000.
The Bulawayo Polytechnic, which gazetted
its fee structure for the first
semester yesterday, will see NC, ND, HND and
Bachelor of Technology students
paying $151 000, $160 000 and $181 000 in
tuition fees respectively. The
students will also pay $200 000 for meals per
semester.
The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education has not yet
availed the new
educational loan grants given to students as a way of
cushioning them from
the rising cost of living. At the beginning of last
year, these loans stood
at $2280, while the tuition fees required at the
tertiary institutions was
$11 000, representing a shortfall of
$8720.
Polytechnic students have not been able to access the loans in the
past two
years as preference was given to university students. As a result,
college
drop out rates have shot up.
During a visit to the Harare
Polytechnic yesterday morning, a few students
who were at the college had
just come to check the new fees. The accounts
office, which according to
students is usually busy at this time, was just
as good as closed, as there
were no students paying the fees.
No comment could be obtained from both
school authorities and student
leaders.
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
January 4, 2007
Posted to the web January 4,
2007
Clemence Manyukwe
Harare
THE latest report by the
Comptroller and Auditor General (C& AG), Mildred
Chisi, has revealed how
the Office of the President and Cabinet violated
procedures governing the
issue of monetary advances to its officials, with
the Ministry of Finance
unable to trace funds transferred from the office's
unallocated reserves
account.
The report also exposes widespread incompetence within
government and the
uniformed forces in the management of funds. Violations
include the flouting
of tender procedures, overstating of expenditures,
submission of
"unreliable" figures for audit, unexplained expenditures and
failure to
maintain proper receipt and disbursement records.
The
C&AG also said the manner in which some ministries maintained records
for Foreign Currency Accounts "left a lot to be desired."
The latest
audit report, submitted to Parliament recently, covers the year
2004 and was
delayed pending treasury's submission of a statement of
transactions on the
Consolidated Revenue Fund to the C&AG.
Chiri said Treasury failed to
avail the statement and, as such, she compiled
her report without the
audited summary of the transactions on the
Consolidated Revenue
Fund.
On the President's Office, the report said: "A number of officers
had
multiple outstanding advances on subsistence and transport as at the
close
of the financial period. Standing instructions forbid the issue of
additional advances until the advances given in previous months have been
cleared or adjusted."
The C&AG also said: "I noted in the system
transfers from the unallocated
reserve amounting to $3 603 000 000 for head
office which could not be
substantiated by the relevant minutes from the
Ministry of Finance."
Parliament was said to have exceeded the amount
allocated under its vote.
"The Advances block grant was exceeded on
twelve occasions during the year.
On eight occasions Parliament did not seek
treasury authority at all."
On the army, the C&AG said an internal
audit report by the defence
ministry's head office revealed that the
military hired motor vehicles from
Elite Car Hire without following tender
procedures.
As a result, by May 3 2005, an outstanding Bill of $2.7
billion (old
currency) had been accumulated.
Other ministries found
guilty of by-passing the State Procurement Board are
that of Higher and
Tertiary Education as well as the justice ministry.
The higher education
ministry was said to have purchased vehicles worth $2
798 316 832 while
justice ministry bought flats worth $3 billion for the
Zimbabwe Prison
Services without Tender Board approval.
"The ministry of Higher Education
purchased vehicles using funds from the
National Education and Training
Fund. This fund has not submitted accounts
for audit since its inception in
July 1998." Still on the justice ministry
the report said the ministry had
for the 14th year in succession failed to
properly maintain its receipts and
disbursement account.
The ministry was also said to have failed to
collect all revenue due to it
for the second year running.
The report
further stated that the ministry of Transport and Communication's
Foreign
Currency Account held with CBZ was not being maintained properly.
"It was
noted that the account incurred an overdraft without authority for
six
different months, that is for March, May, September, November and
December
and the amounts were US$290 389; US$ 868 807; US$168 503, US$6 983;
US$137
886 and US$276 093, respectively," the report said.
The C&AG added
that the transport ministry had "neglected" her
recommendations for seven
years running to produce a register of properties
under its control and as
such she could not "establish whether all rent had
been
collected."
On the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare,
the report
said there was need to tighten up internal controls to protect
public funds
from losses arising from corruption at the ministry.
It
added that by December 2004, possible cases of misappropriation of public
funds amounting to $9.8 million remained unresolved and urged stronger
follow-ups on the cases.
The C&AG also said the Labour Ministry's
suspense account was poorly
maintained.
As regards the police, the
report found outstanding advances worth $195 290
211, some of which dated
back as far as 1987. Credit balances worth $991 200
were improperly held in
the account, while there were no real efforts to try
and recover outstanding
advances.
The agriculture ministry was also said to have incurred excess
expenditure
without treasury approval due to "poor budgetary
control."
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
January 4, 2007
Posted to the web January 4,
2007
Harare
ZIMBABWE'S economic recovery hopes wore thin this week
following a massive
round of price hikes that economists say point to a year
of steeper economic
decline.
As a disturbing sign of an escalating
eight-year-old economic crisis
retailers, traders and dealers increased the
prices of most basics a sure
way to drive inflation through the roof, which
at 1 098.8 percent is already
the highest in the world.
Finance
Minister Herbert Murerwa told parliament last month that the economy
would
grow by between 0.5 percent and one percent on the back of improved
performance in the agricultural and mining sectors.
But economists
were this week pessimistic about the chances of recovery,
warning that 2007
already had the ingredients for worse woes. They said
Zimbabwe is likely to
sink deeper into crisis in the absence of measures to
stabilise the
economy.
"It's another very difficult year and inflation will be a lot
higher this
year," said Tony Hawkins, a lecturer at the University of
Zimbabwe's
Graduate School of Management. "There is no reason to believe in
economic
recovery when the rains have not been good and there has been late
planting.
We are going to see falling volumes in every sector."
Other
analysts say the massive surge in the prices of foodstuffs would make
it
difficult to tame inflation to within the optimistic targets of 350-400
percent by December, as envisaged by Finance Minister Herbert
Murerwa.
"The prospects of recovery are gloomy because we are already
seeing a
deterioration in most economic variables and there has not been any
strong
will to try and address the issues on hand," said a Harare economist
who
asked not to be named.
A kilogramme of beef, which in December
cost $7 000, went up to between $10
000 and $12 000 this week, while cooking
oil traders on the black market are
selling the commodity for $4 000 per 750
ml bottle.
As consumers battle with rising food prices, workers returned
from the
Christmas and New Year break to face a massive increase in
transport costs.
Commuter omnibus operators plying urban routes raised fares
by up to 60
percent at the weekend.
Operators said a surge in fuel
prices during the holiday break necessitated
a review in fares. A litre of
diesel or petrol is now retailing at between
$2 800 and $3 000, up from $2
400 last month.
Besides struggling to access food, most parents also
bemoaned the increase
in school fees, uniform and stationery prices saying
the exorbitant prices
make it difficult to invest in the education of their
children. Education
costs have a significant weighting in the Consumer Price
Index, used by the
CSO to measure inflation.
Rising prices of
commodities are part of a wider economic crisis which set
in following the
pull-out of multilateral agencies from the country in
protest against land
seizures and rights abuses.
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
January 4, 2007
Posted to the web January 4,
2007
Clemence Manyukwe
Harare
ZANU PF has conceded that the
economic crisis within the country poses the
greatest threat to its rule,
and admitted that a long heralded turnaround
was nowhere in
sight.
The party's security committee says in a report to the central
committee
that: "The declining economy continues to be the major threat to
the ruling
party's popularity. This is so at a time the electorate looks up
to ZANU PF
to guide Government in turning around the fortunes of the
country, in
keeping with its election pledges."
The security
committee says the state of the economy had "provided the
opposition with
ammunition to use against ZANU PF".
But while the security arm says the
electorate pins its hopes for recovery
on ZANU PF, the party's production
and labour department warns that a change
of fortunes, long claimed by
government officials to be around the corner,
would not be achieved for a
long time.
"The economy is likely to remain undercapitalised for the
foreseeable
future. This will mean continuing and possibly increasing
unemployment".
The labour department expresses concern over the plight of
the national
labour force, which faces a continual and serious erosion of
incomes.
"Most workers, especially in the urban environment, now have to
supplement
their incomes by means that are often illegal or immoral if they
are to
continue reporting for work and fend for their children."
In a
separate report to the ZANU PF central committee, the security
department
admits that the split within the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) had
not translated to greater support for ZANU PF.
"It is noteworthy that the
split in the opposition did not benefit the
ruling party in terms of
membership inflows, but only diluted the threat
that a united MDC had
hitherto posed. The split has resulted in a situation
where the two factions
spend a considerable amount of time fighting each
other."
Financial Gazette (Harare)
January 4,
2007
Posted to the web January 4, 2007
Economic Viewpoint With Simon
Bere
Harare
Marketplace economy beckons for once-prosperous
nation
INDICATORS and patterns beneath the current economic status
indicate that
the system that is taking place is driving Zimbabwe into an
economic future
that is radically different from that of the pre-2000
period.
Those who in their minds see an economic state similar to the
pre-2000 one
many need to reorient themselves so that the future that they
will meet when
it arrives will not shock them.
The pre-2000 economic
conditions are gone. First, whereas the pre-2000
economy was dominated by
agricultural activity, manufacturing, mining and
tourism, the undercurrents
beneath our economy suggest that Zimbabwe's
future economy will be a market
place economy characterised by a market
diminishing of the influence of
agriculture, manufacturing and industrial
production and dominated by
services.
These services will be dominated by small scale players, mainly
in the
retail business dealing in cheap Asian goods. There will be a
dramatic
increase in the consumption of services such as mobile
communications,
Internet and entertainment as well as tourism. The source of
financial
resources used to purchase these good and services will come from
Zimbabweans living abroad and from a growing significant number of
Zimbabweans who will be doing business (largely offering services) on the
international scene.
The emerging market place economy is summarised
as having the following
characteristics:
..A shift from being an
agro-industrial and manufacturing
investment-inclined base with a strong
local manufacturing component towards
a consumerist marketplace base with a
strong component of imports of
consumer goods and money with Zimbabwe's
economic space operating as a
facilitator for the West-East trading
transactions.
..A shift from large scale agro-industrial and services
operations dominated
by few large international brands to numerous small
scale industrial and
services operations dominated by locals and other
owners from Central and
Southern Africa.
..The heavy influx of cheap
Asian goods (the Asian Factor) and the increased
flows if financial
resources from growing numbers of Zimbabweans living in
the
Diaspora.
..A reorganisation of the agricultural sector into a future
state whose
stability is yet to be determined.
The existing
industrial infrastructure is likely to continue to deteriorate,
become less
economic to use or even become obsolete while the rate of
maintenance,
repair or upgrade of the country's infrastructure will continue
to fall
further, eroding the country's industrial and manufacturing
capacity.
Zimbabwe will continue to be squeezed from the export
markets in the most
finished agro-products and will be further relegated to
exporting
semi-processed mineral and agricultural raw materials. It is
possible that
the Asian markets will eventually invest directly in the
country but under
what terms and conditions?.
If we are not careful
our minerals and large tracts of land will be under
Asian control through
their companies, both state-owned and privately owned.
Other than that, the
Asians will still colonise our market place and shut
Zimbabwe out of the
manufacturing and industrial game.
What economic sectors will become the
main stay of this future
economy?
Zimbabwe's future economy will
reorganise around the following sectors:
..Service sectors led by the ICT
sector (mobile communications and Internet)
..Retail of cheap Asian goods
as well as of food
..Mining dominated by platinum group metals, diamonds
and gold (asbestos is
in its twilight)
..Financial services
(especially international financial transactions
fuelled by transfers from
the Diaspora)
..Leisure and hospitality (with a growing domestic
component financed by
Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora)
..Housing
development and housing related services
..Entertainment (people will
always need entertainment.)
Options for shaping the
future
..Redefining our economic strength from being the physical
resources to
being our intellectual resources
..Developing our
thinking so that we reach higher levels of thinking that
lead to greater
self awareness and increased capacity to unlock greater
personal potential
at all levels from the individual person to the nation.
..Focusing our
thinking, mental and physical resources on our ideal future
rather than
fixedly dwelling on the present and the past.
..Using our past for
learning experiences rather than for glossing on our
past achievement and
blaming the past for our present circumstances
..Implement policies
that restrict influx of cheap consumer goods and
promote pro-investment
policies
..Increasing international business
..Heavy pursuit of
goals to transform the country into a knowledge and
information economy and
deemphasizing agriculture as the backbone of our
economy.
Bere is a
member of the Zimbabwe Economics Society. The Zimbabwe Economics
Society
articles are coordinated by Lovemore Kadenge. He can be contacted on
e-mail
lovemore.kadenge@gmail.com or on
cell number 091980016
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
January 4, 2007
Posted to the web January 4,
2007
Chris Muronzi Staff Reporter
Harare
Estimates vary, but
all agree enemy number one is getting stronger
INFLATION will come in
close to its record high in December, pushed largely
by consumer goods and
fuel, analysts said.
According to a Financial Gazette poll of
analysts and economists this week,
the market expects annual inflation to
come in a range between 1116 percent
and 1300 percent.
Analysts say a
steep rise in fuel prices in November and early December,
coupled with sharp
food price increases, would push inflation for December
to levels around its
record of 1204.6 percent, set in August last year.
ZB Holdings chief
economist Best Doroh sees inflation in a range between
1200 to 1300 percent,
but other analysts say the top-end prediction is a bit
high.
"In the
short-term, inflation is expected to maintain an upward trend,
underpinned
by higher food inflation owing to the low food supply period to
March 2007
as well as increases in transport, clothing and footwear and
restaurants and
hotels costs during the festive season. The recent
adjustment in electricity
charges by ZESA is also expected to result in a
direct increase in domestic
power and electricity inflation, particularly in
November," Doroh
said.
Zimbabwe's annual inflation quickened to 1 098.8 percent in
November, a
shade higher than the Fingaz November poll return of 1070
percent.
The country's inflation rate is the highest in the world and is
the clearest
sign of an economic and political crisis also shown in
unemployment above 80
percent, shrinking gross domestic product and
shortages of foreign currency,
food and fuel.
Government has
projected that inflation -- which it has labeled the
country's number one
enemy - would slow to 350-400 percent by the end of
this year, but analysts
are wary of the forecasts.
Analysts say only drastic measures such as
curbing excessive state
spending -- which has been blamed for driving money
supply growth -- would
help bring inflation down.
Financial Gazette (Harare)
January 4, 2007
Posted
to the web January 4, 2007
Chris Muronzi
Harare
ZANU PF
pocketed $10.5 million in interim dividends from its associate
companies
last year, according to a recent report by the party's Central
Committee.
The ruling party has stock in five private companies and
in one public
company, FBC Holdings, in which ZANU PF owns 19.04
percent.
The party saw a total income of $438.6 million last year,
the bulk from
fundraising, while the other came from investments, "donations
from
friends", and interest from investments, which stood at $29.8
million.
"The party, through its wholly owned investment company/vehicle,
has shares
in five private companies and one public company.
"As at
30th September 2006 a total of $10 525 000 was received as an interim
dividend and more is expected by year ending 31st December 2006," read part
of the report.
Last year, the ruling party got $5.8 million in
dividends.
According to the report, ZANU PF, through its investment
company M&S
Syndicate, pocketed a total $3.5 million last year in
dividends from listed
banking group FBC Holdings, which in August released
forecast-beating
earnings for its June half year.
ZANU PF's stake in
Mike Appel -- a shareholding rumoured to be on the market
soon -- yielded a
$3.1 million dividend.
Surprisingly, the biggest contributor to the
party's earnings was
Catercraft.
The loss making company, which
supplies on-flight meals to similarly
unprofitable Air Zimbabwe, gave $6.2
million in dividends to ZANU PF.
Zidlee, which is 27 percent owned by the
party, contributed $1.2 million,
while Treger Holdings and Fibrolite, which
have previously given ZANU PF a
constant dividend flow, had not contributed
by September.
M&S Syndicate owns 31 percent of Treger and 45 percent
of Fibrolite.
Treger has been in a deep financial crisis since its
directors skipped the
country in 2004 after
charges of foreign
currency externalisation were brought against them.
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
January 4, 2007
Posted to the web January 4,
2007
Zhean Gwaze
Harare
THE government has agreed a 300 percent
increment to salaries and allowances
for teachers, and could effect a
similar increase for other government
workers.
Sources told The
Financial Gazette that the negotiating parties for the
civil servants'
salaries had agreed on the new percentage, but both sides
have pledged to
remain tight-lipped on the new salaries, which could however
be announced
soon. The new increments will see the country's 123 000
teachers, who
constitute 70 percent of the country's civil service, earning
a gross salary
of no less than $300 000 each.
The government last increased the
allowances of the civil servants by 400
percent in October last year after
President Robert Mugabe announced at a
rally in Gweru that government had
increased allowances for civil servants.
Civil servants representatives
negotiate for wage increases through the
Joint Negotiating Council. The
sources said the teachers had demanded a
minimum gross salary of $410 000,
which would rise to $830 000 by April. The
official Poverty Datum Line (PDL)
stood at $228 133 in November, according
to the Central Statistics Office
(CSO).
The civil service wage bill was at 50 percent of revenues and 40
percent of
expenditure in 2005, representing nearly 20 percent of GDP, a
level that
Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa described as "very high and
unsustainable."
The wage bill had risen from 15.5 percent of GDP in 2004.
The government's
wage bill has been blamed for Zimbabwe's runaway inflation,
which rose to 1
098.8 percent in November.
Zimbabwe Teachers
Association (Zimta) president Peter Mabande declined to
comment on the fresh
increments, but said negotiating parties had resolved
to keep the salaries
under wraps to cushion civil servants against retailers
who he claimed
illegally hiked prices in tandem with the announcement.
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
January 4, 2007
Posted to the web January 4,
2007
Stanley Kwenda
Harare
BEVERLEY Building Society has
suffered a second theft of computer hard
drives, hardly two weeks after a
break-in in which hard drives were ripped
out of computers used by the
society's top executives.
This time, the burglars targeted the treasury
department, stealing 13 hard
drives.
Beverley is the country's
second largest mortgage lender after CABS.
According to sources, the
latest break-in was discovered on Tuesday morning
after the society resumed
business, suggesting that it might have taken
place during the holiday
break. There are however strong suspicions that the
burglaries are an inside
job, considering the precision with which they have
been conducted.
A
source said this week the treasury computers had been clearly targeted, as
the burglars had left all other computers in the front office, which they
had access to, intact.
"We have an access system which compels
everyone to have a name tag in order
to gain access into the building, in
this case we suspect that it was an
inside job," said a source during the
first break-in.
"We suspect that there could have been two motives.
First, that someone was
trying to conceal fraud, and secondly, that someone
was just trying to make
ends meet by selling the hard drives."
The
Financial Gazette could not establish the extent of damage the latest
theft
could have had on the operations of the bank. However, the treasury
department is the heart and soul of every financial institution, and it is
feared that this latest break-in will give the burglars access to
confidential data, including information on clients and all transactions the
society has made.
Beverley is the second financial institution to
suffer such a break-in. In
2004, NMB Bank suffered a similar theft when
burglars broke in and removed
the hard drives of computers used by the
bank's senior management.
Financial Gazette (Harare)
January 4,
2007
Posted to the web January 4, 2007
Nkululeko
Sibanda
Harare
OPPOSITION leader Morgan Tsvangirai, facing fresh
embarrassment over open
defiance of his leadership by his party's UK arm,
plans a purge of the
errant branch.
Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for
Tsvangirai's faction of the MDC, told The
Financial Gazette that the party
would descend on the entire UK branch
leadership and weed out the rebels.
This could see the expulsion of branch
chairperson Ephraim Tapa and
secretary Julius Dewa-Mutyambizi.
"The MDC is not like a beer hall.
It is a proper party that has clearly laid
down procedures that, if not
followed, might see the party taking serious
action against those found
wanting. As a result, the party leadership will
soon convene a meeting to
look into this case and without pre-empting the
outcome of that meeting, I
can say that justice will prevail and those found
on the wrong side of the
party's regulations will face the music for their
actions," said
Chamisa.
A row between the party's Harvest House office in Harare and the
UK branch
erupted in December after the MDC secretary for international
affairs,
Elphas Mukonoweshuro, wrote to the UK office barring the chairman
and
secretary from holding any further diplomatic discussions with British
and
European officials, saying they had no mandate from Tsvangirai to
conduct
such talks.
Wrote Mukonoweshuro: "The MDC head office is
painfully aware of the
irregular and unsanctioned activities that you have
continued to perpetrate
in spite of the advice and clarifications given to
you. The president has
now directed me to formally instruct you to stop
meddling in diplomatic
activities, which are clearly outside the scope of
your responsibilities.
"You and a few of your colleagues are virtually
operating like dangerous
loose cannons. This is not going to be tolerated
anymore and must stop
forthwith, right now! Diplomatic activities of
whatever kind in the UK are
the prerogative of the chief representative and
the deputy chief
representative, and the UK provincial structures have to
work through and
with the office of the chief representative.
"I must
remind you that diplomatic affairs in the party are the president's
prerogative, which he executes through the Department of International
Affairs or through any other channel that he deems appropriate. To meddle,
as you are doing, in the execution of an aspect of the presidential mandate
is clearly gross insubordination verging on outright rebellion.
"We
have heard that you made threats of blackmailing and sabotaging the
party
should these standard arrangements fail to bend to the whims of your
temper.
A word of advice: Don't try it!"
But the UK branch described
Mukonoweshuro's letter as "rubbish".
"Before you write all the rubbish
that you write professor, you must learn
to pause a moment and reflect; that
you do not need MDC, you are a
professor, with or without the party your
life is okay. The death of MDC
does not mean anything to you. But it means
something to the oppressed
masses of Zimbabwe who pin their last hopes on
the party for their very
survival," said Tapa and Dewa.
"We will also
go to the Home Office, where we will be representing MDC UK
and Ireland and
the many people who are here whom you do not know but who
are living lives
of destitution because they do not have papers."
Financial Gazette (Harare)
January 4,
2007
Posted to the web January 4, 2007
Nkululeko
Sibanda
Harare
THE Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) says
it will once again
take Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo to court,
challenging his
re-appointment of Sekesai Makwavarara as head of a new
commission to run
Harare.
Chombo last month re-appointed Makwavarara
as head of an eleven-member
commission to run the capital for another six
months.
It is the fourth re-appointment of the commission by Chombo
since 2004 when
he hounded elected mayor Elias Mudzuri out.
The
commission comprises vice chairperson Robson Mafote, who is from Vice
President Joice Mujuru's office, while Killian Mpingo, Alfred Tome, former
Public Service Commission official, Madzudzo Pawadyira, Michael Mahachi,
Mary Masango, Justin Chivavaya, planning consultant Sasha Jogi and Jameson
Kurasha make up the rest of the commission.
But the residents' body
however argues that the re-appointment of the
commission is illegal in terms
of the law as the minister cannot appoint a
commission to run longer than
the legally prescribed nine months.
Mike Davies, the chairman of CHRA
said the association would continue legal
actions until "justice is
done".
"We have been battling for a year and a half to ensure that
justice is
delivered to the residents through the courts since no justice
can be
delivered by the minister, but all this has come to nought. Our
application
has been that the courts deem these appointments illegal but we
have not
made much headway. The judgments are still to be made," said
Davies.
He added that his association's duty was to protect the residents
from the
contravention of the Urban Councils Act by Chombo and council's
poor service
delivery.
"The executive has continued to do as it
pleases with people's lives and we
are not surprised that all the cases that
we have taken to the courts have
not been finalized as yet.
"It is
our belief that despite the delays in the finalization of the cases,
we have
to continue piling on the pressure on the responsible authorities,
and from
this, we believe one day, justice will prevail," Davies added.
Financial Gazette (Harare)
January
4, 2007
Posted to the web January 4, 2007
Charles
Rukuni
Harare
THE year just begun could be a tough one for Speaker of
Parliament and
presidential hopeful John Nkomo. The ZANU-PF chairman who is
being sued for
$200 million by former government spin doctor Jonathan Moyo
has to wait
until May to know the outcome of the suit.
Another
presidential aspirant Emmerson Mnangagwa has threatened to sue him
over what
he said in court in his evidence in the Jonathan Moyo case.
Bulawayo
businessman Langton Masunda, who has already won several cases
against
Nkomo, is also waiting on the sidelines.
Moyo had originally sued Nkomo
and fellow politburo member Dumiso Dabengwa
for $2 billion dollars, which
was reduced to $2 million following the
revaluation but Moyo applied to the
court to have the figure reviewed to
$200 million revalued citing soaring
inflation.
Inflation is expected to soar in the first half of this year,
so it is not
clear whether Moyo will seek another review of the figure or
not.
Moyo is suing Nkomo and Dabengwa over allegations that they defamed
him by
claiming that he was behind the alleged "smart coup" to oust
President
Robert Mugabe. Moyo is said to have been behind moves to stop
vice-President
Joyce Mujuru from being elected to that post and was
allegedly in favour of
Mnangagwa.
The plan would also have seen Nkomo
and vice-President Joseph Msika kicked
out.
Mnangagwa threatened to
sue Nkomo after he told the court that he had been
told that the Minister of
Rural Housing and Social Amenities had partly
financed the alleged "smart
coup".
President Mugabe blasted his lieutenants for taking each other to
court over
the succession issue. Mugabe said there were no vacancies at the
top. Party
leaders must sit down and talk and resolve their differences and
not take
each other to court.
"What are we demonstrating to the
people? That we are still one or divided?
Still together or apart?" he
asked.
Mnangangwa, once considered Mugabe's logical successor, has tended
to abide
by the wishes of his party leader and could therefore drop his
lawsuit. But
Langton Masunda is not likely to do the same.
Masunda
has been fighting a running battle with Nkomo over a safari
operation in the
Gwayi area. Masunda was allocated the land together with
three other
partners but Nkomo claimed that Jijima lodge, where hunters stay
while on
safari, which Masunda apparently renovated, was on his piece of
land.
Nkomo, however, failed to produce his offer letter from the
government and
lost the case in court with costs.
He still has to pay
Masunda's legal costs which stood at over $500 million
before the
revaluation and before the case was concluded.
Now one of the foreign
hunters who was kicked out of Masunda's farm during
the squabble with Nkomo
is threatening to sue Masunda for US$35 000 ($91
million at the current
market rate).
The hunter was arrested and detained by the police and now
says he wants
compensation because he was treated so badly by the police
that he had never
been humiliated to such an extent in his entire hunting
career.
He said he had made 15 hunting trips to Zimbabwe.
He
therefore wants US$35 000 as compensation for shock and loss of
business.
Masunda said if the hunter goes ahead with the lawsuit, he
would have no
option but to counter sue Nkomo because he was the one who has
scuttled the
hunting trip by ordering police to kick out hunters.
He
said about 10 hunters were affected.
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
OPINION
January 4, 2007
Posted to the web January 4,
2007
Mavis Makuni
Harare
SIX new voices but the same old
discordant political tune. That is all that
can be said about the "new"
commission appointed by Local Government, Public
Works and Urban Development
Minister, Ignatius Chombo to run the affairs of
Harare for the next six
months.
Most residents of the capital city must have treated the
announcement last
weekend of the expanded commission not only as a non-event
but a clear
signal of worse things to come for the former "Sunshine City".
By increasing
the number of commissioners, Chombo has simply created jobs
for his ruling
party cronies and saddled Harare residents with more
unnecessary baggage to
pay for.
By the time Sekesai Makwavarara
and the new commission complete their term
of office in June, Harare's
affairs will have been mismanaged by ZANU
PF-imposed administrations for a
total of six years. Elijah Chanakira's
outfit spent three years going
nowhere from 1999 to 2000 and Makwavarara's
gravy train has been in reverse
gear for the last two years. Chombo's faith
in the same inept and
politically compromised leadership that has failed to
turn things around in
the past guarantees the accelerated descent of Harare
into further chaos. It
also highlights the extent to which the ruling party
has lost touch with
reality and is prepared to use brute force to get its
way.
It is
instructive to note that while Chombo is prepared to give these
politically
motivated commissions limitless latitude for failure, he was not
prepared to
allow the first popularly elected Executive Mayor of Harare,
Elias Mudzuri
and his team enough time to even get their bearings. Mudzuri
was hounded out
of office on the basis of trumped up charges faster than
anyone could say
political tyranny! He was accused of failing to manage the
affairs of the
city efficiently and Makwavarara was brought in ostensibly to
improve
things. What a cruel joke in view of the comedy of errors she has
presided
over.
But make no mistake about it, Harare's long-suffering residents
have not
forgotten that the same Chombo who is prepared to turn a blind eye
to
Makwavarara's catalogue of monumental failings once gave a Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) mayor of Chitungwiza 48 hours to tackle problems
that had not been addressed since independence. This was of course the
pretext the meddlesome minister needed to bully a democratically elected
council out of office for replacement with hand-picked sycophants. Chombo
rarely talks about the situation in that dormitory suburb these days because
he knows nothing has changed.
Ironically, in passing an effusive vote
of thanks in Makwavarara, Chombo
cited the exact reasons why fed up
residents of the capital city think she
should not spend one more day at
Town House. He urged the commission to
"improve service delivery" and ensure
"timeous and regular refuse
collection, pothole filling and improved street
lighting". This is the first
time Chombo has publicly alluded to the
problems that have caused an outcry
in Harare, but has shown himself to be
as insensitive as ever by continuing
to pretend that Makwavarara will
suddenly be able to achieve in the next six
months what she has failed to do
in the last two years. The very fact that a
government minister has to give
specific instructions on how the commission
should handle routine matters
such as service delivery and the appointment
of a town clerk speaks volumes
about the calibre of Makwavarara's
leadership.
Everyone knows that
service delivery has been non-existent since Makwavarara
was catapulted to
the position of chairperson of Chombo's politically
controlled commission.
In any other situation where the interests and voices
of the people are
taken seriously, Chombo should have seized the opportunity
to put things
right once and for all by showing Makwavarara the exit door.
She has failed
to provide the leadership necessary to run the affairs of the
city
democratically, efficiently and professionally. Makwavarara herself
acknowledged in her acceptance speech that the complex problems besetting
the City of Harare required men and women who were equal to the challenge.
It is obvious that with the numerous documented cases of her bungling,
ineptitude and frivolous spending sprees, she is not of that calibre. No
amount of propping up and undeserved praise can hide Makwavarara's glaring
shortcomings.
Chombo cited the Harare city council's ability to pay
salaries on time due
to improved revenue collection as one of the
achievements of the Makwavarara
Commission. Is the minister serious? All
that this means is that the
residents are being fleeced to make funds
available for abuse and misuse by
Chombo's commission. The extravagant
lifestyle of the chairperson is well
documented.
Chombo overlooks
all these anomalies because he too has lost the plot. He
now regards Harare
and other cities, as his personal fiefdoms upon which he
can impose his
personal will. He appears to believe that Harare residents
constitute a
province of the ruling party which can be bullied into doing
the
leadership's bidding. In this case, the residents have not only been
stripped of their democratic right to elect officials of their choice and to
voice grievances but are now being mercilessly taunted by being made to pay
through the nose for this tyranny.
The hype about improving the
supervision of staff so that ratepayers can get
"good value for money" and
plans to introduce performance contracts for
heads of department cannot fool
anyone. The fish rots from the head
downwards and the pall of decay at Town
House can no longer be masked by
these deceptive measures. A complete
overhaul is needed. It is hypocritical
and illogical to expect the municipal
workforce to perform miracles under
the leadership of a chief executive
officer who has consistently failed to
fulfil the terms of her own contract.
Has Chombo ever heard of the need to
lead by example?
The minister
may pat himself on the back for "securing" Harare for the
ruling party
through undemocratic machinations. But he would be deceiving
himself and his
party if he believed that he has succeeded in pulling wool
over the
residents' eyes.
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
January 4, 2007
Posted to the web January 4,
2007
Njabulo Ncube
Harare
IN what safari industry players view
as retribution for challenging
authority, an emergent black businessman who
dared to stand up to ZANU PF
chairman and Speaker of Parliament John Nkomo,
over a choice farm, has been
denied a hunting quota for the 2007
season.
Investigations by The Financial Gazette show that Langton Masunda
-- who
last year was involved in a tussle with Nkomo over the wildlife-rich
Lugo
Range in Hwange -- is one of the newly resettled safari operators
denied a
hunting quota for the 2007 hunting season in Matabeleland
North.
A perusal of names of safari operators granted hunting quotas
sent out by
the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (PWMA) for 2007 two
weeks ago
shows that Masunda is not on the list of safari operators granted
permission
to hunt.
Masunda refused to discuss the issue when
contacted by this newspaper but
safari operators privy to the latest
development confirmed he had not been
granted a hunting quota this
season.
"We knew it was coming," said a safari operator based in
Matabeleland North,
speaking anonymously.
A hunting quota represents
the number of animals that can be culled or
harvested annually without
upsetting the animal population.
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism,
under which the PWMA falls, last
year banned the hunting of lions in the
Hwange area due to alleged
over-culling.
Masunda has fought running
battles with Nkomo over Lugo Ranch, resulting in
several High Court actions
as the ZANU PF chairman sought to take over the
property.
The dispute
sucked in Didymus Mutasa, the Minister for National Security,
Lands and Land
Reform and Resettlement, who issued an order evicting
Masunda. However, the
eviction order was nullified by the Bulawayo High
Court, firmly installing
Masunda as the rightful settler on the property.
The same year the
businessman was hauled before the courts for allegedly
illegally hunting
wildlife worth $123 million on the disputed property but
the charge was
thrown out.
Although those close to him are adamant the refusal to grant
Masunda a
hunting quota for 2007 was due to his high profile court actions
against the
ZANU PF heavyweight, other safari operators speculated he could
have failed
to meet requirements and standards stipulated by the Parks and
Wildlife
Management Authority.
Edward Mbewe, a spokesman for the
Parks and Wildlife Management Authority,
said he had sent out all hunting
quotas for successful safari operators to
the western region but was not
sure if Masunda's name was on the list.
"It could be that he (Masunda)
has not submitted additional information that
we requested from all
operators," said Mbewe. "We wanted additional
information relating to
hunting success rate, trophy quality, figures of all
species in their areas,
we wanted returns of revenue generated and I can
tell you most have not
submitted this information except members of the
Zimbabwe Safari Operators
Association. Those that have not submitted the
required information have had
their quotas withheld," he added.
There are fears some unscrupulous
safari operators were reluctant to release
figures because they over-hunted
and were liable to be fined by the PWMA.
The government recently launched
a blitz to expose suspected corruption and
financial irregularities within
the lucrative safari industry.
Financial Gazette (Harare)
OPINION
January 4,
2007
Posted to the web January 4, 2007
Stanley
Kwenda
Harare
IT'S time to start on a clean slate -- the time to make
new year
resolutions. Many will make the usual vows to give up the brown
bottle, get
fit, kick the smoking habit or lead a philanthropic and
progressive life.
Some will even vow to settle down. But very few will have
the willpower to
see these through.
A friend of mine has already
announced that he will be pressing hard to
settle down with his long time
girlfriend. Another one has invested in
getting a healthier body. He plans
to scale down on booze and invest in the
education of his children. Yet
another has decided to work enough to justify
what he is paid. A smart move,
I suppose. But I have learnt from experience
not to take seriously the many
resolutions I hear. Having said that I wish
all those who have set targets
for themselves all the best.
Weekend Gazette promises more robust
coverage of lifestyle, leisure,
entertainment and the arts. For a long time
we have been accused of not
covering some in the arts sector, we promise to
improve in this area
especially the urban groovers.
However, we also
have a wish list of headlines we would like to see, and
what better time to
talk about dreams then now.
And so in a no-holds-barred fashion, here are
some of our wishes for 2007:
a.. Pastor Admire Kasi should come
clean on the paternity of Ivy Kombo's
daughter just as he finally did with
regard to their relationship.
b.. Cephas Mashakada recovers fully and
resumes his singing career.
c.. Construction at Oliver Mtukudzi's Pakare
Paye Arts Centre is
completed.
d.. Jonathan Moyo relives his dream and
revives the awesome Pax Afro.
e.. Tinopona Katsande has her first child
with Bulawayo hubby.
f.. Sungura artists stop dressing like hip-hop
musicians.
g.. Phillip Chiyangwa lives up to his new Christian identity and
sells one
of his posh cars and donates the money to a charity organisation
of his
choice.
h.. Government ministers constantly appear in public
with their wives as a
campaign to promote the institution of marriage and
help fight AIDS.
i.. ZBC swallows its pride and rehire some of the
broadcasting greats of
yesteryear.
j.. Government realises that artists
are not political enemies.
Well, at least we can dream.