Police
and Zanu-PF lead bargain hunt after officials order shops to act
Chris
McGreal in Harare
Monday July 16, 2007
The Guardian
The
enforced cuts means many Zimbabwean shops have run out of stock and are
unable to reorder because official retail prices are below wholesale costs.
Photograph: Bishop Asare/EPA
Zimbabweans are shopping like
there's no tomorrow. With police patrolling
the aisles of Harare's
electrical shops to enforce massive
government-ordered price cuts, the
widescreen TVs were the first things to
go, for as little as £20. Across the
country, shoes, clothes, toiletries and
different kinds of food were all
swept from the shelves as a nation with the
world's fastest shrinking
economy gorged itself on one last spending spree.
Car dealers said officials
were trying to force them to sell vehicles at the
official exchange rate,
effectively meaning that a car costing £15,000 could
be had for £30 by
changing money on the blackmarket. The owners of several
dealerships have
been arrested.
President Robert Mugabe's order that all shop prices
be cut by at least
half, and sometimes several times more, has forced stores
to open to hordes
of customers waving thick blocks of near worthless money
given new value by
the price cuts. The police and groups of ruling party
supporters could be
seen leading the charge for a bargain.
Mr Mugabe has
accused business interests of fuelling inflation, running at
about 20,000%,
to bring down his government. A hotline is in place to report
"overcharging", and retailers who flinch at slashing prices are being
dragged before the courts. Several thousand have been arrested for
"profiteering" over the past week, including the chief executives of the
biggest retailers in the country, some of them
foreign-owned.
Economists say the price cuts will only deepen the
national crisis, leaving
many shops bare because they will not be able to
afford to restock while
official retail prices remain lower than the cost of
buying wholesale or
importing. Mr Mugabe has dismissed such warnings as
"bookish economics".
Some businesses fear that Operation Reduce Prices is
intended to pin the
blame on the private sector for Zimbabwe's economic
problems as a step
towards seizing control of many companies in the way that
white-owned farms
were expropriated at the beginning of the decade, sparking
the crisis.
Parliament is expected to pass legislation in the coming
weeks that will
effectively give a controlling stake in all publicly traded
companies to
ruling party loyalists and others chosen by the
government.
The impact of the price cuts was felt almost immediately as
fuel virtually
disappeared from sale after garages were forced to sell
petrol for 23p a
litre, less than they paid the state-owned
supplier.
The police and army broke the locks on petrol pumps at some
garages and
tanks ran dry amid panic buying. Now petrol is available only on
the
blackmarket, at more than seven times the official price and three times
what garages had been charging. By Saturday, most minibus taxis had gone
from the roads because drivers could not find petrol. Crowds of workers were
left on kerbs for hours trying to get to or from their jobs.
The riot
police had to be called out to the South African-owned Makro super
store in
Harare after thousands of people stormed the shop after it was
forced to
slash prices. The scenes were replicated in stores throughout
Harare. The
Bata shoe chain's shops were stripped bare in two days by people
snapping up
pairs for as little as 20p.
Food is still available, although bread,
sugar, cornmeal and other staples
are hard to find, and meat has all but
disappeared because livestock owners
say it is now uneconomic to slaughter
their animals. Much of the meat that
is available is goat slaughtered in
backyards and sold in informal markets.
The rest of the food supply -
already severely undermined by drought and
lack of production on land seized
from white farmers - is also under threat
after Mr Mugabe threatened to take
over manufacturers if they shut down
their plants on the grounds that they
were uneconomic. "Factories must
produce. If they don't, we will take you
over ... We will seize the
factories," he said.
Last week, the
government said it was reviving the State Trading
Corporation, shut down two
decades ago because of mismanagement, to take
over businesses that collapse
or are seized. But many factories are unable
to produce goods because
electricity and water are unavailable for much of
the day.
The price
cuts were ordered by the joint operation command, a committee of
army,
intelligence and police officers closely tied to the ruling Zanu-PF
and
chaired by Mr Mugabe.
The government despatched security personnel and
party cadres, including its
notorious "green bomber" thugs, to enforce the
price cuts, in some cases by
beating up shop managers who did not implement
them quickly enough.
"Zanu-PF is at heart a military organisation and
that's exactly how it's
gone about this, as a military operation," said
David Coltart, an opposition
MP. "The benefits will only last a few weeks at
most and then we're going to
have to live with the consequences. They
believe they can dictate price cuts
and print money with gay abandon but
ultimately it will rebound. Not
ultimately, very soon."
Business
leaders say one reason for the price cuts is to quell unrest in the
security
forces, which saw a dramatic increase in inflation last month wipe
out a
600% pay rise in May. They also fear the campaign is a step towards
doing to
private companies what was done to white farmers. Mr Mugabe is
pressing a
law through parliament in the coming weeks that will require all
businesses
to be at least 51% Zimbabwean owned and managed.
Zanu-PF has dressed up
the move as an affirmative action measure to help
previously disadvantaged
black people. But firms will not be able to choose
their new partners. They
will be selected by the government. The measure
will be paid for by taxing
the same businesses forced to hand over control.
Mr Coltart said the move
was essentially a means for the ruling party and
military to take over the
economy. "We can't expect a rational policy to
emerge. You will see the
military in charge of manufacturing. We've already
got the military in
charge of railways and grain marketing and the electoral
process. There are
military men now involved in all sorts of other
businesses. The
militarisation of the state will continue," he said.
In a letter to the
cabinet the governor of Zimbabwe's central bank, Gideon
Gono - until
recently considered one of Mr Mugabe's closest allies - said
that price
controls must be scrapped and foreign investments and property
rights
protected to put the country on the path to economic recovery.
He also
said that the seizure of white-owned farms had been
counterproductive
because it cost Zimbabwe foreign currency earnings by
losing tobacco exports
and scaring off investors.
Many of Mr Mugabe's opponents agree with Mr
Gono but they are quietly
heartened by the latest upheaval. They are fond of
quoting the US ambassador
to Harare, Christopher Dell, who recently said
that Zanu-PF was committing
regime change on itself with its disastrous
economic policies and that Mr
Mugabe would be gone by the end of the
year.
The Telegraph
By
Graeme Wilson, Political Correspondent , Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated:
1:18am BST 16/07/2007
Gordon Brown faced calls last
night to speak out against plans to
invite Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's
president, to a major European Union summit
on Africa.
William
Hague, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, condemned the proposal to
invite Mr
Mugabe to the meeting in Lisbon as a "disgrace" at a time when
Zimbabwe is
descending into chaos.
In a strongly-worded letter to David
Miliband, the Foreign Secretary,
today, Mr Hague urges the Government to
speak out against the EU's plans to
issue an invitation to Mr
Mugabe.
With MPs due to debate the crisis in Zimbabwe on Thursday,
Mr Hague
also calls for ministers to press for much tougher and more
comprehensive EU
sanctions against senior figures in the Mugabe
regime.
His message was echoed yesterday by Kate Hoey, the former
Labour
sports minister, who said that British ministers should boycott the
Lisbon
summit if Zimbabwe's ruler was allowed to attend.
In his
letter to the Foreign Secretary, Mr Hague stresses that
Zimbabwe was "facing
impending humanitarian catastrophe" and he was
therefore surprised to learn
that the EU is planning to invite Mr Mugabe to
the EU-Africa Summit in
Lisbon in December.
"There can be no justification for such a decision.
Issuing the
invitation implies that the EU has no intention of developing a
serious
response to the crisis in Zimbabwe or reprimanding President Mugabe
for his
government's unacceptable actions," writes Mr Hague.
"While we support the Portuguese presidency's plan to make better
links with
Africa its priority, the fact remains that welcoming the
architect of
Zimbabwe's catastrophe to Lisbon and granting him such
international
recognition would be nothing short of a disgrace.
"Do you agree
that, rather than courting the dictator, a firm stand by
the EU would send a
powerful message of solidarity to the people of
Zimbabwe? Can you confirm
that the government will oppose any move to invite
President Mugabe or
anyone on the EU sanctions list to the Lisbon Summit?"
Mr Hague
also calls on the Foreign Secretary to press for a much more
rigorous system
of targeted sanctions against the Mugabe regime, coupled
with "a concerted
diplomatic approach."
He argues that the EU should widen its net
and start freezing the
assets of family members and business associates of
members of the
Zimbabwean government.
EU visas and residence
permits should also be cancelled and the list
of those affected by sanctions
should be extended to include the Governor of
Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank, he
said.
Furthermore, he argued that Britain should also work with
countries
like the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada to
bolster the
financial sanctions imposed on the Mugabe regime.
The Government was also urged to take a more robust stance on Zimbabwe
by Ms
Hoey in an interview on GMTV yesterday.
She said that Mr Brown
needed to "make it quite clear that we will not
accept any invitation to
Mugabe to the European Union African Union
Conference that is due to be
held."
If the EU pressed ahead with its plans, then ministers
should boycott
the summit, she said.
"There is absolutely no
way the Foreign Secretary should be attending
any meeting with Mugabe. He is
not meant to be coming to Europe," she said.
Ms Hoey said the EU
should take steps to extend its existing sanctions
to include more people
and stop them taking assets out of the country or
travelling to
Europe.
"We shilly-shally while other governments in other long
distant parts
of the world like Australia come out and speak out", she said.
"If we can't
solve Zimbabwe then what hope is there for the rest of
Africa?".
The Foreign Office said last night that discussions were
continuing
with other European countries about Zimbabwe's representation at
the summit.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We would not want to
let Mugabe's
attendence to capture the agenda. The important thing is to
focus on the
substance of the summit but there is still time to find a
solution."
The Telegraph
Last Updated:
1:18am BST 16/07/2007
Earlier this year the Mugabe-led
government escalated its oppression
of the opposition in Zimbabwe, most
prominently with the arrest and brutal
beating of Morgan Tsvangerai, and the
murders of opposition activists and
journalists.
Since then
every day brings grimmer news of state repression and an
economy in
freefall. Reports of rioting at shops and filling stations in the
wake of a
government directive for 50% food price cuts and 70% fuel price
cuts, and
news that more than 1,300 supermarket managers and owners have
been arrested
for refusing to sell their merchandise at the lower prices,
suggest that the
country is on the verge of economic and social collapse.
Zimbabwe
is today facing impending humanitarian catastrophe. I am
therefore surprised
that the EU appears to be attempting to conduct business
as usual, and is
reportedly considering inviting President Mugabe to the
EU-Africa Summit in
Lisbon in December this year.
There can be no justification for
such a decision. Issuing the
invitation implies that the EU has no intention
of developing a serious
response to the crisis in Zimbabwe or reprimanding
President Mugabe for his
government's unacceptable actions.
While we support the Portuguese presidency's plan to make better links
with
Africa its priority, the fact remains that welcoming the architect of
Zimbabwe's catastrophe to Lisbon and granting him such international
recognition would be nothing short of a disgrace.
Do you agree
that, rather than courting the dictator, a firm stand by
the EU would send a
powerful message of solidarity to the people of
Zimbabwe? Can you confirm
that the government will oppose any move to invite
President Mugabe or
anyone on the EU sanctions list to the Lisbon Summit?
Furthermore, will you
undertake to encourage the EU to develop a more
comprehensive approach to
Zimbabwe, combining increased sanctions and a
concerted diplomatic
approach?
The EU has failed to respond effectively to the ongoing
crackdown in
Zimbabwe. Adding several more individuals to the EU assets
freeze and travel
ban do not amount to the substantial increase in pressure
on the regime that
is needed. Surely the time has now come for the EU to
urgently impose
additional European sanctions. The EU should widen the
assets freeze
considerably to include family members and business associates
of those
already on the lists, it should cancel EU visas and residence
permits of
those on the lists and their family members, and it should add
the Governor
of Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank to the EU list.
Beyond
the EU, we must work with other countries that also have
sanctions in place
against Zimbabwe, such as the United States, Australia,
New Zealand and
Canada, to agree wider financial sanctions that maximise our
leverage on the
Zimbabwean regime. Pius Ncube, the archbishop of Bulawayo,
has repeatedly
highlighted the disastrous economic plight of the country and
the increase
in state repression.
Despite his disastrous policies Mr Mugabe has
demonstrated that he has
no intention of leaving office and is seeking to
extend his rule. The
British government should urge Zimbabwe's neighbours to
make a concerted
effort to resolve the crisis and to block the extension of
Mugabe's rule,
making the case that the consequences of a total collapse in
Zimbabwe will
fall heavily upon them and their region.
Finally,
the time may now be right for the International Criminal
Court to take a
close and detailed look at the atrocities committed under
the auspices of Mr
Mugabe and his regime. In light of public interest in
this matter I am
making this letter available to the press.
HARARE, July 16, 2007
- Over 350 families affected by Operation
Murambatsvina, a widely-condemned
government clean-up exercise in 2005, are
still living in the open amid
revelations that President Robert Mugabe
diverted to his Harare mansion
tonnes of cement bought by government to
build houses for the
victims.
A secret report leaked to The Zimbabwe Times this week, prepared
by a
government official early this year, shows that Mugabe last year
diverted
over 2 000 bags of cement meant for the victims of the operation to
build
his mansion in Harare's leafy suburb of Borrowdale.
The cement
was transported from Hopley Farm, just outside Harare, to Mugabe's
residence
on different occasions. "Please take note that 1 150 bags (of
cement) have
gone to the President's residence in Borrowdale," says the
report by dated
March this year.
The report entitled "Cement Quantities and Usage" was
complied by Engineer
Tobias Chombe, a site planner at Hopley Farm. It covers
the period between
January 2005 and February this year and was prepared from
records by N.G.
Security, a firm that offers security at Hopley settlement,
as well as the
stock books of Operation Garikai staff.
While Mugabe
is already living in the comfort of his mansion, thousands of
families whose
houses were destroyed by the internationally-condemned
operation are still
staying in the open countrywide.
A victim of the clean-up exercise,
Cecilia Munapo, who stays in a shack at
Hopley Farm, has lost hope of been
given a home by government. "It's more
than two years and we are still
waiting. I don't know if we will ever be
allocated a house," she
said.
In May 2005 the government of Zimbabwe embarked on Operation
Murambatsvina,
(drive out filth) a programme of mass forced evictions and
demolition of
homes and informal livelihoods. The operation, which was
carried out in
winter and against a backdrop of severe food shortages,
targeted urban areas
countrywide.
In a report released on July 22,
2005, the special envoy of the
Secretary-General of the UN, Anna Tibaijuka,
estimated that some 700,000
people lost their homes, their livelihoods, or
both during the operation. In
contrast, Mugabe's mansion, said to be his
retirement home, rivals the most
extravagant of African leaders'
residences.
Surveyors in Harare estimated the building cost at about
£3.75 million - a
colossal sum in a country where factory workers can earn
as little as £6 a
month. Final costs, including landscaping, security and
interior decoration
are expected to push the bill close to £6
million.
The residence offers more than three acres of accommodation,
mostly on three
floors, including two-storey reception rooms, an office
suite, and up to 25
bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms and spas. The
Chinese-style roof is clad
with midnight blue glazed tiles from Shanghai.
The ceilings were decorated
by Arab craftsmen.
Mugabe's mansion is
more than three times the size of his present official
residence and his
offices at State House. Recently, Mugabe bought out houses
of his
neighbours, and last week evicted about 300 families at a farm near
his
mansion citing security reasons.
The 83-year-old leader has increased
security around him. The road to his
private home is guarded round the clock
by heavily armed soldiers. At his
official residence, armed soldiers and
secret agents mill around while the
road that passes through is closed to
the public between 6 pm and 6 am.
This is not the first time that the
First Family has benefited from projects
meant for the poor. In 1994
Mugabe's extravagant wife, Grace, benefited from
the pay-for-your-scheme, a
programme meant for lowly-paid civil servants,
and later built a massive
house, which later became known as the
"Gracelands".
After exposure
in the media, she sold it, and it ended up in the hands of
Libyan diplomats.
Cabinet ministers have also been accused of plundering
public resources.
Tonnes of construction material were allegedly looted by
senior government
officials to build their houses while some was sold on the
black
market.
The secret report also says about 400 bags of cement, which were
at Hopley,
were said to have been loaned to Chikurubi Maximum Prison and
later
returned. But the report noted that consignment was never received
back at
Hopley. "400 bags said to have gone to Chikurubi. This amount was
loaned to
(ZPS) Zimbabwe Prison Services. Of interest is the issue that the
cement was
returned when in actual fact it was not," says the
report.
The sources said the cement was taken from Hopley on the pretext
that it was
going to be used to build houses for people affected by the
operation. "It's
not only cement that was looted by senior officials. They
took diesel and
other building materials, which they sold on the black
market. It involves
senior officials, that's why is it taking long to
investigate," said one
source.
Some of the cement was recorded as
having been transported from Manyuchi Dam
Project in Masvingo to Harare.
"But surprisingly the record show that on 1st
and 2nd, November the same
cement was transported back to Masvingo," says
the report. While the alleged
looting is said to be continuing, construction
of houses for the victims of
the Murambatsvina at Hopley, Whitecliff and
other sites countrywide has
ground to a halt.
At least 365 families are still staying in shacks at
Hopley. "The 365
families are still staying in the open. I again pray for
your authorization
for us to allocate them stands," says the report. The
minister of local
government, public works and urban development Ignatius
Chombo, whose
ministry is responsible for Operation Garikai, could not be
reached for
comment.- The Zimbabwe Times.
Nehanda Radio: Zimbabwe's
first 24 hour internet radio news channel.
Yahoo News
Sun
Jul 15, 3:28 PM ET
CHITUNGWIZA, Zimbabwe (AFP) - President Robert
Mugabe's price crackdown is a
tactic to divert attention from vote-rigging
for next year's elections,
Zimbabwe's main opposition leader said
Sunday.
"The real issue is diversion, to divert the people of Zimbabwe
from the
problems they are facing, so that they spend most of their time
chasing each
other in shops at a time voter registration is taking place,"
Morgan
Tsvangirai told supporters at a rally to the south of
Harare.
Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has
threatened to boycott next year's parliamentary and presidential elections
unless their independence can be guaranteed.
Opposition groups have
long voiced fears that 83-year-old Mugabe will try to
ensure a sixth term in
office by rigging the electoral roll in favour of his
ruling ZANU-PF
party.
Mugabe, accused by Western nations of rigging his re-election in
2002, is
facing his biggest test at the ballot box next year since coming to
power as
a result of an economic meltdown that has seen inflation spiral to
well
beyond 5,000 percent.
His government's decision to order shops
and manufactures to slash their
prices late last month was widely seen by
analysts as a bid to win over
voters who have been unable to afford the
rapidly rising price of goods.
Although the price cuts have enabled
households to afford goods that had
become luxuries, many analysts have
warned the move will ultimately backfire
as stores run dry and goods instead
end up on the more expensive black
market.
Mugabe has accused
businesses of deliberately pushing up prices in order to
topple his regime,
but Tsvangirai said the president was to blame.
"How did the prices get
there in the first place?" said Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai was addressing a
crowd of around 5,000 supporters at one of the
first opposition rallies
authorised by authorities following the lifting of
a blanket ban on
demonstrations on June 29.
The opposition leader and dozens of his
supporters were assaulted by
security forces when they tried to attend a
prayer rally earlier this year,
but there was no sign of trouble at Sunday's
gathering, which was monitored
by a small number of police officers.
VOA
By VOA News
15 July
2007
Zimbabwe's opposition leader says President Robert Mugabe's
government
slashed prices of food, fuel and other goods to divert attention
from the
country's economic crisis.
Authorities in Harare say steep
price cuts they ordered last month will
reduce the record inflation rate,
but the move has instead triggered
shortages of basic foods and other
necessities. Shop owners say their costs
are much higher than the prices
they can charge, so they are not restocking
their shelves.
Economists
predict inflation will rise further as consumers resort to paying
extreme
black-market prices for everyday needs such as cornmeal, cooking oil
and
sugar.
Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main faction in the opposition
Movement for
Democratic Change, says the price cuts conceal Zimbabwe's
continuing
economic collapse. As shopping becomes more and more difficult,
he warns,
public attention may be distracted from political misconduct in
advance of
next year's presidential election.
Tsvangirai was speaking
to supporters Sunday at a rally south of the
capital.
His MDC
coalition is threatening to boycott the presidential vote in March
unless a
free and fair vote is guaranteed. Many opposition members say they
expect
the ruling ZANU-PF party will try to rig voter registration lists to
assure
the 83-year-old president a sixth term in office.
Mr. Mugabe says
Zimbabwe's long-running political and economic crisis has
been caused by
sanctions that Britain and the United States imposed on his
government.
Zim Online
Monday 16 July 2007
By Edith
Kaseke
HARARE - Zimbabwe human rights groups have accused President
Robert Mugabe's
government of continued abuses against opponents and have
urged Harare to
respect judicial officers and court rulings, adding that it
was worrying
that lawyers have been harassed while carrying out their
duties.
The veteran Zimbabwe leader, who is seeking to consolidate his
controversial
rule by seeking another five-year presidential term in 2008,
has long been
accused of using heavy handed tactics against those who oppose
and criticise
his 27-year rule.
The United States and European Union
have imposed targeted travel and
financial restrictions against Mugabe and
several of his government and
ruling ZANU PF officials over the rights abuse
charges.
"Abuse of state power by state security agents, disregard of
court orders by
the police, harassment of lawyers, intimidation of
opposition and civic
society activists continued unabated in May," the
Zimbabwe Human Rights
Forum, a grouping of over a dozen rights groups said
in its latest monthly
report.
"The Human Rights Forum continues to
deplore the heavy-handedness with which
peaceful demonstrators are treated
and the criminalisation of political and
civic activity by the government of
Zimbabwe," according to the report.
The rights group recorded a total of
373 cases of abuse by state agents in
May compared to 318 the previous
month. These included torture, unlawful
arrest and detention, assault and
curtailing of freedom of expression.
The Human Rights Forum said for
example on May 2, an opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) member
was arrested by six plain clothes police
officers in Epworth and taken to
Mbare police station.
Police reportedly beat the victim with baton sticks
and empty soda bottles
under the soles of his feet while he was handcuffed
because he failed to
answer questions properly. He was thrown in a cell
where he was reportedly
denied food, water and any form of communication but
was released the next
day without charge.
Critics say Mugabe, whose
rule has generated controversy even within his
ZANU-PF party, has
increasingly relied on state apparatus such as the
military, police, and the
feared secret service to silence opponents.
Political analysts say the
83-year-old leader has successfully used state
security agents to cripple
the MDC, which came closest to unseat him from
power in 2000.
The
rights group said it was worried by the resurgence in the brutalisation
of
student leaders from higher and tertiary education institutions in
Zimbabwe
and accused university security staff of colluding with police
officers.
"Cases that were reported in May to the Human Rights Forum
reportedly
revealed that the University security officers were responsible
for
apprehending the student leaders, assaulting and then handing them over
to
the police where they are in most cases tortured in police custody," the
report said.
In May, police arrested and charged with obstruction two
lawyers
representing MDC supporters but the attorneys were released by the
court
while more than 50 lawyers demonstrating against the arrests were
beaten and
forcibly dispersed at the Harare High Court.
"The Human
Rights Forum would like to remind the Government of Zimbabwe that
lawyers
are not just ordinary citizens but officers of the courts and the
judicial
system and should be treated as such when they are engaging in
their work,"
the Human Rights Forum said. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Monday 16 July 2007
By Tsungai
Murandu
HARARE - The ultimate cost of Zimbabwe's ongoing war on
profiteering will be
even higher prices and more economic hardships for the
country's
long-suffering people, analysts warned yesterday.
Although
no credible estimates of losses by companies affected by the price
war are
available, economic analysts yesterday warned that the beleaguered
Zimbabwean economy would ultimately pay dearly for the ongoing government
action.
University of Zimbabwe business lecturer Tony Hawkins said
the decision to
roll back prices to June 18 levels was unsustainable and
could backfire on
the government.
"The government is going to have to
climb down on the issue and put in place
subsidies to support industry,"
Hawkins said. Among the main candidates for
subsidies will be the beef and
fuel industries, Hawkins said.
The Harare authorities have in the past
week restored the monopoly of the
state-controlled Cold Storage Company
(CSC) that now has the sole
responsibility to buy cattle from
farmers.
But the cash-strapped government would have to pump out money to
entice
farmers to sell their cattle to the CSC that offers less than what
private
abattoirs used to pay.
Beef has disappeared from the formal
market since the government withdrew
permits from private abattoirs last
week.
The same fate has met the fuel industry following a directive to
slash
petrol and diesel prices by up to 60 percent two weeks ago.
The
state fuel procurement agency, National Oil Company of Zimbabwe
(NOCZIM),
has failed to meet demand while private fuel importers have gone
underground
where a litre of petrol costs up to $500 000 compared to the
gazetted $55
000 a litre.
The perennially loss-making NOCZIM has had a chequered
history in the past
eight years, characterised by an over-dependence on
government subsidies and
inability to supply adequate fuel to meet the
country's industrial and
household needs.
The analysts warned that
the current price war could worsen an already
complicated situation for
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon
Gono who is expected to come
up with a much-awaited monetary policy
statement at the end of the
month.
Gono, who has previously declared war on inflation, is said to
have clashed
with his government colleagues over the manner in which the
price freeze was
being handled. The RBZ chief however told state media at
the weekend that he
was in principle fully behind the price
crackdown.
Any future subsidies exert greater pressure on inflation,
officially
estimated at more than 4 500 percent although independent
analysts put it at
more than 8 000 percent.
The analysts also warned
that subsidies would nudge the country's already
huge budget deficit set at
17.6 percent of gross domestic product in the
2007 national
budget.
The analysts commented as it emerged that Zimbabwe's besieged
manufacturing
sector was now switching to auto-pilot mode on Fridays as
company executives
go into hiding to escape arrest and avoid languishing in
police cells during
weekends.
More than 2 700 company executives and
managers have been arrested in a
crackdown that followed a government
directive for manufacturers and
retailers to roll back
prices.
Sources in the manufacturing sector yesterday said most senior
executives in
the sector no longer reported for duty on Fridays and leave
the levers in
the hands of junior or middle management staff.
"The
trend has been that since the war on prices started most senior
managers in
industry never report for work and make sure no one knows where
they will be
in order to minimise the risk of spending the weekend in police
custody,"
said a senior executive with a leading manufacturer of consumer
goods, who
cannot be named for fear of victimisation.
The executive said there was a
feeling in industry that the arrests are
usually timed for Fridays as a way
of embarrassing the captains of industry
who would be forced to spend the
weekend in police cells.
The arrest fears compound an already difficult
situation for Zimbabwe's
industry, which is being forced to continue
producing under sub-economic
conditions.
The sources said most
producers were contemplating or had already downsized
their operations since
the government onslaught on prices began three weeks
ago.
Meanwhile,
official media reported on Sunday that President Robert Mugabe's
government
was planning a new law to extend the price freeze indefinitely.
Industry
and International Trade Minister Obert Mpofu had initially
indicated that
the price freeze would last until the first week of August
but the
state-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper reported that the government
had
finalised a statute to be published this week to extend the freeze
indefinitely.
The lower prices bonanza has been a welcome relief to a
majority of long
suffering consumers used to daily increases, but it has
brought new problems
with basic goods, such as soap, sugar and cooking oil,
no longer available
except only on the illegal black market where prices are
extortionate.
Analysts say the government's latest effort to keep a lid
on prices was
meant to pacify angry workers ahead of next year's elections
but would come
at a heavy cost as this could force companies to shut down
and could bring
Zimbabwe's severely weakened economy to a complete halt. -
ZimOnline
The Zimbabwean
Name : David
McAllister
Phone : 07799245214
Address : 210 London Road
Email : davidmcallister1@mac.com
Branch :
General
Comments : I would like to inform you of a campaign started on
Facebook. A
group called Solutions and strategies for saving Zimbabwe has
been formed on
Facebook. To date we have 484 members. We together with
members of the MDC
have set up a campaign to send a postcard to the Human
Rights Watch to
encourage them to speak out against the situation in
Zimbabwe. Please take a
moment to visit this group on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2375919719
Any assistance you could
offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you David
McAllister
zimbabwejournalists.com
16th Jul 2007 00:18 GMT
By Chenjerai Chitsaru
IN a far-off land
which we shall, for the purposes if this epistle, call
Zimbabwe, the
president, in power for 27 years, was not confident he could
win the next
election.
He had won every election since independence in 1980, with
thumping
majorities - except in 2000, when everything and everyone,
including The
Almighty, to whom he proclaimed lifelong allegiance, seemed to
conspire
again him.
He had won that one by the skin of his teeth,
none of them false,
fortunately for him.
So, how to win the next
election? One of his advisers, a very clever, but
not particularly
intelligent scholar who had studied at the president's old
school, Fort
Hare, came up with a humdinger of an answer: cut the price of
everything,
including roora by 50 percent.
Another adviser, ghetto-bred in the old
Harare township, asked softly, his
voice loaded with contempt: "Do you think
Zimbabweans can be THAT stupid?"
We shall leave that tale of woe there,
shall we? And proceed to more serious
matters.
In 2000, before the
parliamentary elections, a referendum on a new
constitution was held. At the
last minute, almost as if in afterthought, an
item on land reform was
added.
In the estimation of all the Zanu PF spin-doctors, including the
latest
addition to the staff, a bright, young former radical newspaper
columnist
named Jonathan Moyo, this was a stroke of genius. No voter could
resist
voting for Zanu PF with this promise of fertile land dangled before
their
slavering mouths.
Something went horribly wrong during the
voting: the party almost lost the
election and rescued itself only through
some very violent tactics, which
reminded everyone in the party that this
formula had been used time and
again and was almost foolproof as a
guarantor of victory.
Come 2008 and some analysts are predicting that
Zanu PF may have to employ
this tactic again to win the harmonised
election.
This is going to cost someone his job. The so-called price
stabilization
ploy, which the party has hailed as a device to "bring sanity"
to the
pricing system, may not be the unparalleled vote-catcher than
President
Robert Mugabe's spin doctors have told him it
is.
Zimbabweans would have to be incredibly stupid to buy this as a
surefire
antidote to their Seven-Year Itch - the economic decline occasioned
by the
land reform programme in 2000.
The cornerstone is the
4,000-something inflation rate. As long as that
problem is not addressed,
what possible guarantee could there be that the
price reduction forced down
the throats of the retailers and wholesalers
will last until
2008?
Moreover, the foreign currency crunch has not been addressed
through this
price stabilization exercise. What will the manufacturers use
to source the
raw materials they need to produce more goods?
Gideon
Gono's bearer cheques have become as stale as last week's milk. He
himself
is in no better shape: his flip-flops over the stabilisation
exercise seem
to be a remarkable portrayal of a man who is against the whole
crazy
operation but is so aware of the consequences of publicly disowning it
he
decides to take refuge in doubletalk.
Can there be Zimbabweans of sober
habits who believe that all the country's
retailers and industrialists were
roped into this grand evil plan to hike
prices as part of a regime change
plot against Mugabe?
During the Cold War, it was easy enough to conceive
of The Ugly American
using every trick in the book to hoodwink greenhorn
African or Asian leaders
into doing their bidding, without knowing that it
was all designed to pull a
fast one on the Soviets or the Chinese in the
struggle for the hearts and
minds of the "neutrals".
Today, the lines
of ideological demarcation are fuzzy, to say the least. In
any case, the
former communist champions are now such stalwarts of
capitalism it can take
a computer to figure out if they were ever obsessed
with the dictatorship of
the proletariat, in the first place.
For the politically savvy
Zimbabwean, the price stabilization plot cannot be
disguised as a Good
Samaritan act of charity by the government. The
supermarket and even
tuckshop shelves are emptying even as I write this.
When they are
completely empty, what next? The government says "we will take
them over".
As they did the land on the vast, productive commercial farmers
which turned
the country into the breadbasket of the region, until the new
farmers were
let loose to loot and plunder everything in sight?
Looked at with the
sober, non-racist, non-ideological gaze of a rationalist,
the whole plan is
so loaded with stupidity, it would be amazing if a single
Zimbabwean were to
be convinced that there was nothing politically sinister
in it.
It
would be even more amazing if a Zimbabwean voter, aware of the 80 percent
unemployment, the collapse of the health delivery system, the corruption in
places, which places the bigwigs at the heart of most of the illegal
operations in the land, decided to vote for Zanu PF and Mugabe.
The
leopard has not changed its spots. Yes, it is as wily as before,
treading
noiselessly towards its unsuspecting prey. Only this time, there is
much
alarm surrounding the prey. Even the United Nations chief has warned
that
the price stabilisation exercise is not the benevolent plan for the
people's
survival that the government would have us believe it is.
One United
States president once said: "The business of America is
business." The US
became the world's richest nation, not because it's main
business was
business, but because the government and the people, in
concert, applied
themselves wholeheartedly and with almost insane dedication
to the task of
uplifting the lives of its people.
One might add that all this was
blended with a large dose of ruthlessness in
adversity and a
single-mindedness in conquest which acquired for the
ordinary American a
reputation of not wanting to be second-best at anything.
In the end, the
Americans, though almost universally loathed for their crass
self-promotion,
carved out for themselves a place in the sun, as the richest
country in the
world.
One element that can be identified as having made the drive
towards this
goal achievable was the relative amity between the government
and business.
Even during the long periods that the Democrats, with their
alliance with
the workers and the underprivileged, were in power, both sides
were
conscious not to jeopardize the health of the economy.
The
achievement of a similar relationship between government and business in
Zimbabwe, anchored in the Social Contract, is haunted by the insincerity on
the part of the government. Labour has its own gripe against the
government, which could be described as quasi-political.
For its
part, the government will not forget that it was labour which gave
birth to
the most formidable opposition party it has ever encountered since
its
formation and since independence, the Movement for Democratic Change.
So
every time the two meet across a negotiating table, the government might
be
forgiven for seeing the face of Morgan Tsvangirai , rather than that of
either Matombo or Chibhebhe.
Yet the bigger picture ought to preoccupy
both sides. The economy, once one
of the most promising in Africa, is now in
tatters. If an election were
conducted on a truly level playing field, the
opportunity for Zanu PF to
repeat the victories of the recent past would be
heavily compromised by its
record in mishandling of the economy, the major
casualty of its 27 years in
power.
Only those Zimbabweans insisting,
on the basis of the flimsiest evidence, on
believing the lie that sanctions
or Big Business are responsible for their
pathetic plight, could vote for
Zanu PF in 2008 or any other year.
Most Zimbabweans would know that such
an act would be one of the stupidest
in their political or social lives.
New Vision, Kampala
Sunday, 15th July,
2007
By Paul Busharizi
ZIMBABWE'S president Robert Mugabe is a classic
example of how not to run an
economy.
Last week, Mugabe decreed that
in order to fight mounting inflation,
businesses should roll back commodity
prices to the levels of June 18. He
further decreed that any businessman
defying the order would be arrested and
prosecuted.
At last count, at
least 200 businessmen had been arrested for defying the
83-year-old leader
and are currently cooling their heels as guests of the
state.
A week
or two earlier, prices rose sharply and consumers had cleaned out the
shops,
stocking in bulk to hedge against future price increases. Mugabe
again
decreed that businessmen should not sell in bulk so that shops are not
emptied.
When a leader starts defying the natural order of things
clearly, the end is
near.
Zimbabwe was not a basket case economy - it was
the breadbasket of southern
Africa as recently as the 1990s, had a
functioning civil service and vibrant
business community.
Mugabe is
not some clueless village buffoon who opportunistically seized
power and
does not know the first thing about the workings of government -
Mugabe has
several degrees including in sociology and law. Zimbabwe once had
one of the
highest per capita incomes, literacy rates and largest industrial
bases on
the continent.
But how did it all come to this?
Mugabe is clearly a
relic of the cold war, where sound economic management
was not as essential
as who your international allies were.
These allies would paper over
symptoms of economic mismanagement with funds
that went largely unaccounted
for.
In the aftermath of the cold war, developing nations were forced to
balance
their books and ensure sound economic policies
prevailed.
Somehow, Mugabe has been unable to shake off the hangover and
has continued
to run Zimbabwe like his old-time patrons from North Korea and
the Soviet
Union will always be there to bail him out.
A World Bank
study conducted in the 1990s showed that aid - of any kind - is
most
effective in countries which pursue sound economic policies. These
would
include countries that put a lid on inflation, liberalised their trade
environment and thus promote private sector-led growth.
The theory is
that countries that are committed to promoting private sector
growth have
the best chance of harnessing natural and human resources to
generate
wealth. The economic activity can then be taxed and the funds used
to
finance education and health, uplifting everybody.
So to inject funds
into such an environment is most likely to produce the
best results for the
population.
History has shown that countries are only as strong as their
private sectors
are viable.
However, the argument can be made that
Kenya was also a big beneficiary of
the cold war but unlike Zimbabwe, its
economy has not shuttled out of
control.
The difference between the
two is that ex-Kenyan president, Daniel arap Moi,
had interests in several
businesses and had forged a strong alliance with
corporate
Kenya.
This was not by accident. The breadth and scope of the Kenyatta
family's
business interests is legendary. Moi's mentor and predecessor was
Jomo
Kenyatta.
Unlike Mugabe who has a Marxist suspicion of the
private sector and sees it
as a threat to his continued hold on power, Moi
saw the business community
as an ally and courted it to sustain himself in
power.
Mugabe's apologists point out that there were huge imbalances in
the
Zimbabwean economy with the white minority controlling 70% of all arable
land. But similar disparities occurred in Kenya after independence and in
South Africa today.
Mugabe's sympathisers conveniently ignore that
the way he has gone about
redressing the inequalities has ended up
aggravating them by parceling out
choice tracts to his cronies who are
disastrous managers of the once
productive farms.
As a result, for
the first time in decades, Zimbabwe is now a net food
importer.
There is
no doubt that land distribution has been necessary in Zimbabwe but
it could
be done without destabilising the productive capacity while at the
same time
without being held hostage by the big land-owners.
Mugabe cloaks himself
in the shroud of protector of the marginalised
peasant, but this alliance is
largely opportunistic, as has been seen with
the collapse of the Zimbabwean
economy. This alliance of convenience allows
him to continue in power even
when his country is going down the toilet.
There is no contradiction in
promoting the private sector and uplifting the
plight of the rural masses.
Businesses provide jobs, services and pay taxes,
all of which can improve
the standard of living of the rural and urban
populations.
pbusharizi@newvision.co.ug
Christian Science Monitor
from the July 16, 2007 edition
Burma's and Zimbabwe's strongmen have created
humanitarian crises.
Not all iron fists are clumsy at the economic helm.
Chile's economy did well
under Pinochet's rule, and many Asian strongmen
reigned over tiger
economies. Not so today in Burma and Zimbabwe, where
misrule is driving many
toward starvation. The world should take more
notice.
Both countries have top-ranked inflation rates. In Burma, the
military's
erratic policies have caused prices to rise 40 to 50 percent a
year. In
Zimbabwe, hyperinflation is in the four digits, pushing President
Robert
Mugabe to order police to arrest shopkeepers who raise prices on
basic
goods.
Food scarcity has driven people to desperate measures.
In Zimbabwe, many
more people poach wildlife, from hippos to squirrels,
simply to eat. In
Burma, many parents go without food for one or two days at
a time to feed
their children.
These are not nations that lack
natural resources or suffer many natural
disasters. Policy is to blame - the
kind caused by leaders who make big
economic mistakes as they cling to
power. Fortunately, the international cry
for action on these humanitarian
crises is intensifying.
The International Committee of the Red Cross
issued a rare public censure
last week by accusing Burma's rulers of causing
"immense suffering," partly
as a result of abuse of farmers in minority
areas. The UN Humanitarian
Coordinator for Burma, Charles Petrie, says that
"ill-informed and outdated
socio-economic policies" in Burma (also known as
Myanmar) have produced
chronic malnutrition.
Zimbabwe appears closer
to near collapse. The World Bank says the country
has the fastest
contracting peacetime economy. Such news has caused South
Africa to
intervene. But its foreign minister said last week that outside
powers will
find it "very difficult to rebuild an economy in a country where
there is a
serious divide and polarization."
Mr. Mugabe has beaten down his
political opposition, leaving the nation's
Roman Catholic church as his
chief critic. Archbishop Pius Ncube has called
for nonviolent street
protests to bring down the government. That appears
unlikely.
Rescuing people from hunger under a ruthless regime poses a
moral dilemma
for world diplomats. Mass starvation in North Korea in the
1990s was largely
a result of policy, and many nations found it hard to send
food aid -
especially after some was found with the military.
Even
more difficult is outside military intervention. In 1992, the United
Nations
approved a US-led force into Somalia to relieve starvation. But the
UN is
still debating an "international right" for such humanitarian
intervention.
Despite genocide in Darfur, it hasn't sent in forces without
Sudan's
permission.
These days, China's veto power in the Security Council
remains an obstacle
to pressure on dictatorships where China is doing
business. China has beefed
up trade with both Burma and Zimbabwe in its
rapid pursuit for resources.
That makes it difficult for the UN to
act.
But more international pressure on these regimes is needed, even as
food and
other humanitarian aid continue to flow directly to the people.
Neighboring
nations especially must turn up the heat.
The ultimate
solution is a return to democracy - not that democracies don't
make economic
mistakes, but they generally fare better in avoiding such
trouble.