http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009
21:49
ZANU PF'S parliamentary caucus has forced the postponement of
public
hearings in the constitution-making process that were meant to
commence
throughout the country Saturday in protest over
allowances.
This has thrown the whole process into disarray amid
fears that the
25-member parliamentary select committee to spearhead the
crafting of a new
constitution might not meet the 18 months deadline set in
the Global
Political Agreement signed by President Robert Mugabe, Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara last
September.
Sources told the Zimbabwe Independent that the caucus on
Wednesday
resolved not to participate in the national exercise if they were
not going
to be paid.
The MPs, the sources said, tasked the
Zanu PF co-chairperson of the
select committee Paul Mangwana to raise the
allowances issue with his
colleagues - Douglas Mwonzora from the MDC-T and
Edward Mkhosi of the MDC.
On Thursday, the select committee failed
to resolve the crisis at an
emergency meeting.
Mangwana on
Thursday told the Independent that the public hearings
were deferred to June
24 at the behest of Zanu PF legislators who said the
timeframe given to
mobilise people in their constituencies to their views
was "too
short".
"I went to the committee and presented my party's position
with a view
of pushing forward the public hearings," Mangwana said. "It was
agreed to
move the dates to June 24."
He denied that he was
tasked to demand allowances for the MPs from the
select
committee.
The select committee had asked legislators to assist
them mobilise
people in their constituencies for the hearings that were to
be done at ward
level in the country's 210 constituencies.
However, with the issue of allowances high for the legislators and
their
assistants in the cumbersome process, Zanu PF MPs elected not
participate in
the hearings.
By Thursday night iit was not clear whether
government, which is
struggling to mobilise funds to revive the economy, has
provided resources
for the constitution-making process.
Last
week, parliament's Standing Rules and Orders Committee approved a
US$36
million budget for the process and forwarded it to government for
approval.
Donors have indicated interest in funding the process.
The sources
said Zanu PF MPs complained that they were not getting
allowances during
parliamentary sessions except bed and breakfast at hotels.
They also
complained that they were using personal money to buy lunch and
supper while
on parliamentary business.
However, the move by the lawmakers to
force the postponement of the
hearings was seen in some quarters as
deliberate ploy by Zanu PF to buy
time.
Sources said the MPs
felt that more time was needed to mobilise funds
to hire buses to take party
members to the centres for hearings.
Zanu PF supporters, the
sources said, would be bussed to the centres
in the hope that they outnumber
MDC supporters.
Views captured during the hearings would be
forwarded to the select
committee's thematic committees that would sift
through the data and come up
with a draft constitution within three months,
which will be tabled before a
second all-stakeholders
conference.
The draft and the accompanying report would then be
debated and if
necessary amended in parliament within one month, before it
is gazzetted and
a referendum conducted within three months.
The constitution-making process was already marred by the issue of the
Kariba draft document. Mugabe recently told his Zanu PF politburo that the
Kariba draft would be the basis of the constitution-making process as agreed
by the principals in the GPA.
Mugabe wants the Kariba draft
because it retains the executive
presidency.
It reported both
MDC formations are against the Kariba draft being the
referral
point.
Under the Kariba draft the president would remain head of
state and
government, as well as commander in chief of the defense
forces.
An attempt to introduce a new constitution between 1999 and
2000
failed after the Lovemore Madhuku-fronted National Constitutional
Assembly
and other civil society groupings successfully campaigned against a
government sponsored draft.
Zimbabwe is currently governed
under the 1979 constitution agreed at
the Lancaster House talks in London
which has been amended 19 times.
BY NQOBILE BHEBHE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009 21:49
THE
United States Senate has recommended that financial restrictions
on Zimbabwe
and targeted sanctions on Robert Mugabe and his cronies be
maintained until
there are tangible reforms.
It also proposed that the US should pay
salaries and allowances for
teachers, doctors, nurses and other civil
servants except the police, army
and intelligence officers.
This emerged ahead of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's meeting with
US
President Barack Obama in Washington Friday.
Tsvangirai is on a
trip to the US, Europe and Scandinavian states to
lobby for the removal of
financial sanctions and secure aid for the revival
of Zimbabwe's shattered
economy.
Obama's meeting with Tsvangirai will signal direction in
diplomatic
relations between the US, Western countries and Zimbabwe which is
still
reeling from international isolation and economic collapse blamed on
President Mugabe's leadership and policies.
Zimbabwe requires
US$10 billion for economic recovery, but has so far
secured just over US$1
billion.
The US move to pay selected civil servants could spark tension
in
government.
The issue has already been raised in cabinet.
Zanu PF ministers are
opposed to the payment of salaries to some civil
servants, except security
services, claiming this would divide the public
service.
Western governments do not want to pay the police, army
and the
intelligence service whom they accuse of violence against MDC
supporters
over the years in their bid to prop up Mugabe's
regime.
The US Senate also said in a resolution on Tuesday
Washington should
provide "increased resources for non-governmental entities
to provide
assistance and to pay salaries or fees to appropriately qualified
people in
Zimbabwe to enable progress to be made in the critical areas of
education,
health, water, and sanitation".
It said the US
should provide humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe,
support political and
economic reforms, provide financial and technical
assistance to the
constitutional reform process, urge regional governments
and leaders to
promote human rights, restoration of the rule of law and
economic growth in
Zimbabwe.
It said Washington should not lift financial sanctions,
targeted
measures on Mugabe and his cronies and the arms embargo until there
is
"demonstrable progress toward restoring the rule of law, civilian control
over security forces, and respect for human rights".
It
indicated there should be "continuation and updating of financial
sanctions
and travel bans targeted against those individuals responsible for
breakdown
of the rule of law, politically-motivated violence, and other
ongoing
illegal activities in Zimbabwe".
Most of the issues would be sorted
out during today's meeting between
Obama and Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai
yesterday met US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton who
described him as "a
long-time advocate for his country and its people on
behalf of human rights
and economic opportunity".
"As you know, he is now in a unified
government that is attempting to
move Zimbabwe forward into a better future.
And I'm anxious to hear about
the plans and the work that your government is
undertaking and to look for
ways that we appropriately can be supportive,"
she said.
As a build up to the White House meeting, Tsvangirai also
met
separately with chairman of the US Senate Sub-Committee on Africa,
Assistant
Secretary of State (Bureau of African Affairs) Jonnie Carson and
Republican
Senator John McCain, Obama's rival in last year's historic
presidential
elections.
Tsvangirai also held high-level
meetings with the Breton Woods
Institutions, the International Monetary Fund
and World Bank.
At the start of his trip to Europe, US and
Scandinavian countries,
Tsvangirai met Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter
Balkenende at The Hague.
The Dutch told him that they would not
provide money to fund Zimbabwe's
economic recovery without serious political
and economic reforms.
Western countries want reforms on the media,
judiciary, civil service,
education, health, and police, army and
intelligence sectors, as well as
institutional framework and culture. They
also want a new economic policy
and recovery plan.
Besides,
donors want a new constitution and free and fair elections as
soon as
possible.
Tsvangirai said he was not going around with a begging
bowl in his
hand but was trying to re-engage with financial multilateral and
bilateral
institutions as well as the international community to support
Zimbabwe's
economic recovery.
Indications were that
Tsvangirai's would have difficulties convincing
Obama to shift policy on
Zimbabwe.
The tone for the meeting had already been set by the US
Senate on
Tuesday.
In a resolution, the US Senate said
financial restrictions, travel
bans and the arms embargo on Zimbabwe, Mugabe
and his cronies would remain
in place until reforms were executed. This was
the same message Tsvangirai
got at The Hague.
The US Senate
said since Zimbabwe was coming from a background of
"pervasive and
systematic abuse of human rights, which included unlawful
killings,
politically-motivated abductions, state-sanctioned use of
excessive force
and torture by security forces against the opposition,
student leaders, and
civil society activists", it must reform first before
it could get have the
sanctions and get money.
It observed because there had not been
much reform to stop "ongoing
illegal activities" to put Zimbabwe on an
irreversible path to democracy,
most of the sanctions would remain in place
and no money would come.
Tsvangirai said in Washington on Wednesday
he would "not gloss over
the issues" but make the case to Obama that
Zimbabwe's "irreversible"
democratic transition merits American
support.
BY DUMISANI MULEYA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009
20:45
UNITED States companies on Thursday said no investment would come
to
Zimbabwe soon after the removal of sanctions despite interest to
establish
business ventures in the country.
The Corporate
Council on Africa chief executive officer Stephen Hayes
told local business
leaders in the capital that American companies were not
yet ready to invest
in Zimbabwe. The group represents 180 corporations
collectively making 85%
of United States private sector investment in
Africa.
"I also
want to reinforce that there is a great deal of interest in
Zimbabwe from
the American business community. I have been fortunate to be
employed by a
board of directors who believe that CCA can be a business
organisation that
makes a difference in this world," Hayes said.
"But, just because
we would like to invest in Zimbabwe and to work in
partnership with you,
does not mean we are ready to do so..Even without
targeted sanctions against
individuals and entities that are undermining
democratic institutions and
processes in Zimbabwe, or that have materially
assisted, sponsored, or
provided financial support to these entities, I do
not believe you would see
significant US investment under the present
conditions."
Hayes
remarks could be a blow to a cabinet decision pushing for the
privatisation
of loss making state enterprises and efforts by the inclusive
government to
boost declining foreign direct investment.
He however said US
companies would "work together to support one
another and to prepare for the
day when, as partners in businesses" they
would improve the "lives of our
families and our respective nations".
Hayes said US businesses were
"ready to do business" with any country
that respects the rule of law,
arguing that more reforms were still needed
in the inclusive government to
attract investment.
The CCA boss also urged the transformation of
Zimbabwe's bad image
regarding to property rights through better governance
committed to the rule
of law.
On the Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment Act, Hayes said the
piece of legislation was a
"formula" for divestment.
"Why would a company stay in Zimbabwe if
they give up ownership, which
also means that they have little say in how
that company is to be operated,
especially in an environment where the rule
of law is inconsistent, at
best," he said. "It's is a formula for losing
one's investment, not gaining
profit that provides jobs and builds a
nation."
After endorsing South Africa's Black Economic Empowerment
in 2002,
Hayes added that his organisation directs the South Africa
International
Business Linkages programme funded by the USAid.
Independent statistics indicate that foreign direct investment in
Zimbabwe
has dropped by an estimated 45% in the last 10 years.
BY BERNARD
MPOFU
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009 20:30
FINANCE minister Tendai Biti has won his battle with Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono for control of Treasury.
Sources
close to the developments told the Zimbabwe Independent this
week that Gono
is now keen on improving relations with Biti, who now has the
backing of
cabinet.
The same sources however said Biti and Gono are now
engaged in private
talks to improve their working relationship.
The sources said Gono and Biti held a meeting on Monday in bid to thaw
relations between them after serious recent run-ins.
This
week's meeting was a follow-up to yet another one held last week
which
sources said necessitated the ongoing talks.
Sources said Gono
apologised to Biti for washing their dirty linen in
public after Gono's
letter to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai complaining
about Biti's
"harassment".
In the letter, Gono alleged Biti had injured his
reputation and caused
family anguish by calling him an al qaeda terrorist
and accusing him of
destroying the economy through quasi-fiscal activities.
Gono denies ruining
the economy, saying he saved it from
collapse.
Gono also claimed Biti harboured a personal vendetta
against him for
investigating possible foreign currency externalisation at
Biti's law firm.
But Honey& Blackenberg, the law firm at the
centre of the row, denies
any wrongdoing.
Gono claimed the law
firm had been involved in fraudulent foreign
currency deals.
Biti succeeded in cabinet recently to get support to institute reforms
at
the central bank.
However, he failed to get cabinet's nod to remove
Gono as chairman of
the RBZ board after Zanu PF ministers argued there was
no precedence for his
proposal.
Biti had proposed that the RBZ
board be reconstituted by independent
directors and called for the
appointment of a non-executive chairperson.
In a bid to settle his
dispute with Biti, Gono is said to have also
met senior MDC
officials.
Sources say the MDC is prepared to sacrifice Gono to get the
donor
support the country needs to lift the economy from the
doldrums.
The MDC is said to have agreed in caucus meetings
recently that it
would implement a three-pronged strategy to remove Gono
from office. This
involves using the Global Political Agreement (GPA),
parliament and
diplomatic and donor pressure.
Zanu PF on the
other hand has counter measures to ensure Gono remains
in
office.
A Zanu PF source said the party is prepared to stall talks
over
outstanding GPA issues in a bid to buy time for Gono and mobilise
support
for him in public.
President Robert Mugabe, army chiefs
and war veterans recently pledged
to back Gono. The MDC has appealed to Sadc
over the Gono issue, but Mugabe
is using his regional contacts to block the
issue.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai this week said it was
important to
resolve the Gono dispute, saying that it was not a personal but
a reform
issue.
"It is a very important issue, that is why it
is a deadlocked issue,"Tsvangirai
said.
"The credibility of the
Reserve Bank -- not the merits of the
individual -- is very
important."
BY CHRIS MURONZI
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009
20:30
SWEEPING changes are expected to take place in Zanu PF's youth
and
women's leagues at their congresses in July and August that should
result in
former cabinet minister Oppah Muchinguri being elected
vice-president of the
party at the main December congress ahead of Joice
Mujuru who is accused of
working with the Morgan Tsvangirai-led
MDC-T.
Impeccable sources in Zanu PF told the Zimbabwe Independent
that a
faction in Zanu PF aligned to secretary for legal affairs Emmerson
Mnangagwa
has put in place an elaborate plan that would result in Mujuru
losing her
seat in the presidium in December and will also see the
leadership of the
youth league shaken up.
The sources said
during the four-day women's league congress starting
on August 26, the
Mnangagwa faction, using its control of at least six
provinces, would elect
Muchinguri as head of the organ ahead of fellow
politburo member, Olivia
Muchena who is aligned to retired army general
Solomon Mujuru's
camp.
Solomon wants his wife Joice to succeed Mugabe.
"During the women's league congress, Joice Mujuru is going to be
denounced
for allegedly working with Tsvangirai's party and for furthering
the
political interests of her husband instead of those of the party," one
of
the sources said. "Given the current power relations in Zanu PF,
Muchinguri
will beat Muchena for the leadership of the league at the
congress."
The sources said during the main congress, the
Mnangagwa faction would
push for the election of Muchinguri as
vice-president of the party to
replace Mujuru and if vice-president Joseph
Msika resigns, current national
chairman John Nkomo would succeed
him.
Nkomo, the sources said, would be supported by the Mnangagwa
faction
for the post against Mines minister Obert Mpofu of the Mujuru
camp.
The Independent last month revealed that Msika wanted to quit
politics
because of ill-health and intensifying power struggles in Zanu PF
between
the two factions and his restive former PF Zapu
colleagues.
The Mnangagwa faction is reportedly in firm control of
six of 10 Zanu
PF provinces -- Masvingo, Midlands, Manicaland, Bulawayo,
Matabeleland North
and South --enough to win the influential party
post.
Mujuru, the sources said, has the backing of Mashonaland
East, while
Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West were reportedly divided
on whom to
back.
Elections are yet to be held in Harare to
elect provincial leaders,
but the province was likely to be headed by
Mnangagwa's faction that is
reportedly backing Deputy Energy minister Hubert
Nyanhongo to become
chairperson ahead of ex-Mines minister Amos
Midzi.
The sources said MPs aligned to the Mnangagwa faction this
week
started implementing their plan to weaken the Mujuru camp after the
Zanu PF
caucus on Wednesday rejected the election of the party's Goromonzi
legislator Beatrice Nyamupinga as chairperson of the Parliamentary Women's
Caucus.
The matter was referred back to the party's women
caucus because
Nyamupinga was elected ahead of Zanu PF's official candidate,
Chimanimani
Senator Monica Mutsvangwa, amid reports that Mujuru and her
allies last
month voted with Tsvangirai MPs against Mutsvangwa from the
Mnangagwa camp.
The Independent reported last month on the
gathering of momentum of
political realignments involving Zanu PF and the
MDC-T.
The move led to the manoeuvres to remove Mujuru by
Mnangagwa's faction
and also sent shockwaves through the party in the run-up
to the party's
crucial six-day congress that begins on December 8.
President Mugabe is likely to be re-elected for yet another five years
as
party leader because no one in his party is prepared to challenge
him.
Muchinguri, the sources said, was also reportedly working on
roping in
First Lady Grace Mugabe to kick out Mujuru who came in 2004 with
her
backing.
Mujuru and Muchinguri, who were allies when the
former beat Mnangagwa
for the position of Zanu PF vice-president at the 2004
congress following
the Tsholotsho political debacle, have fallen out and now
belong to
different camps in Zanu PF's factional politics.
This
has changed the complexion of the Zanu PF power struggle as
members
crisscross factional divides.
During a recent women's league meeting
held at the Zanu PF
headquarters in the capital, Vice-President Mujuru came
under intense fire
from her rivals.
Former Deputy Youth
minister Shuvai Mahofa reportedly led the charge,
accusing Mujuru of
destroying the party by fanning factionalism and working
with the
MDC-T.
Mahofa and other bigwigs in the women's league are now
reportedly
campaigning full throttle for Mujuru's ouster.
The
sources said while Mnangagwa's faction had an elaborate plan in
place, the
Mujuru camp was fighting back.
The Mujuru camp, the sources said,
had come up with a team to fight
for the retention of Joice as party
vice-president and has been meeting
regularly in the past weeks mapping out
strategies to claw back lost ground.
Former provincial governors
Ray Kaukonde and Ephraim Masawi,
Nyamupinga, ex-deputy minister Joel Matiza,
ex-minister David Parirenyatwa
and Mashonaland East provincial chairperson
Paddy Zhanda are reportedly some
members of the team.
Muchena,
the sources said, was picked by the Mujuru faction to
challenge the
leadership of Muchinguri at the August congress.
The sources said
the leadership of the youth league would be
overhauled to reflect the
dominance of the Mnangagwa faction in Zanu PF.
Current youth
secretary in the politburo Absolom Sikhosana and his
deputy Savior
Kasukuwere, the sources said, would have to step down in line
with the
party's constitution that members of the league should be below 30
years of
age.
"The whole youth leadership will go at the youth league
congress," a
Zanu PF politburo member said. "We are going to have a new
leadership
predominantly coming from the Mnangagwa faction."
Kasukuwere, sources said, has since confided in his party colleagues
that he
would be leaving the youth league and was hopeful of becoming a
member of
the party's main wing.
The Youth minister and secretary for
security in the politburo
Nicholas Goche back Mugabe's continued stay in
office and were reportedly
against either Mujuru or Mnangagwa succeeding
Mugabe.
Mujuru was instrumental in the appointment of Kasukuwere
into cabinet
by Mugabe.
BY CONSTANTINE CHIMAKURE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009
20:09
THE High Court will make a ruling on June 22 on an application by
four
MDC-T activists facing banditry charges for referral of their case to
the
Supreme Court to determine whether or not their constitutional rights
were
violated when they were allegedly abducted, tortured and kept
incommunicado
by the police and state spies.
Justice Tendai
Uchena, sitting with Marco Mutambira and Alexander
Mhandu as assessors, on
Wednesday said he needed time to go through
submissions made by the MDC-T
activists -- Concillia Chinanzvavana, Fidelis
Chiramba, Violet Mupfuranhewe
and Collen Mutemagau -- and the state before
making a ruling.
The quartet are part of 16 human rights and MDC-T activists who
claimed that
they were abducted by state security agents between October and
December
last year on allegations of banditry.
In the case of Chinanzvavana,
Chiramba, Mupfuranhewe and Mutemagau,
the state alleges that between July
and October 30 2008 in Banket, the four
acting in common purposes,
unlawfully and intentionally recruited Tapera
Mupfuranhewe and other MDC-T
youths to undergo military training in Botswana
"for the purpose of
committing acts of insurgency, banditry, sabotage or
terrorism" in the
country.
In their application for referral of their case to the
Supreme Court
made by lawyer Alec Muchadehama, the four accused said the
country's highest
court should determine whether or not their alleged
abduction, torture and
detention constituted unlawful deprivation of
liberty, inhuman and degrading
treatment and violation of the right to the
protection of the law.
They also want the Supreme Court to
determine whether or not that as
victims of enforced disappearances they can
lawfully be prosecuted, that the
denial of access to their legal
practitioners violated their rights to
protection of the law and that the
court has the power to direct the
Commissioner-General of the police to
institute an investigation into the
alleged offences committed on them by
state security agents and the police.
In the application the
activists chronicle how they were allegedly
abducted and tortured. They also
name some of the police officers and state
security agents who allegedly
carried out the kidnappings.
In her founding affidavit,
Chinanzvavana alleged that between October
30 and November 3 last year, the
quartet was abducted by the police.
Chinanzvavana claimed that she
and Mutemagau were kidnapped along the
Harare-Chitungwiza Road on November 3
2008 when the vehicle they were
travelling in was blocked in its path by
five vehicles. She said they were
driven to Harare Central Police Station in
one of the vehicles.
"One of the police officers who abducted us
was one Detective
Assistant Inspector Maria Phiri of the Law and Order
department,"
Chinanzvavana's affidavit read. "She together with her
colleagues handed us
over to Chief Superintendent Magwenzi."
She said she was "informed and verily believe" that Chiramba and
Mupfuranhewe were "abducted" from their homes by police officers who
included Magwenzi, Detective Sergeant Mavinga, Phiri, Detective Chief
Inspector Mpofu.
Chinanzvavana said she was advised that the
police through officers
from the Attorney-General's office were insisting
during their initial
appearances in court that they were not involved in
their kidnapping.
"I contend however that the police and in
particular Supt Magwenzi
knows the other kidnappers as he participated in
our kidnapping," she
alleged.
"In the event that the police
deny knowledge of who kidnapped us, then
I aver that our abduction was
widely reported such that the police should
have promptly arrested our
kidnappers when they handed us over to them and
they would have facilitated
our identification of those who handed us over
by ensuring that the
blindfolds were removed before those who handed us over
had
left."
Chinanzvavana said there was no doubt that the police were
working
"hand in hand" with security agents "like the assistant director in
the
external branch of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) Asher
Walter
Tapfumaneyi, before, during and after our abduction".
She said she and Mutemagau were kept incommunicado for 49 days while
Chiramba and Mupfuranhewe spent 53 days.
"During the period we
were kept incommunicado, we were subjected to
torture, inhuman and degrading
treatment. We were assaulted. We were
subjected to long hours of
interrogation, in which we were being forced to
confess to crimes we did not
commit," Chinanzvavana said.
In his affidavit, Mutemagau said there
was no doubt that their
"traumatic experiences at the hands of the CIO and
the police fit the clear
definition of inhuman and degrading"
treatment.
"Our physical and bodily integrity was violated. Our
abductors poured
boiled water on the 2nd applicant (Chiramba)'s private
parts," Mutemagau
claimed.
"They mocked his genitals and made
him pose nude in front of persons
of the opposite sex. My wife, the 3rd
applicant (Mupfuranhewe), had cold
water poured onto her private parts. My
two-year-old son, Nigel, who was
with the mother, was beaten up for crying
for food."
He claimed that there were a lot of abuses "some of
which cannot be
repeated herein".
"Should all these be swept
under the carpet only because the state and
its organs chose to ignore them?
Why should we be tried when we clearly are
the victims?
Would
it not be correct that the determination to try us is an attempt
to give a
semblance of legality to the horrendous crimes committed against
us?"
questioned Mutemagau.
But Michael Mugabe, representing the
Attorney-General's office, said
the application was frivolous and vexatious
and meant to scuttle the trial
proceedings of the four MDC-T
activists.
Mugabe said the state had always submitted before the
court that the
four MDC-T activists were formally arrested by the police on
December 22
2008 and prior to that were in the custody of state security
agents.
"The state has never made it a secret that prior to
December 22 2008,
the applicants were in the custody of the state security
agents and that is
the reason why we have .an affidavit compiled by the then
Minister of State
for National Security Didymus Mutasa," Mugabe
said.
"He (Mutasa) doesn't hide the fact that they (applicants)
were in the
hands of state security. There was no over detention by the
police because
the police arrested them on December 22 and they appeared in
court on
December 24 2008."
BY CONSTANTINE CHIMAKURE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June
2009 20:09
A CURSORY view of the armed police officer and two security
guards
paints a picture of a fortified area. But the emptiness in the huge
white
tent pitched at one end tells a different story.
It is
Friday night and farmers are loitering while others are in deep
thought,
perhaps hoping for a better trading day at Boka Tobacco Auction
floors the
following day.
With their luggage and groceries close to them, some
choose to retire
for the night on the verandah along the auction floor
entrance.
Also seen outside are cash-rich farmers loading groceries
into a small
truck before driving away to their homes.
They
sing and dance leaving some remaining farmers green with envy.
This year's
tobacco marketing season was not spared from the perennial
delays, but the
selling of the cash crop in hard currency was irresistible
for
farmers.
"There are no lighting and ablution facilities here, so we
would
rather spend the night on the stoep than sleep in that tent," said a
Karoi
communal farmer who spoke to the Zimbabwe Independent.
She
was annoyed by the situation that she has to endure.
"Before the
start of the marketing season radio advertisements
announced that we would
get our payments within a day but for me it is now
over a week without
getting any payment. They normally start paying us at
10am and finish just
after lunch, save for a few days when they get to 5 o'clock
in the
evening."
Under the official payment arrangement, farmers are paid
US$1 500 in
cash for tobacco deliveries with the balance, if any, being
deposited into
their foreign currency accounts.
The evidently
poor quality of the tobacco delivered at the auction
floors could be a
result of the shortages of fertilisers that were
experienced last season.
Resultantly the unattractive rates paid for the
deliveries could signal a
gloomy season ahead owing to lack of funding.
Poor grade tobacco,
according to the farmers, is being bought at US$1
per kilogramme while a
high-grade flue cured kilogramme is attracting up to
US$5 from the
bidders.
Farmers who spoke to the Independent said payment delays
resulting
from cash shortages were forcing them to buy
impulsely.
After getting payments for deliveries, they hurriedly
buy imported
blankets, boxes of laundry soap and cooking oil with only a
handful buying
seed for the next season at inflated prices.
Notwithstanding the removal of government subsidies on farming inputs,
farmers, however, remain hopeful that they could either raise enough funds
for ploughing or get contracted to grow the cash crop next
season.
The farmers added that despite the payment delays, they
dread walking
around Harare's central business district with "big bucks" in
their pockets.
"After spending many days at the auction floors,
they have become my
second home. So I would rather buy groceries from
traders who come here than
buy groceries worth US$1 000 in town," said
another farmer staring at a
banner advertising generators, hanging close to
the auction floor entrance.
He claimed that last week was the
second week for him waiting for his
payment for bales delivered to Zitec -
one of the three tobacco auction
floors in the country.
For the
auction floors it's just over a month of buying the golden
leaf from the
farmers since opening last month.
Zimbabwe Tobacco Association
president Andrew Ferreira said delays at
the auctions could have resulted
from the early sales, adding that no
payment should extend beyond a
week.
"From my perspective, deliveries are going alright. What is
happening
is that there is congestion at the floors," Ferreira said. "To say
farmers
are being delayed for a week or two is an
exaggeration."
Asked why there were delays in paying farmers,
ZB Bank chief economist
Best Doroh said: "That is a reflection of foreign
currency shortages on the
market. There could be a mismatch arising from the
high volume of farmers
selling their tobacco and the hard currency in
circulation."
Aware of the hunger pangs that come after a long day
of waiting for
the elusive greenback, Nestar Makura, of Waterfalls has
seized the business
opportunity. After knocking off at five, Makura - a
tailor by training -
drives her white Datsun 120Y the auction floors
together with her
nine-year-old son Tapiwa who assists her with the catering
services.
"This is my first time embarking on such a business and
I'm really
impressed with the way the business is going," Makura said. She
has no
monopoly of her new business but seeing her food being sold in less
than an
hour is enough to bring a smile to her face.
"I think
the secret to my success is the perfection I put to my work.
I interact with
them and sometimes I advise them on where to get cheaper
goods in town," she
said.
Despite all the risks associated with her business, for now
she is
assured that her US$1 meals will be sold out until end of August when
the
auction floors are scheduled to close.
BY BERNARD
MPOFU
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June
2009 20:02
ENERGY deputy minister and Harare South MP Hubert Nyanhongo
and MDC-T
Mabvuku-Tafara legislator Shepherd Madamombe are in a turf war
after the
former allegedly meddled in housing cooperative dispute in the
latter's
constituency.
Madamombe this week accused Nyanhongo of
"hijacking" his constituency
by addressing a meeting of Kugarika Kushinga
Housing Cooperative on June 3
in the constituency without his
knowledge.
The meeting followed a petition by members of the
cooperative to
Madamombe to investigate allegations of corruption against
the leaders of
the housing group.
Nyanhongo, Madamombe
claimed, told the meeting that members of the
cooperative should not seek
mediation from the MDC-T MP and also that their
case should be resolved
through Zanu PF structures in the constituency.
In the petition,
the cooperative members wanted Madamombe to
facilitate a special general
meeting that would result in an independent
financial audit from 2004 to
2008 and also to deal with issues of title
deeds of 818 housing units the
housing group built.
Madamombe said Nyanhongo jumped the gun by
interfering in an issue in
his constituency and ordered the closure of the
cooperative's offices until
"all its members" join Zanu PF.
Nyanhongo allegedly claimed that the 21-year-old cooperative was
founded and
allocated land by Zanu PF.
"Nyanhongo has shown no respect for me. He
has no business in my
constituency," Madamombe fumed.
"He
cannot act on behalf of the people of Mabvuku. In his Harare South
constituency there are MDC-T supporters but if they have grievances they do
not go and report to an MDC-T MP in another constituency. What Nyanhongo did
is tantamount to hijacking the constituency from me."
He said
he was exploring ways of engaging Nyanhongo over the matter.
When
contacted for comment yesterday, Nyanhongo told the Zimbabwe
Independent in
a telephone interview that: "The programme (cooperative) was
not started by
Madamombe but it is a Zanu PF programme.
"Members of the
cooperative are not happy with the way their money is
being used by the
executive committee, so we as a party it is our duty to
protect
them."
Nyanhongo is eyeing the Zanu PF Harare provincial
chairmanship in an
election expected to be held before the party's congress
in December. He
will fight it out with former Mines minister Amos
Midzi.
BERNARD MPOFU
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009
19:57
A KILOMETRE from Norton's New Donnington Farm pupils from Dudley
Primary School swapped books for political posters as they lined up along
the Harare-Bulawayo Road to welcome guests to an event they would not
attend.
Carrying posters of President Robert Mugabe and King
Mswati III, the
pupils were extolling the virtues of the 85-year-old
president with their
teachers directing operations.
It was last
Thursday and another day of schooling had to be cut to
welcome the Swazi
king.
Not out of choice, the pupils patiently sang and waved the
posters
braving the hot weather.
So sweltering was the heat
that Zanu PF Mashonaland West provincial
chairperson John Mafa was saved
from a near fall by Local Government
minister Ignatious Chombo as he
patiently waited for Mugabe and Mswati's
arrival.
Shortly after
lunch, farm workers at Donnington looked in awe as the
approaching convoy of
offroader 4x4s left a cloud of dust that engulfed
their
compound.
Before long, they saw Mugabe and Mswati disembarking from
a Toyota
Land Cruiser V8.
Also making part of the procession
was Zimbabwe Defence Forces
commander Constantine Chiwenga who travelled in
the same car with Defence
minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Four
steel corrugated grain storages silos standing tall and close to
farm brick
houses were the attraction that had brought the octogenarian
leader and the
king to this farm.
But who owned this 4 000ha piece of land that
drew the Swazi leader,
Zanu PF stalwarts and service chiefs to an event
Mugabe described as "rare
and historic"? The embattled Reserve Bank governor
Gideon Gono owns the
farm.
For the farm labourers, meeting the
president was restricted to
election campaign time. But this time Mugabe and
a band of invited guests
were at the farm for a different
cause.
Earlier in the day Mugabe and Mswati, together with their
spouses, had
visited a Mazoe farm belonging to the first
family.
The commissioning of the four silos by the Swazi leader
bolstered
Mugabe's recent pronouncement that Gono would not be forced out of
the
central bank as demanded by the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC.
More interestingly, these silos were built at a time when GMB grain
storage
facilities in nearby Chegutu and those in Banket and Lions Den stand
empty.
Recent official statistics indicate that grain output
would increase
slightly from last year's although it falls far short of
meeting the
estimated two million metric tonnes of annual
consumption.
GMB boss Albert Mandizha was this week quoted saying
the loss-making
parastatal is now charging a paltry US$3 tonne in storage
space at its silos
spread across 14 depots. Gono spent US$40 000 on each GSI
grain storage silo
at his farm.
But Gono, speaking to
journalists before the start of the
commissioning event, said the silos were
part of his long-term plan to
position the farm project for intense
competition for stock feeds. He added
that he had plans to partner with
other farmers neighbouring his U-shaped
farm.
According to
Gono, the late former defence forces chief Vitalis
Zvinavashe acquired a
farm nearby.
According to Gono the farming project is "financed and
owned by a
consortium of six farming experts" with him as chairman. Despite
boasting of
constructing a dam, Gono and his partners had not planted any
winter wheat
at the time of the visit.
Unlike the Nicole family
of Banket that established huge silos
towering along the Harare-Chirundu
road more than a decade ago, last
Thursday's event was hyped as a state
event.
Gono took the occasion to vindicate himself from any
fraudulent
activities with state coffers during his first term of office
when he
announced that regional and international banks had funded his
farming
project.
"The first phase involves a capacity of 8 000t
between the four silos
with the 15 000t silo completing the programme early
next year," said Gono
in a written statement.
"This capacity
will be adequate for our poultry feeding needs.
Stanbic/PTA Banks have
supported this vision since the beginning of 2007.
The silos have been
constructed at an average cost of US$40 000 each. The
operation boasts an
average of 4 500 beasts acquired with the farm in 2001/2
with support from
Barclays and proper management has seen us maintaining the
same level stock
of cattle even though we do sell a sizeable quantity each
year for
slaughter."
To dissociate his project from the corrupt activities
that marred the
government farm mechanisation programme, Gono claimed that
the farm was
mechanised from "day one of purchase" before the government
exercise.
Seemingly aware of intensifying dispute over Gono's
tenure, Mswati
argued that the farm project justified the central bank
governor's position.
"I am glad to see that the man who is
implementing this (silo project)
farm is governor of the central bank. I
understand why he is the governor,"
Mswati said.
His remarks
came barely two weeks after Tsvangirai announced that he
had referred the
re-appointment of Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana
to
Sadc.
After the commissioning of the silos of which one of them was
less
than half filled with soya beans, invited guests drove for close to
five
kilometres down a gravel road towards the farmhouse.
Along
the way was a stretch of cultivated land with no crops grown on
it and part
of the cattle herd grazing.
Security screening at the main gate to
the house stopped scores of
singing Zanu PF supporters from being lavished
with the food and wine that
was served at what looked like an old tennis
court.
Apart from agriculture, Gono is understood to have business
interests
in the media and petroleum industry.
BY BERNARD
MPOFU
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009
18:22
MOST households and industries in Zimbabwe are limited to less
than 18
hours of electricity supply daily because of lack of investment in
power
generation since Independence.
Only about 30% of the
country has access to grid electricity.
No new power generation
stations have been built in the country since
Kariba in the early 1960s and
Hwange thermal power station which was
completed in 1986.
Despite advances in technology, power experts say a lead time of up to
five
years is needed to build a power station.
The current power
shortage stems from a failure by government to
implement numerous power
generation projects.
In its System Development Plan approved by
government 19 years ago,
Zesa Holdings was to build a new power station at
Batoka Gorge between the
Victoria Falls and Kariba. Like Kariba, it was to
have a north and south
bank station. \
Batoka, which was to be
a run-of-the-river station, had been planned
to take into consideration
environmental concerns. There was no need to dam
the river. Batoka was to be
built in conjunction with expansion at Kariba to
use the water
optimally.
However, the Batoka project ran into problems as the
Zambian
government was not keen on it then because its economy was unstable
and was
unwilling to undertake a project with a neighbour they accused of
shortchanging them during the sharing of the Central African Power
Corporation assets. Capco was the predecessor to the national power
utilities.
About US$1,6 billion was needed for the north and
south bank power
stations in 1996.
The next project in the
system was the expansion of Hwange by adding
two new generators. To be known
as Hwange 7 and 8, the project was to be
financed by the World Bank and
tenders had been adjudicated when government
decided the tenders be given to
YTL, a Malaysian construction giant.
The problem was that the YTL was
not a power station construction
firm.
The plan later changed.
Hwange was to be privatised by selling it to
YTL. The sale eventually fell
through because YTL insisted they could not
inherit a US$800 million loan
used to refurbish the station and improve its
operation efficiency provided
by the World Bank.
So the second power generation project fell
through.
The default plan was Sengwe in Gokwe north where there are
coal
reserves to last for the next 100 years. Sengwe was to be developed by
mining giant Rio Tinto and the power station was to be built by National
Power of the UK.
It had been planned that Sengwe would then
generate power to replace
the capacity which would have been generated by
Batoka and an expanded
Hwange.
The souring of relations between
Zimbabwe and Britain after 1997 got
in the way and Sengwe was never built.
Plans for gas turbine runners to
generate power in Lupane south also
suffered the same fate. The project was
initially linked to the British and
later to the Chinese before it fizzled
out.
The old thermal
power stations built in the late 1940s - Harare,
Bulawayo and Munyati,
despite their refurbishment in the mid-1990s - are too
expensive to run and
are almost obsolete.
Zesa does not have funds to buy the coal and
bring it all the way from
Hwange. The Hwange Colliery Company has failed to
provide Zimbabwe
Electricity Distribution Company - a subsidiary of the Zesa
Holdings - with
adequate supplies.
To add to their woes, the
railway line is in a state of serious
disrepair.
Zimbabwe
intends to increase industrial capacity utilisation to 60%,
according to the
Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme (Sterp). The
Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries says industry is currently operating at
below
20%.
Questions have been asked about how government will be able to
increase power generation to meet increased demand by industry, when the
utility is failing to meet demand when industry is operating at below
20%.
Regionally, most countries also have power deficits and it
will be
difficult to import power when the country has no foreign
currency.
Kariba generates 750 megawatts and Hwange 850 megawatts,
but the
country needs about 1 700 megawatts. About 1 000 is being generated
at the
moment.
Zesa chief executive Ben Rafemoyo told the
Zimbabwe Independent that
Sterp was a plan which would increase demand for
electricity and that the
nation should brace for increased load-shedding for
the next few years.
"We are at an advanced stage to have between
400-600 megawatts from
Hwange and Colliery to make up for the increased
winter demand. It will be
for a short period, but we have to look at the
long-term, that is increasing
capacity by building another generation
station," said Rafemoyo.
Rafemoyo said depending on the site, type
of generation station and
amount of work, a power station takes between four
to seven years to
construct.
This suggests that apart from
stopgap measures the country will have
increased load shedding for about
five years.
"With regards to the NamPower deal, people should look
at the basis of
the transaction. We (Zimbabwe) did not have foreign currency
and they did
(Nambia). The refurbishment needed to be done," said
Rafemoyo.
He said Namibia was exporting power to Zambia because the
country was
currently in a crisis after it lost two of its
generators.
"The amount of electricity generated in Zimbabwe varies
each day. At
present there is increased demand because it is winter. We need
about 1 900
megawatts. We are however generating about 1 000 megawatts," he
said.
Rafemoyo said in the event of increased capacity by industry
"it was
mostly likely that households would not have electricity during the
day to
ensure industry operates, but the opposite would occur during the
evening".
Coronation Financial Service economist and investment
analyst Lance
Mambondiani on Wednesday said the problems at Zesa affected
all parastatals.
"The parastatal has been hemorrhaging for a
considerably long time and
teetering on the brink of insolvency. Zesa, like
many other struggling
state-owned enterprises such as Air Zimbabwe and
NetOne, has always been
grossly undercapitalised, poorly managed and
surviving only because of
government funding," he said.
"Research has shown that load-shedding itself can leave the equipment
that
Zesa has in a poorer state due to the frequent switching on and off.
The
only solution to avoid load-shedding in the event of increased demand
would
be a massive investment in the energy sector which the state is
perhaps
unable to undertake since the government itself is broke,"
Mambondiani
said.
He said there was no investment in the energy generating
sector in
Zimbabwe because the sector was a capital intensive industry and
genuine
investors for such a project are generally few.
"Worldwide, there has been a massive transfer of ownership and control
over
electricity assets from the public to private companies. The companies
that
have taken over electricity provision in most countries are
multinational
companies with little interest in the welfare of local
citizens," he
said
He said increasingly such companies were concentrating through
mergers
and acquisitions into a small group of very large conglomerates that
dominate national and international electricity provision.
"Electricity restructuring and privatisation can also result in
massive job
losses so it's an industry that cannot be rushed into a
privatisation. A
private buyer could increase energy prices for profit which
can result in
public revolt," Mambondiani said.
Economist Brains Muchemwa said:
"Government needs to urgently engage
private sector and create a conducive
environment for independent power
producers based on sustainable long term
power purchasing (pricing)
agreements from Zesa, solid and credible
internationally binding dispute
settlement frameworks and flexible
regulations. That is the long-term
strategy."
Muchemwa said
with regional shortage of electricity spanning from
Tanzania to South
Africa, it was imperative to make sufficient steps towards
self-sustenance
in power.
BY PAUL NYAKAZEYA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009
21:04
A SIX-member delegation from the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) is
in the country on a fact-finding mission to evaluate the country's
economy
since the formation of the government of national
unity.
Part of the delegation which arrived on Wednesday,
yesterday held five
meetings with Ministry of Finance officials on the
external domestic debts,
revenue and expenditure.
Other members
of the delegation are expected in the country by June 21
for a week's
stay.
During their stay, a series of high profile meetings with
government,
banking, industry and agricultural officials have been lined
up.
The delegation is composed of Vitaliy Kramarenko (head of
mission)
Wouter Bossu, Lars Engstrom, Gilda Fernandez, Richard Hughes and
Denevieve
Verdier.
On completion of their work on June 29, the
mission is expected to
hold a "report back meeting" with Finance minister
Tendai Biti, Economic
Planning and Investment Promotion minister Elton
Mangoma and Reserve Bank
governor Gideon Gono.
According to the
mission's work schedule seen by businessdigest, all
sectors of the economy,
including health, education, infrastructure and
current food situation will
be scrutinised.
The Reserve Bank's governance and accounting
reforms will come under
spotlight.
The IMF has in the past
pointed out key governance weaknesses
including lack of enforcement of the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act's
accountability requirements and
non-compliance with the International
Financial Reporting
Standards.
The IMF will discuss with key central bank technical
staff and the
Finance ministry on "recent developments on the monetary and
fiscal policy,
the central bank's financial statements for 2009 and mid-year
2009 budget
revision assumptions".
The current foreign currency
inflows and international reserves will
also be reviewed.
According to the IMF document, the Reserve Bank would be tasked to
disclose
"estimates for foreign currency in circulation, its currency
composition and
any new legislation, regulations orders and circulars
related to monetary
financial and exchange restriction areas that have been
introduced since
March 2009".
Early this year, government adopted the use of
multiple currencies but
foreign currency inflows have remained
limited.
On the monetary sector, the mission will seek "revised and
updated
data including a monetary control programme, broad money survey, and
detailed data on other items (assets and liabilities) quasi-fiscal
operations, gross foreign assets, net foreign assets and net international
reserves".
According to the IMF, quasi-fiscal activities by the
Reserve Bank
increased in the context of the bank's weak governance last
year.
"They are estimated at US$1,1 billion (36% of GDP) in 2008,
and
included election-related expenses, transfers to parastatals, subsidised
directed lending, subsidised provision of equipment and fertilisers to
farmers, and allocation of foreign exchange at subsidised exchange rates,"
the IMF says in its May 4 Executive Board assessment on the Article IV
consultation with Zimbabwe
Efforts if any, undertaken by
government to "reconcile the external
debt number with creditors" would also
be looked into.
The IMF team is also interested in reviewing
government line
ministries' domestic debt payment arrears between January
and May.
The soundness of the banking sector which Biti recently
said was under
"severe stress" would be reviewed.
Each bank would
be required to disclose "monthly data on reserve
requirements and actual
reserves held during the first five months of 2009".
An outline of
the "re-capitalisation plan that banks are required to
finalise by June 15"
will be studied.
The banking sector has shrunk as reflected in deposits
that declined
from almost US$1billion at the end of 2005 to about US$300
million (of which
local currency dominated currency deposits amounted to an
equivalent of US$6
million) at end of last year, the IMF noted.
Several donors have advanced aid packages to Zimbabwe and the mission
wants
"a data table on newly contracted short-term and long-term external
credits
for 2009 by currency, and borrower agency.indicating whether these
credits
will fund public or private borrowings".
It said it wants a summary
of the size and timing of budget support
from South Africa and other
potential donors for 2009.
The Development Bank of South Africa,
DBSA, has pledged to assist in
infrastructure development programmes by
providing funding and technical
assistance.
The financial
institution, which was mandated by the South African
government to assist in
the rehabilitation of infrastructure, expressed its
intentions to support
different infrastructural projects in areas of
electrical power supply,
educational institutions and road rehabilitation.
The mission will
also meet the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and Donors'
Economists Group to discuss the humanitarian appeal for
2009.
However, donors have set conditions around political and economic
reforms
before they release any money.
To date Zimbabwe has only been able
to secure over US$1 billion and
yet the country needs U$10 billion in the
next three years for economic
recovery.
The mining sector,
which government says under the Short Term
Emergency Recovery Programme was
crucial in the recovery of the economy,
would be reviewed.
On
agriculture, the IMF team will discus output projections for each
commodity
with farmer organisations and food requirements and supply with
the World
Food Programme.
BY NQOBILE BHEBHE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11
June 2009 19:52
GOVERNMENT has accused fuel companies of charging
"illegal prices" in
response to soaring world prices.
Ministry
of Energy and Power Development permanent secretary Justin
Mupamhanga said
his ministry would "strongly look" into the issue of
companies that raise
fuel prices without government approval.
Mupamhanga said the legal
price of petrol was now US$1,30 and diesel
US$0,95 after factoring in the
movement of oil, internal costs and
transportation. He however said fuel
dealers started to charge the high
prices before June 7.
There are 80 oil companies registered in the country.
"We do
price reviews every month to ensure we do not destabilise the
market and a
review is made if there is need," Mupamhanga told
businessdigest on
Wednesday.
"The increases by local oil companies were illegal
as the ministry and
the oil companies had agreed that price changes would
only be effected on
June 7," he said.
The price of petrol
has increased by about US$0,30 inside two weeks in
what oil companies said
was a response to rising international fuel prices
which have seen crude oil
prices leap from US$55 per barrel last month to
US$71 per barrel on
Wednesday this week.
Economists say a US$0,30c rise in fuel
price translates to an average
increase of about 25% in the price of basic
goods.
"The price oil companies were charging before June 7 was
illegal, oil
companies were short changing consumers. Any prices above the
agreed prices
are illegal," he said.
A litre of petrol that
cost US$1 three months ago is being sold for
between US$1,30 and US$1,35 at
most service stations in the country.
Diesel rose marginally to
between US$1,05 and US$0,95 from US$0,85.
A litre of paraffin costs
US$0,75.
Mupamhanga said recent shortages of petrol on the
market were mainly
due to uncertainty in the pricing structure of the
commodity. He said oil
companies had assured the ministry that there would
be a consistent supply
of fuel.
He said since the end of
the first quarter, low-quality fuel was being
sold on the market at very low
prices to attract customers.
Mupamhanga said an audit carried
out at 12 filling stations in
Bulawayo late last month revealed that only
two were selling diesel with
sulphur content below acceptable
levels.
Under the existing regulations, fuel companies are only
allowed to
sell diesel with a maximum sulphur content of 0,05 particles per
million.
Excessive sulphur in diesel leads to the generation of
sulphurous and
sulphuric acids which cause premature engine wear from
corrosion.
"We are having problems with fuel coming from the
South as opposed to
the fuel coming from the East, which is transported via
the Beira-Feruka
pipeline and is subjected to quality
checks.
"However, our officers are in the field checking right
round the
country and we expect to have a more clearer picture by
mid-month,"
Mupamhanga said.
Zimbabwe draws most of its
fuel from Beira and this is distributed
mostly to areas north of Zimbabwe
while the southern parts are supplied by
fuel obtained from South Africa by
rail and road transport.
By Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009
19:49
IN good economic times, it is normal to be in debt. This is true
for
businesses as it is for governments and individuals.
However, in difficult times borrowings can be a heavy burden as shown
by the
recent events in the US and in other rich countries. The current
global
financial crisis is a result of excessive debt.
In Zimbabwe, just
like in many developing countries, the global credit
crisis did not have a
direct impact because the financial markets are not
interrelated to those in
the West in any way.
The effects are, nonetheless, being felt
indirectly through reduced
assistance from international aid organisations
that are funded by Western
countries. The debt market in the country has not
been very active since the
economy got into a hyperinflation
mode.
During hyperinflation it was not viable to borrow given
the punitive
rates that were always benchmarked to central bank overnight
lending. In
addition, many suppliers had started demanding payment in stable
currencies
which made the Zimbabwe dollar unusable for procuring raw
materials.
Instead, businesses were forced to quickly convert
their Zimbabwe
dollar receipts into foreign currency and other assets.
Buying shares also
became a fashionable venture for companies that were
generating lots of cash
in their attempts to retain value.
Credit to households was also minimal because of perceived default
risk.
Building societies were not giving mortgage loans, and even when they
did,
the preconditions were deterring. Prospective mortgagees were being
asked to
pay large deposits. The regular installments were also unaffordable
to
many.
Concurrently, all credit shops suspended facilities such
as lay-bye
and hire purchase because installments were quickly getting
eroded by
inflation. Only the government had significant borrowings,
estimated at $59
sextillion in the latest central bank
report.
All this money was accessed from the local market
through issuance of
mainly 1-year treasury bills at 340% per annum. Banks
were being compelled
to take up this instrument to avoid a more punitive
zero coupon paper that
was being given to institutions with surplus end of
day balances.
Local funding was the only available option to
the government because
international institutions had ceased supporting the
country because of
arrears and governance issues.
The switch
from using Zimbabwe dollars to multiple currencies had the
effect of
indefinitely deferring the settlement of domestic debt, if at all
it would
be paid off.
The best case is that the Zim dollar balances will be
converted into
usable currency at some point while the worst could be an
indefinite
suspension, if not a cancellation of the balances. It is without
a doubt
that the borrowers, especially the government which is the major
debtor,
have benefited from the switch while the lenders are worse
off.
Nevertheless, the majority of the private sector and
individuals in
the country are currently, almost, debt free except for the
few that have
secured loans after dollarisation. Most, if not all, of the
local companies
require hard currency financing for them to restart
meaningful production.
Theoretically, it should be much easier
for them to attract funding
given their clean balance sheets. Their
counterparts in developed countries
continue to receive funding -- both debt
and equity -- despite being already
heavily indebted.
Sadly
for the local companies, political risk, albeit improving,
remains a
deterrent to would-be financiers. Foreign investors and banks,
which have
the capacity to provide funding, expect more political and
economic reforms
before they start dishing out money.
The high credit demand in
the economy should have been good news to
local banks, but that has not been
the case. The lack of liquidity in the
country is hampering lending
operations.
Several companies have loan facilities with
domestic banks; however,
the draw downs have been few and spaced because of
unavailability of funds.
This has given impetus to loan sharking, or
chimbadzo in local lingo, where
holders of hard currency are lending it out
at very high interest rates. In
such transactions, the probability of
defaulting is high. Margins for most
business are already squeezed and as
result some might fail to pay off these
high interest
obligations.
Recent reports of credit lines coming from such
institutions as the
African Development Bank and African Export Import bank
are encouraging
although not all companies are going to be
financed.
These facilities will reduce funding pressure on
local banks and
possibly prompt other offshore institutions to avail more
loans to industry.
Debt financing seems to be the most feasible way of
raising capital for
local companies presently.
Very few, if
any, local companies can successfully raise money through
rights issues or
any scheme that involves shareholders. This is because most
local
shareholders are not liquid. Companies with foreign shareholders may
possibly get financial and technical support from corporate
parents.
Maybe, it is time local entrepreneurs seriously start
looking for
partners who can inject equity capital into their businesses.
This entails
losing majority control of the company but the advantage is the
expansion in
the business. As the Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara
correctly put it
recently, "It is better to own 10% of an elephant than 100%
of a rat because
with 10% you will have a bigger share.''
Ranga
Makwata
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009
19:45
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has requested each banking
institution
whose equity capital does not comply with prescribed minimum
capital levels
to submit a detailed re-capitalisation plan by
Monday.
Banking institutions "without realistic potential to
maintain adequate
capital levels commensurate with their risk profiles on an
on-going basis
should seriously consider mergers and consolidations," the
RBZ said.
This is part of the Reserve Bank's capital verification
exercise
across the sector to determine the capital position of every
banking
institution.
On Tuesday, Reserve Bank governor
Gideon Gono in a circular to all
banking institutions said the enforcement
of the revised capital
requirements would be in phases in accordance with
standard banking
practices.
Gono said the phased approach
takes into account the need for the
banking sector to adapt to the new
macroeconomic environment to restore
confidence in the banking
sector.
"Every banking institution whose paid-up equity capital
does not
comply with the respective prescribed level is required to submit a
detailed
re-capitalisation plan to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe by June 15,
2009 for
its consideration and approval, indicating amounts to be raised and
timeframes," Gono said.
He added that the Reserve Bank
would "closely monitor the adequacy of
banking institutions" capital levels
and will conduct on-site examinations
in order to enforce on-going
compliance with minimum capital requirements.
According to the
circular, commercial banks would need to have a
minimum requirement of
US$6,25 million by September and US$12,5 million by
March 31 next
year.
Merchant banks and building societies would be required
to have at
least US$5 million by September and US$10 million by March next
year.
Finance and discount houses are required to have a
minimum capital
adequacy ratio of US$3,75 million each by September and
US$7,5 million each
by during the same period next year.
Asset management companies' minimum equity requirements have been
pegged at
US$1,25 million for September and US$2,5 million for March
2009.
Gono said each bank was required to comply with at least
half of the
prescribed minimum requirement for its class by September this
year, and
fully compliant by March 31.
Economist Eric Bloch
said there was "serious" need for banks to
re-capitalise so as to avoid
collapsing.
"Although at present there are little signs of weakness in
the banking
sector, banks should re-capitalise. Failure to do so, collapsing
is
inevitable and depositors will again lose out on their savings," Bloch
said.
The IMF team currently in the country has shown interest
in the
re-capitalisation of local banks.
Nqobile Bhebhe
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009
19:45
WHILE mobile operator Econet Wireless presented an optimistic
outlook
of the operating environment in the first quarter of this year, its
major
rival NetOne told a different tale altogether.
Econet
says the first two months of this year contributed close to 32%
of the total
revenue realised during the reporting season, despite early
challenges of
implementing a new US dollar distribution system for its
products.
The mobile operator said beyond the two months, revenue continued to
grow,
but did not state the actual numbers, saying such information would be
made
available when the company releases its interim financial results in
August.
Its major rival, NetOne, on the other hand told a
different story
during the same period.
NetOne said it was
bearing the brunt of "economic hardship" and
appeared sympathetic to its
subscribers' plight saying contract subscribers
who accumulated bills during
the first quarter of this year following the
dollarisation of the economy
had been granted "some kind of reprieve".
But analysts say
although NetOne did not issue distress calls, the
company will be happy to
salvage whatever it could after giving postpaid
subscribers slight room to
make calls following the dollarisation of the
economy.
"NetOne understands that dollarisation has affected us all. Taking
into
consideration the economic hardships, NetOne is giving you a 30%
discount on
bills incurred between January and March 2009, provided you
settle that bill
not later than 31 August 2009," the company said.
The company
also put a cherry on top of the discount in the form of
easier payment terms
and credited customers, who have already honoured their
bills saying such
subscribers would be automatically credited with a 30%
discount. Should
NetOne subscribers fail to meet the network's benevolent
August deadline, it
would be cheaper to cut off such subscribers, analysts
say.
"No interest charges have been levied on the amount due but failure to
pay
the total amount due by 31 August 2009 shall attract an interest charge
at
the prevailing minimum lending rate applied by our bankers."
At the
same time, Econet said management took the decision in November
last year to
migrate postpaid customers to prepaid because the mobile
operator could not
invest in a new billing system and avoided exposure from
defaulting
customers.
Management said at the time the company needed to
commit resources to
key components.
"However, after
operators were allowed to bill in foreign currency,
we were able to
renegotiate terms with our suppliers. Subsequently, we were
in a position to
invite customers back to postpaid. There was no automatic
and wholesale
migration of customers that had previously been on contract
back to
postpaid. Econet used its prudent systems to reduce exposure to
default,"
Econet corporate communications manager Rangarirai Mberi said.
"We therefore did not have negative exposure during the changeover to
US
dollars. An important point to note is that while the changeover to
prepaid
had indeed caused great discomfort, it enabled our customers to have
better
control of their costs," he said.
"For instance, corporate
customers that had multiple lines on contract
used the opportunity to trim
the number of accounts on their books upon
their return to contract,
enabling them to have a firmer handle on their
costs," said
Mberi.
The company, however, says the use of multiple
currencies and the
collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar had essentially made the
accounting process
for the first 10 months of the trading year an 'academic
exercise'. Econet
added that what was important to the company was what had
happened in the
last two months when dollar tariffs were
introduced.
The company also announced plans to lift the
group's capacity from 2,5
million subscribers to 5 million by the end of
next year. Currently, Econet
has a connected capacity of about 1,2 million
and expects that number to
exceed two million by the end of this
year.
"Whilst this time last year Econet Wireless' income came
almost
exclusively from investments, the income statement this year has
almost no
investment income," the company said.
The revenue
for the year was $87,9 million, and the earnings before
interest,
depreciation, tax, and armortisation was $26,6 million, or 30% of
revenue.
The company re-valued its assets in US dollars,
showing the growth of
its balance sheet to have increased to $176,4 million.
However the
revaluation in the assets resulted in a depreciation charge of
$18,4
million, which contributed significantly to a net loss of $2,1 million
for
the year. Management was not duly concerned with this number, given the
turmoil in the first 10 months of trading.
Econet Wireless
controls 60% of the market share while NetOne and
Telecel share the
difference.
Chris Muronzi
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June
2009 19:41
AFRICAN businesses need increased access to financial
resources to
improve their competitiveness on the global markets, the Africa
Competitiveness Report 2009 released on Wednesday said.
The
report reflects research findings of three institutions -- the
World
Economic Forum, the African Development Bank and the World Bank.
"Limited access to financial services remains a major obstacle for
African
enterprises, but underdeveloped infrastructure, limited healthcare
and
educational services, and poor institutional frameworks also make
African
countries less competitive in the global marketplace," reads the
report in
part.
The report points to a number of success stories in the
region that
highlight steps countries can take to improve their business
environment.
The joint report was launched on Wednesday before
the official opening
of the World Economic Forum on Africa, in Cape Town,
South Africa by
President Jacob Zuma.
It is the second
report on the region's business environment.
Klaus Schwab,
founder and executive chairman of the World Economic
Forum, said: "This
year's Africa Competitiveness Report is the second
comprehensive effort by
our three organisations to place the continent in a
broader international
context and to shed light on the important aspects of
development in the
region, which are so critical, particularly at this time
of global economic
crisis."
Vice-President of the Africa region at the World Bank
in Washington,
DC, Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili, said investment in
infrastructure with a
regional focus would help cushion against the impact
of the crisis and
position Africa to take advantage of a rebound of the
global economy.
"The countries that will reap the most benefit
and limit the adverse
impact of the crisis would be those that sustain
reforms, strengthen
governance, modernise local capital markets and make the
investments needed
to tap the immense resourcefulness and creativity of
their people," said
Ezekwesili.
President of the African
Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, said: "The
most critical issue for us
(Africans) at this stage is how we strike the
balance between short-term
crisis response while remaining focused on the
long-term issues key for
sustaining Africa's growth, such as the development
of infrastructure, and a
skilled labour force, as well as economic
integration."
The
report highlights two short-term and three longer term policy
themes for
improving the competitiveness of African economies.
The two
short-term themes are increasing access to finance through
market-enabling
policies and keeping market open to trade.
The report said
protectionist forces were emerging in response to the
global economic
crisis; yet such measures would further reduce demand and
restrict
growth.
"Africa's leaders must resist domestic political
pressures to erect
trade barriers that would make the region's recovery even
more difficult,"
the report said.
The three longer term
themes are -- infrastructure remain one of the
top constraints to business
in African, Inefficient basis education and
healthcare systems constrain
Africa's productive potential and more examples
of goods governance and
strong and visionary leadership are needed.
"Energy and
transportation are among the main bottlenecks to
productivity growth and
competitiveness in Africa. Investment in upgrading
infrastructure would both
place Africa on a higher growth trajectory as well
as serve as a fiscal
stimulus at a critical time," the report said.
The report said
unless educational and healthcare systems were
upgraded in Africa, firms
would continue to be constrained in their move up
the value chain, and
economic development will be hindered.
"Strong and transparent
institutional environments have contributed to
the success of Africa's most
competitive economies. Much has been done in
recent years to improve these
structures; yet in many parts of the region,
institutions need to be more
business-friendly to foster competitiveness,"
said the
report.
This was said to be particularly important in the
current global
economic crisis was threatening to cause reversals in
governance reform.
A separate report by experts including
former UN secretary-general
Kofi Annan and former Mozambican first lady
Graca Machel said Africa would
continue to need aid, but that it had enough
potential and untapped
resources to become a net food and energy exporter
and to boost
intercontinental trade.
"We need leadership
visionary enough to say where we want to put our
continent in 30, 40 or 50
years, and to take the steps necessary to keep our
continent there," said
Machel. "We have the potential, we have the
capacity."
Africa achieved economic growth rates of 5,5% last year, above the
global
average, said Annan. The numbers of people living in poverty are
leveling
out, democracy and market reforms are entrenched in many countries,
and
great strides are being made against killer diseases such as AIDS and
malaria.
"Some of this progress is unstoppable but much of
it is fragile," he
said. Annan's Progress Panel Report called for more
investment in renewable
energy, agriculture and
communications.
Africa is the continent most vulnerable to the
economic downturn
because it does not have the economic and social levers to
cushion the
crisis. Annan warned the world not to turn its back on Africa
despite its
reputation as a basket case because of wars and
corruption.
"We ignored Somalia and it is now come back to bite
us with piracy and
destruction to global trade." he said.
BY
PAUL NYAKAZEYA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11
June 2009 19:21
GOVERNMENT plans to raise funds to revive the economy
through a
commercialisation and privatisation plan which will take different
forms as
part of a rationalisation, reconstruction and transformation
agenda.
Economic analysts however said the way the plan would be
crafted was
important in attracting foreign investors as the issue has been
on the cards
for more than a decade.
ZB Financial Holdings
economist Andrew Chirewo said if it was a
revenue generating plan for the
parastatal, the first stage could be the
rehabilitation by government
through rationalisation of operations.
"If government has funds
or can secure strategic or technical
partners, recapitalisation then the
idea is noble," Chirewo said on Tuesday.
"The entities can then be allowed
to commercialise, that is, charge
economically viable rates, but on a phased
basis to avoid social
dislocations."
Chirewo said
commercialisation would enhance the entities' self
sustenance, less reliance
on government resources as well as ability to
operate as going
concerns.
"When viability is achieved through commercialisation
and with
relative policy certainty, it would be easier for government to
subsequently
identify private sector players, to either partner with in a
private-public
ownership arrangement, or to completely cede control to, for
the efficient
operation of the entity," he said.
He however
said whatever the ultimate ownership arrangement, there was
a need to come
up with proper pricing mechanisms to avoid disposal of the
state assets at
discounted prices.
"A viable alternative or complement to
privatisation is listing on the
capital markets, for example the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange, as was the case
with AICO, CBZ and DZL," Chirewo
said.
Economist Brains Muchemwa said most parastatas such as
Zesa did not
need privatization.
"They need a supportive
rational policy framework from the government,
restructuring and a strong
economy where it can raise debt, whilst the
consumers pay the right tariffs.
Thinking of privatising them is taking
capitalism experiments too far, and
the results will always be disastrous,"
Muchemwa said.
The
country needs close to US$10 billion to rivitalise its battered
economy and
so far has received close to US$1 billion.
Minister of Finance
Tendai Biti last week told businessdigest that
government would assess
different state assets and decide on whether to
commercialise or privatise
them.
"Cabinet has approved the process of commercialisation
and
privatisation. This includes how it will be done, timing and
objectives,"
Biti said.
Biti said the process had been
divided into different categories and
classified state enterprises under
each of the groups to ensure maximum
benefit for the
country.
He said there were high-value state companies which
had huge potential
but needed capitalisation and good
management.
These categories include companies such as TelOne,
POSB, power
stations, Zisco and National Railways of Zimbabwe. He also said
there are
some strategic high-value enterprises which however are seriously
draining
the fiscus such as Air Zimbabwe.
Coronation
Financial Services economist and investment analyst Lance
Mambondiani on
Wednesday said privatisation maybe one of the solutions to
solving the
problem of an inefficient state-owned enterprises.
"This would
be based on the assumption that the best way of turning
around a state-owned
enterprise is to subject it to market forces and open
up competition and not
propped up or subsidised by the government,"
Mambodiani told
businessdigest.
"This policy change would increase the
country's international
competitive strength, increase efficiency, lower the
costs of goods and
services and help to balance the budget. Also, a key
political value
dictates that if citizens want a good or service they should
pay for it," he
said.
Mambodiani said privatising a
state-owned enterprises was not easy as
no investor would come without
guarantees.
"In accounting terms, most parastatals are probably
technically
insolvent, the value will be in its re-organisation and not
whether it's
functional or not," said Mambodiani.
KM
Financial Solutions chairman and investment expert Kenias Mafukidze
told
businessdigest that privatisation required a lot of investment. "Given
the
sums required to take full advantage of our unique position, there is
need
to open up this space for private sector participation in a manner that
will
push the country and indeed the region forward," he said
Economist Philip Chichoni said the current global financial crisis
makes it
impossible for any buyer to raise the funds required to bring the
parastatal
to modern standards.
"Years of no capital injection and low
tariffs mean equipment at
parastatals had been run down and in need of
replacement," said Chichoni.
Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009
19:17
FAMILIES have to pay between US$10 and US$30 in extra rentals for
the
month of May following increases in rentals in most parts of the
country,
according to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ).
The consumer watchdog said its monthly basket for May rose to
US$437,62 from
the previous month figure of US$427,11 largely due to
increases in
rentals.
Rentals constitute about 40% of the CCZ monthly
basket.
"The increases were a result of rises in rentals and
municipal
utilities," said the CCZ in a statement.
"Of
major concern was the element of rentals, as there seems to be no
agreed
standard on how rental space is charged. Landlords seem to be setting
rentals willy-nilly and this is impacting rather negatively on tenants," the
consumer watchdog said.
However, surveys by estate agents
and financial institutions during
the first quarter of the year said rentals
had declined by an average 15%,
while prices of residential properties had
gone down by an average of 30%.
The chairman of the Estate
Agents Council of Zimbabwe, Oswald
Nyakunika maintained that Zimbabwe's
prices were the lowest in the region.
"Our rentals at US$2 per
square metre to US$5 per square metre are the
lowest in the region," he
said.
Analysts said the number of properties offered for sale had
improved
significantly from the first quarter whilst able buyers have
continued to
dwindle in this predominantly buyers market.
They said low activity had also been exacerbated by sellers and estate
agents who continued to quote high prices from the last quarter of 2008.
Households are already burdened by high costs as domestic bills that are
almost twice what the region was offering.
As the country's
economic performance begins to improve, the property
market is still
struggling to find its feet, say analysts.
It has continued to
experience a slump in activity with rates in
rentals and property prices far
beyond the reach of many.
Apart from increased in rentals, the
CCZ
said there was a reduction in the cost of the food
basket
from US$111,31 in April to US$111,06 last month.
Food
constitutes 25,41% of the family basket, 10% for transport, soap
and
detergents make up 2,8%, while rent, water, health, education, clothing
and
footwear constitute the remainder.
The South African basket
ranges at US$82. Botswana's monthly basket is
at US$95 while that of
Mozambique is US$113,02.
This reduction was attributed to
competition on the market, zero duty
on basic food which has allwed more
people to buy for themselves directly
from foreign markets.
There is real increase in the cost of the basket on transport, rent,
water
and electricity, health, education, clothing and footwear from US$304
to
US$314, reflecting an increase of 3 percent.
Prices of most
basic commodities in shops are still beyond the reach
of many consumers as
civil servants only receive an allowance of US$100.
The CCZ
urges the Ministry of Finance to urgently consider the use of
the local
currency that is currently in circulation, as this will benefit
consumers
who have Zimbabwe dollars lying idle in their accounts.
Paul
Nyakazeya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009
18:29
INCREASINGLY, collective bargaining agreement negotiations of
wages in
different industrial, commercial and other economic sectors are
breaking
down, with a total deadlock between employer and labour
representatives.
The divide between the minimum wages demanded by
labour, and those
offered by employers is continuously widening, invariably
to unbridgeable
extents.
More and more frequently the deadlock
cannot be resolved by
negotiation and, therefore, proceeds to arbitration,
either voluntarily to
an arbitrator whose appointment is agreed by
employer and labour
representatives, or where voluntary arbitration cannot
be agreed upon, then
compulsory arbitration by an arbitrator appointed by
the Ministry of
Labour.
Although, of course, there are many
exceptions, all too often the
arbitrators strive to please all parties, by
pursuing the King Solomon
approach of "cut the baby in half", by
determining an award fairly closely
approximating the mid-point between
the labour demands and the employer
offers.
This occurs with
total oblivion to both labour and employers
thereafter being dissatisfied
with the determination, labour contending the
arbitral awards to be
inhumanely below minimal survival needs, whilst
employers are confronted
with businesses downsizing or closure due to the
unsustainability of the
wage awards in relation to the business cash
inflows.
As a
result, very often one or other of the parties proceeds to the
High Court to
challenge the arbitral award, or many employers apply to their
National
Employment Council (NEC) for exemption from such award.
The stance
of labour in its wage demands appears, at first glance, to
be very
reasonable. According to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ), the
Poverty
Datum Line (PDL) for a family of six was, in April, US$427,11, the
PDL
being the minimum amount required to meet the costs of the basic
essentials
necessary for life without endangering health.
It can be readily
understood that labour aspirations are to earn at
least such an amount, if
not more.
However, in repeatedly founding its stance in wage
negotiations,
labour invariably overlooks two key factors.
First of all, usually in a family of six there are at least two income
earners, albeit not to an equal extent.
Therefore, at best,
labour should seek a minimum wage of two-thirds of
PDL (in April that would
have been approximately US$280 per month).
However, this is always
disregarded by labour's negotiators who almost
without exception focus upon
PDL as the minimum acceptable wage.
The second and very greatly
more significant factor which is
consistently ignored by labour negotiators,
whether the employer has the
capacity to pay the wages
demanded.
If the demands exceed the ability to pay, the inevitable
consequence
is either the total collapse of the employer's business or,
occasionally, a
very marked reduction in the size of the business
operations. In either
event, one of the results is a mass termination of
employment for many.
Whilst earning wages below the PDL means
considerable hardship and
suffering for the employees, their families and
other dependents, loss of
employment and consequential cessation of all
wage income results in
grossly greater hardships and
suffering.
This is particularly so as, in the prevailing
Zimbabwean
circumstance, prospects of obtaining alternative employment
are minimal
and, if there is miraculously some opportunity of such
alternative
employment, it too would undoubtedly be with wages below the
PDL.
Concurrently the demands for wages are almost always at levels
which
preclude attaining the economic upturn and recovery so desperately
needed
for the wellbeing of all Zimbabweans.
The magnitude of
most wage demands is gargantuanally greater than
wages paid for like
services in neighbouring territories in general, and in
South Africa in
particular.
As a result, not only would payment of the demanded
wages destroy
Zimbabwean export market competitiveness, but in addition
Zimbabwean
products would become increasingly price uncompetitive in the
domestic
market.
Already, Zimbabwean manufacturers are faced
with very great
difficulties in competing with those elsewhere in the
region, and further
afield, by virtue of far lower production volumes,
according the
non-Zimbabwean manufacturing competitors the immense
advantages and
benefits of economies of scale.
The obstacles
to Zimbabwean price competitiveness is exacerbated by
the very markedly
higher charges in Zimbabwe for utilities such as
electricity, water,
telecommunications, and the like, and for local
authority owner's rates and
like charges.
Employers must have sympathy and understanding for
the overwhelming
stresses and tribulations that are the lot of almost all
employees and, to
that end, must be willing to pay substantive remuneration
as their
businesses can reasonably sustain.
However,
concurrently, it is very long overdue for trade unions,
workers' committees,
and other labour representative bodies, to recognise
that the employers do
not have unlimited resources.
They need to recognise that the
Zimbabwean economy has been so
greatly decimated over a period of more than
11 years that almost all who
still have employment are extraordinarily
fortunate, notwithstanding the
distressing gap between cost of living and
their incomes, for by now
approximately 90% of the employable Zimbabwean
population is without
formal sector employment. Surely it is not the wish
of the remaining 10% to
join that unemployment majority!
It
would be greatly in the interests of employers and employees alike
that
remuneration for workers should comprise a combination of an agreed
basic
wage (at levels which are realistically within the means of the
employees
whilst addressing, insofar as reasonably possible, the critical
needs of
the workers ), and of incremental remuneration based upon
productivity
(provided that such productivity is attained without
prejudice to
quality).
The greater the worker productivity, within prescribed
standards, the
greater is the business viability. The enhanced viability
facilitates
enhanced worker remuneration, and maximizes the security of
continuance of
employment.
In contrast, dogmatic rigidity in
worker demands, with myopic
disregard for employer circumstance and
prevailing economic conditions, is
naught but actions of suicide, for such
demands not only trigger business
collapses and recurrent and intensifying
economic decline, but also
intensified unemployment.
Not only
do workers need to be conscious of this fundamental factor in
wage
negotiations, but so too should arbitrators, the Labour Court and the
High
Court, when wage deadlocks are referred to them, and also so should the
National Employment Councils, when wage level exemption applications are put
to them.
Trying to be the "good guy" to all, under currently
prevailing
conditions, actually does a disservice to all. And this is very
particularly
so when arbitrators or the Courts give wage awards with
retrospectively
effective wage increases, for the employers cannot
retrospectively adjust
selling prices in order to fund the retrospective
wage increments.
This too is of suicidal consequence, for labour,
for employers, and
for the economy as a whole.
BY ERIC
BLOCH
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009 18:20
RECENT reports in the state-controlled print and electronic media have
deliberately distorted the main purpose of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's
official trip overseas.
A false and clearly
malicious impression is being created that
Tsvangirai has been mandated by
Robert Mugabe to travel to Europe and the
United States to specifically call
for the lifting of ''sanctions'' that the
MDC called for in the first
instance.
The propaganda does not end there. A desperate attempt is
made to
denigrate both the person and the office of the prime minister. It
is this
myopic approach to news dissemination that will prove the most
lethal poison
to the inclusive government.
In its front page
story on Tuesday, the Herald reports that Tsvangirai
was in the Netherlands
on a brief from Mugabe and cabinet to call for the
lifting of economic
sanctions.
While I am not a cabinet minister and I am therefore not
privy to the
deliberations of cabinet, I have every reason to challenge the
allegation
that Mugabe and cabinet have mandated Tsvangirai to travel abroad
to call
for the lifting of sanctions.
I have conversed with a
number of cabinet ministers and none of them
was able to give legitimacy and
credibility to the Herald story that I am
referring to herein. In short, the
Herald story is distorting the main
purpose of the PM's current visit
overseas.
I am not surprised by the diehard attitude that still
prevails in
certain quarters of the state-controlled media. Most of those
people who had
made it a career to be Zanu PF praise-singers are still in
control at both
Zimpapers and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Holdings.
They are still wearing their parochial blinkers and they
seem not to
be aware that wherever you go in Zimbabwe today, things are in
change mode.
These unfortunate people, for some reason, seem to
still think that
Mugabe is solely in charge and that Tsvangirai is just an
errand boy.
These delusional characters still believe that somehow,
both Mugabe
and Zanu PF will manage to re-invent themselves and make
themselves popular
again amongst the majority of Zimbabweans, both within
the country and in
the diaspora.
Zanu PF is mortally and
fatally wounded. This is a party that is
hopelessly faction-ridden to such
an extent that the centre can clearly no
longer hold.
I
sometimes wonder how many parties are within Zanu PF. The several
factions
in Zanu PF make it difficult to imagine how this party can live to
successfully contest another election against a formidable party such as the
MDC led by Tsvangirai.
Put in its proper context, therefore,
the desperate attempt by the
Zanu PF spin doctors at the state-controlled
media to paint Tsvangirai as a
weak appendage of the inclusive government
clearly has got no takers.
The global political agreement (GPA)
marked the beginning of the end
of Mugabe's imperial presidency. Section
20.1.1 of the Constitution of
Zimbabwe Amendment No 19 states that ''the
executive authority of the
inclusive government shall vest in and be shared
among the president, the
prime minister and the cabinet, as provided for in
this constitution and
legislation".
Surely, for any
right-thinking person to therefore think that
Tsvangirai is Mugabe's errand
boy clearly boggles the mind.
That there is an urgent need for a
serious paradigm shift within the
state-controlled media cannot be
over-emphasised.
In fact, Zimbabwe does not need a state-controlled
media. What we
need, urgently, is a responsible and professional public
media that will
truly articulate and tell the true Zimbabwe story without
fear or favour. A
partisan, state-controlled media is a dangerous and lethal
poison to the
institution of the inclusive government.
Going
forward, it may be necessary to wean off some of these
propagandists from
the state-controlled media since they are working at a
tangent to the
project to rebuild and re-brand Zimbabwe. I am not advocating
retribution
because I do not believe in the primitive notion of an eye for
an eye since
that will obviously leave all of us blind.
All I am stating is that
if certain individuals at the
state-controlled media cannot embrace the new
political dispensation in
Zimbabwe then they should do the honourable thing
and to resign.
I am a member of the Parliament of Zimbabwe's
Standing Rules and
Orders Committee (SROC) and I am very pleased to note
that we are moving at
supersonic speed to ensure that the new Zimbabwe Media
Commission is set up
as a matter of urgency.
At our last
meeting held in Harare on Monday, June 1 I was quite
pleased when Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara forcefully argued that
the first
constitutional commission to be set up should be the Zimbabwe
Media
Commission.
He argued that even the present constitution-making
process can be
thrown into serious jeopardy if we fail to urgently appoint
the Zimbabwe
Media Commission.
I totally agree with Mutambara's
sentiments on this issue. Surely,
Zimbabwe needs a new media regime if we
are to move forward as a nation. The
days of media hangmen such as those
located in the now defunct Media and
Information Commission led by Tafataona
Mahoso should be placed in the
dustbin of history because that is precisely
where they belong.
The important role of the Zimbabwe Media
Commission in the
democratisation agenda cannot be
over-emphasised.
As long as both the mainstream and privately-owned
media remain
polarised, Zimbabwe will remain stuck in
stagnation.
It does not make any sense to have only one local
television station
almost three decades after independence.
This makes us a laughing stock both in Africa and globally. For now,
both
Zimpapers and ZBH should simply accept that like him or hate him,
Tsvangirai
is the prime mover and shaker in Zimbabwe's present political
discourse.
lGutu is the Senator for Chisipite.
BY OBERT GUTU
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009
18:25
ON his "rare and historic" visit to Gideon Gono's farm in Norton,
President Mugabe asked King Mswati to take with him back to Swaziland "our
dear love".
The king in turn said he had learnt a lot from
Zimbabwe's veteran
leader.
"Throughout the many years we have
known each other he has always
shown me how much he loves his people," King
Mswati said. "Running a country
is not always easy."
Did he say
"running" or "ruining"? Until recently Cosatu branded
Swaziland alongside
Zimbabwe as a rogue regime where workers' rights were
suppressed.
We can imagine Swaziland's youthful king had much
to learn from his
Zimbabwean host. In particular he did not appear to know
how Zimbabwe's
patronage system worked.
"I am glad to see that
the man who is implementing this (silo project
at Gono's farm) is the
governor of the central bank. I understand why he is
governor."
So do we. And it has nothing to do with his farming skills!
So now
the King can be added to the list of those who are being asked
to say a few
words in favour of the governor. Service chiefs, delinquent war
vets and
captive editors have now been joined by royalty to add a bit of
class to
this motley crew.
Previously, distinguished visitors were asked to
voice their approval
of land reform. Then they were induced to appeal for
the lifting of
sanctions on behalf of their hosts.
Now it is
the governor who they are being asked to speak up for. Is
Gono aware of just
how abject he has become in the manipulative hands of his
sponsors? And will
any international bankers take him seriously again?
The Herald on
Monday carried an anchor story headed "Massive wheat
shortage looms". And
there staring out at us was a picture of Joseph Made.
How
appropriate that association was. But the Herald had an answer for
these
disastrous circumstances. It was all the fault of "sanctions-induced
hyperinflation".
Zimbabwe National Farmers Union vice-president
Garikai Msika said it
was the result of poor planning. The government will
now spend more
importing wheat than it would have done by supporting the
farmers, Msika
said.
So much for "hyper-induced
inflation".
While Tafataona Mahoso's turgid column in the Sunday
Mail is usually
unreadable, it should be read this week by human rights
defenders and
lawyers for the sinister remarks it contains.
In
particular it may be of interest to the representatives of those
countries
Morgan Tsvangirai will be visiting this month claiming there have
been
"reforms" in the media sector.
Here is what Mahoso said about those
Zimbabweans who he claimed were
following in the footsteps of Zambia's
Frederick Chiluba who was
discredited, arrested, tried and sentenced: "Our
so-called reformers have
not only shown their corrupt tendencies quite early
in the first months of
the inclusive government.
They actually
run the risk of being arrested and tried for treason
because of their
reckless treatment of issues lying at the core of the
national
interest."
They were guilty of mishandling "sacred matters" and
pursuing personal
conflicts of interest and engaging in subversion of public
policy, terrorism
and subverting the rule of law, he charged.
Mahoso is understandably bitter. A court last week rejected his media
pretensions. But who is it who has "subverted public policy"? Who is accused
of committing acts of "terrorism" and "subverting the rule of law"?
Certainly not the new members of the government.
We would be
keen to hear what donors think of these remarks while
Tsvangirai travels to
Europe and America claiming there has been a change of
outlook in
Harare.
And please don't let us hear again from Webster Shamu on
how "fair and
balanced" the public media is when this sort of hate speech is
given
prominence.
It is not difficult to discern where Mahoso's
rant is heading. "Those
seeking to corrupt the national ideals are focusing
on individual incumbents
because they know that corruption is determined to
a great extent by
character," he wrote.
"So the incorruptible
cadres have to be removed at all costs and be
replaced by those who have
indicated a willingness to change critical
national policies in the interest
of foreign powers."
Gideon: You appear to have another new best
friend: Tafataona Al
Bashir.
Meanwhile, Deputy PM Arthur
Mutambara said there was a need to remove
international misconceptions that
Zimbabwe was a risky country to invest in.
Speaking to the
Marondera business community, he said: "It was now
everyone's duty to
reflect the right image of the country."
Indeed it is. Last weekend
a group of four freelance journalists won a
high court order freeing them
from any need to accredit with the defunct
Media and Information Commission
when carrying out their work, with
particular reference to coverage of the
Comesa summit taking place at the
Victoria Falls.
Justice
Bharat Patel granted them an interim order barring Media
minister Webster
Shamu, permanent secretary George Charamba, former MIC
chair Mahoso, and PM
Tsvangirai from interfering with their work.
Armed with the court
order the four made their way to the Victoria
Falls. There they were told by
security officials they couldn't cover the
summit because they weren't
accredited.
Here we have a case of lawlessness writ large.
Government officials
disregarded the court ruling and prevented the
journalists from doing their
work. Quite clearly this was a disservice to
the public and to Comesa which
was implicated in this glaring example of
misgovernance.
Tsvangirai is trying to explain to foreign leaders
that there have
been important changes in Zimbabwe including media reforms.
The events at
the Falls last weekend suggest otherwise.
Included in Tsvangirai's delegation is Tourism minister Walter Mzembi
who is
not on the sanctions list. While he is travelling with the PM the
Lowveld
conservancies are once again facing invasions and disruptions by
thugs
allied to Zanu PF. Mzembi is unable to address this crisis because he
is
busy helping Tsvangirai claim that Zimbabwe is on the path to
recovery.
Meanwhile, Environment minister Francis Nhema will have
difficulty
setting up the Zimoza Transfrontier Park with Zambia and
Mozambique when it
becomes clear what fate awaits the wildlife of Kanyemba
if Mililangwe is
anything to go by!
Returning to the Vic Falls
summit, is anyone going to take an outfit
like Comesa seriously when it
includes somebody like Al-Bashir, not to
mention other notable
reprobates?
How can Mutambara, who by the way appears to be
sobering up
politically, speak of rebranding and correcting "international
misconceptions" of Zimbabwe when somebody like Al-Bashir, who is wanted for
crimes against his own people, is given a warm welcome at the
Falls?
Is this the sort of organisation that will attract
international
confidence and investment?
In mitigation, it does
seem that the majority of heads of state
declined to attend. Most countries
were represented by vice-presidents and
ministers.
Congratulations to Botswana whose foreign minister said Al-Bashir
would be
arrested the minute he tried to set foot in Botswana. That's the
sort of
plain speaking that's needed on governance
issues if Comesa is to have
any credibility.
The Sunday News told us that President Mugabe met,
among others, with
United Arab Emirates foreign minister "Mr HH Shake Abdul
Bin Zaid Alma
Hatan".
Could that be His Highness Sheik Abdul
Bin Zaid Alma Hatan?
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11
June 2009 19:47
PRIME minister Morgan Tsvangirai's trip to Europe and
the US has
elicited a variety of reactions from Zimbabweans.
There are conflicting perspectives between Zanu PF and MDC-T
sympathisers on
the merits of the trip. Both are overwhelmed by a third,
internet-savvy and
well-networked lobby for whom anything short of an
anti-land reform
"revolution" in Zimbabwe won't do.
Premised on the fact that
Tsvangirai's tour is to call for the lifting
of sanctions imposed by the
same nations on Zimbabwe, diehards in Zanu PF
say the MDC called for the
sanctions as part of its regime change agenda and
should therefore call them
off.
MDC supporters on the other hand deny that their party called
for the
sanctions, whose existence the party leadership has vehemently
denied until
very recently. Instead they argue that President Mugabe and his
party
invited the sanctions through human rights violations and that
Tsvangirai is
being used to do the dirty work for Mugabe and the coalition
government.
Then comes the powerful locally-based civic lobby. For
this camp,
every day brings forth fresh calamities: political arrests,
Gideon Gono and
Johannes Tomana still in office, farm invasions, no new
provincial governors
or neutral permanent secretaries and the MDC still part
of government!
For this group, the coalition government has utterly
failed,
Tsvangirai has been bought, human rights violations have worsened,
sanctions
must stay and there should be no aid to Zimbabwe. There has been
no "change"
and Tsvangirai should be told as such on his doomed
tour.
Unfortunately none of the three positions makes Tsvangirai's
case on
his European and American tour any easier. It is as if the whole
nation were
on a masochistic campaign to perpetuate its misery in exchange
for
international pity and charity.
It is not easy to grasp the
specific purpose of Tsvangirai's trip from
the tendentious reporting in the
state media that he has literally been
ordered to go and call for the
lifting of sanctions and then beg for
financial assistance.
Nothing could be more presumptuous. From what platform would Mugabe
make
such an order? How would Tsvangirai be expected to execute it as if he
had
power over those from whom he needs help?
Tsvangirai appears to be
aware of the hurdles in his way. He is aware
of the conditions for
assistance. He knows government has done very little
to meet these
conditions, even where there is no need for donor support like
media
reform.
He was therefore modest about his mission: to engage "with
our
partners". He said Zimbabwe had been in isolation for the past 10 years
and
needed to reengage.
I doubt that he expects to be given any
money immediately. The IMF is
still demanding its pound of flesh of US$133
million. The best he could
expect were face-to-face conversations with the
leaders of the nations he is
visiting and putting across his case no matter
however weak.
They have deigned to listen to him, making it a
goodwill mission, an
icebreaker. They could very well have refused to meet
him. He has a chance
of responding directly to their
reservations.
So far the discourse between Zimbabwe and the
"international
community" has been heavily mediated.
But then to
read the state media, you would think Tsvangirai accepted
the "brief" from
Mugabe to go to Europe so that he could prove whether he
had the open sesame
to unlock foreign aid.
That explains headings like "Dutch
government turns down Tsvangirai"
as if he were on a personal
mission.
Similarly, to listen to howls of protest from MDC supporters
about
Tsvangirai being used by Mugabe, you would think they expect him to
bring
the "billions and billions" of dollars Finance minister Tendai Biti
claimed
were being blocked by the US's Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic
Recovery Act
to hand them over to Mugabe.
However, to me
Tsvangirai's achilles' heel on his tour is the sudden
volte-face of the MDC
on the existence of sanctions, and the party's denial
that it called for
their imposition at the height of its vicious fight with
Zanu
PF.
This is an invidious position for Tsvangirai because he must
tell his
hosts either that he was put under pressure by Zanu PF to admit
there were
more than "targeted" sanctions on Zimbabwe, or that all along the
MDC was
politicking. Both don't do his image and that of his party much
good.
Second, for the MDC to deny calling for the sanctions is at
once to
undermine its case and also to lose the moral authority in calling
for their
lifting. If the party didn't call for the imposition of sanctions
it can't
determine if the conditions for their removal have been
satisfied.
That puts the issue beyond its power.
This
is politics. It means the coalition can never do enough if doing
so removes
the pretext for the non-delivery of promised aid. It's now a
question of how
well Tsvangirai knows his "partners" and in turn to what
extent they believe
he is still of strategic value to their interests.
The lesson is
simple enough: Zimbabweans must have the honour to carry
out political and
legal reforms because they are necessary for its national
well-being.
This should not be done to purchase foreign aid.
The fight over donor
money is a symptom of a nation which has lost its soul.
No foreign taxpayer
anywhere in the world owes us money.
BY
JORAM NYATHI
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11
June 2009 19:35
THERE has been very limited activity on the legislative
front, almost
14 months since the March 2008 harmonised
elections.
While it is well-known that protracted Global Political
Agreement
(GPA) negotiations delayed the swearing in of MPs, and that
important
structures such as the portfolio committees were only set up in
March this
year, parliament should now be seen to be demonstrating its
relevance.
The legislature is a key pillar of governance and
plays a leading role
in driving the legislative agenda. This is because the
constitutional
mandate of parliament is "to make laws for the peace order
and good
government of Zimbabwe".
Making laws is not the same
as fast-tracking bills brought by the
executive such as what happened with
the Constitutional Amendment No 19, the
National Security Council Bill and
the 2009 National Budget. Parliament must
scrutinise these bills, conduct
hearings for public input, and allow
extensive debate in both houses before
passing the bills with amendments, if
any.
In addition to
law-making, the other two core functions of parliament
are representation
and executive oversight. Representation means parliament
must be constituted
in such a way as to be representative of all sectors of
society.
Diverse views of MPs, the public and civic society
must be fully heard
if parliament is to be effective in carrying out its
representative role.
Executive oversight means parliament must
closely monitor
implementation of government programmes and projects in
order to strengthen
delivery of public services to the
people.
The effectiveness of parliament largely depends on
whether the country's
governing institutions have a presidential,
parliamentary or hybrid
political system.
Individual MPs
cannot introduce bills that raise or reduce
expenditure. Although the
Zimbabwe parliament does not have the necessary
powers as in a presidential
system (executive sets the legislative agenda),
individual MPs and portfolio
committees can still initiate legislation
either through private member
bills or through a review of existing statutes
and making recommendations
for amendments to both the House of Assembly and
Senate.
There
is therefore no reason MPs and the different portfolio
committees should not
start undertaking serious work in this area. MPs can
initiate and influence
the legislative agenda and be seen to play a major
role in the
implementation of the GPA.
The three political formations
agreed under Article 17 of the GPA that
"the legislative agenda will be
prioritised in order to reflect the letter
and spirit of this agreement" and
that "the government will discuss and
agree on further legislative measures
which may become necessary to
implement the government's agreed policies and
in particular, with a view to
entrenching democratic values and
practices".
This will require that bad laws such as Access to
Information and
Protection of Privacy Act and Public Order and Security Act
be repealed
immediately if we are to entrench democratic values in this
country.
Sometimes we forget that the inclusive government is a
transitional
arrangement whose main priority is to create the right
environment for the
conduct of free and fair elections, leading to the
emergence of a democratic
and legitimate government.
Constitution-making, repeal of repressive legislation, overhaul of
electoral
institutions and restoration of basic social services to the
people are
urgent instruments required to create a conducive environment for
free and
fair elections.
Parliament has already been mandated through
the select committee to
drive constitution-making. The committee will next
week start on a public
outreach programme, a development that is highly
commendable if the process
of constitution-making is going to be
participatory and the product
legitimate. Legislative reform should however
happen concurrently with the
process of
constitution-making.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, as the
leader of government business
in parliament, should get his ministers to
immediately bring bills to
parliament in line with Article 17 of the
GPA.
A good legislative agenda in addition to the already
welcome moves on
constitution-making and transparent setting up of
independent commissions
(Human Rights Commission, Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission, Anti Corruption
Commission and Media Commission) will send the
right signals to the
electorate and the international community that the
three parties are
serious in implementing provisions of the
GPA.
This will assist in unlocking the much-needed financial aid
for
Zimbabwe's economic recovery efforts.
Other areas in need of
immediate attention by members of parliament
and the portfolio committees
include the implementation of the Short-Term
Emergency Recovery Programme
(Sterp) and the execution of the 2009 budget.
It is the duty of
parliament to see to it that implementation of
public policies and
programmes is realising tangible outcomes on the ground.
The
portfolio committees must begin by clearly understanding the
situation in
the various sectors that they will provide oversight before
they start
demanding answers from senior government officials.
You cannot
engage in meaningful interchange with senior government
officials when you
do not have sound background knowledge of what exactly is
happening in the
sector that you shadow.
Civic society and interest groups
working in various sectors can
assist MPs in that regard. The cornerstone of
the reform programme of
parliament is increased public participation in the
legislative process.
Opening up portfolio committees to civic
society and the public should
therefore be at the centre of parliamentary
work.
Strong parliamentary institutions help to ensure
democracy, the rule
of law and protection of human rights. There is a danger
that this
parliament will lose credibility in the eyes of the public if it
does not
immediately deal with the legislative agenda and effectively carry
out its
representative and oversight functions.
lMakamure
is Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust executive
director.
BY JOHN MAKAMURE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 11 June 2009 19:35
PRIME
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's trip to Europe, the United States
and
Scandinavian countries has turned out to be a reality check not just for
him
alone but for Zimbabweans in general. While Tsvangirai is well-meaning
and
trying his best to rescue the country from international isolation and
economic crisis, his tour has confirmed that the root cause of the problem
lies at home, not abroad.
Attempts by President Mugabe and his
cronies to situate the causes of
our crisis outside the country will not
help anyone.
All dictators always blame everyone except themselves,
especially
outsiders and real or perceived "imperialists", for problems of
their own
making.
As we stated on this page last week, there
are sanctions which ought
to be removed, but they are not the cause of this
economic crisis. Zimbabwe
was slapped with sanctions by the West for
repression, human rights abuses
and policy disputes, particularly over land
reform.
Until we deal with the causes of those sanctions, we
are not going to
resolve the situation because a wrong diagnosis by
definition cannot lead to
a correct prescription. Similarly, we can't
resolve the economic crisis
unless we correctly identify its
causes.
The external factors, including sanctions, aggravated the
situation,
not caused it.
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter
Balkenende told Tsvangirai on Monday at
The Hague that his government would
not give Zimbabwe economic and financial
aid until serious political and
economic reforms are implemented.
The message to Tsvangirai
couldn't have been clearer: no reforms, no
money! By implication, the
economic sanctions imposed on Harare would remain
in place until reforms and
mindset shift are adopted.
Tsvangirai told journalists at the
La Fontaine-zaal at The Hague on
Sunday that he was hopeful the unity
government would get international
support, but tacitly admitted that he was
not going to get aid. "No dollars
and cents" were discussed, he said, and
therefore no funds would be coming
besides humanitarian aid.
Tsvangirai yesterday met US Secretary of States Hillary Clinton and is
today
expected to meet President Barack Obama.
These are crucial meetings
which should indicate the direction of
Harare's diplomatic relations with
the West and the broad international
community.
However,
the tone for the meetings had already been set by the US
Senate on Tuesday.
In a resolution, the US Senate said financial
restrictions, travel bans and
the arms embargo on Zimbabwe, Mugabe and his
cronies would remain in place
until reforms were executed.
This was the same message Tsvangirai
got at The Hague. The US Senate
insisted on a new constitution, the
restoration of the rule of law, respect
for human rights, upholding of
property rights and cessation of
politically-motivated
violence.
It said other problems such as media tyranny and land
invasions must
stop.
The Senate indicated Zimbabwe was
coming from a background of
pervasive and systematic abuse of human rights,
which included "unlawful
killings, politically-motivated abductions,
state-sanctioned use of
excessive force and torture by security forces
against the opposition,
student leaders, and civil society
activists".
It observed that since there hasn't been much
reform to stop "ongoing
illegal activities" to put Zimbabwe on an
irreversible path to democracy,
most of the sanctions would remain in
place.
It was clear Clinton and Obama would raise the same
issues with
Tsvangirai who actually anticipated it as shown by his admission
that there
could be no cover up of the situation on the ground like he tried
to do on
new land grabs.
Tsvangirai said in Washington on
Wednesday he will "not gloss over the
issues" but will make the case that
Zimbabwe's "irreversible" democratic
transition merits American
support.
But herein lies the problem. When Tsvangirai left for
the trip, it was
clear he would have a mountain to climb convincing a
sceptical world that
things were changing in Zimbabwe.
It would
have been better if he had first ensured a paradigm shift in
government,
critical reforms and other benchmarks of recovery before going
on the
trip.
To plainly demonstrate the point, as Tsvangirai was
leaving Harare
Zanu PF hardliners in government were defying a court order
to allow
journalists to cover Comesa without official state
accreditation.
Four journalists who had obtained a court order in
their favour last
Friday were barred from covering Comesa by the same
inclusive government
Tsvangirai practically heads.
How then
do you convince the West to remove sanctions when government
still blatantly
flouts the rule of law by ignoring court orders and refuses
to stop
impunity, still harasses opposition and civic activists by dragging
them to
the courts on political charges, arrests journalists and lawyers,
allows the
army to meddle in civilian matters and does nothing to halt land
seizures?
The constitution-making process -- which is
supposed to lay a
foundation for a new Zimbabwe -- is all but collapsing
into confusion.
The flawed and partisan process faces stiff
resistance from the
public.
So Tsvangirai was bound to be asked:
What has changed in Zimbabwe? His
case would always have been untenable,
even with the best of endeavours.