Sadc teaches Mugabe lesson

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 08:54

Dumisani Muleya

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe got a rude awakening during the extraordinary
Southern African Development Community (Sadc) summit in Johannesburg after
his angry protests about the damning Livingstone resolutions were rejected
by regional leaders determined to call his bluff.

Unimpeachable information exclusively obtained by the Zimbabwe Independent
during the summit at Sandton, Johannesburg, last weekend shows there were
low-intensity confrontational scenes during the meeting which lasted about
three hours.

The meeting, characterised by measured encounters contained to avoid stormy
outbursts, started at 6.23pm and ended at 9.30pm on Sunday, June 12, at the
Sandton Convention Centre in the heart of South Africa’s financial capital.

Highlights of the meeting were South African facilitator President Jacob
Zuma’s report on Zimbabwe, debate on the Sadc troika Livingstone resolutions
of March 31, Mugabe’s charged presentation, Global Political Agreement (GPA)
issues including political violence and intimidation, and the report on
sanctions.

Fearing a possible outbreak of clashes and unable to stand the pre-summit
heat around the Zimbabwe issue, some Sadc leaders did not attend the
session. They sent representatives with mandates to support Zuma and the
Sadc position.

Although Sadc leaders kept themselves restrained, Zuma’s presentation and
Mugabe’s comments ensured the atmosphere remained charged. The situation was
made worse by the dispute over the Livingstone communiqué.

Comments during the meeting  by Sadc chairman, Namibian President
Hifikepunye Pohamba, Sadc executive secretary Tomaz Salomao, Zuma, Mugabe,
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC-N and Industry and Trade minister
Welshman Ncube, Swazi King Mswati, Zambian vice-president and Justice
minister George Kunda, Botswana vice-president Mompati Merafhe, Namibian
diplomat  Tuliameni Kalomoh, Lesotho Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili,
Seychelles vice-president Danny Faure and Mauritian Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade Arvin Boolell kept the
debate on Zimbabwe vibrant.

As pressure mounted on Mugabe, the aging Zimbabwe ruler who denies being old
and being embattled by health failures, dropped an unprecedented diplomatic
gaffe when he called Zuma Mandela, much to the dismay of Sadc leaders.
Clearly
To Page 2
disoriented

by the situation, Mugabe referred to Zuma as Mandela before he was corrected
by his counterparts. As if that was not enough, Mugabe is said to have said
“oh ok Zuma” before making another blunder when he said “may Mandela’s soul
rest in peace”.

Mugabe, a bitter rival of the former South African president and decorated
statesmen Nelson Mandela, is said to have immediately corrected himself as
his increasing slip-ups which suggested loss of memory or confusion due to
pressure became embarrassing, saying “I hope he is in good health”.

Details show that Pohamba opened the meeting on Zimbabwe with the usual
salutations before asking Salomao to refresh the memories of leaders on the
discussions so far since the meeting was also tackling the Madagascar
situation. Zimbabwe’s political and security situation was, however, the
main issue on the agenda of the Sadc summit.

After Salomao’s remarks, Pohamba set the ball rolling saying Zimbabwe could
not be discussed at the recent Sadc summit in Windhoek because Zuma was not
there. Zuma then took over. He started by apologising for his absence in
Namibia due to municipal elections in South Africa.

Zuma said his report was a follow-up to the one he compiled prior to
Livingstone. The report is published in full on Page 5 of this edition of
the Independent.

“My report is a follow up to the Annexure 5 (Livingstone report),” Zuma
said. “Two matters were raised in the troika report. The first issue was the
implementation of the GPA and lack of progress.

“The second was polarisation which had given rise to a resurgence of
political violence, arrests and intimidation. However, there have been
positive developments since the troika summit. We hope the situation would
continue to improve and solutions would be found to take the country
forward. I attach here the GPA review report which covers the
constitution-making process and other issues. This extraordinary summit
should know that these annexes are part of our report. The GPA is work in
progress.”

Information to hand shows Zuma went on to say negotiations had been going on
exhaustively although there was no progress before the Livingstone summit.
He said after that there was tremendous progress as shown by the adoption of
the roadmap by negotiators and facilitators on June 2. The roadmap was
distributed to Sadc leaders.

Zuma went on to deal with GPA review and the Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee (Jomic) reports. Zuma said: “Jomic has worked hard
to monitor problems and complaints some of which were false and others
embellished.” He said Jomic was also dealing with concerns of the
Livingstone summit which included “violence, intimidation and hate speech,
among others” although “it has no money”. He said the National Security
Council is supposed to help Jomic, while principals should meet state
security service chiefs and the attorney-general to discuss the role of the
police, army and intelligence in electoral politics.

Zuma then went on to refer to the Livingstone recommendation of seconding
three Sadc officials to work with facilitators and Jomic and said although
the roadmap was now there it had no timeframes.

Zuma ended by making recommendations which included that Sadc should assist
Zimbabwe to hold free and fair elections, the Sadc troika of the organ on
politics, defence and security should appoint the three officials seconded
to Zimbabwe, Sadc should raise money for Jomic and that Sadc must ensure
conditions for free and fair election are created.

“Negotiators should as a matter of urgency complete the roadmap,” Zuma said.
While Zuma was addressing the leaders, Mugabe was said to have been visibly
uncomfortable.
After Zuma, Pohamba gave Mugabe the floor and the fight began in earnest.

“May I compliment our facilitator for the report given verbally. We would
want it in writing. This is different from Livingstone where we didn’t see
the report. We were not happy with what happened. I have spoken to Mandela,
sorry Zuma, about it. We would want to rebut some allegations,” Mugabe said.

“However, we hope that report does not become a record of our performance in
the GPA or a record of my party which is reflected as an offender. If we
were that bad we couldn’t suddenly have done all these good things reported
now. It shows that there is not sufficient vision or proper comprehension of
the situation. The Livingstone report is unfair.”

Mugabe then went on complaining about Livingstone, saying the parties had
been working hard to create a peaceful environment for free and fair
elections. He said there was now reinvigorated negotiations although there
was no money for the constitution-making process.
Going back to the Livingstone report and launching a new tirade, Mugabe
said:

“I hope this supplementary report erases the ugly features of Livingstone. I
want to thank the facilitator for a more accurate report. Here and there you
get violence in Zimbabwe, particularly inside political parties when they
are going to congresses.”
Mugabe claimed political violence in Zimbabwe was not that bad to “mar” the
“peaceful environment” in the country. “Even outside politics you get
violence,” he said.

Mugabe then digressed to launch further attacks on “imperialists” and talk
about Africa’s natural resources, including oil and diamonds. He complained
about sanctions at length, saying former British premier Margaret Thatcher
had sold him Hawk military aircraft which have been grounded by sanctions.

After Mugabe spoke, Zuma told him he must know that he does not “manufacture
or invent reports” on Zimbabwe – they were informed by what was happening on
the ground. Zuma also said he was surprised why Mugabe had not seen his
Livingstone report. Salomao confronted Mugabe and told him he had sent the
report to him and thus he should stop giving Sadc a wrong impression on
that. Zuma insisted he would continue to report the situation in Zimbabwe as
he saw it.

Pohamba intervened and gave Tsvangirai the chance to speak. He was brief and
said he hoped the disputed and grey areas of the roadmap, including
timelines, and outstanding issues would be addressed before free and fair
elections could be held.

Ncube then joined in and was hard-hitting. He said the roadmap had not been
discussed by leaders of political parties. He also said the GPA was silent
on its lifespan and the timing of elections. Ncube said the GPA only spoke
about a review after two years and that was why this review had just been
done.
“If you read that review report you will see that we are still a long way.
The roadmap covers this deficit area and if we follow that then we can
arrive in an uncontested area,” he said. He said like Tsvangirai indicated
areas of dispute in the roadmap must be resolved and timelines fixed. Ncube
said there was no mechanism in Jomic for implementation and negotiators
should create that.

“As far as the roadmap is concerned it needs to address the question of
violence and intimidation because that is pervasive. Our negotiators should
discuss the mechanisms against violence,” Ncube said.

After that Mswati, Kunda, Merafhe, Kalomo, Mosisili, Faure and Boolell also
spoke. Merafhe said some Sadc leaders like himself were now consumed by
“fatigue” over Zimbabwe which has kept the region in a “crisis mode”. He
said the situation was making people sick and tired.

Econet case urgent — court

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 09:05

Bernard Mpofu/Reginald Sherekete

THE High Court yesterday ruled as urgent the chamber application by Econet
Wireless in which the mobile phone operator is seeking to bar ReNaissance
Financial Holdings Ltd (RFHL) from disposing of a 30% stake in Africa First
Corporation (Afre).

In her ruling on Econet’s application which was made last Friday, Justice
Susan Mavangira ruled that application was urgent despite opposition from
the respondents — RFHL and ReNaissance Merchant Bank (RMB).

Econet wants the court to stop National Social Security Authority (NSSA)
from bailing out RMB, which has since been placed under curatorship by the
Reserve Bank. Businessman Jayesh Shah, another RFHL creditor, is also ready
to snap shareholding in Afre.

Econet is arguing the 30% shareholding its claiming is in lieu of money
which it deposited with RMB but the funds were abused by the bank. RMB later
offered Econet shares in Afre as security until the time it was able to pay
back the misused funds. ReNaissance Financial Holdings (RFHL) and
ReNaissance Merchant Bank are
the first and second respondents respectively.

RFHL and RMB’s lawyer, Addington Chinake argued that RMB was under
curatorship and Econet had to wait for the curator to carry out his duties
as permitted by the provisions of the Banking Act and Companies Act in
relation to companies facing insolvency. He further argued that RMB has
other creditors, and granting of the urgent application would give Econet
preferential rights over the security ahead of other creditors.

But according to a letter attached to the court papers dated April 25 2011,
RFHL assumed the debt owed to Econet by RMB by ceding its 30% stake in Afre
as security, of which settlement of the outstanding amount was rescheduled
to October 30 2011. RFHL and RMB argued that the debt had not yet matured
and Econet did not have the right to call the security.

“For the above reasons it appears to me that the applicant (Econet) has
established justification for the hearing of this matter on an urgent
 basis,” said Justice Mavangira.

“It is also my view that the withdrawal against the second respondent (RMB)
cannot be said to be inconsequential, particularly if the consideration is
taken of the nature of the relief sought in conjunction with the fact that
the first respondent (RFHL) is a legal separate entity to the second
respondent (RMB).”
According the court papers Econet withdrew an application against RMB saying
the troubled institution, which is wholly owned by RFHL had no consequence
to this matter.

However Justice Mavangira, in her ruling indicated that Econet had the basis
of an urgent application since RFHL had assumed the obligations of RMB and
that the placing of RMB under curatorship did not have an effect on the
Econet’s case since the mobile operator had withdrawn application against
RMB.

As part of its bid to block new investors, Econet asked the High Court to
possess Afre Corporation share certificates pending final determination of
its application.

In terms of the agreement, RFHL was obliged to pay Econet the sums of US$957
070 by January 12 last year and US$1 434 974,67 by February 2 this year. The
latter date was extended to October after RFHL ceded its share certificates
as surety.

Zuma’s controversial report on Zim

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 09:26

ON March 31, Sadc facilitator to Zimbabwe’s political crisis, South African
President Jacob Zuma, tabled a damning  report to the regional bloc’s organ
on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation at its meeting in Livingstone,
Zambia. The report was condemned by Zanu PF. Below is an edited version of
the report.

“Before the political ruptures of North Africa and the Arab World which
affected Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, Zimbabwe was pretty much a focal point of
the international community.

“The developments in the northern part of our continent should impress upon
all of us in the Sadc region about the need and importance of resolving the
Zimbabwean impasse speedily and in a way that will not just satisfy Sadc,
but be acceptable to the entire world.

“There is a growing impatience in the region and the world about the long
period it is taking us to find a permanent and lasting solution to the
challenges facing Zimbabwe.

“This report covers the Zimbabwe Peace Process and the programme of
facilitation.

“It focuses on matters relating to the Global Political Agreement, as well
as the Facilitator’s engagement with the role players. The report follows up
on the recommendations by the Troika’s Organ on Politics, Defence and
Security Cooperation, to the Sadc Summit in Windhoek on August 15 2010.

“The recommendations were endorsed by the summit. The continued engagement
with the Zimbabwe peace process relies on the declaration of commitment by
the Zimbabwe parties captured as follows in the GPA:

“The parties hereby declare and agree to work together to create a genuine,
viable, permanent, sustainable and nationally acceptable solution to the
Zimbabwe situation and in particular to implement the GPA with the aim of
resolving once and for all the current political and economic situations and
charting a new political direction for the country.

Assessment of the situation
“We have been mediating since the signing of the GPA (in September 2008) and
we have not made much progress. As Sadc, we need to redouble our efforts in
finding a permanent and lasting solution to the challenges facing Zimbabwe.

“There have been moments of hope that a breakthrough would be found but we
have been continuously disappointed by the slow pace and lack of progress in
areas which are critical. We have been disappointed by continuous
backtracking and lack of implementation of resolutions and agreements made.

“It’s time that Sadc speaks with one voice in impressing to all the parties
concerned that this situation can no longer be tolerated. The focus that
Zimbabwean parties have placed on elections without creating the necessary
conducive climate for those elections is an unfortunate sidetrack.

“The fact that Zimbabwean parties are in an electioneering mode, and are
agitating for the holding of elections while they have not done enough
groundwork towards ensuring that the building blocks and institutions are
firmly in place for the holding of free, fair and democratic elections is
counterproductive.

“We must dissuade all parties from thinking that they can hold elections in
the prevailing atmosphere characterised by violence, intimidation and fear.
The holding of elections in this climate will lead Zimbabwe back to the
situation it was in three years ago during its last elections, or even in a
far worse situation. We cannot have elections when the ground has not been
sufficiently prepared.

Further engagements
“In my capacity as Facilitator, and in pursuit of the desire to keep the
parties working closely together in the implementation of the GPA and in the
best interest of Zimbabwe, I arranged a meeting in Harare on November 26,
where I met with the political principals, President Robert Mugabe, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.

Among other things I took up with the leaders, was the Sadc decision “to
help Zimbabwe draw up guidelines for a free and fair election”.
There was agreement among us that a roadmap needed to be developed as a
guideline for democratic, free and fair election without violence and
intimidation and where the playing field would be level for all.

Implementation matrix

“I also raised the matter of the Implementation matrix of decisions taken by
the negotiators and endorsed by the political principals, especially those
which could not be resolved.

“As will be recalled, the Sadc Summit endorsed the recommendation of the
Troika that:  “The parties should discuss the outstanding matters in keeping
with the decisions of the Maputo Troika Summit and resolve them within one
month as part of a confidence-building measure, based on appropriate
consultation (within the ambit of) Zimbabwe’s law and any other relevant
legal instrument.”

“I will not go into details about what issues have been points of
contention, suffice to say that we are all familiar with those issues as
they were dealt with extensively during the last Sadc and Troika summits.

“But of concern to us is the fact that while there are many agreements
reached by signatories to the GPA, there has been a lack of implementation
even on the issues that had been agreed on, which clearly indicates a lack
of political will to move the process forward by implementing the
agreements.
“While the Media Commission has been established, the biggest challenge is
that the ZBC board has not been appointed nor has the Media Trust been
constituted. Those matters, including the absence of enabling legislation,
restrict the Media Commission in discharging its functions.

The Media Commission is an important instrument in the creation of a level
political field en route to elections, where, among other things, there
should be unbiased and equal access by all stakeholders to print and
broadcast media, with unfettered access and equal rates for advertising, and
where all stakeholders should have a right of reply when subjected to
adverse publicity.

The Human Rights Commission was also established, however, the absence of
enabling legislation is also undermining the effectiveness of the
commission. It also suffers from inadequate resources, human and material,
including funding.

There are also other important commissions that have not been established,
which include the Land Audit Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission.

The challenges we have highlighted are admitted by the Zimbabweans
themselves as can be seen in the Jomic report, which is attached…
Sanctions:

Suspicion continues to dog the campaign for the lifting of sanctions against
Zimbabwe — a matter that all parties agreed to in principle. A sanctions
removal strategy was agreed to, and party leaders and their parties were
instructed to implement that strategy and publicly call for the removal of
sanctions. That is not happening as regularly and consistently as was
envisaged.

Facilitation:

The Facilitation Task Team has travelled to Zimbabwe meeting party leaders
and their parties, as well as other formations, to get GPA updates and the
implementation matrix, and to pursue the development of a roadmap. The team
visited Zimbabwe on January 17-18; February 7; February 22-24 and March
15-16.

The first engagement was with the political principals and was at a time
polarisation was creeping in. The full implementation of the negotiated
positions as encapsulated in the implementation matrix, including
outstanding matters, was raised with the leaders. Also raised was the
construction of a roadmap towards free and fair elections.

The interaction included sessions with the ZEC, Copac, Zimbabwe Election
Support Network and the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
Those organisations were met as part of preparations for the development of
the roadmap given that human rights speak to the ability by all concerned to
participate in all activities of their country without any fear of
intimidation and physical injury.

Way forward
The Zimbabwe negotiators met on March 21 2011 and agreed to the following:

That they will meet on April 1 and draft the Review Mechanism Report and the
roadmap for harmonised elections.
The negotiators will meet later at a workshop with the Facilitation Team in
order to agree on a common understanding and resolve outstanding matters.
The workshop agenda will include the Review Mechanism report, Jomic report
and the proposed roadmap.

Review Mechanism:

The Review Mechanism was created by the GPA to establish peace, security and
stability in Zimbabwe. Article 23.2 of the GPA says: “The Parties will
continually review the effectiveness and any other matter relating to the
functioning of the Inclusive government established by the constitution in
consultation with the guarantors.”

Free and Fair Election:
The Sadc Summit endorsed the Troika views on regarding elections that would
be free and fair on the basis of the following Troika submissions:
“The suggestion (of a Roadmap) is designed to ensure a sustained focus on
developments in Zimbabwe towards the elections, the monitoring of the
situation and timely interventions to deal with problems if and when they
arise.

“Leading to the elections, the Inclusive government should be united in its
efforts to ensure everything is ready for the elections.
“The constitution-making exercise, as well as the referendum on that
constitution, should be a joint task of all the parties in the Inclusive
government.
It is important that the Troika recalls its report to the Sadc Summit
because, flowing from it are clear instructions on how to assist restore
peace, security, justice and stability to Zimbabwe.

Recommendations
1. The Troika should call upon all GPA partners to implement all decisions
made, in particular the full implementation of the matrix, and the creation
of an environment conducive to peace, security and free political activity
for all, and the elimination of hate speech.
2. The Troika should call on the inclusive government to complete all steps
necessary to finalise the constitution-making process, including a
referendum on the draft, and the drafting and endorsement by all
stakeholders of the roadmap with the assistance of Sadc through the
facilitator.
3. The Troika and Sadc must help Zimbabwe formulate guidelines to assist in
holding an election that will be peaceful, free and fair and where the
political field will be level, in accordance with the Sadc Principles and
Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
4. Given that Sadc is a key guarantor of the GPA, the Troika should
recommend that Sadc appoint a team to work with the facilitation team in
order to engage directly and dynamically with JOMIC for purposes of
monitoring and ensuring the implementation of all matters that flow from the
GPA, including the full implementation of the matrix.

Zuma’s troubleshooters to stay put

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 09:18

Dumisani Muleya

WHILE Zimbabwean authorities, mainly from President Robert Mugabe and his
Zanu PF side of the inclusive government, are complaining about how South
African President Jacob Zuma’s facilitators have behaved, their counterparts
in Pretoria are pleased with their team which is daringly ruffling feathers
in the corridors of power in Harare.

Mugabe’s political allies and Zanu PF officials have publicly expressed
their displeasure and even anger at Zuma’s team, particularly its assertive
spokesperson Lindiwe Zulu, who has been speaking truth to power.

State media reports, which usually reflect the Zanu PF position, recently
said Mugabe’s party had complained to Zuma’s governing ANC about Zulu’s
approach which has made them uncomfortable. Zulu usually speaks a lot to the
media about the ongoing negotiations between Zimbabwean political parties on
the elections roadmap, perhaps because she has some media background.

This has attracted the wrath of Mugabe and his supporters who accuse Zulu of
being irresponsible in her remarks. Zanu PF officials have been gratuitously
insulting Zuma’s facilitators describing them as “either incompetent or
dangerously partisan”. Jonathan Moyo, who has been spearheading attacks on
Zuma and his team, recently claimed the facilitators were “self-evidently
ignorant of our constitution, laws, institutions and policy processes”.
The state media, apparently influenced by Mugabe’s malicious spin-doctors,
has even claimed Zuma “cannot run a spaza shop”.

Zulu has however hit back, saying Zuma and his team would not waste their
time engaging fringe players who were “outside the mediation process”.

The Zimbabwe Independent engaged senior South African officials and
diplomats during the just-ended Sadc summit in Sandton, Johannesburg, on
whether Zuma would resultantly be forced to reshuffle his team or replace it
altogether in the face of such withering criticism verging on personal abuse
from Mugabe’s camp.

A senior Zuma political advisor said the South African facilitation team
would not be changed because it had served its principal well, not just in
Zimbabwe but also in other trouble-spots, including Burundi, Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan.

“The team will not be changed under any circumstances because it has served
the president well in different countries, including Burundi, DRC, Sudan and
now Zimbabwe,” the official said.

“It’s only people who don’t know the full history and background of these
current facilitators who would accuse them of being uninformed, incompetent
or such other slurs which are completely unjustifiable and unwarranted.

“This team comprises hardened former guerilla fighters, who also went to
school and have experience in dealings with conflicts and negotiations. Yes,
it’s different from (former South African president Thabo) Mbeki’s team
which had technocrats and not guerrillas.”

Mbeki’s envoys, who brokered the GPA before they were replaced when their
principal was forced out by Zuma and his supporters, included Sydney
Mufamadi, Frank Chikane and Mujanku Gumbi. Although the three were involved
in South Africa’s liberation struggle they were seen as technocrats and
savvy diplomats who were able to engage persuasively without exhibiting too
many rough edges as the Zuma squad which critics claim uses “more brawn than
brains”.

In Mufamadi, for example, Mbeki’s team had an experienced minister and
political player who was also educated and could engage in polished
discussions which would not ruffle the feathers of Mugabe’s team.

Mufamadi holds a Master of Science degree in State, Society and Development
from the University of London and is a doctoral candidate in the Political
Economy of Automotive Manufacturing. Like Chikane, he had United Democratic
Front roots which legitimised him as a liberation struggle participant. As
an advocate at the Pretoria Bar and Mbeki’s legal advisor, Gumbi was also
seen in the same light as a technocrat and polished facilitator.

“Mbeki liked these educated and sophisticated people who would engage in
‘quiet diplomacy’ and not ‘megaphone diplomacy’,” another South Africa
official said. “This does not mean Zuma’s people are not educated and
sophisticated. They have a different background from those Mbeki deployed
and this is now showing in their approach and management of the
negotiations. Both teams had their strengths and weaknesses, so it’s not
easy to say which team is better than the other. Besides, they are dealing
with different stages of negotiations under different political and economic
conditions. The dynamics have changed and it’s difficult to judge them.”

While Mbeki’s envoys were seen as experts, Zuma’s facilitators are seen as
pedestrians in Zanu PF circles. Zuma assembled a team of former guerrillas
and Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) old hands which included veteran
nationalist Sathyandranath Ragunanan “Mac” Maharaj, Charles Nqakula and
Lindiwe Zulu.

Although they are also educated, they have different backgrounds, having
fought in and outside South Africa for the liberation of their country.

Maharaj is particularly the distinguishing factor. As a former political
activist, Robben Island prisoner alongside Nelson Mandela and other ANC
luminaries, Umkhonto we Sizwe commander (he commanded Operation Vula — an
underground operation of armed resistance to apartheid), negotiator during
the Codesa talks and minister, his experience is vast and valuable to the
current South African team of facilitators.

While in prison, Maharaj transcribed Mandela’s memoir, Long Walk to Freedom,
and smuggled it out of jail for printing. For some he is seen as South
Africa’s own Che Guevara.

In his autobiography, Shades of Difference: Mac Maharaj and the Struggle for
South Africa, he is described by the author Padraig O’Malley as a
“distinctive character: often stubborn, not always easy to get on with,
arrogant to a fault, proud and zealous, but always driven by the larger
concern for social change and adding value through his inventiveness,
boundless energy and extraordinary courage”.

In the foreword of his autobiography written by Mandela, Maharaj is
described as “a founding father of the struggle”. The former South African
president and statesman also says Maharaj helped him to “enrich his
decision-making”.

Zulu is also experienced as well. She was deeply involved in the struggle
and trained as an Umkhonto we Sizwe fighter. She returned to South Africa
from exile in 1992 after living in Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and Angola. Zulu
served in high positions in the ANC, including as the party spokesperson,
provincial and national parliaments, Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a
diplomat and now she is Zuma’s international relations advisor.
More importantly, she was involved in the complex DRC negotiations and
Burundi. She also has a media background.

Nqakula — a former journalist —was a liberation movement political activist,
Umkhonto we Sizwe guerilla, Minister of Safety and Security as well as
Defence, and negotiator. Now Zuma’s political advisor, he was deeply
involved in the negotiations in Burundi and later Sudan.

Another coalition government feared

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 09:23

Tendai Zhanje

CIVIL society organisations have expressed concern that Zanu PF’s reluctance
to expediently implement electoral reforms would result in another coalition
government after the next elections.
The Election Resource Centre (ERC) said areas not fully agreed on, such as
security sector and media reforms, would remain a contested area even after
the next polls if not addressed at ongoing negotiations.

Security chiefs have been on record saying they would not pledge their
allegiance to anyone who did not participate in the liberation struggle.

Cases of human rights abuses have been on the increase and police haven’t
helped the situation by categorising cases according to political
affiliation.
The public media has been roundly abused by Zanu PF with the only
broadcaster in the country, the state-run ZBC, being explicitly partisan by
denying airtime to other political parties and views contrary to those of
Zanu PF.

“We call upon the region to not only endorse the agreed roadmap after the
resolution of the contentious areas but also come up with an enforceable
implementation matrix that secures that the next ballot is not disputed,”
read part of the ERC report.

Reform of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has been a major point of
contention and the ERC has argued that the election management body was not
independent and had failed in its duties. The ZEC’s failure has triggered
questions from election stakeholders, such as political parties and civil
society organisations about the election body’s capacity to preside over
free and elections.

The ERC said the present state of the country’s voters’ roll was a clear
indication that the ZEC could not run credible elections. It is managed by
the Registrar-General’s office. Even when civil society organisations wanted
to help in the electoral process through conducting voter education, the ZEC
had been quick to spurn their attempts.

The voters’ roll has also not been made public resulting in other political
parties and civil society organisations turning to the courts.

“Reports of potential voters being turned away by registering authorities
have been received from Masvingo, Sanyati, Mutasa, Hwange and Hurungwe.
These reports have been accompanied by allegations that potential candidates
from Zanu PF simply instruct registration officers to register people on
lists submitted by the party.”

Landmines cost Zimbabwe millions

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 09:23

Paidamoyo Muzulu

ZIMBABWE is losing millions in potential revenue from tourism, timber and
tea plantations because of more than 68 square kilometers covered by land
mines planted during the liberation war in the Eastern Highlands.

Colonel Mkhululi Ncube from the Zimbabwe National Army made these
revelations to parliament while giving evidence on Zimbabwe’s compliance
with the Ottawa Treaty which bans the manufacture, hoarding and use of
anti-personnel mines.

More than 850km of Zimbabwe’s borders were covered with anti-personnel mines
planted by the Rhodesian army to stem the flow of freedom fighters from
entering the country from their bases in Zambia, Mozambique and Botswana.

Ncube said Zimbabwe was not fully benefiting from the Great Limpopo
Transfrontier Park, encompassing Gonarezhou National Park, the Kruger
National Park of South Africa, and Gorongoza of Mozambique, as some sections
of Gonarezhou are littered with landmines.

“Plantations in the Eastern Highlands, such as Stapleford, are failing to
harvest mature timber or expand their tea estates because over 68,9 square
kilometers of land in the region still has undetonated anti-personnel mines
and other military ordinance,” said Ncube.

“Due to inadequate funding, we are failing to complete the demining of
Gonarezhou National Park sections such as Sango. This is affecting the
country’s earnings from the tourism receipts in the Great Limpopo
Transfrontier Park.”

Ncube said the country would not meet its obligations under the Ottawa
Treaty without financial and material support from the international
community. Zimbabwe has been given an extension to complete its demining
programme by 2013.

“At the current rate of demining, the process would take us between 30 - 50
years. From the onset, we were not going to fulfill the Ottawa obligations
on our own. We did sign the treaty because of the support and encouragement
from donors and non-governmental organisations,” Ncube said.

The country needs about US$100m dollars to complete landmine clearance in
five remaining areas across the country. The areas include the 335 km
stretch between Mkumbura and Rwenya, 50 km at Sheba, 3km at Burma Valley,
75km at Rusitu-Muzite and 53km at the Sango Border Post.

Ncube told the House that the army had recorded some success stories in
demining, like the clearance of the 220 km stretch between Victoria Falls
and Mlibizi which created new land for expansion of the resort town. In this
area lies the Zambezi National Park.

“Expansion of Victoria Falls town was severely affected in the past but the
clearance of 220km from 1998 to 2005 has created new development areas for
lodges, residential areas and expansion of wildlife parks,” Ncube said.

Ncube decried the withdrawal of funding by Western governments in 2002 at
the height of the chaotic land reform programme saying the demining was
severely affected after the US and UK pulled out because these two countries
played a significant role in demining after Independence.
The US and UK had supported demining by providing demining equipment and
training of military engineers.

RMB curatorship ‘brings calm to financial sector’

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 15:11

Reginald Sherekete

THE placing of Renaissance Merchant Bank (RMB) under curatorship by the
Reserve Bank has brought some calm in the financial sector as the
developments had precipitated liquidity challenges in the financial sector,
according to NMB Bank CEO James Mushore.

In an interview on Wednesday, Mushore said the Reserve Bank’s stance to
place RMB under curatorship was commendable as it gives the merchant bank
time to be resuscitated despite the current liquidity challenges in the
market.

Mushore pointed out that barring this decision by the central bank, there
would have been  systemic risk in the financial sector. Systemic risk arises
in the event of failure of a single entity or cluster of entities which
cause a cascading effect due to interlinkages and interdependencies in a
system or market.

Hospitality group, Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG) is exposed to the tune of
US$5,143m to RMB after it acted as a guarantor and local gannet for an
international loan of US$7,5m. AFRE Corporation’s exposure to RMB is US$6m,
which the holding company is pursuing.

NMB, which held its agm on Tuesday would not give a trading update, citing
its dual listing on the London Stock Exchange. Mushore said regulations of
the LSE forbid companies from giving forecasts on earnings or performance.
He, however, indicated that the bank’s performance was in line with its
targets.

The business model that underpins NMB primarily targets corporates,
institutions and high net worth individuals. Mushore said NMB had built a
strong brand which was synonymous with quality customer service and
excellent relationship management.

NMB Bank posted profit before tax of US$942 556 for the year ending December
31 2010. Operating expenses amounted to US$15,4m and were largely driven by
administration and staff related costs.

The bank engaged in a retrenchment exercise last year in August which cost
the financial institution US$3,1 million.

Banking sector pros and cons

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 11:57

MANY recurrently contend that Zimbabwe is overbanked.  With such contention,
it is not intended to suggest that excessive usage is made of banks, or that
Zimbabwe’s banks overly dominate the economy, but that Zimbabwe has too many
banks.  It is argued that Zimbabwe does not need  a plethora of banks as
exist, and that having so many jeopardises the economy’s viability.

That is not so!

The reality is that Zimbabwe is underbanked, in that there is an
insufficiency of utilisation of its banking services.  The inadequacy of
bank usage is attributable to a diversity of reasons, of which  foremost
are:

    A very great proportion of the population, be it individuals or
businesses, are fearful of depositing funds into banks. They have not
forgotten the extent to which foreign currency holdings, in the days of the
deceased Zimbabwean dollar, were compulsorily transferred from the banks to
the Reserve Bank and thereafter were difficult to access, to an extent that,
two or more years later, many have still not had return of their funds by
the central bank.

They fear that the currently bankrupt Government may resort to similar
actions, or that Zimbabwe will suddenly revert to its own currency, with the
Reserve Bank once again unilaterally “borrowing” the private sector’s monies
held by the banks.

    The fears of non-accessibility to funds deposited with banks are
exacerbated by the frequency that many banks do not have sufficient currency
holdings to meet depositor withdrawals timeously, due to Zimbabwe’s
inadequate currency holdings. Government, the Reserve Bank, and the banks,
have sought to overcome this by motivating intensified usage of interbank
transfer systems, credit and debit cards, but many require or wish to use
actual currency.  As a result, they resort to banking in their wardrobes,
under mattresses, in safes at their businesses, and in their back pockets
and wallets.

    Due  partially to the insufficiency of deposits into the banks,
partially to the inability of the Reserve Bank to fulfill its function of
“lender as last resort”, and to a major extent to the pronouncedly minimal
international lines of credit available to the banks, almost without
exception the banks are unable to make substantive advances to commerce,
industry, and businesses in other economic sectors.  And the reality is that
those much-needed international lines of credit will not be forthcoming for
so long as Zimbabwe is perceived as an abysmally high credit risk. That
perception will endure until there is real and genuine political stability,
under a genuinely, free and fair, democratically-elected government,
unequivocal state adherence to, and respect for, law and order, economic
stability and growth, and substantive reconciliation and collaboration with
the international community at large.

    The minuscule rates of interest paid by the banks are a further
deterrent to the depositing of funds with the banks, and yet the constrained
volume of banking transactions substantially contains the ability of banks
to offer depositors conducive interest rates.

    Because some banks are under-capitalised, and some other banks (albeit
exceptions to the rule) are mismanaged and engaged in improper and
irresponsible lendings and investments to selective shareholders and
management, their stability and security is suspect, thereby further
discouraging many from usage of the banking system. A prime example, but
certainly not the first, is the recent disclosure by the Reserve Bank of the
circumstances of Renaissance Merchant Bank, with massive advances, mainly
unsecured, to shareholders and their associated enterprises, and previously
there were similar exposés in respect of other banks such as Trust Bank,
Barbican, Royal Bank, and Genesis Bank, although Reserve Bank interventions
ensured their subsequent recoveries.

The innumerable public critics of Zimbabwe’s banks are also appalled by the
gargantuan magnitude of the interest rates applied by the banks to those
limited loans and advances as they are able to make.  Those rates are three
and four-fold greater than the rates applied internationally, and most bank
charges are astronomically high.  In practice, the banks have little
alternative but to apply such rates and charges, because the very small
volumes of business that they are able to transact do not yield a
sufficiency of revenues to meet hardcore overhead costs.

In the same way as manufacturers must unavoidably increase selling prices
when their production levels are low in order to fund their fixed overhead
costs, so too the banks have no alternative but to do likewise in order to
service their salary and wage bills, rentals, and innumerable other
overheads.  They have to charge substantially for each and every service
rendered, and to levy interest charges yielding a sufficiency of revenues to
meet those overheads.  Only increased volumes of business will enable banks
to become competitive against others by a lowering of interest rates and
charges.

Many of the understandably unhappy and dissatisfied bank customers argue
vociferously that the banks should fund reductions in charges and in
interest rates by containment of their overheads in general, and by lowering
of the salaries and emoluments of the senior executives.

However, the reality is that those emoluments must be sufficient to compare
with those paid in neighbouring countries, and further afield, failing which
Zimbabwe will lose the services of competent, capable and skilled bankers.

Required for stability and viability in Zimbabwe’s banking sector, and for
the economy and the populace to have confidence in that sector, and for
justifiable assurance of the sector’s security are:

    Convincing affirmation by government and the Reserve Bank that not only
will Zimbabwe remain multi-currency based until the economy is wholly
recovered, stable, and enjoying ongoing growth, coupled by absolute
assurance that depositors’ funds will be inviolate and absolutely secure,
readily available at all times.

    Restoration of absolute public confidence in bank security and in
consistent, timeous availability of their deposited funds, with
consequential substantially increased public usage of bank facilities and
resources.

    Increased competitiveness between the banks, both as to rates of
interest and bank charges, and as to service, inclusive of timeous and
unequivocal responses to loan applications.

    Indisputable political and economic stability, nationwide, according
international confidence in the security of lines of credit to Zimbabwean
banks.

Youth empowerment: looking beyond politics

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 09:33

By Brian Chitemba

YOUTHS want to be empowered economically through job creation to help push
back the frontiers of poverty instead of being used as political pawns.
This emerged at the Independent Dialogue under the theme “Youth empowerment:
looking beyond political rhetoric” jointly organised by the Zimbabwe
Independent and the US Embassy in Bulawayo yesterday.
Participants were unanimous that youths required support to establish
blue-chip businesses to be self-sufficient in a country with up to 90%
unemployment rate.

Youths make up 65% of the population but most young people are crudely used
by politicians to mobilise support, and sometimes engage in intra-party and
inter-party violence for a pittance.

Youth participants expressed discontent over being continuously marginalised
in decision-making, forcing most of them to venture into menial jobs and
prostitution to eke out a living.

National University of Science and Technology student leader Edwin Hove
bemoaned the systematic manipulation of vulnerable youths by wealthy
politicians saying only creation of jobs would keep them focused on their
future.

Hove said youths should form relevant organisations to look into their
critical needs and help counsel them to resist being used in violent
activities by politicians.

“We are so disoriented making it easier for politicians to use us,” said
Hove. “We need to be respected by owning our businesses instead of being
empowered physically to beat up our neighbours on behalf of politicians,” he
said.

He suggested that youths need vibrant representation in the political arena
similar to that of ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, who has turned the
organisation into South Africa’s political kingmakers.

They attacked the shutting down of companies in Bulawayo saying it was
destroying livelihoods in a city where employment chances were already slim.
Belinda Gumbo of Habakkuk Trust said the National Youth Policy should be
implemented to allow young people of this country to take up roles in
decision-making.

Gumbo said the so-called future leaders of this country were widely
frustrated by lack of opportunities.

“The government and business should invest in innovation to give the young
people a chance to explore their talents and contribute to the growth of the
economy,” said Gumbo. “It’s sad that the National Youth Policy has remained
in documents while the population is reeling in poverty,” he said.

Graduates and students at the dialogue expressed concern that most employers
declined hiring them citing their lack of experience and questioned where
they would acquire the experience if they were not being given
opportunities.

Nombulelo Madonko from the Youth for today and tomorrow Network said it was
a nightmare for young people to get jobs, especially in Bulawayo where the
industrial sector is shrinking as most companies were relocating to Harare.

She said many girls in rural areas were resorting to prostitution to make
ends meet.

“Girls are left out in empowerment initiatives, even by the government. The
Education ministry should develop rural schools and offer career guidance to
ensure that pupils are equipped for life after school,” said Madonko.

The youths questioned why US$300 000 was splashed on 2010 Big Brother Africa
losing contestant Munyaradzi Chidzonga instead of setting up an investment
fund for youths seeking capital for their projects.

Global Woman Mentorship Programme representative Precious Simba said
government and business should prioritise promoting new ideas to help
resuscitate the ailing economy.

“While industries in Bulawayo are closing, let’s see it as an opportunity to
come up with new ideas to operate the businesses as a way of empowering the
youths,” said Simba.

She said small and medium enterprises should be helped grow to big
businesses to absorb thousands of jobless youths.

US Ambassador Charles Ray said his government was committed to the
empowerment of the youths and had spent US$6 million on scholarships for
local students to study at US universities. Another US$300 million was used
supporting various sectors.

‘Noted’ or ‘endorsed’: Sadc summit outcome clear

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 12:03
Alex Magaisa

AN ISSUE currently occupying minds in and around Zimbabwe is the implication
and effect of the Sadc summit held in Sandton, South Africa, on Sunday. In
particular, the language of the Sadc communiqué appears to have received
divergent interpretations regarding the fate of the decisions made by the
Sadc Troika on March 31 at the summit in Livingstone, Zambia.

On the one hand, the MDCs and civil society organisations argue that the
summit effectively recognised the decisions of the Livingstone summit
whereas Zanu PF counter-argues that the summit simply noted but did not
endorse the decisions. But does it really matter? What really does the Sadc
communiqué say and what are the implications?

In all this, one must take cognisance of the bigger picture and ultimate
objective, which is the Sadc-mandated process to resolve the political
problem in Zimbabwe.

The Sadc communiqué contains various other clauses, including some on the
matter of sanctions but this article focuses strictly on the fate of the
Livingstone Troika decisions — as this appears to be the issue that has been
most contentious.

Clauses 21-31 are the provisions of the Sadc communiqué that are pertinent
to Zimbabwe. The critical clauses in respect of the Livingstone summit are
clauses 22, 23 and 24 — although there are other relevant provisions. For
purposes of this article, the critical provision is clause 22 which states:
"Summit noted the decisions of the Sadc Troika summit held in Livingstone,
Zambia in March 2011."

The question that arises, therefore, is what this clause means, the key word
here being "noted". Does it make any difference to the outcome, in effect?

Ordinarily, when something is "noted" it means that there is an acceptance
that it has value and is worthy of attention. By noting the decisions of the
Sadc Livingstone Troika summit, the Sadc summit is recognising that they
have value and are legitimate. It means the summit has given recognition to
the Troika decisions.

This is important when considered against the background that one party to
the Global Political Agreement (GPA) — Zanu PF— had taken umbrage against
the Sadc Livingstone Troika decisions on grounds of procedural irregularity.
Therefore, for anyone holding the view that the Sadc Livingstone Troika
decisions were illegitimate and that they should not be upheld, the
recognition of the decisions by the summit must be a disappointing outcome.

Also important to consider is that the interpretation of that word, "noted",
in Article 21 cannot be done in isolation. In interpreting words of any
document context matters a great deal. The word "noted" is used in various
provisions of the Sadc communiqué — see Article 9, 12, 21 and 30 for
example — and in each case the notion communicated by noting is official
recognition by the summit of whatever was brought before it. It is a
statement of the summit accepting its value.

In fact, Clause 30 of the Sadc communiqué also states that the summit
"noted" the recommendations of the sanctions mission mandated by Sadc in
August 2010. It does not say it "endorsed" the recommendations but that does
not mean Sadc takes the issue less seriously. No one seems to be downgrading
the idea of "noting" sanctions recommendations, but instead it is getting
publicity as Sadc's recognition of the sanctions problem in Zimbabwe.

In any event, if the Sadc summit had rejected the Sadc Livingstone Troika
decisions as some would have the world believe, it would have stated as much
in unequivocal terms. Instead, not only did the Sadc summit recognise those
decisions, it went further in Clause 24 to "urge the Sadc Troika to appoint
their representatives as soon as possible to participate in the Joint
Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic)".

Jomic is a body mandated to monitor the implementation of the GPA that forms
the foundation of the present inclusive government. The appointment of a
team by the Sadc Troika to work with Jomic was one of the key decisions of
the Sadc Livingstone Troika summit. It was also heavily opposed on grounds
that it represents interference with Zimbabwe's sovereignty.

That the Sadc summit has reiterated in its communiqué what the Sadc
Livingstone Troika resolved in March gives further weight to the view that
in effect it has recognised and upheld the decisions of the Livingstone
Troika.

It must be pointed out, albeit as an aside, that the view propagated in some
quarters that the team to be appointed by the Sadc Troika represents
interference in Zimbabwe's sovereignty is rather disingenuous in light of
Sadc's role regarding the GPA. Sadc is a guarantor of the GPA. It has a
responsibility to ensure the full implementation of the GPA. In fact, one
could argue that Sadc has generally failed to live up to its obligation to
fulfil this role given that almost three years since the signing of the GPA
a number of provisions are yet to be satisfied.

By accepting Sadc's role in the resolution of the conflict and its place as
guarantor of the GPA, Zimbabwe's main political actors (Zanu PF, MDC-T and
MDC-N) effectively conceded ground which Sadc can and must utilise to
produce a meaningful result in resolving the problem.

Indeed, one could go so far as saying that making the GPA part of the
constitutional order and given Sadc's role as guarantor, the political
players effectively compromised the country's sovereignty and diluted their
own authority. To argue, therefore, that Sadc cannot appoint a team to
monitor the full implementation of the GPA as interference in the country's
sovereignty flies against the foundation of that agreement.

It is the guarantor and as long as its conduct is within reason, it can take
necessary measures to ensure it performs its role efficiently. No one can
seriously argue that the full implementation of the GPA is beyond the bounds
of reason.

In the overall analysis, the net effect of the Sadc communiqué is that the
Sadc summit gave due recognition to the Sadc Livingstone Troika decisions
contrary to what may have been argued by those opposed to them. The opposite
would have been to sideline, ignore or totally reject the Livingstone Troika
decisions without equivocation. The summit did not do that. In fact, it went
on to reiterate the need to appoint a team to monitor the full
implementation of the GPA, a key resolution and outcome of the Livingstone
Troika summit.

The substance of the outcome is clear for any reasonable mind to see. But
what we see instead is an exercise in spinning the unspinnable. It is the
political equivalent of the football manager who, upon his team losing a
match, tells the media that his team did not lose but rather that it simply
conceded more goals than it scored. It doesn't change the outcome. It is
called a loss in any language.

Alex Magaisa is a senior lecturer at the University of Kent Law School. He
takes a keen interest on legal and political issues pertaining to Zimbabwe
and Africa generally. — newzimbabwe.com.

Zim crisis: Sadc shows it means business

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 12:09
Pedzisai Ruhanya

FOR the second time in three months, the Sadc heads of state and government
have sent a critical message to the Zanu PF component of the inclusive
government that Zimbabwe must return to democratic legitimacy premised on
free, fair and democratic elections, contrary to President Robert Mugabe's
utterances following his tough time at the summit in Sandton, South Africa.

This article seeks to dismiss the illusions of Mugabe and the Zanu PF
propaganda machinery that the Sadc special meeting on the sidelines of the
Comesa summit in Sandton did not endorse the outcome of the Sadc Troika
meeting held in Livingstone in March. The Livingstone report called for a
clear democratic roadmap to elections, cessation of political violence by
the security apparatus and creation of a conducive environment for peace,
security and freedom to engage in political activities — among other
requirements that the inclusive government should implement.

The first thing to note is that Mugabe's spokesperson George Charamba left
the Sandton Convention Centre before Sadc secretary Tomaz Salomao read the
Sadc communiqué. Charamba addressed the media outside, saying that the Sadc
Troika position had been rejected.

Charamba said this in order to mislead journalists and also save the face of
Mugabe whom the region ordered to play ball and insisted on the
implementation of the Sadc position on Zimbabwe, which essentially called
for the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

Charamba and his propaganda team of state journalists were quick to create a
political narrative that would save Zanu PF and Mugabe and continue to
mislead Zimbabweans. This explains the claim by Mugabe that the Livingstone
report was not endorsed.

The Sadc communiqué uses diplomatic language. However, it shows that nothing
has changed from the Livingstone outcome. In fact, Salomao told journalists
during the media conference that no country has the power to reject the
outcome of the Sadc Toika meeting in Livingstone, and stressed that the Sadc
leadership endorsed those decisions.

Salomao explained to journalists that the Summit endorsed the Livingstone
outcome and the position of the facilitator President Jacob Zuma of South
Africa. He further elaborated that the word "noted" used in the communiqué
means that Sadc is bound by the outcome of the Livingstone Troika meeting.

Unfortunately, Charamba had by then ordered his state-controlled and
manipulated journalists out and they could not cover what Salomao told
journalists in his elaboration of the communiqué.

In any case, one can argue that when the communiqué stated in Clause 22 that
the summit noted the decisions of the Troika summit held in Livingstone, it
meant that the leadership of Sadc accepted the decision. This is clearly
diplomatic language that Charamba and Mugabe are aware of and are accustomed
to.

Let us suppose that the leaders did not agree or rejected the decisions of
the Troika. The question to ask then is why did they say they had noted it
in the communiqué? Would it not be easy for the leaders to simply say they
had rejected the Livingstone report?

One of the most critical outcomes of the Sadc meeting is captured in Clause
24 of the communiqué which states that the summit urged the Troika to
appoint representatives as soon as possible to participate in the Joint
Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic), and point 25 which says
that the leadership mandated the Sadc secretariat to mobilise resources for
Jomic to discharge its duties.

Another crucial point made by the summit which clearly shows that the
regional leaders supported and endorsed the Livingstone outcome is captured
in Clause 26 which says that the summit encouraged parties to the GPA to
move faster in the implementation of the GPA and create a conducive
environment for the holding of elections that will be free, fair, and on a
level competing field.

The above issues adopted by the summit are the core issues agreed and
adopted in Livingstone. It therefore boggles the mind to hear Mugabe feeding
his citizens with propaganda when he was part of the meeting which adopted
these issues.

It is in the interests of Mugabe, his Zanu PF party and all those concerned
with the future of Zimbabwe to take heed of Sadc's resolutions. The repeated
attempts to rubbish Sadc and reject its advice will leave Zanu PF and Mugabe
sorely exposed internationally.

The time for Mugabe to read the signs, if he has not already done so, is
now. The door remains open for him to negotiate a political exit and a
democratic road map to return the country to democracy premised on the rule
of law, before even his closest colleagues ditch him.

To Sadc and democratic political and civic forces in Zimbabwe, Zanu PF's
false narrative is instructive. The party's reaction suggests that it
rejects the outcome of the meeting and wants to disregard it.

This would be confirmed if Zanu PF and its securocrats continue to operate
in a partisan manner, fail to stop the abuse of human rights and refuse to
implement the GPA in full.

Clearly, Sadc means business. Mugabe must ditch toxic advice from Zanu PF
hardliners. The likes of political turncoat Jonathan Moyo and the frequent
state media attacks against regional leaders, in particular Zuma and his
facilitation team, can only hasten Zanu PF's demise.

Pedzisai Ruhanya is a human rights researcher.

Why Mugabe wants to rush to the polls

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 12:01

WHY is Robert Mugabe in such a hurry to hold elections?

Virtually all observers say that free and fair elections are not possible
under current conditions.

But that’s the point: Mugabe and his Zanu PF party are not interested in
fair elections. And at 87 years, Mugabe does not have time on his side.
Can Zimbabwe’s neighbouring states help this country have valid elections
that restore its democracy and return it to political stability and economic
prosperity?

For years, the 15 regional states in the Southern African Development
Community (Sadc) have spoken of the need to improve the situation in
Zimbabwe, but for the most part, the group has backed Mugabe. Now there are
signs that regional powers are changing their tune.

South African President Jacob Zuma and other leaders met in Johannesburg on
Sunday to discuss Zimbabwe. The leaders told Mugabe to make the substantial
reforms needed to have fair elections.

The Sadc leaders have already stated that media freedom, constitutional
reforms and national healing need to be addressed before an election is
held. Mugabe is supposed to show progress in these areas before elections,
according to the GPA, which brought Mugabe and then opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai together in an unwieldy power-sharing government. Sadc brokered
the agreement following violence at the last elections in 2008.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the main opposition party, says
more than 200 of its supporters were killed after Zimbabwe’s failed 2008
presidential run-off, when Tsvangirai pulled out in protest at the violence,
handing Mugabe a one-sided victory.

Sadc then pressured Mugabe into accepting a unity government with
Tsvangirai, which was meant to draft a new constitution to ensure political
and human rights reforms before fresh elections.

The Government of National Unity that emerged in 2009 comprises Mugabe’s
Zanu PF and Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC as well as a smaller MDC offshoot.
But the power-sharing government has not changed the way Mugabe operates.
The constitution has not been drafted and Mugabe’s Zanu PF party still
insists on elections this year.

Sadc should discourage fresh elections in Zimbabwe until all necessary
conditions for holding of free and fair polls are in place, said Prega
Ramsamy, the former regional bloc’s executive secretary who still holds
considerable influence in the body.

Ramsamy made these remarks in Harare at a recent seminar under the theme
“Can Sadc avert a possible bloody electoral process in Zimbabwe?”

“Sadc should ensure that there are necessary conditions in place before the
elections take place,” Ramsamy told the Zimbabwe Independent. “These
conditions may take time, but it is far better to spend time in building a
solid foundation rather than build hastily on an unreliable foundation.”
But Mugabe appears to be moving ahead and has unleashed the army and police
against any sign of dissent.

Recently police arrested dozens of MDC youths following the killing of a
policeman in a Harare township. Commentators have warned that Zanu PF will
use the incident to point the finger at the MDC, which has been drawing
attention to state-sponsored violence. Residents of Glen View township say
the police are already hunting them down so they can no longer venture
outside their homes. A curfew is in force.

“We challenge the police to treat Glen View as a constituency and not as
part of Darfur or the Gaza Strip,” the local residents’ association said.
Residents interviewed said they were now “living in hell”.

Ramsamy questioned the logic behind holding early elections.

“Why is there so much rush for elections when the roadmap for elections is
not even ready and the budget for the electoral commission not yet fully
secured,” Ramsamy asked?

There is a firm impression in Harare that Ramsamy’s views are shared by
other southern African leaders. Zuma and his advisers appear to be shifting
their sympathies toward the MDC camp. This follows energetic diplomacy by
Tsvangirai who has visited nearly every regional state to make the MDC’s
case, particularly the complaints about state-inspired violence.

Ramsamy said he is convinced that the new leadership in Sadc had opened a
new chapter in handling issues within the bloc, particularly taking into
account events in North Africa and the Middle East. Sadc is no longer a
collection of aging leaders who have known Mugabe for years. Most Sadc
leaders are now under 50 with presidents such as Ian Khama of Botswana
openly sympathetic to Tsvangirai.

“It is obviously clear that Sadc is no longer in the mood of solidarity at
any cost,” Ramsamy said. “The emergence of new leaders has changed the
political architecture of the organisation.”

Zimbabwean publisher and political scientist Ibbo Mandaza said that any
elections held in a rush are likely to produce a contested result. This is
exactly what the Sadc mediation process set out to avoid.

“Elections in the present circumstances will lead to another government of
national unity,” Mandaza said. He did not have to mention that virtually all
observers agree that the government of national unity has failed.

The shocking state of the voters’ roll has already been exposed: About
one-third of the people on the register are dead, according to the Zimbabwe
Election Support Network.

Political analyst RW Johnson, a former Oxford professor, studied the roll of
registered voters and highlighted some glaring anomalies. In one
constituency there are 118 voters over the age of 100, the majority of them
all born on the same day, January 1 1901. When one looks at the new register
as a whole, there are no less than 16 828 voters all born on the same day,
January 1 1901. “Such a concentration of 110-year-olds,” Johnson observes,
“with identical birthdays is no doubt a planetary record.”

“Even more remarkable though, no less than 1 101 of these are concentrated
in Mugabe’s birthplace, Zvimba, which no doubt will help to guarantee a
pleasing election result there.”

All told, Johnson said, the register includes 41 110 voters aged over 100.
On the other end of the scale, there are also registered voters who are two
and three years old.

Mugabe has not yet set the date for the polls, but he is evidently in a
hurry to move ahead with an election before any more anomalies in the
electoral system are brought to light. — globalpost.com

Muckracker: Sadc summit - State media spin exposed

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 11:55
THANK goodness for an alternative press. The Herald this week thought it
could get away with claiming that Sadc leaders had "rejected" the
Livingstone Sadc communiqué of March 31 when drawing up the Sandton
communiqué. The paper said in a front-page story on Monday, repeated on
Tuesday, that when the leaders said they "noted" the Livingstone communiqué,
what they meant was that they rejected it.

Fortunately NewsDay was on hand to report Lindiwe Zulu's statement that:
"Whether you use 'noted' or 'endorsed', it means the same. As far as the
summit is concerned, the Troika report presented in Zambia by President Zuma
has now been fully endorsed by Sadc."

For those who don't know it, Zulu is a member of the South African
facilitation team headed by Zuma. She has previously infuriated Zanu PF
apologists by providing an accurate account of events that made the Herald
look lame.

On Tuesday the Deputy Editor took his name off his by-line, presumably
because he was embarrassed by the spin coming from the president's
entourage. And why did he have to fly back to Harare to interview the
president at the airport on Monday when he had been with him at Sandton over
the weekend?

Whatever the case, we are grateful to have Zulu's remarks for the record. If
she had not spoken to NewsDay, the Herald's deceit might have persisted.

"Turning to the Livingstone Troika debacle," the Herald reported on Monday,
"the president absolved his South African counterpart of any wrong-doing,
saying President Zuma had presented a report of what transpired but basing
(it) on the MDC-T document.

"It turns out that his actual report was very innocent. It was more what was
discussed based on the document from Tsvangirai."

So all that huffing and puffing after Livingstone was entirely misplaced?
And Zuma who came under withering fire from Mugabe's apologists had been
"innocent of any wrong-doing".

How patronising! Of course he was innocent. He was only declared guilty in
the pages of Zimbabwe's scurrilous official media, nowhere else.

We "noted" Tafataona Mahoso's claim that the Freedom of the Press Act in
Sweden is much more severe than Zimbabwe's "mild" laws.

The Swedish government has behaved hypocritically in this regard, he argued
from In-Depth, his new Siberian home in the Sunday Mail.

"They put the Swedish International Development Authority in the forefront
of the campaign to demonise, condemn and repeal Zimbabwe's mild media laws,"
he declared. "But they keep quiet about the fact that their media laws are
in fact a lot more strict than Zimbabwe's."

Is this guy serious? Sweden is one of the most liberal societies in Europe.
Its press reflects this fact.

"One significant provision in the Swedish Act," Mahoso says, "is the
prohibition against undermining the position of one's own government in
diplomatic, political or business negotiations."

We can imagine the Swedish embassy rocking with laughter at this silly
claim. Mahoso has obviously never been to Sweden. It is one of the few
countries where you can say what you like. They take their freedom of
expression seriously. There is no such thing as "undermining the position of
one's own government". That sounds like a Zanu PF law.

How many people have been prosecuted under the Press Freedom Act in Sweden?
None. Now compare that to the number of prosecutions in Zimbabwe.

"Mild"? We think not. Emmerson Mnangagwa was just the other day threatening
to take steps against the Standard newspaper under the provisions of Aippa
because he didn't like what the newspaper said.

Some 10 years ago the Swedish embassy arranged a trip to Sweden so
journalists could see for themselves how tolerant it is. But at the last
minute the state journalists in the party had their trip cancelled by the
Information ministry because it was feared they might pick up some liberal
ideas. Mahoso forgot to mention that detail.

And he thinks it's funny when he changes the name of Women of Zimbabwe Arise
to "Women of Rhodesia Arise".

What bravery! He forgets that just a few paragraphs away he was lecturing us
on insulting language. We suspect his bravery doesn't extend too far beyond
his state-sponsored column he labours over once a week?

The women of Woza are the truly brave ones. Can you imagine being
incarcerated on numerous occasions in filthy prison cells, simply for
demonstrating peacefully in support of better social conditions, and then
having to put up with gratuitous insults dressed up as humour from the
spokesman for a malevolent regime?

Mahoso admits that "thro-ughout the civilised world the rule of law means
that all persons and legitimate lawful institutions are guaranteed the full
protection of the law and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in terms
of the law and through courts of law".

How refreshing to hear this from Mahoso. But he is of course citing it as
grist to his mill in suggesting those who want to depoliticise the AG's
office and armed forces are in fact guilty of an offence!

What tosh! What about all those people arrested and imprisoned because they
happened to be in the vicinity of Glen View 3 over the weekend in question?
They have been found guilty in the columns of the state newspapers.

In this context Muckraker would like to thank Bornwell Chakaodza for the
following reminder from US President Teddy Roosevelt: "To announce that
there must be no criticism of the president or that we are to stand by the
president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile but is morally
treasonable to the American public."

The Herald on Saturday carried a front-page pic of Presidents Zuma and
Mugabe standing alongside each other in Sandton ahead of their talks last
Friday. Mugabe looked glum while Zuma was all smiles. Caesar Zvayi who wrote
the accompanying story reported that a diplomatic source had said: "As you
could see from the body language the two leaders held fruitful discussions
about the political situation in Zimbabwe that should bury the media hype
about Livingstone."

So if it was taken after the talks and not before as the caption said, why
is Mugabe still looking so dejected? And what "media hype" is being referred
to by the "source"? Is that the same hype that saw state-media columnists
savaging President Zuma after the Livingstone summit?

What is interesting for us is the way the state media celebrates when Mugabe
is told by Sadc leaders that current conditions in Zimbabwe don't lend
themselves to elections. That there needs to be an improvement. They also
celebrate when they are told to adhere to GPA terms. Fascinating stuff!

Swedish author Henning Mankell, author of the Wallander detective series,
thinks white farmers must shoulder some of the blame for the plight of
Zimbabwe. They didn't do enough to promote land reform, he says in a report
carried by the Fingaz.

"Mugabe cannot be painted as the sole villain of the piece," he told an
audience at Hay in the UK.

"In the early 1980s every year President Mugabe went and talked to white
farmers and said 'it's necessary for us to sit down and talk about the farms
here'. The reaction he got from farmers was absolutely none. He tried year
after year after year and the only thing he was met by was arrogance. In the
end it became a very bad situation."

This is only partly true. Nobody can disagree that the farmers were slow to
organise land reform. But we don't recall Mugabe raising the issue with them
"year after year after year". That is pure invention.

What we do recall are the UNDP-sponsored talks in September 1998 when donors
and farmers agreed on a comprehensive land reform programme. The British set
aside some £36 million if the UNDP technical experts could satisfy
themselves that a workable plan was on offer. Needless to say it was never
forthcoming. Mugabe drove a coach and horses through that arrangement
because it got in the way of his populist electioneering.

"I think when history is written," Mankell says, "the white farmers at the
beginning of the 1980s also have to take responsibility and blame for what
really happened. Otherwise when history is written people will believe that
President Mugabe was always crazy.

"He was not."

Thanks for that assurance Henning.

"Of course today I hope that someone takes him out of the position he's in
because he is destroying the country."

Not going to quarrel with you there either, Henning!

On Wednesday the BBC broadcast an interview with Ben Freeth who recounted
the terrible brutality he and his family suffered as their farm and all its
produce was taken from them and then burnt down. It should be required
reading for those who portray Zanu PF's land seizures as a noble project.

Last week Muckraker referred to Herald columnists who rushed Pavlov-like to
the defence of Fifa when it came under fire from the wicked British media
who had dared to expose corruption in the lucrative soccer outfit. We were
therefore pleased to see the following from Jack Warner, suspended Fifa
vice-president, providing evidence of corruption at all levels, published in
the M&G's Verbatim column.

"You don't have to believe me, you don't have to like me, nobody has to eat
with me, drink with me or sleep with me, but Jesus Christ, take the truth
when you see it."

Then we had Australia's sports minister, Mark Arbib, speaking to local media
about allegations that Qatar executives bribed Fifa delegates for votes:
"Australians love to win, but we don't mind losing as long as the game is
fair. It is now quite clear that we could never have won the rights to host
the 2022 World Cup because it was fixed."

Finally, we were intrigued by Obert Mpofu's remarks that Zimbabwe was the
only country that had not benefited from its own resources. That's perhaps
because it doesn't inspire investor confidence. Why doesn't some analyst
compare Botswana's record with Zimbabwe's in the joint management of diamond
resources and publish the results. It could be enlightening.

Sadc flexes muscle on Zim

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 09:31
By Qhubani Moyo

IF there is one critical lesson to come out of the Southern African
Development Community (Sadc) extraordinary summit on Zimbabwe in
Johannesburg on June 12, it is that the regional bloc would no longer
tolerate any form of intransigence by Zimbabwean political parties who have
been playing the cat and mouse game regarding the implementation of the
agreed issues in the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

The final resolutions of the Johannesburg summit are in content similar to
the resolutions of the Sadc Livingstone troika meeting of March 31. Although
the Sandton communiqué does not refer to the Livingstone communiqué in
letter, it broadly captures the spirit of the resolutions in Zambia.

The accommodation of the Livingstone communiqué and capturing of the spirit
of its resolutions (there is no need to engage in a semantic debate about
the meaning of 'noting' and 'endorsing') showed in no uncertain terms that
the regional bloc has become firm in dealing with Zimbabwean political and
security situation.

The Johannesburg summit took place at a time when parties in the GPA, in
particular Zanu PF sought to contaminate the thinking in the region after
trips whose mission was to encourage the regional leaders to overturn the
Livingstone summit resolutions. So powerful was the lobby across the region
that they sent some of their best arsenal to use all sorts of persuasion
skills including the usual hackneyed rhetoric and blackmail that some of the
countries owe them a lot from the days of the liberation struggle. Yet the
truth is that Zimbabwe is one which actually owes so much to different
countries, mainly the Frontline states Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania and
Botswana, for their help during the struggle.

Zimbabwe did not even play a critical role in the liberation of South Africa
and Namibia as the Frontline states did in helping us.

The other thing is that Sadc is in a state of transformation and the bloc
will not compromise regional growth, peace and development because of one
party and its leaders who want to manipulate history to cling to power at
all costs.

One of the reasons why Sadc was weak was that some leaders saw Mugabe as a
big brother mainly because of his role in its formation and also that almost
all of them are strictly speaking no longer his contemporaries, save for
Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos. With Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda,
Ketumile Masire and Samora Machel — later Nelson Mandela — gone, Mugabe
remains the only elder "statesman".

Effectively Mugabe has become the grandfather of Sadc and because of this he
mistakenly took his counterparts' respect for him to mean that they thought
he was the only wise man around or feared him as the grand old man of
regional politics.

Mugabe's feeble threats to Sadc leaders are counter-productive. No one is
afraid of him in the region anymore. Not even the dispatching of the
so-called high-powered delegation, which perhaps with the exception of
Professor Jonathan Moyo, comprised discredited individuals whose
understanding of statecraft and international politics is questionable,
helped anything. The Zanu PF team of confused and confusing demagogues
failed to set the agenda and influence the outcome of the summit.

In noting Livingstone resolutions (to note in simple English means "to pay
careful attention to something"), Sadc leaders devoted serious attention to
the outcomes of the Livingstone summit and proposed a speedy conclusion to
all outstanding GPA issues before free and fair elections could be held.

True to some assertions in the pre-summit discourse, the meeting proved
beyond any reasonable doubt that there is no big brother in Sadc. And that
message is not only loud or emphatic but clear that the previous modus
operandi of bulldozing issues and resolutions is gone. Indeed gone are the
days when Mugabe would railroad whatever he wants through Sadc. The new
generation of Sadc leaders have put a stop to that and a new way of doing
business is emerging.

Mugabe's influence in Sadc has declined so much to a point where he has now
been reduced to making pedantic and even pedestrian semantic arguments to
justify his position. After the Sandton meeting, Mugabe's only face-saver is
the semantic debate about "noting", "rejection" or "endorsement". This is a
very lousy debate. It's clear what Sadc meant in the Sandton communiqué both
in the letter and spirit of the resolutions.

That is why Mugabe was incoherent after the summit as he struggled to
explain what "noting" means or does not mean. The same could be said of
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi who also struggled to
explain the meaning of "noting" in diplomatic circles. Mumbengegwi, a
diplomat himself who deals with international diplomats daily as the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, should stop playing semantic games because all
seasoned diplomats — including the Sadc executive secretary Tomaz Salomao
himself say "noting" is just as good as "endorsing" or "adopting". In fact,
we don't need diplomats to tell us all this because even in simple English
the meaning of "noting" is clear enough.

Apart from what we know about the meaning of "noting", the agonising failure
by Mugabe and Mumbengegwi, including Zanu PF propagandists and the
hopelessly sycophantic state media, to explain the substance of what
transpired at Sandton demonstrates that the outcome was damning for them,
hence the hysterical denials and justifications. If one takes time to look
at the Livingstone and Sandton communiqués they are basically the same in
content and meaning. So Mugabe's spin does not work.

I also think Zanu PF publicists, including the language expert Professor
Vimbai Chivaura, who slept on duty may be mesmerised by the glamour and
lights of the glitzy Sandton district. Otherwise they should have done much
better rather than come up with such embarrassing semantic pretexts and
justifications.

Linked to this, the most pathetic attempt at spin was the one run by
state-controlled Zimpapers titles and ZBC whose screaming headlines claimed:
"Sadc rejects Livingstone resolutions."

This was not even gutter journalism, but wretched lies, which any journalist
or editor worth their salt should reject. To confuse the meaning of "noting"
and "rejecting" cannot just be explained away as ignorance but most probably
deliberate disinformation and blatant lying.

When one reads through the Zimpapers stories or listened to state television
and radio reports, there was absolutely nothing to suggest, except the
headlines, Sadc had done what the newspapers or the electronic media were
claiming. It's a pity Zimpapers and ZBC which are colonial institutions by
origin, and thus still steeped in that Rhodesian institutional culture, have
been reduced to being such shameful propaganda mouthpieces for Zanu PF,
peddling crude and even crass propaganda in the information or computer age
where there are many sources of news and information.

Although the private media has its own problems, mainly that of being driven
by commercial agendas, the situation at Zimpapers and ZBC is worrying. They
are still caught in a dangerous time warp — frozen in time. That's how they
used to operate during the colonial era and nothing has changed in reality
except who now controls and runs them. As such Zimbabweans are convinced the
public media is in desperate need of reform. We can't have elections with
such a partisan and discredited public media.

About the Author

Qhubani Moyo is the National Organising Secretary of the MDC led by
Professor Welshman Ncube. He is contactable on qmoyo2000@yahoo.co.uk .

Candid Comment: Zesa’s needs to see the light

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 09:40

By Itai Masuku

BOB Hawke, the former Australian prime minister known for his lax language,
once complained that someone was treating Australians as mushrooms, ie
keeping them in the dark and feeding them on manure. Hawke said it in less
polite language.

In our case, the Zimbabwe Electricity Shortage, I beg your pardon, Supply
Authority, are guilty of a similar offence.  We are tired of Zesa’s game of
treating us like mushrooms, they literally keep us in the dark and feed us
on bulldust. Not only that, they charge us for keeping us in the dark!  We
are the only country that is charged for darkness, given the astronomic
bills that Zesa sends us.  We pay dearly for the darkawatts that we use.

And yet Zesa is central to the growth of our economy.  This year’s economic
growth rate of 9,3% is premised on Zesa’s supplying 1 250 Megawatts. This is
projected to bring GDP to just above US$8 billion. But we already hit a snag
when we consider that Zesa’s own figures say its average so far is 1100MW.
Average demand in winter is 1 650MW, the same that the Ministry of Economic
Planning and Investment Promotion says is required to grow the economy by
14,6% in 2013.

In its defence, Zesa claims it is owed about US$450 million by non-paying
customers.  This must be taken with a pinch of salt, as it is most likely
this is the amount Zesa assesses it is owed. When was the last time you
actually had Zesa take readings at your premises? A consultant told
parliament that the authority loses US$500 million annually through load
shedding. Again, more pinches of salt. One is also sceptical that Zesa loses
US$100 million through unpaid bills. They’re probably receiving more than is
due to them as they tend to estimate, probably far above real consumption.

We know that at the recently investment forum and even before that, there
have been a lot of potential investors willing to invest in power
generation. We have asked Zesa which of the proposals they had taken into
consideration. Typically they have kept us and the nation in the dark. What
is wrong with telling the nation, who the interested parties are,
irrespective of whether the deal  will be conclusive or not, so that while
we sit in our dark houses we can at least see light at the end of the
tunnel? Why not shed light (metaphorically of course because physically you
can’t) on the subject?

We only learnt yesterday that Zesa had been talking to the Chinese and seems
to have dumped them. And now they are paying consultancy fees to one audit
firm for a project to export power? What?

We think we have an idea what’s going on in the dark corridors
(metaphorically again, for Zesa employees are not subject to load shedding,
anyone who lives in Gweru’s Mkoba 7 knows that).  The negotiations have to
be done in the dark so that whoever greases the palms of those at Zesa, the
parent energy ministry and political godfathers of Zesa, will get the deal.
It’s an open secret.

Tell us who wants to invest in which project and what impact that will have.
Green Fuel (GF) is already prepared to inject 18 MW into the Zesa grid. The
energy from that private company is enough to power the entire Manicaland
province for goodness sake! And we’re sure GF are not the only ones
interested in providing private power. What has happened to the so much
talked about public/private partnership?  Were it not for GF telling us
about their plans, we perhaps would have never known.

Editor'sMemo: Sadc summit: propaganda, lies and deception

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 09:36

By Dumisani Muleya

THE Big Lie is a propaganda technique coined by Adolf Hitler and used
relentlessly by his notorious spin-doctor Joseph Goebbels to influence the
masses and win their hearts and minds.

In his 1925 book Mein Kampf, Hitler says it is easier for the ordinary
people to believe a big lie than a small one because “it would never come
into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe
that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously”.
Hitler says even if facts disprove a lie people will still doubt and waver
and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. In his
own words:

“For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it
has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this
world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.”

In the aftermath of the dramatic Sadc summit in Sandton, Johannesburg, where
President Robert Mugabe failed to influence the outcome of the critical
meeting in his favour, it seems Hitler’s propaganda techniques have now been
retrieved, rehashed and deployed by Zanu PF leaders and their ideologues.

Mugabe and his party went to Sandton with one main objective: to influence
the outcome of the summit, particularly to ensure the revision of the
hard-hitting Livingstone resolutions on Zimbabwe.

However, Mugabe and his team failed badly, as we show in our main story
today, to get Sadc leaders to reverse or reject the Livingstone communiqué.
Mugabe’s failure has been made even more spectacular by his subsequent
attempts to give the wrong impression about what actually transpired at
Sandton.

Mugabe, his ministers and Zanu PF are still out in full force on a mission
to paint and consolidate the “Big Lie” that the Livingstone resolutions were
“rejected” by the Sandton Sadc summit.

Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and Zanu PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo,
among others have been desperately trying to mislead the nation on the
outcome of the Sandton meeting. In doing so, they are being assisted by Zanu
PF media hacks deployed at the state-controlled Zimpapers and ZBC.

The public media has been totally hijacked by Zanu PF and is now functioning
exclusively as its propaganda mouthpieces — the same way they were used by
the Rhodesian Front as a platform for propaganda, lies and deception.

The way Zimpapers titles — mainly the Herald, Sunday Mail, Chronicle and
Sunday News — are now run and edited makes them the Pravdas and Izvestias of
our times. They spin yarns at a terrifying rate.

Fingerprints of outsiders and strangers to the media are now even seen on
front page stories which the political intruders get to know before they are
published.

Now we find ourselves engulfed in a contrived propaganda war where Mugabe
and his officials are deliberately misleading the nation.

This big lie needs to be deflated and its purveyors exposed for what they
are: liars.

As clearly stated in the communiqué, the Sandton “summit noted the decisions
of the Sadc troika summit held in Livingstone, Zambia, in March 2011.”
So where is this thing that the summit “rejected” in the communiqué coming
from? What does “noted” mean”? It means to pay “careful attention to”.
Obviously, there are many other meanings to it but all of them, from
whichever English dictionary or source, converge on “acknowledging and
careful paying attention to something”. This is the literal, dictionary or
surface meaning of the word.

So is Mugabe and his bootlickers trying to tell us that “noted” means
“rejected”? The MDC-T is saying “noted” means “endorsed”. Maybe, maybe not
but it’s close to it. Whatever “noted” means, it certainly does not mean
“rejected”. You can’t say you have “noted” something meaning you have
“rejected” it. Not even in diplomatic parlance as Mumbengegwi incredibly
tried to claim. Zanu PF is simply telling lies, damned lies.

Besides, the literal meaning of the word “noted”, the context is also
important.

In logic, linguistics and semiotics, the definition of a word or phrase is a
part of its meaning; however, the part varies by context. We all know that.
Whether by denotation or connotation “noted” means something was seriously
considered or taken into account. Sadc executive secretary Tomaz Salomao
explained this in clear terms when he said in their parlance it means
“endorsed”.

Nothing will change this, no matter what Mugabe and his toadying bootlickers
say.

Comment: Bank deadline: Market awaits RBZ stance

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Friday, 17 June 2011 09:35

AS the June 30 deadline for banks to meet their minimum capital requirements
draws near, the market awaits with much anticipation the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe’s stance on those banks that fail to meet the requirements.
The market has been imbued with ReNaissance Merchant Bank (RMB) saga for the
past three weeks which has threatened confidence in the banking sector. Most
banks are facing liquidity challenges as depositors are becoming wary and
some have recorded an increase in deposits placed on call as opposed to
fixed deposits. Some have adopted a wait and see attitude.

In the aftermath of RMB being placed under curatorship, Finance minister
Tendai Biti urged RBZ Governor Gideon Gono to come up with a roadmap on the
position of weak, exposed and undercapitalised banks.

It would be of great interest to see what Gono still has left in his bag as
most of his interventions in the past precipitated panic rather than
stability in the banking sector.

Economic sense definitely does not dispute the urgent need for local banks
to increase capital thresholds to create the much needed cushion for
turbulent times. But the current liquidity crisis is across all sectors,
including the stock market.

Foreign investors have been driving activity on the local bourse as they
have the capital to take positions on quoted companies. Maybe the banking
sector should start looking at foreign investors for capitalisation.

Indigenous bank owners seem to shun any initiatives which can make them lose
majority shareholding in their banks, yet they lack the funds. But they
stand to lose more if their banks become non-existent in the event of
failure. They should remember the bitter taste of the Gono prescription when
he shut down their once ailing banks during the 2004 bank closures.

To avoid this scenario, the RBZ has been calling on the plethora of small
banks to merge so as to consolidate their balance sheets. The idea is to
create bigger and stronger institutions which can absorb more risk and yet
still optimise on economies of scale.

Indigenous banks can derive lessons from the case of Premier Banking
Corporation (PBC) which sold 70% of its stake to foreign-owned Ecobank
Transnational Incorporated. Prior to that, PBC had been making headlines in
the market on issues of financial distress and corporate governance. The
bank has since been restructured and is working on repositioning itself in
the market.

Interfin Banking Corporation (IBC) merged with CFX in June last year after
parent Interfin Financial Holdings acquired a 51% stake through a take-up of
unsubscribed shares from CFX’s rights issue in 2009 that it had
underwritten.

In well established, stable economies, the central bank assumes the mandate
to bail out banks facing collapse but the current state of the RBZ does not
enable it to perform such activities since it too is undercapitalised while
government is broke.

With the deadline drawing near there is speculation that banks may receive a
bailout package arranged from a foreign financial institution to meet
capital requirements. Bailing out the financial sector has been a phenomenon
in the financial sector globally.

Central banks closely supervise banks’ activities and step in to stabilise
any that gets into trouble, threatening to bring down the whole system. But
the quandary arises in trying to ensure the stability of the system as it
creates the problem of “moral hazard” — the belief that the government will
always rescue bankers if they get into trouble, which in turn may encourage
banks to take undue risks in their pursuit of profit.

It is therefore an unfortunate scenario in Zimbabwe as bank owners do not
have that privilege of access to bailout packages in the event of a crisis
as the government does not have the money. Thus the urgent need for banks to
recapitalise as they are the bloodstream of the economy and their collapse
will impact on economic activity.

If banks continue to fail to meet the minimum capital requirements, and in
the event of a crisis, the central bank could arrange for a shotgun marriage
in which a strong bank takes over an ailing bank at a deliberately
bargain-basement price, with the failed bank going out of business.