The ZIMBABWE Situation
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Zimbabwe
Police Deny Investigating Finance Minister Tendai Biti
http://www.bloomberg.com/
By Godfrey Marawanyika
and Brian Latham - Jun 25, 2012 6:36 PM GMT+1000
Zimbabwe’s
police denied investigating the country’s finance minister after
a state-
controlled newspaper yesterday reported a probe.
Zimbabwe’s
state-controlled Sunday Mail cited police saying they were
investigating
Tendai Biti, who is also secretary general of the Movement for
Democratic
Change party, over a $20 million International Monetary Fund loan
deposited
in Zimbabwe’s Interfin Bank, a unit of Interfin Financial Services
Ltd.
Wayne Bvudzijena, the main spokesman for the police, said in an
interview
that he hadn’t spoken to the Harare-based newspaper and was
unaware of any
probe. Biti didn’t answer calls to his mobile phone when
Bloomberg sought
comment today.
Biti’s MDC party shares power with
President Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe
African National Union-Patriotic Front
under a 2009 agreement brokered by
the Southern African Development
Community because elections the previous
year were deemed flawed.
New
radio broadcast ends ZBC monopoly
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
25/06/2012 00:00:00
by
AP
ZIMBABWE’S first licensed commercial radio station has gone
live, ending a
32-year monopoly by the state-controlled broadcaster and
meeting some
demands to free up the nation’s airwaves ahead of proposed
elections.
Star FM radio said Monday it will broadcast hourly news bulletins
and
50-second headline summaries.
The station is owned by Zimbabwe
Newspapers, publishers of newspaper titles
loyal to President Robert
Mugabe’s Zanu PF party.
The 24-hour station announced a schedule strongly
weighted with music
programmes. When licensed last year by the Broadcasting
Authority appointed
by Mugabe, it was billed as Zimbabwe Talk Radio. No
reasons were given for
the name change.
The authority was criticised for
licensing a station closely linked to the
main Herald daily
newspaper.
A second radio station – ZiFM Stereo – which is fronted by the
former ZBC,
Al Jazeera and SABC TV news reporter Supa Mandiwanzira is still
to announce
a launch date.
Mandiwanzira said on Monday: “The launch is
imminent. The latest would be
August, but I expect us to begin broadcasts in
July.”
Mandiwanzira said ZiFM would also stream online – and they were
seeking
authorisation from the broadcasting authority.
Two
short-lived independent stations were shut down in 2000 over allegations
they were operating illegally.
Chinese tycoon bankrolls CIO,
rewarded with diamonds
By Lance Guma
25 June 2012
A mysterious Chinese business tycoon, benefiting
from his access to diamonds in Zimbabwe, is reported to have ploughed US$100
million into the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) to fund covert
operations against the opposition.
According to pressure group Global Witness Sam
Pa, who is based in Hong Kong, is also funding ZANU PF and Robert Mugabe’s
re-election bid in return for favourable access to the controversial diamond
mining operations in Marange, plus opportunities in the cotton industry and
property development inside Zimbabwe.
Speaking to SW Radio Africa on Monday Nick
Donovan from Global Witness said part of the money Sam Pa gave to the CIO was
used to buy over 200 Nissan pick up trucks. SW Radio Africa has over the years
documented how most of these vehicles have been used in the abduction of
hundreds of opposition activists.
Money from Mr Pa was also used to finance
‘Operation Spiderweb’ which included the jamming of broadcast signals from
foreign based independent stations like SW Radio Africa. It also sought to
undermine the profiles of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Finance Minister
Tendai Biti, among many others.
With Biti complaining that Treasury was getting
little or no money from the diamond mining operations controlled by ZANU PF,
army and CIO chefs, it appears people like Mr Pa are effectively being used to
finance a parallel government and oil ZANU PF’s ‘war chest’ ahead of possible
elections next year.
Global Witness say because the MDC-T controls
the Finance Ministry the security forces have sought “off budget funding” for
their operations. Mr Pa arrives “at monthly intervals at Harare airport in a
white Airbus A319CJ private jet and departs with (high quality)
diamonds.”
Donovan told SW Radio Africa that former arms
dealer Mr Pa runs a network of companies in Zimbabwe in which many CIO bosses
are directors. Some of them include Gift Kalisto Machengete, Pritchard Zhou and
Masimba Ignatius Kamba who are directors in Sino Zimbabwe
Development.
Global Witness believe that the activities of
Sam Pa, Sino Zimbabwe Development and diamond mine company Anjin Investments
should be investigated, “to see if their actions undermine Zimbabwean democratic
institutions or risk funding future human rights abuses and therefore meet the
threshold for being placed on targeted sanctions lists.”
Mr Pa (aka Antonio Famtosonghiu Sampo Menezes)
and his colleagues Xu Jinghua and Sam King, hold leadership positions in a
network of companies known as the Queensway syndicate. This opaque network of
more than 60 companies is notorious for dealing with corrupt regimes in Angola,
Guinea and other places.
The Global Witness study concluded that the
“syndicate has a track record of opaque ‘resources for infrastructure’ deals
across sub-Saharan Africa.
One report by the Economist magazine highlighted
how two companies in the syndicate entered into an “ethically dubious deal with
the Guinean military junta in 2009, signed just weeks after security forces
killed over 150 protestors and raped over 100 women in a stadium.”
New Report on Marange Diamonds – Global
Witness
Malema
wades into Zuma over Zimbabwe
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
26 June
2012
Former ANC Youth League President Julius Malema believes President
Jacob
Zuma is not the right person to be the SADC mediator in Zimbabwe
because ‘he
hates Robert Mugabe.’
Malema told the state controlled
weekly Sunday Mail that Zuma hated Mugabe
and his ZANU PF party because of
their support for former South African
president Thabo Mbeki.
‘He has
very strong views about President Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF. All you
see is
very pretentious and it’s not helpful at all,’ Malema said in the
interview,
which saw the Sunday Mail travel to Johannesburg to cover the
story.
His comments have been described by analysts as an attempt to
put a wedge
between Zuma and Mugabe but they have been dismissed as a non-
event by the
South African President’s foreign policy
advisor.
Lindiwe Zulu told SW Radio Africa that any attempt to force Zuma
to step
down as mediator, by vilifying or concocting stories to try to force
issues,
will not work.
‘To be honest we don’t comment on such issues
(Malema’ statement) but what I
want to tell you is that our road is
straightforward as far as the mediation
process in Zimbabwe is
concerned.
‘Right now, our facilitation team is waiting for a go-ahead to
fly to Harare
and meet the negotiators who are busy working now to try and
resolve issues
in Zimbabwe,’ Zulu said.
Constitutional and
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga confirmed
that the negotiators
from all parties in the GPA were meeting in Harare to
finish revising the
final draft of the constitution.
‘We’re starting from where we left off
last week and hope to finish this
document soon,’ Matinenga said. The group
met incommunicado in Nyanga last
week and dealt with first six of the 18
chapters in the draft charter. It is
expected they might work on all the
remaining chapters this week.
When this happens, they will give Zuma the
green light to assess the country’s
readiness for an election, which could
take place next year. The GPA
negotiators, together with Zuma’s facilitation
team, will meanwhile have to
prepare an exhaustive agenda as the anticipated
trip could turn-out to be a
make-or-break indaba.
Two years ago ZANU
PF invited Malema to Harare where he was treated to a
lavish lifestyle. He
held a series of meetings with ZANU PF and capped off
his trip by meeting
Mugabe.
South African based political analyst Luke Zunga said utterances
by Malema
through the state media could have been a plot by ZANU PF to use
it against
Zuma in order to collapse the constitution making
process.
‘The plan, which by all standards looks amateurish, was to
present SADC with
the information suggesting Zuma hates Mugabe and therefore
cannot be
impartial in his mediation process.
‘We all know ZANU PF
has been against Zuma and will do everything to pull
him down, including
using the discredited Malema to further their agenda,’
Zunga said.
He
continued: ‘The problem with that is Malema is of less relevance in South
Africa now. He is out of the ANC and so if he is speaking he’s probably
doing so on behalf of ZANU PF. That rant was a stunt to get people talking
about his continued existence on this planet. It won’t cause any diplomatic
rift between South Africa and Zimbabwe but it will obviously raise a few
eyebrows between the ANC and ZANU PF.’
Others believe Malema’
statement reflected the ‘mistake of one man, and not
of the South African
state.’ Obert Gutu, the MDC-T deputy Minister of
Justice, took to the social
networking site, Facebook to take a dig at
Malema.
‘I have stated it
before and I will repeat it here and now…one Julius Malema
should go back to
school. This boy is content free, an empty vessel making a
lot of noise.
President Jacob Zuma will be re-elected as ANC leader in
Mangaung in Dec
2012 whether or not Malema likes it,’ Gutu said.
$20million
IMF funds missing from failed Interfin bank
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
25 June, 2012
An investigation was launched by the
Zimbabwe Republic Police this week into
the disappearance of $20 million
from the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
which were given to Interfin
Bank by the Finance Ministry.
The IMF gave the money to Zimbabwe in 2009
as part of an emergency facility
meant to help distressed manufacturing
companies. The police claimed their
investigation centred on Finance
Minister Tendai Biti, but he told The
Sunday Mail he had transferred the
money to Interfin.
Interfin is involved in another case with businessman
Gilbert Muponda, who
is suing the bank for $15.4 million, saying they took
over his assets at
Century Bank and rebranded it Interfin. Muponda told SW
Radio Africa that
Interfin is now “under curatorship” because of its cash
problems.
“It was found the bank had a negative capital balance of $107
million, which
the bank claims to have loaned to their clients. But some of
these clients
were found to be related to officials at the bank,” Muponda
said. He added
that a thorough’ due diligence’ of every dollar that went
into the bank over
the last year will be conducted by an independent
curator.
Interfin CEO, Farai Rwodzi, is himself a controversial figure
who was
allegedly the proxy for the late Retired Army General Solomon
Mujuru’s
financial affairs. It is widely believed the bank was used to
launder money
from corrupt ventures, including government contracts received
without
tender.
Last year Rwodzi was arrested and charged with
espionage, along with his
partner at Africom Holdings, Simba Mangwende and
Oliver Chiku from Global
Satellite Systems. The state accused them of
conniving to send official
government secrets to the United States, Canada
and Afghanistan.
The charges were later changed to setting up satellite
equipment without
permission, but from the beginning there were suspicions
something else was
at play. SW Radio Africa later received information that
the case centered
around Rwodzi. The state later dropped the
charges.
Interfin highlights the economic chaos that has developed in
Zimbabwe due to
a lack of the rule of law and the culture of greed that has
taken over the
country.
The ZANU PF so-called “empowerment” policy
has allowed thugs to seize
properties and companies owned by foreigners with
impunity. Officials with
connections to top chefs have also looted
everything from farms to
businesses.
Biti
to present economic review
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
25/06/2012 00:00:00
by Roman
Moyo
FINANCE Minister Tendai Biti faces tough choices when he
presents his half
year economic review this week with the 2012 national
budget already thrown
off the rails by underperforming revenues with initial
growth projections
now clearly unachievable.
The US$4 billion 2012
National Budget had projected 9,4% economic expansion,
underpinned by growth
in the mining and agriculture sectors. But both
sectors have failed to
perform to expectations while liquidity challenges
that have plagued the
economy over the last few years remain.
The coalition cabinet recently
held an emergency meeting over the economy
after it emerged that revenues
would this year fall far below expectations
with Biti principally blaming
the alleged non-remittance of money from
diamond sales.
Prime
Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai recently claimed only US$25 million had
been
received from diamond sales against projections of about US$600 million
for
the whole year.
Biti has already hinted he may have to revise downwards
his growth
projections and he will also be under pressure to find money for
food
imports after this year’s maize crop was hit by drought in some parts
of the
country.
Compounding his problems is the possibility of new
elections this year which
would have to be preceded by a constitutional
referendum, all of them
expensive exercises for which the government just
does not have the money.
Analysts have also warned Biti will need to make
available increased funding
for economic performance enablers such as the
energy ministry, in particular
the power utility Zesa, as well as
rehabilitate the country’s dilapidated
telecommunications and roads
infrastructure.
Economist Brains Muchemwa said corporate bankruptcy was
on the rise and
urged Biti to press for changes in the country’s labour and
bankruptcy laws
to safeguard corporate solvency and help create a soft
landing for companies
on the brink of collapse.
“Without these
changes, the economy will remain fragile, and indeed
government revenues
will continue to exhibit sustained weakness,” he said.
“Government will
need more creativity to broaden the tax revenue base in
ensuring that the
financing of the budget was sustainable in a manner that
would be able to
influence the macroeconomic activities more positively.”
Muchemwa also
said the government must consider new taxation regimes for
valuable mineral
classes such as diamonds and platinum warning that without
such changes
incremental revenues from the normal taxation activities will
continue to be
fragile.
Economic consultant John Robertson has also urged Biti should
allocate more
money to sectors that have strong primary multiplier effects
on employment
creation so that the secondary effect on
government revenue
creation would assist in repaying the country’s loans and
put the economy on
a sustainable growth path.
“We need to start creating the platform for
reviving the defunct middle
class. And the government, being the single
largest player in the market
now, should have the right priorities in place
to create a
sustainable middle class to cultivate strong and rising domestic
demand that
will provide the vital anchor for growth,” Robertson
said.
“An economy, just like a private company, needs to run on goodwill
and
competitive economic pricing. And with the dollarised economy, good
times
lie in waiting.”
Muchemwa added that Zimbabwe needed a strong
private-public sector
partnership framework that would revive its
infrastructure much faster and
put an end to fiscal antics of attempting
subsidies on empty coffers.
WOZA
protesters demand people’s constitution at parliament
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
25 June, 2011
The parliament building was the site of a
demonstration by members of the
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) pressure
group, who were demanding the
immediate release of a new
Constitution.
WOZA coordinator Magodonga Mahlangu told SW Radio Africa
they decided to
protest because parliamentarians have been “bickering” over
the draft
constitution and ignoring what the people said during the outreach
exercise.
She said they want the draft completed and a referendum held so
that the
country can move forward.
The group organized two separate
protests that converged on parliament, with
the members distributing flyers
explaining their demands. The police, who
have disrupted WOZA demonstrations
violently in the past, allowed the
members to sit near parliament,
peacefully chanting and shouting their
demands.
“They had no choice
but to behave. We came determined not to leave if they
beat us. And
especially after the second group arrived and sat down, we told
police if
you beat one of us we will not disperse,” Mahlangu explained.
She said
although it was difficult to count the number of WOZA activists who
participated in the protest, she estimated that between 600 and 700 of their
members took part. They threatened to organize a national boycott of any
election without the new charter.
WOZA has been at the forefront of
street demonstrations that focus on what
the group describes as “bread and
butter issues”. On many occasions their
peaceful events have been violently
disrupted by the police, seeing many
members being hospitalised and others
arrested and tortured while in
detention.
The group also has several
court cases pending, as they have been the target
of trumped up charges by
the police, using repressive legislation such as
the Public Order and
Security Act (POSA) and the Criminal Codification Act.
Zuma Not in
Zim this Week:Zulu
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, June 25, 2012 - South African
President Jacob Zuma will not visit
Zimbabwe this week to help resolve
sticking Global Political Agreement (GPA)
as reported as he is busy with his
African National Congress (ANC) policy
conference, Lindiwe Zulu Zuma's
international relations advisor said.
Zuma, the facilitator to the GPA
negotiations by the country's three main
parties MDC-T, MDC and Zanu PF was
expected this week to help parties iron
out the election roadmap to allow
fresh elections to replace the coalition
government formed in February 2009
after disputed violent elections in June
2008.
"President Zuma will
not be in Zimbabwe this week. I don't know where the
other press is getting
that from. President Zuma will be busy with the ANC
policy conference this
whole week. There is no way he can be out of the
country," Zulu said over
the telephone from her base in South Africa.
But she said:"The
negotiators have been meeting and the negotiations are
currently
on-going."
The Sunday Times of South Africa had reported Sunday that Zuma
will be in
Zimbabwe on Monday or Tuesday, quoting an official of one the
party
negotiators to the GPA.
Zuma was tasked by the last SADC summit
to ensure that the three parties
complete the constitutional making process
with a referendum held
thereafter.
According to the GPA Zimbabwe must
write a new constitution which will be
followed by a referendum to allow
fresh elections which will bring an
elected government by the people through
the ballot unlike the negotiated
unity government.
But the
constitution making process has been delayed for the past year after
parties
were failing to agree on issues such as devolution of power and lack
of
funding for the process which is mainly funded by donor countries from
Western nations.
Chipangano
strikes again
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Written by Gift Phiri, Chief Writer
Monday, 25 June 2012
16:33
HARARE - The installation of a Zesa power substation at a
site where a $1,2
million service station and food court is being built in
Mbare reignited
fresh grim threats from Chipangano thugs on
Saturday.
Just as construction of the substation was nearing completion,
menacing Zanu
PF-affiliated Chipangano militia swooped on the site being
built by Mashwede
Diesel on Saturday morning, and ominously warned workers
to stop putting up
the substation or face harsh
consequences.
Developer Alex Mashamhanda, 62, said he was taking the
threats from the
Chipango seriously, and had lodged a police report with
Matapi Police
Station.
He said the determination by Chipango to stall
the project was surprising
given that there has been no objection to the
construction and occupation of
the site from the local authority.
“We
are putting up a substation. We paid Zesa $50 000 for the construction
of
the substation. We have to foot part of the construction. Our failure to
complete it inconveniences Zesa, it inconveniences us,” a distraught
Mashamhanda said.
He said Chipangano have used the same modus
operandi, where they dispatch
emissaries to warn workers to stop
construction, failure to heed the warning
results in physical
violence.
The Chipangano militia has since December been hell-bent on
stalling
construction of the $1,2m service station and food court in the
populous
ghetto ostensibly
because the developer is a mainstream MDC
supporter, an allegation
Mashamhanda strenuously denies.
Mashamhanda
has approached the High Court seeking a protection order, which
was duly
granted in February by Justice Samuel Kudya against Zanu PF
Politburo member
Tendai Savanhu, Zanu PF Harare province youth chairperson
Jim Kunaka and
Alfonse Gobvu, who Mashamhanda alleges are determined to
derail his
project.
Despite the unequivocal protection order, the Chipangano militia
threatened
Mashwede Diesel workers once again on Saturday in blatant
contempt of court.
Kunaka yesterday rejected allegations that he had
anything to do with the
latest threat.
“Mashwede or Mashamhanda
should go to a psychiatric hospital because he is
always alleging that I
have done this and that,” a fuming Kunaka told the
Daily News.
“I am
in Murehwa right now, ndiri padare rasabhuku vangu, ndakauya marimwe
zuro
(on Friday). Hameno kuti ndomuka chipoko here kana kuti
chii?”
Mashamhanda, who sustained soft-tissue injuries in a January
attack by the
militia, said it was not a secret that Kunaka was behind the
threats.
“They threatened the construction workers, they made enquiries
why we are
putting up that thing (Zesa substation).
“They said we
must stop constructing or we will come and beat you up,”
Mashamhanda told
the Daily News.
“We reported to the police. I spoke to the
member-in-charge. No one has been
injured, we don’t want anyone to be
killed.”
Harare police spokesperson James Sabau said he needed to check
finer details
about progress in the case.
The menacing emissaries
reportedly descended on the construction site, which
is next to Matapi
Police Station, around 9:30am on Saturday, and dished out
the grim threats
within ear shot of the police.
“It’s a repetition of what has been
happening,” Mashamhanda said.
The brutal and politically-connected
Mbare-based militia has resorted to
violence after failing to sway the
MDC-run council from stopping
construction of the service station.
‘Service
Chiefs will eat humble pie’
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Written by Lloyd Mbiba, Staff
Writer
Monday, 25 June 2012 16:36
HARARE - Welshman Ncube, the
president of the smaller MDC has equated the
army service chiefs to former
Rhodesian statesman Ian Smith who once swore
during his reign that blacks
would never rule Zimbabwe.
Ncube said the service chiefs will like Smith
eat “humble pies”. Commenting
on social networking website Twitter on
Saturday, he said the securocrats
should be cognisant of history as it will
repeat itself.
“Remember that even Ian Douglas Smith vowed that Zimbabwe
would never in 1
000 years see majority rule.
“But we all know, in a few
years Smith ate humble pie. The
violence-threatening army generals will
certainly eat humble pie. No army,
no General Chiwenga or Chedondo will
break the resolve of a united people,
we should be united and principled in
our collective agenda,” Ncube added.
He urged the people to be united
against the generals and not to be
intimidated by their threats. “There is
no force that can defeat the
collective force of united
people.”
McDonald Lewanika, national co-ordinator of the Crisis in
Zimbabwe
Coalition, a constellation of at least 350 civic organisations said
the army
needs to be de-politicised and re-oriented into society as it
serves and
protects the people.
Lewanika was speaking at a lecture
series entitled: The role of the army and
police in a country, facilitated
by the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai on Friday.
“The
problem is that we have emanates from the armed struggle for
independence
where soldiers were told that their strategy will not be
military alone but
political also.
“No attempts were made to de-politicise the army when we
attained
independence. There is need therefore to educate our armed forces
that they
have no place in politics,” Lewanika said.
Senior army
officials have publicly declared their allegiance to Zanu PF,
vowing not to
respect any democratically- elected president who is not
Robert
Mugabe.
Police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri, defence forces
commander
Constantine Chiwenga and army generals Douglas Nyikayaramba and
Martin
Chedondo have recently grabbed headlines for publicly supporting Zanu
PF.
In recent weeks, Zimbabwe Defence Forces chief of staff, major
general
Martin
Chedondo, stirred a storm when he said soldiers must
be involved in national
politics so they remained “loyal and defend the
nation’s territorial
integrity and interests”.
Last year,
brigadier-general Douglas Nyikayaramba declared that no one would
rule
Zimbabwe without any revolutionary credentials, insinuating that Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of MDC would not be allowed to become President
even if he wins elections.
Nyikayaramba, who has since been promoted
to the post of major-general, was
repeating a similar statement by service
chiefs, who a few years ago vowed
that they would not salute anyone without
liberation war credentials, even
if that person won
elections.
Lewanika said the role of the army in elections was to respect
the will of
the people and protect it.
“Military should be
subordinate of civilian rule and not the other way
round,” he
added.
The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition national co-ordinator, further
said people
should not be afraid of the army and should also openly air
their views.
Lewanika urged the MDC to desist from violence and push
their agendas
through dialogue.
“You are a democratic party and you
should lead by example. It is known that
violence is in the DNA of Zanu PF
but we don’t expect the MDC to be
violent,” he said.
Judge reserves bail judgment in Glen View murder case
Monday, 25 June
2012
High Court judge, Justice Chinembiri Bhunu has reserved judgment in
the bail
application filed today by 29 MDC members seeking leave to appeal
for bail
at the Supreme Court.
The 29 MDC members facing false
charges of murdering a policeman and public
violence in Glen View, Harare
last year were denied bail by Justice Bhunu
when the trial kicked off early
this month.
The Judge cited that there were no exceptional circumstances
in the bail
application to show why the accused be granted bail.
They
have been in remand prison since their indictment.
Today in court, the
defence lawyers cited several instances why the 29
members should be granted
bail including that some of the accused had been
granted bail before their
indictment for trial but none had breached their
bail conditions.
The
State is opposing the application.
Meanwhile, the trial of the 29 accused
resumes tomorrow with an in loco
inspection in the morning at the scene of
the crime at Glen View 3 Shopping
Centre.
The people’s struggle for
real change: Let’s finish it!!
Unicef
launches rural water programme
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Written by Gugulethu Nyazema, Senior
Writer
Monday, 25 June 2012 16:28
HARARE - United Nations
Children’s Fund (Unicef) will tomorrow launch the
rural Water, Sanitation
and
Hygiene (Wash) programme in Tsholotsho, designed to contribute to the
Millennium Development Goal for water and sanitation.
The Millennium
Development Goals’ aim is to halve, by 2015, the proportion
of people
without sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation.
Under the
Wash programme, Unicef has intensified measures to mitigate and
avert the
rapid spread of cholera and other water-borne diseases. This has
been
achieved by making safe water available to communities and through
promotion
of good hygiene practices.
Unicef has assisted with the provision of safe
water through water trucking
to different communities since 2007 to
supplement erratic water supplies.
According to Unicef , the Wash
programme was extended to cover other suburbs
which urgently required water
during the cholera outbreak.
More than 500 000 litres of water were made
available to communities
throughout Zimbabwe daily through water
trucking.
Unicef also guaranteed the availability of clean and safe water
to residents
by making water treatment tablets available to the
people.
Further to assisting during emergency situations, Unicef has
begun
supporting water supply and sanitation system rehabilitation in urban
cities, small towns and growth points.
Unicef will further develop
capacity in urban and rural councils in the
operation and maintenance of the
water works.
As a long-term measure, Unicef continues to ensure safe
water to communities
through supporting borehole drilling across the
country.
In addition, it has provided assistance through drilling of 200
boreholes in
urban communities mostly affected by cholera in 16
districts.
Unicef also supports safe water and sanitation facilities in
all rural
schools and 5 300 hygiene kits were distributed across all
Zimbabwe's
primary schools.
In addition, close monitoring of the
cholera outbreak in districts is
on-going as a measure of targeting Wash
interventions in various districts.
Sata’s
US $50 Million Campaign Maize for Mugabe Rejected
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
Zambia Report 11 hours
7 minutes ago
Zambian President Michael Sata’s more US $50
million maize ‘donation’ to
Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe for election
campaigns has been rejected
as gross interference in that country’s internal
affairs.
Writing for Bulawayo24, Wright Musoma has asked Sata to stay
away with his
donations and allow Zimbabweans to make independent decisions
free of
inducements.
“The revelations that president Michael Sata is
donating millions of tonnes
of maize worth more than $50 million to Zimbabwe
to aid President Robert
Mugabe win the coming presidential elections is
quiet sad, and we would like
to ask him to stay away from Zimbabwe
immediately,” he said.
Sata has been acting like a Father Christmas
recently giving Malawi 5
million litres of fuel when his country had none
for consumption and
Zimbabwe maize while his country is wallowing in abject
poverty.
“When it comes to choosing a leader, it’s imperative that the
Zimbabwean
people are given the choice and room to choose the leader of
their choice
and not Sata imposing a leader on them,” Musoma
states.
There has been growing resentment with protests at Zambian
missions in the
UK and Washington by Zimbabweans against Sata’s interference
in the affairs
of their country after the Zambian head of state turned
himself into a
Mugabe vuvuzela at a recent SADC meeting.
Musoma’s
statement is one of the many voices that is opposing Sata’s ugly
face from
showing up in Zimbabwean politics.
“We know that Sata and Mugabe are the
same and that’s the reason why he is
working hard to ensure that his friend
wins and it’s also the reason why out
of all the presidents in the world,
Michael Sata has chosen to be very close
to Robert Mugabe. They are both
dictators,” he states.
Musoma is wondering why Sata is doing all he can
to help Robert Mugabe win
the election even when he has ruled for more than
30 years and is now quite
old and visibly weak with wrong and selfish
motives.
“What is that which Sata expects Mugabe to achieve for the
people of
Zimbabwe which he has not done in more than 30 years he has been
in power?
“Any way, the Zimbabwean people are the ones who have the power
through the
ballot box to choose who they want to lead them. If they still
feel that
there’s no one else in all the land of Zimbabwe among the 13
million people
who can lead them, it’s really entirely up to
them.”
Musoma cautioned Sata against exploiting his country’s taxpayers
to support
a tyrant like Mugabe.
“I strongly feel that Mugabe and
Sata should not continue to insult the
intelligence of the Zimbabwean
people. Mugabe should step aside and let
fresh blood take over,” he said.
“As for president Sata, once again please
stay away from Mugabe and stop
meddling in the affairs of Zimbabwe.”
Zimbabweans are displeased that
Sata is showing support for Mugabe when
world leaders had settled the
Zimbabwean was a tyrant who had driven his
people away through dictatorial
rule.
Zimbabwe Rolls Out Anti-Smoking Campaign
http://www.voanews.com
25 June
2012
Ntungamili Nkomo |
Washington DC
The Zimbabwean government embarks on an
anti-smoking campaign this week
hoping to convince hundreds of thousands of
tobacco smokers to quit the
practice that kills about 6 million people
around the world every year.
The health ministry will officially launch
the campaign in Binga, northern
Zimbabwe on Friday where officials will
highlight the dangers of smoking.
Tobacco smoking is associated with
fatal lung and heart diseases such as
heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer
and the chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, among others.
Health
Minister Henry Madzorera says the nation-wide campaign targets both
active
and passive smokers as they face the same risks. He took a swipe at
tobacco
companies for running deceiving ads to entice smokers, especially
the
young.
"We are dealing with an industry that opposes our campaign,"
Madzorera said.
"They go all out to advertise smoking as if it is good. They
show you nice
beautiful girls, half-dressed as if to say if you smoked you
would get one
of them."
Besides facing stiff resistance from tobacco
companies, the government
awareness drive is sure to run into trouble with
farmers whose livelihoods
are anchored on the golden leaf.
As is in
many countries, lighting up in public places such as buses, clinics
and
restaurants is outlawed in Zimbabwe, and officials say they will remind
non-smokers they have a right to report those who smoke in a prohibited
place.
Social commentator Mandlenkosi Gatsheni told VOA for the
anti-smoking
campaign to bear fruits, the government should disseminate its
message in
the media in addition to other methods.
Pay
dispute threatens June exams
http://www.herald.co.zw/
Monday, 25 June 2012 12:00
Herald
Reporter
THE June 2012 public examinations are in danger as workers are
threatening
to strike over late payment of US$420 000 housing allowances by
the Zimbabwe
Schools Examination Council.
Zimsec has yet to implement a
court order to pay its 290 workers over US$420
000 in outstanding housing
allowances dating back 12 months, although the
council is owed US$1,9
million by the Treasury in what amounts to subsidies
to keep examination
fees affordable. Zimsec still has an appeal pending on
the
Labour
Court ruling to pay allowances.
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister
David Coltart is now involved in
trying to resolve the dispute.
At
the weekend he said he held a meeting with some of the board members last
week as part of the measures to resolve the impasse.
“I met Zimsec board
deputy chairperson (Mrs Hilda Shindi) who also chairs
the committee and
I
ordered the board to go back to the workers to resolve the issue,” said
Minister Coltart.
The Minister said the problem was that Zimsec operates
on a tight budget and
is still owed US$1,9 million by Treasury.
This,
he said, has affected the entire system as well as creating cashflow
problems. “It is my hope that the workers will get something soon because
they are an important instrument in the processing of public examinations
and day-to-day running of the examination body,” said Minister
Coltart.
What sparked off the latest unrest at Zimsec were reports,
believed by the
workers, that senior managers were granted loans amounting
to US$50 000.
Workers feel that the agreement over their allowances has to
be implemented
first, using available funds.
There are now growing fears
that the disgruntled workers are likely to throw
into disarray the
finalisation and processing of the examinations currently
underway as the
workers are mooting an industrial action to force management
to pay
them.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement entered between Zimsec
management and
workers on June 6 last year by the Works Council was signed
as a total
package.
All the relevant authorities endorsed the
agreement.
Workers had demanded a 56 percent increment and US$210 in housing
allowances, while the examination body was offering 10 percent. To end the
stalemate,
workers and management later agreed that sums set aside
for housing,
vehicles and personal use, as well as the budget for leave
encashment could
be used to fund workers’ allowances and that the money
saved on not filling
vacant posts could be used to increase salaries and
allowances. Having found
the money then it was possible to distribute
it.
Calculations were done with cash from loans coming to US$420 000,
which
could then be converted to increase workers’ allowances and
salaries.
After management moved away from the agreement, the workers
approached the
Labour Court, which ordered the examination body to pay the
US$420 000.
A spokesman for the National Education Union of Zimbabwe—a
body that
represents the workers — Mr Matthius Guchutu yesterday accused the
examination body of violating labour laws.
Zimsec, he said, had
invited “solidarity” action as it was failing to honour
a binding CBA signed
between the workers and Zimsec management in June last
year.
“We are left
with no option but to take the route of an industrial action.
They agreed to
pay the workers but nothing has come to date. Morale within
the workers is
low.
“Despite taking the legal route we have also engaged Minister David
Coltart,
who also ordered them to honour that agreement but there are no
efforts to
pay the workers,” he said.
“The employer (Zimsec)
including the Board has taken a stance to defend the
non-justifiable
expenditure of the amount agreed for housing allowance in
the 2011 works
council meeting. A series of meetings have been held to try
and twist the
agreed position.
“What the management should know is that the workers
they are denying
allowances are the same workers who are involved in the
processing of
examinations and as such they should be treated with respect,”
he said.
Efforts to get a comment from Zimsec Board chairperson Professor
Norman
Maphosa were fruitless as he is out of the country. His deputy Mrs
Hilda
Shindi declined to comment.
“Professor Maphosa speaks on behalf
of the board,” she said.
Zimsec public relations manager Mr Ezekiel
Pasipamire yesterday insisted the
matter was still pending at the
courts.
“To us we are still waiting for the court’s decision since the
board made an
appeal,” he said.
Bloated
parliament to accommodate women
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
25/06/2012 00:00:00
by
NewsDay
ZANU PF and the two main MDC parties have agreed
controversial new plans to
establish a bloated Parliament with close to 400
legislators.
The measures are contained in a new draft constitution. The
parties resolved
to retain the 210 parliamentary seats, 88 Senate seats and
add a further 60
seats for female lawmakers.
Under the new arrangement,
Parliament will now have 368 lawmakers in both
the Lower and Upper
Houses.
The 60 female MPs will be seconded by political parties on a
proportional
representation basis in line with the number of seats the
parties would have
garnered in elections.
Constitutional and
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga confirmed
the development,
saying: “That issue was agreed on — three to four weeks
ago — and it will be
in the draft.”
President Robert Mugabe last month told a continental
women’s lobby group in
Harare he was mulling affirmative action to increase
women representation in
Parliament.
But Joy Mabenge, chairperson of
an economic lobby group, the Zimbabwe
Coalition on Debt and Development,
accused the parties said the additional
constituencies would be a drain on
the national purse.
“We used to do well with 120 MPs,” Mabenge said. “The
country’s geographical
boundaries have not expanded, neither has its
population risen significantly
and it boggles the mind why the number of
parliamentarians keeps on
increasing.
“The money given to the
legislators can be channelled to education, food
provision and health care
needs of the people such as antiretroviral drugs.”
Political analyst and
University of Zimbabwe lecturer Charity Manyeruke said
seconding 60 female
legislators was an unnecessary cost as the women quota
could still have been
achieved within the 210 seats.
“Men are not prepared to share power with
women and that is why they come up
with special circumstances to increase
women representation in Parliament,”
she said.
“It’s the same as
saying women are giving us a burden; let us just give them
the seats yet
they are capable of winning an election if given space to
campaign
freely.”
She said women were victims of patriarchy but evidence had shown
they were
capable leaders.
Political analyst Alexander Rusero said
such a bloated Parliament for only
13 million people was unsustainable.
Favourable
ranking for Zim in ACBF report
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Written by Ivan Zhakata, Staff
Writer
Saturday, 23 June 2012 19:07
HARARE - Zimbabwe has been
ranked ninth in the African Capacity Indicators
(ACI), capacity development
for agricultural transformation and food
security report published by the
African Capacity Building Foundation
(ACBF).
The country scored 48,6
points, with Ghana recording the highest score of
60,2 among the 42
countries surveyed by the ACBF.
Zimbabwe had an ACI index value of
approximately 50 points and an ACBF
disbursement of over $1
million.
According to ACBF, a specific composite index is built for
agriculture and
it is the harmonic average of four cluster agriculture
indices namely,
agricultural strategy formulation and implementation,
training, research and
development/innovations in agriculture, role of
private sector on the value
chain and information systems.
Zimbabwe
has an Agricultural strategy of 50 percent and a training
innovation of 52,4
percent which is slightly above average.
The role of private sector and
information systems stood at 23,8 and 9,5
percent respectively while the ACI
in agriculture was 54,8 percent, which is
also above average.
The
ACBF report noted the country’s overall performance in agriculture and
food
security was good.
The majority of countries were between with 33 and 55
percent.
Only five countries, Burundi, Central African Republic,
Democratic Republic
of Congo, Cote d’ Ivoire and Mauritania were lowly
ranked.
According to the ACI, ACBF is contributing to scaling up capacity
development achievement in the country. ACBF early this month approved five
grants totalling over $13 million for projects in Zimbabwe and South
Sudan.
Two regional and two national projects in Zimbabwe received a
total of $10,8
million placing a total investment in Zimbabwe since 1992 of
$26,4 million.
South Sudan received a grant of $2 250 for the South Sudan
Capacity Building
Project (SSCBP).
The two regional programmes in
Zimbabwe are the Women’s University in Africa
(WUA) and the Project of
Lecturers and Workshop in Peace, Leadership and
Governance in Africa by
Eminent Persons (Pearl).
The two national projects are the Capacity
Development Program for the
ministry of Regional Integration and
International Cooperation in Zimbabwe
(Moriic) and the Zimbabwe Capacity
Development Programme (ZCDP).
Finance minister Tendai Biti has forecasted
the country’s agricultural
sector to grow by 11,6 percent in 2012 taking
into account increased
funding facilities established by government, the
banking sector,
co-operating partners, seed and fertiliser
suppliers.
Biti has however, announced that he would review the country’s
growth
projections in his mid-term fiscal policy review next month amid
indications
the 9,3 percent growth for this year would not be achievable
under the
prevailing conditions.
Rehabilitation Works And Is A
Torture Survivor's Right
Human rights Forum
26 June 2012
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum)
joins the rest of the
world in commemorating the United Nations (UN)
International Day in Support
of Victims of Torture on 26 June. In
commemorating this day the Forum
remembers those who have died and those who
are destined to spend the
rest of their lives in a state of trauma as a
consequence of torture.
Internationally, torture is regarded as a crime
against humanity and the
perpetrators are viewed as “the enemies of all
humankind”. It is an
indictment
against the state that torture continues
to exist in Zimbabwe despite it
being
prohibited in the
Constitution.
The theme for this year’s commemoration, “Rehabilitation works
and is a
torture survivor’s right” exhorts all states, as the custodians of
the
peoples’
rights, to provide mechanisms to rehabilitate torture
victims as a right. It
is
therefore sad that the Organ on National
Healing, Reconciliation and
Integration, set up under the Global Political
Agreement, is still to
execute its
mandate of interrogating measures to
rehabilitate both individual survivors
of
torture and their communities.
Instead of harassing and undermining human
rights defenders, the Forum urges
the state to partner the human rights
watchdogs in the fight for torture
survivors’ rights, including
rehabilitation.
Zimbabwe is a nation with a
long history of gross human rights violations
abetted by a culture of
impunity. The now pervasive culture of impunity has
led to lawlessness and
abuse of power by some law enforcement agents. This
abuse of power and lack
of respect for the law was recently demonstrated by
Shamva police when they
severely assaulted residents at Canterbury Mine
resulting in the death of one
person.
Over the years, torture, cruel, inhuman and/or degrading treatment
has
become a central element of state agents’ treatment of persons perceived
as
state opponents. Torture has been used to intimidate, punish and
extract
confessions from criminal suspects, political activists and human
rights
defenders as well as members of the public. Victims and their families
have
had to bear the brunt of dealing with the aftermath of torture on their
own.
Working on the consensus that torture is inhuman and degrading for both
the
victims and perpetrators, it is incumbent upon our society to take
responsibility
for past acts of torture and provide appropriate remedies
for victims thus
enabling them to carry on with their lives. Rehabilitation
is the remedy
which
empowers the victims of torture to resume as full a
life as possible while
encouraging perpetrators to repent.
This year’s
commemorations are significant as they come at a time when the
Government of
Zimbabwe has announced its commitment to ratify the UN
Convention Against
Torture, Cruel, Inhuman and/or Degrading Treatment and
its Optional Protocol
and subsequently criminalise torture. The Forum urges
the government to
translate its commitment into action as a matter of
urgency
and implores
it to establish structures and institutions for the
rehabilitation
of
victims of torture.
Forum members
• Amnesty
International-Zimbabwe
• Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in
Zimbabwe
• Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe
• Justice for Children Trust
•
Legal Resources Foundation
• Media Institute of Southern Africa-Zimbabwe
•
Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe
• Nonviolent Action and Strategies for
Social Change
• Research and Advocacy Unit
• Students Solidarity
Trust
• Transparency International-Zimbabwe
• Women of Zimbabwe Arise
•
Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of
the
Offender
• Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights
•
Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust
• Zimbabwe Human Rights Association
•
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
• Zimbabwe Peace Project
• Zimbabwe
Women Lawyers Association
What
is torture?
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
TORTURE is the
intentional infliction of severe mental or physical pain or
suffering by or
with the consent of state authorities for a specific
purpose. Torture is
routinely used to punish, to obtain information or a
confession, to take
revenge on a person/s or create terror and fear within a
population.
Some of the most common methods of physical torture
include beating,
electric shocks, stretching, submersion, suffocation,
burns, rape, sexual
assault and beatings underneath the feet also known as
falanga.
Psychological forms of torture and ill-treatment, which very
often have the
most long-lasting consequences for victims, commonly include:
isolation,
threats, humiliation, mock executions, mock amputations, and
witnessing the
torture of others.
Article 1 of the United Nations
Convention Against Torture and other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment (UNCAT) defines torture as;
“... any act by which severe pain
or suffering, whether physical or mental,
is intentionally inflicted on a
person for such purposes as obtaining from
him or a third person information
or a confession, punishing him for an act
he or a third person has committed
or is suspected of having committed, or
intimidating or coercing him or a
third person, or for any reason based on
discrimination of any kind, when
such pain or suffering is inflicted by or
at the instigation of or with the
consent or acquiescence of a public
official or other person acting in an
official capacity. It does not include
pain or suffering arising only from,
inherent in or incidental to lawful
sanctions.”
This convention requires
member states to take effective measures to prevent
torture within their
borders.
Optional Protocol to the UN Convention
Against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
(OPCAT).
In many countries, torture occurs in places of detention,
such as prisons,
police stations and detention centres.
In some
cases, prison, police or detention personnel are not aware that
their
actions may constitute torture, and detainees are not always aware of
their
right to freedom from torture.
The Optional Protocol, or Opcat, which
came into force in June 2006, is the
first international instrument that
aims at preventing torture in places of
detention and at protecting persons
deprived of their liberty.
The Opcat oversees the set-up of not only
an international supervision
mechanism but also of independent national
bodies to implement human rights
standards locally.
At the
international level it creates the subcommittee on Prevention of
Torture and
other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. At
the national
level, state parties to the Opcat are required to establish
National
Preventive Mechanisms, a requirement which enhances ownership of
the process
of supervision, benefits prevention through adding local
knowledge and
improves effective follow-up.
Impunity and torture
In all regions of
the world, the crime of torture is committed daily against
men, women and
children with impunity. In most cases, no one is prosecuted
and punished for
the crime. Impunity is the failure of the state to fully
investigate
violations, bring to justice and punish perpetrators, provide
victims with
effective remedies, and take all necessary steps to prevent a
recurrence of
the violation. Impunity means that nothing prevents torturers
from repeating
their crimes.
It sends a clear message to torturers that their crimes
are tolerable. Where
impunity is prevalent there is no deterrent, torture
can be committed
without perpetrators having to risk arrest, prosecution or
punishment. When
torturers are not punished, there is a risk that torture
will generate into
a widespread or systematic practice.
Torture in
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe has not ratified the UNCAT and its optional protocol.
Further,
torture is not criminalised.
The current constitution of
Zimbabwe provides only for the protection from
inhuman treatment in section
15.
At the 19th Session of the Human Rights Council, the Zimbabwe
government
committed itself to ratifying the Convention and its optional
protocol and
to criminalise torture.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
urges the government to fully implement
this commitment.
A
new ‘indigenous’ stock market for Zimbabwe?
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
I WONDER if designers of the
indigenisation laws considered the practical
ramifications of the 51%
indigenous ownership rule particularly in the case
of publicly-listed
companies. It is effectively means that 51% of all
publicly-traded companies
required to comply with the laws will be
restricted to a market of
indigenous investors. Not only does it require
vigilant and systematic
monitoring, but it is apparent that there will
inevitably be a distortion of
the stock market.
25.06.1207:53pm
by Alex Magaisa
Just
in case not everyone is familiar with the operation of stock markets
where
listed companies’ shares are traded, perhaps a little very basic
description
is in order.
There are two types of companies – private and public. The
latter is allowed
to market its shares to the public whereas the private
company is not.
Usually, most companies start off private, with less onerous
obligations.
But the company’s ability to raise funds from the public is
limited since it
is restricted from selling shares publicly.
So as
the business grows, it makes sense to convert from private to public
company
status. For practical purposes, it also makes sense to
simultaneously have
the company’s shares listed on a stock exchange, such as
in our case, the
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
The stock exchange is the equivalent of Musika,
the farmers’ market. The
shares are there for all to see and for anyone to
buy just as the farmers’
tomatoes from whatever part of the country are
there for all to view and buy
at Musika. The main purpose of listing is to
bring your company’s shares to
a platform where they will be visible to and
tradable by more people. And
because you are seeking to raise capital, it
makes sense to list on the
shares musika.
To extend the analogy
further, the Mrehwa farmer figures it probably makes
better business sense
to bring his tomato harvest to MbareMusika than to
stand by the roadside
along the Harare – Nyamapanda road. He knows the
market at MbareMusika is
bigger than at the roadside market. In the same way
owners of public
companies who wish to raise more funds know that they must
go to the stock
market and use the facility to sell the company’s shares to
the wider
public.
Usually, the biggest companies are listed on the stock market.
But because
the shares can be bought and sold by and to any person, there is
always the
risk that the founder can lose control of his company – hence the
phenomenon
of friendly and hostile takeovers of companies. There is a whole
body of
literature analysing the pros and cons of takeovers but suffice to
say it is
a natural phenomenon arising from the public character of the
stock market.
As we have seen, the beauty of the stock market is that
Investor A can sell
his shares to Investor X without ever having met each
other; without ever
having spoken a word between them – these transactions
usually take place
through professionals called share brokers. Investor A
can be a red
Zimbabwean selling his shares to Investor X who is a blue
Zimbabwean or a
green European. All Investor A needs is money for the value
of his shares.
What prompts him to sell is probably that the company’s share
price on the
stock market would have risen because the market perceives that
the company
is doing well.
But there has to be someone available and
willing to buy and he does not
want the cost of searching and verifying the
identity of the buyer. In fact,
such searches could reduce the market’s
efficiency – it negates the whole
aim of listing company shares and
facilitating ease of trades.
With the indigenisation laws, however, it
means 51% of the company must at
all times remain in the hands of the
indigenous as defined in the law. As an
indigenous investor, you must sell
your shares to another indigenous
investor. You no longer have the liberty
to sell to anyone else.
Essentially, it means that the market for indigenous
share owners in listed
companies will have to be restricted to indigenous
buyers only for to sell
to a foreigner would upset the balance.
The
implication of this is the creation of a severely restricted ‘secondary’
market for indigenous investors. It also means a severe distortion of the
stock market and limitations in terms of access to capital for Zimbabwean
listed companies – since at least 51% of what they seek can only be raised
among locals.
But then, what if the indigenous buyers are limited or
unwilling to pay the
price? This punishes even the honest and hard-working
indigenous investor
who owned shares before the inception of this rule
because suddenly he finds
himself with a restricted market of indigenous
buyers.
I could go on and consider how this will affect the take-overs
market
especially where companies are really struggling and need another
company to
bail them out via take-over.
I could go on and discuss the
difference in the types of securities issued
to investors – preference
shares, ordinary shares, debentures, etc – issued
by companies seeking to
raise capital and how this will also be affected by
the
regulations.
The larger question, of course, is how all this will be
enforced going
forward. Unless there is a formal indigenous securities’
market, it’s
difficult to see how the restrictions on sales will be enforced
on a regular
basis. And it will prove cumbersome for indigenous investors to
trade their
shares without flouting the regulations.
In addition,
it’s hard to see how publicly listed companies can be made
accountable for
change of ownership of shares between investors. Once given
to the
indigenous investors, the company can have no control over what the
indigenous investor does with the shares. The share represents the
investor’s
interest in the company and the investor has a legitimate right
to deal in
the share as he deems fit. The indigenous investor is free to
keep or sell
the shares in accordance with stock market norms. To restrict
him would be
to deny him his freedom, too and therefore negate the whole
essence of
empowerment.
Perhaps the state would have put in place a
rule that gives them the right
of first refusal in the public share market.
This would have the effect that
whenever an indigenous investor wants to
sell his shares, he would be
obliged to make a first offer to the state
which would decide whether or not
to buy. But surely, if the state had the
resources to buy the shares in
public companies, they would simply have
bought 51% of every foreign-owned
company and then sell on the shares to
indigenous Zimbabweans. The state has
no money.
In fact, inserting
the right of first refusal would not work just as it didn’t
work in relation
to the land issue when the state failed to maximise on its
right of first
refusal for many years after independence in 1980. In any
event, the state
has a poor record in business management as evidenced by
the demise of
almost every company in which it has a majority interest, the
ailing Air
Zimbabwe being a prime example. Furthermore, it would have the
potential to
create a bureaucratic and cumbersome process that would cause
stock market
inefficiencies.
As I have always maintained, I have no problem whatsoever
with the theory
behind policies to take ordinary people out of poverty and
to benefit local
communities from natural resources. Some people think when
we are critical
and point to loopholes that we are stridently opposed to
ideas of
empowerment. No, we are not. We simply plead that there be some
modest
investment in careful thought before taking steps that ultimately
kill the
proverbial goose that lays the golden eggs.
I am not sure if
the practical ramifications discussed above were considered
and if so,
whether there are mechanisms in place to deal with the
challenges.
When all is said and done, the great tragedy is that
there is no ideological
shift at all behind the indigenisation agenda – it
is not challenging the
neo-liberal capitalist system – rather it is an
attempt to remove the shoes
from the feet of one set of owners of capital
and into them place the feet
of a new set of owners, albeit bearing a
different complexion. There is
nothing original or revolutionary about it
and that is what is really and
truly sad. - wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
Zimbabwe: key factors to
prosperity part 2
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/
The
curse of Africa
Vince Musewe
25 June 2012
The curse of Africa is its inability to efficiently
allocate and spend its
resources mainly due to corruption and the lack of
managerial capacity
In my last article I identified some key factors for
Zimbabwe's prosperity
these being; leadership accountability, the efficient
collection and
allocation of financial resources, the use of technology to
accelerate
economic development and the respect and preservation of human
capital so
that all Zimbabweans have the opportunity to live up to their
full
potential.
Here I want to deal with the issue of the efficient
collection and
allocation of financial resources.
It is evident that
Zimbabwe has suffered some institutional paralysis with
regard to the
effectiveness and efficiency in the collection and allocation
of government
revenues. In addition the banking sector has not particularly
been the best
allocator of resources. The recent closure and or curatorship
of some banks
due to bad loans reflect the challenges with regard to optimal
resource
allocation currently faced by some of our banks.
The curse of Africa is
its inability to efficiently allocate and spend its
resources mainly due to
corruption and lack of capacity. Africa is not poor
but Africans remain poor
because corruption remains one of the most
injurious practices that continue
to contribute to the underdevelopment of
Africa by Africans. Added to this
is the lack of managerial capacity
especially at public sector level where
there is significant waste and
mismanagement of resources.
The
continuous over statement by Zimbabwe's minister of finance of expected
revenues in every budget speech indicates a disconnect between what the
state estimates should happen and what is actually happening. It is quite
correct to assume that large amounts of funds are being externalized out of
Zimbabwe at the expense of the fiscus. In addition to this, is the sheer
waste of resources due to inappropriate priorities and a not so efficient
tax collection regime. A good example is the recent comments by the minister
of education that Zimbabwe is spending more on travel than education.The
result is that the government both under spends and misspends on critical
services leading to further deterioration of the standard of service it can
render.
Zimbabwe will not only need to create new institutional
capacity but a new
value system within the public sector so that its
resource allocation is
optimal. Whether this is possible or not remains to
be seen.
Zimbabwe needs an estimated US$10 billion for the rehabilitation
of its
infrastructure. That is a considerable amount that is likely to cause
much
grief if the corruption and inefficiency we are now witnessing
continues.
The rehabilitation of Zimbabwe's economy will be a challenge and
will
require a new and transparent approach in the management of public
resources.
With regard to the financial services sector, I think our
banks will need to
have a bias towards developmental expenditure and
creating access to capital
for entrepreneurs without the onerous
requirements of traditional banking
practice. Financial institutions tend to
create artificial barriers to entry
for new players through their
conservative lending approach.
We will need to explore other funding
mechanisms that appreciate that
Zimbabwe needs to accelerate its development
while, of course, managing the
risk. We must therefore see a restructuring
of the financial services sector
both on the regulatory front and on
investment philosophies. Pension funds,
micro lenders, asset managers and
private equity funds will have to play a
leading role in reviving the
Zimbabwean economy.
Having been in Zimbabwe for the last month, I have
observed that red tape,
slow decision making and a general lax in customer
service have permeated
both government and the private sector. This is
disappointing and can be
frustrating to entrepreneurs. Zimbabwe must up its
game if we are to attract
new investments and achieve social delivery
objectives.
I do agree that the fundamental drawback is the current
political
uncertainties but I have also noticed high levels of negativity
about the
future especially in our local newspapers. Zimbabweans are
inadvertently
shaping a terrible future for themselves in their heads by
anticipating the
worst case scenario. Unfortunately what this does is that
it creates a false
momentum towards failure.
We need think positively
because nobody is going to take this country to the
next level except
Zimbabweans themselves.
Vince Musewe is an independent economist
currently in Harare and you may
contact him on vtmusewe@gmail.com
5 Other People Ruining Zimbabwe
It's not just Robert Mugabe's fault the country
is such a mess. (Just mostly.)
BY ERIN CONWAY-SMITH
| JUNE 25,
2012
When Robert Mugabe turned 88 in February, he
celebrated with five massive cakes, a soccer tournament dubbed the "Bob 88 Super
Cup," and a beauty pageant. "The day will come when I will become sick," Mugabe
told Radio Zimbabwe, according to AFP. "As of now I am fit as a fiddle."
Fortified with Botox, vitamin shots and black
hair dye, Mugabe still seems pretty feisty, last week running down
civilians with his motorcade and
taking a bloated
entourage to the United Nations
sustainable development conference in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe is limping along, its
economy broken and its government barely functioning. But while Mugabe continues
to get all the international attention, he can't be held solely responsible for
Zimbabwe's ongoing turmoil. Here's a list of five people who also deserve a bit
of the blame.
1) Emmerson Mnangagwa
Known as "Ngwena," or "The Crocodile," for his
reputed brutality, Mnangagwa is Zimbabwe's defense minister and the
current favorite to succeed Mugabe. A veteran of the guerrilla war against the
British, Mnangagwa went on to head the secret police in the 1980s, and he is
thought to have orchestrated the slaughter of about 20,000 ethnically Ndebele
civilians by a North Korean-trained army unit in the 1980s. Sokwanele, an activist group, called him "perhaps the one figure
in Zimbabwe to inspire greater terror than President Mugabe."
More recently, Mnangagwa was Mugabe's chief
election officer during the violent 2008 runoff vote, when thugs from the ruling
party, Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF), waged a bloody intimidation
campaign against opposition supporters. The Sunday
Telegraph reported in April on a
secret pact: Mugabe allegedly told Mnangagwa he would anoint him his successor
-- as long as he ensured Mugabe's victory in the second round of voting.
Mnangagwa dismissed this as mere noise intended to stir up
interparty conflict. But according to Zimbabwe political
analysts, "The Crocodile" is fighting
hard in Zanu-PF's continuing power struggles.
Mnangagwa is also heavily involved in the
construction of a military college near the capital, Harare, dubbed the Robert
Mugabe National School of Intelligence, the Zimbabwean newspaper reported
last year. Built by a Chinese
construction company, the college has been financed with a $98 million Chinese
loan, funded by a diamond deal with Chinese firm Anjin Investments. Mnangagwa
recently admitted to Zimbabwean military involvement in the diamond trade,
telling a university audience in Gweru that the Army struck deals with Chinese
and Russian diamond firms to counter Western sanctions.
2. Saviour Kasukuwere
As indigenization and empowerment minister,
Kasukuwere presides over the notorious 2010 law that forces foreign-owned
companies to cede 51 percent of their shares to black Zimbabweans. This
indigenization program has made Kasukuwere, 41, the youngest Zanu-PF minister,
"a rising political
star," according to South Africa's
Times newspaper. He has vowed to intensify the program, claiming it will
give Mugabe a boost in the upcoming election.
Kasukuwere, who in April confusingly claimed to
Zimbabwe's
Newsday that he is the "Hitler of
our time," has been doing his best to terrify already nervous foreign investors.
He announced that the government had unilaterally seized a controlling stake in
an unspecified number of mines and threatened to take over another, owned by
South Africa's Impala Platinum, without offering any compensation. Kasukuwere
said he is seeking justice for his people and a restoration of rights to
national resources. "If that is Hitler, let me be a Hitler tenfold," he told
Newsday.
3. Morgan Tsvangirai
Many Zimbabweans
credit Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai,
the former opposition leader turned coalition partner to Mugabe, for helping
bring relative peace and stability to the country. But his critics say
the country's stability has nothing to do with Tsvangirai, pointing instead to
Zimbabwe's adoption of the American dollar and an increase in foreign aid.
Ministries in their joint government barely function, and few of the reforms
agreed to under the power-sharing deal have been implemented. In a leaked
diplomatic cable, U.S. Amb. Charles Ray said in late 2009 that the party Tsvangirai
leads, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), lacked strategic vision.
Tsvangirai recently got engaged to the daughter
of a high-ranking Zanu-PF official, and while there's no accounting for love, it
is an odd choice given the continuing turmoil between Mugabe's party and
Tsvangirai's MDC. His late wife, Susan, who died in a car crash less than a
month after Tsvangirai became prime minister, in 2009, was hailed as "a mother of the nation." Zimbabweans are left wondering why Tsvangirai is
marrying into the Zanu-PF, the party that has brutalized thousands of MDC
supporters.
4. Obert Mpofu
The mining minister Mpofu has a tight grip on
the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), the company that
controls the Marange fields in eastern Zimbabwe -- home to an estimated 25
percent of the world's diamonds. But little of the country's diamond revenue has
found its way into state coffers, amid allegations of widespread smuggling and
plunder of Marange's riches.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti said he only
received $122 million in diamond revenues last
year, money desperately needed to fund
government projects, despite the country producing $334 million worth of gems.
Mpofu, who calls himself Mugabe's "ever obedient son" and also has close ties to
Beijing, has been struggling to explain why he is suddenly a very wealthy man.
5. Jacob Zuma
South African President Zuma is supposed to be
facilitating talks on Zimbabwe's political crisis. After the disastrous 2008
elections, regional bloc known as the Southern African Development Community
appointed Zuma as facilitator of dialogue between Zanu-PF and the MDC.
Zimbabweans hoped Zuma would succeed in pushing for Mugabe to be held
accountable.
But Zuma has been widely criticized for his
utter lack of progress. "Revolutions have been conceived and executed and
elections held, or due to be held in Tunisia and Egypt while Mr. Zuma is still
trying to organize one election," the Zimbabwean said in April. "Mr. Zuma
should also understand that there is a cost in human lives being lost in
Zimbabwe while this procrastination over agreed reforms is going on."
Zuma, overdue to return to Harare to meet with
leaders in the unity government, seems preoccupied with political maneuvering at
home ahead of a crucial African National Congress conference later this year. A
spokeswoman for the South African mediation team said Zuma isn't there to "babysit" the process. Zuma has called for patience, but with
elections nearing, political violence mounting, and the country going broke,
time is running out.
Robert Mugabe, however, seems to be going
strong.