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MDC on Monday-25 June 2001
Completing the change: resolving the land issue once and for all: MDC's
case for a Land Commission.

 

An independent Land Commission lies at the heart and soul of the Movement
for Democratic Change's land policy. The terms of reference of this
commission will
be two-fold. Firstly, the commission will carry out an audit of the
current fast track land reform programme being spearheaded by the
government.

 

Secondly, the commission will oversee, supervise and administer MDC's
agrarian reforms on a day-to-day basis.

 

The Land Commission that is envisaged will be selected through an open
process that will respect and involve the institution of parliament as an
embodiment of the
people's will. This commission will represent key voices including the
voices of government, agricultural experts, traditional leaders, farmers,
farm workers and other stakeholders.

 

The underlying philosophy behind the idea of an independent commission is
that the land reform question in Zimbabwe is an unfinished national
business and therefore any formula that may be worked out for its
resolution should of necessity be national
in character and representative of certain  key voices in the process.
Zimbabweans should not allow decisions on the fundamental subject of land
reform to be taken behind closed doors of antiquated and confused Zanu PF
structures where patronage,
partisanship, intimidation and downright  ignorance are the presiding
gods.

 

It is against a background of Zanu PF's fast track land reform programme,
which is essentially not different from the colonial land policy that the
necessity of an independent Commission cannot be disputed. The colonial
government used state power to discriminate against the majority black
people in land allocation. Large tracks of land were immorally given to
the minority whites. The current Zanu PF government is also using state
power to discriminate against everybody who holds alternative political
views to those of Zanu PF in allocating land. Obert Mpofu the
governor of Matabeleland North has openly stated that no Zimbabwean other
than Zanu PF charlatans and lumpen elements is eligible to benefit from
the on going fast
track mess.

 

Some two weeks ago the MDC candidate for Chegutu in the 2000 parliamentary
elections, Philmon Matibe, a black commercial farmer, was unlawfully
evicted from
his only farm, which he purchased in 1999 for no reason other than that he
is an MDC member. This bears ample testimony of the evils associated with
a partisan process that is not manned by an independent authority. The
MDC's land commission will facilitate agrarian reforms in a professional
and non-partisan manner for the good of all Zimbabweans irrespective of
their political or religious affiliations.

From The Zimbabwe Standard, 24 June

"World Bank" on Bulawayo streets

Bulawayo - While the government struggles to cope with serious foreign currency shortages, thousands of American dollars and British pounds change hands everyday on the streets and pavements of the country’s second largest city. The street dealers doing brisk business are the white-clad female members of the controversial religious sect known as Vapostori - from the Johane we Masowe Church - which has its headquarters here.

Everyday, from sunrise to sunset, scores of Vapostori women descend on the streets of the City of Kings. Their task is to buy and sell foreign currency to locals and foreigners. These days, not just individuals, but big companies also buy forex from them. Whilst some of these women are not well educated, they are very knowledgeable as far as official and unofficial foreign currency rates are concerned. Huge sums of foreign currency can be changed at one flea market along Herbert Chitepo Avenue. The flea market was dubbed the "World Bank" by the minister of finance, Simba Makoni, when he presented his budget last year. Makoni jokingly said that those who wanted foreign currency should go to the streets of Bulawayo.

According to Vapostori currency dealers, any amount can be changed into foreign or local currency. "Do you want to change some money? How much have you got for us?" one of the dealers shouted as this reporter entered the flea market. Their exchange rates are too attractive for any normal person to ignore. For example, Z$90 buys US$1. The official exchange rate at commercial banks is US$1 to Z$55 and on the black market, anything between Z$120 and Z$200 now buys the greenback. However, the big question being asked by many people here is: Where do the Vapostori women get such huge sums of foreign currency everyday, when everyone else can’t get the money?

According to police sources, the Vapostori women are selling forex on behalf of some wealthy business tycoons of Asian origin, affectionately known here as amakula. Two black business tycoons, one of them a popular soccer administrator, are also linked to this street foreign currency trade. "All these Vapostori women you see on the streets are working for a wealthy Indian business tycoon. They are paid on commission," said a local businessman who says he is struggling to get forex for his company. He accused the police of receiving kick backs from the businessmen involved in the forex trade.

Such is the women’s monopoly on forex trade that some bureaux de change have been forced to close down. Two managers from foreign airlines were recently reported to have flown to Bulawayo to buy forex from the women. The traders have, however, vehemently denied that their forex trade was responsible for the serious shortage of foreign currency in the country. "We cannot be accused of causing the forex crisis. This is (President) Mugabe’s problems, not ours," one of the women said as she waited for customers along Main Street. State and municipal police officers sometimes spend hours on end chasing the enterprising women from the streets to prevent them from conducting their business. But scores of them simply return later to continue with their brisk business. The police last week even moved in to try to advise foreign tourists who descended on Zimbabwe for the solar eclipse, to change their money at commercial banks and hotels and not deal with the women. But their attempts were in vain.

 

From The Guardian (UK), 25 June

Zimbabwe's eager pupils are too poor to practise what they learn

Nkashe - There are 350 pupils in the remote Zimbabwe secondary school in which I have been teaching for the last six months. School surveys show the vast majority of older pupils are having sexual relations. None has access to condoms, even though Zimbabwe has one of the highest HIV/Aids rates in the world. The nearest clinic is 15 miles away. It provides free condoms but the pupils cannot afford the bus fare - and would not want to be seen going to an adult clinic. There is a secret store of condoms right on the school doorstep – 200 of them for the HIV/Aids prevention classes which we have been conducting. Using a broom handle, we show the children how condoms should be put on. I asked whether I could distribute my supply, but was told the community would be outraged. It would be seen to be too permissive in a culture which still frowns on sex before marriage.

I am one of 12 British volunteers working with an SPW (Students Partnership Worldwide) teaching project in Matabeleland. We are each paired with a Zimbabwean student. My partner, Benhildah Mlamba, and I teach 21 lessons a week in our secondary school and four in a local primary school under a guidance and counselling rubric, but the main focus is on Aids awareness. The need is all too obvious. The funerals are grim and frequent: every week and sometimes twice a week in a relatively small community. In another school in the project, the headteacher and his wife have died from Aids - and their orphaned baby is seriously ill. The deputy head has died from the disease too.

Yet HIV/Aids is still barely acknowledged. The community refers to people having been "sick for a long time". None of the village deaths since I arrived have been attributed to Aids. The pupils are different. They want to know. Benhildah and I deliberately did not begin our lessons by talking about Aids awareness. The children were not used to discussing issues. We realised we had to win their trust first. Once we had, we were inundated with questions about the disease.

Organising sports, setting up lunchtime Frisbee clubs and holding an Easter holiday residential camp at the school all helped to break down barriers. Six months on we are getting there. The school library now has an HIV/Aids resource centre - posters, pamphlets and cleverly written school books supplied by Unicef and the Matabeleland Aids Council. We've started a lunchtime Aids action club where we use drama, role play, songs, poetry and dance to get the messages across. We've selected and trained eight really bright and intelligent peer leaders who are eager to keep things going when we move on. We've just had two successive residential training weekends with them. And we have got real discussions going in our timetabled lessons.

We've helped to dispel a lot of myths. Our pupils now know everyone can catch Aids, even rich white people and politicians, but that with care they can avoid the infection. But to achieve that they are going to need access to condoms. The good news is that there is a family planning nurse in the vicinity. The head teacher has agreed to go and talk to her with the aim of holding a regular school clinic. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

 

From The Zimbabwe Independent, 22 June

Agritex Refutes Made's Claims On Country's Food Security

Harare - Agricultural Technical and Extension Services (Agritex), the country's sole provider of crop forecasting figures, has dismissed Lands and Agriculture minister Joseph Made's claims that the country has enough food stocks. Agritex has defended its forecasts as accurate and says they should be relied on if Zimbabwe is to survive the looming food shortages. Agritex said estimates were that Zimbabwe would have a maize deficit of 154 570 tonnes by March 2002 and needed to import 654 570 tonnes, 500 000 of which should constitute the strategic reserves.

An expert in the department said Agritex used six methods of crop forecasting and the resultant figures presented to the government were a consensus of a number of expert inputs. "We have come up with these figure after using crop sample surveys, simple eye estimates, Central Statistical Office crop estimates, Commercial Farmers Union surveys, the Sadc Early Warning Unit's remote sensing, and the Scientific & Industrial Research & Development Centre (SIRDC) model. So our figures should be considerably accurate," he said.

Made has been reported as saying Zimbabwe will not import maize this season as farmers have produced enough to meet the nation's requirements. "There is no need for the government to import any maize. It is absolutely untrue that we will import maize. I have flown around the country and seen that there is plenty of maize in the communal and resettlement areas. I am confident no one will starve since maize is there," the minister said, dispelling fears that the country may need to import 800 000 tonnes of maize to avert starvation.

The crop forecasting official said in the past Agritex used a combination of crop sample surveys where 10 farmers were selected per ward for sampling and "simple eye estimates" where the experienced extension officer would estimate the production for each communal area as the main source of forecasting figures. But a combination of the methods produced subjective harvest estimates. "Last season, the department trained staff on a revised sampling method, which included stratified random sampling of each extension area or ward."

Agritex had also asked other stakeholders to come up with their own figures. "The Central Statistical Office carried out their estimates in the large and small scale commercial as well as resettlement and communal areas," he said. He said the CFU through the Grain Producers Association used 1 500 maize producing commercial farmers for the survey and the farmers gave information on the hectarage they had under crop in a current year. He said SIRDC provided its figures through its Crop Area Estimation Study which was launched in 1998. In its final report for the 2000/2001 farming season Agritex said the past season saw farmers reducing areas planted by between 15% and 50% in all crops, mainly due to bad weather, shortages of fuel, GMB delays in paying farmers and the political environment. The report said most disturbing was the reduction of area planted to grain in major grain producing areas such as Gokwe, Hurungwe and Mazowe.

 

From the Star (SA), 24 June

Zim prints new money as currency crisis looms

Harare - Zimbabwe's central bank is soon to issue a Z$500 note and a Z$5 coin, officials said on Sunday. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe spokesperson Ignatius Mabasa said the new denominations were "for the convenience of the public". The date for the launch of the note had yet to be decided. There have been calls for several months for new denominations to be introduced as rampant inflation forces people to carry large and cumbersome bundles of Z$100 notes - the current highest denomination - for routine shopping trips.

The 70 percent hike in the price of fuel two weeks ago has taken the cost of a full 50 litre tank of petrol to nearly Z$4000, making cash payment on the forecourt a long-winded process. The price of fuel is 17 times what it was in 1997 and the same volume of fuel would have required only two Z$100 bills and a couple of lesser notes. Inflation is currently running at nearly 60 percent, and economists forecast that it will exceed 100 percent by the end of the year. For the second year running, economic growth is expected to be minus five percent.

Mugabe spurns currency devaluation plan
Sapa
June 25 2001 at 07:25AM
Harare - Zimbabwe's central bank would soon issue a Z$500 note and a Z$5 coin, officials said yesterday.

 

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe spokesman Ignatius Mabasa said the new denominations were "for the convenience of the public".

 

The date for the launch of the note had yet to be decided.

 

There have been calls for several months for new denominations to be introduced as rampant inflation forces people to carry large and cumbersome bundles of Z$100 notes - the highest denomination - for routine shopping trips.

 

The 70 percent increase in the price of fuel two weeks ago has taken the cost of a full 50-litre tank of petrol to nearly Z$4 000.

 

The price of fuel was 17 times what it was in 1997 and the same volume of fuel would have required only two Z$100 bills and a couple of lesser notes.

 

Inflation is running at nearly 60 percent, and economists forecast that it will exceed 100 percent by the end of the year.

 

For the second year running, economic growth is expected to be minus 5 percent.

 

Zimbabwe a problem for SA says Mboweni
Reuters
June 25 2001 at 01:26PM
Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis has taken its toll on South Africa, but the country cannot interfere in its neighbour's affairs, South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni said on Monday.

 

"I think that Zimbabwe has caused a lot of difficulties both politically and economically but the leadership of Zimbabwe has to deal with the issues themselves," Mboweni said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation.

 

Last year, an illegal grab of mainly white-owned commercial farms in Zimbabwe contributed to a steep slide in the volatile rand, which lost more than 12 percent of its value on a trade-weighted basis.

 

Mboweni has acknowledged the impact of contagion concerns on foreign investor sentiment towards South Africa, but government officials have repeatedly railed against the link, saying it is unwarranted and probably racially motivated.

 

One of the key issues has been the neutral stand taken by South African President Thabo Mbeki towards the backing that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has given to the invasion of white-owned farmland.

 

Mboweni is one of the few senior South African public figures who have expressed concern at the violent campaign, in which several farmers have died. He left the governing African National Congress to take the helm of the central bank but he is believed to still hold political ambitions.

 

"The rule of law is everything, most definitely I am concerned," he said. However, he said that South Africa could not be confrontational with the Zimbabwean government.

 

"If any members seem to undermine the programme (of regional integration) discussions will take place ... but shouting won't help," he said. Mboweni noted that South Africa had its own programme of land reform, but condemned the high rate of killings of domestic white farmers.

 

"There cannot be an excuse for anyone engaged in any programme of murder," he said.

 

Mboweni dismissed suggestions that allegations of a plot to harm President Thabo Mbeki, seen as a warning to challengers to his leadership, would harm confidence in the country.

 

"I think that's a storm in a teacup. I haven't seen any impact on the economy," he said.

 

He also played down warnings that the HIV-AIDS epidemic would reduce economic growth by up to 20 percent, saying that a study carried out by the central bank did not provide any backing for the estimates.

 

"Any major impact of AIDS on our working force would affect the economy but I think steps taken now will help to counter that," he said.

 

South Africa has 4.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS, higher than any other country.

 

The government was correct to focus on a wide-ranging education campaign to protect people who had not been infected with HIV, he said.

 

The interview with the BBC took place on June 8, a week before the central bank unexpectedly slashed its key repo rate by 100 basis points to 11.00 percent. - Reuters