http://www.thetimes.co.za
Dianna Games Published:Mar 15,
2009
Dollarisation puts local companies on the back foot
Zimbabwe's
manufacturers are being undermined by a wave of foreign products
being
dumped in their back yard - particularly from South Africa - as
"dollarisation" of the economy opens up a supply chain into the battered
country.
Shops in Zimbabwe, a country that became a regional
economic power on the
back of its strong manufacturing sector, are now
filled with foreign goods
priced in US dollars and rands.
Zimbabwean
economic analyst Jonathan Waters said goods were coming from
various
sources; cheap biscuits from Dubai are just one example. He said a
degree of
"pricing normality" has been introduced, both by dollarisation and
competition with local goods, where retailers have been used to making money
from very high margins.
Waters' company Zfn does regular retail price
analysis on a basket of 20
imported and five locally produced goods, and has
found that since January1
the price of the basket has come down to 70.94
from 85.34.
A decade ago, Zimbabwe was the second-largest exporter within
the Common
Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) trade grouping,
exporting
about 8000 industrial products.
But now local manufacturers
are finding it hard to compete, even internally,
in the harsh trading
environment. Long-standing price controls mean
companies' stock levels have
diminished and most are operating at only 10%
of capacity.
Power,
in short supply, is about five times the average regional price,
further
undermining competitiveness.
The supply side of industry, primarily the
agriculture sector, is at
all-time lows due to the land seizures of the past
decade and a lack of
support for new farmers. Some manufacturers have
survived by setting up
contract farming arrangements with small
farmers.
Although many companies have kept up exports as a hedge against
local
economic decline, they have battled with onerous government policies
that
effectively force them to hand over the bulk of their foreign currency
earnings.
The biggest constraint to the growth of the private sector
is a dearth of
working capital and skilled workers.
Several
Zimbabwean companies have complained that dollarisation has led to a
big
increase in costs and a new headache - ever-increasing amounts of
foreign
currency.
But strong management skills remain and many good, well-priced
assets still
exist, making recapitalisation a priority for recovery in
manufacturing.
South African parent companies are looking at ways to help
Zimbabwe
subsidiaries boost production capacity, and many businesses south
of the
Limpopo have eyes on investment opportunities.
With
dollarisation increasing the availability of fuel, regional transport
companies that avoided Zimbabwe in the past few years will once again route
their trucks through the country.
Regional trade is also likely
to pick up with a growing normalisation of the
macroeconomic climate -
although international markets, many lost as a
result of land seizures and
the breakdown of livestock controls, may not be
so easy to get
back.
Dollarisation has given the country breathing space to get its
economy
moving but, in the longer term, it is likely to cause more problems
than it
solves if not accompanied by a broad range of economic
reforms.
The US dollars that had built up in the black market have
quickly been
absorbed into the liberalised environment and demand has
rapidly outpaced
supply. Economic instability is likely if there is not a
significant hard
currency injection soon.
A large import bill
means currency continues to drain out of the country,
mostly to SA, to
source goods, and very little value is coming back.
Foreign inflows
remain limited to targeted funding for humanitarian
assistance at this
stage. Both the International Monetary Fund and African
Development Bank
have said they will only start funding Zimbabwe again when
arrears of
160-million and 460-million, respectively, have been paid.
Potential
funders and investors believe it is too soon to plough money into
the new
unity government, which is hobbled by the presence of President
Robert
Mugabe and his old-guard ministers.
There are also concerns about a
lack of co-ordination between new finance
minister Tendai Biti and Mugabe's
Central Bank governor Gideon Gono.
Prime minister Morgan
Tsvangirai has said the country needs 5-billion to set
it on a recovery
path, but the spending focus seems to be on consumption
(such as civil
servants' salaries) rather than on productive policies.
The new
government meets in Victoria Falls this week to map out a short-term
recovery plan, which will give funders waiting in the wings some indication
of how they might assist.
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
19:18
JOSTLING for the posts of provincial governors has intensified in
the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) as the party leader battles to
ensure
equitable regional representation.
Sources said
provinces that have given the MDC-T leader and Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai a "headache" are Harare and Masvingo, where
several party
officials have been positioning themselves for the
governorship of the
cities.
The sources said the party officials have been falling over
each other
in the past month as they try to impress the MDC leader, who is
expected to
make his appointments this week.
President Robert
Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Professor Arthur Mutambara of
the smaller MDC
formation agreed that Zanu PF would appoint four governors,
MDC-T five while
MDC-M would have one governor.
Those in line for
the governorship of Harare province include Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) secretary-general Wellington Chibebe, MP for
Kambuzuma, Willas
Madzimure, MDC deputy secretary-general Tapiwa Mashakada
and the party's
representative in the UK, one Makuvise believed to be a
relative of
Tsvangirai.
The party's Harare province forwarded Madzimure's name
at a meeting
held at Tsvangirai's residence on February 13 but the MDC
leader, sources
said, is reluctant to appoint him because he appointed
several ministers
from Masvingo province in his cabinet.
Madzimure comes from Zaka in Masvingo province.
The sources said
there is stiff resistance in the MDC against the
appointment of Chibebe, who
worked with Tsvangirai at ZCTU for several
years, because the labour leader
is not in the party's structures.
"Tsvangirai likes Chibebe much
but fears destabilising the party by
appointing someone who is not in the
structures. There are a lot of
competent people in the party to choose
from," said one source. "He would
not want to repeat what he did when he
appointed Bhebhe last time."
Tsvangirai drew widespread criticism
in February when he nominated
MDC-M legislator Abednico Bhebhe as Minister
of Water Resources Development
and Management and had to drop him at the
last minute.
Mashakada, a key member in the party since its
formation in 1999 who
surprisingly was left out by Tsvangirai when he
appointed his cabinet, is
said to be among those eyeing the post of Harare's
governor.
The MDC leader also has to play his cards well in Masvingo
province,
where Kuwadzana East MP Lucia Matibenga and Masvingo Urban
legislator Tongai
Matutu are tipped for the post.
Sources said
the province had forwarded Matutu's name but Tsvangirai
preferred Matibenga
because of her experience gained in rallying grassroots
support while with
the ZCTU.
MDC leadership in Masvingo reportedly wrote to Tsvangirai
complaining
that the four cabinet posts that the province got were
insignificant,
considering that they have many elected representatives in
the House of
Assembly.
"All is not well in the MDC-T camp as
Masvingo province with 14
legislators has petitioned Tsvangirai for
marginalising them in cabinet
appointments. The rift is so deep that some
MPs boycotted the 10th
anniversary celebrations in Gweru," said another
source in party.
The source said the party canceled a rally in
Masvingo that was
planned the following week because provincial leadership
including the MPs
had threatened to "disengage".
MDC
spokesperson and Minister of Information and Technology
Development, Nelson
Chamisa said the party would announce its governors "at
the right
time".
"I don't discuss about internal issues with the media,"
Chamisa said.
"I don't discuss people who are lobbying for positions. The
appointments
would be made on the basis of merit."
Former
Victoria Falls Mayor Tose Wesley Sansole is tipped to become
governor for
Matabeleland North, Seiso Moyo for Bulawayo while Julius
Magarangoma will be
appointed governor for Manicaland province.
But authoritative
sources have said despite previously agreeing to
cede Masvingo and
Manicaland Mugabe had changed his mind and was determined
to keep the two
provinces, setting the stage for another confrontation with
Tsvangirai.
The 85-year-old leader, who has ruled the country
since independence
in 1980, has already appointed former Minister of
Transport and
Communications minister, Christopher Mushohwe as governor for
Manicaland
while Titus Maluleke is in charge in Masvingo.
BY
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/
Saturday, 14 March
2009 19:17
MASVINGO - Disgruntled Zanu PF supporters in Masvingo last
weekend
heckled Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa demanding to know why
their
province got fewer ministers in the inclusive government.
Mnangagwa, who had been invited by his party to explain the inclusive
government to supporters at an induction workshop held at Masvingo
Polytechnic, came under fire from the supporters who said the province had
been marginalised.
Only Walter Mzembi (Tourism and
Hospitality Industry) and Stan Mudenge
(Higher and Tertiary Education) were
picked by President Robert Mugabe who
was allocated 15 ministries under the
September 15, 2008 Global Political
Agreement. After negotiating with other
principals to the agreement, Mugabe
was allowed additional ministers of
state, leading to a bloated inclusive
government.
The
supporters demanded an explanation from Mnangagwa, President
Mugabe's right
hand man at the moment, why the province had been
marginalised.
Party provincial secretary for administration, Clemence Makwarimba,
who
chaired the meeting, was the first to express disgruntlement of the
province
when he told Mnangagwa that there were a number of complaints
regarding
ministerial appointments.
"Chef, I want to take this opportunity to
enlighten you that party
members in the province are not happy with the
number of cabinet ministers
our province got in the inclusive government,"
Makwarimba told Mnangagwa.
Those remarks opened the floodgates of
complaints from supporters who
had travelled from the seven districts of the
province.
"We demand to know why our province got few ministers
when others had
so many. We also need to know the criteria used to appoint
these ministers
because we feel our province was sidelined," said a
supporter from the
floor.
Others felt the two ministers -
Mzembi and Mudenge - were not enough
considering the support the province
gave to Zanu PF during the run-up to
the violent June 27 presidential
election run-off.
"We feel sidelined this time around because how
could we get only two
ministers from quite a big number of MPs and senators
we have in the
province while other provinces had a big number of
ministers," said another
supporter.
Transfixed, Mnangagwa could
not answer the burning question from the
floor, saying he was rushing to
attend another function in Gweru.
"I do not have enough time to
answer those questions that have been
earlier on highlighted by the chair
and also this is not the best platform
to discuss them. They need to be
discussed at the high-level meetings,"
Mnangagwa said.
Supporters, however, continued to discuss amongst themselves their
disgruntlement, long after Mnangagwa left the meeting.
Most of
them felt that the move was punishment to Masvingo for losing
to MDC-T
during the March 29, 2008 harmonised elections.
In the past
Masvingo, which was considered by President Mugabe as a
"one-party
province", used to have several ministers and deputy ministers.
The
late Vice-President Simon Muzenda also hailed from Masvingo.
However, after
Muzenda's death, Mugabe started to appoint fewer ministers
from the
province.
In the previous Cabinet Masvingo had three ministers and
two deputies.
BY GODFREY MUTIMBA
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009 19:13
THE
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) yesterday asked Zimbabwean
authorities to halt what it described as "a baseless criminal investigation"
into human rights lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa.
Last week Mtetwa, in
response to a reporter's question, said she was
unsurprised by a Supreme
Court judge's decision denying bail to her client,
deputy Agriculture
minister-designate, Roy Bennett.
Based on that comment, senior
officials in the Attorney-General's
office subsequently told Mtetwa the
government was preparing a case accusing
her of "contempt of
court".
"It's hard to believe the Attorney-General's office would
spend its
valuable time pursuing a case of this nature," said Joel Simon,
CPJ's
executive director. "Beatrice Mtetwa has an unflagging commitment to
justice
and would never do anything to undermine the rule of law in
Zimbabwe."
Mtetwa is representing Bennett, who is also treasurer of
the MDC-T. He
was released from prison on Thursday on US$5 000 bail. He was
arrested on
Friday February 13, as other ministers in the inclusive
government from his
party were being sworn into office. He is facing charges
of plotting
terrorism.
Mtetwa has successfully defended
journalists and members of civil
society against charges brought by the
government before the all-inclusive
government came into being.
During a crackdown on the press that occurred amid presidential voting
last
year, Mtetwa successfully defended many journalists, including New York
Times reporter Barry Bearak and British freelance journalist Steven
Bevan.
Yesterday the CPJ said it was also concerned about the
ongoing
detention of freelance photojournalist Shadreck Manyere, who was
denied bail
by the High Court last week. Manyere and human rights activist
Jestina
Mukoko were seized on December 3 and accused of
banditry.
BY OUR STAFF
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
18:52
BULAWAYO - Gibson Sibanda, the MDC-M formation vice-president,
faces a
possible nullification of his appointment to Cabinet unless his
party
formalises his entry into the House of Assembly before the end of the
month.
Sibanda was nominated by Professor Arthur Mutambara as
Minister of
State in the Deputy Prime Minister's office.
His
appointment came along with that of Gorden Moyo, Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai's Minister of State.
Sibanda is however still to have his
appointment as Minister of State
in Mutambara's office
formalised.
He will have to be allocated a seat in one of the
constituencies that
his party won in the March 2008 general
election.
Already the three principals have covered more than 75%
of the
implementation stages of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) with
the
issues of the governors, permanent secretaries and ambassadors being the
remaining hurdles.
Recently President Robert Mugabe appointed
permanent secretaries for
ministries encompassed in the agreement but the
appointments drew
disapproval from the MDC which said it was not consulted
before the
appointments were announced as per GPA provisions.
Sources within the Mutambara formation said there was a crisis in the
party
which could see some legislators being sacrificed at the expense of
Sibanda.
The sources said the party was involved in a strength
and weaknesses
analysis programme to identify its weakest MP who would then
be asked to
step down to pave the way for Sibanda.
Already, the
sources said, the programme had drawn discontent as party
supporters had
refused to support the move, given that Sibanda had lost the
election in
March last year.
"There is a crisis in the party at the moment,"
said one source on
condition of anonymity, adding: "We are still looking for
the person whom we
will ask to step down from Parliament, either as senator
or MP so that we
have an opening for the vice-president.
"If
there is no deal by the end of next month, then Sibanda will have
to step
down from being a Minister because the law gives a provision of
three months
for formalisation of any appointments."
The sources said the
party's leadership, comprising Mutambara,
secretary-general Professor
Welshman Ncube and Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga, had already started the
mission of convincing
legislators and senators from the Matabeleland
provinces to step down and
make room for Sibanda.
The
programme, however, is said to have been met with stiff resistance
as
legislators and senators are refusing to give in and allow Sibanda to
take
their positions.
"The first attempt has been made on Siyabonga
Malandu Ncube, the party's
representative in Insiza. The efforts hit a brick
wall given that Ncube told
them he was not at liberty to relinquish his
constituency because he had
fought tooth and nail to retain it," said
another source.
Another proposal that is reported to have been
tabled would have seen
Edward Mkosi Moyo being appointed governor for
Matabeleland South.
However, the proposal hit a brick wall after
former Gwanda North
legislator Paul Themba Nyathi refused to remove his hat
from the contest for
the governor's post.
Nyathi was earmarked
for the governor's post but still awaits the full
confirmation of this by
the party's leadership, hence Moyo's refusal to hand
over the Bulilima
constituency to Nyathi. There were suggestions yesterday
that the crisis
could be solved if one of the MPs was appointed ambassador.
Ncube,
Misihairabwi-Mushonga and party spokesperson Edwin Mushoriwa
were all not
reachable for comment.
MDC-M spokesperson Renson Gasela referred
all questions to Ncube.
However, legal expert, Dr Lovemore Madhuku,
confirmed that failure by
the Mutambara formation to regularise Sibanda's
position in the House
Assembly could be a costly expedition for the
party.
"The law is very clear. If they do not deal with the matter
internally, then it means Sibanda would cease to be a minister," Madhuku
said. "He has to have his papers and formalisation process sorted out before
the end of three months or else he will lose his cabinet post."
Madhuku said the hope that Mutambara would strike a deal with Mugabe
that
would see the Zanu PF leader appointing Sibanda as a non-constituent
senator
could fail to work as Mugabe would want to appoint his own party
members to
the last senate seat allocated to him under the GPA.
BY NKULULEKO
SIBANDA
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
15:57
As plans to revive the country's health sector gather momentum,
players in the health sector, donors, worker representatives recently
gathered at an Emergency Health Sector Summit to brainstorm on how best to
tackle the problems in state-run hospitals.
Zimbabwe's health
delivery system has virtually collapsed following
years of under funding and
neglect but the recent formation of an inclusive
government, has raised
hopes that the problems in the health sector will
finally be
addressed.
Among the challenges facing the health sector is the
cholera outbreak
that has claimed more than 4 000 lives while another 85 000
people have been
struck down by the disease since last year in August. A
disgruntled
workforce also complicates the problems in the
sector.
After almost five months of boycotting work in protest
against poor
salaries and deteriorating conditions in state hospitals,
health workers
recently returned to work.
These contentious
issues are some of the many issues that players in
the health sector met to
discuss on Thursday and Friday last week.
Guest speaker at the
Emergency Health Sector Summit Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai said the
cholera epidemic remained a major concern to
government. Tsvangirai said the
number of people who have died of cholera in
the country had seriously been
under stated because many deaths have gone
unrecorded.
The
World Health Organisation - tasked with coordinating the cholera
fight in
the whole country since last year- estimates that at least 60% of
the
recorded deaths are community deaths, posing a serious threat to efforts
to
fight the disease.
Tsvangirai said cholera remains a major
challenge to the country
especially in light of collapse of social services
and the problems in the
health sector.
The cholera crisis, he
said, had naturally been blamed on the health
ministry, which was bearing
the costs of the cholera epidemic on its own,
and yet the outbreak was the
responsibility of every government ministry.
"As Prime
Minister, it is my responsibility to ensure that all sectors
within
government act together, with explicit commitments and budget
resources to
support action to bring our nation's health back from the
brink," said
Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai said the breakdown in social services
such as garbage
collection, the health sector crisis, water and sewer
infrastructure needed
to be urgently addressed.
"While the
cholera epidemic has necessitated an emergency response, we
cannot be
permanently locked into emergency mode," Tsvangirai said. "What we
do now
should lay the basis for longer term rehabilitation of our health
system and
send signals of the principles we intend to use for this.
"This
government is committed to rehabilitating infrastructure so that
we will
never again have a situation where the water, sanitation, waste
disposal
systems and access to food, reach such a level of degradation that
they
become the significant challenge to public health that they are
today."
Making the revival of the health sector everyone's
business is what
the two-day Emergency Health Sector Summit sought to do
last week.
Tsvangirai said at the end of the emergency summit
government would
take in all representations and recommendations from all
stakeholders and
get the health sector on track.
"For this
new Inclusive Government, making improvements in people's
health will be one
of the most important indicators of whether we are making
the right choices
politically and implementing them effectively," Tsvangirai
said.
Also speaking at the summit, chairman of the Zimbabwe
Association of
Doctors for Human Rights Dr Douglas Gwatidzo, said the
government should
make health care accessible and affordable to
everyone.
Gwatidzo said the current health fees being charged by state
hospitals
are prohibitive and could see many people dying at home because
they cannot
afford them.
"Health care must be accessible and
affordable to every Zimbabwean but
the current health fees are just too high
for many people," Gwatidzo said.
Consultation fees at
government hospitals have been set at US$10,
while procedures such as chest
X-rays and Caesarean section patients need as
much as US$35 and US$150
respectively.
The Zimbabwe HIV and AIDS activist Union's deputy
president Stanley
Takaona said the US$10 consultation fee being charged at
Opportunistic
Infections clinics in the country was too high and would deter
many people
from accessing HIV treatment.
"Already we are
having problems with getting people to come forward
and get tested and seek
treatment at the OI clinics so what are we saying
when we are now even
putting a high fee like this?" Takaona said.
"People living
with HIV have compromised immune systems and have to
visit the OI clinic
more often than other people. Where do you expect us to
get US$10 for each
visit to the hospital? This is a gross violation of our
right to access
treatment and we want this urgently addressed."
It now remains
to be seen whether or not this ambitious plan to get
the health sector back
on track in 100 days will address this and other
issues threatening
Zimbabweans' access to health care.
BY BERTHA SHOKO
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
20:13
THE High Court has dismissed with costs an urgent application
seeking
an order to bar former Zanu PF politburo member Simba Makoni from
using
Mavambo's resources.
Makoni, a founder member of the
movement who stood as its Presidential
candidate in the March 2008
elections, is accused by former colleagues of
looting donated
assets.
The applicants represented by national mobilisation
chairman Retired
Major Kudzai Mbudzi approached the courts last month
seeking an order for
Makoni to show cause why he should not be directed to
surrender financial
and accounting records as well as assets that were
donated to Mavambo.
Mavambo officials, who announced the
suspension of Makoni two months
ago, say over US$3 million was raised from
donors who also donated 34
vehicles during the run up to the March
elections.
In the interim, the applicants wanted an order
restraining Makoni and
other respondents - Mavambo Trust, trustees Abiathar
Mujeyi and businessman
and Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda from "dealing in
any way whatsoever with
the financial and other resources of the
Mavambo/Kusile movement".
However, Judge President, Justice
Rita Makarau threw out the
application on the basis that applicants had
failed to approach the courts
for relief early enough to show that the
matter was urgent.
She said it appeared to her "the need to act
first arose in March 2008
when the first respondent allegedly showed
tendencies that he was not going
to respect the property of the first
applicant".
"At a later stage, the applicant believed it had
cause to suspend the
first respondent from the movement for among other
allegations using
movement property as his own.
"Again in
my view the need arose for the second time for the
applicants to approach
(the) court for an order protecting the interest of
the movement and
buttressing the purported suspension of the first
respondent. No approach to
court was made then."
Makarau said no explanations had been
tendered for the failure by the
applicants to approach the court on two
occasions when in her view, the need
to do so clearly manifested itself.
Their differences started a year ago,
she noted.
The judge
said she could have been persuaded to see urgency in the
matter had the
applicants substantiated averments that Makoni was selling
Mavambo
assets.
She said failure to do so, which was exploited by the
respondents, was
fatal to the application.
The failed application,
however, provided an interesting glimpse into
how the movement failed to
follow up sound governance practices.
The judge observed that
up to now, Mavambo which was formed in
December 2007 by like minded
Zimbabweans, did not have a constitution. It
was not registered either as a
voluntary organization or political movement.
"No bank account
was opened for the movement and no records were kept
of what was received in
the name of the movement or was expended during the
campaign.
"It would also appear no inventory was kept of
what assets the
movement has," said Makarau, who observed that "the control
and dominium in
the resources" is what created differences amongst the
grouping.
The movement attracted donors as Makoni broke away
from Zanu PF to
launch a direct challenge against President Mugabe amid
speculation that
senior Zanu PF officials fed up with President Robert
Mugabe's rule would
follow him.
BY WALTER MARWIZI
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
16:11
DAYS when the Zimbabwe Tourism chief executive officer Karikoga
Kaseke
could get away with harassing players in the tourism sector could be
numbered.
The government will soon introduce amendments to the
Tourism Act, seen
as a way of clipping the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority's
wings.
New Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister, Walter
Mzembi told a
recent media briefing that the ministry will revisit the
legislation to
create an environment conducive for the smooth operation of
the sector.
Players in the industry complain that the Act gives
too much power to
the ZTA, which it uses to harass
operators.
The act allows the ZTA to register, supervise and
oversee operations
of the industry.
Those powers have been
used by Kaseke to harass waiters at major
hotels. Mzembi said such behaviour
was unwarranted and would not help the
industry.
He said
ZTA would concentrate on its role of marketing the country as
a safe
destination, while the Zimbabwe Council for Tourism (ZCT) would be
confined
to the business aspect of the industry.
Mzembi said the tourism
industry was meant to be apolitical and the
ministry had declared a zero
tolerance to conflict.
"When you create an authority, you are
bound to have conflict with
role players," he said.
"We
have agreed that we must examine the Act and hive off those
aspects that are
more of a policy and regulatory nature and reside them in
the ministry,"
Mzembi said.
He said it was improper for Kaseke, as CEO of the
ZTA, to remove
waiters' shoes.
Reports said Kaseke felt the
waiter could not been seen in battered
shoes in a top
hotel.
Mzembi said he had identified the triangle of conflict
involving ZTA,
its chairman Shingi Munyeza and ZCT and had spoken to the
three parties over
the issue.
"There is a traditional
conflict between regulator and the regulated.
The characters that you deploy
can only exacerbate or minimise the
conflict," Mzembi
said.
Observers told Standardbusiness amendments to the Tourism
Act, which
they described as long overdue, were necessitated by the need to
bring back
regulation and licensing to government following the creation of
a ministry
that specifically deals with the tourism
industry.
In the past the industry was under the ambit of the
Ministry of
Environment and Tourism.
"The ministry now has
zero functions with ZTA having all the
authority," an industry player
said.
Emmanuel Fundira, the ZCT president applauded Mzembi for having
identified the problems besetting the sector.
"He (Mzembi)
consulted members individually. The minister has
identified the problem and
has shown a willingness to deal with it," Fundira
said.
Fundira said conflict should be avoided in the hospitality industry,
as it
was the face of the country.
He said the government should
recognise and understand the structures
that they have set for
themselves.
This was in apparent reference to the appointment
of a substantive CEO
for ZTA, whereby the government overruled the board in
selecting a
substantive head for the authority.
Kaseke was
not available for comment. His office said he was out and
would be back on
Wednesday.
The tourism industry is beset with problems and battles
being fought
behind the scenes.
BY OUR STAFF
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
16:06
CRESTA Hospitality will plough US$7 million to refurbish local
hotels
as well as building additional rooms ahead of next year's 2010 Soccer
World
Cup in South Africa.
There has been a stampede among
hotels in the region to be certified
to host visitors for the soccer
showcase after the world's soccer governing
body, Fifa, said South Africa
can only offer half of the 50 000 rooms
required for the
tournament.
MATCH, the world's soccer governing body's
accommodation company, has
already certified hotels in Victoria Falls,
Harare and Bulawayo as suitable
to host World Cup guests.
In a statement accompanying TA Holdings Limited financial statement
for the
year ended December 31, 2008, the investment holding company said
the
refurbishment will be completed by June next year. The World Cup kicks
off
in June next year.
"A US$7 million refurbishment programme has
been initiated for
completion by the middle of 2010," TA said.
Cresta is a subsidiary of TA Holdings.
"Current projects under
consideration include the building of 50
additional rooms at the Cresta
Churchill in Bulawayo and 28 rooms at Cresta
Riley's in Maun," the
investment holding company said.
Cresta Hotels and underwriting
profits at the insurance companies
pushed TA group's operating profit to
US$381 000 in the year ended December
31 up from US$112 000 from the
previous year.
TA said the green light given to Cresta Hotels to
charge in foreign
currency will improve the quality of the revenue received
by the investment
holding company.
Cresta runs four hotels in
Zimbabwe: Cresta Jameson, Oasis, Cresta
Lodge and Cresta Churchill.
Cresta is the third in the hospitality industry's pecking order behind
African Sun Limited and Rainbow Tourism Group.
BY OUR
STAFF
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
15:50
WHILE the nation is trying to come to terms with the sudden and
tragic
death of Susan Tsvangirai, the Prime Minister's wife, several issues
on the
role of close security for VIPs beg explanation and
clarification.
In professional close security circles it is
standard practice that
VIP family members do not travel together, yet
Tsvangirai and his wife were
allowed to travel in the same vehicle on Friday
March 6. This should never
have been permitted.
If it was
inevitable and absolutely necessary for them to travel
together, then one of
them should have used one of the two escort vehicles.
But because
of the security lapse that allowed the two to travel in
the same vehicle
Zimbabwe will now become a case study in the training of
personnel providing
escort and close security for VIPs - for the wrong
reasons.
It
is possible that the MDC driver and the security detail travelling
in the
same vehicle as the Prime Minister and his wife saw nothing amiss in
the two
travelling in the same vehicle.
However, the state agents,
presumably with many years of escorting
VIPs behind them should have pointed
out the likely consequences, in the
event of an accident, of using the same
vehicle.
A professional security escort would have brought this
concern to the
attention of the VIPs and even declined to proceed with the
journey to
Buhera on the fateful day.
Questions, therefore,
need to be raised about the role of the security
in the lead and back-up
vehicles.
In other situations there would, at the least, be
serious
interrogation for allowing such a travel arrangement.
There are also other issues that raise questions about the precise
role of
escort vehicles, how they plan their itineraries, how far or close
the lead
and back-up vehicles should be from the VIPs as well as what they
are
supposed to do in the even of imminent danger to the VIPs.
What
seems evident from reports about the accident is that there were
appalling
lapses. The MDC security arrangements may have served their
purpose but the
transformed circumstances require a vast change in the
manner in which they
used to provide security for their leaders.
This is especially true
of all their senior officials now in
government.
For
example, the fact that Mrs Tsvangirai was thrown out of the
vehicle after it
rolled three times could suggest that she was not wearing a
safety
belt.
Professionally trained close security personnel would not
have allowed
their passengers, no matter their rank, to travel without their
safety belts
on.
Professionally trained close security
personnel would have also
recommended that the VIPs stay on the left
passenger side of the vehicle.
This measure is intended to protect
the VIPs in the event of a head-on
collision.
While a
review of the security arrangements around the new leadership
in government
is being undertaken, it is worthwhile remembering that there
are a number of
highly trained drivers, who were trained during the early
1990s under the
Police Highway Patrol.
Several of these skilled drivers would have
retired and therefore
would be available for recruitment for VIP escort
duties.
These drivers were certified by the Institute of
Advanced Motoring
(IAM) of the UK and were especially trained to anticipate
accidents such as
the one which cost Mrs Tsvangirai her life.
It is possible she would have survived if the drivers of the three
vehicles
in the convoy were IAM-certified. They would have insisted on
certain
procedures before embarking on their journey.
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/
Saturday,
14 March 2009 15:42
ZIMBABWEAN history is blood-spattered. In the 19th
century, the
so-called Pioneers - in reality a bunch of fortune-seeking
brigands - raided
this country, pillaging and killing the
natives.
But in 1980, the descendants of the natives had turned the
tables on
the sons and daughters of the Pioneers - the land was returned to
the
original owners as Zimbabwe - after much bloodshed.
But
the habit, or tradition or culture of violence was not dissipated,
either by
prosperity or the spiritual upliftment of full nationhood.
The new
rulers killed and subdued any of their kith and kin who dared
to protest at
the hard-fisted manner in which they were running the new
country.
It may come as a shock to many but what solidified the
pursuit of
violence as a method of pacification was the struggle for
freedom.
Once the fruits it yielded were discovered to be sweet
- freedom and
the apparent right to the unfettered pursuit of happiness -
the temptation
became irresistible to try it again and again.
Every
time the people were perceived to be resisting the will of the
rulers, it
was violence which was invariably resorted to rather than
dialogue.
The two political groups engaged in the struggle
- PF Zapu and Zanu
PF -were ideologically Marxist-Leninist, albeit with
varying degrees of
faith in violence as an instrument of cementing the gains
of the revolution.
Both were backed to the hilt by two of the
largest communist countries
in the world - the Soviet Union and the People's
Republic of China.
Both had achieved triumph through the use of
violence, even against
their own people.
In the Soviet
Union, a slogan used during the reign of Josef Stalin
was: "to make
omelette, you need to break many eggs".
Millions were killed before
what was viewed as the "ideal state" of
the revolution was
achieved.
China was no different during Mao Zedong's reign to that
populous
country under the control of one man - The Great Helmsman - took
the
slaughter of millions.
In Zimbabwe, the dream of a
Marxist-Leninist state, as once publicly
envisaged by Robert Mugabe, is dead
and buried.
The use of violence, a vital stock-in-trade of the
ideology, may have
given rise to the initial suspicion of foul play in the
road accident which
killed Susan Tsvangirai.
There have been
many deaths of prominent people in road accidents
since 1980: William
Ndangana, Sidney Malunga, Border Gezi, Tsitsi Munyati,
Chris Ushewokunze,
Zororo Duri, and Elliot Manyika to name a few.
There has never
been any tangible evidence that any of these accidents
involved a "black
dog". Yet the suspicion has persisted that, to eliminate
their foes, those
in power may not have hesitated to use such stage-managed
incidents to
achieve their ends.
Morgan Tsvangirai was quick to eliminate foul
play as the cause of the
accident in which his wife died and he himself
injured. But it is almost
inevitable that people will continue with the
speculation.
In the new Zimbabwe, political violence as
employed in
Marxism-Leninism to -as it were - "maximise" allegiance of the
people to the
ruling elite - must be eliminated.
Many
previously diehard communists perceived the fatal flaws in
communism long
before Mikhail Gorbachev's ground breaking denounciation in
the
1980s.
One was Doris Lessing, a member of the Communist party
in Southern
Rhodesia in the early 1940s. The 2008 Nobel Prize Winner for
Literature came
to this country with her British parents when she was five
years old, having
been born in Persia in 1919, when her father worked
there.
In Volume Two of her autobiography, Walking in the
Shade, published in
1997, Lessing writes: "Why was it that anywhere near the
Party, facts became
twisted, people said things which you knew - and they
must have known -were
untrue?
"The Devil is described as
the Father of Lies, a resonant phrase,
suggesting other older phrases, like
'Real of Lies'. I have come to think
that these is something in the nature
of Communism that breeds lies, makes
people lie and twist facts, imposes
deception.
What is this thing? This force? One cannot believe one
word that
emanates from a communist source.
"Communism is indeed a
real of lies. Stalin, the great deceiver, was
only partly responsible,
because it was Lenin, the exemplar, who provided
the
blueprint."
Curiously Lessing was declared a prohibited
immigrant in Southern
Rhodesia in 1949. She has lived in England since then
and has visited
Zimbabwe many times.
She has recently
revealed turning down an honour from the Queen. She
would have been called
Dame Lessing or something.
Her reason? She fought against the
British Empire and was damned if
she was going to become a "Dame of the
British Empire".
It too had entrenched the habit, culture of
violence, like the
communists.
Wsaidi20022003@yahoo.co.uk
Sunday Opinion with Bill Saidi
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
There's Scope for African Solution to Zimbabwe Crisis
Saturday, 14
March 2009 15:29
WHEN a crisis erupted in an African village, the chief
and the elders
would summon a village meeting and put the issue before the
people. The
village assembly or meeting is a common feature of traditional
African
political systems.
It is called asetena kese by the
Ashanti of Ghana, ama ala by the Igbo
of Nigeria, guurti by the Somali,
pitso by the Xhosa of South Africa, ndaba
by the Zulu and kgotla by the
Tswana of Botswana. At the village assembly
the issue is debated by the
people until a consensus is reached.
During the debate, the
chief makes no effort to manipulate the outcome
or sway public opinion. Nor
are there bazooka-wielding rogues, intimidating
or instructing people on
what to say.
People express their ideas openly and freely without
fear of arrest.
No one is locked out. Once a decision was reached, it was
binding on all,
including the chief.
In the early 1990s, this
indigenous African institution was revived by
pro-democracy forces in the
form of "sovereign national conferences" to
chart a new political future in
Benin, Cape Verde Islands, Congo, Malawi,
Mali, South Africa and
Zambia.
Benin's nine-day "national conference" began on 19 February
1990, with
488 delegates, representing various political, religious, trade
union, and
other groups encompassing the broad spectrum of Beninois
society.
The conference, whose chairman was Father Isidore de
Souza, held
"sovereign power" and its decisions were binding on all,
including the
government. It stripped President Matthieu Kerekou of power,
scheduled
multi-party elections that ended 17 years of autocratic Marxist
rule.
Congo's national conference had more delegates (1 500)
and lasted
longer, three months. But when it was over in June 1991, the
12-year-old
government of General Denis Sassou-Nguesso had been
dismantled.
The constitution was rewritten and the nation's first
free elections
were scheduled for June 1992. Before the conference, Congo
was among Africa's
most avowedly Marxist-Leninist states.
A
Western business executive said: "The remarkable thing is that the
revolution occurred without a single shot being fired . . . (and) if it can
happen here, it can happen anywhere" (The New York Times, 25 June 1991,
A8).
In South Africa, the vehicle used to make that difficult but
peaceful
transition to a multiracial democratic society was the Convention
for a
Democratic South Africa (CODESA).
It began deliberations
in July 1991, with 228 delegates drawn from
about 25 political parties and
various anti-apartheid groups.
The De Klerk government made no
effort to "control" the composition of
CODESA. Political parties were not
excluded; not even ultra right-wing
political groups, although they chose to
boycott its deliberations. CODESA
strove to reach a "working consensus" on
an interim constitution and set a
date for the March 1994
elections.
It established the composition of an interim or
transitional
government that would rule until the elections were held. More
importantly,
CODESA was "sovereign." Its decisions were binding on the De
Klerk
government. President Frederick de Klerk could not abrogate any
decision
made by CODESA - just as the African chief could not disregard any
decision
arrived at the village meeting.
Clearly, the
vehicle exists - in Africa itself - for peaceful
transition to democratic
rule or resolution of political crisis. This
vehicle worked in Benin, South
Africa and Zambia and will work in Cameroon,
Chad, Ivory Coast, Sudan,
Uganda, Zimbabwe and the other African countries
where de facto political
apartheid reigns.
This is the vehicle all stake-holders in
Zimbabwe must insist on for
Zimbabweans to solve their own internal problem.
It is the same vehicle all
outside Zimbabwe - from Sadc, the AU to the UN
and the US Congress - must
insist on for peaceful change in
Zimbabwe.
Dr George B N Ayittey
Economist at American
University and President of the Free Africa
Foundation, both in Washington,
DC.
-------------
Time to Rein in those Chitungwiza Highway
Demons
Saturday, 14 March 2009 15:24
I hope and pray that the
needless and painful deaths of four young
children on the Seke Road on
Wednesday March 4, 2009 will serve as a wake-up
call both to commuter crews
and passengers.
Kombis on this highway travel at fast speeds,
despite calls by
passengers to slow down. The bus drivers, who behave more
like animals than
human beings, always treat passengers with
disdain.
The commuter bus crews mouth unprintable words every
time a passenger
tells them to slow down. The unfortunate thing is that the
majority of
passengers simply keep quiet while these demons drive at
breakneck speeds.
Even soldiers and policemen, who are always
present in any kombi, keep
quiet as well. Perhaps they are afraid of losing
their free rides?
The sad thing is that we see these drivers in
circumstances that seem
to suggest they will be bribing police officers and
VID personnel at the
roadblock opposite the kiosk for oranges or other
roadblocks, something
which seems to be a normal procedure.
Does it have to take the deaths of schoolchildren before some
so-called
"responsible" officials to wake up?
Commuter bus operators are only
interested in profits, not the safety
of passengers.
We are
sick and tired of these speeding animals on our roads. I
suggest the
following among other measures that we need to take
urgently:Kombi drivers
must undergo stringent road tests, and they must be
tested every six months.
Alternatively, they must be tested randomly, the
way athletes are randomly
tested for drugs.
Any driver who fails the test must never be
allowed to drive again,
not even a small car.
Kombi owners
must be heavily fined for using unlicensed drivers, and
officers found
asking for bribes must be reported and jailed at Chikurubi
Maximum Security
Prison.
Namibia is the only country I've seen which doesn't
tolerate
corruption at any level. Their police must be the finest in
Africa.
The driver of this kombi must not be let off the hook
after causing
the death of five innocent children. He should be tried for
culpable
homicide. He must be made an example to others.
S
Gavi
Harare.
---------------
Pay demands not
realistic
Saturday, 14 March 2009 15:23
RECENT moves by the
Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and
the Zimbabwe Teachers'
Association (Zimta) to refuse the US$100 from the
government are unfortunate
coming at a time when the new order has yet to be
established.
It is unfair to be asking for thousands of US dollars from a
government
that is broke when the other civil servants and soldiers have
welcomed the
offer on the strength of the pledge of periodic reviews as
resources become
available.
Those who feel dissatisfied should just resign or
pursue other careers
because definitely no one in Zimbabwe at the moment can
afford to pay a huge
salary in US dollars. For the time being, I think
US$100 is enough to buy
basics.
Some of the crazy demands
by the teachers include the US$1 per child
per day for private lessons. Not
a single teacher can afford that so why
demand it from others who include
the soldiers and civil servants earning
$100?
Llodza
Glen View
Harare.
-------------
Senator Coltart
Making a Difference at Education Ministry
Saturday, 14 March 2009
15:19
SENATOR David Coltart's appointment to the Ministry of Education,
Sport, Arts and Culture is a positive development for a ministry that had
been presided over by people lacking a vision.
Listening to
Senator Coltart's first interview on the sidelines of the
ministerial
installations, one gets the impression that in him we have a man
who is not
arrogant. His predecessor did not add any value to our education.
Coltart said that his immediate task was to engage all teacher
representative groups in order to hear their grievances. That's a breath of
fresh air.
Aeneas Chigwedere, Coltart's predecessor resorted to
divide and rule
tactics in order to please his master. He preferred dealing
with the
Zimbabwe Teachers' Association (Zimta) but not the Progressive
Teachers'
Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ).
Until recently, Zimta on
their part allowed themselves to be used by
their employer. But hats off to
Tendai Chikowore, the Zimta president for
there is now a paradigm shift at
Zimta.
Well done Amai Chikowore!
Coltart inherits a
ministry that is facing a myriad of man-made
problems.
It's
almost like starting afresh. The staff is demoralized, while at
provincial
levels, Ministry of Education offices are in a pathetic state,
lacking basic
office equipment.
Ordinary primary schools in South Africa have
state-of-the art
technology and their officials have a measure of dignity,
not here.
Coltart has his work cut out for him. Infrastructure
is dilapidated,
there still is hot-seating in urban schools, while the
book-child ratio is
1:15 and teachers are demotivated.
However, one encouraging development that Coltart will soon realise is
that
the ministry has within it some very dedicated, honest and very
professional
staff.
Our teachers do work. It is only here and there that you
come across
some misfits, but the majority of the staff are professionals
and patriots.
Odrix Mhiji
Chitungwiza.
-------------
Standard SMS
Saturday,
14 March 2009 15:32
Painful moment
THIS is indeed a very sad
and painful moment not only for our Prime
Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai and
his immediate family, but for all the people
in the world.
The
world is mourning with the Prime Minister and his family the
untimely
grievous loss of a wife and a mother, who was a pillar of strength,
who
stood by her husband and family during her husband's tribulations. May
the
Almighty God send the Holy Spirit to comfort him. We are with you in our
prayers. - T C Zvimba, Chendambuya.
Mugabe's last
chance
WE would like to appeal to President Robert Mugabe to
stop showing off
the powers that he thinks he has over Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai,
because they serve no purpose as far as we are
concerned.
We know that some of his powers were clipped and it does
not help him
to be seen to make unilateral decisions, which unfortunately
require
reversing because that creates the impression of him being
humiliated.
And if those decisions are taken to Sadc for
arbitration then he will
also run the risk of being seen in bad light by the
rest of Africa. Such a
development would have the effect of removing some of
the colourful
achievements from his record during the struggle for
independence.
If he is a statesman, that he wants the rest of the
country in general
and the world in particular to view him, this is the time
for him to shape
an honourable exit for himself.
Tsvangirai has
already extended an olive branch to him and his
supporters by asking them to
forgive their tormentors.
This is hard to swallow, considering the
level of wrongs committed.
But grudgingly, they obeyed their
leader.
Therefore any actions that seek to undermine the inclusive
government
should stop in the interests of peace.
The people
have suffered enough. Let's give them a break. - Enough
respect,
Harare.
Zanu PF self-betrayal
ZANU PF can easily
betray itself sometimes. The way they are trying to
describe how a vehicle
reportedly belonging to an American agency - USaid -
was involved in the
accident that claimed the Prime Minister's wife makes it
easier to
understand how their minds operate.
Anyway, I wish the Prime
Minister and his driver a speedy recovery. -
Thompson.
******
I know of those who are power hungry and want to advance a Zanu
PF
agenda. Please be reminded that you are on the losing side. - Sekuru O
Chikumba.
Bloch for RBZ chief?
I fail to
understand how anyone can seriously consider bankers such as
Nigel Chanakira
for the Governor of the Reserve Bank.
Don't we have more
knowledgeable and experienced persons in the likes
of Professor Tony
Hawkins, John Robertson and Eric Bloch? Or is the problem
that they are
white? Are they not Zimbabweans? - Gidza.
******
GIYANI
Moyo's letter (The Standard, 8 March, 2009) to Senator David
Coltart, the
new Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, was spot
on.
Zimbabwe now needs dedicated professionals and let's
nurture hard
work. I salute all teachers who remained behind and continued
to soldier on
during one of the most difficult times this country has ever
seen. - Salute,
Harare.
******
CAN we please have
electricity supplies restored to houses in
Jenandoro Street in Zengeza 3?
For the past one and half years, we have had
to put up with darkness. -
Sign, Zengeza, Chitungwiza.
Ending fuel woes
ZIMBABWE'S biodiesel plant is rusting away, yet the fuel can be
extracted
from any other plant products, apart from seed.
If all of the grass
that towers the roadsides and on the resettled
farms is processed into
diesel, we could end our fuel woes, export the
excess and create jobs in the
process. - Diesel n'anga, Harare.
Extortionist
head
THE headmaster of a school in Glen View has found a way of
making a
fortune out of parents.
After all the efforts that the
all-inclusive government is making to
sort out the mess created by Zanu PF,
how can the headmaster continue to
chase away children from school for
failing to pay levy, which is pegged at
US$50.
It is our
experience that this headmaster never misses an opportunity
to make an extra
dollar. We suspect the headmaster must have made more out
of selling water
from the school's borehole to desperate residents - this at
the height of
the cholera crisis.
This is one headmaster Senator David Coltart,
the Minister for
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, may not need in the
system. We are
appealing to the minister to come to our rescue before matter
turns for the
worse. - Impoverished parent, Glen View, Harare.
******
OUR young leader always refers to, respects and abides by the
Global
Political Agreement. But one old one never does. No wonder he flouts
it all
the time. - Gift Mwanza.
SOS to Econet
COULD
Econet help us by installing a base station in Gokwe North,
especially the
area that includes Nembudziya because the service currently
being provided
by NetOne is nauseating. The service is almost non-existent.
We are tired of
being short-changed by such companies. - Ex-communicado,
Gokwe.
******
THE price of most basic goods appear to be coming down, but one
notices that the price of dog food, chicken feed, government services,
vehicle registration plates and passports remains very high. - No-win,
Harare.
No to council bill
THE Harare City Council
must be out of its mind. Why on earth should
they expect me to pay a minimum
charge of US$10 in minimum charges for its
services?
That is
R100 and for what? The refuse collection US$13 - I ask, what
refuse have
they collected since they removed Engineer Elias Mudzuri from
the mayoral
post in Harare? Get real. I won't pay. - Bhabhidho.
******
ANDILE Nyoni's letter, Ditched Bhebhe spare us the hypocrisy gives us
hope
that the polarization might disappear and Zimbabweans become
politically
mature.
It's easy to see through issues like that Bhebhe does not
hold any
special skills or did anything remotely outstanding in his
political career
that anyone can recall and yet initially Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai
saw him as the only candidate from Matabeleland fit to be
a full Cabinet
minister.
This incident underlines the need to
scrutinize incomers more
losely. - Trust Pambane.