http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010
21:21
YOUTH Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister, Saviour
Kasukuwere (pictured) has been forced to revise close to a dozen provisions
of his controversial empowerment regulations announced in
January.
Kasukuwere caused a political storm when he introduced the
regulations that
among other things compelled all foreign companies to cede
at least 51% of
their shares to indigenous Zimbabweans.
He
ignored repeated MDC calls to widen the consultation window before
effecting
the regulations.
While up to now Kasukuwere still claims there is "no
going back" on the
regulations, impeccable sources confirmed that he has
under pressure from
both MDC formations and other stakeholders "revised at
least 10 provisions,
which is as good as rewriting the
regulations".
The revised regulations would be presented to the
Council of Ministers
(CoM), chaired by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on
Thursday for adoption
before they go to cabinet for
approval.
"The final document is going to be presented to the CoM on
Thursday," said a
source.
"Instead of using one approach for all
sectors, the new provisions would be
sector-based."
Stakeholders
in different sectors such us mining, manufacturing, tourism,
agriculture,
retail, among others would use their own systems to come up
with specific
thresholds for their sectors.
Each sector would also determine their
own timeframes for the implementation
of the thresholds.
"Others
may say one year, some may say 25 years, it all depends on what
stakeholders
in the particular sector would deem to be best," the source
added.
Those opposing Kasukuwere's proposals had raised concerns
that regulations
were likely to benefit only a small part of the
population.
This has also been changed to make the project
"broadbased to cater for
people who are currently disadvantaged, rather than
those who are already
empowered like Kasukuwere himself".
"The
revisions emphasise 'seeding', which entails buying of shares, not
expropriation. No one will get free shares. The law will also not apply to
family businesses and new investors," added the source.
On
Friday, Kasukuwere said "empowerment is moving ahead, there is no going
back
on indigenisation", but confirmed he had made changes to the
regulations.
He said companies have already started making
submissions.
"I have always said we will continue to develop the
regulations. Companies
have started submitting their proposals, we are
evaluating them," said
Kasukuwere.
Kasukuwere allayed fears that
he would use the law to empower himself and a
few of his cronies, saying
there would be provisions for the law to empower
the
marginalised.
"This is going to be a broadbased policy, based on our
understanding of the
need to empower the majority. We have got to open room
for our people. How
can women be poor when they are the biggest contributors
to the economy."
The revisions will be structured along the lines of
South Africa's Broad
Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE), which was
gazetted in 2007
following complaints that the 2003/2004 Black Economic
Empowerment (BEE)
scheme had only enriched a few blacks.
The
South African law also recognises Asians like Indians and Chinese as
previously disadvantaged.
BY VUSUMUZI SIFILE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 21:20
PRIME Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai has crafted an ambitious government work
plan that will see him
closely monitor the performance of cabinet ministers
and effectively thwart
moves to usurp his authority by Zanu PF hardliners.
Sources said the plan
that was approved by cabinet on Tuesday also puts a
final stop to President
Robert Mugabe's attempts to undermine Tsvangirai
through a controversial
directive last month that sought to keep the
supervision of ministers within
the ambit of Zanu PF.
Misheck Sibanda, the Chief Secretary to the
President and Cabinet in January
directed all ministers to report to
Mugabe's two vice-presidents - Joice
Mujuru and John Nkomo instead of the
PM.
The directive was hastily withdrawn after Tsvangirai and his
MDC-T made it
clear that he would not accept it.
According to the
Government Work Programme (GWP) 2010, seen by the Standard,
the PM and the
Council of Ministers (CoM), which he chairs would introduce a
tighter
performance-monitoring mechanism for ministers.
The performance of
the ministers would also be closely scrutinised by
parliament, in what might
be a first for the country since non-performing
ministers have never been
brought to account by Mugabe, in power since 1980.
Gorden Moyo, the
Minister of State in the PM's office, confirmed that
Tsvangirai would launch
the plan on March 31 in parliament before it is
unveiled at official
ceremonies.
Sources say this may go a long way in dispelling the
notion that Tsvangirai
is a lame duck PM.
The monitoring of the
ministers would rely primarily on monthly ministerial
reports on progress
against set plans, budget expenditure and results-based
management
reporting.
"This shall enable the office of the Prime Minister and
Council of Ministers
to monitor and evaluate the performance of ministries,
against the 'critical
path targets' identified in the government work
programme," reads the plan
in part.
"The Prime Minister will
introduce a progress report on the government work
programme in each session
of the Council of Ministers."
In a foreword to the plan, Tsvangirai
says it "sets clear targets on which
the government's performance can and
should be judged.
"It is the key tool which shall be used to
coordinate implementation of
government policy."
Tsvangirai says
it would also help MPs "as the elected representatives of
the people of
Zimbabwe in their task of holding government ministers, their
deputies and
officials to account for their performance."
Sources said the plan
was passed unanimously by cabinet, which means it even
has the support of
some of the Zanu PF hardliners who initially resisted
Tsvangirai's authority
soon after the formation of the unity government last
year.
The
PM also makes bold promises to deal with some of the issues that have
threatened the existence of the coalition government such as sanctions, a
comprehensive land audit and the continued disturbances on commercial
farms,which have been blamed on Zanu PF supporters.
"Diplomatic
re-engagement with the US with a view to influencing the
Congress to repeal
the Zimbabwe Democracy Recovery Act is key to the
normalisation of
international relations," the plan says. "The same is true
with the European
Union, Canada and Australia amongst others.
"The GWP provides a road
map for this to occur."
It adds: "The priority for strengthening and
ensuring restoration of the
rule of law and respect for property rights is
provided for in the GPA. In
this respect, guarantees to rule of law and
respect for property rights are
dimensions of governance that the GWP has
paid particular attention (to)."
But Tsvangirai's plan leaves the
securocrats, the powerful intelligence and
security chiefs who have been
accused of resisting the new order, untouched.
The plan says "the
security cluster targets have not been included in this
publication. A
separate route has been chosen, motivating for their
resolution through the
auspices of the National Security Council (NSC)."
The NSC, which
according to the GPA must replace the Joint Operations
Command, made up of
Mugabe loyalists in the security forces is barely
operational.
Tsvangirai also commits government to conclude the
constitution making
process this year and also to strengthen the national
healing programme as
well as urgent reforms that would promote free and fair
elections.
The debate on who has more powers between Mugabe and
Tsvangirai has tended
to distract the work of the unity government and some
Zanu PF hardliners
have even gone to the extent of forcing the state media
to refer to the
veteran leader as the Head of State and government and
commander in chief of
the Zimbabwe Defence Forces every time they mention
his name.
The GPA gives Tsvangirai wide-ranging powers including the
responsibility of
overseeing formulation and implementation of government
policies and the
close supervision of ministers.
However, a
number of unilateral decisions by Mugabe and the way the
controversial
empowerment regulations were introduced by Indigenisation
Minister Saviour
Kasukuwere have shown that Tsvangirai's role is often
undermined.
BY
KHOLWANI NYATHI
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 21:18
PRIME Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai has told members of the Zimbabwe Media
Commission (ZMC) to
ignore opponents of media reform in the inclusive
government and ensure the
speedy registration of new media houses.
Tsvangirai made the remarks at a
meeting with ZMC chairperson Godfrey
Majonga and some of the commissioners
on Friday where he encouraged the
rapid implementation of the body's
mandate.
The PM's meeting also came amid reports the ZMC was being
told by officials
from the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity that
their work would
be hamstrung by a High Court interdict against the
now-defunct Media and
Information Commission (MIC).
A High Court
provisional order last year effectively rendered the
controversial Tafataona
Mahoso-led MIC null and void after some journalists
challenged its
constitutional standing.
Sources said the ministry officials were
frantically trying to organise a
meeting with Attorney- General Johannes
Tomana this week so that he could
give the commissioners "legal advice that
suits their agenda of delaying the
opening up of the media
space".
But Tsvangirai told the commissioners: "ZMC is an
independent commission,
not under the control of any individual and has the
responsibility to ensure
that the media environment in Zimbabwe reflects
multiple voices and views."
The PM also said the Ministry of Media,
Information and Publicity's only
role was to help the commission to get
access to treasury and parliament.
The ZMC had held its inaugural
meeting the previous day and Majonga had
issued a statement pledging that
the commission would "expeditiously fulfil
its mandate as outlined in the
Global Political Agreement and subsequent
constitutional
amendments."
Earlier this month, President Robert Mugabe told the
commissioners to get on
with their work in what was seen as an open rebuke
to Media, Information and
Publicity permanent secretary, George Charamba who
was insisting they must
be sworn in by the president before they started
their work.
Tsvangirai said the ZMC and the MIC were two separate
legal entities and the
ruling against Mahoso's outfit must not affect the
new commission.
He said the commission must engage its secretariat
and if it was to use that
of the MIC to expedite the processing of
applications, it may do so on the
basis of short-term
contracts.
Media, Information and Publicity minister Webster Shamu
and his deputy
Jameson Timba and Charamba also attended the
meeting.
Other commissioners who attended are Nqobile Nyathi (deputy
chairperson),
Millicent Mombeshora, Matthew Takaona and Henry
Muradzikwa.
The other commissioners, Lawton Hikwa, Miriam Madziwa,
Chris Mhike and
Christopher Mutsvangwa did not attend.
BY OUR
STAFF
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 21:16
TELECEL Zimbabwe might be
closed anytime because it is operating at the
mercy of Zanu PF politicians
believed to be behind the boardroom battles at
the troubled mobile operator,
sources said last week. Acting chairperson,
Jane Mutasa who is facing
allegations of defrauding Telecel of US$750 000
was on Friday suspended in
what the sources said was a culmination of the
long-running
squables.
The board also abolished the post of acting chairperson
that Mutasa held.
But the prominent businesswoman's lawyer Jonathan
Samkange yesterday
described the suspension as a "null and void" boardroom
coup."It's null and
void because it was a Kangaroo board meeting," said
Samkange. "It has no
legal effect."
Sources said the survival of
Telecel Zimbabwe would depend on whom between
Mutasa and former chairman
James Makamba, would win the hearts and mind of
the senior politicians in
the GNU.
Mutasa has reportedly built her defence around claims that
she is being
victimised for resisting Telecel International's reluctance to
involve
indigenous Zimbabweans in its business.
"Its future looks
bleak considering that Telecel does not have a licence at
the moment and it
is operating at the mercy of the Minister of Transport and
Communication,"
said the source.
"The minister may choose to cancel the licence depending
on whom between the
two (Mutasa and Makamba) wins his heart."
Telecel
Zimbabwe's operating licence was cancelled by the Postal and
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) in 2007 after
the company failed to comply with the licence conditions.
After the
cancellation, Telecel appealed against the decision to the then
Minister of
Transport and Communications, Chris Mushohwe.
The sources said it was
Mutasa who pleaded Telecel's case with Mushohwe.
"She even approached
President Robert Mugabe and the late Vice President
(Joseph) Msika and it
worked," said the source. "Now that there is this mess
the licence might go
because it is not benefiting local indigenous people."
Telecel
International which owns 60 % in Telecel Zimbabwe is supposed to
cede its 11
% stake to locals.
Mutasa and the exiled Makamba have been involved in a
long running battle
for the stake.
Potraz acting chairman Davidson
Chirombo confirmed that Telecel's licence
has not been restored.
"So
for the past three years no determination was made regarding the Telecel
licence.
"The new minister might just cancel the licence in the heat
of the
empowerment battle and restore it later to indigenisation groups,"
said the
source.
Nicholas Goche, the Ministry of Transport,
Communications and
Infrastructural Development could not be reached for
comment.
Samkange said Mutasa was the one who was supposed to call for
the meeting
that suspended her as the acting chairperson but she was not
involved.
Apart from that, it terms of the company law the board meetings
are supposed
to be held in Zimbabwe.
"If the other directors had a
case against her they were supposed to cause
her to call for a board
meeting," said Samkange.
"My gut feeling is that this is what we call a
boardroom coup planned and
executed by other board members.
"This
must have been planned for a long time as part of the grand plan which
resulted in her being falsely accused of fraud."
Samkange said they
called the meeting in London knowing that Mutasa had
surrendered her
passport to the courts as part of her bail conditions.
He said most of
the resolutions of board meetings held outside the country
were not binding
because Makamba, who is a specified person and has a
warrant of arrest,
cannot attend them.
He was not sure if Makamba had attended the Friday
board meeting.
"Why has Makamba not been suspended? He is a specified
person and has a
warrant of arrest.
"He has a pending case just like
Jane? It shows that these are just
boardroom squabbles."
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 20:44
PART of the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) property attached by the Deputy
Sheriff went under
the hammer yesterday to recover the US$2,1 million debt
to Farmtec Spares
and Implements. The second auction in as many days was
conducted by Ruby
Auctions at Tobacco Sales Floor. Another sale was held at
Reserve Bank
Sports Club on Friday.
The who’s who at the auction included Air
Force commander Perence Shiri, MDC
legislator Willas Madzimure and Zanu PF’s
Gabriel Chaibva.
Madzimure and Chaibva had buying cards but it could
not be established
whether Shiri had one. But the air force boss left early
before the auction
was concluded.
RBZ property that went under
the hammer included vehicles, three fuel tanks
on wheels, two air
compressors, a diesel generator, a 38-seater Hino coach
and a 60-seater UD
bus.
Two Mazda Swaraj minibuses were also
auctioned.
Prices offered by bidders were out of this world, the
Standard was told.
For instance an Isuzu KB single cab truck went for
US$14 000 whereas a
double cab was auctioned for US$10 500.
The
cars looked battered and could have been used during Sunrise 1 and 2 but
found highest bidders nonetheless.
A Mazda Familia attracted the
highest price of US$3 800; a Mazda 3 attracted
US$12 800.
The two
air compressors were bought for US$1 500 and US$1 400.
RBZ has been
failing to pay Farmtec for farm implements it supplied during
the central
bank’s agricultural mechanisation initiative in 2008.
High Court
judge Tedias Karwi ruled last year that RBZ should pay for the
implements.
But after RBZ failed to pay, Farmtec approached the
courts which directed
the deputy sheriff to attach the central bank’s
property.
BY OUR STAFF
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 20:42
DEFENCE Minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa is fighting off embarrassing allegations
that he is
demanding "protection fees" from beleaguered white commercial
farmers in the
Midlands. Senior Zanu PF officials (names supplied) are
reportedly demanding
as much as US$5 000 from each farmer so that Mnangagwa
can "protect" them
from eviction.
Last week, Mnangagwa confirmed that some Zanu PF
officials were going around
using his name to defraud
farmers.
Investigations by The Standard revealed that about six dairy
farmers were
earlier this year made to pay the "protection fees" to a named
senior
government official.
The money was allegedly collected by
known civil servants, collaborating
with a Gweru-based businesswoman (name
supplied).
The understanding was that the money would be relayed to
Mnangagwa who would
then put in place the necessary measures to guarantee
their protection from
invaders - mostly war veterans and Zanu PF
sympathisers.
Some newly resettled farmers were also made to pay a
certain portion of
their output to ensure they would not lose their farms
once government
carried out a land audit.
But matters allegedly
came to a head for the schemers when a meeting they
had arranged between
Mnangagwa and the dairy farmers in January failed to
take off in
Kwekwe.
The meeting was reportedly meant to introduce the farmers to
Mnangagwa so
that he could personally give them assurance that their farms
would not be
taken.
"The six dairy farmers were informed through
the businesswoman that
Mnangagwa had received their payments, and had agreed
to meet them at a
factory in Kwekwe," said a source.
When the
farmers got to Kwekwe, they were informed that the minister would
not make
it as he had to attend to an urgent commitment.
The meeting was to be
held at a disused factory, according to the source.
"It was then that
it emerged Mnangagwa was not at all involved in the deal,
and had at no time
scheduled a meeting in Kwekwe, or at any factory for that
matter.
"It became clear to the farmers that they were being
taken for a ride, and
they secretly arranged to meet the minister," said the
source, a senior Zanu
PF official in Midlands.
Mnangagwa is said
to have been shocked about his alleged involvement in the
"protection
racket" for the farmers, and the claims that he had even agreed
to a meeting
with the white farmers.
Commercial Farmers' Union President Deon
Theron said he had not received any
reports of farmers being extorted of
money.
But the sources said a number of farmers, not only in the
Midlands but in
other provinces as well, had to part with large amounts of
money and certain
fractions of their produce to keep their
farms.
"It is not possible for any farmers to raise the issue with
their union, the
police or any authority because this is supposed to be a
secret deal between
the farmer and the officials involved.
"It
only becomes a problem when it becomes clear those collecting the money
do
not have the means to guarantee that protection," said the
source.
Mnangagwa, who is also the MP for Chirumanzu-Zibagwe, said a
former district
chairperson for Kwekwe rural only identified as Cde Makombe
was being
investigated by police after he collected grain from farmers using
his name.
"This is fraud. I reported the matter to the police; they
confiscated the
maize, and it (the maize) is now in the hands of the
police," he said.
Midlands police spokesperson Patrick Chademana
would not be drawn to comment
on the matter, referring questions to his
superiors, Wayne Bvudzijena and
Oliver Mandipaka.
Bvudzijena said
he needed time to consult police in Kwekwe before
commenting.
Sources close to the case said the confiscation of
the grain collected by
Makombe was likely to cause further factional
friction in the province,
where Mnangagwa's supporters are battling it out
with provincial governor
Jason Machaya, Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo,
and former minister Flora
Bhuka, among others.
Mnangagwa's
supporters accuse Machaya of allocating farms only to his
friends and
relatives sidelining deserving beneficiaries who include senior
officials
from the MDC formations.
Machaya said at the moment there were no
farms to allocate in the Midlands.
BY VUSUMUZI SIFILE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 20:36
THE
inclusive government will repeal the notorious Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act (Aippa) and introduce two new laws to regulate the
media before the end of the year if Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai gets
his way. According to the Government Work Programme (GWP) 2010, which sets
the targets for the inclusive government and mechanisms for closer
supervision of ministers by Tsvangirai, 17 Bills must be passed this year as
well as the Public Health and Health Services Act.
Tsvangirai
says in the plan approved by cabinet on Tuesday last week that
the new laws,
some of which have already gone through parliament such as the
Reserve Bank
Bill and Public Finance Management Bill, are part of the
commitments the two
MDC formations and Zanu PF made when they signed the
Global Political
Agreement (GPA) in 2008.
"The GPA compels the inclusive government to
focus on ensuring that all
legislation is in line with the ideals of that
agreement, with special focus
on the media, electoral reforms and the
establishment of the constitutional
commission," says the plan obtained by
The Standard last week.
The Freedom of Information Bill will seek to
repeal Aippa, which was used by
President Robert Mugabe's previous
administration to close private
newspapers and force critical journalists
into exile.
Government would also push through the Media
Practitioners Bill that would
provide for the regulation of journalists "in
line with Sadc regional best
practices".
The General Laws
Amendment Bill will amend the Criminal Law (Codification &
Reform) Act
Chapter 9:23:Sections 96 and 31, which criminalises defamation
and making of
false statements.
It will also amend the Electoral Act (Chapter
2:10), Zimbabwe Election
Commission Act (Chapter 2:12), Referendums Act
(Chapter 2:10), Public Health
Act (Chapter 15:09) and Health Services Act
(Chapter 15:16).
Other legislative interventions would include the
Human Rights Commission,
National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration,
Anti-Trafficking, Energy
Laws Amendment, Mines and Minerals, Small-Medium
Enterprises, Audit,
Zimbabwe Qualifications Authority, Older Persons, Labour
Amendment,
Information Communication Technology and Zimbabwe Investment
bills.
The GWP will be launched by Tsvangirai on March 31 in
parliament and sets a
number of ambitious targets for the coalition
government whose key mandate
is to prepare for fresh elections next
year.
BY KHOLWANI NYATHI
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 20:34
THE
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai
yesterday said it was encouraged by South African President Jacob
Zuma’s
intervention, which saw the parties agreeing to a “package of
measures”.
Zuma, who was in the country between Tuesday and Thursday,
announced that
the two MDC formations and Zanu PF had reached consensus on a
number of
issues threatening the one-year-old inclusive government.
Negotiators
from the two parties will now meet on Thursday, Friday and
Monday next week,
after which they will present a progress report to Zuma on
March
31.
Although the finer details of the agreement that was reached
remains a
closely guarded secret, sources say one of the major breakthroughs
was a
commitment by President Robert Mugabe to restore the mandates of MDC
ministers, which he took away recently.
Zuma’s direct contact
with Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono,
Attorney-General Johannes Tomana and
deputy Agriculture minister-designate
Roy Bennett in separate meetings is
also said to have helped clear many
hurdles.
The trio’s status
has been the major contention between the three governing
parties.
MDC-T spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said they were
optimistic that Zuma’s
visit — which followed a request by the party —
provided a good basis for
the resolution of outstanding issues that at some
point forced his party to
temporarily disengage from the
coalition.
“We believe the process will put in place measures to
realise finality,
closure and conclusion to the outstanding issues,” said
Chamisa.
Meanwhile, scores of MDC-T youths on Friday demonstrated in
Harare and gave
the government a one month ultimatum to bring to book the
perpetrators of
violence in the period between March 30 and June 27
2008.
The petition was addressed to the Minister of Justice and Legal
Affairs,
Patrick Chinamasa, and copied to the Attorney-General Johannes
Tomana and
the three leaders of the organ on national healing —
Vice-President John
Nkomo, Gibson Sibanda and Sekai Holland.
“The
MDC Harare Province Youth Wing demands that all those who perpetrated
acts
of violence, murder, rape, and arson be brought to book by the 15th of
April
2010,” reads the petition, signed by MDC-T Harare provincial youth
chairperson Costa Machingauta and provincial secretary Robert
Manyengavana.
“We are further concerned by the selective application of
the rule of law in
a manner that is disgustingly in favour of Zanu PF, and
the office of the AG
is an active player in this whole
matrix.”
The youths also demanded that “the office of the AG
disabuses itself from
being prostituted by the regime of Zanu
PF”.
BY VUSUMUZI SIFILE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 20:33
IN an
attempt to defuse growing tension between MPs and cabinet ministers
over the
role of portfolio committees, parliament will tomorrow convene a
meeting of
backbenchers and front benchers. The meeting follows clashes
between the
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy and the
Mines ministry
over the MPs’ investigations into the controversial diamond
mining
activities by Mbada Diamonds and Canadile Miners at Chiadzwa.
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo
will
address the MPs and ministers.
The participants would be taken
through a discussion on the rules and
regulations of parliament, and the
separation of roles between the executive
(president and cabinet) and the
legislature (House of Assembly and Senate).
The meeting is also
expected to clarify the extent to which portfolio
committees can provide
checks and balances on the ministries they oversee.
Tsvangirai’s
spokesperson, James Maridadi, yesterday confirmed the meeting.
“It is
basically a retreat for MPs; they will be dialoguing on the roles of
parliament and looking at the separation of power between the executive and
the legislature,” he said.
“The meeting will discuss the rules of
parliament as enshrined in Article 50
of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the
role of portfolio committees, and the
obligation of ministers to attend
portfolio committees.” The meeting is also
expected to discuss the role of
the PM as the leader of government business
in parliament.
Some
ministers, especially from Zanu PF, have reportedly expressed disquiet
that
the MPs are over-stepping their mandate.
BY OUR STAFF
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 19:20
GWERU -
Twelve-year-old Quiet Komboni from the high-density suburb of Mkoba
12 in
the Midlands city of Gweru wants to be a lawyer when he grows up while
his
young brothers Kudzai (9) and Spencer (7) have ambitions of their own
too.
Kudzai has set his sights on becoming a pilot and Spencer who loves
going to
church says he wants to be a pastor.
Like many young people growing
up, the siblings have huge dreams and
aspirations but they may not be able
to fulfill them.
Kudzai and Quiet were last in school in 2008 when
their mother was still
alive, while Spencer has never been to
class.
"My father passed away in 2004 and my mother passed away in
2008.
"I haven't been in school since then," explains Quiet
shyly.
"I love school. I want to go back but all my three big sisters
don't have
money to take my brothers and I back to school. . . sometimes we
even don't
have food."
When Quiet's mother passed away two years
ago, the three were left in the
care of an elder sister Nyasha
(23).
In the absence of a breadwinner, life has been tough for the
family.
Nyasha who has shouldered most of the burden also has two
children of her
own that she has to support.
Nyasha's two sisters
too have children to look after. All 10 of them share
the two rooms they
rent for US$40 a month.
"Life is tough. Taking care of one big family
has been difficult," Nyasha
told journalists during a recent media tour
organised by the United Nations
Children's Fund (Unicef) to assess the
situation of women and children in
rural Zimbabwe.
"I only get
money from plaiting people's hair. My sisters have also learnt
to plait hair
but we barely make ends meet, it's not everyday that people
come to get
their hair plaited. "
But Nyasha's biggest regret is not being able
to send her brothers to
school.
She says although they can access
free education through programmes such as
the Basic Education Assistance
Module (BEAM) she has no money to pay the
extra incentives demanded by
teachers and for uniforms that are mandatory.
"My brother Quiet is
supposed to be in Grade VII," said Nyasha.
"He was very bright at school
and it breaks my heart that we are unable to
send him to school.
"Kudzai
is supposed to be in Grade II. He is also bright.
"My sister Rosemary
wrote her O'Levels last year but she has not collected
her
results.
"We all know she passed because she is very intelligent but
she doesn't want
to collect her results.
"She told me it's a
waste of money because she knows there is no money for
her to proceed with
her education. This really breaks my heart."
According to Unicef,
Nyasha and her siblings are not alone in this
predicament.
Their
plight represents that of thousands of other orphans in Zimbabwe who
are
struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis.
They can neither go to
school nor afford a decent meal. The Kombonis are
among the growing number
of child-headed households across the country and
most of them lost their
parents to HIV/Aids.
An estimated 1,3 million Zimbabwean children are
orphaned and vulnerable.
About 100 000 of them live on their own while
others live with their
extended families.
With over 2 000
HIV/Aids-related deaths every week, child rights experts
warn the orphan
crisis is far from over.
"One in four children in Zimbabwe are
orphaned and vulnerable and an
estimated 100 000 children live in
child-headed households with no
breadwinners, adult supervision and external
support," said Unicef
spokesperson, Tsitsi Singizi.
"Sadly, this
means a growing number of children are likely to miss out on
school, have
limited access to health services, food and other crucial basic
services."
Singizi adds that beyond the obvious lack of material
needs, many orphans
and vulnerable children are also exposed to exploitation
and abuse.
The plight of the Kombonis has also alarmed the Midlands
Aids Service
Organisation for Orphans and Vulnerable
Children.
"We have young girls in this family who have no adult
supervision and who
are poor and for us this is a recipe for disaster," said
Fortune Mazarura,
the organisation's coordinator.
"This family
needs support and protection as soon as yesterday.
"The young boys
must be assisted to quickly get back to school before they
turn to the
streets for survival because, then we will have another bigger
problem."
Last year, Unicef revived the government-led BEAM which
is supposed to be a
social protection mechanism that has the potential to
reach nearly 600 000
vulnerable children.
However, many orphans
do not have access to these critical services as they
cannot afford to pay
the incentives for teachers demanded in most urban
schools.
Most
orphaned children also fail to buy the mandatory school uniforms and
stationary and as a result fail to utilise programmes like
BEAM.
"BEAM is a programme that can have national impact and provide
the requisite
social protection to the most vulnerable children in
Zimbabwe," said
Singizi.
Until a lasting solution is found,
children like Quiet, Kudzai and Spencer
may have to put their dreams on
hold.
BY BERTHA SHOKO
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 19:11
“TORTURE is
a double-edged sword that harms not only the victim but the
perpetrator as
well,” says Sri Lankan psychologist Ruwan M Jayatunge in his
recent
writings. This observation seems to be ringing true for both the
victims and
perpetrators of political violence that engulfed Zimbabwe in the
run-up to
the June 2008 presidential elections and persists up to this day.
The
MDC-T says at least 200 of its activists were killed by suspected Zanu
PF
militia and state security agents.
Hundreds others were tortured
while women were raped, forcing a number of
them to flee the
country.
Those that survived the horrors still bear the deep physical
and emotional
scars in their hearts.
But it appears those behind
the mayhem are equally traumatised,
psychologists and psychiatrists said
last week.
They queried the mental stability of the alleged torturers
saying there
could be a close link between their previous heinous crimes and
breakdown of
relations with their families or friends.
A local
clinical psychologist Lazarus Kajawu said perpetrators of torture
always
turn on their families, friends or neighbours when their usual
targets are
no longer there because of a change in the environment.
“They
ventilate the psychic energy of aggression on their families and
friends
when torture is no longer permissible due to change of
circumstances,” said
Kajawu.
Some of the people who tortured, raped or killed their
political enemies
since 2000 have become mentally
unstable.
Kajawu said studies have shown that the torturers “swallow
a lot of poison
and bitterness” and they lose dignity, respect for life and
human rights.
“They become de-personalised and de-realised in the
process.
“They lose conscience: they can do anything not only to
their victims but
against the person who sent them,” said
Kajawu.
A local psychiatrist, who requested anonymity, confirmed that
some
perpetrators of political violence in previous elections were beginning
to
show serious signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD).
Some have developed flashbacks of the torture sessions,
intense rage,
suicidal thoughts, alterations in relationships with others,
inability to
maintain long-term relationships or even mere
intimacy.
Kajawu said there was also need to provide psycho-social
support to
perpetrators of torture to enable them to go through experiences
such as the
“tree of life” (an approach used for de-briefing to relieve
burnout).
“If you want to help the victim, you must help the
perpetrator first because
when you are trying to heal the wound, the
perpetrators will be opening more
wounds,” said
Kajawu.
“Unfortunately, in our situation the majority of the
humanitarian work is
focused on the victim. If we don’t help them (the
perpetrators) they will
continue doing it.”
Studies in the United
States have revealed that stress is one of the biggest
killers of American
soldiers in Iraq. About one-fifth of all US troops are
thought to suffer
from PTSD, contributing to high suicide rates.
A key finding of the
study released last year was that “reports of
work-related problems due to
stress, mental health problems and marital
separations generally increased
with each subsequent month of the
deployment.”
In the past few
months returning American soldiers have killed their
colleagues in military
bases. This has also been attributed to stress.
It could be a case of
“those who live by the sword, die by the sword.”
Another local
psychiatrist, who again requested anonymity, said in the end
the
perpetrators will turn to the “political leadership” if they are not
rehabilitated into society or when it is no longer permissible to torture
their enemies.
“At first, they are sent to brutalise and torture
their enemies and when the
environment changes, they then go for their
families and friends and finally
they will turn against their masters,” said
psychiatrist.
“So they (leadership) must not sit in their offices and
think all is well.”
Recently senior members of state security
agencies have appeared in court
facing charges of aggravated violence
against close members of their
families. One of the victims of such violence
committed suicide last year
while another developed fits after her skull was
fractured in a domestic
dispute.
A self-confessed torturer and
CIO operative in Masvingo who boasts of having
made former MDC legislator
Job Sikhala drink his own urine is threatening
unspecified action against a
journalist he accuses of peddling falsehoods.
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 12:46
There
has been a flurry of activity following the gazetting of the
Indigenisation
and Economic Empowerment (General) Regulations. A lot of
emotions have been
expressed: joy, dismay, anger and indifference.
These have been the
typical responses to most of the sensitive issues that
have challenged our
country and it is expected in such a highly polarised
country.
This
divergence has done a lot of disservice to our country in that public
opinion is usually dictated by voices wearing political blinkers.
Indigenisation and economic empowerment are issues that need to be looked at
holistically as they are the cornerstone of justice and ultimately peace in
any country.
It is clear that political independence in 1980 did
not come with economic
empowerment of those who had for long been
marginalised.
The question we now ought to examine is whether this lack
of economic power
was all due to historical injustices or some other
causes.
This interrogation can help us approach the issue of
indigenisation with an
open eye.
Firstly let us look at the
government’s policies towards private business.
When the Marxist
government of Robert Mugabe took power, it adopted a
socialist approach
towards business. Much emphasis was placed on formation
of cooperatives and
not private business.
A lot of ujamaas (cooperatives) erupted across the
country.
These flourished for a short while but because a cooperative is
usually
tedious and full of mistrust and suspicion many
crumbled.
Those who dared to enter into private business found the
environment hostile
to capitalism.
The government introduced price
controls between 1980 and 1981 which made it
economically unviable for
emerging business people. These restrictions
stifled growth.
The
financial system that the government inherited and adopted was
risk-averse
with more emphasis on conservatism than business adventurism.
What this
meant was that most financial institutions demanded high
collateral for any
loans that they would issue.
Despite the knowledge of the handicaps that
blacks faced, the government did
not intervene to assist; rather it left
everything in the hands of
institutions like Small Enterprise Development
Corporation (Sedco) which
issued short-term and long-term loans which
obviously were guaranteed by
collateral.
This is the issue that
led to the phenomenon that was then called
“Institutional racism”, where
blacks failed to gain loans from financial
institutions whilst whites seemed
to easily secure them. Blacks had no
collateral, whilst whites could afford
it.
Not all blacks didn’t have start-up capital; some did have but
why did they
fail to start thriving businesses in Zimbabwe? Let us again
examine the
Zimbabwe government’s hand in this.
There were pieces of
legislation in Zimbabwe that made starting up a
business tedious rather than
exciting.
Let us for example consider the processes that were involved in
starting up
a company. First there was Company Name Search, followed by
Memorandum and
Articles of Association, then Certificate of
Incorporation.
This alone could take up to a year to complete even though
officially it was
projected to be a month.
If one wanted to then
enter Hotel and Catering, he would have to apply to
the Zimbabwe Tourism
Authority which was under the Ministry of Environment
and Tourism.
If
he intended to then ferry his clients around in a bus he would have to
apply
for another licence from the Ministry of Roads and Transport.
His
premises had to be inspected by the Local Government and he also needed
a
clearance from the Ministry of Health. All this could take another two
years.
How on earth did the government expect its people to
participate in economic
activities under such strenuous and unfriendly
demands?
The government knows about these restrictive laws that are
present because
in 1994 the Deregulation Committee set up by the government
to look into the
laws identified 28 Acts that were impediments to business
and therefore
needed to be amended urgently.
Unfortunately very few
were amended and even today the government still uses
these shamed laws to
act on its citizens.
We need not look further than Strive Masiyiwa’s
battle to set-up Econet
Wireless to identify the hypocrisy of the Zimbabwean
government.
In 1993, Masiiwa secured a US$40 million loan from Standard
Chartered Bank
to launch his telecommunication business.
Here was a
black man with a brilliant idea, who approached a foreign-owned
bank in
Zimbabwe and secured a loan.
He approached Posts and Telecommunications
Corporation (PTC) for licensing
but they told him that only the PTC could do
such a business under the
Zimbabwe PTC Act.
Initially he had
approached them for a joint venture but they declined
saying that there was
no immediate demand for mobile technology in Zimbabwe.
He appealed to the
High Court and got a favourable verdict from Judge
Gibson. PTC appealed to
the Supreme Court and they won.
Masiiwa then made a constitutional
challenge which ruled in his favour in
August 1995.
Unfortunately,
President Robert Mugabe invoked the Presidential Powers Act
to issue a
Presidential Decree requiring private parties to obtain a licence
from the
Ministry of Information, Post, and Telecommunications before
setting up a
cellular network effectively overturning the decision of the
Supreme Court
and restoring PTC’s monopoly.
The battle took another two years and it
was only after the intervention of
Joshua Nkomo to force Joice Mujuru then
the Information minister and
currently the Vice-President to licence
Econet.
Masiiwa is not the only black businessman who has been
persecuted by
Zimbabwe’s government and its horrendous laws.
Many
names come to mind, James Mushore, Gilbert Muponda, Chris Kuruneri,
James
Makamba and many minor ones like Daniel Chingoma whose dream of flying
his
helicopter will never see light of the day due to restrictions imposed
by
the aviation laws.
Let us not forget the then-emerging black
businessmen like my brother Tobias
who owned five tuckshops in Chitungwiza
which were all razed down during the
infamous Operation Murambatsvina in
2005.
I have no doubt that if the Zanu PF government had not destroyed
his
tuckshops he could be having a decent supermarket maybe employing 10
more
people.
Today he is a pauper selling matches and cigarettes at
Makoni bus rank.
The question we ask today as Minister Saviour
Kasukuwere gazettes his
regulations is whether the government of Zimbabwe is
being truthful in its
quest for indigenisation or it’s another ploy to
empower a few using the
guise of futile populism.
Let us not
forget that this is the same government that has presided over
Zimbabwe for
the past 30 years. It is the same government that has presided
over the
demise of the country.
It is the same government that has been brutal to
its own people and it is
the same government that has grabbed and
expropriated land and shared it
amongst itself. What has really changed
today that this brutal government
has suddenly become sensitive to its
people?
I ask these questions not because I want to scare people away
from riches.
I am only saying; let us not develop a tendency of
expropriating wealth. Let
us create wealth. Historical injustices are not
made right by just
multiplying the people that eat the cake but by
multiplying the cake and the
people who eat it.
If Zanu PF is
serious about black empowerment I challenge it to walk the
talk and begin by
accepting that most of the damage to black
entrepreneurship in the past 30
years was due to its bad governance and
impunity. After that we share its
proceeds of corruption and plunder before
we demand the 51% from
foreigners!
Chari is an independent writer.
BY FREEMAN
CHARI
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010
12:41
MBERENGWA - Lack of fathers' involvement in the Prevention of
Mother to
Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV programme has for many years
been cited as
one of the major challenges hindering its success. PMTCT aims
to reduce the
chances of an HIV-positive mother passing the virus to her
unborn child.
But in Zimbabwe there has been a slow response to the
intervention by women
who fear being rejected by their husbands when they
test HIV positive.
While over 93% of pregnant mothers attend
ante-natal clinics, less than half
of those requiring PMTCT services access
them. This presents an enormous
missed opportunity for HIV prevention in
children.
However, a new innovative programme known as the Male
Champions promises to
bridge this critical social gap.
Through
Betseranai Home Based Care (HBC) at Musume Mission in Mberengwa more
men are
being persuaded to support their wives in the PMTCT programme.
By
using men who are role models in their community to counsel their
colleagues
on the benefits of knowing their HIV status, the Male Champions
programme is
slowly changing mindsets in rural Mberengwa
Otillia and her husband
Nhamoinesu Gumbo (39) are one couple of the many
success stories of the Male
Champions programme, which is supported by the
United Nations Children's
Fund.
Otillia (36) was devastated when she tested HIV-positive 18
months ago
during her third pregnancy.
"My biggest fear was that
I would have one of those sickly looking children
who would end up dying,"
Otillia told journalists during a recent Unicef
media tour of
Mberengwa.
"I had heard of so many women being blamed for HIV in the
home and sent
packing so I really feared for the worst."
It took
the counselling and assurances of caregiver Juliet Nkomo of
Betseranai HBC
who is also HIV-positive to ease Otillia's mind.
"When I told Mai
Nkomo about the fears she taught me how it was very
possible for me to have
an HIV-negative baby while I was HIV-positive," said
Otillia.
After sometime, Otillia eventually mustered the courage
to break the news to
her husband, who accepted the news but was himself not
willing to get
tested.
In the end it was Sikhulile Mhere, a
member of the Betseranai Male Champions
programme who managed to convince
Nhamoinesu to get tested.
Five months ago the couple was blessed with
a baby girl and they are keeping
their fingers crossed that when she gets
tested at six months she would be
found to be free of the
virus.
Unicef spokesperson said they use of male role models was
crucial if the
PMTCT programme was to succeed.
"The success of
any PMTCT programme is hinged on the acknowledgement of a
myriad of social
and cultural factors that influence decisions to take up
PMTCT services,"
said Singizi.
"This initiative pays attention to these factors at
community level.
"Chief among these is the involvement of
men."
She said it was crucial for men to be involved if the programme
was to
succeed because men made most crucial decisions on how the child is
raised.
BY BERTHA SHOKO
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 14:21
THE
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) will have a new board in the coming few
weeks
to formulate policy as part of reforms at the bank, Finance Minister
Tendai
Biti said on Friday. The RBZ has been operating without a board for a
year
since the expiry of the last board's term of office.
Biti said he had
also reached an agreement with RBZ governor Gideon Gono on
a raft of
measures designed to revive the institution.
However, the MDC-T
secretary general who has been at the forefront of calls
for Gono's ouster
over his role in the destruction of the economy could not
reveal the nature
of the deal saying it would be announced in the coming
weeks.
"A
number of things are going to be done including the appointment of a
strong
RBZ board," he said.
Gono chaired the previous board whose members
included Grace Chella, Clever
Mumbengegwi, Mike Ndubiwa and Caleb
Chihota.
Biti said RBZ reforms would be guided by the RBZ Bill which
sailed through
Senate early this month.
The RBZ has failed to
stay afloat following the dollarisation of the economy
last year, which
meant, among other things, it can no longer print money.
This has
seen the apex bank being dragged to the courts by creditors over
outstanding
debts.
Some of its property was auctioned yesterday to recover money
owed to
Farmtec, a company that supplied tractors for the controversial farm
mechanisation programme.
In addition, the central bank stopped
its quasi-fiscal activities blamed for
fuelling inflation.
The
RBZ has failed to play its lender-of-last-resort function due to under
capitalisation leaving the financial sector vulnerable to
shocks.
The collapse of one financial institution can sink the whole
sector as the
RBZ cannot intervene.
In December last year, the
RBZ could only watch when the cash crisis
threatened to spoil the festive
season.
Biti told Standardbusiness "that issue (lender-of-last-resort
function)
would be addressed".
Last year the RBZ received US$1,5
million from treasury and in the 2010
national budget it was allocated US$10
million.
But the central bank said the allocation was inadequate to
meet its needs.
The financial sector is the engine for economic
growth and when it sneezes,
so does the economy.
BY OUR
STAFF
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 14:19
THE
confusion surrounding the implementation of the government's new
empowerment
laws has dealt a body blow to ongoing efforts to attract exiled
Zimbabweans
back into the country. Last month the government gazetted the
Indigenisation
and Economic Empowerment (General) Regulations 2010 which
compel
foreign-owned companies to cede 51% of their stakes to locals.
The
regulations sparked a serious uproar in the inclusive government, with
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and ministers from the two Movement for
Democratic Change formations insisting the regulations were of no force and
effect as they had not passed through proper government
channels.
Before the introduction of the law, scores of exiled
Zimbabweans expressed
interest to return home.
So high was the
interest that some entrepreneurs even saw a window of
opportunity in the
recruitment sector.
One of them was James Crouch, a Zimbabwean who
had worked for top agencies
in the United Kingdom and
Australia.
He returned home to open Precision Recruitment
International (PRI) at the
beginning of the year.
In the last two
months before the announcement of the Indigenisation
Regulations, Crouch
says close to 1 200 exiles submitted their CVs
expressing their desire to
seek employment locally.
Since the announcement, the numbers have
taken a nosedive.
"It is still not clear what effect indigenisation
will have on business,"
said Crouch.
"People are taking a wait
and see approach to see how these regulations will
affect their business,
either for the better and for the worse. A lot of
recruitment has kind of
been put on hold."
Crouch said he had met Zimbabweans in a number of
countries and they had all
expressed interest to return
home.
"The only problem is that at the moment, despite the positivity
presented by
the inclusive government, the jobs are not there yet. They are
not yet where
they ought to be.
"From a business point of view,
Zimbabwe has not really reached the crest."
When he relocated to
Zimbabwe in June 2009, Crouch says he carried out
market surveys to explore
various options available for Zimbabweans back
home.
He said the
global financial recession had discouraged many locals from
continuing
outside the country.
"There are Zimbabweans with incredibly strong
CVs who are living outside
this country," added Crouch, who has also placed
top notch skills in
neighbouring countries like Zambia.
Because
of the "trouble and turmoil" the economy has gone through over the
last
decade, Crouch said there were also serious discrepancies over salaries
across sectors.
"It is almost impossible to give an accurate
salary survey. There is no
level playing field in terms of salaries," he
added.
An estimated four million Zimbabweans are currently scattered
all over the
world, mostly in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Botswana,
the United
States and Australia.
BY VUSUMUZI SIFILE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 14:01
IMAGINE Harare, in
its dilapidated state, being the most digitalised city in
the world. To
many, this may sound too far-fetched but for Liquid Telecom, a
subsidiary of
Econet and Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda it is only a matter
of time before
the dream is realised.
The telecommunications company is undertaking
an ambitious US$3,5 million
project which it claims will transform Harare
into the most digitalised city
ahead of most of the world’s biggest and
busiest cities.
Liquid Telecom left Masunda “really excited” when it
said through the
project, Harare’s telecommunications sector would be better
than London’s.
“I am really excited about this project,” Masunda
chortled. “It will link up
all our centres.
“This is Public
Private Partnership in action.”
Liquid is in the process of
installing two optic fibre rings that are
expected to enhance
telecommunication services in the city, benefiting
residents, the city
council, commerce and industry, telephone and internet
service
providers.
“We have completed the installation of one ring,” Liquid
Group executive
Wellington Makamure said.
“We are now in the
process of connecting all Econet base stations in Harare
to that ring and
this will reduce congestion on the network.
“We will soon embark on
the installation of the second ring and we hope that
will even improve
communications to much better levels.”
Makamure said after the
installation of the second ring, the company would
be able to link other
telecommunication companies, big corporate entities
and various centers in
the city like the Town Hall and Rowan Martin
Building.
He said
enhancement of the internet service in the city would improve the
transmission of voice and data services.
The fibre project can
provide an effective and efficient medium of
transmission of signals for
traffic lights, Makamure said.
But for traffic light signals, the
city council would need upgraded computer
software and lighting system,
something Masunda said would be done once the
city mobilises adequate
resources.
“But more than anything, this project has a potential of
attracting more
investment into Harare,” Makamure said.
“The
optic fibre project will provide immense bandwidth and broadband
services
which equal the latest in the developed countries.
“At the end of the
project, City of Harare as well as Zimbabwe will be
connected to the rest of
the world through the undersea fibre cables which
run along the Eastern
Coast of Africa.”
The optic fibre will be connected to the Seacom
undersea cable.
“Any investor will realise that they can communicate
with others across the
world as if they are talking to someone next door,”
Makamure said.
“You will find that cities like London, Johannesburg
and Cape Town among
others do not even charge an investor embarking on a
project like ours but
encourage them as they know that it enhances their
attractiveness.”
Through the linking of such centres as Town House
and Rowan Martin Building
and satellite networks, the project can improve
the city’s administrative
efficiency.
After Harare, the company
would take the project to other cities, Makamure
added.
But some
councilors were not as “excited” as Masunda.
Herbert Gomba, the
chairperson of the Environmental Management Committee,
said while the city
would benefit from the connection of robots for example,
it must also get
revenue for the land that would be used as it would not be
able to use it
for anything else.
“There is no reason to worry about anything,”
Makamure said. “We have
already paid the administrative fees just like any
other operator who has
cables underneath the city of Harare.
“We
have in fact offered them capacity on the fibre and this is more than
what
any other operator who has cables underground has ever done.”
Optic
fibre rings are made up of super-thin filaments of glass or other
transparent materials that can carry beams of light.
Because a
optic-fibre cable is light-based, data can be sent through it at
the speed
of light.
They can be used over greater distances than copper cables.
Their light
weight and small size also make them ideal for applications
where running
copper cables would be impractical.
The
disadvantages include the fact that they are difficult and expensive to
install as they are usually installed underground because of their
fragility.
Makamure said the project would be completed by
July.
Liquid Telecom, is a leading independent data, voice and
Internet Service
Provider, specialising in supplying wholesale satellite and
international
carrier services to independent mobile and fixed
telecommunications
operators in developing countries.
It owns and
operates multiple satellite ground facilities in the United
Kingdom,
Botswana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Somalia, Burundi, Niger and
Kenya,
utilising three satellite transponders.
BY JENNIFER DUBE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010
18:55
THE promulgation of Statutory Instrument 21 of 2010 meant to
breathe life
into the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act legally
referred to as
Chapter 14:33 of 2007, which inter alia requires all foreign
companies to
cede at least 51% stake to indigenous Zimbabweans has been
cause for much
consternation. Not least in triggering this widespread
apprehension is the
timing of the regulations coming as it does in the wake
of an inclusive
government battling to salvage and resuscitate the little
that is left of
the economy as well as restore lost confidence among
investors, local and
international.
Ironically, this is a time when
companies are struggling to come out of the
hood and looking at raising
capital through public sale of shares among
other things. To be sure, after
a decade old spiral of uninterrupted
economic decadence there is very little
of the economy left to indigenise.
But a careful reading of the Zanu
PF's modus operandi to date educates one
to the fact that for them it is not
the size of the economy that matters.
The size would only matter if the
intention was to support the majority: but
far from it, this is a strategy
to complete the Zanufication of the economy
and enrich a few political
elites.
Zanu PF has a serious accumulation agenda that goes beyond the
present
political interregnum - the period of time between the end of one
reign or
regime and the beginning of the next.
It is no wonder that
the law's orientation is toward giving access to
Zimbabweans that are
already rich enough to buy shares in big companies.
If one is able to
mobilise as much capital, why not start up own companies?
In so doing we
increase the number of players in the economy and create more
jobs and
spread the benefits wider.
That the Act has as its prime objective
transfer as opposed to creation of
wealth betrays entrepreneurial laziness
and serious lack of innovation.
Like the post 2000 land seizures which
led to the multiple ownership of
farms by individuals within the ruling
elite this is meant to accommodate
political elites who want to own
businesses instead of promoting business
people who want to do
business.
The African tragedy has been partly due to a preponderance of
"comrades in
business" to use Gavin Capp's characterisation of South
Africa's Black
Economic Empowerment. For Zanu-PF it seems, because the
perpetuation of the
political kingdom is becoming more and more elusive by
the day pursuing an
economic one is worth the while and certain to guarantee
a survival enclave
of sorts.
"Indigenisation and empowerment" are
sweet words. Nice words but flawed
ideas! The post-colonial so-called
empowerment initiatives as is with this
broadly disempowering and narrowly
empowering (temporarily for that matter)
Act derive their logic from a
poisonous political-economic doctrine that
says "Land is the economy". On
the contrary land on its own is not the
economy. There is also production,
trade and consumption as well as the laws
and the politics governing these
processes. The sum is the economy. Soon the
seized companies will be run
down leaving workers worse off.
If land were the economy then why
have we become the poorest among nations?
Owning companies, dying companies
is not empowerment. Day in and day out we
are told that we are the richest
nation on earth because we have an
abundance of mineral resources - but the
majority is wallowing in abject
poverty. So what's the point? Gold does not
equal wealth! The point is how
you use it! It is from this stand point that
meaningful empowerment should
emanate.
While there is need to
create a more equal society Zimbabweans need not pay
with their jobs,
stomachs and skins. A nation must produce. The purpose of
wealth is to
sustain life - and that for everyone.
"There is no wealth but life" once
remarked the great art
critic-cum-economist John Ruskin in 1860. What
empowerment is there when
"empowerment" threatens the right to full and
reasonable employment and a
livelihood for many? In my view politics and the
love for wealth must always
be subservient to the human
spirit.
In spite of an inclusive government in Zimbabwe, there
remains a strong
tendency within Zanu-PF to pursue an obviously destructive
course with
forcefulness comparable only to religious conviction?
One
is thus left to conclude that perhaps Zanu-PF has become irredeemably
corrupt and solely guided by a private acquisitive agenda and the power
retention project that guarantees such so much that the party has completely
lost any trace of national interest in its thinking.
Within this
context any attempt to engage with them meaningfully on matters
of national
interest becomes a futile exercise. Zanu-PF needs to give people
a reason to
take it seriously when it comes to the national development
question.
Showers Mawowa is a research fellow at the Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition in
Harare.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010
18:48
IT was all too much of a fairytale: a country emerges from the grip
of one
of the most debilitating crises the world has ever seen and almost
overnight
becomes a Rainbow nation. That utopian transition from Apartheid
to
democracy in South Africa was something of a miracle, but do miracles
happen?
In the past few weeks debate on the situation South
Africa finds itself in
has heightened.
The climax of it was probably
when Winnie Madikizela-Mandela shocked the
nation by saying her ex-husband
and first black president of the country,
iconic Nelson Mandela had done
little to uplift the lot of the majority
black South
Africans.
Although in the face of the outrage that followed her averment
she distanced
herself from it, the spear had pierced the heart of the
matter.
Scholars have argued that all Nelson Mandela ever did was to
avert the civil
war that was imminent because the chasm between white and
black South Africa
was too wide and too deep to bridge.
Indeed that
was one of his greatest achievements.
But his detractors say that all he
managed to do was to give the blacks
political power while capital remained
firmly in the hands of the whites. In
short he gave power to the ANC and
allowed the National Party (read whites)
to remain with all the
money.
From wherever one wants to look at it, Mandela's legacy will
be open to
debate for decades to come and voices such as Winnie's, although
muted or
even gagged now, will eventually come to the fore.
That
is where the problem lies.
Future generations of black leaders,
especially if they are weak, will be
influenced by this perception that
Mandela did little for their lot.
This will justify the implementation of
populist policies that will surely
destroy the country but keep them in
power. It has already begun to happen.
Thabo Mbeki was a weak leader
seen by the majority as someone who only
managed to perpetuate Mandela's
legacy of leaving the whites with all the
money and this led to the break-up
of the ANC.
Jacob Zuma is another weak president and look at the
people who surround him
of whom the insufferable Julius Malema is the
"flagship".
I am not South African, being only Zimbabwean, so I have no
business poking
my nose into that country's politics.
My own
country's leader brooks no tolerance of people of one country
interfering in
the affairs of another.
He says that threatens the sovereignty of other
nations. I don't always
agree with him but in this case I would like the
South Africans to speak for
themselves in the voice of one Dr Lucas
Ntyintyane of Cape Town.
In his essay "Zimbabwe is a state of mind
and not a place . . ." he writes:
"TS Eliot perfectly sums up our
gloomy state of affairs: 'we are the hollow
men, we are the stuffed men. . .
shape without form, shade without colour,
paralysed force, gesture without
motion . . . this is the dead land, this is
cactus land'. If Nelson Mandela
was our nirvana, the new leadership is our
nadir.
"Despondency and
gloom have replaced hope. Greed and plunder have taken over
from
selflessness and servant leadership. Without any skill, education or
hard
work, one can accumulate millions in a week, more than Raymond Ackerman
did
in the first decade of running Pick n Pay.
"Your green and gold
political membership card is more precious than a
university degree or
values. If you are connected, a phone call to a
well-placed minister will
open doors for you. Talent and competence are
irrelevant. State institutions
are paralysed by inept leadership and
infighting. It is twisted irony that
the new rulers praise apartheid
monsters such as PW Botha for their
leadership. Spare a thought for his
victims.
"Like his
predecessor, Adriaan Vlok, our current police minister is smiling,
as the
blue light brigade harasses poor citizens. Sixteen years ago, Africa
looked
up to us for inspiration - today we are Africa's cartoons. Be warned:
these
are the first signs of post-colonialism blues that destroyed most of
Africa's young democracies. This is our Damascus moment. If we do nothing -
we go the Zimbabwe direction.
Zimbabwe is a state of mind and not a
place.
"Please do not blame Julius Malema for milking the system. It
is not his
fault. All he did was rent out his name to interested parties.
Our flawed
democracy was designed to benefit the elite and not the masses.
Yesterday it
was Thabo Mbeki's group to enjoy the fruits of liberation. Now
it is Jacob
Zuma's turn. Moaning will not help. Every comrade wants a taste
of the state
honey. Like cancer, political decay has spread to all parts of
our body. It
is sad for the African National Congress - the party of Sisulu
- to be seen
defending the looting of state resources. Lord have mercy on us
if our
leaders cannot separate what is legally right but morally wrong. Do
not look
to President Zuma for answers. He is part of the problem and a pawn
in the
game. Our democracy and our future need defending from our leaders.
The
media, civil society and trade unions must stand up. Our loyalty should
be
to the constitution, instead of to leaders. Building democracy is hard
work.
We cannot afford to be complacent."
Is South Africa really
going the Zimbabwean way? God forbid but statistics
are already showing that
emigration, although not yet an exodus, is rising
phenomenally. Skilled
South Africans of all races are seeking refuge in the
Americas, in Australia
and New Zealand.
Emigration began as a trickle in Zimbabwe in the
1990s but became a deluge
in the new millennium. That is what's likely to
happen in South Africa as
the weakened ANC tries to hang on to power at all
costs. The story is all
too familiar; ask any Zimbabwean.
Zimbabwe
had the potential to become a model democracy in Africa when in
1980 the
people gave Robert Mugabe the mandate to rule and he declared a
policy of
national reconciliation.
The country had been at war for the better part
of the last decade and the
new policy ensured that swords were turned inot
ploughshares. But that was
not to last for long for the weakness of
leadership came to the fore.
Instead of the former liberation armies
working together to build the new
nation Mugabe thought the best way forward
was to annihilate Joshua Nkomo's
Zapu so that he would declare a one-party
state.
The country was plunged into a civil war; so Mandela did better on
this
score. But in the next three decades as his popularity waned Mugabe was
to
be driven by populist policies, which although they have kept him in
power,
have destroyed the country.
Zimbabwe is the laughing stock of
the world; a country that had so much
potential, so much promise in all
spheres now lies supine at the bottom of
the heap.
South Africa
should not be allowed to go the same way.
PS, I would like to invite our
readers to use the two columns SundayOpinion
and SundayView in The Standard
which are open to the public. We wish to see
our readers ventilate debate in
the columns. The Standard revels in
publishing fresh thinking that
invigorates and guides the nation in its
endeavour to navigate the crisis we
are facing.
BY NEVANJI MADANHIRE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010
18:42
TO understand the situation in Zimbabwe at this point, it is best
to do so
in the context of the government of national unity (GNU)
constituted by Zanu
PF and the two outfits of the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC). The
configuration of the GNU vis-a-vis reforms, or lack of
them, has its
foundation in the politics of holding on to a sinking
log.
If the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and the African
Union
(AU) are to make any meaningful interventions in this scenario, it has
to be
by ensuring the reform of institutions that govern democratic popular
participation; these include elections, the opening up of media space and
reform of the uniformed forces. They should also ensure that the
constitution is written in a manner that safeguards the country rather than
the interests of the politicians leading the process.
A surgical
reform of the current system will ensure that the outcome of the
election,
which will be held after the completion of the constitution-making
process,
is upheld as a true reflection of the people's will. Anything below
this
standard will be seen as a collaborative effort by Sadc and the AU to
safeguard the reign of liberation movements; something that they are
notorious for.
Zimbabwe's current government can be described as
a political bubble. The
centre cannot effectively hold as the political
authorities sharpen their
daggers and jostle for political
territory.
There will never be consensus over the constitution-making
process, firstly
on the import and the meaning of the process and the
outcome despite the
lip-service paid by the three principals of the
GPA.
Secondly, there will be no agreement over institutional reform such
as the
commissions which are by now staffed by political party
representatives as
an outcome of horse trading.
Thirdly, the next
election will not happen under a new democratic and
people-driven
constitution as this has the danger of liquidating Zanu PF's
political
capital.
Given such glaring factors, Sadc has a crucial role of pushing
the three
political parties to follow what they appended their signatures to
and
ensure that the next election is not disputable.
The GNU by
its definition in the GPA is a sinking log hedged on the expiry
of the
transitional period which is in the timeframe of two to five years.
The
desperate attempts to hang on to the same structure as if it will exist
in
perpetuity are therefore a clear sign of a failed leadership amongst the
three political outfits. Sadc, as the guarantors of the GPA should drag the
errant parties screaming and kicking to honour their positions to the people
of Zimbabwe in the stipulated timeframe.
Equally, the frustrations on
reforms in the media, constitution, state
institutions and that of the
security services are aimed at immortalising
the rotting log called the GNU
whose sustenance will be hinged on the
never-ending
negotiations.
The initial thinking on the part of Zanu PF was that
the GNU was built on
its generosity due to its egocentric position that it
liberated Zimbabwe
from the yoke of oppression and dishonestly claiming this
gave it a passport
to rule till the end of time.
The MDC-T held
the notion that its entrance into public office with the
goodwill of the
majority of Zimbabweans was to liquidate Zanu PF and push it
out of the
spheres of political influence by the next election. The MDC-M
went in with
the impression that it would be the deciding factor given its
10 seats in
parliament.
These political positions have not come to pass, in the
process reforms have
suffered the most as the whole process has become
highly politicised with
each political outfit smelling a rat in every
political move by any of the
other outfits.
These attempts by the
political formations to outdo each other are coming at
a time when Sadc is
weaker than any other time since the negotiations by the
political parties
started.
This works of cause in favour of Zanu PF and its politics of
militants.
President Jacob Zuma, as the Sadc mediator and guarantor of the
GNU has
shown that he does not have the dexterity and complexity of his
predecessor,
Thabo Mbeki.
Canning voices such as those of the
late President of Zambia Levy Mwanawasa
are gone, the same with towering
figures such as former President of
Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano who was
succeeded by an equally weak link
president in the form of Armando Guebuza,
who by the time of publishing this
article was still battling to control the
Malawi police details who
continuously encroach onto Mozambican territory
with brute force on the
citizens of that country with
impunity.
Botswana, which used to make uncoordinated noises to
challenge Thabo Mbeki's
complex approach on the Zimbabwean situation has
realised that there is no
longer a synergy in Sadc with chairperson, Joseph
Kabila whose political
muscle to set the tone in the region is between none
and bleak, given the
upheavals in his own country.
Tabani Moyo is a
journalist based in Harare
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 20 March 2010 18:22
THERE was
something intangible in the news stories we read last week about
South
African President Jacob Zuma's latest mediation effort.
The stories from
both the public and private media seemed to be based on
speculation and
hearsay rather than fact. In the end the nation has been
left none the
better for it; and Zuma's effort can best be described as
hugely
disappointing.
Zuma, it seems, has quickly morphed into the
mould of all African leaders
who have misconceptions of the role the Press
plays in conflict situations
and who, by so doing, hold the public in
contempt.
It is the general misconception among leaders with dictatorial
tendencies to
do their business under a shroud of secrecy. The current
impasse in the
implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) has
sapped the
Zimbabwean populace emotionally and spiritually. The people need
news that
would bring some relief. But this was not to be because of Zuma's
idea of
diplomacy.
In the first place why did the South African
president visit at all?
Zimbabweans have known that there are huge
problems with the implementation
of the GPA.
The problems have been
due to many factors, not least of which has been Zanu
PF's lack of sincerity
in the whole process.
We have known for a fact that hardliners in Zanu PF
who include the
so-called securocrats, a secretive cabal of moribund former
leaders of the
1970s independence war, has been staunchly against the whole
GPA preferring
instead to rule the country by decree because they lack the
people's
mandate.
Indeed they have vowed not to recognise Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as
a bona fide leader of
government.
We have known that Zanu PF, at its national congress last
year decreed not
to make any more concessions in the negotiation process
literally driving
the whole process into a deadlock.
They have used
the question of sanctions as the peg on which to hang their
obduracy.
They have dragged their feet in implementing media
reforms.
Zanu PF and the state media have trivialised the MDC's
gripes by repeatedly
implying that the party was interested in small issues
centring on
personalities such as Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono,
Attorney-General
Johannes Tomana and deputy Agriculture minister Roy
Bennett.
The real issues we have known to centre around the reform of
state
institutions that continue to be used by Zanu PF to suppress people's
basic
freedoms such as the freedom of assembly, the freedom of association
and the
freedom of the Press.
But Zuma chose secretiveness. The
Press wasn't involved at all in his visit
and so could not inform the public
on what was happening. It is common cause
that a mediator in any conflict
needs to have measurable objectives in each
and every attempt he makes at
mediation.
Zuma should have informed the Press exactly what he wanted
to achieve with
his latest sortie into Zimbabwe, so that the media could
assess, value and
quantify its success or failure and inform the
public.
What seems to have emerged is that he broke the deadlock in
talks; but that
means little.
Last time a deadlock was proclaimed the
negotiators were given the timeframe
of three months to complete their
talks. They didn't; what makes Zuma think
that giving the same negotiators
another deadline is breaking the deadlock?
His visit also raised
interesting questions. Why, for example, did he
sinisterly talk separately
with Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and
State Security minister Sydney
Sekeramayi? People have the right to know if
their country is facing some
kind of security threat.
Zuma should be more open in his diplomacy to
assuage the people of Zimbabwe's
fear that their country could regress into
the chaos of the last few years.