Yahoo News
Thursday March 24, 04:34 AM
Decayed
townships are Zimbabwe poll battleground
HARARE (Reuters) - Simon
Chidziva breaks into a boyish grin as he
recalls the "good old days" in
Highfield, one of the oldest townships in
Zimbabwe's capital
Harare.
With a modest salary, Chidziva was able to save for a
two-bedroomed
house, entertain himself and friends and make a 350 km (220
miles) trip to
his rural home to see his parents every month.
But that was 10 years ago and a world away. Now unemployed, the
37-year-old's face darkens as he lists the hardships of Highfield following
five years of economic crisis that he blames squarely on President Robert
Mugabe's ZANU-PF government.
His job has vanished. The township
is crumbling. Electricity and water
supplies are intermittent, and prices
are soaring. As Zimbabwe prepares for
closely-watched parliamentary
elections on March 31, urban voters like
Chidziva are in an angry
mood.
"ZANU-PF has not addressed our grievances ... what we need
are leaders
who live by their promises," said Simon, an opposition Movement
for
Democratic Change (MDC) supporter, while swigging a popular local brew
from
a plastic container called a "Scud".
Zimbabwe's townships,
built in the then-Rhodesia by white minority
governments to house its black
labour force, symbolise the daily struggles
faced by many ordinary
people.
From being the hotbed of nationalism during the country's
fight for
independence, townships have become a key battleground for voters
as ZANU-PF
and the MDC vie ahead of the March vote.
Post-independence optimism has been replaced by a widespread feeling
that
life is getting harder -- a dangerous political equation for the
government
in power.
The MDC, which came close to unseating Mugabe when it
swept most urban
seats in the 2000 polls, hopes Simon and thousands like him
will return it
to most urban constituencies.
ZANU-PF draws its
traditional strength from Zimbabwe's rural areas,
where 60 percent of the
country's voters live. But turnout in townships has
risen in the past two
polls as angry voters protest ruling party policies.
The township
vote is an important barometer for ZANU-PF and the MDC to
gauge the
popularity of their policies.
STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL
In
Mbare, Harare's oldest township, residents struggle with collapsing
sanitation and transport systems, water and electricity shortages, poor
roads and an HIV/AIDS scourge that strains the already overwhelmed health
system.
Most other townships are similarly stricken,
compounding difficulties
faced by a population that already grapples with
more than 70 percent
unemployment and triple-digit inflation.
Many have rallied behind the MDC, formed in 1999 amid popular anger at
Mugabe's policies, which critics say caused the country's worst economic
crisis.
Riding through Mbare shows why. Public taxi drivers bob
and weave in
defiance of all road rules, swerving wildly to avoid potholes
and a group of
school children. Many commuters make such trips everyday to
and from work.
Here, old corrugated roofed houses and illegal
wooden and plastic
shacks are a reminder of a critical housing
shortage.
In Nenyere, a slum section of Mbare, dusty streets have
been turned
into a market where anything from household goods, agricultural
tools and
the staple maize is sold. Food is available on the black market
here even in
times of shortage, although prices can fluctuate wildly with
inflation.
"Politicians promise you jobs that never come and people
have decided
vending is the way forward," said a woman who identified
herself as Tsitsi.
Just a few yards from where Tsitsi has set up
shop, is a municipal
dump overloaded with garbage that has not been
collected for days.
The labour-backed MDC says it offers the only
hope for people like
Tsitsi and Simon and say anger against ZANU-PF will
drive its party faithful
to deliver a no-confidence vote on the ruling party
on voting day.
Mugabe, himself a township resident before
independence in 1980, was
this month presented with problems facing the
urban poor as he started his
campaign drive into the opposition urban
stronghold of Chitungwiza near
Harare.
As the 85-year-old
veteran leader listened to the residents' wish list
at a government school,
a burst sewer leaked for about 500 metres (yards)
just behind the school's
walls.
CHANGE IN FORTUNES
Near Simon's house in
Highfield, a group of five school leavers sit at
a street corner, surveying
passers-by and arguing whether to stay at home or
go to "Unit K", township
slang for Britain -- Zimbabwe's former colonial
power.
Zimbabwe's economic and political crisis has driven many to mostly
Britain
and South Africa is search of better paying jobs.
"I am not
registered to vote because that will not get me a job or
food, right now I
am thinking of going to the UK (United Kingdom)," one of
the teenagers
said.
The government denies it is responsible for township problems
and
blames the MDC which controls most urban municipalities.
ZANU-PF says it stands a strong chance of wresting back the urban vote
from
the MDC, citing an expected modest growth in the economy, which has
contracted almost 30 percent since 1999, as a welcome tonic for the urban
voter.
Mugabe says sanctions against his government by the West
and what he
calls sabotage by some local businesses working with the MDC,
have hurt the
country's once vibrant economy and resulted in an urban
protest vote against
ZANU-PF in 2000 and 2002.
On March 31,
Simon will line up to vote in his Highfield constituency
where,
coincidentally, Mugabe traditionally votes. The irony is not lost on
Simon.
"We will be together (with Mugabe) ... (but) we will be
voting for
change," he said.
Khaleej Times
South Africa offers "revolving door" to desperate
Zimbabweans
(AFP)
24 March 2005
KRUGERSDORP,
South Africa - Fresh off a van carrying some 25 "illegal
aliens", the
21-year-old Zimbabwean casts a worried glance as he prepares to
be
fingerprinted, photographed and eventually put on a train back to
Zimbabwe.
The young man, who declined to give his name, says he
is on the enemy list
of President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party for
taking part in a union
meeting at his workplace in Harare last
month.
"They are looking for me," he says, shaking his head in
disbelief at his
predicament. "If they get me, I am in trouble."
South Africa deports between 600 and 6,000 Zimbabweans every week from a
repatriation center aptly called Lindela-which means "wait here" in Zulu and
Xhosa-a sprawling compound of dormitories and other buildings tucked behind
high walls in a field outside Krugersdorp, some 30 kilometers (18 miles)
west of Johannesburg.
As Zimbabwe heads for key elections on March
31, South Africa continues to
be a destination of choice for illegal
migrants from Zimbabwe who now number
as many as two million, according to
unofficial estimates.
And the government of President Thabo Mbeki
openly admits that it is
fighting a losing battle against the influx of
Zimbabweans fleeing poverty
and repression in their homeland, with many
deportees returning to South
Africa within weeks.
"We are facing a
revolving door syndrome because they want to enjoy with
us the fruits of our
own democratic dispensation," says home affairs
spokesman Nkosana
Sibuyani.
Sitting with a dozen other Zimbabwean women at outdoor tables
in the women's
section of Lindela, 19-year-old Muzi said she was picked up
during a police
raid at the restaurant where she worked in
Johannesburg.
"We are going to be back," she says, amid nods from the
nearby women. "We
can't survive there."
Zimbabweans form along with
Mozambicans the bulk of the 80,000 to 90,000
deportees who pass through
Lindela's doors every year, and very few manage
to convince South African
officials that they should stay.
Of the 8,305 Zimbabweans who have
sought political asylum in South Africa
since 1994, only 54 have been
granted refugee status, according to the home
affairs department, which
maintains that the migrants are drawn to South
Africa for jobs.
Muzi and others were among the 1,240 Zimbabweans who were to board the
weekly deportation train to make the ten-hour ride to the border where they
were to be turned over to Zimbabwean authorities.
For some like
Robert who says he is an opposition member, the prospect of
returning to
Zimbabwe instills fear and some detainees have leapt from the
train to avoid
going back.
"They will start beating us again," says Robert from
Bulawayo.
After rights groups complained about the deportations from
Lindela, a new
system of digital fingerprints and other technology was
installed late last
year to try to weed out cases of asylum-seekers among
illegal migrants.
A weekly visitor to Lindela, lawyer Kaajal
Ramjathan-Keogh says she has
raised concerns about unlawful detentions and
ensuring that Zimbabweans and
other deportees who fear reprisals at home can
make their case for asylum.
"Deportation is not a solution," says
Ramjathan-Keogh, who works for
Lawyers for Human Rights. "It costs the
government a lot of money and it is
not solving the problem of clandestine
migration."
Ramjathan-Keogh estimates that the flow of migrants from
Zimbabwe has
remained steady since 2000 but that more women, some
accompanied with
children, are now illegally crossing the border.
"This is unusual," she says of the influx of Zimbabwean women. "It shows
the
severity of the problem."
She proposes easing restrictions on work
permits to allow Zimbabweans to
"feed their families" by working in South
Africa but with the unemployment
rate hovering at 40 percent here, the
government is not ready to open the
floodgates to migrants.
New Zimbabwe
Death by denial: a country in peril
By Dr. Frenk
Guni
Last updated: 03/24/2005 09:01:31
IT IS difficult to overstate the
trauma and hardships that the increase in
AIDS related morbidity and
mortality has brought upon children in Zimbabwe.
According to UNICEF, one
in five children in Zimbabwe is an orphan and a
child dies of AIDS every 15
minutes. These statistics are not just accurate
but an underestimation of
the gravity of the problems bedeviling Zimbabwe.
Children are being
denied a basic family life, they lack love, attention and
affection and
they're similar to children living in war ravaged countries.
They are
pressed into caring for ill and dying parents, removed from school
to help
with the household or pressed into sex for survival to pay for
necessities.
They have less access to heath care services. They are often
treated harshly
or abused by foster or step parents and society at large.
Relatives and
neighbors charged with caring for these children frequently
take the
children's inheritance leaving them more vulnerable to mortality,
illness
and exploitation. These problems are occurring in a society where
children
are already undernourished and impoverished.
How does the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund, the Global Fund to
fight HIV/AIDS TB and
Malaria among other philanthropic agencies explain a
per capita spending on
HIV/AIDS of $4 per head per annum in Zimbabwe
compared to $187 per head in
neighboring Zambia where both prevalence and
incidence rates are
lower?
Across Zimbabwe over a million children are experiencing poverty,
enormous
mental stress from witnessing the illness and death of their
parents and
loved ones and a profound sense of real insecurity. These
inadequately met
concerns are the fundamental human rights and needs of
children and there is
an urgent requirement to ameliorate their physical and
psycho-social
distress and suffering. It can not be argued otherwise that,
the health care
system in Zimbabwe has long since collapsed and Zimbabwe's
internal efforts
to fight AIDS have in fact been constantly thwarted and
undermined by the
international community for "technical" and yet ultimately
political
reasons.
I was one of the first persons to concur that the
Zimbabwean government's
proposals to the Global Fund had serious technical
weaknesses, but the
suggested actions put together buy experts where never
implemented. This in
itself demonstrates a more sinister motive to discredit
the AIDS response by
Zimbabwe based purely on political indifference of the
international
community and indigence by the Zimbabwean government.
Furthermore, there is
no logical explanation as to why Zimbabwe was not
included in President Bush's
Emergency Plan for HIV/ AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
when all of its surrounding
neighbors including South Africa, Zambia,
Botswana and Mozambique are focus
countries receiving funding from the $15
billion pledge.
"There are only two possible responses to suffering on
this scale. We can
turn our eyes away in resignation and despair, or we can
take decisive,
historic action to turn the tide against this disease .."
President George
W. Bush said, demonstrating his global leadership in
fighting AIDS. Alas on
AIDS in Zimbabwe the United States has led the entire
donor and
international community in not just choosing to "turn away in
resignation
and despair" but in punishing Zimbabweans for the "sins" of
their government
and political leaders.
Over 160,000 people living
with AIDS will die this year alone in Zimbabwe.
This will undoubtedly result
in likely increased instability, crime and
other social problems and human
rights abuses. HIV infection levels are
likely to increase significantly as
people in desperate circumstances have
to concentrate on immediate survival
needs, not on protecting themselves
from long term health problems. Lack of
sufficient care now is a recipe for
the increased spread of HIV infection
and social insecurity.
No "terrorist attack" or war has ever threatened
the lives of over 40
million people globally at one time. The institutional
response to AIDS
internationally has tended to mirror personal responses
including initial
denial, blame, repression and ultimately a varied degree
of acceptance.
However for Zimbabwe the primary limitations are inadequate
international
and local funding, weak political response exasperated by
donor fatigue and
a morbid desire by the international community to punish
President Mugabe
and his government for alleged human rights abuses, flawed
electoral laws
and an unpalatable land reform and redistributing
program.
Never in history has there arisen such a widespread fundamental
threat to
human development as AIDS and Zimbabwe is experiencing the most
severe
HIV/AIDS epidemic in the world today. National Antenatal prevalence
is in
parts of the country are between 35% and 70%. This clearly threatens
development, food security, productivity, human resources and soon national
and regional security. This is a long term development disaster for the
region on a scale never witnessed before, yet the major limitations of the
response to AIDS has been the failure of others to learn and act effectively
from those most impacted.
This is a time for decisive leadership, a
time for action, a time to put
aside political demagoguery, this is a time
to think and act for the cause
of humanity. We need to re-focus and channel
resources to rebuild and
strengthen Zimbabwe's heath care and response
mechanism. Agreed, there
remains a question of accountability on the part of
the Zimbabwe government,
but surely there are ways to go around that threat.
For instance channel the
AIDS response funds through the UN Theme Group on
HIV/AIDS or through the
World Health Organization or more directly to NGOs.
Not withstanding the
recently passed NGO Bill of Zimbabwe which to this day
the President has not
assented to.
The bill in material terms does
not prohibit external funding to NGOs that
are providing humanitarian
services not linked to the internal politics of
Zimbabwe. If we do not act
fast and now history and posterity will judge us
all for our inaction.
Zimbabwe's children are a generation in peril and its
our time to show that
we care. Yes it is our time to show that the
international community will
stand by the most vulnerable and weak in their
time of need. It is not the
"body- politick" that has HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe
and are bearing the burden of
care. But it is the ordinary men, women and
children who are now looking up
to the international community for their own
survival.
Dr. Frenk Guni is
an AIDS Activist and the winner of the 2003 Jonathan Mann
Award for Global
Health and Human Rights among other international accolades
in public
health
The Mercury
MDC queries 'dead voters'
March 24,
2005
By Beauregard Tromp
Harare: There are nearly a
million dead men walking around in
Zimbabwe, if the main opposition is to be
believed. The Movement for
Democratic Change alleges that there are a
million extra or "ghost" voters
on the voters roll, many of them
dead.
The voters roll was only made available to the opposition and
the
public at the end of last week, and then only in paper and not
electronic
format, making the task of verifying valid voters
difficult.
The leader of the Southern African Development Community
team
monitoring the elections, Pumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said these concerns
had
been raised with the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission, but it had been
difficult to act on them because there were no facts to back them
up.
"When allegations are made and we don't have substantive
information
it makes it very difficult to follow up," said
Mlambo-Ngcuka.
However, she said she believed there was still
enough time to resolve
the voters roll dispute before the March 31
elections.
Some observers have raised concerns about the use of
transparent
ballot boxes on election day, arguing that it would be easy to
see who the
person voted for this way.
But Mlambo-Ngcuka said
voters often fold their ballot papers before
inserting them in the box. -
Mercury Foreign Service
The Mercury
Economy could be key to poll
March 24,
2005
By Stella Mapenzauswa
Harare: Joseph Chironda
says his life has improved from three years
ago, when finding basic
commodities like bread, milk and oil in Zimbabwe's
shops was a small
miracle.
A staunch supporter of Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement
for
Democratic Change (MDC), Chironda grudgingly concedes that President
Robert
Mugabe's government has gone some way to arrest the country's worst
economic
crisis since independence in 1980.
But the young
computer technician - who preferred to use a pseudonym -
insists the
government has merely sought to clean up a mess of its own
making and he
remains opposed to Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party.
Critics say 25
years of mismanagement by Zanu-PF governments have
brought a once-thriving
agricultural economy to its knees. Things have
improved recently, and the
economy is set to expand this year after six
years of recession, but it is
still 30% smaller than it was in 1999.
"The state of the
economy has been a major influence in the run-up to
these elections," said
Harare-based independent economist Witness Chinyama.
"For the first
time we have seen political parties campaign on
economic
issues."
Mugabe's government argues it has done its best to steer
the country
to recovery under what it calls sabotage by domestic and Western
opponents
of its land reforms.
The MDC insists Mugabe has not
done enough to boost the key export
sector and has failed to win back
international donor support.
But economist Eric Bloch says both
parties have failed to move beyond
finger-pointing.
"Voters
don't see that anything has been proposed by either as far as
the economic
situation is concerned, and you will find that very large
numbers of people
will not be inclined to vote for either Zanu-PF or MDC,
leading to a low
turnout," Bloch said. - Reuters
-----
The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
Print and Electronic Daily
Media Update # 1
THIS is the first of the daily media content report that
The Media
Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) will be carrying over the
election
period. Each report will carry the current day's Press report and
the
previous day's electronic media's output. This report carries
Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday's Press and Monday and Tuesday
ZBH.
CONTENTS
1. Print Media Update
2. Electronic Media
Update
1. Print Media Update: Monday 21 March - Wednesday 23 March
2005
a. Introduction
OVER the three days government newspapers
continued to carry stories on ZANU
PF campaigns but did not do the same for
the main opposition MDC, or for
other smaller parties and independent
candidates. Instead, the papers
concentrated on negative reports about the
MDC without giving the party its
right of reply. The government papers
especially The Herald, devoted space
to the police rebuttal of the National
Constitutional Assembly's claims of
violence in the run-up to the March 31
polls without giving details of the
NCA's report.
b.
Campaigns
WHILE the government Press continued to claim that media
coverage of the
parties was fair, the actual patterns in newspapers give the
opposite
impression.
For instance while a Chronicle (22/3) editorial
claimed that under the new
regulations all the contesting parties and
independent candidates are
enjoying coverage in the print and electronic
media. In the same issue there
were two positive Zanu PF campaign stories and
nothing on the MDC's election
campaign activities. However, it carried one
report about MDC supporters
desecrating graves. There was nothing on the
minor opposition parties or
independent candidates in The Herald or Chronicle
between Monday and
Wednesday.
To its credit The Daily Mirror continued
to chronicle political parties'
campaign rallies and meetings under its
Election Watch column. While the
private daily carried a total of 13 reports
on MDC campaigns and 11 on ZANU
PF the two government dailies only had two
reports on MDC campaigns and 18
on ZANU PF campaigns. Moreover the two
reports on the MDC's campaigns were
attacks on alleged desecration of heroes'
graves by alleged MDC youths in
Gokwe.
The government-controlled papers'
reports on ZANU PF campaigns also
disparaged the MDC. These papers continued
to carry reports of computer
donations at ZANU PF rallies without questioning
whether this constituted
vote-buying, an issue raised in the private
media.
c. Political Violence
THE Chronicle and The Herald (22/3)
ran the story, MDC hooligans paste
posters on tombstones. But both dailies
denied the MDC the right to give
their side of the story. Even more curious
was the fact that the reports
both end by acknowledging the allegations are
unfounded for want of
evidence, "However when the police went to the shrine,
there were no (MDC)
posters."
There were no incidents of political
violence reported in The Daily Mirror.
Instead there were general stories on
the subject. The most prominent were
reports in which the police took NCA
chairperson Lovemore Madhuku to task
for circulating a report alleging
political violence and instability,
particularly in the rural areas. The
government media did not give readers
Madhuku's side of the story. Instead,
in an editorial, The Herald (23/03)
described him as a "a self-serving
pretender" who employs rented "thugs to
run in the streets" in order to
"sustain a continuous flow of the filthy
lucre from his foreign
handlers."
Similarly, The Daily Mirror raised serious questions about
Madhuku's
integrity but did not examine his organisation's report. Its
editorial on
Wednesday stated: "Madhuku cannot substantiate any of the
damning claims.
The man is lying. And what he is doing is using lies to force
the spotlight
on Zimbabwe in order to discredit the elections."
d.
Administrative Issues
NONE of the Press has yet told its readers about
the distribution of polling
stations, particularly those in the main cities.
Of particular importance
would be a comparison of polling stations in Harare
(523) against the number
of polling stations allocated in the 2002
presidential election. The
question of who is acting as election monitors has
not been raised either.
Nor has their function been explained or how many
will be present at each
polling station.
Ends//
2. Electronic
Daily Update: Monday March 21st - Tuesday March 22nd 2005
a.
Campaigns
BETWEEN March 21st and March 22nd ZBH (ZTV, Spot FM, Power FM
and Radio
Zimbabwe) accorded space to the MDC and Zimbabwe Youth in Alliance
during
its discussion programmes on the elections.
However, its news
coverage remained biased in favour of the ruling party.
For instance, of the
23 reports the broadcaster carried, 20 (87%) were on
ZANU PF while three
(13%) were on the MDC. Although the two stories on the
MDC were neutral, the
party was disparaged in most reports on ZANU PF.
No other opposition
parties or independent candidates were covered as shown
of the table
below.
Fig 1 Campaign stories on ZBH
Media
Total stories ZANU
PF MDC Other parties
ZTV 13 11 2 0
Radio Zimbabwe 4 3 1 0
Power FM
(22nd March) 6 6 0 0
ZBH's pro-ZANU PF stance was also reflected by the
time ZTV allocated to the
two main parties. For instance, 28 minutes (90%) of
31 minutes the station
allocated to campaigns in its bulletins were devoted
to ZANU PF while the
remaining three minutes (10%) were allocated to the
MDC.
In contrast, Studio 7 carried profiles of both Zanu PF and MDC
candidates in
Kwekwe and Makoni North. The station also reported that former
Information
Minister and independent candidate Jonathan Moyo had launched his
manifesto
and produced a song for his campaign.
b. Administrative
issues
ZBH LARGELY ignored reports on the mechanics governing the running
of the
elections. It was only Power FM (22/03) that carried two reports on
the
issue. These were voter education pieces from Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission
reminding the public of the election date and announcing the
required
identification documents that voters should take to the polling
stations.
On the other hand, Studio 7 carried four reports on the
administration of
the election. These were on the two representatives from
the US Congress who
were in the country to assess the country's pre-election
period and
follow-up reports on the row between the MDC and South African
Observer
Mission over Membathisi Mdladlana's statements endorsing the
country's
electoral framework.
ZBH ignored these reports.
c.
Political violence
THERE were no reports on political violence on ZBH.
Rather, the broadcaster
continued to give the impression that there was peace
in the country and
quoted government officials calling on the public to
maintain the prevailing
tranquility before, during and after the poll.
In
a bid to give the impression that the prevailing peace could only
be
disrupted by the MDC, ZTV (21/03, 7am) passively reported on the
authorities
claims that "the MDC wanted to commit acts of violence so that
ZANU PF and
the government of Zimbabwe would be viewed as perpetrators of
that
violence." As evidence, five youths who had "surrendered" themselves
after
undergoing "secret training in weapon handling in South Africa" were
paraded
on ZTV.
Meanwhile, a report by the National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA) claiming
that there was continued violence in the country was
suffocated by ZBH. It
was only in the context of Police Commissioner
Augustine Chihuri's dismissal
of the NCA report as "false and baseless" that
ZBH audiences got reference
of the matter.
While ZBH was presenting a
peaceful election period, Studio 7 reported that
an MDC activist was
allegedly abducted by suspected ZANU PF supporters for
distributing campaign
flyers in Masvingo. The police confirmed the incident.
In another related
matter, the station reported that Progressive Teachers
Union of Zimbabwe
Secretary General, Raymond Majongwe, was arrested for
allegedly "insulting
[president] Mugabe".
Majongwe's lawyer Alec Muchadehama was quoted denying
that Majongwe had not
called Mugabe "an old man" as alleged by the
authorities.
However, no comment was sought from the police on the
matter.
Ends.
The MEDIA UPDATE was produced and circulated by the
Media Monitoring Project
Zimbabwe, 15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare,
Tel/fax: 263 4 703702,
E-mail: monitors@mmpz.org.zw <mailto:monitors@mmpz.org.zw>
Feel
free to write to MMPZ. We may not able to respond to everything but we
will
look at each message. For previous MMPZ reports, and more information
about
the Project, please visit our website at http://www.mmpz.org.zw
<http://www.mmpz.org.zw/>
Protest Rally
Thursday, 31 March 2005, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Marienplatz
Munich, Germany
On 31 March 2005 parliamentary elections will take place in Zimbabwe – in an
atmosphere of fear and intimidation caused by repressions, massive human rights
violations, manipulation of food distribution for political purposes and acts of
terror perpetrated by government militia and CIO.
We will stage on this very day a protest rally against the election
manipulations of the Zimbabwean government and the brutal oppression of
democratic forces in Harare/Zimbabwe. We invite you sincerely and urgently to
attend.
- Bring as many friends as you can find!
- Wear something orange – as a sign of solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe,
who struggle for a non-violent, democratic change of government and good
governance in their country.
At the same time protest demonstrations and vigils are being held in London,
Pretoria, Beitbridge and other places – Harare‘s partner city Munich needs to
join the queue and show that our hearts and minds are with our friends in
Zimbabwe on this day. Moral support means something for them, even more so
because the hope of free and fair elections is almost zero.
Organisation: Workgroup HaMuPa (Harare-Munich-Partnership) in the
North-South-Forum Munich Association and E.S.S. Munich – Ecumenical Support
Services – Zimbabwe.
Information:
Marianne Chisuko, Tel. 089-123 5552 m.mcg@freenet.de
Washington Times
Mugabe foes protest at Pretoria mission
By
Geoff Hill
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
JOHANNESBURG - South African
police barricaded the Zimbabwean Embassy in
Pretoria yesterday as hundreds
of trade unionists demonstrated outside the
mission, demanding an end to the
25-year rule of Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe.
The protest by
the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) was
the fifth in as many
weeks as student, church, union and human rights groups
step up pressure
against the Mugabe government, which they accuse of trying
to rig elections
set for March 31.
Mr. Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic
Front (ZANU-PF)
faces a stiff challenge from the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC), which has promised to restore human rights and
reverse economic
policies that have led to 90 percent unemployment, a
critical shortage of
food and the world's highest rate of inflation.
Yesterday's protest is likely to further strain relations between COSATU
and
South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC). When it assumed
power
in 1994, the ANC formed a "tripartite alliance" with COSATU and the
South
African Communist Party (SACP) in which the three pledged not to
campaign
against each other in elections.
But, in the past year, cracks have
emerged, with COSATU and the SACP
accusing South African President Thabo
Mbeki of ignoring South Africa's
rising rates of poverty and unemployment.
The biggest rift has been over Mr.
Mbeki's policy of "quiet diplomacy"
toward Mr. Mugabe.
Human rights groups, including Amnesty International,
have classified
Zimbabwe's government among the world's most repressive
regimes, but Mr.
Mbeki has refused to condemn Mr. Mugabe or apply
sanctions.
Two-thirds of Zimbabwe's trade and most of the country's fuel
passes
through South Africa.
COSATU has strong links with the MDC,
which grew out of Zimbabwe's union
movement, and some analysts suggest that
the ANC is reluctant to take any
action that could see a union-based party
take power in a neighboring state.
In recent years, there have been calls
among workers for COSATU to form
its own political wing, which could
challenge the ANC's grip on power.
Yesterday, while the mix of union
members and Zimbabwean exiles chanted
slogans in Pretoria, the SACP issued a
joint statement with COSATU, uniting
the two organizations in their fight
for the "democratization of Zimbabwe."
A string of protests are planned
over the next week, culminating in an
all-night vigil on March 30 at Beit
Bridge on the Limpopo River, which marks
South Africa's border with
Zimbabwe.
The vigil is expected to attract thousands of activists,
including some
of the 3 million black Zimbabweans who have sought political
and economic
refuge in South Africa.
FinGaz
Opposition MDC cries foul as . . . Soldiers
vote
Felix Njini
3/24/2005 7:26:30 AM (GMT
+2)
THE crucial March 31 general election has plunged into fresh
controversy that could undermine its credibility as it emerged this week
that uniformed forces, seen as sympathetic to the ruling ZANU PF, have
already cast their ballots.
Although the Electoral Act allows
members of the disciplined forces
and electoral officers to vote ahead of
time due to their likely absence
from their constituencies on election day,
opposition groups are unsettled
by what they consider a surreptitious
exercise that could affect their
chances in the election.
Revelations that the uniformed forces had cast their votes ahead of
the
month-end elections have created a political storm among opposition
parties,
particularly the main Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which
yesterday
said it was oblivious of the fact that members of the uniformed
forces had
already voted.
As provided by the governing Act under Section 75(1c),
those voting by
post only do so in the presence of a "competent
witness".
"No other person except the competent witness shall be
present and the
voter shall not allow the competent witness to see how he or
she has voted,"
reads part of the Act. However, the constituency election
officers are
obliged to seal and open the postal ballot boxes in the
presence of
candidates or their designated agents.
Zimbabwe's
uniformed forces comprise the Zimbabwe National Army, the
Zimbabwe Prison
Services and the Zimbabwe Republic Police, bodies which also
constitute the
bulk of the civil service.
Justice George Chiweshe, chairman of the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
(ZEC), confirmed yesterday that the ballots
were sealed on March 18, exactly
13 days before the crunch polls that would
be fiercely fought between ZANU
PF and the MDC.
"The postal ballot
has already been concluded and the votes are being
sent to their various
constituencies and this is being done in the presence
of representatives
from all parties," said the ZEC boss without disclosing
the number of people
who voted.
Justice Chiweshe said the printing of the postal ballots was
done well
before the printing of the rest of the ballot papers, which was
scheduled to
end yesterday.
MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi
yesterday claimed the five-year-old
opposition party had not been invited to
monitor the postal ballot voting
procedures.
He said: "We were told
that they are voting by postal ballot but there
are certain procedures which
they have to follow. Each ballot paper has to
be accompanied by an
application from each individual voter. How did they
conduct the vote when
the ballots had not even been printed? There is a high
possibility that the
secrecy of the vote has been compromised and we are
closely following that.
If there are any anomalies, then we want that vote
discounted. The electoral
process should be done in a transparent manner.
"It is a naked lie that
we are involved in the processing of the
postal ballot," the MDC national
spokesman charged.
During the disputed 2002 presidential elections won
by President
Robert Mugabe, complaints were raised that the postal ballot
had been
conducted in the presence of senior officers. It was alleged
uniformed
officers were ordered to vote at their stations under the
supervision of
their seniors, charges which have since been denied by the
government.
Analysts were concerned yesterday that the postal vote had
been
concluded ahead of the training of presiding officers slated for March
26.
Training for polling officers would be done a day after, while electoral
officers would go through the process on March 28.
The opposition
has also raised an outcry over the neutrality of the
uniformed forces, whose
senior officials have openly stated they would never
"recognise an MDC-led
government".
Vava Chipfunde, the national director of the Zimbabwe
Election Support
Network told The Financial Gazette yesterday that it was in
the interest of
contesting parties to know the number of people who voted in
the exercise
and in which constituencies.
"This is very important
for integrity and confidence. If the whole
system is open, then there is no
room for suspicion," said Chipfunde.
Otto Saki, a human rights lawyer,
said voting by the uniformed forces
is supposed to be conducted in the
presence of election observers, monitors,
civic organisations and contesting
political parties.
In theory ballots are supposed to be sent to their
constituencies but
it is difficult to ascertain whether the ballots would be
allocated to the
respective constituencies if the situation is not closely
monitored by
observers and all interested parties, Saki said.
"The
problem is that since the 2000 general elections and the 2002
presidential
elections, voting by uniformed forces has always been done
clandestinely -
there has never been an attempt to make it known which is
why there is
always a lingering suspicion," Saki said.
FinGaz
Observers query chiefs' role in poll
Njabulo
Ncube
3/24/2005 7:27:03 AM (GMT +2)
THE controversial role
of chiefs in Zimbabwe's electoral process has
come under the spotlight, amid
revelations by the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) observer
mission it been inundated with
complaints that the ruling ZANU PF has roped
in traditional leaders to
shepherd their subjects to polling
stations.
Information obtained by The Financial Gazette indicates
that the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and other local observers have
continuously raised the issue with foreign observers cherry-picked to
observe next Thursday's polls since their arrival in the country two weeks
ago.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the head of the SADC observer mission
for the
March 31 polls, told The Financial Gazette in an interview yesterday
her
delegation wanted the government to clarify the role of chiefs and
headmen
in Zimbabwe's political process, especially on the day of
voting.
Mlambo-Ngcuka said the SADC observer mission to Zimbabwe had
been
unsettled by incessant complaints, mainly from the MDC, that the
traditional
leaders were intimidating and threatening their subjects if they
dared vote
for the opposition.
She said her team had heard from
locals that ZANU PF banked on chiefs
to deliver the crucial vote in the
general election by ensuring that their
subjects flocked to the polls and
voted for the ruling party.
Mlambo-Ngcuka, whose team arrived in
Zimbabwe last week, yesterday
raised the issue with the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) and the
Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC).
"The SADC mission is worried by the role of chiefs because the issue
keeps
popping up everywhere we go. It was first raised by the opposition,"
she
said. "I am not satisfied with the explanation of the authorities. I
will
take up the issue tomorrow (today) when we meet the chairmen again,"
she
added.
Other members of her delegation told this newspaper they were
shocked
to hear the government had put in place a vehicle purchase scheme
for chiefs
and had recently hiked allowances for the traditional leaders.
Under the
vehicle purchase scheme, the government announced it would spend
billions of
dollars buying 269 vehicles for chiefs.
"If it is for
the empowerment of the chiefs, it is fine with us but if
it is an inducement
as we are made to believe, then we need better
clarification," said another
delegate of the SADC observer mission.
ESC chairman Theophilus Gambe
vehemently denied assertions that
traditional leaders assisted or influenced
voters' preference in the
countryside, saying the complaints raised by the
SADC mission and local
observers could not be substantiated.
"These
are mere allegations, there is no concrete evidence in that
respect," said
Gambe. "According to electoral laws governing elections in
this country,
chiefs are not mentioned. They are just part of the government
system. We
have our people on the ground at all polling stations and if
anyone provides
evidence that this is what chiefs and other traditional
leaders are doing,
we will address that," Gambe added.
Other members of the SADC observer
mission said they had heard
allegations that some polling stations around
the Mashonaland provinces -
generally perceived as ruling party strongholds
- were sited at traditional
chiefs' homesteads, a charge ZEC chairman
Justice George Chiweshe said was
strange.
"I am not aware of such a
location of a polling station. What is so
important about that person as to
have a polling station at his or her home?
The location of polling stations
was done in consultation with all
contestants in this election," Chiweshe
said.
FinGaz
Mugabe and the 30 seats already in hand
Charles
Rukuni
3/24/2005 7:32:38 AM (GMT +2)
BULAWAYO - Anyone who
thinks he or she can stop President Robert
Mugabe from appointing 30
non-constituency Members of Parliament is
daydreaming, a constitutional law
expert, Lovemore Madhuku, has said.
"Unless you change the
constitution, Mugabe (President) has the right
to appoint the 30 MPs even if
his ruling ZANU PF does not win a single
seat."
He was responding
to theories being bandied around that opposition
parties and independent
candidates might gang up to prevent President Mugabe
from appointing
non-constituency MPs if his party loses to the Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) or wins by a narrow margin.
President Mugabe appoints 30
MPs in addition to the 120 elected
members to make up a 150-member
House.
Five political parties are contesting next week's elections, but
only
the ruling ZANU-PF and MDC are contesting all the 120 elected
seats.
The Zimbabwe African National Union is contesting 15 seats while
the
Zimbabwe Youth Alliance is contesting three and the Zimbabwe People's
Democratic Party is contesting one. Sixteen independent candidates are also
contesting the polls.
ZANU PF has publicly stated it is aiming for
a two-thirds majority to
enable it to change the constitution and
reestablish a second chamber, the
senate. ZANU PF needs to win at least 100
seats to attain the two-thirds
majority. It therefore has to win at least 70
of the 120 elected seats to
attain this.
The party won 62 out of
the 120 seats in the 2000 elections, eight
short of the two-thirds majority.
Although three seats that were previously
held by the MDC were scrapped and
added on to areas where ZANU PF is strong,
this still means the party has to
win at least five seats that went to the
opposition in 2000.
A
number of theories are being floated around to prevent ZANU PF from
attaining the two-thirds majority. The most obvious and easiest is for the
opposition to win the elections or at least more than 50 seats.
Another, which seems very difficult to implement is to take President
Mugabe
to court to stop him from appointing non-constituency MPs if his
party does
not win a two-thirds majority among the elected members. Those
for this idea
argue that ZANU PF has to win at least 80 seats for President
Mugabe to have
the mandate to appoint non-constituency MPs. Some African
countries are
reported to be prepared to finance this legal battle, which
the proponents
argue, might force the veteran nationalist to form a
government of national
unity with the MDC.
A government of national unity would, the
proponents argue, bring
Zimbabwe back to the international fold and open
doors for investment and
the lifting of sanctions imposed by the United
States, the European Union
and the Commonwealth, among others.
Madhuku, however, brushed aside these arguments as wishful thinking.
"It is good campaign material but it has no legal basis at all," he
said.
"It sounds morally right for Mugabe (President) not to
appoint the MPs
if his party does not win a parliamentary majority, but the
constitution
does not change because something is unfair.
"Unless
we change the constitution, Mugabe has every right to appoint
the MPs. It
doesn't even matter if his party does not win a single seat. In
fact,
Parliament is not fully constituted until the president appoints the
30
seats."
FinGaz
Zimbabweans expected to vote with their
stomachs
Njabulo Ncube
3/24/2005 7:33:15 AM (GMT
+2)
THE CHICKENS have come home to roost at the worst possible time
for
the ZANU PF government, which last year maintained the country had a
bumper
harvest for the 2003/2004 agricultural season, but is now faced with
the
prospect of facing the wrath of a hungry electorate in next week's
parliamentary election.
Government, which projected a 2.4
million tonne maize haul last year,
has been forced to eat its words, with
President Robert Mugabe telling a
rally last week that no one would starve.
This seems a long way from last
April, when President Mugabe told a Sky News
interviewer that aid agencies
should not "foist food on us, do you want us
to choke?"
As the country faces another daunting prospect of widespread
food
shortages, opinion is divided over the genesis and cause of the
impending
crisis.
Opposition groups, led by the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC),
charge that the ruling ZANU PF party has
deliberately created the food
shortages with a view to using food handouts
as an election tool.
Others, however, blame the development on
politicking, saying the
government had glossed over the grain deficit, as
any admission to its
existence would have been seen as amounting to an
admission that the land
reform programme had failed. Others still, blame the
recurrent phenomenon of
food shortages on lack of foresight in the
agriculture ministry.
Throughout last year, government, through the
agriculture ministry,
differed sharply with independent assessments of the
situation.
A parliamentary portfolio committee which probed
government's
optimistic claims of a bumper harvest publicly expressed its
misgivings over
the veracity of the estimates and even warned that the
country could be
forced to make provision for emergency food imports to
cover the grain
deficit.
According to the latest Famine Early
Warning Systems Network (Fewsnet)
food security assessment, Zimbabwe has
slipped into the "emergency" zone.
Despite this being unwelcome news
for ZANU PF at such a period as this
one, the opposition accuses the
government of playing politics with food.
Renson Gasela, the MDC's
shadow minister of agriculture and sitting
Member of Parliament for Gweru
Rural, said: "We know how the regime
successfully stopped all food aid so
that they are the only ones with food
during the elections.
"The
country has virtually run out of maize. There will be no food
after the
elections," Gasela said.
The former Grain Marketing Board (GMB) chief
executive claimed the
government, through the GMB, had been secretly
receiving imports at the rate
of 15 000 tonnes a month of the 100 000 tonnes
it has bought from South
Africa.
"It is this maize they are
distributing and selling selectively. As a
matter of fact, the MDC imported
more than 300 tonnes of maize for
distribution to one constituency in 2003,
which was confiscated by the
government. We had plans to bring in over 20
000 tonnes but were prevented
from doing so," Gasela added.
However, Matabeleland-based government critic Max Mkandla blamed the
situation on politicking.
"These people have been taking us for
granted for too long. They were
talking passionately of a bumper harvest for
the 2003/4 season but there's
nothing. The country has to import when donors
were in the country last year
to freely hand out maize, cooking oil and
beans. This is political fraud,"
Mkandla said.
Addressing a rally
in Bikita last Thursday, President Mugabe said the
government had made
provision for grain imports.
"Government will not let anyone starve. We
have put aside some money
for grain, which we will be importing from other
countries that have the
commodity, if the need arises," President Mugabe
said.
As he spoke, people in the drought-ravaged areas in Manicaland,
Matabeleland and Masvingo were growing desperate in the face of yet another
food crisis.
Fewsnet has also predicted sub-optimal agricultural
production in the
current season, citing poor rains and inadequate
inputs.
Shortage of agricultural inputs and poor rainfall dampens
production
prospects for the 2004/05 season.
"Due to shortages of
draught power, the late onset of the rains, and
shortages of seeds in the
early part of the 2004/05 agricultural season,
major crops were planted
late. In much of Mashonaland and the northern half
of Manicaland provinces,
the main cereal producing areas of the country,
planting of major grain and
cash crops predominantly took place from late
November to mid-December
2004.
"The reproductive stages of this crop coincided with a
devastating
prolonged dry spell that stressed the crop from the end of
January to about
mid-February 2005. As a result, a significant proportion of
the crop will
not produce much, if anything, despite improved rainfall
during the last
week of February.
"Coupled with the shortage of top
dressing fertilisers, the poor
season has seriously compromised potential
cereal crop yields for the
2004/05 cropping season. If the rainfall season
ends as usual in April, the
late planted crop will likely be lost.
"Assessments to establish the prospects for the current season's food
production are urgently required to allow early food security forecasts for
the 2005/06 consumption year," Fewsnet reports.
Zimbabwe needs
about 1.8 million tonnes of maize for annual
consumption plus another 500
000 tonnes for strategic reserves. The country
consumes an average of 158
000 tonnes of maize per month. The GMB has
reportedly imported only 224 000
tonnes while it holds slightly over 600 000
tonnes.
At the time of
its assessment, the parliamentary committee established
the country held 340
000 tonnes of grain by mid last year.
FinGaz
Police tighten security
Staff Reporter
3/24/2005 7:34:22 AM (GMT +2)
THE Zimbabwe Republic Police says a
huge contingent of officers will
be deployed throughout the country starting
Saturday to stem any incidents
of violence in the parliamentary polls, seen
as a litmus test for the
Southern African Development
Community.
Mary Masango, the senior assistant commissioner of
police who also
chairs the police elections commission, said the public and
election
observers in the country should not be alarmed by the massive
movement of
the police officers to various stations around the
country.
"There is going to be a large movement of police officers. The
movement of officers from around the 26th of March 2005 should not cause
alarm among members of the public. There are officers who will be moving to
their various posts for the elections," said Masango.
"At this
time, members of the public will encounter frequent
roadblocks and it is
encouraged that drivers have their papers and
identification in order.
Members of the public are reminded against carrying
prohibited weapons such
as knives, traditional weapons, catapults, sticks
and stones," she
said.
The police's appeal for a non-violent election comes after
previous
polls in 2000, 2002 and subsequent by-elections were characterised
by an
orgy of violence, which left scores dead and several injured.
Masango revealed that there had been an additional 22 cases of
politically
motivated crimes since her last media briefing on Friday. She
attributed
nine cases to ZANU PF supporters, eight of whom she said were
arrested,
while the balance of 13 cases were blamed on opposition Movement
for
Democratic Change (MDC) supporters.
From the l3 cases, 20 MDC
supporters had been arrested, bringing the
number of total crimes committed
to 111 since January 1 2005, with 338
supporters from both parties having
been arrested.
"The cases, as usual, ranged from contravening of
statutes,
particularly sections 152 and 153 of the Electoral Act, to common
law crimes
like malicious injury to property.
We appeal to those
who come across any crime being committed to report
immediately to the
police . . . or indeed any suspicious movements of
people," she
added.
FinGaz
Of the election madness . . .
3/24/2005
7:59:05 AM (GMT +2)
WHEN trying cases in normal societies all over
the world, the judge
must convince both the defendant and the accuser that
he is approaching the
case with an open mind.
Should a judge
give an interview to the media before the case starts
in which he says he
thinks the accused is guilty, then that judge will have
to excuse himself
from the case. Failure to do this will result in the
erosion of confidence
in the judicial system. In other words, it opens the
door to the question of
the fairness of the trial for the accused.
For this reason, I
understand why the government of Zimbabwe has
refused to invite nations and
groupings that have already issued statements
saying that the forthcoming
elections will not be free and fair.
Their exclusion from the list of
observers makes sense when viewed
from this angle, since inviting them would
be an exercise in futility. This
is even more so in light of the fact that
the main opposition party in
Zimbabwe, the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) is participating in the
elections.
To add to this, at the
launch of his election campaign for these
elections, Morgan Tsvangirai, the
leader of the MDC, insisted that this
time, his party will definitely
win.
Having gone into the elections knowing the circumstances under
which
they would be held, this statement from Tsvangirai also casts doubt on
how
genuine the opposition party is when it says the playing field is not
level.
If the intimidation and rigging is already a fait accompli, why then
issue a
statement saying that you will win the election hands down?
Having said that, it is also imperative for the government and the
electoral
authorities to ensure that Zimbabwe is seen not to be hiding
anything. For
this reason, I can not understand why the government remains
silent on the
cases of intimidation and violence that the MDC has been
highlighting weekly
in its SADC Protocol Watch column in the independent
media.
The MDC
has been very methodical, quoting specific incidents of
violence, bannings
of meetings, intimidation etc. Dates have been given and
names
published.
Government silence on these specific charges lets the
accusation stand
and ensures that the electorate and the observers are left
with questions in
their minds.
This will not do, because this is
one election that should not leave
reasonable doubt in the minds of those
watching. Why, for instance, can't
the Electoral Supervisory Commission
issue responses to these charges, since
part of its mandate is to ensure
that the elections it supervises are not
only free and fair but are also
seen to be as such?
No one is under any illusions that there can ever
be a complete
absence of intimidation and violence in any political
atmosphere: Even in
South Africa, the run-up to the 1994 elections that
ushered Nelson Mandela
and the ANC into power saw butchering on a large
scale in Kwazulu Natal. And
as recently as three weeks ago, a Zulu prince
was shot dead in his home in a
case of political violence. So no election
can be totally blemish-free.
Even in elections such as the one
currently under way, where both
Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe have
called for a violence-free poll,
you will still find people tearing down
rival parties' posters, intimidating
opponents and even beating them up.
That is to be expected, because not all
our citizens are mature people who
think like normal human beings.
But, it is also to be expected that
when a person commits
politically-motivated violence, he or she will be held
accountable no matter
what party he or she belongs to. It will not do, for
instance, for the MDC
to publish the name of a ZANU PF supporter who beat up
one of their
supporters and nothing is said by the ruling party. Either they
disown that
person and call for him to be arrested, or the police should
arrest him and
the ruling party issues a statement saying they will let the
law take its
course and will not seek the release of the perpetrator without
charge.
That shows maturity and a respect for the laws that we should
all be
subject to, no matter who we are.
So, even though violence
and intimidation can never be totally erased
and we get the famous "isolated
incidents", those incidents must be
condemned by the party in whose name the
"isolated incidents" were
committed. Failure to do this will result in that
party being seen as
condoning those "isolated incidents", which may even
encourage a mentality
of impunity among that party's supporters. Next thing
we know, it will be a
free for all.
This is the reason it is
vitally important for the ruling party to
respond to specific cases raised
by the MDC so that all doubt can be put to
rest.
Shouting at the
opposition party while ignoring its very detailed (and
thus, credible)
charges is not going to solve the problem.
Further to this, I should
also like to point out that the MDC, in my
opinion, has put itself in a
no-win situation, so much so that even if the
election was to be completely
utopian, with nary a case of even someone
being slapped for their political
beliefs, the opposition party would still
lose this month's
elections.
The reason is that, despite Tsvangirai claiming that his
party will
win the poll, he and other opposition figures still insist on
telling us and
the world that this election can not be free and fair. They
have made it
clear to everybody that they are participating reluctantly
because they
believe that ZANU PF will rig the polls and romp to
victory.
Lovemore Madhuku, leader of the National Constitutional
Assembly, for
instance, has also made highly publicised comments that ZANU
PF is going to
win this year's elections because the playing field is not
level.
What all of this has done is demotivate the support base of the
MDC.
Everyone I talk to is of the same opinion: ZANU PF has this election in
the
bag.
Convinced that their votes counted for nought in the last
presidential
election, opposition supporters have now fallen into apathy.
Why bother to
go and vote, they ask, when we all know the result
anyway.
It is a very real possibility that MDC supporters will stay at
home or
find other things to do, having resigned themselves to a fradulently
achieved ZANU PF victory.
On the other hand, President Mugabe and
ZANU PF have repeatedly been
saying that they were caught napping last time
and this time, they will
mobilise their support base extensively and carry
old women to the polling
stations in wheelbarrows if necessary so that they
cast their votes for ZANU
PF.
What you will get, then, is a
situation where ZANU PF mops up every
single supporter it has and ensures
they get to the polling station, while
MDC supporters throw their hands in
the air and give up on the election
without even bothering to cast their
vote. Their leaders have led them to
believe that this election is
unwinnable because the playing field is not
level, so why should they waste
their time standing in a queue to vote?
In light of this then, should
the MDC find itself with reduced seats,
will it be because of violence and
intimidation, or the apathy of its
support-base?
This is why it is
important for the government to be seen to be
distancing itself in a very
real way from all the incidents of violence and
intimidation highlighted by
the MDC. It will remove any doubts when the
results are finally
announced.
FinGaz
Murmurs here and there but . . .
Nelson
Banya
3/24/2005 7:31:27 AM (GMT +2)
A FOOTBALL match
pitting ZANU PF youths and their Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
counterparts in the rural Goromonzi constituency in
Mashonaland East
province last weekend was insignificant in so far as this
month's
parliamentary election, which has grabbed global attention, is
concerned.
However, to many Zimbabweans who have lived through
unprecedented
political polarisation punctuated by violent confrontation
between
supporters of the rival parties, the match, won by the MDC team by
two goals
to one, was a breath of fresh air.
The run-up to the
poll, Zimbabwe's sixth parliamentary election since
independence in 1980,
has been relatively peaceful, with far less reported
cases of political
violence than the 2000 and 2002 general elections.
This
notwithstanding, questions still remain over the country's
ability to
deliver a credible poll, which is more needful now than ever,
because of the
ostracism the hotly contested results of the past two general
elections have
brought.
Since the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
adopted new
standards for democratic polls in Mauritius last August, every
election in
the region, including Zimbabwe's, will be judged according to
the Grande
Baie protocol, to which President Robert Mugabe and 13 other
African heads
of state and government appended their signatures.
The MDC, which only rescinded its decision to boycott the elections in
January, contends that the government has only come up with cosmetic changes
to the electoral process, which remains skewed in ZANU PF's favour.
The party produces a weekly update and checklist of the government's
compliance with the SADC principles, points to the voters' roll, access to
the public media and freedom of assembly as critical tenets that have been
violated.
The ZANU PF government, on the other hand, contends that
while the
SADC protocol was not legally binding, Zimbabwe was already in
compliance,
having effected changes to the Electoral Act to allow voting in
one day,
counting at polling centres and the use of translucent ballot
boxes, among
other amendments.
However, opposition groups, led by
the MDC, maintain that conditions
still favour the incumbent ZANU PF
government unfairly.
According to the MDC, government has only made
minimal progress in
granting equal access to public media institutions to
opposition political
parties. The party has also given high marks for the
provision of vote
counting at polling stations and the regularity of
elections in Zimbabwe.
The government has fared dismally when it comes
to other areas such as
the state of the voters' roll, independence of the
bodies running elections,
the legal and constitutional framework, voter
education and freedom of
assembly and association, among others.
Civic groups such as the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and
the
Crisis Coalition have also criticised the electoral environment.
NCA
chairman Lovemore Madhuku, whose report, dubbed the 'Election
Climate
Report' has ruffled feathers in official circles through the
startling
claims it makes, has said the election was a futile exercise which
was
likely to be characterised by voter apathy.
Madhuku, who has sharply
differed with his allies in the MDC over
participating in the election, has
described the polls as meaningless in the
current constitutional
dispensation. Press reports have quoted Madhuku
suggesting that the MDC was
likely to suffer more at the hands of a
reluctant electorate.
"Yes,
it is likely to affect the performance of the MDC. They have not
convinced
their supporters why they are participating in a meaningless
election. How
can you participate in an election, which cannot change a
government,
whoever wins?
"There are so many irregularities. For example, ZANU PF
already has 30
seats in the bag, which is unfair. Their supporters would
have been more
motivated to vote under a new and more democratic
constitution. As it is,
they will only fight hard to retain the seats they
already have," Madhuku
said.
The Crisis Coalition, an umbrella body
for several pressure groups
pursuing governance issues, contends that the
government has not only failed
to embrace the spirit of the SADC protocol,
but has also largely ignored
recommendations by the South African
government's observer mission to the
divisive 2002 presidential
election.
Although the South African government endorsed the poll
outcome, which
saw President Robert Mugabe winning another six-year term in
office, they
noted that there were cases of violence and intimidation, as
well as legal
and institutional problems that needed to be resolved before
another general
election.
The South Africans' recommendations
centered on national
reconciliation, constitutional reform, economic
revival, demobilisation of
the militia, depoliticising state structures and
rebuilding international
and regional confidence in Zimbabwe.
"The
team called for one composite and truly independent body
responsible for the
supervision and administration of elections.
This body should enjoy
independence from the executive and should be
answerable to Parliament. The
election body must be constitutionally
protected and a multi-party committee
of Parliament should appoint the
members of the body.
"Such a body
has not been appointed and a number of institutions
continue to administer
elections in the country. The registrar-general's
office continues to
register voters in a partisan manner. The delimitation
commission, whose
members are appointed by the President, is still in place
while the
Electoral Supervisory Commission, also appointed by the President,
also
supervises and monitors elections.
President Mugabe has set up the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)
after recommendations from political
parties represented in Parliament but
(the commission) is not autonomous
because it is monitored by the ESC and
most of its work has been done by the
registrar-general's office," the
coalition stated.
The coalition
also said there was no code of conduct for those
contesting the elections as
well as those managing the process, leaving the
process open to
abuse.
Incidentally, the South African government's observer mission
for next
week's poll has run into controversy, with the MDC accusing the
team of
pre-judging the election after comments by head of delegation
Membathisi
Mdladlana that all was set for a free and fair election.
The MDC, enraged by the comments, which confirmed earlier
pronouncements by
South African President Thabo Mbeki and Foreign Affairs
Minister Nkosazana
Zuma, refused to meet the South African observer teams in
protest. The feud
has since been resolved.
Meanwhile, away from the controversy, the
campaign period has reached
its climax with the MDC making inroads into
areas previously rendered
inaccessible by war veterans and ZANU PF youths in
previous elections. The
ZANU PF campaign, led by an upbeat President Mugabe,
is also in full swing.
Both parties fancy their chances, despite
misgivings in opposition
circles about the electoral process. Going by the
crowds attending rallies
called by the major parties, it is beginning to
appear as though the
election could record a high voter turnout.
A
Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) preliminary survey has
indicated that
86 percent of eligible voters have expressed an active
interest to come out
and vote next Thursday.
FinGaz
Business people literally getting away with
murder
3/24/2005 8:10:06 AM (GMT +2)
The customer
is always right. Right? Wrong. The last few years of
economic struggle when
inflation has galloped beyond the 600 percent mark
have, in fact, shown that
the customer is the most endangered species in the
jungle that the local
marketplace has beco-me.
Whether it is the indiscriminate hiking of
prices or the nonchalant
rendering of shoddy service, business enterprises
and service providers are
getting away with holy murder.
Unfortunately, the sad truth is that they know they can do anything
with
impunity. They can afford to treat customers and clients with such
disdain
because the victims, weary from constantly trying to beat commodity
and cash
shortages, have virtually thrown in the towel and seem resigned to
their
fate.
A philosophy that says whatever poor quality of goods or service
you
can get at whatever exorbitant price is better than nothing has slowly
taken
root. Sad to say, some companies have been unashamedly ready to
exploit the
situation to maximum financial advantage. Take my word for it,
they are
smiling all the way to the bank. They have come up with all sorts
of
incredible excuses to extract the very last cent from the cash-strapped
public.
Take the humble parcel counter, which is a common feature
at big
supermarkets and other establishments. It is no longer being used as
a
public relations-promoting service but as a not so subtle way to tell the
customer to go to hell. You think I am not telling the truth? Then consider
this.
The first sign that the consumer's interests are the last
things on
some businesspeople's minds are the hostile notices posted at
their parcel
counters. The most common is the unreasonable disclaimer:
"Parcel left at
owner's risk". At face value, this statement implies that
the customer is
the one who chooses to surrender his or her possessions upon
entering the
business concern in question.
However, in view of the
fact that it is business establishments that
require shoppers to leave their
possessions at these parcel counters, the
disclaimer is an insult. What this
notice actually means is: We want you to
spend your hard-earned cash in our
store but we could not care less what
happens to your property while you
give us business.
Can anything be more insulting and unfair? The
customer is entitled to
ask why there should be any risk to his or her
belongings if the commercial
enterprise, which demands compliance with its
rules on parcels, intends to
ensure their safekeeping.
To show that
this is a case of 'might means right', these business
concerns do not adopt
the same nonchalant attitude towards their own
possessions, such as the
plastic or metal discs used to identify parcels. It
is woe unto the
absent-minded shopper who loses one of these tokens. Never
mind that you may
have entrusted goods worth millions into the store's care,
and you may have
given them good business while shopping. They will not
release your property
until you have paid a fine for the missing piece of
plastic. And that is not
all, you have to negotiate an elaborate in-house
bureaucracy to pay a
penalty of up to $10 000.
I had an unpleasant brush with this
unnecessary supermarket red tape a
short while ago in the "City of Kings" or
Bulawayo to the uninitiated. I had
committed the cardinal sin of misplacing
the plastic disc I should have
handed in to the parcel counter attendant to
reclaim my possessions after
paying for my shopping.
Oh, what a
chain reaction of rudeness and indifference I unleashed.
First, the
counter attendant would simply not accept that I could not
locate the disc.
She ordered me to retrace my steps in the huge supermarket
and double check
for it on every shelf. When I protested that I could not
remember every
movement I had made, she ordered me to see the manager.
"I am busy
now," fumed the big man without even looking up from what
he was doing. He
referred me to the supermarket supervisor, who, after
subjecting me to a
police-style interrogation about the missing disc,
finally ordered me to pay
a fine of $10 000.
He was not amused when I demanded a receipt for this
daylight robbery,
saying it was unreasonable for me to expect an accounting
for such a paltry
amount. "How come a big supermarket like this can demand
the same amount
from a customer whose patronage it has just benefited from?"
I shot back,
despite knowing that I was fighting a losing battle.
When I finally got back to the parcel counter, I was asked to describe
my
goods and they were handed back to me without further ado. As I stepped
into
the sunshine, I swore that even wild horses would not drag me into that
building again.
However, my Bulawayo experiences pale into
insignificance compared to
the nasty encounter I had in the capital last
week. On this occasion, I had
committed the unforgivable crime of forgetting
to collect my parcel after
finishing my shopping. I only became aware of my
omission the next day when
I noticed that I still had the store's plastic
disc in my handbag. My
reaction proved the veracity of the saying that hope
springs eternal in the
human heart. I naively believed that all I had to do
was to show up with the
token and collect my parcel. How wrong I
was!
That very human tendency towards forgetfulness cost me close to an
hour of being driven from pillar to post by gleeful attendants to whom, to
all intents and purposes, the crime I had committed could have been
murder!
"Oh, she is the one who forgot her parcel", the two counter
hands said
in unison when I handed in the incriminating evidence. Talking
with an
unmistakable air of authority to highlight my status as the store's
hostage,
they agreed to refer me to a woman in the beverage
section.
I dutifully trudged along to that part of the supermarket but
it was
only after what seemed like an eternity that the lady was ready to
attend to
me. After listening impatiently to my tale, she, in turn,
re-directed me to
a couple of her colleagues who were chatting near the
checkout points.
After another long wait while they took their sweet
time to decide
what should happen to me next, they finally decreed that I
should go
upstairs to see yet another chef. I told them I did not even know
where to
find the steps leading upstairs. They agreed that a girl from the
vegetable
section would accompany me once she had finished what she was
doing. No
prizes for guessing, but she too was in no hurry to help a
customer who
stood accused of being forgetful!
A quarter of an hour
later the girl and I were still waiting outside
the big man's office. When
he finally arrived, he told me sternly that I was
to be fined $3 000 "for
making the store keep your parcel overnight."
This particular
supermarket issued a receipt but I left their premises
wondering whether
they had ever heard of public relations and customer care.
I would honestly
like to know what
To W5
expenses this establishment incurred
by keeping my parcel overnight
and how it recouped its losses by demanding
payment from me. Who ever
thought anyone would seek to make a quick buck
from the very human trait of
forgetfulness? What does the Consumer Council
of Zimbabwe have to say about
this?
These devil- may-care attitudes
may be profitable in the prevailing
economic conditions but what will these
profiteers and shoddy service
providers do when things improve and consumers
can once again freely choose
where to shop? Food for thought for all those
myopic,
penny-wise-pound-foolish exploiters out there.
Having fumed
throughout this piece against those taking advantage of
the public in these
difficult times, I must end on a positive note. I salute
those organisations
and commercial enterprises that still recognise that
they would not be in
business if there were no consumers.
FinGaz
Comment
Lack of planning
3/24/2005
7:53:17 AM (GMT +2)
A LOT has been said about the emotive land
issue. There understandably
have been disagreements over the form, approach
and style of the process.
On the extremes, some have said it was
wrong while others have argued
that there should have been a careful balance
between legal security and
economic flexibility in order to provide the
optimum opportunity to achieve
the objectives of the land reform.
But the majority of Zimbabweans are however agreed that addressing
historic
injustices and inequality through the land reform was necessary. In
fact,
every right thinking Zimbabwean acknowledges the historical validity
for the
need to address this inequality and the folly and hopelessness of
any
failure to address the land question.
Under the reforms, government's
primary objective was ostensibly to
economically empower historically
marginalised blacks. The assumption is
therefore that government understood
that agriculture is the key to economic
prosperity. Hence the need for
creative intervention in the area of
agriculture to bring the historically
disempowered sectors of the population
into the mainstream economy.
And as we said in one of our comments early this year, like a
novelist,
government must have known what its last chapter is going to say
and work
towards that. Sadly this does not seem to be so if the situation on
the
ground is anything to go by.
What else can we say about the state of
the underdeveloped irrigation
infrastructure despite years of rhetoric that
government would invest in
this area. It is our considered view that if it
was not for upside down
priorities, the lion's share of national resources
must have been marshalled
towards bolstering and enhancing agricultural
production, chief of which is
the provision for irrigation especially given
the fact that the country is
prone to drought.
Admittedly, it
cannot be denied that the increasingly unpredictable
rainfall pattern as
well as the intermittent droughts have played their part
in jeopardising the
country's food security situation which, to all intents
and purposes, would
be nothing short of precarious this year - the political
rhetoric
notwithstanding.
But shoddy if not persistent lack of long term
planning on the part of
government, which to a certain extent proves that no
plan is worth the paper
it is written on until it gets you doing something -
is largely to blame.
Over the years, there did not seem to be any urgency on
the part of the
government - which does not seem to realise that its
policies and actions
have long term consequences that are borne by the long
suffering people - to
develop irrigation infrastructure. And with or without
drought, the sorry
state of the country's agriculture underlines the extent
to which lack of
forward planning has been ruinous for the nation.
True, a lot was said about it. But it was all rhetoric and the issue
was
never given the priority attention it should have been given. Now
typical of
them, as if drought is a new phenomenon in Zimbabwe, the
politicians are
falling over each other to shamelessly sermonise on the need
to develop the
country's irrigation infrastructure, giving the inescapable
impression that
this is an afterthought that could have gone unthought of!
A visitor
from Mars would be forgiven for thinking that in terms of
the food security
situation, the country finds itself in awkward scrapes
because this is the
first time we have heard about the cycle of drought in
the country. Yet this
is exactly a quarter of a century after independence.
Couldn't we have
developed our irrigation system for a rainy day or is it a
dry spell?
Without questioning the topicality of the issue at the moment,
what has
intrigued inquisitive Zimbabweans is why does it only become a big
issue
during drought years. This is moreso given that it is inconceivable
that
government which, despite the ever-shrinking accountability, should in
theory be accountable to the citizens of this country, did not have relevant
information on the cycle of drought in Zimbabwe.
It all boils down
to costly lack of vision and planning and it is this
lack of planning that
has brought about an immeasurable cost to the
erstwhile self-sufficient
country, which was also the regional breadbasket
before ironically being
reduced into a basket case itself. There could never
be a sadder reflection
on the shrunken state of the once-vibrant
agricultural sector. The failure
of agriculture, which previously had the
biggest sectoral contribution to
the country's GDP, is not only emblematic
of everything wrong with the way
the issue has been handled but a serious
indictment on government
too.
It is the same lack of planning and the folly of wanting to do
things
at the very last minute that also resulted in the critical shortage
of
essential agricultural inputs experienced this year which will inevitably
help to impair the quality of the surviving crop and yield levels. It was
indeed disturbing to hear some farmers with early planted maize saying that
they only received their share of critical fertilisers as late as a
fortnight ago! And with the imminent food shortages, we can only imagine the
inevitable socio-economic difficulties that will aggravate the people's
plight.
It can therefore be categorically stated that there can be
little
doubt that with a developed irrigation infrastructure, the impact of
the
droughts would be minimised. It has always been of exceptional
importance to
develop irrigation infrastructure because herein lies the
future of
agriculture and indeed that of the economy. It is against this
background
that we feel that there is no reason whatsoever why Zimbabwe
should be
burdened by such uncomfortably and dangerously high cereal
deficits as is
now imminent - if only the government had planned ahead.
FinGaz
...and now to the Notebook
3/24/2005
7:58:01 AM (GMT +2)
Electioneers
Next week's election
is an election with a difference. A real
difference from the ones we have
endured in 2000 and 2002.
Apart from having violence under control,
what makes this particular
election more than interesting is the way the two
parties that matter most
have tried to be resourceful to lure that extra
vote from the otherwise
thoroughly bored voter.
ZANU PF, wily as it
has always been, found no reason why it could not
create some extra
opposition parties here and there with the hope of
splitting the opposition
vote. A leopard does not abandon its spots, does
it?
Anyway, for
the first time in as far as CZ can remember, even the
opposition is having a
rare privilege to show its noses on our TV screens,
even though it is
enjoying the privilege on sufferance. You can easily tell
that the people
who are covering the party's rallies are doing so grudgingly
. . . the way a
cruel stepmother feeds an orphan. This killjoy new-look
electoral
law!
The good thing is that ZANU PF seems to have finally accepted that
there is nothing it can do to stop opposition in this country. And that
acceptance has brought real change to what we had grown to know elections
like . . . no soldiers are going from beerhall to beerhall forcing patrons
to have sex; no police officers are arresting opposition supporters for
being attacked by ZANU PF thugs; war veterans are not harvesting other
people's crops as punishment for supporting the opposition.
Things
have really changed, and it is really difficult to believe that
they have
really changed.
At the weekend, CZ could not believe when he saw ZANU
PF and MDC
supporters arguing about their party policies over a mug of beer.
It was not
a done thing in the past. It was taboo, yet it is happening in
several
suburbs of Harare.
While everyone expected almost equal
coverage of the two main
political parties in the country (less those ZANU
PF party-lets), it is
quite interesting that sclerotic public media
journalists have happily found
a way of going round this . . . by making
ZANU PF campaign rallies appear
like government functions.
Yes,
Joseph Msika is covered "officially opening" a rural business
centre (which
is almost his age) when, in fact, he is campaigning for his
party. Joyce
Mujuru is featured telling villagers the importance of
irrigation, but she
will be campaigning for her ZANU PF party. The Great
Uncle is reported as
having assured Zimbabweans that they will not starve .
. . but he will be
saying so while canvassing support for his party. All
these will be treated
like news stories on government issues.
And on the same news bulletin
there is another round of "government"
news stories involving the three
officials, and another round again, before
there is one piece on the
MDC.
The first half or so of our TV news is either on the Great Uncle
himself or one of his two vices. These TV people make it a point of Spartan
honour that the trio gets most, if not all, the time earmarked for political
coverage. This is called biased reporting, and it is worse than no coverage
at all.
Having realised that the urban youths were not at all
excited about
ZANU PF campaign meetings, the wily party thought some musical
shows would
do the trick.
This is exactly what happened at the
weekend when the Mai Mujuru
congratulatory "festival" was held at the HICC
while the "freedom youth
hangout" was running concurrently just a few blocks
away at Avondale Shops.
Our one and only TV station covered both events
live. At least those
who were hoodwinked by this cheap trick got wiser when
they saw Cde Saviour
Kasukuwere and his army of "youths" that included Cde
William "Analyst"
Nhara (the man just doesn't give up) invading the stage to
shout insults at
the MDC.
And, by the way, when will the
congratulatory bashes come to an end?
People are interested more in seeing
development coming to them and not
having party after party in a drought
year like this one!
Still on these elections, can someone please tell
us why the panelists
hosting the Election 2005 series on our TV get angry on
behalf of ZANU PF?
As professionals, we thought they would just ask
questions they think would
yield answers that can help the electorate make
informed decisions. But it
becomes something else when Cde Happison
Muchechetere gets angered by the
responses on the behalf of ZANU
PF.
The lot looked quite unsettled when one MDC official threatened to
deal with partisan police officers if ever the MDC gets into power. Is there
any reason to worry?
What is even more dangerous about Cde
Muchechetere is that some of the
answers proffered by the interviewees are
clearly way above his head,
something that even angers him further. Small
wonder why things are not
moving at the so-called new ZIANA!
Some
of these things don't need to be overdone because ZANU PF has
flint where
its heart is supposed to be. Ask Cde Tazzen Mandizvidza at
Newsnet!
cznotebook@yahoo.co.uk
FinGaz
ZESA goes mining
Chris Muronzi
3/24/2005 7:36:03 AM (GMT +2)
LISTED coal producer Hwange Colliery
Company (HCC) has ceded Chaba
Coal Concession to ZESA Holdings amid reports
that the government had
exerted pressure on the former to relinquish its
right to the concession in
a bid to woo the electricity company's potential
Asian partners.
Sources close to the developments told The
Financial Gazette this week
that HCC finally gave up its Chaba claim to the
power utility. There are
indications that the coal producer had been granted
other concessions as
well.
ZESA corporate affairs director Obert
Nyatanga confirmed the
development, saying his company had secured
additional coalfields to feed
the Hwange Power Station (HPS).
This
development confirms earlier reports that ZESA chairman Sydney
Gata had been
lobbying intensively in government circles for the coal claim
in a bid to
entice Asian investors who have demanded coal concessions before
entering
into multi-billion-dollar power projects with the parastatal.
"The
government has given us our own mining concessions for the Chaba,
Entuba and
Sinamatela coalfields. These coalfields are to feed the current
HPS as well
as the expanded HPS when complete in 2007/2008. We will continue
to draw
coal supplied from Hwange Colliery anyway," said Nyatanga.
Other
sources privy to the developments indicated that ZESA, which has
signed
several memoranda of understanding with Chinese investors, has been
under
pressure from the investors to secure coal concessions in the country.
HCC boss Godfrey Dzinomwa also confirmed the development, saying Chaba
was a
powering coke concession, which was also of strategic importance to
the
country and ZESA itself.
"We have agreed to cede Chaba to ZESA. We are
in negotiations with the
government," Dzinomwa said.
Nyatanga
added: "We are now talking to our investor friends in Asia
for actual
investment in the mentioned coalfields so that they are
operational when HPS
expansion programme is complete. We will, however,
develop the coalfields in
phases or sequences as per the Mining Master Plan
we are developing in
consultation with the potential investors."
HCC, which in the past
resisted offers by ZESA to cede the concession,
is said to have been
afforded other concessions by the Ministry Of Mines and
Mining
Development.
It remains to be seenwhat effect the cession of Chaba will
have on
HCC. Apart from the fact that ZESA is one of the colliery's biggest
customers, Chaba was also a big part of HCC's future plans.
FinGaz
Storm far from over for industry
Felix
Njini
3/24/2005 7:41:05 AM (GMT +2)
PERSISTENT raw
material and foreign currency shortages continue to
ravage Zimbabwe's
manufacturing sector, casting a dark cloud over the
industry's recovery
prospects, The Financial Gazette can reveal.
Industry players said
the manufacturing sector, which is largely
expected to lead the economic
recovery path, is still wallowing in
multi-faceted problems.
The
sector, which capped 2004 operating at an average of 60 percent of
capacity,
is estimated to be operating at 40 percent and below.
The forthcoming
March 31 Parliamentary elections have also cast a dark
shadow of uncertainty
on the industry, with most investors and company
executives adopting a wait
and see attitude.
Players in the sector confirmed the supply side was
failing to respond
despite concessions made to industry by the central bank
since last year.
They cited foreign currency shortages, which have seen
most firms
failing to procure raw materials. More than 85 percent of raw
materials
consumed in Zimbabwe's manufacturing are imported.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president, Pattison Sithole
told
The Financial Gazette that manufacturers were struggling to get foreign
currency from the auction floors. Sithole said the solution lied in
addressing the supply side of foreign currency generation.
"Currently exports are not viable, we have said over and over that top
amongst the issues to be addressed is that of the exchange rate," Sithole
said.
The CZI has been amongst some of the proponents of gradual
devaluation
of the local currency, in line with the laws of supply and
demand.
"Manufacturers are struggling to get foreign currency from the
auction
floors and the submissions are taking longer to be approved,"
Sithole said.
"We need to deal with the exchange rate and make it supportive
of
exporters," Sithole said but refused to elaborate.
Demand for
foreign currency at the auction floors is far outstripping
the amount on
offer. The past three auctions have seen demand for foreign
currency
shooting up to US$147 million against a fixed allocation of US$11
million.
The local unit, which has succumbed to pressure on the
parallel market
and is now trading at around Z$14 000 against the US dollar,
is trading
around Z$6 100 against the greenback on the auction
floors.
The number of rejected bids has shot up from 3 000 earlier in
the year
to over 4 000. The persistent foreign currency shortages has seen
the
re-birth of the foreign currency parallel market trading with some
commercial banks allegedly taking a active role in the black
market.
"The industry is depressed at the moment and the foreign
currency
shortages are worrisome. The supply side response is not good
enough," said
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce president Luxon
Zembe.
He added that the election fever has seen most prime corporate
decisions being shelved to March 31 and beyond.
Analysts say a
steep rise in production costs has put paid
government's stated objectives
of fostering export driven growth in an
economy whose export sector is being
dampened by foreign exchange shortages.
According to a study carried by
CZI last year, output in the sector
shrunk by 11.3 percent in 2003 from 5.8
percent in 2002. Real turnover for
the manufacturing industry plummeted by
96.3 percent in 2003 while sales
declined b 6.6 percent.
The number
of retrenchments trebled from 1 187 in 2002 t0 3 585 in
2003 with up to 40
companies closing shop and 25 scaling down operations.
FinGaz
Govt set to raid market to fund grain imports
Staff Reporter
3/24/2005 7:42:07 AM (GMT +2)
THE
government is expected to raid the money market within the coming
weeks to
borrow cash to fund unbudgeted-for grain imports, a move that would
further
increase the domestic debt, which rose to $5.8 trillion this month,
and heat
up inflation.
Money market players say they expect government will
soon float paper
on the market to import grain, but are sceptical that any
such issue would
attract as much market support as is necessary to cover the
huge import
bill.
The government officials have said recently that
government had
budgeted $12 billion - or US$2.4 million at the auction rate
- for aid to
feed 1.5 million needy people. The government had also
predicted a harvest
of 2.4 million tonnes of maize to have come in by
April.
However, official forecasts now concede that harvests will in
fact
come in much lower than expected, which means that the government will
be
forced to increase its import budget to buy sufficient grain.
"Zimbabwe's isolation by the international community, crucially, means
that
government will struggle to get offshore lines of credit. This would
force
it to turn to the local market for its borrowing, thereby possibly
driving
up rates and adding more pressure on inflation," an asset manager
said last
week.
President Robert Mugabe and senior officials of his ruling ZANU
PF
party last week admitted for the first time that Zimbabwe will need to
import grain, reversing earlier claims that the country's five-year-old
agrarian reforms would produce a surplus this year.
The government
has already instructed Samuel Muvuti, the head of the
state grain monopoly,
the Grain Marketing Board, to import grain.
"We are in the process of
putting a new contract in place, (and)
deliveries will be coming into the
country shortly. Also, we still have some
contracts which were signed some
months if not a year or so ago, which are
still running," Muvuti said
recently.
Grain imports will also mean deeper scarcity on the foreign
currency
market, where demand has continued to outrun supply.
The
Financial Gazette reported last week that government debt, mainly
made up of
treasury bills, government stocks and the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ)
overdraft, had risen to $5.8 trillion as at March 11. The
bulk of the debt
is in the form of treasury bills worth $2.25 trillion and
attracting
interest of $2.94 trillion. Government stocks account for $456.56
billion.
The figures also reflected an expansion in RBZ advances to
the
government, which maintained a positive cash balance on its account for
long
periods last year.
Although central bank advances to the
government were down to $161
billion last Friday, recent weeks have seen
peaks exceeding $700 billion.
the government faces the additional
pressure of having to finance its
$4.5 trillion budget deficit.
FinGaz
Tel*One cuts off ZESA subsidiary
Staff
Reporter
3/24/2005 7:42:39 AM (GMT +2)
TERRESTRIAL phone
network Tel*One has disconnected telephone lines to
the Zimbabwe Electricity
Distribution Company (ZEDC), a subsidiary of ZESA
Holdings, after it failed
to settle a $500 million bill.
Tel*One, which is in a desperate bid
to recover billions of dollars it
is owed by several corporate subscribers,
last month disconnected ZEDC's
Mashonaland East offices in Marondera,
Bromley and Mutoko for a period of
one week over a $700 million
debt.
Sources privy to the development said ZEDC executives were making
frantic efforts to settle part of the debt to have the disconnected lines
restored. So far, only the Marondera phones have been reconnected.
An official from ZEDC's Marondera district office confirmed the
development,
saying efforts were underway to retire the debt.
"It is the
responsibility of our head office to make sure that the
bills are paid since
they are the ones accountable for our cash flow.
"The residential
telephone lines have been disconnected for the past
seven months, if not
more, over non-payment," confirmed the official.
A senior manager at
ZEDC, who refused to be identified, said: "It is
not that the company does
not have money but the bill was overlooked by the
Chinhoyi head office,
which is responsible for the debt."
Both spokespersons for ZEDC and
Tel*One refused to comment.