Zim Online
Mon 27 March 2006
HARARE - The
Zimbabwe government has gazetted a tough anti-terrorism
law imposing life
imprisonment for people found guilty of participating or
aiding
international terrorism.
The Suppression of Foreign and
International Terrorism Bill published
in the Government Gazette last Friday
also makes it an offence punishable by
up to 10 years in jail for anyone
knowingly harbouring foreign terrorists.
Failure to report the
presence of foreign terrorists within 72 hours
of becoming aware of their
presence on Zimbabwean soil will attract a
five-year jail sentence,
according to the proposed new law.
The draft law reads in part:
"Any person who, whether or not he or she
is a member of a foreign and
international terrorist organisation, engages
or participates in any foreign
or international terrorist activity, shall be
guilty of an offence and
liable to imprisonment for life.
''(It is an
offence to) knowingly harbour or conceal a foreign or
international
terrorist or fail to report such terrorist within 72 hours of
becoming aware
of his or her presence in Zimbabwe.
"The maximum penalties for
these offences will be a fine of level 14
or ten years imprisonment or both,
in the case of harbouring or concealing a
foreign or international terrorist
and a fine of level 10 or five years'
imprisonment or both for failing to
report one or failing to disclose such a
terrorist's presence upon being
questioned by an official."
The anti-terrorism Bill will now be
tabled in Parliament for debate
and if passed will be forwarded to President
Robert Mugabe for his signature
before it becomes effective
legislation.
Zimbabwe does not face any known threat from
international terrorism
networks but Mugabe's government has routinely
accused former coloniser
Britain and her Western allies of "sabotaging and
sponsoring terrorist
activities" against the southern African country's
economic interests.
Harare also accuses London and Washington of
financing the local
opposition and other groups to effect illegal regime
change in Zimbabwe,
raising fears it might use the anti-terrorism law to
target local opponents
it accuses of working with its foreign
enemies.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa was not available to
say when
exactly the Bill would be brought to Parliament or to respond to
fears by
human rights activists that the proposed law could be used to clamp
down on
the opposition.
A fortnight ago, government security
agents said they had unearthed
weapons they said were to be used by the main
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party activists working with
a shadowy Britain-based
group called the Zimbabwe Freedom Movement to kill
Mugabe and overthrow the
government.
Human rights activists had
instantly dismissed the alleged coup plot
as a ploy by state agents to
harass the MDC, while the state's case against
the opposition activists
dramatically collapsed in court due to lack of
evidence.
Other
crimes under the draft anti-terrorism law are the supplying of
weapons to
international terrorists which is punishable by life in jail.
Zimbabweans will also be jailed for life if found guilty of having
trained
as an international terrorist or helped recruit people for such
training. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Mon 27 March 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe's main
political opposition and National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) civic
alliance on Sunday threatened to call
street protests and to go to court to
stop the government from unilaterally
setting up a commission to monitor
human rights in the country.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa at
the weekend told the state-owned
Sunday Mail newspaper that President Robert
Mugabe's Cabinet and his ruling
ZANU PF party had approved plans to amend
the Constitution to facilitate the
setting up of a Zimbabwe Human Rights
Commission.
Chinamasa said it was not necessary to consult the
opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) party or civic society
groups on the matter,
saying they could make their input once the Bill to
amend the Constitution
was tabled in Parliament for debate.
NCA
chairman Lovemore Madhuku said his group accepted the need for a
human
rights commission but would not accept one imposed by Mugabe and ZANU
PF.
Madhuku, whose NCA brings together churches, women's
groups, human and
civic rights groups, opposition political parties, the
student and labour
movement, vowed to "take the state head-on over that
matter, in the streets
and in the courts".
He added: "As NCA we
want a human rights commission since there are
several unreported and
unattended to human rights abuses (committed in
Zimbabwe) since 1980 but
especially in the last six years. But the
commission we want is one which
all people will claim ownership to, not this
one which Chinamasa and Mugabe
are planning."
The spokesman of the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC -
seen as the main wing
of the divided opposition party - Nelson Chamisa,
dismissed the
government-proposed human rights commission as a "smokescreen"
to cover up
on the government's poor human rights record.
He
said plans by the government to "again unilaterally" change the
Constitution
justified last week's calls by Tsvangirai for mass protests to
demand a new
and democratic constitution for Zimbabwe.
"It is ZANU PF that
violates human rights so that party cannot be its
own prefect (by appointing
commission)," said Chamisa. He added: "This
reinforces our call for planned
protests to demand a new constitution. This
action by ZANU PF calls for a
broad-coalition to be in the streets calling
for a people's
constitution."
Tsvangirai urged Zimbabweans during last week's
congress of his party
to engage in mass revolt against Mugabe and demand a
new constitution that
could lead to free and fair elections.
But the government has warned Tsvangirai it will crush protests by his
supporters telling him that mass action would lead to
bloodshed.
The Zimbabwe government routinely uses armed soldiers to
stifle
opposition and dissent to its rule, a situation which saw the
southern
African country earlier this month classified by the United States
State
Department among the worst violators of human rights in the
world.
Zimbabwe was the only African country ranked alongside North
Korea,
Burma, Iran, Cuba, China and Belarus, considered to be nations where
political power is concentrated in the hands of rulers who are not
accountable for their actions.
In his interview with the Sunday
Mail, Chinamasa said the creation of
a human rights commission was merely to
keep pace with trends in the region
and not an admission that Zimbabwe had a
human rights problem.
ZimOnline was unable to reach the Justice
Minister for his reaction on
threats by the opposition and the NCA to call
protests against plans by the
government to appoint the human rights
commission without consulting all
stakeholders. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Mon 27
March 2006
BULAWAYO - President Robert Mugabe's chief press
secretary has ordered
a Zimbabwean state newspaper editor, Brezhnev Malaba,
to submit a written
report over a story he published last week alleging that
a senior government
official had been suspended for corruption, sources told
ZimOnline
Charamba, who is also the permanent secretary in the
information
ministry, instructed Malaba who edits the weekly Sunday News
newspaper, to
submit the report this week and name the source of the
story.
"Charamba has ordered Malaba to write a report over the
source of the
story which turned out to be false. The fact that the story
turned out to be
untrue means that action is likely to be taken against the
editor," said a
senior Sunday News journalist, who did not want to be named
for fear of
victimisation.
Charamba could not be reached for
comment last night while Malaba's
mobile phone went unanswered.
The chief executive officer of Zimbabwe Newspapers, the
government-controlled company that publishes Sunday News, Justin Mutasa was
also not available for comment.
Ordinarily, Mutasa and not
Charamba has final powers to act against
Malaba.
But the
permanent secretary has often cracked the whip against state
media
journalists he deems as failing to toe the line. Charamba is also
accused of
interfering in editorial matters at the government-owned Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation.
Last week, the Sunday News said four
top officials in the Ministry of
Higher and Tertiary Education including the
permanent secretary Washington
Mbizvo had been suspended by the Public
Service Commission, facing charges
of corruption.
The story
turned out to factually incorrect.
Four privately-owned newspapers,
including the biggest daily, the
Daily News, have been banned in Zimbabwe
over the past three years for
flouting the country's tough media laws.
Zimbabwe's only two remaining daily
newspapers are both government-owned. -
ZimOnline
nasdaq
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)--Zimbabwe's political and economic
crisis had "passed
the point of no return" for recovery without basic
internal reforms and
substantial international help, the U.S. ambassador
said in an interview
published Sunday.
Calls by President Robert
Mugabe for improved relations and "bridge
building" with foreign nations so
far had made no progress, Christopher Dell
was quoted as saying in the
independent Standard newspaper.
"It is our hope that in the face of the
massive crisis that it has brought
on itself, the government here will
recognize that it needs to do more than
talk about bridge building," Dell
was quoted as saying.
The U.S. was ready to help, but Zimbabwe made no
move toward reforms or
dialogue, he said.
"It is really just a
question of metaphors. There is no reality to that.
Empty words about
dialogue are really of little interest," the ambassador
said.
Dell
said he had been denied access to government officials with whom the
U.S.
has "a fundamental divergence of views" over the breakdown of the rule
of
law and the government's disastrous economic policies that led to acute
shortages of gasoline, food and essential commodities and spurred
hyperinflation to above 780%, the highest rate in the world.
He said
the abuse of property rights by seizures of land and other private
assets
scared off investors and vital foreign financial assistance, though
the U.S.
remained the largest humanitarian aid donor - $74 million last
year.
Dell said in his 18 months in Zimbabwe, not a single U.S.
investor had
approached his office for information on Zimbabwe's business
prospects and
just 25 U.S. firms were still doing business in the
country.
Much talk in Zimbabwe centered on when the country would finally
collapse,
Dell told Maruziva.
"In this context, what is truly
important...is the growing recognition that
Zimbabwe has already passed the
point of no return in its ability to recover
from its crisis without
substantial outside help," Dell said.
That help would depend on "very
fundamental changes in the way the
government of Zimbabwe conducts itself
and the policies it implements," he
said.
There was no immediate
response from the government on Dell's remarks.
In the past, Mugabe has
frequently accused Western ambassadors of meddling
in the nation's internal
affairs and denied the country cannot manage its
own homegrown recovery
programs.
In November, Dell was summoned to the foreign ministry in
Harare after
making equally outspoken criticisms of Zimbabwe's policies that
he said
plunged the nation into poverty. The envoy was warned he could be
expelled
from Harare.
Zimbabwe's economy has been in a free fall
since Mugabe's government began
seizing thousands of white-owned commercial
farms for redistribution to
blacks in 2000.
More than 3,000 people a
week die of HIV/AIDS-related illnesses, while U.N.
agencies estimate that
about four million people are in need of food.
Last year, some 700,000
people lost their homes or livelihoods in the
government's May-September
"Operation Murambatsvina" - or "drive out
filth" - an often violent
demolition campaign aimed at street vendors,
market stall holders and
allegedly illegal housing.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-26-061017ET
Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Zim Standard
BY
FOSTER DONGOZI
MILITARY unrest is reported to have rocked the
headquarters of 2
Brigade in Harare last week when soldiers went on the
rampage and sabotaged
the brigade's fleet of vehicles in protest at poor
service conditions, The
Standard understands.
As a result
of the sabotage, operations were partially grounded
and would have left the
country exposed in the event of an attack from
hostile forces, said
military sources.
According to the sources, the underpaid
soldiers allegedly
removed batteries from the brigade's vehicles including a
bus and some Dong
Feng trucks imported from China.
The
deputy commander of 2 Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Kalisto
Gwanetsa,
requested The Standard to submit a list of written questions to
the
brigade's offices in Cranborne.
"Usapinde mukati, ukapinda
ndokugura musoro, (Leave your
questions at the gate. If you get inside the
camp I will cut your head
off)," said Gwanetsa who claimed he was also a
journalist.
Gwanetsa later said: "There is no story. I am
training my
soldiers. I cannot divulge the nature of my training to you.
Some of the
questions that you have asked are very sensitive. That is what
the enemy is
waiting to hear ..."
Senior officers
allegedly accused junior soldiers of stealing
the batteries, The Standard
was told.
They immediately ordered that no juniors should
leave the camp
until all the batteries had been recovered or
replaced.
"The senior officers claim that if the junior
soldiers leave
camp, this will give them an opportunity to go and cash in on
the allegedly
stolen batteries," one source said.
Other
reports indicate that the soldiers have been asked to
undertake menial tasks
while the Special Investigations Branch of the
Military Police conducts
investigations.
But junior soldiers have hit back saying only
senior officers
had the means to remove batteries from the
fleet.
"It is very simple. The senior officers are the ones
who have A2
farms and those big batteries are ideal for use on many vehicles
used on
farms," said one of the soldiers who spoke on condition of
anonymity. "No
ordinary soldier would be able to carry those big batteries
out of the camp
that easily. But it would be very simple for a senior
officer to drive out
of the camp with the battery in his
car."
The soldiers said they were also angry that while the
brigade
was not able to conduct normal military business because of an
alleged
fuel shortage, senior army officers were able to attend to personal
business, including visiting their farms.
Over the
years, soldiers have watched as their conditions of
service have continued
to deteriorate.
Wages have been whittled down by inflation
with security guards
last year earning more than some uniformed
officers.
Soldiers say the army has been hit by desertions
with several
deserters preferring to work as security guards in neighbouring
countries
like Botswana and South Africa.
They claim they
are now subjected to a miserable diet of beans
as the army cannot supply
them with meat on a regular basis.
Some of them have resorted to
armed robberies to make ends
meet.The army has also denied reports that
soldiers have been sent on forced
leave because it cannot feed them.
Zim Standard
By
our staff
BULAWAYO - Former Matabeleland North Governor,
Welshman Mabhena,
who was tipped for the vice-presidency of the anti-Senate
faction of the
MDC, says he spurned the offer because he is against
"politics of
factionalism".
His comments come against a
backdrop of reports that civic
groups and MDC pro-Senate members in Bulawayo
arm-twisted the veteran
nationalist out of the race.
Had
the bid to woo Mabhena succeeded, Morgan Tsvangirai's
faction would have
staged a coup over the pro-Senate faction led by Arthur
Mutambara because of
his impeccable liberation struggle history and the
respect he commands
nationally.
Mabhena told The Standard in an interview on
Friday that he
never accepted the nomination, despite spirited efforts to
bring him on
board.
"I asked him (Tsvangirai) why the
split, and whether their sense
of commitment is to the posts they were vying
for or the people. I was later
to learn from the Press that I had been
nominated for a post in the MDC,"
Mabhena said.
After
Mabhena's rejection of the offer the faction offered him
another senior
position, which he turned down.
"I did not agree with Morgan
neither did I accept the
nominations. I also refused the post of senior
political adviser. The true
fact is that I do not want to be involved in
such type of politics that
border on factionalism," Mabhena said, adding
that he was not even an MDC
member.
In the meetings he
had with Tsvangirai's delegation, Mabhena
says he tried unsuccessfully "to
bring the two feuding factions together.as
the split is nonsensical". He
said he doesn't support either of the
factions.
He added:
"This is the reason why they are now speaking of
regionalism and tribalism
in trying to justify their split. That is a Zanu
PF way of advancing its
politics."
The MDC anti-Senate faction had also invited
Mabhena to stand in
a bid to strengthen its following in
Matabeleland.
An anti-Senate MDC insider said: "There was
panic and disbelief
in the Mutambara faction when they heard that Tsvangirai
and Mabhena were
talking. This was because Mabhena had the potential to
influence supporters
in the region to follow him to the Tsvangirai
faction."
Zim Standard
BY GIBBS
DUBE
BULAWAYO - A bitter property wrangle between Cabinet
minister
Sithembiso Nyoni and a Bulawayo family has sucked in President
Robert
Mugabe.
Nyoni is reportedly refusing to hand over
industrial equipment
to the Malikongwa family after a business deal
collapsed.
The family went into partnership with Fashion
Leathercraft,
owned by Nyoni's family in 1993.
Under the
deal, the two families were to have equal shares, with
the Malikongwas
providing machinery and the Nyonis providing cash.
The
Malikongwa family sought Mugabe's intervention after Nyoni
allegedly refused
to hand back the machinery following the collapse of the
deal.
A hearing chaired by Thenjiwe Lesabe, which Nyoni
did not
attend, heard a family representative, Winnie Malikongwa, describing
how
Nyoni and her husband, Peter, failed to honour their pledge to
contribute
funds towards the venture in order for the Malikongwas to service
their $250
000 loan sourced from UDC.
"The cash which was
to be paid by the Nyoni family was to be
used to pay off the UDC loan. Due
to failure to service the loan, the
Malikongwa family lost their household
property and their house when the
messenger of court attached the property
to recover the loan," she said.
The matter was then referred
to Custom Kachambwa, then of the
Ministry of Justice, for
finalisation.
In a letter dated 2 July 2004 addressed to the
Minister of
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa,
Kachambwa noted
".It has already been to the President's ears whom we
understand has spoken
with Mrs Nyoni. We hear that Mrs Nyoni was
advised/instructed to buy Mrs
Malikongwa a house and to return the equipment
she is using."
But Nyoni hit back. On 16 July 2004 she wrote
to Mugabe
protesting at the manner in which the matter was handled. She said
the
hearing was a non-event.
Nyoni wrote: "I presume
that it is under her delegated
authority and responsibility that (Oppah)
Muchinguri (Zanu PF's secretary
for the Women's League) took Malikongwa's
allegations against the Nyonis
straight to the President of the party and of
the State ..."
Contacted for comment, Nyoni said: "As far as
I am concerned
this is a closed matter because I delivered the machines a
couple of months
ago to Bulawayo Governor Cain Mathema's
office.
"I deserve to be listened to as I really have nothing
to do with
that woman anymore as I indicated in that correspondence to the
President."
In a letter to Mugabe, Winnie Malikongwa said
Nyoni had
"hurriedly dumped two broken industrial machines at Mathema's
office" but
retained four heavy-duty sewing machines and an assortment of
other
machines.
Zim Standard
BY FOSTER DONGOZI
WITH Zimbabwe's inflation officially
pegged at 782% and
galloping towards four digits, citizens now carry large
amounts of money as
the local currency becomes increasingly
worthless.
Wallets, which have traditionally been used to
carry bank notes,
have already ceased to be of much use except for carrying
identity cards,
credit cards and Automated Teller Machine (ATM)
cards.
Women buying handbags now opt for the bigger variety
to enable
them to carry several kilogrammes of the Zimbabwe dollar now
derisively
referred to as "stationery".
Zimbabwe's
largest bank denomination, the temporary $50 000
bearer cheque cannot buy
some newspapers and is just enough to buy official
propaganda publications
in the Zimpapers stable which now cost $50 000 a
newspaper.
Even the Zanu PF propaganda mouth piece, The
Voice is worth $50
000, meaning the largest denomination can only buy
propaganda, which in
other discredited nations, comes
free.
A postage stamp for a letter to any part of Zimbabwe
costs $25
000 if the letter weighs less than 20g.
Students of history have read about the pre-Second World War
depressions
which hit USA and Europe during which money was carried in
wheel-barrows and
suitcases just to buy a single loaf of bread.
Zimbabwe is
hurtling towards a similar situation as the economy
continues in its free
fall.
Young socialites in Bulawayo and Harare fed up with
having to
stuff their pockets with millions of Zimbabwe dollars now resort
to using
their car boots as storage for the worthless bearer
cheques.
At popular braai spots like Mereki in Harare and
Mthwakazi just
outside Bulawayo, young men and women can be seen hauling out
wads of bearer
cheques to buy drinks and braai meat.
Sifiso Dube, a Bulawayo resident, said he had long abandoned the
wallet in
preference for the boot.
"The car boot is now much more
convenient for me. When I want to
make any purchases like groceries, I
cannot carry the money in a wallet or
my pockets. The boot is the best
option because it means I don't have to
carry huge amounts on me and few
thieves would suspect that I would be
carrying a lot of money in the
boot."
Jimmy Murambiwa of Emerald Hill in Harare
concurred.
"If I don't carry the money in a satchel, then the
boot is the
next best option. If I carry the money in a bag, it would be
easy for
thieves to see that I am carrying a lot of
money."
A bank teller told The Standard last week that
clients making
withdrawals from banks had become easy targets for
thieves.
"When clients come into the bank to make withdrawals
we always
ask them if they have brought any bags or big envelopes to carry
the money.
If not, we always encourage them to go and look for big
containers for
carrying their money away. Others actually bring suitcases
and trunks to
carry the money. Unfortunately that places clients at the
mercy of thieves."
The bank teller said thieves position
themselves outside banks
in order to ambush clients who would have made huge
withdrawals.
They stand out easily as they would be carrying
bags or big
envelopes stuffed with money.
A client with
one of the banks said the hyper-inflation now
exposed citizens to attacks by
robbers.
"A lot of people are now moving around carrying
satchels. That
is not a new fashion trend. Those are the new wallets and
thieves are not
blind to that fact and that is why a lot of people are being
mugged.
"The unfortunate thing is that this deterioration is
going to be
with us for a long time. What this proves is that we no longer
have an
economy, it has collapsed and that is why there is no order in the
economy.
Zim Standard
BY
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
FOR Sylvia Guhwa, a senior clerk with a
government ministry in
central Harare, having lunch has become a
luxury.
During the lunch hour, the mother of two kills time
either
strolling in the park or reading a novel.
"I now
skip lunch and then have a square meal with my family in
the evenings," says
Guhwa as she cradles a novel.
Guhwa is one of thousands of
Zimbabwean workers, mostly civil
servants, who are failing to make ends meet
as the economic situation
continues to take a downward
spiral.
On average, civil servants earn about $8 million a
month, an
amount that is far below the poverty datum line
(PDL).
According to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) a
family of
six now requires at least $28 million a month to live a normal
life.
Such an income means for most of the civil servants
even if
their salaries are multiplied three times, they would still fall
below the
official poverty datum line.
Salaries of most
workers in Zimbabwe are being gobbled up by the
high prices of basic
foodstuffs, accommodation and transport.
As inflation
continues to shoot up, prices of basic commodities
and services are also
expected to skyrocket. Workers' salaries have remained
stagnant.
Presently, inflation is at 782% and is expected
to go beyond the
1 000 mark by mid-year, dashing hopes of any economic
revival.
Landlords, taking advantage of the worsening
accommodation
situation following the government's internationally condemned
"Operation
Murambatsvina" last May, are increasing rentals monthly, further
impoverishing the already underpaid workers.
Renting a
single room in Harare's high-density suburbs now costs
$3 million or more a
month.
Independent economic analyst, John Robertson,
estimates that 90%
of workers, the majority of them civil servants, were
living below the PDL
in the country.
Presently, Zimbabwe
has about a million people in formal
employment and 3 million workers in the
informal sector, which was also
destroyed during the so-called clean-up
exercise.
"Only 100 000 workers out of about a million people
in formal
employment are earning over $28 million. The rest of the workers
are living
miserable lives," Robertson said.
Formal
employment shrunk drastically in the country following
the closure of
companies due to unfavourable economic conditions generated
by the
government's misrule.
According to the International Monetary
Fund, Zimbabwe's economy
has shrunk by about 40% in the past five
years.
"A shrinking economy breeds a shrinking workforce that
is poorly
paid as the economy would not be performing," Robertson
said.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions deputy secretary
general,
Collin Gwiyo, said the union wanted the minimum wage to be pegged
at $28
million to enable workers to afford basic
necessities.
"Workers are digging a hole to cover another
hole. They are
really suffering," Gwiyo said.
Employers'
Confederation of Zimbabwe director, John Mufukare,
said the $7 million
non-taxable salary agreed on for the first quarter of
2006 was too low
considering the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities.
He
said employers were worried about the impoverishment of
workers. "As
employers, we are committed to having a motivated workforce. It's
good
business to pay your workers as much as you can afford because you reap
dividends in increased productivity," Mufukare said.
As a
result of unsustainable salaries, the majority of workers
in the country are
surviving on moonlighting to supplement their earnings.
Doctors working in the public sector have established private
surgeries;
accountants do books for private firms, while journalists write
for foreign
media organisations to supplement the meager earnings, eroded
heavily by
inflation.
But for Guhwa and thousands of other civil
servants, options for
moonlighting are limited. They just hope for a quick
economic recovering
which, however, looks highly
unlikely.
"Maybe things will be normal again and people like
myself will
have lunch and be able to provide for their families", she said
as she
licked her parched lips.
Zim Standard
US
Ambassador Christopher Dell (CD) spoke to Standard editor
Davison Maruziva
(DM) for the first time since the diplomatic fallout
between Zimbabwe and
the US last year.
DM: How many US firms are still operating
in Zimbabwe and how
many have put plans on hold or say they would be happy
to do business if the
situation normalised?
CD: I will
confess that my year and a half here have been quite
extraordinary in that I
haven't had one US investor, potential US investor,
come to visit and to
make enquiries about the usual kind of background
information they gather
when doing due diligence about investing in a
foreign
environment.
Often times when you are ambassador, companies
do come to you
and ask you for advice, assessment. I haven't had a single
visit like that
in 18 months. To answer the other part of your question,
there are still
about 25 American firms doing business in Zimbabwe either as
subsidiaries of
American companies or more typically as representative
offices of American
firms.
That number has shrunk
significantly over the years in part due
to the relocation to post-apartheid
South Africa when before 1994 many
companies had their southern African
operations based here because they did
not want to be in South Africa, so
that is not a reflection on Zimbabwe, of
course, but the changing regional
context.
But you know what's striking is how few American
companies are
here in what is potentially a very lucrative market and I have
been doing
some research on hyper-inflation and one of the things that's
striking is
that industrial output often collapses just prior to the onset
of
hyper-inflation. There is a historical pattern. Hyper-inflation is
essentially a means of transferring wealth from the individual-held wealth
into the hands of the government.
And in that environment
the industrial production collapses.
That historically classic pattern
seems to be precisely what we are seeing
going on in Zimbabwe right now,
whether you are talking about domestic
industrial output or even
agricultural output or interesting a foreign
investor in coming to
Zimbabwe, hyper-inflation is the result of government
policies.
Hyper-inflation is typically the result of printing money.
That has contributed to this discouragement of interest in
Zimbabwe as has
the government's assault upon the rule of law, growing
disrespect or lack of
respect for rights of private property. These are all
things that any
person, any business person who is thinking of an investment
in a given
country looks at seriously before they risk their money in a
foreign
environment. They are going to want to look at what is the
government's
attitude towards private property, is the rule of law
effective, if there is
a business dispute can one turn to the courts for
recourse? Is there respect
for contracts? Or are contracts enforced by the
legal
system?
The lack of foreign investment in Zimbabwe is a
direct
reflection on government policies which have sent strong signals to
the
business community that the government does not respect private
property,
does not respect the rule of law and these are the things that
have
discouraged investment.
And now in this
hyper-inflationary environment new investment is
far too risky. I don't
think we are going to see a renewed interest in
Zimbabwe as a destination
for foreign direct investment until there are
economic reforms, changed
economic policies.
DM: Since your address at Africa
University last year and the
incident at the Botanic Gardens, how do you
characterise relations between
the US and Zimbabwe?
CD:
Well we continue to maintain diplomatic relations, we
continue to maintain
the niceties of diplomatic practice, we obviously still
have an embassy here
and Zimbabwe maintains an embassy in Washington. But I
would have to say
relations can only be characterised as strained. I think
we have a
fundamental divergence of views about the way forward for
Zimbabwe. I have
essentially been denied any access to government officials
and, for example,
can only discuss overtures about so-called
"bridge-building" in this
fashion, with you.
As I said earlier we remain engaged here.
We continue to be the
largest provider of humanitarian assistance to
Zimbabwe. Last year we
provided about US$74 million in foreign
assistance.
We want to help. We want to be in a position to
help. We remain
committed to helping the ordinary people of this country
once again enjoy
the freedom and prosperity that used to be the hallmark of
Zimbabwe. And it
is our hope that in the face of the massive crisis that it
has brought upon
itself, the government here will recognise that it needs to
do more than
talk about bridge building. It actually needs to begin taking
concrete steps
that will lead to bridge building.
To use
the bridge building metaphor, we certainly have the
cement and the steel
stockpiled. We are ready to begin construction but you
know you have to
build from both sides at the same time. And 'til we see the
government
coming up with its own cement and steel and being prepared to
begin building
the bridge from the other bank of the river it's really just
a question of
metaphors. There is no reality to that.
It's certainly true
that there is always going to be some
divergence of views among different
countries, different nations, different
states. I think in the case of
Zimbabwe what we have seen is in fact a
remarkable convergence of views over
the last year or so: much less debate
about the broad international
consensus and approach towards Zimbabwe
largely as a result of actions of
this government - "Operation
Murambatsvina" certainly helped unite the
international view that there was
a serious problem in
Zimbabwe.
I think what we have seen over the past year has
been a
significant shift in the attitude even within Africa towards
Zimbabwe.
Countries that previously offered uncritical support for the
regime are now
taking a second look and reconsidering their
attitude.reconsidering what the
government here has done to its own
people.
So, while there will never be unanimity amongst the
international community, I don't think that is to be expected or is even
required. What there is is a broad consensus that Zimbabwe is in desperate
trouble. Zimbabwe has brought this on itself largely due to the policies of
its own government and those policies need to begin to change in order for
the international community to make its contribution to the rebuilding and
restoration of Zimbabwe.
DM: Is there now a growing
realisation on the part of the
government that it's time to begin to build
those bridges you referred to
with the US? How does this manifest
itself?
CD: That is a very interesting question, we have seen
periodically, efforts on the part of the government, about every six months
since I have been here, to somehow try and break out of the diplomatic
isolation in which the government's policies have put
Zimbabwe.
Thus far, what I have seen there has been a lot of
talk, a lot
of signals about a desire for better relationships but no
concrete
manifestation of such a renewed desire on the part of the
government to
improve the relations. Our position remains and has been very
consistent. We
welcome dialogue, we welcome "bridge-building" if that's the
term one wishes
to use but there has to be a dialogue founded, in the first
instance, on
concrete measures on the part of the government of Zimbabwe to
demonstrate
that it is ready to embrace reforms and a new way of doing
business.
Real interest in bridge building on real reforms
would be
welcome; diplomatic gambits designed simply to get the government
out of a
tight corner of its own making are not.
Empty
words about dialogue are really of little interest.
Concrete actions that
manifest a new approach on the part of the government
would be extremely
welcome and would be met by reciprocal actions on our
part.
As the economy of Zimbabwe continues to melt down,
as the
government policies have increased its international isolation,
earning it
over the last year the condemnation of even the United Nations
and the loss
of the previously unqualified support of old friends, as that
isolation
grows it's only natural to expect the government to try and reach
out and to
renew dialogue and again we would be very happy to see that
happen provided
it is based upon a genuine commitment to
change.
I think the most useful way to put this, in the
context of the
current economic crisis in particular, is a very simple
formula - rescue
requires reforms. Although there is much discussion in the
country today
about when things will collapse, indeed, what "collapse" means
in this
context, what is truly important with respect to the role of the
international community is the growing recognition that Zimbabwe has already
passed the point of no return in its ability to recover from its crisis
without substantial outside help. Zimbabwe will not be able to do it on its
own.
If Zimbabwe expects the outside world to support its
recovery
from the current economic crisis, that's going to have to entail
very
fundamental changes in the way the government of Zimbabwe conducts
itself
and the policies it implements.
Zim Standard
By Our
Staff
COMPANIES should brace themselves for a tough time
ahead after
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe changed the playing rules on the
money market,
analysts have said.
Analysts said last week
that the increase in statutory reserve
payments and prolonged deficit on the
money market would constrict the
lending market and reduce the profitability
of the financial sector.
"The statutory reserve requirements
continue to be a hurdle that
is reducing the market performance for the
sector. An increase in the
statutory reserve ratios results in a decrease in
the amount that banks have
at their disposal for lending and other
investments," Interfin said in their
weekly report.
Most
banks released good results with Kingdom Financial Holdings
Ltd (KFHL),
posting an after tax profit of $199 billion in the financial
year ending 31
December 2005.
FBC Holdings also performed well with the bank
releasing a
profit after tax of $562 billion in the year ending 31 December
2005.
But Interfin said last week that interest margins for
banks had
been compromised by the tight liquidity conditions and predicted
reduced
profits for the financial sector.
"It reduces the
average return that is derived from every dollar
of deposits. At the same
time, the average cost of most non-retail deposits
is currently high. Thus
the move by the central bank to reduce money supply
through the increase in
the statutory reserve requirement ratio impacts on
the profitability of the
banking industry. The tight liquidity witnessed
over the current month has
also impacted on some institutions and
compromised the interest
margins."
Kingdom Bank CEO, Frank Kufa hinted at the bank's
analyst
briefing a fortnight ago that they have reduced the number of
loans.
and are not keen to lend to clients for fear that high
interest
rates would deter them from honouring their
debts.
Highveld analyst, Terrence Mazango said the central
bank would
have to maintain the concessionary funding to allow increased
productivity.
"Banks cannot sustain profits in a situation
where they borrow
at 750 % from the RBZ and get an available asset at 500 %
on the money
market. The net effect is the increase in the cost of lending
to customers
and companies cannot borrow at lending rates of 500 % and
expect to survive.
There is no way industry can stimulate growth when debts
are doubling
because of interest rates. The concessionary funding cannot be
discarded, it
shows the extent at which things are not well," Mazango
said.
The RBZ is presently disbursing funds at a
concessionary rate of
20 % to companies under the Agricultural Sector
Productivity Enhancement
Facility ends.
Zim Standard
Comment
EACH national event that has been celebrated in
recent years has
seen hard-pressed people being coerced to contribute to the
festivities.
It is time to take a second
look.
Zimbabwe is in no better situation than it was this
time last
year.
This year's Independence celebrations
require that we take
cognisance of the current hardships and where possible
scale down on the
festivities. It would be insensitive to demand that the
majority of the
people, who are either unemployed or struggling to put food
on the table for
their traumatised families, contribute towards the
festivities.
Sensitivity has never been one of the character
traits of our
rulers. That is why we have one of them believing that she is
entitled to
furnishings and curtains with a bill for $35 billion for an
obscenely
opulent mansion when residents who were left homeless by an urban
cleansing
exercise that united world opinion condemning Zimbabwe continue to
live in
the open nearly a year after their trauma.
There
are some well-meaning people both within the government
and the ruling
party, but their silence has only helped to encourage the
mess to which this
once promising nation has been reduced. It's time for
these good men and
women to let their voices be heard and ensure Zimbabwe
begins to retreat
from the precipice.
Those who feed from the Zanu PF trough
are busy "fundraising"
for the Independence celebrations. The hardships the
majority of Zimbabweans
endure are alien to them. Distressed companies and
the majority of the
people who have been thrown out of their jobs will be
approached for
contributions. Both the government and the ruling party are
quick to forget
their lead role in company closures and unemployment. This
year's
Independence anniversary celebrations will only serve to remind them
of
missed opportunities and betrayed aspirations.
Anyone
with the genuine interests of the people and this country
at heart would
ensure that the Independence celebrations are low key in
recognition of the
hardships being faced by the majority of Zimbabweans.
There
will this year however be distortions whose outcome will
determine whether
the activities will be peaceful or chaotic. Increasingly
more people are
unable to afford proper meals and many will attend the
celebrations in the
hope of feasting at State expense.
Depending on whether or
not food will be provided, the
celebrations could turn out to be peaceful
and successful or ugly as the
hungry people will feel betrayed. A large
attendance will distort interest
in the event because for many the
entertainment programme will provide a
brief escape from the daily hardships
and challenges to provide for their
families. The large attendance could
also be forced or in anticipation of a
decent meal.
Zimbabwe's parlous condition was accentuated by developments
last week:
While the country is desperate to attract investors, neighbouring
South
Africa was hosting a large delegation of Italian business people that
is
going to inject R210 million into the economy. What the event served to
show
was the extent to which Zimbabwe has become an unattractive investment
destination and the opportunities the country is losing.
Zim Standard
sundayopinion by by Janah Ncube
THE poverty, so rife in
Africa is a scourge that must motivate
every African woman and man to use
every asset at their disposal to
obliterate it. We must shift from the
indoctrination of seeing the things we
do not possess in light and in
comparison to western societies.
We have time, skills and
capacities, wealth in the natural
resources of our countries, determination,
resilience, a conscience and a
history that reminds us what happens to a
people who get swayed, deceived
and hypnotised by the magic of western
inventions. History shows us that you
get exploited, cheated out of what is
yours, prostituted by selling yourself
for a momentary illusion of wealth,
power and superiority.
This is how our ancestors were
tricked, this is how today's
warlords in many of our conflicts are persuaded
to perpetuate conflict in
oil and mineral rich African territories and this
is how some of our Heads
of State are deceived to misuse and misappropriate
the wealth of our
countries at the expense of their
populations.
We may have rid ourselves of colonial, racist,
apartheid
political leadership, policies and programmes but their bitter
legacy
continues to haunt our lives through the poison of poverty that
blatantly
pervades our societies.
This is the same poison
that has distorted our perception of our
African identity and the diminished
value we have attached to it. The
indignity that poverty imputes in our
lives has corroded for most of our
peoples a sense of humanness and has
instead left an empty gulf of no self
worth that hinders them from seeing
themselves living lives beyond the
gutters of lack they unfortunately find
themselves in.
For those who may be fortunate enough not to
find themselves
living in the shackles of poverty, we have grown so
accustomed to it that it
does not bother us to see poverty all around us and
we have become so self
centred we have no heart, conscious, time to pay
attention to how much worse
it has become.
If we do take
notice, the most we do is talk about it and
exclaim just how bad things have
really become and revert back to our
hoodwinked lifestyles, glad to be blind
to all else. Those of us who do
notice those who lack, we see them as lesser
beings who are a bother, a
source of shame and embarrassment and do not
recognise or grant them the
dignity of seeing another human being, a brother
or a sister.
As Africans we have lost a sense of pride, of
belonging to a
distinct race because our race has been put down so much by
those who think
themselves better than us. This is a problem that women also
face, a need to
disassociate with their gender especially among men because
women have been
put down so much we almost want to apologise for being
women.
This has been one of the tricks of those who justify
and
perpetuate marginalisation and discrimination. They make you feel like
there
is something wrong with those of your identity and only you are the
exception. The legacy of poverty can be over come if we first change the way
we see ourselves as a people in each other's eyes. If I can see myself in
the next African person regardless of their class, gender, nationality how I
value that person will change. This will win us the first victory of
poverty.
Our streets should not be the toilets and
bedrooms of our
children. Our government departments and civil service
sector should not be
havens breeding corruption. Our skills should not be
limited and exploited
in the informal sector because we are desperate to
exchange them for money
and so will sell at the lowest price after much
begging which borders on
emotional blackmail on the
buyer.
We need to reclaim our human dignity regardless which
side of
the border or the continent we find ourselves. We are Africans and
we have a
right to be here. We deserve much more than what our history,
culture,
traditions and western constructions have defined for us and burden
us with.
We deserve good homes, adequate, available and affordable food, we
have a
right to water and sanitation, we should be benefiting from the God
given
wealth which bestows our continent.
I know that for
most Zimbabweans it seems hard and irrelevant to
think beyond our own
immediate problems. Everyone is just trying to make
ends meet and to stop
and worry about the next person when trying to survive
seems improbable. Yet
it is such limited thinking that has slowed down and
reversed any gains and
development we ever attained. We have to see and
think beyond our own
specific experiences if we are to conquer the evils of
poverty and their
sources.
Most of Africa is in worse situations than we find
ourselves in.
When things were good for us, we were too comfortable to
notice or were busy
making jokes of them. Now things are bad, we are too
busy surviving and
making jokes out of our misery.
The
colonial borders which we inherited have created a false
sense of difference
and brought indifference to our plight. I remember
growing up and made to
understand that a Malawian or a Zambian was a
"lesser" person than a
Zimbabwean.
No one ever really taught us that explicitly but
as kids, we
knew it. Similarly, today Zimbabweans are treated with disdain
in other
countries such as South Africa and Botswana just because we are
perceived
poor and implicitly lesser. This is what breeds
poverty.
The generation of my grandparents and that of my
parents will be
remembered for confronting, fighting and conquering
colonialism and
apartheid.
What will our generation be
remembered for? I say may we be
remembered for hating and fighting poverty
to the bitter end.
Zim Standard
By
Pedzisai Ruhanya
IN recent years, especially after Zanu PF
imposed the concept of
executive presidency in Zimbabwe following the
Constitutional Amendment
Number 7 of 1987 which saw the elevation of former
Prime Minister Robert
Mugabe to the Executive President of Zimbabwe without
a referendum and
subsequent election and the ditching of ceremonial
president the late Canaan
Sodindo Banana, the concept of the sovereign will
of Zimbabweans has been
endangered by an unaccountable and unrestrained
executive branch of the
State.
Given these circumstances,
the executive branch of the State
because of its lack of accountability has
created a monster that has
destroyed the democratic aspirations of the
people of Zimbabwe as
prophesised by other founding fathers of the struggle
for independence and
democracy such as the late Joshua Nkomo, Herbert
Chitepo, Leopold Takawira
and Jason Ziyapapa Moyo. Their wish was not to
create an all powerful
executive regime but a government that was
accountable to the masses of
Zimbabweans who fought to liberate the country
from the racist government of
Ian Smith.
The present set
in Zimbabwe cannot produce an accountable
government because State power is
vested in one centre that of the executive
arm of the government. Because
the executive arm of the government has
assumed imperial power that is not
accountable to other arms of the State
such the legislature, there have been
unchecked executive abuses that have
led to the continuous erosion of
democratic practices in Zimbabwe and the
creation of a de facto but not de
jure military state.
The concept of sovereignty has been
abused to mean the continued
rule of Zanu PF despite clear signs the
citizens are fed up with the current
economic malaise affecting the country
and it has been continuously invoked
against a legitimate opposition that
also seeks to govern the country. My
understanding of sovereignty is that it
belongs to the people and all the
powers and authority of government and its
agencies come from the people. It
is thus clear that the government, its
personnel and all its agencies are
servants of the
people.
he problem that faces Zimbabwe is that its
government seeks its
authority elsewhere other than the people. For
instance, the word minister
means servant but in the case of Zimbabwe, the
people are the servants of
the incumbent government. If there is any denial
of this opinion, it would
be very difficult to explain the activities of say
the Minister of Local
Government, Public Works and Urban Development,
Ignatious Chombo, in the
local government sector where he has been on the
rampage firing elected
representatives of the people.
In
a functional democracy, it is the people who are the masters
of those they
elect to govern them. Under this understanding, the people or
the electorate
are the sovereign in a civilised democracy where the rule of
law underpins
the functions and administration of national and governmental
affairs. The
concept of sovereignty should remain unqualified at all times.
It should not
be defined to suit the needs of ruling elites at a particular
juncture in
the historical development of a country such as Zimbabwe.
Political science scholars have argued that sovereignty as a
concept that
underpins democratic governance is never transferable or
temporarily loaned
to any person because they are elected to run the affairs
of the State. This
is the sad situation that Zimbabwe finds itself under the
administration of
Zanu PF. Sovereignty has been loaned to the leadership of
the party despite
claims that they are elected by the people in a free and
fair election. The
situation becomes even worse when the leadership of a
ruling elite loan that
sovereignty to itself and does not indicate when it
intends to give it back
to its owners - the sons and daughters of Zimbabwe
as sacrificed by those
who perished in the bushes of Zambia, Tanzania and
Mozambique fighting for
the sovereign will of the people to prevail over an
unrepentant fascist
minority regime led by Smith and his former Rhodesian
colleagues.
A democratic and constitutional order should
guide all those in
power to always conduct themselves with dignity and
respect towards the
people, who elect them in power. Elected representatives
in a functional
democracy should seek to serve the public as their primary
function with the
idea that if that is not done, they can lose their
positions in government.
But under a situation where elected officials are
arrogant to the extent
that they cannot allow the democratic will of the
people to prevail under
free and fair elections, it would be a farce to talk
and later dream of the
people's sovereignty.
Zimbabwe as
a modern state needs to restore the sovereign will
of the people if it is to
move forward economically and politically. The
current economic quagmire
will be with us for a long time until the nation
changes its democratic
conduct and gives back the people the sovereignty
that has been stolen by
the ruling elite.
t is without doubt that there are many
factors that help to
explain the existence or otherwise of a democratic
culture in a particular
set up, Zimbabwe included. However, in the case of
Zimbabwe, lack of
executive restraint has been one of those major factors.
This explains why
during the Constitutional Commission hearings prior to the
February 2000
referendum a lot of people called for the removal of a lot of
executive
powers inherent in the current constitution.
Under the Zimbabwean Constitution, the President is not
answerable to anyone
but himself. The president can make law thereby
single-handedly assuming the
role of Parliament. This scenario in my view is
a fundamental violation of
the sovereign will of the people of Zimbabwe who
elect people to make law, a
function that can be done by one person under
the current constitutional
regime.
One sad thing about the current constitutional regime
is the
ability of the head of State under section 154 of the Electoral Act
who is a
participant in an electoral process to make law relating to the
same
including nullifying an electoral result. Such constitutional
provisions are
clearly a negation of the sovereign will of those who
participate in an
election and needs restraint through a constitutional
overhaul to come up
with a decent constitutional regime that respects the
sovereignty of the
people of Zimbabwe.
Lack of executive
accountability appears to be one of the
critical features that are missing
in Zimbabwe. It also this lack of
accountability that makes a developing
democracy fail to respect human
rights and the sovereign will of the
people.
It is without doubt that there is no regime that can
claim to be
responsible in its conduct of State affairs without being
accountable.
The real MDC, stand up and be counted
A lot of things
in this world have been said and done in the
name of the "people" but who
exactly are the "people" and who are not?
Once in a while we
hear of the "people's power" and now the
debate in the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) centres around who is
coming from the people Arthur
Mutambara or Morgan Tsvangirai.
So who defines the "people"
and who should speak for them? The
common sense view that has been presented
by those who claim to champion the
"people's" cause is that the down-trodden
or the less privileged and less
educated; in short those in the high-density
areas such as Mbare, and
Mzilikazi and the rural people of Chomuruvate and
Bulilima-Mangwe are "the
people".
The only problem with
this discursive strategy is essentialism,
which is the belief that people
and/or phenomenon have properties that are
essential to what they are. The
poor in this case will always be with us in
this understanding of the
"people" being - the poor and the down-trodden,
but what happens when they
move out up the social ladder like Arthur
Mutambara did and became a
professor?
If Mutambara comes from the Mutambara area as we
know him, with
years of experience among the people why should the last 15
years disqualify
him from being part of the people?
The
point is not about where Mutambara was but rather what he
has brought for
the people. It does not make sense to say that, because he
has been away he
should go to the cell level of the party before he can be
allowed to
contribute anything regardless of the wealth of experience he is
bringing
in.
Is there a difference between a person speaking for the
"people", assuming for a minute that one actually does, and a person with
whom the "people" agree?
It is possible that people need
leaders who can come up with
robust policies that they can understand. It is
no longer helpful to have a
popularity contest measured by how many people
attend rallies or congresses.
It is now a battle of ideas and the people can
follow a person with ideas
that come through a qualitative
debate.
This is where those who are not thought to be
"people", the rich
and famous, may have some say, those with money and
properties because they
are stake holders a well.
A
country has more stake holders than the poor people, and
influence or power
moves in all directions. In fact, even the poor people's
votes, hearts and
minds are not a given, political parties have to fight for
them. In the end
everyone matters - the rich and the poor.
When Zanu PF gives
out land, and talks about the liberation
struggle some people naively think
that it is not important but why should
your history not matter? People are
not just about consumption and wealth,
they are also emotional beings. As
some MDC people talk of scars post-2000
such an argument cannot survive the
emotional test of the scars of the
liberation war.
The
idea of a new Zimbabwe noble as it may appear has
connotations of cutting
off from the past which was a people's struggle.
This view is not helped by
people who refuse or feel offended to refer to
liberation struggle and
acknowledge the heroes of that struggle.
Our heroes are not
just dead people such as Tendai Biti were
quoted saying, they are founding
fathers of our nation. Those in the UK and
US know too well that the
so-called first world continue to honour their
heroes or founding fathers of
their nations who lived centuries ago.
Every nation-state has
its struggles and it is a product of
conflicts, myths and the values which
have to inform their struggles as a
rallying point.
People are always embedded in their historical and cultural
context and the
concept of a new Zimbabwe should be explained carefully to
the "people"
especially as the other MDC group attended its congress last
weekend whose
theme was, "Rallying People for a New Zimbabwe".
The people's
identity is not only explained by where they live,
for people will always
move socially or physically but they will remain
people. The politics of
exclusion done in the name of the people will not
get us far as a nation.
Mutambara and Tsvangirai now have to show the nation
their vision; Zanu PF
has been on the scene for people to know what it
stands for but now that we
have two MDCs, the people are waiting!
Msekiwa
Makwanya
United Kingdom
-----------
Mugabe, the liberator has lost
plot
I WAS astounded when the February 2006 inflation
figures
were released as 762% apparently the highest in the world. How does
our
president and his lieutenants in Zanu PF feel to be presiding over the
worst
peforming economy in the world? Does that not mean Zanu PF Government
is
composed of the most incompetent economic managers in the
world?
President Robert Mugabe must do a lot of
soul-searching in
order to identify critical areas where he got the economic
equation skewed.
One sure thing is if our President continues to pursue his
present economic
policies, the much-talked about economic turnaround will
remain a pipe
dream. Shouting himself hoarse about Tony Blair, George W Bush
and the
imperialists will not translate into viable economic policies,.A man
of
Mugabe's intelligence should have realised this.
It was heartbreaking when during an exclusive interview on
the eve of his
82nd birthday our President openly admitted to printing money
as an economic
solution. That was a first for all the wrong reasons.
If my memory serves me well, the only other president in
Africa who thought
printing money was a panacea to economic problems was Idi
Amin of Uganda in
the 1970s. His policy was more paper means more money. We
can forgive Amin
because he was intellectually challenged. Out President is
a trained
economist. What has gone into his head?
If our
president does not want to go down in history as
the worst leader to have
graced mother earth, I offer the following few
tips:
* A liberator does not take away property
rights
* A liberator does not appoint incompetent
cronies and
soldiers to run parastatals
* A
liberator does not fire elected councils and replaces
them with his friends
and relatives constituted as commissions who do not
provide services to the
people but loot rates
* A liberator does not deny his
people a home-grown
constitution.
* A liberator
does not fear people he liberated to the
extent of moving around with a
kilometer long motorcade of soldiers and
police
officers.
* A liberator forges friendships with the
international
community for the economic interests of the
nation.
If Zanu PF, our liberators, starts observing
the above,
the nation will start moving towards
prosperity.
F Mpofu
Mufakose, Harare
-------------
State has
unwittingly boosted Tsvangirai faction
ALTHOUGH the
pro-Senate faction was supposed to emerge
from the "arms cache" discovery as
the stronger of the two it might actually
emerge as the loser. The fact that
most people believe this to be a
conspiracy against Morgan Tsvangirai, might
actually lead to them regarding
him as a martyr.
Most Zimbabweans are now wondering why the government is
so afraid of the
anti-Senate MDC to the extent of trying to "physically
eliminate" them as
Didymus Mutasa threatened. This in itself is an
endorsement that
Tsvangirai's MDC is the real MDC. It shows that they are
not worried about
the Arthur Mutambara faction either because they are
colleagues or because
they are aware that they have no following.
The
pro-Senate's cause has been further weakened by the
recent utterances of its
leader Mutambara who was quoted in the Press vowing
to destroy Tsvangirai.
One wonders why Mutambara would be pre-occupied with
the destruction of
Tsvangirai and not President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF
who have brought the
country to its knees.
We expect such language from the
likes of Joseph
Chinotimba or some such ignoramus. The "untainted" Mutambara
has already
started setting conditions for Tsvangirai's "readmission" into
the MDC and
even demanded that Tsvangirai repent.
It is obvious that such condescending sentiments are
unlikely to result in
the reunification of the MDC. It is important to
remind Mutambara that he
does not lead the MDC but only a breakaway splinter
whose legitimacy is in
question.
In fact, the only "achievement" of the
faction so far was
to lead the party to its first election loss in Bulawayo
since 2000.
Whereas the MDC was entitled to receive
funding under the
Political Parties Act, the disbursement of such monies to
one faction was
meant to strengthen it at the expense of Tsvangirai's
MDC.
The pro-Senate faction also received the
proverbial kiss
of death when it was embraced by The Herald and The Sunday
Mail. The fact
that The Sunday Mail chose to make headlines out of
Mutambara's election as
head of a faction of the MDC ahead of Mugabe's
birthday celebrations was
quite significant.
The
recent election losses for both factions should really
be a wake up call for
them. It will be interesting whether they will both
contest the vacant
Budiriro parliamentary seat. If they choose to take this
dare-devil path
then this could mark the end of opposition politics in
Zimbabwe. It is
pertinent for both factions to either agree to an amicable
divorce or to
risk becoming irrelevant in the not so distant
future.
Ralph Shingai
Paratema
Warren Park
Harare
---------------
Police behave
as if immune to economic crisis
I am amazed by the
way police look at the present
economic and unemployment crisis. The few
people who are still lucky to hold
onto a regular job do their damned best
to look after their jobs, but what
do the police
do?
Every morning during peak hours police decide
that
is the time to set up road blocks so that people do not get to work
early
and it's not as if there are enough forms of transport
around.
So the few still working are delayed and
the few
remaining companies that still make the economy tick work fewer
hours
because workers do not arrive at work on time - thanks to the police -
so
whatever production they are involved in is reduced, negatively impacting
on
the economy.
Police will argue that it is
important to conduct
the inspections of commuter buses, but these buses are
on the road for the
rest of the day, why pick on the morning rush hours?
There is need for the
police to manage their work with consideration. Times
are hard; there is no
need to make them even harder. We hurt ourselves more
when we should be
contributing to making the situation
better.
And as if that is not enough the majority
who are
out of employment try to eke out a living and the police are after
them -
what do they expect these poor fellows to do in order to survive -
steal?
It is as if the police are determined that
more
people should be thrown out of jobs and once out of jobs they should
not
have means of looking after themselves. Yet if people are allowed the
latitude to earn an honest living this reduces the crime
rate.
Perhaps part of the agenda is to drive
people out of
employment and once they are unemployed, they are driven out
of the urban
areas because they cannot make an honest living, so presumably
they go back
to the rural areas. This is a sinister strategy I expect from
the ruling
party not from the police.
Are
relatives of the police all employed and those
that are not are the officers
able to adequately support them? Sometimes
police officers need to stop and
reflect on these questions instead of
acting apparently without
thinking.
Tirivanhu
Mhofu
Emerald Hill
Harare
---------------
It's the principal causing confusion at Harare
Polytech
I CASTIGATE in the strongest terms
the
confusion that has been brewed by the Harare Polytechnic administration
pertaining to the payment of top-up tuition
fees.
Steven Raza, the Principal of Harare
Polytechnic and his subordinates have clearly displayed high levels of
organisational inefficiency. Recently, they distributed memos to students
indicating that they should have paid their tuition fees by 31 March 2006
and prior to that, their residence fees by 28
February.
Suddenly, they have changed that
decision and
they are pestering students to pay immediately 50% of the
tuition fees. They
did not address the students on this pertinent issue.
Rather, they chose to
disburse some verbal instructions ordering students to
immediately pay, an
act of which sounded more of a rumour until students
were abruptly thrown
out of lecture
rooms.
Why did Reza decide to display such
a blatant
unprofessionalism. While it is the Ministry of the Higher and
Tertiary
Education and Culture that hiked the fees, the principal should
have made a
proposal to it that his students have to pay their fees at month
end. The
same ministry should stop using college authorities to throw
students out of
lessons. It should be made clear through the media that
unpaid students
should stop attending lessons. If such a move is taken then
college
authorities so such heartless.
Again, the principal, should have addressed
the entire college and explained
his position concerning the issue. Students
supported by civil servants will
never be able to raise such amounts unless
the government intervenes as it
is almost doing at the University of
Zimbabwe.
Finally, it's inevitable that
our tuition fees
should be in tandem with the government loans, we are yet
to be given. As
such the grants should be timeously disbursed to allow us to
settle the war
the Ministry of Higher education is waging against
us.
Ngonidzashe
Chiutsi
Harare
----------
MP's jibe about Mugabe, so
what?
AN MDC MP was recently arrested for
making
remarks that were deemed to be undermining and insulting the
authority of
the President. Mabvuku MP Timothy Mabhawu was arrested for
rhetorically
asking some soldiers he had offered a lift why they were
letting President
Mugabe continue to make them suffer. "Sei muchiregera
Mugabe achikuregerai
muchitambura?" were his exact words, as reported in The
Herald.
Perhaps the ungrateful soldiers,
the
overzealous police and the responsible authorities need to be reminded
that
almost everyone of us has said similar things before. Every time we go
into
a shop and discover that we cannot buy even the very basics of life's
necessities. We silently say similar, if not worse,
remarks.
If our soldiers can no longer
afford their
own transport, and have to suffer the inconvenience and
humiliation of
begging the public for help, it surely means things are not
well, and
someone must be responsible. If someone can be arrested for merely
pointing
out the suffering of the soldiers, what sentence befits the people
who are
ultimately responsible for the suffering, not just of the soldiers,
but of
all of us?
Under normal
circumstances Mabhawu's remarks
would not be considered to be out of the
ordinary as they have indeed become
part of our everyday lingua
franca.
His were just teasing comments
meant to
provoke a cheerful discussion to ease the stresses of a difficult
life.
But following his arrest, we now
think
Mabhawu is a legend, and that his heroic stunt will forever be
recorded in
history as one of the few brave individuals who were persecuted
for speaking
the plain truth.
Hudson Yemen Taivo
Birmingham
England
--------------------
Competence-
shedding
WHEN ZESA switches off power to
residential
areas on weekends for as long as six to 12 hours and industries
are not
operating, what happens to supplies that are normally consumed by
industries
during week days?
The
current load shedding has exposed the
inadequacy and failure of those
entrusted with the task of generating and
distributing energy supplies in
this country. There are reports of methane
gas reserves in Lupane, should
this not be opened up to international
investors with knowledge of
exploiting such resources so that the current
energy crisis is
ameliorated?
What is the point of having
bilateral
relations with countries, such as France and Iran or Kuwait when
we do not
tap their knowledge, skills and expertise in the area of
exploiting fossil
fuel for energy
use?
M
Moyo
Fitchlea
Kwekwe
---------------------------------
Truth,
only the truth
WE appreciate your role in
Zimbabwe's media
fraternity. The truth must forever be presented as the
truth and spicing it
is unfair in the eyes of your readers. We wish you
eternity under the Zanu
PF
government.
Munn
Jay
Mufakose
Harare
---------------------------
Chickens come
home to roost here
MUGABE and his Zanu PF
cohorts may think
they can hide behind two-metre security walls in
Borrowdale or where ever
but when the chickens come home to roost -- no one
wil be spared.
Ask Kumbirai Kangai who
nearly lost his
official Benz because his under-paid driver decided to
supplement his pay!
Victim
Harare
Mail and Guardian
Harare, Zimbabwe
26 March 2006
11:53
Zimbabwe announced on Sunday that it would set up its
own human
rights commission as part of its "quest to create a culture of
human
rights", a state-owned weekly reported.
Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa told the Sunday Mail that the
Constitution would
be amended to establish the Zimbabwe Human Rights
Commission.
"The commission will have the mandate to
receive, investigate
and redress any complaints relating to human rights,"
the weekly said.
"It will also have the responsibility to
promote and protect
human rights as Zimbabwe continues its quest to creat a
culture of human
rights," it added.
Chinamasa said the
decision to create a human rights body came
after an influx of
"manufactured" human rights abuses reports by
non-governmental organisations
in the past six years.
"They [NGO's] manufacture and peddle
false allegations and they
also recycle them," said Chinamasa, adding that
these allegations were aimed
at attacking President Robert Mugabe's
government.
Earlier this month the Southern African country's
human rights
record was ranked amongst the worst in the world, according to
the United
States State Department's annual Report on Human Rights Practices
for 2005.
Zimbabwe was the only African country ranked
alongside North
Korea, Myanmar (Burma), Iran, Cuba, China and Belarus,
considered to be
nations where political power is concentrated in the hands
of rulers who are
not accountable to their actions.
In
its report on Zimbabwe, Washington cited the continued
muzzling of the
privately owned press, government corruption, executive
influence and
interference of the judiciary, life-threatening prison
conditions and
politicisation of state apparatus.
Chinamasa said the
establishment of the body was not an
admission that Zimbabwe had a human
rights problem but that the country was
merely moving in line with trends in
the region.
"In any case there is no country in the world
where on a daily
basis there are no violations of human rights," Chinamasa
said.
"So the commission will help to ferret these violations
and
redress them. The commission will help to promote a human rights culture
to
minimise occurences of human rights violations," he said. -
Sapa-AFP
Mail and Guardian
March 26, 2006.
By Andnetwork .com
THE announcement by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB)
that
auction floors are scheduled to open next month has seen grading of
tobacco
intensifying in most farming areas as farmers anticipate better
prices this
year.
A drive to some farms in Mashonaland West last week revealed
that the
grading process was going on with some farmers already having bales
ready
for the market.
At Chimusoro Farm in Darwendale workers
could be seen pushing and
shoving each other getting their scales for
grading.
"We are expected to grade 180kgs per person per day. So if
one starts
as early as 6am, one has chances of finishing work early and do
other things
later,'' said one worker Mrs Annie Matongorere.
At
Pfopojena Farm in Mhondoro workers had already done more than 60
bales which
are ready for the market.
The owner, Mr Aaron Kumbirai, said he
would temporarily stop grading
after the 60 bales had gone to the floors, as
he wanted to watch the prices
during the first sales.
"I am
only sending these 60 bales as soon as the floors are open. If
the prices
are good I will continue, otherwise I will have to wait until
September when
prices get better," he said.
He said some farmers were reluctant to
start grading as they feared
that early deliveries would fetch low prices as
had been the case in
previous years.
Farmers were last year
disappointed when they delivered their crop
early only to fetch lower prices
than those offered later in the marketing
season.
"It was very
disappointing that after farmers made early deliveries,
the foreign currency
exchange rate was reviewed upwards resulting in the
early deliveries making
losses. This year most farmers are sceptical on
early deliveries as they
anticipate prices will increase around August to
September,'' he
said.
A TIMB official said prices of tobacco could be low this
season
considering that most farmers failed to get the right
inputs.
In many cases farmers substituted chemicals and fertilisers
after
failing to get the right chemicals.
"There was too much
rain this season and most of the crop is of poor
quality due to leaching. As
a result prices are likely to be low,'' he said.
He urged all
farmers to renew their growers' numbers before floors
open as those who
failed to do so would not be allowed to book their crop on
any auction
floor.
He said that a fee of $500 000 is now required for
registration up
from $25 000 last year while those who delay until floors
open will pay $750
000.
"No farmer will be allowed to use old
growers' numbers as we have
developed a new system, which requires new
numbers,'' said the official.
Tobacco Growers Trust (TGT) chairman
Mr Wilfanos Mashingaidze said
farmers were still bitter on the issue of
bonuses and incentives that were
promised but never came. He said there was
a drop of tobacco growing this
season as most farmers were discouraged by
low prices last year.
"The fact that those who sold their crop late
got better prices will
see floors less busy on opening this season as
farmers will wait to see how
prices will be improving,'' he
said.
He said this season would see a drop of the crop to 50
million
kilogrammes from last season's total of 73,4 million kilogrammes,
which
earned the country US$118 million.
Source : Zimbabwe
Sunday Mail
March 26,
2006
By Andnetwork .com
BURST water pipes which have
been releasing huge amounts of water near
the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority's Highfield substation have caused
power outages in most parts of
Harare's industrial areas.
The Highfield substation, which is the
hub of electricity distribution
for Workington, Mbare, Willowvale,
Ardbennie, Southerton and Highfield
areas, has been affected by the water
that has been penetrating the cable
joints and causing power cuts. The
substation is at the corner of Harare
Drive and Highfield Road.
Zesa engineering manager for Harare Mr Peter Nyandiya had to take a
number
of company owners to the site last week for them to understand what
was
really causing the power faults in the area.
He said more than 20
cables that are underground at that area have
been affected causing the
power outages and reducing the productivity of
some industrial
areas.
"Water has been going into the power substation and cables
are just
blowing up. More than 20 cables have been exposed to the gushing
water,"
said Mr Nyandiya.
As a result, Zesa has spent more than
$500 million in replacing each
cable joint and kits.
"Our
company is spending more than $500 million on every cable and
jointing
kits," he said.
Zesa officials warned of intermittent power outages
in the areas
affected until the City of Harare repaired the burst
pipes.
City of Harare spokesperson Mr Madenyika Mangwenjere said he
was not
aware that the burst pipes were affecting power transmission but
promised to
investigate the matter.
"I am hearing it for the
first time. We will, however, look into the
issue," he
said.
Source : Zimabwe Sunday Mail
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The
Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Mar-27
MDC pro-Senate leader
Arthur Mutambara yesterday said he will remove
President Robert Mugabe from
power before the 2008 presidential polls
through "democratic
means."
Mutambara made the threat while addressing a rally attended by
thousands of
opposition party supporters at Huruyadzo Shopping Centre in St
Mary's,
Chitungwiza.
"If (President) Mugabe thinks we are soft and want
elections only.then he is
lost. We are not afraid to stage protests to
remove the president. We are
different from (Morgan) Tsvangirai who talks
about Jambanja (protests)
without plan B," he said. "We are not able to wait
until 2008. (President)
Mugabe and Zanu PF would be dragged from power
through democratic means."
He claimed defeat was not part of the MDC agenda
and hinted that if protests
failed, the faction would use other tactics,
which he did not elaborate.
Last week, vice president Joseph Msika warned
apposition parties against any
illegal means of assuming power.
"When
President Mugabe is ready to go and rest, he will come to you (the
people).
If you say no, he will continue in office," Msika was quoted
saying. Apart
from Msika, Zanu PF secretary for information Nathan
Shamuyarira and
political commissar Elliot Manyika warned the MDC against
engaging in
violence to effect regime change.
On another issue, Mutambara stressed on the
need for "a people driven
constitution" that would allow free and fair
elections."
He accused Zanu PF of rigging elections in the past and vowed
that would not
happen again.
"If he (President Mugabe) rigs the
elections, we are going to have plan B, C
and D. Elections were stolen in
the past, but that won't happen again,"
Mutambara said.
He boasted his
faction had the capacity to run the country and urged his
followers to
entice the masses from both Zanu PF and the Tsvangirai camp to
join the
pro-senate faction. "Go to Zanu PF. Go to Tsvangirai and bring
people to the
party," he said.
He stressed any form of unity that might take place must be
based on
principle.
Mutambara claimed the opposition party was entering
Zimbabwean politics "on
the shoulders of heroes like Josiah Tongogara" and
supported the land reform
exercise.
"This is a new party with a new
vision and direction. We are refocusing and
re-branding the party. We are
for the land, how will we get support from the
rural areas when we do not
support the land issue?" queried Mutambara.
The leadership of the faction
that included its vice president Gibson
Sibanda, national chairman Gift
Chimanikire, secretary general Welshman
Ncube, deputy secretary general
Priscilla Misihairambwi Mushonga, Job
Sikhala and other legislators,
attended the rally.
A mob, that the pro-senate camp claimed belonged to the
Tsvangirai faction
started singing and waving Dynamos FC flags when
Mutambara started
addressing the gathering.
"They were thugs from the
Tsvangirai camp that vainly tried to disrupt our
successful rally," claimed
Sikhala. However, Nelson Chamisa, the
spokesperson for the Tsvangirai camp
dismissed the accusations as unfounded.
He said: "How can we disrupt a rally
that flopped. I passed through the area
where the rally was held and only a
few people attended it."
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date
:2006-Mar-27
FARMERS have been urged to form group-lending schemes to
ensure
accountability and better organisation.
Speaking at a stakeholders
meeting for the agricultural sector organised by
the Zimbabwe Farmer's Union
(ZFU) in collaboration with Agribank, the
Resident Minister of Harare
Metropolitan Province, David Karimanzira, said
it was imperative on farmers
to form syndicates.
"The need for farmers to form groups is paramount.
Obviously, it is easier
for any organised group or association of farmers to
access loans than it is
for individual farmers to do so," he said.
"Well
organised farmer groups are in a better position to bargain for better
prices for their commodities and for the survival of agriculture as an
industry which is the major economic sector of this country."
He
announced that his province had established a peri-urban agricultural
programme whose objective is to create a greenbelt in and around Harare's
urban settlements.
It was also to ensure food security among the urban
dwellers as well as to
supplement their incomes as households, the minister
said, adding that this
land would be fully utilised for wheat, maize,
horticulture and many other
crops.
Karimanzira said of the eight
administrative districts in the province, six
of them had land or farms for
the peri -urban agricultural programme.
He said they had been forced to
reduce the allocation for each household
from two hectares to one because of
the large number of applications for the
land.
The resident minister
announced that the government was working on the
provision of 99-year leases
to all the model A2 farmers.
He expressed concern that farmers were not
repaying loans, thereby reducing
the funds available for loans to other
farmers.
"It is disheartening to note that many farmers have failed to live
up to
their contractual obligations by failing to repay their loans on time,
thereby grounding the loan schemes run by Agribank and other banks," he
said.
Addressing the same meeting, the ZFU vice president, Edward
Raradza, said
the formation of group schemes would not only make it easier
to access loans
and better bargains, but would also make it easier for
officers from the
Agricultural Extension office, Arex, to train farmers on
different
agricultural techniques.
On the allegations that ZFU farmers
were selling diesel allocated to them at
a cheaper rate by the government on
the black market, Raradza said the
culprits were those who had taken land
but were not genuine farmers.
He called on the government to take substantive
action on those who had
multiple farms, adding that they were tired of
hearing of endless land
audits"What are you doing with land audits? We have
to be seen to be
serious. There is not enough being done," he said.
The
chairman of the agricultural taskforce in Parliament, Walter Mzembi,
told
the meeting that although the issue of tenure would be solved by the
99-year
leases being processed by government, this would not be the only
criterion
considered by banks before giving loans to farmers, but also the
viability
of projects presented by farmers.
He urged farmers and farmers' unions to be
to computerise and be able to
track their members.
The Agribank chief
executive, Sam Malaba, said they would help capacitate
farmers financially
or otherwise, and reiterated the call for farmers to
repay the loans to
enable other farmers to access them.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily
Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Mar-27
THE Urban Councils Association
of Zimbabwe is seeking to facilitate
participatory budgeting as a tool for
development effectiveness and active
citizenship in local
authorities.
The association, a grouping of all the 28 urban councils in the
country, is
currently implementing a project to promote civic participation
in selected
councils and would like to document best practices in civic
participation.
Interested organisations and individuals have been invited to
suggest best
approaches to be recommended for implementation in Kadoma,
Kwekwe, Gweru,
Masvingo and Bulawayo by April 30.
Analysing the impact of
the identified processes on service delivery and on
livelihoods of the
citizenry and to provide gender disaggregated analysis of
the budget
processes is one of the project's major terms of reference.
Meanwhile, the
National Association of Non Governmental Organisation (Nango)
says
participatory budgeting can be used as an effective tool for poverty
alleviation, adding that citizens should be actively involved in processes
that can transform their lives.
"Participatory budgeting is a key pillar
of democracy, a tool to promote
development effectiveness," it
said.
Nango said citizens had a right to participate in the process because
they
knew the priority issues and would therefore be helpful in designing
relevant interventions. "They are accorded the opportunity to speak on the
form and nature of transformation they require and how it should come
about," it said.
The body is advocating for the promotion of citizen
participation through
the Child Friendly National Budget Initiative.
Nine
child-focused NGOs in Zimbabwe conceived the initiative, which seeks to
influence policies and legislation that favour child responsive
budgeting.
"Experiences in Zimbabwe compared with developments in other parts
of Africa
and other continents such as Latin America have provided pointers
to some
necessary conditions for participatory budgeting to achieve intended
results," Nango said.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily Mirror
Reporter
issue date :2006-Mar-27
THE price of clear beer has gone up
yet again.
Alcohol consumers over the weekend expressed disbelief and
discontent over
the new prices, which have come shortly after other
successive increases
last month.
The new prices mean a 375mm bottle
(pint) of clear beer now costs $80 000,
up from $50 000, while a 750 ml now
costs $130 000, up from $90 000. Most
bottle stores effected the increases
on Saturday, catching drinkers
offguard.
The price of opaque beer was
unchanged at $90 000. The beer price increases
occur within the inflationary
environment obtaining in the country which has
seen prices of most basic
commodities rising uncontrollably.A snap survey
conducted by The Daily
Mirror showed that drinkers, due to the increases,
were becoming more
inclined to the Eagle Lager brand, which is way cheaper
than the other
brands.
A quart of Eagle Lager is priced below $100 000.The lager was
launched late
last year and is brewed from largely indigenous
ingredients.
Delta Corporation corporate affairs manager, George
Mutendadzamera,
yesterday could not comment on the latest increases. Last
month, beer
consumers boycotted an increase in opaque beer prices from $50
000 to $120
000, resulting in the price being slashed to $90 000.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The
Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Mar-27
THE provision of decent
and affordable housing is critical to attaining the
Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) as set out by the United Nations (UN), a
UN Habitat
International official has said.
The organisation's resident representative,
David Kithakye, said this at the
weekend at a Shelter and Urban Upgrading
workshop organised by a
non-governmental organisation, Practical
Action.
He said due to urbanisation that has seen about 40 percent of the
population
in Zimbabwe becoming resident in urban areas, push factors in
rural areas
were prominent.
"According to the UN, homelessness is a
definition of poverty and the
provision of shelter is strategic to achieving
MDGs, especially goal number
one, which is about eradication of extreme
poverty and hunger," said
Kithakye.
He said poverty could not be
eradicated without providing decent shelter for
the people in the wake of
rapid urbanisation.
An official from the Harare City Housing Department said
there was need to
consider densification and spearhead the construction of
flats, as opposed
to single dwellings, to save land in the delivery of
housing.
She said Harare was prioritising that to accommodate more
people.
Cooperative housing schemes by residents were an alternative way of
expediting the housing delivery system, she said.
She added that
upgrading existing houses was critical as it increased the
market value of
such properties.
She also highlighted the need to develop peri-urban areas
like Epworth and
Ruwa to alleviate housing problem in Harare, which has more
than 100 000
people on the waiting list.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Our Correspondent in Bulawayo
issue date
:2006-Mar-27
GWANDA residents have threatened to stop taking part in the
on-going public
works programme due to poor remuneration.
Investigations
by The Daily Mirror revealed that most of the people involved
in the
programme were the elderly.
The investigations also revealed that some of the
people were single parents
looking after orphans whose parents succumbed to
the deadly HIV and Aids
scourge. In an interview, the residents said that
they could not continue
working on the programme while they were paid $60
000 a fortnight. "We have
been doing this (working under the programme) for
the last three months. Our
allowance has been so pathetic that we are
considering quitting because we
are working for a mere $60 000 for two
weeks.
"We have done our best, but the city fathers are not even mindful of
what we
do to keep this town clean. It has all
been promises and
promises, but no action," said one of the residents. It
was also revealed
that the residents had tried to push council into
increasing their payouts,
but the municipality was also operating on a
shoestring budget.
"The
council is willing to increase the money that we receive, but their
efforts
are dampened by the fact that they also have their own problems in
terms of
money. "We are told that they are applying to central government
for some
money and we hope that the government will be sensitive to our
plight," the
resident added.
Gwanda mayor, Thandeko Zinti Mnkandla, acknowledged that
there were
complaints over the amount of money paid to the people on the
programme,
adding that his council was doing all it could to deal with the
crisis.
"We need more people in the public works programme. Our only hurdle
is that
the money that is paid to these people is very little. No one can
survive on
$60 000 and as a council we are doing all we can to make sure
that the money
is increased," Mnkandla said.
He added that it was not the
public works programme that only required
funding, but a host of other
projects whose contribution to the municipality
was said to be
critical.
"We need funds for a number of projects and once that is done, this
town
will be different. We have as council approached the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) for funding of a number of programmes and we hope that we
will get a favorable response from the authorities at the central bank,"
Mnkandla said.