Biti Orders Massive Crackdown On Tax Evaders

http://www.fingaz.co.zw/

27 March 2009

Harare - FINANCE Minister Tendai Biti has directed the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority (ZIMRA) to enforce tax laws and ad hoc tax remittance measures,
including seizing the assets of tax evaders and auctioning them to recover
lost revenue and forestall future defaults.

In his budget review speech on Wednesday last week, which slashed the
revenue and expenditure estimates for the year by approximately half, the
Finance Minister revised the Finance Bill and added a clause providing for
the seizure and auctioning of the assets of tax offenders.

This applies to all tax laws such as the VAT Act, the Income Tax Act, the
Customs Duty Act and many others, including the quarterly presumptive tax
law covering informal-sector business entities such as hair salons, driving
schools, commuter transport operators, haulage truckers and taxi operators.

Tax expert, Tendai Mavhima, warned that the directive could actually result
in asset seizures, prosecutions and imprisonment of offenders given the
tightening of remittance periods for various tax heads, especially Value
Added Tax (VAT).

"There are many tax laws that were not being implemented," Mavhima said.

"All tax laws in Zimbabwe have a section dealing with offenses and penalties
regarding tax evasion. If one is convicted of a level 12 offense, he/she
could actually be fined heavily or imprisoned for a period of up to two
years or be fined and imprisoned at the same time.

"If the penalties are implemented fully, we may actually see property being
seized and tax offenders being imprisoned. Remember our Finance Minister has
a legal background."

Chapter 23:12 of the VAT Act defines a tax evasion as inaccurately
completing tax returns; giving false answers either in writing of verbally
when asked by the Commissioner General; maintain or preparing false books of
accounts; fraud involving false claims to avoid paying tax; issuing false
tax invoices for the purpose of claiming high input tax; issuing tax
invoices; debit or credit notes knowing fully well that the information is
inaccurate, and many others.

The VAT Act categorises all these offenses as level 12 offenses that attract
a fine of US$2,000 or imprisonment for a period of up to two years or "both
such fine or such imprisonment." Level 14 offences attract a fine as high as
US$5,000.

Mavhima cautioned that the accelerated tax reporting period has put
companies at the risk of prosecution as the chance of inaccuracy has also
increased. Government introduced accelerated remittance periods for VAT, Pay
as You Earn (PAYE) and Capital Gains Withholding Tax on January 30, but
backdated them to January 1.

The remittance period for PAYE and Capital Gains Withholding Tax was
collapsed to the third of the following month effectively cutting the
remittance periods from within 15 days of paying a salary and from within 30
days of receipting the proceeds from the sale of immovable property,
respectively.

VAT remittance period has been changed more than once this year, from the
traditional 30-90 days to the fifteenth for mid-month tax returns and to the
third of the following month for tax returns covering the whole month.

The revised Finance Bill last week moved the VAT reporting period from the
third of the following month to the fifth but did not alter the provisional
remittance date of the fifteenth of every month.

Effectively, says Mavhima, companies are now obliged to pay VAT twice in one
month, on the fifteenth for total invoice sales from the first up to the
fourteenth and on the fifth of the ensuing month for total invoice sales for
the whole month.

This has not only undermined voluntary compliance with tax laws, but also
inverted the role of businesses from being agents of state to financiers of
the state since VAT returns are based on invoices, not actual receipts.

The government claims that it has reviewed the tax remittance periods only
as an ad hoc measure with the aim of minimizing the "loss of value of
revenue remitted to the fiscus" in the wake of hyperinflation, implying that
it was not legislating in foreign currency.

But, legally, the measure has had a blanket effect as it does not exempt
other currencies in which tax is exacted.

Harare companies interviewed by this paper said the new measure has created
administrative problems as the provisional mid-month payment date, which
obliges them to remit VAT a day after invoicing or receipting it,
effectively reduced businesses to government tax clerks. They also confirmed
that ZIMRA has already started doing spot checks - sometimes lasting a
week - whereby officials from the revenue collecting agency call on every
company listed in their database to peruse through invoices, receipts and
other accounting records checking if tax records are up to date.

"They don't show any hurry at all," Sally Makurumidze, a Harare
businesswoman said.

"They will patiently go through the invoices and receipts with you checking
every transaction to check if the value of VAT you paid is what you actually
collected from every 'VATABLE' sale.

"If your business was licensed as a foreign currency licensed warehouses and
shops (FOLIWAS), they will also check to see if you were remitting all the
taxes, from VAT, PAYE to Corporate Tax, in foreign currency."

Earlier this year, ZIMRA ordered the closure of some businesses, which it
accused of prejudicing the government of millions of United States dollars
in unremitted taxes after they failed to pay arrears and a penalty of 80
percent. Both the arrears and the fine must be paid on the spot after a
conviction is effected.

"In terms of Zimbabwe's laws, it is lawful for ZIMRA to lock up a shop if it
has defaulted," Mavhima said.

Except for corporate tax and capital gains withholding tax, technically, all
other taxes do not constitute a cost to a company. For instance, VAT,
charged on goods and services at every stage across the value chain is a tax
on consumers, which business enterprises collect on behalf of the
government.
PAYE is also deducted from an employee's income by an employer acting on
behalf of the government. Legally, non-remittance of both taxes constitutes
fraud.

World Bank gives $10m to repair Zimbabwe's water and sewer systems

http://www.apanews.net/

APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) The World Bank and the African Development Bank have
donated about US$15 million to assist Zimbabwe refurbish water and sewer
systems in the capital Harare, the state media reports here Saturday.

The state-run Herald daily said the World Bank gave US$10 million to the
Harare City Council to help the local authority rebuild the capital's
dilapidated water purification and sewer treatment plants.

"The African Development Bank has also pledged 2 million euros (about US$2.7
million)," the newspaper said.

Denmark has committed a further US$8.7 million to Harare City Council for
the same purpose, according to the Herald.

Danish Development Minister, Ulla Tornaes ended a three-day visit to
Zimbabwe this week and pledged to immediately give US$4.7 million to revamp
Harare's main water treatment works, with another US$4 million being
released after she returned to her country.

The assistance follows an announcement early this month by Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai that Zimbabwe's new unity government was prioritising the
refurbishment of water treatment works and sewer systems to avert another
cholera outbreak.

Poor water and sewer reticulation systems are blamed for a deadly cholera
outbreak that claimed more than 4,000 lives since August 2008 and affected
nearly 100,000 others.

  JN/daj/APA 2009-03-28

Southern Africa hit by worst floods in years

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Southern African countries have been hit by the worst
floods in years, killing more than 100 people and displacing thousands, as a
tropical storm threatened to bring more pain on Saturday.

As Mozambique braced for the arrival of a strengthening tropical storm
Izilda, record river levels across the region threatened to exacerbate
floods which have already affected hundreds of thousands of people.

Namibia's government declared a state of emergency last week in areas where
floods have affected over 350,000 people, 13,000 of whom were displaced,
according to numbers released by the United Nations on Friday.

Another 160,000 people have been affected in Angola.

The Zambezi river, along Namibia's northeastern Caprivi Region, rose to 7.82
metres (25 feet) this week, its highest level in 40 years, before slightly
dropping, Caprivi Governor Leonard Mwilima said.

"We have large areas submerged by water and access to several villages is
cut off," he said.

Namibia's flood coordinator Erastus Negonga said the death toll stood at
112. Nearly 200 schools have closed, while one hospital and 19 clinics
remain cut off due to floods.

In Zambia, 21 districts have been affected by flooding and the army has been
called in to assist the worst affected region of Shang'ombo, where they are
also helping reconstruct a bridge connecting it to the rest of the country.

"The Zambia air force has been engaged to transport food and fuel to the
affected districts," said Davies Sampa, permanent secretary in the vice
president's office.

In northern Botswana, rain has caused the Okavango, Zambezi and Chobe rivers
to swell, leaving 430 people displaced and submerging eight villages.

The Okavango river which originates in the rain-drenched highlands of Angola
empties into the desert north of Botswana, forming the Okavango Delta.

The villages of Satau and Parakarungu, with a combined population of more
than 1,000, could be swept away by the rising rivers within a matter of
days, said district official Orapeleng Modimoopelo.

"Water engineers are telling us these are the worst floods here since 1965,"
he told AFP.

"The last time a similar flood swept past this place those two villages were
sunk, so we expect the same thing to happen, looking at the weight and the
speed with which the flood is going."

He said the Kazangula, a crossing point between Botswana, Zambia, Namibia
and Zimbabwe, has been impassable for two days.

In Mozambique, where about 4,000 people have been cut off by rising waters,
emergency officials monitored Izilda, which was gaining strength Friday in
the Mozambique Channel and was likely to strike on Saturday.

Last year, heavy rains in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi caused flash flooding
in Mozambique that displaced tens of thousands of people and destroyed
almost 100,000 hectares of crops.

Mozambique is no stranger to weather-related disasters. In 2000 and 2001
about 700 people were killed in one of the country's worst floods when
torrential rains hit the southeastern African country.

Some are blaming climate change for the floods.

"We must seriously consider the present floods and those of a year ago as
having to do with climate change," Guido van Langenhove, a Namibian
government hydrologist, told AFP.

SADC should now call on the uniformed men to help

http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com

27th Mar 2009 21:14 GMT

By Chenjerai Chitsaru

IN two African countries recently, the soldiers have flexed their muscles in
a manner suggesting, for Africa , at least, the barrel of the gun still
wields more clout than the gift for the gab, or all the diplomatic
razzmatazz you can think of.

In Guinea , independent from the French in 1960, there was bloodshed on a
huge scale before the soldiers took over control of the country. The details
are probably important but unless you are doing an in-depth analysis of why
African soldiers are so trigger-happy, let's not bother ourselves with that.

Then in Madagascar , another former French colony granted independence
around the same time, a young civilian took over the troubled country with
the aid of the army. Marc Ravalomanana  was replaced as president by the
youthful Andry Rajoelina.

The African Union, as usual, was high on rhetoric but rather slow on action.
Fortunately for the new leaders, most of the citizens had little they could
recall which the former leader had done to improve their lives. In fact, the
general accusation was that he had presided over a sharp rise in poverty
among the people - while he himself ran businesses there, there and
everywhere.

All this must be bewildering to Zimbabweans who, while they may have not
great things to say about the men and women in uniform, cannot pin down why
their role in the running of the country is so patently unhelpful. For
instance, take the events after the death of the Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's wife, Susan, in a road accident in which her husband was also
injured.

According to reports, not one of the chiefs of the uniformed forces attended
the burial. Some said it was not necessarily a required protocol for them to
be present; others thought, as a mark of decency and respect to the prime
minister, they ought to have made an appearance

Unuttered by both sides was the suspicion that the men didn't particularly
like to be too closely associated with Tsvangirai, politically. After all,
for them, he represents what they must believe is the unacceptable face of
The Zimbabwe They Don't Want.

For them, being mostly heroes of the liberation struggle, the only
acceptable face is that of Robert Mugabe, their commander-in-chief then and
now.

There could therefore the merit in the theory that the snail's pace movement
of the talks to implement the September GNU accords can be justifiably
ascribed to these key armed men's reluctance to concede any more leverage to
Tsvangirai.

If the Sadc leaders are serious about moving the process of change speedily
and materially, then they must consider the co-option of their heads of the
unformed forces to palaver with the Zimbabwean counterparts.

Of course, there will be protests about this being an infringement of the
country/s much-vaunted sovereignty, but since Mugabe agreed to have
Tsvangirai as his prime minister - admittedly, after much wailing and
gnashing of teeth -  that argument must be a little feeble and pointless
now.

What may bamboozle negotiators is precisely what the uniformed men would
call their quid pro quo. In return for allowing the talks to run their full
course - to have Tsvangirai and his Cabinet in effective control of the
government and not to be hamstrung by constant sniping from the army, the
air force and police and prison services -= what would they demand?

These are men of action, some of it quite unpredictable. At one time or
another, they have declared publicly that they would not salute a leader
with no liberation war credentials - to wit, Tsvangirai. But even they must
now acknowledge that the veteran unionist has the solid backing of the
people of Zimbabwe - perhaps much more than Mugabe has. Surely, to continue
to deny him the sacred duty to lead the people would be a scandalous case of
treason.

There can be no going back to the days before the GNU. It seems that Mugabe
himself and his lieutenants have been at great pains recently to emphasise
that the new arrangement is not permanent, that there will be elections in
two years' time, where he old tried and tested formula of "the winners takes
it all" will apply.

If Zanu PF is counting on its usual "Mafia" tactics to deal with MDC
election machinery newly-oiled by victories in the 2008 elections, they
could still be in for a huge surprise. To most cynics, Zanu PF has won
rigged elections since 1980. Having clearly lost the 2008 presidential
election in March, the party rigged the June event and, quite shamelessly,
claimed Mugabe had won it hands down.

For many Zimbabweans, this was the lowest point of Mugabe's political
career, worse even than his party's defeat in the constitutional referendum
which he seemed to graciously accept - and proceeded to upend through the
violence he allowed to be unleashed by the war veterans, led by the late
Chenjerai Hunzvi.

If you think seriously of the number of people killed during this madness,
you begin to truly wonder if Mugabe and Zanu PF are aware of the number of
needless deaths their stubbornness entailed.

He initially spoke of the massacre during Gukurahundi as "part pf the
struggle", until the facts persuaded him to alter his stance: it was a
moment of madness, he admitted, at last.  But there are innocent Zimbabweans
who, to this day, can't understand why so many of their relatives were
killed, after others had already been killed during the war of liberation.

Certainly, if anybody in Zanu PF, including the men in charge of the
uniformed forces, believe that having signed a protocol to implement a
unified government structure, Zanu PF should still campaign to win on the
basis which it has employed throughout the years - killing and more
killing - they must be stark raving bonkers.

So far, the Sadc leaders, from being initially tentative and weak in
tackling Mugabe and Zanu PF, have acted with courage. The meeting scheduled
for Monday, intended to hammer out a programme of economic aid to the
beleaguered country, should be used to remind Zanu PF that they cannot bank
on their old tamba wakachera strategy to hoodwink their assumed partners.
There is absolutely no doubt that Zanu PF will hope to be back on the top of
the heap, after all is said and done.

But so far, neither Tsvangirai nor Mutambara have shirked their
responsibility of representing the advocates of change who won in 2008.
While the watchword for all leaders, including the men in uniform, must be
"no more killings", it should never be forgotten that only people with fire
in their bellies will last the long haul.

In any struggle against Zanu PF, all must be prepared for the unexpected,
especially from men in uniform who believe that any change at all must be on
their own peculiar, unprincipled terms.

Zimbabwe activists laud sanctions

http://www.boston.com/

Say power-sharing government hasn't eased repression
By James F. Smith
Globe Staff / March 28, 2009

Two Zimbabwean women's rights campaigners say the formation of a
power-sharing government has done nothing to ease the humanitarian crisis
and political repression ordinary people face in the southern African
nation.

Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, who are visiting Boston this weekend
to address the annual conference of Amnesty International USA, said the
world needs to keep pressure on President Robert Mugabe to force meaningful
change. They said that lifting economic sanctions now would merely entrench
Mugabe's loyalists in power and prolong economic chaos and starvation in
Zimbabwe.
After nearly a year of wrangling, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai joined
Mugabe in a power-sharing government last month, taking office as prime
minister. Tsvangirai's party has since asked that international sanctions be
eased.

But Williams said in an interview that lifting sanctions would enable Mugabe
and his inner circle to retain power and leave Tsvangirai and members of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change as figureheads without any real
authority. Tsvangirai is widely believed to have defeated Mugabe in the
March 2008 presidential election, but Mugabe clung to power.

Williams noted that even as Tsvangirai took office, his deputy agriculture
minister was jailed by Mugabe's police for nearly a month.

"How does Morgan Tsvangirai allow his right-hand-man, Roy Bennett, to be
arrested on his way to being sworn in, and then as prime minister can't get
him released?" she asked. "When you have a dictator in place, and he puts
his pillars of support in place and keeps them there with patronage, then
power has not shifted in Zimbabwe."

Williams and Mahlangu are cofounders of Women of Zimbabwe Arise, or WOZA,
which claims 70,000 members. Williams said she has been arrested 23 times
since 2002, and Mahlangu counts 29. They were jailed for nine weeks last
year after leading protests for civil rights, and are facing a trial in
April on charges of breach of peace.

Williams said it was noteworthy that Mugabe is pushing Tsvangirai to appeal
publicly for sanctions to be lifted and for fresh development aid because
Mugabe himself is too discredited to make such an appeal.

Williams added: "We need the international community to help us with
leverage because we are hostages in our own country. Zimbabwe might as well
be a big jail cell, with the way life is, with the repression by these
ruling elites."

South Africa's finance minister, Trevor Manuel, was quoted Sunday as saying
that the sanctions should be lifted to let the power-sharing government
start to repair the shattered economy. Manuel told the Observer newspaper of
London that donor countries should inject cash directly to the government,
rather than limit their support to humanitarian organizations, as they are
doing now.

The United States and Britain have indicated they will not ease sanctions
until there is clear evidence that rights abuses have ended.

Mahlangu said the world should demand specific benchmarks of the Zimbabwean
government in return for easing sanctions, including respecting the right of
free expression, and should also demand the right to deliver the aid
directly to those in need.

Williams said Western countries should work with progressive Cabinet members
in the power-sharing government to help strengthen their hand.

The West "must find an alternative way to get the aid to the people who need
it, to get school chairs, to get exercise books, to put chalk into teachers'
hands," Williams said. "It's a good test of the prodemocracy [Cabinet]
ministers to see how they will force that - and it will give them some
power."

James F. Smith can be reached at jsmith@globe.com

Police cited as biggest violators of GPA

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=14136

March 27, 2009

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - Zimbabwe's partisan police force has emerged as the biggest
violators of the September 15, 2008 unity pact by Zanu-PF and the two
formations of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

The Global Political Agreement, a product of a painstaking negotiation
process by the two parties, called for impartiality by state organs when
dealing with citizens.

But a recent report by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has revealed that
police were responsible for the majority of the 513 recorded cases of rights
abuses between January and February this year.

The violations were in the form of wanton and often selective arrests, and
unlawful detention of MDC supporters, commercial farmers, university
students and protesting civic society groups.

The ppolice have also been accused of assaults on supporters of the MDC who
would already have been victimised by Zanu-PF supporters.

The report says there was an increase in violations against freedom of
expression, association and movement between January in which two violations
were recorded, and February which had 94.

A total of 110 instances of political discrimination, intimidation and
victimisation were also recorded in February compared to 26 in January.

Unlawful arrests and unlawful detentions were likewise on the increase in
February.

This was largely due to more civic activity as compared to the month of
January.  January recorded 21 of these violations and February 105.

While the arrest on February 13 of the MDC's national treasurer Roy Bennett
was enough violation of the unity agreement, police went a step further to
fire bullets in the air, set dogs and arrest MDC supporters who were
protesting against the arrest of the former legislator.

Bennett is facing charges of attempted sabotage, banditry and terrorism.

Another blight on the unity agreement is the failure by the police to act on
fresh farm invasions and forced evictions on commercial farmers by Zanu-PF
supporters.

Farmers and their workers have been arrested for violating Zimbabwe's
stringent land laws by refusing to vacate farms that government had
designated for redistribution.

Among those arrested were some farmers who won a ruling by the SADC Tribunal
in Namibia last November.

The ruling declared Zimbabwe's land distribution as discriminatory and a
violation of the principles of the SADC treaty.

Police have also been accused of executing arbitrary arrests on the MDC
supporters who last month tried to reclaim property lost to known Zama-PF
supporters just before the violent presidential run off election last June.

The report highlights the arrests, detentions and assaults in February of
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) and Men of Zimbabwe Arise (MOZA) during three
occasions of street protests staged in Harare and Bulawayo.

They were protesting against the collapse of the education system while
delivering a petition to the education minister, David Coltart.

Also documented in the report is the arrest and detention of students from
the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) as well as Midlands State University (MSU)
following protests against the dollarisation of tuition fees in state
universities.

The rights watchdog, a coalition of 16 leading organisations in the
protection of human rights in Zimbabwe, condemned the high-handed reaction
by police.

"The Human Rights Forum strongly condemns the violent manner in which the
police reacted to the protests," says the report.

"It calls upon the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to exercise restraint when
dealing with peaceful and unarmed protestors.

"The Ministry of Home Affairs is also called upon at this time when the GPA
is starting to be implemented, to institute reforms that will ensure respect
for civic liberties and all human rights as well as the implementation of
internationally accepted policing standards by members of the ZRP."

Britain opens new embassy in Zimbabwe

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Britain has opened a new £21 million embassy in Harare that will offer much
needed relief to diplomats who worked without running water in the old
mission.

By Damien McElroy in Harare
Last Updated: 11:28PM GMT 27 Mar 2009

The building comes with its own water pump, which was sunk to an artesian
well after Zimbabwe's government turned off the taps to the embassy's
premises on top floors in a central Harare tower block in December.

That brought the hardships experienced by ordinary Zimbabweans uncomfortably
within the confines of the diplomatic mission.

"I do still find it helpful for flushing toilets and miss it now it's gone,"
wrote embassy official Philip Barclay on a Foreign Office blog. "So my
toiletry routine has taken on a semi-African form. I fill a bucket from a
butt and carry it down the corridor, spilling a little to present a
banana-skin-type walkway to my colleagues."
Diplomats also had to run the gauntlet of a road made treacherous by the
breakdown of the traffic lights system

The embassy, which has been built on its own site in the leafy Mount
Pleasant suburb, is split into five two storey modern office blocks,
complete with reinforced concrete safe rooms.

Tall strands of wild grass on the patios shade the walkways from the harsh
African sun.

Completion of the building was delayed by 13-months as the effects of
Zimbabwe's political and economic collapse affected the site. However the
opening could not be better timed with the Foreign Office expressing hope
for a new beginning in the troubled relationship with Zimbabwe after last
month's historic reconciliation agreement between Robert Mugabe, the
president and rival Morgan Tsvangirai, the new prime minister.

Dozens of British builders that were flown to Harare on short-term contracts
to complete the project got to experience history's second worst bout of
hyperinflation, a peril never depicted in Auf Wiedersehen Pet.

Jonathan Manser, the architect, experienced the hostility of Robert Mugabe's
regime towards the former colonial power. He told Global Building magazine:
"On my first visit, I was picked up by the police for showing too much
interest in the president's State House, and I was locked up for a few
hours."

With a nod to Labour's dictates, the building meets Whitehall ecological
standards. Bicycle racks have been installed and the sanitation system is
powered by solar panels.

Biti Foiled a Gono Scandal

http://www.zimtelegraph.com/

By LEVI MHAKA
Published: Saturday, March 28, 2009

By announcing the immediate encashment of civil servants government forex
vouchers, the new Minister of Finance Tendai Biti, may have foiled the
takeover of NetOne through Innscor Africa Limited and the "printing" of
forex by Gideon Gono, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor.
When the 3 political parties where battling to have an agreement, there were
some offices in which some people were working day and night to ensure it
does not happen. One of these offices is that of Gono.

His hands with clasped in anticipation that the 3 protagonists do not agree
on anything or that the coalition government should not function well.

Fast forward to the time the Cabinet was sworn in, the new Minister of
Finance, Tendai Biti, announced on 18th February 2009 that 130,000
Zimbabwean civil servants will receive US$100 in allowances per month.

He was quoted saying, "With immediate effect all vouchers issued to civil
servants as allowances would be redeemable as cash at designated banks.

With effect from March 2009 payment to civil servants will be done directly
into their bank accounts and therefore the voucher payment scheme will
cease.

We want to promote a savings culture again that is why we have included the
bank ."

This was a great improvement if we are to compare with the US$600 per month
teachers earn in South Africa. Other professionals in South Africa earn
US$2,000 (professional or rated engineers); and US$1,500-2,200 (university
lecturers with MSc/PhD degrees).

Biti told reporters that he and not the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor
Gideon Gono was in charge of the public purse (Treasury) after he was asked
as to who was in charge of government coffers. "

It is a constitutional provision that the Consolidated Revenue Fund is run
by the Minister of Finance and only kept at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. It
is run by the Finance Minister, " he said.

So when Finance Minister took this decision of encashment of vouchers, he
destroyed a grand scheme that had been hatched by Gono, which was literally
the "printing" of forex.

In the fuel industry, a lot of companies are printing and selling fuel
vouchers twice more than the capacity of what they can import.

For example, where the company is to import 10,000 litres of fuel, it sells
15-20,000 litres worth of fuel vouchers. It is thus effectively printing
forex and the fuel coupons are a mode of exchange just like money.

From a financing point of view, the government forex vouchers were printed
and issued by the RBZ. Thus Gono was to be the forex "printer" after
destroying the Zimbabwean currency!

The vouchers were redeemable as cash and one was to buy only from only
designated shops and he had reached an agreement with publicly listed
Innscor Africa Limited, where he is alleged to be a shareholder or has an
alleged incestous relationship with the major shareholders who also form
part of the executive management.

Earlier on from September 2008, the forex licensing was fast tracked for the
trading entities in this group.

Since these government forex vouchers were not going to be redeemed, Innscor
was to be stuck with the vouchers without Gono settling them. The heavy debt
was to be unsettled for some time until such a time that Innscor was to
threaten litigation over the heavy debt.

The grand scheme was then to "sell" NetOne to Innscor to pay off the debt.
The ultimate beneficiary of the "sale" of NetOne was Gono.

There was unconfirmed talk in Harare of NetOne having been sold to a foreign
buyer to raise government salaries in forex. This could explain why Finance
Minister Biti was quick to ensure that Innscor is not the sole beneficiary
of government 'forex'.

Unbeknown to Minister Biti, parastatals, universities, the RBZ, ZANU PF and
a number government-related entities paid their staffers using the same
government forex vouchers.

If this scheming by Gono is known to the Finance Ministry, it is expected
that the Finance Ministry will do a forensic audit of all the forex vouchers
printed and issued since the Finance Ministry is in NOW charge of the public
purse.

This scheming by Gono can easily be linked as to why Webster Shamu has been
making attempts to encroach into a State-owned Enterprise, NetOne, that lies
within the Ministry of Information Technology and Communication, headed by
Nelson Chamisa.

Shamu's interest goes beyond the interception concerns. Shamu has always
been a protégé of Gono and George Charamba. He lacks his own pedigree.

He is no different from the late Tony Gara, a praise singer and hero
worshipper!

Following the turn of events, Gono is alleged to have met President Mugabe
to explain himself and is claimed that he advised him that the wolves (Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Deputy Prime MinisterArthur Mutambara and
Finance Minister Tendai Biti) are not after "Your Governor" but wish to
destroy "Your Excellency" through Gono.

"Your Governor" is alleged to have made sure that the President felt very
vulnerable if Gono is asked to step down because he will be having very
hostile people around him since there is a good chance that his replacement
at the RBZ will not be a patronizing one.

If its true, Gono may have "transfered" all his insecurities and worries to
make them President's. This claim could be linked to President Mugabe's
remarks he made during the birthday interview with ZBC.

He said the creation of the unity government would not nullify the statutory
appointments he made before the inauguration of the new regime.

He was adamant that the appointments had been made legally and that the
individuals occupying the various offices were suitable for their respective
jobs. "I do not see any reason why those people should go and they will not
go."

Listen President Mugabe very carefully when he speaks anything finance and
economical. He has a noticeable Gono-speak.

Mutumwa Mawere said it well on his blog, "President Mugabe took the
criticism of Gono by Biti and Mutambara personally and his expectation is
that such criticisms must not be ventilated in public." Interesting times!!!

Know Your Ministers: Gwanyanya, Mohadi

JAG - farm situations communique

dated 26 March 2009

Email: jag@mango.zw : justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw

JAG Hotlines: +263 (011) 610 073, +263 (04) 799410.  If you are in
trouble or need advice, please don't hesitate to contact us - we're here
to help!

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Lowveld News 24th March 2009

Farm violence

After being away for some time Digby and Jess Nesbitt returned home to
find that their house had been looted by Deputy Police Commissioner
Veterai, they spent the day trying to put the house back in order and
removed Veterai's possessions.

That evening Veterai returned and he got his hired thugs to beat up the
Nesbitt's remaining staff with knobkerries shouting that Veterai
was the owner of the house now and that everybody had to leave, at the
same time he Veterai removed the Nesbitt's furniture again.

He Veterai, always confronts Digby or Jess whilst carrying an AK assault
rife and a pistol on his hip, this no doubt to intimidate them.

They have reported these criminal acts to the police in Chiredzi, but it
is unlikely that they will act against the Deputy Police Commissioner of
Zimbabwe.

It has also come to light that Veterai is the one who is driving the
police actions against the farmers in the Lowveld.

Gerry Whitehead

Zim's new age of boredom

http://www.mg.co.za/

     
      JASON MOYO - Mar 28 2009 06:00

Life is terribly boring in Harare since people havedecided to start being so
nice to one another.

Ask Daves Guzha, theatre producer. On Tuesday evening he gathered a group of
about 50 theatre lovers to his newly reopened Theatre in the Park in central
Harare to watch the premiere of the first play to open in the capital this
year.

The audience seemed as excited about being at the theatre as they were by
renowned local playwright Steven Chifunyise's new work, Dependence -- a
drama with a dash of comedy about a dysfunctional Zimbabwean family. The
curtain came down to loud cheers.

Years of deepening national crisis provided work for many, including
assorted rights groups, journalists and lawyers. For the arts, it yielded
the fruit of biting political satire that led to bans and arrests. But now,
in this new era of national unity, hugs and kisses, we're all a bit
stranded.

Guzha said Zimbabwean artists have been "love"stuck like this before; at
independence in 1980 and again after the fall of apartheid.

"We're at a crossroads in terms of new material. All material written before
the unity government no longer has relevance.

"This is why we've had no new plays. We just couldn't respond to the fast
pace at which the political environment moved," Guzha said.

The crisis is far from over, but Zimbabwe is taking small, shaky steps out
of a decade of beatings, killings, hatred and eye-popping inflation. We had
become safe in that misery, living off it. It had become our norm. This new
era is just not "normal".

The nation is still trying to get over images of Grace Mugabe weeping over
Morgan Tsvangirai as he lay injured in hospital earlier this month. Days
later, Robert Mugabe himself gave a touching eulogy at Susan Tsvangirai's
funeral. His long-time foe -- bludgeoned to near death at one point and
tried for treason -- was "one of our own".

Mugabe's words had "changed my understanding of him", said Tsvangirai's own
son in front of thousands of shocked MDC supporters.

Then came the sight of Zimbabwe's two most powerful women, Tsvangirai's
deputy, Thokozani Khupe, and Mugabe's number two, Joice Mujuru, exchanging
party regalia at a sports arena last Friday.

Compare this with last year; a pulsating campaign leading to the March
election, five weeks of guessing who actually won, the June one-man
election, mind-boggling inflation, the opposition leader camping out in a
foreign embassy and the seemingly endless talks that finally thrust this
unfamiliar new spirit of peace and love upon us.

There is still a lot to point and jeer at, such as the size of the new
government and its penchant for luxury SUVs and shiny Italian suits.

But despite the frustration over the failure to win financial aid and
continuing farm violence there just isn't enough animosity to lift the
boredom. Last Saturday, at the Mannenberg club, "Cde Fatso" went on stage to
complain that there just wasn't enough violent crime around.

Currency reforms have killed off Harare's roaring dealer culture. The
hundreds of currency dealers who owned the streets are out of work and the
many street chases between the police and dealers -- and the adrenalin rush
we got when changing money in some seedy alley -- are gone.

Harare's nightlife has lost some of its buzz since the diamond dealers went
bust. They now spend their days at car lots desperately trying to flog their
luxury vehicles and other bling, contemplating the horror of being forced to
find regular jobs.

With the supermarkets choking with goods and the garages competing for
customers, we miss the excitement of negotiating with back-street dealers
for anything from bread to petrol.

The multimillion-dollar anti-Mugabe industry is in recession, and often
lashes out against Tsvangirai's betrayal.

At one press conference, Tsvangirai chastised a reporter who asked why he
"trusts Mugabe". The prime minister snapped. "It is President Mugabe," he
shot back, emphasisingthe "president" part.

State media are lost in a grey area. The ZBC no longer comes up with its
comical conspiracy theories. The Herald has had to tone down its rhetoric,
even banning its most acerbic columnist, "Nathaniel Manheru", who heaped
vulgar insults on opponents every Saturday in Chaucerian English. Many hated
him, but everybody read him.

Now, The Herald runs lengthy odes to "unity of purpose". It even called the
MDC leader "Cde Tsvangirai"!

ENVISION and its framework "Reconstruction of Zimbabwe" launched

If it’s bought with public money, it’s public business

Stimulus for Zimbabwe

http://www.american.com/archive/2009/march-2009/stimulus-for-zimbabwe

By Tom Woods and Roger Bate Friday, March 27, 2009