http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Local
HUNDREDS of prospective
voters in Bulawayo are failing to register for the
forthcoming harmonised
elections, after being turned away for failing to
meet the stringent
requirements.
BY MUSA DUBE
The Standard last week visited some
mobile centres and met frustrated
residents who criticised the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) for
demanding “unnecessary” documents before one
can be registered as a voter.
Prospective voters are required to produce
various documents that include
national identity cards or passports and
proof of residencebefore they can
get registered.
Tenants are also
required to produce a confirmation letter from the owner of
the house in
addition to other documents such as their IDs, electricity and
water
bills.
However, the requirements did not go down well with many tenants,
as they
made up the bulk of those that were turned away.
“This is
purely rigging. How can they demand proof of residence that bears
our name
when they know that the majority of us are lodgers and do not own
houses?
This is just a ploy to make sure that some of us in the urban areas
do not
vote during the elections,” complained Philemon Mhlanga of Mpopoma
high-density suburb.
Mary Moyo of Magwegwe, said she was disappointed
that her constitutional
right to vote was shattered after being turned away
from voting on similar
grounds.
“I am just coming from Magwegwe Hall
to register but I failed because they
wanted proof of residence and a letter
from my landlord. My landlord is in
South Africa,” said Moyo.
On
Friday, ZEC chairperson Justice Rita Makarau reportedly met political
parties where she announced that ZEC has waived voter registration
requirements for those without documentary proof of residence.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Politics
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC leader Welshman Ncube have
dismissed President
Robert Mugabe’s threats to unilaterally announce
election dates this week
saying it is impossible to do so under the current
laws.
By Moses
Chibaya
Mugabe announced in Mutare on Friday that he was likely to
announce election
dates this week once the Senate approves the new
constitution as expected.
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka
said as far as the premier was
concerned, it would be null and void if
Mugabe were to attempt to go it
alone constitution as
expected.
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka said as far as the
premier was
concerned, it would be null and void if Mugabe were to attempt
to go it
alone.
“No one GNU principal or party has power or latitude
to unilaterally
announce the date for the election. It is senseless to say
the least.
It is senseless because the principals will have a collective
position,
there is no way Mugabe can go somewhere else and pronounce
unilaterally a
position,” he said.
Tamborinyoka said people should
ignore Mugabe’s statement and remain calm.
“It is part of our society for
old people to be senile. It’s a condition
that comes at old age and its
acceptable but his pronunciation has no
bearing to what is going to happen,”
he said.
Tamborinyoka said Mugabe lost elections in 2008 and was
president courtesy
of the negotiated Global Political Agreement
(GPA).
“He cannot wake up one morning and say to hell with the GPA which made
him
president, despite him having lesser votes than those of Tsvangirai,”
said
the PM spokesperson.
“He can pronounce an election date but it
does not mean anything; the people
of Zimbabwe should remain
calm.”
MDC leader, Welshman Ncube said the constitution would stop Mugabe
from
announcing election dates this week.
“If he gazettes the
constitution next [this] week, by law he must wait as
that same constitution
prohibits him from declaring the election date until
there has been 30 days
of voter registration,” he said.
“Whether Mugabe likes it or not, if he
is going to obey the laws of Zimbabwe
he cannot call an election before the
middle of August unless he wants to do
it unlawfully. I have no doubt in my
mind that he is not going to call an
unlawful election, therefore the
earliest we are going to have an election
is middle of
August.”
Ncube, a constitutional law expert, added that if Mugabe wanted
to proclaim
a date before June 29, the prime minister must agree to that in
terms of the
current constitution.
“We know that the PM won’t agree
and therefore the earliest that Mugabe can
unilaterally pronounce an
election on his own will be on the first of July,”
he said.
But Zanu
PF spokesperson, Rugare Gumbo, said Mugabe would go ahead and
pronounce the
election dates this week.
“Don’t worry yourself with that, wait and see
what will happen after the
constitutional bill has been passed. They said
they were not going to pass
the amendment bill but they did,” he
said.
Mugabe has been threatening to unilaterally call elections since
last year.
The MDCs supported by Sadc have been resisting Mugabe’s attempts.
However,
this year elections are inevitable, as the life of the current
Parliament
ends on June 29.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Politics
MUTARE —
The Zanu PF faction loyal to Vice-President Joice Mujuru appears to
have
gained ground in Manicaland, following the appointment of a new
provincial
executive.
BY CLAYTON MASEKESA
The appointment of the provincial
executive has also seen women’s league
boss, Oppah Muchinguri by welcoming
the new leaders.
Muchinguri, who pledged to bury her differences with
embattled secretary for
administration, Didymus Mutasa, is allegedly aligned
to the faction led by
Defence minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Zimbabwe
Ambassador to Cuba, John Mvundura is the new provincial
chairperson, with
retired Lieutenant General Mike Nyambuya as his deputy.
The two are believed
to be aligned to the Mujuru camp.
They replaced suspended chairman, Mike
Madiro and his deputy Dorothy Mabika,
who are linked to the Mnangagwa
faction and are currently facing charges of
stealing calves donated to
President Robert Mugabe for his birthday.
The new provincial leadership
convened an urgent meeting in Mutare last week
that drew all politburo and
central committee members from the province.
Nyambuya, a former
Manicaland governor, said the first priority of the new
executive was to
unite the faction-riddled province.
“As a province, we have a great history
and it is high time we took our
rightful place. We hope that we will solve
the problems rocking Manicaland
amicably,” he said.
Nyambuya said the
executive would ensure that Zanu PF was “thoroughly”
prepared for the
forthcoming elections.
“We want to recover all the lost seats that were
taken by MDC-T and this can
only happen if we are united,” he
said.
Muchinguri welcomed the new leadership and underscored the need for
unity in
the province.
“What I can say is that the new leadership
comprises sober people. It is
time for reconciliation. It carries people
with experience in diplomacy and
conflict management. People must now bury
their political differences and
move forward,” she said.
Muchinguri
said there was need for party members to change their attitudes.
“People
must mature as we want to focus on winning elections,” she said.
Mutasa
expressed confidence in the new team, saying he had worked well with
Nyambuya when he was governor and resident minister for Manicaland.
He
added that he had good working relations with Mvundura dating back to the
liberation struggle.
Zanu PF only managed six seats out of 26 in
Manicaland after it lost ground
to the MDC-T in the 2008
elections.
The loss has been attributed to unnecessary divisions and the
self-defeating
“bhora musango’’ by disgruntled party members.
Mutasa
recently came under fire from a group of petitioners allegedly led by
Muchinguri and Justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa who wanted Mugabe to rein
in the veteran politician accusing him of dictatorship and causing divisions
in Manicaland.
But despite the pledges by the rival factions in
Manicaland to bury the
hatchet, events on the ground prove
otherwise.
The on-going trial of Mabika at the Mutare magistrates’ court
showed the
deep seated factionalism in Zanu PF.
Mabika, who made
sensational allegations that Mutasa wanted to have sexual
relations with
her, also blamed her current woes to her refusal to join the
camp aligned to
Mujuru.
Mutasa said if Mabika knew that she was being dragged into the
power
struggles within the party in the province, then she should have been
vigilant.
“If she is saying she is being dragged into the power
struggles then she was
supposed to be alert. She was supposed to be prepared
for such outcomes
because when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers
and in this case,
she is the grass that is now suffering,” he
said.
The Mujuru and Mnangagwa factions are battling to position
themselves for
the succession of 89 year old Mugabe who has been in power
for the past 33
years.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Politics
MUTARE — Zanu PF
secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa has said
service chiefs have a
right to openly support Zanu PF and President Robert
Mugabe because they
fought together in the liberation struggle.
BY OUR
CORRESPONDENT
Mutasa told journalists in Mutare recently that nothing was
wrong in service
chiefs being partisan.
“The fact that they fought
the war under Zanu PF means that they belong to
Zanu PF and they have a duty
to protect a leader of their choice and in this
case, it is President Robert
Mugabe,” he said.
Mutasa said service chiefs and Mugabe were together in the
trenches during
the war of liberation.
He said security sector
reforms being called for by the two MDCs were meant
to weaken the armed
forces.
Mutasa said Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had no right to call
for
security sector reforms, claiming that he had done nothing tangible for
the
country.
“He never went to war and he does not know anything
about the liberation
struggle, but he is calling for the reform of the
security sector,” he said.
“We know that the MDC-T is an agent of the West.
We will not dance to the
tune of America and Britain that is calling for the
reformation of the
security sector.”
Tsvangirai is insisting that
elections should not be held before the
implementation of security sector
reforms. He was recently on a regional
offensive meant to garner support for
a special Sadc summit to deal with the
Zimbabwean crisis.
But Zanu PF
has insisted that security sector reforms would not be
entertained. Defence
minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa and State Security
minister Sydney Sekeramayi
recently claimed that parties pushing for reforms
were driven by regime
change motives.
Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander, General Constantine
Chiwenga recently
told the state media that Tsvangirai was a “psychiatric
case”, vowing that
service chiefs would never hold private meetings with the
PM.
Service chiefs have in the past vowed that they would not salute
Tsvangirai,
even if he wins a Presidential election.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in
Politics
MDC-T parliamentary aspirants for Dzivaresekwa have accused the
party
leadership of trying to impose youth leader Solomon Madzore as the
candidate
for the constituency ahead of the forthcoming elections.
BY
CHRISTOPHER MAHOVE
Party national youth spokesperson, Clifford
Hlatshwayo, told supporters at a
rally in Dzivaresekwa last Sunday that the
national executive had resolved
that Madzore should stand uncontested in the
constituency currently held by
Evelyn Masaiti.
“As to who will stand
in Dzivaresekwa is a national resolution. The youth
are the eyes of the
party and we agreed as a party. As the spokesperson of
the party, I am
simply announcing the resolution. Who are you kupikisa Save,
who are you
kupikisa ziso remusangano?” (Who are you to go against
Tsvangirai?) he
said.
Madzore is in Bindura remand prison after he was recently arrested
on
allegations of calling President Robert Mugabe a “limping
donkey”.
The Bindura magistrate Elisha Chingono on Monday last week
granted Madzore
US$100 bail, but prosecutor Munyaradzi Mataranyika blocked
his release by
invoking a controversial law which allows suspects to be held
for up to
seven more days while the State appeals against the granting of
bail at the
High Court.
Hlatshwayo said Masaiti had left the
constituency to make way for Madzore
and there was no reason to have any
primaries in the area. He said resources
meant for the primary elections in
Dzivaresekwa should instead be channelled
to other
constituencies.
“We want to thank Masaiti, who said she had played her
part and was now
handing over to Solo. You know as the MDC, we pass on the
baton. Who are you
to want to stop a mother from passing on the baton to her
son?
“We are not going to waste party resources holding primaries here.
We want
those resources to be used elsewhere. Take them to Uzumba and
Dotito, we are
done with Dzivaresekwa,” he said.
Hlatshwayo’s
statement has riled other aspiring candidates in the
constituency, who felt
this was a direct attack on the party’s principles of
democracy.
One
aspiring candidate who was elbowed out of the primaries race said he
would
appeal to the party leadership against his disqualification and hinted
he
might consider running on an independent ticket.
Party supporters are divided
over the candidature of the youth league
president, with others saying they
would prefer a local candidate to
represent them in parliament.
Only
one out of the five MPs who have represented the area since
independence in
1980, Edson Wadyehwata, was resident in the area.
Masaiti could not be
reached for comment yesterday. It was not clear whether
she was opting to
contest a seat in her home province of Masvingo or is
earmarked to benefit
from the 60 seats reserved for women under the new
constitution.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Politics
THE MDC-T
will this week hold a policy conference which will inform its
election
manifesto and vision, in the event that the party wins the
forthcoming
elections.
BY OUR STAFF
Party spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora last
week said 2 000 delegates from
across the country would gather in Harare
between Friday and Sunday to
discuss various policies that have been
developed by the party’s policy
secretary.
Some of the policies to be
discussed relate to social, education, welfare
and health
issues.
Also to be discussed are economic policies, including those on
economic
revival and employment.
“The delegates will develop the
policies contrary to claims by some sections
of the media that our policies
will be crafted by foreigners,” Mwonzora
said. “We are proud of the
intellectual depth we have within the party and
we are confident in our
capabilities.
“The policies will inform our election manifesto and they
will also
represent our vision for Zimbabwe when we start to
govern.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in
Local
GOVERNMENT should revisit the decision to grant Chinese companies
mining
concessions in the Gwayi conservancy, as their activities are likely
to
affect neighbouring countries’ water bodies and spark a row, an official
has
said.
BY MUSA DUBE
There are several companies that were
controversially awarded Special Grants
to explore and extract coal and
coal-bed methane in the Matabeleland North
province’s Hwange and Gwaai
areas.
The chairperson of the Gwayi Sub-Catchment Council, Langton
Masunda said
mining in the Gwayi conservancy were going to affect both local
and regional
water bodies.
“Any mining activity in the area would
produce pollutants like zinc, tar,
sulphate and ammonia which would all go
into the rivers, namely Gwayi and
Shangani, that are in the area. Our
relations with regional countries are
going to be badly affected because
Gwayi and Shangani rivers flow into the
Zambezi and downstream, they will
pollute the Mozambique water bodies,” said
Masunda in Bulawayo last
week.
He said the proposed Gwayi- Shangani dam would be futile if mining
starts to
take place, as most Chinese companies are going to operate within
the
valley, where the dam is going to be constructed.
“All the
concessions of companies operating in the area are all within the
valley
where Gwayi and Shangani rivers are. So whatever mining activities
will
pollute the water. The dream to draw water from Gwayi/Shangani rivers
would
be over,” Masunda said.
“Questioning what project is better than the
other is not being
anti-government, but we will just be enlightening each
other to revisit this
particular idea.”
‘Foreign investors are after
money’
Masunda said locals should take it upon themselves to protect the
environment, as foreign investors were after making money regardless of the
damages to the environment.
“Foreign investors are going to dig and
go home because an investor is like
a prostitute who is just after money. So
let’s protect our resources so that
the next generation will be proud us,”
said Masunda.
The Gwayi Conservancy area is located on the periphery of
Hwange National
Park, the country’s flagship game reserve.
Hwange
National Park is home to an estimated 45 000 elephants and various
wildlife
species.
Masunda said that mining activities would also destroy the
wildlife habitat
and socio-economic activities going on in the area, such as
hunting.
“Zimbabwe and Botswana are countries with no fences and we can’t
fence off
our elephants. We are sharing a population of animals and there is
a
movement of animals between both countries.
“Zimbabwe stands to
lose through any mining activities in the Gwayi area,
because the animals
will move away because of mining sound pollution,
intensified poaching and
this would have a negative impact on the tourism
industry,” Masunda
said.
He said some Chinese companies had so far caused an environmental
disaster
in Hwange.
“Those who have travelled to Hwange saw how those
companies have polluted
the area. At the exploration stage two aquifers were
damaged and they can’t
be repaired,” he said.
Masunda said the mining
activities had also led to the destruction of some
endangered
species.
“It would be a mistake to issue out a licence to do mining as
that will be
detrimental to the environment. Mining cannot co-exist with
wildlife. In the
past 12 years we have never lost a rhino but since they
[Chinese] have come,
we have lost two of them,” he said.
The Gwayi
Conservancy area is also home to the presidential herd of
elephants, which
President Mugabe made a decree in 1990 to protect in an
effort to discourage
poaching.
Some Chinese firms have been fined by the Environmental
Management Agency
for illegally mining coal in the Gwayi Valley area.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Community News
SEWER
bursts are now a common sight in Chiredzi town, with the high-density
suburb
of Tshovani overflowing with raw waste, exposing residents to
diseases, it
has emerged.
Report by Phyllis Mbanje
According to council
officials, the town’s sewer system is being strained by
the increased number
of people flocking to the small town in search of
opportunities.
Chiredzi town lies in cholera prone zone with
outbreaks being recorded in
the town every year.
But council
officials said Chiredzi’s dilapidated sewer system was set for a
major
revamp after the town council partnered Unicef for the upgrading of
old
pipes.
Speaking to stakeholders who participated in a recent tour of the
sugar-cane
town organised by the Ratepayers Association, council director of
Housing,
Gerazimos Bambazha said the project was expected to start in a few
months.
This followed submissions the council made to Unicef detailing
the town’s
water and reticulation plans.
Bambazha said the water and
sewer lines were designed years ago to
accommodate 7 000 people, but the
town’s population now stood at
35 000.
“The sewer system is very old
and the town experiences daily sewer bursts.
“The system is being
strained by the rapid increase of the town’s
population, which the current
system can no longer contain,” he said.
The council has for years watch- ed
as most parts of Tshovani flowed with
sewer effluent, making some parts
inhabitable.
Houses commonly termed midhadhadha were the worst affected
as they house
many people although they have only one or two ablution
facilities.
Most local authorities in the country are operating on a
shoe-string budget
that has resulted in their failure to provide adequate
services to
residents.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Community News
Mount Darwin
— Patients from all corners of the country are swamping Karanda
Mission
hospital in Mt Darwin, seeking affordable and better medical
services
offered by the Evangelical Church of Zimbabwe-run institution.
Report by
Moses Chibaya
Renowned medical doctor, Paul Thistle is now at Karanda
after he was booted
out of Howard Mission Hospital in
Chiweshe.
Thistle, of Canadian origin, was ordered by the Salvation Army
to go back to
Canada in August last year after spending 17 years working at
Howard
hospital.
Standardcommunity recently visited Karanda hospital
and talked to a number
of people who had come to seek medical
attention.
Godfrey Mutevera from Harare said he was forced to come to
Karanda Mission
Hospital, as services offered were far better than those
offered at
government hospitals in the capital.
“I was involved in a
car accident, so I am having some problems with my leg.
I came here because
I was told that there are better services,” he said.
“I came here this
morning and everything that I wanted done has been done.
This is different
from government hospitals in Harare where you are told to
‘come back
tomorrow’. You go back five times without proper attention and
end up losing
a lot of money. The service here is good.”
Another woman from
Chitungwiza, Taizivei Mudimu, said she was forced to come
to Karanda
hospital because of the affordable charges.
“The hospitals that I was
initially referred to are charging up to US$2 300
to attend to my particular
problem which I could not afford, hence I decided
to come here,” he
said.
Thistle confirmed that patients from many parts of the country were
coming
to Karanda.
“Karanda might get busier than what it was a year
or two years ago because
of the combination of the team work. I think it’s
more than one or two
people that make a difference, from the medical
superintendent, to the nurse
aides, cooking and cleaning staff that make a
hospital function,” he said.
Thistle could not say whether the situation
at Howard hospital had
deteriorated since he left.
He said it was
unfortunate that there was a disagreement between him and the
Salvation army
over his forced transfer.
“We could have discussed the problems and found
a solution. At the end of
the day, they thought it was better that Thistle
left,” he said.
Karanda Mission Hospital is a 130-bed hospital which
oversees 2 000 births
every year. It also carries out an average 3 500
surgeries annually and
treats between 200-300 outpatients daily.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Community News
THE HIV
prevalence rate in Zimbabwe prisons stands at 27%, a figure almost
double
the national prevalence rate, a health official revealed.
Report by Moses
Chibaya
Aids and TB Unit director in the Ministry of Health and Child
Welfare, Owen
Mugurungi, said women prisoners were the worst affected by
HIV.
“The prevalence rate for prisons was found to be double the national
prevalence. It was around 27%, but when you look at gender, women were more
affected at around 39%,” Mugurungi said.
The Zimbabwe Prisons
Services is on record saying that they would not allow
HIV and Aids
preventative measures such as condoms, claiming this was
tantamount to
legalising illicit behaviour. This is despite the known
existence of
homosexuality in jails.
According to the Prisons Act, homosexuality is
viewed as sodomy and if there
are witnesses to the act, the offenders would
be punished.
According to the 2010-11 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey
(ZDHS), the
HIV prevalence rate in the country is now 15%, down from 18% in
2006.
HIV prevalence continues to be higher among women than men; 18% of
women are
HIV-positive compared to 12% of men.
Mugurungi said the
ministry of health was cooperating with prison officials
to come up with
strategies to strengthen both prevention and treatment of
HIV
patients.
“I must say that this is not just for prisoners but also prison
workers and
communities living around prisons,” he said.
Mugurungi
added that the ministry together with prison authorities, trained
staff to
work within prisons, so that they could start providing
anti-retroviral
therapy within the correctional facilities.
“But the decision of where
and when is really within the ambit of prison
authorities. We as ministry
can only train them and capacitate them,” he
said
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Business
THE prevailing
liquidity crunch and inability of most manufacturing sector
companies to
access external lines of credit due to negative country
perceptions are
hampering production,the Zimbabwe National Chamber of
Commerce (ZNCC) has
said.
BY KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
Zimbabwe cannot access lines of credit
from multilateral institutions such
as the International Monetary Fund and
the World Bank due to the country’s
US$10,7 billion external
debt.
Local banks can access offshore lines of credit, but at a huge cost
due to
policy inconsistencies and politicking in the inclusive government.
This has
had a trickle-down effect on the country’s manufacturing sector, as
the
country heads for elections expected later this year.
ZNCC
Vice-President David Norupiri said in the first quarter of 2013, the
manufacturing sector has already been seriously affected by this scenario
which was likely to persist.
“As long as we are still in the
electioneering mode, it will be very
difficult for companies to plan the way
forward, so it’s really affecting
business because no one is willing or
prepared to spend money,” said
Norupiri.
He noted a “disturbing
trend”, where the manufacturing sector companies
continued to close and
scale down operations.
Companies based in Gweru, Mutare and Bulawayo are
seriously affected by the
strenuous business environment with some of them
forced to relocate to
Harare.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been on a growth
trajectory since 2009 and the
chamber contends that the country needs to
sort out its internal problems
which include a high risk country profile,
dependence on foreign aid and raw
exports as well as examine its
competitiveness.
A 2012 Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries
Manufacturing Sector Survey
revealed that capacity utilisation in the
manufacturing sector declined from
57,2% to 44,2%.
The best
performing sub-sector was the battery line driven by the
importation of
second-hand Japanese cars flooding the Zimbabwean market.
“But a number
of companies have come up with their own strategies whereby
they create 90
day facilities with individual companies that supply them
with raw
materials, giving them a short- term reprieve in the process,”
Norupiri
said.
He said such innovation was assisting companies to survive as
compared to
the expensive facilities accessed locally.
“Quite a
number of companies have managed to re-align themselves to ensure
that they
produce products which match international standards because we
are
competing with products from China and South Africa therefore you cannot
survive if you do not meet the standards,” Norupiri said.
The chamber
argues that there is an urgent need for policy re-alignment as
the present
policies assume that the country is still a manufacturing hub.
The trade
policy assumes that Zimbabwe still has its traditional markets in
place and
there is need to redefine this, he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Business
THE parliamentary
portfolio committee on Public Accounts lacks competency,
logistical support
and manpower to verify reports made by the Controller and
Auditor-General,
according to its chairperson Webber Chinyadza.
Report by Moses
Chibaya
Speaking at a Public Accounts committee workshop on public
finance oversight
recently, Chinyadza said the situation was also
exacerbated by political
interest.
“Knowledge, skills and experience
is lacking among many MPs. It takes time
for MPs to speed up issues and by
the time they do, their term of office
would be over,” he
said.
Chinyadza said that under normal circumstances, the choice as to
which
committee one would sit in “is not always based on your profession or
experience, you are just allocated to a particular portfolio
committee”.
This has seen legislators being placed in committees that
they don’t have
knowledge of. This compromises the work of that
committee.
A baseline survey on sector specific building requirements for
committees of
parliament launched last year revealed a 70% skills gap in
committees’
capacity to analyse legislation.
“Members of this
committee were asked to what extent they were conversant
with key statutes
governing public finance management such as the
Constitution, Public Finance
Management Act and Audit Office Act. The
majority of the respondents said
they were not fully familiar with the
statutes,” reads part of the
report.
Chinyadza said the inherent weaknesses of parliament in the
performance of
their duties, as provided for in the Constitution, was that
ministers were
also appointed from MPs. The “practice has actually
compromised most MPs as
they may also aspire to be ministers, as a result
the extent to which they
can openly criticise or investigate their ministers
who are in most cases
seniors in their parties is very limited”.
The
chairperson said when MPs are allocated to certain committees, they
start
from scratch learning “the auditing language”.
He also bemoaned the lack of
funds, adding that by the time they received
the funds, their term of office
would be over.
“They have resource con-straints and because of that, most
of the time they
[legislators], are unable to do audits outside the main
centre which is
Harare and this actually constraints their activities,” the
MDC-T legislator
for Makoni West said.
He appealed to civil society
to complement their work instead of competing
with them.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Business
MOBILE
money is making huge waves in Zimbabwe, providing an opportunity for
the
country’s largely unbanked population to engage in simple yet fast and
efficient financial transactions.
By Masimba Biriwasha for Young
Nation
The volatile economic environment which has prevailed in Zimbabwe
over the
past decade largely contributed to the failure of telecoms and
banking
institutions to adopt mobile banking.
But over the past year
there has been a foray by telecommunication and
banking institutions to
establish mobile banking platforms.
Examples of mobile banking products
that have been launched include: Kingdom
Bank’s Cellcard, Tetrad’s eMali,
Econet Wireless’ Ecocash; Cabs Bank’s
Textacash, Interfin Bank’s Cybercash
and CBZ Bank’s mobile banking, among
others.
The rapid spread of
mobile phone penetration, as opposed to bank outreach,
has created a fertile
ground for mobile money to grow in Zimbabwe. Mobile
banking could be the
platform for rapid financial inclusion of people that
now only need mobile
phones to access a certain range of essential financial
services they never
used to get.
Ecocash, which is by far the country’s leading mobile money
transfer
service, launched barely a year ago and currently has approximately
1,5
million subscribers. Of these, 270 000, that is, approximately 18%,
actively
use the service. Ecocash is ranked as one of the eight fastest
growing on
the continent.
While M-Pesa, launched in 2007 by Safaricom
of Kenya is the most successful
example of mobile money in the world with
nearly seven million users for a
country of 38 million people, Zimbabwe’s
1,5 million is not bad for a
country of 12 million people.
The growth
has been so phenomenal it prompted the country’s deputy prime
minister,
Arthur Mutambara to predict that the mobile money platform has the
potential
to become the biggest banking platform in Zimbabwe, mainly due to
its appeal
to low-end subscribers.
Ecocash is owned by the country’s biggest mobile
services firm, Econet,
which has over six million subscribers — a ready
catchment for further
growth.
The mobile money transfer service has
approximately 1 400 agents across the
country which represents a ratio of
193 active customers per agent.
Ecocash has also forged partnerships with
about 200 post offices across
Zimbabwe, further making it easily accessible
to most of the population,
unlike traditional banks which are located only
in urban areas.
An Econet media statement at the time of the launch
read:
“With Ecocash from Econet Wireless, you can now send and receive money
quickly and easily from mobile phone to mobile phone. It is a service that
is so secure; you would not have to worry about the safety of your money.
Receiving money is just as easy,” it added.
Mobile money brings
security, convenience
The mobile money service is accelerating the
availability of affordable
financial services that provide safety, security
and convenience to the
large majority of the unbanked in the
country.
According to the GSMA’s Mobile Money for the Unbanked blog
innovative
marketing investments have been key to driving growth in mobile
money in
Zimbabwe.
“Econet has leveraged its lion’s share of the
market, a substantial
investment in mobile money, and some innovative
marketing tactics to rapidly
sign up 1,5 million mobile money customers.
Kombis [public mini-buses]
carrying EcoCash advertising all over Harare and
other urban centres
contribute immensely to Econet’s brand awareness,”
reported the blog.
“Rural customers are targeted through radio talk
shows, which are far more
popular than print and electronic media in those
areas. EcoCash’s agent
network is motivated to register customers that are
likely to be active, as
agents receive a commission — currently US$1 —
whenever a customer who
registers with them makes cumulative transactions
that reach US$50.”
A combination of factors, including a loss of
confidence in the banking
system by Zimbabweans, a booming informal sector
in the country and the ease
of mobile money transaction, have been cited as
possible reasons for the
phenomenal growth of the mobile money transfer
service.
The country’s decade-long political and economic fallout,
coupled with
international isolation has had a negative impact on the
banking sector.
Zimbabwe’s banking system has suffered severely over the
past decade.
Several banks have been closed down, with depositors losing
their
hard-earned savings. Consequently, confidence in the banking system is
generally low in the country.
To complicate matters more, most people
in the country cannot meet demands
set by banks to open accounts. One of the
key requirements is a proof of
salary, in a country where the unemployment
rate is estimated to be 90%.
Moreover, most banks are in urban areas only
yet 70% of the population lives
in the rural areas. According to the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), 70% of
the country’s 12 million people have no bank
accounts.
“At least US$2,5 billion is estimated to be circulating outside
the formal
banking system due to low confidence in financial institutions
triggered by
the 2004/2005 domestic financial crisis which resulted in the
collapse of
more than 10 financial institutions,” a local weekly newspaper
reported in
March.
In Zimbabwe, mobile money transfer services are
not only benefitting the
country’s poorest, a cross section of the society
including the middle class
and educated are using the services to overcome a
poor banking system.
Without doubt, in rural areas, mobile phones are
compensating for poor
banking services and enabling a large section of
Zimbabwe’s population to
have access to financial transaction services in a
way that has never been
experienced before. Rigid rules for formal banking
have been superseded.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Opinion
Hunger remains
rampant within our nation. However, the build-up to Zimbabwe’s
watershed
elections has consumed local and foreign press.
Sunday View with Thandeka
Mujati
Amidst the meticulous documentation of our political woes,
people’s daily
struggles for food have been overshadowed. Last week the
World Food Program
(WFP) report revealed, “Hunger is the world’s number one
health risk.
Hunger kills more people every year than Aids, malaria and
tuberculosis
combined”. In our fervent struggle to overcome diseases and
political
struggles that have decimated our population, it feels as though
we have
almost overlooked an even more dangerous killer that has taken more
lives
and is dangerously prevalent on our continent, hunger.
Issues
of hunger and famine are nothing new. Images of famine ravaged
countries
have been sporadically sprawled across papers for decades. This
once
prevalent coverage of famine has had a desensitising effect on many.
In
the world’s case, hunger has become a ferocious beast that has multiplied
and killed millions of people.
Unicef revealed that under nutrition
contributes to 2,6 million deaths of
children under five, every six seconds
a child dies from hunger or a hunger
related disease. The WFP 2012 report
revealed that 25 000 people die a day
from hunger. This distressing
statistic is even more painfully accurate
within the African
context.
Food production in Zimbabwe has been destroyed by the
combination of our
economic and political instability. Over the years
droughts, sporadic
floods, poor harvests and high unemployment have had
disastrous results. In
2012, the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee
(ZimVac) estimated
that more than 1,6 million Zimbabweans will be unable to
access sufficient
food during the peak hunger period of 2013. This marks the
highest level of
food insecurity within Zimbabwe in the past three
years.
The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) announced in
2012 that
only 11% of Zimbabweans are employed in the formal sector. Many
Zimbabweans
don’t have the stability of a monthly pay cheque; they are
struggling to
survive and living on a prayer because they have nothing
left.
With our rapidly increasing unemployment rate, it is not surprising
that
there are no long-term solutions to aid famine in our country. People
are
consumed by planning what they will eat today. They do not have the
luxury
of planning ahead when the present is so dire.
Hunger is a
global problem, however, within our continent it has been an
alarmingly
constant epidemic. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
announced
that 98% of the world’s undernourished people live in developing
countries.
That’s a harrowing statistic, amidst the well-documented
hoopla of politics;
detailed accounts of commuter omnibus incidents at the
Copacabana rank and
thorough insights into religion and popular churches;
which are all valid
news pieces.
They are not a true reflection of
the current status quo of Zimbabwe in its
entirety. Hunger stories and
deaths seldom make the front page, but that
does not mean they do not exist;
they need to be discussed. Hunger’s
continuous presence in the media will
ensure continuous dialogue on this
calamitous situation, that will hold the
government accountable.
Our government needs to shift to a more
pro-active preventative solution, as
opposed to this faulty band-aid system
we have fallen into. Hunger stifles
development and creates a deadly cycle
that produces the same devastating
results.
Simply put, when a family
has sufficient food, parents can truly focus on
the future and shift from
survival mode to truly improve their lives. When
the food runs out, so does
hope for the future.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Opinion
As the MDC
policy conference is almost around the corner, it is important to
look at
one of the most controversial issue of land and agricultural
policy.
Sunday Opinion with Shakespear Hamauswa
This note provides
a comparative analysis on the MDC policy against that of
Zanu
PF.
Both policies acknowledge that the land question has been central in
the
people’s struggles for independence, sovereignty and
equality.
However, what differs is the interpretation given to the
aforementioned
words. As such, the word independence according to Zanu PF’s
perspective,
has been narrowly defined, to the extent of causing confusion
to land
policies and other valuable resources in the country.
While
this definition is not in black and white, it has been clear through
the
manner in which the Zanu PF government has been dealing with the land
question, among other property rights.
Thus from Zanu PF’s
perspective, independence implies the right to loot
resources including
political power. Again, their view of equality is
reminiscent of the Animal
Farm (by George Orwell) scenario where other
animals are more equal than
others.
On the opposite side, the MDC policy proposal is based on the
principles of
equality and equity. As such, the MDC government seeks to
ensure that women
have access to land and other resources.
Customary
laws that discriminated women when it comes to issues to do with
property
rights in general and access to land in particular have guided Zanu
PF since
1980.
As is the case with Zanu PF, the MDC policy document to be
discussed from
May 17 recognises the irreversibility of the Land Reform
Programme. The
policy proposal states that, “the MDC recognises the
irreversibility of the
land reform programme and that the land ownership
pattern that existed
pre-2000 was unsustainable”.
However, unlike
their Zanu PF counterparts the MDC correctly views the land
reform programme
as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself. This is
the reason why
their land and agricultural policy is closely linked to
poverty
alleviation.
As such, the MDC policy proposal seeks to ensure that:
Zimbabwe’s total land
mass of 39 million hectares, 16 million hectares of
which is under communal
areas, 10,8 million under the FTLRP, 3,7 million
hectares under Old
Resettlement Areas, 2 hectares under commercial farms,
0,79 million hectares
under Conservatives, 0,15 million hectares under
institutional ownership and
0,76 million hectares not formally unsettled, is
made productive.
This is a clear and positive departure from the Zanu PF
policy that is
always driven by political overtures. Giving people land
basing on political
lines destroyed the agricultural productivity of this
country, yet since
1980 Zimbabwe was the major exporter of agricultural
products ranging from
beef products to flowers, as well as milk
products.
It is now a shame that the country is importing tonnes of maize
from
countries such as Zambia, that were well known for producing copper.
The
most disgusting development is that those farmers who were chased away
from
this country are the ones producing the maize to feed our dear
nation.
What is only needed for the MDC is to live up to their word. They
have to
remember that policy matters take a form of a cycle that goes beyond
formulation to the implementation and evaluation stage. In this regard, the
MDC needs to show its sincerity by accepting the criticism that delegates to
the policy conference will give to their document.
The MDC lands and
agricultural policy is commendable in relation to the
issue of security of
tenure. Through this policy proposal, the MDC is
pledging to ensure
productivity in all agricultural lands through ensuring
security of tenure
through issuance of title deeds. Zanu PF on the other
hand has not been
prepared to give meaningful title deeds to the people.
This has again
affected productivity of the agricultural sector in many
respects.
With the absence of real rights to agricultural land, the
beneficiaries of
the Zanu PF-led discredited land reform programme are
hesitant to develop
their land beyond extensive utilisation. As a result,
environmental
degradation is not an issue to them, as they fear one day they
will be
chased away from the farms.
The intrusion of the security
sector into the political arena clearly shows
the inadequacies of the Zanu
PF property rights. The major fear is not that
the country will be given
back to the former colonial powers, but because
their rights to land derives
from them being supporters of Zanu PF regime.
It is important for all
Zimbabweans to understand that real property rights
should be protected by a
regime of laws and not by a political regime in
office.
When people
have political rights based on the laws of the land that are in
line with
the constitution and other international standards, no one will be
worried
about the future.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Editorial
Zimbabwe is
importing 150 000 tonnes of maize from Zambia in order to guard
against
possible grain shortages.
The Standard Editorial
This
government-to-government import deal however raises serious concerns
about
lack of production on Zimbabwe’s farms, years after white farmers were
driven off the land.
The new farmers, mainly war veterans, Zanu PF
supporters and the political
elite, have survived on handouts from
government, some of these made
available through the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe’s infamous quasi-fiscal
operations.
The farmers continued to
receive support after the consummation of the
inclusive
government.
In his 2013 National budget statement, Finance minister,
Tendai Biti
revealed that the agricultural sector had received around US$2
billion over
the period 2009-2012 through government support, development
partners and
banks, among other channels.
There is however little to
show for the billions if the new farmers in their
thousands still can’t grow
enough maize to feed the nation.
While they sit on the land, Treasury is
forking out US$3 million to pay
Zambian maize producers.
To worsen
matters, every month Zimbabwe is again spending US$65 million
importing
chicken gizzards, livers, feet, heads and intestines.
The question that
boggles the mind is: what are all these new farmers doing
on the land, when
we have to depend on other countries for agricultural
supplies? Apart from
tobacco growing, our farmers have abdicated their role
and are engaging in
other mundane things in order to survive.
Many have turned to illegal
gold panning, poaching and are also selling
firewood along the major
highways. Others, who are well- connected to Zanu
PF or are senior party
officials, rumoured to have 10 farms each, derive
satisfaction in holding
onto multiple farms, that were once highly
productive under the previous
white owners.
In light of these circumstances, we call on authorities to
prioritise a land
audit that will expose multiple farm owners and those who
are not utilising
their land. Land should be allocated to people who want to
use it if
Zimbabwe is to regain its breadbasket status.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
May 12, 2013 in Editorial
I have
recently met many people — most unknown to me — who have stopped me
for a
chat. Invariably the chat took a political turn.
From the Editor’s Desk
with Nevanji Madanhire
These people, I noticed, come across the board —
politicians, journalists,
school teachers, and businesspeople of all races,
commercial farmers and
even ambassadors.
The topic they have
discussed with me is Zimbabwe’s future after Robert
Mugabe.
“What do
you think will happen when the Old Man is gone?” must now be the
most
frequently asked question in Zimbabwe.
Two issues emerge when one
examines the question. One is that there is an
apprehension in the minds of
most people that President Mugabe’s exit from
the political scene will be
followed by Armageddon. The second is that the
“Old Man” is seen as central
to whatever will play out when he is gone.
The question, for all intents
and purposes, implores Mugabe to do something
about Zimbabwe’s future in the
immediate aftermath of his exit, whether
through incapacity or
death.
The urgency in the question is palpable. You can sense it as the
question is
posed; you can feel that people are overly aware of Mugabe’s
mortality now
more than ever. He turned 89 in February. And, as in Nelson
Mandela, the
spirit and sparkle, will also fade, as Mandela’s wife Graca
Machel was
reported to have said of him last year.
Many people think
of the worst case scenario: Mugabe’s exit will create a
power vacuum that
will suck in the “baddest” characters, so to speak,
resulting in the
situation getting much worse than it already is.
The question also shows
that the people recognise that the Zanu PF edifice
is not going to collapse
in one go as they had hoped; with Zanu PF, the
country is in for the long
haul!
In my opinion, besides the worst case scenario, there are two other
scenarios that might emerge. Zimbabwe might go the way of the Ivory Coast
(Côte d’Ivoire), or the way of Tanzania.
The Ivory Coast was ruled
for the first 33 years of its independence by
strongman Félix
Houphouët-Boigny. In the beginning, as is always the case,
he was a good
president but as the years wore on “the nation’s political
system was bound
tightly to his myth, charisma, and political and economic
competence”.
When he eventually passed on in 1995, the nation was
faced with stark
realities. For the first time the country was faced with
the prospect of
free and fair elections without Houphouët-Boigny.
Houphouët-Boigny had been
able in his long reign to suppress ethnic
tensions.
The Ivory Coast’s population was made up of more than 25%
foreigners mostly
from Burkina Faso, who had lived in the country for as
much as two
generations, which entitled them to the vote. But as happens in
most of
Africa when elections loom, ethnicity comes to the fore.
The
founding president had managed, through his strong leadership, to
suppress
these ethnic tensions but they erupted after his demise. The
situation was
worsened by the economic downturn which hit when the global
economic crisis
hit the price of cocoa resulting in the sharp rise in
unemployment.
The factionalism in Zanu PF can be attributed to ethnic
tension. Zimbabwean
politics are dominated by ethnic consideration, hence
the loud calls now for
devolution. In Zanu PF one can really feel the
tension between the Zezuru
and the Karanga and the Manyika and the
Ndebele.
Indeed, the faction leaders of the two dominant groupings are
only as strong
as they represent their ethnic groups. Joice Mujuru is seen
as the leader of
the Zezurus while Emmerson Mnangagwa is the leader of the
Karangas. Add to
this, the huge Matabeleland Question which has already seen
a war fought in
the early years of independence. By and large, Mugabe has
managed to
suppress these tensions by right and by might. But, as in the
Ivorian case,
when he is gone, no one single leader will be able to keep the
tension under
control.
Mugabe is the huntsman who has kept his dogs
on leash releasing them when
need be, but keeping them under his beck and
call.
He is the falconer who can still be heard by the falcons but a time
will
come when the falcons can no longer hear the falconer, which is when
the
falconer is either dead or incapacitated. Then, things will fall apart,
for
there won’t be any centre to hold them together, as happened in the
Ivory
Coast.
Tanzania, after Julius Nyerere, has had an almost
totally different story,
and that is because Nyerere noticed early the
weakness of his rule. It is
often said — I searched for this but couldn’t
find it anywhere on the
internet — Nyerere said that in creating his party
Chama Cha Mapinduzi
(CCM), he didn’t know he had created a monster he
couldn’t destroy.
A Frankenstein is something that destroys or harms the
person or people who
created it. Nyerere realised CCM had become bad for
Tanzania and had to be
destroyed or transformed.
Similarly, Zanu PF
has become bad for Zimbabwe and Mugabe knows it.
That’s why at the
party’s annual conference in Gweru he talked so strongly
against
factionalism and corruption, the two most virulent cancers that
debilitate
not only the party but the country as well. This is why the worst
case
scenario becomes the default scenario in the minds of all Zimbabweans
who
care for their country’s future.
For Nyerere, Tanzania is the stable
country it is today. Elections are held
regularly and power transfers done
smoothly.
The tension between Zanzibar and the mainland has been defused,
hopefully
permanently. Nyerere saved both his country and his party from the
monster
he had created. A more democratic CCM is still the dominant party in
the
country and the situation is unlikely to change in the foreseeable
future.
Houphouët-Boigny on the other hand created the recipe for the
chaos that
later beset the Ivory Coast and died while it simmered
underneath. Nyerere,
perhaps deriving lessons from the Ivorian situation,
deliberately altered
the course of Tanzanian
history.
Houphouët-Boigny or Julius Nye-rere, which one will Mugabe
choose to be?
This question would be frivolous and vexatious if it wasn’t so
urgent. It is
this question that’s vexing the mind of every Zimbabwean. When
people talk
about the Zanu PF succession issue, they are interrogating the
issue; they
are not being subversive or unpatriotic. On the contrary, they
are thinking
about their future and the future of their
children.
What will happen in Zimbabwe after Mugabe will depend on what
he does in the
short time between now and when the “spirit and sparkle”
fade.
l This article was first published here on December 16 2012.
