http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009 20:30
ZANU
PF's internal power struggles have resurfaced - this time with
greater
intensity - amid revelations that Vice-President Joice Mujuru, who
wants to
succeed President Robert Mugabe, faces removal from her position by
a rival
faction led by Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The development comes as
political realignments involving Zanu PF and
the MDC-T led by Morgan
Tsvangirai gather momentum.
There was alarm within Zanu PF circles
last week after Mujuru and her
allies voted with the Tsvangirai faction
against the Mnangagwa group in
parliament during the election of chairperson
for the women MPs caucus.
Sources said the move, which has led to
manoeuvres to remove Mujuru by
Mnangagwa's faction, sent shockwaves through
Zanu PF in the run-up to the
party's crucial congress in December. Mugabe is
likely to be re-elected for
yet another five years as party leader because
no one in his party is
prepared to challenge him.
However,
sources said Mujuru might find herself in serious trouble at
the women's
congress in August before the main party gathering in December,
where her
rivals want her booted out for working with the MDC.
Zanu PF
Women's League chairperson Oppah Muchinguri is said to be
working with the
Mnangagwa camp to oust Mujuru. The sources said the Zanu PF
Women's League
leaders want to rope in First Lady Grace Mugabe to kick out
Mujuru who came
in in 2004 with her backing.
Mujuru and Muchinguri, who were
allies when the former beat Mnangagwa
for the position of Zanu PF
vice-president at the 2004 congress following
the Tsholotsho political
debacle, have fallen out and now belong to
different camps in Zanu PF's
factional politics. This has changed the
complexion of the Zanu PF power
struggle as members crisscross factional
divides.
Trouble
in the current round of Zanu PF infighting started last Friday
when Mujuru
formed an alliance in parliament with MDC Vice-President
Thokozani Khupe to
vote for Zanu PF Goromonzi MP Biata Beatrice Nyamupinga
against another Zanu
PF candidate, Monica Mutsvangwa, senator for
Chimanimani.
Nyamupinga, who belongs to the Mujuru faction and Mutsvangwa, who is
linked
to the Mnangagwa camp, were contesting the position of chairperson
for the
women's caucus.
Nyamupinga won because of Mujuru's alliance with
Khupe which insiders
said confirmed long-standing speculation that the
Mujuru faction had a
strategic alliance with the Tsvangirai camp in the
country's power matrix.
However, there was fierce infighting before
Nyamupinga controversially
won the election, conducted in parliament last
Friday by a presiding officer
from the legislature. Sources said Nyamupinga
unprocedurally stood for
election despite being beaten in two primaries by
Mutsvangwa, Sadc
Parliamentary Forum treasurer, on the encouragement of
Mujuru whose faction
is led by her husband, retired army commander Solomon
Mujuru.
The sources said the move resulted in Mutsvangwa, wife
of former
Zimbabwe ambassador to China Chris Mutsvangwa and ex-chairperson
of the
Group of Spouses of African Heads of Diplomatic Missions in Beijing,
walking
out and Nyamupinga claiming the position unopposed, although she was
assured
of winning because the MDC was going to throw its weight behind
her.
"The plan was that since Zanu PF has a majority among
women MPs, it
would get the powerful post of
chairperson, while the
MDC would get vice-chairperson. The parties
would then share the other
positions of treasurer and secretary, including
their deputies," a source
said.
"But then the whole process got trapped in Zanu PF
factionalism.
Mutsvangwa beat Nyamupinga in primaries, but Nyamupinga
refused to concede
defeat and the party ended up with two candidates in
parliament. There was a
wrangle before the election, but they failed to
resolve the issue.
Mutsvangwa ended up walking out in protest and Nyamupinga
got in unopposed
because the MDC-T was not going to field a candidate as
part of the deal."
There are 55 women MPs combined, but Zanu PF
has a majority of 32
ahead of the two MDC factions combined. The MDC-T
faction has at least 20
women MPs, while the remainder are with the MDC-M.
The configuration of
numbers forced the parties into a deal to ensure the
command structure of
the women's caucus reflected the parliamentary
representation.
Sources said the deal was that Zanu PF would
get the chairperson's
post, while the MDC-T would get the vice-chairperson.
The MDC-T's Mutare
senator Keresensia Chabuka was elected vice-chairperson
as a result. The two
main parties would also get the two posts of treasurer
and vice-treasurer
and secretary and deputy secretary.
But
this happened after infighting in Zanu PF which spilt into
parliament last
week. Although parliament is not sitting, there was a
session for women to
elect leaders of their caucus.
Sources said the fight at the
caucus confirms a political re-alignment
which might benefit Mujuru in the
end if she survives current efforts to
remove her. They said the calculation
by the Mujuru camp is that if they
form an alliance with the MDC-T and
Mugabe goes for one reason or another,
Mujuru would marshal enough votes in
parliament to succeed Mugabe.
The constitution says if Mugabe
goes before the end of his term both
houses of parliament would sit as an
electoral college to elect a successor
for the remainder of his
tenure.
By securing MDC-T's cooperation, Mujuru stands a better
chance than
Mnangagwa to replace Mugabe if a position arises. However, her
alliance with
the MDC-T could result in her ouster at the forthcoming Zanu
PF women's
congress in August and the main party congress in
December.
BY DUMISANI MULEYA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
20:23
THE principals in the inclusive government are close to declaring
a
stalemate on the outstanding issues of the global political agreement
(GPA),
a move that will result in the intervention of Sadc to break the
impasse,
the Zimbabwe Independent learnt yesterday.
Impeccable
sources in government said President Robert Mugabe, Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara met
for the fifth time
within a fortnight on Tuesday and failed to agree on the
way
forward.
The sources said the three were refusing to compromise
on their
positions on the sticking points, among them the reappointment of
ambassadors, permanent secretaries and provincial
governors.
The other outstanding issues are the reappointment
of central bank
governor Gideon Gono and the appointment of Attorney-General
Johannes
Tomana. Now there is the hiving off of communications from the
Ministry of
Information Communication Technology run by Nelson Chamisa of
the MDC-T.
"No progress was made during the Tuesday meeting,"
one of the sources
said. "It (meeting) revealed that Mugabe on the one side,
and Tsvangirai and
Mutambara on the other, are poles apart on the
outstanding issues and the
expectation is that the principals would declare
a deadlock when they meet
again next week."
The principals,
the sources said, were not compromising on the
outstanding
matters.
The declaration of a stalemate would result in Sadc,
which guaranteed
the GPA signed last September, moving in to resolve the
impasse and save the
inclusive government.
Tsvangirai's
spokesperson James Maridadi yesterday said the principals
would meet either
on Monday or Tuesday to continue deliberations on the
sticking
points.
"The information I have is that there was some progress
on some issues
and areas of disagreements on others when the principals met
on Tuesday,"
Maridadi said. "They will continue with negotiations either on
Monday or
Tuesday."
However, insiders said there was no
progress to talk about in the
negotiations. Meetings have broken up amid
rising tensions.
BY CONSTANTINE CHIMAKURE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009 20:17
MINISTER of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Eric Matinenga
yesterday said the Kariba draft constitution crafted by the three parties to
the global political agreement (GPA) will not be used as a key reference
point in the constitution-making process.
Speaking at a
Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network and Electoral
Institute of Southern
Africa post-2008 elections review conference in
Victoria Falls, Matinenga
said the Kariba draft and the current constitution
would be circulated for
people to appreciate the mistakes made in their
making.
He said the
constitution-making process would be "people-driven".
"The
constitution-making process is initiated by parliament and the
involvement
of other groups comes at the sub-committee level," he said. "We
need civil
society to participate at that level because I believe that is
where the
work is done.
"All groups which want to participate can
participate. Article Six
clearly addresses that issue. Nobody owns the
Kariba draft and it is where
it belongs --- Kariba."
Matinenga
said civil society should avoid turning the "people-driven
chorus" into a
political slogan.
"We will never be able to agree on the definition
of people-driven. My
view is that at the end of the day what is important is
what we do in the
process as compared to the process itself," he
said.
"There is the need to take on board everyone and agree on how
outreach
programmes will take place."
The National
Constitutional Assembly and the Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions have
rejected the Kariba and other previous drafts saying they
are not
people-driven but a parliamentary process.
This followed the
appointment of a 25-member parliamentary select
committee some three weeks
ago to spearhead a constitution-making process
for the country.
BY WONGAI ZHANGAZHA IN VICTORIA FALLS
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
20:11
THE Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity has revised the
agenda for an all-stakeholders conference to review the country's media
environment in Kariba next week after media organisations threatened to
boycott it.
Media organisations and journalists had said the
agenda, with its
prospect of unreconstructed media controls, was contrary to
the principles
of the global political agreement.
Journalists had
also questioned the inclusion of speakers such as the
chairman of the
defunct Media and Information Commission, Tafataona Mahoso,
and former
Minister of Information Jonathan Moyo who are perceived as
"enemies" of
media freedom.
The conference - postponed last month - will be held
under the theme
"Towards an Open, Tolerant and Responsible Media
Environment".
Its objective is to guide government's media policy.
Originally
pencilled in for Nyanga, it will run from May 6-9.
Jameson Timba, the Deputy Minister of Media, Information and
Publicity, told
the Zimbabwe Independent yesterday that the ministry had
revised some of the
themes for the conference and added more presenters.
Timba said
there was nothing wrong with the previously announced
speakers as the
ministry had invited people who stood for the old and new
media orders in a
bid to create a balance.
"In terms of presenters we have some who
represent the old media order
who have been invited to give a historical
account of Zimbabwe's media
landscape," Timba said. "These have been
balanced with a team of presenters
who are focusing their attention on how
we can review our media landscape in
line with a new vision."
Some of the speakers at the four-day conference are Justice minister
Patrick
Chinamasa, Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, Ambassador Chris
Mutsvangwa,
Professor Tawana Khupe, Reuters Harare bureau chief Cris
Chinaka, and Harare
mayor and lawyer Much Masunda.
Timba said the conference was a
follow up to deliberations made during
a cabinet retreat at Victoria Falls
in March.
"Following the government retreat, the ministry adopted a
new vision
which should create an environment that allows for unimpeded
supply, flow
and consumption of information," he said.
Timba
said the conference would be looking positively into the future
and its
outcome would make a significant contribution in shaping media
policy and
laws in Zimbabwe.
"The strategic objective of the conference is to
determine how that
vision can be realised through a process of reviewing the
current media
policies and laws," he said.
During the conference
various media stakeholders would make
presentations on themes relating to
the media.
Zimbabwe National Editors Forum chair Iden Wetherell
said he welcomed
the changes as it meant there would be a wider diversity of
voices heard.
But there was "a clear need for root-and-branch reform, not
tinkering", he
said.
Some of the topics that would be discussed
are "freedom of expression,
media and the rights of the state (Tomana)",
"the media, a Christian
perspective (Trevor Manhanga)", "regulation and
print media; experience to
date (Mahoso)", "the media and national interest
in a global context (Olley
Maruma)", and "sanctions, publishing and access
to information (Phyllis
Johnson)".
BY LUCIA MAKAMURE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
20:01
FINANCE minister Tendai Biti is pushing for comprehensive Reserve
Bank
of Zimbabwe (RBZ) reforms to weaken his rival at the central bank,
Governor
Gideon Gono, as the political war between the two
intensifies.
Biti and Gono are locked in an intense tug-of-war
which has drawn in
cabinet ministers and senior government officials. The
current battle is
part of a wider power struggle within the inclusive
government between
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Biti, who has vowed to remove Gono, is now working on a
number of
measures to reform the RBZ. If his proposals succeed, Biti would
gain a
strategic advantage over Gono and possibly ensure his removal from
the
institution. The Gono issue has been part of the talks between Zanu PF
and
the MDC factions.
Biti has never hidden his desire to get
Gono out of the RBZ, saying he
has ruined the economy through quasi-fiscal
activities.
"He has been stoking the fires of inflation through
quasi-fiscal
activities. In other countries if a central bank governor
admits to printing
money he will face the firing squad. Gono is the number
one economic
saboteur, terrorist and Al Qaeda," Biti said last
year.
After assuming the reins at the Finance ministry, Biti has
been
crafting reforms that he wants implemented soon. The minister told a
meeting
between RBZ officials and himself two weeks ago that changes were
coming.
Informed sources said Biti said he intends to appoint a new
RBZ board.
He would remove Gono as the board chair and have it chaired by a
non-executive board member.
A number of names of a potential
RBZ board chair are being proposed,
including those of University of
Zimbabwe lecturer Tony Hawkins, businessman
David Govera and MDC-T lawyer
and negotiator Innocent Chagonda.
Besides Gono, the current board
is also made up of his three
deputies - Edward Mashiringwani, Charity
Dhliwayo and Nick Ncube - and
non-executive members, former Chartered
Institute of Secretaries president
Grace Chella, University of Zimbabwe
lecturer Clever Mumbengegwi, former
Bulawayo council town clerk Mike Ndubiwa
and businessman Phineas Chihota.
However, Biti's moves are facing
resistance from Gono and his allies.
Gono this week warned of "alien pieces
of advice" in Biti's policies. Gono's
advisor Munyaradzi Kereke has told
Biti that having an RBZ board that is not
chaired by the governor or chaired
by a non-executive board member would be
"inconsistent with Sadc guidelines
as well as international best practice".
Kereke said if that were
to happen the day-to- day running of the bank
would be
"paralysed".
Under the Reserve Bank Act, the central bank governor
chairs the board
and its members are appointed by the president "after
consultation" with the
minister.
Sources said Biti wants to
ensure that Gono is completely sidelined.
They said he wants to take charge
of the affairs of the ministry and the RBZ
to push his reforms and
policies.
Besides, Biti wants to form a Monetary Policy Committee
to deal with
monetary policy technicalities. Gono, according to the plan,
would chair the
committee.
The sources said Biti also wants to
amend the Reserve Bank Act to
remove Section 6 (i) (d) which states that one
of the functions of the RBZ
is "to advance the general economic policies of
government".
But Kereke has told Biti that removing this section
from the RBZ Act
would undermine the constitutional and economic relevance
of the institution
as its main and overall objective was precisely
that.
Biti has asked Gono and Kereke to put their concerns in
writing.
He also wants to look into Section 31 of the RBZ Act that
deals with
optimal capital levels. He has ordered the RBZ to look into the
issue and
report back.
Further, Biti wants Gono to issue
indexed inflation-adjusted and
foreign-currency-denominated 2008 financial
statements. But Gono has told
Biti via the Ministry of Finance accountant
general Judith Madzorera the
instruction is "not feasible and is not based
on sound advice".
Sources said Gono wrote to Madzorera three days
ago, saying that the
accountants of the country in consultation with
international boards of
accounts had indicated this was not possible for
last year's accounts.
Gono said the Public Accountants and Auditors
Board, which regulates
accountancy in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Accounting
Practices Board and
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange had issued a joint statement on
financial reporting
explaining why 2008 accounts "had to be in local
currency terms and at
historic values".
He said the transition
to multi-currency and therefore
foreign-currency-based reporting was
announced by acting Finance minister
Patrick Chinamasa in January and
confirmed by Biti himself in his revised
budget in March.
"Therefore, the required compliance with foreign currency reporting
can only
be legally achieved in relation to audited financial statements for
the year
ending 31 December 2000 and not as directed for accounts ended 31
December
2008," Gono wrote.
He said it was clear to him Biti was being
misled by his advisors.
Biti has also been pushing for the
investigation of Gono over an
alleged breach in borrowing procedures.
However, the minister was blocked at
last week's tense cabinet meeting from
probing Gono.
Information minister Webster Shamu subsequently said
Gono would not be
investigated, a position taken by his colleagues in
cabinet last week.
Despite cabinet's position, a senior finance
official said Biti
legally has powers to investigate Gono. In terms of the
RBZ Act, Section 38
titled "Investigation into the bank's affairs", the
minister can lawfully
probe the RBZ.
"The minister may at any
time cause an investigation to be made into
the affairs of the bank by one
or more persons authorised by him in writing
to do so," the Act
says.
This section works in tandem with Section 37, which deals
with the
powers of auditors.
Sources said Biti during the
meeting also proposed a reduction of
statutory reserves from the current 10%
to 2% of depositors' funds. This,
sources said, would be a reprieve for
troubled financial institutions that
were battling to source money for
lending.
The existing high ratio has resulted in fluid deposits and
low
confidence in the financial system due to general
dis-intermediation.
While Biti has been pushing hard, Gono has also
come out fighting. The
central bank governor stepped up his fight back
campaign last week when he
published two supplements in the public media,
slamming Biti over a number
of issues.
Gono hit back at Biti
over allegations that he had borrowed over US$1
billion (US$5,3 billion in
total) without approval from treasury. He has
produced authorisation letters
which were signed in the past by one of Biti's
current advisors, permanent
secretary for Finance Willard Manungo.
The letters show the
authorisations were done by past Finance
ministers Herbert Murerwa and
Samuel Mumbengegwi.
Murerwa is apparently one of those who agreed
at the ministerial
economic committee meeting last week that Gono must be
investigated.
Biti and Gono are also fighting over the distribution
of cars given by
the RBZ to MPs. Biti has ordered Gono to withdraw the cars
he has given to
the MPs and Gono initially indicated he was going to
comply.
But he has been distributing more cars instead of taking
them back.
Zanu PF and MDC MPs are refusing to hand back the cars, despite
orders from
the MDC leaders to their own legislators to return the vehicles.
Gono said
in an insert in the Herald this week that the wrangle over the
cars was
"needless controversy".
BY BERNARD MPOFU
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April
2009 19:57
LAWYERS representing 18 MDC-T activists who were last year
abducted by
suspected state security agents and kept incommunicado have
written to the
Ministry of Home Affairs demanding US$7 million compensation
for their
clients who were tortured.
The 18, who are facing
terrorism charges, were abducted between
October and December last year and
held in secret locations for more than
three months before being handed over
to the police.
In one of the 18 letters written to the co-Ministers of
Home Affairs
Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa last week, the lawyers Mbidzo,
Muchadehama &
Makoni, want the state to compensate their clients for
physical and
psychological trauma suffered during their "unlawful"
detention.
"We act for our client Gandhi Mudzingwa who has asked us
to notify
yourselves, and officials and other persons whose names appear
hereunder, of
his intention to sue yourselves and the said officials and
persons," one of
the letters says.
Among those being sued by
the activists are Police
Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri, Minister of
State Security in the
President's Office Sydney Sekeramayi, Minister of
Defence Emmerson
Mnangagwa, Commissioner of Prisons Paradzai Zimondi,
Minister of Justice
Patrick Chinamasa, Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, and
the Director of the
Central Intelligence Organisation, Happyton
Bonyongwe.
In the case of Mudzingwa, the lawyers said their
client was abducted
on December 8 last year, thrown into a Mazda Familia and
was assaulted while
blindfolded.
"Mudzingwa was taken to an
undisclosed location where he was received
by a cheering crowd which further
assaulted him using open hands, bricks and
all sorts of objects," the letter
says.
The other MDC-T activists include Pascal Gonzo, Fedelis
Chiramba,
Concilia Chinanzvavana, Manuel Chinanzvavana, Mapfumo Garutsa,
Regis Mujeyi,
Zacharia Nkomo, Andrison Manyere, Chinototo Zulu, Kisimusi
Dhlamini,
Broderick Takawira, Violet Mupfuranheve, Nigel Mupfuranhewe, Pieta
Kaseke,
Collen Mutemagau, Audrey Zimbudzana and Tawanda Bvumo.
Mudzingwa's lawyers said the police should be made to pay for the
trauma
their client suffered as they have failed to arrest his abductors.
"The police saw the persons who brought our client to the Highlands
Police
Station but they did nothing. They did not arrest the kidnappers who
had
presented themselves.
The police are therefore complicit in our
client's abduction and
torture," argued Mudzingwa's lawyers.
Mudzingwa, the lawyers said, was a victim of enforced disappearances
which
were outlawed by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 47/133 of
December 18 1992.
The letter also stated that the ill-treatment
of the activists
violated Section 15 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe,
Article 5 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Article 1 of
the Convention
Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or
Punishment which all provide for the protection against inhuman
treatment.
BY LUCIA MAKAMURE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29
April 2009 19:47
ELECTORAL experts have said Zimbabwe must urgently
create an
independent election management body that excludes the
Registrar-General
(RG)'s office in the running of polls.
They
said there was also a need to reform the judiciary, which they
accused of
failing to protect ordinary citizens during last year's bloody
presidential
election run-off.
Speaking at a post-2008 election review and
prospects for electoral
reform in Victoria Falls this week, the experts said
parliament should be
empowered to exercise an oversight role on electoral
processes in the
country.
The conference was co-hosted by
the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network
and the Electoral Institute of
Southern Africa (EISA). It was attended by
cabinet ministers, MPs, regional
electoral officials, diplomats and civil
society
representatives.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights director
Irene Petras said
parliamentary reforms were crucial to ensure that MPs
oversee election
budgeting, the delimitation of constituencies and the
operations of an
independent election management body.
Petras said the inclusive government needed to audit and review all
laws
affecting elections in the country for future elections to be free and
fair.
"There is need for a comprehensive audit, not only of
electoral laws
but also of other laws which impact on the electoral process
and its outcome
and the requirements for a free and fair election," she
said.
Petras criticised as "cosmetic" amendments that were made
in January
last year to the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Public Order and
Security
Act, the Broadcasting Services Act and the Access to Information
and
Protection of Privacy Act.
The Electoral Act and the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act were also
amended under the mediation of
former South African president Thabo Mbeki.
The amendments were
made to strengthen the legal and electoral
framework and processes for the
March and June 2008 harmonised elections and
the run-off election
respectively.
"Piecemeal amendments to laws and constitutional
reforms and
constitutional provisions regulating elections in Zimbabwe do
not work and
cannot protect the integrity of the elections," Petras
said.
"Looking back at the vociferous manner in which the
political parties
(Zanu PF and the two MDC formations) defended these
amendments and their
manner of passage to the civil society and the public
in general one could
be forgiven for thinking that major changes had been
made for the better,
and that Zimbabweans could now be assured that the
general legal framework
which was required to ensure a smooth and fair
electoral process and to
protect the outcome of the popular vote had been
put in place."
She said following the amendments "voices and faces" of
now Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Simba Makoni of the Mavambo
movement were
heard and seen on state television and radio.
"Police
were to be removed from polling stations and voters felt that
at last they
would be able to vote freely and not be unduly intimidated by
this partisan
force," Petras said.
However, she noted, the environment
changed after the March elections
in which Tsvangirai outpolled Mugabe,
hence the need for a run-off.
"Unprecedented levels of
political violence, a terror campaign,
arrests and prosecutions of
substantial numbers of presiding officers
working for Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission on allegations of vote tampering
took place," Petras
said.
She lamented the continued involvement of the RG's office
in the
running of elections in the country.
"The
Registrar-General's office continued to involve itself in the
electoral
process without proper scrutiny and accountability. The state
broadcaster
was used later for a vicious hate campaign against Tsvangirai
and the party
he led," she added.
Petras accused the RG's office of
preventing voters and candidates
from scrutinising the voters roll and
police of barring the MDC-Tsvangirai
from holding rallies in various parts
of the country using Posa.
She also lamented the delay in announcing
results of the March 2008
harmonised elections, especially the presidential
poll.
"The MDC approached the courts for an order to have the
results
declared but were turned down in a judgement which has been largely
and
comprehensively criticised by the legal profession and academics and
jurists
beyond our border," Petras said.
"Recounts were
ordered and carried out before the results of the
presidential election were
even known or made public and legally challenged.
In this context when the
results were eventually released their authenticity
could no longer be
guaranteed. This together with the ensuing presidential
run-off became the
most contested and illegitimate election since
Independence."
Petras accused the courts in Zimbabwe of
failing to serve and protect
the vote in March 2008.
"Institutional and individuals independent of the judiciary assisted
by a
compromised and politicised office of the Attorney-General ensured that
the
will of the people would not and could not be respected," she
said.
"This was not only in relation to the manner in which
electoral
legislation and the constitution were interpreted by those on the
bench, but
also by the inability or unwillingness of the Attorney-General to
identify
and prosecute perpetrators of violations and the judiciary to
ensure that
they were properly punished."
Electoral expert
Armin Rabitsch said there was need for electoral
reforms in Zimbabwe which
have to include the establishment of an
independent and competent electoral
commission, a transparent voter
registration exercise, a free media space,
creation of an appeals process
with an independent judiciary, postal and
external voting, strengthening of
women's representation in parties and
broader civic and voter education.
He said there was need to
strengthen intra-party democracy and poll
watchers, revision of some
sections of the constitution, role of government
in elections, clear result
tallying, transfer and announcement processes,
among
others.
Legal expert Geoff Feltoe said there were laws in the
country's
statutes that look good on paper, but were never enforced in the
March 2008
elections.
Feltoe said: "Electoral law reforms
certainly don't guarantee free and
fair elections. Good electoral laws are
only effective if they are observed
and enforced. Reforms ahead of the 2008
elections hardly had any impact at
all.
"Electoral reform
will have little impact unless the electoral
environment is conducive to
holding free and fair elections."
BY WONGAI ZHANGAZHA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009 19:47
TEACHERS have this week demanded to be paid US$1 500 monthly and
threatened
not to return to work when schools open for the second term next
Tuesday if
government fails to meet their demand.
The Zimbabwe Teachers
Association (Zimta) and the Progressive Teachers
Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ)
this week said the minimum salary for a teacher
should be US$1 500 monthly,
down from the US$ 2 200 they demanded last year.
According to a
declaration of Zimta's 28th annual national conference
held in Bulawayo at
the weekend, the teachers resolved to embark on
industrial
action.
"Educators will not report for the opening of the second
term as from
May 2009 until there is a significant improvement on their
remuneration in
foreign currency," reads the declaration.
Speaking at the same conference, Zimta president Tendai Chikowore said
teachers have "been taken for a ride for too long" and would not report for
work unless their demands are met.
Teachers, like other civil
servants, are paid a US$100 allowance.
"We (teachers) have been
taken for a ride for too long now and it's
time we should act," Chikowore
said. "The government failed dismally to
honour its promise of giving us a
substantial salary, now it's our time to
take action."
She said
it was "thoughtless" for teachers to return to work in
February without
tangible assurance from the government for better salaries.
"Now we
are stuck with the US$100 monthly allowance and we are without
pay,"
Chikowore said. "We are incapacitated and the only exit plan we have
is to
down tools."
Teachers were on strike for the better part of last
year and only
returned to class when Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
promised them
remuneration in foreign currency.
PTUZ
secretary-general, Raymond Majongwe, said the organisation was
"very
disappointed" that the government failed to honour its promise of
paying
teachers in foreign currency.
Instead, he said, the government was
"wasting" money in retreats and
allocating ministers and MPs vehicles at the
expense of the civil servants'
plight.
"We are dealing with a
blithe (sic) government here that opted to go
on a spending spree in the
Victoria Falls, and then came back to us claiming
that the country's coffers
are empty.
How are we going to believe them if they are acting in
such a manner?"
asked the militant Majongwe.
"As teachers we have
taken a very bold stance not to report for duty
until government gives us a
reasonable salary."
The Minister of Education, Sport, Art and
Culture, David Coltart, told
the Zimta conference that the country's coffers
were empty, hence it was not
possible to hike teachers'
salaries.
Coltart said government had the intention to pay teachers
a minimum of
US$500 monthly.
BY HENRY MHARA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009 19:37
TOMORROW'S Workers Day commemorations will be a celebration with a
difference for Lorraine Mapfumo, a nurse, as for the first time in many
years she feels she has something to rejoice about after her employer
earlier this year started paying her in hard currency.
Mapfumo,
like many workers in Zimbabwe, has for the past three months
managed to put
food on her table and provide basic needs for her family
using her US$100
allowance, something she could not do during the time the
local currency was
the sole legal tender.
"What I am earning now might not be much but
at least I can now buy
groceries and afford to commute to work daily,"
Mapfumo said.
Government and most companies in the private
sector started paying
workers in foreign currency in January after the
"multi-currencying" of the
national payment system.
The
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the country's largest
labour body,
though accused by many workers of abandoning them in pursuit of
opposition
political agendas, says it has been at the forefront demanding
the payment
of wages in hard currency.
The ZCTU, which used to represent
300 000 members in the early 1990s
before the economy took a dip, has been
accused of dabbling in MDC-T
politics at the expense of
workers.
Lovemore Matombo, the ZCTU president, defended the
union saying
workers should be reminded on May Day about the role of trade
unions.
"Universally, the role of trade unionism is to protect
and defend the
interests of the workers and this is what we have been doing
here in
Zimbabwe," Matombo said. "If we appear to be involved in political
issues it
is because these issues are part and parcel of the everyday lives
of workers
as our members have a right to take part in the democratisation
of the
country."
Matombo gave examples of Zambia, Ghana and
Kenya where labour
movements contributed in the democratisation processes in
those countries.
Labour unions have over centuries acted as
countervailing forces in
countries where there were weak opposition
parties.
Matombo said this year's Workers Day celebrations were
special as the
country's largest labour union survived the political crisis
in the country,
which saw its leaders arrested and
tortured.
"We have withstood the political pressure from Zanu
PF which arrested
and tortured our leaders and activists while they were
taking part in the
democratisation of the nation," he said.
Matambo accused the government of creating discordant labour
organisations
as a means of destroying trade unionism in the country.
Currently, the ZCTU is embroiled in a fight with employers on the
minimum
salary the least paid worker in any industry should be paid. The
union is
pushing for US$450 monthly.
According to statistics from the
ZCTU, Zimbabweans are the least paid
in the region and yet the country is
the most expensive place in the Sadc
region.
The current
poverty datum line is US$450 yet many employers are paying
salaries even
below US$100.
He said: "We have problems with companies, including the
government,
who are paying their workers part of their salaries in local
currency as the
money cannot be used anywhere."
Parastatals
like Zesa, National Railways of Zimbabwe, TelOne and the
Harare City Council
have come under attack from labour groups, including the
ZCTU, for slashing
their workers' salaries.
Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe
director, John Mufukare, said this
year's May Day celebrations come at a
time when workers and employers are
celebrating a new beginning after the
formation of the unity government.
Mufukare said industry
welcomed the formation of the inclusive
government with cautious optimism as
there were still a "lot of clouds
hanging" over the global political
agreement.
"What we are celebrating is hope. Finally, we can
start rebuilding the
country and the economy in a sustainable manner," said
Mufukare.
The Emcoz director said the dollarisation of the
economy has improved
the lives of many workers who can now afford to feed
their families.
"With dollarisation, people can at least put
food on the table
although the quantum of remuneration is not enough for
people to live
lavishly," Mufukare said.
He said that
employers were facing serious challenges regarding the
amount they could pay
workers and can only pay a living wage provided there
is a substantial
increase in production. The ZCTU and other civil
organisations last year
adopted a people's charter aimed at improving the
lives of workers. The
charter, among other things, advocates for decent
work, employment and the
right to earn a living for all.
The charter called for fair
labour standards which include a tax-free
minimum wage linked to inflation
and the poverty datum line and pay equity
for women, youth and casual
workers.
According to the ZCTU, only about 10% of workers in
formal employment
earn above the breadline salary of US$450, while
multitudes of workers have
been made redundant following company closures
over the past years and have
to eke out a living as petty traders in the
informal sector.
BY LUCIA MAKAMURE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009 19:33
THE signing of
the global political agreement and subsequent formation
of an inclusive
government in February undoubtedly came as surprise for many
judging by the
lack of goodwill on the part of the political players that
characterised the
negotiations from the outset.
But despite the odds, the warring
factions buried their differences
and formed a unity
government.
The talks to bring the warring political parties
together started
almost a decade ago, but achieved little
success.
Like the country's political settlement, the
resumption of dialogue
under the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) between
government, business
and labour and the eventual formation of a long planned
"social contract"
could come with the same element of surprise this time
around.
Could the same feat be achieved on the TNF front as
well?
Entrepreneur David Govere said he was optimistic that the
environment
is now ripe for the TNF to finally take off, citing developments
on the
political front where rival political parties formed a unity
government
despite ideological differences.
He said: "The
fact that the principals of labour have agreed to come
to the negotiating
table this time around after opting out a few years back
means that there is
renewed hope that the TNF can work. I think the
inclusive government has
surely changed people's ideas about the need to
work together.
Certainly there is a good chance that dialogue will culminate in a
social
contract."
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the largest
labour organisation
in the country, is not yet convinced government is
sincere about reviving
dialogue.
Secretary-general
Wellington Chibebe remains sceptical about the
success of the TNF saying the
formation of a unity government is not enough
to convince his union that the
state is faithful in forming an alliance with
labour and
business.
He added that labour has always been "faithful and
sincere" as a
partner in the TNF while government on the other hand only
sought to abuse
the union.
Chibebe said: "Labour has always
been about what needs to be done
while the then government lacked sincerity.
Because of lack of sincerity we
had to pull out. But now we are saying that
although government is not any
different, let's see where it takes us. This
is not bad faith but we know
that government is the same. We are giving them
a benefit of the doubt and
that is why we met them on
Friday."
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president
Kumbirai Katsande, a
partner in the TNF representing business, believes it's
time to work
together.
Katsande said: "There is no luxury
not to work together anymore
because the situation is tough out there and we
have to start thinking
outside the box and abandon our dogmas as a country
so that we can tackle
our challenges.
"We can't be rigid
forever and we must realise it is time to start
looking at how best we can
work together."
Commenting on labour demands for high wages, a
business executive said
workers have to realise that the economy is not
working and cannot be seen
pressing for high wages as if Zimbabwe is a
normal economy.
"Labour has to realise that the country's
economy is not working
properly and therefore business can't afford to pay
high salaries. But we
have to work together nonetheless," the business
executive said.
Over the years government, labour and business
have been trying to
come together as social partners and address various
problems that dogged
the country's economy but failed to agree amid
accusations by labour of lack
of sincerity on the part of
government.
Although talks to bring the parties together have
failed to achieve
the desired result in the past, it remains to be seen if
parties concerned
will put their differences aside and work for the greater
good of the
country.
Although Labour minister Paurina
Mpariwa Gwanyaya said government was
ready to meet with its partners in
labour and business yet again after
negotiations fell through in June 2007,
it also remains to be seen if the
government is sincere to work with
business and labour this time around.
Analysts say lack of good
will and mistrust between the partners could
nip the planned social contract
in the bud.
While government appears keen on reviving dialogue
with its partners
in the TNF, fears are that nothing on the ground has
changed much to
guarantee the success of a planned social contract touted as
the remedy for
the country's economic problems.
Analysts
say although the current situation demands that government,
labour and
business come together and find common ground on how best to get
the country
out of its current problems, this is unlikely going to happen
arguing that
now, more than ever business and labour relations could be
trickier.
Others said the history of TNF alone is enough to
cast doubt on
whether the attitudes of the participants would change
materially.
Labour first pulled out of the dialogue years back
after government
unilaterally increased the price of fuel and also after
government blocked a
visiting Cosatu delegation.
After that
ZCTU and its partners had a rather thorny relationship.
The
decision to resume dialogue was reached after two preparatory
meetings in
the past two months required under the Short-term Emergency
Recovery
Programme.
Under Sterp government said the TNF should
resume.
The TNF partners have since set up a technical
committee to assess
agreements and issues that they concluded before their
negotiations broke
up.
The principals agreed on incomes and
pricing stabilisation, the
restoration of production, and management of
foreign currency policies.
They hope to have a binding social
contract that guides the
formulation of all policies in the interest of the
nation. But, as they say,
"seeing is believing".
BY CHRIS
MURONZI
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
18:35
ZIMBABWE is not likely to get financial assistance from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) until it pays its arrears to the
multilateral lender and the United States lifts sanctions on the
country.
This means Zimbabwe will not benefit from the fund's
relaxed measures
to bail out low-income countries.
According to
a transcript of a press conference that followed after
last Saturday's IMF
meeting in Washington, sanctions imposed by the US bar
Harare from accessing
lines of credit and balance of payments support.
Finance
minister Tendai Biti last week led a Zimbabwe delegation to
the IMF Spring
meetings where he lobbied for re-engagement with the fund and
the World Bank
after years of frosty relations.
The Southern African
Development Community is trying to marshal
financial resources to bankroll
Zimbabwe's Short-Term Emergency Recovery
Programme.
"At
present as the situation is, the fund cannot provide financial
resources for
Zimbabwe because there are still sanctions in the fund with
Zimbabwe, so to
start that process, there will be a need to lift those
sanctions and also
for Zimbabwe to repay arrears to the fund and other
international financial
institutions," the IMF deputy director for the
African Department, Saul
Lizondo, was quoted as saying.
The country has outstanding
arrears of US$125 million to the IMF
million and its voting rights were
suspended in 2003.
The IMF Executive Board last week
introduced a raft of reforms that
will, among other things, see the board
stopping the approval of any
structural performance criterion in any
programme carried out by the fund.
"The IMF has streamlined the
financing terms by lengthening grace
periods by about one year for the
Stand-by Arrangements, about two to three
years for the Extended Fund
Facility which is an instrument that is expected
to be used more broadly by
low-income country members that graduate from the
Poverty Reduction and
Growth Facility," said the IMF.
"We're hoping to do some small,
technical assistance in the key areas
of the fund's mandate, and we
encourage others to do the same. And we'll
work with the Zimbabwean
authorities to continue to make progress on the
reform
effort."
Zimbabwe requires US$8,5 billion to finance its
economic revival.
The IMF said there were "encouraging
developments" in Zimbabwe on the
economic front.
"And as
things improve in Zimbabwe, of course we'll see some of those
refugees
return. And it's the context in which we think there's a window of
opportunity in Zimbabwe that is worthy of support by the international
community," the fund's director of African Department, Antoinette Sayeh,
said during the same press conference.
"We, for our part,
are hoping to help in the ways we can currently,
and those are mostly
through policy advice, our Article IV discussion with
the authorities was
one form. We're hoping to do some small, technical
assistance in the key
areas of the fund's mandate, and we encourage others
to do the
same.
And we'll work with the Zimbabwean authorities to continue to
make
progress on the reform effort."
Meanwhile, an IMF team that
visited Harare last month to carry out
Article IV discussions will submit a
report to its board on Monday. That
report will then be submitted to
government for comments before it is made
public.
BY BERNARD
MPOFU
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
18:25
THE banking sector should come up with interest rates and charges
that
are aligned to those of the region if the sector is to be revived,
economists said this week.
The economists said the era of
"cartels and a captive market" where
banks posted super profits at the
expense of the public was over.
Consultations on interest rates on
lending and deposits have started
in the sector after the January
introduction of multi-currencying with the
South African rand chosen by the
government as a currency of reference.
Economists told the
businessdigest that the banking sector should
benchmark the charges in line
with regional rates and lending risk factors
to come up with attractive
figures for business.
Economic Planning and Investment
Promotion minister Elton Mangoma
recently said consultations were underway
on the rates and charges.
Mangoma said: "The local banking
system can now issue foreign exchange
loans in support of productive sectors
at rates which take into account risk
assessments by the banks and the cost
of capital in international financial
markets.
"The local
banking system is still working out the interest rate on
deposits as a way
of mobilising savings."
When the economy was on a slide last year,
on-lending interest rates
were more than 10 000%.
Independent economist John Robertson this week said the banking
sector, in
deciding the rates, should take into account that the rand was
scarce in the
country and that their charges should not be much higher than
those in South
Africa.
"With the rand being the reference currency, banks
should set interest
rates in line with those prevailing in South Africa but
they should be
marginally higher and remain flexible," he
said.
Robertson said the rates should be attractive to
depositors to
encourage savings.
"If they are not
attractive the culture of not banking will continue
and foreign currency
will remain outside the banking sector," he added.
Currently,
interest rates in South Africa are pegged at 9,5%.
Financial
institutions in Botswana last week reduced the prime lending
rates to 14,5%
in what the Bank of Botswana said was a response to weakening
inflationary
pressures.
Botswana has pledged to offer a US$70 million line
of credit to
Zimbabwe. The money will be sourced from its local
banks.
Bulawayo-based economic analyst Eric Bloch said interest
rates should
be pegged based on the rand and the US dollar.
"These are currencies widely used in Zimbabwe. There will be need for
monetary authorities to set rates that are consistent with those in the US
and South Africa," he said.
Former Zimbabwe National
Chamber of Commerce president Luxon Zembe
said banks should align their
operations with those of financial
institutions in the
region.
"The banking sector is expected to revert to proper
practices," he
said. "In coming up with charges, the sector should note that
clients now
have options to transact within the region. So, they have to peg
competitive
rates."
Zembe said competitive rates would help
in instilling confidence in
potential foreign investors.
Mangoma said a lot was being done to ensure that the country's banking
sector returns to normality.
"A system has now been put in
place to allow payments and transfers of
funds between parties and banks
within the country without resorting to
corresponding offshore banks," said
Mangoma.
Government has removed restrictions on business
transactions by
deregulating restrictive exchange controls and delegated
export
administration and payment authority to banks.
Individuals and companies are now free to pay for goods and services
offshore as well as service external debts without prior exchange control
approval.
Mangoma said: "In order to remove bureaucratic
hurdles associated with
the processing of loan applications for both
domestic and foreign investors,
the government simplified the approval
process for external loans, with
authority delegated to banks to process
loans of up to US$5 million without
prior treasury and Reserve Bank
approval."
The adoption of the multi-currency system in the
country's national
payment system left most Zimbabwean banks with reduced
balance sheets to the
extent that they were no longer able to fully meet the
financial
requirements of their clients.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009 19:27
THERE is a looming problem which needs to be addressed as soon as
possible
before farmers start selling their produce.
For what I am saying to
make any sense at all, it is necessary for me
to explain how farmers used to
sell their produce, how millers used to buy
agricultural products and how
other users such as bakeries used to access
flour, how producers of chickens
used to get their feed, etc.
During the days of control of all
agricultural products, GMB used to
forecast the size of all the crops under
production. With this information,
it would approach banks to raise the
necessary finance to pay for the crops.
Farmers would deliver their various
crops between May and November.
Farmers would deliver maize,
soya beans, sunflower, small grains,
groundnuts, coffee and wheat.
Regardless of quantities produced and
delivered, GMB would take all and pay
the farmers within three weeks. Of
course there would be payment delays here
and there but on average, payment
was within three weeks.
The
millers, oil expressers, stock feed manufacturers and others would
then buy
from GMB as they wished, throughout the year.
Retailers,
bakeries, pig and chicken producers etc would then buy
mealie meal, flour,
cooking oil, chicken and pig feed.
In this chain, it was the
responsibility of GMB to raise money to pay
the farmers regardless of
whether there were buyers for the crops produced.
This resulted in GMB
incurring losses which the government picked up as
subsidies.
Controls are not good as they bring many
problems. The liberalisation
that was done by government around 1994 was
very welcome indeed. Farmers
were free to sell their produce anywhere within
the country. GMB became a
residual buyer.
GMB still estimated
how much would be sold to it and sourced
sufficient funds. What they bought
was mainly for strategic reserves. The
system worked well until 2001, when
by statutory instrument 135 of 2001,
government controlled maize and wheat
and their products.
Since then we have seen GMB, firstly,
failing to produce any annual
accounts, hence failing to raise money from
the money market to a total
takeover of its finances by the RBZ. All the
money that GMB has been using
to buy maize and wheat was from the RBZ. They
were no longer capable of
raising any money themselves.
Because of the good rains received this season, there is a mistaken
belief
that enough maize has been produced. The situation on the ground is
that
those farmers who had inputs do have a very good crop indeed.
However, they are not many at all. I have driven around the country
and we
will be lucky if there is 700 000 tonnes of maize. This means that
there
could be a shortfall of well over 1,3 million tonnes. There is a lot
of
mealie meal, cooking oil, chickens from South Africa and even Brazil;
bread
is available. The prices have really come down and one can say that
the
prices are now largely affordable.
The government has again
done well in decontrolling maize and wheat
and their products, although I am
not sure if the above statutory instrument
has been repealed. However, the
decision has created immense challenges.
Millers are importing wheat at
around US$450 per tonne while bakeries are
importing flour at a price that
squeezes millers out of business. The same
is happening with maize where it
is not profitable for millers to compete
with imported mealie meal which is
now available all over the country.
Government has said that
GMB should, when buying maize, consider
import parity. The import parity
price of maize is around US$300 per tonne.
This price is well below the
costs that farmers incurred in producing this
crop.
It must be
remembered that fuel coupons were costing US$1,35 per
litre, fertilisers
were only available on the black market and seed too was
not available in
the open market. Therefore, the maize that is being
harvested now was
produced at a high cost. Whatever the price of maize will
be, it must
encourage the farmer to grow more. In this regard, the imported
mealie meal
will pose the biggest challenge.
As for buyers of this year's
crops, GMB can be completely discounted.
This leaves millers, brewers, stock
feed manufacturers and NGOs. The few
farmers who have produced maize and
soya beans have large quantities. GMB as
a buyer was able to buy all the
grain and oil seeds in six months.
One farmer in Karoi told me
he had 300ha under maize and that the
yield would be very good. He will
harvest more than 1 500 tonnes. Another
one in Bindura told me he was
expecting 600 tonnes of soya beans.
The worry here is that
while the millers and others will use all the
maize in a short space of
time, they may not have the financial capacity to
pay the farmers as they
deliver. Many of these farmers need the money in
order to plant wheat
starting two weeks from now.
One farmer told me that his good
soya crop had no buyer as chicken
producers have been driven out of the
market by imported chickens. This
farmer needs US$700 000 to buy inputs for
wheat. Soya beans normally are
priced at double the maize
price.
This means that the price for soyas should be above
US$600 per tonne.
However, the cooking oil produced would be more expensive
than the imported
cooking oil that is in the shops.
On the
ground, I have not seen any preparedness to plant wheat two
weeks from now.
For maximum returns all wheat must be in the ground before
the end of May;
it must all be done under one month.
=Farmers must be supported
through some form of subsidy. We all know
what happens in France if there is
any inkling of tampering with the common
agricultural policy of the EU.
French farmers drive tractors into Paris and
block all the streets. In the
US, even honey producers are subsidised. I am
talking here of the principle,
so the form is open to debate.
=There is need to protect our
industries. In protecting industry,
government has a dilemma here in that
because of the economic hardships in
the country any affordable food is
welcome to the majority of our people.
How then do you protect the local
industry while at the same time ensuring
that food is available at
reasonable prices? The key here is what is
reasonable. Government must
consider putting in tariffs.
Failure to do so means farmers will
fail to produce, industries will
close and the people being protected from
high prices will go hungry.
=GMB must lease storage space for
all the buyers of farmers' produce.
After harvest and during storage, grain
needs to be fumigated all the time.
This recommendation has the effect of
reducing the price to the farmer
because GMB must charge for storage and
fumigation and somebody must pay for
this.
=The potential
problems I have highlighted here need to be addressed
as soon as possible to
enable farmers to make decisions not only about how
much wheat to plant but
how much to grow next season, which is not far away.
Renson
Gasela is deputy spokesperson for the MDC-M and expresses his
personal views
in this article.
BY RENSON GASELA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
18:12
AS the Zimbabwean economy commences its inevitably slow and
lengthy
recovery from the morass in which it has been wallowing for many
years, more
and more are expressing surprise and amazement that so many
business
entities have survived the intense economic afflictions of the last
eleven
years.
That surprise and amazement is not only an
emotive reaction of
Zimbabweans, but also from many further afield, and
particularly so as
global economic recession intensifies, bringing about the
collapse of many
financial, industrial and other entities in the US, the
United Kingdom, and
elsewhere.
More and more are pondering how
it can be that world-renowned,
monolithic entities such as General Motors,
AIG, Royal Bank of Scotland,
Northern Rock and numerous other giants of
commerce, industry and finance
can be teetering on the precipice of total
collapse, and yet a vast majority
of Zimbabwean businesses have withstood
the ravages of years and years of
hyperinflation, declining consumer demand,
negative infrastructural service
delivery, and innumerable other economic
ills.
As a result, with ever greater frequency, international
businessmen,
financiers, journalists, politicians and many others are
asking: "How did
Zimbabwean business survive? How did Zimbabwean business
withstand and
counter the endless array of economic constraints that would
have
irremediably crippled and destroyed business
elsewhere?"
One hard and tragic fact is that many Zimbabwean
businesses did not
survive. A large number of factories (and especially
small ones) ceased
operations, numerous retail shops closed, including very
many operated by
major national chain store businesses, a considerable
number of service
providers (including electricians, motor mechanics,
accountants, lawyers,
architects, engineers, and innumerable others)
discontinued their
undertakings, as did numerous entities in the tourism
sector, including
safari operators, lodges, restaurants, and diverse
others.
But, nevertheless, a very great number of businesses,
in virtually all
economic sectors, have survived and, with Zimbabwe now on
the threshold of a
substantive economic recovery, are either poised to
benefit from, and
exploit, the recovery, or are seeking the resources
necessary to enable them
to do so.
It is their continuing
existence, and evident intent to be
contributants to, and beneficiaries of,
the economic recovery that is
prompting the questions as to how they
survived, and how they withstood the
almost endless buffeting of economic
ills that beleaguered their operations
for more than a
decade.
The methodologies of survival were many, but
undoubtedly the most
predominantly applied survival tactic was a blatant
disregard for certain
laws, certain facets of breach of law being perceived
as the only
opportunities for withstanding the pronounced economic
afflictions.
First and foremost was recourse to the currency
parallel markets.
Businesses with heavy reliance and dependency upon
imports, and either not
being adequately engaged in exports to provide
required foreign exchange, or
whose exports yielded an insufficiency of
foreign exchange in consequence of
the burdensome mandatory surrender
thereof of the Reserve Bank, resorted
endlessly to sourcing their foreign
currency requirements in the illegal
alternative markets.
And
those businesses as able to generate foreign exchange in excess
of their
own needs, but struggling to attain viability when exporting with
inadequate profit margins, due to high competitiveness in export market
pricing, would attain that viability by selling their foreign currency (net
after Reserve Bank mandatory surrenders, and servicing own foreign
currency needs) within those unlawful "parallel" markets.
The other frequent disregard for law, motivated only in order to
assure
business survival, as against other motives such as profiteering, was
insofar as price controls were concerned. With typical foolhardiness,
government imposed untenable, business-crippling, price controls, its sole
motivant for doing so being to placate an increasingly infuriated electorate
which was beleaguered by intense inflation.
But most businesses
contemptuously ignored the price controls, for
observance thereof was
assured business annihilation. With diminished sales
volumes, and
inflation-driven escalations in production and operational
costs, rising
daily or even more frequently, business had no alternative but
to increase
prices beyond permitted parameters, and did not have a
sufficiency of time
to seek price increase authorisation from the intensely
bureaucratic price
control authorities.
In fact, so intensely great was inflation
that business ceased to
price on the basis of cost recovery plus a margin,
instead pricing based
upon anticipated replacement costs, and profit margin
thereon. It was not
avarice and greed that drove businesses to ignore price
controls, but
desperation in order that their enterprises could
survive.
Most businesses also had to address containment of
operating costs in
order to ensure the continuance of their businesses. To
that end, they
sought to reduce the size of labor forces, generally by
allowing natural
attrition, without replacement, to bring down the numbers
employed. In other
instances they offered many of their work forces
opportunities of voluntary
retrenchment, albeit this necessitated funding of
retrenchment packages and
termination gratuities but, by so doing, future
recurrent operating costs
were diminished.
A further
oft-resorted to cost containment was resorting to lesser
than usual
maintenance of plant, machinery and equipment, although so doing
lessened
the value of those assets, and often impacted upon quality of
products, and
upon productivity. However, business sought the benefit of
immediate
reduction of costs, in order to survive, despite knowing that
doing so was
an assured catalyst of future cost increases.
In other words,
business was resorting to "crisis management"
decisions of addressing
immediate problems, irrespective of consequential
exacerbation of future
ones.
Most also strove to survive by effecting reductions in
overhead
expenditures wheresoever it was considered possible to do so,
including
lesser expenditure upon personnel training and development,
discontinuance
of audit of financial statements, cessation of insurance of
assets against
the countless risks confronting enterprises, reduced support
for charities
and community service bodies, and so forth.
As inflation continued and intensified, so the capital resources of
most
businesses were progressively eroded more and more, often contracting
to
levels insufficient to meet the operational needs of the
businesses.
Some resorted to borrowings to counter this, but at
considerable
cost, as interest rates rose progressively, driven upwards by
inflation, and
such costs diminishing prospects of survival, unless other
compensatory cost
reductions could be effected. Others addressed their
capitalisation needs by
seeking investors willing to acquire a stake in the
business, whilst yet
others sought to reduce their capitalisation needs by
discontinuing
provision of credit to customers, lowering levels of
stockholdings, and by
disposals of assets.
More
constructively, in some instances, businesses did not yield to
the
voluminous viability pressures upon them, and instead worked vigorously
to
resolve those pressures by seeking enhanced trade volumes, either by
product
diversification, or by marked diversification, or both.
They
penetrated new export markets, often attaining only minimal
profit margins,
but benefiting from significantly increased volumes of
production, or
expanded their customer base, with like benefits, by
aggressive marketing
and advertising, or widening of their product range, or
both.
The common trait of the businesses that survived, as
against those
that fell by the wayside, was a determination to survive, a
resolve not to
succumb to despondency and the widespread, heavily-prevailing
"doom and
gloom" prognostications of many, but instead to have a sufficiency
of
self-confidence to believe in survival, irrespective of numerous
obstacles
and hurdles to be traversed. And it is those that will reap the
benefits of
the economic recovery that lies ahead for Zimbabwe.
BY ERIC BLOCH
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
17:56
A NICE Page 1 picture in the Herald this week, showing
flower-sellers
back in Africa Unity Square and headed "Business blooms
again".
"Flower vendors evicted during Operation Murambatsvina four
years ago
are now back in Africa Unity Square after the Harare City Council
licensed
them," we were told.
This is a welcome development.
Muckraker has long argued that they add
colour and life to the neighbourhood
which includes Meikles Hotel.
But why were they evicted in the first
place if they are benefiting
the city, and why did it take them four years
to get licensed?
The Herald didn't tell us.
Still with
evictions, few will be persuaded that having evicted more
than 4 000 white
farmers, issuing offer letters to 13 represents an exercise
in government
generosity.
Advocate Martin Dinha was at pains to suggest that the land
reform
exercise was not racist but aimed at redressing skewed land tenure
patterns.
The Sadc Tribunal disagreed. It was self-evidently racist, it
argued.
We agree that government needed to address colonial anomalies.
But can
Dinha explain why people like Ben Freeth and his family were
savagely beaten
by a Zanu PF gang and were then excoriated in the government
media for
seeking relief at the Sadc Tribunal because they felt they
couldn't get any
justice in this country? And let us not forget the plight
of farm labourers
who have in many cases bravely resisted the Zanu PF thugs
who have invaded
farms.
Our congratulations to Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara for
speaking up on the issue of land invasions. He
personally visited the Freeth
family who in addition to brutal treatment are
victims of dispossession. We
would be interested to hear the views of the
Swedish and Norwegian
ambassadors on whether they think it's OK for the
state to seize land and at
one stroke deprive a family of a lifetime's
work?
They seem to be rushing with indecent haste to throw money at the
unity government before important issues, such as the role of the
attorney-general, have been resolved.
We had Sue Lloyd Roberts
filming for the BBC last weekend. Her
interview with Tendai Biti provided
him with the opportunity to make his now
routine pitch for immediate
assistance.
Many people will be sympathetic with the argument that the
unity
government cannot survive without donor support. But the bottom line
is that
the MDC has not ensured sufficient adherence by President Mugabe to
the
Global Political Agreement to warrant a change of policy.
Mugabe's refusal to appoint Roy Bennett to office despite a clear
obligation
to do so is emblematic of the pact's weakness. The whole point of
the
Sadc-mediated process was to stop Mugabe from behaving in a way that is
damaging to the country's interests.
What must also be evident to
all is Mugabe's belief, reflected in his
Independence Day interview, that
the MDC's job is to persuade donor states
to lift sanctions. What needs to
be said loud and clear is that until Mugabe
meets the criteria set out in
the GPA, there will be no obligation for
others to help. The parties to the
unity pact must first do what they said
they would do in
September.
The proposed media-reform conference, now pencilled in
for Kariba in
less than a week's time, illustrates the attempt by the ancien
regime to
cling on to power. Instead of drawing up an agenda in consultation
with the
media, the government has
arbitrarily lined up a rogues'
gallery of media molesters who
can be guaranteed to do what they do
best - as little as possible
while acting as apologists for state
control.
Can you imagine sitting through a speech by Tafataona Mahoso,
droning
on about why media reform equals regime change. And could somebody
explain
what Chris Chivinge's job is at this point in time? Answers on the
back of a
postage stamp please.
Lloyd Roberts concluded her
otherwise revealing documentary by saying
"rich countries have little
inclination to help".
In fact they are the only ones helping. The US
and EU countries are
currently fixing the water infrastructure and providing
food and medicines
to those most in need. The Scandinavians will also be
paying teachers'
salaries.
What is the unity government doing apart
from haggling over luxury
vehicles? It is a disgraceful episode and the MDC
should wake up to the
long-term damage it is inflicting on the party's
reputation. We expect Zanu
PF to be venal, not those purporting to bring
improved governance.
And nobody buys the story about the MPs needing
the vehicles to spread
the gospel of Sterp. Please stop insulting our
intelligence!
US-based Human Rights Watch made a useful point on
the sanctions
issue.
"Western governments should keep looking for
creative ways to help
vulnerable Zimbabweans," the rights group said, "but
they shouldn't bankroll
Zimbabwe's unreformed institutions of repression and
those running
them.Human rights abusers should be prosecuted, not
subsidised."
Webster Shamu showed us on Sunday what direction the media
conference
will take when he threatened to "punish" the Zimbabwe Independent
for
"publicising cabinet deliberations".
"Publishing deliberations
of cabinet or building stories in the name
of the august body outside of
what government has authorised and/or released
is a punishable offence,"
Shamu warned in a statement. "This is a standard,
worldwide rule for both
governments and the media."
Is it? Strange how suddenly Zanu PF
ministers embrace the rule of law
and international standards when they want
to "punish" newspapers. And now
cabinet has become "august"!
The
law to which the minister refers is presumably the Official
Secrets Act
which most people in the media and many in government see as yet
another of
those relics of empire which Zanu PF seems so fond of. Like all
the others
it needs to go!
Shamu is predetermining the outcome of the media
conference by making
hostile statements of this sort. Why doesn't he say
something useful, that
is when he is not inserting newspaper ads in praise
of Vitalis Zvinavashe!
And finally on this subject, does Gideon
Gono find it helpful to have
Zanu PF ministers coming to his aid every time
he finds himself in a little
local difficulty? And weren't we assured his
little spat with Cde Biti was
over?
Is it true that history
repeats itself? In May 1979 Ian Smith,
recognising eventual defeat in the
country's liberation war, conceded the
impression of power by handing the
premiership to Bishop Abel Muzorewa while
retaining its substance.
He kept for himself and his cronies ministries concerned with justice,
police, the armed forces and civil service. As a result those with whom he
purportedly shared power were discredited for their failure to make a
difference. The war
continued and sanctions were not
lifted.
They did get to change the flag and rechristen the national
airline
but that was about all. Eventually, a new constitution negotiated by
the
contesting parties brought real freedoms and sanctions were
lifted.
Today, exactly 30 years later, these echoes from our past have
come
back to haunt us.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29
April 2009 18:06
NCA chairman Lovemore Madhuku's article last week
focused chiefly on
the definition of a constitution. He promised to explain
this week a
"people-driven" constitution-making process.
My
observation on the second point is that either Madhuku has a
contract with
all who can explain the concept "people-driven" not to write,
in which case
they are stifling debate, or he is the only one who can do so,
which renders
it a valueless novelty.
On the definition, Madhuku gives us
traditional concepts used in every
modern constitution so that it's hard to
tell what would make Zimbabwe's
supreme law unique.
He says
the "purpose of a good constitution is to entrench strict
controls on the
exercise of power". In other words, to prevent the abuse of
power. This is
not a revelation. It means our basic law can be an amalgam of
existing laws
or drafts without the need for an expensive survey.
What is
needed is transparency on the draft(s) to be used. The secrecy
around the
Kariba draft has created a lot of suspicion about government's
intentions
instead of eliciting constructive debate.
People should be able
to add or subtract to the draft as informed by
their objective experiences.
This will enrich the debate better than the
gathering of raw data. Zimbabwe
is not seeking to reinvent the wheel.
Madhuku will admit that a
constitution cannot be a reproduction of raw
passions. In the end
technocrats will reduce it to a schema before it is
signed into
law.
This is the argument: We have been too long in the cold
and have
agreed we need a good house. We have a ground and a selection of
houses to
which we can make alterations and combinations to satisfy our
peculiar
wants. The debate is whether to buy a house or to build from
scratch.
The universal question is: "How do you wish to be
governed?" Millions
of people and hundreds of nations have answered it for
us over the centuries
it is extravagant of us to spend resources researching
it. Yet Madhuku
reverts to architectural aesthetics to ask: "What is the
most appropriate
and legitimate way of making a democratic
constitution?"
This is superfluous. It makes building the house
an end in itself. Is
the aim to consult everybody or to consult in such a
way that the outcome is
acceptable to the majority? It is naïve to expect
total consensus so long as
man can think.
Often supporters
of a football team will disagree with the coach's
team selection but once
the team wins the majority are happy. There will be
spoilers who want their
favourite player in the team regardless of
victory -- the purpose of the
match. If Bullet Hed had been in the game the
scoreline would have been six
instead of four goals!
Do you want to drive a beautiful car or
do you want to drive only the
one you have manufactured? The objective is to
hold political leaders to
account and stop the abuse of power, not who or
how the law was formulated?
It would be sad if Madhuku were to expend his
constitutional expertise on
casuistry about processes instead of
enlightening the nation on various
provisions in the draft.
Madhuku makes his argument fatally flawed by seeking to use the
outcome of
the referendum to fortify his position. The premise is that if he
wins then
he is right and the reverse for Zanu PF and the MDC.
This is to
conflate legitimacy with right.
I would agree with Madhuku if
he said it was wrong for parliament to
set up a select committee to
spearhead the constitution-making process and
then vest it with veto power
on what is a good constitution.
That is wrong. It contaminates the
result by usurping sovereignty from
the people to decide how they want to be
ruled. Government cannot be allowed
to make laws on how it should
rule.
What is needed is an independent body which can win the
trust of the
majority to consult on the draft. Such a body must be seized by
Zimbabwe's
historical and cultural sensibility, guided in its task by what
Thomas Paine
calls a "sense and interest of country".
Madhuku says a good constitution (house) "must enshrine values which
guide
and bind existing and future generations". Thomas Paine responds in
Rights
of Man: "Every age and generation must be free to act for itself, in
all
cases, as the ages and generations which preceded it. The vanity and
presumption of governing beyond the grave is the most ridiculous and
insolent of all tyrannies."
What should distinguish a
Zimbabwean constitution from any other is
the national ethos, the defining
spirit at a particular historical juncture.
One cannot, for instance, talk
about a new constitution for Zimbabwe without
giving prominence to
land.
Similarly, Zimbabweans' perception of presidential power
and
term-limits is influenced by their present and past experience. But that
doesn't call for a new survey on constitution-making.
Madhuku's un-intellectual decision to appeal to the popular vote in a
referendum preempts and forecloses all dialogue because ultimately it
debases the discourse to a binary campaign for or against the draft
constitution. What is needed is open debate on the draft before us whether
done in Kariba or by the NCA.
People need to be informed. The
objective is to come up with the best
constitution for our era, not to win
the yes or no vote!
In debating a "new" constitution, let us
heed Paine's caveat that
"when public matters are open to debate and the
public judgement free, it
will not decide wrong, unless it decides too
hastily". We need time.
This challenges the tyrannical timelines
imposed by the GPA. Do these
deadlines serve the "sense and interest" of the
nation? Was man made for the
Sabbath or the Sabbath for
man?
Read Nyathi in newzimbabwe.com blog.
BY JORAM
NYATHI
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
18:03
WE are three-quarters way through the first hundred days of the
government's reform agenda drawn up at the Victoria Falls. Are we as a
nation making progress? "Half-half" would be the likely
response.
The economy has stabilised thanks to the US dollar and
the inability
of the Reserve Bank to go on printing money.
Political prisoners have been released although their captors appear
anxious
to continue their detention. And ministers from all three parties
are in
many cases working together to fulfil an agenda of reform and
recovery.
But there things get stuck. Wealthy donors are
reluctant to do any
more than provide humanitarian aid because they see only
limited progress on
the ground. They argue -- understandably -- that if
Zimbabwe's political
parties cannot achieve progress, why should they be
expected to help at a
time when their own economies are under
pressure?
A series of meetings between the principals last week
and this week
don't appear to have made much progress. An agreement in
Pretoria to review
the appointment of governors, permanent secretaries, and
diplomats has
produced nothing as President Mugabe digs in his
heels.
The same goes for the Reserve Bank governor and
attorney-general who
reflect partisan loyalties.
Arbitrary arrests,
including those of productive farmers have raised
international concern; so
has willful disregard for rulings of the Sadc
Tribunal. This is
self-evidently still a government that only respects the
rule of law when it
suits it.
Giles Mutsekwa at Home Affairs has achieved little or
nothing in
curbing lawlessness or over-zealous elements in the
law-enforcement
agencies.
Mugabe won't appoint Roy Bennett
to office even though that step is
required of him in terms of the Global
Political Agreement. The spurious
charges Bennett faces were dismissed when
brought against Mutsekwa three
years ago.
Mugabe has also
demonstrated his obstructionist powers by arbitrarily
reallocating the
communications role of the ICT ministry headed by Nelson
Chamisa. The more
reactionary elements in government will now have their
capacity to snoop on
citizens enhanced.
Of particular concern to the media has been
the bid by officials to
pack the forthcoming media conference with dead
wood. Individuals who have
closed down newspapers and manipulated
accreditation procedures will be
given a say in what a "reformed" media
landscape should look like.
These are the sort of obstacles
being thrown in the path of the
coalition government by those who are
opposed to any concessions being made.
The response of donors
is therefore hardly surprising. They have been
supporting the new government
with aid on a significant scale at a time when
ministers have been arguing
about what vehicles they should get.
The US-based Human Rights
Watch summed up the dilemma.
Donor governments "should keep
looking for creative ways to help
vulnerable Zimbaweans but they shouldn't
bankroll Zimbabwe's unreformed
institutions of repression and those running
them", it said last week.
The MDC has been too anxious to
secure external funding without first
ensuring Mugabe and his gang of
recidivist officials adhere to the terms
they agreed last
September.
If things go on like this there will be a stalemate
in the government
of the country which will undo the limited progress made
so far.
MDC ministers should not be shy about identifying and
denouncing those
who are resisting change so the public knows where the
problem lies when the
100 days are up.
In the short term,
Human Rights Watch called on the power-sharing
government to disclose the
whereabouts of "disappeared" persons; end
harassment of civil society
activists and free those who have been illegally
abducted; investigate
allegations of torture and hold fully to account those
found to be
responsible; halt farm invasions, remove immediately those who
have invaded
properties since the GPA was signed, and respect private
property
rights.
Human Rights Watch also called for the government to
carry out without
delay reforms of the police, judiciary, prosecuting
authorities,
intelligence service, armed forces, and other state bodies that
continue to
abuse the rights of Zimbabweans.
These are
benchmarks we should all support, reflecting as they do the
reasonable
demands made of any democratic government. Their fulfilment would
signify
more than anything else that there can be no going back.
What
we can be sure of is the unwillingness of all Zimbabweans to
return to the
lawlessness and violence of the recent past. And we can be
sure nobody wants
to see the return of the discredited Zimbabwe dollar,
symbol of a failed
state.
Those who are working for change can be sure of popular
support. But
it is still too early to pretend that misrule has been
effectively dealt
with. It hasn't and continues to haunt us as a nation
deserving of better
things.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Wednesday, 29 April 2009 17:40
WHAT a week it was! Thanks to a stormy cabinet meeting last week at
which
Finance minister Tendai Biti clashed with Zanu PF heavyweights over
his
motion to investigate Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono for allegedly
overstepping his mandate by borrowing more than US$1 billion (US$5,3 billion
in total) without approval from treasury.
The row, whose
details were published in this newspaper last Friday,
triggered all sorts of
reactions. It's a pity we can't follow-up the story
even though we have more
revealing details because of officials' threats of
a backlash. We have been
gagged.
The feedback to the story ranged from the positive to the
hostile and
to the malicious. Official thought police and political hacks
crept out of
the woodwork to issue threats and insults.
However, the feedback provided a useful insight into the current
political
environment and attitudes towards press freedom. In Zimbabwe the
more things
change the more they remain the same.
What was significant was
that none of those making noise were able to
deny the story. They just
complained that proceedings of cabinet were secret
and classified or that
the story either advanced Biti's or Gono's agenda -
whatever those agendas
are!
There were different interpretations of the story - which
is normal in
a reasonably democratic and diverse society.
Some of the reactions came from Information minister Webster Shamu and
political hacks like Denford Magora, a former Mavambo movement publicist.
There was also hectic feedback, mostly in private among some of those
mentioned in the story. Revealing details of what they said could be
misconstrued for a defiant follow-up by hawkish government
officials.
For the avoidance of doubt, I must clearly state we
welcome feedback,
whether positive or negative. We will differ with
officials and readers on
some issues, but we will defend their right to air
their views freely.
At the Independent we have an open door
policy. Even those who insult
us falsely claiming we get stories from the
RBZ's PR desk and reporters here
have been bought houses by Gono are still
welcome. We recognise other people's
freedom to lie!
In
that connection, we were glad to hear Shamu's reaction to the
story. Via an
article headlined "Government warns media", the minister was
quoted as
saying newspapers which publish cabinet deliberations without
authorisation
risk retribution.
He reminded the media in general and the
Independent in particular
cabinet discussions were
confidential.
He said it was an offence in terms of the law to
write about cabinet
meetings and even went on to claim it was unethical,
which obviously is
nonsense. There is nothing unethical about it. It's the
legitimacy of the
laws in question - the Official Secrets Act and Aippa -
that matter.
Politically, the reactions were mind-boggling.
While we know what the
minister was saying may well be true, what is
worrying is draconian statutes
used by government to justify Stalinist
suppression of public interest
information and generalised media
repression.
All over the world reporting on cabinet meetings is
a controversial
issue.
Right now there is an interesting
debate going on in the UK after
Justice Secretary Jack Straw vetoed a ruling
under the Freedom of
Information Act instructing the government to release
the minutes of two key
cabinet meetings on March 13 and 17, 2003, when the
final decision to go to
war against Iraq was discussed.
Is
it entirely legitimate to ban any form of reporting on cabinet?
Last year in
the US there was a report that former vice-president Dick
Cheney had slept
during a cabinet meeting on wildfires. Was it wrong or not
for the media to
let people know that?
If ministers fight in cabinet, for
instance, would it be in the public
interest to report that or
not?
Currently Shamu and his colleagues are running around
trying to
organise a media reform conference. Do his threats augur well for
the future
of the media? Don't they signify the conference will be a
sham?
Is it good to have a blanket ban on reporting on cabinet
proceedings
or could there be a way of balancing the public interest and
state security
considerations without resorting to iron curtain
restrictions? These issues
must be thoroughly debated, not through threats
but open engagement.
Hopefully the media conference will not be
a wasteful charade or a
cover for media tyranny. However, all those who have
seen the programme of
the conference have been left astounded. It is packed
with high-profile
enemies of press freedom.
Parenthetically, on the issue of newspapers borrowing money for
newsprint
from the Reserve Bank, everybody who is informed knows that Gono
has
confirmed it in public. The funds were not freebies. They were loans
that
had to be repaid.
Some people claimed our story supported Gono.
That's their view but
other readers actually concluded the
opposite.
The story we published last week in brief said Biti
got the backing of
Zanu PF ministers at a ministerial committee meeting to
probe Gono for
alleged unauthorised borrowings, only for him to be blocked
in cabinet. The
other story was MPs are saying ministers fighting them over
RBZ cars have at
least two vehicles each bought by or via the same bank. We
don't know why
anybody could find such true stories angering. Let's not gag
the media
through unnecessary threats and lies.
BY DUMISANI
MULEYA