By a Special
Correspondent 5/7/03 2:02:05 AM (GMT
+2)
AT least four banks are reportedly
facing a liquidity crunch that could trigger financial tremors similar to
those touched off at the end of the 1990s when Zimbabwe was hit by its first
banking sector shock which threatened to wipe out a number of financial
institutions.
Impeccable sources at the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) yesterday said that while most banking
institutions had reported high average liquidity in the six months to
December 31 2002, Beverly Building Society, First Merchant Bank, the Zimbabwe
Development Bank Finance and Trustfin were potentially headed for the
shifting sands. According to the well-placed
sources, who cannot be named, the liquidity squeeze faced by the institutions
has seen the RBZ significantly increasing its funding to the banking sector,
which does not seem to be about to call time on growth since the phenomenal
growth that began in the 1990s. They
revealed that the central bank pumped in $21. 6 billion to accommodate
troubled banks during the six months to December 31 2002, reflecting a
worrying development over the health of the financial institutions in
question. Even though the institutions that
were thrown a lifeline by the central bank were not necessarily at the very
deep end but moving towards it, the level of support, the sources said,
indicated severe liquidity and solvency problems in the interbank
market. They said that this would be revealed
in an RBZ internal confidential report completed in March this year and whose
tone suggests stress for the institutions. The central bank's Macroprudential
Surveillance Report, which is traditionally not released to the public,
provides a general assessment of the impact that the macro-economic
environment has on the performance of the banking
sector. The central bank uses the report for
monitoring developments as it provides early warning signals to any potential
banking problems, which could cause financial
instability. The sources said that banking
authorities' stress testing for a system wise liquidity crunch when they were
collating information for the report revealed that Beverly Building Society,
First Merchant Bank (FMB), Zimbabwe Development Bank Finance (ZDBF) and
Trustfin - had a high probability of facing liquidity
problems. The four institutions' adjusted
liquidity ratios were pegged at 7.3 percent, 4.8 percent, 4.8 percent and 2.4
percent respectively, during the time the examinations were carried
out. The adjusted liquidity ratio reflects a
situation whereby those assets that are likely to become illiquid in a system
wise crisis such as deposits at other banks and liquid assets guaranteed by
the government are removed from liquid
assets. Among other issues, the central bank
also looked at Capital Adequacy and Asset Quality. Stress testing of the
banking sector for adequate provisions indicated that Agribank, Metropolitan,
Genesis and the Leasing Company of Zimbabwe (LCZ) were undercapitalised. This
was after assuming that no collateral was
available. Collateral value is ignored in the
calculation of required provisions because collateral is a secondary source
of capital which may not materialise in a crisis
situation. In its report, the sources said,
the RBZ also sounded a warning for Metropolitan Bank, Time Bank, Genesis
Investments and CFX which had reported high adversely classified loans to
total loans ratios of 46 percent, 79.9 percent, 63.1 percent and 58.4 percent
respectively. The sources said the central bank makes it clear in its report
that this is a red flag that should not be
ignored. "In fact there is a statement in the
report which says that 'this indicates worrying levels of credit risk at
these perennially struggling banks, which calls for close monitoring'," the
sources said.
By Godfrey
Marawanyika Senior Staff Reporter 5/7/03
2:03:42 AM (GMT +2)
THE Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) is understood to be owed over $400 million by
the Department of Information and Publicity in the Office of the President
and Cabinet in advertising revenue, the Financial Gazette established this
week.
Insiders at the state broadcaster
said the money owing to the corporation accrued over a period of about two
months when the corporation's parent ministry ran a series of advertisements
on television and radio that were mainly meant to drum up support for the
land reform programme. The bills accrued over
adverts that were flighted between November and December last year, under the
banner of "Chave Chimurenga", as government stepped up the acquisition of
commercial farms for purposes of resettling landless black
Zimbabweans. The sources said that ZBC finance
officer Victor Musundi and his senior, Lawrence Chataza, in April sent
invoices to the Department of Information indicating that the department owed
the corporation some $412 719 542. During
the national budget the department, which is headed by Jonathan Moyo, was
allocated $13 billion. ZBC chief executive
Munyaradzi Hwengere did not reply to questions sent to him at the time of
going to press. The department is not the only
one that has failed to meet its obligations. Since the end of the
presidential election in March 2002, the ruling ZANU PF has so far failed to
pay $275 million owed to several companies, including one of the country's
leading advertising agencies which handled the party's ambitious media
campaign in the run-up to last year's presidential
elections. One of the worst affected companies
is Lintas Advertising Agency, a key player in the massive radio, television
and newspaper campaigns, as it is owed $209 million which it has been failing
to recover. Some of the companies that are
owed money include Textile Printers that is owned by ZANU PF chief whip and
Mberengwa West Member of Parliament Joram
Gumbo. Other firms include Millennium
Advertising and Corporate Marketing. No
comment could be obtained from Moyo, as he was said to be in a meeting but
his secretary referred this paper's inquiries to George Charamba, the
Permanent Secretary in the ministry who was said to
be unavailable.
The 55 000-member Zimbabwe Teachers'
Association (Zimta) yesterday declared an indefinite strike after the
government failed to accept demands by the teachers for an immediate salary
review, teacher representatives said.
The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), which boasts of
a membership of 13 000 teachers, immediately rallied, saying it would
support Zimta. Marathon meetings between
the Zimta and Public Service Commission (PSC) officials yesterday failed to
break an impasse between the government and the teachers over the issue,
which has been outstanding since January. "The
demands by the teachers have not been met. As a result all personnel in the
education fraternity have decided to withdraw their labour with effect from
today," said the Zimta secretary-general, Dennis
Sinyolo. The government awarded an 80 percent
salary increment to the teachers in January but did not implement
recommendations of a job evaluation exercise that involved job profiling,
grading and compensation of all teachers.
This has since not been done. The move would have meant the upgrading of the
teaching profession in the civil service and enhancing
their remuneration. "We will support the
Zimta strike, but we'll remain in the background," said the PTUZ
secretary-general Raymond Majongwe.
TRADITIONAL chiefs who helped
President Robert Mugabe to secure victory in the controversial election last
year are demanding that he should buy them service vehicles and increase
their monthly gratuities, the Financial Gazette established
yesterday.
There are 266 traditional
chiefs in the country who are each receiving monthly pay-outs of $50 000.
Mugabe promised to give the chiefs vehicles when he addressed them at their
annual meeting in January. Jonathan Mangwende,
President of the Chiefs Council confirmed there was growing agitation among
the chiefs who were worried by the delayed delivery of the promised
vehicles. He said that he did not even have an
idea when the vehicles would arrive, as the government had not invited
tenders for the supply of the vehicles.
"The promised vehicles are not yet there but I understand that the government
is still working on the modalities of acquiring them,"
Mangwende said. A modest brand new vehicle
now costs between $35 million and $40 million on the
market. This means the total cost of the
entire fleet for the 266 chiefs could amount to more than $9 billion. There
is no provision for that in the current national
budget. Mangwende said that the vehicles were
now long overdue, as the chiefs needed them
urgently. Mangwende said that most chiefs were
demanding that the government should hike their monthly allowances because of
the inflationary environment in the
country. "We need an increase of up to $80
000. The allowance is never sufficient and we will continue to ask for
periodic reviews till we die," he said.
Traditional chiefs had their allowances increased up to $50 000 from $18 000
last year, while that of their headmen doubled to $20 000 in January this
year. Mugabe last year electrified and built
boreholes at chiefs' homesteads in a move that was calculated at winning
their hearts in the face of stiff opposition from the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change president Morgan
Tsvangirai. A provision of $4.5 million was
allocated to each province in the 2003 budget for use by the chiefs in their
official activities. Ignatious Chombo,
Minister of Local Government and his deputy Chief Fortune Charumbira were
both unavailable for comment as there were said to be out of the office and
their mobiles were continuously out of reach.
ATTEMPTS by African leaders to bring
the ruling ZANU PF and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
together are a clear signal of African leaders' frustrations of the potential
damage the Zimbabwe crisis will have on the continent, diplomatic sources
said.
The sources said the leaders wanted
to be seen as capable of reining in trouble spots on the continent such as
Zimbabwe, Burundi, Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the
hope of courting support from the G8 industrialised nations for the New
Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD).
They said President Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo who are part of leaders
spearheading the NEPAD programme were concerned about the potential damage
the crisis in Zimbabwe would have on the continent's attempts to lure G8
industrialised nations to back NEPAD.
President Bakili Muluzi also attended this week's talks with President Robert
Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The
sources said the Zimbabwe meeting was even more crucial before the G8 nations
summit in the French Alpine resort town of Evian from June1-3 this year where
the NEPAD programme will come under
discussion. One of the key elements of NEPAD
is peer review, which allows member African countries to keep an eye on each
other's progress towards just, accountable and open
government. "It was Mbeki and Obasanjo who
undertook to have this visit because they should give evidence that they are
doing something about Zimbabwe," a Harare based European diplomat told the
Financial Gazette. "Next month the G8 is
meeting in Evian and the question that will be obviously asked to the
architects of the programme is can you handle the Zimbabwe crisis within the
context of NEPAD." Under NEPAD, which is
modelled on the "Marshall Plan" through which the United States (US) helped
rebuild Europe after World War Two, Africa needs US$64 billion of investment
inflows annually to ensure
sustainable growth. The architects of
NEPAD, who include Mbeki and Obasanjo have promised the industrialised
nations to break with a past of misrule to court support for their ambitious
African renaissance plan. Last year in March
African heads of state who gathered in Abuja, Nigeria gave strong support for
a declaration on good political governance, committing heads of state to
uphold plural democracy, respect human rights and freedom of the press and
judiciary and to eradicate corruption. But of
all trouble spots on the continent, Zimbabwe has remained a sticking point
between the West and African nations dividing the Commonwealth on racial
grounds. African leaders have battled to
separate the Zimbabwe crisis from NEPAD but the southern Africa's political
and economic crisis has snowballed since March last year when President
Mugabe was controversially re-elected in a ballot the MDC claims was
flawed. Members of the G8 grouping who have
been critical of Zimbabwe are Britain, Canada and the
US. However, diplomats said they were
encouraged by the talks between the African leaders with President Robert
Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai this week but said initial
indications were that the two could not meet any time
soon. They said while Tsvangirai had indicated
his willingness to meet Mugabe without any conditions, they expressed concern
about Mugabe's condition that the MDC leader first recognises him as the
legitimate head of state, saying this could stall any
talks. Mugabe, talking tough after meeting
African leaders said the opposition party which has launched a legal
challenge to his re-election last year should recognise the 79 former
guerilla leaders as Zimbabwe's president if dialogue is to
resume. Diplomatic sources privy to the
discussions said the MDC had shot down Obasanjo's proposition that the
opposition party accept the existence of the Electoral Supervisory Commission
which the opposition say is not
properly constituted. It also emerged this
week that some members of the European Union had put pressure on South Africa
to hold talks with ZANU PF and the MDC three weeks ago to break the political
impasse that has gripped the country. South
African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zhlamini Zuma met government officials in
France and Germany where the Zimbabwean issue was
discussed. "The South African Foreign Minister
was in France and Germany three weeks ago where concern was raised about what
is happening in Zimbabwe," a senior Western diplomat
said. "They helped to push for these
talks." Analysts and political commentators
this week said the problems affecting Zimbabwe were a major issue for the
West, which has been critical of Mugabe's
policies. The analysts said there was now a
realisation especially by regional leaders that Zimbabwe was a blocking
mechanism to attracting foreign investment to the
region. Brian Raftopolous, director of the
Zimbabwe of Development Studies at the University of Zimbabwe this week said
Muluzi, Mbeki and Obasanjo would have wanted to see a quick resolution to
buttress their claim that Africa was able to solve its own
problems. "I think the Zimbabwe question has
impacted and will continue to do so on NEPAD if it is not addressed,"
Raftopolous said. "Zimbabwe is still a major
issue for the West and on the part of African leaders there has to be an
indication that there is a movement forward on the Zimbabwe
crisis." Analysts also said eventually there
would have to be a compromise between Mugabe and Tsvangirai to pull Zimbabwe
out of the woods. The analysts however said
Mugabe was expecting the MDC to put a lot on the table while not giving
anything himself. "He (Mugabe) is expecting
the MDC to put a lot on the table while he himself is not giving anything,"
Raftopolous added.
CHIEF Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku has
dropped out of the case in which High Court judge, Benjamin Paradza, is
challenging the constitutionality of his controversial
arrest.
It emerged yesterday that there
were serious differences among the judges over Paradza's
case. Legal experts had been urging Justice
Chidyausiku to recuse himself from the case after it emerged that he had
sanctioned Paradza's arrest, an issue that caused 10 other High Court judges
to protest against their colleague's
arrest. Paradza was arrested in February on
corruption charges. In their petition to
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa, the
judges said proper procedures had not been followed before Paradza's arrest
and that the action by the police tarnished the Judge's image and belittled
him. Paradza, who is on bail, is accused of
interfering with the trial of a friend and business partner, Russel
Luschagne, who has since been jailed
for murder. The Financial Gazette
established yesterday that Justice Chidyausiku has been left out of the case,
which will be heard by a full Supreme Court bench comprising Justice's Wilson
Sandura, Misheck Cheda, Venarda Ziyambi, Luke Malaba and Elizabeth Gwaunza on
Tuesday. Efforts to get a comment from Justice
Chidyausiku or the Registrar of the Supreme Court proved fruitless as phones
at the Supreme Court went unanswered yesterday morning and in the
afternoon. But sources said Justice
Chidyausiku had opted out of the case due to the damning allegations made
against him by Paradza. "He had become an
interested party and the wisest thing to do was to watch by the sidelines
than take an active part. That's what he chose to do, otherwise no-one was
going to respect the determination of the Court if he had taken part," said a
source in the legal fraternity closely linked to
the case. After his arrest, Paradza
attacked Justice Chidyausiku and High Court Judge President Paddington Garwe
for compromising the independence of the judiciary by allowing his
arrest. Conduct "totally
unacceptable" In a Supreme Court application
challenging the constitutionality of his arrest, Paradza accused Justice
Chidyausiku of failing to protect him and described the Chief Justice's
conduct as "totally unacceptable". Legal
experts also called on Justice Chidyausiku to recuse himself from the case
saying he could not make a ruling in a case in which "ten judges on his bench
have already pronounced a determination".
Paradza also deplored Justice Chidyausiku's conduct, which he said was meant
to safeguard the Chief Justice's cosy relations with the
government. "I would have expected them
(Justice's Chidyausiku and Garwe) to protect the integrity of the bench by
insisting that there was no need for my arrest and being placed on remand
without correct procedure being followed," said
Paradza. "I can only assume that they did not
do so for fear that they would fall out of favour with the executive, as
happened in the case of the former chief justice (Anthony) Gubbay and the
other judges of the High Court who resigned their
offices." Paradza maintained in his
application that his arrest was politically motivated and that proper
channels had not been followed. He argued that President Robert Mugabe, on
the advice of Justice Chidyausiku, should have first set up a tribunal to
ascertain the validity of the allegations leveled against
him. It also emerged yesterday that judges
were sharply divided between those who are against Paradza's arrest and those
who refused to sign the petition. Judiciary sources said some senior judges
with personal differences with Paradza masterminded his arrest hence the
clandestine manner in which the arrest was
handled. "It doesn't matter how the serious
the issue might have been. The simple fact is that a tribunal should have
been set up but you see, because there was more to this issue, some people
wanted Paradza to get the worst humiliation
possible. "Otherwise where in this world would
you find a police officer arresting a judge in his chambers, minutes before
handling an urgent matter? The whole thing has left a number of judges uneasy
about their security should they also ruffle a few top feathers in future,"
said the source.
By Godfrey
Marawanyika Senior Staff Reporter 5/7/03
12:16:54 AM (GMT +2)
TOURISM activities in
the country's two major resort areas - Victoria Falls and Hwange - have
suffered a major set-back due to acute fuel shortages, with service stations
reporting that they have had no supplies for the past three
weeks.
Industry players in the two resort
towns said they had managed to stitch up an arrangement in which they secure
fuel from Kasane in Botswana and Livingstone in Zambia, but maintained this
was a temporary reprieve and one that was benefiting only a few
players.
"We have really suffered because
of the fuel shortages. At times we buy fuel either from Botswana or Zambia
but it's not all of us who have access to foreign currency," said an operator
who cannot be named for professional
reasons.
"Most of the vehicles have spent
the past three-and-a-half weeks queuing for the arrival of the commodity but
without any luck."
The tourism industry
has in the past suggested that the government should rate the sector a
priority beneficiary in the allocation of fuel since it is a key player in
the revival of the country's economy and generates much-needed foreign
currency, but that proposal has not yet
been accepted.
The tourism sector used
to be the second highest performer in terms of its contribution to the
country's gross domestic product. It has lost its lustre over the past three
years due to a combination of factors, among them the poor economic situation
prevailing in Zimbabwe and an unstable political environment that has spurred
bad publicity in both the domestic and the international
Press.
A number of European countries,
which form the bulk of Zimbabwe's tourist traffic, have issued travel alerts
warning their citizens against travelling to
Zimbabwe.
Other tour operators said they
have since registered some of their companies either in Botswana or Zambia to
help them easily secure fuel supplies for their Zimbabwean
operations.
"Some of us have now
registered our companies in Zambia or Botswana so that we can get fuel
without having to resort to parallel market dealings," said the
official.
"Registering in these countries
has not been easy because at times the government officials there are hostile
to Zimbabweans."
No comment was
immediately available from Zimbabwe Council for Tourism, headed by Zimbabwe
Sun Hotels chief executive officer Shingi Munyeza, and Environment and
Tourism Minister Francis Nhema.
Zimbabwe
has of late been getting inconsistent fuel supplies from Kuwait, South
Africa, Botswana and Nigeria. The bulk of its fuel comes from the Kuwait
Independent Group, which is reportedly mulling cutting off supplies into the
country because of a US$70 million debt now
outstanding.
AFTER all the hype and excitement that
characterised the visit to Zimbabwe by South African President Thabo Mbeki,
Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo and Bakili Muluzi of Malawi, the three African
leaders have left the country as they found it - in a political stalemate
that threatens to drag the country down the
abyss.
After meeting both President Robert
Mugabe and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan
Tsvangirai, the three African leaders could not do much more than harp on a
familiar song - a tune they have sung every time they have talked about
Zimbabwe, but a tune that the Zimbabwean political leadership has evidently
failed to dance to. Before they left for their
various destinations, Muluzi, Mbeki and Obasanjo could only - for the
umpteenth time - encourage ZANU PF and the MDC to go back to the negotiating
table. But ordinary Zimbabweans expected
Mbeki, Obasanjo and Muluzi to fare better. Despite stressing this point for
over a year, dialogue has evidently failed to take off the ground, and the
three African leaders ought to have known that by
now. Which is why speculation was rife that
the African leaders had come to work out an exit plan for Mugabe and pave the
way for a transitional government, for that could be the only reasonable
thing that might save Zimbabwe from further
ruin. Perhaps what should now be made clear to
any mediators to the Zimbabwean crisis, Mbeki and Obasanjo particularly, is
that expecting meaningful dialogue between Mugabe and Tsvangirai could be a
far-fetched dream at the moment. What Mbeki
and Obasanjo seem to have failed to grasp is that Mugabe has long ceased to
be part of the solution to this country's crisis. He has become part of the
problem that has to be rid of. Hence, the
starting point to normalising the situation in Zimbabwe would be a bold and
clear declaration by Mugabe that finally he is stepping down as President of
this country. Only after such a move can anyone begin to facilitate
meaningful dialogue between the opposition and the
government. So, any efforts to find a
negotiated settlement to the Zimbabwe crisis should kick off from that
pragmatic start. As soon as Mugabe is out of
the way, a reasonable and politically acceptable person within ZANU PF,
someone in the mould of Simba Makoni or John Nkomo, should lead a
transitional government that would be tasked with organising fresh
elections. The challenge therefore lies in how
to find a way to convince Mugabe that, for posterity's sake, it is time he
realises that his continued presence is not adding any value to the country.
To convince him that a new dispensation with new ideas, with the zeal to cut
across political and racial barriers in working for Zimbabwe and a
dispensation that enjoys international goodwill is the only thing that can
save Zimbabwe from collapse. But there is
doubt that Obasanjo, Mbeki or Muluzi - riddled by their own domestic
shortcomings - could prevail over Mugabe and convince him that his is a dying
regime that should pass the baton on. During
their visit, the three African leaders appeared more determined to have
Tsvangirai endorse Mugabe's legitimacy than push for an exit plan for the
President as had been expected of them. But,
of course, Zimbabweans should know that expecting the trio to prevail over
Mugabe might not be too different from placing one's faith in the hands of
Lucifer and hope that the devil might deliver one to the
Pearly Gates. Obasanjo is grappling to
legitimise his own re-election that has been dogged by allegations of
irregularities and has been described as fraudulent by the international
community, while Muluzi has tried in vain to force an unconstitutional third
term bid in his country where he barred people from protesting his
manoeuvres. It is common knowledge that Mbeki is a total failure when it
comes to dealing with Zimbabwe. Therefore it is high time that Zimbabweans
sought solutions to their own problems. A good
number of people within ZANU PF and those in the MDC are aware that
Zimbabwe's biggest obstacle to peace and prosperity is
Mugabe. What is now needed is to find common
ground for the progressive forces within ZANU PF and those in the MDC on how
Mugabe can be convinced to retire. The
situation, though, is not being made any easier by hardline positions taken
by both the MDC and ZANU PF. Some malcontents
within ZANU PF, using pre-emptive methods, have been doing their best to
thwart any talk of a possible Mugabe retirement. These political upstarts,
aware that they might not survive politically in a post-Mugabe era, have used
their control over the public media to attack anyone, within or outside ZANU
PF, linked to any succession talk. This,
coupled with the pre-condition that Tsvangirai should acknowledge Mugabe's
legitimacy before any dialogue could ensue, have effectively put a damper on
any hopes that Mugabe might be talked
into retirement. On the other hand, the MDC
has also set conditions that they know Mugabe will obviously refuse to
accept. The opposition should also begin to shift its stance and silence any
talk of retribution after Mugabe has left office if any headway is to be
made. While Mugabe's past has been less than
holy - what with the unsavoury events of the 1980s in Matabeleland - the MDC
should make assurances that Mugabe would be left to retire in peace should he
leave voluntarily. This could help in achieving the broader agenda of ridding
the country of Mugabe. That Mugabe could be
worried about his future once he leaves office gives him little incentive to
retire. He might rather pull the country right down into his grave with him
than face prosecution for crimes against humanity. For that could be the only
way he can assure himself of eternal peace.
Hence, the MDC is unlikely to achieve much by promising to "deal with Mugabe
and his henchmen once they leave office". A
more reconciliatory approach might do the trick and rid Zimbabwe of the major
obstacle in success' way. The goal, for both
the MDC and right-thinking ZANU PF officials, should be one and that is to
pull Zimbabwe out of its current mess. But before that, the President has to
leave and the sooner the better. NOW would even be
perfect.
Thriving city becomes the capital of chaos and
misrule
Harare's citizens at the mercy of food and fuel
shortages and brutal police
Andrew Meldrum in Harare Thursday May 8,
2003 The Guardian
In Harare these days you never know where you are
going to end up when you take a taxi. A dozen passengers crammed into a taxi
van recently complained angrily among themselves about Zimbabwe's high
inflation, critical fuel shortages and the police who shoved them when they
were stopped at roadblocks. When one man tried to defend the police, a
woman retorted: "The police are just Mugabe's dogs." The rest of the
passengers cheered. When the taxi stopped, the man jumped out and ran to some
nearby police officers. He identified himself as an off-duty policeman and
ordered them to arrest the passengers. They were jailed overnight and charged
for insulting police, a crime under the Public Order and Security
Act.
For many months horror stories have been emerging from Zimbabwe
about the suffering inflicted by President Robert Mugabe. Newspapers have
been filled with accounts of political corruption, rapes and beatings. But
behind these stories lie the daily hardships felt by the capital's 1.7
million people.
What was once a thriving city has descended into a place
of empty supermarkets, petrol queues and blackouts.
In the past week
the longstanding fuel shortages have taken a turn for the worse. Hundreds of
vehicles spend entire days and nights in fuel queues in Harare. "We used to
laugh at Zambians because of all the shortages they had. Now they are
laughing at us because it is much worse here," said a salesman. "We never
thought it would get this bad."
A few months ago Mr Mugabe's motorcade of
more than 20 vehicles, including two trucks full of armed soldiers, passed a
fuel queue on Samora Machel Avenue in downtown Harare. The president was met
by jeers and hoots of derision. Some people threw empty cans. The soldiers
later returned and beat up many of those in the queue. A law has also been
passed declaring it illegal to make derogatory comments or gestures to the
presidential motorcade.
Harare's new mayor, Elias Mudzuri, tried to
improve city services; garbage collections were organised and crews sent out
to fill potholes. But Mr Mudzuri, elected by nearly 80% of Harare's voters,
belongs to the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Last week the Mugabe government sacked him, accusing him of incompetence and
corruption. Mr Mudzuri has been barred from his office and has gone into
hiding after receiving threats.
At first glance, the supermarket in
central Harare appears well-stocked and busy. But on closer inspection, rows
and rows of toilet paper are displayed. "That is where there should be salt
and that is where there should be sugar, but those items are out of stock so
they put up toilet paper," said Idah Mandaza.
"And mealie meal [maize
meal, Zimbabwe's staple food] and cooking oil and soap, they have all been
replaced with toilet paper. But we can't eat loo paper. Either basic things
are not available or I can't afford them. I never thought it would come to
this."
For Mrs Mandaza, Zimbabwe's inflation of 228% and 12% decline in
GDP are not dry economic statistics. They are the harsh facts of life that
she, her family and everyone in Zimbabwe grapple with daily.
Mrs
Mandaza, 53, is proud of her job as the assistant production manager in a
Harare factory. But by the time she pays for travel to and from work and her
rent for a small two-roomed house, more than half of her salary is gone. "I'm
lucky, I have two sons and they both have jobs. But I still must be very
careful when I shop. I support my mother and my sister, plus I help
my brothers in the rural areas. There is just not enough money," she
said.
Zimbabwe's once thriving middle-class is struggling to get by, but
the poor are desperate. Growing numbers are begging and rummaging through
rubbish bins. The disparity in wealth has widened after two years of
economic crisis.
"In 40 years working as a doctor, I have never seen
so many cases of malnutrition, particularly among children," said a general
practitioner. "It used to be that I would only see signs of kwashiorkor [a
form of malnutrition caused by inadequate protein intake] in children from
the rural areas. Now I see it in city children."
The United Nations
estimates that nearly 1 million urban Zimbabweans do not have enough food. In
total, more than 7 million of the country's 12 million people are threatened
with starvation, according to the government. Just a few years ago Zimbabwe
was extolled as the breadbasket of Africa for all the surplus food it
exported.
An unruly commotion erupts in the supermarket as people rush to
the bakery section where bread is put on the shelves. After a few minutes of
shoving and grabbing, the bread is gone. One woman was knocked down in the
scuffle.
There used to be a similar rush when milk and other fresh dairy
products were delivered. But for two weeks there have not been any milk
deliveries. A dairy farm that supplied 40% of Harare's milk has been overrun
by Mr Mugabe's supporters, according to local newspaper reports.
The
supermarket no longer puts its rare deliveries of maize meal or other scarce
items on sale in the store. After some mini-riots in which shelves were
knocked down, the scarce goods are sold at the back of the store
where deliveries are made. People queue there for hours.
Zimbabwe's
once respected police are now widely feared for arbitrary arrests, beatings
and torture. In the past two months 10 high-profile Zimbabweans, including
three members of parliament and one lawyer, have accused police of torturing
them with electric shocks. Medical examinations have confirmed injuries
consistent with their harrowing accounts. Most were released without
charges.
Last month more than 250 opposition supporters were forced to go
into hospital after men dressed in army uniforms raided their homes and
beat them.
But not everyone is gloomy and depressed. "The worse things
get, the sooner we will have a change," said one motorist queueing for fuel.
"The more angry people get, the sooner they will press Mugabe to
go."
He pointed to the visit to Harare on Monday of South Africa's
president Thabo Mbeki and his Nigerian equivalent Olusegun Obasanjo. "Do you
think they came to congratulate Mugabe on doing such a good job? No, they
came to tell Mugabe he must go. The pressure is mounting and change is in the
air. I can feel it."
Guardian writer threatened with Zimbabwe
deportation
Colin Blackstock Thursday May 8, 2003 The
Guardian
Immigration officials in Zimbabwe last night demanded to
interview Andrew Meldrum, the Guardian's correspondent in Harare, in what his
lawyers suspect was an attempt to deport him. He was not at home when they
called. Five officials visited Meldrum's house at about 8pm. They refused to
tell his lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, why they wished to talk to him.
Ms
Mtetwa said from her experience it appeared that the immigration officials
intended to deport Meldrum. "They said they wanted to interview him and I
offered to take him to them in the morning but they declined," she said.
"When they come in the night they want to lock you up and they take you away
when no one can see it being done."
The Zimbabwean authorities have been
attempting to imprison and deport Meldrum for over a year. Last July the high
court in Harare rejected a move by the government of President Robert Mugabe
to have him deported.
In the same month a magistrates court acquitted
Meldrum of charges brought under a draconian new press law which threatened
to punish journalists writing "falsehoods". In a ruling that may have had
some bearing on last night's events, Zimbabwe's supreme court yesterday
struck down key sections of the law under which Meldrum had been
prosecuted.
Ms Mtetwa said she would write to immigration officials to
ask why they want to interview Meldrum, and whether he is facing any
charges.
Meldrum is one of the last international journalists reporting
from inside Zimbabwe. He holds permanent resident status, having covered the
country for the Guardian for 22 years.
Immigration officials appeared
at Meldrum's house just after he had filed a report on the hardships of
Harare's residents, which is published on page 4.
The tactics of
Zimbabwe's opposition movement have alienated much of the continent. But a
softening of its approach may change things
Liz McGregor Thursday May
8, 2003 The Guardian
There are two schools of thought on how to
resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe. The first demands regime change - either by
force, Iraq-style, or by international pressure, as economic sanctions.
Robert Mugabe must go by whatever means necessary. The second school believes
that the solution must come from within. Zimbabwe's warring parties need to
be persuaded to sit down together and work out how best to save their
country. Focus on individuals is not helpful; compromise on both sides is of
the essence. Roughly, the first school of thought is situated in the mainly
white, developed world while the second is advocated by African leaders and
the developing world.
So far, neither school has been able to show
much success - with Zimbabwe sliding ever-deeper into economic and political
chaos - except for one small breakthrough this week for the African school.
After a meeting with Africa's political heavyweights, Olusegun Obasanjo of
Nigeria and Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Mugabe agreed for the first time to
begin a dialogue with the Movement for Democratic Change. The African leaders
also formally met Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC, where they hit their
first stumbling block. Mugabe's precondition for talks with the MDC was that
it first recognise him as Zimbabwe's legitimate leader and drop its legal
challenge to last year's election results. Tsvangirai refused.
From
the African perspective, Mugabe now holds the moral high ground
and Tsvangirai is being obstructionist. The argument is that
Zanu-PF's intimidation tactics were obvious before the vote began. The MDC
should have withdrawn from the election at that point, rather than cry foul
once it lost. Morgan Tsvangirai gave his word to the Organisation of African
Unity that he would respect the outcome of the election, whichever way it
went. His failure to do so and his subsequent denunciation of the OAU
for "supporting dictators" infuriated African leaders.
Given the
difficulties in conducting elections in Africa that all sides regard as free
and fair, the African Union, successor to the OAU, has adopted a pragmatic
approach. Mugabe is recognised by the UN and African leaders as having won
the election. That makes his position legitimate. After all, if every
contested election result were overthrown, Obasanjo himself would be in a
difficult position, given the objections against his recent win in the
Nigerian elections.
Tsvangirai's strength - his ability to mobilise
western support - significantly weakens his position on his home continent.
It has enabled Mugabe to paint the international campaign against him as a
bid by Britain to protect the white farmers whose land he seized, many of
whom hold British passports. He has branded the MDC as a foreign body
manipulated by Britain, and the MDC has played into his hands by cultivating
white constituencies abroad while publicly criticising African
leaders.
"The MDC should have read that Britain and Australia's concern
about Zimbabwe was perceived as being concern for British expatriates," says
Dr Eddy Maloka, head of the Africa Institute in Pretoria. "They have
mismanaged the situation and alienated themselves from the
continent."
Contrary to Mugabe's propaganda, however, the MDC has a solid
popular base in Zimbabwe. It was born out of the urban protests against the
IMF-imposed economic structural adjustment programme in the 1990s and
consolidated into a formidable opposition movement to fight the 2000
referendum on constitutional change. The changes would have increased the
power of the presidency and allowed Mugabe another two terms in office. To
woo the rural vote, Mugabe added a clause to his draft constitution promising
to redistribute land held by white farmers. Whites made up 1% of the
population but owned two-thirds of the country's arable land. As he had been
making this promise for years, he was not believed and rural voters
abstained. Only a quarter of the electorate - largely city dwellers - voted
and the government lost the referendum, its first electoral defeat since
1980. The MDC had proved to be a serious threat and the government response
was repression.
Determined to mobilise the rural vote for the 2002
presidential campaign, Mugabe finally made good on his promised land reform,
albeit in a chaotic and destructive fashion, and 95% of the farms held by
whites were seized. It was to Britain that the MDC appealed for help, with
its leaders touring European countries to marshal support. Britain - and the
British media - responded with an onslaught on Zimbabwe.
This appeal
to the former colonial master appeared to African leaders to be a humiliating
regression to the past. Africa had demonstrated its willingness to sort out
its own problems - witness the recent peace settlements in the Democratic
Republic of Congo and in Burundi, both negotiated by African
leaders.
Southern African analysts believe that, for the process to move
forward, there needs to be an end to the grandstanding and confrontational
politics - and a shift to dialogue and compromise. Now that Mugabe has
indicated that he is prepared to stop trying to obliterate the MDC and
instead formally recognise its legitimacy by agreeing to talks, it only needs
Tsvangirai to do the same. His meeting with Obasanjo and Mbeki is a step in
that direction.
"The MDC should focus on the stabilisation of the
economy in the short term," says Maloka. "In the medium term, Mugabe will
retire. The MDC needs to focus on influencing the transitional process and
positioning the party to secure the future."
· Liz McGregor is a
freelance writer on Africa based in Johannesburg
WORCESTER, England: Zimbabwe batsman Grant Flower spoke
out Wednesday in support of his brother Andy's controversial World Cup
protest.
During Zimbabwe's opening match in February, against Namibia in
Harare, Andy Flower and Henry Olonga wore black armbands and issued a
statement mourning the 'death of democracy' in Zimbabwe under President
Robert Mugabe.
And Grant Flower said the only reason he had not joined
the duo was because he was worried about lessening the impact of the duo's
protest. "I agreed with what they did," Grant Flower said on Wednesday. "To
be honest I wanted to join them.
"But I thought it would be a better
and a bigger statement if it was just the two of them, one white person and
one black person.
"I think what they did was a good thing," added Grant
ahead of Zimbabwe's tour match with Worcestershire starting here at New Road
on Friday (tomorrow). "It wasn't a matter of colour, it was a question of
right and wrong," explained Flower who added he had spoken to, but not yet
seen, his brother.
Andy Flower retired from international cricket
after the World Cup and is now playing for English county Essex, while Olonga
is also in England, playing for a club side having narrowly escaped arrest by
the Zimbabwe security services in South Africa.
The Flowers' parents
are also living in England, as are Andy's wife and children.
Grant
admitted it was odd no longer having Andy, a cornerstone of the team since
Zimbabwe's admission to Test cricket in 1992, in the side but denied feeling
lonely. "It's different, but I wouldn't say I feel isolated," the top-order
bat and left-arm spinner insisted. "Zimbabwe is still a great place to live
in even though we're having tough times."
And he maintained that his
relationship with his brother had in no way been damaged by any fall-out from
Andy's protest. "We get on very well. We are very competitive, but we helped
with each other's games."
Flower is the only player in the current squad
with a Test hundred to his name and at, 32, is one of Zimbabwe's elder
statesmen with 3,359 Test runs at 30.26 from 63 matches.
But his
brother, who averaged over fifty in Tests, was Zimbabwe's one player of true
world class and Grant said it was important the rest of the team adjusted
quickly to life without him. "We probably over-relied on him. We'd always
thought he'd do it. Now it's up to the other guys to step up to
the plate."