http://www.radiovop.com
HARARE, November 15 2008
- Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) has been
awarded the fifth Human Rights
Award by Amnesty International German
Section. The award will be presented
at an award ceremony in Berlin on
Sunday 16th November.
Williams and Mahlangu, who were released on bail from Mlondolozi
Prison on
Thursday 6 November, won an application from Bulawayo Magistrate's
Court to
be allowed to travel to Germany to receive the award. The pair were
released
on bail with strict reporting conditions that include reporting to
their
nearest police station twice a week and not beind permitted to travel
outside of a 40 kilometre radius of Bulawayo Post Office without the written
permission of a magistrate.
Williams and Mahlangu appeared
in Bulawayo Magistrate's Court on
Monday 11 November for a routine remand
hearing where they requested
permission to travel to Germany. Magistrate
Maphosa however requested that
the application be made in an open court on
Tuesday 12th.
After several delays, the state decided not to
oppose the travel
application and reporting conditions were temporarily
suspended until
November 26th to allow the activists to travel to Germany.
Upon their return
they will resume reporting and remain within a 40
kilometre radius of
Bulawayo until their trial which is scheduled for 2nd
December 2008.
The German section of Amnesty International
assigns the Human Rights
Award every two years to people that defend and
fight for human rights,
especially under harsh
circumstances.
"I'm still alive today because the international
community has come to
know our organisation thanks to Amnesty International
and the media," Jenni
Williams, co-founder and coordinator of the
organisation, said.
Jenni Williams, has been arrested 32 times
in the last five years.
The German Amnesty section will hand
over the price to members of WOZA
during a ceremony in the "Berliner
Ensemble", a well-known theatre in the
centre of Berlin, on 16 November
2008. The award statue was designed by the
internationally known sculptor
Tony Cragg.
In the past, the prize was given to Turkish
advocate Eren Keskin
(2001), human rights defenders from Russia Swetlana
Gannuschkina (2003) and
Monira Rahman from Bangladesh (2006).
http://www.voanews.com
By Thomas
Chiripasi & Blessing Zulu
Harare & Washington
14 November
2008
The dominant wing of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic
Change on
Friday backed MDC founder and prime minister-designate Morgan
Tsvangirai in
saying that the party would not join a proposed national unity
government
unless the constitutional framework is put in place and
ministerial
portfolios are equitably distributed.
The statement by
the national council of Tsvangirai's MDC formation did not
lay emphasis on
the key Home Affairs Ministry which has become a major bone
of contention in
power-sharing talks between the MDC and the ZANU-PF party
of President
Robert Mugabe. The ministry was the focus of a summit last
Sunday of the
Southern African Development Community which recommended that
the MDC and
ZANU-PF share control of the police ministry.
A statement issued by the
MDC national council suggested that the main
impediment to the formation of
a unity government was that a constitutional
amendment creating the offices
of prime minister and deputy prime minister,
the latter to be filled by
rival MDC leader Arthur Mutambara, has yet to be
passed by parliament and
signed by Mr. Mugabe.
Another issue on the table distribution of the
governorships of Zimbabwe's
10 provinces, two of which include metropolitan
Harare, the capital, and
Bulawayo, the second city.
The MDC national
council declared itself "desirous of achieving finality to
the current
dispute given the economic meltdown and the massive suffering of
the people
of Zimbabwe reflected in entrenched poverty, the collapse of
public health,
education, transport, water and (the) energy crisis, monetary
policy
dislocation and supersonic inflation."
But it reaffirmed statements by
Tsvangirai and Secretary General Tendai Biti
rejecting SADC resolutions in
recent days, in particular the resolution
issued by the Nov. 9 summit saying
the government should be formed
immediately even in the absence of a
constitutional foundation, and
recommending that MDC and ZANU-PF ministers
share control of Home Affairs.
The statement argued that the Nov. 9
communique was "unprocedurally arrived
at" because Mr. Mugabe failed to
recuse himself from SADC discussions. It
reproached his ZANU-PF for its
"lack of sincerity" and failure to embrace
the "paradigm shift" in national
politics.
While Mutambara backs Tsvangirai's claim to the Home Affairs
Ministry, he
says this should not block urgent formation of a government
capable of
addressing the country's deepening humanitarian crisis. Four
million
Zimbabweans are now receiving food aid from the United Nations World
Food
Program, a number expected to rise to five million in early
2009.
Harare correspondent Thomas Chiripasi of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe
reported that Deputy President Thokozani Khupe of the Tsvangirai's
MDC told
reporters in Harare following the national council meeting that her
party
would not join the proposed government until all outstanding issues
have
been addressed, including fair distribution of
ministries.
Mutambara told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that
Tsvangirai must consider the consequences for the people of
failing to put a
government in place.
ZANU-PF Chief Parliamentary
Whip Joram Gumbo called Tsvangirai's position
regrettable.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Wayne
Mafaro Saturday 15 November 2008
HARARE - Zimbabwe's
opposition MDC said on Friday it will not join a unity
government with
President Robert Mugabe's ruling party and promised to wage
a campaign of
resistance against any new administration set up by the
veteran
leader.
MDC vice-president Thokozani Khupe told journalists in Harare
that it had
resolved not to join the unity government until all "unresolved
issues"
regarding control of powerful ministerial posts, distribution of
gubernatorial posts, ambassadorships and other top government posts have
been concluded.
The MDC also wanted Zimbabwe's Constitution amended
to give legal effect to
a September 15 power-sharing deal with Mugabe's ZANU
PF party and a faction
of the opposition led by Arthur Mutambara before it
could join the new
government.
But in a sign that Zimbabwe's
long-stalled power-sharing deal may be all but
dead, Khupe, who spoke to
journalist at the end of a meeting of the MDC's
top leadership, alleged that
the opposition party had uncovered a plot to
murder its
leaders.
"Neither Robert Mugabe nor ZANU PF has the legitimacy to form a
government.
The SADC resolution does not bestow Mugabe with the right to
form a
government," said Khupe, party chief in the absence of leader Morgan
Tsvangirai who was said to be away meeting regional leaders on Zimbabwe's
crisis.
"In the event that any illegitimate government is formed the
MDC will not be
part to it. It will peacefully and constitutionally and
democratically
mobilise and campaign against the illegitimate government,"
she said.
The MDC second-in-command did not elaborate about who was
plotting to
assassinate its leaders only saying the party's "national
council notes with
concern . . . the crafting of an assassination plot
intended to eliminate
the leadership of the MDC."
The MDC's decision
was widely expected after Tsvangirai told reports at the
end of summit of
Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders
earlier this week that
his party would not abide by the region's ruling that
he joins a unity
government with Mugabe.
The SADC leaders at an emergency summit in
Johannesburg on Sunday ruled that
the Zimbabwean rivals form a power-sharing
government "forthwith" to end a
debilitating political stalemate gripping
the country since Mugabe's
controversial re-election last June.
The
SADC, which brokered Zimbabwe's power-sharing deal, ruled that the MDC
and
ZANU PF co-manage the ministry of home affairs, in charge of the police
and
whose control had been a stumbling block to the formation of a unity
government.
Tsvangirai - who insists the MDC be given sole control of
home affairs
because Mugabe will control the defence ministry - immediately
rejected the
call to co-manage the portfolio with ZANU PF and said his party
would not
join the unity government.
The Mutambara-led MDC has said
it respects the SADC resolution to form a
unity government but indicated it
may not participate in the government if
Tsvangirai stays out.
ZANU
PF on Wednesday asked Mugabe to form an inclusive government and to
invite
the opposition MDC to join in line with the SADC resolution.
Ruling party
insiders say they expect Mugabe to leave slots open in Cabinet
hoping for a
change of heart by the MDC but that he would eventually fill up
all
positions and move ahead with running the country if the opposition
continued to refuse to join the government.
Such a step by Mugabe
would effectively kill what had appeared an historic
power-sharing deal that
would have seen the veteran President keep his job
while Tsvangirai became
prime minister with Mutambara and Khupe appointed
deputy prime
ministers.
Zimbabweans had hoped that a power-sharing government would
help ease the
political situation and allow the country to focus on tackling
an economic
crisis marked by the world's highest inflation rate of 231
million percent,
severe shortages of food and basic commodities. -
ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=7316
November 14, 2008
POLITICALLY
Morgan Tsvangirai is now reduced to the same level Joshua Nkomo
was reduced
to at the signing of the Unity Accord in 1987. Whatever power
Nkomo
possessed diminished until at best he was a ceremonial vice president,
which
is or was the grand plan of President Robert Mugabe.
Tsvangirai was
caught between proverbial rock and a hard place when he
signed that power-
sharing deal. Distancing himself from it would have
proved what Mugabe had
been saying all along that Tsvangirai was the problem
and not the solution
to Zimbabwe's problems.
Tsvangirai had to sign that agreement in good
faith for the good of
Zimbabwe. That I agree to. However the problem I have
now is the calling for
fresh elections by the Tsvangirai camp. I hope I am
not the only one who has
a problem with this as not too long ago Tsvangirai
boycotted the run-off
election.
So what does he think will change
now? What Tsvangirai needs to do is
distance himself from his 'advisors' who
make him appear indecisive and
therefore lacking capability to change the
course that Mugabe so stubbornly
insists on steering Zimbabwe along. He
needs to stick to the 'master' plan
which I assume was to strip Mugabe of
any credibility and eventually push
him out.
This almost happened in
the March election and skeptics will most definitely
argue that 'almost
doesn't count'. However, in this case it does as it
proves that it is
possible and that given the right strategy Mugabe will go.
What Tsvangirai
needs to do is to remain focused and 'stick to the plan' as
the economy will
be the clincher.
God knows we need a change from this
madness.
Charlotte Madondo
Herewith relevant extracts from the Agreement and the National
Constitution - readers may wish to refresh their memories and study more
closely.
Agreement
Constitution
http://www.iol.co.za
November 15 2008 at 09:19AM
By
Stanley Gama
Zimbabwe's capital could be in the throes of a
full-blown cholera
epidemic within days. As political leaders fight a
cat-and-mouse political
game, Harare's townships resemble war zones as
scores perish from cholera.
Medical authorities fear the disease
could engulf the capital within
days.
The government is trying
to hide the truth, but it is believed that
more than 250 people have died so
far.
The spread of the disease has been hastened by the country's
economic
implosion. Township dwellers have not had running tap water in more
than two
years. There are no chemicals to purify water. Sewer lines are in a
state of
disrepair, and raw sewage flows across Harare township
streets.
President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF politburo was
stunned by a
report this week on the spread of the disease. Details of the
report are a
closely guarded secret, but it's believed at least 10 people
are dying of
cholera every day.
A doctor at
a Harare hospital described the pandemic as "a disaster of
unimaginable
proportions".
"People are dying like rats, yet propagandists in the
government are
claiming that only 25 people have died. Patients come here
every day, and
some of them die without receiving treatment because we don't
have even
basic supplies like gloves.
"Patients are being
referred to Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital
but hospital staff there
have been overwhelmed, to the extent that patients
are sleeping outside on
verandas, under trees and everywhere else they might
be able to get
attention.
"It's a real scandal that people are dying of an
avoidable and
treatable disease like cholera," said the doctor, who cannot
be named as he
is not allowed to speak to the press.
Lovemore
Munyaka, who had visited a sick relative at Beatrice
hospital, described the
scenes at the institution as scandalous. "Every time
you come here you see
relatives coming out of this hospital crying because
they will have lost a
relative. At times it looks fictitious because people
are dying outside the
hospital, on verandas, and in queues waiting to be
attended to.
"Whole families are being wiped out. People without the disease are
not
being allowed in because they say it is highly contagious.
"What
makes the situation worse is that patients are being forced to
buy their own
drips, syringes and gloves. They also have to buy their own
medication,"
said Munyaka.
On Wednesday, the government newspaper, The Herald
carried a picture
of a truck carrying dead bodies for mass
burial.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa refused to speak to the
Saturday
Star on Friday.
Meanwhile, the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change announced on
Friday night that any government formed by
Mugabe next week would be
illegitimate unless all political parties involved
in the September
power-sharing deal were involved.
Speaking at
a press conference in Harare on Friday after the MDC's
national council
meeting, the party's deputy president, Thokhozani Khupe,
said her party
would not participate in a new government without the
Constitutional
Amendment No 19, which legalises the power-sharing deal
signed between
Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations.
The constitutional amendment
can be passed and effected into law only
if at least 140 members of
parliament vote for it. Even if Mugabe goes ahead
and announces a cabinet,
it will be impossible to legalise it because his
Zanu-PF party has less than
100 MPs.
The national council meeting met mainly to review the
meeting convened
by the Southern African Development Community in Sandton
last week, which
failed to resolve the impasse between Mugabe and MDC
president Morgan
Tsvangirai.
This article was originally
published on page 2 of The Star on
November 15, 2008
“Half the
admissions end up in the mortuary.” Doctors in
Zimbabwe have sounded an alert that patients are dying unnecessarily because of
lack of medical supplies.
“There is no liquid
paracetamol, no materials for dressings, no burn cream, no antiseptics, no
drips, no surgical gloves, limited antibiotics. All these are required and need
to be purchased by family members that can barely afford to survive on a daily
basis. No sterile burn environment for burn victims, ward curtains are torn,
windows are broken, sheets are worn, the food (when available) is supplied but
without nourishment (over the last four weeks patients have been fed a small
portion of sadza/rice with cabbage boiled in salt water). Children that are
malnourished are being sent home to die as the required protein formula is
unavailable. X-rays are unable as there is no film…there has been no food
provided to patients for six days. Those without families to provide food – go
hungry! Daily the nurses suffer heartache as they watch helplessly as patients,
particularly, children, die unnecessarily! Constant frustration of not being
able to put their knowledge into practice due to the lack of medical supplies
can only be disheartening….”
These are just
some of the quotes of recent reports received by our mission. One person
writes of: “Deaths, infections, no food, no medicines, no anesthetic, no pain
relief,…incredibly traumatic, infections rife and pain
unbearable…”
“In the
hospital we cannot feed the starving children, at least an home they can
scrounge for things. We only keep those that we see won’t make it at home.
We’ve lost the battle before we have fought it…”
“Malnutrition
is a silent emergency that affects the young children and they die
quietly.”
Doctors have
reported children’s wards filled with tiny patients, their bodies swollen with
oedema, lying deathly still. A common sight is the oversized head and sparse
hair, characteristic of kwashiorkor, a malnutrition which usually affects very
young children. One doctor reported kwashiorkor in an eight-year old boy:
“that is highly unusual, it is mostly confined to two and three year olds.
That’s an indication of how serious the hunger is.”
A doctor in a
mission hospital reported that their hospital lacked life-saving protein
supplements, and were being forced to use diluted milk. The children were meant
to be fed six times a day, but they only had enough for once a day, and then
nothing for the next five days.
One doctor
reported a mother dying in childbirth leaving her baby born HIV positive. The
grandmother refused to take the infant home as she could not feed it. So the
baby was left at the hospital. In despair the doctor declared: “It’s
starvation all over, starving, starving, starving!”
Since Marxist
dictator Robert Mugabe, and his ZANU-PF party, unleashed a wave of destruction
and confiscation upon the once productive white commercial farms, starvation was
inevitable. Having destroyed the productive agricultural economy of Zimbabwe,
ZANU has achieved the highest unemployment (90%), the highest rate of inflation
(231 million percent) and the lowest life expectancy (30 years) in the world
today. Approximately half of the total population of Zimbabwe have fled across
the borders.
The national
suicide, initiated by the destruction of the productive white farms, has not
only led to the economic meltdown and medical crisis, but also an educational
catastrophe. Since January 2008 there has been a total of only 23 days of
education for the 4.5 million students in Zimbabwe. Now the government has
cancelled the academic year completely, declaring that their will be no
examinations this year.
City schools
have been handicapped by water and power cuts. One primary school has had no
water for 5 years. Boarders at hundreds of rural schools have been sent home
because there was no food for them.
When teachers went on strike
they were attacked by ZANU-PF militia. Numerous teachers were murdered and
thousands were brutally beaten. Schools were ransacked and used as torture
centres. Many teachers disappeared and others were too afraid to return. Now
that teachers have had their salaries doubled, to less than US$10 per month,
they have barely enough to cover their bus fares and food for four days. In
some government schools, students have resorted to sawing up benches for wood.
Zimbabwe’s four
leading universities failed to open and the Vice Chancellor of the University of
Zimbabwe explained that the university had no water, no electricity and no
funds.
Cases of cholera have broken
out because of the very poor sewerage system and lack of adequate water
supply. “Our water supply is constantly being cut off. You never know when
it may come back again. We keep water in every possible container.”
Some people in
the capital city have reported power cuts lasting for weeks, once for up to 28
days at a time.
The rains are
due to start but there is no maize seed or fertilizer available. 5 million
people face starvation in Zimbabwe.
One medical person
writes: “Are we prepared to help fight the battle for our children to be able
see in another season, or do we just walk away...? I firmly believe that even
if we make a difference to only one child’s life – we have made a
difference!”
In the light of
the colossal humanitarian catastrophe occurring just north of our border in
Zimbabwe, our mission is planning additional field trips to deliver life-saving
supplies and medicines to doctors and nurses, pensioners and pastors, widows and
orphans - who are praying for the desperately needed materials which we can
deliver. Of course, we cannot help everyone, but we can help some. It is our
earnest prayer that the Lord would use and multiply the inadequate supplies that
we can provide as He used the loaves and fishes to feed the
thousands.
If you have
skills and resources which can enable us to serve the suffering in Zimbabwe,
please do contact us: info@frontline.org.za
Yours for the
fulfillment of the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Dr. Peter
Hammond, Director
Frontline
Fellowship
P.O. Box
74
Newlands,
7725
Cape Town, South
Africa
Tel: (021)
689-4480
Fax: (021)
685-5884
Email: admin@frontline.org.za
Website: www.frontline.org.za
By Mandisa
Mundawarara
15 November 2008
Zimbabwe police are reported to be
stopping people on their way to the
airport and taking foreign currency,
cellphones and any other valuables in
their possession.
With an
inflation rate of 13.2 billion and an economy that is now almost
completely
based on the US dollar, Zimbabweans are struggling to survive.
Salaries are
still being paid in local currency but shops and businesses are
no longer
accepting Zimbabwe dollars as payment. The police appear to have
now taken
it upon themselves to find a way of supplementing their salaries.
Our
source, who was en-route to South Africa, and wishes to remain
anonymous,
was on Saturday morning stopped at a roadblock manned by
uniformed police
officers on the Airport Road. Apparently the roadblock had
been in place
since about 5 am, and was specifically targeting taxis and
commuter
omnibuses on their way to Harare airport.
People were being herded out of
the vehicles and searched by the police. Any
foreign currency in their
possession was taken, and because the man had very
little money is his
wallet, which the police kept, his cellphone was also
taken. He reports that
there were two foreigners in his group, a Malawian
and a Nigerian and they
lost US$250.00 and ZAR300.00. No reasons were given
by the police for the
seizures.
Passengers who raised objections to the thefts by the police
were told to go
to Hatfield Police Station and lodge their complaints. As
the passengers
were rushing to catch flights most chose not to go to the
police station,
and proceeded on to the airport.
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
http://www.nation.co.ke
By WENE OWINO, NATION CorrespondentPosted Saturday,
November 15 2008 at
15:31
GABORONE
Botswana has said it will
not recognise President Mugabe's Zimbabwe
government if the power-sharing
crisis is not resolved within six months.
If it makes good its threat,
Botswana will fail to recognise Mugabe for the
second time.
The
Southern African country declined to recognise Mugabe as Zimbabwe
president
after two rounds of presidential elections in March and June
plunged
Zimbabwe into crisis.
It only changed its position after the ruling
ZANU-PF and Opposition MDC cut
a power-sharing deal that left Mugabe as
president and MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai as Prime
Minister-designate.
The private daily, Mmegi reported on Friday that
Botswana Foreign Affairs
minister, Mr Phandu Skelemani told Parliament that
his country will "go back
to square one" if the ZANU-PF and the opposition
MDC fail to reach a deal in
the next six months.
The power-sharing
deal remains deadlocked after the two sides failed to
agree on how to share
cabinet posts.
Elsewhere, Botswana MPs have expressed their displeasure
with Mugabe and
said SADC should have told him to his face that he is an
embarrassment to
the southern African region.
The MPs were reacting
to a briefing about the recent SADC extra-ordinary
summit in Johannesburg,
South Africa. They said that Botswana should
consider cutting diplomatic
ties with Zimbabwe.
http://www.afriquenligne.fr
Dakar, Senegal - The Director of
the Senegalese section of Amnesty
International, Mr Seydi Gassama, on Friday
urged the African Union (AU) to
take over Zimbabwe's case, because the
Southern African Development
Community (SADC) mediation "has reached its
limits".
Mr Gassama was speaking in Dakar at the launch of an information
campaign on
the human rights situation in Zimbabwe which runs until 20
November.
He said the mediation of SADC "has unfortunately reached its
limit", and
called on Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade to get involved in
the case.
"We ask President Wade to get involved because we know that in
the coming
days he is going to be engaged in this mediation," he said,
adding that the
mediation should no longer be confined to SADC "which shares
the same
history as (Zimbabwean President) Robert Mugabe".
Mr Gassama
said President Wade, who is in another African sub-region "can
object ively
play a role in that case" and asked African governments,
"inclined to say
that Mugabe is the victim of a Western plot", to get
informed about the real
situation prevailing in that country.
There is a "disinformation campaign
by the regime which presents itself as a
victim of the West, a ploy which
unfortunately works in many African
countries."
Mr Gassama said those
who are being "tortured are not whites; these are
black Zimbabweans, like
Mugabe, and most of them took part in the country's
liberation struggle,
just like Mugabe".
He said the sensitization campaign the organization
had launched, was simply
aimed at showing Senegalese public opinion that
what was going on in
Zimbabwe was neither a decolonisation problem nor a
conflict between Mugabe
and the whites who want to cling to colonial
privileges.
According to Mr Gassama, Amnesty International sent missions
to Zimbabwe and
neighbouring countries, but only of the late Zambian
president, Levi
Mwanawassa, accepted to protest against the regime of
Mugabe.
Dakar - 14/11/2008
Pana
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=7329
November 15, 2008
By Eddie
Cross
I HAD two disturbing experiences this week. I visited the Head
Office of the
Ministry of Education and then went to the Government Pensions
office. I was
asking after the pension of a friend who had been retired for
two years and
had not received his pension.
The Ministry of Education
was a shock - there was no one at work. Floor
after floor was almost
deserted.
"Where is the clerk who deals with Bulawayo?" I asked. "She is
at the bank"
was the reply. Today I went back to find the office deserted
except for a
solitary employee who told me they had not seen the clerk for
several days -
did not know when she would be back at work, "try the
pensions department"
she said.
I had 30 minutes before my next
meeting so I went over to the building where
the pensions department was and
again walked in on a department where out of
30 employees there were two in
attendance - one the supervisor and the other
a data clerk. They told me
they had 300 000 pensioners in their data base
and the supervisor told me
without any reluctance that she earned Z$2
million a month - US$4.00 at
today's exchange rate.
If this is representative of what is going on in
government departments then
the situation is pretty dire. In a recent
survey, people were asked if they
had tried to leave the country. A total of
53 per cent responded that they
had tried to leave Zimbabwe in the past
year. Do you blame them? Today I was
told that all State hospitals in the
capital had closed down and were not
accepting patients.
When I
attended a Parliamentary caucus this week I told a fellow legislator
what I
had seen in the government offices - he laughed and said, "we are a
dressed
up Somalia". I thought that was very apt. Four hours later the
Parliament
was closed for a month - there was no money for expenses and no
water in the
building. The last time I looked, I was getting Z$50 000 a
month - enough to
buy half a loaf of bread.
In my pigeon hole at Parliament was a glossy
document - the annual report of
a State controlled institution. The lay out
and contents were very
professional - it could easily be taken as an annual
report for a big
company. However, when I studied the balance sheet and did
some number
crunching, I found that the main customer of the organisation -
another
State controlled institution, had not paid its bills for two years
and
technically, the organisation was broke - even with money in the
bank.
On Friday we finally gathered to hear what had transpired last
Sunday at the
SADC summit in Johannesburg. It was both intriguing and
disappointing - the
14 States had spent 12 hours debating two regional
problems - the conflict
in the eastern Congo and the political crisis in
Zimbabwe. In the end they
fudged both. Angola and Zimbabwe both offered
troops - the Angolan offer is
unlikely to be taken up, as the Congo does not
trust Angola (with good
reason). Our offer was an empty gesture unless
Kabila or Angola was going to
pick up the tab of about US$1 million a
day.
On Zimbabwe they fudged the whole issue, clearly supporting Zanu-PF
and more
particularly, Mugabe. The final communiqué could not have been more
one-sided.
The MDC leadership spent the rest of the week talking to
those SADC leaders
who are sympathetic to the MDC and have some democratic
credentials. After
those consultations, our leadership met in Harare and
finally today, we
called in our National Executive and Council.
After
an all day meeting we finally resolved - unanimously, to reject the
SADC
decision, reaffirm our commitment to the Global Agreement and clearly
stated
what our conditions are for participation in any new inclusive
Government.
Our demands are well known to all SADC States and to the
Secretariat in
Gaborone. They are: -
We reject the agreement signed on September 15 in
front of 23 Heads of State
and with great fanfare supervised by Mr. Mbeki as
not representing the
actual agreement negotiated and signed on September 11
in Harare. We insist
that the new inclusive government be based on the
original agreement and
that the way it is implemented also be in accord with
the earlier version.
We demand the allocation of ministerial portfolios
on the basis of equity
between Zanu PF and MDC. By no stretch of the
imagination can the
Mugabe/Mbeki allocation be considered as anything but
biased and partial.
We demand the recall of all 10 provincial governors,
unilaterally appointed
by Mugabe in defiance of the MoU and the Global
Agreement and the allocation
of these posts on the basis of the
parliamentary majorities in each province
(5 MDC, 4 Zanu PF and 1
Mutambara).
We demand the appointment of all permanent secretaries and
ambassadors on
the basis agreed in the original version of the Global
Agreement.
We demand full prior agreement between the parties to the
constitution and
membership of the National Security Council to which the
armed forces and
security service are to be accountable to ensure they are
not controlled and
directed on a partisan basis.
We demand full
agreement by all parties to a draft version of Constitutional
Amendment
Number 19 referred to in the Global Agreement and intended to give
full
expression to the agreement in legal terms and on the basis of which it
will
be implemented. The Draft Bill to be jointly proposed and supported by
all
parties to the agreement when it comes to Parliament and is passed into
law.
Finally, we resolved that since it was obvious that neither
Zanu-PF nor
Mugabe can be trusted to act in the interests of either the
country or the
agreement, that all these conditions must be met in full and
implemented in
clearly defined legal terms before we would participate in
any inclusive
government. We further stated that we would not recognise any
government
appointed by Zanu-PF in the interim and would continue to hold
that no
Ministers currently in office have any legitimacy or legal standing
and that
Mr. Mugabe can only become State President by
agreement.
That is a big spanner in this particular works - we wait to
see what the
region and the regime do in reaction. For the rest of us, it's
'vasbyt'.
The Zanu-PF propaganda machine is working overtime. "MDC agrees
to join
inclusive government" was the headline this morning in State
newspapers.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Zanu-PF thought that
the SADC
decision would put us in an impossible situation with no real
options. They
now know better. If they want to see Zimbabwe put back on the
road to
recovery, if they want to get out of the hole they are in, then they
have to
have our approval and participation. If not, they are going
nowhere.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=7309
November 14, 2008
Tanonoka
Whande
ZIMBABWEANS have suffered for very long.
And as they
continue to suffer in their country, they see diplomats come and
go.
Zimbabweans continually witness the apparent immunity to evil
surrounding
Africa and SADC's leaders.
While they cry out for help,
justice and deserved acceptance into the
democratic family of nations,
Zimbabweans helplessly watch as their votes
are rubbished by the same
African brothers who declared that there would now
be 'African solutions to
African problems'.
As people die and as children and the elderly starve,
as our compatriots
with terminal illnesses look up to receive assistance
from outsiders, they
find their own government standing between themselves
and relief.
Zimbabweans see and find their own government causing them
more harm than
they are already in. They cry out to their neighbours in the
next house,
village and country but SADC and Africa can only hear Robert
Mugabe's
condescending voice.
Mugabe wants more blood and he cries
out to his fellow African presidents
who give him the political authority to
draw more blood out of the dying
nation and its helpless
citizens.
Conversely, as all animals respond to the chilling midnight
laughter of the
hyena, SADC and Africa retreat and do not carry out their
responsibilities
and mandates in the region when Mugabe stalks the veldt.
They look the other
way as the cries of Zimbabweans pierce the African
landscape.
Yet SADC and Africa know and can tame the predator.
Oh,
yes, African leaders have a keen sense of hearing. They hear giggles and
whispers from faraway Europe; but the screams and yells of agony from right
here in Africa elude them.
Yes, this thing called SADC is not
African. It is sinister. It is organized
irresponsibility.
Just who
is SADC? Who is behind SADC? Who determines SADC's policies? What
is
SADC?
How are SADC policies reached at and who is in attendance when
these
"policies" are formulated? Are any Africans in attendance then? Why do
they
waste time formulating policies that they themselves do not bother to
uphold
or enforce?
So, after the shameful display of political
inadequacy and collective
irresponsibility by SADC's heads of state in South
Africa a few days ago, I
had no choice but to believe that SADC and the rest
of Africa are
fatalistically jealous of the nation of Zimbabwe.
I
reached this conclusion after trying and failing to understand how SADC
leaders could seriously reach a decision that literally confirmed Mugabe as
leader at the expense of one who won elections.
That agreement
recognises Mugabe as president yet Mugabe, with SADC's
backing, refuses to
respect the very document that gives him legitimacy.
But no problem
there; this is Africa. SADC just overrode the document that
they themselves
played midwife to and gave Mugabe legitimacy. Remember that
Mugabe was not
even supposed to be in that summit hall because SADC was
supposedly
deliberating on his political fate. His presence there was like a
convicted
murderer entering court to pass judgment on himself.
However, in spite of
Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe is a beautiful country with
beautiful
people.
We used to go toe to toe with South Africa as evidenced by the
number of
international organizations, businesses and non-governmental
organizations
that headquartered themselves in Zimbabwe. Even at the height
of our misery
and during Mugabe's irresponsible and murderous rule,
Interpol, the
International Police, got busy building their regional
headquarters in
Zimbabwe.
I am dismayed when I view footage of
ZANU-PF thugs chasing MDC supporters
with machetes, logs and axes as they
broke up an MDC rally during the
elections earlier this year.
What
amuses me is that you can see MDC supporters, in flight from machete
wielding ZANU-PF militias, dashing past and disappearing behind the Interpol
Regional Headquarters whose construction is now almost
complete.
Rhodesia managed to manufacture and export goods to Europe, the
Americas and
Australia while it was under real economic sanctions.
It
is a tribute to Zimbabweans that Ian Smith could achieve such a feat.
And
today, with our currency virtually non-existent, we still provide
booming
business to Botswana, South Africa, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and
even
Namibia, Angola and DR Congo.
Underpaid, abused and taken advantage of
wherever they are, Zimbabweans
soldier on.
Because of lack of proper
immigration documents and mere exploitation, our
qualified teachers are
tending cattle in Botswana, our nurses are maids in
South Africa, our
engineers are messengers and our pharmacists are cleaners
in many
countries.
Robert Mugabe, the man who causes this brain drain, insults
our
professionals by saying that they left unemployment in Zimbabwe to go
and
wipe white people's behinds in the nursing homes of Britain and
Australia.
They did not; but even if they did, there is nothing wrong
with that.
A properly paid maid in Botswana can pay Mugabe's salary in
Zimbabwe
dollars.
SADC never spent an hour figuring out how
Zimbabweans can be saved from
Robert Mugabe.
I watched President
Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa surrendering without
even throwing a
punch.
African solutions to African problems? No, Sir!
SADC
leaders came down firmly on the side of Mugabe, a man Zimbabweans
rejected
at the polls. Because they are comrades they stick together and
African
citizens be damned!
Over the years, Mugabe has abused us. Since
independence, Mugabe has killed
our citizens. We have known no other leader
apart from this heartless man.
SADC leaders did not care to help us. Instead
they ganged up on us.
Africa is a disgrace and SADC is worse, as is being
confirmed by Somalia,
Darfur, Zimbabwe and DR Congo. There are no African
solutions to African
problems.
How could SADC collectively stand with
Mugabe at the expense of the long
abused people of Zimbabwe?
Please,
where is COSATU?
COSATU derives its strength from the people, from the
workers. And people
and workers are the same everywhere. COSATU must apply
some pressure on
their government. I don't care much about South African
president Kgalema
Motlanthe.
He is ambitious too and will not give
Jacob Zuma the presidency on a
platter.
Motlanthe has his own
supporters who are taunting him on why he should later
settle for Number
Three, Four, Five or Six when he is Number One right now -
something Jacob
Zuma never achieved. So, Motlanthe has already started
campaigning for
himself. Zimbabwe is really not his priority.
Be that as it may,
Zimbabwe's biggest product is its people, whose
resilience has yet to be
matched by any other nation. Zimbabwe has a good
educated population that
spends well when times are right and Zimbabwe has
one of the most literate
labour forces in the world and, certainly, the most
literate in Africa. That
alone is an investor's dream; that is why many
countries are standing by to
invest in Zimbabwe.
They'd rather wait than invest elsewhere and that
can't possibly be pleasing
to some struggling African countries, can
it?
Africa is jealous of Zimbabwe.
Kofi Annan's poisonous
political concoction in Kenya is destroying democracy
in
Africa.
Zimbabweans have given Mugabe and SADC all the necessary time,
but Mugabe
and SADC have shown nothing but contempt.
The Financial Gazette
2008 11 15
http://www.fingaz.co.zw/story.aspx?stid=1047
National
Report
Ray Matikinye and Njabulo Ncube Staff Reporters
As police,
protestors clash in urban areas
TENSION is rising in major towns and
cities after the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) declined to
participate in a unified government with
riot police being deployed on the
streets to thwart planned demonstrations
over the looming collapse of the
September 15 power-sharing agreement.
On Tuesday, police battled
protesters in central Harare demanding the
establishment of a transitional
authority to run government as advocated by
civic organisations while in
Bulawayo police assaulted demonstrators
marching to the main government
complex at Mhlahlandhela, on the outskirts
of the city.
But the
National Constitutional Assembly, which has been leading calls for a
transitional authority while a new constitution is being worked on,
announced this week it would roll out a sustained series of similar protests
every Tuesday until its demands were met.
The situation in most major
cities and towns across the country has remained
tense after the weekend
talks in Sandton, South Africa, failed to resolve
the country's political
crisis.
Police fear the winding queues at the banks of desperate people
struggling
to withdraw cash provide a ready catchment area for those pushing
for mass
protests.
Tsvangirai has declined President Robert Mugabe's
offer to participate in an
all-inclusive arrangement after a summit of
Southern African Development
Community (SADC) heads of state and government
ignored his party's
suggestions in allotting ministries and ruled the
contentious Home Affairs
Ministry be co-managed.
Despite Tsvangirai's
refusal, President Mugabe said he would go ahead to
announce his
Cabinet.
Presidential spokesman, George Charamba, said yesterday a
government would
be formed with or without Tsvangirai.
"As far as we
are concerned government will be formed with or without
Tsvangirai at the
end of this week or early next week. There is a country to
be run and
services to be provided and we can't wait for people who are
undecided about
what to do," said Charamba.
The Zimbabwean leader is however, in a
dilemma after Arthur Mutambara,
leader of the smaller faction of the MDC
said his party can only join
ZANU-PF in government if the MDC-T agrees to
come along.
Yesterday, ZANU-PF's politburo galvanized its leader to
implement the SADC
resolution.
The politburo, the decision-making
organ of ZANU-PF, met in Harare and
resolved that President Mugabe should
"with immediate effect proceed to form
an inclusive government in full
compliance with the SADC extraordinary
summit decision".
Tsvangirai's
National Executive Council is also expected to meet tomorrow to
discuss
SADC's prescription amid revelations MDC supporters are putting
pressure on
their leadership to abandon the power-sharing agreement.
MDC-T insiders
said the former trade unionist has been at pains to explain
to party
supporters that it would be a monumental blunder to pull-out of the
talks as
this would be misconstrued by regional leaders and would give
ZANU-PF
ammunition to lash-out at the MDC supporters.
The MDC leader has
indicated however, that he would take up the dispute with
the African Union
(AU) and eventually with the United Nations.
Analysts have however, ruled
out Tsvangirai's chances of succeeding at the
AU level.
Priscilla
Misihairabwi, the deputy secretary of the MDC formation led by
Mutambara
echoed the same sentiments yesterday.
She said: "The AU delegated the
responsibility of dealing with the
Zimbabwean issue to the region. I don't
see any other route that our
colleagues (MDC-T) can take to put (across)
their case".
Tsvangirai this week argued that his dispute with President
Mugabe was more
about equitable sharing of power rather than just about who
controls the
Home Affairs portfolio.
"Home affairs is not the only
issue . . . the issue is about equitable
power-sharing, it is about giving
the responsibility to the party that won
an election and has compromised its
position to share a government with a
party that lost," he said.
The
MDC leader said failure of the SADC summit to acknowledge the only fair
and
rational solution with regard to equitable power sharing, places the
Zimbabwean people in a quandary.
"The needless suffering being
experienced by millions of Zimbabweans every
day is unprecedented in our
country's history," he said. "It is precisely
because of this that we cannot
accept any arrangement that does not allow
the MDC to effectively contribute
to ending this suffering," Tsvangirai told
SADC leaders.
President
Mugabe told regional leaders in South Africa it would be unsafe to
cede the
Home Affairs Ministry to the MDC, citing allegations the party was
training
bandits in Botswana to destabilise Zimbabwe, charges both Gaborone
and the
MDC-T have denied.
Botswana has told SADC leaders there were free to make
inspection in that
country.
If President Mugabe goes ahead and names
a cabinet as he promised he will
have to contend with 16 vacant ministerial
portfolios, which were allotted
to the two MDCs under the September 15
agreement and will have to find ways
to plug that hole.
Charamba
however, said those ministries that had been allocated to the MDCs,
incumbent ministers would hold those portfolios until the appointees from
the other parties are ready to join.
If Tsvangirai sticks to his guns
and refuses to participate, analysts said
he risks blemishing his political
stature in the eyes of the regional body
whose decisions he has
rebuffed.
The MDC formation led by Mutambara has already taken a position
that it will
not participate in a government without their colleagues in the
other
formation.
"We have already taken a position that we cannot
participate without our
colleagues in line with the SADC communiqué. We will
go along with the
provisions in that document as we are bound by it,"
Misihairabwi-Mushonga.
Misihairabwi said President Mugabe cannot name a
cabinet because "the SADC
communiqué was quite prescriptive".
SADC
prescribed that the inclusive government be formed forthwith with the
Ministry of Home Affairs being co-managed between the ZANU-PF and MDC-T. It
said the efficacy of co-managing the Ministry should be reviewed after six
months by the parties with the assistance of the guarantors, SADC, AU and
the facilitator, Thabo Mbeki.
To give effect to these decisions and
the provisions of the global political
agreement, the parties must, without
any further delay, introduce the
Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Number
19, it said.
Both President Mugabe and Tsvangirai are saddled with a
worrisome dilemma as
pressure for the formation of a cabinet that would deal
with a deteriorating
economic crisis mounts.
"Home affairs is not the
only issue . . . the issue is about equitable
power-sharing, it is about
giving the responsibility to the party that won
an election and has
compromised its position to share a government with a
party that lost," he
said.
The MDC leader said failure of the SADC summit to acknowledge the
only fair
and rational solution with regard to equitable power sharing,
places the
Zimbabwean people in a quandary.
"The needless suffering
being experienced by millions of Zimbabweans every
day is unprecedented in
our country's history," he said. "It is precisely
because of this that we
cannot accept any arrangement that does not allow
the MDC to effectively
contribute to ending this suffering," Tsvangirai told
SADC
leaders.
President Mugabe told regional leaders in South Africa it would
be unsafe to
cede the Home Affairs Ministry to the MDC, citing allegations
the party was
training bandits in Botswana to destabilise Zimbabwe, charges
both Gaborone
and the MDC-T have denied.
Botswana has told SADC
leaders they were free to make inspections in that
country.
If
President Mugabe goes ahead and names a cabinet as he promised he will
have
to contend with 16 vacant ministerial portfolios, which were allotted
to the
two MDCs under the September 15 agreement and will have to find ways
to plug
that hole. Charamba however, said those ministries that had been
allocated
to the MDCs, incumbent ministers would hold those portfolios until
the
appointees from the other parties are ready to join in.
If Tsvangirai
sticks to his guns and refuses to participate, analysts said
he risks
blemishing his political stature in the eyes of the regional body
whose
decisions he has rebuffed.
The MDC formation led by Mutambara has already
taken a position that it will
not participate in a government without their
colleagues in the other
formation.
"We have already taken a position
that we cannot participate without our
colleagues in line with the SADC
communiqué. We will go along with the
provisions in that document as we are
bound by it," said
Misihairabwi-Mushonga.
Misihairabwi said President
Mugabe cannot name a cabinet because "the SADC
communiqué was quite
prescriptive".
SADC prescribed that the inclusive government be formed
forthwith with the
Ministry of Home Affairs being co-managed between ZANU-PF
and MDC-T.
The Financial
Gazette
2008 11 15
National Report
Staff
Reporter
FIREWORKS are expected at the ZANU-PF annual people's conference
next month
as it emerged that there is a strong push from reform-minded
party officials
to bring up for discussion the delicate succession
issue.
In the past, the ZANU-PF top brass has kept a tight lid on the
divisive
succession issue but of late the party's leadership has been
warming up to
the topic as the young Turks begin to assert authority more
and more.
While the succession issue is not part of the conference
agenda, which is
still to be finalised, there have been muffled voices
pushing for the
party's renewal following its poor showing at the March 29
synchronised
polls.
At the polls, ZANU-PF lost its majority in the
lower house to the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) for the first time
since the country gained
independence from Britain in 1980.
The
party's reluctance to tackle the succession issue became one of the
reasons
cited by former finance minister, Simba Makoni and Dumiso Dabengwa,
former
ZANU-PF politburo member, for their defection from the party to
spearhead
the Dawn/Kusile/Mavambo project ahead of the March elections.
ZANU-PF
insiders said the discord during the party's restructuring in some
provinces
might be a taste of what could be in store for the party's old
guard at the
conference scheduled to run from December 10 to 14 in the
mining and farming
town of Bindura.
"The tone of the debates at this year's conference might
choke those who
thought the event was all about feasting," said a ZANU-PF
source, privy to
the shenanigans ahead of the conference. "The gloves are
off and there is no
going back on the succession issue," he added.
He
was referring to lavish feasting associated with the party's gatherings.
So
far, the conference's organising committee has lined up 124 cattle, 81
goats
and 18 pigs for slaughter.
About 5,000 delegates will attend the
conference to be held at the Bindura
University of Science
Education.
After ZANU-PF's defeat in March, reform-minded members were
said to have
openly told their leadership at one of the party's politburo
meetings in
April that the rejuvenation of the revolutionary party was long
overdue.
It was said then that President Mugabe hinted he would pass on
the baton in
two years if he was to win the run-off, later to be boycotted
by MDC leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai.
But since then, a series of events
have occurred on the political front that
might force the veteran Zimbabwean
leader to rethink. ZANU-PF is now locked
in a complex dispute with the MDC
over a power-sharing agreement signed on
September 15.
The jostling
to succeed President Mugabe has remained split between Vice
President Joice
Mujuru, backed by his powerful husband and retired army
general, Solomon
Mujuru, and Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Rural Housing Minister.
After
suffering a temporary setback in 2004 when his ambition to fill in the
gap
left after the death of Vice President Simon Muzenda, Mnangagwa has
bounced
back strongly, buttressing his rising star with his backing of
President
Mugabe's June 27 re-election bid.
But party insiders said four weeks is
too long a time in the life of a
politician, hinting the Mujuru camp still
enjoys tremendous support in the
provinces, which can swing the tide in its
favour.
The Mujuru camp is likely to be vicious at the conference in the
wake of
what appears to be the purging of ZANU-PF officials linked to it
namely Ray
Kaukonde, Ephraim Masawi, Tinaye Chigudu and Willard Chiwewe who
were
sidelined as governors for Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central,
Manicaland
and Masvi-ngo respectively.
But whoever is to succeed
President Mugabe will need the backing of the
veteran nationalist who is yet
to speak out openly on his retirement.
Depending on how President Mugabe
manages the succession issue, ZANU-PF
might struggle to recover the lost
ground due to internecine infighting.
The government-run Herald last
month quoted Masawi, the ZANU-PF deputy
secretary for information and
publicity, urging delegates to view the
conference more seriously, saying it
was imperative for the party to be more
united than before.
The Financial Gazette
2008 11
15
National Report
Shame Makoshori, Senior
Reporter
EMPLOYEES in the financial services sector piled pressure on
their employers
this week to pay November salaries in hard currency amid
fears that they may
down tools at a time when the sector is virtually under
siege from clients
who are unable to access cash.
The Financial
Gazette is reliably informed that after intense negotiations,
the Zimbabwe
Bank Workers Union (ZIBAWU) and the Bankers Association of
Zimbabwe (BAZ)
are deadlocked over the issue.
Negotiators from ZIBAWU and BAZ are
expected to meet in Harare today to try
and break the
deadlock.
Failure to break the impasse could force the two parties to
refer the
dispute for arbitration.
While the bank workers might have
a strong morale argument, given that most
goods and services are now
retailing in foreign currency, they may fail to
convince an arbitrator
because the country's laws criminalise the use of
foreign currency as legal
tender.
Only a few companies, licensed by the central bank, are allowed
to sell
their goods in foreign currency.
Sources said the bank
workers, about 7,000 of them, are demanding not less
than US$ 1,200 per
month, a similar amount that teachers are demanding from
government.
BAZ chairman, John Mangudya, said while the negotiations
were underway, it
was not possible for banks to pay workers in foreign
currency because "all
our earnings are in local currency".
ZIBAWU has
however, vowed it will only relent if the BAZ agreed to pay part
of their
salaries in foreign currency and the remainder in Zimbabwean
dollars.
"We have a basket of goods in United States dollar terms
that we are using,"
a source close to the negotiations said. "The basket
cost US$ 300. Assuming
BAZ rejects to pay full salaries in foreign currency
then why not just give
us that US$ 300 and we will accept the rest in local
currency. Whichever
way, unless we are given the US dollar value of the
basket or the actual
hard currency there will be no harmony in the
industry," the source added.
Last month, most bank employees took home
between $ 15 million and $ 20
million, not enough to buy a single US dollar
using the cheque rate. This
has riled ZIBAWU, which claimed this week that
the sector has lost more than
3,000 workers to greener pastures in the past
12 months.
ZIBAWU is arguing that the banking industry is discriminating
workers by
paying for most of its commitments in foreign currency while
denying workers
the same.
But BAZ has previously told workers that
banks were charging for services in
the local currency and so it was
unviable to pay them in foreign currency.
The Financial
Gazette
2008 11 15
National Report
Synodia Bhasera, Staff
Reporter
THE dollarisation of medical services has put the lives of
hundreds of
thousands of Zimbabweans in danger as service providers now
insist on
payment in hard currency to hedge themselves against soaring
inflation.
General practitioners are now charging at least US$ 10 in
consultation fees
while specialist surgeons charge double that
amount.
Some private maternity hospitals are reportedly demanding US$ 500
or more in
registration fees while gynaecologists have pegged their fees at
US$ 400 for
a normal delivery and US$ 500 for caesarean
birth.
Zimbabwe, once a shining example of better health delivery in
Africa in the
1980s and 1990s, had its health sector down-graded by the
World Health
Organisation to one of the worst in the world in
2001.
It even performed worse than other southern African countries such
as the
strife-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland
and
Zambia.
Many Zimbabweans are dying in their homes because they
cannot afford the
astronomical health costs.
Some patience,
particularly those on HIV treatment, are abandoning the
prohibitive
antiretroviral drugs in favour of traditional herbs, such as
Gundamiti.
Some have been ripped off by false prophets who are taking
advantage of the
desperate situation in the health sector by battering their
livestock.
Douglas Gwatidzo, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Doctors for
Human Rights,
said the health sector does not operate in a vacuum and
therefore was merely
responding to the adverse economic conditions
prevailing in the country,
which have made the local currency
worthless.
"For us to continue using the Zimbabwe currency is not viable.
Like any
other industry, our services should be based on the stable
currency.
"We don't exist in isolation. We are subjected to the same
rules and
regulations of the country. We are left with no choice but to
respond in a
way that allows us to continue to deliver."
The
dollarisation of the economy has left the majority of the rural and
urban
poor in a quandary.
Hundreds of renal patients will now have to seek
treatment outside the
country because of machine breakdowns and the
prohibitive costs.
For example, CIMAS - one of the country's leading
medical aid societies -
has hiked charges from US$ 40 to US$ 200 per
treatment session at its Harare
Haemodialysis Centre.
As if that was
not enough, more than 50 new dialysis machines donated to the
state by the
Swedish government four years ago have been lying idle in
storage rooms
after the two parties could not agree on how they would be
serviced.
The Zimbabwean government said it does not have the
expertise to maintain
the machines nor the foreign currency to buy spares at
a time when private
health insurance providers have increased premiums five
fold.
A renal patient should have at least three treatment sessions a
week, but
due to the harsh economic environment, most patients now opt for
two
sessions a week while some are having only one owing to increased
costs.
The privately owned Harare Haemodialysis Centre is the only one
functioning
in the city.
The few haemodialysis machines that once
worked at Parirenyatwa Hospital and
Harare Central Hospital reportedly broke
down some time ago.
Minister of Health and Child Welfare, David
Parirenyatwa, said government
was revamping machines at
Parirenyatwa.
"I am aware that our renal patients are being
short-changed.
"We are revamping machines at Parirenyatwa hospital for a
start," he said.
Nephrologist, Chiratidzo Ndlovu, said there was no other
medication for
kidney failure beside transplant and dialysis.
"Renal
patients need transplant or dialysis, there is no any other treatment
beside
the two," she said.
The high costs jeopardises the lives of renal
patients as consumables for
toxic removal are all imported.
Dialysis
chemical solution, which can be manufactured locally, costs US$ 71
at a
local chemical and drug manufacturing company.
The chemical removes waste
products and excess fluid from the blood stream
while at the same time
maintaining a proper chemical balance of the blood.
Doctors said dialysis
was extremely expensive and on average, medical costs
for a dialysis patient
were five times higher than for an average patient.
The Financial Gazette
2008 11
15
National Report
Njabulo Ncube, Political Editor
Experts
say AU verdict unlikely to be different from SADC proposition
AFTER
Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional leaders backed
President Robert Mugabe's plan for the Home Affairs Ministry, courting the
ire of Morgan Tsvangirai, who has hinted at taking up the issue with the
Africa Union (AU), analysts doubt that the continental body can reverse the
stance taken by the 15-member regional grouping.
Analysts who spoke
to The Financial Gazette noted that the AU had
historically endorsed the
decisions of SADC and other regional groupings
wherever there were
conflicts.
They said it would be a departure from the norm if the AU was
to reverse the
decision of SADC regional leaders to impress on President
Mugabe to handover
the Home Affairs Ministry to the larger faction of the
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), led by Tsvangirai.
SADC held
more than 12 hours of closed-door talks on Sunday but failed to
find common
ground between President Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
The two rivals signed a
power-sharing deal on September 15, calling for
President Mugabe to remain
as president while Tsvangirai becomes Prime
Minister.
But they have
failed to agree on key cabinet posts, especially the Home
Affairs Ministry,
which runs the police.
The summit recommended that the rivals run Home
Affairs jointly - a proposal
that Tsvangirai swiftly rejected, saying he was
"shocked and saddened" by
the summit's failure to take a stronger
stand.
In addition, the SADC leadership stated that Constitutional
Amendment 19,
which would provide the legal framework for the agreement,
should be drafted
as soon as possible, but only after the new government has
been formed.
Tsvangirai accused SADC of lacking "the courage and the
decency to look Mr
Mugabe in the eye and tell him that his position was
wrong."
Despite Tsvangirai's refusal to accept SADC's proposal, the
summit insisted
that the unity government should be formed
immediately.
"There is a very slim chance the AU can overturn the SADC
decision," said
Eldred Masunungure, a professor of political science at the
University of
Zimbabwe.
"SADC as far as it is concerned has finalised
the matter. Unfortunately,
Tsvangirai has no option but to play along
because if he refuses to join the
government, he risks being seen as another
Jonas Savimbi in the making and
life will be very hard for him and MDC-T,"
said Masunungure.
Savimbi led UNITA, an anti-communist rebel group that
fought against the
Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in a civil
war until his death
in a clash with government troops in 2002.
Useni
Sibanda, the national coordinator of Christian Alliance of Zimbabwe,
said
taking the issue to the AU could be another way for the MDC-T to
continue
piling pressure on President Mugabe.
Sibanda, however, doubted the AU
would have influence over the SADC leaders
to rescind their resolution to
have the Home Affairs Ministry co-ministered.
"It's the best thing to do.
But the AU has limitations in that rarely does
it differ with SADC or other
regional bodies. One thing which is abundantly
clear is that SADC has failed
to fairly deal with the Zimbabwe crisis," said
Sibanda.
"It's up to
the AU to be seen to be firm on the issue. If SADC has erred, it
is up to
the AU to correct the mistake but I don't see it doing that," he
said.
Masunungure added that Tsvangirai had been put in a tight
corner by the SADC
summit resolution.
"ZANU-PF and MDC Mutambara are
celebrating. I see Mugabe going full steam to
form a cabinet but I am not
sure if Tsvangirai lost the war. He might have
lost the battle in South
Africa and not the war," said Masunungure.
Sibanda said the worst-case
scenario would be the staging of fresh
presidential elections in early
2009.
"These elections should be under the supervision of the AU and the
United
Nations. The Zimbabwean crisis remains unresolved, there is a real
danger
that the country will degenerate into another DRC (Democratic
Republic of
Congo)," he said.
President Mugabe told reporters when he
left South Africa he was preparing
to form a government "soon."
"The
AU is not going to be more powerful and able to resolve something that
SADC
is not able to do," said Dirk Kotze of the University of South
Africa.
President Mugabe regularly accuses Tsvangirai of acting as a
stooge for
western countries, making it politically difficult for him to
appeal to the
United Nations to step in.
Some analysts said that
Tsvangirai should simply accept the deal as the best
offer he was likely to
receive.
"The MDC has very few options, if any. It really has no choice
but to
participate under protest, in the larger interest of the nation,"
said
Masunungure.
SADC is deeply divided over Zimbabwe, and only five
of bloc's leaders -
including President Mugabe - showed for the
summit.
Neighbouring Botswana has called for a rerun of Zimbabwe's
elections under
international supervision.
But other SADC countries
like Swaziland - Africa's last absolute monarchy -
don't practice democracy
themselves, or have their own political troubles at
home.
Political
analysts, Charles Mangongera said SADC's failure to resolve the
crisis would
only worsen Zimbabwe's economic crisis, with inflation last
estimated at 231
million percent and half the population needing emergency
food
aid.
"The majority of Zimbabweans would suffer because the politicians
have
failed to reach an agreement on how to share power," he
said.
Tsvangirai has rejected the SADC summit proposal, describing it as
unworkable.
He said in a statement to the media this week the MDC was
shocked and
saddened that the SADC Summit had failed to tackle key
issues.
"Firstly, is the principle of equity and fairness. It is the
MDC's position
that any coalition or cooperative government has to be based
on genuine
power sharing of portfolio allocations. In this regard, we had
proposed a
formula, which seeks to pair various ministries on the basis of
relative
parity. Thus, in our view, to the extent that ZANU-PF had allocated
itself
the portfolios of defence and state security, it only made sense that
the
Ministry of Home Affairs should go to the MDC," said
Tsvangirai.
"Secondly, we had also made it clear that the issue of the
enactment of
Constitutional Amendment 19 was a precondition to the formation
of any new
government. More importantly, the offices being created in the
global
political agreement, such as that of the Prime Minister, could only
come
into being with Constitutional Amendment 19.
"Events after the
15th September 2008, in respect of which serious lack of
sincerity has been
displayed by ZANU-PF, demonstrated quite clearly that one
could not proceed
on the basis of good faith in a government not grounded on
a legal
foundation. Thus the question of Constitutional Amendment 19 cannot
be
postponed, as it is not a question of procedure but rather an issue of
substance. Furthermore, in a political environment such as ours, poisoned by
lack of a paradigm shift by ZANU PF, lack of sincerity and utter contempt
towards the MDC and the wishes of the people, quite clearly the concept of
co-ministering cannot work," he said.
Tsvangirai questioned the
rationality of proposing a co-ministry only in
relation to the Home Affairs
portfolio "in total oblivion to Defence and
State Security, which ZANU-PF
already holds."
Tsvangirai said it was the MDC view that a great
opportunity has been missed
by SADC to bring an end to the Zimbabwean
crisis.
"This omission has occurred because SADC approached this summit
without any
concrete strategy and did not have the courage and the decency
of looking
Mugabe in the eyes and telling him that his position was wrong,"
he said.
Mangongera said by endorsing the co-sharing of the Home Affairs
Ministry,
SADC had tacitly backed President Mugabe.
"For SADC to come
up with such a position where they endorse what was
suggested by ZANU-PF ...
is disappointing," he said. "What SADC has done
will make people question
its capacity to deal with regional crises."
Sydney Musamva of the
International Crisis Group said the summit had
highlighted the reluctance of
African leaders to pressure President Mugabe,
who is still considered a
liberation hero.
"The bottom line (that the summit demonstrated) was to
show the
powerlessness of SADC in really leaning on Mugabe," he
said.
"Mugabe got what he wanted from SADC. His first prize was to get
endorsement
from SADC to go ahead to form a government and he got it,"
Musamva added.
Fernando Macedo, an Angolan political analyst said most of
the SADC leaders
were worse than the leadership in Harare and therefore
lacked the authority
to censure Harare.
"SADC is made up of a group
of leaders that are friends of President Mugabe.
Many of them have been in
power for a long time and do not respect
democratic decisions," said
Macedo.
Although regional leaders had given an impression before the
summit that
they would adopt a hard stance and apply pressure on the three
parties they
balked at forcing the ZANU-PF leader to change his
position.
"Mugabe will not listen to anybody at this stage because he is
resigned to
fate. He knows nothing will change about the economy even if he
continues to
hang onto power because it has already gone down," said Lusaka
economist and
political analyst Chibamba Kanyama.
"There was so much
hope that there would be change in Zimbabwe and donors
had begun to
reposition themselves to bail-out the country, but now
President Mugabe
realises that the bail-out will not come quickly because of
the global
financial crisis and as such he will hang onto power."
Kanyama said
Zimbabweans can expect more of the same - talk of a unity
government, new
accusations and counter-accusations, calls for SADC
intervention - while
President Mugabe keeps the upper hand.
The United States on Monday said
it is "very disappointed by the outcome of
the discussions on Zimbabwe at
the SADC summit" in Johannesburg.
State Department deputy spokesman
Robert Wood told reporters that a proposal
to co-manage the Home Affairs
ministry adopted at the summit only served to
reinforce President Mugabe's
grip on power.
"This proposal that was put forth to share the home
affairs ministry, to us,
is just another example of the President Mugabe's
attempt to subvert the
will of the Zimbabwean people," Wood
said.
"This is supposed to be power sharing. This example of trying to
share the
home affairs ministry ... doesn't reflect the will of what the
Zimbabweans
voted for.
"What we want to see is true, substantive
power-sharing negotiations so that
they can agree on a cabinet so that
Zimbabweans can feel they have a
future," Wood added.
British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown expressed similar disappointment.
"We are
disappointed that the SADC meeting hasn't been able to resolve the
deadlock
over ministries," Brown's official spokesman said.
"The international
community is quite clear that it expects an equitable
agreement on the
allocation of ministries between ZANU-PF and the MDC," the
spokesman told
reporters.
The Financial Gazette
2008 11
15
National Report
Ray Matikinye, News Editor
. . . as ZAPU
revival bid gathers pace
IF you walked around putting on a furry animal
skin hat, not many people
would bother to ask who your hatter is. In the
sixties, a furry hat was
considered party regalia and symbolised resistance
to colonial rule. Furry
hats are now out of political season.
But
wear a T-shirt with a charging black bull, with the words: "Lafa elihle"
(It
died with all its good attributes) printed on the back and heads will
turn
as people wonder with the unmistakable look of curiosity who your
clothier
is.
The charging bull is about to cause a stir once again like a Phoenix
rising
from the ashes.
And with it, political temperatures are bound
to rise if they have not done
so already.
The Unity Accord signed
between PF-ZAPU and ZANU-PF two decades ago appears
to be in danger because
of discontent from adherents of the party led by the
late Father Zimbabwe
and Vice President Joshua Nkomo.
ZAPU revivalists pro-tests the 1987
merger brought about political
disequilibrium in favour of ZANU-PF led by
President Robert Mugabe and
little benefits to Matabeleland where the party
drew the bulk of its
erstwhile support.
Attempts by Agrippa Ndlela
and Paul Siwela to revive ZAPU over the years
floundered owing to incessant
disagreements over policies to retail
federalist policies to a cynic
electorate.
ZAPU revivalists say the Unity Accord has favoured former
independence war
fighters and politicians in the Zimbabwe African National
Liberation Army
(ZANLA) than their Zim-babwe People's Revolu-tionary Army
(ZIPRA)
counterparts, although both contributed to the liberation of
Zimbabwe from
colonial rule.
President Mugabe, commentators say, is
facing new challenges in holding
together a political monolith that has
dominated politics in
post-independent Zimbabwe since 1980.
"That
unity arrangement is dead and irrelevant," says Femias Chaka-buda,
chairman
of Zim-babwe Liberation Plat-form - a political formation of bush
war
fighters championing democratic practices and modernist ideology of
tolerance in pursuit of nation building.
The looming schism,
underpinned by a further splintering in the Zimbabwe
National Libe-ration
War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) led by Jabulani
Sibanda into two groups
ahead of ZANU-PF's annual conference in Bindura next
month bodes badly for
the accord and the party itself, which is still
battling to deal with
intra-party divisions over succession.
"We tried to forewarn our
colleagues from ZIPRA when they celebrated the
Unity Accord that they would
be in for a rude awakening with the passage of
time but they did not listen.
They have belatedly seen the light," Chakabuda
said.
Ray Ncube, a
retired army colonel now interim chairman of the Organi-sation
of ZIPRA
Veterans spearheading the revival, symbolises bitterness among
members of
the splinter group.
"If you want to see a poor veteran, just look around
for a former ZIPRA
soldier. He has no land, no formal job, and no money to
fend for their
families. To see a former battalion commander, who sacrificed
his life to
liberate his country, sustained lifetime injuries during that
war, living in
abject poverty is painful. You ask yourself why we went to
war in the first
place.
"The main reason we have broken away from
ZNLWVA is that our membership of
that organisation has not helped," Ncube
said.
John Gazi, the interim secretary of the veterans' group, said
another
grievance, was the failure by ZANU-PF to return properties seized
from ZIPRA
in the 1980s just before Gukurahundi, a military campaign that
claimed more
than 20,000 lives in the Matabeleland and Midla-nds
provinces.
Analysts argue that at the core of the Unity Accord was the
desire by
President Mugabe to form a one-party state. The plan collapsed
after
encountering resistance from Edgar Tekere, the former ZANU-PF
secretary-general, who went on to form his own party, the Zimbabwe Unity
Movement.
The emergence of an even stronger Move-ment for Democratic
Change (MDC) has
completely killed off the plan.
But former ZAPU
leaders in ZANU-PF have dismissed the revival as a move by
"few disgruntled
individuals ignorant of the dynamics in politics".
"There cannot be a
revival of ZAPU. It is not feasible because Joshua Nkomo
was ZAPU and no one
can take his place. Anyone who tries to assume the
mantle will just expose
himself to public ridicule," Absolom Sikhosana, the
ZANU-PF secretary for
youth said.
"Not even (Dumiso) Dabengwa can lead the revival after Nkomo
left us such a
unifying legacy. Why would one want to revive a dead horse?"
he asked.
Dabengwa is former ZANU-PF politburo member. He abandoned the
party in the
lead up to the March 29 synchronized elections to join Simba
Makoni, former
finance minister in President Mugabe's
government.
Dabengwa is now linked to efforts to revive
ZAPU.
Sikhosana, who has risen in the ZANU-PF hierarchy, sees his former
boss in
the war trenches in Zambia as a spent political force unable to
rally people
towards ZAPU revival.
Revivalists think
otherwise.
"The mere fact that ZANU-PF formed a commission to look into
the issue after
an aborted meeting in Bulawayo, shows the level of alarm the
issue has
raised in ruling party circles," says one of the members of the
organising
committee who declined to be named but added: "Just give us
time".
Presidents Mugabe thinks a revival portends grave dangers for
ZANU-PF and
the Unity Accord.
When President Mugabe and other veteran
nationalists such as Enos Nkala, the
late Ndabaningi Sithole and Maurice
Nyagumbo broke away ZAPU to form ZANU,
Nkomo sent emissaries thrice to
President Mugabe, then secretary for
publicity to try to persuade him back
into the fold and re-join the party.
President Mugabe rebuffed the
offer.
Recent reports say the clock has turned as the President tries to
persuade
Dabengwa to rejoin ZANU-PF and save his party the prospects of a
formidable
opposition to his rule and possible
disintegration.
President Mugabe, fearful of the threat to his power
should former PF-ZAPU
officials leave to join Dabengwa, has since assigned
Matabeleland South
governor Angeline Masuku to entice Dabengwa to return to
ZANU-PF, according
to media reports.
"President Mugabe has told me
that his heart is bleeding because Dabengwa is
no longer in ZANU-PF. He has
asked me to get people who can convince
Dabengwa to come back to ZANU PF. I
am now asking you the leadership of the
Bulawayo province to approach him
and win him back," Masuku is said to have
told Matabeleland-based central
committee members, at a meeting held on
October 19 at her farm along
Plumtree Road on the outskirts of Bulawayo,
media reports
say.
President Mugabe fears ZANU-PF will carve in if disgruntled members
from
Matabeleland leave him to revive ZAPU when his party is at its lowest
point.
And when ZAPU is revived, President Mugabe will not be alone in
agonising
over the development.
ZAPU would have to compete for
membership with the MDC, which filled in the
representative void left for
the people of Matabeleland by the Unity Accord.
The MDC has dominated
elections in Matabeleland since the 2000 polls, save
for some constituencies
that have remained loyal to the party that unleashed
the North-Korean
trained Fifth Brigade in a four-year military campaign
against civilians in
the area and parts of the Midlands.
The Financial
Gazette
2008 11 15
Columnists
Mavis Makuni, Own
Correspondent
ZANU-PF is said to be determined to cling on to the
Ministry of Home Affairs
because those within the establishment, whose hands
are not clean are
apprehensive about how the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) could use
the portfolio to bring perpetrators of various atrocities to
justice.
The apprehensions of those who have guilty consciences are not
unfounded.
The party that has ruled in Zimbabwe for almost 30 years has been
persistently accused over its marathon tenure of perpetrating various
horrific acts of violence against the people, ranging from the massacres by
the Fifth Brigade in Matabeleland in the 1980s, to the retributive violence
that followed the March 29 polls, in which ZANU-PF was
defeated.
Against this background, the Southern African Development
Co-mmunity (SADC)'s
statement after its emergency summit in South Africa
last weekend makes
disturbing reading.
The summit was supposed to
help break the stalemate over the sharing of
ministries between ZANU-PF and
the MDC and the regional bloc should have
been objective or at least erred
on the side of safeguarding the interests
of the people of Zimbabwe, who
voted overwhelmingly for change in March.
Instead, a statement issued by
the SADC executive secretary, Tomaz Salamao
,as reported in the state
newspaper, The Herald, suggests that the regional
body is keen to do what is
convenient and expedient for itself and the
authorities in Harare regardless
of whether or not this serves the interests
of the people of
Zimbabwe.
"The SADC was asked to rule and SADC took a decision and that's
the position
of SADC. Now, it is up to the parties to implement," said
Salamao.
It is not surprising that this sounds like a take-it-or-leave-it
proposition
considering that the regional leaders endorsed a hare-brained
proposal they
would never implement in their own countries - that a
ministerial portfolio
be headed by two people. They recommended the
appointment of two ministers
of Home Affairs, one from the ZANU-PF camp and
a counterpart from the MDC.
Salamao conveniently neglected to explain the
rationale behind SADC's
ambivalent approach wh-en a fairer and more decisive
solution would have
been to award the portfolio to the party that won in
March and has
persistently complained about police brutality against its
leaders and
supporters.
No sane Zimbabwean who has been appalled by
the pitting of defenceless
citizens against the full might of the state in
the past wants ZANU-PF near
any ministerial portfolio that it can abuse in
this manner again.
If ZANU-PF had nothing to fear and hide, ceding
security ministries would
have been an opportunity to exonerate itself and
to prove its commitment to
the unity implied in the so-called government of
national unity advocated by
the African Union.
The SADC summit's
stance shows that it regards the apprehensions of the
guilty within ZANU-PF
as legitimate concerns, over which the people of
Zimbabwe must be forced
through this questionable mediation process to bend
over backwards to
indulge the party under whose stewardship unspeakable
horrors were
perpetrated against the populace.
It is widely acknowledged that the
Zimb-abwean police fo-rce has been
acc-used of political bias, dereliction
of duty, various forms of brutality
and selective interpretation and
enforcement of the law.
It is bad enough that throughout the period when
una-rmed Zimbabw-eans were
battered, abducted, tortured, arbitrarily
arrested and killed, SADC
maintained a deafening sil-ence.
It is
preposterous that the same regional bloc that did nothing when
opposition
politicians and civil society leaders were battered in March last
year and
did not say a word when the Zimb-abwean Police Co-mmissioner
General and
other service chiefs ma-de menacing th-reats about their
unpreparedness to
salute MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai as head of state, now
wants to impose
this ridiculous and impractical arrangement.
SADC is not only splitting
hairs on this matter, it is also evading its duty
and sowing seeds of
discord where it is supposed to be promoting unity.
It wants there to
exist a section of the police force in Zimbabwe that
salutes the old guard
and maintains the status quo in terms of abuses and
selective interpretation
and enfo-rcement of the law.
SADC's willingness to endorse the creation
of parallel entities within one
ministry for the sole purpose of shielding a
party that has much to answer
for is reminiscent of the setting up of
Bantustans and homelands in
apart-heid South Africa.
The hype from
the apartheid regime was that blacks were happy to run their
own affairs
when the real objective of having these parallel sham
administrations was to
perpetuate an oppressive system.
It is a cruel irony that a similar
attempt to deceive has been made by SADC
under the chairmanship of South
Africa.
By swallowing propaganda about the opposition training militias,
SADC has
betrayed its readiness to perpetuate ZANU-PF tyranny within a
so-called
unity government.
The bloc's stance amounts to tacit
endorsement of the existence of parallel
entities within the government,
with President Robert Mugabe evidently being
head of state for his party
rather than as a national leader serving all
Zimbabweans.
If SADC's
fuzzy logic for splitting the Home Affairs Ministry were to be
followed to
its natural conclusion, it should follow that even the
presidency and all
ministerial portfolios should be shared in the same
manner.
SADC can
learn something from the game of soccer. When there is a stalemate
because
the teams are drawn, the game goes into extra time and then sudden
death
penalty shootouts.
The regional bloc has given ZANU-PF enough extra time
to demonstrate
political maturity and goodwill despite it being the losing
side. Since the
party persists in wanting to impose its will on the rest of
the people, it
is time to proceed to the next stage rather than try to force
matters.
SADC must admit that it has failed to resolve the stalemate in
Zimbabwe as a
fair arbitrator guided by its principles and protocols on the
conduct of
free and fair elections.
It has failed to insist on an
outcome that represents as closely as possible
the will of the people of
Zimbabwe as expressed in the March elections.
It should now make way for
the United Nations to come in and supervise fresh
elections, which, if held
in a free, fair and safe environment are the only
way for the people of
Zimbabwe to elect leaders of their choice.
lFeedback:
mmakuni@fingaz.co.zw
The Financial Gazette
2008
11 15
Opinion
Professor N. Chivizhe
THE economic trauma to
which those in Zimbabwe have been subjected is so
nerve-wrecking such that
even the intelligentsia are being swept by the tide
of money illusion, under
the auspices of the so-called "burning" of foreign
currency or purchase of
shares on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).
I have also monitored media
comments and articles by so-called renowned
stock analysts and economists -
all eulogising the performance of ZSE in
nominal terms - but without
disclosing the performance of the same ZSE in
real terms.
In this
article, I will attempt to enlighten Zimbabweans not to waste their
foreign
currency and energy by pursuing surreal mirages that are packaged in
the
tantalising nominal performance of the stock exchange or the huge
nominal
proceeds from selling foreign currency using the so called
cheque/transfer
rate.
Both processes are not suitable assets upon which those with
foreign
currency can hedge the politico-economic uncertainties currently
bedeviling
the country.
The whole transmission mechanism of the money
illusory process begins at the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, where one, for
instance Murehwa's company is given
an order or contract to supply a given
number of items, e.g. ploughs or
scotchcarts for the farm mechanisation
programme.
Murehwa's company will request for a down payment to enable it
to source the
goods or inputs - say $ 100 quadrillion (revalued). RBZ will
simply transfer
the amount into Murehwa's bank account.
Money has now
been created. Murehwa's company then goes to the parallel
market to look for
foreign currency needed to assemble the ordered farm
mechanisation
equipment.
Well, with $ 100 quadrillion in the account, Murehwa will give
any rate to
anyone who has foreign currency. The sellers of foreign currency
get a
cheque as payment, and then rush to the stock exchange or unit trusts,
to
presumably increase their riches (which are non-existent in real
terms).
The stockbrokers will be told to buy any share at any price. The
stockmarket
then records (nominal) gains, much to the marvel of the gullible
investor.
Now, the performance of any stock exchange (as measured by its
index) is
determined by the performance of shares trading on that stock
exchange.
The price of shares of a company may rise if the profitability
of that
company has or is expected to increase. (The reverse is also true).
The
increase in profits will increase the value of the share, and so the
price
of that share will increase as a reflection of increased
value.
Now in the case of ZSE, the unbridled increases in share prices is
simply
the operation of Quantity Theory of Money, which is simply rationing
the
relentlessly increasing money supply growth in the country.
The
Quantity Theory of Money (espoused by Irving Fisher in 1885) is
represented
by the equation MV = PT, where M is the stock of money in the
country, V is
the velocity of money circulation or the rate at which a
dollar changes
hands in the country; P is the average price level of goods
and services in
the country; and T is the quantity of tradable goods or
services in the
country (or national output).
Now, V is stable over time, and hence may
be taken to be constant. T is not
increasing in Zimbabwe as there is no
production in industries (and what is
imported is largely sold using foreign
currency).
Hence, T is also constant. This leaves us with two variables,
M (stock of
money) an independent variable, and P (average price level) a
dependant
variable.
Thus as RBZ increases M, P also increases in
sympathy. But note that the
country no longer has goods or services where
the local currency is
acceptable as means of payment, especially using
cheques.
Thus the money in the country (M) is now largely being channeled
to buy
shares at the ZSE. Thus the increase in share prices at ZSE is simply
a
reflection of the increase in M but otherwise the real value of the shares
is not increasing as these companies are not making real
profits.
Hence, I really do not understand the basis of the echoing
praise for the
performance of ZSE.
It should be clear to anyone
purporting to have done elementary Economics
that what is happening on ZSE
is tantamount to a childish game of cooking
sadza using mud by young girls,
or molding cattle using mud by young boys.
The so-called bullish trend is
simply the upward rationing exercise of
meaningless figures, pressurised
into the economy. And yet those figures
will never yield anything tangible
let alone being converted to money or
anything of value (unless one has
tricky ways of accessing cash).
Fellow Zimbabweans, the simple truth that
is not so obvious is that the
definition of money in Zimba-bwe (i.e. the
Zim-babwe dollar) has narrowed to
only notes and coins. The amount
reflecting on anyone's bank account in
excess of $ 500,000 on any day is no
longer money.
Money is a medium of exchange, which is acceptable (to
anyone selling goods
or services), stable and withdrawable from the bank on
demand, among other
characteristics.
Thus in a normal economy, the
definition of money encompasses notes and
coins in circulation, current
account balances in commercial banks, as well
as balances in savings account
and fixed deposits accounts.
In the Zimbabwean case, money has now been
reduced to only notes and coins
as evidenced by the refusal by many sellers
to accept cheque payments. Hence
in real terms one can burn US dollars or
sell shares/unit trusts and bank
the huge cheque, but all those proceeds are
not money as they fail the above
test.
Thus all those tantalising
huge amounts reflecting in bank accounts are
simply bubbles of thin air, or
a tantalising mirage that will never realise
any tangible value.
The
other misconception common with people is this strange belief or hope
that
sooner or later things will be ok in Zimbabwe and the huge account
balances
will then be money.
The truth is that if the economic environment
normalises, all parameters
will move towards their real values. This means
the reverse of the so-called
bullish process will happen at the stock
exchange as shares move to their
real values. The best option is for those
with foreign currency to cling to
their money and not convert it to Zimbabwe
dollars at whatever amount of
cheque rate they are offered.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Saturday, 15 November 2008 06:22
The International Commission of
Jurists (ICJ) on 12 November 2008
deplored the emerging concept of coalition
governments in Africa as anathema
to democracy and the citizens' right to
choose governments of their choice.
In his submissions to the 44th
Ordinary Session of the African
Commission on Human and People's Rights
(ACHPR) underway in Abuja, Nigeria,
ICJ Africa Director, Arnold Tsunga drew
the Commission's attention to the
poor human rights situation in Africa and
the menace posed to democracy by
coalition governments vis-à-vis the
trampling of basic freedoms of
expression, free media, association and
assembly during election campaigns.
The judiciary, Tsunga said, was also
compromised in playing an independent
role during elections because it has
been emasculated.
The Geneva-based ICJ which seeks to implement
international law and
principles that advance human rights, noted that
elections in Zimbabwe,
Nigeria and Kenya had been marred by widespread
violence, extensive
procedural irregularities, lack of transparency and
"substantial evidence"
of fraud, voter disenfranchisement, partisan
electoral bodies and
intimidation and harassment of citizens, among other
flaws.
"The ICJ submits that while the formation of a coalition
government
might be a necessary approach to save a nation from total
anarchy, the
concept is an anathema to democracy and particularly the
fundamental right
of citizens to freely choose their government," said
Tsunga.
Urging the Commission to adopt a resolution on democracy
and coalition
governments and to insist on the full enfranchisement of the
African people
ahead of next year's elections in a number of African
countries including
South Africa, Tsunga said:
"Elections held
in an environment that suppresses the exercise of free
choice by the
electorate invariably lead to contested and discredited
outcomes that
threaten national cohesion."
A Zimbabwean government representative
from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs attributed the delays in announcement
of the March 2008 election
results, and the date for the presidential
run-off election, to logistical
constraints.
Addressing the
Commission during the slot on statements by state
delegates, the Zimbabwean
representative, Mr Nyakochwa said reports of the
army and police assaulting
citizens during elections were not 'entirely true'
adding that allegations
had been made and that investigations were being
conducted.
On
the exclusion of civic society organisations from the ongoing SADC
mediation
to resolve Zimbabwe's socio-economic and political crisis, he said
it was a
decision that had been made by the political parties themselves. He
hoped
that the Global Political Agreement signed by ZANU PF and the two MDC
formations on 15 September 2008 would result in a solution to the political
impasse in Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, in its call for a resolution on
democracy and coalition
governments, the ICJ said the resolution should urge
African governments to:
1.. Invest sufficient resources and
institute electoral systems that
facilitate the peoples of Africa to vote
freely and determine their leaders.
2.. Respect and enforce the human
rights articulated in regional
instruments governing the conduct of
elections including the 2002 OAU/AU
Declaration on Principles Governing
Democratic Elections in Africa, the
Economic Community of West African
States' (ECOWAS) Protocol on Democracy
and Good Governance adopted in 2001,
and the SADC Guidelines and Principles
Governing the Conduct of Democratic
Elections.
3.. Not allow the emerging trend of negotiated governments
of unity
to be an accepted method of determining national leadership and
that where a
coalition government is established, this should be a
transitional measure
to create an environment for reforms leading to
credible elections.
4.. Ratify, domesticate and adhere to the African
Charter on
Democracy, Elections and Governance.
5.. Respect
popular will, exhibit statesmanship and marshal the
dignity to handover
power to a new leadership in the event of electoral
defeat.
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk
By agency
reporter
15 Nov 2008
Six global church organizations have called for an
effective protection of
the right to life, dignity and democracy of the
people of Zimbabwe and
criticized the stance of the Southern African
Development Community on the
political deadlock in the
country.
Jointly issued on 14 November by the general secretaries of the
World
Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance
of
Reformed Churches, the World YWCA, the World Student Christian Federation
and the World Alliance of YMCAs, the statement calls "for an urgent
affirmation and protection of the right to life and dignity for all
Zimbabweans," as well as "for adherence to democratic principles and
processes in the mediation process and a return of the rule of law inside
Zimbabwe".
On 9 November 2008 the Southern African Development
Community (SADC)
organized a summit of Southern African heads of state to
help the two
Zimbabwean parties - President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF and
opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) -
to reach a power
deal.
"We are deeply disappointed and saddened that
the SADC leadership and
Zimbabwe's political leaders have once again
squandered an opportunity to
take decisive, credible and transformative
action" regarding the crisis in
the country, the statement says. "By failing
to fully address the growing
humanitarian catastrophe and question of
illegitimacy of the current
government, SADC leaders have let down the
people of Zimbabwe."
The ecumenical organizations have called for the
inclusion of civil society
and churches in future talks sponsored by the
SADC and the African Union.
They have also called "on the United Nations,
the European Union and
especially the President-elect of the United States
of America, Barack Obama
to mobilize and increase direct humanitarian
support for the long-suffering
people of Zimbabwe."
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=7334
November 15, 2008
By Owen
Chikari
MASVINGO - Ten soldiers, who teamed up with former Finance
Minister Samuel
Mumbengegwi's wife Perina and assaulted workers on a farm in
Gutu, resulting
in the death of one them last year were each sentenced
Friday to 18 months
in jail.
The soldiers, based at 41 Infantry
Battalion, were convicted on their own
plea of guilt before Gutu resident
magistrate Musaiona Shotgame.
The soldiers will, however, serve an
effective 12 months after the
magistrate conditionally suspended six months
of their sentences.
Mumbengegwi and his wife acquired ownership of Iris
Farm through the
government's controversial land reform
programme.
The soldiers, who initially faced murder charges, were cleared
of the
charges after a post-mortem conducted revealed that one of the
victims of
assault died of other causes and not as a result of the
assault.
Perina Mumbengegwi, who was supposed to be charged with the
soldiers, was
also cleared of the charges after it was established that she
did not
participate in the actual assault of the victims.
The court
heard that sometime in October 2007 Perina Mumbengegwi alleged
that some
farm equipment was missing from her farm.
She then went and made a report
to the police but nothing was done.
Angered by the police's inaction,
Mumbengegwi went to 42 Infantry Battalion
where she prevailed on the
soldiers to indiscriminately assault the workers
at the farm.
The
court heard that the soldiers choked their victims with an intoxicating
substance before heavily assaulting them.
After assaulting the
workers the soldiers allegedly went to a nearby village
where they assaulted
relatives of the dead farm worker for refusing to bury
the body of their
relative.
The magistrate dismissed the plea of the accused for a fine to
be imposed.
He deplored assaults on innocent civilians by members of the
army.
"Under normal circumstances such a case would have attracted a fine
but this
one is unique in the sense that soldiers assaulted unarmed members
of
society," said the magistrate.
"Members of the army should protect
people and not abuse them and in this
case there was no provocation on the
part of the accused persons. A
custodial sentence is the only appropriate
sentence to deter uniformed
forces from abusing their powers, let alone on
elderly people".
In mitigation, the soldiers had told the court that they
had also
compensated their victims.