FinGaz
Nelson Banya
SPEAKING to this
newspaper almost eight years ago, Morgan Tsvangirai, then a
leader in the
labour movement, made the following analysis of Zimbabwe's
legislative
shortcomings as a virtual single-party state:
News
Editor
"I don't think at this point in time we have the capacity to kill the
Bill
when it is reintroduced in parliament next Tuesday, simply because our
lobbying efforts on parliamentarians are most likely to come to nil. Judging
from past experiences, they (MPs) are likely to be whipped to sing and
support the official ruling ZANU PF line," he said then.
"You have to
understand that over 70 of our parliamentarians are either
directly
appointed by the President or are members of the cabinet or deputy
ministers
who must, at the end of the day, pay their allegiance to the
ruling party.
The remainder of the MPs, with the exception of a few
opposition and
independent ones, also got there through the ruling party
ticket and you can
pretty much predict which way they will vote once the
party chiefs crack the
whip. Which leaves the workers and the ZCTU to resist
this levy imposition
primarily on their strengths. I do not want to get into
details of how this
will be done but I can let go of the fact that in
combined masses lies the
power. There is a general consensus both within the
labour movement and
outside of it that drastic action is needed so those in
power can come face
to face with the reality of what happens when you rob a
man's means of
survival."
Tsvangirai, now the undisputed but embattled leader of the
Zimbabwean
opposition movement, made the foregoing statement in an interview
with this
newspaper almost 8 years ago, on the eve of what remains, to date,
Zimbabwe's
biggest mass action since independence as people protested
against the
introduction of a 5 percent war veterans' levy.
This was
to become the first in a series of several, if less spectacular,
protests
spearheaded by the labour movement, which, in turn, formed the
launch pad
for Tsvangirai's entrance into mainstream opposition politics.
Less than two
years following the interview, in which Tsvangirai lamented
the virtual
disenfranchisement of ordinary folk and workers in particular-
by a
government that had grown increasingly insensitive and unaccountable to
the
electorate- the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) came into being.
The
MDC was to come within a whisker of ending ZANU PF's two-decade long
reign
in the June 2000 Parliamentary election, winning 57 of the 120
contested
seats.
The opposition party insists that election, like all subsequent
ones, was
rigged in favour of ZANU PF.
Although the party did not wrest
power from ZANU PF, it clearly had the
ruling party on the back foot, what
with a series of blunders and own goals
that have seen the Zimbabwean
economy decline at an unprecedented rate for a
country not at
war.
What's worse, the ruling party, which has no clear succession policy
and
faced the real prospect of a break-away faction last December after
President Robert Mugabe manipulated the voting process to parachute Joice
Mujuru into the vice presidency at the expense of Emmerson Mnangagwa, was
battling to quell internecine strife.
Clearly things could not have
been any better for the MDC. Acutely aware of
this, Tsvangirai announced in
August that he would be walking into town in
solidarity with the thousands
of Zimbabwean urbanites who are having to walk
long distances due to the
biting fuel crisis- another stark reminder of the
ZANU PF government's
failure to manage the economy.
But despite the inroads the MDC has made
in the past five years, the picture
painted by Tsvangirai all those years
ago still obtains- ZANU PF enjoys a
technical two-thirds majority following
another disputed election last
March, its MPs vote as a herd according to
the party's dictates and even
more Zimbabweans- over 80 percent- live below
the breadline, double the
percentage in the previous decade.
All this
notwithstanding, it is the MDC, not ZANU PF, that is battling for
its
political survival. It has always been accepted that ZANU PF, which has
in
the past actively worked to undermine the cohesion and effectiveness of
opposition groups in the country, would be the single biggest threat to the
MDC's existence. But what many could not have foreseen was the implosion of
the MDC on account of what is undeniably a ZANU PF agenda.
The senate
debate, which at face value appears to have riven the MDC apart,
is, as
Tsvangirai rightly says, a ZANU PF project thought up to smoothen the
vexatious issue of succession politics in the ruling party at a time when
the country should be focusing on solving its myriad problems.
Clearly
disillusioned with what he strongly considers three stolen
elections,
Tsvangirai has long warned that the MDC should "no longer counsel
patience
among the masses in the face of a deepening political and economic
crisis."
He, however, clearly overestimated the persuasion this
message held within
his party and, most importantly, among his colleagues on
the management
committee.
What ensued and the implications thereof is
well documented, but what has
been scarcely probed is the likely impact this
fall-out will have on the MDC
in particular and the opposition movement in
general. This is due to the
simple reason that this would largely be an
attempt at divination.
What could be useful, however, is to interrogate the
MDC as a political
formation steeped in protest politics.
Although it
is one of the hackneyed criticisms leveled at the MDC, this
cannot be a
weakness, except to the extent that the party fails to harness
the popular
protest, not into an ideology, but into a movement that
ultimately addresses
popular needs. The MDC has attempted to do this- not
once, not twice, but
three times- through the ballot.
Against an adversary that progressively
clamped down on democratic space,
first through a purge of the judiciary and
then the closure of independent
newspapers, the MDC could only have come to
the realization that- along with
its civil society partners- the struggle
should now be for a new democratic
constitution.
As if to buttress
this argument, the ZANU PF government railroaded the 17th
amendment to the
constitution, seeking, among other provisions, to restrain
the movement of
'traitors' and sideline the courts from adjudicating
land-related cases
except in terms of settling compensation claims. The
contentious amendment
also reintroduced the senate, an idea which was
vociferouslyopposed by MDC
parliamentarians.
The spectacle of jubilant ZANU PF MPs singing "ZANU
yawhina baba" must have
been nauseating to many Zimbabweans who do not see
how another self-serving
legislative process would help ameliorate the
acute, multi-faceted crisis
that confronts them.
Even more galling is
the prospect of more parochial constitutional
amendments pushed by the
ruling party. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa,
who reportedly confided in
his central committee colleagues that the
reintroduction of the senate was
an ad hoc measure, has said as much. After
the reintroduction of the senate
following November 26, Chinamasa plans to
bring further amendments that
will, among other issues, seek to harmonise
the presidential and
parliamentary elections, no doubt with an eye on ZANU
PF's own problematic
succession conundrum.
It remains to be seen, then, how the MDC, with its
41 representatives in the
House of Assembly and whatever number they get
into the upper house, will
respond to yet another attempt by ZANU PF to ride
roughshod over
long-suffering Zimbabweans.
As it stands, the opposition
party has split right down the middle and is
paying dearly for its
leadership's lack of common vision at such a critical
stage in Zimbabwe's
quest for genuine democracy.
Both feuding factions have taken an absolutist
position on participating in
the senate election - against clear evidence
that there are merits and
de-merits in adopting either position. This
inability to compromise has
thoroughly clouded the optimal view- one closest
to the MDC's goal of ending
ZANU PF misrule and ushering in a new political
dispensation underpinned by
democratic values.
In this context,
participating in an election that is increasingly turning
farcical, only so
that "democratic space" is defended, does not take the MDC
anywhere near its
stated goals. If anything, it serves to legitimize the
ZANU PF legislative
agenda. Witness how President Robert Mugabe and his
lieutenants have been
quick to point to the MDC's symbolic parliamentary
presence as evidence of
multiparty democracy in Zimbabwe. President Mugabe
has spurned all dialogue
over the national crisis with opposition groups,
preferring to engage the
opposition "in parliament."
The argument that the MDC should defend its
territory against ZANU PF
encroachment rings hollow when one considers ZANU
PF's predilection to foist
political appointees on the urban electorate.
Most MDC municipal
administrations have been hobbled by political appointees
in the form of
provincial governors and, in the case of Harare, an
unaccountable commission
to replace an elected mayor and
councilors.
Conversely, the boycott route has its own problems, chief of
which is the
absence of plausible alternative action. Tsvangirai has spoken
of
"democratic resistance" but precious little has been revealed by way of
specific measures.
True, "in combined masses lies the power", but this
has to be harnessed and
a fragmented opposition party at war with itself is
least likely to mobilize
anybody. Last week's foiled anti-poverty
demonstrations by the ZCTU and
NCA - which saw police arresting over 100
demonstrators- provided a fresh
reminder that the state stands ready to
silence all voices of dissent. It
would therefore require astute planning
and execution to mount
extra-parliamentary action that will, as it did in
1998, jolt the ruling
elite to -for once- respond to the common man's cries
of anguish.
Anything short of that will not wash.
What the ongoing
internal crisis in the MDC has revealed- quite
disconcertingly- is lack of
critical internal cohesion, leadership and
heart. What started off as a
messianic project is now steeped in
hoplessness, thanks to petty jealousy,
opportunism and outright battle
fatigue.
That the current
multifaceted crisis that confronts Zimbabwe cries out for
change as an
inevitable solution is common cause, but that change will not
materialize if
those charged with charting its course cannot scheme beyond a
party
constitution. The infantile name-calling among the MDC leadership
poses
serious questions on the opposition party's ability to deliver on its
promises, exposing as it does a president who does not have control over his
party, lieutenants harbouring secessionist agendas and appalling
indiscipline, as epitomized by the eccentric Job Sikhala's
outbursts.
In short, the opposition movement in Zimbabwe finds itself
saddled with a
leadership that has virtually abdicated on its responsibility
to deliver
democratic change.
FinGaz
Charles
Rukuni
Campaigning for the senate elections next week has been quiet.
Unusually
quiet. So quiet that reports say law enforcement agents are
worried that
something might explode at the last minute.
There are no
posters of contesting candidates. No T-shirts. No caps. One
political
commentator remarked that this was a clear sign that the country
could not
afford the elections because even ZANU-PF, which usually dishes
out campaign
material including shirts and dresses, has not been able to do
it this
time.
The campaign has been overshadowed by squabbles within the Movement
for
Democratic Change (MDC) which have literally split the organisation with
party leader Morgan Tsvangirai leading one faction that is against
participating and secretary general Welshman Ncube leading another that
wants to participate.
MDC candidates are contesting 26 seats mostly
in Matabeleland and the
Midlands. The candidates were expelled from the
party by Tsvangirai at the
weekend for defying his directive to pull out of
the elections.
Party spokesman, Paul Themba Nyathi, who belongs to the
faction that wants
to participate, said campaigning was at full
blast.
"We have been extremely busy on the ground. Right now I am taking a
day's
rest after seven hectic days," he said on Tuesday.
He said his
campaign trail had taken him to Plumtree, Insiza, Gwanda,
Silobela, Lupane,
Nkayi as well as Bulawayo where they were holding small
meetings.
"We
have a full schedule at our regional offices of the places and venues
where
we are holding our campaign meetings," he said.
Political commentators say
although Matabeleland and the Midlands are MDC
strongholds its candidates
could lose the senate elections because of apathy
and the fact that the
people may listen to party leader Morgan Tsvangirai,
who has called for a
poll boycott.
One observer, however, said people should not read too much
into the
elections. People were simply tired after having participated in
more than
five national elections in five years.
"The MDC could lose
simply because of fatigue and nothing else. People had
to vote in the
national referendum in 2000, then in the parliamentary
elections of June
2000, followed by the presidential elections in 2002,
parliamentary
elections in March 2005 and now senate elections. It's just
too much
especially when the elections are not bringing any tangible
benefits to the
electorate," the observer said.
Nyathi said taking part in the elections
was a risk his faction was prepared
to take.
"This is a matter of
political principle. We cannot succumb to a
dictatorship because this is
extremely dangerous for any country," Nyathi
said. "It's not about
popularity but about principles."
He said while the decision to boycott
the senate elections might sound right
to the people because they feel there
is no point in contesting against
ZANU-PF under the present environment, the
main problem was that they were
forgetting that the party leader was
ignoring a decision by the majority, a
decision he had promised he would
abide by after the vote.
"Sometimes, I think we deserve the leadership we
get because of our
docility. It might sound right to go with our leader and
support the boycott
now because people agree with his decision, but what
about tomorrow when he
makes a unilateral decision that people do not agree
with?
"The question is how do you trust a leader who agrees that people
should
vote and the outcome will be binding but then goes against his word?
If the
majority is wrong, let them learn from their mistakes," Nyathi
said.
An observer who preferred anonymity but said he was neither a
supporter of
the MDC, nor the ruling ZANU-PF, but of the now defunct ZAPU,
accused those
calling for a boycott of being hypocrites because they were
already in
Parliament and wanted to shut others out.
"If the MDC is
really serious about the boycott," he said, "they should pull
out of
Parliament and out of all the councils."
FinGaz
Zhean Gwaze
MOVEMENT for
Democratic Change president Morgan Tsvangirai will today
continue his
long-drawn battle to set aside President Robert Mugabe's
election in the
2002 presidential election. Tsvangirai's fresh
constitutional application in
the Supreme Court follows delays by the High
Court to finalise his
presidential election petition filed three years ago
before the lower
court.
The Supreme Court application will be based in terms of section 18
of the
Zimbabwean Constitution, which provides for all Zimbabweans to have
their
rights determined by an independent court within a reasonable period
of
time.
Tsvangirai abandoned the petition in the High Court this
year when he lodged
the constitutional challenge in the superior court,
arguing that he would
not get a fair hearing in the lower
court.
President Mugabe and the Electoral Commission, respondents in the
matter
have dismissed Tsvangirai's petition saying it was "merely frivolous
or
vexatious".
In his head of arguments, already before the superior
court, the MDC leader
says the matter requires speedy determination because
the presidential
elections were bound by the constitution.
"The
failure to give that speedy determination undermines the constitutional
democracy of Zimbabwe. The logic is that democracy has been undermined by a
false result-false by contrivance or error-and that an imposter or usurper
rules.
"An illegality is committed for every moment he adheres to power
and his
actions are null and void. This has obviously grave implications for
the
government of the country he purportedly heads, and thus the lives of
its
citizens," the MDC leader will argue.
FinGaz
Njabulo Ncube
IN a
major volte face, President Robert Mugabe's government has accepted
United
Nations (UN) assistance for the provision of shelter to thousands of
victims
of its controversial Operation Murambatsvina scattered in and around
the
country.
The government's change of heart, coming a month before the
arrival of
another special UN envoy to assess the humanitarian crisis
triggered by the
widely condemned clean-up exercise, follows this week's
forcible removal of
hundreds of people that had been sleeping in the open in
Mbare after the
demolition of slums six months ago.
Sources within
the diplomatic community in Harare told The Financial Gazette
yesterday that
Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo wrote to the UN on
Monday stating
that the government had resolved to accept the world body's
help to
specifically build shelter for people made homeless by Operation
Murambatsvina.
Although Chombo was unavailable for comment yesterday,
Yasuhiro Ueki, the
acting director of the United Nations Information Centre
(UNIC), confirmed
the latest development.
"I can confirm that we
received a letter from the Government of Zimbabwe for
the UN to proceed with
the construction of temporary shelter. The
confirmation was received late
Monday. The eventual cost will possibly be
US$18 million," said
Ueki.
Diplomatic sources, adamant that the government lacks the financial
wherewithal to construct decent accommodation for the clean-up victims
without external assistance, said the overall UN offer entailed building 20
000 temporary housing units at an estimated total cost of US$20
million.
The initial phase of the UN project would involve the
construction of 2 500
units mostly in Harare and Bulawayo for thousands of
urbanites rendered
homeless by the widely-condemned exercise.
UN Habitat
head Anna Tibaijuka, who visited Zimbabwe in June and compiled a
damning
report on the demolitions, put the figure of the homeless at 700 000
people.
Tibaijuka also reported that more than 2.4 million others
were left without
means of earning a living following the destruction of
informal vending
sites and backyard industries. The UN offered to build
temporary housing
units for the victims of the operation then but the
government spurned the
offer, categorically stating there was no
humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.
In a previous communication to the UN,
Chombo stated that it was the
government's position that "there is no longer
a compelling need to provide
temporary shelter as there is no humanitarian
crisis."
Chombo also claimed in the communication to the UN that
government had
addressed the most urgent shelter needs in Zimbabwe after it
put into place
Operation Garikai, the successor to Operation Murambatsvina,
a claim which
has been proved untrue as thousands of people are still
homeless five months
after the beginning of the controversial
operation.
Annan last month slammed President Mugabe's government for
rebuffing UN
assistance. The UN chief said he was dismayed and disappointed
by the
government's refusal to accept aid, despite growing evidence of a
humanitarian crisis.
Jan Egeland, the UN relief coordinator, is now
expected in Harare in early
December to help with the project as well as
assess the humanitarian crisis
besetting the southern African nation.
The
government's Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle has dismally failed to meet
set
targets.
Zimbabwe is grappling with one of its worst food shortages. The
UN's World
Food Programme estimates that 4.3 million Zimbabweans are in need
of food
aid but the Harare authorities are adamant only 2.4 million require
assistance. The WFP is currently feeding one million people in the country
and preparations are in progress to feed 2.9 million before the end of the
year.
FinGaz
Njabulo
Ncube
Investigations into allegations of rampant fraud within the
Ministry of
Higher and Tertiary Education have taken a new twist following
revelations
that one of the senior officials under police probe has left the
country for
studies in Cuba.
Sources within the ministry expressed
surprise yesterday at how the finance
officer, fingered in the employment of
ghost workers at the ministry among
other corruption charges, was allowed to
leave the country in the midst of
the investigations.
Other sources
claimed the official, whose identity is known to The Financial
Gazette, was
in fact a ghost worker herself and was instrumental in a
well-orchestrated
scheme to fleece the ministry through payments to alleged
fictitious
employees.
It also emerged that one of the senior financial officers
(name supplied) in
the ministry, a key figure in a scam involving $3,3
billion, was also
allowed to visit a number of southern African countries
during crucial
stages of the investigations.
The same sources said
the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) fraud squad had
raised the issue of the
"disappearance" of the two suspects, who were picked
up by the police for
questioning when the scandal was exposed by this
newspaper in August this
year, with the top officials at the ministry.
It is understood some
senior officials in the ministry, unhappy with the
on-going probe, had made
representations to the ZRP fraud squad
investigating the case to
stop.
"It boggles the mind that these key people have been allowed to go
when
there's a circular that no-one should go on leave or seek a transfer
when
the investigations are in progress," said a source.
Stan Mudenge,
the minister of Higher Education, and his deputy Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu, have not
publicly responded to the alleged scam in the ministry
since this newspaper
broke the story.
Last month, this newspaper revealed that an internal
audit at the ministry
had unearthed pervasive corruption, with billions of
tax-funds alleged to
have been misappropriated through rampant abuse of
vehicles and fuel
allocations.
The internal audit, carried out by the
chief internal auditor in the
ministry, showed that vehicles valued at more
than $3.3 billion were
procured from local car dealers by ministry officials
within going to
tender.
FinGaz
Zhean Gwaze
A
FRESH legal confrontation is looming between the Combined Harare Residents'
Association (CHRA) and Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo, following
the extension of the Sekesai Makwavarara-led commission's term of office for
another six months.
The CHRA said Chombo was once again in contempt
of court as High Court Judge
Rita Makarau had recently reaffirmed earlier
rulings that the extension of a
commission's mandate beyond six months is
illegal.
Justices Wilson Sandura and Hungwe have in previous cases also
ruled that
Chombo cannot lawfully reappoint commissioners for an indefinite
period.
The local government ministry has twice bulldozed its way into
the affairs
of Harare City Council and imposed commissions whose terms of
office have
been extended indefinitely.
The Makwavarara-led
commission has been in office since 2003 when the
elected opposition
Movement for Democratic Change mayor Elias Mudzuri was
fired by
Chombo.
In the labour matter involving one of the imposed commissions,
Makarau said:
"A Commission was allowed to remain in office past its legal
mandate,
thereby creating the fictional vacuum. It is my view that to
legitimise the
clearly illegal in the circumstances of this matter would be
to offend
against the clear letter of the law as contained in the Urban
Councils Act
and to usurp the functions of Parliament and to seek to
legislate from the
bench by excusing which parliament has decreed
illegal."
The residents' representative body has vowed to continue
fighting a legal
battle with Chombo despite an earlier case on the legality
of the commission
being set aside as not urgent by the High Court.
The
CHRA said it was mobilising residents at various levels to press for an
organised and effective rate boycott, citing the Harare City Council's
chequered service delivery record.
"We are compiling all the relevant
information to submit to our lawyers on
the way forward. Currently we are
organising residents to boycott rates
expressed in the 2006 budget so that
we unplug the source of income that the
commission will be enjoying at the
expense of the residents," a CHRA
official said.
FinGaz
Rangarirai
Mberi
SHARES fell further yesterday on hefty selling by profit takers, as
the
anxiety of the approaching national budget statement began to show on
the
market.
Individual investors were the major sellers, but
institutional investors
helped keep the market from larger losses as they
held on to their stock as
expected. There was little sign of widespread
panic that shares would remain
depressed for too long, but analysts say
Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa's
December 1 national budget for 2006 has
begun to play on the minds of
investors.
"The market may well rebound
next week, but investors are trading cautiously
at the prospect of possible
measures such as higher or new taxes that may be
announced," said Donaldson
Mandishora, equities analyst at ZABG
Stockbrokers.
The market fell 3
percent yesterday, adding to the 3.84 loss it took on
Tuesday. But dealers
say a rebound is near, given the poor state of other
investment
vehicles.
"If you sell shares today, it's hard to see where else except
back on the
stock exchange you can invest. The investment market is that dry
and
equities are really the only option out there-legally, that is," a
dealer
said yesterday.
The market appears to have discounted last
week's inflation data, which
showed October inflation up 51 percentage
points to 411 percent.
Cottco rose $600 to $4600 Tuesday after showing
earnings per share up 277
percent to $156 in the September half year and
executives at the country's
largest cotton buyer painted a sunny outlook for
the full year. Delta fell
$3000 to $36 000 after it said it had acquired
control of Ariston, but had
fallen well short of the 70 percent of the
produce and flower exporter it
had targeted in its offer.
FinGaz
Munyaradzi
Mugowo
The government, anxious to pull its trade balance from the red and
arrest a
savage foreign currency crunch, has mooted plans to establish a
National
Export Council that unifies existing, but fragmented industry and
trade
bodies.
ZimTrade acting chief executive officer, Elizabeth
Nerwande, told The
Financial Gazette that the Ministry of Industry and
International Trade has
heeded industry recommendations for a council -
which would house fragmented
industry and trade bodies - mandated with
implementing the proposed National
Export Strategy.
Nerwande said:
"During the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) annual
conference
held in Nyanga in September, stakeholders stressed the need to
craft the
National Export Strategy in such a way that it brings our
fragmented
economic and commercial interest bodies such as ZimTrade, CZI,
the Zimbabwe
National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), the Export Processing
Zones Authority
(EPZA), the Zimbabwe Investment Centre (ZIC), and many
others under one
Council. "The present situation where each of these
institutions looks one
way as another looks the other way is unhealthy. The
Industry and
International Trade Ministry is currently working on a project
to unify
these to improve policy delivery."
Nerwande, however, remained mum on details
and referred all questions to the
Ministry of Industry and International
Trade. But neither permanent
secretary Christian Katsande nor Minister Obert
Mpofu could be reached for
comment yesterday.
Zimbabwe's export volumes
and receipts have been falling steeply to levels
below US$9 million per year
since their 1996 peak of US$444 million per
annum on the back of a rapidly
shrinking gross domestic product (GDP)
triggered by a military expedition in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo
and the disastrous fast-track land
reform, which broke the back of
commercial agriculture and agro-processing
industries.
Before the economy went up in smoke, agriculture contributed 33
percent of
aggregate exports, trailed by manufacturing, mining and tourism,
which
accounted for 32, 16 and 5 percent, respectively.
But the
inexorable economic meltdown, that has pushed annual inflation above
400
percent and opened a yawning import gap, has left the country
precariously
balancing its weight on the mining industry, which has emerged
as the
leading growth sector, but contributing a modest four percent to the
country's GDP, this year forecast to sink to levels below two
percent.
Nerwande said Zimbabwe's economic and international trade fortunes
could be
recouped if the country undertook to jealously keep "the promising
markets
unveiled by the Aichi (international trade) expo held in Japan
earlier this
year."
"The Expo has opened up doors for the country to
penetrate new markets. Many
companies, in a cross-section of industries have
scooped orders. So far the
main beneficiaries have been tourism and
agro-processing industries. There
have also been follow-up inquiries to the
IDC, with regards opportunities
for trade and investment. Mineral products
such as coke and agricultural
commodities, particularly flowers are also on
great demand in many new
markets, not only in Asia. We are looking for
markets wherever they can be
found. These are great opportunities which we
should not botch up."
She, however, expressed worry over the sustainability,
continuity and
reliability of supply because, going by the trend, a majority
of Zimbabwe's
exporters have been finding it difficult to process orders
expeditiously due
to financial distress and logistical complications. The
next world trade
expo has been slated for China in 2010.
FinGaz
Zimbabwe's position a
major gold producer continues to slide as its once
mainstay gold mining
industry continues to decline as a result of political
and social unrest.
Zimbabwe produced 12 562,3 kg of gold in 2003, down from
2002's 15 468, 96
kg. Out of at least 500 hundred registered gold workings
in Zimbabwe,
several large scale mines exist in the central midlands region
of
Zimbabwe.
Most of Zimbabwe's larger gold mines have been based on
previous smaller
workings, therefore very few mines have been developed from
grassroots
level.
Zimbabwe's gold producers have been placed under a
lot pressure, following a
dramatic rise in operating costs over the last few
years. These rises have
been primarily due to Zimbabwe's restrictive foreign
exchange laws as well
as the artificial exchange rate between the Zimbabwe
dollar and the US
dollar. At the end of 2002 it was estimated that 45
significant gold mines
(those producing more than 10 oz/d) had closed. There
was also been a
wholesale withdrawal of small producers from the formal
sector. About eight
years ago there were over 1,000 such mines ('small
workings') selling their
gold, as required, to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
By the end of 2002,
there were only about 30, and while many of these tiny
operations have
closed, there has been a countrywide switch to black market
sales.
AngloGold's Ashanti operates the Freda Rebecca mine, the smallest
mine in
the Ashanti Group's stable, but also Zimbabwe's richest. Production
from the
mine in 2003 was 51,091 oz at a cash operating cost of US$268/oz
compared
with 98,255 oz at US$214/oz achieved in 2002. The decline in
production was
a result of low availability of drill rigs and drilled
reserves occasioned
by a challenging environment. The deposit is amenable to
open pit mining and
a feasibility study is underway.
Falcon Gold is one
of Zimbabwe's oldest gold producers, with three surface
and underground
operations, viz ,Dalny, Golden Quarry and the Venice Mine.
The continuing
deterioration of the economy has forced Falcon Gold to close
the Venice
mine.
Anglo American opened the open cast Bubi mine, located 140km north
of
Bulawayo, in mid 1998. Annual production from Bubi is 16 000 oz as well
as
19 000 oz the Isabella opencast operation. Bubi is a low grade deposit,
averaging only 1g/ton from the oxide ore and less than 3g/ton from the more
costly refractory sulphide ore.
Consolidated Trillion Resources is in
the process of disinvesting its
operational assets in Zimbabwe through the
sale of its two gold mines in
Zimbabwe, the Jena and Indarama Mine. The Jena
mine is located in central
Zimbabwe, approximately 270km from Harare. In
1999 the mine had total
resources estimated at 1.7 Mt grading at 4.7 g/t or
7.8 t of gold and
producing just over 15 000 oz gold in 1999. Trillion has
sold its 50% share
of the mine to its partner, the Zimbabwe Mineral
Development Corporation
(ZMDC) for $1.1 million.
Delta Gold has
completed commissioning of the new Eureka mine, which has
been a developed
on top of previous workings. The mine is situated 150 km
north of Harare in
Zimbabwe. The mine has defined reserves of 438 000 oz
gold and a total
estimated resource of 1 Moz. The mine intends producing 60
000oz/year and at
full production, Eureka will be the second largest gold
producer in
Zimbabwe. The mine is expected to have a life of mine of at
least five
years, based on current reserves and resources.
First Quantum Minerals
operate the 95% owned Connemara heap leach open pit
mine in central
Zimbabwe. Connemara produced 21 500 oz gold in 1999 at a
cash cost of $215
per oz, and has 7-8 years of reserves estimated at
containing 3.2 Mt grading
at 1.95 g/t or 199,407 oz gold.
Battlefield Minerals has developed its
Pickstone - Peerless mine near
Chigutu in Zimbabwe. The current resource has
outlined 100 000 oz (opencast)
at over 3g/t gold and almost 350 000 oz
(underground) at 7.5g/t gold. A
further 50 000 oz resource is located in
tailings.
Kinross Gold operate the Blanket mine located in south western
Zimbabwe,
approximately 100km from Bulawayo. The mine is an underground mine
with a
tailings retreatment facility. Blanket produced approximately 34
500oz in
2000 at (rising) cash costs of $236/oz. The mine intends producing
47 000 oz
gold in 2001 at cash costs of $200/oz. The mine has proven and
probable
reserves estimated at 2.8 Mt grading at 2.36 g/t gold.
Rio
Tinto Zimbabwe (RTZ) is Zimbabwe's second largest gold producer,
operating
the Eiffel flats dump retreatment mine and the Patchway and Renco
gold
mines. Rio Tinto has a 56% interest in RTZ. RTZ accounts for 10% of
Zimbabwe's production.
Conquest Resources plans to acquire 90% of the
Babs and Beehive gold mines,
previously owned by British based African Gold
PLC (Afgold) that sold the
assets to eliminate long term debt in the UK and
Zimbabwe. Apart from the
Babs and Beehive acquisitions, Conquest also
operates several other gold
mines: Glencairn, Blue Rock and Shamrock mines.
The Beehive complex consists
of the Babs, Beehive, the small Antelope and
the Eva open pit as well as a
central milling and processing
plant.
However, African Gold still operates the Inez Mine, situated west of
Kadoma
in central Zimbabwe. The Inez mine has reserves estimated at
containing 645
000 t grading at 10.12 g/t, resulting in a total of 210 500
oz gold.
Development of the Beehive complex was placed on standby due to
reduced
funding on the basis of Zimbabwe's worsening political and
economical
situation. The Inez mine operations have been downscaled in the
light of the
economic downturn and the mine's production has been reduced to
a mere 30 oz
gold per week.
Independent Gold (Indepgold) is the
Zimbabwe gold production arm of UK based
Lonmin plc that operates 8 gold
mines in Zimbabwe, viz. Arcturus, How,
Anzac, Mazowe, Muriel, Redwing,
Shamva and Tiger Reef mines which
collectively produced 189 000 ounces in
2000, producing more than 20% of
Zimbabwe's gold output. Indep are also
evaluating the Tafuna Hill region
with Canadian Mandorin Goldfields. In
order to focus on its South African
assets, Lonmin has sold its gold
interests to a South African empowerment
company headed up by Mzi
Khumalo.
In November 2002, Lonrho Mining sold its remaining gold mines to
Pemberton
International Investments for US$15.5 million. The five mines in
the group
produce about 170,000 oz/y, or over a third of Zimbabwe's official
output.
Pemberton is effectively controlled by African Mining Group of South
Africa.
Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp. also shut down its major gold
producer,
Sabi in 2002- Mbendi profile.
FinGaz
Ruramai Mutizwa
THE
Central Statistical Office (CSO) will next week release industrial
output
data for the third quarter, expected to show the impact of rising
production
costs on industry.
The new CSO survey comes at a time most industrialists
say they are
operating at below 30 percent capacity due to factors including
high power
costs and shortages of foreign currency and fuel.
The CSO last
week released inflation data for October, which is 51.2
percentage points up
to 411 percent.
The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), which
groups the country's
major industries, has reported scores of company
closures this year, blaming
the closures mostly on the failure of companies
to access foreign currency
for raw materials, and the rising cost of
production.
Leading manufacturing firms have in recent months suspended or
stopped
operations due to difficulties related to foreign currency, fuel and
high
energy costs.
Dunlop, the country's largest tyre manufacturer,
recently closed down after
failing to get foreign currency for crucial
imports. Leading sugar refinery
Gold Star, a division of ZSR Corporation,
resumed operations last month
after a month-long stoppage caused by
logistical problems, while miller
National Foods suspended flour supplies
after running out of wheat stocks.
In an effort to prop up these
companies, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
had set up a concessionary
finance facility, the Productive Sector Finance
(PSF) last year, but this
was withdrawn after concern of misuse and worries
that the cheap funds would
increase inflation.
This has left companies at the mercy of rising
interest rates, which are now
above 400 percent.
FinGaz
Comment
THE Movement for Democratic Change's
political bubble has burst
and the opposition is now precariously balancing
on a political knife-edge.
The party, which many felt was driven by the
desire to further the
democratisation and expansion of political pluralism
in Zimbabwe, now faces
the spectre of the stone it had pushed uphill
slipping from its grasp and
rolling downwards - crushing everything it had
worked for as a bulwark
against the stifling of democratic
space.
And it would seem there is no stopping the avalanche
if the
growing intolerance, confrontation and hatred for compromise
exhibited by
the feuding factions is anything to go by. True, unanimity is
not a virtue
in politics, as people have to learn to agree to disagree. But
in the MDC
case there are only two options - compromise or split. And it
would seem
like the stage is, to all intents and purposes, set for the
latter. Suffice
to say with the seemingly irreconcilable differences, the
losses the party
will suffer as a result of the fallout may be immeasurable.
Already the two
factions are attacking each other in public, underlying the
gravity of the
crisis in the MDC because one does not open fire on friendly
troops!
It is important to note that the opposition party, a
cluster of
different political persuasions which are often contradictory in
terms, has
no one but itself to blame. In spite of arguments coming from
both sides, we
are hard-pressed to believe that it is the self-serving
Senatorial elections
that have stirred up the deep-seated and divisive
discord which has blown up
former alliances and blocs within the opposition
and which will certainly
touch off a lengthy period of splits, resignations
and expulsions. There is
more to it than meets the eye because the widening
cracks are symptomatic of
the differences that have always been simmering
underneath.
Differences over the Senatorial elections may
provide a perfect
alibi. But the fact is that the MDC has for a long time
been under severe
strain. There has always been a wide gap between the
political convictions
and culture of the key founding members. This has
always underlined the
potential for fissures within the loose coalition. We
stated as much in our
editorials of September 2, 2004 and February 10 2005
after it emerged that
the party's executives were not singing from the same
song sheet on critical
issues such as participation in elections under
Zimbabwe's highly poisoned
political environment where people have suffered
permanent emotional scars
as a result of the brutality and purposeless
sadism visited upon them by
political attack dogs.
We
said then, to the chagrin of the party's spin-doctor, Paul
Temba Nyathi,
that the more one scrutinises the MDC the more preposterous
assemblage it
appears of egotism, self-importance, pride, fretfulness,
short-term
political opportunism, self-delusion, bigotry, overgrown baby
mentality and
even contempt for the millions of people. At no time has this
observation
been more apt than now amid the deepening confrontation in the
MDC - with
some ambitious-as-Lucifer party officials reportedly advocating
the
reckless, highly irresponsible and dangerous secessionist notion of a
Ndebele state.
The two factions are at daggers-drawn.
Each is convinced that
only its course is the right one, triggering frontal
attacks from both
sides, which in some instances have bordered on the absurd
and politically
naïve. On one hand the pro-Senate faction, long speculated
to be bent on
toppling party president Morgan Tsvangirai, sees the crisis as
an
opportunity for the critical encirclement around the embattled MDC
leader.
On the other, Tsvangirai, who seems to have been aware of the
pro-Senate
faction's subtle machinations, also sees the woes besetting the
opposition
as an opportunity to jettison the Welshman Ncube-led group, which
might have
considered itself too indispensable and sacred. Unfortunately,
contrary to
the laws of physics, any pressure in politics spawns a strong
reaction,
which is why both factions are digging in their
heels.
Granted, Zimbabwe's political life has not been
noticeably
shaken by the power struggles in the MDC, at least for now. But
all the
crisis means is that the opposition party, which is very much a
creation of
the circumstances obtaining in the country, has taken its eyes
off the
ball - the fight for democracy to ensure that Zimbabweans organise
freely of
their political convictions. This, more than anything else, is the
reason
why the MDC has been a big disappointment to the multitude of its
supporters. It should be remembered that the Tsvangirai-led coalition of
labour, civic society and academia had benefited from voter anger and a deep
well of disenchantment over the unprecedented economic meltdown and the
inherent socio-economic difficulties blamed on the ruling ZANU PF. And
admittedly, as a real factor in Zimbabwe's political dispensation, it had
the moral authority, nay; mandate, to speak on behalf of the millions that
supported it.
Of course some have argued that the
opposition party is going
through a transition which most political parties
in Southern Africa and
elsewhere have gone through. But coming as it does,
at a time when the
public yearns for a strong opposition, there is no
telling the implications
of the crisis of public confidence the opposition
party now faces. Or will
it survive the inevitable backlash and remain
politically relevant?
FinGaz
EDITOR - What is happening within the
MDC now is not a surprise to me at
all. For a long time I have been one of
the few voices always trying
unsuccessfully to present to the Zimbabwean
people the darker side of the
"people's party". To those of your readers who
still remember my past
contributions, I pointed out at one time that Britain
was responsible for
the MDC's continued loss in elections and not rigging as
people were made to
believe. The reason, I said, was simple - Britain
hijacked the MDC to fight
for land on behalf of white
farmers.
Instead of Tsvangirai telling expectant Zimbabweans what he was
going to do
to turn around the economy, all we heard from him was how he was
going to
"return land to its former owners". When there was an outcry about
this
statement he flipped over and said he was going to redistribute the
land
afresh. How? He did not tell us.
This shows a lack of clear policy
direction on his part.
The other issue that is weighing down the MDC is,
as the saying goes, too
many cooks spoiling the broth. There were just too
many interferences from
foreigners that it became almost impossible for any
enlightened Zimbabwean,
myself included, to keep identifying with the
MDC.
Why was there such an out-cry from the white world - Britain,
Australia, New
Zealand, USA and Canada - all countries of dubious
backgrounds when it comes
to fighting for black equal rights? If this does
not scare away any right
minded black person, then I do not know what
will.
Please do not get me wrong here. I am not sayng that these
countries should
not support the MDC. No, what I am merely saying is that
they should have
done so in a more diplomatic way than the near anti-Mugabe
xenophobia they
exhibited to an extent of becoming an anti-black euphoria.
Look what
happened to Mr Dell? That is a clear case of xenophobia not
befitting any
diplomat. Surely the next thing is to see him leading a
bread-shortage riot
in the streets of Harare!
What I am saying is
that foreigners should take this opportunity to take
their off hands our
party and give us a chance to chart the way forward in a
manner that will
win us votes, a crucial component of democracy.
Talking of xenophobic
foreign interference brings me to the issue of how the
said "white
countries" react to situations in Zimbabwe as compared to other
events in
the world. Compare the rivers of crocodile tears that were shed by
these
countries after a toddler was tragically killed during Operation
Murambatsvina to the deafening silence that greeted the killing of 46 people
in Ethiopia recently. Does this mean that black Zimbabweans have suddenly
become the "Jesus Christ" of these people so much so that they biblically
defend "persecution"?
I become very afraid for being accorded such
biased favouritism because when
payback time comes, we shall pay with our
very souls for this "generosity".
Look at what is happening in Iraq. When
George Bush talks to the Americans
he tells them that the US army is in Iraq
to fight against terrorism and to
defend American interests, but when he
speaks to the Iraqis he tells them
that the US army is in their country to
defend them against "tyranny". Which
of these two statements is true to an
independent observer watching this
drama?
It is high time Zimbabweans
open up their minds and tell anyone to shut up
once they start spouting
rubbish. All along this courage has been lacking
and it is really heartening
to hear that even people of importance within
the MDC ranks like Trudy
Stevenson are beginning to show people how to
exercise their democratic
right of criticising any leader as soon as they
start to drift towards
autocracy.
For a long time we have watched helplessly as serious
democrats were called
all sorts of names by these MDC zealots who all along
were harbouring an
ambition of creating another dictatorship.
I repeat
again my call for any party leader who loses two successive
elections to
step down to give others a chance. Charity begins at home.
Democracy for
Zimbabwe can only begin in the party that purports to be
democratic.
Why are the people of Zimbabwe being misled into thinking
that democracy is
only when Tsvangirai is president of Zimbabwe? No, that is
wrong, democracy
will be there even with Trudy Stevenson as president of
Zimbabwe as long as
her intention is not to stay as president
forever.
Now that we all have had a chance to say our hearts out, that is
democaracy
and this shows that the MDC will emerge from this saga stronger,
with a
leader who knows that he can be booted out at any time and with
members who
shall always question their leader's actions without fear of
persecution.
Any democrat who uses such terms as traitor, sellout, comrade
and any other
silly terms should be made to account for their dictatorial
utterances. Also
the singing of stupid songs should be banned so as to foist
discipline in
people for only empty vessels make the most noise. That way we
can breed a
new generation guided by democratic discipline and tolerance
capable of
listening carefully instead of just singing along.
Singing
should only be reserved for the stadiums as we cheer our sports
teams,
because the more you cheer political leaders the more they become
dictatorial. Dictators are to politics what celebrities are to the
entertainment industry. Both are self-centred until they are reminded that
the status they enjoy is because of the public who pay for their
"shows".
Rodgers Svovah
United Kingdom
FinGaz
EDITOR - It has been brought
to my attention that some misguided MDC members
are moving around Harare
North telling lies about me, specifically: lthat I
have been paid by ZANU PF
to support participation in the Senate election;
lthat I received money
from President Thabo Mbeki in South Africa to support
participation in order
to legitimise President Mugabe.
Anyone who believes such blatant lies
needs their head examined, in my view!
People who know me will know for
certain that I would never accept money
from ZANU PF for anything
whatsoever.
Indeed, if anyone from whatever background offers me money
for favours, they
will discover I am one of the most fiercely resistant
people against bribery
and corruption. That is how you sell your soul - and
my soul is not for
sale.
The person or persons behind this defamation
whisper campaign need to be
exposed for what they are - ZANU PF clones. To
stoop so low as to indulge in
slander in order to promote the "No to Senate"
campaign is disgusting, in my
view, and I do not wish to be associated with
any such person or campaign.
It is pertinent to note that the allegation
about "Yes to Participation"
members being paid by ZANU PF was earlier made
at a rally in Silobela. It is
also pertinent to note that my personal
position concerning participation
has never been made public. That I
publicise the apparently unfashionable
side of the argument I will accept -
my position as secretary for policy and
research requires me to present
research and ideas for debate. Which side I
personally support has not been
stated at any public forum, but I have
always stated the position of my
district very clearly - they are against
participation.
Trudy
Stevenson MP
Harare North
FinGaz
EDITOR - If there is
anything that has skyrocketed as fast as inflation in
this country, then it
is the acceleration of the so-called consumer
watchdogs towards the
precipice of irrelevance.
Correct me if I am mistaken, but I fervently
believe that one of the most
quintessential roles of a consumer watchdog is
to ensure that its
stakeholders' (consumers) welfare is not incarcerated
into the shackles of
annihilation. I am of the opinion that silence in face
of adversities might
mean acquiescence to the status quo. And my conscience
tells me that an
organisation that purports to further the welfare of
consumers but has done
virtually nothing to that effect should just do the
honourable thing - close
doors.
The misery of the Zimbabwean consumer
has been catapulted to cataclysmic
heights owing to a myriad of factors.
With inflation at 411 percent under
the backdrop of rampant shortages of
essential commodities that include
fuel, foreign currency, sugar and even
ideas to correct the lacuna, the
consumer has shown relentless
resilience.
As a result of the tragic erosion of disposable incomes due
to the spectre
of inflation (that is exhibiting all the factors of
determination to keep on
rising) and coupled with incessant price increases
- most of which are not
only unjustifiable but defy all facets of reasoning
- the consumer has been
sacrificed on an altar of social, political and
economic expediency. In
other words, the consumer has been made to play the
pony.
The phrase that when elephants fight it is the grass that suffers
and when
they mate, it is the grass again that suffers, holds water in the
Zimbabwean
context especially with regards to consumer welfare. Without
delving on the
causes of the economic malaise in the country, I am - as an
affected
consumer myself - only able to say that the suffering of the
consumer needs
to be assuaged.
What is pathetic about the whole
situation is the total absence of any voice
representing the consumer in
spite of the presence of a Consumer Council in
the country. What is shocking
and heart-rending is the eerie silence and
monumental failure by consumer
watchdogs to at least show their presence,
however powerless. The question
that now boggles the mind is: do we really
need a Consumer Council in
Zimbabwe?
Rentals have gone up unrealistically; transport costs are
unbearable; prices
of basic commodities (whose definition has been revised
from time to time to
include only the barest minimum essentials like
mealie-meal) have continued
to soar at an alarming rate; and what has only
remained static are the wages
of workers who are bearing the brunt of the
hardship to an extent of
subsidising the employer since the take-home salary
cannot take one
throughout the month. I will not belabour on the unemployed,
the
unemployable and those already living in abject poverty lest I induce
many
to cry.
The consumer has been resilient for so long a time
feverishly hoping that
one day those who purport to represent him/her will
fulfil their mandate.
But the consumer has been failed pathetically. This
reminds one of Dr Martin
Luther King (Jr), the American civic rights
activist who rose to fame for
his non-violent resistance to segregation and
his world-acclaimed "I have a
dream" speech, who clearly pointed out that
"in the end, we will remember
not the words of our enemies, but the silence
of our friends."
The daunting chimera that the Consumer Council of
Zimbabwe (CCZ) faces is to
prove its mettle and defend the reason for its
existence. It is high time
the watchdog came out of its cocoon and save the
consumer from the quagmires
of oblivion. And it has to do that
NOW.
Besides issuing statements about the consumer basket and showing
that an
average family of six requires more than $11 million per month when
it is
crystal clear that the majority are far below that threshold, we have
seen
little from the CCZ in terms of spearheading consumerism.
In the
words of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, there comes a time when the cup of
endurance runs dry and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the
abyss of annihilation.
Consumers of this country have long depleted
their patience.
Canisio Mudzimu
Harare
FinGaz
Media coverage of Mugabe
overkill?
There is a raging debate here among Zimbabweans in the diaspora
whether the
intense negative media focus on Zimbabwe's President Robert
Mugabe is a
deliberate racist overkill of a black nationalist leader.
Whether it is true
or not, that President Mugabe has drawn negative
attention to himself, the
intended effect is to isolate Zimbabwe and
discourage trade with the suspect
country.
Since July, the New York
Times has posted a seasoned journalist, Michael
Vines, to Harare while
Warren Hodge watches over the news from the New York
Times Foreign
Desk.
On Sunday November 13, Vines files a front -page report condemning
President
Mugabe for neglecting and lying about the homeless in
Zimbabwe.
In addition, he takes up half of page 8, complete with two pictures
and a
map of Zimbabwe. With meticulous documentation, for which the New York
Times
is famous and feared for, Vines lays out figure after figure of
displaced,
700 000 persons displaced and 1,2 million affected
altogether.
Nokuthula Dube stands in front of her unroofed shack, having been
driven
from her former home while pregnant. Robson Tembo, likewise sits in
despair
in front of an unroofed shack, half destroyed by government agents.
If this
story has been told 10 times by the Times itself since July 17, why
tell it
now? It is true the suffering was absolutely needless, and this is
what our
brothers failed to grasp. The story has nothing to do with whether
the
demolished shacks were illegal structures; it is a moral issue
stupid!
This onslaught is not without purpose. Those who make decisions
notice
constant negative publicity, especially in the New York Times, that
paper of
record and of conscience. The decisions are as mall as booking
student
travel abroad programs.
My college has been trying to send
students to Zimbabwe for two years.
How can I raise the matter on Monday
if the Sunday New York Times is on the
Dean's table even as we
deliberate?
But even more crucial is its effect on the Zimbabwe dollar. A
country that
is regarded as a pariah by fair-minded writers of the New York
Times, surely
cannot be up to any good.
There are persistent reports
that the American CIA and the British MIV
hatched the death of the Zim
dollar.
My source swears by the story and claims that as the reason lying
behind the
seizure of a British diplomatic bag at Harare airport. The plot
was simple;
to flood the black market with the US dollar and the British
pound.
With such scare stories of a mad dog government running loose,
anybody who
had any sense would want to keep his money in foreign
currencies. Look at it
this way.
Would a normal man want to keep the
Uganda shilling under General Idi Amin,
or would he prefer foreign
money?
Such a barrage of negative publicity also serves another role.
Apart from
delegitimising the incumbent government, it creates a crescendo
of
expectations.
The citizens expect such a government not to last
very long, therefore
investments are held in expectation of a new
dispensation round the corner.
The amount of mass hysteria has reached
such a level as to be comparable to
that unleashed during the end of the
Shah's reign. Nat Nentoff, a revered
freedom of the press veteran writer has
this heading in the New York Village
Voice: Mugabe's Victims Mostly Black.
Philip Pullela of Reuters shocks the
world by repeating: Mugabe calls Bush,
Blair Terrorists.
There are two forces our African brothers have failed
to master and to
comprehend - the economy and the media. The media works
like packs of
wolves. At a signal, every member of the pack tries to outdo
the other
members in reporting negative information.
As soon as there
is regime change, the wolves pack their bags and fly to
find new and more
interesting victims. The Zimbabwe government has abandoned
the fight to
influence world media.
Margaret Thatcher in her book, Statecraft, says
before one can govern, one
must win the argument first, and that is done in
the media.
FinGaz
Personal Glimpses
I HOPE
I will not join American ambassador, Christopher Dell's hell by
commenting
on the internal affairs of my country, which have gone really
haywire over
the past week. The media feeding frenzy created by both the
divisions within
the Movement for Democratic Change and the verbal feud
between the
government and the US envoy has served to prove that when
self-interest and
self-preservation are at stake, there can be a story to
justify every theory
and utterance!
Unfortunately, in this form of verbal combat, the truth is
always the first
casualty.
Take the case of the American ambassador
who has been attacked, threatened
and ridiculed for a speech he made at
Africa University in Mutare. Dell got
into hot water because in that speech
he happened to describe the situation
the way most Zimbabweans, weary from
their endless struggle for economic
survival, see it too. But oh, what a
hornet's nest he stirred by stating
that mismanagement rather than the
targeted sanctions imposed by the
European Union and other western countries
is the reason for the
unprecedented and rapid ruination of a once thriving
economy.
Dell has ruffled feathers in high places for his forthright views,
which
have resulted in him being accused of meddling in the internal affairs
of
Zimbabwe. It is noteworthy, however, that out of the millions of words
uttered against Dell and his country by analysts and officials who have been
quoted in the public media so far, not a single word has been said to
disprove his allegations. Why have any of those over-enthusiastic
'commentators' fighting to outdo each other in singing the government's
praises not taken up the challenge to show why Dell's conclusions are
incorrect.
Instead of giving us the same old tired mantras about George
Bush and Tony
Blair, they should explain why this country is in such dire
straits
economically when it is not at war. They should say why the effects
of the
drought such as severe food shortages, should be most biting in
Zimbabwe
when the whole of Southern Africa has been affected by the same
weather
conditions.
Instead of hiding behind clichéd blanket
accusations against the west, the
government officials and the countless
media analysts pontificating on
Dell's supposed transgressions should
respond at the same level by giving
point-by-point
rebuttals.
Resorting to threats and bombast only proves how spot-on the
envoy's
analysis was, and how much the truth hurts. It is tragic that in
this
country, anyone who sees things differently from the official view is
regarded as an enemy and called all sorts of names.
What the absurd
hubbub over Dell's speech shows is that what is really at
stake is the
government's aversion to criticism rather than interference in
the internal
affairs of the country. How is it that some ambassador's
statements have
been eagerly welcomed when these representatives have spoken
positively
about the very same issues on which the American envoy holds
different
views. It does not make sense to say such matters are the internal
affairs
of Zimbabwe only when the speaker is critical.
But common sense is in
short supply not only in government circles these
days. The opposition MDC
has caught the same fatal malady, hence the
self-destructive spectacle the
nation has witnessed over the past few weeks.
Personally, I am not convinced
that the issue of the useless and
money-gobbling senate is the real reason
for the disgraceful public
bickering within the opposition party. But
whatever the motives of the
pro-senate group are, they have lost credibility
with the public. They have
shown greater courage of conviction in opposing
their own leader than they
have done in taking a principled stand on issues
that affect the public,
such as the recreation of the senate in the
prevailing economic conditions.
This will mean even greater
belt-tightening for the ordinary person but rich
pickings for the senators.
Maintaining the redundant upper house will mean
pouring billions into
another bottomless pit. And evidently the pro-senate
group within the MDC
has decided to join the gravy train. The talk about the
need to stick to the
decision to participate in elections is utter nonsense.
That decision was
not cast in stone and there was no reason why it could not
be revisited if
this group really had the interests of the people at heart.
And now to
justify their betrayal of the masses who look up to the MDC to
lead them out
of the misery visited upon them by ZANU PF misrule, these
pro-senators have
resorted to mudslinging and unsubstantiated allegations
against the leader
of their party. Their accusations sound no different from
what a ruling
party apologist would say or what Jonathan Moyo used to say
about Morgan
Tsvangirai when he was the government's main hatchet man.
What's going on
there? Are some in the pro-senate group closet members of
the ruling party
or Moyo's UMP?
As for Tsvangirai, he needs to tone down his
pronouncements about the
"rebel" group and act presidential and
magnanimous. I was shocked the other
day to hear him say that as leader of
the MDC he could slam the door in the
face of those defying him and "throw
away the keys". This kind of talk is
really no different from the promise of
hell for Dell. By now after six
years of being frustrated at every turn by
ZANU PF Tsvangirai should know
that just being right is not enough. One
needs skills to work for compromise
to resolve deadlocks such as the one
that has torn his organisation apart.
It is obvious that he cannot do it by
adopting the same hard-headedness and
vehement inflexibility exhibited by
the ruling party.