http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in Local
PLANS
are at an advanced stage to turn two clinics into district hospitals
in
Harare to relieve pressure on referral hospitals in the capital
city.
Report by Our Correspondent
One hospital will be in Mabvuku
while the other one would be in one of the
Western suburbs, and are expected
to open their doors to the public mid next
year.
Speaking at a health
meeting organised by the Community Working Group on
Health last week, City
of Harare’s health services director, Prosper Chonzi
said government had
availed US$2 million for the refurbishment of clinics to
turn them into
provincial hospitals. He said the hospitals were expected to
offer minor
theatrical services and offer admission facilities to patients,
especially
pregnant mothers.
Chonzi said the establishment of the district hospitals
would also reduce
the number of unemployed graduate nurses currently being
churned out by
provincial and referral hospitals.
Chairperson of the
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health, Blessing
Chebundo said the move
was overdue considering that the proposal had been
standing since 1976.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in Local
THE water
table in Harare is fast dwindling and the city’s boreholes may run
dry if
the uncontrolled drilling of boreholes continues, a recent report by
a local
geologist warns.
NQABA MATSHAZI
The report by Tim Broderick, a
renowned geologist, notes that most of the
rock material under Harare was
notoriously poor for the development of
underground water and the city
should come up with plans to create
artificial wetlands, while preserving
the existing ones.
“The chaotic drilling of private boreholes in response
to a failure in the
regular supply of municipal water, notably across the
northern suburbs of
Harare, peaked through the years 2007 to 2009,” the
report reads.
“There would seem to be no doubt that the increased
abstraction of
groundwater through this dense array of borehole use is
aggravating drawdown
of the water table.”
Following years of failure
to provide tap water, the City of Harare, like
many others, advised
residents to start drilling boreholes and digging
shallow
wells.
Suburbs affected by serious water shortages include Mabvuku,
Tafara and
newer ones such as Mainway Meadows. In the more affluent
neighbourhoods,
residents also drilled boreholes to augment Harare’s water
supplies, which
often dried out.
When running water is available, it
usually comes out dirty and smelling of
human waste, making it unfit for
drinking purposes, even for other domestic
chores.
Broderick says
much of the southern portion of Harare, which includes Amby,
Msasa,
Waterfalls, Hatfield, Highfield and the western suburbs was situated
on
granite rocks, which made it difficult for the water to be accessed
through
boreholes, but is easily available through hand-dug wells.
These areas
are, however, in the vicinity of wetlands and the digging of
boreholes
affects rain run-off into Harare’s main water sources and this
could affect
the availability of water when there is a poor rainfall
season.
Broderick, in the report published by Kubatana, paints a gloomy
picture of
the abstraction of groundwater, suggesting that the Zimbabwe
National Water
Authority (Zinwa) should tax users of boreholes in an effort
to preserve the
resource.
“If borehole water users cannot recognise
the excesses of their use of this
delicately balanced resource through, say
the over irrigation of gardens and
road verges, then it is up to the
sub-catchment councils to earn their keep,
provided for in the payment of
quarterly ‘monitoring fees’ on registered
boreholes, by enforcing the sound
management principles provided for by the
water law, regulations and
standards that exist,” the report reads.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in Politics
THERE
is an outcry in the MDC-T over attempts by the party leadership to
spare
sitting legislators from facing primary elections, with some aspiring
candidates describing the move as “undemocratic”.
OUR STAFF
The
aspiring MPs insisted that all legislators and councillors must be
contested
to prove that the MDC-T was as democratic as it claimed.
The Standard last
week spoke to several aspiring parliamentary candidates
across the country
who spoke strongly against the party’s attempts to
“impose” sitting MPs,
saying it was against the principles of democracy.
They said Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai could lose the moral ground to
demand free and
fair elections from President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF
should his
endeavours to spare sitting MPs from being contested succeed.
Many of the
aspiring MPs preferred anonymity for fear of victimisation but
expressed
concern that the party was “fast learning from Zanu PF” which has
imposed
candidates in the past.
Primary elections are a mechanism by parties to
select the most popular
candidates who are most likely to win in the
respective constituencies. They
are considered the most democratic
intraparty method to select political
contenders, while ridding
constituencies of unpopular candidates chosen by
entrenched party
elites.
In Chinhoyi constituency, aspiring MP and MDC-T Chinhoyi district
chairman,
Edward Kadewere spoke strongly against sparing sitting MPs from
primaries,
saying the party was protecting mediocrity.
“What the
leadership is doing is wrong and they know it. It is all about
delivering
and if they failed then they have no place in the party,” said
Kadewere.
“They were given the chance and if they failed, let the people
decide, and
another thing is that those who came up with such a decision are
sitting MPs
who are protecting their seats.”
Suspended Mutare mayor Brain James, who
is reportedly eyeing Mutare Central
constituency, said he was advocating for
primaries to be held in all areas
to choose MPs and
councillors.
“People must be given the chance to choose who they want to
be led by, I
advocate that primaries be held in all areas,” said James. “All
candidates
must be tested in primaries.’
James could neither confirm
nor deny that he was interested in contesting
incumbent Mutare Central MP
Innocent Gonese.
“I am keeping an open mind and I am a servant of the
people,” he said.
Another aspiring MP for Kambuzuma in Harare, who
requested anonymity for
fear of victimisation said, attempts by the party to
block real primary
elections was an indication of the lack of democracy in
the MDC-T.
He intends to contest against MP Willis
Madzimure.
“There would be no difference between us and Zanu PF, which is
saying it
will only allow cadres of good repute to contest in primary
elections,” he
said. “We want a fair game; our party is morphing into
another Zanu PF, mark
my words, time will tell. These guys just want to
protect themselves knowing
they have done nothing for the
people.”
Zanu PF’s secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa recently
said his
party would only allow “cadres of good repute” to contest in
primary
elections.
This after indications that some constituencies
had over 10 candidates
aspiring to represent the party in parliamentary
polls slated for next year.
Several other aspiring MDC-T MPs in Masvingo,
Midlands and Bulawayo also
expressed disappointment over the party’s new
measures to protect the “old
guard” from ending up in the political
wilderness.
Chegutu West aspiring candidate, former Chegutu mayor Francis
Dhlakama
okayed the move saying it was “wise” to first fill what he termed
the
“orphaned constituencies” before coming up with a consensus on those
with
sitting MPs.
“Since we do not know when the elections will be
held, I think it is a good
idea for the party to concentrate on the orphaned
constituencies and then
deal with those with MPs to avoid unnecessary
animosity among members,” he
said.
But MDC-T spokesman, Douglas
Mwonzora defended the system, saying there was
no evidence primary elections
were the most democratic, arguing that in some
circumstances this
arrangement produced undesired results.
“Contrary to what people believe,
endorsements are not meant to protect
sitting MPs; the system actually
exposes them and is unfriendly to
underperforming MPs,” he said.
“It
is not a tested fact that the primary election is the most democratic
system, in some cases it has produced undesired outcomes.”
System
favours incumbents — Mwonzora
The party spokesman said the endorsement
method allowed constituents to
evaluate their MPs and their previous
election promises were put to test.
“This system is as old as the MDC, it
is how we have always done things,” he
explained. “Democracy means the
involvement of the people and so even when
MPs are endorsed the people are
involved and that is democracy.”
Mwonzora, however, also described the
endorsement system as a “natural
advantage to the incumbents”.
He
said the process was less cumbersome and inexpensive compared to
primaries,
but sitting legislators had to be endorsed by at least two thirds
of the
party’s structures in the constituencies.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in Politics
GOKWE —
Vice-President Joice Mujuru is the second most senior official in
Zanu PF
and government after President Robert Mugabe, the party’s
spokesperson and
politburo member, Rugare Gumbo said last week.
BLESSED MHLANGA
He
said those who claimed to be senior to Mujuru, apart from Mugabe, were
joking.
“Don’t lie to people or play Mickey Mouse games with the
party hierarchy;
Mujuru is the most senior person in the party only after
President Robert
Mugabe, she is the highest person in the party and
presidency then the rest
follow,” said Gumbo, who was speaking at the launch
of a food and nutrition
security programme in Gokwe.
Gumbo’s
statements could be a direct jibe to Defence minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa,
who on several occasions has widely reported in the press as the
second in
command after Mugabe.
Army Commander, General Constantine Chiwengwa
recently said that Mnangagwa
was the only member of the first Zanu PF
politburo and hence more senior in
the party than anyone.
Zanu PF
central committee member, Victor Matemadanda also made similar
comments.
“He is the face of Zimbabwe … He was the second person
after President
Mugabe to join the liberation struggle; the rest of us and
others in the
party leadership followed later and served under his command,”
he said.
Both Mujuru and Mnangagwa have denied leading factions in the
party in their
bid to succeed Mugabe.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in
Politics
ZANU PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa has accused
Manicaland
governor, Christopher Mushowe and the party’s provincial
chairman, Mike
Madiro of “personalising” the ownership and composition of
the Marange
Community Share Ownership Trust.
CLAYTON
MASEKESA
Tempers flared last week at the party’s provincial coordination
committee
(PCC) meeting in Mutare, with Mutasa — who is considered to be the
Zanu PF
godfather in Manicaland province — accusing the two of “misleading”
the
party when the trust was formed.
“You [Mushowe and Madiro] are
biased because you both hail from Marange and
Zimunya respectively. You are
misleading us into accepting the trust,” said
a visibly angry
Mutasa.
“You are selfish persons who masterminded the formation of
Zimunya/Marange
Ownership Trust at the expense of other districts in
Manicaland and that is
very wrong”.
He added: “We want a provincial
ownership trust as opposed to a district
trust because the provincial
structure is inclusive and ideal.”
Mushowe had just given a summary
report to appraise the PCC over the trust.
Zanu PF Manicaland provincial
spokesperson Gorden Chikwanda also said his
party was supportive of the
provincial trust rather than the district trust.
“Yes, we want the
provincial trust other than those that focus on particular
areas or
districts.
“This [provincial ownership trust] is ideal because it will
benefit the
whole province,” said Chikwanda. “We have areas such as Chipinge
which do
not have diamonds but they need to be empowered by proceeds from
the
diamonds fields.”
Mushowe denied wrongdoing adding that he was
just implementing a Cabinet
decision.
“It is a Cabinet decision that
comes up with policies and guidelines in the
formation of Community Shares
Trusts and we are just mere implementers,” he
said.
But Mutasa
responded saying laws were enacted to be amended.
“Laws on community shares
trusts are not cast in stones; they can be changed
to suit the needs of the
people.
“The same Cabinet can still change them if lobbying is done,”
said Mutasa.
Madiro said it was important to be objective.
“We
should always speak with one voice in everything. It seems we have a
very
serious problem here in terms of our modus operandi as a party,” said
Madiro.
“We are not sticking to our pronouncements and regulations.
If we undermine
our own policies, we will be undermining ourselves in the
process.”
The Zimunya/Marange community Share Scheme Ownership Trust was
launched by
President Robert Mugabe in July as a way to empower the
community in the
diamond-rich area.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in Politics
AFTER the
MDC fired eight of its legislators last week, questions raged on
whether
this was a genius masterstroke or the party had authored its demise
as it
has sacked a majority of its elected parliamentarians.
NQABA
MATSHAZI
The MDC led by Welshman Ncube said it fired the legislators for
allegedly
working with the MDC-T, but the fired legislators instead claimed
they were
under the stewardship of deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara.
Ncube and Mutambara are engaged in mortal combat over who
leads the party
and the matter has since been referred to the Supreme
Court.
One of the fired legislators, Lupane Senator Dalumuzi Khumalo
laughed off
his axing, claiming he was led by Mutambara.
“I do not
belong to Ncube,” he said. “We remained with Mutambara and we are
waiting
for the court verdict.”
Asked what would happen if Mutambara lost his
appeal, considering that he
had lost at the High Court, Khumalo curtly
responded, “We will cross the
bridge when we get there”.
Among those
fired is Umzingwane MP Nomalanga Khumalo, who is also the deputy
Speaker of
Parliament.
But the MDC on the other hand claims the fired legislators
did not belong
with Mutambara and were instead using that as a cover for
their duplicitous
activities.
“These legislators and councillors have
not been honest and helpful to the
party and the leadership that helped them
go to parliament,” MDC deputy
spokesman, Kurauone Chihwayi charged. “We took
the appropriate action at the
appropriate time.”
Chihwayi said in
firing the legislators, MDC was flexing its muscles and it
had done its
homework.
He vowed that the party would retain the seats held by the
renegade
parliamentarians in the next elections expected early next
year.
But political analyst, Effie Ncube said the move was an
acknowledgement of
the divisions within the party.
“The move raises
questions about its timing; it may send the wrong messages
to the electorate
considering how close we are to elections,” he said.
But Ncube rapped the
legislators who had been fired, saying they should have
declared that they
were no longer part of the MDC, instead of waiting to be
pushed
out.
He also dismissed claims by the legislators that they belonged to
the
Mutambara faction, saying they just wanted to use it as a cover so that
they
do not get fired from parliament.
Ncube said it was time for the
MDC to introspect to see where they were and
if it was where they wanted to
be.
National University of Science and Technology lecturer, Lawton Hikwa
said
the case was tricky because a political matter had been turned into a
legal
one.
He said conclusions could only be drawn after the end of
the court case.
“The irony, however, is that unelected officials are
firing elected
representatives,” he observed.
Hikwa said, as an
analyst, he had to wait for the court verdict, as it could
render the firing
null and void.
The MDC led by Ncube has had an uneasy relationship with
most of its
legislators since the 2008 presidential election run
off.
This led to the firing of three legislators, among them Abedinico
Bhebhe,
who is now the deputy secretary of the MDC-T, on allegations of
working with
the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai-led party.
The
other two are Njabuliso Mguni MP for Bulilima East and Norman Mpofu for
Lupane East.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in Community
News
THE Harare City Council last week started returning some of the
properties
it had attached from residents of Rugare suburb over non-payment
of rates.
Report By OUR STAFF
One of those who got her
property back was Eveline Njazi, who was recently
featured in The Standard
after council took her four-piece sofas, a room
divider, a kitchen table,
two fans, a carpet and a heater.
She owed the local authority US$1 050,80 in
unsettled bills.
“The property was brought back by Municipal Police,” Njazi’s
son, Josias
said. “They brought back everything although the sofa was
damaged and I had
to repair it.”
Josias said he still could not afford to
settle the huge bill but promised
to pay whatever amount of money the family
got until the debt was cleared.
“We have not yet received any communication
from the municipality but the
local councillor [Peter Moyo] advised us to
pay what we could and that is
what we are going to do going forward,” he
said.
Harare Residents Trust (HRT) communications officer, Charles Mazorodze
said
the trust had recorded more than 500 cases of attachments in Rugare
alone.
Out of those cases, only two residents had reported receiving their
property
by Thursday last week.
“The problem is that the residents are
being told to go and collect the
goods at a warehouse in Southerton and that
is an extra cost to the
suffering residents,” Mazorodze said. “One of the
people got their property
back but the kitchen unit was damaged.”
He
said the HRT was preparing to take the council to court over the issue of
serving residents with letters of final demand and property attachments,
which he said was a form of harassment, considering that the city was
providing a shoddy service.
For several years, the council has been
failing to provide clean running
water or to collect refuse, regularly
exposing residents to diseases.
Efforts to get a comment from Harare City
Council spokesperson Leslie Gwindi
were fruitless last week
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in Community
News
CHISUMBANJE — A local ethanol producing company, Green Fuels has
been
accused of confiscating villagers’ cattle that would have strayed in
the
sugarcane plantations and selling them to the company’s staff at paltry
prices through auction.
Report By CLAYTON
MASEKESA
Villagers who spoke to The Standard last week said they were
losing a lot of
livestock, mostly cattle to Green Fuels, who are using the
Stock Trespass
Act to confiscate their livestock.
The Act
provides for the impounding of stray livestock.
Green Fuels owns two
estates —Rating Investments and Macdom Investments —
that grow sugarcane
which is used in the production of ethanol.
According to the
villagers’ representative, Oliver Chikumba, people living
in areas such as
Kondo, Mwacheta, Maronga and Musapingura have lost scores
of their livestock
through the auctions.
“Security guards at Green Fuels impound cattle
and donkeys they find near
their sugarcane fields.
“They will
charge US$4 for one beast for a day and if the owner fails to pay
the
amount, they will auction the livestock among themselves for just a few
dollars,” explained Chikumba.
He said the company had a provision
for owners of the cattle to work at the
plantations as a general hand until
such a time when they cleared the
arrears.
“With the meagre wages
they are paying, one will work for several months to
save his or her
livestock from being auctioned,” said Chikumba.
“We have evidence of
cattle which were sold for US$30 each and donkeys which
were auctioned for
just US$3 each.
“In rural areas, people’s wealth is invested in
livestock and destroying
people’s wealth in such a manner is disheartening
considering that this is
our source of livelihood.”
He called on
the government to protect the villagers before they lost all
their
animals.
The Standard saw some receipts bearing the Green Fuels
Estate, Rating
Investments logo, where villagers were made to pay a fine to
get back their
cattle.
One was receipt number 17701 of September
9 this year, when one Innocent
Maposa paid US$224 to recover eight of his
cattle that were kept for seven
days by Rating Investment’s
security.
Chipinge council enforcing stock trespass
act
Green Fuels spokesperson Lilian Muungani said it was Chipinge
Rural District
Council that was responsible for enforcing the Stock Trespass
Act.
“In line with the Acts governing the operations of local
authorities, the
Chipinge Rural District Council is the authority over all
cattle impound
fees and stray animal auctioning programmes. Where the local
authority has
no infrastructure to directly administer such by laws,
affected institutions
are issued with licences,” said
Muungani.
“As such, we had been running a council sanctioned and
registered animals
impound programme in order to prevent the damage being
done to the crops by
villagers intentionally herding their cattle into the
crop.”
She added that Green Fuels was cognisant of the social value
of cattle in
the area and there were plans to assist villagers with
livestock feeds.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in Local
GOVERNMENT
has been urged to reconsider its policy of freezing the
employment of
nurses.
JENNIFER DUBE
Parliamentarians, civil society members and
health workers who last week met
in Harare at the Community Working Group on
Health (CWGH) meeting said all
the critical vacancies in the health sector
needed to be filled to prevent
unwarranted loss of lives.
They said a
proposal by government to send nurses to other countries for
employment was
not sustainable.
“The proposal to ‘export’ nurses with two years’
experience together with
newly-trained nurses would bleed Zimbabwe’s
services of qualified people,”
noted the meeting. “We need to employ health
workers in Zimbabwe to address
the needs of Zimbabwe’s public and health
system.”
CWGH is a community organisation that advocates for access to
efficient
health services at grassroots level.
CWGH executive
director, Itayi Rusike recently told The Standard that the
decision by the
government to export nurses was ill-advised.
The country’s health
institutions are under-staffed, with some clinics in
rural areas staffed by
unqualified personnel, putting lives of patients at
risk.
It is
estimated that Zimbabwe has more than 2 500 trained nurses who cannot
be
employed by the health sector.
The government in 2007 introduced the
concept of bonding of nurses for a
period equal to the student nurse’s
training period.
The meeting added that the country needed adequate,
well-trained and
equitably distributed health workers who worked in decent
working
conditions.
It was also highlighted that there was need “to
motivate public health
workers through training, incentives, living wages,
and safe work
environments.”
Increasing public resources to health
and government budgets to primary
health care could also help improve the
situation in the health sector, the
meeting said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in Local
A senior
police officer based in Kwekwe is expected to appear in court soon
in
connection with a stock theft case in which a Midlands farmer lost 17
head
of cattle.
JENNIFER DUBE
The police officer, a senior assistant
inspector, is being jointly charged
with a Kwekwe-based farmer and his
nephew.
The case was supposed to have been heard at the Kwekwe
Magistrates Courts on
Thursday but was “suspended until further
notice”.
Allegations are that sometime in 2011, the farmer teamed up with
his nephew
and workers at his farm in Kwekwe rural and stole cattle from the
neighbouring Doon Farm owned by 49-year-old James Matemayi.
It is
alleged the workers would feed the cattle on molasses and stock feed,
strategically throwing the cattle food around in such a way that the beasts
ended up in a kraal in the accused’s farm.
The workers would then
secure the entrance to the kraal once they felt they
had enticed an adequate
number of beasts.
Allegations are that the police officer would then go
to inspect the animals
and provide the farmer with livestock clearance
certificates.
The certificates are normally issued by the police after
thorough
investigations to authenticate the ownership of the cattle before
any
transactions and movement of livestock.
It is alleged the accused
farmer would then transport the beasts to an
abattoir in Kwekwe
town.
Matemayi claims he lost five bulls, five cows and seven calves in
the
operation.
He reported the trio to Kwekwe and Gweru police after
receiving a tip off
from some of the accused farmer’s employees who also
wrote witness’s
statements detailing how they carried out the
operation.
A senior officer in police’s anti-stock theft unit confirmed
the case was
reported under docket number 72/09/11, which was forwarded to
Kwekwe
Magistrates’ Courts.
However, there are fears that the case
could be swept under the carpet as
other police officers are said to be
working flat out to block the accused
officer’s prosecution.
Efforts
to get a comment from the accused police officer were fruitless last
week.
Acting officer commanding police in the Midlands Province,
Assistant
Commissioner Learn Ncube, said he would contact police in Kwekwe
for details
regarding the case.
Earlier in the year, police national
coordinator for anti-stock theft,
Bernard Dumbura said incidents of stock
theft and illegal movement of cattle
were rampant.
Dumbura told the
media that some people who bought cattle bribed police
officers so that they
could have the cattle cleared.
Police arrested 1 070 people over stock
theft- related cases while 148
butcheries were closed for selling
uninspected meat products in a
countrywide operation c
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in Business
MEIKLES Limited has
announced the formation of a wholly-owned subsidiary to
tap into the
lucrative but capital-intensive industry.
Report by Our Staff
The
new entity, Meikles Resources, has an objective to focus on the
development
of mining and resource opportunities in the country.
Profits from Meikles
Resources “are expected to exceed those anticipated for
the entire group as
presently constituted over the coming years and will
therefore be of
material significance”, according to Meikles board chairman,
John
Moxon.
Meikles Resources would be a holding company with subsidiaries
focusing on a
particular mineral.
It would have a US$150 million
purse for all the minerals under its wings.
Meikles Limited would work with
a technical partner for each and every
mineral, who would provide both
expertise and inject a portion of capital.
More details of the new
company could not be obtained last week as Meikles
executives cited
confidentiality clauses signed with technical partners that
bar them from
disclosing certain information.
In a statement accompanying the group’s
financial results for the six months
ended September 30 2012, Moxon said
Meikles Resources has commenced
exploratory mining operations “on one
opportunity and will start full mining
as soon as the full extent of the
resource has been established”.
Moxon said the company would combine
local and international skills and
financial resources within the framework
of its indigenous status.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in Business
THE
ramifications of Finance minister Tendai Biti’s move to control charges
and
interest rates were felt across the banking sector last week with
executives
warning that such a move would kill the industry.
NDAMU SANDU
In
his 2013 National Budget, Biti decreed that no bank charges should be
levied
on deposits up to a maximum of US$800.
Biti said any term deposit of US$1 000
and above held over a period of at
least 30 days and above should attract an
interest of at least 4% per annum.
He said the government would be coming
up with a Statutory Instrument
informed by a Memorandum of Understanding
between financial institutions and
the central bank stipulating thresholds
of applicable fees, charges and
interest rates.
The effective date of
the Statutory Instrument would be January 1 2013.
Biti said lending rates
would be subjected to a maximum rate of not more
than 10% above a bank’s
weighted average deposit rate, inclusive of all
deposits.
The latest
measures came at a time Biti said banks had rejected moral
suasions as pleas
to review bank charges and interest on both lending and
deposit fell on deaf
ears.
Executives who spoke to Standardbusiness said the measure had the
unintended
consequences of “killing the goose that lays the golden
eggs”.
“Something is going to suffer big time,” an executive said warning
“some
banks will fail”.
“Local banks have exposure to industries as
they are the ones oiling it.
Biti should have acknowledged that banks that
do not have capital are the
ones oiling the industry.”
The executive
said if Biti had sat down with bankers, they should have
prescribed measures
to boost the banking sector.
Chief among the measures was the need for
government to mobilise money to be
given to locally-owned banks for on
lending to the rest of the economy.
In an analysis of Biti’s policy
directive on banks, leading brokerage firm
MMC Capital warned that the
measure was “more likely to be heavier on the
smaller banks, since only five
banks control about 56% of the total banking
deposits”.
“The analysis
of the 2012 half-year results for banks indicates that the
industry average
of the Net Interest Income-to-Total Income ratio stood at
45%. What this
means is that banks are still leveraging more on non-core
banking activities
[non-interest income],” MMC said.
“The removal of bank charges means that
the total income of the banks will
be reduced, thus trimming
profits”.
According to statistics from MMC in the half year ended June 30
2012, the
total profitability for the banking sector was around US$63
million and
profitability in 2013 is under extreme pressure unless, either
deposits grow
aggressively to offset this impact or banks are aggressive in
lending.
MMC said while it was a welcome development to put interest on
deposits, the
move “will however, increase banks’ cost of funding which will
exert further
pressure on interest margins, and thus
profitability”.
Analysts say the move to introduce controls on charges
and interest rates
was akin to the reintroduction of price controls that
failed the nation.
They said Biti was dragging the sector to the bad old
days of controls when
government engaged in a futile war with market
forces.
“It is obviously some kind of financial repression, or failure on
the
authorities to learn from our own history of controls,” an economist
said.
Other observers felt that looking at the banking sector as
troublemakers was
ill-informed as there were several factors that determined
interest rates.
“Higher interest rates mean that an economy is not
performing in terms of
exports. Banks have managed to bring interest rates
down since dollarisation
and the authorities are ignoring that,” an
executive said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in
Business
ZIMBABWE is one of the four countries in Africa that contributed
the bulk of
fraud cases valued at US$2 billion in the first half of the
year, according
to a latest report released by KPMG, one of the leading
global auditing
firms.
Report by Our Staff
The report — KPMG
Africa Fraud Barometer — said Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and
South Africa
contributed 74% of all fraud cases in Africa.
The findings are a slap in
the face of government’s efforts to lure
investors and help rebuild the
economy, poised for a third consecutive year
of growth after a decade of
recession.
The government’s medium-term plan projects that foreign direct
investment
would contribute 20% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product in
2015 up from
the current 4%.
In an analysis on the increase in fraud
cases in Zimbabwe, Emilia Chisango,
partner at KPMG Zimbabwe, said fraud had
been increasing, especially after
the dollarisation of the
economy.
“With dollarisation, the basic economic fundamentals started to
apply,
resulting in significantly reduced income streams for certain classes
of the
society who were engaged mainly in the informal sector where returns
were
quite significant,” Chisango said.
“Those with reduced sources
of income tend to resort to fraudulent
activities to sustain their
lifestyles.”
Chisango said as a result of the tight liquidity in the
market, there had
been significant mushrooming of fraudulent microfinance
institutions that
lend money at inflated interest rates and in turn accept
deposits at
attractive interest rates.
She said while there were a
number of genuine such institutions, fraudsters
had preyed on this by
purporting to own microfinance institutions and
offering rates which are
significantly higher.
Once they collect a sizeable amount of deposits,
they often disappear with
it altogether.
“There are more fraudulent
transactions involving individuals, though the
ones where companies are
affected tend to be of significantly higher values.
We believe that the
level of reported cases is actually indicative of the
actual levels of fraud
happening in the country,” Chisango said.
Overall, the KPMG report showed
that fraud and misrepresentation had the
highest reported cases at 37%, a
decrease of 10% from the previous six
months. Most fraud is committed by
government officials (18%), followed by
business people (15%) and employees
(14%).
The report said in the period January 1 to June 30, 2012, a total
of 503
cases were reported compared to 520 recorded in the same period last
year.
The value of the reported cases during the period dropped to US$2
billion
from US$3,3 billion recorded in the same period last year.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in
Opinion
As the world celebrates the rights of children on International
Children’s
Day, let us take a moment to reflect on how we protect children
in Zimbabwe.
Opinion By UNICEF
There has been
considerable coverage in the media recently, of cases of
children who break
the law, with some of these children committing acts of
abuse against other
children.
For those children who are the survivors of this abuse,
we must continue to
invest in the services that provide them with emergency
medical care,
support in their pursuit of justice through the courts and
linking them with
the counselling and personal support that they need to
recover.
When the offender and offendee come before the courts, our emotional
response towards them is very different. Quite rightly, we look with
sympathy on the survivor and outrage at the injustice of the crime committed
against them.
We direct anger at the alleged child offender
and demand harsh and
uncompromising punishment. But we forget that these
children are, in many
ways, very similar and they are both victims of a more
collective failure by
their community. The care and protection system is in
need of urgent repair.
We must work from the premise that no child is born
bad, yet — as we have
seen in these cases — some children commit horrendous
acts of abuse against
other children.
So if they are not
naturally bad people, why do they hurt other children?
The sad fact is that
most children who perpetrate abuse have been abused
themselves.
All forms
of child abuse are preventable. But if we are to break this cycle
of
violence, we need to recognise that our current system is, in many ways,
broken.
For many children, the adults who are supposed to
protect them from abuse
either abuse the child themselves, or do not speak
out when they see it.
By using beatings as a form of discipline
and by allowing convicted adult
perpetrators off with light sentences, we
send children the message that
abuse is not important or worthy of doing
anything about.
Currently, there are less than 100 social workers who can
implement the
statutory provisions in the Children’s Act that are designed
to prevent and
respond to child abuse, and less than 10 specialised clinics
for child
survivors of abuse.
Children are not mini adults, even when
they appear to behave like they are.
And they are entitled to our
protection. Instead, we allow for the
prosecution of children as young as
seven years of age and provide only a
handful of government lawyers to
provide free legal assistance.
If convicted, a child offender
often receives punishments which date back to
the colonial era such as
“lashes” or a custodial sentence, and do nothing to
address the societal
failures that led to the behaviour in the first place.
Of course, child
survivors of abuse have the right to demand justice, even
if the abuse is
perpetrated by another child, but neither should have to do
this on their
own.
Current efforts to scale up the Victim Friendly System and
the Pre-Trial
Diversion Programme are commendable — and should be rapidly
accelerated. We
need more specialised courts, clinics, more dedicated
children’s lawyers and
social workers and greater support to Victim Friendly
Units within the ZRP.
There is also one simple and achievable change that
could be made right now.
Every child who comes before the court — for
whatever reason — should have
legal assistance and courts should demand this
as a pre-requisite for
hearing a case. At the same time, these children
deserve a dedicated,
qualified social worker.
Together, these
professionals can ensure that the justice system is fair and
effective.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in
Editorial
People are successful because they have made a clear,
unequivocal do or die
decision to be successful. People are unsuccessful
because they have not
made that decision. — Brian Tracy
Comment by
Phillip Chichoni
There are 270 days left for the World Tourism
Organisation’s General
Assembly that is to be held jointly in Victoria Falls
Zimbabwe and
Livingstone, Zambia next year.
I was reminded of this
event in two ways. First, ZTV is running a daily
countdown. Secondly, an
ambitious young entrepreneur told me how he is going
to make a killing
supplying a certain commodity at the event.
I have heard several such
stories of making killings at big events before:
The 2010 soccer World Cup
finals in neighbouring South Africa; the recent
Africa Cup of Nations in
Angola and many other events which have come and
gone. Unfortunately very
few of those who plan their big breaks around other
people’s events
succeed.
Decide where you want to go
Every success story starts with a
conscious thought in the mind: the future
you want to create.
The
great entrepreneurs who have built global computer companies, successful
banks, big construction companies and revolutionary communication firms, all
decided in their minds that it was what they wanted to achieve. Without a
great goal, there is no passion, motivation or resilience.
You can
decide to work and grow in a bank, or you can decide to build your
own bank.
The bigger the goal, the more likely that you will achieve
something great.
Jim Collins noted that few people attained great lives, in
large part
because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.
(Good to Great —
Random House Business Books). Do you have a big, hairy and
audacious goal?
If not, take time to create one, or your future will be just
ordinary and
boring.
Plan how you will get there
Every successful achievement needs
a plan of execution. Planning is not just
for new entrepreneurs who need to
get investors or financiers.
Those definitely need written plans so that
potential financiers can see and
analyse their new ideas. But growing
businesses need to plan even more. When
you are running a one-person
business, you can usually have the plan in your
head, taking the necessary
actions as and when you can.
However, as the business grows, you will
need to plan together with other
people in your business. These are the
managers and heads of departments who
will help drive your business to the
big future that you desire. Most
businesses are struggling, not only because
the economy is difficult, but
because they do not take time out to plan.
Many challenges can be overcome
if people put their heads together, plan and
think of new ideas.
Make a difference in the lives of others
One
mistake that some entrepreneurs make is to want to make money first.
Truly
successful people do the things they love and that make a difference
in the
lives and work of others. The desire to help others is the mark of
the most
successful entrepreneurs. Henry Ford decided to make cars that an
ordinary
person could afford, at a time when cars where only for the
extremely
rich.
Bill Gates and IBM made personal computers available and affordable
to
ordinary people, when the focus of IT firms at the time was on systems
for
big firms. Similarly was Steve Jobs, who wanted to bring joy and
entertainment to people though convenient and aesthetically beautiful
gadgets like the iPod, iPhone and iPad.
Building a business centred
around your own benefit and profit is a recipe
for failure. You can make a
quick buck, like some business owners did during
the unforgettable economic
crisis of the past decade. The majority of those
hyperinflation “dealers”
have disappeared. Survivors had to change their
approach to
business.
.
Phillip Chichoni is a strategic business planning
consultant who works with
entrepreneurs and growing businesses. You may
contact him by email on
chichonip@smebusinesslink.com,
or visit http://smebusinesslink.com.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in
Editorial
Not so long ago, an Elder at an Anglican parish in Harare
passed on and was
going to be buried at a cemetery designated for people who
had contributed
much to the church.
Comment By Nevanji Madanhire
Editor
After all the rites had been observed and the cadaver dressed up
and placed
in the casket ready for the last trip, who emerges but an
emissary of
Nolbert Kunonga’s. No, the Elder can no longer be buried at the
special
cemetery because the cemetery now belongs to Kunonga.
The
body had to be taken back to the mortuary while alternative burial
arrangements were worked out.
Such was the power Kunonga had
assumed for himself, it was like he had power
over life and death. But
everyone who knew how power works knew Kunonga’s
power was sham; much like
the power of a petrol attendant during a fuel
crisis! Remember how this poor
chap suddenly becomes a god, making company
CEOs jump, (determining even how
high they jumped) before he pours the
precious liquid into their Mercedes
Benzes!
It’s called surrogate power; the power given unto an
individual, to bear and
to wield, by a circumstance.
Let me
compare this to surrogate motherhood. The surrogate mother carries
and
delivers a child for another woman who may not be able to carry the
child
herself. A fertilised egg is usually inserted into the womb of the
woman,
where it develops and is then delivered.
The surrogate mother is
often paid for her services but once the child is
born, it is handed over to
its genetic mother.
The surrogate mother suffers all the burdens
of pregnancy and the pangs of
labour, but the child is not hers and she will
not have any residual
interest in it when she has delivered
it.
She may bask in the pride of womanhood when she is carrying the
baby in her
womb and may revel in the feelings of motherhood as the foetus
plays around
in her womb. But the child is not hers because she has been
paid for her
pains. One can imagine the emptiness the surrogate mother feels
on handing
over the child to its genetic mother!
The pain of
surrogate motherhood is in its transiency; so must be the pain
of surrogate
power! When fuel becomes readily available, the petrol
attendant resorts to
his servile role and offers to clean everyone’s
windscreen and check the air
in their wheels. The motorist tells the
attendant to jump and the attendant
now asks how high!
But Kunonga should hang his head in shame. He was
probably paid for his
services by the offer of a free farm and the support
of the security
services.
Whoever gave him the surrogate
power probably thought by using the highly
emotive issue of homosexuality,
Kunonga would bring all the Anglicans along
and translate each one of them
into a vote.
The Anglicans saw through all this and refused to
budge. It was a
troublesome surrogate pregnancy for him and in the end, the
child was not
even delivered.
But Kunonga is hardly the only
person who has wielded surrogate power during
the subsistence of the
Zimbabwean political crisis; that is why his dramatic
fall should be a
salutary lesson to those among us who have gone to extremes
at the service
of those in power who use them to fight their own battles.
Examples of these
abound.
A case in mind are those who on a daily basis commit acts of
political
violence on behalf of certain individuals who pay them for their
services
but when the long arm of the law stretches out, the masters are
nowhere to
be seen.
It may not just be the long arm of the law,
for that is sometimes an ass,
but traditional justice, as in the Gokwe case
where some individuals used
the same assumed power to murder political
opponents but were left alone in
the face of the vengeful wrath of an angry
spirit. [The Shona people believe
in ngozi and even rocket science cannot
change them on this belief.]
When Kunonga is eventually called upon
to pay for his misdeeds, such as the
failure to pay rates and power bills,
the genetic mother of his
transgressions will be nowhere to be
found.
The worst that can happen to him is to lose his home to
the hammer to raise
the US$300 000 or more that his faction owes
everybody.
The Kunonga and Gokwe cases are the two extremes in a
country that has been
torn apart by the lack of the rule of law. In between
them are a plethora of
other cases that will yet be brought to
book.
There are the transgressions of paramilitary groups in
suburbs, the violence
said to have been perpetrated by people in the
uniformed forces over the
years and other crimes that have been committed in
the name of certain
individuals or parties.
Corruption is one
such crime; many politicians have taken advantage of the
lax observance of
the law and the patronage system to enrich themselves
overnight in an openly
criminal manner. But the chickens will eventually
begin to come home to
roost!
But what has Kunonga done to the image of the heterosexual
male in Zimbabwe?
That it’s cool to rape children in
orphanages?
That it’s cool to turn churches into brothels and
destroy monuments to our
education and civilisation such as St. Augustine’s
Mission by looting the
money parents have paid to see their children through
school?
That it’s cool to kick old women and their children out
of church buildings
so that they pray under trees where they are at the
mercy of the elements?
That one can bar the whole world from
their annual pilgrimage to one of the
world’s most important shrines, just
for the sake of massaging one’s own
ego? All this in the name of fighting
homosexuality of which not a single
case he has brought to the
open!
The Zimbabwean crisis is the Hydra, the snake-like monster
which in Greek
folklore had uncountable heads, which when one was cut
several grew in its
place. The Zimbabwean crisis has manifested itself in
politics, sport, the
arts, and, God bless Zimbabwe, in the
church.
Kunonga’s demise will be replaced by other more complex
problems. But only
the restoration of the rule of law and its observance
will lay the
foundation for the resolution to the crisis.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 25, 2012 in
Editorial
The decision by the Harare City Council to return property
seized from
residents who defaulted on paying rates shows officials are now
listening to
people’s concerns.
Comment By Editor
Council
three weeks ago instituted unprecedented property seizures that
mainly
targeted the poorest of the poor in a bid to recover debts.
The property
seizures in Rugare, Kuwadzana, Dzivarasekwa, Mabvuku and Tafara
caused much
alarm and despondency in the suburbs where residents were now
living in fear
of the Messenger of Court.
As reported in this publication last week, a
family in Rugare was left
counting only empty plastic bottles as their
property after their sofas, a
room divider, a kitchen table, two fans, a
carpet and a heater were all
attached.
The family and many other
affected people with no means of income, could not
hire lawyers to stop the
attachment of their property.
These property seizures showed
insensitivity on the part of city fathers who
failed to show compassion and
an appreciation of the economic difficulties
pensioners and other unemployed
people face.
Some of these people can hardly secure three square meals a
day, and have no
capacity to raise money to pay council which provides
erratic services.
It is the predicament of these people that made the
council’s action
revolting.
Instead of punishing residents, council
is advised to strategise on first
improving service delivery to a level that
will make residents see value in
paying for it.
So far there is
little incentive for residents to pay for astronomical water
and refuse
bills when their taps are always dry and bins are not collected.
A
win-win scenario in which council provides a service that is satisfactory,
with Harare residents paying for it, is what is needed.
In the event
that residents fail to meet their obligations, council should
give them
ample time to raise the money, instead of unleashing the Messenger
of Court
on their homes.
Such an arrangement would go a long way in addressing the
challenges faced
by the two parties without creating unnecessary animosity
between them.
