http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in Local
THE Central
Registry Office has, with effect from last week, extended
working days for
the application of passports in an attempt to meet high
demand for the
travel document.
REPORT BY SOFIA MAPURANGA
The office has put up
notices at Makombe Building, advising members that
passport submission and
processing “will be done on Saturdays from 8am to
1pm effective November 3
2012 until further notice”.
However, yesterday only a few people could be
seen applying for passports
because most people were not aware of the
change.
According to the notice, the move was necessitated by the need to
meet the
high demand for passports.
An official at the passport
offices, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said the notice came late
yesterday, such that the office had no time to
notify the general public of
the development.
“The relevant officials will notify the public through
various media since
the notice was issued out late yesterday,” said the
official.
The official could not shed more light on whether the move
would only apply
at the head office or at provincial registry centres as
well.
Efforts to get a comment from the Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede
were
fruitless, as he was said to have gone for a haircut.
The
central registry office has over the years come under fire for failing
to
cope with high demand for passports.
An ordinary Zimbabwean passport
costs US$50 while other regional countries
charge less than US$30 for the
same document.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in Local
THE
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) has raised concern over the quality
and
price of bulk water being sold by many companies in and outside
Harare.
Report by Our Staff
A recent survey carried out by the
consumer watchdog said some of the
companies were drawing their water from
dams, rivers and boreholes.
“Asking the water suppliers, they all
indicated that they sourced their
water from boreholes, sadly no one can
vouch for that and that leaves
consumers vulnerable to drinking unsafe,
untreated water sourced from
potentially unhygienic conditions,” CCZ said in
a statement.
The CCZ added there were suspicions that companies were
taking water from
the Harare City Council tapes, which many residents no
longer drink because
of numerous safety concerns.
“There are concerns
as to the cleanliness of the water, the tanks used to
move the water and the
cleanliness of the processes the water undergoes
before its final
destination — the consumer,” CCZ said.
The organisation said the
shortages of clean, safe water have reached
“seismic” levels and urged
municipalities to honour their duty of ensuring
that consumers have
sufficient water.
The fact that local authorities were failing to supply
clean water to
residents has given rise to an illegal water sector where
some unscrupulous
individuals are starting companies to trade in the
precious liquid.
“It appears to us, there is a free-for-all situation in
the water market
where certain individuals and or companies are profiting
from the water
situation to make a quick buck at the expense of desperate
and unsuspecting
consumers,” said CCZ. “It concerns us from whose permission
the companies
are selling water and why at such high prices! Whose companies
are they?”
CCZ found that the companies were charging between US$60 and
US$120 for 5
000 cubic metres of water both within and outside
Harare.
“The charges by the water suppliers are not only ridiculously
high, but
morally reprehensible in an environment where the vulnerable have
a right to
protection through low cost tariffs.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in Politics
PRESIDENT
Robert Mugabe yesterday said elections will be held next March
with or
without a new constitution.
BY NQABA MATSHAZI
But this immediately
drew the ire of his political foes, who accused him of
unilateralism.
Addressing hundreds of Zanu PF delegates at the
party’s headquarters
yesterday, Mugabe reiterated his disdain for the
inclusive government,
imploring his supporters to vote “properly” so his
party can rule
unilaterally again.
“We will go for a referendum, but
what I can tell you is that we will go for
elections in March with or
without a new constitution,” he told the wildly
cheering
supporters.
But Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s spokesman Luke
Tamborinyoka dismissed
Mugabe’s statements on the election, saying dates
were yet to be agreed.
“Zimbabwe will have new elections at a date yet to
be agreed on and with a
new constitution,” he insisted.Setting the date for
an election is
process-driven. we first have to have reforms then conduct an
election.”
Mugabe has, for the past two years, been itching for an
election, but at
every turn, he has been thwarted by the two MDC formations
and Sadc, who
insist on having political reforms before polls
ahead.
Tamborinyoka was dismissive of Mugabe’s latest statements, saying
for the
past three years Mugabe has been speaking about having an election
daily,
but this had not happened.
He, however, said the inclusive
government cannot go beyond the end of next
June.
MDC spokesman
Nhlanhla Dube was equally dismissive, saying Mugabe was free
to express his
hopes and wishes, but this did not translate to national
policy.
“He
(Mugabe) is free to tell us what he wishes, but that does not mean his
wishes are superior to anyone’s. Coming up with a date for an election is a
collective decision and Mugabe’s views are contrary to that spirit,” he
said.
Dube also insisted on having reforms before any elections were
held.
Meanwhile, Mugabe, at the launch of a presidential agriculture input
scheme,
made an impassioned plea to his Zanu PF party members to desist from
violence during the election.
“Let us not embarrass ourselves by
spoiling our certain victory by engaging
in violence,” he said to loud
cheers.Let us be clean. We are mature. let us
set an example for the whole
African continent by being disciplined. No
violence please. elections are
not a boxing or wrestling match.”
Mugabe has made several such pleas,
often falling on deaf ears, with
political foes saying such statements could
be insincere.
He also took a swipe at Finance minister Tendai Biti whom
he accused of
failing to fund the agriculture sector.
He said if need
be, Biti should borrow money to fund agriculture, the
country’s economic
backbone, as all countries borrowed money.
Mugabe said the Marange
diamonds could not sustain the country, as America
had an embargo on
Zimbabwe’s diamonds, hence the non-performance of the
sector.
Biti
has already revised the country’s 2012 Budget downwards, citing lack of
revenue from the diamond sector.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in Politics
TEMPERS flared
at the Second All-Stakeholders’ Conference a fortnight ago,
with MDC leader
Welshman Ncube boycotting the opening ceremony in protest at
the speaking
arrangements that seemed to favour his nemesis, Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur
Mutambara.
REPORT BY BY NQABA MATSHAZI
This was the latest twist
to the almost two-year-old wrangle between the two
professors over the
control of the MDC.
The incident has raised questions on why President
Robert Mugabe seemed to
be taking sides with Mutambara while shutting out
Ncube.
Despite Sadc recommending that the MDC leader be allowed to attend
meetings
of the principals, Ncube has found himself out in the cold several
times.
Mugabe has always preferred to meet Mutambara and MDC-T leader,
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
“He (Mugabe) is disdainful of us,”
Ncube said when asked recently.
“He is tied at the hip with Mutambara. It
is clear that he (Mugabe) has a
strong personal attitude against me and the
party I lead.”
Several theories have been bandied about on why Mugabe was
reluctant to
include Ncube in his meetings, chief among them being that the
MDC leader is
perceived as being too close to South African President Jacob
Zuma, who
leads the mediation process.
Zuma and Ncube are
in-laws.
“It is a matter of trust,” University of Zimbabwe lecturer
Eldred
Masunungure said.
“Mugabe never warmed up to the Zuma
mediation. Ncube being a close relative,
Mugabe may be suspicious of him
attending principals’ meetings.”
Ncube, Zuma relationship trivial:
Hikwa
National University of Science and Technology lecturer Lawton Hikwa
said the
relationship between Zuma and Ncube was inconsequential.
“I
would not buy that myself. Ncube’s relationship with Zuma cannot be an
issue,” he said.
“That is just speculation.”
This is a view
that Ncube himself seems to hold, claiming that Mugabe and
Tsvangirai could
actually have a direct and easier route to the South
African President.
“That is not relevant contextually. I have no greater
access to Zuma than
Mugabe. they are Presidents and can call each other any
time,” the MDC
leader said.
“Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai, as a matter of fact, access
Zuma directly.”
Hikwa added that Mugabe’s hands were tied since the power
tussle between
Ncube and Mutambara was pending before the courts.
He said
while it was clear Ncube was a political principal: “Mugabe had no
choice
but to recognise Mutambara as a principal in the government”.
‘Essar deal
worsened mugabe-ncube relations’
Another theory for the frosty
relationship between Mugabe and Ncube is the
MDC leader received a kickback
from Essar to facilitate the deal between
Zisco and the Indian
company.
Already some parliamentarians have questioned the deal, but
Cabinet finally
authorised it after a very long delay.
As if to back
that, those that are pushing the theory claim Ncube was
donating bicycles
made in India to his party supporters. But the MDC leader
shot back,
describing that claim as “absolute nonsense”.
“The bicycles were bought
from a factory in Norton. Let us not be judged by
their standards,” Ncube
said insinuating that those who were saying that,
had become accustomed to
corruption and could not fathom that some people
could work professionally,
without being bribed.
‘Boycotts won’t help’
While relations
between Mugabe and Ncube were reportedly cold, political
analyst Ibbo
Mandaza said the MDC leader’s boycott last Monday was
ill-advised.
Despite Mutambara’s presence, Ncube should not have
left, he said. “Ncube
does not have to be offended,” he said. “He (Ncube) is
supposed to be in
there and he should be. let them throw him out if they
have to.”
This was a view shared by UZ lecturer Charity Manyeruke who
said boycotts
have never produced any results in Zimbabwe. “The President is
not closing
out Ncube, but he chose to boycott,” she said.
“The
reality is that Mutambara is also a principal, as a GPA signatory, and
Mugabe cannot afford to avoid him.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in Community
News
THE Zimbabwe Amalgamated Housing Association (Zaha) has appealed to
the
government to make land available for residential accommodation in
peri-urban areas as most councils no longer have land for such
purposes.
BY OUR STAFF
Addressing journalists at a briefing in the
capital last week, Zaha
president Killer Zivhu, said during the
hyperinflationary period, a number
of city councils throughout the country
sold land in exchange for sundries
such as fuel and working capital finance
to individuals and housing
associations.
“This situation has worsened
the housing backlog as people cannot afford
land in urban areas. It is
against this background that we urge the
government to make use of
peri-urban areas to address this plight,” he said.
A 2010 Zimbabwe
Millennium Development Goals report estimates a shortage of
one million
urban housing units, with this figure likely to increase due to
an increased
urbanisation rate, estimated to be between 5 to 6%.
Zivhu said his
association in collaboration with property development
company, DATCO Group
had since made available 1 200 serviced stands in
Kadoma to prospective home
seekers.
Under the arrangement, Zaha members pay 1% of the total cost and
receive
house keys while the rest of the money is payable over 10
years.
He said the association in collaboration with ZABG Bank was also
targeting
to secure more than 500 000 stands for low-income earners and
people
involved in the informal sector by end of next year.
DATCO
Group general manager Desire Mutovo said all stands were council
approved
while demand for stands was very high.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in Community
News
FOR the second year running, Zimbabwe has topped Africa’s literacy
tables,
but an estimated one million children in the country are out of
school, it
has emerged.
BY TENDAI MARIMA
The World Economic
Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013 says 92%
of adult
Zimbabweans were able to read and write.
But the Education, Sport, Arts
and Culture minister David Coltart said there
was no reliable data on
children out of school in the country due to a
critical shortage of
resources and skilled personnel.
“The ‘out-of-school’ children, numbers
are still not known, but could be as
high as another one million children,”
Coltart said at the launch of an
education assistance evaluation report in
October.
The Zimbabwe National Strategic Plan for the Education of Girls,
Orphans and
Other Vulnerable Children 2005-2010 says soaring unemployment
rates,
spiralling school fees, mass labour migration and high HIV and Aids
rates of
the past decade were key factors that caused the rise in the number
of
school drop-outs.
The report was compiled by the ministry of
Education and UN agencies.
The report also says there has been a steady
decrease in numbers of children
attending primary and secondary school since
2005.
The Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Report 2012 says of the 11
251
households sampled nationwide an estimated 14% of children of primary
school-going age are not in school.
The highest numbers were recorded
in Mashonaland West, Matabeleland North
and Matabeleland South.
The
assessment recommended that the government prioritise areas with the
highest
rates.
“The government and its development partners should develop
policies and
intensify efforts to better resource programmes such as the
Basic Education
Assistance Module to ensure universal access to primary
education for both
boys and girls,” said the report. “Priority in this
regard should be given
to the Matabeleland districts where the highest
proportion of children were
not in school.”
A welfare organisation,
Children First is running a one-year out-of-school
study group programme
aimed at helping youths aged 12 to 15 years to get
back into formal
school.
The programme is funded the United States Agency for
International
Development.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in
Business
MARKET capitalisation on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) was
back at US$4
billion last month driven by the participation of foreign
investors after
over a year below the mark, according to officials from the
bourse.
Report by Our Staff
Market capitalisation represents the
aggregate value of a company or stock
and is obtained by multiplying the
number of shares outstanding by the
current price for a share.
It is
one of the yardsticks used to measure a company’s performance.
ZSE data
showed that market capitalisation was at US$4 033 762 069 up from
US$3 822
796, the ninth highest point since the use of multi-currencies in
2009.
The market cap had breached the US$4 billion mark in January
last year and
reached an all-time high of US$4 267 499 484 five months
later.
It went on a retreat before picking up in the last three
months.
Foreign investors were the major players on the bourse after buying
shares
worth US$23 713 412,66 and sold shares worth US$9 875
938,67.
This means they contributed over 80% to turnover for the
month.
The total value of shares that exchanged hands during the month
was US$37
860 867,70 up from US$30 227 959,94 recorded in
September.
The stock exchange shows the health status of the economy and
its
performance is being closely followed by investors.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in
Business
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is set to auction US$30
million Treasury
Bills (TBs) on Tuesday in a move that would result in more
liquid
instruments being used in interbank placements.
Report by
Ndamu Sandu
The auction of the short-term negotiable instruments issued
by the
government through the central bank to finance government short-term
requirements would be held at the central bank at 10am.
The auction
comes more than a week after US$9,85 million was raised from the
91-day
paper.
The amount to be raised is double what was intended to be netted
last
Friday.
Standardbusiness was told on Friday, banks would bid for
the paper after
getting a tongue-lashing by the monetary authorities last
week.
Last week Tuesday banking executives and Treasury heads of banks
were
summoned to the central bank where they were told to support the
TBs.
One foreign bank shunned the TBs at an auction held last Friday,
attracting
the ire of the monetary authorities.
The bank is sitting
on over US$300 million in idle funds, Standardbusiness
was told on
Friday.
“Banks have been saying that they need TBs and they are in place,
but one
bank chose not to support them, which is not only unfair but
selfishness on
the part of that institution,” one banker said last
week.
“It raises unnecessary pressure on banks.”
Indeed pressure
was exerted with Youth Development, Indigenisation and
Empowerment minister
Saviour Kasukuwere saying the banking sector would not
be spared from the
indigenisation crusade, as it does not want to support
the country’s
economic activities.
“TB (Finance minister Tendai Biti) has failed to
raise money from TBs. Where
is the supply side? If the supply side couldn’t
work why didn’t it work in
terms of the TBs,” Kasukuwere questioned in
reference to supply side model,
seen as an alternative to empowerment in the
banking sector.
Although the use of the money raised through TBs could
not be established,
as Biti’s phone went unanswered last week, the Treasury
boss told this paper
last month that TBs would be used to finance capital
projects.
Biti has been under pressure from civil servants who are
clamouring for a
review of their salaries amid fears he could concede and
divert the funds to
recurrent expenditure.
Biti said then that
Treasury was also mindful of the fact that “one of the
things that killed
the country is debt and the total absence of fear of
contracting
debt”.
Zimbabwe’s total external debt is pegged at well over US$10
billion and the
country has no capacity to settle it.
Biti has
indicated that revenue generation is unable to meet the country’s
growing
financial needs.
In his mid-term Fiscal Policy review, Biti slashed the
2012 budget to US$3,4
billion from US$4 billion attributed to the
underperformance of the diamond
revenue, among others.
In a normal
economy, all banks work in unison, making it possible for the
financial
system in the country to operate efficiently.
Banks with excess liquidity
assist those in deficit positions using TBs as
security. In addition, the
central bank, as lender of last resort,
accommodates banks in deficit by
offering them overnight funds secured by
TBs.
Before the return of
the TBs, any bank facing liquidity mismatches had to
solve the problem alone
as the troubled institution would be unable to
approach other players due to
the absence of security.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in Business
A
consortium of indigenous investors is set to acquire a 10% stake in Unki,
a
unit of Anglo American.
Report by Our Staff
This is as part of the
platinum miners’ move to comply with the
indigenisation
legislation.
The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act states that
locals should
have a controlling shareholding in all foreign- owned
companies operating in
the country.
According to a plan announced
last week, the Tongogara Rural District
Community Share Ownership Trust
would get 10%, employees (10%), a consortium
of indigenous investors (10%)
while the National Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Fund (NIEEF)
would have 21%.
The 51% controlling shareholding is valued at US$142,8
million.
According to the plan, the transaction value has been arrived at
after
deducting an indigenisation discount of US$312 (53%) in recognition of
the
sovereign ownership of resource from the company’s value of US$592
million.
This is the first time that a consortium of local investors is
in line to
buy shareholding as in previously announced plans, only
employees, community
and NIEEF had benefited.
The transaction would
be consummated via a loan from the platinum miner to
be repaid through the
waiver of dividends due to locals for 10 years. The
loan is available at an
interest rate of 10% per annum.
According to the plan, the local
consortium, community and employee trusts
would have one director each on
the board.
NIEEF would appoint three directors.
All shares that
would have been issued to the community trust, employee
trust and NIEEF,
would be pledged as security until the loan advanced for
its acquisition is
repaid.
The indigenisation legislation has been blamed for unnerving
investors who
are much needed in reviving the economy.
According to
the medium-term plan, the government wants investments to
contribute 20% to
gross domestic product from the current 4%.
Finance minister Tendai Biti
announced in July that the government had
agreed to exempt new investors
from complying with the clause that states
that at least 51% should be given
to locals in a charm offensive to lure
investors.
On Thursday, Youth
Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment minister
Saviour Kasukuwere said
he was merely enforcing the law and would not stop
until the economy is
fully indigenised.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in
Business
THE majority of people in Zimbabwe are employed in the informal
economy,
according to a survey carried out by the Zimbabwe National
Statistics Agency
(Zimstat).
Report by Our Staff
The informal
economy refers to activities and income that are partially or
fully outside
government regulation, taxation and observation.
“The currently employed
population aged 15 years and above, was estimated to
be 5,4 million and of
these, 84% were considered to be in informal
employment, 11% were in formal
employment and 5% were in employment not
classifiable,” reads a section of
the survey.
The survey is intended to provide useful information for
formulating
policies on employment, macro-economic monitoring, as well as
incomes
support, among others.
Zimstat carries out a Labour Force and
Child Labour Survey (LFCLS) after
every five years, with the last one having
been conducted in June 2004.
The survey was due in 2009, but as a result
of the economic problems that
befell the country then, it was not possible
to conduct through instruments
that had been developed at a stakeholder
workshop in 2008.
The 2011 LFCLS was carried out from the June 9 to 29
last year.
Last year’s LFCLS estimated that around 69% of the informal sector
employees
were in the broad age group of 20 to 39 years.
According to
the survey, the distribution of the informal sector employees
by industrial
sector showed that the largest number of employees were in the
wholesale and
retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles,
thereby
constituting 52%, followed by other services and manufacturing at
14%
each.
The distribution of the informal sector employees aged 15 years and
above by
highest level of education completed, showed that 85% of the
informal sector
employees had primary or secondary level of
education.
Experts say Zimbabwe’s high unemployment rate, pegged at well
above 80% due
to the sustained decline in economic production levels, has
been cited as
one of the key underlying reasons behind spiralling informal
sector
activity.
A significant number of traders in the country’s
informal economy sell a
variety of products depending on
location.
For instance, at most furniture manufacturing complexes like
Glen View 7,
traders sell commodities ranging from timber, adhesives,
paints, nails and
all hardware needed, providing convenience to
manufacturers.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in Business
KLM Royal Dutch
Airlines, is ready to co-operate with Air Zimbabwe in a
massive boost for
the national flag carrier struggling to find friends in
the
skies.
Report by Ndamu Sandu
Pieter Bootsma, KLM executive
vice-president Marketing, revenue management
and network, told stakeholders
at a breakfast meeting last Tuesday that the
airline stands ready to help
once Air Zimbabwe is back in the skies. Air
Zimbabwe resumed domestic
flights last week while international flights were
set for today.
“If
Air Zimbabwe is back in the air, we are ready to co-operate with it. We
are
ready to find synergies between our two airlines and see how we can grow
the
market jointly.
“We believe in strategic partnerships. We believe in
connections. We believe
in friendships, which is one of the true values of
KLM,” Bootsma said.
KLM resumed flights to Zimbabwe last Monday after 13
years and will fly into
the country three times a week on Mondays, Thursdays
and Saturdays.
It would also offer 11 weekly flights to Harare via
Nairobi in partnership
with Kenya Airways.
Bootsma said partnerships
would drive the airline forward, adding that its
partnership with Kenya
Airways had created a hub in East Africa.
KLM was joined in the
partnership by Mozambican airline, LAM, which also
pledged to work with Air
Zimbabwe. LAM commercial manager Claudio Banze said
the airline was “here to
stay” after resuming flights to Zimbabwe last week.
“We hope that very
soon we will announce not only LAM flights, but LAM
flights in code-share
with Air Zimbabwe,” Banze said.
Analysts say the country has to sort out the
high-landing fees so as to
attract more airlines to
Zimbabwe.
Airlines flying to Zimbabwe have raised concern about the
high-landing fees
charged by the Civil Aviation Authority of
Zimbabwe.
Bootsma said high fees would be a major determinant on whether
or not it
increases direct flights to Zimbabwe.
Calculations made by
Standardbusiness showed that KLM would pay over US$1
600 in fees alone per
flight.
The calculations were made using fees on the CAAZ website.
KLM
would pay inbound navigation charges of US$113,6, landing fees of US$1
130,
docking fee of US$290 (assuming it has two-hour turnaround) and
navigation
fees of US$113,6 per flight.
Adding handling fees of US$2 000, means that
KLM has to pay US$3 647,2 for
every flight to Zimbabwe.
The fees,
according to experts, work against efforts of luring airlines.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in
Opinion
If we are truly to be at the service of justice, then it is
important to
recognise that the first victim of abortion is the unborn child
whose life
has been deliberately ended.
Report by Catholic
Bishops
Taking the life of a child in the womb is as unjust as taking the
life of
any human being.
The Catholic Church speaks out against
abortion because it acknowledges the
human rights and dignity of all
people.
To wilfully destroy life is an unspeakable crime against an
innocent and
defenceless gift from God.
The church’s defence of life
is based on the intrinsic value and inalienable
rights that each individual
has. Because we are made in the image and
likeness of God, this gives to
each life a divine property. Human life is
thus untouchable and those who
destroy this gift are attacking the creator
Himself.
From the first
to the last, the message of scripture is unambiguous, the
very foundation of
human dignity and human rights is to be found in God’s
creative plan and
purpose. The Catholic Church thus has a duty to incarnate
this message in
every culture and in every constitutional and social system.
The logic of
abortion begins in the mentality that underpins the concept of
contraception. Abortion becomes yet another form of contraception and a
means of disposing of what is considered inconvenient and
challenging.
This naturally leads to a move to dispense with the sick,
disabled and the
elderly. With the willing complicity of many governments
throughout the
world, colossal means have been used against people, at the
dawn of their
life or when thought to be a burden on national medical
resources. It is for
this reason that the Catholic Church has consistently
stood against abortion
because it degrades human rights and
dignity.
What the church teaches is consistent with the whole Christian
teaching
about the rights of the innocent to live.
Without it, no
other human rights are secure. Long before science was able
to reveal the
stages of development within the womb, the Catholic Church had
regarded the
unborn at all stages of pregnancy as possessed of a distinct
new life, which
no one could willingly choose to destroy.
As our understanding increased,
the church began to defend life from the
moment of conception. From the
moment the father fertilises a living cell
from the mother “the adventure of
a human life begins”. Each new life is the
life not of a potential human
being, but of a human being with potential.
The moment of conception begins
the life story of each person and so it is
to be protected. No human law can
thus legislate for the deliberate killing
of a human being and “there is no
obligation in conscience to obey such
laws”.
If we speak of human
rights then the child in the womb has rights no matter
whether we choose to
call this child a neonate (newly born), a foetus or
embryo (child within the
womb).
The Catholic church is clear — human rights are not arbitrary and
there
should be no interference with the natural development of the child in
its
mother’s womb. Not even the parents have this right since the child is
an
independent life.
We acknowledge that people find themselves
facing difficult and confusing
situations. Young girls find themselves used
sexually by older youths or men
and deserted when found to be pregnant.
There are cases of rape and
occasions when the pregnancy could injure the
mothers’ health. The pressure
to terminate can be great, but we cannot use
murder of the innocent as a
solution to an unwanted
problem.
Pre-abortion counselling, practical guidance and medical help
during
pregnancy, a safe place to deliver and the appropriate adoption
advice are
all measures that we, as the Catholic Church, ought to see as our
contribution to eradicate a culture of death.
Adapted from Zimbabwe
Catholic Bishops’ Conference pastoral letter
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in Opinion
When it comes to
populist policies such as indigenisation, you cannot
question the
craftsmanship and frothing passion of its most avid political
proponents.
Report by Lance Mambondiani
It’s a zero sum game;
foreign shareholders and the private sector have been
bullied and marched
into submission and the rest of us have to
unquestionably believe in the
sincerity of state paternalism as a
redistributive force with the capacity
to deliver people from inequality and
out of poverty.
If this is the
only economic policy in town, the question is; in its current
format, will
the indigenisation policy change lives of ordinary Zimbabweans?
Will it
create jobs, reduce poverty or spur economic growth?
BEE — ‘Black elite
enrichment’
Like land redistribution, there is little argument about
indigenisation as a
justifiable imperative — the country’s economic
transformation requires a
restructuring and democratising of ownership and
control of the economy by
empowering the historically oppressed to play a
leading role in the
mainstream economy. Several African countries have
attempted different
empowerment models with mixed results. Of course very
few of these have been
as combative and headline-grabbing as
ours.
Evidence across Africa suggests that almost consistently,
empowerment models
which focus on redistribution have benefited
distributional cartels
consisting of those in power at the expense of
ordinary people. The policy
has succeeded in replacing a foreign capitalist
with a black one with no
real impact on addressing inequality.
A very
small cake to indigenise
As a pathway to economic growth, the indigenisation
agenda appears feeble
and deficient. The policy’s major weakness is its
central focus, the
requirement that all companies with a share capital above
US$500 000 (or a
specified threshold) should arrange for 51% of their shares
or interests to
be owned by indigenous Zimbabweans.
In this regard,
the policy is fixated on the redistribution of the past.
Changing who owns
51% of a company may alter the ownership structure
(perhaps from white to
black), it offers little incentives on creating new
jobs to address the high
levels of unemployment.
Besides, after years of economic collapse, the
private sector has been
decimated and has shrunk to the size of a
cup-cake.
In terms of revenue, corporate income tax accounts for less
than 3,2% of
gross domestic product (GDP). Unlike land redistribution,
indigenising the
private sector is unlikely to trigger any movement on the
poverty Richter
scale in Dotito. An effective economic policy should focus
on empowering the
80% unemployed through an equitable business environment
which supports
entrepreneurship, small businesses and integration of the
informal sector
into the mainstream economy.
A threat to foreign
direct investments
Where it fails to create jobs, the indigenisation policy
has been a
catastrophic success in deterring foreign direct investments
(FDI), crucial
to stabilising our current account deficit.
Despite
improvements in the economy since Government of National Unity
(GNU), our
external position remains precarious.
Current account deficit widened to
36% of GDP in 2011, financed in large
part by debt-related flows, arrears,
and a drawdown from the SDR. Zimbabwe
has lived with an underlying
balance-of-payment problem for the past 50
years. Without substantial
foreign investment inflows, sustainable economic
growth is near impossible
regardless of how well the economy is integrated
or indigenised.
The
indigenisation policy has a potentially destabilising effect
Although there
are other factors, the policy has contributed significantly
to a polarised
business environment, poor investor confidence and weak FDI
flows.
Since the IEE Act was enacted, net FDI figures (as a percent
of GDP) have
recorded an all time low, with negative inflows at -25,9 in
2009, and -21,1
in 2011. The uncertainty and inconsistency around the
application of the
policy has affected investment decisions particularly for
new investments
across the productive sector.
Empowerment through
sustainable jobs
The essence of economic empowerment is in spreading
benefits of economic
growth to everyone, making economic growth more
inclusive and sustainable.
The majority of the previously disadvantaged
groups are not necessarily
comprised of people interested in owning shares
in companies.
Their main focus is on getting good jobs (sustainable
jobs), improving their
skills (skills development), starting and running
their own businesses
(preferential procurement and enterprise development)
and simply living a
better life.
An effective empowerment model
should put together policies concerned with
economic transformation through
interventions which look beyond equity
ownership.
Some lessons can be
learnt from countries such as Malaysia, India and Sri
Lanka. Malaysia’s
experience with its New Economy Policy implemented between
1970 and 1990 is
the most well-known example on how to successfully
implement a broad-based
economic empowerment programme by growing the
economy to achieve greater
integration.
In an economic context such as ours with enormous challenges
of economic
development, government policy and funding priorities should be
focused on
urgent issues such as creating jobs, education, infrastructure
and health as
a form of sustainable empowerment.
The catalyst for the
1997 economic crisis was the controversy around the
land redistribution
exercise, the recovery achieved since GNU should not end
with an equally
combative siege on businesses.
Dr Lance Mambondiani is an Investment
executive at Coronation Financial and
a researcher in Development
Economics.
He teaches International Finance for Development and Financial
Markets &
Corporate Governance at the University of Manchester. He can
be contacted on
lancem@btinternet.com. The view
expressed in this article, first published
on New Zimbabwe.Com are personal
and do not necessarily reflect the
position of Coronation Financial.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in Opinion
The
Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai has made
disturbing
declarations that they will not allow incumbent councillors and
MPs to face
other competent officials from within the rank and file of their
party
during elections.
Report by Precious Shumba
This position is
disturbing because the majority view of voters across the
breadth of
Zimbabwe is that most councillors running urban and rural local
authorities
have become entrenched in corruption that they have ceased to
serve the
interests of ordinary residents.
At the same time, the Zanu PF leadership
has indicated that they are in the
process of developing procedures for
holding primary elections to choose
candidates who will stand against other
political parties in harmonised
elections scheduled for March
2013.
Now that election talk is being repeated by political parties, this
is a
time for the citizenry to demand and occupy their space to determine
who
gets to represent them in elections, given that political parties are
coming
up with regulations and procedures on behalf of the people, a clear
testimony that they do not trust them to choose their own
representatives.
The MDC-T position on the selection of candidates for
elections has to be
interrogated from three critical viewpoints which will
help us understand
the merits and demerits of their chosen
methodology.
Firstly, the party should satisfy itself that serving MPs
and councillors
have the endorsement of their respective constituencies,
rather than use a
tired excuse that these are known and can help the cause
of the party in
elections.
Secondly, the decision should be informed
by the performance of incumbents,
within their respective constituencies and
wards as individuals, and their
performance as a collective within council
or parliamentary committees, in
full council and parliamentary
deliberations.
The third viewpoint is that those being nominated for
election should meet a
certain standard, determined by the citizens,
informed by historical
experiences of the significance of an office,
otherwise citizens will endure
a nightmarish five years under the leadership
of incompetent, corrupt and
ignorant officials, whose selection was
manipulated in the first place.
Voters know what they want in a leader
and should have the right to make
their views known by their
leadership.
But it should not be the responsibility of the national or
provisional
leadership to declare that such leader will not be challenged,
hiding behind
party constitutional loopholes which do not put a maximum
period of service
for MPs and councillors, yet advocate for two-five year
terms for the
president of a political party.
All leaders should be
endorsed through a formally-adopted system that has
popular support and is
understood by the membership.
It must be transparent, accountable and
with a conflict resolution mechanism
that guarantees redress of challenges.
There has to be one system for all
candidates on the same level of office —
councillors, MPs, senators,
vice-presidents, and presidents.
Imposing
candidates is one of the reasons why Zanu PF has an old guard that
is too
powerful to be opposed by low-ranking officials. President Robert
Mugabe is
unable to control them, given their lengthy stay in Parliament and
cabinet.
The tragedy of this kind of decision-making by political
parties on
candidates selection is that it protects certain interests,
mostly economic
for short terms, but this will ultimately destroy the party,
and erode
public confidence.
Loyalty by the membership should be
towards the values and principles of the
party and not the narrow political
and economic interests of well-fed
officials, wanting to be permanent
councillors and MPs.
Some of these incumbents who have engaged in corrupt
practices, getting
kick-backs on tenders and have enjoyed a very comfortable
life, are the ones
who are at the forefront demanding changes at the helm of
their political
parties yet they do not want to open up the system to
democratic competition
by winning or losing in a transparent
process.
The MDC-T has to listen to communities, just as Zanu PF,
Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn
(MKD) and the MDC have to pay attention to what the
ordinary people are
saying regarding their officials holding public
office.
Failure to heed the demands of communities for genuine
involvement in
decision-making processes within their political parties,
means they will
express themselves in an unpredictable way through the
ballot, voting for
other candidates than those from their preferred party
owing to
disgruntlement— or they will choose not to participate in elections
thereby
reducing chances of winning against formidable opposition.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in Opinion
There is discord once
again in the inclusive government as divergent views
have emerged from
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai on the way
forward regarding the contentious constitution-making
process and scheduling
of impending elections.
Mugabe told Parliament last week that the
elections would be held in March
2013 and that co-principals in the
Government of National Unity (GNU) were
agreeable to the date.
He
also told delegates to the second all-stakeholder’s conference last month
that the principals were the final authority to decide on the constitution
and not Copac.
As reported in NewsDay on Thursday and the Zimbabwe
Independent on Friday,
Tsvangirai has refuted that there is consensus among
principals on the two
critical issues.
This ruse by Mugabe is not
surprising at all. He has always wanted elections
held on his terms, but he
knows the perils of holding another sham election.
He is worried about his
legitimacy.
There is all the evidence that Mugabe is haunted by the issue
of political
correctness as leader.
Since the violent and highly
controversial election of 2008, Mugabe has
battled the ghost of illegitimacy
as leader after voluble accusations that
his retention of power was a direct
product of vote-rigging and a violent
crackdown on political
opponents.
What has appeared to give Mugabe a measure of legitimacy
during the tenure
of the GNU has been the figure of Tsvangirai appearing by
his side.
He has exploited this uneasy relationship to present a façade
of a working
political environment in which he agrees with his arch opponent
on critical
issues, notwithstanding their very divergent political views. He
expects
Tsvangirai to nod through this duplicity in the name of political
consensus.
Mugabe requires Tsvangirai’s stamp of approval for the current
subterfuge.
This should not be allowed because we know that the ultimate
goal is to have
a constitution doctored to suit Mugabe’s power retention
scheme. Reforms of
the security establishment and media laws have remained
outstanding.
Tsvangirai should never lend himself to this dangerous
project because he
must abide by his commitment to democratic
governance.
Mugabe should be reminded that bully-boy tactics can never
substitute
popular support.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
November 4, 2012 in Opinion
After observing the
proceedings in the run-up to, and during the just-ended
Copac’s Second
All-Stakeholders’ Conference held last month, the Zimbabwe
Peace Project,
Zimbabwe Election Support Network and Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights and
the Independent Constitution Monitoring Project (ZZZICOMP),
considers it
appropriate to express its preliminary observations on this
national
process.
Report by ZZZICOMP
ZZZICOMP notes that accreditation of
delegates was decentralised to
provinces and this assisted in speeding up
the process of registering
participants.
While there seemed not to be
challenges with the accreditation of political
party delegates from the
parties to the Global Political Agreement (GPA),
inclusivity of other
political parties was questionable.
In addition, a high-level of
political interference from all three political
parties to the GPA was
observed during the accreditation of civil society
participants.
Although this was eventually (although not fairly)
resolved, this adversely
affected the ability of the civil society to
adequately and independently
prepare for and participate in the conference
in a non-politicised and
non-partisan manner.
It is necessary for
both political parties and the broad civil society to
disentangle themselves
and understand their roles as this
constitution-making process continues,
failing which they will continue to
do a disservice to the broader
population, who have issues which may be
peripheral to objectives and
priorities of the three political parties in
the government.
The
accreditation of observers was centralised to Harare, however.
While
international observers experienced no challenges with accreditation,
local
observation groups experienced considerable challenges, including a
restriction on numbers of observers and an atmosphere of distrust and lack
of co-operation by Copac staff, which was only resolved after the
intervention of the three Copac co-chairpersons.
While ZZZICOMP had
420 observers registered during previous stages of the
constitution-making
process, this was reduced to two initially, and after
negotiations, was
raised to a mere 10 observers.
This proved to be a challenge for detailed
observation of each thematic
breakaway session and the general rollout of
the Second All-Stakeholders’
Conference.
Zzzicomp hails violence-free
conference
The conference was held in a generally peaceful
environment.
ZZZICOMP commends Copac and delegates for generally
conducting themselves in
a courteous manner that was free from the violence
which characterised the
first All-Stakeholders’ Conference held in 2009, in
which some delegates and
observers were assaulted resulting in a premature
adjournment of
proceedings.
However, ZZZICOMP still recorded
incidences where some delegates resorted to
intimidation, harassment,
heckling and issuing verbal threats against other
delegates, as they
squabbled during the thematic breakaway sessions and for
expressing
dissenting views. Such an environment is hardly conducive to the
expression
of citizens’ voices and choices since it involuntarily induces
fear. Whether
real or perceived, fear muzzles freedom of expression.
‘Political
differences must be set aside’
ZZZICOMP acknowledges the role played by
the principals to the GPA, who
through their remarks denounced violence and
emphasised tolerance during the
process.
This attitude could have had
a bearing in exorcising the demons of violence
out of some
delegates.
ZZZICOMP regrets the initial boycott of the proceedings by
Welshman Ncube’s
party, as a critical constituency of this national process,
but commends the
Sadc facilitation team for its interventions to ensure
their participation
in the thematic breakaway sessions.
We urge all
political players to put aside personal differences for the good
of the
country as we proceed to the final stages of the constitution-making
process.
ZZZICOMP observers and those from other civil society
organisations were
subjected to some form of discriminatory screening by
security teams manning
the entrances before they could access the main
Harare International
Conference Centre auditorium despite presenting their
accreditation tags to
Copac personnel.
Incidents of coaching of party
delegates by all three political parties in a
bid to safeguard their
political party aspirations were rampant. For
example, pamphlets entitled:
“Keypoints to note at the conference”, were
parcelled out to some delegates
and they constantly referred to or read from
these notes verbatim during
discussions on thematic issues.
The coalition government needs to be
reminded that a constitution is not
written merely for the generation that
exists at the time of it being
authored, but for unlimited and perpetual
posterity and not for rulers who
would be intoxicated with excessive
power.
It is critical for Copac to provide clarity in this regard, so as
to reduce
tensions and opportunities for political
manipulation.
Mindful of the provision in Article VI of the GPA, that the
constitution-making process is not a political process, but a process for
citizens of Zimbabwe, ZZZICOMP appeals to Copac to increase
confidence-building measures in the process and publicly outline the roadmap
that should finally lead to a referendum.
