TWISTY investigations into a swathe
of ZANU PF companies got a fresh impetus last week after the ruling party's
supreme decision-making body - the politburo - gave the bloated probe team
extra teeth to get to the bottom of the firms' secretive
investments.
The latest turn of events, which caught most of the
ZANU PF bigwigs unawares, swung attention back to Emmerson Mnangagwa, who
had emerged unscathed despite earlier indications that the investigations
were aimed at him as the party's immediate past finance chief. Mnangagwa,
the feared ZANU PF secretary for administration, was key to the party's
investments whose veil of secrecy many hoped would be pierced by the
investigations.
Party insiders with intimate knowledge of the
ZANU PF businesses said the probe into the ruling party portfolio, which,
under Mnangagwa's stewardship, grew from zero in 1978 to an estimated $100
billion, had been given a new impetus after new members were co-opted. They
said six more names were added to the probe team at last week's politburo
meeting. Names of the new members could not be ascertained at the time of
going to press. The dramatic turn of events comes after the first probe
produced a watered-down report which party insiders said was deemed a
"disappointing whitewash".
Before the probe, ZANU PF
investments had never been subjected to public scrutiny. Senior party
officials claimed that they were not privy to the party's businesses as
issues concerning their operations involved a few officials and were always
confined to some dark room at the party's headquarters.
The
insiders said the expanded team, which now has 11 members, got fresh powers
to comb through a web of ZANU PF investments in what might worsen tension in
the fractious party that has been led by President Robert Mugabe since
independence in 1980. Among others, they said, the committee had been
given arresting powers and would leave no stone unturned as the race to
succeed President Mugabe intensified. They said this meant that the
committee could now go into the region probing investments made by anyone
who may interest the investigations while the Ministers of State Security
and Home Affairs had been ordered to cooperate fully with the
committee.
There are heightened fears that the investigations
could be an extension of the simmering succession struggles in which whoever
is caught on the wrong side of the law may find it difficult to appeal to
the electorate.
This has been denied by the party but
political observers say that the fierce power struggle in ZANU PF could
split it right through the middle ahead of the party's decisive congress
slated for December at which new leaders would be elected.
Joyce Mujuru, wife of retired army general Solomon Mujuru, is tipped to land
the vice-presidency left vacant following the death of Simon Muzenda last
year. The retired army chief is part of the probe team.
Mujuru,
the Minister of Water Resources and Infrastructural Development, might face
a stiff challenge from Mnangagwa and John Nkomo, who are also linked to the
presidency. Before the latest turn of events, the committee led by ZANU
PF secretary for finance David Karimanzira, whose inclusion smacked of
conflict of interest, had failed to find anything that sticks against the
ruling party bigwigs close to the operations of the companies. The
64-page report, which was discussed at last week's meeting, had also failed
to lift the lid off the complex and secretive operations of the companies
namely ZIDCO Holdings, M & S Syndicate, First Banking Corporation,
Treger Holdings, Ottawa, Catercraft, Zidlee Enterprises, Fribrolite, Mike
Appel and the Southern Africa Reinsurance.
The probe has
since raised the ire of some party gurus who are of the view that Mnangagwa,
the former party finance chief, had to all intense and purposes been
cleared. Under Mnangagwa's tenure, the ruling party's share in Tregers
Holdings alone is now worth $40 billion, while its shares in Mike Appel are
also valued at at least $30 billion, with its stake in the enlarged FBC
Holdings estimated at $10 billion.
This makes the ruling
party one of the richest liberation movements on the continent. The African
National Congress, which won this year's elections in South Africa, is
reportedly worth only two thirds of the empire built by ZANU PF.
"The party's investments were made under the watchful eye of the first
secretary of the party, President Mugabe so it boggles one's mind how other
ZANU PF members could dare question the presidency," said a
source.
"It is also unheard of for investigations to open up in
a case where it is clear that whoever was in charge of the party's
investments actually created greater value for the liberation movement," the
same sources said. David Karimanzira, who is chairing the investigating
committee, said they would submit a report to the party after finishing
investigations. Karimanzira remained mum on the committee's new
powers. "We will only report and hand over the to the party' that is
our mandate," Karimanzira said. Other members of the initial
committee comprise of Mujuru, Matabeleland Governor Obert Mpofu, former
finance minister Simba Makoni and Thoko Mathuthu, ZANU PF deputy secretary
for transport and welfare.
ZANU PF bigwigs hauled before the
committee during the initial investigations include Mnangagwa, who was
interviewed twice, Nicholas Goche, the Minister of State for Security, Enos
Chikowore, the former Public Service and National Housing Minister,
Frederick Shava, the director for ZANU PF, Sydney Sekeramayi, the Minister
of Defence, Didymus Mutasa, the Minister of Anticorruption, Nathan
Shamuyarira, the ZANU PF information chief.
THE short-lived parliamentary revolt staged by ZANU PF
legislators in June, unsettled by the draconian anti-corruption law that the
government was eager to push through, and their subsequent acquiescence
after pressure was brought to bear illustrated the well-known fact that the
parliamentarians are not their own men.
However, last week's
call by the same ZANU PF legislators for a blanket amnesty to be extended to
the country's significant band of fugitive business tycoons - themselves
unsaintly victims of the same law that allows the police to detain, without
trial, suspected economic criminals for up to a fortnight - accentuates the
oft compromising bond between Zimbabwean (read ZANU PF) politicos and
capital. The appeal, made to and immediately shot down by President
Robert Mugabe during last week's meeting of the ZANU PF parliamentary
caucus, has drawn widespread condemnation not least for the culture of
impunity it would breed, particularly when there is a general consensus that
only the tip has been exposed, but also because it betrayed lack of
foresight and a knack for unbridled self-service on the part of the party
and those who lead it. For a long time on the ropes against mounting
public disenchantment, ZANU PF has, of late exuded confidence, largely on
the basis of this year' - and probably next year's too - mantra of "fighting
graft". The party has not missed an opportunity rhapsodise its
new-found vigour in fighting graft. A ministry, headed by Didymus Mutasa,
has been set up to focus specifically on corruption and monopolies.
What is more, Finance Minister Christopher Kuruneri has been arrested and is
currently in remand prison, facing charges of violating the same exchange
control violations he was supposed to enforce. A former ZANU PF
luminary, James Makamba, whose political star had long started to wane, also
underwent a seven-month-long trial and imprisonment for violating the same
exchange control regulations. These lightweight politicians - Kuruneri
could walk down any Harare street without heads turning, while Makamba left
Parliament without bringing the House to a standstill and his mayoral
aspirations were crushed by a presidential thumb back in1996 - have been
held up as examples of the government's commitment to fighting corruption
"even in high places". However, a host of businessmen - some openly
associated with the ruling party - who could not stand to be made examples
of took the exit option, leaving the police hot on their trail.
President Mugabe has on countless occasions stated that they will be pursued
and brought back home to face the music, calls which have also been echoed
by police chief Augustine Chihuri time without number. When the ZANU PF
leader, known to brook no opposition, speaks his minions in the party know
his position becomes the position of the party and, inevitably, the
government. It only takes the dauntless to gainsay him, often at the
expense of their position in the party. Examples abound. It must
have been a great motive, then, that pushed the legislators to raise an
issue on which the President's position was, typically, cast in
stone. The MPs' calls, apparently predicated on the assumption that
the exiled businessmen, almost all of whom are bankers, would repatriate the
funds they allegedly siphoned not only out of their banks but the country as
well, are as ludicrous as they are mysterious. Further, the MPs,
none of whom can honestly deny knowledge of the severe crisis of confidence
the ruling party suffers from, would certainly have thought about the
consequences of the amnesty on a sceptical public, a significant part of
which has dismissed the anti-corruption crusade as the latest pre-election
fad. Not only would an amnesty put paid to any attempts to purge this
society of pervasive corruption: it would be a public relations disaster
that would seriously jeopardise the party's chances in next year's
parliamentary elections, themselves already mired in controversy.
That they went ahead and made the plea could be explained by overriding
self-interest and a sense of self-preservation. As much as anywhere
else in the world, the bond that exists between Zimbabwean capital and
politicians should not be underestimated. In a society with an
entrenched and institutionalised patronage system, the sinews holding this
link are robust. It has often been remarked that while one can
successfully set up and run a business without a political godfather, one
has to hedge it against the vicissitudes that typically define turbulent
political and economic environments. Zimbabwe's five-year-old
economic recession has coincided with political upheavals and a
controversial land reform exercise that threw property rights out of the
window. The depth of the corruption that has so far been exposed in the
banking sector alone leads one to surmise, with reasonable accuracy, that
the same levels of decay exist in all the other sectors of the economy -
agriculture, manufacturing, transport and logistics, energy, real estate and
many others. An amnesty to benefit less than a score of executives
would be jumping the gun and protecting, nay abetting, other aberrant
businessmen.
THE Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), which claims to have suspended participation in any
future elections in Zimbabwe until President Robert Mugabe implements
comprehensive electoral reforms, wants the 2005 parliamentary polls
postponed to nearly the end of the year.
Party insiders said the
main opposition party, which nearly upset the ruling ZANU PF in the
violence-mired 2000 parliamentary election when it clinched 57 out of 120
contested seats, had already communicated the message to South African
President Thabo Mbeki.
The South African leader, the globally
acceptable broker of Zimbabwe's nearly five-year-old political impasse
pitting President Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF and the main opposition, met MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai in Pretoria on Monday this week.
Although spokesmen for President Mbeki and Tsvangirai were reluctant to shed
light on the meeting, it is understood the MDC leader and his delegation
implored Mbeki to pressure President Mugabe to postpone the polls.
Tsvangirai, in his first trip outside Zimbabwe after acquittal of high
treason charges, travelled with Welshman Ncube, the MDC secretary general,
and his deputy, Gift Chimanikire.
The sources said Tsvangirai
told Mbeki that it was impossible for President Mugabe to fully implement
the principles and guidelines agreed in Mauritius in less than six months.
The SADC guidelines and principles on free and fair elections are legally
binding.The government has announced that next year's polls would be held in
March.
The MDC insiders privy to Pretoria meeting said
Tsvangirai had informed Mbeki that March was too soon a deadline to gauge if
President Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF were sincere in adhering to the
Mauritius Protocol. Tsvangirai, the same sources added, pointed out
that the MDC was not being allowed to campaign freely in Zimbabwe let alone
use the public media to articulate its policies to the general
electorate. "Tsvangirai has asked Mbeki to put pressure on Mugabe to
adhere to the SADC Mauritius Protocol. It is felt that it is impossible to
implement some of the guidelines and principles in five months, " said a
source. "Mbeki has been told that it is only when real electoral reforms are
in place and the political environment is level that the MDC can then decide
to re-enter the race," added the source.
Mbeki is
understood to have advised the MDC, which continues to play hardball
insisting that it will not accept half a loaf, that it was unwise to boycott
next years' parliamentary elections at a time when SADC was adamant
President Mugabe would "play ball". It is understood the MDC had suggested
October 2005 as a tentative month for next year's election provided
President Mugabe implemented full electoral reforms as in line with SADC
guidelines and principles.
Bheki Khumalo, the spokesman on
Mbeki said it was a private discussion not warranting public scrutiny while
William Bango, Tsvangirai spokesman, said he did not travel with the MDC
leader to Pretoria. "The people that are privy to what was discussed
are those that were in the meeting," said Bango. "I did not travel, ask the
secretary general." Ncube was not immediately available for
comment.
THE Zimbabwe
Electri-city Supply Authority (ZESA), which has failed to shake off its
financial handcuffs, reported a massive $163 billion loss in the 2003
financial year, The Financial Gazette can reveal.
It has been
established that the national power utility, whose accounts have rarely been
made public, attributed its poor balance sheet to power tariff subsidies, a
high and rising import bill and ballooning external debt. In its
turnaround strategy, presented to the Energy and Power Development Ministry
and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) in a desperate bid to raise funds to
foot the import bill, ZESA bemoaned that it had suffered a loss because of
lower tariffs and a high import bill. According to its 2002 annual
report, ZESA, which is being turned into a holding company, is choking from
a US$156 million external debt as at December 2002, which arose from US$59
million in 2001. Officials at the national power utility remained
tight-lipped on ZESA's current external debt figure. Some of ZESA's
outstanding creditors include the World Bank, which is owed US$49 million as
at December 2002. Repayment of the loan, which has been attracting rates of
between 6.40 percent and 11.6 percent since 1993, is due in 2007.
ZESA also owes European Investment Bank 16 million Euros, which is due for
repayment in 2009. Some of the parastatal's creditors include Barclays Bank
plc, Lloyds Bank, Nordbanken, Commonwealth Development Corpora-tion, Finnish
Export Credit Limited, among others. "The authority defaulted in
principal and interest repayments on all foreign loans. The loan agreement
stipulates that if there is a default in principal and interest repayments,
the full amount becomes due and payable, hence all the outstanding foreign
loan balances have been treated as current liabilities," ZESA said in its
2002 annual report. ZESA's continuously shaky financial position comes
amid failure by the same parastatal to secure meaningful investment into its
two key power generation plants, Hwange Power Station (HPS) and Kariba South
Power station. Analysts said funding for ZESA is critical given that excess
energy capacity in the region would be exhausted in 2007. This
means that the cash-strapped Zimbabwe government has to prepare for
self-sufficiency in electricity supply by undertaking expansion of HPS and
Kariba South or face complete power outages. Executives at Megawatt
house, the headquarters for the power utility, said Zimbabwe's energy supply
outlook remains "distressing". It is not anticipated that the current
foreign currency crunch, inadequate coal supplies and rail transport
bottlenecks would have improved significantly to ensure security of power
supply to the economy within the short term. ZESA has, however,
sketched a bold survival plan which hinges on bringing on board Chinese
investors and venturing into coal mining.The authority has also been trying
to attract the sympathy of the central bank, which has so far chipped in
with $10 billion. Analysts have, however, slammed ZESA, which has been
operating without a board of directors for nearly a year, for lack of
corporate governance. "The law says every parastatal should have a
board of directors and ZESA does not have a board. There is no compliance
with corporate governance and there is a problem in terms of who signs
ZESA's audited accounts," fumed legislator Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga,
who chairs the parliamentary portfolio committee on public accounts.
STARTLING revelations
by Seed Co chairman, Ray Kaukonde, that senior government officials were
withholding hybrid seed maize have triggered panic among ZANU PF
heavyweights, who have started emptying their stocks.
Giving
evidence before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands and
Agriculture, Kaukonde said Seed Co had the list of top officials who were
funded heavily by the company but were deliberately holding on to seed maize
and possibly eyeing the more lucrative export market.
The rare show
of bravery by the Seed Co boss, who himself is the ZANU PF provincial
chairman for Mashonaland East, incensed some of the unnamed officials.
President Robert Mugabe is said to immediately have demanded to see the full
list "of people sabotaging the agrarian reform".
But before the
purported list could find its way into the public domain, the culprits, whom
sources said included members of the ZANU PF supreme decision making body -
the Politburo - and some Cabinet ministers, rushed to release the hybrid
seed maize they had in stock. The same politicians were accused of
side-marketing last year.
"Some big chefs have started releasing
seed which they were withholding. The threats paid off. Seed maize is coming
in now but the late comers are demanding cash on delivery, which is quite
unusual, but perhaps it is just a show of anger," said an industry
player.
While efforts to get in touch with the Seed Co chairman
were fruitless yesterday, a senior company official confirmed the latest
development, adding that the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed seed producing
concern could continue receiving seed maize until the end of the
year.
It has emerged that the government, which has previously
bullied local producers into accepting sub-economic seed prices, will pay up
to $8 million per tonne on imported seed.
The government has
been haggling with producers over what they deemed uneconomic seed prices
until it agreed to pay $5 million per tonne for locally produced
seed.
The country requires more than 100 000 tonnes of seed in the
2004/05 farming season to produce the projected three million tonnes of
maize.
Of this, an estimated 70 000 tonnes would have to be
imported, players in the industry said.
Hybrid seed maize
producers, most of them senior government officials, were withholding the
seed following a sub-economic government-imposed price.
Players in
the seed producing industry said ongoing negotiations with government over
the prices of seed have failed to secure a viable selling price, putting a
damper on prospects of producing adequate seed stocks next season.
TODAY'S third
quarter monetary policy review, which comes at a time when a measure of
stability has been brought back to the financial markets, is not likely to
see as many surprises as those sprung by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
governor Gideon Gono in his maiden policy statement last
December.
Analysts told The Financial Gazette yesterday that
the policy review is likely to see the central bank consolidating its
position on the key areas of inflation control, interest rates, the exchange
rate and financial sector regulation.
"We are not likely to see
any surprises, although the market is eagerly waiting to see what the
position on the exchange rate is going to be.
"The current rate
(of about $5 600 to the United States dollar) has become
unrealistic.
The governor is also likely to give the modalities of
the new same-day clearing arrangements as well as tighter regulation and
supervision," Best Doroh, principal economist at the Zimbabwe Financial
Holdings (Finhold) group said.
However, Trust Holdings
Limited's group economist David Mupamhadzi said the central bank governor,
who was expected to meet his advisory board yesterday, was unlikely to
tamper with the exchange rate.
"I do not think they will tamper
with the exchange rate, as it will have a ripple effect on other variables
such as money supply, inflation and demand. You have to consider the
centrality of the exchange rate to the achievement of the year-end inflation
target," Mupamhadzi said.
The year-on-year rate of inflation peaked
at 622.8 percent in January, but has slowed down to 251.5 percent as of
September. Monthly inflation has also receded from a high of 33.6 percent in
November 2003 to 5.9 percent in September.
The RBZ has set a
year-end target range between 170 percent and 200 percent and double-digit
figures by December 2005.
"Inflation has been on a sustained
decline, but there are lots of underlying pressures, so the policy is also
an opportunity for the governor to announce measures to fine-tune the
anti-inflation strategy to address the pressures," Mupamhadzi
said.
He said the market was also eagerly awaiting the central
bank's position on indigenous banks, which have taken a battering since the
announcement of a tighter monetary policy regime last December.
"There is anxiety over whether some indigenous banks are still going
concerns. We hope the governor will address those uncertainties that have
made it virtually impossible for indigenous banks to build deposits. You
will remember that in his last statement in July the governor stated his
commitment to restore confidence and stability in the financial sector. The
market will take its cue from the central bank's position on this
issue."
In July, Gono promised the resolution of problems besetting
troubled banks within the final quarter of the year, "so that we start 2005
on a clean slate".
Then, four banking institutions remained on
the central bank's Troubled Bank Fund, with 73 percent of Zimbabwe's 41
banking institutions being certified solid, safe and sound.
Other issues likely to generate interest during today's monetary policy
statement include the interest rate policy, the productive sector facility,
possible export incentives and other structural issues, such as low capacity
utilisation.
The productive sector facility, which avails cheap
loans (at 50 percent interest per annum for both exporters and producers)
has given many wobbly companies a lifeline and analysts predicted a possible
extension despite the governor's previous exhortations that the firms should
work towards weaning themselves off the fund.
IT never rains, but
pours for the alleged soldiers of fortune jailed at Chikurubi Maximum
Prison, amid reports that 10 of them are seriously ill with varying
undisclosed ailments.
Sources close to lawyers of the 65 jailed men
said a majority, just like other inmates at the high-security prison, were
reeling from diseases blamed on poor hygiene, malnutrition and general
congestion.
"There are about 10 mercenaries that we understand are
on their death-beds. Some we suspect have TB (tuberculosis), but we don't
see any possibilities of them being released soon after the latest freeing
of two members of the group," said an impeccable source.
It has
also emerged that South African attorneys of Simon Mann, the alleged
mastermind of the Equatorial Guinea adventure, are paying for the upkeep of
the duo released last week on humanitarian reasons.
Mann, the
leader of the alleged mercenaries, was jailed for seven years for
contravening sections of the Public Order and Security Act and Firearms
Act.
The government of Zimbabwe alleges the men were on their way
to topple the government of Teodoro Obian Nguema of Equatorial Guinea,
charges denied by the group, which maintained it was headed for the
Democratic Republic of the Congo to guard diamond mines.
Patrick Chinamasa, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
did not answer his mobile phone when this reporter called to check on the
alleged deteriorating conditions of the alleged mercenaries.
The
Zimbabwe Prison Services public relations department also did not respond to
questions faxed to it by the time of going to press.
Last week, in
a rare show of upholding human rights, the government freed Pius Kanjowa
(45) and Leratu Eselumu (48), part of the 67 rag-tag band of men convicted
of contravening the Immigration Act.
The two were released together
with seven Zimbabweans serving various sentences for different crimes. The
sources said upon arriving in South Africa last Saturday morning, Kanjowa
and Eselumu detailed the appalling health situation at Chikurubi,
emphasising the fate of 10 sick men out of the remaining 65 incarnated in
Harare.
It emerged from Johannesburg this week that Mann's South
African lawyers received Kanjowa and Eselumu at Johannesburg International
Airport where the two were given unspecified sums of money "to get
along".
The release of the alleged fortune-diggers came in the
backcloth of the death two weeks ago from Chikurubi of another alleged
mercenary, Ngave Jarukemo Maharukua, barely a month after being
convicted.
His death at a Harare hospital followed that of German
Eugene Nershz, one of the 15 foreigners arrested in Equatorial Guinea over
the same charges, who died soon after his arrest.
Authorities
in malaria-infested Equatorial Guinea said the German succumbed to celebral
malaria, but Amnesty International claimed he died as a result of
torture.
The trial of the 15 men, which has sucked in Mark
Thatcher, the son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, has
further been delayed by the death of a high-profile lawyer representing the
alleged coup-plotters in Equatorial Guinea.
A NUMBER of
ZANU PF stalwarts could fail to participate in the ruling party's primary
elections in the wake of strict rules and regulations governing the
selection of candidates to represent the party in the 2005
plebiscite.
A draft document on the rules and regulations
leaked to The Financial Gazette this week has caused a furore that has
caused a major rift between the ruling ZANU PF old guard and the so-called
young Turks.
ZANU PF officials were yesterday expected to make the
final decision on the draft to ensure that those who qualify roll out their
campaign machinery ahead of next year's crucial parliamentary elections
slated for March.
The draft stipulates that only those who have
served in the party as an office bearer for at least five consecutive years
prior to the primary elections are allowed to stand.
"No member
of the party shall qualify to stand as a candidate representing the party in
any local authority and parliamentary elections unless he or she has served
in the party as an office bearer in any of the structures of the party for
at least five consecutive years," read part of the draft.
Other
reasons for ineligibility include past convictions for crimes involving
fraud, guilty of misconduct in the party, guilty of corrupt election
practices such as vote buying, intimidation and the use of political
violence among other reasons.
Newcomers within ZANU PF felt that
the document favours the old guard and sought to hinder the entrance of the
young Turks whom President Robert Mugabe once accused of having "filthy
hands" because of their love for power and money.
Insiders said
if approved, the draft could effectively slam the door on political careers
of neophytes that include senior government officials.
It has been
established that those likely to be barred from contesting also include
members facing corruption charges and those who have been hauled before
disciplinary committees.
Intra-party fighting in ZANU PF has been
worsened by manoeuvres from the old guard, which is reportedly hatching
clandestine moves to bar the young Turks from taking part in the
primaries.
The draft also follows interventions by the politburo to
stop some ambitious newcomers in the party imposing themselves de-facto ZANU
PF candidates flying against the ZANU PF norm of holding primary
elections.
Only last year, ZANU PF Masvingo provincial chairman
Daniel Shumba caused a furore in the party when he declared himself the
de-facto ZANU PF candidate for Masvingo central constituency.
THERE is no limit to greed, no
shackles on avarice, no end to cupidity . . . . Words to that effect were
spoken by one Maxwell Newton about junk bond king Michael
Milken.
He might as well have been talking about Zimbabwe, a
country where self-centred and remorseless powerful politicians and equally
uncouth but influential businessmen who have always been bent on deception
have exhibited sickening greed and corruption.
Consider this
for a few examples: What was ostensibly meant to correct an historical
injustice through the equitable redistribution of the finite national
resource, land, has been reduced to a senseless land grab orgy by a
voracious coterie of politicians and their henchmen. They are behind the
wanton usurping of the land when well-deserving cases - those who bore the
brunt of the bloody war of liberation - continue to wallow in poverty as the
politicians with bloated self-interest preen their feathers.
And then there is the rot and madness in the financial sector whose false
bubble which belied its egg-shell-thin veneer of stability was burst last
year. There was lack of integrity and sound corporate governance which
spawned financial impropriety and speculative practices where banks threw
caution to the wind, dealing in empty bottles and bricks - underlying that
risk management is a less developed discipline in the sector. Zimbabwe does
not need any reminding of a psalm-singing banker who ironically paid no
regard to his moral and business obligations by unashamedly advancing
himself in excess of $90 billion from depositors' funds!
All
this points to a disturbing and untenable situation. Zimbabweans have
forgotten what it means to be above board. Indeed the pendulum has swung too
far the other way. In both the private and public sectors, corners have been
cut, palms greased, underhand deals sealed and billions siphoned. The
cancerous and deep-seated corruption has become something of a national
curse, which underscores how low this great nation has allowed itself to
sink. That this needs to be dealt with immediately is beyond argument.The
government should therefore, just like it did with the inflation scourge,
declare corruption public enemy number one.
This is why we were
outraged and repulsed by the ruling ZANU PF MPs' call last week for
President Robert Mugabe to forgive those that have fled the country after
allegations of corruption had been levelled against them. The reason? They
are brilliant young men, whose human resource value is capital to the
country. What hypocrisy? Those who prostitute their supposed talent and
brilliance to dupe and cheat the population into insolvency can never form
or be part of the national human resource bedrock. They are villains and not
heroes.
While every man is presumed innocent until proven guilty,
we feel that if Zimbabwe extends an inviting right hand to some of these
people, it risks losing a couple of fingers. With all due respect to the few
who were just sailing close to the wind, these are some of the people the
nation can trust as much as it would a rattlesnake with a silencer on its
rattle! It was Gloria Steinem who once observed that American real estate
millionaire and magazine owner Morton Zuckerman had the ethical sense of a
pack of jackals. And the same can be said of some of these fugitive business
people.
While we were dismayed and appalled, we were not surprised
though. The reason is simple. It was a foregone conclusion that somewhere
down the line, the anti-graft crusade would lead to crossed lines given the
whiff of panic within the ranks of corrupt politicians. There was always
going to be subtle but stiffer resistance to the anti-corruption drive from
the politicians, some of whom, among their corrupt selves, should be ashamed
that they are out of jail. Their knickers were bound to be in a twist
because a significant number of the MPs might have benefited from
corruption. Evidence to this effect might be anecdotal but the smart money
is on politicians fuelling corruption in the private and public sectors. The
call by the honourable MPs, which smacks of nothing short of deception was,
therefore, prompted more by fear than noble motives. It is not difficult to
see that some of these politicians implicated in the abuse of foreign
currency for fuel and despicable multiple farm ownership and whose
prosecution is long overdue, hoped that the pardon could be extended to
them.
Still, we find this call by the ZANU PF parliamentary caucus
both morally insensitive and wrong. Not to mention that it is tantamount to
turning the anti-corruption clock backwards. Indeed we find it sacrilegious
because we feel that the MPs should instead seek to stiffen the government's
hand in its endeavours to decisively deal with the all-pervading corruption.
It should be left to the courts to decide whether or not these people are
guilty. President Mugabe was therefore right to reject, in no uncertain
terms, the manipulative MPs' self-serving and selfish request.
This is not about political point scoring and it would be a colossal error
for President Mugabe to let slip this opportunity to rid the country of
corruption which has been eating at the very fabric of the nation. He should
be principled and should not waver from hard choices because the state
should not act in the narrow and selfish interests of a "chosen few" but
should seek to balance different social interests. He should instead
formulate a strong and forward-looking anti-corruption agenda to see the
current anti-graft drive to its full expression and let the chips fall where
they may.
To put it mildly, it would be a travesty of justice
to say that these people should be pardoned on the flimsy grounds that they
are intelligent. Indeed God forbid. The public should rally behind President
Mugabe and reject in the strongest terms possible that corruption should be
admissible for the sake of some perceived intelligence and brilliance which
the culprits continue to cut and weld into a weapon to cheat people for
self-aggrandisement. In any case if allegations against some of these people
are anything to go by, then theirs is the kind of intelligence Zimbabwe can
do without.
Not only that but we find it morally repugnant for
the Executive to be called upon to pardon people for crimes they have not
been tried of. Unless of course the MPs are saying there is no rule of law
in Zimbabwe, that there should be selective application of the law or that
the suspects did not commit the crimes they are accused of. Day in day out,
the courts are trying petty offenders charged with theft and transgression
for the day's morsel. Surprisingly we hear no calls for clemency or leniency
from these self-serving bigots. Yet Anatole France, casting the political
economy away, observed that the law in its majestic impartiality forbids the
rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges and to steal bread! So, whose
interests are the so-called people's representatives serving? What morals
and values are they promoting?
The Executive should never be
coerced into barring the state from prosecuting offenders because there is a
clear separation of powers. Zimbabwe is supposed to be a constitutional
democracy. And the fugitives have a constitutional right to defend
themselves and be heard in court while enjoying the presumption of
innocence. But they chose to flee. If they return they will still enjoy that
right. And like the Shona say kumuzinda hakuna woko. Who knows, they might
after all be found not guilty and acquitted. Why then on earth should
anyone, let alone the ZANU PF people's representatives, clamour and plead
for pardon before charge, let alone trial? Indeed the mind boggles.
Presidential clemency should only be sought after conviction and each case
should be considered on its own merit. Precedents abound.
OUR blood brothers in
Mozambique with whom we recently held a solidarity gala - will be holding
parliamentary and presidential elections in December this year.
They will be freely choosing whosoever they want to be their leaders. CZ
cannot help but envy them . . . and we are told everyday that we in fact
share a lot in common with them . . . a common boundary, a common language
(in some areas), a common liberation war history, a common destiny . . . the
list is endless. It is good to know that we share so much with our
Moscan brothers. but only one thing worries CZ . . . there is a limit beyond
which nothing ceases to be common any more between the two people:
Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano addresses the same meetings as Afonso
Dhlakama, the leader of the main opposition party, yet in Zimbabwe some
special laws have been put in place to ensure that some political "groups"
don't hold any meetings at all. FRELIMO war veterans, who number much
more than ZANU PF ones, have no business going around a liberated country
killing, maiming, raping, burning and looting property as our rambunctious
lot seem to be past-masters at right now. In Mozambique, so far
there are no laws like AIPPA, POSA and such other criminal statutes that
interfere with citizens' basic human rights like the ones we are being asked
to please be comfortable with here. Mozambican citizens, wherever they are
in the world, can vote in the forthcoming elections because it is their
constitutional right to do so, yet for Zimboz, that right evaporates as soon
as an immigration official stamps "exit" on their
passports.
Cosatu
Our brothers in Christ from the
Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) this week invited themselves
to Harare to see for themselves what the fabled situation really is like
here in Zimbabwe for those who choose to disagree with the owners of the
country. And thanks to God and the gods, they got exactly that - an
experience of a lifetime! And hopefully, with the experience they have just
acquired, they will be able to tell the world the real story about Zimbabwe,
this legendary land of the House of Stone! You see, some of these
brothers tend to imagine, to fantasise and dream what it is like to be under
your own brother's regime (like what men tend to do imagining how it is like
to be pregnant), so with the experience-and-a-half they got free of charge
in Harare this week, we all hope they are much more wiser now! And they can
tell the world the story from a position of first-hand knowledge, not that
of hearsay and folklore. This is Zimbabwe, the little beautiful African
country which some clever people claim they died for in order to make it
exclusively theirs, and are still very much prepared to die again if the
need arises. So after being warned by the owners of this country that
they were not welcome, the COSATU delegation thought this was an addled
threat, or one such brotherly banter, and they proceeded to land on the
Eucharistic Zimbabwean soils . . . Jeez! They should count
themselves very lucky because had our war veterans in the Zimbabwe
Federation of Trade Unions caught up with them at the airport, they would
have been in for a big lesson! A lesson on the consequences of offending the
sun.
New?
There is a new kid on the block. Yes, a new
kid on the block calling itself the Zimbabwe Landless A2 Farmers Association
(ZLAFA) and led by no other than Cde Kurauone Chihwayi, the maverick brother
who is in almost any other organisation that one may think of. From
the information available, this ZLAFA outfit is a group of those brothers
and sisters whose names were splashed in the official press as beneficiaries
of the much newsy land reform exercise, but were unfortunate in that they
never got to see the pieces of land courtesy of the triple standards of our
people's government. In short, if your name appeared on that list and
you never got the farm, then you have no choice but to belong to this
group. In a statement picked up by CZ, the seemingly dubious
organisation with an imagined membership of 50 000 demanded from the
government, among other things, that it "seriously consider revisiting the
manner in which A2 farms were given to ministers, senior military, CIO and
ZRP officials through the backdoor." The organisation has the nerve
to issue threats to the government: "The ZLAFA shall lead a fresh wave of
farm invasions if the corruption and disorderly distribution of land is not
stopped. The organisation shall invade all A2 farms allocated to political
heavyweights and disrupt farming activities until sanity has been restored
in the (land) distribution process." Quite a serious threat, isn't
it? Just imagine, here in Zimbabwe, some nobodies disrupting work at the
Great Uncle's farm and those of the mandarins around him! Would God not die
on that day? Guess what? Days later CZ again picked another press
statement from the same address and signed by the same official (Chihwayi)
but this time the statement was coming from another organisation - one
calling itself the MDC Supporters for Democracy (MSD). Remember the noises
about lack of transparency and democracy in the MDC and the characters
involved? This time Chihwayi was urging all Zimbabweans to rally behind
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai when his treason ruling was due. ". .
. we are one family with common values, common goals, and a common enemy.
The MSD sympathises with President Tsvangirai and recognises him as the
legitimate leader of Zimbabwe. An injury to one is an injury to all of us
comrades." From the above, isn't it obvious why Cde Chihwayi could not
get land in this country? Land is a privilege given to those whose
patriotism is unwavering.
Pastoral
Lastly, CZ
would like to commiser- ate with the Mabhaudhi family following the recent
stomach-cringing wine scandal. The family should take solace in the fact
that pastoral scandals are now as common as churches themselves, so it is
not only their family that might, at the moment, be the subject of public
ridicule after someone decided to use God's name in vain. Anyway,
someone is offering Pastor Mabhaudhi a couple of drinks anytime,
FREE.
ZIMBABWE'S
manufacturing sector continues to wallow in misery as its competitiveness in
export and domestic markets is eroded by rising costs, ballooning wage bills
and a chronic foreign currency crunch.
The worst appears to be far
from over for manufacturers who continue to be pummelled by escalating
production costs which, according to the Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries (CZI) - the umbrella body for all industrial entities in the
country - shot up by 980.9 percent in 2003.
The steep rise in
production costs has put paid to the government's stated objectives of
fostering export-driven growth in an economy whose export sector has also
been dampened by foreign currency shortages and dwindling business
confidence.
According to the CZI, the volume of manufacturing
output further shrunk by 11.3 percent in 2003 from 5.8 percent in
2002.
Real turnover for the sector plummeted by 96.3 percent in
2003 while sales declined by 6.6 percent.
The CZI said the
textile, clothing and footwear industries were under serious threat from the
influx of cheap merchandise from Asia.
Export capacity, as measured
by the proportion of output exported, increased from 11.8 percent to 21
percent in 2003 as companies tried to hedge domestic earnings.
Analysts however said bottom line drivers of returns were not
moving.
The CZI also revealed that investment in plant and
machinery declined from 60.6 percent in 2000 to 37.5 percent in
2003.
The number of retrenchees trebled from 1 187 in 2002 to 3 585
in 2003 with up to 40 companies closing shop, 25 scaling down while eight
are reportedly contemplating closing down by the end of 2004.
The dark cloud hanging over Zimbabwe's manufacturing sector is reflected in
the widening disparity between the southern African country's economic
fundamentals and those of its main trading partners in the region.
Gross domestic product (GDP) for South Africa, Zambia, Malawi and Botswana
is projected to grow by 3.5 percent, 4.1 percent, 6.5 percent and 5.5
percent respectively.
The CZI said the future of the country's
export sector rested on the government's ability to put in place the right
exchange rate regime and the level of export incentives.
"Exporters are taking a knock from the current blend rate and hence would
want government to adjust this to enjoy a full auction rate, for export
viability," CZI said.
"The undersupply of foreign exchange has
fallen far short of demand as confirmed by the disparity of bids (amounts)
and allotment levels.
"Some companies have gone for eight weeks
without accessing foreign currency yet orders have been beckoning to be
serviced and plant capacity is lying idle," CZI said.
Zimbabwe
has also suffered a downturn in both investment and savings owing to
weakening economic fundamentals, which have largely eroded the capacity to
save and the need to invest.
Gross savings declined from a peak of
20.5 percent of GDP in 1995 to projected levels of -13.4 percent in
2003.
Investment dipped from 25.3 percent of GDP in the 1995 to
current levels of 4.2 percent of GDP, thereby compromising
industrialisation.
The CZI revealed that the manufacturing sector
is suffering from lack of product diversification due to lack of resources.
Capital outlays for new technology tumbled from 34.4 percent in 2000 to 15.4
percent in 2001.
"The manufacturing sector is largely
de-industrialising, or at most, static.
"The trend indicates a
general loss of business confidence, given mounting macro-economic
instability, a major damper to expansionary business models.
"There is need to create economic conditions which can shift domestic
investment perceptions from the current mode towards investment for growth,"
CZI said.
Business confidence has tumbled by 45.2 percent from
2000 to 2001 before dipping much further by 282 percent from 2001 to 2002,
CZI said.
Going forward, the CZI said there was need for a
"realistic exchange rate regime, which provides for a reflection of market
and macro-economic fundamentals".
The CZI also said government
should remove the blend rate to give exporters a fair value of the local
unit, priority based foreign currency allocation system, reduction of duty
on consumables and raw materials and tax cuts to stimulate domestic
demand.
COFFEE production
continues to sink to new levels as the performance of the country's
agricultural industry remains unsatisfactory since the advent of the chaotic
land reform exercise.
Agro-industrial giant, Ariston Holdings said
last week that coffee production for the season ended in August dropped
significantly. "In the year end to 30 September 2004, volumes of all
crops produced by the group increased with the exception of coffee. Other
production activities have either been in line with or in excess of budget,"
said management of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed firm. About 6
000 metric tonnes, a 20 percent decline decline from the 2002 season were
harvested last year. The coffee industry has suffered a decline in the
past two years because of weakening international prices and because of the
poor quality of the crop. Zimbabwe, before the chaotic land reform
exercise, used to export 97 percent of mild Arabica coffee and produced
about 0,2 percent of the world's coffee with the domestic product ranking
fifth in quality.
Can someone tell me what all the
brouhaha about the Zimbabwean government not having seen the United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) report on its governance record in
advance means?
There has been much ado in the official press about
the fact that a Zimbabwean delegation scored a major victory in Addis Ababa
by successfully arguing that it had not had a chance to read the document
prior to the Fourth African Development Forum. This is not the
first time the government of this country has claimed not to have seen an
unfavourable report on its track record in a given area of concern and
relevance. When an executive summary of a report by the African
Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) was due to be tabled in
July, Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge vehemently protested that Zimbabwe had
not been given an opportunity to respond. The report, which
condemned the government's human rights record, was compiled by an ACHPR
delegation headed by Jainaba Johm of Gambia, which undertook a fact-finding
mission to Zimbabwe in 2002. On this occasion, the government's reason
for not having seen the document in advance sounded unconvincing, if not
downright frivolous. The explanation given was that the report had been
sent to the wrong ministry. We were told, in effect, that this very
important document had gathered dust on the shelves of the Justice Ministry
for months without any effort being made to redirect it to the relevant
authority, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was truly a marvel
to watch how in this instance the government was prepared to pose as the
wronged party when it was clear that the bungling and lack of coordination
and liaison between the ministries concerned should have been a cause for
great embarrassment. The ACPHR report will now be discussed at the
commission's 36th ordinary session in Senegal next month. Mudenge will head
a delegation that includes Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who must now
be very familiar with the contents of the report, having kept it to himself
when it first arrived. The Zimbabwean delegation's brief in Dakar, the venue
of the meeting, is to put across Zimbabwe's "case". In the latest
feud over the UNECA report, the same claims are being made about Zimbabwe
not having been given an opportunity to read the report in advance. However,
the compilers of the UNECA report, the Southern Africa Political and
Economic Series Trust, are adamant that the final report was submitted to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ahead of the Fourth African Development
Forum earlier this month. So what is going on here? What is it about
this country that makes these reports mysteriously inaccessible to the
government prior to these important meetings? The latest document
was one of 28 country reports commissioned by the UNECA to evaluate
"progress towards good governance in Africa". None of the other 27
governments have complained about not receiving documents relevant to their
countries. Even if we were to accept that Zimbabwe did not have sight
of the report prior to the Addis Ababa meeting, the question remains whether
this should have proved such an insurmountable hindrance to the delegation's
ability to tell it "like it is". I have always believed that unless
someone has something terrible to hide, telling the truth does not need to
be rehearsed. It should come naturally and spontentaneously. The
government has claimed in the past that its image was being tarnished by
"enemies" spreading falsehoods about its policies and its handling of issues
such as human rights, freedom of speech and upholding of the rule of law.
One would have thought, therefore, that it would seize every opportunity
that arose to prove that the accusations levelled against it are
unfounded. Evading these serious issues by hiding behind the excuse
that it has not studied reports in advance will not make these problems go
away. This, in fact, compounds these difficulties because the government
cannot give lame excuses for not responding to concerns raised by
continental or international bodies endlessly without losing
credibility. Clever arguments and explanations that are not based on
the truth are not sustainable. While the African Union, United Nations
agencies and other organisations can be fobbed off with verbal cunning, what
will the government do to convince its own people that all is well?
After all, these damning reports consist of concerns expressed by
Zimbabweans. The most spectacular semantic or propaganda coup before the
ACHPR or UNECA will do nothing to change the contents of those documents on
the situation on the ground. These are issues that need to be
addressed. To believe that Zimbabweans who have described what is wrong
in the country will be duped by these evasive manoeuvres is highly
patronising and myopic. It is not different from trying to mop a flooded
floor while ignoring the leak in the roof.
Roy Bennett, the
opposition MP sentenced to twelve months imprisonment, was arrested at
Harare airport this morning. Yesterday, the parliamentary privileges
committee who investigated the incident in parliament in which Bennett
pushed justice minister Patrick Chinamasa to the floor, made public its
recommendation that Bennett be imprisoned for fifteen months, three months
of which were to be suspended. Bennett was given until today to prepare his
defence, with the recommended sentence due to be debated in parliament this
afternoon. The parliamentary fracas, in which Chinamasa persistently
provoked Bennett by calling him a "mabhunu" - a term of derogatory racial
abuse - and accused his ancestors of being thieves, took place in May this
year. Bennett, incensed by the insults and the background of the illegal
seizure of his Chimanimani coffee estate, lost his temper. Since Bennett and
his employees were finally evicted from the Charleswood Estate, it became
apparent that ARDA, the government agricultural agency which had been
involved in the seizure of the farm, had stolen the remainder of this year's
coffee crop, worth US$200 000. Bennett had subsequently traced this stolen
coffee crop to a company in Germany, and had been briefing South African
lawyers in an attempt to recover the value of the crop.
Although the
proposed sentence has been widely known for several weeks among
parliamentarians, the parliamentary committee only made it public yesterday.
Realising that it would probably be his last chance to speak to his lawyers
direct, Bennett planned to travel down to Johannesburg by air, returning in
good time for this afternoon's parliamentary debate. He was arrested at the
airport, despite travelling with only his briefcase, and being booked to
return later this morning. The sentence recommended by the parliamentary
committee is excessive compared to the punishment Bennett would have been
likely to receive had he been tried in court. Speaking on condition of
anonymity, a lawyer said: "What Bennett did, after prolonged provocation,
amounted only to common assault. The minister (Chinamasa) did not sustain
even the slightest bruise. On similar facts, the heaviest sentence I have
seen handed down by the courts is a Z$80 000 fine, or 50 days in prison if
the fine was not paid. In the overwhelming majority of similar cases, one
would have expected a caution and discharge."