Ekklesia
-02/10/05
A
regular human rights vigil that gathers every Saturday outside the Zimbabwean
Embassy in London marked its third anniversary this week. MP Kate Hoey, the
chairperson of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Zimbabwe, was present –
along with civil rights and church activists.
Among those who have taken
part in the vigil is Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo, whose outspoken
denunciations of Robert Mugabe’s regime have led to threats against him by
the government.
This weekend the vigil focussed on the issue of
Zimbabwean refugees, ahead of a major UK tribunal on 5 October 2005 which will
decide whether
failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers should be deported.
The day was
supported by the Refugee Council. Participants have been keen to raise public
awareness about the hearing and the dangers of refugees from the Mugabe regime
being sent back to Zimbabwe.
Earlier this year Kate Hoey MP visited the
country and saw for herself, first-hand, the
devastation caused by the government’s Operation Murambatsvina.
The
remorseless slum clearance programme, denounced by the United Nations, the
international community and
the churches, has involved the widespread destruction of the homes and
livelihoods of the urban poor.
On Saturday 8 October 2005, Patson Mzuwa,
a key figure in the regular vigil, is also taking part in Full Frontal Theatre's
production of the play ‘Qabuka’ at the Soho Theatre in London.
Based on
true-life testimonies of Zimbabweans-in-exile, the play has been described as a
“postcard from the edge which tells their compelling stories with song, dance,
humour and mischief”, reports Independent Catholic News. For more information
and bookings, call the theatre on 0870 429 6883.
The human rights vigil outside the Zimbabwe
Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place each Saturday from 2-6pm.
An urgent call to the British
Government to get Zimbabwe discussed at the United Nations came from the
prominent British MP Kate Hoey at the Vigil today. Kate is Chair of the
All-Party Parliamentary Group on Zimbabwe and recently made a clandestine visit
to see at first hand the devastation caused by Mugabe’s “Operation
Murambatsvina”. She said she couldn’t believe how much the situation had
deteriorated in the two years since her previous visit. She said pressure
should be kept up on South Africa to use its influence over Zimbabwe and paid
tribute to lawyers who had put so much work into helping asylum seekers. She
commiserated with the Vigil on its third anniversary – but said it had succeeded
in keeping Zimbabwe in the spotlight at times when this was difficult. Kate was
presented with a Vigil t-shirt in gratitude for her long-standing support – it
went well with the WOZA scarf she was already wearing.
Other speakers
at the Vigil included Tim Finch of the Refugee Council, which supported this
special vigil to raise awareness of the plight of failed Zimbabwean asylum
seekers. (Next week (from 5th – 7th October) a panel of immigration judges
sitting in London will rule on whether it is safe to send people back to
Zimbabwe in a special “guidance” case.) Tim said it beggared belief that people
could be sent back to Zimbabwe in such a situation. The speakers were
introduced by drummer and singer-in-chief Patson, who said no Zimbabwean should
be returned until Mugabe goes. On behalf of the Vigil, Dumi thanked Kate Hoey,
the Refugee Council and supporters for helping to make such a powerful statement
about Zimbabwe.
Kate Hoey was happy to renew acquaintance with several
of the asylum seekers whose hunger strike while in detention prompted the test
case: Crispen Kulinji, Tafara Nhengu, Mqhubeli Timbha and Harris Nyatsanza.
Their commitment to the Vigil has given it new vitality. By good fortune it was
Crispen’s birthday so he had 100 people to share the cake with. The Vigil baby,
Tinotenda Vigil Muzuwa, was introduced to Kate Hoey by mother Bernita shortly
before the clouds opened. But we had many hands to help raise our tarpaulin in
record time. The hands included those of Geoff Hill, already well-exercised by
signing copies of his latest book, now out in paperback, “What happens after
Mugabe?” Geoff will be speaking about his book at the Africa Book Centre, 38
King Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8JT on Friday, 7th October from 6.30
pm.
FOR THE RECORD: at least 100 supporters came today (thanks to the
Refugee Council for their support).
Vigil co-ordinator
The
Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every
Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights
by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will
continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in
Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
9/29/2005 9:42:35 AM (GMT +2) EDITOR - I would like to express my shock at some of the things ZANU PF claims to have done for the people. I do not think that a sane person will deny the fact that people are starving in the country. This is a crime againist the same people they are claiming to have liberated from colonial rule. | |
We are constantly reminded about
the past yet this is a developing country. |
9/29/2005 9:42:05 AM (GMT +2) EDITOR - Hats off to your quality and well researched reports. | |
After reading your informative
report on "potatoes"' and there being "enough fuel" and having seen the pathetic
situation in your country during my recent visit, I can only say that your
government is full of notorious, shameless liars. |
9/29/2005 9:43:05 AM (GMT +2) EDITOR - "Harare Municipality buying fuel on black market" screamed a headline in The Herald of September 14 2005. The article surprised most people for the following reasons: | |
--- Who authorises the black market
purchases of fuel ? |
9/29/2005 8:23:42 AM (GMT +2) An observant friend of mine has alerted me to a phenomenon through which cash-strapped customers could unknowingly be losing millions to till operators, especially in supermarkets. How so, you might ask. | |
Well, as you know, in the
environment of hyper inflation prevailing in Zimbabwe, the customer has become
an endangered species. |
All Africa
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
September 29, 2005
Posted to the web September 29, 2005
Rangarirai Mberi
Harare
ZIMBABWE has seen one of the world's sharpest
drops in the quality of life in recent years and most of its citizens do not
expect to live past 40, a new United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report
has said.
Zimbabwe has dropped 23 places to 145th position in the world in
terms of human development between 1990 and 2003, and is at the bottom of a list
of countries grouped in the "medium human development" category, according to
the latest UN Human Development Index (HDI). Norway is ranked first while Niger
is at the bottom, at position 177.
The UNDP report says 66 percent of
Zimbabweans do not expect to reach the age of 40, attributing their alarming
pessimism to deepening poverty and HIV/AIDS. The report puts life expectancy in
Zimbabwe at 36.9 years.
The report says the quality of life in Zimbabwe is
worse than in countries such as Mongolia, Equatorial Guinea and Cambodia. The
UNDP blames Zimbabwe's plunge down the index on the decline in the economy, weak
investment in education and the impact of the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
"In
Sub-Saharan Africa, the lethal interaction of economic stagnation, slow progress
in education and the spread of HIV/AIDS has produced a free-fall in HDI
ranking," said the report.
However, because the latest findings are only
based on research concluded in 2003, Zimbabwe's ranking may well be far lower
due to the drastic decline in GDP growth since then.
Finance Minister Herbert
Murerwa has adjusted his 2005 growth forecasts to 2 percent from 3.5-5 percent,
but economists expect negative growth of up to 8 percent this year. The economy
has already shrunk by 30 percent in the past five years.
A February World
Bank report showed that 70 percent of Zimbabweans were living below the poverty
line, with bank president Paul Wolfowitz saying the speed of Zimbabwe's decline
over the past six years is unprecedented for a country not at war.
The UN
Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of poverty, literacy,
education, life expectancy and other factors for countries worldwide. It is a
standard means of measuring well-being and has been used since 1993 by the UNDP
in its annual report. Former Soviet and African countries have experienced the
worst increases in poverty levels, the report said. South Africa, Africa's
strongest economy, saw the broadest recession in HDI, losing 35 places to 120.
Bot-swana is ranked 131st, while Mozambi-que is up three places to 168, although
it remains in the bottom 10.
by STAFF EDITORS
(10/1/2005)
ZIM OBSERVOR
Despite having legalized the use of U.S.
dollars and other hard currencies to purchase fuel amidst critical shortages,
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono has stated his opposition to full
dollarization of the national economy.
The government-controlled Herald
newspaper reported that Mr. Gono spelled this out to a group of traders from the
country's Asian community, explaining that making the dollar legal tender for
fuel purchases was an exceptional measure.
The Herald quoted Gono as saying
that "to extend (the policy) to other products and services would be tantamount
to dollarization of the economy."
But the central bank's decision to
authorize certain outlets to sell gasoline or diesel for dollars or South
African rand - also in wide circulation along with the pound sterling - made the
dollar the currency of choice among fuel sellers and accelerated the
depreciation of the Zimbabwean dollar against the U.S. dollar.
Even
government agencies are reported to have been obliged to acquire fuel on the
parallel market, and official flows have further weighed on the local
currency.
Currently the U.S. dollar is trading on the street at around
Z$75,000, three times the official rate of $26,000 set by the central bank in
its weekly forex auctions. This has heightened expectation of yet another
official devaluation of the currency.
Reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's
Studio 7 for Zimbabwe spoke with analyst Dennis Mandudzo, a Zimbabwean now based
in Stanford, California, who concludes that dollarization of the economy is
already taking place and should be formalized.
Financial Gazette
(Harare)
September 29, 2005
Posted to the web September 29, 2005
Felix
Njini
Harare
ZIMBABWE's business sector has called upon the central bank
to scrap the
foreign currency auction market and move towards a
market-determined
exchange rate if the deepening hard currency crisis is to
be arrested.
Business leaders, who last week said the auction
system-introduced in
January 2004- had lost its relevance in the foreign
currency market, urged
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to consider
another "system which pushes
towards a market-controlled
system.'
Zimbabwe chamber of mines president Jack Murehwa said the
foreign currency
auction market was no longer working.
His sentiments
echoed industry-wide calls for the central bank to loosen its
grip on the
foreign currency market to attract more currency into the
official
channels.
The country is reeling under a protracted foreign currency crunch
with the
persistent shortages worsening during the past months due to
competing
demands from fuel, food and electricity imports, which have
resulted in
industry being crowded out of the market.
Demand at the
foreign currency auction has shot up to more than US$200
million during the
past weeks against a fixed allocation of US$12.5 million.
At the moment,
Zimbabwe is getting very little in export earnings, a
situation, which has
been compounded by the lack of balance of payment
support from multi-lateral
financial institutions, analysts said.
Rates on the foreign currency parallel
market have been rising dramatically
with business executives having been
reduced to absolute scavengers of the
scarce hard currency.
The United
States dollar is now fetching $80 000 on the parallel market
while the South
African rand is hovering around $12 500.
Rates on the official market, where
foreign currency is hardly available,
are around $26 000 to the US dollar
and $4 098 for the rand.
"The auction market is no longer working, it is
approaching the end of its
life span and the bank should consider a system
where we move from this
market to another system which pushes us towards a
greater market control,"
said Murehwa.
Industry has been crying foul over
the disparity between the official and
the unofficial exchange rates and
their failure to access foreign currency
on the official market.
The
number of bids being rejected has shot up at the foreign currency
trading
floors amid revelations that the accepted bids are not usually met
with the
foreign currency applied for.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI)
chief executive Joseph Malaba
said the RBZ should timeously adjust
ineffective policies.
"The foreign currency auction has ceased to be an
auction and it should be
scrapped," Malaba said.
Timothy Mukahlera,
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) member of parliament
for Gweru Urban,
who chairs a Parliamentary committee on industry and
international trade,
said the foreign currency parallel market is the 'real
market'.
"The law
of supply and demand is a proven principle of how to control prices
and we
do not need to re-invent the wheel," Mukahlera said.
"The parallel market is
the real market and the central bank should let
market forces play a pivotal
role in prices," Mukahlera said.
Calls from industry for the RBZ to scrap off
the auction system coincide
with plans by the Parliamentary portfolio
committee on budget, finance and
economic development to recommend to
Parliament that government should
consider re-opening bureau de changes in a
bid to create more official
channels of foreign currency.
Bureaux
de Change were shut down in December 2002 amid allegations that they
were at
the centre of illegal foreign currency deals.
"Re-opening them would at least
ensure that the authorities know where the
foreign currency is, even if they
will not be able to control the rates.
Right now we only talk of a parallel
market, but we cannot even guess how
much money is in circulation and
where," said a local analyst.