Source: Missionary International Service News Agency (MISNA)
Date: 04 Oct 2010
Illegal Zimbabwean
migrants in South Africa can obtain a special four-year stay permit for the
purposes of studying, working or opening a small business. The new government
order, which only allows Zimbabweans who arrived in South Africa on or before
May 31 to apply for the permits, was welcomed by many civil society groups.
According to the South African Business Day newspaper, over the next weeks
hundreds of thousands of people will be regularised. The importance of the
government move was stressed also by the Scalabrinian missionaries in Cape Town,
who reminded that the South African government at the start of the month
announced the resumption of expulsions of Zimbabwean illegals for December 31.
"The new measures are in reality a moratorium, surely not a definitive solution
but however an encouraging step", said to MISNA the Scalabrinian Centre. It is
estimated that nearly 3-million Zimbabweans are currently in South Africa.
Pretoria over the past years had treated them with favour under some aspects,
taking in consideration the long economic and social crisis that afflicted
Zimbabwe. A policy that changed in recent months, due also to some progress in
Harare by the national unity government in place since February 2009.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
by Irene Madongo
04 October
2010
Commercial farmers want the Supreme Court to look into their claims
of being
racially victimised by the government in the on-going illegal farm
evictions. They are also demanding compensation for the violent acquisition
of equipment and materials.
Last Thursday the Commercial Farmers
Union (CFU) made the application to the
Court following the continued
intimidation of the country's remaining white
farmers and illegal farm
seizures. The farmers claim that their
constitutional rights are not being
protected and the attacks are racially
motivated. Among those government
officials named as lawfully failing the
farmers is Finance Minister Tendai
Biti, who has not allocated money for
compensation for farm improvements to
farmers evicted from the land.
Other respondents include Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa, Police
Commissioner Augustine Chihuri and Lands Minister
Herbert Murewa, all three
are from Mugabe's ZANU-PF Party.
Hendrik
Olivier, the Chief Executive Officer of the CFU, said on Monday:
"Every
single farmer that is being evicted currently is a white person. This
is a
motive against white farmers for an imbalance that was created in the
colonial past which we disagree about," Olivier said, "About 80% of white
farmers in this country purchased their land after independence in 1980 and
therefore had to have a certificate of no-present-interest which the
government then gave to the farmer saying 'I'm not interested in purchasing
your farm at this stage and you may go-ahead.'"
The farmers want the
Supreme Court to suspend any more farm evictions. In
2008 the Southern
African Development (SADC) Tribunal ruled that the
government's land reform
programme is discriminatory and illegal under the
SADC Treaty to which
Zimbabwe is a signatory. Despite this, the Zimbabwean
government has ignored
the ruling, and officials with connections to ZANU PF
have continued to
persecute white farmers they say are refusing to vacate
land 'acquired' by
the government for what they claim is redistribution to
landless
blacks.
Olivier said: "We know that they don't recognise the SADC
Tribunal and we
have taken similar cases to the Tribunal, and the Tribunal
has ruled
accordingly, but we have many other farmers in this country who
are
experiencing enormous difficulties currently and that's why we've gone
this
route to the Supreme Court in this country."
But it is not just
Zimbabwean farmers being targeted. There have also been
attacks on some
foreign farmers in Zimbabwe who are meant to be protected by
bilateral
investment protection agreements signed between Zimbabwe and other
countries. But the Zimbabwean government has also ignored these
agreements.
"This latest application is also for those Zimbabwean farmers
who have got
no foreign nationality, who are not part of the SADC Tribunal,
giving them
an opportunity now to also see if they can get relief," Olivier
said.
http://news.radiovop.com
04/10/2010 18:38:00
Harare,
October 04, 2010 - Zimbabwe's troubled civil servants can brace for
worse
times after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Monday that treasury
was
not yet ready to use the windfall accrued from the country's recent
diamond
sale to meet their salary demands.
Representatives of civil servants took
their fight of increased wages to
Tsvangirai on Monday afternoon who told
them government was still broke.
"There was nothing meaningful which came
out of the meeting," said a source
that was part of the 40 minute meeting by
government workers and the
Premier.
"Tsvangirai even said he would
arrange a meeting with the Finance Minister
to satisfy us that despite the
sale of diamonds, treasury was still hard-
pressed to give us a salary
increase. The strong message that we got from
him is that there is no money.
We have now seen that
we are flogging a dead horse. We now see that this may
not be worth
pursuing. As experienced negotiators, we can tell where there
is hope and
where there is none."
But Zimbabwe Teachers Association
secretary general Richard Gundani, whose
association was part of the
meeting, maintained the meeting was fruitful.
"What we have achieved
basically is the unlocking of a process of social
dialogue which we felt was
now a missing dimension in our relationship. We
had lamented the dearth of
information from government side particularly
following the sale of
diamonds. This meeting was not there to talk about
specifics but was there
to where this social dialogue."
The meeting was also attended by Public
service minister Eliphas
Mukonoweshuro and comprised the entire joint
negotiating council.
After government had repeatedly told its workers it
had no money to increase
their wages, Zimbabwe's civil servants were now
demanding part of the
proceeds from the sale of diamonds by the
country.
The country reported a windfall of US$72 million from the widely
publicised
sale of its first batch of diamonds stocks in August this year.
The second
auction was done in secret.
Government workers, who earn a
monthly average of US$150, want their
salaries increased to a minimum of
US$500, in line with Zimbabwe's poverty
datum line.
A month long
strike by the civil servants early this year failed to yield as
government
remained adamant it was not yet able to award them a salary
increase.
Finance minister Tendai Biti, who early this year
infuriated government
workers by announcing a freeze in their salaries, said
nearly three quarters
of the country's revenue went towards civil servants'
salaries.
Most government workers rely on petty deals and open corruption
to cushion
themselves against the country's high cost of living.
http://news.radiovop.com/
04/10/2010 17:32:00
Harare, October 4,
2010 - Deputy Prime Minister, Arthur Mutambara and the
Minister of Housing
and National Development, Ignatious Chombo, clashed on
government's
performance to-date with Minister Chombo claiming that the
Government of
National Unity (GNU) was not "confused and struggling to
survive" as being
claimed by countries from the West.
"We are not struggling and we are
surviving," an angry Chombo told several
government officials and the media
gathered in Harare for the launch of the
National Action Plan (NAP) on
water.
"I wonder why the Prime Minister (Mutambara) listens to the people
from the
World Bank and the bosses in Washington who say we are struggling.
We are
not."
Mutambara had said he had come from the World Economic
Forum (WEF) meetings
in China and at that meeting Zimbabwe featured very
badly on the world
scales for various issues including
governance.
"They say our government is not stable," DPM Mutambara had
said. "One of the
reasons why we are not featuring very well in most
competitive reports from
the WEF is that they say we are not stable and do
not have any money for
projects."
Chombo said while he agreed
Zimbabwe does not have foreign currency it was
stable judging from the
Government of National Unity (GNU) of which
Mutambara is a part.
"You
are part of the same government which is being criticised," Chombo
said. "We
are not struggling and are not unstable as the West and the WEF
claim."
The meeting was attended by several ministers including
Sipepa Nkomo (Water)
and Francis Nhema (Environment) when the "exchange of
words" occurred.
http://news.radiovop.com/
04/10/2010
11:22:00
Bulawayo, October 04, 2010 - Zimbabwe's grain parastatal is
set to retrench
1 650 employees before December as part of its turnaround
programme amid
revelations that its expenditure exceeded overall
income.
Grain Marketing Board (GMB) officials said the retrenchments are
part of
cost cutting measures to rationalise operations by the loss making
parastatal.
GMB corporate communications manager, Muriel Zemura said
the firm's monthly
salary bill stood at US$1.2 million against monthly
expenditure of
US$1.7million.
"The GMB's total monthly expenditure
stood at US$1.7 million hence the need
to retrench staff to bring the salary
bill down to about US$500 000.
Zemura said the retrenchments are
necessitated by the fact that the grain
parastatal is struggling to find its
footing after years of collapse.
"Production levels at GMB fell
tremendously to an extent that there was no
active labour at some of our
depots, hence the decision to retrench," Zemura
noted.
"The exercise
covers everyone from the groundsman to senior management and
numbers differ
as depots perform differently financially."
GMB is one of the loss making
parastatals that have over the years been
knocked down to their knees due to
a combination of lack of working capital,
corruption and
mismanagement.
The government plans to privatise GMB, that buys farmers
produce.The loss
making grain parastatal has been struggling to pay farmers
for maize
deliveries, a situation that resulted in it being dragged to court
over
outstanding payments.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
04
October 2010
Zimbabwean groups in the Diaspora finally got the chance to
meet the top
leadership of the Constitutional Parliamentary Committee
(COPAC) this past
Friday and put their case for participation in the
constitution making
process.
COPAC co-chairmen Douglas Mwonzora
(MDC-T), Paul Mangwana (ZANU PF) and
Maxwell Zimuto, standing in for Edward
Mkhosi (MDC-M), travelled to South
Africa and met representatives from the
Zimbabwean Diaspora Constitutional
Consultation group.
The meeting
which was organised by the Council of Zimbabwe Christian Leaders
UK and the
South Africa based Zimbabwe Exiles Forum 'was for the co-Chairs
to explain
to the Diaspora how their views could be effectively collected
and
incorporated into the COPAC process,' a press release stated.
Despite the
intimidation and violence which has marred the outreach exercise
in Zimbabwe
groups in the Diaspora are determined to input their views into
the draft
constitution. Co-chair Mangwana told the meeting that the only
barrier to
the participation of the Diaspora was financial; 'The ball is in
your
courts, raise the resources among yourselves and be involved,' he was
quoted
as saying.
Co-chair Mwonzora said; 'Originally we were going to consult
the Diaspora
but were restricted by the funding problem. There is no
political opposition
to Diaspora participation.' He urged the Diaspora
community to consult
widely and consolidate their views in a single
document. A deadline of 25
October was set, by which time the document
should have been submitted to
COPAC.
The groups in the Diaspora have
over the past few months been holding
consultative meetings to canvas for
views from those in exile. More meetings
are being planned to widen the
consultation. Organisers have also set up a
website (http://www.zimcc.com/ ) to allow for direct
input from people
online. The bulk of the funding for the Diaspora groups
has come from
donors.
Meanwhile South Africa has announced that it
will not extend a December
deadline for illegal Zimbabwean immigrants to
obtain permits to stay in the
country. Home Affairs Deputy Minister Malusi
Gigaba last week said; 'We will
not shift the December deadline. People must
make use of this opportunity
because there will be no
extensions.'
Gabriel Shumba the Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Exiles
Forum
criticized the announcement saying; 'A review of the deadline is
inescapable
if you consider the host of challenges that have beset this
process.'
Speaking to SW Radio Africa on Monday Shumba said there were some
people who
had applied for their Zimbabwean passports and were still waiting
to get
these before they could apply for the special permits in South
Africa. He
also said December was a holiday month which would add further
difficulties
to a process serious strained by long queues and limited
manpower to process
applicants.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
4 October 2010
An estimated two million people participated in
the constitutional outreach
meetings countrywide, according to figures
obtained by SW Radio Africa.
The outreach program is set to come to an
end this weekend with the holding
of rescheduled meetings in Harare and
Chitungwiza. The COPAC management
committee last week condemned 42 outreach
meetings held in Harare and
Chitungwiza, that were not done properly or were
abandoned as a result of
violence in the capital. They've since ordered the
aborted meetings to be
done again this Friday and Saturday.
The
Parliamentary led outreach meetings began in June to elicit popular
views on
a new constitution. However the program was marred by increasing
violence
and intimidation, mainly by ZANU PF supporters and war vets allied
to the
former ruling party.
'Despite the intimidation and violence, figures
being collated from around
the country show that as many as two million
people may have participated in
the program,' Simon Muchemwa, our
correspondent said.
During the entire period of the program, ZANU PF members
of the youth
militia ran an operation dubbed 'Vhara Muromo' or Shut Your
Mouth, warning
villagers to either shut up or support the party's views on
the new
constitution.
ZANU PF wants an existing draft constitution,
commonly referred to as the
Kariba Draft, to be adopted. It places no limit
on the number of
presidential terms, and keeps the president's wide-ranging
powers in place.
The Global Political Agreement (GPA) which brought ZANU
PF and the two MDC
formations into the unity government, called for the
drafting of a new
constitution. If the constitution is accepted, new
elections would bring
this interim government to an end.
The MDC-T
recently threatened a 'No Vote' campaign if the proposed
constitution does
not reflect the will of the people. The party joined other
groups that have
threatened to push for a 'No Vote' campaign.
The National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA) and the Zimbabwe National
Students Union have already
concluded that the process is flawed and have
threatened to lead a "No Vote"
campaign against an outcome that does not
reflect people's
wishes.
http://news.radiovop.com/
04/10/2010 08:43:00
Harare -
Some members of the Air Zimbabwe board of directors are said to be
demanding
that the airline's Chief Executive Officer, Peter Chikumba, be
axed for
allegedly failing to handle the recent strike by pilots in a manner
that
could have avoided the two week impasse which brought the airline's
business
to a halt.
Sources told Radio VOP at the weekend that the matter was
discussed at
lengthy at an extraordinary board meetings held at the
company's
Harare International Airport offices on Friday.
The sources said
Chikumba who joined Air Zimbabwe in 2005 from Air
Namibia was handed his
letter of dismissal on Thursday after a regular
board meeting however some
members of the board are said to have been
against the move.
"He was
apparently handed over his dismissal letter but there seems to
be no
agreement among the board on whether he should go," said a
source based at
the Air Zimbabwe headquarters.
Chikumba finds himself in the line of fire for
allegedly failing to
negotiate and stop pilots from going on strike last
month, in a move
that left the company about $8 million poorer due to the two
week long
loss of business.
The strike also proved to be an embarrassing
moment to President
Robert Mugabe who had to travel to New York for the
United Nations
General Assembly with a specially hired crew. Mugabe ordered
the Air
Zimbabwe board to fix the mess before he left for the US.
Chikumba
said, "I am still the Prime Minister of Air Zimbabwe," when
contacted for a
comment.
The Airline Chairperson, Jonathan Kadzura also confirmed that
Chikumba
was still at the helm of the airline.
"I don't know where that
rumour is coming from, he is still in charge
and that story is not an issue
at all at the moment," said Kadzura.
The journey at Air Zimbabwe has not been
an easy one for Chikumba
since the day he took over. He has however managed
over the years to
bring back a sense of urgency into the manner in which Air
Zimbabwe
does business. Although the airline is running a relatively old
fleet
he has managed to maintain most of the airline's routes to
regional
and international destinations such as Johannesburg, Nairobi,
China
and London. The airline's schedules have been largely on time
unlike
in the past when passengers could be left waiting to go on board
well
past the scheduled flight time.
Air Zimbabwe has since the withdrawal
of financial assistance from the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) been
struggling to stay afloat. The
airline used to receive about $ 1 million a
day to pay for operational
costs. But upon the inception of the inclusive
government finance
minister Tendai Biti withdrew all those privileges.
Currently the
company is operating on an overdraft. The airline is said to be
in
trying to create a partnership with China Airlines in a deal
that
Harare becoming a hub of traffic between China and Southern
Africa.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Godfrey Mtimba
Monday, 04 October
2010 17:28
MASVINGO - About 10 villagers in Mushayavanhu village in
Gutu were severely
assaulted by Zanu PF youths as punishment for attending
the funeral of an
MDC official over the weekend.
Gutu Central
Member of Parliament Oliver Chirume from MDC-T told the Daily
news that
villagers in his constituency were beaten up for attending the
burial of
the late MDC-T District Organising Secretary, Ruka Chiseva who
succumbed to
injuries he sustained in the violent June 27 presidential
elections run off
in 2008.
Chirume said some of the villagers sustained serious injuries
and were
admitted at Gutu mission hospital where they are getting
treatment.
"People who attended the funeral of our late official are
being tormented by
Zanu pf youths and war veterans. They pounced on about
ten members at their
homestead and asked them why they were at the funeral
while they had been
warned not to attend," he said.
He added that the
youths wielding logs, sjamboks and knock berries ordered
the people to lie
down on their stomachs and beat them up before warning
them never to attend
funerals of MDC members in future.
"We are worried that our members
continue to be victims of politically
motivated violence despite the
existence of the inclusive government.
As we speak now about four members
are being treated after they sustained
serious injuries from the beatings
and nothing has been done after we made
police reports," said
Chirume.
He said they made a police report against the leader of the
militia, a
self-styled war veteran known as Cde Satan who is a local in that
area but
he has not been arrested up to now and is walking scott free In
Mushayavanhu.
Zanu PF provincial chairman, Lovemore Matuke who lost
to Chirume in the
March 2008 harmonised elections did not answer his
phone.
But reports indicate that he might have a hand in the beatings as
the war
vet who led the militia is a known right hand man of the former
Parliamentarian.
Tinashe Makanga, one the victims said he was raided
in the middle of the
night at his homestead.
"It was late in the
evening when I heard voices outside while I was sleeping
in my bedroom. I
opened the door to check what was happening and I was told
to come out.
They forced me to sit down while they accused me of betraying
them by
attending Chiseva's burial and started beating me up. They left me
for dead
and disappeared into the darkness," said Chikanga who was in
Masvingo
seeking medical help.
http://news.radiovop.com
04/10/2010 17:33:00
Gutu, October 4, 2010 -
A top official of the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) party under Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is furious after a
traditional chief who
assaulted the party's activist last week banned the
party from holding
rallies in his area.
Chief Serima, born Vengai Rushwaya has barred MDC-T
from conducting rallies
in his area after he accused MDC legislator for
Masvingo Urban, who is also
Deputy Minister of Youth, Indigenisation and
Empowerment, Tongai Matutu, of
assaulting him.
Chief Serima is said to
have assaulted MDC activist Lovemore Chamisa, on the
head with a brick,
seriously injuring him for reportedly failing to greet
him when he saw him
at a business centre in Gutu last weekend.
Chief Serima, according to
Matutu, rushed to make a police report leading to
the arrest of the Deputy
Minister and five other party activists,
However, no docket was opened
and this confirmed the reports by the MDC that
the chief actually rushed to
make a false report to the police when in
actual fact he had hit the MDC
member.
In an interview with Radio VOP Monday, MDC provincial chairman
Wilstuff
Sitemere said Chief Serima had no right to ban any rally in his
area as he
did not have such power to do so.
"Why are chiefs getting
involved in politics? They should leave politics for
politicians. If they
want to get into politics, then they should quit their
traditional roles and
let us know.
"We do not observe the ban by Chief Serima. How can he ban
only MDC rallies?
If he wants to ban rallies, then he should also ban Zanu
(PF) rallies,"
Sitemere said.
"We will not observe the ban. We are
going to conduct rallies as usual," he
said.
Sitemere accused the
chief of trying to make the area a no-go-area for the
once opposition party
and thus secure a Zanu (PF) seat in the impending
elections.
Chief
Serima, fearing a backlash for his actions, said his life will be in
danger
if the MDC rallies are conducted in the area.
"My life is now at risk, I
heard the MDC discussed my issue at their
provincial meeting days ago," he
said.
http://news.radiovop.com
04/10/2010 11:21:00
Harare, October
4, 2010 - The state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC) has labelled
the five journalists it fired two years ago as terrorists
and is refusing to
rehire them as recommended by an arbitration court.
A ruling delivered in
Harare last month by Arbitrator Mwadziwa Chimhuka
found the state
broadcaster at fault for dismissing the journalists who were
accused of
supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
main faction
led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
The arbitration found that ZBC
did not follow the provision of the Labour
Act and the dismissal of the
journalists was null and void.
Disobeying the tribunal order ZBC said it
was no longer willing to reinstate
the fired journalists because they were a
security threat.
"As a National Broadcaster the respondent has national
interests to protect.
When there are threats to these interests, the
respondent is expected to
protect them. The sending of the affected
claimants on forced leave was part
of the endeavors to protect national
interests.
"The respondent communicated to the claimants through their
legal
practitioners of record that the share holder (ZBC) was no longer
interested
in their services. Instead of negotiating on a package proposal,
the
claimants have chosen to be unco-operative, hence the
stalemate. It
is our humble application that the arbitration tribunal should
intervene and
act as a third part to resolve this case," said ZBC.
The Journalists'
legal represantative Urther Marara of Matsikidze and
Mucheche legal
practitioners said he was going to claim several thousands as
damages for
his victimised clients because ZBC had defied the law.
"The conduct of
ZBC is quite saddening because despite the case that there
is a clear and
uneqivocal award ZBC has chosen to blatantly ignore the court
ruling. In the
premise our clients have instructed us to apply for
quantification of
damages.It is a clear application because the Labour Act
clearly states
that if reinstatment is no longer possible, the employer
shoud pay punitive
damages.ZBC has indicated that they are no longer
interested in having the
journalists as their employees.
"The background of the case is
victimisation on political grounds and the
labour case is against
descrimination on political grounds,"said Marara.
In 2008, the ZBC
dismissed news editor, Patrice Makova, reporters Garikai
Chaunza and Robert
Tapfumaneyi ,executive producers, Monica Gavela and
Sibongikosi Mlilo, whom
the court ruled must be reinstated to their former
positions without loss of
salary and benefits.
The journalists were deemed to have reported
positively on the MDC in the
run up to the March 29 presidential elections
and the June 2008 run-off in
which Tsvangirai pulled out after attacks on
MDC supporters.
Tsvangirai won the elections but did not garner the
majority votes necessary
to win the presidential post.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Sidney Saize
Monday, 04 October 2010
17:52
MUTARE - Scores of parliamentarians and rapporteurs of the
Copac programme
on Monday failed to visit the centres where the outreach
meetings were
aborted because of violence in Manicaland
province.
The MPs and rapporteurs were supposed to visit at least
10 centres in
Manicaland provinceMonday by the 10 COPAC teams, but only two
teams out of
ten left Mutare for the constitution outreach work as most of
the members
were either out of Mutare on Parliament business or opted out
fearing for a
re-occurrence of the violence.
Areas that were
supposed to have been visited include Ratelshoek, Foroma,
Checheche all in
Chipinge; Gotekote in Nyanga, St Judes in Makoni South and
Vengere in
Rusape. Other outstanding centres are Rukweza and Ruwombwe in
Makoni
South.
The COPAC co-chairperson in Manicaland ,Cephas Makuyana who is
also the
senator for Mvurachena constituency confirmed that the outreach
work had
been severely affected by the non availability of other members.
He said
most members of the teams were away on other business.
"We
have some teams who are short staffed, especially on rapporteurs as all
members of parliament are in Harare on Parliamentary business. We are
currently running around to find replacements for the missing members," said
Makuyana.
"Now the challenge we have is that we can't just replace
someone with people
who cannot read and write. The parties are still
struggling to get those
that are literate for secondment to us from both
the MDC-T and Zanu PF,"
Makuyana said.
He said the smaller faction of
the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara faction is
not affected by the challenge
since it has no parliamentarian in Manicaland
province, while the MDC led by
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has the
biggest number of missing
MPs.
The MDC-T has 20 seats out of the 26 constituencies in Manicaland
province.
Zanu PF has the remaining six. The latter has two senatorial seats
while
MDC-T has four.
One rapporteur who chose not to be named said
it was pointless for some
members to revisit areas where they were assaulted
as there was no guarantee
that the violence would not
resurface.
"Some members I think just chose to stay away for their
security as nothing
has changed in terms of security. It does not make any
sense to return to an
area where you were beaten up while nothing has
changed on ground in terms
of security of members," said the
rapporteur.
Monica Mutsvangwa, the other co-chairperson for COPAC
Manicaland teams was
unavailable for comment. Her mobile number was
unreachable.
A Zanu PF member at the government composite building
housing the COPAC
offices who preferred not to be named complained the MDC-T
was playing cheap
politics.
"There was no need for the MDC-T MPs to
go to Harare today (Monday) when
they are supposed to be meeting in
Parliament Tuesday. They should have done
work today and then leave first
thing Tuesday," complained the member.
http://www.fingaz.co.zw/
George Lwanda
30
September 2010
Harare - At some stage Zimbabwe will have to look at
reintroducing a
currency of its own, Development Bank of Southern Africa
International
project economist, George Lwanda told the Institute of
Chartered Accountants
in Zimbabwe annual conference in Victoria Falls on
Saturday.
He said that while doing away with the use of the local
currency had enabled
the country to turn the corner with regards to
inflation, using another
country's currency had disadvantages. It meant
losing control over monetary
policy, which was a means of, among other
things, controlling credit.
Other countries had had similar experiences.
Argentina, for instance, had
overcome inflation by dollarising but had
subsequently decided it was
advantageous to return to use of its own
currency.
Asked how a return to use of one's own currency fitted in with
the move
towards adopting a regional currency, Lwanda said moves towards a
regional
and then continental currency had begun in the early 1980s. A
regional
currency was not likely to be implemented imminently. Even if it
did come
about within a few years, the country would be worse off moving
from foreign
currency use to a regional currency than from its own currency
to a regional
one. Countries in the region that used the South African rand
as their
currency were unable to set their own interest rates. Monetary
policy was
determined in South Africa.
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BILL WATCH
39/2010
[4th October 2010]
The House of Assembly will resume sitting on Tuesday 5th
October
The Senate remains adjourned until 12th
October
A Brief
Initial Agenda for House of Assembly
When the
House of Assembly sits again on Tuesday 5th October, after a three-month break
to accommodate the Constitution outreach process, there will be only three items
on the Order Paper:
·
the
continuation of the Second Reading debate on Mr Gonese’s Private Member's
Bill to amend the Public Order and Security Act [POSA]. Mr Gonese and
his seconder have already spoken. The opportunity now exists for other MPs,
including Ministers, to state their views on the broad principles of the Bill –
details of wording and possible changes are for the Committee Stage which will
follow if the House approves the Second Reading of the Bill. [Electronic version of Bill available.]
·
a new
motion launching the customary debate in response to the speech delivered by the
President when opening the present Third Session of Parliament on 13th
July
·
continuation of the debate on the speech delivered by the President
when opening the previous [Second] Session of Parliament in October 2009. This
incomplete debate lapsed when the Second Session came to an end in July, but the
House has already passed a motion restoring it to the Order
Paper.
The agenda
for subsequent days should expand fairly rapidly as Ministers give notice of
presentation of Bills and as members table motions and put down questions for
reply by Ministers. There are four Bills that have already been printed and are
ready for presentation [see below]. But two important Bills mentioned in
the President’s speech, both urgent, have still not been sent for printing – the
Electoral Amendment Bill and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Bill.
No Public Portfolio Committee Meetings This
Week
Some House of Assembly portfolio committees will be holding their
inaugural meetings of the session during the week. The meetings will be
concerned with “housekeeping” matters. None of the meetings will be open to the
public.
Update on Bills
Bills awaiting presentation in Parliament
Four Bills are ready for First Reading, after which they must be
referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC] for the PLC to consider
whether they are consistent with the Constitution. Only after the PLC has
reported to the House can the Bills be taken further.
Zimbabwe National Security Council Amendment Bill
The Bill aims to make the Minister responsible for the Prison
Service, currently Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs Patrick Chinamasa, a
member of the National Security Council and to clarify, by a slight change in
wording, the NSC membership status of the Minister responsible for National
Security, currently Minister of State for State Security in the President’s
Office Sydney Sekeramayi. The Bill will be presented by the Minister of
Justice. [Other Ministers on the NSC are those responsible for Finance,
Defence and Police and one nominated by each of the three GPA parties – along
with the Prime Minister, both Deputy Prime Ministers the President and both
Vice-Presidents. Also NSC members are the Commander of the Defence Forces, the
Commanders of the Army and Air Force, the Commissioner-General of Police, the
Commissioner of Prisons, the Director-General of State Security, the Chief
Secretary to the President and Cabinet, and the Secretary to the Prime Minister.
[Electronic versions available: (1) Bill and (2) Zimbabwe National
Security Council Act showing effect of proposed amendments.]
Criminal Law Amendment (Protection of Power, Communication and Water
Infrastructure) Bill: This Bill, to be presented by the Minister of Justice, provides
for a tougher response by law enforcement authorities and courts to vandalism
and theft of electricity, telecommunications, broadcasting, railway and water
“infrastructure material”. It provides for amendments to the Criminal Procedure
and Evidence Act; the Postal and Telecommunications Act; the Broadcasting
Services Act; the Railways Act; the Electricity Act; and the Water Act. Changes
include:
·
adding the statutory offences concerned to the list of “serious
economic crimes” for which, at the option of the Attorney-General, there can be
no bail until 21 days after the first court appearance [amendments to
Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, Ninth Schedule]
·
lengthy mandatory prison terms where not already provided for by the
relevant Act [but with a let-out where a court finds special circumstances –
this is designed to keep the penalty provisions within constitutional limits]
·
as a measure to counteract theft and trafficking in stolen
infrastructure material [e.g., cables, piping, etc, etc], requiring persons
transporting any “infrastructure material” to have a special police clearance
certificate [or have appropriate customs clearance if in transit through
Zimbabwe] – and enacting stiff prison terms for those unable to produce such
clearance certificates on demand by police or authorised
inspectors
·
provision for forfeiture of land or premises on which stolen
infrastructure material is found if the owner knowingly concealed or stored the
material on the land or in the premises. [Electronic version of Bill available.]
Attorney-General’s Office Bill: The object of this Bill is to constitute the Attorney-General’s
Office as a service outside the Public Service; and to establish a Board to
administer the Office. The Board will fix conditions of service for members of
the Office – apart from the Attorney-General and the Deputy Attorneys-General,
whose conditions are fixed under the Constitution. The Bill will be presented
by the Minister of Justice. [Electronic version of Bill available.] [An earlier version of this Bill was gazetted in April 2005 and
introduced into the House of Assembly, but lapsed at the end of the 2005/2006
Parliamentary session.]
Energy Regulatory Authority Bill: This Bill aims to establish the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority and its governing board, to spell out
the functions of the Authority and to make consequential amendments to the
Electricity Act and the Petroleum Act. The Authority will be the regulatory
body for electricity and petroleum supplies, replacing the Electricity
Regulatory Commission and the Petroleum Regulatory Authority. The Bill also
provides for the Authority to be the regulatory body and licensing authority for
other energy sources. The Bill is to be presented by the Minister of Energy
and Power Development.
Bills being printed [copies not yet
available]
Deposit Protection Corporation Bill: In his speech opening Parliament in mid-July the President said
this Bill would
transform the existing Deposit Protection Scheme, set up under
the Banking Act, into an independent statutory entity. The object is to provide
compensation for depositors if banking institutions fail.
General Laws Amendment Bill: The proper purpose of General Laws Amendment Bills is to make
minor updating amendments to Acts of Parliament, but they are sometimes used to
make important changes.
Small Enterprises Development Corporation Amendment
Bill: no details available.
Statutory Instruments
Diamond Sales to Local Diamond Manufacturers: SI 157/2010, gazetted on and effective from 1st October, contains
the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (Diamond Sales to Local Diamond
Manufacturers) Regulations, made by the Minister of Mines under the Minerals
Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe Act. The regulations require the Minerals
Marketing Corporation [MMCZ], which is responsible for marketing and selling all
diamonds mined in Zimbabwe, to reserve up to 10% of the diamonds it receives for
sale to local diamond manufacturers. Local diamond manufacturers will have to
pay “competitive prices” and submit regular returns to MMCZ showing use made of
the diamonds they buy. [Electronic version of regulations available.]
Looming Bans on Left-Hand Drive Vehicles and Importation of Used
Vehicles: There are other noteworthy provisions in the recently gazetted
Road Traffic (Construction, Equipment and Use) Regulations [SI 154/2010] in
addition to those mentioned in Bill Watch 33. Two of them
are:
·
a ban on the use of locally-registered left-hand drive
vehicles unless first registered here before 31st March
2011
·
a total ban on the use of locally registered left-hand drive heavy
vehicles after 31st December 2015
·
a ban on the importation of motor vehicles more than 5 years
old for registration and use in Zimbabwe – unless first registered in
Zimbabwe before 31st March 2011.
General Notice: ZIMRA Ruling on Zimdollar/US Dollar Conversion
GN 274/2010, gazetted on 1st October, sets out a “provisional general
ruling” by the Commissioner-General of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority [ZIMRA] on
the conversion of end of 2008 balances in Zimbabwe Dollars to US dollars for tax
purposes. [Electronic version of ruling available.]
Note: this is a
provisional ruling and the last paragraph of the ruling invites submissions from
stakeholders, presumably with a view to incorporating to the correction of
errors or omissions.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information supplied