http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010
08:44
A FRESH row has erupted over the appointment of provincial
governors, with
the three principals clashing over letters written to Sadc
facilitator,
South African President Jacob Zuma, on progress made in the
implementation
of the global political agreement (GPA).
In a
report attached to a letter dated June 10 written by Deputy Prime
Minister
Arthur Mutambara and signed by President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai to Zuma, the three principals agreed that the
issue of
provincial governors would be dealt with concurrently with that of
sanctions.
But Tsvangirai and his party have denied
linking the appointment of
governors to the lifting of sanctions, while
Mutambara and Mugabe were
adamant that the principals had reached that
decision.
"This matter (appointment of governors) must be addressed
simultaneously and
concurrently with that of sanctions," the June 10 letter
read.
Under the issue of sanctions, the three leaders "agreed to work towards
the
removal of sanctions. They endorsed and adopted the plan of the
negotiating
team on how to remove sanctions."
In a statement
attached to another letter written by Mutambara on August 5,
prior to the
Sadc summit in Namibia, the principals reiterated that the
issue of
governors should be dealt with concurrently and simultaneously with
the
sanctions removal strategy.
"That on the appointment of provincial
governors, while agreeing on the
appointment formula recommended to us by
the GPA negotiators, we have
resolved that this matter be addressed
simultaneously and concurrently with
the sanctions removal strategy," read
the report.
Also accompanying the letter was an implementation matrix
for the 24 issues
they agreed on. These documents formed the basis for
Zuma's report, which
was adopted by the Sadc troika meeting and the summit
in Windhoek.
However, Tsvangirai, according to sources, was now
trying to wriggle out of
the agreement.
The MDC-T has accused Mutambara
of falsifying the letter, with its
spokesperson Nelson Chamisa saying it was
not true that the premier had
agreed to resolve the issue of governors when
sanctions are removed.
Tsvangirai said last week at a launch of a new
party card that there was no
link between sanctions and the appointment of
governors.
"To then artificially link the allocation of governors to
the issue of
restrictive measures is a blatant attempt to undermine the GPA,
the
inclusive government and the will of the people," he
said.
Presidential spokesperson George Charamba yesterday threatened
to expose
Tsvangirai by making public a letter he allegedly signed together
with other
principals agreeing that the appointment of governors should be
done
concurrently with the lifting of sanctions.
He told the
Zimbabwe Independent yesterday that: "We are slowly being pushed
to a stage
where we will have to embarrass the prime minister. Such lies
raise
questions of the PM's integrity and the integrity of his party. He is
denying what he endorsed."
"No one was press-ganged into
appending their signatures," Charamba said.
"You can't rule on the basis of
lies. Why are they recanting now? All they
are trying to do is push the
matter to Mutambara and Zuma."
He added that Mutambara and Mugabe
have always been frustrated by Tsvangirai
going back on agreed
positions.
"President Mugabe and Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara take a
decision with
the MDC-T leader and when he goes back and is confronted by
hawks in his
party, he recants - he needs to take control," Charamba
said.
MDC-M secretary-general Welshman Ncube yesterday said
Tsvangirai and his
party had several opportunities to object to the
paragraph in the statement
by the principals and in Zuma's report, which was
read out at the troika
meeting, that suggested governors would be appointed
simultaneously and
concurrently with the sanctions removal
strategy.
"People that lie are pathological liars," Ncube said.
"Tsvangirai actually
added paragraphs to the statement by the principals. He
suggested that they
should not just record what was agreed upon, but also
what was deadlocked,"
Ncube said.
Giving a blow by blow account
of events leading up to the letter on August
5, Ncube said the principals
met and agreed that Mutambara should write the
letter.
Mutambara
wrote the cover letter, statement on progress and the
implementation matrix,
after which he personally met the principals to show
them the
drafts.
In the initial statement, the deputy prime minister had only
included
positives, which were the 24 issues they had agreed on and the
implementation matrix
Tsvangirai, according to Ncube, then
suggested that Mutambara should add
three paragraphs related to the three
outstanding issues -- the appointment
of central bank governor Gideon Gono,
hiring of Attorney-General Johannes
Tomana, as well as the swearing-in of
MDC-T treasurer Roy Bennett as Deputy
Agriculture minister.
Ncube
claimed that Tsvangirai was responsible for inserting a paragraph in
the
statement outlining that "as the principals to the GPA, we remain
committed
to working within all the provisions of the GPA and to abide by
the
country's laws, in particular those provisions reflected in Constitution
Amendment No 19".
This was meant to force Mugabe to stop making
unilateral appointments, like
he did when he appointed judges and
ambassadors.
"We are dealing with people who are not leaders and who can't
stand by what
they have proposed," said Ncube.
After the
additions, the final draft was sent to Mugabe and Tsvangirai
before it was
given to Zuma's envoy Mac Maharaj, who was in Zimbabwe at that
time, to take
to his boss.
Copies of the final version were then sent to the two
principals.
Ncube said: "The statement was sent to Zuma and it was
part of Zuma's
report. Tsvangirai didn't want any modification to that
report at the troika
meeting and it is hypocritical for him to start
distancing himself now. He
is the one who opposed any amendments to Zuma's
report - he didn't want any
alterations."
Charamba concurred
saying: "At some point at the Troika meeting, Mutambara
suggested certain
amendments to the report; the person who refused any
amendments was
Tsvangirai."
However, a top MDC-T official said there was no
agreement on appointing
governors concurrently with the removal of
sanctions.
The official said when Zuma's office received the documents, they
called
Tsvangirai seeking clarification on the paragraph relating to the
governors.
"He then wrote to President Zuma and Mugabe saying there was no
link between
sanctions and the appointment of governors," he said.
"
In the same letter, President Tsvangirai reiterated his
position that the
issue of governors and the issue of restrictive measures
were as separate as
day and night."
However, Charamba said no
such letter had been written to Mugabe.
The MDC-T top official
accused Mutambara of failing to correctly capture the
minutes of the
principals' meeting.
"It's the way he captured the minutes and the PM didn't
notice that
paragraph - he saw the covering letter which Mutambara wrote on
behalf of
the principals," he said.
The MDC-T official said Zanu
PF misunderstood what the paragraph meant,
which was not to say that
governors would only be implemented when sanctions
are
removed.
An MDC-M official said both MDC-T and Zanu PF were spinning
and lying about
what that paragraph meant.
He said: "Mugabe was refusing
to appoint governors and MDC-T, through its
behaviour, has been violating
the GPA on sanctions. Zanu PF says MDC-T is
not sincere and bona fide on the
removal of sanctions. Zanu PF wants proof
of sincerity and a bona fide
status, then Zanu PF can appoint governors."
Faith Zaba
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010 09:03
FINANCE
minister Tendai Biti has officially intervened in the "vicious
corporate
war" between Meikles Africa Ltd and Kingdom Financial Holdings Ltd
(KFHL),
which has drawn into its vortex President Robert Mugabe and other
high-profile politicians.
The involvement of Mugabe, Biti and
Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono in the
intensifying battle for KFHL has
left the corporate giant smouldering.
Mugabe has openly declared his
support for the embattled KFHL founder Nigel
Chanakira and wants to resort
to his controversial Indigenisation laws to
settle the dispute in the
struggling banker's favour despite that the
companies in the dispute are
already owned by Zimbabweans.
Biti says he wants a "win-win solution"
in what he recently described in a
letter to Gono, which the Zimbabwe
Independent has in its possession, as a
"vicious and unkind corporate
war".
Gono recently said Biti and himself have had "enough of this
nonsense" and
gave the two merged corporate entities an ultimatum to resolve
the issue to
avoid further destabilising the fragile banking
sector.
The fight between the companies has been affecting the
banking sector, the
image of the country to investors, and the local
securities market. New
proposals have now been put on the table to try to
resolve the issue. The
two entities and their lawyers are currently
discussing the latest
proposals.
In a bid to resolve the issue,
Biti on August 26 wrote to Gono suggesting
ways of disentangling the
convoluted corporate merger. KFHL merged with
Meikles Africa Ltd in 2008 to
form Kingdom Meikles Africa Ltd (KMAL) amid a
blaze of publicity to create a
financial concern which had ambitions of an
offshore listing. The new
conglomerate included TM stores, Meikles Hotel,
Meikles stores, Tanganda,
Cotton Printers and Kingdon Bank and its
subsidiaries.
In October
last year, Chanakira entered into an agreement with Meikles
shareholders,
including John Moxon, to acquire 43% of KFHL after the
de-merger. However,
Chanakira failed to raise the required US$15 million.
Deadlines given for
payment expired. Extensions were sought and granted.
Time limits provided in
the extensions also expired, but Chanakira still
failed to raise the money,
setting off fresh clashes in the protracted
struggle over the KMAL de-merged
matrix.
Biti says in his letter to Gono that a "win-win solution"
could be found
which would "achieve the objective of stabilising the market
and quashing
the noise, enabling Chanakira to hold on to his bank and
unlocking
shareholder value in both institutions".
"It is
self-evident from the correspondence and report you have provided
that the
relationship between the parties has irretrievably broken down with
no
prospects of reconciliation," Biti wrote to Gono in his August 26 letter
titled Meikles Holdings versus Kingdom Bank.
"To put it mildly,
the parties are locked in a vicious and unkind corporate
war. Under these
circumstances it is my opinion that the demerger of the two
entities is the
proper and logical solution," Biti said. "The net result of
this is that
Kingdon Bank will be listed separately. I hope and trust that
for the sake
of stabilisation of our country, this advice is upheld."
In his
letter, Biti makes suggestions of the way forward on the issue which
has
created a storm in political circles.
"The second issue relates to the
settlement of the cross-shareholding by
shareholders in both institutions.
The papers before me disclose the fact
that Chanakira has offered to buy out
Meikles Holdings' interest in his bank
for the sum of US$15 million," Biti
says.
"It also appears that BancABC are prepared to pay this amount.
From the
discussion with yourself it appears that only an amount of US$7, 5
million
is available. Assuming BancABC has the full amount, then I advise
that the
money be deposited in the creditor's bank account at Stanbic. I see
no merit
in payment of this amount to the central bank".
A row
had erupted over where the money from Chanakira to Moxon should be
kept,
with Reserve Bank officials saying the funds must be kept at the
central
bank, and Meikles executives demanding it must go to their account
at
Stanbic. Biti says the money must be paid to the creditor's Stanbic
account.
Biti also says in his letter that he agreed with Gono that if
Chanakira does
not have the US$15 million, then the shareholdings and shares
in dispute
must be evaluated before a deal is done. However, Biti then says
valuation
process would cause problems because "any evaluation, either
professional or
otherwise, will always be subjective and in many situations
fail to agree on
the persona of the evaluator".
Biti goes on to
suggest that the evaluation should be left to the market if
the de-merger
occurs and KFHL is re-listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
"In short, let
the market determine the values of the shares in both
entities," he
says.
On the last contentious issue of US$22, 5 million which is
theoretically
held by the Reserve Bank, Biti says it was a "technical issue
touching on
capital reduction and other corporate issues".
The
US$22,5 million sum was lodged with central bank by Meikles in 2004. The
funds were used to recapitalise Kingdom Bank's three subsidiaries to meet
the prescribed minimum capital requirements.
"My view of the
matter is that this is not an issue that should stand in the
way of a
settlement. Moreover as minister responsible for the administration
of the
Companies Act, I would expect that the same is complied with, in
particular
Section 92. I hope the above suggestions may help you guide the
parties to a
win-win situation," Biti tells Gono in the letter.
Dumisani
Muleya
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010 18:44
CONSTITUENCY Development
Funds (CDF), critical to grassroots community
development, are lying idle
because MPs are not coming forward to claim the
money, a cabinet minister
has said.
Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs minister Eric Matinenga
said in the
capital yesterday that MPs were reluctant to apply for funds
which would
benefit their constituencies.
He revealed that only two MPs,
Heya Shoko of Bikita West and Shuwa Mudiwa of
Mutare West, had applied for
the money despite Finance minister Tendai Biti
releasing US$4 million of the
US$8 million promised under the fund.
The money will be returned to treasury
if MPs continue snubbing the CDF,
warned Matinenga, whose ministry
administers the fund.
“Only two applications have been received so far;
Bikita West and Mutare
West,” Matinenga said. “An amount of $4 million is
available for
disbursement from this fund. MPS are once again reminded to
make
applications to access this money.”
Biti in December last year
allocated US$8 million for constituency
development in his 2010 budget, but
the money can only be released if MPs
make an official request. Each House
of Assembly member is entitled to US$50
000 from the fund.
There are 210
House of Assembly seats, although over 10 of them are vacant
because of
deaths, expulsions and appointments.
Matinenga said a Senator could apply for
the money where the House of
Assembly seat was vacant.
“The money won’t
go directly into an MP’s personal account. There is a way
to make sure there
is accountability,” said Matinenga. “MPs must apply
because the money is
available.”
MDC-T chief whip Innocent Gonese defended MPs who were yet to
apply for
money under the CDF saying the funds were availed when most
legislators were
busy with the constitution-making outreach
programme.
MPs, he said, were keen on the CDF because they were committed to
upgrading
the lives of the electorate.
Brian
Chitemba
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010 18:42
A
MINING joint-venture deal which turned sour has exposed how the Reserve
Bank
of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has been involved in the extraction and processing of
diamonds and gold in the Midlands, the Zimbabwe Independent can
reveal.
Carslone Enterprises, a subsidiary of the RBZ, entered into a joint
venture
with Gweru farmer Magiel Casper Jovner, who owns Kleimpton Farm, in
2007 to
carry out mining activities at his Mangwe Mine claim 24 for a three
year
period up to June 2010. The matter is now before the courts.
Under
the Tribute Agreement, Carslone was supposed to conduct mining
activities at
Mangwe claim 24 from June 25 2007 until June 24 2010, which
was subject to
renewal once the parties agree on an extension of the
agreement.
Under
the agreement, Carslone was due to pay Jovner 5% of the total gross
value of
the gold and/or other valuable products from the mine.
But the deal went sour
recently after Jovner refused to renew the agreement
citing the RBZ
subsidiary’s failure to meet its obligations and entered into
a new three-
year partnership with Shuma Mining Syndicate running from June
15 2010 up to
June 14 2013.
Jovner accused the RBZ subsidiary of not meeting its
obligations of paying
royalties amounting to “5% of the total gross value of
the products won.”
The RBZ’s mining activities are revealed in an urgent
chamber application
filed by Jovner seeking a court order to permanently
interdict the central
bank’s subsidiary, its agents, servants, proxies,
associates and nominees
from entering his farm and mines, including coming
within 100 metres
thereof.
Jovner, who is setting up a diamond processing
plant which is nearing
completion at his farm located about 18 kms from
Gweru along the
Gweru-Bulawayo road, says his mining activities have
recently been hampered
by the RBZ’s unlawful actions in the area which
include illegal mining and
trespassing, behaviour which has resulted in his
mining activities being
seriously affected.
The Gweru farmer says
although he held a Tribute Agreement with Carslone,
the agreement was for
Mangwe claim 24 only and not for Mangwe claim 20 and
21, where the apex
bank’s mining subsidiary has forcefully settled.
Despite the expiry of the
Tribute Agreement on June 24, Carslone has
continued to mine and ignored
Jovner’s demand that the plant close down as
there is no Tribute Agreement
in existence and that the RBZ subsidiary is
mining in wrong
claims.
Jovner says Carslone has made racial threats and threatened that they
would
cause his arrest and grab his farm as he has no right to own the farm
and
mine, they claimed.
The farmer said at one time the police removed
Carslone from his farm after
he made a police report, but the miners have
since returned to his farm.
“Respondent (Carlsone) is clearly undeterred and
has continued unlawful and
unauthorised mining activities,” reads part of
Jovner’s urgent chamber
application filed in the High Court in July seeking
to interdict Carslone,
its agents, servants, proxies, associates and
nominees from mining on his
claims.
In his letter to the Mining
Commissioner for Gweru, only identified as WM
Dube, a copy of which is in
the possession of the Independent, Jovner said
he was surprised that
Carslone is still carrying out mining activities on
his mining claims
without his consent yet he had clearly indicated to the
company that he had
no intention of working with them again after the expiry
of the Tribute
Agreement.
In a letter written to the Officer Commanding Midlands Police,
Mining
Commissioner Dube ordered the police to halt Carslone’s mining
activities.
“Mr Magiel Casper Jovner has reported that Carslone is working
illegally on
12400BM Mangwe on an expired agreement. If the allegations are
correct,
could you stop all mining operations and instruct both parties to
visit this
office for arbitration,” reads Dube’s letter dated July
19.
But on July 29 Police Assistant Inspector Jachi absolved the RBZ of
illegally mining on Jovner’s claims and instead accused the Gweru farmer of
making a false report to the police.
“It is alleged that Migel Casper
Jovner reported a case of illegal mining
against Carslone Enterprises in
that the said company is mining diamonds
without relevant documents from the
Ministry of Mines. This resulted in
police acting upon the information and
arrested persons who were found at
the mining premises. The people arrested
were Carslone Enterprises employees
working at the plant. They were not gold
panners. We cleared them of the
allegations since they were false,” Jachi
wrote in a letter dated July 29.
In his opposing affidavit, Emmanuel Shuro,
the director of Carslone, accused
Jovner of creating statements of
illegality, unlawfulness, trespassing and
harassment.
Shuro said the RBZ
engaged Jovner as a consultant in the diamond mining and
processing venture
and this saved him from being evicted from his farm which
was seized by the
government under the Sour deal exposes RBZ’s diamond
activities
land grab
exercise.
“The presence of the government diamond project at the farm has
made the
government to suspend allocation of the farm to landless people.
That is
what has made applicant (Jovner) stay at the farm. Moreover, we
pleaded with
the Governor of Midlands (Jason Machaya) on his behalf for him
to stay at
the farm since he was the consultant of the project.”
The
diamond processing plant, which Shuro says cost the government US$20
million
to establish, would also process alluvial diamond-bearing ore from
the
central bank’s Somabhula mining projects.
The value of the mined and
processed diamonds could not be ascertained.
Besides mining and processing
diamonds, Carslone has consolidated its
presence in the gold-mining sector
by acquiring closed or struggling mines.
It owns Golden Kopje mine, in
Chinhoyi, among other mines.
Kumbirai Mafunda
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010 18:41
HOUSING
and Social Amenities minister Giles Mutsekwa has failed to evict
former
ministers and civil servants holding onto state properties following
the
lapse of a three-week deadline he set himself to carry out the task.
Mutsekwa
told newspapers, including the Zimbabwe Independent, at the
beginning of
last month that he would evict the former government employees
to make way
for current ministers who have no official accommodation.
This puts into
question Mutsekwa's ability to remove Zanu PF officials
occupying state
houses at a time when President Robert Mugabe is firmly in
charge of the
coalition government.
Serving ministers have resorted to staying in flats in
the Avenues area due
to shortages of official accommodation. Mutsekwa's
MDC-T party formed a
coalition government with Zanu PF and political
observers say Mugabe's party
wields more power than its
counterparts.
Asked this week if he had succeeded in evicting the former
officials,
Mutsekwa was non-committal.
He said he had finished compiling
a comprehensive report of the undeserving
beneficiaries of government
properties but could no longer say when he would
effect evictions.
"I
have all the information at hand now. I now know who is staying where. I
am
now marching towards eviction," Mutsekwa said in an interview on Tuesday.
"I
can't name people still occupying the houses although evictions are
imminent."
Mutsekwa, a former co-Home Affairs minister, is one of the
several cabinet
ministers without official accommodation.
Minister of
State Enterprises and Parastatals Gorden Moyo, Minister of Water
Resources
Samuel Sipepa Nkomo and Minister of Public Works Joel Gabbuza are
living in
a block of flats in the Avenues, Harare's haven for prostitution
and
drugs.
Apart from former ministers, widows of the late vice presidents,
Joseph
Msika, Maria Msika and Maud Muzenda are still occupying government
houses.
Mutsekwa said it was "unAfrican" to evict widows of former
vice-presidents
because they were occupying the properties as a result of
their husbands'
former positions in government.
He said the president,
vice presidents and the prime minister had houses
built for them and their
families would continue benefiting even if one such
leader dies.
"We
don't want to be seen to be evicting widows. It's unAfrican," said
Mutsekwa
who is also renting a house due to lack of official accommodation.
"We
should always respect the leaders even if they are dead."
The minister told
the Independent last month that he would personally evict
the former
ministers while other former top civil servants would be dealt
with by
officers from his office. The houses would then be reallocated after
the
evictions.
It is government policy, according to Mutsekwa, that ministers and
senior
civil servants, especially from outside Harare, get official
accommodation
soon after being appointed.
The cash-strapped government is
splashing US$1 000 in rent for each minister
at a time when former officials
are clinging to the properties.
When they were appointed, ministers from
outside Harare were accommodated in
expensive hotels and were eventually
pushed out as government moved to cut
expenditure.
Almost all MDC
ministers are without official houses, and the Speaker of
Parliament
Lovemore Moyo, an MDC official, is also living in a rented house.
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was only allocated a house in Highlands
after
President Mugabe refused him access to Zimbabwe House. Tsvangirai is
still
living at his family home in Strathaven because the Highlands house is
undergoing renovations.
Brian Chitemba
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010
18:38
CO-HOME Affairs minister Theresa Makone this week vouched for the
police
saying they have turned over a new leaf as opposed to being
partisan.
Her statements are in direct contradiction to what rights groups
and her own
MDC-T party say about the police whom they accuse of continuing
with
selective application of the law.
In an interview with the Zimbabwe
Independent on Wednesday, Makone, an MDC-T
national women’s assembly
chairperson and one of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s closest allies,
defended the police –– a departure from her
party, which has been pushing
for security-sector reforms citing partisan
policing by the police and other
state security agencies.
The MDC-T has accused the police, together with the
Attorney-General’s
Office, of enforcing the law in a partisan manner and has
been angered by
the police’s failure to investigate, arrest and prosecute
known or
identifiable perpetrators of politically-motivated
violence.
Last week the Independent carried a story on the police’s failure
to
investigate close to 200 murders of MDC-T supporters which occurred
between
April 2008 and December of the same year.
The MDC-T said the
culture of impunity by the police had remained intact
despite the signing of
the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which gave birth
to the government of
national unity.
According to the GPA, the state organs and institutions, like
the police,
should not belong to any political party and should be
professional and
impartial in the discharge of their duties. The state
organs should strictly
observe the principle of the rule of law.
This
issue is one of the 24 items which the three political principals said
in
their implementation matrix should be done on a continuous basis.
But Makone
said the issue has been dealt with and the police were now
executing their
duties in a professional manner.
She said: “The wheels of government move
slowly, at a snail’s pace. But I
can assure you that everything has been
looked at and there is no more
hiding behind a finger of someone
powerful.
“As I speak right now everything is being effected – all court
orders are
being implemented, work is being done as the country moves
forward. We are
doing our job.”
Makone went further to say that: “The ZRP
(Zimbabwe Republic Police) is
doing what it was mandated to do.”
She said
this when she was asked what action was being taken to ensure that
cases she
highlighted in a document, which she prepared of cases involving
senior Zanu
PF officials and military officers who have defied High Court
orders, were
dealt with.
Makone circulated the dossier to a senior Home Affairs official
linking top
officials who allegedly looted farms and she asked the official
to find out
why the police had not dealt with the cases.
In July Makone
said the net was closing in on Zanu PF bigwigs and security
chiefs who
allegedly looted white-owned farms during the land reform
programme.
Asked when, where and by whom it was agreed that all court
orders should be
enforced and if her ministry has had discussions with
Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa, Police Commissioner-General Augustine
Chihuri and
Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, Makone said she could not
divulge
specifics, but invited aggrieved people whose court orders were
ignored to
report their matter.
“It is not only the farmers. This applies
to everyone and if there are still
people who are aggrieved, they should
know that the ZRP is now doing its
job,” she said. “We intervene where the
messenger of court, which falls
under the Ministry of Justice, is afraid and
we go and assist. All these
issues have been dealt with.”
Asked why the
police have not investigated the land scandal involving
businessman Phillip
Chiyangwa and Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo,
which was one of
the cases cited in the document, Makone said the matter was
subjudice.
Harare mayor Much Masunda and eight councillors who authored
the report that
exposed the scandal were arrested and arraigned before the
magistrates
courts facing criminal defamation charges.
On April 12 acting
Harare Mayor Charity Bango lodged an official complaint
of corruption
against Chiyangwa and two employees of the city council
(reference number IR
040725/10). On April 15 the acting mayor lodged another
report against
Chombo.
But when told that this newspaper was referring to a report made by
Bango,
which police sources say was not being investigated, Makone advised
the
mayor to sue those not doing their job.
Faith Zaba
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010
18:36
MUZA Fredrick's desperate situation hardly makes him recognisable
as one of
the vanguards of President Robert Mugabe's often violent land
reform that
has seen politically linked chefs enjoying rich pickings.
Now
in his early 30s, Fredrick says he was part of youth corps who were at
the
forefront of evictions that began in 2000, rampaging from farm to farm
to
displace white commercial farmers who were forced to make way for
beneficiaries of the land reform programme.
Today, living on handouts,
Frederick's life has become a daily struggle for
survival at Insingisi Farm
near Bindura, about 80km north-east of Harare.
The returns promised by
politicians who encouraged him in the invasions have
not materialised and he
lives a pauper's life.
Fredrick and his friends say they have been reduced to
casual labourers by
Dick Mafios, the new owner who they helped grab the
farm. He now pays them
US$1,30 a day for occasional jobs.
Mafios, the
Zanu PF provincial chairman for Mashonaland Central, is related
to Youth
Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment minister and MP for
Mount Darwin
South, Saviour Kasukuwere.
Commercial Farmers Union president Deon Theron
said Collin Taylor, the
former owner of Insingisi farm, is now in Zambia
after skipping the country
like most farmers traumatised by the violence
accompanying the farm
invasions.
Fredrick was part of a militia that
invaded the farm in 2000 and stopped
Taylor's labour force from harvesting a
ripening citrus crop meant for
export to make way for Mafios.
"We arrived
in Bindura in 2000 after some politicians approached us and
requested that
we help them grab land from white farmers," said Fredrick,
explaining how he
ended up in his situation. "You know that this was the
time when we started
taking our land and occupying it."
"They said 'boys come and help us take
land from the white farmers' and that
is when we joined in from Mt Darwin in
our hundreds as youths. We were
excited and the promise was that we would
also get pieces of land which we
could farm on," Fredrick told the Zimbabwe
Independent last week, likening
his situation to a hunting dog that is
denied the right to even eat the skin
of its prey.
"As years went by, no
land was given to us until now. If we try to raise our
concerns we are told
that the bosses are also struggling as they don't have
inputs and so forth.
Besides, we will never be taken seriously because the
foreman lives in such
squalid conditions."
The married father of two represents the plight of
thousands of youths and
militant veterans of the liberation war still loyal
to Mugabe who were at
the forefront of the violent campaign, but have turned
destitute after being
dumped by the new owners.
Mafios acknowledged that
his farm workers had no access to clean water, but
denied that youths were
taken from Mt Darwin during the 2000 farm invasions.
He said he suspected
that panners looking for gold along the Mazowe River
were squatting at his
farm.
"My workers usually get water from the borehole, but for the past two
weeks
it had not been working and it's true they had difficulties in
accessing
clean water," he said. "However, we will provide them with clean
water that
we brought in bowsers."
According to research conducted by the
General Agricultural and Plantation
Workers Union of Zimbabwe, youths and
ordinary Zanu PF militia contributed
to most of the violence that
characterised the land reforms at the farms
together with war
veterans.
Thousands of militia, some claiming to be war veterans, went on a
rampage
from 2000 after Mugabe declared his intention to replace white
farmers with
landless blacks in a land revolution whose haphazard execution
left Zimbabwe
a basket case.
They burnt houses and property, assaulted --
at times fatally - farmers and
their workers, looted livestock and
vandalised equipment like irrigation
pipes and tractors. Led by the late
Chenjerai Hunzvi, the war veterans
showed no mercy as they went around farms
chanting slogans and singing
revolutionary songs while wielding axes and
knobkerries, in an exercise that
virtually ground agriculture to a halt
across the country.
Most of the farms have become derelict, as new owners
struggle with finances
and expertise needed to keep production levels
high.
A visit to the once flourishing Mazowe area shows a sad picture of
failure.
Once vibrant agricultural fields are in a sorry state with tall
grass
swamping the wheat crop and citrus trees that used to characterise
this
area.
Farm workers' houses are falling apart because of lack of
maintenance while
sanitation facilities have collapsed. Actual farming is at
a standstill, and
subsistence farming has replaced commercial,
export-oriented agriculture.
"The owner of the farm can't even provide us
with clean drinking water,"
said a resident at one of the farms. "Our
families drink water from an open
source - the Mazowe River which we suspect
has raw sewage that flows from
Glendale residential. We don't have any
running taps, the boreholes are no
longer working. The toilets are worse as
they are in a terrible state."
At Insingisi, like most neighbouring farms,
neglect has taken over. Farm
workers and the youths who used to terrorise
them are wallowing in poverty
induced by lack of productivity.
"The
owner of the farm lends us a bucket of maize meal at US$4,50 which will
then
be deducted from our monthly salaries of US$40," said a farm worker who
refused to be named. "But to be given that bucket of maize meal one should
have worked for at least 20 days. The money is not enough to look after the
families. If we try other alternatives like gold panning we are chased away
by the police. So how do they expect us to survive?"
Another resident
said most of the new farmers had little knowledge of
commercial farming and
were hardly in touch with operations at their farms.
"These are not real
farmers from what we have seen," he said. "They come
from Harare once in a
while and do not take part in the farming. As you can
see, tall grass has
replaced wheat on these lands."
Another resident, Patricia Muremo, said a lot
had changed since the new
farmers settled in.
"People looted and stole
irrigation pipes and farming equipment," she said.
"This has really affected
people like us who were left behind. Now we feel
the pinch, the taps are no
longer working and we don't have clean water to
drink or proper food. We use
the water in this dam to wash our clothes,
bathe ourselves and the children
and also to cook and drink. We are lucky to
have escaped
cholera."
Wongai Zhangazha
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010
15:34
THE Bankers Association of Zimbabwe (Baz) has refused to give in to
salary
demands by bank employees, saying the workers could go ahead with the
industrial action planned for next week because their demands were
unsustainable.
Baz president John Mushayavanhu on Tuesday downplayed the
planned strike by
the Zimbabwe Banks and Allied Workers Union (Zibawu)
despite fears of US$3
million losses in daily deposits and a paralysis of
the economy.
Zibawu, a union representing 5 000 employees in the banking
sector, last
week gave 14 days notice to strike to Baz over an 80% salary
increment
deadlock. The 14-day notice, which excludes Sundays, lapses on
September 9.
"As employers we feel that the salaries that we are offering our
employees
are at par with regional salaries," Mushayavanhu told
businessdigest. "They
can go ahead with the strike because no economy with a
year-on-year
inflation rate of 4,1% can sustain an 80% salary increment. In
fact most
banks are currently overstaffed, so this strike could have minimal
impact."
He said most banks were paying a minimum monthly salary of US$490
that
includes transport and housing allowances, contrary to Zibawu claims
that
the lowest paid employee was earning US$273.
Zibawu president, Peter
Mutasa, however said the countdown to the strike was
still on although
negotiations with the employers' association were ongoing.
When asked to
comment on claims by Baz that the lowest paid employee was
earning US$273
monthly, he said: "What he (Mushayanhu) was saying is not
factual. Most bank
employees do not get housing allowances because they own
their own houses.
The lowest paid is getting US$273 as regulated by the
National Economic
Council."
Banking sources said bank employers and the union met this week and
agreed
on a "14th cheque" for April.
But the two parties reportedly
disagreed on a proposed plan by the employers
association to call for
one-off salary negotiations each year. Zibawu makes
quarterly submissions on
salaries for its constituency. The sources said
should Baz and Zibawu agree
on the new bargaining timeline, the job action
could be averted.
The
workers are demanding an increment backdated to April amid
massive
retrenchments in the banking sector.
Most banks have indicated
various restructuring measures that include job
cuts, reduction in branch
networks and streamlining of operations. Limited
lines of external credit
have seen some of the country's investment banks
such as NDH "surrendering"
operating licences due to depressed business.
Kingdom Financial Holdings,
which this week published its financials, said
lack of credit has seen the
country shifting its hope of sourcing fresh
capital to the mining
industry.
Western governments are demanding full implementation of a
coalition pact
between President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and his
deputy Arthur Mutambara before they commit financial aid
to the Southern
African nation. Zimbabwe requires at least US$10 billion to
fully
resuscitate the economy.
"Zimbabwe's failure to attract
international financial resources since the
formation of the inclusive
government in February 2009 has forced it to look
at its mineral resources,
especially diamonds, as a way of raising the much
needed working capital for
its productive sectors," reads a statement
accompanying the group's interim
financials.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010
14:59
AMONGST some of the positives to come from the economic reforms in
2009 was
the rollout of more mobile phone lines by the three
networks.
The number of people with lines increased enormously from only 14%
of the
estimated 12 million population in 2008 to 40% by March 2010. Prices
of
mobile SIM packs fell substantially from a peak of US$100 to the current
level of US$1.
Concurrently, network coverage within the country has
widened and even the
remotest areas are now covered. Disappointingly, while
the coverage
improved, the quality of services on all the networks went from
bad to
worse. It seemed all the millions pumped in by operators went into
expansion
as the trio fought for market share at the expense of improving
the service.
Incidents in which consumers felt shortchanged by the networks
are plenty.
The rate of dropped calls in the country is probably one of the
highest in
the world. For instance, every subscriber experiences three
dropped calls
each time he tries to make a call. With a billing cycle of one
minute at
first and 30 seconds thereafter, the high rate of failed calls
would mean
more costs for subscribers. Of course the networks were
benefiting a lot
from this distorted billing model as the huge amounts they
splashed out on
extravagant advertisements - billboards, print space,
airtime on radio and
television- bear witness.
Thank goodness the
regulator of telecommunication services in the country;
POTRAZ, eventually
prevailed over mobile service providers and implemented
per-second billing.
September 1 2010, was set as the deadline for all
networks to comply. Simply
put -- per-second billing means that subscribers
only pay for the seconds
they have spent on the phone. This is contrary to
the previous practice
whereby a fixed charge per minute is levied even if
one would have spent a
lesser duration on a call.
NetOne was the first to launch per-second billing
on May 1 2010, a scenario
that should have increased competition in the
marketplace as a fair charging
system typically lures subscribers from other
networks. However, that move
was not much of a benefit because it was only
intra-network and in any case
NetOne has the least number of
subscribers.
The duo of Econet and Telecel has moved to per-second billing
from September
1 with the former splashing out on advertisements of the new
system. In the
build up to its implementation there was a strong rumour that
the networks
would let subscribers choose between per-second and per-minute
billing.
According to that rumour per-second billing was supposed to carry a
premium
above the standard charge. That the pioneer, NetOne, simply divided
the
minute tariff by 60 when it launched in May could have compelled others
to
follow suit as doing otherwise would have been seen as perpetuating the
fleecing of subscribers.
The coming into effect of per-second billing
will undoubtedly change the
landscape of the local mobile industry.
Consumers will obviously benefit
from reduced phone bills. On the other
hand, their minutes of use could go
up, a scenario that is likely to result
in network congestion. There is a
possibility that subscribers could also
reduce the use of text messages
preferring voice over data. Empirical
evidence reveals that the average
minutes of use in countries that have
adopted per-second billing jumped by
20%.
Mobile operators will feel the
full brunt in the form of reduced revenues.
There is substantial evidence
that companies that implement per-second
billing experience a reduction in
both revenues and profitability. This is
because any call below a minute was
previously charged a tariff for a full
minute. For instance, in the past a
five second call between mobile networks
would cost US23c. With per-second
billing the cost will be only US2c.
Ordinarily, people do not spend much
time on social calls with most
conversations being 20 seconds long. Networks
will also lose revenue they
would have got on all dropped calls that were
formerly charged as a full
minute.
Most companies in India which launched
per-second billing in 2009 saw their
combined revenues dipping by 16,7%.
Average revenue per user dipped by
between 5% and 12% when per second
billing was introduced in 2009. EBITDA
margins also dipped at a time when
operational costs remained unchanged. As
a result mobile telecom share
prices in India plunged as investors
downgraded their profitability outlook
of companies. In the six months to 12
November 2009, shares in leading
mobile companies Bharti Airtel, Reliance
Comm and Idea Cellular shed between
62% and 16%. Tata Tele was the only
gainer advancing 17%.
In the light of
that, it will be interesting to see how the Econet share
which has been
wobbling for more than eight months will respond to this new
development.
Interim financial results for August should be good because
per-minute
charging was in place. But future earnings are likely to be
severely
reduced. It's sad news for investors but subscribers will be loving
it, no
doubt.
Kumbirai Makwembere
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010 14:58
TRADING on
the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange opened the week bearish with the key
industrial
index shedding 0,45 points to close at 132,48 points, as interim
financial
results fail to stimulate the local bourse.
Commentaries of companies that
have released results so far say they do not
see the current operating
environment characterised by liquidity challenges,
erratic supplies of
utilities, high cost of finance and shortage of lines of
credit "improving
much" during the second half of the year.
Consequently the selling point for
some of the companies is the future
prospects and assets, making it a
combination of "a future story" backed by
a strong earnings, sales and asset
base.
Natfood fell 10 cents to close at 80 cents, Seed Co slipped from 92,50
cents
to 90 cents as Murray and Roberts dipped two cents to 20 cents. CAFCA
lost a
cent to close at 13 cents and CFI retreated 0,79 cents to trade at
13,20
cents.
The companies, however, said they are confident of achieving
their targets
powered by improved liquidity, low operating costs and
increased margins in
their sales
Losses were countered by gains in
Pretoria Portland Cement Company (PPC)
which rose three cents to 335 cents
as Old Mutual added two cents to close
at 155 cents.
Meikles went up 1,10
cents to close at 27,10 cents, Econet was slightly up
at 466 cents and PGI
advanced 0,10 cents to close at 2,90 cents.
The mining index lost 2,99 points
(2,24%) to close at 130,36 points due to
RioZim which dropped 24 cents to
close at 201 cents. Bindura, Falgold and
Hwange were unchanged at 10 cents,
four cents and 22 cents respectively.
Analysts this week, however said short
term investors were failing to
realise that there was a difference between
a good company and a good
stock, resulting in buying a counter that appeared
cheap. On Tuesday the
industrial index lost a further 1,56 points (1,18%) to
130,92 points. Most
heavyweight counters lost ground as Innscor and PPC were
each two cents
lower at 48 cents and 333 cents respectively.
Interfin was
also down two cents as it settled at 20 cents in the day's
trades. Delta
slipped 1,50 cents to close at 48,50 cents as Barclays shed a
cent to nine
cents.
Heading northwards were Econet which pushed up eight cents to close at
474
cents and Dairibord which inched up 0,61 cents to close at 9,61 cents.
Meikles ended 0,40 cents higher at 27,50 cents and Zimplow added 0,30 cents
to close at 4 cents.
The mining index retreated 2,72 points (2,09%) to
end at 127,64 points as
Hwange shed two cents to close at 20
cents.
Bindura and Falgold were unchanged whilst RioZim added four cents to
close
at 205 cents.
After Tuesday's trade and mixed trading that has
characterised the equities
market over the past two weeks, some analysts
felt it appeared there are
three kinds of investors- those who do not know
where the market is headed
and those who do not know that they do not
know.
The third type of investor is the investment professional, who indeed
knows
that they do not know, but whose livelihood depends upon appearing to
know.
On Wednesday the industrial index gained 1,75 points (1,34%) to close
at
132,67 points. The cement maker Lafarge rose five cents to 100 cents and
Seed Co was up three cents to close at 93 cents.
Border, Econet and
Murray and Roberts rallied 2 cents each to close at 50
cents, 476 cents and
22 cents respectively.
Phoenix led the shakers with a 0,50 cents loss at 2,50
cents as African Sun,
FBCH, Pearl and ZBFH lost 0,20 cents each to trade at
4 cents, 2.80 cents ,
1,80 cents and 5,80 cents in that order.
The mining
index went up 4,64 points (3,64%) to close at 132,28 points due
to Hwange
which added two cents to close at 22 cents and Bindura rose 0,90
cents to
trade at 10,90 cents.
Falgold was unchanged at four cents whilst RioZim
dropped two cents to trade
at 203 cents.
Despite liquidity challenges
currently prevailing in the country more than
5,2 billion shares worth
US$255,5 million changed hands on the local bourse
for the eight months to
August 31, ZSE CEO Emmanuel Munyukwi said this week.
There has been a steady
increase in the volume of shares compared to the
same period last year
largely due to a significant drop in share prices.
Last year between February
19 and December 31, 4,5 billion shares valued at
US$413 976 724 traded on
the local bourse with foreign trades accounting for
35,3% of the
figure.
The indigenisation regulations announced early this year, knocked
down the
market significantly resulting in foreign participation on the
market
declining.
Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010 18:25
I READ with
shame, as a fellow lawyer, the comments attributed to Johannes
Tomana, the
current holder of the office of the Attorney-General (AG), in
the Zimbabwe
Independent last week dismissing an MDC-T document detailing
close to 200
politically-related murders committed during the countdown to
the June 2008
presidential-election run-off.
It reinforced a view held by many that he is
not suitable for the office he
was appointed to and that he has by his
declarations and by his conduct
reinforced the view that his political
affiliation has rendered him unfit
for the office.
When an office such as
that of AG receives complaints of uninvestigated and
unprosecuted cases of
alleged murders, he has a duty to investigate and take
appropriate action
before going to the media describing such a complaint as
“a love
letter”.
It is callous and shameful for anyone to dismiss crimes this serious
with
the kind of contemptuous politically laced language that oozes from the
story that was in the Independent.
I truly hoped that he could and should
have found language and a response
more in keeping with the seriousness,
judiciousness, dignity and
impartiality expected of the holder of his
important office.
It is a fact known to him that none of the deaths listed
have been
investigated and charges laid. It is also a fact that in many of
the cases
the alleged killers and torturers are known and have been named.
What has
not happened is impartial and professional investigation.
In
terms of Section 76 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe the AG shall be
“the
principal advisor to the Government”.
He is specifically excluded from Public
Service membership to give his
office independence. He obviously has many to
convince that he is
independent.
In terms of the constitution, the AG
must take an oath of loyalty and office
which bind him to “…be faithful and
bear true allegiance to Zimbabwe and
observe the laws of Zimbabwe” and to
“well and truly serve Zimbabwe in the
office of Attorney-General”.
This
excludes allegiance to a political party.
In terms of Section 76 (4): “The
Attorney-General shall have power in any
case in which he considers it
desirable so to do… to institute and undertake
criminal proceedings before
any court”. What this gives him is power to
prosecute any case without legal
hindrance.
In terms of Section 76 (4a): “The Attorney-General may require the
Commissioner-General of Police to investigate and report to him on any
matter which, in the Attorney-General’s opinion, relates to any criminal
offence or alleged or suspected criminal offence, and the
Commissioner-General of Police shall comply with that requirement.” (This
goes back to 1989 and was last amended in 2007 by Amendment No 18).
The
AG has routinely refused to exercise this power despite many demands by
lawyers acting for complainants and concerned NGOs.
The case of Tomana’s
refusal to prosecute Jane Mutasa and at the same time
refusing to issue a
certificate which would entitle the complainant to
institute a private
prosecution is a recent example.
As is clear from Section 76 subsection 4(c),
the AG has the power on his own
and in the case of a reasonable complaint, I
submit, he has an obligation to
require the Commissioner-General of the
Police to investigate and report on
any matter of alleged criminal offence.
The Commissioner-General has no
discretion once required by the AG.
It
being clear that the AG has the power and that two years on, victims of
crimes have not seen justice, it is tragic that a complaint as serious as
the one served on the AG triggers a partisan, contemptuous and politically
biased response.
When he spoke as he did, Tomana would have been well
aware of the provisions
of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
When he mocked
the complaints filed by the MDC in respect of the alleged
murders of about
200 people, he too would have been well aware of the above
quoted provisions
of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. It is not a light
decision to seek the AG’s
intervention, because of his publicly avowed
political allegiance, but while
he holds the office of AG, he has a
constitutional duty to abide by the
functions of his office.
In conclusion it must be said that the quoted
responses hardly answer the
complainants in fact or in law. It is hard to
characterise this behaviour
without degenerating into political insults
typical of Zimbabwean politics.
As a professional one can only be embarrassed
to the point of simply
saying –– what a shame! Zimbabwe has sunk very low
over the years, I never
realised how low till I read this sad synopsis of
utterances by the AG. Very
sad indeed!
Bere is a lawyer in Harare and
a member and holder of office in many
organisations. His views in this
article are personal.
Tinoziva Bere
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010
18:24
MUCKRAKER noted with interest reference by a columnist in a recent
edition
of NewsDay to the embourgeoisement of Zimbabwe's military
elite.
This in turn reminded us of an obituary of General Peter Walls who was
deported from the country by the Mugabe regime in its early days of power
following alleged complicity in a plot against the new government.
The
obit pointed out that Walls was so reduced in circumstances in his last
days, occupying a smallholding in the Cape, that his wife had to take up
caring for the elderly in the UK in order for them to make ends meet.
The
obit writer compared the fate of Walls to the wealth of Zimbabwe's
current
generals who own farms and properties which they have acquired as a
result
of their political connections.
One of those who did well because of his
connections was buried at his rural
home over the weekend. While we will not
speak ill of the dead, we need to
remind ourselves of those who abused the
War Victims Compensation Fund to
get rich quick.
Then there were those
who dodged prosecution by joining the Zimbabwe High
Commission staff in
Canada.
Some of us recall the story of a diplomat there who savagely beat his
daughter and, despite claiming diplomatic privilege, was booted out of the
country.
This all comes to mind because Grace Mugabe was quoted as
saying her
brother, Reward Marufu, deserved to be declared a national hero,
while
General Constantine Chiwenga described Marufu as "a gallant soldier
who
respected the core values that define our motherland".
Indeed, he
reminded us exactly what those values are. for many in the ruling
elite.
Marufu was in 1997 arraigned before the Chidyausiku Commission to
testify in
response to charges that he defrauded the War Victims
Compensation Fund. In
his recommendations to the state to charge Marufu for
fraud, Chidyausiku
said the president's brother-in-law had used false
documents to apply for
compensation.
He was promptly posted to Canada as a diplomat.
Back in
Zimbabwe in 2002 he seized Leopard's Vlei, a large-scale commercial
farm
near Glendale, north of Harare, according to a local website.
The writer
of the Herald's Nathaniel Manheru column evidently has little
time for the
custom of not speaking ill of the dead. He had this to say in
reference to
Gibson Sibanda last weekend.
Describing the MDC as a "quisling party", he
said the role the MDC had
played since 1999 "was and remains ignoble and
treacherous".
"It is a role that saw the MDC, led by Sibanda and Tsvangirai,
fighting the
return of the land, taking money from sponsors of Rhodesia
which resisted
and killed those lying at Heroes Acre."
Sibanda didn't try
and take money from the War Victims Compensation Fund. He
didn't beat his
children. He didn't seize farms. He served the cause of
liberation, like
Joshua Nkomo, in the railway trade unions which were the
foundation of the
nationalist struggle.
What contribution to the liberation of this country did
Manheru make?
Marufu, and Hitler Hunzvi who signed Marufu's disability form,
are good
examples of the "heroes" Manheru obviously admires.
We liked
the Herald heading "President Scoffs at land appeals".
Doesn't he scoff at
most things including respect for the rule of law?
Shouldn't he, with regard
to the Sadc Tribunal, be following the advice of
his Namibian colleagues by
demonstrating that Zimbabwe is a country that
allows its citizens to appeal
for justice through the courts? Why should he
be the only person to have
rights?
Let's remind ourselves of what Hage Geingob had to say on the issue
of the
tribunal:
"When the ruling was made from here about the farmers
people were saying
'the Windhoek ruling' as if Windhoek owns the Sadc
Tribunal.
"The court is your court that is based here," he told Sadc
leaders.
"We signed the Sadc Treaty. Zimbabwe signed, and if you sign there
are
obligations that come with signing and we will say this to Zimbabwe, but
diplomatically of course."
So, it seems, Zimbabwe's stance did not go
unchallenged. Are Manheru and
Tafataona Mahoso aware of this?
Mugabe
has also been "scoffing" at advocates of gay rights. He took the
visit of
the wholly unknown Anglican Bishop Walter Roberto Crespo from
Ecuador, to
denounce homosexuality as "dirt" and "filth". President Mugabe
was "revered"
in Ecuador we were told. We wonder how many Ecuadorians have
actually heard
of him?
Present at this celebration of mutual bigotry was none other than
"Archbishop" Nolbert Kunonga, Zanu PF's Anglican agent.
The president's
remarks contrast with those of Rwanda's foreign minister.
She said that her
government will not enact laws which discriminate against
gay
people.
Muckraker noted a few weeks ago that Rwanda had joined the
Commonwealth and
speculated what the government in Kigali might do to annoy
the hell out of
Mugabe.
Now we know.
Speaking on August 4 in London,
Rwandan foreign minister Louise Mushikiwabo
said that "acceptance and
tolerance" were among the basic principles of the
government following the
1994 genocide in which about 800 000 people were
killed within a few
weeks.
"It is not for our government to decide on matters of sexual
preference,"
Mushikiwabo said in answer to a question from ENInews. "Gays
and lesbians in
Rwanda are citizens like anybody else. It is the official
position. We are
on the record as a government that will not discriminate
against anybody for
their sexual preference."
Bishop Richard Holloway,
the former leader of the Scottish Episcopal
(Anglican) Church, who has
publicly supported religious and political rights
for gay people, told
ENInews the statement is "good news".
"Whole societies, as well as religions,
can so easily be taken over" by
extremists, said
Holloway.
Indeed.
Britain, we read, has raised four billion dollars
for its Pakistan relief
fund. This is a noble project given the floods that
have inundated the
country causing widespread misery as crops and livestock
are destroyed.
But has anybody pointed out that the Pakistan government is
unable to assist
its own people because huge sums have been spent on the
country's nuclear
programme?
Nowhere has this been said. Nor has the
salient point been made that
Pakistan's population at Independence from
Britain in 1947 was 34 million.
Today it is 175 million.
The big issue of
this century will be that of people vs resources, not Zanu
PF vs the
MDC!
Only seven weeks ago South Africans were celebrating their
successful
hosting of the World Cup. In particular they were pointing to
their national
example of harmony. Now just a few weeks later they are
engulfed in division
and strife. Newspapers and TV stations have reported
nurses and doctors
being violently evicted from operating theatres while
volunteers, saving the
lives of new-born babies, have been assaulted by
striking workers.
It is not a pretty picture. And newspapers who were only
recently
congratulating their country on a great achievement have been
humbled.
We don't take pleasure -- schadenfreude is the word - in any of
this. But it
does underline the need for media workers to be sceptical of
messages they
are sold, especially when they involve rose-tinted spectacles!
Meanwhile if
South Africa is to avoid Zimbabwe's fate on the media front,
the ANC's
attempts to obscure its career in corruption by introducting a
statutory
media appeals tribunal and Protection of Information Bill need to
be
contested on all fronts.
Cosatu general secretary Zwelenzima Vavi
warned South Africans that: "We are
heading in the direction of a full-blown
predator state in which a powerful,
corrupt and demagogic elite of political
hyenas increasingly controls the
state as a vehicle for
accumulation."
In Zimbabwe, elements in the transitional government are
actively blocking
attempts to promote media freedom in the country, ensuring
that Zimbabweans
are "overfed on government propaganda", a report by
Gender-Links, published
today says.
Describing the country's media
landscape as a "wasteland", the report,
Taking Stock: Southern Africa Media
Progress Study (Zimbabwe), said the
publicly-funded media was not fulfilling
its mandate because of political
interference.
"Zimbabweans remain
overfed on government propaganda," the report says.
"The country's media
wasteland is further demonstrated by the fact that
though Zimbabwe's
constitution guarantees all citizens the right to freedom
of expression and
information the public media is still shackled to
political control, still
enjoys a de facto monopoly of the news market and
presents a narrow
perspective of the Zimbabwean story, in complete violation
of their mandate
to serve all shades of national opinion."
As Unesco today hosts an important
media conference, the first such meeting
since Kariba, we can only agree
with this disturbing conclusion.
The whole nation was given a good laugh
by the lead letter in Tuesday's
Herald. It was headed "Don't use funerals
for politicking" and was signed
"Mwana Wevhu". It should of course have been
signed "hypocrite".
Finally, here's a Confucian thought: A Lion will not
betray his wife but a
Tiger Wood.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010
18:22
SPEAKING at last week’s opening of the 100th Harare Agriculture
Show,
President Robert Mugabe said that “financial support for the
agricultural
sector remains a sore challenge, with limited resources being
availed as
costly agricultural loans”. He continued: “Thus, the need for
properly
planned agricultural financing still calls on all of us to put our
heads
together and come up with appropriate strategies and
solutions.”
The reality is that the creation of viable financing for
agriculture is
almost entirely in the hands of government. That does not
imply that
government must provide the funding (in its bankrupt state it
would be
unable to do so). But the creation of an enabling environment,
which would
make ready access to funding for agriculture possible, lies
firmly and
squarely in government’s hands, and it should not seek to
abdicate its
responsibility to do so by striving to place the onus upon
others. If
government would urgently and constructively modify the
disastrous
agricultural and economic policies which it had myopically
pursued for most
of the past decade, the financing required to ensure a
virile agricultural
sector would progressively become readily
available.
First and foremost, government needs to adjust its land reform
programme and
attendant policies for, more than any other factor, those
policies are the
greatest constraint upon accessing funding for
agriculture. As if it did
not suffice for the state to destructively
expropriate all land in
contemptuous disregard for property rights (in many
instances for
commitments under Bilateral Investment Promotion and
Protection Agreements),
it then speciously claimed to issue 99-year leases
to “new farmers”.
However, whilst several thousands received and accepted
99-year lease offer
letters, to date only an estimated 128 farmers have
actually received
written leases, although great numbers have settled on the
offered land.
Moreover, although the issued leases are stated to last for 99
years,
government retains a right to terminate them upon three months’
notice.
Thus most of the farmers have no written assurances of continuing
occupancy
and usage of the land, and the few that do are at risk of losing
that
occupancy and usage at short notice.
This negative state is markedly
worsened by the fact that the rights of
occupancy and usage, whether
documented by leases or not, are
non-transferable. As a result, the farmers
cannot avail themselves of their
land as collateral security to support
borrowings of the working capital
that is a prerequisite for the productive
usage of the land. This is
catastrophic as, on the one hand, lenders
invariably require security for
funds advanced, and very few of the “new
farmers” have any resources which
they can utilise as security. If
government wishes its land reform to
succeed, it must forthwith issue leases
to all that it has accorded usage of
the land, which leases must endure for
99 years under all circumstances
other than in the event of non-remedied
defaults by the occupant.
In addition, the leases should be freely
transferable and negotiable, save
and except for restriction that the
recipient must not already be a farm
lessor (pursuant to the principle of
“one man, one farm”!). If leases are
properly documented, of genuine
99-year tenure and capable of cession and
transfer, they become tangible
collateral to support borrowings. This gives
the new farmers some
opportunity to obtain desperately needed capital to
fund inputs, operating
costs and, in some instances, essential farm
development and acquisition of
equipment and implements.
While addressing the capital needs of the farmers,
government must make it
possible for the financial sector to obtain the
funding required to service
those needs. Zimbabwe’s money markets are
catastrophically lacking in
resources. To a major extent, the magnitude of
non-availability of funds in
the banks, building societies and other
financial institutions is due to the
constrained state of the economy, and
is intensified by a wideranging
(although mainly unjustified) concern
amongst the populace as to security of
funds placed with those
institutions. As a result many businesses and
individuals are holding funds
in their businesses and homes. However, to an
even greater extent, the lack
of money market funding is due to the
miniscule extent of international
lines of credit, matched by an
insufficiency in foreign investment, and by
the relatively minimal extent of
Zimbabwean export proceeds
generation.
The near-total absence of international lines of credit, and the
low levels
of foreign investment are almost wholly because of the
perceptions, beyond
Zimbabwe’s borders, that security of loans and
investments is limited. That
sense of insecurity is founded upon pronounced
concerns that there is
ongoing political instability, that the economy is
not only adversely
affected by destructive government policies, but also by
grievous
inadequacies in utility service delivery by parastatals and local
authorities. Investment security is endangered by legislation prescribing
mandatory disinvestment to an extent of forfeiture of investment control.
In addition, there are fears of government recourse, yet again, to excessive
economic regulation and control.
Revitalisation of the money market and
hence creation of access to
much-needed working capital for mining,
manufacturing, tourism and the
distributive and service sectors
necessitates that all outstanding issues of
the GPA be unreservedly
implemented. Concurrently, the indigenisation and
economic empowerment
legislation requires substantive amendment, according
investors with a
credible sense of investment security. In addition,
government must
speedily and vigorously pursue its recently reiterated
privatisation intent,
wholly or partially, of parastatals, so as to access
working capital and
technological skills critical for the revitalisation of
the
parastatals.
Of equal urgency is that government ceases its endless berating
of Western
countries, restoring harmonious interactions and relationships
with those
countries. This will facilitate access to much-needed
developmental aid.
Linked to that repair of the impaired relationship of
Zimbabwe with the
international community is the need for Zimbabwe to
acknowledge liabilities
in terms of Bippas.
Government must also swallow
its misplaced pride, seeking debt relief and
rescheduling under the Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries conventions, in order
to address its cripplingly
accumulated debt of more than US$5,7 billion,
thereby restoring access to
funding from the Bretton Woods institutions
including the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010
18:20
BUSINESS Leadership South Africa takes as its departure point that
freedom
of the press is the lifeblood of both markets and democracies and
the free
dissemination of information and debate of opinion are the bedrock
of a free
society.
The media play a key role in democracies of holding to
account all actors in
society, from both the public and private sector,
including business.
It is for this reason that media freedom is enshrined in
the South African
constitution.
Two instruments have been proposed by the
African National Congress (ANC) to
deal with perceived shortcomings of the
media and access to sensitive
information. The media appeals tribunal and
the Protection of Information
Bill.
At present, the tribunal is an idea
proposed in a resolution of the ANC's
Polokwane conference in 2007. The
resolution calls for an investigation of
the establishment of such a
body.
It also directs that the investigation "consider the desirability that
such
a (tribunal) be a statutory institution, established through an open,
public
and transparent process, and be made accountable to
parliament".
The idea of a statutory body, created by law and appointed by
the political
executive raises the prospect of a media answerable to
political bosses.
The necessary tension between media and politics is well
illustrated by the
recent exposure (using leaked documents) by a single
newspaper of British
parliamentary expense abuses.
If that paper were
"answerable to parliament", the exposure may very well
never have
happened.
The balancing of freedom of expression with the rights of both
governments
and citizens is not easy. There are other areas of society where
similar
difficult balances must be struck.
As president Jacob Zuma noted
in his recent weekly letter: "All
institutions, even parliament, have
mechanisms in place to keep them in
check. Almost all professions have
similar mechanisms from teachers to
architects, doctors, engineers,
politicians, lawyers and others."
Indeed, South Africa has a rich tradition
of self-regulation, rather than
statutory regulation. The models of
self-regulation vary. In some cases, the
regulators are appointed by the
industry or profession itself; in others
they are fully independent of the
parties being regulated, as in the case of
the ombudsman for the life
insurance industry.
The press council has the job of ensuring that the print
media abide by a
detailed code of conduct, and offer adequate redress to
parties when
newspapers have not observed this code.
Equally, the
Protection of Information Bill does not have the checks and
balances that
other democracies have in dealing with the question of
sensitive public
information, and the definition of key concepts - such as
the national
interest - is so wide as to allow all tiers of the government
to keep from
public scrutiny any information that they wish.
The government has just
launched a commendable initiative to root out
corruption in the public
sector. However, this cannot and will not be
successful unless it is
subjected to public scrutiny, with the media playing
a central
role.
Business should be, and is, subjected to the same scrutiny as the
public
sector - whether it be for competition offences, unethical behaviour,
corrupt tendering or abuse of black economic empowerment. Business leaders
are just as tempted to avoid scrutiny and are often as angry and frustrated
by poor or inaccurate media coverage.
However, they are no more justified
than their public-sector counterparts in
shooting the messenger.
US
Ambassador to South Africa, Donald Gips, has reminded us of US president
Barack Obama's recent remarks to the Young African Leaders Forum: "One of
the wonderful things about the US is that . there are often times when I get
frustrated, when I think I know more than some of my critics. Yet, we have
institutionalised the notion that those critics have every right to
criticise me, no matter how unreasonable I think they may be."
As
business leaders, we are opposed to media supervision or regulation in
which
the government or parliament is involved. Print media in South Africa,
as is
the case in most industrial democracies, should regulate themselves.
But we
would like to hear the print media acknowledge that they could do a
much
better job of it and make concrete proposals in this regard. Reporting
standards are often poor and the print media's capacity for introspection is
unsatisfactory.
Newspapers seem unaware of the personal damage and pain
that inaccurate
reporting can cause, especially to people who cannot easily
defend
themselves in public.
In South Africa's young democracy, the risks
of the statutory control of the
media seem unacceptably high. We would urge
both politicians and the media
to debate the existing system of
self-regulation and how this could be made
more effective. Precisely to
build on the spirit of national unity evident
during the Fifa World Cup,
this debate needs to clearly affirm the freedoms
enshrined in our
constitution and seek systems of accountability and
responsibility fully
consistent with these freedoms.
The proposed media appeals tribunal and the
excessively restrictive clauses
in the Protection of Information Bill are
not good starting points for this
debate, and they should be withdrawn.
A
second public controversy that has invited the doomsayers back to our
shores
has arisen around disputes in the awards of mining licences. As with
media
regulation, the issues here are complex. The law provides for
different
licences in respect of mineral products. Often the process of
mining does
not. This is a complexity present in all mineral rights
dispensations.
The process of converting old order rights to new order
rights has added to
this complexity and has also imposed a huge
administrative burden on the
Department of Mineral Resources.
The
controversy over the allocation of prospecting rights has undermined the
sense of investment security - not just in mining, but in the country as a
whole.
What is needed in mining, as with all sectors of our economy, is a
clear and
transparent set of rules, applied consistently with disputes
(which are
inevitable) resolved relatively quickly and transparently through
our
courts.
The move of the Department of Mineral Resources to clarify
the law, and also
review administrative processes will, with full industry
and stakeholder
involvement, move us in this direction.
All countries
face the problem of avoiding, detecting, exposing and
punishing corruption
all the time. Corruption is a cancer that undermines
public morality and
destroys the competence of and confidence in public
institutions. Corruption
begins when citizens - individual and corporate -
offer to reward political
interference in public administration.
There is much that governments can and
must do to prevent this.
However, an at least equal responsibility rests on
the shoulders of citizens
not to seek such influence.
l Spicer is CEO and
Godsell is chairman of Business Leadership SA. --
Business Day.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010 18:17
NEXT week by
September 8 most of Zimbabwe’s next generation will have
started the final
school term of the year. For a good number of parents that
may have managed
to make enough savings to, at least, pay part of the School
Development
Association/Committee levies, it should be a family affair. But
for those
who have not managed, it will be a negotiated or highly indebted
affair.
For this, the reasons will be many. The national salary scales
for civil
servants would be the most prevalent, while other reasons may put
the blame
on irresponsible parenthood and an increasing lack of
family/social values.
The key matter however is that the education system in
Zimbabwe is still on
the verge of total collapse. And the government is
being dishonest about
handling this serious national problem.
The
responsible ministers in the inclusive government will probably avoid
blame
and point to the downturn of the national economy in the last 10 years
as a
primary cause for the chaotic nature of our education system. They
will —as
they have done in some instances — argue that indeed the situation
is better
than what was obtaining by 2007 with students being turned away
from
schools. This may be true enough but that was only symptomatic of the
real
cause of the problem which was and still remains the lack of a coherent
and
a welfarist government national education policy.
Policy documents that the
ministries of Education, Higher and Tertiary
Education or even the Ministry
of Science and Technology have do not point
to the fundamental importance of
government ensuring education for all.
Instead, the template that they have
returned to is one that was arrived at
under the auspices of various
ministers of Finance as well as Education
between the years 1990 and 2006.
These templates essentially pointed to
state disinvestment from education in
favour of privatised education.
The current responsible ministries have
decided that a return to the past is
their panacea to our education problem.
Their keenness on outsourcing the
education of the country’s children to
School Development Associations or
semi-private college/university boards,
which are in and of themselves a
form of both commercialisation as well as
privatisation of our education
system, is astonishing.
Had it been that
this was permitted where mainly the affluent of society
sought to set up
private school associations and committees, it would be
well and good. The
difference is that it has begun to affect all sectors of
society to the
extent that it is increasingly strangling access to education
for Zimbabwe’s
next generation, especially for those that come from
marginalised or poorer
components of our society. And the ministries
responsible no longer
question either the political legitimacy or public
acceptance of the process
of this hidden privatisation of the right to
education that is implied in
progressive international treaties that are
domestically ratified by our
parliament.
There are now so many incidents and stories of children dropping
out of
early secondary level education due to the intransigence of SDAs and
Ministry of Education officials. Many job application curriculum vitaes end
at either only a grade seven or form two formal educational qualification.
Where they advance further it is at great expense to the parent/taxpayer
with minimal, if any, state input. Where the government has reverted to the
Basic Education Assistance Model (Beam), the resources placed there have
been sparse even for the orphaned as had been originally intended.
In
state-owned higher education institutions such as the polytechnic,
teacher
training colleges and universities, the focus on the pocket of the
parent is
now glaringly apparent. The administrations of these ostensibly
government-owned institutions have decided to literary milk the academic
ambitions of many young minds with impunity. It borders on emotional
blackmail to charge an average of US$600 in academic fees for college
students, many of whom come from the lower income bracket of our
society.
Some may argue that indeed the SDA and the pocket of the parent must
always
be seen to be playing a greater role in the education of children.
This
would be fine were Zimbabwe a stable society. What is being missed by
many
in government, civil society and SDAs is that a country without a firm
education system that is grounded in the principle of access for all, will
remain patently unequal and exploited. It will also border on not having a
clear plan for generations to come.
The point is not to have the state
declaring every student its own. It is
instead imperative that the state
provide for education across all levels,
especially in the midst of the
breakdown of the education system. Those
parents that can afford to pay the
exorbitant fees of the SDAs or the truly
private schools may retain their
option of doing so. Those that cannot
should not be left to chance because
if they are, they will take the easier
route which is to take their children
out of school and send them to the
mining fields of Chiadzwa or
elsewhere.
The relevant ministries that deal with our education system, in
tandem with
parliament, need to declare that all education, at least up to
the initial
tertiary level, is free. They need to reassess the methodology
of teaching
and resource availability at all state-owned educational
institutions and
desist from over politicising a matter that will affect our
country’s next
generation. It’s not only about past mistakes; it is about
the future of the
country.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03
September 2010 18:33
THE increase in the price of bread over the past
week reflects the way
Zimbabwe is falling into line with international
developments on the world
market. By responding to developments in Russia,
where about a third of that
country's wheat crop was wiped out by the worst
drought in a century,
Zimbabwean millers and bakers have illustrated that
Zimbabwe does not exist
in a vacuum, but conforms to international trends,
contrary to the "let me
keep my Zimbabwe" mantra.
Russia, the major
exporter of the grain, is selling only limited quantities
to prevent
inflation and ensure supplies for its citizens and livestock. The
ban and
drought in the neighbouring Black Sea region countries, Ukraine and
Kazakhstan, sent wheat prices to a two-year high of nearly US$8 a bushel,
from just about US$4,50 in early June. The drought is a temporary phenomenon
whose end should see the prices easing, in a normal economy.
However, the
behaviour of the bakers and millers fell short of international
standards
when they seemed to mimic the dreaded and despised price cartels
that have
in the past been accused of influencing increases in prices of
basic
commodities, which invariably play a big role in pushing up the food
price
index, one of the indicators in determining inflation.
By ganging up against
consumers to announce the bread price increase,
players in the industry
exhibited some kind of oligopoly that is not
acceptable in liberalised
economies where business entities are supposed to
compete. Their behaviour
gives the impression that bakers and millers in the
country have similar
production costs and therefore an increase in the price
of flour justifies
connivance. It is common cause that business executives
are able to
manipulate their cost structures so that they remain on top of
the game in
the dog-eat-dog world of business.
Although the National Incomes and Pricing
Commission has already raised
concern about the possible manipulation of the
effects of the Russian
factor, it is surprising that the Competition and
Tariffs Commission has
said nothing on the issue. Although the commission
has done a good job on
entities such as Zesa, which stood accused of
fleecing its customers, it
should act swiftly in investigating such
bread-and-butter issues as this
oligopoly. If indeed it was necessary to
increase the price, consumers
should have seen a struggle for market
domination through the implementation
of different cost structures.
If
the competition commission does not send a clear message to the business
community, this trend is likely to be repeated in other sectors such as
those dealing in oil products, where the price fluctuates. It is the duty of
these commissions to protect the public from abuse and ensure that where
business people use international events to justify price increases, the
same should apply when the international prices drop. Zimbabweans will not
forget that bakers used the Russian drought as an excuse for increasing
prices. When the situation stabilises in Russia, they will expect the price
to go down and this should apply to all like-minded entrepreneurs.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010
18:32
LOOKING at the country's indigenisation policy, especially the
Indigenisation and Empowerment Act, leaves one with a feeling of having
experienced déjà vu of some sort. It is an Act that aims to put into effect
a policy which on the surface sounds good, but the goodness is only in the
sound as the implementation would expose what the actual aim was in the
first place.
Post-Independence Zimbabwe has witnessed a number of
high-sounding policies
which have been used as window-dressing by
politicians and those in high
places to grab material benefits from ordinary
Zimbabweans, who should be
the beneficiaries.
War veterans would bear
testimony to this after the War Victims Compensation
Fund only benefited the
chefs, the Low Income Housing Fund was used to build
mansions for top
politicians and civil servants and at the turn of the
century the "land
hungry" peasants were used to drive away commercial
farmers, making way for
the chefs who now occupy the most fertile land.
Most peasants are yet to
reach the promised land, yet others are already
enjoying the benefits. The
same administration which promulgated these
policies and laws came up with
the Indigenisation and Empowerment Act which,
given the trend since
Independence, would, without doubt, benefit only a few
chefs.
There are a
number of issues which the Act raises, especially after the
gazetting of the
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment (General)
Regulations earlier this
year. One question is who qualifies to be an
indigenous Zimbabwean?
According to the Act, an indigenous Zimbabwean is
defined as: "any person
who, before the 18th April, 1980, was disadvantaged
by unfair discrimination
on the grounds of his or her race, and any
descendent of such person, and
includes any company, association, syndicate
or partnership of which
indigenous Zimbabweans form the majority of the
members or hold the
controlling interest."
If you do not fit this grid and you have a company
capitalised above US$500
000, then be prepared to lose more than half (51%)
of the stake to those who
were previously disadvantaged.
Apart from the
semantics of disposing, ceding or selling, if one looks at it
from the point
of view of those who are supposed to benefit, it is clear
that the majority
are not in a position to buy any stake. Zimbabwe has no
solid middle class
with the capacity to purchase such companies. Civil
servants usually
constitute the middle class of a nation but in Zimbabwe
they have been
reduced to levels lower than shop floor factory workers in
terms of
salaries. Thus, if these regulations are implemented, a legitimate
question
has to be asked: Who will buy? And one need not be a business
studies
professor to see that it is a very small clique which benefited from
the
deregulation of the economy in the 1990s and the mad quasi-fiscal
intervention of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe between 2004 and 2008. It would
be another public policy for private gain. Already the sharks are smelling
blood and the Kingdom Meikles saga has presented an ominous rehearsal of
what is likely to happen as the politicians take a political position and
then struggle to stretch the country's laws to justify such actions. Which
other company is going to face the same fate we wonder?
It is clear that
the indigenisation of the economy, something that has been
on the lips of
the administration for so long, means nothing more than
legitimising the
reaping of assets by a clique which has been getting the
biggest share of
the post-Independence cake. There have been amendments to
the regulations
since February this year but this has been a mere fig leaf
as what people
want is a transparent implementation of the policy. This
would address
issues of who qualifies to be indigenous, what percentage has
to be
disposed, what is in store for the communities and who is going to buy
the
stakes?
As it stands, policy makers have been the major beneficiaries of
various
policies in post-Independent Zimbabwe, and the indigenisation policy
could
be joining the growing list. It needs to be cleansed from such
manipulation
through establishing respected bodies to deal with all issues
which are
likely to arise. Zimbabweans have been taken for granted for too
long and
they want an assurance that the policy will benefit them and not
those
simply well-connected.
As it stands, there is every reason to take
these regulations as nothing
more than another strategy to further enrich
the chefs and the fat cats who
have been plundering the country at
tremendous cost to national development.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 03 September 2010
18:27
IT is a hard feeling to think of coalition government partners as
Zimbabwe’s
most dishonest citizens.
These are three men who run the
affairs of the country. The fortunes of
millions of Zimbabweans depend on
their goodwill. Yet events time and again
force back the view that indeed
these men are more economic with the truth
than some of the citizens
spending time in the hell that Zimbabwe’s jails
have become.
The Sadc
heads of state summit that ended in Namibia last month is a case in
point.
Both President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s parties
celebrated the breakthrough when mediator Jacob Zuma
tabled a report showing
that they had agreed to 24 of the 27 disputed
issues. A 30-day
implementation matrix to give effect to the agreements was
the supposed
panacea.
“We would like to express our gratitude to the
leadership of Sadc, the
vision of the facilitator and the Sadc secretariat,”
was MDC-T
secretary-general Tendai Biti’s response to the Sadc resolutions
on
Zimbabwe. “The people of Zimbabwe have long suffered and quest for real
change. The Sadc roadmap is an excellent foundational stone towards the
fulfillment of this vision,”
Mugabe’s party expressed similar hope that
Sadc had finally unlocked the
logjam.
Weeks after the summit, and with no
movement to show implementation of any
of the agreed positions, the parties
have changed their tune. Before the ink
on the Sadc resolutions has dried,
signs are that the implementation matrix
will not get serious
attention.
Tsvangirai is disputing that he agreed to contents of a letter he
is
supposedly party to and on whose basis Zuma compiled his report. He
rejects
the contention that the text binds him to an agreement that ties the
appointment of multi-party provincial governors to the lifting of sanctions.
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, who penned the disputed letter on
behalf of the three principals insists the premier did see a copy of the
letter and agreed to the provisions.
Mugabe, on his side, has told his
party members he will not give in to any
further power-sharing concessions
before the lifting of sanctions imposed on
his family, and political and
business associates by Western countries.
“As Zanu PF we have no intention of
reneging on
our commitment to the GPA. But as you all
know, we have a
resolution passed at the 2009 congress which says the party
must not move an
inch until sanctions are removed. Sanctions should go
before we discuss the
issue of governors,” Mugabe told members of his
central committee, barely a
week after the Sadc summit.
So Zuma’s report is out of the window. It was all
a farce to excite
Zimbabweans and regional leaders about agreements which in
essence are
non-existent. Zimbabweans, aware that continued power-sharing
disputes are
dragging their lives down, are not sure who to believe. The
cost of this
bickering to the economy is staggering.
Unlike the
politicians, the economy does not lie. Jobs are being lost.
Financial
institutions, including the central bank, have shown the most
visible
appetite for retrenchments. The political environment should be
stable and
predictable for them to attract foreign money and grow the larger
economy.
Banks’ financial statements for the half-year ending June 30
reveal the
margin of this cost. The economy, which promised recovery in
response to the
early confidence ushered by the formation of the coalition
administration,
is grinding to a halt because government has become
moribund.
Investors are still waiting on the edge, uncertain about how the
unstable
politics might affect their money if they dash in.
“Many
companies are still faced with a number of viability challenges. The
country
is struggling to shake off the international perception on Zimbabwe’s
perceived risk profile. The country’s inability to tap into the global
capital markets for the much needed external lines of credit means that a
sizeable number of companies have been deprived of the much-needed long-term
funding for retooling purposes,” said BancABC in its 2010 first-half
report.
“As a result, the local industries have struggled to increase their
capacity
utilisation beyond the prevailing levels of 30-40%,” said
BancABC.
These are the harsh realities that coalition government principals
have
chosen to ignore. An election is not on the horizon, at least not next
year
despite public posturing by both Mugabe and Tsvangirai. What it means:
Zimbabwe is stuck with this crop of lying leaders for a
while.
Farai Mutsaka