http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Friday, 04 September
2009 13:43
EMBATTLED business mogul Mutumwa Mawere has engaged former
Zambian and
South African presidents - Kenneth Kaunda and Thabo Mbeki
respectively - to
negotiate with government for the return of his seized
companies.
The South African-based Mawere lost his
companies to government in
2004 when his SMM Holdings (Pvt) Ltd was placed
under reconstruction for
indebtedness to the state, amid allegations that
the tycoon spirited huge
sums of foreign currency out of the
country.
Since then Mawere has been battling to regain the
companies that had
interests in the mining, petroleum, telecommunications
and agricultural
sectors.
Talks between Mawere and government
that commenced in May have since
collapsed after Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa, Defence minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa and SMM administrator Arafas
Gwaradzimba prevailed over
central bank governor Gideon Gono's earlier
advice to President Robert
Mugabe to return the firms to the
tycoon.
The Chinamasa group insisted that Mugabe and Gono
should not interfere
with court processes as "it will set a bad precedent".
Mawere had several
court cases against government in Zimbabwe and
abroad.
The collapse of the negotiations, impeccable sources said,
prompted
Mawere to engage Kaunda and Mbeki to negotiate for the return of
the firms,
amid reports that the Chinamasa camp had vowed that he would not
get his
assets back.
Kaunda, the sources said, had since met
Mugabe over the Mawere saga.
"Mawere has asked Kaunda and Mbeki
to engage Mugabe for the return of
his companies," one of the sources said.
"Kaunda met the president last
month when he came to Harare to pay his
respects for the late Vice-
President (Joseph) Msika."
The
sources said the Chinamasa group met on Wednesday and vowed to
resist any
future moves, even by Mugabe, to give back the companies to
Mawere.
Gono wrote an advisory note to Mugabe on May 14,
urging him and
government to return Mawere's assets in the "spirit of the
inclusive
government and reconciliation".
The central bank
boss said charges against Mawere must be dropped and
his companies returned
because government had acted improperly during their
seizure.
He said although he was aware the issues were
before the courts, a
negotiated settlement could be a better way to resolve
the dispute.
Gono has since withdrawn the note after "vital
consultations" with
Mugabe, Chinamasa and Gwaradzimba in June and decided
that he "had no other
role to play in the case".
In
documents lodged with the Supreme Court last month in the
possession of the
Zimbabwe Independent, Chinamasa insisted that there were
no talks between
government and Mawere, although he claimed that the
businessman had "made
contacts with certain people in responsible positions
including some
ministers, particularly from the MDC-T and MDC-M", to lobby
for the
deferment of cases related to the reconstruction of SMM.
Chinamasa said Mawere had "manipulated" Gono by giving him "selected
material, information and data, half truths and lies, basically in order to
lobby the governor like he has done with others" to support the return of
his companies.
"The governor formed a view, albeit
ill-informed, by Mr Mawere, at the
time, and without having had audience
neither with me nor with the
administrator," read Chinamasa's notice of
opposition filed with the Supreme
Court on August 21. "When the governor had
the benefit of my views and
indeed then administrator he was better
informed.In any event, any views
that the government would hold including
his advice, would simply be his
opinion of the time and no more. The
governor's mandate would not extend to
such matters, which are the domain of
me as minister responsible."
In his answering affidavit, Mawere
denied meeting ministers from both
formations of the MDC and Gono, but
confirmed he met Mugabe on May 10 at the
Sheraton Hotel in
Pretoria.
The meeting, he said, was a follow up to a discussion
he had with the
president the previous day at South African President Jacob
Zuma's
inauguration and was requested by Mugabe to brief him about the
details and
circumstances leading to the reconstruction of SMM and his
specification.
Mawere said he gave Mugabe the pertinent
information and was informed
that the president's officials would get in
touch with him to expeditiously
deal with the matter.
The
tycoon said Gono became his government point man and on several
occasions he
communicated through cellphone short message service (sms) on
the progress
of the negotiations.
The sms are part of Mawere's answering
affidavit and reveal that Gono
briefed the businessman of all meetings he
held with Mugabe, Chinamasa and
Mnangagwa.
Gono in the sms
promised to fight in Mawere's corner and assured him
that Mugabe was also on
his side.
"It was Dr Gono who showed concern about the reconstruction
of SMM and
my specification and that it is also a concern of His Excellency
the
president that I was unfairly treated," Mawere said. "According to Dr
Gono,
the respondent (Chinamasa) had fears that any attempt to interfere
with
court processes would set a bad precedent against other persecuted
people
such as (Roy) Bennett, Jestina Mukoko and others. From this
statement, it is
clear that the reconstruction is a political and not legal
issue as the
respondent would like this honourable (court) to
believe."
Mawere said until his meeting with Mugabe, he had
assumed that the
president was at the centre of his harassment, "but it
becomes very clear
that when the respondent (Chinamasa) is making reference
to the government
of Zimbabwe he is in fact limiting the players to a
selected few with him
playing a central and pivotal role in this
matter".
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Friday, 04 September 2009
13:23
JUSTICE Minister Patrick Chinamasa misled the public this week
when he
announced that Zimbabwe had pulled out of the Sadc Tribunal arguing
that the
panel was not properly constituted and therefore illegal, Zimbabwe
Lawyers
For Human Rights (ZLHR) have said.
The lawyers said
Chinamasa misinformed the public that the Tribunal
was illegal and not
properly constituted because it was not ratified by
two-thirds of Sadc
members.
ZLHR argues that Chinamasa's interpretation is
wide of the mark
because the Articles he was relying on have been
repealed.
Articles 35 and 38 of the Tribunal Protocol have both
been repealed by
an amendment to the Sadc Treaty. Article 16 repealed
Articles 35 and 38 and
overrides Article 22 of the Treaty which deals in
part with the need to
have ratification by two-thirds of Sadc
members.
"What Honourable Chinamasa fails and/or neglects to
mention or address
is the fact that, in 2001, the Sadc Treaty was amended so
as to make the
Sadc Tribunal an integral part of both the Treaty and the
Institution of
Sadc. The said amendment to the Sadc Treaty spcifically
established the Sadc
Tribunal and incorporated it into Sadc as an integral
organ. The amendment
went on to refer to the Tribunal Protocol and
categorically excluded it from
the usual requirement for ratification by
two-thirds before it could come
into force and effect," ZLHR
said.
ZLHR added: "Honourable Chinamasa and/or his legal
advisors neglected
or failed to appreciate that these requirements for
ratification were thus
made redundant by the Sadc agreement on the Amendment
to the Protocol at
their meeting in Luanda, Angola, on 3 October
2002.
"Sadc member states' heads of state and government and/or
their duly
authorised representatives agreed that it was not necessary to
ratify the
protocol and appended their signatures to this agreement. In
fact, the
minister's colleague and counterpart, Stanislus Mudenge agreed and
signed
this amendment on behalf of Zimbabwe."
The Tribunal
ruled in November last year that the chaotic land
seizures were
discriminatory, racist and illegal under the Sadc Treaty.
The
regional court ordered Harare not to evict the 78 farmers and that
it pays
full compensation to those it had already forced off farms.
President Robert Mugabe has publicly dismissed the ruling, while his
supporters defied the court order by continuing to seize more land from the
few white farmers remaining in Zimbabwe.
ZLHR says contrary
to Chinamasa's claims, the Tribunal is a creation
of the Declaration Treaty
and did not "owe its existence to the ratification
of the Tribunal
Protocol".
"It is clear from the above provisions of the Sadc
Treaty that, while
all other protocols require ratification by two-thirds of
Sadc member
states, the same rule does not apply to the protocol relating to
the
Tribunal.
"This was knowingly agreed to by Sadc member
states and, in fact, they
believe they found this Tribunal to be so critical
to the protection of the
objectives and workings of Sadc that they
knowingly, intentionally and
willingly did away with the need for
ratification by two thirds of the Sadc
member states," ZLHR
said.
The lawyers questioned why Zimbabwe seconded Justice
Antonia Guvava to
sit as a judge on the Sadc Tribunal if it had been
illegal.
Chris Muronzi
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Friday, 04 September 2009
13:16
THE Sadc Summit to be held next week in the Democratic Republic
of
Congo (DRC) has a difficult task in convincing President Robert Mugabe
and
Morgan Tsvangirai to bring to finality the outstanding issues
threatening
the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
The
14-member bloc is increasingly coming under pressure to resolve
the
stalemate between Zanu PF and Tsvangirai's MDC, with calls for Sadc to
be
firm in pressing Zimbabwe to implement what they agreed on last
September.
Sources in the MDC-T said while some progress
has been made, there
were serious issues threatening the stability of the
inclusive government.
Tsvangirai's MDC formation wants Sadc to
ensure the full
implementation of the GPA and to see key issues outlined in
the January 27
Pretoria Sadc summit communiqué resolved. (See page 7 for
full communiqué.)
These unresolved issues, they said, were
related to the appointments
of the provincial governors, Governor of the
Reserve Bank and
Attorney-General, the swearing-in of deputy Agriculture
minister Roy
Bennett, and the arrests of MDC-T legislators.
However, Zanu PF is maintaining that it is the MDC which has in fact
not
fulfilled key elements agreed to under the GPA.
Zanu PF is
accusing MDC-T of not doing anything to address the removal
of sanctions
against Zimbabwe and to stop the beaming of anti-Zimbabwe
messages by
"pirate" radio station.
Presidential spokesperson George
Charamba was quoted in the state
media saying sanctions were the greatest
threat to the survival of the
inclusive government and that President Mugabe
would draw the summit's
attention to the issue.
Meanwhile,
head of a five-member delegation of the United States
Congress, Congressman
Gregory Meeks of the 6th District of New York told the
Zimbabwe Independent
that the removal of sanctions would depend on the
commitment of all the
parties to fulfilling the GPA.
"Outright human rights
violations and other things - there has to be
something that can show that
there is going to be a change. I believe that
the first thing that has to
happen is that everybody, both sides, have to
live up to their agreements
with the Global Political Agreement," Meeks
said.
"Show us
that you can live up to that agreement and then that tells
me that maybe we
should change our policies because there is a difference.
But if you can't
even live up to that agreement, how can I convince my
colleagues to change
the policies?" he said.
The delegation was in Zimbabwe for a
two-day visit during which they
met Tsvangirai, Mugabe, Speaker of
Parliament Lovemore Moyo and the
co-chairpersons of the Parliamentary Select
Committee on the Constitution.
The Sadc summit of January26-27
resolved amongst other issues that the
equitable distribution of ministerial
posts would be reviewed after six
months.
MDC-T wants this
review to be part of the summit in Kinshasa.
The review might
see government ministries being reallocated if Sadc
leaders adhere to its
resolution.
The MDC-T source said: "The MDC is expecting that
the review process
will be part of the next Sadc summit agenda in Kinshasa
and the MDC
president plans to attend the summit with his
delegation."
Tsvangirai is expected, the source said, to make a
separate submission
for consideration of the Sadc chairman, South African
government and the
summit regarding the need for the review of equitable
distribution of
ministerial posts.
The inclusive
government, the sources said, has also had problems
related to
interpretation of certain sections of the GPA, accusing other
parties of
implementing it in bad faith.
MDC-T will bring to the attention
of Sadc the unprocedural alterations
to the final Act of Constitutional
Amendment 19.
The Act signed into law, the sources said,
differed significantly from
the Bill assented to by parliament, thereby
rendering it null and void.
On the appointments of the
provincial governors, Reserve Bank governor
and Attorney-General, the MDC
sources said these were done in violation of
the Memorandum of
Understanding.
These, the sources said, were not reviewed as
outlined in the Sadc
Communiqué of January 27.
The MDC-T
now wants the posts of Governor of the Reserve Bank and
Attorney-General to
be declared vacant and subsequently filled in line with
article 20.1.3 (p)
of the GPA, which states that the president has to make
such key
appointments in consultation with the Prime Minister.
On the
provincial governors, MDC-T wants the five people it chose to
be sworn in
this month and it is also demanding that Bennett be sworn in
immediately.
It also wants the issue regarding the mandate
of the Ministry of
Information Technology, whose communication department
was taken away, to be
addressed by the summit.
"The
chairing of Cabinet in the absence of President Mugabe is clearly
outlined
in the GPA but Zanu PF continues to subvert this issue. There is
also
continued abuse of the law and selective application of the rule of
law,"
said one source.
Meanwhile, Africa director at Human Rights
Watch Georgette Gagnon said
Southern African leaders should stop looking at
Zimbabwe through
"rose-coloured glasses".
"The region's
leaders need to press Zimbabwe openly and publicly for
human rights reforms
to prevent the country from backsliding into
state-sponsored violence and
chaos.
Faith Zaba
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Friday, 04 September 2009
13:12
ZANU PF is still to submit a list of chairpersons for the
constitutional thematic committees, a move which is seen as a deliberate
effort to further delay the constitution-making process.
The
parliamentary select committee on the constitution has had to
postpone seven
times the announcement of 17 chairpersons for the thematic
committees
because Zanu PF factions are fighting over control of the
process.
MDC-T president Morgan Tsvangirai on Tuesday
bemoaned deliberate moves
to delay the constitution-making process, which
was supposed to be completed
in 18 months from April this
year.
"Equally problematic is the deliberately slow pace of
progress on the
implementation of key issues connected to human rights and
the rule of law.
This includes the self-evidently deliberate
stalement on the
constitutional reform process, as well as the slow pace of
media reform,"
said Tsvangirai at a press conference marking the first
anniversary of the
Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed last
September.
Impeccable sources in Zanu PF have revealed that the
selection of
chairpersons has been hampered by factionalism in the party,
with all the
factions trying to make sure that they have more people
chairing the
committees. There are three camps in Zanu PF - one with
President Robert
Mugabe's loyalists and the other two battling for
succession led by retired
army general Solomon Mujuru and Defence minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa.
"People were chosen at a caucus meeting
democratically, but that
process has been spurned by some senior officials.
The factions are fighting
over control of the process, so we just have to
wait and see who wins in the
end," said the official.
MDC-T
co-chairperson of the select committee Douglas Mwonzora
confirmed to the
Zimbabwe Independent that the names that had initially been
submitted were
withdrawn by the Zanu PF politburo.
He said Zanu PF has had its
deadline extended three times now - first
to August 21 and then to Wednesday
and now to today.
Mwonzora said Zanu PF's co-chairperson Paul
Mangwana has promised to
submit the list next week.
The
chairmanships of the 17 thematic committees have been shared
between the
three political parties represented in parliament, Zanu PF and
the two MDC
formations as well as traditional leaders.
Zanu PF and MDC-T
would each chair seven committees, while the Arthur
Mutambara-led MDC will
chair two and one traditional leader will chair the
remaining
committee.
"It is now the seventh time that we have had to
postpone the
announcement of the chairpersons because names from Zanu PF
have not come.
They have been giving a number of explanations for the
delay," Mwonzora
said. "Political parties must realise that they are not
alone in the project
and they must be seen to be taking their colleagues
seriously. It is
important that we move together in this project as
Zimbabweans," he said.
Mwonzora said even though they had
completed their work plan, they
were unable to proceed because of lack of
funds.
They need US$4,2 million for the outreach programmes and
this includes
funds to hire 165 cars for select committee members and 860
teams across the
country.
Government has only disbursed
US$350 000, which was used for the
stakeholders' conference in
July.
"Regarding the support of government in the provision of
resources,
the select committee is extremely unhappy. Firstly, there is no
clear
provision in the budget for the select committee to work and secondly,
we
have not received any material support from central government," Mwonzora
said. "It is important to note that the select committee regards government
as its principal funder and provider of material resources. Where the
government finds money is entirely up to it, but it should not ask the
select committee to indirectly fund the project."
Through
the provision of funds, Mwonzora said the government would
allow the
committee to meet the timelines outlined in the GPA.
Citing
budgetary constraints and disagreements among the parties,
Mangwana has said
the process might end in 2013, in time for the general
elections.
Turning to the sticky Kariba draft as a basis
for the
constitution-making process, Mwonzora said they have devised a way
around
it.
"Kariba draft is not an issue in the outreach
programme. We are agreed
that the outreach programme must not be converted
into a referendum over the
Kariba draft. We are working on a questionnaire
or talking points to get
objective responses. It is undesirable for us to
reveal the source of these
questions," he said.
Mwonzora
pointed out that they would not be discussing the reasons
they chose that
particular source to come up with the questions.
He, however,
said the three principals were free to interrogate the
select committee on
the route they have chosen.
Mwonzora said there was need for a
clear reporting structure for the
select committee because the GPA is silent
on who they should report to.
"Granted that the select
committee is coming from parliament, it is
answerable to the parliament
administration headed by the Speaker. But given
its creation, the select
committee must be treated as a committee sui
generis, which must inevitably
interface with the principals," he said.
Faith Zaba
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Friday, 04 September 2009
12:48
SUPPORT for President Robert Mugabe has plunged since the
formation of
a unity government six months ago, according to two polls, the
results of
which have only now been revealed.
Less than 10% of
adults would vote for him or Zanu PF if elections
were held now, the surveys
suggests.
Mugabe has lost 20% of his support since the
March 2008 elections in
which Morgan Tsvangirai beat him.
However, after a campaign of Zanu PF violence, Tsvangirai was forced
to
withdraw from a presidential run-off and Mugabe won the one-man race and
was
sworn into five more years in office.
But Sadc persuaded the
two to form a unity government.
Information leaked from the
results of two recent public opinion
surveys shows that Mugabe's Zanu PF
would be reduced to a small opposition
party if elections were held
now.
A survey conducted by the Mass Public Opinion Institute
(MPOI), which
accurately predicted election results over the past 10 years,
sent
interviewers for the first time deep into Mugabe's rural
strongholds.
A second survey, commissioned a month later in
May, confirmed the
results.
Eldred Masunungure, director of
the MPOI, and a senior lecturer at the
University of Zimbabwe, said he could
not comment on the findings.
"The survey covers a wide range of
opinion about many subjects and
until analysis is complete we cannot release
partial information," he said.
Nevertheless, key information
about Mugabe's drop in popularity has
been leaked from various
sources.
It shows that Mugabe and Zanu PF are indivisible in
the voters' minds
and both would be lucky to score between 8% and 10 %;
Tsvangirai and his
Movement for Democratic Change would get 57%, while
between 31% and 33% are
still undecided; "Even if all the 'don't knows'
voted for Mugabe, Tsvangirai
and the MDC would easily win any election," one
senior researcher said this
week.
Close to Mugabe's rural
home in Mashonaland West province, many voters
formerly employed on
white-owned farms, say they would vote for Tsvangirai
and his MDC in a "free
and fair" poll.
Political analyst Brian Raftopoulos said the
results of the survey
"confirm the continuing deep erosion and breakdown of
Zanu PF and Mugabe's
support as the party of liberation.
"If Zanu PF is aware of this, this makes them even more dangerous as
Zanu
PF's only power is state power, from the presidency, and they are
fighting
desperately to hold on to that power," Raftopoulos said.
He added that
if the unity government collapsed Mugabe's clique would
cause a "bloodbath".
- The Daily News (South Africa).
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Friday, 04 September 2009
12:46
BY-ELECTIONS to fill close to 15 vacancies in parliament will
only be
held after a new independent electoral commission is in place,
sources in
Zanu PF and the two MDC formations revealed this
week.
A senior MDC-T official told the Zimbabwe Independent
that the delay
in holding the by-elections was deliberate to ensure that the
elections are
conducted by the new independent electoral body, whose
selection is yet to
be done.
No dates have been set for
interviewing candidates to the Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission.
"We are waiting for the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission to be put in
place before the by-elections are held," he said
"How can we have
by-elections when there is no body to conduct those
elections? So the
by-elections will only be held when the new ZEC is in
place - elections
cannot be conducted by the biased old
ZEC."
This was also confirmed by a senior Zanu PF official, who
said the
process of selecting election commissioners was likely to take more
than
three months.
Some of the seats in both the Senate and
the House of Assembly have
been vacant for more than a
year.
The delay by President Robert Mugabe in calling for the
by-elections
is, however, in breach of the Electoral Act and the
Constitution of
Zimbabwe.
According to Section 39 of the
Electoral Act, the Speaker or the
president of the senate is supposed to
notify the state president as soon as
possible after he/she becomes aware of
a vacancy.
The state president then publishes a notice in the
Government Gazette
within 14 days after he has been notified of the vacancy
ordering a new
election to fill the seat.
A nomination
court of candidates would sit not less than 14 days or
more than 21 days
after the publication of the proclamation. An election
date would then be
set not less than 28 days and not more than 50 days after
the nomination of
candidates.
Constitutional lawyer Lovemore Madhuku said Mugabe
was answerable for
the delay and can be taken to court for breaching the
Electoral Act and the
country's supreme law.
The other
option, he said, would be to accuse him of misconduct and
impeach
him.
Madhuku dismissed claims by the political parties that ZEC
was
dissolved by Amendment No 19.
Contrary to that
assertion, he said the amendment only outlined a new
selection process of
commissioners.
"The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission remains in
place until another one
is constituted. So it is not true that ZEC was
dissolved," he said.
ZEC chairperson Justice George Chiweshe
said this week the commission
did not have enough money to hold
by-elections, indicating that the polls
were not going to be held any time
soon.
This, a Zanu PF politburo member said, was meant to delay
the
by-elections.
Senate seats to be filled include Gokwe
South, Chiredzi, Chegutu,
Gokwe-Chirumhanzu. House of Assembly
constituencies that are vacant include
Matobo North, Bindura North, Mutare
North, Guruve North and
Emakhandeni-Entumbane.
Recently,
three vacancies arose following the expulsion from the MDC
formation led by
Professor Arthur Mutambara of Norman Mpofu (Bulilima East),
Abednico Bhebhe
(Nkayi South) and Njabuliso Mguni (Lupane East).
Several MDC-T
members have pending cases in the courts and if they are
all convicted and
sentenced to more than six months imprisonment, the number
of by-elections
due could rise to more than 30.
The three parties that signed
the Global Political Agreement cannot
contest each other in any by-election
until after September 15.
An extension of this was now highly
unlikely, a senior MDC-T official
said this week.
Faith
Zaba
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Friday, 04 September 2009
12:40
FOR a man normally associated with terror for his alleged role in
the
often bloody farm invasions, war veterans' leader Joseph Chinotimba
could
try his hand at stand-up comedy following his dramatic performance in
court
last week that left even the magistrate in stitches.
Judging by his performance he could face off with the late Paraffin or
Mutirowafanza and emerge victorious hands down.
What
would have been a long boring court procedure on Wednesday last
week turned
out to be an entertaining one with even Harare Magistrate
Kudakwashe
Jarabini failing to resist Chinotimba's hilarious testimony.
It
was the day when the trial of deputy Minister of Youth Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment Thamsanqa Mahlangu started on allegations of
stealing a cellphone belonging to Chinotimba.
The former
Harare City Council police man was the first to narrate how
his Nokia 2310
was stolen on July 17 when he attended Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur
Mutambara's National Vision 2040 at the Harare International
Conference
Centre (HICC).
Mahlangu is jointly charged with his personal
assistant Malvern
Chadamoyo and two Hwange women, Geraldine Phiri and
Patience Nyoni, with
stealing the US$40 phone.
All of them
deny the charge.
Clad in a grey suit, a smart-looking
Chinotimba from time to time
swayed to other issues despite constantly being
told to stick to the
cellphone theft story.
He said: "I got
to the conference a bit late around lunch hour and
some people had already
eaten.
But before I sat down 'pakaita mufaro wakanyaya vanhu
vachida kutaura
neni sezvo vanga vanzwa kuti ndichataura speech' (There was
great happiness
among the crowd as people came to greet me and talk to me.
They had heard I
was going to make a speech)."
As
Chinotimba wanted to go on with how he was welcomed he was cut
short by the
magistrate and told to stick to the story of how his phone was
stolen.
I went and sat with third accused (Mahlangu) and we
started chatting.
We were talking about the constitution jesting at each
other. We spoke
'nehushamwari hwakadzika sevanhu vari muincrusive' (we spoke
with deep
friendship as people who are in the inclusive government)," he
said,
speaking in Shona.
Chinotimba suspected that after he
had gone to collect his main course
his phone which he had left on the table
with his file, diary and hat was
stolen.
He claims that he
had switched it off because it was distracting him
from partaking in his
meal.
Chinotimba said: "Ndabva kunotora chikafu chihombe chiya
(After I had
gone to take the main course) I left my things on the table. I
never
suspected that "vanhu vakati svinurei" (well-respected people) would
steal
anything from me. When I just sat the third accused immediately left
the
table."
"Handina kutarisa kuti phone yaivepo here
ndakangopinda mukudya. Hino
kana uchidya zvinhu zvinokanganikwa. (I did not
check whether my phone was
still there. You know when you are eating you
tend to forget some things).
It was only when I was about to go to the
conference that I realised the
phone was missing."
The
phone and broken sim card were brought in as exhibits and
Chinotimba was
asked to identify and again the court was left laughing.
"Ndoyangu chaiyo, chaiyo, grazi racho rakotoparika parika (This is my
phone
with its scratched screen) and this is my sim card. I know my number
(shouting it in court). The number is well recognised even internationari
(internationally)," he said.
Chinotimba said he was worried
as to how the accused managed to switch
on his phone when it had a pin
code.
"It bothered me how they got my pin number because my
phone was off
and has a pin number of four zeros."
Explaining how Minister of Youth, Saviour Kasukuwere, got involved
Chinotimba said he was very annoyed when he got information from Detective
Inspector Henry Dowa that Kasukuwere had his phone.
Chinotimba said: "I called Kasukuwere and he told me that my phone
had been
left by deputy Minister Mahlangu. I asked him why the phone was
handed to
him and whether he had now taken possession of the police."
"I
was annoyed by the situation and told him to go to the police and
leave the
phone there or give the person who gave him (the phone) to take it
to the
police and warned him not to get involved because the matter was now
at the
police. Why did they have to go through Kasukuwere? I am not a
lion."
According to Chinotimba his phone is valued at US$40
while his sim
card is US$10. He also claimed that he incurred a bill of
between US$35 and
US$40 when the sim card was allegedly used by the two
women.
During cross examination, defence lawyer Charles
Kwaramba asked
Chinotimba whether he would be able to dispute that Mahlangu
was not at the
HICC during lunch hour and only arrived at
3pm.
Kwaramba said: "Would you deny it if the third accused
(Mahlangu) told
you that he was not at the conference during lunch hour and
that the third
and fourth accused never had lunch that day and never at that
time entered
the VIP lounge. That he had gone to CMED for it was the day he
made
arrangements to get his Prado car?"
Chinotimba however
said they were lying because he had sat with them
at the table during
lunch.
Chinotimba said: "They are lying because I was sitting
with them.
Mbavha haimbofi yakabvuma kuti ndakaba inoti, ndirikunzi ndakaba.
(A thief
will never agree that he stole the phone)."
Kwaramba grilled Chinotimba on the exact time announcements that he
had lost
phone were made at the conference.
Initially Chinotimba had
said that the announcements were made at
around 5pm and then 6pm as
delegates were leaving the HICC and that they
were all made by a "white
man".
He later changed the announcements times to 3pm and
around 5pm.
Kwaramba however disputed that saying that his
witnesses said the
first announcements were made at around 14.30 and that
the "white man" whom
he identified as Kurt Michael Ritz had not made
them.
Chinotimba responded angrily: "The white man and the
accused
(Mahlangu) are very close friends. No white person at the conference
would
agree that he stole my phone. No white person could talk against MDC.
They
are in cahoots. They are so much in love with each
other."
Kwaramba asked Chinotimba why some of the things he
said in his
evidence-in-chief were in contradiction to his police statement
and why he
did not say that initially.
There maybe a
difference but it does not mean they did not steal. I
said it, but it is not
my fault that the police did not mention it in the
statement. The
information is there in the hand-written statement," he said
in
Shona.
When asked how far he was sitting from Mahlangu when the
announcements
were made and why he could not pinpoint him as the one who
stole his phone
since they had had a conversation, Chinotimba reluctantly
said: "He was far
right. I did not have a tape to measure the distance. As
politicians it was
not possible for me to go and say you stole my phone. On
the surface we
appear to be in good books but we lie to each other a
lot."
The trial continues on September 21.
Wongai
Zhangazha
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Friday, 04
September 2009 12:35
ZIMBABWE'S global political agreement (GPA) is
under threat as Zanu PF
and the MDC formations are deadlocked on outstanding
issues of the pact.
Last month Zanu PF's politburo resolved not to
make any further
concessions on sticking points such as the rehiring of
central bank governor
Gideon Gono and the appointment of Attorney-General
Johannes Tomana, and the
appointment of provincial
governors.
The party said the appointments could not be
reversed because they
were made by President Robert Mugabe using his
constitutional prerogative.
Zanu PF was also adamant that the appointments
were made before the
inclusive government was formed.
Zanu
PF said as far as it was concerned, the outstanding issues of the
GPA were
the continued imposition of sanctions and pirate radio broadcasts.
The party
accused the MDC of not campaigning enough for the removal of the
sanctions
and an end to pirate radio broadcasts.
When Sadc Heads of State
and Government convened an extraordinary
summit in Pretoria on January 26-27
to review the implementation for the
GPA, they set out timelines for the
formation of the inclusive government
and outlined the outstanding issues
for the full consummation of the deal.
It was at this summit that MDC-T
leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed to join
government.
The
regional leaders never identified sanctions and pirate radio
broadcasts as
outstanding issues, probably because they knew that the
partners in the
unity government had no power to have them lifted.
On Monday
and Tuesday next week, Sadc leaders will meet in the
Democratic Republic of
Congo to, among other things, review whether or not
their decision in
January was implemented.
Below is the full text of the Sadc
communiqué after the summit.
1. The Extraordinary Summit of the
Sadc Heads of State and Government
met at the Presidential Guest house in
Pretoria, Republic of South Africa,
on January 26-27, 2009. The
Extraordinary Summit met to review the
implementation of the Zimbabwe Global
Political Agreement.
2. The Extraordinary Summit was chaired by
HE Kgalema Motlanthe,
Chairperson of Sadc and President of the Republic of
South Africa.
3. The Extraordinary Summit was attended by the
following Heads of
State and Government or their representatives: Botswana
HE President Lt Gen
Seretse Khama Ian Khama, Lesotho Right Honourable Prime
Minister Pakalitha
Mosisili, Mozambique HE President Armando Emilio Guebuza,
Deputy Chairperson
of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security
Cooperation, Namibia HE
President Hifikepunye Pohamba, South Africa HE
President Kgalema Motlanthe,
Chairperson of Sadc, Swaziland HM King Mswati
III, Chairperson of the Organ
on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation,
United Republic of Tanzania
HE President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, Zambia HE
Rupiah Banda, Zimbabwe HE
President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, Angola Hon
Assuncao Dos Anjos, Minister of
External Affairs DRC Hon Alexis Thambwe
Muamba, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Seychelles Honourable Patrick Pillay,
Minister of Foreign Affairs Malawi Hon
George Chaponda, Minister of Local
Government and Rural Development
Madagascar Hon Dr Denis Andriamandroso,
MadagascarAmbassador to South
Africa, Mauritius Mr Anund Priyay Neewor,
GOSK, Secretary of Foreign Affairs
4. The meeting was also
attended by His Excellency Thabo Mbeki, Former
President of the Republic of
South Africa and Sadc Facilitator on the
Zimbabwe Political Dialogue,
Leaders of MDC formations, Right Honourable
Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime
Minister-designate and Professor Welshman Ncube,
representing Professor
Arthur Mutambara, Deputy Prime Minister designate of
the Republic of
Zimbabwe, and the Executive Secretary of Sadc, Dr Tomaz
Augusto
Salomão.
5. In his opening remarks, His Excellency President
Kgalema Motlanthe,
Chairperson of Sadc and President for the Republic of
South Africa welcomed
all delegates to the meeting and re-affirmed Sadc's
commitment to finding a
lasting solution to the implementation of the
Zimbabwe global political
agreement.
6. The Extraordinary
Summit noted that the people of Zimbabwe are
faced with difficult challenges
and suffering that can only be addressed
once an inclusive government is in
place.
7. In view of the above, the Extraordinary Summit
decided as follows:
(i) the parties shall endeavour to cause
parliament to pass the
Constitutional Amendment Act 19 by February 5,
2009;
(ii) the prime minister and the deputy prime ministers shall be
sworn
in by February 11, 2009;
(iii) the ministers and deputy
ministers shall be sworn in on February
13, 2009, which will conclude the
process of the formation of the inclusive
government;
(iv) the
Joint-Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic),
provided for in the
Global Political Agreement shall be activated
immediately. The first meeting
of Jomic shall be convened by the Facilitator
on January 30, 2009, and
shall, among other things, elect the chairpersons;
(v) the allocation
of ministerial portfolios endorsed by the Sadc
Extraordinary Summit held on
November 9, 2008, shall be reviewed six (6)
months after the inauguration of
the inclusive government;
(vi) the appointments of the Reserve Bank
Governor and the
Attorney-General will be dealt with by the inclusive
government after its
formation; and
(vii) the negotiators of the
parties shall meet immediately to
consider the National Security Bill
submitted by the MDC-T as well as the
formula for the distribution of the
Provincial Governors;
8. The Extraordinary Summit
expressed
its appreciation for the efforts of His
Excellency
Thabo Mbeki, Former President of the Republic of South
Africa and the
Facilitator of the political dialogue on Zimbabwe in helping
to find an
amicable solution to challenges facing the Republic of Zimbabwe
and
encouraged him to continue with his facilitation efforts.
9.
The Extraordinary Summit commended the political parties to the
Global
Political Agreement for their openness and constructive engagement in
finding a lasting solution to the challenges facing
Zimbabwe.
10. Sadc shall remain seized with the Zimbabwe
situation in keeping
with its obligations as guarantor of the Global
Political Agreement.
11. The Extraordinary Summit directed the
chairperson of Sadc to
present the African Union at its forthcoming summit a
progress report on the
implementation of the Sharm- El-Sheik
Resolution.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 03 September 2009
18:02
SOUTH African President Jacob Zuma flew into Zimbabwe last
Thursday
and upped the tempo for full consummation of the global political
agreement
(GPA), but the situation on the ground shows widening divisions in
the
inclusive government, political analysts have said.
So
worrying is the growing list of outstanding issues that one of the
key
principals to the GPA, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, on Tuesday
implored
the Sadc Summit next week to rein-in on President Robert Mugabe and
force a
resolution of the sticking points.
During his two-day
official visit, Zuma - in his capacity as
chairperson of Sadc - met Mugabe,
Tsvangirai and his Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara and urged the
principals to move with "speed and progress"
to fully consummate the GPA
signed last September to resolve long-running
political tensions in the
country.
Zuma said the Sadc Summit on September 7-8 in the
Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC) would provide an opportunity to review
progress in the
implementation of the agreement, and for the countries of
southern Africa to
reaffirm their commitment to assisting
Zimbabwe.
The implementation of the GPA has been dogged by the
intransigence of
Zanu PF since the formation of the inclusive government on
February 11 and
on Tuesday Tsvangirai expressed frustration.
It was apparent that the three principals had failed to break the
impasse on
the outstanding issues and that Tsvangirai's salvation was now
with Sadc,
which analysts argued has no leverage to push Mugabe to
play
ball.
Incoming Sadc chair Joseph Kabila is relatively
inexperienced in
Zimbabwean politics and in any case owes his survival to
Mugabe's
intervention in the Congo conflict.
"We have not
resolved or implemented agreed positions on provincial
governors despite the
negotiators agreeing on a formula on their fair
allocation," the premier told
journalists in the capital. "This is why we
urge Sadc to place the issue of
Zimbabwe for specific consideration during
the forthcoming summit in
Kinshasa."
Apart from the issue of provincial governors,
Tsvangirai and the two
formations of the MDC have been irked by Mugabe's move
to rehire Reserve
Bank governor Gideon Gono and appoint Attorney-General
Johannes Tomana in
breach of a memorandum of understanding the principals
signed in July last
year.
Mugabe has also refused to swear
in MDC treasurer Roy Bennett as
deputy Agriculture minister while there were
continuing reports of farm
invasions and sporadic acts of political violence
throughout the country.
Tsvangirai lamented that the political climate
in the country
continued to be marred by unfortunate and "vicious" propaganda
emanating
from the state-controlled media.
To make matters
worse, he said, the selective application of the rule
of law, including the
persecution and prosecution of MDC MPs, continues to
inflame political
tensions.
Equally problematic, Tsvangirai added, was the
deliberately slow pace
of progress on the implementation of key issues
connected to human rights
and the rule of law.
"This
includes the self-evident deliberate stalemate on the
constitutional-reform
process, as well as the slow pace of media reform,"
Tsvangirai
complained.
Political analysts said Tsvangirai's call for Sadc
intervention was a
clear sign that Zuma's visit had failed to nudge the
leaders to resolve the
outstanding issues.
The analysts said
despite his outspokenness during his visit, there
was no departure from South
Africa's so-called quiet diplomacy under
ex-President Thabo Mbeki who
brokered the Zimbabwe political deal.
University of Zimbabwe
political scientist Eldred Masunungure said
Zuma's diplomacy was no louder
than Mbeki's.
"In any case, I did not discern that Zuma's
diplomacy - when he
finally spoke - had any more decibels than Mbeki's. It
would appear that his
was a variation, a different style around the same
theme of silent
diplomacy."
After all, he argued, Zuma's was
the first and probably last foray
into the murky waters of Zimbabwe-Sadc
diplomacy.
Zuma would at the Sadc Summit hand over the regional
body's
chairmanship to "an even quieter if not inaudible" DRC President
Kabila who
has his own "can of thick worms" to worry about.
Masunungure said Zimbabweans should not pin any hopes on the Sadc
Summit to
resolve the sticking points because it "does not have sharp teeth
that bite
and even has difficulty barking".
Another political scientist
Michael Mhike concurred with Masunungure
that Sadc cannot resolve the
sticking points.
"Sadc does not have much leverage over the
three principals,
especially Mugabe and Zanu PF," Mhike said. "And the host
of the summit is
easily the youngest Sadc leader who is battling insurgency
in the eastern
part of the DRC. How then can he call the Zimbabwe kettle
black?"
Zanu PF told Zuma that it could no longer make more
concessions on the
outstanding issues because the MDC formations had failed
to honour part of
their bargain - calling for the removal of sanctions and
putting an end to
broadcasts by international pirate radios.
On the other hand, the MDC argued that the issues of sanctions and
pirate
radios were collective responsibilities of the partners in the
unity
government.
Masunungure agreed with Zanu PF that the
two issues were sticking
points.
"Both are outstanding
issues, especially sanctions which directly and
visibly affect key members of
the previous regime," he said. "Both are
apparently Zanu PF's "outstanding
issues" but they are deliberately being
elevated above MDC's issues.
Apparently as well, both sanctions and pirate
radios are matters beyond the
control of the MDC and of Sadc; they are
within the jurisdiction of other
sovereign states."
Zuma said effective recovery in Zimbabwe "is
also dependent on the
removal of sanctions and other measures that hold back
economic
development".
Zimbabwean lawyer based in the
United Kingdom and also newspaper
columnist Alex Magaisa was of the view that
Sadc could have had great effect
in ensuring the adherence to the GPA if it
was serious.
"But this appearance is far removed from the
reality. Sadc feels that
it has done enough to halt the violence and turmoil
in Zimbabwe and quite
frankly I don't expect anything to come from that
body," he said.
Constantine Chimakure
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Friday, 04 September
2009 09:55
GEORGE Orwell must have had a future Zimbabwe in sights and
when he
penned his classic novel Animal Farm which satirises how greed,
personal
interests and petty issues can betray a revolution.
Not only do the principals to the Global Political Agreement know what
needs
to be done to ensure that industry and the economy is revived, but
"greed,
personal interests and petty issues" seem to be slowing the economic
recovery of the country.
For most Zimbabweans an economic recovery
among other things would
ensure an environment of affordable basic
commodities and utilities,
reliable electricity and clean water supplies,
employment creation, reliable
and affordable health system and education and
more investments.
Business leaders, directors and economist who spoke
to businessdigest
during the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI)
annual congress on
Wednesday and yesterday lamented how differences among
the principals in the
power-sharing had slowed down pace of the revival of
the economy.
Economic analysts said a new way of doing business was
critical in
view of the multiple currency system where such practices as
low-volume;
high mark-ups were being practised by business.
Speakers during the first two days of the congress said government
should
"urgently" change the way it has been operating if economic growth
was to be
achieved.
Analysts also said Zimbabweans need to move away from
"talking too
much to more positive action". CZI president Kumbirai Katsande
said as
business, they agreed that the inclusive government should be seen
as an
instrument, "rather than as a destination in itself".
"The
inclusive government should create an environment for all to
develop
competitive capabilities regardless of the sector," he said.
Katsande
said such an environment was imperative given the Sadc and
Comesa trade
agreements and events on the global market.
"For this inclusive
government to be worth it, the politicians and the
entrepreneurs must go for
continuous environment. There is no time to watch
the grass grow. (We
should) eliminate waste, act with speed, respect
regional and global
bench-marking in all aspects," Katsande said.
The congress comes at a
time when devaluation and concessionary
funding are no longer an option and
companies will have to exercise price,
cost and wage restraint to ensure
that prices are not above regional levels.
Drought of finance including
working capital means companies will be
more reliant than ever before on
foreign lines of credit.
University of Zimbabwe School of Management
lecturer, Anthony Hawkins
said national macro-economic strategies should be
developed to enable
businesses to discover where their competitive
advantages lie. "Firms need
to develop new business models because those
employed over the last 20 years
have long passed their sell-by
date.
"The integrated commercial farming-manufacturing dynamo that
drove
growth prior to 2000 is no longer a viable policy option," Hawkins
said.
Hawkins said while there was a fixation on capacity utilisation there
was
need to invest in new investment, new technologies and new production,
product and marketing strategies.
"The lesson is that manufacturers
must forget their past, especially
the recent past and move up market, up
the technological ladder and away
from the poor goods syndrome in which we
are currently locked," he said.
"Government's role is to level the
playing field leaving individual
firms to invest in output, exports and
employment where they think they can
make a profit," said Hawkins.
Economist Brains Muchemwa said apart from personal interest and small
issues
slowing the rate which the economy was recovering, rigidities
associated
with scarce domestic working capital, as well as the ill-guided
international perception that Zimbabwe is not ready for meaningful
investments had slowed the progress of revival.
"At a time the
world is in a crunch, it will take more to convince the
few investors that
have pots of cash to splash on seemingly discounted
opportunities in
Zimbabwe when equal opportunities exist in emerging markets
riding on lower
perceived country risk," Muchemwa said.
Speaking at the same occasion
University of Zimbabwe political
scientist, Professor Eldred Masunungure who
gave a political analysis of the
risks and opportunities in the country said
the unity government "had
brought in a lot of positives but outstanding
issues were derailing economic
revival and investor confidence.
"The unity government has resulted to peace in the country as well as
a
stable macro-economic environment conducive for business. However there is
need for the three political principals to ensure that all outstanding
issues under the GPA are fully implemented to ensure continuity," he
said.
Business, he said needed to present its own outstanding issues,
such
as the creation of a National Economic Committee as spelt out in the
GPA to
ensure that it gets more involved in charting its destiny. Labour and
Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe director Godfrey
Kanyenze who gave a socio-economic overview said government needs to start
taking responsibility for its actions in order to move forward.
"Government needs to start building a developmental state by coming up
with
a technically sound long-term development agenda to create an
environment
that is conducive for a quick economic recovery," Kanyenze said.
This
years congress was held under the theme "Re-igniting industrial
productivity
competitiveness.
Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 03
September 2009 18:51
FIRST we were told that Jacob Zuma's visit was
exclusively to open the
Harare Show. There would be no discussion on the GPA
outstanding issues.
This was neither the place nor time for that. It was a
figment of the
imagination of journalists, Zanu PF spokesmen
insisted.
Then, as Zuma's associates began talking about the visit it
soon
became clear that discussion of the outstanding issues was central to
the
trip. And ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe for the second time in as
many weeks said that Zuma's party would become more vocal in its attempt to
curb what he called "deviant behaviour".
A good example of that was
the attempt to set an agenda for Zuma's
visit. Sanctions was the only issue
that mattered, he was told. And he would
see abundant evidence of its
effects.
The South African leader soon had a dim view of the country. A
power
cut at Harare airport on his arrival was no doubt the work of
Zimbabwe's
enemies! The reception had to be illuminated by vehicle
headlights.
In Cape Town immediately prior to his trip last Thursday,
Zuma made it
clear he would be attending to the issues that had been raised
by the MDC-T.
"The fact of the matter is the prime minister has come
here to raise
certain issues," Zuma told reporters. "Certainly I will also
have to raise
those issues with the leaders in Zimbabwe."
Far
from indulging Zanu PF's attempt to divert his attention with a
sanctions
wild goose chase, Zuma was clear on the issues.
A number of countries
had offered Zimbabwe humanitarian assistance, he
said at the opening of the
Harare Show, but they had set conditions for
large-scale economic
aid.
"Since these relate to the implementation of the GPA to which the
signatories remain fully committed, meeting these benchmarks should be a
priority for the inclusive government."
That message was clear to
all except the shrill denialists in the
state media.
The politburo
had said Zanu PF would not discuss any issues other than
sanctions. And it
was blocking progress on the GPA terms. Zuma's message was
that all matters
must be quickly resolved. Sanctions barely got a look-in.
His message
on the land issue was equally unambiguous. He said it was
critical that the
country guaranteed food self-sufficiency.
The GPA sought the
"restoration of full productivity on all
agricultural land in the interest
of all the people of Zimbabwe", he
reminded his audience.
Could
anything be clearer than that? Is Zanu PF "restoring full
productivity on
the land"? Isn't it in fact doing just the opposite? And are
the interests
of "all the people of Zimbabwe" being addressed by land
seizures?
In a warning on regional repercussions of land chaos, Zuma said: "We
must
underline that agriculture is the backbone of the economy of the Sadc
region
as a whole which is why it is important to us all. The performance of
agriculture has a strong influence on food security, economic growth and
stability of the Sadc region."
It is little wonder that the MDC saw
Zuma's remarks as "refreshing"
and "unequivocal". The outstanding issues
were given the attention they
deserve, Nelson Chamisa told the
media.
Is it too soon to heave a sigh of relief that media hangman
Tafataona
Mahoso has lost his bid to join the nascent Zimbabwe Media
Commission?
The government had been seeking ways, we gather, to smuggle
him onto
the Commission. It will be recalled that Mahoso performed dismally
at his
interview for a seat on the commission.
This week he was
complaining bitterly in the Herald that he had beeen
unfairly treated. It
was the longest case of sour grapes in the history of
Zimbabwean
journalism.
What the public should expect of any and every member of
that
commission is honesty.
Last weekend, in his rambling column in
the Sunday Mail, Mahoso
reminded us of US Ambassador Christopher Dell's
assertion that living
conditions had fallen to the level of 1953.
"Although Dell did not want to admit that illegal and racist sanctions
requested by (Tendai) Biti's party were slowly responsible for the mass
degradation of the population's living conditions back to the days of the
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in just under six years," Mahoso
claimed, "it is an open secret that sanctions caused the decline."
This is the best example yet of the deceitful approach of Zanu PF
spokesmen
to Zimbabwe's decade of decline. It's all the fault of sanctions,
they
pretend, kicking dust in the public's eyes.
This by the way was the
same message that contributed to Zanu PF's
electoral defeat last year. The
"14 million Zimbabweans" Mahoso claims to
speak for rejected his
blandishments and those of his party in their
totality.
How can
Mahoso go about making dishonest claims about who is
responsible for the
mess we are in when the voters of this country told him
in no uncertain
terms who they thought was responsible.
And it wasn't Tendai
Biti!
Mahoso's appointment to the ZMC would seriously undermine its
credibility. Readers may recall his attempts, as chair of the MIC, to cow
newspaper editors by issuing a "notice to investigate a complaint".
In September 2004 the Standard published a picture of President Mugabe
hitching up his pants at the Harare Show.
Mahoso wrote to the paper
claiming that the MIC had received "numerous
telephone complaints about the
alleged photograph".
One of the "10 or so" complainants had put his
complaint in writing,
Mahoso said, enclosing the letter.
It was
from an official in the Department of Information in the Office
of the
President called J Neusu. He said it was his department's view - and
that of
"the majority of the citizenry" who called his department to
"register their
utter disgust"- that the president needs to be treated in a
manner that
befits the head of state of a sovereign state".
"The use of the
photograph by the Standard," Neusu averred, "is
extremely mischievous and
represents a deliberate denigration of the highest
office in the country.
Indeed, it epitomises the weekly newspaper's
editorial disposition that is
underpinned by an anti-Mugabe orientation. It
is obvious that the paper
seeks to foist on the nation an image of the
president that will facilitate
its regime-change discourse."
The department wanted to see "appropriate
action" taken against the
publication, Neusu demanded. We told him to take a
hike.
But what this episode reveals is a pompous self-serving official
class
that uses imposts upon the media to set up an office within the
government
to police the media with a view to curbing its right to disclose
to the
reading public the activities of the nation's leadership. In other
words the
very opposite of accountability.
The threat to the
Standard came because the picture it used was not as
flattering as it might
have been.
The late Elias Rusike recounts in his autobiographical
account of his
days as CEO of Zimpapers how Information minister Nathan
Shamuyarira would
call him into his office to ask why the president's
picture wasn't on the
front page.
So they want the president's
picture used - but only if it's
flattering!
This week after a long
slumber in which he was supposed to be writing
his memoirs. Shamuyarira
emerged to lecture us on ethical standards. He has
evidently just been
informed that "some newspapers are being run by blacks"!
What other news
does he have for us?
Emmerson Mnangagwa is reported to have
threatened war if whites are
given back land expropriated under the land
reform programme.
"Let it be known that anyone wanting to deny us this
heritage we got
from God, that we are ready to fight them," he was reported
as telling ZBC
during the burial of Richard Hove.
Contrast these
remarks with those of Jacob Zuma reported above.
There is a world of
difference.
And what is the suggestion here? That whites will be taking
land from
black beneficiaries of land reform? Who said that? All that is
planned is a
land audit to see who got what and to prevent multiple
ownership. Now why
would Mnangagwa be so opposed to that?
Does the
racist brutality of 2000-2008 constitute a God-given
heritage?
Mnangagwa's populist posturing is clearly designed to advertise his
ambition.
What it in fact tells us is how unsuitable he is for a
position of
leadership. The last thing this country needs is more war,
threats and
thuggery.
By the way, the report about to be
published on voting patterns
suggests Zanu PF will get no more than 10% in
any forthcoming poll.
The best way to corroborate this is to step
outside and ask. Finding
somebody who admits they will vote for Mugabe and
his gang is like finding a
needle in a haystack.
A few of those
"needles" could be seen last Thursday evening making
their way through the
metal detector in the Harare airport domestic terminal
from where they were
proceeding on to the tarmac to welcome President Zuma.
At the metal
detector, we are told, there was some commotion as
security officers ran in
all directions when the comrades removed their
shoes.
The fallout
was overpowering apparently forcing a hasty
retreat by those
supervising the process.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 03
September 2009 18:48
AT a Zimbabwean investment appraisal summit last
week, the former
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment minister Munyaradzi
Mangwana,
addressed a gathering of influential potential foreign investors
contemplating investment in Zimbabwe.
In doing so, he
reiterated statements made previously, and at the same
event, diverse other
speakers from within the Zimbabwean political
environment, on the critical
need for substantive Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI), as one of the
prerequisites for a substantive economic recovery.
The "inclusive"
government has, over recent months, been very emphatic
that one of the most
essential catalysts of Zimbabwe's muchneeded, very long
overdue, economic
recovery is that it attracts significant foreign
investment, concurrently
with extensive domestic investment. Such
investment is desperately required
as a source of employment generation,
technology, transport, foreign
exchange inflows (by way of investment and
export proceeds), downstream
economic growth, and fiscal inflows, in
addition to diverse other positive
economic yields.
However, concurrently, Mangwana also emphasised that
an absolute
requirement for Zimbabwe is that there be meaningful economic
empowerment
for a significant portion of the Zimbabwean population, most of
whom have
been economically marginalised for generations, and that implicit
in
achieving that objective is that there be emphatic "indigenisation" of
the
Zimbabwean economy. He was especially qualified to address this key
policy
issue for he had, whilst in office as minister, been the primary
architect
of Zimbabwe's Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, which
legislation
was enactmented by parliament and Senate in 2007, and then
belatedly
bulldozed through Presidential Assent and enactment very shortly
before the
2008 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
Almost
without exception, his audience readily accepted and agreed the
need for
indigenisation and economic empowerment as an essential element of
Zimbabwean society and its economy. Not only is a vigorous pursuit of these
objectives and indisputable need for substantial and ongoing economic
development, growth and wellbeing, and very necessary as a measure to
eradicate progressively the inordinate poverty that affects the majority of
Zimbabweans, but they are also necessary on grounds of morality and justice,
for the economic constraints and hindrances that impeded most Zimbabweans
for a century or more must become history, reversed and remedied. But doing
so should not (Nay, must not!) be in ways that :
lFail to attain
real economic recovery, merely benefiting the poor ;
lAre as unjust,
immoral, unequitable, inhumane, and economically
disastrous as were the
indigenisation and economic empowerment barriers of
the past;
lRender Zimbabwe an unattractive investment destination, thereby
discouraging and alienating the much -- needed FDI, and precluding
attainment of the considerable benefits which would flow from FDI.
Mangwana emphasised that it is Zimbabwe's right to control its own
economy,
instead of such control being in the hands of non-Zimbabweans. It
cannot be
credibly denied that any and every country's rights of sovereignty
include
economic control, but such control must be practical and realistic,
nationally beneficial, and compliant with internationally accepted norms.
Economic control does not require domination. It requires fair and
constructive legislation, and implementation thereof, to protect national
interests of security, of moral and health wellbeing, to ensure compliance
with law and good economic practice. For example legislation and enforcement
should contain corruption, labour abuse, and compliance with taxation and
like laws).
However, the currently prevailing Indigenisation and
Economic
Empowerment Act seeks to do far more than that. It prescribes that
not less
than 51% of all economic entities, all businesses, all enterprises,
must be
owned by indigenous Zimbabweans. Thus, any foreign investor, and any
Zimbabwean resident who is not a Zimbabwean citizen - even if permanently
resident - is required to be subordinated to one or more indigenous
Zimbabwean co-investors. Effectively, therefore they are told that their
investment is not as a partner, as equitable joint venture participation.
Instead they are implicitly expected to provide investment wealth,
expertise, access to markets, usage of intellectual properties, and so
forth, whilst being wholly or substantially subjected to others controlling
and directing the investments and their operations. Admittedly, Mangwana
did disclose that exemptions from the 51% rule can be granted by the
responsible minister, although he intimated that such exemptions would not
be in imperpetuity, but only for such periods of time as he determines be it
three, five, 10 or 15 years.
Unsurprisingly, these advices did not
inspire the potential investors
to dig rapidly into their wallets and embark
upon Zimbabwean investment.
Instead, they were disconcerted, discouraged,
and reserved as to the
desirability or otherwise of progressing any such
investment. All were
apparently very receptive to participative investment
between themselves and
appropriate Zimbabwean co-investors, with equitable
pro rata investment of
capital, skills and other resources, but not to being
compelled to be
silent, dominated, junior partners. There was also a very
great awareness of
the magnitude of disparity between Zimbabwe's economic
empowerment and
indigenisation intents and those of South Africa -- with its
Black Economic
Empowerment (BEE) policies -- those of Zambia -- with its
Citizens Economic
Empowerment (CEE) policies -- and those of innumerable
countries in Africa,
Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe.
The
concerns of possible investors are exacerbated and intensified by
the
magnitude of the generalities, instead of specifics, contained in the
legislation.
To all intents and purposes other than establishing an
Indigenisation
and Economic Empowerment Investment fund, all that the
legislation presents
is the obligation for Zimbabwean majority ownership of
everything. Beyond
that, the legislation gives the responsible minister a
virtual "blank
cheque" to dictate by statutory instrument, whatever he may
from time to
time deem fit in order to achieve the legislation's objectives.
This
intensifies further the sense of insecurity for non-indigenous
investors.
Eric Bloch
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 03 September 2009
17:55
A COLLEAGUE remarked to me last week that time moves very fast in
Zimbabwe.
He cited the fact that it seems to be only recently
that he was part
of the throngs of people that went to the Rainbow Towers in
September last
year to witness the possibly historic signing of the Global
Political
Agreement between the post-March 2008 three main political
protagonists.
And after the last 12 months he is not sure what
to make of most of
the political processes that have
occurred.
These range from the promises made that this would be
a transitional
government, that the constitutional reform process would be
"people driven",
and that the national economy would improve significantly
with the advent of
an inclusive government.
To be sure this
uncertainty is not just peculiar to my colleague but
is shared by many
Zimbabweans. This is because assessing the relationship
between the people
and the beast that is the inclusive government is an
onerous task.
Questions relating to whether this arrangement is sustainable
or is working
still remain inadequately answered.
Even issues relating to the
nature of the personal, if any,
relationship between President Mugabe and
Prime Minister Tsvangirai remain
the subject of speculation within the
public psyche.
However, it is my considered view that a pattern
as to how the
inclusive government is functioning a year after the signing
of the GPA can
now be discerned. This pattern is characterised by about
four trends.
The first is that the inclusive government is
beginning to manage and
in fact lower policy change expectations/standards
for the people. Secondly,
there is regular mimicry of Zanu PF political
culture within the new parties
in government.
Thirdly, the
inclusive government is willing to soldier on beyond the
unofficially
anticipated 18 months and fourthly, that civil society has been
to a larger
extent co-opted into the competitive actions of the inclusive
government.
The first pattern referred to above can be
understood through the
English proverb, "half a loaf is better that
nothing". While it might
actually be less than half a loaf, the remaining
quantity would still be
better than nothing at all. It is true that upon the
signing of the GPA and
the swearing in of the prime minister and other new
cabinet members,
national optimism had never been higher in the
country.
The slight improvement brought in through
dollarisation of the economy
was popular in relation to the filling up of
supermarkets and the seeming
revival of the small-scale businesses that dot
the country. The improvement
in health care, though mainly in the private
hospitals and the referral
public ones, was enough to lift people's spirits,
but for the problem of the
ability to purchase or access the newly available
goods and services.
The inclusive government and the political
parties involved therein
have however not allowed such problems to hinder
their annunciations of
"work in progress". The compromises that they
continue to reach between
themselves over the appointment of commissions,
the constitutional reform
exercise as well as the national healing process
are clearly a departure
from what the people would have expected, and the
three political principals
know this very well.
So it has
become their business, almost a year on, to ensure that the
people they lead
do not easily remember the initial agenda of the inclusive
government either
as espoused in the GPA or within the framework of their
party policies.
Where anyone has differed with their own assessment of what
they perceive to
be their progress, these persons are labelled spoilers,
imperialist NGOs or
as persons harbouring personal political ambition.
The second
pattern that is increasingly worrying as it is real is that
the two new
parties in the government are beginning to mimic the old one.
Apart from the
understandable difficulties that the MDC factions have
because this is their
first time in government, there are similarities to
Zanu PF in the manner in
which they have dealt with those that oppose their
views.
Expulsions from parliament that are laced with a unique political
vindictiveness are normally the forte of Zanu PF. So too are reports of, on
occasion, physical or negative publicity related attacks on those that
differ with what is preferred as the "party position" on issues concerning
the inclusive government.
This pattern is then further
augmented by the cooption of the MDCs
into assumedly national events where
they have no other role to play save
for attendance and salutation. This is
akin to not being able to present a
historical narrative that differs from
what Zanu PF portrays as "true" or
"correct" nationalism.
The third trend relates to a tacit understanding between the three
political
parties that there is a possibility of the extension of elections
beyond the
anticipated period of 18 months. This is evidenced by the
confused and
publicly confusing nature of the constitutional reform process,
which when
completed, is meant to be the raison-d'etre for the holding of
new elections
in terms of the new constitution.
It may not be as deliberate as it
seems, but the silence over and
about when free and fair elections can be
held on the part of the political
leaders of the GPA is tellingly indicative
of the fact that each party is
biding its time, trying to wear the others
out, take advantage of mistakes
made by either parties and eventually ascend
to power without strong
rivalry.
This means that there might be
an unwritten intention to allow this
government to last throughout the life
of the current parliament which is
presumed to be there until
2013.
The fourth and final trend to be considered is that of
the cooption of
civil society into the political processes and competition
between the three
political parties.
Because civil society has
over the last 10 or so years been generally
sympathetic to the parties that
espouse democratic values, the entry of the
MDC into government has meant
that the latter has continued to ask for
loyalty from it regardless of
whether decisions made are based on democratic
principle or
opportunism.
The argument has resided in the mantra that the
inclusive government
presents a unique and close to infallible opportunity
for political reform.
Various NGOs have almost literally fallen
over their feet to ensure
that they do not contradict the policy
pronouncements of the inclusive
government regardless of whether or not it
suits an agenda for meaningful
democratic reform or not.
The
NCA, ZCTU and Zinasu have differed with this approach and have
continued to
remind the inclusive government and the public about the
original aims and
objectives of the struggle for the democratisation for
Zimbabwe, as recently
as through their Second Peoples Constitutional
Convention.
The
business side of civil society will also continue to try to glean
as much
profit as possible from the multi-currency economy and will
negotiate with
the three parties to make as much as they possibly can from
promises of
privatisation of state assets.
To conclude, the four patterns
that I have outlined in this article
are essentially going to continue
throughout the life of this inclusive
government. I have not included the
role that Sadc will attempt to play in
this political set-up because it will
no longer seek direct intervention as
it has done over the
year.
Not least because it will be under the chairpersonship of
President
Kabila of the Congo but more because, since the inclusive
government has
lasted a year, there is no rational political argument that
can be made as
to why it cannot last another year if not more.
This is especially so given the statements of commitment to the
"spirit and
letter" of the GPA that have emanated from the three political
principals.
=Takura Zhangazha is the National Director of
Misa Zimbabwe. He writes
here in his personal capacity.
By
Takura Zhangazha
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Friday, 04 September 2009
12:28
President Mugabe heads for Kinshasa, DRC, next week for the Sadc
summit hoping to convince his peers in the region that the inclusive
government is under threat from the failure by partner Morgan Tsvangirai to
call for the lifting of sanctions.
Mugabe will seek to convince
the Sadc heads that the only sticking
point in the full consummation of the
inclusive government is sanctions and
all the other sticking points have
been dealt with or are not of any
consequence.
This
includes the appointment of Attorney-General Johannes Tomana and
Reserve
Bank governor Gideon Gono, and the refusal by Mugabe to swear in Roy
Bennett
as deputy Agriculture minister.
This position, taken at Zanu PF
politiburo meeting last month to
ratchet up pressure on the MDC using the
sanctions issue, has sown seeds of
fresh conflict and discord in the
inclusive government. The parties to the
inclusive government have started
to pull apart again with Zanu PF appearing
profoundly content with ensuring
that the year-old marriage collapses.
At the Sadc summit in
Kinshasa we do not expect the regional heads to
nudge Mugabe into dropping
his hardline position. His spokesman George
Charamba was yesterday quoted in
the media as saying that Mugabe would not
budge on the issue Tomana and
Gono.
Here is our head of state being contemptuous of Sadc. The
Sadc
communiqué of January 27 (which we carry in full on Page 7) released at
the
end of a regional summit in Pretoria clearly stated, among other issues,
that "the appointments of the Reserve Bank governor and the Attorney-General
will be dealt with by the inclusive government after its formation" and that
the negotiators of the parties shall meet immediately to consider the
National Security Bill submitted by the MDC-T as well as the formula for the
distribution of governors".
The same communiqué does not
mention the issue of sanctions as an
outstanding issue to be dealt with by
the MDC for the simple reason that the
party does not have the capacity to
do so. That however is not to say that
the sanctions issue should not be
resolved.
Its resolution is not dependent on the MDC mounting the
nearest soap
box to denounce the restrictions. The issue, as Mugabe and his
party are
aware, can only be resolved with a change of policy and a respect
for basic
tenets of freedom.
Progress in the opening up of
democratic space has been glacial
because there is a strong grouping in the
Zanu PF which feels threatened by
freedom. The work of this groups has made
the work of the Sadc focus group
on Zimbabwe sanctions
difficult.
The MDC-T cannot be held responsible for the failure to
amend laws,
license new media and the slow pace in the drafting of a new
constitution.
In Kinshasa Mugabe's plan is to force the
sanctions issue through and
have it incorporated as a fresh resolution on
Zimbabwe.
This new resolution then revises the January 27
communiqué which
should have guided Zanu PF and the MDC formations in the
implementation of
the GPA. The challenge for the Sadc heads therefore is
whether they will
allow Mugabe to ride roughshod over them and alter what
was agreed upon in
January.
Failure by the regional heads to
rein-in Mugabe should ultimately
sound the death knell for the
GPA.
It should be noted that the MDC only agreed to enter into
the marriage
with Zanu PF after assurances from Sadc that it would
underwrite the
agreement. President Mugabe has taken every opportunity to
thank Sadc and
its appointed mediator Thabo Mbeki for helping to unlock the
political
logjam in Zimbabwe.
His respect for the region should
be demonstrated in how far he is
willing to implement the GPA as guaranteed
by the regional grouping.
Outgoing Sadc chair Jacob Zuma who
was in the country last week
refused to be sidetracked by Zanu PF's
subterfuge. The party started to vend
the sanctions issue a few days before
Zuma's arrival to set an agenda for
the visiting SA president.
He saw through this ruse and his speech at a state banquet was subtle
yet
significant as it sabotaged Mugabe's project of declaring sanctions the
only
outstanding issue.
He said all parties forming the inclusive
government should be
committed to fulfilling the letter and spirit of the
Global Political
Agreement. He also said African nations should commit
themselves to human
rights, good governance and democracy if our continent
is to extricate
itself from the bad-boy image.
This is an
opportunity for Sadc to step up to the plate and
demonstrate its commitment
to good governance.
We should not however expect too much to
emerge from the Kinshasa
summit. Incoming Sadc chair Joseph Kabila knows
little about the intricacies
of Zimbabwean politics. Where Thabo Mbeki's
diplomacy was quiet, Kabila's is
likely to be inaudible.
In any
case he owes a debt of gratitude to Mugabe for his intervention
in 1998. And
Zimbabwean troops continue to provide him with personal
security.
Not a recipe for robust exchanges. More a
regional fudge.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Friday, 04
September 2009 10:09
SOUTHERN African Development Community (Sadc)
leaders are expected to
review six months of Zimbabwe's inclusive government
when they meet in
Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on
Monday and Tuesday.
The assessment will be critical in so far as it
will indicate the
position of the region - which is likely to give a ringing
endorsement to
the coalition arrangement in Harare - on issues and hopefully
press on the
local political leadership to resolve disputes diverting
government's
attention from delivery.
While a vote of
confidence in the inclusive government and claims of
progress are to be
expected from Sadc, the reality on the ground paints a
gloomy picture of the
situation. Hard facts show that not many steps forward
have been taken since
February. There appears to have been a false dawn
after
all.
More than six months after the formation of the supposedly
transitional and power-sharing government, there has been little progress in
instituting envisaged political and economic reforms.
A
semblance of normalcy has been restored on the macro-economic
environment,
but the fact is that the economy has not bottomed out in any
significant
way.
Industry has slightly increased capacity utilisation, closed
companies
have been one by one reopening, some companies are weighing
expansion plans,
investors are exploring new opportunities and the
international community is
beginning to talk to Harare.
There has also been an increase in government revenues and financial
aid,
mainly humanitarian assistance, and there are promises of economic aid
on
the horizon. Workers, especially civil servants, are returning to their
jobs.
Via a multi-currency regime, the dragon of inflation
has been tamed
and macro-economic dislocations and structural problems are
being addressed.
Schools, hospitals, clinics and other critical
public utilities have
re-opened. Some degree of peace and stability has been
restored as
repression and violence have relatively diminished in
intensity.
This is certainly an improvement on the hopeless
situation of last
year. If the inclusive government had not come in to
rescue the situation
the country would be engulfed in violence and chaos.
That was almost
guaranteed. There are precedents in history all over the
world. What is not
clear is what would have been the course of events and
history in the
process.
However, apart from a number of
these token and symbolic movements
since February, not much has changed. The
economic situation remains bleak.
There is no funding for recovery. Without
substantial financial aid, the
economy will not recover.
Government and economic experts say up to US$45 billion is required
for
Zimbabwe's economy to recover to the GDP levels of 1997. This shows
the
economy had been ruined beyond what is usually appreciated.
In
the short term, Zimbabwe - which is saddled with a debt profile of
early
US$5 billion - is looking for US$8,3 billion (Sadc rounded off the
figure to
US$10 billion in Swaziland), but only a drop in the ocean has been
secured
because donor countries are sceptical about the Harare
coalition.
In rural areas people have returned to barter trade,
showing
regression and lack of improvement.
Western countries have
set benchmarks relating to democratic reforms
for funding. However, Zimbabwe
has been procrastinating on measuring up to
the reforms
index.
There is mounting evidence that the new government is
failing or
unwilling to change course.
The inclusive
government is failing to end serious human rights
violations, restore the
rule of law, institute fundamental reforms, and
chart a new political
direction for the country.
Despite GPA commitments made by all
parties, the new power-sharing
coalition has not taken any significant steps
to ensure justice for victims
of human rights violations or hold
perpetrators of those abuses to account.
Government has only paid lip
service to national healing and reconciliation.
Repression
remains entrenched. Political activists, mainly from the
MDC, civil society
advocates, human rights campaigners, judicial officers,
lawyers and
journalists, among others, are still being harassed and
intimidated.
Even MPs - lawmakers themselves - are being
politically persecuted.
Zanu PF is stubbornly refusing to
embrace change. Lacking real
political power to effect reforms, the MDC and
its leaders are unable to
push for change and appear to be accommodating
Zanu PF and President Robert
Mugabe in order to ensure the survival of the
power-sharing government at
the risk of co-option.
Given
these circumstances, what will the MDC do if all else fails? How
about Zanu
PF? And what about Zimbabweans in their collectivity?
The GPA
promises to "build a society free of violence, fear,
intimidation, hatred,
patronage, corruption and founded on justice,
fairness, openness,
transparency, dignity and equality."
None of these issues have
been seriously implemented. There have been
no reforms on the legislative
framework, electoral rules, judiciary, state
security services and state
institutions. The culture of brutality and
impunity remains. It is
imperative to overhaul the security system to root
this out. Sanctions can
only easily go if Zanu PF accepts reforms.
However, Zanu PF has
shown hostility to far-reaching reforms.
This is why it is
rigidly determined to resist constitutional reform
because a new
dispensation would necessarily lead to its liquidation. Thus
failure by Sadc
to resolve the conflicts within the inclusive government and
ensure
substantive change would result in the coalition falling apart at the
seams.
If the transition is botched, Zimbabwe risks sliding
back into
violence and chaos. What will Sadc do if everything
fails?
Dumisani Muleya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 03
September 2009 19:17
GOVERNMENT'S policy of promoting the informal
sector at the expense of
properly structured SMEs and big business has come
back to haunt the nation.
Finance minister Tenda Biti in warning
teachers not to go on strike
this week revealed that government had in July
managed to collect a miserly
US$90 million in taxes and levies. This is
against a projected annualised
revenue inflow of US$1,7 billion to be raised
from taxes and levies. That is
an average of US$141 million a
month.
Government is off target and as a result the state
cannot raise
revenue to pay restive civil servants a living wages or finance
social
services. The low revenue flows, averaging below US$25 million a week
are
not likely to improve significantly until there is a deliberate policy
thrust to correct damaging state interventions during the bad years of
economic decline.
Firstly government's intervention
promoted arbitrage which gave rise
to the growth of an informal economy
where business was conducted on the
street with no real set rules. Big
business became a cheap target for
politicians to score points as capital
was accused of sabotaging the economy
and promoting a regime-change
agenda.
Price controls were recklessly implemented to keep a lid on
rising
prices in the face of rampant inflation. On the other hand the
informal
economy took root and many became suddenly very rich through
corruptly
acquiring scarce commodities and selling them at exorbitant
prices. They
were never caught by the price control net.
Then there were cheap funds, fuel, seed and maize given to "farmers"
who
never put a seed into the ground. They sold these and became instantly
rich.
Those farmers honest enough to plant a field and produce a crop were
never
asked to pay back loans neither were they taxed on their farming
businesses.
They got free capital and pocketed fat profits.
The sum total of
this has been a debilitating erosion of the tax base
and current efforts to
raise revenue will fail as long as the new regime at
the Ministry of Finance
believes that the best way forward is setting Zimra
upon small-scale traders
to collect revenue. This is not sustainable.
The era of blitzes
and search and grabs is over. Tendai Biti and his
team have to be smarter in
their quest to raise revenue.
The challenge is to widen the tax
base by formalising the informal
sector.
Many among our rulers
harbour the unfortunate misconception that the
formalising of the informal
sector means making them pay tax and levies. The
Zimra blitzes have nothing
to do with building capacity but more to do with
squeezing as much revenue
as possible out of struggling traders.
When business people see tax
as punitive they try as much as possible
to avoid paying it. There are small
companies that have closed shops in town
to operate from garages at home to
avoid paying tax. Others are using more
subtle means to evade
tax.
The challenge before Biti therefore is to come up with a
plan that
increases capacity in the informal sector and grow registered SMEs
which in
the long term would expand the tax base. Many Asian countries which
have
experienced economic booms took this route.
Closer to
home, the South African government - having realised that
access to equity
finance by small and medium-sized businesses was one of the
main challenges
to the growth of this important sector of South Africa's
economy - last
month started using its taxation legislation to stimulate SME
development.
To enable SME business ventures to obtain capital
required to fund
establishment or growth, the South African Income Tax Act
now provides for
tax incentives to those who invest in venture capital
companies that engage
in the provision of funding to small business
enterprises.
That tax incentive comprises tax deductibility of
the entirety of
amounts invested in venture capital companies that provide
SME funding. By
so doing the South African government hopes to raise
capacity in the
small-scale sector. The growing sector can then contribute
meaningfully to
the fiscus through corporate tax and individual income tax.
It's a smarter
way of doing things indicative of the innovative thinking
that could
vigorously stimulate SME development here.
Zimbabwe needs to come up with smart ways of encouraging formal and
informal
sector development and not stifling trade through punitive tax
raids. We
want to see a deliberate policy that ensures there is a
progressive shift by
business people in the informal sector to join the
ranks of the formal
sector.
The same should happen on the land. There should be a
proper plan for
resettled farmers to also start paying tax on their land and
on their
agro-business ventures. It does not make sense that a small trader
selling
buns and coke in West End is raided by Zimra whilst a large-scale
commercial
farmer is exempt. All this is taxing, isn't it?
Vincent Kahiya