Sept 8, 2010, 11:14 PM ET
http://af.reuters.com
Thu Sep 9, 2010 10:38am GMT
*
Mugabe, 86, appears fit and lively
* Says God helping Zimbabwe with
mineral discoveries
By Cris Chinaka
HARARE, Sept 9 (Reuters) -
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Thursday
dismissed rumours of
ill-health, laughing off suggestions that he was dying
of cancer and had
recently suffered a stroke.
In an interview with Reuters at his official
Zimbabwe House offices, Mugabe,
86, said he was surprised by speculation
over his health, saying this had
become a perennial issue and he hardly paid
any serious attention to it.
"I don't know how many times I die but
nobody has ever talked about my
resurrection," he said at the end of an
hour-long interview.
"I suppose they don't want to, because it would mean
they would mention my
resurrection several times and that would be quite
divine, an achievement
for an individual who is not divine.
"Jesus
died once, and resurrected only once, and poor Mugabe several times,"
he
said, clapping his hands loudly, laughing and rocking in his chair.
He
did not say whether he planned to stand in the next presidential ballot
after his disputed re-election in 2008.
Without getting into details
on whether he had any serious health problems,
Mugabe -- who appeared fit
and lively for his age -- said only God could
decide issues of life and
death.
Although there have been reports over the last 10 years on
Mugabe's health,
the veteran Zimbabwean leader has no publicly known serious
ailment.
DIVINE HELP
"My time will come, but for now, 'no'. I am
still fit enough to fight the
sanctions and knock out (my opponents)," he
said in reference to sanctions
imposed on his ZANU-PF party while former
U.S. President George W. Bush and
British Prime Minister Tony Blair were in
office.
"It is Bush who is out, Blair out, and the others are persons of
no
consequence any more. They are inheritors of a situation," he said in an
interview in which he called for improved relations between Zimbabwe and
Western powers.
"These (Bush and Blair) were the major arch enemies,
they are the ones who
brought this on us."
Mugabe said Zimbabwe would
continue to do its best even with sanctions in
place.
"God is there.
He showers his blessings on us. We continue to discover a
number of
resources, platinum, diamonds and gold and uranium.
"Those are recent
ones, perhaps others will be coming, we don't know. So God
is not there for
one nation, just for the Europeans, God is there for
everybody, so God is
great," Mugabe said.
Mugabe has been in power for Zimbabwe's 30 years of
independence from
Britain since 1980.
Although Mugabe was forced into
a power-sharing government with his
arch-rival Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai last year after a disputed
re-election in 2008, he has said he
may run for office again at the next
election.
No date has been set
for the poll, but many expect the unity government to
last to 2012, by which
time Mugabe will be 88.
http://af.reuters.com
Thu Sep 9, 2010 10:47am GMT
By
Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe wants normal ties with Western
powers critical
of its policies but will press ahead with a plan to hand
control of foreign
companies to local blacks, President Robert Mugabe
said.
Mugabe told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that his government
was
waiting for positive movement from the United States and European Union
to
mend ties soured over the last decade by rows over the seizures of
white-owned farms for landless blacks and charges of rights abuses and
election fraud.
"We never refuse to talk to anybody," he said when
asked whether he was
prepared to talk to Washington and
Brussels.
"But what I don't understand about the Europeans and the
Americans is the
negative attitude. How do they expect the kind of cold war
they decided to
wage on us, how do they intend it to end?"
Talks to
improve ties with the EU have stalled over slow political reforms
in Harare
while U.S. President Barack Obama said last month he was
"heartbroken" by
Zimbabwe's decline.
Mugabe -- who last month told Western powers to go
"to hell" over sanctions
imposed on his ZANU-PF party -- said on Thursday:
"They have imposed
unjustified and illegal sanctions on us. The sanctions
are comparable to the
military aggression in Iraq".
IMPROVING
RELATIONS
Mugabe said some Western countries had hoped that sanctions on
Zimbabwe
would help push him out of power.
"That kind of regime
change is the exclusive right of the people of Zimbabwe
... I am born here
and if my people want me to go, I go."
The 86-year-old leader said he
hoped Obama and new British Prime Minister
David Cameron and his deputy Nick
Clegg would move to mend ties between
Harare and the West.
"We are
waiting to see what Cameron and Clegg will do and Obama also will do
in
regard to our situation and our relations," Mugabe said.
"If they decide
the relations should remain what they are, then we will know
that they too
are aggressors and not different from their predecessors, but
we are giving
them a chance."
The United States and European Union imposed sanctions on
state firms and
travel restrictions on Mugabe and dozens of his associates
nearly 10 years
ago after a violent re-election campaign and at the start of
often violent
commercial farm seizures.
Mugabe was forced into a
power-sharing pact with his rival, Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai, more
than a year ago after a crisis over a 2008 national
election that local and
foreign observers say was marred by violence and
vote-rigging.
LOCAL
OWNERSHIP
Although the unity government has stabilised the economy and
Zimbabwe
registered its first growth in a decade last year, it has struggled
to
attract foreign aid and investment because of Mugabe's
policies.
Mugabe told Reuters the government would proceed with a plan
for local
blacks to acquire 51 percent shares in foreign-owned firms,
including mines
and banks, despite criticism it will hurt investment flows
into the country.
"It has always been our aim to have control of our
resources ... and I don't
think the private sectors of the Western countries
would, in toto, decide to
stay away," he said.
Mugabe, in power since
independence from Britain in 1980, says his policies
are meant to correct
colonial injustices and on Thursday he dismissed fears
that the local
ownership drive would be implemented haphazardly.
Mugabe also dismissed
rumours of ill-health, laughing off suggestions that
he was dying of cancer
and had recently suffered a stroke .
He expressed frustration with
Zimbabwean middle class blacks who criticise
his empowerment plans to give
them a stake in an economy in which the
majority are workers and
managers.
"We are saying to them you are like an eagle brought up among
chickens, an
eagle that doesn't know that it can do more than chickens and
fly," he said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
09
September 2010
The chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)
this week told the
Bulawayo High Court that only Robert Mugabe as President
can call for an
election. The ZEC chief was responding to a court
application by three MP's
expelled from the Mutambara MDC.
Abednico
Bhebhe (Nkayi South), Njabuliso Mguni (Lupane East) and Norman
Mpofu
(Bulilima East) lost their parliamentary seats when the Mutambara MDC
sacked
them. They responded by filing an application with the High Court to
compel
ZEC to call for by-elections to fill up the vacant seats.
But ZEC chief
Justice Mutambanengwe, through his lawyer George Chikumbirike,
told the High
Court that if Mugabe doesn't call for an 'election' the ZEC
cannot do it
themselves. Although the court case continues, the remarks by
Mutambanengwe
generated headlines that suggested only Mugabe had the power
to call for all
types of elections in the country.
Dr Lovemore Madhuku who chairs the
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)
told SW Radio Africa on Thursday 'I
think that statement by Justice
Mutambanengwe was referring to by-elections.
It's very clear under the
Electoral Act that by-elections are called by the
President. There is no
question of the Prime Minister coming into
it.'
There was confusion in political circles as people remembered that a
few
months ago Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Mugabe had to consult
him
before he can call for elections. We asked Madhuku to clarify the
confusion;
'What the MDC is referring to would be General Elections. If
there ought to
be elections during the 5 year period that these guys have an
inclusive
government, then off course the President is expected to consult
the Prime
Minister, but only for that period (GPA).'
Madhuku added
that; 'If for example the inclusive government falls apart or
it goes beyond
the 5 year mandate, Mugabe remains the only person who can
call for
elections under the law.'
There has also been intense debate over what it
means for the President to
make decisions 'in consultation with' the Prime
Minister.
'Those people who drafted the GPA are good English speakers and
they know
that there is a difference between the word consultation and the
word
agreement. All lawyers know that where you want agreement you would say
either with the approval of or with the consent of.' As currently defined
Madhuku says the clause gives Mugabe the ultimate power to go ahead,
disregarding Tsvangirai's views.
SW Radio Africa also asked Madhuku
about the contentious issue of whether
the coalition government had a time
frame. 'There is no time frame specified
in the GPA itself but the time
frame is clearly stipulated by law. A
government elected in Zimbabwe serves
for a maximum of 5 years. The GPA is
simply an agreement of the political
parties who were elected in 2008 to
govern the country together.'
'So
the GPA must come to an end on the 28th June 2013. That is the maximum
because Mugabe took oath on the 29th June 2008 and under our constitution
the term of office of any government is determined by the office of the
President. So that is the legal limit of the GPA.' Madhuku however said
there was a 'political limit' for the GPA based on an understanding by the
political parties that the coalition government was temporary.
http://news.radiovop.com
09/09/2010 19:00:00
A
Constitutional Parliamentary Select Committee (COPAC) rapporteurs this
week
assaulted a COPAC team leader and Bindura South Member of Parliament
Bednock
Nyaude outside the offices of the District Administrator for Kadoma
in
Mashonaland West Province.
ZZZICOMP, a tripartite coalition of
organisations shadowing the constitution
making process said Nyaude and
Editor Matamisa, the legislator for Kadoma
Central, who is one of the COPAC
supervisors in Mashonaland West Province,
confirmed the
assault.
ZZZICOMP said Nyaude was punched on his chest by Beauty Zhuwao,
a rapporteur
for COPAC, who accused him of insinuating that she had personal
problems, a
charge which Hon. Nyaude denied.
Nyaude reported the
assault case at Kadoma Central Police Station and to the
two COPAC team
supervisors Matamisa and Walter Chidhakwa, the MP for Zvimba
South.
Matamisa travelled to Harare on Wednesday, where she delivered
the report
done by Nyaude detailing his assault to COPAC co-chairperson Paul
Mangwana
at his Milton Park offices.
Zhuwao is part of the team of
rapporteurs who are capturing the public
sentiments expressed during the
constitution making outreach process.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Tobias Manyuchi Thursday 09 September
2010
HARARE -- Zimbabwe will send officials to South Africa to
document all
Zimbabwean immigrants living in its giant neighbour, the
Ministry of Home
Affairs said on Wednesday.
The announcement by
Harare comes a week after Pretoria officials indicated
that all illegal
foreign migrants including Zimbabweans should regularise
their documentation
or face deportation by December 31.
Home Affairs Minister, Kembo Mohadi
said the decision to deport illegal
Zimbabweans was not new.
"It's
not a new position at all," Mohadi said at a joint-press briefing with
by
co-Home Affairs Minister Theresa Makone.
"This was agreed on May 4 last
year and we were given a six month
moratorium .. it is now up to us to send
people to Johannesburg, Pretoria,
Durban and Cape Town and other places to
regularise (provide registration
documentation) those people."
Mohadi
and Makone could not be drawn into commenting how soon this could
happen.
There are no exact figures of how many Zimbabwean live in
South Africa but
recent estimates put the figure at around 1.5 million or
nearly a sixth of
Zimbabwe's total population of 12 million people. -
ZimOnline.
Associated Press
By Angus Shaw (CP) - 6 hours
ago
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Sales of beer have surged by 50 per cent in
Zimbabwe over
the past year amid the misery of daily power and water outages
and ongoing
economic woes.
Health authorities also are reporting
increases in illnesses linked to the
consumption of illegal, homemade drinks
with a high alcohol content made
from potatoes, rags, chemicals, rotting
vegetables and sugar.
One illegal liquor distilled over wood fires in the
bush around Harare is
known as "Take Me Quick."
"You can't plan
ahead, not much further than a few days at a time, so why
not have a beer?"
said Stanley Chida, the owner of two discotheque clubs in
downtown
Harare.
The international Chronic Poverty Research Center said the
temptation to
escape into alcohol has only deepened the plight of
impoverished communities
across Africa.
Zimbabwe's market was
liberalized after the country's coalition government
abandoned the local
currency in early 2009 and adopted the U.S. dollar,
improving the
world-record inflation that had decimated Zimbabwe's economy.
Before
that, store shelves were bare of basic goods, and acute beer and
liquor
shortages even shut down some bars.
Economist John Robertson said the
reappearance of ample alcohol supplies
meant the country's biggest formal
brewer and soft drinks maker, Zimbabwe's
Delta Corp., was recapturing its
market. The company reported a beer sale
increase of 50 per cent in its
latest annual report.
This new abundance of beer and other drinks is
giving cash-strapped
consumers the dilemma of buying alcohol "or shoes for
their children,"
Robertson said.
President Robert Mugabe, who has
been in power since Zimbabwe's independence
30 years ago, signed a coalition
deal with longtime opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai, who is now prime
minister. But Zimbabwe's unity government has
been split by disputes over
power-sharing since it was sworn in in February
2009.
While Zimbabwe
no longer suffers from world-record inflation, the economic
misery continues
for many and the Red Cross estimated earlier this year that
as many as
one-fourth of the country's population is in need of food aid.
Financial
consultants Imara Asset Management Zimbabwe note that Zimbabweans
are
spending more on drinks than their northern neighbours in Zambia, a far
more
stable and economically strong country.
Despite Zimbabwe's economic
meltdown, residents there spent $324 million on
drinks in the same yearlong
period that Zambians spent $230 million. The two
countries have roughly the
same size population - around 12 million.
Bar owners say many appear to
be taking their alcohol home to consume.
Francis Zengeni, a patron at
Harare's Balcony Bar, said he didn't have the
money more than "one or two
beers after work." He earns $190 a month as an
accounts clerk.
"There
isn't a lot of money around," said Chida, the discotheque club owner.
"It is
cheaper to buy a six- pack from a store and take it home to retreat
from
your troubles. That's what's happening."
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona
Sibanda
9 September 2010
Thousands of air travellers face lengthy
delays and cancellations after Air
Zimbabwe pilots and cabin crew went on
strike on Wednesday over pay and
conditions.
The national carrier was
forced to cancel all its domestic and international
flights while the
Harare-Johannesburg route remained open, though with
limited flights, owing
to a leased aircraft servicing the route.
'The airline is in the process
of trying to lease a much bigger aircraft to
operate the Harare-London route
in an effort to minimise disruptions for the
travellers,' a source told us.
The Harare-London route is the airline's most
lucrative followed by the
Harare-Johannesburg one.
The highly placed source told us the pilots were
protesting what their union
called the lowest wages among the major airlines
in the region. Before the
dollarisation of the economy, a captain at the
airline was getting an
equivalent of between US$5000-7000 while first
officers were getting a
salary of between $3000-5000 a month.
The
troubled airline could not sustain these salaries in U.S. dollars and
decided to cut them in February to $1,200 a month. The country's sole
airline is reportedly broke and running on deficit and it is reported the
airline owes its pilots $1,2 million in salary arrears as they never agreed
to the cuts.
The national airline is a perennial loss-maker weighed
down by an ageing
fleet, debt and the effects of a decade-long economic
crisis in the country.
The airline operates two long haul Boeing 767 planes
and three Boeings' 737
for domestic and regional flights, all purchased in
the 1980's.
Representatives of the pilots, cabin crew and top management
were locked in
a series of meetings in Harare on Thursday. When SW Radio
Africa contacted
the office of the Chief Executive Officer, Peter Chikumba,
we were told he
had gone for a meeting with Transport Minister Nicholas
Goche.
Air Zimbabwe has long exhausted the good credit rating it
inherited from Air
Rhodesia in 1980 after independence. It has, in the past
decade, relied on
government handouts, mostly from the controversial Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe
governor Gideon Gono, to run its ageing fleet after the
hostile
macro-economic conditions hit hard on its coffers.
In a bid
to cut costs the airline has indicated plans to lay off over 500 of
its
workers, with whom it currently is locked in a bitter labour dispute.
The
workers are fiercely resisting involuntary leave ranging between three
to 12
months.
http://news.radiovop.com
09/09/2010 12:35:00
Masvingo - September 9,
2010- The indications by the secretary general of
the smaller faction of
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-M) Professor
Welshman Ncube that he
might want to campaign for the presidency in the next
party elective
congress has created divisions which threaten to split the
party in
Masvingo.
Professor Ncube who is no longer eligible to be reelected as
the party's
secretary general early next year has recently indicated that he
might
challenge the hired leader Professor Arthur Mutambara.
As the
preparation for the congress gains momentum in Masvingo, party
supporters
have started to blackmail each other for supporting either
Mutambara or
Ncube.
Radio VOP was reliably informed that top provincial members can no
longer
see eye to eye because of the tensions created by Ncube's
indications.
"There is chaos in the party as we speak. There is a danger
of a split of
the party because already top members can no longer see eye to
eye," said
party official who preferred anonymity.
MDC-M national
chairman Joebert Mudzumwe could neither deny nor accept that
there party is
faced by imminent split due to the tension between the two
professors.
"Its not official, no one is fighting each other in our
party. Who said we
are fighting, I think they are exaggerating," said
Mudzumwe.
Masvingo provincial chairman and ex-soldier Robson Mashiri
refused to
comment saying he was very busy with Constitutional Parliamentary
Committee
(COPAC) business.
"I don't want to be disturbed. I am busy
with COPAC right now. What does our
fighting has to do with newspapers?'
asked Mashiri before switching off his
mobile.
However, sources in
the party insisted that the situation in Masvingo is a
true mirror image of
what is happening in all provinces.
Sources say Ncube is being given
green light by members who are anti
Mutambara.
"It is true; there is
a real danger of further split. People are just fed up
by Mutambara and they
want to give Ncube a chance. However, Ncube is still
testing the waters but
from the look of things, he might win at the end of
the day," said the
source.
Supporters in Masvingo once demanded that he (Mutambara) be fired
after
showering praises on President Mugabe early this year.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
09 September, 2010
Riot police are reported to be
protecting the premises of Chitungwiza's
municipality from angry flea market
vendors whose stalls were demolished in
a clampdown that started last week.
The heavily equipped riot squad was
deployed Wednesday morning after a
truckload of people, suspected to be the
flea market vendors, drove by the
offices chanting intimidating slogans
aimed at the town clerk Godfrey
Tanyanyiwa.
The vendors assaulted the Mayor and several senior council
members soon
after the demolitions last week Tuesday. It was feared that
they were
planning another attack and officials were moved to vacate the
municipal
buildings and send the workers home.
Personal bodyguards
are reported to have been hired for the town clerk
Tanyanyiwa after last
week's incident. This has further strained relations
between top officials
and municipal workers because the municipality is
short of money and many
workers are complaining that they have not been
paid.
Simbarashe
Moyo, chairperson of the Combined Harare Residents Association
(CHRA),
compared last week's demolitions to "Operation Murambatsvina", when
nearly
one million innocent Zimbabweans were displaced after the government
bulldozed their homes and businesses back in 2005.
The Chitungwiza
council said that the stalls had been erected at
undesignated sites but Moyo
explained: "These people were trying to find
home grown solutions to the
problem of unemployment, which is over 90%,
without resorting to any illegal
means. Their property was destroyed and
they were left with no
option."
Moyo said the Chitungwiza council had set aside land for the
purpose of
establishing a flea market so that they could collect some
revenue, but had
not built anything there. "The vendors could not be
expected to wait while
their families starved. It was an organized response
to a crisis. You can
understand their anger," he added.
Chitungwiza
Mayor Philemon Chipiyo told the press on Wednesday that he had
been out of
the office and did not know enough about the current situation
to comment.
He is quoted as saying he "wouldn't want to engage in gossip"
and he
referred reporters to the town clerk.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex
Bell
09 September 2010
Co-Ministers of Home Affairs, Theresa Makone
and Kembo Mohadi, are being
urged to clarify their involvement in South
Africa's plans to resume
deporting Zimbabweans, amid widespread shock that
they endorsed the plan.
South African authorities announced last week
that the deportations would
begin as of the 31st December this year, warning
that all undocumented
Zimbabweans have until that date to sort out their
paperwork. A moratorium
on Zimbabwean deportations was announced in May last
year, at the same time
that the South African government announced it
intended giving Zimbabweans a
special dispensation permit.
That
permit was meant to assist Zimbabweans in regularising their stay in
South
Africa, as technically, with the special permit, they no longer had to
apply
for refugee status to work or receive support. But that permit was
never
rolled out, and the paperwork crisis that epitomises South Africa's
Home
Affairs department means most Zimbabweans in the country remain
undocumented.
The announcement that deportations will resume has
since been greeted with
shock and anger. South African authorities have
attempted to quell any panic
by announcing a 'Documentation Project' that
will endeavour to get all
Zimbabweans in South Africa some form of
permit.
But according to the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, the Zimbabwean
authorities also
need to provide some clarification to its millions of
citizens in South
Africa. The group's director, Gabriel Shumba, told SW
Radio Africa that the
Co-Minister of Home Affairs in particular need to
explain why they endorsed
the decision to resume deportations.
"We
want them to clarify what exactly has changed in Zimbabwe to support a
decision to deport people," Shumba said. "Our ministers, who have never
bothered to speak to us in the Diaspora, have now made this life-changing
decision."
"It is maybe not so surprising, but it is very
disappointing," Shumba added.
The Exiles Forum and a number of other
rights groups have this week written
to the Zimbabwean ambassador in South
Africa, trying to get a meeting with
the authorities. Shumba said they hope
to have the meeting before South
Africa launches its 'Documentation Project'
in two weeks time, adding that
the logistics need to be
explained.
Shumba warned that this project could leave hundreds of
thousands of
Zimbabweans vulnerable to deportation, saying that the
documentation process
would take many months. In order to qualify
Zimbabweans must have a valid
Zimbabwean passport, a letter from their
employer for a work permit, a
letter from their school or college for a
study permit, while those seeking
a business permit must produce a
registration certificate and proof of tax
compliance. Shumba said these are
unrealistic expectations.
http://www.herald.co.zw/
9 September 2010
Harare - Members of
Parliament who benefited from the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe vehicle scheme
are likely to end their term of office without
paying a cent for the
cars.
The legislators who took delivery of the vehicles from the central
bank
almost two years ago are still holding on to them. This is despite the
fact
that they each now have an additional vehicle from the traditional
parliamentary vehicle loan scheme.
The MPs were given the vehicles
from the central bank after Treasury had
delayed in giving them cars to use
for their parliamentary duties. RBZ
Governor Dr Gideon Gono had responded to
their request for vehicles after
they had approached him. Dr Gono made it
clear the MPs could use the
vehicles while they waited for their vehicles
from Parliament.
Legislators from the MDC-T who had initially been
reluctant to take the
vehicles in fear of a backlash from their party later
joined the rush for
the vehicles. But two years down the line, the vehicles
have not yet been
surrendered while the central bank has not charged the
legislators.
With the talk that general elections are likely to be held
next year after
the expiry of the Global Political Agreement, some MPs could
end their term
without paying anything for the vehicles.
Legislators
who spoke to The Herald yesterday said it was legitimate for
them to
continue holding on to the vehicles as a way of compensating them
for their
low salaries and erratic payment of their allowances by
Parliament.
"We spent almost eight months without a single cent from
Parliament when we
were elected. It took five months for us to be sworn-in
after we were
elected and during that time we were not being paid anything,"
said one
legislator.
Chairperson of the welfare committee Cde
Makhosini Hlongwane said the fate
of the vehicles from the central bank had
not yet been discussed.
"MPs are at the moment busy with the
constitution-making outreach programme.
There is no other issue that we are
seized with. Only after we are through
with the outreach programme will we
sit down to discuss any other issue,"
said Cde Hlongwane.
Cde
Hlongwane is the Mberengwa East Member of House of Assembly (Zanu-PF).
He
said it was prudent for legislators to remain focused on the
constitution-making outreach programme.
Another legislator noted that
it was now difficult for the central bank to
reclaim the vehicles as some
had already been damaged in accidents.
Other legislators said they had
reconditioned the vehicles at their personal
expense and it was unfair to
surrender them to the RBZ. "The only reasonable
thing to do is to bill us
and not to take them away from us," said another
legislator who preferred
anonymity. At least 100 legislators received
vehicles from the central bank.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 09 September 2010
18:50
Finance minister Tendai Biti has described recent bread price
increases as
unjustified, while the Competition and Tariff Commission (CTC)
has begun
investigations into possible price fixing by bread industry
players.
Bread producers two weeks ago announced at a press conference that
they were
increasing prices in response to the decision by Russia - one of
the world's
biggest exporter of wheat - to limit exports of the cereal to
avert domestic
shortfalls.
The National Bakers Association of Zimbabwe
(NBA) agreed to increase bread
prices by 10%, with the price for a loaf
increasing to between 90 US cents
and US$1, 10, sparking widespread
condemnation.
But government and other players are questioning the producers'
decision to
make uniform increases, arguing that this could result in a
bread cartel
whose influence could spread to other sectors of the economy if
left
unchecked.
"We have traditionally imported wheat from South Africa,
which was not in
any way affected by developments in Russia," Biti told the
Zimbabwe
Independent.
"If millers and bakers cite this scenario for their
price reviews, they are
being dishonest... It is no longer the
hyperinflationary era of 2008 where
you just dream of a new price the next
day. Shareholders would be happy with
a 8%, 10% or 15% increase not over
70%," Biti said, equating millers and
bakers' behaviour to the black market
foreign currency dealings phenomenon
that characterised the economy in
2008.
The CTC, which began investigations last week, said it was taking the
matter
seriously.
"The media has been accusing us of doing nothing when
in actual fact we are
still carrying out investigations as it is a serious
matter. We will take
the approach we did with Zesa (on electricity
tariffs)," said the CTC in a
response to inquiries from the Zimbabwe
Independent. The National Incomes
and Pricing Commission (NIPC), the
country's prices regulator, has said it
has also opened investigations into
possible collusion.
Zimbabwean businesses, market observers say, are quick to
review prices
upwards whenever there is a movement on the international
market, but adopt
a "see no evil, hear no evil standard when the opposite
happens".
The behaviour by bread producers had left the misleading impression
that
bakers and millers in the country had similar production costs with
Russia
and the rest of Europe and North Africa, they said.
"When the
situation stabilises in Russia, people will expect the price to go
down and
this should apply to all like-minded entrepreneurs," said an
economist who
did not want to be named, adding that the move to uniformly
increase bread
prices raised fears about the return of industry cartels.
Recently, the CTC
ordered state power firm Zesa Holdings to desist from
abusing its monopoly
to overcharge consumers after widespread complaints
that Zesa was charging
exorbitantly for an erratic service.
Since 1998 when the Competition Act
(Chapter 14:28) came into effect, the
CTC involvement in regulating
competition and unfair trade practices was
largely restricted to mergers and
takeovers, an area that the ordinary
person had very little interest
in.
Analysts say a standard loaf of bread, priced at US$1, 10, will
effectively
cost US$2 because most retailers do not have coins to use for
change,
forcing consumers to choose between a box of matches, sweets, bubble
gums or
candles readily available at tills in lieu of the 90c change.
A
cost build up study done by the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe last year
showed that bread was supposed to cost between 85 US cents and 95 US cents
but was priced at US$1 to avert the attendant headaches associated with
small denominations in the economy. Analysts say this makes the US$1,10
currently being charged after the price increases unjustifiable.
In
neighbouring South Africa, where the bulk of local players source their
wheat from, a loaf of bread costs between 7-9 rands (an average of 90 US
cents).
In US dollar terms, a standard loaf in Namibia costs 85 US cents,
Botswana
90 US cents and Zambia 89 US cents. In Mozambique, fatal bread
riots only
ended on Wednesday after the government agreed to scrap a 25%
increase that
would have resulted in the price of a bread roll, that
country's bread
staple, going up to 20 US cents.
Consumer Council of
Zimbabwe CEO Rosemary Siyachitema told the Independent
on Tuesday that her
organisation was working with the NIPC on research
regarding the pricing of
bread and other basic commodities prices.
"It (research) is a long procedure.
We are liaising with NIPC, they are the
ones with a statute that allows them
to request invoices and receipts from
retailers and manufacturers,"
Siyachitema said.
Consumers this week said it seems the deep-seated mistrust
between
government, business and consumers has simply been inherited from
the old
political and economic dispensation by the new one.
"We are
seeing the return of super profits. Companies should not rip us off
but the
bread issue shows that producers, who should in fact be competing,
are
colluding to increase prices," said Shuwai Makate, an accounts clerk
with a
Mutare local clothing retail shop.
Biti in his mid-term fiscal policy in July
this year branded sections of the
business community as "economic gangsters"
who cling to the profiteering
mentality of old. The minister said this in
the wake of price increases
which were beginning to filter through the
market and negatively impacting
on the country's efforts to rein in
inflation.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono had earlier waded
into the
argument, saying that "money illusions and psychological hangovers
where
sellers of goods and services are taking time to appreciate the true
value
of hard currencies, and hence escalate prices disproportionately"
would
affect inflationary pressures.
The NBA and the Grain Millers
Association are, however, digging in, telling
the Independent this week that
it was wrong for the NIPC to demand a
reduction in prices without looking at
the global picture.
"They (NIPC) said they are carrying out their
investigations. But it is
common knowledge and there is enough evidence to
prove that wheat prices on
the world market went up," the NBA
said.
Paul Nyakazeya/Benard Mpofu
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Zwanai Sithole
Wednesday, 08 September 2010
13:39
MBERENGWA - Scores of villagers in Mberengwa West are up in arms
with their
local Zanu (PF) MP, Jorum Gumbo whom they accuse of swindling
them.
In May this year villagers in the area were made to pay $10 each by
Gumbo in
order for them to access the Netone lines. After collecting the
money Gumbo
went to Harare, promising to secure the lines in two weeks
time.
"When the two weeks elapsed, we contacted the MP and he told us that
the
lines were scare and said we should be patient with him. What angered
everyone is that the MP only resurfaced last month with the lines when
everybody had already acquired the lines at US1 each," said Charles Hove, a
teacher who contributed money towards the deal.
"We feel cheated by the
MP. He took our money in May and now he is refusing
to give us the
difference. What was he doing with our money all this time?
We suspect he
knew that the prices of the lines were going to go down and
that is why he
was doing these delaying tactics," said another villager who
refused to be
named for fear of victimization.
The villagers said when they demanded a
refund they were told by Gumbo's
polling agent, Peter Sinyolo, that the MP
was robbed of the money. This is
not the first time that the Zanu (PF) chief
whip has clashed with the
villagers over monetary contributions in the
constituency.
About three months ago, three youths in the area were recently
severely
assaulted by Gumbo after the youths accused the MP of abusing
villagers
money meant for rural electrification programme.
The three
youths who are Trust Shoko, Menard Gumbo and Tafara Zhou were
assaulted by
Gumbo at Mupesi business centre where he runs a bottle Astore
and a grocery
shop. Efforts to get a comment from Gumbo were all in vain.
Harare, September
10, 2010: The United States
Agency for International Development (USAID), working with its partner PACT and
the Southern Africa Parliamentary Support Trust (SAPST), funded the purchase and
installation of audio and other equipment to the Parliament of Zimbabwe as part
of an ongoing effort to boost the capacity of parliamentarians and promote good
governance.
Worth approximately
$500,000, the donation consists of a new sound system, and equipment to
facilitate voting, provide simultaneous translation, and permit digital
archiving. The equipment will allow the Parliament to make official proceedings
more accessible to the media and the general public.
Thanks to the new
equipment, parliamentary and committee debates can now be digitally recorded
onto a computer, providing an archive for public discussion, as required by
law. The new system will also speed publication of the daily record of
parliamentary debate and proceedings.
The equipment was
made available under a Memorandum of Understanding with Parliament signed in May
2010. “USAID has had a long standing relationship with the Parliament of
Zimbabwe and this donation is symbolic of our wishes to continue to work with
Parliament to expand its capacity,” said USAID Director Karen Freeman. “We are
delighted to provide equipment to support and improve the daily function of this
fundamental branch of government.”
U.S. Ambassador
Charles Ray and USAID Director Karen Freeman will officially announce the
donation on September 21 at public ceremony at the Parliament inaugurating the
systems.
The U.S. Agency for
International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance
worldwide for more than 40 years. For more information on USAID programs in
Zimbabwe, please contact Cary Jimenez. E-mail: cjimenez@usaid.gov Tel. +263 4 250992 or
visit www.usaid.gov/ .
http://harare.usembassy.gov Become a
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U.S. Embassy
Harare
Public Affairs
Section
Taken Question: U.S.
government participation in the COPAC process
Question: How does
the U.S. government participate in the COPAC process?
Answer: The U.S.
Embassy, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), is a
contributor to the UNDP-led funding mechanism for COPAC. USAID is not a member
of the COPAC project board and does not participate in COPAC project board
meetings, except occasionally as an invited observer. No USAID representative
attended the August 30 COPAC project board meeting cited in the September 5
Sunday Mail article. Although the U.S. is not on the project board, it remains
committed to the overall process of transition and the full and
transparent implementation of the Global Political Agreement, including the
COPAC process.
Issued by the U.S.
Embassy Public Affairs Section
Harare, September 9,
2010
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Chris N
Greenland
Monday, 06 September 2010 14:20
Written by a former
Zimbabwean High Court Judge, this is a biography
spanning the southern
African region during a time of momentous change. As
well as being
intriguing, absorbing and informative, it is also
thought-provoking on
critically important issues such as justice, ethnicity,
xenophobia,
affirmative action, the death sentence, rape and patronage.
This book is very
different from the many books that have come out of the
Zimbabwe situation.
It is written with intent to set out truth based on
authentic experiences of
a "Coloured" person, in particular.
The outcome is also quite brutal on a
number of levels. It is a unique
biography that fascinates and provokes.
Although the story starts in
Zimbabwe, it spans the whole region in a quest
to answer the central
question - "what has liberation actually done for
ordinary human beings -
especially Zimbabweans?" And how are we treated in
other countries?
A whole gamut of issues are traversed, including racism and
xenophobia, with
subsets like the death sentence, rape and the rights of an
accused person.
This is a biography that is both enthralling and educative
whether you are a
judge, a human rights activist, one of the millions in the
Zimbabwe Diaspora
or just someone who is concerned that for, whatever
reason, you are
sometimes treated differently - as "the Other".
No
punches are pulled about "inconvenient truths" and "convenient
untruths".
Included is an exposé on the Edgar Tekere trial and the stance of
Ian Smith's
military commanders during the liberation war. Characters who
are honourably
featured include Richard Brown, the late Danny Pillay, Vernon
Bowers, the
late Sister Mare Nujent, Edgar Rogers, Minister Dullah Omar,
among many
others.
Given that the world comprises a multi racial, multi
ethnic mix concerned
with truth, happiness and justice, "The Other - Without
Fear, Favour or
Prejudice " is a must-read.
Buy it at:
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-other---without-fear-favour-or-prejudice/12436032
if you want to order a printed version or download a pdf version
or if
you want an eBook version: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003XNTKZ2[for
UK] or http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XNTKZ2[for
US]
If you don't have an eBook Reader you can download a PC version FREE from
http://www.mobipocket.com/en/downloadsoft/default.asp?Language=EN;
or
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311
About
the Author
Greenland made history when, in 1973, he became the first
non-white person
in the region to be appointed to the magisterial bench. In
1980 he served on
the "politically correct" constituted court that tried
Edgar Tekere. Again
history was made when, as an assessor, he wrote the
judgment that overruled
the judge and Tekere was acquitted of
murder.
Later, as an Advocate, he defended Samson Nhari and nine other ZAPU
cadres,
accused of attempting a coup and plotting to murder then Prime
Minister
Robert Mugabe. Also notable was his successful defence of Gertrude
Paweni
and acting for the late Edson Zvobgo in a defamation suit.
He was
appointed as a judge in 1987, which office he carried with
distinction until
taking voluntary retirement at the end of 1991. Since then
he has worked in
South Africa, Botswana and Namibia in the road crash
compensation system. He
is proud of the fact that Namibia now has an
internationally unmatchable
compensation system.
Excerpts from the book
The Tekere
Trial
That the trial was to be sensational was guaranteed firstly on account
of
the fact that Tekere, was the president of the Zimbabwe African Union.
The
man was the leader of the majority component of the victorious
liberation
forces. Secondly was the fact that he had killed a white farm
manager.
During the only recently ended war such people were routinely
targeted by
the guerrillas and many lost their lives. Now the killing of
such a person
was to be visited with a trial in which conviction exposed
Tekere to a
sentence of death by hanging.
On the already known facts
Tekere had not behaved as a criminal. He had not
killed a man during the
course of a robbery or over a woman or for any of
the usual criminal
motives. The man had been killed by a member of his
uniformed platoon as he
was embarked on a security sweep of a farm from
which gunfire had emanated
the night before. Why was Mugabe putting the
president of his party on trial
in such circumstances? If convicted would
Tekere hang? These questions
loomed large in the minds of an intrigued new
society.
...
About two
weeks before resumption Judge Pittman phoned me to say he had
changed his
mind and would be sending me a draft judgment to that effect,
convicting
Tekere of murder. The document never arrived .
True Life
It is a warm
November evening. The shapely form of a woman stands on the
kerbside. Car
after car stops next to her. In each case she waves the driver
off. Loveness
Chipisa [name altered] is in a good mood. She is expecting
someone special.
She is quite sure that in their last encounter she had
given him more than
he had expected. That he would return for more she had
very little doubt. As
she walks slowly down Charter road she surveys each
approaching vehicle with
heightened anticipation. "My rich Jew boy client is
bound to come back for
me" she had boasted to her friends - "It was his
first time to taste
chikapa". Chikapa is sex involving serious hip gyrations
in which only black
girls are reputedly skilled .
Don't miss further excerpts from The Other in
the next issue of The
Zimbabwean.
Sept 8, 2010, 11:14 PM ET
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by COLIN & LAURA
SHREENAN
Monday, 06 September 2010 14:
We recently spent two months in
Zimbabwe – and there was not a day when were
we were not amazed and blessed
by the people of this wonderful country.
From going shopping down Chinhoyi
Street to taking your life into your hands
as you negotiate the traffic down
Mbuya Nehanda - the sights, the sounds,
the vibrancy of life is
exhilarating. (Pictured: Part of the crowd at Joyce
Meyer Ministries (JMM)
Festival of Life.)
In July we attended the Joyce Meyer Ministries (JMM)
Festival of Life. It
was awesome –a crowd of 210 000 people all singing and
praying to God for
Him to do a mighty work in the land. We visited Chikirubi
Prison Farm along
with part of the JMM Team and handed out hygiene gift
packs and books to the
inmates on behalf of her Hand of Hope ministry.
We
also visited several other farm prisons to minister with people from the
Foundations for Farming (formerly Farming God’s Way) project, Alpha Zimbabwe
and The Michael Project which operates out of Greystone Park Fellowship, as
well as a youth centre for those who are orphaned, abandoned, unwanted
and/or vulnerable. The youth were hungry for companionship and a hug.
We
visited numerous children’s homes – many of them battling a serious lack
of
even the most basic resources. It is very sad indeed to look into the
eyes
of a child, whether the very young or those at the end of their high
school
career, and see the hopelessness that comes from lack of choice!
Speaking to
the children and youth – they each have a dream. We listened to
the dreams
of those wishing to become pilots, doctors, lawyers,
accountants…if
only.
We went along with a lady to visit patients at Parirenyatwa Hospital.
She
was distributing knitted goods, made by the ladies in her community
women’s
group. There are no words to describe the connection one human being
makes
with another in those circumstances. A child with a neuroblastoma,
awaiting
surgery where her eyeball was to be removed, holding out her little
hands to
receive a knitted teddy bear and then hugging it close for comfort.
A man
with most of his face burned away by fire eagerly thanked us for
handing
over a knitted beanie which would help keep his head warm during the
cold
winter nights. Many people happy for just a smile and the comfort of a
hand
placed on theirs.
There were very sad times, a young father dying of
HIV/Aids, his relatives
taking away all his worldly possessions as soon as
news of his death was
made known and leaving his wife and children with
little if anything. News
that maternal mortality is the highest in the world
and that more than a
third of all children suffer from chronic
under-nutrition. We heard tell of
high rates of prostitution in the schools
- sugar-daddies seducing young
girls and they giving away their innocence
for a few dollars.
Heartbreaking stories like that of a stillborn baby whose
mother had
undiagnosed pre-eclampsia - undiagnosed because of a lack of
equipment such
as blood pressure cuffs and urine testing kits. Or the story
of a baby born
in a distant rural location whose mother had no one except
the traditional
birth attendant to help her and the baby not breathing at
birth and being
left for dead. We will never know if perhaps all that the
baby required was
some simple resuscitation. Her mother has subsequently
died of HIV/Aids and
has left behind another daughter.
Statistics that
now say the average life expectancy of adults in Zimbabwe
has fallen below
35 years of age! We heard a doctor pronounce that for men
it is 34 and for
women 32 – the lowest in the world.
However, for every sad story one heard
more stories of hope, of miracles, of
strength and fortitude in the face of
mountainous challenges, of communities
working together and taking care of
each other. Of humanity doing what it is
supposed to do – loving one
another.
We felt overwhelmed by the confidence that the people of Zimbabwe
are a
mighty people, a victorious people, a people belonging to God. They
have
discovered what is important, they have found that they can have all
material goods stripped away and still smile, still laugh, still sing and
dance and be full of joy. They have discovered the truth of the scripture in
Nehemiah 8:10b: “Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your
strength.”
They survive, they are joyful, they are resilient, they are
focussed and
determined. They have learned to forgive and they have learned
to extend
grace. They are committed to their God and their nation and they
are making
a difference.
Make a difference
For one child or
young person in Zimbabwe it may take just one other person
in the world to
say ‘I will!’, “I will sponsor someone’s education!” In some
cases this may
cost a mere £5/US$8 per month – less than the price of a
movie ticket! If
you would just go a step further you could ensure that
child could even buy
a school uniform and be able to see a doctor when
necessary.
It really
doesn't take much from those of us living in the developed world -
but to
the child in Lupane it means the world. Benefitting from all that the
first
world has to offer, you may decide that you would like to fund a
community
library in a rural village to help the rural school children. If
you would
like to help please contact: ColinandLauraShreenan@yahoo.co.uk