http://africantears.netfirms.com/thisweek.shtml
Saturday 12th August 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
Two weeks
into the change of Zimbabwe's currency and there is no shortage of
horror
stories about some of the things that have gone on. Stories of people
being
dehumanized at road blocks - ordered to strip and then being subjected
to
indecent searches in the hunt for concealed currency. Stories of multiple
billions of dollars being seized, of mourners being ordered to open coffins
and of huge bribes being demanded and given, to bypass the regulations and
get old currency back into the banking system. The banks are full to
bursting with depositors, the lines endlessly long, the whirring and
clacking of the note counting machines incessant. In the queues are men,
women and even children with shopping bags, cardboard boxes, suitcases of
all sizes and shapes, canvas kit bags, tin trunks and huge steel safes - all
full with money. The tellers behind the counters are literally encased in
money tombs - huge walls of bank notes rising around and above them, against
the walls, under their feet, alongside their elbows and slowly engulfing
them almost completely from view.
In the towns and suburbs there are
stories of people going on massive
spending sprees buying anything and
everything they can in order to use up
the old money that they cannot bank.
All of these stories, however, fade
into insignificance for the great
majority of desperately poor ordinary
people in Zimbabwe. This week I talked
to a man from a rural village and the
whole hullabaloo about money hardly
featured in his worries. There had been
a late frost last week and the man
and his wife had lost their entire
vegetable garden of tomatoes and leaf
vegetables. The tomatoes were just a
few days away from picking but the
frost burnt the tops of the fruits,
turning firm flesh into brown mush. The
rape leaves were almost big enough
to start picking but the frost turned
them crisp and yellow and worthless.
When I asked why the man hadn't built
grass frost shelters around the garden
he said that as far as you could see
in every direction there is no grass
left - every blade has been burnt.
There is no grass for the cattle to eat
and bushes and shrubs have also been
burnt. All unprotected maize stover has
gone too in the uncontrolled fires
that are sweeping across mile after mile
of countryside. The man said that
he hears on his radio the news that people
starting fires would be arrested
but every day great plumes of smoke rise up
but the police never
come.
I asked the man if he knew about the money being changed and he
said that
the villagers had been called to meetings and told they had to
spend all
their money as it was about to worthless. The man said many people
did not
believe the news, especially older people who hid their money in
buckets and
tins - buried it in the ground in the middle of their huts. The
man said he
had come to town to spend all his savings. He had five million
dollars
(equivalent of five pounds sterling) and wanted to buy one bag of
fertilizer. His friend had found and priced the fertilizer for him at a big
farm supply outlet - it was exactly five million dollars for a 50 kg bag.
Just four days later the man went with his handful of money and found the
price had gone up. The bag of fertilizer now cost six million four hundred
thousand dollars. The man stood looking at his handful of purple paper and
his hunched posture spoke volumes; in a few days it would be as worthless as
his garden of burnt vegetables.
If the Zimbabwe government put
anywhere near as much energy into growing
food as they have into
confiscating people's own money, we would be fat, fit
and
flourishing.
Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy
The evaluation of The Presidents speech
on the recent parliament opening,
served as anther testimony, to the
religious cult culture Zunu PF has
become, and it has enhanced my
understanding of this ideology know as
Zunu-ism.
This
religious element is seen as crucial to the practice and perception of
propaganda, with reference to the speech, it wasn't simply just a message
from the Government to the Zimbabwean people, but also a reciprocal massage,
in its self reinforcing and flexible, A message that must contain logic and
elements of truth and must explain and make sense of the political and
social reality to the point that the propaganda massage will become
significant to the government idealist values of truth.
The
harsh reality is that Mugabe is highly intellectual and has mastered the
art
of propaganda. In my quest of trying to unravel and understand the
influences of the purpose built messages behind his speeches in the last six
to eight years, one is quick to come to the conclusion that they all bold
down to the fact that they are fuelled to focus on nostalgia and
sentimentalism, as one ultimate illusion to sway Zimbabweans and specific
African Nations to value Zanu PF iconic and naïve representation of what is
worth defending, in this case is Zimbabweans solvency and Africa's fight
against imperialism.
With growing literacy and extreme
political and economical hardships, its
somehow getting challenging and
difficult for the Mugabe regime to suppress
and repress the Zimbabwean
people, Mugabe's Harry Houdini master of illusion
days are numbered, no
amount of persuasion or oppression is going to delude
the Zimbabweans and
the international community that the current situation
is one that is going
to be turned round by the introduction of NEDPP or the
so called building
bridges attempt between Zimbabwe and Britain with Mukpa
as mediator ,but the
actual resolution is one that needs to address the core
cause and call for
an immediate political and constitutional reform.
Not only are
Zimbabweans enticed in a war with the current corrupt regime
but a war with
established organization like the African union and Southern
Africa
development community for they are failing to uphold the African
Constitution charter and dismally fail to recognise and take responsibility
on the Zimbabwean situation, By failing to acknowledge the above, it
legitimizes the Mugabe regimes actions and prolonging the suffering of the
Zimbabwean people.
Zimbabweans realize that propaganda is a
tool of exclusion from the
international community and in turn has exposed
the atrocious domestic and
international policies the government has
adopted.
Wellington Chibanguza
Free-Zim
Youth ,UK
IOL
August 12 2006
at 05:17PM
By Gershwin Wanneburg
Polokwane - South
Africa has warned white farmers it may seize their
properties under the land
restitution programme if they fail to agree a
selling price within six
months.
The programme aims to hand back land to blacks who were
forcibly
removed from their ancestral homes under apartheid, or offer them
financial
compensation.
This is part of efforts to correct
skewed land ownership created under
white minority rule.
President Thabo Mbeki's government wants 30 percent of farmland in
black
hands by 2014 but the transfer process has been slow, with only around
four
percent of land transferred so far.
Agriculture and Land Affairs
Minister Lulu Xingwana said wrangling
with whites over price was one of the
main reasons for the low turnover.
"We are now going to
negotiate six months - no more, no less," she
said at a briefing on Friday
in the northern Limpopo province.
"Indeed, we don't have time to be
talking and talking for 10 years ...
because already our people have been
waiting."
"At least now we have ... expropriation. Therefore we
will no longer
waste time negotiating with people who are not committed to
transformation."
South Africa has been quick to dismiss comparisons
with neighbouring
Zimbabwe - where a similar campaign was frequently marked
by violence - and
vowed to take a more orderly approach to addressing its
apartheid and
British colonial legacy.
Xingwana's department
has already identified several properties that
will be taken over if it
cannot reach agreement over price with the owners,
but it is the first time
the government has set a time limit on such talks.
Officials
stressed this would only be used as a last resort and
farmers have the right
to appeal against the decision in court.
Land claims are an
especially emotive part of the post-apartheid
reforms as they often bring
white families who have lived on the land for
generations up against blacks
whose historical ties to the land run even
deeper.
So far, 89
percent of the nearly 80 000 claims that were lodged by the
December 1998
cut-off date have been settled. The government has set a 2008
deadline to
finish the process.
zimbabwejournalists.com
By a
Correspondent
LONDON - THE Zimbabwe Association is urging
failed asylum seekers to
tread with caution as the Refugee Council continues
to pore through the
recent tribunal ruling giving the British government the
green light to
deport Zimbabweans refused refugee status here.
In an interview yesterday, Sarah Harland of the Zimbabwe Association
said at
the moment the Refugee Council is studying the ruling delivered by
Justice
Hodge of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) giving the UK
government
the right to resume deporting failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers
who have been
fighting tooth and nail to avoid being sent home since last
year.
The asylum seekers and their representatives have until
Wednesday next
week to apply for permission to appeal against the
ruling.
"The RC is currently working on applying for permission to
launch an
appeal - they are basically trying to identify whether errors of
law have
been made in the ruling then when that is done they can appeal,"
said
Harland.
"We may or may not be given permission but what
we are saying is that
people must remain calm and adhere to their reporting
conditions because as
far as we know those people who have been picked up
and put into detention -
those had to do with criminal offences, nothing
more. So people need to
remain calm and avoid the situation we had last year
of a failed asylum
seeker committing suicide because he did not want to be
deported back home
as he feared for his life."
The ruling,
which said a failed asylum seeker returned involuntarily
to Zimbabwe did not
face on return a "real risk of being subjected to
persecution or serious
ill-treatment on that account alone" has created
tension within the
Zimbabwean refugee community in the UK.
Some failed asylum seekers
have stopped going to report as is required
by the law at their nearest
police stations fearing detention and
inevitably, forced
removals.
At least four people are said to have been detained
following the
ruling.
Harland said the failed asylum seekers
must not panic and take hasty
decisions that may affect their claims in the
long run.
"We need to take things slowly because there are still these
legal
steps that are being taken - there are processes going on right now so
we
are not likely going to have massive removals until they are exhausted,"
said Harland.
She said those going to report should take
precautions and make sure
someone had their lawyer's number in case they
were detained.
The ruling set out other two further risk categories
for the new
country guidelines for immigration authorities dealing with
Zimbabwean
asylum cases - those with a military background and those with
outstanding
and unresolved criminal issues in Zimbabwe.
Also to
be protected from deportation are known opposition Movement
for Democratic
Change (MDC) activists and teachers "with an actual or
perceived political
profile of support for the MDC".
Harland said the ruling was not as
bad as many were putting it since
it actually widened the base for the
people who can be covered when applying
for asylum in the UK from Zimbabwe.
Most people can actually launch fresh
claims or appeals under the new
ruling.
Meanwhile representatives of various organisations
representing
Zimbabweans in the UK met last night to map the way forward
following the
ruling. The community leaders are expected to meet Home Office
officials
soon to discuss the plight of the failed asylum seekers.
From The Daily Mirror, 11 August
Paidamoyo Muzulu
Two suspected arsonists who torched
an estimated $45 billion (old currency)
worth of maize at Donnington Farm
belonging to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
governor Gideon Gono have been
arrested. The incident occurred last Friday.
Police spokesman Assistant
Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena told The Daily
Mirror yesterday that the
suspects were arrested at the farm. "The police
picked up two suspects at
the farm early this week and they are in custody.
They are helping police
with investigations into the suspected arson case,"
Bvudzijena said. "The
arrested suspects are co-operating and we have made
headway into the case.
We cannot rule out more suspects being arrested as
new evidence emerges," he
added. Bvudzijena, however, declined to release
the names of the suspects.
"I cannot reveal the names of the suspects as
this would jeopardise our
investigations. They will go to court once the
dockets are ready," he said.
The fire at Donnington farm destroyed an
estimated 1 300 tonnes of both seed
and commercial maize that was valued at
about $45 million (revalued).
Bvudzijena said that the police were still on
the hunt for an armed gang
which visited Gono's flower project, located
about 20 kilometres from
Harare, seeking to know his residential address.
"We are yet to make any
arrests in connection with the armed gang that
reportedly asked for Gono's
residential address before fleeing, after being
approached by security
personnel at the project," Bvudzijena said.
The two incidents were
suspected to be a ploy to intimidate the central bank
governor into
reversing some provisions of his July 31 mid-term monetary
policy review,
which outlined a number of measures to curb inflation,
speculation and
corruption. Despite the threats on his life, Gono has vowed
to continue
waging his war against graft. "There is no amount of
intimidation that will
force me to abandon the task at hand. I will not let
the Presidium and the
majority of the people of Zimbabwe down. The mission
will not fail," Gono
told business executives attending the Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries
annual congress last week. President Robert Mugabe has
also warned people
intending to harm Gono that the long arm of the law will
catch up with them.
Speaking at a luncheon after officially opening the
Second Session of the
Sixth Parliament of Zimbabwe last month, President
Mugabe said nobody should
harm Gono or wish him dead for striving to improve
the fortunes of the
national economy.
August 13, 2006
By
ANDnetwork .com
With only a week remaining before the old bearer
cheques cease to be
legal tender, cash smugglers who were keeping billions
of Zimbabwe dollars
in neighbouring South Africa have devised new strategies
of crossing the
Limpopo River which include the construction of beaver-style
"dams" and
makeshift bridges to move large amounts of cash.
As
the volume of water in the crocodile and hippopotamus-infested
river
continues to decrease this spring, desperate cash barons are creating
small
dams at some illegal crossing points using sand and sticks to reduce
the
flow of water beyond the dam "walls" to enable them to spot crocodiles
in
time when they move large volumes of cash.
A Sunday Mail crew which
travelled to the Beitbridge area last week
observed some of the makeshift
dams and bridges believed to be used by the
smugglers.
It also
emerged that illegal money changers are also taking the new
family of bearer
cheques into South Africa through the illegal points along
the Limpopo after
reports that the same is happening on the north-western
frontier where
smugglers are crossing the Zambezi with the new currency into
Zambia.
The smugglers have been operating despite threats of
severe punishment
should they be caught by security agents, who have been
heavily deployed
throughout the country to monitor illegal cash
movements.
Sources told The Sunday Mail in Beitbridge that there
were reports
that the newly introduced denominations were already at the
centre of
illegal currency trading in South Africa.
The
Secretary for Home Affairs, Melusi Matshiya, yesterday implored
the police
details working on the ground to seal off all porous points along
the
country's borders.
He said operational arrangements demanded that
law-enforcement agents
solicit the army's assistance in cases of rampant
"informal" crossings.
Investigation
Investigations at
Beitbridge Border Post revealed that while security
agents stationed at the
designated port of entry are closely monitoring the
movement of large sums
of money in and out of Zimbabwe, parallel market
currency dealers have
managed to circumvent the system.
Sources at the post said
undesignated points along the Limpopo River
were among the prominent "green
routes" that cash smugglers are using to
channel funds into external foreign
currency parallel markets.
The sources said the drying of some
parts of the river during the
winter and spring seasons meant one could
easily cross the riverbed from
Beitbridge town into South
Africa.
Although the army and police constantly patrol the length
of the
river, smugglers had devised ways of evading detection.
There is a fence that divides the two countries and South African
security
details also patrol their side of the border.
But still, the daring
smugglers have managed to make apertures in the
fence and to evade officers
on both sides of the fence.
"People are smuggling the bearer
cheques through the border post.
Although a few people are caught
occasionally, the river has dried up,
meaning that more people can cross
from one point to another without using
the official checkpoint," sources
said.
The smuggling of the local currency into South Africa is in
spite of
the stringent measures authorities have put in place to cash
hoarding and
other illegal money trade.
Police details and RBZ
officials are stationed at various roadblocks
countrywide and ports of entry
to enforce the anti-laundering measures.
Under the regulations,
which are meant to curb rampant illegal money
dealing, individuals are free
to deposit $100 million while corporates are
allowed to bank $5
billion.
Deposits that exceed these limits would require concrete
explanation.
Those travelling in or out of Zimbabwe are required to carry
only $5 million
of the local currency.
Individuals found
carrying large sums of cash will have the excess
amount confiscated. The
funds would, however, only be returned when the
necessary investigations
have been conducted.
Officials in Beitbridge confirmed that several
cases in which excess
cash was confiscated had been reported at the border
post since the
beginning of the crack operation.
Although it is
unclear whether any arrests had been made, authorities
were closely
monitoring the movement of funds in and out of the country,
with vigorous
searches being conducted at the border post and all major
roads. However,
despite such efforts being made, increasing calls point to
the need for
authorities to also strengthen operations along the frontier.
"In
terms of the law, the Immigration Department is responsible for
the running
of border posts. However, police are responsible for patrolling
borders, as
this is part of internal affairs. They can call in the army if
the spate of
informal crossings continues. The army would then use their
training to help
catch the culprits," said Matshiya, before referring the
issue to the police
commissioner.
Commenting on the latest developments, Harare lawyer
Terrence Hussein
said borders are difficult to regulate.
He,
however, said sufficient resources and personnel should be
deployed to
ensure the effective discharge of duty.
He added that the
anti-money laundering measures authorities are
implementing were designed to
regulate. However, he said, the system did not
offer an incentive for
compliance. He suggested that authorities should have
given depositors room
to comply with regulations.
For instance, depositors holding on to
large sums of money could have
been told to surrender the funds without any
questions asked, he said.
"The measures that are in place show a
lot of stick but little carrot.
Revenue laws need a measure of inducement
and one of penalty. Both need to
be provided to make the operation
work.
"Otherwise it would be an entirely expensive exercise
monitoring
different areas at the same time. It is a difficult exercise that
is being
carried out, but people need to remain resolute," said
Hussein.
Rural community
Meanwhile, people in some
rural areas are still to receive adequate
education on the redenomination of
the Zimbabwe dollar.
Most rural folk are yet to be conversant with
the new measures
requiring them to turn in old bearer cheques, raising
concerns that they may
lose out to fraudsters or to the expiry of the
currency changeover period.
Although central bank officials could
not shed more light on the
measures being made to bring rural areas in tune
with the latest monetary
policy developments, RBZ Governor Dr Gideon Gono
recently hinted that
authorities were considering providing reprieve to the
rural folk.
Maria Tabva of Mushana Village in Bikita, a district
deep in rural
Masvingo, said the currency reforms were confusing. She also
highlighted
that the new bearer cheques were yet to reach her home
area.
"Ini handisati ndatomboibatawo mari itsva iri kutaurwa. Asi
isu kwedu
taifunga kuti mari zvayanzi yashanduka, mitengo muzvitoro zvinenge
zvadererawo (The new cheques are still not available in our area. But a good
number of us thought the currency redenomination meant product prices would
be lowered)," said Mrs Tabva.
Another woman from Chegato in
Mberengwa, who was with Mrs Tabva and
only identified herself as Amai Kudzi,
was of the same view.
In Chiredzi, fraudsters were reported to have
descended on the town,
depriving ignorant villagers of their hard-earned
cash.
A case in point is that of a creditor who was duped into
believing
that $1 000 (new currency) was equivalent to $10 million of the
old
currency.
Calls are now being made for authorities to
urgently spread
educational campaigns to avoid such incidents, among other
ways in which
more people in outlying areas could lose out.
Nearly two weeks after the new bearer cheques were unveiled, banks are
still
issuing old bearer cheques to customers, a situation that has created
anxiety among many people as the August 21 deadline approaches.
Although it is only a week before the papers cease to be legal tender,
a
survey in central Harare yesterday revealed that most banks were dishing
out
old $20 000, $50 000 and $100 000 bearer cheques, much to the
disgruntlement
of many customers.
The customers were anxious over the impending
deadline, saying feeding
the old currency back into the system was likely to
see them still holding
on to large sums of cash when the deadline sets
in.
Bankers who spoke to The Sunday Mail, however, said they had
run out
of new currency as "massive" quantities were required per
day.
Several businesses, including retail outlets and public
transport
operators, were also still holding on to the old currency
yesterday.
"This is really a great inconvenience. Worse still, I
might be forced
to go on a spending spree in order to get rid of the funds.
I have just
withdrawn $40 million, which is all the money I had in my
account.
"I expected to get the new currency, but, to my surprise,
the bank
gave me these old bearer cheques. (Dr) Gono should do something
about these
banks which are still issuing out the old bearer cheques because
it defeats
the whole purpose of introducing a new currency if we are still
getting the
old cheques," said a Mazowe man, who had travelled to the city
to make a
cash withdrawal.
Economist and banker Andy Hodges
said it was difficult for banks to
cope with the huge demand for the new
bearer cheques as the old ones were
still in circulation.
He
indicated that it was "highly unlikely" that most Harare residents
would
fail to meet the deadline.
He, however, expressed concern over the
situation in rural areas where
most people are still using the old bearer
cheques to conduct transactions.
"The amount of cash required at
the moment is massive and even though
some banks are still offering the old
currency, I would like to believe that
the majority are giving out the new
currency.
"It's really unprecedented that banks are opening during
the (Heroes)
holiday so I believe that by the end of this holiday, banks
will be able to
phase out the old bearer cheques and give only new notes to
their clients,"
said Hodges. Sunday Mail
Zim Standard
BY
VALENTINE MAPONGA& WALTER MARWIZI
SECURITY around
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Gideon
Gono has been tightened
following reported threats to his life.
This comes a few days
after Gono warned veterans of the
liberation struggle that his currency
blitz would not spare anyone.
Authoritative sources at the
central bank said the number of
Gono's bodyguards had been more than doubled
in the past few days. This
followed directives by President Robert Mugabe,
sources said.
Mugabe invoked the Presidential Powers, two
weeks ago, which
emboldened Gono to press ahead with the contentious
currency reforms.
This gave the Governor sweeping powers to
deal with alleged
economic saboteurs without fearing any court
challenges.
However Gono, who treats his job as a "calling",
has created
many enemies.
The sources said Mugabe
acknowledged that Gono could be a target
of enemies in high places, some of
whom saw the blitz as designed to
pauperise them ahead of the battle to
succeed him.
These include senior government officials,
serving members of
the military and influential veterans of the liberation
struggle.
"Although he does not move around with sirens
blaring like the
president's motorcade, the number of people who guard him
has been
increased. He is now the second most protected man after Mugabe,"
said the
source.
The source added Gono now has round the
clock protection that
includes five highly trained security personnel and
several operatives from
the Central Intelligence Organisation
(CIO).
Kembo Mohadi, the Minister of Home Affairs, declined
to shed
light on the heightened security arrangements now being provided to
Gono.
"I don't discuss security matters with newspapers," he
said
before switching off his mobile phone.
Security
Minister, Didymus Mutasa said: "Is it something
newsworthy? Haven't you
heard about those incidents and what has been
happening around him? So why
is this important now? He has always had
security and we will continue to
protect him."
Three weeks ago, Mugabe revealed that he was
aware that there
were some sections of society who wanted Gono
dead.
"Gono, there are some circles that do not like you,
others want
you to go to the next world (dead)."
It was
reported last week that armed men went to Gono's farm
demanding to know the
governor's residential address. The following day fire
destroyed crops at
the farm.
The incidents were thought to be a ploy to
intimidate Gono into
stopping his blitz.
However, the
official version appears to be discredited by
revelations that police
arrested two workers at Gono's Donnington farm in
Norton for
arson.
It was however clear yesterday that despite Gono's
determination
to enforce his reforms, old bearer cheques would remain in
circulation after
the expiry of 21 working days.
On
Friday the RBZ was forced to order banks to open today and
during the
Heroes' and Defence Forces' holidays.
Vonnie Kariwo, who
heads the Inter-banks committee called an
urgent meeting which sought to
clarify issues to do with settlements between
the banks and the cash
movement to and from the Reserve Bank on Friday.
While
banking halls remained open yesterday afternoon there was
no last minute
rush of people returning their old currency for the new one,
while police
put up numerous roadblocks ring-fencing the cities.
In
one reported case of the confusion surrounding the currency
change-over,
Borrowdale police yesterday seized a company's cash being
transported to the
bank. The money was eventually recovered from the RBZ's
Data Room at mid-day
after what company officials described as a
"nightmare".
Zim Standard
BY
GIBBS DUBE
BULAWAYO - President Robert Mugabe could soon
establish a
commission of inquiry to investigate the purchase of three
Modern Ark (MA)
60 planes bought from China a year ago but currently facing
serious
technical problems.
The disclosure comes amid
revelations by some senior Zanu PF
officials and MPs that they are shunning
the aircraft plying the domestic
routes fearing for their
lives.
Describing the US$22 million Chinese deal as
"suspicious",
politburo sources told The Standard that Mugabe was
irked
by the buy-two-and-get-one-free deal with no provision for
spare
parts.
Each plane is believed to have cost US$11
million (about Z$2.8
billion, at current exchange rate).
One of the politburo sources said: "President Mugabe is not
happy about the
shoddy deal and may soon set up a commission of inquiry to
investigate the
purchase of the planes.
"There is widespread belief that some
people close to the deal
may have received kickbacks when they purchased the
aircraft from that
particular company. Although the President was aware of
the deal, he is not
happy with the way the whole thing was conducted as
there was no provision
for spares in the deal."
Another
politburo and government source said: "Those planes are
a disaster. They are
second-hand pieces of metal with run down engines. Two
of them are grounded.
They are believed to have at one stage been used and
dumped by the Canadian
military."
Although government spokesperson, George Charamba,
could not be
reached for comment, authoritative sources further noted that
setting up a
commission of inquiry could be part of Mugabe's recent crusade
against
corruption in government.
The sources who
included politburo members, government MPs and
senators spoke to this
newspaper and indicated they were scared of boarding
the aircraft. MPs and
senators based in Matabeleland said flights between
Harare and Bulawayo were
a "frightening experience".
But Air Zimbabwe Public Relations
Manager, David Mwenga, said
the planes were facing problems as they were
recently introduced in the
aircraft industry.
Mwenga
said: "It is common to have so many problems whenever new
planes are
introduced into the aviation industry. The same applies to MA60
aircraft.
The aircraft use Canadian Pratt and Whitney engines whose products
are
highly rated and universally accepted."
The engines are brand
new.
"Two of our three MA60s are flying at the moment and the
third
is on the ground awaiting spares (Bello compensators and propeller
brushes)
for maintenance. One of the planes that crash-landed in Victoria
Falls
appears to have experienced propeller and not engine
problems."
On claims by some politicians that they are not
using the
aircraft fearing for their lives, Mwenga said: "There are people
who may be
apprehensive over flying on turbo aircraft. Even if they are
apprehensive,
they do not have a choice because these are the planes that we
use for our
domestic routes."
He said the Civil Aviation
Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) had
approved the airworthiness of the aircraft
which were being used in some
countries in the Far East.
According to the Nepal Times, the two twin turbo-propeller
planes do not
have United Kingdom and United States Federal Aviation
Authority
certification and were last year decommissioned from service by
China's own
Wuhan Airlines and China Aviation Airlines due to poor
performance.
But Mwenga said: "The fact that MA60s may
not be certified to
operate in the USA and UK does not have any
significance. FAA and the Civil
Aviation Authority of UK may only become
important in as far as MA60 meet
the airworthiness standards required in
those countries."
Zim Standard
By Foster Dongozi & Walter
Marwizi
TWO weeks after leaders of the opposition pledged
to work
together to unseat the ruling party, it has emerged that a loose
broad based
alliance against Zanu PF could suffer a stillbirth as a result
of resistance
from party officials pursuing personal
interests.
The Standard learnt that politicians from the
various parties
were alarmed to hear that their leaders had pledged to work
towards an
alliance that could change the political landscape in
Zimbabwe.
Those mainly affected were politicians from the
rival MDC
factions who did not expect Arthur Mutambara and Morgan Tsvangirai
would
embrace. There had been a perception that the two were bitter enemies
who
would never see eye- to-eye like their youths, who often engage in
violent
street encounters.
But Tsvangirai, Mutambara,
Paul Siwela of Zapu FP, Daniel Shumba
of the United People's Party and
Wurayayi Zembe of the Democratic Party
promised to forge a united front
against dictatorship.
This however did not mean that they
would form a new party, as
suggested in recent days.
But
the mere thought of an alliance has alarmed many officials
in the two rival
camps of the MDC not yet prepared for a coalition, The
Standard was
told.
"After the bitter divorce we went through, it is not
easy for us
to just embrace Tsvangirai," said an official of the Mutambara
faction.
"Mutambara can do that because he just came and
assumed
leadership after we had parted ways with Tsvangirai. What he needs
might not
be what we want."
He added there was near panic
among the rank and file in the
Mutambara faction amid fears that their
President was now working with the
"enemy". They didn't know what this would
lead to.
MDC Secretary General Welshman Ncube had to issue a
statement
recently setting the record straight.
"This is
nonsensical and day-dreaming on the part of the
purveyors of such
falsehoods. President Mutambara has not and will not join
the Tsvangirai
group," Ncube said.
"President Mutambara's preparedness to
step down and pave the
way for a united front is conditional to the
adherence to the founding
principles of the MDC namely, non-violence,
transparency, zero tolerance to
corruption, full respect for democratic
principles including adherence to
the principle of collective democratic
decision making," Ncube said.
Anti-Senate faction spokesman,
Nelson Chamisa welcomed the broad
alliance.
In his
Heroes' Day message released on Tuesday, Tsvangirai said:
"Last week's Save
Zimbabwe Convention marked a turning point in our efforts
to muster a
single, united voice against the dictatorship. We are all clear
on the way
forward. Our heroes and the nation are fully behind us. Together
we shall
win."
The leader of PF Zapu, Siwela, said it was important
for all
political parties to thrash out their differences first before
forming the
alliance.
He said the meeting held at the
convention had revealed the
extent of divisions within the
MDC.
During Mutambara's address at the convention, there were
delegates who booed him, presumably from the Tsvangirai
camp.
When Tsvangirai started addressing the gathering, he
was jeered
by a group of people who sat next to St Mary's MP Job
Sikhala.
Siwela added: "It is possible for many political
organisations
to fall under one group as long as the differences are ironed
out. In South
Africa, for example, the African National Congress has
partners such as the
South African Communist Party and the Congress of South
African Trade
Unions, so a similar arrangement here cannot
fail."
A spokesperson for the United People's Movement said
any such
alliance needed to be sanctioned by the party's rank and
file.
Zim Standard
By Caiphas Chimhete
THE financially troubled Zanu PF
party has ordered underpaid
Harare City Council workers to contribute at
least $200 000 each towards the
Heroes and Defence Forces' commemorations
set for this week, The Standard
has established.
Workers
who spoke to this newspaper said the money was being
paid to the council's
departmental heads, who would in turn submit it to
Sekesai Makwavarara, the
chairperson of the commission running Harare.
"We were told
that each employee was required to pay $200 000.
However, some are even
paying $2 million because of fear while some seek
favours," said one worker,
who requested anonymity for fear of
victimisation.
This
is not the first time that Zanu PF has forced people to
contribute towards
its private functions or national events.
Teachers,
particularly those in rural areas, have on several
occasions been extorted
of huge sums of money to finance events such as
President Robert Mugabe's
birthday and Heroes and Defence Forces'
commemorations.
Harare Municipal Workers' Union (HMWU) chairman, Cosmas Bungu,
was not
immediately available for comment.
But council spokesperson,
Madenyika Magwenjere, said he was not
aware of the contributions. "I have
never heard about it. This is my first
time and I don't think it's happening
here," Magwenjere said.
But Combined Harare Residents'
Association (Chra) spokesperson,
Precious Shumba, lambasted Zanu PF for
forcing poverty-stricken workers to
contribute towards the
commemorations.
Zim Standard
By
Vusumuzi Sifile
BULAWAYO - Three Zimbabwe Broadcasing
Holdings (ZBH) licence
inspectors recently found that demanding television
and radio licences can
be risky business when they were bea ten up in Pumula
high-density suburb.
The hapless licence inspectors were
attacked by members of
Ibhetshu likaZulu pressure group. The group advocates
for balanced
television programming to represent the country's cultural
diversity.
Ibhetshu likaZulu members wanted to know why ZBH
employees were
forcing Bulawayo residents to pay for licences when most of
their programmes
were "rubbish".
Thousands of Zimbabweans
have stopped watching local television,
opting for Botswana Television, SABC
and the extremely expensive Digital
Satellite Television.
Many have cited the hate language which is common on local
television as a
reason for abandoning the local broadcaster in a bid to
protect their
children.
Although Bulawayo police spokesperson Assistant
Inspector Langa
Ndlovu denied that such an incident occurred, senior
officials at ZBH
confirmed that "about three" of their colleagues were
beaten up in the
volatile suburb, "but escaped with minor injuries" on 1
August while on
duty.
The three licence inspectors ran
for dear life after members of
the pressure group confronted them and
ordered that they stop collecting
licence fees in the suburb. They accused
ZBH of short-changing listeners by
failing to come up with a diversity of
programmes.
The licence inspectors finally found refuge at
Pumula police
station, where officers from the Law and Order Section, were
summoned to
arrest the activists.
Ibhetshu likaZulu
chairperson, Qhubekani Dube, confirmed that he
and other members of his
organisation were detained.
Dube said: "Law and Order
detained us for more than four hours,
intimidating us and calling us
tribalists. We went through a lot of
rubbishing until late in the day when
one senior officer said they should
take our details and let us
go."
The public broadcaster is currently on a nationwide
licence
inspection and they have deployed their officials all over. But they
have
met resistance from residents throughout the country facing accusations
over
not providing value for money.
There are also fears
that some of the licence inspectors could
be house-breakers on the
prowl.
Zim Standard
BY TERRY
MUTSVANGA
TWO senior Newsnet members of staff temporarily
disrupted the
screening of last Sunday's 8PM news bulletin when they almost
exchanged
blows in the studio, The Standard has been
told.
Sources at Pockets Hill told this paper that Bulletin
Editor of
the Sunday Edition Caroline Washaya-Moyo had some serious
misunderstandings
with duty officer Evince Mugumbate over the airing of some
video clip
resulting in a scuffle which disturbed the
bulletin.
The disruption, according to sources, was brief
while the
technicians battled to bring the bulletin back on
air.
"They had a scuffle afterWashaya-Moyo failed to make
available a
news item that was supposed to be used in the bulletin. It is
not clear
whether the clip had something to do with Vice President Joice
Mujuru or the
RBZ Governor Gideon Gono," said a source.
Mugumbate, according to the sources, then lunged at Washaya-Moyo
after
accusing her of sabotaging the bulletin.
"Washaya-Moyo
reacted violently to Mugumbate, tampering with
studio equipment. The
bulletin was stopped. Even the news reader apologised
to the viewers and
everyone who was watching the edition must have noticed
it," said the
source.
Editor-in-Chief Tarzen Mandizvidza was called in to
try and
restrain the ladies. He, however, arrived a few minutes after the
scuffle
had ended.
Contacted for comment Mugumbate
confirmed the incident. "She had
been insulting and terrorising reporters
since morning and when we were
about to screen a statement from RBZ, the
statement could not be found.
Fortunately one of the reporters saw Caroline
hiding it," she said.
Mugumbate added that when she
approached Washaya-Moyo, she
became very abusive resulting in the scuffle.
Washaya-Moyo could not be
reached for comment.
However,
Sivukile Simango the Public Relations Officer for ZBH
professed ignorance.
"I never heard anything like that," Simango said.
Mandizvidza
denied knowledge of a fight.
Zim Standard
By
Caiphas Chimhete
THE opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) says the
government is unable to announce the dates for the
rural district council
elections because the ruling Zanu PF party is
"jittery and ill-prepared" for
the polls.
There are
reports that ruling Zanu PF party has not finalised
its candidates and is
still conducting primary elections in the districts.
The
polls had been scheduled for later this month, but almost
halfway through
August, nothing has been said about the polls.
A spokesperson
of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission confirmed
that no dates had been set
for the rural council elections. "We are still to
come up with a date. We
will do that through a notice," said Utoile
Silaigwana.
Gabriel Chaibva, a spokesperson of the pro-Senate MDC faction,
said the Zanu
PF government was determined to avoid the elections because it
feared
suffering Zimbabweans would protest through the ballot.
"There is no determination whatsoever to hold the elections.
Apart from
that, we have information that they are not yet prepared so they
don't want
to take chances," he said.
Chaibva said Zanu PF was afraid of
a backlash from angry
Zimbabweans, who cannot afford basic needs such as
food, healthcare,
clothing and education as the economic situation
worsens.
His comments were also echoed by MDC anti-Senate
faction
spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa. He said his camp was contemplating
taking
action to force Minister of Local Government, Public Works and Urban
Development, Ignatious Chombo to set the dates for the
polls.
"We are considering a political or legal action to
ensure that
the elections take place. We cannot continue dancing to Zanu
PF's tunes
every election time," Chamisa said.
Chombo has
on several occasions postponed mayoral elections in
Harare by re-appointing
the commission running the city. The commission has
been running Harare
since Chombo fired democratically elected mayor, Elias
Mudzuri in
2003.
Zim Standard
By Nqobani Ndlovu
BULAWAYO - A
government minister is battling to stop the
eviction of war veterans who
forcibly took over Pilossof farm on the
outskirts of Bulawayo in an effort
to preserve his support base, The
Standard can reveal.
The war veterans who evicted farmer, Reuben Pilossof, at the
height of farm
invasions are living on borrowed time as 15 plot holders have
given them a
month's notice to vacate. The plot holders claim they have
offer letters for
the land.
However, this has allegedly riled Obert Mpofu, the
Industry and
International Trade Minister and Member of Parliament for
Bubi-Umguza
constituency.
Mpofu is reported to be against
the move as the eviction of more
than 300 villagers would slash his support
base. This could prove costly for
him in any future
elections.
The farming area, incorporated into Ward 8 of
Bubi-Umguza
constituency, is largely occupied by ruling Zanu PF
supporters.
The minister, who beat Jacob Thabane of the
Movement for
Democratic Change in the 2005 March parliamentary election, is
allegedly
blocking the 15 plot holders from moving onto the
farm.
Mpofu did not deny the allegations when contacted for
comment by
The Standard. "Where else can the votes come from," he asked. He
added: "If
all the resettled villagers are in the voters' roll, then that
means they
are entitled to live in that area."
When The
Standard put it to him that the plot holders were
legally allocated the
land, Mpofu referred the paper to the Lands Ministry.
"There
is a law and ministry that deals with land allocations
and how people should
be resettled, contact that ministry." Didymus Mutasa,
the Minister of
National Security, Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement could
not be reached
for comment.
A representative of the war veterans who is also
a Zanu PF
member, Ngwiza Nxumalo, said Mpofu has promised that they would
not be
evicted.
The war veteran claimed that Mpofu has
also promised to secure
offer letters for them after the Rural District
Council elections scheduled
for this month.
Nxumalo said:
"We voted Mpofu to be our MP and he has said that
we will not be evicted.
Mpofu has said that he is working on the issue of
letters for
us."
It was learnt that the 15 plot holders claim to have
been
allocated the land in 2004, four years after the war veterans had set
up
base and built houses.
The war veterans once spent a
month living along the roadside
after they were evicted in September 2004 by
the plot holders.
Mpofu came to the rescue of the war
veterans.
In a bid to force the war veterans out of the farm,
the plot
holders have allegedly removed a borehole engine, a situation that
resulted
in the former freedom fighters facing serious water
problems.
Reuben Dube (56), a war veteran, said they were now
being forced
to travel long distances to fetch water.
Plot holders represented by two people identified as Khanye and
Nkiwane
could not be reached for comment when The Standard crew visited the
farm
last week.
Zim Standard
BY
ndamu sandu
TROUBLED First National Building Society
(FNBS) last week all
but removed itself from provisional liquidation by
paying out $16 billion in
the old currency to the Master of High Court as
payment to its creditors and
depositors.
Standardbusiness
heard last week that the shareholders
transferred money into the account of
the Master of High Court to settle the
dues on Wednesday. Although FNBS owes
creditors and depositors $13.217
billion, shareholders injected another $3
billion to cover other expenses
that may be incurred in the disbursement of
the money. The in duplum rule
will be used and contributories would get 100%
interest on every dollar
credited on their accounts.
FNBS
was put under curatorship on 7 February 2003 following the
arrest of the
founding directors Dr Samson Ruturi and Nicholas Musona for
allegedly
defrauding the society of $958 million ($958 000 revalued).
A
company law expert said last week the payment of money to
creditors and
depositors had all but removed the society from provisional
liquidation.
"The purpose of liquidation is to facilitate
the recovery on
money to pay depositors and creditors. But after the two
have been paid the
only people who can push for liquidation are the
shareholders themselves not
any other person," said the
expert.
Last week's developments mean that society would be
returned to
the majority shareholders.
A meeting held
last month to salvage the society reached a dead
end after major prospective
investor Zimre Holdings Limited (ZHL) and
minority shareholders said they
were unable to inject money to meet the $750
billion (750 million revalued)
minimum capital requirements by 30 September.
Had the meeting been
successful, Ruturi and Musona were prepared to offload
their stake to ZHL.
The duo has 89.74% in the holding company First National
Holdings
Limited.
This scheme of arrangement was dependent upon the
shareholders
and investors of FNBS submitting a satisfactory
recapitalisation plan to the
central bank, demonstrating capacity to meet
the minimum capital requirement
of $750 billion ($750 million revalued) by
the 30 September deadline.
In June the major shareholder won
a discharge at the High Court
to remove the society from provisional
liquidation. The High Court ruling
also set in place a scheme meeting in
which creditors and depositors were to
meet to consider and if deemed fit to
agree (with or without modification)
to the scheme of arrangement which
proposes that shareholders of FNBS should
inject capital to pay proven
creditors and depositors of the society.
In January Master of
High Court Charles Nyatanga postponed
indefinitely the liquidation of FNBS
to give the provisional liquidator and
major shareholders time to finalise
modalities aimed at reopening the
society.
Zim Standard
BY OUR STAFF
EMBATTLED textile
concern David Whitehead requires a staggering
US$3.1 million ($775 million
at the rebased currency) as operating capital
at its plants in Kadoma,
Chegutu and Gweru, Standardbusiness heard last
week.
David Whitehead has three plants - spinning division in Kadoma,
weaving unit
in Chegutu and a hosiery plant in Gweru.
Sources said last
week the company requires at least US$1.5
million to replace machines at the
spinning division in Kadoma.
"I have estimated that the cost
of spare parts, card wires and
other inputs will be US$1.5 million for the
Spinning division at Kadoma
only. This will enable the company to run the
machines at reasonable level
of productivity, quality and efficiency," a
source close to the developments
at the textile concern said on
Friday.
The source said that the Gweru unit had old machines
that needed
replacement but was hampered by the shortage of foreign
currency. The source
said the unit required US$200 000 to import raw
material needed by the
plant.
The source said: "The dying
unit is very old and should be
replaced with pressure dying machines. The
cost of the same is estimated at
US$500 000."
Added to
that, the source said, the boiler and machine shop
needed to be upgraded at
an estimated cost of US$400 000.
Sources say the weaving
processing unit in Chegutu had obsolete
equipment which needed to be
replaced at a cost of US$500 000 to enable the
company to run the machines
at reasonable level of productivity, quality and
efficiency.
The company is currently under a provisional
judicial manager
Cecil Madondo.
The first meeting of
creditors and shareholders was held before
the Master of High Court on
Wednesday where Madondo presented his findings.
Minutes of
the meeting will be presented to the judge to
determine whether the company
should be put under judicial management or
not.
Zim Standard
BY
NQOBANI NDLOVU
BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe's energy crisis is set
to worsen as the
power utility, ZESA Holdings, is failing to generate
electricity from its
thermal power stations due to biting coal shortages, an
official said last
week.
The failure by ZESA to generate
electricity from its thermal
power stations in Bulawayo, Munyati and Harare
due to crippling coal
shortages has presented the country with an
electricity deficit of a further
450 megawatts.
This
comes at a time when the country's main energy sources at
Kariba and Hwange
are not operating at full capacity, presenting the country
with a deficit of
780 megawatts.
Simbiso Chimbima, the ZESA general manager for
Western Region in
Bulawayo, told a consultative workshop on Zimbabwe's Power
Outages on
Thursday that the thermal power stations have not been
operational for the
past few weeks due to coal shortages.
"The thermal power stations are not running at the present
moment.
The massive coal shortages at thermal stations
are so much that
we now face a deficit of 450 megawatts," Chimbima
said.
Engineer Munyaradzi Munodawafa from the Ministry of
Energy and
Power Development also confirmed that coal shortages have
impacted
negatively on the power utility's capacity to meet
demand.
"The problem that we have now is that we are failing
to boost
coal supplies," said Munodawafa.
Zimbabwe faces
an electricity deficit of 540 megawatts a day, a
situation that has affected
industry due to intermittent power cuts by ZESA
through its load- shedding
schedules.
The serious coal shortages have forced most
companies to import
coal as the coal mining company, Hwange Colliery
Company, is unable to meet
local demand.
Delegates
attending the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries
(CZI) a fortnight ago
expressed concern that coal shortages have adversely
affected operations of
various sectors of the economy.
However, the managing
director of Hwange Colliery Company,
Godfrey Dzinomwa, said that the coal
supply situation was expected to
normalise soon, following the opening of
two new mines.
Hwange Colliery has noted that it would spend
more than US $123
million on capital projects to increase coking coal
production by 100 000
tonnes a month.
The Zimbabwe
National Chamber of Commerce and ZESA organised the
one-day consultative
forum on power outages.
Zim Standard
BY
NQOBANI NDLOVU
BULAWAYO - Most companies and industries
in Zimbabwe are
violating laws governing their operations, because they are
only interested
in making profits, the National Social Security Authority
(NSSA) has said.
The authority said about 75% of industries
and companies in the
country are not implementing health and safety
management standards for the
benefit of their employees.
Speaking at a Health and Safety Workshop recently, Stanley
Muchemedzi of
NSSA, said: "From our research, we found that at least 75% of
local
companies in the formal and informal sector are not implementing the
(OHMS)
Occupational Health and Safety Management Standards.
"Most of
the companies are after making profits and this has
resulted in high
injuries and fatalities at workplaces over the past few
years."
Muchemedzi added: "That is why we are calling on
companies to
have internal OHMS at their workplaces in order to comply with
the law
without inspections."
The health and safety
regulatory authority says failure to
conform to laws and regulations
governing the running of companies has
manifested itself in the high number
of injuries and fatalities being
recorded at workplaces.
Operations of factories and other related industries are
governed by the
Factories and Works Act, which attracts heavy penalties if
not implemented
for the health and safety of workers.
NSSA Occupational
Health Services director, Benjamin Mutetwa
says 8 247 injuries and 82
fatalities were recorded last year compared to
131 deaths and 10 227
injuries recorded in 2004.
Most of the fatalities were
recorded in the mining sector. In
the first quarter of this year, at least 1
935 injuries and 22 deaths were
recorded compared to 2 290 injuries and 31
deaths during the same period
last year.
Despite the
decrease, Mutetwa said the "order of magnitude of
injuries and fatalities
are still very high. "
Zim Standard
SIAVONGA, Zambia - Hunger is forcing people to compete with
elephants for a wild fruit favoured by both.
Masau
(Ziziphus mauritiana), a popular, sour-tasting, green
fruit, fetches US$25
per 50kg bag in Zambia's capital, Lusaka, but
collecting the fruit requires
that people go into the preferred haunts of
elephants, often with tragic
results.
Some of the 72 000 inhabitants of the southern
Zambian village
of Siavonga, on the Zimbabwean border, collect wild fruits
in large
quantities both as a form of food and a source of cash for basic
foodstuffs.
Richard Hambobe scours the bush daily for fruits,
picking his
way through the undergrowth as quietly as possible, his senses
always tuned
for any telltale signs of elephant activity.
"We are constantly fearing attacks from elephants when we go to
fetch Masau
in the bush. We have to be very attentive to any form of noise,
just in case
an elephant is nearby, as many people have been killed by angry
stray
elephants from the game reserve area while working in the fields or
picking
wild fruits," he said.
Cash from the sale of wild fruits
provides for such things as
soap, sugar, cooking oil and salt. Subsistence
farming is the main source of
income, but a combination of erratic rains,
poor soils and elephants
trampling maize fields keeps people trapped in
poverty and hunger.
Zambia posted a crop surplus of 300 000
tonnes over its national
requirement of 1.2 million tonnes this year, but
the word "nzala" (hunger in
Tonga) still comes up often in conversations
between Hambobe and many of his
fellow villagers, who will need food aid
this year.
Most of Siavonga's people were displaced from the
fertile
valleys where they lived until 1959, to make way for the
construction of
Kariba Dam, the hydroelectric power station shared with
neighbouring
Zimbabwe.
Attempts by the Zambian government
and the World Bank to move
people from Siavonga's arid and heavily eroded
terrain have routinely
failed. "We have buried our ancestors here and it
would bring a bad omen
upon us if we were to leave them ," said Petros
Chuulu, (62) a subsistence
farmer. -- IRIN
Zim Standard
IF the parliamentary portfolio
committee on transport conducts
its work thoroughly, it should interrogate
and demand the basis of the
technical advice which led the national airline,
Air Zimbabwe, to purchase
Chinese aircraft and its current determination to
acquire Russian planes.
Under the Chinese deal, the purchaser
of the planes has to go to
Canada or America for spares. This is what
happened when two of the MA60
Chinese-made planes were grounded recently.
This set up is inconvenient
because it resulted in the aircraft being
grounded and the consequent loss
of business. The airline demonstrated
flawed planning because certain spares
have to be available and should have
been acquired when the planes were
purchased.
Basically
the Chinese merely put up the shell and then fitted
engines from the
West.
Air Zimbabwe may have been mesmerised by the prospect
of
re-equipping its fleet through a flexible deal with the Chinese, but
whatever it gained in buying the two aircraft could have been lost when the
aircraft were grounded so soon after commissioning, while waiting for
spares. That the planes were allowed to fly even though the fuel nozzles had
expired creates the impression in the market that the national airline is
not worried about passenger safety.
Now, at a time it
should be drumming up market support for more
business ahead of the 2010
Fifa Soccer World Cup in South Africa, Air
Zimbabwe is determined to go
ahead and conclude a deal for the acquisition
of Russian aircraft. There
must be robust debate in both houses of
Parliament on the merits of the
decisions leading to the purchases of the
aircraft from both China and
Russia. Parastatals must be run profitably but
this will not be possible as
long as business decisions play second fiddle
to preferences from
politicians.
For example, who recommended the purchases? To
what extent were
the decisions guided by personal instead of business and
national interests?
What was the role of the technical people at Air
Zimbabwe? If the
acquisitions differed from previous systems, what
advantages did this new
system bring to the national airline? An alert
parliamentary portfolio
committee should demand to know the processes that
arrived at the
recommendations and what role the technical people played and
what the role
of the politicians was and why.
It is
imperative to deal with the strong perception that the
technical people are
being dragged in to rubber stamp a decision by
politicians. That could be
very dangerous. Zimbabwe could be saddled with
white elephants and kiss
goodbye to prospects of reviving the fortunes of
the
airline.
There are compelling arguments not only for the
parliamentary
portfolio committee on transport, but also for the
Anti-Corruption
Commission, to clear the air over public concerns and to
establish that
there was a transparent process in the manner the new
aircraft were
purchased.
Africa's airlines have a record
of suspect aircraft maintenance.
It is precisely for this reason that few of
the continent's operators are
allowed to fly to the US and Europe. Air
Zimbabwe should have taken this
perception into account in buying the new
aircraft.
The tourist traffic expected to head for the region
for the 2010
World Cup could see Air Zimbabwe missing out.
Zim Standard
News focus
By Walter Marwizi
GEORGE Moyo, a 61-year-old Waterfalls
resident, could not
believe his eyes when he saw the man he had always
admired threatening
business people.
Yes, it was the
Central Bank Governor, Dr Gideon Gono, shown in
a special Newsnet programme,
moving around supermarkets and banks in the
city centre shooting from the
hip and enforcing his currency reforms.
Like the gunslingers
in the Wild West movies, Gono hit First
Street at high noon and terrorised
his subjects.
Cowed bank officials could be seen rushing to
meet the man who
until then was "Mr Nice Guy".
An
uncompromising Gono openly told managers in the full glare of
cameras that
they should "surrender my licence" if they were not prepared to
adjust to
the new system.
At Mahomed Mussa, the Asian-owned giant
wholesaler in central
Harare, Gono warned that he didn't want to be accused
of practising ethnic
cleansing, so he expected the businessman, allegedly
found in possession of
several billions of dollars, to co-operate with RBZ
officials.
The bulky looking Gono towered menacingly over the
small frame
of a bemused looking and bearded Mahomed
Mussa.
And at another shop, he told an official that he did
not expect
him to raise prices of goods.
"We won't do
that unless our manufacturers raise the prices,"
said the shop manager. An
unconvinced Gono however demanded an undertaking
he would not raise the
prices.
The Newsnet programme went on and on, revealing the
other side
of Gono's character hitherto unknown to many
Zimbabweans.
As Gono rose from humble beginnings and reached
the apex of the
former Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe, he portrayed himself as
professional,
untainted by uncouth behaviour and dirty
politics.
He was that amiable character, the banker worthy of
trust by any
client.
That image changed dramatically last
week. After announcing the
monetary policy statement on 1 August, Gono has
never been the same again.
He has shown what he is capable of doing once he
gets power.
Pursuing what he terms an "economic war", Gono
has adopted
guerrilla tactics, enlisted the services of notorious graduates
from the
Zanu PF youth militia and appears keen to tackle anyone - even
dreaded
veterans of the liberation struggle.
He warned
them last week: "Your history does not matter. Your
history does not make
you a blood-sucker. We have common rules for everybody
and not for the rich
or the poor, the tall or the short."
The central bank
governor has abandoned all the caution as he
antagonises all the sections of
the society - from ordinary people seeking
to fend for their families to
well-heeled Zimbabweans.
And Gono has taken little care to
ensure that he will come out
of his currency debacle without being accused
of using Zanu PF-style
oppressive methods to force compliance with his
reforms.
Economist John Robertson says while there is need to
maintain
discipline in the banking sector, Gono is exercising his powers way
beyond
what would be regarded as normal.
"Maybe in Russia
during the days of the USSR this would have
been the treatment given to
banks. But this fits in with what is happening
with the rest of Zimbabwe.
Those in authority are exercising it without
restraint. Individuals have no
power in an oppressive society. They are
forced to be obedient. They have no
recourse."
Robertson made the comments as human rights
lawyers prepared a
court challenge against the Presidential Powers
(Temporary Measures)
(Currency Revaluations) Regulations of 2006 which gave
Gono the go- ahead to
change all the rules overnight.
Section 5 (6) of the regulation ensures that the RBZ will not
compensate for
losses incurred by banks while Section 12 stops any suits
brought against
Gono or any Government employee for things "done in good
faith".
Human rights lawyers say blanket immunity only
promotes impunity
by State agents and fear that courts may have been
rendered useless since
individuals cannot seek recourse in the
courts.
But victory by the human rights lawyers could open
the
floodgates for lawsuits against Gono and the RBZ. This could severely
damage
the reputation that Gono has built over the years.
Constitutional lawyer Lovemore Madhuku says any sensible judge
would not
dismiss any application brought against the indiscriminate
currency
seizures.
"It's unacceptable, handling and keeping is a
normal thing for
people to do. But Gono is going into people's pockets and
searching how much
they have. It's unthinkable. It's the worst form of
dictatorship," Madhuku
said.
The National Constitutional
Assembly chairman says the blitz has
exposed Gono. "This has shown that if
he had more powers than he currently
has, Zimbabweans would not be free,"
added Madhuku who said he also had been
searched at roadblocks.
Zim Standard
Sundayopinion By Zishiri Ngundu Ndudzo
EVERY August,
Zimbabweans commemorate the sacrifices made by the
country's liberation war
heroes. Many gallant freedom fighters lost their
lives or were maimed in
order to free their motherland from colonial, racist
and repressive regimes.
Living heroes sacrificed their youth, education,
family, businesses etc for
the country's liberation and independence.
Their sacrifices,
dedication and commitment were moulded by the
vision created and driven by
the leadership of the liberation movements. The
visionaries envisaged a
Zimbabwe that would be free, democratic,
independent, sovereign,
economically prosperous, and non-racial, with equal
access to opportunities
and resources. And the ideal country would also
cherish such values as
respect for human rights, freedom and the rule of
law, equality before the
law, transparency, accountability, honesty,
integrity, gender equality, and
truth, abhorrence of corruption and
discrimination and political
tolerance.
In 1980, citizens proudly celebrated the birth of
Zimbabwe. The
prospects were very bright as the atmosphere of reconciliation
and movement
from war to peace filled the air. Those who were in exile
returned to
rebuild their country - a darling of the world at the time as we
joined the
community of nations: UN, OAU, SADC, the Commonwealth, and the
Non-Aligned
Movement with all the benefits expected from those
organisations.
A few years later, something went wrong.
Violence erupted in
Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces. Many innocent
civilians were
murdered. Corruption crept in, manifesting itself as the
Willowgate scandal.
Its consequences were disastrous. Simmering political
intolerance and
aversion to criticism led to the formation of the Zimbabwe
Unity Movement.
Signs of vote-rigging appeared.
In an
effort to impress the 1991 Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting in
Harare, government dumped thousands of residents from
the overcrowded suburb
of Mbare at Porta Farm, which had no basic
infrastructure/facilities like
shelter, toilets, schools, clinics, water and
electricity.
Since the mass stay-away organised by the
Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions in 1998, government has been employing
repressive methods to
suppress demonstrations and protests. To legalise the
repressive policy,
Parliament enacted the notorious Public Order and
Security Act (POSA),
followed by the draconian Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy
Act (AIPPA), the Broadcasting Services Act and
subsequent others which
violate or curb people's human rights and
freedoms.
The turning point in the country's history came
after the
referendum of February 2000 when the leadership realised that they
would
lose a free and fair election to the opposition. Thus as a strategy,
the
state-sponsored violence, murder, rape, extortion, intimidation and
dispossession was conceived during the notorious land invasions. Coupled
with vote rigging, the strategy achieved the desired political objective:
staying in power.
Sadly, the strategy violated the
citizens' right to life, to
vote freely, to property, to work and recourse
to courts as well as the
freedom of association, speech and assembly, of the
person and her/his home,
freedom from hunger and racial
discrimination.
The international community reacted by
isolating the country.
Foreign investors and tourists shunned Zimbabwe,
foreign currency dried up
as the international donors' club curtailed the
country's borrowing and the
foreign travel by the nation's top leadership
was restricted.
Come May 2005, government shocked the nation
and the world by
destroying poor people's shelter and their means of
livelihood under the
so-called "Operation Murambatsvina". Hundreds of
thousands of people
including women and children suddenly found themselves
with no shelter in
the middle of winter. Most of the victims were denied
such social services
as education, health, water and sanitary facilities.
Small business
operators whose infrastructure and facilities were destroyed
had no income,
jobs or alternatives. The brutal force used in the process
was
unprecedented.
International condemnation was swift
and extensive. The world
strongly criticised government for violating
people's right to shelter,
education, work and property. How can government
destroy people's shelter
and means of livelihood before providing
alternatives? It was the height of
callousness, brutality and
irresponsibility.
Some of those who do not deserve hero's
status are interred at
the national shrine while a few of the fallen
comrades have been denied that
honour. Remember James Chikerema, Ndabaningi
Sithole, Noel Mukono, Samuel
Munodawafa, Fibion John Shoniwa, Michael
Mawema, Sheba Tavarwisa, Henry
Hamadziripi, Crispen Mandizvidza, Oliver
Munyaradzi and many more.
With the above record, how should
the current leadership be
judged in relation to the liberation war heroes'
sacrifices whose
commemorations are underway? Genuine war veterans and the
nation generally
believe that the leadership not only betrayed but also
negated the original
ideals and objectives of the liberation
struggle.
It is time to go back to the drawing board, review
the entire
road travelled since 1980, learn from own mistakes, consult the
people and
find a more permanent solution to the nation's huge political,
economic and
social crisis.
Zim Standard
Sunday view By Chris Mhike
Zimbabwe
will never be a colony again". That is to say the
country will be sovereign
forever.
That familiar declaration must be sweet music to the
country's
heroes - the gallant sons and daughters of the soil whose memory
we
celebrate tomorrow, on Heroes' Day.
Deceased heroes
would smile at the declaration of eternal
sovereignty because it would be a
re-assurance that they did not die in
vain. Surviving heroes and their
connections, would celebrate the
confirmation that their life of abundance
will continue for the rest of
their earthly days.
Ideally, all other ordinary citizens should also be celebrating
sovereignty.
The people of Zimbabwe have indeed, over the ages, entrenched
their
character as a sovereignty-loving population.
According to
the earliest oral and written history of the
country, Zimbabweans have
expressed their desire for freedom, independence,
and sovereignty, since the
earliest days to date.
They illustrated such desire, not just
by vocally expressing,
but also through active and physical struggle. A
brief history on Zimbabwe's
fight for freedom, independence and sovereignty
might assist in making the
point.
The narrative stretches
as far back as 1575 when the valorous
citizens of the Mutapa Kingdom battled
against the imperial Portuguese
pioneers, and conquered them, thereby
ensuring continued sovereignty for the
locals.
In the
following century, in 1693, the two states of Mutapa and
Changamire united
to drive out imperialist foreigners. Thereafter,
Portuguese political and
military interference was minimal.
In the late 19th Century,
when King Lobengula sensed that Boer
and British forces might have duped
him, and that Zimbabwean independence
and sovereignty were under threat, he
acted quickly.
On 18 January 1889 he announced through the
Bechuanaland News:
"As there is a great misunderstanding about this (Rudd
Concession), all
action in respect of the said Concession is hereby
suspended pending an
investigation to be made by me in my
country."
When he established beyond doubt that the
sovereignty of "his
Zimbabwe" had been compromised, the King repudiated the
Concession,
dispatched diplomats to London in search of a diplomatic
solution to the
crisis, and he eventually engaged his army into a fierce war
for
independence and sovereignty. Unfortunately, the citizens and army of
the
day lacked adequate military and economic wherewithal to overcome the
imperialistic onslaught.
The list of heroes in succeeding
generations includes Sekuru
Kaguvi and Mbuya Nehanda in the Risings of
1896-97.
The 19th Century saw the heroics of figures like
Masotsha Ndlovu
in the 1920's, Benjamin Burombo in the 1940's, Charles
Mzingeli in the 1950's,
then the NDP, ZAPU, ZANU, and ANC from the 1950's
right up to the attainment
of absolute sovereignty through 1980's
independence.
Unfortunately and inappropriately, it is mainly
the heroes of
the Second Chimurenga who are remembered during current August
Heroes'
commemorations.
The lengthy reminiscence above
shows that the clamour, struggle
and pride for Zimbabwean sovereignty are
not a new phenomenon. ZANU, ZAPU,
the ANC, other liberation movements, and
ordinary citizens only inherited
the culture from earlier
generations.
It was on the strength of the sovereignty
recovered in 1980 that
the ZANU (PF) government delivered in the 1980's and
90's, the sweet fruits
of independence. Access to primary, secondary and
tertiary education for all
citizens of all races, work-related opportunities
for previously
disadvantaged groups, and equality for citizens in numerous
other areas of
life.
The independence and sovereignty
that we won as a nation at
different moments in history, under the
leadership of heroes, should
therefore certainly be sweet music, not just
for the heroes but also for the
rest of the population, in fulfillment of
that long history of liberation,
and in celebration of the fruits that the
nation reaped in its different
epochs of sovereignty.
Yet
it now appears that for most citizens, the sweetness of
sovereignty has been
massively diluted and adulterated by the hardships that
we face as a nation.
Obviously, the most serious hardships we are
experiencing, are economic in
nature.
Tomorrow, most Zimbabweans will be more concerned
with the zeros
of the new and the old currencies, not with heroes. This is
so because
certain zeroes wielding power tomorrow have ruined an economy
that was
seized from the colonialists in 1980 in a healthy state, into an
economy of
many unhealthy zeroes.
The President, the
Central Bank Governor and numerous other
rulers, have all acknowledged the
tremendous hardship that prevail among the
majority of
Zimbabweans.
As we commence Heroes' Day commemorations, some
difficult
questions still beg for answers: What does independence and
sovereignty mean
for an unemployed man whose pregnant wife and five children
have missed
breakfast and lunch as a direct result of
poverty?
How valuable is sovereignty to students, workers,
women, the
elderly or frail citizens who cannot make ends meet on basics,
let alone
simple luxuries?
There are widespread and
consistent concerns today by ordinary
citizens without any links to Britain
and America, about governance
standards, human rights abuses, the rule of
law, equality before the law,
and about an array of other important
issues.
This raises more questions. Was the Second Chimurenga
a
revolution? Surely, a revolution is a process that replaces one social
order
with another. So, is the current social and economic order any
different, or
better than the pre-colonial one?
Are
ordinary Zimbabweans in sovereign Zimbabwe a happier lot
than those who
lived in the Rhodesian era?
Is the man who says "from zero to
hero", a hero himself, or a
zero? How about the one who shouts: "Zimbabwe
will never be a colony again"?
Is sovereign Zimbabwe in 2006, ruled by
heroes or by zeroes?
This article does not give specific
answers to these critical
questions. Ordinary Zimbabweans will answer as
they read through. The only
opinion proffered here, however, is that the
sovereignty that was won by the
heroes together with the people, is not
enough.
Sovereignty in a sea of squalor, intra-societal
oppression, poor
human rights record, singularity of ideas, economic
malaise, and a host of
other woes for the generality of the population, is
not enough.
The sacredness of heroes' sacrifices cannot be
over-emphasised,
nor should it be undermined, nor disparaged. Whilst we
celebrate Zimbabwean
sovereignty on the one hand, the point that
'sovereignty is not enough'
still stands.
At these
Heroes' 'celebrations', the misery on too many faces
suggests that
sovereignty is not enough.
* Chris Mhike is a lawyer
practising in Harare
Zim Standard
Sunday opinion By Craig Richardson
Anyone flying over Zimbabwe on a clear day in the year 2000
would have seen
huge differences in the farming regions, and perhaps better
understood the
country's longstanding issue with land reform.
In some areas
of the country were large swathes of rich green
land punctuated with small
spots of bright blue reservoirs. These were the
vast tracts of
well-irrigated commercial farms. In other regions, one was
likely to see a
patchwork of brown or gray plots, the dusty and small
communal farms crowded
together and typically suffering from a lack of
water.
Given Zimbabwe's history, it comes as no surprise that some 4
500 whites
owned most of the commercial farms, while 840 000 black farmers
eked out a
living on the communal lands.
In the wake of the post-2000
land reforms, recently produced
satellite pictures from Google Earth show
this bird's eye perspective for
the first time. These remarkable photos
reveal both the differences and
changes in Zimbabwe's agricultural
production over the past few years, and
highlight the stunning failure of
the land reforms' initiative to have a
positive impact on either
redistributed commercial land or the communal
lands. Both now appear worse
off than before.
Guiding most fast-track land reform
advocates was research that
suggested that communal farmland was inherently
inferior to commercial
farmland. But without a bird's eye view of the land,
one misses a key fact:
the fertility of the land wasn't only determined by
rainfall or quality of
the soil. Although communal lands tended to be in
drier areas, many were
directly adjacent to commercial farms or in high
rainfall areas, providing a
living experiment with the two different ways of
managing farmland. Yet in
nearly all cases, the communal areas are typically
dry and scorched, whereas
the commercial lands were green and
lush.
The more recent set of photos shows the results of the
land
reforms, which essentially turned all land into communal land, since
titles
on the commercial properties were revoked. Instead of improving both,
the
move towards equality has had ironic results: commercial farming sector
now
increasingly resembles the communal lands. The once irrigated commercial
land is brown and scorched, and the reservoirs have dried up due to a lack
of spare parts. There have been widespread ripple effects throughout the
entire economy.
How did this happen? The underlying
wealth of the commercial
farmland derived from the protection of private
property, an institutional
centrepiece that has now been abandoned.
Likewise, the ongoing
desertification of the communal farmland is in large
part explained by the
lack of property rights.
The
long-term impact of communal farming resulted in widespread
deforestation,
erosion and poor crop yields - a classic case of "tragedy of
the commons".
Since the post-2000 land reforms, commercial agricultural
production has
dropped to 75%, as individuals have lost initiative to work,
collateral no
longer exists, and banks have collapsed.
Cotton and tobacco
once served as important sources of foreign
exchange for the farmers as well
as the government, which used it to pay for
imports such as fuel, spare
parts, and technology. Farmers formerly used
collateral from privately-owned
land to obtain equity lines from banks,
which were used to purchase seeds in
advance, farm equipment and other
capital improvements.
Consequently, an entire economic sub-sector that served the
commercial
farmers has now virtually disappeared. Ironically, this has
spilled over to
the original communal farmers, as they once sourced seeds,
fertiliser and
other resources from local commercial farmers. In many cases,
commercial
farmers ploughed their land as well. As a result, communal
production is
also down. One can see this in the photos- the communal lands
are browner
than ever before.
Future land reform policies must focus on
allowing all citizens
to gain access to secure property rights, with freedom
to buy and sell land
without restrictions. By doing so, the land will be
properly managed and
taken care of, and can serve as collateral for future
improvements.
Otherwise, Zimbabwe will end up a country subject to droughts,
famine and
other ills - a fate it once avoided successfully when property
rights were
secure.
Government, RBZ treatment of the public
detestable
I detest the disdain with which the Reserve Bank and
the
government are treating people since the launch of "Operation Restore
Value".
Right from the onset we were expected to cheer on
as the RBZ
machinery rolled out countrywide. But if there was substance to
what they
are doing, how come people visiting banks are still being issued
with old
bearer cheques? What is that supposed to tell us? Of course, that
banks have
not been issued with the new bearer cheques!
How then do the Reserve Bank authorities expect to complete the
change-over
exercise by 21 August at the rate at which things are moving?
But two patent falsehoods really got me. One is that there are
billions of
the new bearer cheques already in Zambia. If this is true, given
all the
roadblocks all over the country, could someone at the RBZ please
explain how
it was possible in so short a time to lift such huge amounts out
of this
country into Zambia. Such an operation could only have been
undertaken by
hiring an aircraft. It also suggests that someone drove a
truck into the
vaults of the RBZ, loaded it up and headed for the airport or
an airstrip.
The only people who could have masterminded an operation of
that magnitude
would be RBZ officials themselves. But they are harassing
people for
something so sophisticated that only they would know.
The
second falsehood that got my blood boiling is the one about
$10 trillion in
old bearer cheques being intercepted at the Harare
International
Airport.
The inference here is that the amount was about to
be shipped
out of the country. But there would be a logistics challenge
here. Imagine
$10 trillion in trunks or containers - can you figure out how
many
kilogrammes that turns out to be? It needs some mathematical
calculations
but what I do know is that it would require a cargo aircraft to
carry that
kind of money.
I think the RBZ is being
allowed too much to do as it wishes -
which includes wilfully misleading the
people of this country about the
changes to our currency. I imagine the
reason why no one has dared lift a
finger or murmurs of disapproval is
because they know that very soon the
whole charade will fall flat on its
face. That's when they will really cheer
and say: "We told you
so!"
What I find saddening is that I do not believe the RBZ
is
capable of taking on board suggestions from anyone outside their circles.
I
also believe they were too arrogant to consult on how previous
change-overs
were conducted.
With each gaffe exploding in
their faces, they will find someone
to blame instead of admitting that their
plans and campaigns were not
thoroughly thought out. Very soon the excuses
and people to blame will run
out and these people masquerading as our
economic messiahs will be exposed
for what they are.
If
for once we agree that there is indeed a lot of money
circulating outside
the banks, then that is a huge vote of no confidence in
the banking sector,
and we all know who has presided over the flight of
customers from the
sector.
Three Zeros
Ilanda
Bulawayo
---------------
Gono's measures useless without a political
solution
IT is early days yet but Dr Gideon Gono's mid-term
monetary policy statement seems to have introduced welcome measures to
reduce inconvenience for people on the street, as well as to provide some
breathing space for the private sector.
It remains
to be seen if the zeroes will not have returned
within a year, with a
vengeance. I am no economist and will not attempt to
tread where wiser men
will be providing us better illumination.
However, as
usual, the good governor did not restrict
himself to the core, monetary
issues of a central bank in his lengthy
preamble, nor indeed does he appear
to do so in his day-to-day functions.
By targeting
inflation (zeroes), corruption, indiscipline,
speculation, the blame game
and others as our major enemies, he once again
appeared to shield this
government (deliberately or otherwise) from a
reminder of what many see as
the root causes of our predicament.
These include;
economic mismanagement, the land invasions
of 2000 onwards, the disputed
elections of 2000 and 2002 and the various
reactive and repressive actions
taken since then by this government to stay
in
power.
The rest of most of our issues including
international
political isolation, our ever-shrinking economy, the flight of
international
investment and skilled manpower are merely by-products
thereof.
If a plate of rotten meat is laid out, it is a
questionable exercise to express dismay and indignation when swarms of flies
appear. The rotten meat remains in front of us.
However, I am sure many of us are indeed grateful to the
team at the central
bank for swa ting at some of the flies on behalf of the
people.
Rwendo
Borrowdale
Harare
----------
Currency blitz victimising ordinary
folk
THERE is a very simple reason why we continue to
see
queues of people outside banking halls waiting to withdraw money - all
the
money that used to be in circulation has been seized under the latest
drive
by the Reserve Bank while there is very little of the new family of
bearer
cheques available.
More than a week
after introduction of the new
bearer cheques I have yet to see many people
brandishing the new notes.
Instead it is still the old bearer cheques. That
tells us just how ready and
prepared the Reserve Bank was about this
"Operation Zuva Rabuda - Restore
Value". By the way, it reminds me of
"Operation Restore Order". At least I
think we are beginning to understand
where the first "Red terror tactic" was
hatched.
For all our vaunted intelligence, we
are woefully
short of simply common sense. What is a rural shop owner
supposed to do with
the money he collects when it exceeds $100 million and
he wants to travel to
the towns either for supplies or even for depositing
it? Or better still
what does a rural farmer who sold his cotton and was
keeping the money for
seed and input purchases do when he comes across the
militia-manned
roadblocks? Or those going to pay
lobola?
As in the so-called "Operation
Murambatsvina", the
real casualties of the current exercise are ordinary
honest people. Why can't
the Reserve Bank ask people to turn in their money
in exchange for the new
notes? Ordinary people will never understand that
this is not another scheme
aimed at ensuring they
suffer.
Ndinzweiwo
Mambo
Chivhu
----------
Getting peanuts from
NSSA
I would welcome answers from your readers. I am
one of the
unfortunate mechanics, who was involved in an accident at
work.
As a result, I have a fractured hand and a badly
dislocated shoulder. I got a 50% and 20% disability from my doctor and the
National Social Security Authority (NSSA) doctor
respectively.
Although my right hand is now useless,
the company I
worked for is not going to pay me
anything.
NSSA gives me $107 000 (old currency) a month
and an
additional $19 000 (old currency) a month for my two
children.
In this day and age and in Zimbabwe, what
will $126 000
(old currency) buy? What hurts me most is that I am paying
$150 000 (old
currency) every month to NSSA. How can management and staff at
NSSA waste
stationery to give me $24 000 (old currency) in
compensation?
I am appealing to the directors of NSSA,
human rights
lawyers and civic groups to help me get a fair hearing before I
die and
leave my two children in abject poverty. I am hurting big
time.
Disgruntled worker
Harare
-----------
Tribute to Zimra for disability import
concession
AS the umbrella body for
organisations
involved in the care and rehabilitation of people with
disabilities in
Zimbabwe, the National Association of Societies for the Care
of the
Handicapped (NASCOH), would like to congratulate the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority (ZIMRA), for heeding the plight of people with disabilities by
gazetting regulations allowing people with disabilities to import,
duty-free, cars which are not more than 10 years old from the date of
manufacture or assembly with effect from 1 August
2006.
NASCOH is singularly impressed with
the speed
and urgency with which ZIMRA has responded to the request by
people with
disabilities to ease vehicle importation requirements to allow
them to be
able to import much-needed transportation. NASCOH convened a
meeting with
ZIMRA on 18 July at which people with disabilities were
afforded the chance
to voice their concerns to ZIMRA about the constraints
they face in
importing assistive devices like wheelchairs, walking sticks,
hearing
devices, artificial limbs and
catheters.
Among the concerns raised was
that the
regulation that people with disabilities could only import cars
which were
only five years and below from the date of manufacture duty-free
into the
country was too restrictive, as such cars were generally too
expensive,
especially in light of the fact that people with disabilities are
the
poorest of the poor.
Within the
space of two weeks, ZIMRA amended
this regulation, raising the vehicle
importation limit from five to 10
years, thus making it easier for people
with disabilities to be able to
procure cars from outside the country. This
is indeed, a commendable gesture
by ZIMRA, and it is our hope that the other
concerns that were raised by
people with disabilities at the workshop will
be similarly addressed in due
course.
It has to be borne in mind that disability
equipment, including vehicles, is
not a luxury but are a necessary
pre-requisite for people with disabilities,
so that they can function at
almost the same level as their able-bodied
counterparts. Hearing, seeing,
talking and mobility are fundamental to human
existence and survival, and to
the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms and
rights, and it is only fair and
humane that those who, for any reason, do
not enjoy the proper use of these
primary survival functions, be assisted by
the rest of society to do so. It
is a human rights
issue.
F
Mukuta
Executive
Director
NASCOH
-------------
Residents' meeting was an
eye-opener
I attended a meeting of the
Combined Harare
Residents' Association at Rutendo Hall in Mufakose and was
encouraged by
what I saw and heard. Residents spoke out against
deterioration in refuse
collection; the high water charges; the need for
more peaceful
demonstrations against the unelected commission now running
Harare; Zesa
power cuts; and demand for mayoral and council elections in
Harare.
Residents outlined the problems
that the
residents of Mufakose are currently facing. Uncollected refuse and
unclean
drinking water are some of the major problems that they said were
affecting
residents.
The Mufakose
District Officer's
representative was asked several questions on failed
service delivery but he
failed to provide satisfactory answers. Residents
were merely advised to
forward their questions to "relevant authorities".
Residents said they
wanted senior officials from Town House to attend public
meetings and not
send their representatives who refer residents' queries to
absentee seniors.
He admitted that the
local office operated
under strict instructions from Town House. Residents
were, however, told to
pay their water bills using the May
rates.
Speakers said the commission
running Harare
should account for the refuse fees that have not been put to
use since
refuse was not being
collected.
I liked the call to the
youths, many of whom
are unemployed, to become involved and to be at the
forefront in the
struggle to reclaim the City of Harare. Residents were
promised assistance
by CHRA over problems with issues of title deeds as
there were people or
organisations able to provide
assistance.
CHRA Secretariat was
encouraged by residents
to increase information dissemination and create
greater awareness among
residents on CHRA
existence.
I was happy that practical
steps were taken
on confronting the commission head on. We need such
militancy for the
authority to realise that they cannot continue to take us
for granted.
M
Hwata
Mufakose
Harare
------------
Gono can still quit
honourably
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
Governor, Dr
Gideon Gono, last week shocked the nation by introducing a
bizarre set of
new bearer cheques barely a month after the introduction of
the new hundred
thousand note. We ask the rationale of releasing the hundred
thousand note
when Gono knew of the impending
notes?
Secondly, in introducing the new
hundred
thousand in kilo dollars effectively means Gono has introduced a new
hundred
thousand dollar note in
disguise.
Thirdly, we insist that Gono
has not
addressed the fundamental root causes of the economic crisis by
merely
slashing zeroes from these useless notes. It is unfortunate that the
Governor, who claims to be a highly educated technocrat, can insulate and
perpetrate the highest level of mediocrity and expect people to take him
seriously.
It is he and his satanic
monetary policy
that scrapped off assistance of students at tertiary
institutions on 10
February this year, it is he who promised to curb
inflation and
unemployment - a mandate which he has dismally failed to
execute.
We remind the Governor that
there is still
room to step down as a man of honour and join the reality
facing millions of
Zimbabweans that are without food, accommodation and all
other basic
necessities.
The
Zimbabwean problem is a political
problem which needs a political solution
which lies in Gono and his boss
Mugabe and their whole bandwagon of
liberation war bandits stepping down and
paving the way for a new democratic
and people-driven constitution being
enacted followed by free and fair
elections and a legitimate government that
adheres to the wishes of the
people.
Promise
Mkwananzi
ZINASU President