RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe governor
Gideon Gono yesterday increased the key accommodation interest rate by 20
percentage points and scrapped a facility for cheap funds extended to
exporters last May, as the central bank moved to staunch resurgent money
supply growth.
The central bank also effectively devalued the
dollar by 62 percent, from $10 800 against the United States dollar at
Monday's auction, to $17 500 against the greenback - a 21-fold adjustment
from $824/US$ at the beginning of 2004. The exchange rate
adjustment amounts to a cumulative 182 percent devaluation inside three
months and should provide relief to exporters who, however, will now access
more expensive funds following the decision on interest rates. "An
analysis of Zimbabwe's purchasing power parity using the June 2005 inflation
outturn yields a PPP-consistent exchange rate of around $15 000/US$,
implying that our exporters are more than compensated for competitive loss
arising out of developments on the inflation front," Gono said. On
the interest rate front, the central bank hiked the benchmark accommodation
rate from 160 percent to 180 percent for secured lending and from 170 to 190
percent for unsecured lending. The key policy rate increase will see bank
lending rates, which currently hover around 185 percent, rising beyond 200
percent. With broad money supply growth ticking up from 177.6 percent
in January to 235 percent by May spawning an attendant increase in
inflation, from 133.6 percent in January to 164.3 percent last month, Gono
looked to an increased cost of funds as well as a reduction in the number of
concessionary facilities to stem the tide. Presenting his mandatory
mid-term policy statement in Harare yesterday, Gono said the upward momentum
in the rate of inflation was expected to persist throughout September before
tapering off in the last quarter of the year. He added that the RBZ was
still targeting a year-end inflation rate of about 80 percent despite the
recent reversals caused by high levels of monetary expansion, a 178 percent
hike in fuel prices, drought-induced supply shocks on the food component of
the consumer price index and the cost-push effects of wage and salary
pressures. "The unfavourable trend is, however, expected to reverse
during the last quarter of the year, with annual inflation still targeted to
rescind to around 80 percent by December 2005. The recent upturn in monthly
inflation is not sustainable and is at variance with the collective vision
of macroeconomic stability. Against this background, monetary authorities
will continue to maintain a tight monetary policy stance over the outlook
period," Gono said. Announcing a new regime of foreign currency
surrender requirements that will see exporters getting $17 500/US$, Gono
said the exchange rate adjustment would also result in the 5 percent
interest rate for borrowing exporters falling away. "Consistent
with this, the current adjustment in the exchange rate also took into
account the previous benefits exporters were deriving from the 5 percent
special exporters' fund. "With immediate effect, therefore, the 5
percent borrowing facility has been set aside, with the exporters' viability
concerns now being addressed through the exchange rate. "The 20
percent agriculture facility, however, remains in place." Following the
government's recent liberalisation of fuel procurement which has enabled
individuals and corporates with free funds to import fuel, the central bank
will, with effect from August 1, allow designated service stations to sell
fuel at an initial price of US$1 per litre, Gono said. In the same
vein, the central bank has, with immediate effect, suspended the Import
Tracking Control Numbers (ICTN) system, in order to allow for the free
inflow of free funds. Turning to the financial sector, which has
enjoyed a relatively stable first half after a tempestuous 2004, Gono said
while the sector remained generally safe and sound, adequately capitalised
and profitable, the central bank would increase minimal capital thresholds
with effect from September 30 2006. "A comparative analysis of the
country's minimum capital requirement against other supervisory
jurisdictions in the region indicates that Zimbabwe's minimum capital
requirements are still far below international trends," Gono said.
Commercial banks would, in 16 months time, be required to increase their
minimum capital levels 10-fold to $100 billion, merchant banks, finance
houses and building societies to $75 billion, discount houses to $50 billion
and asset managers to $10 billion.
JOACHIM Chissano has
joined the confusing quest for a negotiated political settlement in Zimbabwe
as African Union (AU) chairman Olusegun Obasanjo's emissary, the former
Mozambican president revealed this week.
Obasanjo has renewed
efforts to get President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to engage in dialogue
as a way of resolving Zimbabwe's deepening political and economic
crisis. In an interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation
(SABC) on Monday night, Chissano said he had been approached by Obasanjo to
be the Nigerian leader's special envoy to Harare as the AU renews efforts to
break a costly five-year political impasse. Chissano said he
accepted the honour bestowed on him by the AU chairman, adding that he would
be in Harare "soon" although no timeframe had been set. "I was
approached by President Obasanjo about talking to President Mugabe. I
accepted and will be visiting Harare soon," said Chissano, adding a fresh
dimension to the AU's initiative to coax President Mugabe to engage the
opposition. Obasanjo's bid to revive talks between the ruling ZANU PF
and the main opposition party started on the sidelines of the AU summit in
Sirte, Libya, earlier this month. Chissano has a warm relationship
with the veteran Zimbabwean leader and was best man when President Mugabe
wed his second wife Grace in 1995. However, despite public statements
by Obasanjo that a meeting between President Mugabe and Tsvangirai was
likely, officials in Harare quickly water on the possibility, with a
government spokesperson reiterating President Mugabe's statement that his
party would only engage the MDC in parliament. President Mugabe has
also stressed at rallies since his return that his government's position
regarding talks with the MDC had not changed. He told journalists after
a rally at the Border Gezi Youth Training Centre in Mount Darwin on July 15
that there was no way ZANU PF could talk with the MDC unless the opposition
party "becomes nationalistic in outlook." The MDC, whose leadership is
aware of Obasanjo's renewed attempts to break the impasse in Harare, flatly
denies its political agenda is directed from Downing Street and
Washington. President Mugabe is adamant Britain and the US are using
the opposition to effect regime change because he seized white-owned land
for redistribution to landless blacks. Previous attempts by Obasanjo and
Mbeki to get ZANU PF and the MDC to talk have drawn blanks.
Unconfirmed reports have suggested that Mbeki's newly appointed deputy
president, Mlambo-Ngcuka, who visited Harare a fortnight ago, had also
raised the issue of dialogue with the opposition in her meetings with
President Mugabe and Vice President Joice Mujuru.
THE rise in
the rate of inflation to June was not unexpected.
What will send
alarm bells ringing though is the sheer size of the jump and, crucially, how
much inflation will heat up further once June's big fuel price hike kicks
in. The Central Statistical Office (CSO) last week said inflation had
risen to 164.4 percent in June, 20 percentage points up on the May figure of
144.4 percent. According to the CSO, the rise came on the back of a 4 641
percent rise in postal charges and a 263 percent increase in education
fees. The disappointing new inflation numbers immediately raised debate
this week as to the few options that remain open to the central bank, still
bravely standing by its audacious year-end inflation target of between 50
and 80 percent despite growing signs that the figure will continue to
climb. Speculation has immediately followed last week's release of the
inflation report, with many debating over what possible reaction the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) might take. The central bank last month remained calm
after May inflation had risen 15.3 percentage points. A senior RBZ
official told The Financial Gazette then that there would be no panic as a
rise had always been expected, pointing to May comments by RBZ chief Gideon
Gono in which the governor had raised rates "on the back of the high upside
risk on inflation envisaged over the outlook period". However, many say
that "upside risk" has now panned out into a full blown scare demanding some
sort of policy intervention. The calls are based on concern that the
increases in inflation have been getting progressively broader while, in the
outlook period, the prospects look dim. Fuel prices rose 180
percent in June, but because the latest figure is based on a CSO survey from
mid-May to mid-June, the fuel price hike has not been factored in the June
numbers but will reflect in the July data. Fuel scarcity means
companies are sourcing expensive fuel on the black market, which will raise
production costs. But business executives say because many are now
unable to cut back on costs any further, the higher production costs will
bleed into shop shelf prices and ultimately feed inflation. "Our
inflation forecast for the year is at around 200 percent, but that might be
higher," says Luxon Zembe, Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC)
president. There is an anticipated surge in state spending to fund an
unplanned $3 trillion housing programme. Economists also expect a spike in
food prices spurred by shortages. The RBZ used a package of
austerity measures to slow inflation down from the 623 percent to 123
percent in March this year, but inflation turned back higher in April,
rising to 129.1 percent and laying the ground for the current run.
Government blames the drought and other outside factors, but critics blame
increased state spending and the fuel crisis. The popular reaction to
each increase in inflation has always been to immediately open speculation
about a rate hike. Given that the new inflation level is now some 14
percentage points above the RBZ's indicative 91-day Treasury Bill rate of
150 percent, it was no different this week, as speculators spread rumour
that the RBZ would have to raise the bank rate again above
inflation. But with inflation heading further up, such a policy would
mean the RBZ having to chase every inflation rise with a rate hike.
A rate hike now would be the second inside three months, an unlikely option
for a central bank that has always sought to pursue a long-term strategy on
inflation. Another option, economists say, is leaning on government to
ease up on its spending while also tightening its lending to government.
However, given the political risk that government has taken out on the
"reconstruction" programme, the RBZ would be unlikely to find any success on
that front. "What they (RBZ) might try to do is hold on to the few
things they can still control," a senior bank executive said Tuesday. "But
the options are very few." However, there is not a lot that the
monetary authorities still have in their control. The past six months - and
especially the period after ZANU PF's took a huge majority at the March 31
poll - have seen a hardening of positions by a bolder government.
This has left little room for that promised engagement with local business
and international capital that is widely seen as key to tough recovery
efforts.
FAR from the glamour
of making news headlines, it has not been a stroll in the park for the local
newspaper industry. Just like every other sector of Zimbabwe's troubled
economy, the industry is sailing through stormy seas.
And how
things change. At the time Jonathan Moyo, the voluble former government
spin-doctor-cum critic was firmly in charge of the state propaganda
machinery, the hostile regulatory regime, parachuted through parliament in
2002, had become the single largest threat to the survival of the
industry. Using the cover of the Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which in its original form was described by the late
former ZANU PF legal supremo Eddison Zvobgo, as "the most calculated and
determined assault on our liberties guaranteed by the constitution," four
newspapers closed shop not because of viability constraints, but because of
the restrictive AIPPA. With the inglorious exit of Moyo - the
principal architect of the much-maligned legislation in February - a new
threat has emerged. Industry experts said the newspaper industry is
under siege from northward bound operational costs tracking resurgent
inflationary pressures compounded by the fuel shortages that have rendered
newspaper deliveries almost impossible. In most instances, critical
inputs have ballooned by margins exceeding the rate of inflation, which
reached 164.4 percent last month, ringing alarm bells for the
sector. Newsprint has been the largest headache for the industry
dominated by four publishing houses namely The Financial Gazette, The
Zimbabwe Newspapers Group (Zimpapers), which owns The Herald, The Sunday
Mail and The Chronicle among other titles; the Zimbabwe Mirror Newspapers
Group, publishers of The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Mirror and The Zimbabwe
Independent Group, which prints The Zimbabwe Independent and Sunday
Standard. In the last six months, the price of newsprint manufactured
by Mutare Board & Paper Mills (MBPM) has skyrocketed by an average 160
percent with printing charges going up by around 70 percent. Relentless cost
increases of other essential inputs such as inks, plates and films have
deflated prospects of an early recovery, leaving industry players with only
one option - cutting down on costs within their control. Zimpapers
chief executive Justin Mutasa was quoted saying the country's largest
publishing group, which uses 150 tonnes of newsprint weekly had a couple of
strategies up its sleeve to contain the situation. As of last month,
Zimpapers was having to contend with a weekly newsprint bill of about $2.1
billion. "Management is currently working out various options to find a
permanent solution to the problem of newsprint in the country," Mutasa
said. Industry experts said the sector was at the crossroads.
Traditionally industry players used to tinker with advertising rates to
catch up with burgeoning costs but not anymore. With industry and commerce
on its knees, advertising budgets have been slashed to the barest minimum,
leaving publishing houses in the lurch. Alternatively, publishing
houses could simply pass on the extra charges to the reader by reviewing the
cover price. Though not a major revenue centre, there is the threat of
consumer resistance. On average, weekend papers are now fetching $15 000
while the dailies have a $10 000 price tag. Business weeklies are going for
as much as $20 000. "It is such a delicate balancing act we are having
to perform daily and we certainly cannot continue like this for long," said
an industry expert who declined to be named. The industry is
divided on the way forward with radicals clamouring for price controls to
keep a tight lid on runaway overheads. The dominant view is however, that
the skewed operating environment is symptomatic of the decadence caused by
the five-year economic recession that has reduced Zimbabwe into a basket
case. Lovett Manduku, chairman of the Printing, Packaging and Newspaper
Industry said the industry, which is locked in a deadlock with its employees
over salary increases, has only been able to offer a 20 percent rise against
the 200 percent demanded by the workers. "Printing orders have been
drastically cut down by over 1000 percent so obviously short runs are more
expensive and have low profit margins. Of late we have had companies asking
for exemption to pay wages, which has never happened before, but it is now
happening. There is also a flight of skills," said Manduku. Nothing
short of wholesale improvements in the economic environment could staunch
the bleeding, said analysts. Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga
said the main supplier of newsprint, MBPM, was experiencing problems in
accessing foreign exchange required to import pulp and chemicals and of late
has had to change source markets. "It is either they (MBPM) must
source cheaper raw materials or they should re-equip their factories to
improve on efficiency and quality," said Matonga, adding that the ministry
could help by lobbying for the industry to get priority on the foreign
currency auction system.
FINANCIAL
institutions must increase their minimum capital ten-fold by September next
year, Reserve bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono has
announced.
Gono however issued a positive review of the state
of the financial sector, much of which is still trying to find recovery
after the turmoil of last year that claimed six commercial banks and several
other financial institutions. "The financial sector is generally
safe and sound, adequately capitalised and profitable over the half year
ended 30 June 2005," Gono said. The RBZ head's remarks are in stark
contrast to December 2003, when in his maiden monetary policy statement he
reserved his sharpest rebuke for a then free-wheeling financial sector,
described the banking system as "an accident waiting to happen".
Under the new banking capital requirements, commercial banks will be
required to lift their capital requirements to $100 billion from the current
$10 billion, merchant banks will raise their capital from $7.5 billion to
$75 billion, the same as building societies and finance houses. Minimum
requirements for discount houses will increase to $50 billion from $5
billion. Asset management companies will be required to expand
their capital to $10 billion from the $500 million required currently. Six
asset management companies have gone under this year alone, a sign that
unlike the banking sector, fund management remains well off the recovery
path. Gono said the increase in minimum capita requirements has been
necessitated by the continuing need to safeguard the safety of
depositors. "A comparative analysis of the country's minimum capital
requirements against other supervisory jurisdictions in the region indicate
that Zimbabwe's minimum capital requirements are still far below
international trends," Gono said in his mid-term monetary policy statement
review yesterday. The ten-fold increase gives an indication of
where RBZ believes inflation will stand in a year's time. The $100 billion
figure might seem large in the current economic environment, but when a rise
in inflation is factored in, most banks are unlikely to struggle to meet the
new requirements. However, if inflation does continue to slow as RBZ
anticipates, then it is also likely that the new requirements might spawn a
fresh crisis in the banking sector as banks scramble to
recapitalise. Several banks have already rushed to shareholders seeking
fresh capital via rights issues. Kingdom Financial Holdings Limited has
raised $101 billion to recapitalise its banking arm, Kingdom Bank, while
NMBZ Holdings shareholders will meet next week to vote on a proposed rights
offer to raise $100 billion for NMB
THE Reserve bank of Zimbabwe will no longer
shield exporters from the vagaries of rising interest rates, following the
withdrawal of a consessionary financing facility through which they could
borrow at 5 percent interest.
RBZ governor Gideon Gono
yesterday announced the measure while acceding to demands by exporters to
adjust the exchange rate. The exchange rate was adjusted by 62 percent from
last Monday's average auction rate of $10 800/US$, to $17 500 against the
greenback. Gono said the new exchange rate should restore the viability
of exports. "An analysis of Zimbabwe's purchasing power parity
using the June 2005 inflation outturn yields a PPP-consistent exchange rate
of around $15 000/US$, implying that our exporters are more than compensated
for competitive loss arising out of developments on the inflation front,"
Gono said. Exporters and farmers were accessing loans at 5 percent
and 20 percent, respectively, since the withdrawal of the productive sector
facility through which they could borrow at 50 percent interest at the end
of June. "Our consultations with industry players, as well as
representative bodies of exporters over the past quarter led to mutual
convergence of mind on the need to rationalise the support being extended to
exporters through the exchange rate instrument. "With immediate
effect, therefore, the 5 percent borrowing facility has been set aside, with
exporters' viability concerns now being addressed through the exchange
rate," Gono said, adding that the 20 percent agriculture facility would
remain in place. Following another interest rate hike yesterday,
exporters will now access loans at over 200 percent interest. Prior to the
latest interest rate hike, bank minimum lending rates averaged 185 percent
per annum.
Selected service stations to charge forex for
fuel
7/22/2005 9:29:38 AM (GMT +2)
SELECTED
service stations will, with effect from August 1, be allowed to sell their
fuel in foreign currency at an initial price of US$1, the central bank has
announced.
Central bank chief Gideon Gono said the move was meant
to alleviate the current fuel crisis, which is dramatised by long, winding
queues for the commodity, as well as to relieve foreign exchange pressure in
the market. "Over the past few months, the Reserve bank has been
conducting feasibility studies on the possibility of allowing some
designated fuel filling stations to sell their petrol and diesel in foreign
currency. "With effect from August 1, the motoring public can access
fuel at designated service stations, which will be announced in due course
by the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, through payment in foreign
exchange, at an initial price of US$1 per litre," Gono said
yesterday. Zimbabwe's six-year old fuel crisis deepened following the
March elections and has reached critical levels in recent weeks, prompting
the government to announce a 178 percent increase in the pump price to $10
000 for petrol and $9 000 for diesel per litre. The authorities have also
relaxed conditions to allow individuals and companies with access to free
offshore funds to import the commodity. The shortage has seen fuel
prices rising to as much as $70 000 per litre on the black market.
According to the central bank, Zimbabwe currently requires 900 million
litres of diesel and 730 million litres of petrol annually to operate at
full capacity, but strained foreign currency resources, at a time when
international oil prices have been rising, has seen the country failing to
import the requisite quantities of fuel. The country's total fuel
import requirements have risen sharply from just over US$200 million in 1992
to a projected US$500 million this year, with an estimated 1.2 million
vehicles now on Zimbabwe's roads, against just over 500 000 in
1995. "At a time when Zimbabwe's export performance has remained
modest, the best way forward for the country is to reorient locals to accept
the reality that the country cannot sustain the current demand for
fuel. "In this regard, there is need to invest in transport
infrastructure and change habits to encourage conservation of fuel," Gono
said.
INFLATION will continue to rise in the
remainder of the current quarter, central bank chief Gideon Gono said
yesterday, while still sticking to his year-end inflation targets despite
signs of increased pressure on prices.
Dropping a heavy hint
that central bank will follow a policy of chasing inflation figures with
frequent rate hikes, Gono said the RBZ "will continue to maintain a tight
monetary policy stance over the outlook period". Inflation would
rise further up to September, but would slow in the last quarter of the year
to around 80 percent, Gono said yesterday, pledging tighter money market
liquidity management and hinting at further rate hikes over the near
term. "The transitory upward momentum is expected to progress through
September 2005, before tapering off in the last quarter of the year," Gono
said. The rise in inflation would be driven by the 178 percent jump
in fuel prices effected towards the end of June, wage and salary increments,
increased rentals and monetary expansion, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
governor said. "The unfavourable trend is, however, expected to
reverse during the last quarter of the year with annual inflation still
targeted to recede to around 80 percent by December 2005."
Yesterday's 20-percentage point rate hike is the second inside three months,
after the massive 65-percentage point rate lift of May 19. The governor also
said central bank's policy on the money market would be to aim for short
market positions to keep inflation in check. Inflation quickened 20
percentage points in the year to June to 164.4 percent, with month-on-month
inflation coming in at 18.1 percent, rising 5 percentage points from May.
The RBZ at its May monetary policy review downgraded its December inflation
targets from 20-35 percent to 50-80 percent, hoping a tight monetary policy
would subdue an anticipated boom in money supply. RBZ's defiant
stance on inflation is apparently underpinned by an anticipated recovery in
industrial output, and a decline in public borrowing as government completes
grain imports. Government borrowing, up 343 percent year-on-year in May, has
driven much of the inflationary pressures, Gono conceded yesterday. Latest
central bank figures show that domestic debt stands at $12 billion, with May
money supply growth at 235 percent. Inflation peaked at 623 percent in
January last year, before a range of austerity measures introduced by RBZ
reined it in through last year. However, a rise in April to 129 percent
broke the downward trend, and inflation has managed big jumps since
then.
THE opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) could boycott the forthcoming senate
elections in protest against what the party deems a unilateral and piecemeal
approach to constitutional reform.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai
said there was immense debate within the party about whether or not it
"should give credence to the senate project by participating in the
elections". Tsvangirai said the MDC believed that any constitutional
amendment had to be holistic, comprehensive and broad-based.
"That's why we advocate a truly people-driven constitutional reform. Why we
are opposing these piecemeal constitutional amendments is that (President
Robert) Mugabe is undertaking this project to suit himself," he
said. President Mugabe is waiting for the 17th amendment of the
constitution to accommodate ruling ZANU PF loyalists and Sithembiso Nyoni -
whose position as Minister of Small to Medium Scale Enterprises was rendered
constitutionally untenable after she failed to secure a parliamentary seat
within three months of her appointment in April. The Constitution
of Zimbabwe Amendment (Number 17) Bill that seeks to provide for the
reconstitution of Parliament as a bicameral legislature consisting of a
House of Assembly of 150 members and a 66-member senate, was gazetted last
Friday by the government. Debate within the MDC is split over
participation in the elections, which would be interpreted as a tacit
endorsement of the constitutional amendments, or boycotting at the risk of
ZANU PF going it alone. The ruling party, which needs a two-thirds
majority in Parliament to amend the Constitution, agreed at an extraordinary
session of its inner cabinet to set up a senate. Of the 66
senators, five would be elected in each of the 10 provinces, plus the
president and deputy president of the Council of Chiefs and eight chiefs
elected by the council to represent eight non-metropolitan provinces.
President Mugabe has the prerogative of appointing six senators ostensibly
to represent special interests groups such as the new farmers.
A SHOWDOWN is
looming between the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) and some
influential ZANU PF bigwigs opposed to a massive telecommunications project
being considered for funding by the national pensions scheme.
The Financial Gazette can reveal that two NSSA board members were approached
by named ZANU PF heavyweights to stymie the TeleAccess Zimbabwe deal that
had passed through preliminary investment approval stages and now awaited
board consideration. TeleAccess, controlled by Daniel Shumba of the
Systems Technology fame, is in the market to raise $210 billion needed to
roll out the country's first privately-owned fixed telecommunications
network to rival state-run Tel*One. The cash-rich NSSA, on the
prowl for lucrative greenfield investments, is among local investors
earmarked to back the stalled project, licensed in 2000 after a year-long
wait. Government sources said some ruling party bigwigs were against
the funding of TeleAccess because its project promoter, Shumba, was involved
in the Tsholotsho debacle that was meant to change the make-up of the ZANU
PF presidium, it is alleged. The TeleAccess boss is one of the six
ZANU PF provincial chairmen suspended for five years last year ahead of the
ruling party congress for attending a function in Tsholotsho that was not
sanctioned by the party. Political interference is cited among the
major contributing factors to the poor financial shape synonymous with the
country's loss-making state enterprises. NSSA chairman Edwin
Manikai denied "official" interference when contacted for comment this week
but admitted some board members had been approached. Manikai said
TeleAccess' papers would be treated just like any other commercial
transaction regardless of agendas of individuals or groups. He added that
his board had resolved to shut out attempts to influence the due
processes. "There has been no official interference as such and by
that I mean written communication to me as chairman. The mode of
interference would be a directive and I have not received that," said
Manikai. "There is an interest, which interest has come to the attention of
the board and board members have been contacted by people making inquiries
about the TeleAccess proposal. I am not surprised because the project is
significant and of national interest as it was approved by Cabinet and I am
not surprised by the lobby," he added. Manikai said NSSA was a
national institution which did not belong to individuals. He said his board
was resolute on protecting NSSA's integrity and ensuring everything was done
in the best interest of the authority. "What is right will stand firmly
today, tomorrow and over time," he said, adding the labour ministry has been
very supportive of his board "and I have no doubt the spirit will prevail
over everything else." In terms of the private placement, TeleAccess
will issue 500 million ordinary shares valued at $350 billion to the new
investors. In the post transaction period, Distinguished Ownership
Investments, the majority shareholder, will reduce its stake from 98.5
percent to 78.8 percent. New investors would have a combined 19.96
percent with the balance owned by Hirider Investments.
MOVEMENT for
Democratic Change (MDC) president Morgan Tsvangirai this week admitted
frustration was beginning to creep into the opposition party's ranks amid a
restructuring initiative ostensibly designed to refocus the
party.
Tsvangirai, who recently dissolved the MDC's shadow
cabinet in a move critics interpreted as a sign of a crisis within the
leadership, now effectively oversees the day to day operations of the
party. Party sources said that a major source of internecine conflict
in the MDC has been the extent of power wielded by the party's top six
officials - Tsvangirai, vice president Gibson Sibanda, national chairman
Isaac Matongo, secretary-general Welshman Ncube, his deputy Gift Chimanikire
and national treasurer Fletcher Dulini-Ncube. Investigations this
week revealed that Tsvangirai had decided to expand his standing committee
from the top six to include four new groupings - the political, economic,
resistance and international committees. In an interview with The
Financial Gazette this week, Tsvangirai, who defended the restructuring
exercise, said more changes were in the offing, but categorically denied the
exercise was intended to thwart any opposition to his leadership at the
party's national congress, to be held early next year. "I am not
under threat from anyone within the MDC. It is wishful thinking by the enemy
to try and destabilise the MDC. I can understand the fears of the people
about me being a dictator. We can't create another Mugabe in Tsvangirai. But
I think I am within my rights to do certain things because the buck stops
with me," said Tsvangirai. "The changes that are being implemented and
those that are imminent are born from the fact that we have not achieved
what we set out to achieve at our formation about five years ago," he said,
adding that failure to wrest power from President Robert Mugabe through the
electoral route had resulted in frustration within the party, especially
among the youths. "Instead of looking at the enemy (ZANU PF), our
people are looking within. There is frustration. The electoral route has
proven to have its limitations hence our decision to engage a consultant to
help the party devise new strategies to engage the enemy. We have taken very
bold measures to reposition the party from what it was five years ago," said
Tsvangirai. "I personally think stayaways or mass actions are an
exhausted strategy. What is imperative is for the MDC leadership to regain
the confidence of the people and go back to the resistance mode. It is not
about winning power through an election anymore. The people and the
leadership must realise they are no longer living in the comfort zone. The
MDC's challenge now is to be relevant to the expectations of the people," he
said. Party insiders confirmed this week that the restructuring
exercise has created uncertainty within the party's organs as the veteran
trade unionist, himself under immense pressure following three consecutive
electoral losses to President Mugabe's ruling party, has indicated there
would be no sacred cows. The Financial Gazette has it on good
authority that the party's national executive has approved the hiring of an
independent political consultant to assist with the restructuring of the
party as well as to draw up fresh strategies to wrest power from President
Mugabe. The party would also map out strategies to tackle the
challenges posed by the closure of democratic space due to a set of
allegedly repressive laws passed by the ZANU PF-dominated
parliament.
AT a time when
President Robert Mugabe's government is under the microscope over the
roundly condemned demolition exercise that has sparked a humanitarian crisis
of alarming proportions, the government-appointed Media and Information
Commission (MIC) has once again refused to grant operating licences to two
independent media groups, an action analysts view as a devastating blow to
media diversity and freedom of expression.
With the African Union
(AU) understood to be preparing a defence for Harare to prevent the
humanitarian crisis unfolding in the country put before the United Nations'
Security Council, the MIC on Monday came up with the same old flimsy
arguments and reasons to deny the ANZ, publishers of The Daily News and its
sister newspaper The Daily News on Sunday operating licences. The
denial of a licence to the ANZ comes hard on the heels of a similar refusal
to The Tribune, whose publisher Kindness Paradza is a former ZANU PF
legislator who allegedly earned the wrath of the ruling party after he had
the temerity to criticise the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act (AIPPA). Analysts who spoke to The Financial Gazette
this week said the paranoid government had again shot itself in the foot
with its latest act of arrogance at a time when Harare was still battling to
convince the world, especially the UN and international pressure groups,
that there was no humanitarian crisis in the country. They said the
seemingly flagrant violation of freedom of expression worsened Zimbabwe's
standing in the West, Commonwealth, the European Union and other influential
international bodies baying for the further isolation of Harare. The MIC's
actions also did not augur well for South African President Thabo Mbeki's
renewed bid to solve Harare's crisis. It is understood Mbeki, whose
government is reportedly toying with the idea of offering Harare a soft loan
aimed at bailing out Zimbabwe from its crippling fuel crisis and mounting
debts to the international community, has put the repeal of repressive media
laws as one of the pre-conditions for the soft loan being allegedly sought
by the Harare authorities. The denial of operating licences to the ANZ
and The Tribune comes amid concerted efforts by the Zimbabwe Union of
Journalists (ZUJ) to improve relations between the government and the media,
which had been greatly poisoned since 2000. In denying the ANZ a
licence, Tafataona Mahoso, the chairman of the MIC, said the group had
circumvented existing legislation by deliberately contravening some sections
of the controversial AIPPA by, among other things, publishing The Daily News
without a registration certificate. "Having found that the applicant
contravened Sections 66, 72, 76 and 79 (6) of the Act, the application for
registration is hereby denied," reads part of Mahoso's determination, which
has sent alarm bells ringing among the country's media watchers and
analysts. The MIC, cherry-picked by former information and publicity
minister Jonathan Moyo before his fall from grace, ruled that ANZ's
contravening of Section 66, which deals with registration of mass media
services, was inexcusable. "In addition, the applicant (ANZ)
continued publication after the Supreme Court judgment also confirmed
applicant's determination not to submit to the registration requirement. The
excuse that the service of the Supreme Court judgment on the applicant was
delayed was not acceptable in view of the fact that the illegal publication
also carried a story about the same judgment," said the MIC.
Chakanyuka Bosha, the ZUJ national coordinator, said the journalism
fraternity had been taken aback by the decision of the "wrongly" constituted
MIC at a time when the organisation was attempting to mend fences with the
government. "We (ZUJ) are shocked by the latest development, we had
hoped the MIC realised the need for media diversity in the country and
allowed The Daily News to resume publication," said Bosha. "The ANZ stable
is a crucial alternative voice to media pluralism in Zimbabwe. The decision
arrived at by the Commission is harsh especially if you consider that it's
coming from a wrongly constituted media body," added the ZUJ
official. According to AIPPA, one of the members of MIC should be from
a journalists' union, a requirement largely ignored by the government when
it cherry-picked MIC commissioners. Attempts by former minister
Moyo to coax certain journalists to join the commission came to naught after
it was realised they were not members of ZUJ or the Independent Journalists
Association of Zimbabwe (IJAZ). Other analysts said they viewed
Mahoso's refusal to licence the ANZ, whose former majority holder was Econet
boss Strive Masiyiwa, as a political decision. In denying The
Tribune a licence last week, Mahoso claimed the publishers had not proved
that they had enough capital to sustain the business and that the publisher
planned to operate from his home upon being granted a licence. The
Tribune's operating licence was suspended for a year in June last year after
Africa Tribune Newspapers (ATN), the publishing company, failed to notify
the MIC of the change in ownership from Ukubambana Kubatana
Investments. Tribune publisher Paradza has vehemently denied
Mahoso's charges, saying as far as he was concerned the publishing company
had met all the requirements needed to be re-registered in terms AIPPA.
Mahoso had added that Paradza's proposal to operate from his house would be
in contravention of the Harare city council by-laws. "All I told
the commission was that our assets were being kept at my home. I never
alluded to the fact that I wanted to operate the business from my home. Our
submissions are clearly recorded in black and white," Paradza said in a
statement to MISA-Zimbabwe. "The issue of whether we had enough capital
to resume operations does not arise as there are banks that are willing to
loan us funds for the re-capitalisation of the project."
MISA-Zimbabwe has also condemned Mahoso's refusal to licence both the ANZ
and The Tribune. "That The Tribune has no permanent offices at the moment is
the making of the MIC and the same body cannot therefore refuse to grant a
licence on such flimsy grounds," said MISA-Zimbabwe in a statement. "The
operations of the MIC over the past three years indicate it has failed to
develop the media or demonstrate its impartiality where it concerns the need
for media diversity in Zimbabwe. This bolsters the growing number of voices
branding the MIC a partisan and unnecessary body whose sole existence is
merely to cause suffering and worsen the plight of Zimbabwe's media workers
and owners at the expense of the reading public which is dying for
alternative sources of information," the statement said. The
Zimbabwe National Editors Forum added its voice in condemning the MIC's
ruling on the ANZ, with forum chairman Iden Wetherell reiterating calls for
the abolition of the regulatory body. "It is a shocking - if
predictable - decision, which should be seen as part of a wider attempt to
limit criticism of the regime as it fails to cope with the manifold crises
its misrule has spawned. The repeal of AIPPA and abolition of the MIC must
be the first priority of any talks on the restoration of democratic rule,"
Wetherell said.
ZIMBABWE will speed up
repayment of its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono pledged yesterday, a day after an IMF
spokesperson confirmed August 16 as the day Zimbabwe's future in the fund
would be decided.
Gono said Zimbabwe had been increasing repayments
to the global lender for more than a year, and would further raise
repayments over the coming months. "Over the past 18 months
Zimbabwe has progressively escalated its repayments to the IMF from US$1.5
million per quarter to the current level of US$9 million per quarter, giving
a cumulative total repayment of US$36.6 million," Gono said.
Frances Harden, a spokesperson for the IMF, said in Washington on Wednesday
that the IMF board would discuss Zimbabwe's case next month, after the
expiry this month of a six-month grace period that the IMF gave the country
in February after Harare pledged to up its repayments. Zimbabwe's
arrears to the IMF stand at US$306 million, 57 percent of its IMF quota.
Deepening economic trouble has seen Zimbabwe fail to repay the loan,
resulting in its voting rights being suspended and the IMF beginning a
process to expel the country from the fund last year. However,
yesterday Gono said Zimbabwe remained committed to healing all strained
relations with international finance groups and foreign investors, whose
withdrawal from Zimbabwe has left the country facing worsening foreign
currency shortages. As part of attempts to coax external capital back
to Zimbabwe, Gono said Zimbabwe needed to honour all bilateral investment
protection agreements with foreign governments in order to reassure
sceptical investors. Despite the real threat that Zimbabwe could
become the first country to be expelled from the IMF, Gono sounded
optimistic yesterday that relations would be restored in time to avoid
expulsion, pointing to last year's meeting between President Robert Mugabe,
traditionally a strident critic of the IMF, and Abdoulaye Bio-Tchane, the
IMF's director for the Africa department. An IMF delegation that
held consultations in Harare in May painted a dim view of the future of
Zimbabwe's economy, saying the country needed to institute "a comprehensive
policy package that should include decisive action to lower the fiscal
deficit, a tightening of monetary policy, and steps to establish a unified,
market-determined exch-ange rate." It added: "A rebuilding of relations
with the international community is a critical part of the effort to reverse
the economic decline."
HOLDERS of free funds from offshore
sources will, with immediate effect, be free to bring in productive imports
"on a no questions asked basis", central bank chief Gideon Gono said
yesterday.
An acute shortage of foreign currency underpinned by a
drastic reduction in exports and general economic activity has seen
Zimbabwean authorities assuming stringent controls in trying to deal with a
blossoming informal market for foreign exchange. However, the
chronic shortage of fuel - among other basic commodities - has seen the
government relaxing conditions for holders of free funds to allow for the
importation of critical requirements. "In order to allow for the free
inflows of free funds which, for one reason or the other, found their way
into offshore markets, the Reserve Bank is pleased to announce that the
programme of Import Tracking Control Numbers has been suspended with
immediate effect. "The Reserve Bank's exchange control unit will,
however, continue to carry out close surveillance to ensure that holders of
corporate FCAs (foreign currency accounts) do not abuse the privilege by
importing trinkets at the expense of essential productive usage of foreign
exchange resources," Gono said. Several Zimbabwean businesspeople
and firms have, over the past year, run into trouble with the law over
alleged exchange control violations. Former finance minister
Christopher Kuruneri, who has been in remand prison for over a year, is on
trial facing charges of externalising foreign currency used to develop real
estate properties in South Africa. Kuruneri, who denies the charges, insists
he used his free funds earned from consultancy work abroad to develop the
properties. Other businessmen, mainly bankers, have fled the country
after alleged exchange control violations.
THE spectre of yet another failed agricultural
season, especially caused by human error, is frightening to say the
least.
It would provide a perfect backdrop to a tragic and
disastrous failure of small-scale commercial agriculture with devastating
consequences on local economic pride and promise. But we have a strong sense
of déjà vu as we inch towards the rain season. Perish the thought
because another poor agricultural season's consequences on the enfeebled
economy will be, for want of a better word, incalculable. Traditionally the
backbone of the economy, the agricultural sector is at a crossroads. Hence
Zimbabwe's bread-basket-turned-basket-case tag. This is mirrored in the
shrunken state of the economy. The erstwhile resilient economy is inevitably
caving in having lurched from one crisis to another over the past five
years. We cannot overemphasise the fact that agriculture fires the local
economy. Returning it to the pre-crisis levels will therefore certainly
soothe the economy's running sore. We say so because agriculture had,
prior to the crisis, the single biggest sectoral contribution to the
country's gross domestic product. Then, Zimbabwe was a reliable regional
breadbasket, which position we yearn to return to. It had a robust
agricultural sector that anchored a reassuringly resilient and relatively
stable economy - which stood in stark contrast to the stagnation and misery
obtaining in its eastern and northern neighbours and indeed the rest of the
so-called Third World. But now, with its food security situation in the
most precarious position ever, the country cuts a different image. It has
been reduced to a basket case characterised by a lingering contagion of
uncertainty while the economy, previously seen as one of the strongest in
Southern Africa, has been pushed to historic contraction. The most
frightening thing though is that, even if mother nature does not send its
worst in the form of devastating droughts, the worst-case scenario alluded
to earlier could just become a reality given the uncertainty surrounding the
availability of agricultural inputs. While maize seed could be
available on the back of leftovers from last season where the uptake was low
for obvious reasons, the government has to urgently ensure that the country
has adequate stocks of other inputs such as fertilisers and chemicals.
Shortages of these critical inputs, which could impair the quality of crops,
have been with us for a long time now. It is worrying that they have
spilled over from three seasons ago without any contingency plans being put
in place to ensure their availability. We have voiced our concerns time
without number but the problem keeps on recurring. This boggles the mind
given that government had, at independence, identified land reform as the
best way of intervention for guaranteed food security and economic
empowerment. We are not going to be swayed by arguments that the
country has suffered biting foreign currency shortages. While this is a
fact, it is also true that the problem of agricultural input shortages has,
as already pointed out, been with us for some time now. If government was
not just politicking and truly believed that the land is the economy and
vice-versa, why then did it not, over the years, slowly build something like
a rainy-day fund - a special purpose vehicle to guard against such
eventualities? Doesn't this boil down to a question of priorities?
Be that as it may, we believe that there is no point in raking over the
ashes. Suffice to say that for the nation not to be caught asleep at the
switch once again this year, the government has to deal with what is fast
becoming a perennial problem and now. It would be a tragedy if we were to
have a repeat of what happened last year when most farmers got the inputs
when it was too little, too late. This should galvanise the
government to make sure that the land reform programme improves the economic
standing of most of those who benefited from the exercise, ensure their
social protection, add value to the national economy as well as guaranteeing
food security. This can only be possible if those running the country's
agriculture strive to find a modus vivendi with key stakeholders by
acknowledging that the days of scapegoating and accusing maize seed and
fertiliser companies of sabotaging the economy are numbered. Indeed Zimbabwe
needs a fresh approach because the current one is not working. The
government should not, as it has done in the past, be obsessed with driving
a hard bargain when it comes to the agricultural input price war by talking
at cross purposes with input producers. These producers just want to
continue operating above the red-ink line. Government must therefore
tread very carefully and in good faith this time around. It should be
realised that fed up with the government's strong-arm tactics, where it
forced seed houses to sell their products at uneconomic prices, the
producers scaled back on their production in Zimbabwe and instead bolstered
production at their operations dotted around the region. Zimbabwe does not
need to be reminded of the consequences of that development. We have already
talked about how most of the new farmers have been left devastated with a
psychology of impotence and pessimism against a background of biting inputs
shortages.
Chokwadi CZ is happy that very soon,
just after Operation Murambatsvina and Operation Garikai, one other
operation that is coming is Operation Taurai Chokwadi.
Wonderful, isn't it? This operation will make it a point that all
Zimbabweans tell nothing but the truth. Yes every Zimbo, no matter who they
are and what they do. Whosoever breaks this truth code will find themselves
at Caledonia Farm, or they will end up moulding bricks at
Whitecliff. Well, well, well, hopefully CZ will not find himself there
- together with Pius Ncube, Lovemore Madhuku, Greatmore Chatya, Cde Made,
Cde Pats, Cde Tazzen, Cde Obadiah, Cde Wayne, Cde Timbe, Cde Kunonga et
al. When a public official tells the nation that there is more than
enough fuel when it is not true, he will find himself at Caledonia. If Cde
Sithembiso Nyoni tells people that Mupedzanhamo will be open tomorrow, and
it does not open, she will find herself at Caledonia. Same with you! Don't
say you were not warned! Fidza Zimbos are still wondering
whether Cde Fidza really granted that juicy interview to that British
tabloid, The People. What else can they do but wonder especially now that
the man can no longer answer any question without including a verse from the
Bible. CZ wonders how Cde Fidza's family and friends are coping with
this new-look man, because from the look of things, even if he is asked his
name, age and sex, he is no longer capable of answering. Instead, he is
quick to refer to one or two verses in the Bible. Last weekend,
what was supposed to be a simple interview with The Herald failed to achieve
the basic purpose of an interview . . . the man could not give any
information what so ever. It was a sorry apology for an interview?
From the look of things, it appears that questions were sent to him and he
sub-contracted some notorious pretender at this outfit calling itself
Destiny for Africa Network to answer the questions for him. Otherwise there
is no way a new born-again Christian can have so many chapters and verses at
their fingertips. We have seen the same trick from people like Mike
Tyson before, so we are not at all amused. CZ would like to tell his brother
that it is not advisable to use God's name in vain.
Agreement If there is one thing that CZ and his brother-in-crime
Wood-pecker are in agreement about, it is the treatment that this Professor
who was once (mis)information minister should get from the media. No oxygen
of publicity - period! The man got a chance to show what he is
capable of doing given a little more power and he did exactly that! So where
are all these illusions coming from? And what is this that CZ's
getting? That Woodpecker could be in hot soup over his recent pot shot at
the professor? Jesus God! Hopefully there is no iota of truth in this
rumour. This professor man should be smiling all the way to hell
following the recent denial of publishing licences to The Daily News and The
Tribune. He should be as happy as a puppy with two tails. It's all his
brainchild. His legacy. Never mind the hypocrisy by the new tenants
at the information ministry that they are going to loosen up the criminal
media laws! Status This one came from one of CZ's fans. The
fellow is upset about the way some of us choose to behave. There he
is: Recently, I went into this bar. One of these seedy bars in one of
Harare's noisy high-density suburbs. Just to get one bottle of these
"precious waters of wisdom". You know, it is very important for a family
man. A father has to look wise every time he gets home otherwise he is just
as good as no father at all! "How can a married man not drink and
retain his sanity in this world?" my grandfather always used to ask every
time my grandmother complained about his suicidal drinking habits.
I needed just one bottle. I needed some wisdom before getting home to
explain why, as the man of the house, I could not afford the family a simple
holiday trip to the village. You know with beer it starts off as one . . .
then the last one; then the last, last one; then the final last one; the
very final last one . . . until the following morning! This beer thing!
Whoever introduced it should be hanged! I then decided to visit the
gents. The place was somewhere at the back of the confusion that we have the
effrontery to call a pub. I rushed there. It was important. I had to
shake my best friend like yesterday. This beer business! As I was
getting out of the place - which stank to high heaven - I couldn't believe
what I saw. This "gentleman" who had always been strutting around the bar
with a can of Castle lager was replenishing it. Guess where? At the tap
outside the stinking men's place. Yes, I caught him "red-handed" pouring tap
water into the can because he did not want people to know that he was as
broke as a snake. He could not stay at home and watch ZTV because
everyone would know that he was broket. He could not drink the ordinary
bottled beer because he could not afford it. And besides, it was not good
for his "status." So he had to do something to maintain this
"status." There are so many of us who are right now living a lie. Just
too many of us that it is actually embarrassing for us to ever talk about
it. Why would a man in his right senses who knows that he has only $60
000, enough to drink about three quarts, decide to go all the way to some
funny and crazy club where he will only be able to drink two pints? Is the
beer honestly different? Or is it this thing about status - what one thinks
he is, which he is in fact not? Or why would a woman in full
control of all her mental faculties pretend she can't speak fluent Shona
because she grew up in Harare, when her English is even more execrable? Or
talk as if she has a clothes peg on her nose? What is wrong with
our thinking that we get so obsessed with this false belief that there are
people who are always watching us . . . people who hold us in high esteem .
. . people whom we have to impress? Is it this inferiority complex that
we grow up with that makes us think if we do things to show-off - even where
we can barely afford it-we can shrug off our poor backgrounds and be new
persons altogether? New persons with a noble background in a superior
class? And at the end of it all, what do we get from it all? Nothing.
If anything, we are in trouble . . . neck-deep in debt we have no capacity
to pay . . . because at one time we had to appear like people of
class! Shameless feeling of shame, can we call it? Being ashamed of
ourselves that we wish we were not ourselves. So ashamed of ourselves that
our women become virtual denizens of hair salons and "beauty" parlours dying
to make themselves look at least like an ugly white woman. We are
so ashamed of our selves that we even try to sugar coat our backgrounds . .
. you come from Mrewa, you were born under a tree, went to a rural school
from grade one to four etc . . . but all this is doctored to something else
. . . Marlborough, Belvedere Maternity Hospital, Queen Elizabeth, Girls'
High, London, US . . . etc, etc. Status! At times you can see clearly
that someone is really struggling to make ends meet . . . but from the
peanuts they earn, more than half goes to pay rent for a room - only one
room for that matter - in Borrowdale, Greendale, Highlands . . . any such
places because there is status to maintain! Our children can no longer
have names with meanings . . . because you would look like a lowly, lowly
person. A person of no substance. No status. But why do people die to
live a lie? Why do we stress ourselves so much about things that we know are
way beyond our reach? Why do we lose sleep over useless things?
There is nothing wrong with having dreams, no matter how vaulting they might
be, but to dream to a point of living that dream is something else. Isn't
it? Surely what this status thing will bring to this land really wears
a hat!
A PROPOSED 300
percent increment in pensions for former civil servants looks set to
complicate the government's fiscal equation ahead of the expected
supplementary budget.
Already, the government faces massive
unplanned expenditures in the form of the reconstruction programme following
the demolition of shantytowns and informal vending sites, as well as relief
aid following a huge food deficit. Sources in the Ministry of
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare told this paper that the
government has approved a 300 percent increment in pensions payments to
former civil servants in an effort to adjust their earnings to inflation
levels. Statistics released by the Central Statistical Office (CSO)
last week indicate that the rate of price change, which started shooting up
after parliamentary elections in April this year, had reached about 164.3
and 13.1 percent in June, on a year-on-year and month-on-month basis,
respectively. The sources confirmed that prior to the approved
increment, a majority of government pensioners were earning far below $100
000 per month, implying that taken against inflation, these long-range
lenders were incurring a loss of staggering proportions on their life
savings and investments. Deputy Finance Minister David Chapfika
professed ignorance over the issue when this paper asked him whether the
supplementary budget, expected this week, would commit some funds to finance
these unplanned expenditures. "I don't know about that. What I know is
that an increase in pensions will have to be based on earnings. Where would
that money come from?" Chapfika asked. John Robertson, an economic
analyst, said the fiscal spill caused by unplanned pension hikes and a host
of unbudgeted expenditures, would have to be covered by the supplementary
budget. "All government pensions have been adjusted for inflation. As a
result, some pensions have increased from about $100 000 to about $3
million. "This is a positive move because pensions had remained
stagnant for too long, even as inflation was leaping. This discourages
savings. The increment will cushion the savers and investors from the bite
of inflation and make them less poor. But a lot more needs to be done to
encourage savings and investments," he said. The government this
month admitted that populist policy actions, particularly Operation Garikai
- an unplanned mass public housing programme launched to compensate its
demolition of shantytowns - has, in combination with a bloated cabinet and
the crushing drought, landed it in a fiscal mess.
IT never ceases to amaze me that some
government officials seem genuinely perplexed over the widespread
condemnation of Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order and the scepticism
shown towards its belatedly and hurriedly conceived twin, Operation
Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle.
And yet there is so much that is
incongruous, contradictory and illogical about the way these exercises were
embarked on that the officials' failure to appreciate the negative reactions
they have sparked is a cause for concern. Instead of trying to force the
tedious hype surrounding these operations down the nation's throat,
government ministers should stop to reflect. They would discover that they
do not seem to be singing from the same song sheet. Each time an official
opens his or her mouth to speak about these operations, the public learns
something more disturbing and confounding. For example, after
almost three months of being told that the clean-up exercise was a well
planned and thought out initiative that the government had conceived ahead
of the sudden swoop on vendors and informal traders in Harare, the truth has
finally surfaced. About two weeks ago, Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa let
the cat out of the bag when he told parliament that no budgetary provision
was made for Murambatsvina prior to the sudden announcement that $3 trillion
would be allocated for Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle. Said Murerwa: "It is
very clear that when we announced the 2005 budget, we had not anticipated
this programme." Murerwa pointed out that some aspects of the
previously announced budget would now have to be "re-prioritised", which
could be bureaucratic speak for something more serious. The adjustments that
have to be made to accommodate the new expenditure could mean that some
sectors such as health and education deteriorate even further because of
lack of funding. The sum of $3 trillion being earmarked for
Garikai/Hlalani is not peanuts by any standards but quite a lot of tax
dollars. It does not inspire public confidence in the government's fiscal
prudence to see such a large amount of money being allocated on impulse. It
is particularly inexcusable for the government to resort to this haphazard
way of doing things when it has had its fingers burnt before. It shows that
no lessons have been learnt from similar spur of the moment decisions in the
past such as the awarding of unbudgeted pensions and gratuities to war
veterans and the chaotic implementation of the land reform
programme. The nation first heard about Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle shortly
before the arrival of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan's envoy,
Anna Tibaijuka in Zimbabwe. Her mission was to assess the humanitarian
implications of Murambatsvina under which the government rendered hundreds
of thousands of people homeless by demolishing their houses. Tellingly,
however, the hustle and bustle that was so much in evidence during the UN
envoy's two-week visit has died down. Most of those deprived of a roof over
their heads three months ago are still sleeping in the open. The
question the defenders of this exercise need to ask themselves is why the
government has put the cart before the horse every step of the way in
implementing it. Surely, if these were well thought out plans, the
government would have provided alternative temporary accommodation before
embarking on its demolition spree. As things stand, it is a cruel taunt to
call the (so far) phantom reconstruction programme Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle
when the people displaced by Murambatsvina are unlikely to have proper homes
again for the foreseeable future. Where does the government expect these
people to live until the four model houses being displayed endlessly on
television miraculously transform into sprawling suburbs. The
government will have a hard time convincing the world of its good intentions
as long as it persists in refusing to acknowledge the most fundamental flaws
in its approach - its failure to recognise that no initiative is worth the
trouble if it dehumanises the supposed beneficiaries and results in the
violation of their rights. You can destroy structures and clean up later but
you cannot criminalise and degrade fellow human beings as a prelude to
building them better houses. It simply does not make sense. Moreover,
Zimbabwe, which has one of the lowest slum rates in Africa according to
Tibaijuka, did not have to go headlong into the destruction of so-called
illegal structures. With a proper plan based on a genuine desire to improve
the lot of the people, Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle could have been implemented in
phases with beneficiaries moving into new houses prior to the destruction of
their shacks. It is instructive to note that countries such as Kenya have
not destroyed the sprawling slums in their urban areas. The government
officials must have realised that it is the lesser of two evils to allow
their people to have roofs over their heads than to throw them out without
having alternative accommodation in place. In a few months' time the
rainy season will be upon us. The hundreds of thousands of displaced
Zimbabweans who have borne the brunt of this winter out in the open will
then have to endure soaking conditions under the same
circumstances. How can government ministers continue to feel at ease in
their own minds when all this is happening? It does not matter how hard they
try to pretend that everything about Garikai/Murambatsvina is a bed of
roses. There is something seriously wrong when a disaster plan is needed to
mitigate against the negative effects of the implementation of a programme
that is touted as being people oriented.
EDITOR - I
am the son that came to the UK to study. The same son that regrets
everything at this present moment.
My mother back there at home
tells me she can't afford money to buy bread anymore. So while I
work and raise money for my studies, my rent, and expensive food, I also
have to worry about whether my mother actually has enough to eat. My heart
bleeds. Somehow I feel guilty that I should be there with her in these
times of trouble. I feel saddened when I can buy two loaves of bread with a
single pound while she has to carry thousands with her. While she waits in
the queue to get it, I have nobody else in the shop at times at
all. Is this what this government has reduced my country to? Do they
actually sleep better at night and think "argh, we are great leaders, and
all is good"? It is there for everybody to see. My mother tells me
things like salt cannot be found at times. The cheapest commodity on earth.
And dont even get me started on petrol. Her car has been parked for ages in
the garage. Does my mother have to queue and toil for everything all her
life? People ask me at college and at the workplace whether I can't
wait to get home when I graduate . . . unfortunately not. I'm scared. What
with the overzealous policemen that I see on TV demolishing houses, and the
shocking levels of inflation. It will be good to be back home,
don't get me wrong. I can't wait to give my mother a big hug, speak Shona
for a whole day for a change, and eat sadza and macimbi etc. It's the
political situation and the country sinking to its knees that is killing all
the good things I have to look forward to when I am back home. I'm
absolutely certain that even if I came back with my law degree I still will
have to queue for bread and fuel on a daily basis. I pray for my
mother, all the mothers around the country toiling to feed their families on
a daily basis, my fellow Zim students facing hardships at the local
institutions, and everybdoy else. My heart bleeds for you. I have tears
in my eyes as I write this because all I can think of is the
million-dollar-question: What happened to my beautful country ?
EDITOR - Why
this renewed talk of dialogue between ZANU PF and the MDC? Talk is not going
to resolve the economic mess created and sustained by ZANU PF.
Action is required, and everyone knows what the solution is - the
restoration of the rule of law. Everything else flows from that - an end to
Murambatsvina and any other operation that the government might dream up, an
end to selective application of the law, and an end to rigged
elections. Only then will the international community rescue the
economy. Can anyone seriously imagine that international support will be
forthcoming if the MDC agrees to the ZANU PF way of ruining the
country? Does anyone believe that ZANU PF will agree to anything
proposed by the MDC when it ignores advice from everyone and
everywhere? The government, desperate though it may be, holds all the
levers of power. Opposition can only take the form of words, and words
cannot prevent the government doing whatever it sees fit. South
African President Mbeki is wrong. Zimbabweans cannot solve their problems as
long as the rule of law has been forcefully suspended.
EDITOR - I
felt compelled to contribute to the Operation Murambatsvina saga that has
made headlines in many newspapers in the world.
Surely, I would
have thought that as educated as our politicians are, they should have done
a better job, a job well planned and well thought out rather than bring such
disgrace to our country. I do not see, surely, the urgency of
destroying the livelihood of so many when the prevailing economic conditions
do not call for such harsh punishment for already suffering Zimbabweans. The
government is rubbing salt into sore wounds. I believe the squatter
camps and the illegal structures that had become so prominent in Zimbabwe's
high-density suburbs and other areas are a result of the lack of our
government's focus and lack of vision. Our government should learn to take
responsibility for situations that they create. A transparent
government should be accountable to the people. How can we destroy people's
shelter, especially during this bitterly cold winter season? Why
didn't the government give the affected people time to prepare for the
destructions? Why didn't it offer them more humane shelter after the
destructions instead of the pathetic accommodation at the so-called transit
camps? This is bad governance that should be condemned at all
costs. Apa vatongi vedu makaresva zvachose. Planning is imporatnt
in the future, and give the people decent accommodation.
I WAS amused when I read a statement by the Minister of
Information and Publicity, Dr Tichaona Jokonya, during the presentation of a
draft code of conduct by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists
(ZUJ).
He spoke of a "crisis in the media fraternity", particularly
what he termed the informal media operating via the Internet which he said
needs to be addressed. At the same occasion, ZUJ president Mathew Takaona
spoke about lazy journalists who are loathe to research and verify
facts. Both could have been saying the same thing albeit differently,
but the truth is that there is something seriously wrong with journalistic
standards in Zimbabwe. To start with, the calibre of journalism
graduates being churned out by the various tertiary institutions in the
country leaves a lot to be desired, as some of them lack the depth and
inquisitiveness that should be the hallmark of any aspiring journalist. To
make matters worse, some of them can't conduct a sensible interview and
sometimes embarrass not only themselves but also the organisations they
represent. You then wonder what sort of article the journalist will write
and even feel for the sub-editors and editors who have to labour to re-write
the article. At best, some of the published articles are not properly
researched and given appropriate background, and at worst, leave the reader
none the wiser or more confused and with more questions than answers. On the
other side of the coin, there is no consistent and religious follow-up of
running issues and topics. The most glaring weakness is in business
and financial reporting, where the country is desperately short of
experienced middle and senior level journalists who are adept and at ease
tackling mundane and complex business and financial issues. This is a
specialised area that needs passion in addition to the requisite skills and
formal training. Small wonder then that such important policy
announcements as the central bank's quarterly monetary statements are not
given the proper in-depth coverage and analysis that they deserve, save for
the usual profuse praise given to such pronouncements by "analysts" and
"economists". Secondly, remuneration for journalists in Zimbabwe still
leaves a lot to be desired. Only a few publications have seen the light and
have begun recognising and rewarding talent. It is a sad paradox that
journalists are highly regarded in society but they are still struggling up
the social ladder and some confirm they struggle to make ends meet.
Being human, they become susceptible to subtle and direct "inducements" and
"softeners" from unscrupulous people who want to either curry favour with
the media or are seeking publicity. This inevitably compromises the
journalists' professionalism and objectivity, and clouds their moral
judgment on what is right and wrong. The loser in this case is not the
readership, but the journalism profession itself. That is why there has
been an exodus of experienced and senior journalists who have either left
the profession or have ventured into public relations and corporate
communications disciplines, where remuneration is comparatively much
better. Those that have stuck with the profession are doing so out of
the love of it, while others have found innovative ways of making an extra
dollar by venturing into what Jokonya has termed "informal Internet media".
This, ironically, is a creation of the government itself. When it imposed
severe restrictions on the operations of foreign correspondents in Zimbabwe,
this led to the closure of the bureaux of foreign news
organisations. This naturally created a void that needed to be filled
and it does not need a rocket scientist - as former information minister
Jonathan Moyo is fond of saying - to realise that someone had to feed the
foreign news organisations with news about Zimbabwe. This has led
to the development of a thriving "Internet media industry" in Zimbabwe where
enterprising journalists are writing for foreign papers and news agencies
under assumed names to escape the wrath of their employers and the law.
Unfortunately, standards have been compromised because some of the articles
are sometimes laden with falsehoods and inaccuracies because there no is way
the foreign media organisations can verify the facts. Articles have
also been spiced up and given a sensational angle to ensure they are
published, something the journalists would never dream of doing if they were
writing for their employer. This is where ZUJ, together with other
interested parties, should come in firstly to make a skills gap analysis,
formulate a programme of action to help address the skills gap and also
offer refresher courses to improve standards in the newsrooms. Without such
a dedicated effort, Takaona's comment that some Zimbabwean journalists are
"either lazy to think or dig deeper into the stories" will ring true in a
year's time as it is today. For things to change, there is need to end
the polarisation that exists between the public and private media, which
even extends to the owners of these organisations. It is an open secret that
until probably a few months ago, it was considered professionally treasonous
for a journalist from the public media to interact with colleagues from the
"other side". There is even an association of editors for those working
for the public media and another for those in the private media, all
pursuing seemingly different agendas. One is forced to ask, is this really
necessary? Once again, this sad development is a creation of the government
itself, which, through its draconian media laws, promoted this
polarisation. This polarisation could frustrate efforts by ZUJ to
enforce the code of conduct. Unless it gets the solid backing and agreement
of the entire media fraternity, the document presented to Jokonya will not
be worth the paper it is written on.Without doubt, the draft code of conduct
is a small step in a long journey towards restoring and improving
professionalism in journalism, but evidently more still needs to be
done.