Don’t kubeba, Sata urges Zambians
By George Chellah
Sat 04 June 2011, 04:00 CAT
Get the geysers and the free electricity but ‘don’t kubeba,’ Michael Sata has urged Zambians. And Sata says Zambia is headed for bankruptcy due to President Rupiah Banda’s dubious deals and fake development projects ahead of this year’s elections.
In an interview yesterday, the opposition PF leader said President Banda was being insincere on the source of funds for the so-called developmental projects he had been announcing.
“Typical of Rupiah; he is not telling the truth because any president needs to be transparent. Rupiah can’t say he is sourcing money from the capital markets.
Even if he is sourcing money from the capital markets, Zambians deserve to know how much money has been sourced from the markets, the interest rates and the payable period,” Sata said. “That is mandatory and it is not the President to source for money. That is why in PF we say all loans must be approved by Parliament.”
Sata said President Banda was driving parastatal companies into the ground.
“Where is Zesco getting the money to buy and distribute those geysers for free? As an institution, Zesco is already servicing huge loans, but Rupiah is still putting more financial pressure on the company. He is committing Zesco to more debt by asking them to supply free geysers and free services,” Sata said. “In any case, I find Rupiah’s thinking on this issue lopsided.
How do you give geysers to the suffering people of Mandevu? Is Rupiah telling us that after analysing the problems and challenges facing our people, particularly the people of Mandevu, a geyser is what turned out to be a priority?
“Is he honestly telling us that a geyser is what he found to be the most sought-after service in Mandevu? Has he taken time to inquire if at all the greater population of this area even has access to running water? Why doesn’t he work to improve the water and sanitation challenges in Mandevu and other townships in the country where our MPs have been trying so hard to rectify? This sort of desperation is unimaginable. Don’t be surprised to see Rupiah promising a pontoon to Kabwata, forgetting that there is no river in Kabwata.”
Sata wondered where President Banda had been with his developmental projects all this time while Zambian had been suffering.
“Where is Zesco getting the money to do this and why now because electricity development in this country is not more than 22 per cent? He is just cheating people that’s why he is going to such panicking levels,” Sata said. “Our people must just go ahead and get the geysers and the free electricity but ‘don’t kubeba!’ That’s the key.”
Sata said President Banda was playing with people’s minds and did not care for their well-being.
“We’ve seen more billboards of his face than the development itself. If he cared about the people’s well-being, he cannot be abusing pensioner’s money in this manner. Rupiah has deprived the pensioners of US $98 million over the NAPSA/ZNBS deal, including the over K70 billion he has given to his ‘relative’ Mr Robinson Zulu,” he said.
Sata said President Banda had a history of mismanagement.
“When Rupiah left Namboard, he left the institution in serious financial problems, the same happened when he left the embassy in Egypt and also when he left as governor, he left Lusaka District Council financially crippled,” Sata said.
“So Zambia is headed for bankruptcy due to Rupiah’s dubious deals and fake development projects ahead of this year’s elections. Rupiah is definitely going to leave this country bankrupt.”
Sata said heads of parastatals must be mindful that all dubious deals being conducted were at ‘owner’s risk’.
“We will recover all the monies misapplied or stolen from Rupiah himself because we know that all the monies they are milking from parastatals for these dubious transactions and fake developmental projects at least 10 per cent of it is going into Rupiah’s pocket,” Sata said.
“A President worth his name can’t deprive his own pensioners money. That’s why pensioners in Zambia today are destitutes as if they have not worked simply because their money is being abused. Some selfish individuals are benefitting from monies which other people sweated for, for many years, it’s a pity.”
Labels: MICHAEL SATA, VOTERIGGING
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COMMENT -
" But who is to blame? The tax regime that the mining companies are operating under has been created by our government. " The mining companies did not luck into the abolition of the windfall tax. They BRIBED the government, which is illegal. If not in Zambia, then it certainly is in the USA, if they are US citizens. And they must not profit from their crimes.
A fair deal in our mining industry is possible
By The Post
Sat 04 June 2011, 04:00 CAT
What Emmanuel Mutati, the chief executive officer of Mopani Copper Mines, has said gives us great confidence that a fair deal is possible. Mutati says mining companies must provide a framework in which inequalities in the industry can be addressed for the benefit of all the people.
And Mutati adds: “Our objective ought not to be to create prosperity for some by impoverishing others. Our purpose must be to provide a framework in which all could benefit, in which inequalities could be addressed and in which all our people and industries can prosper.”
Truly, this should be the objective of our mining companies, and all other businesses in our country. We say this because the roles of business owners and management have a central importance from the viewpoint of society. This is so because they are at the heart of that network of technical, commercial, financial and cultural bonds that characterises the modern business reality.
For this reason, the exercise of responsibility by business owners and management requires constant reflection on the moral motivations that should guide the personal choices of those to whom these tasks fall. The motives of mining companies and all other businesses in our country should be not only to make profit but even more to contribute to the common good of society.
Businesses should be characterised by their capacity to serve the common good of society. The sense of responsibility in economic initiative should demonstrate the individual and social virtues necessary for the development of our country. Mining, by its very nature, must be a community of solidarity.
Foreign investment in our mines is an objective reality underpinning the fact that no country can exploit all its natural resources by itself, no country can survive and develop on its own.
All our countries need foreign investment. And this reality underlines the fact that we are all passengers on the same vessel – this planet where we all live. But passengers on this vessel are travelling in very different conditions. A trifling minority is travelling in luxurious cabins furnished with all sorts of gadgets.
They enjoy a nutritional, abundant and balanced diet as well as clean water supplies. They have access to sophisticated medical care and culture.
The overwhelming and suffering majority is travelling in conditions that resemble the terrible slave trade of our past – they are overcrowded together in its dirty hold, suffering hunger, disease and helplessness.
Obviously, this vessel is carrying too much injustice to remain afloat, pursuing such an irrational and senseless route. It is our duty to take our rightful place at the helm and ensure that all passengers can travel in conditions of solidarity, equity and justice. This, in our view and understanding, is what Mutati is calling for.
His may appear to be a strange voice, but the message is extremely important. A fair deal has to be found in our mining industry, and indeed in all the other sectors of our economy so that we make every business enterprise in our country a community of solidarity.
It will not be a fair deal if the copper and other minerals that are mined from the belly of our country only go to benefit the owners and managers of the mining enterprises. This copper, these minerals belong to all our people and as such, all should benefit. They have got a value that is probably higher than the capital invested by foreign enterprises to mine them.
There has been a lot of talk and displeasure about the low taxes and benefits that our people are getting from the mining industry. This may be justifiable.
But again it may be necessary for us to listen more carefully to what Mutati is saying. Mutati is telling us that now is the time to act boldly and fully revive the country’s economy for lasting prosperity owing to high copper prices on the international market.
And Mutati warns us that the current metal prices will not last forever and we should take advantage of them. But how? Under Levy Mwanawasa’s government, we had windfall taxes that were put in place specifically for this purpose – to take advantage of high copper prices on the international markets when and as they arose.
But this government, the government of Rupiah Banda, corruptly gave away all that – they did away with windfall taxes for no justifiable reasons. And one cannot be wrong to conclude that for the little personal benefits they were getting from the owners and managers of these mines, they gave away windfall taxes.
As a result of this, we are not getting much as a nation from our country’s minerals that are being exploited by transnational corporations. But who is to blame? The tax regime that the mining companies are operating under has been created by our government. The mining industry is simply taking advantage of what has been given to them by our government.
And every company is entitled, if it can, to arrange its business affairs so that the tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it otherwise would be. If they succeed in ordering them so as to secure that result, then however unappreciative we may be of their ingenuity, they cannot be compelled to pay an increased tax.
And probably this is what Mopani and others in the mining industry are doing. They are not under the smallest obligation to arrange their tax affairs so as to enable the Zambia Revenue Authority to put the largest possible shovel into their income.
Of course, as Mutati has correctly observed, a framework within which all could benefit, in which equity could be addressed and in which all our people and industries can prosper, is still possible.
The mining companies may be acting within their legal rights to reduce the taxes they pay and the benefits they extend to our people, but this is no reason why their efforts, or those of the people who assist them in the matter, should be regarded as a commendable exercise of ingenuity or as a discharge of the duties of good citizenship.
Laws must be put in place to ensure that our people benefit from the minerals of their country. There is need to revisit the entire tax regime concerning our mining industry and more so that of windfall taxes. A fair deal in our mining industry is possible.
Labels: MINING, WINDFALL TAX
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Mopani’s chief executive officer seeks fair deal
By Darious Kapembwa in Kitwe
Sat 04 June 2011, 04:01 CAT
MOPANI Copper Mines chief executive officer Emmanuel Mutati says mining companies must provide a framework in which inequalities in the industry can be addressed for the benefit of all people.
During a luncheon hosted for mines minister Maxwell Mwale at the ongoing Copperbelt Mining and Agricultural Show in Kitwe on Thursday, Mutati said the goal of the mining companies should not be to seek an advantage for one group at the expense of others.
“…Our objective ought not to be to create prosperity for some by impoverishing others. Our purpose must be to provide a framework in which all could benefit, in which inequities could be addressed and in which all our people and industries can prosper,” he said.
Mutati said now was the time to act boldly to fully revive the country’s economy for lasting prosperity owing to the high copper prices on the international market.
He said although the current metal prices would not last, Zambians could take advantage of them.
Mutati said Mopani Copper Mines was taking advantage of the higher prices by expanding production capacity through investing in new projects that would increase not only production levels but also extend the life of the mines.
“This past year has been a happier one for all of us as we have witnessed the turning around of the international markets. The previous crisis had caught most of us ill-prepared and the remedy for repositioning ourselves was not easy medication for all to take,” he said.
Mutati wondered whether Zambia had learnt the necessary lessons from the previous international financial disaster.
“Historically these situations have been cyclic and Professor David Miles of the Bank of England predicts three financial crises in the next two decades. Have we documented the lessons of the 2008/2009 debacle? Have we learnt much that will enable us ride the future storms and at least insulate our country from the worst effects of yet another financial crisis?” asked Mutati.
And mines minister Maxwell Mwale has urged local emerging businesses in the mining sector to take advantage of the upsurge in copper prices now and diversify to survive any recurrence of the global crisis.
Mwale said local entrepreneurs must continue to run businesses beyond the life of the mine.
“We have liberalised our economy, allowing our people the freedom to engage in meaningful business. I want to take this opportunity to thank the management of our mining industry for supporting our local business community,” Mwale said.
“I implore you to continue to nurture this emerging force of entrepreneurs whose role you must insist, must be to help you cut down your cost of production.”
Mwale cautioned against over-dependence on mining by the mining companies, suppliers and contractors.
“To this emerging business community, I have a very simple but strong message: diversify now! In this way you will be able to survive a global crisis and continue to run the business beyond the life of a mine,” Mwale said.
“We have an opportunity to avoid any of our mining towns becoming ghost towns after mining. To this end, government is developing a multi-economic facility zone here on the Copperbelt. I urge the Zambian business community to cease the opportunity to get in there now and establish themselves.”
Meanwhile, Mwale has urged investors to be sensitive to public opinion and expectations in the areas they were operating in.
He urged investors to seriously address safety and health issues as well as environmental protection and corporate social responsibility.
Mwale called on mining investors to create room for school leavers in their operations.
“Train them, from apprenticeship to managers so that they are fully equipped with the requisite skills to completely run your operations. The fruits of the growing mining industry must be seen in the increased employment levels among our graduates, the strengthening and sharpening of technical and administrative skills matching those found in operations with the best practice anywhere in the mining world,” said Mwale.
Labels: MAXWELL MWALE, MFEZ, MOPANI
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Japan launches direct investment in Zambia
By Mutale Kapekele
Fri 03 June 2011, 08:40 CAT
JAPAN has launched its first-ever major foreign direct investment into Zambia
through Hitachi Construction Machinery’s re-manufacturing factory whose
construction commenced yesterday.
President Rupiah Banda, who attended the ground breaking ceremony to mark the
commencement of the Hitachi Construction Machinery (HCM) re-manufacturing
factory in Lusaka, received an excavator from the company as a gift.
HCM is the largest manufacturer of construction, mining and earth-moving
equipment in the world and boasts of a global presence.
In his speech at the occasion, President Banda said the US$ 15 million
investment into the construction phase of the project was evidence that Zambia
was still an attractive business destination.
President Banda said it was exciting that Hitachi had picked Zambia as a
regional hub for its products.
“If this project succeeds, the company shall undertake an expansion programme
that will extend their services to other major industrial entities in the
region,” President Banda said. “I am made to understand that Zambia and the
entire region have never had the kind of technology Hitachi is proposing.
With this development, I am certain that Zambia shall become the front runner for earth moving equipment parts in the region. This project will benefit the
country through job creation and transfer of technology.”
He said although Zambia enjoyed a warm and cordial relationship with Japan, the
level of investments from the latter still remained low and that the coming of
Hitachi could attract other Japanese companies into the country.
“Zambia still offers huge investment opportunities in the tourism, agriculture,
manufacturing, mining and other sectors,” said President Banda. “In addition,
the multi-facility economic zones that Zambia is currently developing offer
opportunities for value addition activities. I wish to encourage Japanese
investors to tap into this great potential.”
Speaking earlier, Japanese Ambassador to Zambia Akio Egawa described Hitachi’s
coming to Zambia as a memorable moment. Ambassador Egawa said although Japan
currently faced major economic and social challenges presented by the earthquake
and tsunami disaster, it will still continue to assist Zambia in every possible
way.
And Hitachi vice-president Yukio Arima asked for continued government support
and said his company had passion and strong will to invest in Zambia.
Labels: FDI, JAPAN
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Rupiah yet to honour promises on tobacco
By Christopher Miti in Chipata
Sat 04 June 2011, 04:00 CAT
TOBACCO farmers in Eastern Province say they are still waiting for President Rupiah Banda’s promises that tobacco companies will buy all the crop this season.
The farmers noted that about two months have elapsed without seeing the companies that President Banda was talking about.
During the Good Governance programme on Radio Maria on Thursday, Kamkomole farmers block chairperson Naman Mwanza from chief Chanje’s area said tobacco farmers were suffering due to lack of proper markets.
“Up to now, we are waiting for the promises from our respected President, but
it’s like the answer to those promises is not coming forth. The independent
farmers are the ones that are badly affected also,” Mwanza said.
He said a lot of farmers, especially those from Mgubudu area, were stuck with
their produce.
“The future for tobacco farmers is at risk because they have no protection
whatsoever from exploitation. The government should come in through the Ministry of Agriculture, failure to which farmers will not be helped,” said Mwanza.
Headman Mchimila from chief Chanje’s area pleaded with government to ensure that it addresses the tobacco problems.
“When we are complaining like this, government is aware and it should come in as fast as possible. Government has powers to order companies to come and buy
tobacco and at good prices. We are appealing and crying to the government to
solve this problem we are faced with,” headman Mchimila said.
Agriculture minister Dr Eustarckio Kazonga recently requested the tobacco
merchants to buy all the tobacco from both sponsored and independent farmers.
He said the government was very concerned with the low tobacco prices.
The tobacco prices are not attractive to farmers and as government we are very
concerned. But the low tobacco prices are not only affecting Zambia but the
international market as well. The government policy is to reduce poverty, so we
would like to see our farmers prosper,” said Dr Kazonga.
Labels: RUPIAH BANDA, TOBACCO
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Envoy pledges to ensure Chinese investors respect Zambian laws
By Ndinawe Simpelwe
Sat 04 June 2011, 04:01 CAT
NEW Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Zhou Yu Xiao says he will ensure that Chinese
investors do not take advantage of Zambians they employ.
In an interview after the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China signed a loan
deal with Zesco on Monday, Ambassador Zhou (right) said it was important for
Chinese investors to respect Zambian laws by ensuring that they provided
sustainable development to the local people.
“I will not allow investors to invest in the country at the expense of the
people of Zambia. I will represent both the people of Zambia and China,” he
said.
Ambassador Zhou said Zambia and China had shared cordial relations for a long
time and it would be cardinal to uphold the lasting relationship.
“I think cooperation will not last if someone wants to take advantage of the
country, we need to make sure that investors own up to their promises,”
Ambassador Zhou said.
He also said Zambians should start demanding for investment that brought enough
money to improve the economy of the country. Ambassador Zhou said Zambia was receiving a lot of aid from China which was not enough for the improvement of the economy.
“Currently China is giving Zambia a lot of aid which is not enough. You should demand for investment not aid alone. Investment will bring in the country billions of dollars as compared to aid,” said Ambassador Zhou.
Labels: CHINESE, MINING
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Sinazongwe DC bemoans rise in bogus businesspersons
By Brina Manenga in Sinazongwe
Sat 04 June 2011, 04:00 CAT
SINAZONGWE district commissioner Oliver Pelete says the increasing number of fraudulent business people in the area is depriving the local farmers of development.
In an interview on Thursday, Pelete said it was unfortunate that the unsuspecting local farmers were talked into selling their maize at cheap prices due to lack of market.
“Lately, we have had an increase in the number of briefcase business people. These people go deep into the areas within the districts. So because our farmers find it difficult to move their maize to the central district to sell their maize they easily sell their produce to these (briefcase business) people,” Pelete said.
“These people tell our farmers to give them their maize produce and the payment
would be done later. However, they take long to pay the farmers and at very low
prices. Some come with commodities like salaula (second-hand clothes) or cooking oil and they exchange that with the maize.”
He said the commissioner’s office had been working with the farmers to ensure that such cases were dealt with.
“Based on such cases, I have appealed and sensitised the farmers to ensure that their maize is kept properly. We have told them to be cautious. That way, they will be able to sell at good prices when government starts buying from them,” Pelete said.
He appealed to the government to increase the farmers’ input in the district form the farmers to produce enough food to last them the whole year.
Pelete also said the poor road network was another challenge that farmers in
the district were facing.
Labels: ENTREPRENEURS, FARMERS, OLIVER PELETE
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MDC-T win impossible with sanctions in force
Posted by By Lloyd Msipa at 2 June, at 21 : 00 PM
Social networks have become the new platform for Zimbabweans domiciled in various countries around the world to pool their thoughts, opinions and arguments together as the quest for a new Zimbabwe narrative slowly begins to take shape. Zimbabwe is a country which many consider to be between a rock and a hard place.
Zimbabweans hold different views as to the source of our problems and the route we need to follow in order to solve our problems and hopefully agree on new Zimbabwe narrative or dream as it were.
Of the many subjects that are debated on the social networks, the most controversial is the one of elections under the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and the much talked about demand for security sector reform by the MDC-T party led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
The issue of elections in Zimbabwe takes centre stage because they will ultimately determine which political party forms the next government in Zimbabwe.
The Zanu-PF party led by President Robert Mugabe wants the elections to be held this year, 2011, hence the demand for the need to speedily conclude the issue of the Constitutional referendum.
On the other hand, the Tsvangirai MDC-T wants the elections held either next year, 2012 or beyond. Amongst their numerous demands is the call for a free, fair and credible poll. This demand is premised on the argument that the Zanu-PF party led by President Mugabe uses violence and coercion in order to determine the outcome of elections.
And it is their contention that the 2008 elections were worn by Tsvangirai and because of violence the election results failed to translate into political power in order for him to form a government.
The key issue that we need to interrogate is the issue of violence, its source and its implications on a fair and credible poll.
It is the issue of violence with regard to our elections to be held either this year, next year or whenever, that we need to address for us to fully appreciate the legitimacy and the full import of a real and credible election.
The biggest form of violence ever perpetrated on Zimbabwean people was when, with the stroke of a pen, the United States of America enacted the so-called Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) in 2001, followed closely by its allies in Europe.
These economic sanctions were co-drafted by the MDC-T and they became a reality when that party went on a worldwide campaign to have Zimbabwe sanctioned.
The impact of the economic sanctions was, and still is, the biggest form of violence to have ever hit Zimbabweans.
The impact of this violence played itself out during the 2008-9 cholera epidemic, the death of thousands due to HIV/AIDS complications when the Zimbabwe government failed to provide the necessary imported medication to its citizens.
The violence also played itself out when inflation reached unprecedented levels, resulting in many Zimbabweans losing their life savings as the value was wiped away by inflation, and many other downstream problems faced by the people of Zimbabwe.
The economic, political and psychological violence perpetrated by the MDC-T instigated western sanctions on Zimbabweans over the last eleven years has left an indelible mark on the political psyche of the Zimbabwean people; and any claims of electoral victory by the MDC-T in 2008 are simply hot air.
In other words, the violence caused by the sanctions has left Zimbabweans more battered compared to the one-off clashes that happened at the 2008 election time.
The fundamental question that we need to ask ourselves now is: How can we justify a credible, free and fair election in Zimbabwe whilst the sanctions are in place?
For Zimbabwe to have a credible election we need to address the issue of the political, economic and social violence that has been perpetrated on the people of Zimbabwe by the economic sanctions of the West, imposed in connivance with the MDC-T.
The Tsvangirai-led MDC-T has been calling for the reform of the army, the intelligence, the police and the prison services as a pre-requisite for a free and credible poll.
Their argument is that the security apparatus is partisan and hence will make power transfer impossible in the event that Tsvangirai wins the polls.
This reasoning is flawed.
What would make the transfer of power Tsvangirai and his party complicated is the fact that any electoral victory by the MDC-T with the sanctions still in place, is not credible, free or fair.
An election held on the backdrop of illegal western sanctions will not represent the true aspirations of the Zimbabwean people.
The impact of economic sanctions by western powers at the behest of the MDC-T outfit is the biggest form of violence on Zimbabweans, and mitigates against a free, fair and credible election.
The lifting of the economic sanctions on Zimbabwe is the minimum requirement if we are to ever have a free, fair and credible poll.
All this pussy-footing about security sector reform and the drafting of a new Constitution will not lead us to the ‘Promised Land’ if the fundamentals are not addressed.
The violent assault on Zimbabweans through economic sanctions continues to play itself out in institutions like the Kimberley Process. Whilst the current chair, the Democratic Republic of Congo, has authorized Zimbabwe to sell its diamonds internationally, the same countries that have sanctioned Zimbabwe continue to block, by whatever cruel means necessary, the selling of those gems.
So how is Zimbabwe supposed to have free, fair and credible elections with this economic assault taking place, and the MDC-T silently supporting them?
It is a truism that the economic sanctions on Zimbabwe were put in place primarily to weaken the Zanu-PF led Zimbabwe government and push citizens of Zimbabwe to turn against their elected leadership. This strategy skews any election in favour of the MDC-T and muddles the political playing field.
The general idea was to have Tsvangirai and his MDC-T party hijack the reins of power as soon as the people of Zimbabwe, battered by economic sanctions, overthrew the Mugabe administration.
That strategy failed.
The 2008 elections were held in this deeply polarized environment, where sanctions having wreaked havoc on the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans.
Most Zimbabweans voted on an empty stomach – that was the west’s and MDC-T strategy. Donor funds fed citizens at MDC-T political rallies compelling many Zimbabweans to trade their vote for food. To this day, Zimbabweans are still polarized.
Finding a common Zimbabwean narrative will be difficult in a country were economic sanctions are the determining factor in everyday life.
Everyday shortage of basic services like water, sanitation and electricity continue to hound Zimbabweans as the inclusive Government (that includes the Tsvangirai MDC-T) fails to denounce economic sanctions they invited in the first place.
It is in this environment that will make the smooth transition of power a herculean task.
It is this onslaught on the Zimbabwean people, and its attendant effect on the election outcome by our war veterans, army commanders and security captains, that has compelled them to openly declare that they will not respect an election outcome that favours Tsvangirai. How can they? Sanctions are viewed as a declaration of war.
It would be morally indefensible for the Zimbabwean security forces to allow the transfer of power to a Tsvangirai administration if he should ever win an election with sanctions in place, and with western backing.
The MDC-T has a moral duty to defend the aspirations of the Zimbabwean people and their right to self-determination. And those aspirations must be sanctions-free aspirations. The holding of a free, fair and credible election should be preceded by the lifting of sanctions and denunciation of all forms of external influence.
The author Lloyd Msipa writes from the United Kingdom. He can be contacted at lmsipalaw@gmail.com
Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS (ZIMBABWE), MDC
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Writer blames white farmers for Zimbabwe crisis
by Staff Reporter
29/05/2011 00:00:00
WHITE farmers must shoulder the blame for the plight of Zimbabwe, according to one of the world's best-selling authors. Henning Mankell, creator of the Wallander detective series, has lived in Africa for the past 25 years. The Swedish writer is known for his strident political views and told an audience at Hay that Robert Mugabe should not be painted as the sole villain of the piece.
In a provocative talk, Mankell said: "In the early 1980s, every year Mugabe went and talked to white farmers and said, 'It's necessary for us to sit down and talk about the farms here'.
“And the reaction he got from white farmers was absolutely none. He tried year after year after year, and the only thing he was met by was arrogance. In the end, it became a very bad situation.
"I think when history is written, the white farmers at the beginning of the 1980s also have to take responsibility and blame for what really happened. Otherwise, when history is written people will believe that Mugabe was always crazy. He was not.
[And he isn't 'crazy' now. If he was, he would never have been able to hang on to power and outmanoeuvre the MDC, UK and US governments while in his 80s. - MrK]
"Of course, today I hope that someone takes him out of the position he's in because he is destroying the country. But if white farmers had listened to him at the start of the 1980s, I think the situation for Zimbabwe would have been much better."
Since 2000, Mugabe has systematically seized land from white farmers parcelling it out to the country’s black majority.
Critics say the programme precipitated the country's economic collapse.
['Critics', also known on CNN and Fox News Channel as 'some people', say a lot. That doesn't mean they are right. In this case, they don't know what they are talking about or are lying. Ask them about ZDERA. - MrK]
Labels: LAND REFORM, WHITE FARMERS
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COMMENT - This article is posted for comment, under fair use rules, as are all the articles on this blog.
Time for Britain to start talking to Mugabe
By Michael Holman
Published: May 29 2011 22:43 | Last updated: May 29 2011 22:43
Time is running out for Robert Mugabe. The combination of advancing years and poor health are taking their toll on the 87-year-old despot. As mortality catches up with Zimbabwe’s president, so an opportunity should be opening for Britain to re-engage with its former colony.
On the economic front, there is a modest easing of a crisis that began some 10 years ago with the seizure of commercial farms, abetted and enforced by paramilitaries. Inflation has been brought down to double figures after the astronomical level of the past. Goods are back on supermarket shelves (albeit at a price beyond the reach of many).
But political tensions put economic gains at risk. As promised elections draw nearer, voter intimidation by the ruling party is on the rise and a nervous population seeks assurances about post-Mugabe Zimbabwe. If ever there were a time for constructive external advice, it is now.
[Sorry Michael, but the violence does not merely come from the ruling party, it comes from the MDC as well, if not mostly. - MrK]
Yet rather than encouraging contact, London appears to have ordered its embassy in Harare to do little more than keep a diplomatic death watch, as if Mr Mugabe’s demise will mark the removal of the obstacle on the country’s road to peace and democracy. Maybe. But there is also a case for fearing that his death will be a catalyst for violence. Expectations of his imminent passing have created a febrile atmosphere in the ranks of his Zanu-PF party, which shares power in an uneasy coalition. Far from seeking to restore honest governance, Mr Mugabe’s would-be successors plot and scheme, seeking ways to protect vested interests.
[So do his detractors. And they have never been fans of democracy. - MrK]
On the other side of the political divide, opponents anticipate revenge for those who lost their lives at the hands of state-sanctioned thugs and mourn the hundreds of thousands who died as a result of hunger and disease, brought about by gross mismanagement.
[Brought about the economic sanctions whose name you dare not speak. The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, which froze the Zimbabwean government's lines of credit at international financial institutions, and caused hyperinflation in the year they went into force. There was no economic collapse during the first two years of Fast Track land redistribution, 2000 and 2001. - MrK]
Others bitterly recall the army’s slaughter of some 20,000 civilians in the southern province of Matabeleland in the early 1980s – and their demand for retribution could well exacerbate ethnic tensions between the country’s Shona majority and the Ndebele.
[The catholic commission on justice and human rights' report on the events in Matabeleland state 3000+, it is to you to substantiate the 20,000 number. My source:
Report On The 1980's Disturbances In Matabeleland & The Midlands - Compiled by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe, March 1997 - MrK]
Meanwhile, efforts by southern African leaders to resolve the crisis are again running into the sand. The commitment to “free and fair” elections, the cornerstone of a fragile agreement that brought the opposition into government, has been fatally undermined. There is convincing evidence that Mr Mugabe’s agents have fiddled the electoral register.
[Convincing to whom? - MrK]
The need to ease these tensions, encourage contacts that go beyond the formal and official and break a deadlock seems clear. However, when a senior British politician this month indicated his willingness to respond to an overture from Harare and meet Mr Mugabe for a private exchange, provided such an initiative had the Foreign Office blessing, the response from London was unequivocal.
If there were to be any contact, said an official, it would be between the two governments. But as matters stood, ministers were “determined” to have nothing to do with the regime “directly or indirectly”.
This London-knows-best attitude contrasts starkly with the treatment of the white minority regime of Ian Smith, which issued a unilateral declaration of independence in 1965. This act of defiance led to a guerrilla war, which ended with an independence constitution negotiated at London’s Lancaster House in 1979.
[That is because they were both on board with the exploitation of Africa's resources. The ultimate sin for an African leader is to put his own people first in any kind of meaningful way. That is why Lumumba, Nkrumah, Kabila had to go. The real break between Zimbabwe and Britain was not in 2000, when the Fast Track land reform program started, but in 1996, when the Zimbabwean government said not the World Bank's structural adjustment program. According to Clare Short's adviser Soni Rajan, the new Blair government wanted to get rid of Robert Mugabe as early as 1997.
To quote from Heidi Holland's book, Dinner With Mugabe, giving Soni Rajan's view of his experiences at the time:
“It was absolutely clear from the attitude of her [Clare Short’s] staff towards my recommendations that Labour’s strategy was to accelerate Mugabe’s unpopularity by failing to provide him with funding for land redistribution. They thought if they didn’t give him the money for land reform, his people in the rural areas would start to turn against him. That was their position; they wanted him out and they were going to do whatever they could to hasten his demise.”
So, what happened between 1994 when President Mugabe received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II (knight commander in the order of Bath) and 1997? The only thing I can think of is the Zimbabwean government turning away from the disastrous ESAP.
It also shows 'New Labour's neoliberal colours for all to see. They were after punishing a truly leftwing leader, for not adhering to Structural Adjustment. I would say that Labour has been hijacked, using the boyish charms of the sociopathic Tony Blair. - MrK]
During these years, scarcely a month went by without a diplomatic initiative of one sort or another, in which the way had been paved by a succession of intermediaries and honest brokers. Today, the need for reconciliation is almost as urgent.
[I disagree. There is nothing Britain has to offer that Zimbabwe needs. They are doing just fine on their own, especially with the overt and covert sabotage coming out of the UK and US (see Soni Rajan's comments above, for instance, and read the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, especially sections 4C, 3 and 5 (the part about retreating from the DRC should peak anyone's interest - it's all about DIAMONDS; Russ Feingold's ZTDERA is even more explicit and mentions the Kimberley Process). - MrK]
The agenda might include the merit of an amnesty for those who admit and repent their political and economic crimes, for example; or urging the Commonwealth to play a greater role; or seeking the support of the governments of Mozambique and Zambia to provide land for the resettlement of Zimbabwe’s commercial farmers.
[Repenting ones political and economic crimes should start with acknowledging the existence of economic sanctions like ZDERA, and not denying they exist, or if that doesn't work, denying that the credit freeze has any economic impact or constitute economic sanctions. - MrK]
Far from keeping a distance from such discussions, Britain should be active in promoting them – not just biding time until the passing of Zimbabwe’s leader. The experience of Lancaster House should be kept in mind. Three decades later, it is time that talking began again.
[I think the Zimbabwean people would be well served without more interference by it's former colonial overlord.
I have a few suggestions though, which apply to all of Africa.
1) Raw materials can only be sold to the government, at cost only.
2) The government can only sell raw materials at international market prices.
3) Demand side economics replaces supply side economics
Points 1 and 2 will end all wars, conflicts and interference in Africa by outside forces. Point 3 will ensure putting people at the center of the economy and development, and will cement social stability. - MrK]
The writer is a former Africa editor for the Financial Times
Labels: LAND REFORM, ROBERT MUGABE
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COMMENT - This article refers to a FT article by Michael Holman
, which can be read here. Time to engage Mugabe: UK editor
by Staff Reporter
31/05/2011 00:00:00
BRITAIN must re-establish formal and informal contacts with President Robert Mugabe and senior officials in his Zanu PF party if it is to play any meaningful role in Zimbabwe’s future, says the Financial Times’ former Africa editor.
Michael Holman, who grew up in Zimbabwe, warns that Britain’s “diplomatic death watch” on the 87-year-old Mugabe ignores the fact that there could be more brutal elements in his regime who may take his death as a cue to unleash more violence in the protection of their “vested interests”.
“As promised elections draw nearer, voter intimidation by the ruling party is on the rise and a nervous population seeks assurances about post-Mugabe Zimbabwe. If ever there were a time for constructive external advice, it is now,” Holman said in an article published in the Financial Times on Monday.
But Holman said Britain was doing “little more than keep a diplomatic death watch, as if Mugabe’s demise will mark the removal of the obstacle on the country’s road to peace and democracy.”
He added: “Maybe. But there is also a case for fearing that his death will be a catalyst for violence. Expectations of his imminent passing have created a febrile atmosphere in the ranks of his Zanu PF party, which shares power in an uneasy coalition. Far from seeking to restore honest governance, Mugabe’s would-be successors plot and scheme, seeking ways to protect vested interests.”
Britain cooled its previously congenial relations with Mugabe in 2000 when his supporters began grabbing white-owned commercial farms.
The imposition of sanctions by the European Union two years later further widened the diplomatic gulf between Harare and London.
But despite it all, Mugabe retains a yearning for restoring relations with the former colonial power. He has publicly expressed hopes that engagement could come under David Cameron’s Conservative-led coalition government.
“Cameron seems to be quiet for now. I have been listening to what he says. They may talk about Zimbabwe in general terms, but I haven't heard him making really critical remarks about me,” Mugabe said only two weeks ago.
Holman draws parallels between Mugabe’s government and the white minority regime of Ian Smith which Britain sought engagement with at every turn.
“This London-knows-best attitude contrasts starkly with the treatment of the Smith regime, which issued a unilateral declaration of independence in 1965. This act of defiance led to a guerrilla war, which ended with an independence constitution negotiated at London’s Lancaster House in 1979,” Holman wrote.
“During these years, scarcely a month went by without a diplomatic initiative of one sort or another, in which the way had been paved by a succession of intermediaries and honest brokers. Today, the need for reconciliation is almost as urgent.”
Holman said the engagement should explore “the merit of an amnesty for those who admit and repent their political and economic crimes” if it would guarantee a stable future for Zimbabwe.
“The need to ease these tensions, encourage contacts that go beyond the formal and official and break a deadlock seems clear,” he added. “Far from keeping a distance from such discussions, Britain should be active in promoting them – not just biding time until the passing of Zimbabwe’s leader. The experience of Lancaster House should be kept in mind. Three decades later, it is time that talking began again.”
Labels: LAND REFORM, ROBERT MUGABE, WHITE FARMERS
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Government urges mining companies to nurture local entrepreneurs
TIME PUBLISHED - Friday, June 3, 2011, 10:10 am
Government has urged mining companies in the country to continue nurturing the emerging local entrepreneurs who it says help in reducing production costs. And Mopani Copper Mines says the financial turnaround in the mining sector has helped its increased sizeable contribution to the community.
Mines and Minerals minister Maxwell Mwale says
following the liberalization of the economy, most members of the general public are at liberty to engage in meaningful business related to mining industry, among others.
Mr Mwale said this during the Copperbelt mining agriculture and commercial show ( CMAC ) luncheon hosted for him by Mopani copper mines held at jubilee lodge in Kitwe’s show grounds. This year’s theme is : 2011 ‘prosperity on the Copperbelt’.
‘I thank the management of our mining industry for supporting our local business community. I implore you to continue to nurture this emerging force of entrepreneurs whose role you must insist, must be to help to you to cut down on cost of production,’ he said.
He urged the emerging business community to diversify their businesses so that it is able to survive in an event of a global crisis and continue to run their business beyond the life of the mines.
Mr Mwale said the fruits of the growing mining industry must be seen in the increased employment levels among our graduates.
He said the sharpening of technical and administrative skills must match those found in operations with the best practices anywhere in the mining world.
” I urge the CEOs to collaborate through the chamber of mines to take action immediately to close the skills gap that has emerged following a change of training policy after privatization in 2000.
” Create room in your operations for our school leavers to train from apprenticeship to mangers and executives so that they are fully equipped with requisites skills to competently run your operations,|” he stated.
Mr Mwale said government is developing a multi economic facility zone on the Copperbelt and advised the Zambian business community to cease the opportunity to establish themselves.
He noted that the supply, construction and financial services in Kitwe have become much stronger than was the case at the time of privatization in 2000 considering the uncertainties brought about by the decline in the performance of copper mining industry.
And Mopani chief executive officer Emmanuel Mutati said the financial turn-around in the mining sector has enabled the company to increase its already sizeable contribution to the community.
Mr Mutati said his company has taken advantage of the current good metal prices to expand on production capacity by investing in new projects that will increase not only production levels but also extend the life of the mines.
He said people have started seeing the prosperity on the Copperbelt which is the theme for the show and hoped that it will stand in good stead as the country moves forward.
He also said the work on the Kitwe bypass road has commenced and the planned road rehabilitation works in Kitwe.
On the Sabina Mufulira road, Mr Mutati said mopani will spend K10.5 billion on road works which are expected to be completed within 12 months.
ZANIS
Labels: MAXWELL MWALE, MINING, MOPANI, TAX EVASION
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Zambia Tourism Board launches loan facility to enable Zambians take local holidays
TIME PUBLISHED - Saturday, June 4, 2011, 2:42 pm
Zambia Tourism Board (ZTB) has launched a holiday loan facility which it has said is aimed at boosting the domestic tourism.
The Tourism Board has said that the involvement of local people as tourists will enhance growth and sustainability of the tourism sector.
ZTB managing director Felix Chaila said in Kitwe during the launch of the holiday loan package that domestic tourism has the potential to contribute effectively to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) .
“Tourism is a sustainable resource which local people can explore to increase productivity as it would enable them to refresh after taking time off on holiday with their families,” Mr.Chaila said.
He noted that despite Zambia being endowed with diverse tourism attraction sites local people do not have an opportunity to go on holiday as compared to foreign tourists because of financial constraints.
Mr. Chaila stated that this situation prompted ZTB to partner with local and international financial institutions to introduce the holiday loan package to enable local people who are in employment and have an opportunity to go on holiday.
“This way the employers and their workers will be engaged to actively participate in the tourism sector and also promote domestic tourism through local work force, ” He said .
ZTB chairperson Timothy Mushibwe said the involvement of local people as tourists will enhance growth and sustainability of the tourism sector.
Mr. Mushibwe said the sector needs full participation of the Zambians as key players through service provision such as catering and travel agency institutions.
” The Tourism Board would like to provide an equal opportunity to the local tourists and partner with them so that an economic value can be realized, ” He said.
Mr. Mushibwe said the response from local and international banks on the loan package has been overwhelming and hoped other banks can come on board to promote local tourism.
ZANIS
Labels: TOURISM
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Biti frustrating govt efforts: President Mugabe
Posted by By Our reporter at 2 June, at 21 : 07 PM
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has criticised finance minister Tendai Biti, from the MDC-T party, for frustrating people-centred programmes and trying to usurp presidential powers. This is the first time the president has spoken on underhand tactics played by the finance minister.
The president said elections should be held this year or early next year to terminate the inclusive Government because the likes of Biti are frustrating government efforts that are aimed at benefiting the poor and empowering indigenous Zimbabweans.
President Mugabe was addressing chiefs from Manicaland yesterday at the start of his nationwide tour to meet traditional leaders.
“The man we tasked with the country’s money affairs has no appreciation of the struggle we went through,” said President Mugabe.
“To him and some of his colleagues, agriculture is not an important area because they think that if they finance this sector, they will be strengthening Zanu-PF.
“They do not want to see the economy prospering. We got US$500 million from the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights and we do not know what the money is being used for.
“He told us that it is being kept for strategic reserves and we understand that only half of it has been used so far, yet the factories are closing down.
“Mutare is better than Bulawayo where 10 factories were closed, while 75 are almost closing. Some of the companies need small amounts ranging from US$500 000 to US$2 million, yet Biti is continuing to give empty promises.
“Biti is even trying to grab some of the Presidential powers in various ways. We now want this Global Political Agreement to go and this should happen this year.
“If we fail, then elections should be held during the first few months of next year. What we want are elections this year,” he said.
President Mugabe said the Government would continue improving the welfare of chiefs and provide food aid to the vulnerable, whom Biti is not currently focussing on.
“We were even proposing to pay chiefs salaries, but some people argued that they will be more like civil servants, which is a philosophical argument which means nothing.
“We can give them good salaries and they will still remain chiefs. We will ensure that they have decent homesteads so that their subjects will not look down upon them. The electrification of their homes is an ongoing programme.
“I was thinking that all the chiefs now have cars and those still to get them we will ensure that something is done. We will replace old and battered cars,” he said.
The president reminded the chiefs that they were the custodians of the land and should guard it jealously.
“We are the sovereign owners of not only the land, but all resources of this country. We must defend our land and protect our resources.”
President Mugabe said Government would ensure that all vulnerable families will receive free food handouts while those who can buy maize will have the staple food transported to their areas.
He said the introduction of the multiple currencies in the local economy was having a telling effect on some rural households that have no means of getting the money.
President Mugabe said despite the scarcity of the dollars, no-one would starve because measures were being put in place to ensure that those without access to money get the maize for free.
“When we dollarized the economy, we wanted to fight the spiraling inflation. We are the ones who mooted the dollarisation of the economy well before the inclusive Government through the then acting Minister of Finance, Cde Patrick Chinamasa.
“We are aware that our people are having difficulties in accessing the dollars in the rural areas, yet they also want to buy grain. Some of them are selling their livestock for a song because they want to survive,” said President Mugabe.
The President donated computers to 20 schools in Manicaland province.
Speaking at the same occasion, the Minister of Local Government, Urban and Rural Development, Dr Ignatius Chombo, called for the review of the chiefs’ allowances which were reviewed once since the dollarisation of the economy.
He said chiefs were getting $200 instead of the $300 they had agreed to pay them with Mr Biti.
“There are also delays in disbursing the chiefs’ allowances from the Ministry of Finance. It appears as if this ministry does not respect the institutions of the chiefs because their allowances are the last to be disbursed,” he said.
The meeting was also attended by the Zanu-PF secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa, Women’s League chairperson, Oppah Muchinguri, the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made, and other Zanu-PF party officials.
Labels: MANICALAND, ROBERT MUGABE, TENDAI BITI
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MDC-T now a lame-duck party
Posted by By Our reporter at 3 June, at 00 : 13 AM
THE MDC-T party is now a lame-duck party, with lame-duck leaders, lame-duck policies and has no credible vision for a future Zimbabwe. It is not, and has never been, a party of change, as it claims.
For instance it opposed
change in land ownership, change in running of the economy, and opposed the policy of indigenisation and empowerment –
all policies that symbolise change. So what exactly did the MDC-T want to change?
The problem with that party is that its existence was always based on an agenda that was not Zimbabwean in nature and did not understand the day-to-day struggles of the Zimbabwean people, nor appreciate how complicated the Zimbabwean problem was.
You cannot constrict a century old colonial problem into a couple of years, neither can you erase the memories of those fighters who faced evil in the eye, slept in the open and dodged bullets fighting for their own land.
The MDC-T was formed in response to the land reform programme and built its fortunes on the bilateral dispute between the Zimbabwean government and Britain’s Labour Party.
It was thus primarily formed to perpetuate the interests of the British New Labour Party, and protect the property of right wing elements in and outside Zimbabwe.
That is why it advocates issues like property rights, when Black Zimbabweans own no property; wants foreign invstors rather than empower own people; and wants newspapers and media funded by outside agencies.
The MDC-T got support from disgruntled elements from the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), whose farms had been designated for compulsory acquisition by government – after Britain reneged from Lancaster House obligations regarding land financing.
That party, therefore, started its life on very narrow interests and narrow issues which had no resonance with the majority of the Black population. It, therefore, naturally took the persona of a pressure group from its inception.
It also absorbed impressionable elements from the student movement, who had little or no experience in the real world. These elements were to become legislators and subsequently occupy positions of authority within MDC-T structures.
As these elements awake from their slumber, reality is now creeping in and the sleepwalking of yesteryear has come to haunt them.
All statements they uttered in haste are all recorded, and all they can do now is fire-fight, or drown in shame.
The MDC-T organisation has, thus far, failed to transform itself into a credible political party that can offer an alternative ideology to that of Zanu-PF, that’s why it vascillates between supporting indigenisation and downright denigration of it; or bring onto the table issues they do not really believe in, like gay rights or the publication of politicians’ assets.
We still have to hear from the MDC-T on their real position on these issues.
Its narrow interests have failed to be transformed into a real national agenda; and its bunch of unskilled leadership has failed to transform into credible leadership over the eleven years or so the party has been in existence.
Tsvangirai himself is far from being a statesman, as his rhetoric often shows signs of an embattled and unprincipled disciple of the West.
Because he cannot convince the Zimbabwean population at home and abroad that they should support him, he finds comfort in the likes of Kenyan prime minister Raila Odinga or when he is courting Sadc – an organisation he has opposed for a good part of the last ten years.
Chickens are indeed coming home to roost.
Tsvangirai is moving inwards: from the West, to the African Union, to Sadc. He will come back home eventually to face the real issues.
And with donor fatigue and a tightening budget, this party will soon face its demise and will have to look inwards for salvation.
The MDC-T leadership has failed to articulate a believable agenda for Zimbabwe and provide an alternative narrative to that of Zanu-PF.
The difficulty is that one cannot fight indigenisation without attracting the ire of the majority Black population. There is also no credible alternative narrative to the land question or to indigenisation that can be offered by the MDC-T.
The MDC-T has thus largely remained a party of protest, as it cannot offer own policies.
It has also resorted to survival tactics after failing to solidify its existence on the Zimbabwean political scene – like buying off Sadc facilitators to create stories about violence in the country; when their own fraction of the home office ministry has failed to highlight that issue.
As the Labour party in Britain and Republican party in America were replaced in government in the last few years, and as the recession bit Europe and America, the MDC-T has remained without an identity both at home and internationally; and has lost funding and friends.
It had, thus far, survived on Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and George W. Bush’s political tantrums. This trio is now as discredited in international affairs as Tsvangirai is discredited in African affairs.
The party drew its energy from the fights between the CFU, civil society organisations in Zimbabwe and government; and occasional mindless outbursts by a coterie of thugs within that party and activist media.
This is the dilemma of a pressure group that masquerades as a political party. It cannot trust itself, its agenda, nor its agents. Ultimately it self-destructs.
Political parties are complicated and complex organisations. They have a life of their own. To take over power, anywhere in the world, you have to offer the grassroots something credible and show that you have an ideology that can resonate with the grassroots.
The MDC-T does not have that capacity, intellectually or otherwise.
The leadership of the MDC-T is showing signs of weariness.
In fact, most of their vocal leaders are now so wearied by their own political lies that they are taking comfort in an inclusive Government led by President Robert Mugabe.
Occasionally you hear the shrill voice of Tsvangirai, Biti, Chamisa or Mwonzora – and of course John Makumbe – but it’s not the characteristic roar they exuded from 2000 to 2008.
Most of the activists have self-pruned from the MDC-T trunk and some are even secretly courting Zanu-PF to resuscitate their fledgling careers. They simply do not believe they will get the favours they expected to get from the MDC-T.
While the likes of indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere, tourism minister Walter Mzembi, justice minister Patrick Chinamasa, defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, mines minister Obert Mpofu, and others are showing renewed strength; the likes of ICT minister Nelson Chamisa, finance minister Tendai Biti and prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai seem to be deflating and losing the student-like activist mojo on which they had built their party.
While Zanu-PF ministers are trying hard to engage investors, sell diamonds, get farms working and ensure Zimbabwe’s national security is guaranteed; the MDC-T is worrying about the composition of its national executive, or how much money Roy Bennett will raise to fund their election campaign.
They concentrate their energies on how they can make the country ungovernable to escalate their rhetoric of violence,and court the people of Zimbabwe, Sadc, the AU and the United Nations.
They are trying to create conditions unconducive for elections so as to buy time to raise money to fund their election campaign. They have blinded Zimbabweans to believe that there will be violence at the next election.
The irony is that it is their elections that have been marred by violence.
In any case, this is the only “democratic party” that does not want elections; yet there is no better test of democracy than the right to vote.
Their only offer to Zimbabwe is cheap politicking and mindless statements like: “We are a party of excellence” or “Mugabe cannot go on unchecked”.
Surely you cannot build a political organisation on such cheap statements or narrow interests. There comes a time when those statements become counterproductive and start biting those who utter them. Ask Chamisa, that once acidic spokesman of the lame-duck party; who always found acres of media space on lame-duck pirate radio stations.
The MDC-T rhetoric is now almost as predictable as that of its supporting media agents and series of illiterate and ill-informed political and economic ‘commentators’.
They simply have nothing else to talk about except the mistakes made by Zanu-PF. Surely that cannot be a reason for existence.
Zanu-PF, in the meantime, is learning from its mistakes.
Comments and suggestions: info@talkzimbabwe.com
Labels: MDC, NEOCOLONIALISM, NEOLIBERALISM
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MDC-T now a lame-duck party
Posted by By Our reporter at 3 June, at 00 : 13 AM Print
THE MDC-T party is now a lame-duck party, with lame-duck leaders, lame-duck policies and has no credible vision for a future Zimbabwe. It is not, and has never been, a party of change, as it claims.
For instance it opposed change in land ownership, change in running of the economy, and opposed the policy of indigenisation and empowerment – all policies that symbolise change. So what exactly did the MDC-T want to change?
The problem with that party is that its existence was always based on an agenda that was not Zimbabwean in nature and did not understand the day-to-day struggles of the Zimbabwean people, nor appreciate how complicated the Zimbabwean problem was.
You cannot constrict a century old colonial problem into a couple of years, neither can you erase the memories of those fighters who faced evil in the eye, slept in the open and dodged bullets fighting for their own land.
The MDC-T was formed in response to the land reform programme and built its fortunes on the bilateral dispute between the Zimbabwean government and Britain’s Labour Party.
It was thus primarily formed to perpetuate the interests of the British New Labour Party, and protect the property of right wing elements in and outside Zimbabwe.
That is why it advocates issues like property rights, when Black Zimbabweans own no property; wants foreign invstors rather than empower own people; and wants newspapers and media funded by outside agencies.
The MDC-T got support from disgruntled elements from the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), whose farms had been designated for compulsory acquisition by government – after Britain reneged from Lancaster House obligations regarding land financing.
That party, therefore, started its life on very narrow interests and narrow issues which had no resonance with the majority of the Black population. It, therefore, naturally took the persona of a pressure group from its inception.
It also absorbed impressionable elements from the student movement, who had little or no experience in the real world. These elements were to become legislators and subsequently occupy positions of authority within MDC-T structures.
As these elements awake from their slumber, reality is now creeping in and the sleepwalking of yesteryear has come to haunt them.
All statements they uttered in haste are all recorded, and all they can do now is fire-fight, or drown in shame.
The MDC-T organisation has, thus far, failed to transform itself into a credible political party that can offer an alternative ideology to that of Zanu-PF, that’s why it vascillates between supporting indigenisation and downright denigration of it; or bring onto the table issues they do not really believe in, like gay rights or the publication of politicians’ assets.
We still have to hear from the MDC-T on their real position on these issues.
Its narrow interests have failed to be transformed into a real national agenda; and its bunch of unskilled leadership has failed to transform into credible leadership over the eleven years or so the party has been in existence.
Tsvangirai himself is far from being a statesman, as his rhetoric often shows signs of an embattled and unprincipled disciple of the West.
Because he cannot convince the Zimbabwean population at home and abroad that they should support him, he finds comfort in the likes of Kenyan prime minister Raila Odinga or when he is courting Sadc – an organisation he has opposed for a good part of the last ten years.
Chickens are indeed coming home to roost.
Tsvangirai is moving inwards: from the West, to the African Union, to Sadc. He will come back home eventually to face the real issues.
And with donor fatigue and a tightening budget, this party will soon face its demise and will have to look inwards for salvation.
The MDC-T leadership has failed to articulate a believable agenda for Zimbabwe and provide an alternative narrative to that of Zanu-PF.
The difficulty is that one cannot fight indigenisation without attracting the ire of the majority Black population. There is also no credible alternative narrative to the land question or to indigenisation that can be offered by the MDC-T.
The MDC-T has thus largely remained a party of protest, as it cannot offer own policies.
It has also resorted to survival tactics after failing to solidify its existence on the Zimbabwean political scene – like buying off Sadc facilitators to create stories about violence in the country; when their own fraction of the home office ministry has failed to highlight that issue.
As the Labour party in Britain and Republican party in America were replaced in government in the last few years, and as the recession bit Europe and America, the MDC-T has remained without an identity both at home and internationally; and has lost funding and friends.
It had, thus far, survived on Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and George W. Bush’s political tantrums. This trio is now as discredited in international affairs as Tsvangirai is discredited in African affairs.
The party drew its energy from the fights between the CFU, civil society organisations in Zimbabwe and government; and occasional mindless outbursts by a coterie of thugs within that party and activist media.
This is the dilemma of a pressure group that masquerades as a political party. It cannot trust itself, its agenda, nor its agents. Ultimately it self-destructs.
Political parties are complicated and complex organisations. They have a life of their own. To take over power, anywhere in the world, you have to offer the grassroots something credible and show that you have an ideology that can resonate with the grassroots.
The MDC-T does not have that capacity, intellectually or otherwise.
The leadership of the MDC-T is showing signs of weariness.
In fact, most of their vocal leaders are now so wearied by their own political lies that they are taking comfort in an inclusive Government led by President Robert Mugabe.
Occasionally you hear the shrill voice of Tsvangirai, Biti, Chamisa or Mwonzora – and of course John Makumbe – but it’s not the characteristic roar they exuded from 2000 to 2008.
Most of the activists have self-pruned from the MDC-T trunk and some are even secretly courting Zanu-PF to resuscitate their fledgling careers. They simply do not believe they will get the favours they expected to get from the MDC-T.
While the likes of indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere, tourism minister Walter Mzembi, justice minister Patrick Chinamasa, defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, mines minister Obert Mpofu, and others are showing renewed strength; the likes of ICT minister Nelson Chamisa, finance minister Tendai Biti and prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai seem to be deflating and losing the student-like activist mojo on which they had built their party.
While Zanu-PF ministers are trying hard to engage investors, sell diamonds, get farms working and ensure Zimbabwe’s national security is guaranteed; the MDC-T is worrying about the composition of its national executive, or how much money Roy Bennett will raise to fund their election campaign.
They concentrate their energies on how they can make the country ungovernable to escalate their rhetoric of violence,and court the people of Zimbabwe, Sadc, the AU and the United Nations.
They are trying to create conditions unconducive for elections so as to buy time to raise money to fund their election campaign. They have blinded Zimbabweans to believe that there will be violence at the next election.
The irony is that it is their elections that have been marred by violence.
In any case, this is the only “democratic party” that does not want elections; yet there is no better test of democracy than the right to vote.
Their only offer to Zimbabwe is cheap politicking and mindless statements like: “We are a party of excellence” or “Mugabe cannot go on unchecked”.
Surely you cannot build a political organisation on such cheap statements or narrow interests. There comes a time when those statements become counterproductive and start biting those who utter them. Ask Chamisa, that once acidic spokesman of the lame-duck party; who always found acres of media space on lame-duck pirate radio stations.
The MDC-T rhetoric is now almost as predictable as that of its supporting media agents and series of illiterate and ill-informed political and economic ‘commentators’.
They simply have nothing else to talk about except the mistakes made by Zanu-PF. Surely that cannot be a reason for existence.
Zanu-PF, in the meantime, is learning from its mistakes.
Labels: MDC, NEOCOLONIALISM
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Negotiators endorse minutes for Sadc summit
Posted by By Our reporter at 2 June, at 22 : 58 PM
NEGOTIATORS to the Global Political Agreement met Sadc facilitators yesterday and endorsed minutes from their meeting held in Cape Town, South Africa, last month, The Herald newspaper reported.
The minutes are now expected to be presented to Sadc Heads of State and Government at their meeting to be held on the sidelines of the Comesa-Sadc-East African Community Summit in South Africa next week.
Zanu-PF representative – Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa – was quoted as saying the negotiators and facilitators agreed on the minutes, which covered the review of the GPA report, election roadmap and the Jomic report.
“The meeting was an extension of the Cape Town workshop that was attended by negotiators and facilitators from the 5th to the 6th of May this year.
“At that meeting, we presented the review, election road-map and the Jomic report so today we agreed on the record of proceedings of that meeting.
“The expectation is that the facilitation team will table the minutes at the extraordinary summit in South Africa,” he said.
Minister Chinamasa said the report on the review, the election roadmap and the Jomic report would be annexed to the minutes to be discussed at the Sadc meeting.
Minister Chinamasa said he was unaware of what would happen to the outcome of the Livingstone meeting, but said the Chair of the Sadc Organ, on Politics, Defence and Security Zambian President Rupiah Banda was expected to present a report.
“The Chair of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security will report on the Livingstone meeting. The facilitator will also table another report.
“We are not privy to what the facilitator presented in Livingstone, so we hope to know what he presented,” Minister Chinamasa said.
The minister said there were still disagreements among the three parties on various issues.
MDC-T is pushing for security sector reforms, but Zanu-PF has insisted that this was never part of the GPA and that the country’s security sector was solid and did not need to be reformed. It is also a matter of national security which cannot be mortgaged to any external institution.
The discussion on the situation in Zimbabwe was deferred to this month during last month’s Extraordinary Summit in Windhoek, Namibia, after President Mugabe said he preferred all the parties in the inclusive Government to be present.
This followed Sadc facilitator, President Zuma’s absence at the summit as he was attending to local government elections in his country.
MDC-T claimed a diplomatic coup after the Livingstone meeting when it misled Sadc leaders that Zanu-PF was violating the GPA and perpetrating political violence.
The party also claimed that President Mugabe was now incapacitated to run the country and that there was a silent coup in Zimbabwe.
Labels: MDC CORRUPTION, PATRICK CHINAMASA, SADC
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RMB under curatorship
Thursday, 02 June 2011 23:02
By Victoria Ruzvidzo and Martin Kadzere
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe yesterday placed Renaissance Merchant Bank under curatorship to investigate fully and institute corrective measures at the technically insolvent institution.
The bank has a negative capital of US$16,7 million against the prescribed minimum capital requirement of US$10 million for merchant banks. RMB board chairman Mr Lovemore Moyo, Renaissance Financial Holdings group chief executive and major shareholder Patterson Timba and other top managers have been simultaneously fired as a corrective order.
Briefing journalists in Harare yesterday, RBZ Governor Dr Gideon Gono termed the move on Renaissance as a "recuperative curatorship", warning the entire banking sector against indulgence in fraudulent and "other undesirable activities" in abuse of depositors's funds.
The decision, endorsed by Finance Minister Tendai Biti, was taken by the RBZ board as the best possible option, he said.
"As regulator, the Reserve Bank, supported by the full RBZ board, has weighed the pros and cons of all feasible options and came to the firm conclusion that the most suitable option is that of immediately placing
RMB under recuperative curatorship for six months, a period which should give the curator, working with the central bank and new shareholders ample time to put in place a robust framework to bring about recovery and lasting stability of the institution," said Dr Gono.
Mr Regis Saruchera of Grant Thornton Camelsa has been appoi-nted curator.
Board members present at the Press briefing - Dr Daniel Ndlela, former High Court judge Justice George Smith and corporate governance expert Mr Nyasha Zhou - concurred that glaring irregularities had been unearthed and due processes followed, hence the decision to place the bank under curatorship.
The latest development, which rekindles memories of the 2004 banking sector crisis that claimed the scalps of some banks, was a culmination of investigations by the central bank's banking, licen-sing, supervision and surveillance division that unearthed gross irregularities at Renaissance.
RMB, which operates under the Renaissance Financial Holdings Group stable, will close its doors for two weeks with effect from today and reopen to the banking public by Monday June 20 under the curator's management.
Dr Gono stressed that the primary purpose of placing the bank under curatorship was to protect depositors, preserve RMB's assets and the stability of the financial sector.
The central bank moved into Renaissance in April to investigate the affairs of the bank to ascertain its financial status, including profitability, liquidity and solvency.
The apex bank also wanted to investigate the extent of inter-party related lending, intra-group indebtedness and abuse of office by directors and also to validate the gross abuse of depositors' funds.
The investigations revealed deficiencies that included inadequate capitalization, a skewed shareholding structure, poor corporate governance structures and internal controls, systematic abuse of depositors funds, non-performing insider and related party loans and gross violation of banking laws.
RMB has been facing serious challenges since 2009. As at December 31, last year, the bank reported core capital of about US$4,43 million which was significantly lower than prescribed minimum capital requirement of US$10 million required for merchant banks.
Investigations showed that executive management at the bank controlled close to 90 percent of the institution, in violation of banking regulations, which limits an individual and his related interests in a bank to 25 percent.
Mr Timba himself has direct and indirect shareholding amounting to 44,7 percent while RFHL has direct and indirect shareholding amounting to 24,2 percent.
Major shareholders maintained their stake in the bank through schemes that involved borrowed funds and abuse of deposits. It was also discovered that the bank bought back some of its shares using depositors funds in violation of Section 32 of the Banking Act.
Mr Timba and Mr Dunmore Kundishora were in control of the bank's day-to-day operations, operating as de facto executive directors and signatories of the bank, disregarding good corporate governance structures.
Non-performing loans constituted 38 percent of the total loan book, the bulk of which were loans to insiders.
"This engagement in both cannibalistic and incestuous non-performing insider loans under the veil of a convoluted network of both sister and sinister companies and trusts designed to camouflage reality on the ground disguised the personalities behind them including the purpose for which those transactions were taking place," said Dr Gono.
RMB will require at least US$32,6 million to comply with regulatory capital requirements, a figure that could rise to US$55 million capital requirements after taking into account contingent liabilities of US$22,6 million from the holding company, among others.
Yesterday Dr Gono assured the banking public that there would be no contagion effect on the rest of the banking sector.
"The financial sector as a whole is generally safe and sound and there is no reason to feel any sense of instability. To do so would be to engage in illogical reasoning because the fact that there could be people in hospital does not mean that the whole country is sick.
"It, however, does not mean that we ignore the happenings at RMB in much the same way as those out of hospital should not ignore the effects and possibilities of catching the same diseases.
"We are very vigilant as a regulator to ensure the contagion effect is contained," said the RBZ chief.
Labels: GIDEON GONO
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(HERALD) MDC-T grandstanding ahead of summit: Zanu-PF
MDC-T grandstanding ahead of summit: Zanu-PF
RMB under curatorship
Thursday, 02 June 2011 23:02
By Victoria Ruzvidzo and Martin Kadzere
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe yesterday placed Renaissance Merchant Bank under curatorship to investigate fully and institute corrective measures at the technically insolvent institution. The bank has a negative capital of US$16,7 million against the prescribed minimum capital requirement of US$10 million for merchant banks.
RMB board chairman Mr Lovemore Moyo, Renaissance Financial Holdings group chief executive and major shareholder Patterson Timba and other top managers have been simultaneously fired as a corrective order.
Briefing journalists in Harare yesterday, RBZ Governor Dr Gideon Gono termed the move on Renaissance as a "recuperative curatorship", warning the entire banking sector against indulgence in fraudulent and "other undesirable activities" in abuse of depositors's funds.
The decision, endorsed by Finance Minister Tendai Biti, was taken by the RBZ board as the best possible option, he said.
"As regulator, the Reserve Bank, supported by the full RBZ board, has weighed the pros and cons of all feasible options and came to the firm conclusion that the most suitable option is that of immediately placing
RMB under recuperative curatorship for six months, a period which should give the curator, working with the central bank and new shareholders ample time to put in place a robust framework to bring about recovery and lasting stability of the institution," said Dr Gono.
Mr Regis Saruchera of Grant Thornton Camelsa has been appoi-nted curator.
Board members present at the Press briefing - Dr Daniel Ndlela, former High Court judge Justice George Smith and corporate governance expert Mr Nyasha Zhou - concurred that glaring irregularities had been unearthed and due processes followed, hence the decision to place the bank under curatorship.
The latest development, which rekindles memories of the 2004 banking sector crisis that claimed the scalps of some banks, was a culmination of investigations by the central bank's banking, licen-sing, supervision and surveillance division that unearthed gross irregularities at Renaissance.
RMB, which operates under the Renaissance Financial Holdings Group stable, will close its doors for two weeks with effect from today and reopen to the banking public by Monday June 20 under the curator's management.
Dr Gono stressed that the primary purpose of placing the bank under curatorship was to protect depositors, preserve RMB's assets and the stability of the financial sector.
The central bank moved into Renaissance in April to investigate the affairs of the bank to ascertain its financial status, including profitability, liquidity and solvency.
The apex bank also wanted to investigate the extent of inter-party related lending, intra-group indebtedness and abuse of office by directors and also to validate the gross abuse of depositors' funds.
The investigations revealed deficiencies that included inadequate capitalization, a skewed shareholding structure, poor corporate governance structures and internal controls, systematic abuse of depositors funds, non-performing insider and related party loans and gross violation of banking laws.
RMB has been facing serious challenges since 2009. As at December 31, last year, the bank reported core capital of about US$4,43 million which was significantly lower than prescribed minimum capital requirement of US$10 million required for merchant banks.
Investigations showed that executive management at the bank controlled close to 90 percent of the institution, in violation of banking regulations, which limits an individual and his related interests in a bank to 25 percent.
Mr Timba himself has direct and indirect shareholding amounting to 44,7 percent while RFHL has direct and indirect shareholding amounting to 24,2 percent.
Major shareholders maintained their stake in the bank through schemes that involved borrowed funds and abuse of deposits. It was also discovered that the bank bought back some of its shares using depositors funds in violation of Section 32 of the Banking Act.
Mr Timba and Mr Dunmore Kundishora were in control of the bank's day-to-day operations, operating as de facto executive directors and signatories of the bank, disregarding good corporate governance structures.
Non-performing loans constituted 38 percent of the total loan book, the bulk of which were loans to insiders.
"This engagement in both cannibalistic and incestuous non-performing insider loans under the veil of a convoluted network of both sister and sinister companies and trusts designed to camouflage reality on the ground disguised the personalities behind them including the purpose for which those transactions were taking place," said Dr Gono.
RMB will require at least US$32,6 million to comply with regulatory capital requirements, a figure that could rise to US$55 million capital requirements after taking into account contingent liabilities of US$22,6 million from the holding company, among others.
Yesterday Dr Gono assured the banking public that there would be no contagion effect on the rest of the banking sector.
"The financial sector as a whole is generally safe and sound and there is no reason to feel any sense of instability. To do so would be to engage in illogical reasoning because the fact that there could be people in hospital does not mean that the whole country is sick.
"It, however, does not mean that we ignore the happenings at RMB in much the same way as those out of hospital should not ignore the effects and possibilities of catching the same diseases.
"We are very vigilant as a regulator to ensure the contagion effect is contained," said the RBZ chief.
Labels: GIDEON GONO
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MDC-T grandstanding ahead of summit: Zanu-PF
MDC-T in major climb-down
Thursday, 02 June 2011 22:05
Herald Reporter
MDC-T has made a major climb-down on security sector reforms it has been demanding saying the party has no axe to grind with the security chiefs. The party's deputy national chairman, Senator Morgan Komichi told Senate this week that the security chiefs would remain at the helm because people were not against them.
This comes in the wake of the party's recent proposed security sector reforms through the South African mediation calling for the retirement of Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga and Zimbabwe Republic Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri before the next general elections.
President Mugabe, who is the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, has already dismissed the proposal.
Contributing to a motion on the repercussions of elections on ordinary citizens in Senate on Tuesday, Senator Komichi said: "We will continue to have General Chiwenga as the defence forces Commander, we will continue to have General Chihuri heading the police because people do not hate these generals, they do not hate anyone.
"We must follow the process of letting people choose their own leaders. Let the people make their own choices. We should accommodate each other. I think the people of Zimbabwe must be aware that when we go for elections and contest, we are not doing this so that we can kill each other. We must live in peace, live as brothers so that this country could move forward, so that we can live as normal people in this country."
In an interview after the Senate sitting, Mr Komichi stood his ground saying the security chiefs would remain at the helm.
When asked about the position his party took about the generals, Mr Komichi said:
"That was just a way of expressing temper and frustration."
However, Zanu-PF had already dismissed the call saying the party was trying to initiate a silent coup by pushing for the resignation of constitutionally appointed Government officials.
The party is also accused of trying to usurp President Mugabe's powers as the Commander-In-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.
Zanu-PF spokesperson, Cde Rugare Gumbo recently said the security sector was a "no-go" area considering that the reforms seek to weaken the security forces.
Minister of State Security in the President's Office, Sydney Sekeramayi on Tuesday said the calls for security sector reform sought to create confusion and dissension.
"The current commanders were the foot soldiers during the liberation struggle and for someone to suggest that the defence and security that has built the force since Independence is uncalled for."
Labels: MDC, ZANU-PF
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MDC-T grandstanding ahead of summit: Zanu-PF
President slams Biti
Thursday, 02 June 2011 23:08
From Cletus Mushanawani in MUTARE
ELECTIONS should be held this year or early next year to terminate the Inclusive Government because some in the administration are frustrating people-centred programmes and even trying to usurp presidential powers, President Mugabe said yesterday. Cde Mugabe said certain members of the Inclusive Government, like Finance Minister Tendai Biti, were working hard to frustrate programmes aimed at empowering people.
The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces was addressing chiefs from Manicaland yesterday at the start of his nationwide tour to meet traditional leaders.
"Murume watakapa basa rezvemari haana ndangariro sedzatinadzo. To him and some of his colleagues, agriculture is not an important area because they think that if they finance this sector, they will be strengthening Zanu-PF.
"They do not want to see the economy prospering. We got US$500 million from the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights and we do not know what the money is being used for.
"He told us that it is being kept for strategic reserves and we understand that only half of it has been used so far, yet the factories are closing down.
"Mutare is better than Bulawayo where 10 factories were closed, while 75 are almost closing. Some of the companies need small amounts ranging from US$500 000 to US$2 million, yet Biti is continuing to give empty promises.
"Biti is even trying to grab some of the Presidential powers in various ways. We now want this Global Political Agreement to go and this should happen this year.
"If we fail, then elections should be held during the first few months of next year. What we want are elections this year," he said.
President Mugabe said the Government would continue improving the welfare of chiefs and provide food aid to the vulnerable.
"We were even proposing to pay chiefs salaries, but some people argued that they will be more like civil servants, which is a philosophical argument which means nothing.
"We can give them good salaries and they will still remain chiefs. We will ensure that they have decent homesteads so that their subjects will not look down upon them. The electrification of their homes is an ongoing programme.
"I was thinking that all the chiefs now have cars and those still to get them we will ensure that something is done. We will replace old and battered cars," he said.
On the subject of having paramount chiefs in the country, President Mugabe said it was not possible since all chiefs were equal.
"Hushe hwedu tinofanira kuhuche-ngetedza, vamwe vari kuti tinoda hushe hwemberi. No chief should be above others. Hatingadi kuisa tsika iyoyo mukati medu."
He reminded the chiefs that they were the custodians of the land and should guard it jealously.
"Madzishe ndimi vabati vemhuri, apo tinoti the nation of Zimbabwe tinoreva vanhu vari pasi penyu. Ivhu iri rakakoshesesa nokuti haungava munhu panyika usingati ivhu iri nderangu.."We are the sovereign owners of not only the land, but all resources of this country. We must defend our land and protect our resources."President Mugabe said Government would ensure that all vulnerable families will receive free food handouts while those who can buy maize will have the staple food transported to their areas.He said the introduction of the multiple currencies in the local economy was having a telling effect on some rural households that have no means of getting the money. Cde Mugabe said despite the scarcity of the dollars, no-one would starve because measures were being put in place to ensure that those without access to money get the maize for free."Aiwa tiri tese, musafunge kuti vamwe zvatiri kuHarare hatikufungeyi. Chanditambudza chikukuru-kuru inyaya yezvekudya iyi. When we dollarized the economy, we wanted to fight the spiraling inflation. We are the ones who mooted the dollarisation of the economy well before the inclusive Government through the then acting Minister of Finance, Cde Patrick Chinamasa."We are aware that our people are having difficulties in accessing the dollars in the rural areas, yet they also want to buy grain. Some of them are selling their livestock for a song because they want to survive. "Ko vasina mbudzi voita sei?
Vane huku vangatengesa ngani, huku ndedzepamusha, saka mari vanoivanepi? Madzishe vanofanira kuona vanhu munharaunda mavo avo vasingakwanise kuwana mari yekutenga chibage kuti vabatsirwe pachena, asi avo avokwanisa kutenga vachabatsirwa nekuunzirwa chibage munharaunda dzavo. Hatidi kunzwa kuti vana vafenda vachienda kuchikoro vasina chekudya," said President Mugabe.
The President donated computers to 20 schools in Manicaland province.Speaking at the same occasion, the Minister of Local Government, Urban and Rural Development, Dr Ignatius Chombo, called for the review of the chiefs' allowances which were reviewed once since the dollarisation of the economy.He said chiefs were getting $200 instead of the $300 they had agreed to pay them with Mr Biti."There are also delays in disbursing the chiefs' allowances from the Ministry of Finance. It appears as if this ministry does not respect the institutions of the chiefs because their allowances are the last to be disbursed," he said.Dr Chombo said they were also looking into the issue of coming up with new chiefs regalia to replace the current one.The meeting was also attended by the Zanu-PF secretary for administration, Cde Didymus Mutasa, Women's
League chairperson, Cde Oppah Muchinguri, the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made, Cde Abigail Damasane, Cde Monica Mutsvangwa, Manicaland provincial chairman, Cde Mike Madiro and other senior party officials.
Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS (ZIMBABWE), ARMED FORCES, MDC, ZANU-PF
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