Zimbabwe Weekly Update – week ending 10 Nov 2009

Posted by ZDN on November 11, 2009

Politics

The MDC has ended its cabinet boycott and has given President Robert Mugabe one month to implement the Global Political Agreement (GPA) in full. Prime Minister Tsvangirai made the announcement on Thursday at the end of a regional meeting of the South African Development Community (SADC) Troika on Defence, Security and Politics in Maputo. MDC-T spokesman Nelson Chamisa said that his party is satisfied with the outcome, having gained two important points: President Zuma to be the South African facilitator in place of ex-President Mbeki, and Summit’s endorsement of the decisions of the SADC Summit of January 2009 as binding decisions. Tsvangirai told party supporters on Sunday at a rally in Chitungwiza outside Harare that the boycott had been a wake-up call for Mugabe to view the MDC as an equal partner. “We will not leave, our people told us that we should fight from inside. Why should we leave when we are the majority party?” said Tsvangirai.

Zanu-PF is responsible for nearly 90 percent of power-sharing violations, according to a report from watchdog group Sokwanele. The report revealed that it had so far recorded 3,850 breaches of the GPA, and that Zanu-PF was responsible for 88.8 percent of all the breaches recorded up until the end of October. “October has been a month characterized by violence, lawlessness, corruption and the complete abuse of power for partisan and personal objectives,” said the report. Some of the violations included the continued violent assaults and the arrest of MDC activists on dubious charges, the shooting of farm workers and the re-emergence of Zanu-PF torture camps in the rural areas.

Business

Zimbabwe on Thursday evaded a temporary suspension from the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), a global scheme to prevent trade in blood diamonds, despite calls for the country to be banned over killings, rapes, slavery and smuggling activities in the Marange diamond fields. At a four-day KPCS meeting last week in Namibia, the diamond body gave Zimbabwe a June 2010 deadline to improve. The scheme agreed to send a monitor to Marange, which is located in the Chiadzwa district of Manicaland Province, but it is not yet confirmed who that will be. Groups campaigning to suspend trade in Zimbabwe diamonds have expressed dismay over the decision, and say they will begin lobbying its new chair. “Not for the first time the KPCS has failed to enforce its own minimum requirements. We know there is non-compliance inside Zimbabwe, our own report said so,” said Annie Dunnebacke, a Global Witness employee. Human Rights Watch says 200 people have died in Marange since the militarization of the fields last year.

Despite the reported human right abuses, a South African company allegedly plans to form a partnership with Zimbabwe to mine diamonds in Marange. New Reclamation Group, a Johannesburg scrap metal part company, says it will begin mining for diamonds this month in a joint venture with state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC). ZMDC’s plans are in direct contempt of a High Court order barring the company from mining in the area. African Consolidated Resources (ACR), a British company, has the mining rights to the area, having acquired the claims from De Beers in early 2006.

South Africa is close to signing a bilateral investment treaty with Zimbabwe, a move that could help increase private sector investment in its struggling neighbour. The treaty would provide a means to help resolve disagreements and reduce the price of political risk insurance, which could assuage investors’ concerns over the country’s political instability.

But in a move that could scare off these same investors, Zanu-PF led legislation was tabled which intends to transfer ownership of foreign-owned firms to locals, forcing foreigners to sell 51 percent of their shares within 60 days of the publication of new empowerment regulations. The proposed law would force foreign businesses that have a value above US$500.000 to give a majority ownership to Zimbabweans. The law is a repeat of the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Bill the Zimbabwean government proposed in 2007 and signed into law in March 2008. Despite this, the Zimbabwean government did not actually nationalize foreign-owned businesses. Instead, the bill was used in early 2008 to try to win popular votes for Zanu-PF. This latest move is an attempt by Zanu-PF to gain support ahead of the party’s congress, due in December.

Economy

Zimbabwe’s economy is set to rebound and may grow an average of 15 percent a year for the next five years, said Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma on Monday. “During the period (until 2015), the economy is expected to grow by an average growth rate of 15 percent from a level of 3.7 percent in 2009,” he said, after releasing a draft policy document. “This will be achieved through the restoration of productive capacity and creation of new capacities, aggressive infrastructure rehabilitation and development.

But in a move that could jeopardise this growth, Mugabe said the Zimbabwean dollar, abandoned in March to curb massive inflation, would be back in use by the end of the year. He said the multiple foreign currencies now in use were unavailable to many Zimbabweans. “People are failing to board buses. Some are using goats to pay as bus fares,” Mugabe told villagers in Zhombe. “This needs to be redressed. I do not hope to face similar problems next year. We would have failed as leaders if that is allowed to happen.” MDC finance minister Tendai Biti, who is largely responsible for stabilizing the economy, said it is too early to bring back the local dollar. He has threatened to quit if forced to do so.

Legal

A Zimbabwean High Court judge postponed the trial of MDC treasurer Roy Bennett on charges of terrorism until November 11. Judge Chinembiri Bhunu took this decision so that he could consider conflicting submissions made by the state and defense attorneys when the trial opened on Monday. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says the case against Bennett is politically motivated and is a “malicious prosecution.”

Zimbabwean lawyers will next week boycott work in protest of alleged harassment and persecution by state security agents and the Attorney General’s (AG)’s office. The lawyers held a meeting under the auspices of the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ), where they decided to take action following the arrest of the media and human rights lawyer Mordecai Mahlangu for writing a letter to AG Johannes Tomana, advising him that a key state witness in Roy Bennett’s trial would not be able to testify because he gave evidence after being subjected to torture.

The United Kingdom Border Agency has suspended deportations of failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers following an outcry by the MDC-UK. An MDC delegation held a meeting in London with border agency officials on Thursday, where it was agreed to put a hold on the deportations. Britain announced two weeks ago the planned deportation of some 10 000 failed Zimbabwean asylum-seekers and refugees in the coming months, citing improved conditions in Zimbabwe. But the MDC-UK was part of a number of organizations protesting the deportations. They said the situation was still unstable in Zimbabwe and that the move would cause stress in the Zimbabwean community.

Commercial Farming Sector

The Zimbabwe government has managed to raise a paltry US$5.7 million out of $48 million it hoped to use to fund the 2009/2010 farming season, confirming fears that the season would go to waste. Agriculture permanent secretary Ngoni Masoka also said the country had failed to acquire even half the amount of fertilizer required by farmers. “A total of 1 200 000 tonnes of fertiliser were required for the 2009/2010 season. To date only 44 percent has been mobilised through private sector partnerships and donor assistance, leaving a huge gap which will adversely impact on productivity,” he said.

Zimbabwe’s Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) said on Friday it needed to raise $1.2 million each month to look after its more than 4,000 members who had been left destitute after Mugabe’s controversial land seizures. The CFU said violence against the less than 400 remaining active farmers was increasing and that the coalition government was not protecting them.

Children

Thousands of children have been sexually abused in Zimbabwe in a rising epidemic that has shocked human rights activists. A health clinic in Harare says it has treated nearly 30,000 children who were abused in the past four years – an average of 20 per day – in the capital alone. Experts say the economic collapse has led to family breakdown and left children vulnerable to abuse. Dr Robert-Grey Choto, a paediatrician and co-founder of the Family Support Trust Clinic, said the high numbers are alarming. “In the last four years we have seen over 29,000 cases, and in the last 10 years we have seen more than 70,000 at this clinic alone,” he told the BBC’s Network Africa programme. “It’s a tip of the iceberg. The problem is enormous. We need drugs and any assistance we can get.”

Close to 100,000 students may not sit for the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) ‘O’ Level examinations after failing to register a minimum of five subjects in the upcoming November examinations. The council is charging US$10 and US$20 per subject for ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels, a fee many families cannot afford. Failure to write the examinations limits a student’s chances of securing formal employment or furthering their education, which require at least five ‘O’ level subjects.

Source: Zimbabwe Democracy Now
www.zimbabwedemocracynow.com