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ZWNEWS
13 February 2004
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In this issue :
a.. Inflation up again - AFP
b.. Mozambican railway feels the pinch - AIM
c.. Hunting corruption scandal rumbles on - Financial Gazette
d.. Makumbe on the reshuffle - SW Radio Africa
e.. Govt hands back Debshan - Financial Gazette
From AFP, 13 February

Zimbabwe inflation reaches new high

Harare - Zimbabwe's official rate of inflation, which dropped 20.8 points in
December, came in at a new high of 622.8 percent in January compared with
the year earlier, according to government statistics. The Central
Statistical Office (CSO) figures showed that the rate of inflation jumped
24.1 points from 598.7 percent in December. In November inflation had stood
at 619.5 percent. The rate remains one of the highest in the world,
translating to almost three times the January 2003 rate of 208.1 percent.
Former Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa in November predicted the southern
African country's inflation rate would hit 700 percent in the first three
months of this year before climbing down. Central bank governor Gideon Gono
in December said measures would be put in place to bring down inflation to
below 200 percent by end of this year. Analysts said the jump in January was
expected as the slight drop experienced in December was artificial as "the
underlying inflationary pressures have not diminished yet." One analyst said
the drop in December was "a flash on the pan" as the month was a slow one
with factories shutting down for holidays and retailers trying to get rid of
their stocks. "The increase in year-on-year inflation was largely accounted
for by the increases in the average prices of beverages, bread, cereals,
meat, fruits and vegetables," said the CSO. Zimbabwe's average annual
inflation has been climbing upwards since 2000 when it stood at 55.9
percent, rising to 71 percent a year later. It reached 133.2 in 2002 before
it shot to 365 percent last year. The country has in recent years been
plagued by political and social instability as well as severe food
shortages, caused partly by drought as well as a controversial land
redistribution programme dispossessing white farmers.

From Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique, 12 February

Zimbabwean crisis affects Mozambican railways

Maputo - The central branch of Mozambique's publicly owned ports and railway
company (CFM-Centro) has failed to attain its targets in terms of cash
collected, and it blames the situation largely on the economic crisis in
neighbouring Zimbabwe, its main client, reports Wednesday's issue of the
Beira daily "Diario de Mocambique". Of the targeted 445.7 billion meticais
(about 18.6 million US dollars), the company collected last year only 426.4
billion meticais, resulting from the handling of various types of cargo
along the Beira Corridor. The company's executive director, Joaquim
Verissimo, says there are a number of factors to explain this shortfall of
19.2 billion meticais, about 4.3 per cent of the expected sum. But the main
factor, he stressed, was the economic crisis in Zimbabwe, which uses the
Beira port and rail system for much of its imports and exports. The economic
chaos in Zimbabwe means that the country's trade has shrunk, and that it is
unable to pay on time for its reduced use of the Mozambican facilities.
Currently, according to Verissimo, Zimbabwe owes CFM-Centro 336,000 US
dollars, that it is not paying "for lack of hard currency". The debt must be
paid in hard currency - CFM stopped accepting the increasingly worthless
Zimbabwean currency two years ago.

Furthermore, CFM's counterpart, the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) "is
in no condition to meet the established indicators in terms of 'transit
time', the length of time that CFM wagons stay on the other side of the
border, and also it fails to make available in time the necessary rolling
stock", said Verissimo. CFM-Centro's response to lower than expected income
is to reduce production costs. This was partly managed last year, when 216
billion meticais were spent, instead of the expected 232.4 billion, a
reduction of about seven per cent. These costs concern the maintenance of
equipment, including wagons, locomotives and other rolling stock, and the
repair and protection of infrastructures. Verissimo said that to render this
area more profitable, the company is striving to create stocks of spare
parts "to allow maintenance operations to become regular and continuous",
and also should have a procurement system, whereby "whenever there is need
of spare parts we may be able to locate the supplier in time to solve
specific problems, and always have equipment available".

The company has also decided to get rid of its own body of security guards,
since Verissimo believed that it is not CFM's vocation to manage a security
force. Instead, this job has been given to a private company, and CFM will
no longer have to manage and pay for its own security guards. Any losses
through negligence will be charged to the private company, rather than paid
for by CFM. Speaking of the dramatic scaling down of the workforce,
Verissimo said that the process has been almost completed. Out of a total of
6,014 workers the company once had, CFM-Centro is now left with only 1,148.
This has permitted a substantial increase in the wages of those who remain
and, through a social reinsertion programme, the retrenched workers have
received training in various areas, and many have started their own small
businesses. The minimum wage at CFM has now risen to 2,151,000 meticais
(about 88 US dollars) - more than double the statutory minimum of 994,611
meticais a month.

From The Financial Gazette, 12 February

Nhema named in scam

Njabulo Ncube, Bulawayo Bureau Chief

Minister sucked into hunting concessions-for-the-boys row

The granting of lucrative hunting and photographic concessions to Zanu PF
heavyweights in Matabeleland North, widely seen as a product of
influence-peddling and back-scratching relationships, has sparked off
controversy that has sucked in Environment and Tourism Minister Francis
Nhema. Disgruntled Matabeleland North residents and emerging safari
operators this week raised a hue and cry over the awarding of prime hunting
and photographic concessions to leading Zanu PF politicians. This comes at a
time when the government is moving to allay fears that the land reform
programme is only benefiting mostly leading politicians and their cronies.
The hunting industry has over the years earned billions of dollars in
foreign currency. Although figures for the 12 months to December 2003 were
not immediately available, Campfire alone last year made US$20 million from
controlled hunting. The industry has also since clinched hunting deals worth
$20 billion for the next hunting season, which commences in March.

Miffed residents and safari operators alleged that favouritism could have
reared its ugly head in the awarding of Parks and Wildlife concessions with
the potential of generating millions of dollars in foreign exchange. The
beneficiaries hold long leases on farms in hunting and photographic
destinations in and around Dete, Gwayi Valley, Hwange, Binga and Victoria
Falls. Information at hand indicates that Nhema, through his ministry,
allocated Tuli Farm to Thandiwe Nkomo, the daughter of the late Vice
President Joshua Nkomo. Nhema himself is the son-in-law of the late vice
president . Webster Shamu, the Member of Parliament for Chegutu, who is the
new Minister of State for Policy Implementation was allocated Matetsi Unit
Five. Deka in Hwange is jointly owned by Tobias Musariri and Mabel Dete, a
Zimbabwean presently based in the United States believed to be close to
officials in the ministry. She has since registered a safari company called
Asitroc Investments.

Vincent Pamire, the former Zimbabwe Football Association interim boss, and a
Manungo, an indigenous businessperson with strong roots in Shurugwi like
Pamire and Nhema, share Sengwa. In Matetsi Five concession, seven units in
the area were leased to ruling party and high-ranking government officials
outside Matabeleland. Unit 1 is in the name of Eddie Kazombe, Unit Two Mike
Chidziwa, Unit Three Enos Dube, Unit Four Jacob Mudenda, Unit Five Shamu,
Unit Six Army General Constantine Chiwenga and Unit Seven Lovemore Chihota.
The two beneficiaries in the Matetsi concession that come from the area are
Mudenda, the Zanu PF chairman for Matabeleland North and Dube, a relative
and colleague of the late vice President Nkomo. Previously, Nhema's ministry
had leased Matetsi Unit Five to Roy Vincent, whose lease expired at the end
of December last year.

Nhema yesterday confirmed that his Zanu PF colleagues named in the story had
concessions in Matabeleland North but vehemently denied allegations of
favouritism. Trying to assuage the general perception that the allocation of
hunting concessions only benefited leading Zanu PF politicians, the source
of discord, Nhema said everything was done above board. "Everything was done
above board. It is on record how they got them. Chiwenga and the others you
mentioned went to tender and emerged winners. They attended the auctions for
the concessions. It is on record how they got the concessions and how the
auction happened," said Nhema. "You can ask all of them." "It is only
relatives and party officials with money that are enjoying the fruits of the
land reform as far as safari operations are concerned," said a well-placed
source. "These are public assets which should benefit locals in
Matabeleland. The criteria used smacks of favouritism. Some of these people
have concessions elsewhere."

Some aggrieved indigenous business people who are not swayed by arguments
that the concessions were awarded through normal tender procedures and had
hoped to be doled out concessions at the Parks and Wildlife areas in
Matabeleland North have asked their lawyers to write to Nhema about the
anomalies in the alleged awarding of concessions in the region. Asked to
comment on concerns that most of the people that were awarded concessions
were from Mashonaland, the Midlands and other provinces outside
Matabeleland, Nhema said: "My brother, I don't know whether we should
discriminate, but Mudenda, who is involved in the safari business, comes
from there (Matabeleland North). It will need a good discussion on how we
awarded the concessions and how people tendered for them. It is not true at
all that the concessions were to put to tender. Ask Chiwenga, Mudenda,
(Obert) Mpofu, headman Sibanda, they were all involved in concessions.
Mudenda in fact, is the chairperson of the Indigenous Safari Operators
Association. Ask him how we gave concessions to all those people. Let the
people on the ground explain." Contacted for comment Mpofu said: "Talk to
the minister, I am not involved and I think the minister will be willing to
discuss the list with you.

From SW Radio Africa, 10 February

Zimbabwean analyst terms "reshuffling dirt" recent changes in Mugabe's
cabinet

Robert Mugabe announced a mini reshuffle of the cabinet yesterday. Only one
cabinet minister has lost his post while Mugabe has reinforced his cabinet
with former senior soldiers and CIO operatives. Former parliament Speaker
Didymus Mutasa is now minister of special affairs in the president's office
in charge of the anti-corruption and anti-monopolies programme. Mugabe
sacked Edward Chindori-Chininga, the mines minister, and replaced Herbert
Murerwa, the finance minister, with Chris Kuruneri. Murerwa returns to his
former post as Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education. Mugabe retained
his ministerial team - which he called the war cabinet - largely intact.
Jonathan Moyo is still information minister, Patrick Chinamasa the justice
minister and Joseph Made, the agriculture minister. John Nkomo retains
special affairs minister in charge of lands, land reform and resettlement.
New governors have been appointed for Harare and Bulawayo. Two new ministers
of state have been appointed. These are Webster Shamu, who was appointed
minister of state for policy implementation and Josiah Tungamirai, who is
the minister of state for indigenization and empowerment. Brig (retd)
Ambrose Mutinhiri takes over from Elliot Manyika as minister of youth
development and Manyika becomes minister without portfolio. I spoke with
political analyst Dr John Makumbe about this cabinet reshuffle.

[Makumbe] Well, it's really reshuffling dirt. It's, you know, when you have
rubbish in the bin and it's smelling terribly, you just take a piece of wood
and you reshuffle it around, it doesn't make any difference. It still smells
terribly.

[SW Radio announcer Violet Gonda] [Laughing] So, were you surprised with any
of the changes though?

[Makumbe] Oh, yes, I was surprised that, you know, he appoints, you know,
Didymus Mutasa, a well-worn out and expired, you know, former minister,
former Speaker of parliament and a man who terrorizes people in his own
constituency. He appoints him to the cabinet as minister of anti-corruption
and monopolies, anti-monopolies programmes. You know, it is really a joke
because there are very few people who are, you know, less transparent than
Didymus Mutasa.

[Gonda] What about Joseph Made? He has lost the lands portfolio and that's
been given to John Nkomo. Is this a demotion or what? What is really
happening there? What's your take on this one?

[Makumbe] No, it's not a demotion. He still has the agriculture and he now
also has the resettlement. Now the resettlement is now in both John Nkomo's
third portfolio [laughing] and in Made's portfolio, which shows you the kind
of brain that was doing the designing of the cabinet, because the, you know,
Lands is taken from agriculture, but resettlement is now in both agriculture
as well as in lands. It's a bit of a distortion, it's a bit of, you know,
senility.

[Gonda] And what about Elliot Manyika? He becomes minister without
portfolio. Does this mean that he wasn't really doing well with the militia
because that was - the militia were under his ministry?

[Makumbe] Well, I think he has not really been demoted as such. He is the -
the phrase minister without portfolio is simply because Mugabe doesn't want
to openly call him minister of the commissariat. He is going to even
concentrate more on the militia and on ensuring that more hooligans and
hoodlums are trained to beat up people as we get to the 2005 election. But
of course Mugabe couldn't have called him minister of the commissariat
because that would have been obvious.

[Gonda] And is it worrying that now that ministry is going to be led by a
retired Brigadier Mutinhiri?

[Makumbe] It is very worrying because this is, again, part and parcel of the
militarization of the government, which Mugabe has been, you know, pursuing
for some time with the appointment of military personnel into Noczim
[National Oil Company of Zimbabwe], into the GMB [Grain Marketing Board],
into the governorship for Manicaland, and now it is also gone to the
ministry of employment creation, youth, and it is obvious that this is going
to be a double-effort with, you know, that minister and that ministry with
Manyika's ministry working very hard on the commissariat, and on ensuring
that the Green Bombers [Zanu PF militia] do their job, the war veterans do
their job and even the military are brought in to, you know, subdue the
people.

[Gonda] And I understand that Harare and Bulawayo now have governors. Are
these really necessary since there are mayors in these areas?

[Makumbe] These are superfluous positions because they have nothing to do,
because there are executive mayors in both Bulawayo and Harare, and even as
we talk I think the two guys appointed wonder where their offices will be.
They can't be at the town houses, they can't be at the civic centres. They
probably will be in the Ministry of Home Affairs or local government. It is
really superfluous. It is really jobs for the boys, that's all it is.

[Gonda] And the two new ministries, one that's going to be led by Webster
Shamu and the other by Josiah Tungamirai, I think Tungamirai is going to be
the Minister of State for Indigenization and Empowerment, and Webster Shamu
is going to be the Minister of State for Policy Implementation. Are these
also necessary?

[Makumbe] These are totally unnecessary. It's like saying all the other
portfolio ministries are not really concerned about policy implementation.
How are they running? What do they do if it is not policy implementation?
And then the indigenization and empowerment for Tungamirai in what sense?
All ministries, all government departments should be empowering everybody,
should be empowering all Zimbabweans, whether indigenous or not. These are
really, again, jobs for the boys. Tungamirai is, of course, being rewarded
for behaving himself and allowing, you know, [late Vice-President] Muzenda
to hold on to the Gutu North Constituency and then winning this election. So
he's being rewarded duly. Webster Shamu is obviously a well-known hooligan
of the party. He's one of those Zanu PF hoodlums who will beat up a person
and then say whom did we beat up, you know. And he is being brought in
preparation for the 2005 election.

[Gonda] And Chris Kuruneri takes over, you know, has taken the finance
ministry from Herbert Murerwa. Can he handle that job?

[Makumbe] I don't really think so, but I think he is probably better than
Herbert Murerwa, who really knew precious little about the ministry of
finance. Kuruneri at least knows a few things, at least he knows what GNP
means. But he is as much immersed in the, you know, scandals that are going
on to do with businesses and shady deals as any of the lot in Zanu PF.

[Gonda] And what about Chinori-Chinenga, who has lost his job? He is the
only minister that has lost his job. What is your take on this?

[Makumbe] I think he was a clear non-performer. He did nothing while he was
in charge of mining. People were smuggling gold and taking it, you know,
out. They were smuggling several mineral ores - unprocessed and, you
know,dragging them out of the country. He was a clear non-performer and he
deserved what came to him.

[Presenter] Political analyst John Makumbe.

From The Financial Gazette, 12 February

Oppenheimers get land back

Njabulo Ncube, Bulawayo Bureau Chief

The powerful and influential Oppenheimer family, which controls Anglo
American Corporation, is getting back part of the land seized during the
chaotic land reform as government has, in a volte-face, started removing
landless peasants who had settled at one of the South African family's
properties in Matabeleland South. Hundreds of landless peasants settled on
Debshan Ranch, a huge property belonging to the super-rich South African
family, have been ordered off the farm ostensibly in line with the
recommendations of the Charles Utete land audit report. Analysts said
President Robert Mugabe, with his political back firmly against the wall,
has been forced to eat humble pie in a thinly veiled attempt to win the
support of one of Africa's wealthiest families and bolster prospects for
attracting elusive foreign investment. But in the process, the Zimbabwean
leader risks losing credibility ahead of the 2005 Parliamentary elections,
particularly among the poor peasants who had abandoned their homes in search
for more promising lives on the farms at the height of the farm invasions in
2000.

Information obtained by this newspaper indicates that government officials
last Thursday visited Debshan Ranch and ordered close to 100 settlers at the
property to immediately vacate a certain section of the ranch not listed as
designated. "People must vacate some parts of this property (Debshan)
because the government has not acquired the entire ranch under the
resettlement programme," said Peter Mandebvu, the district administrator for
Matabeleland South. The Utete report, made public for the first time by The
Financial Gazette, recommended the removal of settlers from properties
covered under bilateral agreements, agro-industries and where people settled
on undesignated properties, among other things.

In 2001, the government forcibly acquired 35 000 hectares from the
Oppenheimer-owned Debshan Ranch and later managed to successfully negotiate
for a total of 65 000 hectares to resettle landless peasants. Officials said
then the Oppenheimer family owned land in Zimbabwe that is almost the size
of Belgium, a charge vehemently denied by the family, which argued that it
owns only 137 314 ha of land in the country. Belgium's total area is 3 051
900 hectares. Government sources that attended the meeting addressed by
Mandebvu in Insiza last Friday said the government was now content with the
65 000 hectares offloaded by the Oppenheimer family. The family controls two
of Africa's biggest and richest companies, Anglo American Corporation and De
Beers, the continent's most powerful diamond mining giant. In Zimbabwe, they
are believed to have owned the largest tracts of land by a single family.

Mandebvu, together with a host of other government officials, visited Insiza
district last Friday and addressed several meetings dwelling specifically on
the progress of the land resettlement and the implementation of the Utete
land review recommendations. The peasants that had been on the property
since 2000 told this newspaper in separate interviews that they were not
happy with their removal. "We were the first people to invade this big ranch
and Vice President Joseph Msika visited us before the parliamentary
elections in 2000 to see how we were coping. Now we are moving at the
shortest notice. We have not harvested our crops. This is unfair," said
Simon Zuze, a spokesperson for the invaders who trooped into the Oppenheimer
property all the way from Masvingo. Debshan ranch, along the Bulawayo-Harare
highway, cuts through four provinces - Matabeleland North, Matabeleland
South, the Midlands and Masvingo. According to the Utete report, which has
since been made public, about 134 000 people have been resettled on A1 and
A2 scheme, very different from 300 000 people continuously being parroted by
the government officials.

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