$25 quadrillion boost for agric
From Walter Muchinguri in Bulawayo
GOVERNMENT has — through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe — unveiled a $25 quadrillion loan facility for farmers. RBZ Governor Dr Gono announced the loan facility during this year’s edition of the annual congress for chiefs in Bulawayo yesterday. Chiefs, he said, would benefit from the facility through the
Zunde Ramambo Tillage Programme since they were the custodians of food security in their respective areas of jurisdiction.
The central bank will partner the traditional leaders in the distribution of inputs, taking into account that they played a pivotal role in the equitable distribution of inputs, Dr Gono said.
He said RBZ would ensure that honest people access the inputs and loans for accountability. "From now on, you are governors as you will be working with this governor assisting with this micro-credit programme which cannot be spearheaded by this governor alone," he said.
The facility, he said, was in line with the Government’s scheme to boost agricultural production which has already received international acclaim as it tallied with recommendations by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the just-ended Food and Agriculture Organisation summit on food security in Rome, Italy.
The central bank chief urged chiefs to be patient as the inputs might be delayed owing to procurement challenges.
"The sanctions are so pervasive that they have almost destroyed the country, so we need you to stand shoulder to shoulder in condemning the sanctions.
"Let history count you as one who stood against sanctions when the country needed you most," he said.
Apart from the $25 quadrillion facility, Dr Gono said the central bank was in the process of distributing 3 000 grinding mills to chiefs for the benefit of their communities.
In addition, he said, all chiefs and headmen would, within the next two weeks, take delivery of generators to power the grinding mills and their homes.
He also told the chiefs that RBZ would soon be distributing 3 000 head of cattle to rebuild the national herd.
Apart from that, the central bank had just finalised logistics for the importation of a sizeable herd of cattle from several countries in the region that would be distributed to farmers to augment current efforts to rebuild the national herd.
Dr Gono also pointed out that the central bank had started receiving small to medium-scale technologies to empower rural folk.
These included candle, soap and exercise book making machines as well as oil expressing machines.
In addition, he said the central bank was also embarking on a programme to procure lorries that would be used to ferry produce to the market or delivery depots as well as transport inputs back to farmers’ homes.
The governor announced that they had, with immediate effect, decided to withdraw buses allocated to various districts under the Integrated Transport Programme.
The decision to withdraw the buses, he said, follows plans to form a company and committees at district level to oversee the movement of the buses within their respective districts.
Dr Gono also said the RBZ was planning to acquire drilling rigs to ensure water security in every district.
All chiefs were promised at least 200 litres of diesel per month, starting from next month, and tractors.
Dr Gono said out of the 266 chiefs in the country, 251 had already been allocated tractors.
He promised those chiefs who had received tractors only that they would soon be getting the accessories.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, CHIEFS, GIDEON GONO, LAND REFORM, RZB
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MDC: Going, Going, Gone
IT must be quite painful for the puppet masters to watch MDC’s evanescent March victory vanish so inexorably, much like morning mist. One reads this from the mounting panic gripping Britain and America, which panic is now disguised as daring but disingenuous media stunts performed by their little diplomats here.
They know March 29 is not repeatable. They know that Zanu-PF, once nearly bitten and almost swallowed, now shies at nothing ahead of June 27. The euphoria is all but gone and the masters stare disheartening statistics presaging total defeat for the MDC. Relative to 2002, Tsvangirai’s March 29 vote actually shrunk against utmost effort the MDC could ever put.
Any extra ounce of effort passes for a vain attempt at flying beyond one’s wings, in fact recalls Icarus’s fatal overreaching on wings of mere wax. That is not to say the MDC will not try.
It has already tried, tried to turn political fluke and windfall into a repeatable and recurring victory. The heavily invested wand for this to happen has been wanton violence the MDC has been visiting on Zanu-PF’s rural strongholds, pointedly in Mashonaland Central, East and Manicaland.
The calculation has been to keep Zanu-PF busy, unsure and uncomfortable in its own backyard, both to dent Zanu-PF’s support base and to prevent it from projecting itself into MDC’s urban strongholds.
Zanu-PF’s initial chaotic response to the challenge of MDC violence triggered a pursuit instinct in the opposition which read a smouldering pyre in Zanu-PF’s welling, smoking anger. Now the smoke has fanned into leaping, engulfing flames.
The tide has since turned, which is why BBC, CNN and the angry SKY are running riot, exhibiting MDC’s lacerated body for global pathos. Its retributive lacerations are more than bodily, in fact are metaphoric hints to its political misfortunes in the run-off. It is bandaged, it is fractured, it is limping, it is gasping.
Disguised decline
Few understand why the MDC was so prompt to go on a bloody offensive. But the truth inheres in the net decline of support in all its urban strongholds. Zanu-PF’s appalling performance, coupled by MDC’s symbolic pickings in rural Zimbabwe, did much to disguise this decline.
Today Zanu-PF’s mane stands fully erect and stiff, a loud presentiment of a frontal charge about to happen. The rural vote which MDC picked up was bred by Zanu-PF’s levity and playfulness, by a very dangerous underestimation of the formidable enemy it faced, and the complacency it did not need.
It was a once-off vote carved out more from complacency than from choice and conviction. It will not come back this time around, for Zanu-PF has realised a fight against imperialism is not farcical. It is deadly.
The threat of sinecures
MDC backers are also aware that rousing MDC’s urban vote which is so frigid, is more challenging in reactivating than rousing Zanu-PF’s very loyal but often playful rural vote. The former is cynical and phlegmatic; the latter rallies quickly, more so in the face of real danger. Much worse, more than ever before, the Matabeleland vote is looking most insecure for Tsvangirai.
What with Mutambara signing away what he does not control, let alone have. What with Tsvangirai’s sinecures feeling threatened by any reunion with the Welshman Ncube group, and Ncube’s bitter officials feeling humiliated the more and more, marginalised more and more.
It is a schism set to exact a cost on Tsvangirai, albeit without delivering a gain on Mugabe. But Mugabe does not need to gain that vote. Tsvangirai only needs to lose it.
Building global pathos
All the dirty tricks which the MDC and its handlers employed to cause an upset are now known. Zanu-PF has been jolted out of its slumber and its clear all the gaps are being plugged. It will not be easy this time around and the handlers of the MDC know it. Which takes me to the shifting strategy of the West and its MDC.
The Western news networks are now infatuated with Tsvangirai. He is as regular on their screens as an ill-wind in the month of July. You would think he is an angry ratepayer from Luton. Equally, BBC reporters’ treatment of the Zimbabwe story recalls their passion in dealing with Northern Ireland. Tsvangirai is their man, and they his image minders. After all, they instructed him back home, to finish the campaign.
To all intents and purposes, both the Americans and the British are nearer this vote than they are to that involving McCain, Obama and Clinton. They are using their networks to consolidate Tsvangirai’s international profile. This is not new.
What is new is the fact that they have dropped their initial bullish attitude towards his prospects in the run-off to package him as a tragic figure, a victim of political entrapment. They are already preparing the world for his sound beating. They have seen something on the ground and I can confirm to them that they have seen well and correctly.
From Chicago to Chipadze
What is worse, they are increasingly becoming extended and hysterical patients of the run-off. This week saw them pushing their involvement to incongruous limits. Only less than two weeks ago, McGee played campaign manager to Tsvangirai.
This week, British and American defence and security personnel turned themselves into campaign agents of the opposition.
How does a lowly official from so far away a country know Shorai Sandie Chikinvharo of No. 510 Kudzanai Street, in Chipadze, Bindura, who is an MDC activist? How do these ashen white officials, all with a security background, leap out of their colour mode to look for an African living in a high-density suburb of a small mining town? Or Peter Mabika, also of the MDC?
It is clear that their subject is under so much pressure and diplomatic etiquette has little room. It is important to keep pushing these monsters until they are thoroughly exposed. What is more, when they take risks on behalf of their countries, risks disguised as election monitoring, the authorities must not be in a hurry to pluck them out of sticky situations.
Whoever swallows a pestle has chosen to sleep standing, so goes a Shona saying. These people press to be allowed free movement when, in fact, our delegation is kept within the 25-mile radius in New York? What are we reciprocating by this kind of permissiveness?
What is worse, what is the diplomatic value of British and American embassies here? To equip them with cells from which to subvert our country in the name of the Vienna Convention? I always tell my friends that we have hit the bottom, we should not fear to fall. Part of our reaction to Western hostility should be to strip their interests of direct consular protection. We have no interests in the US and UK. What the heck?
Poisonous philanthropy
But another hurtful blow has been dealt on these Westerners. Their political NGOs which have been plying food with politics have been frozen for the duration of the campaign. As I write, the BBC, Sky and CNN are shouting hoarse against the measure which Minister Goche announced.
The claim is that Zimbabweans will starve. Since when has there been this compassionate feeling for Zimbabweans? Why hurt us with sanctions when your wish is to ensure we do not starve? And why are you not active in Ethiopia, an African country which has been hit by another devastating drought?
The West is indifferent because Ethiopia has no Mugabe and is not going to the polls! Well, let them howl as much as they please. They have asked for free and fair elections, indeed for a levelled playing field. This is it. No NGOs will politic this time around. Never. After all, these NGOs bade goodbye just before the March 29 polls. Why have they not left?
Only one President
I was amused to note that in Rome, the British and American media had one singular interest: To talk to President Mugabe and get his latest picture. He was the only person worthy of their coverage. At one point, an African head of state who shared the same hotel with President Mugabe got to the hotel concourse.
These news haunts were not interested. At which point a friend quipped: "There is only one President for the Western media!" Indeed, there is. What would happen to journalism if he exited? But the whole escapade was not without its light moments.
Having held a permanent vigil at the President’s hotel, one official from the Zimbabwe delegation asked a BBC reporter whose eyes looked red from foregone sleep: "How is my President?" To which the reporter responded: "You should tell us!" "Well, you have been a little more diligent in watching over him that I am ever capable of," he shot back scornful laughter echoing in Rome’s long corridors. This earth my brother!
Icho!
l nathaniel.manheru AT zimpapers.co.zw
Labels: MDC
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More MDC-T supporters defect
Herald Reporter
MORE MDC-T supporters continue to cross the floor to Zanu-PF ahead of the June 27 presidential run-off with more than 50 defecting to the ruling party at a meeting held at Makoni Shopping Centre in Chitungwiza on Tuesday. Former MDC-T supporters who surrendered party regalia — including T-shirts, membership cards, red symbol cards, whistles, CDs and cassettes — said that the opposition party had failed to deliver on its promises.
Addressing the gathering attended by informal traders, small-to-medium entrepreneurs and Zanu-PF leaders in the dormitory town, the defectors said they felt used by the opposition party to destroy the country’s economy.
"I have been with the MDC-T since its formation and besides being used to campaign against the Government, we have not received anything we had been promised by the opposition party.
"We have been promised money, jobs and influential positions, but this has come to nought, especially after elections," Steven Zindoga told the gathering.
The defector, who revealed that he had been an MDC-T organising secretary in Budiriro’s Ward 33, said he had decided to work with the ruling party to develop the country.
Rejiko Mashonganyika told the meeting that while he had been lured by misguided elements in the community to follow the MDC-T, their lives had remained unchanged.
"I was staying in Wedza and joined the opposition after coming to Harare, but I have since realised that I am just being used to take back the country to the whites," Clarence Gurudza said.
Francis and Honest Gapare said they had joined the opposition to get T-shirts distributed by the MDC-T but realised that they had never felt free wearing the regalia.
"I got this T-shirt when I attended a rally at Chibuku Stadium, but I have never felt at peace with myself.
"I realised that I can only be free when I am working with people who worked for our independence," Clifford Mashonganyika said.
Addressing the gathering, Seke district co-ordinating committee chairman Cde Reuben Rusere said he was happy that the defectors had not been forced to rejoin the ruling party.
"I am glad people are realising that the MDC-T is hoodwinking them through promises they are incapable of fulfilling.
"Zanu-PF is not forcing people to join, but what we want is to work with people who are constructive, people who want to work for the development of the nation," he said.
Cde Rusere castigated MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai for lying to the people whom he failed to effectively represent when he was leading the ZCTU.
"Most people who are now into the informal sector lost their jobs at Cone Textiles in 1992 but Tsvangirai failed to stand for them after being bought by the owners of the company," he said.
He said President Mugabe’s Government was not waiting for whites to provide jobs but would rather economically empower them.
"President Mugabe wants to give people an opportunity to own their own business, hence our theme in the presidential run-off is ‘100 Percent Empowerment, Total Independence’," he said.
Cde Rusere urged Zanu-PF supporters in Chitungwiza to shun violence, which he described as counter-productive in an election campaign.
"Assaulting people would not change their minds, but tell them that Zanu-PF is for total empowerment and will work hard to make sure that all are totally emancipated," he said.
He urged people to go and vote in their thousands during the run-off.
"President Mugabe received 43 percent of the vote but there are more out there who did not vote so these are the people who should come out and vote on June 27," he said.
The latest defections follow those in Mashonaland Central where more than 60 MDC-T supporters crossed to the ruling party at the weekend.
The ruling party has launched a vigorous campaign in the wards where it is targeting ordinary Zimbabweans who did not participate in the March 29 harmonised elections.
Labels: MDC
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Zambia contracts $79m IMF loan
By Times Reporter
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to release a $79.2 million loan to Zambia over the next three years in support of the country’s economic policies aimed at reducing poverty and sustaining economic growth.
IMF deputy managing director, Takatoshi Kato said in a statement released in Lusaka yesterday that the approval of the new Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) follows Zambia’s impressive record after the last facility in ended last September.
“The authorities remain committed to maintaining macroeconomic policies and pursuing structural reforms to sustain high economic growth, further reduce poverty, diversify the economy, and preserve macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability.
“The decision enables Zambia to request the first disbursement in the amount of about $11.3 million,” Mr Kato said.
The PRGF was the IMF’s concessional facility for low-income countries. PRGF loans had an annual interest of 0.5 percent and were repayable over 10 years with a five-and-half year grace period on the principle payments.
Mr Kato urged Zambia to strengthen its debt management to ensure that new borrowing did not push the country back into deep debt, after its debt was written off.
“The programme envisages a cautious policy on foreign borrowing, emphasizing concessional loans and close monitoring of external borrowing by public enterprises.
“To preserve the recent gains in external debt sustainability, the authorities will give priority to developing and implementing a comprehensive debt strategy,” Mr Kato said.
He said the new tax regime for the mining sector would provide substantial resources for infrastructure development and social spending but cautioned Zambia not to scare away the mining investors.
“In implementing the new regime, the authorities are encouraged that the attractiveness of investment in the mining sector is preserved,” Mr Kato said.
Mr Kato also asked the Zambian government to address supply shortages and inefficiencies in the energy sector.
He said prudent monetary policy helped Zambia keep inflation low and urged the country to maintain the flexible exchange rate system to enhance the effectiveness of monetary policy and enable the economy adjust to shocks.
Under the last PRGF, the IMF in June last year agreed to give Zambia a loan amounting $33.4 million after approving the last two performance reviews of a $320 million financing deal with the southern African country.
Labels: DEBT, IMF
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AfDB Group commits $1bn to agriculture
By Joan Chirwa and Fridah Zinyama
Saturday June 07, 2008 [04:00]
KEY players in agricultural development have formed a partnership, with the aim of significantly boosting food production in Africa’s “breadbasket” regions. And the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has committed an additional US$1 billion to its agricultural portfolio to help address the food crisis in its regional countries.
With small-scale farmers at the centre of the partnership agreement, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Programme (WFP), signed a memorandum of understanding at the just-ended Food Summit in Rome, Italy.
The partnership is expected to link local food production to food needs, and work across Africa’s major agricultural growing areas or agro-ecological zones – to create opportunities for smallholder farmers, with Zambia being a potential beneficiary of the initiative.
The agreement marked a significant transformation in the way major global agencies work with smallholder farmers to assist them in solving Africa’s chronic hunger and food problems.
They noted that among the challenges facing accelerated food production in Africa were poorly developed markets, lack of investment and poor infrastructure in rural areas.
“This collaborative initiative is part of AGRA’s strategic vision to build partnerships that pool the strengths and resources of the public and private sectors, civil society, farmers’ organisations, donors, scientists and entrepreneurs across the agricultural value chain,” said Kofi Annan, chairman of the Board of AGRA. “We must implement immediate solutions for today’s crisis and do so in the context of a long-term concerted effort to transform smallholder agriculture, to increase productivity and sustainability and to end poverty and hunger.
The institutions stated that careful environmental monitoring and conserving biodiversity, water and land would be given high priority. The agreement also calls for coordinating and sharing agricultural development innovations across diverse ecological zones and associated crops. At the country level, the partnership will support the efforts of governments and work with farmers and other stakeholders to rapidly boost agricultural productivity and farm incomes.
Each agency will deliver unique expertise towards achieving an environmentally and economically sustainable green revolution that will end the continent’s perennial food crisis.
Per capita food production has declined in Africa for the past 30 years and farm productivity on the continent is just one-quarter the global average. Today, more than 200 million people are chronically hungry in the region, and 33 million children under age five are malnourished.
And in a press statement, AfDB president Donald Kaberuka said the additional funds would increase the amount set aside to mitigate the food crisis to about US$ 4.8 billion.
Kaberuka said the Bank Group would also restructure some of its agriculture portfolio to provide a rapid disbursement facility to the tune of US $250 million.
He urged cereals exporting countries not to suspend their exports because the practice would compromise the existence of about 150 million people in a dozen African states, especially the population of fragile countries, the sick and elderly.
Kaberuka explained that the Bank had a current portfolio of US $3.8 billion meant to help support the agricultural sector in its regional member countries.
He said that Bank would find a way of assisting countries in difficulties by considering additional measures for budget support.
The Bank Group's board of governors recently approved the establishment of the African Fertiliser Financing Mechanism Special Fund with a view to mobilising resources from donors to finance in particular, fertiliser production, distribution, procurement and use in Africa. And Kaberuka reiterated the importance of infrastructure in the resolution of the food crisis, considering that current average post-harvest losses stood at a whooping 40 per cent where a reduction of 10 per cent of the losses would result in five million additional tones of cereals.
He emphasised the development of rural infrastructure as one of the Bank Group’s priorities to open up landlocked areas to wider markets, attract great revenue for local farmers and drastically reduce post-harvest losses.
Labels: ADB, AGRA, FAO
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SAFADA calls for strong support system in deals
By Joan Chirwa
Friday June 06, 2008 [04:00]
SMALL-scale farmers in Zambia need a concrete and strong support system for survival once the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) come into effect, Small-Scale Farmers Development Agency (SAFADA) director Boyd Moobwe has said. And East and Southern Africa Small-Scale Farmers Forum (ESAFF) vice regional chairperson Mubanga Kasakula has said
small-scale farmers have been facing numerous difficulties in influencing policies designed for them due to inadequate information about trade arrangements like the EPAs.
During a three-day workshop on the EPAs and regional integration which ended in Lusaka yesterday, Moobwe said small-scale farmers in East and Southern Africa regions had been operating under stress, hence opening competition with the European Union (EU) would completely put them out of business.
“The vision of the EPA is a very big one and it needs a lot of time to discuss and come up with concrete resolutions before Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries sign the full EPA in December this year. We don’t need to rush into signing this agreement, we need to have case studies and see what repercussions the trade arrangement would have on small-scale farmers,” he said.
“Our experience nationally and regionally is that the capacity of farmers and the organisations that represent them has been weak,” Kasakula said.
Zambia and a few other countries in the region have signed an interim EPA, which would be replaced by the full EPA, expected to be signed this December.
The EU engineered EPAs will require countries to engage in reciprocal trade once implemented. However, most ESA and ACP countries do not have the capacity to compete on the EU markets as farmers in the EU are heavily subsidised.
Labels: EPAs, ESAFF, SAFADA
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ZCC welcomes sugar imports
By Joan Chirwa and Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Friday June 06, 2008 [04:00]
ALLOWING imports of sugar in a convenient manner will assist in addressing interests of consumers on the local market, Zambia Competition Commission (ZCC) acting executive director Thula Kaira has said. And Shoprite and Spar have received consignments of sugar with a two kilogramme being sold at an average of K9,000.
Kaira in an interview said the government could find a way of allowing imports of sugar while protecting its own industry.
“In our view, allowing imports of sugar in a controllable way could address the interests of consumers,” Kaira said. “Again, allowing imports should not have adverse effects on the local market. We need to come up with long-term solutions to certain situations, not only when there is a crisis. In the current situation where there is a shortage of sugar, it was important for Zambia Sugar, as a monopoly supplier to notify consumers so that government can find ways of mitigating the deficit.”
Kaira further said the commission had received numerous complaints from industrial users of sugar on inadequate supply of the commodity.
“In the circumstances, it would appear plausible that imports should be encouraged as there is no stringent requirement that industrial sugar be fortified with Vitamin A at the point of entry,” Kaira said. “On the other hand, it would be critical for Zambia Sugar not to lose its domestic market for commercial sugar. To ascertain this, there would be need for assurances from Zambia Sugar that they would favourably satisfy local demand.”
And by Wednesday afternoon, Shoprite and Spar had stocked both brown and white sugar on their shelves.
Workers at Shoprite confirmed that one-kilogramme packets of sugar were received on Tuesday night while the two kilogramme packets were stocked on Wednesday. And a check at Spar Arcades revealed that the chain store had enough stocks of sugar, although demand for the product was not much.
“We are not having many people coming to buy sugar because they don’t know we have it in stock,” said one of the shop attendants at Spar Arcades.
Zambia Sugar on Monday announced that it would soon flood the market with its products so that sugar prices could get back to their original trading levels of K8,500 per two kilogramme packet. The shortage of sugar on the local market resulted in an inflation of prices to an average of K20,000 per two kilogramme packet.
Labels: SUGAR CANE, ZCC
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Saasa urges harmonisation of COMESA, SADC protocols
By Joan Chirwa
Friday June 06, 2008 [04:00]
HARMONISATION of the Comesa and SADC protocols is the best option for countries with overlapping membership, economic consultant professor Oliver Saasa has said. And the 14th meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts for Southern Africa has called on member countries of the regional economic groupings (RECs) to develop a mechanism for disseminating information for tracking progress on the implementation of the SADC free trade area (FTA) and Comesa customs union and their related protocols.
Professor Saasa said Zambia should maintain its dual membership in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) while working towards the harmonisation of trade protocols between the two RECs.
Government has indicated that Zambia would not relinquish its membership in either SADC or COMESA as member countries strive to harmonise RECs to effectively promote trade in the region.
“We should look at harmonisation and rationalisation of the two to avoid conflicts,” professor Saasa said. “It would not be prudent for Zambia to choose now to belong to either COMESA or SADC but harmonisation of the two is the best option.”
COMESA is set to come up with its customs union this year, while SADC is first establishing an FTA. After the FTA, SADC’s overall regional integration road map includes completion of negotiations for a customs union in 2010, the common market by 2015 and the establishment of a Monetary Union by 2016 and a regional Central Bank with a common currency by 2018.
And the 14th meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts for Southern Africa noted that COMESA and SADC still faced major challenges that need to be addressed to realise the launch and operationalisation of their customs union and FTA respectively.
“There are a number of challenges that COMESA and SADC are facing as they move towards achieving their important milestones. Some of these challenges include simplification and harmonisation of customs and immigration procedures, monitoring mechanisms for tracking the implementation of protocols, information needs for trade facilitation, financing regional integration and promotion of the public private partnership (PPP) in regional integration agenda,” stated a policy brief issued at the end of the meeting on Wednesday. “Both COMESA and SADC integration is impeded by a lack of financial resources and they depend on international donors and partners to survive.
“To improve financing of regional integration, the two RECs need to create a project preparation and development unit within SADC and strengthen the same within COMESA; prepare the business plan for implementation with the deliverables, responsibilities, budgets and times frames; and develop mechanisms to operationalise the Development Fund for COMESA and SADC.”
Labels: COMESA, OLIVER SAASA, REGIONAL INTEGRATION, SADC
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IMF approves K261bn plan for economic growth
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Friday June 06, 2008 [04:00]
THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a US $79 million (about K261.9 billion) three-year plan to support Zambia’s efforts in poverty alleviation and sustained economic growth. According to a press statement released on Wednesday, the new Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) plan succeeds a previous arrangement successfully completed last year.
Following the IMF executive board's discussion, Takatoshi Kato, deputy managing director and acting chairman, commended the Zambian authorities “implementing prudent macroeconomic policies, which, in the context of high copper prices and debt relief, contributed to robust economic growth, markedly lower inflation, a reduction of poverty, and a build-up of international reserves.”
“The authorities remain committed to maintaining prudent macroeconomic policies and pursuing structural reforms to sustain high economic growth, further reduce poverty, diversify the economy and preserve macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability,” Kato said.
The statement further noted that the new PRGF arrangement would support the government's objectives of boosting economic growth and enhancing employment and income opportunities, especially for the poor, while maintaining macroeconomic stability.
The PRGF is the IMF's concessional facility for low-income countries. PRGF loans carry an annual interest rate of 0.5 per cent and are repayable over 10 years with a five-and-a-half-year grace period on principal payments.
Recently, a group of IMF executive directors that visited Zambia early this year indicated that the new financing package to replace PRGF would come with a smaller amount of money saying: “We can't give as much money as previously because we feel your economy is in a better shape than previously.”
Zambia’s previous PRGF expired at the end of September last year and the IMF indicated that the country had performed well under the financing facility that had been in place since June 2004.
The PRGF arrangement was approved on June 16, 2004 in the amount equivalent to SDR 220.1 million (approximately US$333.6 million or K1.3 trillion). The PRGF-supported programmes are based on country-owned poverty reduction strategies adopted in a process involving civil society and development partners and articulated in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).
Labels: IMF, PRGF
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Zambia Sugar blames shortage on poor harvest
By Joan Chirwa
Saturday June 07, 2008 [04:00]
GOVERNMENT will not hesitate to take necessary measures once Zambia Sugar fails to satisfy the local market, commerce permanent secretary Davidson Chilipamushi has said. And Zambia Sugar Plc managing director Paul De Robillard has, among other factors, blamed the sugar shortage on the company’s failure to harvest adequate cane last season owing to the above-normal rainfall experienced in most parts of Southern Province.
Speaking in Mazabuka on Thursday when he toured the Nakambala Sugar factory to assess the progress made in production to meet demand for sugar, Chilipamushi said the government would not allow any exports of sugar until such a time when local market had adequate supplies of the commodity.
He was reacting to reports that Zambia Sugar exported close to 3,000 metric tones of sugar to the Great Lakes Region between March and May this year. The most recent export from this year’s production was 30 tonnes of sugar that was sold to Burundi in May.
Chilipamushi earlier indicated that the government would import sugar should the shortage of the commodity persist on the local market.
“It is not government’s intention to interfere in the running of businesses but just to ensure that interests of both consumers and producers are taken care of,” Chilipamushi said.
Zambia Sugar has however maintained that only 30 tones of sugar had been exported to Burundi late last month following a breakdown of the system.
“From this year’s production, we have only exported 30 tonnes to Burundi and that was after a truck slipped through the system and we will stand by that,” said Zambia Sugar Plc’s marketing manager Rebecca Katowa. “We are now putting our major focus on distribution of what we are producing to fill the gap in the market.”
And De Robillard said the heavy rains experienced during the last season greatly affected the company’s production during the last financial year.
“We planned on having 265,000 tonnes but we only managed to produce 234,000 tonnes,” De Robillard said. “The other problem is that the heavy rains affected our expansion programme as we had to delay construction works. Yesterday (Wednesday), tandem two started operating. We are sure that by next week, all lines will be operating and we will be producing close to a thousand tonnes of sugar per day. Our plan for 2008 is to produce 270,000 tonnes of sugar. Since local consumption only constitutes 40 per cent of our production, the surplus will then be exported.”
The shortage of sugar on the local market forced traders to inflate prices to an average of K20,000 per two kilogramme packet.
Labels: DAVIDSON CHILIPAMUSHI, SUGAR CANE, ZAMBIA SUGAR COMPANY
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Swedish aid to depend on corruption fight
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Saturday June 07, 2008 [04:00]
SWEDISH Ambassador to Zambia Lars Ronnas yesterday said donor assistance from his country will partly depend on the success in fighting corruption. During Sweden’s national day, Ambassador Ronnas said Sweden’s support to Zambia would also depend on how well the government would utilise money realised from the mining sector as well as getting a sound public administration in place to ensure that basic social services were available to all, rich and poor. He said Zambia was in many ways a richly-endowed country.
“What policies are put in place will ultimately determine whether poor Zambians will continue to live in poverty, or rise to a better standard of living,” he said.
Ambassador Ronnas said development assistance could not be a substitute for how a country chose to create and distribute its own wealth.
“The question is being asked why Swedes should contribute to health, clinics and agriculture extension services in Zambia. There are some very good answers to that question. But whether those answers will be taken as credible will indeed all depend on the success in fighting corruption, on getting a fair share out of the mines for public use, on getting a sound public administration in place to ensure that basic social services are available to all, rich and poor,” he said.
He said there were positive changes taking place in the recent year and there was also a sense of self-esteem around.
He said Zambia was a prime example illustrating the emergence of a new modern Africa, a country of stability, of an elected democratic government with ambitious development plans.
Labels: CORRUPTION, DONORS, LARS RONNAS
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Zim war veterans threatened to burn US diplomats alive, alleges envoy
By George Chellah in Harare, Zimbabwe
Saturday June 07, 2008 [04:00]
WAR veterans last Thursday threatened to burn American diplomats alive, US Ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee has revealed. And Ambassador McGee said the forthcoming presidential runoff will not be free and fair. But deputy minister of information Bright Matonga said the team of British and US diplomats that were detained in Mazowe were addressing an MDC meeting. Addressing journalists after the diplomats were released, Ambassador McGee narrated that the diplomats were assessing the situation on the ground when the incident occurred.
"We had a team of US and British diplomats who went out to Bindura to take a look at the situation on the ground in the run-up to the election and the violence that is being perpetrated on the countryside. They were talking to people in the high-density suburbs when the police arrived. They told them that they have to accompany them to the police station... my people said no! They got into their car and started driving back to Harare," Ambassador McGee explained. "Somewhere along that way the police caught up with my people and tried to force them off the road.
Fortunately, we had a very good driver and they were able to evade that. But further then about 40 kilometres outside the city there was a police roadblock and they had the spike that could blow your tyres off. When they stopped the police got out of their car and slashed the tyres of our vehicle."
He explained that the diplomats' lives were threatened at the roadblock.
"The military came in with two trucks... war veterans came in and threatened to burn my people alive in their vehicles. At this time, I was trying to make the contacts with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
When I first called I was told everybody was at lunch and there was nobody available to talk to me," Ambassador McGee said. "I was finally able to get to somebody from the ministry to talk to me and explained that my people were in a very desperate situation, and that it was their responsibility to protect them. They sent two people from their office out to the area and my people were finally released. There were four British diplomats and two vehicles with American embassy personnel."
Ambassador McGee further said there is currently no relationship between Harare and Washington.
"This is a lawless country, the government of Zimbabwe doesn't abide by its own rules and laws and they surely don't abide by any international laws," he said.
Asked about President Mugabe's threats to expel him, Ambassador McGee answered: "I am doing my job and if the President sees it fit to kick me out then I guess I'm gonna have to be kicked out. But we will not be intimidated by thugs and thieves. This is foolishness, is this how governments react to each other?"
He said the presidential run-off would not be free and fair. "Generally, looking at what is happening in the countryside there is no way we are going to say that this election will be free and fair. Mr Tsvangirai is very brave to go out there and fight for this election no matter what... he has to. If he doesn't, he’s just gonna hand this election to those folks who may not have the best interest of Zimbabwe in their hearts," Ambassador McGee said.
But Matonga said the diplomats that were detained by police were addressing a gathering at a house of an MDC activist. "There was commotion and the police were called in. When the police arrived they fled, they were later stopped at a roadblock. When they refused to disembark following orders by police, the police deflated the tyres of one of the vehicles," Matonga said.
And police spokesperson assistant commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said there were a number of roadblocks mounted across the country to curb the movement of weapons being used in the political violence.
"We are surprised that the diplomats fled when they were asked to identify themselves by police. In essence, they reduced themselves to common criminals because if they had identified themselves there would have been no problems," Bvudzijena said. "Being in a vehicle with a CD registration plate does not necessarily given an indication of the individuals in the vehicle."
Recently, President Robert Mugabe threatenes to expel Ambassador McGee if he continues to meddle in Zimbabwe's domestic affairs.
"He says he fought in Vietnam, but fighting in Vietnam does not give him the right to interfere in our domestic affairs. As tall as he is, if he continues to do that I will kick him out of the country," President Mugabe had said. "I am just waiting to see if he makes one more step wrong. He will get out. This is Zimbabwe, it's not an extension of America."
Ambassador McGee was also recently given a first warning by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for circumventing diplomatic protocol after he led a team of western diplomats on a 'fact-finding mission' visiting MDC victims of political violence.
Shortly after the incident, US state department spokesperson Sean McCormack and British Foreign secretary David Miliband appeared live on cable television networks castigating the Zimbabwean government.
McCormack described the behaviour of Zimbabwean police as irresponsible while Miliband said Zimbabwe could not even follow its laws. McCormack said the US would push for the matter to be tabled before the UN Security Council.
Labels: AMBASSADOR, JAMES MCGEE, WAR VETERANS, ZIMBABWE
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Obama -A win for America
By Laura Miti-Banda
Saturday June 07, 2008 [04:00]
After a long and many times bad-tempered contest, Barack Obama this week finally had enough delegates to declare him the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party in the coming presidential elections in the United States of America. I must confess that for the last months, since Obama won the Iowa primary, my household has been riveted by the nail biting contest between the Democratic candidates and boy was there drama. At many turns, I was not too sure my preferred candidate would make it out of some controversy or other.
There was of course the big one concerning Obama where it came out that the pastor of the church he had attended for a long time had, over the years, made some very controversial statements from the pulpit. He had suggested that America deserved 9-11 because of the policies its government had implemented in the world. The chickens had come to roost were the now infamous Rev Wright’s exact words. He said America could not kill other people’s children and then expect that nothing would happen to it in return. He also said America was a terrible place for black people.
Goodness how Obama paid for those words and his choice of home church! For weeks, Rev Wright was the headline as people asked how Obama could have sat in a church for twenty years listening to those kinds of unpatriotic sentiments. I must say I was surprised he survived that hullaballoo. He had to make a major speech on race, an outstanding one it turned out to be compared very favourably by the press to historic speeches by Martin Luther King on race and John F Kennedy on his Catholicism.
Now it has to be said that some of the sentiments expressed by Rev Wright are held by many people in the world. Not (I would hope) the America deserved 9-11 part. That is outrageous. However that America, especially under the current president George Bush, has treated other peoples in the world as though their lives, livelihoods and nations did not matter is very true. Iraq and Palestine-these are the major reasons that the United States of America has lost is high place among the nations and is now so maligned.
They are also the major reasons why the whole world is suffering under a blight of unprecedented terrorism where nobody really is safe as these countries in particular raise young angry men willing to blow themselves and others up for what they believe to be the just cause of liberty and dignity for their people.
It is for this reason, the reason that the Democrats seem to understand that America cannot continue on the path Bush and his Republican Party put them on in the last eight years that so many neutral observers seem to favour a Democrat taking office in November. On that count, Obama is particularly refreshing, stressing, as he does that he wants to bring back the kind of diplomacy that listens to all, including his country’s enemies, as the main route to resolving long lasting conflicts.
That stance combined with his polices on breaking the hold of lobbyists on Washington (and therefore the world) would make him a winner any day if non-Americans were voting. Add to that the fact that Obama is black, eloquent and good looking (I was going to use a different word but then I am a married woman) and I am sold on him. I must comment too on his wonderful body language with his dashing wife Michelle. Unlike most politicians, they look like there is something other than the quest for high office going on between them.
And so on Tuesday this week, I stayed up all night wanting to see history being made. I watched it all, the speeches from McCain and Clinton and Obama’s as usual great address to the nearly twenty thousand screaming supporters in the place where his rival will be officially declared presidential candidate (clever that) and I have to say it was a great night.
Let me end by saying that what makes Obama’s election as the Democratic candidate most remarkable for me is that by it, the Americans, like them or dislike them, have proved that theirs is a great country. The truth is that much as so many of us watching here in Africa have rooted for Obama, we have known that his story would not be possible in our own countries.
I mean Barack is the son of a Kenyan father and an American woman. In other words Obama has traceable roots to a little village in Kenya somewhere where his father and grandfather are buried. He has Kenyan brothers and sisters a few of whom were actually campaigning for him in this election.
And yet in America he is American enough to be considered for the highest office of the land. Now of course he did, in his run to the nomination like he will again in the coming campaign, have to answer difficult questions about his patriotism. They wondered about his Muslim name and background in a country that is not likely to elect a non-Christian to the presidency; they wondered whether he agreed with his controversial pastor’s sentiments. They asked him the questions but still he won.
He won because he is an American. He was born there and where his father came from is of no constitutional consequence.
It reminds us, doesn’t it, of what we in Zambia did to our first president Kaunda.
After he had led us for 27 years, poured himself in the way he knew how into developing and uniting this country, after he had helped free the region from colonialism and apartheid, we declared him a non-Zambian making him, for some time, stateless.
We changed the constitution to prevent him from standing for the presidential election -an election he never would have won anyway. Well Chiluba cowardly did it but he did it in our collective name. That was one of the saddest episodes of our country’s history - the use of the Republican Constitution to prevent a citizen from contesting high office.
What we can learn from the Americans is that it is the voters who must speak. If as a people we feel we should never be ruled by a person whose great, great, great grandparents on both sides were not Zambian, we will not vote for a person whose surname is Patel or Smith. That decision though should be made in the voting booth.
Never via constitutional barricades on people the constitution itself declares are citizens.
For now though, I will continue to watch the Obama show.
I hope he gets the White House because the alternative is John Mc Cain who I do not at all fancy seeing on my television screen for the next four years.
lauramiti AT yahoo.co.uk
Labels: BARACK OBAMA, USA
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Lessons from the Obama nomination
By Editor
Saturday June 07, 2008 [04:00]
Barack Obama’s nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate has generated a lot of interest in the world, especially in our world – black Africa. But we wonder if this phenomenon is really properly understood. Sometimes people pay too much attention to form and not content or substance of the matter. In life, it’s very important to be clear about things and to fully understand why they have happened the way they have.
It is interesting that when two years ago we were calling for the same things opposition UPND president Hakainde Hichilema is today calling for, we were accused of being anti-Tonga and anti-UPND.
We are glad today that Hakainde is saying that regional, ethnic and tribal politics should not be condoned if democracy is to grow and be respected in Zambia. When we said the same things two years ago, we were accused of all sorts of things.
We are not complaining. We are actually very happy that what we said before is now making sense to other people. This is encouraging because this is the only way our country can move forward. We have come together from every corner of Zambia and should be good at uniting in our politics and in our work not only with those who hail from the same regions with us but also with those who come from other parts of the country.
It is good that our politicians are learning something positive from our American brothers on issues of race and ethnicity.
It has always been very clear to us that tribalism and regionalism are absolutely incapable of solving the many problems our country and our people today face. On the contrary, they can actually be a recipe for their aggravation.
There is need for our people to be helped and made to understand the social roots of the drama they are going through today and not allow them to be manipulated, cheated and confused by petty-minded politicians and other elements who offer the nation no meaningful political guidance.
We should help our people to give up the pernicious habit of identifying only with those who come from the same regions, speak the same language and have the same culture and traditions as themselves. And our politicians should be made to realise that a political agenda based on one region, or tribe cannot succeed.
It is the duty of every progressive Zambian, every citizen of goodwill, to bring up the next generation of Zambians free from tribalism, regionalism; free from the archaic attitude of ethnicism.
For our nation to live and prosper, the tribal consciousness, attitude or mentality must die and be replaced with the consciousness, attitude or mentality of being Zambian.
This is not to say we should discard our history and heritage. Our languages and other traditions must be preserved. But the preservation of all these should not be seen to be synonymous with the promotion of tribal consciousness.
We need to detribalise our thinking and approach to politics and life in general.
But political survival is much at the fore today among our politicians than principles. This is why some of our top politicians don’t feel ashamed to totally rely on regional or tribal support and use it as a springboard in their quest for political power.
Former Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi once characterised tribalism as a cancer. That was an accurate description of a demoralising challenge that we face today.
Tribalism is truly an evil that we have to overcome. For the nation to live, the tribe must be subordinated to it. If the tribe is put above the nation, then the nation will not survive and prosper.
We should structure our politics and our voting patterns in such a way that for one to win presidential elections in this country, one must garner the support that goes beyond his or her tribe; one must mobilise the support of many people from other regions and tribes. And because of this, the sheer sense of purpose and mission is supposed to lift one above the tribe or region. This is Obama’s lesson to us on this score.
Whatever type of political organisation, strategies and tactics we adopt, they must broaden democracy and foster unity in the nation. And although unity is an expedience – and not a principle – it must always be based on firm principles.
What we are seeing in America today is what happens in a nation when politicians in their struggle for power stick to values and are not so much swayed by political expediencies of the moment. This is what happens when one’s merits or abilities are made to be more important, to count more than the colour of his skin or his tribe.
It will not be possible for us to build a strong and prosperous nation on the basis of tribal considerations that totally disregard merit.
The most successful nations in the world are those that have put merit and the abilities of their people above other pious considerations of tribe, race or colour. Let those with much merit take the responsibility of leadership. Let’s have political formations that encourage and promote unity. Let’s oppose and denounce all policies and practices that tend to fragment and weaken our people and make it very difficult for them to tackle the serious problems they face daily.
It is said that unity is so powerful that it can illuminate the whole earth. But it is also true that unity without verity is no better than conspiracy. When people or groups of people who aspire for national leadership come together, they should do so in the interest of the nation and in the name of the national good.
But when people start congregating in regional or tribal camps, the bell should ring in our ears that the purpose for unity is false; it is not in the interest of achieving national unity; it is founded on clay soil and it has the capacity to collapse the nation.
The search for national leaders should not take a regional accent because what is being sought are national leaders for the whole nation. Our politics must be based on sound moral values which should serve to bind our people and not on divisive regional or tribal tendencies.
People who aspire for national leadership should be judged not on the basis of their heritage but on the qualities they offer.
In short, we are saying that what we should continue striving for is the broadening of democracy and the deepening of national unity in whatever we do as a people. As we search for national leaders, let us focus our attention on the questions of morals, principles and the capabilities of individuals to run the affairs of the state and government, as opposed to being blinded by divisive factors such as tribe or region.
What we should be looking for in leadership are virtuous men and women who, although human and fallible, will put the interests of our nation first and lead us to greater heights of prosperity and progress.
Let us always remember the very wise counsel from Mahatma Gandhi that for unity to be real, it must stand the severest strain without breaking.
These are the lessons – at least on the surface - the Obama nomination teaches us.
Labels: BARACK OBAMA, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA
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Obama's nomination is testimony that tribal politics must be a thing of the past - HH
By Lambwe Kachali
Saturday June 07, 2008 [04:00]
UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has said Barack Obama’s nomination as US Democratic presidential candidate is a testimony that petty politics about tribal ‘xenophobia’ in Zambia during general elections must be a thing of the past.
In an interview, Hichilema urged Zambians to seriously learn from the political developments in the United States.
Hichilema said it was interesting that despite the racial differences and prejudices that characterised the United States of America for a long time, the American people had demonstrated that race or colour was not the basis or measure of choosing genuine leaders. “This appears to me that the words of Martin Luther King have come to fruition when he said, ‘I have a dream that one day my children will not be judged by colour of their skin but by the content of their character.
’ It is clear for Zambians to see that our colleagues in America are saying that what brings them together is more than what divides them. They have a common agenda for a better future for themselves, their children and the future generations,” he said.
Hichilema said regional, ethnic and tribal politics should not be condoned if democracy is to grow and be respected in Zambia.
“This is an example that as Zambians we must rise above backward, retrogressive and bias politics such as tribe or ethic consideration in choosing our leaders. This shows that the petty talks about tribal xenophobia that surround our presidential elections must be discouraged at all cost,” Hichilema said. “As a country, we must now focus our attention on competence and policy alternatives that a party or group of people can bring to the leadership bracket of our country.”
Obama, 46 on Tuesday night shattered a barrier more than two centuries old to become the first black candidate ever nominated by a major political party for the nation’s highest office.
And Hichilema urged Zambians to salvage the country from further economic degradation and despair.
“Those ahead of us have done their part which we appreciate and now let them guide and support us to carry on with this very important task of development. We need to work together to deliver our country economically by creating more jobs, fight poverty, corruption and diseases in a meaningful way; build more school, to fight ignorance and offer other social amenities in a way that the standards of our people can be lifted with physical effect and social dignity,” he said.
Hichilema further said there was need for Zambians to advocate public debates among politicians aspiring for higher offices in order to enhance democracy.
Hichilema said if politicians could be exposed to debates on both radio and television, Zambians would be electing their leaders on merit.
He said with the high levels of poverty and unfair distribution of national resources, the change of government was inevitable in 2011.
Hichilema said UPND would work together with all Zambians in ensuring that people’s living standards improved.
Labels: BARACK OBAMA, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, USA
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UK opposition leader calls for more sanctions against Zimbabwe
Itayi GARANDE
Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:02:00 +0000
UNITED KINGDOM Liberal Democrats party leader, Nick Clegg has called for further sanctions against the government of Zimbabwe, the second time an opposition leader in the country has done so in a week. Nick Clegg called on the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown to halt all foreign currency remittances to Zimbabwe until after the elections, a move which is likely to hurt ordinary Zimbabweans.
Clegg said: “We must make clear to the Mugabe regime now that unless they agree to minimum standards for the June 27 Presidential election, we will act to cut off the supplies of foreign currency which help prop up their regime.”
In the statement, which was issued by Luke Croydon, Liberal Democrat Press Officer, Clegg acknowledges that this move is likely to hurt the ordinary Zimbabwean, but says that the British government had ‘no choice’, but to consider it.
“Of course this will have an effect on some ordinary Zimbabweans while the measures are in place. But we have a choice between taking tough action now or watching the long lingering death of the country,” said Clegg.
This is the second time British opposition parties have called on sanctions against Zimbabwe, leading some analysts to conclude that they are trying to gain political mileage using the crisis in the country.
On Monday this week, Conservative party Member of the European Parliament Neil Parish told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that there should be immediate regime change in Zimbabwe and that Movement for Democratic Change leader, Morgan Tsvangirai should be the President of Zimbabwe as he had ‘won’ the March 29 harmonized elections.
Earlier this week, Clegg and Tory MP, Andrew Robathan, took the British prime minister, Gordon Brown to task in parliament and pressured him to consider stripping President Robert Mugabe of the knighthood conferred to him by the Queen of England in 1994.
Brown’s response was very lukewarm: “I am less interested in the symbols than in the substance… and we have got to get international observers to be present at those elections so that they are seen by the world as free and fair.”
Clegg also said all other countries in the world should consider imposing ‘foreign currency remittance sanctions’ against Zimbabwe.
He said the “UK [should] block all foreign currency remittances to Zimbabwe that fund Mugabe’s odious regime, and … request our allies in the region, and the world, to do the same”.
But Brown was less enthusiastic, “I hope that the whole House will agree that that is the first priority to ensure that the elections are free and fair.”
Former Conservative leader, Michael Howard’s point on BBC programme, Daily Politics echoed Brown’s sentiments. He said the government would have to check carefully that such a move would not remove essential support from those members of the general public that rely on cash from overseas friends and family to survive.
Clegg whose party is a member of Liberals International where the opposition MDC is also a member has been critical of the Zimbabwean government since he won the leadership of the party.
In March he made headlines by saying the risk of violence in Zimbabwe would potentially be more dangerous than what was experienced in Kenya. There were approximately 300 deaths from pre-electoral ethnic clashes in Kenya and about 1,500 plus post-electoral deaths.
Clegg said "There is a very real threat of a Kenyan-style stand-off between the opposition and Mugabe's regime which is potentially even more dangerous, given the fragility of the Zimbabwean state."
Nick Clegg also made headlines in December 2007 after he defied political convention with a frank admission that he is an atheist — that he did not believe in God.
He later issued a retractive statement saying that, while he is “not an active believer” in God, his Spanish wife Miriam is a Roman Catholic and their two young sons will be brought up in the Catholic faith.
The latest call for more sanctions against Zimbabwe shows Clegg as potentially confused by which policy to adopt with regards to Zimbabwe.
Clegg has called Gordon Brown’s immigration policy inhumane because it would hurt ordinary people, yet his latest call would also hurt ordinary people.
"This Government has combined incompetence and inhumanity to create one of Europe's most inefficient and cruel asylum systems.
"Asylum seekers find themselves either treated with contempt or lost in a mass of government bureaucracy. The result is a stain on our moral authority as a nation," he said in March this year after an Independent Asylum Commission report attacked the UK's asylum system as 'shameful’.
Ironicallly, the Liberal Democrat leader has demanded an end to attacks on civilians in Darfur saying conflict should ‘under no circumstances’ hurt civilians, a move that contradicts his latest call to stop all foireign currency remittances to Zimbabwe.
itayi AT talkzimbabwe.com
Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, GORDON BROWN, NEOCOLONIALISM, SANCTIONS, UK, ZIMBABWE
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President Mugabe defends land policy
Philip Murombedzi in Rome, Italy
Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:57:00 +0000
President Robert Mugabe is surrounded by his security staff as he leaves his hotel in Rome with First Lady, Grace Mugabe. PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe on Tuesday defended the government’s land policy in a speech at a United Nations conference on the global food crisis, saying he is undoing a legacy left by Zimbabwe's former colonial masters.
He said Zimbabwe had "democratised land ownership" over the past decade and Zimbabweans were now the "proud owners" of land previously owned by a few thousand white farmers.
"Previously, this land was owned by a mere 4,000 farmers, mainly of British stock," he said.
The President blamed international sanctions for many of Zimbabwe's woes and said the policies of the Zimbabwe government have been warmly welcomed by the people of Zimbabwe adding that Zimbabwe's “primary agriculture policy objective remains that of ensuring national and household food security through our own production.”
"Over the past decade, Zimbabwe has democratized the land ownership patterns in the country, with over 300,000 previously landless families now proud landowners. My country's primary agriculture policy objective remains that of ensuring national and household food security through our own production," he said.
"It has, however, and regrettably so, elicited wrath from our former colonial masters. In retaliation ... the United Kingdom has mobilized her friends and allies in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand to impose illegal economic sanctions against Zimbabwe," he said.
The sanctions aim to "cripple Zimbabwe's economy and thereby effect illegal regime change in our country," he said.
In direct contrast to statements made in the British media, the President blamed food shortages in Zimbabwe on Britain and the West, as well as on climate change and soaring fuel prices globally, echoing the sentiments of other leaders who are attending the FAO conference, including President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal.
He pointed out a "marked disequlibrium" in world food equations which he said were threatening disaster for "all that humanity has achieved over the centuries".
"The trend towards global food crisis should be a cause for concern to all global leaders."
He also said global warming and the use of agricultural commodities for biofuels were linked to the crisis and needed an "urgent response" from all players in the world adding that the frequency and severity of droughts and flooods had increased over the past decade as the result of climate change and the effects have been felt in regions like Southern Africa that contribute very little to global greenhouse gas emissions.
The whole of Africa is responsible for a mere 5 % of all global greenhouse gas emissions.
The extreme weather conditions were exacerbating poverty levels, with farmers "trapped in a cycle of vulnerability" compounded by a decline in cereal stocks and "dramatic rises in the prices of food".
Soaring oil, chemical and fertiliser prices had also contributed. The result was that countries which were net food importers were "failing to achieve food security for their citizens". This was against a backdrop of "numerous challenges affecting agriculture in southern Africa" including the HIV/Aids virus and declining soil fertility.
"Parallel to these capacity boosting initiatives, there is need to demonstrate political commitment to the Doha Round negotiations that should deliver a sustainable reform of the global trade policies in agricultural commodities.
"I wish to restate that this summit needs to formulate robust action plans that recognize the need for fair trade policies in order to contribute towards the growth potential of the agriculture sector in the developing world."
Illegal regime change strategies
President Mugabe also said Britain and its allies sought to impose "illegal regime change" by channelling funds through NGOs to opposition parties, which were "the creation of the West", thus using food aid as a political weapon to force him from power.
He made these comments as Care International was banned from carrying out relief work in Zimbabwe for allegedly helping distribute opposition MDC-T campaign literature in the run-up to the March 29 harmonized election..
"But these constraints on our agricultural performance have not deterred us from taking measures to increase agricultural productivity, including irrigation schemes and small and medium sized dams," he said.
Western response
Most Western representatives at the summit said they would have no contact with President Mugabe. Some expressed outrage he was allowed to attend a summit on a global crisis of soaring food prices and shortages, given that many blame him for plummeting farm production in his own country.
Asked by a Channel 4 News journalist whether he saw it fit to attend the FAO Conference given the problems at home, President Mugabe was characteristically blunt, “Tell Gordon Brown that’s nonsense.”
The High-Level Conference on World Food Security
The Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization is hosting the three-day High-Level Conference on World Food Security and the Challenges of Climate Change and Bio-energy to try to solve the short-term emergency of hunger caused by soaring prices, and to help poor countries grow enough food to feed their own.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed world leaders saying that global food production must rise by 50 percent by 2030 to meet increasing demand.
Ban said that nations must minimize export restrictions and import tariffs during the food price crisis and quickly resolve world trade talks.
A global food crisis currently grips the world and threatens to push 100 million people into hunger, provoking food protests and could aggravate violence in war zones.
philipmurombedzi AT yahoo.com
Reporting from Rome, Italy
Labels: FAO, LAND REFORM, MUGABE, UN
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SAFADA calls for strong support system in deals
By Joan Chirwa
Friday June 06, 2008 [04:00]
SMALL-scale farmers in Zambia need a concrete and strong support system for survival once the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) come into effect, Small-Scale Farmers Development Agency (SAFADA) director Boyd Moobwe has said. And East and Southern Africa Small-Scale Farmers Forum (ESAFF) vice regional chairperson Mubanga Kasakula has said small-scale farmers have been facing numerous difficulties in influencing policies designed for them due to inadequate information about trade arrangements like the EPAs.
During a three-day workshop on the EPAs and regional integration which ended in Lusaka yesterday, Moobwe said small-scale farmers in East and Southern Africa regions had been operating under stress, hence opening competition with the European Union (EU) would completely put them out of business.
“The vision of the EPA is a very big one and it needs a lot of time to discuss and come up with concrete resolutions before Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries sign the full EPA in December this year. We don’t need to rush into signing this agreement, we need to have case studies and see what repercussions the trade arrangement would have on small-scale farmers,” he said.
“Our experience nationally and regionally is that the capacity of farmers and the organisations that represent them has been weak,” Kasakula said.
Zambia and a few other countries in the region have signed an interim EPA, which would be replaced by the full EPA, expected to be signed this December.
The EU engineered EPAs will require countries to engage in reciprocal trade once implemented. However, most ESA and ACP countries do not have the capacity to compete on the EU markets as farmers in the EU are heavily subsidised.
Labels: EPAs, FARMERS, WORKSHOPS
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IMF approves K261bn plan for economic growth
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Friday June 06, 2008 [04:00]
THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a US $79 million (about K261.9 billion) three-year plan to support Zambia’s efforts in poverty alleviation and sustained economic growth. According to a press statement released on Wednesday, the new Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) plan succeeds a previous arrangement successfully completed last year.
Following the IMF executive board's discussion, Takatoshi Kato, deputy managing director and acting chairman, commended the Zambian authorities “implementing prudent macroeconomic policies, which, in the context of high copper prices and debt relief, contributed to robust economic growth, markedly lower inflation, a reduction of poverty, and a build-up of international reserves.”
“The authorities remain committed to maintaining prudent macroeconomic policies and pursuing structural reforms to sustain high economic growth, further reduce poverty, diversify the economy and preserve macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability,” Kato said.
The statement further noted that the new PRGF arrangement would support the government's objectives of boosting economic growth and enhancing employment and income opportunities, especially for the poor, while maintaining macroeconomic stability.
The PRGF is the IMF's concessional facility for low-income countries. PRGF loans carry an annual interest rate of 0.5 per cent and are repayable over 10 years with a five-and-a-half-year grace period on principal payments.
Recently, a group of IMF executive directors that visited Zambia early this year indicated that the new financing package to replace PRGF would come with a smaller amount of money saying: “We can't give as much money as previously because we feel your economy is in a better shape than previously.”
Zambia’s previous PRGF expired at the end of September last year and the IMF indicated that the country had performed well under the financing facility that had been in place since June 2004.
The PRGF arrangement was approved on June 16, 2004 in the amount equivalent to SDR 220.1 million (approximately US$333.6 million or K1.3 trillion).
The PRGF-supported programmes are based on country-owned poverty reduction strategies adopted in a process involving civil society and development partners and articulated in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).
Labels: FUNDING, IMF, POVERTY
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'Infrastructure vital in FoI implementation'
By Mwila Chansa and Maluba Jere
Friday June 06, 2008 [04:00]
VISITING United States media law expert Kevin Goldberg has said proper infrastructure is cardinal in ensuring the effective implementation of the Freedom of Information law. And Goldberg said the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill, if enacted would not solve all the problems faced by the media.
Speaking when he paid a courtesy call on the Press Freedom Committee of The Post (PFC) on Wednesday, Goldberg said inadequate infrastructure had proved to be a challenge in implementing the free flow of information law in his country.
He said while freedom of information was a good law, it had its own problems in terms of delays in releasing information requested adding that journalists should put that factor into consideration even as they advocated for the law.
“Delay is one of the problems since reporters are not the largest users of information. Like in the United States, it will take twenty days to respond to your query so you need the right infrastructure in place,” he said.
Goldberg added that Freedom of Information offices in the US were not properly funded and lacked the necessary technology to respond to queries electronically so as to minimise delays.
He said in his country most users of the freedom of information law were those that did not have strict deadlines and that the law had worked well in reviewing government’s performance in responding to issues.
And Goldberg said if leaders had nothing to hide, they should freely give information to their citizens.
PFC Secretary General, Sheikh Chifuwe observed that some leaders had a lot to hide and that as things stood, they were not accountable.
Goldberg advised the Zambian media to educate the public on the importance of the FOI.
He said the FOI Act was not exclusively for the media but the public too.
And during a media workshop on Freedom of Information at the American Centre yesterday, Goldberg said access to government records was the most guaranteed ethics saying it was nearly impossible to misquote a written document.
“If say the government doesn’t like what you’ve written, they can get the same document and verify. They have every right to do that,” he said. “Unlike when you rely on people you may make mistakes but if you quote a written document then you can’t misquote and that protects against unethical behaviour.”
He also said Freedom of Information was the right of the public saying people had the right to know what goes on in the country.
Goldberg said secrecy bred mistrust and that openness and transparency limits corruption.
“A country cannot be truly democratic unless it has the full participation of all, in this case, the FOI needs not to be a secret,” said Goldberg. “Sunlight is the best of disinfections. Information is power and holding it back is denying people power.”
Labels: FOI, THE POST
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EU sets aside K62bn for agricultural development
By Fridah Zinyama
Friday June 06, 2008 [04:00]
THE European Commission (EC) has allocated a total grant of K62 billion to support the development of agriculture and the private sector in Zambia. During the official handover ceremony at Tecla Lodge yesterday, EU head of delegation, Dr Derek Fee said out of the K62 billion, K29 billion had been granted to the Zambia Bureau of Standards to improve the agency’s service delivery capacity under the EC –funded Capacity Building for Private Sector Development Programme (CBPSDP).
“The grant will be used to purchase new equipment for four new test laboratories, refurbish the laboratories and other capacity building activities,” he said.
Dr Fee said the Commission has further awarded a total of K8 billion in grants to eight projects under the CBPSDP.
“The support is designed to assist private sector intermediary organisations to better serve their members’ interests and to assist civil society organisations to contribute to the development of an enabling environment for private sector-led economic growth,” he said.
Dr Fee said out of the eight projects, six were submitted by private sector intermediary organisations and would receive about K7 billion through the CBPSDP.
“The projects are expected to enhance the capacity and sustainability of the beneficiary private sector intermediary organisations, consequently improving their existing services or introducing new services,” he said. “The other two successful projects, worth about K1 billion, were submitted by civil society organisations.
Dr Fee explained that these projects would contribute to the participation of civil society organisations in essential economic issues, including trade policy and private sector activities.
“This is meant to encourage civil society influence and to maximise its role in poverty reduction activities in Zambia,” he said.
Meanwhile, the EC has given a total of K25 billion in grants to seven projects under the EC – funded Support to Agricultural Diversification and Food Security in Western and North-Western provinces.
The seven projects will explore innovative ways to support communities and small-scale farmers in the two provinces to better utilise market opportunities.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, EU
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ZANU-PF, MDC to establish subcommittee on violence
By George Chellah in Harare, Zimbabwe
Friday June 06, 2008 [04:00]
OPPOSITION MDC has appealed to regional bodies and the international community to take a tough stance against the Zimbabwean government to allow people to express themselves freely in the forthcoming presidential runoff. And the ZANU-PF and MDC have agreed to establish a sub-committee to coordinate with the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) in curbing political violence. MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa yesterday said the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the
African Union and the international community should persuade the Zimbabwean government to ensure that people participated freely in the runoff.
"The MDC remains convinced that whatever antics the regime engages in, the people of Zimbabwe have spoken and they will speak again. We are ready to re-run and re-win. On June 27, the people of Zimbabwe will vote for a new President who is ready to deliver a new Zimbabwe," he said.
Chamisa said ZANU-PF was masquerading as a victim of political violence when it was a perpetrator.
He said the violence had spread to various parts of the country.
"It cannot be a free and fair election when our people continue to be killed, brutalised and maimed. Armed militia have brought the spectre of death in both rural and urban homes, forcing the victors in the last election to flee into the mountains. Teachers have not been spared. They have also been killed and brutalised and most have fled their schools," Chamisa said. "ZANU-PF thugs have barricaded rural roads with impunity while villagers in most rural areas have been forced to attend night vigils where they are threatened with death if they vote for president Tsvangirai. Villagers cannot move from one village to the other without Zanu-PF "passes."
He said as a nation, Zimbabwe had retreated centuries back to the Stone Age politics of violence and coercion.
"Ten thousand homes have been torched throughout the country. The regime has continued, with neither shame nor compunction, its barbaric onslaught on innocent citizens for expressing their sovereign will on 29 March," Chamisa said. "Mugabe and ZANU-PF is masquerading as a victim when he is a perpetrator of violence. The public media, especially the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and The Herald, have catalysed violence through hate language against the MDC."
And the ZANU-PF and MDC, who have agreed to establish a sub-committee to work with the police in curbing violence, have also agreed to be signatories to a declaration crafted by the multi-party liaison committee, which was facilitated by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in condemning political violence ahead of the presidential run-off.
The multi-party liaison committee is made up of representatives of ZANU-PF, MDC and the police.
ZEC deputy director for public relations Tendayi Pamire confirmed the agreement on state media yesterday.
Representatives of the MDC and ZANU-PF had a closed-door meeting in Harare on Wednesday, which was facilitated by ZEC.
He said both political parties had agreed to two strategies for conflict resolution.
"They agreed to establish a sub-committee that will work with the police in curbing political violence and to be signatories to a declaration crafted by the multi-party liaison committee condemning political violence," Pamire said.
Pamire said the multi-party liaison committee would meet again next week Tuesday to discuss their terms of reference.
He further said ZEC has approved the request by both parties to increase the number of election agents.
"The commission has approved the request by political parties contesting the run-off to increase the number of election agents from one to two per polling station and from one to four at the National Command Centre for transparency purposes," he said.
Pamire said ZEC also updated the two political parties on electoral issues, especially postal voting.
The MDC's rallies in Hwange and Victoria Falls were banned by police last weekend.
And Tsvangirai and his team were on Wednesday detained at a roadblock in Lupane area in southwestern Zimbabwe but were later released.
Tsvangirai's counterpart Professor Arthur Mutambara, who leads another faction of the MDC, was arrested last Sunday and charged with publishing statements prejudicial to the state and for contempt of court after he recently wrote a newspaper article criticising President Robert Mugabe for his government's handling of elections in March.
Prof Mutambara was released on a Z$20 billion bail last Tuesday and is due to appear in court.
Labels: MDC, ZANU-PF
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'Govt hasn't approved budget proposals for most councils'
By Namakau Nalumango
Friday June 06, 2008 [04:00]
LoCAL government minister Sylvia Masebo yesterday said the government has not approved most of this year’s budgets for the councils countrywide because their proposals were unrealistic and unattainable. Announcing the 2008 councils’ annual estimates of income and expenditure, Masebo said budgets for Lusaka, Ndola and Kitwe city councils were not approved, among others.
However, Masebo said budgets of all the municipal councils were approved but with amendments. These included Mongu, Mufulira, Chililabombwe, Chingola, Mansa, Mbala, Chipata, Solwezi, Kabwe, Kasama, Luanshya, Choma, Mazabuka and Kalulushi.
She said of the 54 rural councils, only 51 councils’ budgets had been approved across the country but with some amendments.
“We have, however, rejected the 2008 budgets for three councils in North-Western Province, namely; Mwinilunga, Mufumbwe and Kasempa district councils because the budgets were not prepared according to the local government standards. The budgets were also found to be unrealistic and unattainable,” she said.
Masebo said the councils whose budgets were approved with amendments or not approved had made proposals for improved salaries and conditions of service without taking into account their capacity to pay the proposed salaries and allowances. She said in certain cases, the proposed increments were meant to benefit senior officers than the ordinary workers. She said there would be no salary increment and any improvement of conditions of service this year because councils have to first clear the backlog of salary arrears and other outstanding statutory obligations and suppliers of goods and services. Masebo said it was not government’s responsibility to clear such debts.
She said, however, it was important to note that in the approved budgets, the issue of proposed salary increments and improved conditions of service had been considered on council-by-council basis based on last year’s budget performance. She said negotiations for improved salaries and conditions of service for unionised and non-unionised staff should be within the council’s capacity to pay and also provide services to communities where the revenue comes from.
Masebo also said most councils had proposed sharp increases in fees and charges without taking into account the local communities’ ability to pay. She said that property tax was the major source of revenue for the councils. However, Masebo said it had since been observed that some councils were basing their budgets in anticipation of a valuation roll which had not yet been approved.
“For these councils, we removed this component as it was not within the provisions of the law. Until the roll is approved, it must not be effected,” Masebo said. “This will also apply to personal levy. As councils, they need to know how many people are in their districts and are eligible to pay personal levy and have a register in place for follow ups.”
She urged all councils to strengthen their revenue collection capacity because at the moment, the collection efficiency of revenue was very low almost in all councils.
“They seem to be good only at overcharging their communities without corresponding service delivery,” she said.
Masebo said in preparing their budgets, councils were directed to adhere to guidelines which included realistic sources of revenue, payments of statutory obligations such as ZRA income taxes and LASF/NAPSA pension contributions. The councils were also expected to ensure that 40 per cent of their total budgets went towards provision of services.
Masebo said the budgets were delayed because it was in national interest that they were scrutinised to ensure legal compliance and that only budgets with a vision to carry out service delivery were approved because it is only such budgets that the government can use to foster development and service provision to the local communities.
Masebo said a careful scrutiny of all budgets revealed that Southern Province met all the budget guidelines with Mazabuka Municipal Council’s budget being approved without any amendments while North-Western, Luapula and Northern provinces ranked lowest in terms of meeting the guidelines.
Masebo said the government through her ministry had produced a standard template for fees and charges to be applied by all 72 councils although in some cases sources of revenue based on levies, fees and charges would be council-based and would be approved as such. She said any revenue outside this template must be in consultation with her ministry in order to rationalise or standardise revenue sources and also to protect the community from paying various license fees and charges which are exorbitant or a nuisance.
Masebo said the government has noted with satisfaction that most councils were now generating more revenue from rates. She said for this reason, the government would financially support selected councils to update their valuation rolls this year and funding for selected services such as water and sanitation and markets constructions. Masebo said four city councils would also be assisted to pay off outstanding retirees benefits.
She also warned councils against failure to produce monthly receipts and payments saying that was an offence which could result in forfeiture of grants by the offending councils. Masebo further warned provincial local government officers against underperforming. She said even some budgets which were poorly done could have been detected if officers involved were more effective in their duties.
Labels: 2008 BUDGET, COUNCILS, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, SYLVIA MASEBO
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'No amount of money would buy Levy to go against Mugabe'
By Lambwe Kachali
Friday June 06, 2008 [04:00]
CHIEF government spokesperson Mike Mulongoti has described reports by the Zimbabwean media that some SADC leaders blocked President Levy Mwanawasa's attempts to convene a meeting on Zimbabwe in Tokyo prior to the runoff as
malicious and unfounded. And foreign affairs minister Kabinga Pande said no amount of money would buy President Mwanawasa to go against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
Reacting to stories in the Herald and Chronicle newspapers of June 2 which indicated that some Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of state blocked President Mwanawasa from convening a special meeting to review political developments in Zimbabwe prior to the forthcoming presidential runoff at the just-ended Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) summit, Mulongoti said the statement was wrong and misleading.
Mulongoti said President Mwanawasa, as SADC chairman in fact, did convene the meeting with SADC leaders.
He said among those who attended the consultative meeting were King Mswati III of Swaziland, Malawi's Bingu Wa Mutharika, Tanzania's Jakaya Kikwete, Mozambique's Armando Guebuza and Namibia's Hifikepunye Pohamba.
"Others were South African President Thabo Mbeki, Vice-President of Botswana, as well as the prime ministers of Lesotho and Angola as well as foreign ministers of Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Zimbabwe," Mulongoti said.
He said during the meeting, President Mwanawasa reminded the heads of state and governments about the resolutions that were passed at the SADC extraordinary summit held in Lusaka in April this year.
"It was unfortunate to observe that during this consultative meeting, some leaders concentrated on a procedural debate with the Zimbabwe minister of foreign affairs by referring to the Dar-es-Salaam organ summit in March, 2008 during which President Mbeki of South Africa was mediator to resolve the political impasse in Zimbabwe, instead of giving an update on the electoral process in Zimbabwe as was expected," he said.
Mulongoti said President Mwanawasa proposed that some SADC observer mission be sent to Zimbabwe to monitor the runoff without delay.
He said it was not proper for some members to allow bureaucratic considerations to derail efforts that were aimed at finding a solution to end the political problems in Zimbabwe.
"It must be realised that Zambia, through President Mwanawasa's leadership was among the countries that were against the isolation of Zimbabwe by the western world. As we may recall, Zambia has made several attempts to advise some government leaders in Zimbabwe to stop the uncalled for attacks on President Mwanawasa and his administration as well as the protest through a note by the ministry of foreign affairs. President Mwanawasa found it difficult to reconcile with his conscience when some heads of state and government spoke at length deliberating on the procedural debate and consequently ended the meeting inconclusively," said Mulongoti.
And Pande refuted allegations that President Mwanawasa had received money from some western countries to hold the Lusaka SADC summit and a consultative meeting in Tokyo.
Pande said it was not correct that President Mwanawasa had also threatened to resign as SADC chairman after his alleged move was blocked by other leaders as reported in the Zimbabwean media.
"I was at the meeting and nothing like what was reported in the two newspapers happened. The meeting was held and one of the urgent issues that were discussed was sending of SADC observer mission to Zimbabwe. President Mwanawasa does not need to be paid for him to execute his duties SADC chairman. Our interest in Zimbabwe is to ensure that harmony and peace prevails after the run-off," said Pande.
According to the Herald and Chronicle newspapers, diplomatic sources said President Mwanawasa was blocked from convening the consultative meeting by other regional leaders.
The papers reported that President Mwanawasa threatened to resign after he was blocked but that SADC leaders described the Zambian President's move as unnecessary and improper because the Zimbabwean issue was being handled by the regional body with President Mbeki as mediator.
Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, MIKE MULONGOTI, MWANAWASA, SADC, ZIMBABWE
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