(NEWZIMBABWE) Make or break meeting for MDC-T
30/01/2014 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
OPPOSITION MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai's political future faces a stern test Friday when his party's national executive meets to discuss a call by a top official for his resignation.
Reports Thursday indicated growing fissures in the party with provinces being stampeded into resolutions in support of the veteran trade unionist.
"They failed to get Harare province to make a decision on the issue of an early congress while in Mashonaland West the decision was that the party should go to an early congress to resolve the leadership crisis," an insider said.
The MDC-T was thrown into turmoil last week after deputy treasurer General Elton Mangoma wrote a damning letter to Tsvangirai calling on the former Prime Minister to resign.
Tsvangirai was also reportedly offered a $3 million golden handshake to leave the a party he has led for no less than 15 years since formation in 1999.
Biggie Haurovi the Mashonaland West provincial spokesperson confirmed the unanimous decision to allow succession debate in the party.
"These issues are being discussed at the top but we welcome debate of any kind,” Haurovi said.
“We agreed that Mangoma is allowed to speak his mind as long as it's within the party and that the necessary party structures should decide on the issue of an early congress.”
In Harare provincial chairman, Paul Madzore chaired a stormy meeting also attended by deputy secretary general Tapiwa Mashakada as well as organising secretary Nelson Chamisa at which no resolutions were made.
Madzore refused to comment only quipping: "Talk to the party spokesperson I am not qualified to speak on those matters his (spokesperson’s) name is Douglas Mwonzora.”
A disappointed Chamisa reportedly walked out in a huff while former Harare chairperson Morgan Femai resorted to name calling.
"He (Chamisa) was saying Mangoma should have gone to Parliament to represent the disabled and not real people as well as other unprintable words" said the source.
Mangoma has confirmed he has been threatened with violence.
But Tsvangirai's spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka said his boss had moved quickly to defuse growing tensions.
“Tsvangirai is a democrat who moved in quickly and quelled down tempers. He lives democracy and does not only speak about it,” said Tamborinyoka.
Chitungwiza province has also made a resolution to support Mangoma who is now reportedly fronting a group calling itself the renewal team.
Mangoma had, by last night, reportedly nominated former Makoni South legislator Pishayi Muchauraya as spokesperson.
Said Muchauraya: "I can confirm that I will be speaking on behalf of Mangoma from now on. We are aware that Tsvangirai will use coercion to force people into making resolutions in support of him.
“We are aware Chitungwiza and Mashonaland West province voted in favour of an early congress but Harare could not. Now Tsvangirai will be attending provincial councils which is irregular people must be allowed to express their views without undue force.
"One of the founding values of our party is freedom of speech and that should be sacrosanct. We are aware that he wants to force other provinces such as Manicaland to vote in his favour. He has carried the day in Midlands North through sheer force as we speak
“We are a Democratic Party and should be different from ZANU PF. The problem we have is a crisis of leadership and Tsvangirai will not lead us to state power in 2018. We need new hands.”
However, Mangoma's biggest hurdle could be the national executive set to meet later Friday. The group is supposed to decide on whether the issue should be passed on to the national council for a decision.
A national executive member claimed Mangoma would be suspended by the national executive for bringing the party name into disrepute.
Party spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora could not be contacted for comment while Chamisa was not picking up his mobile phone.
Labels: ELTON MANGOMA, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI
Read more...
(NEWZIMBABWE) Moneytrouble stoking MDC-T leadership fight
Can they save him? ... Tsvangirai is said to be still popular with ordinary MDC-T members
30/01/2014 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
COMMENT - Is it any surprise that the 'party of business' would break up over money? - MrK
MONEY appears to be at the heart of the bitter MDC-T leadership dispute it has emerged, with leader Morgan Tsvangirai said to be hard up and in need for new cash to fund his lavish lifestyle at a time party finances are woefully sparse and donors can’t be bothered.
The opposition party’s national executive is set to meet Friday over an explosive proposal (read it in full here) by deputy national treasurer, Elton Mangoma, for Tsvangirai to immediately retire so the party can choose a new leadership.
Tsvangirai refused to quit, in a development that has divided the party.
The leadership will meet fully aware the party risks a breakup as devastating as the 2005 split which saw former secretary general Welshman Ncube and several senior officials disgruntled with Tsvangirai’s leadership style walk away.
Mangoma is said to represent an increasingly emboldened group in the top leadership that is pressing for an early or extra-ordinary elective congress, believing Tsvangirai has become an insufferable liability and must be replaced before new elections which could happen before the scheduled 2018.
Sources close to leading protagonists in the Mangoma camp told NewZimbabwe.com that Tsvangirai was running out of money for his private needs and sparked angst after recently reaching out to President Robert Mugabe through a Harare Catholic cleric said to be close to the Zanu PF leader.
Tsvangirai is said to feel that, as a former Prime Minister, he is entitled to some kind of a subsistence package which should include the mansion in Harare’s leafy Highlands suburb acquired for him during the tenure of the coalition government.
Mugabe is said to have told the MDC-T leader he was open to considering ways of alleviating his plight on condition Tsvangirai accepts he lost the July 2013 elections fair and square and publicly endorse the vote as legitimate.
After Mugabe made his position clear through the emissary, the MDC-T leader reportedly travelled to South Africa where he is said to have asked former President Thabo Mbeki to arrange face-to-face talks with his rival.
Mbeki’s office said he was out of the country and unavailable for comment while efforts to reach the Catholic cleric were unsuccessful.
With violent attacks reported against those thought to be aligned to the Mangoma group, both sides were not willing to comment openly Thursday, fearing reprisals.
However a member of the Mangoma group said: “We have heard chatter to that effect and understand Tsvangirai is minded to endorse Mugabe if that can help address his financial problems.
“In fact, Tsvangirai has told the top leadership of the party that he wants to meet Mugabe to discuss national issues. But you will also remember that he did say, publicly in interviews, that he wanted to meet Mugabe to discuss his pension and the matter of the Highlands house.”
Reports dismissed as nonsense by the MDC-T leader’s supporters claimed Tsvangirai was offered a $3 million-sweatener to encourage him to walk.
On Thursday it was insisted that he was in fact open to the idea, if the pay-out sum could be bumped up some.
“Tsvangirai said he wanted more money because his wife had died during the time of the democratic struggle. He also claims he lost a lot and deserved more than the $3 million offered,” an insider privy to the developments told New Zimbabwe.com.
But one of Tsvangirai’s most vocal supporters dismissed the allegations as a poor attempt at demeaning the character of the party leader.
“There is nothing like that; it’s just an attempt at character decimation. Mr Tsvangirai never met Mugabe and he is not (financially) desperate.
"In any case, as a former trade unionist, it would be ridiculous to suggest he could ever be hostile to the idea of being in want,” said the official.
Reminded that Tsvangirai has, in the past, said he wanted to discuss with Mugabe the matter of his pension and referred to the need for dialogue in his recent so-called state of the nation address, the official said Tsvangirai wanted to talk about problems affecting the country, not his personal welfare.
Meanwhile, sources also said there was increasing anxiety over party finances with donors making it clear they would not make a penny available as long as Tsvangirai remained leader.
It was claimed usual donors are disaffected with Tsvangirai, blaming him for the party’s defeat in last year’s elections.
The former premier’s scandalised private life and association with women who have ties to Zanu PF has not helped matters, especially with prudish elements in the donor community.
In his letter, Mangoma asked Tsvangirai: “How will we put closure to the question of misuse of funds, and ensure that our friends regain confidence that donations will be channelled to the people’s project going forward?”
But the Tsvangirai supporter said the MDC-T was, like other organisations, feeling the pressures of operating in a failing economy.
He however rejected the idea that party would contemplate sacrificing its leader for the pleasure of supposedly disaffected donors.
“The MDC was not formed by donors; it was not formed for donors and it is not run by donors,” he said.
“The party was formed for, is run by and for the people of Zimbabwe. We have a paid up membership of more than 600,000 who sacrifice their hard earned cash to support a cause they believe is justified.
“The suggestion that any partners are refusing to help because they are not happy with the leader is just an excuse; it is a scapegoat used to mask the failure of those asked with raising funding for the movement.”
Asked why Tsvangirai was opposed to an early congress since it could endorse his leadership and silence the rebels, the official said the MDC-T would not be stampeded into calling an early congress for the convenience of power hungry individuals.
“The president is not afraid of a congress. He is not afraid and cannot be of the people; to suggest he is afraid of the people is like saying the Pope is afraid of Christmas. Turkeys, on the other hand, will be anxious about Christmas - and understandably so,” he said.
“But we will not be stampeded into any process for the convenience of power hungry individuals. The fact of the matter is that the party has a Constitution which should be followed; the party has processes which must be adhered to.”
Asked what they would do if they failed to force a congress and Tsvangirai clings onto power, a member of the Mangoma groups said: “We will cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Another added: “We have Plan B.”
Labels: ELTON MANGOMA, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI
Read more...
(NEWZIMBABWE) Mangoma is right: Tsvangirai must go!
29/01/2014 00:00:00
by mdc 2014
I HAVE had time to read and reflect on the contents and the context of the MDC deputy treasurer Elton Mangoma’s letter on leadership renewal and his call for Morgan Tsvangirai to leave the position of president of the MDC and I am inclined to agree with Mangoma’s proposals as the panacea to the challenges engulfing the MDC.
It is sad that some people who have barely read the letter have directed verbosity and are hurling verbal violence at Mangoma with naught appreciation of the contents and context of his letter. Some have resorted to name calling while others to emotional explosions, with some even threatening to die. Some have resorted to social media platforms where everyone and anyone with a different opinion is threatened with physical violence.
The central motif in Mangoma’s letter is that Tsvangirai has done a lot for the MDC and the people of Zimbabwe but however he has reached a point where he cannot do more and as such must gracefully leave the office of the president. As Mangoma puts it, the MDC is at a crossroads following the outcome of the July election. This has been compounded by the failure by the party to enunciate a programme of action after the electoral “loss”. Instead of dominating headlines with programmes and policy pronouncements that bear meaning to the people of Zimbabwe, Tsvangirai’s malfeasances have come to be the subject of the formula.
Tsvangirai’s escapades with women of all ages have all but demonstrated that he is incapable of managing his own affairs - what more national issues. His love affairs with numerous women from South Africa to Bulawayo - and God knows where else - which he has not denied even to this point, have eroded the confidence people had in him. The Zimbabwean society, with our strong moral beliefs, does not condone such kind of impish behaviour particularly from people who ought to be leaders in society. The electorate will punish them.
It is also evident that despite Tsvangirai’s deportment and assertion that he stands for and with the poor, he has long abandoned them. The shift in his lifestyle after joining government is confirmation of his penchant for the odorous things in life and livin la vida loca.
Leaving in a five million dollar mansion whose acquisition is shrouded in a lot mystery; crisscrossing the world in a an exorbitantly priced yacht, the Legend of the Seas; the one million dollar shameful so-called wedding ceremony at the aristocratic Rain Tree and many other blue-blooded tendencies all but confirm his departure from the founding ideology of the MDC. As aptly put by Mangoma, Tsvangirai has reached diminishing returns and no longer instils confidence in the electorate anymore. His leadership qualities, perforated by his unquenchable appetite for women, have to put a dent on the electorates’ confidence in the party and have thrown the party into disgrace. Tsvangirai’s personal behaviour is the least one can expect from a leader and is crippling the party. Mangoma presents five critical questions which even zealous MDC activists have not answered.
I repeat these questions for the convenience of these zealous supporters and those who have not bothered to read his document; 1) How will you be able to undertake the reform agenda that we failed to do when we were in government and you had executive power? 2) How will you answer the questions that we failed to care enough for our people and that we used our time in government for personal aggrandizement, personal wealth accumulation as symbolized by the current impasse on Highlands residence? 3) How will you put closure to the issue of women in your life and ensure that these will not continue to erode your and the party’s brand? 4) How will we put closure to the question of misuse of funds, and ensure that our friends regain confidence that donations will be channelled to the people’s project going forward? 5) How will we make sure that trust, team spirit and mutual confidence, currently eroded through the misconduct of the primary elections, violence visited on staff and myself, lack of constitutionalism and failure to follow procedure on appointment of officers to the National Executive and key public offices including diplomatic posts is restored?
These are hard-hitting questions that demand answers and it is clear that Tsvangirai does not have an answer to each of these questions. Even those who are saying Mangoma is erroneous have not even attempted to answer a single question. These are the questions the electorate is asking. These are questions even numerous people in the MDC structures are asking. With the Zimbabwean economy in calamitous distress and with Zanu PF drably failing to deliver on their election promises, Mangoma makes a precise point that a strong MDC is not a luxury but a necessity. He is also correct that Tsvangirai, in his current state, is not able to provide the requisite leadership.
The challenge confronting the MDC today lies in the transmission and perfection of decadent habits that are exhibited by Zanu PF. The culture of violence, intolerance and hubris, among other sickening traits, are surely finding root in the party. MDC activists need to understand that even if they love Tsvangirai to the bone marrow, their support alone is not sufficient to deliver election victory for the MDC. An MDC leader, as Mangoma rightfully puts it, also needs to instil confidence in the electorate. Activists must also desist from comparing Tsvangirai to Mugabe and saying because Mugabe did it then Tsvangirai can also do it. There is wisdom in daring to be different.
Mangoma is also right that if the MDC entertains any hope of being present on the Zimbabwean political scene in the longer term, it requires a new leadership to instil confidence in the electorate. Tsvangirai is not the MDC and the MDC is not Tsvangirai. In any normal democratic party, a leader who loses elections as Tsvangirai has done becomes a liability to the party. Tsvangirai’s brand is not distending but tumbling. He should not take the party down that road.
Thus, and to any forward thinking person who yearns for democracy in Zimbabwe and in the MDC, Mangoma is accurate. Tsvangirai must do the honourable thing and leave the office of the MDC president and allow the party to move forward. The argument that he needs to complete his five-year term sounds obnoxious and unrelated to the party mandate which is to deliver the people of Zimbabwe from political, social and economic challenges. It is clear to me that for the party to move forward, Tsvangirai must be able to answer Mangoma's questions in the affirmative; that would be a good starting point. That is a demonstration of accountable and transparent leadership.
Claire Matombo is an MDC activist who lives in Harare. She can be contacted on clairematombo@yahoo.com
Labels: ELTON MANGOMA, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI
Read more...
(NEWZIMBABWE) Resign, Mangoma tells Tsvangirai
26/01/2014 00:00:00
by Gilbert Nyambabvu
THE war of attrition in the MDC-T has escalated a notch with deputy treasurer Elton Mangoma openly telling party leader Morgan Tsvangirai to resign and make way for a new leadership.
Mongama told NewZimbabwe.com Sunday that he presented his proposals to Tsvangirai last week at a meeting attended by the former premier, his deputy Thokozani Khupe and secretary general Tendai Biti. Tsvangirai has said he will see out his current five-year term which ends in 2016 and seek another mandate then.
But under Mangoma’s proposals, he should resign immediately and hand over power to Khupe pending an extraordinary congress that would choose a new leadership for the party.
“I normally give verbal advice to the party president but this time the issues were serious enough to be put in writing so that he could also take time to reflect on them. My understanding is that our discussions were extremely amicable and that the president will take time to reflect on my proposals,” Mangoma said in an interview Sunday.
NewZimbabwe.com understands that after the meeting between the four leaders, Mangoma’s document was discussed by the party’s standing committee and will now be put to national council which, according to Mangoma, can call an extraordinary congress by a majority vote.
Another party official close to the developments claimed that Tsvangirai had lost the top leadership with only Nelson Chamisa, Lovemore Moyo and Morgen Komichi still openly backing him.
“Only four people in the 11-member standing committee rejected Mangoma’s proposals during last week’s meeting. Tsvangirai lost the vote in the committee. The battle will now go to the national council,” said the official.
Mangoma dismissed as a fabrication weekend reports claiming the standing committee refused to call an extra-ordinary congress.
“That is not correct. Those stories were completely fabricated; the Standing Committee never refused to call an extraordinary congress,” he said.
“Equally, suggestions that we are urging Tsvangirai to resign because we are afraid congress will not support our call for leadership renewal are incorrect.
“We are ready for congress. But we are merely saying we do not want a person who has done so much for the party and the country to be subjected to the embarrassment of defeat in a leadership contest.
“No one should be a leader for ever. We do not want to find ourselves with the same problems Zanu PF is facing over succession. There are many people in the MDC who are capable and an extraordinary congress will be decisive in that respect.”
However, a top Tsvangirai loyalist told us that there “are no extraordinary circumstances warranting an extraordinary congress except the extraordinary ambitions of those calling for one”.
“Unfortunately Mangoma is not reading the party’s constitution properly. Clearly his mind is clouded by his hunger for power,” said the official, asking not to be named.
“It’s not the national council which calls an extraordinary congress; it is actually the party’s district and provincial structures and, at the moment, there are no issues coming from there. The only extraordinary issues are those Mangoma is creating in his mind.”
Tsvangirai has since stated that he welcomes discussion of leadership renewal within the party but insists he cannot be asked to step down because of the party’s defeat in the July 31 elections which he claims were fraudulent.
But Mangoma said this was “not the first election which has been stolen”.
“We are not urging leadership change necessarily because of the last elections,” he said.
“Again this is not the only election which has been stolen. The problem is that the leader is looking backwards while we are looking ahead. We are saying is, what can we do to make sure that net next election is not stolen?
“We cannot wait for 2016 because the next election may not be in 2018; we could have new fresh elections before that and we party must be in a position to make sure that that vote is not stolen as well.”
His document proposes amending the party’s constitution to accommodate Tsvangirai so that he is not idle in retirement.
“I envisage amending the constitution to create the position of founding president,” he wrote.
“It (position) will give the effect that you will continue to be closely associated with the party and the people’s project, preserve your legacy as a democrat and a brave fighter against dictatorship and one-man-rule.
“This also enables establishing an institute for governance and social development, which the party will assist in fundraising for the establishment of the same.”
Asked if he was interested in taking over from Tsvangirai, Mangoma said he would serve in what ever role he was assigned by the party's members.
Labels: ELTON MANGOMA, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI
Read more...
(HERALD ZW) No plans to unbundle Zesa: Mavhaire
October 25, 2013
Herald Reporter
Government has no intention to dismantle Zesa and place the power utility in private hands as envisaged by the Electricity Amendment Act passed by Parliament during the subsistence of the inclusive Government this year, a Cabinet Minister has said. The Act has since been declared a legal nullity.
Energy and Power Development Minister Dzikamai Mavhaire said contrary to the Electricity Amendment Act, that sought to unbundle Zesa, his ministry would not allow that to happen as that was not consistent with Government policy and the Zanu-PF manifesto.
“The position is that I have no intention of dismantling Zesa,” said Minister Mavhaire last night.
“There is no way I can put Zesa in private hands.
“The only set up where we will allow private players is under the arrangement of Independent Power Producers that we have licensed.”
Clerk of Parliament Mr Austin Zvoma has since written to the Registrar of the High Court and the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet demanding the return of Electricity Amendment Act 2013, which sought to unbundle Zesa Holdings into an indeterminate number of privately-owned successor companies.
The planned unbundling and privatisation — which was reportedly being orchestrated by some officials at the Energy and Power Development Ministry in cahoots with former minister Mr Elton Mangoma — would have effectively put the critical power sector into the hands of unknown Western investors picked at Mr Mangoma’s discretion.
Minister Mavhaire last night, described the Act as “null and void.”
He said if firms would be formed under the unbundling of Zesa, Government would have 100 percent stake.
Sources close to developments say everything was being done without the knowledge of Minister Mavhaire, amid reports that officers at Zesa were already working on logos for the new companies, again without the knowledge of the minister.
The Amendment Act was hurried through Parliament by MDC-T legislators, who took advantage of the fact that their Zanu-PF counterparts were holed in their constituencies for the party’s primary elections.
The Bill was passed before being sent for Presidential assent, which was, however, granted after the mandatory 21 days had lapsed, making the resultant Act a legal nullity.
Section 51 of the old Constitution, which was still operational ahead of the effective date of the new Constitution, stated that:
1) Subject to the provisions of section 52 and Schedule 4, the power of Parliament to make laws shall be exercised by Bills passed by the House of Assembly and the Senate and assented to by the President.
(2) When a Bill is presented to the President for assent he shall, subject to the provisions of this section, within twenty-one, days, either assent or withhold his assent.
The Electricity Amendment (No.5 of 2013) Act sought to repeal Section 68 of the Electricity Act (Chapter 13:19) which was to be replaced with a new Section 68 Formation of Successor Companies which stipulates that:
(1) The Minister shall, not later than six months after the fixed date, take such steps as are necessary under the Companies Act (Chapter 24:03) to secure the formation of one or more of the following companies limited by shares, which shall be the successor company or successor companies to the Authority –
(a) a company to take over the electricity generation plants of the Authority;
(b) a company to take over the transmission system of the Authority;
(c) a company to take over from the Authority the distribution and supply of electricity;
(d) such other companies as the Minister may approve.
The proviso, “such other companies as the Minister may approve’’ was a clear blank cheque to Mr Mangoma and crew to do what they wanted with a key state enterprise.
Apart from the personal profit motive, sources say there was also a clear political motive to destroy Zesa or put it beyond the influence of Government which would then have been at the mercy of the private investors linked to the MDC-T.
This would have left the succeeding Zanu-PF Government at the mercy of the investors who would have used power for political leverage as power has been identified as a key enabler of Government’s new economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim Asset).
In pursuit of unconstitutional regime change, MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai is on record asking South Africa to cut off Zimbabwe’s fuel and power supply.
Labels: DZIKAMAI MAVHAIRE, ELTON MANGOMA, ENERGY, MDC, MDC CORRUPTION, NEOLIBERALISM, PRIVATISATION, ZESA
Read more...
(NEWZIMBABWE) Mangoma furious at ZESA sell-off allegations
26/10/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
FORMER energy minister Elton Mangoma has threatened to sue a state-run newspaper after it accused him of trying to sell-off the power utility ZESA to western investors linked to his MDC-T party.
Mangoma’s lawyers, this week, demanded that the Herald retract its report and issue an unreserved apology or face a claim for defamation at the High Court.
The newspaper accused the MDC-T treasury chief of trying to unbundle and privatise Zesa which has perennially failed to meet the country’s electricity requirements.
“Apart from the personal profit motive, sources say there was also a clear political motive to destroy Zesa or put it beyond the influence of Government which would then have been at the mercy of the private investors linked to the MDC-T, ” read party of the report which has infuriated the senior MDC-T official.
Mangoma however said the report was full of “sensational, untrue and highly defamatory comments”.
“These comments seem designed to damage the reputation of our client in the public eye and create public opprobrium towards said client,” said the former minister through his lawyers, Mupanga Bhatasara Attorneys.
“The story gives an impression of a clumsy hatchet job on the character of an outstanding public servant who is on record for having solved the perennial fuel crisis and had gone on to work tirelessly day and night (emphasis deliberate) to lessen the electricity shortages,? the letter reads.”
New energy minister Dzikamai Mavhaire has since ruled out privatisation of the power utility.
“The position is that I have no intention of dismantling Zesa. There is no way I can put Zesa in private hands,” Mavhaire told the Herald.
“The only set up where we will allow private players is under the arrangement of Independent Power Producers that we have licensed.”
Unable to produce enough power to meet the country’s needs or raise the cash needed to plug the generation gap through imports, ZESA has resorted to rationing supplies to both domestic and commercial users for years.
Productive sectors such as mining and industry blame say power supply problems have undermined efforts to operate at optimal capacity, adversely impact efforts to ensure sustained economic recovery.
Labels: DZIKAMAI MAVHAIRE, ELTON MANGOMA, ENERGY, MDC, MDC CORRUPTION, NEOLIBERALISM, PRIVATISATION, ZESA
Read more...
Mozambique to boost power supplies: ZESA
14/10/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
ZESA has reduced its debt with Mozambique’s Hydro Cahora Bassa from US$76 million to just under US$3 million over the last six months with officials saying this would help improve power supplies across the country.
Zimbabwe needs about 2,200 megawatts of electricity at peak consumption but ZESA generates just below 1,300 megawatts and plugs the gap with imports from the regional suppliers.
The utility has been forced to ration power to both domestic and commercial users after supplies from the region were cut over mounting debts.
However, ZESA spokesman, Fullard Gwasira said reduction the Hydro Cahora Bassa debt to about US$2.7 million would see the company boosting supplies. ZESA expects to pay up the debt by year end.
“Load-shedding is going to be significantly reduced as Cahora Bassa have increased their supply to us as we have almost cleared the debt we owe them,” he said.
“The challenge we have is that we are splitting our resources between two equally important areas.
“First we have to pay for the electricity we are importing on a daily basis while secondly some money also has to be channelled towards clearing the debt.
“It’s a matter of tackling two issues at the same time, but we are confident that we would have cleared the debt by the end of the year.”
ZESA’s financial troubles have also been worsened by customers failing to pay their bills. The utility says it is owed about US$500 million.
“With the introduction of pre-paid meters, the era of a consumers using electricity and then failing to honour their bills will be a thing of the past,” Gwasira said.
Energy Minister, Elton Mangoma, has also revealed that several new projects are also planned to help boost the country’s power generation capacity.
Early this year, Mangoma said a French consortium had been granted a licence to build a 2,000 MW thermal power plant in an investment worth about US$3 billion.
The power station will be situated at Binga’s Lusulu coal fields which are said to have an estimated 1,2 billion tonnes of coal reserves.
And last month, Chinese firm Guangdong Bureau of Coal Geology also announced plans to invest $3.5 billion to build a 1,200 megawatt thermal power plant.
Labels: ELTON MANGOMA, ENERGY, MOZAMBIQUE, ZESA
Read more...
COMMENT - Note to NewZimbabwe.com, if it is true that ministers suddenly came into a lot of money after they ascended into office, it is not 'a smear' or a 'smear campaign'.
MDC ministers face wealth probe
06/07/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
SEVERAL Ministers from the MDC formations face investigations over the source of their "sudden wealth" as part of a campaign by Zanu PF to discredit its rivals ahead of elections expected next year.
According to the weekly Financial Gazette newspaper, the smear campaign would target key figures such as Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Finance Minister Tendai Biti, Energy Minister Elton Mangoma as well as MDC leader Welshman Ncube.
Nathaniel Manheru, a blogger with the Zanu PF-leaning Herald newspaper who is believed to be Presidential spokesperson George Charamba hinted at the strategy last Saturday, warning: “The MDC has failed both the competence test and the integrity test.
"It wallows in countless scandals, its officials now numbering among the richest, especially by way of real estate. I shall have occasion to trace for the reader this property labyrinth traceable to MDC ministers who are hardly four years in their portfolios, on a paltry salary.
"Only then will it become plain that all the carping about Chiadzwa is but diversionary talk. The list is about ready. That is the beauty about an election season, is it not? No holds are barred.”
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said he was not aware of the planned investigations. But MDC-T spokesman, Douglas Mwonzora, said his party was aware of a plot by Zanu PF to manufacture allegations against its leaders.
“We know that Zanu PF is trying to manufacture stories against our leaders and it’s nothing new,” he said.
“The fact of the matter is that our deployees in government - our ministers, our deputy ministers, our Prime Minister, our Deputy Prime Minister - have done very well to improve the lot of the people of Zimbabwe.”
MDC vice president, Edwin Mushoriwa, said if anyone should be investigated over the source of their wealth it was the top leadership of Zanu PF.
“Some Zanu PF ministers are the ones who have been mentioned now and then in relation to corruption,” he said.
“The integrity of our people in government is unquestionable. Our councillors have never been found on the wrong side when it comes to corruption. All our Members of Parliament were never mentioned in the looting of the Constituency Development Fund.”
[Click on the label MDC Corruption at the bottom of this article. - MrK]
Several MDC-T councillors have been implicated in corrupt dealings especially in the allocation of land in their respective municipalities around the country as well as stripping councils of their assets.
Activists have expressed disquiet over the sudden wealth of MDC-T Ministers although insisting any corrupt conduct by party officials pales into insignificance when compared to Zanu PF.
Said South Africa-based activist and former regional spokesman, Sibanengi Dube, on his Facebook Wall: “Tales of the abrupt opulence of MDC cabinet ministers, councillors and mayors are dominating headlines in both the liberated and partisan media.
“The majority of ministers are accused of double-dipping in government coffers. Some are alleged to have been caught with their fingers in public cookie-jars. Some are said to be cutting deals in government offices.
“All these (allegations) have been easily dismissed by MDC characters as Zanu PF affronts to dishonour Machinjas. But the overt opulence of MDC ministers is not easy to dismiss.”
***
COMMENTS FROM READERS:
Svirimon Mutundashuga
The biggest problem facing most African institutes today is corruption. Its undisputable fact that corruption in Zimbabwe like any other African country is rampant and has since reached alarming levels. On a none partisan lines, I will certainly doubt the sanity of any person objecting nor defending either ZANUPF/MDC-T/N/M when it comes to scrupulous means of acquiring wealth in Zimbabwe.
MORGAN RICHARD TSVANGIRAI paid about 40 000usd for locadia, this year he has forked out the same if not more than for Elizabeth, He pays 1400usd/month to Loreta Nyathi Recently been to USA with all his family supposedly at his own expense. His salary is 1000usd/month.
GENERAL CONSTANTINE CHIWENGA (Salary 700usd/month before tax)-Last year he paid the mubaiwas 47000usd bride price for marrying shingie’s ex-wife. We even told that after marrying he moved into a 250 000usd house in the splash suburb of borrowdale.
ORBET MPOFU (Salary 800usd/month before tax)-He bought 30 houses on the same day in Victoria Falls and his unknown Trebor Khays with virtually no known form of core business bought ZABG for 23million usd. Recently he had a birth day bash worth thousands and thanks to 180 000usd that he splashed out to buy maize for the folks in his constituency.
THOKOZANI KHUPE (Salary 1200usd/month before tax)-Has 2 kids that she is paying almost 30 000pounds per year in British Universities.
Shall we talk about Chombo, Gono, Kereke,Biti, Chamisa. The list is long and one wonders where they getting the money from. Dear Electorates-let it be known to you that you duped and enriching others by voting any of the current politician into power. They have not promulgated any law that can improve the life of an ordinary Zimbabwe ever since the GNU was formed. All they did was to enrich themselves through COPAC and unending arguments to protect their own interest.
Labels: ELTON MANGOMA, MDC, MDC CORRUPTION, WAYNE BVUDZIJENA
Read more...
Mangoma orders mass ZESA disconnections
22/02/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
THOUSANDS of homes face electricity disconnections as the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) moves to recover unpaid bills of over US$450 million, the Energy Minister warned on Wednesday.
Elton Mangoma said he wanted to “thank and applaud” those who paid their bills on time, but added that he was “disheartened to note that there are still customers who have not paid at all since the advent of dollarisation in 2009”.
He told a news conference: “This culture of non-payment of bills will not be allowed to continue.
“There is a need for electricity consumers to pay for what they have consumed so that ZESA has capacity to increase electricity availability to all consumers.”
Zimbabweans have become accustomed to power outages over the last decade as the state-owned power utility struggles to meet demand, made worse by collapsing power generation infrastructure and massive debts to foreign suppliers.
Mozambican power supplier Hydro Cahora Basa last week threatened to cut supplies to Zimbabwe over an US$80 million debt, down from about US$100 million at the end of last year.
Mangoma said ZESA aimed to make a further US$40 million payment “in the near future”, while urgently seeking to implement plans to draw power from the Batoka Gorge on the Zambezi – a joint project between the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Batoka Gorge will produce 1,600 to 2,000 MW of power - 50 percent of which will be for Zimbabwe.
But Mangoma insists that ZESA could boost current supply through more rigorous maintenance, increased imports and installation of new capacity if defaulting customers settled their bills.
He said: “Payment of bills is very important as we take measures to build new power stations. We cannot raise funds to build new power stations when the current of non-payment prevails.
“ZESA has availed to customers a facility to propose workable (payment) plans, and regrettably some customers have chosen either to ignore this or not to honour their payment plans, leaving ZESA with no option except to withdraw supplies.
“All customers currently in arrears run the risk of disconnections."
The Energy Minister said defaulters would be given a notice of five days. To avoid disconnection, or to be reconnected where power supply has been suspended, defaulters would be required to pay a minimum of 25 percent of the total bill, with the balance to be paid off “in an approved payment plan with ZESA for a period not exceeding six months”.
Labels: ELTON MANGOMA, ENERGY, ZESA
Read more...
Mangoma in bid to bribe service chiefs
Sunday, 17 July 2011 00:43
By Tafadzwa Chiremba
THE Minister of Energy and Power Development, Mr Elton Mangoma, attempted to raise funds from the US government and the United Kingdom to bribe Zimbabwe’s service chiefs, it has been learnt.
According to the latest reports from WikiLeaks, Mr Mangoma held a meeting with some US embassy officials at his offices in Harare, when he was still Minister of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion some time in 2009, where the bribery issue was discussed.
The Attorney-General, Mr Johannes Tomana, has since recommended to the police that Mr Mangoma be investigated on the latest allegations.
It is claimed Mr Mangoma sought to bribe the service chiefs into early retirement under the MDC-T’s security sector reform proposals.
The AG’s Office is in possession of a detailed cable leak in which Mr Mangoma, a key advisor to Prime Minister Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC-T negotiator in the Global Political Agreement, is alleged to have told US government officials that the service chiefs were a “major obstacle to political progress and reform”.
[Translation: the service chiefs cannot be bribed, are nationalistic and will not go along with the neoliberal agenda, which is what the MDC wants to implement. - MrK]
Mr Mangoma could not be reached for comment yesterday. His party’s spokesperson, Mr Douglas Mwonzora, was also unavailable for comment.
According to the leaks, Mr Mangoma met the US official on October 29 2009 at his then offices at the New Government Complex.
He proposed the creation of a “trust fund” from where the funds would be channelled to the heads of Zimbabwe’s armed forces, the police and the Zimbabwe Prison Service.
Part of the cable leaks read: “According to Elton Mangoma, the MDC would like the US to contribute to a trust fund to buy off securocrats and move them into retirement.”
Mr Mangoma is said to have told the US that a number of Zanu-PF insiders had “stolen and invested wisely” while the service chiefs were poor.
He also proposed to take a similar request to the United Kingdom and Germany. “Mangoma said that a primary obstacle to political progress and reform was the service chiefs,” read the cable.
“Unlike many Zanu-PF insiders who had stolen and invested wisely, these individuals had not become wealthy. They feared economic pressures as well as prosecution for their misdeeds should political change result in their being forced out of office.
“Mangoma asked for consideration of US contribution to a trust fund that could be used to negotiate the service chiefs’ retirement. He said he planned to approach the UK and Germany with the same request.”
Mr Mangoma also allegedly told the US that Zanu-PF and MDC could reach an agreement in the GPA if the service chiefs stopped “pressuring” President Mugabe from implementing the outstanding issues.
“The relative power of Mugabe vis-a-vis the service chiefs is a matter of debate. While there are hardliners, including the service chiefs, close to Mugabe, who are pressuring him not to further implement the GPA, we continue to believe he could make concessions should he choose to do so,” read the leaks.
The AG’s Office has recommended that Mr Mangoma be investigated on allegations of inducement.
The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Section 30 (1) provides for the crime of inducement and reads:
“If any person induces or attempts to induce, or does any act with the intention of realising that there is a risk or possibility of inducing or causing any member of the police force of defence force to withhold his or her services, loyalty or allegiance or to commit breaches of discipline, he or she shall be guilty of causing disaffection among the police force or defence force and liable to a fine not exceeding level seven or imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years, or both.”
-The Sunday Mail
Labels: ARMED FORCES, BRIBERY, ELTON MANGOMA, TREASON
Read more...
COMMENT - If you're not in politics to improve the lives of the people, you're in it to enrich yourself. Compare ZANU-PF's policies - universal education and healthcare (without fees before the IMF/WB's ESAP), land redistribution (not merely the IMF's land title reform), 51% Zimbabwean ownership of foreign investment. Contrast that with the MDC - privatisation (90% foreign ownership), increased school and health fees, defunding agriculture and the army. They're funded and directed by the UK and US governments. That's the MDC.
Energy Minister Mangoma arrested
by George Nyathi, Lebo Nkatazo & Eddie Chihwape
10/03/2011 00:00:00
ENERGY and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma was arrested on Thursday on corruption charges relating to a botched US$5 million fuel deal.
Mangoma, a member of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party in the coalition government, was picked up from his Chaminuka Building offices by detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Fraud Squad.
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said: “We have just been informed that Minister Mangoma was picked up by the police in the morning. Information is still sketchy at the moment, although we have engaged our lawyers to find out what the actual charge is."
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai would be issuing a statement “once we are clear why he has been arrested”, Chamisa added.
Police spokesman Senior Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said he would only have the full details of Mangoma's arrest later Thursday.
Mangoma’s arrest, however, was not unexpected. The Zanu PF side of the coalition government has accused him of corruption and flouting tender procedures.
Last week, The Financial Gazette reported that Mangoma was facing imminent arrest.
The paper said detectives, working with officials from the National Economic Conduct Inspectorate, were busy going through documents said to be linking the minister to corrupt conduct over the fuel procurement deal.
“There are suspicions in government that Mangoma could have used his clout to influence the selection of NOOA Petroleum for the supply of five million litres of fuel in a deal consummated at the beginning of this year. Tender procedures were reportedly not followed and NOOA Petroleum was not even registered on the list of companies allowed to do business with government by the State Procurement Board (SPB),” reported The Gazette's Njabulo Ncube.
The paper added that Charles Kuwaza, the chairman of the board, who has publicly stated that the South African company was not among the companies registered to participate in government tenders, has already been interviewed by the police in connection with the case.
The US$4,4 million paid to NOOA was for the purchase of five million litres of diesel for Matabeleland South province.
Mangoma sanctioned the purchase from the little-known South African petrol agent at the height of fuel problems in January.
NOOA Petroleum, in turn, contracted Mohwere Trading which sourced the fuel of Mozambique.
But only 1,5 million litres of diesel have been delivered to date - almost three months after the purchase of the fuel which should have been delivered in 48 hours in January.
Labels: ELTON MANGOMA, FUEL, MDC CORRUPTION
Read more...
Zim licenses five power producers
By: Reuters-TZG
Posted: Friday, February 4, 2011 5:34 pm
ZIMBABWE has licensed five independent power producers whose projects are aimed at doubling current electricity output to 4,450 megawatts, a government minister said on Friday.
Power shortages have hurt mining and industry in the country slowly recovering from hyperinflation that crushed the economy about two years ago.
Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma told Reuters that Zimbabwe had also secured $30 million from the African Development Bank (ADB) to fund maintenance at the country's main Hwange Power Station.
"They said they would make $30 million available, which will be channelled mostly to Hwange," he said.
Hwange's six generating units have a capacity to produce 950 megawatts but the whole station is currently producing only about 40 percent of that.
"We still have to sit with ADB to decide other areas where the money will have the greatest impact, but as I see it, there is a critical shortage of skills and we need more money for spares," Mangoma said.
Mangoma said Zimbabwe wanted to bolster its power grid and transmission systems.
"We have also licensed a number of independent power producers in the last few months that will come on stream in the next three to four years," he said.
The new plants will have a collective capacity of 4,540 MW, more than double the current 2,000 MW capacity.
Zimbabwe, whose mining firms are major power consumers, now needs about 2,700 MW and imports an average of 300 MW from neighbouring countries.
Its other major energy plant, Kariba Hydro Power Station, has a capacity of 750 MW but is undergoing maintenance that has reduced its capacity by half.
"We have one of the most advanced legislations on the continent on power management but our political and economic situation was such that it was hard to attract any investment," said the minister.
Labels: ELTON MANGOMA, ENERGY
Read more...
COMMENT - See also here:
MDC-T sought US help in buying-off service chiefs, 19/12/2010, by Gilbert Nyambabvu.
AF/S FOR B.WALCH
DRL FOR N. WILETT
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR J. HARMON AND L. DOBBINS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR M. GAVIN
EO 12958 DECL: 10/30/2019
TAGS PGOV, PREL, PHUM, ASEC, ZI
SUBJECT: MDC FOCUSES ON SECURITY SECTOR, GONO
REF: A. HARARE 853 B. HARARE 863 C. PRETORIA 2136
Classified By: CDA Katherine Dhanani for reason 1.4 (b) and (d).
-------
SUMMARY
-------
¶1. (S) According to Elton Mangoma, MDC-T Minister of Economic Development and member of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s inner circle,
the MDC would like the U.S. to contribute to a “trust fund” to buy off securocrats and move them into retirement. The MDC will also try to pressure Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Gideon Gono to resignXXXXXXXXXXXX. Finally, Mangoma believes an agreement will be reached ending the MDC’s disengagement from ZANU-PF, but if not, the MDC will continue pursuing its long-term strategy of preparing for elections. END SUMMARY.
¶2. (SBU) Pol/Econ chief met with Minister of Economic Development Elton Mangoma on October 29 at the Ministry. Mangoma is one of Tsvangirai’s closest advisors and was one of the MDC-T negotiators of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
¶3. (S) Reiterating Tsvangirai’s views (Refs A and C), Mangoma said that a primary obstacle to political progress and reform was the service chiefs. Unlike many ZANU-PF insiders who had stolen and invested wisely, these individuals had not become wealthy. They feared economic pressures, as well as prosecution for their misdeeds, should political change result in their being forced from office. Therefore, they were resisting GPA progress that could ultimately result in fair elections. Mangoma asked for consideration of U.S. contribution to a “trust fund” that could be used to negotiate the service chiefs’ retirement. He said he planned to approach the UK and Germany with the same request.
¶4. XXXXXXXXXXXX
¶5. (C) Although doubtful about the ability of SADC to bring about a rapprochement between ZANU-PF and the MDC, Mangoma Qabout a rapprochement between ZANU-PF and the MDC, Mangoma was hopeful that the parties themselves could ultimately reach an agreement. Most ZANU-PF officials realized that the entry of the MDC into government had brought about stability and did not want to see the MDC withdraw. If an agreement was not reached, the MDC would consider next steps with the goal of eventually having elections.
¶6. (C) We posited there was a general perception among diplomats and in civil society that the MDC did not have a strategic vision and had disengaged without a Plan B in the event ZANU-PF did not compromise on outstanding issues. Mangoma disagreed; the West had continuously underestimated the MDC by focusing on specific events such as ZANU-PF’s repressive actions of the last week (Septel) rather than the long-term process by which the MDC had managed to enter government and begun to set itself up to win the next elections. With regard to the events of the last week, Mangoma said bumps in the road were to be expected.
-------
COMMENT
-------
¶7. (C) The relative power of Mugabe vis-a-vis the service chiefs is a matter of debate. While no doubt there are hardliners, including the service chiefs, close to Mugabe who are pressuring him not to further implement the GPA, we continue to believe he could make concessions should he choose to do so. The current visit of the SADC Troika may give an indication if there is any ZANU-PF flexibility. We’re skeptical and expect the current impasse -- and ZANU-PF repression -- will continue in the near term. END COMMENT.
DHANANI
Labels: BRIBERY, ELTON MANGOMA, GIDEON GONO, MDC CORRUPTION, WIKILEAKS CABLES
Read more...
CIO boss barred from UN summit
by Staff Reporter
18/09/2010 00:00:00
ZIMBABWE has filed a complaint with the United Nations Secretary General after the US Government barred CIO boss Happyton Bonyongwa from attending the UN General Assembly in New York.
Bonyongwa was supposed to be part of President Robert Mugabe’s delegation to the UN’s 65th Ordinary Session but was refused a visa by the US embassy in Harare along with ZBC Chief Correspondent, Reuben Barwe. Both are on the list of individuals barred from travelling to the US under sanctions imposed by President George Bush in 2002.
However the Zimbabwe government argued that the UN Headquarters was international territory to which no country or individual should barred unless they were under UN sanctions.
“The Zimbabwe Government has reached the UN Secretary-General’s Office for a formal complaint in what amounts to a breach by the United States government of its status, conditions and commitment for hosting the United Nations,” a senior Government was told state media on Friday.
Bonyongwa was also barred from travelling to the US for UN meetings last year. Meanwhile the US has invited the Zimbabwe government for talks on the sanctions.
Energy and power development Minister, Elton Mangoma will lead the Zimbabwe delegation while the US will be represented by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnny Carson.
The talks are expected to begin next Wednesday.
The Zimbabwe government is pushing for the removal of the sanctions which it blames for the country’s economic problems.
However the US and the European Union are demanding more reforms and full implementation of the Global Political Agreement before they can lift the sanction.
Labels: CIO, ELTON MANGOMA, HAPPYTON BONYONGWA, JOHNNIE CARSON, UN
Read more...
EU set to remove sanctions on individual basis
By: Samantha Chidzero
Posted: Thursday, July 29, 2010 12:00 am
THE European Union has suggested that individuals and companies under EU travel and financial sanctions should approach Brussels on an individual basis and present cases as to why their names should be taken off the list.
The United States, Australia, Canada and EU member countries imposed illegal sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and about 200 members of Zanu-PF, among a raft of other undeclared ruinous sanctions.
Energy Minister Mr Elton Mangoma of the Movement for Democratic Change formation led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai led the recent Zimbabwean government delegation to Brussels.
Mr Mangoma told an MDC publication that the EU said listed individuals and companies could apply for the release of assets to meet basic needs.
President Mugabe and the Zanu-PF party say that the country's economic decline over the past decade was caused by Western sanctions, which were in response to land reforms instituted after Britain reneged on its promise to fund the exercise.
Said Mangoma: "They can request the council with supporting documentation justifying why the (EU) Council decision to put them on the list should be reconsidered and they can also challenge the Council decision to include them on the list before the General Court of the European Union."
Zanu-PF has taken the position that all illegal Western sanctions must be lifted before it will implement the Global Political Agreement in full. It has also demanded that pirate radio broadcasts into the country from abroad must cease.
This includes broadcasts by the likes of VOA, SW Radio Africa, among others.
Zanu-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo dismissed the EU's proposal as "not serious" adding that when the sanctions were imposed the process was done in a wholesale manner, so they should not talk to individuals.
"All forms of sanctions must be removed. How about the undeclared sanctions they have imposed on the country that do not explicitly target individuals or entities? Who ensures that those sanctions are removed?
"Are they trying to divide and rule people in Zanu-PF?" he asked.
Labels: ELTON MANGOMA, EU, SANCTIONS, ZDERA
Read more...
Zim ratifies trade pact with SA
by
21/05/2010 00:00:00
ZIMBABWE has finally ratified a trade pact agreed with South Africa which is aimed at the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments between the two countries.
Ratification of the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) comes months after the deal was signed by economic planning minister Elton Mangoma and South Africa’s trade minister Rob Davies in Harare last November.
The economic planning ministry said the BIPPA came into effect on May 15 this year, but gave no reasons for the delay in its ratification.
“The purpose of the agreement is to stimulate individual business initiatives and increase prosperity in both countries through the creation of favorable conditions for investment by South African investors in Zimbabwe and Zimbabwean investors in South Africa," the ministry said in a statement.
Negotiations for the deal started in 2002 and were driven by both governments’ desire to signal to existing and potential investors that they would abide by international norms regarding property rights.
South African companies – by far the largest African investors in Zimbabwe’s economy – were particularly keen to have anxieties about the security of their investments allayed in the wake of the country’s land reforms.
"The agreement provides legal certainty for those engaged in investments in Zimbabwe and we are committed together with the Zimbabwe government that all the commitments that are in this agreement are honoured.
"This agreement will provide the legal security that is required by present and future investors in this country." Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma said when the agreement was signed last year.
However, efforts by South African farmers whose land was acquired for resettlement to have the agreement cover such properties were unsuccessful with both countries insisting the deal would not be applied retrospectively.
A clause in the agreement reads: “the agreement applies to all investments, whether made before or after the date of entry into force of (the) agreement, but shall not apply to any property right or interest compulsorily acquired by either Party in its own territory before the entry into force of this Agreement”.
Labels: BIPPA, ELTON MANGOMA, ROB DAVIES, TRADE
Read more...
Zim OKs $400m mining projects
by
16/09/2009 00:00:00
ZIMBABWE has approved 15 mining projects worth $400 million since February this year, and some of the projects are already being developed, the country's minister for economic planning said on Wednesday.
"The Zimbabwe Investment centre has approved
40 foreign investments, 15 of these projects are in mining and have an estimated value of $400 million. Some of them have started to dig the ground," Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma said.
He was speaking at a mining conference in Harare, which is part of efforts by a new power-sharing government in the country to attract mining companies to invest into a sector shunned by investors over fears their businesses could be expropriated.
The mining indaba, which is running under the theme “Reviving Zimbabwe’s Mining Sector, clear way forward” will be addressed by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
The mining industry at its peak accounted for the about half the country’s foreign currency earnings and contributed over seven percent of the Gross Domestic Product before Zimbabwe’s economy took a plunge in 1997. However, there is renewed interest in the country by foreign investors following the formation of a unity government.
“There has never been a better time than now for investors to gain access to good mineral resources in the country,” said Mines and Mining Development Minister, Obert Mpofu.
“The two days will provide a great opportunity for all of us who are interested in mining to share ideas on the latest developments in the sector.
“It also provides a platform for colleagues and stakeholders in the mining sector to network with a view to accelerate investment in Zimbabwe.”
Investors will be seeking assurance that the new political dispensation in Zimbabwe following the formation of the unity government will be permanent.
Other issues expected to dominate the indaba include access to lines of credit to increase production activities, legislation pertaining to mining and opportunities for investment as well as the state of the industry.
Zimbabwe is a major world producer of gold, platinum, iron ore, nickel and of late diamonds.
Labels: ELTON MANGOMA, MINING, ZIMBABWE INVESTMENT CENTRE
Read more...
