Councillors get kickbacks from chemical suppliers’
Sunday, 05 August 2012 12:36
Municipal reporter
Some Harare city councillors have been accused of awarding tenders for the supply of water treatment chemicals to shady and incompetent companies that offer them kickbacks.
The allegations surfaced at a stormy full council meeting held at Town House on Friday. The meeting came in the wake of reports that one of the companies contracted to provide water treatment chemicals to the city delivered poisonous sodium cyanide, instead of aluminium sulphate solution, to Harare’s Morton Jaffray Waterworks.
Only the swift reaction of an alert council worker saved the day. Newly appointed Harare special interest councillor Dr Joseph Kanyekanye
queried why the city was importing water treatment chemicals when there are local companies that offer the same products at much cheaper prices.
“There is no need for the importation of chemicals at such a high cost,” he said.
“There are local companies such as Zimphos that also produce the aluminium sulphate at much cheaper rates. From the survey that I did it I have realised that it is cheaper for us to buy chemicals from Zimphos than from all the 37 companies that council has been dealing with.
“It will be a shame if we allow this to go on. It’s also worth mentioning that some of the companies that are ripping council off are linked to politicians or are owned by some former council employees.”
But in a contribution that shocked the house, Warren Park Councillor Julius Musevenzi urged the city fathers to stick with the controversial importation of water treatment chemicals.
“We have to note that the importation of chemicals is not a shame like what Dr Kanyekanye said. It is unfortunate that our colleague joined us very late so he might not be well versed with the issues of procuring chemicals.
“Harare needs clean water but we have dealt many times with Zimphos but they failed to deliver the full supply of the goods. Last year the city ordered 12 000 metric tonnes of granules but they failed to deliver the whole supply, giving us only 5 000 tonnes which was not enough at the time,” said Cllr Musevenzi.
Cllr Musevenzi said although the city would prefer to procure water chemicals from the local companies at a lower price, most of the companies did not have the capacity to meet the demand.
“Most of the companies do not have the capacity to meet the supply that we want. The local companies are not producing to full capacity, that is why we have to prioritise other companies, not fall in crisis of the water chemicals,” he said.
However, in a statement last week Chemplex Corporation, Zimphos’ parent company, dispelled the notion that the company has not capacity to meet Harare water treatment chemical needs.
“The Zimphos alum manufacturing plant in Harare was built specifically for the City of Harare waterworks and has the capacity to produce over 60 000 tonnes per year of liquid aluminium sulphate plus another 12 000 tonnes per year of solid granular aluminium sulphate for other municipalities. This capacity is adequate to meet the City’s full requirements…
“It is unfortunate for the city and the country in general when Harare City Council compromises water treatment by not exploiting readily available capacity at Zimphos which offers competitively priced quality products in preference to expensive imports …,” reads part of the statement.
Commenting on the matter, Harare Residents’ Trust director Mr Precious Shumba noted that councillors do not have the technical expertise needed to decide on the procurement of water treatment chemicals.
“Information we gathered revealed that councillors are not the competent people to procure chemicals and approve tenders. Most of them do not have knowledge of what they will be doing.
“Most tenders in council are approved by councillors in a bid to get kickbacks which, in turn, compromises service delivery,” he said.
Labels: COUNCILS, HARARE CITY COUNCIL, JOSEPH KANYEKANYE, MDC CORRUPTION
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Viewpoints to Biti’s 2012 national budget
Posted by By Our reporter at 26 November, at 05 : 10 AM
ZIMBABWE’s Finance Minister Tendai Biti on Thursday presented a 4-billion national budget statement.
While some have described the statement as pro-poor and progressive, others say the fiscal statement was populist and predictable. The 2012 national budget statement projects a 9.4% economic growth next year.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries President, Dr. Joseph Kanyekanye, who described the statement as expansionary and consistent with the Medium Term Plan, applauded the Minister for recognising the important role played by the mining and agriculture sectors.
He added that there is need to leverage the country’s sound resource base for the attainment of sustainable economic development.
Business Council of Zimbabwe Chairman, David Govere, welcomed financial support extended to industry in particular the US$60 million earmarked for broader Industrial Revival Fund.
He, however, said more needs to be done in supporting agriculture and value addition.
Describing the budget as ambitious, economic analyst, Kipson Gundani said the 2012 national budget’s thrust towards social investments is welcome in as far as it creates employment and sustainable economic growth.
Tax reform has been one of the major highlights of the 2012 budget with the suspension of duty on products that are locally produced, adjustment of the tax free threshold from US$225 to US$250, as well as review of royalties on gold and platinum upwards from 4.5% and 5% to 7% and 10% respectively.
Tax expert, Masaire, who welcomed the tax measures, however believes the proposed penalties on fiscalised tax registers as well as the 45% top bracket tax are burdensome.
Against the expectations of the civil servants, the Finance Minister did not adjust the salaries of the civil servants, arguing that recurrent expenditure is accounting for around 63% of the total budget.
Biti’s failure to allocate funds for the 2012 elections has been a major talking point. His theme of sustaining an inclusive growth with jobs has also been perceived by other sectors as denying the empowerment approach in preference to his party’s manifesto which chooses to rather focus on jobs.
You can download the full report by clicking this link:
Labels: AGRICULTURE, BUDGET, JOSEPH KANYEKANYE, NEOLIBERALISM, TENDAI BITI
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Industrial production capacity surges: CZI
Thursday, 03 November 2011 00:00
Bright Madera Senior Business Reporter
MANUFACTURING sector capacity utilisation has risen 13,5 percent to 57,2 percent in the 12 months to June 2011 due to an increase in capital investment projects. A Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries manufacturing sector survey for 2011 released yesterday showed that production capacity continued to increase from 10 percent in 2009 in the absence of medium- to long-term funding to re-equip industry.
Investment levels have increased by five percent to 47 percent. In the first six months of the year, capital investment was estimated above US$43,4 million.
Government had a capacity utilisation target of 60 percent and the sector is expected to grow by three percent this year.
The survey, which sampled 120 companies from 13 sectors of manufacturing, showed that capacity utilisation levels vary from lower levels of 30 percent to as high as 74 percent.
Overall output volume continues on the upward trend, increasing by 14,1 percent in the period under review.
The sector has continued on a growth trajectory in the absence of funding from international partners who have not been responsive.
Zimbabwe's manufacturing sector requires an estimated US$2 billion to operate at full capacity.
Vice President, Joice Mujuru, the guest of honour, said Government was committed to source funding for the sector, the cornerstone of economic development.
"The financial sector should put in place strategies to improve lending to the sector and Government will continue to call for the lifting of sanctions to access lines of credit," said the vice president.
She added that erratic power supplies were affecting economic growth and that challenges were opening opportunities to invest across all sources of energy.
CZI president, Dr Joseph Kanyekanye said: "It is also quite evident that the level of external budget that could free resources for lending to industry has not been forthcoming. We ought to come together as Zimbabweans to fight this."
Low production demand, machine breakdown, lack of working capital and lack of raw materials were identified as the major constrains in the sector.
During the first half of the year it is estimated that volumes of domestic raw materials decreased eight percent and that of imported raw materials decreased by 57 percent.
CZI attributed the drop in raw materials to the increase in the cost of raw materials.
The cost of raw materials is estimated to have increased by almost 100 percent.
According to the survey, most companies are still producing for the domestic market. Exporting companies indicated depressed volumes due to working capital to meet orders and unavailability of raw materials.
In addition, the cost of production remained high, with continued rises in the cost of labour and the cost of utilities. High costs of production coupled with low levels of capacity and inferior product quality has largely rendered Zimbabwe's manufactured products uncompetitive on the international market.
The survey also noted that exports from Zimbabwe were confined to Africa, mainly southern Africa, with only two percent exporting to East Africa and another two percent to Europe.
Neighbouring Zambia has emerged the country's biggest trading partner replacing South Africa. Zimbabwe exports about 30 percent to Zambia followed by 16 percent to both Malawi and South Africa respectively.
Zimbabwe's manufacturing sector's contribution to Gross Domestic Product is projected to grow from 10 percent to 30 percent over the next five years.
The growth would be anchored on increased industrial output due to a cocktail of measures aimed at addressing production constraints and deliberate efforts to ensure value addition to local products.
Labels: CZI, EXPORTS, JOICE MUJURU, JOSEPH KANYEKANYE, MANUFACTURING, SANCTIONS, WELSHMAN NCUBE, ZAMBIA
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Electricity tariffs up 31 percent
25/08/2011 00:00:00
by Business ReporterI Reuters
THE country’s electricity regulator has ordered a 31 percent tariff increase, in a move it said was meant to ensure the state-owned power utility ZESA's profitability, the authority said on Thursday.
The increase would see the average tariff going up to 9.3 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), from the current 7.5 cents, with effect from September 1, the Zimbabwe Electricity Regulatory Commission (ZERC) said in a statement. ZESA, the country's sole power supplier, has often blamed low tariffs as one of the reasons behind erratic electricity supplies.
The country currently generates less than 1,000 megawatts against demand of more than 2,000 megawatts, a situation that has held back the recovery of the key mining and manufacturing sectors.
Efforts to compliment local power generation with imports from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Zambia are often undermined by the lack of funding with ZESA understood to owe regional suppliers more than US$100 million.
ZESA has been forced to ration supplies between commercial and domestic users with industry bodies blaming unreliable supplies for undermining productivity and holding back the country’s economic recovery.
"We used to cry about the policy environment. But certainly the power issue in my view is the most critical issue of our time - we need to deal with it," Joseph Kanyekanye, president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries said recently.
The country’s power stations were built in the 1950s and designed for a smaller population, with little capacity added since independence in 1980.
ZESA recently announced it was in the looking for international investors to back a planned US$1.3 billion expansion of the country’s three major power plants which is expected to boost local generating capacity by at least 900 megawatts.
Labels: ENERGY, JOSEPH KANYEKANYE, NEOLIBERALISM, TARIFFS, ZESA
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Zim now fed up with sanctions!
Thursday, 28 April 2011 21:54
sanctions
Flashback . . . Women from the Johane Masowe weChishanu Apostolic sect (Hatcliffe, Harare) sign the National Anti-Sanctions Petition forms recently.
AT long last, after 10 years of sitting on its hands, the Zimbabwean Government has launched an anti-sanctions campaign aimed at getting the debilitating Western economic sanctions removed. BAFFOUR ANKOMAH was in Harare when an ebullient President Mugabe launched the campaign on March 3.
IN 2001 and 2002, Britain, the USA, EU and their allies imposed economic sanctions on Zimbabwe in reaction to the country's land reform programme that took land from 4,500 white commercial farmers and distributed it to over one million black farmers. Alongside the economic sanctions were personal ones, including travel bans and asset freezing imposed on individual officials and companies allegedly linked to President Mugabe's Government, and the ruling Zanu-PF party. These individuals and companies have since been prevented from doing business with American, British and EU nationals and firms.
As the sanctions were imposed outside the UN's prescribed rules, the Zimbabwean Government considers them "illegal", and has been calling (without doing much more than that) for their removal for the past 10 years, to no avail. Not surprisingly, the sanctions-imposing countries have been able to use the long tentacles of their media to convince the whole wide world that the sanctions are only targeting individuals and companies allegedly involved in or who have aided and abetted violence and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. And thus, the sanctions do not hurt the ordinary people of Zimbabwe at all.
But that is so far from the truth that it beggars belief that the world has actually believed it. For example, the USA's Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic and Recovery Act (Zidera), a punitive sanctions-imposing bill hastily passed by Congress in December 2001, and signed into law by President George W Bush, puts a blanket ban on all fresh lending to Zimbabwe and the rescheduling of its debts by International financial institutions, of which the USA is a member, such as the IMF, World Bank and the African Development Bank. The following is the actual wording of subsection 4 (c) of Zidera:
"Multilateral financing restriction - Until the President (of the USA) makes the certification described in subsection (d), and except as may be required to meet basic human needs or for good governance, the Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United Sates executive director to each international financial institution to oppose and vote against:
(1) Any extension by the respective institution of any loan, credit, or guarantee to the Government of Zimbabwe, or
(2) Any cancellation or reduction of indebtedness owed by the Government of Zimbabwe to the United States or any international financial institution".
Zidera defines "international financial institutions" as the multilateral development banks and the International Monetary Fund". By "multilateral development banks", the Act means
" the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (i.e., the World Bank), the International Finance Corporation, the
Inter-American Development Bank, the
Asian Development Bank, the
Inter-American Investment Corporation, the
African Development Fund, the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the
Multilateral Investment Guaranty Agency".
Thus the world will need a new dictionary to interpret the above as "personal sanctions", because they are not! In fact, since 2001 all Western banks (private or otherwise) have stopped lending to Zimbabwe as a country, and all Western governments and donors - and their allies - have ceased bilateral and other budgetary support to Zimbabwe as a country!
In short, Zimbabwe has been frozen out of the international financial system for the past decade, and it is therefore not true as Western governments always assert that the sanctions are only targeted at individuals and companies.
Or that the sanctions do not hurt ordinary Zimbabweans. They do!
Any government (African or otherwise) that is not able to borrow (or in the case of Africa, receive donor support) is a government in trouble, and cannot meet the needs of its people.
For example, if the British government were prevented (by a Zidera) from having the 22,77 billion pound it borrowed in November last year to balance its books or the 163,4 billion pound it borrowed during the 2008-9 financial year, the British economy would go to pot and the people of Britain be hurt by the effects of that Zidera. Thus, nobody needs the brain of a rocket scientist to deduce that the economic implosion in Zimbabwe in recent years has largely been due to the sanctions imposed on the country by the West and its allies. And it is these sanctions that the Zimbabwean Government now want removed!
New campaign
Since 2002, some concerned Pan-Africanists have been warning and urging President Mugabe's Government to make more than mere verbal calls for the removal of economic sanctions, and that it should carry the people along in the fight for their removal.
But even in a "revolutionary Zimbabwe" in the midst of its Third Chimurenga (third liberation war), the wheels of assimilation and action do move slowly. So it happens that the Government has now woken up 10 full years behind the prescient Pan-Africanist, and wants to do more to get the sanctions lifted.
The new campaign launched in Harare on March 3 was attended by tens of thousands of ordinary people who are now thoroughly fed up with the sanctions because their lives have been blighted by their effects. The campaign hopes to collect two million signatures by Zimbabweans at home and abroad and other sympathetic people in Africa and beyond. The signatures will then be sent to the regional body, the Southern African Development Community (Sadc), which will in turn forward them to the African Union, which will in turn transfer them to the United Nations for discussion and a vote by members of the General Assembly, and eventually by the Security Council, as a form of pressure for the removal of sanctions.
The UN Security Council Sanctions Committee has noted that "a great number of states and humanitarian organisations have expressed concerns at the possible adverse impact of sanctions on the most vulnerable segments of the population". But the EU insists that its sanctions target solely those judged responsible for human rights violations and preventing free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. The EU sanctions were recently renewed because of what it calls "a lack of progress in democratic reforms", despite the two-year-old power-sharing inclusive Government run by Zanu-PF and the two formations of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
But speaking at the launch of the anti-sanctions campaign, the president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), Joseph Kanyekanye, said that the sanctions were hurting Zimbabwe's economy and preventing many local businesses from marketing their products in Europe and the USA. He told the crowd that apart from the sanctions denying Zimbabwean companies access to lines of credit from multilateral lending institutions, British firms, like the leading supermarket chain Tesco, have also refused to buy farm produce from Zimbabwe.
"I have come here voluntarily to say no to sanctions," Kanyekanye said. "It is part of our 2010 resolution where more than 300 businesspeople said sanctions were not appropriate for Zimbabwe. We believe that sanctions have nothing to do with the human rights situation in the country . . . As Zimbabweans, we must fight the sanctions; and as CZI we had already taken a position a year ago against the sanctions because they have caused unnecessary disunity in the country."
Brian Tengwa (44) from Harare, believes he was laid off from his job at a car assembly plant in 2005 as a result of the sanctions.
"We were told that the company could not import necessary parts for the assembling of cars because it was linked to influential people in Zanu-PF."
Innocent Makwiramiti, a Harare-based economist and former chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), agrees: "Many problems that Zimbabweans have suffered and still experience are direct and indirect offshoots of the sanctions."
According to him, the restrictions on the operations of some local businesses and the withholding of financial aid contributed to the collapse of Zimbabwe's economy after 2001, which was followed by a collapse in social services and severe food insecurity. "Zimbabwe receives no budgetary support from donors," Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, Zimbabwe's minister of Regional Integration (one of the MDC-M's ministers in the inclusive Government) told an international conference in Rwanda in February 2011. And yet the Western donors insist there are no economic sanctions on Zimbabwe.
War of words
The anti-sanctions campaign has already led to a war of words between the EU and USA on the one hand, and the Zimbabwean Government on the other. In early March, the EU bought two full pages of adverts in some local newspapers in Zimbabwe to match those run by the Government and the ruling Zanu-PF party. The EU adverts insisted that there were no economic sanctions on Zimbabwe even though it admitted that the sanctions regime imposed on the country was broader than the measures taken against individuals, such as "suspension of government-to-government cooperation".
The EU, however, disingenuously refused to mention that in April 2007, its own Evaluation Services had published a study commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and supported by France, Belgium and the UK, in which the EU admitted that it had "rushed to impose measures against Zimbabwe" before allowing for dialogue as required by Article 8 of the ACP Cotonou Agreement.
On its part, America's response to the anti-sanctions campaign came via its ambassador to Zimbabwe, Charles Ray, who wrote to criticise the state-owned newspaper The Herald for publishing adverts on the campaign allegedly placed by Zanu-PF's Information Department but disguised as "Government" adverts and adorned with the country's coat of arms.
"Zanu-PF is a political party which does not speak for the Government of this great country," the ambassador, an African-American, intoned.
"Publishing such misrepresentation in advertising offends the dignity and intelligence of The Herald's readership," Ambassador Ray continued.
"This is a political messaging campaign pure and simple. It is planned and executed by one political party, Zanu-PF, to the perceived advantage of its members."
And the ambassador was not finished: "For more than 10 years," he went on, "Zimbabwe has been ineligible to receive any type of international loan, regardless of US and EU opinions, due to its leaders' failure to make payments on its debts. Zimbabwe's unpaid debts to the African Development Bank, IMF and World Bank put a stop to lending long before there were sanctions." And then came the climax: "Fewer than 120 Zimbabweans are named on the legal US sanctions list, almost all of them Zanu-PF leaders who had a hand in political violence against their fellow citizens. They may not travel to the US or do business with US companies because Americans do not want them to enjoy the fruits of their corruption on our soil. This does not hurt other Zimbabweans."
It was clear that Ambassador Ray was either merely playing politics or had not read his own country's punitive law, the Zidera. But either way, he was not going to get away with it, not with President Mugabe's agile press secretary, George Charamba, lying in wait. Charamba hit back hard in his newspaper column challenging the sanctions-imposing countries to stop lying to the world.
"Of course the EU narrative makes no reference to the EU study that clearly admitted that the EU was in too much of a British hurry to get to Article 96 before allowing for dialogue as required by the Cotonou Agreement," he wrote.
Turning to the American Ambassador, Charamba said the African-American envoy had made issue with the fact that a Zanu-PF advert run by The Herald had a national coat of arms embossed on it.
"What a point to make Mr American Ambassador! Can a publisher alter (an advert) without bringing risks upon himself? I thought America is where the signs of paid communication achieved excellence," Charamba said.
"More fundamentally, why is (the ambassador) threatened by two logos which are laid out coextensively? How does that pose ‘a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the interests of the United States of America'? What has that to do with representing America in Zimbabwe. . .? ‘This is a political messaging campaign pure and simple,' bellows the ambassador. Yes, it is, Mr Ambassador.
"Where is the problem?" Charamba asked sarcastically. The US government claims that it imposed its sanctions on Zimbabwe because the alleged lack of democracy in the country poses "a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the interests of the United States of America".
That is what the preamble of Zidera said in 2001. And it is still the stand of President Barack Obama's administration, which has since coming into office two years ago, twice renewed the sanctions? Addressing the Ambassador on the other substantive issues he had raised, Charamba said that if indebtedness were the basis for being made ineligible for fresh loans, America would be in serious trouble currently, "with its anaemic economy". If that stopped Zimbabwe from getting loans, Charamba argued, why did the USA insert in Zidera the clause that orders US representatives in international financial institutions to oppose the granting of fresh loans to Zimbabwe?
"How many states in Europe are getting loans after defaulting? How many countries - including dictatorships - have benefited from American generosity against defaults and (a) poor human rights record, since 2001? Why make duplicitous arguments, sir?" Charamba wanted to know.
Interestingly, much of what Ambassador Ray said was in sync with the views of Morgan Tsvangirai, the Prime Minister in Zimbabwe's inclusive Government, who did not attend the campaign launch because he claimed it was a Zanu-PF activity.
In fact, none of the opposition ministers in the inclusive Government attended the launch, even though the Deputy Prime Minister, Arthur Mutamabara (from the smaller MDC faction), said in a speech a day later that sanctions were in fact real, and were hurting the country and people as a whole.
Days later, Tsvangirai admitted to Alec Russell of The Financial Times (London) in an interview in his home in Harare:
"We (the MDC-T) are in a vicious position. We want the sanctions removed but Zanu-PF is doing everything to ensure they are retained".
How? Tsvangirai did not elaborate, and Alex Russell, who did his utmost in the interview to get Tsvangirai to say bad things about Mugabe without success ("I used to think that he (Mugabe) is callous and all that. But you know what? He's human after all. He's very humane. . ."), said Tsvangirai ‘‘sounded less convincing" on the sanctions. - New African
Labels: JOSEPH KANYEKANYE, SANCTIONS, ZDERA
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Business speaks out against sanctions
Wednesday, 02 March 2011 20:56
By Tendai Mugabe and Tichaona Zindoga
ILLEGAL Western sanctions are hurting the economy with
many local firms unable to market their products in the United States of America and Europe, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Mr Joseph Kanyekanye has said.
In a solidarity message before signing the Anti-Sanctions Petition in Harare yesterday, Mr Kanyekanye said the embargo had nothi-ng to do with human rights abuses as clai-med by the West.
He cited examples of such Western firms as Tesco that had refused to buy farm produce from Zimbabwe.
The sanctions, he said, denied Zimbabwean companies access to lines of credit from multi-lateral lending institutions.
"I have come voluntarily to say no to sanctions. It is part of our 2010 resolutions where more than 300 business people said sanctions are not appropriate for Zimbabwe.
"We believe that sanctions have nothing to do with the human rights situation obtaining in the country. We have a situation where we have ZDERA, which we are having problems with as the business community.
"This law empowers the US Secretary for the Treasury to direct any US executive director sitting on international financial institutions to vote against extension of loans to Zimbabwe and cancellation or reduction of indebtedness owed by Zimbabwe," he said.
Mr Kanyekanye urged the political leadership to stop politicking and denounce the embargo.
"As Zimbabweans, we must fight the san-ctions and as CZI we had already taken a position a year ago because they have cau-sed unnecessary disunity in the country," he said.
The CZI president said the sanctions are illegal at international law because the Uni-ted Nations did not ratify them.
Vice President John Nkomo expressed dismay over the absence of the two MDC formations, which are signatories to the Glo-bal Political Agreement, at the launch say-ing: "Some GPA signatories did not come. This means they are pro-sanctions.
"During the struggle for independence we had such characters, but that did not derail the liberation struggle."
He said justice was on Zimbabwe's side as the country was being punished for expressing dominion over its God-given resources.
"We shall prosper and all we want is to control our resources. We refuse to be glorified messengers, but owners of our resou-rces."
VP Nkomo said political freedom, which Zimbabwe attained in 1980, needed to be consolidated by economic independence.
He said the anti-sanctions campaign was the first step towards busting the illegal embargo.
The campaign's success, he pointed out, rested on national unity.
Visiting Namibian Minister of Regional and Local Development, Mr Jerry Ekandjo, said Zimbabwe was being punished for re-possessing its land.
"We add our voice to unconditional lifting of the sanctions and we are going to launch the Anti-Sanctions Campaign in Namibia in solidarity with our comrades in Zimbabwe," he said.
Chiefs Council president chief Fortune Charumbira added: "Everyone across the political divide is suffering from these illegal sanctions. And as traditional chiefs we are saying they must go in their totality."
Bishop Trevor Manhanga threw the church's weight behind the campaign.
"We are here to repudiate the myth that sanctions are targeted on selected members of our country.
"Whatever punitive measures on one of us are sanctions against us all.
"Sanctions on (General Constantine) Chiwenga are sanctions on us all because he is our general."
African Apostolic Church Archbishop Paul Mwazha's contribution was: "Sanctions are anti-human and if the whites really love us they would not have imposed sanctions on us. I say Africa forward and backwards never."
Founder of United Fellowship International Pastor Emmanuel Makandiwa said no God-fearing person would support sanctions since they affect God's children and his Chu-rch all of which operate and reside in the country.
Zimbabwe Farmers' Union president Mr Silas Hungwe said sanctions hurt agriculture and must be "removed unconditionally because they are hindering our farming operations".
In his closing remarks, Zanu-PF national chairman Cde Simon Khaya said: "Indeed these sanctions are not targeted on the leadership, they are comprehensive and affect all Zimbabweans.
"They are evil, racist . . . they are a crime against the grain of all civilised conduct - they must go.
"Those who have boycotted this milestone launch, obviously per instruction of their masters, have seriously exposed themselves as men and women of no consequence."
Labels: JOHN NKOMO, JOSEPH KANYEKANYE, SANCTIONS, ZDERA
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CZI calls for lifting of sanctions
By: Our reporter
Posted: Thursday, July 29, 2010 10:15 pm
THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has called upon global businesses to join government in a collective call to remove illegal and ruinous sanctions imposed on the country by the United States, Britain and their allies in the West.
CZI president Joseph Kanyekanye said
the sanctions were innappropriate and could not advance democracy, as claimed by the imposing countries. Kanyekanye called for the government to re-engage with the European Union and to seek funding outside of Zimbabwe urgently in order to revive industry.
"In all CZI meetings we had with foreign ministers, ambassadors and multilateral institutions, we emphasised the need to separate politics from industry and other national issues," he said.
He praised Rio Tinto and its partners for investing in a 2,400-megawatt power station at the Sengwa coal fields and commended the government's drive to ensure that Zimbabwe benefited from the diamonds at Chiadzwa in Marange district.
The call comes as the EU is mulling removing their illegal sanctions on an individual by individual basis.
The bloc wants individuals who are on their sanctions list to make representations explaining why they should not be on that list.
The Zanu-PF party of President Mugabe has dismissed this new EU strategy as "ridiculous" saying the sanctions were imposed in a blanket way and should therefore be removed in the same manner.
Labels: CONFEDERATION OF ZIMBABWE INDUSTRIES, JOSEPH KANYEKANYE, SANCTIONS, ZDERA
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