Harare - Zimbabwe's mining sector has taken another knock from erratic electricity cuts that have hit the country as its cash-strapped state power agency struggles with imports, a senior official said on Thursday.
Zimbabwe buys more than a third of its electricity from South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo but has in recent years grappled to pay its bills due to severe foreign currency shortages.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) has also been hard-pressed to repair power generation machinery, while vandalism of its equipment and inadequate coal supplies to its main thermal power station have contributed to frequent power cuts that have disrupted industry........
The sector has also been rattled by government plans to amend Zimbabwe's mine laws to cede a 51-percent stake in all foreign-owned mines to the state, a move seen driving away foreign investment key to the industry's growth.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Zim freezes health care fees
The Zimbabwean government has invoked the Medical Services Act of 1998 and ordered private doctors, clinics and hospitals to temporarily suspend fee increases pending an inquiry into their operations.
Health and Child Welfare Minister David Parirenyatwa on Thursday said private health care providers would not effect further fee increases.
Private health care providers had initially indicated their intention to increase fees by 240 percent from April 1, but this subsequently went down to between 76 and 96 percent following negotiations with medical aid societies.
The minister's move comes at a time when the government has expressed disapproval of current fee levels and the public has been complaining about the high charges, with patients being required to pay between 60 million Zimbabwean dollars (about 400 U. S. dollars) and 1 billion Zimbabwean dollars (about 6666 U.S. dollars) for admission at private clinics and hospitals.
According to the Medical Services Act of 1998, part four, sub- paragraph 13, the health minister is entitled to designate fees for private hospitals. "I do not expect anyone to breach this order," Parirenyatwa said.
While some medical aid societies have welcomed the latest development, several doctors and officials at private hospitals described the move as unfortunate and ill-considered taking into account that they were buying drugs, equipment and salaries without assistance from the government.
They said it was unfair for the government to halt any fee increases when private institutions were shouldering an increasing load of the health needs of the population because of the deteriorating service at public hospitals.
Why poor countries stay poor
Interesting article on the importance of good government...
But in some ways Mugabe is worse, because at least crooks only steal to get wealthy. Mugabe is deliberately following Marxist ideological policies that caused famines in Russia and China and Cambodia...and on top of it, is having his cronies steal what is left...
But in some ways Mugabe is worse, because at least crooks only steal to get wealthy. Mugabe is deliberately following Marxist ideological policies that caused famines in Russia and China and Cambodia...and on top of it, is having his cronies steal what is left...
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Mugabe diverts AIDS funds
A former board member from the National AIDs Council (NAC) now living outside the country has alleged that a cabinet directive ordering the NAC to use some of its money to subsidise other government departments came from Robert Mugabe himself. Frenk Guni, an AIDs activist now based in the United States said funds collected through a special tax meant to help those with HIV/AIDs are being diverted to other projects like failed parastatals, the defence ministry and trips for international events that have nothing to do with health.
Guni said the directive came as early as 2001 but as a board member he was suppressed by an oath of loyalty. Meanwhile thousands of Zimbabweans have been dying due to a lack of funds for anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs. On Tuesday NAC executive director Tapiwa Magure told a Parliamentary portfolio committee on health the NAC was only able to provide ARV drugs to one in every 12 AIDS patients.
Guni believes the diverted funds could have saved the lives of many Zimbabweans who died without any medication. He said the importance of an AIDs fund was clearly understood and that’s why they pushed for the National AIDs Act which allowed government to tax all workers. But the government hijacked the idea and short changed Zimbabweans who need help with ARVs. Guni said he began revealing the diversion of funds to others outside the NAC and wound up leaving Zimbabwe fearing for his life.
NAC executive director Tapiwa Magure’s statements to Parliament confirm Guni’s allegations. He told the committee on health that funds raised through the aids tax were being spread out to cover other social sectors, leaving a deficit in the budget for HIV/AIDS prevention programmes. About 3 million Zimbabweans are estimated to be infected by the deadly HIV virus.
Guni said the directive came as early as 2001 but as a board member he was suppressed by an oath of loyalty. Meanwhile thousands of Zimbabweans have been dying due to a lack of funds for anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs. On Tuesday NAC executive director Tapiwa Magure told a Parliamentary portfolio committee on health the NAC was only able to provide ARV drugs to one in every 12 AIDS patients.
Guni believes the diverted funds could have saved the lives of many Zimbabweans who died without any medication. He said the importance of an AIDs fund was clearly understood and that’s why they pushed for the National AIDs Act which allowed government to tax all workers. But the government hijacked the idea and short changed Zimbabweans who need help with ARVs. Guni said he began revealing the diversion of funds to others outside the NAC and wound up leaving Zimbabwe fearing for his life.
NAC executive director Tapiwa Magure’s statements to Parliament confirm Guni’s allegations. He told the committee on health that funds raised through the aids tax were being spread out to cover other social sectors, leaving a deficit in the budget for HIV/AIDS prevention programmes. About 3 million Zimbabweans are estimated to be infected by the deadly HIV virus.
Charles Taylor arrested
former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor had disappeared from south-eastern Nigeria where he has lived in exile since he was forced out in 2003. His bid for freedom lasted only one day. According to reports police said Taylor was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday in northern Nigeria near the border with Cameroon. His capture came as another dictator, the president of Equatorial Guinea, headed to Zimbabwe to meet Robert Mugabe. One analyst said, “Birds of a feather, their time will come.”
As we reported Tuesday the Taylor saga is important to Zimbabweans who hope the oppressive Mugabe regime will someday face trial for its human rights abuses which have been well documented. The trip to Zimbabwe by Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema has kept discussion about dictators alive. A ZANU-PF official is reported to have told state radio, "The president of Equatorial Guinea is coming to thank the government and people of Zimbabwe for assisting and averting what could have been a catastrophe in his country and also to explore ways of increasing bilateral economic relations between the two countries." The sudden flurry of activity and news about these dictators have invited comments from listeners and political activists.
Mugabe's in real trouble
The leftist National Catholic Reporter, who never met a revolution they didn't love, is now criticizing Mugabe...
One interesting note is the silence of many of the Catholic bishops...one suspects it is because both the Jesuits in the Harare area and the Bethlehem fathers in the Gweru area preached liberation theology, (which is also loved by NCR) ...
What is different with Ncube? Well, to start out, he's a Ndebele, not a Mashona...
Ncube’s opposition began some 15 years ago when he was involved with rescuing ethnic Ndebele villagers from massacre at the hands of Mugabe’s notorious army unit, the Fifth Brigade. The president said he was putting down an insurgency, but human rights groups in the country are calling it genocide. As many as 25,000 Ndebele died in what is called the Gukurahundi tragedies.
Many of the liberation fighters were Mashona...the Ndbele were split, since they were a traditional warrior tribe, and many of the men joined the Rhodesian army/police...there were families with sons on both sides of the conflict...
And after Mugabe won, there was an open persecution of the Ndebele...tribal conflice goes back many years. The Mashona arrived first (and made Great Zimbabwe) but the Ndbele were an offshoot of the warrior Zulu tribe...LINK
One interesting note is the silence of many of the Catholic bishops...one suspects it is because both the Jesuits in the Harare area and the Bethlehem fathers in the Gweru area preached liberation theology, (which is also loved by NCR) ...
Religious groups expressed concern -- but mostly from outside the country. Religious leaders inside Zimbabwe are divided. Mugabe, a Catholic educated by Jesuit missionaries, regularly attends Mass in the capital, Harare. Zimbabwe’s bishops’ conference (the county has nine Catholic bishops) has been largely quiet on bad governance, economic mismanagement, graft and human rights violations, and has not organized to apply much pressure on Mugabe.
One exception is Pius Alick Vundla Ncube, archbishop of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city.
From his modest office lined with posters of Pope John Paul II, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela, Ncube told NCR that while many of Zimbabwe’s religious leaders sit on the fence, he is prepared to die for the country’s poor and disenfranchised.
He doesn’t hesitate to call Mugabe “arrogant” and a “dictator.” He has charged that the president and his political party are using food as a political weapon.
Ncube has been threatened, and he told NCR he is under constant surveillance by government spies in the Zimbabwe’s national intelligence organization....
What is different with Ncube? Well, to start out, he's a Ndebele, not a Mashona...
Ncube’s opposition began some 15 years ago when he was involved with rescuing ethnic Ndebele villagers from massacre at the hands of Mugabe’s notorious army unit, the Fifth Brigade. The president said he was putting down an insurgency, but human rights groups in the country are calling it genocide. As many as 25,000 Ndebele died in what is called the Gukurahundi tragedies.
Many of the liberation fighters were Mashona...the Ndbele were split, since they were a traditional warrior tribe, and many of the men joined the Rhodesian army/police...there were families with sons on both sides of the conflict...
And after Mugabe won, there was an open persecution of the Ndebele...tribal conflice goes back many years. The Mashona arrived first (and made Great Zimbabwe) but the Ndbele were an offshoot of the warrior Zulu tribe...LINK
Whoops: Zim runs out of Birth control pills
Since the pill decreases breast milk, it is not the birth control method of choice for many women...
What puzzles me is that it is outside organizations that fund most of the Birth control programs.
When I worked there, you could get pills free from the pill ladies, but your kid's measles shots cost ten cents.
What puzzles me is that it is outside organizations that fund most of the Birth control programs.
When I worked there, you could get pills free from the pill ladies, but your kid's measles shots cost ten cents.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Rural Zim faces hunger
The food situation in rural areas of the county is so dire that people are clamouring for something to eat and schools are appealing for help for hungry children, according to leading aid agencies.
The warnings of mass hunger come as members of the governing elite who’ve taken over commercial farms are reprimanded for using their land as “weekend picnic venues”.
Southern Africa's food security warning organisation, FSEWS, said Zimbabwe will bring in from the fields only 600,000 tonnes of maize, ordinary people's staple food, during the impending harvest season against the average annual consumption of 1.8 million tonnes.
Steady, soaking rains have robbed Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe of drought as his standard excuse for nose-diving agricultural production - this being the sixth successive year of crop failure. Until six years ago, agricultural exports to the rest of the region and to the European Community were the country's leading foreign exchange earners.
FSEWS, the Food Security Early Warning System of the Southern African Development Community, said Zimbabwe will have to import 1.4 million tonnes of maize, 200,000 tonnes of wheat, 40,000 tonnes of sorghum and 6,000 tonnes of rice in coming months in order to avert widespread starvation-related deaths.
The minimum cost of such imports for a country that is fundamentally broke - suffering from an official inflation of 800 per cent and only limited foreign exchange reserves - will be at least 350 million US dollars for the maize alone.
In February, the Zimbabwe government struggled to raise 9 million US dollars to pay the International Monetary Fund and thus avoid becoming the first country since Czechoslovakia 52 years ago to be expelled from the world's most important lending institution. The country must find another 120 million US dollars to service IMF payment arrears in the next few months.
Zimbabwe now has the dubious distinction of having what the United Nations has called the fastest-shrinking economy, the highest inflation and the weakest currency in the world - coupled with systematic human rights abuses and the collapse of the rule of law.
"The food situation is grave," said Barbara Shenstone, CARE International's country director in Zimbabwe. "There just isn't food in the rural areas. People are clamouring for food everywhere. Schools are asking for help for hungry children. Most of the vulnerable are eating less than one meal a day."
Zvikomborero, a 33-year-old firewood vendor whose home in the Harare suburb of Mbare was destroyed last year in Mugabe's Operation Murambatsvina (Operation Drive Out the Filth), presented as an urban renewal scheme, said, "My children are now eating out of a garbage dump. We are washing potato skins and eating them. We are starving. You can say we are dead."
....
Mugabe's ZANU PF government's notorious Fast Track Land Reform Programme, which when it began in 2000 involved the mass invasion of commercial farms by so-called veterans of the 1970s liberation war and landless peasants, marked also the beginning of the agricultural industry's collapse.
After more than 4,000 commercial farmers were driven from their properties, the initial invaders were themselves pushed from the farms, which were redistributed to members of President Mugabe's family, government ministers, top ZANU PF party officials, senior army, air force and police officials, and compliant judges and journalists.
Few of the "new farmers" are producing crops. In a rare admission of government failure, Deputy Agriculture Minister Sylvester Nguni said they lacked the skills to produce on what he called a "commercial or even subsistence level"....
International food aid is seemingly abused on a widespread basis. Government distribution agents, through whom international agencies are compelled to distribute supplies, tightly control to whom it is given. Local government officials, youth militias, village chiefs and other affiliates of ZANU PF tightly control donor-feeding schemes: they make sure that food goes to communities who proclaim loyalty to ZANU PF, and consequently millions of needy people go hungry. Many donor agencies have withdrawn or been pushed out as a result of these pressures.
Government officials deny the seriousness of the food situation. Both Mugabe and Mutasa constantly assert that the country has adequate food reserves. Denying that Zimbabweans needed international help, Mugabe said, "We are not hungry. Why foist this food on us? We don't want to be choked. We have enough."
Corruption by high-ranking senior government officials and politicians has worsened the food crisis. Politicians who enjoy political protection from prosecution have looted scarce supplies from the Grain Marketing Board, the sole official grain procurement and distribution agency, to sell on the black market and smuggle to neighbouring countries.
The warnings of mass hunger come as members of the governing elite who’ve taken over commercial farms are reprimanded for using their land as “weekend picnic venues”.
Southern Africa's food security warning organisation, FSEWS, said Zimbabwe will bring in from the fields only 600,000 tonnes of maize, ordinary people's staple food, during the impending harvest season against the average annual consumption of 1.8 million tonnes.
Steady, soaking rains have robbed Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe of drought as his standard excuse for nose-diving agricultural production - this being the sixth successive year of crop failure. Until six years ago, agricultural exports to the rest of the region and to the European Community were the country's leading foreign exchange earners.
FSEWS, the Food Security Early Warning System of the Southern African Development Community, said Zimbabwe will have to import 1.4 million tonnes of maize, 200,000 tonnes of wheat, 40,000 tonnes of sorghum and 6,000 tonnes of rice in coming months in order to avert widespread starvation-related deaths.
The minimum cost of such imports for a country that is fundamentally broke - suffering from an official inflation of 800 per cent and only limited foreign exchange reserves - will be at least 350 million US dollars for the maize alone.
In February, the Zimbabwe government struggled to raise 9 million US dollars to pay the International Monetary Fund and thus avoid becoming the first country since Czechoslovakia 52 years ago to be expelled from the world's most important lending institution. The country must find another 120 million US dollars to service IMF payment arrears in the next few months.
Zimbabwe now has the dubious distinction of having what the United Nations has called the fastest-shrinking economy, the highest inflation and the weakest currency in the world - coupled with systematic human rights abuses and the collapse of the rule of law.
"The food situation is grave," said Barbara Shenstone, CARE International's country director in Zimbabwe. "There just isn't food in the rural areas. People are clamouring for food everywhere. Schools are asking for help for hungry children. Most of the vulnerable are eating less than one meal a day."
Zvikomborero, a 33-year-old firewood vendor whose home in the Harare suburb of Mbare was destroyed last year in Mugabe's Operation Murambatsvina (Operation Drive Out the Filth), presented as an urban renewal scheme, said, "My children are now eating out of a garbage dump. We are washing potato skins and eating them. We are starving. You can say we are dead."
....
Mugabe's ZANU PF government's notorious Fast Track Land Reform Programme, which when it began in 2000 involved the mass invasion of commercial farms by so-called veterans of the 1970s liberation war and landless peasants, marked also the beginning of the agricultural industry's collapse.
After more than 4,000 commercial farmers were driven from their properties, the initial invaders were themselves pushed from the farms, which were redistributed to members of President Mugabe's family, government ministers, top ZANU PF party officials, senior army, air force and police officials, and compliant judges and journalists.
Few of the "new farmers" are producing crops. In a rare admission of government failure, Deputy Agriculture Minister Sylvester Nguni said they lacked the skills to produce on what he called a "commercial or even subsistence level"....
International food aid is seemingly abused on a widespread basis. Government distribution agents, through whom international agencies are compelled to distribute supplies, tightly control to whom it is given. Local government officials, youth militias, village chiefs and other affiliates of ZANU PF tightly control donor-feeding schemes: they make sure that food goes to communities who proclaim loyalty to ZANU PF, and consequently millions of needy people go hungry. Many donor agencies have withdrawn or been pushed out as a result of these pressures.
Government officials deny the seriousness of the food situation. Both Mugabe and Mutasa constantly assert that the country has adequate food reserves. Denying that Zimbabweans needed international help, Mugabe said, "We are not hungry. Why foist this food on us? We don't want to be choked. We have enough."
Corruption by high-ranking senior government officials and politicians has worsened the food crisis. Politicians who enjoy political protection from prosecution have looted scarce supplies from the Grain Marketing Board, the sole official grain procurement and distribution agency, to sell on the black market and smuggle to neighbouring countries.
Coca cola shortage
Harare - For the first time in at least 40 years, supplies of Coca Cola dried up on Wednesday in yet another sign of crippling economic crisis in Zimbabwe, where people suffer acute bread shortages and farmers warn that worse is yet to come.
Harare agents for the US Coca-Cola company said local production of the drink stopped earlier this month, but refused to give official reasons.
Bar and cafe owners said they had been promised resumed deliveries at the end of the month, but were told hard currency shortages had prevented licensed bottlers importing the secret concentrated syrup used to mix the popular soft drink.
The increasing importance of African oil
I posted this for two reasons...one it mentions why China is investing in Africa
Two, although it is about oil, places like Zim have minerals needed for the modern world to function.
Two, although it is about oil, places like Zim have minerals needed for the modern world to function.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
UN Civil rights Panal: New and improved.
The Carter Center applauds the United Nations General Assembly (GA) for adopting the resolution creating a new Human Rights Council. Nearly a year after Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued his call for reform of the Commission on Human Rights, GA President Jan Elliason has produced a solid foundation upon which to build the U.N.’s new principal human rights body.
Many different opinions were taken into consideration to achieve this landmark agreement. Now, all those dedicated to the realization of human rights throughout the world should join in common cause to hold every government, big and small, to the highest standards of human rights.
This agreement presents an opportunity to seek new and innovative ways to address the world’s worst human rights crises. At the same time, each government will be expected to improve its own practices. Reciprocity and a constant focus on the rights of victims and the vulnerable are needed if the Council is to be productive.
If Jimmy Carter likes it, it's probably an empty promise
Indeed, the plan seems...less than impressive.
Yes, there are a few, but not that many...and why the over representation for Africa, which gets as many seats as Asia?
Answers, anyone? anyone?
Many different opinions were taken into consideration to achieve this landmark agreement. Now, all those dedicated to the realization of human rights throughout the world should join in common cause to hold every government, big and small, to the highest standards of human rights.
This agreement presents an opportunity to seek new and innovative ways to address the world’s worst human rights crises. At the same time, each government will be expected to improve its own practices. Reciprocity and a constant focus on the rights of victims and the vulnerable are needed if the Council is to be productive.
If Jimmy Carter likes it, it's probably an empty promise
Indeed, the plan seems...less than impressive.
- The new council is to conduct periodic reviews of the human rights records of all U.N. members, beginning with those elected to the council. A systematic violator of human rights could be suspended from the council by a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly. There is no such review now.
- The seats would be distributed among regional groups: 13 for Africa, 13 for Asia, six for Eastern Europe, eight for Latin America and the Caribbean and seven for a block of mainly Western countries, including the United States and Canada.
Yes, there are a few, but not that many...and why the over representation for Africa, which gets as many seats as Asia?
Answers, anyone? anyone?
Trade unionist deported from Zim
Two international trade unionists have been deported from Zimbabwe after being refused permission to enter the country to visit Zimbabwe's labour federation.
The two, Jeff Handmaker and Bangane Ngeleza, are consultants from the Netherlands Trade Union Federation, FNV. They were due to visit the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, which the FNV is assisting with a capacity building project.
The two, Jeff Handmaker and Bangane Ngeleza, are consultants from the Netherlands Trade Union Federation, FNV. They were due to visit the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, which the FNV is assisting with a capacity building project.
Zim police raid opposition offices
ZIMBABWEAN police launched a late night raid on the opposition Movement for Democratic Change's regional offices in Bulawayo Sunday, hours after party leader Arthur Mutambara addressed thousands of cheering supporters in the city.
A team of 10 heavily armed officers descended on the MDC offices just before 8pm, and would not allow anyone to leave or enter the premises, the party said in a statement.
The police kept their vigil until Monday morning when they produced a search warrant. Details of the warrant said the officers were looking for "arms of war".
The basis of the search as outlined in the warrant was that: "There were reasonable grounds for believing that there is in possession, or under the control of the MDC Provincial Adminstrator, or upon or in MDC offices, a certain article or articles that is to say, arms of war, which are unlicensed, which it is on reasonable grounds, believed may afford evidence of the commission or suspected commission of an offence."
The raid comes barely a week after seven opposition activists were rounded up in the eastern border town of Mutare, accused of plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe.
A small cache of arms was discovered in the house of an arms dealer, which police wanted to link to the MDC. The case against six of the men collapsed in farcical circumstances when a judge ordered their release following a series of bust-ups between the prosecutors and security agents.....
Monday, March 13, 2006
Malnutrition in Eastern Zim
Zim village 'starving'
12/03/2006 17:43 - (SA)
Nyanga - Chipo Mapako, a village head in the eastern Zimbabwean district of Nyanga does not remember when he last had a square meal.
The 56-year-old father of seven squints up at the sky then holds his chin and shakes his head when asked when he last had a proper repast.
"The daily struggle for us is to find enough food to stave off hunger," says Mapako, who heads a village of at least 300 people in the district renowned as much for its picturesque mountain ranges as for its dry, stony fields.
"Getting sufficient food is hard enough and who would think about nutrients?"
Thousands of villagers in the Nyanga district near Zimbabwe's border with Mozambique, are living on the verge of starvation and relying on monthly food rations from WFP.
42% is food insecure
Goodson Murinye, head of the WFP office in the eastern city of Mutare, says the district is in the red category - the most vulnerable - according to a study done late last year by a committee of state welfare officers and aid agencies.
"At least 42% of the population is food insecure with the highest malnutrition rate in the province," Murinye told AFP at a food distribution centre where villagers lined up to receive their monthly handouts of 10kg of corn meal.
The district also ranked third in the country in HIV/Aids prevalence, according to WFP.
Michael Huggins, WFP spokesperson for Southern Africa, told AFP the United Nations agency was feeding 4.3 million people in Zimbabwe and that the situation was so "critical" that thousands would continue to require food aid for the coming year.
12/03/2006 17:43 - (SA)
Nyanga - Chipo Mapako, a village head in the eastern Zimbabwean district of Nyanga does not remember when he last had a square meal.
The 56-year-old father of seven squints up at the sky then holds his chin and shakes his head when asked when he last had a proper repast.
"The daily struggle for us is to find enough food to stave off hunger," says Mapako, who heads a village of at least 300 people in the district renowned as much for its picturesque mountain ranges as for its dry, stony fields.
"Getting sufficient food is hard enough and who would think about nutrients?"
Thousands of villagers in the Nyanga district near Zimbabwe's border with Mozambique, are living on the verge of starvation and relying on monthly food rations from WFP.
42% is food insecure
Goodson Murinye, head of the WFP office in the eastern city of Mutare, says the district is in the red category - the most vulnerable - according to a study done late last year by a committee of state welfare officers and aid agencies.
"At least 42% of the population is food insecure with the highest malnutrition rate in the province," Murinye told AFP at a food distribution centre where villagers lined up to receive their monthly handouts of 10kg of corn meal.
The district also ranked third in the country in HIV/Aids prevalence, according to WFP.
Michael Huggins, WFP spokesperson for Southern Africa, told AFP the United Nations agency was feeding 4.3 million people in Zimbabwe and that the situation was so "critical" that thousands would continue to require food aid for the coming year.
Mudslides kill gold panners
Harare - At least seven illegal gold panners have died near Zimbabwe's border with Mozambique in the past week, following heavy rains in the area, reports from eastern Zimbabwe said on Friday.
There are fears the final casualty figure could be much higher.
Hospitals in Zimbabwe's Chimanimani and Chipinge districts are preparing for an influx of bodies amid fears that up to 50 panners may have died, according to one newspaper.
"People are dying and there are bodies everywhere," Ananias Mupondi, an illegal panner, told the official Manica Post on his return to Chimanimani.
Heavy rains, which began last Friday, brought chaos to Zimbabwe's border with Mozambique, flooding caves where the illegal panners live and swelling rivers.
Some of the dead are believed to have been swept away by the rivers, while others may have died of malaria and pneumonia, according to the Manica Post, in the city of Mutare.
-----------------
As a result, the gov't plans to outline gold panning...LINK
There are fears the final casualty figure could be much higher.
Hospitals in Zimbabwe's Chimanimani and Chipinge districts are preparing for an influx of bodies amid fears that up to 50 panners may have died, according to one newspaper.
"People are dying and there are bodies everywhere," Ananias Mupondi, an illegal panner, told the official Manica Post on his return to Chimanimani.
Heavy rains, which began last Friday, brought chaos to Zimbabwe's border with Mozambique, flooding caves where the illegal panners live and swelling rivers.
Some of the dead are believed to have been swept away by the rivers, while others may have died of malaria and pneumonia, according to the Manica Post, in the city of Mutare.
-----------------
As a result, the gov't plans to outline gold panning...LINK
Mining laws might affect the economy
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's central bank chief has warned President Robert Mugabe's government against draft mining laws that he said could hurt the country's economy, according to the state-owned Sunday Mail newspaper.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono was quoted saying draft amendments which could allow the state to take a majority share in foreign-owned mines should respect private property rights, adding the proposed laws were a "hot issue" at a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) board meeting.
The Mines Ministry has said cabinet approved amendments to the mining law "to indigenise 51 percent in some instances of all foreign owned companies", raising concerns on future foreign investment in a country facing foreign currency shortages.
"This issue took much of our time as we had to explain to the IMF executive board government's policy on the matter. It was a hot issue," Gono said.
"For the ... sustainable integration of Zimbabwe into the competitive global space for investment attraction, this process has to be done in accordance with strict observance and respect for private property rights, as well as through market-friendly principles of fair value exchanges," he told the newspaper.
"Without this, the country's investment landscape will forever be damaged, much to the detriment of the country's turnaround programme and its ideals."
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono was quoted saying draft amendments which could allow the state to take a majority share in foreign-owned mines should respect private property rights, adding the proposed laws were a "hot issue" at a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) board meeting.
The Mines Ministry has said cabinet approved amendments to the mining law "to indigenise 51 percent in some instances of all foreign owned companies", raising concerns on future foreign investment in a country facing foreign currency shortages.
"This issue took much of our time as we had to explain to the IMF executive board government's policy on the matter. It was a hot issue," Gono said.
"For the ... sustainable integration of Zimbabwe into the competitive global space for investment attraction, this process has to be done in accordance with strict observance and respect for private property rights, as well as through market-friendly principles of fair value exchanges," he told the newspaper.
"Without this, the country's investment landscape will forever be damaged, much to the detriment of the country's turnaround programme and its ideals."
Friday, March 10, 2006
Wheat, maize supplies dwindle
JOHANNESBURG, 8 March (IRIN) - Zimbabwe missed an opportunity to produce sufficient crops to meet national consumption requirements this season due to inadequate inputs and uncertainty about land rights, says an agricultural expert.The country has experienced food shortages over the last four years, mainly due to erratic weather conditions, the impact of the chaotic fast-track land reform programme on the agricultural sector and a lack of foreign currency to import inputs, such as fuel and fertiliser.Wheat stocks have dwindled to the point where millers have warned that supplies would only cover a few more weeks, while the crop forecast for the maize harvest this year points to another deficit in production.The agricultural expert, who did not wish to be named, told IRIN that Zimbabwe "had a very small wheat crop last year", and the current low supply was a result of "imports not keeping pace with consumption".In terms of maize, "we're looking at a similar crop to last year, between 700,000 mt and 850,000 mt, so we're probably looking at a shortfall of between 500,000 mt and 600,000 mt".The lack of wheat was critical because bread played an important role in the national diet as a substitute for the staple maize-meal porridge."The biggest problem is that the maize-meal price has gone up because the current crop is not yet ready for harvest - it's probably in peak demand right now - and the price has shot up to Zim $500,000 [about US $5] per 20 kg of milled maize," the expert noted. The official Herald newspaper reported that a 10 kg bag of maize meal was selling for up to Zim $600,000 (about $6) on the parallel market.As a result, the staple was priced beyond the reach of a large proportion of the population. "If there's no maize meal around, or people cannot afford it, they will consume bread - it is an important part of the local diet - but, again because of the shortages of wheat, the price has gone up to Zim $70,000 [$0.70 cents] for a loaf. It used to be around Zim $35,000 [$0.35 cents]," the expert explained.Although bread was available in shops, it too had become relatively unaffordable to the millions of Zimbabweans struggling to make ends meet as the country's economic meltdown continues."We are struggling; we missed an opportunity this [planting] season to become self-sufficient. We could have produced well in excess of our [consumption] requirements had there been the inputs available for farmers to plant, as we had a very good season in terms of rain," he commented.The agricultural expert noted that banks were loath to lend money to farmers, given the uncertainty over security of tenure, so that "financing, fuel, electricity, fertiliser and chemicals are all limitations. Anything that has a foreign currency component, that we have to import, is in short supply".
US State Dept blasts Zim's civil rights record
The United States Department of State has listed Zimbabwe among the worst dictatorships in the world that trample on human rights and whose rulers are accountable to no one.
In its 2005 Human Rights Country Report, made available to ZimOnline on Thursday, the department grouped Zimbabwe among some of the world's most notorious dictatorships, such as the reclusive communist state of North Korea, Burma, Iran, Cuba, Belarus and China.
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In its 2005 Human Rights Country Report, made available to ZimOnline on Thursday, the department grouped Zimbabwe among some of the world's most notorious dictatorships, such as the reclusive communist state of North Korea, Burma, Iran, Cuba, Belarus and China.
LINK2
No more softdrinks
A serious shortage of soft drinks is looming Zimbabwe. Delta Beverages Limited’s non-alcoholic plant faces closure because it is failing to raise foreign currency needed to purchase raw materials.
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