Sunday, 31st May 2009

Howzit

When I initially read this article, it was the headline that caught my eye: "Holding On To Your Crown Even When You’ve Lost"...

We are all aware that Mugabe and his ZANU PF party lost at the ballot box last year but that Mugabe had 'some sense beaten into the people' and in the second round of the Presidential election, his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out...

ZANU PF lost but remain in power...

"Monday’s celebration of Africa day - the 45th commemoration of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity - caused me to ponder the link between President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and last month’s co-winner of Idols, Sasha-Lee Davids of Atlantis.

They have more in common than you might imagine. I know she looks sweet and youthful, and neighbouring Bob is neither, but read on.

In a world first, Davids held onto her Idols crown (or half of it, at least) even after it was revealed that, because of botched technology, she had received 200000 fewer SMS votes than Jason Hartman of KwaZulu-Natal. Competition organiser M-Net decided to split the difference and enthrone them as joint winners: a neat solution, though it did some violence to the concept of popular participation.

Something similar, but seriously violent, happened in Zimbabwe last year. In the March first-round presidential poll, despite energetic electoral malpractices and his vast powers of incumbency, Mugabe actually lost to the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai.

But Mugabe didn’t rely on faulty SMSes to achieve final victory. For the next round, he unleashed a wave of violence and intimidation. Amnesty International estimated that 180 people were killed and 9000 injured. Tsvangirai was forced out of the subsequent runoff and, voil€, Bob was installed for his sixth presidential term."

I shake my head at the quiet acceptance that the free world expressed. Rather than correct the evident wrong, we all seem to accept the fraud that Mugabe is intent upon - and as a result, the lesser crimes committed by his regime seem even more palatable.

The free world is as guilty of failing the people of Zimbabwe as Mugabe is of stealing the election.

"A recent study by Daniel Posner and Daniel Young shows that, today, an incumbent president has a 14% chance of losing office - happy odds for him, but at least suggesting the prospect of occasional change.

If you want to know why the odds are so long for the challenger, Kenya in December 2007, like Zimbabwe a few months later, provided an instructive example."

Why do we in the free world, insist on taking the easier option, even if we are fully aware that that decision is as flawed as the stolen election?

-o00o-

I really don't like these analyses of any address made by someone - as they are open to misrepresentation... On the internet today is another look at Tsvangirai's speech and it is headlined: "Tsvangirai: Unity Government Fails"...

"The leader of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change Morgan Tsvangirai hailed the successes of the government of national unity. He however pointed out that there were limitations to what his party could do towards the democratization of Zimbabwe.

Morgan Tsvangirai who became Prime Minister of Zimbabwe earlier this year was speaking at the opening of his party's two-day annual conference Saturday. He pointed out that despite the problems inherent in coalition governments, which he described as a marriage of convenience, some progress has been made.

"In the 107 days since the formation of the inclusive government the MDC within the government has been instrumental in stabilizing our economy and bringing it back from the brink of truly national disaster. In fact we have been able to bring our rate of inflation from a world record breaking rate of 500 billion percent to minus three percent at the end of March," he said."

There is a vast difference between 'failure' and 'limitations' - but remember that the interpretation lies with the journalist. I fully realise that although I am no journalist, my interpretation of events and stories will vary from other people of similar ilk.

"Mr Tsvangirai added that since his party joined, the government schools and hospitals re-opened and food is widely available in the shops. Also, he noted, there has been an increase access by local and international non-governmental aid agencies to the needy.

But he stressed that while his party is participating in the government, there are still factions within the government that are not promoting democratic values. He therefore asked Zimbabweans not to expect change overnight.

"The progress that we have made and are intent on making is being undermined by those that are threatened by the democratic changes contained in the global political agreement," he said. "In addition, despite our party being committed to restoring the rule of law, our members continue to be victims of political persecution. Our goal of restoring fundamental freedoms and human right is not yet achieved but we are moving in the right direction."

Until and unless the major outstanding issues are resolved, the 'unity' government will remain just a number of politicians battling for elbow room. Nothing more.

And the good people of Zimbabwe will continue to suffer...

-o00o-

Which 'newly rich' farmers are these - the beneficiaries of the 'land grab'? They will learn that money doesn't grow on trees (or on tobacco plants) - but with the land being something Mugabe can whisk away at will, why should they look at the next season?

"Some newly rich tobacco farmers in Harare are embarking on spending sprees after receiving their United States dollars for their top quality tobacco crop.

Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) Public Relations Manager, journalist, Phillip Chingwaru confirmed that farmers were going on spending sprees after receiving their hard cash from the Tobacco Sales Floors (TSF) and the BOKA Auction Tobacco Floors in Harare.

Tobacco is going for between US$2 and US$5 and the farmers are making a killing in Harare from daily sales which are paid for immediately after the sale.

The farmers are snapping up television sets, DVDs, CDs, stereo radio systems, as well as fridges and stoves.

"They must not spend all their money," Chingwaru said. "We are worried that they will not have sufficient cash to buy inputs such as fertiliser and fuel when the new season starts soon."

So now a serious Mugabe-ite is handing out advice on how to spend money? He would do better directing his comments to Mugabe...

"Cotton farmers have been known to blow funds after selling their crop but this time it seems the tobacco farmers are laughing all the way to the bank with US dollars."

-o00o-

Living 'without' can be a tough thing. I am not rich, neither am I 'flush' - but I am able to ensure that this house has the essentials and that the bills are paid. In Zimbabwe, when the 'have nots' are within touching distance of the things which they want the most, it is going to happen that someone is going to get hurt.

"Four soldiers have died at Chiadzwa diamond fields,the bodies were found with gunshot wounds in suspicious circumstances on Saturday.

The details surrounding the deaths are still sketchy, but sources close to the investigations said last Saturday at around 6am, the first two bodies with gunshot wounds were found lying about 400 metres from one of the bases established by security agents charged with bringing order to the diamond fields.

Police spokesman Superintendent Andrew Phiri said: "We don’t know what exactly happened and investigations are still in progress.

It was not clear if one of them had shot dead his colleague before turning the gun on himself or if the two had been shot by a third person.

In the second incident the following day, the soldiers involved were part of a detachment manning a roadblock between Mutare and Chiadzwa.

It is alleged that the two soldiers - reportedly an officer and a junior- had a heated argument.

The senior soldier is said to have been disarmed by his superior. But a few hours later he was given back his rifle and then threatened to shoot his colleagues manning the roadblock.

The soldier then shot the officer, who died instantly, before turning the gun on himself. He died on the spot."

When protecting such a lucrative area such as the diamond fields, it must play on the minds of the people that guard it all, that all the want is a few stones and they can change their lives forever.

One soldier said a few months ago, "Why die of thirst when you are standing in a river?"

"The Chiadzwa fields used to be managed by De Beers, the South African mining giant. After independence, De Beers sold its franchise to African Consolidated Resources (ACR), a British company. Two years ago the government confiscated the fields and handed them to the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, which never got round to doing any extraction of diamonds.

Instead, thousands of Zimbabweans and other Africans swarmed over the 170-acre site in one of the greatest diamond rushes the continent has seen in modern times.

It is believed that hundreds died as the fields fell into lawlessness and violence. Diggers began arming themselves with handguns. Sometimes there were as many as 4,000 hand-panners searching for diamonds. Among them were army and police officers who had deserted but were still in uniform. Local children stopped attending school and many schools failed to open because teachers and pupils were digging in the fields."

Greed is one thing - need another - and in Zimbabwe, it is easy to confuse the two. But maybe not so. Greed lives in ZANU PF's back yard, whilst need roams about with no fixed abode.

And poverty and sickness live in the flat above.

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Saturday, 30th May 2009

Howzit

First prize would be to rid the country of the Reserve Bank governor, Gideon Gono, but even though he would appear to want to go, Mugabe is determined that he will stay. So, initially at least, cabinet have agreed to minimise the governor's powers...

"Zimbabwe’s cabinet is said to have agreed to effect key amendments to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Act, a development that will see the RBZ being confined to its core functions.

While the battle around the status of controversial RBZ governor Gideon Gono rages on, Finance Minister Tendai Biti is reported to have convinced cabinet on the need to clip the wings of the central bank chief, whose controversial quasi-fiscal policies are widely regarded as having ruined Zimbabwe’s once buoyant economy.

President Robert Mugabe, who has declared he will not heed local or international calls for Gono to be replaced, chairs cabinet, which comprises all ministers from both ZANU PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) parties.

"I am pleased to advise that cabinet has agreed on fundamental amendments to the Reserve Bank Act," Biti told journalists Thursday."

But great care should be taken here. Mugabe has a habit of agreeing to one thing and then proceeding to do everything but what he agreed upon - and he is surrounded by people who are not troubled in rewording and changing agreed clauses between agreement and publication.

"It is important that we restore the legitimacy, credibility and integrity of the Reserve Bank." Biti said the RBZ reforms would ensure the bank was confined to its core business which involved the crafting of the monitory policy, supervising the banking sector and the management of the national payment systems, among other duties.

The MDC secretary-general said the envisaged amendments to the RBZ Act will also factor in recommendations by an International Monetary Fund (IMF) technical team that is in Zimbabwe to offer guidance in the banking system and central bank governance."

For the meantime, Gono appears to have won the day - with help from Mugabe - and will remain in office. And so the depths of Mugabe's fraudulent uses of the central bank for political and personal gain remain under wraps.

-o00o-

I went through training at Morris Depot in 1981. I watched the video footage - and I am happy to report that we never experienced anything remotely similar to this.

It is my understanding that recruits (at that time - things have probably changed) were protected from this sort of behaviour.

"SW Radio Africa has obtained exclusive video footage showing a number of police recruits in Zimbabwe being tortured and beaten in a series of sickening assaults by what appears to be their instructors.

In one horrifying attack, a recruit is pinned down by six officers with one stepping on his back as laughing instructors whip and kick the defenceless man. The recruit can be heard screaming while one officer shouts, 'wuraya' (kill him). Other officers are also heard shouting 'castrate him', and 'step on his throat'.

Screaming recruits are also seen being wrestled to the ground and held down while laughing officers kick and beat them with baton sticks. The footage shockingly depicts the recruits as they lie screaming on the floor of what appears to be the Morris Depot training camp in Harare.

The footage is believed to have been filmed in the last two months in Harare. A voice supposedly that of one of the instructors can also be heard bellowing out instructions to the assailants."

Whilst I have gone off the ZRP big time, I am aware that it is today an entirely different animal from the force that I joined. Yes, much of the old BSAP standards were still in existent, and rightly so - as it was certainly a police force of some reputation - but we were never manhandled by the instructors.

That is not to say that our training was easy - not at all.

"Surprisingly, it was a police officer who made the film, and others can be seen in the video using their mobile phones to capture the beatings.

Taurayi Chamboko, a police constable with the Bedfordshire Constabulary in the UK told us the officers in the footage would have faced serious charges of brutality and human rights abuses in the UK.

"In the UK it is illegal for an instructor to have physical contact with a recruit unless they are going through certain tactical drills where contact is unavoidable," PC Chamboko said. Human rights activists say police brutality is deeply entrenched in Zimbabwean life.

Dewa Mavhinga, a human rights lawyer said all Zimbabweans should condemn in the strongest possible terms the brutality being meted out on recruits, which is not only a violation of human rights, but more importantly, an outright crime in terms of the country’s laws.

"A police officer is someone in a contract of employment, so what employer has a right to brutally assault employees? The Zimbabwe government must immediately investigate this crime and arrest anyone found to have been involved in these dastardly, inhuman and degrading acts," Mavhinga said.

He added; "It’s unfortunate that in a country gripped by lawlessness such cruel beatings may even be viewed as normal. That goes to show the state to which Zimbabwe has been reduced."

I found the video footage shocking - very shocking. But when we realise the depths of depravity to which the ZRP has plumbed, then this sort of activity is commonplace. I can only think that it is the instructors attempting to give the recruits a taste of the beatings they are ment to give members of the public.

That video is here. Be warned - it isn't very nice...

-o00o-

More questionable activity by Zimbabweans in the UK.

"Zimbabwean fraudsters who conned more than £1m from banks with stolen cheques have been jailed for a total of 11 years.

The men intercepted business and personal cheque books and cards in the post and changed payee names and forged sums to be paid in.

Leeds Crown Court heard one fraudster, Effart Diza, of Knowle Terrace, Harehills, was exposed after trying to pay in a £136,000 forged cheque into a bank account set up by the men.

A jury convicted Diza of conspiracy to defraud after a trial. He was jailed for five-and-a-half years. Naison Mubaiwa, 35, of Grange Avenue, Harehills, was jailed for three and a half years after admitting conspiracy to defraud.

Paddington Muzundiwa, 25, of Manchester, was jailed for two years after admitting the same charge. All three men had failed to win asylum in the UK."

I sincerely hope that these three men are deported back to Zimbabwe upon their release.

When I read of the various crimes committed by Zimbabweans the world over, I feel nothing but revulsion. These three men left Zimbabwe to claim political asylum in the UK. This, they failed to secure - but it didn't stop them from cooking up this fraud... and now they will spend years living off the taxpayer in UK prisons before being returned (hopefully) to Zimbabwe.

By the time they get released/deported, one would hope that the problems in Zimbabwe would have been resolved, and that their return is noted and their subsequent activity in Zimbabwe is monitored.

"Jailing the three men, Judge Kerry Macgill said: "This was by anyone's standards a large scale and sophisticated conspiracy. This was fraud on a grand scale."

A fourth man, Charles Kanyimo, 35, of Wakefield, was previously jailed for three years after he pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud.

The arrests were made as part of an operation that saw warrants executed at 30 addresses in West Yorkshire and around the country."

-o00o-

More illegal activity - this time in Zimbabwe...

"A suspected mbanje dealer ferrying more than half a tonne of the drug was shot dead while three of his four accomplices escaped on Sunday morning after a shootout with police near Mutoko along the Harare-Nyamapanda Highway.

The drug dealers were involved in a high-speed chase with police for about 25 kilometres before exchanging gunshots along the highway.

Police arrested one of the suspects - Obert Tegu (28) of Mutare - and recovered 505,3kg of mbanje with a street value of more than US$500 000, which was in the suspects' Nissan hardbody truck.

The dead man has been identified as Mangezi Bekini (33), who had no further particulars."

For the unenlightened, "mbanje" is marijuana...

"Police believe the mbanje could have been smuggled from Mozambique's Gozi area, situated between Mozambique, Mudzi and Nyanga.

Chief Supt Mwatsikesimbe said on Saturday police were tipped off that the suspects were smuggling mbanje into Zimbabwe.

Police were also supplied with a sketch map of the roads the suspects planned to use in the Makosa area of Mudzi before getting into the Harare-Nyamapanda Road at East Hunyani.

Police laid an ambush for the gang along a road in East Hunyani at around 2am on Sunday and spotted the suspects' vehicle heading towards Mutoko.

Police waved down the suspects but the gang sped off, forcing the police who were driving an Isuzu double cab truck to give chase for about 25 kilometres.

Chief Supt Mwatsikesimbe said the suspects thwarted police attempts to block the drug dealers' car.

Realising the police would not give up, one of the suspects - believed to have been armed with a pistol - fired shots towards the police vehicle.

The police fired back and Tegu jumped out of the moving vehicle and was subsequently arrested.

The other suspects dumped the vehicle before fleeing into a nearby bush. Police continued to shoot, hitting Bekini in the thigh."

At last! Some real police work!

It makes a change, doesn't it?

-o00o-

You will recall the armed forces threatening to go to war with the Zimbabwean people if Gideon Gono is forced out of office.

Now the war veterans have joined with the armed forces...

"The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association has thrown its weight behind Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono, saying the central bank chief had done nothing wrong to warrant the vilification he is getting from some quarters.

In a statement, ZNLWVA deputy chairperson Cde Joseph Chinotimba lashed out at some people in the inclusive Government calling for the ouster of Dr Gono, saying they were doing so for personal gain and to please outsiders. War vets are the latest group to lend their support to Dr Gono after President Mugabe on Monday said the central bank chief was not going anywhere, putting an end on speculation on his fate.

Politicians and service chiefs have also said calls to oust Dr Gono were misplaced.

"Indeed, we support and give praise to the words echoed by our wise leader and Head of State Cde R.G. Mugabe at the funeral of the RBZ Governor's brother that Dr Gono will stay put in his job because he did not do anything worth the vilification which he is currently going through," said Cde Chinotimba.

"Without mincing words, as war veterans, we throw our full weight behind the RBZ Governor and we take pride in the fantastic job he did at a time the country was reeling under the Western-imposed illegal sanctions."

As usual, we see blind loyalty to Mugabe - and this, within itself, is hugely shortsighted. The war veterans receive a mere pittance by way of a pension from the State (I am not convinced that they should receive any pension - and if they do, it should be from ZANU PF), and for this reason, they are prepared to go back to the bush.

They know which side of the bread is buttered...

"Cde Chinotimba said it was important to realise that the spirit of reconciliation did not start with the current inclusive Government as the then Prime Minister Mugabe formed an inclusive Government with PF ZAPU and Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front at independence in 1980.

"As fresh from the bush as we were, war veterans did not call for the removal of anyone from office. Despite having fought and defeated our former oppressors, top civil service posts continued to be occupied by whites," said Cde Chinotimba.

Freedom fighters did not call for higher posts notwithstanding that they wanted them, because they realised that the important goal of the struggle was to bring freedom for the generality of the people, he said.

It is the view of freedom fighters, he said, that if the current "cancer" of calling for heads of senior Government officials is allowed to go on, service chiefs and their superiors might be the next targets."

The problem, Mr Chinotimba, is not who holds the senior offices, but what they do whilst in office - and Gono has crossed the line...

"In view of the above, it is very amazing to see that some of those in the inclusive Government are targeting individuals for their own personal gains and to please those who are outside. Why are we preaching the gospel of national healing yet we are not demonstrating it practically?" he asked."

What "national healing"?

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Friday, 29th May 2009

Howzit

Foreign currency mid-rates updated

-o00o-

Not long ago, I wrote an open letter to Robert Mugabe, and the comments that it provoked included the threat of a 'public shaving' by some Mugabe-ites. What amused me at that time was that the person that write the comment, was himself living outside of Zimbabwe - in this instance, in Johannesburg.

Now someone else has written a letter to Mugabe:

"Dear President Mugabe

From recent news reports, I note that you continue to defend incompetent people in your administration with total disregard for some very glaring symptoms of failure. In this particular case I am talking about your defense of RBZ Governor, Mr Gideon Gono.

Your Excellency, you claim that Mr Gono did well under difficult conditions caused by sanctions. Let me draw your attention to another era when this country was placed under sanctions. That is the days of the illegal Rhodesian regime under the tin-pot dictator Ian Smith.

You are the one who took over immediately after the demise of Rhodesia. From your experiences then and now, Your Excellency is the economy, specifically the monetary system, in a better shape now than it was then. I would proceed further to seek your wise counsel on how it was possible for the monetary system to fare better under total sanctions in Rhodesia as compared to the mere travel bans applying now.

I am sure you will agree with me that the current crisis was chiefly caused by a panic stricken reaction heavily laced with greed and self aggrandizement by your lieutenants, chief among them the individual we are discussing. He was assisted by other economic imbeciles like the chairman of the National Income and Pricing Commission.

The current slap-on-the wrist travel bans you are under may have contributed to the woes but the contribution of these ‘sanctions’ pales into insignificance compared to the sheer incompetence of your administration. Of late, donors have been reluctant to release money to the government of Zimbabwe. However after what happened to money from the Global Fund, Hivos, Africa University and probably other organizations we haven’t heard about, I am sure that you will understand their misgivings.

Your Excellence it is reported that you have claimed that Gono “became our salvation”.

While the “our” in your statement might include you and the politicians surrounding you, I would like to let you know that the rest of Zimbabweans do not share the same sentiment. You qualified your statement by adding that the RBZ gave assistance such as “scotch-carts, ploughs, seed, fertiliser and even buses”.

I would like to know from you, Your Excellency, did everyone get a scotch-cart? Did everyone get a plough? Did everyone get a free ride on a bus? Out of curiosity may I ask why did you not mention the extravagant expenses like free luxury cars and money to rent penthouses for children of powerful politicians in foreign lands?

Anyway what benefit was the scotch-carts if the recipients ended up having to survive on wild hacha fruit because bad policies elsewhere made it impossible for them to acquire agricultural inputs for themselves.

Your Excellency, I would also like you to understand that my criticism of Mr Gono is not married to the MDC’s demands that he should go. The MDC demands merely revolve around the fact the he is not a member of their party. My own position has been arrived at after very careful consideration of the performance of Zimbabwe’s monetary system before and during Mr Gono’s tenure as well as compared to other countries which have faced similar hostilities from the imperialist minded section of the world, such as Cuba and Iraq.

I think the evidence at hand clearly shows that Mr Gono did not even understand what his role was. To try and cover up his deficiencies, he tried to be everything for everyone something which is simply not possible and an invitation for trouble. Instead of managing the monetary system he ended up trying to run the state budget. He also appears to have thought that the reserve bank’s role was to create money for the state resulting in his well known hyper-inflationary activities.

In addition to this manifest lack of knowledge Mr Gono also displayed lax management and allowed a deterioration of standards at the RBZ.

Your Excellency, did you not hear about the casual intimate girlfriends of very high ranking RBZ advisers who were found with then astronomical amounts of freshly printed money which later disappeared from police custody without trace? May I ask, is that the hallmark of a competently run central bank? Is that part of the salvation you were telling the people of Buhera about?

My conclusion is that your defence of Mr Gono is misplaced. Your attempts to pass off his very, very evidently disastrous mismanagement of the now non-existent monetary system and ruinous interference in other areas of the economy as a success suggests that, at the very best you are incapable of properly assessing Mr Gono’s performance or at the worst you are in full support of his mismanagement and, by extension, the suffering it visited upon Zimbabweans. Either way the message Zimbabweans and potential donors get, is that you do not want to make a clean break from past mismanagement.

This clearly means that past ruinous policies that you are now trying to pass off as our salvation could be repeated and you cannot be counted upon to prevent it. In fact there is a risk that you might encourage such policies again.

In short Zimbabwe’s economy remains at risk of mismanagement and is thus hazardous for investors. Mr President you should be leading the crusade to properly analyse and understand how the economy was mismanaged and ruined. It is counter-productive for you to spend time trying to defend those chiefly responsible for the mismanagement. The bottom line is Mr Gono’s policies were unsustainable and ruinous of the economy. There is no economy in the world which has enough money to give every citizen something for free. Giving less than a hundredth of the population free scotch-carts while the rest of the population starves is not competence and definitely cannot be described as a salvation. Giving an even smaller portion of the population free luxuries, while hospitals and education system collapse borders on corruption.

Allowing the children of a handful of politicians to go and live in penthouses while the rest of our children go uneducated because our teachers are not being paid living wages is by far not the definition of success.

Your Excellency, if we quantify Mr Gono’s success by the comfort of the cars politicians ride in, and the ability of politicians to sustain luxurious lifestyles, then yes he was very, very successful. However once we start looking at the standard development indices, then we get a very different picture.

Your Excellency, would you describe the state of our education system today as a success? Would you describe the state of our hospitals as a success? Do we measure success by the amount of food we now have to import? Maybe you would rather consider the current productivity levels of our once vibrant industry.

Lastly Your Excellency where is our Zimbabwe dollar, the very product which Mr Gono’s was directly tasked with managing?

Your Excellency, your defense of Mr Gono is a continuation of your inability to deal effectively with incompetence in your administration. As usual, my strong advice to you is that you should stop putting political loyalty ahead of competence. That stance has cost you and the liberation party of Zimbabwe, ZANU PF, a great deal in popularity.

Your Excellency, if you really want Zimbabweans to trust you, at the very least you should start by showing them that you care about competence in your administration. I do hope you will consider that my humble opinion is not borne out of malice towards Mr Gono but out of observing some simple and glaringly obvious facts. I am simply calling a spade a spade.

Your humble citizen.

Jupiter Punungwe"

Some readers may believe that publishing the entire letter may be a waste of webspace, but the writer does have some relevant points to make. The sad truth is that Mugabe may read the letter in a publication, but he will chuckle to himself and do absolutely nothing to correct the wrongs of his regime.

-o00o-

Whilst I fully realise that 'mistakes' can happen, the eviction of a couple from their home is just plain stupid. Yes - stupid.

And I do believe that this is intended as a bridge between farms and residences - clearing the way for Mugabe-ites to start taking homes from owners - just because they are white or don't share the same political ethos...

"President Robert Mugabe's controversial "land reform programme" took a new twist on Wednesday when a court ordered the eviction of a man who is not a farmer.

Ian Campbell-Morrison (46) lives in the Vumba Mountains in eastern Zimbabwe, next to a hotel where he is the green keeper. He and his wife live in a cottage on a plot not much bigger than a suburban garden, where she tends flowers.

The Campbell-Morrisons used to farm tobacco and coffee, but the government seized their land and the farmhouse and gave it to a government official, leaving the couple their cottage and the garden around it, said Hendrik Olivier, director of the Commercial Farmers' Union, made up mostly of Zimbabwe's remaining 350 white farmers."

So the couple lost their farm, and now the former farmer has been fined for "illegally occupying state land" with reference to the occupancy of the cottage. I ask you - what is a Mugabe-ite going to do with a cottage and small garden? He isn't going to live in it!

"A magistrate in the nearby city of Mutare nevertheless sentenced Campbell-Morrison to a fine of $800 for "illegally occupying state land" and ordered the couple to be off the property by Saturday. The Campbell-Morrisons are one of 140 white farming families facing eviction from their land in the latest tactic in Mugabe's violent, lawless campaign to force white landowners - numbering about 5000 when it started in 2000 - off their farms."

I have always maintained that the land grab would mutate to a residence grab and a firm grab - as Mugabe loyalists realise that possession of the land means nothing - especially if they don't put in the work that is required to produce food for the country.

Mugabe loyalists seems to think that possession of the farms will rectify the imbalance of ownership - but for so many years, the white commercial farmers were diligent in their production of food for the country. Now the country is the most reliant for food aid in the world.

"Mugabe has declared all white-owned land to be state property and banned farmers from taking the government to court.

The evictions and violence have continued despite the establishment in February of a power-sharing government between Mugabe and former opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, with an agreement to restore the rule of law and to "ensure security of tenure to all land holders". Tsvangirai, now prime minister, began by promising to end the lawlessness, promising that "no crime [by invaders] will go unpunished," but the police - under the control of staunchly pro-Mugabe security chiefs - continued to refuse to act against the mostly well-heeled Mugabe loyalists grabbing productive farms and selling their crops."

It should also be noted that some of the farms seized by Mugabe were purchased post-independence from the Mugabe government who had indicated their disinterest in the land as laid down by law...

-o00o-

There are two sides to every story, and in the matter of Gono remaining in office as the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, perhaps he doesn't want to stay in office...

"The talk of the town Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono told his paymaster Robert Mugabe that he had made more enemies than friends during his infamous tenure at the RBZ and so he wanted to resign because "he has enemies everywhere."

Gono said this to Mugabe on Saturday before his brother passed away and even wrote a resignation letter to Mugabe it has been learnt. It is against this background that Mugabe spoke in public rallying as Gono’s last line of defense.

"Gono wrote to 'Mudara' telling him that he wanted no more of this and wants to dedicate more time to his farm and other businesses instead of being tangled in politics. He is now a shadow of his old self and wants his freedom back.

"Gono has enemies everywhere," said a ZANU PF stalwart in the Mnangagwa camp that Gono is aligned to. It is said Gono gave Mugabe the letter just before the aging leader was about to leave for his Saturday visit to Zvimba his homeland."

So - if this story is correct - Mugabe is making a stand for Gono, who no longer wishes to be the governor of the RBZ! So why does Mugabe want to make a fight out of something that is cut and dried?

I'll tell you why. Gono's departure from the RBZ would allow people to see just what has been going on in the bank, just how much of the State funds have been detoured to finance ZANU PF and Mugabe and his loyalists...

"The Governor printed money as much as he pleased last year and had people he supplied with "bags" to buy foreign currency for army generals, party hardliners and personal friends. Mugabe stands to lose out a lot if Gono is to leave the Reserve Bank because Gono doubled up as his personal banker and perhaps his business front."

-o00o-

The political violence last year was obviously perpetrated by ZANU PF - although Mugabe has alleged, a couple of times at least, that it was begun by the MDC. But when the people that led that violence begin to beg for forgiveness, then the truth is more than apparent...

"The people who were leading in the victimization of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) supporters towards the last June Presidential run off-elections in Buhera under Chief Nyashanu are pleading with their respective traditional leaders to be given protection as MDC-T supporters are insisting that they want to revenge.

Headmen Josiah Mabvuregudo in Ward 17 of Buhera Central Constituency under Chief Nyashanu confirmed: "These people come to my home wanting to know what I will do in case they are assaulted by the MDC-T supporters who are swearing that they will not rest unless they revenge. I used to tell these people to go back and wait so that they see if the MDC-T supporters meant what they said,".

"One of the people who came... was beaten seriously last week. Now I am referring all the issues to my boss who is Chief Nyashanu," said Mabvuregudo.

Mabvuregudo said he informed the police at Sanga Police Camp to assist in limiting cases of violence in his area."

How lopsided is this? Mubvuregugu reports the beating to the police - but during last year's violence, any report by the MDC to the police was met with another beating and incarceration...

"Since this issue involves violence, we have since informed the police to be alert. As a leader, I am worried because the tension between ZANU PF and MDC-T supporters in my area is increasing instead of going down," he said. It is reported that some people have already fled to towns to skip potential punishment by MDC-T supporters."

How handy that this man should warn the police to be vigilant - the very same people who gave protection to the perpatrators of the political violence last year - and in some cases, the people who committed the offences were police members!

"I think something should be done to cool down the emotions of people who were victimized in last year’s elections. Currently, no justice has been done and if the government fails to do justice on behalf of the people, then the people will take the law in to their hands," said Hamandishe.

Thomas Matema, an MDC-T supporter, said the inclusive government was taking too long to help the victims of political violence. He also said people should be arrested for failing to pay back whatever they looted during or towards last year’s election."

With Mugabe in the top office, compensation will never be paid to the MDC victims (but note that compensation will be paid to ZANU PF governors appointed unilaterally by Mugabe...)

National healing is a myth.

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Whilst controversy rages around Gideon Gono, Zimbabwe lurches from one day to the next, unsure how to finance itself... and the new Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, seems to be fighting a multi-fronted battle.

Consider this. The country is going nowhere fast - and yet it has 150000 civil servants? What on earth are they doing? Government does not work, there is no economy to talk of, so I wonder why the 'unity' government needs so many people?

And the vast majority of these people will have been Mugabe appointees and employees - their true function is unknown...

"Zimbabwe’s 150000-strong civil service is gobbling nearly 70 percent of the total monthly revenue currently being realised by government.

Meanwhile, the economy is said to be operating at a precarious minus 21 percent shortfall against its projected monthly revenue base.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti revealed Thursday that the wage bill for civil servants, pensioners and war veterans stood at US$121 million against monthly revenue of US$174 million sourced by government mostly through taxes.

He said the economy was operating at a minus 21 percent shortfall of the desired monthly revenue collection of US$200 million which was projected in the March amendments to the 2009 budget."

ZANU PF will gleefully point to these figures, heaping the blame upon Biti - but little do they realise that the true cause of such a predicament lies within the party that took on such overhead - ZANU PF.

“You can clearly see that there is absolutely no fiscal space when 70 percent of what we are obtaining is going to those allowances and when we are underperforming by over 21 percent vis a vis our budget of the 29th of January 2009 which we revised on the 17th of March, 2009.”

Of the US$121 million, Biti said US$6 million was being paid to war veterans who are entitled to monthly allowances.

"So far we have collected about US$179 million," Biti told journalists during the official launch of the Ministry of Finance’s official website.

"What we have actually received is US$174 million. This is a shortfall from the US$200 million we ought to have received. So we are underperforming by a factor of minus 21 percent."

According to Biti, the difference of US$53 million was being used to finance the rest of government expenditure."

A unity government is never going to work if the expense of that government is burdened with the residual numbers of the past regime. But, just as he offers resistance to the removal of Gono, Mugabe will not hear of the number of civil servants being reduced, as he would lose the following that he has in government circles.

"If a private limited company were to operate with a cost structure of 70 percent going to one recurrent expenditure, namely salaries and wages, that company would need major restructuring as it would not be profitable.

"So we have major, major challenges in that we do not have fiscal space.

"The structure of our receipts is much skewed and is still reflective of an economy that is not healthy at all.

"Direct taxes through our PAYE and corporate taxes, are still less that 12 percent of our income when in any normal tax structure they should be 55 percent to 60 percent.

"So we are still continuing to rely on customs duty and on excise duty, which is not good enough because no country in the world has survived on cigarettes and on alcohol.”

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Take care.

'debvhu