Howzit

Yesterday I received an email which talked exclusively about Gono’s address to business in Harare yesterday. No I’m not going to repeat it all, but even my brain, which struggles with all things financial, was able to register concern with some of the things that are going on.

There were two things that caught my untrained eye.

Firstly, was the money wasted on the presentation:

“I have just come in from the quarterly monetary statement by the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Gideon Gono. It was the first of these jamborees that I had attended and I was astonished to arrive to find the large City Hall filled to capacity and the car park crammed with so many luxury vehicles that I could not estimate attendance.

The hall was beautifully done out – individual tables, tea and snacks on arrival and departure. Flowers on every table and bottled water – the stuff on my table must have cost at least Z$500 000 plus the cost of table cloths and the linen covers for all the chairs. The total bill must come to many millions. Oh to be a banker!! Especially a State Banker.“

And the second was the promises that the government made, having failed the tobacco farmers last year:

“Tobacco growers would get the market price at the “official” exchange rate less 20 per cent paid into their FCA’s in hard currency plus a support price of Z$40 000 a kilogram or Z$267 a gram up to the maximum of Z$40 000 based on the price achieved in the auction. A kilogram of tobacco getting US$1.00 on the floors would get a support price of Z$26 700 a kilogram. With average prices expected to be about the US$2.10 level this suggests a tobacco exchange rate of Z$19300 to 1 against the dollar. The current market price for the dollar is about 25 000 to 1.

Tobacco growers who sold their crop last year were promised a special year end payout of Z$5 000 per kilogram. This was never paid but the Reserve Bank would honour this undertaking by paying out Z$85 per kilogram to last years growers (a third of one US cent or 0.0015 per cent of the price paid on the floors}. “We keep our promises” Gono said!!”

This is a very open, childish attempt to placate the few farmers that remain, and the ‘bonuses’ offered are pathetic. Imagine get one third of a US cent for each kilogram of tobacco sold last year! That is nothing less than an embarrassment!

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Foreign currency mid-rates updated…

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“Inflation in Zimbabwe reached a record 2,200% in March amid a deepening economic and political crisis in the southern African country.Both food and non-food contributed to the year-on-year inflation rate, said central bank Governor Gideon Gono.

The March data had been due for release earlier this month but had been delayed, fanning fears of further crippling price rises.”

This is a new world record. But it is not something that Mugabe should be proud of. He has systematically pulled the infrastructure of Zimbabwe to pieces, through greed and self importance, and now the economy is so bad that virtually no one can afford to buy food, milk or bread. Fuel is hugely expensive and people struggle just to get through each day.

I notice that there are fewer and fewer reports about the number of people dying of starvation and malnutrition – because the government will not allow the public to know the figures – but I am sure the population are aware of these things anyway.

“Mr Gono said secured interest rates would rise to 600%, up from 500%.

He said the Zimbabwean currency would remain at the existing exchange rate of 250 to the US dollar but offered a new rate for central bank purchases of foreign currency to help build a new “drought stabilisation fund”.

As soon as I see the government talking about funding something new, I have visions of the raised money being pilfered and robbed by the ruling party, ZANU PF.

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More of the same.

“Zimbabwe’s annual inflation quickened to a record 2200 percent in March, in yet another signal that President Robert Mugabe’s government was losing the race against time to save the hemorrhaging economy from total collapse.”

And I will stand in here before Mugabe or one of his henchmen does and say that the state of the economy in Zimbabwe has nothing whatsoever to do with the travel sanctions in place against Mugabe and his band of thieves that say that they run the country, but, in actual fact RUIN it.

“Let me remind members of the public, the media in particular, that we have not devalued the Zimbabwe dollar but we have only introduced measures aimed at enhancing the generation of foreign exchange that are sector-specific.”

I have no real concept of the figures, but hope that the changes will start to reflect in the exchange rates, so that I can get a better idea of the changes myself.

“The applicable rate would remain at $250 to the greenback but the sellers would in addition receive a ‘mitigation factor’ of 60.

This means that all amounts arrived at by multiplying the exchange rate and the amount tendered would have to be multiplied by 60. For instance, every US$100 bill would now yield $1.5 million using the formula.”

Go figure.

 

 

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“The European Parliament urged EU member nations Thursday to ensure sanctions against the regime of Zimbabwe’s authoritarian President Robert Mugabe are rigorously applied and no banned Zimbabweans attend a planned EU-Africa summit.

The European Union has ordered economic and political sanctions against Mugabe and top officials believed to be responsible for the violent crackdown on the country’s political opposition.”

Whether the full sanctions are applied or not, Mugabe will still claim that it is the sanctions that are responsible the country’s failings.

But it was the last sentence in this article that caught my eye:

“The EU is the most important international donor to Zimbabwe. It gave €193 million (US$263 million) to the country last year.”

Is the Mugabe government in a position, which I doubt, to give a full accounting of this money?

No? Never mind – I’m sure they’ll give you some more anyway…

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“Two members of the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) were allegedly beaten and forcibly detained at the ZANU PF district offices in Highfields on Wednesday. CHRA coordinator for Ward 26 Lloyd Kumwenda and another resident only identified as Dangazela were accused of wearing T-shirts with ‘inappropriate’ messages by a group of ZANU PF thugs. Kumwenda wore a CHRA T-Shirt inscribed ‘No to ZINWA’ – one of the Association’s key messages advocating for the return of water administration to the City of Harare. Dangazela on the other hand wore a T-Shirt with a labour union logo.According to CHRA: “They were taken to the ZANU PF offices at Machipisa and were ordered to roll in dirty water before being severely bashed underneath their feet and all over their bodies. The youths forced them to sing and chant ZANU PF songs and slogans. They passed out several times before they were released around 5pm.”

And there will be no investigations, no inquiry and as a result, no criminal charges will be preferred against the ruling party youth.

It’s simple – if you are anything to do with ZANU PF, then you have immunity from prosecution and therefore, the beating and assaults have increased.

ZANU PF went through a stage last month where the opposition party was called ‘terrorists’ and allegations were made as to the violent nature of the MDC and there are even people in jail, accused of receiving military training in South Africa!

But scroll back through the archives on the internet – not necessarily just this blog – but pages of all the big international newspapers and see who is really responsible for the violence in Zimbabwe.

M-U-G-A-B-E and his government. Okay – not him personally, but if someone is beaten on his orders, he is as guilty as the person that carried out the beating.

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And whilst the ruling party youth lay into anyone they wish, “MDC Presidential aide Ian Makone was on Thursday denied bail by a Harare magistrate. This is the fourth time he’s been denied his freedom since he was arrested on 28th March.Makone, who appeared with other MDC activists facing different set of charges is himself being charged with allegedly recruiting and training insurgents, bandits, saboteurs or terrorists was remanded to the 11th of next month. All MDC members and activists deny the charges.”

This is sheer stupidity. Military training?

Here’s a clue: Look at the second word of the name of the opposition party.

Democratic – ‘government by the people or their elected representatives’ – not a government over the people that gets their own way by threats, intimidation and violence. And when they don’t get it, resort to untold public beatings and arrests, trumped up charges and human rights abuse.

“Jessie Majome, the party’s deputy secretary for legal affairs said they are not surprised their colleagues are being denied bail because the law in the country was now being used as an instrument of victimization and terror.

She said the whole state apparatus in the country was bearing down on the opposition like a well-oiled machine to persecute the regime’s opponents.”

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This blog maybe does not reflect it, but I do try and be a perfectionist. That being said, at least my mistakes are not this stupid…

“Bungling British Home Office officials have threatened to deport a Zimbabwean journalist to IRAQ.

Genius Chitiyo, a former chief sub-editor of banned Daily News on Sunday applied for asylum in the United Kingdom in October last year.

But in a letter rejecting his asylum application, dated April 13, the Home Office threatened to send him to war-torn Iraq.“

How far removed (not geographically, but economically, internationally, and the situation on the ground) is Iraq from Zimbabwe?

But the article goes on to explain how a letter confirming his arrest by the ZRP has been disputed. What else do they need – a video tape of the process?

I am really amazed!

A Zimbabwean reporter applies for asylum in the UK and is threatened with deportation to Iraq! And evidence given about the treatment received in Zimbabwe is rejected out of hand.

I really begin to wonder about the veracity used by the relevant office when considering these cases. Rejection I can handle. But stupidity I have to draw the line at…

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 Take care.

 ’debvhu