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OPPOSITION MDC leader Nelson Chamisa on Sunday proposed a new 4-year power sharing government which would see him run the country for two years and Zanu PF rival Emmerson Mnangagwa the other two. Chamisa said [...]

Source: Ncube embarks on global charm offensive | Newsday (News)

BY FIDELITY MHLANGA

FINANCE minister Mthuli Ncube says he will embark on a roadshow to global capital powerhouses in Europe and the United States to explain to would-be investors the progress the country has taken so far on its reform agenda.

Authorities in the southern African country are desperate to attract much-needed new foreign capital, which has stayed at bay because of policy inconsistencies, currency
problems and bad governance.

“We are going to go to what we call a global money deal roadshow in June this year, I as Finance minister and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor (John Mangudya), permanent
secretary of finance George Guvamatanga and other captains of industry,” he said.

“We will visit global capital and go for a roadshow. We will start with Frankfurt and go to Japan, London and New York and maybe the West Coast also, so that we explain the
reform agenda the progress we are making. (We will) also explain the economic policies and the opportunities that are available in this country. We are not trying to raise the
money or do a deal.”

Ncube noted that the introduction of the market-based exchange rate system will pave way for investors to flood the country.

“By introducing this market-based exchange rate system, we are providing certainty on the exchange regime. Before, they were asking us, in fact, do you know the fact that investors could not remit the dividends because we don’t have an exchange rate regime. Capital can only come in if it knows it can get out. By doing what we have done, we are dealing with it,” he said.

When presenting the Transitional Stabilisation Programme last October, Ncube said, to court the best suitors for parastatals and stimulate foreign direct investment, government
had resolved to publish international tenders in the world’s biggest economies and other strategic jurisdictions.

Ncube and his team face an insurmountable task to market a country dogged by rampant corruption and over-arching State interference in business.

Zimbabwe is ranked 155 out of 190 countries on the global ease of doing business, according to the latest ranking, and needs to do more to attract global capital.

The country also ranks poorly on Transparency International’s corruption index, dropping three places from last year to 160 out of 180 countries in the 2019 report.

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Source: Zanu PF returns to terror tactics – Zimbabwe Vigil Diary: 23rd February 2019

https://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/46465386134/sizes/m/

Lawyer and former education minister Dave Coltart has appealed to the world to take action to halt the Mnangagwa regime’s terror tactics against the opposition MDC.

Senator Coltart was commenting on a statement by the MDC’s Manicaland spokesman Trevor Saruwaka, who said heavily armed soldiers had abducted two brothers who were MDC officials. One was Robert Saunyama, known as Jack Roberts, who was a parliamentary candidate in last year’s elections. The other was his younger brother Danmore Saunyama, a ward councillor.

The statement said about eight soldiers arrived in Zimunya Township in Mutare South in an unmarked Toyota double-cab truck. ‘They forced their entry into Jack’s house where he was hosting his brother who was visiting him with his wife and that of his other brother, Jericho. The soldiers started assaulting the wives of the three brothers and their children, together with Clr Danmore. All this while four soldiers were training their guns on Jack Roberts threatening to shoot him should he attempt to fight them. The victims of this barbaric military brutality bled profusely and suffered various degrees of injuries. The soldiers then bundled the two brothers and took them to an unknown destination.’

Saruwaka’s statement continued: ‘What is clear from this incident is that Zimbabwe is descending into a dark period of kidnappings, abductions, beatings, murders and extrajudicial killings. The dark days of Gukurahundi and 2008 run-off killings are upon us once again.’

Coltart said the modus operandi was identical to that used in those days: ‘relatively low ranking, unknown second or third tier leaders were then systematically abducted and disappeared. In that way the regime can decimate the structures of the opposition without too much negative publicity.’ Senior leaders who had ‘strong name recognition’ were dealt with more carefully by harassing them through the legal system.

‘It is time for the world to act. And those apologists of the regime need to make a decision – are they going to continue supporting this regime? If they do they will inevitably be tainted and become complicit themselves for the crimes against humanity being committed . . . We all have a duty to shout from the rooftops against these crimes; if we all don’t do this they will continue and indeed escalate.’  (See: https://www.facebook.com/david.coltart/posts/10156282468062613).

The army has of course dismissed allegations of systematic brutality by soldiers. It has announced it is to conduct countrywide door-to-door searches to look for army regalia allegedly used by rogue elements to commit crimes – a move dismissed by the MDC as a cover-up. Nelson Chamisa’s spokesman said: ‘They can’t expect us to believe that state security agents were robbed of their own uniforms. Even the government-controlled Herald reports: ‘Last week‚ a Harare man‚ Shepherd Magorimbo‚ admitted in court to terrorising residents while wearing a military uniform he got from the Zanu PF headquarters. “We were given the uniform at the party office‚” he told the Harare magistrate’s court.’ (See: https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/world/2019-02-22-zim-army-targets-military-apparel-used-by-criminals/).

Other points

• People confused by the government’s new move to deal with the currency crisis should read Cathy Buckle’s latest letter (see: https://www.thezimbabwean.co/2019/02/the-rtgs-smoke-screen-where-are-all-our-us-dollars/). It is just over two years since the bond notes were introduced. Here’s what the Vigil diary noted on 26th November 2016; ‘The Reserve Bank has announced that it is to release its monopoly money on Monday – widely seen as the final nail in the coffin of the Zimbabwe economy . . . The Reserve Bank says $10 million of bond notes in denominations of 2 dollars and 5 dollars are to be issued along with $2 million worth of $1 bond coins. But few believe it will stop there. Because Zimbabweans have lived through this asset-stripping before, they know exactly what to expect. Savings will be wiped out by rapidly depreciating Micky-mouse money for the benefit of the elite which will externalise the remaining US dollars in the country.’
• With the theme ‘living legend’, well-heeled guests attended a lavish 95th birthday party at Mugabe’s luxurious Borrowdale mansion. The living legend criticised the heavy-handed way the military was treating people. The man behind Gukurahundi said ‘Let us not be killers of our own people’.
• Last week Nomusa Dube and others joined us at the Vigil to protest about the sale of Zimbabwean baby elephants to China and the likelihood of the proceeds being used to fund the security forces’ violation of human rights in Zimbabwe. She has written an article about this – see: https://africanelephantjournal.com/the-link-between-the-sales-of-baby-elephants-and-human-rights-abuses-in-zimbabwe/.
• We had a wonderful new banner at the Vigil today: ‘No to military dictatorship in Zimbabwe’. A very big thank you to Esther Munyira for her hard work sewing the banner. Thanks to those who contributed to a new portable table for the Vigil: Shylette Chipangura, Esther Luckett, Cephas Maswoswa, Joyce Mbairatsunga, Rachel Mudzana, Lucia Mungwari and Fungisai Mupandira.
• Thanks to those who came early to help set up the front table and put up the banners: Shylette Chipangura, Josephine Jombe, Cephas Maswoswa, Joyce Mbairatsunga, Agnes Mukumba, Esther Munyira, Fungisai Mupandira, Tapiwa Muskwe and Ephraim Tapa. Thanks to Josephine, Shylette and Agnes for looking after the front table and to Bigboy Sibanda and Esther for handing out flyers.
• For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/. Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website.

 FOR THE RECORD: 18 signed the register.

EVENTS AND NOTICES:

• ROHR general members’ meeting. Saturday 9^th March from 11 am. Venue: Royal Festival Hall. Contact: Ephraim Tapa 07940793090, Patricia Masamba 07708116625.
• The Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s partner organization based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil to have an organization on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in Zimbabwe. Please note that the official website of ROHR Zimbabwe is http://www.rohrzimbabwe.org/. Any other website claiming to be the official website of ROHR in no way represents us.
• MDC Reading Branch restructuring meeting. Saturday 23^rd March from 12 noon – 4 pm. Venue: Risk. 35-39 London Street, Reading RG1 4PS. Contacts: Charles Mararirakwenda 07588275745, Josephine Jombe 07455166668, Deborah Harry 07478894896.
• The Vigil’s book ‘Zimbabwe Emergency’ is based on our weekly diaries. It records how events in Zimbabwe have unfolded as seen by the diaspora in the UK. It chronicles the economic disintegration, violence, growing oppression and political manoeuvring – and the tragic human cost involved. It is available at the Vigil for £10. All proceeds go to the Vigil and our sister organisation the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe’s work in Zimbabwe. The book is also available from Amazon.
• Facebook pages:
  
  Vigil: https://www.facebook.com/zimbabwevigil
  ROHR: https://www.facebook.com/Restoration-of-Human-Rights-ROHR-Zimbabwe-International-370825706588551/

  ZAF: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zimbabwe-Action-Forum-ZAF/490257051027515

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Source: Govt is cash positive: Mthuli | The Herald February 25, 2019

Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube

Tawanda Musarurwa
Government is currently operating on a positive cash basis as revenue enhancement and austerity measures announced in the 2019 National Budget continue to yield dividends, Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube has said.

Some of the key highlights of the austerity-focused 2019 National Budget included a 5 percent salary cut on senior Government staff; customs duty on motor vehicles and selected goods to be paid in foreign currency; tax free threshold reviewed to $350 from $300, an upward review (to 7 cents per litre) of excise duty on diesel and paraffin, and to 6,5 cents per litre excise duty on petrol, and an increase on excise duty on cigarettes to $25 among others.

Last year Treasury also introduced a 2 percent Intermediated Money Transfer Tax, which is yielding at least $80 million monthly in new revenue for the Government.

Minister Ncube told business leaders last week that the Government was benefiting from its adherence to the austerity measures.

“Government is cash positive. We managed to pay civil servants salaries for the months of January and February from a cash positive position, with $300 million in the bank,” said Minister Ncube.

“We are spending what we have, and I am determined to ensure that we carry on like that for the next two years. In fact, it should always be like that. On the expenditure front, we have been working hard to curtail expenditure in terms of civil servants’ salaries and civil service reform.

In October, the country achieved a budget surplus of $29 million.

Minister Ncube has said balancing of the budget, in combination with several other measures pronounced in the 2019 National Budget, are a critical step in stabilising the economy.

The austerity measures are also in line with the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP), aimed at setting the economy on a recovery path after years of stagnation.

The TSP acknowledges policy reform initiatives of the new dispensation to stimulate domestic production, exports, rebuilding and transforming the economy to an upper middle income status by 2030.

According to the policy document, the TSP will focus on the following factors: stabilising the macro-economy, and the financial sector; introducing necessary policy and institutional reforms to translate to a private sector-led economy; addressing infrastructure gaps, and launching quick-wins to stimulate growth.

The TSP will be superseded by two five-year development strategies, with the first one running from 2021-2025, and the second covering 2026-2030.

Meanwhile, the inter-bank foreign currency market started operating on last Friday, with an initial set rate of 2,5, which was significantly discounted from the 4 that had been prevailing on the illegal market.

Announcing the Monetary Policy Statement last week, RBZ governor Dr John Mangudya announced the introduction of an inter-bank foreign exchange market.

Prior to the floating of the US dollar, the RBZ had pegged RTGS balances at 1:1 to the US dollar, however shortages had resulted in high premiums for US dollars on the parallel market, which led to increases in prices.

The ‘managed float’ is therefore expected to result in lowering of prices.

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Source: $400m NRZ deal on track | The Herald February 25, 2019

Minister Matiza

Innocent Ruwende Senior Reporter
The $400 million National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) recapitalisation deal is on track with Government negotiating with its partner the Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group/Transnet consortium. Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Joel Biggie Matiza said many other suitors were approaching Government with various proposals.

Minister Matiza was speaking at a meeting with road authorities and other stakeholders during his tour of Masvingo province road projects.

“We have been negotiating with an outfit called DIDG/ Transnet together with NRZ. We had an agreement which ended on February 14, which gave them exclusivity to negotiate the recapitalisation of NRZ.

“The issue is that we want to recapitalise our rail system so that it becomes the best in the region,” he said.
“We still have certain things to address and I am due to present a report to Cabinet on the outcome of this framework agreement, how far we have gone and the way forward. The passion and the thrust is to have our rail network moving.

“We do not want to have the same scenario as we had on this road (Harare-Beitbride-Chirundu Road) where we opened champagne and did all sorts of things and nothing came out of that.”

Minister Matiza said there were various economic developments that need railway transportation such as mining.
“There are certain financial models that are being brought by investors who would want to do mining. Some of them want to rehabilitate some tracks to the port.

“These are opportunities that I am just talking about and Masvingo is one of them. The network to the sea is urgent and Government is seized with that matter. As a way of making our economy tick, that should be a priority.”

Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs Ezra Chadzamira said the various road projects in Masvingo show desire by the new dispensation to commit resources for the development of rural areas and communities.

“Trending development approaches these days encourage putting up of a sound infrastructure which will inevitably attract visits, stimulate trade and investment both domestic and international. Our special economic zones and industrial parks should be supported by an enabling modern infrastructure,” he said.

“Equally our smart city concepts which we adopted as Government need the same modern infrastructure which depicts upper middle class economy status.

“This will not happen overnight. We subscribe to President Mnangagwa’s gradual approach of brick upon brick.”

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