Stories

The Movement for Democratic Change has no intention of mimicking or replicating the structures of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front because one dictator is enough.

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For a nation with the highest literacy rate in Africa, it is disturbing that the success of Zimbabwe’s land reform programme is measured by how much the new farmers are making, the posh cars they are driving, the mansions that they have built,  and not on the nation’s ability to feed itself. It is even more disturbing when one considers that agriculture provides livelihoods to 80 percent of the country’s population, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

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South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba today said special permits for Zimbabweans will be extended by another three years. Permits that expire before 31 December will be extended to the end of the year while those that expire after 31 December will be brought forward to that date. New applications open 1 October. Below is his full statement: 

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Biti says we can even use firewood as currency- Former Finance Minister Tendai Biti, one of those who fought against the return of the Zimbabwe dollar while in office, says the country must ditch the United States dollar and adopt the South African rand instead. Biti said there was no way the country’s economy could recover with the United States dollar as the main currency.  “We can actually use firewood as a medium of exchange, it can work. Money is just an infrastructure of facilitating the base which is production. The challenge is that this economy is collapsing because it is not okay. We are not producing; the capital account is not okay, the current account is in deficit these are the things that you need to fix. These are the structural things that you need to fix.  But the debate on currency is relevant because the US dollar has become overvalued. We don’t have an economy to sustain that. We don’t have the current account to sustain that, which is the export and the imports.  What we need to do is to devalue the US dollar but you can’t do that because you don’t print it. Now there are calls for the return of the Zimdollar and this will be a disaster. We propose that the US dollar should be devalued by bringing in the rand as the official currency and joining the Rand Monetary Union. However the tragedy is that these guys in ZANU-PF cannot afford to meet the requirements of the central bank of South Africa, they just can’t do that,” he said.

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Why Chinamasa is not bringing back the Zimdollar – Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said yesterday the multiple currency system was there to stay in Zimbabwe.

He said the government could not bring back the Zimbabwe dollar because the conditions were not yet right. According to a statement availed on NewZimbabwe.Com Chinamasa said the Zimbabwe dollar would only return when there is: sustainable economic growth; a sustainable current account position; industry competitiveness; sufficient international reserves without which the local currency will be under immense pressure; and restoration of confidence in the banking system and economy.

“Given the current state of the economy where real sector activities remain depressed, industry remains uncompetitive and the balance of payments situation remains acute, it is ill-advised to re-introduce the Zimbabwe dollar. Government is committed to ensuring policy consistency and predictability in order to restore confidence and stimulate economic activity. It is in this spirit that government would want to reiterate that the multi-currency is here to stay,” he said.

The Zimbabwe dollar was phased out in 2009.

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The Movement for Democratic Change says one does not need to die first to be recognised and celebrated as a hero. “It is our view that even those who are alive today but who made their mark; who made an indelible national and international imprint in promoting our beloved country deserve our honour and respect,” the party said in a statement to mark Heroes and Defence Forces days.

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Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa said President Robert Mugabe cannot force cabinet ministers to attend Parliament but Parliament itself can by making sure that all members of the house, including ministers, obey legislative rules and procedures.

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Recent events in Zimbabwe beg us to ask this simple but powerful question. Are we too poor or are we too stupid? Why are we failing to find a solution to our problems? In 2008 former South African President Thabo Mbeki, at the cost of his own presidency, forced Zimbabwe’s political leaders to sit down and talk and they reached an agreement- though flawed- and Zimbabwe came back on track.  Does Zimbabwe need an outsider to tell it again what to do? Here is the third part of  my long essay which is also available as an ebook.

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This article by Project Syndicate was aimed at Europe and was entitled: Soccer Lessons  for Europe’s Economy. But going through it, I felt that Africa, and Zimbabwe in particular, could learn something by looking at how Germany made it to the World Cup and beat hosts Brazil and Argentina which had the best player in the world.

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Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo says the move by government to write off debt owed to local authorities by residents was not the cause of the current liquidity crisis in local authorities because the move actually saved them money.

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