Stories

A haircut for US$20! Yogurt for US$5. And a coke for US$2. That is Zimbabwe. A country where the average wage is US$253 a month yet a two-week membership at a gym is US$60 and only a few years ago a teacher used to earn a mere 72 US cents.

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Mavambo Kusikle Dawn leader Simba Makoni says Zimbabwe’s leaders including President Robert Mugabe are doing nothing to curb corruption. Instead they are showing maximum tolerance and active encouragement of corruption.

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Diaspora bonds will not work- The government’s proposal to tap into the Diaspora which remits about US$1.6 billion a year into Zimbabwe will not work because the Diaspora does not trust the government and does not want an imposition of investment rules by the government. Durani Rapozo, coordinator of the Zimbabwe Diaspora Development Link, said “what we want is an engagement on the best way of investment…..There’s nobody who wants to invest in an unstable environment, and instability comes from not knowing about dual nationality issues and so on. We need to engage the government and say: ‘This what we want as the Diaspora and this is what we think is the best way forward'”. The proposal was today reported to have met stiff resistance from the Diaspora because it says it has been short-changed by the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front all along. “These people have no shame. First they call us bottom cleaners, then they deny us the vote. Now they want us to invest in government issued bonds. I know what you can do with your bonds,” said one.

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The editor of The Insider, Charles Rukuni, is planning to start a writing programme for children aged between eight and nine years- that is those with at least three years of primary school education.

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In its first policy reversal since it won the 31 July elections the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front government said it will not evict foreigners operating in business sectors reserved for locals.

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The Movement for Democratic Change says the decision by Zimbabwe’s former ambassador to Australia, Jacqueline Zwambila, to seek asylum because she fears for her life if she returns to Zimbabwe is personal.

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ZANU-PF blacklist- The Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front was today reported to have blacklisted 19 foreign-owned companies for defying Zimbabwe’s indigenisation laws. Under the law, companies should be 51 percent-owned by indigenous Zimbabweans by 1 January 2014. The blacklisted companies allegedly include Standard Chartered Bank, Metallon Gold Zimbabwe, Murowa Diamonds, Zimasco, Tongaat Hulett, Pannar Seed and Pioneer Hybrid Zimbabwe. The indigenisation laws were passed five years ago but foreign-owners believed that they would be amended if there was a change of government. Their hopes for a softening up were also raised when President Robert Mugabe moved the portfolio from the militant Saviour Kasukuwere to the soft spoken Francis Nhema. Even new Mines Minister Walter Chidakwa gave mining companies a glimmer of hope when he said he might give some concessions to mining companies if they refined minerals like platinum in the country. But all these hopes were dashed by Mugabe when he said there would be no exception to indigenisation. The case was sealed by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa when he confirmed there was no going back on indigenisation.

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President Robert Mugabe may be hoping around, looking healthy, assured of a new five-year-term at the helm of the country but the Voice of America already has his obituary.

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Inflation for November down- Zimbabwe’s year-on-year inflation declined once again this time by 0.05 percentage points from 0.59 percent in October to 0.54 percent last month, according to figures released by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Office. Inflation has been on the decline this year from March when it peaked at 2.98 percent. It averaged 5.1 percent last year and but is likely to be well below the 5.7 percent forecast for this year.

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Zimbabwean companies are to get preference in public procurement deals provided this does not compromise quality and delivery, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said last week.

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