November 24, 2008.

ACCORD STALLED BY CORRUPTION

The inner circle, loyalists and hangers-on are living in affluence, driving state-of-the-art vehicles along Samora Machel Avenue. Meanwhile, most Zimbabweans can hardly put a meal on the table; school children sit at home as teachers are on strike; hospitals have run out of drugs and anaesthetics and some hospitals have closed; child mortality rates and the numbers of women dying after pregnancies have reached unprecedented levels; doctors continue to strike for better working conditions; sewage pipes have burst and many people are dying of cholera; the brain drain has reached unprecedented levels as many Zimbabweans continue to leave the country in their thousands.

In the meantime, ZANU (PF) has hardly anything to offer in the power-sharing accord except experience in economic mismanagement and corruption. A bigger number of the ZANU (PF) incoming ministers are either presidential appointees or hold parliamentary seats through violence and rigging of the ballot.

Those who have benefitted from the status quo would like to continue benefitting without the fear that they might face prosecution or some other form of justice. This is the group which is determined to make sure the power-sharing agreement does not succeed. The incumbent holders of political authority have used the State as an instrument for expropriation, with resources meant for national development being siphoned off and turned into personal fortunes.

Because of endemic corruption in the country, top government officials are untouchable, even when implicated in obvious scams, for as long as they are seen to be loyal to the government of Robert Mugabe. Overzealous or duty-conscious police officers often land in trouble, victimized for being professional enough to attempt to arrest top party or government officials.

Police officers perceived to be sympathetic to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) face similar fate. As if in revenge, poorly paid police officers survive through open extortion of innocent civilians from whom they swindle sums of money in on-the-spot fines for any of a number of petty offences. Bus drivers carry bundles of dollars to bribe police officers at road blocks.

The critical shortage of maize meal (the staple commodity) has fuelled corruption. A source within the security service said that state security agents had seized 30 tonnes of scarce maize-meal which was being sold on the black market and which they believe belongs to a senior Cabinet Minister. It was alleged that the maize meal belonged to Ignatius Chombo, the Local Government Minister and one of Robert Mugabe's closest subordinates. In mid-November, some 600 bags of maize meal were on offer for sale at US$50 per 50 kg bag. The Grain Marketing Board, the only authorised distributor of grain in Zimbabwe, charges Z$100,000 or less than US$1 for a 50 kg bag of maize.

This type of corruption by senior government officials is not new. It was reported at the end of February 2004 that food supplies like sugar, maize and wheat were leaving Zimbabwe by the truck load. The operations were alleged to be staged from Shankuru Estates as the headquarters of the smuggling operation. Investigation showed that a certain Mr Cecil Muderede had been in cahoots with a Vice President, the Minister of Local Government and Public Works; the ex-commander of the Zimbabwe National Army; the former Governor of Mashonaland West; and ZANU (PF) MP for Chinoyi.

According to a report from Human Rights Watch, "It appears grain bought by the Zimbabwe government from abroad was diverted to foreign markets where ruling party politicians and favoured businessmen could make a profit of up to 220%. So there's over US$100 million being made out of this whole operation. They were stealing from their own people and they were stealing from the goodwill of the international community."

Amid all the suffering, the ZANU (PF) government is guilty of misappropriating funds mobilised to buy life-saving drugs for the sick, including people living with HIV. Allegations were made that government officials embezzled US$7.3 million donated by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 2007 to buy anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs for people living with HIV in Zimbabwe. The money was stolen from the US$12.3 million it gave to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to buy medicine for sick people in Zimbabwe.

The revelations by the Global Fund further confirm the long-held argument that the RBZ is unnecessarily deviating from its core mandate and using funds held on behalf of non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations in an unlawful and non-transparent manner.

Civic groups have suggested that the funds were spent by the central bank on drumming up political support for ZANU (PF), particularly in the run-up to elections in March and June this year. The Reserve Bank handed out hundreds of imported cars, tractors, combine harvesters, plasma TVs and other goods, to win over voters and pay off Mugabe's cronies.

Gono is blamed by economists and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of compounding Zimbabwe's crisis through quasi-fiscal activities that have seen the RBZ pump millions of dollars into financing newly resettled black farmers, most of them government supporters and who have failed to produce enough food to feed the nation.

For example, Gono provided foreign currency to purchase tractors, motor cycles, combine harvesters, generators and small farm implements that were handed for free to black farmers by Robert Mugabe just before elections last March, in what analysts said was a clear attempt by the ZANU (PF) leader to curry favour with a disgruntled electorate.

It will be remembered that right in the middle of the bitterest election campaign Zimbabwe had ever seen in 2000, someone somewhere decided to deep one's hand into the AIDS Levy till. The AIDS Levy was introduced at the end of 1999 and deductions from the salaries of the already over-taxed workers started in January 2000. At the end of April 2000, following public reaction to the fact that there was no money in the relevant National Aids Council Trust Fund bank account, the Minister of Finance, Herbert Murerwa, suddenly produced a total sum of Z$117 million. However, as people expected something in the region of Z$400 million as what could have been collected, the Minister's comment that he hoped "this clarifies any doubts about our commitment to the fund" constituted hypocrisy of the highest order.

These fascinating cases of missing HIV/AIDS moneys produce a perfect example how the ZANU (PF) government has let down all and sundry.

There is growing evidence of criminal activities by the ZANU (PF) regime. The illegal diamond trade illustrates the corrupt activities quite vividly. In recent months, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has been offloading raw diamonds on the international market in large quantities. The looted diamonds carry false certificates of origin and are from Angola, the Congo and the newly discovered Marange diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe. The proceeds of this trade are not being returned to Zimbabwe and add to the increasing flow of funds being siphoned out of the country by a frightened oligarchy that now knows their days are numbered.

Lack of proper institutional, orderly and legal framework for diamond miners has resulted in the country losing at least US$1.2 billion per month. In 2007, the Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono estimated that at least US$400 million was lost to diamond smuggling. In August 2005, Zimbabwe is said to have lost US$300 million due to looting of diamonds in Marange.

A massive diamond racket involving millions of hard currency was reported after gemstones bought from Marange by the government-run Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) could not be fully accounted for. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, MMCZ and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) were engaged in a war of attrition over the control and pricing of controversial precious stones in Chiadzwa, resulting in corrupt activities in the selling of the gems.

The mining sector is controlled by the Ministry of Mines and is the only sector in Zimbabwe's economic meltdown that is likely to earn any quick revenue in the short- to medium-term. It is not surprising that ZANU (PF) has allotted itself this ministry for the grabbing of the diamonds in the newly discovered Marange diamond fields has benefitted those in the ZANU (PF) hierarchy. There has been stiff resistance in making the mining of diamonds transparent so as to make sure it is under the control of those that are capable of turning around and realising value for the nation and not for individuals.

ZANU (PF) is frightened of the effects of relinquishing the Ministry of Finance. This would entail that the party would have to scrounge for resources, unlike in the Gono era where there are handouts to the party all the time, handouts that sustain the party during hard times. In addition, ZANU (PF) does not pay for buses from the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company and other buses that it hires to transport delegates and supporters to rallies and conferences.

Although Mugabe may claim to control the political space after losing both the presidential and parliamentary elections in March 2008, he has lost control of the economy because of corruption among members of the Politburo and senior government administrators. Foreign investors are unlikely to see Zimbabwe as an attractive destination because nothing has changed.

The positive aspect in the power-sharing deal is that it was going to unlock much needed capital from the international community, which is the first real step towards resolving the current crisis in the southern African country. ZANU (PF) alone cannot be entrusted with that capital. As Mugabe has grabbed all the powerful ministerial portfolios, there will not be any foreign direct investment to dream of. A 50-50 distribution of the ministries between the MDC and ZANU (PF) in a transitional government was generally expected to attract foreign investment because of the perception that the MDC enjoys international support.

The SADC recommendation that ZANU (PF) and the MDC should run the Home Affairs ministry together falls short of what was expected of the regional body. In its report to the summit in Johannesburg on November 9, the MDC showed that there were six major issues that have stalled the power sharing deal signed on September 15:

1. The allocation of ten pivotal ministries and not just Home Affairs as the grouping announced in its communiqué;
2. The sharing of provincial governorships in line with the March 29 election result;
3. The composition, functions and constitution of the National Security Council;
4. The appointment of Permanent Secretaries and Ambassadors;
5. The need to have Constitution Amendment 19 as a pre-condition for the establishment of an inclusive government and
6. The correction of fraudulent changes of the power-sharing agreement of September 11 which were made before the signing ceremony on September 15.

In interviews with journalists, SADC Secretary-General, Tomaz Salomao publicly admitted that the power-sharing document agreed to on Friday, September 11, was fraudulently doctored before it was signed on Monday, September 15. Salamao pledged that the issue would be resolved, presumably before the SADC extra-ordinary summit. It is now believed that the ZANU (PF) representative at the ongoing negotiations, Patrick Chinamasa, who is the former Minister of Justice, was responsible for tampering with the document by making certain changes to it, without the knowledge of the representatives of the mainstream MDC led by Tsvangirai.

Such fraudulent activities on the part of ZANU (PF) bring into full view the party's culture of corruption and deceit and are likely to hamper the successful implementation of the power-sharing accord.

Since the MDC controls the House of Assembly, Robert Mugabe is deriding himself if he thinks he can form a government without the MDC. He will find it hard to push through Amendment Number 19 which he needs to legalise the new changes and to legitimise his presidency.

After the SADC extraordinary summit, an exasperated Tsvangirai had this to say, "It is about power sharing, it is about equitable power sharing, it is about giving the responsibility to the party that won an election and has compromised its position to share a government with a party that lost."

If the extraordinary summit decided to turn itself from a regional political and economic integration body into a quasi judicial body (as the communiqué clearly stated), then it must accept that its decisions were judged on the principles guiding such bodies such as the principle of natural justice which demand that every party to a dispute must be heard fairly and that one party to the dispute cannot sit in judgement of its own case as the ZANU (PF) President, Robert Mugabe, did during the summit.

It is needless to point out that the SADC needed to deal with the impasse between the parties regarding the power-sharing agreement in a manner that would not only break the deadlock but would achieve sufficient universal acceptance to restore investment. Although the MDC is said to be considering an appeal to the African Union, like SADC, the African Union has a limited capacity to resolve the Zimbabwean crisis. After all, the two organizations are two sides of the same coin. African leaders lack the spine to confront Mugabe in the face of his catastrophic economic policies that have ruined a once prosperous economy.

On November 14, the mainstream MDC National Council resolved that the party joins the envisaged inclusive government once the legislature has given legal force to the broad-based agreement signed on September 15.

"Given the lack of sincerity and lack of paradigm shift on the part of ZANU (PF), the MDC shall participate in a new government once Constitutional Amendment No. 19 has been passed and effected into law," reads the council's third resolution.

The MDC National Council declared itself "DESIROUS of achieving finality to the current dispute given the economic meltdown and the massive suffering of the people of Zimbabwe reflected in entrenched poverty, the collapse of public health, education, transport, water and energy crisis, monetary policy dislocation and supersonic inflation."

Inflation is officially 231 million percent with the highly respected Washington-based Cato Institute saying that as of November 7, Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate was 516 quintillion percent (516 followed by 18 zeros). On November 10, 2008, the country's currency plunged to a new record low, trading at an average Z$28.4 quadrillion to the US dollar and triggering massive price increases. Prices of basic goods, most of which are now imported, have gone up sharply since the disputed March 29 harmonised elections in which Mugabe's ZANU (PF) lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 28 years and Mugabe himself lost the presidential plebiscite to Tsvangirai. Even under government price controls, the cost of bread is doubling every week.

On the 18th of November, for instance, a loaf of bread cost Z$1,300,000 (US$2), an increase of 325% from Z$400,000 on November 12. A 10 kg bag of maize meal (Zimbabwe's staple food) cost Z$6,500,000 (US$10) while a 2-litre bottle of cooking oil averaged Z$5,200,000 (US$8). It should be noted that consumers are only allowed to withdraw Z$500,000 from their bank accounts. Five million Zimbabweans are starving despite the best efforts of aid agencies: as Zimbabwe is dependent on handouts, malnutrition is on the rise.

Rentals for accommodation are now pegged in foreign currency with the cheapest single room in most of Harare's townships now calling for R150 or US$100.

Most Zimbabweans are switching to barter and the Zim dollar is virtually useless. The South African rand, Botswana pula and the US dollar are now the most common forms of currency. For the many that are unable to access the foreign currency, this means they are unable to survive.

On the international arena, African leaders are always clamouring for the democratization of the United Nations when their own conduct suggests the opposite. They ought to occupy the higher moral ground by the way they address African issues. They do not have the honour of their own conviction. What happened at the extraordinary SADC summit on Zimbabwe was a mockery to the cliché about "African solutions to African problems". In their communiqué, the SADC heads of state present have failed the people of Zimbabwe.

They should have approached the matter from the clear fact that the MDC won the elections in March. And, in its magnanimity, leaned over backwards to accept the loser as President. It is puzzling why the SADC leaders conjure that the MDC deserves less. The leaders are obviously trapped in the old nationalist politics where liberation movements that came into power through the barrel of a gun do not respect democratic processes and, thus, continue to violet human rights with impunity. In Robert Mugabe, they are trying to maintain a defeated dictator in power in defiance of the popular will of the people of Zimbabwe.