Zimbabwe - Descent into Chaos

Zimbabwe

Descent into Chaos

General

Zimbabwe with a population of some 12.9m is a land-locked country in Southern Africa. It gained independence from Britain with the signing of the Lancaster House agreements in April 1980, which ended the fifteen years of unilaterally declared independence (UDI) by Ian Smith's regime. 98% of the population are native Africans while Asians, Europeans and people of mixed origin account for the rest.

In the past decade, there has been a steady deterioration in the social well-being, as measured by development indicators, of the people of Zimbabwe, Life expectancy dropped from 56.2 years in 1990 to 37.2 years in 2004. Under-5 mortality increased from 80 per thousand in 1990 to 129 per thousand in 2004. On current trends, the country is unlikely to achieve Millennium Development Goals by 2015. In 2004, it was estimated that about 80% of the population were living below the poverty line. Zimbabwe has one of the most iniquitous distributions of income in the world. Summary indicators place it alongside countries like Brazil and South Africa.

Economy

The Zimbabwean economy at independence was more industrialized than those of most neighbouring countries in Southern Africa and had a diversified productive base and a well-developed infrastructure. The white minority owned most of the productive land, which they used for large-scale commercial farms, while the majority of population were living on infertile agricultural land.

The Zimbabwean economy is heavily dependent on agricultural crops, mostly tobacco, cotton, sugarcane and on agro-based industries. The country is also endowed with significant mineral resources - coal, asbestos, chromite and gold. The economic decline, which started in 1997, has continued into the seventh consecutive year, contracting the real GDP by 6.5% in 2005. Unemployment remains extremely high, although no reliable data are available. (Some estimates put it at 80%). Food and fuel shortages have become endemic. The forcible expropriation of commercial farms and frequent droughts have exacerbated the country's food problem. The World Food Programme (WFP) has often stepped in to ease the shortages, although the Government has been reluctant to acknowledge the extent of the food crisis.

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS among the adult population remains high despite recent reports of a drop from 26% in 2002 to 21% in 2004 in the rate of infection among pregnant women. In 2005, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the age group 15-49 was estimated at 20.1% with a range from 17% to 23.5%.

Macroeconomic data paint a bleak picture. The IMF recently estimated that the fiscal deficit in 2005 could be as high as 60% of the GDP. According to the latest data, the rate of annual inflation reached 914% in March 2006. The Zimbabwean dollar has sharply depreciated against the US dollar, trading at Z$ 225,000 per US dollar on the parallel exchange market in April 2006. The country is confronted with an unprecedented economic, social and political crisis deeply rooted in the mismanagement of the economy and the abuse of power by President Mugabe's regime.

Politics

Zimbabwe is considered a parliamentary democracy - a republic with an executive president as head of state. It has a bicameral parliament with 150 members elected to the House of Assembly (Lower Chamber). In March 2005, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) won 78 seats amidst allegations of large-scale vote rigging while the Movement for Democratic Change was able to win 41 seats. One independent candidate was also elected an MP. The Government has a comfortable majority with 20 MPs appointed by the President and 10 traditional chiefs also chosen by him, supporting it. President Mugabe's Government has used its two-thirds majority to push through constitutional amendments on land reforms that deny landowners the right of legal appeal against the expropriation of their properties. The Government also used its majority to establish a senate. The Senatorial elections held in November 2005 were won by the ruling ZANU-PF despite a very low turnout. The next presidential elections are due to be held in 2008. President Mugabe has made known his intention to stay in office till his mandate ends.

The Movement for Democratic Change - main opposition party- led by Morgan Tsvangarai, former General Secretary of the ZCTU, faces un uphill task in organising opposition to the President Mugabe's autocratic regime. The MDC is backed a broad-based coalition of civil society organisations including trade unions and enjoys substantial support among working people. In 2005, the Government of Zimbabwe, despite worldwide condemnation, continued to pursue its policies of repression. More than 30,000 arrests were made during the 'clean up' campaign that consisted in demolishing urban dwellings in areas where the MDC enjoys overwhelming support. The Government followed a strategy designed to drive MDC supporters from urban areas into rural areas where the ruling party is claimed to have a strong base, thereby sapping the MDC of its main support base. The UN Human Rights Commission estimated that up to 200,000 people might have been homeless by the operation.

Relations with international financial institutions and International Community

Zimbabwe's relations with the international community and financial institutions have suffered considerably during the past decade. Many donors have reduced or suspended their operations. The International Monetary Fund suspended the country's voting rights in 2003 due to the lack of co-operation in policy implementation and payment arrears. In March 2006, the IMF reconsidered its relations with Zimbabwe and decided not to restore its voting and related rights and not to terminate its ineligibility to use the general resources of the Fund. The arrears to the World Bank and the IMF are estimated at US$ 409m and US$ 119m respectively. In addition, Zimbabwe owes some US$ 300m to the African Development Bank. The role of the World Bank in Zimbabwe, in recent years, has been limited to technical assistance on macroeconomic policy, food security, social sector expenditures, social service delivery and HIV/AIDS

Zimbabwe had been a member of the Commonwealth since Independence and, in recent years, had a difficult relationship with it due to its unenviable record on human rights, good governance and the rule of law. Prior to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Abuja (Nigeria), the Commonwealth, in collaboration with the host, South Africa and Australia made attempts to engage the Government of President Mugabe in discussions on the need for improvements in the issues concerned. In December 2003, when faced with the possibility of an extended suspension from the Councils of the Commonwealth, Zimbabwe terminated its membership of the Commonwealth.

Relations with the European Union have not improved since the imposition of targeted sanctions in 2002 on the country following the failure of the Government of Zimbabwe to put an end to politically motivated violence and to adhere to the principles of democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law. The European Union also decided to terminate political dialogue under the EU-African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Partnership Agreement (Cotonou Agreement). In July 2005, the Council of Ministers decided to renew restrictive measures against Zimbabwe, extending the travel ban on 126 persons including President Mugabe. The EU, however, continues to provide humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe.

The US has played a leading role in denouncing violations of human rights and the rule of law by the Government of Zimbabwe and has imposed targeted financial and visa sanctions against selected individuals, a ban on transfers of defence items and services and a suspension of non-humanitarian government-to-government assistance. However, the US has continued to provide humanitarian assistance for the people of Zimbabwe, which mainly consists of food aid.

Repression against trade unions

Zimbabwe has ratified all the eight ILO conventions pertaining to fundamental rights at work. However, the Government has used and abused the provisions under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) to restrict freedom of speech and assembly and the normal exercise of democratic rights including trade union activities. The harassment, intimidation and arrests of trade unionists have gone unabated in recent years with the ZCTU being the prime target. Wellington Chibebe, General Secretary, Lovemore Matombo, President of the ZCTU and Raymond Majongwe, General Secretary of the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe, have been detained on a number of occasions in the past. Lovemore Motombo was dismissed for attending a meeting of African trade unions. Furthermore, the Government has been behind the efforts to set up a rival national trade union centre, challenging the position of the ZCTU which long functioned as the umbrella organization for trade unions in Zimbabwe. There have been numerous complaints to the International Labour Organisation on violations of trade union rights in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe appeared before the Committee of Application of Standards in 2005 for the fourth consecutive year during the ILO Conference in June regarding its Government's failure to bring its labour legislation into conformity with Convention 98. Worker representatives pointed out that the Government of Zimbabwe had failed to address the issues raised in 2004, that the Government had published the Labour Relations Act Amendment Bill without consulting the social partners on its substance and that the Bill concerned did not address issues of concern to the ZCTU. They also emphasized that the Bill did not address concerns expressed over the use of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) by police and security agencies to arrest trade unionists because of their trade union activities. They also pointed out that public service employees were removed from the ambit of the Labour Relations Act and were placed under the scope of the Public Services Act, which did not allow public service employees to join trade unions or to bargain collectively. The Committee of Experts urged the Government to take all necessary measures to bring the law and practice into full conformity with the Convention and requested the Government to submit a clear and comprehensive report to the Committee of Experts.

Following is one of the reports of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (2006)

Relations with TUC

The TUC has enjoyed close long-standing relations with the trade union movement in Zimbabwe, especially with the ZCTU. The TUC joined the protest action initiated by the ICFTU against arrests and harassment of trade unionists and other human rights activists by Zimbabwean authorities and mobilised support for the complaint lodged by the ICFTU against violations of the right to demonstrate and assaults on, and arrest of, trade union officials.

The TUC Executive Committee, in their meeting in June 2005, reviewed the developments since the parliamentary elections in March and noted that the ZCTU was finding it difficult to manage its day-to-day activities and functioning as an effective national trade union centre, that the Zimbabwean Government had attempted to infiltrate the ZCTU and that it had interfered with the selection of delegates to the ILO Conference in June.

The TUC supported the information strategy component of a development co-operation initiative aimed at building the capacity of trade unions in Zimbabwe. The Project enabled the ZCTU to publish its newspaper - The Worker - on a regular basis, increase the frequency of its newsletter and improve the services provided by the Information Resources Centre. The TUC is also supporting the campaign by ACTSA to provide sanitary products to be purchased and transported to Zimbabwe from South Africa for Zimbabwean women unable to afford them. In 2002, Wellington Chibebe, General Secretary, ZCTU addressed the TUC Congress and met Prime Minister Tony Blair.