Tanonoka Joseph Whande Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone) said:
NEWS
19 October 2007
Posted to the web 22 October 2007
Gaborone
In every generation, there comes a time when a nation just has to stop and reflect; a time when people of conscience choose to suffer injustice rather than to contribute to it. There always comes a time when nationals pause to confront themselves and decide whether to continue on the path they are travelling or change course.
In every generation, there comes a time when a people must chivalrously harden their consciences and accept that pain, discomfort and hardship are unavoidable components of the process of banishing pain, discomfort and hardship from the midst of their very own existence. Although during the last century Zimbabweans have always been oppressed and ill-treated by successive governments, especially the current and only black government we have ever known, Zimbabweans are, by nature, peace loving people who have sacrificed so much.
Our current government has already proved to be more brutal than any other before it. And yet in every generation, there comes a time when citizens, as individual members of a nation, must stop and enter into deep introspection. Another fake election looms and we are, once again, being asked to legitimise electoral fraud by participating in the farce. It is time for Zimbabweans to decide. The so-called smart sanctions are an insult. Mugabe and his goons deserve full-blown sanctions and effective isolation.
Targeted ZANU-PF culprits always scavenge for diplomatic loopholes and travel at will. I wish there were a way of keeping all Zimbabwean aircraft confined to Zimbabwean air space if not completely grounded. Why should those who got Zimbabwe into the mess it is in be allowed to go up for air and take expensive tea-breaks by globe-trotting while the innocent, deprived, chain-ganged sufferers suffocate as they desperately try to hold the crumbling nation together?
Several times over the years, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) threatened to blockade our borders. I think they really should seriously consider this action. Painful? You bet! But to save a drowning person, is it not necessary to jump into the same waters as the drowning victim?
To hell with smart sanctions; blockade the damn borders and get it over with! What could possibly cause us more pain, discomfort and hardship than what we are already being subjected to by this government? Because of their failures, Mugabe and his ZANU-PF cronies have turned their anxieties into paranoia. They are highly suspicious of innocent citizens and see crowds of enemies behind every telephone pole.
2007 is coming to an end and Zimbabweans are still captives in their own country. We are still not a free people. We literally live from handout to mouth. We cry for jobs. Good education. For freedom. We cry for food in a country that used to feed Africa.
Not only did Mugabe and his party betray us, even individual members of the opposition now appear to worry more about their own survival than be concerned about the people.
We were betrayed and it is time for Zimbabweans to make a decision. Zimbabweans are always asked to collectively weigh the disadvantages of life against the advantages of death.
How unfortunate!
We watch as our government does pretty much as they please at the expense of the people. Public funds are being abused and stolen. Mugabe and his cabinet ministers are looting land and corporations, just in case something untoward happens at the polls. Our freedoms are now toilet paper thin yet Mugabe keeps gnawing at the little coating that remains.
Pleading sense from these people is like trying to read a newspaper in high wind. God made us custodians of our individual lives and it is our responsibility to protect ourselves as God's proxies. So who are we to keep quiet and remain uninvolved when such physical, spiritual and mental inconsistencies and atrocities are rained on the innocents of Zimbabwe?
The time to harden our resolve has come. We are unwell, hungry, jobless and abused on a daily basis. But the president pops up on TV and, instead of wiping the gloom and the tears off our faces, he tells the world, and even us sufferers, that we are all happy and all is well. Of course, denial is a classic symptom of unhealthy rage.
Look at the violence we instigate and perpetrate against ourselves on behalf of Mugabe who has clearly harnessed criminal elements and called them 'war veterans'!
No war veteran who valued life enough to fight in the war of liberation and experienced the unfairness of life would ever want to see Zimbabwe at war again. Belligerence is now masking our despair and hopelessness.
The leadership in Zimbabwe is teaching our children and us to hate people we don't even know. Mugabe blames his failures on people who have never addressed a meeting in the country. He has turned state funerals into verbal war zones where he hurls insults at people at home and abroad. Independent thinking is under assault; and when one dares to express themselves freely, they are declared an enemy of the state, a marionette stimulated by some imagined puppet-master in some foreign land. Journalists and academics are being targeted. I blame Robert Mugabe not Gordon Brown. I blame our kin, Thabo Mbeki, not George W. Bush.
We are forced to put our faith in Africa's leaders who think nothing of human rights and collectively plunder their nations, killing and imprisoning journalists, intellectuals and those who do not support them.
SADC (Southern African Development Community) and the African Union (AU) have led Zimbabweans into the slaughterhouse. In spite of a string of previous failures in such matters, SADC, that group of short-sighted leaders, recently asked Thabo Mbeki to mediate in the Zimbabwean issue again. This after being fired by political opponents in the Ivory Coast for taking sides during mediation.
And just this past Tuesday, Mbeki was at it again.
Burundi's last active rebel group boycotted a meeting to put the derailed peace process back on track because, the rebel group said, "the South African mediator is biased" and by so doing "had disqualified himself as a mediator."
During South Africa's mediation talks, the government of Burundi continues to physically attack supporters of the group with which it is engaged in peace talks. Over the past weekend, Nelson Chamisa, spokesperson of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change charged that their supporters were being attacked and some killed by Mugabe's agents while South Africa is leading talks between the two. This is the man SADC picks to help the Zimbabwean people get out of the clutches of a murderous dictator? We cannot have another year like this. No, Sir!
Zimbabweans themselves must now do something lest even the gods abandon us as hopeless cases that are not even interested in their own survival, welfare and emancipation. Yes, stiffer sanctions and border closures would hurt the common folks more but otherwise is it preferable for us to maintain these existing conditions of hopelessness and despondency ad infinitum?
Of course, there will be pain but labour pangs have never discouraged pregnancies. The pain will pass. It is time to stop this travesty. We should no longer accommodate leaders who condescendingly punch us in the nose then put us on trial for nosebleeds. Never before have we changed our values to accommodate our abusers. It's not going to start now.
We are a people with pride; we stand on solid history. It is only with the courage of conviction, passion and a strong sense of self that we can stop the misery being inflicted on the nation and on us. We whine and we talk too much but do too little. Haven't we learned enough?
Close the damn borders, COSATU, and the world must tighten the sanctions! Having been betrayed by our own leaders, by the opposition, by Mbeki, SADC and the African Union, the people of Zimbabwe have the right to defend themselves.
Frighteningly, however, self-defence also involves attacking.
Like they did in Rwanda, African leaders underestimate the looming conflagration in Zimbabwe. It is within this scenario that I think we, Zimbabweans, at home and abroad, must do a little more for our own emancipation. To hell with SADC and the African Union!
Tanonoka Joseph Whande is a Botswana-based Zimbabwean journalist.
Dumisani Muleya: Zimbabwe Independent (Harare) said:
NEWS
2 November 2007
Posted to the web 2 November 2007
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has rejected overtures by former South African president Nelson Mandela and other international statesmen for him to retire ahead of next year's elections to avoid further deterioration of the economy.
Mugabe's resistance to renewed domestic and international pressure for him to quit before the polls demonstrates his rigid determination to hang onto power at all costs. This seems to have become his main objective despite the worsening crisis and attendant suffering.
Impeccable sources said Mugabe has given the brush-off to Mandela and his "Global Elders" team which deals with trouble-spots, snuffing out any hopes of him leaving office before the elections now likely to take place in June. It is understood Mugabe told off former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, who is part of the Elders group, after he made contact in September to arrange a meeting in Harare to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis, including his sensitive retirement issue.
Mugabe and Annan fell out publicly after UN envoy Anna Tibaijuka in 2005 compiled a damning report on government's Operation Murambatsvina which said the crackdown had displaced at least 700 000 people directly and affected 2,4 million others. Mugabe blocked Annan from coming to Harare to discuss the issue on that occasion. Two months ago Mugabe again blocked Annan from coming to Harare to discuss the Mandela initiative. Annan originally wanted to visit Harare to meet with Mugabe before the crucial Sadc summit in Lusaka. Mugabe stormed out of the meeting after clashing with host President Levy Mwanawasa.
Mandela's Elders initiative is funded by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, the chairman of the Virgin Group, a vast business empire, and musician and activist Peter Gabriel. Branson, who is worth about US$8 billion and was recently ranked by Time magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world, is part of the Elders team. The group includes Mandela, who is the patron, his wife Graça Machel, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the chair.
Other members of the group include Annan, Ela Bhatt, prominent Indian lawyer and international labour leader, ex-Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, former US president Jimmy Carter, ex-Chinese foreign minister and Peking University professor Li Zhaoxing, former Irish president Mary Robinson, and Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi professor of economics and banker.
Mandela, Tutu and Yunus are Nobel Peace Prize winners.
Sources in South Africa said Mandela communicated with Mugabe through his advisors in March, indicating to him that he had played his role in the liberation of his people, but it was now time for him to go. It is said Mandela stated he would not like to see Mugabe hounded out of office by his own people and treated like former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet once out of power. Sources said Mandela further noted Mugabe would be better advised to leave sooner rather than later with residual respect and a modicum of dignity.
Mandela communicated with Mugabe via their advisors on March 30 after the Zanu PF central committee met in Harare and claimed afterwards that Mugabe was endorsed as the party's candidate in next year's presidential election when in fact he had not been. Mugabe was only endorsed last week. It is understood that Mugabe appreciated Mandela's message, which was supported by South African government officials and ruling ANC leaders, in particular party stalwart and business magnate Tokyo Sexwale, and promised to get back to him. He never did.
Realising that Mugabe was not willing to respond, Mandela unleashed the Global Elders to pursue the Mugabe issue and find ways of engaging him. Mandela and Mugabe are perennial rivals in the region and clashed over the DRC intervention in 1998. The Elders met in Johannesburg during Mandela's 89th birthday on July 18 to discuss hot spots around the world, including the Zimbabwe crisis. They resolved to send Annan to Harare to talk to Mugabe about his retirement plan and also dispatch a team to Darfur to assess the situation. The Elders went to Darfur recently.
At the Johnnesburg meeting, close sources said there were different suggestions on how to approach Mugabe on the issue given his notoriously prickly disposition. Carter and other Elders proposed that a team, which included former African presidents, should approach Mugabe and persuade him to go, but Annan said that would not work because Mugabe was bound to reject a ganging up approach. Besides, Annan said the group might end up working at cross-purposes. He then said it would be better to send one person to meet with Mugabe and his name was put forward. Annan agreed. He then tried to arrange a meeting with Mugabe but was snubbed although he did not give up.
After discussing the Mugabe issue with the Elders in July, Mandela said that his team must "speak freely and boldly, working both publicly and behind-the-scenes on whatever actions need to be taken". "Together we will work to support courage where there is fear, foster agreement where there is conflict, and inspire hope where there is despair," he said.
Former Botswana president Sir Ketumile Masire persuaded ex-Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda to reform in 1990 and helped to end the crisis there. Mugabe himself, Mandela and Masire were in the past involved in efforts to end problems in Lesotho, Swaziland and Zambia.
Protectionism propaganda at its best! When the puppet strings snaps back at you Bob pulled it!!!
Nimepata habari hizi kwa masikitiko makubwa kwamba Kiongozi mkubwa sana wa Upinzani Zimbabwe kapigwa na kudhalilishwa kufikia sasa kutishia maisha yake kisa madaraka .
Nampa pole ni sana yeye na MDC na Familia yake . Hapa chini naomba msaada wetu tafadhali . Je ni nini mahusiano ya ZANU PF na CCM ama nini tofauti zao ikifikia wakati wa madaraka na kunyamazisha Wananchi ?
Police in Zimbabwe say they have charged the Attorney General Sobuza Gula-Ndebele with misconduct over a meeting with a wanted fugitive. Mr Gula-Ndebele was briefly arrested on Tuesday and later released, after being charged with "conduct inconsistent with the duties of a public officer".
It is alleged that the attorney general met James Mushore, in spite of knowing that the banker was wanted by police. Later on, Mr Mushore was charged with exchange control violations. In a statement issued to the media, police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said: "Mr Gula-Ndebele was aware at the material time that Mr Mushore was on a warrant of apprehension (arrest)".
Police allege that the Former National Merchant Bank deputy managing director and three other NMB senior executives (Francis Zimuto, Otto Chekeche and Julius Makoni) set up an illegal money transfer agency in the UK. Their agency, LTB Money Transfers, is said to have processed millions of dollars from Zimbabweans living abroad while guaranteeing their relatives payments at illegal parallel market rates.
Christopher Thompson said:
BARCLAYS is bankrolling President Robert Mugabes corrupt regime in Zimbabwe by providing substantial loans to cronies given land seized from white farmers. The British bank lent £750m to the countrys new landowning elite in the first half of this year, mostly through a government scheme to boost farm productivity.
This weekend Barclays was under pressure to say whether it had lent money to five of Mugabes ministers each named in European Union sanctions.
The Sunday Times has established that the five have received cash for their farms under the scheme to which Barclays is one of the main contributors. They include Didymus Mutasa, the national security minister, who helped to orchestrate the controversial land-grab policy that left 4,000 white farmers without homes or livelihoods. The countrys human rights abuses have made it an international pariah. Gordon Brown, the prime minister, has said he will boycott the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon next month if Mugabe remains on the guest list.
Despite the worldwide condemnation, Barclays, which faced criticism for operating in South Africa during the apartheid years, has remained one of only a handful of banks with extensive operations in Zimbabwe. It has recently been opening new branches in the country.
This weekend Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat MP who has a long-standing interest in African affairs, said he would ask David Miliband, the foreign secretary, to investigate whether the Barclays loans had breached EU sanctions. He said: The loans sustain the regime and individuals within the regime and those who profited from the violent land-grab. Its morally questionable.
Many of the farms now funded by Barclays were forcibly taken by mobs organised by Mugabes Zanu-PF party. They were distributed to leading figures in the regime, even though the policy was intended to give farms to landless black Zimbabweans. The beneficiaries included Mugabe himself, who is said to have three estates.
The land-grab policy proved a disaster for agricultural production, turning the former bread basket of Africa into a country where many people are said to be on the brink of starvation.
To increase productivity, the government is now offering loans to farmers to buy machinery and supplies under a scheme called the Agricultural Sector Productivity Enhancement Facility (Aspef). Barclays is required to finance the loans under Aspef as part of a set of conditions laid down by the Zimbabwean government which permit it to operate in the country, where it made £34m in profit last year. Its £750m Aspef loans are an increase of 17% on the previous year.
At least five ministers have received loans through Aspef. They are Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, minister of information and publicity; Patrick Chinamasa, minister of justice; Rugare Gumbo, minister of agriculture; Webster Shamu, minister for policy implementation; and Mutasa. Ndlovu confirmed that ministerial colleagues and other party members were seeking the Aspef cash. Yes, my colleagues applied and they should have received the funding, he said.
The ministers are on a list of 131 regime figures who are blacklisted as a result of EU sanctions on Zimbabwe. The sanctions say: No funds or economic resources shall be made available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of people on the list]. Barclays refused to confirm or deny whether the ministers or other blacklisted regime figures were its customers, on the basis of client confidentiality. The bank said it closely audited its Zimbabwe operations to ensure no sanctions were breached.
However, a source close to the bank said he had seen Shamus paperwork for a Barclays loan. Farmers take out loans with individual banks through Aspef. Among the other institutions which offer loans is Standard Chartered, a British bank, which also refused to say whether it loaned to regime members on the basis of client confidentiality. Yesterday Zimbabwe opposition figures called for an investigation into how the Barclays funds had been spent. Barclays is giving money to this regime and propping it up in an opaque process, said Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the Movement for Democratic Change.
He said the agricultural loans were used as a vehicle of personal wealth accumulation for the regime.
Barclays dealings in Zimbabwe have angered former farmers who lost their land. Derrick Arlett-Johnson, who fled his farm in the Midlands province, said: Theyre loaning money to people who have taken something illegally. So in fact they are assisting in a crime, in my opinion. A spokeswoman for Barclays said the bank had operated in Zimbabwe since 1912 and had 1,000 employees and a network of 20 branches serving 150,000 retail, business and corporate customers in the country.
We are committed to continuing to provide a service to those customers in what is clearly a difficult operating environment. We are also committed to the welfare of our employees, she said.
A Zimbabwean job-seeker who collapsed and died in Cape Town last week, is said to have succumbed to starvation. Adonis Musati, 23, was a police officer in Chimanimani in eastern Zimbabwe, but the economic crisis led him to South Africa to try to support his family.
He had spent a month at the Home Affairs Refugee Centre, trying to get a work permit, reportedly with nothing to eat, sleeping in a cardboard box. His family said they had learned of Adonis's death on the internet. The BBC's Southern Africa correspondent Adam Mynott says Adonis Musati left Zimbabwe and crossed into South Africa more than a month ago.
Like tens of thousands of his countrymen he had hoped to find work, but was unable to get a permit. On Friday 2 November, he collapsed on a traffic island near the offices of South Africa's home affairs refugee centre in Cape Town and was found dead.
Braam Hanekom of Passop, a refugee rights organisation, told our reporter that Adonis appeared to have died of hunger, having not eaten for four days.
But fellow Zimbabweans who met him outside the refugee centre told the South African news website IOL that he had
not eaten for two weeks. "It is a disgrace that someone should die of hunger in one of South Africa's richest cities," said Mr Hanekom. He said there are 25,000 Zimbabweans like Adonis Musati in Cape Town looking for work and food.
Up to 3m Zimbabweans have arrived in South Africa to escape the economic crisis in their own country.
Family members living in Sasolburg in the Free State, are now in Cape Town to identify his body and to make funeral arrangements.
His cousin Ivy Dhliwayo said the family had not heard of Mr Musati's death from the Zimbabwean consulate, nor from the South African government. "(His twin brother) Adbell read a story on the internet, and that is how the whole family found out," she said.
Passop says it is funding the relatives' expenses and will try to get Musati's body back home for burial.
BBC said:Zimbabwe's chief statistician has said it is impossible to work out the country's latest inflation rate because of the lack of goods in shops. "There are too many data gaps," the Central Statistical Office's Moffat Nyoni told state media. Many staple goods are often absent from shop shelves after the government ordered prices to be halved or frozen in a bid to stem galloping inflation.
September's inflation rate was put at almost 8,000%, the world's highest. Other reports suggest the rate could be at near 15,000% and the International Monetary Fund had warned it could reach 100,000% by the end of the year.
Black market
Mr Nyoni said the Central Statistical Office has delayed the release of the inflation figure until an accurate way of calculating it can be found. "We went to too many shops to observe and so compilations have not been completed," he said.
Maize meal, bread, meat, cooking oil, sugar and other basic goods used to measure inflation largely disappeared from shops after Robert Mugabe's government ordered prices to be slashed.
Manufacturers have said they cannot afford to sell goods at below the cost of producing them.
Most basics are intermittently available on the black market at well over the official prices. Last month, the central bank offered loans, known as Bacossis, to businesses at 25% interest to restore supplies to shops, AP news agency reports.
"We hope the situation will improve, especially with the availing of Bacossi funds," Mr Nyoni said.
International Herald Tribune said:Not enough goods in the shops to work out inflation figure, says state statistical office.
The Associated PressPublished: November 27, 2007
HARARE, Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe is so short on consumer goods, the government can't even calculate inflation, the chief statistician said Tuesday. Chief statistician Moffat Nyoni said goods used in calculating the average inflation basket were not available in stores across the country and so the figures, usually issued at the beginning of each month, would be delayed. The official inflation was given last month as 7,982 percent, by far the highest in the world.
"There are too many data gaps," he told the state media. His office was "now trying to find ways of coming up with the missing figures," the daily Herald newspaper, a government mouthpiece, reported.Zimbabwe suffers runaway prices, chronic unemployment and acute shortages. Unofficial estimates say that true inflation based on the government's basket of goods at around 15,000 percent and that - taking into account a broader range of goods - is closer to 40,000 percent. The International Monetary Fund has forecast it reaching 100,000 percent by the end of the year.
Corn meal, bread, meat, cooking oil, sugar and other basic staples used to measure inflation largely disappeared from stores after a government order in June to slash prices of all goods and services by about half. Producers said they could not afford to sell their goods at below the cost of producing them. About the only meat-based product on the shelves is sausages composed of about one-fourth low grade pork and the rest cereal. A package of six rose thirty-fold in price in the past month, to 20 million Zimbabwe dollars.
Most scarce products are available in limited quantities on the illegal black market at up to 10 times the government's fixed prices. If inflation was calculated on black market prices alone it would reach the IMF's prediction of at least 100,000 percent. Last month, the central bank offered loans to businesses at 25 percent interest to restore supplies to shops. Interest of about 500 percent is charged on routine commercial bank loans.
But central bank loans have made little difference to the availability of basic goods so far, store managers say. A strike by court magistrates and state prosecutors demanding more pay was in its fourth week Tuesday.
By Clemence Manyukwe Harare Financial Gazette (Harare) said:
NEWS
6 December 2007
Posted to the web 6 December 2007
SOUTH Africa and Zambia have disconnected power to Zimbabwe because of its failure to service substantial accumulated debt, a parliamentary report tabled in the Senate last week shows.
And an agreement with Nampower of Namibia, touted by government as the solution to the country's deepening power crisis, now also hangs in the balance after Zimbabwe failed to honour its part of the deal. The Namibians have already fulfilled their side of the bargain by paying US$40 million. But, contrary to glowing government comments on the Namibia deal, the report says Zimbabwe has thrown the arrangement into jeopardy.
The report was prepared by Members of Parliament (MPs) serving on the Portfolio Committee on Mines, Energy, Environment and Tourism, and was presented in the Senate last week. The report paints a dire picture of the extent of the country's power crisis. "The country has not paid its debts, for the period March 2007 to August, amounting to US$42 million. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has been unable to pay this debt because of the unavailability and cost of foreign currency vis a vis the low tariffs. As a result, South Africa and Zambia have discontinued supplies," the report, which probed the prevailing power crisis, said.
The report noted that Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are the only countries still supplying power to Zimbabwe. "Zimbabwe normally imports 25 percent of its electricity, amounting to 150 megawatts. Mozambique and DRC are the only countries that continue to supply Zimbabwe out of goodwill, irrespective of huge demand for electricity in the region. The committee strongly urges government to pay the Mozambique government US$20 million to avoid further disconnections," the report said.
The MPs expose the government's policy failures and lack of planning. According to the report, it had been projected as far back as 1989 that Zimbabwe would suffer power deficits in 2007, unless there was adequate investment in the power sector to match population growth. The country's total power consumption is about 2200 megawatts, but local generation has peaked at 812 megawatts. According to the report, domestic consumers use about 24 percent of the total national requirement, with the rest consumed by industry. The power crisis was due to low generation at power stations, shortages of foreign currency for imports, shortages of coal, sub-economic tariffs, lack of new investment and the vandalism of ZESA equipment and infrastructure.
On low tariffs, the committee said it was ironic that consumers were spending more money on alternative sources of power during power cuts, at a time when industry is subsidised. "A tier system can be introduced, where poor consumers are subsidised. The rest of the sectors should pay cost effective tariffs," the MPs recommended. The report says there was no meaningful investment into power in the past 20 years because the environment was not conducive to investors.
The report shows interest in power projects such as Batoka, Lupane Coal Bed Methane and Gokwe North by Russian and the Turkish investors had dwindled. Commenting on the impact of the power crisis, the report said: "It is estimated that businesses are operating at less than 30 percent of capacity. Mines are operational for only four hours out of the 24-hour schedule. Gold production for 2007 is expected to be at an all-time low of below eight tonnes, in comparison with three years ago when the country managed to produce 21 tonnes.
"The communication networks have been experiencing continued congestion, partly due to power shortages, adversely affecting business." "The poor wheat harvests of 2007 are partly attributed to the shortage of electricity, which affected irrigation. The situation is making it difficult for companies to plan. It has become difficult for households to plan." Presenting the 2008 national budget statement last Thursday, Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi said the joint venture between ZESA and Nampower would see an additional 100 MW being produced this month.
However, the parliamentary report said: "Namibia invested US$40 million but Zimbabwe has not honoured its agreement of investing $100 billion. The contract stipulates that HPC (Hwange Thermal Power Company) should export 30MW in January 2008."
Zimbabwe is to print new banknotes in an effort to tackle the serious cash shortages afflicting the country.
From Thursday, notes worth 250,000, 500,000 and 750,000 Zimbabwean dollars will enter circulation. At the same time, the highest value note now in use - the 200,000 dollar bill - will be phased out despite only being introduced in July. Rampant inflation above 8,000%, mass unemployment and shortages of fuel and basic goods have blighted the economy.
Supervised withdrawals
In recent weeks, increasing cash shortages have led people to start sleeping outside banks while queues outside branches during they day have become a familiar sight. Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono said its action would rectify the situation and make cash shortages "a thing of the past". "Within the next few days, there will be sufficient cash to go about our business," he said. Ministers have rejected calls from some businesses to introduce lower value notes which they say would ease the burden on shoppers who currently have to carry bundles of cash even to make basic purchases.
Zimbabwe already has the highest level of inflation in the world. The 200,000 dollar bill, which Mr Gono said was being widely used on the black market, is worth about $6.66. From now on, government officials will monitor cash withdrawals at banks while individuals will be limited to 50m dollars in deposits.
Critics of President Robert Mugabe accuse him of allowing the economy to go to ruin but he has remained defiant, banning all pay and price rises last month in an effort to stabilise the situation.
Zimbabwean police have fired tear gas at hundreds of opposition protesters on the streets of the capital, Harare, after a court banned a protest march. The judge ruled an opposition stadium rally could go ahead but agreed with police warnings that a march would present a threat to public security.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was detained for five hours then released ahead of the planned demonstrations.
He later accused the authorities of treating him like a "common criminal". Mr Tsvangirai, who was arrested at his home in Harare early on Wednesday morning, addressed supporters at the rally site, Glamis Stadium, in the west of the capital.
'Farce'
He told a crowd: "If this is the reaction of this dictatorship, then the elections are a farce." The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is demanding a new constitution before presidential and parliamentary polls that President Robert Mugabe said would be held in March. After the court ruling, several hundred opposition protesters had begun walking to the stadium from the MDC headquarters in central Harare.
But police told the demonstrators, who were chanting and waving placards, they were breaking the court order, before firing tear gas and charging. A spokesman for the MDC said people trying to reach the stadium had been intimidated by heavy police presence.
On Tuesday, state radio said police suspected "sinister motives" behind the march. The opposition warned this month it would boycott the polls if it was not satisfied with preparations to ensure they would be free and fair.
The BBC's Peter Greste, in neighbouring South Africa, says the rally was also organised to protest about the state of the economy, with unemployment more than 80% and inflation widely thought to be more than 50,000%.
The demonstration was the first test of the new public order and security act which should, in theory, allow political rallies after simply informing the police, our correspondent says.
British property tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten has been arrested in Zimbabwe, according to local media.
The state-run Herald newspaper said Mr van Hoogstraten, 63, was charged with breaking foreign exchange laws after a night raid at his Harare home.
He is accused of levying rentals in overseas currency, contrary to Zimbabwean law, the newspaper said.
A police spokesman told the Herald that Mr van Hoogstraten owns about 200 properties in Zimbabwe.
Wads of money
Officers recovered 20 billion Zimbabwe dollars (£335,883/US$665,148) in cash, US$37,586 (£18,980), 92,880 South African rands (£6,552/US$12,975), £190 (US$376) and 180 Botswana pula (£15/US$29).
Zimbabwean law prohibits the use of foreign currencies for local goods and services. .............................................................................................................In 2002 a British court convicted Mr van Hoogstraten of manslaughter and sentenced him to 10 years in jail after a business associate was shot and killed.
Mr van Hoogstraten successfully appealed against the conviction in 2003, although in 2005 a civil court awarded the murdered man's family £6m in damages.
..wakati inflation ni kubwa namna hiyo na wananchi wana hali mbaya si ndiyo wakati mzuri wa kufanya uchaguzi na kumuondoa Mugabe?
..nashangaa MDC wanaogopa uchaguzi.
..wakati inflation ni kubwa namna hiyo na wananchi wana hali mbaya si ndiyo wakati mzuri wa kufanya uchaguzi na kumuondoa Mugabe?
..nashangaa MDC wanaogopa uchaguzi.