BUDGET MEETING OF THE PARLIAMENTARY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 HARARE 001737 SIPDIS AA/DCHA RWINTER DCHA BGARVELINK, KSCHULZ AFR/SA MWILLIAMS, MCOPSON AFR/DP RBUCKLEY AF/S MBELLAMY, SDELISI NSC JFRAZIER, EABRAHAMS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID EAGR PGOV ZI SUBJECT: BUDGET MEETING OF THE PARLIAMENTARY PORTIFOLIO COMMITTEE FOR LANDS AND AGRICULTURE SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - - - - SUMMARY - - - - ¶1. (SBU) USAID/Zimbabwe's Democracy and Governance Team Leader, Stephanie Funk, and Senior Democracy Advisor, Deprose Muchena, attended a budget meeting of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee for Lands and Agriculture. The Committee has oversight responsibility for two Ministries: the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement; and the Ministry of Water and Rural Resources. With the support of USAID and its implementing partner, the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany, Parliamentary Committees are now implementing a re-engineered budget process involving open and transparent review of budgetary priorities. As Daniel Ncube (ZANU-PF),the chair of the Portfolio Committee stated, "This is the first time this Committee is bringing people together to discuss the budget. It makes a profound change in the way Parliament operates in that we will now exercise control over public expenditure and help the government allocate funds where they need it most." By inviting both citizen groups (stakeholders) and Ministry officials to this meeting, the Portfolio Committee enhanced the public's involvement in Parliamentary business and in good governance. Unlike the past, Parliament is no longer rubber stamping executive proposals or allowing the budget process to be done in secret. There is now a concerted attempt to bring this aspect of public policy into the public domain. These are hopeful signs that may portend increased legislative oversight of executive branch functions. However, these positive developments are occurring only in Committees and not in the full House of Parliament. More importantly, Parliament retains the power to "fast track" legislation by short circuiting the Committee process, and thus, nullify the benefits of the new portfolio committee review process. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - New Participatory Approach to the Budgetary Process - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (SBU) The structure and proceedings of the Lands and Agriculture Committee meeting showed that the budgetary process is becoming increasingly participatory. The Portfolio Committee invited key stakeholders to provide comments on the 2003 budget bids, including the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU),the Indigenous Commercial Farmers Union (ICFU),the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU),the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), the Center for Applied Social Sciences (CASS),Women and Land in Zimbabwe, the Farm Community Trust (FCT),the General Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ), the Cotton Growers Association, the Tobacco Association, and the Farmers Development Trust (FDT). Also invited were members from the private sector, including Cold Storage Company (CSC),CFI Holdings, and Farm and City Center. On the Government side, Ministry officials up to the Permanent Secretary (PS) level were invited to defend their proposals, SIPDIS explain expenditure patterns from the 2002 budget, justify projections for the 2003 budget and discuss the overall macro- economic context with Parliament and the public. All invitees participated actively throughout the entire day. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - State of the Civil Service - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶3. (SBU) The meeting was characterized by the openness of the ministry officials, the interest displayed by the various stakeholders, and the convergence of analysis on issues of land reform, the budget and what needed to be done to salvage an increasingly desperate situation in Zimbabwe. Presentations were heard from the two Ministries, followed by questions from Members of Parliament (MPs) and the stakeholders. Particularly striking was the level of professionalism and excellence displayed by the civil servants, their high level of commitment to their jobs under harsh and deteriorating conditions, and their use of this Parliamentary platform to advocate for more resources. The Ministries' submissions highlighted a variety of concerns, such as the inadequacy of budgetary allocations, ever declining capital budgets, increasing recurrent costs, high staff turn over, weak human resource development, non-existent retention policies, the difficulty created by the withdrawal of donor funding in many critical areas, the impact of the foreign currency shortage, the difficulty of budgeting in an inflationary environment, and the lack of synergy between the various line Ministries and the Ministry of Finance which allocates the resources. In private, a number of them expressed their frustration with political interference by Ministers who have little to offer technically. ¶4. (SBU) The ministry officials received sympathetic support from all the stakeholders present. The general consensus was that agricultural budget line items should be increased if the country is to avoid sliding into a complete disaster. The call for increased funding was strongest for veterinary medicines and agricultural inputs in order to buffer the new small holder sector. There was concern, however, that given the macro-economic environment, this may not be possible. - - - - - - - - - - Land Reform Program - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (SBU) The principal Director for Agriculture Engineering, Mr. R.J. Chitsiko stated that land reform is coming to an end, ushering in a new era of agrarian reform characterized by three phases: a. Restoration- restoring productive capacity on newly acquired farms and in small holder farming areas (mechanization, training and technical support); b. Consolidation- consolidating infrastructure and growth (including tobacco barns, roads, water services, fences, etc); and c. Expansion- expanding the agro base and output on the acquired farms as well as in communal areas. ¶6. (SBU) The Director did not clearly spell out how all these phases would be accomplished but a look at the ministries' budget proposals highlights the challenges that lies ahead. While the Government's slogan, "Land is the Economy, the Economy is Land" is often repeated, the allocation for agricultural inputs to support newly "resettled" farmers was grossly inadequate. The expenditure of resources in the 2002 budget and the projection for 2003 exposed the mismatch between the rhetoric of the political leadership and reality of actual expenditures. In the 2003 bids, the Ministry requested Z$15 billion for agriculture inputs but stakeholders from the tobacco sector indicated that tobacco needed a minimum of Z$31 billion in 2003 for input costs to enable farmers to recapture productions levels of the 1990s. The private sector said that they estimated that at least Z$50 billion was needed for agriculture inputs alone. The Acting Director of the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) indicated that the parastatal is currently operating under a serious deficit and needed Z$20 billion for food imports against an allocation of Z$6 billion. Questions were also raised about why the Ministry had spent only 9% of its 2002 first quarter allocation for Land, Resettlement and Technical Services, considering the verbal importance attached to it by ranking GOZ officials. ¶7. (SBU) One MDC MP asked who the beneficiaries were in the fast track land reform program and warned of the negative impact of allocating farms to untrained and inexperienced people who have other jobs. This prompted calls from other participants that a thorough audit of the land reform should be conducted especially after the PS from Water and Rural Resources admitted that an initial audit had revealed that beneficiaries were only living on 5 out of 31 farms. Other issues that were discussed included: the proposal to establish a "Land Bank," guaranteed by government; training of new farmers; land acquisition costs; and the role of the private sector. The CFU called for compensation for commercial farmers who have lost their properties under the reform program and are now legally required to pay their workers two months salary for every year they worked for the farmer. GAPWUZ pointed out that the dislocation of farm workers from resettled farms is causing an increase in the number of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) as some of them do not have rural homes to go back to. GAPWUZ argued that these people need food and shelter and they should be considered for land resettlement. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Livestock: The Threat of Foot and Mouth Disease - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶8. (SBU) Dr Stewart Heagreaves, the Principal Director of Veterinary Services informed the Committee that the agro-based nature of the Zimbabwean economy required a significant investment in eradicating foot and mouth disease. He pointed out that South Africa would soon be requiring a certificate that shows that all agro-based exports were grown in non-foot and mouth disease zones. Morocco already requires such a certification for tobacco exports. He warned that sooner or later Zimbabwe will find it difficult to export, thereby affecting projected foreign currency inflows and ultimately the entire economy. Zimbabwe had a very small budgetary allocation for foot and mouth disease in 2002, to the extent that the GOZ relied on assistance from the Botswana Vaccines Institute, for the bulk of medical requirements. The Institute has since discontinued supplying vaccines to Zimbabwe following the GOZ's failure to pay its debts. While the 2003 veterinary budget reflects a 90% increase from 2002, there has been no increase in real terms due to an inflation rate of over 118%. The problem of inadequate medicines is worsened by other severe operational problems such as transport problems, with 78% of its vehicle fleet out of service. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - General Approach of Bi-Partisanship - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶9. (SBU) The vast majority of MPs conducted themselves in a non-partisan manner and the Chair of the Committee, Daniel Ncube (ZANU-PF),shared the chairmanship with the ranking opposition member, Renson Gasela (MDC). However, the testimony of the PS for Water and Rural Resources Mr. Pazvakavambwa was the one exception. In response to the private sector's concern on the issue of price controls and their causal linkages to shortages in the retail sector, the PS declared that the private sector must complement the government and recognize that they are in a new partnership with government around land reform, and as such they must not be profit-driven. He threatened that, "if the private sector continues to be driven by profit, then there will be no private sector." The rhetoric of this PS reflects some of the anti-private sector sentiments of the GOZ. The Committee Chairman, MP Ncube, deftly maneuvered the potential minefield that the PS' remarks created and ensured that the discussions remained focused on the budget bids. ¶10. (SBU) Issues of incompetence, maladministration and sheer corruption also arose during the PS' presentation. He admitted that a recurring problem in the Ministry was that of dam construction and other large projects, where payments were sometimes made for work that was never carried out. He said a lot of money was paid for "standing time," where contractors were not working but still claiming payment either because the government had failed to meet its part of the bargain, delayed implementation or had foreign currency shortages that affected operations. He cited the Tokwe Mokusi and Dande Dams as typical examples of such cases where the government paid contractors six billion Zimbabwe dollars in suspension/standing time. Dam construction is taking longer than planned because of delays, suspensions, overturning of tender decisions by politicians and other factors beyond the control of Ministry officials. One official from the Ministry pointed out that tender decisions were being manipulated towards indigenous contractors who had no knowledge or equipment to carry out the task. "When some of these indigenous contractors are advanced money to kick start the contract, they spend the money on luxuries and other things unrelated to the project, causing delays and embarrassment to the policy of indigenization." ¶11. (SBU) The PS surprised delegates in response to a question about equipment that was bought from China. When asked if the equipment had been purchased, he responded, "We received tractors, caterpillars, lorries and front-loaders from China. Most of these came just before the elections, and we were able to use some of the trucks for election activities." The audience audibly gasped at this statement, in response to which the PS quickly added that the trucks had been used to ferry ballot boxes and not party people. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Commitment is Wearing Thin - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶12. (SBU) The civil service specialists who made presentations at this meeting are the backbone of Zimbabwe's public sector. They possess the knowledge, skills and understanding of government policy to manage government functions efficiently. In private discussions with the civil servants in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, and Rural Resettlement, a bleak picture emerged of a demoralized staff that is seriously considering leaving government service and, perhaps, the country. If their sentiments are shared by their colleagues, then the possibility of a massive exodus of specialists and experienced people from key Ministry positions is a strong possibility. This exodus would seriously erode Zimbabwe's ability to recover from its current crisis. One senior civil servant confided that: "We are doing all we can under very difficult circumstances. We have a competent professional work force whose frustration levels have reached a boiling point. My department is a skills-based department, but I am losing an average of a person per week to the private sector and to the region due to poor salaries and inept leadership. Another senior civil servant pointed out that he had been in government service for 33 years and if he were to go to the UK and become a junior veterinarian in an abattoir, he would equalize his annual salary in six days. He too confessed that he had reached a breaking point and was considering quitting. This picture raises serious concerns for Zimbabwe's future. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Role of the Committee in Budget Allocations - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶13. (SBU) The Stakeholders asked the Committee how much influence it had to change priorities in the budget. The Committee Chairman explained that in the past, Parliament would add input to the budget process late in the day or not at all. He said the Committee lacked the capacity to argue the case to the Executive but this process was helping to strengthen their abilities. He said they would take what they had heard and move to the next level. He explained that the next step was for the Budget and Finance Committee to look at all the submissions from the Portfolio Committees and then start negotiations with the Ministry of Finance. The stakeholders emphasized that the Parliamentary process has to be implemented on a regular basis and become the norm; they stressed that stakeholder consultation should not end with this meeting. They urged the Committee to be involved in the actual negotiations with the Ministry of Finance and the whole decision making process. Chairman Ncube wrapped up by stating that "We work as one in the Committee, not as party members but as Zimbabweans, to try and get our economy going and we are at your disposal. This is the beginning and we will see it through to the end." ¶14. (SBU) At the end of the meeting, there was a general consensus that Parliament should take leadership on fiscal policy in general and the budget in particular. -- - - - - Conclusion -- - - - - ¶15. (SBU) The Lands and Agriculture Portfolio Committee is one of the six Committees that USAID-funded SUNY has worked with to hold public consultations on the national budget. These six Committees are leading the implementation of Parliamentary reforms by enhancing public participation in the legislature and by exercising increased legislative oversight of the executive branch. Having Parliament host the CFU, ZFU, ICFU, GAPWUZ, the private sector and civil servants in dialogue serves to enhance its legitimacy and is important to stakeholders, who feel that their views are being considered. In the long run, the goal is that the Committees gain confidence in their new roles and will pressure the House to ensure that legislation be subjected to Committee review and not fast tracked without proper examination. ¶16. (SBU) Through USAID's assistance to Parliament, the committee system is being strengthened and committees are taking incremental steps towards bridging the divide between the MDC and ZANU-PF MPs. There is more bi-partisan collaboration at the committee level than in the full House, as this meeting showed. At the conclusion of the meeting the Chairmen of the Portfolio Committee publicly thanked both USAID and SUNY for the support given to Parliament and underscored the importance of the reform agenda to the resolution of the outstanding issues in Zimbabwe that require a stronger and more proactive Parliament. SULLIVAN