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2006-03-30 Africa Subsaharan
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Mugabe Pleads With Equatorial Guinea President For Fuel
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President Robert Mugabe won a vague pledge from the Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo last night to supply US$200 million worth of fuel to combat Zimbabwe's worsening shortages. Mbasogo arrived in Zimbabwe yesterday afternoon on a three-day state visit for negotiations on the deal that was entered in November 2004, following the capture of 62 mercenaries in Harare, who were on a mission to topple the government of Mbasogo.
Mugabe is said to have pleaded for desperately needed supplies that have spawned renewed threats to his 26 year old rule. The invitation to Mbasogo, official sources say, is a measure of Mugabe's desperation. Fuel supplies in Harare are in chaos. The international oil companies that distribute fuel to petrol stations have not received deliveries for more than a month from the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim), the state-owned fuel company with a monopoly on importation. Noczim is bankrupt after more than two decades of a policy, directed by Mugabe, of selling fuel for a fraction of its international market price.
Thanks to the black market there is no visible reduction in the volume of traffic on the capital's streets. The Government tried to shut down the black market this week by banning motorists from carrying fuel in containers. Expectations were not high that Mugabe would succeed in sealing a long time deal, and the statement issued at the end of last night's talk left the extent of Guinea "co-operation" deliberately vague.
Mike Nyambuya, Energy Minister, recently announced that Noczim owed foreign oil companies more than US$135 million, and was paying off the debt at the rate of $5 million a month. Zimdaily heard that Mugabe was offering to pay Mbasongo with tobacco, cattle and tea. But with the mass expropriation of white-owned farms, the Zimbabwe tobacco industry has fallen from being the world's biggest exporter to producing only a third of its normal output last year. President Mbasogo was shown Zimbabwes prime producer of milk and related products, Dairiboard yesterday, raising speculation about government's intentions.
Mugabe's scourge of commercial agriculture has decimated the beef industry. Zimdaily heard that Mugabe had offered to pay the fuel partly with an unspecified shareholding in Zimbabwe's fuel pipeline system, storage facilities and petrol stations, only some of which are state-owned. Mugabe has also offered a selection of farms seized by the government. Mbasogo is accompanied by his wife Constancia Mangue, Equatorial Guineas First Lady. Zimdaily heard Mbasogo was set to address the Zanu PF central committee on Friday. 
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Posted by Pappy 2006-03-30 00:00||
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Posted by Besoeker 2006-03-30 07:54||
2006-03-30 07:54||
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Posted by Redneck Jim 2006-03-30 23:24||
2006-03-30 23:24||
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