Are some Mugabe-condemning nations hypocritical?
Monday 23 June 2008
The international community is taking a harder line against Zimbabwe's government. But so far it's not talking about putting pressure on private companies that have helped the Mugabe regime to survive.
Are some Mugabe-condemning nations hypocritical?
By Armen GeorgianMonday 23 June 2008
What can the Southern African Development Community do, beyond condemning the Mugabe regime ?
The answer is not much. That some SADC leaders are no longer wary of criticizing Mugabe is a step forward for international diplomacy. But there is not much they can do to force Mugabe’s hand. A military strike is out of the question. Sanctions would only prolong the suffering of Zimbabweans. They could collectively refuse to recognize a Mugabe “victory” on Friday. But today’s raid on the MDC headquarters suggests that Mugabe and the powerful Joint Operations Command – a small clique of hardliners masterminding the campaign of intimidation – are undeterred by regional and international pressure.
There are levers, though, which Western governments have been unwilling to use. One of the UK’s most prominent banks, Barclays, operates in Zimbabwe. It has lent money to the country’s landowning elite, including officials who were given farms seized from white owners. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown speaks out against Mugabe at international gatherings. However, taking on Barclays would be politically risky.
Like Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been blunt in her condemnation of Mugabe. But she says Giesecke & Devrient’s involvement in Zimbabwe is a private matter. The Munich-based company is the world's second-largest printer of bank notes. It is providing trillions of Zimbabwe dollars from its factories near Harare – notes which are being used to pay off Mugabe’s supporters. G & D is an important contractor for the US government, and American officials say they won’t take action against it.
Pressuring Barclays and G & D is easier said than done. But wouldn’t limiting the regime’s access to foreign currency and ending support for its inflation run be more effective than threats of tighter sanctions?
24/06/2008 01:37:17 Alert a moderator
Giesecke & Devrient serves many corrupt rogue regimes....
By Marvin Welsh -
It is on record that Giesecke & Devrient have meddled in numerous countries ruled by rogue and corrupt leaderships, in persuit of quick money. Mobuto was supported by shipments from Munich until his very end. Tanzania recently uncovered a bribery scandal, involving the governor of the central bank who since fled to the USA with several Million Dollars, received from Giesecke & Devrient, as has been proven without fail, by the Tanzanian authorities. The company is alleged to have expended almost half a billion US Dollars in bribes to Nigerian officials during the the past 12 years, securing lucrative bank note orders for their Leipzig and Ontario printing plants. As a coverup of their scull daggery, a Dubai shopfront is being utilized most effectively for a decade, through which merchandize is invoiced craftily, saving huge amounts of taxes, as the mother company invoices the Dubai subsidiary only half the amount the clients get invoiced and pay Dubai. The difference is reportedly used for bribing corrupt officials in a grand style, securing orders all over Africa and Asia. In order to make things more efficient even, the German company prides itself with employing routine cartel practices with competing firms, in order to keep prices high. Another well known client is the regime in Burma, with whom Giesecke & Devrient have been doing business for the past 30 and some years.
Their current Zibabwe activities would appear modest, in comparison to the 2 Billion dollars of revenues earned worldwide...........