NewsHawks 8 October 2021

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Friday 8 October 2021

WHAT’S INSIDE RNuEsWhwS aya emerges MLIFuEkSuTnYdwLEa NSPoOt RamT ong
in the thick of uses make-up Three Lions,
dodgy military to tell real-life but happy to
dealings stories be a Warrior

Story on Page 6 Story on Page 45 Story on Page 54

Story behind the
scenes in Belarus’
murky relationship
with Zimbabwe

Page 2 News NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Belarusian elites’ golden deal
with Mnangagwa government

President Emmerson Mnangagwa (right) with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s right-hand man Viktor Sheiman

IN March 2018, Belarus’ autocratic President March in the Democratic Republic of the after. locations, including a site along the Mutare
Alexander Lukashenko dispatched his right- Congo. A Press release by his Dubai-based Vytis Jurkonis, a political scientist at Vilnius River, a waterway in eastern Zimbabwe whose
hand man Viktor Sheiman to Zimbabwe to company, Aftrade DMCC, specified that the name means “river of metals.” The company
negotiate trade and business deals on the gov- reason for the incident was arms dealing alle- University and an expert on Belarus, called the was awarded a five-year “special grant” in May
ernment’s behalf. gations, which Zingman flatly denied. He was arrangement an example of “nepotism” and a 2018 to mine for gold in a section of the river.
released without charge. “conflict of interest.”
Sheiman has been one of Lukashenko’s clos- Within months, the company was in trou-
est allies ever since the 1994 electoral campaign Documents from the Pandora Papers — a “I think it has all the signs of a really shady ble with Zimbabwean authorities. A Decem-
that brought the strongman to power. massive leak to the International Consortium structure with direct links to the president’s ad- ber 2018 visit to the Zim Goldfields site, led
of Investigative Journalists of nearly 12 million ministration,” he told OCCRP. by the Mines Ministry’s provincial leadership
While serving as Belarus’ prosecutor-general documents from 14 offshore corporate service in Manicaland, reported the company had vi-
in 2004, he was sanctioned by the EU over the providers, shared with media partners around Sergei Sheiman and Lukashenko’s adminis- olated several safety regulations, though it is
disappearance of several prominent Lukashen- the world — show how the two Belarusians tration did not respond to questions sent by unclear whether any penalties were issued.
ko critics, and the US followed suit two years used shell companies in the Seychelles and the OCCRP. Aftrade DMCC, Zingman’s Dubai-
later. UK to mask their involvement and the conflict based company, denied that Zingman had any The ministry of Mines, ZMDC, and Zim
of interest at the heart of the deal. involvement with the gold venture, despite his Goldfields did not respond to emailed ques-
But he was under no such restrictions in name, contact details, passport number and tions sent by OCCRP.
Zimbabwe. After Sheiman returned from Ha- Thirty percent of Zim Goldfields was held signature appearing in company records for
rare, Belarus’ state-owned news agency said he by Zimbabwe’s state-owned mining company, Midlands Goldfields Limited. In September 2020, the Zimbabwean gov-
had met with Zimbabwean officials to discuss the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corpo- ernment banned riverbed mining for environ-
“expanding economic cooperation” between ration (ZMDC), but the other 70% was con- Alpha Consulting, which set up Midlands mental reasons. Both the Seychelles- and UK-
the two countries, and that he had brokered trolled by a UK shell company called Midlands Goldfields in the Seychelles, said it complies based incarnations of Midlands
an opportunity for “the creation of a mining Goldfields Limited. with all local and international regulations and
enterprise.” runs background checks on its clients and the Goldfields were shut down within days.
Its ownership was masked by a proxy — source of their wealth. Zim Goldfields did not appear to update
Sheiman told Belarusian state television that UK records name Robert Michael Friedberg its ownership records after the two Midlands
the trip had produced deals to explore for min- as the director of the company — but leaked “Mr Zingman has no links whatsoever with Goldfields companies were closed. Yauhen
erals such as gold, platinum, and rare earths documents from the Pandora Papers show that either Zim Goldfields or Midland Goldfields Zhouner, a director representing Midlands
through a joint venture in mining. Friedberg was acting on behalf of its owners as Limited,” Aftrade DMCC said in a written re- Goldfields on Zim Goldfields documents,
a nominee for a Seychelles entity with a similar sponse. appears on company records after September
The mining deal was presented as a collab- name: Midlands Goldfields Foundation. And 2020, suggesting the company may have re-
oration between the two countries, and Shei- that entity was owned by Sergei Sheiman and “Mr Zingman is also not involved in any mained under Belarusian control.
man said it was intended to make “profit for Zingman, who had both reportedly been part business relationships or existing companies The joint venture agreement and articles of
Belarus.” But in fact, the new joint venture, of the March 2018 mission to Harare. with Mr Sergei Sheiman,” the company added association gave the owners of Midlands Gold-
Zim Goldfields, was secretly co-owned by in a separate statement. fields extraordinary freedom to obscure their
Sheiman’s son, Sergei, with no stake for the Both shell companies appear to have been interest in Zim Goldfields.
Belarusian state. created specifically to take advantage of the op- Viktor Sheiman, who left his position as The documents allow Midlands Goldfields
portunity afforded by Viktor Sheiman’s official head of the Belarus President Property Man- to transfer its shareholding to “any partnership
Sergei Sheiman’s partner in the gold venture visit to Zimbabwe: Midlands agement Directorate in June 2021 with a per- or other body whether incorporated or not”
was influential Belarusian businessman Alex- sonal message of gratitude by Lukashenko for without the approval of its state-run partner
ander Zingman, who has served as Zimbabwe’s Goldfields in both the Seychelles and UK “opening the window to Africa,” did not re- ZMDC. — ORGANISED CRIME AND CORRUPTION
honorary consul in Belarus since around early were incorporated just a few months before spond to requests for comment sent through
2019. his trip, and Zim Goldfields was set up shortly his former office. REPORTING PROJECT.

Zingman was also detained for 12 days this Zim Goldfields obtained permits to pros-
pect for gold on nearly 55 000 hectares in three

NewsHawks News Page 3

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Investigation: How Viktor Sheiman’s
son secretly mines gold in Zimbabwe

IN March 2018, Viktor Sheiman, the President Emmerson Mnangagwa (right) with his Belarus counterpart President Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus.
then head of the Property Management
Directorate of Belarusian President Al- Sheiman stressed that the mining op- public of Belarus, his father’s company, gether one of its latest  investigations. KGB spokesperson.
exander Lukashenko, paid an official eration in Zimbabwe is very advanta- and other employers before. He has a Thanks to Chanov, it was possible to Another shareholder of Yu-
visit to Zimbabwe where he and Mines geous for Belarus. “Africa is notewor- degree from Cranfield University. connect the first Belarusian private
minister Winston Chitando agreed to thy because of the colossal mineral security company to President Lu- RANEKS-bezopasnost is Big Sport
establish a joint mining company. wealth that our economy needs. No Dmitri’s family does not shy away kasgenko’s Property Management Di- Club,” supporting physical training
one here is going to work for free. If from the government, too. During the rectorate. Now, GardService is owned programmes development in Belar-
The company was called Zim Gold- they don’t have money, they are will- 2020 presidential election campaign, by Alexander Metla, Viktor Sheiman’s us.” A total of 66.7% of the company
fields. What was it engaged in, and ing to pay with their natural resources. his father, Andrei Krasilnikov, arranged associate. Metla is also a director of the shares belong to  Alexander Chorniy-
who reaped the benefits? What does it We’re fine with that,” he said. a meeting between the employees Stalin Line Complex and head of the chuk, a deputy director of the Belar-
have to do with Sergei Sheiman, Vik- All kinds of business of BelAseptika and Aliaksander Lu- charitable foundation Memory of Af- us Field Hockey Federation. And the
tor Sheiman’s son? All this and more Zim Goldfields  won several special kashenka’s trusted representative  Ivan ghanistan. other 33.3% to Kristina Letyago. Her
in the investigation conducted by the grants for gold mining in Zimbabwe as Golovaty, Director General of Belarus- husband, Maksim, is the CEO of this
Lithuanian Investigative Journalism far back as May 2018. The company kali. Once, Dmitri himself managed to As Euroradio found out from the company.
Centre (Siena), the Organised Crime then hired a Belarusian (public-private get into a fight with his father about sources close to Zim Goldfields and “Friends only” party
and Corruption Reporting Project enterprise) firm, Belgeopoisk, to carry the company stock, resulting in a pro- Belgeopoisk, all the significant finan- In December 2018, local authorities
(OCCRP), Belsat TV, and with input out the work. When the joint venture longed legal conflict. cial decisions for the latter company detected violations on one of the sites
from Euroradio. company was established, the latter are made by the “advisers” appointed where Zim Goldfields was operating.
belonged to Belarusian President Lu- In the end, Presudent Lukashen- to work there from the military and In 2021, the government of Zimbabwe
  kashenko’s Property Management Di- ka had to personally intervene and security services and the President banned riverbed mining, but the prob-
Buried alive rectorate’s companies Belzarubezhtorg task  Alexander Turchin, the head of Lukashenko’s Property Management lem of illegal miners did not go away.
The governments of both countries and Globalcustom. the Minsk Oblast executive commit- Directorate. Among these advisers The company ceased working near
did not make a big deal of the event, tee, with resolving the dispute. are Evgeni Zhovner and Alexander Ro- Penhalonga, in Mutare district, one of
and neither did the media. Zim Gold- Now, Globalcustom Management is Siloviki left and right manovsky. the few sites where it could legally un-
fields could have kept operating on the the sole owner of Belgeopoisk. One Belgeopoisk was established as a pub- dertake gold mining.
down-low if not for the accident. of the former’s shareholders,  Evgeni lic-private enterprise in 2016. First, the Zhovner, along with Romanovsky
Zhovner, was also involved in setting company was supposed to do amber and Anton Novik, became the own- However, these obstacles did not
In November 2020, a Chinese com- up Zim Goldfields. Other documents mining in Belarusian territory. But this ers of  Globalcustom Management  in stop Zim Goldfields from working
pany got to Mutasa district and started state him as one of the managing direc- business idea turned out to be unvi- August 2020. The company’s director elsewhere in Zimbabwe.
filling the abandoned gold mines. It tors of the mining company. able. on paper is Valery Mikhailov, a former
turned out they were not totally aban- ministry of Internal Affairs officer. Thanks to the latest massive global
doned as 10 local artisanal miners had Inside these companies, Zhovner is Now, Belgeopoisk does geological data leak, the Pandora Papers, and the
met their death, buried alive there. known as Viktor Sheiman’s confidant. exploration somewhere else. Their ge- Anton Novik is a presidium member hacktivist grouping Cyber Partisans,
Only two bodies were discovered, the According to unofficial sources, he was ologists, accompanied by their security of the Belarusian Judo Federation. His we now know who owns the Belaru-
rest were never retrieved. on the payroll at President’s Lukashen- guards, have at least one usual destina- father,  Anton Yuljanovich Novik, is a sian mining industry in Zimbabwe and
ko’s Property Management Director- tion country — and that is Zimbabwe. law enforcement colonel, senior lectur- what buffers they use.
According to the  Centre for Natu- ate. He also did work for Motovelo They also had business trips to other er at the Academy of the ministry of
ral Resource Governance of Zimba- and was a vice-president for ASB Leas- countries, like South Sudan, but those Internal Affairs of the Republic of Be- They are the former security appa-
bwe, the site  belonged  to a “Belaru- ing (Belarusbank’s affiliate company) destinations seemingly did not yield larus, and a well-known sambo athlete. ratus members (Novik, Romanovsky,
sian company called Zim Goldfields”. and a member of the executive board much. The company’s security service As the unofficial sources claim, he also Chanov, Mikhailov, and others) and
And a sub-contracted Chinese organ- of Paritetbank. The bank is now owned employs Belarusian defence and law served in military unit No. 01549, or, those who hail from Belarusian Presi-
isation,  Zhondin Investments  (other by Said Gutseriev, a son of Russian oli- enforcement retirees. Few people work in other words, President Lukashenko’s dent Lukashenko’s Property Manage-
sources call it Zhong Jin Investments), garch Mikhail Gutseriev. there officially, it appears, judging by Personal Security Service. ment Directorate (Zhovner; Viktor
did the land development there. Fam- the information obtained by the Cyber Sheiman’s friends and business part-
ilies of the two deceased miners were Another Belarusian among  Zim Partisans. The last owner,  Alexander Roma- ners, such as Alexander Zingman and
each  awarded  US$955 as compensa- Goldfields  representatives is  Dmitri novsky, is a dark horse. According to Alexander Metla).
tion. Krasilnikov, who works as chief oper- One of those employees is a former the source close to Zim Goldfields
ations officer and is the son of BelAs- Special Ops commando Evgeny Chan- and Belgeopoisk, he also comes from In addition, the children of
The compensation and references of eptika’s owner. According to Dmitri’s ov. The media noticed him when he be- law enforcement. The bet is he is from high-profile Belarusian public officials
tax payments in Mutasa district are the LinkedIn profile, he joined the com- came the first director of GardService, the Belarusian KGB state security and businessmen like Sergei Sheiman
only Zim Goldfields records found in pany in May 2018, having worked for a private security company established agency. Now, he owns shares in  Yu- and Dmitri Krasilnikov are also in-
the public domain. Tekhnobank, National Bank of the Re- in 2020. It was through the discovery RANEKS-bezopasnost,  a company volved Belarusia’s secret mining deals
of his name that Euroradio pieced to- registered in June 2020. His business in Zimbabwe.
  partner, Dmitry Pobyarzhin, is an ex-
Golden fields of Seychelles —Euroradio.
According to OCCRP, the joint com-
pany, Zim Goldfields, was established
in April 2018. The Zimbabwe mining
Development Corporation (ZDMC),
a state-owned entity that controls the
mining industry, got 30% of its shares.
The other 70% went to the United
Kingdom-based  Midlands Goldfields
Limited, established by a Londoner
named Robert Michael Friedberg.

Thanks to the  Pandora Papers, the
biggest ever leak of offshore data, we
found out that Friedberg is acting
in the interests of a Seychelles-based
company called  Midlands Goldfields
Foundation. This one was created
in December 2017 by the Belaru-
sian businessmen  Alexander Zing-
man and Sergei Sheiman, Viktor Shei-
man’s son. Each of them owns 50%.

Sergei Sheiman  prefers to keep a
low profile. He also does not have
any official connection to the Belaru-
sian government. Previous  investiga-
tions showed that Viktor Sheiman’s son
does business with a former general of
Russia’s central intelligence agency, the
Federal Security Service (FSB), who is
close to the Kremlin authorities.

In March 2018, Sheiman Jr. joined
his father on the visit to Zimbabwe,
acting as an “adviser” for the govern-
ment delegation. This was exactly the
time they created Zim Goldfields,
of which Sergei Sheiman became a
co-owner.

Reporting on the trip results
to  Aliaksandr Lukashenka,  Viktor

Page 4 News NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Mnangagwa surrounded by dodgy characters

BRIDGET MANANAVIRE

ALMOST four years after getting into power, President Emmerson Mnangagwa with Belarusian businessman Alexander Zingman and son Emmerson jnr.
riding on the narrative of removing criminals
that had surrounded the then president Robert Controversial businessman Lucas Pouroulis (left) and the late Foregn Affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo.
Mugabe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s cir-
cle of associates and family continue to be impli- were inter-company loans (at punitive interest have either been connected to the President, his anon in 2013.
cated in dodgy activities around the world. rates) repayable by Rautenbach’s businesses in family or cronies in government. In June that year, Mnangagwa’s crony Pourolis
Zimbabwe.”
Two of Mnangagwa’s close allies were this Nothing much has come out of the deals part- signed a controversial US$4.2 billion deal with
week named in a landmark investigation expos- Mnangagwa’s list of associates linked to dody ly because of the questionable track record of the the government, paving way for his investment
ing international secret deals, tax evasions and dealing keeps getting longer, as it also includes investors involved. vehicle Karo Resources to grab mineral claims
hidden wealth, adding to the growing list of his business tycoon Kuda Tagwirei, accused smug- stretching over 23 903 hectares previously held
associates involved in dodgy dealings. gler Herietta Rushwaya and several others. During the start of his tenure, Mnangagwa by Zimplats along the Great Dyke.
claimed he had clinched US$11 billion worth of
These are his deputy chief secretary for Ad- Mnangagwa also seems to have an appetite for business commitments, the bulk of which were The US$4.2 billion cost had been plucked
ministration and Finance Martin Rushwaya, to opaque deals from shady shelf companies and murky deals, spearheaded by dodgy characters. out of thin air, raising questions over the value of
whom Mnangagwa is related, and his close busi- dodgy businesspersons, including British-regis- the investment. The Pourolis family holds a 42%
ness ally Billy Rautenbach. tered Coven Energy Limited, which was award- Some of the deals Mnangagwa clinched in the stake in Tharisa Plc, which has only managed to
ed a US$1.3 billion deal to build Zimbabwe’s “New Dispensation” involve controversial busi- mobilise US$8 million for the implementation
Mnangagwa revealed during the funeral of second fuel pipeline. ness characters, including Zunaid Moti, Lucas of the platinum project.
Rushwaya’s mother, Mary Rushwaya, in January Pouroulis and Jacco Immink.
2019 that they were related. It was then revealed that the company was In 2005, Pourolis made a fortune after acquir-
incorporated on 25 August last year, with assets In 2018, Moti reportedly invested US$300 ing South Africa’s Impala Platinum subsidiary
In the past, his spin doctors have tried to dis- amounting to £100. million to set up a chrome extraction and pro- Elandsfontein Platinum Project for US$15 mil-
tance Mnangagwa from any connection with cessing plant in Zimbabwe along the miner- lion, before selling it two years later for US$1.1
people who have been accused of being involved Coven Energy’s name has been added to the al-rich Great Dyke. billion to Xstrata in a speculative deal.
in criminal activities using the excuse that list of foreign companies awarded massive proj-
Mnangagwa as the President accommodates and ects with no traceable track record. During that time, Moti was arrested in Ger- Karo Resources is a company registered in
takes pictures with everyone and anyone. many on charges that he defrauded his former Cyprus and Guernsey, a tax haven blacklisted by
Since Mnangagw’s ascension in 2017, many business partner Alibek Issaev an estimated the European Union.
But in this case, there is a trail of evidence of of the companies that have signed mega-deals US$35 million in a sham mining deal in Leb-
connections between the President and the busi-
nessman and someone from his office.

The two were exposed in what was dubbed
the Pandora Papers, an investigation conducted
by the International Consortium of Investigative
Journalists (ICIJ) — an ensemble of 600 jour-
nalists from 150 media outlets in 117 countries.

They went through more than 11.9 million
documents leaked from 14 offshore financial
services firms. ICIJ found that 35 heads of state
and government and more than 300 politicians
have set up offshore structures and trusts in tax
havens from the British Virgin Islands, Panama,
Seychelles, to Hong Kong and Belize.

There are emails, memos, incorporation re-
cords, share certificates, compliance reports and
complex diagrammes showing labyrinthine cor-
porate structures.

ICIJ reported that Rushwaya created Great-
gem Corp in the Seychelles in 2010 with the
help of a Moscow law firm. His company is ac-
cused of facilitating the Zimbabwean military’s
secret diamond dealings and off-budget financ-
ing.

“Rushwaya was one of two shareholders of the
shell company. The other was a shell company
owned by Moscow resident Olga Bakina. Great-
gem’s sole director was Grey Mashava, then a
Zimbabwean army colonel. The company had a
bank account in Latvia,” the report reads.

“In 2012, the offshore provider Alpha Con-
sulting Ltd which set up Greatgem, reported
the company to the Seychelles’ Financial Intelli-
gence Unit. Alpha Consulting noted that media
reports identified Rushwaya as the director of a
diamond-mining company that allegedly . . . ”

Rautenbach, who was Mnangangwa’s ally
even during the days of the Democratic Re-
public of Congo war, in which they were both
mentioned in reports as having looted diamonds
from the country, is accused of hiding his wealth
in an offshore family trust under the guise of it
being payment to his wife for her contribution
in building the family wealth.

“In 2013, one of Zimbabwe’s richest men and
arguably one of the most controversial business
figures in Southern Africa, Muller Conrad 'Billy'
Rautenbach, donated multimillion-dollar finan-
cial investments in his coal and ethanol business-
es to his wife. This restructuring was explained
by the need to ‘compensate’ her for her role in
building the family’s wealth,” the AmaBungane
Centre for Investigative Journalism report reads.

“It would kick off a process in which Jenny
Lynn Rautenbach, who also uses her maiden
name Noon, would take the lead in establishing
a complex offshore family trust fund meant to
preserve and grow the family’s assets for genera-
tions to come.”

“With the assistance of Singapore-based trust
specialist Asiaciti and other advisers, by 2015
Noon was the settlor of the family’s Bonsai
Business Trust which owned a non-tradeable
family investment fund listed on the Singapore
Exchange (SGX). The main assets of the fund

NewsHawks News Page 5

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Tycoon Rautenbach enjoys Zanu PF links

Billy
Rautenbach

. . . linked to money laundering and trading of blood diamonds from DRC

BRIDGET MANANAVIRE

MULLER Conrad “Billy” Rautenbach is one of Implicted in plundering of DRC resources: Then Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Vitalis Zvinavashe (left), then Air Force of Zimbabwe Com-
the most controversial business moguls in Zimba- mander Perrance Shiri and former Security minister Sydney Sekeramayi.
bwe, with several legal challenges against him and
his company Green Fuel. business, contacts in transporting minerals, and ing leader Morgan Tsvangirai. 2006 Anglo American, operating as Implats, gave
using innovative mining techniques, he success- His ties to the Mugabe regime eventually land- up an estimated 30% of its claims to the govern-
Rautenbach, who is into vast mining, fuel and fully mined state-owned companies and attracted ment. Bankrupt Zanu PF then sold these for a
transport businesses, is a friend of the ruling elite the attention of the DRC government, following ed him on the United States and European Union song to its political allies and business associates.
and enjoys countless favours from the govern- Mnangagwa’s recommendation. sanctions lists in 2008.
ment. Implats was forced in 2006 to cede sections of
He has not stopped attracting controversy. Mugabe had been defeated by Tsvangirai in the its Hartley and Selukwe Complexes to the gov-
Together with President Emmerson Mnangag- Last year, Harare North Member of the Na- first round of polling, and Zanu PF had lost the ernment as part of an indigenisation and econom-
wa, his close associate, he was mentioned as hav- tional Assembly and businessman Allan Markham parliamentary election for the first time in history. ic empowerment drive.
ing been involved in shady deals involving money approached the High Court challenging the con-
laundering and the trading of blood diamonds stitutionality of regulations which made Rauten- Subsequently, Rautenbach and associated busi- The government then apportioned the surren-
from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), bach’s Green Fuel the sole supplier of ethanol for ness structures and individuals came to the rescue, dered mining claims into four sections with one
in a 2002 United Nations report on the plunder blending purposes in Zimbabwe. changing the course of history. claim at the time in Darwendale given to Brit-
of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) natural Markham is seeking an order to set aside the ish, Chinese and Russian investors, including ar-
resources. Petroleum (Mandatory Blending of Anhydrous As Mugabe and Zanu PF faced clear defeat and my-linked Russchrome.
Ethanol with Unleaded Petrol) Regulations that oblivion, the Zimbabwean gambling investments
The looting occurred during the DRC war be- were published in Statutory Instrument 17 of king and long-time party ally found himself at the In 2007, Rautenbach-linked company Lefever
tween 1998 and 2002. 2013 arguing that they are unlawful and create centre of a complex global network of companies Finance, registered in the British Virgin Islands,
demand side and supply side monopoly, which is and tycoons entangled in a web of quick-buying expressed interest in acquiring the then Implats’
The UN Panel of Experts on the Illegal Ex- an infringement of the Competition Act Chapter and selling of shares in mining entities. Selukwe Complex claims.
ploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms 14:28.
of Wealth of the DRC, described Rautenbach as He has made a fortune from selling ethanol for Rautenbach sometimes invests and short-sells In 2008, the year of landmark elections in Zim-
a man “whose personal and professional integrity blending. shares, which has afforded him political protec- babwe, American investors Lehman Brothers held
is doubtful”. Rautenbach is also in conflict with Chipinge tion initially from top-ranking Mugabe allies, in- a 14.07% equity and later disposed of it, while
villagers over land boundaries, with villagers ac- cluding Mnangagwa. international Swiss bank, Credit Suisse, bought
The report found a network of Congolese and cusing his company Green Fuel of grabbing more 6% of Camec, listed on the LSE, in May 2008.
Zimbabwean political, military and commercial land than it is entitled to, as it expands. During the March 2008 general elections, Le-
interests that sought to maintain its grip on the In 2008, Rautenbach was involved in a deal fever Finance, a Rautenbach-linked enterprise, Lefever was owned by Camec which was listed
main mineral resources, including diamonds, co- which advanced US$100 million to the late for- advanced Zanu PF US$100 million. on the LSE’s subsidiary market, Alternative In-
balt, copper and germanium of the DRC govern- mer president Robert Mugabe to survive electoral vestment Market (Aim) from 2002 to 2009.
ment-controlled area. defeat by the late main opposition MDC’s found- The deal came after Rautenbach had gained
platinum mining rights after Zanu PF parcelled Camec had vast mining interests in the DRC,
Among the Zimbabwean military-political out Anglo American’s surrendered claims to the South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
elite involved in the plunder of DRC resources, government in a bid to comply with indigenisa-
the report named Rautenbach, Mnangagwa, then tion policy rules. Despite his significant role in funding elections
Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General in Zimbabwe, hence influencing national politics,
Vitalis Zvinavashe, as well as his family members, Under pressure to comply with Mugabe’s em- Rautenbach has remained rather inscrutable.
the late Perrance Shiri and Sibusiso Moyo, former powerment policy shareholding benchmarks, in
security minister Sydney Sekeramayi, and chief
executive of Oryx Natural Resources, Thamer Bin
Said Ahmed Al-Shanfari, an Omani national.

The 62-year-old Rautenbach had fled South
Africa in 1999 after being charged with corrup-
tion and customs tax fraud. Between 1999 and
2009, he lived as a fugitive until charges against
him were withdrawn as part of the 2009 settle-
ment and this was after his company, SA Botswa-
na Hauliers (Sabot) paid a fine of R40 million al-
though Rautenbach never admitted any personal
liability.

In 2006, Central African Mining and Explo-
ration Company Plc (CAMEC), a company
Rautenbach became involved with, listed on the
London Stock Exchange and controversially ac-
quired various mining operations in the DRC.

With the assistance of his father’s trucking

Page 4 News NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

BRIDGET MANANAVIRE Rushwaya emerges in the thick
of shady Zim military dealings
FOR long, Martin Rushwaya was the military’s
point man in its multi-million-dollar commer- ment from the parent company, Landela Min- Chief secretary for Administration and Finance Martin Rushwaya was a key figure in transactions
cial ventures, as the permanent secretary in the ing Ventures, to the subsidiary, GDI, corre- involving the Zimbabwean army.
Defence ministry from 2009 until 2019. spondence reviewed by The Sentry indicates
that Tagwirei made a payment to GDI’s former
In April 2019, President Emmerson Mnan- 50% shareholder, Pen East Mining, a company
gagwa appointed him deputy chief secretary for controlled and owned, at least in part, by Zim-
Administration and Finance (Accounting Offi- babwe’s military. Different documents indicate
cer) in the Office of the President and Cabinet. a range of potential payments made by Tagwirei
to Pen East in 2019: from ZW$46 million, to
Apart from being implicated in the Pando- ZW$300 million, to US$11 million, or possi-
ra Papers, Rushwaya has never been far from bly even as much as US$220 million — and
controversy. this is on top of the US$21.5 million paid to
GDI. Internal communications reviewed by
He previously benefitted from the contro- The Sentry cite GDI as having a gross asset value
versial 2007 Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Farm of ‘well in excess’ of $600 million.”
Mechanisation Scheme, where several senior
government and security sector bosses acquired Like in many other deals involving the mil-
agricultural machinery to boost production on itary, Rushwaya was a key figure in the trans-
their farms. actions.

Most failed to pay for the machinery which “At key points in the negotiations, emails
included tractors, combine harvesters and irri- were copied to Tagwirei and senior military
gation equipment. figures, including the late Lieutenant-Gener-
al Sibusiso Moyo, who became the face of the
He is listed under the thematic group “Se- 2017 military coup and, later, foreign secretary;
nior Civil Servants”, as owing US$84 543.00. Major-General John Chris Mupande, the direc-
Rushwaya is also mentioned in various reports, tor-general of policy, public relations, and in-
including the Global Witness investigation as ternational affairs at the MOD; Brigadier-Gen-
having played a role in the misappropriation of eral Sydney Bhebe; and Rushwaya, the MOD
revenue from the Chiadzwa diamond mining permanent secretary who became deputy chief
fields through his role in Anjin Investments. secretary in the Office of the President and
Cabinet in April 2019, just before the deal was
A Global Witness report published on 14 concluded,” the report reads.
February 2012 raised concerns that diamond
purchases may help fund the Zimbabwean mil- “Mupande, Rushwaya, and Moyo are also
itary. listed as directors of Rusununguko Nkululeko
Holdings, one of the main holding compa-
The report, Diamonds: A Good Deal for Zim- nies used by the ZDF, while Moyo also served
babwe?, revealed that several directors of one of as shareholder and director of other mili-
the largest mining companies operating in Zim- tary-owned companies in Zimbabwe.”
babwe’s controversial Marange diamond fields
were drawn from the Zimbabwean military and “Although Pen East’s two ostensible individ-
police, highlighting the risk that off-budget ual shareholders were civilians, at least one of
funding of the security sector could be used to them is referred to as a nominee by Tagwirei’s
finance violence in any future election. lawyer in correspondence seen by The Sentry.
Rather than these two individual shareholders,
Rushwaya was a board member of Anjin, it was Rushwaya who signed the agreement
the joint venture between an obscure military transferring Pen East Mining’s 50% sharehold-
investment firm Zimbabwean firm called Matt ing in GDI to Landela Mining Ventures, as
Bronze and Chinese investor Anhui Foreign well as a later addendum to the share purchase
Economic Construction Company. agreement.”

In 2018, Rushwaya rubbished March 2016
claims by former President Robert Mugabe that
Zimbabwe could have lost US$15 billion in di-
amond revenue.

Rushwaya told the Parliamentary Portfo-
lio Committee on Mines and Energy that the
claims may have been told by officials who
wanted to justify the closure of diamond mines
in the Chiadzwa fields and the consolidation of
operations under the state-owned Zimbabwe
Consolidated Diamond Company.

“When Mugabe announced the issue of the
US$15 billion, we said to our colleagues from
the Mines Ministry that they must come up
with an explanation and asked who gave Mug-
abe those figures, but nobody came out,” Rush-
waya said.

In 2018, Rushwaya survived a plane crush
after an Alouette III helicopter he was a pas-
senger in had to make a forced landing in the
Mchakazi area in Gutu Central near Ranga
school after it developed a fault while airborne.
The chopper was travelling to Gutu from Ha-
rare.

According to the acting Provincial Adminis-
trator for Masvingo Roy Hove, the helicopter
developed a fault before arriving at its intended
destination Gutu from Harare.

Rushwaya is also mentioned in The Sentry
report, an investigation into business tycoon
Kuda Tagwirei’s vast wealth accumulation titled
Shadows and Shell Games: Uncovering an Off-
shore Business Empire in Zimbabwe, published
in July.

The report says the 2019 sale of the military’s
Pen East Mining’s share of Great Dyke Invest-
ment to Tagwirei was negotiated between the
businessman’s lawyer, Norman Chimuka, and
the representative of Pen East Mining, Colonel
Siwinile Tauya, with Rushwaya playing a key
role in the deal which resulted in the military
pocketing millions of dollars.

“In 2019, Tagwirei’s Landela Mining Ven-
tures paid at least US$21.5 million to Great
Dyke Investments (GDI) as part of a deal by
which it obtained a 50% stake in the joint ven-
ture company. The payment was a shareholder
loan to match the money already invested by
the other 50% shareholder Afromet, a Russian
subsidiary of Vi Holdings, a Russian industrial
conglomerate, the report says.

“In addition to that US$21.5 million pay-

NewsHawks News Page 5

Issue 51, 8 October 2021 Govt fears currency crisis exchange rate.
Once investors sell their do-
BERNARD MPOFU mestic currency-denominated
investments, which amounts
PRESIDENT Emmerson may trigger social uprising to capital flight, they convert
Mnangagwa’s government those investments into foreign
is intensifying its sweeping currency.
crackdown on foreign curren- That causes the exchange
cy traders in the volatile mar- rate to get even worse, result-
ket amid growing fears of an ing in a run on the currency,
exchange rate-driven econom- Analysts say given the with the prospect of a currency which can then make it nearly
ic meltdown, The NewsHawks weak economic fundamentals crisis for a floating-rate curren- impossible for the country to
has established. and increased money supply, cy regime. finance its capital spending
mainly through infrastructure In this, the government has and manage its finances.
Security sources say on top projects, this currency crisis adopted a law-and-order ap- The authorities say illegal
of ongoing arrests, the au- was predictable and may scale proach and a tight monetary forex trading is sabotaging the
thorities want more dealers 2008 heights unless quickly policy intervention to shrink economy.
arraigned in a bid to prevent contained. money supply to fend off a However, analysts say a re-
further foriegn exchange mar- While exchange rate volatil- looming currency crisis. pressive approach to markets
ket chaos, an economic conta- ity can be attributed to a com- — through arrests and intim-
gion and political unrest that bination of complex issues, Anatomy of a crisis idation — will not address
may lead to popular uprising. it can be caused by fiscal and Confidence is a major issue the economic problem that is
monetary authorities’ actions, in a currency crisis. If inves- deeply entrenched, complex
“We have already arrested investors, central banks, confi- tors lack confidence, they can and has many complicated
a number of foreign currency dence crisis or a combination often withdraw their money dimensions and dynamics, in-
dealers. More arrests are com- of actors and factors. en masse and that erosion in cluding the government’s own
ing. We will deal with them,” a Yet the result is always the confidence of an economy’s activities that fuel the black
source said. same: A negative outlook stability can destabilise the market.
causes wide-scale economic foreign exchange market and l See pages 25 and 38
“Some traders and senior damage, inflation and a loss of
corporate executives will spend capital.
Christmas in jail.” Some of the manifestations
and causes of a currency crisis
This comes as it has emerged include:
this week that the clampdown l Damatic decline in the
is a coordinated and system- value of a currency, which
atic campaign involving the causes negative ripple effects
Central Intelligence Organisa- throughout the economy;
tion (CIO) and security agen- l It is not an intended policy
cies, the Reserve Bank of Zim- measure like devaluation, but
babwe, especially its Financial a depreciation due to market
Intelligence Unit (FIU) and forces, laws of demand and
the ministry of Finance. supply;
l Generally any increase in
Political leaders, particular- money supply could lead to a
ly Vice-President Constantino depreciation in the exchange
Chiwenga, have been on the rate. This is for two main rea-
offensive, using the Zimbabwe sons: Inflation — Everything
dollar, which is fast depreciat- else being equal, an increase
ing in relation to base curren- in the money supply is like-
cies in the market, as a pretext. ly to be inflationary. This is
because with more currency
Chiwenga has warned of chasing the same quantity of
harsh measures against traders. goods, firms will respond by ZIMSEC 2021 EXAMINATIONS
increasing prices. Alternative-
Security sources say the ly, if expansionary monetary
crackdown is a culmination policy involves cutting interest
of a series of meetings and in- rates — lower interest rates The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council would like to advise Heads of Examination
vestigations by the authorities will tend to increase aggregate Centres, Candidates and all its stakeholders that the Grade 7, Ordinary and Advanced
and security teams into what demand, leading to possible Level Examinations have been scheduled. The Timetables and Candidates’ Statements of
has been happening in the for-
eign exchange market and the inflationary pressure; and Entry will be accessible to all authorised personnel online through the Zimsec Website from
economy of late. l Fiscal and monetary au- Tuesday 12 October 2021;
thorities may intervene to help
This involved a security stabilise a currency by selling
threat analysis of the situation off reserves of foreign currency
on the ground by the CIO and or gold, or by intervening in https://www.zimsec.co.zw
other key intelligence services the forex markets. In this case,
that concluded that the ex- they have intervened through
change rate issue poses a clear law-and-order measures. The Statements of Entry portal is for use by Centre Heads and authorised personnel.
and present danger to Mnan- Instructions on how to access the Results Portal are available on the Zimbabwe School
gagwa and his government. Currency crisis
A currency crisis is triggered Examination Council’s portal page. The portal can be accessed from any electronic device
“This is a coordinated gov- a sharp decline in the value of that supports the internet. Candidates are advised to collect their Statements of Entry from
ernment operation which in- a country’s currency. This loss their respective centres for use during the examinations.
volves the ministry of Finance,
RBZ and CIO to contain of value, in turn, negatively af-
the recent currency crisis,” a fects an economy by creating
source said. exchange rate instability. Statements of Entry are available only for Candidates who have registered for the 2021
Examinations. Registration for the 2021 Examinations is CLOSED and no further entries
“It will be running for some A currency crisis is usually
weeks and may further be ex- a reflection of unstable eco- are being accepted for this year. Candidates who may have failed to meet the late registration
tended for some months. Gov- nomic fundamentals, struc-
ernment wants to crush the tural issues and policy failures deadlines availed are advised to register for the 2022 Examinations when the registration
illegal traders driving the rate underlying the currency. window opens. Please take note, no student will be allowed to sit for any examination which
spiralling out of control.
In other words, a currency they are not registered for
“Authorities fear that an un- crisis is often the symptom
controlled exchange rate crash and not the disease of greater
might have serious contagion, economic malaise. NO REGISTRATION NO EXAMINATION
by spreading into an economic
crisis from the currency col- Combating the crisis ZIMSEC Head Office| 1 Upper East Road, Mount Pleasant, Harare| Tel: 0242 302622/4
lapse.” Central banks are the first Email: [email protected] | WhatsApp: +263 772148786 or +263 712737759
line of defence in maintaining
Fiscal and monetary author- the stability of a currency. In
ities, led by the FIU, and cap- a fixed exchange rate regime,
ital market regulators, are cur- central banks can try to main-
rently tightening forex trading tain the current fixed exchange
regulations by adopting a tight rate peg by dipping into the
monetary policy in a bid to country’s foreign reserves, or
weed out what they various- intervening in the foreign ex-
ly describe as “saboteurs” and change markets when faced
“fraudsters” in the market who
are destroying the economy.

Authorities say illegal forex
trading is sabotaging the econ-
omy and will trigger inflation,
while weakening the local cur-
rency.

Zimbabwean authorities are
scared of a repeat of the 2008
situation.

Page 6 News NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

OWEN GAGARE Businessman files complaint against
High Court judge over property deal
HARARE businessman Kingston Hamutendi
Munyawarara, the executive director of Bar- the Registrar of Deeds, the Sheriff of the High Justice Tawanda Chitapi The Supreme Court appeal against Justice
iadie Investments (Private) Limited, has lodged Court of Zimbabwe and Elliot Rodgers were 2620/19, in which he had dismissed Bariadie’s Chitapi’s judgment dismissing the application
an official complaint against High Court judge cited as Respondents. In that application, Bar- application to set aside the transfer that had to cancel the fraudulent transfer of the property
Justice Tawanda Chitapi over alleged unprofes- iadie Investments (Private) Limited sought the been done by Chiutsi to Mashamhanda. to Mashamhanda was set down for 16 Septem-
sionalism. reversal of the sale between Puwayi Chiutsi and ber 2021.
Tendai Mashamhanda,” Munyawarara said. The lawyers also argued that “in line with ju-
In a letter dated 27 September, addressed to dicial authority”, Chiutsi could not file an ap- “Curiously, on the morning of the Supreme
Judicial Service Commission secretary Walter “The application in HC. 2620/19 was heard plication in terms of Rule 449 without apply- Court hearing on 16 September 2021, our law-
Chikwana and copied to Judge President Maria before Justice Chitapi on the 7th of August 2019 ing for condonation first from the High Court; yers were handed a copy of a default judgment
Zimba-Dube, Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyam- and 9 October 2019, respectively. Judgment was meaning the application was defective. that had been handed down the previous day by
bi, secretary of the Law Society of Zimbabwe reserved. Justice Chitapi in case number HC 1120/20,
David Mapara, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Justice Chitapi dismissed all the preliminary in which he set aside Justice Mathonsi’s judg-
Commission and the Commissioner-Gener- “The judgment in HC 2620/19 was handed issues raised. ment in HH 604/18. The judgment came as a
al of the Zimbabwe Republic Police Godwin down on Christmas eve in December 2019, be- shock to us since none of our Counsel was aware
Matanga, Munyawarara complained over Chi- ing on the 24th of December 2019. This was at “Through a letter from our lawyers dated of any hearing that took place on the 20th of
tapi’s judgement in a matter in which Bariadie a time our lawyers had closed for the festive holi- 28 May 2021, we then requested that Justice July 2021. The judgment itself claims that our
Investments sought the reversal of the sale of a days and we only became aware of the judgment Chitapi furnish us with written reasons for his Counsel wilfully defaulted Court on 20 July
property it had bought from the Sheriff of the through the grapevine.” dismissal of the preliminary points as we felt 2021,” Munyawarara said.
High Court following a High Court judgment. aggrieved. We wanted the reasons to enable us
Munyawarara told the JSC that he filed an to file an application for leave to appeal to the “The judgment in question was not read in
Bariadie Investments had bought the prop- appeal against Chitapi’s judgment in the Su- Supreme Court of Zimbabwe. Initially, Justice Motion Court despite the fact that it was given
erty following a High Court ruling by Justice preme Court on 16 January 2020. Chitapi refused to furnish the reasons indicating on a Wednesday. Several questions arise. Why
Nicholas Mathonsi, but the previous owner, that they would be included in the main judg- was it not handed down in Motion Court? How
Puwayi Chiutsi, allegedly fraudulently resold However, on 14 February 2020, Chiutsi filed ment,” Munyawarara said. then did the other side (Chiutsi) have it? Did
the property. Justice Chitapi went on to set aside a High Court application citing the Sheriff of they receive a call from the Judge’s clerk? If de-
Justice Mathonsi’s judgement. Zimbabwe, Bariadie Investments (Private) Lim- “However, after we had insisted through our fault was on the 20th July 2021, was an order
ited and Elliot Rodgers, as he sought the setting Counsel, Chitapi J, on the 6th July 2021, under- for default judgment pronounced when the ap-
“On the 18th of September 2017, 1 partic- aside of Justice Mathonsi’s judgment under the took to provide a judgment on the preliminary plication for default judgment was made? Why
ipated at a judicial auction at Raylton Sports old Rule 449 on the allegation that Bariadie issues by the 8th of July 2021. Our counsel, Ad- did it take the judge up until the eve of our Su-
Club, Harare and bid for a property known as Investments did not participate in the judicial vocate Mapuranga, was not present on the 6th preme Court appeal hearing to issue the said
The Remainder of Subdivision C of Lot C of auction in September 2017. Munyawarara how- July 2021, but had requested Dianna Kawenda, judgment?”
Lots 190, 191, 193, 194 and 195 Highlands ever says he attended the auction and bid for the a legal practitioner with Messrs Tendai Biti Law
Estate of Weimoed. I was representing Bariadie property on behalf of his company. to note the judgment on his behalf. Ms Kawen- Munyawara said he had several reasons to
Investments (Private) Limited. The property da was also representing Elliott Rodgers, one of complain, including the fact that Justice Chitapi
was, at the time, owned by Puwayi Chiutsi and “Bariadie Investments (Private) Limited and the respondents in the matter. Ms Kawenda had dismissed the application to set aside the transfer
was being sold by the Sheriff of the High Court Elliot Rodgers opposed Chiutsi’s application on then informed Advocate Mapuranga of what on 24 December.
of Zimbabwe to satisfy a judgment of the High the grounds, inter alia, that his application was happened on the 6th July 2021. She specifically
Court of Zimbabwe in HC 3331/14 in a mat- incompetent, as there is no ambiguity or patent advised our counsel that Chitapi J had direct- “The handing down of the judgment on that
ter between Elliot Rodgers and Puwayi Chiutsi,” error or omission in Justice Mathonsi’s judg- ed that if we intended to file an application for date was suspicious in view of the fact that many
Munyawarara said. ment, which Chiutsi had demonstrated in his leave to appeal, we should file it by the 12th July law firms had since closed for the festive holidays.
application,” he said. 2021. Our lawyers were not informed of the handing
“Bariadie Investments was declared the high- down of the judgment. We only became aware
est bidder after offering US$270 000 for the “It is important to highlight, at this stage, “However, the written judgment was not of the judgment through the grapevine,” he said.
property. Puwayi Chiutsi objected to the con- that Chiutsi’s application to set aside Justice availed on the 8th July 2021 as undertaken.
firmation of the sale but his objection was dis- Mathonsi’s judgment had been filed more than On 9 July 2021, our lawyers addressed a letter “Pertinently, Chitapi J, in his judgment,
missed by the Sheriff in a Ruling by the Sheriff a year and four months after Justice Mathonsi’s to Chitapi J's clerk placing it on record that the found it as fact that there were no caveats regis-
dated 28 November 2017. judgment.” written judgment had not been availed by the tered against the property. The submission that
8th July 2021. The judgment was only availed there was no caveat attached to the property was
“Following dismissal of his objection, Puwayi Munyawarara said his lawyers raised a num- on the 14th of July 2021, two days after the date made by Chiutsi from the bar, as the record of
Chiutsi then filed a Court Application for Re- ber of preliminary issues, including applying for we were supposed to file the application for leave proceedings will reflect, yet the judge took it as
view under case number HC 11349/17 seeking Justice Chitapi to recuse himself on the basis to appeal.” fact. This was despite the fact that Mashamhan-
to review the proceedings relating to the confir- that he had dealt with a related matter in HC da himself in his Founding Affidavit before the
mation of the sale. The Application for Review court had confirmed that he had seen that there
under HC 11349/17 was heard by the Hon- were caveats registered against the title deed but
ourable Justice Mathonsi, who handed down had been assured they were inconsequential.
a judgment on 3 October 2018 dismissing the
application.” “Further, not only did Mashamhanda accept
that there were caveats, Mr T Biti, who was rep-
Following the dismissal, Bariadie Investments resenting Elliott Rodgers, produced a copy of
paid the full purchase price. the notice of attachment (caveat) and placed it
before Chitapi J. the transcript of the proceed-
“In a bid to frustrate the transfer of the prop- ings will confirm this. Yet in his judgment the
erty to Bariadie Investments, Puwayi Chiutsi judge says nothing about the copy he received.
filed an Urgent Chamber Application in the Su- I should also mention that the Honourable Jus-
preme Court under case number SC 843/18 on tice Chigumba in HH 547/17 dismissed an ap-
the 6th of November 2018 in terms of which plication by Chiutsi challenging the attachment
Chiutsi sought to interdict the transfer of the of the property. A copy of the judgment was giv-
property to Bariadie Investments,” Munyawar- en to Chitapi J at the hearing. We attach a copy
ara said. as Annexure.”

“The Urgent Chamber Application was heard He also questioned why Justice Chitapi re-
before the Honourable Justice Bere on the 13th fused to recuse himself in Chiutsi’s application
of November 2018. In a judgment handed down to set aside Justice Mathonsi’s judgment.
on 18 January 2019, Justice Bere dismissed the
Urgent Chamber Application. “Logic would dictate that he should have re-
cused himself in the matter just like other judges
“On 21 January 2019, Puwayi Chiutsi filed who have handled related matters between the
yet another Urgent Chamber Application in the parties have done. For the record, the Hon-
Supreme Court in case number SC 15/19 seek- ourable Justice Munangati-Manongwa and the
ing again to interdict the transfer of the property Honourable Justice Chinamora recused them-
to Bariadie Investments. The Urgent Chamber selves from hearing Chiutsi’s application on the
Application was heard before the Honourable basis that they had either handled or been in-
Justice Gwaunza D.C.J on 28 January 2019. Af- volved in related matters before. Their circum-
ter hearing submissions from the parties, Justice stances are not dissimilar to Chitapi J who re-
Gwaunza struck the matter off the roll on the fused to recuse himself,” Munyawarara said.
basis that Chiutsi could not seek the same relief
as that which he had sought before the Honour- “The refusal to grant any of the preliminary
able Justice Bere.” points we raised relating to Chiutsi’s application
to set aside Justice Mathonsi’s judgment raises
Munyawarara said despite the various judg- a lot of eyebrows, in our view. In particular,
ments of the High Court and Supreme Court, precedent from the Supreme Court dictates that
and the fact that the property had been sold to when a party delayed filing an application in
Bariadie Investments, Chiutsi sold and trans- terms of the old Rule 499, condonation ought
ferred the property to Tendai Mashamhanda on to be sought first. Chiutsi filed his application to
8 February 2019. set aside Justice Mathonsi’s judgment one year
and four months after Justice Mathonsi’s judg-
He said to facilitate transfer of the property, ment, but Chitapi J’s finding was there was no
Chiutsi fraudulently misrepresented to the Reg- need to seek condonation!”
istrar of Deeds in an affidavit dated 8 February
2019, in which he purported that there were no
caveats or any other encumbrances in respect of
the title deed of the property.

“Following the above development, Bariadie
Investments (Private) Limited filed a Court Ap-
plication under case number HC 2620/19 in
which Puwayi Chiutsi, Tendai Mashamhanda,

NewsHawks News Page 7
BANK OF ZI
Issue 51, 8 October 2021

RESERVE MBABWE

PRESS STATEMENT

CLEARANCE OF BACKLOG OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE AUCTION
ALLOTMENTS AND FURTHER TIGHTENING OF MONEY SUPPLY

The Bank wishes to advise the public that it is on course to clear the backlog of foreign
exchange auction allotments, in line with the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)
Resolutions. The remaining backlog, which is also attributable to malpractices by
certain entities that were sponsoring multiple bids under the auction system, is
substantially in respect of foreign exchange allotments to secondary users of foreign
exchange under the Main Auction. All allotments under the SMEs Auction are up to
date.

Going forward, all auction allotments will be paid within two weeks from the auction
date. Thus, the Main Auction allotments for Auction 64 of Tuesday, 21 September
2021 will be fully paid by Monday, 4 October 2021. The Bank has ring-fenced the
auction allotments backlog which it will continue to expunge separately from current
allotments.

In order to further tighten money supply in view of recent developments on inflation,
the Bank has introduced special exchange rate-linked corporate open market
operations bills for the purposes of directly dealing with the growth of money supply
in the economy. These bills will be targeted at corporates with huge local currency
balances or those receiving huge payments in local currency, as some of these funds
are being used to destabilise the foreign exchange market. This measure is to support
the stability of the foreign exchange market, in line with the MPC Resolutions of 27
August 2021.

John P. Mangudya
Governor
1 October 2021

Page 8 News NewsHawks

Former Esidakeni Farm owner Issue 51, 8 October 2021
trashes govt land seizure claims

BRIDGET MANANAVIRE

THE former owner of Esidakeni Farm in Nya- One of Esidakeni Farm owners Siphosami Malunga.
mandlovu, Matabeleland North, at the centre of
a land seizure battle, has disputed claims by the since they had not been encumbered and I did so ing back on the farm confiscation. lems with us and was not even aware of the invalid
government that the farm had been acquired by through a disposal of my shareholding. As a result In his responding affidavit, Dhlamini said he acquisition. The invalid acquisition is a product of
the state, revealing he sold the property to the cur- of that transaction, I have no claim for compensa- the reticent seventh respondent (Moyo) and ma-
rent occupants. tion against the government of Zimbabwe. I have believed the decision to gazette productive farm- licious fourth respondent (Mazithulela),” he said.
received full value from the transaction.” land being utilised by three black Zimbabweans
The farm is owned by international human acting in partnership, who have invested signifi- “Again, the 1st Respondent seems to misun-
rights lawyer Siphosami Malunga — Open Soci- He said the shares of Kershelmar, the company cant amounts to revive the farm in question and derstand the nature of these proceedings. I am
ety Initiative for Southern Africa (Osisa) executive that owns the farm, are held by Dhlamini, Malun- parcelling out that land to other black Zimbabwe- querying inter alia the very decision to gazette the
director and the son of prominent nationalist Syd- ga and Moyo. ans is irrational and contrary to the land reform farmland in question. I am entitled to query these
ney Malunga — and his business partners Zepha- programme which section 72 meant to give effect decisions made by an administrative authority
niah Dhlamini and Charles Moyo. The NewsHawks established that Central Intel- to. must be lawful, reasonable, and fair. Furthermore,
ligence Organisation co-deputy director-general as a minimum standard all exercises of public
Jeffrey Swindells, a white farmer who used to Gatsha Mazithulela, Zanu PF secretary for admin- “If the 1st Respondent’s (Lands minister Anx- power must be rational.”
own the farm — also known as Keshemar Dairy istration Obert Mpofu and Matabeleland North ious Masuka) gripe with us was simply that he
Farm [Private] Limited — says he sold it to Provincial Affairs minister of state Richard Moyo believed we did not comply with provision of the “It is my contention that the decision to ga-
Malunga, Dhlamini and Moyo. are behind the move to seize the property. regulations, he was enjoined to raise that issue with zette the farm in question did not meet the above
us before the purported acquisition. As the found- constitutional standards, and as such must be set
However, in a move that sparked widespread Moyo confirmed spearheading the seizure, pre- ing affidavit establishes, he clearly had no prob- aside.”
condemnation, coming against a backdrop of viously telling The NewsHawks that there is no go-
growing land seizures from black people, especial-
ly its critics, the government published a notice
in the Government Gazette, saying the farm mea-
suring 553 hectares is being compulsory acquired
under section 72(2) of the country’s constitution.

Swindells, who is now based in Australia, said
he was disappointed that people who were not in-
volved in that transaction could raise doubts over
its validity, “putting forward some unsustainable
contentions in the process”.

“When the land reform programme com-
menced, Esidakeni Farm was never acquired by
the state. My understanding was that there was a
hands-off policy on Dairy Farms. At any rate, I
was highly productive. I continued with my oper-
ations up until I decided to emigrate to Australia.
At that stage I decided to rent the farm to a gentle-
man known as Mr Waramba,” Swindells said in a
supporting affidavit filed at the courts.

“Sometime in or around the year 2017, I was
approached by Messrs Dhlamni, Malunga and
Moyo who asked me to consider selling them my
interests in the farm. I was happy with the offer
made. We agreed that the transaction would be
structured as a share purchase and transfer agree-
ment a copy of which has been attached to the
court papers that have been drawn to my atten-
tion.

“Both parties to the sale performed in terms of
the agreement. I received payment and transferred
the shares to the three gentlemen. My board also
resigned in recognition of the fact that I had re-
linquished interests. This was a valid and genuine
sale. I could dispose of my interest in the farm

NewsHawks News Page 9

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Land evictions: Civic groups petition UN

LIZWE SEBATHA Several thousands of Zimbawean villagers face eviction to pave way for coal mining projects by giant placements are resulting in gross violation of
corporates, the state and private investment projects. fundamental social, economic, cultural, envi-
ELEVEN independent civic and human rights ronmental and political human rights and free-
groups have launched a joint petition to the or risk evictions and displacements by mining, Kalanga Language and Cultural Development doms of the affected communities.”
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the agriculture, urbanisation and development ini- Association (KLCDA). The Kanyi Redu Devel-
Right to Development protesting the eviction tiatives and more than 23 440 hectares of peas- opment Association Trust (KRDAT), Lupane The Human Rights Council established the
and/or planned displacement of villagers across ant farmers’ land is being taken away by interna- Youth for Development (LYD), Matabeleland mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right
Zimbabwe to pave the way for mining and oth- tional investors,” the 11 civic groups said. Institute for Human Rights (MIHR), Matobo to development in September 2016 with Res-
er development initiatives. Youth Development Initiative (MYDI), Tiko- olution 33/14 to, among other objectives, in-
Signatories to the petition include the Bin- bane Trust, Turf Resources Conservation Trust tegrate the right to development into human
In their online petition to Saad Alfarargi, who ga District Residents’ Association (BIRPA), (TRCT) and Zimbabwe Young Women’s Net- rights.
was appointed Special Rapporteur on the Right Beitbridge Progressive Residents and Rate- work for Peacebuilding (ZYNP) also signed the
to Development in 2017, the groups argued payers Development Trust (BRRDT), Great- petition. The Special Rapporteur fulfils this mandate
that the evictions and planned displacements er Whange Residents’ Trust (GWRT), Centre in several ways, including engaging with UN
violated the social, economic, cultural and en- for Natural Resource Conflicts (CNRC) and “These development-based evictions and dis- member states and relevant stakeholders; re-
vironmental rights of the affected communities. porting to the UN Human Rights Council and
the Working Group on the Right to Develop-
The Special Rapporteur on the Right to De- ment and assisting in mainstreaming the right
velopment is one of the thematic special pro- to development into the work of UN bodies
cedures overseen by the UN Human Rights and agencies, financial institutions, and inter-
Council. national development projects.

Several thousands of villagers across the “We therefore urge the UN Special Rappor-
country face eviction to pave way for coal min- teur to entreat the Zimbabwean Government to
ing projects by giant corporates, the state and adopt and implement the UN Basic Principles
private investment projects. and Guidelines on Development-based Evic-
tions and Displacements; the Free, Prior and
In Chiredzi, for example, the government InformedConsent Principles; the UN Guiding
set aside 12 940 hectares of communal land in Principles on Business and Human Rights; and
Chilonga through a statutory instrument (SI) the Zimbabwe National Human Settlements
for a lucerne grass project. Policy — to develop a human rights-based
development-based evictions/displacements
The SI sparked an outcry, with human rights mechanism,” the groups said in one of their rec-
lawyers highlighting its unconstitutionality, ommendations.
forcing the government to backtrack.
“Implore the Zimbabwe independent con-
The outcry is not isolated to Chiredzi, but has stitutional human rights bodies (the Zimbabwe
erupted in several other areas such as Dinde in Human Rights Commission, the National Peace
Hwange and in Domboshava on the outskirts of and Reconciliation Commission and the Zim-
Harare, where villagers face displacement ema- babwe Gender Commission) to develop a joint
nating from the rush for coal and gold deposits and stakeholder inclusive development-based
by the Chinese and alleged Zanu PF officials evictions/displacements monitoring mecha-
respectively. nism.

Environmentalists have argued the govern- “Beseech Zimbabwe to respect the ideals of
ment should prioritise sustainable environmen- the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants
tal programmes such as tourism and wildlife and Other People Working in Rural Areas; the
conservation in some areas such as Hwange, UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Be-
rather than potentially destructive mining ac- longing to National or Ethnic, Religious and
tivities for coal, which Zimbabwe still relies on Linguistic Minorities; and the UN Declaration
heavily for its electricity generation. on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples — when
negotiating international investments contracts
“From the time Zimbabwe adopted the Vi- and when considering development-based evic-
sion 2030 development agenda in September tions/displacements.”
2018 to date, over 73 524 rural Zimbabwean
citizens from across the different provinces of
the country either are being actually displaced

Chipinge rural women craft land rights declaration

RURAL women in Chipinge met in Checheche Government plans to evict villagers in Chinyamukwakwa and Magokova in Chipinge to pave way for The women want a review of investment poli-
on Tuesday to discuss land issues, after which Green Fuel to expand its sugarcane fields. cies that promote “land grabbing” at the expense
they made a declaration that the ministry of of the needs of local farmers, as well as a reduc-
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate als must not lead to arbitrary eviction of land said. tion of land prices.
and Rural Resettlement must stop all forced rights holders by ALROSA mining companies.” They also demanded an immediate stop in
evictions and that the government should pro- In the event that they agree to eviction, the
mote women’s access to the use, control, owner- The women demanded that land allocation the use of force and violence by investors which women demand “fair compensation that in-
ship, inheritance and transfer of their land and prioritise locals, especially women, rather than includes slashing down crops, confiscating live- cludes alternative productive land and adequate
natural resources. foreigners and that men and women must enjoy stock and beating up residents. time for relocation” and that the “compensation
the same land rights. must include women and children and not pri-
The meeting was held at a time the govern- They demanded an end to corruption, bribery oritise just men”.
ment has been attempting to evict villagers in “Women must have a clear right to say yes or and undue influence during investor consulta-
several parts of the country, including Chipinge, no to developments on their land,” the women tion with local leaders like traditional chiefs. Women in Chipinge also want investors to
to pave way for private business. fulfil promises such as employment of locals.

In Chipinge, the government has been trying They also want to have a say in traditional
to evict villagers in Chinyamukwakwa and Ma- leaders’ committees through inclusion of women
gokova for Green Fuel to expand its sugarcane traditional leaders and 50-50 participation.
fields, while in several parts of the country, in-
cluding neighbouring Chiredzi, the authorities They also want “laws that promote joint and
want to evict villagers to enable milk processor equal ownership of land between husband and
Dendairy to establish a lucerne grass project, al- wife or wives”, as well as “clarity on the land
though the villagers believe they are being evict- rights that are associated with the joint owner-
ed to pave way for mining. ship for all family members, including the girl
child and single ladies with or without children.”
In several other parts of the country, including
Mutoko, Hwange, Matobo and Uzumba, villag- Chipinge women also want to secure land
ers are being evicted to pave way for mining, rights for all women, including single ladies with
sparking outrage. or without children that are not undermined by
other laws such as marital, family, succession and
“We, the rural women of Chipinge, present inheritance laws.
these demands . . . an immediate stop on forced
removals of locals living on customary land es- The women say there should be legal recog-
pecially women and children by the Chipinge nition of individuals, especially women, families
Rural District Council. and local communities who have been using the
land for at least five years.
“An immediate stop on forced removals of
locals living on customary land especially wom- In addition, they want accountable gover-
en and children for sugar plantations by Green nance structures of customary lands that consult
Fuel. citizens, especially women.

“That discovery of gold and diamond miner- Crucially, the women say communal land
rights must be vested in the citizens and not the
President or Lands minister. — STAFF WRITER

Page 10 News NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

STEPHEN CHADENGA Zanu PF Midlands rivals set for
collision ahead of district polls
RIVAL factions in the Midlands are set for a
collision ahead of the weekend district elec- to attack his vehicle for allegedly plotting to State Security minister Owen Mudha Ncube
tions already shrouded in controversy, amid impose candidates in that district.
allegations of candidate imposition, intimida-
tion, violence and vote buying. Wadyajena however denied the allegations
and instead accused senior party officials of
Battle lines have been drawn between in- abusing Mnangagwa’s name to land influential
cumbent provincial chairperson Daniel Mack- positions in the restructuring exercise.
enzie Ncube and State Security minister Owen
Mudha Ncube, who both claim allegiance to Mackenzie Ncube said in the event that ev-
President Emmerson Mnangagwa. idence is brought forward that there has been
imposition of candidates, that election result
Mudha Ncube’s supporters have been on would be declared “null and void”.
overdrive, campaigning for the minister, amid
allegations they have been using violence and “If something like that is brought to our
intimidation to gain an upper hand in the attention, we will nullify those elections and
province, which is also Mnangagwa’s home. start all over again,” Mackenzie Ncube said.

Mackenzie Ncube’s backers have fought “We want leaders to come from the people
back, saying the State Security boss lacked the and that is our aim. That is the position that
capabilities to run the province while labelling has been clearly annunciated and reiterated
him a mobster who thrives on violence. many times by the President.”

The violence between the rival groups re- While in the Midlands the battle has pit-
sulted in internal elections being postponed in ted Mnangagwa’s backers, in other parts of the
various districts in the province. country, such as Masvingo, divisions have been
between a faction backing the President and
Zanu-PF postponed the provincial elections another supporting his deputy Constantine
to early next year, saying there was a need to Chiwenga.
concentrate on the national congress sched-
uled for the end of this year, partly because of Mnangagwa and Chiwenga publicly deny
violence in various parts of the country. any rift between them, although events on the
ground prove otherwise.
The deferment (of provincial elections) has
however not stopped interested candidates Violence between rival groups forced Zanu-PF to postpone internal elections in various districts in the Midlands province.
from outmaneuvering each other, as they rally
those they perceive loyal to them to win the
district elections.

Mackenzie Ncube this week told The New-
sHawks that the party targets to complete the
elections in 95% of the over 500 districts in
the province by the end of this week.

However, he admitted the task was “mam-
moth”, given the myriad of challenges the
province is facing in conducting the internal
plebiscite.

“There have been a number of problems, of
course, we can’t hide that and imposition of
candidates is one of them,” he said.

“It (imposition) is not allowed and actually
it is retrogressive. You cannot impose a candi-
date and hope that you will command respect.”

The party’s provincial boss said there were
instances where candidates were moved from
one district to another to maximise votes as
people try to manipulate the system to their
favour.

“We have situations where candidates are
moved from one district to another, for exam-
ple, from Kwekwe Central to Mbizo, so that
the candidate (Kwekwe Central) can be voted
in Mbizo or vice versa. We frown upon that,”
he said.

Last week, Gokwe-Nembudziya legislator
Mayor Wadyajena reportedly sought police
escort after angry Zanu-PF members wanted

. . . poisoned Zanu PF officials blame factional fights

MORRIS BISHI departure were not affected. vulge details about affected individuals. Some of said.
“I can confirm that most of our members them were medically examined and the issue is Tabika Tagocha Restaurant proprietor Albert
TWENTY-FOUR Zanu-PF Zaka district coor- still under investigation. We will inform you af-
dinating committee members allegedly had their from Zaka who presided over elections in ter the completion of the investigations.” Mazvanya, a well-known MDC-Alliance mem-
food poisoned last Sunday, as factional fights Chiredzi are currently not feeling well after ber in Zaka, told The NewHawks that ruling par-
within the ruling party reach boiling point. eating poisoned food. According to the infor- “I issued a statement which l know you are ty members who ate food at his outlet came on
mation I have, these people ate food at Tabika aware of. I was a team leader of a team which Sunday morning without any booking and they
The affected ruling party members were part Tagocha Restaurant in Jerera, before they de- presided over party elections in Chiredzi. The were served together with his regular customers.
of a 24-strong team which travelled to Chiredzi parted for Chiredzi. In Chiredzi they stayed team ate food in Zaka before they departed for He added that if there is any food poisoning is-
at the weekend, where they presided over the together at one lodge, but they were not being Chiredzi in Sunday. Most of the members were sue, it happened on their way to Chiredzi or in
low veld district’s ward elections. Most of them provided with food; they were eating at one of affected, except four members who did not eat Chiredzi.
are suffering from serious stomach pains and the party official’s home. Some of the members the food. We suspect it to be food poisoning,
only a few of them were medically examined. left Chiredzi for Chikombedzi, before eating but from our preliminary investigations, it hap- “These guys called me in the morning enquir-
anything in Chiredzi, but they are also sick. We pened in Zaka,” Svuure said. ing about food and I told them that I was not at
A Zanu PF faction aligned to Vice-President are still to establish the cause of this illness, but the restaurant, but advised them that food was
Constantine Chiwenga won most positions in we concluded that the cause of the sickness is One of the ruling party members who was ready since my staff always came to work early
the province, a move viewed by senior Zanu PF food poisoning,” Murambiwa said. affected by the poison told The NewsHawks that in the morning. I used to serve these guys with
members as a protest vote against the incum- he was medically examined on Tuesday and it food during their meetings since 2018. They
bent ruling party provincial chairperson Ezra Member of the National Assembly for Zaka was diagnosed that he was affected by food poi- are my regular customers despite my political
Chadzamira, who is also the minister of State West Ernest Svuure, who was the leader of the soning. He attributed the poisoning to factional affiliation. On that day, my staff served them on
for Masvingo. Chadzamira is facing charges of team which went to Chiredzi, told The New- fights within the ruling party. He said most of credit and they are yet to settle that debt. Health
corruption for allegedly parcelling out land in Hawks that he issued a statement, which is in the members who were poisoned are aligned to officials who visited my place told me of the
the province to his associates. the possession of this reporter, confirming the a faction loyal to Chiwenga, the faction which challenges which they are currently facing, as
poisoning. won most of the posts in the province. the ruling party is failing to avail their members
Acting Zanu PF Masvingo provincial spokes- who were affected by the food,” Mazvanya said.
person Ophias Murambiwa told The NewHawks He added that the issue, which is sensitive, “I cannot tell you the cause of this incident,
the party is currently investigating a food poi- is still under investigation. He also said that his but the truth is there was food poisoning. This A senior Zanu PF member in Masvingo told
soning case which affected 24 out of 28 mem- team, himself included, ate the poisoned food in is reflective of what is happening in our party. The NewsHawks party members aligned to the
bers who were deployed to preside over the Jerera before travelling to Chiredzi. I cannot divulge everything to the media, but Chiwenga camp are the ones who won during
just-ended elections in Chiredzi district. He we are at war. I had a stomach ache since Sun- the previous party elections in Masvingo, whose
added that four members who did not eat the “I issued a statement over this issue and that day and as l speak to you, my condition is being outcome some of the losing candidates are still
food at a restaurant in Jerera before the team’s is the correct version of what l observed as a monitored by a medical doctor,” the member challenging.
team leader. This issue is sensitive, l cannot di-

NewsHawks News Page 11

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

AfDB backs Zim debt clearance plan

BERNARD MPOFU

THE African Development Bank (AfDB) has AfDB is supporting Zimbabwe’s bid to settle its debt arrears.
thrown its weight in support of Zimbabwe’s debt
and arrears clearance plan, as the country remains on lending,” she said at the launch of the AfDB will be (achieved) with all stakeholders, to achieve “To this end, the government is committed to
ineligible to access long-term concessionary loans Zimbabwe country brief. intended results. One of the key objectives in our normalising relations with creditors to clear ar-
from international financial institutions. country brief is really to aggressively support the rears and unlock such resources. In this regard, let
“We appreciate the resumption of token pay- government in this arrears clearance agenda.” me take this opportunity to inform you that we
The debt-ridden Zimbabwean government is ments to multilateral development banks and the are now at an advanced stage in the formulation
now pushing for fresh negotiations with its cred- Paris Club members. We are also working on the Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said Zimba- process of the Arrears Clearance Strategy which
itors to reduce interest on debt, as Treasury seeks drafting of the roadmap on arrears clearance. The bwe is now working on normalising relations we will share in the future,” Ncube said.
to extricate the country from the debt burden, roadmap should be coordinated and I think it with its creditors.
which has become an albatross.

Following several failed attempts to settle ar-
rears with international financial institutions such
as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund
and the African Development Bank, which all
enjoy preferred creditor status, Zimbabwe, which
has been struggling to access long-term conces-
sional capital, is considering a change in tack.

Official figures show that as at December,
Zimbabwe’s total public and publicly guaran-
teed (PPG) debt stood at US$10.7 billion. This
represents 72.6% of the country’s gross domestic
product.

PPG external debt owed to the multilater-
al creditors, as at the end of December 2020,
amounted to US$2.68 billion, of which US$1.53
billion is owed to the World Bank Group,
US$729 million to AfDB, US$356 million to the
European Investment Bank and US$68 million
to other multilateral creditors.

On the other hand, bilateral PPG external debt
amounted to US$5.75 billion, with US$3.79 bil-
lion owed to Paris Club bilateral creditors mainly
comprising Germany (US$1.02 billion), France
(US$724 million), Japan (US$435 million), UK
(US$416 million) and USA (US$285 million).

AfDB’s director-general for southern Africa,
Leila Mokadem, said the regional lender will sup-
port Zimbabwe’s debt and arrears clearance plan.

“The bank continues to work with the interna-
tional monetary institutions and other develop-
ment partners in supporting the government to
meet conditions to clear Zimbabwe’s arrears, as
we did in Sudan and Somalia, who are now back

BERNARD MPOFU Special Drawing Rights not a magic bullet: WB

THE World Bank says Special Drawing Rights World Bank report says although sub-Saharan Africa emerged from recession, its recovery is still timid and fragile.
recently allocated to African countries, includ-
ing Zimbabwe, are not enough to shore up their greatest financing needs. An extension of the leviating some of their debt burden.” countries in the region exceeds 10%, namely,
economies as the national continue facing cli- Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) may Ofiicial figures show that out of the SDR 456 Burundi, South Sudan, the Central African Re-
mate change-related risks, as well as aftershocks help participating countries redirect their limit- public, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of
of the Covid-19 pandemic. ed resources to the recovery effort.” billion (US$650 billion), nearly SDR 17 bil- Congo. Although this is a large amount for some
lion (3.7% of the global amount) was allocated countries, the SDR allocation is not a panacea,”
On 2 August 2021, the board of governors The multilateral lender said tackling debt to sub-Saharan African countries. The top six the report further states.
of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ap- problems at their root would require accelerat- countries in sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa,
proved a general allocation of SDR 456 billion ing the process of countries seeking relief from Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, “It is a good start, but it will not be sufficient.
(US$650 billion) to boost global liquidity. Zim- the Common Framework for Debt Treatments Zambia, Angola, and Ghana) claim about half As the pandemic lingers, it cannot remain as a
babwe received SDR677.4 (US$961 million) beyond the DSSI. the amount of permanent solution and, thus, it cannot substi-
which the authorities said would ease the liquid- tute other financing channels. The international
ity situation in the economy. “Meeting the region’s development goals will SDRs allocated to the region. The amounts community needs to continue exploring differ-
require contributions from all potential sources distributed to South Africa and Nigeria are ent options that would enable rich countries to
According to the latest World Bank report ti- — including international financial institutions about SDR 2.9 billion and SDR 2.4 billion, re- share their surplus SDRs voluntarily with the
tled Africa Pulse (October 2021 Volume 24): An and the private sector,” the report reads. spectively. poor countries in the region with the greatest
Analysis of Issues Shaping Africa’s Future in 2021, financing needs.”
although sub-Saharan Africa emerged from the “The international community needs to help “As a percentage of their general government
recession, its recovery is still timid and fragile. African countries expand their fiscal space by al- gross debt, the amount of SDRs allocated to five

The region, the report shows, is projected to
grow at a rate of 3.3% — a weaker pace of recov-
ery than that of advanced and emerging market
economies. In 2022–23, the region is project-
ed to grow at rates below 4%; however, growth
above 5% is attainable with rapid vaccine de-
ployment in the region and thereby withdrawal
of Covid-19 containment measures.

“The recent allocation of Special Drawing
Rights (SDRs) to African countries is a good
shot in the arm, but it might not be sufficient,”
the report states.

“Of the US$650 billion in SDRs issued by
the International Monetary Fund (IMF), about
3.6% is allocated across sub-Saharan African
countries — that is, the equivalent of their
IMF quota share. These additional resources
are aimed at boosting liquidity and combatting
the pandemic. SDR allocations are part of the
solution, intended to complement rather than
substitute other financing channels. The inter-
national community needs to continue explor-
ing different options that would enable rich
countries to share their surplus SDRs voluntarily
with the poor countries in the region with the

Page 12 News NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

NYASHA CHINGONO Mnangagwa proclaims success as
majority reel in sea of poverty
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s State
of The Nation Address (Sona) rings hollow in State of The Nation Address by President Emmerson Mnangagwa ignored critical issues, such as employment creation.
the face of unrelenting economic hardships that
have impoverished millions, analysts have said. State of the Nation highlights 60% by December. The government has an un-
realistic chance of achieving this feat amid indi-
Mnangagwa’s speech is far removed from the l This year’s projections indicate over 7.8% velopment; cations the vaccination rates are slowing down.
reality on the ground, where the exchange rate economic growth, on the back of a good l Government to improve the transport sys-
is galloping, exerting inflationary pressures on 2020/21 agricultural season; firm international tem through the purchase of new buses; “I, however, call upon all of us to heighten
an already fragile economy. mineral commodity prices, stable inflation and l Pledges to address the drug scourge, warns our determination with regards to continued
exchange rate, as well as the containment of the that the security forces were seized with the vaccinations in order to meet our desired na-
During his Sona at State House yesterday, Covid-19 pandemic; matter; tional herd immunity target,” Mnangagwa
that coincided with the opening of the Fourth l Mnangagwa calls for removal of sanctions; l Evaluation of permanent secretaries’ perfor- pleaded.
Session of the 9th Parliament, Mnangagwa l Government worried about livestock diseas- mance;
painted a rosy picture, maintaining that the es decimating the national herd; l Government to continue re-engagement Mnangagwa addressed the worrying drug
economy will grow by 7.8% notwithstanding l The mining sector is expected to grow by drive; abuse by the country’s youths, promising that
the headwinds currently bedevilling the ex- 11%; l Constitutional alignment to continue in the security forces would be more involved in
change rate and low productivity. l Growth of the manufacturing sector on the fourth session, with 42 statutes remaining in cleaning up the streets.
back of import substitution policies; the current alignment process; and
Buoyed by a largely successful 2020/21 agri- l Government spends 34% of total expendi- l Government to control the activities of Drug and substance abuse has been described
cultural season, the government maintains that ture on capital spending on infrastructure de- non-governmental organisations. as a epidemic within a pandemic, with Zimba-
the economy is poised for a rebound. bwe risking losing a generation.
um exchange rate is galloping,” Biti said. gagwa said, adding that the government was
Mnangagwa also insists that the foreign cur- In bid to improve infrastructural develop- planning to spend more on buses to curb unre- “Government also notes with grave concern
rency auction system, which has been blighted lenting transport challenges. that some sections of our youth are under siege
by abuse from top businesses linked to the ad- ment, the government has spent 34% of total from the scourge of drug and substance abuse.
ministration, had stabilised the financial sector. expenditure on key infrastructure. Zimbabwe has been facing transport chal- This situation threatens the very core of our
lenges since the government banned private future as a country and cannot go unchecked.
“The financial sector is stable with the for- “The ongoing Phase 2 of the Emergency transport operators. As such, the recently set up inter-ministerial
eign currency auction performing well and ac- Road Rehabilitation Programme is, indeed, committee has been tasked with finding lasting
cessed by both large and small to medium size transformational across all provinces, districts, Mnangagwa commended the frontline work- solutions to reverse and end this disconcerting
businesses. Going forward my government will cities and towns. Local resources are being put ers for their sterling work in fighting Covid-19, trend. Our security services are equally seized
ensure that the platform is adequately resourced to good use, while local contractors are empow- maintaining that the government was on course with the matter,” he said.
and that the relevant authorities enhance effi- ered and the commuting and trading public is to achieving its herd immunity.
ciencies within the system,” Mnangagwa said. experiencing the added convenience,” Mnan- Mnangagwa also promised to expedite the
Zimbabwe has inoculated 10% of its targeted alignment of the constitution with existing
The President’s assertions are far removed laws, a process which has been dragging since
from what is obtaining on the market, where he was Justice minister. Conspicuously absent
the parallel market exchange rate is galloping, from his speech was how Zimbabwe will tackle
exerting inflationary pressures on the economy. corruption, create employment and deal with
government inefficiencies.
Last week, the monetary authorities revised
annual inflation targets upwards, before lining
up a fresh set of policy proposals to the gov-
ernment.

They fear the parallel market rates are surging
beyond control. Zimbabwe recently witnessed
further depreciation of the parallel market ex-
change rate from about ZW$130 per US dollar
to about ZW$160 per US dollar, implying a
parallel market premium of above 70%.

Former Finance minister Tendai Biti said the
Sona was devoid of truth.

“He speaks of a stable economy, but the
premium exchange rate is galloping. Prices are
running amok and there is no macro-economic
stability,” Biti said.

Mnangagwa said the mining sector is set
to grow by 11% this year on the backdrop of
programmes that increase exploration and ex-
pansion projects, that includes the resuscitation
of closed mines and opening of new ventures,
as well as mineral beneficiation and value ad-
dition.

However, he did not address rampant leakag-
es of the country’s minerals, where large quan-
tities of gold have been smuggled out of the
country through porous borders.

Leakages have been bleeding the economy of
billions in revenue. Mnangagwa added that the
manufacturing sector, which has been hit badly
by the Covid-19 pandemic, is registering im-
proved industrial capacity utilisation.

Import-substitution policies and ease of do-
ing business had also aided in the recovery of
the manufacturing sector, Mnangagwa said.

Economist Prosper Chitamba said: “Capac-
ity utilisation in industry is also on an upward
trajectory. Yes, there are some downside risks,
but overall, the positive factors still outweigh
the negative factors.”

Chitambara believes Zimbabwe has a realistic
chance of turning around its fortunes.

“The economic projections are fairly realistic
in my view, especially given the fact that we are
emerging from a very low economic base caused
by two successive years of economic decline in
2019 and 2020. The highly successful agricul-
tural season, the firming of commodity prices,
and the modicum of macro-economic stability,
though volatile, will drive that recovery,” Chi-
tambara said.

However, Biti said the Sona was a charade
and far removed from reality.

“It is like he is living in another country. It is
made for people living in another country and
it is a shame,” Biti said.

He added that the Sona exposed Zanu PF’s
detachment from the lived realities of citizens.

“It serves no purpose and exposes the emper-
or Zanu PF. This is a self-praising document.
It is like going out naked and you start beating
your chest, but the fact remains you are naked.
He speaks of a stable economy, but the premi-

NewsHawks News Page 13

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

HARARE City Council (HCC) has been Stakeholders slam HCC for
slammed by stakeholders for continuously sit- 58% treated water leakages
ting on the job following recent research find-
ings showing that treated water leakages have Morton Jaffray water treatment plant was designed for a population of not more than 300 000.
risen to a whopping 58% despite years of being
advised to deal with the wastage. than two million people. and rural water supply. Other ageing infrastructure and equipment;
“This problem can be put to an end if there is However, Service Level Benchmarking (SLB) inadequate treatment capacity; inadequate me-
The backlash comes against the background tering; inadequate policies; and vandalism of in-
of latest research by University of Zimbabwe political will from both the central government surveys have reflected many challenges which frastructure are some of the challenges affecting
lecturer Dr Tawanda Zinyama titled, Alter- and HCC in terms of drawing budgets for the local authorities face in providing water supply, smooth water delivery.
natives for Financing Urban Infrastructure in replacement of the old smaller piping with new solid waste disposal, and sewage treatment.
Zimbabwe, which revealed freshwater water bigger pipes,” he said. Efforts to find out progress made to rectify
resources have been dwindling, owing to rising The paper blames the current demise on lim- the problem from council spokesperson Michael
and competing demands, climate change, con- According to the report, the investment gap to ited revenue inflows; increased demand for ser- Chideme were fruitless, as he had not responded
tamination and pollution of water bodies and meet the national targets for water supply stood vices due to a growing population and low levels to questions sent to him at the time of publish-
population growth. at US$582.6 million-needed to replace and re- of investment in local government infrastructure ing. — STAFF WRITER.
habilitate existing water infrastructure for urban maintenance.
Speaking to The NewsHawks on the findings,
the academic said losses of the precious resource
are increasing.

“The problem has been worsening over the
years and by August 2021, Harare’s water prob-
lems were worse with an estimated 58% of wa-
ter being lost to non-revenue water. Harare has
struggled to finance meaningful infrastructural
development, especially in the last two decades,”
he said.

The research paper blames poor water dis-
tribution infrastructure which has not been re-
paired for decades owing to inadequate funding.

“The level of revenue raised by the HCC is
too low to fund infrastructure at significant level
without any surpluses since the authority is op-
erating at minus 50%,” Zinyama said.

He said inter-governmental fiscal transfer is
key in facilitating urban infrastructure develop-
ment and called for adherence to section 301 of
the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which recom-
mends that 5% of national revenues be raised in
any financial year.

The research paper says local authorities can
only function effectively if the general state of
infrastructure at the national level is in a good
state. The study said the pre-2000 period and
post-2000 era has been marked by inadequate
finance for infrastructure due to low develop-
mental budget relative to the recurrent expen-
diture budget prompting infrastructure at local
authority level to be strained by urbanisation,
where cities and towns in Africa are growing at
an average rate of 5% per annum.

“Urban local authorities have a poor revenue
collection record due to dysfunctional billing
system, corruption exemplified by multiple bank
accounts and ecocash biller codes with average
collection capacity for local authorities at around
52%.

“Uncollected revenues among the local au-
thorities would cover about 35% of their esti-
mated total infrastructure requirements. High
dependence on user fees (40%) as the main
source of revenues, which is affected by willing-
ness to pay and capacity to pay,” he said.

Combined Harare Residents Association di-
rector Marvelous Khumalo said HCC must ur-
gently refurbish water infrastructure.

“HCC should refurbish its water infrastruc-
ture which is now obsolete and under immense
pressure to service the high demand of water.
The Morton Jaffray water treatment plant was
designed for a population of not more than
300 000, yet now it is expected to serve more

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Page 14 News NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

AHEAD of International Day of the Girl Girls must be supported to achieve
Child, which is commemorated on 11 Oc- their potential — UK ambassador
tober, the United Kingdom’s ambassador to ority of the UK government around the world.
Zimbabwe, Melanie Robinson (A), answers bwe and keep them safe? UK ambassador to Zimbabwe Melanie Robinson We’ll continue to support girls through our
questions (Q) on the importance of protect- A: Since 2012, the UK has supported nearly and preventing harm to children. Through the Zimbabwe Girls Secondary Education (ZGSE)
ing children and ensuring that they are em- Unicef-led Child Protection Fund, last year programme and the Girls Education Challenge
powered to fully maximise on opportunities 60 000 girls from disadvantaged backgrounds alone we supported nearly 65 000 children to Fund.
for personal development and nation build- with school bursaries: many more girls have access social work assistance, and over 26 000 to
ing. The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened been equipped with the vital knowledge and access psychosocial support services. We will also continue to support and monitor
the plight of girls. Robinson explains how the skills they need to succeed. the government’s follow through on its commit-
UK government is assisting in tackling the Q: What more will the UK be doing for Zim- ments in the recently signed Kenyatta Declara-
challenges through various programmes: Alongside that, the UK has for the last 10 babwean girls in the next year or so? tion — to increase domestic financing for the
years helped hundreds of thousands of children education sector, and to implement the “Safe to
Q: What does this day mean to you, as an by supporting the government’s systems that A: Supporting girls to achieve their potential Learn” campaign to end violence in schools. We
ambassador and as a mother? work with the most vulnerable children, and continues to be a central part of our develop- will continue to tackle violence against women
supporting innovative approaches to reducing ment programme and diplomatic engagement and girls. Our SAFE — Stopping Abuse and
A: As an ambassador, the International Day here in Zimbabwe. Girls’ education is a key pri- Female Exploitation — programme aims to
of the Girl Child is an important reminder of prevent and respond to the most severe types of
how fundamental girls’ rights are to our mission gender-based violence in Zimbabwe.
in Zimbabwe. Improving the life chances and
choices of girls are at the heart of our develop- We are piloting an innovative approach to re-
ment programme, and the shared interests we ducing violence through fusing community in-
have with the government and with other devel- terventions with household economic empower-
opment partners. ment. It will take a holistic approach involving
men and boys, community and faith leaders. It’s
If girls grow up healthy, well-educated, safe so important to acknowledge that we all have a
and free to make their own decisions, everyone role to play.
wins. My own daughters inspire me to strive for
a better future for them: I love sharing with my The UK will also support the government in
girls the stories of incredible women around the its endeavours to make Zimbabwe a safer place
world who’ve fought for their education or their for girls. We are extremely supportive of a new
rights. The Campaign for Female Education Sexual Harassment Bill. This year, the UK is
(Camfed)’s Angeline Murimirwa from Zim- chair of the HeForShe campaign in Zimbabwe,
babwe has a wonderfully inspiring story of her an alliance of Ambassadors and senior leaders
time at boarding school. committed to taking action for gender equality.

Q: So much talk about improving the lot of Q: You have spoken about the scourge of
the girl child: should we not be improving the child marriage before. What steps are being tak-
lot of all children? en to address this in Zimbabwe?

A: We should all be committed to improving A: Child marriage is a complex issue, driven
the lot of all children, and indeed we are working by a mix of social norms, attitudes, religious and
to do so, through a wide range of programmes. cultural beliefs, often compounded by pover-
We appreciate that boys are also part of this ty and economic stress. We know that when a
picture and also face their own challenges. But girl marries later, she is more likely to stay in
despite campaigns to promote gender equality, school longer and have better access to informa-
girls still face greater challenges in accessing their tion, support and resources to later earn a de-
right to education, health and freedom to make cent income. The UK-funded SAFE programme
their own choices. is working in communities to research the key
drivers of child marriage and to develop success-
Q: What would you say are the particular ful approaches to challenge and change harmful
risks young girls face in Zimbabwe that we can practices. I have already mentioned the signif-
do something about? icant contributions the UK has made to wider
efforts increasing girls’ access to the services that
A: Zimbabwean girls face disproportionate are their fundamental right. We have supported
levels of risk to their health and well-being. the work of brilliant groups helping get the Mar-
These are worsened when they are married or be- riage Bill to its current point in Parliament. We
come pregnant. The tragic case of Anna Mach- hope MPs will now take the final step to enact
aya epitomised the worst risks. Cases of child it into law. Programmes such as the Spotlight
rape rose last year, exacerbated by Covid-19 and Initiative and GBV 365 have also been working
lockdowns. We’re told school dropout rates due closely with government and development part-
to pregnancy and early marriage rose dramati- ners to turn the tide.
cally. I have also been concerned to learn that
more limited income generation opportunities This is not just a problem for Zimbabwe.
has exposed some women and girls to practices While Zimbabwe has a higher-than-average rate
of “sextortion”, where they are forced into sex in of child marriage, it really is a global issue, with
order to access basic services, resources or jobs. around one in five girls around the world mar-
ried before their 18th birthday. Tackling this is a
I firmly believe we can all work togeth- global priority for the UK, one that’s really close
er towards protecting girls from these risks; to my heart.
strengthening legal services, mechanisms and
frameworks needed to protect them and to hold
perpetrators of abuses to account, and funding
services to keep girls safe and guaranteeing them
their basic rights.

Q: Can you tell us about the programmes
supported by the UK to educate girls in Zimba-

British council to launch youth entrepreneurship programme

THE British Council, in collaboration with through their business journey. Africans lack the skills and training to develop neurship is the second module the programme
Microsoft, will on Monday officially launch a The programme will be part of a wider cre- their ideas into workable businesses and find it offers. It will provide participants with an un-
new programme to help young Zimbabwean difficult to access support and ensure sustain- derstanding of impact entrepreneurship, social
entrepreneurs in the creative economy sector to ative economy project being made available by ability. innovation and factors to consider in pivoting
network to shape the future of the continent. the British Council to create stronger partner- enterprises to achieve social impact.
ships between countries in sub-Saharan Africa The programme aims to empower young Af-
The NewsHawks, Zimbabwe’s leading investi- and help develop an ecosystem in which young rican entrepreneurs to take ownership of their The last module, creative economy policy,
gative journalism and breaking news platform, entrepreneurs can thrive. livelihoods and focus the entrepreneurial en- covers relevant policy concepts.
already training young female journalists on in- thusiasm of young Africans through a platform
depth reporting, will be a media partner for the The creative economy has the potential to for self-learning, and build a new generation of This programme will give participants access
project in the country. provide livelihoods for a new generation of Afri- creative entrepreneurs to boost the economies of to sustained support which includes mentoring,
can entrepreneurs, whether building on cultural African nations. coaching, incubation and acceleration. After
Aspiring and early-stage young Zimbabwean traditions or pursuing new ideas. It is one of the completing the programme, participants will re-
entrepreneurs in creative industries like fashion, main drivers of Africa’s economy. The programme features three modules with a ceive a certificate to evidence their achievement.
music, film and photography — culture, life- wide range of courses designed to help entrepre-
style and arts — are being offered the chance Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a signifi- neurs with every aspect of their entrepreneurial As part of this programme, the British Coun-
to join a new e-learning programme launched cant bulge in its youth population, which is ex- ventures. The first module, Creative Entrepre- cil will partner with African local networks and
by the United Kingdom’s organisation special- pected to double to over 830 million by 2050. neurship, features introductory courses for as- influencers.
ising in international cultural and educational This growth will bring unprecedented opportu- piring young entrepreneurs as well as intermedi-
opportunities. nities for investment and innovation. ary ones for early-stage entrepreneurs which will The collaboration between the British Coun-
teach them about growth strategies for creative cil and Microsoft will provide access to Micro-
The creative economy e-learning programme Entrepreneurship, currently booming in Af- enterprises and finance management. soft digital curricula and tools and build capa-
delivers a collection of free courses for the next rica, is likely to break new ground with more bilities, capacity of government and non-profit
generation of African leaders to support them entrepreneurial youth stepping up to shape the Social impact through creative entrepre- trainers and employment relation leads. — STAFF
future of the continent. However, many young
WRITER.

NewsHawks News Page 15

Issue 51, 8 October 2021 BANK OF ZI

RESERVE MBABWE

PRESS STATEMENT

ADDITIONAL LIST OF ABUSERS OF MOBILE PHONE SERVICES AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO PROMOTE AND
FACILITATE ILLEGAL FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRANSACTIONS AND MONEY-LAUNDERING ACTIVITIES

In addition to the 30 individuals blacklisted for advertising and facilitating illegal foreign exchange transactions and money laundering
activities through social media, as published in the Press Statement of 28 September 2021, the 47 individuals listed below have also
been blacklisted and barred from accessing financial and mobile telecommunication services for the same reasons.

The Bank wishes to express its appreciation to members of the public who are coming forward with information that is helping the
Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to identify and take action against more culprits.

The FIU can be contacted on WhatsApp numbers 0714039897 or 0780434475.

John P. Mangudya
Governor
5 October 2021

Additional list of abusers of mobile phone lines and social media for illegal foreign exchange transactions
and money laundering activities

Name Mobile Number I.D Number Name Mobile Number I.D Number
84-005045-F-19 Misheck Handreck 0776877678 47-0145132-H-42
Fabiola Gonye 0772906145 08-803147-M-27 Ranga Brian Muchemwa 0785449693 63-2310265-Q-04
08-050710-Q-80 Kudakwashe Kugura 0774130081 63-1355165-N-34
Cosmas Zishiri 0774132432 75-2009188-Q-75 Nyasha Gundani 0780822262 59-154712-Z-77
63-592653-Y-32 Tinashe Chiza 0771018833 63-1595105-S-42
Amon Innocent Dumba 0772605193 63-964786-Q-27 Melusi Mabhena 0777220410 61-047532-M-73
63-965840-L-71 Henry Rwizi 0772406921 44-046641-H-44
Macvenon Mutumbami 0775103069 63-2297013-L-27 Fannuel Nyamukondiwa 0772724517 48-011983-M-48
63-769984-Z-63 John Chikochi 0772349365 63-932804-C-43
Fungai Chikonyora 0772914162 63-1400713-X-34 Henry Tafadzwa Chaitezvi 0785500608 63-2160934-Z-25
75-313162-G-44 Norman Chekufa Matsineyi 0773868701 34-071099-C-34
Betserai Munosunama 0772771651 43-047279-V-43 Beauty Sankulani 0772499234 38-091086-D-38
63-2022468-S-70 Alois Chikadza 0782216155 63-2085499-E-71
Patrick Tsungai Manyepa 0772850340 25-096872-H-59 Gift Mabaudhi 0712293505 63-108967-L-42
63-1445775-C-47 Shupikai Glen Mudavanhu 0715193102 58-195927-R-83
Tadiwanashe Mubaiwa 0779338452 83-183494-Q-83 0772802881
08-2115554-L-42 Shingai Munashe 0779168878 80-086071-B-80
Fungai Luwizhi 0784008747 75-2028257-S-75 Shamhu Guni 0773029771 83-126484-Y-83
63-2298466-Q-38 Kudzai Joy Chifamba 0771037362 43-168233-R-80
Lovemore Muromowenyoka 0779584547 42-182909-M-26 Militant Tendai Chikanya 0775794035 63-1482774-T-18
75-350326-C-75 Archbald Takawira 0774466443 58-268764-M-58
Astried Sigauke 0772557957 66-062181-S-66 White White 0777107871 71-085510-H-71
63-1431907-D-63 Yvonne Chipangura 0779274771 42-230100-G-38
Tawanda Stanley Chikwaira 0772373727 Velinya Anusha Velinya 0772386273 38-092456-S-38
Christine Ngoshi 0772690852 59-0067222-B-59
Ishmael Munashe Sakondo 0777203496

Farai Gabriel Munemo 0774075633

Tatenda Muchenje 0773663676

Tatenda Edwin Muswere 0774824315
Richard Zvinzveku 0788834705

Andy Makombore 0784239310

Cephas Manyepa 0775873029

Delight Benge 0774560075

Michael Kuhudzai 0773192720

David Madhabha 0772920427

Jonathan Nunurayi Kwapwanya 0774944511

0715944511

Page 16 News NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Economic woes
force children
onto the streets

NYARADZO MUSHANYUKI bedevilling families and individuals. Vimbai Chabaiwa begs in the streets of Harare for survival.
Paida Chinoda* is already a bread winner at the
SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD Vimbai Chabaiwa*
trudges along the streets of Harare with a baby age of 14. As if taking care of a stepmother suf-
strapped on her back as she begs for her next meal. fering from a heart disease is not painful enough
for the teenager, she has to shoulder the burden of
Traffic lights and the nearby Africa Unity eking out a living for her family.
Square are her daily hunting grounds as she begs
for alms. Chinoda has been deprived of her childhood
and has to beg for her school fees. Most school-go-
While some passersby and motorists are kind ing beggars are forced to balance school with street
enough to lend a helping hand, others look at her begging. Like Chabaiwa, she has been a victim of
with utter disdain. sexual abuse on the streets of Harare.

Chabaiwa’s five-month-old baby is her daily ‘‘I stay with my stepmother, she has not been
companion, but his constant cries are a stark re- able to work due to her heart condition which
minder of the day a man forced himself on her. forced me to stand up and provide for the family.
On a good day she makes ZW$400, which often I'm surviving on foodstuffs and a few dollars that
comes with a painful exchange. l get from begging from people. The sad part of
begging is that some men are taking advantage of
Chabaiwa narrates a tear-jerking story of how our situation, they demand sex in return. I also
she was sexually abused by several men who took have to look for my school fees. During the week
advantage of her desperation. As a result of several days, l come to town after school, begging from
encounters with abusive men, Chabaiwa is unsure people so that l will get either money or food. If
about the paternity of her baby. I stay home, it means the whole family goes hun-
gry,’’ Chinoda told The NewsHawks.
Her life took a nasty turn after an unidentified
man asked for sexual favours in exchange for mon- While abuse continues to happen daily, such
ey. In desperation, she obliged. cases go unreported due to lack of evidence as the
perpetrators disappear into thin air.
‘‘I have no idea of who the actual father of the
child is as l have been having some encounters Mercy Mamvura* (12) also recounted her or-
with some men who demand sex for helping me. deal on the streets of Harare.
It’s not something that I want. I hate it but some-
times desperation and hunger force you to do Mamvura, who stays with her grandmother,
these things,” Chabaiwa said. does not know her biological parents and is forced
by poverty to beg for her next meal.
“As tough as my life is, I still get up every morn-
ing going down the same road trying to provide ‘‘I came here begging for school fees money and
for my baby. I now have a baby whom I need to per day l usually get ZW$200. It’s not enough for
provide for in addition to my grandmother.” me to pay my school fees, pay rent, and pay for
food. Some people ask you first what you offer
Chabaiwa knows about the dangers of having them before they give you money. We are facing
unprotected sex and fears she may have contract- verbal and sexual abuse when we are begging in
ed HIV from the sexual encounters with random the streets. As an orphan l don’t have any option
“benefactors”. except for begging from people in the streets,’’
Mamvura said.
“I don’t even know if l have not contracted
HIV because some of the time, they sleep with As Zimbabwe’s economic difficulties continue,
me without using protection. They actually refuse there has been an increase in child breadwinners
even if I insist and, out of desperation, I give in,” and child-headed families.
Chabaiwa said.
In Epworth near Harare, child-headed families
Harare’s central business district has become a endure hunger, with the government’s social wel-
begging area for struggling families from Epworth fare programmes for orphans and child-headed
and other poor townships around the capital. families virtually non-existent.

At almost every traffic light, street children, This has plunged many girls into child marriage
blind parents with their guides and teenage moth- and boys into petty crime.
ers can be seen begging for alms daily.
But until fortunes change for these girls, they
While others offer to wash car windscreens, will continue begging on the streets and the abuse
others sell sweets to earn a living. It is apparent is likely to continue unabated if the authorities do
that the number of beggars has risen over the years not move decisively to protect them.
as the economy continues to crumble due to mis- * Names have been changed to protect their
governance. In desperation they walk to town dai- identity.
ly to beg, testimony to the economic challenges

NewsHawks News Page 17

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Kupe honoured by French university

University of Pretoria Vice-Chancellor Professor Tawana Kupe receiving an honorary doctorate at the University Montpellier yesterday.

SOUTH Africa’s University of Pretoria they can establish strong and reliable ties
(UP) Vice-Chancellor and Principal Pro- with others.
fessor Tawana Kupe, a Zimbabwean aca-
demic, was awarded an honorary doctor- In 2018, Muse and UP signed a mem-
ate by the University of Montpellier at a orandum of understanding (MoU) at the
special evening ceremony in Montpellier, Future Africa Campus.
France, last night.
Since signing the MoU, the partner-
That was Kupe’s second honorary doc- ship has flourished, particularly in the
torate following the one awarded to him areas of sustainable food systems (agri-
by Michigan State University in Decem- culture-food value chain), climate, land,
ber 2019. and biodiversity. UP was the first univer-
sity on the African continent to become
The honorary doctorate was bestowed a core partner of Muse, joining a by-in-
on him yesterday for his work in “build- vitation-only group of prominent global
ing academic partnerships across the members.
African continent and the globe and his
leadership in transformation of higher ed- In 2019, Kupe was appointed to the
ucation at a global level”. Muse International Advisory Committee
in his capacity as the only Vice-Chancel-
Speaking at the ceremony, Kupe said lor from an African university.
he would continue the work of bringing
Africa’s research to the world’s stages. Kupe is participating in the New Afri-
ca-France Summit in Montpellier, as well
“As scholars we have the responsibility as the Montpellier Global days for Science
to urgently contribute to solutions that Education and Innovation: Africa 2021.
address some of the challenges that face
our continent and its people,” Kupe said. The event is playing host to over 100
African participants — the first in-per-
“These range from the climate change son event of its kind since the Covid-19
emergency to political, economic, and so- struck.
cial instability. This is why it is vital that
we continue building institutions that are Occurring in parallel with the summit,
locally rooted, but with a global mindset. a series of African French cultural events
I look forward to using this platform as called “Africa Montpellier” will take place
one of the avenues to continue this work.” throughout the Montpellier Metropole,
running between June-November 2021.
An honorary doctorate was also award-
ed to specialist paediatrician Dr Chipepo The week will culminate in the New
Kankasa of Zambia yesterday morning in Africa-France summit today on 8 Octo-
a similar ceremony. ber, where analysis and syntheses of the
week’s dialogues on partnerships around
Tomorrow Dr Denis Mukwege, a gy- sustainable development issues, will be
naecologist in the eastern Democratic delivered to a plenary, headed by Macron,
Republic of Congo, will join Kupe and to open and frame the discussion there-
Kankasa in being honoured by the Uni- after on future-forward Africa-France col-
versity of Montpellier. laboration.

Kupe further hailed the University of Kupe is the chair of the Michigan State
Montpellier and members of the Mont- University-led Alliance for African Part-
pellier Université d’Excellence (Muse) nerships (MSU-AAP), where he is the
consortium, in which the university is a only South African vice-chancellor and
core member, for their commitment to where UP is also the only AAP member
helping Africa reach its potential. from South Africa.

He said he hoped that the relation- The AAP is a consortium comprising
ship that the UP, in particular, has with MSU, 10 leading African universities,
the French, will continue to grow from and a distinguished network of African
strength to strength. research institutes dedicated to transfor-
mative impactful research capacity de-
Kupe added UP “has a cordial relation- velopment and knowledge-creation to
ship with France” and this was cemented address African and global challenges.
after he hosted French President Emman-
uel Macron in May this year. He is also the Africa co-chair of the
Australia Africa Universities Network.
The University of Montpellier partners
with 19 institutions towards a common Kupe, a media academic, initially stud-
ambition to create a thematic research-in- ied at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ)
tensive learning hub that will be interna- and holds a DPhil in Media Studies from
tionally recognised for its impact in the University of Oslo, Norway.
fields of agriculture, environment and
health. An experienced academic, Kupe previ-
ously taught at the UZ, Rhodes Universi-
To all its consortium members, speak- ty and University of Witwatersrand before
ers said, the University of Montpellier joining UP as its first black Vice-Chancel-
strives to act as an academic partner that lor.

Page 18 News NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

How America’s biggest law firm
drives global wealth into tax havens

BAKER McKenzie has been a pioneer Razak, then prime minister of Ma- McKenzie played a role in more than companies, the firm pushed back in Panama and Asiaciti Trust, based
in corporate tax dodging. It now acts laysia, made extensive use of Baker 440 offshore companies registered in against proposals aimed at strength- in Singapore.
for notorious tycoons, arms makers McKenzie affiliates. Low is now a tax havens, according to Pandora Pa- ening financial regulatory oversight
and authoritarian regimes operating fugitive, accused of masterminding pers documents and prior leaks. Typ- and tax laws. One of world’s best-known cor-
in the shadow economy. the multi-billion-dollar looting of a ically the firm connected clients with porate law firms, Baker McKenzie
public investment fund and wanted offshore service providers. In the United Arab Emirates, Bak- is also an industry trailblazer. It has
An adviser to Malaysia’s prime by Malaysia, the United States and er McKenzie takes credit for helping adopted a model that allows partner
minister needed help managing com- Singapore. It has advised dozens of corporate to create free zones  — areas of low firms overseas to benefit from a global
panies in the capital city of Kuala giants on tax or offshore maneuvers. taxes and light regulation that critics brand without sharing profits or lia-
Lumpur and in Hong Kong. Prose- Rostec, the Russian arms mak- The firm also lobbies for them in say have encouraged illicit activity. bility. And it was an early champion
cutors say he and his associates used er that sold its stake in the Mongo- Washington and other capitals and In Australia, the law firm opposed a of tax-planning strategies that let big
the companies to divert hundreds of lian mine, is among a half-dozen defends them if challenged by au- measure intended to curb offshore tax companies and wealthy people shift
millions of dollars from a government state-controlled Russian companies thorities. avoidance by big companies. And in profits to tax havens without actually
economic development fund. that have awarded contracts to Baker the United States, lobbying for mul- moving operations there.
McKenzie while facing international Leaked documents reveal that the tinational banks, it sought to exempt
A Russian maker of Kalashnikov sanctions. law firm helped arrange shell com- more foreign customers from due dil- Tax-haven shopping has since be-
rifles, under international sanctions panies in Cyprus for food and to- igence rules meant to prevent money come the bread and butter of the off-
for bad behaviour, wanted to sell its And Apple, which turned to Baker bacco giant RJR Nabisco.  For Nike, laundering. shore industry, a strategy that leaves
shares in a large copper mine to a McKenzie to help it find a tax haven, it helped set up a Dutch tax shelter. ordinary citizens to shoulder the
shadowy business in Mongolia. The has become the international poster According to a US government court Globally, ICIJ found as part of financial burden that the rich and
sale triggered a corruption probe of child for corporate offshore tax avoid- brief, its lawyers helped Facebook the Pandora Papers investigation powerful escape.
the then-Mongolian prime minister. ance. route billions of dollars in profits to that more than 300 Baker McKenzie
low-tax Ireland. lawyers have advised or represented a Lawyers are central actors.
Tech giant Apple Inc. was shopping The ICIJ investigation – based on state, national or international body Leading international organiza-
for a tax haven to stash its mountain a new leak of confidential records, In a series of written statements to on matters such as international tax tions such as the Organization for
of offshore cash. thousands of pages of public docu- ICIJ, Baker McKenzie said it seeks to legislation and anti-corruption re- Economic Cooperation and Devel-
ments, previously undisclosed inter- provide the best legal and tax advice forms. More than 220 Baker McK- opment and the Financial Action
They all had a friend in America’s nal files from other leaks and dozens to help its clients navigate a “high- enzie employees in 35 countries have Task Force have said that weak reg-
biggest law firm. of interviews  –  offers a rare, inside ly complex, ever evolving and often held posts in government agencies ulation of lawyers and other profes-
look at an elite law firm’s role in the conflicting” set of global rules. including justice departments, tax sionals plays a key role in global fi-
When billionaires, multinationals offshore economy. offices, the EU Commission and the nancial crime.
and the politically connected seek to “Transparency and accountability offices of heads of state. Yet unlike bankers and other off-
hide wealth or avoid taxes, they often More than 600 journalists are integral elements of such advice,” shore middlemen, lawyers have es-
turn to Baker McKenzie, the Chica- plumbed 11.9 million new records, spokesman John McGuinness said. Although internal Baker McKen- caped scrutiny, in part because of
go-based behemoth. called the  Pandora Papers, which “We strive to ensure that our clients zie records are not among the leaked attorney-client privilege, a doctrine
were leaked from 14 financial service adhere to both the law and best prac- files, the firm is mentioned in more requiring them to keep client infor-
With 4 700 lawyers in 46 countries providers, from Dubai to Panama. tice.” than 7 500 documents, far more than mation confidential. In some coun-
and revenue of US$3.1 billion, Baker They uncovered secret holdings of any other big US law firm. tries, legal privilege exempts lawyers
McKenzie bills itself as “the original politicians, billionaires and business Panoramic view of a trailblazer from reporting activities such as
global law firm.’’ It is among about a leaders and the actions of profession- The assembled record provides a Many of the documents mention- money laundering to government
dozen US and UK firms that have es- al middlemen who sell tax avoidance panoramic view of Baker McKenzie’s ing Baker McKenzie come from three regulators.
tablished large international networks and secrecy. role in shaping laws and regulations offshore providers to which the firm A lawyer is more than a mercenary
and transformed the profession of law around the world, including its lob- or its clients delegated work: Trident for the rich and powerful. According
itself. Amid the sea of offshore bankers, bying on measures concerning mon- Trust, with offices in the British Vir- to the American Bar Association’s
accountants, lawyers and company ey laundering and tax shelters. Acting gin Islands; Alemán, Cordero, Galin- Model Rules of Professional Con-
Baker McKenzie says it is commit- formation agents, Baker McKenzie on behalf of Big Banks and Big Tech do & Lee (Alcogal), a law firm based
ted to the rule of law and the high- stands out. ICIJ found that Baker
est international standards for ethics,
human rights, and anti-corruption
policies. “We are truthful and trans-
parent,” the firm says in its  code  of
business conduct. “We don’t do busi-
ness with disreputable characters.”

Behind the lofty pronouncements
is a plain reality: Baker McKenzie is
an architect and pillar of a shadow
economy, often called “offshore,” that
benefits the wealthy at the expense of
nations’ treasuries and ordinary citi-
zens’ wallets.

“Leaked documents reveal that the
law firm helped arrange shell com-
panies in Cyprus for food and to-
bacco giant RJR Nabisco. For Nike,
it helped set up a Dutch tax shelter.
According to a US government court
brief, its lawyers helped Facebook
route billions of dollars in profits to
low-tax Ireland.”

An  investigation by the Interna-
tional Consortium of Investigative
Journalists (ICIJ)  reveals how Baker
McKenzie has helped multinationals
and the wealthy avoid taxes and scru-
tiny through the use of shell compa-
nies, trusts and complex structures in
tax havens. These vehicles, shrouded
in secrecy, hold vast riches – homes,
yachts, stock and money that is some-
times of murky origin.

Among the clients: people and
companies connected to political cor-
ruption, fraudulent business practices
and authoritarian regimes.

Jho Low, as an adviser to Najib

NewsHawks News Page 19

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

duct, a lawyer is an officer of the le- subsidiaries that stoked the island’s
gal system and a public citizen with red-hot market for avoiding tax and
a special role to “further the public’s concealing ownership. Partners John
understanding of and confidence in Connor and Robert Pick started B. &
the rule of law.” McK. Custodians Ltd, whose mission
was to help form and manage com-
Lawyers have a duty to do more panies in and outside of Hong Kong.
than string together loopholes for
a client and collect a big fee, said Two-and-a-half years later, a col-
Richard Painter, a University of Min- league, George Forrai, helped create
nesota law professor, who was chief B. &. McK. Nominees Ltd, housed
ethics lawyer for former US President in the law firm’s Hong Kong office.
George W. Bush. “Not being illegal The affiliate arranged for stand-ins,
doesn’t make it right,” he said. known as nominees, to serve as com-
pany directors or shareholders.
Milton Cheng, Baker McKen-
zie’s global chairman, based in Hong Baker McKenzie’s McGuinness
Kong, declined an interview. The said law firms routinely offer corpo-
firm declined to comment about cli- rate services like that provided by B.
ent matters, citing “confidentiality & McK. Nominees and B. & McK.
obligations and legal privilege.” Custodians. At the time, though,
Western regulators were warning that
Spokesman McGuinness, based some wealthy people in Hong Kong
in Singapore, said the firm performs were forming anonymous offshore
strict due diligence and global back- shell companies to avoid taxes.
ground checks on all potential cli-
ents. He said Baker McKenzie “pro- Through innovation, local allianc-
foundly” disagreed with any assertion es and lobbying, Baker McKenzie
that it had many reputationally risky helped transform Hong Kong into a
or disreputable clients.
to helping companies make the most tax rates. And when a government companies relocated their headquar- global financial hub, famous for
“On occasion, we find that clients of the intricacies of the sprawling US moved to close a loophole, Baker ters to more developed low-tax ju- low taxes, high secrecy and minimal
later engage in activities that are not tax code. McKenzie or other law firms would risdictions, like Ireland. This trend rules.
consistent with our initial due dili- look for a new one. prompted Baker McKenzie to issue
gence, or new facts or developments “A taxpayer has a right to arrange a  client brochure  touting the firm’s In two video-call interviews, Hong
come to light which would cause us his affairs in any manner he chooses,” From ‘inversions’ to McLaw with work with 16 corporations in various Kong billionaire Allan Zeman told
to terminate our representation of Baker and a colleague wrote in a pa- a Swiss twist inversion transactions in a six-year ICIJ about his business journey from
them,” he said. per published in 1957. “This concept period ending in August 2014. Canada to Hong Kong  –  and the
is inherent not only in our tax law, Take “inversions,” for example. In role of lawyers at Baker McKenzie.
Baker McKenzie did not directly but is fundamental to our American an inversion, one company merges Since creating its first overseas out- He said he turned to the firm for
respond to many questions about its way of life.” with another, usually a smaller one, posts, Baker McKenzie had always advice on forming companies in the
role in the offshore economy or why in a low-tax jurisdiction, often real- touted itself as a “one-stop shop.” It British Virgin Islands for privacy rea-
its name appears so often in the re- In 1948, Baker happened to share izing huge tax savings. The strategy favored a franchise model, with inde- sons, not to avoid taxes. “Hong Kong
cords of offshore service providers. a cab with John McKenzie, a Chicago emerged in the 1980s with “mailbox pendent local firms sharing the same taxes are low enough already,” Zeman
McGuinness said Baker McKenzie litigator, and before long, they were inversions,” wherein U.S. firms cre- brand. Along the way, the firm picked said, adding that anonymous offshore
routinely refers clients and legal mat- discussing the idea of an internation- ated shell companies at a post office up a nickname: “McLaw.” companies offered some protection
ters to other law firms and service al law firm. They founded Baker & box in the tax haven of Bermuda.  By against unwelcome attention and
providers in jurisdictions where it McKenzie the next year. 2002, then-US Senator Max Baucus, In the early 2000s, Christine lawsuits. “Many times you have part-
doesn’t have an office. D-Montana, called out Baker McK- Lagarde, a prominent lawyer in the ners who just don’t want their name
At first, the firm, now known as enzie, citing the firm’s advice to Hel- Paris office and Baker McKenzie’s associated with something.”
McGuinness added that Baker Baker McKenzie, handled interna- en of Troy, a U.S. cosmetic company first female global chair, set about
McKenzie is committed to a fairer tional work out of its Chicago head- that reincorporated in Bermuda in to impose uniform standards for its Zeman (73) grew up in Canada
and simpler global tax system.  “At quarters. Then it followed clients, like 1994. member firms across the globe. Un- and made his fortune trading gar-
the same time,” he said, “we must pharmaceutical giant Abbott Labo- der Lagarde, now president of the Eu- ments around the world. He devel-
clearly advise clients on their obliga- ratories, as they expanded overseas. “This question of inversions, I ropean Central Bank,  Baker McKen- oped a go-to entertainment district
tions under existing laws and regula- It set up its first offshore outpost in think, is a big problem, and promot- zie reorganized as a “Swiss verein,” in Hong Kong and became one of its
tions.” Caracas, Venezuela, in 1955. ers pushing them,” Baucus said at a centralizing its branding, back-office most prominent business magnates.
hearing on tax shelters. “Well rec- and financing operations in a new
Governments, regulators and in- In an article in the Wisconsin Law ognised promoters pushing them.” corporate hub in the Netherlands. He said he paid Baker McKenzie
dustry groups regularly ask Baker Review two years later, Baker and a not only to help keep his financial in-
McKenzie and other law firms to help co-author recommended forming He pointed to a passage from Bak- Yet the offices were never really terests private but also to advise him
develop and analyse legislation, Mc- companies in Venezuela and other er McKenzie’s website that promoted unified. Baker McKenzie remained on legal ways to sidestep Hong Kong’s
Guinness said. The work is done in countries that allowed owners to re- the use of inversions to “drastically” a loose confederation of indepen- strict regulations. The law firm, he
compliance with local lobbying laws, main anonymous through the use of cut tax rates. “‘Baker McKenzie has dent member firms sharing brand- said, is a “one-stop shop” that helps
he said, and when hiring former gov- so-called bearer shares. Bearer shares pioneered modern inversion transac- ing, back-office services and market- him navigate a global patchwork of
ernment officials, Baker McKenzie are stock certificates that don’t need tion with the Helen of Troy inversion ing – but not profits or legal liability. regulations in 36 countries.
strictly adheres to conflict-of-interest to be registered under the name of a in 1994,’” Baucus read aloud at the
rules. specific person or business. “Nowhere hearing, and “‘since then has pro- Other major firms would follow “They’ll tell you the best way …
in America is it possible to form vided tax and corporate advice [to] suit. and make sure you’re doing every-
CHICAGO:  A cab ride to a new a corporation with bearer shares,” about half of all publicly disclosed thing upfront, legally,” Zeman said,
world Baker and his colleague wrote. “This inversion transactions, and no other Hong Kong is a city of traders and adding: “They’re not cheap. But it’s
is possible in a number of first-class legal or accounting firm can make a shippers that has repeatedly trans- worth it.”
Russell Baker was born in 1901 foreign countries where the economic comparable claim.’” formed itself, expanding  from ship-
into a farm family in Portage, Wis- potential is practically unlimited.” ping to manufacturing after World Feeding nominees to corporate
consin. Decrying such “shams” that “rob War II and then reinventing itself giants
Many countries would later ban the rest of the tax-paying public,” again. With the UK’s Caribbean de-
When he was 12, the family moved bearer shares because bad actors used Congress passed anti-inversion legis- pendencies already flourishing as tax B & McK. Nominees pumped out
to Texas, according to a law firm his- them to hide crimes and assets. lation that became law in 2004. havens in the 1970s, Hong Kong, on directors, shareholders and secretaries
tory. When he was 16, the Bakers the other side of the offshore map,  for hundreds of companies and entre-
moved again, to New Mexico, where Baker McKenzie expanded rapidly Five years later, the Senate spot- blossomed into Asia’s premier tax and preneurs in Hong Kong, including
Russell learned Spanish and devel- starting in the late 1950s, opening 20 light again fell on Baker McKenzie, secrecy haven. Also under the UK’s Zeman’s partner in the garment in-
oped a passion for diverse cultures offices in 15 years, in far-flung loca- this time at a hearing looking into guiding hand, the island was shifting dustry, Bruce Rockowitz, and corpo-
that would blossom into a vision for tions such as Sao Paulo and Sydney. offshore tax havens. The firm had from trading to banking, from colon- rate giants like Nike and Apple.
the world’s first global law firm. He It  became the unconventional giant provided legal advice to Swiss bank- nades to shining towers, a playground
moved to Chicago to attend the Uni- of the industry, with 76 offices world- ing giant UBS on how to handle for Wall Street and the wealthy that Neither Nike nor Apple responded
versity of Chicago and its law school. wide and 4,700 attorneys, the most American clients who did not want never allowed sentiment to stand in to questions about why it used Baker
With a law school friend, he started of any US law firm, according to the their overseas assets disclosed to the the way of profit. McKenzie’s nominee service in Hong
his first law firm, specializing in help- National Law Journal. Other me- Internal Revenue Service. The bank, Kong. Nike said in a statement that
ing Mexican nationals, in 1925. ga-firms followed – DLA Piper would which overhauled its practices in Enter Baker McKenzie. Its move it complies with all local rules. Ap-
grow to 4 000  lawyers; Norton Rose 2009, said it does not “contract with onto the island in 1974 coincided ple called itself “the largest taxpayer
In 1942, the U.S. adopted the Fulbright to 3 180; and Latham & any third parties for services that help with Hong Kong’s metamorphosis in the world.” Rockowitz did not re-
Western Hemisphere Trade Corpo- Watkins to 2 860, the journal’s most others to avoid lawfully owed taxes.” and paved the way for the firm to spond to requests for comment.
ration Act, which offered tax breaks recent survey found. benefit later from China’s emergence
to companies manufacturing in Latin Meanwhile, the tax-planning as a global power. Baker McKenzie said it sometimes
America. Baker figured out a way for As the tax shelter industry grew, industry pushed new tax shelters, supplied nominee shareholders to
US corporations to qualify by shift- Baker McKenzie became expert at including a wave of increasingly Shortly after opening the Hong multinationals that didn’t have local
ing profits to low-tax jurisdictions. helping companies route profits, at complex inversion strategies. Giant Kong office, several senior Bak- legal staff.
least on paper, to countries with low er McKenzie lawyers created two
It was the start of what Baker Another businessman who turned
McKenzie calls one of the world’s to Baker McKenzie was Graeme
largest tax-planning practices, geared Briggs, founder of the major offshore

Page 20 News NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

service provider Asiaciti. When he gambling market.  A sister, Win- on the Hong Kong exchange. Baker McKenzie advised were three to then-Malaysian Prime Minister
put money in a trust, the law firm’s nie, had filed more than 30 lawsuits The Bauhinia Foundation de- that the US would blacklist in 2020 Najib Razak, court records show.
nominee service handled it. against him, challenging, among because of ties to the Chinese mili-
other things, a reorganization of his clined to release information about tary. The law firm represented AVIC A 50-year-old manager of B&M
Baker McKenzie also had a close gambling enterprise, SJM Holdings. Ho’s contributions or a donor list. International Holding Corp., a sub- Consultancy Services, a Baker McK-
relationship with Asiaciti, among The global economy was slowing, and In a statement, the foundation called sidiary of Aviation Industry Corpora- enzie affiliate, became a key con-
other major offshore providers, ac- profits were slipping. itself an independent policy group tion of China (AVIC), on a proposed sultant for  eight Low-connected
cording to records reviewed by ICIJ. that has taken pro-worker stances. It privatization deal.  AVIC is a maker companies in Malaysia. Low enlisted
The relationships appear personal as State regulators in New Jersey were also pushed positions that benefited of fighter jets and one of the world’s another affiliate, B. & McK. Nom-
well as professional. looking into allegations tying Ho to Stanley Ho:  low taxes, light regula- largest drone dealers. Human rights inees, to set up three companies in
organized crime. Authorities in Por- tion of publicly traded companies, advocates have tied AVIC drones to Hong Kong.
George Forrai, the Baker McK- tugal were investigating allegations of and government subsidies for major civilian casualties in airstrikes in the
enzie partner in Hong Kong, intro- tax fraud at his casinos there. Austra- infrastructure projects  –  including a Middle East and North Africa. In After Najib was sworn in as prime
duced Briggs to his wife, according lia had found him unsuitable to hold 34-mile sea bridge and tunnel linking November 2019, for example, a UAE minister in 2009, Low became a
to a Pandora Papers document. a gambling license. Hong Kong regu- Hong Kong, China and Macau – that drone strike allegedly launched by an dealmaker for a government invest-
Other leaked documents show that lators were asking questions about his would aid his businesses. AVIC Wing Loong-II killed eight ci- ment fund meant to provide public
Forrai was on Briggs’ guest list to plans to take SJM Holdings public. vilians and injured dozens of others at works projects and good jobs for
the Australian Open tennis tourna- After two summers of delays, Bak- a biscuit factory near Tripoli, Libya. Malaysians. The fund, called 1Ma-
ment and to other private shindigs.  Needing to attract new investors er McKenzie advised SJM Holdings’ laysia Development Berhad, would
The two discussed potential business amid the flurry of probes and prob- successful  debut on the Hong Kong Baker McKenzie did not respond become notorious by its abbrevia-
deals, and when the government lems, Ho turned to Baker McKenzie exchange. The offering prospectus to questions about its work with tion: 1MDB.
of Hong Kong approached Forrai and a consummate power lawyer in didn’t mention that authorities in blacklisted Chinese state companies.
about helping to craft tax policy in the firm’s Hong Kong and mainland New Jersey were investigating Ho’s Lim Poh Seng, the Baker McK-
2001, he asked Briggs to assist. By China offices, Lawrence Lee. companies for possible ties to orga- MALAYSIA: A wild ride to a enzie-affiliated corporate secretary,
then, the British had handed Hong nized crime. Ho denied all allegations US$4.5 billion fraud worked for 1MDB from the start.
Kong to China. The mainland’s in- A transplant from the Sydney of- of wrongdoing. He acknowledged publicly for the
fluence over the island’s financial af- fice, Lee juggled several roles. He Low Taek Jho, a charismatic scion first time recently that he worked
fairs loomed ever larger. And Baker served as a director of Hong Kong’s The initial public offering raised of a well-connected Malaysian family, for Jho Low’s companies as a B&M
McKenzie gained a growing reputa- securities regulatory agency and later about a half-billion dollars. Baker established his first company while Consultancy employee. Testifiyng at
tion as a go-to law firm for drafting as its oversight chairman – monitor- McKenzie issued a triumphant press an undergraduate business student a trial of former Prime Minister Na-
laws and regulations. ing people and companies not unlike release: “Our involvement in this at the University of Pennsylvania. He jib in Malaysia, Lim said Jho Low
those he represented. high profile IPO of SJM Holdings returned home to launch a glittering approached him in 2008 to take
In Hong Kong, Baker McKenzie further fortifies our position as the career in finance, one that made him minutes at a meeting of a state fund
lawyers wrote letters, served on ad- He also served as a nominee direc- premier legal advisor on mega-list- so rich he acquired a tabloid name –  that was a precursor of 1MDB. Lim
visory boards and consulted on laws tor for Ho’s SJM Holdings, certifying ings and fund raisings on the Hong Jho Low – along with a stake in Mar- said he then became 1MDB corpo-
and regulations. The firm took issue corporate resolutions, among other Kong Stock Exchange.”   Today Ho’s tin Scorsese’s 2013 Hollywood block- rate secretary, attending board meet-
with stricter due-diligence standards, duties. children and fourth wife control a buster, “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and ings and performing other key cor-
for example, and argued that more fortune pegged at US$14.6 billion in pals such as Paris Hilton, Leonardo porate functions after the Malaysian
stringent disclosure requirements Lee became a prominent advocate 2020. The law firm has represented DiCaprio and Victoria’s Secret model federal government took over the
would be a regulatory burden on for easing rules to allow listings by Ho’s daughter, Pansy Ho, the heir ap- Miranda Kerr, on whom he lavished state fund in 2009.
business. more companies on the Hong Kong parent to  the empire. US$8 million in jewellery.
stock exchange.  That prompted the Soon after, Baker McKenzie’s
The firm pushed its clients’ pub- Hong Kong exchange to push back In Asia, influence in Hong Kong Starting in 2004, Low relied on member law firm in Malaysia, Wong
lic policy agendas in Hong Kong and against the “more relaxed approach” meant the inside track to the region’s Baker McKenzie and its affiliates, & Partners, represented the 1MDB
elsewhere through nonprofit lobby- to accepting listing candidates. big economic prize: China. Baker along with a handful of trusted as- fund in a US$1 billion transaction
ing coalitions with names such as the McKenzie was clearly becoming the sociates, to build a network of com- with a private Saudi oil company
Association of Global Custodians, Plus, Lee was director of an influ- firm of choice for many Chinese panies in Malaysia and Hong Kong. called PetroSaudi. The deal and oth-
the Digital Economy Group and the ential think tank,  Bauhinia Founda- state-owned enterprises looking to He entered a world of political fixers, ers were supposed to finance energy
Software Coalition. tion Research Centre, that was fund- expand around the world, often using exclusive nightclubs and multimil- and development projects.
ed by an avalanche of cash –  much Hong Kong ownership structures. In lion-dollar deals that most business
Taxes, naturally, were of special of it provided secretly  –  from Hong 2015, Baker McKenzie became the school grads only dream of. Low and Instead, much of the money flowed
concern. A Hong Kong government Kong tycoons including Stanley Ho. first foreign law firm to win approval his associates used the companies to to shell companies and other opaque
advisory panel that included Baker to form a joint operation with FenX- buy luxury hotels in New York City entities controlled by Low and his as-
McKenzie lawyer Michael Olesnicky Ho told the South China Morning un Partnersin China’s low-tax Shang- and Beverly Hills, bankroll private sociates, according to US and Malay-
rejected the idea of changing the law Post that he pledged US$3 million to hai Free Trade Zone. equity investments and funnel funds sian authorities.
to tax offshore income. In an email, the Bauhinia Foundation in 2006. A
Olesnicky told ICIJ: “The panel was couple of years later, Lee turned up Among the mainland companies Prosecutors say more than US$4.5
not opposed to taxing offshore in- as a nominee director of Ho’s flagship billion was diverted from 1MBD into
come, but considered that this would casino company, as it sought a listing private pockets through a labyrinth
simply collect more tax from existing of shell companies, trusts and bank
taxpayers and therefore did not serve accounts in one of the world’s big-
the function of broadening the tax gest-ever financial frauds.
base.”
Red flags everywhere
Baker McKenzie didn’t respond to Money laundering experts say
questions about which governments Low fit the textbook definition of the
it assisted with which laws, or how high-risk client. He  used Swiss bank
much it was paid by such clients or accounts and business entities stocked
special interest groups. Spokesman with family members. He also had
McGuinness called lobbying  “a very close ties to politicians, including Na-
small element” of the firm’s practice. jib, the former prime minister.
“Everybody had blinders on about
Relationship with secretive bil- Low,” said Keith Prager, a former
lionaire Stanley Ho U.S. customs agent and money laun-
dering expert who reviewed the case
Leaked documents show that one for ICIJ. “There were red flags every-
Baker McKenzie client who took ad- where.”
vantage of Hong Kong’s offshore tax Baker McKenzie’s ethics guide
exemption was the secretive billion- counsels its lawyers to ask themselves
aire Stanley Ho, who became known questions to help make the right
as Asia’s gambling king. Ho, who died choices: “Would I be embarrassed if
last year at 98, helped transform Ma- friends or family knew I did this? …
cau, a secrecy tax haven off the coast Could this cause harm to the firm or
of China, into a major gambling hub. damage its reputation?… Would I be
embarrassed if this were reported in a
The tycoon, who excelled at the blog or news story?”
tango and twice married dance en- ICIJ’s review found that besides
thusiasts, had four wives  and 17 chil- Jho Low, Baker McKenzie and its af-
dren. His fourth wife, Angela Leong, filiates did business with reputation-
a director in Ho’s casino business, ally risky companies and individuals
would eventually register 71 compa- in several countries. They include an
nies in the British Virgin Islands, ac- enterprise owned by Du Shuanghua,
cording to the Pandora Papers. a Chinese steel kingpin, who had
testified to giving US$9 million to
After China ended his 40-year Ma- a mining official later convicted for
cau casino monopoly in 2002, Ho’s graft; Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolo-
luck turned sour.

The Chinese government was seek-
ing to curb the growth of Macau’s

NewsHawks News Page 21

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

moisky, who U.S. authorities said the 1MDB scheme. “The idea that I other undisclosed assets, including US$14.5 million for a seven-bed- to provide legal services to sanctioned
used a chain of shell companies in am some kind of ‘mastermind’ is just nearly US$4.6 million in unpaid room house – one of four properties Russian entities.
a US$5.5 billion money laundering wrong,” he told Singapore’s Straits loans that Birmann made to his ex- he acquired using two other offshore
scheme; and heirs of the late Khoo Times, conducting the interview by wife and other relatives. companies  –  on a private island in While there’s no evidence that
Teck Puat, widely known as Singa- email. He has been spotted intermit- Miami known as Billionaire Bunker. Baker & McKenzie CIS violated any
pore’s richest man, who was accused tently in Phuket, Thailand; Macau; Later, in July 2017,   Baker McK- The guarded and gated property is rules, some ethics experts question
of running a bank into a financial mainland China; Hong Kong; Tai- enzie and Trident Trust set up a com- down the street from a 1.3-acre estate whether the law firm’s work may fol-
abyss. wan; Hollywood; and Ahmedabad, pany called Waymoore Partners with that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner low the letter but sidestep the spirit of
India. Neves Birmann as the owner. It held a reportedly bought for US$24 million sanctions laws.
Du Shuanghua, Kolomoisky and five-bedroom home on Miami Beach this year.
Jennifer Khoo Carmichael, daughter MIAMI: Mansions in the money valued at US$1 875 000. “If you’re representing entities that
of the late banker, did not respond to maze Russia: Heady brew to sanctions are sanctioned, one really needs to ask
requests for comment. Neither Birmann nor his ex-wife expert the question: As far as being a good
As head of Baker McKenzie’s responded to questions about the al- corporate citizen, do you really want
Baker McKenzie didn’t answer North American wealth management leged hiding of assets from creditors In March 2016, the state-owned to provide services to entities that
questions about individual clients. group, Simon P. Beck is a speaker in or about the source of funds used to Russian arms company Rostec went are absolutely recognized by govern-
McGuinness said  anti-money-laun- demand. buy the Miami house. Beck didn’t looking for help to sell its stake in ments as being bad actors?” said Tim-
dering rules and due diligence-stan- respond to questions about the Bir- one of the world’s largest copper othy White, special adviser to AML
dards have evolved, and some client A lawyer, tax adviser and trust ex- mann case or his offshore work with mines. The mine is in Mongolia and RightSource, an anti-money-launder-
matters might have occurred before pert, Beck regularly speaks at confer- other very wealthy clients, including was named Erdenet, Mongolian for ing consulting firm.
strict rules and vetting standards were ences and industry boot camps — Colombian-born billionaire Jaime “treasure.”
in place. Now the law firm performs some held at five-star hotels. Topics Gilinski Bacal. In June 2016, Rostec sold its stake
comprehensive checks on all poten- include subjects like the use of trusts Rostec manufactures nearly every- in the Erdenet mine to a little-known
tial clients, screening for “politically and offshore tools to shield clients Gilinski (63) turned a small inher- thing the Russian military uses, from company called Mongolian Copper
exposed persons” and their close asso- from creditors and how to place assets ited fortune into a globe-spanning, fighter jets and helmet-mounted Corp for US$400 million. Around
ciates and family members. beyond the reach of “spendthrift or US$3.7 billion banking and real es- night vision goggles to armored vehi- the time of the sale, anti-mon-
hostile” relatives or divorced spouses. tate empire, according to Forbes. cles and Kalashnikov rifles. ey-laundering monitors from Deut-
“We have improved our systems sche Bank filed suspicious activities
over the years to their current robust Though he is based in New York, Leaked documents show that at At the time of the mine deal, Ros- reports detailing the flow of hundreds
intake risk management state … and Beck is also part of Baker McKenzie’s least some of his assets have been tec was under Western sanctions after of millions of dollars to Mongolian
are always striving for further im- formidable Miami team of tax and stored in more than three dozen com- Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea. Copper. ”There is little to no infor-
provements,” McGuinness said. trust experts, which has advised some panies in the British Virgin Islands mation regarding the specific creation
of the world’s richest people on how and Panama, where he is a citizen and With some of its affiliates, the and business” of Mongolian Copper,
Lim Poh Seng, the Baker McK- to protect their fortunes. Often, the once held a diplomatic post. company had also come under media Deutsche Bank reported, according
enzie-affiliated corporate secretary, Pandora Papers show, the solution is scrutiny because of allegedly corrupt to records obtained by BuzzFeed
declined to comment about the Jho to stash it in a shell company or trust In a 2017 letter to Trident Trust, arms deals. And according to the Pan- News and shared with ICIJ as part of
Low case. Wong & Partners, Baker set up in a tax haven. attorney Beck said he had represent- dora Papers, relatives of Rostec’s chief its 2020 FinCEN Files investigation.
McKenzie’s member firm in Malay- ed Gilinski since 2003. “Mr. Gilinski executive, Sergey Chemezov, an old
sia, didn’t respond to requests for From its 17th-floor offices a block has always conducted himself in an friend of Russian President Vladimir Political firestorm in Mongolia
comment.  Wong & Partners previ- from Biscayne Bay, the Miami office honorable and highly reputable man- Putin, had set up an offshore shell In Mongolia, the sale triggered
ously called its 1MDB role strictly has handled dozens of anonymous ner,” the letter said. company to hold real estate. a political firestorm, court battles
“advisory” and said it did nothing companies and trusts for foreign cli- and high-level corruption probes,
wrong. ents. In 2004, US financial regulators In soliciting a law firm to help with then-Prime Minister Chimed
ordered Gilinski’s Eagle National with the Mongolia mine sale, Ros- Saikhanbileg as one of the targets.
1MDB sued in Malaysian courts The clients used offshore entities Bank of Miami to stop foreign polit- tec required “experience in advising Mongolia’s Parliament ruled the sale
in May to recover US$1 billion in to hold luxuries, real estate and in- ical figures from operating bank ac- Russian organisations that have been illegal, finding that Saikhanbileg au-
damages from Wong & Partners, vestments, leaked documents show. counts potentially tainted by “money sanctioned … by the United States thorized it without lawmakers’ ap-
but dropped the case less than three Baker McKenzie introduced clients laundering, the proceeds of foreign and the European Union.” proval. Mongolian investigators also
months later. to offshore service providers, advised corruption, terrorist financing or oth- uncovered evidence that Mongolian
them on tax matters, kept offshore re- er suspicious activity.” A few months Baker McKenzie won the job Copper was a front for the privately
Baker McKenzie was not alone cords, provided due diligence, wrote later, the US issued a cease-and-de- through an affiliate, Baker & McK- owned Trade and Development Bank
among professional firms in aiding reference letters and more, according sist order directing the bank’s par- enzie CIS. of Mongolia.  The politically influen-
Low and his associates. Other white to ICIJ’s review of confidential re- ent company to stop making insider tial bank, whose investors included
shoe law firms, Big Four auditors cords. Often the firm delegated work loans to Gilinski and his businesses. Baker McKenzie calls itself the Goldman Sachs, had improperly used
and even the venerable investment to service providers specializing in first Western law firm accredited in public funds to finance the purchase,
bank Goldman Sachs enabled the churning out shell companies, such Gilinski did not respond to re- Soviet times, opening up in Moscow investigators said. Goldman Sachs
globe-spanning fraud. as Trident Trust. quests for comment. The bank said at in 1989.  After the fall of the Soviet had a 4.8% stake in the bank but said
the time that it had stopped lending Union, Baker McKenzie partners ad- it exercised no strategic control.
Goldman later admitted conspir- The co-owner of the Ottawa Red- to any affiliated companies. The US opted the name Baker & McKenzie Robert Amsterdam, an attorney
ing to pay more than US$1.6 billion blacks, a Canadian Football League eventually dropped both orders after CIS to handle work in former Sovi- for Saikhanbileg, said the former
in bribes to Malaysian and Abu Dha- team, was a client  –  he sought “in- the bank and its holding company et Republics. Its name derives from prime minister played no role in the
bi officials. Goldman’s Malaysian unit sulation” from U.S. estate taxes. So satisfied regulators’ concerns. the Commonwealth of Independent sale and did nothing wrong. Rostec
pleaded guilty in 2020 to bribery-re- was a Peruvian insurance executive States formed in the wake of the So- identified Mongolian Copper Corp.
lated charges in U.S. federal court. now under investigation for pub- Colombia’s financial regulators viet collapse. With one of the larg- on its own, Amsterdam said, and was
The bank agreed to pay nearly US$3 lic corruption related to the Ode- have penalized Gilinski’s Banco GNB est practices in the region, Baker & unwilling to sell its stake to any oth-
billion to officials in four countries brecht construction scandal and the Sudameris 16 times since 2005, in- McKenzie CIS counts as clients some er buyer. “Mongolia’s reputation as a
and to claw back US$174 million 100-year-old mother of a tax cheat cluding once for violating anti-mon- of the largest Western companies op- place to do business has been dam-
from top executives. convicted of tax fraud and money ey-laundering procedures, records erating in the former Soviet Union, aged by the politically charged nature
laundering. show. In all, the regulators ordered including the likes of Ford Motor Co. of the investigation into Erdenet,” he
Goldman Sachs declined to com- the bank to pay about US$394 000 and Carlsberg beer. said.
ment. It previously called its role in Beck himself handled matters for in fines. Citing client confidentiality, Baker
the 1MDB looting an “institutional Thais Neves Birmann, ex-wife of ICIJ and its partners at the Orga- McKenzie declined to answer ques-
failure” and vowed to improve over- Daniel Birmann, a onetime financier, Documents reviewed by ICIJ show nized Crime and Corruption Report- tions about the Rostec contract or the
sight. banker, and shareholder in one of that Beck was part of a team of pro- ing Project and the IStories media firm’s dealings with other sanctioned
Latin America’s largest ammunition fessional middlemen working on the outlet found that Baker & McKenzie Russian companies. The law firm said
A Malaysian court sentenced Na- companies. banker’s business empire. Among the CIS has represented at least six sanc- it simply offered clients advice on
jib, the former prime minister, to 12 others was Jaime Alemán, the politi- tioned companies owned by the Rus- how to comply fully with trade sanc-
years in jail after he was found guilty In 2005, Brazilian authorities fined cally influential founder of the Pan- sian government, including Rostec tions.
last year in his first 1MDB-related Daniel Birmann about $90 million amanian law firm Alemán, Cordero, and banking giant VTB. Rostec declined to comment.
corruption trial. His sentence was for improperly profiting from the Galindo & Lee (Alcogal), also a long- Baker & McKenzie CIS’s registered
stayed pending an appeal, and he fac- restructuring of electronics maker time Baker McKenzie business associ- In March 2018, for instance, Baker office is listed as a first-floor suite in a
es four more 1MDB-related trials. SAM Industrias SA. At the time, it ate and friend of Gilinski. & McKenzie CIS won a contract with building on the English Channel is-
was the largest fine ever imposed by a unit of VTB, dubbed “Putin’s piggy land of Guernsey. According to the
Najib told ICIJ in text message-de- Brazil’s securities regulators. Birmann In August 2012, during a time of bank,” after reports that members of Tax Justice Network, a nonprofit
livered answers to questions that he declared bankruptcy and allegedly intensifying international pressure the Russian president’s inner circle group that examines countries’ fi-
played no direct role in the 1MDB concealed assets by transferring them on Panama’s offshore industry, Beck were moving vast sums of money off- nancial-secrecy policies and practices,
bribery ring. He placed blame on to family members, including Neves helped Gilinski relocate his Panama shore through a VTB subsidiary. The Guernsey is the 11th-most-secretive
Baker McKenzie and other profes- Birmann. company, Glenoaks Investments, to law firm was hired to advise VTB on tax haven in the world.
sional advisers. “I was comforted that the British Virgin Islands. Gilinski how to avoid running afoul of US or ICIJ partner Le Monde found that
these are big brand-name firms and A decade later, with the bankrupt- had used Glenoaks to invest in his EU sanctions in its funding of an air- Baker & McKenzie CIS’s Guernsey
that they would have alerted me or cy still underway, Brazilian authori- Bogota-based bank. port project near St Petersburg. office has no operations and that it is,
the board of 1MDB should there be ties seized a US$20 million yacht that in fact, a shell.
any red flags,” said Najib, who was they said Birmann secretly owned The reason for the move: “US tax Russia has continued to draw —ICIJ.
voted out of office in 2018. “Howev- through a shell company incorporat- planning,” Beck wrote in an email to Western sanctions because of efforts
er, such warnings never came.” ed in the Isle of Man. Brazilian secu- Alcogal. to influence US presidential elections,
rities regulators would ask a court for a cyberattack and the poisoning of  a
Jho Low, 39, has been in hiding permission to sell the yacht to collect Gilinski used two other BVI com- former Russian spy.
for more than five years. Attempts on the US$90 million fine. In April panies handled by Baker McKenzie
to reach him were unsuccessful. In 2016, they sought permission to seize to hold a London mansion valued The US Office of Foreign Assets
an interview published last year, he in 2013 at US$38 million, records Control, which manages economic
denied that he was the brains behind show. and trade sanctions, allows lawyers

And records show he paid

Page 22 News NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Special Covid-19

PANDEMIC coverage

ZIMBABWE and 53 other countries will be re- England removes Zim
moved from the England Covid-19 red list with from Covid-19 red list
effect from 4am on Monday, meaning travellers
coming from Harare will not be subjected to strict Zimbabweans travelling to England will no longer be subjected to strict Covid-19 regulations.
regulations on arrival in London.

Travellers from Zimbabwe will not be required
to quarantine, a welcome development for busi-
nesspeople, tourists and many locals residing in
England.

Due to economic hardships and a volatile
political situation since 2000, millions of Zim-
babweans migrated to South Africa, while thou-
sands went to countries such as England, Austra-
lia, New Zealand, United States and Canada to
seek greener pasture.

Before travelling to England from a red list
country, as is the case with Zimbabwe right now,
one must take a Covid-19 test three days before
travelling, book a quarantine hotel package, in-
cluding two Covid-19 tests and complete a pas-
senger locator form.

“You must do this even if you are fully vacci-
nated,” the guidelines state.

Children aged 11 to 17 travelling to England
are also required to take a Covid-19 test in the
three days before travel to England.

On arrival in England children aged five to 17
must quarantine in a managed hotel for 10 full
days and take two Covid-19 tests.

Children aged four or under do not have to
take any travel tests, but must enter managed
quarantine.

Other African countries to be removed from
the red list include Mozambique, Botswana, Es-
wathini, Zambia, South Africa, Tanzania, Namib-
ia, Malawi, Lesotho, Angola, Rwanda, Seychelles,
Sierra Leone, Uganda, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia,
Ethiopia, Eritrea and Burundi. — STAFF WRITER.

Herd immunity Dec target unlikely to be attained

KUMBIRAI MACHINGURA coercive measures to promote Covid-19 vaccina- Government aims to vaccinate 10 million citizens. pared to other African countries.
tion, achieving immunity within the remaining ing their jobs while some private companies have “There are still chances that we will reach our
ZIMBABWE’s ambitious target of attaining three months remains a challenge, although it has also been hauled before the courts for threatening
60% Covid-19 herd immunity by December is resulted in an increase in people seeking vacci- to fire their unvaccinated employees. target, as we have received new vaccine doses. We
in doubt, with only 15.9% of the country now nation. are now looking at how we can strengthen the
fully vaccinated , three months before the gov- While the threats have resulted in an improve- logistics on the ground to ensure that we reach
ernment’s set deadline to inoculate 10 million As part of measures to compel people to be ment in vaccination rates, the numbers have not every corner of the country,” Dr Mahomva said.
people. vaccinated, the government has used intimidato- been overwhelming, given the high number of
ry tactics, among them, threatening to ban un- unemployed persons in Zimbabwe, who do not “To ensure that people from remote areas get
While the authorities insist that Zimbabwe is vaccinated civil servants from work and barring fear losing their jobs. their vaccines, we are using existing Expanded
on course to reaching herd immunity, the coun- unvaccinated people from attending church ser- Programme For Immunisation structures to en-
try remains with an unrealistic chance of achiev- vices and other social gatherings. Information secretary Nick Mangwana admit- sure that we reach anyone in the corner of Zim-
ing the feat. The government aims to vaccinate ted on Twitter on Monday that vaccination num- babwe.”
10 million citizens, representing 60% of the pop- Several companies and parastatals have fol- bers were slowing down.
ulation, since it launched a national vaccination lowed the government’s stance, forcing the Zim- There has been widespread scepticism around
programme in February this year. babwe Congress of Trade Unions to take some “Our vaccination rate fell last week to its low- vaccination, due to a lack of effective commu-
employers to court for allegedly violating work- est since July. That is probably explained by com- nication regarding the vaccines, their safety and
Zimbabwe is, however, among 15 African ers’ rights. placency. But our vaccination strategy is aligned effectiveness.
countries that have reached the global goal of with our economic recovery strategy. It means
fully vaccinating 10% of the population against Vice-President President Constantino Chi- our economic success is underpinned by our Commentators say the authorities have not
Covid-19. Almost 90% of high-income coun- wenga, who is also Health minister, has lashed getting a herd immunity among other things,” done enough to dispel misconceptions and
tries have met this target. out at those launching lawsuits against manda- Mangwana wrote. myths surrounding vaccines.
tory vaccination, reminding them that civil liber-
Although Zimbabwe has done well to pur- ties are not absolute. In an interview, the national chief coordinator “Vaccines that have been used in Zimbabwe
chase the much-needed vaccines from China, it of the Covid-19 response team, Dr Agnes Ma- have been carefully analysed by the Medicines
is unlikely to meet the target by December. The government has told civil servants unwill- homva, remained adamant that the government Control
ing to be vaccinated that they were at risk of los- is poised to reach herd immunity by December.
It has taken the country nearly eight months Authority of Zimbabwe, which approves every
to inoculate 10% of the population. She said Zimbabwe had done well as com- vaccine in Zimbabwe. They have been providing
full information concerning the vaccine through
Most of the population has been vaccinated television, newspapers and radio stations. We re-
using Chinese-made Sinopharm and Sinovac corded a huge number of people coming to get
jabs, which have been approved for use by the vaccinated,’’ Dr Mahomva said.
World Health Organisation.
However, she admitted that the government
Zimbabwe kick-started the vaccination pro- has not recorded the number of people willing to
gram targeting front-line workers, the elderly, comply and those who have remained sceptical
and those with underlying health conditions fol- towards getting vaccinated.
lowing an initial donation of 200 000 Sinopharm
vaccines by China. Initially, the government was reluctant to ap-
prove the vaccination of pregnant women due to
Zimbabwe has so far administered 3 140 685 a lack of research data assuring their safety .
first doses while 2 358 223 people had received
their second jabs as of Wednesday this week, Dr Mahomva said the World Health Organi-
according to the ministry of Health and Child sation has confirmed the vaccines are safe for use
Care. While the government has made use of by pregnant women. The UN agency is also look-
ing forward to the vaccination of children aged
between 14 and 17.

NewsHawks News Page 23

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

NYARADZO MUSHANYUKI Govt moves to safeguard nightclub
jobs, seeks to shut out illegal outlets
CABINET this week said the re-opening
of nightclubs and bars was done to curb Bar owners are expected to ensure they adhere to Covid-19 national protocols and guidelines.
the loss of income and jobs in the indus-
try, as well as to control the mushroom-
ing of illegal outlets.

Like other services that have been giv-
en the green light to operate, only those
who have been fully vaccinated will have
access to the bars and nightclubs.

Bar owners are expected to ensure they
adhere to Covid-19 national protocols
and guidelines or else lose their licences
and risk fines or imprisonment.

The bars closed at the beginning of
January and opened for a short period
before another national lockdown in
June.

‘‘Cabinet notes with concern that the
continued closure of licensed bars and
nightclubs has caused bars and night-
clubs not only a loss of income and
unemployment but also resulted in the
mushrooming of illegal outlets. Cabinet,
therefore, directed that all licensed bars
be opened to fully vaccinated clients.
Bar owners are also required to ensure
that World Health Organisation and
national protocols and guidelines are en-
forced, failure of which their licences will
be withdrawn,’’ the post-cabinet briefing
reads.

The number of new cases decreased
during the week under review, despite a
slight increase in new cases in schools.

‘‘The daily average of new cases
dropped to 238 per day from 246, the
previous week. The following areas re-
corded the most significant number of
new cases Matabeleland South (310),
Mashonaland East (263), Manicaland
(251), Matabeleland North (233) and
Masvingo (202). Regarding case man-
agement, infection, prevention and con-
trol the number of people in need of
hospitalisation for Covid-19 continues
to fall with the country’s bed occupancy
rate decreasing from 4.62% the previous
week to 4.3% during the week under re-
view,’’ the briefing reads.

‘‘There has been a decrease in the cases
of Covid-19 in schools across the country
during the reporting period ending 3 Oc-
tober 2021. There were (815) cumulative
cases compared to (1 267) cases reported
last week,’’ the Press briefing reads.

President Emerson Mnangagwa ex-
tended the Level Two lockdown by two
weeks.

‘Midlands schools Covid-19 situation remains dire’

STEPHEN CHADENGA torting the exact number of infected students. Government carried out Covid-19 tests at the affected schools, including Musume.
“Tests kits are not in schools. In fact, the
SCHOOLS in the Midlands are still battling
Covid-19 infections, after an outbreak in ministry is not even testing many pupils that
Mberengwa district, which sent students and are showing clear signs of Covid-19 in order to
parents into panic mode. keep the figures low in schools,” Zhou claimed.

Although the government intervened and Several efforts to contact Midlands provin-
carried out Covid-19 tests at the affected cial education director Robson Machimbira
schools, including Masase, Mnene, Chega- were unsuccessful.
to and Musume, before isolating pupils who
tested positive, Progressive Teachers’ Union He also did not respond to questions send
of Zimbabwe president Takavafira Zhou this to him.
week told The NewsHawks that the situation at
the schools remains bad. Provincial medical director Mary Muchek-
eza referred enquiries to the point person in
Zhou accused the government of “failing to charge of Covid-19 statistics, Reginal Mhene.
adopt a holistic stakeholder approach” in ad-
dressing the issue. Mhene said the situation at schools in the
province that had been hit by the pandemic
“The situation remains so bad. Several was “under control”.
schools are getting infections in Midlands and
the ministry (Primary and Secondary Educa- “The situation is under control, test kits are
tion) has adopted a sinister motive of ordering adequate and pupils from day schools who are
Covid-19 positive students to stay at home for positive and stable are isolating at home after
two weeks rather than quarantining them,” home assessment,” Mhene told The News-
Zhou said. Hawks.

Zhou accused the Education ministry of fail- Addressing a post-cabinet briefing this Tues-
ing to meet teacher unions since the opening of day, Information minister Monica Mutsvang-
schools to discuss Covid-19 preparedness and wa also said there was a decline in Covid-19
procedures in learning institutions. cases in schools across the country.

He said the affected schools in the province “There has been a decrease in cases of
lacked adequate test kits, saying this was dis- Covid-19 in schools across the country during
the reporting period ending October 3, 2021.
There were 815 cumulative cases compared to
1 267 reported last week,” she said.

Page 24 Editorial & Opinion NewsHawks

CARTOON Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Govt biggest driver
of parallel market

THE dramatic fall of the Zimbabwe dollar has elicited a predictable Black market war: No one wins
response from the government, with panic-stricken officials revert-
ing to their default settings of command economics, law-and-order PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s fundamentals and increased money supply, this case, they have intervened through law
scapegoating, knee-jerk decrees and finger pointing. government has launched a fierce and mainly through infrastructure projects, this and order, and monetary policy measures.
intensifying sweeping crackdown down currency crisis was somewhat predictable This has been done before under Mugabe’s
When you see an impala sprinting headlong into a blazing veld on foreign currency traders in the vola- and may scale 2008 heights unless quickly rule.
fire, you must know that something more frightening than scorch- tile market to stem the tide of a currency contained.
ing heat is after its life. What exactly has spooked these public func- crisis, amid growing fears of an exchange Yet the result is always the same: A neg-
tionaries? rate-driven economic meltdown. While exchange rate volatility can be ative outlook causes wide-scale economic
attributed to a combination of complex damage, exchange rate volatility, inflation
The parallel market exchange rate has run amok, giving the au- It is understandable why government is issues, it can caused by fiscal and mone- and a loss capital.
thorities sleepless nights. panicking, while it is also not hard to appre- tary authorities’ actions, investors, central
ciate the reason currency traders think they banks, black market dealers, lack of confi- However, analysts say a repressive ap-
So serious is the problem that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe are not responsible for the recent exchange dence, uncertainty or indeed a combination proach to markets — that is arrests and in-
(RBZ) has since revised its inflation projections. The central bank rate crash. of actors and factors. timidation — will not address the economic
says the annual inflation rate could end the year between 35% and problem that is deeply entrenched, complex
53%, up from an earlier estimate of 25% to 35%. The exchange rate has been moving at a Some of the manifestations, drivers of a and has many complicated dimensions and
tremendous pace and it is now scaling new currency crisis and their causes include: dynamics, including government’s activities
Memories are still fresh of the runaway hyperinflation which heights at US$1:ZW$200, and beyond. l Dramatic decline in the value of a cur- that fuel the black market.
decimated savings, obliterated pensions and plunged citizens into rency, which causes negative ripple effects
untold poverty. Government blames currency dealers for throughout the economy; It is not difficult at all to understand why
fuelling the exchange rate in relentless pur- l It is not an intended policy measure like the authorities want more dealers arraigned
Many have not yet recovered from the traumatic experience of suit of arbitrage; margins gained by the si- in a bid to prevent foreign exchange market
that chaotic era. multaneous buying and selling of currency Hawk Eye chaos, an economic contagion and political
in the foreign exchange market. unrest that may lead to popular uprising.
The philosopher George Santayana’s timeless truism comes to Dumisani
mind: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to Authorities say illegal foreign currency Muleya The problem with this repressive meth-
repeat it.” trading is driving the exchange rate to new od is that it is addressing symptoms of the
unsustainable levels, while also sabotaging devaluation; but a depreciation largely due problem, certainly not the causes.
In the first few months of this year, Zimbabwe appeared to have the economy. Thus government wants to to market forces, laws of supply and de-
tamed the beast of chronic high inflation. What has gone wrong? crush illegal traders driving the rate spiral- mand; It is common cause that this grappling
ling out of control. l Generally any increase in the money with symptoms of a disease can never cure
Although there are many factors at play, the government must supply could lead to a depreciation in the the ailment. Government needs a patholog-
shoulder most responsibility. Officials fear that an uncontrolled ex- exchange rate. This is for two main reasons: ical approach, that is first find out the na-
change rate crash might have a serious con- Inflation — Ceteris paribas, an increase in ture, causes and effects of the disease.
Our point of departure is that the macro-economic fundamen- tagion, a damaging spread of the economic the money supply is likely to be inflationary.
tals seemed to have relatively stabilised. This, of course, is not to say crisis from the currency collapse. This is because with more currency chasing It is critical to appreciate the anatomy of
stability had been achieved. Not at all. Nuance is key. the same quantity of goods, firms will re- the problem before acting. Many variables
Fiscal and monetary authorities, led by spond by putting up prices. Alternatively, if are involved in causing exchange move-
The economy’s capacity to generate foreign currency has been the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Financial expansionary monetary policy involves cut- ments, ranging from shifting fundamentals,
quite a revelation. Through a combination of diaspora remittances Intelligence Unit (FIU), and capital market ting interest rates — lower interest rates will money supply to confidence and uncertain-
and an uptick in export receipts, forex inflows have firmed remark- regulators, are currently tightening forex tend to increase aggregate demand leading ty, as well as black market activities.
ably. In fact, some economists estimate that the country is on track trading regulations by adopting a tight to possible inflationary pressure; and
to generating US$8 billion this year. Nothing to be sneezed at. Not monetary policy in a bid to weed out what l Fiscal and monetary authorities may in- Only that way can we begin to think of
many economies in Africa are registering those sorts of numbers. they variously describe as “saboteurs” and tervene to help stabilise a currency by sell- a lasting solution. Addressing people is not
“fraudsters” in the market who are destroy- ing off reserves of foreign currency or gold, a solution.
The big question is: What is propelling the parallel market rate? ing the economy. or by intervening in the forex markets. In
This week, the prominent economist Gift Mugano told legisla- Authorities must address the problem
tors at a pre-budget seminar that the major culprit is the govern- Authorities say illegal forex trading is holistically: deal with it at the level of eco-
ment itself. sabotaging the economy and will trigger in- nomic fundamentals, structural issues,
Mugano says arresting every forex dealer is not feasible, consid- flation, while weakening the local currency. macro-economic factors, money supply,
ering that there are 5.7 million Zimbabweans operating in the in- Zimbabwean leaders are scared of a repeat and black market and arbitrage activities.
formal sector. Will the authorities arrest all these people? He says of the 2008 economic meltdown that al-
the government’s handling of the bumper maize harvest is at fault. most cost the late president Robert Mugabe Repressive measures against currency
The same point has been raised by another leading economist, and Zanu PF power. In fact, Zanu PF lost dealers may sound appropriate for the au-
Brains Muchemwa. the elections. Mugabe lost the first round thoritarians in government, but in reality
After farmers are paid in Zimdollars, they rush to the parallel of polling. that is not the solution even though cur-
market for US dollars. Mugano is advising Treasury to find a better rency dealers’ exploitation of profitable ar-
way of handling the pricing of maize, wheat and cotton. This year Analysts say given the weak economic bitrage opportunities may be damaging to
alone, the government needs ZW$64 billion to pay for the maize the market and economy.
harvest at ZW$32 000 per tonne. When that money is offloaded
into the streets, the Zimdollar will scream.
Another causative factor identified by analysts is the RBZ’s de-
lay in clearing the forex auction backlog. Desperate companies are
forced to resort to the parallel market.
Another possible cause is the huge amount of money being trans-
acted by the government in paying contractors for infrastructure
projects. These companies — both local and foreign — are paid in
Zimdollars, which they change into greenbacks on the alternative
market. The government knows who these players are. It is fairly
easy to identify them. More importantly, the authorities must devise
a sustainable solution, instead of pandering to the base instincts of
a pointless blame-game.
The RBZ can issue threats daily but, as we saw during the crazy
days of hyperinflation, a 21st century cannot be governed by decree.
Confidence is the currency of economic prosperity. Zimbabwe is
deficient in that all-important attribute. The sooner the government
stops tinkering with mere symptoms and addresses the real malady,
the better for national economic survival.

Reaffirming the fundamental impor- The NewsHawks is published on different EDITORIAL STAFF: Marketing Officer: Voluntary Media
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NewsHawks New Perspective Page 25

Issue 51, 8 October 2021 Zim foreign exchange market:
A case of tail wagging the dog
IN functioning economies, or under
normal circumstances so to speak, gov- US$961 million recently availed by export of goods and services, receipt business resulted in recessions for dif- A black market for goods in Harare.
ernments and authorities should not be the IMF. Individual reserves are about of monetary gifts or receipt of foreign ferent countries. and equipment, but ends up with little
unduly worried about the parallel mar- US$1.8 billion held in depository in- loans and investments in order to im- Again, the external sector aggregates value addition to GDP and insignifi-
ket and the exchange rates prevailing in stitutions, mostly banks. port needed goods and services for de- of the Zimbabwean economy experi- cant export earnings.
that market. velopment and enhancing the welfare enced serious deterioration due to the
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe of the citizens. economy’s continued heavy depen- Although the agricultural sector
The parallel market rate is deter- (RBZ) Act enjoins the central bank to Also, high levels of foreign exchange dence on the primary commodities for contributes over 18% to GDP, its con-
mined mostly by speculators and use its best endeavour to maintain ex- earnings and external reserves are the export earnings and external reserves tribution to foreign exchange earnings
rent-seekers in a shallow and illegal ternal reserves at levels it considers to backbone of the local currency ex- accumulation. is also low. The production system is
market which constitutes a tiny pro- be appropriate for the economy and change rate. They ensure stability of Now, the nature of the exchange highly import-dependent. As the coun-
portion of the foreign exchange mar- the monetary system of the country. the rate, while low levels weaken the rate and its fundamental determinants try’s capital goods industry is comatose,
ket. Their activities are usually inconse- Zimdollar. also need to be clearly understood. The nearly all machinery, equipment and
quential in the bigger scheme of things. In light of this, the RBZ has strived However, it must be noted that the value of a country’s currency is deter- spare parts used by the production
to carry out this mandate by using sup- RBZ does not sectors that are in-ward looking, are
Since the quantity of foreign ex- ply and demand management strate- produce foreign imported, putting much pressure on
change available in that market is small gies, particularly foreign exchange con- exchange; it is available foreign exchange.
in relation to the demand of the des- servation and control measures as well what is earned Econometrics
perate economic agents that want to as interventions, to ensure adequate by the country Another fundamental factor is the
buy foreign exchange at any cost, the supply of foreign exchange. that the bank HawksView excessive demand for foreign exchange
exchange rate is necessarily high. It strives to man- in relation to supply. The truth about
cannot serve as a reference for the lo- This is especially so because foreign age and use to an excess demand for foreign exchange
cal currency exchange rate. When that exchange is a scarce resource that needs stabilise the ex- is that a sizable part of it is not genuine
becomes the scenario, then it is the case to be efficiently managed if the country change rate. as it is aimed at transferring funds out
of the tail wagging the dog as we are is to achieve macroeconomic stability, As such, en- Tinashe Kaduwo of the country to enable the importa-
witnessing currently in Zimbabwe. and avoid chronic balance-of-payments suring adequate tion of unnecessary finished goods and
and external reserve problems. amount of foreign exchange earnings mined by the strength of the economy promote capital flight – illegal finan-
The recent published list of compa- requires developed domestic produc- in terms of its production capacity and cial outflows and money laundering.
nies and individuals as well as arrests It must be stressed that it is only tion structures, diversified economy productivity, structure, and diversifica- Hence, some of the measures by the
of traders pushing huge volumes of foreign exchange, in the form of con- and export orientation, and a condu- tion of the export production base. government to curb and control un-
foreign currency in the parallel market vertible currencies or internationally cive macroeconomic environment with A vibrant and diversified productive necessary imports are most welcome.
shows that the country’s parallel mar- acceptable currencies – not Zimdol- a stable political climate as a catalyst. real sector of the economy saves a na-
ket is now sizeable and an exchange rate lars - that can be used for international For quite some time now, there have tion the disbursement of scarce foreign It is important to stress that con-
pacesetter. transactions. been issues about these which predate exchange for the import of finished sidering that the local currency is not
the present administration. The gen- goods and production inputs, espe- convertible, foreign exchange and
Rationally, the parallel foreign ex- The main sources of foreign ex- uine government efforts to achieve cially where these could be produced exchange rate management over the
change market needs to be avoided by change supply to a country include for- headway on these have tended to be locally, and reduces pressure on foreign years has been quite challenging and it
decent economic agents. eign currency receipts from exports of undermined by both endogenous and exchange demand. remains.
goods and services, monetary gifts and exogenous shocks in the past years In the same way, an export-oriented
However, in Zimbabwe the struc- inflows of capital from abroad such as which pushed the economy into re- production base contributes substan- Command and control policies be-
ture of the now highly informalised loans and investments and diaspora re- cession in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The tially to foreign exchange supply which ing implemented by the government
economy that has resulted in currency mittances. shocks affected foreign exchange earn- in turn strengthens the local currency. have created arbitrage opportunities
mismatch when earning and spending ings, external reserves accumulation But in Zimbabwe these conditions which are sustaining growth of the par-
is fuelling the parallel market activity. It is from these earnings that the and therefore the exchange rate stabil- don’t exist. Hence, government’s focus allel market. The parallel market has
demand for foreign exchange is met ity. on the parallel market. now become a significant component
A majority of Zimbabweans earn to spend on foreign imports of goods Furthermore, the Covid-19 pan- The main sectors of the economy of the economy and reference point of
in local currency, but over 80% of and services, including foreign travel, demic and its containment measures in have all not been helpful in stabilising the exchange rate, a clear case of the tail
their consumption basket is priced in education medical treatment abroad, the form of economic lockdowns and the exchange rate. The manufacturing wagging the dog.
foreign currency, the United States in monetary gifts to foreigners, and loans restrictions on international travel and sector imports most of its raw materials
particular. and investments abroad. *About the writer: Kaduwo is a
researcher and economist. He writes
This implies that most individuals The implication of this is that for in his personal capacity. Contact
are forced to demand US dollars to Zimbabwe whose currency is not con- [email protected]: Whatsapp
meet their consumption needs. A quick vertible or serve as international curren- +263773376128
survey shows that even those basics and cy, it must necessarily earn foreign ex-
near- basics, they are all cheaper when change through high productivity and
purchasing using hard currency.

As such, the parallel market will
continue to exist as long as the local
currency is not convertible or easily
acceptable, economic productivity re-
mains low and the country does not
earn enough foreign exchange from
export of goods and services and capital
inflows. 

Yesterday government issued a state-
ment with various developments and
measures in the Zimbabwean foreign
exchange market that have elicited var-
ious and varied reactions from stake-
holders.

Shedding light on issues relating to
the foreign exchange market, external
reserves and local currency exchange
rate instability is therefore necessary.
Foreign exchange is relevant in the con-
text of world trade, payments and cap-
ital flow into and out of a country. It is
the monetary instrument for the settle-
ment of international transactions and
for financing imbalances in a country’s
external payments position vis-à-vis
other countries.

So it thus forms a major component
of a country’s external reserves which
according to the International Mon-
etary Fund (IMF) consists of “official
public sector foreign assets that are
readily available to, and controlled by
the monetary authorities, for direct fi-
nancing of payments imbalances, and
directly regulating the magnitude of
such imbalances, through intervention
in the foreign exchange markets to af-
fect the currency exchange rate and/or
for other purposes”.

These assets have the feature of li-
quidity and are represented by convert-
ible currencies such as the US dollar,
British pound sterling, Chinese Rem-
nibi, Japanese Yen and the Euro.

From Minister of Finance Mthu-
li Ncube’s statement issued yester-
day, Zimbabwe has US$1.2 billion
in official reserves which includes the

Business

MATTERSNewsHawks

MARKETS CURRENCIES LAST CHANGE %CHANGE COMMODITIES LAST CHANGE %CHANGE
EUR/USD 1.168 +0.001 +0.05 -1.402
USD/JPY 109.75 +0.03 +0.03 *OIL 62.61 -0.89 +0.123
GBP/USD 1.362 -0.002 -0.154 -0.39
USD/CAD 1.29 +0.007 +0.55 *GOLD 1,785.3 +2.2 +0.44
AUD/USD 0.713 -0.001 -0.098 +1.14
*SILVER 23.14 -0.09

*PLATINUM 975.5 +4.3

*COPPER 4.087 +0.046

ALEX MHANDU Steward Bank unlikely to
meet capital requirements
THE ability of Steward Bank, Zimbabwe’s largest
lender by number of account holders, to meet its Steward did not meet capital requirements by the end of its financial year and management is doubtful of complying by the end of 2021.
minimum capital requirements by 31 December
2021 hangs in the balance, prompting the finan- capitalise the bank. ing Requirements, Statutory Instrument 134 of ruary 2021 widened to ZW$903 million from
cial institution to approach the Reserve Bank of “These matters give rise to material uncertain- 2019, the ZSE is obliged to suspend an issuer ZW$773 million in inflation-adjusted terms.
Zimbabwe (RBZ) over the matter. who fails to publish audited financial statements
ties which may cast significant doubt about the for a period of seven months after the end of a As at end of the financial year, approximately
By the end of its financial year — 28 February company’s ability to continue as a going concern. financial year,” ZSE chief executive officer Justin ZW$6.4 billion or 74% of the bank’s deposits due
2021 — Steward did not meet capital require- The financial statements have therefore been pre- Bgoni said in a notice to stakeholders. to customers represents balances owed to related
ments and management is doubtful of complying pared on the going concern basis, which the di- party entities in the telecommunications sector.
by the end of 2021. rectors believe to be appropriate,” Steward said. Cassava failed to publish its financial results
despite getting approvals for the extension of the “A concentration of risk therefore exists in
In its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Meanwhile, trading of Cassava shares on the original publication deadline. the event that the business of the counterparties
statement of 22 January 2020, the RBZ an- ZSE was suspended effective 1 October 2021, is adversely affected by changes in economic or
nounced new minimum capital requirements for after the tech group failed to publish audited fi- Sources close to the group say the delays were other conditions. However, at 28 February 2021
banking institutions which must be met by 31 nancial statements for the financial year ended 28 caused by RBZ regulatory issues at Steward Bank. the Bank’s management was not aware of any eco-
December 2020. February 2021 and remains in default. Steward’s financial results, however, came out last nomic or other conditions,” Steward said. —STAFF
week, showing that the loss for the year to 28 Feb-
Subsequently, in the monetary policy state- “In terms of section 40 (1) (d) of the List- WRITER.
ment of 21 August 2020, the minimum capital
requirement deadline was extended to 31 Decem-
ber 2021 and the required minimum capital for
Steward Bank is US$30 million in local currency
equivalent.

“As of 28 February 2021, the bank did not
meet the minimum capital requirement and the
bank forecasts that it may not be able to achieve
the required minimum capital by 31 December
2021 through organic growth.

“Due to the limitations inherent in financial
projections, the current anticipated capital short-
fall may be different at the applicable compliance
date. The bank has, however, received commit-
ment from its shareholder, of the support neces-
sary to cover the resultant capital gap to enable it
to meet its capital requirements.

“The legal and governance processes to enable
the bank to obtain a capital injection from Cassa-
va Smartech Zimbabwe Limited, the shareholder,
have not been completed as at the date of signing
the financial statements. The bank and its share-
holders have communicated to the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe in relation to the capitalisation plan
and the possibility of not meeting the deadline of
31 December 2021 and the discussions have not
been concluded,” said the bank in its earnings up-
date for the year to 28 February 2021.

Steward’s parent company — Cassava — and
its main shareholders — who are listed entities
on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) — will
require approval in line with the bourse’s listing
regulations before they enter into a transaction to

Foreign loan upsurge poses great risks for Zim

THE Labour and Economic Development Re- Among other uses, he said, the debt was pri- December 2020 was 71.2% of gross domestic said.
search Institute of Zimbabwe (Ledriz) alongside marily used to finance the Hwange Unit 7 and 8 product at US$10.5 billion, while the domestic He added that it will be difficult for Zimba-
other experts have decried the latest 216% in- expansion, rehabilitation of the Robert Mugabe debt as of April 2021 amounted to ZWL$20.9
crease in loans extended to the already heavily in- International Airport, TelOne and NetOne net- billion. External debt arrears amount to over bwe to move out of debt distress.
debted nation by China and the OPEC Fund for work expansion projects. US$6.5 billion, which is about 77% of total for- Independent economist John Robertson de-
International Development (OFID), amid calls eign debt.
for Treasury to adopt sustainable domestic means The bulk of the loans have been coming scribed the obtaining situation as unsustainable,
of funding local development. through China Exim Bank. Market watchers criticise the situation as a risk highlighting that the country is already strug-
factor deterring the nation from attracting For- gling to settle old debts.
Speaking to The NewsHawks on the sidelines “The risk of repeating past mistakes of over-re- eign Direct Investment to revamp the economy.
of a Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Devel- liance on foreign borrowing remains very high. “We can’t even pay existing debts and the
opment (Zimcodd) conference recently, Ledriz While there is no problem in borrowing to sup- “There is a need for domestic resources mo- worst part is that Zimbabwe continues to borrow
senior researcher Prosper Chitambara bemoaned port long-term investments, the challenge Zim- bilisation and generating local funding through from its Asian counterpart outside public approv-
figures contained in the 2020 Annual Public babwe is currently facing is that we are already tapping into the informal sector and improving al. Even Parliament doesn’t know the terms and
Debt Bulletin, which reported that debt extend- heavily indebted. So such increases have the po- the ease of doing business because too much debt conditions of these loans. The country, instead,
ed to Zimbabwe from the two external sources tential to complicate our already challenging sit- for the economy is not good. The current situa- needs to rejuvenate industrial productivity, agri-
rose from US$59.6 million to US$189.5 million uation,” he said. tion will leave future generations heavily indebt- cultural activities and mining, among other do-
between 2019 and 200. ed because, in some instances, the authorities are mestic measures,” he said.
According to the Mid-Term Budget and Eco- mortgaging the country’s resources,” Chitambara
nomic Review, Zimbabwe’s external debt as of He called on the authorities to creative a con-
ducive environment for investors. —STAFF WRITER.

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 27

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Mega-deals on course: Govt

Government says Eureka Gold Mine’s reopening was completed.

DUMISANI NYONI currently employs 800 workers. Production is ment that underscored Harare’s readiness to ramp up production by 100% to meet the ex-
expected to meet the design capacity of the mine open up to foreign investors. pansion of ZPC Units 7 and 8 requirements.
GOVERNMENT says mega-deals announced of 30 000 tonnes of gold ore per month. It has
by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the the potential to create 1 000 jobs, directly and On Bravura Mine, Moyo said explorato- The government also spoke about the Zim-
run-up to the 30 July 2018 elections are still on indirectly, he said. ry drilling is ongoing in-between the 45 holes babwe Zhong Xin Electrical Energy, saying the
course, with most of them having been imple- drilled by Amari to further confirm and classify construction of a 2 by 25 megawatts thermal
mented. Moyo said Anjin Diamond was officially re- the resource. He said phase one drilling was suc- power plant was completed in 2020 and second
opened by Mnangagwa in August 2020 and it cessfully done, resulting in the completion of 14 phase of 25MW in May 2021.
Before the elections, Mnangagwa repeatedly has so far invested US$38 million to resusci- holes. Currently, drilling of the 15th and 16th
claimed that Zimbabwe had attracted invest- tate operations. Anjin resumed operations after holes is being done. On Muzarabani Oil and Gas, Moyo said the
ment commitments exceeding US$16 billion. a nearly five-year-long hiatus that came after formal draft exploration and production sharing
consolidation of all diamond firms in the sector, “Bravura plans to do exploration and feasibili- agreement (exploration and extraction agree-
Some of the so-called mega-deals he signed including private entities, into a single state-run ty studies in 2021 and go into mine construction ment) between the government of Zimbabwe
were in mining, energy, agriculture and tourism. company over lack of transparency. in 2022 and production in 2023. It has creat- and GeoAssociates was signed in February 2021.
ed employment for a total of 40 employees,” he
Responding to questions from The News- The document says following the signing of said. The company has committed US$15 to
Hawks, the government said most of the deals a joint venture agreement between the ZCDC US$20 million for drilling at least two explora-
have been implemented. and Russia’s Alrosa in 2019 to develop diamond Moyo said Prospect Resources and its subsidi- tion wells that will be up to 4km deep, he said.
fields in the country, exploration work is now in ary Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe remain focused
However, it did not disclose the status of a full swing. on bringing the Arcadia Lithium project into Moyo said Discovery Investments managed to
US$5.2 billion deal signed in May 2018 with a production. Prospect has commenced construc- drill production test wells, cased and cemented
South Africa firm, Nkosikhona Holdings, for the “In the last three months, a lot has been done tion of a pilot plant, which will initially produce to depths of about 600 metres.
production of more than eight million litres of in setting up the exploration camp and assem- bulk samples of 500 tonnes of petalite and 120
liquid fuels per day from coal in Hwange. bling a diamond washing plant with a capacity tonnes of spodumene concentrates for customer The company is currently engaged with a po-
of one tonne per hour of ore,” it said. qualification, he said. tential investor who intends to put up a 700MW
Again, the government said nothing about power station for distribution into the Zimba-
the Financial and Commodities Ecosystem (Fin- To date, 60 people from Matabeleland South The government said the Lokalise (western ar- bwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution
ComEco) deal worth US$1.5 billion. province have been employed. eas) project was in the process of changing from Company national grid. The company has spent
a special grant to a mining lease. The special US$9 million to date and is currently raising
Instead, the government spoke about Eureka On Great Dyke Investments (GDI), Moyo grant is at the Attorney-General's Office. The US$100 million for the whole project.
Gold Mine and Shamva Gold Mine re-open- said to date, the first boxcut of the two is 95% company will be supplying the Zimbabwe Pow-
ing, Anjin Diamonds, the joint venture between complete and excavation work is complete. The er Company with coal, create jobs and generate The government said Afronchine Smelting
the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Mining project employs a total of 360 employees with 70 foreign currency. had operationalised two 12.5MVA furnaces in
Company and Russia’s Alrosa, Great Dyke In- being GDI employees while 290 are contractors. addition to three chrome smelters already oper-
vestments, Bravura Mine, Karo Platinum, Pros- Once fully operational, the two mines will pro- Another project which the government is de- ating to produce 600 000 tonnes of ferrochrome.
pect Lithium, among others. duce a total of 3.45 million tonnes of platinum veloping is Jin An/Tutu located in Hwange. The furnaces are ready for commissioning.
group metal (PGM) ore per year.
It should be noted that some of these projects Jin An/Tutu is constructing a coke battery for On the Jin An Chrome project, Moyo said the
were not announced in the run-up to the 30 July Moyo said on Karo Platinum, a comprehen- semi-coke production. Moyo said construction low-carbon ferrochrome furnace is operational
2018 elections. sive exploration programme is being conducted of the semi-coke plant as well as the construc- with a capacity of 1 200 tonnes per month of
to confirm and delineate the PGM ore body. He tion of a metallurgical coke oven plant are still low carbon ferrochrome.
The government said Eureka Gold Mine’s said the project is expected to mine approximate- underway. Mobilisation of financial and material
reopening was completed and is expected to be ly 14.4 million tonnes per annum of mine ore. resources are also ongoing. The project was ex- At Unki Mine, Moyo said a smelter with an
commissioned by Mnangagwa this month. The project has created employment for 100 em- pected to commence during the second quarter annual capacity of producing 61 000 tonnes of
ployees. of this year. PGMs matte and a furnace rating of 8MW was
“The investor has invested US$18 million commissioned by Mnangagwa in May 2019.
into the project to date. Eureka holds 53 min- Under the investment agreement, Karo Min- On the Dinson Colliery (Afronchine Coke The smelter has increased the value addition of
ing blocks and six registered sites,” a document ing Holdings was supposed to own 50% of the Battery) project, Moyo said current construc- PGMs. Current production is 290.22kgs as at
signed by Mines and Mining Development sec- platinum company, Karo Platinum, while the tion of a 300 000-tonne coke battery for the October 2020 while total employment is at 1
retary Onesimo Moyo reads in part. remainder will be held by a government-owned construction of a carbon steel plant was nearing 212.
investment vehicle. completion. He said the investor is expected to
Moyo said Eureka Mine has the potential to invest US$30 million while 300 000 tonnes out- Projected production is 4 976kg of platinum
generate US$1 billion in gold sales, create more Karo would also own 75% of the refining, put per year is expected. in 2025. An expansion programme of the con-
than 1 000 jobs and introduce modern metallur- power generation and coal mining units. centrator plant at Unki is also underway.
gical technology. He said Makomo Resources has a scope to
Mnangagwa saw the deal as a flagship invest- Moyo said Sabi Gold Mine ramped up pro-
He said Shamva Gold Mine re-opened in duction to 35 tonnes per month.
April this year after closure in January 2019 and

Page 28 Companies & Markets NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Export firms view
parallel market
premium as tax

DUMISANI NYONI Precisely, cumulative export receipts as at 30 CZI claims Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector experienced a drop of 61.9% in export receipts in the first
June 2021 were US$2.31 billion compared to half of the year.
ZIMBABWE’S export companies are consider- US$1.91 billion received during the same peri-
ing the parallel market premium a tax, as they od in 2020. detrimental to the auction market and the econ- sorting to the alternative market to supplement
offload the surrender portion of their export omy at large, as this will only see an increase in the auction market.
earnings at the auction exchange rate while they This represents an increase of 20.8%. traffic to the auction at a time when the capacity
conduct business in a cost environment deter- Strengthening international commodity prices of government is already constrained, as reflect- “This means that participation of business in
mined by mixed rates, a new survey shows. had positive knock-on effects on Zimbabwe’s ex- ed in backlogs. the parallel market is only a residual, which can
port receipts, it said. be eliminated if access to foreign currency does
In its second-quarter business and economic “There have been concerns about the foreign not have any bottlenecks.”
intelligence report, the Confederation of Zim- The CZI, however, said business is cautiously currency backlog from business, especially as this
babwe Industries (CZI) said the parallel market optimistic of a positive operating environment affects viability in terms of making orders. This According to the survey, companies are wait-
premium, which has since risen to about 63%, is in the second quarter of 2021, if the government means that firms would have to find other mech- ing up to 6.6 weeks on average, for their accounts
considered a tax by export businesses. maintains the current policy stance and avoids anisms of accessing foreign currency,” it said. to be settled. Working capital of companies is
further policy shocks. tied up due to these backlogs and this adversely
“The official exchange rate has not been de- About 9% of the surveyed businesses are re- affects their operations.
preciating in line with the inflation differentials “The business operating environment con-
with main trade partners. In general, it is expect- tinues to improve despite the challenges being
ed that the currency in a country where there is a caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw
higher inflation rate would depreciate, while the much of the second quarter being under Level
currency in a country with a lower inflation rate Four lockdowns, curtailing operations.”
appreciates,” the report reads in part.
“While Covid-19 pandemic is expected to
“However, despite a very high inflation rate continue well into next year, business expects an
period, going as high as 837.5% in July 2020, improved business outturn for the quarter due
the official exchange rate remained firm to the to the ongoing vaccination programme to bring
US dollar, hence concerns about over-valuation.” about more flexible lockdown measures allowing
for normalcy to return. The continued decline
“The parallel market premium, which has in inflation is also a positive development that
since risen to about 63%, is considered a tax will see prices stabilising and demand rising as
by exporting businesses, as they offload the sur- incomes become real,” it said.
render portion of their export earnings at the
auction exchange rate while they conduct their “However, the foreign currency settlement
business in a cost environment determined by backlog that is being experienced at the forex
mixed rates depending on where their suppliers auction system is regarded as a threat to business
of goods and services are sourcing forex,” it said. operations as companies’ cashflow gets tied up,
affecting smooth flow of operations. The delay is
The report says the best case scenario would also a cost to business, as it significantly reduces
be that exporters be charged at a blended rate of the number of times that stock is normally sold
the auction and parallel markets and the worst in a year (stockturn), thereby reducing returns.”
case scenario being the application of the parallel
market rate. The CZI said despite its flaws the auction
market has eased the foreign currency shortages
“Thus, the huge parallel market premium is in the country, with approximately US$919.6
dampening the motivation for exporting busi- million having been disbursed through the for-
ness, as it eats into the viability of exports,” it eign currency auction market for the first six
said. months of the year.

Meanwhile, the CZI said the manufacturing About 60% of the respondents have accessed
sector experienced a drop of 61.9% in export re- foreign currency from the auction, the industry
ceipts in the first half of the year compared to the body said.
corresponding period in 2020.
“Some of the reasons for the remaining 40%
The drop in export receipts can be attributed not accessing foreign currency include adequate
to the 40% surrender requirement, which is a foreign currency from exports and local US dol-
disincentive to exporters. lar sales, as well as some companies having no
need to import,” the report said.
“Exporting processed goods is difficult and
costly since companies need to penetrate new Given that US dollar local sales are considered
markets, maintain existing markets and advertise a critical source of foreign currency and one of
to fend off competition. More effort and incen- the reasons for not relying 100% on the auction,
tives are needed to promote exports of manufac- the CZI said this explains why Statutory Instru-
tured goods, starting off with revising the reten- ment 127 is considered a shock to business.
tion ratio downwards,” it said.
About 36% of the respondents supplement
In the first half of the year, merchandise ex- the auction market using local US dollar sales.
ports had a strong growth compared to the same
period last year. The CZI said policies which tremendously
reduce US dollar sales for formal companies are

RONALD MUCHENJE Microlenders weather Covid-19 storm

THE microfinance sector has weathered the as well as poverty alleviation for the marginal- ZW$1.201 billion during a three-month trad- ed to be 9.35% as at 31 December 2020 and
twin storms of the Covid-19 pandemic and as- ised communities across the country, especially ing period trading from March to June 2021. deteriorated to 14.36% as at March 2021, regis-
sociated economic recession, emerging stronger in rural areas. The industry is therefore on a rebound, which is tered a significant improvement to 6.67% as at
and resilient, with the majority of well-capital- set to significantly improve during the remaining June 2021.
ised players remaining profitable, sustainable in The capital base of credit-only MFIs increased quarterly periods up to December 2021. This is
their business models, the Zimbabwe Associ- significantly during the quarter from ZW$946.5 in view of the relaxed lockdown rules that have “Another remarkable portfolio development,
ation of Microfinance Institutions (Zamfi) has million as at 31 March 2021 to ZW$1.37 billion since contributed to increased business activity which was noted during the quarterly, was the
said. as at 30 June 2021, reaching for the first time the by both individuals and corporates,” Zamfi said. improved risk coverage ratio. It increased from
“billion mark”, with the increase largely attrib- 35.84% as March 2021, to 66.63% as at June
The microfinance institutions (MFIs), are utable to improved levels of profitability for the During the period, the total loan book in- 2021, a clear confirmation that MFIs are now
ready to increase their lending portfolio in re- sector against reduced risks related to credit risk creased from ZW$1.682 billion to ZW$2.254 setting aside a large pool of loan loss reserves to
sponse to the huge appetite for credit by both and the business environment. billion as at 30 June 2021, with the bulk of lend- act as a cushion against unexpected loan loss-
individuals and business sector, especially in sec- ing being consumption loans of 48% of the to- es. In total, the loan loss reserves amounted to
tors such as agriculture, mining and manufac- “The credit-only MFI total asset amounted to tal loan size, representing a slight improvement ZW$101 million against non-performing loans
turing, said the association. ZW$3.337 billion as at 30 June 2021, up from from the 47% reported in March 2021. of ZW$152 million for the credit-only MFI sec-
ZW$2.136 billion reported as at 31 March tor,” Zamfi said.
In its report for the half-year ended 30 June, 2021. This represents a remarkable increase by The portfolio-at-risk ratio, which was report-
Zamfi however said there was still a need for
massive investment inflows into the sector for it
to play a meaningful role in financial inclusion,

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 29

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

AYESHA CHIDEMBO CEO Africa Roundtable to
launch venture capital fund
THE CEO Africa Roundtable is launching a
venture capital initiative to support young en- babwe has 2.8 million small businesses which Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe future we will look at the continent,’’ Gundani
trepreneurs. suffer stunted growth due to a lack of capital. governor John Mangudya is set to told The NewsHawks.
officially launch Pundutso Capital.
Pundutso Capital is aimed at championing “We are launching the fund in Vic Falls at our annual Roundtable this October and that The CEO Roundtable 2021 is a leading in-
economic development among youths. will kick-start its operations. The fund is pri- ternational gathering that will bring together
marily for Zimbabwean young people, but in African CEOs, bankers and investors, entrepre-
The initiative will be launched in Victoria neurs and board chairpersons from both public
Falls during the CEO Africa 2021 Roundtable, and private sectors.
to be held from 27 to 29 October under the
theme: Charting the Recovery Curve, Building Financial advisers and financiers from Africa
Momentum — Crashing barriers, Creating Im- and beyond, senior government officials, heads
pact. of parastatals, multinational company heads,
private sector specialists, private equity inves-
‘‘In line with our aspiration to champion tors, equipment manufacturers and suppliers,
economic development, the Reserve Bank of logistics and supply chain companies, legal con-
Zimbabwe governor Dr John Mangudya will sultants as well as insurers and wealth managers
officially launch Pundutso Capital, a venture are also expected to attend the event.
capital company that was rolled into life at the
Young CEO Business Forum 2021 hosted by President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected
CEO Africa Roundtable in Nyanga from 26 to to officiate at the awards night that will be held
28 May,” CEO Roundtable board chairperson on 28 October.
Oswell Binha told the media on Wednesday.
Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Sekai
“The venture capital fund mulled by CEO Nzenza is also expected to be part of the high
Roundtable and delegates to the YCBF 2021 powered roundtable. Her counterparts, Trans-
will go a long way in assisting brilliant start-ups port and Infrastructure Development minister
owned by young people to scale up after real- Felix Mhona and Higher and Tertiary Educa-
ising that lack of finding continues to impede tion, Science and Technology Development
the smooth flow of operation in young business minister Amon Murwira are also expected to be
ventures in Zimbabwe,’’ Binha said. in attendance.

Unrelenting economic woes coupled with A total of 300 physical and over 500 virtual
lack of opportunities have kept Zimbabwean participants are expected to attend the 7th edi-
youths on the backfoot as compared to their re- tion of the Roundtable, which is coming at a
gional counterparts. time when technological changes in the midst
of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic are trans-
Local youths have found it increasingly dif- forming the global business like never before,
ficult to raise capital to fund economic projects increasing competition, shifting customer tastes
largely because of the lack of collateral. and requirements.

Pundutso Capital, a venture capital scheme,
is aimed at bridging the gap through providing
financing for start-ups.

Speaking to The NewsHawks, the chief execu-
tive officer of CEO Africa Roundtable, Kipson
Gundani, said the initiative is aimed at promot-
ing enterprise development riding on brilliant
ideas.

According to the Finscope 2021 Survey, Zim-

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Page 30 Companies & Markets NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Post-Covid-19 turn
around critically
required: Gundani

CEO Africa Roundtable is scheduled to con- speakers and industry practitioners from across CEO Africa Roundtable chief executive Kipson Gundani
vene its annual roundtable and awards cere- the world, including Sibongile Sambo, founder
mony at the end of October in the resort city and MD of Africa’s first female aviation compa- governance come into play. A case in point is at the private sector can make to ensure meaning-
of Victoria Falls. President Emmerson Mnan- ny, El Mekwad Khaled-Head of Unido South- the upcoming CEO Africa Annual Roundtable ful economic growth in Zimbabwe?
gagwa and several ministers are expected to ern Africa, Ambassador Albert Muchanga, the and Awards, where the Chartered Accountants
attend the awards ceremony. The roundtable AU (African Union) Commisioner of Industry Academy (CAA) will sensitise CEOs on corpo- KP: The role of the private sector is to do
will be held at a time business is trying to re- and Trade amongst other high-level speakers to rate governance issues. business. To that effect, Zimbabwe needs pri-
cover from the adverse effects of the Covid-19 help deliberate on charting the recovery curve. vate sector leaders with a fortitude to unleash
pandemic, while in Zimbabwe businesses are A selection of well-thought-out topics lined up OG: The President and a number of cabinet the economic potential the country has. In
also grappling with an unstable currency and for the conference will equip CEOs with the ministers will attend the event, giving business complementing government’s efforts as enunci-
a shaky macro-economic environment. Our much-needed nuggets on the fourth industrial an opportunity to interact with policymakers. ated in the local content policy, industrialisation
news editor Owen Gagare (OG) spoke to revolution, staying ahead of economic currents What key issues do Zimbabwean CEOs want policy and NDS One (National Development
CEO Africa Roundtable chief executive Kip- despite present-day uncertainties, economic addressed by the government? Strategy One), our members stand ready to grab
son Gundani (KP) about the event. Gundani rejuvenation, aligning the CFTA to the global opportunities presented thereby.
says the platform will come up with strategies world of trading, among other pertinent issues. KP: CEOs in Zimbabwe want continuity
that guarantee growth and continuity in tur- engagement between the government and in- OG: What is your outlook for the coming
bulent times while enabling business leaders OG: How has Covid-19 changed the way of dustry, with an objective of growing Zimbabwe year?
to engage government officials on policies. doing business? into a competitive economy. We also want the
Below are excerpts of the interview: government to work towards a more stable cur- KP: We are optimistic that Zimbabwe will
KP: The Roundtable is coming at a time rency and macro-economic environment which remain on a positive growth trajectory in 2022.
OG: You will be holding your annual round- when technological changes in the midst of promotes the ease of doing business. All these This is on the back of opening global economies
table and awards ceremony at end of October. the deadly corona pandemic are transforming should be backed by domestic and foreign in- and sustained resurgence in agriculture, mining
What key issues are you seeking to address and the global business like never before, increasing vestor-friendly laws in the Zimbabwean busi- and other sectors of the economy. However, the
what are likely to be the highlights this year? competition, shifting customers’ tastes and re- ness environment. inherent weak fundamentals such as the infla-
quirements. The globalisation of markets and tionary expectations remain a threat to ultimate
KP: This year’s conference is coming at a the changing demographic trends are drastically OG: What key interventions do you think macro-economic stability.
time when the global economy is emerging altering how companies operate in almost every
from the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pan- region and industry in the world.
demic. Zimbabwe has not been spared from the
crippling effects of the pandemic and business OG: You have been around for a while now.
leaders across the sectoral divides of our econo- What can you say have been your major mile-
my will gather to share insights on the new and stones and challenges to date?
next normal in this era of disruptive changes
and technologies. Leaders will share valuable KP: We believe we have changed the business
nuggets on the ever-mutating business models advocacy narrative in the country to a no-holds-
to suit the current and future technological ad- barred discourse. More importantly, we have
vancements, demographic trends and promote championed an outward-looking approach in
the growth of vibrant public and private sector building synergies. As you may be aware, we are
businesss. one of the few private sector bodies to have tak-
en private sector leaders to several international
OG: The CEO Roundtable 2021 will be held markets. Our hope is to make Zimbabwe the
under the theme: Charting the Recovery Curve, cente of private sector development.
Building Momentum — Crashing Barriers, Cre-
ating Impact. What Inspired your theme? OG: In terms of networking and getting
business, what has been the CEO Roundtable’s
KP: Recent developments in the world econ- impact over the years?
omy, where disruptive technologies are taking
centre-stage, amid the new normal, catapulted KP: We have built a network of more than
by the Covid-19 pandemic, prompted us to 5 000 CEOs and our aspiration is to build a
host an event under this theme. In Zimbabwe, network of 10 000 CEOs in the next two years.
most sectors were hard hit by the Covid-19 pan- These networks obviously result in deal making.
demic and a turn around is evidently required. We may not be able to quantify the exact num-
The turn around is only possible when we have ber of deals, but we believe that a lot of business
business leaders that are well-sharpened to deal happens between our members and stakehold-
with present and future potential threats. At the ers that we have.
Roundtable, it’s iron sharpening iron, it’s a shar-
ing platform on strategies that guarantee growth OG: Issues of corporate governance have
and continuity in turbulent times. been topical in most organisations over the
years. What are you doing as the Roundtable
OG: You are holding the awards ceremony to ensure CEOs adhere to corporate governance
during the Covid-19 pandemic. What measures standards?
have been put in place to ensure the safety of
guests and how are you dealing with logistical KP: We empower CEOs with a wide range
challenges posed by the pandemic? of packages, including researched data and fa-
cilitate conferences, where issues of corporate
KP: Although lockdown regulations were
eased to Level Two in the country, the safety of Businesses in Zimbabwe are grappling with an unstable currency.
our industry and commerce players continues
to be our top priority. For this reason, this year’s
conference will be a hybrid one with physical
delegates expected to pay particular attention to
Covid-19 preventative measures such as social
distancing, masking up, sanitising and having
temperature checks at the conference. On the
other hand, we have worked hard to provide
C-suite leaders with an innovative, engaging
and networking experience with the same out-
come that they would have attained during a
physical event.

OG: Businesses faced, and continue to face,
a plethora of Covid-19-induced challenges since
the pandemic hit the world hard, particularly
from the beginning of last year. How is the
roundtable going to equip CEOs and other ex-
ecutives to tackle Covid-19-related challenges?

KP: Consistent with our aspirations of
championing economic development across Af-
rica, we have invited renowned high-powered

NewsHawks Stock Taking Page 31

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Price Sheet

Thursday, 07 October 2021 A MEMBER OF FINSEC & THE ZIMBABWE STOCK EXCHANGE

Company Sector Bloomberg Previous Last VWAP Total Total Price Price YTD Market
Ticker Price Traded (cents) Traded Traded Change Change (%) Cap
AFDIS Consumer Goods (cents) Volume Value ($) (cents) ($m)
African Sun Consumer Services AFDIS: ZH Price 9500.00 (%)
ART ASUN: ZH 9000.00 1074.62 500
Ariston Industrials ARTD: ZH 1089.13 9500.00 900.00 1,300 47,500.00 500.00 5.56 295.83 11,144.07
Axia Consumer Services ARISTON: ZH 884.00 1095.00 365.00 4,600 13,970.00 -14.51 -1.33 532.13 9,260.77
BNC AXIA: ZH 375.43 900.00 2806.79 1,000 41,400.00 16.00 1.81 88.56 3,932.80
BAT Consumer Goods BIND: ZH 2765.81 365.00 514.50 607,800 3,650.00 -10.43 -2.78 172.39 5,939.99
CAFCA Basic Materials 569.93 2850.00 199000.00 70,600 17,059,690.00 40.98 1.48 206.42
CBZ BAT: ZH 199000.00 540.00 17000.00 363,240.00 -55.43 -9.73 35.39 15,294.04
Dairibord Consumer Goods CAFCA: ZH 17000.00 9481.94 - 261.82 6,430.51
Delta Industrials 9759.47 - 3801.19 - - - - 89.10
Econet Banking CBZ: ZH 3815.00 - 11553.09 21,600 - - - 10.95 41,060.70
Edgars DZL: ZH 11531.03 9500.00 5745.76 26,400 2,048,100.00 -277.53 -2.84 190.17 1,484.97
FBC Consumer Goods DLTA: ZH 5706.31 3800.00 443.78 316,000 1,003,515.00 -13.81 -0.36 407.81
Fidelity Consumer Goods ECO: ZH 448.37 11555.00 2957.65 123,900 36,507,780.00 22.06 0.19 508.02 65,162.90
First Capital Telecommunications EDGR: ZH 2950.04 5750.00 800.00 5,800 7,119,000.00 39.45 0.69 269.82 13,608.29
FML Consumer Services FBC: ZH 899.00 425.00 320.34 6,800 25,739.00 -4.59 -1.02 97.00 148,394.96
FMP FIDL: ZH 321.21 2990.00 2500.00 700 201,120.00 7.61 0.26 319.51 148,848.33
GBH Banking FCA: ZH 2502.92 800.00 1182.00 80,600 5,600.00 -99.00 -11.01 191.22
Getbucks Financial Services FMHL: ZH 1195.00 320.00 214.54 100 258,195.00 -0.87 -0.27 138.10 1,451.12
Hippo FMP: ZH 211.57 2500.00 800.00 500 2,500.00 -2.92 -0.12 264.81 19,873.93
Innscor Banking GBH: ZH 800.00 1170.00 26490.00 23,700 5,910.00 -13.00 -1.09 793.92
Lafarge Financial Services GBFS: ZH 26686.40 223.00 14982.10 100 50,845.00 2.97 1.40 6300.00 871.39
Mash HIPO: ZH 14895.26 800.00 9400.00 1,500 800.00 - - 194.33 6,908.84
Masimba Real Estate INN: ZH 9400.00 26490.00 430.00 327,000 397,350.00 -196.40 -0.74 304.60 17,253.58
Medtech Industrials LACZ: ZH 428.45 15000.00 5315.00 - 48,991,480.00 86.84 0.58 879.17 14,635.02
Meikles MASH: ZH 5316.83 - 23.34 500 - - - 362.37 1,151.20
Nampak Financial Services MSHL: ZH 25.41 430.00 11740.48 700 2,150.00 1.55 0.36 374.55 9,304.95
NatFoods Consumer Goods MMDZ: ZH 11742.86 5315.00 1066.67 163,400 37,205.00 -1.83 -0.03 195.44 51,131.15
NTS MEIK: ZH 1024.91 23.00 132500.00 14,600 38,132.00 -2.07 -8.15 433.54 84,615.37
NMBZ Industrials NPKZ: ZH 120000.00 11740.00 800.00 300 1,714,110.00 -2.38 -0.02 367.33 7,520.00
OK Zim Industrials NTFD: ZH 800.00 1100.00 1460.00 1,400 3,200.00 41.76 4.07 2104.66 7,994.02
Proplastics Real Estate NTS: ZH 1472.50 132500.00 2106.78 - 1,855,000.00 12500.00 10.42 2814.39 12,843.89
RTG Industrials NMB: ZH 1993.19 - 2795.00 100 - - - 264.95
RioZim Healthcare OKZ: ZH 2797.99 1460.00 590.00 521,800 1,460.00 -12.50 -0.85 134.09 709.48
SeedCo Industrials PROL: ZH 593.00 2110.00 3000.00 3,500 10,993,180.00 113.59 5.70 224.63 29,661.86
Simbisa Industrials RTG: ZH 3000.00 2795.00 9486.69 700 97,825.00 -2.99 -0.11 207.69
Star Africa Consumer Goods RIOZ: ZH 9000.33 590.00 7377.87 - 4,130.00 -3.00 -0.51 100.64 8,060.27
Truworths Industrials SEED: ZH 6917.62 - 167.63 443,700 - - - 312.46 90,630.14
TSL SIM: ZH 169.78 9505.00 230.00 640,300 42,092,440.00 486.36 5.40 513.91
Turnall Banking SACL: ZH 230.08 7500.00 6960.00 557,700 47,240,530.00 460.25 6.65 520.85 2,030.98
Unifreight Consumer Services TRUW: ZH 6955.92 165.00 515.00 42,700 934,867.00 -2.15 -1.27 679.66 5,900.91
Willdale TSL: ZH 515.00 230.00 3499.00 3,500 98,210.00 -0.08 -0.03 303.48 26,267.60
ZB Industrials TURN: ZH 3000.00 6960.00 444.82 300 243,600.00 4.08 0.06 453.76 7,041.60
Zeco Consumer Services UNIF: ZH 426.75 515.00 8500.00 5,000 1,545.00 - - 18711.83 14,723.42
Zimpapers WILD: ZH 8500.00 3500.00 5,600 174,950.00 499.00 16.63 1290.06 3,660.88
Zimplow Basic Materials ZBFH: ZH 440.00 0.12 - 24,910.00 18.07 4.23 254.17 4,073.82
ZHL Consumer Goods ZECO: ZH 0.12 - 300.00 - - - - 500.00 41,477.26
TOTAL Consumer Goods ZIMP: ZH 310.00 - 2099.99 300 - - - 206.12 7,903.90
Consumer Goods ZIMPLOW: ZH 2000.00 300.00 359.19 1,358,000 900.00 -10.00 -3.23 320.00
Consumer Services ZHL: ZH 376.15 2100.00 33,300 28,517,860.00 99.99 5.00 14.58 883.36
Consumer Goods 370.00 5,417,900 119,610.00 -16.96 -4.51 24,854.33
248,343,198.00
Industrials 2,539.16
Industrials 3,725.53
Industrials 7,908.91
14,891.20
Banking
Industrials 0.56
Consumer Services 1,728.00
Industrials 5,005.97
Financial Services 6,532.43
1,016,328.35

ETFs OMTT.zw 400.76 400.00 398.70 47,757 190,408.00 -2.06 -0.51 297.82 318.96

Old Mutual ZSE Top 10 ETF

FINSEC Financial Services OMZIL 7100.00 7100.00 -- - 167.92 5,893.83

Old Mutual Zimbabwe

VFEX (US cents) Consumer Goods PHL:VX - -22.08 US$m
Consumer Goods SCIL:VX 28.05 28.05 28.05 - -- 151.92
Padenga 28.09 - 28.09 - -- - 56.06 107.15
SeedCo International

Index Close Change (%) Open YTD % Top 5 Risers Price Change % YTD %
ZSE All Share 9,298.45 +1.30 9,179.57 +253.64 Unifreight 3499.00c +499.00c +16.63 +18711.83
Top 10 5,510.05 +1.53 5,427.23 +233.03 NatFoods 132500.00c +10.42 +2104.66
Top 15 6,207.07 +1.65 6,106.19 +218.63 Simbisa 7377.87c +12500.00c +6.65
Small Cap +0.54 258,540.29 +2088.71 OK Zim 2106.78c +460.25c +5.70 +513.91
Medium Cap 259,935.29 +0.99 20,311.48 +268.66 AFDIS 9500.00c +113.59c +5.56 +134.09
20,513.57 +500.00c +295.83

Top 5 Fallers Price Change % YTD %
Fidelity
BNC 800.00c -99.00c -11.01 +319.51
Medtech 514.50c -55.43c -9.73 +35.39
ZHL 23.34c -2.07c -8.15 +195.44
Zimpapers 359.19c -16.96c -4.51 +14.58
300.00c -10.00c -3.23 +206.12

SALES & TRADING: Davide Muchengi: [email protected] | Lungani Nyamazana: [email protected] | Tatenda Jasi: [email protected]

RESEARCH: Batanai Matsika: [email protected] | Precious Chagwedera: [email protected] | Tafara Mtutu: [email protected]

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Page 32 News Analysis NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

NYASHA CHINGONO Youth vote crucial to MDC Alliance
but certainly can’t be taken for granted
THE opposition MDC Alliance’s
ambitious plan to capture the hearts ed or tortured. And as fear contin- ber of Presidential votes, but not will eventually vote for you. Zanu As well as the parliamentary re-
of six million voters ahead of 2023 ues to reign, there remains a sense necessarily Parliamentary votes,” PF may be registering potential calls of top MDC-Alliance officials
will only be successful if the party of uncertainty in some of its sup- Chan said.  MDC voters and vice versa.” and the subsequent amendments
focuses on the youth vote while con- porters.  to the constitution, Mnangagwa is
solidating its city support and seek- He said Chamisa should also Mandaza said MDC Alliance looking at tightening his grip on
ing to increase its rural penetration, As such, Zanu PF has successfully consolidate his urban support base president Nelson Chamisa, who lost power, nearly four years after top-
analysts have said.  weakened the opposition in the ru- ahead of 2023.  by a wafer-thin margin to President pling longtime ruler Mugabe. 
ral areas where the larger part of the Emmerson Mnangagwa, will likely
Last week, MDC Alliance spokes- population resides, hence deciding “But can Chamisa talk to rural fail to repeat his 2018 feat when he Ahead of 2023, observers have
person Fadzayi Mahere said the par- an election.  voters as he wishes to? He can offer garnered two million votes and al- called for the MDC Alliance to
ty, which is largely viewed as urban no patronage, and nor should he. most forced a run off.  rebrand to avoid confusion amid
centred, is now refocusing its efforts The opposition is at its weak- But he doesn’t seem to have agri- indications that Mwonzora would
to attract the rural vote, where 67% est financially, with donor fatigue cultural policies either. A city-based “In 2023, it appears Chamisa may run his campaign under the Alliance
of the country’s population resides.  creeping in. Without a headquarters agenda won’t work in the rural ar- not be as formidable as in 2018 but brand. 
and running on shoe-string mem- eas. Basically my feeling is he should his opponent’s misfortunes appear
While it is a noble and commend- ber-based funding, the MDC Alli- work to consolidate his support in to have increased and his profile has Without being drawn into con-
able plan of action, considering that ance requires huge finances to turn the cities and particularly among also worsened,” he said.  firming the name change, Mahere
its main rival Zanu PF is also fo- the tables in the rural areas.  the youth -- but, for them, he needs said Chamisa will run his campaign
cused on retaining much of the rural policies of advancement based on “The MDC structures are very under a broad alliance of citizens. 
vote, analysts say the MDC Alliance Despite the challenges, Chamisa cyber technologies and the facilita- weak unlike Zanu PF which also has
does not have the right arsenal to remains very popular while the fact tion of start-ups,” Chan said.  an advantage of using state resourc- With policy clarity and deliberate
charm rural voters.  that Mnangagwa is struggling to es.” moves to defy the status quo in rural
turn around the country’s economic Political analyst Ibbo Mandaza areas, the MDC Alliance can cause
Analysts say the party cannot of- fortunes will ensure that he remains said the MDC Alliance lacks the Apart from financial battles and an upset in the rural areas although
fer patronage while there is a need a viable option. financial muscle to mobilise mass state-induced failure to mobilise, the party should strengthen its ur-
for a robust move to strengthen its support around its ideas.  the MDC Alliance has over the past ban support base.  The opposition
rural base, by among other things Political analyst Stephen Chan year been rattled by parliamentary party is likely to ride on the collaps-
establishing structures at grassroots said Chamisa remains the only cred- “If they have resources, yes they recalls, battle over the name and ing economy to entice the urban
level. In many rural areas, it is be- ible opposition leader. stand a good chance because it re- the party’s unceremonious removal youth vote but needs a clear policy
lieved the MDC Alliance does not quires a lot of money for mobilisa- from the Morgan Tsvangirayi House framework that presents the opposi-
have solid structures.  “He remains the only credible tion of the people and so on,” Man- headquarters in Harare by former tion as a credible alternative. 
opposition leader. I do not regard daza said, adding that the party’s secretary-general Mwonzora is at its
Mahere maintains that the MDC MDC-T leader (Douglas) Mwon- voter registration was not a guaran- weakest.  Whatever the opposition does be-
Alliance already has a footprint in zora as someone who can capture a tee of a successful election.  tween now and 2023, it will have to
the rural areas, including in Zanu significant number of votes, either Although he has denied it on do more than talk to dislodge Zanu
PF strongholds. for himself or his version of the par- “It is good that the opposition several occasions, Mwonzora is be- PF which has been at the helm since
ty. As for Chamisa, he might be best is pushing for registration, but you lieved to be a pawn in Zanu PF’s 1980.
But Zanu PF seems to have placed to capture a significant num- are not guaranteed that those people game to maintain a grip on power. 
strengthened its advantage there
through a restructuring exercise car-
ried out at a time the country was
under the Covid-19 lockdown.

On the other hand, the MDC Al-
liance has not embarked on a robust
restructuring and strengthening of
party structures, a move that has
exposed its weak organisation. To
mobilise rural support, the party
should adopt strong pro-rural pol-
icies, including a good agricultural
policy which has concrete delivera-
bles. 

Twitter spaces chats, online rallies
and hollow rhetoric are not enough
to secure the critical rural vote come
2023, although it is critical with the
urban vote in mind.

Mahere’s comments on the party’s
activity in the rural areas were also
devoid of key result areas to prove
real action on the ground. 

Although the ruling party’s dis-
trict coordinating committee elec-
tions were marred by violence,
Zanu PF retains a strong footprint
in the rural areas while its penchant
to abuse state resources to its advan-
tage is also critical in securing rural
votes.

Zanu PF has over the years cap-
italised on the Presidential Input
Scheme and with the rains immi-
nent, the party is set to retain its
support base if the MDC Alliance
does not move to counter its mach-
inations. 

Commentators say Zanu PF is no
doubt ahead of MDC Alliance when
it comes to mobilising the rural vote
and despite the current infighting,
the party has a tendency to regroup
and close ranks ahead of watershed
elections. 

Coercion has also been an effec-
tive mobilisation tool for Zanu PF.

Violence, coupled with gener-
al hostility against the opposition
party has created an uneven playing
field for the MDC since 2000. 

In many cases, those seen to be
supporting the MDC Alliance have
either been maimed, killed, abduct-

NewsHawks The Big Debate Page 33

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

ADEOYE O ALINOLA Sudden proliferation of coups
bodes ill for African democracy
ON 21 September 2021, Ma-
jor-General Abdelbagi Bakrawi, Why is there a resurgence of military coups in Africa? Something is fundamen-
a commander of the Armoured tally wrong with the prevailing socio-political structures in Africa. The liberal
Corps in Khartoum, led 22 offi- peace architecture has recorded failures on the continent.
cers in an attempted coup d’état
to overthrow Sudan’s transitional Residents cheer on army soldiers after the uprising that led to the toppling of president Alpha Conde in Kaloum neighbourhood of Conakry, Guinea. [Souleymane
government, the Sovereign Coun- Camara/Reuters]
cil, led by Prime Minister Abdalla
Hamdok. bouya immediately dissolved the The international communi- military coups in Africa? Some- tics in West Africa and the Sahel.
constitution and the government. ty has frowned on the usurpation thing is fundamentally wrong with While the AU-United Nations
More than 40 officers were ar- He announced the military’s of authority in the two countries. the prevailing socio-political struc-
rested within 24 hours of the at- goodwill, and a transition plan, The African Union (AU) and the tures in Africa. The liberal peace ar- Hybrid Operation in Darfur (Un-
tempted coup, which the Sudanese and installed himself as president. regional economic bloc, the Eco- chitecture has recorded failures on amid) completed its withdrawal of
authorities claimed was carried out He established a National Rally- nomic Community of West Af- the continent. Proponents of this 6,000 troops and police from Dar-
by those loyal to the ousted pres- ing Committee for Development rican States (Ecowas), suspended school of thought have continued fur by the 30 June 2021 deadline,
ident, Omar al-Bashir, in a bid to (CNRD), headed by himself, and Guinea from all its decision-mak- to celebrate the democratic peace one wonders why it was deemed
stall the transition to democracy. became the leader of the armed ing platforms. Guineans, frustrat- theory, based on the “so-called” necessary to deploy foreign troops
Al-Bashir is wanted by the Inter- forces, while a civilian prime min- ed by two successive post-inde- resilience of political and repre- in the Sahel. The presence of for-
national Criminal Court (ICC), ister would head the government. pendence leaders — Sékou Touré sentative institutions, as well as in- eign troops has been unable to
which is negotiating his extradition and Lansana Conté – who stayed stitutional constraints, within the restore peace to the Sahel and had
to The Hague. Could a change of His plan also included the estab- in power for 26 and 24 years, re- broad discourse on effective “inter- no influence on regime stability, as
government halt al-Bashir’s possi- lishment of the legislature, called spectively, were shocked at Condé’s nal mechanisms”, which embrace seen in Mali, Chad and Guinea,
ble extradition? the National Transition Council manipulation of the constitution peace, negotiation, accountability where the military has struck in
(CNT). Indeed, to allow for his third term in office and reconciliation. recent times.
Since the removal of al-Bashir and nonplussed by his controver-
by the military in April 2019, Doumbouya appears to be in to- sial victory at the October 2020 The brand of democracy export- Indeed, national, regional and
the transition to democracy has tal control. He blamed the ousted polls. ed to Africa is lacking in these attri- global actors have “refused” to
been fragile and turbulent. Apart president for the country’s pathetic butes. Any attempts by the citizens embark on sustained and multi-di-
from the Bakrawi-led putsch, infrastructure, corruption and eco- In Chad, the military regime of to discuss the nature of relations mensional approaches to address
there have been other attempts to nomic stagnation. Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno is more between themselves and the state, the structural root causes of the
unseat Hamdok. The Sovereign interested in power consolidation based on shared identity, com- conflict and underdevelopment
Council, which has 39 months to Research has shown that mil- than a transition to democracy, mon values, and goals, have been in Africa. Instead, each party has
administer Sudan under a fragile itary regimes in Africa have per- while in Mali, the interim mili- resisted by Africa’s ruling class and continued to pay lip service to the
power-sharing accord between the formed worse than their civilian tary junta is making no signifi- political entrepreneurs, who have African security and development
military and civilians, is confront- counterparts; furthermore, per- cant progress towards meeting the personalised public goods and ma- projects. Across Africa, the era of
ed with both internal crises and formance should not be at the ex- 18-month schedule for power dis- nipulated the political spaces. Afri- ideologically inclined developmen-
external hostilities. pense of legality. Although civilian engagement. This is really a trying can societies have been militarised tal planning has been truncated by
administrations have consistently time for Ecowas and the AU. to the extent that they celebrate the this “blind” rush for liberal socio-
Under a complex arrangement, a failed African populations, military resurgence of the military in poli- economic and political templates.
Presidential Sovereign Council was involvement in politics remains an Why is there a resurgence of
to be led by the military for the first aberration that must be resisted. — Daily Maverick.
21 months, after which it was to be
replaced by a civilian government
for the remaining 18 months.

Hamdok accused external ac-
tors of collaborating with the mil-
itary. There are growing tensions
between the civilian and military
factions, while the economic crisis,
which led to the removal of Bashir
in April 2019, remains unresolved.
Sudan’s total debt to the Interna-
tional Monetary Fund (IMF), ac-
cumulated mostly in arrears and
penalties, has forced the Sudanese
government to embark on sub-
sidy cuts, which has aggravated
the harsh economic reality in the
country.

Furthermore, the negative eco-
nomic impacts of the Covid-19
pandemic have worsened the eco-
nomic profile of Sudan — one of
the most impoverished countries
in the world. About 6.01 million
Sudanese, or 14% of the total pop-
ulation of 44.17 million, are living
in extreme poverty. The citizens
were very calm after the announce-
ment of the foiled coup, strength-
ening the view that a successful
military coup would be accepted
without mass resistance. This is a
bad sign for democratic consolida-
tion in Sudan.

The recent insurrection of the
military in Guinea is another sad
case. Despite President Alpha
Condé’s public rhetoric about the
impossibility of a coup under his
leadership, the 83-year-old leader
was arrested on 5 September 2021
by Guinea’s armed forces during a
coup in the capital city, Conakry.

The coup, led by Mamady
Doumbouya, a Special Forces com-
mander, threw the world’s biggest
producer of bauxite — used for
making aluminium — into pan-
demonium. As expected, Doum-

Page 34 The Big Debate NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Janet #HowFar campaign highlights
Zhou importance of accountability

IT has been an honour to be part government projects that address huge official debt overhang of Expansion was constructed by public service delivery, alignment
of the Zimbabwe Coalition on their basic needs such as health, US$10.5 billion, it has enormous Sinohydro using a loan from the of laws to the constitution, among
Debt and Development (Zim- food, water, education and de- opportunities to build its own Exim Bank of China to the tune other critical public interest ques-
codd) #HowFar campaign. cent jobs. Surely any mega deal development financing agency if of US$533 million for 300 mega- tions. While the “what” answer is
for Zimbabweans has to be linked recommendations to plug leakag- watts (MW), yet Zambia just important, the How Far question
The idea of running an ac- to addressing the triple burden es are implemented. across the border paid US$278 can never be exhausted by just an-
countability campaign using a of poverty, unemployment and million for 360MW! swering that part of the question.
very pithy question often used inequalities. Anything that does Talking of the Auditor-Gen- Transparency and accountability
by Zimbabweans from all walks not in real terms speak to their ac- eral’s recommendations, one of Another example is of the Ne- questions like How Far require
of life when soliciting for a de- cess and disposable incomes only the key asks under the #HowFar tOne Telecoms Infrastructure detailed answers and the path-
tailed update on an issue, just remains delusional and schizo- campaign has been the curbing of Upgrade; a mega deal of US$218 way to answering the question
blew my mind and got me excit- phrenic. grand corruption. Corruption is a million. NetOne was prejudiced goes through being answerable in
ed. The campaign created a storm form of tax borne by the citizens US$78 million from overcharging terms of: How is it being done?
amongst the citizens, triggering Another question was How Far and it is their right to ask that cor- by Huawei, its infrastructure part- Who did what? When exactly will
an avalanche of questions posed with the implementation of the ruption cases be arrested, prose- ner. The company was supposed the work be completed?
by citizens, making it clear more Office of the Auditor-General’s cuted, charged and the loot be re- to pay US$120 million or, in a
has to be done to make informa- recommendations? To date, the covered. The question demanded worst-case scenario, cough up a A few days after the Zim-
tion more public, open and acces- Auditor-General has made 356 answers to the Draxgate, National maximum of US$140 million. A codd-facilitated #HowFar cam-
sible. It resonated with the citi- recommendations but only 92 Social Security Authority (Nssa) number of government projects paign billboards were put up, un-
zens as it is common street lingo of them have been fully imple- and Zimbabwe National Road could have cost less with more identified people vandalised and
harnessed to be an agency igniter. mented, representing 26% com- Administration (Zinara) scandals. transparency, due diligence and defaced the one billboard asking
The question How Far? sounded mitment to address the findings. A quick scan of the corruption negotiations. for accountability over the Drax-
very relevant to use in public af- Of the 92 local authorities, only scandals in agriculture, energy, gate scandal. The government
fairs and easy to get traction from 23 councils have submitted finan- infrastructure, transport and tele- The How Far question, there- quickly responded to the cam-
the citizens to ask the government cial statements for 2019. These coms shows that the government fore, is a way of unravelling “ten- paign blandly, saying, “So-far-
questions regarding public finance anomalies defeat the constitution- has lost at least US$5.8 billion. derpreneurship” and bringing the so-good,” which is not compre-
accountability based on promises al principles of transparency and government to account. The ac- hensive enough to answer to this
and mandate of the government accountability in public finance The leakages are at procure- countability campaign demands critical question from citizens,
as stewards of the public purse. management under section 298 ment and execution stages where answers that speak to improve- from whom the power to govern
(1) (a) and the oversight role of the government gets a raw deal ment in public procurement, the is derived. It is a response that
Zimbabwe suffers many ac- Parliament under section 299 of due to lack of due diligence, vio- contracting of projects and get- perfectly fits within the mirror
countability deficits from its the constitution. While Zimba- lation of constitutional provisions ting the best deals that deliver on and window analogy. Answering
leadership. History throughout bwe fails to finance its own devel- requiring parliamentary approv- minimum costs, given the tight the How Far question cannot be
has exposed scandals and mis- opment, bemoans sanctions and al for certain deals and inflated fiscal space. done only using the mirror view
management of public funds. We alienation from the international prices emanating from the opacity which concentrates only on the
have heard before of the Marange community and remains with a in the awarding of contracts. For Many other questions have image in the mirror. The window
diamond mining saga, in which example, Kariba South Hydro been asked under the #HowFar
proceeds worth billions of US campaign on debt management,
dollars have not been accounted
for. What a missed opportunity
to transform the economy! The
Mkonoweshuro public service au-
dit exposed many ghost workers,
explaining a ballooning public
service wage bill. There was the
Chindori- Chininga diamond
report and many others comple-
mented by annual reports of the
Auditor-General. These are basic
contextual issues that have to be
dealt with if we are going to build
the trust and confidence.

The #HowFar campaign was
inspired by the need to facilitate
a multi-channel communication
public platform focused on facil-
itating citizens` involvement in
making public finance manage-
ment and policy more pro-people
and pro-poor. The questions that
need answers from the authorities
in Zimbabwe are many and the
campaign tackled some of them,
both online and on the streets.

One Zimcodd billboard asked:
How Far with mega deals? This is
a fundamental question for many
Zimbabweans who are living in
extreme poverty as 49% of the
population in Zimbabwe lives in
extreme poverty. Inequalities and
lack of access to basic services are
the lived realities of the majority
of Zimbabweans. This reality is
a dissonance to the government
pronouncements of mega deals
that amount to close to US$20.1
billion since 2017. Zimbabweans
are looking for transformational

NewsHawks The Big Debate Page 35

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

view approach will give aof full The government can achieve with foreign entities and as every government minis- inclusion and diversity in
range answers as it entails being this by facilitating the following contractual matters with try has an information offi- policy matters.
answerable to processes, obstacles, key principles of openness: fiscal obligations. cer. The information officer Ordinary Zimbabweans from
storms in the utilisation of public • Transparency and account- must be charged with con- all walks of life should take the
funds and offices that the govern- • Effective Participation - ability - The government solidating all information opportunity to join the #How-
ment has a mandate for prudent This entails informing, must actively account for and feeding into an open Far campaign and ask questions
stewardship. consulting, empowering its actions and inactions data portal. This includes that demand accountability at all
citizens to be part of deci- and take public responsi- circulating the information levels of government. The govern-
To build a culture of transpar- sion-making processes. This bility for those actions by in easy-to-understand lan- ment can say all the right things
ency and accountability, there is is in line with section 13 commission or omission. guage such that it reaches by using the mirror, but it is the
a need for both a proactive cit- of the constitution which Being answerable public- its full potential through citizens who can give the window
izenry and government. In the provides for the kind of ly is a sign of a maturing targeting the most margin- view and assess government com-
founding values and principles national development that democracy and answering alised in terms of receiving mitment to being transparent and
of the Zimbabwean constitution, is empowering and agency publicly to the How Far balanced information from accountable.
section 3 (2) (f ) says there must giving. While Parliament question rather than con- different sources. True development does not
be respect for the people of Zim- plays its role or represen- descending through the • Promoting collabora- build high walls around proj-
babwe from whom the authority tation, that is in no way mirror image defeats the tions and complementar- ects, it must allow public scru-
to govern is derived. The hallmark substitution of the people’s “new” in the dispensation. ity - Zimbabwe has gone tiny and it is about empowering
of that respect is ensuring that voice where it matters. The • Open Data - This means through many decades of the citizens for self-sustenance
there is transparency, justice, ac- new dispensation must re- the government must be binary narratives reducing and keeping those that govern in
countability and responsiveness to visit the Chindori-Chinin- active in providing open, accountability questions check. When we ask How Far, we
both private and public questions ga 2013 report to Parlia- complete, primary, timely, to toxic political ques- expect detailed responses from
that seek to foster the culture of ment which exposed the accessible, machine pro- tions. Being responsive to the government and clear steps to
accountability. While the govern- glaring gap when it comes cessable, non-discrimina- the How Far question can entrench accountability in public
ment has enacted the Freedom of to ministerial accountabil- tory, non-proprietary, li- be leveraged on by both finances and governance, no less.
Information Act (FoIA), which ity to Parliament. While cence-free data which must the government and the *About the writer: Janet Zhou is
the citizens must be proactive in that report was on the di- be made available and in ac- citizens to collaborate and the executive director of the Zim-
making use of, the government amond sector, the overstep- cordance with internation- co-create policies and prac- babwe Coalition On Debt and
must also be proactive in dispos- ping of parliamentary roles al standards for publishing tices that build stronger Development (Zimcodd), a so-
ing and putting in the public do- is similar across sectors and data on the web. This will social contract and respon- cio-economic justice movement.
main public interest information in key decision-making reduce applications for in- sibility for a more just and She writes in her own capacity.
as not all citizens have the capacity such as the management of formation by citizens, sim- equitable Zimbabwe. The Twitter handle: @JanetZhou_
or capabilities to apply for infor- the Consolidated Revenue plify access to information government and the citi- Mago
mation from government depart- Fund, debt management, protocols. This is easy to do zens alike have to embrace
ments. government agreements

Page 36 Reframing Issues NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

TERHEMBA WUAM Nigeria at 61: An African giant with
challenging crises amid opportunities
AS Nigeria marks its 61st anniver-
sary of independence, its citizens
are stuck in a  general anomie of
despondency. This is as a result
of  general insecurity in the coun-
try,  rising unemployment  and
high-cost of living.

It is also an age of anxiety, with
many measures of Nigeria’s so-
cioeconomic progress painting a
picture of a nation in great dis-
tress. Nigeria’s  economy has been
stagnant, growing at less than 1%
cumulatively during the past six
years, far below population growth
of 2.6%. It also has about 40% of
the population  of about 200 mil-
lion living below the poverty line.

The country is equally beset by
security and political challenges.
Boko Haram insurgents still oper-
ate in the north-east. In the north-
west, bandits are overwhelming the
security forces. In north-central
Nigeria,  deadly clashes  between
farmers and herders continue. And
separatist and irredentist agitations
resonate in the south-east  and
the south-west of the country.

Despite these problems, Nigeria
has made substantial socio-eco-
nomic progress, at least since 1999
when it returned to democracy af-
ter decades of military rule. It is
also a country with huge resources
that have yet to be fully tapped.
The biggest of these is Nigeria’s
educated citizens. The country had
a literate population of less than
5% at independence. Now, more
than 60% of the population is lit-
erate. Also, enrolment into tertiary
education keeps increasing.

The past 60 years ria’s economic fortunes are close- has also  affected agricultural pro- the Asian Tigers before their rapid existing economic values for proj-
A review of the past six decades ly aligned with oil prices which ductivity. Other factors include transformation to developed world ect and self-aggrandisement.
shows that the Fourth Republic, showed a  sharp decline  between government’s inability to articulate and high-income status.
which took off in 1999, has been 2014 and 2016. a clear economic agenda for the The state should be reoriented,
Nigeria’s golden era in terms of country. In addition,its monetary All the fundamentals are indic- and directed purposely towards a
economic and social indicators. The World Bank  has de- and fiscal policies  favouring dual ative of a country at the point of more expansive interpretation with
This reality is, however, a difficult scribed  the 70% drop during that exchange rates, and restrictions a great leap forward, the role of focus on rapid economic growth
one to present to the  millions of period as one of the three biggest on foreign trade through border an enlightened and well-educated and the provision of public goods
unemployed  who are out of work declines since World War II, and closures have limited recovery and population is crucial to that pro- that empower citizens to become
and struggling to cope with infla- the longest lasting since the sup- growth. cess. meaningful actors in the overall
tionary pressures on food and oth- ply-driven collapse of 1986. A national call to action positive transformation of their
er basic livelihood requirements. Nigeria requires a national leader- Despite limitations in the ed- society.
In response, Nigeria’s econo- ship with the understanding and ucation sector, Nigeria has more
Since 1999, Nigeria’s economy my, which had recorded an aver- capability to set the tone and di- than over  190 universities, the Such purposeful action by the
has grown more than sevenfold. age growth rate of 6.68% between rection for national growth and largest university and tertiary edu- national leadership, who must be
A big chunk of this is explained 1999 and 2015, has plunged in and development. This must incorpo- cation sector in Africa. The coun- clearly reformist, is required to al-
by the rebasing of the economy in out of negative figures since 2016. rate all citizens, irrespective of eth- try churns out millions of graduate ter the trajectory of poor economic
2014. It was found that the econo- Within this period, it  entered re- nic or geopolitical affiliation in a annually, creating the most educat- growth. It is also required to fos-
my was 60% bigger than previous cession twice.. Cumulative growth grand vision of collective dynamic ed workforce on the continent. ter sustained productivity gains in
estimates. since 2016 has averaged below 1%. growth. the country’s economy to generate
This growth represents both growth to average 6%-10% annu-
Before 2014, Nigeria had been Nigeria has taken steps to reduce A lack of such political leader- a challenge and an opportunity. ally. Such growth is what will en-
using the 1990 prices and the com- its reliance on oil. These measures ship denies the country of the pos- It will be a challenge and a huge able Nigeria to triple and possibly
position of economy to determine include  revival of the agricultur- sibility of meaningful growth and economic burden if productive op- quadruple its economy within the
its size. Yet, a lot had changed since al sector  as well as reducing gov- critical citizenry. portunities are not found for their next 10-15 years in a repeat of the
then. For example,  telecommu- ernment reliance on oil revenues engagement. Gainfully employed, first 20 years of the Fourth Repub-
nications had grown substantially by tax revenue from other sources. Nigeria remains a country of these educated millions can be har- lic.
with the introduction of mobile These have yet to pay off. And the great potential. Her fountain of nessed to drive Nigeria’s economic
telephony. Nollywood, Nigeria’s Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated possibilities can be found in its growth, thus promoting social sta- Inevitably, a growing economy
movie industry, has also expanded the economic downturn, plunging growing population of educated bility. represents the best pathway toward
and morphed into a  more profes- more into unemployment and pov- citizens. The population of the ed- Political leadership addressing many of the social and
sionally organised and run sector. erty. ucated at this very moment in the Nigeria challenge is not that its po- economic challenges Nigeria now
country’s history is at the thresh- litical leadership has been corrupt, faces in its seventh decade of inde-
Nigeria moved from  lower in- Nigeria’s government has invest- old or  point of national accelera- but that its has had limited ability pendence.
come to lower-middle income sta- ed in agriculture and has articulat- tion. An example is the country’s to govern the country effectively.
tus, based on national income per ed economic programmes for other burgeoning tech ecosystem largely Nigeria needs a modern political —The Conversation.
head of population, during the sectors, progress has been ham- driven by young people. It is at a administration where the state is
Fourth Republic. That is based pered by  inflationary pressures, point conterminous with those of not about maintenance of the sta- *About the writer: Terhemba
on  World Bank rankings. Other low oil prices and a weak currency. tus quo and the mere allocation of Wuam is professor of Economic
countries in this category include Government’s inability to arrest History at Kaduna State Univer-
Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Tunisia, In- the security crises in several states sity in Nigeria.
dia, Iran and Ukraine.
Economic difficulties
Nigeria’s economic difficulties
started in the mid-2010s. Nige-

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 37

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

How to revive African tourism
after the Covid-19 pandemic

TAFADZWA MATIZA behaviour. (health-related), psychological and (Mers) 2012 in Saudi Arabia also the demand for safe domes-
Perceived risk social risk as influences on tourist elicited a similar response from tic tourism. This would kick-
BEFORE the Covid-19 pandemic, As a primer to a series of future behaviour. tourists. start the tourism sector and
the global tourism industry con- studies, I reviewed the literature on prepare it for international
tributed US$9.2 trillion or 10.4%, health-related perceived risk and its Heightened perceived risk trig- International  studies  are already tourism. 
to global gross domestic product. potential impact on post-crisis tour- gers feelings of anxiety and appre- gathering evidence of the impact
It was considered one of the fast- ism. It is possible to anticipate the hension associated with travel and of the Covid-19 crisis on tourist Going forward
est-growing industries, accounting negative influence that perceived tourism. This affects the brand behaviour. But previous tourism The results of my study have sig-
for at least one in every four new risk will have on tourist behaviour, image of the crisis-affected coun- research already predicts a situation nificant implications for African
jobs globally. and ultimately both domestic and tries and influences tourists’ deci- of multiple risk factors influencing tourism practitioners. The domestic
international tourism demand. sion-making. As a result tourists tourists. Critical to post-crisis tour- tourism sector, much like the global
Fast forward to 2021, and the delay their trips and change their ism will be mitigating the potential tourism industry, faces a multifac-
pandemic has all but crippled the My study provides insights into choice of destination. In some cas- health and safety concerns that may eted challenge. It comes from both
sector. Tourism demand – arrivals, the lessons learnt from previous cri- es they cancel their planned tourist discourage tourism. the tourism demand side (perceived
travel, and the use of facilities and ses in tourism, and what tourism activity. health, social and psychological
services – contracted by an estimat- practitioners did to mitigate the My study found that multiple risk) and the supply side (massive
ed 74% in 2020. effects of perceived risk on tourists. For example, as a result of the stakeholders need to be involved in fiscal deficits, job losses, business
It also provides practical actions the 2003 Sars outbreak, some Asian the tourism recovery process. These liquidation and human capital de-
This has cost the industry up- sector can take to recover. countries such as China and Singa- include: pletion).
wards of US$1.3 trillion and has pore  suffered significant slumps in Tourism practitioners need to be
compromised millions of jobs. Previous  studies  of tourist be- tourism demand. Tourists avoided • National governments. They aware of the influence of health-re-
haviour show that the uncertain- travelling to the region because of must harness the financial, lated physical risk on tourists’  per-
The African region  shed  an esti- ty and negative consequences of health and safety concerns. human and technical re- ceptions  and intentions. It’s likely
mated US$83 billion in GDP con- tourism often go beyond the crisis sources required to support that tourists will feel that home is
tribution (down by 49.2%), and event. My study explored physical The Ebola outbreaks in Sierra Le- the tourism recovery. Crit- safer than abroad. This would be a
lost up to 7.2 million industry jobs one and Guinea in 2008, and the ically, governments must benefit for domestic tourism.
compared to 2019 levels. Middle East respiratory syndrome effectively manage both the
efficient rollout of vaccina- Moreover, measures such as pro-
The impact of health crises such tion  programmes  and the moting mask-wearing, sanitising,
as Sars, H1N1 and Ebola were not responsible reopening of the social distancing, digitising some
on the scale of the disaster brought tourism economy to domes- service processes and promoting
by the Covid-19 pandemic. This tic and international tour- vaccination will be vital to the re-
impact was made worse by govern- ists.  covery and promotion of domestic
ment interventions to  mitigate  the tourism.
spread and effect of the virus. • Custodians of destination
brands. Marketers must pro- Tourism practitioners must work
But vaccines offer hope for the in- mote African destinations out how to time supply and de-
dustry. Its recovery must begin with as attractive but socially re- mand. This can include product
domestic tourism. In 2019, do- sponsible locations. They innovation and pricing reforms to
mestic tourism  accounted  for only must share information such cater to domestic tourists and keep
50.2% of the travel and tourism as measures put in place to up with new tourist demands. 
receipts in the sub-Saharan African protect tourists, so as to help
region – lower than other regions. people make their decisions.  *About the writer: Tafadzwa
Matiza is a senior lecturer and re-
It’s critical now for African desti- • Tourism service provid- searcher at North-West University
nations to promote domestic tour- ers.  Most importantly, tour- in South Africa.
ism, which also  paves the way  for ism product owners must
international tourism. The key will innovate and adapt their
be the ability to predict the poten- tourism offerings to meet
tial effects of Covid-19 on tourist

Page 38 RTehfreaBmiginDg eIbssautes NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Of currency, arrests and defunct economists

TINASHE MURAPATA would Mugabe have done?  

IN unbelievable candour, President The idea of an auction with a pri-
Emmerson Mnangagwa’s biogra- ority list is straight out of Mugabe’s
pher, associate and economist, Eddie playbook. It was never done to facil-
Cross, revealed in an interview with itate the market. But rather to know
publisher Trevor Ncube his advice to with the intention of controlling the
newly-appointed minister of Finance major importers in the country. Mug-
Mthuli Ncube.  abe thought this was vital security and
political information.  
“Call the street vendors and hear The fixing of the auction rate is ex-
them out,” Cross recounts the inci- actly what Mugabe would do. Mug-
dent. In his own words, “that’s the abe did not believe in markets. He de-
real economy”. Wagging his finger moted and derided as stupid anyone
at Ncube for emphasis, he concludes who argued that markets can regulate
“those guys are sharp”.  pricing. He preferred economists and
intellectuals who pandered to his in-
Less than a month after those re- stinct that prices must be determined
marks, the government is after the by the government, since the govern-
foreign currency market traders, ment is the biggest economic unit in
cracking down on and arresting them the country. 
for their activities. Jailing them with- Former Finance minister Patrick
out bail.   Chinamasa was called stupid for sug-
gesting that the government could not
Former Reserve Bank of Zimba- afford civil servants bonuses. Samuel
bwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono Undenge became a whole minister
had a similar exercise targeting street because he wrote paid-for adverts on
traders. He, too, claimed the good central planning and its virtues.  
work the auction system had accom- Mugabe had his favourite business
plished was being undermined by ille- people that “solved” his problems. It
gal street forex traders. As a result, at is them he gave parastatals such as the
least 23 000 people were nabbed and Grain Marketing Board and Noczim
charged.  bills, and then diamond mining con-
cessions and tenders. 
The newspapers, during the blitz, Mugabe would personally thank
carried thunderous headlines label- them using their totem on his private
ling the traders as “cash hoarders” or lines. He invited them for tea and
“illicit forex barons”, using a flurry of biscuits.  He called them patriots.
superlatives against them. Never mind they were making hand-
over-fist money by monopolising the
Instead of them accepting respon- sectors.  
sibility then for the printing and Nothing has changed today. Com-
profligacy, no one in power wanted mand Agriculture was not misnamed.
accountability.  It is straight out of Stalin’s handbook.  
By arresting market traders, the
In the world of Neverland, Peter second republic has shown itself to be
Pan always finds an excuse not to anti-markets. 
grow up.    Anti-price discovery. It has con-
Eddie Cross. tinued on Mugabe’s path of not be-
In fact, at the time Gono was quot- coup, it grew by 33% from $6 billion ment. Five months after the coup, utes 19% to GDP, while agriculture lieving a country can go broke. It has
ed by The Herald as saying: “I must to $8 billion.   money supply grew 0% from Decem- and mining contribute 9% and 7% its “patriotic” businessmen to whom
reiterate that I am going to print ber 2017 to April 2008. It remained respectively. Both combined are less payments are done without recourse
and print and sign the money until It is obvious the introduction of at $8 billion. that of the wholesale and retail sector.    to the consequences.  
sanctions are removed and there is bond notes precipitated money print- Remittances and aid prop up con- Governments the world over hold
balance-of-payments support. It’s a ing. The money printing -- of which At the same time, foreign direct in- sumption, not production.   the monopoly to print money. The
commitment I am ready to be fired RBZ holds the monopoly -- caused vestment and new debt (in the private The auction system did not propel exchange rate is a price. It values how
for because we need money for infra- the rate to spike.   sector) on the promise of anything production. Instead it subsidised im- much foreigners want your local cur-
structural development”.  but Mugabe started flowing in. Real ports and consumption. It took away rency. Foreigners demand a country’s
Did market traders print or ma- dollars flowed into the country and money from exporters and gave it to local currency for higher-yielding in-
That was on 1 October. Never nipulate the markets with the extra stabilised the rate.   importers for consumptive goods. Ex- terest rate than home country. 
mind the year.    ZW$2 billion in four months?  porters scared of the government and To buy local goods for consump-
However, the new dispensation its brutal ways have chosen to keep tion. When they invest in the local
Is there an iota of truth, as the Mugabe was never given to mar- was hasty and lost control towards currency in foreign currency accounts country and seek a return on their
state-controlled The Herald claims, ket fundamentals. His derision of the the elections. The election period saw than trade it at the auction or parallel money.  
that market traders are the cause of concept of supply and demand was money supply increase by $3.3 bil- market. They now face viability prob- The value of the local currency is
the parallel market rate spiralling out made evident when he sniggered that lion, beating Mugabe’s own record. lems as they get 80c for every dollar determined by how much foreign-
of control?   a country never gets broke. When the Unprecedented, even with the low of export.   ers demand it. For example, in the
country required that the scare for- bar Mugabe had set.  The US$2 billion of remittances United Kingdom lots of bureaux de
The Sunday Mail, another eign currency resources, Mugabe was has avoided the foreign auction like a change openly advertised and sold the
state-controlled paper, on 3 October buying aeroplanes in Malaysia and By October the rate had moved to plague. If the auction was the correct Zimbabwe dollar. That was because
this year, rehashed an old opinion his kids rolled in Rolls-Royce luxury US$1: ZW$6 from 1.3 before calm- price, then the people would freely Zimbabwe was a top tourist destina-
piece under the headline: “We declare sedans. His wife bought a palace in ing down to US$1: ZW$3.   trade on it. What of those who earn tion for many English visitors who
war against greed”.  Sandton.   in US dollars? Why do they not pay demanded the local currency. 
What caused this?   their bills using the auction rate?   Similarly, the stock market was
Does the evidence support this?   Yet at the time propaganda out- The foreign exchange market rate quoted in the Zimdollar. And inves-
To gather perspective, a detour is lets screamed Zimbabwe had signed came down because of the new Afrex- Ideology matters  tors wanted the return and so de-
necessary. On the eve of the military a Russian platinum deal and all was imbank loans that injected dollars It is often said men, like lions, behave manded local currency.  
coup in November 2017, Zimbabwe well.   into the market. Supply and demand. on instinct. The instinct in men is Therefore, if there is an oversupply
experienced a foreign currency ex- Market traders only respond to these ideology. It rules over us consciously of Zimdollars, foreigners are not keen
change rate spike for a premium of The man was clearly high off pow- market developments. Afreximbank or unconsciously.  on it.  
20% to 90% in six months. That is er. Could Mangudya as the RBZ gov- loans helped to ameliorate import de- Maynard Keynes went further to The over-supply of Zimbabwe dol-
premium paid in local currency for ernor have refused to buy the aero- mand pressure by paying directly for argue “the ideas of economists and lars means that foreigners and locals
every United States dollar. All indica- planes? The truth is the decision was the importation of fuel in the coun- political philosophers, both when prefer a currency that retains value.
tions were that the rate would surpass made at State House, not at RBZ.   try.  The loans kept on increasing un- they are right and when they are That is why the market is trading
100% premium by end of November.   til they reached their limit at US$1.4 wrong, are more powerful than is mostly in US dollars. Because there is
Perhaps the late former president The printing press caused the rate billion.   commonly understood. Indeed, the an over-supply of Zimbabwe dollars.  
Robert Mugabe at the material time to spike in Nov 2017. Post coup, the The rate continues to move because world is ruled by little else. Practical If there is an over-supply of toma-
could have accused the street traders rate came down from the premium of government lacks discipline. The con- men, who believe themselves to be toes, the price comes down. You do
of manipulating the rate to cause his 90% to 30%.  donation bill of US$10.6 billion is quite exempt from any intellectual not arrest street vendors for selling
ouster?   all the proof. The RBZ is sitting on influences, are usually slaves of some tomatoes cheaply. 
Data tells a different story. Bond Why did the then newly sworn in external loans of over US$5 billion. defunct economist.” 
notes were introduced on 4 May President Emmerson Mnangagwa in- A piercing hole in its books that re- The second republic is still ruled *About the writer: Tinashe Mu-
2016. For a good 12 months, the vite such optimism and confidence? quires debt servicing.  by Mugabenomics. In their conversa- rapata is founder and CEO of Leon
parallel market rate premium was less The confidence, apart from self-pro- Zimbabwe’s anchor has been dias- tions they still ask themselves: What Africa.
than 10%. Then it spiked in the four motion, was also backed by a halt in pora remittances and aid. Not pro-
months prior to the coup. The RBZ money creation.  duction. That is why Zimbabwe’s
money supply figures attest to exactly largest GDP sector is wholesale and
what happened.   In the first four months of Mnan- retail distribution. The sector contrib-
When bond notes were intro- gagwa’s presidency, monthly money
duced, money supply was $5 billion. supply moved from 10% to 0%. Lit-
It grow by 20% to $6 billion in 13 erally a major halt!  
months (at the time the exchange rat-
ed was 1:1). This was a remarkable achieve-
In the four months prior to the

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 39

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

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Page 40 Africa News NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Mozambique crisis: Rwandan troops
find sex slaves and destroyed mosques
ROTTING fruit lies beneath mighty
mango trees in northern Mozambique The town of Quitunda was one of the few places that was not empty.
— an area empty of the people who
would usually pick them. doned for much longer, going by their nades and anti-aircraft weapons. other supplies,” she told me. will never be the same again.
state of disrepair. Soldiers said they A prisoner of war was also kept She and some others had managed Mozambican forces are now sta-
Over the last four years, many vil- found bunkers there.
lages and towns in Cabo Delgado have ‘Mosques destroyed’ there, an 18-year-old former fisher- to flee when helicopters hovered above tioned in the areas recently occupied
been abandoned — but in the last Only on one stop, Quitunda, did we man, who told journalists he was cap- them in recent weeks, forcing the by the militants. But one cannot help
month Islamist militants have been find the lively sounds of children play- tured by the fighters and recruited by fighters, who always kept guard, to notice how well-equipped and co-or-
pushed back by a 1 000-strong contin- ing football and a man in his 80s, who force. run away. dinated the Rwandan army is in com-
gent of Rwandan troops. sat on a log, watching the game. Sex slaves threatened parison.
Some of the women who had been res- Another former captive, a 24-year-
Buildings lie in ruins, roofs caved “We don’t know what the rebels cued from captivity were more forth- old woman, told me she had watched In Pemba, I asked visiting Rwandan
in, evidence of shelling or blasts still want,” he told me. “They’ve destroyed coming. them kill two women who had tried President Paul Kagame about the cost
visible. Walls falling apart and weeds our mosques, they’ve attacked church- to escape. of the operation, funded, we had been
growing right inside what were once es.” We met them in Pemba, where told, by his government.
human dwellings. many of them had fled. The militants instilled fear and
He moved here when he heard that mistrust among them. Some captives “It is a fact that it is costly,” he re-
I was among a group of journalists the militants had left. A mother of six told me she had would inform on each other if they sponded, “So, we need more support.”
seeing, for the first time, the destruc- been taken from her farm together overheard plans to flee.
tion left behind by some of the least He’d like to go back to his home in with three of her youngest children. He is often criticised for the way he
known Islamist militants in the world. the port city of Mocímboa da Praia - The militants were active at night treats dissent in Rwanda but he has be-
Locals referred to them by the Arabic but it’s in ruins. Not a single building They were made to walk for at least and forced them to sleep during the come a hero in Mozambique.
name for youth - al-Shabab. I saw there had been spared the effects a week taking short breaks. day, she told me.
of years of fighting. At the government-organised event,
But they have no connection to the “They’d beat the children up if they They would take the women to vil- local people waved flags and pictures
better known group of the same name At the town’s airstrip, Rwandan sol- complained that they were tired,” she lages they controlled to harvest food of him.
based in Somalia. They are said to be diers showed us the weapons they had said. - mostly cassava. But it was barely
affiliated to the Islamic State. recovered from militants. enough to feed the fighters and their The Mozambican government
The militants kept her as a sex slave captives. is urging people to return to their
“It is more of ideological affiliation,” Mostly AK-47s, some of them had for over a year. homes. Rwandan forces will remain
Rwanda’s military spokesman Colonel been painted with names, presumably, “Please help rescue those who are in Cabo Delgado until they are reset-
Ronald Rwivanga told us. of the fighters who once owned them. As we spoke she breastfed a baby still in captivity,” she pleaded. tled. The militants may be on the back
There were also rocket-propelled gre- she had conceived and delivered while foot, but residents fear the conflict is
The Rwandan forces took us on a in captivity. She wants to go back home to her far from over.
tour of the province, following the husband and children, but she does
routes taken over the last few weeks. “There wasn’t enough food or any not know how they will react. Her life — BBC.

One group moved from Palma in
the north, the scene of a hotel attack in
which dozens were killed in March —
some of the victims were later found
beheaded with hands tied to their
backs. The attack forced French ener-
gy giant Total to shut down its natural
gas plant there.

A second group advanced from the
south-west of the province with both
Rwandan divisions moving towards
the port city of Mocímboa da Praia,
which they took on 8 August as Mo-
zambican maritime forces cut off sea
access.

They encountered ambushes and
skirmishes along the way as the mili-
tants fled south towards the forests of
Quirimbas National Park with their
captives and casualties, Col Rwivan-
ga said. About 100 insurgents were
killed, and Rwanda lost four men in
the offensive, he said.

At the Islamists’ military and spir-
itual headquarters of Mbau, many
houses appeared to have been aban-

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NewsHawks Africa News Page 41

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Book review: Nigeria has democracy
but not development. How to fix this
best and brightest Nigerians are no lon-
AYOKUNU ADEDOKUN has continued to increase since 1999. More specifically, Edigheji zooms in on vision of public goods. These include ger in the civil service.
At 33%, Nigeria’s unemployment rate two principal explanations that account education, healthcare and infrastruc-
AFTER struggling for 39 years to de- is among the highest in the world. for democracy without development: ture, or national policies, such as inter- Non-merit-based recruitment and
velop a fertile ground for democratic Youth unemployment is higher than poor leadership and weak institutions. national trade and monetary policy. promotion have brought about ineffi-
governance, Nigeria had its turning for older workers. This means the risks In this, he goes beyond the conven- ciency in the public service, low-levels
point in May 1999 when it became of violent conflict and civil unrest are tional argument that the prospects Nigeria’s political elites since 1999 of economic development and higher
the  world’s fourth largest democracy. especially high. of democracy and development in a have not been developmentalist. They corruption.
This came after 16 years of brutal mil- post-colonial country are invariably have been rent-seeking and predatory.
itary rule. And despite anti-corruption cam- linked to its level of economic devel- Pathways to democracy with devel-
paigns, Nigeria is still perceived to be opment, political culture and social The second contributing factor to opment
Despite complaints of fraud  by one of the most corrupt countries in make-up. democracy without development has For Nigeria to overcome its devel-
political opposition in each election the world. Nigeria  ranked 149 out of been the capture of the state. This has opmental and institutional deficits,
held since 1999, local and internation- 180 countries in 2020, the second low- First, he blames Nigeria’s democracy been achieved through a non-merit- Edigheji argues for a democratic devel-
al election observers have regarded each est in West Africa after Guinea-Bissau. without development on two factors. based recruitment and promotion of opmental state.
of Nigeria’s general elections as relative- These are a lack of an ideology of devel- civil servants, the core of which is the
ly free and fair. Then there is the security issue. Ban- opment nationalism and the prepon- civil service. The term developmental state was
dits, separatists and Islamist insurgents derance of politics without principles. coined during much of the 1980s and
On the economic front, Nigeria increasingly threaten government’s grip The ideology of development national- The efficient and effective manage- 1990s to describe countries which had
is now the largest economy in Africa on power. Mass kidnappings, killings, ism is not only about national identity, ment of the civil service is central to experienced rapid economic growth
and 26th globally. It now attracts more maiming and other forms of insecurity consciousness or a feeling of belonging sustainable and equitable economic de- through state-led interventions. These
foreign investments than in the mili- are on the rise nationwide. This is true to a particular nation. Instead, it is pre- velopment. This is underscored by the include Japan, South Korea, Taiwan,
tary era. even in more stable parts of the coun- mised on the need to catch up and to experiences of the Asian Tigers (Hong Singapore and Vietnam.
try. By and large, the book empirically overcome underdevelopment, depen- Kong, Singapore, South Korea and
Taken together, the Nigerian demo- demonstrates that the democratic ex- dence on foreign countries and poverty. Taiwan) and the Tiger Cub economies Edigheji sets out some of the key el-
cratic experiment seems to have come periment of the last 20 years has had (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, ements of a democratic developmental
a long away. negative results on Nigerians. Nigeria’s The ideology of development na- Thailand and Vietnam). state:
corrupt political elites (with a few ex- tionalism, Edigheji argues, can only
But has democracy led to develop- ceptions) have largely been the benefi- be promoted by developmentalist or In the 1960s and 1970s, Nigeria had First, Nigerian politics needs to be
ment in Nigeria? The award-winning ciaries of the democratic experiment. patriotic elites. That’s because they do one of the best and most meritocratic driven by developmentalist elites whose
international political economist Oma- Not the masses. not engage in the politics of self-enrich- civil services in Africa. politics is anchored on the people and
no Edigheji, in his new book, Nigeria Explanations of democracy without ment that undermines the collective political parties based on ideology.
Democracy Without Development: development national interest. Instead, they make It was made up of mostly career civ-
How To Fix It, argues powerfully that Edigheji focuses on structural and necessary sacrifices to achieve their col- il servants. They progressed based on Second, the political elites need to
Nigerian democratic experiment is agent-based factors of the state as the lective goals. qualifications, performance and senior- transform the structure of the econ-
marred by monumental flaws. This is likely explanatory factors behind Nige- ity. omy. They can do this by promoting
notwithstanding the modest progress it ria’s democracy without development. Developmentalist elites have a shared human capital development, infra-
has achieved. vision for national development. This Today, however, Nigeria has one of structural development, and industri-
includes massive investment in the pro- the worst civil services in Africa. Re- alisation. They must also combat the
The book offers interesting detail cruitment and promotion have become challenges of insecurity, corruption and
and finely reasoned conjecture about politicised and ethnicised, particularly climate change.
the paradoxical relationship between since 1999. The result has been that the
democracy and development in Nige- But achieving these depend on in-
ria. clusive political and economic institu-
tions.
In this review, I organise the main
ideas of the book into three parts: Unanswered question
• the paradox of democracy without Notwithstanding the enormous con-
tributions of the book, some questions
development in Nigeria; remain to be fully answered. These
• explanations of democracy with- include the suitability of the develop-
mental state model as a panacea for Ni-
out development in Nigeria; and geria’s challenges.
• pathways to democracy with de-
The first question centres on under-
velopment in Nigeria. standing the processes that produced
The paradox of liberal democracy developmental states. How did devel-
The book demonstrates that Nigeria opmental states achieve their success-
continues to face massive developmen- es in economic development? What
tal and institutional challenges. This is worked, what didn’t, and why?
despite the implementation of western
liberal democracy and the good gover- The second centres on the possibil-
nance reforms driven by donors. The ities and the lessons Nigeria can draw
challenges include human capital defi- from developmental states elsewhere.
cits and extreme poverty. This is due to Would a developmental state model
under-investment in health, education work in Nigeria? If yes, how?
and infrastructure. For example, Nige-
ria’s human development index  value Overall, the book makes a compel-
for 2020 was 0.539, placing the coun- ling argument for why democracy has
try in the low human development failed to produce inclusive develop-
category. ment in Nigeria. It offers perceptive
insights into what the country needs
Of all African countries, Nigeria to do to overcome its developmental
faces the most significant challenges and institutional deficits. It’s a very
for reducing poverty and inequality illuminating book and enjoyable to
due to rapid population growth. More read. It is a valuable book for students,
than  40% of Nigerians  (83 million scholars, policymakers, politicians and
people) live below the poverty line of development practitioners who want
$1.90 a day. to comprehend the political dynamics
of Nigeria. It is also an important con-
Another 25% (53 million) are vul- tribution to the literature on the chal-
nerable. Yet, the combined wealth of lenges of democracy and development
Nigeria’s five richest men is $29.9 bil- in the global South.
lion. According to a  recent report  by
Oxfam International, the combined —The Conversation.
wealth of the Nigeria’s five richest men
could end national poverty. The impli- *About the book reviewer: Ayokunu
cation here is that democracy has led to Adedokun is assistant professor of
massive increases in poverty and eco- Public Policy and International De-
nomic inequality in Nigeria. velopment at Leiden University in the
Netherlands.
The book flags another major chal-
lenge: high unemployment, which

Page 42 World News NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

THE High Court has found that the Princess Haya: Dubai ruler had
ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed ex-wife’s phone hacked - UK court
Al Maktoum, interfered with British
justice by ordering the hacking of the
phone of his ex-wife, Princess Haya
of Jordan.

The phones of her solicitors, Bar-
oness Fiona Shackleton QC and Nick
Manners, were also targeted during
their divorce custody case, according
to the court. Princess Haya said the
discovery had made her feel “hunted
and haunted”.

Sheikh Mohammed denied any
knowledge of the hacking.

He said the court’s findings were
based on evidence that was not dis-
closed to him, and that they were
“made in a manner which was un-
fair”.

The judgments are a blow to the
sheikh and a further revelation as to
his treatment of female members of
his family.

‘Serial breaches’ Haya at the Family Division of the Sheikh Mohammed has denied any knowledge of the hacking of Princess Haya’s phone.
The High Court judgments,  which High Court, her legal team said the an urgent phone call made by Che-
were published on Wednesday af- hacking took place with his “express rie Blair QC, the wife of former UK
ternoon, referred to the hacking as or implied authority”. Prime Minister Tony Blair, to Baron-
“serial breaches of (UK) domestic ess Shackleton. Mrs Blair acts as an
criminal law”, “in violation of fun- The president of the court con- adviser to NSO Group on business
damental common law and ECHR cluded that “in relation to the mother and human rights related issues.
rights”, “interference with the process (Princess Haya), it is clear that the A senior member of NSO’s man-
of this court and the mother’s access [hacking] attempt succeeded with agement team called Mrs Blair from
to justice” and “abuse of power” by a a very substantial amount of data Israel on 5 August 2020 to inform
head of government. (265MB) being covertly extracted her that “it had come to their at-
from her phone”. tention that their software may have
The president of the Family Divi- been misused to monitor the mobile
sion of the High Court found that Sheikh Mohammed denied any phones of Baroness Shackleton and
“the mobile phones of the mother knowledge of the hacking and said he HRH Princess Haya”.
(Princess Haya), two of her solicitors, did not instruct anyone to use NSO The NSO staff member then told
her personal assistant and two mem- “or any software in this way”. His Mrs Blair that those phones could no
bers of her security staff had been legal team said he was not prepared longer be accessed using NSO soft-
the subject of either successful or at- to enter into any debate in relation ware and they asked for her help in
tempted infiltration by surveillance to what security systems the UAE contacting Baroness Shackleton.
software. The software used is called might have. The allegations against NSO, which has previously been
Pegasus software and was that of an Dubai’s ruler were supported by testi- accused by human rights groups of
Israeli company, the NSO Group.” mony given by an expert technology enabling autocratic states to carry out
witness, Dr William Marczak, who is intrusive surveillance of dissidents
The court concluded that the sur- based in California and is a senior re- and journalists, has insisted in pub-
veillance was carried out “by servants search fellow at the University of To- lic statements that it only supplied
or agents of the father (Sheikh Mo- ronto’s Citizen Lab, which researches its spyware to enable governments to
hammed), the Emirate of Dubai or digital surveillance. counter criminals and terrorists.
the [United Arab Emirates] and that NSO is believed to have terminat-
the surveillance occurred with the He told the court he had no doubt ed its contract with the UAE.
express or implied authority of the the phones were hacked using NSO’s ‘Living in fear of her life’
father”. Pegasus software. He also conclud- The hack took place during a criti-
Difficult to detect ed “with high confidence” that the cal phase in Sheikh Mohammed and
The extent of the hack is shocking in phones were hacked by a single oper- Princess Haya’s divorce custody case
what data it gave the hackers access ator in a nation state. He concluded at the High Court in the summer of
to. NSO’s Pegasus software, often re- with medium confidence that it was last year.
ferred to as “spyware”, is able to track most unlikely to be any state other The guardian appointed for her
the location of the individual using than the UAE. children said it “impacts crucially
the phone, read their SMS messages, Alarm raised by Cherie Blair on the mother and her wellbeing. It
emails and messages in other apps, Princess Haya’s legal team first became
as well as eavesdrop on their phone aware that they had been hacked after
calls and access their contact list,
passwords, calendar dates and pho-
tographs. In other words, it gives
the hacker complete access to all the
data they want to see in their target’s
phone. It also allows the hacker to ac-
tivate the target’s phone without their
knowledge, recording their activity
and even taking photographs and
screenshots.

Similar spyware is alleged to have
been deployed by Saudi government
agents, working on the orders of the
Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Sal-
man, against dissidents living abroad,
including associates of the murdered
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

It is extremely difficult for a victim
of such spyware to even detect that
their phone has been infected with
Pegasus.
‘Very substantial amount of data’
In the ongoing custody case between
Sheikh Mohammed and Princess

NewsHawks World News Page 43

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

is a very pernicious experience if the gations that he kidnapped and forc- King Hussein of Jordan and half-sis- have been made public, although he eign court.”
mother has been subjected to surveil- ibly returned to Dubai two of his ter of King Abdullah II, fled Dubai in did not seek to appeal the most recent He added: “Neither the Emirate of
lance of the type that she understands own daughters, Sheikha Latifa and 2019 for Britain along with her two order permitting publication of these
that she has been”. Sheikha Shamsa. This February, BBC children after learning that her hus- judgments. Dubai nor the UAE are party to these
Panorama obtained secretly filmed band had ordered the abduction of proceedings and they did not partic-
Princess Haya’s legal team told footage of Sheikha Latifa  saying she Sheikha Latifa and Sheikha Shamsa. Wednesday’s ruling that, despite ipate in the hearing. The findings are
the court that “the mother has been was imprisoned by her father in a villa his denials, a sovereign ruler has in- therefore inevitably based on an in-
living in fear of her life frankly, and converted into a jail. She has since said she is living in terfered in the course of British jus- complete picture.
in fear of the children’s security since fear of her life after receiving threat- tice by ordering the hacking of UK
April of [2019]”. She recounted how she had at- ening messages from agents of her phones, including of a member of the “In addition, the findings were
tempted to escape her family by former husband. Now her legal team House of Lords is both shocking, em- based on evidence that was not dis-
The court also heard how Sheikh boat in 2018 but was recaptured by is accusing agents of the Emirate of barrassing and damaging to Sheikh closed to me or my advisers. I there-
Mohammed had attempted to buy a armed men off the coast of India, Dubai of acting on his behalf in hack- Mohammed’s international reputa- fore maintain that they were made in
property in Surrey, Parkwood Estate, tranquilised and forcibly returned to ing the phones of Princess Haya, her tion. a manner which was unfair.”
so close to his ex-wife’s home at Cas- Dubai. The UN later demanded to solicitors, Baroness Shackleton and
tlewood, that “if anyone chose to use see proof she was alive and well. Nick Manners, as well as her personal Summing up the hacking allega- Embarrassing as this is for Sheikh
it, it is in prime position for direct or assistant and two members of her se- tions made by Princess Haya, her Mohammed, there is little or no pros-
electronic surveillance”. Photographs have since been curity staff. barrister Nicholas Cusworth QC told pect of his ever having to face any po-
posted on social media showing her the court: “It is now clear, essentially, lice questioning.
Her legal team said “there is a accompanied by female friends in a The hacking took place in July and that the mother is engaged in a terri-
powerful objective case as to why the Dubai mall, and holidaying in Ma- August 2020 “at a time of signifi- ble game, a terrible life or death game As Dubai’s sovereign ruler, he re-
mother should be genuinely in fear drid and Iceland. Human rights cam- cant events” in the court proceedings of grandmother’s footsteps in the mains a huge figure in the equestrian
if the father has access to a property paigners remain suspicious that she when hearings were taking place over dark. While she seeks answers about world, he owns extensive properties in
overbearing her own”. is still not at liberty or able to speak the welfare of the children. property purchases, hackers appar- the UK and has been photographed
freely. ently get to work interfering with her with the Queen at race meetings
Referring to the proposed prop- The judgment concluded that “the privileged communications.” such as Ascot. The emirate of Dubai
erty purchase, Princess Haya told A law firm saying it is acting on her allegations of hacking came before is home to around 100,000 British
the court: “It feels as if I am being behalf has asked the media to leave the court at a time when it had al- After the publication of the judg- expatriates and both he and the wid-
stalked, that there is literally nowhere her alone. During the recent hearings ready made very serious findings ments Sheikh Mohammed said in er UAE government are considered
for me to go to be safe from (the fa- in the High Court, Princess Haya’s against the father”. a statement: “I have always denied close allies of the UK.
ther), or those acting in his interests. legal team said that previous abduc- ‘Terrible life or death game’ the allegations made against me and
It is hugely oppressive.” tions were made possible by hacking, During the long-running custody I continue to do so. These matters The story is unlikely to get much
Daughters ‘forcibly returned’ which “enabled the identification of case at the High Court, Sheikh Mo- concern supposed operations of state coverage in the government-moni-
Sheikh Mohammed, a close ally of the whereabouts of Princess Latifa hammed has tried on several occa- security. tored media in the UAE, and here in
Britain’s and a billionaire racehorse and she was then rendered back to sions through appeals to keep details London the UAE Embassy has de-
owner, was found by the High Court Dubai”. of the allegations against him out of “As a head of government involved clined to comment on the case, say-
in March 2020 to have threatened Hacked during ‘significant events’ the public eye. But both in March in private family proceedings, it was ing it is a private family matter.
and intimidated Princess Haya. Princess Haya, a daughter of the late 2020 and now, in October 2021, they not appropriate for me to provide evi-
dence on such sensitive matters either The sheikh himself has sovereign
The court also found proven alle- personally or via my advisers in a for- immunity from any future potential
prosecution.

—BBC.

Page 44 World News NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Lawmakers, regulators around the world
take action in the wake of Pandora Papers

OFFICIALS around the globe cite the European Commission Paolo Gentiloni appears at a European Parliament session on Oct. 6, 2021, where members discussed the implications the Pandora Papers have
biggest offshore leak ever in moving on efforts to combat money laundering, tax evasion and avoidance.
forward legislation and probes, as pol-
iticians named in the investigation con- orchestrate  two of the world’s biggest as legitimate income. Bribery or Corruption to investigate Wednesday, Leung, who had not re-
tinue to respond publicly. alleged frauds. Baker McKenzie, lob- “Our laws require banks to report the Sri Lankan individuals named in sponded to ICIJ’s repeated requests for
bying for big banks and big tech, also the Pandora Papers, local media report- comment, denied wrongdoing and said
US lawmakers are set to respond pushed back against proposals aimed at suspicious financial activity, but not ed. that, at the time, he was not required
to the Pandora Papers with landmark strengthening financial regulatory over- other enablers of money laundering, to declare details of his holding and the
legislation that would crack down on sight and tax laws. like law firms & art dealers,” At the same time, Thirukumar Na- deal.
professional enablers who move dirty THE KING’S REAL ESTATE desan, the husband of former minis-
money for corrupt clients. EMPIRE: The Pandora Papers showed Rep. Malinowski wrote on Twitter. ter  Nirupama Rajapaksa  whose off- Bulgaria’s anti-corruption com-
how the world’s most rich and politi- “That’s a loophole kleptocrats can sail shore deals were  exposed in the ICIJ mission announced that it had begun
The bipartisan measure would re- cally connected use shell companies to a yacht through, so I’m introducing a investigation, called for an independent analyzing wealth declarations filed by
quire a broad array of middlemen — dodge scrutiny in international real es- bipartisan bill to close it.” investigation into the reporting, ac- former parliament member Delyan
including lawyers, accountants, real es- tate transactions. Real estate profession- More fallout around the world cording to Sri Lankan press reports. Slavchev Peevski. On Tuesday, ICIJ’s
tate professionals, trust administrators, als helped King Abdullah II of Jordan Meanwhile, governments and political media partner in Bulgaria, BIRD, pub-
art dealers, financial advisers and public buy luxury homes  in London, Wash- figures in other countries continued to In a letter addressed to the president, lished a story revealing that Peevski was
relations professionals — to ensure they ington DC, and Malibu with offshore react to the Pandora Papers. Nadesan expressed a preference for a linked to offshore companies not listed
aren’t laundering black market income. companies. The transactions — total- retired judge to take up the investiga- in declarations that Bulgarian politi-
ing US$106 million — raise questions Members of the European Parlia- tion and claimed that “my wife and I cians are required to file.
“Disclosures within the Pandora Pa- about whether real estate agents helped ment discussed the Pandora Papers rev- are totally innocent and are guilty of no
pers are the clearest demonstration yet a foreign ruler spirit ill-gotten wealth elations during a session today with wrongdoings.” Bulgaria: Former politician and me-
of the historic threat posed by foreign out of his country. many lawmakers urging reforms to stop dia mogul Delyan Slavchev Peevski.
corruption,” says a joint statement by RUSSIAN SWEETHEART tax evasion and other financial crimes ICIJ reported  that Bernard de
US representatives Tom Malinowski DEAL: ICIJ also showed how enablers facilitated by the use of shell companies Laguiche and other members of chem- Bulgarian State Agency for National
and John Curtis. “Billions of dollars of helped Putin’s leading image-mak- and trusts in tax havens. ical giant Solvay’s founding family Security (SANS) also said Peevski came
dirty money belonging to adversarial er,  Konstantin Ernst, acquire  a secret moved millions offshore while people under scrutiny in June when US au-
actors are flooding the United States.” stake in a billion-dollar real estate “How can Europe ask its citizens to living near Solvay plants in Northern thorities  sanctioned him  for “involve-
deal using offshore companies. make sacrifices when two Italy and New Jersey accused the com- ment in significant corruption” and the
Dubbed the Enablers Act, the sweep- THE HUNT FOR LOOTED pany of contaminating water supplies. new data from the Pandora Papers will
ing bill is inspired by an International TREASURES:   The Pandora Papers [European] country leaders and one In Belgium, ICIJ partners Le Soir now also be examined. On Wednesday,
Consortium of Investigative Journal- revealed that shortly after US investi- finance minister avoid taxes?” said Rosa and De Tijd reported that Bernard de Peevski was questioned by SANS.
ists-led investigation of secret deals and gators tied notorious art dealer Douglas D’Amato, an MEP from Italy. “This is Laguiche resigned from Solvay’s board
hidden assets of more than 330 politi- Latchford to stolen Cambodian trea- not just a tax justice problem, it’s also a of directors on Sept. 24 and from his Pakistan’s Minister for Water Re-
cians in more than 90 countries. sures, Latchford and his family created social justice problem.” post as Solvac managing director on sources  Moonis Elahi  denied  holding
offshore trusts that held scores of relics. 27 September, after responding to any offshore or undeclared assets fol-
Under the bipartisan measure, ex- The bill is expected to be introduced A key financial regulator in Singa- ICIJ’s questions. De Laguiche told De lowing ICIJ’s report that Elahi backed
pected to be unveiled on Friday, en- by Malinowski, a Democrat from New pore said it is examining reports that an Tijd  that the resignation was “strictly out of a Singapore investment after he
ablers could be required not only to Jersey, and Rep. Maria Salazar, a Re- offshore provider it regulates, Asiaciti for personal reasons.” was told that Pakistan’s tax authorities
perform background checks on money publican from Miami. Anti-corruption Trust, did not properly vet some of its would be informed. The investigation
flowing into their businesses but to re- experts said it would help align the clients, according to the Guardian. Hong Kong’s former chief executive found that Elahi told offshore provid-
port funds of suspicious origins and any United States with most other coun- Leung Chun-ying denounced  ICIJ er Asiaciti he held a significant stake in
other suspicious activities to regulators tries, which already require professional A spokesperson for the Monetary partner Stand News  on his Facebook RYK Mills, a sugar mill in the province
and law officers. middlemen to follow anti-money laun- Authority of Singapore said the regula- page, saying that the investigation into of Punjab. Between 2017 and 2018 his
dering protocols to detect and prevent tor “does not tolerate the abuse of our his offshore dealings has “ulterior mo- wife owned an US$8.2 million apart-
Anti-corruption experts said the leg- criminals from disguising illegal funds financial system for illicit activities and tives.” Stand News and ICIJ found that ment in London through a U.K regis-
islation, which has been in the works will not hesitate to take action against in 2015, while Hong Kong’s top lead- tered company. Neither asset appears
for at least two years, made sense to FIs [financiainstitutions] if they breach er, Leung secretly transferred shares on the  asset declaration  Elahi and his
introduce now because the leaked rev- these requirements.” he held in a real estate firm’s subsidi- wife provided to the Pakistan’s National
elations published by ICIJ and its me- ary, worth more than $300,000. On Assembly in 2017. —ICIJ.
dia partners since Sunday expose many In Sri Lanka, President Gotabaya
professions that the Enablers Act now Rajapaksa today instructed the Com-
seeks to regulate. mission to Investigate Allegations of

“ICIJ and other investigative jour-
nalists have created the policy window
for this critical national security mea-
sure,”said Paul

Massaro, a congressional anti-cor-
ruption adviser. “Global corruption is
an existential threat to democracy.”

“The Pandora Papers have ushered
in a historic moment for a sweeping
policy response,” added Josh Rudolph,
fellow for malign finance at the Alliance
for Securing Democracy at the German
Marshall Fund.

Pandora Papers is the largest investi-
gation into offshore finance and delves
deeply into an array of professions. The
bill’s proponents have especially target-
ed the legal profession, which they say
has long been immune from proper
scrutiny.

Rudolph and Massaro cited multiple
examples of investigative stories from
the Pandora Papers to make the case
for lawmakers to pass the Enablers Act.
They include:

TAX HAVEN USA: Pandora Papers
found agents set up nearly 30 U.S.-
based trusts in South Dakota linked to
people or companies accused of fraud,
bribery or human rights abuses in some
of the world’s most vulnerable commu-
nities.

BIG LAW: A Pandora Papers in-
vestigation highlighted how the largest
law firm in the United States,  Baker
McKenzie, is an architect and pil-
lar of the offshore shadow economy.
The firm did work for a Russian arms
dealer sanctioned by the U.S. — and
for Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolo-
moisky and Malaysian fugitive fi-
nancier Jho Low, accused of helping

Porsche just got angrier Being a Fashion Model

&Life Style

STYLE TRAVEL BOOKS ARTS MOTORING

Page 45 Issue 51, 9 October 2021

Mukundwa uses make-up
to tell real-life stories

JONATHAN MBIRIYAMVEKA together all the make-up artists through- now late, and my stepmother and, be- the world went into lockdown due to the “I also use original products of which
out Zimbabwe to showcase and, above lieve me, life was not rosy. Covid-19 pandemic. a lot of times I travel to South Africa to
MAKE-UP artists are some of the most all, introduce the Zaron Cosmetic line in buy them when they’re on special so that
underrated people in showbiz, yet they the country. “So I grew up wanting to be the best “Business literally came to a standstill i do make-up that is more than satisfying
make their clients receive generous com- in all that I wanted to do, but then I re- and every appointment was cancelled al- to my clients. Original products always
pliments for their looks. “Make-up can sure transform -- we alised that I had a lot of passion in dance though I had bills to pay. bring out perfect make-up that lasts,”
can’t say ugly -- but it does a great job after watching the Black Swan ballet Chichi said.
Chipo Mukundwa, Zimbabwe’s lead- in enhancing the features a person has in movie. For me that was a game changer. “Besides the pandemic, I feel that
ing make-up artist, says mattying primer a more than extraordinary way. It is so I got into the art industry and I am still clients really undermine or should I say She said for lady the must-haves in-
and finish spray are two most important amazing what make-up can do,” she says.  in it.” most of them think that make-up is just clude primer, setting spray, foundation,
components of make-up.  something simple and should be very mattifying/compact powder, eye-shadow
“The demand for make-up is going Soon after her Ordinary Levels, she cheap. pallet, concealer, set of brushes, beauty
The 30-year-old, popularly known as up because for every event our clients are went straight into professional dance, blender,2/3 lip stains, gloss and a mirror
Chichi Mua, came tops at the recently having they come in for make-up, be it undergoing a Dance Foundation Course “Make-up brings the whole look to- as basics for make-up.
held Zaron Battle of the Make-Up Art- weddings, photoshoots, birthdays etc, at the National Ballet of Zimbabwe in gether and really brings out the beauty of
ists. Chichi is revered for using make-up clients both male and female come in for Avondale. our dear clients. But does Chichi have what it takes to
to tell compelling real-life stories, be it make-up. Also, people come in asking make in the cut-throat industry where
sad or happy ones. for special effect make-up for themed After graduating, she was then em- “I usually get appointments cancelled only Zimbabwe’s Jackie Mgido made it
photoshoots.” ployed with Tumbuka Dance Company without any form of communication to Hollywood?
“When I do make-up looks, I get in- where she worked for three to four years. and I lose out because of change in
spiration from different make-up artists And her winning look depicted gen- schedules without prior notice. Products “As a make-up artist I refuse to remain
from other countries and different peo- der-based violence in more ways than “I had to stop after suffering a stroke, I use are very expensive and sometimes ordinary. I refuse to be a make-up artist
ple,” Chichi tells The NewsHawks.  one. which really ended my dance career and hard to find,” she said. for weddings and photoshoots only. I
this led me to working as a housemaid want to be in the Hollywood movie in-
“Most of the time, the looks that I do “We were given a mystery box which in South Africa for four months before Asked why make-up is expensive, dustry, I want to be in the high-end fash-
end up telling stories that touch different had an eyeshadow palette, concealer, set- pursuing a career as a make-up artist. Chichi says it was akin to a makeover ion shows in France, Italy and all over the
issues and people and it actually amazes ting spray, foundation, eyelash glue and which involves creativity and lots of world doing make-up,” she said.
me that I will just have an idea of a look eyelashes. That was all and we had to do “In 2019, I had the privilege of being products.
and when I am done it brings out a pow- a whole look with those few things and a special effect make-up artist in one of “What really inspires me or should I
erful storyline.  this look just came into my head and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s short films on gen- “Make-up is expensive because of say what pushes me is how I grew up it
it came out with a GBV (gender-based der-based violence. the kind of products we use for just one wasn’t easy at all. I always remember ask-
“Two most important components violence) storyline. As a person who has look. Nowadays as make-up artists we do ing myself if I was ever going to be some-
for me is the face mattifying primer and been through GBV, it meant a lot to “Last year, I had the privilege of work- not just do make-up. one known for something in my life.
finish spray; without these I feel like me,” she said. ing with Guspy Warrior on his two mu-
make is just make up.” sic videos and this year Killer T on his “Personally, I start with a mini facial “So looking back at where I came
Indeed, creating the GBV look meant music video as well and I pray for more wash then a facial mask I use for different from and where I am today keeps me
The holder of an ITEC diploma in she had to get personal and draw lessons major projects to come my way,” she reasons depending with the client’s skin pushing because I have not yet really
Beauty Therapy, Chichi says she was from her upbringing. says. type and what it needs. felt that I have arrived so that hunger of
shocked after winning the Zaron Battle wanting to reach my goal and the best
Of The Make Up Artists. “Growing up, I wanted to be a sur- While Chichi seems to have it going “After all this, I then do make-up, it for my son’s life makes me push more!”
geon, that time I was with my father, on for her, she has had to face challenges is more than a makeover, it is an expe-
The competition was done to bring like every make-up artist, especially after rience on its own and we do charge for
all of that.

Page 46 Life & Style NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

JONATHAN MBIRIYAMVEKA

A CARICATURE of Cecil John Yesteryear music promoter
Rhodes, after he announced Moses Takawira (C).
plans for a telegraph line and
railway from Cape Town to Cai- Music promoter thought to be dead
ro, also referred to as The Rhodes after a huge flop relives the ordeal
Colossus, was quite popular in
history lessons at school. where he is now based. musicians had no contract forms when Chipawo group manager the musicians and the fans were
“Yes, it was my worst moment. except Gringo whom I had not Norman Takawira passed away; happy. 
It was an ambitious plan. given his money because he was many Zimbabweans thought it
In the picture, Rhodes is seen It came soon after staging 2001 stoned that weekend. So I paid was me,” he said. “I remember some of the mu-
straddling Africa from South Music Festival which was my Gringo his money while Rex and sicians who participated were
Africa’s Cape Town to Cairo in second show at Gwanzura Sta- some officials from the Nation- Takawira says he quit music Albert Nyathi, Progress Chipfu-
Egypt. dium. The show started at 10am al Arts Council of Zimbabwe promotion because it became mo, Diamond Música and Ruth
While this was a noble plan, on Saturday and ended at 10am watched,” he explained. unviable as a business due to Mapfumo.”
the Cape to Cairo Railway was the following morning.  runaway inflation.
an unfinished project to cre- Following that incident, not Takawira acknowledged that
ate a  railway line  crossing Afri- “It happened that some of only did Takawira quit being a “I started out as an assistant music promotion was not a busi-
ca from south to north.  music bands went to the Press music promoter but he has since project coordinator with Clive ness for the faint-hearted as it
It would have been the largest and reported me that I had run joined Johanne Masowe YeChis- Malunga in 1998 when we or- was akin to gambling.
and most important railway on away without paying their per- hanu sect as a senior prophet. ganised the Jenaguru Music Fes-
the continent. It was planned formance fees.  tival. I then stopped working “I am humble and I’m some-
as a link between Cape Town in “I am now a member of the with Clive to start Cape to Cairo one who accepts that anything is
South Africa  and Port Said in “Then on Tuesday morning I Apostolic sect here and it’s been Music Festival which ran from possible in life. Sometimes you
Egypt.  sent my son to the shops to buy a hectic because many people 2000 to 2003 before the business win and sometimes you lose. It
The project was never com- newspaper and I was astonished come home to consult seeking was affected by hyperinflation. is just what it is. And the worst
pleted. Important parts which to read in The Herald that I didn’t divine intervention. I am con- part was that at home my wife
were completed have been in- pay some musicians. tinuously travelling as a senior “By the time we had the festi- could not understand it so easily.
operative for many years, due to member of the church,” he said.  val the budget would have been Leaving home going out was not
wars and lack of maintenance by “The article was written by eroded by inflation so it was dif- easy, I ended up going around
the former colonies. Rex Mphisa. I then called him But while Takawira is now fol- ficult to keep up. Zimbabwe with my wife.
This plan was initiated at the and he invited me to his office lowing his calling, many people
end of the 19th century, during but then when I got there I also back home thought he was dead “In 2002, I coordinated a two- “The other challenge was being
the time of Western colonial rule, asked him to invite all the musi- after the huge loss which forced day concert in Bulawayo. One at called names. Musicians general-
largely under the vision of Cecil cians who complained that I had him to relocate to Mozambique. Windermere Hotel along Vic- ly do not trust music promoters
Rhodes, in the attempt to con- not paid them.  toria Falls highway and another and the media is always keeping
nect adjacent African possessions “Some colleagues and musi- one at White City Stadium. I an eye on you. It is like you are
of the British empire  through a “Much to my surprise on the cians think I’m dead. I am alive brought The Soul Brothers from being hounded,” he said.
continuous line from South Af- day I went to The Herald, only and well, it’s just that I’m now South Africa,  both shows were
rica to Egypt.  a few musicians showed up and born again. The reports that I sold out and I was very proud Takawira is now settled in Mo-
And just like Rhodes in his the rest didn’t turn up.  am dead filtered sometime back of myself, because the sponsors, zambique with his wife Amarah
failed attempt to go from Cape and their three children.
all the way to Cairo, yesteryear “We later discovered that the
music promoter Moses Takawira
suffered the same fate.
Takawira, founder of the Cape
To Cairo Music Festival, had the
same ambition of taking Zimba-
bwean music beyond our borders
to the African continent.
So popular was the music fes-
tival that it ran for three straight
years before it hit a snag.
However, as fate would have
it, one of his live shows, in 2003,
flopped and he suffered huge
losses.
According to reports, there
was chaos after musicians staged
a demonstration against Takaw-
ira, accusing him of not paying
them.
And Takawira’s career as a mu-
sic promoter ended almost over-
night and he was forced to relo-
cate to Chimoio in Mozambique

NewsHawks Life & Style Page 47

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Zim hip-hop has a lot to achieve
art in general and the transcen-
Addy coffers? back, this narrative chimed so Farqurson, prefigured the Af- Holy Ten. dent essence of it. Music knows
Kudita Beating the streets, growing well with the imagery of ema- rocentric grooves now domi- manager (It is Bigger Than and recognises no boundaries,
up hip-hop ciated African kids during the nating pop music as purveyed Hip-hop) and music producer just like literature, for example.
HIP-HOP is the music of the In our youth in the ‘80s and notorious famine in Ethiopia by the Nigerians. They were says hip-hop Zimbabwe is in I still hold The Adventures of
young, right? Well, add young early ‘90s, we had beat box- of around the same time which the Fugees before the Fugees, the best place it has ever been in Tom Sawyer as one of my all-
at heart with that statement be- es, rapping and breakdancing prompted Michael Jackson to if you get my drift, and they decades despite critics charging time favourites. There will be
cause hip-hop is a middle-aged challenges in street corners pen the pop anthem We Are captured the popular imagina- that local artistes are cultural- many who will swear by Enid
brother right about now. Ex- and community halls in the The World, whose proceeds tion so much that some of us ly appropriating an American Blyton’s classic books about
cuse the male-centric definition ghettoes. We did not know were donated to the effort to were rooting for a global break- sub-culture. “In terms of skills, girl sleuth Nancy Drew and
of the genre because when it set what to do with it or how far assist the relief efforts in that through…But the world was there is nothing happening any- the Hardy Boys. Sibanda offers
out on its storied journey, the it would run. We knew mostly country. So I imagine that the not yet ready for them. It would where in the world musically a nuanced take on the debate
genre was dominated by young one thing: it felt damn good to brothers then did not imagine need a couple more years before that can’t be done here locally around local hip-hop purvey-
urban males in the streets of the affect the American Negros in that we listened avidly to their Zimbabwe would produce an lyrically and instrumentally. ors. “Zimbabwe does not need
Bronx in New York. Of course, speech and dress code, especial- music and lived vicariously artiste with the pedigree to get a Zimbabwean sound, it needs
as it grew, many gifted female ly after watching movies such as through them in their ghettoes. noticed internationally in the Zimbabweans have always a Zimbabwean story and life-
MCs have rocked the proverbi- Beat Street and Breakin’ (both We romanticised and lapped manner, for example, of Asaph had their heads in the game style attached to the music if the
al show in the form of Lil’ Kim, released in 1984) and not to “let up the mirage of the American (Born Takudzwa Tarukwana) from the early ‘90s, maybe be- world market is gonna take us
Queen Latifah, Da Brat and, the street beat you”, to quote a dream whatever it was. But with who got nominated for the cause of the way we were raised seriously. Lyrically, in as much
more recently, Nicky Minaj and lyric of the seminal movie Beat age we know that show business MTV Awards.  up in terms of radio and TV. as we grew up in the global vil-
Cardi B. Street of the day. We were in is a game of smoke and mirrors International trends are in- lage, we cannot excel recycling
our minds these black Amer- and what glitters is not always There have been a number corporated in the very fibre of Western lifestyles and stories.
Hip-hop is about 50 years old ican brothers; completing a gold, to use a cliché. Still, that of standout acts such as Synik, our lifestyles in what some see There will not be any growth
in the making as a sub-culture cycle. The drum, which had has not stopped millions of Junior Brown, Maskiri, Stun- as lack of pride in our heritage and public participation until
which spans several facets such journeyed from Africa through youth wanting to be and reach- ner, Cal_Vin and POY. More or simply growing up on the people and fans find relevance
as the music, the fashion, the the slave ships to America, had ing for the proverbial stars.  recently, Holy Ten, TGonzi global arena in terms of enter- in the bars we spit.”
dance, the graffiti, the language, come back again to the mother- Growth of a genre from Harare and Awa, Muse tainment and trends and the
and the sensibility. It is a way land. It was our music as much Now, the music in Zimbabwe and Asaph from Bulawayo have freedom to choose artistically Finding identity
of being; an ingrained hustler’s as theirs. But I will never forget has grown in leaps and bounds shown considerable hip-hop how we want to be heard by the According to Sibanda, the cur-
mentality of survival or beat- the lyric from the Beat Street since its first tentative steps mettle. There is a whole bunch world.” rent crop of hip-hop needs
ing the streets. Well, hip-hop sound track: “and the children with the ascendancy of A Peace of these artistes simmering and to dig deep to contend and
has in a sense “beat the streets” in Africa don’t even eat. Flies in of Ebony comprising Chioni- seething beneath the main- Cultural appropriation? compete globally. “They need
and gone corporate since the their faces, they are living like so Maraire, Tony Chihota and stream of radio plays and media One of the critiques of urban to find themselves and tell the
days of KRS 1, African Bam- mice and the house even makes Schwanborn back in the ‘90s. platforms. Bekithemba Sibanda youth music is the fact that world the truth about them-
baata and Grand Master Flash the ghetto look nice”. Looking The group, produced by Keith aka Thorne Laroq, award-win- the dominant genres rap and selves and stop pretending to
in the late 1970s and ‘80s. The ning radio DJ (Khulumani dancehall are Jamaican and be South Africans and Amer-
likes of Russell Simmons, Jay Z, FM), TV personality, event American imports respectively. icans. There is nothing wrong
P. Diddy and Dr Dre are mil- But critics miss the point about with keeping up with trends,
lionaires through parlaying the but let’s tell the Zimbabwean
fame garnered through hip-hop story like the Americans and
music into global brands. Along South Africans or Nigerians
the way, we have had the likes constantly tell theirs. Then,
of fashion brands Karl Kani maybe then, we might just win
and FUBU representing, close- the local hip-hop fans. Every-
ly relating with and benefitting one knows Zimbabweans can
from association and promo- rap, but what are they saying to
tion of the culture whose orig- the ordinary man, women and
inal MCs such as Run DMC children of the world? We need
popularised Adidas trainers and to stop rapping at rappers and
sneakers. They found a way to think of ourselves as musicians
monetise the hustle utilising the and make music for the people,
creativity of urban youth across not other musicians.”
art disciplines. In this sense, Bu- A good space ?
lawayo has not only spawned Naboth Rimayi, a hip-hop pi-
hip-hop artistes such as POY oneer of Da Grapevine and
and the late Cal_Vin, it has author however feels the genre
fashion brands Da Grapevine is in a good place. “Hip-hop is
and Kingsville. in a good place. We definitely
Hip-hop business are showing the country what
Hip-hop started about 50 years a force we can be. Every now
ago without bags of dollars from and then we keep capturing
either government or corporate the country and trending on
support. The blueprint involved all sorts of things. From ‘beef’
developing the art form and with Gze and Noble Stylez to
evolving the sub-culture and Asaph’s MTV nomination, to
gaining the critical mass over Holy Ten and Enzo’s face-off
time of youthful subscribers that saw everybody getting in-
across racial and demographic volved...hip-hop is alive and is
lines. Now it is a juggernaut. definitely taking centre stage at
According to Forbes magazine, will. Obviously we want more
R&B and hip-hop are music’s consistency and not sporadic
most consumed genre and lead- outbursts, but definitely growth
ing the industry’s revival. The is evident.
report found cites a 2017 Gold-
man Sachs report which found Holy Ten has the most amaz-
live music, publishing and ing numbers on his YouTube
recorded songs to have made videos and streams, show-
US$26 billion, US$6 billion ing that people are following
and US$30 billion respectively. through and his quality is evi-
Goldman Sachs, as per Forbes, dent. Asaph got an MTV Base
estimates that by 2030, these nomination and was put in a
categories will reach US$38 category with the best of the
billion for live music, US$12.5 best from Africa so you can see
billion for publishing, and the it’s evident we are on those ex-
biggest gain will be seen in re- port levels.
corded songs at US$80 billion.
What will be the percentage The collaborations with
our local hipsters bring into the overseas and across the border
artistes is evident we have some-
thing to offer, even the sound is
getting more interesting, espe-
cially when you listen to artistes
like Tanto Wavie with his Trap

Page 48 Life & Style NewsHawks

Issue 51, 8 October 2021

Su (Trap Sungura) you can tell known as Thorne Laroq. His ture worldwide. Zimbabweans are we packaging our product, the much-needed role they come streams you can get into
a lot of thought and skills have input to the brand will shape, themselves spend thousands of is it worth paying for? Until play, then we won’t see more as well. I urge all that want to
gone into coming out with a carve and unite the hip-hop dollars every day on interna- then, we will not be getting or anything coming out from really make it to reas as much
global sound that is Zimbabwe- industry. He has years of experi- tional products and music em- paid for hip-hop anytime soon. musicians, let alone rappers. In as they can, challenge yourself
an. Luminous is doing well in ence in the genre not only as an ulating that lifestyle. Why are my book Selling Out Without to do more and dare to be dif-
Chicago with his song ‘Regular’ artiste, but as a promoter and we not getting a cent from that? We are a talented generation Selling Out: a Musicians Guide ferent...that way you can create
to the extent that they had to a leader,” said Harrison in his It’s simple; no one can identify that grew up in the most grue- to Airplay and Sustainability, I your own ways of securing ‘the
feature him on their Chicago statement. with our music enough to pay some environment and indus- highlighted how a rapper from bag’ (more money). Technology
top five playlist on their radio Beefy revealed that a partner- money for it. try in the world. An artiste has Bulawayo or Zimbabwe can is your friend!”
station.” ship with Tunecore, the world’s to be their own producer, man- get airplay, create meaningful Parting shot
Going by the moniker  Naboth leading music distributor for There is no reflection of ager and promoter all in one. relationships and sustain them- On a Cornell University web-
Rizla, Rimayi has come a long independent artistes, was also Zimbabwean lifestyle in our But let’s not cry about it, let’s selves through the opportu- site reporting on a hip-hop
way organising rap battles in formed earlier in the year. hip-hop like there is in Zim- own it and run with it that way. nities music provides. So yes, summit in 2011, Albert Conzo,
the city of Bulawayo which “Distribution has been a major dancehall for instance, that’s hip-hop is monetisable through a hip-hop afficiando and pho-
is currently been pushing the challenge for artistes across the why Zimdancehall will always Educate ourselves more and so many ways, thanks to tech- tographer, commented. “You
#HipHopCapital hashtag and globe. As Zim hip-hop awards, fill up stadiums while hip-hop learn how to play with social nology and other creative ven- love this culture so much, close
movement in a bid to position we value growth, education and acts run to social media to beg media and make good music tures like blogging, podcasting, your eyes -- what do you see?
itself as a mecca of all things success of our Zimbabwean for likes and followers. The and visuals. We have talent out teaching different skillsets on … What other genre of music
hip-hop in not only Zimbabwe artistes hence our partnership issue is relevance. When you here, if we set up structures top of the music monetisation has had the impact globally that
but also Africa as whole. But is with Tunecore, a one-stop shop write and record your music, amongst ourselves and invest platforms for song, video, live hip-hop has? It’s in the way we
this not too audacious a gam- for independent artistes. By just which is your target market? in our social capital through ex- performances streams, and dress, the way we talk, the way
bit?  the click of a link, an artiste’s change of services we can build so much more. You can’t just we treat each other. If you don’t
Laying the foundation: music can be distributed in over Can they identify with the those structures and monetise get in the studio and rap and preserve it, it’s lost.” Hip-hop is
awards 150 digital music stores and words you’re speaking? Enter- this thing. think you’re done. To make it, grown up now, but it is still very
Well, for tangible growth to be streaming services across 100- tainment is a business, we need Rimayi: “Until rappers are you have to do more and the much a young people’s game.
realised there has been need for plus countries worldwide and to start thinking harder about celebrated as much as doc- more you do the better the in-
structure in the fledgling sector get to keep 100% of their sales.” what we are selling and to tors and engineers because of
and awards shows are integral 24 categories for the awards whom we are selling it to. How
for the growth and develop- are Best Male, Best Female,
ment thereof. The NewsHawks Best Collaboration, Best Hip-
was invited to the Press con- Hop Group, Best Producer,
ference in Bulawayo by organ- Best New Comer, Best Brand
isers of the Pogues Zimbabwe Supporting Local Hip-Hop,
Hip-Hop Awards (ZHHA) as Best Album, Best Promoter,
envisioned by Aldrean “Beefy” Best Diaspora, Best Radio DJ,
Harrison. The purpose of the Best Club DJ, Best Gospel,
presser was to announce the Best Dance Act, Best Under-
opening of the submission pro- ground, Best Alternative, Best
cess for the 11th edition of the Online Media, Best Journalist,
awards ceremony slated for 11 Song of the Year, Video of the
December. Year and Video Director of The
Year, Best Hip-Hop Hustle,
The awards are the brainchild Best Hip-Hop Verse (Sweet 16
of Harrison and Alexander Mu- award), Hip-Hop Personality of
tumha and they launched in The Year and People’s Choice.
2011 ostensibly to promote
and market the hip-hop genre “Hip-hop is a culture, it is
in Zimbabwe. The ceremony a lifestyle too. The growth has
is held every second week of been really evident over the
December. They have had their years. Local artistes are break-
fair share of controversies as is ing new barriers each year with
common with the genre (refer new achievements. As we speak,
to The Source Awards at the many local hip-hop artistes
height of gangster rap in the have been touring, something
US). Beefy has paid the cost to we only used to see with other
be the boss of these awards to genres excluding hip-hop ar-
be quite frank and, of course, tistes.
made several personal sacrifices
to keep them alive and there- We have already seen artistes
fore help prop up the nascent like Asaph being nominated for
dreams of a section of our ur- the Mamas. International com-
ban youth. panies like Tunecore partnering
Zim hip-hop awards. We have
The other section embraced seen Holy Ten on a regional and
dancehall music, which is rap’s international tour. The list goes
first cousin! on and on. More collaborations
The nominations will close on on the way.”
1 November. The adjudication On hip-hop beefs and flexes
will take place from the 2nd to “Hip-hop is all about flex, ar-
the 10th of November with a tistes are all entitled to their
nominees list being announced opinions and, yes, if we’re
on 12 November.  talking hip-hop culture, all ele-
“The Zimbabwe Hip-Hop ments of it are more represent-
Awards (ZHHA) are back to ed and active in Bulawayo, but
celebrate the 11th anniver- it does not mean these cannot
sary. The awards will happen be found in Harare. Alterna-
either virtually or convention- tively, we saw a big eruption
ally, depending on the state of and debate in Harare about
the Covid-19 regulations at who is the king of hip-hop and
the time of production. As the many artistes in Harare beefed
leading authority on Zimbabwe about this. So at the end it’s all
hip-hop culture and Africa’s first based on opinions, people say
and prestigious hip-hop awards, Bulawayo is the hip-hop capi-
our mission is to use elements tal and Harare has the kings of
of popular youth culture and hip-hop, it’s all flex at the end of
media to inspire, motivate and the day and it’s good for com-
empower the music of young petition and the culture. But
people by acknowledging and as Zim Hip-hop Awards, we
celebrating local artistes in their do not look at which city you
respective genres. Our headline come from, we are a national
sponsor, The Pogues Whiskey, brand. And we push to see hip-
is back on board for a second hop well-represented through-
year running; their support will out Zim not just two or three
assist in producing a quality cities,” said Harrison.
awards ceremony. Monetising the hustle
Sibanda: “There are billions of
It is also a pleasure to an- dollars the world over, spinning
nounce an addition to the ex- around hip-hop music and cul-
ecutive, our new head of oper-
ations Bekithemba Sibanda also