NewsHawks 19 February-min

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Friday 19 February 2021

WHAT’S INSIDE NEWS BUSINESS SPORT

Why Mnangagwa Disposal of Nssa A chance
wants Malaba to FML shares to ‘foresee’
stay on — 2023 daylight robbery the future

Story on Page 3 Story on Page 14 Story on Page 37

When the
hunter becomes
the hunted:
Anti-corruption
investigator probed

ALSO INSIDE Malaba faces mountain to climb in his bid to stay on Health workers sceptical over vaccine

Page 2 News NewsHawks

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

When the hunter becomes the hunted:
Anti-corruption investigator probed

BRIDGET MANANAVIRE Police commissioner Erasmus Makodza number of facts which I explain be-
low. Sometime in July 2020, I lodged
IT is a typical case of a hunter be- mand after the police commission- Munyaradzi was arrested for dup- to have given former minister Ig- a complaint against Munyaradzi who
coming the hunted. er-general and his deputies, arrested ing a number of people, including natius Chombo, who spent many swindled me a stand worth US$40
in a bid to rescue Munyaradzi, a con- controversial business dealer Delish years in charge of Local Government 000. The matter is before the court
First, police commissioner Eras- troversial land baron who is Delatfin Nguwaya, an Epworth schoolteacher during the late ex-president Robert and has been set for 24 February
mus Makodza, hunter of note in Properties director, in a court battle Maria Gabaza, Harare man Ronald Mugabe’s era, 125 stands for resolv- 2021.
charge of Matabeleland North with the senior policeman who was Dondo and Makodza in the dodgy ing his dispute with other Zvimba
province, found himself caged by a swindled US$40 000 cash in a res- residential stands deal. developers. “The accused in the matter has
Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Com- idential stand deal in Sandton Park, been actively seeking me out to have
mission (Zacc) investigator — also Mt Hampden, just outside Harare. He is currently out on bail. Makodza says Chacha got him ar- the case settled out of court. To that
hunter — in a dramatic way. At one time Munyaradzi was said rested out of personal interest as he extent he has sent some people to ap-
is a friend to Munyaradzi. Makodza proach me to seek audience for pur-
Makodza has an illustrious record Eric Chacha and Munyaradzi are locked in a court poses of having me withdraw charges
as a top cop who has arrested a num- battle over the US$40 000 stand. against the accused because it was not
ber of high-profile Zimbabweans, The matter is before the courts and in my best interest to pursue the mat-
including the ENG Capital found- has been set down for 24 February – ter as he had a dossier on me which
ers Nyasha Watyoka and Gilbert next Wednesday. would get me arrested.
Muponda, flamboyant businessman
Wicknell Chivayo and Zesa direc- The policeman says Chacha got “I flatly declined to do so and that
tors, among others, in many big cases him detained at Munyaradzi’s behest did not sit well with the accused, and
he has dealt with. in a bid to stall the court case, which that is where Chacha comes in. The
he charges is an abuse of office and two, who are friends, then connived
After driving from Hwange, an attempt to obstruct the course of to use the state apparatus to create in-
where he is based, via Bulawayo en justice. vestigations which are frivolous and
route Harare on 30 January and 31 have no legal basis.”
January, arriving in the capital later In a letter to Sacu, dated 10 Febru-
that day, Makodza was arrested after ary 2021, addressed to the presiden- Makodza says his arrest was a
an interview with Zacc on 1 Febru- tial investigating unit head Thabani brazen case of abuse of office and
ary. Mpofu, a former prosecutor, Mako- an attempt to obstruct the course of
dza says Chacha was acting corruptly justice.
News of his arrest was leaked to out of personal interest and malice.
the media while the interview was “Chacha, who is an officer at Zacc,
still going on. “I write in connection with the was influenced to cause my arrest, de-
above matter and the unjustified tention and prosecution on account
Eric Chacha was in action and se- harassment of myself by members of Munyaradzi. In fact, the two are
cured the detention of the decorated of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption known to each other and spend a lot
policeman at Mabelreign police sta- Commission namely, Eric Chacha. I of time together plotting how to con-
tion in Harare. The following day, 2 am of the view that Chacha is work- tinue persecuting me,” he says.
February, Makodza was out on bail. ing with Felix Munyaradzi, and they
have ganged up to abuse the state “Chacha has abused office know-
Chacha was reportedly beside apparatus to persecute me to settle ing fully well that he is taking instruc-
himself with rage. His behaviour at personal vendettas,” Makodza says. tions from Munyaradzi who is not a
Harare’s Rotten Row magistrates’ state functionary. To that extent they
court during the case was described “The above view is based on a connived that I be arrested a few days
by witnesses as apoplectic — spit- before their trial commenced in the
ting mad. He could not imagine his hope that I will denied bail and taken
big catch wriggling off the hook just to remand prison so that I lose my
like that. Makodza was arrested on credibility when giving testimony.”
charges of criminal abuse of office
for allegedly structuring a deal for Makodza says during his Zacc
his girlfriend Mawonei Chapfudza investigations, Chacha interviewed
to enter into a farming joint ven- his former driver Davison Nkomo
ture with police over Lendy Farm in whom he advised to tell him to resign
Marondera in 2019. And now it is as he was soon going to be arrested.
Chacha’s turn to be roasted and ar- Nkomo has written an affidavit on
raigned. Another hunter becoming the issue.
the hunted.
“I find such conduct  constituting
Makodza has reported Chacha to abuse of office,” Makodza says.
the Special Anti-Corruption Unit
(Sacu) in the President’s Office for Makodza says the allegations lev-
abuse of office — a similar charge elled against him by Zacc and Cha-
to his — over a court case in which cha that he helped his girlfriend to
his notorious land baron friend Felix enter into a farming deal with the po-
Munyaradzi defrauded the top cop lice when he had a conflict of interest
US$40 000. The case risks discred- were false as he was not involved. He
iting Zacc, which has been making says he declared his interest to his col-
noise about fighting corruption, leagues, hence his police bosses and
although it has clearly failed so far the legal department approved the
to investigate high-profile corrupt arrangement.
cartels around President Emmerson
Mnangagwa. Makodza says Chacha was mali-
cious to detain him after he had driv-
On other cases, besides ruffling the en almost 1 000km for his Zacc in-
feathers of bigwigs, Zacc has done terview. He also says Chacha arrested
well. Zacc says in 2020 it managed to him out of anger and desperation as
complete 90 dockets for prosecution he had refused to resign after his ex-
against a target of 80. Out of that, 29 hortation and rejected Munyaradzi’s
of the dockets are at trial stage, with request for an out-of-court settle-
15 having trial dates already. ment. Makodza charged that what
Chacha was doing was corrupt in
Chacha is accused of getting Ma- itself and should be dealt with.
kodza, as police commissioner in
charge of Matabeleland North prov- Zacc spokesman John Makamure
ince, is in the third tier of police com- said he was not aware of the case.
Mpofu said could not comment.

NewsHawks News Page 3

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Anti-Corruption
body under new
pressure over police
chief corruption
investigation

OWEN GAGARE are important issues that we Police commissioner-general Godwin Matanga.
can’t ignore. In investigating
THE Zimbabwe Anti-Cor- corruption, you have to fol- context of national interest, I further says. letter dated 22 October.
ruption Commission (Zacc) is low, but are not always fol- hereby lodge an official request Efforts to get a comment “In his personal capacity,
coming under growing pressure lowing the money – especially for a widescale forensic audit to
internally and externally to deal big money, as are supposed to. be conducted at the Zimbabwe from Chiri were in vain as her CG Matanga is then alleged to
with the corruption complaints These issues are putting us here Republic Police for the period phone was unreachable. A text have instructed Croco Motors
without fear or favour against under pressure. 2017 to present day,” wrote message sent to her was not re- to clear the eighty (80) vehicles
police commissioner-general Mliswa in a letter dated 5 No- sponded to at the time of going on customs clearance certifi-
Godwin Matanga amid wor- “For us to maintain profes- vember. to print. cates under the Zimbabwe Re-
ries that selective investigations sionalism and credibility, we public Police. Matanga is fur-
will dent its image and credi- have to investigate everybody “This request for investiga- Mliswa, who has in the past ther alleged to have instructed
bility irretrievably. without fear or favour. The tion is premised on the over- been accused by opponents like Croco Motors to brand the
moment we are seen as only whelming evidence as received business tycoons Billy Rauten- aforementioned vehicles in the
Inside sources within Zacc investigating small fish and not both orally and in writing of bach and Westwood of corrupt police colours ready for collec-
corridors of power at its Mount big fish or certain people, then numerous alleged irregulari- practices, last year wrote to tion.”
Pleasant headquarters in Hara- we will be discredited.” ties, cases of corruption and Zacc chairperson demanding a
re say there is a huge push by abuse of office said to have probe into what he described as Mliswa also accuses the po-
commissioners and investiga- “The Gumbo case is a major been perpetrated by Commis- grand corruption by the police lice chief of engaging in “un-
tors, as well as outside forc- test. There is a case and the ev- sioner-General G.T. Matanga boss. savoury and criminal alliance”
es, to ensure that Zacc is not idence is there, so people are in cahoots with other senior with officials from the Special
seen as unwilling or unable, asking what’s the problem,” an- officers. Some of the matters The outspoken legislator re- Anti-Corruption Unit and
or both, to investigate certain other commissioner said. “We are as listed, but not limited cently accused Mnangagwa’s controversial businessman Del-
powerful and well-connected need to investigate all cases to, the official report I made to twin sons Collins and Shaun ish Nguwaya. Nguwaya has de-
people even though corrup- even-handedly.” the Zimbabwe Anti-Corrup- — whose mother is first lady nied the claims. Zacc spokes-
tion allegations have been filed tion Commission of which you Auxillia — of corrupt practic- man John Makamure yesterday
against them. Zacc chair Loyce Matan- are in copy and had said cor- es. said he was not aware of the
da-Moyo, a source said, has respondence delivered to you.” Matanga case.
Norton independent MP been repeatedly told to wait “Sometime in December
Temba Mliswa, a self-styled before further holding Gum- Mliswa said he was ready to 2019, CG Matanga, in the “I am not aware of any inves-
corruption buster who has for bo’s feet to the fire. “She has assist with evidence during the company of his chief staff of- tigations by Zacc on the Com-
years been accused by British been told by powerful offices forensic audit. ficer, transport and logistics, missioner General Matanga,”
investor Paul Westwood of il- to wait with the Gumbo case,” commissioner Hlabiso, is al- he said.
legally grabbing his private the source added. “My assertions are not un- leged to have paid a visit to
enterprise and its assets, in founded, and I am willing and Croco Motors with the intent Mliswa said he could not
November wrote to the Zacc Gumbo, a former Transport able to assist with any evidence to purchase eighty (80) op- comment as he was arrested by
demanding the anti-graft body and Energy minister, was last and leads as and when they erations vehicles without fol- police in Karoi over conduct-
investigate Matanga on a series year arrested and hauled before may be requested,” the letter lowing due tender process and ing youth development pro-
of allegations, including flout- the courts on criminal abuse of procedure,” Mliswa wrote in a grammes.
ing tender procedures through office charges arising from four
the purchase of luxury cars for separate counts of corruption
senior officers. involving US$37 million.

Zacc commissioners say the In a subsequent cabinet re-
Matanga case is moving, but shuffle, Mnangagwa demoted
complicated by politics. Gumbo, but retained him in
his office as Minister of State
“The Matanga case is a burn- for Presidential Affairs (Moni-
ing issue at Zacc. Internally, a toring and Implementation of
lot of work has been done and Government Programmes),-
there is movement. However, showing he still supported him
the problem is that such cases despite the corruption allega-
are political by nature. So the tions against him.
strategy and pace with which
we move are dictated by poli- Mliswa recently escalated
tics – both inside and outside his fight against Matanga by
Zacc,” a Zacc investigator told writing to the Auditor-General
The NewsHawks. requesting an urgent forensic
audit of the law enforcement
“It’s like one case we have in- agency’s financial affairs.
volving corruption by a judge.
Commissioners want to move, According to a letter seen by
but some Zacc leaders are re- The NewsHawks, Mliswa wants
luctant. It’s also like the Joram Auditor-General Mildred Chiri
Gumbo case, which is also to go through the police finan-
a typical example. And then cial books to ascertain whether
there are all these stories about or not there have been irregular
big money cartels around the transactions.
President. People are asking
why are you not acting? These “In my mandated role of
legislation, representation and
oversight Mliswa escalates fight
against Matanga and in the

Page 4 News NewsHawks

Long Read Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Why Mnangagwa
wants Malaba to
stay on - 2023

OWEN GAGARE plication soon after receiving it while the President, on the face of it, meets “He has demonstrated beyond any President Emmerson Mnangagwa
in Pretoria, South Africa, where he was the first requirement of constitutional reasonable doubt that he is loyal to Mugabe was in breach of his constitu-
DESPITE the fact that Chief Justice attending his son’s wedding, which validity.” the President. He helped him during tional responsibilities.
Luke Malaba’s judicial reign is com- suggests a predetermined outcome. Chamisa’s ConCourt application and
ing to an end by operation of law at Malaba argued that “what the for- played a big role to legitimise his rise Malaba said the decision “defied
midnight on 15 May 2021 when he “While there, Malaba received a mer President said in the written no- to power. So that’s why the President logic”.
turns 70, President Emmerson Mnan- copy of Chamisa’s ConCourt applica- tice of resignation is the best evidence wants him to remain in the position
gagwa wants him to stay on ahead of tion from a senior legal officer at the available of the state of his mind at the with 2023 in mind,” the official said. “That is a very dangerous principle
the 2023 elections, official sources say. Judicial Service Commission as he was time.” and has no basis in law. The principle
relaxing by the swimming pool at Pre- All of Zimbabwe’s presidential elec- of the rule of law just does not permit
Malaba has been Mnangagwa’s toria Sheraton Hotel,” Moyo writes. “He (Mugabe) said he was free to tions since 2002, except the bloody such an approach,” said Malaba.“I
long-time ally, including when he was express his will to resign. Not only 2008 elections, have been controver- however refuse to have wool cast over
deputising the late former president “After reading the application, Mal- does the former President declare in sial, contested in the courts. the inner eye of my mind on this mat-
Robert Mugabe, and also while serv- aba turned to the judicial officer and the written notice that he made the ter.”
ing as Justice minister well before the asked him ‘Is that all’? to which the decision voluntarily, he gives reasons After his appointment as chief jus-
November 2017 coup. officer replied ‘Yes Sir’. Malaba then for doing so in clear and unambiguous tice in 2017, Malaba has sought to In his book, Moyo also says in
shook his head and remarked: ‘Ok, language,” Malaba said. control the judiciary to help Mnangag- the run up to the coup, Mnangagwa
The Chief Justice has been a vital akula lutho la (There is nothing here). wa’s administration consolidate power, worked hard to amend section 180 of
cog in Mnangagwa’s political machin- “He said he was motivated by the insiders say. As a result, there has been the constitution to bar public inter-
ery, helping him to sanitise and legiti- “By those words, Malaba meant desire to ‘ensure a smooth, peaceful no separate or dissenting judgements views for the chief justice, deputy chief
mise the coup which toppled Mugabe, there was no case and he was going to and non-violent transfer of power that in the higher courts since then. Judg- justice and judge president so that he
and thrust him into power. Malaba has have Chamisa’s application dismissed, underpins national security, peace and es are always concurring. A separate could handpick his preferred judges
also run the judiciary in a way that has even before the case was heard on its sustainability”. judgement is when a judge differs with when he came in.
helped Mnangagwa’s regime, govern- merits.” colleagues usually on reasons, but not
ment insiders acknowledge. Malaba said Mnangagwa’s assump- necessarily on the conclusion. “When the amendment was intro-
Moyo further said Malaba’s attitude tion of office was therefore done in duced by Mnangagwa shortly before
Crucially also, Malaba delivered was not surprising given the close rela- accordance with the provisions of the The reasoning forming the basis of the coup, its intended beneficiaries
the Constitutional Court judgement tionship between the two. constitution after a vacancy had arisen the court’s decision is separate from were Mnangagwa himself and Mal-
which confirmed Mnangagwa’s dis- due to the resignation. the judgment and is called “reasons” or aba. It is not surprising that, with
puted 30 July 2018 presidential elec- “When I worked closely with him “reasons for judgment.” the amendment in their pocket, now
tion victory, after dismissing an elec- and Emmerson Mnangagwa between The Chief Justice’s judgment fol- Mnangagwa wants to raise the retire-
toral petition by MDC Alliance leader March 2013 and December 2014, lowed a November 2017 ruling by A dissenting judgement is when a ment age for judges to ensure that
Nelson Chamisa. in the run up to his elecation as Judge President George Chiweshe judge differs with colleagues on a judg- Malaba remains at the helm of the ju-
Vice-President and second secretary of which legitimised the coup. Chiweshe ment and writes his or her own ruling. diciary to do in 2023 what he did for
In a unanimous ruling of the nine Zanu PF at the expense of Joice Mu- had ruled that the military interven- him in 2018,” Moyo writes.
judges of the country’s top court, Mal- juru, Mnangagwa used to refer to the tion by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Ironically in 2013, Malaba, then
aba said Chamisa had failed to prove late Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausi- which led to Mugabe’s resignation was deputy chief justice, issued a promi- Moyo says those who saw Malaba
allegations of fraud and manipulation ku as mutengesi (sellout) and to Mal- constitutional, as the military sought nent dissenting judgement in a case as a jurisprudentially progressive judge
of the vote during the presidential poll. aba as munhu wangu uyo (my man).” to restore order in the country. in which political activist Jealousy have been surprised and disappointed
Mawarire approached the courts to by his support of the coup, and the
“Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangag- In a July 2018 ruling, Malaba in a He said the military’s actions in in- force the government to hold elections subsequent repression.
wa is duly declared the winner of the court ruling said Mugabe freely and tervening to stop the takeover of Mug- by 31 July that year, while opposition
presidential elections held on the 30th voluntarily stepped down, adding abe’s functions “by those around him parties wanted reforms first to ensure “The point many have missed is
of July 2018,” Malaba said in his judg- Mnangagwa’s assumption of power are constitutionally permissible and credible polls. that Malaba was anti-Mugabe and
ment which had attracted widespread was done in terms of the law, although lawful”. pro-Mnangagwa, not a neutral judge
attention at home and abroad. it was clear he had seized power The constitutional court granted bound by constitutionalism. For Mal-
through a coup. This followed an ap- Malaba and Chiweshe thus played a the order, although Malaba and Jus- aba it was personal and thus had noth-
It is understood that Malaba pre- plication by the Liberal Democrats critical role in sanitising and legitimis- tice Bharat Patel dissented and had ing to do with justice, constitutional-
vailed over some judges to ensure the and Revolutionary Freedom Fighters, ing the coup which brought Mnangag- “reasons for judgment” respectively, ism or progressive jurisprudence.”
unanimous ruling. Some judges want- Bongani Nyathi, Linda Masarira and wa to power. with the judgement directing Mug-
ed to dissent, but were whipped into Vusumuzi Sibanda who contested the abe to hold elections by 31 July 2013. Government officials this week said
line, sources said. legality of the Mnangagwa-led gov- A government official said Mnan- This was despite the court finding that Moyo was correct in his assessment
ernment. They argued that Mugabe gagwa was convinced that Malaba is of Mnangagwa and Malaba’s relations
Government and judicial officials tendered the resignation under duress loyal to him and he should stay on. and their 2023 electoral agenda.
say Malaba was Mnangagwa’s strate- and that Mnangagwa’s ascendancy was
gic candidate to replace the late Chief unconstitutional.
Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku when he
was Vice-President and Justice minis- They further said that the impeach-
ter, while also plotting to succeed the ment process that was instituted prior
late former president Robert Mugabe. to Mugabe’s resignation was unlawful
The Mnangagwa Zanu PF faction, and that it served to coerce him to
which battled for power against the step down. However, Malaba, sitting
rival group that had coalesced around in chambers, ruled the constitutional
Mugabe’s wife Grace, broadly wanted challenge was frivolous and vexatious
Judge President George Chiweshe to given that Mugabe carefully applied
succeed Chidyausiku. But Mnangag- his mind and decided to step down
wa personally thought Malaba was the without the embarrassment of im-
man for the job. peachment.

Then as now, Mnangagwa still “The former president’s written
wants Malaba. Chiweshe, who has a notice of resignation speaks for itself,”
military background, is now viewed Malaba said.
by Mnangagwa’s faction as Vice-Pres-
ident Constantino Chiwenga’s loyalist. “It sets the context in which it was
Mnangagwa and Chiwenga are cur- written. He candidly reveals the fact
rently locked in a simmering power that he had communicated with the
struggle. Speaker of Parliament at 1353 hours.
In the communication, the former
In his monograph on the presi- President expressed to the Speaker
dential election, Excelgate: How Zim- his desire to resign from the Office of
babwe’s 2018 Presidential Election Was President.
Stolen, former minister and MP Jon-
athan Moyo – a former Mnangagwa “The Speaker must have advised
ally and now fierce critic – says the him that for the resignation to have
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission the legal effect of bringing his presi-
helped Mnangagwa to rig the 2018 dency to an end, it had to be commu-
elections nicated to him by means of a written
notice.
Moyo, also a professor of politics,
says Malaba dismissed Chamisa’s ap- “A written notice of resignation ad-
dressed to the Speaker and signed by

NewsHawks News Page 5

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

BERNARD MPOFU Malaba faces mountain to A “term-limit provision” is de-
fined as “a provision of this con-
ZIMBABWE’S Chief Justice Luke stitution which limits the length
Malaba’s has a mountain to climb climb in his bid to stay on of time that a person may hold or
in his bid to extend his reign be- occupy a public office”.
yond 15 May 2021 when he is due The provisions which set the
to retire at 70: he needs to over- maximum age limit of judges re-
come hurdles around Constitu- strict the length of time that a per-
tional Amendment No.1, Consti- son may hold or occupy office as a
tutional Amendment No.2, senate judge, which is a public office.
quorum conundrum, Section 328 This was done to prevent pre-
of the constitution and the politi- cisely what Malaba is trying to
cal dynamics involved, The News- do — self-serving amendments
Hawks has established. to benefit incumbents. So Malaba
can only stay on if Section 328 of
Malaba — who by operation of the constitution is also amended,
law retires at midnight on 15 May which will be unprecedented.
2021 when he turns 70 years old — However, another law expert
is trying to extend his stay in office said this week the meaning and
by another five years renewable application of Section 328 is debat-
annually. able. “Read it properly and you will
see that there are loopholes in it
However, his audacious bid to that might allow Malaba to sneak
extend his reign at the apex of the in through an extension if the two
judiciary will be arduous. There amendments go through. I will
are too many impediments along write you an analysis and critique
the way. on that soon,” the lawyer said.
Beyond that, Senate stands in
Law scholars and practitioners Malaba’s way as some senators have
who spoke to The NewsHawks said not been attending to parliamenta-
Malaba faces all these obstacles ry business due to ill-health, while
which must be overcome if he is to others have died. Some have not
stay in office until he is 75. attended as they would have been
engaged in various other activities.
Last April, the Constitutional This is how the first amendment
Court ruled that the Constitu- failed to get a quorum to pass it.
tional Amendment No 1 of 2017, “The issue of a quorum in Sen-
which sought to give President ate and the political dynamics in-
Emmerson Mnangagwa more volved in that are probably the big-
powers in the appointment of the gest hindrance that Malaba faces.
Chief Justice, his deputy and the This is not just going to be a legal
Judge President in consultation Chief Justice Luke Malaba issue, it is essentially going to be
with the Judicial Service Commis- of 2017 in paragraph (1) shall be- Section 328 of the constitution, hold or occupy any public office, a political matter and on that ter-
sion,was unconstitutional. come final.” which provides that “an amend- does not apply to any person who rain Malaba might not be able to
ment to a term-limit provision, held or occupied that office, or an secure the extension that he needs
Zimbabwe made its first amend- Following the lapse of the 188 the effect of which is to extend the equivalent office, at any time be- and survive in office beyond retire-
ment to the Constitution adopted days, an application was made to length of time that a person may fore the amendment”. ment age.”
by an overwhelming popular vote the Constitutional Court to allow
in 2013 through an Act published the process to resume.
in an Extraordinary Government Although judgment on that is
Gazette of 7 September 2017 to still pending, The NewsHawks un-
commence with immediate effect. derstands the court is expected to
grant an extension on the matter
But MDC lawmaker Innocent for Senate to deliberate on. But the
Gonese and then MP for Harare issue of a quorum still remains a
West Jessie Majome filed a con- snag for Malaba. Shining Light In The Dark Corners
stitutional application seeking the
nullification of the parliamentary Lawyers who spoke to The New- Are you looking for a place to hold your Private
proceedings that led to the passing sHawks said the stalling of Con- Meetings, Workshops, Product Launches, Media or
of the Constitutional Amendment stitutional Amendment Bill (No.
Bill (No. 1) into an Act. They ar- 1) will thus present Malaba with a
gued that when the process was new stumbling block as he seeks to
done, the National Assembly and extend his stay. Financial Briengs, Training, Strategic Planning. Then
the Senate were not fully consti- Malaba needs this amendment
tuted. to allow President Emmerson we have the perfect place for you, adhering to the
Mnangagwa to appoint him with- Covid-19 regulations.
Justice Paddington Garwe up- out going the process of public
held Gonese and Majome’s applica- interviews. All Mnangagwa needs
tion, setting aside the amendment to do is to consult the Judicial Ser-
on the grounds that a two-thirds vices Commission (JSC) as the late
majority or quorum was not ful- former president Robert Mugabe
filled in Senate when the proceed- used to do under the old constitu- Centrally located is an Executive Conference Room
ings were conducted. tion.
Legal sources said the Chief
“It is decided that the passing
of the Constitutional Amendment with a modern nish which accommodatesJustice is now racing against time
Bill No 1 of 2017 by the Senate on to get Constitutional Amendment 36delegates and the packages comprises of catering,
August 1, 2017 was inconsistent Bill (No. 2), which he needs to ex-
with the provisions of s328(5) of tend his stay in office beyond his
the constitution, to the extent that retirement. The amendment is Wi-Fi, stationery, projector and access to an executive
the affirmative votes did not reach yet to go through parliamentary
the minimum threshold of two- processes. Only slightly over two boardroom.
thirds of the membership of the months remain to steer the con-
House,” Justice Garwe ruled. voluted processes through various
stages.
“Constitutional Amendment Even if the second amendment
Bill (No 1) of 2017 is declared in- is passed into law, the constitu- For more information visit us at #100 Nelson
valid to the extent of the inconsis- tion does not allow the law to be
tency. The declaration of invalidity applied in retrospect, meaning in-
shall have effect from the date of
this order, but is suspended for a Mandela, Beverly Court, 6th Floor.cumbents cannot benefit. It is for
period of one hundred and eighty- future application. or call 077 538 7638/073 566 6122
eight days, subject to the provi- “Even if Constitutional Amend-
sions of paragraph 1(b). ment Bill (No.2) is gazetted before
midnight May 15, the question of
“The court directed Senate to Section 328 will still arise,” a con-
conduct a vote in accordance with stitutional law expert said. The NewsHawks @NewsHawksLive www.thenewshawks.com [email protected]
the procedure for amending the
Constitution prescribed by s328(5)
of the Constitution within 188
days of this order, failing which the
declaration of invalidity of Consti-
tutional Amendment Bill (No 1)

Page 6 News NewsHawks

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Israeli pilot’s US$2.5m diamond case
sucks in prosecutors, lawyer – 9yrs on

NYASHA CHINGONO stands that the investigating believed to be from Marange The NewsHawks can reveal session of a bag of diamonds on
officer who handled the matter must be released to him, to that law officers are is still pur- the day.
A PROMINENT Harare-based did not confirm the authen- the prejudice of the state,” a suing the diamonds which are
prosecutor and a lawyer, who is ticity of the purported Israeli judicial source told The News- being held by the state-run The Israeli national claimed
also a Zanu PF legislator, have diamond licence before it was Hawks. Minerals Marketing Corpora- he was an agent for a bona
been sucked into a US$2.5 filed. tion of Zimbabwe. fide diamond company whose
million scandal involving an The prosecutors allegedly licence he produced as well
Israeli pilot, Shmuel Kainan “The trial magistrate relied abused their duties as pub- The allegation against Klein as an affidavit authenticating
Klein, who was hauled before upon the questionable docu- lic officers by accepting a for- was that upon arrival at the the agency relationship. In his
the courts for allegedly smug- ment to acquit Shmuel Kain- eign document which was not then Harare International Air- defence, he also said he was a
gling diamonds in 2012. an Klein without ascertaining translated, resulting in the un- port on 17 March 2012, he did transit passenger en route to Is-
what was contained therein deserved acquittal of the Israeli not present himself to an im- rael and that the diamonds for
This came after they alleged- and whether that document pilot. migration officer, but entered which he had produced docu-
ly filed a document in Arabic, could enable the Israeli pilot the country as a flight deck ments of origin did not origi-
rendering the case null and to lawfully possess diamonds What is more worrisome crew member yet he had trav- nate from Zimbabwe, but from
void, leading to the acquittal in Zimbabwe. The acquittal is that the document had not elled as a passenger. South Africa.
of Klein, who was arrested at means the diamonds which are been verified by the investigat-
Robert Mugabe International ing officers, the source said. He had been found in pos- At the time of his acquittal,
Airport in 2012. the magistrate based the ac-
quittal on the grounds that the
Klein was acquitted of dia- state had consented to the pro-
mond smuggling after the state duction of the permit or licence
failed to find evidence to pin to possess diamonds which the
him to the case. respondent procured.

Ana appeal was filed. Sourc- The magistrate held that
es say a criminal complaint on the evidence adduced by
has been lodged with the po- the state, the respondent fell
lice special investigations team into the group of persons who
against two other law officers could lawfully deal in or pos-
involved in the case, besides sess diamonds in terms of the
the lawyer and another prose- Precious Stones Trade Act and
cutor. that the respondent was a tran-
sit passenger. There was also no
It is alleged the prosecutors evidence that the origin of the
and the lawyer connived to diamonds was Zimbabwe.
produce as part of the court re-
cord a foreign document, writ- On 8 March 2017, the
ten in Arabic, without trans- prosecutor filed supplementa-
lating it to English, the court’s ry heads of argument in sup-
official language. As a result, port of the state’s decision to
an investigation is underway – withdraw its appeal. Both the
nine years later, sources say. prosecutor and Klein’s counsel
made brief submissions in rela-
It is also understood the trial tion to the withdrawal.
magistrate, Clever Tsikwa, ad-
mitted the purported “Israeli The appeal was subsequent-
diamond licence” into the re- ly thrown out by judge Justice
cord as evidence notwithstand- Tawanda Chitapi under un-
ing that the document was clear circumstances.
written in Arabic.
The withdrawal of the ap-
The document was produced peal means that the judgement
as a photocopy without due handed down by the regional
certification, police sources say. magistrate on 25 April 2012
will remain.
The authenticity of the doc-
ument is still shrouded in mys- Contacted for comment on
tery, nearly nine years after the the investigations into the mat-
case was thrown out by the ter, police spokesperson Paul
state. Nyathi said: “I need to check
the matter in the office.”
The NewsHawks also under-

BRIDGET MANANAVIRE Dguoinn’tearepdiugcse—citliazwenysertso results will be made public,
with vaccination and to give acting Health secretary Robert ery person, in terms of section will be conducted first and the
A COURT battle is looming assurance that in future the Mudyirandima who was quot- 52(c) Constitution of Zimba- safety and efficacy of the vac-
between lawyers and the gov- authorities would conduct tri- ed on 15 February as saying the bwe, to bodily and psycholog- cines established before the
ernment over the Covid-19 als before administering a vac- government would conduct ical integrity, which includes population of any select group
vaccination programme which cine. clinical assessments in tandem the rights not to be subjected thereof is vaccinated.
commenced yesterday with with the vaccine rollout. The to medical scientific experi-
Vice-President and Health However, the government human rights lawyers said this ments,” the letter reads. “Should our client not
minister Constantino Chiwen- went ahead with the pro- was tantamount to reducing receive your response by
ga receiving the first jab. gramme without providing the Zimbabweans to guinea pigs. “Our client therefore de- 1600hours on the 19th of Feb-
demanded assurance, setting mands an assurance that, clini- ruary 2021, we have instruc-
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Hu- the ground for a potential legal “Further as you conduct the cal trials of Sinopharm vaccine tions to approach the court for
man Rights through Mbidzo, battle. The lawyers were basing clinical trials, we also wish to and any future Covid-19 vac- urgent relief.”
Muchadehama and Makoni their action on a statement by remind you of the rights of ev- cines to be imported, whose
Legal Practitioners had writ- Zimbabwe received 200 000
ten to the government giving doses of the Sinopharm vac-
it until today to release neces- cine donated by the Chinese
sary information on the Chi- government on Monday. The
nese Sinopharm vaccine, not government says it has bought
to conduct trials concurrently another 600 000 doses of the
same vaccine.

NewsHawks News Page 7

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Health workers sceptical over vaccine

NYASHA CHINGONO had begun, albeit on a small scale. part of government,” Dongo said.
Dongo expressed concerns over The nurses are calling on the
ZIMBABWEAN healthcare work- the lack of information among the
ers have expressed scepticism over frontline staff. government to assure them that
the Sinopharm vaccine rollout for they would not experience any side
frontline workers, warning that Dongo said while nurses were effects after taking the vaccine.
uptake could be low due to lack of ready to take the Sinopharm vac-
information. cine, a comprehensive communi- “We see this a lot among the
cation plan was crucial for the pe- people we interact with. Govern-
Frontline workers, who include riod before the vaccination begins. ment has not instilled a sense of
doctors and nurses, are on the confidence,” Dongo said.
priority list to receive the Chi- “I think there are fears among
nese vaccine which arrived in the the frontline workers due to lack “Trainings have commenced
country on Monday. More than 3 of information. People are always albeit on a small scale, others are
000 nurses have been affected by ready to take anything that will done online. The vaccines are a
Covid-19, according to the Zim- help prevent a disease but there is tiny fraction of what we really
babwe Association of Doctors for lack of communication plan on the need. We are lacking timelines and
Human Rights (ZADHR), while figures,” he said.
several doctors, among them
specialist practitioners, have suc-
cumbed to the virus.

However, doctors and nurses
say the lack of information on the
side effects of the Chinese jab had
caused panic among healthcare
staff, whose willingness to receive
the jab would be crucial in the
country’s fight against Covid-19
which has ravaged the country
since the December holidays.

ZADHR president Norman
Matara warned that the uptake of
the vaccine among doctors would
be low if government does not up
the ante on its information dissem-
ination.

“The sentiments we are getting
is that there is need for more infor-
mation when it comes to possible
side effects to encourage uptake.
From the sentiments we are get-
ting, there is no vigorous informa-
tion dissemination, and this may
affect the uptake,” Matara.

Low uptake of the Sinopharm
vaccine, which is yet to be ap-
proved by the World Health Or-
ganisation (WHO), would be a
setback to government’s Covid-19
vaccine phase.

“Government has to do more
to allay the fears of the public and
this begins with the frontline staff,”
Matara said.

According to clinical trials, the
Sinopharm vaccine has 79% effica-
cy, but China approved the jab and
began exporting it.

Sinopharm works by teaching
the immune system to make anti-
bodies against Covid-19.

The efficacy of the Sinopharm
vaccine has been under the spot-
light from local experts, who cite
concerns that it has not been ap-
proved by the WHO. This is de-
spite widespread use in the United
Arab Emirates, Morocco and other
countries.

According to a WHO vaccine
evaluation programme, Sino-
pharm is on number 14, while
the dossier for the vaccine has not
been accepted for review. This has
heightened concerns among the
frontline staff who fear being made
guinea pigs.

Doctors and nurses have also
raised concerns over delays by the
government to sensitise frontline
staff, only starting a few days after
taking delivery of 200 000 vaccines
from China.

According to Zimbabwe Nurs-
es Association (Zina) president
Enock Dongo, training for nurses

Page 8 News NewsHawks

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

BRIDGET MANANAVIRE Govt somersault: No “We must do our best to make
vaccine trials anymore sure that the resources that we are
WHILE the government has pre- committing are being used effi-
viously claimed that it was delay- Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr John Mangwiro being vaccinated. ciently and we are making the right
ing the procurement of vaccines selections and also that our popula-
so that its scientists can conduct a are going to be monitoring. of our own to collect data. When as public health specialists is that tion is safe.”
proper assessment of the vaccines, “Vaccines all over the world are administering the vaccine you also the experts including public health
Zimbabwe on Thursday began the want to do own observations.” physicians, immunologists, virol- He said the process on how gov-
vaccination programme without not 100%. As you are aware, this ogists are not fully involved in the ernment selected Sinopharm and
any trials. is an emergency and everything was Simbi said side-effects are expect- process of advising, selecting, re- the Russian vaccine was not clear as
done over a short period time. But ed in vaccination, even with those viewing the evidence and looking there was not enough data on the
Government officials now say regulators at the World that have been in use for years. at the data because we must use two’s efficacy and safety.
Zimbabwe will be involved in the evidence-based decision making,”
monitoring and evaluation of the Health Organisation listed vac- Public health experts said they a public health specialist and past “At the moment with this one
vaccination process to collect data. cines for emergency use and Sin- were concerned about the lack of president of the College of Public there is lack of data on safety and
opharm is one of them. It is also experts’ involvement in vaccine Health Specialists, Nyika Mahachi, efficacy that has been approved by
Vice-President Constantino being used in more than 12 coun- decision-making and vaccination said. WHO. It would appear that even
Chiwenga, who is also Health min- tries. We are going to be doing a process. though we have accepted it, there
ister, on 15 January said a team of monitoring and evaluation exercise are a lot of unknowns. While there
scientists was assessing the safety of “One of the concerns we have are a lot of unknowns, it means that
vaccines on the shelf and “as soon locally we have to collect our own
as all technical and administrative data, tracking individuals that have
obligations are met, Zimbabweans been vaccinated to come up with
can expect to be vaccinated”. information on safety and efficacy,”
Mahachi said.
“The vaccination is going to be
voluntary. Let me underscore that “We want to urge the minis-
my ministry is doing everything try of Health to work with pub-
possible to ensure that our citizens lic health experts. We stand ready
are safe from possible side effects of to support our government that
some Covid-19 vaccines, currently whatever resources we have we are
on the shelf,” Chiwenga said. making the right decisions, without
engaging in any politics whatsoever
However, the government has but focusing use of evidence.”
not been able to share any data
on how it arrived at the decision Immunologist Elopy Sibanda
to acquire the Sinopharm vaccines said trials could always be on an on-
as well as vaccines from the Unit- going basis as it was an emergency
ed Kingdom, Russia and India situation.
which it indicated it would acquire
alongside additional vaccines and “The vaccine is being adminis-
its share of the facilities arranged tered not only in China but other
by the World Health Organisation countries as well. Usually the other
and the African Union. phases proceed while vaccinations
are ongoing. On the issue of effi-
The Chinese government on cacy, we do not know for sure, but
Monday donated 200 000 doses a vaccine with an inactive virus is
of the Sinopharm vaccine and, in more robust than one with just part
addition, the government has indi- of the virus. I would not be worried
cated it has purchased an additional about its effectiveness.
600 000.
“Reactions are inevitable, even
The deputy director of labora- some vaccines that have been used
tory services, Raiva Simbi, said for years, for example for polio, can
Zimbabwe will not be doing any still cause paralysis or vaccine-in-
clinical trials but will be monitor- duced polio. What is important is
ing and evaluating the vaccination to weigh the benefits and the cons
process to collect data. and in this case the benefits are
more.”
“The vaccine has been certified
by the World Health Organisation However, he said there was a gap
(WHO). We are not doing clinical in raising awareness as not enough
trials, because those are done in information was being shared to
controlled and clinical groups. We the public.

Harare badly prepared for Covid-19 pandemic

MOSES NGWERE Harare council health services director Prosper Chonzi the best skills available in the de- into a situation where my compe-
partment of health. tencies cannot navigate. I believe
THE City of Harare is inadequate- in a letter dated 8 February, seen by ber of cases, caseload and also the the city has options, both internally
ly resourced, financially and in The NewsHawks this week. highest mortality. There are plans “My department and the resi- and externally, to select a competent
terms of personnel, to deal with to roll out a vaccination programme dents of Harare need me as the sub- person to lead the city during this
the Covid-19 pandemic, a situation He added: “The country and the for Covid-19, a massive programme stantive director of health services period,” he said.
which exposes its three million resi- city is now in the middle of a sec- that requires meticulous planning and at the helm of the response
dents to the coronavirus, an author- ond wave of the Covid-19 pandem- and efficient execution. We are also strategy at this critical time. Lead- “After taking all these into ac-
itative city official has disclosed. ic that is more deadly than the first planning for a possible third wave ership will be key in saving lives and count, and careful consideration, I
wave and which has also seen the scenario of the pandemic. All these controlling the pandemic in an ef- have come to the conclusion that I
In a letter to acting Harare mayor city becoming a top hot spot in the demand all hands on the deck and fective and efficient manner. It will am unable to take up the post at this
Stewart Mutizwa, where he declined country, recording the highest num- be indeed a travesty and an act of point in time.”
an offer for the position of Town professional irresponsibility on my
Clerk, the city’s health services di- part to abandon leadership of the The city is basically running on
rector Prosper Chonzi laid bare the city health service at this critical autopilot. It has been without a
dire state of affairs at Town House. point in time and my conscience substantive mayor since the arrest of
The pandemic is more prevalent in will forever hound me if I do so,” Herbert Gomba and his successor
Harare than any other province in Chonzi wrote. Jacob Mafume on corruption alle-
the country. gations.
He also reveals in the letter that
“As you are aware, last year, for the city’s health department was at The town clerk position has also
a period of almost three months, I its weakest point at the moment as been occupied by people in an act-
took up the appointment with some the pandemic has shocked it to the ing capacity since the arrest last year
reservations of course. During that core. of Hosiah Chisango.
period last year, it was understand-
able because there was an apparent “The city currently faces a myri- Several other department heads,
decline in the number of Covid-19 ad of challenges that include town including human capital director
cases countrywide in the first wave planning and land management Matthew Marara; housing and com-
of the outbreak. However, with issues, water and sewer reticulation munity services director Addmore
hindsight, it was a fatal mistake be- deficits, waste management, roads Nhekairo; director of works Zven-
cause the system failed to anticipate infrastructure, human resources, yika Chawatama, finance director
and timeously respond to the more and outstanding disciplinary cases. Tendai Kwenda and others are serv-
deadly second wave,” Chonzi said As a professional, I would be very ing varying suspension periods after
uncomfortable if I am immersed corruption allegations were levelled
against them.

NewsHawks News Page 9

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

BRIDGET MANANAVIRE What is the Sinopharm Bahrain, Peru, Morocco,
vaccine all about? Argentina, Jordan and
THERE has been an informa- Pakistan
tion gap in Zimbabwe on the The Minister of Health and Child Care, Constantino Chiwenga being vaccinated • How long will the vaccine
Sinopharm vaccine, which the protect a person after vac-
government began administer- on 30 December 2020 that phase three tri- pharm vaccine and said it was 86% ef- cination? Is that support-
ing yesterday, with Vice-Pres- als of the vaccine showed that it was 79% fective, according to interim results of its ed by any data?
ident Constantino Chiwenga effective — lower than that of Pfizer and phase three trial. According to Sinopham
taking the lead. Many people Moderna. • Phase three trials have been conducted in chairman Liu Jingzhen: “The
have been questioning its safety • However, the UAE approved the Sino- 10 countries worldwide including the UAE, antibody durability has been
and efficacy. observed in Phase I, Phase II
and Phase III clinical trials. Ac-
A lot of fake news has also cording to the data of Phase I
done the rounds, leaving citi- and Phase II clinical trials, the
zens in fear and sceptical about observation result still shows
taking the vaccine. a high level of antibody after
6 months of vaccination. The
This is what the The News- UAE and Bahrain have already
Hawks gathered about the vac- approved official registration of
cine: Sinopharm CNBG’s inactivated
vaccine of which the protection
• Sinopharm was developed rate exceeding the minimum
by a Chinese state-owned target of WHO (World Health
company, Pharmaceutical Organisation). Our clinical tri-
Group Corporation. als are still going on and we will
keep observing the durability of
• It is made of inactivated the antibody. As a new vaccine,
virus. the immunity durability and
protection effect of Covid-19
• According to the United vaccine need long-term per-
Arab Emirates (UAE), sistent observation till we obtain
which is administering the long-term protection data.”
the vaccine to its citizens, • The UAE ministry of
the vaccine can be given Health and Prevention
to everyone from the age has released an official
of 16 years. The UAE statement stating no seri-
government through its ous safety concerns have
vaccine webpage also said been reported. However,
the vaccine was safe for it is important to note
older adults and people that neither Sinopharm
with chronic conditions. nor the UAE has released
It recommended its use detailed data on the trial
among elderly persons of 31 000 participants.
and vulnerable persons as
they are at risk of devel-
oping complication when
infected with Covid-19.

• Sinopharm announced

Attorneys drag VP to court over Ngomahuru

MORRIS BISHI Patients at Ngomahuru Mental Hospital wadza River for bathing in one
large group where they bath in
NGOMAHURU Mental Hos- on Wednesday seeking an order dressed, the situation will be out and-a-half months because of full view of each other.
pital in Masvingo West has which will compel the three re- of hand,” said Mureri. an electric fault that has resulted
gone for nearly two months spondents to restore water at in Zinwa failing to pump water. “This is not only inhuman,
without running water, forcing Ngomahuru urgently. What is According to papers filed by The absence of water is forcing but is putting the patients
patients at the institution to happening is a violation of hu- Mureri, Ngomahuru, which has officials at the hospital to take at numerous risks including
use the nearby Magwangwadza man rights. If the crisis is not ad- 200 mental patients, has not had mental patients to Magwang- drowning and getting attacked
River for bathing. running water for the past one- by crocodiles. The patients are
being taken to the river, both
The crisis has forced the male and female at the same
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human time to bath,” reads part of the
Rights to file an urgent cham- application.
ber application at the High
Court in Masvingo on Wednes- The hospital`s medical su-
day to compel Vice-President perintendent, Dr Parerenyatwa
Constantino Chiwenga who Maramba, told The NewsHawks
is also Health and Child Care that the hospital is supplied
minister, Zimbabwe National water by Zinwa but the pump
Water Authority (Zinwa) and is not working after an electric
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply fault on a Zesa line. He said the
Authority (Zesa) to urgently two state agencies are giving
restore water supplies at Ngo- them assurances that the fault
mahuru. will be rectified, but the situ-
ation at the institution is now
The application, filed by unbearable.
Masvingo lawyer Martin Mure-
ri on behalf of Masvingo West “We get our water from Zin-
legislator Tichaona Mharadze, wa, but their pump is not work-
will be heard before Justice ing since there is a fault on the
Sunsley Zisengwe on Monday. part of Zesa.

Mureri told The NewsHawks “They are promising that
that he approached the court things will be back to normal
after the elapse of the 24-hour and in the meantime we are us-
ultimatum which he gave the ing water from the nearby river
authorities earlier this week. for bathing, which is not safe,
considering that our patients
“I can confirm that I filed need serious attention,” said Dr
papers before the High Court Maramba.

Page 10 News NewsHawks

Covid-19 Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021
pandemic
grounds
Zanu PF

FINANCE and Economic Devel- that he really wanted to avoid this Finance and Economic Development minister Mthuli Ncube
opment minister Mthuli Ncube meeting given what happened the
boycotted the Zanu PF politburo last time he was there,” the source the economics professor from Eu- tor Matemadanda, all expressed left virtually paralysed because of
on Wednesday, where the party’s said. rope where he was running a con- concern about how the party was the virus. He specifically said the
top brass spent hours discussing sultancy firm, and deployed him as failing to conduct its normal activ- DCCs (district coordinating com-
the dire state of the economy and The last time Ncube attended a technocrat with solutions to fix ities because of Covid-19 restric- mittees) had not met since they
how the Covid-19 pandemic had the politburo member, in June last the ailing economy. tions. were reconstituted last year.
left it grounded. year, guns were trained on him
when he told glum-faced Zanu PF Sources said that during somber “The meeting was held amid a “He also said this was affecting
Ncube had been invited to give bigwigs that the economy was in discussions in the politburo meet- very sombre atmosphere. Much of the party’s programmes in a major
a presentation on the state of the terrible shape and he had no magic ing on Wednesdaythis week, the the time was spent on condolences way and could negatively affect its
economy, but opted instead to at- wand to rescue it overnight. party bigwigs expressed fear the on party cadres whom we lost to chances of winning the 2023 elec-
tend the question-and-answer ses- rampaging Covid-19 pandemic, Covid-19 since our last politburo tions,” the source said.
sion in the National Assembly. Since his appointment in 2018, which has virtually grounded their meeting last year. Then comrade
some party heavyweights have party and left it in operational pa- Muchinguri, the chairperson, gave “Comrade Mpofu then suggest-
The decision to summon him to been unsettled by Ncube’s eco- ralysis, could lead to crushing de- a very sad report detailing how the ed that the annual national confer-
the meeting comes amid mount- nomic policy thrust, which saw feat in the 2023 general election. pandemic was wreaking havoc in ence which we normally hold in
ing fears among Zanu PF bigwigs year-on-year inflation ballooning our communities and even within December should be rolled back
that the party could lose the 2023 to 742% in July 2020 amid severe Senior officials who attended the party. Everyone was contrite to October and this was adopted
general election owing to the cata- exchange rate volatility. Incomes the meeting said the three main about it,” the source said. by the meeting, which means from
strophic economic decline, which and savings have been eroded, presenters, chairperson Oppah this year onwards, our confer-
they fear is angering the popula- condemning most citizens to un- Muchinguri-Kashiri, secretary for “Then the national commissar, ences will be held in October,” the
tion and alienating it from voters. told poverty. administration Obert Mpofu and comrade Matemadanda, spoke source further said.
national political commissar Vic- about how the party has been
“He had been invited to give Senior party officials have been — STAFF WRITER
a presentation on the state of the unhappy with Ncube, accus-
economy in the context of the ing him of sabotaging the party
Covid-19 pandemic and how it through economic mismanage-
has impacted on economic per- ment. Ncube’s policies, espoused
formance, but he failed to turn up in the now discarded Transitional
without even officially excusing Stabilisation Programme (TSP),
himself. We only learnt later that are widely blamed by Zanu PF
he was actually in parliament,” a hardliners for the deteriorating
senior party official who attended economy.
the meeting said.
He has been tiptoeing around
“What we really do not under- political landmines at every turn,
stand is why he could not come having introduced sweeping policy
in the morning since the meeting changes which have not improved
started at 10am. He could have the fortunes of a devastated econ-
just come and made his presenta- omy
tion and then gone to parliament
since the question time only kicks But Ncube enjoys the unquali-
off at 2.30pm. What is clear here is fied support of President Emmer-
son Mnangagwa, who recruited

NewsHawks News Page 11

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

City of Harare workers give notice to strike

CHRIS MAHOVE mised manpower relations, adding been addressed and also the issue of but as workers we will insist on our thing to do with the remuneration
there was no longer executive au- housing stands which the employer rights, we will insist on the law and of workers must be discussed at
CITY of Harare workers have giv- thority at the City of Harare, which promised to give some of its workers we invoke the law and let politicians Works Council and National Em-
en their employer a seven-day no- left the union in a dilemma as to in lieu of salary arrears. play politics and we will not allow ployment Council, but it seems as
tice to strike over poor salaries and who they should negotiate with. that to have a bearing on the liveli- if the employer is acting unilaterally,
non-availability of personal protec- He said even the union was now hoods of our members,” he said. and that informs our reaction,” said
tive equipment (PPE), among other He said this had affected the im- in sixes and sevens as it was no lon- Munengiwa.
grievances. plementation of several court orders ger sure of who to engage. Workers were also unhappy with
in favour of workers, among them the non-disbursement of Covid-19 City of Harare spokesperson Mi-
The move comes amid revelations compliance with a High Court “Today we talk to someone who allowances despite these having chael Chideme had not responded
almost half of the local authority’s judgment delivered last year, a is supposed to be the mayor and the been disbursed to the employer. to questions sent to him by the time
employees are yet to receive their deed of settlement which has not other day he is not there, so that of going to print.
December salaries, with some hav- has kind of complicated the picture “It’s so opaque because any-
ing salary arrears dating back to
2015.

The Zimbabwe Urban Councils
Workers Union (ZUCWU), which
represents urban local authorities’
workers across the country, said they
were concerned the City of Harare
was not prioritising employees.

The union accused the scan-
dal-ridden local authority of mak-
ing piecemeal salary disbursements
which were inconveniencing work-
ers.

“We have applied for a strike and
workers have voted and accepted
that they want a strike. What has
been slowing us down is the lock-
down. We think that over and above
our continuous engagement with
the ministry of Labour and that
of Local Government, if nothing
fruitful comes from there we have
to proceed with industrial action,”
said Kudakwashe Munengiwa, the
ZUCWU general secretary.

He added: “We have generated a
letter which we will serve the em-
ployer on Thursday giving them
a seven-day notice expiring next
Friday. If nothing happens, people
cannot continue to subsidise the
employer going to work at their
own cost when they are not being
paid. It does not make sense.”

Already, those working in the wa-
ter, fire and waste management sec-
tions have begun sit-ins demanding
that they be given adequate PPE in
the wake of the Covid-19 pandem-
ic.

Munengiwa noted that the sit-ins
were not directly related to the sal-
ary dispute, adding the union had
written to the authorities emphasis-
ing the need for PPE and infection
prevention control measures and
training without success.

The Labour Act (Chapter 28:01)
allows workers to unconditional-
ly withdraw their labour in cases
where their health is compromised
or where their safety is at risk.

“So our position is clear, where
workers’ health is under threat we
have instructed them to withdraw
their labour to the extent of the risk
or the hazard. And when they are
incapacitated to go to work because
they don’t have the money, surely
they can’t subsidize the employer by
borrowing to go to work.

“In those circumstances we are
saying if they don’t have money to
go to work, you should not go to
work. If you don’t have PPE to at-
tend to Covid-19 patients and you
are a nurse, don’t do that. And you
are a nurse aid, don’t do that. If
you don’t have PPE, if you are a re-
fuse worker, a sewage worker, don’t
do that. So that is our position as
a union to say workers should not
save lives at the expense of their own
lives,” he said.

Munengiwa said interference in
the affairs of the local authority by
central government had compro-

Page 12 News NewsHawks

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Gukurahundi
genocide
initiative
goes cold

LIZWE SEBATA by the people with us chefs facilitat- ty state as the majority of the victims groups under the banner of the Ma- sue. Mnangagwa, like his predecessor,
ing the conversations.  were supporters of the opposition tabeleland Collective to find redress has not offered an apology despite be-
TRADITIONAL leaders have Zapu and Ndebeles. over Gukurahundi. However, little ing cited as on of the kingpins since
lamented that the Covid-19 re- “We have to bring everyone on or nothing has been achieved outside he was State Security minister during
strictions on public gatherings have board and, in doing so, we also have Mnangagwa has met chiefs, clergy opening discussion on the emotive is- the genocide.
prevented them from spearheading to take due regard of our different and some Matabeleland civil society
Gukurahundi exhumations and re- cultures and traditional customs.
burials, among other peace-building People have opinions that we cannot
efforts aimed at addressing the coun- throw away but this will come up
try’s dark past. when people discuss...at the end of
the day, Gukurahundi has to be dealt
A meeting between traditional with,” Nyangazonke added.
leaders and President Emmerson
Mnangagwa held at State House in An estimated 20 000 civilians lost
Bulawayo in October resolved to al- their lives during the massacres after
low chiefs to lead the process follow- the late president Robert Mugabe
ing protests against any government unleashed the North Korean-trained
involvement. Five Brigade on the Midlands and
Matabeleland to presumably fight so-
“To that end, issues of exhuma- called dissidents.
tions and reburials should be led and
guided by chiefs as the custodians of Researchers argue the killings were
customs and culture in their areas deliberate meant to create a one-par-
of jurisdictions,” Local Government
minister July Moyo said as he an-
nounced the resolutions of the meet-
ing back then.

The previous month, a Gukura-
hundi genocide survivor, Charles
Thomas, the opposition Zapu and
Ibhetshu LikaZulu pressure group
had filed an urgent High Court
application seeking an  order inter-
dicting Mnangagwa and five other
respondents from conducting or
leading any process of exhumation
of the bodies of the Gukurahundi
victims.

Mnangagwa, Home Affairs and
Cultural Heritage minister Kazembe
Kazembe, the so-called Matabeleland
Collective and its executive director
Jennifer Williams, National Peace
and Reconciliation Commission
(NPRC) and its chairperson Justice
Sello Nare, were cited as respondents.

However, since October there has
not been any movement on exhuma-
tions and reburials with traditional
leaders citing Covid-19 restrictions
on public gatherings as the reason.

“Unfortunately, in my area of ju-
risdiction we have not held any meet-
ings on peace building initiatives or
on addressing Gukurahundi because
of Covid-19,” said Chief Shana of
Matabeleland North province.

Under Covid-19 lockdown re-
strictions, public gatherings, even for
funerals exceeding 30 people, remain
banned. Chief Nyangazonke of Kezi,
Matobo district in Matabeleland
North, added: “The major challenge
is that under this process we cannot
exclude anyone. It’s their process, and
they are the ones who have a say but
with public gatherings limited, it has
not been possible.”

Kezi is about 30 kilometres from
Maphisa where there was a notorious
Bhalagwe detention centre where
the Fifth Brigade killed hundreds of
people and buried them in shallow
mass graves during the 1980s mass
killings.

“And besides the exhumations,
there are issues of abductions, rape
and so forth that have to be addressed

NewsHawks Editorial & Opinion Page 13

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021 CARTOON

Mnangagwa badly lacks
performance legitimacy

THE Zanu PF politburo convened in Harare on Let’s vaccinate the Covid-19
Wednesday this week, creating a grotesque spec- vaccination against corruption
tacle in the middle of a devastating Covid-19
pandemic as focus shifted to politicking instead ZIMBABWE on Monday received man Rights has written to govern- populations, or to create a political
of addressing destroyed livelihoods. its first Covid-19 vaccines – 200 000 ment asking it to first embark on an patronage feeding trough — some-
doses donated by China. A further information campaign, consultations, thing we saw happening in Covid-19
It was yet another reminder that Zimbabwe 600 000 doses from China National clinical trials and other critical stages procurement and supplies during the
desperately lacks the three important ingredients Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) before moving to vaccinate the popu- first wave last year.
of any civilised society: leadership, social trust are set to arrive in early March. lation in the dark.
and state capacity. Mnangagwa’s family was entan-
Vice-President Constantino Chi- The lawyers gave government until gled in a US$60 million Covid-19
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, donning wenga, head of the delegation that today to reply to their ultimatum, or procurement deal fronted by dodgy
a multi-coloured jacket emblazoned with his received vaccines which included the else they go to court to stop the un- businessman Delish Nguwaya, who
portraits, set the tone for the politburo’s 348th Finance minister Mthuli, said front- planned and possibly soon chaotic is close to them.
ordinary session. This is the type of regalia the line health workers would be the first roll out programme.
party bigwigs often flaunt during noisy election to be vaccinated. Deputy minister John Mangwiro
campaigns. But why is Mnangagwa in perpetual While the vaccine has hit the was caught in a corrupt US$5.6 mil-
campaign mode, even in the middle of a presi- Chiwenga in fact became the first Zimbabwean market, there has been lion coronavirus deal as well.
dential term? When will he stop grandstanding to be vaccinated yesterday. much less focus on a critical aspect of
and start governing? the equation: ensuring the right peo- So there are risks which need to
While government previously ple get the right vaccine at the right be mitigated: theft, corruption and
True to form, his speech was hollow and thread- promised to ensure further clinical time. weaponisation, as well as security.
bare in terms of useful policy content, but rich in trials would be done locally before While most vaccines have little street
political bombast and anti-opposition rhetoric. the vaccines are distributed amid Failure to do so will allow Covid-19 value, those in power and positions of
rumours, misinformation and influence can always come up with
It is noteworthy that he read out a long list of scepticism about their efficacy and Hawk Eye corrupt deals for self-enrichment in-
Zanu PF heavyweights who have succumbed to side-effects, it went ahead to start volving procurement, supplies and
Covid-19 and proceeded to lead the observance distribution without scientific and Dumisani distribution.
of a minute of silence in their memory. There strategtic verifications. Muleya
was no minute of silence for the 1 400 Zimba- Government must be transparent
bweans who have lost their lives to this deadly Authorities said frontline health to remain at large, with those most and accountable on this. They must
pandemic. This sends a subliminal message to workers and health personnel in the in need who wallow in poverty like- release information on all these is-
the masses: You are on your own. security forces would be the first to ly to lose out. A lack of robust and sues.
get the jab. comprehensive health information
The Zanu PF leader went on to instruct his and accountability system will make That it is what the recent Misa
minions to go out there and see to it that the This has raised many questions it difficult for the vaccination pro- High Court judgment was partly
“political consciousness” of ordinary citizens is about President Emmerson Mnan- gramme to work out. about. Add to this the real risk that
changed in line with the dictates of the party. gagwa’s approach. What is govern- vaccines will become a new weapon
ment’s Covid-19 plan? What is their Planning for vaccine distribu- with which powerful states can lever-
Many people found it astonishing that Mnan- strategy? What are tactics to be used tion and identification of vulnerable age to wield geopolitical influence, or
gagwa would choose the middle of a ravaging in the battlefield against Covid-19. groups needs to be transparent to indeed leaders can use to eliminate
pandemic to launch his political campaign for ensure its access is equitable and that their political rivals.
the 2023 general election. Where is the programme or the people know who gets what, when,
road map – with detail on the target where, how and why? Given that Covid-19 is virulent
Exhorting the Zanu PF mandarins to fight the groups, places, their names, regions and lethal, political predators can al-
opposition MDC, he demanded “a resounding and locations as well as timelines - for Transparency is also key to ensure ways deploy that on their opponents.
victory” in 2023. the vaccine roll out? that access, or lack of it thereof, is not
used to the detriment of marginalised That is why government and those
He said his party must “reclaim dominance in Amid fevered speculation about distributing the vaccines need to en-
all of the country’s provinces, including urban the vaccine itself and the roll out pro- sure that supply chains have corrup-
areas”. gramme, as well as lack of transparen- tion and security safeguards in place,
cy and accountability battle lines are and that systems are in place to ac-
Mnangagwa then proceeded to accuse the drawn around that. tively monitor the implementation of
opposition of failing to deliver social services the framework and vaccine rollout.
through the councils it controls. The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Hu-

“It has become obvious that the opposition-led
councils have failed to deliver...We must vote
them out.”

The President’s empty posturing is unhelpful.
He lacks the performance legitimacy to accuse
the opposition of incompetence.

The economy is in tatters, extreme poverty is
endemic, corrupt cartels have captured the state,
foreign direct investment has slowed to a trickle,
international diplomatic re-engagement is dead,
and human rights defenders are under siege.

What is Mnangagwa’s performance scorecard?

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BusinessPage20 NewsHawks
Companies & Markets
Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

MATTERSNewsHawks

MARKETS CURRENCIES LAST CHANGE %CHANGE COMMODITIES LAST CHANGE %CHANGE
USD/JPY
GBP/USD 105.53 -0.13 -0.123 *OIL 59.62 -0.9 -1.49
EUR/USD
USD/CAD 1.402 +0.005 +0.34 *GOLD 1,785.3 +10.3 +0.58
AUD/USD
1.214 +0.005 +0.41 *SILVER 27.535 +0.457 +1.69

1.26 -0.008 -0.631 *WHEAT 660.25 -5 -0.75

0.788 +0.011 +1.39 *COPPER 4.057 +0.156 +4

Disposal of Nssa FML shares daylight
robbery against poor workers: ZCTU

CHRIS MAHOVE

THE planned disposal of Na- lieves was the first step towards termed the government’s delib- at the expense of workers and sive years of mismanagement
tional Social Security Authority the disenfranchisement of erate policy to grow the infor- pensioners who contributed to and looting by the same gov-
(Nssa) shares in First Mutual workers from participating in mal sector. the fund. ernment have reduced it to an
Life (FML) would be daylight the affairs of Nssa, presiden- economy sustained by vending
robbery against workers and tial spokesperson George Cha- He claimed the government Mutasa said instead of cel- and gold panning,” Mutasa said.
pensioners if allowed to pro- ramba was quoted in an online now had the biggest number ebrating the loss of formal
ceed, the Zimbabwe Congress publication as suggesting that of workers in the formal sector jobs, the government should “Instead of celebrating it as
of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has the labour body no longer de- that fell under the Apex Coun- be ashamed and resign as it cheap political points against
said. served a seat on the pension cil, leaving the ZCTU with had destroyed the once robust the ZCTU, the government
fund’s board. a depleted membership, ac- economy and reduced it to a must be ashamed and should
The government is planning knowledging the government’s vendors’ economy. resign,” he said.
to sell 33.22% of Nssa’s 66.22% Charamba claimed in the policies had contributed to the
shares in FML to private in- report that the ZCTU no lon- decline in formal employment. “They have destroyed Julius Nssa has investments run-
vestors as part of its insurance ger controlled a huge chunk Nyerere’s jewel of Africa. This ning into more than US$1 bil-
cluster consolidation strategy. of the workforce because of But Mutasa said this was a economy was an envy of many lion in various sectors such as
structural changes in the econ- ploy by the government to get with diversified manufacturing property, insurance, hospitality
But the ZCTU alleges the omy brought about by what he the ZCTU out of the way so industries, including vehicle and banking, making it one of
move is designed to benefit a they could loot Nssa resources assembly. However, succes- the biggest local investors.
few politically connected elites
who will be offered the shares
for a song.

Peter Mutasa, the labour
body’s president, claimed the
government was now trying to
elbow out the ZCTU from the
Nssa board as they were op-
posed to the sale of the shares.

“The minister is running
Nssa with his acolytes pretend-
ing to be a legally constituted
board. We know the former
board was dissolved to ensure
that Nssa parcels out its assets
to politically exposed persons
at a song. This will be daylight
robbery to the workers and
those on pension. That is why
we are resisting the sale of FML
shares,” he said.

He said whether or not the
ZCTU was part of the Nssa
board, the labour movement
would still fight to defend
workers’ contributions from
“looters”.

“We know the looters are
circling around Nssa like vul-
tures hovering over a carcass.
They took Nssa ZB shares us-
ing board members who were
not consulting their principals,
now they want the most prized
Nssa asset, FML, and all work-
ers should stop them.”

And in what the ZCTU be-

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 15

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

BERNARD MPOFU Zimdollar value to plunge as the
economy re-opens – Stockbrokers
THE Zimbabwean dollar is expected
to plunge against the United States my and businesses open means that “There is also a heavy reliance on other economic agents incorporate “In our view, there is no quick-
dollar, and trade at 1:200 by June, as the stampede for foreign currency imports. As the demand for foreign the cost of procuring forex (exchange fix solution to the currency issues
the economy opens up following the from every corner of the economy currency increases, there will be a rate premiums) in their prices. As a in Zimbabwe and we estimate the
rollout of Covid-19 vaccination in remains,” Morgan & Co said in a cost-push inflation phenomenon as result, prices of basic goods will head parallel market exchange rate to
the country, a leading stockbroking research note. food and clothing retailers as well as northwards. move to about ZWL150 by the end
firm has forecast. of Q1 (first quarter) 2021 and then
about ZWL200 in H2 (second half)
The economy experienced reces- 2021. The official rate will continue
sions in 2019 and 2020 with gross to lag the parallel market and main-
domestic product estimated to have tain a gap of about 20%-40%. This
contracted by 6% and 4.1% respec- means that inflationary pressures will
tively, according to the authorities. remain while y-o-y (year-on-year) in-
flation number be in the triple digits.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) introduced the new Foreign Fears of value destruction of Zim-
Exchange Auction System last June babwean dollar balances have re-
to determine the Zimbabwean dollar emerged in the broader economy.
exchange rate. The system, which is This has been driven by a plethora
largely managed by the central bank, of factors such as weak local eco-
has been critical in supplying forex to nomics and negative impact of the
key economic sectors. Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, eco-
nomic agents are willing to pay huge
In its report titled Zimbabwe premiums to convert ZWL bank
2021 Economic Outlook: An balances to US dollars. This has an
L-Shaped Economic Recovery, Mor- effect of putting pressure on paral-
gan & Co said the easing of the cur- lel market rates that are currently at
rent Covid-19 lockdown will pile ZWL$120.”
pressure on foreign exchange as com-
panies resume business. Zimbabwe Over the past four months, the lo-
this week received its first consign- cal unit has been trading at between
ment of Covid-19 vaccines donated ZW$81 and ZW$82 against the US
by China. dollar on the auction market. But ex-
perts say, going forward, the system
“We contend that economic and will not be manageable.
political risks in Zimbabwe remain
elevated. In addition, the foreign
exchange market in Zimbabwe has
been chaotic over the past years as
it has been characterised by lots of
experiments. The concern is that a
post-Covid era whereby the econo-

DUMISANI NYONI Poultry production quarter but a decrease of 8% com-
declines marginally pared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
ZIMBABWE’S poultry sector suf-
fered a 3% decline last year com- losses due to diseases.” demand for broiler meat. Conse- chicks from Zambia. In sharp contrast, estimated
pared to the same period in 2019, “In the coming months, cat- quently, demand for broiler day-old The report also notes that large- small-scale production in the fourth
after producing an average of 72 chicks is projected to remain firm,” quarter averaged 8.338 metric
million day-old chicks, according to tle producers will likely hold onto Zawe said. scale broiler meat production rallied tonnes per month, being increases
the Zimbabwe Poultry Association stocks given the good rains and the from an all-time low in recent years of 3% and 62% compared with the
(ZPA)’s latest report. need to rebuild their herds. The an- He said statistics show limited of 1.244 metric tonnes of meat in third quarter of 2020 and tge fourth
ticipated improved supply of local imports of poultry products and June and averaged 2.685 metric quarter of 2019.
ZPA chairperson Solomon Zawe maize together with the tight sup- the authorities have investigated tonnes in the fourth quarter, being
revealed that the total production of ply of beef expected to stimulate suspected importation of day-old an increase of 22% over the third “Differences in the performance
broiler  day-old chicks in 2020 was of these sectors is due to large-scale
72 million, being decreases of 3% operators diverting deliveries from
and 21% compared with 2019 and abattoirs and marketing live birds,”
2018, respectively. Zawe said.

Zawe said production of day-old Total meat production in the
chicks rallied from lows of 4.1 mil- fourth quarter was estimated at
lion in April and May, increasing to 11.023 metric tonnes per month,
7.6 million in October before de- being increases of 7% and 37%
clining to 6.7 million in December. compared with the third quarter of
2020 and fourth quarter of 2019
Fourth-quarter average produc- respectively.
tion of 7 million chicks per month
was the second-highest fourth-quar- Fourth-quarter broiler prices in-
ter production in recent years, being creased by between 8% and 26%
increases of 8% over the third quar- over the third quarter (5% to 21%)
ter and 36% over the corresponding when indexed to the US dollar.
period in 2019.
Large-scale stockholding de-
In the fourth quarter, chick pric- creased by 53% and averaged 656
es surged by 43% to ZW$8 988 metric tonnes per month in the
(US$82) per 100 chicks. fourth quarter. Zawe said estimated
total meat production for 2020 was
“Despite the improvement of 111.546 metric tonnes, decreases of
broiler breeder stocks and produc- 2% and 22% compared with 2019
tion of hatching eggs and day-old and 2018, respectively.
chicks, demand for chicks remained
strong with reports of unmet orders The ZPA boss said broiler grow-
for chicks in the fourth quarter,” he ing and in-production breeding
said. stocks continued to recover from
592 539 birds in March and peaked
“This was in part due to reduced at 729 059 birds in October before
imports of hatching eggs, influ- declining to 664 964 birds in De-
enced by difficulties in acquiring cember.
foreign currency. Beef output in the
fourth quarter decreased, normal In the fourth quarter of 2020,
for this time of the year, and which breeder stocks were 9% up on the
was also impacted upon by cattle third quarter of 2019 and 4% up on
the fourth quarter of 2019.

Page 16 Companies & Markets NewsHawks

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

RMB celebrates landmark Beitbridge
border post modernisation project

RMB’s $300m Beitbridge bor- got through the border, often and commercial risk cover SA, and a $65m development the Emerging Africa Infra-
der post modernisation proj- travelling hundreds of kilo- provided by the Export Cred- finance institution tranche structure Fund.
ect, which recently reached a metres to a different border it Insurance Corporation of funded by Afreximbank, and
financial close, involved the to avoid the long queues. As RMB, Absa, Nedbank and
upgrade and rehabilitation of a result, the border post lost Advertorial Standard Bank acted as joint
the Zimbabwean side of the traffic over time. mandated lead arrangers for
Beitbridge border post, un- the commercial debt tranche.
der a 17-and-a-half-year con- This redevelopment of the The project sponsor, La Fron-
cession granted by the Zim- border post will make it more tiere, will be responsible for
babwean government to La efficient, leading to increased the long-term operation of
Frontiere. regional trade, benefiting the the border post once upgrad-
Zimbabwe economy and fis- ed, alongside the Zimbabwean
RMB has acted as financial cus, and SA’s economy indi- authorities.
adviser to La Frontiere since rectly. Through the conces-
2018, and later took on the sion, the development has a We are proud of what we
roles of joint mandated lead focused socioeconomic im- have achieved in this transac-
arranger and hedging bank pact: In addition to upgrad- tion, and look forward to more
for the project. We partnered ing the ageing infrastructure opportunities to work with
with five other financial in- at the border post itself, the the public and private sectors
stitutions in structuring the concession also requires the to stimulate infrastructural
transaction. delivery of social infrastruc- development in Africa. This is
ture to the adjacent town of an optimal methodology for
The deal has come at a time Beitbridge, including a water governments across the con-
when infrastructure devel- treatment plant, housing and tinent, especially those with
opment and public-private a fire station. strained fiscal space, to crowd
partnerships (PPPs) are more in the private sector, and stim-
critical than ever to stimu- This is the first concession ulate economic growth.
late economic growth. As the of its kind concluded in Zim-
leading investment bank in babwe in over a decade, illus- —Bisiness Live
the African concessions and trating the strides the country
PPP sector, we felt confident has made in attracting foreign STANBIC BANK EMPLOYS VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
that we could provide a tai- direct investment. This is a FOR ENHANCED CLIENT EXPERIENCE
lored solution despite the positive message for African
challenges. countries and investors — the Stanbic Bank has launched a virtual assistant/a chatbot, aptly named “Stan”, set to shorten the
continent is open for business. response time for customer queries as part of the bank’s digitization drive.
In many ways, this transac-
tion blazed a trail for future The transaction includ- The chatbot, Stan, has been designed to respond to queries from the bank’s social media pages
deals in the sector. We were ed a truly multidisciplinary and the webchat service on their website day and night.
tasked with finding interested team. In its financial advisory
equity investors and lenders role, the infrastructure sec- A chatbot is specialized software that can simulate a conversation (or chat) with a user in a
within a challenging jurisdic- tor solutions team has helped natural language through messaging applications, websites, mobile apps or through the phone.
tion and at a time of uncer- to structure a bankable proj- The bank’s head of Marketing & Communications, Palmer Mugavha, said the launch of the chat-
tainty in the global economic ect financing and bring in bot is in line with the digital bank journey that the Standard Bank Group subsidiary has been on
landscape. The structuring co-shareholders such as the for the last few years.
was complex, and we faced Pembani-Remgro Infrastruc-
intricate challenges that had ture Fund and the pan-African “Our digitization drive is gathering momentum and we are excited about this latest offering. The
to be responded to with agil- Infrastructure Development launch of Stan enforces our commitment to quality customer experience as it allows customers
ity and innovation. Typically, Fund (managed by Harith). to receive quicker responses to their queries at any time. As much as digitization started well
lenders in the African project before COVID-19, the products we are introducing will definitely go a long way in mitigating
finance sector have muted ap- The financing package in- against the menacing pandemic as they play a pivotal role in reducing face to face interaction at
petite for market risk, a chal- cludes a $130m commercial limited or no cost, while ensuring quality banking service to customers,” said Mugavha.
lenge that was worsened by a debt tranche with political risk
pandemic and the consequent Some local players in the banking sector have also introduced the chatbot service, a develop-
economic crisis. In spite of ment which is seemingly becoming a trend as more corporates begin to implement world stan-
these factors, considered risk dard strategies to differentiate their services.
analysis and bespoke struc-
turing helped to facilitate this “It has become a trend indeed and, on our part, we are just working towards making sure that
project achieving financial our banking services are seamlessly embedded within the daily lifestyles of our customers. We
close. pay close attention to the needs of our clients and respond accordingly”, commented Mugavha.
“I should however point out that our Customer Care Centre remains available to assist should
The economic impact of the there be need to talk to a consultant, and Stan can speedily escalate enquiries in that instance,”
transaction is significant, both he added.
to those companies that use
the border to trade, and the Stan comes on board hard on the heels of Stanbic Bank having assumed the full cost of its cus-
communities surrounding the tomers’ access to some of its digital banking platforms.
border. The Beitbridge border Late December last year, Stanbic Bank zero-rated some of their platforms taking on the cus-
post is the busiest border post tomer’s internet data cost as part of the digitization strategy aimed at encouraging the uptake of
in Southern Africa, connect- digital banking strategies for convenience and adoption on 1st world banking technologies and
ing SA to Zimbabwe and pro- practices.
viding a key access point for
trade with countries further “Stan is ready to serve on our social media pages and also on our website. Accessing Stan through
to the north. This border has these platforms is advantageous to customers as we have zero-rated access to them for all our
been characterised by long Econet-subscribing customers, an offer we are working to extend to customers on NetOne and
waiting periods for trucks, Telecel,” said Mugavha.
sometimes days, before they

NewsHawks Page 17

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Zimbabwe
debt crisis
remains
precarious

DUMISANI NYONI tively implementing fiscal reforms provision of Section 4(a) of the Fi- at 14.51%. range until 2023 as government con-
and some increased debt service re- nance Act requiring that tax be paid The major expenditure outlay re- tinues to rein in on spending, it said.
AN advisory firm, IH Securities payments. in the currency of transaction.
(IH), says Zimbabwe’s public debt mains related to employment cost, In light of the Covid-19 pandem-
situation will remain precarious, with However, external debt went up by “Not all institutions have been which rose from 48% of total rev- ic, IH said there might be downside
penalties on overdue loans mounting US$106 million in the nine months compliant in this regard and we are enues in 2009 to a peak of about expenditure risk in the form of fur-
as the government currently does not ending September 2020 at US$8.02 still to see a corresponding uptick in 78.3% in 2017, before receding to ther unanticipated emergency relief
have the capacity to service them. billion. Arrears amounted to over US$ tax revenue,” IH said. 61% in 2018. funding and social safety nets paired
77% of this balance with no concrete with pressure from labour unions for
According to the 2021 Nation- debt settlement plan. IH said the government revenue as Currently, employment cost as upward review of civil servants’ sala-
al Budget, external debt stood at a percentage of GDP is expected to a percentage of revenue stands at ries.
US$8.02 billion as at September “We foresee public debt remaining take an upward trend and close 2021 40.63% and is expected to remain in
2020, with domestic debt pegged at in a critical condition with penalties
ZW$1.547 bilion. on overdue debt mounting as the
government currently does not have
Although the ratio of public-debt- the capacity to service them. The
to-gross domestic product (GDP) country risk will also make it difficult
improved from 88.1% in 2019 to a to access further loans which might
revised estimate of 78.4% in 2020, end up driving up domestic debt fig-
IH said this is notably above the ures,” the firm said in a report.
60% threshold recommended by
the Southern African Development Third-quarter government revenue
Community but also a reflection of stood at ZW$57 billion, surpassing
the ongoing debt crisis in sub-Saha- the targeted ZW$44.83 billion by
ran Africa. 27.16%, and was expected to close
the year at ZW$173.49 billion.
Domestic debt accounted for an
estimated 1.8% of total public debt Statutory Instrument 185 of 2020,
on account of government pro-ac- which legalised the use of a dual cur-
rency system, was aligned with the

Zim tourism sector desperate for normalcy

NYASHA CHINGONO ed Kingdom, meaning less travel uation and renders the future more tourism industry,” Chinwanda said. fore, the industry will default to re-
between the two countries. uncertain,” Chinwanda told The In Zimbabwe, the tourism sector liance on domestic tourism,” Chin-
RECOVERY of the country’s tour- NewsHawks. wanda said.
ism sector will be a long and ardu- “Recovery to 2019 levels was an- contributes 6.3% of the country’s
ous journey as the unrelenting ef- ticipated by experts around 2023 According to the World Council Zimbabwe’s gross domestic prod- Local tourism players re-opened
fects of the Covid-19 pandemic on globally. Being a long-haul desti- for Travel and Tourism, global inter- uct. their doors late last year after near-
travel will only weather off around nation, it means that recovery for national arrivals dropped by 74% in ly seven months without business,
2023, an expert says. Zimbabwe may take longer. Again, 2020, spelling doom for most econ- According to Chinwanda, the leading to massive retrenchment as
when you factor in the emergency omies which depend on tourism tourism sector remained a key cog companies suffered losses.
After losing US$1 billion in po- of new variants some of which have like Zimbabwe. of Zimbabwe’s economy which
tential revenue last year, coupled led to travel bans into countries would require confidence to return The industry was dealt another
with a significant drop in arrivals, such as the UK from southern Af- “That is a phenomenal statistic to its glory days. blow when a second wave of infec-
the tourism industry will continue rica, this further complicates the sit- pointing to the massive knock and tions forced the government to an-
suffering the effects of the global toll that Covid-19 has been to the With Zimbabwe having received nounce a 30-day strict lockdown in
pandemic in 2021. its first batch of the Sinopharm vac- January amid a spike in cases.
cine from China this week, it means
Hospitality Association of Zim- health workers and other frontline Chinwanda said tourism players
babwe (HAZ) president Clive staff can hope for a return to nor- expected to continue the same trend
Chinwanda said while the industry malcy, which the tourism sector experienced in 2020.
would require an in-depth study desperately needs.
to ascertain the losses likely to be “It is a known fact that most suc-
incurred this year, business would “The key factor in recovery of cessful destinations across the world
continue on a downward spiral. tourism is the issue of the return are successful because of domestic
of confidence within the travelling tourism. In our case, when you look
He said the discovery of other public. This is hinged on two fun- at 2020 you will realise that some
potentially dangerous Covid-19 damental issues, namely alignment of our destinations such as Nyan-
variants in countries like South Af- of protocols and more coordination ga, Kariba, Kadoma, Bulawayo and
rica would make resurgence more and uniformity across countries Masvingo were on a sustainable re-
difficult for the tourism industry, throughout the world and the suc- covery path against the background
which feeds on confidence. cess of vaccination programmes at a of the Meetings, Incentives, Con-
global scale,” Chinwanda said. ventions and Exhibitions (MICE)
Tourism is one of the worst-af- driving demand,” Chinwanda told
fected industries around the world In the absence of foreign tourists, The NewsHawks.
as hotels are on lockdown amid Zimbabwe will rely on local tourism
global travel bans. to stay afloat. “Only Vic Falls, which is an 80%
plus international destination, con-
To worsen an already dire situa- “Again, the issue of whether the tinued to haemorrhage. We there-
tion, Zimbabwe has been listed as a current available vaccines are effec- fore expect a similar sort of pattern
red zone by countries like the Unit- tive on the new strains is a cause for post this current wave,” he added.
concern. In the short term there-

Page 18 STOCK TAKING NewsHawks

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Price Sheet

Friday, 19 February 2021 A MEMBER OF FINSEC & THE ZIMBABWE STOCK EXCHANGE

Company Sector Bloomberg Previous Last VWAP (cents) Total Total Price Price YTD Market
Ticker Price Traded Traded Traded Change Change (%) Cap
(cents) Volume Value ($) (cents) (%) ($m)
Price
3480.00 1,500
AFDIS Consumer Goods AFDIS: ZH 173.14 3480.00 3480.00 22,100 52,200.00 - - 45.00 4,082.25
African Sun Consumer Services ASUN: ZH 695.00 160.00 154.56 34,158.00 -18.58 -10.73 -9.08 1,331.95
ART ARTD: ZH 235.00 650.00 674.41 3,700 24,953.00 -20.59 -2.96 41.29 2,947.02
Ariston Industrials ARISTON: ZH 1700.00 230.00 226.40 35,600 80,600.00 -8.60 -3.66 68.96 3,684.42
Axia Consumer Services 550.00 1595.00 1636.64 156,500 2,561,345.00 -63.36 -3.73 78.67 8,917.96
BNC AXIA: ZH 87400.00 530.00 535.69 32,700 175,170.00 -14.31 -2.60 40.97 6,695.36
BAT Consumer Goods BIND: ZH 9500.00 87400.00 58.91 18,033.69
CAFCA Basic Materials BAT: ZH 1092.60 - 9500.00 - - - - 5.67
Cassava CAFCA: ZH 9050.00 - 1034.34 - - - - 59.13 829.84
CBZ Consumer Goods CSZL: ZH 1900.00 1030.00 8211.05 145,300 1,502,895.00 -58.26 -5.33 -3.92 26,795.38
Dairibord Industrials CBZ: ZH 4200.00 8200.00 1925.00 35,600 2,923,135.00 -838.95 -9.27 46.95 56,428.94
Delta DZL: ZH 1749.66 1925.00 4311.80 10,000 192,500.00 25.00 1.32 89.52 6,891.52
Econet Technology DLTA: ZH 325.00 4420.00 1716.11 245,600 10,589,780.00 111.80 2.66 81.60 55,383.40
Edgars Banking ECO: ZH 2650.00 1700.00 316.86 64,500 1,106,890.00 -33.55 -1.92 164.05 44,457.15
FBC EDGR: ZH 256.73 325.00 2647.59 35,000 110,900.00 -8.14 -2.50 76.35 1,036.10
Fidelity Consumer Goods FBC: ZH 190.39 2650.00 256.73 5,800 153,560.00 -2.41 -0.09 34.63 17,790.48
First Capital Consumer Goods FIDL: ZH 1500.00 - 186.96 - - - - 69.96
FML Telecommunications FCA: ZH 600.00 185.00 1407.67 1,424,600 2,663,452.00 -3.43 -1.80 34.06 279.64
FMP Consumer Services FMHL: ZH 21.00 1800.00 600.00 3,720,400 52,371,052.00 -92.33 -6.16 85.19 4,032.20
GBH FMP: ZH 31.05 600.00 24.75 100 600.00 - - 3.13 9,714.94
Getbucks Banking GBH: ZH 9505.38 25.00 31.05 2,372,600 587,261.40 3.75 17.86 148.40 7,428.94
Hippo Financial Services GBFS: ZH 5600.22 - 10099.74 - - - - 12.22
Innscor HIPO: ZH 2300.00 10200.00 5601.44 38,300 3,868,200.00 594.36 6.25 51.27 132.81
Lafarge Banking 115.75 6000.00 2300.00 125,400 7,024,200.00 1.22 0.02 139.58 361.15
Mash Financial Services INN: ZH 1600.00 - 102.41 - - - - 10.12 19,494.58
Masimba LACZ: ZH 115.75 1600.00 262,800 269,135.25 -13.34 -11.52 42.86 31,635.61
Medtech Real Estate MASH: ZH 7.20 - - - - - -11.39 1,840.00
Meikles Industrials MSHL: ZH 4175.00 7.00 7.00 2,967,700 207,748.00 -0.20 -2.78 99.64 1,903.88
Nampak MMDZ: ZH 720.00 4400.00 4393.12 452,800 19,892,030.00 218.12 5.22 206.13 3,866.46
NatFoods Financial Services MEIK: ZH 18480.00 700.00 698.75 8,000 55,900.00 -21.25 -2.95 207.49 212.78
NTS Consumer Goods NPKZ: ZH - 18480.00 - - - - 147.72 11,099.05
NMBZ NTFD: ZH 56.75 68.00 200 136.00 11.25 19.82 57.98 5,280.09
OK Zim Industrials 600.00 700.00 68.00 2,500 15,800.00 32.00 5.33 75.62 12,640.34
Padenga Industrials NTS: ZH 1641.22 1580.00 632.00 379,300 5,995,115.00 -60.65 -3.70 34.49 172.63
Proplastics Real Estate NMB: ZH 3000.00 3000.00 1580.57 275,100 7,774,900.00 -173.79 -5.79 178.75 2,554.37
RTG Industrials OKZ: ZH 2400.00 2400.00 2826.21 300 7,200.00 - - -11.34 19,706.75
RioZim Healthcare PHL: ZH 166.45 170.00 2400.00 1,600 2,720.00 3.55 2.13 32.09 15,306.57
SeedCo Industrials PROL: ZH 2100.00 1975.00 170.00 24,800 489,805.00 -124.98 -5.95 8.57 6,046.46
Simbisa Industrials RTG: ZH 2410.61 2500.00 1975.02 82,300 2,055,050.00 86.41 3.58 56.71 4,242.34
Star Africa Consumer Goods RIOZ: ZH 1978.57 1890.00 2497.02 613,900 11,561,650.00 -95.26 -4.81 93.44 2,410.11
Truworths Industrials SEED: ZH 50.60 52.00 1883.31 131,700 68,790.00 1.63 3.22 125.56 6,130.89
TSL SIM: ZH 75.00 65.00 52.23 3,900 2,595.00 -8.46 -11.28 143.49 10,587.68
Turnall Banking SACL: ZH 4495.00 4200.00 66.54 356,400 14,969,690.00 -294.75 -6.56 61.29 2,462.69
Unifreight Consumer Services TRUW: ZH 150.00 150.00 4200.25 400 600.00 - - 1961.83 255.56
Willdale TSL: ZH 319.75 383.50 150.00 200 767.00 63.75 19.94 78.31 14,999.20
ZB Consumer Goods TURN: ZH 56.68 57.75 383.50 12,100 6,904.50 0.38 0.67 66.67 739.56
Zeco Industrials UNIF: ZH 4000.00 - 57.06 - - - - 408.33
Zimpapers WILD: ZH - 4000.00 - - - - - 1,014.53
Zimplow Consumer Services ZBFH: ZH 0.02 - - - - - 14.29 7,007.63
ZHL Basic Materials ZECO: ZH 112.00 820.00 0.02 700 5,740.00 - - 64.00
ZIMP: ZH 820.00 230.00 112.00 59,000 135,620.50 -5.13 -2.18 -26.67 0.09
TOTAL Consumer Goods ZIMPLOW: ZH 235.00 820.00 14,111,000 149,540,747.65 645.12
Consumer Goods ZHL: ZH 229.87 1,954.72
Consumer Goods 52,379 3,524.69
Consumer Services 465,397.81
Consumer Goods

Industrials
Industrials
Industrials

Banking
Industrials
Consumer Services
Industrials
Financial Services

ETFs OMTT.zw 180.00 179.00 179.66 94,105.70 -0.34 -0.19 79.27 143.73

Old Mutual ZSE Top 10 ETF

VFEX Open (US cents) Close (US cents) Change (%) YTD (%) Mkt Cap (US$m) Top 5 Risers Price Change % YTD %
SCIL 18.00 Unifreight 383.50c +63.75c +19.94 +1961.83
18.00 - 0.00 43.40 NTS +19.82 +147.72
FINSEC Open (cents) GBH 68.00c +11.25c +17.86
OMZIL 2910.00 Close (cents) Change (%) YTD (%) Mkt Cap ($m) Hippo 24.75c +3.75c +6.25 +3.13
2910.00 - 9.81 2,415.64 NMBZ 10099.74c +594.36c +5.33 +12.22
Index 632.00c +32.00c +57.98
ZSE All Share Top 5 Fallers
Top 10 Close Change (%) Open YTD % Mash Price Change % YTD %
Top 15 3,921.68 -2.10 4,005.94 +49.15 Truworths 102.41c -13.34c -11.52 +10.12
Small Cap 2,357.01 -2.35 2,413.64 +42.46 African Sun -8.46c -11.28 +125.56
Medium Cap 2,729.82 -1.94 2,783.84 +40.13 CBZ 66.54c -18.58c -10.73 -9.08
+0.56 22,268.85 +88.55 TSL 154.56c -9.27 -3.92
22,392.49 -1.75 9,164.72 +61.83 8211.05c -838.95c -6.56 +143.49
9,004.78 4200.25c -294.75c

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]

Tel: (+263) 08677008101-2 | Email: [email protected] | Address: 1st Floor, Block D, Smatsatsa Office Park, Borrowdale, Harare

MORGAN & COMPANY has issued this document for distribution to its clients. It may not be reproduced or further distributed in whole or in part for any purpose. This document is not and should not be
construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe to any investment. MORGAN & COMPANY has based this document on information obtained from sources it believes

to be reliable but which it has not independently verified; MORGAN & COMPANY makes no guarantee, representation or warranty and accepts no responsibility or liability as to the accuracy or
completeness of its content.

NewsHawks Executive Chat Page 19

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Reinsurance is at the heart of economic progress

REINSURANCE is not under- ZEP-Re chief operating officer Jeph Gwatipedza the policy changes which saw their
stood by many, particularly the US dollar capital being converted
key role it plays in the insurance JG: Yes, you are correct. Our The company continues to already bad situation then came into Zimbabwean dollars and now
and pensions industry. territorial scope extends beyond make headlines in performing Covid-19. We are sanguine that they are trying to cover US dollar
our motherland Africa, going as its development mandate in the the economy will improve and exposures. I noticed that recently
This week, our reporter Ronald far as India, Nepal, Middle East various Comesa countries and also the insurance industry will the Zimbabwe government has
Muchenje (RM) interviewed Jeph and Asia. The company currently you will be surprised that in 2020 pick up in 2021. just signed the African Continen-
Gwatipedza (JG), the chief oper- trades with 62 countries in Africa, alone, despite the impact of the tal Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),
ating officer of ZEP-Re, a special- Asia, and the Indian sub continen- Covid-19 pandemic, the compa- The demand for reinsurance is which is good as it seeks to em-
ised institution of the Common tal. ZEP-Re has been one of Af- ny through its flagship training derived demand and obviously if brace the spirit of ubuntu by do-
Market for Eastern and Southern rica’s success stories and currently division, the ZEP-Re Academy, the economic fundamentals are ing away with trade barriers.
Africa (Comesa) created under we are the second biggest indige- managed to train through various not right then the insurance in-
charter. The reinsurance company nous African reinsurer in Africa. webinars close to 3 000 insurance dustry will also suffer. According Without going into the nitty
is headquartered in Nairobi, Ken- and reinsurance professionals in to Bloomberg-Standard Bank Re- gritties, this obviously opens the
ya. The company’s main base re- various technical insurance areas search, the Zimbabwe economy industry to new entrants. My take
mains Comesa and this is historic of engineering, property, marine, shrank by 10.4% in 2020 and is that the Zimbabwe insurance
Below are excerpts of the inter- in the sense that when the compa- bonds and guarantees, enterprise this is after having shrank again by industry needs time, otherwise the
view: ny was set up in 1993 by heads of risk management (ERM) and fi- 6.5% in 2019. Inflation remains a whole industry will be decimated,
state of the Comesa countries, its nancial lines. headache closing at 628% in 2020 considering that this industry has
RM: For decades, reinsurance mandate was to provide reinsur- but we are happy to hear the Re- literally been closed since 1980.
has been the backbone of the ance and technical development The training attracted profes- serve Bank of Zimbabwe governor The economy needs to be stable
insurance sector, but people do capacity to the insurance and re- sionals from over 25 countries in Dr (John) Mangudya assuring us and functioning well first before
not quite understand its impor- insurance industries within the Africa and some selected markets that with the expected bumper the industry is fully liberalised.
tance. Can you take us through member state countries. We have of Asia and India. harvest, coupled with the stabil-
this? now even gone beyond that and isation of the currency, inflation RM: What have been the key
there are quite several achieve- The company has contributed a will come under control in 2021. milestones you have achieved
JG: Insurance companies pro- ments made which include, in- lot in infrastructure development This is very important for the sus- versus the challenges you have
vide cover to the insuring public ter-alia: programmes in various countries tainability of the industry. faced in Zimbabwe?
and this protection is given for and its investment portfolio is
small, medium to large size risks The company has managed to over US$300 million. We have More so, the commissioner of JG: The company has been in
like power stations and airlines. help start and build strong local built some recent iconic office insurance has been very proactive Zimbabwe since 2011 December
The balance sheets of most insur- institutions in various Comesa block buildings in Zambia – the in working with the government 1. I started the office after spend-
ance companies are quite small to member states of Uganda, Tan- US$33 million Zambia Business in ensuring that confidence and ing close to nine years in South
take over these risks on their own, zania. We have even gone further Park. stability in the insurance indus- Africa. Hope Murera, the man-
for example, airlines buy a mini- and supported some institutions try is maintained. The industry aging director and chief executive
mum of US$500 million in insur- as far as Sierra Leon. These com- RM: Coming back to Zimba- sells a promise that should you officer of ZEP-Re saw an opportu-
ance liability cover, power stations panies continue to do well, and we bwe, what can you say about the lose your assets through fire, theft nity in Zimbabwe when everyone
buy insurance for their property are proud of that. reinsurance market in this coun- etc, we will put you in the same else was shunning Zimbabwe and
or power stations covering billions try? position you were before the loss. had the guts to say “let me open
of dollars in assets. Supporting regulators in vari- But now under the current envi- an office in Zimbabwe” – this was
ous key Comesa markets and suc- JG: The Zimbabwe reinsurance ronment, how do you ensure that obviously against all odds. When
This always means insurers need cesses have been recorded in Ken- market is a mature market but when there is high inflation and Hope offered me an opportunity
the big brother to cover them in ya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, there are a few challenges facing unstable currency? So the move to join ZEP-Re, I told myself,
the event of claims and this big Democratic Republic of Congo, the insurance and reinsurance by the Commissioner to allow US let me return to my motherland
brother is the reinsurer. So rein- Burundi and Zambia, to mention markets in Zimbabwe and these dollar-denominated policies in and make a difference, so I start-
surers insure insurance companies. but a few. These technical assis- have been compounded by the certain classes is clearly visionary ed working in Zimbabwe on De-
tance programmes have helped to effects of the Covid-19 pandem- thinking and a wellcome move. cember 1, 2011. The Head office
Reinsurance can be regarded strengthen the regulatory environ- ic which has also affected most of in Kenya was and has been very
as the shock absorber of an insur- ments in those countries, and we our key markets. The Zimbabwe The companies remain weak in supportive and the office has done
ance company and, therefore the will continue to do more. market is unique in the sense that terms of capitalisation because of very well, moving from a country
industry, and without reinsurance it was trying to get itself out of the office to a regional office within 5
many companies will face solven- years.
cy strains.
That is a huge milestone. I had
I would briefly summarise the worked here since leaving college
importance of reinsurance as fol- in 1991 and most of the CEOs in
lows: Zimbabwe have been close to me
since 1992 and I had always main-
• With reinsurance, the insur- tained contact. This is a relation-
er ensures that its balance sheet ship business so that helped me a
is protected from major losses. lot in settling down.
In Zimbabwe, one of the big-
gest losses was the fire at one of Zimbabwe is now ZEP-Re’s
the largest hotels in Victoria Falls third largest country market out
in early 2000 and this loss was of the 62 countries we deal with.
US$14 million. The insurer’s net That is a great achievement. The
loss was less than 5% and the rest support from His Excellency Pres-
was recovered from reinsurers. ident in signing the ZEP-Re Bill
into law and relevant government
• Provides surplus relief ministries, from the ministry of Fi-
• With reinsurance, the in- nance, Industry and International
surance companies’ earnings are Trade, Foreign Affairs and Home
protected against volatility arising Affairs, have also been excellent.
from increased claims frequen- The office now writes US$20 mil-
cy caused by too many small to lion and contributes close to 10%
medium size losses. Reinsurance of the company’s US$210 million
helps in stabilising earnings. gross written premium.
• Reinsurance allows insurers to
take risks bigger than what their We have invested in real estate,
capital can sustain. They are writ- but we want to do more. We had
ing power stations and airlines be- been allocated some land in the
cause the big brother is behind. Borrowdale (Harare) area by the
• With reinsurance, insurers can government and we were ready to
venture into other lines of busi- build a multi-million office park
ness. Reinsurers always have the there. Discussions are continu-
capacity to take on unusual risks ing with the relevant government
like tourism liability insurance. ministry of Local Government in
RM: Your organisation oper- this regard.
ates in several countries. What
have been the key takeaways in In terms of challenges, it’s not
these spots?

Page 20 Executive Chat NewsHawks

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

a secret that the operating con- the business. capital. RM: What is your long-term JG: That is a tricky question.
ditions are a bit tougher, but we Now, with dollarisation, insur- RM: What has been the im- plan for your Zimbabwean oper- Like I said, we are currently doing
have weathered the storm. We re- ation? business with 62 countries in Af-
main sanguine that the Zimbabwe ers are only retaining less than pact of policy inconsistencies rica and Asia.
economy will turnaround soon 20% of the US dollar policies. (especially around currency) in JG: We are in Zimbabwe for
and we are ready to do more. This is a challenge because insur- Zimbabwe on your operations? the long run. Like I said, our MD We have now done a major stra-
ers need to build their reserves Hope Murera, when she made the tegic review of our business strat-
RM: Are there any regulatory from retained earnings but now JG: I have covered this subject decision to start up the operation, egy and resolved to implement
issues that need to be addressed with high cessions this is a chal- and I believe the recent measures she had a long-term vision and I some key market segmentation so
to ensure the market is a level lenge. by the commissioner of insurance believe we have seen the worst, so that we expend or focus our ener-
playing ground? have gone a long way in stabilising we remain optimistic about the gy on some key territories which
Worldwide reinsurance markets the industry but for how long we future. We want to do more in we call “Double Down Markets”
JG: Like I have said before, the are there to take care of catastro- do not know. Zimbabwe and once the Govern- We are reducing our territorial
commissioner of insurance has phe and large losses and help in- ment of Zimbabwe finds us alter- scope to 47 countries in 2021 and
done a fantastic job given the cur- surers in stabilisation of results Obviously with policy incon- native land then we will consider our objective is to bring these to
rent turbulent business environ- but in Zimbabwe reinsurers end sistencies it’s difficult to plan, es- building a multi-million-dollar around 45 in the next year or two.
ment. It is a blessing that we have up being involved in some medi- pecially for ZEP-Re because our office park here.
a commissioner of insurance who um risks and losses because of the reporting currency is US dollars Comesa remains our flagship
is a former MD of a listed insur- current situation. We have a huge so, yes, there is a challenge. Like We believe in Comesa – that territory and it contributes over
ance giant and she had been an in- talent pool in Zimbabwe and what I have said, the support from the is our home – and we must have 75% of our business. We have the
surance practitioner, so she under- is needed is to ensure that share- government, the ministry of Fi- confidence. mandate to develop the Come-
stands the needs of the industry holders inject capital in the busi- nance, the commissioner of in- sa markets and I believe we have
very well. I have known madame ness and by this I mean US dollar surance and the central bank has RM: What plans do you have done very well.
commissioner Grace Muradzikwa been very good. to grow your footprint!?
since 1992 – she is a shrewd busi-
ness operator, and I am sure work-
ing with the industry can only lead
to a better and vibrant insurance
market . Of course, there are areas
of improvement in terms of legis-
lation and I am saying this from
my experience with various other
markets and these could include:

• Rate undercutting, if not
checked, can lead to the insol-
vency of some companies. What
I have seen in other markets like
Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda
is that the regulator has come in
and introduced minimum rates
and these have ensured industry
sustainability.

• Debtors have been a problem
in many markets, and we have
seen regulators in Tanzania, Ugan-
da and Rwanda coming in strong-
ly to tame this vice and introduced
cash and carry legislation. This has
improved claims settlements turn-
around mainly because of better
premium collections.

• Implementation of the risk-
based capital regime. There is
need to accelerate this, but I am
happy that the regulator has now
employed a high-calibre actuarial
resource.

• Strengthening of governance
issues in terms of approving se-
nior management appointments
for insurance and reinsurance
companies. East Africa has done
very well in this area because the
regulators approve all senior man-
agement and board appointments.

RM: What can you say about
reinsurance uptake in Zimba-
bwe and abroad?

JG: Like I said, Zimbabwe is
a mature industry but because
of the economic challenges the
reinsurance companies in Zim-
babwe remain weak compared to
their counterparts in the region,
making it difficult for reinsurers
in Zimbabwe to do cross-border
business.

Insurance companies, because
of weak balance sheets, are buy-
ing too much reinsurance. If you
compare with South Africa, re-
insurance cessions average 27%,
meaning that insurers retain over
73% of the business they write. In
Ethiopia, insurance companies re-
tain over 80% and now in Zimba-
bwe most insurers retain less than
40% and reinsurers over 60% of

NewsHawks News Analysis Page 21

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Vaccine information deficit worries the public

NYASHA CHINGONO

THE Zimbabwean government Zimbabwe received first delivery of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine from China on Monday morning.
should prioritise investing in a
robust information campaign unfazed. mistrust. dealing with the new variant, Rusike said.
on the Sinopharm vaccine to ZimRights contends that due The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Zimbabwe will go ahead with “Unfortunately there has been
boost public confidence ahead the rollout without due dili-
of a mass rollout campaign. to the rising Covid-19 cases and Human Rights (ZLHR) this gence. generally lack of transparency
fatalities, the government must week moved to seek an interdict about the plans and decisions
While it is encouraging that treat the issue of vaccines as a to stop the government from South Africa has since re- by the government in securing
Zimbabwe finally has a vacci- matter of urgency. commencing the vaccination turned a million jabs to India doses of the Covid-19 vaccines
nation programme underway, programme. after trials involving 2 000 peo- from China given that there
a clear communication plan, “This application is one to ple found that the vaccine of- are other vaccines with an even
spelling out what the process compel the respondents to The lawyers argue the govern- fered minimal protection against better efficacy,” he added.
entails as well as the potential publicise a Covid-19 vaccine ment has not followed quality mild and moderate cases.
side effects of the Chinese vac- rollout plan and strategy,” reads control stages, warning that Rusike underscored the
cine, would be useful. the application. going ahead with the rollout With the South African importance of involving com-
programme would endanger variant now dominant in munities in the vaccination
A major confidence booster With confidence waning Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe, according to latest campaign.
was Vice-President Constantino among the frontline workers, statistics, there are fears that
Chiwenga receiving the jab on the government must invest in Despite growing doubts on the Sinopharm vaccine’s efficacy Rusike said the lack of infor-
Thursday. a mass campaign to educate the the efficacy of the Sinopharm would be tested. mation and awareness cam-
public on the vaccine. vaccine, which is also yet to be paigns on Covid-19 vaccines
Zimbabwe on Monday took approved by the World Health Itai Rusike, executive director had resulted in misinformation,
delivery of 200 000 Sinopharm This is on the backdrop of Organisation (WHO), the gov- of the Community Working disinformation, science denial-
doses from China, a boost for government mistrusts which ernment went ahead with the Group on Health (CWGH), ism, anti-vaxxer sentiments and
a government whose vaccina- run deep in the Zimbabwean programme, with Chiwenga re- said government’s communi- vaccine hesitancy.
tion programme had remained society. Health expert Solwayo ceiving the first dose at Wilkins cation on the vaccines should
in limbo until its “all-weather Ngwenya said the vaccination Infectious Diseases Hospital in be customised to promote trust “Tackling this disinformation
friend” made a donation. campaign could fail without a Harare. among the public. and misinformation will require
clear communication strategy, multilingual public education
According to the ministry adding that the public should While it is commendable “We expected the govern- campaigns and active commu-
of Health, Zimbabwe will take not rely on rumours. when leaders lead from the ment right from the beginning nity participation and engage-
delivery of a further 600 000 front during times of unprece- to put communities at the ment. The government and
doses of the same vaccine soon. “Information sharing is dented turmoil, it still does not heart of the Covid-19 vaccine other stakeholders in the health
extremely vital, otherwise the compensate for the information rollout programme in order sector should work with the
Confidence remains low programme will fail. People deficit currently spooking the to promote trust, support and communities to ensure volun-
among the frontline health should not rely on rumours,” public. buy in from the general public tary acceptance of the Covid-19
workers, although Chiwenga’s Ngwenya said. as an informed, engaged and vaccines, including countering
decision to take the vaccine Unlike South Africa which empowered communities are the anti-vaccine stories and beliefs,”
would have gone some way to The government’s rush to roll- stopped the AstraZeneca vaccine bedrock for vaccine acceptance,” he said.
allaying the fears. out the vaccine among frontline rollout following a new study
staff without conducting clinical that showed that it was weak in
Speaking to The NewsHawks trials has also heightened public
this week, nurses and doctors
say the lack of information
remained worrisome.

The Zimbabwe Association
of Doctors for Human Rights
(ZADHR) said the government
should do more to allay fears
among the healthcare workers,
who are a critical component of
the vaccine rollout programme.

“Government has to do more
to allay the fears of the public
and it begins with the frontline
staff,” ZADHR president Nor-
man Matara said.

Nurses are also sceptical
about taking the jab since the
government has not commu-
nicated the likely side effects,
especially for those with under-
lying health issues.

The side effects of taking the
Sinopharm vaccine remain a
mystery, while other vaccines
like AstraZeneca and Pfizer have
user manuals, although there are
still lots of questions globally on
each and every vaccine on the
market.

The government has not in-
stilled a sense of confidence, the
nurses say.

These sentiments from
frontline workers come after
the Zimbabwe Human Rights
Association (ZimRights) sued
the government over the failure
to release critical information
on Covid-19 vaccines.

ZimRights gave the govern-
ment a seven-day ultimatum
to release this critical informa-
tion, but the authorities remain

Page 22 Critical Thinking NewsHawks

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Decolonisation of the education and
epistemology systems in Zimbabwe

Sabelo J.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni

KNOWLEDGE creates reality or reality; if there is no epistemolog- that underpins the task of trans- statues built to honour some of that revisionist tropes dominate
epistemology frames ontology. ical overhaul, there is bound to be formation. them betray deep revisionist po- our education system about that
continuity or a repeat of the past. litical narratives, partisan agendas history and that of the liberation
Basically, epistemology is the The goes beyond Einsteinian and attendant flaws in our knowl- struggle, while it informs political
philosophical study of the origins, Successful revolutions have to logic that “we cannot solve our edge of this very recent history. decisions and communication;
nature and limits of human be underpinned by alternative problems with the same level indeed society’s epistemological
knowledge and that frames what epistemologies. of thinking as when we created Monuments such as statues frames of the past, present and
it means to exist or the nature of them”. play an important symbolic role possibly future.
being – reality. This is why Nelson Maldo- in capturing history and in peo-
nado-Torres, a leading figure in This not just about thinking, ple’s lives What pre-occupied the postco-
Such domains as politics, decolonial theory, posited that: but about knowledge, which is the lonial government was to increase
society and economy are informed “Political revolutions have argu- foundation of thought. Each monument is usually access to unreformed, let alone
and shaped by knowledge. ably suffered for not having good built for specific reasons and is overhauled, colonial education,
epistemologies, and the wrong What has happened in Zim- intended to serve particular pur- indeed an education for disem-
Even the modern world system epistemology can halt a revolution babwe since 1980 is that Zanu poses or interests, be they shared, powerment, which sought to
and its shifting global orders is an or even bring back the very vices PF simply took over the colonial progressive or not. continue reproducing Zimbabwe-
epistemic creation. and problems that the revolution cognitive empire apparatus and ans as providers of cheap labour at
seeks to overcome.” turned it into a postcolonial When independence came in home and abroad.
Colonialism was underpinned infrastructure of invasion of the 1980, the first task was to expand
by an active cognitive empire. An This is very instructive for the mental universe of the people, existing education and not change EEducation transformation is
empire that invaded the mental Zimbabwean case, whereby those including re-writing the history it. There was enthusiasm to in- urgently needed; reform alone
universe of its victims and made who claimed to have fought for of the nation with itself at the crease the literacy rate of the peo- is not enough. Epistemological
it possible for colonisation of the the liberation of the people from centre. ple of Zimbabwe. The question of transformation is what is really
mind to happen. colonialism are today behaving in “literate in what” was never given needed.
a similar or worse manner than This included revisionism and adequate attention.
An empire which committed the colonialists — abusing power, distortions of history, not just Today, most educated Zimba-
such crimes as theft of history tormenting citizens, looting the of the liberation struggle of the There was no attempt to wage a bweans are scattered across the
(denying its victims any history), economy, capturing institutions 1960s and 1970s, but also of genuine epistemological struggle, world providing labour to the
epistemicides (killing of other and indeed personalising the events leading to the take over by yet too much energy was spent global capitalist economies. There
people’s knowledges), linguicides country as their thing (chihnu colonial invaders and thereafter. rewriting history, from the era of was not much focus on chang-
(killing of other people’s languag- chedu); a reference which goes to Ndebele King Lobengula – who ing the philosophy of education
es and imposition of colonial the heart of the rotten epistemol- Even the historical narratives for all the negative narratives besides the talk of “education with
languages), and culturecides (kill- ogies guiding their conception of being pushed by politicians about him fought colonial invad- production” which was associated
ing of other people’s cultures and power and its ontological param- around heroes of the struggle and ers more than any historical figure with Fay Chung.
setting afoot cultural and social eters. of the time as he was the most
imperialism). organised and powerful force then Even this idea of “education
To move Zimbabwe beyond - through monumentalised spirit with production” was never
The consequences of these political independence, the nation medium Mbuya Nehanda to the well-thought-out, never clearly
processes are varied: alienation, must address knowledge and ed- war featuring Joshua Nkomo and articulated and never systemat-
pitfalls of consciousness and ucation systems. This is necessary Robert Mugabe – all liberation ically implemented. In fact, it
mimicry (Frantz Fanon); dou- as people cannot use, as Andre struggle luminaries. was a slogan not a philosophical
ble-consciousness (William EB Lorde put it, the master’s tools to proposition.
Dubois), miseducation (Carter G. dismantle the master’s house. Too many colonial and postco-
Woodson), cultural schizophrenia lonial myths were told about that This must not surprise us
(Ali A. Mazrui), colonisation of We cannot wish to reinvent history which poison epistemolo- because the social class that as-
the mind (Ngugi wa Thiong’o & Zimbabwe, reconstitute the gies and ontologies of our times, cended to power in 1980 was the
Ibekwe Chinweizu), and captive political and bring about social, hence our knowledge and reality. native petit-bourgeois elements
mind (Syed Hussein Alatas). political and economic change whom Fanon correctly diagnosed
Perhaps it was after considerations without having an epistemology A casual historical record as suffering not only from pitfalls
of all these consequences of the check and analysis will show
operations of the cognitive empire
that Steve Bantu Biko concluded
that: “The most potent weapon in
the hands of the oppressor is the
mind of the oppressed”.

The crux of the matter here is
that for countries like Zimbabwe,
which emerged from colonialism
with political independence but
without epistemological decoloni-
sation, were bound to degenerate
into neo-colonies.

Nationalist revolutions without
a clear epistemology of libera-
tion were bound to end up as
reformist formation only capable
of tinkering with the margins of
colonialism.

This is the story of Zimbabwe
and many other post-colonial
countries, especially in Africa.
It explains why people are now
saying nothing has changed in

NewsHawks Critical Thinking Page 23

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

of consciousness, but also from purposes, not transformational deeply about knowledge and is rootedness in African knowl- edge and education. This is why
intellectual laziness to think knowledge objectives. education through the initiative edge systems and relevance. decolonisation of knowledge
beyond what was introduced by known as “Education 5.0” pred- itself is a necessity because it calls
colonialism and what they learnt We must as Zimbabweans wake icated on heritage-based philos- This is where decolonisation of for shifting of geography and
mostly through rote learning. up to the reality that what has ophy. This is a long-overdue and knowledge and education kicks-in biography of knowledge, that is,
been hailed as Zimbabwe’s main necessary transformative project. in terms of considering identity opening knowledge beyond Euro-
This lazy class was easily satis- postcolonial success, education, However, this project seems to be and experience of Africa as key centric horizons.
fied with physical replacement of based on radical emulation of the already caught-up between the elements in the account of what
white colonialists in government British colonial education system liberatory imperatives of decol- counts as knowledge. What we need in Zimbabwe is
offices and them proceed with rather than any transformational onisation of knowledge and the knowledge and education that is
mimicry rather than any revolu- epistemological change which is neo-liberal market imperatives of Regurgitation of European not hostage to colonial epistemo-
tionary change. badly needed. commercialisation and commodi- social and cultural experiences as logical disciplinary varieties and
fication of education. well as history as knowledge is a prisons, but is attentive to human
High literacy rate never Most educated Zimbabwean huge disservice to Africa. problems and challenges, as well
translated into inventions and elites are not just proud of their While the former is about as African experiences. This needs
innovations. Rather, a multi- British colonial education, but knowledge sovereignty and epis- Murwira’s intervention is an epistemic revolution not just
tude of employment seekers was also mannerisms and accents, just temic freedom, the latter is about very necessary, but it cannot be reform. Human knowledge is
unleashed onto the world armed like Mugabe was for all his in- internationalisation of higher edu- delivered by Africans academics expressed through concepts and
with certificates, diplomas and de- flammatory posturing as anti-im- cation. So already we are heading and intellectuals who are British that’s where the epistemological
grees. This habit is manifesting it- perialist and pan-African. to the wrong destination. at heart/mind and only African/ struggle should begin, not by
self within political elite circles in Zimbabwean in appearance. There seeking to recondition, adjust,
Zimbabwe, where there is compe- The recommendations of Nzi- The possible success of Murwi- is need for investment in respond- reinvigorate, internationalise, or
tition to acquire doctorates by any ramasanga Commission, which ra’s project depends on sequencing ing adequately to Karl Marx’s rehash colonial education models.
means necessary, while leading the did not even remotely amount to and a balancing act. In the first question: who will educate the ed-
country remains a big challenge, decolonisation, like other com- instance, higher education in ucator? This takes us to the deep- This is Zimbabwe’s biggest
turning around the economy is missions in Zimbabwe, were never postcolonial Africa is born inter- er question of how to deal with struggle ahead.
failing, and nation-building has taken seriously and never imple- nationalised because of the colo- “miseducation” and how to make
been abandoned. mented. It was waste of resources nial experience, with many of the sure educators are open to the About the writer: Professor
and time, meaning even the first universities having been colleges painstaking process of learning to Ndlovu-Gatsheni is Chair of
The PhDs – some of which are steps towards education are yet to of metropolitan institutions like unlearn what colonial education Epistemologies of the Global
clearly bought by corruptly paying be taken. the University of London. What has imposed so as to re-learn what South Faculty of Humanities
people to write for the intellectu- the higher education in postcolo- is necessary for Zimbabwe. and Social Sciences, Africa Mul-
ally lazy elites that Fanon referred The current Minister of Higher nial Africa has been suffering from tiple Cluster of Excellence, Uni-
to - are sought after for political Education Professor Amon Mur- At the centre of all this is the versity of Bayreuth, Germany.
wira has brought us back to think question of relevance of knowl-

Page 24 The Big Debate NewsHawks

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Jonathan LAST week, we pub- Weaponisation of Covid-19 in Zanu PF
N. Moyo lished an opinion-ed- factional wars: A new deadly political threat
itorial by Professor
ing the full article, with graphics. Jonathan Moyo under saw an increase of unreported in-community cases and deaths,
The Big Debate Col- as medical doctors started providing homecare to Covid-19 pa-
umn, but we left out tients in low-density areas in towns, with the cases and deaths in
critical illustrations high-density and rural areas going untested and unattended to.
due to technical hitch-
es. That resulted in The second part of the critical point the regime has sought
significant gaps and to conceal is the fact that the government has been paralysed
omissions. So as a re- into confusion and inaction by the fear that a section of its se-
sult we are republish- curocracy has weaponised Covid-19 and is politically using the
weaponisation capabilities to devastate the targeted political
There is a new and dangerous security threat in Zimbabwe’s opponents. It is this fear that caused the cabinet, politburo and
politically dysfunctional post-November 2017 military state, security sector “chefs” to retreat to their farms last month.
under an increasingly factionalised Zanu PF and a collaps-
ing economy now run by feuding cartels fuelled by systematic What has jolted the system to the core and spread fear like
corruption. And that threat is the weaponisation of Covid-19, a veld fire is that every top military officer from the Novem-
whose capabilities are real and worrying. ber 2017 coup who has died so far, has died of Covid-19. This
has been compounded by the view among securocrats that the
The sudden death of Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Mozambique Covid-19 protocols that have been invoked to restrict body
and former Zimbabwe National Army chief-of-staff, retired viewing, and in most cases to also restrict autopsies, make the
Lieutenant-General Douglas Nyikayaramba, who also once con- coronavirus a perfect agent of death, hence the widespread pan-
troversially served on secondment from the army as the chief ic in the corridors of power. The securocrats who are concerned
elections officer of the Electoral Supervisory Commission, abol- about this say the coronavirus is not like most weaponised vi-
ished in 2005 and replaced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commis- ruses that can be made into aerosols for maximum dispersion,
sion (Zec), has sent tongues wagging amid a growing sentiment because they say all it requires is a simple swab, of an infected
in military intelligence circles that a securocratic faction loyal to corpse or from an assigned Covid-19 testing laboratory, to ap-
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has weaponised Covid-19 to ply, for example on a doorknob, car seat or armrest, cabinet file,
target key military members of a rival faction who are close to office teacups or mugs and the job is done.
Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga and who played strategic
roles in the November 2017 military coup that toppled the late The worry among securocrats, especially in military circles, is
President Robert Mugabe and replaced him with Mnangagwa. that the simplicity with which the coronavirus can be captured
The anxious sentiment that Covid-19 has been weaponised by and applied to a targeted surface means that any agency can
Mnangagwa’s securocrats against allies of his deputy, who led weaponise Covid-19 with relative ease, even in the most basic
the military coup three years ago as the commander of the Zim- of situations.
babwe Defence Forces (ZDF), has been fuelled first by the deaths
of former Air Marshall Perrance Shiri, who became Agriculture The table below highlights the dangers that have exercised
minister after the military coup and ZDF spokesperson Colonel the imagination of the securocrats who are concerned about the
Overson Mugwisi, who both died of Covid-19 in July 2020. weaponisation of Covid-19 in the system. Also shown on the ta-
ble are counter measures or steps that can be taken to minimise
This sentiment gained conventional traction last month with those dangers:
the shock deaths from Covid-19 of retired Lieutenant-Gener-
al Sibusiso Moyo, who was Foreign minister, and the regime’s From the above government figures, on 31 December 2020
think-tank who was famous for announcing the November 2017 Zimbabwe had 13 867 reported Covid-19 cases with 363 deaths,
military coup on national television; and retired Major-Gener- whereas on 31 January it had 33 388 reported cases with 1 217
al Paradzai Zimondi, who was a central member of the service deaths. Over the first two weeks in February, Mnangagwa’s pro-
chiefs in the Joint Operations Command (JOC) in the run up to paganda apparatchiks have used the January figures deceptively,
the military coup. Moyo and Zimondi were key Chiwenga allies. based on an approach which, like a miniskirt, is revealing while
it in fact conceals the critical point.
With Nyikayaramba’s death this week, the sentiment that
some securocrats in a Zanu PF faction close to Mnangagwa In this regard, the critical point that Mnangagwa’s regime has
have weaponised Covid-19 against military-linked supporters sought to conceal is twofold. First, as shown on the pie charts
of Chiwenga reached fever pitch. The sentiment has not been below, from 31 December 2020 to 31 January 2021, the official
helped by the fact that Mnangagwa has been shunning in-per- Covid-19 cases reported by the government itself, in just four
son contact with his cabinet ministers, including his two dep- short weeks, spiked by a shocking 141%, while deaths skyrock-
uties—Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi—since early December, eted by 235%.
preferring to engage them through digital or virtual commu-
nication. Going forward, the threat of the weaponisation of Covid-19
by a section of the securocracy is daunting largely if not only
For all intents and purposes, Mnangagwa has become reclu- because Mnangagwa’s regime does not have a comprehensive,
sive, apparently afraid of Covid-19. This explains not only why coherent, scientific and credible national plan or strategy for
he went on holiday for a whole month in January, but also why dealing with the pandemic in the national interest.
cabinet did not meet for almost two months since 8 December
2020 until last week, during the time when Zimbabwe experi- For example, the regime’s Covid-19 database is fraudulent
enced the worst devastation from a deadly second wave of the and thus unreliable.
coronavirus. Although the beleaguered authorities in Harare
have sought to downplay or even to conceal the untold devasta- Instead of supporting and letting medical and public health
tion that Zimbabwe suffered from the coronavirus last month, professionals to lead the fight against the coronavirus as first
causing Mnangagwa and his cabinet to maroon themselves out responders and the frontline base, the Mnangagwa regime has
of sight and leaving Zimbabweans alone, the chatter about the sought to be in front of them.
weaponisation of Covid-19 grew louder among military securo-
crats. The tip of the iceberg is easy to tell by simply unpacking The regime has used coronavirus lockdowns as law-and-or-
the difference between the government’s Covid-19 situation re- der lockdowns with no clear-cut, transparent and measurable
port of 31 January 2021 and that of 31 December 2020, as shown public health objectives.
by the figures made public by the Ministry of Health and Child
Care reproduced in the diagram below: Looking back since the first lockdown on 31 March 2020,
Mnangagwa’s regime has been preoccupied more with fighting
The regime has sought to conceal these staggering spikes of the MDC Alliance and targeted activists and journalists than
Covid-19 cases and deaths which happened when Mnangagwa fighting the coronavirus.
and his cabinet marooned themselves under the cover of unde-
served and irresponsible holidays that smacked of dereliction of Government and Zanu PF officials have contemptuously vio-
their constitutional duties, seemingly unmoved by the Covid-19 lated with reckless abandon the gazetted lockdown regulations,
disaster that consumed the country; based on official figures, such as the restriction of public gatherings or the limitation on
that have not been properly analysed. the number of people allowed to attend legally exempted gather-
ings. Also there has been selective application of the law whose
While the fact that the Covid-19 cases jumped by 141% and consequence has exposed the fact that the government’s re-
the deaths by 235% from 31 December 2020 to 31 January 2021 sponse to the coronavirus has not been scientific or data-driven
is astounding, it is important to consider that the same period but has been political and hypocritical.

For example, while the government used the coronavirus
lockdown to indefinitely postpone by-elections for parliamenta-
ry and local government vacancies, caused by the controversial
recall of MDC Alliance incumbents on the back of a dubious
Supreme Court judgment that ordered the MDC to hold an ex-
traordinary congress on the basis of its 2014 structures to elect a
successor to the party’s late President Morgan Tsvangirai, Zanu
PF was allowed to hold nationwide elections for its district coor-
dinating committees (DCCs).

It is against this backdrop that a devious opportunity for
the weaponisation of Covid-19 has presented itself. The conse-
quences of this real danger are too ghastly to contemplate.

Moyo is a former Zimbabwean Member of Parliament,
cabinet minister, and academic.

NewsHawks Opinion Page 25

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Pitfalls of elite pacts and elite co-option

Taona T. Former vice-president Joshua Nkomo (left) and former president Robert Mugabe (both late) PF government is warming up and
Denhere entertaining the prospects of this pseu-
military victory and annihilation of resulted in the famous peacocracy of the 2013 elections. do-Government of National Unity.
THE Oxford English dictionary de- the colonial settler government. 1987 called the Unity Accord. Given Shock doctrine of elite co-option This is despite public utterances from
fines dialogue as simply a conversation the elite nature of the 1987 peacocra- We foreground this analysis on the senior Zanu PF establishmentarians
between two or more persons. The The distinct feature of this elite cy, its blowbacks continue to be felt historical trajectories of elite pacts and disputing such notions. This begs the
Centre for International Dialogue on transition into post-colonial Zimba- to this very day since it was neither co-option within the body politic of question why a party that boasts of
Peace Building and State Building, on bwe was that the dialogue process at victim-driven nor victim-centred. As Zimbabwe since 1980. This is in or- having a two-thirds majority in the
the other hand, offers a more elaborate Lancaster House was underwritten by such, the victims of Gukurahundi are der to fully contextualise, critique, and National Assembly and has control of
and qualified definition of political Frontline States such as Zambia, Mo- still demanding distributive justice, re- expose the shortcomings of this latest the executive, central government and
dialogue as a wide range of activities, zambique and Tanzania, and also by parative justice, restorative justice and vociferous cry for dialogue coming local government would want a GNU
including high-level negotiations, the United Kingdom as the colonial retributive justice from political elites in Zimbabwe. On or continue with wild goose chases of
mediation and community attempts master and, indeed, the United States. 10 February 2021, Douglas Mwonzo- dialogue. The simple answer is that,
at reconciliation. This, among oth- Suffice it to say, it is a truism that at In 2009, Zimbabwe was again con- ra, the controversial leader of the judi- since it won the 2018 disputed elec-
er things, encompasses four distinct the Lancaster House conference the fronted with another elite-driven pea- cially modified MDC-T, made an im- tions, the Zanu PF government has
categories, namely: summit dialogues African nationalists negotiated them- cocracy. In the aftermath of a bloody passioned plea for dialogue, which he tragically failed to deliver on the so-
that are heavily driven by those in the selves into power and, conversely, the inconclusive June 2008 presidential hopes to contain a veneer of inclusivity cio-economic front. Socio-economic
top echelons of leadership; track two Rhodesian right wingers negotiated election run-off, the three main polit- and some fragments of un-condition- conditions have deteriorated signifi-
dialogues initiated by civil society; dia- themselves out of power. Thus, the ne- ical protagonists — Robert Mugabe, ality. Unsurprisingly, a few hours lat- cantly since the November 2017 coup
logues that are implicit in planning and gotiated revolution subsequently and Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mu- er, President Emmerson Mnangagwa that ousted Robert Mugabe. Coupled
governance activities; and multi-level inevitably spawned an elite transition tambara —- were involved in another endorsed Mwonzora`s dialogue senti- with this is the fact that the demo-
dialogues that seek to involve all levels in the form of the Government of Na- elite-driven preventative diplomacy, ments. Nonetheless, dialogue-fatigued cratic space continues to shrink whilst
of the society. tional Unity from 1980 to 1985. underwritten by South Adrica’s presi- Zimbabweans were quick to remind civil liberties and human rights have
dent Thabo Mbeki and the Sadc. Cru- both Mwonzora and Mnangagwa that been tragically eroded. Accordingly,
The history of political dialogue as The fragilities and the defective- cially, Tsvangirai negotiated himself they already had in their possession a it is these diseconomies of the dearth
a mechanism for both conflict reso- ness of reconstructing a monolithic out of power and Mugabe negotiated sterile two-year-old dialogue platform of performance legitimacy from the
lution or post-conflict resolution is as post-colonial Zimbabwean state were himself into power. This elite-driven of Polad which they should proceed Zanu PF government which are acting
old as civilisation. Thus, in contempo- exposed between the years 1982 to preventative diplomacy spawned the with. as a push factor for them to manufac-
rary times, historic conflict resolution 1987. The country witnessed a con- 2009 to 2013 Government of Nation- ture an easy way out of this socio-eco-
events that immediately come to mind certed effort by the Shona-dominat- al Unity. In his Twitter clip, Mwonzora nomic and political crisis. This is also
are the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 ed government of Robert Mugabe to enumerated all the three-post-inde- driven by emotional and nostalgic
which signaled the end of the First create an ethnocracy characterised by Consequently, the 2009 GNU pendence elite transitions, pacts and beliefs that a patched-up GNU might
World War (WWI) and the Good Fri- a state-sanctioned ethno-nationalism. re-empowered the Zanu PF elites co-options in an attempt to buttress deliver the same short-lived socio-eco-
day Agreement of 1997, which ended This resulted in egregious ethnocide and re-marginalised the pro-demo- his latest promiscuous political oppor- nomic stability and miracles that were
the sectarian violence in Northern Ire- of the Ndebele tribe which were pre- cratic forces, especially the rank and tunism. However, unlike the negotiat- produced by the 2009 GNU. More-
land. Coming closer home, we had the dominantly the social and political file social and political support base ed revolution of the Lancaster House over, the Zanu PF government for-
negotiated revolution at the Lancaster support base of Joshua Nkomo and of Tsvangirai, which had borne the Conference, or the peacocracies of tuitously perceives that a patched-up
House Constitutional Conference in his political party PF Zapu. This peri- brunt of Zanu PF’s murderous ban- 1987 and 2009, where the main pro- GNU might enable them to circum-
1979 and other post-independence od of state-sanctioned pseudo-ethnic ditry during the ill-fated June 2008 tagonists had the socio-political cap- vent the endemic demands to institute
conflict resolution dialogical platforms apartheid and ethnocentrism against presidential run-off. Thus, the 2009 ital to leverage the demands of their socio-economic and political reforms.
which shall become more apparent as the Ndebele people and supporters GNU peacocracy, like its predecessor constituencies and stakeholders, the A case for the national transitional
this essay unfolds. of Joshua Nkomo was known as the the 1987 Unity Accord, dismally failed current proposition by the judicially authority
Gukurahundi. During this period of to address issues relating to distributive constructed MDC-T glaringly and of- The diseconomies and blowbacks that
This opinion piece has been influ- wanton discriminate, genocidal and justice and transitional justice for the fensively lacks these ingredients. have pervaded and perturbed all the
enced by the latest growing vociferous ethnocidal attacks in the Matabele- victims of state-sanctioned injustices. three historic high-level summit dia-
chorus for political dialogue emanating land and Midlands region cost the Mwonzora was never a presidential logues in Zimbabwe invariably draw
from the political elites in the judicial- lives of nearly  20 000  innocent civil- Suffice it to say, the Achilles heel of candidate in the disputed 2018 gener- us to the proposition which was artic-
ly constructed MDC-T and from the ians who were extra-judicially tortured the GNU, particularly from the per- al election. Neither did his MDC-T ulated by the director of Sapes Trust,
governing party, Zanu PF. The raison and killed by Mugabe`s North Kore- spective of the MDC-T, was its failure outfit protest or demonstrate that it Ibbo Mandaza, that of the urgent need
d’être for this latest cry for dialogue an-trained paramilitary crack team to deliver transformative and progres- had any outstanding grievances or to come up with a three-year National
is the fallacious and naive attempt to known as the 5th Brigade. sive electoral, security, socio-economic contestations with the ruling Zanu Transitional Authority. This propo-
misconstrue a summit dialogue of and politico reforms. Instead, some PF. In fact, on the contrary they have sition has also been aptly articulated
the political elites as the antidote and Against this backdrop of state-sanc- of the senior MDC-T officials in the been acting as the puppets of Zanu PF by the director of Osisa, Siphosami
panacea to Zimbabwe’s 20-year-old tioned ethnocide and ethno-nation- GNU became part and parcel of the government, through rubber stamp- Malunga. Both Mandaza and Malun-
socio-economic and political malaise alism targeted at Nkomo’s social and elite-driven clientelism and patronage ing and endorsing every omission or ga argue for a Codesa-type of dialogue
and crisis. Accordingly, this opinion political base, the international com- bent on personal primitive accumu- commission of Zanu PF. Furthermore, platform that will act as a means to an
piece will adopt a critical genealogical munity regrettably turned a blind eye lation. Hence, they were involved in judging by some utterances coming end, rather than an end in itself. Man-
approach and, inter alia, argue and ex- and gave deaf ear to the young Zim- some self-aggrandising corrupt prac- from the hierarchy of the MDC-T, it daza and Malunga find convergence in
pose the fallacy and bankruptcy of this babwean nation. Nkomo had limited tices. Whilst the hitherto pro-demo- only shows that they are pushing for an that a transitional authority would cre-
proposition by exposing the fault lines options other than negotiation for the cratic elites in both MDCs were busy elite-driven accommodationist Gov- ate a soft landing for the Chimuren-
of previous horizontal top-down lead- cessation of hostilities by the Mug- enjoying the comforts and privileges ernment of National Unity to rekindle ga aristocrats. That is, the securocrats
ership and elite-driven power-sharing abe government from a position of of government officialdom, they inev- elite benefits enjoyed during the 2009 and the Zanu PF mandarins would be
pacts which will similarly befall this weakness. Thus, between 1985 and itably lost track of the reform agenda GNU days. cajoled and persuaded to leave power
latest proposition. 1987, PF Zapu of Joshua Nkomo and while Zanu PF, on the other hand, was on condition of immunity from pros-
Genealogy of elite pacts Zanu PF engaged in a process of elite busy regrouping and reorganising its There is no doubt that the Zanu ecution, whilst still entitled to retain
Top-down, leadership-heavy and co-option through an elite pact which political and electoral juggernaut for all their ill-gotten wealth and patri-
elite-driven dialogue has been an in- monial profits. This win-win situation
tegral part of the Zimbabwean politi- will most likely entice the ruling Zanu
cal ecosystem since the conception of PF elites to warm up to the idea of the
the post-colonial independent state of NTA.
Zimbabwe. Thus, several scholars have
argued that Zimbabwe experienced a There is no doubt that the country`s
negotiated revolution in the confer- social contract, moral contract and
ence chambers of Lancaster House in fiscal contract have been bastardised,
1979. At the Lancaster House Confer- dislocated and destroyed over the last
ence, there were buy-ins and buy-outs 20 years. The 2009 GNU was unable
between the nationalist elites under to reset and reinvigorate both the eth-
the banner of the Patriotic Front and ical fibre of constitutional democracy,
the Rhodesian Front as represented rule of law, the upholding of human
by right wing white elites such as Ian rights and civil liberties, and the moral
Smith and General Peter Walls. Zim- fibre of good governance, respect for
babwe became a negotiated revolution property rights and fiscal discipline.
because neither the nationalist gueril- Undoubtedly, arguments for a three-
las nor the minority settlerist Rhode- year NTA are rationally persuasive
sian Front could claim outright victory and would recapture the wounded
in the 16-year-old civil war despite the soul of the nation, whilst at the same
fact that Mugabe wanted a Fidel Cas- time resetting the social, moral and
tro or Samora Machel style of outright fiscal contracts of the country. Thus,
an NTA rather than an elite top-heavy
leadership dialogue would, in the cir-
cumstances, be the best possible plat-
form for providing a roadmap out of
this 20-year-old socio-economic and
political governance crisis.

Page 26 Obituary NewsHawks

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Chief Vezi Maduna Mafu: A rare of breed,
descendant of original Ndebele warriors

JOCELYN ALEXANDER migrant workers, rural and urban, policies. The late Chief Vezi Maduna Mafu According to the NC, the chief
a coalition that foreshadowed the Land remained a burning issue – to carry out evictions (the evictions arrived at government events and
THE death on 13 February 2021 of mass nationalist movement of three were described as like ‘a war’), send- meetings drunk, and refused to
Chief Vezi Maduna Mafu is already decades later. as it was for all of central Matabele- ing many families to Nkayi, Lupane meet senior officials, including the
being widely mourned and marked land in the years after World War II. and elsewhere. Minister of Internal Affairs. He ef-
for both his longstanding commit- In 1931 ICU committees were In the southwest, tens of thousands fectively made it impossible to orga-
ment to the nationalist cause and established in Insiza and regular were evicted between 1948 and Jim Mafu Maduna won a small nise any form of governance.
for his work on behalf of Gukura- meetings were held with chiefs 1953. victory: most of the Godlwayo NPA
hundi victims. and headmen, farmers, and young was redesignated as a ‘reserve’, and Finally, a series of criminal cases
migrant workers employed in Bul- Jim Mafu Maduna himself – who he and some of his followers there- was brought against him and his
He was a remarkable man and awayo and South Africa, as well as lived on land designated for the by evaded eviction. Small though it wife. Jim Mafu Maduna was sub-
he came from a remarkable family. a recent graduate of Fort Hare who Godlwayo Native Purchase Area – was, this marked the biggest single sequently deposed and died short-
It is worth returning to the history served as Maduna Mafu’s represen- faced eviction. concession on land in the district. ly thereafter. His son Vezi Maduna
of the Mafu family in order to gain tative. They were met with repres- Mafu took over.
a fuller appreciation of the unusual sion but succeeded in gaining some In these circumstances, he again Over the next decade, Insiza’s pol-
political tradition it represented and concessions on land along with un- echoed his father, and allied with itics ebbed and flowed as Jim Mafu Vezi Maduna was from a new
of which Vezi Maduna was a part. dermining unpopular policies. the most radical African political Maduna sought further concessions generation once again. Born in the
organisation of the time: Benjamin from the Rhodesian state and used 1930s, he had studied at Moeng
The Maduna chieftaincy under Vezi Maduna’s grandfather died Burombo’s African National Voice tactics of non-cooperation. College in Botswana.
Rhodesian settler rule shows us just in 1933 and was succeeded by his Association, which famously made
how complex and influential the son Jim Mafu Maduna, a successful opposition to evictions central to its Crises over land access, rate col- He had worked as a clerical as-
role of a chief could be in the face of entrepreneur who became, in 1948, work. lection, the enforcement of con- sistant and received medical train-
a hostile state. the district’s first bus owner. servation measures and destocking, ing. He was arrested in 1960 for
Insiza’s chiefs and headmen at- cattle prices, and many other issues his active role in the NDP and
Against steep odds, the chief- He was not popular with the tended Voice meetings in Salisbury; ensued. subsequently joined Zapu. Despite
taincy not only survived but its authorities: the white Native Com- when the NC tried to issue eviction this track record, he was appointed
occupants carved out a pivotal po- missioner called him ‘antagonistic orders at a meeting in Insiza people With the rise of nationalism the Chief in 1969.
litical position that powerfully con- to good administration’. He may became ‘unruly and defiant’, and he Rhodesian state’s need for malleable
strained the Rhodesian state and have represented a new generation had to retreat. chiefs became ever more urgent. He immediately began a pro-
shaped people’s prospects, alliance but, like his father, Jim Mafu Ma- gramme of non-cooperation. He
and ideas in ever-changing circum- duna acted to undermine local gov- The Voice represented 379 Insiza Jim Mafu Maduna was consid- refused to attend official meetings,
stances. ernment initiatives and the imple- families who took their eviction to ered a thorn in the side of the ad- to enforce conservation measures,
mentation of extractive and coercive court – and won. But it was a brief ministration for most of the 1960s, or to support the establishment of
Vezi Maduna’s grandfather, victory. The law was amended and but the Native Commissioner was a council. As the war spread, guer-
Mafu, headed the Godlwayo regi- soon overwhelming force was used nervous about taking action owing rilla incursions and illegal meetings
ment (the huge Ndebele army had to his ‘personality and influence’. multiplied, but went unreported by
many regiments garrisoned from chiefs. 1976 marked a turning point
down south in Filabusi all the way in the war’s escalation.
to Kwekwe) which had settled in to-
day’s Insiza District after Mzilikazi’s Vezi Maduna’s Zapu activism be-
journey north. came more overt – he was charged
with using his home for ‘illegal
The Mafu family had estab- meetings’ and subjected to searches;
lished their authority over the mix he was accused of failing to report a
of mostly Rozvi, Sotho, and Venda ‘a known terrorist presence’ and was
who lived in the area. subsequently placed in restriction,
imprisoned, and deposed.
Following the brutal violence
and expropriations of land and cat- This brought no joy to the Rho-
tle that followed the British South desian state: no other chief was able
Africa Company’s invasion in 1893, to exercise authority in his place.
it was Mafu’s grandfather and his
brother who launched the first at- The three Maduna chiefs can be
tacks on Europeans in 1896. After credited with creating an extraor-
initial military successes, the tide dinary ‘tradition’ under Rhodesian
turned, with terrible consequences. rule: they served in officially rec-
ognised government positions but
In the aftermath of defeat, and used them to undermine exploit-
despite his leadership of armed re- ative policies, wring concessions
bellion and the execution of his from a hostile administration, and
brother, Vezi Maduna grandfather make alliances with the most radical
received official recognition as a political groups of their era, from
‘chief ’ under BSAC rule. the ICU to the Voice to the NDP
and Zapu.
The colonial archive records the
great difficulties he caused the new Two of them were deposed; two
administration: he refused to recruit of them had supported armed in-
labour for the state, organised a pas- surrection against a powerful, racist
sive resistance campaign against dip state. Chiefs play many roles, but
fees, and protested against low cattle this history draws attention to the
prices. making of an expansive, courageous
politics that, from the start, made
He was also unusual among iz- itself relevant to urban and rural
induna for his willingness to make spheres and among workers and
alliances with the earliest of radical farmers by elaborating canny strate-
political movements. gies of obstruction, negotiation, and
resistance, and by embracing the
He proved suspicious of the elite, most challenging ideas of their time.
Ndebele-focused politics of the Ma-
tabele Home Society, choosing in- That is one of the great traditions
stead to ally with the Industrial and that Vezi Maduna carried forward
Commercial Workers’ Union (the in his life, and which should be
ICU) led by Masotsha Ndlovu. remembered on his death. May he
rest in peace.
The ICU’s politics focused on
opposition to taxes and fees, de- Alexander is a professor of
mands for better schools and wag- Commonwealth Studies at the
es, a direct role in government, and University of Oxford
land. It brought together chiefs and

NewsHawks Obituary Page 27

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

McNally: How he struggled to save 
three Zanla fighters from the gallows

TERERAI R MAFUKIDZE Madzimbamuto’s wife’s victory in ment, whose authority Smith did The late Justice Nicholas McNally seat in present-day Harare.
the highest UK court was not rec- not recognise, granted pardons to countries. Your conscience and mine McNally lost in the election, and
JUSTICE Nicholas McNally, who ognised by the Smith government, the three convicts. McNally spent are clear, dear father, for I die not as a
passed away on 23 January 2021 in a matter that must have pained him the weekend preparing a fresh appli- thief or a lover of riches. I die for the so did all his white colleagues wher-
Johannesburg, South Africa, left an deeply. Soon after the Madzimbamu- cation. On Monday 4 March 1968, liberty of my country and people. ever they contested for “white seats”.
indelible mark in the public life of to battles, McNally and Kentridge McNally appeared alone on this oca- My comrades and I will be remem- The African candidates of the party
Zimbabwe, which he served with were again hired to fight the Smith ssion in the Appellate Division, and bered in the pages of history, not as did well and won a resounding sev-
sterling dedication and commit- regime in its courts. This time they tried to stop the execution of three criminals, but as champions of the en out of the eight “African seats”
ment. He served his country in many were trying to save three liberation on the grounds that the Government cause of our people. So don’t let my in parliament. Despite not being in
roles — as a civil servant, a legal prac- fighters from becoming the first exe- of the United Kingdom had granted death trouble you; because I chose parliament as he had hoped, McNal-
titioner fighting for justice, a politi- cuted political prisoners in Rhodesia. the convicts mercy and commut- this road myself and I die without ly and two of his party colleagues
cian seeking a better and non-racial ed the death sentences imposed to any doubt as to the justice and worth supported the African parliamen-
Rhodesia, and as an excellent judge Three Zanu activists, James sentences of life imprisonment. The of this noble cause.” tarians by researching parliamentary
who lived up to his judicial oath. Dhlamini, Victor Mlambo and Duly Rhodesian appellate court refused to issues, drafting speeches and organis-
Shadreck, had been tried and con- recognise the British pardon. The death sentence became a ing committee meetings.
When McNally arrived in the victed of petrol bombing a car driven weapon of choice for the Smith re-
then Southern Rhodesia as a child by Pieter Oberholzer, a white reserv- McNally and Kentridge had tried gime with the result that by 1972, They also did general administra-
from the British Overseas Territory ist who later on died from the burns. everything. There was not much else a total of 225 people had been sen- tion and published the party news-
and headland on the Spanish south he and his colleague could do to tenced to death since UDI in 1965. paper, Centre Point. They believed in
coast, he came into a society that The three were sentenced to death. save their clients from a government a Rhodesian future that was non-ra-
placed in the path of the majority Appeals against the conviction and committed to executing them. The Centre Party cial. From their efforts, by 1971 the
black people serious racial hurdles. death sentence in Rhodesia had In August 1968, a group of white party had reached its peak with 60
failed. A request to the Rhodesian True to form, two days later, and Rhodesians unhappy with the po- branches in African areas.
McNally was born on 22 Decem- Government to commute the death on 6 March 1968, McNally’s clients litical situation and direction that
ber 1931 in Gibraltar. penalty had failed. were hanged by Smith’s government. Smith’s government was going decid- Decline was to begin in 1972
There was a huge international out- ed to form a new party which they when the party decided to support
His long career of public service On 26, 27 and 28 February 1968, cry against the executions. named the Centre Party. the proposals of the Pearce Com-
started with a 10-year career as a dip- McNally, led by Kentridge, fought a The Centre Party was to be a mission on Rhodesia’s self-rule. The
lomat during the Federation of Rho- hard battle in court to try and stop Facing inevitable death after the multi-racial political party in rac- majority of its black membership de-
desia and Nyasaland (present-day the execution of the three. failure of the determined court chal- ist Rhodesia. At its first congress, serted it and joined nationalist par-
Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi). lenges, one of the convicts, Dhlami- McNally was elected one of the ties. Intimidation was also employed
Upon dissolution of the federation, The court was dead-set against ni, wrote a letter to his parents and, two-vice-presidents. As a liberal par- against African members who decid-
he briefly prosecuted before he went them. On the next day, on Thursday in that letter, revealed his gratitude to ty, the Centre Party found itself in a ed to remain.
to practise at the bar as an advocate. 29 February 1968, judgment was de- his lawyers, saying: difficult position of trying to appeal
livered refusing to interdict the exe- to blacks to swell its numbers and at In the 1974 parliamentary elec-
He was in active legal practice cutions pending appeals to the Privy “Our lawyers have tried all they the same time grow the number of tions, the Centre Party fielded only
from 1964 until his elevation to the Council. could to have our lives spared. They white liberal membership. five candidates, four of whom were
bench in 1982 — two years after appealed to the British Queen who In the 1970 election, Nick Mc- black. Only one black candidate re-
Zimbabwe’s Independence. McNally and Kentridge were un- authorised a reprieve, but it all failed. Nally stood on the Centre Party tick- tained his seat. By 1977, the party
relenting. On the next day, on Friday Now, it’s alright, father, because I et against Jack Howman, Rhodesia’s was weak. It decided to merge with
Despite the burden of a busy legal 1 March 1968, McNally appeared know I die for my people. Many, then minister of Defence and Inter- the revived Rhodesia Party (not to
practice which included many cases in court with Kentridge with fresh like me, have sacrificed their lives nal Affairs, for the Mount Pleasant be confused with Smith’s Rhodesian
of defending African nationalists and arguments, and tried to stop the exe- throughout the world so that their Front) and the National Pledge Asso-
freedom fighters, McNally involved cutions. They again failed. people may live freely in their own cation to form the National Unifying
himself in the fight for betterment Force as the country’s main opposi-
of the condition of black people and Meanwhile, the British govern- tion party.
Rhodesian society in general. He
gave a full life of service to Zimba- As a leader of the National Uni-
bwe. fying Force, McNally spent a lot
of time campaigning far and wide
Soon after turning to legal prac- across the world for a peaceful settle-
tice, Ian Smith performed a 1965 ment which involved the liberation
coup upon the Crown and declared movements that were waging the war
what was called the Unilateral Decla- of liberation. He also campaigned for
ration of Independence from Britain genuine free and fair elections which
(UDI). This event caused a major did not have special conditions fa-
constitutional crisis in Rhodesia and vourable to the white population.
across the British empire.
During the 1979 Lancaster House
McNally was soon to be involved negotiations, his party unsuccessfully
in the long, arduous legal fight aris- campaigned against the proposed 20
ing from this. He was immersed in special reserved white seats in parlia-
the monumental constitutional bat- ment. As a result of the reservation,
tle fought in the courts of Rhodesia the 1980 Zimbabwe elections were
and all the way to England. The rip- held with blacks contesting only 80
ple effects were felt beyond the legal of the 100 seats with 20 reserved for
battle. The case was considered the white voters.
biggest legal case in the world since
World War II. McNally’s party voted not to
stand in the 1980 elections because
An African nationalist, Daniel they were racially segregated. How-
Nyamayaro Madzimbamuto, had ever, McNally decided to defy his
been detained for several periods own party decision and stood in
since 1958 for his political activities. the “white special seats” election as
Further detentions and restrictions an independent candidate against
continued after UDI. the Rhodesian advocate and minis-
ter, JC Andersen contesting for the
His wife, Stella Madzimbamuto, Mount Pleasant seat. McNally was
sought legal assistance from Anthony not daunted by his own pre-election
Jaffey of the law firm Scanlen & Hol- prediction that he would not get
derness. Jaffey, in turn, briefed Mc- more than 20% of the votes. He got
Nally to challenge the continued de- 20.6% with 698 people voting for
tention of her husband. McNally, led him, while his opponent got 2 683.
by the famous South African-born
advocate Sydney Kentridge, fought His showing was considered the
in the High Court and Appellate Di- most impressive challenge against
vision of Rhodesia and, in substance, the Rhodesian Front on the white
lost. The case went all the way to the voters’ roll.
Privy Council. Before the case was The aftermath
heard, the Smith government an- Soon after the electoral fever had
nounced that it would not recognise
the outcome.

Page 28 Obituary NewsHawks

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

died down, he continued his practice as much as it did to the Rhodesians. far reaching jurisprudence. He was in office until he reached the man- tered with pragmatic lessons on prac-
as an advocate. In August 1980, he At trial, McNally was led in the always fair to counsel, polite to lit- datory retirement age in December tical advocacy and what the judges
was briefed to represent Zanu PF’s igants and never delayed his judg- 2001. expected of lawyers.
second most powerful politician and trial by a formidable English barris- ments. He would not shy away from
cabinet minister, Edgar Tekere, who ter named Louis Blom-Cooper QC. expressing dissent if he disagreed This difficult end to his judi- He gave his time to causes like the
was accused of the murder of a white This novel argument resulted in Te- with his colleagues. McNally was cial career in Zimbabwe must have establishment of the Catholic Uni-
farm manager and attempted mur- kere’s acquittal. fearless in defence of principle even pained him deeply. versity in Zimbabwe. Its existence
der of five army soldiers. It remains if he was in the minority. owes a lot to the fundraising efforts
one of Zimbabwe’s most sensational The two assessors, one black and It must have hurt deeply to hear he led. He also served for many years
trials. one mixed-race, overruled the white Twice as a judge of the Supreme the then minister of Justice claim that on a Vatican-appointed committee
presiding judge. The acquittal of Te- Court he co-signed a statement in he was “exorcising the racist ghost of that advised the Pope on matters of
It was some twist of fate. In 1975, kere based on this law shocked much which he and fellow judges rebuked Ian Smith” by removing these judg- faith.
McNally and many others had op- of the white community, while at the the Mugabe government for under- es. After all, McNally, unlike the
posed fiercely the passing of a law same time bringing great joy to many mining the rule of law. The response minister concerned, had stood up McNally is survived by his wife of
that gave government ministers, of- black people who supported Tekere. by Mugabe was vicious, but McNally to Smith and fought hard against his 67 years, Sarah, six of his children,
ficials, security forces indemnity for was unmoved. government for much of his political 19 grandchildren and four great
any crime they committed provided Even its imprimatur, Smith bitter- and legal career. He had also defend- grandchildren. He would have cele-
they acted in the bona fide belief that ly complained about the verdict. In November 2000, several hun- ed liberation fighters and nationalists brated his 90th birthday in Decem-
they were suppressing terrorism. It dreds of veterans of the Zimbabwe in courts across the country. ber this year.
was a law heavily criticised for giving Soon thereafter, McNally accept- liberation struggle invaded the Su-
a licence to kill. ed appointment to act as judge of preme Court just as it was to com- Soon after retirement, McNally His outstanding legacy of public
the High Court. He was subsequent- mence the hearing of a matter con- was appointed to serve on the Court service will live on.
One of the loudest critics was the ly appointed as a permanent High cerning land. They threatened the of Appeal of Botswana and he did so
Catholic Commission for Justice Court judge. His work in those ear- judges and assaulted the police or- for many years. He still retained his Mafukidze is a Zimbabwean advo-
and Peace which McNally, a devout ly years of Independence involved derly. The then minister of Justice, sharp and keen judicial mind. cate based in South Africa. Mafukid-
Catholic, actively supported. This diverse criminal, commercial and Patrick Chinamasa, told Chief Jus- ze, who practiced law extensively in
law was deemed by the Smith gov- constitutional law work. He wrote tice Anthony Gubbay that unless he He gave his life to many causes Zimbabwe, is currently a member of
ernment necessary in suppressing the numerous judgments reported in resigned the government could not including interest in the training of the Johannesburg Bar. He practises
liberation struggle. guarantee his safety. lawyers and teaching of the law. His with Group One Sandown Cham-
Zimbabwe and also in South Af- McNally Report resulted in a review bers in Sandton, Johannesburg.
However, the law remained in the rica. In 1984, he was elevated to the The same threats were made to of the LL.B degree offered by the
statute book at Supreme Court, which he served un- McNally and his other colleague University of Zimbabwe. The pres- Mafukidze is a Zimbabwean
til his retirement in December 2002 Justice Ebrahim. As a result of the ent degree owes its life to the work of Advocate based in South Africa.
independence. Based on this law, upon reaching the mandatory retire- threats, Gubbay resigned in February his committee. Mafukidze, who practiced law ex-
McNally devised a defence based on ment age of 70. 2001. Ebrahim soon followed. But tensively in Zimbabwe, is current-
this indemnity and argued that it ap- McNally would not be intimidated. McNally offered his services to the ly a member of the Johannesburg
plied to the new government officials From his long service on the He refused to resign and continued Law School and the legal profession Bar. He practises with Group One
bench of the Zimbabwean courts, and often accepted invitations to Sandown Chambers in Sandton,
McNally has left a huge treasure of deliver lectures. His lectures were lit- Johannesburg.
carefully reasoned, well-written and

Obituary

We have lost a brilliant educationist, ‘English
Teaching General’: Thembinkosi Sunduzani

Dr TAKAVAFIRA M. ZHOU 2013 after which he was posted to Thembinkosi Sunduzani order – that needed special medical and as professional educators. In-
Tongwe High. In 2019, doctors in Bulawayo, attention which a teacher’s salary deed, teachers are a vital cog of soci-
HE may not have taught in his South Africa and Harare detected a could not constantly afford. etal development and the battle for
home district of Mberengwa in the However, he sadly retired in Oc- rare muscle disease in Thembinkosi their status restoration will continue
Midlands province, but in Mata- tober 2020 on medical grounds. – which led to a tragic speech dis- His condition deteriorated, lead- unabated. There will be no retreat,
beleland South, yet he still remained ing to a severe breakdown of nerves no surrender.
a brilliant educationist, this son of by 2020, difficulties in feeding and
Mberengwa. limb movement. Even his retire- · Sporting activities: Thembinko-
ment package was too little to take si liked netball and soccer. He was a
Thembinkosi Sunduzani Ncube him to South Africa for treatment Caps United supporter locally, and
was born in 1964 and did his pri- and quickly evaporated like the a Liverpool supporter mainly be-
mary education at Chingezi School morning dew. He finally succumbed cause of Bruce Grobbelaar. He also
and also his ‘O’ level at Zvamagwiro to the disease on 3 February 2021 had a soft spot for Highlanders, but
Secondary in his rural home. and was buried in Zvamagwiro area disliked Dynamos.
of Mberengwa under Chief Mapira-
With me and others, he was vana. · Music: Initially, Thembinkosi
among the ‘A’ level pioneers at was glued to Devera Ngwena, but
Chegato High School in the 1985- Thembinkosi is survived by a wife gradually drifted from it after its split
1986 period. and four children, three boys and a to Oliver Mtukudzi, Simon Chim-
girl. His case is a typical example of betu, Thomas Mapfumo, Leonard
Thembinkosi (many, especially many deaths in Zimbabwe where Dembo, Lovemore Majaivana and
in Matabeleland South, called him we lose brilliant people because of Leonard Zhakata. He was most-
Sunduzani), completed his Bach- our poor service delivery. Several ly interested in this array of music
elor of Arts General degree at the teachers have tested positive to pov- more as a reflection of challenges
University of Zimbabwe (UZ) in erty and easily succumbed and con- the society faced and more often en-
1989 and a Graduate Certificate in tinue to be susceptible to diseases. gaged in rigorous reflections of the
Education (UZ) in 1991. He taught music the artists produced and how
at several schools in Matabele- As a country it is critical to invest such music mirrored the way of
land South, with Kwalu Secondary in robust health and education sys- life of Zimbabweans. After UZ, he
School in the Chamnangana area as tems as a basis for sustainable devel- also became inclined to gospel mu-
his landing pad. opment. This will enable us to com- sic but still coloured by Mtukudzi,
bat some these diseases which are Mapfumo and Majaivana.
From Kwalu, where his En- consuming some of our best brains
glish-teaching skills left an indelible in the country. I wish to express my · Character: To many who were
mark on his students who have gone heartfelt condolences to the Ncube not so close to him, he was reserved,
on become top professionals and family in Zvamagwiro in particular humble and peaceable, and would
leaders in various spheres of life to- and teachers in general. not engage in useless arguments at
day, he went to Zezani High School high school or the UZ. However, if
in Beitbridge  (1992-2010), Mana- Go well Thembinkosi Sundu- provoked into an argument he was
ma High in Gwanda (2010-2013), zani Ncube. You were an English cheerful, brilliant, logical, thorough
Mzingwane High in Esigodini Teaching General in schools; fought and convincing in his presentation
(2013) and Tongwe High  (2013- a good fight by guarding jealously of facts. He could totally disarm
2020) in Beitbridge. against the trenches of folly and ig- those arguing from a position of ig-
norance. norance with his sharp mind.
Thembinkosi rose up the educa-
tion ladder from being a teacher to We will continue the battle for a May your soul rest in eternal
senior teacher, deputy headmaster credible system of education that we peace. Comrade-in-arms.
and headmaster of Mzingwane by shared as students at Chegato, UZ

NewsHawks Africa News Page 29

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Uganda military
sentences soldiers
up to three months
in jail over
journalist assault

THE Ugandan military on of them. Ugandan pop star and presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, assists one of his bodyguards
Thursday sentenced seven sol- NTV Uganda television who was injured in clashes between Wine’s supporters and security forces in Kayunga district near Kampala recently.
diers to up 90 days in jail after
they were convicted of assaulting showed the journalists running committee had tried the seven and the UPDF as a professional midable political opponent.
journalists who were covering an for safety and screaming as the soldiers, who included a captain, institution doesn’t condone such He lost to Museveni in last
event outside a U.N. office in security personnel struck them convicted and given them vary- acts,” Muhoozi said in a state-
the capital Kampala. with batons. Four of those as- ing sentences ranging from a se- ment. month’s election and reject-
saulted sustained serious injuries vere reprimand to 90 days in jail. ed the result, saying there was
Punishment of security per- including to the head. Wine, whose real name is widespread rigging that included
sonnel for abuse against jour- Military chief, General David Robert Kyagulanyi, has earned pre-ticking of ballots, falsifying
nalists is rare and attacks on re- The journalists were covering Muhoozi, had apologised for the the wrath of President Yoweri results on tally sheets, intimidat-
porters have escalated in recent Wine, a pop star and lawmaker, incident and vowed to punish Museveni after galvanising a ing his agents and other irregu-
months amid a crackdown on as he delivered a petition to the the culprits. large following among the coun- larities. He has challenged the
supporters of opposition leader office asking the United Nations try’s youth and emerging as for- results in court. – Reuters
Bobi Wine. to investigate human rights vio- “Such actions are regrettable
lations on the country including
On Wednesday, soldiers de- torture, abductions, illegal de-
scended on a group of journalists tentions and others.
outside the U.N. High Commis-
sioner of Human Rights office, The Uganda Peoples’ Defence
beating and injuring at least 20 Forces (UPDF) said in a state-
ment that a military disciplinary

Ethiopia: TPLF forces claim killing 502 government troops

THE Tigray People’s Libera- ed,” he said, adding “backup forc- itary vehicles, several weapons, of Chairman Debrestion Gebre- 200,000 euros for information on
tion Front (TPLF) claimed it es were sent but were beaten.” and communication facilities. michael and many other TPLF their location.
has killed hundreds of Ethiopi- leaders is unknown.
an national soldiers including TDF also claimed to have In November, Ethiopia’s gov- Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed
those from Eritrea, according to seized and destroyed a number ernment issued arrest warrants In mid-December, the Ethi- launched a military operation
a report written by Kenya’s Daily of military hardware including for more than 60 senior leaders opian army announced that it against the northern Tigray
Nation. five tanks, 177 rockets, 22 mil- of the TPLF but the whereabouts would offer a reward of around region on November 4, after
months of tensions between
TPLF said it killed 502 troops the central government and the
who were allegedly involved in TPLF. The TPLF dominated
an offensive in Ethiopia’s north- Ethiopian politics for almost 30
ern region last week. The fight- years but since Abiy’s appoint-
ing also left a number of soldiers ment in 2018, the party has been
wounded according to Tigray gradually marginalized.
Defence Forces (TDF) spokes-
person Gebre Gebretsadik. After Abiy’s offensive, the 2019
Nobel Peace Prize winner in-
“On Monday, February 8, our stalled a new administration in
forces launched a military of- Tigray and declared the official
fensive against enemy troops end of the military operation at
stationed around Kola-Temben the end of November.
town in Juwamare locality. We
have completely eliminated en- Since then, it has been difficult
emy forces,” said Gebre in an for the United Nations, journal-
interview with Dimtsi Woyane ists and humanitarian organiza-
(DW) TV. tions to access Tigray.

“On the next day, our forces It is believed thousands have
attacked enemy defense posi- been killed in the conflict while
tions around Tembein town in more than 50,000 people have
Adi-Chilo locality and killed 358 fled to seek refuge in neighbor-
troops,” he added. ing Sudan and more than 63,000
are displaced inside the region,
“At least 150 were also wound- according to the UN. – Reuters

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Page 30 World News NewsHawks

The United Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021
States: A
superpower,
like it or not

This article is the first in a two-part series on American global dominance and
how the nation views itself in relation to the world. While other nations yearn
for past glory, Americans have the opposite problem. Their capacity for global
power exceeds their perception of their proper place and role in the world.
Even as they have met the challenges of Nazism and Japanese imperialism,
Soviet communism, and radical Islamist terrorism, they have never regarded
this global activism as normal.

ROBERT KAGAN al circumstances. They do not see imagine as the innocence and limit- A global geopolitics replaced and transform the balance of pow-
themselves as the primary defender ed ambition of their nation’s youth. what had been a European-dom- er. Americans, too, had a hard time
ALL great powers have a deeply in- of a certain kind of world order; inated order, and in this very dif- adjusting.
grained self-perception shaped by they have never embraced that “in- For the first decades of the new ferent configuration of power, the
historical experience, geography, dispensable” role. republic’s existence, Americans United States was thrust into a new The wealth and relative invul-
culture, beliefs, and myths. Many struggled merely to survive as a position. Only it could be both a Pa- nerability that made them uniquely
Chinese today yearn to recover the As a result, Americans have often weak republic in a world of super- cific and an Atlantic power. Only it, capable of fighting major wars and
greatness of a time when they ruled played it poorly. Their continental power monarchies. They spent the with weak neighbours to the north enforcing peace in Europe, Asia,
unchallenged at the pinnacle of view of the world has produced a nineteenth century in selfishness and south and vast oceans to the and the Middle East simultane-
their civilisation, before “the centu- century of wild oscillations — in- and self-absorption, conquering the east and west, could send the bulk ously also made them question the
ry of humiliation.” difference followed by panic, mo- continent and struggling over slav- of its forces to fight in distant the- necessity, desirability, and even mo-
bilisation and intervention followed ery. atres for prolonged periods while its rality of doing so. With the United
Russians are nostalgic for Soviet by retreat and retrenchment. homeland remained unthreatened. States fundamentally secure and
days, when they were the other su- By the early twentieth century, self-sufficient, why did it need to
perpower and ruled from Poland to That Americans refer to the rel- the United States had become the Only it could afford to finance get involved in conflicts thousands
Vladivostok. Henry Kissinger once atively low-cost military involve- richest and potentially most pow- not only its own war efforts but also of miles from its shores? And what
observed that Iranian leaders had to ments in Afghanistan and Iraq erful country in the world, but one those of its allies, mustering the in- right did it have?
choose whether they wanted to be as “forever wars” is just the latest without commitments or respon- dustrial capacity to produce ships,
“a nation or a cause,” but great pow- example of their intolerance for sibilities. It rose under the canopy planes, tanks, and other materiel to The case for a policy aimed at cre-
ers and aspiring great powers often the messy and unending business of a benevolent world order it had arm itself while also serving as the ating and preserving a liberal world
see themselves as both. of preserving a general peace and no part in upholding. “Safe from arsenal for everyone else. Only it order was first made by Theodore
acting to forestall threats. In both attack, safe even from menace,” could do all of this without bank- Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson
Their self-perception shapes their cases, Americans had one foot out the British historian James Bryce rupting itself but instead growing during World War I.
definition of the national interest, the door the moment they entered, wrote of the United States in 1888, richer and more dominant with
of what constitutes genuine security which hampered their ability to “she hears from afar the warring each major war. The United States, With the United Kingdom and
and the actions and resources neces- gain control of difficult situations. cries of European races and faiths, the British statesman Arthur Bal- the other European powers no lon-
sary to achieve it. Often, it is these as the gods of Epicurus listened to four observed, had become the “piv- ger able to preserve order, they ar-
self-perceptions that drive nations, This on-again, off-again approach the murmurs of the unhappy earth ot” on which the rest of the world gued, and as the war demonstrated,
empires, and city-states forward. has confused and misled allies and spread out beneath their golden turned or, in President Theodore it had fallen to the United States
And sometimes to their ruin. adversaries, often to the point of dwellings.” For the moment, Bryce Roosevelt’s words, “the balance of to create and defend a new liberal
spurring conflicts that could have wrote, “she sails upon a summer power of the whole world.” world order.
Much of the drama of the past been avoided by a clear and steady sea.”
century resulted from great powers application of American power and The world had never known such This was the purpose of the
whose aspirations exceeded their influence in the service of a peace- But then the world shifted, and a power — there was not the lan- “World League for the Peace of
capacity. ful, stable, and liberal world order. Americans suddenly found them- guage to describe it or a theory to Righteousness,” proposed by Roo-
The twentieth century was littered selves at the centre of it. The old or- explain it. It was sui generis. The sevelt at the beginning of the war,
Americans have the opposite with the carcasses of foreign leaders der upheld by the United Kingdom emergence of this unusual great and of the League of Nations, which
problem. Their capacity for global and governments that misjudged and made possible by a tenuous power led to confusion and mis- Wilson eventually championed af-
power exceeds their perception of the United States, from Germa- peace in Europe collapsed with the judgement. ter it: to create a new peaceful order
their proper place and role in the ny (twice) and Japan to the Soviet arrival of new powers. with American power at its center.
world. Even as they have met the Union to Serbia to Iraq. If the twen- Nations that had spent centuries Wilson believed it was the only fea-
challenges of Nazism and Japanese ty-first century is not to follow the The rise of Germany destroyed calculating the power relationships sible alternative to a resumption of
imperialism, Soviet communism, same pattern — most dangerously, the precarious equilibrium in Eu- in their own regions were slow to the conflict and chaos that had dev-
and radical Islamist terrorism, they in the competition with China — rope, and the Europeans proved appreciate the impact of this dis- astated Europe.
have never regarded this global ac- then Americans will need to stop unable to restore it. The concurrent tant deus ex machina, which, after
tivism as normal. looking for the exits and accept the rise of Japan and the United States long periods of indifference and If Americans instead turned back
role that fate and their own power put an end to more than a century aloofness, could suddenly swoop in to their “narrow, selfish, provincial
Even in the era of the Internet, have thrust upon them. Perhaps af- of British naval hegemony. purposes,” he warned, the peace
long-range missiles, and an inter- ter four years of President Donald would collapse, Europe would again
dependent global economy, many Trump, Americans are ready for
Americans retain the psychology of some straight talk.
a people living apart on a vast con-
tinent, untouched by the world’s Americans’ preference for a lim-
turmoil. ited international role is a product
of their history and experience and
Americans have never been iso- of the myths they tell themselves.
lationists. In times of emergency, Other great powers aspire to recap-
they can be persuaded to support ture past glories. Americans have al-
extraordinary exertions in far-off ways yearned to recapture what they
places. But they regard these as ex-
ceptional responses to exception-

NewsHawks World News Page 31

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

divide into “hostile camps,” the Two decades later, as Americans might simply perish. suffered from a kind of cognitive world order based on liberal polit-
world would again descend into debated whether to enter anoth- But the opponents of Ameri- dissonance. During the Cold War, ical and economic principles was
“utter blackness,” and the United er world war, another Republican they took on unheard-of global re- the only antidote to the anarchy
States would again be dragged into senator, Robert Taft, ridiculed the can intervention in World War II sponsibilities, deploying troops in of the 1930s. For such an order to
war. The United States had an inter- idea that the United States, which worried as much about the conse- distant theatres by the hundreds of exist, the United States could not
est in a peaceful and predominant- was perfectly safe from attack, quences of winning as about the thousands and fighting two wars, in “sit in the parlour with a shotgun,
ly liberal Europe, a peaceful Asia, should “range over the world, like costs of intervening. They did not Korea and in Vietnam, that were 15 waiting,” argued Dean Acheson,
and open and safe oceans on which a knight-errant, protecting democ- want their country to subordinate times as costly in terms of combat President Harry Truman’s secretary
Americans and their goods could racy and ideals of good faith, and itself to the interests of European deaths as the wars in Afghanistan of state.
travel safely. But such a world could tilting, like Don Quixote, against empires, but neither did they want and Iraq would be. They promoted
not be built except around Ameri- the windmills of Fascism.” it to replace those empires as the an international free-trade regime It had to be out in the world
can power. Thus the United States dominant world power. Citing Sec- that sometimes enriched others actively shaping it, deterring some
had an interest in world order. President Franklin Roosevelt ar- retary of State John Quincy Adams, more than themselves. They inter- powers and bolstering others. It had
gued that even if the United States they warned that in becoming the vened economically, politically, dip- to create “situations of strength” at
Americans’ capacity for global was not directly threatened by Nazi “dictatress of the world,” the United lomatically, and militarily in every critical nodes, spreading stability,
power exceeds their perception of Germany or imperial Japan, a world States would lose its soul.The Jap- corner of the world. And whether prosperity, and democracy, especial-
their proper place and role in the in which those powerful dicta- anese attack on Pearl Harbour cut or not they were conscious of it, ly in the world’s core industrial re-
world. Such arguments met pow- torships dominated their regions short the debate but left it unsettled. they did create a liberal world order, gions of Europe and Asia. The Unit-
erful opposition. The Republican would be a “shabby and dangerous Roosevelt fought the war with his a relatively peaceful international ed States had to be “the locomotive
senator Henry Cabot Lodge and place to live in.” It was only a mat- eye on the post-war order he hoped environment that in turn made pos- at the head of mankind,” Acheson
other critics condemned Wilson’s ter of time before the dictatorships to create, but most Americans saw sible an explosion of global prosper- said, pulling the world along with
league as both unnecessary and a would gather themselves for a final the war as an act of self-defence, ity and a historically unprecedented it.
betrayal of the founders’ vision. For assault on the remaining citadel of perfectly consistent with a conti- spread of democratic government.
the United States to concern itself democracy, Roosevelt believed, but nental perspective. When it was · KAGAN is Stephen and
with world order was to violate the even before that moment came, the over, they expected to come home. That was the conscious aim of Barbara Friedman Senior Fellow
basic principles that made it an ex- United States might become “a lone Roosevelt during World War II and at the Brookings Institution and
ceptional, peace-loving nation in a island” of democracy in a world When the United States did of his successors in the Truman ad- the author of The Jungle Grows
world at war. of dictators, and democracy itself end up dominating the world after ministration. They believed that a Back: America and Our Imperiled
World War II, therefore, Americans World.

Facebook Australia: PM Scott Morrison
‘will not be intimidated’ by tech giant

AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Scott sues. We simply won’t be intimidat- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison book has risen in recent years.
Morrison has said his government ed,” he added. Under the ban, Australian publish-
will not be intimidated by Facebook middle of a pandemic”, adding: “I’ve “With a heavy heart, we are choos-
blocking news feeds tooo users. Mr Morrison urged Facebook to made the long-overdue decision to ing the latter,” it said in a blog post. ers are restricted from sharing or post-
work constructively with the govern- permanently delete my Facebook ac- ing any links on their Facebook pages.
He described the move to “un- ment, “as Google recently demon- count.” The law sought “to penalise Face- The national broadcaster, ABC, and
friend Australia” as arrogant and dis- strated in good faith”. book for content it didn’t take or ask newspapers like The Australian have
appointing. Why is Facebook doing this? for”, the company’s local managing millions of followers.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the Australian authorities had drawn director William Easton said.
Facebook is responding to a pro- ban on news information had a “huge up the laws to “level the playing field” What will happen to the law?
posed law which would make tech community impact”. About 17 mil- between the tech giants and strug- Facebook said it helped Australian Australia’s conservative govern-
giants pay for news content on their lion Australians visit the social media gling publishers over profits. Of every publishers earn about A$407m last ment is standing by the law - which
platforms. site every month. A$100 (£56; $77) spent on digital year through referrals, while “the plat- passed the lower house of parliament
advertising in Australian media these form gain from news is minimal”. on Wednesday. It has broad cross-par-
It says the legislation “fundamen- Consumption of digital news days, A$81 goes to Google and Face- ty support and the Senate is likely to
tally misunderstands” the relationship through social media and search en- book. However, Facebook is by far the pass it next week.
between the platform and publishers. gines is growing in Australia, accord- But Facebook said the law left it most important social platform for “We will legislate this code. We
ing to the Reuters Digital News Re- “facing a stark choice: attempt to news. In Australia, about 36% of peo- want the digital giants paying tradi-
Australians on Thursday woke up port for 2020. comply with a law that ignores the ple use the platform for news. Mean- tional news media businesses for gen-
to find that Facebook pages of all realities of this relationship, or stop while, only 14% of Australians pay erating original journalistic content,”
local and global news sites were un- Some 37% of consumers who took allowing news content on our services for online news. said Mr Frydenberg.
available. People outside the country part said they had gained access to in Australia”. He pointed out that Facebook, like
are also unable to read or access any news via social media over the course Also, media companies have seen a Google, had been negotiating pay
Australian news publications on the of a week, compared with 31% who long-term decline in advertising rev- deals with local organisations.
platform. had directly accessed websites or apps, enue while that of Google and Face- Facebook’s ban on news sites on its
the report said. Australian-facing site could well lead
Several government health and to greater prominence for unverified
emergency pages were also blocked. Western Australia Premier Mark and untrusted information, helping
Facebook later asserted this was a mis- McGowan accused Facebook of “be- disinformation to spread further.
take and many of these pages are now having like a North Korean dictator”. First Draft, a site which investigates
back online. the spread of false and misleading
Others suggested that a news vacu- posts online, warned the restrictions
Both Google and Facebook have um could be filled by misinformation will “open up a vacuum that could be
fought the law, saying it unfairly “pe- and conspiracy theories. filled in part by mis and disinforma-
nalises” their platforms. tion”.
Human Rights Watch’s Australia Facebook says it will continue to
However, in contrast to Facebook, director said Facebook was censoring remove harmful misinformation,
Google has in recent days signed the flow of information in the coun- connect users with reliable health ad-
payment deals with major Austra- try - calling it a “dangerous turn of vice and work with third party fact
lian media outlets. Facebook’s action events”. checkers. One of the topics for which
came hours after Google agreed to a great deal of unreliable information
pay Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp The move also faced criticism is shared online is that of Covid-19
for content from news sites across its abroad. Julian Knight, the head of vaccines. So we looked at search re-
media empire. What is the response the British parliamentary committee sults for the word “vaccine” over the
to the ban? In a statement posted on overseeing the media industry, told past 12 hours on Facebook pages pri-
Facebook, Mr Morrison said that big Reuters news agency it was “bully boy marily based in Australia and found
tech companies might be changing action”. prominent results for sites casting
the world but this did not mean they doubt on the coronavirus pandemic.
should run it. Meanwhile, the company behind This search also brings up reliable
the Guardian newspaper said it was information sources, and further
“Facebook’s actions to unfriend “deeply concerned”. analysis will be needed over the next
Australia today, cutting off essential few days to see whether this anecdotal
information services on health and What about the public reaction? evidence is backed up by longer
emergency services, were as arrogant Many Australians are angry about term data.
as they were disappointing,” he said. their sudden loss of access to trusted
and authoritative sources. – Reuters
Australia vs tech firms: What’s this “It feels obviously very restrictive
row about? in what Facebook is going to allow
people to do in the future, not only in
News publishers fight tech giants Australia but around the world,” Peter
for better deals Firth, in Sydney, told the BBC.
Amelia Marshall said she could
“I am in regular contact with the not believe the firm’s decision “in the
leaders of other nations on these is-

Porsche just got angrier Being a Fashion Model

&Life Style

STYLE TRAVEL BOOKS ARTS MOTORING

Page 32 Issue 18,19 Feb 2021

JONATHAN MBIRIYAMVEKA

RENOWNED poet Wil- The late Soul Jah Love (left) with Dop Queen
liam Shakespeare once wrote
in his play Hamlet that: “It Jah Love a tormented, having lived with Bounty
shall be so, madness in great Lisa for a long time and, sad-
ones must not unwatched der still, being unable to im-
go”. pregnate her. He even went
misunderstood soul public refusing to let go of
Well, that is the original Bounty Lisa, including pen-
book but in modern texts it ning a song Hatisitose naBby
says: “That’s how we’ll do it. featuring Humba.
When important people start
to show signs of insanity, you This remained a thorn in
have to watch them closely.” the flesh and on the album
Mind Your Hokoso, which
This, by the way, was said in with his father and step- intervention throughout his Music exposed him to which is extracted from old essentially sums up all his
by Claudius after Hamlet mother and perhaps that is livelihood. all sorts of misdemeanours television screens or disused troubles.
started feigning madness. where the drama started. But there were times he such that at some point he electric bulbs. We all know how tough
His father passed on and left grew tired of his belief in di- believed he was invincible es- But again, as he said in a the failure to have a child
While that was “the play him at the mercy of the step- vine intervention and this is pecially in songs such as Mu- radio interview, all that peo- can be. It is one of the most
within the play”, I draw mother and naturally he had where he let his music take sombodhiya, Hove Huru, ple saw in him were drugs. disheartening realities of life
parallels from this regarding to leave home for the streets. control of him. Naka Dhula Dhaka, Yeke Nobody paid attention to his that Soul Jah Love had to put
our dearly departed Soul Jah No one was there for him This brings us to the sec- Yeke to Ndine Magetsi. ill-health as a diabetic which up with.
Love whose real name was including relatives whom he ond dimension: his music. Things got a little worry- he lived with for all his life. Through all these strug-
Soul Musaka. He was as im- loathes to the point of pen- Yes, immensely talented he ing when all of a sudden he Last but not least, which is gles, he was a lone ranger and
portant to music as he was to ning such heartrending songs was, charismatic he was, and changed from being Chiba- his third dimension, Soul Jah nobody ever understood his
his relatives. Ndini Uya Uya, Ndimi yet he let his talent have the ba to Chibababababa, from Love never knew true love. plight.
Makauraya and Kana Ndafa better of him. Conquering Shumba to Yes, there were people who Soul Jah Love needed to
Born on 22 November where he blames his demise On several occasions, Soul Makuruwani (Cool One) to moved around him but did be understood, unfortunate-
1989, Soul Jah Love died af- on those closest to him. Jah Love stopped taking Chigunduru gunduru and not take care of him when he ly no one took the time to
ter a long battle with diabetes Death became a very himself seriously and be- Hagamu Gagamu. needed them most. understand him.
at Mbuya Dorcas Hospital in much part of Soul Jah Love came reckless. Music was his Over and above this, he So true love was some- His stint at fame was a
Waterfalls, Harare. but the saddest part he is that source of his income and yet had that enervating laugh thing hard to come by in his waste while his diabetic con-
he did not know how to es- here and there he chose not punctuated by chants of life, especially after his fall- dition was a constant threat,
But that was only a tip of cape the death trap and his to perform. He would do all “high definition” and “tele- out with longtime girlfriend what a tormented soul!
his broader troubled life. He character was his undoing. sorts of things, living on the vision ting” which some be- Bounty Lisa. It is a pity, Soul Jah Love
lived a tormented lifestyle Death scared him so much edge and never pitching up lieved were glorifying drugs, Frankly speaking, Soul Jah is a great one, he must not
and was often misunder- that he always sought divine for gigs. particularly the crystal meth Love suffered a heartbreak, unwatched go!
stood.

Soul Jah Love possessed
charisma like no other and
music prowess which could
not be equaled by any of
his contemporaries and yet
beneath his signature laugh
and gap-toothed grin he was
hurting.

When the chips were
down, Soul Jah Love would
seek solace in music. When
friends were few, he would
drink himself to a stupor and
when the good times rolled,
he lived la vida loca.

But what was most nota-
ble about Soul Jah Love were
the three-dimensions to his
existence: music, love life
and upbringing.

These three dimensions
were at the core of his prob-
lems, as we will discover later
in this obituary.

Firstly, let us deal with his
upbringing. A fleeting 31
years were long enough for
Soul Jah Love to come to
terms with the harsh realities
of life.

His mother, whom we all
know as Sithembeni, as he
mentions in the song Pama-
monya Ipapo, died while
Soul Jah Love was still young
and his maternal grand-
mother took care of him. As
fate would have it, he lost his
grandmother.

This forced him to move

NewsHawks Life & Style Page 33

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Stella Chiweshe’s ‘80s classic
album Ambuya! re-issued

JONATHAN MBIRIYAMVEKA ga, where I said: ‘Ko iyi hondo muri kuyiwona here va-
komana iyo?’ Yaive hondo yekufa kwanhasi uku, kweku-
ZIMBABWE’S gwenyambira (mbira player) Stella Chi- wurayiwa nechatisingawone (Do you see the looming
weshe’s 1980s classic album titled Ambuya has been war? I foretold today’s mass deaths, people perishing at
re-issued for posterity. the hands of an invisible enemy). I had dreamt of this
kind of death that we are facing nowadays plus the rea-
Originally released in 1987, the album that features son the album Ambuya has been re-issued at the right
the hit song Chaachimurenga has been re-mastered time.”
from analog tapes and is now available on vinyl, com-
pact disc and online. The playlist on the album includes Nehondo, Njuzu,
Mugomba, Chamakuwende, Kasahwa, Chipindura,
The album is already in this month’s Top 10 of the Ndinogarochema and Sarura Wako.
Transglobal World Music Charts list.
In an interview with The NewsHawks, the 73-year-
Piranha Records and Publishing, Ambuya Chiweshe’s old German-based international star said the album was
record stable, said about the remake of the album: re-issued in aid of her cultural centre.
“Today we celebrate the re-issue of Stella Chiweshe’s
groundbreaking album Ambuya! “It was re-issued to support Chivanhu Trust that is
based in Zimbabwe. To enable us to do that myself and
“We would like to pay our tribute to the ‘Queen of my colleagues had to register an association here in Ber-
Mbira’ Stella Chiweshe, by dedicating this newsletter lin. We named it Chivanhu Foundation e.V. The e.V.,
entirely to her. means an officially registered association,” Ambuya Chi-
weshe said.
“The revered name Ambuya? with a question mark
— becomes Ambuya! with an exclamation mark. The Asked about Chivanhu Trust, Ambuya Chiweshe said:
‘Queen of Mbira’ Stella Chiweshe has earned this not “I want to revive links between music and the ancestral
only with her music but also with her attitude and culture of Zimbabwe. Practicing these traditions can
self-assertion,” Piranha Records and Publishing said. build a more stable future.”

“After the first release of Stella Chiweshe’s interna- However, she said she was not planning on shooting
tional debut Ambuya?, the time has come to make this videos anytime soon because of the Coronavirus restric-
great album available again as 180g heavyweight vinyl tions.
and CD re-mastered from analog tapes with a ‘John Peel
Session’ from 1988 as a bonus. However, the album takes you into the musical world
of Stella Chiweshe through an hour-long selection of
“We would like to use this space to give a personal her most beloved tunes through the years.
shout out to everyone who contributed in Stella Chi-
weshe’s crowdfunding campaign for the construction of For those not in the know, Ambuya Chiweshe is lov-
the Chivanhu Centre. With your help, the home that ingly referred to as ambuya not because she is a spirit
will try to preserve Mbira music and its tradition in medium as some suggested but because of her age.
Zimbabwe can start being built.”
On performing barefooted, Ambuya Chiweshe says
The album is inspired by Ambuya Chiweshe’s musi- she feels comfortable without the shoes. She also wears a
cal approach, showcasing a combination of various titles crown of beads, something which she says is what vadzi-
that bridge the gap between modern and traditional Af- mu (ancestral spirits) want her to do.
rican music.
She has been in and out of Zimbabwe for the greater
Explaining the oft-misquoted song Chaachimurenga, part of her music career and now she is happy she ac-
Ambuya Chiweshe said each song has its own story and complished what she was tasked to do by the ancestors
there is a reason why it was recorded. and now she needs to settle down.

“Yes, most of these songs resonate very much with Chivanhu Trust, located in Masembura near Bindura,
what is going on around the world right now. On this will be her home. One of the key areas of this centre, she
album this is where the song Chaachimurenga is. said, would be the preservation of Zimbabwean culture.

“What I was singing about in the song Chaachimuren- However, the challenge has always been funding.

Page 34 People & Places NewsHawks

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Chundu Island, a destination
filled with unique experiences

ZIMBABWE has many Chundu is one of the most chelles meet Zambezi” suites configured with either a su- freestanding bath and private
beautiful places and one of beautiful river islands in the and six river view suites each per-king or twin beds. outdoor shower.
them is Chundu lying on the world. accommodating two persons.
Zambezi River on the border The open-plan suite has Each suite has its own pri-
with Zambia. Chundu has eight “Sey- The river view suites are an en-suite bathroom with a vate deck with a day bed and
seating area overlooking the
A mere 21kms upstream Zambezi River allowing for
from Victoria Falls in Zim- a tranquil space for you to
babwe, Chundu Island is relax and enjoy a cocktail or
a destination filled with a cup of coffee and immerse
unique experiences, magnifi- yourself in your surround-
cent views, friendly faces and ings.
wildlife that enthralls.
Super-king or twin beds;
There are numerous reasons Walk-in dressing room; En-
to why tourists make Chun- suite bathroom; Double van-
du a destination of choice. ity; Mini-bar; Tea & coffee
station; Outdoor shower;
The Island is 1.4 kilometres Freestanding bath; Overhead
long. fans – indoor and out; Mos-
quito nets;
While the Victoria Falls
remains a major draw-card Hand-wash and folding
to nature lovers around the of laundry; Electrical 220v
world, a number of new and power sockets with interna-
exciting tourist destinations tional adaptors; Private deck
and attractions are opening with a daybed and sitting
up, and Chundu is one of area overlooking the river;
them. Basic complimentary laun-
dry service (wash and fold);
An island inside a National and Flip-flops and Kikoys are
Park gives travellers the best provided. – STAFF WRITER
of both worlds. Even bet-
ter, it’s not just any island,

Property
NewsHawks

Page 35 PROPERTY INTERIORS ARCHITECTURE GARDENING Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

The home of prime property: [email protected]

MERLIN GARWE Free funds pay off in the lion driven by movement in unof-
ficial market exchange rates which
THE use of free funds has paid had a bearing on the Zimbabwean
off for the residential proper- residential property sector dollar value of materials and ser-
ty sector as the freehold sales vices consumed by the company.
sub-market experienced the most Service providers have continued
notable activity in the last quarter tracking premium exchange rates
of 2020. in the pricing of products and ser-
vices to hedge against inflation,”
This is despite the property said in the occupier sub-market er sub-market was affected by low riod last year driven by quarterly he said.
market fundamentals remaining most tenants were able to pay-up demand for office space; this, in rent reviews which the business Looking forward, Mapfidza
depressed due to the difficult the rent arrears that were deferred turn, had an impact on develop- has been performing in line with said while the economic outlook
macro-economic climate and low during the lockdown period. ment activity. market practice. for the rest of the financial year
business confidence. “This propelled the sub-mar- The limited development ac- Mapfidza said the improved into 2021 remains uncertain due
ket, which had earlier in the year tivity and sales transactions on revenue performance was also to the persisting economic con-
Through Statutory Instrument suffered lethargic rental growth the market also remained con- driven by new leases concluded ditions which have been exacer-
85 of 2020, the government al- and rent payment deferments. In- centrated in the residential sector. during the quarter. bated by the second wave of the
lowed sellers and service provid- flation however remained signifi- For Masholdings, the proper- “Occupancy levels have in- Covid-19 pandemic, the company
ers to freely market their goods cantly high and, as such, the asset ty investment portfolio value re- creased from 77.7% to 79.4%. will continue to preserve value
and services, and transact in the class failed to hedge against time mained at an inflation-adjusted Operating profit increased by by pursuing its property devel-
US dollar currency. value losses. In the property mar- valuation of ZW$10 billion de- 18.9% due to the revenue growth, opment projects in line with the
ket, the freehold sales sub-market termined from the last valuation the operating profit margin how- broader company strategy while
While it has been termed “dol- experienced the most notable ac- performed as at 30 September ever decreased by 19.5% due to continuing with efforts to retain
larisation through the back door” tivity mainly concentrated in the 2020. an increase in total operating existing tenants and secure new
it has seen residential rentals be- residential sector,” he said Rental income increased by expenses. Operating expenses in- leases to sustain overall business
ing charged in US dollars across During the period the occupi- 47.6% compared to the same pe- creased by 59% to ZW$30.7 mil- performance.
the board. In a third-quarter
trading update, Masholdings
Limited MD Gibson Mapfidza

Page 36 Sport NewsHawks

Issue 18, 19 Feb 2021

Premier League chief executive hits What next
out at ‘destructive’ super league plans for Serena

Williams?

Real Madrid and Barcelona are pushing plans for a European Super League. A FEW hours after Serena Williams
walked out of Rod Laver Arena, beat-
THE Premier League’s chief executive, just the Premier League.” Uefa that if it did increase the Champi- proper competition for the titles in the en in the late stages of a grand slam
Richard Masters, has condemned plans Masters also confirmed he was ons League to 36 teams, more domes- European competitions, as well as in the tournament once more, the Euros-
for a breakaway European Super League tic champions must be included rather domestic competitions, and this cannot port team had converged in front of
as “destructive to the value of domestic against a separate Uefa plan to reform than Premier League teams. continue. So give us the time needed the cameras to discuss the day’s play.
football across Europe”. the Champions League — which for a proper process to involve all stake- There stood Barbara Schett, last active
would involve it growing from 32 to 36 “We would prefer champions from holders and make the right decision for 15 years ago, who played against Wil-
In his strongest intervention yet to teams and the number of fixtures rising Scotland, Denmark or Switzerland, for the benefit of all.” liams three times, and via video link,
the €6bn plan, in which 15 founding from 125 to 225 — and rejected the example, to qualify rather than team Williams’s former rival Justine Henin,
clubs would receive between €100m idea that the Premier League could slim No 6 from England or Spain,” he said. Meanwhile Masters appeared bull- who retired in Melbourne 10 years
and €350m for joining, Masters said down to free space for more European ish about a domestic TV rights deal for ago. Henin is a year younger than
he was intrinsically opposed to a system games. “The English football calendar While not rejecting Uefa’s proposals the Premier League between 2022-25, Williams, now a mother of two, and
where the battle for promotion and rel- is jam-packed,” he said. “I think for the out of hand, Olsson also said the plan which is expected to be concluded this when she was asked if she saw herself
egation barely matters. foreseeable future, the Premier League to have four more exclusive Champions year, saying he did not expect a big drop competing like Williams again, her
is a 20-club competition.” League “match weeks” would hurt the from the current £5bn deal between response was simple: “No way, no
“Any proposal that I’ve read about 1,000 clubs not in Europe who would Sky, BT and Amazon. “I accept that chance.”
or heard about doesn’t have access via However Uefa’s proposals for an be unable to play matches and “canni- we’re in a challenging environment,”
domestic leagues, or if it does, it is at “Swiss model” revamp of the Champi- balise” domestic TV revenue. However he said. “I don’t accept that things have While Williams competes against
the bottom end of the pyramid,” he told ons League were given a warmer wel- he said the current system was also un- plateaued or that we’re looking at a players such as Naomi Osaka, it is easy
the FT Business of Football summit. come by the president of the European workable and would continue to grow downward curve.” to forget that her real contemporaries
“So that will be destructive to the value Leagues, Lars-Christer Olsson — albeit the financial gap in European club foot- are women such as Schett and Henin.
of domestic football across Europe, not with several caveats. But Olsson warned ball. “It will also prevent the free and — The Guardian They are almost all long retired, living
full lives, enjoying the fruits of their
A PECULIAR sight when you It cannot be business as usual on-court labour in peace. Meanwhile,
watch South African top-flight with our football from here on Williams has just competed in her
football on television, even before 77th grand slam tournament, which
Covid-19 came into the picture, is the might soon be allowed to resume mercialisation has become the very further ado, never to return again. puts her second on the all-time list to
vast empty space in the stands. practice in anticipation of a return to core of sport’s existence, I cringe at the Not much was said by SuperSport her sister, Venus, who played in her
competition if the authorities com- sound of our own voices in Zimba- 88th last week.
The stadiums simply do not fill up ply with public health measures for bwean football when we speak of gate on their Zimbabwe exit.
in a fair amount of the games, quite Covid-19. revenue as the panacea for all financial But they did not have to. To put Such longevity is clearly no con-
baffling for a country that considers hardships. solation for Williams. The last image
football to be its most popular sport. That alone will be a welcome re- in bluntly, Zimbabwe had not been a of her at the tournament was of her
If you look closely enough, though, lief, amidst the chorus of a broad HawkZone smart business move for them at that abruptly leaving her press conference
you will see that the lack of big crowds spectrum of interest groups and in tears. There are already discussions
will not necessarily choke the life out individuals calling for the recom- Enock time. of her future, about the precise mean-
of the South African game, or any mencement of Zimbabwean domes- Muchinjo This then calls for a return to ing of her wave as she left the court,
such effects remotely close to that. tic football, whose future is growing but she is allowed, also, just to be
uncertain during the forced hiatus. I thought we had turned a corner the drawing board for Zimbabwe- frustrated at how things continue to
Football across the Limpopo – in- when SuperSport arrived here a few an football, to rethink the future pan out. Since returning from preg-
deed like all of South Africa’s major If football does return to the cal- seasons ago to beam Zimbabwe’s Pre- with a clear mind. This time, it nancy she has constantly put herself
sporting disciplines – is packaged as a endar this year in Zimbabwe, it is mier Soccer League (PSL). It turned ought to be a soul-searching exer- in a position to win. When her per-
much-desired commercial commod- likely to be without spectators in out to be a brief flirtation. As soon cise that produces long-term solu- formances in four grand slam finals
ity. The commercilisation of football the terraces in the initial stages of caspMasNmothraaeterskvtibaonermioltaoiabnadulacsaeagnsrtdein,egmthgeeinatnSwtoulietthfht the PSL tions for the future – a future that were not enough, she went away and
in South Africa makes good business resumption, meaning no ticket sales African puts into consideration any even- worked harder.
sense for them. Sponsors, aware of the revenue for the already financial- without tuality, like Covid-19 has taught
monetary value of the sport to their ly-strained clubs. everybody when the pandemic Over the past month in Australia
businesses, are often tripping over caught us off-guard. Williams has been moving better than
each other to partner football. Broad- Only a handful of football clubs in at any point in the past four years.
casters scramble for TV rights at the this country, if any at all, can survive It is time for Zimbabwe to While opponents such as Simona
end of every deal, trying to get a slice today without the turnstiles turning move forward with greater ingenui- Halep immediately pointed out the
of the pie. at stadium gates. But that this is the ty, rebranding herself using modern difference between then and now, she
fact of the matter, in this day and age, methods that have worked well for was also clearly happy and hopeful
So down in Mzansi, the corona- is a sad incitement of Zimbabwean others. about her progress. Asked before her
virus crisis aside, football has proven football. semi-final when she last moved as well
time and again that it possesses the fi- That way, football gives itself the as she is, she responded: “It’s definite-
nancial muscle to get by even without In an era where unfettered com- opportunity to be heard by those ly been a minute. It’s been a long min-
lots of bums on seats. seeking out meaningful partnerships ute,” she said. “I think 19 ... 1926, the
with the sport. summer of 1926 I think was the last
The same cannot be said for most time I felt that.”
countries in Africa, including us here
in Zimbabwe. News reaching us indi- Yet none of it worked. Williams’s
cates that Zimbabwean football clubs biggest problem isn’t her game, but
how she has come to lose the killer
instinct that defined her for so long.
Consider some of her feats on Rod
Laver Arena alone: in 2003, she re-
covered from 2-5 down against Kim
Clijsters to win her Serena Slam. In
the 2005 semi-final she saved three
match points in the semi-final to beat
Maria Sharapova. Two years later she
won the whole thing while ranked
81st. In 2017 she was pregnant and
easily fatigued, so she conserved en-
ergy by beating everyone in straight
sets.

It remains to be seen if Williams
will be able to play freely enough to
even contend for her 24th grand slam
title. Whether or not she does, instead
of a failure, this period is rather con-
text for what it really took to achieve
all that she has.

— The Guardian

Sports Itcannotbe A chance
business as to ‘foresee’
usual with our the future
football
Thursday 1 October f2r0o20m here on

Friday 19 February 2021 @NewsHawksLive TheNewsHawks www.thenewshawks.com new

NEWS WHAT’S INSIDE CULTURE SPO

A chance to$60 Covid Community Zim
tariff for radio laun
visitors & regulations Prem
tourists under review Leag

‘foreseeC’ fhuatumreisa reachStoryonPage 3 Story on Page 8 Story o

ENOCK MUCHINJO and particularly targeted his bowling in the Asians’
out to218-run win to draw the series.
WITH the nucleus of Zimbabwe’s cricket team all It came as something of a surprise, though, that Khupe
now on the wrong side of 30, questions have in- the selectors were quick to cast aside Mavuta, side-
creased in volume in recent times over the future. lining the gifted newcomer from Kadoma for all
three Tests played by Zimbabwe thereafter.
It is a perfectly justified concern by supporters of
a side already significantly depleted by previous cir- Mavuta now has the chance on this tour to make
cumstances. good on his early promise, the more so given his
known abilities as a genuine turner of the ball.
By default rather than design, some of those big It is not only the spin bowling department that
questions about the future will be answered sooner
than we expected when Zimbabwe take on Afghani- Unofficial president calls for emergencywill leave Zimbabwe’s coaching staff scratching their
stan in a historic two-match Test series in Abu Dha- heads ahead of this maiden Test contest between
bi next month, on a tour of duty that also includes these two countries.
three Twenty20 internationals. Jarvis and Chatara’s absence deprive Zimbabwe
of the firepower required upfront, a cause for major
Two talismanic Zimbabwe batsmen Brendan concern when you consider that these two, poten-
Taylor (35) and Craig Ervine (35), alongside pace tially the quickest around, are not bowlers of express
spearhead Kyle Jarvis (32), have been left out of the pace themselves.
touring party due to illness. Good pace gives you a psychological edge, on one
hand. On the other, the ball is going to reverse in
Another absent key man, pacer Tendai Chatara, Test cricket and bowlers must cash in to give their
is slightly younger than the aforementioned, at 29. team a fighting chance. The lack of bowling person-
The right-arm seamer continues to be held back by nel able to extract a level of reverse swing is glaring
injuries, having made a brief return to the side on a in the Zimbabwe side.
white-ball tour of Pakistan in November. On the batting front, 20-year-old prodigy Wessly
Madhevere’s introduction to Test cricket is unques-
These are four players who, fitness permitting, tionably something that is being looked forward to
would have certainly been in the line-up for Zimba- with great anticipation in this country.
bwe, a luxury the African side can ill-afford. Madhevere, who has started his international
career with strikingly consistent performances in
The opponent this time around for Zimbabwe limited-overs cricket, is a serious prospect for Zim-
is an unfamiliar foe for Sean Williams’ men in the babwe. The emerging all-rounder, who comes from
longer format of the game, a tricky new Test nation Chitungwiza, is a symbol of the Zimbabwean team’s
with an assorted attack of spin bowlers who will en- future and testimony to the reservoir of talent wait-
joy the slow surfaces on offer in the United Arab ing to be tapped in some of the nation’s most over-
Emirates. looked areas.
How befitting it is for Madhevere to make his
Getting to grips with the conditions of the Sheikh pinnacle-format debut alongside other exciting
Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi will be key for the two young teammates, and against a new Test-playing
teams and while both will find the wickets to be a nation.
haven for the spinners, the tracks can also offer a fair Sports lovers across the world will obviously be
amount of pace. taking a large chunk of their attention elsewhere
during this contest in Abu Dhabi, but for Zimba-
For Zimbabwe, it is a scenario likely to pose a bwe, this is a critically important occasion that will
challenge on two fronts, bowling-wise. Firstly, in provide us a glimpse into the future.
this instance, is the absence of an experienced spin- Zimbabwe Test Squad: Sean Williams (capt),
ner to fully exploit the turning pitches of the UAE. Ryan Burl, Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva,
MKeavsiankaAKdzLaasS,uOzPar,iInNWcSeesIsMDlyaEsMvaaudrFeh,ienvBearrnae,ncdeWoMnelliiMnngaistvotuyn-
But the re-call of the 23-year-old leggie Brandon wipes out $3.2 Billion depositors funds Zim's latest land controv
Mavuta brings a stir of excitement to Zimbabwe’s ta, Tarisai Musakanda, Richmond Mutumbami,
spin attack. Mavuta had a dream Test debut away to Debutant leg-spinner Brandon Mavuta
Bangladesh at the end of 2019, his second innings
figures of 4-21 in the first tie helping Zimbabwe seal Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Victor helped Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh away in
a workmanlike 151-run victory in Sylhet, a rare win
abroad for the African side. Nyauchi, Donald Tiripano. November 2019, but lost his place after an

The former Zimbabwe Under-19 captain was indifferent second Test.
however markedly less effective in the second Test
in Dhaka, where he was wicketless. The Bangladeshi
batsmen played Mavuta with ease on this occasion

ALSO INSIDE It cannot be business as usual with our football from here on