WEEKLY DIGEST OCTOBER 19, 2022

 Can Black Adam turn things round for  Raza embodies Zimbabwe’s mission to make
DC’s troubled superheroes?. .Page 22 the Super 12s. .24

.US$1 Wednesday October 19-25, 2022
What WB is saying
about Zim economic

potential

. Is Econet stock

undervalued?

ZIM HAS A DEBT CRISIS BUT IS NOT
LEARNING FROM PAST MISTAKES

AFRICA IN BRIEF October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 2

Somalia faces worst famine in half
a century, UN warns

Indonesian parents bring their children to a hospital in this 2016 photo. Medical authorities in Indonesia are in- 4 Somalia faces famine counterpart, Elder said.
vestigating a spike in acute kidney injury that has cause almost 100 child deaths since the start of this year on a scale last seen half “That is a child per minute,” said
a century ago, the Unit-
Indonesia bans all syrup, liquid ed Nations has said as it Elder. “A child whose mother has
medicines after 99 child deaths set a new target of more than $2bn walked days to get her child to
in funding needs. help. A child whose body is fight-
“Things are bad and every sign ing to survive. A child whose life
indicates that they are going to get hangs in the balance.” Somalia
worse,” James Elder, United Nations has suffered four successive fail-
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokes- ures in its rainy seasons since the
man, told reporters on Tuesday via end of 2020, and there are fears
video link from the drought-strick- that a fifth failure is now under way.
en Horn of Africa nation. An estimated 7.8 million people –
“Without greater action and in- roughly half of the population – are
vestment, we are facing the death now affected by drought, of whom
of children on a scale not seen in 213,000 are at high risk of famine,
half a century,” Elder said. according to the UN.
In August, 44,000 children were
admitted to health establishments “When people speak of the cri-
with severe acute malnutrition, a sis facing Somalia today, it has be-
condition that means a child is up come common for frightful com-
to 11 times likelier to die from diar- parisons to be made with the fam-
rhoea and measles than a well-fed ine of 2011, when 260,000 people
died,” Elder added.

— Aljazeera

The Indonesian government has from acute kidney injury (AKI). The porarily stop non-prescription liq-
Gambia probes child deaths linked uid medicine or syrup sales until the
1 announced a ban on all to paracetamol syrup. “Until to- investigation is completed,” he said.
syrup and liquid medicine day, we have received 206 report- The rise in childhood AKI fatalities in
prescription and over- ed cases from 20 provinces with Indonesia comes as The Gambia’s
the-counter sales follow- 99 deaths,” the health ministry’s government probes the death of
ing the deaths of nearly 100 spokesperson Muhammad Syahril 70 children from AKI linked to par-
children from acute kidney injury Mansyur told a press briefing. acetamol syrups used to treat fever,
this year. which contained excessive levels of
The ban announced on Wednes- “As a precaution, the minis- diethylene glycol and ethylene gly-
day comes as the Southeast Asian try has asked all health workers in col, in a scandal linked to four Indi-
country’s health authorities probe health facilities not to prescribe liq- an-made cough syrups.
an unexplained rise since January uid medicine or syrup temporarily …
in the number of children’s deaths we also asked drug stores to tem- — Aljazeera

Ugandan general defiant on president's Twitter ban

Ugandan General Muhoozi tweets a fortnight ago where he er, Gen Kainerugaba wondered
threatened to invade neighbour- whether such a gag was "some
2 Kainerugaba says "no ing Kenya, prompting a public kind of joke". Gen Kainerugaba
one will ban him from apology and diplomatic meetings is known for his controversial
anything" a day after his to reaffirm ties. On Monday, the tweets, including expressing
father, President Yow- president said the general would support for Russia's invasion of
eri Museveni, direct- steer clear of "talking about other Ukraine, and Tigrayan rebels
ed that he stops commenting on countries and partisan politics of fighting the Ethiopian govern-
government affairs on Twitter. The Uganda" on Twitter. ment.
president's intervention followed
Gen Kainerugaba's controversial But in a riposte hours lat- — BBC

Ethiopian army captures several

towns in war-torn Tigray

3 The Ethiopian mil- Ukraine war diverts attention
itary has taken con- from Nigeria’s humanitarian crisis
trol of three towns
from rebel forces in the war- 5 Inside a school- the Government Senior Science
torn northern Tigray region, the turned-internal dis- Secondary School (GSSSS).
government said, amid growing placement camp in
alarm about the resurgent con- Bama, a town in north- “I lost everything.”
flict pitting federal forces and eastern Nigeria’s Borno state, Aji is one of the 5.5 million peo-
their allies against Tigrayan re- Modu Aji sits inside one of the ple in the region in need of urgent
bels. hundreds of tents dotting the site. humanitarian assistance, accord-
“The ENDF [Ethiopian Nation- The 45-year-old tailor is among ing to the United Nations.
al Defense Force] has taken con- the thousands to have found ref- The world body’s Office for the
trol of the towns of Shire, Alama- uge here after fleeing a 2014 at- Coordination of Humanitarian Af-
ta and Korem without fighting tack on the town by Boko Haram, fairs (OCHA) has this year ap-
in urban areas,” the government an armed group that has been pealed for more than $1bn to pro-
said in a statement on Tuesday, waging an armed campaign in the vide aid but has managed to raise
after the rebels said earlier that region for more than a decade. only about 40 percent of the sum
Shire had fallen. Haitians push for local solutions – partly because international do-
Shire, a university town with as insecurity and violence soar nors have shifted attention to
an airport, sits at a strategic Hundreds of people were killed countries like Ukraine, which has
crossroads that could allow the Ethiopian government soldiers ride in the back of a truck on a road near Agu- in the assault. The Boko Haram been fighting off a Russian inva-
Ethiopian military to gain wid- la, north of Mekele, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia on May 8, 2021 fighters also destroyed houses, in- sion since late February.
er access to other Tigray areas, cluding Aji’s. “The war in Ukraine is the dom-
such as the towns of Axum and His thriving tailoring store was inating crisis that takes attention
Adwa, or even the regional cap- Tigrayan forces on and off since late “If we don’t defend ourselves set ablaze, too. from places like Nigeria,” said Mat-
ital, Mekelle, located 140km (90 2020, a conflict that has killed thou- against our enemies, they will con- “I doubt I will ever recover from thias Schmale, UN resident and
miles) away. The city hosts ten of sands, displaced millions and left tinue the atrocities,” the Tigrayan au- my losses, the shop and sewing humanitarian coordinator in Nige-
thousands of people who were hundreds of thousands on the brink thorities said. machines,” Aji said at the camp at ria.
displaced from other areas by of famine.
the conflict. — Aljazeera — Aljazeera
Ethiopia’s army and allies in-
cluding troops from neighbour-
ing Eritrea have been battling

THE DIGEST VIEW October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 3

Exam Mthuli dives into Zanu
leakages PF politics headlong
compromising
quality of
education

This process is based on com-
petencies gained during the
school years and tells other insti-
tutions that the pupils and stu-
dents have acquired suitable ac-
ademic knowledge to move for-
ward with their education.
Since the localisation of the ex- ZANU PF has sent the greatest poised to attain the upper middle
aminations in the late 1990s, Zim- hint that President Emmerson income country status if it combated
Sec has struggled with credibili- Mnangagwa is ready to hit the corruption, had a single exchange
ty issues. ground running after the 2023 poll. rate and had stable politics and
All indications point to ineffec- This was evident in the persons who an accountable government that
tive security systems at ZimSec, participated and won the party’s respected the rule of law.
from its printing press right down central committee elections held
to the examination rooms. last week. The curious one is Treasury Thirdly, the infrastructure projects
The question that comes to boss, Mthuli Ncube. are shaping up and are likely to
mind is: has Zimsec looked at the shore up Zanu PF support ahead
leakage problem from a security Ncube left his cushy job in of the polls. These are game
Alfonce Mbizwo point of view? Switzerland to come and take over changers. And providence has been Paidamoyo Muzulu
This is because the problem as Finance minister in 2018. This was good, considering the booming
Editor has been going on for years and a masterstroke on Mnangagwa’s part commodities market, discovery of oil regime and live to tell the tale? Please,
cannot be allowed to continue to as he got a man with connections and in Muzarabani and the opening of the I don’t mean they will die physically
Examination leaks are protect the credibility of our edu- competencies that are recognised Manhize iron mine by the Chinese. but it will be difficult to operate here.
common throughout cation system. at Bretton Woods Institutions — the It is as good as kissing goodbye to
the world, but with the Word Bank and the International Fourth but not least, Mnangagwa their careers. One would become a
Zimbabwe Schools Ex- Zimbabwe uses a centralized Monetary Fund. has a blueprint to insulate the 2023 leper and would biblically call out, “I
examinations system, and as a re- general elections. This can be seen am unclean” when approached by
sult, a leak of one paper affects For some time, it looked like Ncube in the deliberate efforts to pass the clients.
aminations (Zimsec), it the whole nation. had taken a sabbatical to participate Private Voluntary Organisations
has become worryingly normal Also, the government is los- in local politics. His family remained in (PVO) Bill and the proposed Legal One more thing, Mnangagwa
with seemingly no efforts to ad- ing thousands of dollars when re- Switzerland, a clear signal that he was Practitioners Amendment Bill. Let's has become a hanger of judges. In
dress the problem. placing papers that would have not ready to relocate to Zimbabwe. turn to the effects of the proposed Zimbabwe’s history, including the
Just yesterday, Zimsec con- leaked. However, this all changed last week. Bills. Rhodesian days, he is the only leader
firmed that a Mathematics paper Already, students have been who has fired the most judges all in
written on Tuesday by Ordinary told that they would have to re- Ncube was elected into the Zanu The PVO Bill is meant to curb illicit a short space of four years. This has
Level students had leaked a day write the Mathematics paper that PF central committee, and he is now financial flows. Zanu PF is convinced had a chilling effect on the bench
before students sat for the exam. was leaked this week, inconven- a bonafide party member. It is pretty that opposition funding is channelled and most judges will naturally
And has become standard iencing everybody concerned. obvious after the party congress, through civil society organisations. choose to be politically correct.
practice, Zimsec said it will in- Zimsec and the Pri- later this month that Ncube will It also seeks to stop civil society
tta‘cohnosesnemltipocovdrpaueepsaprrncayelieeicenhdorniagesnnftkintgaattIpahshtnbwgapiieerovesaltomatenshes,a’,nx.etZdaiosaanpimnkatmcponiltinru--hdpogderadiiacnnemhg-tatorhynencdaeitsaoscahteaetiurontegordryhncyndneehmttnoirpnceEmgoSuitnaedaloeiitinnsckunacvdgees---- be appointed into the politiburo, organisations from doing partisan It is a public secret that
vestigate the leak. leakages as a se- crowning his position at the centre political programming and have Mnangagwa has packed the bench.
Zimsec’s previous in- of the party and continuation of neo- their activities closely monitored by Constitutional Amendments 1 and
liberal economics. the government. PVOs will indirectly 2 gave him extensive powers to
vestigations have be restricted from criticising the constitute the bench as he pleases.
failed to tame the It takes a lot to make this decision. government for fear of being The Chief Justice, Deputy Chief
vice, and there is Ncube is ready for the rough and deregistered. Justice and Judge President are now
no guarantee that tumble of local politics. It can only all his appointees without them going
the latest probe be because he has been assured In the Legal Practitioners through public interviews. And these
will address the that Zanu PF will win the 2023 Amendment Bill, the government on are the men and women who decide
problem. election and have another five years Tuesday said: “The nation is informed who hears which case. Mnangagwa
at the top. Ncube is now part of the that in order for a legal practitioner has become an emperor and he will
In the recent past, establishment. to be registered to practice in yield the imperial powers.
Zimsec said it was tak- Zimbabwe it is a requirement that
ing a ‘comprehensive’ ap- It is not stretching it too far that they be resident in Zimbabwe. In the Considering all the above points
proach to stop leakages, includ- rious threat to the edu- Ncube, like Tony Blair or David event that the legal practitioner is not raised, it can be safely concluded that
ing announcing plans to print the cation system. Miliband, after a decade at the centre resident in Zimbabwe they would Ncube was assured that the 2023
papers abroad and delivering This may include holding the of Zimbabwean politics will become be granted a residential exemption election is a foregone conclusion. He
them on the day of the examina- culprits, including school prin- a consultant for a plethora of multi- certificate. The principles seek to will be the economic and Treasury
tion. cipals where the papers would lateral financial institutions such as amend Section 5 (1) (c) and Section czar without restraint. Ncube will
But the notorious leaks have have leaked, accountable not only the Bretton Woods Institutions and 7(1) to limit the granting of exemption enjoy carte blanche powers to
continued, denting the credibility through arrests but jail sentences. African Development Bank and letters to legal practitioners from a veer Zimbabwe’s economics to the
and reputation of the exams body There is need to fine tune securi- increase his investment business. reciprocating country." right in pursuit of the upper middle
its tests. ty measures to make them more income country status without
ZimSec, it seems to us, is not effective, and foolproof. This may Let us look at things that may In simple terms, foreign lawyers worrying what it will do to the poor.
taking this issue with the serious- be achieved through, among oth- have attracted Ncube to immerse will not find it easy to practise Therefore, Ncube will enjoy the
ness it deserves. The quality and ers, roping in the police and oth- himself into Zanu PF politics. It in Zimbabwe. It is important to power he coveted for and can once
reputation of Zimbabwe’s exam- er independent professional se- could be that he wants to finish the remember that the opposition has more crow — “Zwakarongeka”.
inations across the board are at curity consultants. There may be task of implementing the decade- in the past hired senior counsel from Paidamoyo Muzulu is a journalist
stake. many reasons for the leakages, long economic project of making South Africa to argue their electoral based in Zimbabwe. He writes in
The Ordinary and Advanced which can occur from the minis- Zimbabwe an upper middle income petitions since the 2002 presidential his personal capacity.
level examinations are give us try of Education down to the dis- country. elections. This will no longer be
guidance as to the preparedness gruntled classroom teacher on feasible.
of our students to take the next low pay. Secondly, the economic blueprint
has received rave reviews from The question arises: can local
the World Bank as seen this week lawyers spiritedly fight against the
when the bank said Zimbabwe was
All options must be considered.
academic step forward.

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ANALYSIS October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 4

Zim has a
debt crisis
but is not

learning
from

past mistakes

ZMELODY CHIKONO crease trust in the people and institutions cal and horizontal accountability Transpar- and for fostering social well-being.
IMBABWE needs to draw key les- on which our futures depend,” he said “The ency and accountability are critical for the Transparency ensures that information is
sons on debt transparency and role of access to information on both verti- efficient functioning of a modern economy
accountability from other coun- available that can be used to measure the
tries as this has been described as
critical for the efficient functioning
of a modern economy.

Zimbabwe, which is currently in debt dis-
tress as the Ministry of Finance and Develop-
ment, continues to grapple with an unsus-
tainable debt burden, is estimated to have
a debt overhang at US$16.7 billion (61,6 % of
GDP), as at end June 2022.

Of this total Public and Publicly Guaran-
teed (PPG) debt, US$13,2 billion is said to be
external debt while US$3,5 billion is domes-
tic debt. While the domestic debt comprises
US$3,5 billion compensation for former farm
owners, US$38 million Treasury Bills, US$37
million Treasury Bonds and US$10 million are
domestic arrears to service providers.

This is the ministry’s position but accord-
ing to the International Monetary Fund Zim-
babwe has in excess of US$19 billion in pub-
lic debt while the civic society say the debt
could be more given that the country has
accrued some debts under non-disclosure
agreements.

Under the clauses, the real debt figure for
the country is not known, bringing to the
fore the question on transparency and ac-
countability when it comes to debt issues.

The African continent continues to suffer
from a plethora of debt challenges and In-
debtedness in many African countries has in-
creased substantially.

What is worrisome is that the continent is
a net creditor to the world as the total debt
is around US$770 billion against US$836 bil-
lion and the situation has been worsened by
the COVID-19 pandemic where countries ac-
crued debts to deal with the pandemic.

But despite the debt levels, countries like
the Gambia, Niger, Cameroon and Cabo
Verde among others have made notable
strides towards debt transparency through
regular official audits and reports.

Ghana has strengthened State Owned
Enterprise (SOE) governance and oversight
while Guinea-Bissau has become strong on
outsourcing SOE management.

On the other hand, Cameroon, Guinea
and Mozambique have been updating exist-
ing legal frameworks around debt at a time
Francophone West-African country have
made improved management and moni-
toring of loan guarantees, lending and SOE
guaranteed debt.

While in Zimbabwe, different jurisdictions
have been making frantic efforts to reduce
the country’s debt levels including the gov-
ernment itself , deliberations at the just end-
ed Zimbabwe debt Conference in Bula-
wayo organised by the African Forum and
Network on Debt and Development (AFRO-
DAD ) and The Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt
and Development (ZIMCODD) show that
gaps remain in accessibility of information
on public finance management.

The civic society agreed that it was impor-
tant for all stakeholders to know what mon-
ey is going where, for what purpose and with
what results in the spirit of transparency.

This is coming as deliberations revealed
that there was a need for accountability
mechanisms that engage people and create
a sense of ownership in projects.

Transparency International Zimbabwe
(TIZ) director Tafadzwa Chikumbu told the
convention that transparency was key in the
debt equation as it ensured that public offi-
cials, civil servants, managers, board mem-
bers and businesspeople act visibly and un-
derstandably, and report on their activities.

“And it means that the general public can
hold them to account. It is the surest way of
guarding against corruption and helps in-

ANALYSIS October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 5

authorities' performance and to guard against any possible He said transparency and public participation can help government's outstanding debt and contingent liabilities.
misuse of powers,” shine the light on leakages and improve efficiency in pub- The availability of debt data and borrowing processes that
lic expenditures while transparency and public participation are legitimate, rule-based, and traceable. Transparency in re-
He said transparency serves to achieve accountability, foster equity by matching national resources with national porting refers to the free flow and availability of debt statis-
which means that authorities can be held responsible for priorities Pan African Lawyers Union’s Rangarirai Chikova said tics so that these can be accessed by all stakeholders con-
their actions. “Without transparency and accountability, limited transparency, with little accurate data on loan con- cerned.” he said.
trust will be lacking between a government and those whom ditions create incentives for kickbacks and inflated project
it governs. The result would be social instability and an en- costs. But Chikova warned that achieving debt transparency
vironment that is less than conducive to economic growth,” without ensuring an adequate level of accountability would
Chikumbu pointed out. Chikova said without clarity of the extent of their indebt- be futile as it would leave the door open to the ineffective use
edness, governments would be unable to make sound deci- or misuse of borrowed funds and, in extreme cases, to cor-
Chikumbu added that transparency can help attract sions about borrowing. rupt practices without the perpetrators being held responsi-
cheaper international credit as opacity in fiscal matters can ble for their actions.
undermine fiscal discipline. “Debt Transparency gives a complete representation of the

COVER October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 6

What WB is saying about Zim economic potential

BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has World Bank’s ‘Zimbabwe Country Economic ey supply continues growing. ing forex was to continue.
downgraded Zimbabwe’s growth rates by Memorandum’ report last week. Since the start of the year, the money sup- “The central bank needs to be properly
0,5 percentage points to 3% while the World
Bank lowered it by 0,3 percentage points to “Think about the liquidations to do with ply has risen by a monthly average of near- capacitated to buy that money without cre-
3,4% this year, showing the government's the surrender and I want you to think about ly 20% over the first eight months of the year ating money supply. It looks like the major
growth plans are impractical. where does the Reserve Bank get the mon- reaching $1,6 trillion as of August, yet, pro- source of money creation is in fact the cen-
ey to buy the surrender from. They do not ductivity has drastically reduced as consum- tral bank having to buy the money surren-
According to the Treasury’s economic have a budget allocation to buy that mon- ers tighten budgets. der,” he said.
blueprint, the National Development Strat- ey. Where do they get the money from? So,
egy 1 document (NDS1), expected to end by think about that question, it’s a key ques- This is because the ZWL’s volatility contin- Despite more hawkish fiscal and mone-
2025, the country was projected to grow by tion.” ues to erode consumer incomes and thus tary policies over the past several months,
5,5% by year end, 5,2% in 2023 and 2024, reduce demand for consumables leaving starting in May, the continued money sup-
before slowing to 5% by 2025. Organizations such as CZI, Zimbabwe Na- businesses to cut productivity or else make ply growth means the economic environ-
tional Chamber of Commerce and some losses. ment will remain inflationary.
However, Zimbabwe’s volatile currency businesses are on record confirming a short-
that continues to stoke inflation and erode age in ZWL on the market despite banks re- Psilos said there was a need to solve what This is because the monetary levels are ris-
incomes caused the Bretton Institutions to ducing local currency lending, yet, the mon- was driving the money supply if the policy of ing faster than the economy can grow.
downgrade the country’s growth rates. exporters and domestic traders surrender-
“Productivity is the ultimate driver of eco-
The IMF also lowered Zimbabwe’s eco-
nomic growth rate for next year to 2,8% from
an original projection of 3% while the World
Bank kept its initial prediction unchanged at
3,6% for 2023.

These changes in growth have caused the
government to print money to service its lo-
cal and external forex obligations. These ob-
ligations are mainly foreign currency auction
bids and external payments for critical com-
modities.

Government’s external liabilities have
been growing by a monthly average of
$244,62 billion over the first eight months
of the year, an increase of 24,11%, reach-
ing $2,28 trillion by August. Meanwhile, be-
tween January to September, forex auction
system allotments totaled US$979 949 894
translating to billions of local currency dol-
lars needed to service these payments.

“One of the key questions is what are the
drivers behind the money supply growth?
The World Bank has touched on this in their
report and I just want to emphasize that,”
the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries
(CZI) head of its economic committee, Jim-
my Psilos said last week at the launch of the

ZIMBABWE

INDEPENDENT

Thank you

our partners and delegates for your support at the
inaugural Zimbabwe Annual Investor Forum 2022

COVER October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 7

nomic growth and improvements in liv- “So far, productivity convergence has
ing standards. Raising productivity is at been low (Kindberg-Hanlon and Okou,
the center of policy discussions in develop- 2020), which is in stark contrast with the
ing and developed countries alike. As Paul country’s potential,” the bank continued.
Krugman (1994) succinctly put it, “Produc-
tivity isn’t everything, but, in the long run, While the government has made it more
it is almost everything. A country’s ability to expensive to borrow from banks and trade
improve its standard of living over time de- on the stock market, introduced gold into
pends almost entirely on its ability to raise the market as a store of value and is review-
its output per worker”,” the World Bank said, ing down its suppliers’ prices, these efforts
in its report. will be for naught.

“There is a consensus in the development Why? Because, as long as productivity re-
literature that a large part of the cross-coun- mains low an economy cannot grow long
try per capita income gap is explained by term.
differences in total factor productivity (TFP)
rather than physical and human capital (Hall American financial literacy firm, Investo-
and Jones, 1999). Recent studies show that pedia, basically described this best using
the inefficient use of factors of production the example of bananas.
driven by policy-induced distortion explains
low TFP in developing countries (Hsieh and “Imagine an economy with $100 and 100
Klenow, 2009).” bananas. If everyone were to take their mon-
ey and buy all bananas, the average price
Therefore, the bank said: “Accelerat- per banana would be $1,” Investopedia said.
ing productivity is critical for Zimbabwe to
meet its goal of becoming a UMIC. Elevat- “Now imagine the government increased
ing and sustaining high growth rates will re- the money supply by 10% to $110, but this
quire addressing Zimbabwe’s productivity fictitious economy was only able to grow
challenge. Increasing productivity growth to banana output by 5% to 105 bananas. Since
around 8–9 percent per year will be needed the amount of money increased more than
if Zimbabwe is to reach its growth objectives the number of bananas, the average price
within the planned period.” per banana now increased to roughly $1.05.”

Public Procurement Investopedia said that alternatively, if the
difference between the money supply and
2nd Annual economic growth grows wide enough, the
value of a currency begins to rapidly deteri-
2022Conference orate and the country enters into a period of
THEME: SHARING INSIGHTS, BUILDING hyperinflation.
RELATIONSHIPS
Since its introduction, the ZWL has lacked
Dates : 18-20 October 2022 adequate support levels in the form of com-
Participants : Policy Makers, Accounting O cers, modity, forex or market confidence support.

Venue Procurement Directors, Managers and O cers However, recently, Zimbabwe President
: Rainbow Towers, Harare Emmerson Mnangagwa announced that
mining firms would now be required to cede
Guest of Honor : a portion of their minerals as part payment
His Excellency Cde. Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa of their royalties, to allow the government to
build these commodity reserves.
Speakers & Panelists: Regional and International speakers.
Early Bird ZWL 414,000.00 Such reserves could be used to back the
Investment : Standard ZWL 560,000.00 local currency as mining royalty collections
totaled $13,17 billion last year translating to
SPONSORSHIP AND ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE US$121,2 million using the 2021 end of year
exchange rate.
Registration closes 7 October 2022 for early bird and 14 October 2022 for standard
Now, that same amount of money would
CONFERENCE ENQUIRIES: be worth $76,23 billion at the time of writing.

For more information: “There is a significant misallocation of re-
Email: [email protected] sources between sectors and limited struc-
Tel : +263242790080 / 242772669 / 242752542 / 242753132 tural transformation at the sectoral level.
Considerable labor and capital are allocat-
Mrs E. Kagodo - 0712 899 420 ed to the agriculture sector, despite produc-
Mr E. Masvosva - 0719 393 962 tivity being the lowest,” the World Bank said.
Ms. S. Sibanda - 0712 907 328
“Experiences from other countries, par-
Sponsorship and Advertising: Ms A. Mutemachimwe 0712 899 425 ticularly in East Asia, reveal that the shift of
labor from agriculture into the higher-pro-
ductivity manufacturing and services sec-
tors was a major contributor to rapid pro-
ductivity growth (Helble et al., 2019).”

The bank said while productivity had im-
proved in the manufacturing and services
sectors in Zimbabwe, this did not translate
into a significant expansion of these sectors
or an increase in formal employment.

“Agriculture has been a drag on over-
all productivity levels in Zimbabwe, despite
significant government intervention. Gov-
ernment interventions to support agricul-
ture may also slow economic transformation
and diversification of the productive base.
Since the start of the land reform program
in the early 2000s, the GoZ has supported
agriculture through various input schemes,
with the latest being command agricul-
ture and presidential input schemes (World
Bank, 2020a),” the World Bank said.

“However, inefficient use of land and in-
puts, coupled with limited irrigation, has re-
sulted in low crop yields (Calderón, 2022).
Compared with industry, agricultural labor
productivity growth increased only mar-
ginally by 4.7 percent per year on average
over the period of 2010–18 after contracting
by 8.5 percent during the recession period.
Consequently, Zimbabwe’s agricultural pro-
ductivity has fallen behind that of its peers.”

The bank said given the agriculture sec-
tor’s large share of employment, this had
lowered aggregate labor productivity.

“It is therefore imperative that Zimba-
bwe improves its agricultural productivity
through policies to enhance the competi-
tiveness of the sector, as raising productivity
in this sector is key to boosting employment
in other sectors, raising overall productivity,
and reducing poverty,” the bank said.

“The modernization of agriculture might
also help with structural transformation of
the country by creating opportunities for
diversified agricultural products. As an ex-
ample, Vietnam increased agricultural pro-
ductivity through targeted measures that
improved infrastructure for the sector, en-
suring secure land tenure and promoting
access to finance (Dieppe, 2021).”

OPINION October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 8

Simbisa Brands
mulls VFEX listing
STAFARA Mtutu
imbisa Brands’ lat- the introduction of gold coins the formal banking channels Delta could easily make a case fundamentally solid business
est financial results could make them indifferent as a major hindrance to VFEX for a move to VFEX should they with strong growth potential.
were overshadowed to investing in Simbisa for the turnover and trading activ- want to do so in the aftermath The business currently boasts
by news of its inten- same reason. ity. The stench of real losses of Simbisa’s migration. 567 outlets in nine different
tion to move its list- incurred after the change in countries with over 75 addi-
ing to the USD-denominated Between March and Sep- currency in 2009 and 2019 lin- Should investors stay put? tional outlets scheduled to
Victoria Falls Stock Exchange tember 2022, 10 companies gers and continues to deter The short answer is yes. Sim- be opened in FY23. Simbisa is
(VFEX). on the ZSE declared USD divi- especially retail investors from bisa remains a counter of in- one of the few listed business-
dends with a combined total in moving their hard-earned for- terest because of its unique es that extensively tap into
Simbisa is the largest quick excess of US$15 million. eign currency from under the exposure and solid fundamen- the pervasive informal sector
service restaurant business mattress and into formal bank- tals. The company is the only which has been doing well if
in Zimbabwe and Kenya with Will this improve liquidity? ing channels. This has subse- stock that offers exposure to proxied by artisanal gold min-
a growing footprint in other To answer this question, quently seen very low interest the quick service restaurant ers’ activity. The resumption
sub-Saharan countries such as we look at the successes of in the VFEX from this type of (QSR) industry in Zimbabwe of economic activity follow-
Zambia, Ghana, Mauritius and Padenga and SeedCo Inter- investor. and sub-Saharan Africa. ing the relaxation of Covid-19
Namibia. national at drawing liquidity The food service industry in restrictions in SSA has also
on the VFEX. Before Padenga Does this set a precedent? Africa is largely dominated by driven the rebound in cus-
The business has estab- migrated to VFEX, the coun- What sets Simbisa apart quick service restaurants and tomer spend and traffic. We
lished itself with brands such ter traded a USD equivalent from other VFEX listings is that investors who seek exposure in remain optimistic about VFEX
as Pizza Inn, Chicken Inn, Nan- of US$23 632 in daily turnover, the company is the first busi- this market are limited to Mc- in the long-term and we pin
dos, and Steers. The volatility on average, between January ness with most of its revenues Donald’s, Grand Parade Invest- this on strides made by the ex-
of the ZSE, characterised by 2018 and July 2021. The coun- generated in Zimbabwe but it ments, Yum! Brands, Domino’s change to accommodate retail
a USD gain between January ter’s average daily turnover makes a substantial amount of Pizza, and Simbisa Brands. investor activity through VFEX
and April 2022 of 48% that has since declined to US$11 sales from regional operations. However, given the local in- Direct.
was followed by a real loss of 820 since its move to VFEX. We An approval of the migration vesting community’s inability
57% from May to September, note a similar trend with Seed- of a business such as Simbisa to invest beyond borders and Tafara Mtutu is a research an-
has fuelled listed companies’ Co International, whose aver- will likely set a precedent for the fact all these listings (ex- alyst at Morgan & Co Research.
preference for the less vola- age daily turnover declined several businesses that are cluding Simbisa) are in South — [email protected] or
tile VFEX that will also allow from an equivalent of US$4 615 driven by local operations. Africa or the US, Simbisa re- +263 774 795 854.
them to raise funds in a stable on the ZSE to US$1 127 since it Companies such as Tanganda mains the only option for them.
currency. migrated to the VFEX. Tea, Ariston, Hippo Valley and In addition, Simbisa is a
We cite low confidence in
The current volatility on the
ZSE stems from policy incon-
sistency whose far-reaching
effects have stifled the devel-
opment of local capital mar-
kets as evidenced by the in-
definite delay of a REIT listing.
If the move is signed off by all
stakeholders, Simbisa will be-
come the third listing to move
from ZSE to VFEX after BNC,
Padenga, and SeedCo Inter-
national. Several questions
have been raised concern-
ing the move, and we unpack
them below.

What are the implications?
Simbisa’s shareholder pro-
file, like any other listed com-
pany, comprises long-term
and speculative investors, and
these two groups will likely
hold opposing views regard-
ing the move. Long-term in-
vestors typically invest for
more than five years and some
in perpetuity for strategic rea-
sons. Speculative investors of-
ten have a short-term horizon
instead and focus more on
temporaneous profit opportu-
nities highlighted by technical
signals.
Long-term investors who in-
vested in the business when
it unbundled from Innscor in
2015 made the investment
in USD, and the prospects of
being able to cash out in the
future in the same curren-
cy would be most welcome.
Speculative investors, on the
other hand, thrive on the vol-
atility of stock prices and the
illiquidity of the VFEX – which
we will unpack shortly – waters
down the prospects of making
a quick buck from short-term
tactical investment strategies.
We also note another group
of investors who invested in
Padenga and SeedCo Inter-
national before their migra-
tion for the purposes of ac-
quiring a USD asset through
ZWL. We opine that the grow-
ing number and quantity of
dividends being paid in USD
by ZSE-listed companies and

OPINION October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 9

A clear which the government is able to collect sub-
strategy stantial mining revenues, which it invests in
necessary social spending because of a transparent
and accountable governance structure.
for
Zim’s De Beers and the government of Botswa-
lithium na have a 50:50 shareholding in De Beers
and similarly De Beers and the government
of Namibia have the same shareholding in
Namdab under agreements which span over
decades.

This is in stark contrast to the mining mod-
els often preferred by other countries on
the continent. Here the government's regu-
latory role is to integrate the mining sector
into national development plans. Lithium, a
new frontier for mining, offers Zimbabwe a
unique avenue to explore the future of min-
ing through partnership as the country navi-
gates its path toward a US$12 billion mining
sector.

This article was written in collaboration
with Banenkosi Moyo an Economic Analyst
at Equity Axis.

EBEN MABUNDA Eben Mabunda is an analyst and
TV anchor at Equity Axis, a leading
Aglobal shift toward cleaner energy Debswana and Namdeb illustrate a semi- directed model of mining regulation under financial research firm in Zimbabwe.
sources and the anticipated surge — [email protected]
in global demand for electric vehi-
cles has seen lithium being brand-
ed “the white gold” by some and
“the new gasoline” by others. This is an indi-
cation of the spiking interest in the metal and
the related demand on global markets.
Of note, prices of Lithium have surged ap-
proximately 500% on global markets over
the past 12 months, triggering a global race
to find and extract more of the metal.
At the core of the EV's frenzy are optimistic Breast Cancer Awareness
projections that the electric vehicles market
will reach 26,9 million units by 2030 from an High Tea2022
estimated 3,3 million units in 2019, at a CAGR
of 21,1% during the forecast period, according
to "Markets and Markets." In August, the Chi-
na Passenger Car Association predicted the
country in aggregate would sell 6 million EVs
in 2022, boosting its initial forecast and rep-
resenting a doubling of sales year over year.
In the US, EV sales in the second quarter
hit a new record, up nearly 70% from a year
ago. Automakers and dealers are struggling
to keep EVs in stock as demand grows for
newer cars.
Lithium is very much a rare mineral, whose
production is currently taking place in only
eight countries, with 85% of the global sup-
ply coming from Australia, Chile and China.
Worth noting to the matrix, Zimbabwe is the
world’s 6th largest Lithium producer whose
lithium output has sailed steady in recent
years, producing 1 200 MT of the battery
metal in 2021.
China's Sinomine Resource Group
(SZSE:002738) recently acquired the Arca-
dia Lithium resource, which allegedly holds
the world’s largest-known lithium deposit at
over 11 million MT. The company has plans
to invest US$200 million into expanding the
mine's production capacity by another two
million MT per year. The investment could Guest of Honour Keynote Speaker
possibly also allow the firm to produce lith- Dr Amai Rebecca Chisamba Dr Guramatunhu
ium spodumene.
The government of Zimbabwe is bullish on
the quantum of metal within its borders as
the Mines minister Winston Chitando is on THEME:
record saying; “(Zimbabwe) has the potential TOGETHER WE CAN
to actually account for 20% of global lithi-
um demand when all known lithium resourc-
es are being exploited.” Estimates place the
value of total reserves in Zimbabwe at 220
000 M.
The country's privately owned Bikita Min-
erals is currently the most significant lithi-
um producer, and reportedly holds one of
the world's larg- est-known lithi-
um depos- its at over Guest Speaker: Dr Mrs Abigael Jemedze Guest Speaker: Dr FN Hove
a million tonnes, Specialist Obstetrician & Gynaecologist Guest Speaker: Obstetrician and Gynecologist
Rumbidzai Kanhukamwe
while a Prices of Lithium have couple
oth- surged approximately er min- Cancer Survivor
ers are work-
ing 500% on global mar- to- DATE: 28 OCTOBER 2022

wards kets over the past 12 pro- VENUE: THE VANILLA MOON TIME: 10:00am - 12:00noon
duc- months, triggering a tion.

Can- global race to find and REGISTRATION: $30

ada- extract more of the based DRESS CODE: HIGH TEA ETIQUETTE WITH A TOUCH OF PINK
mineral explora-
tion com- metal. pany, Chi-

mata Gold, has exclusive
rights for the Kam- ativi Lithium Tail-
ings deposits. The project is under way at the Sponsors:
For Bookings & Registration
old Kamativi mine that had previously been Contact: Spiwe 0783 917 708; [email protected]
mined for tin. A clear strategy on the utilisa-
tion of the mineral resource needs to be de-
veloped and mutually beneficial concessions
set in motion so the country maximises on its
resources.

FEATURE October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 10

Building
‘community
resilience’
through the
pandemic

in rural
Zimbabwe

PUBLIC NOTICE REGARDING PAYMENTS IAN SCOONES
FOR COUNCIL SERVICES. ‘Community resilience’ is one of those policy
buzzwords that has emerged through the pan-
City of Harare wishes to advise its valued residents and demic. With the clear limitations of many public
stakeholders that following consultations with the Reserve Bank health measures, particularly in settings where
of Zimbabwe’s Financial Intelligence Unit on charging demand health systems are weak, relying on community
driven services exclusively in USD, Council has rescinded the capacities to respond to pandemic shocks and
earlier resolution in its special sitting on 22 September 2022. ‘build back better’ (another familiar buzzword) is
seen as the way to go.
This therefore means that charges for services across Council
will be payable in foreign currency or in ZWL at the prevailing This does not mean that standard public
interbank rate in compliance with the operative Statutory health and technical measures are abandoned,
Instrument 85 of 2020. but they must go hand-in-hand with communi-
ty resilience-building.
The City of Harare, however, encourages all clients who trade in
foreign currency and collect revenue in the same to also consider For some, this is at last a recognition that local
paying in forex to enable the City to sustain service delivery. efforts count, and that centralised health sys-
tems are not the only solutions. A more plural,
THE ACTING TOWN CLERK 23/09/2022 rooted alternative is needed.
TOWN HOUSE
HARARE For others, this is a typical neoliberal sleight
of hand, downplaying the role of state support
in times and relying on community voluntarism.

Whatever the underlying motivations, the big
question is what happens on the ground and
how can this help both with pandemic prepar-
edness and response?

This was the focus of our research in Zimba-
bwe, conducted in real-time over two years from
March 2020.

As the earlier blog that introduced our new
book highlighted, we had an open-ended ap-
proach to research.

No prior questions or hypotheses and an ap-
proach that lent itself to finding out what was
happening as events unfolded in real-time.

We therefore did not start out with any prior
ideas about ‘community resilience’; indeed, we
did not use the term (and I am not sure we could
translate it into Shona or Ndebele anyway). In-
stead, we explored the reactions to the pan-
demic in different sites through deep immer-
sion, inductively understanding the dynamics.

Resilience building in a plural health system
Our new open access paper in the British Med-
ical Journal (Global Health) journal presents the
findings and explores whether what we found
was ‘community resilience’.
Around two themes – adaptable livelihoods
and learning and innovation – we certainly found
a core set of practices, centred on making use of
local, contextual knowledge, learning and shar-
ing ideas across networks and social and techni-
cal innovation, not least around COVID-19 treat-
ments (including local herbs and tree products,
such as Zumbani, see lead photo).
All contributed to a process of building resil-
ience, the ability to resist and transform shocks
and stresses.
However, these practices were all highly dif-
ferentiated – across sites and amongst people –
and so a simple form of ‘local’, ‘community’ resil-
ience could be questioned.
Indeed, while autonomy and independence
was hailed, in practice it was the interaction be-
tween formal and informal health systems – a
plural health system – that was important. In
the same way a standard version of ‘resilience’
was also challenged, as the responses were not
‘bouncing back’ to a prior state, but often result-
ed in transformations in livelihoods, social rela-
tions and politics, sometimes with empowering
effects on certain people, but more often than
not a sense of resigned coping in the face of on-
going hardship compounded by the pandemic.
The paper is open access, so you can read the
full piece, but meanwhile here’s the abstract:
Based on real-time recording and reflection
of responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, this ar-
ticle identifies the features of ‘community resil-
ience’ across sites in rural Zimbabwe.
The findings confirm the importance of lo-

FEATURE October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 11

cal knowledge, social networks and communica- stretching beyond a locality, was clear- While the moniker ‘community’ is The 20 blogs that provide a real-
tion, as highlighted in the literature. In addition, a ly important in the COVID-19 response in problematic and ‘resilience’ of course time overview of the pandemic are now
number of other aspects are emphasised, includ- rural Zimbabwe. is an extremely difficult concept to pin available as a low-cost book: You can
ing the importance of adaptable livelihoods, in- down, certainly elements of what is re- buy the 160-page (full colour illustrat-
novation and collective learning. Generating such resilience, we saw the ferred to as ‘community resilience’ were ed) book on Amazon (£12.72 for a pa-
importance of plural health systems, in- present in our study areas during the per copy, £1.25 for a Kindle version) or
Flexible adaptation was especially important volving many actors – formal and infor- pandemic. download it in high- or low-resolution
for responding to lock-downs, as livelihoods had mal. versions here and here).
to be re-configured in response to public health See: Bwerinofa, I.J.; Mahenehene,
measures. This was not just ‘the community’, but J.; Manaka, M.; Mulotshwa, B.; Murim- The research team are Iyleen Judy
a wider mix of players, all connecting barimba, F.; Mutoko, M.; Sarayi, V. and Bwerinofa, Jacob Mahenehene, Maki-
Meanwhile, innovation and shared learning around a complex pandemic response. Scoones, I. (2022) What is ‘community wa Manaka, Bulisiwe Mulotshwa, Felix
was vital for generating local treatment respons- Of course, such a plural system had long resilience’? Responding to COVID-19 in Murimbarimba, Moses Mutoko, Vincent
es to the disease. In the Zimbabwe context, these existed, but it came into its own during rural Zimbabwe, BMJ Global Health Sarayi and Ian Scoones
adaptation and innovation capabilities emerge the pandemic.
from a particular historical experience where re-
silience in the face of harsh economic conditions
and in the absence of state support has been
generated over years.

This is often a more resigned coping than a
positive, empowering, transformational form of
resilience.

While adaptation, innovation and shared learn-
ing capabilities proved useful during the pan-
demic, they are not evenly spread, and there is
no singular ‘community’ around which resilience
emerges.

The article therefore argues against seeing
‘community resilience’ as the magic bullet for dis-
aster preparedness and response in the context
of pandemics. Instead, the highly differentiat-
ed local practices of adaptation, innovation and
shared learning – across gender, age, wealth dif-
ferences – should be seen as an important com-
plement to public, state-led support in health
emergencies, and so part of a wider, plural health
system.

And here is an extract from the conclusion:
Pandemics are an opportunity to rethink the
way health systems operate.
However, the popular idea of ‘community re-
silience’ must always be seen as part of a wider
suite of responses and not as a magic-bullet so-
lution.
In the Zimbabwe case, responses to COVID-19
occurred in the context of a weak health service,
an economy in a dire state and when trust in the
state – or more precisely politicians – was ex-
tremely low.
Here a resigned resilience – or coping – cen-
tred on autonomous local capabilities, although
differentiated within a ‘community’ and also

FEATURE October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 12

Benefit
or Burden?
Pfumvudza’s

mixed
results

War veteran Edward Tongoona be- “The best way to finance agriculture is dency to write off debts,” Kuipa says, add- limited to building roads and ensuring
gan farming in 2008, after receiv- not through government, given its ten- ing that the government’s role should be adequate storage for harvests. “The pri-
ing land through a controversial
program that redistributed Zimba- Press Statement
bwe’s large commercial farms, pri-
marily owned by white farmers, to black farmers. 17 October 2022
Like many other cultivators, Tongoona doesn’t have
a title deed to his land, only an offer letter from the ZLHR CONDEMNS RESURGENT POLITICAL VIOLENCE
government. This made it difficult for him to secure
a bank loan. ZIMBABWE Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) condemns in the strongest terms, the barbaric conduct of some ruling ZANU PF party
supporters, who unleashed violence on opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party supporters in Matobo in Matabeleland
This limited access to credit — especially for the South province.
cultivation of maize, a national staple whose pro- On Sunday 16 October 2022, several CCC party supporters sustained injuries after they were assaulted and roughed up by some ZANU
duction had declined by nearly two-thirds by the PF party supporters who they encountered while preparing for a local authority by-election for Ward 2 in Matobo in Matabeleland
time Tongoona took to farming — is one reason South province scheduled for 22 October 2022.
the Zimbabwean government in 2015 introduced Some women were indecently abused, as they were forced to undress, by the ZANU PF party supporters. Several vehicles and houses
a contract farming program, popularly known as were also damaged while some goods were reported to have been looted at a local shop and at a homestead.
Command Agriculture, that is aimed at reducing ZLHR condemns this unacceptable, violent, inhuman, dehumanising and degrading treatment of people, which has no place in a ci-
the country’s increasing reliance on maize imports. vilised society.
Under the program, by way of a loan, the govern- The deplorable acts of violence by supporters of ZANU PF party are extremely concerning considering that they are happening ahead
ment provides farmers with fertilizer and seed for a of general elections scheduled for 2023.
season in exchange for 5 tonnes of maize per hec- Violence has no place in an aspiring democracy and is a monumental threat to the peaceful co-existence of all Zimbabwean citizens and
tare, the cost of which is deducted after harvest. such acts by some misguided political party supporters threaten Zimbabwe’s democratic trajectory.
Tolerance towards people who hold di ering political views and utmost respect for fundamental rights and freedoms of everyone by
Tongoona began participating in the program in all members of society is key to achieving a thriving democracy.
2018. “I joined because I didn’t have enough mon- Section 52(a) of the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to be free from all forms of violence while section 155 of the Constitu-
ey to buy all that I need in farming,” he says. “Since tion also prescribes that electoral processes must be free from violence and other electoral malpractices.
then, a lot has changed for me. I was able to buy The acts of violence perpetrated by ZANU PF party supporters on CCC party members contravene these constitutional provisions and
two tractors and other farm equipment.” Each sea- are a malicious disregard for fundamental rights and freedoms such as the right to life, the right to human dignity, the right to personal
son, he produces up to 250 tonnes of maize on his security, freedom of assembly and association and political rights.
34.8 hectares and sells it to the Grain Marketing In recent months and weeks, ZLHR has also noted rising incidents of political violence across the country where opposition political
Board, a government body that acts as a go-be- party supporters have been subjected to wanton violence.
tween for farmers and millers. “It’s a good program. This onslaught bears all the hallmarks of a pre-meditated attack, which is aimed at intimidating political contestants and their support-
It should continue because it has helped me grow ers and block them from accessing potential voters and constituents.
from a small farmer to a more pronounced, com- The actions of ZANU PF party supporters y in the face of contents of a report released during the United Nations Human Rights Coun-
mercial one,” Tongoona says. cil’s 50th session by Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Associa-
tion, who raised concerns about the violation and curtailment of freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression and asked
Not everyone feels this way. Since its incep- government to take measures consistent with his recommendations produced through his country visit to Zimbabwe.
tion, the Command Agriculture program has been Sadly, the perpetration of violence by some ZANU PF supporters comes some few days after Zimbabwe recently joined the world to
marred by criticism, ranging from skepticism over commemorate the International Day of Non-Violence, which is a global observance that promotes non-violence.
its usefulness in bolstering Zimbabwe’s food secu- The unprecedented levels of polarisation can only be addressed when there is political will from leaders of o ending political parties,
rity to charges of corruption and cronyism. Accord- who must preach tolerance, diversity of political beliefs and thought and decisively dissuade their supporters from resorting to barbaric
ing to government watchdog Veritas, Zimbabwe and stone-age tactics of settling perceived political di erences.
accumulated a “significant portion” of its sovereign To stem the culture of violence, ZLHR calls upon;
debt — which, as of September 2021, stood at $13.7 • ZANU PF party supporters to shun political violence and all forms of intolerance towards members of di erent political parties;
billion — after the program began. • Leaders and members of ZANU PF party to condemn and desist from all violent activities and to inculcate a culture of tolerance

“Financing Command Agriculture has dispropor- and non-violence in settling disputes;
tionately bled Zimbabwe’s finances,” a recent Veri- • Zimbabwe Republic Police to urgently and thoroughly investigate the acts of violence that took place in Matobo and all other
tas report reads, “with little commensurate benefit
to the public.” incidences of political violence across the country and bring perpetrators of violence to account irrespective of their political party
a liation.
In 2017, 54% of farmers enrolled in the program
failed to pay back their loans — in 2018, this number Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
rose to 81%. Prince Kuipa, operations director at the Kodzero/Amalungelo House
Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union, which represents over a
million households, says this is an unfair burden on No. 103 Sam Nujoma Street, Harare, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean citizens “because most taxpayers do Phone: (+263 8677005347, +263 242 764085/705370/708118
not have farms.”
Email: [email protected] | www.zlhr.org.zw
In 2017, 54% of farmers FOLLOW US:@ZLHRLAWYERS ON TWITTER | ZIMBABWE LAWYERS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ON FACEBOOK
enrolled in the program
failed to pay back their

loans — in 2018, this
number rose to 81%.
Prince Kuipa, operations
director at the Zimbabwe
Farmers’ Union, which
represents over a million
households, says this is
an unfair burden on
Zimbabwean citizens
“because most taxpayers
do not have farms.”

FEATURE October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 13

vate sector is more efficient at administer- Public Accounts Committee alleges that an put suppliers have a ripple effect on the pro- Rwandese government announced it will
ing loans.” estimated $3 billion was misused under the duction of inputs. “Financing of commercial adopt a similar approach in the wake of the
program. When asked about these allega- agriculture should be left to the private sec- Russia-Ukraine war, which has made many
Harvested maize, produced under Zimba- tions, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Doug- tor,” he says, “while the government focuses African countries food-dependent.”
bwe’s controversial Command Agriculture las Karoro indicated he would on creating a conducive policy environment
program, lies on the ground at a farm out- re- that encourages production.” He also notes farming inputs are priced in
side Harare. spond United States dollars while payment of crop
— but days later was arrested for Freedom Mazwi, an output is largely in the local currency, the
Tawanda Murwira is one of the farmers allegedly stealing farming inputs from the agrar- Zimbabwean dollar (ZWL), which keeps los-
who defaulted this year. “I only managed Presidential Input Scheme, a program sim- ian researcher based in Hara-
to pay back part of the loan this year, even ilar to Command Agriculture. He has since re, disagrees. Agriculture is too important to ing value. “This has meant that farm-
though I intended to pay it all,” he says. “The been fired; the Ministry of Agriculture did be left to the private sector, he says, refuting ers who are paid in ZWL find it ex-
yields were not good.” This year, Zimbabwe not respond to further requests for com- the prevailing notion that Zimbabwe’s reli- tremely difficult to purchase inputs for
is expected to have a below-average maize ment. ance on maize imports is linked to the land the next agricultural season, which are
harvest, owing in part to delayed rains, but reforms initiated in the 2000s. “The World pegged in U.S. dollars,” he says.
Murwira also points to other delays. “I didn’t Graphic by Matt Haney, GPJ Bank and the International Monetary Fund
get all the inputs I needed, and the few I got While maize production has increased in urged Zimbabwe and many African states Mazwi acknowledges that the pro-
I did not get on time,” he says. “We would recent years, says Andrew Pascoe, president to withdraw from funding agriculture, and gram is not without its shortcomings.
be sent on a goose chase around the prov- of the Commercial Farmers’ Union, the pro- what were the results? Export crops flour- He and his fellow researchers recom-
ince to get all the inputs. This really affected gram has affected other areas of agriculture, ished, but the country began to be a net im- mend a more targeted selection of
the timing of our planting and ultimately the too. “It also tends to wipe away all inputs porter of grain,” he says. “There is a lot that Command Agriculture beneficiaries —
output yield was affected.” from the market, leaving those not growing can be learned from Command Agricul- specifically, larger, mechanized cultiva-
under Command Agriculture in shortage,” he ture by African governments. Recently, the tors with a proven history of maize pro-
The results have been outright contradic- says, adding that delayed payments to in- duction. (Assistance to smaller farm-
tory, according to the Zimbabwe Democra- ers, he adds, can be channeled through
cy Institute, a local think tank that evaluat- other programs.) “Very true, there have
ed the program in 2020. On the one hand, been maize imports post-2016, when the
maize production and deliveries to the Grain initiative was first introduced,” he says.
Marketing Board appear to have increased “Droughts are the major reason. This is
under the program; on the other, its report why we suggest that the selection of ben-
notes, food insecurity and maize imports eficiaries should target farmers with irri-
have also increased. One reason for this ap- gation facilities and large landholdings to
parent contradiction, the report posits, is act as a buffer against droughts and oth-
that the ruling party and “securocrats” — a er climatic shocks. If this is complemented
term used in southern Africa for police and by a good pricing framework, it can go a
military officers who wield political influ- long way in boosting national food self-suf-
ence — run Command Agriculture as a form ficiency.”
of patronage, and its proceeds have been “a Murwira, however, has decided to opt
very powerful means through which regime out for now. He is focused on self-financing
loyalists are financed, incentivised and re- next season’s crop. “If well-managed, it is a
warded,” making it “very difficult to translate good program, but as of now, it is marred
bumper harvests to food security and maize with confusion and corruption,” he says. “As
imports reduction.” it stands, I will no longer apply for funding
under Command Agriculture or any govern-
Well-connected farmers tend to receive ment-supported funding. Farming is time
inputs before others, Murwira says; moreo- sensitive, and time is not of the essence un-
ver, he says, inputs designated for the pro- der these programs.”
gram are sometimes sold on the black mar- Linda Mujuru is a Global Press Journal
ket, on occasion by the very military officers reporter based in Harare, Zimbabwe. She
in charge of distributing them. A 2020 sur- specializes in reporting on agriculture and
vey of 200 beneficiaries and stakeholders by the economy.
the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute found
that 64% believed that the program was
riddled with corruption. The parliamentary

11 th

Edition

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FEATURE October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 14

Is Econet stock undervalued?

ZFreeman Makopa
imbabwe Stock Exchange-listed telecommunications and
technology company Econet Wireless’ current share price is un-
dervalued, despite the blue-chip counter being one of the most
traded firms on the local bourse, analysts have said.
Florence Takaendesa, an equities analyst with IH Securities,
said Econet’s shares trading at ZW$ 84.0952 are currently undervalued by
more than 50%, but believes the stock has what it takes to jump by over
100% in the coming few months.

“We forecast Econet Target Price of US$0.37 versus current price of
US$0.17, and a 5-year historical average share price of US$0.50, implying
an upside of 118%,” she said.

This was after the equities research firm had anticipated Econet's total
number of subscribers to maintain a positive trend as the business contin-
ues expanding into countrywide.

“We expect data usage to keep on rising as businesses continue to em-
brace digitization. However, despite improved availability of hard curren-
cy, we believe capital expenditure will continue being negatively impact-
ed at least in the short-term as the Group imports equipment and soft-
ware for operating purposes; currently capex is hovering around 5% ver-
sus SADC peers at circa 15%,” said Takaendesa.

“Contrarily, the Telecommunications Price Index for voice, data, SMS
and USSD introduced by the telecommunications regulator last year is ex-
pected to continue cushioning the business from inflationary pressures.”

Econet, which has invested over US$3.5 billion in the past 24 years, re-
cently became the first telecommunications company in the country to
introduce super-fast 5G (Fifth Generation) technology and is moving to
expand its infrastructure across the country.

IH Securities indicated that Econet is not the only company affected by
low investor confidence as the whole ZSE is currently trading at a mar-
ket capitalisation of US$2.95 billion, a 26% discount to its historical aver-
age market cap of US$4 billion despite fundamental growth in business-
es over the past three years.

However, the research firm firmly believes that at some point the mar-
ket will eventually correct itself as portfolios are restructured, considering
the opportunities currently presented by the bourse.

“The market as a whole is currently trading at a discount. Over the past
three months, we observed a strong correlation between equities perfor-
mance and macro inputs, like exchange rate and policy change, rather
than fundamentals,” said Takaendesa.

She added that during the same period, the ZSE was characterized by a
bear market partially explained by reduced activity from speculators since
the capital gains tax review.

“In addition, a combination of restricted lending and higher interest
rates compelled investors to unwind positions and unlock funds from the
stock market. Also, the introduction of gold coins presented another as-
set class in the market resulting in capital flight from the ZSE,” she said.

The ZSE recently recovered (in September) after making losses in four
consecutive months to August amounting to nearly ZW$2 trillion after
the government in May unveiled a slew of economic policies intended,
among other things, to discourage market speculation that, according to
authorities, was fuelling inflation.

The market had trended upwards since 2016, with inflation — driven
mostly by currency ambiguity — pushing demand for stocks and other
non-cash investments.

FEATURE October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 15

gdoalyfTHE3RDANNUAL Mthuli:
Zimbabwe
NAMA ‘mawxiimll ise’

WHERE ART MEETS SPORT & BUSINESS mineral
rebseefrovrees
21 October 2022 ZWL$25,000 per person using them
ZWL$90,000 per 4 ball to clear
@ Royal Harare Golf Club
Format: Individual Stableford debt

for more info & rsvp contact +263 776 330 513 Zimbabwe will not rush to use mineral
reserves under a new policy that com-
pels miners to pay half of their royalties
in commodities to settle its foreign debt
of US$13.2 billion.
“We want to focus first on maximizing value
from our minerals and then later see how we can
use them to clear our arrears,” Finance Minister
Mthuli Ncube told Bloomberg.

Last week, President Emmerson Mnangagwa
said minerals secured under the planned policy
would be used as security for loans, but did not
indicate when this would happen.

“Let me…say that the precious and high-val-
ue strategic minerals we accumulate can also be
used to securitise any borrowings we may pru-
dently envisage,” Mnangagwa wrote in The Sun-
day Mail. “This raises our country’s creditworthi-
ness, and, thus, our ability to circumvent and fend
off funding limitations designed against our econ-
omy by those who have imposed illegal and unjust
sanctions against us.”

In his midterm budget, Ncube said mines were
contributing too little in taxes, just 1.2% of GDP in
direct taxes in 2021.

Miners’ reaction
Miners have mostly said the new measure will
have no material impact on their operations.
“We respect the government’s position. It’s their
prerogative. All they are saying is they are chang-
ing payment modalities,” said Chamber of Mines
Chief Executive Isaac Kwesu.
Caledonia Mining, one of the largest gold pro-
ducers, and Impala Platinum, whose Zimplats is
the largest miner in the country, have also said the
regulation would not hurt them.
Bernard Pryor, MD of Karo Mining, which is de-
veloping Zimbabwe’s newest platinum mine at
Selous, says this is not a new idea, but that he has
not seen it work elsewhere.
“That is not a novel approach by governments.
A lot of governments would like to take physical
because they think they can do better with it than
perhaps the mining companies can. I’ve not seen
that ever play out successfully in any other coun-
try,” Pryor says.
Consultations were yet to begin with the indus-
try and, says Pryor, “I think we’ll see probably quite
a lot of change to that request over a period of
time.”
Zimbabwe’s debt burden
He said Zimbabwe had begun issuing bonds
with maturities of between two and 20 years in or-
der to honour its debt to creditors and was look-
ing at how they can be traded, while it was also
looking to issue bonds to compensate white for-
mer farmers over time.
“We’ve begun to make token payments to
the World Bank, the AfDB (African Development
Bank), European Investment Bank,” Ncube said.
“And all the Paris Club creditors, 17 of them, we will
be making token payments to show that we want
to be a good debtor.”
He said IMF staff would visit Zimbabwe in De-
cember and then discuss a staff-monitored pro-
gramme in the first and second quarter of 2023.
That, he said, would enable access to “resources
from a sponsor who will help us with bridge fund-
ing in order to clear the arrears” to international
lenders and after that to restructure its debt to bi-
lateral Paris Club creditors.

— newZWire

INTERVIEW October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 16

Diplomatic posting was
a mistake: Chihombori-
Quao
out of here you know. But five months it started. I was simply, I’m just a black AQ: Yes, just about everyone heard a
F ounder, president and chief into it I was staying in a hotel because woman who’s sick and tired of being sick mention of the French because to me
executive of the African Di- I didn’t want to waste my time getting and tired, and I continue to be sick and they are the biggest risk to peace and
aspora Development Insti- a place to stay but what I began to see, tired of being sick and tired because the security in Africa today.
tute and former African Un- the Zimbabwean revolutionary in me, I abuse, the blatant abuse of us has...
ion top diplomat, Arikana didn’t know I was a revolutionary... TN: The French?
Chihombori-Quao (AQ) says she was TN: By the West. AQ: The French, yes.
not bitter when she was fired as the TN: But circumstances cause you to AQ: By the West, it has to stop. It is go- TN: Why?
AU permanent representative to the realise who we are? ing to take us as a people united. When AQ: Can you imagine if US$500 bil-
United States after her videos accus- I started doing those videos I was ac- lion could stay on the continent? Just
ing some Western countries of mas- AQ: Yeah. There were some things tually surprised because I just knew my one year? The AU itself has said if we
sive looting in Africa went viral world- I’m like there’s something wrong with days were coming to an end, and I did have 10 years of US$100 billion put into
wide. this picture. No no no no that shouldn’t not care because really I am making, Africa a year we will complete Africa’s
happen. After many times of attending they signed me, they actually intention- infrastructure. That is only two years
Chihombori-Quao told Alpha Media meetings in North America and back ally graded me as an officer. I was being of takings from France. So on top of
Holdings (AMH) chairman, Trevor Ncu- in Africa, and I see things happening paid as an officer. It is only the last two that the business, the security issues,
be (TN) on the programme In Conver- that were just blatantly wrong and I just months of my tenure that another am- the wars, the coups, the support of all
sation with Trevor that her position at could not sit anymore and have these bassador had said they’re taking advan- kinds of instabilities around the coun-
the AU was useless and she had been people think as we leave the meeting tage of you, they said here’s what I am tries, others are in there too but I feel
told that they were not interested in that they put wool over me and they making and here’s what you’re making. It very strongly that the French are lead-
results from her. got away with it. So one day I just de- was only the last two months of my ten- ing the pack.
cided I’m done, this just doesn’t sit well ure that they had taken me to the level TN: Have the French responded in
TN: Before we let people out there with me. So I called my husband and I of ambassador, but even then they still any way?
know that you are founder and owner said I need to hang around and kick it graded me lower than most ambassa- AQ: No.
of Medical Clinics. because you know what, it was just ri- dors, but at least I was in the territory of TN: Or their response was to get you
diculous. We just can’t be keep being an ambassador. When I first got there I fired?
AQ: Correct. kicked. was being paid as an officer, US$49,000 AQ: Exactly. Exactly yeah. But it still
TN: In the United States. Known as a year plus there’s a small post adjust- took 5 months, after that phone call it
the the Bell Family Medical Centres. TN: I like the way you said it, with a ment and three thousand dollars hous- took 5 months before the chairman did
You are a diplomat, you’re a public West African accent. ing allowance. It was not about money. what he did.
speaker, you are an educator, you’re TN: Why had they sent you there? TN: Any bitterness on your side?
an entrepreneur. Of that entire bou- AQ: I did yeah. I’m actually West Afri- AQ: They said they needed somebody AQ: Absolutely no. I have no bitter-
quet what do you enjoy the most? can, because my husband is from Gha- who understood the American. I guess I ness. I was ready to go home, because
AQ: Mommy. na. did. May be they were right. As it turns also the office was useless. I am sorry to
TN: Mommy. I missed out mommy out I guess I was. Anyway, I knew my say but this is just the truth. They told
there. And grandmother? TN: Right. days were numbered, and I called my me themselves that we are not interest-
AQ: No grandmother, no no no no no AQ: I said I’m gonna hang around a husband again and I said my days are ed in results. I am not kidding you.
no. Grandmothers are old. I’m Gigi. little bit longer. This has to stop. I mean numbered, I will be coming home soon, TN: Wow.
TN: What does that mean? we just can’t keep being pissed on and but that did not happen. The Director AQ: The HR Director himself told me
AQ: Ah that’s AKA grandma! we do nothing. For how long? Then af- of Communications at the AU said her ambassador, you are wasting your time,
TN: Okay hahahaha. You know the ter that I said okay I’m gonna get a grandfather who is 92 years old loved we are not interested in results. Sec-
beauty about this show is that I learn place to stay and then I’d already start- me and she said I am going to put all ondly, that office had been relegated to
every time. So let me let’s start with ed travelling and speaking to the Dias- your videos on the website at the AU. So being a protocol office, that is it. They
what I think is a controversy. You be- pora. Again the same issue, it doesn’t all the videos were there and then one were not expecting anything out of it.
ing appointed to be the African Union matter what issues I would have shared day a phone call came. I will not mention TN: Wow. As we were chatting via
permanent representative to the US. with them, detailed information about names but I made friends, and so some- WhatsApp, you said it to me, as I asked
The three years that you spent there, what is really going on in Africa. France times friends they would tell me things. you what is it that you wanted to talk
and the way you left that position, talk is taking over US$500 billion dollars out So a phone call came and being advised about, and you say to me I want to talk
to me in the first instance about what of Africa, and I would use a simple com- those videos must come down, so the about people of African descent com-
you consider to be your achievements parison. The watchdogs. They say cor- videos came down. ing home to Africa. This is the most
and why the parting had to be so pub- ruption out of Africa sees US$50 billion TN: So you had stepped on a number important issue for me. The damage of
lic, and you had people campaigning, getting out of Africa every year. of sensitive toes? over 400 years must be reversed.
writing campaign letters to have you TN: Illicit funds? AQ: Oh yes. The videos had to come AQ: Absolutely.
reinstated? But let’s start with what AQ: Yes we get that, we must go af- down which was fine, I was told that the  “In Conversation With Trevor” is
was your mandate? What did you go ter it, but I just also told you in the same videos were going to come down, I said a weekly show broadcast on YouTube.
there to do? What do you consider to period France would have taken out that’s fine, but they were like, but the com//InConversationWithTrevor. Please
be your achievements? And why this US$500 billion! The first question in- videos are all over the world you know. It get your free YouTube subscription to this
ugly parting? variably, ambassador but African lead- is ridiculous that we do not have them at channel. The conversations are sponsored
AQ: Okay. I think it’s interesting that ers are corrupt? I said what about this the African Union. by Nyaradzo Group.
before we came on the air you said oh other thief ? Why aren’t you asking me TN: Let us just step back. The videos
let’s start with the controversy and I’m about that thief ? You got two thieves, are the French one?
like what controversy? one carrying a briefcase with US$50 bil- AQ: Yes.
TN: Right. lion, and the other one carrying a brief- TN: Then which other one?
AQ: Also I felt like you know a lot of case with US$500 billion, and you only AQ: That is the main one.
people felt sorry for me and I’m like no want to talk about the one with US$50 TN: That is the main one accusing the
it was release you know because when I billion. Let’s talk about both. So with French of stealing US$500 billion?
went to Washington I was an odd cup, that in mind, after just going so many
an odd beak. I am a scientist through times and the conversation is like I’m
and through. I’m a little girl from Chivhu not going anywhere, the people are not
in Zimbabwe. Left there after high hearing me. So that’s when I just de-
school, went to college. First degree in cided one day when I was on my way
General Chemistry, second degree in to yet another event with the Diaspo-
Organic Chemistry. Then on to medical ra, I called my team I said give me the
school. Residency in general surgery, camera, I’m gonna talk. My plan was I’m
residency in Family Medicine. Straight gonna do this video, then I’m gonna go
on to private practice for 25 years, sci- to the event, then I’m gonna give them
entist through and through. Then you the video so they have something to go
get a call at three in the morning to back and listen to after what I would
say, oh we want you to be a diplomat in have said, because I felt like I’m speak-
Washington. I was like are you kidding ing but they’re not hearing me. So that
me? So I wake up, I think it’s a dream. very first video I just did it, I was sick
I asked my husband did you hear this and tired of the French, and even poli-
conversation? And saying what follows ticians in Washington that I was talking
is a few months of back and forth and to did not know about it. How could the
finally I thought you know what I have world not know about such a blatant
not been on sabbatical since I actual- abuse from one of the five members of
ly left Zimbabwe. I said you know what the UN security Council? It was mind-
I’m just gonna go and spend about six boggling and so I just decided that’s
months in Washington, hang around a what I was going to do. I did not realise
little bit and drink coffee and be wined that very first video would go viral, that
and dined and I’ll be back. I knew that people did not know, and that’s how
for the fact that I would be back. So I
went to Washington really feeling stu-
pid and I’m supposed to be the AU Am-
bassador and I know nothing about di-
plomacy. Why are you guys doing this to
me? So if you think you’re going to make
a fool out of me, well the joke is on you
because I’m not staying six months. I’m

OPINION July 21 to 27 2022 Weekly Digest 17

RESIDENTS ASSOCIATIONS DECLARATION STATEMENT
ON LOCAL GOVENANCE AND 2023 ELECTIONS

22 September 2022

We the Residents Associations in Zimbabwe under the banner of Residents Associations Coalition for Electoral Reforms [RACER],
Unified for a better standard of living premised on quality municipal services and good local governance for our respective communities and
areas;
Understanding the relationship (nexus) between elections and social service delivery;
Cognizant that in terms of Section 67 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe on political rights provides for the right of citizens to participate,
individually or collectively, in gatherings or groups or in any other manner, in peaceful activities to influence, challenge or support the policies
of the Government or any political or whatever cause;
Aware of the risk of strife, conflict, and intolerance presented by elections leading to electoral violence;
Worried over the lack of transparency, accountability, and responsiveness among elected leadership which has seen limited access to basic
services and the deterioration of service provision in our communities;
Alarmed by increasing conflicts in urban, peri-urban and rural areas emanating from rising demand for land, housing and exploitation of
natural resources;
Concerned over the caliber and quality of elected leadership occupying public offices who are pursuing self-service and enrichment, and their
interests at the expense of the residents;
Tired over perpetual unfulfilled electoral promises made by electoral candidates and their political parties before occupying public office;
Recognizing the role of political parties in candidate selection for elections and policy direction when their candidates get into power;
Disturbed over the lack of understanding of roles and responsibilities among elected councilors thereby affecting their representative, oversight,
and policy-making role;
Aware of the democratic deficit created by gender imbalances on elected leadership at the local authority level which has seen men dominating
the composition of our councils in Zimbabwe, thereby relegating women, youths, PWDs and other marginalized sectors to the periphery of
local government decision-making;
Troubled by rampant corruption among both elected and non-elected leadership in our local authorities that has seriously impacted on provision
of social service delivery;
Lamenting the lack of citizen’s voice in the recall processes of elected leadership;
Reaffirming that local authorities in Zimbabwe are of a constitutional establishment, and in consultation with their residents they have the right
to govern, on their own initiative, the local affairs of the people within the area for which they are established;
Cognizant of devolution of governmental powers to lower tiers of government provided in Chapter 14 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe
w h i c h b e s t o w s powers of local governance to the people, and recognizes the right of communities to manage their own affairs;

In view of the above, we unanimously agreed that;
 Political intolerance in a multi-party system of democratic governance is unacceptable and has no place in any democracy. Section

67(1) and (2) gives every citizen the right to form, join and participate in the activities of a political party or organization of their
choice, and campaign freely and peacefully. Accordingly, we expect all political parties to respect this constitutional principle.
 Section 129(k) of the constitution requires an operationalization policy framework. Residents must have the powers to influence a
recall, in this case, political parties initiate the recall while citizens endorse the recall through a referendum. The current framework
weakens political accountability and renders citizens powerless.
 In order to deal with unfulfilled electoral promises, the calibre of elected leadership and other issues relating to elected leadership, we
are in the process of developing a Residents Manifesto, a document with key minimum Residents Associations expectations and
priority issues for consideration by political parties and electoral candidates.
 There should be mandatory asset declaration for those who intend to assume elected leadership role to become councillors (local and
provincial level) and Members of Parliament.
 Women, youths, PWDs and marginalised sectors must find space and assume leadership positions for elected leadership positions
at both provincial and local authority level, and the Provincial/Metropolitan Councils, and call for urgent re-gazzetting of Bills that
will operationalize devolution as provided in chapter 14 of the Constitution.
 There is a need to speedily resolve pertinent issues of security of tenure in terms of ownership and entitlement to land in rural and
peri-urban.
 We pledge to embark on a robust civic education drive that seeks to educate residents on their rights and responsibilities considering
poor revenue collection in our local authorities, and partner with the same in addressing socially engineered service delivery problems.
 Full implementation of devolution as provided in Chapter 14 of the Constitution and respect of the constitution will deal with
procurement issues that have been fuelling corruption in tender processes.

We, therefore, commit and assert our willingness to support political parties and their candidates who will pursue and subscribe to pro-poor
policies in terms of basic social service delivery and the needs of the residents enshrined in our Residents Manifesto.

Contact Person
Mr Marvellous Kumalo Spokesperson [RACER]

0719 191402, 0776191402

COLUMN September 28 to October 4 2022 Weekly Digest 18

Real dictators Crooks are having a
raising their hands field day while Chris
My Dear People keeps blabbering
Do you remember when right-minded Zimbabweans must speak out
you all thought Cde Chris against that proposed law. THE nation was this week gripped by news that Zimbabwe is being deserted by teachers, be-
was a democrat? a tendepreneur, operating from a dust-quoted ing they are anti-Socialist and refuse to work for
Do you remember when Launchmore was in New York for the an- office in the worst parts of the city, had won a free.
Morgan and other opposition members all nual United Nations General Assembly. tender to supply parliament with laptops at al- The Cubans also reminded us that both na-
thronged the courts in support of a bunch most US$10 000 each. tions are under sanctions, saying Zimbabwe
of a war vets that had been arrested? If you want to see how intolerant that man “These US dollar prices have been exorbitant- “has maintained an unwavering stance against
is, look at what he referred to the CCC chal- ly inflated way beyond those that are prevailing the US economic, commercial and financial
In all this, you criticised Baba and called lenges that Zimbabwe face. in the market and hence, are not acceptable,” blockade against Cuba”.
him a dictator. If Baba was alive, he would according to a letter from George Guvamatan- We could wish the Cubans teach our own-
be having the last laugh kkk. On the face of it, he meant Covid-19, cli- ga, the secretary in the Ministry of Finance. er that, even with sanctions, one can still build
mate change and conflict. “Treasury directs that this tender be cancelled working hospitals and schools, and that sanc-
Let me rewind a little. and the concerned suppliers be blacklisted tions do not cause leaders to steal from their
In the past few days, Cde Chris has been But in reality, this was a veiled attack on from any future government procurement pro- people.
raving and ranting about NGOs and threat- the opposition which is also called CCC. cess.” But then they would only be wasting his time,
ening their closure at every given turn. which
Chris accuses NGOs of all sorts of crimes The choice of words was deliberate and On Mon- Tidbits would
and is singularly pushing for the enactment calculated. If this doesn’t chill you, nothing day, the be better
of the vile PVO Bill. will. man from spent sam-
NGOs are critical in holding the govern- Oxford, pling fa-
ment to account and anyone who pushes Did he really need to abbreviate it in that Mthu- mous Cu-
for their closure has the makings of a dic- manner? li Ncube, ban bever-
tator. expressed
Chris was never a democrat and he man- The overwhelming answer is no, but he outrage ages.
aged to pull the wool over the likes of Mor- did it and it will not be surprising to see a re- that some- Twitter: @MuckrakerZim Blabber-
gan, who stampeded to the courts and be- newed clampdown on the opposition. one had ing Chris
gan fantastical alliances with that rogue Just like
group of war vets that Baba wanted to kick Still on the UNGA, Launchmore spoke tried to sell
out. about Zimbabwe’s success in agriculture. the government a two-kilogramme chicken at everyone around the world, we tuned in to the
I know some of the opposition members US$30. regular Zanu PF press conference this week
and the activists who supported Chris and Oh dear! Zimbabwe is one of the food in- There are many people still shocked at news for latest updates on the activities that Nelson
his comrades are regretting now. secure countries in the world and there is no that someone tried to sell goods to the govern- Chamisa is doing all around the country. These
Baba was called a dictator, but to be fair, way that this can be measured as a success. ment at inflated prices. However, for the rest press conferences provide more detailed up-
he allowed NGOs to exist. of us, what is more shocking to patriots is that dates on Chamisa and his policies than Chami-
Even when the NGO Bill was brought to Furthermore, Zimbabwe has the second the Ministry of Finance actually decided to stop sa’s party itself.
his desk many moons ago, he declined to highest food inflation in the world and in these payments. Since when is overcharging Zanu PF loudspeaker Chris Mutsvangwa did
sign it into law and threw it out. what universe can this be recorded as a suc- each other a crime? not disappoint, telling us how Chamisa has
Now let’s see what your Launchmore will cess in agriculture? Surely, if we can authorise US$88 million to been going around the country telling peo-
do, isn’t you marched for him. big tenderpreneurs for a glorified roundabout, ple that they need a new government. As usu-
Speaking of the PVO Bill, I wonder what What Launchmore needs is to be sincere we can allow small tenderpreneurs to supply us al, Mutsvangwa spent little time talking about
RBZ and Cde Panonetsa are thinking. and stop gaslighting Zimbabweans and the chickens for US$30. How else are they expect- Zanu PF developmental activities, which is un-
Zimbabwe has been removed from the fi- world. ed to grow into national crooks like others? They derstandable since there aren’t any.
nancing of terrorism grey list, meaning that must start somewhere. According to Mutsvangwa: “Now here is a
trade with other countries has become far He ought to be sincere about challenges man (Chamisa) who is a blabbermouth, any-
much easier. that Zimbabweans face. Mayor going nowhere
This means remittances can flow into the Still on patriotic corruption, and still at parlia- thing that crosses his mind, he utters it out even
country much easier, which is good news The very challenges that see Zimbabwe- ment, one Mayor Wadyajena reminded every- if it has no basis in fiction or fact.”
for RBZ. ans preferring to be second rate citizens in one that theft is yet to be outlawed in the coun- It is obvious why Mutsvangwa spoke like this.
Most of the money that Panonetsa re- South Africa rather than return home. try. He is a market leader in the business of “blab-
cords as remittances is actually money that Since he is accused of stealing from a state- bering without facts” and people like that tend
is meant for NGOs. The continued incarceration of Godfrey owned cotton company, some people expect- not to like competition.
So Panonetsa must be quacking in his Sithole and Job Sikhala is a travesty of jus- ed him to step down from his post as chairper- Licking the boot
boots at the thought of a law that might tice. son of the parliamentary committee overseeing It is a week since the country’s celebrated the
wipe away massive amounts in remittances. agriculture. day the world welcomed our dear leader, and
In fact, there is a lot at stake for the RBZ, One of the reasons why Job is jailed is be- He told them: “I am sure most of you are sur- the birthday messages continue to flow.
raising need for Panonetsa to speak out cause the courts argue that he has the pro- prised to see me here (parliament). You have Nick Mangwana, the world’s most reluctant
against the law. pensity to commit other crimes while out on heard a lot and have seen a lot, but l am still spokesperson, praised his leader on turning
But as we all know, Panonetsa is a fence bail. here. No one is going to remove me from this twice as old as the country: “He doesn’t look it,
post tortoise and can never speak out seat; so welcome to this committee. I am the he works like he is 25. I know someone five dec-
against the people who put him where he Job has never been convicted, yet they chairperson of this committee and I am going ades younger who works in his entourage who
is. say he may commit other crimes. Someone to be the chairperson till 2030.” had to be admitted in hospital for exhaustion,
It will be a tragedy of magnificent pro- please make this make sense to me. Expecting someone accused of stealing from but him, the guerrilla in him makes him way,
portions if the PVO Bill is enacted and all
Okay, maybe Job may commit other
crimes, what is the justification of the con-
tinued jailing of Godfrey Sithole?

I am sorry to say, but never at any given
time have I had less belief in our justice sys-
tem.

You may accuse Baba of all manner of
crimes, but he never captured the judiciary
in such a brazen manner.

Job, Godfrey and the Nyatsime crew de-
serve justice and they must freed while wait-
ing trial. 

Munopengaaaaa!
Gushungo Chete Chete!
Dr Amai Stop it! PhD (Fake)

farmers to step down from heading the com- way too resilient.”
mittee that is supposed to make sure that no- Seeing as most 25-year-olds in the coun-
body steals from farmers? What a foolish ex- try are doing nothing, we cannot disagree with
pectation. Surely, we need people with practi- Mangwana.
cal experience in these public posts. But the winning entry came from a post said
to be from Gabriel Chaibva, the former opposi-
The new globe-trotter
Far away from the crowds, the country’s own- tion MP who saw the light, joined Zanu PF and
er jetted off to New York for the United Nations was handsomely rewarded. It said: “At 80 he re-
General Assembly. mains one of the most handsome men in the
This is an annual ritual in which leaders from world. Once again happy birthday to you my
all around the world travel to America to ad- President.”
dress mostly empty seats, go shopping and, if What more does a man need to prove that
the rumours we hear are true, to partake in tra- he qualifies for even more high level posts in the
ditional debauchery with local service providers. New Dispensation?
Of course, President Emmerson Mnangagwa Standard Harare driving
joined other fellow well-loved democratic lead- Muckraker read a most amusing article, pub-
ers of the world at the UN. In the last four weeks, lished by the Foreign Policy magazine. It re-
our owner has travelled to Rwanda, Kenya, An- counts an incident in which American diplo-
gola and New York. He now heads to Cuba. mats were allegedly tailed by some strange cars
Are we not blessed to have a leader who is after they left a meeting with local activists at a
such heavy demand all around the world? We Harare restaurant.
should all sacrifice and donate him to any of “They were driving away when several cars
these countries that love him so much. slotted into the road in front of them, to the
side, and behind them. Suddenly, their car was
Cuban lesson
Ahead of his visit to Cuba, that country’s Min- boxed in,” the article said. “After a tense standoff,
istry of Foreign Affairs released a statement as the phalanx of cars crawled along the road,
in anticipation. Zimbabwe and Cuba are old the driver of the US Embassy car saw an open-
friends, we were told, and the two countries ing and swerved onto a side road to escape the
have co-operated in many spheres. tail.” Of course, the diplomats think they were
“As a result of collaboration, nearly 2  000 being tailed by our local secret service, who are
Zimbabwean students have graduated from comically barely ever secret because they walk
a number of majors at Cuban universities, and around in cheap shiny suits. But Muckraker as-
hundreds of Cuban professionals have offered sures our visiting diplomats that they were nev-
their knowledge and expertise to that African er under attack. Cars “slotting in in front, to the
nation,” Cuba said. side, and behind” you without indicating is just
Of course, nobody is going to tell them how standard Harare driving.

AFRICA September 28 to October 4 2022 Weekly Digest 19

The 2 tribe nation: Has Kenya
passed up a chance at avoiding

a political implosion?
Since the 29th December 1992 general elec-
tion, following the reintroduction of multi-
party democracy, Kenya has been caught in
a five-year cycle where the electorate either
elects or accepts a president-elect, courts
him, gets into a relationship with him and together they
go through all manner of ups and downs before either
breaking up, staying together willingly or forcefully.
I use the analogy of a relationship because the high-
ly volatile and emotive nature of Kenyan politics cannot
be repudiated and is rather akin to a romantic affair. I
also use the pronoun “him” because Kenya has never
elected a female president.
Politics and emotions have a marriage that goes
way back, especially for the people of Kenya. Generally
speaking, voting or preferring one leader over another
based on emotions is considered as being a primitive
form of democratic decision-making.
People who vote in this manner are seen as unin-
formed and easily swayed by non-issues, particularly in
contrast to those who purport to only consider issues
and political debates between aspirants. The truth is
that politics is an emotive subject the world over. In
one of his earlier publications George Marcus, profes-
sor emeritus in the Department of Political Science at
Williams College, says;
It would be hard to identify a single political thinker
of note in the Western tradition who did not give emo-
tion substantial attention. Aristotle (1954, 1983), Pla-
to (1974), Hobbes (1968), Descartes (1989 [1649]), and
the Scottish enlightenment thinkers, especially Hume
(1739 – 1940) and Smith (1959), among many others, all
thought it necessary to understand emotion in order to
explore human nature and our capacities for politics.
Marcus, George. (2000). Emotions in politics
The 2022 elections in Kenya were rife with emotions
and different passions for or against the two main con-
tenders. The gavel of the Supreme Court fell on the
5th of September and the exercise was finally, in truth, are arguments for and against this concept, canisters with the police. hand. The August 2022 election also had the
completed, albeit to the chagrin of those who ‘lost’. it is a discussion that must be had, now, be- What is this visceral political anger each now unexploited ability to finally break the
Emotions that had run high throughout the election- yond tweets, political cynicism and transient streak of the Kikuyu-Kalenjin presidency in
eering period finally came to a dead end, with a sec- political debates which are had and forgot- election year which has now moved from the country. Surely a different tribe can be at
tion of the country feeling deliriously happy at an ap- ten. outright protests out on the streets to some- the helm after 59 years of being independ-
parent victory and another section coming away feel- The Luo are the fourth largest ethnic group thing more latent in the form of civil disobedi- ent? Speaking after a brief hiatus since the
ing deprived and oppressed by the travesty of justice in Kenya after the Kikuyu, Luhya and Kalenjin. ence, apathy, non-violent resistance and eco- Supreme Court ruling, the spirit of Raila Odin-
meted out by the Supreme Court. Our ethnicity as Africans is a double-edged nomic boycotts? What will the muzzling of ga, who enjoys the support of millions of Ken-
Kenya has had five presidents; Jomo Kenyatta, Dan- sword. How an attribute can be so beautiful protests using an overly heavy military pres- yans, seems to be still alive and strong.
iel arap Moi, Mwai Kibaki, Uhuru Kenyatta, and the new and so potentially damaging at the same ence in certain areas eventually culminate in?
president, William Ruto. time is astounding. A common sentiment He has come out strongly to speak about
The amount of history, ethnic implications, systemic and a stereotype of the Luo tribe is that they A nation’s section cannot forever hold its the judiciarywhich seems to have gone rogue
marginalization and perceived injustices in the names are orators, performers and great masters of breath; it must eventually exhale…then what? in his opinion. Even as the country waits for
of our presidents is a true testament to the ethnicity the spoken word. This has been used to, after We find ourselves in a time where the world is the detailed full ruling, he promises to keep
predicament that still plagues the Kenyan nation and a fashion, explain away their grievances most being rocked by revolutions and social unrest. fighting for truth and justice to the end.
many other African countries in the world. of the time. Such unrests are detrimental to the econ-
The marginalization perception created omy of any state. It is therefore prudent for This even after a different petitioner, Okiya
In the eyes of many, the election had the potential to democracies like Kenya to have certain dis- Omtatah, levelled claims that one of the su-
break this unfortunate chain, but the country fell short that the luo is marginalized is not true but is cussions before the chickens come home to preme court judges threatened him regard-
one more time. amplified by the charismatic nature of a luo, roost. ing his petition which opposed the win of the
he sings, writes and speaks about it strongly incumbent president.
Marginalization 59 years on It must be remembered that the feeling
Marginalization in Kenya can be classified into thereby it appears to be true !” of being marginalized has brought Kenya to Having an institution such as the judiciary
three main categories; political, social and economic. Njoroge, George (@georgenjoroge_), 8 such a stalemate before that sections of the being questioned at all is a clear indication of
The Kenyan constitution is one of the most robust le- November 2017, 4:34 PM. Tweet. country, who have opined that their voices an absolute loss of trust in the system and its
gal documents in the world. The current constitution In 2007 and 2017 the country saw a blood- no longer matter just like their votes do not key institutions. Justice must not be pressed
which was promulgated in 2010 is the result of evolu- curdling outcry from a section of the country count, have toyed, rather seriously, with ideas for time.
tion and transformation in Kenya’s political and gov- which was, in the end, inaccurately surmised of secession. Yet even in the face of such seri-
ernance system. as a rebellion of the Luo community when ous implications to a sovereign state, key po- One of the Supreme Court judges faced
“their candidate” Raila Od- litical figures have shunned the amicable ap- some vitriol online for seemingly suggesting
It envisages a level playing field for the people inga cried foul over proach and chose to use comments such as that since the courts only had 14 days consti-
of Kenya, regardless of geographical place- “good riddance” to communities that are just tutionally to make a ruling, they did not have
ment or ethnic orientation. When devolu- the results of the as Kenyan as any other. time to pore over every document submitted.
election in those
tion was adopted in Kenya, it contemplat- The 2022 elections in Kenya years. It was The notion that certain sections of Kenya or 14 days is ridiculous. We cannot do scrutiny
ed a more equitable distribution of re- were rife with emotions and not a sud- certain communities (Luos) are not big con- and we cannot do a recount if we wanted to.
sources and ease up on the chokehold den reac- tributors to the economy and therefore have The framers of the constitution in their wis-
that the power of central governance tion to any no equal stake is a debilitating opinion that dom gave us 14 days and it is not enough.-
had. different passions for or action but must be quashed. Branding a tribe anti-de- Justice Isaac Lenaola.
against the two main velopment or poverty-stricken or not busi-
Over time and owing to sever- ness oriented is not the way to assuage rising Leo, Mkenya (@MkenyaLeo), 24 August
al constraints including knowledge contenders. The gavel of the a fester- political dissent. 2022, 12:26 PM. Tweet.
gaps, policy issues, lack of varying Supreme Court fell on the 5th ing wound
capacities, usual teething prob- that had What then? The expense must not be an issue in the
lems as well as old, still simmering of September and the been wait- The Luo nation as it currently stands is a sense that since an election has been carried
ing to man- disparaged people, by regimes past and po- out, another cannot take place if the previous
rivalries that have not been resolved exercise was finally, in truth, ifest in the tentially present. The ills of this go back years one is ridden with flaws. The opportunity cost
yet, devolution has not worked as it completed, albeit to the ugliest of and the evolution of the same is a whole his- is simply too much to take such an approach.
should. tory book with several chapters. However, if
So, instead of being the elixir that cures chagrin of those who ‘lost’ ways. there is one historical mess that the just con- In the quest for justice for the electorate
One is forced cluded election had the potential to clean up and to ensure that none other than a lead-
marginalization problems in the country, to wonder what the it is the never-ending hatred between the er who draws strength from his legitimacy
devolution may have made more apparent Luo and Kikuyu tribes of Kenya. across the board is installed, all avenues must
the cracks of marginalization and turned the knob source of the searing, For the first time, the two tribes stood to- be sought without worry for time or expense.
pent-up anger of the Luo com- gether in earnest (handshake of 9 March
of ethnic nationalism all the way up. munity truly is that they would be willing to 2018) and the future looked promising and The flaws in an election whether procedur-
The persistent Luo outcry peaceful as their leaders worked hand in al, technical or those of leadership roles may
Enter the Luo marginalization. Is it a myth? Is it an ig- wade through phosgene oxime blasts, brave not be considered so small that they can be
nored truth? Or is it just a made-up farce that has gone through rubber (and sometimes live) bullets brushed aside because therein lies the fodder
on so long that it has started to ring true? While there and play catch and throwback using teargas for continued electoral injustice.

— Africablogging

AFRICA September 28 to October 4 2022 Weekly Digest 20

Medicine
helps their
HIV. Hunger

makes it
hard

to take

Mary Phiri walks frailly, occasionally clothes in Lusaka, says two years ago he ing antiretroviral drugs because they were food. — AfricanArguements
wiping the morning dew from her lost his 39-year-old sister, who quit tak- causing adverse side effects due to lack of
arms as she searches for food in her
maize field. She stops to inspect RTGS RATES DAILY 1 MONTH 3 MONTHS 6 MONTHS 12 MONTHS
stalks of maize on her small farm in
Rufunsa, a rural district about 160 km east of Zam- NewsDay ZW 550.00 ZW14,300.00 ZW42,900.00 ZW 85,800.00 ZW 171,600.00
bia’s capital Lusaka.
Zimbabwe Independent ZW 1,050.00 ZW4,200.00 ZW 13,650.00 ZW27,300.00 ZW 54,600.00
“The crops have failed us,” she says.
Some of her stalks of maize are withering be- The Standard ZW 550.00 ZW 2,200.00 ZW 7,150.00 ZW14,300.00 ZW 28,600.00
cause of drought, and those that aren’t have been
infested by army worms. After a long search, she Weekly Digest ZW 550.00 ZW 2,200.00 ZW 7,150.00 ZW14,300.00 ZW 28,600.00
finds some not-so-healthy pumpkins and ears of Combo
maize. She wraps them in her chitenge, a colour- ***** ZW 21,750.00 ZW 67,300.00 ZW 134,600.00 ZW269,430.00
ful cloth that Zambian women often wear around
their waists, and slowly walks back to her house, a RTGS Accounts: First Capital Bank (Barclays) Account:2157-6346662 | Stanbic Bank: Account: 9140001182179
small mud hut with a grass-thatched roof. She lies
down on a reed mat to rest and asks her 16-year-old To subscribe in the comfort of your home for credible, reliable and exclusive news, follow link:www.amh.paynow.co.zw or Ecocash *151*2*2*26472*AMOUNT#
daughter to start a fire outside the hut. This would
be their only meal of the day before Phiri, a widow
who has been living with HIV since 2014, can take
her antiretroviral drugs. Economic hardship caused
by the coronavirus pandemic, combined with poor
food harvests due to erratic rainfall and outbreaks
of army worms, means many Zambians living with
HIV no longer have adequate nutrition. This has
made taking medicine more painful and left them
vulnerable to opportunistic infections.
Although Zambians living with HIV get free
antiretroviral drugs from government health cen-
tres, proper food intake has remained a big chal-
lenge, says Felix Mwanza, the director at Treatment
Advocacy and Literacy Campaign, a civil society
organisation that advocates for people living with
HIV/AIDS. “We are seeing a lot of people stop taking
antiretroviral drugs because of lack of food,” Mwan-
za says. “They fear the adverse effects that the
drugs may have on their bodies once taken with-
out food.” Antiretroviral drugs don’t have to be tak-
en with food, but the medicine can leave some pa-
tients hungrier and wanting to eat more often, says
Corrine Zulu, a pharmacist based in Lusaka. Numer-
ous studies also have shown that lack of a nutrition-
al diet can reduce adherence to antiretroviral drug
therapies, according to research published in the
journal Health Care Women International.
It could get worse. Climate change and inconsist-
ent weather in Zambia continue to cause extreme
events like floods and drought, which have led to
crop failures, according to a country report pub-
lished in 2021 by the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Nutritionist Tsitsi Kapandamake says lack of ad-
equate food makes people living with HIV prone to
complications. That’s because taking drugs on poor
nutrition can exacerbate side effects and make a
person more susceptible to other infections, further
damaging the body. “It is advised that people living
with compromised immune systems have a diverse
diet and eat sufficient amounts of food frequently
to help them fight infections,” she says.
Zambia has one of the highest rates of HIV in-
fection in Africa, with about 1.5 million people liv-
ing with the virus. In 2020, the country recorded
an estimated 69,000 new HIV infections, accord-
ing to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/
AIDS. Zambia adopted the World Health Organiza-
tion guidelines that recommend treatment for any-
one who tests positive for HIV, regardless of wheth-
er they show symptoms of illness. Just over 80% of
Zambians living with HIV are on antiretroviral drugs.
A study of antiretroviral therapy in rural Zambia,
which was published in 2012 in the journal Annals
of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials, found
that at least 13% of HIV-positive people failed to ad-
here to antiretroviral drugs due to food insufficien-
cy. And according to research published in 2017 in
the African Journal of AIDS Research, 74% of HIV-
positive people surveyed said they experienced se-
vere hunger.
Chrispin Makungu, a trader of secondhand

OPINION October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 21

ARTS October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 22

Batgirl axed, The Flash floundering – can Black Adam

turn things round for DC’s troubled superheroes?

IDwayne‘the Rock’Johnson as Black Adam. verse (DCEU) seems to be expanding diverse selection of characters show- dio even began releasing new movies on HBO Max at the
f you’re unfamiliar with the con- in all directions at once. Last year’s The cased in movies that vary greatly in same time as in cinemas – much to the ire of film-makers
cept of a “funeral screening”, so Batman, led by Robert Pattinson, was a tone, point of view and audience ap- such as Christopher Nolan (who has since defected to Uni-
were the cast and crew mem- big hit, taking more than $770m glob- peal have rendered the box office re- versal to make his new movie, Oppenheimer). But now Za-
bers who gathered for secret ally. But Pattinson’s Batman has no sults uneven and difficult to predict.” slav has decided Warners and DC should be making mov-
showings of the new Batgirl connection with the core DCEU, which ies for the big screen, not the small screen.
movie this August. They were in all like- is inhabited by familiar characters such The upheaval and inconsistency are
lihood the last people ever to see the as Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and Ja- becoming a turn-off, says Grace Ran- “Now the priority is making money, not necessarily
movie. The week before, Warner Bros son Momoa’s Aquaman. In that uni- dolph of YouTube channel Beyond the building up subscribers,” says Belloni. “So if they can make
had announced that Batgirl would verse, last time anyone checked, Ben Trailer. “DC fans are like: ‘How am I go- a few hundred million dollars in theatres, they’re going to
never be released but would instead Affleck was Batman – and possibly still ing to get invested in something that do that, and then the movie will go to streaming.” Batgirl
be destroyed, buried, perhaps read its is. I don’t know if it’s going to even con- was always intended as a direct-to-streaming movie for
last rites and cremated in a little bat- tinue? Fans only have so much band- HBO Max, and was therefore deemed expendable.
shaped coffin. It’s a similar story with Batman’s width for any kind of comic-book pro-
Seldom, if ever, has a studio spent nemesis, the Joker. In the DCEU, he ject, and Marvel takes up a lot of band- Belloni has met Zaslav a few times, he says. “He’s very
$90m (£79m) on a movie only to scrap was played by Jared Leto. In Pattin- width these days.” forceful, very confident in his beliefs. He is a corporate
it before it ever saw the light of day. Es- son’s Batman, there were hints of a manager, he is not a creative person – he will be the first to
pecially not one that was widely antic- new Joker, played by Barry Keoghan The movie Warners was banking on tell you that.” But Zaslav has been conducting a listening
ipated (it was a superhero movie with (who featured in a deleted scene). On to straighten out this plate of fran- tour of Hollywood over recent months. “So he’s making all
“bat” in its title), and which was set top of these we have Joaquin Phoe- chise spaghetti is The Flash, centred the right moves for someone to come in and run a compa-
to be a standard-bearer for inclusion. nix’s Oscar-winning Joker, which has on Ezra Miller’s super-speedy teen- ny like this, but he is an outsider.” Another anonymous Hol-
Batgirl herself was played by Domini- no connection to any of the above. ager. Currently scheduled for release lywood figure put it less generously: “Zaslav doesn’t know
can-American actor Leslie Grace – who Where Marvel’s superheroes all exist in June 2023, The Flash is already five what he doesn’t know.”
would have become one of the first La- in the same well-ordered universe, DC years behind schedule, with a budg-
tino screen superheroes. And Batgirl’s fans must increasingly resort to a cork et rumoured to have spiralled beyond There is another figure who looms large over the DC
best friend, Alysia Yeoh, was played by board and a ball of red string to figure $300m – but the movie has run into franchise’s woes: Kevin Feige – the producer who has so
Ivory Aquino. Both the character and out who’s who, where, and when. even deeper problems. successfully stewarded Marvel’s superhero universe on to
the Filipina-American actor are trans the screen. To many, Warners’ real problem is that it has
women – another first. Other recent DC movies have been In the past year, Miller has been in- never found its own Feige. They tried to put Snyder in the
For good measure, Batgirl’s direc- decidedly hit and miss. Wonder Wom- volved in a string of concerning inci- role, but that didn’t work out.
tors were Moroccan-Belgian duo Adil an, Aquaman and Shazam!, were all dents, including allegedly burgling a
El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. El Arbi was on hits; Birds of Prey and The Suicide house in Vermont, arrests for assault, Their nearest equivalent is Walter Hamada, head of
his honeymoon in Morocco when he Squad, both of which introduced harassment and disorderly conduct, Warners’ DC films division, but Hamada has neither the
received the news. “They said they’re whole new teams of superheroes, were and accusations of having groomed an creative latitude nor the deep comic-book knowledge that
gonna kill the movie, and when I heard misses. Sequel Wonder Woman 1984 18-year-old Native American woman Feige enjoys, says one creative who has worked on both
that I was shocked because I didn’t also bombed in 2021, and now sequels over several years, using a mix of “vio- Marvel and DC movies. “The people that work at Marvel
even realise that was a possibility,” he to Shazam! and Aquaman have been lence, intimidation, threat of violence, know their universe by heart – they live it,” they say. “Peo-
said on Instagram. Fallah added: “It pushed back – the former to March fear, paranoia, delusions, and drugs”. ple like Kevin Feige, they came from below. Their baseline
was painful, I was emotional, it was 2023 and the latter to December 2023. is, they’re fans. I do not feel like Walter Hamada and the
shocking, especially for our crew and These are not the kind of head- people running DC were fans of the material.”
cast.” DC fans have grown accustomed to lines any movie would want its star to
The news was also met with alarm this level of chaos. Since the high point be associated with, least of all one on According to one insider, Batgirl directors Fallah and El
throughout Hollywood. “It’s viewed of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight tril- which the fortunes of a multibillion- Arbi repeatedly pushed to change the script to include
very negatively in the industry,” says ogy (with Christian Bale as Batman), dollar franchise hang. The decision to more action scenes, but Hamada refused. “It was the op-
one insider who worked on Batgirl (and the brand has regularly announced stick with The Flash makes the optics posite of Marvel, which was open to ideas and changing
did not wish to be named). “Almost grand plans and projects, only to aban- of the Batgirl cancellation look even things.” Furthermore, where Marvel share assets, such as
everyone that I’ve talked to – from pro- don them and change course. A dec- worse. As one insider puts it: “You’ve virtual props and sets, across movies, no such cooperation
ducers to executives, agents, artists, ade ago, for example, inspired by the got this borderline criminal headlin- exists in the DC universe. So while the makers of The Bat-
designers, writers, directors – they’ve success of Marvel’s Avengers saga, DC ing The Flash and you cancel the mov- man constructed an atmospheric Gotham City, this was
all said that’s the most f****d-up thing set out to build its own interconnected ie with the Latina woman and the trans not shared with the Batgirl team, who had to build their
they’ve ever heard. To me it’s a sign movie series, largely under the stew- co-star?” own Gotham from scratch.
that Warners haven’t really learned a ardship of director Zack Snyder. But af-
damn thing.” ter rebooting Superman (with Henry So why was Batgirl cancelled? A key In August, Zaslav announced a “reset” for the DC fran-
The Batgirl fiasco is yet another in- Cavill) in 2013’s Man of Steel, Snyder’s factor is the recent shake-up at Warn- chise, and said it would be building “a team with a 10-year
dicator that all is not well with the DC 2016 superhero smackdown Batman er Bros. In April, the company merged plan”, very similar to the structure that Disney put togeth-
franchise. To be honest, it rarely has Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (with Af- with Discovery group to form a new er for Marvel. Hamada is expected to leave, but Warners
been. DC is one of the best known fleck as Batman) was criticised for be- media conglomerate, Warner Bros Dis- is struggling to find a replacement. The role is being de-
brands on the planet – home to house- ing glum, murky and hypermasculine. covery, with a new boss: former Discov- scribed as “the best job in Hollywood that nobody wants”.
hold-name characters like Superman, “About as diverting as having a porce- ery CEO David Zaslav. Confronted with
Batman and Wonder Woman. DC in- lain sink broken over your head,” com- a $55bn mountain of corporate debt, In the meantime, DC takes another roll of the dice this
vented both the superhero (with Su- plained the New York Times. Zaslav promised to make $3bn of initial month with the release of its latest superhero extravagan-
perman’s comic-book debut in 1938), savings. In cancelling Batgirl, he turned za, Black Adam. Again, the character – an ancient Egyptian
and, arguably, the superhero movie Then DC’s big team-up movie, Jus- the project into a $90m tax write-off. antihero with powers to rival Superman’s – is practically
(with 1978’s Christopher Reeve-led Su- tice League, was abruptly taken out of From a financial standpoint, the film is unknown, but he is, at least, played by megastar Dwayne
perman). And yet Warner Bros, which Snyder’s hands by Warners mid-pro- worth more dead than alive. Johnson, who has big plans for him. “I just didn’t want to
has wholly owned DC since 1990, has duction and passed on to Joss Whe- make a one-off,” said Johnson at San Diego’s Comic-Con
consistently struggled to capitalise on don, director of Marvel’s Avengers Warners’ stated reason for Batgirl’s in July. “We wanted to create a Black Adam movie that be-
it. While arch-rival Marvel has translat- movies. The result was another criti- cancellation, though, was “a strate- came not only the bedrock but it also became the plat-
ed its back catalogue into a succession cal and commercial disappointment, gic shift as it relates to the DC universe form to launch other characters off of.”
of interconnected, well-received and which left the grand, unified vision in and HBO Max”. What this means is that
incredibly lucrative movies and small- tatters. Zaslav is effectively turning the ship There is talk of a follow-up movie, in which Black Adam
screen series over the past 15 years, 180 degrees. “For the past three to four would face off against DCEU core characters such as Bat-
DC has been one step behind – and all “It’s been a challenge for DC to years, Warner Bros has been ‘all in’ on man, Wonder Woman and Superman (Cavill is rumoured
over the place. maintain momentum and put togeth- streaming,” explains Matthew Belloni, to pop up in Black Adam). So don’t put away the red string
At present, the DC extended uni- er a consistent string of critical hits and founder of Puck newsletter and former just yet. As usual, nobody has any idea how the DC uni-
box office successes, and this has cre- editor of the Hollywood Reporter. verse is going to pan out.
ated frustration for fans,” observes Paul
Dergarabedian, senior analyst at me- Outflanked by rivals like Netflix and “Right now, they’re at a crossroads,” says Randolph.
dia analytics firm Comscore. “A wildly Disney+ during the pandemic, Warners “There are two choices: either let Dwayne Johnson take
concentrated on building up its own over if Black Adam is a big hit. Or, I recommend that they
streaming platform, HBO Max. The stu- completely scrap everything else and just go forward from
[Pattinson’s] The Batman and build off of that universe.”

Funeral screenings notwithstanding, a resurrection for
the DC franchise is entirely possible. In mid-August, Miller
reportedly met with Warners to engineer a “course correc-
tion” and salvage The Flash. Miller (who uses they/them
pronouns) issued a public apology for their behaviour and
said they were seeking treatment for “complex mental
health issues”.

Warner Bros also signed an exclusive deal with The Bat-
man’s director, Matt Reeves, reaffirming its commitment
to creatives and all but guaranteeing a sequel. A Joker se-
quel is also in the works, with Lady Gaga cast alongside
Joaquin Phoenix. It is rumoured to be a musical.

Arch-rival Marvel, meanwhile, is in danger of losing fans
with its endless sequels and spin-offs – most of which
conform to Disney’s family-friendly ethos. DC was always
the darker, edgier, more grownup label. And as Joker and
The Batman have shown, there is a sizeable non-fan audi-
ence out there who just want to go and see a standalone
movie without feeling they need to have watched 20 oth-
er movies first.

The disjointedness of the DC universe could yet prove
to be an asset, says Belloni. “It’s a limitation but it’s also
a freedom to a certain extent. Disney could not make an
R-rated Joker movie. That’s not part of the Marvel brand.
Warners has the ability to go there with its key characters.
Could DC be more successful? Sure. DC is not in a horrible
place here. It’s doing fine. They just want it to be better.”

— the Guardian

SPORT October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 23

Zinedine Zidane: Face of multi-cultural France and
star of Les Bleus’ 1998 World Cup triumph

Back then they called him Yaz, the 10-year-old boy from the
concrete high rises of northern Marseille who watched France
fizzle and burn at the 1982 World Cup, and whose humble de-
sires were for a leather football and a bicycle rather than Bal-
lons d'Or and immortality.
We know him as Zinedine Zidane, Zizou, the man who finally delivered
Les Bleus' World Cup dream in the summer of 1998 to a euphoric nation
unified by their football team's success.
It was not always like that for Zidane. A second-generation Algerian im-
migrant, he got his first taste of football on the tough council estate of La
Castellane, where unemployment was high and opportunities were low,
and only joined his first club in the same year his national team suffered a
crushing semi-final penalty shootout defeat by Germany in Seville.
It was not always like that for France, either. A country troubled by ra-
cial tension it was divided over the question of immigration, with far-right
politicians such as Jean-Marie le Pen stoking the argument by claiming
a team made up of players of New Caledonian, Spanish, Caribbean, Sen-
egalese, Ghanian, Armenian, Portuguese and Argentine heritage did not
represent the nation.
But as more than a million joyous fans gathered on the Champs-Ély-
sées to celebrate their newly-crowned heroes' success in 1998, it was the
son of a north African warehouseman's face that was beamed on to the
Arc de Triomphe.
"Merci, Zizou," it read. "Zidane president!"
The kid called Yaz, the one who honed his craft on the dusty streets of
a Marseille housing project, had scored twice in a 3-0 victory over Brazil
in the final at the Stade de France, casting himself forever as the nation's
darling - their footballing beau idéal.
"Even if you dream about it, think about it, want to do it - you tell your-
self it is not possible," said Zidane. "And that is why I said afterwards that
in my life nothing is going to be impossible anymore."
Short presentational grey line
Having failed to qualify for the previous two World Cups, the pressure
on the French squad in the build-up to 1998 was immense. Aime Jacquet
took charge of the national side in January 1994, after their failure to reach
the USA tournament, and handed Zidane his debut that August.
The prodigious 22-year-old Bordeaux star came off the bench to score
twice in a 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic and Jacquet noticed some-
thing special - an internal vision and drive.
"Zidane was out of the ordinary, exceptional," said Jacquet. "But he
didn't have his influence yet, he hadn't yet got his personal aura.
"He played football to enjoy himself, he had exceptional skills. Though
he wasn't much of a team player, when he came into the French squad he
joined other talents who took him on to a national level."
Zidane was Jacquet's playmaker by Euro 1996 - taking the mantle from Arturo Brizio Carter flashed a red card that was greet- dro del Piero up top?
Eric Cantona following the Manchester United player's nine-month ban ed by whistles and jeers from the home crowd. Zizou was back. His stealth-like movement saw him
Following then Fifa president Sepp Blatter's instruc- evade the frugal Azzurri backline twice in the opening
for karate kicking a fan - as France reached the semi-finals in England.
But as Les Bleus flailed and floundered between tournaments the press tion for officials to "get tough" it was one of five red minutes, pulling a shot wide after a cushioned touch,
began to turn on the national team boss and, as a World Cup on home cards that day, with three players also sent off in Den- but a game of few chances finished goalless after ex-
soil lurched into the foreground, sports newspaper L'Equipe was leading mark's draw with South Africa. tra time.
But it was also a reminder that if you peeled away Head to toe in France's white second strip - just like
the calls for him to go.
The media labelled Jacquet "ill-prepared" and "Paleolithic", and such the balletic beauty of Zidane with an Adidas Tricolore that fateful night eight years later against the same
was the relentless nature of the negative coverage even some players be- match ball at his feet, there was the tough kid from a opponent - he finally beat Gianluca Pagliuca from the
came apprehensive. Marseille estate and a raw layer of rage ready to bub- spot as the game went to penalties, sending the Ital-
But Jacquet was resilient, and training camps in the Alps helped fos- ble up and sting the opponent who provoked it. ian stopper the wrong way with a confident strike. He
Beneath the cool, composed on-field persona, Zi- raised his arms to the crowd.
ter 'le collectif' philosophy of solidarity, team-work and generosity, with a dane was sensitive about his family and heritage. He'd Lizarazu's poor penalty was saved, but Fabien Bar-
leading role for one man: Zidane.
"I have known Zidane since we were kids, we played together coming even punched an opposition player for mocking his thez immediately denied Demetrio Albertini before
through, and I realised quite quickly when I was part of his team that it is ghetto roots at Cannes and spent those early days Luigi di Biagio rattled the decisive effort against the
great for him to be the key player, he is going to control the game," former learning to battle his temperament. crossbar.
The sending off was one of 14 red cards in his career, France had equalled Michel Platini, Alain Giresse and
France defender Lilian Thuram told BBC Sport.
"We realised Zidane was the player who was going to make the differ- the last of which remains the most infamous of all - Zi- co from 1982 in reaching the semi-finals and there was
ence. We all had roles to play but he was the one that would really take us dane's final act as a footballer was a headbutt to Italy a carnival atmosphere building in the country. Hun-
to another level - if we were going to win this World Cup it was for the rest defender Marco Materazzi in France's World Cup final dreds of fans were greeting the team bus as it passed
of us to do our jobs to allow Zidane to shine." defeat by Italy in 2006. through towns and villages, and the players began to
The image of his humbled figure trudging past notice that the diverse French population was cheer-
Zizou was the slightly balding poster boy, a relatively late bloomer - or
rather a talent that remained unboxed until he was signed by Cannes as a world football's glittering prize at Berlin's Olympiasta- ing them on in unison.
teenager and given a platform on which to flourish. dion will be forever etched in his legacy. "Africans, Algerians, Arabs, Moroccans were all at
In Paris, Zidane stared at the official who waved his their window with French flags, they were mixing with
By France '98 he had arrived at Juventus via Bordeaux, established him-
self as one of Europe's most electrifying midfielders - technically sublime arms and encouraged the midfielder to leave. The French people and everyone was singing together and
- and went into the tournament on the back of successive Scudettos and Frenchman bowed his head and walked towards the everybody had their faces painted in blue, white and
as a Champions League runner-up. touchline, bottom lip pulled tightly over the top one, red," defender Marcel Desailly told the BBC documen-
"What he can do with his feet, some people can't even do with their straight past Jacquet who did not even glance at his tary that followed France at the tournament.
hands," said Thierry Henry in the BBC documentary France: Black, White star charge. The party would continue as right-back Thuram
The 26-year-old took his shirt off, threw it across the emerged an unlikely hero in a 2-1 semi-final victory
and Blue. "He was just magical. Sometimes when he plays with the ball, it changing room floor behind him and stood for a mo- over Croatia to take France into their first World Cup
seems like he's dancing."
Short presentational grey line ment, then sat solemnly with his head in one hand, final. President Jacques Chirac, dressed in a French
Fittingly, France kicked off their tournament on a Friday night in Mar- alone and cut off from the noise outside as Henry and football shirt, entered the dressing room after the win,
seille at the Stade Velodrome, where Zidane's childhood idols Jean-Pierre Lizarazu completed a 4-0 rout. shaking Zidane's hand and kissing Barthez's head, as
"When I got back to the dressing room, I felt terri- the whole country became immersed in the football-
Papin and Enzo Francescoli had strutted their stuff - the latter whom he
named his eldest son after - and across the city from his childhood neigh- ble because I had let my team-mates down and I was ing frenzy.
bourhood where he daydreamed of playing in World Cups. going to miss games," said Zidane. "I didn't feel good Short presentational grey line
Zidane, blue number 10 shirt untucked and hanging loose over his bag- about it all." France versus Brazil was the final everyone wanted,
Thuram did not blame his companion: "There is no including former Uefa president Platini who years lat-
gy white shorts, curled a corner on to the head of friend and former Bor-
deaux team-mate Christophe Dugarry to put France 1-0 up against South need for the player to talk or the other players around er said "we did a bit of trickery" to avoid the teams be-
Africa - the pair having gone separate ways after a dual move to Black- him, these are things that happen and everyone ing on the same side of the draw, and the players got
burn Rovers failed to materialise - and the hosts went on to win 3-0. turned to how do we overcome it - how do we win a taste of the nation's anticipation as they made their
It settled some nerves, the French team got back in the changing room without Zidane?" way to the stadium.
Outside the camp, it was a carrot for Le Pen and his "What surprised me was the people in the street,"
feeling stronger and were in a buoyant mood, singing and dancing after supporters. Inside, Jacquet was worried. France had said Zidane. "Black, white, brown. I was in the bus,
getting their campaign up and running.
Six days later came Saudi Arabia at the Stade de France in Paris, with Zi- lost their star man for two games. right at the back, I turned around and looked behind
The first of those was the final group fixture which, and there must have been more than 500 motorbikes
dane again at his creative best. With the visitors already down to 10 men,
he flicked a delightfully deft pass down the line to another former Bor- having already qualified, the hosts won 2-1. But the following us. It was incredible, really incredible."
deaux team-mate Bixente Lizarazu, and the left-back teed up Henry for next pitted France against Paraguay in an edgy last- While Zidane may have been his nation's poster boy
France's opener before half-time. 16 tussle, which an anxious and tetchy Zidane watched the Selecao had their own global superstar in Ronaldo,
Jacquet had pleaded with his side beforehand to "stay serene, don't from the sidelines. Eventually, his side scraped through who had already scored four goals during the tourna-
get sent off" and they looked to be coasting when David Trezeguet nod- thanks to Laurent Blanc's Golden Goal in extra time. ment.
If Paraguay had posed a problem, how would France Come matchday, however, rumours reached the
ded in a second, but with 19 minutes remaining Zidane's fragile tempera-
ment shattered as he stood on Saudi midfielder Fuad Amin during a fair- fare against an Italy side boasting the likes of Paolo French dressing room that the Inter Milan striker was
ly innocuous challenge. Maldini and Fabio Cannavaro in defence, and Chris- unwell so would not feature.
The nation paused, a collective intake of breath, before Mexican referee tian Vieri and Zidane's Juventus team-mate Alessan-

October 19 to 25 2022 Weekly Digest 24

Raza embodies Zimbabwe’s
mission to make the Super 12s
Sikandar Raza told Ian Bishop "I won't be cele-
brating this victory," immediately after Zimba- freedom that turns over towards reckless[ness]. We've tak- Raza knew it would take a lot of time — 18 months —
bwe beat Ireland in their T20 World Cup open- en it upon ourselves as senior guys and said as much as and a lot of effort. He put it all in and is now almost unrec-
er. Except he did. Dave has given us freedom, we will take accountability for ognisable. His run-up is more front on. And he starts with
Fifteen minutes before the match ended, that freedom as well." the ball behind his back, keeping his arm fairly straight
Raza completed the catch that gave Zimbabwe the ninth throughout his delivery stride. If this reminds you a little of
Irish wicket and Blessing Muzarabani, his third. Raza was Houghton has cultivated a "DavBall", if you will, style Sunil Narine, it's because the West Indian played a key role
at backward point when Mark Adair created too much of play which encourages his batters to play expansively in the Raza redesign.
room for himself to properly hit a slower ball on fourth and without fear that a mistake could get them dropped
stump and tamely lobbed it to the fielder instead. The from the side. This is why they never took a backwards "I don't think I have any other option," Raza said. "After
catch was fairly routine but the Irish lower order was de- step against Ireland, whose plan to bounce out the oppo- those two surgeries, I lost a lot of strength in my shoulder.
laying a Zimbabwe triumph and Raza roared in relief be- sition backfired. I couldn't really get my hand up and when I did, I felt like
fore being surrounded by his smiling team-mates. there was not a lot of zip on the ball. The ball wasn't com-
According to ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball data, Raza ing out at a pace I wanted. Sunil has played a huge role. I
Their celebration provided a reminder that this Zimba- scored exactly half his runs — 41 — with the pull shot. Zim- was at CPL and I was watching him very closely and bug-
bwe side has learnt to have fun again, even though they babwe's line-up as a whole scored 77 runs off the pull, ging him, asking him a lot of questions."
are taking the first round of the T20 World Cup entirely and 111 off the pull and cut combined. "It's a risk-reward
seriously. They didn't travel to Australia to play just three thing," Raza said. And some of those risks brought hand- Apart from ensuring he can contribute in both disci-
matches and everyone from coach Dave Houghton to some rewards. plines, which is what Raza wants to do, the other advan-
captain Craig Ervine and now Raza has emphasised that tage of changing his action is that it allows him to hide the
they will only consider themselves part of the tournament When Raza hit the innings' first six, he sent a Curtis ball — which comes in quite handy now because he bowls
if they get to the Super 12s. And on the evidence of the Campher short ball to square leg. There was a fielder sta- a lot more than just off breaks. Raza bowled three overs
first game, they have the ingredients, and at least one very tioned there but he backed himself to clear him and he in Hobart and claimed the key wicket of George Dockrell
special one, that can help them get there. did. Later in the same over, Raza hit a Campher off-cutter with a ball that he flicked from the front of the hand, like a
wide of deep backward square. A fielder ran around but carom ball.
Raza has emerged as their superstar and is having the couldn't get to it.
kind of year cricketing dreams are made of. He has scored "Just being an off spinner without any variation is quite hard
three hundreds in six ODI innings and five fifties in nine Raza's ability to time the ball well enough for it to reach to survive white-ball cricket. That thought led to the variations
T20I innings which puts him sixth on this year's high- the boundary, even on big outfields, and his strength in and again Sunil has played a huge role as well," he said. "I met
est run-scorers' list, with the second-highest strike rate clearing the rope hasn't come about by accident. "A lot of him at BPL and had a very good chat with him. And now to
among the top 10 - 154.52. these things we speak about happen behind the scenes. see some of the variations coming out of the hand really nice-
It's how I train and what mind-set I have when I go into ly is quite pleasing."
He has been an international cricketer for nearly 10 years the nets," he said. "What we see in the match — that's
and he is batting like it, with authority and control. But showtime. A lot of the planning, the work, and what is re- Just before picking up his wicket, Raza had been off the
also there's an ebullience to his stroke play which can be quired during the match is done behind the scenes in the field, tending to some cramp. "The body is just breaking up,"
traced back to the new coach. "Houghton has given us nets. If I have to put it down to something, it's how I train he said, and then quickly found reasons other than age for
freedom. He has allowed us to bloom and play with re- that allows me to play my game slightly better." the discomfort he was in. "I was a bit ill-disciplined with hy-
sponsibility and freedom," Raza said. drating." Monday was just the start for Zimbabwe. "When we
An even better example of the work Raza is doing is not qualified as much as we were happy to be here, we knew our
But not at all costs. to be found in his batting but his other skillset: his bowl- journey is not done," Raza told Bishop and the host broad-
"We enjoy that freedom but it comes with accountabil- ing. After undergoing surgery to remove a malignant tu- caster. "The goal we have is to get into the Super 12s and take
ity as well and we want that. We don't have to have that mour from the bone marrow in his shoulder, he was faced on some of the big teams and see where we go."
with a choice: give up bowling, or change his action. That
classical offspinner's action — espncricinfo