Issue 593

If you are buying or selling food, prevent cholera by: ▶ Washing hands before touching food and after using the toilet ▶ Washing utensils, food ingredients and cutlery with soap and clean water ▶ Cooking food well and keeping it at a safe temperature ▶ Not allowing sick people to prepare or handle food ▶ Using latrines or burying your feces ▶ Sanitizing shared washrooms of restaurants or warehouses Cholera Sources of infection Foodborne and waterborne, transmitted by consumption of contaminated food and drink contaminated with the bacterium Types of exposure & prevention Actions to take in case of symptoms: If you are experiencing symptoms of cholera, seek medical advice immediately. Avoid cooking and serving food to others, as doing so will lead to more infections. Symptoms Diarrhea that looks like “rice water” in large amounts Vomiting Leg cramps Weakness Dehydration Information for food handlers Direct contact with bacterium in water or food. It can spread very quickly, especially in conditions created by emergencies. Cholera can be fatal. Vibrio cholerae. If you are buying or selling food, prevent cholera by: ▶ Washing hands before touching food and after using the toilet ▶ Washing utensils, food ingredients and cutlery with soap and clean water ▶ Cooking food well and keeping it at a safe temperature ▶ Not allowing sick people to prepare or handle food ▶ Using latrines or burying your feces ▶ Sanitizing shared washrooms of restaurants or warehouses Cholera Sources of infection Foodborne and waterborne, transmitted by consumption of contaminated food and drink contaminated with the bacterium Types of exposure & prevention Actions to take in case of symptoms: If you are experiencing symptoms of cholera, seek medical advice immediately. Avoid cooking and serving food to others, as doing so will lead to more infections. Symptoms Diarrhea that looks like “rice water” in large amounts Vomiting Leg cramps Weakness Dehydration Information for food handlers Direct contact with bacterium in water or food. It can spread very quickly, especially in conditions created by emergencies. Cholera can be fatal. Vibrio cholerae. US$1 ZWL$1600 ISSUE 593 May 19 - 25 2023 What does Nadal still have in the tank?— Page 24 6 166000 04890 0 6 166000 04890 0 6 166000 04890 0 6 166000 04890 0 6 166000 0 4890 0 6 166000 04890 0 ESTABLISHED 2011 If you are buying or selling food, prevent cholera by: ▶ Washing hands before touching food and after using the toilet ▶ Washing utensils, food ingredients and cutlery with soap and clean water ▶ Cooking food well and keeping it at a safe temperature ▶ Not allowing sick people to prepare or handle food ▶ Using latrines or burying your feces ▶ Sanitizing shared washrooms of restaurants or warehouses Cholera Sources of infection Foodborne and waterborne, transmitted by consumption of contaminated food and drink contaminated with the bacterium Types of exposure & prevention Actions to take in case of symptoms: If you are experiencing symptoms of cholera, seek medical advice immediately. Avoid cooking and serving food to others, as doing so will lead to more infections. Symptoms Diarrhea that looks like “rice water” in large amounts Vomiting Leg cramps Weakness Dehydration Information for food handlers Direct contact with bacterium in water or food. It can spread very quickly, especially in conditions created by emergencies. Cholera can be fatal. Vibrio cholerae. If you are buying or selling food, prevent cholera by: ▶ Washing hands before touching food and after using the toilet ▶ Washing utensils, food ingredients and cutlery with soap and clean water ▶ Cooking food well and keeping it at a safe temperature ▶ Not allowing sick people to prepare or handle food ▶ Using latrines or burying your feces ▶ Sanitizing shared washrooms of restaurants or warehouses Cholera Sources of infection Foodborne and waterborne, transmitted by consumption of contaminated food and drink contaminated with the bacterium Types of exposure & prevention Actions to take in case of symptoms: If you are experiencing symptoms of cholera, seek medical advice immediately. Avoid cooking and serving food to others, as doing so will lead to more infections. Symptoms Diarrhea that looks like “rice water” in large amounts Leg cramps Vomiting Weakness Dehydration Information for food handlers Direct contact with bacterium in water or food. It can spread very quickly, especially in conditions created by emergencies. Cholera can be fatal. Vibrio cholerae. Like and follow us on Strength in numbers THE sitting President of Mozambique and leader of FRELIMO is Filipe Nyusi and his historic State visit to Zimbabwe shows the excellent relations enjoyed by both countries before and after independence. We at The Patriot have always said that, historically, the people of Zimbabwe and Mozambique are one. To date, we have many Zimbabweans whose origins can be traced back to Mozambique. Our ties date back to pre-colonial times as we were all part of the Munhumutapa Empire. And we later fought side-by-side to dislodge white minority rule in our respective countries with Mozambique attaining independence on June 25 1975 and Zimbabwe on April 18 1980. Mozambique’s FRELIMO and Zimbabwe’s ZANU and ZAPU were more-or-less one entity whose main objective was to defeat the white settler-regime. Therefore, it is imperative to appreciate the unconditional love we got from Mozambique as she never let us down even after attaining independence in 1975. And Mozambique’s first President Samora Machel’s words must forever be engraved in the hearts and minds of all Zimbabweans. He was the wise man from the East who fought for the emancipation of black people without fear or favour. He was a revolutionary who saw it fit to stand by l To Page 8 A bond of blood EDITOR’S NOTE

2 THE PATRIOT NEWS May 19 - 25 2023 By Golden Guvamatanga THE pointed accusations by US Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety against his host nation, that it had supplied weapons and ammunition to Russia for use in its special military operation in neighbouring Ukraine, was an attempt to cow the SADC nation into submission and an escalation of Uncle Sam and Western countries’ long-held project of subduing former liberation movements across the continent. While Uncle Sam was threatening South Africa, in Europe, the UK’s Defence Minister, Ben Wallace, was announcing that his country had sent long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine. The missiles, Wallace said, “...are now going into or are in the country itself...,” said a report by The Guardian. “We simply will not stand back while Russia kills civilians,” Wallace said. Curiously, the report stated that the US had endorsed the UK’s ‘support’ for Ukraine. The West, particularly Uncle Sam, are miffed by South Africa and Africa’s neutral stance on Russia’s operation in Ukraine while also trying to intimidate the Southern African economic powerhouse from hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin who will attend the BRICS Summit in that country in August. The Western-funded ICC last month issued multiple warrants of arrest against President Putin. In February, South Africa conducted joint military naval exercises with China and Russia which drew the ire of Western countries that want the unwilling world to endorse their support for Ukraine. On the other hand, the liberation struggle project, mainly in Southern Africa, presents an unwanted barrier to Western countries’ neo-colonial agenda, especially in times like these where the global political and economic landscape is gradually shifting to a tenable and equality-driven multipolar world. Two critical issues drive the West’s desire to annihilate the liberation struggle project. First, the desire to regain control of natural resources in the region, with the emergence of lithium as a key global metal threatening to leave them behind in the looming global economic structure. Second, the coming into the fore of China as a global economic powerhouse that has made significant partnerships with the peoples of Africa as opposed to the West’s continued interference in the internal affairs of other nations as well as its incessant funding of conflicts on the continent presents an extraordinary threat to their waning interests. Hence Brigety’s menacing outburst against South Africa — and the rest of l To Page 3 Insight into Western duplicity In February, South Africa conducted joint military naval exercises with China and Russia. US Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety.

May 19 - 25 2023 NEWS THE PATRIOT 3 l From Page 2 the developing world. Not even his subsequent, seemingly embarrassing withdrawal of those dreadful statements will dilute the now brazen fact that US is coming after South Africa with all its might. The message, niftily concealed in details of Brigety’s hawkish statement, was loud and clear, and worrying, especially to those who have borne the brunt of Uncle Sam’s aggression. It is also quite suprising especially for Mr Brigety who is not only a diplomat but an African albeit American. He must surely be aware that before he represents White Capital he is a black man and is very aware of the history of his people. He is aware of the racist laws that not only bind the blackman in his adopted nation-America but also extends to nations on his continent of origin, Africa. It is ironic and hypocritical that Mr Rueben Brigety who wrote an essay in defence of the Black Lives Matter movement after the death of George Floyd in 2021 online journal Ethics and International affairs quoted the renowed W.E.B. DuBois statement, “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line’, stating that America was still struggling with racism well into the 21st Century. He writes about the importance of redressing the past and yet cannot see how Africa is fighting for its own redress. Countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe, among others, have fought and sacrificed lives to shake off colonial administrations and apartheid and are still fighting for their sovereinity and the right to decide whom and what entities they want to form ties with. They too, just as white capital seeks profit and prosterity, trying to survive. “To say that ‘Black Lives Matter’ is another way of saying that people of African descent—who have hopes and dreams, love and fears, work and faith, purpose and meaning—have value and significance, and that their full being deserves a place of priority in our consciousness, which cannot be dismissed without consequence,” he writes in the 2021 article. Brigerty adds, “The first thing we must do is to be uncompromising in facing the facts of historical and continued inequities related to race in our society, and to follow the truth wherever it may lead. This is work that is potentially uncomfortable and even painful. It requires us to revisit received wisdom, recognizing that such wisdom may have been received when important perspectives were inadvertently or deliberately excluded. Yet understanding the full truth of our history and our present is essential for building a better tomorrow.” Zimbabwe, which has been on the West’s radar over the past two decades, can attest to this pervasive fact. China and Russia’s longstanding relations with Zimbabwe and South Africa, dating back to the days of the liberation struggle, do not sit well with Western countries’ regime change agenda, particularly in Harare where they intend to reverse the Land Reform and Resettlement Programme of 2000. The after effects of the two global giants’ support for Zimbabwe and South Africa's quest for freedom are still being felt in Western corridors. In recent times, there have been strenuous attempts by Western-funded individuals to drive narratives that seek to obfuscate the heroics of Zimbabwe and South Africa’s liberation fighters. The opposition in Zimbabwe is ably supporting those provocative narratives, even bizarrely trying to portray Ian Douglas Smith as a better leader who ‘cared’ for the people of this country. “There is a narrative reigning in opposition circles. It says all stories related to the liberation struggle are stale and sterile, indeed self-titillation by a dying generation seeking to cheat time and extort past glory against present failures,” wrote @Jamwanda2 in Saturday’s issue of The Herald last week. “Until this changes-which is to say until ZANU PF accepts and embraces its historic mission to re-narrativise and mythify its painful Struggle, mythify the victory it won, it remains fated to get wretched anti-nation opposition personified by the likes of Chamisa and Biti, who will forever be fired and legitimised by Rhodesia’s ever-swelling historiography, so full of hyperbole and colour, yet daily reshaping outlooks.” This is the outlook that Uncle Sam is trying to present through his vile threats to South Africa’s historic ties with Russia. And Brigety, a blackman trapped in whiteman's soul and thinking, is tasked with issuing that threat, to try and cut a history whose scars are still visible to date. Brigety claimed that South Africa had loaded military equipment onto a Russian cargo ship, Lady R, at the Simon’s Town naval base, near Cape Town from December 6-8 2022. “Amongst the things we noted were the docking of the Russian cargo, Lady R in Simon’s Town between December 6 and December 8 2022, which we are confident uploaded weapons, ammunitions as it made its way back to Russia,” Brigety said in a media briefing on Thursday last week. “We are confident that weapons were loaded on to that vessel and I would bet my life on the accuracy of that assertion. The arming of Russia by South Africa with the vessel is fundamentally unacceptable.” Later on, US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel buttressed Brigety’s reckless utterances, stating that his country would speak out against any country supporting what he described as Russia’s illegal and brutal war in Ukraine. Those threats will not scare those born out of the vagaries of the liberation struggle. But as has always been the case with Uncle Sam, he creates a mess and wants to drag everyone into it. In Zimbabwe, the West’s anti-people project will be brought to halt in August when their party, CCC, will be buried for good. In South Africa, those threats will be ringing hollow in the ears of those who are eternally connected to the fight against apartheid when the ANC wallops Western opposition in that country in next year’s elections. Insight into Western duplicity Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The UK is the first nation known to have supplied Ukraine with long-range weapons, such as the Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

4 THE PATRIOT MOZAMBICAN PRESIDENT FILIPE NYUSI’S STATE VISIT May 19 - 25 2023 President Emmerson Mnangagwa re-engangement drive paying off.

May 19 - 25 2023 OPINION THE PATRIOT 5 By Prof Artwell Nhemachena WESTERN media’s reports on violence give the false impression that colonial and imperial violence ended at the time Zimbabwe, and other African States, got political independence. And so, any violence witnessed in Africa is often incorrectly described as African violence even if it is in fact colonial or imperial violence which manifests in Africa as African violence. In other words, violence that occurs in Africa is not necessarily African — it is proxy violence — much as the terrorism that occurred in the US on September 11 2001 was not American. If terrorists, including Al Qaeda according to the US, could be so much a threat to the US that they could destroy the World Trade Centre right within the US, why would violence and terrorism that occur in Africa be simplistically assumed to be African? The problem in Western media reports is that they are quick to Africanise violence, to describe violence as African merely because it is manifesting in Africa. They ignore the fact that even foreign spirits are manifesting in Africa and in Africans – even when it is known that they are not African. They forget that when Africans are possessed by foreign spirits, such that they oppose everything African, peace becomes impossible in Africa. They ignore the fact that terrorists from outside Africa are exporting, and can export and outsource, their violence to Africa, including in the most insidious ways. Terrorists need not be the usual Al Qaedas or ISISs. In Africa, slave hunters and colonialists are the terrorists that have, for centuries, executed overt and covert operations everywhere on the continent. Even in the 21st Century, the reason some Africans are afraid to repossess their land which was stolen by colonialists is because of fear of escalations in colonial terrorism, including via impositions of sanctions. Africans do not need Western media to define Al Qaeda and ISIS as terrorists. Africans know who has terrorised them for centuries. Africans in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Mozambique, among others, know that it is logical and lawful for them to repossess their land but they are afraid of escalations of imperial terrorism via sanctions, embargos and travel bans, among other punitive measures. Similarly, Africans know that real good governance would have to be premised on repossession of stolen African land, yet those in the West who define good governance ignore the imperatives of restitution. Sanctions are imposed not in order to help Africans but in order to terrorise them so much that they begin to fear demanding their resources which were stolen during colonialism. Of course, Western States fool some Africans by arguing that sanctions are meant to force those who repossess their resources to return to the rule of law, democracy, human rights and good governance. The only difference between Westerners, and Al Qaeda as well as ISISs is that the l To Page 11 The violence of keeping what one has stolen Sanctions are imposed not in order to help Africans but in order to terrorise them so much that they begin to fear demanding their resources which were stolen during colonialism.

6 THE PATRIOT HOMECOMING May 19 - 25 2023 By Dr Tafataona Mahoso THE interface between media and society is shifting daily due to rapid changes in digital technology; and the realities of convergence in technology, in content and in markets means that media issues overlap with security issues. For instance, the portrayal of drug culture and young people is a media issue as much as it is a security issue. The larger questions constituting our global context The American Psychological Association recently issued an advisory recommending that parents, guardians or mentors should monitor children's use of social media very closely, until the children reach 15 years of age. At present, Zimbabwe lacks the technology to erect a national firewall or a series of gateways to control internet traffic. Such control would make it possible for the country to compel big entities such as Google to register and enter into agreements with the State on what is to be allowed into Zimbabwe's cyber space and what is not allowed. In the absence of such controls, there is a need for an interim national strategy to cope with an open, free for all internet environment. At a different level, Zimbabwe needs a strategy for navigating the technology wars: first between the US and China; and second, between the US and Europe, on one side, and the Russian Federation, on the other side. India has somewhat remained neutral, but needs watching, for the purpose of enabling ourselves to understand how our technology acquisition and our media-and-society, media-and-security interfaces will be affected. The NATO war against Russia over Ukraine is turning out to be a media war as well, exposing Africa's failure to disengage from Western media hegemony which impacts mindsets among our people. There is a real need, in terms of daily media practice, to counter-balance the NATO view of the Ukraine conflict with Latin American and Asian views, especially because of parallels being drawn in the US and European media between Ukraine and Taiwan. Lastly, there are probably huge lessons to be learned from the contrasting cases of Israel and Iran with regard to digital technology, security and the media. Israel has remained heavily embedded within the US-NATO sphere while Iran has been forced, by the same US-NATO, to remain fiercely non-aligned. Which model is Zimbabwe pursuing? The current paradox for Zimbabwe, Africa At the 2023 Transform Africa Summit held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, on April 26, Rwandan President Paul Kagame spoke of the need for Africa to 'embrace digital technology' in its artificial intelligence form in order to enable this continent to 'leapfrog' its current underdog status in the global economy and become competitive. For him, the bottleneck was that at least 60 percent of the African population had no access to 'smart' digital gadgets or broadband. But on the ground, we are still struggling to supply minimum requirements for electric energy. The Rwandan leader's lament implied that Africa would match its competitors' productivity somehow at that point when close to 100 percent of its population would have acquired smart technology. But waiting for smart gadget saturation of the population before leapfrogging Africa's underdevelopment did not sound l To Page 10 African liberation media: Part Two …Africa's position in a digitised economy Zimbabwe lacks the technology to erect a national firewall or a series of gateways to control internet traffic.

May 19 - 25 2023 THE PATRIOT 7 Chenana Brick-by-brick – DIARY – Tawanda Chenana Reforming for our own good Bulawayo Kraal Irrigation Scheme in Binga is 87 percent complete. AS the winter season commences, we, in the village, get to play and interact a lot, around the hearth. With the bumper harvests from the last summer cropping season we swap stories, tichikanga mhandire nenzungu. And they are beautiful stories, all round. Steel giant Dinson Iron and Steel Company hires 1 400 workers; work to upgrade Victoria Falls Hospital from a 40-bed hospital to a state-of-the-art health facility with more than 250 beds expected to start soon; Bulawayo Kraal Irrigation Scheme in Binga is 87 percent complete with the contractor now connecting electricity to pump stations; Zim assembles 200 buses; Gweru hospital to revive orthopaedic technology services; Zim, Rwanda seal three more deals — what more can a nation ask for? Work is happening, progress is being recorded. In the village, we cannot agree more with His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa when he says: “The real ‘big thing’ then are not those ephemeral challenges, which we will soon overcome. The real ‘big thing’ is a firm and tenacious belief in ourselves as a people and an awareness and confidence that our God-given means and resources are the sole motive force for our growth and development. Belief in ourselves as vene venyika yokwedu; as true bearers of the burden of rebuilding and growing our country: for ourselves and posterity…we must, thus, keep the national eye on the ball, so temporary challenges or even setbacks never make us despair. Or lose sight of the bugger vision. Brick-by-brick, step-by-step and unity, we will get there.” And all that is required of us is to be fully supportive of ongoing development efforts. We are charting our path as a nation, on our own, as a people; we are tired of models of development used in Africa coming from the West. As a nation, we should take pride in the fact that the standards for measuring development are not coming from the West but determined by us. The West has always decided which countries are developed and which ones are not; which peoples are developed and which ones are not, with it being the ideal of human development. But not in Zimbabwe. Westernisation has been the agenda cloaked in the attractive word of ‘globalisation’. The message has been clear, since slavery. African countries are not developed, but are developing and they will be deemed fully developed when they catch up with the West and become Western. The West has been made the standard of human development, the idea of what developed human beings look like. And Zimbabwe is changing that narrative, creating an African story that will inspire the rest of the downtrodden. What do the West think about people of colour? Let us hear their philosophers and missionaries speak: This is what Albert Schweitzer said: “The negro is a child, and with children nothing can be done without the use of authority. With regard to the negro then, I have coined the formula: I am your brother, it is true, but your elder brother.” David Livingstone: “We come among Africans as members of a superior race and servants of a government that desires to elevate the more degraded portions of the human family.” Friedrich Hegel: “The only significant relationship between negroes and Europeans has been, and still is, that of slavery. The negroes see nothing improper about it. It has awakened more humanity among them.” Rudyard Kipling: “I knew then the meaning of the whiteman’s duty — the power of being in a little way a king; and so long as we know this and practise it, we will rule not in Africa alone, but wherever there are dark men.” Frederick Lugard: “In Africa, there is among the people a natural inclination to submit to higher authority. That intense detestation of control, which animates our Teutonic races, does not exist among the tribes of Africa.” It is clear that Western theories and standards of development are contemptuous of the African. They are meant to strip the African of his/her humanity and enslave him as an animal to work for the economic well-being of the West. They have nothing to do with human development that Africans have known and practised throughout the ages before the advent of colonialism and capitalism in Africa. Indeed, as put across by our visionary leader President Mnangagwa, we are reforming for our own good. “Zimbabwe continues to reform itself, not for any other reason but that it needs those reforms to improve its self-won democracy and to better meet the everchanging needs and expectations of its citizenry. The source of those reforms are our people; it is not exogenous or set for us by outsiders, something that would be anathema to our sense of selfworth and sovereignty,” said President Mnangagwa. Let us take heed of these wise words.

8 THE PATRIOT LEADER May 19 - 25 2023 EDITORIAL Editor: Prof. Charles Pfukwa [email protected] Deputy Editor: Christian Mutseyekwa [email protected] Assistant Editor: Knowledge Teya [email protected] News Editor: Evans Mushawevato [email protected] Chief-Sub-Editor: Melinda Chikukura-Teya [email protected] Senior Sub-Editor: Elton Ziki [email protected] Sub-Editor: Lancelot Musemwa [email protected] NEWSROOM Senior Reporter: Golden Guvamatanga [email protected] Reporter: Shingirirai Mutonho [email protected] Reporter: Gracious Mugovera [email protected] Reporter: Emergencey Mwale [email protected] Reporter: Elizabeth Sitotombe [email protected] Photo Journalist: Fidelis Manyange [email protected] Photo Journalist: Sheldon Hakata [email protected] Photo Journalist: Columbus Mushore [email protected] MARKETING & ADVERTISING Sales & Marketing Manager: Terry Manala [email protected] Advertising Executive: Plaxedes Chizarura [email protected] Sales & Marketing: Lilian Mapingure [email protected] DISTRIBUTION & SUBSCRIPTIONS 42 Selous Avenue, Harare Tel: 024 - 732313, 024 - 708337 COMMENT EDITOR’S NOTE with Prof Pfukwa A bond of blood THE recent lie by US Ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government had supplied weapons and ammunition to Russia, to help it in its war against Ukraine, is yet another example of how the West is trying to destabilise Southern African governments by former liberation movements. The blatant lie is said to have ignited currency chaos in SA as the rand plunged to a new ‘all-time low’. Of course the creation of economic chaos is one of the major tactics of creating political instability in a country. And it is instability the West wants to prevail in countries governed by former liberation movements in Southern Africa. The West has always wanted governments formed by former Southern African liberation movements to fall. The reason is their desire for economic control. This region is one of the richest parts of the world in natural resources, and the West has been dying to control its governments.Their dream leapt out of control when the region got its independence through arms of war supplied mainly by China and Russia. And the turf war between the West and socialist China and Russia is well documented. With SA failing to ‘condemn’ Russia for its ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine, and President Ramaphosa appearing ready to host President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS Summit soon to be held in SA, Uncle Sam’s patience seems to have reached breaking point. So a blatant lie by Brigety, designed to throw the rand into turmoil, with the subsequent consequences, was one such measure. And yet Zimbabwe, another Southern African country governed by a former liberation movement, is not new to these antics. When Zimbabwe exercised its Sovereign right to equitably distribute its land to its people, crippling sanctions were imposed by the US and its Western allies. And of course no sane imperialist imagined, even for a moment, that the revolutionary land reform programme would be reversed. Rather it was meant to be a deterrent. They thought the punitive sanctions would discourage other governments, especially those by former liberation movements, from repeating the same prescription. The same governments of former liberation movements were expected to learn of consequences expected from siding with Russia. But then this bullying is not limited to SA and Zimbabwe only. Mozambique is no exception. Millions died when Western sponsored RENAMO launched a brutal civil war from 1975 - 92. RENAMO is a Western- backed anti-revolutionary movement which was financed by Western capital to stop FRELIMO from liberating the country from colonial rule. The creation of Western proxies to stop genuine freedom fighters from achieving genuine independence is a common phenomenon in the politics of Southern Africa. We should never believe that the insurgence that erupted in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Province after the discovery of Africa’s biggest gas reserves, surprised the Americans. The West are good at creating chaos to justify interference. It is under such situations that exploitation of resources thrives. Never be fooled and imagine that the AFRICOM military base in Botswana, right in the middle of Southern Africa, is meant to bring peace in the region. These bases are meant to be near these ‘hated’ governments of former liberation movements just in case there is an opportunity to destroy them militarily. And we know the opening of the AFRICOM office in the US Zambian Embassy is a precursor to the opening of a full-time military base. Even the latest US$292 million US Embassy in Zimbabwe, one of its largest in Africa, is a false spoor misleading the world that it is a symbol for its love for Zimbabwe. It has turned out instead to be a haven for mischievous elements from puppet opposition parties to fine tune their regime change agenda. It is gratifying, however, that, to date, attempts to dislodge governments of former liberation movements in this part of the world have so far hit a brick wall, if we are to go by results at polls. FRELIMO of Mozambique, ANC of South Africa, SWAPO of Namibia and MPLA of Angola have all routinely trounced opposition parties at general elections since independence. This doesn’t sound very encouraging for our own Nelson Chamisa. Zimbabwe is heading for harmonised general elections sometime in August and for CCC to expect ZANU PF to be the first former liberation movement in Southern Africa to fall at the polls, that might be overly optimistic. Liberation parties remain popular l From Page 1 Zimbabwe by all means necessary. Unfortunately, he was assassinated six years after Zimbabwe gained independence (October 19 1986), but his legacy remains, not only in Mozambique, but in Zimbabwe too. That is why, in Zimbabwe, we have a major road named after him, and it is in that road we erected the statue of our liberation icon Mbuya Nehanda. That is why, soon and very soon, we shall have Machel’s liberation monument in Zimbabwe because there is every reason for him to be immortalised. The following is what Machel said in 1974: “Some of us when we look at the situation in Mozambique, we realise if we liberate Mozambique tomorrow that will not be the end. The liberation of Mozambique without the liberation of Zimbabwe is meaningless.” He was right. Mozambique is the comrade-in-arms who would never let us down. That is why thousands of Zimbabweans crossed the border into Mozambique, especially after 1975, to join the liberation war. We now had a neighbour we could use as a launch-pad for our struggle for independence. That is why we established schools in the struggle there. That is why we had so many training and refugee camps there. We had Chimoio, Tembwe, Nyadzonia, Doiroi, Chibawawa and Pasichigare, among others. This, however, came at a cost. Rhodesians, having realised the impact of Mozambique in Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence, resorted to genocide as they targeted numerous camps holding Zimbabweans. They killed thousands at Chimoio and Nyadzonia, among other camps, but this did not derail the liberation war. To date, we have brothers and sisters, children, fathers and mothers, and many other cadres interred in numerous shrines in Mozambique. They lie in marked and unmarked graves there and we go there regularly to pay homage because their efforts were not in vain. That is why it is important for us to cement our relations with Mozambique and that is why it is crucial to explain to our children the bond we cherish with our neighbour. President Emmerson Mnangagwa could not have put it any better that there is a bond of blood between Zimbabwe and Mozambique. “There is a bond of blood between the two Republics, and this is what we must keep as a legacy from one generation to another,” he said. “This State visit is a demonstration of that bond. We are doing our best to promote synergies, in particular in the area of economic cooperation so that we can assist each other in developing our respective economies.” A bond of blood

May 19 - 25 2023 THE PATRIOT 9 Our readers can send feedback through this platform by sms to : 0719 274 006/ 0772 597 266 Your Say... LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to The Editor should be brief. Writers should use their real names although pen names can be used on request. The Patriot reserves the right to edit for publication. DID YOU KNOW? “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” — Proverbs 3:5-6 “Nature has given us all the pieces required to achieve exceptional wellness and health, but has left it to us to put these pieces together.” —Diane McLaren Letter of the Week God’s note this week Inspirational quote EDITOR — ANYONE who owns land is not, and can never be, poor but is rich beyond measure. We are very grateful to His Excellency for availing 10-ha plots to youths in Matabeleland South. Land is a tangible investment and an asset that keeps increasing in value over time. Land ownership provides the owner with financial security and contentment. Land, everywhere in the world, is in high demand, is bought for thousands of dollars and, in our motherland, it is being availed to youths at no cost. We have been given an opportunity to become millionaires. With a precise plan and clear objectives, land can generate and sustain livelihoods for generations. And we are blessed in that land is not just being given to us and it ends there; Government has in place many agricultural programmes and support facilities to ensure that our land becomes highly productive. Through land, our youths are becoming their own bosses, living off the land. The most basic African grievance over land was that the white settlers, by dispossessing Africans of their land, had set up a society and property ownership system where white parents could count on leaving a substantial inheritance to their children and grandchildren while the African parent became a sheer burden for his or her children to support in old age. Land is the foundation of all other means of production and sustenance, and those who control its ownership and use control and direct society and its values. Through the Agriculture and Food Systems Strategy, Government had targeted a US$8,2 billion agricultural industry by 2025 but the target was reached in just one year in 2021. Statistics from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development indicate that the industry grew by a staggering 36,2 percent to US$8,19 billion in 2021 and continues to grow. And now youths are being put at the centre of this beautiful agriculture story — they are not being left behind. On January 7 2022, President Mnangagwa launched the Provincial Integrated Youths Skills Development Centres (PIYSDC) which sought to enrol more than 5 000 youths from across the country to equip them with agricultural skills. More than 700 heifers have since been distributed to youths across the country under the Presidential HeiferPass on Scheme. What more do we need to succeed — how can we not be grateful, Vakomana nevasikana, what more do we need from our leader who is doing everything humanly possible to prop us up. Let us do our President proud! — Sipho Gumede, Did you know Garrett Morgan only had an elementary school education and yet he created several inventions, such as the gas mask and the improved sewing machine? Morgan witnessed a severe car accident at an intersection and invented the ‘yield’ component of the traffic light in 1923 to warn drivers when they should start slowing down to a stop. — source bahaiteachings.org/african-american-inventions Thank you Mr President for the land Agriculture is a key component of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS 1) which will run from 2021-2025. Ensuring youths are active participants in this highly lucrative sector is guaranteeing sustainable development. — Tawanda Dapi, Shurugwi ************************ Despite their dispossession, or rather because of it, vana vevhu understood that one could not control one’s environment and its ecology without controlling one’s own land and its usage. We will do our leadership proud on the pieces of land availed to us. — Patriotic Youth ************************ Reclamation and redemption in the African land revolution means transforming the once stolen land into a real field for the renewed African heritage. It was the fountain and foundation of nutrition, cuisine, poetry, music, dance, sculpture, landscaping, weaving, arts and crafts. This revolutionary concept about land, space, culture and expression is on the resurgence worldwide and it informs the global ecology movement. How fortunate I am to be born Zimbabwean. — Tarasana Dambaza, Chegutu ************************ A fellow comrade during the liberation struggle once told me: “Don’t get lost in sorrow comrade.” We are still at war for the Rhodies and neo-colonialists have not given up. We have to understand our situation that way. We must remain vigilant and not get lost in difficulties. — Cde Ropa, Chishawasha ************************ We have attained, and are in the process of attaining, things a sanctioned and shackled nation should not have been able to achieve. We have gone against the odds and prevailed; we will never be a colony again! — Chenai Mazodze, Highfield ************************ Indeed, Zimbabwe is a country wanting more than the crumbs from the West, but an economy sustained by a thriving, not destitute indigenes. United we will go far as a nation. Aluta Continua! — Getrude Karonga, Mwenezi ************************ Every citizen must march in sync to the development agenda; we cannot afford to fold our hands and wait for others to do the work. Zimbabwe needs you and me, it needs all of us. Let us pay heed to these wise words. — Tanaka, Chiweshe

10 THE PATRIOT HOMECOMING May 19 - 25 2023 l From Page 6 like an original and pro-active strategy. It was merely a statement of good intentions with no prospect for fulfillment in a reasonable time-frame. And it was not clear whether or not there was a continental African digitisation framework which took into account global trends and developments as well as economic realities on the ground. Whatever the complexities of the subject were, it struck me that the Transform Africa Summit was still talking about scarcity of technology and gadgets at a time the philosophers and prophets of digitisation and the future were already regretting the 'Infoglut', 'Data Smog', social fragmentation and polarisation blamed on the proliferation of the same digital technology and the resulting phenomenon of social media. It appeared as if Africa's position in a digitised economy was being defined for it from elsewhere, hence the ambiguous mantra of 'embracing technology'. Conflicting perspectives on digitisation, AI and the future Any African strategist looking at ways to obtain optimal benefits from scarce or expensive technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) must take into account the fact that there are bound to be at least five perspectives on the same. There are views of the visionary, often idealistic creators and designers of the technology who, like Geoffrey Hinton (who just quit Google in order to be free to speak openly against AI abuses) and Chat GPmaker Sam Altman. These and a few others are surprised, even shocked, at the socially and politically destructive uses to which their inventions are being applied. They feel morally obligated to distance themselves from the harmful consequences of their inventions and even to campaign against the alleged abuses. There are views of investors and manufacturers interested in at least recovering the costs of their investment, making a profit, gaining market share and achieving dominance against their competitors. Then there are salespersons, advertisers and middlemen whose duty is to exaggerate wonders of the new gadget (s) and to promote the idea that every individual must have his or her own AI equipment before society can really reap the full benefits. The work-at-home campaign, once made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic, has also been oversold by salespersons and other publicists. Then there is the perspective of the policymaker and regulator, who are supposed to represent society at large and its future, but who may be subjected to biased training and even inducement by powerful commercial interests fighting for market share. And then there are views of end-users which may also vary, depending on the sector where the technology is to be applied. At the 2023 Transform Africa Summit, it was not clear which of these perspectives the Heads of State and Government had gone to Victoria Falls to represent. They definitely did not speak for the 60 percent of the povo who have no access to 'smart technology' and broadband. And that is a huge challenge for nation building. Why the different perspectives matter Perhaps to illustrate why the various perspectives are important and why we should develop our own, I should repeat that there are at least two media and technology wars going on simultaneously which Zimbabwe, in particular, and Africa, in general, cannot afford to ignore. The first is between the US and China. The second is between the US and Europe, on one hand, and the Russian Federation, on the other side. The first war directly affected other countries because it involved US sanctions on components of the same digital gadgets President Kagame was talking about. Take US sanctions on HUAWEI, for instance. Zimbabwe's digitisation project in the media sector was spearheaded by HUAWEI in 2015. That was before the Trump administration and its escalation of the US-China war over digital technology. US sanctions on digital technology determine what components we can use in the digital machinery we purchase and the costs we are forced to pay. According to Interesting Engineering. com for May 6 2023, there is a Chinese report jointly published by China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Centre (CVERC) and cybersecurity company '360'. In an Interesting Engineering.com article titled 'Empire of Hackers', the report contradicts allegations previously made by the US and its allies during the Trump administration, accusing China of engaging in rampant espionage and theft of intellectual property using digital technology. Now the Chinese study alleged that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has almost complete global control over the internet and the Internet of Things (IoT): "They have now covered almost all Internet and IoT assets globally, allowing (seeking) control over foreign networks and theft of important sensitive data at any time..Targets of these attacks include critical infrastructure, aerospace, research institutions, oil and petrochemical industries, large internet companies and government agencies in various countries. These attacks can be tracked back to 2011 and have continued...." According to the Chinese report, the sensitive information from espionage activities is routinely submitted to the US President and to Congress to guide foreign policy and security decisions. Inclusion of these perspectives is intended here to serve as a warning to those who are fond of singing the sponsored mantra of global 'free-flow of information'. Awareness of such perspectives should serve to strengthen our focus on African liberation media as a model. As analysis of the Rhodesian struggle against African liberation media shows the Rhodesians believed they were ahead and Africans, as usual, were far behind, even in terms of media and communication. But that view was not real, as Julie Frederikse demonstrated in her book 'None but Ourselves: Masses versus Media in the Making of Zimbabwe, 1982'. Indeed, the linearist ambition or myth of total imperial control of information and communication systems on a global scale is clearly tempered if not contradicted by recent events. The outcome of the US-UK invasion of Iraq in 2003 exposed the bankruptcy of both imperial ambitions and Western journalism in relation to other societies and cultures. The 2022 US pull-out from Afghanistan exposed the same imperial ambitions and the Western media frame even worse than Iraq had done. In the case of Afghanistan, US allies publicly criticised the US Government for failure to know what was happening on the ground in Afghanistan. Neither the intelligence services nor the media could claim that they served their purpose to inform society or the NATO governments involved about what was going on in Afghanistan. But the Taliban and the people of Afghanistan knew what was happening. They knew there would be no NATOinstalled liberal democratic government of Afghanistan to take over the country after the pull out of US-NATO forces of occupation. They knew that the supposed 300 000-strong US-trained Afghan army to replace or displace the Taliban was mostly made up of Taliban infiltrators and proxies. But Washington and Brussels did not know, after 20 years of occupying that country. The embedded Western Press also did not know. So there are serious limits to imperialist ambitions and interventions which small countries such as Zimbabwe should always remember. And the starting point is our own media history. African liberation media: Part Two …Africa's position in a digitised economy ‘The NATO war against Russia over Ukraine is turning out to be a media war as well, exposing Africa’s failure to disengage from Western media hegemony which impacts mindsets among our people’

May 19 - 25 2023 OPINION THE PATRIOT 11 l From Page 5 latter are not given chances to justify their terrorism. It is not for the love of democracy, human rights, rule of law or good governance that Africans have not taken back their land. Rather it is for fear of Western terrorism and vengeance that some Africans consider repossessing their land as unthinkable. Recently, I watched a video wherein some South Africans argued that they do not need their land but they need jobs – and they said they were afraid of what happened in Zimbabwe. Of course, the irony was that they said they do not need their land even as they were eating, sitting and walking on the land – and even as they are buried on the land. In other words, even a worker has to value the land because where there is no land there is no work. Given the importance of the land, one would even have expected xenophobia to be directed at those who took or stole South African land instead of at fellow Africans who are accused of taking away South African jobs. Put differently, it is South Africans who value work more than they value their land who are perpetrating Afrophobia against fellow Africans. If they valued their land more than working for someone else, the violence would not have been directed against fellow Africans. In other words, xenophobia is a sigh of the oppressed creatures who fear repossessing their land. They prefer to repossess jobs instead of repossessing their land. They target those who take away jobs even as they fear those who take away their land. They do not even dare to destroy industrial robots that are taking away their jobs faster than fellow Africans are doing. In fact, there are reports that about 4,6 million South Africans are set to lose jobs due to robotisation of work in the near future. Already, Nedbank South Africa announced it would lay off 3 000 South African workers as it begins robotising or employing robots. But there hasn’t been xenophobia against robots that are speedily taking away South African jobs. Without jobs and without land, South Africans will begin to value the Zimbabwean land revolution because Zimbabweans will, at least, have land when they lose jobs to robots. Xenophobia, which is targeted at fellow Africans, is merely following a line of least resistance in the sense that the repercussions of xenophobia are very low on those who perpetrate it. But the repercussions of repossessing their land are very high in so far as imperialism would escalate its terrorism and vengeance on South Africans who cannot withstand sanctions, embargos and trade restrictions, among others. Zimbabwe is not an example of Zimbabwean failures or the failure of Zimbabwean leaders. Rather, Zimbabwe is an example of the ephemeral effectiveness of imperial terrorism and vengeance on those who attempt to repossess their land stolen during the colonial era. If there was no imperial terrorism and vengeance, Zimbabwe would have been an example of a Zimbabwean success. The problem is not with what Zimbabweans did in repossessing their land, rather the problem was with the resistance by the farmers who did not want to share the land with indigenous Zimbabweans – and the problem was also with imperial terrorism and vengeance. Zimbabweans, and all other Africans, understand very much the logic of vengeful alien spirits or mashavi that trouble Africans. Fear of alien vengeful spirits (mashavi) explains the absence of initiatives and innovativeness among some Africans. Imperial vengeance stifles African creativity and innovativeness. Indeed, it is the international politics of vengeance that disrupted the Zimbabwean economy. The difference is that Zimbabwean leaders did not fear the alien vengeful spirits when they repossessed Zimbabwean land. Zimbabweans know that the way to deal with vengeful alien spirits is to cast them out rather than fear them. Of course, it is not nice for one to be cast out. But one has to understand the violence of keeping what one has stolen. The most egregious violence is not in the political realms of African States. Egregious forms of violence are in the economic realms where colonialists and imperialists continue to keep what they have, for centuries, stolen from Africans. It is not political violence that constitutes the most egregious harms on democracy, human rights, good governance and rule of law. Economic violence is lethal on democracy, human rights, good governance and rule of law. The point here is that the problem in Africa is not so much about presidents who supposedly stay for too long in power; rather, the problem is that those who stole African land and other resources have kept them for too long. They have stayed for too long with stolen resources, including stolen land. If staying anywhere too long was not good, colonialists and imperialists who have stayed too long with the land which they stole from Africans would have been the first ones to quickly return it. Instead they have, ironically, stayed for centuries with and on the stolen land. Yet Western media only condemn some African political leaders for supposedly staying too long in power. The Western media do not condemn those who have stayed too long on stolen land and with stolen resources. It constitutes violence for those who stole African land to continue keeping it. And Western media must begin to report violence fairly by including, in their catalogues of the violent ones, those keeping stolen land. Violence is everywhere in Africa against Africans who have been dispossessed of their land; only that some Africans are not allowed to conceive the most lethal violence perpetrated by those who are keeping stolen African land. What human rights can Africans have on a continent where they are not allowed to repossess their stolen land? It is ownership of one’s land that defines one as human. The most egregious violations of human rights are committed by those keeping stolen African land. When the Zimbabwean Government repossessed African land, it effectively was enhancing the human rights of those indigenes who had been robbed of their land during the colonial era. Zimbabweans, and the rest of Africans, who do not have vision will not see that the jobs that they are hoping to keep are already being taken away by robots. The visionaries will know that African futures are in ownership and control of African land. Zimbabweans should vote for land and not for the already vanishing jobs. While Western media demonised Zimbabweans for ‘invading’ farms, ironically Western capitalists and media are letting robots invade industries and take away human jobs. Western capitalists seek to keep African land and then employ robots. Those who oppose the Zimbabwean land revolution must ask themselves what is the future of the Africans in such a world where robots are taking over millions of jobs? What will they be left with, if not the land! The violence of keeping what one has stolen ‘In fact, there are reports that about 4,6 million South Africans are set to lose jobs due to robotisation of work in the near future’

12 THE PATRIOT FEATURE May 19 - 25 2023 By Mashingaidze Gomo SOWE rekuDomboshava had been the pastor’s choice. He had said that there was power in those mountains; power to unlock God’s favour. The guide looked towards the glow of Harare in the far south and asked, “Do you know that the guerillas who bombed the Rhodesian fuel depot on December 11 1978 were based here in Domboshava?” Leaning against the skeletal tree that looked like a Martian radio transmitter, the guide talked about the ZANLA feat that turned the tide of the liberation struggle against Ian Smith. A woman’s voice said: “This is quite interesting. You mean to say that those heroes actually walked this land?” “Of course!” The guide turned to face the direction of the voice and proceeded to mention the heroes by name: “There was Comrade Member Kuvhiringidza, Comrade No Rest Muhondo (M90), Comrade Damage Bombs, Comrade States Mudzvanyiriri, Comrade Take Time, Comrade Lobo, Comrade Poison Waungana, Comrade Nhamo and Comrade Brian Chimurenga.” A man’s voice asked: “You mean to say you actually saw those heroes in flesh and blood?” The Pastor got impatient and insisted: “Vanhu vaMwari, let us remain focused on what we came here for. We can talk about all that history on our way down in the morning. Right now we must make sure we get to the top of the mountain by mid-night.” No-one opposed the Pastor. He knelt down and the flock around him followed suit. He raised his voice in prayer and the whole flock followed his example at the top of their voices. A distinct voice shouted for a job. Another declared: “No weapon fashioned against me shall prosper!” Another called upon Holy Ghost fire to burn down mweya yemadzinza Another shout came out distinctly: “Ndinobvuma kusundwa chaiko kuita zvakaipa nemweya yetsvina, mweya yanasekuru.” A man who was not serious stopped shouting and held his mouth in order to suppress a chuckle. Something in the darkness told him he was not the only one struggling to contain a chuckle. The Pastor came to the rescue and shouted: “Amen!” Indivividual prayers subsided to whispers and then silence. Again, the pastor said: “Zviratidzo.” The flock sat up and waited. The woman who wanted to be favoured with a promotion rose up and spoke about another shooting star rising from the east and streaking across the sky, westwards. Another woman said: “I saw armed men pacing restlessly pamusorosoro peNgomakurira.” In the softening darkness, the aspiring Member of Parliament despaired: “Oh, finish!” Another visionary talked about hearing voices of people singing songs of liberation struggle pamusorosoro peNgomakurira. The Pastor appealed to the visionaries: “Please …! Remember what we came here for.” “Tauya kumasowe kwete kupungwe,” a voice chipped in support of the Pastor and everyone, including the guide, could not hold back their laughter. A voice begged to know: “Are visions voluntary or involuntary? Are there visions we are not supposed to tell?” After a long difficult silence, a very calm voice said: “I think every vision is important and must be told. I think no vision comes without reason. Mwari vane chirevo mune chiratidzo chese chavanopa.” General consensus with the calm speaker was assumed from the silence. The silence continued as if awaiting the Pastor’s response. He said nothing and the guide rose up and led the laboured climb up the mountain. The rising moon was softening the pitch darkness cast by the mountain. Features of the mountain and figures of the flock seeking God’s favour from the sanctity of the mountain were becoming less grotesque and less difficult to identify. The rock sentinels remained on eternal stand-to. Discrepancies started appearing between the appearances suggested by the voices that had confessed cardinal sins in the pitch darkness of the lower slope and the real appearances of the sinners cleansed by the rising moon on the upper slope were interesting. The sinners became progressively smaller as the moonlight shed shades of sin from their bodies. Powdery clusters of stars hung in the far night sky sown in disorderly fashion by a mysterious celestial hand. The shabby woman who wanted the favour of promotion had seen rogue versions of those stars rise in the east and streak westwards across the night sky. The old guide remembered that in another culture, a pop culture worlds removed from the spiritual aura yeDomboshava, a British rock band called Bad Company had, in the second half of the 1970s, offered the world a hit song called Shooting Star. He remembered the lyrics and smiled. “Johnny was a school boy when he heard his first Beatles song Love Me Do, I think it was and from there it didn't take him long Got himself a guitar, used to play every night Now he's in a rock & roll outfit, and everything's all right Don't you know? Johnny told his Momma, Hey Momma I'm goin' away I'm gonna hit the big time, gonna be a big star someday Momma came to the door with a tear drop in her eye Johnny said, Don't cry Momma smile & wave goodbye Don't you know, yeah, yeah Don't you know that you are a shooting star Don't you know, don't you know Don't you know that you are a shooting star And all the world will love you just as long As long as you are....” The old guide also remembered that his own brother had also left to join the struggle for Zimbabwe then. He had been mobilised by a song brought in by the comrades: “Amai nababa musandicheme Kana ndafa nehondo Ndini ndakazvida kufira Zimbabwe Pamwechete nevamwe...” The old guide remembered that the Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation had played, the Bad Company 'Shooting Star' incessantly, as if to lure the restless black youths from confrontational nationalism. And, in the Bad Company hit song, Johnny had made it big and the emptiness of the stardom had driven him to drugs and suicide: “Johnny died one night, died in his bed Bottle of whiskey, sleepin' tablets by his head Johnny's life passed him by like a warm summer day If you listen to the wind, you can still hear him play Woah... Don't you know that you are a shooting star Don't you know, don't you know...” And in war-torn Rhodesia, the comrades had had another hit song: “Tinofa tichipinda mu-Zimbabwe Kudzamara tinosvika kuna Zambezi...” And after the war, the guide’s family had waited in vain for the hero’s return. And it had taken quite a while to accept that the hero had paid the ultimate price for the liberation of Zimbabwe. The old guide found the irony of it disturbing kuti whilst the 1970s' British youths were dying from the abuse of surplus squeezed from British colonies, black youths in the colony of Rhodesia were dying from bullet wounds fighting artificial poverty created by that scandal. He called for a rest, not because he thought the flock needed it but in order to give himself the chance to straighten the whole thing in his head. The pastor called for a song yenyasha and a good singer raised one. The song faded out of the old guide’s consciousness and he thought of the irony of it all … The independence of the prayer warriors had not come as a favour; his own brother had paid the ultimate price for it. The irony of it was that he was guiding the beneficiaries of the independence to seek God’s favour to go back into bondage; seeking God’s favour not for a place on the table but to eat the crumbs that fall from the table of white supremacists. The very same ones who had killed his brother. He was guiding the prayer warriors to seek God’s favour for visas to go and restore black servitude in the slave-master’s home! To be continued... Cde Lobo. Gueriilas hit a Rhodesian fuel depot in Salisbury (Harare) on December 11 1978. Favour in context: Part Three ...of ignorant independence beneficiaries

May 19 - 25 2023 COLUMN THE PATRIOT 13 l From Page 12 Of the more than 200 controlled substances listed, UNDCP emphasises opium-heroin, coca-cocaine, cannabis and amphetamine-type stimulants due to their importance for both developing and industrialised countries.  Illicit drug trafficking takes place in most countries of the world. Few countries are immune to drug abuse problems. Indeed, in most countries, what were formerly thought of as ‘safe places’ (religious, penal or educational institutions) all now have some form of drug problems. Illicit traffic in drugs is now common in prisons because a significant percentage of inmates are drug abusers. Illegal importation and distribution, a criminal activity, frequently involve foreigners; individuals acting alone do not usually move significant quantities of drugs. Hence the focus on control of supply is normally on organised groups or cartels. Traffic patterns tend to follow drug types and country of origin. For example, cocaine trafficking begins in the AndeBy Dr Tony Monda ALTHOUGH drug abuse is common among all age groups, it occurs more frequently among young adults. During the late 20th Century, increases were noted in illicit drug demand in most countries in the Americas and in Eastern Europe, where it was attributed to the socio-economic crisis affecting these regions and to high unemployment in particular.  In Africa, including Zimbabwe, substance abuse is on the increase. Projections estimated a 40 peercent increase from 2018 to 2030 — the largest increase globally. Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to have the highest increase when compared to other regions in the world. Moreover, East and West Africa have been identified as key players in the distribution of drugs. This is concerning, particularly given the expected global increase in the prevalence of substance use disorders (SUDs) due to the prevailing socio-economic crisis in Zimbabwe, heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic.  In Zimbabwe, mounting reports of dangerous drug abuse paints a worrying picture of the escalating prevalence of substance use, with over half the people admitted to mental health institutions experiencing a substance-induced disorder. The situation is further compounded by the treatment gap for mental, neurological and substance use disorders, with sub-Saharan Africa having the largest gap globally due to mass emigration of mental health professionals and significant underfunding for mental health services. To address substance use disorders, following the global focus on mental health and the desire to achieve equitable access to mental health services for mental, neurological and substance use disorders is WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health: Universal Health Coverage for Mental Health, launched in 2019.  Zimbabwe, a low-to-middle income country (LMIC), in the sub-Saharan Africa region, was one of the early adopters of this initiative, despite experiencing significant economic, social and political challenges over the past few decades. Despite these challenges, the country showed its commitment to strengthening mental health systems through the National Strategic Plan for Mental Health Services (2019-2023), which is in synergy with the goals of WHO Special Initiative.  Currently, to effectively address substance use, the Government of Zimbabwe, with the First Lady Amai Auxilia Mnangagwa in the lead, has shown a firm resolve to tackle substance use in the country head on. However, reports of a substance use crisis in Zimbabwe are predominantly based on anecdotal evidence, limiting the ability to gain an accurate picture of the situation. With a paucity of drug and alcohol specialist treatment facilities in Zimbabwe, the situation for managing SUDs is also likely to be worsened by reports of the country becoming a hub for drug trafficking, whereby drug runners are reportedly compensated for their services using drugs; thus increasing the availability of drugs in local communities.  A paper originally commissioned by the UN International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) drafted by independent consultant Jean Paul Smith, former consulting Psychologist and Senior Policy Analyst at the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Washington, for the ‘World Summit for Social Development’, held at Copenhagen in March 1995, analyses social aspects of many of the principal issues involved in drug abuse and drug control that are of concern to organisations of the UN system and other inter-governmental organisations.  According to the Paper: “The global changes which have allowed people, goods and money to move from one country to other cheaply and easily have also had other consequences. They have made the differences and inequalities around the world more apparent and more unacceptable. In many cases, the differences between rich and poor grow wider. Moreover, a number of developing countries, especially those in Africa and selected countries in Latin America and Asia, have largely missed out on the benefits of increases in world trade and investment and consequent economic growth. In some cases, this has been the result of political instability, ethnic conflict, natural disasters or mismanagement of the economy. Whatever the reason in a given country, the lack of economic progress has put such countries in a financial bind and frequently placed severe restrictions on government services available to the most vulnerable segments of the population. In this context, both the nation State and its individual citizens have become more vulnerable to the temptations of money from illicit drug production and trafficking and to the acceptance of illicit drug profits by financial institutions or as direct investment....” Illicit drugs include the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances listed in the schedules of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, and that Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol and the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971. l To Page 22 l From Page 12 Demystifying dangerous drugs:Part Two ….a post-COVID-19 scourge in Zimbabwe Some youths experimenting with intoxicating substances.

14 THE PATRIOT May 19 - 25 2023 Notice is hereby given that an application, in terms of Section 53 of the Liquor Act (Chapter 14:12) will be made to the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, for the issue of a Bottle Store License in respect of premises situate at Zamchiya Business Centre, Chipinge, Manicaland, trading as Zithutha Bottle Store, for Tachiona Zithutha. All persons who have any objections to the application may lodge their objections, in writing, with the Secretary of the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, not later than May 26 2023. Tachiona Zithutha, 19a Fairfield, Hatfield, Harare. Notice is hereby given that an application, in terms of Section 53 of the Liquor Act (Chapter 14:12) will be made to the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, for the issue of a Bar License in respect of premises situate at Stand 938, Nembudziya Growth Point, Gokwe, trading as Sunnyside Sports Bar, for Earnest Matereke. All persons who have any objections to the application may lodge their objections, in writing, with the Secretary of the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, not later than May 26 2023. Earnest Matereke, Svibe High School, P Bag 1021, Nembudziya, Gokwe. Notice is hereby given that an application, in terms of Section 53 of the Liquor Act (Chapter 14:12) will be made to the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, for the issue of a Bottle Store License in respect of premises situate at Stand 439 Chikombedzi Growth Point, Chiredzi, trading as Tivanani Bottle Store, for Washington Sigauke. All persons who have any objections to the application may lodge their objections, in writing, with the Secretary of the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, not later than May 26 2023. Washington Sigauke. Notice is hereby given that an application, in terms of Section 53 of the Liquor Act (Chapter 14:12) will be made to the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, for the issue of a Wholesale License in respect of premises situate at NRZ Complex, Concession, trading as Tasha Wholesale, for Nyasha Bereson. All persons who have any objections to the application may lodge their objections, in writing, with the Secretary of the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, not later than May 26 2023. Nyasha Bereson, House No 657, Kurai Township, Mvurwi. Notice is hereby given that an application, in terms of Section 53 of the Liquor Act (Chapter 14:12) will be made to the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, for the issue of a Night Club License in respect of premises situate at Stand No Lot B; of 14430, Salisbury Township, Harare, trading as Scorpion Empire Marina – Night Spot, for Gilbert Rumbwere. All persons who have any objections to the application may lodge their objections, in writing, with the Secretary of the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, not later than May 26 2023. Gilbert Rumbwere, 10818 Budiriro 5, Harare. Notice is hereby given that an application, in terms of Section 53 of the Liquor Act (Chapter 14:12) will be made to the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, for the issue of a Wholesale Liquor License in respect of premises situate at No 198, Mbare Home Industry Association, Harare, trading as Team Gushaz Wholesale, for Tapiwa Everesto Chisango. All persons who have any objections to the application may lodge their objections, in writing, with the Secretary of the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, not later than May 26 2023. Tapiwa Everesto Chisango, Stand No 19164, Budiriro Cabs Residence, Harare. Notice is hereby given that an application, in terms of Section 53 of the Liquor Act (Chapter 14:12) will be made to the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, for the issue of a Bottle Store Liquor License in respect of premises situate at 87 Chinhoyi Street, Corner Bute, Harare, trading as Mycker Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd, for Mike Tonderayi Mbofana. All persons who have any objections to the application may lodge their objections, in writing, with the Secretary of the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, not later than May 26 2023. Mike Tonderayi Mbofana, 511 / 6th Close, Hatfield, Harare. Notice is hereby given that an application, in terms of Section 53 of the Liquor Act (Chapter 14:12) will be made to the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, for the issue of a Special Bottle Store License in respect of premises situate at 188 Kandeya Business Centre, Mt Darwin, trading as Baduya Bottle Store, for Florence Chimbudzi. All persons who have any objections to the application may lodge their objections, in writing, with the Secretary of the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, not later than May 26 2023. Florence Chimbudzi, 188 Kandeya Business Centre, Mt Darwin. Notice is hereby given that an application, in terms of Section 53 of the Liquor Act (Chapter 14:12) will be made to the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, for the issue of a Bottle Liquor License in respect of premises situate at 114 McChlery Avenue, Eastlea, Harare, trading as Mighty Liquors, for Orex Global (Pvt) Ltd. All persons who have any objections to the application may lodge their objections, in writing, with the Secretary of the Liquor Licensing Board, Harare, not later than May 26 2023. Orex Global (Pvt) Ltd, 114 McChlery Avenue, Eastlea, Harare. In the estate of the late Maxwell Mahari of 82 Queen Elizabeth Road, Greendale, Harare who died at Certurion, South Africa on the 21st day of May 2022. Notice is hereby given the first and final liquidation and distribution plan account in the above estate will lie for inspection for a period of 21 days as from the 19th day of May 2023 at the office of the Master of the High Court, Harare. Should no objections be lodged with the Master within the period of inspection, payments will be made in accordance therewith. Veronica Mahari, C/o Kufaruwenga, Kajevu and Zihanzu Legal Practioners, No 17 Lawson Avenue, Milton Park, Harare . In the estate of the late Thecla Nyakatawa of C/o 17 Lawson Avenue, Milton Park, Harare who died at Rusape on the 28th day of October 2022. All persons having claims against the above-named estate are required to lodge them in detail with the undersigned not later than the 19th day of June 2023, and those indebted thereto are required to pay to the undersigned the amounts due by them within the same period, failing which legal proceedings will be taken for the recovery thereof. All persons having in their custody or possession any property belonging or relating to this estate are required to deliver the same forthwith to the undersigned. Mr N Kajevu, Kufaruwenga, Kajevu and Zihanzu Legal Practitioners, 17 Lawson Avenue, Milton Park, Harare. REGIONAL, TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT (CHAPTER 29:12) NOTICE of an application for a Permit in terms of section 26(3) of the Act Notice is hereby given that Graham and Irene Awudi trading as GI Incorporated wish to make an application lodged in terms of section 26(3) of the Regional, Town and Country Planning Act (Chapter 29:12) as read together with section 29 of the said Act, to carry out the following development on lot 17A Malvern Township Sherwood Waterfalls Harare. It is proposed that the stand be used for Commercial Purpose (night club and bar). The stand is designated for residential use. In terms of the Act, the application is required to be advertised and neighbours notified in writing before being considered by the local planning authority. Details of the application, plans any special conditions which the Authority is likely to impose in the event of this application being favorably considered may be inspected at the Office of the local development plan, Room 216, Second Floor, Cleveland House at Corner Leopold Street and Agostinho Neto Avenue, Harare. Any person wishing to make objections or representations in connection with this application must lodge them with the undersigned within one month of the date of the first insertion of the advertisement. Town Clerk City of Harare 19 LIQUOR NOTICE CLASSIFIEDS INDEX 1 PERSONAL 1.1 Birthdays 1.2 Congratultory 1.3 Weddings 1.4 Deaths 1.5 Condolences 1.6 Funeral Notices 1.7 In Memoriam 1.8 Anniversary 1.9 Memorial Services 1.10Date-line 2 BUSINESS 2.1 Businesses for sale 2.2 Businesses Wanted 2.3 Business Opportunity 3 ACCOMMODATION 3.1 Accommodation wanted 3.2 Accommodation offered 4 PROPERTY 4.1 Houses to Let 4.2 Houses to Rent 4.3 Houses for Sale 4.4 Flats to Let 4.5 Flats for Sale 4.6 Flats Wanted 4.7 Business Premises for Sale 4.8 Business Premises Wanted 4.9 Plots/Farms to Let 4.10 Plots /Farms for Sale 5 EDUCATION 5.1 Tuition Offered 5.2 Tuition Wanted 5.3 Private Tutors 5.4 Commercial Studies 5.5 Secretarial 6 VEHICLES 6.1 Vehicles for sale 6.2 Vehicles wanted 6.3 Vehicle Hire 6.4 Vehicle Maintenance 6.5 Vehicle spares and Accessories 6.6 Motorcycles 6.7 Trucks and Vans 7 JOBS 7.1 Job vacancies 7.2 Job seekers 8 SPECIALISTS SERVICES 8.1 Gardening 8.2 Drive ways 8.3 Building 8.4 Carpentry 8.5 Carpets and Cleaning Services 8.6 Electrical 8.7 Home Decor 8.8 For Hire 8.9 Pest Control 8.10 Borehole Drilling 8.11 Repairs and Services 8.12 Security and Insurance 8.13 Plumbing 8.14 Removals 8.15 Domestic 8.17 Catering 8.18 Other specialized Services 9 MISCELLANEOUS 9.1 Miscellaneous for Sale 9.2 Miscellaneous wanted 9.3 Photography 9.4 Sporting Goods 9.5 Office Equipment 10 COMPUTERS 10.1 Laptops and Notebooks 10.2 Desktop Computers 10.3 Printers and Cartridges 10.4 Computer Training 10.5 Computer Software 10.6 Computer Hardware 10.7 Computer Accessories 11 HEALTHY AND BEAUTY 11.1 Hairdressing 11.2 Masages 11.3 Manicure/Pedicure 11.4 Healthy studios 12 FARMING 12.1 Farming equipment 12.2 Seeds 12.3 Pesticides/ Chemicals 12.4 Poultry & livestock 13 LEISURE 13.1 Holiday and Travel 13.2 Camping 13.3 Boats & equipment 14 CLOTHING 14.1 Ladies and Gents clothing 14.2 Kids wear 14.3 Teenage wear 14.4 Shoes and Boots 14.5 Jewelery 15 ENTERTAINMENT 16 SWOPS 17 CRECHES AND NURSERYSCHOOLS 18 CELLPHONES AND ACCESSORIES 19 LEGAL NOTICES CLASSIFIEDS INDEX Contact: 0773 032 048, 0772 341 232, Tel: 04-732313 / 708337 / 0773032048 /0733 727 091 Classifieds Businesses do not advertise because they are BIG. They are BIG because they advertise. Advertise in The Patriot. 19 ACCOUNT LYING FOR INSPECTION 19 LIQUOR NOTICE 19 LIQUOR NOTICE 19 NOTICE OF PERMIT POSITIVE 133 091 DEATH 4 684 RECOVERED 127 829 TOTAL TESTED 1 518 384 ZWL$ US$1 100 ISSUE 520 November 5 - 11 2021 42 Selous Avenue, Harare; now online: www.thepatriot.co.zw; email: [email protected]; phone: all departments +263-242-732313 Sad day in boxing — Page 24 6 166000 048900 6 166000 048900 6 166000 048900 6 166000 048900 6 166000 048900 6 166000 048900 ESTABLISHED 2011 Like us on Wolves in sheep’s clothing ZWL$ US$1 100 ISSUE 526 December 17 2021 - January 13 2022 42 Selous Avenue, Harare; now online: www.thepatriot.co.zw; email: [email protected]; phone: all departments +263-242-732313 Zambians light up Premier League — Page 24 6 166000 048900 6 166000 048900 6 166000 048900 6 166000 048900 6 166000 048900 6 166000 048900 ESTABLISHED 2011 USA can’t preach democracy Like us on The Patriot wishes you a happy festive season! Stay safe COVID-19 is real. Drive to arrive. The next issue will be on January 17 2022 19 NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND DEBTORS

May 19 - 25 2023 FEATURE THE PATRIOT 15 By Dr Michelina Andreucci THE Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), as a provider of impartial and timely information on markets, food security and nutrition, was instrumental in framing food and agriculture-related responses to the pandemic-induced global food crisis through targeted policy proposals as well as a set of concrete emergency and humanitarian response measures under ‘Leave No One Behind’ (‘LNOB’) — a fundamental aspiration in both FAO’s Strategic Framework and the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Backed by the full strength of FAO’s Strategic Framework, LNOB linked short and long-term measures together to tie in with the 2030 Agenda and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) jeopardised by the pandemic. The ‘Strategic Framework 2022-2031’ was developed to address the implications of COVID-19’s multiple global crises and recovery while accelerating progress towards SDGs through agri-food systems transformation, making them more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. To address the multi-socio-economic impacts of the pandemic and global food, energy and finance crises, FAO and its many partners shifted priorities and directed their support to where and when it was needed most, while ensuring full implementation of its Programme of Work and meeting the targets of its MediumTerm Plan and Strategic Framework. The COVID-19 'Response and Recovery Programme' was designed to proactively address the socio-economic impact of the pandemic in line with the UN’s approach to 'build back better' and to achieve the 2030 Agenda, with the aim to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 on livelihoods and the resilience of the agri-food systems, which, according to UNCTAD: “...uncertainty over the evolution of the pandemic and the restrictive measures imposed at the time, also influenced the ability and willingness of investors to invest in the agri-food sector.” The programme included seven key priority areas, namely economic inclusion; social protection; data for decisionmaking; trade and food safety standards; boosting smallholder resilience for recovery; preventing the next zoonotic pandemic; and the transformation of food systems. Interventions ranged from humanitarian action to longer-term development priorities, including focusing on a 'One Health' approach; making data available, using data and digital technologies and boosting farmer resilience through innovations to assist smallholders, empower women and link social protection to rural-based livelihoods. In alignment with the programme, various organisations adjusted their programmes and resources as well as leveraged new funds to meet the Response and Recovery Programme. 'Humanitarian Response Plans' (HRP) addressed the impact of COVID-19 and other pre-existing shocks and stresses in an integrated manner, reallocating resources to reach 24 million people in situations of acute food insecurity. Additionally, the Response Plans increased safety measures at livestock markets, sensitisation activities among food workers, dissemination of risk communication and community engagement materials, contingency planning for pastoralists’ safe transhumance to winter pastures as well as addressed direct and secondary effects of the pandemic. Based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale, quality data and analyses were made available for decision-making through rapid data collection and provided information on the impact of the pandemic in the 'State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021'. In addition, data collected in 25 Small Island Developing States and Least l To Page 16 The impacts of a global pandemic: Part Seven ...the evolution and uncertainties of the pandemic ‘Most African countries were deemed to be least capable of dealing with any new health threat, further entrenching the perspective of Africa’s lack of preparedness. Africa, as a continent, was erroneously predicted to have 10 million COVID-19-related deaths’ Lockdowns and border closures were implemented soon after the first few cases of COVID-19 were reported.

16 THE PATRIOT FEATURE May 19 - 25 2023 l From Page 15 Developed Countries assessed the latest status on food insecurity at national and sub-national levels. Collaborating with external actors for the development of COVID-19-related knowledge and data services contributed to building a shared understanding about the impact of the pandemic and was very effective in disseminating key messages and supporting their uptake. Co-led by FAO, the UN Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance supported decision-makers in identifying solutions and developing strategies to help countries address the inter-linked crises related to food, energy, finance and health. In 2019, the Global Health Security index ranked countries according to their preparedness for pandemics. The US was identified as the most prepared country, yet recorded amongst the highest mortality rates. Most African countries were deemed to be least capable of dealing with any new health threat, further entrenching the perspective of Africa’s lack of preparedness. Africa, as a continent, was erroneously predicted to have 10 million COVID19-related deaths. However, as of November 13, African countries accounted for only 3,6 percent of COVID-19 cases and 3,6 percent deaths worldwide. Incidentally, while many countries in the Western world failed to immediately implement the known evidence-based interventions, most African countries took the coronavirus issue seriously to protect their populations. Lockdowns and border closings were implemented soon after the first few cases of COVID-19 were reported. As early as March 15 2020, African countries closed their borders, cancelled flights and imposed strict lockdown measures to prevent the influx of the coronavirus. In addition to the implementation of lockdowns, most African countries promptly adopted other evidencebased prevention interventions, such as hand-washing, mask wearing and social distancing to support the strategy of prevention. On March 27, South Africa implemented one of the strictest lockdowns worldwide which contributed in reducing the rate of infections from 42 to 4 percent. In Zimbabwe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared COVID-19 a national disaster on March 17 2020, saying “...the country had escalated its national response to the virus...” after neighbouring countries in the region had reported positive cases. SI 2022-169 Public Health (COVID-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown) (No. 2) (Amendment) Order, 2022 (No. 42) was gazetted on October 7 2022. Rwanda, exemplary during the crisis, implemented lockdown on March 20, six days after the first case was detected and all non-essential travel within the country was banned. Thereafter, lockdowns in regions with high incidence rates were prolonged; opened those with lower case rates and closed popular crowded markets and relocated the traders to smaller markets in less populous areas. Tony Blair in his foreword: 'A COVID-19 Vaccination Plan for Africa' wrote: “It seems likely that the worstcase scenarios regarding COVID-19 in Africa, which seemed all too plausible earlier this year, have not come to pass. African governments must continue to be vigilant and remain committed to testing, contact tracing and other measures aimed at suppressing the spread of the virus and keeping the economy running. Africa’s leaders, experts and people should be congratulated on the systems they have put in place, the lives they have saved and the sacrifices they have made.The next front in the battle against COVID-19 is vaccination. The stakes are high. A successful vaccination programme could reconnect Africa to the rest of the world, while enabling the reorganisation of the continent’s health systems. Falling short could leave the continent in a kind of COVID-limbo, cut off from its markets and customers, with potentially devastating consequences for countries’ economies and development.” With regard to COVID-19 vaccinations, Blair wrote:“Vaccination programmes need vaccines. ... We must recognise that the pandemic has accentuated the unfairness and imbalance in the global system of vaccine manufacture and distribution. Left unaddressed, these may pose a risk to global health resilience in the future. We can only expect more viral pandemics and mobile pathogens in the 21st Century. Countries must again work together to detect and eliminate them. Collaboration is much needed. Since Western countries have jumped the queue and pre-ordered stocks, poorer countries in sub-Saharan Africa will have no choice but to accept the COVID-19 vaccines they are given, regardless of whether they want them or they have been tested for efficacy among their populations. This is not only unfair, it risks increased vaccine hesitancy among those countries' populations. In the medium to long-term, with the real risk of other potential future viral and pathogen outbreaks, Africa needs its own domestic and regional manufacturing capacity rather than relying on reserved doses from foreign producers. That will take time, but the pandemic should provide the spur for progress to be made. COVID-19 was not the first global pandemic, and history tells us it will not be the last. As we grapple with the current crisis, we should not miss the opportunity to prepare for the next one.” Dr Michelina Andreucci is a Zimbabwean-Italian researcher, industrial design consultant and is a published author in her field. For comments e-mail:linamanucci@ gmail.com The impacts of a global pandemic: Part Seven ...the evolution and uncertainties of the pandemic ‘Africa, as a continent, was erroneously predicted to have10 millionCOVID-19-related deaths. However, as of November 13, African countries accounted for only 3,6 percent of COVID-19 cases and 3,6 percent deaths worldwide’

May 19 - 25 2023 OPINION THE PATRIOT 17 By Nthungo YaAfrika IN The Patriot of May 5-11 2023, I promised to show the difference between the white Christian God and Yahweh, Musiki, uTixho, Chauta and Mungu, among other names. The Tambous (whites)’ origin is from the mating of ‘Watchers’ who are mistakenly called ‘angels’ whose leader was Semjaza commonly known in Christian circles as Lucifer, Satan, Deceiver, Liar or Devil with Nahasi (black) women. Even in the Book of Enoch translated by R.H. Charles, D.LITT.,D.D. with an introduction by W.O.E. Oesterley, D.D. of London Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (1917), one can see a finger of corruption by the Roman Catholic Church. I have a number of Books of Enoch translated by different authors but for this article I will mainly quote from the version of R.H. Charles. Angels have one mind, spirit and soul to do nothing else but follow the will of the Creator and can never rebel against their Creator. The corruption starts in Genesis 6: Verses 1-6, where, because of the beautiful daughters of man, angels lusted after them and decided to sleep with the daughters of men to bear children who would look like them. To do this, the Watchers had to convince their leader, Semjaza, who at first refused but was later convinced to be part of this scheme. Some of his followers names were Arakiba, Rameel, Kokabiel, Tamiel, Ramiel, Danel, Ezeqeel, Baraqijal, Asael, Armaros, Batarel, Ananel, Zaqiel, Samsapeel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael and Sariel — and the origin of the white race is from these rebellious Watchers. They produced giants who depended on mankind to sustain them and when mankind failed to sustain them, they devoured them and they also devoured each other. I mentioned this in my last article ‘Similarities Between Ancient Israel, Malawi, Zimbabwe and China’ in Paragraph Three and I am sure many thought I had made it up. From this brief background about the Tambous’ origin, do you think they would ever love people of colour or acknowledge the Creator? From their cradle up to death, they are taught by the spirits of the Watchers, their forebears, how unfair the Creator was for punishing them by expelling them from heavenly habitation — their pleas for forgiveness were rejected. How does such a race view the Creator; loving or unloving? Although their mothers were of people of colour, created in the image of the Creator, they refused to be identified with the people who bore them. Their Christian God, whom they usurped from our ancestors, does not have the attributes of the Creator because that God subordinates to the Creator as he or she is the Creator’s creation. They also usurped the Holy Scriptures, corrupted them and blasphemously called them the Holy Bible, and started propagating them first on the motherland after murdering men and women of colour who were knowledgeable about the Creator. Their God, in their corrupted Bible, is a God of favour, hate, vengeance and war, among other things, against His creation ( they genderised the Creator yet the Creator has no gender), another unforgivable sin. They made their God a He because they hate women who they feel are inferior to their fathers. Hence their proclivity for homosexuality, preferring their kind over women. Even in the scriptures they call Holy, they trivialise the Creator by giving the Creator titles of human beings, like father. (Psalms 2: Vs 7, 89: Vs 26, 103: Vs 13, Isaiah 9: Vs 6, Mat 6: Vs9, Mat 23: Vs9, Luke 2: Vs 49, John 5: Vs 20, John 10: Vs 30) These titles make women nonentities, a creation from males! The worst verse in their Bible is found in Genesis 2: Vs 18 which shows the Creator was not aware of the future when He said: ‘’Then Jehovah said: It is not good for the man to continue to be alone. I am going to make him a helper for him, as a complement to him,” read up to Verse 23 and then compare with Verse 24. This chapter and verses have been a source of trouble between males and females ever since the Roman Catholic Church corrupted our ancestors’ scriptures. In order to appease their consciences, the Roman Catholic Church said on April 26 2023, through Pope Francis, that women could now vote in the Bishops’ Chambers, 2 107 years after women’s rights had been abolished, especially those of women of colour. The Tambous never thought much about their womenfolk as they buried baby girls at birth or threw them away at dump sites. A prostitute had more rights than a married woman and white males had the right of life or death over their spouses and could even sell them and their children when in debt. This is the God the whites brought to l To Page 18 The Creator …white Christian God vis-a-vis Yahweh, Musiki, uThixo, Chauta, Mungu The Roman Catholic Church said on April 26 2023, through Pope Francis, that women could now vote in the Bishops’ Chambers.

18 THE PATRIOT OPINION May 19 - 25 2023 l From Page 17 the people of colour who embraced this doctrine to our current detriment. The Creator, who was once known by one name by all people of colour, is loving and white God. The way our ancestors related to the Creator confused the whites and they had no patience to learn from them — they calously murdered them. God means an active ancestral spirit that can communicate with the Creator. A case in point is Enoch, Elijah and, here on the motherland, we have Murenga, Chaminuka and Mbuya Nehanda. Their spirits led the people of colour when our race was under siege from Rome in 84 BC to this part of the motherland now called Zimbabwe, culminating in the building of the House of Stones which, even in its ruined state, is the most Holiest Temple on planet earth. The Israelites’ exodus is not the only one in human history. God means a spirit who can communicate with the Creator. Our ancestors, especially after the 4th and 6th Century, lost the real name of the Creator after the last Priest died in Sudan followed by the banning of their religion by Emperors Justian and Theodius. The name was resuscitated in this part of the motherland by God Spirit Murenga and Goddess Spirit Mbuya Nehanda, but those who knew of the name were ruthlessly exterminated by the whites who had followed them from Egypt to this part of the world. From then on, the Creator was known by many names here on the motherland but had one attribute — that of unlimited love — which may be the cause of our downfall. We love our enemies without first connecting to the positive spiritual world for guidance. Right now, the people of colour are in a confused physical and spiritual world that is alien to the positive spiritual world because of the Christian God. Despite this state of affairs, we are still better off than thewhites who are now at sixes and sevens with themselves. Now that some people of colour are no longer intimidated by the whites’ Bible, the reawakening of our race has started. Some now see the whites for who they are — blind guides. (Matthew 15: Verse 14) Many say why do I quote the whites’ Bible if I am always saying it’s corrupted. The answer is, they failed to totally corrupt our ancestors’ Holy writings as they left parts that are sign posts, especially if one has read antiquity books like those of Enoch, Hermes, the Book of the Dead, Pah Hotep Ancient Egyptian Wisdom, Pyramid Texts and Magical Texts, just to name a few and other modern books by G.M. James, Cheik Anta Diop, The Egyptian Religion by Professor Henri Frankfort as well as The Mediterranean World in Ancient Times by Prof. Eva Sandford, among many others. The original Hebrews, Jews were people of colour not light skinned Jews, but the three evils of Western religion, schooling and toxic politics continue to keep us blind. Nthungo YaAfrika, aka J.L. Mtembo, is a Hamite who strongly believes in the motherland renaissance. For views and comments, email: lovemoremtutuzeli@gmail. com The Creator …white Christian God vis-a-vis Yahweh, Musiki, uThixo, Chauta, Mungu One has to read antiquity books like those of Enoch, Hermes and other modern books by G.M. James and Cheik Anta Diop to be more enlightened. ‘Right now, the people of colour are in a confused physical and spiritual world that is alien to the positive spiritual world because of the Christian God’

May 19 - 25 2023 AGRICULTURE THE PATRIOT 19 By Shingirirai Mutonho WITH most farmers done harvesting crops for the last summer cropping season, preparations for the coming winter season are on course. Farmers on large farms with access to irrigation have begun preparations for wheat production, one of the most produced crops in winter. For those with smaller pieces of land, it turns out there are many vegetables well-suited for cultivation in winter. These include cabbages, rape, chomolia, peas, cowpeas, carrots, beetroot, tomatoes, eggplants, broccoli, garlic, cauliflower, covo, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, pepper, onions, spinach, lettuce, beans, pumpkins and okra. Horticulture expert Clive Masarakufa said another crop farmers can consider as a winter crop is maize. “We have maize, which can be grown in winter as a strategy to address droughts,” he said. “Winter maize can be cultivated for long-term food security, which is usually the core focus. Alternatively, you can cultivate them for purposes of selling them as green mealies, sweet corn or baby corn.” Winter maize, Masarakufa said, can only be successful in areas that normally experience high temperatures. “That is why most of Mashonaland West Province and the Lowveld are ideal for winter maize in Zimbabwe. Maize can be grown in winter in any location that typically has high temperatures. That is essential to creating summer-like temperatures which is the default ideal climate for maize production. “However, you would have to use irrigation to make winter maize cultivation successful. If you are to settle for long-season maize varieties, you can plant it in July, with harvests projected for December.” Masarakufa said winter maize could be strategic and highly lucrative in that it could be supplied as fresh mealies at a time when supply is limited. He said before farmers embarked on winter farming, there are factors they have to consider first. “The first important consideration is irrigation as most of the winter crops require irrigation due to the general absence of rain,” he said. “The irrigation must be done with precision – not too much or too little and this is important, especially when you factor in the threat of frost.” Winter presents a huge threat of frost that can affect the growth of crops. “There are numerous ways to protect your winter crops from frost and most important, farmers have to check with weather forecasters when the first and last frost dates are. Having a clear outlook on the weather to expect helps you plan accordingly. Where applicable, you can use plant covers to protect against frost.” Masarakufa said possible covers to use to protect crops included light cloth, bed sheets, or any light fabric, adding greenhouses also provided an additional layer of protection. “Watering before frost protects plants because water is better at heat retention than dry soil, so it ends up keeping the air near the soil warm. In the same vein, it will also protect the roots of the plants and where possible, mulching also helps.” He said knowing the right time to plant winter crops was arguably the most important planning consideration for winter cropping. “You need to plant in good time so that they reach maturity at just the right time. This is because you ideally would want to completely harvest before certain weather conditions set in. “For example, you would want to harvest before the early or first rains as they can compromise your harvests. Imagine your wheat (or maize) getting caught up in the early rains before it is harvested; that would be a disaster.” By planting at the right time, Masarakufa said farmers also avoided certain pests or diseases that come with warmer temperatures. Apart from crop production, he said farmers could also consider animal husbandry. “As we come out of the rainy season, animals become more sexually active and farmers need not be reminded that at the core of animal husbandry business is reproduction,” he said. “This is the time to make sure that the bulls are well fed, de-hoofed and always washed. The best breeds must also be given the first chance to mate with the females so it means separating them and selecting the best for the best; this is the right time to be doing so and by doing so, six to nine months later, you will be having very good results.” The agriculture sector is critical to accelerating the growth of the economy as it provides essential raw materials for industry in general. Winter cropping is upon us Horticulture expert Clive Masarakufa. Most of Mashonaland West and the Lowveld are ideal for winter maize in Zimbabwe. Preparations for the coming winter season are on course.

20 THE PATRIOT FEATURE May 19 - 25 2023 By Dr Irene Mahamba SUNDAY, May 14, was flowers, chocolates, perfumes, champagne and the like — it was Mother’s Day! This is what happened mainly in the urban areas, but what happened kumusha; I am not sure but indeed it is time to celebrate mothers, for motherhood is deeply important. Mai ndivo musimboti wemhuri. She is the strength that shields the family when the gales pound. In wind, rain, cold, the hearth is always warm because of mother. There is no day too cold, too wet, nor too windy for mother to make a fire in her big round kitchen. Everybody ensconces; the bright yellow, gold flames a symbol of the love and warmth in her heart. Whether she prepares your bed by the fireside or elsewhere in the home, she always makes it so comfortable and warm, cozy and always sweet. At times, it might seem there is nothing in the home to feed the family, but she always performs miracles with the little there is and hunger stays away from the children. And when clothes wear out and there is no money for new ones, she mends them so skillfully that you are able to leave the house with confidence, to be among others without embarrassment. A mother is there, always: in sickness and in health, in wealth or in poverty, in joy or in sorrow. This is a promise made by people at the altar; matrimonial vows, but sometimes they are not kept, but a mother fulfills what marital partners fail to honour, even when the father (husband) does not keep this very promise to her, she keeps this promise to the children; soldiers on, faithful ever, always as good as gold. As a giver of life, a mother accepts life which comes into her hands with all the vicissitudes it might entail. A father can deny and desert a crippled child, or a child physically disadvantaged in some way, but a mother will affirm to the unfortunate child, that he/she is special, that he/she is worth everything and very much loved. The mother’s love will endure and withstand whatever disapproval, derision or disdain that can come from any quarter; it gives this disadvantaged child the will to go on and to surmount all. Should her children reject her teachings and become misfits, deviants or even criminals, she bears the scolding, even insults, from the wider community but a mother cannot disown her progeny, even on the day a child who has become a criminal is hanged, she will be present; a solitary reminder that when the world has abandoned you, there always is someone who does not disown you. A mother does not condone evil but she does not withdraw the lifeline, if the errant child wants to mend his/her ways, there will always be open arms. The fact that the mother does not give up on a child is a psychological deterrent to hopelessness and despair. The mother is the centre that holds together when all is threatened or lost. A father can disappear, sometimes even before the birth of a child. A mother soldiers on, until the child is born and beyond. If the father never comes back, even if the father’s people do not own up to the child, the new life still makes a safe landing and a new life still begins against all odds. Is there a greater gift than a mother. Sometimes a father can be taken up with drinking, leaving the family destitute, making life in the home unbearable, he might even desert the mother and children. This is a catastrophe which can decimate the family, but when there is a mother who remains strong and resolute and does all she can for the family, life can be normalised; children can still have hope, they can still go on. If a mother falls due to these pressures, or retaliates with anger, life would go up in flames. Life would be much harsher, unbearable. It is a great blessing that mothers can absorb so much vicissitudes thereby suturing the family so that life can still go on with some normalcy. However, it does not mean that if mother continues to be at peace, people should continue to load it over her — there are limits. In the end, she might put it all aside, and the family, community, society will go up in flames. The sacrifices and commitment of the mother to the family should not be taken for granted; it should not be abused, but should be honoured and appreciated. Mothers should be protected because they are the roof over our heads. Vana mai ndiro denga rakafukidza dzimba. Shona society acknowledges that when it comes to life giving, women have a pivotal role. Among the Shona, when a man marries off his daughter, when the males in the family have completed the marriage process, and a new life is to begin, they hand everything over to the mothers. Panoitwa kusungirwa. Cognisant that giving birth is a hazardous operation particularly when it is a first child, the groom’s family carries out a ceremony in which the expectant mother is handed over to her parents, primarily her biological mother and all those she relates to as mothers among her people. These will dutifully midwife the birth of this first child, and after all has been accomplished, the womenfolk will in turn carry out a handing over ceremony of the new born baby back to its paternal family. The world of men can be too harsh, sometimes they cannot find solutions within themselves; it takes the gentle strength and fortitude of the mother to quell the storm. In a family, a community, when things go wrong, and the father or the leaders of the community become so upset that nothing can be salvaged, it is the women, the mothers, who in their quiet fortitude, can be heard and things can turn around. A thousand reasons to celebrate mother for her role, her work, is often taxing, demanding huge sacrifices; it is not strewn with roses but she makes it possible for everyone. In this moment, let us remember the mothers’ love, sacrifices and fortitude and thank them for making life livable. Thank you for everything our mothers, grandmothers and our aunts! A thousand reasons to celebrate mothers! Mai ndivo musimboti wemhuri. She is the strength that shields the family when the gales pound.

May 19 - 25 2023 MIND GAMES THE PATRIOT 21 8 1 R O B I N 2 P I G E O N 3 Q U A I L 4 L O C U S T S 5 E A G L E 6 H A W K 7 K I T E 8 T H R U S H 9 P E N G U I N 10 D U C K Mystery Words Picture Clue Puzzle2 RULES 1 (a) Each picture is a clue. You must identify the pictures and fill in the names of each identified picture in the numbered rows in the puzzles frame. (b) Some pictures may have two or more words that identify the picture. These must be filled-in, in the correct numbered row in the frame. (c) For example, the picture of the polar bear might be numbered thus ‘4’ and ‘7’. This means that the words ‘polar’ and ‘bear’ would be entered in the appropriate numbers rows in the frame. 2. One or more mystery words may be found in the columns in the puzzles. 3. Fill-in the mystery word(s) in the answers panel under the puzzle frame. Set by Milly Zerf PART 079 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8 9. 10. Answers next week. Last week’s answer 1 7 3 10 6 CLUE: TO JUDGE SEVERELY... 2 5 4 9

22 THE PATRIOT COLUMN May 19 - 25 2023 Demystifying dangerous drugs:Part Two ….a post-COVID-19 scourge in Zimbabwe l From Page 13 Of the more than 200 controlled substances listed, UNDCP emphasises opium-heroin, coca-cocaine, cannabis and amphetamine-type stimulants due to their importance for both developing and industrialised countries.  Illicit drug trafficking takes place in most countries of the world. Few countries are immune to drug abuse problems. Indeed, in most countries, what were formerly thought of as ‘safe places’ (religious, penal or educational institutions) all now have some form of drug problems. Illicit traffic in drugs is now common in prisons because a significant percentage of inmates are drug abusers. Illegal importation and distribution, a criminal activity, frequently involve foreigners; individuals acting alone do not usually move significant quantities of drugs. Hence the focus on control of supply is normally on organised groups or cartels. Traffic patterns tend to follow drug types and country of origin. For example, cocaine trafficking begins in the Andean region (where the coca leaf has been chewed by indigenous people in the Andes for centuries), and spreads northward through Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean region to end-points in North America, Europe and elsewhere. Major heroin trafficking originates in south-west and south-east Asia, with final processing of the consumable product close to the point of origin. The route of distribution may involve many countries and territories, such as Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and China. Drug smugglers make detection more difficult by converting opium into morphine and heroin (or coca leaf) into cocaine in or near the producing areas. This transformation process reduces the sheer bulk and weight of the goods to be transported. Refining stations are usually located in more remote and secure areas. In remote rural areas, movement of precursors and chemicals needed for processing the harvested plants takes place with less potential for discovery. Methods of concealing drugs are constantly being changed to avoid capture and seizure. While interception efforts may result in lengthening or altering the chain of illicit movement and increase the exposure of the illicit operation to seizure in a given area, unless the interdiction and seizure success rates are high, illicit shipments of drugs is likely to continue.  Those who get caught smuggling drugs are often low-level individuals who are easily replaced by new recruits. Poor people, already living on the margins of society, stand to gain much and lose relatively little by smuggling. With very high profit margins and a seizure rate of possibly 10 percent (often mentioned in law enforcement circles), interception efforts are not likely to stop illicit distribution. It is more likely that the pattern of smuggling and couriers will be changed to a safer profile. Qualitative information summarised by UNDCP indicates a much higher prevalence of drug abuse among men than women. However, abuse among women is reported to be increasing, often attributed to their gains in entering the labour market. According to a source: “Many women in drug producing countries are growing, harvesting and processing drug crops. Women are also increasingly involved in drug trafficking and organised crime” The high-risk, high-gain nature of drug trafficking is well-known. Profits from the drug traffic flow back into the coffers of sophisticated criminal organisations with financial interests in other illicit areas, such as prostitution and racketeering.  It should be noted that the production of illicit drugs is often inexpensive, especially in Africa. Labour costs are low; if workers demand decent wages, the percentage of the total income required for wages and other expenses are still very low — thus making drugs a profitable vice. Dr Tony M. Monda BSc, DVM, DPVM, is currently conducting veterinary epidemiology, public health and agro-economic research in Zimbabwe. E-mail: [email protected] Drug abuse is common among all age groups, although it occurs more frequently among young adults.

THE PATRIOT 23 May 19 - 25 2023 FOREIGN NEWS YEARS after the military intervention, led by NATO, to overthrow Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, Libya remains trapped in a spiral of violence involving armed groups, sectarian, ethnic groups and external interference that have led the country into absolute chaos. On October 20 2011, amid protests supported by the governments of the US and the EU, an armed uprising that plunged the country into a civil war, the Libyan leader was captured and brutally murdered by the rebels. Being one of the most prosperous countries on the African continent, thanks to its vast oil fields, after the fall of Gaddafi, the North African country was divided between rival governments in the east and west, and among multiple armed groups competing for quotas of power as well as control of the country and its wealth. Gaddafi ruled for 42 years, leading Libya to a significant advance in social, political and economic matters that were recognised and admired by many African and Arab nations at the time. Despite his controversial government, Gaddafi came to represent an important figure for anti-imperialist struggles for his position mainly against the US and the policies carried out from Washington on the Middle East. It is for this reason his life and death became pivotal events in Libya and key to understanding the current situation. Libya before Gaddafi After the Second World War, Libya was ceded to France and the UK, and both countries linked it administratively to their colonies in Algeria and Tunisia. However, the UK favoured the emergence of a monarchy controlled by Saudi Arabia and endorsed by the UN, the Senussi Dynasty, which ruled the country since its 'independence' in 1951 under the monarchy of King Idris I, who kept Libya in total obscurantism while promoting British economic and military interests. When oil reserves were discovered in 1959, the exploitation of wealth did not translate into benefits for the people. According to political analyst Thierry Meyssan, during the monarchy, the nation was mired in backwardness in education, health, housing and social security, among others. The low literacy rates were shocking, according to Meyssan; only 250 000 inhabitants of the four million could read and write. But it was in 1969 that the Senussi Dynasty was overthrown by a group of officers led by Colonel Muammar alGaddafi, who proclaimed true independence and removed the dominant foreign forces from the country. One of Gaddafi's immediate policies was to share the benefits and wealth to all Libyans. Libya with Gaddafi Since Gaddafi took power, oil was the main resource in the hands of the leader of the newly proclaimed Libyan Arab Republic. The triumph of the 1969 revolution marked a paradigm shift, moving the new government to use its oil income to boost redistributive measures among the population as well as generating a new model of economic and social development for the country. According to analysts, among the measures of 'economic sovereignty' which drove Gaddafi’s policies were the nationalisation of various Western oil companies, such as British Petroleum (BP), and the creation of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), which characterised the configuration of a more socialist model. Throughout Gaddafi’s tenure, ambitious social programmes were launched in the areas of education, health, housing, public works and subsidies for electricity as well as basic foodstuffs. These policies led to a substantial improvement in the living conditions of Libyans — from being one of the poorest countries in Africa in 1969 to being the continent’s leader in its Human Development Index in 2011. In fact, the United Nations Development Programme (2010) considered Libya a high-development country in the Middle East and North Africa. This translated status meant a literacy rate of 88,4 percent, a life expectancy of 74,5 years and gender equality, among several other positive indicators. At the national level, Gaddafi was able to deal with two central dilemmas characteristic of Libyan society; on the one hand, the difficulty of exercising control over the tribes and, on the other, the fragmentation of society into diverse and sometimes opposite tribal and regional groups. Gaddafi had the ability to hold together these territories with little connection to each other. It is estimated that there are about 140 tribes in the Libyan territory, each with different traditions and origins. At the international level, pan-Arabism should be highlighted with the confrontation opened to the US due to the opposition that Gaddafi exerted on the influence of this country, reaching closer ties with other Arab countries to carry out common policies of rejection of Washington's policies on the Middle East and Africa. The Libyan leader worked to strengthen ties with neighboring countries, such as Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Chad, among others, as well as maintaining close relations with countries like France and Russia. Gaddafi also connected with Latin American countries, such as Venezuela and Cuba, which led him to cultivate an extensive network of contacts and uncomfortable influence for Europe and the US. By the time of his killing, Libya had the highest GDP per capita and life expectancy on the continent. Fewer people lived below the poverty line than in the Netherlands. The fall of Gadaffi The citizen protests that began in Tunisia in December 2010 (Arab Spring) arrived a month later in neighbouring Libya, although in a different way, as the mass and popular demonstrations that characterised Tunisia and Egypt were not replicated. In contrast, in Benghazi, where the antiGaddafi movement focused, Islamist groups predominated. Some political analysts agree that in Libya, there was never a mass movement on a national scale like the other countries, nor was there popular support to overthrow Gaddafi's government. However, the uprisings in Benghazi were enough for the UN Security Council and NATO to intervene on behalf of the Responsibility to Protect (Resolution 1973) and launched a bombing campaign between March and October 2011 that had a decisive impact on the assassination of Gaddafi. According to Meyssan, NATO's interference in the internal affairs of Libya and the overthrow of Gaddafi were not the result of a conflict between Libyans but to a long-term regional destabilisation strategy for the whole group (the Middle East). Years after his death, residents in the chaos-wracked country's capital have grown to miss the longtime leader as the frustrations of daily life mount. "I hate to say it but our life was better under the previous regime," Fayza al-Naas, a 42-year-old pharmacist told AFP in 2015, referring to Gaddafi's rule; a sentiment shared by many Libyans, including those who opposed him at some point. The economically and socially stable Libya under the 'Gaddafi versus a fragmented country, without a government, devastated by attacks, bombings, and continuous clashes', is the result of the NATO invasion in 2011. A conclusion that many regret supporting more than a decade later. — telesurenglish.net Libya: Before and after Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi Misrata-Tripole Street before and dragged to his death by the mob. after Western-styled democracy.

SP RT 24 THE PATRIOT May 19 - 25 2023 THE Church has lost its monopoly on hell; but the decline of religious fervour hasn’t dimmed our fascination with it. For the existentialist philosopher, JeanPaul Sartre, “Hell is other people”. Being a lifelong tennis fan, I’ve always imagined that the closest thing to hell I’d ever experience would be watching Rafael Nadal performing on clay. In my quest to understand what exactly makes Nadal such a tormentor on court — a corporeal hell — I’ve spent countless hours reliving his moments on YouTube, spoken to his ardent fans and scrolled through obscure forums on the internet. And what I found is not ground-breaking but a very vanilla conclusion. It’s hell because Nadal’s game is built on the edifice of eternal suffering. The path to salvation, for him, goes through the highway of self-flagellation. And he is always more ready to subject himself to such infernal undertakings than his peers. His pain barrier is unparalleled. His loud but strange groans after every stoke are reminders of what he is subjecting himself to, and his occasional groaning after winning a point feels a lot like the scream of an anguished man, tormented by his own desire. But his suffering is not his alone; there are collaterals, too — his opponents, family and the viewers, of course. His opponents can never be sure of hitting a winner, for even the most fatalistic blow often surrenders to Nadal’s tenacity. He always makes you stretch for that extra mile, for that extra stroke that you wouldn’t have bothered to play had it been anyone else. As the point gets longer, you can’t help but wonder if you’re playing against a human or an energy-sucking vampire. At the outset, this doesn’t make sense because Nadal himself is often the one who runs more than his opponent, covering extremes of the court like a gazelle dodging a pack of lionesses; playing every point as if it is his last. Whereas Roger Federer’s game was built on frugality and sophistication, and Novak Djokovic’s on the principle of energy conservation, Nadal’s game has always oozed extravagance. There’s just too much energy in his strokes, his movement, his celebration. None of the many career-threatening injuries he endured over the years could convince him to tweak his natural game. Neither has the relentless march of time. Even his last two grand slams — the 2022 Australian Open and 2022 French Open — produced many such moments that would make us wonder if the general rule of decay doesn’t apply to him. “God, it’s killing me,” lamented Federer after he lost to Nadal in a final at Wimbledon 2008. Fourteen years later, you could almost hear Daniil Medvedev echoing the same sentiment, after he failed to topple the Spaniard in an Australian Open final that lasted for over five hours. It was a final that Nadal didn’t win, but he simply refused to lose. In both cases, he entered the match as an underdog. And while that held true in his play again Federer at his peak, even though signs were already there that he is coming for the Swiss veteran; it’s strange how the label has stuck with him forever, despite cementing his position as one of the greatest ever to hold the racquet. The source of this equation is rarely rooted in the superiority of his opponents. Rather, it’s about the other demon — his own body — that he has been fighting for most of his career. If you compile the list of injuries he has suffered over time, the list will be longer than the one for your monthly grocery shopping. Nadal’s body always seemed to be operating on borrowed time, with his heavy-metal game constantly at odds with the necessary act of physical preservation — something that has been a cause of concern for his family. Last year, his father could be heard yelling at him for his obstinacy to keep playing through abdominal tear. Nadal didn’t pay any heed, and went on to win that game, against Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon’s quarter-final. It’s never good to see a human enduring such grave pain, and it shouldn’t be glorified at all. But this is how Nadal has approached the game his whole life, and it’s perhaps not as rooted in masochism, or the never-saydie attitude (bordering on toxic masculinity, which dominates the men’s sporting landscape), as it is in his own personality. The axiom that a player’s game style is often an extension of his/her being is true in Nadal’s case. There’s a surreal disconnect between Nadal the player and Nadal the person, as his softness will confirm. Beneath the carapace of a ruthless, hard-nosed tennis pro exists a warm and affable family man, who remains rooted to the ground even after conquering the world of tennis. While two of his biggest competitors, Federer and Novak Djokovic, have often struggled with anger issues in their youth, Nadal always seemed more in control of his emotions. Neither is he afraid of being vulnerable in public. The sight of Nadal weeping inconsolably at Federer’s farewell match party was an important reminder that crying is not a sign of weakness for men. Beyond that, there are a couple of more factual reasons that added a sense of poignancy to this moment. First, of course, it marked the end of Federer vs Nadal — one of the game’s most decorated bromances. Second, since their career arcs have been so tightly intertwined, the departure of Federer also meant the beginning of a countdown for Nadal. As fate would have it, Nadal has been a sporadic presence since then, and recently missed the entirety of clay court swing as a lead-up to the Roland Garros in Paris. There’s no certainty over his participation at his fortress in Paris, even though his uncle and former coach, Toni Nadal, remains optimistic, recently stating that it won’t be long before the Spaniard starts competing again. Numerous eulogies have already been written about his career, only for Nadal to come back and make the scribes eat up their words. This time, however, things look bleak. — mansworldindia.com French Open 2023: What does Nadal still have in the tank? Rafael Nadal. Libya before and after — Page 23