NewsHawks 1 July 2022

WHAT’S INSIDE Friday 1 July 2022 ZNiEmWbSabwe Price
40 years
PNoEvWerSty-stricken backward US$1
citizens survive
on ‘tsaona’ Story on Page 13 SZPimO’Rs TDarikwa
food packs challenges Wigan
teammates
Story on Page 10 ahead of season

Story on Page 60

Foreign firms
plunder Zim
granite with
govt collusion

ALSO INSIDE Mining leaves trail of destruction

Page 2 News NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

NATHAN GUMA Foreign firms plunder Zim
granite with govt collusion
FOREIGN mining companies supported by local
entities, government and administrative officials The bulk of the granite from Zimbabwe is exported to Europe, particularly Italy and Spain, but without benefitting affected communities.
are plundering black granite from Mt Darwin,
Murehwa and Mutoko, making millions of US and creation of huge holes, pits and enclaves in ble as employees in quarry mines in most cases, side in conditions of immense poverty.
dollars in the process while leaving villagers in the mountains. Other forms of quarries are sub-sur- but most are restricted to basic casual labourers. Operations do not adhere to minimum labour
depths of poverty and despair. face mines, consisting of underground tunnels or Currently, the contribution of granite exports is
shafts. relatively small, being less than 2% of the national standards, environmental regulations and have
An investigation into granite mining operations export value.” caused considerable damage in the form of air,
in Mashonaland East and Mashonaland Central “By their nature, quarries change the physi- land, and water pollution, land degradation, de-
reveals negative social and economic impact on cal environment. They displace huge amounts Mozambique is the biggest importer of Zim- forestation, and lowering water tables.”
the life and livelihoods of communities rather of soil and plants and force people and animals babwe’s granite at 43.2%. However, Mozambique
than an improvement of their welfare. out of their areas. Abandoned quarries rarely leave proceeds to export over 90% of its granite to Italy Corruption
enough soil to allow life to return to the area; they and Spain. The report highlights that corruption is ram-
The bulk of the granite is then exported to Eu- become dangers to life and limb of livestock, wild pant in the sector, particularly in the awarding of
rope, particularly Italy and Spain, but the proceeds animals and human beings,” the report reads. Italy directly imports 24.9% of Zimbabwe’s mining licences and in the inspections and moni-
hardly tickle down to affected communities. granite, followed by China at 9.37%, South Af- toring by inspectorate bodies.
The most common natural stone that is extract- rica, 7.68%, Spain at 4.95% and Poland 4.43%. “State institutions are complicit in the corrup-
Among the negative consequences of the gran- ed through quarrying in Zimbabwe is black gran- tion; the research found that senior government
ite extraction are large-scale violations of land ite, which is mainly used for construction, tiles Other countries that import Zimbabwe’s gran- administrators, licensing authorities, governing
rights, environmental degradation, forcible re- and tombstones. ite are Germany, Belgium, France, Portugal, The political party functionaries and law enforcement
locations and evictions, discrimination, labour Netherlands, Slovakia, Croatia, Hungary, Canada, agencies create a network of corruption. This net-
rights violations including perpetual short-term “In recent times, a domestic market has aris- United States and Zambia. work benefits in the awarding of mining claims
contracts, denial of the right to organise and the en in Zimbabwe, though it is clearly dwarfed in and are not subject to serious monitoring and in-
right to collective bargaining, corruption, failure significance by the export market. The mining of “Most probably 95% of mined granite is spections by regulatory bodies. The consequence,
to comply with health and safety standards for black granite in these districts has a long history. shipped in raw blocks. There are few cutting and as the research observed, is that as a human rights
employees, exposure of communities and workers Local granite is exported to South Africa, Mozam- polishing factories in Zimbabwe that supply the risk, corruption is not being dealt with,” the report
to pollution, and pollution of the living environ- bique, European Union countries, and the United local market. Some of these factories are subsidiary reads.
ment. This includes pollution of the air, soil, water States, among other markets. It has been mined in companies of the mining companies,” the report “It appears from the research that corrupt ac-
and noise pollution. some parts of the Mutoko district since 1972, and says. tivities in the sector are exacerbated by the gov-
more than 10 companies are mining black granite ernment’s political slogan ‘Zimbabwe is open for
According to a report titled From Mountains of in this area alone. The report reveals that profits are concentrated
Hope to Anthills of Despair: Assessment of Human in the hands of the few and have no multiplier
Rights Risks in the Extraction and Production of “Villagers, as the community members, dou- effects.
Natural Stone in Zimbabwe, by mining law experts
James Tsabora and Darlington Chidarara, granite “Local workers and local communities still re-
extraction involves huge tracts of land, resulting
in the disruption of livelihoods. This includes dis-
turbance of small-scale agriculture and livestock
ranching, among others.

The report was launched at a local hotel last
week.

“Massive disturbances are induced on commu-
nity lands by granite mining companies. The ex-
treme noise from blasting disturbs both humans
and livestock. Extreme levels of dust make habi-
tation in the vicinity of these operations impos-
sible. The vibrations from the trucks transporting
tonnes of granite cause cracking on the houses lo-
cated by the roadside,” the report reads.

“Mining activities are therefore difficult to
co-exist with other community activities. A study
of the legal framework, conducted in this research,
illustrates that the existing mining legal regime
does not address human rights risks inherent in
granite mining operations. The laws are dedicated
to ensure effective and optimal extraction of nat-
ural stones, and this also applies to other minerals
in Zimbabwe.”

The report notes that the natural stone indus-
try, which includes the granite mining sector, has
grown rapidly in the past three decades to become
a key economic sector in

Zimbabwe. It is constituted mainly by quar-
rying or extraction companies. There is very little
processing in the country.

The industry was initially dominated by Euro-
pean-based companies from Italy, Spain and other
nations, but in the last 10 years, Chinese compa-
nies have also gone into the sector.

Major granite mining companies operating in
Mutoko and Mt Darwin include Natural Stones
Export Company (NSEC), the largest granite
mining company in the country. It commenced
mining in the early 1970s and is linked to Ital-
ian shareholders. Another big company is CRG
Quarries — which has been mining since 2000. It
also has Italian shareholders.

There is also Zimbabwe International Quarries,
which has Zimbabwean and Spanish shareholders.

Quarrying Enterprises has been mining since
1986 and has a shareholder mix of Italians and
Zimbabweans.

Ilford Services Mining Company has been in
business since the mid-1980s.

Chinese-owned companies Jintings, Surewin
Pvt Ltd, Longlui, Dingmao are also extracting
granite in the country.

Granite mining’s contribution to overall min-
ing output has grown steadily, having increased
from 177 tonnes in 2017, 182 tonnes in 2018 to
184 tonnes in 2019, the report states.

Granite exploitation and export
Granite mining is generally given the term
granite quarrying. A quarry is a place where rocks,
sand, or minerals are extracted from the surface of
the earth. It is also usually a type of mine based
on an openpit mining approach because it re-
sults in massive digging, blasting of rock surfaces

NewsHawks News Page 3

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Granite mining in Mutoko and an open pit left by quarrying activities.

business’. Under this programme, local authori- these roads, leaving gaping potholes, and making The report states that mining companies enjoy a large number of workers, ranging from techni-
ties, traditional leaders and community leaders are roads unsuitable for motor traffic movement. stronger land rights than local communities. cians, management, manual labourers, drivers and
urged by the government to support investment, When companies leave the place, the dust roads support staff involved in cleaning and cooking.
and not be obstacles. These persons are thus cen- they would have created end up as temporary “Most villagers interviewed lamented the ease
tral to spreading the message of investment for streams that develop into huge gullies for run off. with which they can be evicted, forcibly relocated “Interviews with a representative of the Black
development, and implicitly urge consultative The end result is destruction of fields, flooding of and given alternative lands elsewhere by mining Granite Workers’ Union indicated that there
processes to support establishing of operations, in silted rivers, temporary flooding, increased ero- companies, with government authorities support- is high job insecurity in the sector. Further, the
lieu of submission of objections.” sion and removal of the fertile topsoil,” the report ing such forcible evictions and relocations,” the union’s estimation of workers on three months or
reads. report says. shorter contracts was more than 80%,” the report
Environmental impact says.
“The environmental impact of granite mining Land rights In addition, villagers decried that there are no
is physically evident in most parts of Mutoko The report noted that granite mining opera- clear compensation regimes established under the “The use of short-term contracts for an unlim-
and Mt Darwin. Mountains and hills have been tions consume large pieces of land which is usual- law. Communities pointed out that they were at ited number of times is clearly illegal under Zim-
cut, huge swathes of forest and bush have been ly occupied by communities. the mercy of mining companies, and government babwe’s labour law.
cleared, temporary pathways have been created in “A general physical survey testifies to the large departments at district or provincial level were
the forests for movement of heavy vehicles, and area of land that is required in granite mining. It unable to assist. The relevant provision is section 12 (3) (a) of
boulders of waste rock, or unsuitable rock lie scat- was pointed that for a granite mining licence, the the Labour Act. In terms of this provision, a fixed
tered in the foot of the mountains, fields, forests minimum area that must be pegged under the law “There were few cases of compensation for re- contract can only be renewed two times. Any re-
and grazing lands in these two districts,” reads the is 50 hectares,” the report reads. location from interviews with community mem- newal or granting of a short-term contract for a
report. “On most occasions, this land is communal bers. According to one councillor, the highest third time means the contracted worker is now a
“Gaping holes are also evident, with few, if any, land that is used by communities for subsistence amount of compensation paid was US$5 000 and permanent employee.
granite mining interested in rehabilitation.” agriculture, residential settlement, firewood and the councillor was involved in the negotiations,”
pasture lands, movement, water abstraction, grave the report says. Accordingly, mining companies are in viola-
Human rights risks sites and other community rituals.” tion of section 12(3) (a) of LA. Workers do not
The report highlights that other than physical Labour rights receive contracts when they are contracted for a
degradation of the natural environment, the de- Granite mining is labour intensive and involves month — they just sign in their details in a com-
struction of forests, hills and mountains, granite pany register.”
mining has led to: siltation and diversion of riv-
ers; decrease in the water table; exposure of soil
and land to erosion; increased amounts of dust;
boulders scattered over land and fields and huge
pits and open surfaces on land previously undis-
turbed.
“Those interviewed decried the massive water
abstraction and use by mining companies which
led to a decline in the water table. Some members
pointed to massive air pollution caused by dust
from mining as well as increased soil erosion.”

Road infrastructural damage, pollution
Communities in Mutoko and Mt Darwin have
also complained that heavy vehicles used in gran-
ite mining have destroyed roads which in Mutoko
and Mt Darwin. The road damage is not com-
pensated.
“Further, mine vehicles require flat roads, and
not the hunchback roads we have in Zimbabwe.
The movement of these vehicles gradually flatten

Page 4 News NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Corruption bedevils granite mining activities

BRENNA MATENDERE

A NEW report has unearthed gross corruption Mutoko district is home to nearly 150 000 people.
in the mining of black granite by Chinese and
European companies in Mutoko and parts of Mt they commence operations, there are no, or very “Chinese companies have benefitted from bi- do not see the economic and social benefits of the
Darwin. limited regular inspections, monitoring and su- lateral agreements signed between the Zimbabwe- granite mining in the area as infrastructure con-
pervision by regulatory bodies as required by the an government and the Chinese government. In tinues to be below standards with no development
The report titled From Mountains of Hope to law. These Chinese companies have strong politi- general, these agreements are to the effect that the taking place.
Anthills of Despair obtained by The NewsHawks, cal backing, and their human rights abuses are not Zimbabwean government shall take up Chinese
was compiled by two academics, James Tsabora acted upon with haste, if at all. Law enforcement investors in the mining sector, including the gran- The corruption in granite mining is similar to
and Darlington Chidarara. agents and other enforcement mechanisms have ite sector.” the rot prevalent in the gold sector where the pre-
failed to institute concrete legal actions against cious metal is smuggled out of the country by po-
A number of companies, which include Natu- these companies,” reads the report. Mutoko district is home to nearly 150 000 litically exposed people who own companies that
ral Stone, CRG, Zimbabwe International Quarry, people, according to 2012 census. Locals say they do not contribute to national fiscus.
Enterprises and Ilford Red, are extracting granite
in Mutoko. Investigations have lifted a lid on their Mining activities happening in the backyard of a community member’s residence (silver roof is resident’s house, blue is mining company’s shelter).
opaque activities.

The report findings are cemented by the grind-
ing poverty of the people of Mutoko, which stands
in stark contrast to the abundance of the precious
stone, which is in high demand in Europe and
America.

“Corruption is rampant in the mining sector
generally, and the granite mining sector is not
spared. A key feature of mining sector corruption
is the involvement of top-level political leaders,
senior government administrators and regulatory
agencies, law enforcement agencies and taxation
institutions. In Zimbabwe, corruption converges
the private and the public sector, and cascades
through the three tiers of government,” says the
report.

Last year in June, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corrup-
tion Commission was jolted into opening investi-
gations at Mutoko Rural District Council after the
local authority had claimed it was getting a measly
US$1 for every tonne of granite mined in the area,
raising questions over the unbelievably low fee.

The report by Tsabora and Chidarara revealed
that corruption in granite mining was also en-
trenched in the documentation process of the
companies in involved in the sector.

The investigations found that there was a lack
of documentation by the companies.

“There is no clear procedure that allows access
to documentation held by the PMD [provincial
mining director] for communities to use in engag-
ing the granite mining companies. There is also no
requirement for the PMD's office to keep a record
of reasons why applications were rejected or ac-
cepted. The lack of documentation, records and
proper information packaging is exacerbated by
the absence of computerised or digital systems,”
reads part of the report.

“The Provincial Mining Director (PMD) is a
single authority or individual who has broad dis-
cretion or decision-making power with little scru-
tiny. His powers are massive, and not always based
on the law or reason. He is also very exposed to
politics and is unable to resist the pressure brought
about by senior politicians and government ad-
ministrators fighting for claims in Mutoko.”

The researchers also fingered politicians and
civil servants in the corruption.

“A key feature of mining sector corruption is
the involvement of top-level political leaders, se-
nior government administrators and regulatory
agencies, law enforcement agencies and taxation
institutions.”

“The most critical issue in mining sector cor-
ruption is that it reflects government inefficiencies
in contracting processes, in distribution and redis-
tribution of mining title, in the award of mining
claims and in the regulation of extractive practises
with a massive bearing on human rights.”

In February this year, two Mines and Mining
Development ministry workers appeared at the
Marondera magistrates' court facing a charge of
criminal abuse of office after they allegedly ap-
proved the issuance of granite-mining certificates
to a Chinese company in Uzumba and Mutoko.

Tizah Mandawa and Zvinodaishe Mubariri,
who were employed as survey and geological tech-
nicians, respectively appeared at the Mashonaland
East ministry provincial offices in Marondera
accused of contravening section 31 of the Mines
and Minerals Act, which prohibits people from
pegging or prospecting in villages without written
consent of the occupiers or that of the local au-
thority.

The researchers who produced the latest report
also took aim at the Chinese.

“Applications for granite claims by these inves-
tors are fast-tracked, and seldom denied. Once

NewsHawks News Page 5

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Vast land is required for just one black granite mining operation.

LOCAL communities the black granite-rich Indigenous land rights violated
Mutoko district have expressed grave concern
over the violation of their land rights after min- Rubbles dumped in a villager’s field by a mining company in Mutoko “To exacerbate this, communities were not
ing activities disrupted their livelihoods and left aware of grievance redress mechanisms against
them with little or no compensation, a study on porting such forcible evictions and relocations. gime for environmental impact assessments is granite-mining companies that impinge on their
human rights risks in the extraction and produc- The research observed that mining licences and very unclear in granite mining. Respondents land rights. Neither were the communities able
tion of natural stone in Zimbabwe has shown. certificates granted to granite mining companies interviewed, including mining companies and to identify other platforms to resolve conflicts
provide stronger rights than land rights held by the EMA [Environmental Management Agency] between them and granite-mining companies,”
Granite mining is one of the biggest economic communities. Almost all community members stated that there are no environmental impact the report reads.
activities in the area, together with subsistence interviewed... do not have free-hold ownership assessments before granite-mining operations
farming. Granite mining operations in Zimba- of the lands they occupy; they occupy and use commence.” “Communities in Mutoko decried and be-
bwe’s districts of Mutoko and Mt Darwin have their lands at the mercy of the state or local gov- moaned the lack of guidelines for assessment of
serious social and economic impacts on the lives erning authorities. This means that in the conflict Granite-mining companies, the report further compensation. They pointed out that they were
and livelihoods of local communities in the two over land uses, communities lose as their rights shows, are allowed to submit an environmental at the mercy of mining companies, and govern-
districts. Since huge tracts of land are involved, are weak, less protected by legislation and have management plan (EMP), which is more relaxed ment departments at district or provincial level
the livelihoods of most communities in Mutoko very few remedies as compared to rights held by than requirements for an environmental impact were unable to assist. There were few cases of
and Mt Darwin that are based on land use are mining companies. assessment (EIA). In particular, there are no clear compensation for relocation from interviews
greatly disturbed. channels in the EMP process to challenge the with community members. According to one
“There are very few informal safeguards to award of mining licences, or to stop ongoing councillor, the highest amount of compensa-
According to a report titled From Mountains of protect the land rights of communities before mining operations on the basis of actual or po- tion paid was US$5 000 and the councillor was
Hope to Anthills of Despair, which assesses the im- commencement of mining operations. The re- tential violations to land rights of communities. involved in the negotiations. In a case that oc-
pact of mining in the two districts, granite-min- curred in 2021 involving the
ing operations consume large pieces of land, and
this land is usually occupied by local communi- Chinese company called Jinding, an amount
ties. of US$3500 was agreed, with the family given
three months’ notice to relocate. The commu-
For a granite mining licence, the minimum nity members indicated that Natural Stone Ex-
area that must be pegged under the law is 50 hect- port Company pays better compensation than
ares. On most occasions, this land is communal most compensation and assists in the relocation
land that is used by communities for subsistence by transporting affected families. These negoti-
agriculture, residential settlement, firewood and ations are not based on professional valuations
pasture lands, movement, water abstraction, of households done by independent companies.”
grave sites and other community rituals.
Apart from the domestic legal regime, Zim-
“Communities stated that they had never babwe is also party to several international treaty
been consulted by granite mining companies un- frameworks. Importantly, Zimbabwe has signed
der a Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and ratified many human rights treaties and
framework. These actions of granite-mining moved to domesticate norms and principles from
companies illustrate that granite-mining com- international law. It must however be said that
panies do not apply the FPIC principles. FPIC there is no treaty framework that directly binds
simply denotes the engagement of communities companies in the granite-mining sector and that
in large-scale projects to seek their consent prior compels them to enforce human rights standards
to onset of mining in a manner that is voluntary. for the protection of host communities or work-
Further, communities must give their consent ers in the sector. Zimbabwe is not a party to any
with full knowledge of the proposed mining op- scheme or arrangement that seeks to enforce re-
erations and their probable consequences,” the sponsible business conduct in the mining sector
report reads. in general, or granite mining sector in particular.

“Most villagers interviewed lamented the ease — STAFF WRITER
with which they can be evicted, forcibly relocat-
ed and given alternative lands elsewhere by min-
ing companies, with government authorities sup-

Page 6 News NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Foreign companies violate labour rights

NATHAN GUMA thorities supporting such actions. months and US$500 for grave exhumation”. government and investors, people wouldn't cry
The research observed that mining licences In another case that occurred in 2021 in- foul that we have been displaced. But now, if
GRANITE-MINING companies have been and certificates granted to granite mining people would like to resist, there would be the
violating labour rights and effecting forced volving granite mining company Jinding, an police beating people in favour of the foreign
evictions in the Mutoko and Mt Darwin areas, companies provide stronger rights than land amount of US$3 500 was agreed, with the direct investment (FDI) brought by the Chi-
creating a human rights catastrophe, a report rights held by communities. family given three months’ notice to relocate. nese who are doing mining,” he said.
has revealed.
The community members interviewed in Negotiations on compensation have not Chikowe said smallholder farmers lack rep-
Many foreign-owned companies in the sec- the report did not have free-hold ownership been based on professional valuations of resentation, unlike the mining companies.
tor have not been providing written contracts of the land, occupying and using the lands at households, with villagers incurring losses.
that specify employment benefits to local the mercy of the state or local governing au- “The ministry of Mines seems to be more
workers, thereby fuelling job insecurity. thorities. This has seen communities lose out Smallholder farmers, who make the bulk of powerful than the ministry of Agriculture. This
in land conflicts as locals are not protected by agricultural producers in Mutoko, have been at is because we have never heard of a place where
This is according to a report titled “From legislation. the receiving end of the forced evictions. mines have been closed for agriculture to take
Mountains of Hope to Anthills of Despair”, off. People have approached the traditional
by mining law experts James Tsabora and Dar- The forced relocations are also being done “We are looking at companies that are min- leaders and ministries, but to no avail,” Chi-
lington Chidarara, produced last week and first without clear guidelines and assessments for ing granite in Mutoko, an area where small- kowe said.
availed to The NewsHawks. compensation. holder farmers do not have title deeds over
land,” said Ngoni Chikowe, Zimbabwe Small- Environmental lawyer Darlington Chi-
Findings of the report show that most for- Communities in Mutoko have been at the holder Organic Farmers' Forum (Zimsoff) ag- darara says Zimbabwe should take seriously
eign-owned companies mining granite in mercy of mining companies, with government ricultural technical officer based in Mutoko. the recommendations of the United Nations
Zimbabwe have been offering local employees departments at district or provincial levels un- Guiding Principles on Business and Human
short-term contracts only. In other instances, able to assist, according to the report. “So, whenever there are some developments Rights (UNGP) in curbing rights abuses by
some workers have not been given contracts at that are of national value, smallholder farmers international mining companies.
all. There were few cases of compensation for re- are displaced without their consent,” Chikowe
location, with the highest package being US$5 said. “They are not even consulted or compen- “The UNGPs are founded on three princi-
“There are no foreign migrant labourers in 000, according to a local councillor quoted in sated as well because government wants some ples,” Chidarara told The NewsHawks. “The
the areas under research; all workers are Zim- the report. revenue from the investors coming into the first is
babwean citizens and above 90% are labourers area. This is something that is very unfavour-
from the local areas. “In Ward 5, two families are facing reloca- able to farmers who have been living on their the nation’s obligation to fulfil human rights
tion after Jindings mining company vowed to ancestral land for generations.” and fundamental freedoms. Secondly, the role
“Historically, migrant labour used to orig- establish black granite polishing factory at the of the business is to comply with all laws and
inate from countries such as Mozambique, mine,” he said in the report. “The traditional Chikowe said there has not been informed to respect human rights, whilst the third is for
Malawi and Zambia, but most of these have leaders had chosen a site which is not suitable consent before evictions, thereby breaching the people to be remedied where they have been
now been naturalised and are now part of the for habitation for these families. The amount small-scale farmers’ land rights. breached.
communities they reside in,” reads the report. of compensation agreed was US$4 000 and
US$50 for groceries every month for six “If there has been at some point a plan for
Estimations by the Black Granite Workers' compensation or agreement between villagers,
Union indicate that there is high job insecurity
in the sector. Over 80% of the employees are
on contracts shorter than three months.

Chinese-owned companies remained the
worst in terms of contracts, paying the lowest
wage, according to the report.

Surewin, one of the four implicated compa-
nies, has 98% of its 90 workers on short con-
tracts in Mutoko and Mt Darwin, areas well
known for granite mining.

Other companies, Dingmao and Jindings,
do not have permanent employees, with the
longest contracts being one to three months
long.

The use of short-term contracts, which are
renewed a number of times, is clearly illegal
under Zimbabwe’s labour laws.

“The relevant provision is section 12 (3) (a)
of the Labour Act [LA]. In terms of this provi-
sion, a fixed contract can only be renewed two
times. Any renewal or granting of a short-term
contract for a third time means the contract-
ed worker is now a permanent employee. Ac-
cordingly, mining companies are in violation
of section 12 (3) (a) of LA,” read part of the
report.

In addition, the report has revealed shoddy
contracts given to workers, thereby undermin-
ing job security and the International Labour
Organisation’s (ILO) decent work principle.

“Workers do not receive contracts when
they are contracted for a month — they just
sign in their details in a company register,” the
report reads.

The report further showed that workers are
working beyond the stipulated working hours.
The gazetted working time is 208 hours per
month, translating to 48 hours per week, for
26-27 working days per month.

Some selected workers were being promised
unspecified incentives which are fixed by the
employer without consultation.

Workers said they are exposed to environ-
mental hazards that come with granite mining.

“Common human risks include exposure to
unhealthy conditions caused by excessive dust
and noise. Physical activities such as blasting
rocks are inherently dangerous and workers ac-
cepted these as occupational hazards.

“Workers complained that most companies
do not undertake regular medical and health
checks for their workers and wait for the na-
tional bodies to do so,” reads the report.

Villagers in the Mutoko and Mt. Darwin
areas have also been victim to forced evictions
without informed consent.

Some villagers interviewed lamented the
ease with which they can be evicted, forcibly
relocated and given alternative lands elsewhere
by mining companies, with government au-

NewsHawks News Page 7

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

BRENNA MATENDERE Mining leaves trail of destruction

GRANITE mining by foreign companies in An open pit filled with rain water becoming a threat to humans and livestock during the rainy season.
Mutoko and parts of Mt Darwin has left a
trail of environmental degradation while pol- ko and Mt Darwin the unit has been lax. accused of failing to execute watertight checks terms of the EMP that would have been bind-
luting water bodies and posing health risks to “Despite covering granite as one of the on companies accused of gross violations of ing on companies. There is no environmen-
local communities. environmental best practice. tal certification system to guide international
minerals under its jurisdiction, this depart- buyers. EMA does not seem to have or to keep
In a report dubbed From Mountains of Hope ment is heavily under-resourced and thus lack “EMA however admits that only one com- comprehensive files and records pertaining
to Anthills of Despair, two researchers James full capacity.” pany seems to have re-explored its old sites, to the environmental performance of gran-
Tsabora and Darlington Chidarara reveal that namely Natural Stone Export Company. This ite-mining companies over a period of time,”
while big companies are minting millions of The researchers who compiled the report means the huge environmental degradation reads a section of the report.
dollars from Zimbabwe’s granite wealth, the also criticised Ema for allowing environmental and destruction is not rehabilitated, even in
lives of villagers have been ruined. crimes to unfold on its watch. Ema was also

“Apart from physical degradation of the A mining site fast approaching a community member’s home in Mutoko. The owner of the house has long been asked to leave.
natural environment, destruction of forests,
hills and mountains, granite mining has led
to siltation and diversion of rivers; decrease in
the water table; exposure of soil and land to
erosion; increased amounts of dust; boulders
scattered over land and fields and huge pits
and open surfaces on land previously undis-
turbed,” reads part of the report.

Granite mining in Zimbabwe began in
1972 in earnest but has intensified in recent
years after the toppling of long-time ruler
Robert Mugabe in 2017.

In terms of the law, companies that choose
to enter into mining of any mineral must car-
ry out a mandatory Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) exercise which is superin-
tended by the Environmental Management
Agency (Ema), but the latest report shows the
companies in Mutoko and Mt Darwin who
are extracting the black granite have found a
loophole to circumvent the rules.

“The Environmental Management Agen-
cy (EMA) is the environmental regulator. It
undertakes biennial inspection visits, and en-
vironmental audits on granite mining com-
panies. However, through a legal loophole,
granite mining companies are not required to
conduct environmental impact assessments
(EIAs); they can only undertake environmen-
tal management plans, that are laxer and less
strict as compared to EIAs,” notes the report;
adding: “EMA claims to be open to receive
complaints from communities about envi-
ronmental violations, but communities are
not aware of that. The remedies open to EMA
include ticketing/fine up to level 14, the high-
est level of fine in Zimbabwe and legal orders,
which are basically directives for companies
to comply in a certain way. EMA is unable to
insist on rehabilitation of the huge open pits
when a company states that it will return to
mine again in the same spot in the near fu-
ture.”

While Chinese companies have largely been
under the spotlight for the environmental
crimes in the granite mining sector, others
from European countries have of late been in-
volved as well, in a development that worries
local communities.

At stake now is the risk of water shortages
in the communities where the black granite is
being mined as well as untold pollution and
damage to road infrastructure.

“Those interviewed decried the massive
water abstraction and use by mining compa-
nies which led to decrease in the water table.
Some members pointed to massive air pollu-
tion caused by dust from mining, as well as
increased soil erosion.”

“Heavy vehicles used in granite mining have
destroyed roads in Mutoko and Mt Darwin.
Communities complain that the road damage
is not compensated for. Further, mine vehi-
cles require flat roads, and not the hunchback
roads we have in Zimbabwe. The movement
of these vehicles gradually flatten these roads,
leaving gaping potholes, and making roads
unsuitable for motor traffic movement,” reads
part of the report.

Zimbabwe has regulatory bodies such as the
Zimbabwe Republic Police, which must be
reigning in the errant companies, but inves-
tigations by the research team show that the
law enforcement agency is weak and incapac-
itated.

The ZRP has a Minerals, Flora and Fauna
Unit that is particularly assembled to deal
with all mineral crimes and cases that flout
environmental crimes. The special section of
the law enforcement agents works with Ema,
department of Mines, wildlife authorities, for-
estry authorities and water management agen-
cies.

However, the report revealed that in Muto-

Page 8 News NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Chrome miners get export reprieve

BERNARD MPOFU ernment policy on the need for mineral bene- Zimbabwe’s mining sector production grew 3.4% in 2021.
ficiation and value addition. Mineral ores are Chamber of Mines chief executive Isaac Kwesu
GOVERNMENT has waivered on its ban on critical feedstock in the beneficiation of miner-
the export of chrome concentrates, which was als. Where a country is endowed with minerals
expected to come into effect on Friday as min- resources it is prudent for these minerals to be
ers invest in capacity to establish smelting facil- beneficiated to the maximum extent possible.
ities, The NewsHawks has established. This increases export earnings and contributes
to multiple linkage streams as well as generating
Mining is Zimbabwe’s main source of ex- employment directly and indirectly. To this end
port earnings, accounting for over 50% of to- we urge government to support the private sec-
tal shipments. Zimbabwe is estimated to host tor in their endeavour by providing the policy
about 80% of the world’s resources of metal- framework that encourages investment in min-
lurgical chromite. The chrome ore occurs in the eral beneficiation and value addition facilities.”
Great Dyke and the greenstone belts.
According to government estimates, mining
Last December, Finance minister Mthu- sector production grew 3.4% in 2021, while re-
li Ncube said the ban, which was scheduled ceipts were up 25% year-on-year to US$5 bil-
to come into effect on Friday, was meant to lion in 2021 (25% of GDP) supported by firm
promote the processing of the mineral, which international prices and a raft of measures taken
is mainly found along the resource-rich Great towards turning the sector into a US$12bn in-
Dyke. dustry by 2030. Going into 2022, government
has forecast annual growth in production of
“Going forward, awarding of chrome mining 8%. To attain this target, the national budget
claims will be dependent upon the setting up has provision of ZWL$3bn for the ministry
of integrated chrome-mining and ferrochrome of Mines for mining exploration, opening of
smelting by mining houses,” Ncube said. closed mines as well as mineral beneficiation
and value addition among other projects.
Isaac Kwesu, Chamber of Mines of Zimba-
bwe chief executive, said miners will use the Going forward, the granting of chrome min-
window to increase capacity in value addition. ing claims will be dependent upon the setting
up of integrated chrome mining and ferro-
“The pending ban on chrome concentrates chrome smelting by prospective mining houses.
was announced in 2021, and ferrochrome
producers were provided with a window to ex- Zimbabwe has 40 known mineable resourc-
pand, as well as establish smelting facilities to es, dominated by two prominent geological fea-
accommodate their ores and concentrates. It tures, namely the Great Dyke and the ancient
is our understanding that this policy position greenstone belts.
was informed by the need to fully beneficiate
chrome ore produced in Zimbabwe at the var- The Great Dyke also has the second-largest
ious ferrochrome smelting facilities as well as deposits of platinum group of metals in the
encouraging investment in new smelting facili- world after the Bushveld Complex in South
ties,” Kwesu said. Africa.

“As the Chamber of Mines, we support gov-

NewsHawks News Page 9

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

BERNARD MPOFU Gold coins proposal: Case
of new wine in old bottles
WAY back in August 2009, former
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. ing introducing gold coins, inflation- we believe inflation trends will pre- “Overall, we opine that the main
Gideon Gono proposed the return of will be immune to the capricious ary pressures will persist due to cost- vail due to cost-push pressures in the objective of the measures is tap into
the local dollar after it had been prac- market volatilities. The trimetallic pu sh factors. The measures included form of higher costs; civil servant large nostro balances in the country.
tically demonitised with the intro- currency system will safeguard the increasing the bank rate from 80% to wage increases, low confidence in the The measures do not address the fun-
duction of the multicurrency system economy against inflation, especially 200% per annum, among other re- ZWL (Zimdollar), significant hard damental issues affecting Zimbabwe’s
by government in February that year against its more deleterious variant: lated things, liquidation of unutilised currency demand to support imports hard currency generation capabilities
in a bid to tackle hyperinflation and hyperinflation.” retained export receipts and intro- of wheat, maize, basic goods and in- and economic stature.”
ensure macroeconomic stabilisation. ducing gold coins. puts for local manufacturers as well
However, an economics and mar- as government-related infrastructure On gold coins, the research says
“What I’m calling for is a guard- ket intelligence report done by Mor- “In the light on the above-men- projects,” the paper said. “gold coins can only offer a store of
ed reintroduction of the Zimbabwe gan & Co says despite multifaceted tioned measures and implications, value, but only if trust is preserved”.
dollar where such a currency will be measures taken by the RBZ, includ-
fully backed by credible, tangible and
locally available assets such gold, dia-
mond or platinum,” Gono said.

However, then Finance minister
Tendai Biti under the Government
of National Unity flatly rejected the
proposal: “The Zim dollar is dead
and buried”. This week the RBZ
announced the introduction of gold
coins into the market as a store of val-
ue. In a statement following a meet-
ing of the bank’s Monetary Policy
Committee on June 24, RBZ gover-
nor John Mangudya also announced
a series of measures meant to curb
inflation.

“The MPC resolved to introduce
gold coins into the market as an in-
strument that will enable investors
to store value. The gold coins will be
minted by Fidelity Gold Refineries
(Private) Limited and will be sold to
the public through normal banking
channels,” he said.

Mangudya, Gono’s predecessor,
said the MPC had expressed great
concern over the recent surge in in-
flation, which climbed to 191.6%
for June, from 131.7% the previous
month year-on-year.

The issue of introducing gold coins
or gold-backed currency is not new
in the market. The debate has been
going on years now.

Only last week, before the RBZ
announcement, South African-based
Zimbabwean-born currency expert
Colls Ndlovu, who worked for the
South African Reserve Bank and
wrote books titled (i) Trimetallism,
and (ii) Gold Currency”, suggested
a “trimetallic monetary system com-
prises of gold, platinum and silver
operating as concurrent currencies
within the economy”.

“The adoption of the trimetallic
currency system for Zimbabwe will
not only solve the country’s ongoing
currency conundrum, but will also
help the country to reduce its hyper-
inflation down to below 2% levels,
while at the same time enhancing
the standards of living of the people,”
Ndlovu said.

“The investment community, both
domestic and foreign, will find Zim-
babwe to be a highly competitive in-
vestment destination powered by the
trimetallic currency standard which

Page 10 News NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Poverty-stricken
citizens survive on
‘tsaona’ food packs

. . . as basic commodity prices soar

AYESHA CHIDEMBO cups of cooking oil, boiled sugar beans and a few
pieces of meat,among other commodities.
WITH inflation running riot, the urban poor in
Zimbabwe are now relying on small re-packaged Combined Harare Residents’ Association
quantities of foodstuffs, known in Harare as “tsao- (CHRA) programmes manager Reuben Akili said
na” (emergency) packs, a snap survey by The New- the soaring prices of basic commodities, which
sHawks has revealed. many people used to buy in bulk in the past, ex-
plained why consumers were now exhorting to
Salaries continue to be eroded by runaway in- re-packaged “emergency” foodstuffs.
flation and citizens are finding it difficult to buy
food in bulk, with small businesses now re-pack- “The harsh economic environment which has
aging basic commodities into smaller and less ex- seen people also starting to buy food packaged
pensive packs. Maize meal can be found in 500 in small quantities known as katsaona is coming
gramme packs and cooking oil comes in small- against the background where basic commodities
er-than-usual bottles. or prices of basic commodities have increased,
with some even becoming unaffordable. Some are
These small packs have been a life saver for living on less than US$2 or less than a dollar a
families which fail to raise even US$1 on any giv- day. This has seen people surviving on small food
en day. packs re-packaged in small quantities so that they
can be able to have just something to eat for that
Police officers and teachers in Zimbabwe are day.
earning between ZW$27 000 and ZW$30 000,
the equivalent of US$38 to US$42 on the parallel “Some people are now having one meal per
market, meaning the professional class have been day. Those are some of the issues of how people
reduced to glorified paupers. are surviving, especially in high-density areas. You
can actually see that people have started moving
Those who spoke during the snap survey said from these well-established high-density areas to
it was increasingly difficult to get sufficient mon- informal settlements where rents are cheaper,” he
ey to buy food in bulk, hence the popularity of said.
“emergency” foodstuff packages.
“These are the issues we are facing in Harare.
“Basic commodities are getting expensive and Bread is no longer affordable and people have
with the way we work, we no longer afford to buy started resorting to sweet potatoes as a coping
loads of groceries at once, therefore resorting to mechanism to the harsh economic environment,
buying these basic commodities now called katsa- but again even the sweet potatoes are now also
ona as we go,” Leonard Jabangwe, a resident of increasing in terms of price as people are buying
Chitungwiza, said. medium sized sweet potatoes at a dollar for about
six to seven, making them expensive because of
He said due to poverty, residents of the dor- the demand.”
mitory town are depending on re-packaged gro-
ceries. The situation is dire in Epworth, Mbare, Mufa-
kosi and Mabvuku where most people are finding
“It was better a few months ago buying gro- comfort in the “katsaona” emergency foodstuffs.
ceries, even basic commodities, in US dollars due
to fair prices compared to now where both the Last year, the World Bank revealed that 7.9
US dollar and Zimdollar prices are exorbitant,” million Zimbabweans live in extreme poverty.
the father of two and part-time technician added. With inflation shooting through the roof this
year, officially scaling 191% in June, economic
At the Jambanja market, which teems with bar- hardships are spiralling out of control.
gain hunters throughout the day, residents could
be seen buying a few cups of maize meal, small

Small food packs have been a life saver for most struggling families. — Pictures: Ruvimbo Muchenje

NewsHawks News Page 11

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Zhedi Boroma pictured next to her fowl cage. — Picture: Almot Maqolo

BERNARD MPOFU Behind economic revival fallacy,
impoverishment stalks urbanites
WHEN Zhedi Boroma’s husband Shingai, a
casual worker in the construction industry, was “Hunger is stalking urban centres like Nor- resulted in the widespread and prolonged loss conditions. Zimbabwe’s Finance ministry sees
left jobless and unable to fend for his family, the ton is real,” Zhedi says. “When the cash-based of livelihoods and income. the economy registering 5.5% growth while
50-year old housewife’s world almost crumbled. transfers were stalled, we panicked but before international organisations such as the World
long we also benefited from a poultry project According to the results of the 2020 Urban Bank have projected the economy to grow by
Opportunities for casual work dwindled which was being run by Care and its partners Livelihoods Assessment (ZimVAC) released in 3.5% due to the impact of Russia’s invasion of
due public health restrictions aimed at slowing and now we have made enough savings to settle March 2021, 2.4 million urban dwellers (which Ukraine which has resulted in supply chain dis-
down the spread of Covid-19, a respiratory dis- all our bills and take children to school.” translates to 42% of Zimbabwe’s urban popula- ruptions.
ease which has claimed over 5 500 lives in Zim- tion) live in poverty.
babwe since the first case was reported in 2019. With new entrepreneurship skills, the Boro- Care International is working with the WFP
mas say they now have enough savings to diver- According to Care International, a humani- and USAID — the philanthropic arm of the
Food became insufficient to feed six family sify their business venture. The same cannot be tarian agency with operations across the globe, United States government — in rolling out the
members, rentals went into arrears, healthcare said for other residents who are reeling under shocks and stress are increasing in Zimbabwe Urban Food Security and Resilience building
became a nightmare and utility bills levied by poverty. and projected to worsen due to the impacts of project which seeks to strengthen the absorp-
the local authority — Norton Town Council the climate emergency, Covid-19, “a fluid and tive, adaptive and transformative capacities of
— ballooned each month. With no savings or According to the World Food Programme fragile socio-economic context” and limited ac- some communities facing hunger in Mashona-
collateral required to set up a low-income start- (WFP), food insecurity in recent times has cess to reliable climate or disaster risk reduction land and Masvingo provinces.
up, life became unbearable for Boroma’s family. become increasingly prevalent in Zimbabwe, information and best practices.
largely due to the country’s macro-economic The WFP says in 2021, 139 000 people par-
Norton is a sprawling town located 40km crisis, characterised by high levels of inflation “High unemployment is also a major stress ticipated in food assistance for assets activities
south west of Harare’s central business district and rising food costs. in urban areas that is mostly caused by the vol- which aim to strengthen resilience by provid-
and has been a source of labour for thousands atile macro-economic situation that is resulting ing resource transfers that enable households to
working in the capital and surrounding areas. “Furthermore, urban domains offer less op- in negative coping strategy like crimes like theft meet their food needs in the short term, while
portunity for subsistence livelihoods, compared and anti-social behaviours like drug abuse by assets are created or rehabilitated to contribute
The plight faced by the Boroma family typi- to rural areas,” the WFP says. the youth,” the aid agency says. to long term food security.
fies that of millions of other Zimbabweans who
are living on less than US$2 a week while oth- “As such, the majority of Zimbabwe’s urban “Due to low-income levels, households have While many stories of pain and anguish
ers are surviving on handouts from well-wishers residents live hand-to-mouth, working multi- resorted to inappropriate dietary choices lead- caused by an economic collapse remain untold,
and aid agencies as the economy flounders due ple jobs in the informal sector. Food availabil- ing to malnutrition in both women and chil- Zimbabwe’s government is frantically pushing
to poor policies, effects of climate crisis and the ity has also been impacted by severe drought, dren in urban areas.” for a new law to cripple the activities of civil so-
Covid-19 pandemic. which devastated domestic production during ciety organisations and other non-governmen-
the 2018/19 and 2019/20 agricultural seasons.” Despite flattering remarks by government tal organisations. The socio-economic impact of
In the midst of the family’s despair was a officials that Zimbabwe’s faltering economy is this move, critics say will be too dire for Zimba-
flicker of hope. But that salvation was short- The Covid-19 pandemic has compounded on the mend, aid agencies have been working bwe’s fragile economy.
lived. these existing challenges, as restrictive measures behind the scenes feeding and empowering
imposed to curb the spread of the virus have thousands of people trapped under penurious
The Boromas became one of the first bene-
ficiaries of a donor-funded pilot project which
offered monthly cash payouts to buy basics
from local retailers.

Shingai automatically qualified to benefit for
the cash-based transfers and received a coupon
which was being credited with US$72 monthly.
The programme came to an end last December.

Page 12 News NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

MOSES MATENGA Re-engagement drive in flames

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s desire to The Zimbabwean leader dispatched a delegation to CHOGM in Rwanda to push for the return to the Commonwealth.
return to the Commonwealth under his re-en-
gagement drive has hit a brick wall, with the conditions in the country “by a high-level Com- “Commonwealth euphoria is not Zimbabwean. “The Commonwealth meeting in Kigali has
grouping insisting Zimbabwe should address monwealth mission that consults widely with all Zimbabwe has not expressed any new wish to re- provided opportunities for our Zimbabwean di-
cases of human rights violations and has failed to stakeholders.” join the Commonwealth it left over its sovereign aspora across the globe, who are participating as
meet set conditions. land reform programme. Of course other coun- panelists, facilitators and as delegates in the fo-
The forum said Zimbabwe government tries including UK, have wished for Zimbabwe’s rums.”
Mnangagwa dispatched senior government should demonstrate commitment to uphold, de- return. Not quite our priority at this stage.”
officials to engage over the country’s potential fend and respect the sanctity of the constitution “I have met with the Zimbabwe diaspora, me-
return to the organisation despite Zimbabwean and the principles buttressing constitutional de- In 2018, Commonwealth secretary-gener- dia, private sector, academia, civil society, those
authorities now alleging the country has no in- mocracy in the country. al Patricia Scotland expressed satisfaction with in finance and banking, arts and students. They
tention of rejoining the grouping. Zimbabwe’s reforms and told journalists after have had an opportunity to engage.”
Analyst Rashweat Mukundu said failure to meeting with Mnangagwa that the process of
Despite attempts since 2018 by Mnangagwa reform has cost Zimbabwe a ticket to an antic- readmitting Harare into the grouping was being It emerged that three Zimbabwean ministers
to push for a return to the Commonwealth, a ipated return to the Commonwealth. “accelerated”. attended the CHOGM side events including the
report after the Commonwealth Heads of Gov- Commonwealth Women Forum and the Com-
ernment held in Rwanda last week, a report in “Zimbabwe can only sulk at the snub as we Then, Mnangagwa had the goodwill support- monwealth Business Forum.
the United Kingdom’s House of Commons indi- saw senior government officials disparaging the ed by then United Kingdom ambassador Catri-
cated Harare has failed in meeting the conditions Commonwealth which they want as a validation ona Liang. Zimbabwe’s deputy Foreign Affairs Minister
for a return. of Mnangagwa’s statesmanship,” Mukundu said. David Musabayana engaged several key individ-
Scotland then said the grouping had noted the uals as part of Zimbabwe’s re-engagement drive
“Zimbabwe, which joined the Common- “The Zanu PF government does not see any- Mnangagwa administration’s reforms but it has on the sidelines of CHOGM.
wealth in 1980 and withdrew in 2003, began thing wrong with its human rights record, which emerged that nothing tangible has been done.
the process of re-joining in 2018. In 2017, then smells to the heavens. Two things will happen In February 2018, the UK made it clear
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said it would be depending on who has the upper hand between Rwandan media quoted Zimbabwean ambas- that Zimbabwe’s return to the Commonwealth
a 'fine and noble aspiration' for both the Com- the moderates and hawks in Zanu PF. Hawks sador to Kigali Charity Manyeruke, who attend- would be on the basis of meeting the “criteria for
monwealth and Zimbabwe if it re-joined but will push Zimbabwe further into the hands of ed CHOGM as an observer alongside other top membership, particularly in relation to human
said the country must meet certain standards in China not as a strategic move but an act of des- government officials, saying their participation rights, good governance and the rule of law”.
human rights, the rule of law and democracy,” a peration while moderates may try to charm the was a “positive development”.
summary on the report on Zimbabwe reads. Commonwealth again.” The UK added that it then had communicat-
“Zimbabwe is excited to be participating in ed to Mnangagwa that another condition would
“In 2021 the UK Government said examples “This unfortunately is a classic case of Zanu Commonwealth forums as this presents oppor- be the holding of free and fair elections.
such as the arrest of female activists and a pro- PF wanting to be accepted by the international tunities to network with the international com-
posed law to criminalise criticism against Zimba- community for doing nothing other than remov- munity taking into account the government of Elections were held in July 2018 and remain
bwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa meant ing Mugabe from power.” Zimbabwe’s policy of engagement and re-en- disputed to date.
the country was “not living up to the standards gagement,” Manyeruke, a former University of
set out in the [Commonwealth] charter.” Recently, Mnangagwa’s spokesperson who Zimbabwe professor and Zanu PF official in The Commonwealth says its members should
is also deputy chief secretary, George Charam- Mashonaland East province said. commit to development of “free and democratic
“In 2021, the Zimbabwean Government said ba, took to microblogging site Twitter, saying: societies” adding that Togo and Gabon were in-
they were in the second of the four-stage process terested in joining the Commonwealth.
of re-joining, with the application undergoing
consultation among Commonwealth members.
In April 2022, the Foreign Office Minister, Lord
Goldsmith, said Zimbabwe “cannot yet credi-
bly be said to meet the principles set out in the
Commonwealth charter,” the report reads put-
ting a dent on Mnangagwa’s much-touted re-en-
gagement.

Upon coming in as President in 2O17 fol-
lowing a military coup, Mnangagwa was clear
on his need to rejoin the Commonwealth fol-
lowing Zimbabwe’s protest 2003 departure, but
four years down the line, Zimbabwe’ failure to
reform and perpetuation of human rights abuses
has further strained relations with the West that
has effectively blocked all manoeuvres.

From the onset members demanded that
Zimbabwe fulfils a number of obligations in
line with the Harare Declaration of 1991 which
saw members of the Commonwealth pledging
to ensure the protection and promotion of the
fundamental political values of the Common-
wealth; democracy, democratic processes and in-
stitutions which reflect national circumstances,
the rule of law and the independence of the judi-
ciary, just and honest government; fundamental
human rights, including equal rights as well as
create opportunities for all citizens regardless of
race, colour, creed or political belief among other
pledges.

The Zimbabwean leader dispatched a delega-
tion to CHOGM in Rwanda to push for the re-
turn to the Commonwealth and when the push
failed, senior officials in his office claimed it was
never the government priority.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
says any re-admission should follow a compre-
hensive and exhaustive evaluation of current

... as citizens lose faith in Mnangagwa

ZIMBABWE’S poor and downtrodden say ing oil was US$2.50 but now the price is over “Majority rank economic management and government is performing 'fairly badly' or 'very
they have no confidence in President Emmer- US$5.50. Mealie-meal prices have also soared, unemployment as the most important problems badly' on key economic issues, including: Keep-
son Mnangagwa's administration as the ongoing with a 10 kilogramme pack now costing about that government should address,” the report ing prices stable (87%) Creating jobs (86%) Nar-
economic implosion continues unabated, a new US$10, up from US$4.50 in 2017 when Mnan- reads. rowing gaps between rich and poor (79%).”
study has shown. gagwa’s “new dispensation” took over.
“Almost three-quarters (72%) of citizens say There has been a steady increase in prices of
Since he swept to power on the back of a mili- A crate of eggs under the late former president the country is going in the wrong direction. The basic commodities, with manufacturers and im-
tary coup in 2017, the economy has fared dismal- Robert Mugabe’s government cost US$3, but the view that the country is heading in the wrong di- porters pushing up wholesale prices while also
ly, ruined by runaway inflation and a weakening price has now doubled. rection is most pronounced among citizens expe- switching to parallel market exchange rates for
domestic currency. riencing high lived poverty (87%).” imported materials.
The cost of essential services has also increased
At the time of the 2017 coup, civil servants on Mnangagwa’s watch. Those interviewed said the government was The government has promised to come up with
were earning an average of US$540 per month, performing badly in addressing the economic cri- measures to address the economic crisis, includ-
but on Mnangagwa’s watch the government In a recent survey by the Mass Public Opinion sis characterised by the failure to address prices ing the imposition of the inter-bank exchange
workers now get an average of US$265, not Institute (MPOI), the poor, whose livelihoods that have seen many failing to afford basic com- rate, but observers have warned that such a move
enough to meet basic needs. have been severely affected in the last four years, modities and decent meals. will have dire consequences including shortages
said they no longer trust that the current govern- of goods in supermarkets. — STAFF WRITER.
In 2017, the average price of two litres of cook- ment will change their lives. “By large majorities, Zimbabweans say the

NewsHawks News Page 13
President Emmerson Mnangagwa
Issue 87, 1 July 2022

‘Zim 40 yrs backward’

l Govt has dismally failed

l Clueless leaders to blame

MOSES MATENGA ra. As it is, it is the diaspora which is contributing
almost US$2 billion in remittances — a massive
ZIMBABWE is now 40 years backward com- support and safety net in a country so ravaged by
pared to several African countries as a result of poverty and unemployment. And why then deny
misrule and failure to tap into professional skills the right to vote to citizens out there who now
that have found home outside the country due number an estimated four to five million?”
to the country’s economic crisis, an academic and
former senior civil servant, Ibbo Mandaza, says. “We have to go back to the drawing board, at
least to what we did in preparation for Indepen-
He said Zimbabwe is in a serious mess, adding dence in the late 1970s and, in particular, in the
there was a need to mobilise all Zimbabweans, formative years of the post-independence period.”
including the diaspora community, as a matter of
urgency. “These technocrats were the same who had
done a blueprint for Zimbabwe during the lib-
Zimbabwe was once described as a “jewel of eration struggle.
Africa” by the late former Tanzanian leader Julius
Nyerere on his state visit soon after Indepen- “There was a need to mobilise your own skills
dence, but is now on its knees due to what ob- and most of the skills were outside the country,
servers say is the failure of leadership. they came home at Independence to help in the
reconstruction and development of a new Zim-
With unemployment around 90%, inflation babwe.”
shooting through the roof, Zimbabwe is in a sor-
ry state under President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Mandaza said the situation was now dire, hence
administration. the need for urgency in addressing the crisis.

“It is evident that the current situation in “Now the situation is worse with that we have
Zimbabwe is one in which both the private and over 75% of those skills and professionals outside
particularly the public sector are depleted of skills the country. Many of these skills are those we pro-
and therefore lacking in capacity to deliver as duced after Independence when some of us were
would be expected in any society,” Mandaza said. involved in education and manpower.”

“This is one of the consequences of the reality “The current government is now depleted of
that the political and economic instability over competent skills, every sector is depleted of skill
the last 20 years has resulted in the growth of the and capacity and there is nowhere we can turn
Zimbabwean diaspora, including the shocking around this country without mobilising all re-
statistics in which 70% to 75% of all professional sources, including and, in particular, those in the
and skilled Zimbabweans are now serving outside diaspora.”
the country.”
He said the people in the diaspora were con-
He said it is clear the current situation in Zim- tributing a lot to the Zimbabwean economy and
babwe is one that is lacking in capacity at state therefore baffling why they were not even allowed
level and had “clueless ministers and civil ser- to vote.
vants” in sharp contrast to the 1980s.
“They are already contributing over US$1.5
“Now it is a hotchpotch of people who are pro- billion, even more, through diaspora remittances
ducing a hotchpotch of policies.” and these people are very important and if you
can be acknowledging remittances that they are
“40 years ago, when Nyerere made a state visit contributing, then you cannot ignore them as
to Zimbabwe and called it the jewel of Africa, he voters and as people who can contribute if care-
said to (the late former President Robert) Mugabe fully mobilised to help lift the country, especially
please do not destroy the Jewel,” Mandaza said. government,” Mandaza said.

“In that period, there was a clear alliance be- “Whether it is this current regime that has
tween the old nationalists, Mugabe, (the late Ed- clearly failed and is highly culpable for the mess
gar) Tekere, Maurice Nyagumbo (late) and so on we are in, or the succeeding dispensation that
and a team of technocrats including people like [Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) leader
myself, Herbert Ushewokunze, Tom Mswaka, Nelson] Chamisa and his party hope to establish
Tim Muzondo, Herbert Murerwa and others,” — there is need to go back to the drawing board,
Mandaza told The NewsHawks in an interview. and put in place a recovery plan that takes into
account and mobilises that large section of our
“Zimbabwe cannot recover, economically and humanity, our blood, the Zimbabwean diaspora.”
politically, without the mobilisation of its diaspo-

CCC leader Nelson Chamisa Former Tanzanian leader Julius Nyerere

Page 14 News NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

NATHAN GUMA Outrage as govt blocks Psmas AGM

THE government, through the Public Service Psmas members and government have been at loggerheads.
Commission (PSC), has blocked the convening of
the Premier Service Medical Aid Society (Psmas) Premier Service Microfinance. pointed by civil servants, three elected by other government to cancel the meeting because the
annual general meeting, before disrupting its Press When the time of the AGM arrived, the gov- members and two chosen by affiliate employer company had received a complaint from PSC
conference as the authorities wrestle to control the organisations excluding government. secretary Wutawunashe, The NewsHawks heard.
country’s largest medical aid society. ernment stalled the process, demanding some Consequently, the 2021 AGM was cancelled on
changes to the board chaired by Jeremiah Bvirindi. The Psmas managing director is the principal its eve, in manoeuvres similar to the scuttling of
PSC secretary Jonathan Wutawunashe, who is officer and an ex-officio member. Just before the this week’s AGM.
part of the fight for the control of Psmas affairs, on The 11-member board comprises three mem- AGM in June last year, Psmas was told by the
Wednesday said the AGM had been cancelled to bers appointed by the government, three ap-
allow the completion of a forensic audit.
PTUZ secretary-general Raymond Majongwe
Members believe the government wants to cre-
ate a new feeding trough for politically connected
corporate raiders.

The members thus pushed ahead with plans to
hold the AGM at a local hotel yesterday but were
stopped by the police.

Baton-wielding police descended to block the
meeting which was supposed to be held at the
Rainbow Towers Hotel, before blocking speeches
at Public Service Association (PSA) House in Ha-
rare’s central business district.

One of the medical society members, Ladistous
Zunde, a programmes manager at the Progressive
Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), was ar-
rested on his way out of the venue.

Some members leaving the PSA House were
dispersed by police who whisked Zunde away in a
truck. “We are tired of what has been happening,”
said Charles Chinosengwa, organising secretary
for the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector
Trade Unions (ZCPSTU).

“We were holding a peaceful Press conference,
and police came to arrest our member for nothing.
That is why we are calling upon all members of the
health, education services, and other civil servants
to come together so that we put an end to this
kind of treatment.”

Commenting on the arrest, PTUZ secre-
tary-general Raymond Majongwe said: “The guy
(Zunde) has not committed any offence. I was
with him, and if walking in town is a crime, then
he is guilty!”

“He will not face anything because he has not
been arrested. He is my officer, and if they want
me, let them get me, not him,” he said.

Before the raid, members had agreed to a
demonstration featuring the society’s members
who have been living below the poverty datum
line.

“They have undone the AGM and, because of
that, we are therefore in a situation where mem-
bers are saying they want to proceed with it.

“Quality health has been compromised and,
because of that, we have seen members failing to
get services when they are ill or admitted. They
have had to pay astronomical shortfalls, which
ultimately compromises the members’ access to
proper healthcare,” Majongwe said.

Psmas members believe the PSC’s manoeuvres
are designed to hijack their organisation and run
it in the interests of government officials and their
business cronies instead of members.

Majongwe said they will stage a peaceful
demonstration despite the use of the repressive
state apparatus which was deployed to block them
from convening.

“Whether we are successful or not, we have the
reason and constitutional right,” he said. “And this
is a free country. All we are saying is that we are
not happy with what is happening.

“As far as we are concerned, we are the contrib-
uting members and we know what we want. There
is no point in being afraid. The members who are
contributing to Psmas are saying that on the 4th
of July, they will demonstrate to say they are not
happy.”

Psmas members and the government have been
at loggerheads, with the former claiming the au-
thorities have been vying to make the oldest med-
ical aid society a parastatal.

The government started manoeuvring to cap-
ture Psmas last year ahead of the AGM.

Psmas members wanted to ratify resolutions
on restructuring and consolidation made during
the interim management Dr Gibson Mhlanga,
who was brought in by the government from the
Health ministry to clean up the mess left by the
organisation’s former chief executive Cuthbert
Dube who was removed under a cloud of corrup-
tion.

This included the creation of Premier Service
Holding Company (PSHC) to house all entities
and trust to safeguard assets. PSHC, an integrated
health and financial services provider, incorpo-
rates Psmas, Premier Service Medical Investments,
Premier Service Medical Aid Society Zambia and

NewsHawks News Page 15

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Zim makes token payments to creditors

NYASHA CHINGONO Finance minister Mthuli Ncube
AFDB president Akinwumi Adesina
FINANCE minister Mthuli Ncube says Zim-
babwe is making quarterly token payments to
international creditors, including 17 Paris Club
members, as the country battles to improve its
credit rating.

Currently battling a huge debt overhang which
has worsened the country’s sovereign risk profile,
the authorities in Harare have been left with few
options except seek debt forgiveness and bridge
financing from potential sponsors.

Token payments have become the govern-
ment’s only way to send the correct signals to
creditors around the world, who remain un-
willing to support Zimbabwe’s budgetary needs
through lines of credit.

“We have begun the process of making token
payments to international financial institutions,”
Ncube told The NewsHawks on Monday.

Official figures show that as at 31 Decem-
ber 2021, Zimbabwe’s total public and publicly
guaranteed (PPG) debt stood at US$10.7 billion.
This represented 72.6% of the country’s gross do-
mestic product.

PPG external debt owed to the multilateral
creditors, as at 31 December 2020, amounted
to US$2.68 billion, of which US$1.53 billion is
owed to the World Bank Group, US$729 mil-
lion to AfDB, US$356 million to the European
Investment Bank and US$68 million to other
multilateral creditors.

“We have begun paying token payments to
members of the Paris Club, 17 of them. We think
this is a good move because we are determined
as a government to become a good debtor, not a
bad debtor,” Ncube added.

Ncube would not be drawn into saying how
much Treasury had paid to foreign creditors but
maintained that the government was “making
these payments consistently every quarter”.

Since the toppling of former President Robert
Mugabe in 2017 in a military coup, most West-
ern powers have doubted President Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s sincerity in effecting a raft of eco-
nomic and political reforms needed to normalise
relations with creditors and the international
community.

At the turn of the millennium the US enact-
ed the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic
Recovery Act (Zidera) over Zimbabwe’s worsen-
ing human rights record and charges of electoral
fraud.

Under Zidera, Washington can veto any fi-
nancial support extended to Zimbabwe by Bret-
ton Woods institutions, most notably the World
Bank and International Monetary Fund, if Hara-
re reneges on its promise to undertake reforms.

Harare strongly opposes the foreign policy
tool, saying it is Washington’s ploy to effect re-
gime change following the controversial land re-
form programme which saw thousands of white
commercial farmers losing swathes of land to
locals.

To deal with the debt overhang, the authorities
in Harare are pushing to be classified a Heavily
Indebted Poor Country (HIPC).

The nation remains in debt distress, battling to
access long-term cheap capital from multilateral
lenders like the World Bank, African Develop-
ment Bank and the IMF. With limited budgetary
support, Zimbabwe has over the years relied on
internal resources and loans with usurious inter-
est rates to finance some of its critical projects.

Following several failed attempts to settle the
ballooning debt such as the Zimbabwe Accel-
erated Arrears Debt and Development Strategy
(ZAADS) and later the Lima Plan of 2015, Zim-
babwe, according to the IMF, is now pursuing
the HIPC model, which during the Government
of National Unity was frowned upon by Zanu
PF.

During the tenure of the power-sharing gov-
ernment which comprised Zanu PF and two
MDC factions, hawkish Zanu PF politicians re-
jected proposals made by then Finance minister
Tendai Biti to pursue the HIPC initiative, argu-
ing that the country was not poor.

AFDB president Akinwumi Adesina heads to
Zimbabwe next month after pledging to cham-
pion the country’s plan to clear arrears with the
regional lender.

Page 16 News NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Human rights abuses: Zim under spotlight

MOSES MATENGA l Government defends crackdown, PVO Bill

ZIMBABWE has come under the United Na- Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi
tions Human Rights Council's scrutiny over cas-
es of human rights abuse, with several local and ists to speak freely and no infringement on civic progress.This is despite growing disapproval from towards Zimbabwe.”
international organisations nailing the regime for space,” the presentation on behalf of the ICJ not- civil society organisations who describe the PVOs He described the cases of abduction and forced
victimising political activists, human rights de- ed. Amendment Bill as a danger to democracy and
fenders, civil society campaigners and journalists that it must be stopped. disappearance as fictitious.
while shrinking the democratic space ahead of the Amnesty International also weighed in, saying On the PVOs Amendment Bill, Ziyambi said:
2023 elections. there was no political will to implement key reso- Ziyambi said all those arrested in Zimbabwe
lutions made previously. mainly during the Covid-19 pandemic were “This Bill is undergoing the relevant legislative
Organisations including ZimRights, Interna- found on the wrong side of the law. processes and all NGOs were invited to give their
tional Commission for Jurists (ICJ) and Amnesty “There is no political will to promote human submissions and all of them seem to be happy
International have nailed the Zimbabwean gov- rights. Zimbabweans live in fear of torture, ab- “Those so-called human rights defenders wants with the progress this far.”
ernment for leading a crackdown against activists, ductions and disappearances,” the organisation preferential treatment from the law and wanted to
the opposition and human rights defenders and said, citing the case of opposition activists Joana demonstrate and violate Covid-19 laws.” Zimbabwe has witnessed a surge in human
pleaded for action, particularly ahead of the elec- Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova rights violations under the new administration
tions that observers have warned are likely to be that was described as regrettable. “There have been reports of violations and ab- including arrests of key opposition actors, block-
chaotic. ductions of opposition activists in the tenure of ing of opposition gatherings, killings of unarmed
Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the the new dispensation. These reports have been civilians by the military among others.
The organisations were giving presentations at abductions were staged. He defended the PVO conveyed to the public but the target audience for
the 30th, 31st, 32nd meetings, 50th Regular Ses- Amendment Bill, saying most non-governmental them are selected foreign missions in our country The international community has spoken out
sion of the UN Human Rights Council underway organisations in consultations were happy with to influence their attitude of their governments against the abuses with the United Kingdom im-
in Geneva, Switzerland. posing sanctions on Harare over the issues.

The Human Rights Council holds no fewer
than three regular sessions a year, for a total of at
least 10 weeks. They take place in March (four
weeks), June (three weeks) and September (three
weeks).

“There is continued shrinking of civic and
democratic space as we head towards the 2023
elections. Human rights defenders have been
subjected to arbitrary arrests, malicious prosecu-
tion and lengthy pre-trial detention in maximum
security prisons. NGOs facing ever-increasing
crackdown and threats by authorities. The PVO
Amendment Bill currently before Parliament pos-
es a great threat to NGO operations,” a report
presented on behalf of the organisations read.

ZimRights’ Dzikamai Bere said the govern-
ment of Zimbabwe should implement reforms
and stop using the law to shrink the democratic
space.

“We therefore call upon the government of
Zimbabwe to expedite implementation of recom-
mendations it has accepted and supported. In the
face of increasing attacks and persecution of civil
society activists, we call on government to align
its conduct with accepted recommendations and
stop persecution of activists and use of the law to
shrink the democratic and civic space ahead of the
2023 elections,” Bere said.

The ICJ said there was a need for the govern-
ment to allow the diaspora vote and ensure cre-
ation of an environment that is free and fair ahead
of the 2023 elections. The ICJ also condemned
the proposed Private Voluntary Organisations
(PVOs) Amendment Bill which it described as
retrogressive and a danger to democracy.

“Zimbabwe failed to adhere to Ireland’s pro-
posal to stop the PVOs Amendment Bill. It bans
civil society organisations when we are seeking
for human rights defenders, journalists and activ-

Chilonga: Govt grants Dendairy land lease

MORRIS BISHI 500 hectares of irrigable land in Chilonga and cluded a lease. project since it is now clear that villagers have
Masivamele. We write to request water alloca- “As you can, see no one is willing to tell no power to decide on how this should be car-
GOVERNMENT has secretly issued dairy tion of 11 megalitres per hectare per annum ried out.” said Masiya.
company Dendairy a 25-year renewable lease (181 500 megalitres per annum) for commer- the truth in this matter, but it is true that our
for the production of lucerne in the Chilonga cial irrigation and other food crops. offices received an application for water by Village head Livison Chikutu, who is lead-
area of Chiredzi district in disregard of thou- Dendairy for irrigation purposes in Chilonga. ing the community in resisting the project,
sands of villagers who were still awaiting a “The water is to be drawn from Runde Riv- They also submitted a lease as part of their ap- said the government would have to kill all the
consultative process over the matter. er at Chilonga carying coordinates Latitude plication,” the source said. Shangaan people before the project kicks off
21.214601 and longitude 31.614574. Water because they will not agree to be relocated for
The Kwekwe-based company applied to the conveyance methods will consist of pumping Chiredzi East member of the National As- the fourth time in their history.
Zimbabwe National Water Authority to draw for the initial 3 000 metres and thereafter sembly Denford Masiya told The NewsHawks
water from Runde River for the irrigation of canals will distribute to respective fields. For that it is surprising that Dendairy is now ap- “As a community we will not allow this to
16 500 hectares, a move which left villagers in more information on the water delivery and plying for water, yet the community is still continue. The government should kill all
shock and anger as they are now uncertain of the land size, kindly find attached an image of waiting for a consultative process over the the Hlengwe Shangani people in order to go
what will happen to them. the water abstraction point, the project water matter. He said the leaking of documents from ahead with the project. We can't continue to
distribution map and the lease for the land,” Dendairy has raised fear and anger within the be victims of eviction for the fourth time by
In an application letter to Zinwa dated 17 part of the application by Coetze reads. community, which is waiting to hear how af- these governments,” Chikutu said.
June 2022, D Coetze, the managing director fected villagers will benefit from the project. Chiredzi district development cordinator
of Gruffulo Pvt Ltd trading as Denfarm, which Dendairy Lucerne Project spokesperson Lil- Lovemore Chisema told The NewsHawks that
is a subsidiary of Dendairy, said the company ian Muungani asked The NewsHawks to sub- “We saw letters from Dendairy showing he was not appraised of the latest developments
has been granted a lease and was requesting mit questions via email and said she was not that the process of lucerne production is now which he only got to know through other peo-
181 500 megalitres of water per annum to un- aware of the latest developments. at an advanced stage. This is coming as a shock ple. He said he was preparing for consultative
dertake irrigation activities in Chilonga. to us and this has raised fear and shock with- meetings with the community over the issue
However, a source at Zinwa confirmed that in the community. The consultation process next week, but the latest development renders
“Gruffulo Pvt Ltd trading as Denfarm has Dendairy submitted an application for water was not held and as people we are waiting to those meetings irrelevant.
been granted a 25-year renewable lease for 16 supplies and part of the papers submitted in- hear how the community will benefit from the

NewsHawks News Page 17

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

MOSES MATENGA ‘Call for electoral reforms vague’

ZANU PF says calls to demilitarise the Zimba- l Zec’s demilitarisation demand unconstitutional: Zanu PF
bwe Electoral Commission (Zec) are unconstitu-
tional, adding that the opposition's demand for Zanu PF secretary for Legal Affairs Paul Mangwana
electoral reforms are not feasible and lack clarity.
constitution says.” two.” issues that win an election. Ballots are cast by
The ruling party’s posture is likely to be “The President is the one who appoints even “I don’t know what they mean because Zec is people and they must campaign on the ground.
frowned upon by stakeholders who fear the 2023 No amount of reforms will bring them into pow-
general election will be chaotic. the judges, but they are still neutral. Even in not part of the military. If they are saying if a per- er. What brings them into power is the populari-
the United States, the leader of electoral bodies son works for Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) ty and your policies.”
Zanu PF and the opposition have been fight- is appointed by the President, but they are still in their life, he or she cannot work again, that will
ing over electoral reforms, amid fears that with- neutral.” be very unconstitutional. If someone once served Zanu PF is under pressure over reforms, with
out reforms the 2023 election results will likely in the army and applies for a job at Zec and is the Political Actors’ Dialogue (Polad) recently
be disputed. “Don’t forget that the President does his pres- appointed, he or she must not be employed.” submitting a list of reforms to President Emmer-
idential duties as head of state, and what he does son Mnangagwa.
This also comes as stakeholders and civil soci- as Zanu PF first secretary we must distinguish the “That will be unconstitutional. Those are not
ety organisations have predicted that next year’s
election is likely to be contested, on account of
the lack of reforms and the likelihood of violence.

Zanu PF secretary for Legal Affairs Paul Mang-
wana said the opposition’s calls for reforms are
unclear and some of the demands are not feasible.

“They just throw these issues out without be-
ing specific and we wait for them to tell us what
exactly they want and we will also raise our argu-
ments,” Mangwana told The NewsHawks.

However, Mangwana said the time may have
run out for reforms.

This will likely trigger an uproar from the op-
position that insists on the need for reforms to
level the playing field.

“It depends with the nature of the reforms
they are talking about. If they are talking about
amending the constitution, it is not possible,” the
former Constitutional Parliamentary Committee
(Copac) co-chairperson said.

“We don’t know what they are talking about
on reforms. Elections always go on well so I don’t
know what they want reformed. They just talk
on reforming, but they are not specific. Do they
want people to vote in the morning or in the af-
ternoon, how do they want people to cast their
votes? They are not very specific,” Mangwana
said.

“They say we must align the laws with the
constitution. Which laws? So far, the alignment
[of laws to the national constitution] is over 90%
complete.”

On claims that the playing field was never level
in Zimbabwe, Mangwana said the opposition al-
ways demands powers to appoint the Zec chair-
person and commissioners, but he argued that
the role is being played by the President as per
the constitution and nothing will change.

“They say they want to appoint the Zec chair-
person and argue why the President appoints the
chairperson. That is not feasible, that is nonsense.
All over the world, leaders of electoral bodies are
appointed by the president and that is what the

Gweru’s CCC dominance trouble Mnangagwa

STEPHEN CHADENGA that soon after Mnangagwa demanded a win in Amos Chibaya of CCC has been legislator for Mkoba constituency since 2000.
Gweru’s parliamentary seats, senior officials from
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has re- the province have been working on “new strate-
vealed that he is not amused by the continued wal- gies” to win both Gweru Urban and Mkoba con-
loping of Zanu PF at elections by the opposition stituencies.
in the Midlands capital.
“After the first secretary of the party (Mnan-
He has ordered his lieutenants to put their gagwa) spoke demanding that the parliamentary
house in order to win the seats in the next year’s seats in the Midlands capital should fall into the
watershed elections. hands of the ruling party come next year’s elec-
tions, there have been meetings to map new strat-
Over the years Mnangagwa, who is considered egies on how this could be achieved,” a Zanu PF
by some as the political godfather of the Midlands, insider said.
has called on the ruling party to win all seats in the
province. In the past few months Zanu PF Midlands
supporters have taken to their WhatsApp groups
For more than two decades Gweru Urban and demanding new strategies in candidate selection if
Mkoba constituencies have been in the hands of the ruling party is to entertain any hopes of win-
the opposition. The ruling party has also failed to ning the two seats in the Midlands capital that
wrest Kwekwe, Mbizo, Redcliff and Chiwundura been held by the opposition for more than two
from the Nelson Chamisa-led Citizens’ Coalition decades.
for Change (CCC).
The activists blamed the loss of seats on the im-
“I know here (in the Midlands capital) you position of candidates in some constituencies.
were heavily defeated by the opposition. Don’t do
it again, work to make sure you win those seats,” Zanu PF Midlands provincial chairperson Lar-
Mnangagwa last week told multitudes of Zanu PF ry Mavima has on numerous occasions pleaded
supporters at Bata Shoe Company in Gweru. with party members to set aside their differences
to win the 2023 elections.
“People should vote for a party with a history of
the liberation struggle. So make sure our support- Amos Chibaya of CCC has been legislator for
ers are registered to vote and they vote for Zanu Mkoba constituency since 2000, with both con-
PF.” stituencies (Gweru Urban and Mkoba) being in
the hands of the opposition since then.
Party insiders said Mnangagwa, who hails from
the Midlands, feels “uncomfortable”, as the coun- In this year’s 26 March by-elections, Chibaya
try’s president in having the opposition “perenni- polled 6 809 votes, while William Gondo of
ally dominating” the provincial capital. Zanu PF garnered 2 613. Albert Chadoka of the
MDC-Alliance got 230 votes.
Information gathered by The NewsHawks reveal

Page 18 News NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

STEPHEN CHADENGA Residents grill council over
ZW$302m devolution funds
RESIDENTS in the Midlands capital last week
grilled Gweru City Council for failing to give a Gweru City Council
breakdown of how it is using the ZW$302 mil-
lion devolution funds allocated by government liamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Gov- the committee that council should consult resi- to be used so that we are part of the process,”
this year. ernment to investigate issues raised in a petition dents on how devolution funds should be spent. he said then.
by the Gweru Residents’ Forum (GRF) on lack
The residents accused the local authority of of accountability in the use of devolution funds, “As residents, we are a strategic partner to Chakunda bemoaned the lack of a devolution
failing to consult them on priority areas on the GRF board secretary Vincent Chakunda told council and we need to know how much coun- framework to enable council to follow clearly
use of devolution funds, a situation they said cil gets for devolution, and how the money is laid down procedures in spending the money.
raises questions on accountability in the use of
the money.

“What residents are calling for is for consul-
tation before the devolution funds are used. The
problem is that we are just told of a figure and
that council has bought this and that equip-
ment, but there is no clear breakdown of the
actual use of the money,” Gweru Residents and
Ratepayers’ Association director Cornelia Selip-
iwe said.

However, acting town clerk Vakai Chikwe-
kwe said council had used part of the funds to
acquire pumps needed in alleviating perennial
water challenges bedeviling the city, among oth-
er uses.

He would not be drawn into giving a break-
down of the exact amount spent and the balance
in the public coffers.

Chikwekwe blamed the lack of a clear-cut
framework on how devolution funds are to be
spent.

“The problem is that we still have an exper-
imental type of devolution. It’s not like we re-
ceive the funds and channel it to whatever we
wish as council. Government will tell you areas
that have to be addressed with the money.

“For instance, here in Gweru under the
Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme,
government adopted some of our roads that
they rehabilitated using part of the devolution
funds that we received,” he said.

Chikwekwe said going forward council would
embark on devolution-specific consultations so
that residents would be part of the process.

Local governance and development expert
Didmus Dewa said while devolution was pro-
vided for under Chapter 14 of the constitution,
it was its implementation that was problematic.

“Devolution should be community driven,
but if we are to come back to the use of devo-
lution funds we see a state-led process,” Dewa
said.

In April during a visit to the city by the Par-

Uproar over Byo, Masvingo tariffs dollarisation

BRENNA MATENDERE Bulawayo City Council long list of debtors as the majority of the econom- not afford expensive council tariffs.
terproductive. ically disabled residents will not be able to cope Mtimba described Masvingo as a “largely retail
RESIDENTS of Bulawayo and Masvingo have with such weekly increases based on the weekly
decried a new regime of council rates indexed in “BPRA outrightly rejects the unilateral dec- inter-bank auction rates,” said Dube. and vending economy”.
United States dollars introduced by their local laration by BCC regarding the USD rates. The “The move (dollarisation of council tariffs) will
authorities recently, saying most ratepayers who reason being that the residents are not aware of Godfrey Mtimba, the Masvingo United Res-
earn in local currency will not afford to pay. the USD rates in different wards. Secondly, rates idents’ Association (MURA) spokesperson also directly affect the payment of services by residents
are recurring expenditure and basing them on the told The NewsHawks that residents are living in because many will not be able to pay in hard cur-
The residents also maintain that they were nev- prevailing weekly rate is not sustainable and the extreme poverty. rency and city council will not be able to finance
er consulted. majority of the poor residents of the city will not services such as water provision, refuse collection
afford such weekly increases,” he said. “As residents’ representatives we fee that the and mantainance of road infrastructure. Unless
On 21 June, Masvingo town clerk Edward move (dollarisation) is a thorn in our flesh in the residents earn US dollar salaries and the coun-
Mukaratirwa issued a statement, saying the coun- Bulawayo used to be Zimbabwe’s industrial the sense that most residents don’t earn this hard try completely dollarises, the US dollar-indexed
cil was rebasing its 2022 budget tariffs to US dol- nerve centre, but Dube insisted that the country’s currency so they will face challenges accessing it. tariffs will be a major disaster,” he said.
lars as at date of budget approval. second-largest city has since lost that status and What it means is that they will have to buy the
most residents no longer have regular income. US dollars on black market, which is costly for In a letter dated 22 June addressed to Masvin-
“Council wishes to advise that the measure is them.” go town clerk Mkaratirwa, Anoziva Muguti, the
not an increase in tariffs, but is meant to preserve “More than half of the economically active MURA director, demanded to see the ministe-
the value realised for sustainable service delivery. population in Bulawayo are into vending, with “Also, we are extremely concerned that the de- rial authorisation of the dollarisation of council
This has been necessitated by the depreciation very insignificant profit margins. The bulk of the cision was made without consulting us. It’s unac- tariffs.
of the ZW$ in an environment where prices are city’s youths are unemployed. The majority of ceptable,” Mtimba said.
indexed to the foreign currency rate,” wrote Mu- households are either headed by pensioned wid- “It has come to our attention that the local au-
karatirirwa in a circular to the residents of Mas- ows and widowers or child headed.” He painted a gloomy picture of the economic thority is refusing payment for some services in
vingo. climate in Masvingo, saying most residents could in the local currency, which leads us to question
“The US dollar-indexed rates will result in a the legality of the measure taken by the local au-
He said prices of “key service delivery inputs thority . . .”
such as fuel, water and waste water treatment
chemicals”, as well as water plant equipment “As such, we demand the local authority to
spares had significantly gone up, hence the need furnish us with the approval from the ministry
to have tariffs for ratepayers indexed in forex. [of Local Government] and the legal standing
which empowered them (city council) to rebase
Bulawayo City Council (BCC) had already the tariffs,” he wrote.
taken the same route of dollarising its tariffs.
In Gweru, the local authority tried to take the
Christopher Dube, the Bulawayo town clerk, same route of dollarising tariffs, but after fierce
issued a similar circular on 14 June, announcing resistance from residents, acting town clerk Vakai
that the local authority was aligning its tariffs “to Douglas Chikwekwe was forced to issue a public
the current economic conditions.” notice on 17 June rescinding the decision.

However, in an interview with The News- While goods and services are now predomi-
Hawks, Thembelani Dube, the Bulawayo Pro- nantly priced in the elusive US dollar, the govern-
gressive Residents’ Association (BPRA) secretary ment has refused to formally dollarise the econo-
for administration, said council’s move was coun- my and to pay civil servants in forex.

NewsHawks News Page 19

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

NATHAN GUMA Local councils must have risk
management policies: Expert
LOCAL authorities should speed up the craft-
ing of risk management policies to curb fraudu- Chegutu Municipality is has been operating without several key policies that are important for transparency and accountability.
lent transactions within procurement processes
that are hemorrhaging taxpayers’ money, an be managing crisis after crisis. In an event that centre when managing any institution. Local cies are important in promoting investment.
expert in public governance has said. it happens, there has to be a strategy on how to governments need to have that competence, “People want to invest in a city that they
manage it so that you do not get economically otherwise they will just fold their hands whilst
Risk policies are crafted to guide institutions disadvantaged. everything is being deteriorated,” Musewe said. know is well managed . . . and there is a need to
on how how to mitigate financial loss. specify which risks are there and how they can
“A risk management policy is almost at the In addition, he said risk management poli- be mitigated,” Musewe said.
Various local authorities, among them, Che-
gutu and Gweru, have been operating without Harare City Council lost US$1.8 million in a botched trash compactor deal in which FAW Zimbabwe could not deliver 15 out of 30 trucks.
risk management policies, thereby raising ac-
countability issues, Vincent Chakunda, a pub-
lic governance expert from the Midlands State
University, said.

Chakunda said the lack of risk management
policies in local authorities is spawning poor
service delivery in local councils across the
country.

“We also have scenarios where councils pur-
chase and do not have their goods delivered.

“Mind you, local authorities are a level of
government,” he said.

“They transact big business on the citizens’
behalf in the service delivery value chains. If
you look at the Auditor-General’s report, most
local authorities have been operating without a
risk management policy, which is a gap that has
been causing problems.

“In the process, they also engage partners
from the various categories, be it private or
other players. So, one key aspect you will find
in a risk management policy is an acceptable
measure of risk.”

Harare City Council lost US$1.8 million
in a botched trash compactor deal in which
FAW Zimbabwe could not deliver 15 out of 30
trucks.

This has seen poor service delivery in various
suburbs around the metropolitan province.

Chakunda says the absence of risk manage-
ment policies is a burden on citizens who must
fork out more money to cover the loss incurred.

“The risk management policies should state
clearly what the acceptable level of risk is in any
form of public partnership. That must be stated
clearly so that we really avoid situations where
councils incur heavy burdens that may have fi-
nancial obligations on the citizens,” he said.

In addition, he said local authorities’ lack of
risk management policies has led to leakages in
debt management and instances where goods
are paid for by local authorities and hardly de-
livered.

Chegutu Municipality says it is in the pro-
cess of crafting a risk management policy for
implementation.

“After the Auditor-General’s report, we
flighted a tender which was awarded to Baker
Tilly consulting firm. The company is working
on the risk management policy on behalf of the
municipality. They recently sent us a question-
naire in which they are trying to find out issues
happening within our operations,” said Brian
Nkiwane, Chegutu Municipality spokesperson.

“Managers and heads of department will be
filling the questionnaires so that the process
can proceed as planned. We are implementing
whatever was said in the report.”

Gweru and Chegutu, among others, have
been operating without several key policies that
are important for transparency and account-
ability.

Gweru was operating without safety and
health, gender, housing, risk assessment and
transport policies, according to the 2020 Audi-
tor-General’s report.

The local authority was also operating with-
out credit control debt collection policy and
accounting policy and procedural manual.

Chegutu Municipality has also been op-
erating without key policies regarding: risk
management, employee housing, accounting,
receivables and debt management, investment
and inventory management. This has raised ac-
countability issues.

The Auditor-General’s 2020 report revealed
that Gweru City Council could not explain
how US$6 870 815 in its estate account was
spent.

Chegutu, on the other hand, increased coun-
cillors’ allowances by 77%, thereby opening up
the municipality to financial loss, according to
the report.

Economist Vince Musewe says local authori-
ties ought to insure against risk.

“As a local authority, you’ve got to have a risk
management policy, otherwise you’re going to

Page 20 News NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

MARY MUNDEYA Campfire funds not trickling
down to poor communities
LUNGANI Thebe (52) sits outside her pole-
and-dagga hut in the Mabale area near Cross Lungani Thebe sits outside her pole-
Dete in Hwange district. and-dagga hut, while another (below)
has its roof collapsed, in the Mabale area
She has wrapped on a torn African-print near Cross Dete in Hwange district.
cloth, but that is the least of her worries. Her
heart is heavy as she does not know where her xxxxxx
family’s next meal will come from.
enforcement of stakeholder benefits and resolv- highly dependent on hunting revenue, which fire guidelines, resulting in the dwindling of
It has been three years since her husband, ing misunderstandings between rural district has created high concentration risks in light of revenue to communities and this has fuelled
Austin Sibanda, was sentenced to nine years in councils and producer communities. international restrictions. In addition, the cur- misunderstandings between them (RDCs) and
prison for possession of ivory without a permit. rent Campfire guidelines are not legally bind- producer communities.’’
Life after her husband’s incarceration has been In an interview with The NewsHawks, ing.
hard for the unemployed Thebe whose family Campfire director Charles Jonga attributed “It’s worrying that Campfire areas still con-
recently lost six goats, one sheep and a cow to the organisation’s poor performance to inter- “As such, there are no legal provisions for stitute about 25% of national poaching activi-
lions that regularly stray into their homestead. national restrictions and the current legislative enforceability, accountability, monitoring and ties, which might be attributable to lack of clear
framework. reporting by rural district councils (RDC). rights, ownership and benefits from wildlife for
Thebe said her unemployed husband was Thus most RDCs have not adhered to Camp- communities,” Jonga said.
enticed into poaching by his companions. The “The Campfire model in its current form is
family was on the verge of starving.

“It was during the peak of drought season
and the family had spent several weeks eating
baobab roots or dried mushrooms. Since he
was unemployed and had failed to provide for
us, he fell into the temptation,” she said.

Thebe’s story is typical of how a lot of fam-
ilies in areas endowed with wildlife are being
left broken after their providers are jailed due
to subsistence or commercial poaching.

A survey by The NewsHawks revealed that
human-wildlife conflict and non-community
beneficiation from eco-tourism are some of the
reasons why communities are not seeing any
value in wildlife.

Over the years, many Zimbabwean com-
munities bordering game reserves have raised
concerns over the lack of transparency in the
government’s Communal Areas Management
Programme for Indigenous Resources (Camp-
fire).

The programme, a community-based con-
servation approach to wildlife as a renewable
and profitable resource, was introduced in
1988 as a way of ensuring that communities
benefit from wildlife resources in their areas.

It is managed through rural district coun-
cils which distribute contracts for safari hunt-
ing and tourism and allocate revenue to local
wards.

However, a lot of communities have not
been benefitting despite the hunts being con-
ducted in their areas.

When the project began, communities were
looking forward to being incentivised through
direct and indirect economic benefits as well as
infrastructural development in their wards.

Chadamoyo Neshavi, a headman from
Hwange’s Mashala ward 9, said his people are
in distress and are hoping that one day they will
be remembered and something tangible will
come out of their co-existence with wildlife.

“It’s such a shame that as much as our com-
munity is rich in wildlife, locals are yet to ben-
efit anything solid from it. Apart from the high
rate of unemployment, we have some of the
worst infrastructure and our crops and domes-
tic animals are often at the mercy of baboons,
elephants, hyenas and lions.”

“My people are living in distress and it is our
prayer that one of this days, the relevant au-
thorities will remember us and we will benefit
from our wildlife,” Neshavi said.

Abigail Dlamini, a resident of Tsholotsho
district, echoed Neshavi’s sentiments, high-
lighting how a number of individuals from her
locality are resorting to unorthodox ways of
benefiting from wildlife.

“We are a forgotten people who are just sur-
viving. A lot of people from here are ending up
venturing into subsistence poaching as a way of
fending for their families. A number of them
have served different sentences ranging from
community service to several years in prison.”

“One thing is for sure, community benefici-
ation in our case will go a long way in lessening
wildlife crime. Everyone will feel compelled to
make sure that the wellbeing of our animals is
prioritised and nothing bad happens to them,”
Dlamini said.

Addressing villagers in Mabale village in
Hwange, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Man-
agement Authority (Zimparks) director of op-
erations Authur Musakwa acknowledged that
it had been noted that Campfire resources were
not reaching the intended beneficiaries.

Musakwa added that the government is
working on a new Campfire document so that
traditional chiefs can be signatories to the fund
as a way of guaranteeing proper regulation and

NewsHawks News Page 21

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

RUVIMBO MUCHENJE Avenging spirits: Fact or fiction?

THE name Moses Chokuda evokes memories of l Zanu PF frets over mysterious deaths
vengeance in a story that reads like a horror movie
script with top politicians, Zanu PF activists and l Chokuda’s Gokwe memories evoked
the deceased as main characters.
The family of murdered CCC activist Moreblessing Ali (above) is demanding the release of their spokesperson Job Sikhala (right) from prison.
After being dragged without mercy around
Gokwe business centre by Zanu PF activists, spokesperson Sikhala was arrested and they are Cases of politically-motivated murders have onaland East province, Cephas Magura, was
who included the son of former Midlands gover- now demanding his immediate release before they been rife in Zimbabwe, with Zanu PF accused of pelted to death and all those who were complicit
nor Jason Machaya, Chokuda, who had recently can proceed with the burial. unleashing a reign of terror on the opposition. in his death died mysteriously.
married and believed to be an MDC-T supporter,
succumbed to the severe injuries. Ruling party officials dismissed Ali’s death as However, there have been cases of vengeance Whether the death of Zanu PF officials in
a love-affair that went wrong, insisting there was by the victims, including Chokuda. Nyatsime is the outcome of Ali fighting her wars,
This was to be the beginning of a fierce spiritual nothing political. only time will tell.
battle that saw him “taking charge” of his own war In 2012, an MDC-T activist in Mudzi, Mash-
from a Gokwe mortuary in a fight he ultimately
won after two years.

Not even the involvement of the police to try
and arm-twist Chokuda’s father to bury his son
could save the Machayas and neither could their
political influence.

Mysterious deaths of the killers occurred while
Chokuda would do the unthinkable as he con-
trolled the mortuary by spilling blood on police
officers and attendants who dared to force his
metal coffin out of the mortuary.

Sometimes, it was confirmed, Chokuda would
be found seated on his coffin directing operations
on how other bodies should be arranged in the
mortuary.

On several occasions, Chokuda was said to
have been seen at the Machaya farm in the Mid-
lands herding cattle. After two years of the spir-
itual fight, he was buried at his home, less than
10 kilometres away from Gokwe centre, after the
killers had paid money and over 20 cattle to his
family.

Eleven years after he was buried, the same
script reads out in Nyatsime, Chitungwiza, this
time involving Citizens’ Coalition for Change
(CCC) activist Moreblessing Ali.

Over a month after Ali was murdered by a sus-
pected Zanu PF activist, Nyatsime has known no
peace and the ruling party activists are panicking.

Two Zanu PF officials who played different
roles during the chaotic funeral of Ali have since
died, hours apart, while the Ali family insists no
burial will go ahead until some of their demands
are met.

Part of the demands include the release of their
spokesperson and lawyer Job Sikhala who is incar-
cerated together with Chitungwiza North mem-
ber of Parliament Godfrey Sithole who are being
accused of inciting public violence.

Ali was found dead weeks after her disappear-
ance and was last seen being dragged by Pius Jam-
ba, a known Zanu PF activist in the area.

Her badly mangled body was found in a shal-
low well in Beatrice at the home of Jamba’s moth-
er before the suspect was ultimately arrested in
Hurungwe, Mashonaland West province.

Last week, Zanu PF branch chairperson for
Nyatsime, Godfrey Murambatsvina, collapsed at
his house before he was taken to SouthMed Hos-
pital in Chitungwiza where he died hours later.

Local Zanu PF councillor in the area Masim-
bi Masimbi of ward 9 in Nyatsime said Muram-
batsvina was in perfect physical health before he
collapsed and consequently died last weekend.

Could he be the first victim an avenging spirit
in the aftermath of Ali’s murder?

After the discovery of Ali’s body, Murambatsvi-
na was in the forefront, giving ridiculous orders
to prohibit opposition members from attending
the funeral and the consequent dispersing of the
relatives from the homestead where they had
gathered.

His house was set on fire during the skirmish-
es between CCC supporters and their Zanu PF
counterparts.

“He must have been stressed from the burning
of his house, and the stress thereof could have led
to his death,” Masimbi said.

On the same weekend, Tina Gweshe, a Zanu
PF supporter in the area, succumbed to alleged
poisoning after attending a party. Zanu PF insists
there was foul play.

Police said they are looking into these deaths to
ascertain the causes.

“We are conducting investigations with a view
to find out what exactly happened and we would
like to urge the public to cooperate with the po-
lice,” said police spokesperson Paul Nyathi.

Ali’s dismembered body has been in the morgue
for a fortnight now, with no burial plan in place.

Initially, the brother of the deceased demand-
ed that the suspects in the gruesome killing of his
sister be apprehended first before the family can
proceed with burial, but their lawyer and family

Page 22 News NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

BRENNA MATENDERE Grieving family loses hope over
murdered CCC party supporter
THE family of Kwekwe-based Citizens’ Coa-
lition for Change supporter Mboneni Ncube, The late CCC supporter
who was murdered by Zanu PF thugs at an Mboneni Ncube
election rally has lost hope for justice.
— is yet to be arrested. by accused 12 (Mukwatuki). Inside the vehi- green caps inscribed ED (short for Emmerson
There are revelations that all the 16 accused Mbizo MP Settlement Chikwinya told The cle were three unbranded yellow T-shirts, one Dambudzo Mnangagwa).
persons connected who are on bail have since yellow bottom, one black pair of trousers and
stopped reporting to the police as part of their NewsHawks that it is highly likely that the one sjambok. Five of the accused persons were detained at
bail conditions. suspects in the murder case will be cleared of Kwekwe Central Police.
the charges. The accused persons attacked Chamisa sup-
In normal circumstances, if an accused per- porters wearing the CCC regalia which was The other 11 accused persons were detained
son flouts bail conditions like reporting to the “It is a forgone conclusion in Zimbabwe being openly sold by vendors at the rally. at Mbizo Police Station.
police, they are located and arrested. that criminals connected to Zanu PF elites,
once they obtain bail, that is the end of the More incriminating evidence which should Lawyer Valentine Mutatu, who is represent-
Other revelations also indicated that the of- matter. The case will die slowly with time, that have buttressed the state’s case was recovered ing the accused persons, said he was not aware
ficers at Mbizo Police Station who were han- is how Zanu PF protects its criminals who at the hiding place of the accused. that his clients had skipped bail-reporting
dling the case have since been transferred from continue to act with impunity,” he said. conditions and that they were being backed
Kwekwe. Inside a black Honda Fit AFC 3464 owned by Zanu PF.
Chikwinya revealed that the police seemed by accused number 16 (Imbiyago) was found
These include Happymore Chamba (40), a powerless to conclude the Mboneni case. a machete. “The reporting is done at the police and if
police officer who acted as an informant in the they had stopped reporting I think the pros-
case. “The last batch of police officers who arrest- In a white Toyota Chaser registration num- ecution team would have been informed for
ed these individuals were all transferred far- ber ACK 0756 (owner not established) was purposes of revoking the bail. In legal eyes, I
The NewsHawks also gathered that the Zanu away from their families,” he said. another machete wrapped with red cloth also do not see how a political party can in-
PF-aligned suspects are openly boasting on on the handle, one home-made knife with a fluence judgement on the case because it is all
the streets of Kwekwe that they will sooner The gravity of the case was that three motor green handle, two catapults, two small cata- about evidence. If, for example, witnesses do
or later be cleared of the charges because they vehicles were recovered at Jessie Lodge where pult stones, one Tecno cellphone, one Nokia not turn up, the accused persons may be ac-
have “big boys” backing them. the accused were hiding. Searches were made cellphone, one gold scale and two black and quitted,” he said.
in a silver Mercedes Benz AFK 6958 owned
Ncube was killed aged 35 on 27 February
when a Zanu PF mob attacked an opposition
CCC rally in Kwekwe during Nelson Chami-
sa's address.

According to a Kwekwe police Law and Or-
der memorandum 38/22 dated 28 February
2022, the 16 suspects were arrested at Jessie
Lodge in Mbizo. The lodge is run by former
State Security minister Owen “Mudha” Ncu-
be.

During the violence that led to death of
Mboneni, three motor vehicles were dam-
aged, a blue Honda Fit registration num-
ber AEQ6375, owned by Tinevimbo Zhou
of Mbizo, Kwekwe (damaged rear screen); a
white Mitsubishi Canter truck with no reg-
istration plates and whose owner is not yet
known (had all six tyres deflated), and a Toyo-
ta Vios registration number AET0792 owned
by Emma Nyika (42) of Mbizo, Kwekwe (rear
left window damaged).

The vehicles were parked at the Mbizo 4
shopping centre, some 200 metres from the
venue of the rally.

In an interview with The NewsHawks from
his rural home in Lower Gweru, Kefas Ncu-
be, the father of the late Mboneni, said the
wounds of pain left in the hearts of the family
members continue to be opened by the seem-
ingly soft stance being taken by the judicial
system in the murder case.

“We would want to have closure in the case
of our murdered son. However, with all the
suspects roaming the streets of Kwekwe when
the body of our son is still fresh in the grave, it
is unlikely that will happen.”

“The suspects did not struggle at all to be
freed on bail and we heard that some of the
people who took part in the murder were ac-
tually freed at the police station before the
matter had gone to court. We are aggrieved as
a family,” he said.

In its own memorandum, police identified
the 8th accused person, Edmore Shoshera
(30), as a Zanu PF cardholder, alongside oth-
er party cadres including Perscy Mukwaturi,
Talent Imbayago, Misheck Mutetwa, Takun-
da Chivenyengwa, Isaac Tapfumaneyi, James
Jere, Musa Matingwende, Shepard Mbewu,
Progress Munyuki, Amon Kwachata, Ed-
more Shoshera, Albert Maketo Tembo, Fraud
Munyuki, Blessing Tomu, Sydeny Samanyai
and Valentine Mandizvidza.

Judith Ncube, sister to the late Mbone-
ni, compared and contrasted the manner in
which opposition MPs Job Sikhala and God-
frey Sikhala are being denied bail with the easy
way in which the murder suspects in Kwekwe
were granted bail.

Sikhala and Sithole were arrested after an
outbreak of violence in Nyatsime and are ac-
cused of inciting public mayhem. The two leg-
islators are still behind bars.

“I am in deep pain over how the case of
my brother is being handled. How come they
denied Sikhala bail yet they gave the same to
murderers who killed Mboneni and seriously
injured several other people at the rally?”

“This is not right. I do not know what to do
but it’s unfair,” she said.

Kennedy Simbi — who is believed to have
delivered the killer blow on Mboneni Ncube

NewsHawks News Page 23

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

New Parly building in pics

Page 22 News NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

DUMISANI NDLELA Contentious data law susceptible
to abuse by govt for surveillance
ZIMBABWE’S controversial Data Protection
Act has raised concern it could become the lat- Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services minister Monica Mutsvangwa
est instrument for the state to control or sanc-
tion online activities by citizens after a man last had put together a “cyber team that constantly puts media under scrutiny for content published kept information for more than 30 people. Such
month became the first casualty of the new law monitored what people send or receive on social online or posted on social media platforms. institutions were ordered to employ data protec-
when he was convicted of cyberbullying. media”. tion officers.
“In short, this is a bad law for freedom of
The law is geared at regulating private collec- She said people used to have respect and op- expression, yet it is supposed to be designed to Potraz can call upon these officers to make
tion of data, with organisations, companies and erated with fear on social media during the late protect citizens,” Ncube said. available to it information related to employ-
even associations like burial societies required former president Robert Mugabe’s era “but all ment, anti-money laundering, data on subjects
to obtain consent from data subjects and giving that is no longer there in the Second Republic”. He said precedents clearly point to a desire by and record keeping of data processing activities.
the subjects the right to rescind such consent. the government to “use this law to further stifle
The law has now made it unlawful for peo- the rights citizens enjoy” under the constitution. Misa said the Cybersecurity and Monitoring
While this is necessary, media and human ple to, by means of a computer or information of Interception of Communications Centre, an-
rights activists worry that there is no regula- system, make available, transmit, broadcast or Several people have been arrested and hauled other body established by the Data Protection
tion to stop the state from using private data distribute data messages to any person, group before the courts for criticising Mnangagwa Authority, would present problems to the dem-
to monitor and snoop on citizens, more impor- of persons or to the public with the intention of online, or for speaking critically against govern- ocratic space.
tantly members of the opposition and the in- inciting such persons to commit acts of violence ment corruption on social media.
dependent Press, who have often been labelled against any person or persons or to cause dam- This centre is being established through the
enemies of the state by the ruling party and gov- age to any property. In its analysis of the law, the Media Institute repeal of provisions in the Interception of Com-
ernment officials. of Southern Africa (Misa) said making Potraz, munications Act, which resulted in an overhaul
It has also made it an offence for any person a Data Protection Authority, was a recipe for of the monitoring centre whose functions on are
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s govern- to unlawfully and intentionally, by means of a disaster. Despite stakeholder submissions and now vested on the new body.
ment has rolled out an ambitious Smart Cities computer or information system, make avail- public hearings having clearly and unambigu-
initiative, underpinned by use of artificial intel- able, broadcast or distribute data to any other ously spoken against this arrangement for po- In terms of the Interception of Communi-
ligence, to boost security in the cities. person concerning an identified or identifiable tentially creating a super-administrative author- cations Act, all telecommunications companies
person knowing it to be false with the intention ity, it was however retained in the new law. had put in place infrastructure linking their mo-
It has deployed facial recognition technology of causing psychological or economic harm. bile centres with the authorities, who connect
cameras for a mass surveillance system on the The functions of the Data Protection Author- their own equipment to the system. The Act had
streets, airports and border posts, and is moving The new law also makes it an offence to un- ity include establishing conditions for the lawful categorically placed upon networks the burden
slowly towards delivering digitally-networked lawfully and intentionally possess data knowing processing of data, issuing its opinion either of to ensure that their services had “the capability
cities that Mnangagwa said will ensure high-lev- that such data was acquired unlawfully. This is its own accord or at the request of any person to be intercepted”.
el security systems, a euphemism for sophisti- a deadly blow to media which thrives on inves- with legitimate interest on any matter relating
cated mass surveillance, which analysts fear will tigations and leaks to report on government to the application of fundamental principles of “What is clearly noted from these provisions,
target critics and opposition activists. corruption and to social media which exposes the protection of privacy. is that the government is operating under a very
ruling party and government officials’ abuse of misled presumption that cyber security equals
Facial recognition cameras use biometric office daily. There are fears the new law may end up cre- national security. Cyber security issues concern
software application capable of distinctively rec- ating a police state, in the process undermining every person who is an internet user, more so
ognising individuals using data captured from Unlawful acquisition of information includes freedom of expression. now when the entire globe is living in a digital
people’s faces. It can accurately and quickly using, examining, capturing, copying, moving age,” Misa said in its analysis.
identify targeted individuals once they come to a different location or diverting data to a des- Hardly two months after the promulgation
within range of surveillance cameras. tination other than its intended location. This of the law, Potraz sent a public notice ordering Disturbingly, the Cybersecurity and Monitor-
all companies, non-governmental organisations, ing of Interception of Communications Centre
The government signed a strategic agreement parastatals and other entities to notify it if they
with Chinese artificial intelligence firms Cloud-
walk Technologies and HikVision in 2018 for
cooperation on a mass facial recognition proj-
ect, under which it has been harvesting data at
the country’s airports, state facilities and border
points using facial recognition technology with
deep learning capacity donated by these com-
panies.

Cloudwalk inadvertently disclosed that Zim-
babwe would give it the harvested data to devel-
op its algorithms for facial recognition cameras
tailored for the local black population.

“The key concern with the Data Protection
Act is the lack of transparency and accountabil-
ity mechanisms on the collection of personal
data (by the state) which can then be used for
any purposes either by authorities, by the secu-
rity sector, or those who are collecting this infor-
mation,” Rashweat Mukundu, the International
Media Support’s sub-Saharan Africa adviser,
said.

He said the storage and collection of personal
data was always a matter of concern in the digi-
tal era, as such information has previously been
“weaponised and instrumentalised to target ri-
vals, opponents — political opponents of those
in power — and business rivals”.

Zimbabweans, he said, have to be seriously
concerned with a data protection law that en-
ables the establishment of a data centre which
collects citizens’ information without clarity
over what that information is collected or used
for.

“There is need for transparency mechanisms
and a framework to ensure that private informa-
tion of individuals is not abused for political or
personal agendas,” he said.

In addition, Mukundu says it is also concern-
ing that the infrastructure would be housed un-
der Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory
Authority (Potraz), which is a regulator and now
a collector and storer of information, making it
a supra-regulatory body that regulates the sector
and also collects information and deploys it for
whatever purposes.

Njabulo Ncube, the national coordinator of
the Zimbabwe National Editors’ Forum, says
the legislation is “a bad law for journalism”.

“This is a bad piece of legislation as far as the
practice of journalism is concerned. It has the
likely adverse effect of (allowing government) to
snoop into journalists, media and political ac-
tivists’ phones, which in itself is a threat to free-
dom of expression, information and freedom of
the media,” Ncube said.

A month before promulgation of the law,
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Ser-
vices minister Monica Mutsvangwa said they

NewsHawks News Page 23

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Potraz

is now housed in the Office of the President. year named Zimbabwe as one of the seven technologies. Production and dissemination of racist and
Such provisions, said Misa, would “continue countries that had bought surveillance software The Data Protection Act had initially been xenophobic material has also been outlawed,
from Circle, an affiliate of the NSO and child pornography and exposing children
to infringe on fundamental rights”. promoted as part of the Cybercrime, Cyberse- to pornography is now a serious criminal of-
“Not only is it not advisable for a cyber se- Group known for its Pegasus spyware, used curity and Data Protection Bill, but was trun- fence.
by authoritarian regimes to spy on journalists, cated to the current version after public con-
curity centre to be housed in the Office of opposition members and human rights activ- cerns. The law has also made it an offence to send
the President, but the same body is also now ists. spam messages or unsolicited messages to many
responsible for the issuing of interception of The Cybercrime, Cybersecurity and Data people under false pretences.
communications warrants. This presents a le- “In southern Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Protection Bill had been pushed through Par-
gal basis for the government, and more so, the Zimbabwe are some of the countries that have liament to deal with increasing public agitation In its analysis, Misa said numerous provisions
executive, to be monitoring and intercepting been reported to have acquired sophisticated against Mnangagwa’s government, which first of the law were of grave concern and a threat to
communications of targeted persons, who are software to surveil their citizens. These govern- came into power after a coup in 2017, but then the exercise of fundamental rights such as free-
believed reasonably or not to be enemies of the ments have so far not been transparent about sought election in 2018 which was disputed by dom of expression and media freedom.
state, especially political opponents,” Misa said. how they intend to use these technologies in the his main rival, opposition Citizens’ Coalition
surveillance of citizens,” the report said. for Change leader Nelson Chamisa. “One of the provisions is that which crim-
The Cybersecurity and Monitoring of Inter- inalises what is termed as the transmission of
ception of Communications Centre will also be Mukundu said he feared the new law would It was withdrawn after public criticism, but data message that incites violence or damage
the sole facility through which authorised in- be used for political purposes, with collection of brought back a few months later as the Data to property. Incitement laws have been there
terceptions shall be made, and will advise gov- information being manipulated to target politi- Protection Bill. in the statute books for a while now. Several
ernment and implement government policy on cal opponents, including human rights defend- individuals particularly activists and opposi-
cybercrime and cyber security. ers, especially during election periods. The law’s preamble states that it is meant to tion leaders have been charged for allegedly
consolidate cyber-related offences and provide contravening such provisions. However, what
It will also identify areas for intervention to “The new law will become a new threat to the for data protection in line with the Declaration amounts to incitement in Zimbabwe is very
prevent cybercrime and establish and operate a rights of the citizens of Zimbabwe, more so the of Rights under the constitution and the public vague,” Misa said.
protection-assured whistleblower system that right to privacy, the right to freedom of expres- and national interest. It also intends to create
will enable members of the public to report sion because if you know your information is a technology-driven business environment and The trouble is the law might be more ma-
cases of alleged cybercrime to a cyber security being collected, you are likely to self-censure,” encourage technological development and law- nipulated and abused to curtail and undermine
committee, which will comprise of 11 members he said. ful use of technology. citizens’ freedoms than what it is supposedly
appointed by the minister of ICTs from state intended for. There is too much room for dis-
agencies. “Essentially, we are seeing a new legal regime The Data Protection Authority consolidates cretion and grey areas, which must be narrowed
on telecoms, on digital online communications several pieces of legislation that govern cyber and addressed to avoid violations of people’s
It will also promote and coordinate activities that lacks transparency, that is not pushing for security and data protection. These include the rights under the guise of ensuring cybersecurity
focused on improving cybersecurity and pre- accountability of those that are bearing the re- Postal and Telecommunications Act, Official and dealing with cybercrime.
venting cybercrime by all interested parties in sponsibilities of our communications and on- Secrecy Act, Criminal law (Codification and
the public and private sectors. line information that can then be deployed for Reform) Act and the Interceptions of Commu- As Hong Kong-based Conventus Law, a digi-
political purposes.” nications Act. tal media platform providing legal-focused con-
The surveillance capabilities of the state tent to business leaders and lawyers, says, there
machinery are not known, but Zimbabwe has The latest conviction under the Data Pro- The issue of data protection and protection will always be a need to strike an appropriate
certainly been building a massive surveillance tection Authority involved David Kanduna, an of privacy had been outstanding for a long time balance between ensuring citizens’ freedom,
system over the years, although this has been actor on local television dramas, who posted a and requires urgent intervention in the form of access to information and privacy, while at the
couched in secrecy. video on a WhatsApp group and on TikTok of law. same time protecting them, state institutions
a police officer being jeered by footballs fans, and critical infrastructures.
State security agencies use IMSI Catchers, with one of them hoisting and running around The Data Protection Act criminalises the
also known as GSM Interceptors, to track citi- with the officer at a football match in Chinhoyi. transmission of messages inciting violence or Cybersecurity needs to be strengthened by
zens’ movements and mobile phone usages. damage to property. It is illegal to send messag- making cross-border cooperation and infor-
Despite the incident having been a public es with the intent to incite people to commit mation exchange more efficient and by signifi-
A senior police officer once disclosed that spectacle, the state charged Kanduna with cy- acts of violence against any person or persons cantly increasing cyber resilience. At the same
they had received the latest surveillance equip- berbullying, arguing that by posting the video or to cause damage to any property. time, the right to freedom of information and
ment from the government, but declined to re- of the embarrassed police officer, he intended adequate privacy remains essential for global, as
veal the nature of the devices. to “coerce, intimidate, harass, threaten, bully or It also criminalises sending messages to an- well as individual, security.
cause substantial emotional distress, degrade or other person threatening to harm them, or to
An alleged leak on social media of Joint Op- demean” him. harm their family and friends, or threatening to Finally, there is a need to reach an ethical
erations Command minutes of a meeting in damage their property, as well as cyber-bullying balance to fine-tune cybersecurity measures and
2013 suggested that the state machinery had The Data Protection Authority was gazetted and harassment, transmission of false informa- individual rights.
equipment, installed with the support Potraz in the country on 3 December 2021, making tion that is meant to cause harm and transmis-
and the Zimbabwe National Roads Adminis- Zimbabwe the 151th country to enact such sion of intimate images without consent. About the writer: Dumisani Ndlela is a
tration, to counter unfavourable feeds from in- a law, and the 34th African country to do so, journalist researching digital surveillance with
dividuals and institutions. with the intention of increasing data protection For example, one cannot send someone’s support from the Media Policy & Democracy
in order to build confidence and trust in the nude pictures without that person’s consent. It Project, run by the University of Johannesburg,
A United Nations Educational, Science and secure use of information and communication is also not allowed to take someone’s intimate Department of Communication and Media.
Cultural Organisation (Unesco) report on the pictures without them agreeing to it.
state of Press freedom in southern Africa this

Page 22 News NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

ConCourt to rule on adultery constitutionality

THE Constitutional Court is expected to make Zimbabwe.” tery sued upon by plaintiff is consistent with subs sued upon by plaintiff is consistent with para (d) of
a landmark ruling setting the record straight on In granting her authority, Justice Muchawa re- (1) of section 56 of the Constitution of Zimba- section 57 of the constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013
whether adultery claims are lawful or not. bwe, 2013 insofar as it allows the plaintiff to sue insofar as as it exposes defendant to the prospect
ferred the matter to the Constitutional Court in the defendant whilst simultaneously precluding of being questioned on and testfying on intimate
This follows a special plea by a Harare woman, terms of section 175 (4) the constitution of Zim- her from suing her former husband for the same and personal details of her private sexual relations
Ratidzo Nyamuchengwa, who is embroiled in a babwe (Amendment) Act, 2013 for a determina- acts upon which she sues the defendant,” the and in so far as it further calls for scrutiny of and
US$50 000 adultery lawsuit after being accused tion of issues raised. judge. publicity of the defendant’s right to freely associate
of snatching her friend Marvelous Marufu’s hus- with any consenting adult persson she chooses.
band. “To that end the Constitutional Court shall de- “Whether the common law delict of adultery
termine whether the common law delict of adul- “Whether the common law delict of adultery as
Nyamuchengwa is now staying with the man at sued upon by the plaintiff serves any rational and
the centre of the controversy, Albert Mhondoro. justifiable purpose or object protectable under the
Constitution 2013,” said the judge.
She feels the law is not clear in that it says one
has a privilege to claim adultery damages, yet it Marufu filed a claim against Nyamuchengwa
also says one should settle with a consenting adult last year.
of their choice.
According to the summons, Mhondoro and
Nyamuchengwa has since been granted the op- Nyamuchengwa work at Nuanee Zimbabwe, a
portunity to have her plea heard by the Constitu- company which specialises in cosmetics.
tional Court by High Court judge Justice Emilia
Muchawa. Marufu demanded US$50 000 damages, ac-
cusing Nyamuchengwa for subjecting her to hu-
In filing her request, Nyamuchengwa argued miliation within the community when her hus-
that the claim for adultery is no longer a part of band moved out of their home and causing her to
the law of Zimbabwe as it is inconsistent with lose his companionship.
chapter 4 of the constitution of Zimbabwe.
Court documents show that Marufu and
“It is prayed that pursuant to sub r (2) of r24 Mhondoro upgraded their customary law union
of the Rules of the Constitutional Court, 2016 into a monogamous civil marriage on 19 March
as read with subs (4) of section 175 of the Con- 2018 and celebrations were held on 7 April 2018.
stitution of Zimbabwe 2013, this court refer the
following constitutional questions to the Consti- Nyamuchengwa also attended the wedding and
tutional court: Whether the common delict law of bought gifts for the couple.
adultery is consistent with subs (1) of section 56
of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013 insofar as “Defendant even purchased a wedding gift
it allows the her to be sued whilst simultaneously for the plaintiff. This notwithstanding defendant
precluding the complainant from suing her for- enticed and alienated plaintiff’s spouse’s affection
mer husband for the same acts,” she said through from plaintiff and harboured him in an adulter-
her lawyers Scanlen and Holderness legal practi- ous relationship,” reads the summons.
tioners.
“At all material times the defendant was aware
Among other things, Nyamuchengwa also said of the marital status of plaintiff’s husband and
the claim is unconstitutional as it exposes her to moreover she would visit plaintiff’s home, some-
the prospect of being questioned on and testify- times in the company of her husband Terrence
ing on intimate and personal details of her private Mawire, such that they eventually became family
sexual relations. friends,” submitted Marufu.

She complained that it calls for scrutiny of and Further reads the summons: “As a result of the
publicity of her alleged sexual liaisons or other re- defendant’s adultery with plaintiff’s spouse, plain-
lations with Mhondoro. tiff has lost love, affection, and companionship of
her husband as he has moved out of their matri-
Her other query is whether the common law monial home on 26 December 2020 and is now
delict of adultery is consistent with subs (1) of cohabitating with the defendant.
section 58 of the constitution of Zimbabwe as it
restricts her right to freely associate with any con- “In the premises, plaintiff has suffered dam-
senting adult person she chooses. ages as follows: loss of consortium, comfort,
the companionship of her spouse in the sum of
The Constitutional Court is also expected to US$30 000 and contumelia in the sum of
determine “whether the common law delict of US$20 000,” reads the summons.
adultery serves any rational and justifiable purpose
or object protectable under the constitution of The matter is yet to be set down for hearing
before the Constitutional Court. — STAFF WRITER.

NewsHawks International Investigative Stories Page 23

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

InInvteesrtniagtaiotinvaelStories

European countries A ‘Bloody’ trade: Inside the
have recently resumed murky supply chain bringing
imports of phosphate Syrian phosphates into Europe
— a key ingredient in
fertilizer — from Syr- and minerals minister Bassam Toumeh techniques it deployed, offer a glimpse tions on both the Syrian government tance itself from the industry, insisting
ia. The trade enriches at the Mediterranean port of Tartous. into the murky supply chain of Syrian and the Russian company that appears that it has no connection to two simi-
sanctioned oligarchs, Another shows the Kubrosli-y docked at phosphates as they make their way from to control much of Syria’s phosphate larly named companies that dominate
war profiteers, and the one of two berths at the port that were regions torn apart by civil war to farm- exports, Stroytransgaz. The EU has the trade today. But OCCRP and its
Syrian government, but custom-built to load phosphate, a prized ers across Europe. Every step of the way, also sanctioned two key players: Syr- partners found evidence of several links
has continued thanks to mineral that has been a major economic the trade enriches the Syrian state, war ia’s Toumeh and Stroytransgaz’s owner, between Stroytransgaz and these firms.
legal loopholes. lifeline for the sanctioned regime of Pres- profiteers, and people with deep ties to Gennady Timchenko, a billionaire ty-
ident Bashar al-Assad. Russia’s elite. coon and close ally of the Kremlin. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Feb-
ON a warm May evening last year, a neither the U.S. nor the EU specifically ruary has also led to increased pressure
Comoros-flagged cargo ship named the Syria has some of the largest known Despite the risks of sanctions viola- prohibit the purchase of Syrian phos- for European companies to cut ties to
Kubrosli-y disappeared from ship track- reserves of the increasingly sought-af- tions, Serbia, Ukraine, and four Euro- phates. sanctioned Russian figures, such as Tim-
ing systems off the coast of Turkey. A full ter fertilizer ingredient. The phosphate pean Union states have imported over chenko.
week later, it reappeared near Cyprus be- industry collapsed when Islamic State $80 million worth of Syrian phosphates Experts say companies still run the
fore continuing on to dock in Ukraine. militants seized the country’s largest since 2019, according to a new inves- risk of violating sanctions even if the “Syrian phosphates are very bloody,
mines in 2015, but production has re- tigation by OCCRP member centers phosphates trade is technically legal. A not only because of the conflict in Syria
Although tracking data offers no sign vived since government forces recap- in seven countries, in partnership with 2018 report by Politico that Greece was but also what is happening in Ukraine,”
of the Kubrosli-y’s whereabouts during tured them the following year, attracting Lighthouse Reports and Syrian Inves- buying Syrian phosphates raised hackles said Glen Kurokawa, a phosphate ana-
that week, photos posted on Facebook buyers even from countries opposed to tigative Reporting for Accountability in the European Parliament, and im- lyst at commodity research group CRU.
by a Syrian government agency two days Assad’s regime. Journalism (SIRAJ). ports stopped soon after. “Syria has to sell at a political discount
before its reappearance provide clues to because its goods are so toxic to handle.”
why its crew might have been keen to The journey of the Kubrosli-y, and the The United States has imposed sanc- Even Stroytransgaz has tried to dis-
disguise their location. Asked about the imports, the EU

One of the images shows Syrian oil

Page 24 International Investigative Stories NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Commission said it was up to individ- largest phosphate mines, near the cen- protect the mines after evicting Islamic ing north before reaching Romania’s ny called Yufofarm. A Serbian business
ual countries to decide whether Syrian tral city of Palmyra. The rest went to the State militants from the area. Constanta port on January 21. During registry shows the company imported
phosphate imports break sanctions. state-owned Syrian General Company this time, it appeared in the background $26.9 million worth of products from
Authorities in Bulgaria, Ukraine, and of Phosphates and Mineral Resources The phosphate trade has also enriched of a selfie taken by a worker in the Tar- Syria in 2021, though it did not specify
Serbia confirmed they regard the trade (GECOPHAM), a subsidiary of the a rising class of war profiteers. According tous phosphates berth which was posted what they were. Yufofarm declined to
as legal. Italian authorities did not reply U.S.-sanctioned Syrian Oil Ministry. to Syria’s company register, Deeb co- to social media. comment.
to requests for comment. owns the Syrian Company for Metals
On paper, Stroytransgaz Logistic has and Investments alongside a prominent The International Maritime Organi- Yufofarm is owned by the business
Karam Shaar, a Syrian economist, no connections to its namesake — it is regime ally named Khodr Ali Taher. zation, the U.N. agency that regulates partner of Stanko Popovic, whose ag-
said the trade shows how easily sanctions owned by a Moscow-based company global shipping, requires ships to broad- riculture and fertilizer company, Elixir
can be circumvented by opaque sup- called UK Investfinance, which appears Taher grew close to the Syrian army’s cast AIS positions at all times, so ships Group bought the Syrian phosphates
ply chains or by channeling funds and to be a nominee service that manages Fourth Division, led by Assad’s brother with blackouts like these are problemat- Yufofarm imported. Elixir Group is the
goods through the unknown subsidiar- companies for its clients. Maher, while running a militia in his ic. That, in combination with the threat exclusive supplier of phosphoric acid
ies of targeted companies. hometown near Tartous. The U.S. and of sanctions and bad publicity, leaves — used to make fertilizers and animal
However, several of its senior staff EU sanctioned him in 2020, accusing European importers of Syrian phos- feed — for the local operations of a ma-
“Of course exporting phosphates to have links to Stroytransgaz that suggest him of generating “revenue for the re- phates working with ship owners on the jor French conglomerate called Groupe
Europe is a violation of sanctions,” he they share more than just a name. gime and its supporters” including by legal fringes of the industry. Roullier.
said. “But most of the countries don’t laundering money “collected illicitly at
understand the structure of the organi- The key figure is a Russian citizen regime crossings and through looting.” One of these is Aminos Maritime “If the person you’re buying cargo
zations they have sanctioned.” named Igor Kazak, who served as a Ltd, which owns the Kubrosli-y, the from isn’t under sanctions then you’re
director at Timchenko’s Stroytransgaz Taher is also deeply involved in the ship that reporters noticed turning off its further removed and aren’t necessarily
In the case of the Kubrosli-y, in the as recently as 2015. That year, he told phosphate industry, according to Syr- tracker in May last year before delivering busting sanctions yourself,” a maritime
space of just three weeks it had set out Syrian media that Stroytransgaz “wants ian researcher Azzam Al-Allaf, who phosphates to Ukraine. The ship has also lawyer told OCCRP, speaking anony-
from Istanbul, slipped in and out of Syr- to participate in the reconstruction of published a detailed study of the trade made deliveries of Syrian phosphates to mously as they were not authorized to
ia and sailed back through the Bospho- Syria.” for the European University Institute Romania and Greece. Aminos did not talk to the press. “This is the trade ver-
rus to Nika Tera port in Ukraine, owned in 2020. Drawing on extensive inter- reply to a request for comment. sion of international money laundering.”
by a sanctioned oligarch. Kazak became the head of Stroy- views, Allaf’s research linked Taher both
transgaz Logistic in 2016, and stayed to Sanad and a management company Another ship, the Prince Mouham- A spokesperson for the French com-
Economic Payback in the position until mid-2017. He also called Sada Energy Services, which over- mad, is owned by a Lebanon-based pany said it did “not use Syrian phos-
Gennady Timchenko is one of the worked as the general manager of Stro- sees workers in Tartous and Homs for company whose largest shareholder is phate” and strictly complied with all
richest and most powerful men in Rus- ytransgaz Engineering from 2015 to Stroytransgaz Engineering. owned by relatives of Jihad al-Arab, a sanctions.
sia. His friendship with Russian Pres- 2020 — well after it had been spun off contractor close to former Prime Min-
ident Vladimir Putin dates back to the into a new company, according to cor- “Ali Taher and Maher Al-Assad are ister Saad Hariri. Last year, Arab was Popovic acknowledged buying Syrian
early 1990s, when he was an oil trader porate records. making fortunes from the phosphate sanctioned by the U.S. for corruption. phosphates, which he had done since
in St. Petersburg. Timchenko has been industry,” Allaf told OCCRP. “Their He did not respond to a request for the 1970s, but told reporters that all his
accused of fronting for Putin’s personal Another Russian national, Zakhid roles extend from the moment the min- comment either. business transactions were legal. “We do
wealth, though he says they are just judo Shakhsuvarof, who was Stroytransgaz eral shipments leave the mine and are not cooperate with any company in Syr-
partners. Logistic’s manager in Syria in 2018, is brought through the desert, up to the Ibrahim Olabi, a Syrian legal expert ia on the basis of phosphate imports, or
Timchenko became a multi-billion- also currently listed as the manager of export terminal in Tartous.” who monitors sanctions evasion, said on any other basis,” he said.
aire working closely with state-owned Timchenko’s official Stroytransgaz sub- the methods used to dodge sanctions in
companies in Russia’s lucrative oil and sidiary in Syria in the Ministry of Econ- Syrian oil and minerals minister Syria would likely help Russian compa- Although Greece appeared to have
gas sector. His engineering and con- omy’s directory of foreign companies. Toumeh and the state phosphate com- nies avoid new sanctions imposed by the stopped importing Syrian phosphates
struction company, Stroytransgaz, has pany GECOPHAM didn’t respond to European Union and United States over after the 2018 Politico report, at least
built multiple export pipelines for Rus- In addition to the shared personnel, emailed requests for comment. Report- the Ukraine war. four other EU member states — Italy,
sia’s oil and gas, including the Nord Stroytransgaz Logistic and Stroytransgaz ers were unable to reach Taher. Bulgaria, Spain, and Poland — quiet-
Stream pipeline through Europe. Engineering both share an address with “The Syrian phosphates trade shows ly resumed imports, OCCRP and its
Timchenko has also been one of Stroytransgaz in Damascus. Ghost Ships why the EU sanctions system is not fit partners found. EU and UN trade data
the biggest beneficiaries of Moscow’s After leaving the mines, most Syrian for purpose,” he said. “Sanctions evasion show that Italy started importing in
long-running economic ties with Syria, “Certainly, STG Logistic and STG phosphates make their way to the Medi- works and it’s not even that difficult.” 2020, Bulgaria in 2021, and Spain and
winning contracts to build part of a gas Engineering are subsidiaries of the main terranean port of Tartous, home to Rus- Poland earlier this year.
pipeline from Egypt and two major gas company, Stroytransgaz,” said Shaar, the sia’s main naval base in the country. But, The industry’s dubious legality has
processing plants. After Russian mili- Syrian economist. like the Kubrosli-y, many of these trips also given rise to a complex network of Many of the EU’s imports of Syrian
tary intervention helped turn the tide do not show up in ship tracking data. proxies and middlemen. phosphates entered the bloc through
of Syria’s civil war in favor of Assad’s No one answered the phone when OCCRP and its partners followed Romania. Most of them were handled
regime, two more Stroytransgaz-linked reporters called the numbers listed for dozens of shipments of phosphates from ‘Blood Money’ by two Middle Eastern companies,
companies secured a foothold in the Stroytransgaz Logistic and Stroytransgaz Syria to Europe, the Middle East, and On a busy shopping street in Lon- UAE-registered Blue Gulf Trading and
phosphates sector — one of the most Engineering to seek comment and there North Africa between 2019 and 2022. don’s upmarket Kensington neighbor- Lebanon-registered Medsea Trading,
profitable assets still under government were no signs of them or Stroytransgaz Using port records, satellite images, hood, a small office above a secondhand both of which are owned by Lebanese
control. at their shared address. and open-source materials, reporters clothing store is listed as the address of a businessman Afif Nazih Auf. He did not
One of them, Stroytransgaz Engineer- mapped 15 voyages where ships started British company called Resalper Trading respond to requests for comment.
ing, was a subsidiary of Stroytransgaz Mercenaries and Profiteers in the purpose-built phosphate berth in Ltd.
until 2018, when Timchenko appears Few Syrians still live in the villages Tartous port before heading to Europe. The company sold $450,000 worth In Italy, Syrian phosphates are im-
to have taken steps to distance himself scattered through the desert surround- Detailed location data available for of Syrian phosphates to Ukrainian com- ported by Puccioni Spa, an established
from the Syrian phosphate trade. Ex- ing the ancient city of Palmyra, which eight of these journeys shows the ships pany Prime Organics in August 2020 Italian fertilizer company. The compa-
perts say this might be part of an effort for years was controlled by the Islamic switched off their automatic identi- — the country’s top importer of Syr- ny confirmed the purchases, but said it
to circumvent U.S. and EU sanctions State jihadist group. Ongoing sleeper fication systems — a tracking service ian phosphates over the past two years dealt with Syrian authorities through a
on Syria, as well as sanctions imposed on cell attacks mean workers are bused in known as AIS — as they approached — according to Ukrainian customs broker, and that it did not work with
himself and Stroytransgaz after Russia’s from nearby cities to dig phosphate rock Tartous. Before doing so, all the ships records. But Resalper Trading reported Stroytransgaz.
annexation of Crimea. from the local mines. sent out a notification that their desti- no financial activities in the year ending
In 2018, Timchenko sold Stroytrans- On the road to the mines sits the nation was ports in Lebanon, Turkey, in May 2020, and only around $530 in In Bulgaria, Syrian phosphates are
gaz Engineering to two Moscow-based headquarters of GECOPHAM, the or Egypt. They all reappeared on AIS assets that month, according to its most imported by a small Bulgarian company
shell companies, Photon Express and state-run Syrian company that owns around a week later near Cyprus. recent filings. called Fertix EOOD, which was found-
Eneriya Antaresa, whose owners are un- and runs the country’s phosphate mines. Here’s how one of them, the Maymo- The office in Kensington belongs to ed in 2017. Fertix’s managing director,
clear. The following year, Stroytransgaz According to one employee at the na, traveled. formation agents Company Wizard and Radostin Radev, has deep connections
Engineering won contracts to operate Al-Sharkiah mine, where Stroytransgaz “The ship owner doesn’t want anyone Quick File. When OCCRP contacted in Bulgaria’s agriculture industry, after
three state-owned Syrian fertilizer facto- Logistic operates, the Russian company to know that his ship is coming from an the 29-year-old Ukrainian who found- starting his career at Agropolychim, one
ries outside Homs and Tartous, which controls exports, while the day-to-day economically sanctioned country like ed Resalper Trading in 2019, Ruslan of the biggest fertilizer producers in the
serves as the departure point for most operations remain in the hands of Syrian Syria,” said a Syrian ship captain from Turkovskyi, he declined to comment. Balkans.
phosphates exports. contractors and laborers. Tartous, speaking on condition of ano- Ukraine’s imports of Syrian phos-
Despite the distance on paper from Stroytransgaz Logistic’s mines pro- nymity. phates ballooned from $3 million worth Radev said he had sold some of the
Timchenko, the deal was widely seen duce around 650,000 tons of phosphates The Sierra Leone-flagged Daytona in 2018 to $15 million last year, despite Syrian phosphates to EuroChem Agro
as payback for Russia’s military help. In a year, although its contract allows for Prime disappeared from AIS systems Ukrainian sanctions imposed on Stroy- Bulgaria, a subsidiary of Eurochem
an analysis for the Russian International 2.2 million tons to be dug up every year, south of Cyprus while headed in Syr- transgaz and Timchenko. Most of those Group AG, which is connected to
Affairs Council, Igor Matveev, a former according to Syrian officials. Once ex- ia’s direction on Jan. 20, 2019. Satellite that arrive by sea enter through the Nika Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich
Russian diplomat in Damascus, wrote tracted, the phosphates are shipped out images show the ship docked in Tartous Tera port, owned by the sanctioned Melnichenko. Melnichenko, who was
that the deal “could help recoup the in road and railway convoys to fertilizer two weeks later, where port documents pro-Moscow oligarch Dmitry Firtash. sanctioned by the EU and the U.K. for
money spent on the military operation plants near Homs or to Tartous port. reveal it visited the phosphates berths the Sanctions expert Irene Kenyon, direc- supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine,
in Syria by mining valuable minerals on Along the way, they are protected following day. tor of risk intelligence at the consultancy recently withdrew from the company’s
exclusive terms.” by private contractors. Those operating The ship appeared again on AIS FiveBy Solutions, said using shell com- board.
Still, Stroytransgaz insists it has no ties in the area include the notorious Wag- south of Cyprus before reaching Roma- panies is a common strategy to disguise
to Stroytransgaz Engineering. ner Group, linked to pro-Kremlin elite, nia’s Constanta port on the Black Sea on the fact that sanctioned entities or indi- For now, the trade in Syrian phos-
“STG Engineering is a separate legal which has been linked to the massacre of February 16, the same day that Roma- viduals were benefiting from a trade. phates appears to be growing in spite of
entity and is not part of our group of civilians in Mali and is now believed to nian customs records show a cargo of “Even though you might be legally in the many political complexities. Sergiy
companies. Just a similar abbreviation be fighting in Ukraine. Syrian phosphates were imported. the right, you’re also giving blood money Moskalenko, director of Dnipro Miner-
of the company name,” Stroytransgaz Images posted on social media of Tartous port took most of its recent to a sanctioned human-rights violating al Fertilizer Plant, a Ukrainian firm that
spokesperson Natalia Kalinicheva told the phosphate-loading berth at Tartous records offline in June 2020, but more regime and a sanctioned Russian oli- uses Syrian phosphates, told OCCRP
reporters. port, analyzed by OCCRP, also showed recent phosphate shipments could be garch,” she said. that for them the purchases were a prac-
Another similarly named company, a truck with a sign in its front window identified using open-source and satel- Ukraine’s imports halted after the tical matter.
Stroytransgaz Logistic, won a 50-year bearing the name and logo of Syrian lite images. Russian invasion in February, but the
contract in 2018 giving it rights to 70 company Sanad Company for Protec- A Honduran-flagged cargo ship country is far from the only buyer of “Look, we need to eat,” he said. “In
percent of sales revenues from Syria’s tion and Security Services, owned by As- called the Sea Navigator disappeared Syrian phosphates. order to eat properly we need to supply
sad-linked businessman Ahmed Khalil from AIS off the coast of Cyprus on Jan- In Serbia — Europe’s top buyer of the soil with fertilizers and to do this we
and a security official named Nasser uary 4, 2022, and then reappeared head- Syrian phosphates in recent years — one must purchase the raw materials. To buy
Deeb. The group began life as a militia importer was a former beauty compa- them, we unfortunately turn to…” He
fighting alongside Syrian and Russian paused. “We take whatever phosphates
forces, and won its current contract to are offered to us.”

— Organised Crime and Corrup-
tion Reporting Project.

NewsHawks Editorial & Opinion Page 25

Issue 87, 1 July 2022 CARTOON

Independence
without freedom

ON 1 July 1999, the great liberator Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Granite plunder: Why nations fail
Nkomo died. Twenty-three years later, we honour his memory,
celebrate his legacy and reflect on the unfinished business of lib- Hawk Eye
erating Zimbabwe.
Dumisani
Nkomo was a collosus of the anti-colonial struggle and has Muleya
come to define the very best qualities of a pioneering generation
of nationalists who threw down the gauntlet and confronted ra-
cial injustice and oppression.

The great liberator was many things to many people.
What is Joshua Nkomo’s legacy? To comprehend it, a good
starting point would be to shine the spotlight on the kind of
society he envisaged for Zimbabwe. What was his vision for Zim-
babwe?
Nkomoism teaches us the importance of courage, freedom,
love, peace and unity. It is anchored on an the undying convic-
tion that Zimbabwe can do better.
Nkomo dedicated his life to the attainment of freedom and
liberty. We can argue whether that vision has been fully realised.
At Independence in 1980, a new republic was indeed born,
with a new flag and new rulers.
But for Nkomo the greatest disappointment was the discovery
that a country could attain nominal “independence” without its
people becoming free.
His observation is encapsulated in the immortal words: “The
hardest lesson of my life has come to me late. It is that a nation
can win freedom without its people becoming free.”
Independence has not equated to freedom for the people of
Zimbabwe. Zanu PF’s kleptocratic dictatorship has stolen the
people’s dream.
Today, the ruling elites have personalised state power and are
masquerading as the only ones who fought for emancipation
against racist settler oppression.
The arrogance is suffocating. They have no qualms unilaterally
declaring that Zimbabweans in the diaspora will never vote. Nev-
er mind that the national constitution is clear on what constitutes
a citizen.
Foreign-based citizens have kept this economy afloat, sending
home a staggering US$1.4 billion in remittances last year alone.
Without this lifeline, Zimbabwe would be in total ruin in the
mould of Somalia and Afghanistan.
Nkomo emphasised the point that every Zimbabwean has a
role to play in the socio-economic development of the country.
Nobody has exclusive ownership of the republic’s title deeds.
Clueless leaders are holding the nation to ransom but the evi-
dence of their failure is everywhere. The world’s highest inflation
rate, the direct consequence of bad governance, has left the mass-
es wallowing in extreme poverty.
The revered nationalist was a man of principle.
His influence trescended Zimbabwe’s borders; the story of
Zapu’s close partnerships with sister liberation movements such
as South Africa’s ANC is yet to be fully told. He was without
doubt a giant in Africa’s struggle for liberation.
Nkomo did not become “Father Zimbabwe” by fluke. There
were many other freedom fighters before he rose to prominence.
What he brought to the struggle were remarkable humanistic at-
tributes that would make him the stuff of legend.
Any celebration of Nkomo’s undying legacy would be incom-
plete without an assessment of his posture towards the role of
young people in society.
“The country will never die; the young people will save it.”
In those few words, he enunciated his political philosophy for
posterity.
The young people of this country have a generational mandate
to grab life by the horns and determine their own destiny.
This requires active participation in politics, taking up lead-
ership positions and making a difference in their communities.
Young people, who demographically constitute the majority,
must realise that there is no political messiah who is coming to
rescue them from poverty, hunger and oppression. They must
stand up and be counted.

Reaffirming the fundamental impor- The NewsHawks is published on different EDITORIAL STAFF: Marketing Officer: Voluntary Media
tance of freedom of expression and me- content platforms by the NewsHawks Digital Managing Editor: Dumisani Muleya Charmaine Phiri Council of Zimbabwe
dia freedom as the cornerstone of de- Media which is owned by Centre for Public Cell: +263 735666122
mocracy and as a means of upholding Interest Journalism Assistant Editor: Brezh Malaba [email protected] The NewsHawks newspaper subscribes to the
human rights and liberties in the con- No. 100 Nelson Mandela Avenue [email protected] Code of Conduct that promotes truthful, accurate,
stitution; our mission is to hold power Beverly Court, 6th floor News Editor: Owen Gagare
in its various forms and manifestations Harare, Zimbabwe Subscriptions & Distribution: fair and balanced news reporting. If we do not
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Website: www.vmcz.co.zw, Facebook: vmcz Zimbabwe

Page 26 Editorial & Opinion NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

NUMEROUS tributes and obituaries have been Magaisa’s intellectual activism
written for the late Zimbabwean legal scholar and spoke truth to people, to power
public intellectual Alex Magaisa, not so much
for his academic prowess and critical scholarship, The late Zimbabwean legal scholar and public intellectual Alex Magaisa National Unity period (2009-2013) taught him
but for his Gramscian agency as a cerebral activist that challenging power from inside, working the
embedded within social movements and their dy- people’s struggle from dictatorship to democracy tion and crude insults. cracks within the system, requires learning to
namic social bases. who reached self-actualisation and then scaled The quality of debate among Zimbabweans is speak multiple languages of power convincingly,
self-transcendence for the common good. always compromised by partisan political affilia- which he did.
For there are many academics and scholars in Put differently, Magaisa was a brave civil in- tions, especially the binaries that come with this,
Zimbabwe, and the world over, some far more tellectual, yet vulnerable in mortality terms as he and polarisation. That is why he rejected the binaries and polari-
distinguished than Magaisa was in their own himself revealed amid a life-threatening cardiac Naturally, Magaisa had his own political choic- sation of Zimbabwean politics. That way Magaisa
fields, time and space, but the difference is that condition a few years ago when nobody was lis- es and preferences as someone associated with the maintained intellectual credibility and a techno-
he was a public intellectual with interactive social tening. opposition, but he remained above the fray and cratic posture.
relationships and dynamic activist agency to artic- However, in his state of vulnerability Magaisa didn’t become mindlessly partisan.
ulate critical issues of the day. still had the courage to mobilise resistance using Hence, Magaisa was not needlessly adversarial. Ideation was his forte. It was clear he under-
his philosophical, multidisciplinary knowledge of He also understood the complexities and neces- stood that great minds discuss ideas; average
Magaisa was not into esoteric philosophical de- law and politics — as well as an understanding sity of engaging in intellectual activism in social minds events and small people — so he mainly
bates and sophistry like some at his level are. of economics — as his weapons of choice in the movements and political parties, as well as inter- stayed away from events and people, choosing to
battle of ideas, fighting as an organic intellectual actions and connections between them. operate within the realm of ideas.
He was an intellectual whose scholarly work rather than a traditional one. His communication strategy in public address-
spoke truth to power and also truth to the people He leveraged his cerebral capacity and locus of es, debates and writings was anchored on three His writings, crystallised by The Big Saturday
in a way that invoked Marie Evans’ poem Speak enunciation to interpret ideas and issues of the things: Speaking truth to power, speaking truth Read, captured zeitgeist, the spirit and mood of
the Truth to the People from her 1970 volume I Am time to assist the people to fig- to the people and the time. The blog addressed law and politics. It
a Black Woman which added a powerful voice to a ure out their meaning, import challenging power also radiated into economics, eventually the polit-
groundswell of intellectual activism on social and and impact to their immediate Hawk Eye from inside. ical economy.
political upheavals of the civil rights movement in realities and lives. First, in speaking
the 1950s and 1960s in the United States. In so doing, he provided truth to power he It dealt with ordinary people’s concerns; lead-
through his epistemic location used the power of ership, governance, accountability, civic activism,
Intellectuals were critical to the civil rights and position the link between Dumisani ideas to confront corruption and human rights issues — their liveli-
movement, even though their role is sometimes the subaltern on the margins existing power hoods, service delivery, and social justice.
understated. of society and the ruling elites Muleya structures, relations
It addressed politics of the belly, an expression
More than half a century since the 1960s, in their ivory towers Grams- and dynamics. This that refers not only to the struggles and necessities
scholars and ordinary Americans alike continue to cian-style. helped to embolden of survival, but also to a complex array of socio-
grapple with how they should remember the civil In Antonio Gramsci's view, the people to do the logical representations, notably the dynamics and
rights movement. To some, its calls for political a class cannot dominate in modern conditions by same. trajectory of power in the Zimbabwean context.
change — to transform America into a non-racial merely advancing its own narrow economic inter- Second, he also spoke truth to the people. This
democracy — that reverberated across the land ests; neither can it dominate purely through force entailed developing alternative narratives about In the process, he provided counter-hegemony
represented its most profound legacy. Yet others and coercion. social injustices which scholarly audiences found narratives which are important to challenge the
remember the movement as a force for moral for- Rather, it must exert intellectual and moral credible, yet were simple enough for the ordinary status quo, while demanding reform and change.
titude and change. leadership, and make alliances and compromises people to understand and follow with ease.
with a variety of forces. Third, Magaisa also had the experience of chal- The best description of Magaisa and interpre-
Largely forgotten, however, is how civil rights That was what the late prominent human lenging power from inside, having worked as the tation of what he stood for yet was provided by
activists created a movement for intellectual rights activist Dewa Mavhinga and his generation late prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s adviser in Dr William Jethro Mpofu, a Zimbabwean-born
change. Magaisa wittingly or unwittingly did the described as the logic of force compared to the his illustrious career. researcher at the University of Witwatersrand in
same. force of logic. Mavhinga and Magaisa preferred As part of his glittering career, which includ- Johannesburg, South Africa.
the latter. ed working at Gill Godlonton & Gerrans Legal
Martin Luther King Jr, for instance, is widely Magaisa was a compelling public intellectual. Practitioners in Zimbabwe, being a regulatory It was a tour de force titled Magaisa: Thinking in
recalled as an unimpeachable moral authority, as a He never raised his voice to drive home his point. enforcement manager for Jersey Financial Services Dark Times published by The NewsHawks.
master of towering oratory, and as a fierce propo- He raised the quality of his argument, as Nelson Commission, the financial services regulator in
nent of democracy. Mandela would say. Jersey (self-governing dependency of the UK) and Dr Pedzisai Ruhanya in this edition also does
He acted truly like a civil intellectual even in lecturing at the University of Kent Law School a great job on Magaisa’s legacy. Ruhanya’s article
But how many people today recall him as the toxic and muddy environments on public plat- (UK), Magaisa was also a key intellectual actor be- basically revisits the debate over Barker and Cox’s
powerful intellectual that he was — the avid read- forms, media and social media where Zimbabwe- hind the scenes in the drafting of the Zimbabwe use of Gramsci’s distinction between traditional
er and scholar that many of his contemporaries ans spend most of their time engaged in labelling, constitution (2013). and organic intellectuals to contrast academic and
knew him as? name-calling, ad hominem, character assassina- His experience during the Government of activist modes of theorising about social move-
ments.
Unless his story is properly told now, Magaisa
might suffer the fate of civil rights leaders whose Sometimes misunderstood as an attack on ac-
legacies are obscured by political correctness. ademics’ personal choices in career and writing,
the distinction is however aimed at highlighting
As the author of A More Beautiful and Terrible the different purposes, audiences, and social re-
History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History, lationships reflected by these different forms of
Jeanne Theoharis, professor of political science at scholarship.
Brooklyn College of City University of New York
and author or co-author of seven books and nu- Intellectuals who take scholarship as their thrust
merous articles on the civil rights and Black Power and perspective of engagement often choose activ-
movements, the politics of race and education, so- ism as a personal pick within a particular field of
cial welfare and civil rights in post-9/11 America, endeavour. By contrast, few academics have un-
shows, there is need to give life to activists and dergone the political learning curve represented
dissect issues beyond just featuring dreamy heroes by social movements.
and accidental heroines of the struggle.
As an organic intellectual, Magaisa opposed
The civil rights movement has become the stuff state-sponsored political hegemonic impositions
of legend, glorified by its admirers, acknowledged consistently with ideas and praxis. He responded
by its critics and lauded by presidents from Ron- weekly — mostly on Saturdays through BSR —
ald Reagan to Barack Obama to Donald Trump to governmentality by producing counter-narra-
and Joe Biden, as proof of the dynamism and en- tives. He tried to solve the constraints of theory
durance of American democracy. and practice to gain ultimate leverage in operating
social resistance to oppose issues of injustice in the
Theoharis’s book cuts through the complex- public interest.
ity, myths and opacity of the fable, featuring
ambitious heroes and fortuitous heroines, which Through participation-observation, that is
consigned the movement firmly to the past, where Magaisa was different from many others,
whitewashed the forces that stood in its way, and especially arm-chair critics and stone-throwers,
downplayed its power, while now being manipu- who operate from ivory towers and see their ac-
lated to obscure contemporary injustices. ademic qualifications as mere personal property
not a channel for public service.
In A More Beautiful and Terrible History, the
award-winning historian gives life to Rosa Parks Magaisa’s means of intellectual production ad-
who is not simply a bus lady but a committed jus- dressed popular issues within social movements
tice activist and radical; Martin Luther King Jr as where he was more comfortable, including in the
not only an orator, but also an intellectual glad- village, as represented by his nostalgia and rem-
iator challenging not just Southern sheriffs but iniscence about Njanja villagers, Save River and
similarly Northern liberals, too; and Coretta Scott Gandamasungo
King not simply as a “helpmate” but an economic
justice advocate and peace activist who influenced Mountain where his spirit always was, fre-
her husband’s activism to fall into sync with hers. quently spoke about and resonated even from his
far-flung overseas metropolitan citadels of higher
The activists embraced an expansive vision of learning such as Kent Law School in Britain.
justice — which a majority of Americans opposed
and Washington DC feared. This explains his indefatigable persistence on
resistance as a fierce interlocutor despite his mor-
Against this backdrop, Magaisa’s story must be tal vulnerability, and also his enduring faith in
told with life and human interest — a book on the ordinary folks. That is the nucleus of Magai-
him, an award named after him or some lecture sa’s legacy which sets him miles apart from mere
series in his name are needed — in the context of mortals.
a protracted campaign for democratic reform and
change by many faceless activists whose tales have
not and may never be told.

It must not be lost on us that Magaisa was not
a political lone ranger, or a Rambo. In Arthur
Mutambara’s expression, he was an enabler of the

NewsHawks New Perspectives Page 27

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

SOMEONE has to say it with a Phases of gradual decadence:
strong loud voice: “All these mon- The economy in deep trouble
etary experiments will take us no-
where.” The first Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe bearer cheques, with face values of $5 000 and $10 000, were issued in September 2003.

To put it correctly, in this country through the RBZ (Debt Assump- 2015-2020 (we may say to current) by leaps and bounds as a result of social justice becomes possible.
there is an environment of chaos and tion) Act of 2015 to Operation Who remembers that ZimAsset was organised crime, corruption, a weak Some of these institutions in-
uncertainty as a result of organised Sunrise which, in fact, accelerated supposed to run from 2013-2018?. regulatory atmosphere and subver-
crime, corruption, a weak regula- inflation. This five-year period (2015-2020) sion of the legal system. clude: A competent and politically
tory atmosphere and subversion of was or is (if we include the current independent judiciary, particularly
the legal system. This truly points Interestingly, as inflation raced period) as scandalous as the 2001- It is clear that there is a need for in the area of commercial law; An
to a behavioural and institutional towards 600%, cotton company 2005 period. Failure of ZimAsset the necessary institutional frame- autonomous central bank charged
crisis rather than the “currency cri- Cargill, whose supplier farmers were resulted in implementation of vari- work for successful policymaking. with the conduct of monetary pol-
sis” which is just a symptom of a now burdened with huge stacks of ous ad hoc policies. From the Trans- This means that everyone engaged in icy only; Independent regulatory
deep-seated malady. dollars as payment, came up with formational Development Plan, the conduct of public policy know agencies charged with the supervi-
“bearer cheques” issued by Standard Command Agriculture, Transitional that a government must have some sion and prudential oversight of key
Under normal circumstances, Chartered bank with authorisation Stabilisation Programme to scope for flexibility, in order to re- sectors, such as financial institutions,
Zimbabwe has a five-year econom- from the Reserve Bank of Zimba- the current National Devel-
ic policy period. There are various bwe. The first such bearer cheques opment Strategy, all within Econometrics insurance companies,
economic policies that were imple- were issued in June 2003 and were five years. HawksView public utilities, health;
mented in five-year cycles, but two valid for six months. Agencies that guard
periods stand out: 2001-2005 and On the monetary side, Tinashe Kaduwo against anti-competi-
2015-2020. On the chart above, The Cargill cheques, whose face bond note (1:1), rapid issu- tive practices in private
they have one thing in common: value ranged between $5 000 and ance of Treasury Bills, RTGS spond to exceptional circumstances, industry, banking and
“average growth was negative.” From $100 000, were in circulation until dollar, local nostro, ZWL, or to deal with challenges not antici- trade; and a Parliament
its creation Zimbabwe remained October 2004 . introduction of Zimdollar, pated in advance. that has access to all the
predominantly an agricultural coun- sectors that are allowed to information needed to
try and for two decades, 1980-2000, Three months after the Cargill trade in forex, banks must stop lend- A rules-based approach is the best exercise oversight and
it registered an average growth rate bearer cheques were introduced, pri- ing, the confusion goes on and on to guarantee of the impartiality, con- control over the executive branch,
higher than the world’s despite rel- marily as payment instruments for now gold coins, but inflation keep sistency, and predictability of gov- and the resources necessary to do so
atively unstable pseudo-democracy cotton farmers, the Reserve Bank of on soaring. ernment action. Institutions of gov- effectively.
and sectarian violence. The Gross Zimbabwe issued its own set of bear- ernment must have clearly defined All monetary reforms will go in
Domestic Product (GDP) in those er cheques. But that is not the issue, just like responsibilities and competencies, as vain as long as this environment of
two decades remained positive above 2001-2005 period Command Agri- well as the necessary human and fi- chaos and uncertainty as a result of
world average but declined in the The first RBZ bearer cheques, culture and all the policy confusion nancial resources to carry them out. organised crime, corruption, a weak
1990s due to globalisation where with face values of $5 000 and $10 created much stronger economic Where the rules and regulations are regulatory atmosphere and subver-
Zimbabwe lacked foreign invest- 000, were issued in September 2003 mafias that further widened social clear, and where institutions apply sion of the legal system remain un-
ment and, as such, its trade gap had and carried the signature of the then injustice. them predictably and impartially, addressed.
widened, resulting in imports out- acting governor central bank gover- economic security will flourish, and
stripping exports. nor, Charles Chikaura. The country is in a trap, char- *About the writer: Tinashe
acterised by instability and highly Kaduwo is a researcher and econ-
From 2006 to 2010, average But that is not the issue, the Farm vulnerable to internal and external omist. Contact: kaduwot@gmail.
growth was helped by huge econom- Mechanisation Programme and Op- realities. The economic difficulties of WhatsApp +263773376128
ic recovery in the years 2009 and eration Sunrise were grossly abused, the Zimbabwean people are growing
2010 as a result of political settle- creating economic mafias and wid-
ment through the Government of ening social injustice.
National Unity (GNU) and dollari-
sation. 2011-2015 was supported by
a relatively stable currency environ-
ment.

But now what is with those two
special periods?
2001-2005
In August 2001, the Millennium
Economic Recovery Programme
(Merp) was launched to address
the continuing decline in economic
performance through price stabilisa-
tion, exchange rate stabilisation and
protection of the vulnerable groups.
After Merp had been implemented,
there was no upturn in the econom-
ic indicators, the main reason being
loss of macro-economic balance due
to the size of the budget.

Breaking the five-year economic
planning chain, the National Eco-
nomic Revival Programme (Nerp)
was launched in February 2003 to
provide, inter alia, humanitarian
support in the face of a long-term
drought. A centerpiece of the eco-
nomic and social programme was
the land reform and redistribution
programme which was aimed at re-
dressing the skewed distribution of
land and provide farms for landless
peasants. The success of this policy is
debatable, since there was no signifi-
cant agricultural output reaped from
the distributed land.

On the monetary side, there were
various interventions by the RBZ.
From the Farm Mechanisation Pro-
gramme of 2003 which resulted in
additional money supply and debt
which was passed on to the taxpayer

Companies & Markets NewsHawks

Issue 76, 15 April 2022
BusinessPage26
MATTERSNewsHawks

MARKETS CURRENCIES LAST CHANGE %CHANGE COMMODITIES LAST CHANGE %CHANGE
USD/JPY
GBP/USD 109.29 +0.38 +0.35 *OIL 63.47 -1.54 -2.37
USD/CAD
USD/CHF 1.38 -0.014 -0.997 *GOLD 1,769.5 +1.2 +0.068
AUD/USD
1.229 +0.001 +0.07 *SILVER 25.94 -0.145 -0.56

0.913 +0.005 +0.53 *PLATINUM 1,201.6 +4 +0.33

0.771 -0.006 -0.76 *COPPER 4.458 -0.029 -0.65

Futility of de-dollarisation laid bare

BERNARD MPOFU Immediate plan to bring back the Zimbabwe dollar has all but collapsed.

WHEN United States economist Steve Hanke inflation remains the common denominator, “What he told us is the same story which Official figures show that Zimbabwe entered
wrote a paper outlining how difficult it is for a this time around, unlike then, shops are well- we all know — the same measures which were the hyperinflationary era in March 2007 and
country to bring back its currency and defend stocked, but most consumers lack the buying pronounced more than two years back . . . the period ended when the nation abandoned
its value after dollarisation in its various forms power. The continuation of the Zimbabwe dollar to- its currency in 2009.
and shapes, some Zimbabwean government gether with the US dollar is a measure which
apologists dismissed him as an alarmist and “I would not blame Zimbabweans for mak- was announced end of March 2020. There is Official figures show that at Independence,
out of touch with reality. ing such comparisons,” Victor Bhoroma, a nothing new there. We used to have Statutory annual inflation was 5.4% and month-on-
Harare-based economic analyst, said. Instrument 127, which compelled people to month inflation averaged 0.5%. The largest
Now after several episodes of interven- use the official exchange rate from the auction currency denomination was ZW$20, and
tionist measures and command-style policies “There have not been sufficient reforms system.” the Zimbabwe dollar was the most wide-
which evoke yesteryear trepidations, the gov- from the central bank and from an economic ly used currency — involved in more than
ernment’s immediate plan to bring back the point of view to instil sustained confidence in Statutory Instrument 127, Mugano said, 95% of transactions. Officially, US$1 bought
Zimbabwe dollar has all but collapsed, as ris- the local market. Most of the issues that led to became a nullity after President Emmerson ZW$0.647, and real GDP in 1980 grew
ing levels of inflation and low output in the the 2008 economic collapse are still with us Mnangagwa’s directive instructing business to 14.6% over 1979 levels.
real sector continue to blight any prospects of even though the two periods differ in terms use the interbank rate.
defending the value of the local unit. of inflation levels, the currencies that are in Research shows that on a per capita basis,
circulation and the general economic state.” Morgan & Co, a local brokerage, said the real GDP (purchasing power parity-adjusted)
Faced with unprecedented economic char- issuance of gold coins, which critics say is an in 2005 prices equaled US$232; the unem-
acterised by record inflation, which officially Zimbabwe’s extreme and uncontrollable admission that the government had failed to ployment rate was 10.8% in 1982.
reached 231 million percent in 2008, Harare inflation made it the first — and so far only defend the value of the Zimdollar, follows
was forced to ditch the Zimbabwe dollar in — country in the 21st century to experience from the authorities’ aim to tap into nostro By July 2008, when Zimbabwe’s Statistical
2009 for a basket of currencies mainly domi- hyperinflation. reserves. Office released its last inflation figures for that
nated by the greenback. year, the month-over-month (non-annual-
Gift Mugano, a professor of economics, In his seminal work, Phillip Cagan defined ised) rate had reached 2 600.2% — more than
From 2009, the US dollar became Zimba- based in Harare, said Ncube’s statement was hyperinflation as beginning when monthly 231 million percent on a year-over-year basis.
bwe’s anchor currency until 2015 when the nothing new. inflation rates initially exceed 50%. It ends Experts say hyperinflation, which rapidly de-
monetary authorities introduced bond notes, in the month before the rate declines below stroys a currency’s value, is fundamentally a
fiat currency which was brought into circula- “The public need to know that the minister 50%, where it must remain for at least a year. monetary phenomenon.
tion as an “export incentive”. of Finance did not announce any new mea-
sure,” Mugano said.
In 2019, the government officially aban-
doned the multi-currency system for the sole
use of the Zimbabwe dollar. The outbreak of
Covid-19 during the same year prompted the
monetary authorities to allow the use of “free
funds”, which simply meant bringing back the
US dollar. Since then, everyone has been de-
manding the greenback as payment — from
roadside candy sellers to government depart-
ments.

Finance minister Mthuli Ncube this week
announced that the multi-currency system,
or rather the greenback, would remain in use
until the end of the country’s first economic
blueprint in 2025. Before that, the authorities
announced plans to liberalise the foreign ex-
change market after a few years of managing
the exchange rate which saw the Zimbabwe
dollar being overvalued.

Economic analysts who spoke to The New-
sHawks this week said the de-dollarisation
project has been shelved, as Harare parks its
sovereignty for economic wisdom.

“The move towards full de-dollarisation
has been abandoned,” Prosper Chitambara,
as economist with the Labour and Economic
Development Research Institute of Zimba-
bwe, said.

“I still believe that we are still in transition
under a multi-currency regime that has been
entrenched by government. I think the idea is
that by the end of the National Development
Strategy 1, we have been able to stabilse the
economy and also ensure sufficient confidence
and trust in the local currency which should
then provide the right and conducive frame-
work and environment for the government to
fully de-dollarise.”

As the economy wobbles, many Zimbabwe-
ans are beginning to draw parallels between
what happened in 2008 and now. While rising

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 29

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

RTG optimistic of post-Covid-19 growth

NATHAN GUMA

RAINBOW Tourism Group (RTG) is confident Rainbow Tourism Group’s hotel business recorded 29% domestic-market-driven growth.
of recovering to pre-Covid business volumes after
the company’s revenue increased by 17%, as the recovery of tourism,” he said. (+97%) continuing to post the strongest results. business spurred by the return of international
travel and hospitality sector relishes the prospects Global tourism experienced a mild 4% upturn The Middle East (+89%) and Africa (+51%) airlines.
of a brave new post-pandemic era.
in 2021 (415 million) with 15 million more in- saw growth in January 2022 over 2021, whilst Several airlines have returned to Zimbabwe,
The group posted revenues of ZW$2.8 billion ternational arrivals, the barometer adds. overseeing a 63% and 69% drop respectively among them, South African Airways (SAA),
in 2020, up from ZW$2.4 billion recorded in the compared to 2019. Emirates, German Eurowings, Qatar, Rwandair,
previous year. All regions enjoyed a significant rebound in Airlink, Ethiopian, Kenya Airways, Air Tanzania,
January 2022, although from low levels compared Madziwanyika said the RTG will also take ad- and Mack Air.
“On the domestic front, there is an increas- to 2021 with Europe (+199%) and the Americas vantage of growth within the leisure and travel
ing trend of local travel in the Zimbabwe mar-
ket, whilst conferencing business is beginning to
grow as the government and companies activate
recovery plans for 2022 and 2023,” said Tendai
Madziwanyika, RTG chief executive officer in an
address to shareholders at the company’s 23rd an-
nual general meeting.

The company’s hotel business recorded 29%
domestic-market-driven growth, with hotel oc-
cupancies rising to 34% from 24% recorded in
2020, further showing signs of immense growth
within the first five months of 2022.

The group closed the 2021 financial year with
a gross margin of 72%, 1% higher than the pre-
vious year.

“We are seeing an increase in international ar-
rivals into RTG hotels,” he said.

“Foreign revenue contribution in the five
months from January to May 2022 grew by 66%
from 16% to 26%. We are therefore in a strong
recovery phase post the Covid-19 pandemic era.”

The group is aiming to take advantage of in-
tra-regional travel which has been motivated by
the re-introduction of short-to-mid-haul flights
ahead of long-haul flights, he said.

“This comes after Africa has emerged as a more
preferred long-haul destination, far from the
‘Eastern European War’ and offering a more ex-
otic escape,” Madziwanyika said, quoting the lat-
est United Nations World Tourism Organisation
(UNWTO) Tourism Barometer of March 2022.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the omicron
variant of Covid-19 have been major deterrents
to growth in the tourism sector.

“While the figures confirm the positive trend
from 2022, the pace of recovery in January was
impacted by the emergence of the Omicron vari-
ant and the re-introduction of travel restrictions
in several destinations.

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine adds pres-
sure to existing economic uncertainties and over-
all confidence could be affected and hamper the

NATHAN GUMA as Zim’s hotel chain group goes green

HOSPITALITY entity Rainbow Tourism Kadoma Hotel and Conference Centre
Group (RTG) will commission a 300 kilovolt
amps (kva) solar farm at its Kadoma Hotel and Energy is by far one of the main contribu- practices are based on the notion of being a re- “The group continues to implement its sus-
Conference Centre as part of a green energy ini- tors to climate change, accounting for 73% of sponsible company that creates value through ex- tainability plans, which involve greening hotels
tiative, The NewsHawks has learnt. human-caused greenhouse gases, according to cellence and sustainable business practices. The and business operations, as well as fostering
the United Nations Development Programme company seeks to ensure that guests and stake- a strong shared vision and values among the
The solar project is set to beef up Kadoma (UNDP). holders have a spectacular experience through group’s employees and stakeholders,” Madzi-
city’s power supply and add to the national grid. refreshing hotels and incredible experiences. wanyika said.
“Rainbow Tourism Group’s sustainability
Zimbabwe has for years experienced power
shortages, amid calls for private players to gen-
erate electricity.

“The solar plant will supply 200kva to the
Kadoma town electricity grid,” said Tendai
Madziwanyika, RTG chief executive officer, in
an address to shareholders at the company’s 23rd
annual general meeting on Wednesday.

“The project has 100 free-standing batteries
which will store solar energy throughout the day.
Our investment is therefore not just centred on
our sustainability goals of greening our hotels by
using renewable energy but is also a service to
the nation.

“This is our way of ploughing back to the
community which continues to support and
help sustain our operations.”

Madziwanyika said the company intends to
roll out the solar project at its various hotels
across the country.

The solar farm has over 650 solar panels occu-
pying 2400 square metres and 100 free-standing
batteries.

RTG’s solar project is in line with United Na-
tions Sustainable Development Goal number
seven which aims to correct the imbalance in ac-
cess to energy by ensuring everyone has access to
affordable and clean energy by 2030.

Page 30 Companies & Markets NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Investors inject US$4bn into mining sector

DUMISANI NYONI Zimbabwe’s mining sector production grew 3.4% in 2021.

INVESTMENT into the country’s mining sector conducive environment for both foreign and local for 2022 in the sector remains encouraged by on- annual growth in production of 8%. To attain
has been robust since last year, with mining hous- investors. Beneficiation remains a key issue in the going developments at company level to increase this target, the national budget has provision of
es so far having poured in close to US$4 billion, mining sector hindering earnings growth,” it said. capacity, and outlook on commodity prices. ZW$3bn for the Ministry of Mines for mining
according to data released by researchers at Inter exploration, opening of closed mines as well as
Horizon Securities (IH). The researchers, however, said most investment “The sector appears to be attracting improved mineral beneficiation and value addition among
has been centred around increase in production at funding at this point with a key highlight being other projects. The introduction of the export ini-
In 2021, the platinum group of metals (PGMs) the mine and plant level. Zimplats commitment to invest US$1.8 billion. tiative scheme addressing incremental retention
sub-sector invested US$1.8bn followed by iron Policy shifts remain key downside risks for the ratios and exemptions from export surrender re-
ore at US$1bn. Lithium and gold sub-sectors “However, there is still much to be done in in- sector. However, the government is to be com- quirements and rolling back of presumptive tax
have contributed US$1.03bn. frastructure that supports the industry. Infrastruc- mended for its drive to improve supporting infra- on small-scale miners saw gold production yield
ture development and upgrade has been slow in structure,” they opined. 55% year-on-year outturn to 29.6 tonnes com-
“Caledonia invested approximately US$67 Zimbabwe owing to economic challenges. It has pared to 2020 despite heavy rains slowing opera-
million in its central shaft at Blanket Mine which been identified by the government as a priority According to government estimates, mining tions in the first quarter.
was commissioned in March 2021. Shamva Gold area due to its ‘knock on effects’ on the overall sector production grew 3.4% in 2021, while
resumption and production ramp up, with a capi- performance of the economy,” they said. receipts were up 25% year-on-year to US$5bn, Volumes for PGMs came in relatively flat on
tal injection of around US$180 million, is expect- supported by firm international prices and a raft account of construction works still to come to
ed to result in a significant increase in gold output The country mainly relies on road transport of measures taken towards turning the sector into maturity. Receipts for the subsector were project-
in 2022,” the researchers said in the mining sector as a major mode of transportation. Zimbabwe a US$12bn industry by 2030. ed US$2.37bn.
report released this week. also links the southern African region with some
regional trunk roads. Researchers said optimism Going into 2022, the government has forecast
How Mine injected US$5 million into a shaft
sinking project which opened up new mining
areas while RioZim finalised its US$17 million
BIOX (biological oxidation) plant project before
the end of 2021. Eureka Gold Mine resumed op-
erations in 2021 after a capital injection of US$51
million.

“Zimplats approved an overall capital invest-
ment strategy with a budget of US$1.8 billion to
be implemented over 10 years beginning in 2021
with US$1.2 billion already approved for imple-
mentation,” the report reads in part.

“Mimosa Mining is carrying out an expansion
project at North Hill to increase the life of mine as
well as contribute towards the attainment of crit-
ical mass for local beneficiation. The company re-
ported that it invested US$40 million into capital
projects in the six months to December 31, 2021.
Great Dyke Investments completed the first Box-
cut and excavation work. Once completed, GDI
is expected to produce 3.45 million tons of PGM
ore per year at full throttle.”

“Karo (Resources) has completed an explora-
tion and resource delineation and the project is
now at the implementation stage. Bravura carried
out exploration and feasibility studies in 2021
and are planning to go into mine construction in
2022 and production to start in 2023,” it said.

Huayou International invested US$378 mil-
lion into Arcadia Lithium Project while Bikita
Minerals intends to invest US$200 million in
the construction of a new spodumene (chemical
grade-lithium) processing plant and the expan-
sion of its existing petalite (technical grade-lithi-
um) processing plant.

“Investment into the local mining sector was
robust despite low foreign direct investment
(FDI) flows. Mining houses were able to mobilise
funds from within our borders driven by the need
to increase production as commodity prices rise,”
the report reads in part

“Moving forward, we anticipate the govern-
ment will continue revising policies to create a

BERNARD MPOFU ‘Dependency on wheat imports risky’

ZIMBABWE’S anti-monopolies agency says a growing global supplier of agri-food products of Russian and Ukrainian agricultural exports, from Russia worth US$8.5 million in 2020.
the nation should diversify its import concentra- such as sunflower oil, and a big crude oil export- together with increased global demand. In the “Geopolitical tension in Russia and Ukraine
tion of wheat, as the economy battles to absorb er. Notwithstanding this, there are global supply medium to long term, Zimbabwe needs to pre-
tremors and inflationary pressures triggered by chain disruptions that have emerged, notably pare early for the 2022/23 winter wheat crop- will likely affect Zimbabwe with regards to
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly four months freight movement. ping seasons to domesticate this value chain. wheat and fertilizer imports. Alternative mar-
after the conflict broke out. kets to source fertilizers and wheat have to be ex-
Basing on 2020 figures, Russia and Ukraine Zimbabwe’s average annual wheat require- plored. Given that agriculture is the backbone of
Trade is a vital cog to a country’s growth and contributed 16% to Zimbabwe wheat imports, ment is estimated at 400 000mt. It imported the economy, it is important to reemphasise that
development, but geopolitical tensions can dis- which implies that it needs to look for alterna- cereal from both Russia and Ukraine worth local wheat production has to increase through
rupt international trade. Russia’s February 24 tive markets for the supply of wheat in the short US$17.3 million in 2020. It imported 35 ensuring comprehensive advance preparations
invasion is one such conflict which has not only term. 807mt of wheat and meslin from Ukraine and for the 2022/23 wheat planting season. Further-
destabilised Eastern Europe, but also far-flung 10 253mt of wheat and meslin from Russia,” the more, resuscitating fertilizer manufacturing and
countries like Zimbabwe and the world at large. Russia contributed 18% to world exports of CTC says. self-sufficiency is key to shielding the local ag-
wheat in 2020 and Ukraine contributed 8% to ricultural sector from the ongoing tension, the
Official figures on Zimbabwe’s trade balance world exports of wheat in 2020, implying they “The share in Zimbabwe wheat imports from report reads.
with Ukraine and Russia over the years show that contributed 26% to global supply of exports. Ukraine versus imports from the world for 2020
the African country is a net importer with both was 13%, while that of Russia was 3%. Both Russia however blames sanctions imposed by
nations, implying that it imports more than it “Grain Marketing Board (GMB) received countries are key markets for wheat imports the United States and some Western powers for
exports to these countries. In 2020, Zimbabwe’s 208 000 metric tonnes of wheat by January used to meet the gap from local production,” the supply-chain disruptions and inflationary
key exports to Ukraine were gold, tobacco and 2022 and this means that Zimbabwe will have a the report reads. pressures.
edible fruits (citrus), unmanufactured tobacco, deficit of about 192 000mt in 2022,” the CTC
tobacco refuse, edible fruit and tea. report reads in part. The conflict, the report further shows, is This month, Zimbabwe’s year-on-year in-
likely to negatively affect Zimbabwe which is flation for the month of June quickened to
According to the latest quarterly report done “The slump in trade with these two countries an agro-based economy, as it relies on Russian 191.6% from 131.7% in May, prompting the
by the Competition and Tariff Commission, and freight movement challenges, also affect al- fertilizer imports. Zimbabwe imported fertiliz- authorities to hike interest rates to a triple-digit
Zimbabwe mainly imports food (wheat, mes- ternative markets which Zimbabwe might be ex- er (dominated by ammonium nitrate and urea) figure in a desperate effort to tame inflation.
lin, edible vegetables, certain roots, tubers) and ploring as these economies were also importers
fertilizers from the two countries. Russia is also

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 31

Issue 87, 1 July 2022 PPC Zimbabwe

THE local unit of South Africa-headquartered PPC Zim reports revenue uptick
cement maker PPC has reported 34% growth
in revenue driven by a improved volumes, the the most significant line item was an increase from government-funded projects. Relative to “PPC Zimbabwe incurred additional costs
company has announced. in PPC Zimbabwe’s depreciation expense to the 12 months ended 31 March 2020 (pre- in importing clinker to support volume
R386 million (March 2021: R24 million) due Covid-19), volumes increased by 41%.” growth and offset the impact of a planned and
Government and the private sector are to the application of the effective rate method unplanned kiln shutdown during the period.
currently carrying out several infrastructure of hyperinflating depreciation in the current Revenue increased by 34% to R2 172 mil- The importation of clinker, higher mainte-
projects such as dam construction, rehabili- year. lion (March 2021: R1 623 million) as a result nance costs and the depreciation of the ZWL
tation of roads and energy plans which have of increased cement sales volumes. Compared dollar against the ZAR negatively impacted
increased demand for cement. Costs, excluding depreciation and PPC to the 12 months ended 31 March 2020 (pre- EBITDA.”
Zimbabwe, increased by 7% with efficiency COVID-19), revenue increased by 17%.
The group revenue for the 12 months ended gains, offsetting input cost inflation. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Zimba-
31 March 2022 increased by 11% to R9 882 “PPC Zimbabwe adjusted selling prices in bwe (RBZ) honoured its obligation to settle
million (March 2021: R8 938 million). Ex- “PPC Zimbabwe continues to trade ahead local currency and US dollar (US$) to reflect PPC Zimbabwe’s legacy debt. The debt was
cluding Zimbabwe, group revenue increased of expectations even though trading condi- currency depreciation and input cost inflation fully repaid during December 2021. PPC
by 5%. tions remain challenging due to the mac- respectively. Earnings before interest, tax, de- Zimbabwe is financially self-sufficient and is
ro-economic environment,” the company said preciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the focused on cash preservation and maximising
Total costs, being cost of sales together with in a statement accompanying financials for the 12 months ended 31 March 2022 declined by US$ EBITDA. PPC received US$6.2 million
administration and other operating expen- year ending 31 March 2022. 18,3% to R393 million (March 2021: R481 in dividends from PPC Zimbabwe in full-year
diture, increased by 19% to R9 360 million million) with a reduced EBITDA margin of 2022, plus an additional US$4.4 million in
(March 2021: R7 887 million). “For the 12 months ended 31 March 2022, 18,1% (March 2021: 29,6%),” the company June 2022. — STAFF WRITER
cement sales volumes increased by 28% year- said.
The increase in total costs is significantly on-year due to retail demand and support
affected by an increase in PPC Zimbabwe’s
costs of 85%. Other than continuing hyperin-
flation and the 42% depreciation of the Zim-
babwe dollar against the South African rand,

FROM SUMMERS TO WINTERS

WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK

Landline: 08644 305473 Arosenty Air @AirArosenty 0777 662 600/0717 063 253
[email protected]

Page 32 Companies & Markets NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

How public relations can help
companies during times of grief

IN the past week, the public re- derie in such times. gate the stormy waters of grief cused on the cause of death of a When an organisation expe-
lations (PR) fraternity has lost The company can make coun- while providing an opportunity colleague can build a connection riences grief, it has a profound
two colleagues in succession. to generate goodwill and im- with people who were otherwise impact not only on their day-to-
The news has been hard to pro- sellors available to help employ- prove the reputation of an or- never going to meet the person day operations. Public relations
cess. ees deal with their grief. In con- ganisation. When someone dies, who died, something that can helps organisations and individ-
versations with colleagues, we it can be a devastating moment have a meaningful impact in the uals deal with such difficult sit-
When someone you care noted how mental health was for their family and friends. grieving process. uations by creating an environ-
about dies, there are often such fast becoming an area of con- Accepting that grieving is an However, this is not the only ment for healing.
feelings of grief. This is a normal cern in the workplace. Wellness emotional process, often people way to deal with such issues.
emotion that manifests itself in programmes that leave it out are do not know where to turn for Public relations is also be a use- By understanding the causes
different ways. "short changing" their employ- help or advice. In a time of grief, ful tool in dealing with a range and symptoms, and how it can
ees. We are hearing of increased many people manifest itself in the workplace,
This got me thinking about cases of people collapsing, which turn to their organisations can take steps to
what role PR can play in assist- could be a symptom of deeper local com- Corporate support their employees and cli-
ing organisations better manage unresolved emotional issues. munities for Communications ents when they need it most.  
grief. It is a hard emotion to deal support. But
with, and often, the toughest While death can be a very dif- there are other Dealing with grief in this way
part is trying to figure out how ficult time for those left behind, services that not only helps to reduce the neg-
to express it. Many keep their it can also be a challenging time companies ative impact it may have on the
grief bottled up, never allowing for the organisations they rely can provide to Lenox Lizwi Mhlanga lives of those affected, but also
others to understand what they on. Grief can bring out the best gives organisations the oppor-
are going through. in us, when we are at our most those who are tunity to show they understand
vulnerable, but it can also bring grieving, particularly when they of issues, including those which their employees’ needs and value
Public relations can help or- out the worst in organisations. face financial challenges. cause grief in the community. them.
ganisations better manage their The correct public relations ap- Organisations may deal with By using public relations in this
employees’ grief. This allows proach can assist organisations this difficult moment by turning way, organisations help to shape *About the writer: Lenox
them to better express the emo- show their empathy and sup- it into an opportunity to build their response to the issue and Mhlanga is a specialist com-
tions they are experiencing and, port. empathy among their audiences. their reputation. It is also a way munication consultant and can
ultimately, better serve the peo- A public relations campaign fo- to build relationships.   be reached at: lenoxmhlanga@
ple who are close to them. PR is Public relations is a powerful gmail.com and +263772 400
often the first port of call when tool that can help people navi- 656.
an organisation is facing a crisis.
There are several ways that PR
should help deal with grief.

When something terrible hap-
pens, it is natural to feel shock,
sadness and other emotions.
However, when a crisis strikes,
it is difficult to know where to
turn. Often, the place where we
seek support, information, or
just someone to talk to, is from
our company or organisation.

A death is difficult for any or-
ganisation to deal with. When a
colleague passes away, the sud-
den void they leave can create a
feeling of sadness and loneliness
in those left behind. It is normal
to feel sad and miss the person
who has died, but if the grief
becomes a problem, one should
seek help.

Public relations is often the
first thing that comes to mind
when helping an organisation
respond to a crisis, but there are
several ways that PR can help an
organisation deal with grief. The
first step in this process is to take
advantage of the various ways in
which a company can effectively
respond to a crisis.

The first port of call would
help its employees process the
loss. Involving the company in
funeral arrangements helps em-
ployees feel part of the process.
The PR department leads in the
communications while facili-
tating aspects such as logistics.
Such support by an organisation
engenders a sense of belonging,
unity and much-needed camara-

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 34

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

FranklySpeaking

COLLS NDLOVU Finance minister Mthuli Ncube. rency system could turn Zimbabwe’s
economic fortunes around. Confi-
BEFORE the Zimbabwe Reserve Trimetallism an antidote to dence will be restored. Hyperinflation
Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s Monetary Zimbabwe’s currency crisis will be brought to an end. Foreign di-
Policy Committee met on 24 June rect investors will start streaming back
2022 to deliberate on macro-econom- such, but even the value of the US dol- inter alia. It is worth mentioning that gold reserves alone, Zimbabwe’s for- into the country, provided protracted
ic and financial developments in the lar was to be pegged to gold (this peg South Africa has a gold currency called eign exchange debt can be repaid if political and reform issues are also ad-
economy and resolved to introduce was abandoned in 1971). The other the Kruger Rand which is made up the country had a policy of keeping dressed.
gold coins into the market for peo- metallic currencies like platinum and purely of gold amounting to exactly reserves in the form of gold.
ple and investors to use it as a store of silver can easily be adopted alongside one fine ounce. Its value is determined Zimbabwe could yet again become
value, I had written an article propos- gold and provide Zimbabwe with a by daily gold price movements in the Platinum currently trades at US$1 the breadbasket of Southern Africa.
ing trimetallism as an antidote to the stable financial system that is on a rea- financial markets. 023 per fine ounce, while silver is The foregoing will undoubtedly result
country’s currency crisis. sonably sound footing. priced at US$22 per fine ounce. These in Zimbabwe generating more reve-
In June 2022, for instance, gold are all minerals that Zimbabwe is en- nues from various sources inclusive of
This article, which was supposed to The adoption of the trimetallic cur- price averaged US$1 840 per fine dowed with in sizable quantities. foreign direct investment, taxes, and
be published last week, proposed that rency system for Zimbabwe will not ounce. gains from the appreciating values of
the Zimbabwe should consider adopt- only solve the country’s ongoing cur- So the country should move to- the trimetallic currencies.
ing the trimetallic currency monetary rency conundrum, but will also help The multicurrency sys- wards leveraging on these trimetallic
system as an antidote to its seemingly the country to reduce its hyperinfla- tem, which was abandoned precious minerals for the benefit of its Barring negligible adjustments
endless currency crisis. The trimetallic tion down to below 2% levels, while at in 2019 when the Zimba- economy thereby potentially raising during the change-over from fiat cur-
monetary system comprises of gold, the same time enhancing the standards bwean dollar was brought the standard of living for its people and rency to the trimetallic currency sys-
platinum and silver operating as con- of living of the people. back, is now back again stabilising its financial system. tem, there should be minimal disrup-
current currencies within the economy. through a statutory instru- tion to the overall financial system.
The investment community, both ment 118A entrenching The US government keeps huge
This effectively means these have to domestic and foreign, will find Zim- it after Finance minister amounts of gold at its Fort Knox vaults In fact, Zimbabwe could become
be jointly and severally approved as le- babwe to be a highly competitive in- Mthuli Ncube’s announce- and at its Federal Reserve. The Bank of a curious reference point for many
gal tender. vestment destination powered by the ment this week. England, Swiss and French banks, are mineral-producing African countries
trimetallic currency standard which some of the biggest investors in gold which may also want to follow its lead
Zimbabwe has had its fair share of will be immune to the capricious mar- A fine ounce of gold is the size of judged by their huge gold holdings. in adopting the trimetallic currency
unprecedented levels of hyperinfla- ket volatilities. The trimetallic curren- a South African R2 coin made up of system.
tion, especially during the period up cy system will safeguard the economy pure gold. According to publicly avail- In fact, many governments in the
to 2008. Thereafter, it adopted a mul- against inflation, especially against its able information, South Africa main- West, whose countries don’t produce Jobs will be generated both within
ticurrency system as a direct reaction to more deleterious variant: hyperinfla- tains about 4.1 million fine ounces of gold, keep gold reserves. the mining sector and other productive
the then deleterious levels of hyperin- tion. gold as part of its foreign reserves trans- sectors buoyed by the trimetallic cur-
flation that peaked at a horrendous un- lating to about US$8 billion. This tells us that global banks, espe- rency monetary system as this would
precedented level of 89 700 000 000 Given the importance of the tri- cially central banks, have continued to give Zimbabweans newer skills sets.
000 000 000 000% (that is to say, 89.7 metallic currency hypothesis, and its Zimbabwe’s foreign debt has been have confidence in gold both as a store
sextillion%), as calculated by currency potential as an antidote to Zimbabwe’s estimated at about US$11 billion in of value and as a reserve currency. The The World Gold Council will as-
and inflation expert Professor Steve never-ending currency imbroglio, this the recent past (see for example the Af- addition of platinum and silver will en- sist with technical services and advice
Hanke of John Hopkins University in writer has worked on two compre- rican Development Bank’s Zimbabwe hance the trimetallic monetary system, should it become necessary to leverage
the United States in 2008. hensive and detailed books titled (i) Economic Outlook, 2021). Through make it robust and liquid. on its vast experience and its vested in-
Trimetallism, and (ii) Gold Currency. terest in the operationalisation of the
The multicurrency system, which However, these trimetallic curren- gold currency.
was abandoned in 2019 when the This was specifically to answer all cies would continue to enjoy markets
Zimbabwean dollar was brought back, the technical questions relating to the confidence given that their mark-to- It has long been calling for progres-
is now back again through a statutory mechanics, the whys and wherefores market values are determined by glob- sive countries of the world, especially
instrument 118A entrenching it after of the trimetallic currency hypothesis, al markets rather than the limited local gold-producing ones like Zimbabwe,
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube’s an- market. to re-adopt gold as a currency in their
nouncement this week. respective economies.
The adoption of the trimetallic cur-
Towards the conclusion of the mul- Preliminary but confidential dis-
ticurrency system, Zimbabwe in 2016 cussions with some major local and
introduced the bond note which ef- regional banks have revealed that most
fectively destabilised and spooked the of them will welcome and embrace
monetary system. Initially, the bond the trimetallic currency system as this
note was fixed to the US$ at a whim- will monetise most assets in Zimba-
sical 1:1 exchange rate. This was later bwe whose values are currently being
changed and replaced with interbank undermined and compromised by hy-
and later an auction system accompa- perinflation.
nied by various statutory instruments
that were all geared towards currency This will in turn lead to the creation
and price stability. of jobs as industries begin to roar back
to life thus making Zimbabwe a great
A cursory look at the history of regional economic power again.
money shows that gold, silver and
copper, for example, have been used The trimetallic currency system can
at various intervals as currencies in the be operationalised as legal tender in
past. Metallic currencies in the form Zimbabwe within one to three months
of coins still form part of our con- barring a few teething technical prob-
temporary monetary systems. Gold is lems.
probably the oldest and strongest com-
modity-based currency that has direct If Zimbabwe decides to adopt the
intrinsic value. trimetallic currency system as its legal
tender, this will mark an important
Platinum and silver have also main- turning point for African economies
tained their values over time and they perhaps equivalent only to the 1944
share the same properties of indestruc- Bretton Woods conference where the
tibility and ductility with gold. US dollar was adopted as a currency
for international trade and a store of
Fiat currencies (paper money) have foreign exchange reserves.
indirect intrinsic value. That is why
their values are heavily dependent on Gold was recognised and con-
markets’ confidence. Gold, platinum firmed as an international reserve
and silver enjoy independent markets currency, therefore, it is only logical
confidence given the fact that they car- that gold-producing countries like
ry direct intrinsic value. Zimbabwe take a lead when it comes
to adopting the trimetallic monetary
Gold, in particular, is and has always standard.
been a currency. It is probably the old-
est currency in the world. Apart from In our next article on the trimetallic
having been used as a currency for currency hypothesis, we will interro-
hundreds of years, gold was specifically gate and explain the system’s applica-
confirmed as a currency for storing and tion mechanics and associated issues.
denominating international reserves at
the 1944 Bretton Woods conference, *About the writer: Colls Ndlovu is
United States, just before the end of a Zimbabwean born currency expert
World War II. and an award-winning banker, for-
merly with the South African Reserve
Not only was gold confirmed as Bank, and inventor of the NCX Cur-
rency Confidence Index. He can be
contacted on [email protected]

Property
NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022 PROPERTY INTERIORS ARCHITECTURE GARDENING Page 35

The home of prime property: [email protected]

Highland Park landlord eyes stock listing

President Emmerson Mnangagwa (wearing scarf ) officially opens Highland Park shopping mall. He also took an opportunity to do some shopping in the Pick n Pay supermarket. — Pictures: Aaron Ufumeli

BERNARD MPOFU Justice Bgoni, ZSE chief executive, in his
statement accompanying the group’s 2021 annu-
TIGERE Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), al report, said more listings are expected this year.
the investment vehicle behind the US$20 mil-
lion new Highland Park shopping centre in Ha- “The year 2022 began on a positive note with
rare, says it plans to list on the Zimbabwe Stock three listings in the first quarter (Two ETFs [ex-
Exchange (ZSE) before year-end as appetite for change-traded funds] and one equity). We ex-
more listings improves. pected an additional three listings on the ETF
front and possible new listings from REITs as
Until recently when the government limited well,” Bgoni said.
operating hours on the ZSE, the bourse had be-
come a haven for investors seeking to preserve “Prospects for VFEX [Victoria Falls Stock
value against the backdrop of a weakening econ- Exchange] are also good with the possibility of
omy. up to three more listings during the year. We ex-
pect to expand ZSE Direct through partnerships
Zimbabwe’s economy is experiencing high with banks and mobile money operators, which
levels of inflation and a weakening domestic cur- should result in increased usage of the platform.
rency among myriad economic headaches. ZRM has been negatively affected by the steep
rise in inflation which makes lending unviable,
Brett Abrahamse, Terrace Africa managing and as such, its performance is likely to be sub-
director, told delegates attending the commis- dued in 2022. Regulatory risk remains high and
sioning of Highland Park that the company has ZSE will be pushing to implement a surveillance
plans to list as well as roll out more properties system to help monitor the activities by trading
across the country. Officially opening the mall, participants. The currency depreciation and high
President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the in- inflation will still favour investment in the equi-
vestment was a tonic for the economy. ties market going forward but will dampen capi-
tal raising in local currency.”:
“This signature investment in Highland Park
Shopping Centre adds to Terrace Africa’s excit- VFEX operated for the first time as a licenced
ing real estate portfolio which includes the Vil- US dollar exchange from 2020.
lage Walk in Borrowdale and Marondera Main.
Highland Park Shopping Centre will undoubt- “Since its inception in October 2020 there has
edly create substantial value not only for Ter- been growing interest from the market to under-
race Africa but for the economy as a whole by stand how the market works,” Bgoni said.
bringing shopping convenience and reliable val-
ue-added services closer to our people,” Mnan- “Focus by investors and issuers is always on the
gagwa said. exchange’s value proposition and we are pleased
to report that the 100% retention of export pro-
“It is most commendable that this investment ceeds on additional output after being listed on
portfolio will be listed on the Zimbabwe Stock VFEX remains the main attraction for issuers.
Exchange as Tigere Real Estate Investment Trust. Investors continued to enjoy the lower transac-
This in itself is a great stride in raising capital and tion costs on the trading side. Foreign investor
increasing the number of trading counters on appetite across all emerging markets economies
our local stock market.” remains low and this has not spared the VFEX.”

NewsHawks News Analysis Page 37

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Unworkable interest rate will harm economy

NYASHA CHINGONO

THE central bank’s move to hike Reserve Bank Governor John Mangudya.
interest rates to a record 200%,
the highest in the world, will It is trite economics that work- riddled with misfiring.
grind business to a halt, analysts ing capital is the life blood of Ncube this week admitted there
have said. companies and the cornerstone of was a lack of business confidence.
any business. “The market’s lack of confi-
With a grin on his face, Finance dence in multi-currency is causing
minister Mthuli Ncube responded Working capital mainly consti- us problems, but I’m here to as-
to questions from journalists in- tutes short-term loans from banks, sure you it will remain in place for
side the Finance ministry board- offered to companies that have a the next five years,” Ncube said.
room. His body language betrayed healthy cashflow. Legislating the use of the US
a troubled man, with a lot to fix. dollar as a transactional currency
Mukundu argues that hiking is meant to restore investor and
Two days after the Zimbabwe interest rates would make it ex- local confidence, but the raising
Statistical Agency announced that pensive to borrow from banks, of interest rates does the complete
inflation had hit 191%, it was while financial institutions may opposite.
time to act. fail to survive the tough times if President Emmerson Mnan-
companies are not asking for cred- gagwa’s "Zimbabwe is open for
Both monetary and fiscal policy it. business" mantra rings hollow on
authorities had to burn the mid- account of self-defeating policies.
night oil to give the nation some The situation is untenable for Economost Persistence
sort of explanation or intervene to both banks and companies. Gwanyanya said the hiking of in-
tame runaway inflation. terest rates will reduce borrowings
“The fact that Zimbabwe now and usher in stability.
As Ncube buckled under a bar- has the highest interest rates points “With that aggressive mea-
rage of questions from journalists, to the fact that it will be more dif- sure, the expectation is to trim
Reserve Bank governor (RBZ) ficult for individuals or businesses Finance minister Mthuli Ncube. the economy of excess baggage of
governor John Mangudya’s state- to borrow,” Mukundu said. after citizens embarked life with borrowings. If we reduce borrow-
ment was released. renewed hope when Robert Mug- ken leg. ing, we are effectively encouraging
“Essentially, investment and job abe’s government was ousted. “There is no comprehensive re- liquidation of the US dollars. Be-
While Ncube’s statement spell- creation will grind to a halt be- cause of the hiking of the interest
ing out the government’s wish cause of high interest rates. Busi- “The Finance minister has failed dress of the lack of trust and lack rates we expect the repayment of
list for the civil service and the ness and individuals will not be to deal with this issue through his of faith in the economic policies some loans and the liquidation of
decision to legislate the use of the able to sustain their business mod- policy interventions, so we are see- of this government. What we the Zimbabwe,” Gwanyanya said.
multi-currency did not constitute el,” he added. ing the economy grinding to a halt are seeing is the patching of the “We expect a measure of scarci-
breaking news, the central bank anytime soon,” Mukundu said. cracks,” he said. ty of the Zimdollar. The cocktail
governor had juicier news to tell. He opines that Ncube has failed of measures is expected to ensure
to deal with currency volatility The announcement by the cen- Current economic policies be- stability,” he argued.
With inflation nearing 200%, and inflation through several poli- tral bank this week is tantamount tray a government groping for
the Monetary Policy Committee cy interventions. to applying a band aid on a bro- solutions in the dark and an ad-
had to convene a meeting to dis- ministration whose existence is
cuss the turn of events and proffer It is apparent that the lack of
a solution. trust in economic policies, mainly
the local currency, has driven the
A 200% interest rate would country into the mire, a few years
help "tame" inflation, the com-
mittee said in a statement.

“The committee noted that the
increase in inflation was under-
mining consumer demand and
confidence and that, if not con-
trolled, it would reverse the sig-
nificant economic gains achieved
over the past two years,” the com-
mittee said in a statement.

Zimbabwe's new interest rate is
the highest in the world.

The southern African country
is not new to breaking records, es-
pecially after 2008 when the infla-
tion figures reached billions, where
Zimbabweans needed bucketloads
of cash to buy a loaf of bread.

Over a decade after Zimbabwe
became the butt of jokes around
the world, another record is bro-
ken. There is nothing funny about
the current pronouncement. In
fact, it warrants a tear or two, be-
cause the implications of the hike
in interest rates are far-reaching.

The business community has
remained mum on this issue, but
analyst Rashweat Mukundu be-
lieves economic activity will be
subdued considerably.

Just a month after the govern-
ment suspended bank lending,
accusing bankers of fuelling arbi-
trage on the market, Zimbabwe
is staring economic decline in the
face.

Page 34 Critical Thinking NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Joshua Nkomo's undying legacy

Taona B.
Denhere

THE 1st of July 2022 marks 23
years since  the passing away of
Zimbabwe's former Vice-President
of Zimbabwe, Joshua Mqabuko
Nyongolo Nkomo, after a long   
battle with cancer.
Nkomo was a towering and
formidable  figure in the struggle
against white  colonial rule in Zim-
babwe. He distinguished himself
as an uncompromising and radical
anti-colonial stalwart and a fearless
guerilla leader during the struggle
for the Independence of Zimba-
bwe. Additionally, upon the attain-
ment of Independence on 18 April
1980, Nkomo did not rest on his
laurels and believe that the battle
has been fully won; he resolutely
continued with his unrelenting
quest and fight for freedom, equal-
ity, justice and democracy into
post-independence Zimbabwe.
Accordingly, his devotion and
selfless commitment to the pursuit
and advancement of democracy,
justice and fairness in a post-inde-
pendence Zimbabwe had devastat-
ing consequences to his personal
life, the life of his supporters and
his political party, PF Zapu. The
late Robert Mugabe and his cabal
of genocidal ethnocrats  in Zanu
unleashed a reign of Gukurahundi  The late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo.
genocidal  terror and ethnocidal 
brutality aganist Nkomo and his deconstruct the transcendental by the present-day generations of Therefore, the current genera- tion, freedom to petition the gov-
supporters in an attempt to force influence and effect of Nkomo young politicians, civil society ac- tion of opposition politicians, civil ernment. For instance, civil society
through and institutionalise a within our contested and polarised tivists and human rights defenders. society activists and human rights activists, opposition political fig-
one-party dictatorship. political ecosystem. Thus, in my Crucially, Nkomo made this state- defenders find themselves  con- ures, human rights defenders and
Needless to say, Nkomo occupies deconstructive analysis of the phi- ment at a time when PF Zapu,  the fronted by the similar repressive as well as ordinary citizens contin-
a very unique and envious place in losophy of Nkomo, I will integrate party's key leaders as well as rank and authoritarian tactics that faced ue to be routinely and periodically
the struggle for democracy, human it with  the Fanonism approach and file party supporters were un- Nkomo and PF Zanu during the extrajudicially  arrested, detained
rights and justice in Zimbabwe. as I recontextualise    two signifi- dergoing a systematic pattern of Gukurahundi genocide. That is, and terrorised, whenever they at-
Nkomo is arguably one of the very cant  quotations from Nkomo`s state-sanctioned brutality, terror there is a great deal of the dictato- tempt to exercise their constitu-
rare, if not only, older members speeches. I will argue, inter alia, and violence by Robert Mugabe's rial betrayal of the decolonisation tionally enshrined rights.
of anti-colonial struggle stalwarts why Nkomoism has become such Zanu PF government. Thus, it project. Notwithstanding the fact
who served in the post-indepen- an immortal and prophetic phi- was the period when the genocidal that it is 42 years since Zimbabwe Therefore, when the present gen-
dence government of Zimbabwe losophy within opposition move- and apocalyptic violence of Guku- attained Independence, the dispos- eration of opposition politicians,
who have managed to have a pro- ments, human rights organisations  rahundi was in full unrelenting session by independence continues civil society leaders and human
found transcendental effect  and and civil society organisations. throttle. insofar as upholding and respect- rights defenders supplicate and
intergenerational influence on the ing human rights, civil liberties, embrace this particular quote from
political imagination and public Essentialism of  Nkomoism Accordingly, Nkomo was en- democracy and freedom is con- Joshua Nkomo, they are in essence 
consciousness of young genera- The first quotation from Nkomo capsulating what is known as dis- cerned. retracing a chequered  history of
tions of Zimbabweans. which is going  to become the ref- possessed by independence. Thus, systematic failure of the post-co-
Thus, in our deeply divisive and erence point of my re-articulation despite the official end of colonial The immortal and prophet- lonial Zanu PF government to en-
polarised polity, where there is par- of the transcendentalism of Nko- rule in April 1980, Nkomo, PF ic words of Joshua Nkomo come shrine and consolidate the virtues
tisan entrenchment of divisions moism is this one in which he said: Zapu and their supporters found into context in the  present-day of the liberation struggle, insofar as
and hatred  between the ruling “The hardest lesson of my life has themselves being politically, eco- scenarios in the sense that, despite upholding fundamental freedoms
party and the opposition and civil come to me late. It is that a nation nomically, socially and culturally officially defeating colonialism and and human rights is concerned.
society, it is very rare to find a for- can win freedom without its peo- dispossessed, ostracised and subju- imperialism in 1980, the ordinary
mer senior Zanu PF government ple becoming free." This excerpt gated. The promises and rewards of people of Zimbabwe do not enjoy The other second important as-
official being very much embraced, statement has become very pro- Independence remakned elusive, substantive freedoms and human pect of Nkomo`s immortal philos-
lionised and valorised by the oppo- phetic and immortal and has had courtesy of the Zanu PF govern- rights. The Zanu PF government ophy which has become transgen-
sition constituency. Accordingly, a far-reaching effect in the pres- ment which was using the same continues to a greater extent to ap- erational comes from his prophetic
Nkomo has managed this remark- ent-day political and human rights modus operandi of the repressive ply the same fascist gangsterish and assertion  that:  “The country will
able and unprecedented feat. contestations in Zimbabwe. and fascist gangsterish tactics of authoritarian tactics employed by never die; young people will save
In this opinion piece, there- This quotation is religiously in- the erstwhile coloniser, the right- the Rhodesian Front government it." This statemenr of Nkomoism
fore, I will attempt to relocate and voked and cited like a biblical verse wing  fascist Rhodesian Front gov- in stifling freedom of expression, has a Fanonian element in its po-
ernment. freedom of assembly and associa- litical meaning and persuasion.
Thus, it is constructed with simi-

NewsHawks Critical Thinking Page 37

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

lar philosophical  and prophetical and revolutionary seeds germinated of opposition leaders,civic soci- ism in their quest to reclaim and some of the prophetic and immor-
underpinnings as Frantz Fanon's and sprouted in 1989, when Fatger ety and human rights defenders save their country. Consequently, tal excerpts of his speeches on so-
observation that: “Each  genera- Zimbabwe was just two years into is a clear demonstration of how Nkomo was cognizant of the fact cial media platforms, particularly
tion must out of relative obscurity his position as the Vice-President Nkomo has provided an ideolog- that, historically and traditionally, the two who have just formed the
discover its mission, fulfil it or be- of Zimbabwe. University of Zim- ical and political compass for the youths are the vanguards of the thesis of this opinion piece.
tray it.” babwe students, under the capable younger generations. Thus, these revolution and change agents.
leadership of self-styled radicals words are acting as a source of in- Conclusion
Accordingly, even though Nko- and revolutionaries such as  Au- spiration and a guiding principle Suffice to say that if Nkomo is to Nkomo is arguably one of the
mo and PF Zapu were increasingly thur Mutambara and Munyaradzi for the current generation of civic wake up today from his grave, he most rare senior government and
politically, economically and so- Gwisai, organised student protests and political leaders as they contin- will  be impressed by the current Zanu PF officials, outside those
cially emasculated and repressed by against the Zanu PF government's ue to fight to reclaim the country crop of opposition leaders, civil who died during the liberation
Mugabe`s Zanu PF government attempt to constitutionalise and from the clutches of the Zanu PF society activists and human rights struggle, who has managed to be
during the Gukurahundi period, institutionalise a de jure one-par- kleptocratic  dictatorship. Thus, defenders, who are resolutely pro- universally and widely accept-
Father Zimbabwe fully understood ty state dictatorship. Ultimately, the younger generation, through viding effective counterweights ed by the opposition movement,
that the post-colonial project was the students' radical action and invoking these words of Nkomo, and pushbacks against the author- civil society organisations and the
being desecrated and turned into protests had the domino effect of believe they have a generational itarian shenanigans of the Zanu younger generation. Thus, his lega-
a disaster through the fascist gan- rescuing the country's fledgling mandate to restore the country PF government. However, Nkomo cy and philosophy has been equal-
gestrish repressive tactics of Robert and fragile democracy from being back to the founding principles will be equally not surprised by the ly embraced and appropriated by
Mugabe and Zanu PF. Zanu PF swallowed by the one-party state and values that inspired the lib- extreme level of Zanu PF repres- the opposition movements and
was in clear violation and betrayal totalitarian monster. eration struggle and anti-colonial sion and oppression against oppo- civil society. Despite the fact that
of the goals, principles and values struggle. sition movements and pro-demo- the current Zanu PF government
that underpinned the anti-colonial Moreover, by the end of 1999, cratic forces, considering the fact begrudgingly wants to also claim
struggle and war of Independence. when the signs were clear that the President Emmerson Mnan- that one of the chief architects of and monopolise Nkomo's legacy
Nonetheless, the future generations socio-economic and political fabric gagwa tried to reinvent the wheel Gukurahundi, President Mnan- as their own.
will never betray their generational of Zimbabwe were in dire straits by attempting to reconstructing gagwa, is one in full charge of the
mandate and obligation. They will and heading for disaster, a young a de-facto one-party dictatorship, country. Coupled with the fact that The cross-social, cultural, po-
rescue the country from the claws crop of leaders from the trade when the judiciary was weaponised Nkomo and PF Zapu experienced litical and intergenerational tran-
of the Zanu PF dictarshop. union, student movement and to destroy the then MDC-Alliance similar repressive tactics during the scendental influence and effect of
civil society answered their gener- as led by Nelson Chamisa and height of Gukurahundi. the philosophy of Nkomoism is
Nkomo believed that, although ational mandate and attempted to create  a puppet pseudo-opposi- unprecedented on our deeply pola-
Mugabe and Zanu PF might suc- save the country. The raison d'etre tion, the MDC-T led by Doug- Notwithstanding, the fact that rised and contested  political land-
ceed in decimating and neutralis- of the Movement for Democratic las Mwonzora. Consequently, the Nkomo saved a combined 14 years scape. Thus Nkomo was a philo-
ing PF Zapu, from its ashes and Change, which was formed in Sep- re-emergence of the now formida- in the government of Zimbabwe, sophical and prophetical fountain
ruins would rise a fearless and tember 1999 and led by the late ble opposition party, the Citizens' first as an minister of Home Af- of wisdom whose philosophical
committed generation that will firebrand Morgan Tsvangirai, was Coalition for Change  led by Cha- fairs before his unceremonious and prophetic words continue to
rescue the country from the jaws to provide a progressive alternative misa to a great extent illustrates expulsion in 1982 and later as a play a far-reaching role and posi-
of one-party ethnocentric and eth- to the disastrous consequences of the enduring doctrine of Nko- Vice-President of Zimbabwe and tive influence in our polity.
nonationalistic dictatorship, which Zanu PF misgovernance and cor- moism. That is,  notwithstanding Zanu PF from 1987 to 1999. Nev-
Mugabe intended to institution- ruption. state-sanctioned shenanigans to ertheless, his enduring legacy as a *About the writer: Taona Bless-
alise in perpetuity. Thus, Nkomo destroy and cripple the progressive transcendental figure still resonates ing Denhere is a human rights
believed that history has proven Therefore, the self-identifica- opposition movement, young peo- to the present moment. Thus, on and international development
that repression will invariably tion and religious embrace of this ple will always find ways of  defying the 23rd  anniversary of his death, lawyer based in the United King-
breed resistance. immortal and prophetic excerpt and circumventing  authoritarian- various civil society organisations dom.
by the current young generations have been referencing and posting
Ironically, Nkomo`s prophetic

Page 38 Critical Thinking NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

This is an extract from a paper pre- African liberation: Complete but
sented to “Africans after Mwalimu unfinished – A big fragile travesty
J. K. Nyerere’s Century 1922-2022:
Reflections on the Present and Fu- The late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo. But with the turn of the 1980’s, ing the subscription to (historical yatta), Not Yet Uhuru (Odinga),
ture”, Mwalimu J. K. Nyerere Cen- They fed into, and overlapped such expectations receded into a and economic) exceptionalism in Freedom and Development (Nyerere),
tennial Intellectual Festival 8-10 mixture of diffidence, indifference South Africa in particular, that the African Socialism (Senghor), and The
June 2022 by Professor Ibbo Man- with, notions of a “second inde- and even despair about the African unfinished business of African liber- Wretched of the Earth (Fanon). It
daza. pendence struggle” in neo-colonial condition. In the prevalence and ation would appear to be most pro- denounced the violation of dignity of
Africa, projecting the Pan-African- deepening economic crisis that mili- nounced in comparison with the rest the colonized, racial discrimination,
As Zimbabwe remembers the ist dream of a truly free and united tated against the expectations atten- of the African continent. lack of equal opportunity and equal
late liberation movement founding Africa. dant to the attainment of political access, and economic exploitation of
nationalist leader Joshua Nkomo’s independence. This is an observation that should the colonized. The people were mobi-
death on this day – 1 July - in 1999, The ideology of the armed strug- prompt the need to interrogate the lized according to these grievances and
The NewsHawks publishes this sum- gle was contagious in those days in a The reality that, notwithstand- concept of “African liberation” in expectations of a more democratic dis-
mary of Mandaza’s presentation to Dar es Salaam that had also become ing the formal end of colonialism, general and substitute it with one pensation.
capture the former vice-president’s a home for exiles from Uganda, African liberation is as complete as more appropriate to the current
observation that “a nation can win Rwanda and the Congo, in addition it is unfinished. Including the ap- discourse, namely post-colonial or More than half a century to
freedom without its people becom- to those from Southern Africa. For parent irony that it is precisely in post-independent Africa. post-independence, Africa as a
ing free”. example, it was out of the University those countries (of Southern Africa, whole has demonstrated a glaring
of Dar es Salaam that Yoweri Mu- especially Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Both are no less problematic con- (economic and political) incapacity
Zimbabwe, like many other Afri- seveni, then a student under Nathan South Africa) who waged an armed ceptually, but they assist in high- to fulfill this vision. Unlike the bour-
can countries, is now independent, Shamuyarira, produced a short dis- struggle, in which liberation is most lighting the key factors that render geois state after which model it is in
but not free. sertation on Frelimo’s armed strug- incomplete. African liberation incomplete so far. pursuit, the African nation-state-
gle in Mozambique. in-the-making lacks the economic
Our independence is meaningless In the glaring disparity between, First, the history of post-colonial foundations – and the anchor (or
unless it is linked up with total libera- However, it was not long after the on the one hand, the ‘ceremonial Africa is really about the state which national bourgeoisie) in particular
tion of the African continent. attainment of independence in Zim- trappings’ of national independence the petty bourgeoisie inherits at in- through which two inhere a com-
babwe in 1980, that such lofty hopes that include a Black majority-led dependence. The bourgeois state mendable level of national confi-
Kwame Nkrumah, Independence of a new era began to dissipate, of- state, a flag and anthem; and, on the without the national bourgeoisie dence, project national interest, and
Speech, Accra, Ghana, 6 March ten in the cynical conclusion that other, an economy characterised by nor the requisite paraphernalia that create a national economy. Hence
1957. post-liberation Southern Africa was the continuities and inequalities of gird it in terms of its European or the continued hegemony of para-
a case of history repeating itself. white settler colonialism. antecedent. sitic and comprador classes, most
It so happens that the unprepared- of whose members have grown pari
ness of his educated classes, lack of prac- Yes, the 1970s were years of hope Including the unresolved Land Yet, it is on the basis of that mod- passu this post-colonial economic
tical links between them and the mass and expectations that Africa as a Question and, in the case of South el that the post-colonial state has pathology, and are largely dependent
of the people, their laziness, and, let it whole would recover from the mess Africa and Namibia, the prevalence to be assessed in the first instance, upon the State, international capital
be said, their cowardice at the decisive into which it had descended during of white racism, as much in attitude particularly the democracy deficit – or an institutionalized aid regime.
moment of the struggle will give rise the period since independence in the as in conduct. the vision of a democratic society in
to tragic mishaps. National conscious- 1960s. The Lagos Plan of Action of which the violations and denials of This is in the import of the quota-
ness, instead of being the all-embrac- 1980 was largely a representation of In this regard, even Zimbabwe the colonial era would be a thing of tion from Frantz Fanon at the head
ing crystallization of the innermost such an agenda for action, including is not yet out of the woods, not to the past and a new meritocracy es- of this article; a point highlighted by
hopes of the whole people, instead of the launch of the regional organisa- mention the lingering undertones of tablished. Amilcar Cabral:
being the immediate and most obvious tions - the Economic Commission the Land Question.
result of the mobilisation of the people, of West African States (Ecowas) As Claude Ake explained: Our problem is to see who is capable
will be in any case only an empty shell, and the Preferential Trade Area for For the reasons mainly attendant The language of the nationalist of taking control of the state apparatus
a crude and fragile travesty of what it Eastern and Southern Africa - as to what I have described as the po- movement was the language of de- when the colonial power is destroyed...
might have been. the building blocks for an African litical economy of the post-white mocracy, as is clear from: I Speak of The peasants cannot read or write...
Union to be launched subsequently settler colonial situation, it is the Freedom (Nyerere), Without Bitterness The working class hardly exists as a de-
Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of in Abuja in 1993. Southern African context, includ- (Orizu), Facing Mount Kenya (Ken- fined class... There is no economically
the Earth. viable bourgeoisie because imperialism
prevented it being created. What there
The hardest lesson of my life has is a stratum of people in the service of
come to me late. It is that a nation imperialism who have already learned
can with freedom without its people how to manipulate the apparatus of
becoming free. the state - the African petty bourgeoi-
sie: this is the only stratum capable
Joshua Nkomo, The Story of My of controlling or even utilizing the
Life, 1985. instruments which the colonial state
used against our people. So we come to
We are both ‘others’ abroad and still the conclusion that in colonial condi-
‘others’ in Africa. Do we not deserve a tions it is the petty bourgeoisie which
place to call ‘ours’ where we can enter is the inheritor of state power (though
or leave without hindrance? We may I wish we could be wrong). The mo-
never quite be Nigerians, South Afri- ment national liberation comes and
cans or Kenyans, Chadians or any of the petty bourgeoisie takes power we
the possible colonially-induced artifi- enter, or rather return to history, and
cial creations, but at least we can be thus the internal contradictions break
who we are: Africans. An African citi- out again.
zenship will restore to all of us what is
naturally ours. The story about this (petty bour-
geois) class is to be elaborated short-
Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, For an ly, as an integral part of the neo-co-
Africa of free, equal and dignified lonial order in Africa and, as such,
citizens. how elements of it have morphed
IT remains historic - and the virtu- into the comprador bourgeoisie that
al fulfillment of Kwame Nkrumah’s is currently at the centre of the state
statement on 6 March, 1957 - that in many African countries. But here
white settler colonialism and apart- is to highlight some of the excesses
heid were finally overcome in South- attendant to the political economy
ern Africa. of the state, as an illustration of both
the incompleteness of political inde-
Besides, the armed struggle, as pendence itself and, in many cases
both a necessary enterprise and an across the continent, abject failure
ideological movement, raised the in terms of promoting an “Africa of
hope and expectations that it would free, equal and dignified citizens”, to
therefore yield a better economic quote Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem.
and political dispensation than had
hitherto visited those of Africa who As Willie Mutunga’s brilliant
had attained independence formally piece of satire illustrates, one of the
in the 1960s. symptoms of the democracy deficit
in post-colonial Africa is the “Big
This is quite apart from those ex- Man” syndrome, and the commen-
pectations which, in retrospect, were surate subversion of the national
either naive or self-serving on the institutions, including a captured
part of the respective subscribers, judiciary, a lame legislature and an
that such an intense and protracted
armed struggle would inevitably and
almost simultaneously yield a social-
ist dispensation, resolve the Nation-
al Question, and trigger the levers
of progressive economic and social
development.

Rightly or wrongly, the narratives
and debates attendant to the liber-
ation struggle in Southern Africa
pervaded scholars and activists alike
across the continent, not least in Dar
es Salaam itself, the headquarters
and rearguard.

NewsHawks Critical Thinking Page 39

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

unaccountable executive. detained or exiled, humiliated, tor- them that Robert Mugabe emerged a commendable degree of success in pacity to reconcile and mediate com-
His face is on money, his photograph tured, or killed. as head of government in 1980; per- this regard, Zambia, and to some peting and contending forces within
petrated the Gukurahundi genocide extent Ghana and Malawi, most the society.
hangs in every office in his realm, his As in the case of countries like (1983-87) as part of the one-party of the nation-states-in-the-making
ministers wear gold pins with tiny Zimbabwe, the “Big Man” syndrome state agenda; saved him from the have either failed in the latter enter- Indeed, no single post-colonial
photographs of him on the lapels of has degenerated into the securocrat poll defeat in 2008 through nothing prise, are running a high risk of the state has succeeded entirely in the es-
their pinstriped tailored suits. He state, with securocracy as the very less than a coup; and have been cen- disintegration of whatever had been tablishment and maintenance of the
names streets, football stadiums, hospi- antithesis of democracy. Ruling tral to an electoral system the main achieved in previous decades, or re- nationalist coalition that was sup-
tals, and universities after himself. He without or despite the popular will. hallmark of which is rigging and vi- main purely as the territorial land- posed to be the basis of nationhood.
carries a silver inlaid ivory rungu or olence. mass that was defined and bordered This is why the term nation-state-
an ornately carved walking stick or a As I have elaborated elsewhere, the by such bankrupt colonial masters as in-the-making is used herein, indi-
flywhisk or chiefly stool. He insists on securocrat state is one in which “na- Therefore, both the reality of the the Portuguese following the Con- cating the unfinished agenda of the
being called doctor or being the big tional security” takes primacy, with securocrat state itself and the No- gress of Berlin in 1884. resolution of the National Question.
elephant or the number one peasant the military-security complex as a vember 2017 coup in Zimbabwe
or nice old man or the national mir- dominant factor in the power com- stand as an indictment of the Afri- As I have observed elsewhere: For many of these nation-states-
acle or the most popular leader in the plex that is the state. Zimbabwe’s can Union which has been at best It is true that conflict in Africa in-the-making, the ideology of na-
world, his every pronouncement is re- securocracy has its origins in the lib- indifferent or at worst in quiet sup- increasingly takes on the form of tional unity can no longer conceal
ported on the first page. eration struggle – in both Zapu and port of such a blatant abrogation of ethnic conflict. But this is mainly the demise of the Social Contract
in particular Zanu – in which one of constitutional democracy and the because of the abject failure of the concluded on the eve of national
He shuffles ministers without warn- the enduring pathologies therein was related requirement that the military post-colonial state in those countries independence. Furthermore, it must
ing, paralysing policy decisions as he a blatant militarism at the expense of belongs in the barracks. in which such conflict is rampant. be acknowledged that, with the eco-
undercuts pretenders to his throne. ideology and politics. An examination of each of the nomic and political malaise that
He scapegoats minorities to show up It is hardly a comforting obser- conflict situations would no doubt characterises most African countries,
popular support. He bans all politi- As such, the military-security fac- vation that the Zimbabwean situ- reveal strong historical and political there is likely to be a declining ca-
cal parties except the one he controls. tor reigned supreme over civil and ation is far from an exception in a bases for the failure. pacity to hold things together, such
He rigs elections. He emasculates the political relations. post-independent Africa in which But invariably, the failure has to failure expressing itself through so-
courts, and he cows the press, he stifles constitutionalism, the rule of law, do with the following: the nature of cial strife and civil war.
academia. He gives the church. The Of special significance in con- independent national institutions, the colonial impact on a given coun-
Big Man’s off-the-cut remarks have the temporary Zimbabwe is the extent and a non-partisan military-security try, what George Balandier calls the However, there are important
power of the law. He demands thun- to which, under the direction of sector, remain a remote goal as part colonial situation or the complexi- variances and differences between
derous applause from the legislature the head of state himself, the mili- of the African liberation agenda. ty of political, economic and social one African country and another,
when ordering far-reaching changes in tary-security factor has, since 2000 conditions that were thrown up in with respect to the nature of the state
the constitution. in particular, sought to pervade The second factor that is a conse- the process; the structure and class and its capacity for nation-building.
social and political relations, com- quence of the foregoing and renders composition of the given society; the
He blesses his home region with promise or contradict public policy African liberation incomplete, is the manner and conduct of the transi- *About the writer: Professor
highways, schools, hospitals, hous- issues, subvert the electoral system unresolved national question or the tion from colonial rule to political Mandaza is a Zimbabwean aca-
ing projects, irrigation schemes and and purge political rivals to the in- extent to which the nation-state-in- independence and its aftermath; demic, author and publisher. He is
a presidential mansion. He packs the cumbent “Big Man”. the-making remains work in prog- and the nature and content of the also the director of Southern Afri-
civil service with his tribesmen... His ress. post-colonial state, including its ca- can Political Economy Series, a re-
enemies are harassed by youth wingers Not surprising, therefore, that gional think- thank, and convenor
from the ruling party. His enemies are these are the same people who took Apart from Tanzania in particular, of its policy dialogue series.
Mugabe out through a coup in No- which can be said to have achieved
vember 2017. It had been through

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Page 38 Critical Thinking NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

NewsHawks Critical Thinking Page 39

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Pedzisai Alex Magaisa: A giant organic
Ruhanya intellectual in Gramscian sense

IF the ruling class has lost its consen- forces to address the questions of the mental stature marked by voluminous itive authoritarian and rapacious state The late Alex Magaisa.
sus, i.e., is no longer "leading" but day in Zimbabwe from an empirical humility. premised on parasitic, predatory and
only "dominant", exercising coer- standpoint. To address the morbid primitive accumulation. injustices.
cive force alone, this means precisely systems in the political economy of Magaisa believed in the manufac- Like Gramsci, he believed that a
that the great masses have become Zimbabwe. To address the corruption ture of consent in the Althusian way As Gramsci argues, the struggle to
detached from their traditional ide- and decomposition of the political of ideological state apparatuses rather erect hegemony is one which pass- social group only begins to enter a
ologies, and no longer believe, what economy in Zimbabwe. So, let’s get than repressive state apparatuses in es through many phases, indelibly hegemonic phase when it attempts
they used to believe previously...The this right as we mourn a gigantic and the construction of hegemonic proj- marked with developments in the to go beyond the stage of self-inter-
crisis consists precisely in the fact that rigorous scholar. Alex was both an ects. He was allergic to the deploy- deeper field of class and economic ested corporatism to articulate the
the old is dying and the new cannot empirical and a philosophical giant, ment of coercion in the construction relations. In this regard, hegemonic ideas and interests of other groups
be born; in this interregnum a great hence my view that he was a colos- of hegemony. He preferred the bat- agendas are distinguishable from oth- and classes outside its narrow borders,
variety of morbid symptoms appear – sal organic intellectual of our time. tles of ideas, hearts and minds, as he er political programmes which are not within its own publicly advanced po-
Antonia Graamsci. He addressed practical, historical and would say. fully committed to establishing over- sition. Alex wanted inclusive politics
contemporary problems of Zimbabwe all social leadership per se; in fact, the where others are not left behind. That
The above statement by Gramsci in every Saturday for free. He became Like Gramsci, for Alex the struggle latter often practically culminate in is why he wrote on constitutionalism,
his Prison Notebooks demonstrates the intellectual deputy of social move- to attain moral, intellectual, political the former as put forward by Richard rule of law, human rights and against
the state of Zimbabwe politics that ments at home and abroad where he and economic leadership within social Saunders. Alex fought gallantly to see a captured and parasitic state. I argue
Alex Magaisa, working with the op- offered his rigorous intellectual labour formations or democratic forces was new distinct political consciousness that one of the major purposes of his
pressed masses and subaltern groups without giving these institutions an supposed to be inclusive and go be- that was inclusive and that went be- Big Saturday Read was to contribute
sought to address throughout his life. invoice to pay him back. That is what yond classes. He emphasised the need yond the exclusive organisations of at this level; the battle of ideas. Your
defines and sets Alex apart as an in- for cross-generational understanding political parties. ideas remain with us. Your ideas will
He sought through his pen to cre- tellectual giant. One afternoon when of issues and refused to be associated not die. Intellectuals do not die. Till
ate counter hegemonic narratives that he was appointed as an adviser to the with elite politics describing them as He wanted to see informed young we meet again. RIP Musaigwa. Wako,
would shape, nourish and give direc- late Morgan Tsvangirai, Alex called not smart, not inclusive to include the people coming together across class, Pedzi as you would say. RIP waMai.
tion at the levels of ideas and strata- me and said, “Pedzi I know that you working people, farmers and "kumu- gender, ethnicity who understand
gems to the democratic movement in can use your political communication sha" as he would say. Alex would ar- the common economic and politi- *About the writer: Dr Pedzisai
Zimbabwe. He worked under the late skills to advance the democratisation gue that the task of establishing lead- cal questions of the day and begin Ruhanya has a PHD in media and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as agenda. Once in a while I will call ership in the democratisation struggle to mobilise in their communities to democracy with Westminster Uni-
an adviser and was a key intellectual upon you.” I obliged. in Zimbabwe is one which should challenge the institutionalised poli- versity in London. He studied jour-
in the drafting of the Zimbabwe Con- permeate and intertwines all social tics that inhibited the prosperity of nalism, political science, sociology
stitution (2013). This is precisely why That was Alex for you, organising formations in the political economy Zimbabweans. He did not believe in and Human Rights Law with the
I describe Alex as an organic intellec- the manufacture of consent to ad- of Zimbabwe, one which was not fragmented articulation of the Zim- Universities of Zimbabwe, Essex
tual. Basically, an organic intellectual, vance the democratisation process in exclusive but inclusive with critical babwe question. He would write in (UK) and Westminster (UK). He is
unlike traditional intellectuals, is an Zimbabwe. That is why I say, he was inclusion of women, youths and mi- simple language to assist to refine and a former Hubert Humphrey Fellow
agent of class project whose funda- practical, a thought leader of monu- nority groups to mount a counter contribute to defining the problem on International Human Rights
mental role is to produce, reproduce, hegemonic struggle against a compet- and ways of procedure to confront Law with the Universities of Minne-
articulate, and rearticulate the ideas sota and New York (US).
of the ruling class. In this case, Alex
was an organic intellectual of counter
hegemonic forces who sought to de-
mocratise Zimbabwe politics and see
a democratic political transition.

Through my conversations with
him, Alex was of the view that any
group that wants to democratise poli-
tics in Zimbabwe and take over power
at any historic moment must have its
own agents of class projects, it must
conquer at the levels of ideas, issue
articulation subordinate groups and
convince them to join the broader
counter hegemonic organised masses
through persuasion or what he called
the battle of hearts and minds.

That for me was a fundamental
mission of Alex that he achieved with
distinction. Like Gramsci, Alex was
not a person of mere talk or simply
writing but he was grounded in social
formations that sought to bring dem-
ocratic change in Zimbabwe.

That history started way back in
the 1990s when he was a student at
the University of Zimbabwe where
he shaped student union politics
through ideas and the power of the
pen and joined the struggles of the
day in the constitutional movement
in the streets; implementing his ideas
and vision to address the problems of
the day. That is why I insist that Alex
was an organic intellectual. He was a
man of action who thrived to see the
realisation of social justice through
constitutional and democratic ways
not just through his thought provok-
ing weekly Big Saturday Read (BSR)
but making sure that those ideas in-
fluence and shape the politics of Zim-
babwe.

Those ideas did not just remain on
the Internet but were taken on board
by social formations and democratic

Page 42 Reframing Issues NewsHawks
Of late there has been a growing pub-
lic outcry about patriarchal practices, Issue 87, 1 July 2022
gender hegemony, sexual harassment
and other forms of gender-based vi- The relationship between
olence within the African Apostolic religion and human rights
Churches, particularly Johanne Ma-
range Apostolic Church (JMAC) in
Manicaland province in Zimbabwe.
Studies have been done and books
written on the subject of theology
and human rights. The relationship
between religion and human rights is
both complex and inextricable.

MATTHEW MARE

AFRICAN Independent African Members of the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church.
churches (AIC) practice of rituals,
teachings and beliefs has over the Section 76 (1) of the Zimbabwean commission that has been set to aim to clarify and examine the said peddled a narrative that strikes a
years drawn scholarly attention in Constitution clearly stipulates that, investigate on the abuses of women practices, allegations and estab- balance between Christianity and
terms of whether secular rights are every citizen has the right to have and children in the religious sphere. lish factual research-based findings African Traditional Religion, by
applicable in the religious sphere. access to basic health-care services, The laws pertaining to children and whereupon recommendations can blending the two already existing
including reproductive health-care women`s rights seem not to be of be instituted, by all stakeholders religions. One of their major teach-
The Johanne Marange Apostolic services. The same Constitution paramount importance to the Zim- involved in the implementation of ings included boycotting settler re-
Church (JMAC) has theologically goes on to compel the state to for- babwean government as it is seem- women and children’s rights imple- gime’s schools, hospitals and farms.
established some practices, rituals mulate legislative and others mea- ingly turning a blind eye to appar- mentation bodies in Zimbabwe.
and teachings which are viewed to sures to achieve the right to health- ently obvious and egregious cases In addition to that, they encour-
be a violation of women and chil- care by every citizen (Constitution of abuse of women and children On child marriage, in a case of aged the concept of indigenisation
dren’s rights by virtue of them being of Zimbabwe Amendment 20 Act in JMAC. The evidence of abuse Loveness Mudzuru and Ruvim- and taught that no person who is
inconsistent with the Constitution 2013:37-38). of women and children in JMAC bo Tsopodzi v Minister of Justice, governed by an alien race will ever
of Zimbabwe. is by and large scholarly work and Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, enter the kingdom of heaven. Thus,
However, since independence in reports by the non-state actors. The Minister of Women Affairs, Gender JMAC emphasises the adoption of
These theological practices, 1980, the government of Zimba- church doctrine teaches against ap- and Community Development and African cultural norms into their
teachings and rituals are being chal- bwe is yet to establish a commis- pealing to secular laws and as such Attorney General of Zimbabwe, modes of worship, theology, and
lenged, in the rise of global criminal sion of inquiry into alleged abuses abuses within JMAC are not for- which was heard by the Constitu- practice, though to a varying de-
law codification, coupled with the of women and children in JMAC. mally reported (Sirico, 1986:355). tional Court on 20 January 2016, gree.
rise in feminism emanating from Each year when the JMAC congre- by a full Constitutional bench head-
the Universal Declaration of Hu- gate at their annual Passover cere- Particular concerns about the ed by Deputy Chief Justice Luke These are based on extreme pa-
man Rights. monies, child marriages and vir- church is how it has allowed its Malaba, the bench ruled any mar- triarchy and disregard of Western
ginity testing are rampant and the religious practices to cascade into riage between a man and a woman notions of Human Rights and free-
There has been a growing de- academic fraternity, Non-Govern- social behaviour that now include where one of them is below 18 years doms veiled in an apparent jingois-
mand, first by feminists, and now mental Organisations (NGOs) and early marriages, pre-arranged mar- as unconstitutional, therefore, ille- tic ideology.
by the general populace, for third Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) riages, forced marriages, virginity gal in Zimbabwe (“CCZ 2015-12
generation rights to safeguard wom- have on numerous occasions raised testing, and the prioritisation of Mudzuru v The Minister of Legal Therefore, it is against this back-
en and children’s rights, especially a red flag. males ahead females. Parliamentary Affairs| (veritaszim,” ground that this researcher felt
the girl child in all sphere of life. 2015:1). However, the ruling is yet compelled to explore the interface
The Zimbabwean government Added to that, concerns about to have an effect to JMAC as child between Human Rights and theol-
An African Union communique has instituted a number of Com- the barring of church membership marriages remain unchanged. ogy in the JMAC.
in 2014 noted that about 14 mil- missions in-line with the Constitu- to access Western medical health
lion teen girls were married, almost tional provisions as set out in Chap- care services, prenatal and post-na- It becomes imperative for one to *About the writer: Dr Matthew
always forced into the arrangement ter 12, Section 232 and Section 242 tal health care services to women, enquire into the reason behind the Mare is a Zimbabwean academic
by their parents. According to a which covers the establishment of access to both control initiatives and rise of AICs in order to gain an in- who holds two bachelor’s degrees,
Zimbabwe Multiple Indicator Clus- Zimbabwe Human Rights Com- family planning methods to women ner understanding of the nature of five masters’ qualifications and
ter report of 2014, child marriages mission (ZHRC) and Section 245 and health care as well as the incul- relationship that exists between the a PhD. He is also doing another
in Zimbabwe stood at about 32.8% on Zimbabwe Gender Commission cation of a chauvinistic patriarchal theology of JMAC and the Human PhD and has 12 executive certif-
(Zimbabwe Multiple Indicator (ZGC) (“Zimbabwe Gender Com- sub-society based on religious doc- Rights discourse. icates in different fields. Profes-
Cluster: 2014:35-36). This trans- mission,” 2021:1). trinarian are part of the church’s sionally, he is a civil servant and
lates to about one in three women doctrine. Therefore, the study will The theology of AICs is based also board member at the Nation-
and less than 1 in 20 (3.7%) of men However, there is no known on reconstruction approach. AICs al Aids Council of Zimbabwe.
aged 20-49, who were first married
or in union before age of 18 years.

According to Makururu
(2019:40), women and children
who fellowship in JMAC are not
being accorded the three genera-
tional rights such as the right to
life, quality health, education and
free determination in the social,
economic, political and religious
spheres.

On the right to life on children,
one of the practices in JMAC is that
parents take an oath on behalf of
their children known as chitsidzo,
which means to pledge. The pledge
teaches that no children from the
believing family should be taken to
hospital for whatsoever reason.

With regard to death of a child,
JMAC teaches on the biblical Job
who chose to lose all his children
and he glorified God in that cir-
cumstance. In JMAC, children are
called zvidhinha or bricks, which
if it breaks one can mould another
(“Some Johanne Marange members
see their children as bricks» Reli-
gion in Zimbabwe,” 2012).

In addition, JMAC teaches that
a believer should rather die for
the gospel than to defy the JMAC
teachings and doctrines. From a
scholarly point of view, JMAC vio-
lates children’s right to good health.

NewsHawks Tribute to Magaisa Page 43

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Presidential decree: A bout of economic
madness and cocktail of illegalities
Prominent legal scholar and public intellectual Dr Alex Magaisa, who died on Sunday in the United Kingdom
Alex T. where he taught law at the University of Kent, wrote a popular blog, the Big Saturday Read, which provided cut-
Magaisa ting-edge analysis and critical insights into Zimbabwean law and politics. This was his final article:

ON 7 May 2022, President Emmerson
Mnangagwa issued an economic dec-
laration that must surely claim a place
among the most absurd economic poli-
cy initiatives by a governmental authori-
ty anywhere in the world.

Apart from reversing a disastrous
public transport monopoly that should
never have been established in the first
place, the rest of the measures were
knee-jerk reactions to try to solve an
economic problem that is fast spiralling
out of control.

Among the raft of measures was an
outright ban on bank lending whose
immediate effect was to pose an exis-
tential threat to financial institutions,
particularly those solely licensed to carry
out lending activities. The presidential
decree was self-defeating: by banning
lending, a government whose mantra
is “Zimbabwe is open for business” was
effectively sending the message to the
market that it has no trust in the coun-
try’s future. To appreciate the weight of
this message, one must understand the
concept of credit and the basis upon
which it is constructed.

No trust in the future Minister of Finance and Economic Development Mthuli Ncube.
The concept of credit is intimately tied
to trust in the future. As historian Yuval threatens the viability of the business. Job losses services, which effectively means rising tion to sugar-cane producers.
Noah Harari puts it, credit represents A rise in bank charges Another constituency that bears the bur- household poverty.   The ban has therefore had a predict-
the difference between today’s pie and However, as I will demonstrate, it is the den is bank workers. Whenever capital Loss of credit facilities
tomorrow’s pie. You can only lend when ordinary citizens that carry the heavy suffers a hit, labour takes a heavy beat- Another predictable consequence of the able chain reaction in the credit system.
you believe that tomorrow’s pie will be burden of this hare-brained policy in- ing. Banks will start talking of restruc- ban on bank lending has already man- The supply chain in the credit system
bigger than today’s pie. When a bank tervention because banks will devise turing and staff rationalisation, which ifested in the past week as businesses has been broken by the ban. If the
lends money to a company, it is because ways to survive. One other source of is corporate-speak for job cuts. Wages that offer goods and services on credit banks cannot give credit, those that rely
both the bank and the company have income for banks is bank charges. Banks might also fall or stagnate. In this way, responded by shutting down all credit on bank loans will also not be able to
trust that the company’s future will be charge customers for all sorts of services. capital passes on the cost of the gov- facilities. The Surrey Group wrote to its provide credit to their customers. This
brighter than its present. This means the They might charge for maintaining the ernment’s misguided policies to labour. clients indicating that it was suspending creates a vicious cycle: If in the case of
company will be able to repay the loan account, making transfers, using cash That will mean more people joining credit facilities. Fivet, which specialises sugar-cane farmers, those customers
plus interest, from which the bank de- machines, printing statements, custody the ranks of the unemployed and many in veterinary goods and services, also are producers of goods, this will put a
rives its income. of assets and so much more. Customers young people being kept out of employ- suspended credit facilities as did ho- squeeze on production. If this results
regularly complain of too many bank ment as companies reduce their intake.   tel chain Cresta Hotels and Wholesale in low production, trust in the future
Therefore, all credit is based on trust charges. Now, if they cannot earn in- Rise in cost of goods and services Beef, which is based in Bulawayo. is eroded. Consequently, there will be
in the future; a belief that tomorrow will come from lending because of the gov- Companies that use banking services less credit where there is no trust in the
be better than today. There is more and ernment ban, banks will simply go for will be hurt by the rising bank charges. Tongaat Hullett, the sugar producer, future. The result is increasing levels of
cheaper credit in an economy where the next easy target: the customers. They But like the banks, these businesses also was more direct in attributing its change poverty among those at the bottom of
there is more trust in the future. By will just raise their charges, and some have an easy outlet for their pain. They of course to the government’s ban on the credit chain.
contrast, where there is no trust in the might even invent new charges. Already will just pass it on to their customers by bank lending when it announced that
future, there is less credit and where it is some banks have started sending notices raising the prices of their goods and ser- it was cutting all advance payments to Realising the carnage that the presi-
available, the credit is usually short-term to their customers regarding increases in vices. The ultimate victim of the govern- farmers. “We normally fund the advanc- dential decree was having on the cred-
and very expensive. All this leads to the tariffs. ment’s ridiculous ban on bank lending es from proceeds that we access from the it market, the RBZ tried to make an
conclusion that when you ban credit, The government’s ban, therefore, hurts is the long-suffering citizen who has no banks. Following the recent suspension exception. Late on 12 May, the RBZ
you are effectively saying that you have ordinary citizens the most as banks pass outlet. For many, the only way to avoid of lending by banks we find ourselves tweeted, “Suspension of lending facili-
no trust in the future. You are saying the on the burden. the high prices is to forgo the goods and unable to continue offering advances,” ties does not apply to marketable com-
future cannot be better than the present. wrote the company in its communica- modities such as tobacco. Cotton, sugar,
Far from promoting belief in the econ- maize, etc. All banks have been advised
omy, the Zimbabwean government’s accordingly”. This was in response to
hare-brained declaration is sending neg-
ative and demotivating messages to the
market.

Besides, as already stated, banning
bank lending undermines the core of
banking businesses, which threatens
their very existence. One of the principal
sources of bank income is lending and
charging interest. The interest represents
the profit a bank makes when it lends
money. Prohibiting lending is like stop-
ping a dairy farmer from selling milk. It
destroys a critical source of income and

Page 44 Tribute to Magaisa NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

the obvious damage the outright ban on up in a never-ending debt cycle. Once ernment’s knee-jerk reaction to banning are willing to challenge the establish-  A currency no one trusts
bank lending was causing on the pro- in debt, it is hard to get out and debt- bank lending. ment. As one banker said in a private At the core of our national problem is
duction side of the economy, a belated ors live at the mercy of their creditors. interview, their overseas bosses would the government’s misguided attempt to
realisation that the blanket declaration This is part of the dark economy that Only one bank, BancABC, issued chide local managers if they tried to force people to use the discredited local
was unsound. operates alongside the formal econo- a critique that, although directed at its challenge the illegal and economically currency. Zimbabwe’s currency prob-
my. However, the need for chimbadzo clients, found its way into the public irrational government measures. They lems have a long history and will not be
But still, this Twitter announcement services is limited by the availability of domain. The statement was sober and do not want to rock the boat so they solved by knee-jerk policies. The gov-
is not without fault. It is vague because credit through formal and regulated critical of the measures introduced by would rather comply if they kept their ernment must understand that money
it does not define what it refers to as a institutions. People are less likely to re- the decree. It highlighted the existential property. In this way, business elites be- is a mental construct. Historian Yuval
“marketable commodity”. It mentions sort to chimbadzo if they have access to threat that it posed to the banking sector come complicit as enablers of authori- Noah Harari puts it very neatly when he
agricultural products which might mean credit in the formal markets. It is usually and the policy inconsistencies that had a tarian regimes. says, “Money is anything that people are
the exception is limited to “marketable those that cannot access credit on the bad impact on the economy. However, Labour’s voice willing to use in order to systematically
commodities” of the agricultural variety formal markets that fall victim to the in an interesting and intriguing twist of By contrast, labour provides a critical represent the value of other things for
only. But is that the intention? Further- loan sharks. events, BancABC issued another state- voice against illegalities in the banking the purpose of exchanging goods and
more, when it says “etc”, it leaves room ment disowning its earlier statement. In sector. The union for workers in the services”. Historically, therefore, money
for other commodities without limita- Now, however, with the govern- its second statement, BancABC declared banking sector was bold and unapolo- has been represented in various forms
tion but what might these commodities ment’s ban on bank lending, everyone that it was “fully aligned with the direc- getic in its criticism of the presidential such as cowry shells, coins, notes, etc. In
be? This vagueness is not a good policy. who wants finance is forced to go to the tive issued by the Monetary Authorities” decree. The Zimbabwe Banks and Allied the modern age, most of the money that
It leaves room for guesswork and cor- black market in which the chimbadzo pledging to “implement all measures Workers' Union (Zibawu) raised con- we use is not even in physical form but
ruption. All this could easily be resolved merchants reign supreme. The govern- as directed and in full compliance with cerns over the ban on bank lending, ar- it is electronic and digital.
by having a clear legal instrument that ment’s ban on bank lending, therefore, the law”. The irony of all this is that the guing that it put its employers’ business
regulates market conduct, not an illegal serves to fuel a rise in the black mar- bank was pledging compliance with an and consequently its members’ jobs at Money is a system of mutual trust be-
presidential decree amended through ket in credit, creating a new breed of illegal “directive”. Why would the bank risk. Apart from restructuring and clos- tween individuals in society: people ac-
social media and Press statements. That merchants in the chimbadzo business. disown what was in fact a sober and ing departments, the viability of cred- cept money when they believe that oth-
is not how to run an economy. Because it is unregulated, it will be the measured critique of the ridiculous de- it-only institutions was at serious risk. er people are willing to accept it. If you
Cancellation of dividends Wild West of the credit market. Since cree? It explained how its members rely on have one US dollar, you are confident
The ban on bank lending has also put the cost of accessing credit in the chim- bank loans for basic services like medical that if you go to Thailand or Namibia,
a squeeze on companies’ cash resourc- badzo market is high, businesses getting The answer lies in two parts: first, fees, school fees, and other emergencies someone there will want it.
es affecting their ability to meet their finance from there will simply pass it on is that there is the rule of fear which is and how they would be forced to resort
legal obligations. One listed company, to the consumers, meaning a rise in the practiced by the regulatory authorities. to the parallel market where rates are Trust in the US dollar increases if your
Dairibord, suspended the payment of cost of goods and services. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe behaves harsh and punitive. Ironically, it was left government demands taxes in that cur-
dividends to shareholders. This is to Legal deficiencies like the government whose operating to labour to question the government’s rency. Compare that to the status of the
preserve the cash it has for working cap- Apart from the economic ramifications, manual is based on authoritarianism. unreasonable policies while capital re- Zimbabwe dollar. While a Zimbabwean
ital. It would have relied on bank loans the presidential decree also has import- It rules the financial sector with an iron mained silent.    bank will accept the South African rand,
to plug the gap but, with the ban, that ant legal deficiencies. The measures were fist. The same fear with which the gov- What is the government trying to a South African bank will not accept the
tap has been shut. This means existing announced without any legal instru- ernment exercises power over citizens is solve? Zimbabwe bond note. It is worse when
shareholders that were due to receive ment to back them. In the absence of a what the RBZ uses toward regulated en- So, what is the mischief that the govern- the Zimbabwean tax authorities prefer
dividends as a return on their invest- recognised legal instrument, the central tities. The result is that, just like citizens ment is trying to solve by banning bank the US dollar ahead of the Zimbabwe
ment must wait. bank resorted to referring to the mea- fear their government, financial institu- lending? We can get some clues from dollar. Money is a question of trust and,
Risk of litigation sures as a “Presidential Announcement”. tions are also fearful of the central bank. tweets and interviews given by the RBZ. if the market has no trust in it, it has no
However, since this dividend had al- But there is no legal instrument under They would rather comply with an ille- The government thinks some compa- value.
ready been declared, the suspension of Zimbabwean law that is called a Presi- gal directive than challenge it because nies and individuals are borrowing from
payment exposes Dairibord to a law- dential Announcement. the regulatory authority is vindictive. banks to fund the purchase of foreign Learning from Chikurubi
suit by one or more of any disgruntled Like citizens, regulated institutions have currency at cheap rates on the forex This can be explained at a very basic lev-
shareholders. This is because although It is trite that any directive that affects habituated to government illegalities. auction system. They think if they stop el. A study of the political economy of
ordinarily a shareholder does not have the right to private property must be They might complain for a moment but bank lending, it will reduce funding for the community of inmates in Chikuru-
a right to demand a dividend, once it based on a law of general application. If eventually they just fall into line. these activities. In one tweet, the RBZ bi Maximum Security Prison can reveal
has been declared by the directors, a div- it is not passed by Parliament as primary threatened to reveal the names of those some very useful lessons to the author-
idend becomes a legally claimable right. legislation, then it must be issued under The second reason is the absence of that have made “significant borrowings” ities. Among inmates, cigarettes are an
The only reason the shareholders might a statutory instrument as secondary leg- the rule of law in Zimbabwe. In coun- from banks, which is ridiculous because important form of currency. It does not
avoid taking legal action, in this case, is islation. Secondary legislation can only tries where the rule of law prevails, cit- there is no law that prohibits “significant matter whether the inmate is a smoker
because it is not in their interests to sue be issued within the terms prescribed by izens and corporations have the confi- borrowing”. This is a clumsy attempt by or not, or whether they are religious or
the company in which they are invest- the primary or enabling legislation. No dence to defy and challenge regulatory a regulator to create an innuendo that not, everyone uses the cigarette as a me-
ed in the long term. But while existing such legislation was cited in this decree. authorities. If there was respect for the those who are borrowing significantly dium of exchange. If you have cigarettes,
shareholders might bite their teeth and At the very least, President Mnangagwa rule of law in Zimbabwe and compa- are the ones who are causing currency you can trade them for other goods or
take the pain because they understand could have used the Presidential Powers nies were confident that they could find problems. If it had proof and if offenc- services. Prisoners accept them as a cur-
the difficult operating environment that (Temporary Measures) Act, which per- refuge in the courts and the law, they es were committed the regulator would rency because they know that other pris-
has forced the company to take such mits the President to issue regulations would probably challenge illegalities not hesitate to act. oners also accept them.
drastic action, this type of news is not temporarily. as companies do in other jurisdictions.
encouraging to prospective investors. This certainly used to be the norm in In trying to explain the ban on bank Yet interestingly, there is no central
The ban on bank lending therefore This is a controversial law that is the past. lending, central bank governor John authority telling them that this is the
could have wider ramifications on the arguably unconstitutional, but at least it Mangudya gave an illogical metaphor of only acceptable currency. Indeed, there
country’s reputation as an investment exists in the statute books and is avail- For example, Econet, now an inter- closing the tap when a tank is overflow- may be other items that are used con-
destination. able to be used until it is repealed or national phenomenon, would never ing. He said the ban on lending was a currently as currency, such as soap or
Rise of chimbadzo struck down by the courts. However, have been established had it not success- temporary measure to shut the tap be- food. One might therefore say there is
One inevitable consequence of the ban it is a sign of a sheer disregard for the fully challenged the state-run monopo- cause the tank was overflowing. But as a multi-currency system in the prison
on bank lending is the proliferation of a rule of law that President Mnangagwa ly, the Posts and Telecommunications water engineers would explain, the tank community in which the cigarette just
black market in credit. Banks and other and his advisers could not even be both- Corporation, in the late 1990s. It got its does not overflow unless there is a prob- happens to be the most universally ac-
credit institutions are licensed to provide ered to resort to it and decided instead first licence through a Supreme Court lem in the system. Shutting down the cepted and dominant currency. Since
lending which makes it a regulated busi- to issue a blunt and illegal instrument. decision and the government duly com- tap does not solve the problem because there is no central authority dishing out
ness. Regulation means the regulator This is a country in which a President plied. But that was in another era when when it is opened again, the problem cigarettes, the currency is subject to mar-
can keep an eye on the licensed credit has no regard for legality that important there was a semblance of the rule of law will recur. ket forces: much depends on who can
market, ensuring that there is compli- economic measures with serious con- in Zimbabwe. By contrast, it is doubt- access cigarettes from outside and who
ance with rules of fair play. This is im- sequences are issued under a blatantly ful that Econet would achieve the same In short, the authorities are not solv- wants them inside. The currency works
portant for the protection of consumers. illegal process.   success in current times with the way the ing the source of the problem, which is because everybody trusts it, something
However, this does not mean there is no Why there is no legal challenge from judicial institution has become compro- the rigged forex auction system. It is that that the Zimbabwe dollar has failed to
unregulated credit business that goes on the affected banks mised and politicised. Those who dare which is at odds with market realities achieve since its re-introduction.
in the economy. Loan sharks – individu- Curiously, despite the economic impru- to challenge the regulatory authorities that there is a huge arbitrage opportu-
als and companies that offer short-term dence and illegalities of the presiden- invite vindictive attacks. In an author- nity from the start, which politically In a nutshell, it is arguable that the
and punitively high-interest loans have tial decree, there was a muted response itarian environment, the attacks come exposed persons (business and political community of inmates at Chikurubi
existed from time immemorial. The from the banking industry. There was in various ways with tax, policing, and elites) have exploited. They were warned Maximum Security Prison has a cur-
common name of this type of punitive virtual silence from the Bankers' Asso- licensing authorities being weaponised when the auction system started but rency system that is more stable and
loan is “chimbadzo”. ciation of Zimbabwe, the body that rep- against individuals and companies that they paid no attention. To use a dra- predictable than the system being run
resents regulated banks in the country. challenge the regime.    matic African metaphor, RBZ governor by the trio of Mangudya, Ncube and
The methods used in the chimbadzo Its mute response was in total contrast Mangundya, Finance minister Mthuli Mnangagwa for the rest of Zimbabwe.
business are harsh and often brutal, es- to its excitement when the government As a result, facing vulnerabilities, Ncube and President Mnangagwa are They might benefit from a crash course
pecially in the collection of payments. introduced the foreign currency auction very few individuals or companies have trying to solve the problem of diarrhoea with inmates.
The exceedingly high rates of interest system in 2020. Ironically, it is that for- the guts to challenge illegalities even if by stitching the anus. This will not solve
mean that individuals are often caught eign currency auction system that has they are obvious. The Confederation of the problem which lies in the cause of WaMagaisa  
proved disastrous, leading to a free-fall Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), another the diarrhoea.  [email protected]
in the Zimbabwe dollar and the gov- industry association that issued a biting
critique of the government’s economic Rest in Peace, Dr Alex Magaisa. Our
policies a few weeks ago, ended up mak- sincere and heartfelt condolences from
ing a U-turn and disowning its earlier The NewsHawks.
statement. Very few owners of capital

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 45

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

The state-owned ZBC 'Too much propaganda': Zimbabwe
no longer has a mo-
nopoly, but that doesn’t pirates of the airwaves look to SA
mean free-to-air TV in ferings, however, are expensive for could allow local outlets to compete
Zimbabwe is any more Satellite dishes mounted on Matapi flats in Mbare, Harare. most, spanning from a “Premium” as well as open up Zimbabwe’s media
diverse or varied. package of US$75 per month to the space.
The only problem is that what John, cerns  about the lack of diversity of cheapest “Lite” package of US$8
DERICK MATSENGARWODZI who asked to remain anonymous, is these outlets, pointing out that they per month. Some competitors, such “The law must also be aligned with
doing is illegal. were all linked to the governing party as  Kwese TV, have exited the Zim- the 2013 constitution in terms of ac-
FOR the last few years, John has be- Breaking a monopoly or already had other media licenses. babwean market recently due to eco- cess to information, media freedom
come accustomed to fielding urgent The airwaves in Zimbabwe have long nomic difficulties. and broadcasting in diverse national
phone calls or messages at odd hours been a restricted environment. For “The owners of these stations are languages,” he adds.
of the day. about four decades, the state-owned political and economic allies of the rul- This has left Zimbabweans with rel-
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation ing party which means there is noth- atively few options and made Open- Journalism researcher Alexander
Typically, this leads to a conversa- (ZBC) was the only free-to-air televi- ing new in terms of content diversity view’s offering of a single US$40 fee Rusero echoes these calls but argues
tion with a desperate client that ends sion channel and was widely seen as a and democratisation of the airwaves,” for unlimited access all the more ap- that a limited number of channels and
with John sliding into his overalls, mouthpiece of the ruling ZANU-PF says Admire Mare, a professor in me- pealing — despite its illegality. low investment in the television indus-
gathering his toolbox and makeshift party. In 2020, the Broadcasting Au- dia at the University of Johannesburg. try is not just a Zimbabwean problem.
wooden ladder, and hitting the road. thority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) issued “We expect more of the same content “I used to subscribe to DStv for
His wife used to get anxious at his sud- licenses to six new television stations, pushed by ZBC over the last 42 years.” years, mainly to watch live football “Even if you look at South Africa,
den callouts but is now used to them. ending ZBC’s monopoly. matches, but the cost has skyrocket- there are not many TV players, so to
For viewers fed up with this free ed, leaving me with no choice but to speak, despite the multiplicity,” he
“This has been my life for years However, critics raised  con- roster of channels, there are some paid use Openview as an alternative,” says says. “Botswana also, despite having
now and I do this for a living and to services available. Edwin, one of John’s customers. “I been independent ahead of us, still has
feed my family,” says John, a satellite last watched ZBC TV a long time ago Botswana Television (BTV).”
dish installer who learned the trade The likes of Multichoice’s DStv of- because it has poor content and too
by watching DIY videos and helping much propaganda.” For Rusero, the real issue is not the
more experienced installers. A diversity of voices number of channels available but the
Airwaves piracy can thus be seen as a diversity of voices and perspectives.
John receives a lot of work from response to Zimbabwe’s limited media
clients in  Zimbabwe  who need their environment. However, according to “You can still have one TV channel
dishes to be refocused, often just be- Professor Mare, it may also be a con- with diversified voices, but in Zimba-
fore a big football match or the screen- tributing factor in perpetuating low bwe, you have limited players, limited
ing of a popular South African soap quality broadcasting in the country. voices — that’s where the contentious
opera. However, a big and growing issue is,” he says.
part of his business comes from install- “(Piracy) is a way of circumventing
ing satellite dishes to give clients access the poor programming and propagan- “When you have limited players, so
to Openview, a South African service da that is spewed by local stations — to speak, the voice will be one. If the
that allows viewers to watch a wide it’s a way of coping with the restricted president is speaking, he will be speak-
range of channels for a one-off initial media space — (but) it means, in the ing across all the stations. And if the
payment for US$40. end, local stations and advertisers are opposition speaks, you will not hear
not able to monetise viewership,” he him unless you have some privilege to
For these jobs, John puts up the says. “It affects media sustainability in access social media.”
satellite dish and then calls a contact Zimbabwe.”
in South Africa to activate the de- — African Arguments.
coder. He charges clients US$10 to He believes that the government
US$15 for the service and completes needs to urgently amend broadcasting *About the writer: Derick Matsen-
about five such jobs each week. Since regulations to address changes since garwodzi is a content creator with
Openview launched in 2013, John has the advent of digital technologies. This experience in the media, public re-
helped countless happy customers ac- lations, advertising and marketing
cess their twenty-plus channels, span- industries, including NGOs. He con-
ning news and sport to movies and tributes to regional and internation-
cartoons. al publications.

ADEGBOYEGA AYEDIJO Rich countries are taking factories American syndicate, and an EU syn-
home: What this means for Africa dicate (perhaps led by Germany and
THERE is no doubt that globalisa- a myriad of challenges. Most African through process upgrading over the movement elsewhere can impact em- France).
tion has benefited Africa greatly. This nations still don’t have the necessary past decade, there is a deficiency in ployment.
includes job creation, innovation, transportation and road infrastruc- product upgrading – the transition If this occurs, Africa (particularly
increased productivity and foreign ture to support logistical operations to production of higher-value goods This step would create awareness of the sub-Saharan region) will become
direct investment. in regional markets. and services. This aspect must be im- the potential problems that may arise disconnected from the global value
proved. Most African countries are from deglobalisation. It would also chain. This should be enough of a
But global value chains are shifting Consequently,  significant invest- still primary commodity producers open the door to revisit and modify catalyst for African leaders to realise
in the wake of the Covid-19 pandem- ment is required for this to work. and specific steps need to be taken to current inept economic policies. that domestic manufacturing, prod-
ic and Russia’s ongoing invasion of reverse the situation. ucts, and services may be the way
Ukraine. These changes are informed In addition, countries must look Matching societal and corporate forward.
by the decisions of various companies at developing homegrown solutions The first is that both the public and needs:  Based on the current  World Pressing problems
to shift or move their manufacturing enabled by public and private sector private sectors must work together to Bank data on global trade integration The high percentage of unemploy-
or supply chain networks  closer to collaboration. capture domestic value and be pre- and global value chain participation, ment in Africa is indicative of un-
their home country. These decisions Africa’s position in the global value pared for the repercussions of deglo- it’s uncertain what the new sort of der-exploitation of economic resourc-
are being driven by a number of fac- chain balisation. Industrialists such as Tony global value chains will look like. es and inadequate entrepreneurial
tors. They include a race to reduce The value chain concept enables dif- Elumelu  and scholars such as  Ken- frameworks. Youth unemployment
exposure to disruptions, increase ferent businesses to add value to raw neth Amaeshi and Uwafiokun Idemu- As a result, multinational corpora- has been regarded as one of the gen-
proximity and reduce vulnerability to materials at various stages of pro- dia  have argued for a framework they tions operating in Africa, particularly eration’s most pressing social and eco-
external shocks. duction until they become finished call Africapitalism. The idea is that it those with “lower” stage activities, nomic issues. Data show that an esti-
goods. The final stages of the value will support Africa’s socio-economic may want to reconsider how they may mated 140 million people aged 15 to
In light of this, Africa’s current chain are more lucrative than the ear- realities through the commitment of increase their positive impact in these 35 are unemployed in Africa. This is
benefits from globalisation will be lier ones. The current reality is that the private sector. But the role of gov- regions, either directly or indirect- a third of the continent’s entire youth
jeopardised. most activities that create value and ernment is also critical in creating an ly. For example, they could examine population.
transform inputs into finished prod- enabling environment. their needs as an organisation critical-
Can African countries build a resil- ucts  are concentrated  in developed ly (perhaps through a comprehensive According to the African Develop-
ient economic future post-Covid-19 countries rather than in developing In other words, public and private needs assessment) and connect them ment Bank, up to 263 million young
that is less reliant on the current un- countries. sector partnership is key to foster the to an existing problem where their people will be  deprived of employ-
certain global value chain? African potential for the common value chain exerts influence (for in- ment prospects in the near future.
According to the  World Bank, good of the continent. In this light, stance dealing with unemployment). There has therefore never been a bet-
I believe that they can. To max- increasing value chain participation the following are essential: ter time for the public and private
imise the advantages of regional by 1% could increase per capita in- Capturing domestic value:  The sectors to collaborate and capture
growth and markets, Africa must look come by more than 1%. Despite ev- Looking inward:  Governments reshoring of production will mean domestic value in Africa.
inward and perhaps consider how to idence that some African small firms need to support research into the cur- that trade will become dominated by
establish its own internal and na- have moved up global value chains rent “lower” stages activities of global a few in the future. These would al- — The Conversation.
tional value chains. This may emerge value chains in Africa and how their most certainly include a Chinese-led *About the writer: Adegboyega
from the recently enacted Africa Free Asian syndicate, a US-led North Oyedijo is a lecturer in operations
Trade Agreement, which most Afri- and supply chain management at
can nations have already embraced. the University of Leicester in En-
gland.
Now is the time for African coun-
tries to start looking for African value
chains or alternatives to the global
value chain. Of course, this presents

Page 46 Reframing Issues NewsHawks

Issue 87, 1 July 2022

Kenya and South Africa offer insights into
digital economy challenges and alternatives

STEPHAN MANNING to be cost competitive and develop a peting globally to avoiding global com- Some of these niche models emerged Such experiences suggest that con-
strong reputation. petition, from meeting global standards even before they became fashionable. cepts of “scalability” and “growth” may
THE World Bank is warning of the real to focusing on locally specific skills and In fact, their ability to survive against take on a range of meanings in sub-Sa-
danger  of a massive economic down- Kenyan business process outsourc- resources. the mainstream gave them a competi- haran Africa, and that the global North
turn across the world. In a recent anal- ing services were neither scalable nor tive edge, allowing them to survive in should expand their horizon beyond
ysis it warned that many countries — competitive. As a result they soon went As a result, both economies invest- the long-term. their narrow conception of these terms
including those in sub-Saharan Africa out of business. A famous example ed into niche business segments. For to really understand Africa’s economic
— will be facing economic challenges was  KenCall, a once-hyped Ken- example, Kenyan business process out- A similar dynamic might be unfold- potential.
due to rising food and fuel prices. ya-based call centre that could not keep sourcing providers increasingly focused ing with today’s tech startup scene in Take-aways
up with global competition. on local and regional clients rather than sub-Saharan Africa. Recent reports may be right that the
At the same time, however, there trying to compete for clients from Eu- Alternative models digital economy carries a lot of poten-
is unshakeable optimism around the South African call centres had the rope and North America. It’s still fashionable today to promote tial in helping sub-Saharan Africa over-
growth potential of African economies scale. But competition from the Philip- tech startups and tech hubs based on come current economic challenges to-
as a whole and specifically  the digital pines put enormous pressure on them. In the case of South Africa, business models from the global North. But wards sustainable growth. But maybe it
economy. The  rapid rise of tech hubs services increasingly  diversified into new, alternative models might be is not because the digital economy can
and startups in urban areas in sub-Sa- The current tech startup scene seems more specialised areas such as legal pro- emerging that might be much more merely drive economic growth in the
haran Africa in recent years seems to to be facing similar challenges: scalabil- cess outsourcing, to lower global com- sustainable. conventional sense, but because it can
support that. ity of new ventures has been a serious petitive pressure. expand regional business networks and
issue. In part this is due to poor support For example, studies suggest that Af- local communities, and make them
Many observers have, therefore, infrastructure as well as global compe- Also, both economies promoted so- rican businesses are traditionally much more resilient against global economic
identified the digital economy as an im- tition. called  impact sourcing, which focuses more community-focused. Businesses threats.
portant driver of long-term growth in Lessons learnt on hiring and training disadvantaged exist to  support communities rath-
Africa despite current global challenges. In the case of global business services, young people from slums and rural er than just to make profit. Research — The Conversation.
Kenya and South Africa learned their areas, combining employment op- shows that while African tech hubs of- *About the writer: Stephan Man-
The reality is that experiences with lesson. Initially, trying to meet global portunities with community impact. ten “fail” to scale up businesses in the ning is professor of strategy and inno-
promoting the digital economy in standards and keep up with global ri- What these niche strategies have in Western sense, they are very effective in vation at the University of Sussex in
sub-Saharan Africa have been mixed. vals was seen as desirable in the eyes of common is that they are less subject to providing individual growth opportu- England.
Following great hopes in the prom- governments, businesses and the gener- global competition, and that they rely nities and in expanding and deepening
ise of “digital connectivity” in the al public. But as competitive pressure on locally embedded resources, such as community connections.
early 2000s,  many scholars have ob- grew,  the agenda changed  from com- local client connections and untapped
served that the ability of African busi- labour pools in local communities.
nesses to turn connectivity into success
in global markets has been limited.

The future of Africa’s tech scene is
equally uncertain. Despite great po-
tential, the tech startup scene is under-
funded, and several tech hubs have had
to shut down due to bankruptcy.

How can we explain this gap be-
tween promise and reality with digital
economy investments in sub-Saharan
Africa? And how can investments lead
to more sustainable growth?

In my recent  study  I analysed the
historical case of global business services
in Kenya and South Africa to examine
why governments and businesses make
certain investment choices over time,
and how they can learn to be more in
tune with the context of sub-Saharan
Africa.

The main finding is that global tem-
plates of success, such as meeting global
standards and developing scalable busi-
ness models, often stand in the way of
realising the full potential of locally spe-
cific skills and business opportunities.
As I show below, this has fundamental
implications for today’s digital startup
scene in sub-Saharan Africa.
Flawed hopes
The promise of the digital econo-
my has always been a double-edged
sword.  Many global consulting firms
and international organisations initial-
ly saw “digital connectivity” as a key
driver for the future growth of African
economies. Even today there is a strong
belief that you just need to have  the
right infrastructure in place for the dig-
ital economy to grow and create jobs.

This optimism led the Kenyan gov-
ernment in 2007 to  define business
process outsourcing as a central pillar
in its Vision 2030. The assumption was
that Kenya had the talent and internet
connectivity to copy India’s success
in this business. In a similar fashion,
South Africa’s business leaders put their
hopes in call centres, which had previ-
ously generated many jobs in India and
the Philippines.

But these hopes turned out to be
flawed. Digital businesses are often easy
to get into but difficult to compete in
– especially on the global stage. To win
client contracts in a highly standardised
digital business, such as call centres and
tech support, you need to be scalable.
Yet, to succeed with scale you also need