NewsHawks 24 June 2022

WHAT’S INSIDE Friday 24 June 2022 NPoEmWoSna deal Price
tussle: Harare
ZNaEnWuSPF bigwigs warned over US$1
bemoan govt US$700k debt
deployees as ZSPimORbaTbwe in
economy crumbles Story on Page 14 Dutch test
ahead of World
Story on Page 8 Cup qualifiers

Story on Page 58

Mnangagwa ally
Zingman creams
off US$60 million
from broke Zim
municipalities

ALSO INSIDE Government rejects loud calls for diaspora vote

Page 2 News NewsHawks

Mnangagwa Issue 86, 24 June 2022
ally creams off
US$60m from
broke Zimbabwe
municipalities

. . . MPs fume over irregular
fire tenders, devolution funds

MOSES MATENGA tion allocations and will be done over a period President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s friend Belarusian wheeler-dealer Alyaksandr Zingman
of 12 months starting March 2022.
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Belar- ment, which is the central, provincial and the Mliswa said.
us ally is set to pocket over US$62 million if Curiously, the government said it has already local authority, and they work in unison. I do “There was no tender number in the report.
the murky deal that will see over 63 rural dis- made some payments and the local authorities not see anywhere where the ministry of Local
trict councils, 32 urban local authorities and should now just await delivery of the fire en- Government and Public Works has interfered It was a corrupt directive and it is difficult to
metropolitan provinces purchasing fire engines gines. in the affairs of local authorities. We do not in- ask a minister who is also implicated in the cor-
at highly inflated prices following an irregular terfere.” ruption — that is where the problem is. Where
directive by the Local Government ministry. “In a bid to alleviate capital equipment is the tender number? When was it tendered?
shortages in Local Authorities, the government But Matewu would have none of it and ar- Where are the adverts? This is PRAZ and we
The ministry, in a 14 June 2022 memoran- of Zimbabwe will procure fire tenders from gued that local authorities have to abide by the are the ones who put the law. An advertisement
dum to all local authorities in the country, said Belarus on a government to government agree- Procurement Act which in the case of the fire is made, and PRAZ regulations are followed.
each rural local authority should purchase a ment,” the memo signed by the Local Govern- engines deal was flouted. Cabinet is not above PRAZ, no one is above
single fire tender. Zimbabwe has 63 rural dis- ment permanent secretary Zvinechimwe Chu- PRAZ. Can she tell us when they tendered the
trict councils (RDCs). ru reads in part. “Why is the Procurement Act not being fol- advert?”
lowed in ordering all local authorities to take
With the 63 rural authorities each receiving “Each rural local authority will get one fire their devolution funds and pay Belarus with- Harare East MP Tendai Biti said: “Can the
one fire engine, the dealers are set to receive tender, urban local authorities will get two and out any procurement? Why was this allowed minister in his statement clarify and explain to
US$29 250 648, while an additional US$29 Metropolitan local authority will get three fire to happen?” the House the legal provisions that he is acting
714 944 is set to be paid for by 32 urban lo- tenders. The cost of each fire tender is US$464 on. Can he also explain why he is now allocating
cal authorities which are expected to receive 296. “The Procurement Act is very clear on how devolution funds when we do not have a devo-
two fire engines each from a reseller company one buys any tender. Why is the minister flout- lution law actualising the provisions of chapter
owned Mnangagwa’s friend Alyaksandr Zing- “lt is therefore advisable for local authorities ing the Procurement Act in ordering every 14 of the constitution and section 301 of the
man, a Belarusian wheeler-dealer. to reprioritise the devolution funds to accom- single authority to buy fire tenders from Be- constitution? So, if the minister’s statement can
modate the cost of the fire tenders. Please note larus which they did not even ask for? They speak to the law, why is there by-passing of the
Harare and Bulawayo metropolitan provinc- that the date of delivery will be advised in due are taking this money from devolution funds Procurement Act? Why is there by-passing of
es are set to receive three fire engines each for at course.” that must be spent in devolved provinces which the autonomy of local authorities and why are
least US$2 785 776. make their own decisions and own affairs?” devolution funds being used in the absence of
He said some of the payments have so far a devolution law inconsistent with chapter 14
This translates to a total of US$61 751 368 been made. MPs constantly interjected Chombo, asking and section 301 of the constitution?”
that will be taken from the devolution funds her whether a tender was floated for the pur-
amid uproars from local authorities and mem- Information secretary Nick Mangwana on chase of the fire engines. The fire engines are marketed by Zingman’s
bers of Parliament who view the deal as corrupt Friday took to Twitter to defend the controver- AFTRADE DMCC and are manufactured by
while threatening to use all legal routes to block sial deal which flouts public procurement law. “If there is any law that you feel that we have Belarusian company LLC Pozhsnab.
it. not followed the laid down procedures, you are
“Govt to Govt contracts are not subject to free to approach my office,” Chombo said. Former Local Government deputy minister
RDCs with smaller budgets and income will Tender Procedures,” he twitted. Sessel Zvidzai said the deal was a looting ploy
be the hardest hit by the directive, with the Norton independent member of the Nation- by the regime and nothing is in it for the cit-
purchase gobbling up a quarter of their entire “The price for Zimbabwe includes also at al Assembly Temba Mliswa accused Chombo izens.
budgets. least 5% for spare parts; includes five persons of insulting Parliament.
from manufacturer who will stay in Zimbabwe “It’s not fire engines that are being bought.
Goromonzi RDC with its ZW$636 254 for training of each province for a total period “We are the ones who make laws, we know It’s just corruption on display because in terms
723.91 (US$1.4 million) annual budget for of 34 months.” Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimba- of devolution all councils are free to make their
the year 2022 would have to spend 32% of its bwe and there is no way you can say that they own priorities and I am certain that is not their
coffers on the fire engine purchase. The murky deal has drawn the ire of lawmak- were bought. The question here is that you vio- priority,” he said.
ers who on Wednesday demanded a ministerial lated PRAZ and if you say that there is a tender,
Gutu RDC has a total budget of ZW$844 statement while accusing Moyo of corruption can you furnish us with the tender number?”
million budget (US$1.8 million using the and violating tender procedures in the murky
US$1:ZW$450 base line) but 24% of the bud- deal.
get will have to go to the payment for the fire
engine. Available information indicates that each fire
tender is overpriced by US$270 000.
Chikomba RDC will fork out at least 18%
of its ZW$1.1 billion (US$2.4 million) budget Marondera Central MP Caston Matewu said
for 2022 for the purchase of the fire engine. the deal smacked of corruption and violation of
the constitution.
For Harare and Bulawayo, the two metro-
politan provinces will have to fork out a 1% “I want to reference section 274 (1) of our
and 2% of their budgets respectively, given the constitution which states that these (local au-
quantum of income at their disposal. thorities) manage their own affairs. I want to
ask the minister why there is interference from
According to the memorandum to all local central government shoving down the throats
authorities addressed to town clerks in the case of local authorities, for example yesterday to
of cities, town secretaries in the case of urban purchase fire tenders on their behalf.
local authorities and chief executive officers
failing to pay, the funds to procure the equip- What kind of law is the minister using to do
ment will be deducted from the 2022 devolu- this illegality?” he asked.

Deputy Local Government and Public
Works minister Marian Chombo defended the
move, saying: “We have three tiers of govern-

NewsHawks News Page 3

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

NYASHA CHINGONO The Belarusian wheeler-dealer
Zingman close to Mnangagwa
ZIMBABWE’S honorary consul to Belarus and
close friend of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, From left: Alexander Zingman, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his son Emmerson Jnr
Alexander Zingman, who is set to benefit from a
US$62 million murky deal to supply local author- tration did not respond to questions sent by OC- although they deny it. the project with long-term financing for the ac-
ities countrywide with fire engines, has pocketed CRP. Aftrade DMCC, Zingman’s Dubai-based The deals, worth US$350 million, were fol- quisition of equipment.
hundreds of millions of dollars in other opaque company, denied that Zingman had any involve-
ventures. ment with the gold venture, despite his name, lowed up on later that year in September. This Through Zingman, Mnangagwa’s government
contact details, passport number and signature involves agricultural equipment and buses, which is importing buses and agricultural and mining
They include gold mining, as well as supplying appearing in company records for Midlands seem to be a cover for other money-spinning deals, equipment from Belarus, but only a few details
the country with buses and agricultural equip- Goldfields Limited. especially on mining and possibly arms trade. on the deals have emerged. Zingman is the ma-
ment. jor link between the opaque multi-million-dol-
Alpha Consulting, which set up Midlands Zingman cut some of his best deals while flying lar deals being conducted by Harare and Minsk.
In the latest deal, Mnangagwa’s Belarusian ally Goldfields in the Seychelles, said it complies with his friends and executives in a luxury jet around Mnangagwa has pivoted towards Belarus as the
is close to pocketing millions of dollars through all local and international regulations and runs the world. Zanu PF government expands its economic ties
supplying fire engines at highly inflated prices to background checks on its clients and the source to Eastern Europe.
63 rural district councils, 32 urban local authori- of their wealth. In 2020, Zingman penned an ambitious
ties and metropolitan provinces following a direc- US$58 million deal with Zimbabwe in what was This has been particularly galling for most
tive by the Local Government ministry. “Mr Zingman has no links whatsoever with ei- touted as a bid to revolutionise the agriculture in- Zimbabwean rights activists, who see the Eastern
ther Zim Goldfields or Midland Goldfields Lim- dustry. European country’s human rights record as a red
Local Government minister July Moyo faced ited,” Aftrade DMCC said in a written response. flag. Zingman has been accused of being involved
fresh accusations of circumventing the public “Mr Zingman is also not involved in any business The first batch of modern farm machinery was in several arms deals in southern Africa.
tendering system this week by ordering all local relationships or existing companies with Mr Ser- shipped to Harare, including 20 grain harvesters
authorities to purchase fire engines. gei Sheiman,” the company added in a separate for wheat and maize, 100 tractors, and 52 seed In March 2021, the 54-year-old Zingman,
statement. drills in 2020. who travels in a private jet, was arrested by DRC
The fire engines are marketed by Zingman’s security agents and spent nearly two weeks in de-
AFRATRADE DMCC and are manufactured by Sheiman — Lukashenko’s right hand man — The agricultural deal was signed in 2018, tention before his release without charge. DRC
a Belarusian company, LLC Pozhsnab. has been to Zimbabwe several times. Shieman with Belarus providing farming machinery and authorities had suspected him and his colleagues
and Zingman have been linked to arms dealings, advanced technology to Zimbabwe, as well as of trafficking arms, an accusation he denied.
Zingman is also an ally of Belarusian strong- training for local farmers in cultivation, seeding,
man Alexander Lukashenko and has a cosy rela- irrigation, and crop harvesting. It also provided
tionship with Mnangagwa.
Zingman is set to benefit from a US$62 million murky deal to supply local authorities countrywide with fire engines.
The dodgy businessman, who was detained for
12 days in March last year in the Democratic Re-
public of the Congo, was named in the Pandora
Papers as one of two Belarusians who used shell
companies in the Seychelles and the UK to mask
their involvement and conflict of interest at the
heart of the deal.

An investigations by the Journalism Develop-
ment Network, Inc., trading as the Organised
Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OC-
CRP) in partnerships with The NewsHawks, re-
vealed Lukashenko’s front man, Viktor Sheiman,
was dispatched to Zimbabwe in March 2018 to
negotiate trade and business deals for his govern-
ment.

Indications are that Sheiman paved the way
for a gold mining deal between his son Sergei
Sheiman and other Belarusians with offshore ac-
counts, including Zingman.

Investigations by OCCRP revealed that the
mining deal was presented as a collaboration be-
tween the two countries, and Sheiman said it was
intended to make “profit for Belarus".

But in fact, the new joint venture, Zim Gold-
fields, reports OCCRS, was secretly co-owned by
Sheiman’s son, Sergei, with no stake for the Belar-
usian state.

Sergei Sheiman’s partner in the gold venture
was Zingman.

OCCRP further reported that Zingman was
detained for 12 days this March in the Democrat-
ic Republic of the Congo. “A Press release by his
Dubai-based company, Aftrade DMCC, specified
that the reason for the incident was arms dealing
allegations, which Zingman flatly denied. He was
released without charge.”

According to OCCRP, documents from the
Pandora Papers — a massive leak to the Interna-
tional Consortium of Investigative Journalists of
nearly 12 million documents from 14 offshore
corporate service providers, shared with media
partners around the world — show how the two
Belarusians used shell companies in the Seychelles
and the UK to mask their involvement and the
conflict of interest at the heart of the deal.

OCCRP reported that 30% of Zim Goldfields
was held by Zimbabwe’s state-owned mining
company, the Zimbabwe Mining Development
Corporation (ZMDC), but the other 70% was
controlled by a UK shell company, Midlands
Goldfields Limited.

“Its ownership was masked by a proxy — UK
records name Robert Michael Friedberg as the di-
rector of the company — but leaked documents
from the Pandora Papers show that Friedberg
was acting on behalf of its owners as a nominee
for a Seychelles entity with a similar name: Mid-
lands Goldfields Foundation. And that entity was
owned by Sergei Sheiman and Zingman, who had
both reportedly been part of the March 2018 mis-
sion to Harare.

“Both shell companies appear to have been cre-
ated specifically to take advantage of the oppor-
tunity afforded by Viktor Sheiman’s official visit
to Zimbabwe: Midlands Goldfields in both the
Seychelles and UK were incorporated just a few
months before his trip, and Zim Goldfields was
set up shortly after.”

The NewsHawks and OCCRP also reported
that Sergei Sheiman and Lukashenko’s adminis-

Page 4 News NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Belarusian tycoon’s African footprint

MOSES MATENGA

ZIMBABWE and Belarus have become close President Emmerson Mnangagwa (left) and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko
allies, united by commercial and diplomatic in-
terests — including shady deals between their kashenko and Mnangagwa, beaming during the sition of the agricultural equipment. Agriculture is only one of the company’s com-
leaders — all being carefully cultivated by the official function. Mnangagwa says farm machinery is crucial to prehensive activities. Zingman’s conglomerate
far-flung Eastern European country’s controver- is also involved in transportation and logistics,
sial tycoon Alexander Zingman. “It is a great honour for me to take part in the his vision of mechanising Zimbabwe’s agricul- mining, special purpose machinery, road con-
ribbon-cutting ceremony that demonstrates that tural sector still bound by traditional labour-in- struction, and garbage collection.
Tellingly, Zingman is close to President Em- the cooperation between Zimbabwe and Belarus tensive farming practices.
merson Mnangagwa and his counterpart Alex- is gaining momentum,” Mnangagwa said. Although he denies it, Zingman is said to
ander Lukashenko. The contract says Zingman’s Afrtrade should have been involved in arms trade, especially in
Zimbabwe and Belarus established diplomatic establish a servicing centre in Harare to stock- Zambia under former president Edgar Lungu.
Zingman, through the Dubai and Minsk- relations in 1992. Zingman, based in Minsk and pile spare parts and provide warranty services.
based AFRTRADE DMCC, has a wide foot- Dubai, has worked hard to promote stronger Mobile service vehicles will also cater to farming The story was widely reported by News Dig-
print across 16 countries in Africa — Angola, Zimbabwe-Belarus bilateral ties for commercial communities in the provinces. gers, Zambia’s investigative outfit, which coop-
Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Ken- and diplomatic purposes. erates with The NewsHawks.
ya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad, Sudan, Ni- “This deal brings Belarusian expertise in ag-
geria, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone He invested in the relationship and it is bear- riculture and engineering to Zimbabwe. Both Zingman, through is UK-based lawyers,
and Zimbabwe. ing fruit. Apart from now being earmarked to countries have been expanding ties since 2015 threatened to sue News Diggers if the news
supply US$60 million fire engines, AFTRADE and this deal is a win-win for both,” Zingman platform did not disclose the source of photos
In Zambia, as in Zimbabwe, Zingman has helped put together a US$58 million agriculture has said. showing him and Lungu, delete them from the
been involved in various controversial deals. deal in 2018 between Minsk and Harare. website and issue an apology. The News Diggers
Afrtrade promised to fly Belarusian technical refused, and instead challenged Zingman to go
Apart from making money, the strategic bi- Zingman claims the multi-faceted trade specialists to Zimbabwe for 12 months to train ahead and sue.
lateral ties are forged to strengthen Lukashenko agreement is revolutionising Zimbabwe’s agri- farmers in modern farming techniques. Zimba-
and Mnangagwa’s grips on power, both authori- cultural sector, with initial shipment of Belarus’s bwean agro-specialists would get two months “This project will enable Zimbabwean farmers
tarian leaders in their backyards. most advanced farm machinery having been de- training in Belarus. to boost the productivity of their land and to
livered. reduce their losses through timely crops harvest-
Lukashenko said this when he hosted Mnan- Apart from supplying Zimbabwe with farm- ing. The result will be that farmers can ensure
gagwa in Minsk in January 2019. He said the delivery included 20 harvesters ing machinery and advanced technology related the food security of Zimbabwe itself and, where
for wheat and maize, 100 tractors, and 52 seed to the agricultural sector, Belarus would train possible, also raise their income levels by export-
At the time Lukashenko said he wanted to drills. A second shipment was to follow. Minsk local farmers in cultivation, seeding, irrigation ing their produce,” Zingman said.
visit Zimbabwe in the future, but before that it provided the long-term financing for the acqui- and harvesting.
would be necessary to implement strategic part-
nerships and several joint projects.

Lukashenko said Belarus, just like Zimbabwe,
is not a gigantic country and cannot build coop-
eration with all African countries on a compre-
hensive basis.

“Therefore, we are trying to find those with
whom we could build strategic partnership,” he
said.

“We maintain very efficient cooperation with
the countries of Northern Africa, first of all, with
our friendly partner Egypt, Algeria, other coun-
tries. We have been cooperating with Sudan in
Central Africa for many years. We would like to
establish very close cooperation with the coun-
tries of Southern Africa. We have visited many
countries in Africa and we see great opportuni-
ties in Belarus-Zimbabwe cooperation.”

He said Zimbabwe was facing difficult times
right now, just like Belarus did more than 20
years ago.

“We are concerned about Zimbabwe and
would like you to overcome all internal politi-
cal and economic difficulties as soon as possible.
And you must remember that we will do our
best for you,” he said.

Lukashenko said cooperation should include
building meat and dairy factories, and vegetable
growing and processing facilities. He also spoke
about the transport sector, construction of infra-
structure and transport and a logistics hub.

“Unique landscape and natural, mineral and
recreational resources of Zimbabwe also offer
broad opportunities for our cooperation. There-
fore, Belarusian companies can take part in the
erection of hydro-energy facilities, turn-key con-
struction of solar power stations, geological sur-
vey and mining of natural resources,” he said.

The two delegations concluded agreements on
student exchange and higher education oppor-
tunities for Zimbabweans in Belarus.

Lukashenko said leading Belarusian health-
care organisations could provide high-quality
medical aid to Zimbabwe, saying his country
had made achievements in neurosurgery, ortho-
paedics, cardiology, oncology, transplantology,
and medical rehabilitation.

Mnangagwa said: “Zimbabwe is Belarus’ im-
portant partner in the region of southern Africa,
and we want to gradually advance to the high-
est strategic level of cooperation. The relations
between the countries are increasingly vibrant
right now. However, there is still a big untapped
potential for interaction. We will need to step up
efforts, especially in trade and economy, in the
coming years.”

While in Minsk, Mnangagwa appointed
Zingman Zimbabwe’s honorary consul to Be-
larus.

Belarus’ deputy minister of Foreign Affairs
Andrei Dapkiunas officially opened Zimbabwe’s
consulate-general in Minsk.

All the while, Zingman stood beside Lu-

NewsHawks News Page 5

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Lukashenko boys' Zim golden deal

President Emmerson Mnangagwa (right) with Viktor Sheiman at State House in Harare.

IN March 2018, Belarus’ autocratic President Al- DMCC, specified that the reason for the incident University and an expert on Belarus, called the ar- cations, including a site along the Mutare River,
exander Lukashenko dispatched his right-hand was arms dealing allegations, which Zingman flat- rangement an example of “nepotism” and a “con- a waterway in eastern Zimbabwe whose name
man Viktor Sheiman to Zimbabwe to negotiate ly denied. He was released without charge. flict of interest.” means “river of metals.”
trade and business deals on the government’s be-
half. Documents from the Pandora Papers — a “I think it has all the signs of a really shady The company was awarded a five-year “special
massive leak to the International Consortium structure with direct links to the president’s ad- grant” in May 2018 to mine for gold in a section
Sheiman has been one of Lukashenko’s closest of Investigative Journalists of nearly 12 million ministration,” he told OCCRP. of the river.
allies ever since the 1994 electoral campaign that documents from 14 offshore corporate service
brought the strongman to power. While serving providers, shared with media partners around the Sergei Sheiman and Lukashenko’s administra- Within months, the company was in trouble
as Belarus’ prosecutor-general in 2004, he was world — show how the two Belarusians used shell tion did not respond to questions sent by OCCRP. with Zimbabwean authorities. A December 2018
sanctioned by the EU over the disappearance of companies in the Seychelles and the UK to mask Aftrade DMCC, Zingman’s Dubai-based compa- visit to the Zim Goldfields site, led by the Mines
several prominent Lukashenko critics, and the US their involvement and the conflict of interest at ny, denied that Zingman had any involvement Ministry’s provincial leadership in Manicaland,
followed suit two years later. the heart of the deal. with the gold venture, despite his name, contact reported the company had violated several safety
details, passport number and signature appearing regulations, though it is unclear whether any pen-
But he was under no such restrictions in Zim- Thirty percent of Zim Goldfields was held by in company records for Midlands Goldfields Lim- alties were issued. The ministry of Mines, ZMDC,
babwe. After Sheiman returned from Harare, Be- Zimbabwe’s state-owned mining company, the ited. and Zim Goldfields did not respond to emailed
larus’s state-owned news agency said he had met Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation questions sent by OCCRP.
with Zimbabwean officials to discuss “expanding (ZMDC), but the other 70% was controlled by Alpha Consulting, which set up Midlands
economic cooperation” between the two coun- a UK shell company called Midlands Goldfields Goldfields in the Seychelles, said it complies with In September 2020, the Zimbabwean govern-
tries, and that he had brokered an opportunity for Limited. all local and international regulations and runs ment banned riverbed mining for environmental
“the creation of a mining enterprise.” background checks on its clients and the source reasons. Both the Seychelles- and UK-based incar-
Its ownership was masked by a proxy — UK of their wealth. nations of Midlands Goldfields were shut down
Sheiman told Belarusian state television that records name Robert Michael Friedberg as the di- within days. Zim Goldfields did not appear to
the trip had produced deals to explore for minerals rector of the company — but leaked documents “Mr Zingman has no links whatsoever with ei- update its ownership records after the two Mid-
such as gold, platinum, and rare earths through a from the Pandora Papers show that Friedberg ther Zim Goldfields or Midland Goldfields Lim- lands Goldfields companies were closed. Yauhen
joint venture in mining. was acting on behalf of its owners as a nominee ited,” Aftrade DMCC said in a written response. Zhouner, a director representing Midlands Gold-
for a Seychelles entity with a similar name: Mid- “Mr. Zingman is also not involved in any business fields on Zim Goldfields documents, appears on
The mining deal was presented as a collabora- lands Goldfields Foundation. And that entity was relationships or existing companies with Mr. Ser- company records after September 2020, suggest-
tion between the two countries, and Sheiman said owned by Sergei Sheiman and Zingman, who had gei Sheiman,” the company added in a separate ing the company may have remained under Be-
it was intended to make “profit for Belarus.” But both reportedly been part of the March 2018 mis- statement. larusian control.
in fact, the new joint venture, Zim Goldfields, was sion to Harare.
secretly co-owned by Sheiman’s son, Sergei, with Viktor Sheiman, who left his position as head The joint venture agreement and articles of as-
no stake for the Belarusian state. Both shell companies appear to have been cre- of the Belarus President Property Management sociation gave the owners of Midlands Goldfields
ated specifically to take advantage of the oppor- Directorate in June 2021 with a personal message extraordinary freedom to obscure their interest in
Sergei Sheiman’s partner in the gold venture tunity afforded by Viktor Sheiman’s official visit of gratitude by Lukashenko for “opening the win- Zim Goldfields. The documents allow Midlands
was influential Belarusian businessman Alexander to Zimbabwe: Midlands Goldfields in both the dow to Africa,” did not respond to requests for Goldfields to transfer its shareholding to “any
Zingman, who has served as Zimbabwe’s honor- Seychelles and UK were incorporated just a few comment sent through his former office. partnership or other body whether incorporated
ary consul in Belarus since around early 2019. months before his trip, and Zim Goldfields was or not” without the approval of its state-run part-
Zingman was also detained for 12 days this March set up shortly after. River of troubles ner ZMDC. — ORGANISED CRIME AND CORRUPTION
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A Press Zim Goldfields obtained permits to prospect
release by his Dubai-based company, Aftrade Vytis Jurkonis, a political scientist at Vilnius for gold on nearly 55 000 hectares in three lo- REPORTING PROJECT

Page 6 News NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

NEWS that President Emmerson Mnangag- Zingman cuts deals onboard
wa’s shadowy business associate, Belarusian luxury chartered private jets
tycoon Alexander Zingman, will make over
US$60 million from Zimbabwe’s broke coun- President Emmerson Mnangagwa (right) with Belarusian tycoon Alexander Zingman
cils through 133 controversial fire tenders at
an extortionate price of US$464 296 each has 2019 for a Russian private jet, including des- Rosobornexport and Mnangagwa as well the plane in four different instances. All four
thrust their shady deals back into focus. tinations and passenger lists, give a stunning as top local elites are under United States work for the Queens Palace agency in Mos-
peek into how his private jet apparently flew sanctions, but in January 2019 Zingman, an cow, Russia.
Since Mnangagwa came to power through a to and fro tax havens and African countries, American citizen, was announced Zimbabwe’s
coup in 2017, one of his closest associates who carrying onboard world leaders, businessmen Honorary Consul in Belarus. So, a Belarussian-American’s private jet,
has been creaming off the country is Zingman, and, salaciously, escort girls. Zingman has a owned by a Virgin Islands company and op-
Zimbabwe’s honorary consul in Belarus, who wide and firm footprint in tough African mar- Mnangagwa attended the ceremony in erated by a Russian company, regularly flies
has a wide footprint across Africa. ket terrains. He hobnobs, dines and wines Minsk where he also met with Belarus’ author- African businessmen and leaders to and from
with presidents and executives. itarian leader Alexander Lukashenko in Janu- the continent. Zingman, as it seems, knows
Since 2018, and more so in 2019, Mnan- ary 2019. He took a huge business delegation how to party, but also how to close big deals;
gagwa has signed a number of agreements The plane in question here, an Embraer with him and signed cooperation agreements. his brokerage resulted in hundreds of millions
with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander EMB 135 BJ Legacy 600, is owned by Rozelda They also visited Russia. He met Russian Pres- of dollars of contracts for his homeland of Be-
Lukashenko which have brought Chief of Investments Limited, a company listed in the ident Vladimir Putin. larus.
Presidential Affairs of Belarus Victor Sheiman Virgin Islands.
— his right-hand man — and Zingman into Zingman, whose jet made six flights to In the United States questions have been
the frame. While the identity of its owners is unknown, Harare in four months between March-July raised as to whether Zingman, being a US
due to the islands’ strict privacy policies, the 2018, has been linked to several high-profile citizen, should be trading and dealing with
Zimbabwean Vice-President Constanti- plane has also been linked to Moscow-based deals in the country: In March 2018, Zimba- countries, companies and individuals under
no Chiwenga and Sheiman also signed some Russian company Smart Jet Aviation in three bwe and Belarus signed US$58 million worth American sanctions? This has kept him under
memoranda of understanding to facilitate the different company registries: Russia, Cyprus of deals across various economic sectors, in- scrutiny in the US.
deals. and the Virgin Islands. cluding agriculture and forestry equipment,
mining and transportation. Zingman’s flights to Zimbabwe and deal-
Sheiman has been to Zimbabwe several Smart Jet provides operational services for ings with Mnangagwa and his close associates
times for business. Sheiman and Zingman private planes, including a hangar and a pilot. Logs also show three flights to Zambia, are questionable, as well as some of the people
have been linked to arms dealings in other Sources say Rozelda, as well as the plane, are where the aforementioned arms deal with Ro- who have been flying to Harare with him.
countries, although they deny it. owned by US citizen Vitaly Feldman, a busi- sobornexport was brokered in the past.
nessman and close relative of Zingman — the While details of passengers for after 2019
The deals, worth US$350 million, were main person listed for use of the plane. Among the passengers found on flight logs are not available, the jet’s flight history from
followed up on later that year, 2019, in Sep- are Rene Ndonuei, Cameroonian and prom- November-December 2019 shows that Zing-
tember. They involve agricultural equipment, According to its flight history, in March inent UK banker, Nikolai Asaul, Deputy man continued to fly from Minsk to Lusaka
buses and now fire engines, as well as other 2018 the plane went from the renowned off- Minister of Transportation of Russia, Harry and Harare.
money-spinning transactions, especially on shore tax shelter island of Jersey to Burkina Findlay, under US sanctions for drug traffick-
mining — gold — and possibly arms trade. Faso, then to Zimbabwe, again to Burkina ing, Mabasa Chabarwa, principal administra- In fact, when he was arrested in Lumbum-
Faso and then to Egypt, Latvia and Belarus. tive officer in the Zimbabwean government, bashi on 17 March 2021, he was coming from
Zingman has, however been quiet in the Mnangagwa, Leya Mnangagwa, Lucky Ig- meetings with Kabila and was on his way to
public domain since his arrest in Lumbum- All over one passenger was present in all binedion, ex-governor of Edo state in Nigeria meet Mnangagwa, who then had secretly met
bashi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), cases — shadowy businessman Zingman. and top members of the DRC’s former ruling the former DRC president in Harare.
on 17 March 2021. party People’s Party for Reconstruction and
Zingman has had meetings with Mnangag- Democracy — ex-president Joseph Kabila’s The links between Mnangagwa, Lukashen-
Dramatic footage emerged in March last wa and Zambian President Edgar Lungu and movement from 2001-2019 — and others. ko, Shieman, Zingman and Kabila point to
year showing a mysterious figure — who Russian arms dealer Rosobornexport, result- what looks like an underworld network, com-
turned out to be Zingman — being terrifying- ing in Zambia acquiring two Mil Mi-17 he- A more lascivious detail revealed by the pas- plete with Eastern European dodgy dealers,
ly shoved around a private jet with its engine licopters and five Sukhoi Superjet 100 planes senger lists: four Russian escorts were onboard pushing shady deals and big money. —The New-
running. (SSJ100).
sHawks/Kingsmeninternationalgroup.blogspot.com
Six plainclothes security details are seen in
the video aggressively pushing Zingman, who
looks frightened while he tries to resist, away
from the plane into the airport terminal build-
ing to effect his arrest and detention.

Judging by his behaviour, Zingman had
clearly underestimated their resolve.

The pilot looks on helplessly as he advanc-
es towards the scene. Outnumbered and cor-
nered, Zingman is whisked away by two secu-
rity agents stampeding him in a frantic flight
into disappearance in terror from the camera
view into the airport building and an uncer-
tain future.

While the private jet is not clear in the foot-
age — only its wing around which Zingman
is manoeuvred is visible — a Belarusian free-
lance journalist Hanna Liubakova, formerly
Belsat TV and Radio Liberty, posted an inter-
esting tweet: “Unbelievable. Zingman is be-
ing detained. One year ago, we wouldn’t even
imagine this. His plane (most probably) is in
the background — M-ABEC”.

The NewsHawks at the time spoke to Liuba-
kova from Minsk, Belarus’ capital, about the
incident which sent shock waves in the corri-
dors of power in the Eastern European nation
and Zingman’s company, AFTRADE DMCC
which has offices in Minsk and Dubai. We
also communicated with Aftrade enquiring on
details about the issue.

Company executives then told the The New-
sHawks they desperately want him out and are
pleading for his release.

Zingman is a colourful and dramatic figure.
He cut some of his best deals while flying
in his luxury jets with friends and executives
around the world, escort models in tow.
The M-ABEC private jet is managed by
Smart Jet Aviation in Moscow, Russia. Reports
say on 25 July 2020, Zingman hosted Mnan-
gagwa on his private jet with Leya Mnangag-
wa (nee Travis), the President’s daughter-in-
law – Emmerson Junior’s wife.
Emmerson Junior is now reportedly dat-
ing popular socialite Pokello Nare whom he
spends a lot of time with.
Mnangagwa and Junior hobnob with the
deal-maker Zingman a lot.
In one picture, they were photographed sit-
ting with him in a room at their home with
the portrait of First Lady Auxillia Mnangag-
wa, the President’s wife and Emmerson Ju-
nior’s mother, right in front of them.
One revealing report on Zingman’s jets says
previously unknown flight logs from 2018-

NewsHawks News Page 7

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

ZIMBABWE’S biggest gold buyer Better Brands Govt incentives behind record
Jewellery (BBJ), owned by local gold baron Pedzi- gold deliveries — Sakupwanya
sayi “Scott” Sakupwanya, says the government’s
current bullion incentives will see record deliv- not crowding out the small players. Better Brands Jewellery owner Pedzisayi “Scott” Sakupwanya
eries to the state-owned Fidelity Gold Refiners “We are not monopolising the gold industry
(FGR) — the target is 50 tonnes — by the end
of the year. and crowding out small players. BBJ actually has
branches across the country and we are offering
Speaking to The NewsHawks following a story good prices to artisanal and small-scale miners.
last week which vented complaints by artisanal Everyone is free to either sell to us or straight to
and small-scale miners that the incentives were Fidelity.
not benefitting them but the well-connected,
Sakupwanya, a Zanu PF councillor for “Only last week, President Emmerson Mnan-
gagwa said gold production registered phenom-
Mabvuku Ward 21, said overall the Gold In- enal growth and as BBJ we are part of it and we
centive Scheme offered by the Reserve Bank of share the same vision of producing and buying as
Zimbabwe (RBZ) has had a positive impact on much gold as possible to boost the economy and
gold production and deliveries. avoid leakages.

He said it has helped the sector recover from “Our detractors will always try to find fault in
the devastating impact and consequences of our business model. Everything we do is above
Covid-19 which ravaged economies and societies board and we are open to scrutiny. The incentive
globally, including Zimbabwe. is designed to boost production for everyone. We
are playing our part in growing small-scale min-
“The incentive scheme is helping to boost pro- ers, hence they now produce more.
duction and improve deliveries. We are encour-
aged by the incentives that the government has “Small-scale miners are now delivering more
given to artisanal and to small-scale miners, as gold to Fidelity than big established mines. This is
well as the agents,” Sakupwanya said. because we are paying better prices to them across
the country. We urge gold industry players to
“While more could be done to incentivise the work together to boost production. The govern-
small-scale miners — through further reviews ment is chasing an audacious target of 50 tonnes
and timely payments — the scheme has proved by end of the year. Let’s deliver it.”
to be an effective tool to boost gold deliveries to
Fidelity. In 2020, BBJ, which has been working with
the RBZ for 16 years, delivered 800 kilogrammes.
“The incentives have been well-received by
small-scale miners whose response is reflected in Last year, it increased that nearly 10 times as
ever-increasing deliveries to Fidelity. We are hap- it delivered seven tonnes in a major haul which
py and grateful to government for the incentives fetched about US$450 million.
which have spurred small-scale miners to produce
more gold. “We believe we can achieve 50 tonnes this year
as miners, both small-scale and large-scale. We
“What this tells you is that with more incen- will surpass the overall 29 tonnes that we deliv-
tives, small-scale miners have capacity to con- ered last year. Our deliveries are a testimony of
tribute significantly to the economy and national how small-scale miners are critical to the econo-
fiscus. With this approach, gold output and deliv- my.” — STAFF WRITER.
eries will increase, and in the process alleviate gold
leakages that continue to plague the country.”

Artisanal and small-scale miners protested that
the incentives were only benefitting well-connect-
ed big players in the market.

However, Sakupwanya said his company was

Small-scale miners are now delivering more gold to Fidelity than big established mines.

Page 8 News NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

MOSES MATENGA Ruling party bigwigs deplore top
govt officials as economy crumbles
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa is un-
der fire from senior Zanu PF officials, includ- Zanu PF national political commissar Mike Bimha
ing those stationed at party headquarters, who
have raised concern over the failure by ruling into the ministry following the expulsion of tion. cases of alleged corruption involving millions
party officials deployed in government to de- Obadiah Moyo over corruption allegations in- Last week, Zanu PF supporters in Harare of United States dollars, including the suspi-
liver and steer the troubled economy, which volving millions of dollars over the Covid-19 cious Pomona waste-to-energy deal that has
could backfire in the 2023 national elections. funds abuse. openly pointed out during a function on eco- been frowned upon by residents and the op-
nomic development and indigenisation that position.
Zanu PF insiders told The NewsHawks that Moyo was a Mnangagwa appointee together Zanu PF risked losing the 2023 elections be-
the party bigwigs feel the issues raised last week with Ncube, July Moyo (Local Government), cause of the non-performance of party deploy- Coventry, a high-flying athlete in her heyday,
by party supporters in Harare on ministers’ Kirsty Coventry (Sports) and Amon Murwira ees in government. came into the Sports, Arts and Culture minis-
failure to address the economic crisis and at- (Higher and Tertiary Education). try where she has been criticised for neglecting
tend to the plight of the impoverished masses Ncube was fingered as a monumental failure her constituency and too docile for the portfo-
deserve urgent attention. Observers said almost all of Mnangagwa’s by the supporters who said he has shepherded lio, with Zanu PF insiders saying the ministry
appointments outside party structures have the economy in the wrong direction despite was only fit for n energetic person who would
It has emerged that the concerns raised have failed to perform amid suspicion most of them countless assurances that his austerity measures inspire the people and promote projects to rally
jolted the party leadership into action amid were not alive to party policies and the mani- will see the economy rising again. support for the party.
calls for Mnangagwa to take decisive action. festo presented ahead of the 2018 general elec-
Those who are not delivering must shape up or July Moyo has been implicated in several
ship out to give confidence to the economy and
ultimately ensure party victory. Zanu PF national secretary for administration Obert Mpofu

Zanu PF national political commissar Mike
Bimha conceded recently that the issues raised
by party supporters needed a “bigger platform
to address”, adding that he will brief his superi-
ors over the myriad concerns raised.

“The issues discussed here needs a bigger
platform. It is a national issue,” Bimha said last
week.

A senior party official who spoke to The
NewsHawks in off-the-record interviews said
the issues raised were correct sentiments of
party supporters, hence the need for the urgent
addressing of the “genuine concerns”.

Asked what the party would recommend on
non-performing deployees to the government
in the wake of party members’ misgivings,
Zanu PF national secretary for administration
Obert Mpofu said deployment of party cadres
to the government and other responsibilities
was the prerogative of the President.

“Who deploys those to government?” Mpo-
fu asked rhetorically. “The party has a leader
who is the President and he can be the best per-
son to comment on that,” he added.

Mnangagwa is under pressure to act and re-
shuffle his failing cabinet and while those with-
in the party are afraid to openly speak on the
subject, Zanu PF sympathisers outside the par-
ty, including vocal Norton independent mem-
ber of Parliament Temba Mliswa, have openly
called for action to rescue the country’s dying
economy.

“We can no longer hide the fact that he
(Mnangagwa) is the number one citizen. We
can’t hide that he is responsible for decisions in
cabinet. We have to call a spade a spade,” the
outspoken lawmaker said.

“He has the right to appoint, he has the
right to disappoint, he has the right to reveal
his team but if he is not doing that, he is happy
with his team and ultimately the blame is with
him,” he said.

“Who appoints the ministers, who presides
over government?”

Mnangagwa, upon coming in as President
following a military coup in 2017 that led to
the fall of the late former president Robert
Mugabe, assigned influential party bigwigs,
including ex-ministers, to Zanu PF headquar-
ters, while appointing to his cabinet five from
outside the party.

Chinamasa, now lauded by some Zanu PF
members for his stewardship of the economy
in bygone days as Finance minister, was rele-
gated to party headquarters on a full-time basis
as secretary for finance.

The Zanu PF politburo member, who had
lost the post to Ignatius Chombo before the
2017 coup, was replaced by Mthuli Ncube,
a Cambridge-trained professor of economics
who is under fire from within and outside the
party for failing to address the economic cri-
sis. Agitated Zanu PF members accuse Ncube
of posing serious danger to the ruling party’s
2023 election bid.

Mnangagwa’s allies this week also raised con-
cern over the alleged poor show by the Health
ministry under Vice-President Constantino
Chiwenga that has seen nurses and doctors be-
ing impoverished in the years the “new dispen-
sation” has been in power.

Health professionals are currently on strike
over poor salaries and working conditions
while thousands are leaving the country to seek
greener pastures.

Chiwenga is said to have bulldozed his way

NewsHawks News Page 9

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Zanu PF manipulates traditional leaders

MORRIS BISHI

ZANU PF has promised to give incentives to Zanu PF’s second secretary Kembo Mohadi
hundreds of traditional leaders in Masvingo
province for them to mobilise people to vote they should accept that without favouring some. ings in their areas, with village heads declaring heads were seen leading proceedings during
for the party during the 2023 general election A snap survey by The NewsHawks in different that they were given powers to arraign those Zanu PF “cell day” a weekend ago. The tradi-
while also moving to make village heads cell who miss ruling party meetings to their courts tional leaders were telling villagers that they will
chairpersons in a move that has infuriated the parts of the province found that, since the week for hearing. receive farming inputs in line with meeting at-
opposition. Mohadi met traditional leaders, many people are tendance registers.
now being forced to attend ruling party meet- In Masvingo North and Zaka district, village
This was disclosed by the party’s second secre-
tary Kembo Mohadi during a one-week visit to CCC claims the use of traditional leaders by Zanu PF is a rigging tactic.
the province a fortnight ago where he met tra-
ditional leaders together with Zanu PF district
coordinating committee (DCC) members in all
districts.

The use of traditional leaders by the ruling
party is one of the issues usually raised by op-
position parties like the Citizens’ Coalition for
Change as a rigging tactic used by Zanu PF to
threaten rural folks. The ruling party usually
dominates in rural areas, but in 2008 the oppo-
sition led by Morgan Tsvangirai managed to win
three constituencies in Zaka, as well as in Bikita
and Gutu.

Mohadi promised to give the traditional
leaders, including all village heads, US$50 on a
monthly basis and a bicycle, a move seen by op-
ponents and analysts as a vote-buying gimmick
meant to force community leaders to mobilise
for the party. Traditional leaders have often been
used to threaten and intimidate villagers during
the election period.

In some cases traditional leaders have been
known to keep voting registers working in laison
with Zanu PF officials.

In Zaka, Mohadi appealed to the community
leaders to ensure that what happened to 2008
should not be repeated and all those who sup-
port the opposition should be brought to book.
Back in 2008, the then president Robert Mugabe
lost the first round of the presidential election to
the MDC-T’s Morgan Tsvangirai, forcing a run-
off which resulted in the military taking over the
ruling party’s campaign and unleashing violence
which resulted in the opposition leader pulling
out of the race.

A chief from Chiredzi told The NewsHawks
Mohadi's tour of all districts of Masvingo was
good but it was misguided since he is no lon-
ger a government employee and was unable to
answer critical questions raised by traditional
leaders. He said his visit was aimed at mobilising
traditional leaders so that they campaign for the
ruling party in 2023.

“We thought his visit was going to solve many
issues like approved chieftainships which are
taking long before being legally installed. This
is an issue which needs urgent attention. Prom-
ising village heads and headmen extra money
and bicycles so that they mobilise people to join
Zanu PF cells and structures is something some
of us are not comfortable with. This will affect
our leadership in communities,” said the chief
who requested not to be named.

A village head from Masvingo West who at-
tended Mohadi’s meeting at Nemamwa said
village heads are being paid peanuts by govern-
ment and it is surprising that they are now be-
ing promised foreign currency just because they
want to use them.

CCC spokesperson for Masvingo province
Derick Charamba told The NewsHawks that
what Mohadi was doing in Masvingo is non-
sensical. Charamba said the ruling party cannot
declare that village heads are now cell chairper-
sons of Zanu PF yet they should be leaders of
everyone, including those with divergent views.

“All what he was doing in Masvingo is non-
sense, considering that he cannot come and
make a declaration that all village heads are now
chairpersons of Zanu PF cells in their villages.
A traditional leader is for all people, including
those in opposition hence they should not be
involved in politics,” Charamba said.

Addressing a belated World Press Freedom
Day commemoration organised by the Media
Institute for Southern Africa (Misa) Masvingo
chapter at Sikato Primary School on Saturday,
Chief Nemamwa said traditional leaders should
not be involved in politics as outlined in the
constitution of Zimbabwe. He said chiefs are
leaders of people with different opinions and

Page 10 News NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Trust in army, elected officials dwindles

MOSES MATENGA l Govt’s approach to economic crisis worries citizens
l Resort to religious escapism, pledge to vote CCC
THE majority of Zimbabweans say the govern-
ment has failed to address economic challenges, A survey claims more Zimbabweans no longer trust the military.
create jobs and ensure price stability, with a huge
percentage saying they would vote for the oppo- The survey also revealed that while more rural the disapproval of the President’s job performance asked which party’s candidate they would vote
sition Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) if residents than urbanites express trust in Mnan- was most pronounced among poor citizens. for should imaginary elections be held tomorrow,
elections are held now, a survey has revealed. gagwa, trust in opposition political parties (48%) 33% said they would vote for CCC and 30% for
is somewhat stronger than trust in the ruling par- Despite lack of faith in the Zimbabwe Electoral Zanu PF.
According to the survey by Afrobarometer, a ty (44%). On the approval rate of elected officials, Commission, citizens believe that elections enable
pan-African, non-partisan, non-profit survey re- the survey said about half (49%) of citizens dis- them to remove underperforming leaders. The Afrobarometer survey was conducted by
search network that provides reliable data on Af- approve of the performance of the President and the institution’s partner in Zimbabwe, the Mass
ricans’ experiences and evaluations of democracy, The survey data show that two political parties Public Opinion Institute.
governance, and quality of life, the majority of dominate the country’s political landscape. When
Zimbabweans feel President Emmerson Mnan-
gagwa’s government has fared “fairly badly” and
“very badly” on key economic issues.

“About three in 10 citizens (29%) prioritise
government action on infrastructure and roads.
By large majorities, Zimbabweans say the govern-
ment is performing “fairly badly” or “very badly”
on key economic issues, including: Keeping pric-
es stable (87%), creating jobs (86%), narrowing
gaps between rich and poor (79%),” the reports
reads.

Mnangagwa came into power amid promises
of millions of jobs, currency stability and insti-
tuting pro-poor policies, but four years on, the
country’s unemployment rate is over 90%, with
the poor bearing the brunt of a failing economy
and currency instability.

It also emerged that Zimbabweans are not hap-
py about their socio-economic circumstances and
want bread-and-butter issues to be addressed with
urgency.

“Management of the economy (cited by 45%
of respondents) and unemployment (43%) are
the most important problems that Zimbabweans
want their government to address.

“Citizens lack faith in government institutions
and view some of them as corrupt,” the survey
reads.

The survey also revealed that Zimbabweans
have lost trust in elected leaders, institutions and
public figures and have resorted to trusting reli-
gious leaders.

“More Zimbabweans express trust in religious
leaders than in their elected leaders, the military,
or the police,” the survey reads.

ZIMBABWEANS are increasingly vulnerable Violence casts shadow over 2023 polls
to political violence as the country draws nearer
to the 2023 general elections which have now to social values.” are no longer interested in participating in pol- near Chitungwiza.
become “a nightmare” and an “assurance of The fourth finding is the state of polarisa- itics. It has become a game of thuggery. With- Ali was allegedly killed by a notorious Zanu
violence” that could hinder development and out the nerve to violate other people’s rights,
progress, ZimRights says in a new report. tion. you can’t participate in our politics.” PF activist, Pius Jamba.
“Our politics is now an art of war. What po- Her death sparked violent exchanges be-
The report, titled Zimbabwe on the Brink: The report is an annual product of the Zim-
Living in Fragile Peace, comes ahead of next litical party you support determines if you are Rights’ Right to Peace Campaign, which seeks tween Zanu PF and CCC, stoking fears of a
year’s crucial general elections. going to have access to food and participate in to empower communities to demand and claim bloody poll, come 2023.
the economy, among other things.” peace as a right.
There are seven key findings in the report: ZimRights also highlights the shrinking of
“First, is the confirmation that we are living in The human rights organisation says political The report comes after the abduction and the democratic space using the Private Or-
fragile peace, bags packed and ready to run. activists are more prone to physical attacks. grisly murder of Citizens’ Coalition for Change ganisations Bill that seeks to shut down all
(CCC) activist Moreblessing Ali in Nyatsime non-governmental organisations which advo-
“While political activists find themselves at “This state of war is the main reason citizens cate democracy. —STAFF WRITER.
the highest risk of physical attacks, political- are withdrawing from public life and women
ly motivated arrests, everyone is vulnerable as
political tension increases. Everyone is then
caught up as elections also bring structural vi-
olence.

“Resources that are supposed to provide es-
sential services are diverted towards election
programmes, including political campaigning.
Businesses that operate in politically sensitive
sectors risk shutting down, being asked to slash
prices and the context becomes unfavourable.”

The second finding is that elections in Zim-
babwe have become a nightmare.

“They come with the assurance of violence
but no development. Unemployed youths are
deployed to terrorise communities and harass
NGOs deemed to be interfering with the po-
litical objectives of the elites,” the report says.

“Our peace activists say each time an election
date is announced, fear grips the communities.
This is not how things must be. Elections must
bring joy to citizens that they now have an op-
portunity again to have their say in how the
country is run. But this is not the situation.

“In Zimbabwe it brings fear because violence
is assured. Elections mean violence, communi-
ties say, because the outcome is predetermined
while the process is polarising and destructive

NewsHawks News Page 11

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

MOSES MATENGA Chamisa claims infiltration plot

THE Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) has . . . CCC on high alert amid manoeuvres
raised a red flag over a plot by President Emmer-
son Mnangagwa’s administration to infiltrate the CCC leader Nelson Chamisa
opposition by allegedly deploying operatives to
penetrate party structures ahead of the 2023 gen-
eral elections.

There have been clamours for the CCC, a party
led by Nelson Chamisa and founded in January
this year, to come up with structures and convene
a congress, but the opposition party has rubbished
the push, saying Zanu PF elements and those with
close links to the establishment should not act as
“headmasters”.

Chamisa this week said there was a push to in-
filtrate the CCC and the plan involved operatives
who were being trained for that sole purpose.

This came amid reports that Mnangagwa is
uncomfortable with general elections next year,
particularly following the resurgence of the Cha-
misa-led opposition under a new banner.

There were attempts by the state, alleged-
ly working with the Douglas Mwonzora-led
MDC-T, to decimate the opposition and forge an
alliance that would ultimately see the blocking of
the 2023 elections.

“This time we will do things differently. Citi-
zens at the centre,” Chamisa said.

“They are spending millions of taxpayers’ mon-
ey to infiltrate the citizens’ movement by recruit-
ing and training operatives meant to destabilise,”
Chamisa claimed.

“We are ahead of them.”
He said only genuine members were in the
know of the direction the party was taking with-
out risking infiltration.
There have been previous attempts to decimate
the Chamisa-led opposition, including the use of
the military to take over party headquarters across
the country, as well as Morgan Tsvangirai House
(formerly Harvest House).
The opposition also alleged that the Zanu
PF-proposed Patriotic Bill and the Private Volun-
tary Organisations (PVOs) Amendment Act were
all tailored to silence the opposition.
The opposition said the arbitrary arrest of op-
position supporters and senior officials, including
Zengeza West member of Parliament Job Sikhala
and his Chitungwiza North counterpart Godfrey
Sithole, was another way of silencing critics of the
Mnangagwa regime.
Civil society activists have also been targeted for
arrest, with the latest case being Amalgamated Ru-
ral Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe president Obert
Masaraure, whose arrest on a murder charge has
been condemned by local and international hu-
man rights defenders.
Masaraure had become a thorn in the authori-
ties’ flesh through his incessant calls for the better-
ment of teachers’ salaries and working conditions.
On Monday, Mnangagwa made known his
thoughts on the opposition during his speech at
the burial of a national hero where he described
opposition supporters as foolish for likening his
rule to that of racist Rhodesia’s prime minister Ian
Smith.
He also described as a “shame” the protests by
the opposition, saying they are always staged on
the eve of international events to portray Zimba-
bwe as a broken country.

MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora CCC says the arrest of Zengeza West MP Job Sikhala is another way of silencing critics.

Page 12 News NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Govt rejects loud calls for diaspora vote

BRENNA MATENDERE Justice minister
Ziyambi Ziyambi
JUSTICE minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has put his
foot down in rejecting repeated calls for Zimba- The diaspora vote has been a contentious matter since the formation of the opposition MDC.
bwean citizens in the diaspora to cast their votes
in general elections despite the community in- therefore have a provision that diasporans can babwe. The statement that people need to vote the party was desperate to ban voting by people
jecting more than US1 billion in remittances vote for the President on the basis they were born only in their constituencies is more of a political in the diaspora.
annually thereby improving liquidity in the cash- in Zimbabwe,” Gonese argued. statement than a legal one,” he said.
strapped nation.. “We know Zanu PF is not interested in free
Political analyst Rashweat Mukundu told The Felix Magalela Mafa Sibanda, the CCC depu- and fair elections. What they want is to disenfran-
The acceptance of diaspora remittances while NewsHawks that the ban on foreign-based Zim- ty national spokesperson, said Zanu PF feared its chise people who are remitting millions of dollars
denying the diaspora community the right to vote babweans from voting amounts to disenfranchise- own citizens in the diaspora whom it pushed out into the country. They must amend that Electoral
is often described as taxation without representa- ment. of the country due to economic mismanagement Act to be in tandem with the constitution, but
tion. and political intolerance. they will not because they are panicking because
“The fact that we have postal voting means of imminent defeat at the next elections,” he said.
Millions of citizens in the diaspora have been anyone can vote without being physically in Zim- He reiterated that it was for that reason that
denied a chance to vote since Independence in
1980, yet Zimbabweans who are posted to dip-
lomatic missions do cast their ballots through a
postal voting system. Electoral bodies and opposi-
tion parties in Zimbabwe have thus been emphat-
ic in calling for the diaspora vote ahead of next
year’s watershed elections.

However, Ziyambi on Wednesday told the Na-
tional Assembly that the government will never
allow the diaspora vote.

His remarks were in response to written ques-
tions from the incarcerated Chitungwiza North
MP Godfrey Sithole enquiring about the govern-
ment’s plan to ensure citizens in the diaspora vote
in national elections.

In his prepared response to the august House,
Ziyambi said the country’s constitution only al-
lows voting in the 210 constituencies that are in-
side Zimbabwe and nowhere else.

“According to the constitution of Zimbabwe,
the Zimbabwean electoral system is constituen-
cy-based. In terms of section 160 of the constitu-
tion, there are 210 constituencies and they are all
located within the boundaries of the country. The
constitution does not mandate the setting up of
constituencies outside the borders of Zimbabwe.”

“As decided by the courts in the Gabriel Shum-
ba case, the courts recognised that our country
does not have foreign constituencies as of now
and since the constitution does not envisage con-
stituencies beyond the borders of Zimbabwe, it
follows that no voters’ roll can exist outside the
210 constituencies into which Zimbabwe is di-
vided for voting purposes,” he said.

Ziyambi, who is also the leader of the Nation-
al Assembly, claimed that currently no legislative
framework regulates voting by citizens in the di-
aspora.

“If a person requires to vote, he has to be regis-
tered in a constituency within Zimbabwe where-
by the residential requirement is among the voter
registration requirements provided for by our
electoral law,” he said.

The diaspora vote has been a contentious mat-
ter since the formation of the opposition MDC
which has morphed into the Citizens’ Coalition
for Change.

Among electoral reforms that civil society in
Zimbabwe insists on is the diaspora vote.

Mutare Central MP and lawyer Innocent
Gonese, in an interview with The NewsHawks this
week, said Ziyambi’s position on the diaspora vote
has no legal basis.

“The pronouncement by the minister of Jus-
tice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs as well as the
stance taken by Zanu PF on the diaspora vote is
not consistent with provisions of the constitution.
The constitution, in terms of section 67 on polit-
ical rights, is very clear that every adult Zimba-
bwean citizen has a right to participate in peaceful
political activities and also to vote. There is no
restriction whatsoever.”

“This is buttressed by the provisions which are
in the schedule of the constitution. They [Zanu
PF] are hiding behind a finger in raising the issue
of constituencies and so on. It is neither here nor
there for the simple reason that the Electoral Act
must be in conformity with the provisions of the
constitution,” Gonese said.

He said the fact that people on government
business abroad and workers at embassies voted
meant that everyone else outside the country can
also do so easily.

“I therefore submit that the stance taken by
Zanu PF is simply a way of depriving citizens
with full entitlement to vote their rights. If it is
the issue of constituencies that a person must vote
in the constituency they were born only, then let’s

NewsHawks News Page 13

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

MOSES MATENGA Broke Harare City Council
splurges US$2m on soccer
THE cash-strapped Harare City Council has
put itself on a collision course with residents and “Council cannot afford US$2.3 million for lates to US$90 000 a week and we can’t have that Harare City FC
other stakeholders after recommending a US$2.3 remaining six months to Harare City Football kind of money going towards football.” tee, with suggestions to drop the recommenda-
million supplementary budget to finance its foot- Club. It is not reasonable, it is too much consid- tion that is likely to be fiercely opposed by rate-
ball club, Harare City FC, at a time service deliv- ering we needed only US$400 000 to buy several Chairperson of the Information and Publicity payers.
ery is at its all-time low. trucks for refuse collection.” committee who also chaired the joint committee,
Munyaradzi Kufahakutizwi, said the amount was Harare mayor Jacob Mafume said the city will
Harare is failing to provide basic services to “There is no report to approve US$2.3 mil- arrived at after taking into consideration the high not allow situations where the local authority
over two million residents including the supply lion for the football club. That is US$300 000 a inflation. loses millions of dollars while its assets are not
of potable water and the collection of refuse. month and if you are to break it down, it trans- being made to sweat and bring in much-needed
The matter was referred back to the commit- revenue.
The recommendation to sponsor the football
club to the tune of US$2 234 883 for the remain-
ing six months has been viewed by observers as
extravagant and a case of misplaced priorities.

Harare City FC currently sit at number 11 on
the 18-team Premier Soccer League log and have
been at the centre of controversy with residents
and other stakeholders alleging it has become an
avenue for councillors and officials to milk coun-
cil.

According to a joint report by council's Infor-
mation and Publicity and the Finance commit-
tees, Harare is set to come up with a supplemen-
tary budget to finance football in the last half of
the season that has six months remaining.

The club was allocated over ZW$65 million
instead of the needed ZW$400 million for the
latest season and the new proposal factors in the
prevailing high inflation.

The committees said solicited sponsorship has
failed to materialise, adding that the club has
struggled to meet obligations in terms of oper-
ational expenditure and the PSL fees including
contracts with employees, signing-on fees and
contracts with the technical team.

Harare City FC is one of the smoothly run
clubs in the country, with officials, players and
a selected few supporters getting first-class treat-
ment each time they go for away matches, in-
cluding being booked in five-star hotels and re-
ceiving hefty allowances.

“Harare City Football Club requested an es-
timated US$2 234 883.00 as detailed in the
report. The Acting Town Clerk accordingly rec-
ommended authorising the Acting Finance Di-
rector to come up with a supplementary budget
estimated at US$2 234 883.00 for the remainder
of the 2022 soccer season due to prevailing price
escalations.”

However, the proposal endorsed by the joint
sitting was returned back to the committee with
some of the councillors questioning the logic of
spending a lot on soccer at the expense of service
delivery.

Page 14 News NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Pomona deal unstoppable: Nguwaya

l Harare City Council to pay US$3.5m if contract is breached

MOSES MATENGA becoming due and payable.” In a letter dated 16 June 2022 addressed to The permanent secretary said council should
Councillors linked to the Citizens’ Coalition acting town clerk Phakamile Mabhena Moyo, the settle this and coming bills without fail, a directive
GEOGENIX BV local representative and execu- permanent secretary in the ministry of Local Gov- frowned upon by the city fathers, who described
tive chairperson of the Pomona waste-to-energy for Change (CCC) have through a special coun- ernment and Public Works, it as illegal and inappropriate.
deal Delish Nguwaya has warned Harare City cil resolution reversed the transaction, accusing
Council against reneging on its contractual ob- the MDC-T councillors of working in cahoots Zvinechimwe Churu, said council should set- “We request a response from yourselves that
ligations, accusing mayor Jacob Mafume of sin- with government officials to push for the deal for tle the May bill, which had reached US$780 890. you will honour the bill for May as well as the
gle-handedly trying to block the project. self-aggrandisement. Currently, the bill has surpassed US$1 million. other coming months as they fall due. It is thus
our expectation that the operations at Pomo-
Nguwaya said council will have to pay a pen- “We will not pay even a cent. We have not paid “I have taken note of the contents of the letter na should continue uninterrupted and council
alty fee exceeding US$3.5 million for breach of anything as yet (and) we urge every stakeholder to dated 10 June 2022 in which you state that you should abide by the contractual terms provided
contract if it insists on blocking the project. He continue as normal,” Mafume said recently. are unable to pay the invoice raised by GEO Po- for in the existing contract,” the letter says.
vowed that the company will not stop pursuing mona in the amount of USD$780, 890.00 for the
the Pomona dumpsite project. The matter is now being challenged before the month of May,” the letter reads. The letter was copied to Local Government
courts with Harare North member of the Nation- and Public Works minister July Moyo, minister
He was speaking to editors and senior journal- al Assembly Allan Markham saying there was no “May I remind you that the action not to pay of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ol-
ists during a tour of the dumpsite. due process followed in coming up the deal that has serious consequences, not only with respect iver Chidawu and Chief Secretary to the President
will prejudice the local authority and residents. to council’s obligations, but also on government and Cabinet Misheck Sibanda.
“There is no problem, but the issue is when we who is the guarantor to the project.
did the contract, Mafume was not there so he is Meanwhile, as the fight over the Pomona According to the agreement signed between
saying everything that we did was not correct. He waste-to-energy deal between Harare City Coun- “Failure to pay will result in accumulation of Harare and the Netherlands-based firm, the city is
wants to start afresh. We did the contract with the cil and Geogenix BV continues, the Local Gov- debt through interest, arrears, penalties and fees expected to pay US$40 per tonne for 500 tonnes
same councillors who are saying something else,” ernment ministry has warned the city against fail- due and payable. The amount will become unsus- of waste it disposes of at Pomona dumpsite.
Nguwaya told journalists. ure to settle its bill, saying the local authority faces tainable should this stance be sustained beyond
serious consequences for defaulting. the May payment.” “On financial matters, as from the commence-
“We met him and agreed to say everything ment date, City of Harare (COH) shall pay the
is in the feasibility study, they did not read the fee to the contractor which shall be equal to the
papers. The way forward is we will continue to rate of US$40 (excluding applicable value-added
work. They are going to pay because they need to tax) per each tonne of waste deposited by COH
honour the contract.” at the site, operated by the contractor from site’s
handover date. COH will pay the fee to the con-
Mafume recently told The NewsHawks that tractor within 30 days from the date of the invoice
council will not pay the US$22 000-per-day bill receipt by the contactor,” the contract reads.
that has now ballooned to close to US$1 million
since the project began. Harare has no capacity to deliver the 500
tonnes of waste a day because of lack of resources,
The transaction, under the deal titled Conces- as it currently has 10 trucks.
sion Agreement to Design, Build and Operate the
Harare Pomona Waste Management Facility and “If in a given calendar year, the actual annual
Waste-to-Energy Power Plant, will see council waste quantities deposited by COH by the con-
paying US$40 (excluding applicable value added tractor is less than the minimum annual guaran-
tax) per each tonne of waste deposited by Harare teed waste quantity, the contractor shall invoice
at the site. and shall be entitled to receive an annual fee,
which is the amount equal and not less than an
Harare will pay the fee to the contractor within amount equal to minimum guaranteed waste
30 days from the date of the invoice receipt by the quantity (in tonnes), multiplied the fee per tonne
contractor. of waste,” the contract reads.

“In case the COH delays in making the pay- Councillors on Thursday, however, insisted
ments 60 days from the date of submission of they will not be intimidated into making the pay-
their invoice from the contractor then the con- ments as investigations continue under a special
tractor has the right, reckoned from lapse of 60 committee set up to probe whether due process
days aforesaid, to extend the term of the construc- was followed.
tion period for the same period of the payment
delay and also to stop providing services to the “We receive directives from the minister ac-
COH,” the deal reads. cording to our reading of the Urban Councils Act.
We certainly have challenges with the letter from
Invoices, the deal said, are supposed to be is- the permanent secretary,” Mafume said.
sued within the last day of each month.
“People must not be in a habit of writing letters
“In the event the fee has not been paid within to council outside the confines of the Act,” he said
the periods specified in Article 22, the COH shall and was supported by fellow councillors.
be liable to pay to the contractor the late payment
interest calculated under the applicable law, on Council has given the councillor Ian Ma-
the outstanding service fee amounts. Such inter- kone-chaired probe team an additional 14 days to
est shall be due thirty (30) days after the invoice wind up its investigation into the deal.

NewsHawks News Page 15

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Page 16 News NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

NYASHA CHINGONO Health bosses arrogant: Nurses

THE Health Service Board (HSB) has refused salary we demand,” he said. by nurses at Parirenyatwa after driving a brand- buying new cars amid a restive health sector.
to meet striking health workers for the past 14 Zimbabwe’s inflation jumped to 131.7% new luxury car bought using taxpayer funds. Health professionals, who were forced to abort
months, with union leaders accusing the Pauli-
nus Sikosana-led body of displaying arrogance in in May, a grim echo of the hyperinflation that The HSB recently defended the purchase of a strike last year after Chiwenga threatened to fire
ignoring the plight of medical professionals. wiped out savings and salaries in 2008. the vehicles in Parliament. thousands, vowed to continue the fight for better
pay.
Zimbabwe was this week plunged into anoth- On Tuesday a top health official was hackled But health workers questioned the morality of
er health catastrophe when hundreds of nurses
and doctors went on strike to demand better pay A nurse displays her torn shoes (top picture) to prove the extent of her suffering during a protest over salaries by nurses and other health workers at Parirenyatwa
and the provision of essential medicines. Hospital on Tuesday. — Pictures Aaron Ufumeli

Civil servants refused a below-inflation sala-
ry increase on Friday last week, demanding US
dollar pay instead. But at the centre of the con-
troversy is the HSB which, according to Zimba-
bwe Nurses' Association (Zina) president Enock
Dongo, has ignored seven letters written by
workers expressing displeasure over salaries.

“We are going to lose lives. People are going
to die because of the arrogance and lack of the
rule of law which is being practiced at minis-
terial level. They are very arrogant. The Health
Service Board has refused to meet us for the past
14 months and they never responded to about
seven letters sent to them. This is the last resort,
to declare incapacitation,” Dongo said.

Angry health workers deserted their posts this
week, protesing poor salaries.

At Sally Mugabe Hospital in Harare, health
professionals marched in the main car park, some
wielding placards inscribed with messages of dis-
content while others just sat in solidarity.

Their counterparts at Parirenyatwa Hospital
picketed outside the HSB offices and delivered a
petition. Amid all the disgruntlement, the HSB
has neither commented on the salary issue nor
convened a meeting.

On Monday, Dongo was summoned by the
ministry of Health to explain the rationale be-
hind the strike, but no meaningful outcome was
achieved, according to the union leader.

“They wanted to ask me what our demands
were. It was shocking because they already know
what we want. So the strike continues until we
have a positive answer,” he said.

Asked why the board had failed to meet work-
ers, Sikosana said: “I have no comment on that.”

Deputy Health minister David Mangwiro,
who is facing the fire alone while his boss
Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga is on
honeymoon, said he does not comment on la-
bour issues.

“I do not get involved in employment issues.
I am a policymaker. It is difficult to comment
on anything,” Mangwiro said before assuring this
reporter that he would reach out to Sikosana.

The healthcare workers’ strike was also con-
spicuously absent from the cabinet briefing,
widely circulated to journalists.

The government could have conveniently cho-
sen to ignore the issue in a well-calculated bid
to discourage the striking health workers, an ob-
server said.

However, amid a crippling strike, the govern-
ment maintains the 100% salary offer remains.

Finance minister Mthuli Ncube kept civil
servants, especially the health workers, guessing,
telling journalists that the government had not
ruled out US dollar salaries.

“I cannot comment on ongoing negotiations
and details between civil servants and govern-
ment as yet . . . As government, we are sensitive
to the plight of all the civil servants and we will
do whatever we can to make sure we can accom-
modate the demands, obviously within the bud-
getary constraints we face,” Ncube said.

“As you know, the government is offering
US$175. So on that part, we have already shown
we are willing to make sure that part of the sal-
aries is in United States dollars, but as to the re-
cent request from civil servants, all those things
are under consideration, under discussion.”

But this week health workers vowed to only go
back to work when they are paid in US dollars.

Last week, the lowest paid nurse received a ba-
sic monthly salary of ZW$20 000.

“The salary that the health workers received
last week was pathetic. The majority received
20 000 Zimdollars, which is US$60. To expect
someone to live on that is just a mockery,” Don-
go said.

Health workers are demanding US$540,
which was the minimum salary before the gov-
ernment introduced the local currency in 2018.

“100% of nothing is nothing. It’s not even
closer to what we expect. The health workers are
expecting an equivalent of US$540 which we
used to get before 1 October 2018. That is the

NewsHawks News Page 17

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

NYASHA CHINGONO Smell of death engulfs hospital as
medical personnel strike rages on
WRITHING in pain, Owen Togara sits uncom-
fortably in a wheelchair clutching his bleeding leg Several patients like Owen Togara (in wheelchair) are stranded at Parirenyatwa Hospital in the wake of the health workers’ strike. — Pictures: Aaron Ufumeli
at Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare.
past 14 months. ernment. This should not go for 24 hours then “Government is currently seized with the is-
Togara was involved in a near-fatal accident in He added that people will die because of the we are going to lose lives. It is not good for our sue of addressing renumeration gaps affecting
Shurugwi on Monday on his way from a funer- country,” Dongo said. the entire civil service. Already, a 100% pay rise
al together with half a dozen relatives aboard a Health Service Board’s arrogance. has been effected across the board on top of the
combi. “If you look at the number of the health work- Health workers are demanding a minimum US$175 Covid allowance,” Paradza said.
monthly salary of US$540, the pay they used to
Of the six on board, Togara, his young brother ers outside, and the brain drain that has happened receive in 2018 before the local currency slumped. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took
whose thigh was ripped off in the accident and his over the past months, it means we are already over from long-time leader Robert Mugabe fol-
uncle were injured. short staffed. To have this large number of health Deputy Information minister Kindness Parad- lowing a 2017 military coup, has struggled to
workers outside, we know that there is a disaster za said the government was working on solving stem the raging economic crisis.
With nurses and doctors on strike, the fami- in there. We call urgently a dialogue with gov- the crisis.
ly were left stranded at Parirenyatwa, where they
had hoped to seek medical attention.

Arriving at the hospital at midnight on Mon-
day, Togara and his family were dismayed to hear
that no one was willing to attend to them.

“We had to beg those on duty to admit my
brother who suffered a bad injury on his thigh.
He is inside, but they haven’t attended to him.
He was crying all night, we did not know what to
do,” he told The NewsHawks.

As he recounts their heart-wrenching ordeal, a
relative listening carefully weighs in.

“We are stranded here and had to sleep in
the combi. There was blood all over because the
wounds are still fresh. This is disheartening. The
strike has really affected some of us who depend
on the public health system for help,” the relative
said.

The family is contemplating seeking medical
attention at the Salvation Army-run Karanda
Mission Hospital in Mt Darwin, which offers ser-
vices even when health professionals are on strike.

His uncle, Tobias Shavane (65), is sitting under
a tree with a broken arm. They have used card-
board to support the arm.

“I slept here, but no one is attending to me.
The nurses and doctors say they should be paid
more money before they can treat me,” lamented
Shavane.

A dirty bandage served as a sling for his arm
while his swollen hand was strapped to a blood-
stained piece of cardboard.

He was visibly in pain and requiring urgent
medical attention.

“I am in pain, but there is nothing I can do.
They say the nurses are on strike, so we just must
look for help elsewhere. This strike is affecting
us,” Shavane said.

Shavane is among thousands of patients who
are stranded in the wake of the health workers’
strike.

Staff at the public health facilities went on
strike after refusing a below-inflation salary in-
crease offered by the government last week.

Desperate patients sat in the hospital parking
lot or in the hospital grounds with little hope of
getting help.

When The NewsHawks spoke to Miriam Mat-
embo, she was contemplating visiting a prophet
to get help.

“They told me my situation is not an emer-
gency. I have nowhere else to go because I can’t
afford to go to a private hospital,” said Matembo,
who brought her 11-year-old daughter who was
suffering from stomach pains. The girl lay on the
ground, visibly in pain.

“I may just have to return home with her or
visit a prophet.”

Most of the nurses who received a monthly sal-
ary of ZW$20 000 last week, protested the poor
pay in a bid to force the government to act.

With the authorities refusing to give in, main-
taining that they will not pay salaries in US dol-
lars, nurses and doctors say they will continue to
press their demand for better pay as the local cur-
rency slumps.

While nurses and doctors protested in a court-
yard at Parirenyatwa Hospital, patients lay help-
lessly on patched grass and under trees.

Those who arrived at the hospital at midnight
on Monday had not been attended to by Tuesday
afternoon, with many being turned away.

The government and health workers have
reached an impasse after inflation quickened to
131.7% in May, a grim echo of the hyperinfla-
tion that wiped out people’s savings and pensions
a decade ago.

Zimbabwe Nurses’ Association leader Enock
Dongo said patients are bearing the brunt of the
strike, which has now lasted a week.

“Patients are stranded. It is an urgent issue
which we call upon the President to urgently ad-
dress,” Dongo said.

He said the Health Service Board had also re-
fused to meet the medical professionals for the

Page 18 News NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Health, education sectors in doldrums

MOSES MATENGA l Disarray and worst ever crisis prevail

ZIMBABWE is now grounded, faced with a dy- A group of nurses and other health workers stage a protest over low salaries and poor working conditions at Parirenyatwa Hospital on Tuesday: — Picture:
ing healthcare system and a collapsed education Aaron Ufumeli
sector as evidenced by the ongoing job action
and dilapidated infrastructure reminiscence of their own.” about new laws that they want to bring up to “It is underfunded, there is lowest mor-
the 2006-2008 situation, ex-cabinet ministers High-ranking officials, including Vice-Pres- curtail the right of healthcare workers does not al among the teachers. The new curriculum is
have said. work.” poorly implemented and it is a disaster. The gov-
ident Constantino Chiwenga, regularly seek ernment has underfunded education. Physical
The rot in the health delivery system and medical attention outside the country, particu- “Healthcare workers are human beings just infrastructure is collapsing. It is just an unmit-
the education sector came out in the open this larly India and China. Chiwenga is also the min- like all others and should have their liberty and igated disaster.”
week following crippling protests by doctors and ister of Health and presides over the rot in the strike when they need to. This government has
nurses who have since been joined by teachers, health delivery system. tried to militarise the healthcare system, but that Coltart said dialogue with teacher unions is
bringing to a halt the last vestiges of public ser- does not work; they should just meet their de- the only way out. Arresting and victimising vocal
vice delivery. Madzorera said the government must also mands,” Madzorera said. activists is unhelpful.
tackle corruption that is now destroying the
Doctors and nurses picketed the Health Ser- health delivery system. Former Education minister David Coltart “What needs to be done is we need dialogue;
vices Board offices this week, protesting poor re- said the education sector is experiencing its we cannot just be threatening teachers in the way
muneration and pitiable working conditions and Militarisation of healthcare system worst-ever crisis. we have done. The starting point is dialogue,”
the job action is likely to spread to other cities “The other problem the government must Coltart said.
and towns, worsening the already fragile system. be wary of is the apparent militarisation of the “The education sector is in an absolutely cata-
healthcare system in Zimbabwe. You cannot strophic state,” Coltart said. “We cannot have meaningful dialogue if we
Teachers and other civil servants have also militarise a civilian function. This whole thing lock up teachers’ unions leaders when they make
threatened to join in, coordinating a full-blown “lt is the worst crisis in education sector in genuine demands.”
strike, after declaring incapacitation for over over 60 years, if not ever,” he added.
three years now.
Former Education minister David Coltart says the education sector is experiencing its worst-ever crisis in 60 years.
This also comes amid reports that the uni-
formed forces are also unhappy with unfulfilled
promises of garrison shops and other incentives
in their barracks to cushion them from the biting
economic crisis.

A senior medical doctor and former Health
and Child Care minister Henry Madzorera said
the healthcare system in Zimbabwe is dead and
now resembling the catastrophic 2006-2008 era.

“The problem with our healthcare delivery
system today is it has deteriorated to the 2006-
2008 conditions. There is very little healthcare to
talk about right now,” Madzorera said.

“There is government disgruntlement among
the people. We are tired of complaining. The
government seems not to be implementing any
reforms in the way of financing healthcare.”

Dying patients
“The people who suffer are the patients. Peo-
ple are dying in the queues while waiting for at-
tention. Emergencies are not being attended to
as emergencies,” Madzorera said.
He said the ongoing strike is likely to contin-
ue while patients perish.
“The strikes that are currently going on are go-
ing to continue. It doesn’t matter what the gov-
ernment does. You can’t punish someone who
feels the salary you are giving them is worthless.
How do you punish them?”
“The end sufferer is the patient. The institu-
tions are dilapidated and have been like this for
many years now. Equipment is broken down.
Simple things that should be done in hospitals
can’t be done, simple laboratory tests, simple
X-rays, ultra-sound scan, things that should be
done at every district hospital, we are not doing
that because the equipment is broken down or
there is no health worker to operate the equip-
ment.” Cancer machines are always broken
down, endangering lives.

Brain drain
Madzorera, who was Health minister in the
inclusive government between 2009 and 2013,
said due to the economic crisis, Zimbabwe has
lost thousands of professionals in sought of
greener pastures and the end sufferer was the
patient.
“We are now witnessing an unprecedented
brain drain. We see doctors, nurses and other
healthcare professionals leaving in droves and
now even nurse aides are leaving. It is worrying
because it is difficult to train those people.”
“Our workforce is depleting just like it was in
the hyperinflationary era.”
“Even those who are present right now are not
working to their maximum capacity.”

Dilapidated infrastructure
Madzorera also bemoaned the infrastructure
he said was now broken down, an indication of
government neglect.
“Everything is broken down, nothing is work-
ing as it should. Government should commit to
funding healthcare above all else. We can’t have
senior government officials receiving healthcare
in other countries, they must have faith with

NewsHawks News Page 19

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

NHAU MANGIRAZI Chemical spillage poses great
danger to Chirundu residents
A HEAVY truck carrying 30 000 litres of a po-
tentially hazardous chemical overturned along the A heavy truck carrying 30 000 litres of a potentially hazardous chemical overturned along the Chirundu-Harare highway.
Chirundu-Harare highway, posing risks to local
residents, motorists and the environment, The He warned the motoring public to exercise ex- ‘‘The use of radiation sources in different sec- process. There are requirements that these facil-
NewsHawks can report. treme caution when approaching such accident tors is steadily growing. Despite safety precau- ities carry out exercises and drills to prepare for
scenes as the road surface may be slippery and tions in design and operations, accidents involv- any radiological emergency. The Authority also
Chirundu local board secretary Wilson Gunhe visibility impaired. ing radiation sources are possible. Experience has has readily available competent staff to carry out
says the border town has more than 5 000 res- shown that advanced emergency preparedness emergency activities through the national contact
idents, apart from the thousands of travellers to ‘‘Take heed of the instructions given by Ema and response is essential to mitigate the conse- point for nuclear and radiological emergencies,’’
and from Zambia who use the highway. or law and other enforcement agencies. Prioritise quences of an accident. RPAZ is very alert on any Huni added.
safety above anything else,” Nhariswa said. radiological and nuclear emergencies in the coun-
On Tuesday, a Mukumba Brothers truck (reg- try. Various requirements and guidance measures He further said that RPAZ issues licences to
istration number JJ00KLGP/WPL3860GP/ ‘‘We passionately appeal to drivers to exercise for emergencies at both facility and national level any operator who wishes to transport radioactive
WHB980GP) carrying 30 000 litres of beta froth extreme caution when navigating the terrain from have since been developed,’’ Huni said. materials within the country.
liquid, a chemical classified in the amber class in Makuti up to Chirundu Border Post. Of late,
terms of its level of toxicity, overturned at the 265 this stretch has become a hot spot for spillages. He added that the authority has in place a Na- ‘‘The licences are met with various safety re-
kilometre peg along the highway. Transporters should notify Ema and other law en- tional Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Re- quirements such as warning signs to indicate that
forcement agencies in time to ensure the switch sponse Plan currently being reviewed by various one is carrying radioactive materials and tracking
The accident occured after the driver lost con- containment, and monitoring of the spillages. national stakeholders and agencies. systems to monitor the movement of the vehi-
trol and has resulted in the spillage of 30 000 liters The motoring public should exercise extreme cau- cles carrying the radioactive materials. In cases
of chemical into the environment. tion when approaching this accident scene as the ‘‘This plan will see collaboration in the miti- of radiological emergencies, the authority sends
surfaces may still be slippery and also to be aware gation and response of nuclear and radiological response teams to the site as quickly as possible
The driver was injured and is admitted to Karoi of the spillage clean-up team,’’ he said. emergencies from the authority, stakeholders, to avoid any serious damages. Internationally,
Hospital. It is the second such accident in three and the Department of Civil Protection (DCP). we have regional and international co-operations
days. Chemical residue from the spillage is visible According to the Radiation Protection Author- The plan defines the roles and responsibilities of which were done through conventions and re-
on a 30-metre stretch along the tarmac and road ity of Zimbabwe (RPAZ) corporate communica- each stakeholder in case of an accident or incident gional agreements. Zimbabwe has also ratified the
servitude. tions officer, Shingirai Huni, the agency is on the where the Department of Civil Protection will be Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear
lookout for radiological emergencies to protect in charge. Accident and the Convention on Assistance in
The chemical flowed through the road, creat- human life and the environment. the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological
ing a slippery surface and contaminating the road ‘‘Furthermore, facilities using radiation tech- Emergency, both which gives the nation capacity
verges. Vegetation along the road servitude was Huni said the organisation’s prime mandate is nology/equipment are required to submit their to cover any nuclear emergencies,’’ Huni said in a
affected by the spillage. to prevent and mitigate dangers resulting from own emergency plans that are reviewed and ap- written response.
the use or abuse of equipment, devices or materi- proved by the Authority during the authorisation
The Environment Management Agency (Ema) als capable of producing ionizing radiation.
provincial education and advocacy officer for
Mashonaland West, Munyaradzi Nhariswa, con-
firmed that the spillage poses danger to human
life and the environment.

‘‘Beta froth is a flocculation used mainly in the
mining sector in native metals metallurgy. It is
harmful if inhaled, causes respiratory tract irrita-
tion and is harmful if absorbed through the skin.
It causes eye irritation, harmful if swallowed and
damage to the eyes,’’ Nhariswa said.

He added that the chemical has ecological ef-
fects. ‘‘It is toxic to fish and is also 92% ready to
biodegrade and affects the vegetation by blocking
its stomata,’’ Nhariswa added.

He further explained that although the trans-
porter had a valid transportation permit in line
with provisions of Statutory Instrument 268 of
2018, the environmental agency had misgivings.

‘‘There are indications that the transporter
failed to notify Ema on time to ensure the swift
monitoring and containment of the spillage scene.
An environmental protection order was served on
the transporter to clean the spillage scene to the
satisfaction of Ema,’’ said Nhariswa.

The first spillage, involving a MAICOs also
known as Top Hisheen (registration number
JJ35CNGP/JJ34VFGP/JJ34LBGP) occurred last
weekend.

‘‘The truck was carrying 35 tonnes of sulfur,
which spilled into the environment and no fatali-
ty was recorded,’’ Nhariswa said.

The truck’s horse and first trailer were com-
pletely burnt.

Fire emanating from the accident engulfed
the surrounding highway environment and the
plumes drifted as far as Chirundu Border Post.

Nhariswa added that rescue efforts and thor-
ough inspections to quantify the extent of chem-
ical spillage are currently being hampered by the
thick plumes which have continued billowing.

‘‘Ema is working closely with the Transporter
(Top Hisheen) to extinguish the fire and com-
mence the spillage clean-up exercise. Section 73 of
the Environmental Management Act (Cap 20:27)
prohibits the discharge of hazardous substances
into the environment and places the responsibili-
ty of rehabilitating and restoring the affected area
on the polluter,’’ said Nhariswa.

‘‘Our preliminary investigations indicate that
the truck was travelling outside the stipulated
timeframes, and failed to report the incident to
the Ema within the shortest period of time as re-
quired. Timely reporting of spillages ensures swift
response to minimise environmental pollution as
well as rescue efforts. Transporters and the mo-
toring public are therefore being continuously
urged to orally notify the following institutions
within an hour and in writing within 24 hours
of the accidental spillage, Ema, the Emergency
Response Company to do the reclamation, the
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), Civil Protec-
tion Unit and district development coordinator in
the area where the accidental spillage has occurred
and supply Ema with information on the circum-
stances of the accidental spillage, including the
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) and quantity
of the hazardous substance accidentally spilled,’’
Nhariswa said.

Page 20 News NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Hwange villagers reject mining project

NATHAN GUMA

VILLAGERS in Dinde area of Hwange district Villagers project that coal seam fires that are ravaging Hwange may start mushrooming in Dinde and surrounding areas.
continue to resist a coal-mining project spear-
headed by Beifa Investments, which is project- “The coal mine will create health problems for and companies operating in the coal-mining val- ronment that is not harmful to their health or
ed to displace an estimated 600 families, while us because it will damage our lands, displace us, ue chains. well-being and prevent pollution and ecological
damaging the environment. and pollute our water bodies which we depend degradation.
on for domestic use. Moreover, coal will lead to Last month, six women were arrested at Ra-
The locals have been at loggerheads with the an increase in emissions that contribute to global ylton low-density residential area in Hwange The women went on to block Zimbabwe
company for almost three years over the mining climate change,” the villagers said. for demanding environmental justice against air Zhongxin Coking Company trucks that are fer-
project, which has continued to run without the pollution caused by coal shunting trucks. rying coal from Zhong Jian Colliery using a nar-
villagers’ blessings. Villagers also projected that coal seam fires row dirt road that passes through the residential
that are ravaging Hwange may start mushroom- The women accused trucks from coking com- area.
A total of 206 million tonnes of coal were dis- ing in Dinde and surrounding areas, thereby af- panies of violating section 73 of the constitution
covered during exploration. The mine will have a fecting flora and fauna. by causing air pollution at Raylton. This is despite the availability of a special-
lifespan of 14 years. ly designated road for trucks. Similar incidents
Conflict has been ongoing between residents Section 73 of the constitution of Zimba- have been reported in various mining areas.
Community members who recently met with bwe says every person has the right to an envi-
Beifa Investments and the Environmental Man-
agement Agency (Ema) said the project would
further damage the environment, according to a
report by the Centre for Natural Resource Gov-
ernance (CNRG).

“We do not want mining activity here,” the
villagers said during a verification meeting by
Ema.

“The company did not honour the promises
it made with regard to reclaiming the environ-
ment after the exploration. They left open holes
all over the village and, to us, this was indicative
of their disregard for our environmental laws.

“The company also promised pastures for our
livestock, but, again, we reminded them that our
livestock has always been pastured. They are only
coming to disturb and pollute the grazing lands.”

The villagers also said the company has been
trying to sway them into agreeing to a deal that
would not benefit them.

“They tried to convince us that the project is
good for the community and promised to pro-
vide tap water for all the households in the area.
However, they withheld information that, just
like other communities like Arda Transau, we
will have to pay for the water.

“We are happy with our communal lives and
do not think we will afford or have the capacity
to foot water bills,” the villagers said, according
to CNRG.

The coal mine is a threat to livelihoods and
can spawn an environmental crisis, the villagers
said.

NewsHawks News Page 21

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Illicit trade
in minerals at
the heart of
resource curse

NATHAN GUMA

ZIMBABWE should align its legal framework Zimbabwe loses an estimated US$100 million per month through gold smuggling.
that regulates gemstones with international best
practice to curb the illicit trade in minerals, if the of the dealings related to such licences will be The report also predicted that exploitation of government.
country is to benefit from natural resources in a above board.” the gemstones could easily surpass US$1 billion Some of the companies granted rights to ex-
similar manner to Botswana, mining law experts by 2023, should the diamonds be formally ex-
have said. In addition, the report shows that Zimbabwe ploited. plore and mine gemstones have been mired in
has been operating without a policy covering scandal, thereby raising speculation over trans-
There are serious gaps in policy, legal and in- trade of gemstones like ruby, sapphire and emer- “The most fundamental difference between parency in the centralised gemstone management
stitutional frameworks governing the gemstone alds, among others, which leaves for illicit finan- Zimbabwean and Botswana is that there are poli- policy.
sector in Zimbabwe. This promotes illicit trade in cial flows in the gemstone sector. cy statements which are not formal policies.
minerals, says a Zimbabwe Environmental Law ZCDC failed to account for the use of money
Association (Zela) report titled: “Scope and na- Zimbabwe mines more than 30 semi-precious “There is no regulation. Basically you have in- exceeding US$400 million, and could not prop-
ture of illicit flows in Zimbabwe’s gemstone sec- stones, most which are mined by informal foreign formal activities taking place. This results in se- erly account for 352 583.11 carats of diamonds
tor”, compiled by Lyman Mlambo, chairperson prospectors from India, Mozambique and other rious potential loses in terms of revenue to the worth about US$146.3 million that were in
of the Institute of Mining and Research at the countries. country,” Mlambo said. stock, according to the 2019 Auditor-General’s
University of Zimbabwe. report.
“Semi-precious stone deposits in the country Zimbabwe’s existing diamond policy restricts
Zimbabwe loses an estimated US$100 million are estimated at a value of US$20 billion, accord- exploration and mining of diamonds to four en- Currently, mining operations in the gemstone
per month through gold smuggling. ing to the report, which is clearly an underestima- tities, including the Zimbabwe Consolidated Di- industry, besides diamonds, and to some extent
tion given that this sub-sector has not be formally amond Company (ZCDC), Murowa Diamonds, emeralds, are dominated by artisanal miners and
The country has no overall national minerals explored and developed,” reads the report. and any other two companies approved by the informal foreign dealers, according to the report.
development framework and solely relies on the
diamond policy, which has been heavily criticised
for its lack of adequate provisions for transparen-
cy and inability to curb top-level discretionary
powers, among other shortfalls, says the report.

Mlambo said Zimbabwe’s institutional gover-
nance on gemstones falls short of Botswana, Afri-
ca’s best-performing country in transparency.

Botswana has a score of 55 on the 2022 Cor-
ruption Perception Index (CPI), the highest of
any African country, and 12 points above the av-
erage of 43.

Zimbabwe, in contrast, has a score of 23,
which is 20 points below average, tying with
Iraq, Cambodia and Honduras, countrues largely
known for corruption.

“The major difference between our policy in
Zimbabwe and Botswana is that here mineral re-
sources are vested in the President, while in Bo-
tswana they are vested in the republic.

“This has a serious implication,” Mlambo said.
“Firstly, the minister of Mines really acts in the
interests of the President and government. In
Botswana, decisions devolve to lower levels and
are highly subject to scrutiny . . . also made by
low-ranking officials,” says Mlambo in a Zoom
meeting hosted by Zela.

The report shows some loopholes within the
Precious Stones Trade Act which have been pro-
moting the illicit trade in diamonds.

“Section 7 (1) gives a lot of mandate to the
minister to accept or refuse the issuance or renew-
al of a licence without giving any reason for such
refusal. Discretionary powers that cannot be chal-
lenged are the breeding ground for corruption,”
reads part of the report.

“If the issuing or renewal of licences is subject
to corruption, there is no guarantee that the rest

Page 22 News NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Masaraure murder charge triggers uproar

BRENNA MATENDERE American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisation’s international director Catherine Feingold

THE 2016 murder charges pressed against Artuz president Obert Masaraure defenders in Zimbabwe are able to carry out and judicial harassment of Artuz human rights
outspoken Amalgamated Rural Teachers’ their legitimate human rights activities with- defenders and believes that these measures
Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) president Obert out fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions, are solely motivated by their legitimate activ-
Masaraure have triggered global condemna- including judicial harassment.” ities in defence of human rights,” the pressure
tion. group wrote.
Masaraure was arrested a few weeks after
An American organisation with member- traveling to Dublin to receive the 2022 Front- “Frontline Defenders condemns the ongo-
ship of 12.5 million on Wednesday wrote to line Defenders Award for Human Rights De- ing human rights violations by security agents
President Emmerson Mnangagwa demand- fenders at Risk in Africa. He had also travelled and recognises them as part of an effort to
ing his unconditional release, while a South to Brussels for a series of meetings with EU clamp down on freedoms, specifically against
African-based pressure group also petitioned officials after the awards ceremony. human rights defenders fighting for the right
Southern African Development Community to education in rural areas, labour and other
(Sadc) leaders over the matter. In June 2019, he was rushed to a Zimbabwe- civil rights in Zimbabwe.”
an hospital after abduction by suspected state
In the letter to Mnangagwa dated 22 June security agents, who assaulted and dumped Robson Chere, the Artuz secretary-general,
2022, the American Federation of Labour and him outside a military base near Harare. told The NewsHawks that rural teachers appre-
Congress of Industrial Organisation’s interna- ciate the initiatives taken by global organisa-
tional director Catherine Feingold described On his latest predicament, the Frontline tions to help free Masaraure.
Masaraure’s arrest and detention as judicial Defenders also pressured Sadc through Magosi
harassment. to end Masaraure’s detention. “Our leader is innocent. He did not com-
mit the crime. It is unfortunate that dissenting
Another global organisation, Frontline De- “Frontline Defenders is deeply concerned voices in Zimbabwe are always stifled,” he said.
fenders, has also petitioned Elias Magosi, the about the arbitrary detention, ill-treatment
Sadc executive secretary, strongly condemning
Masaraure’s arrest and urging the bloc to inter-
vene and guarantee his release.

Frontline Defenders is headquartered in
Dublin, with a European Union office in Brus-
sels, and has regionally-based field staff in the
Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe, Central Asia,
and the Middle East.

Masaraure was arrested on 14 June 2022
and charged with the murder of Roy Issa when
he went to Harare Central Police Station for
his routine remand bail hearing. Issa died in
2016 when he fell from the 7th floor of a Ha-
rare hotel.

The circumstances surrounding the incident
were heard by an inquest in 2016 at the Hara-
re magistrates’ court which ruled out foul play.

During the initial investigation into the
incident, Masaraure was not interrogated or
considered a witness as he said he was not
present at the hotel at the time of the death.

Masaraure’s clashes with Mnangagwa’s ad-
ministration have been centred on his role in
organising protests by rural teachers over poor
working conditions and measly salaries.

In her letter to Mnangagwa, Feingold said:
“On behalf of the 12.5 million members of the
AFL-CIO, the largest union federation in the
United States, I write to express our deep con-
cern on the continued violation of worker and
human rights in your country, including the
detention of Obert Masaraure.

“. . . The recent incident is part of a pattern
of violations against Artuz and its members
which started in December 2018 and have
continued to escalate. These incidents come in
a context of harassment and detentions com-
mitted against rights defenders in Zimbabwe
in reprisal for their work on the rights to ed-
ucation in rural areas, labour and other civil
rights.”

She further implored Mnangagwa to “im-
mediately and unconditionally release Obert
Masaraure” and “cease targeting all human
rights defenders in Zimbabwe, and guaran-
tee in all circumstances that all human rights

MOSES MATENGA

Trust in banking system plummetsPOLICE say Zimbabweans must
develop a culture of banking money
to curb cases of armed robbery now
on the rise across the country that loose. million by some security guards al-
Citizens fall prey to armed robbershave seen many losing millions of legedly working with robbers was
National police spokesperson As-
dollars stashed in offices and resi- sistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi worrying.
dential houses. conceded the law enforcement Observers say Zimbabweans have
Citizens have resorted to keeping agency is fretting over the increase er to deal with cases of crime, which where a huge amount of money in lost faith in the banking system due
huge sums of cash in foreign cur- in armed robberies. He said indi- have become a serious issue in the cash was lost.” to inconsistent policy pronounce-
rency in their houses, storerooms viduals and businesses should de- country. Nyathi said an individual lost ments mainly in the banking sector.
and offices in the face of an unpre- velop a culture of banking money. “People are not banking money over US$43 000 in cash after Nyathi also expressed concern
dictable banking system and pol- Nyathi told media stakeholders and you must challenge the bank- boarding a Honda Fit vehicle. over the rise in murder cases, add-
icies reminiscence of events of the during a belated World Press Free- ing system to tap into this money Nyathi however said some of the ing that what was more worrying
2008 era that saw huge sums of dom Day commemoration held that is being kept in offices and cases appeared staged as they could was the killings were over petty
money disappearing in banks. As a inThe NewsHawks conference room storerooms,” Nyathi said. be cases of people duping each oth- fights.
result of stashing huge amounts of in Harare organised by the Media “We had an incident in Newlands er. “Some kill each other over a slice
cash outside banks, businesses and Institute of Southern Africa’s Hara- where someone lost US$300 000 Cash-in-transit robberies have of bread. Others fight over a chair
individuals have fallen victim to re advocacy chapter that the media in cash. It is a lot of money. There also been rife, with Nyathi say- and end up killing each other. It is
armed robbers who are now on the and police should work well togeth- was another incident in Southerton ing the recent heist of over US$27 worrying.”

NewsHawks News Page 23
Zimbabwe Sugar Sales board chairperson Muchadeyi Masunda
Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Duty-free sugar imports
— Industry raises alarm

MORRIS BISHI babwe the authorities are not giving sugarcane
farmers any subsidy. He said prices of inputs like
PLAYERS in the sugar industry are crying foul af- fertilizers and pesticides, as well as tillage, water
ter the government allowed the importation of the and electricity are high, with farmers shouldering
product, a move which they say will greatly affect these expenses on their own.
the local industry, with thousands of people likely
to lose jobs. “Farmers in other countries are heavily sup-
ported by their governments, which is opposite
The government last month allowed the im- to what is happening in our country. We are not
portation of basic commodities, including sugar, being supported by government in any way, so al-
as part of measures to stabilise the local currency lowing foreign sugar to come in will greatly affect
against runaway inflation. our industry. We are facing high inputs and other
related costs on a daily basis and we only recover
The country’s sole sugar producer Tongaat that after selling sugar. Allowing sugar from heavi-
Hulett and outgrower farmers have the capacity ly subsidised farmers to come into the country will
to produce 600 000 tonnes of sugar annually and greatly affect us as an industry,” Masomere said.
last year 400 000 tonnes were produced with 90%
going to the local market. The importation of sug- Zimbabwe Sugar Sales (ZSS) board chairperson
ar was banned in 2014 and from that time the lo- Muchadeyi Masunda told The NewsHawks that
cal sugar industry managed to meet local demand his board is still accessing the impact likely to be
without shortages, with surplus being exported. caused by sugar imports. He said if huge quan-
tities are allowed in, the industry in the lowveld
Triangle Mill Group chairperson Gibson which employs more than 20 000 people will be
Mashingaidze told The NewsHawks that farmers greatly affected.
are in the process of engaging the authorities over
the decision to allow sugar imports by various “It is a matter which caught our attention
players. He said the move will greatly affect the lo- and we are still assessing the impact of the move
cal sugar industry since other countries allow pro- to the sugar industry in the country. The sug-
duction of genetically modified sugarcane which ar industry employs more than 20 000 peo-
involves lower cost. ple and with dependents we are looking at over
200 000 people who are relying on this industry.
“We are in the process of engaging government If we look at Chiredzi town, it solely relies on this
with the view to reviewing their move to allow im- industry. Triangle and Hippo Valley Estates have
portation of sugar into the country. As an industry more than 22 schools and state-of-the-art medical
we are able to supply the local market and we have facilities which are assisting people in the lowveld,
been doing that for a long time so there is no need so by allowing imports of sugar these services may
to allow sugar from other countries into the coun- be affected,” Masunda said.
try. If you look at Brazil and India, farmers grow
genetically modified sugar which is not allowed Sugar Production and Milling Industry Work-
here in Zimbabwe and their production costs are ers’ Union of Zimbabwe general secretary Adon-
cheaper than ours. Our crop is harvested after 12 ia Mutero said due to massive retooling by sugar
months after incurring many costs,” Mashingaidze industries in other countries, Zimbabwe cannot
said. compete in terms of pricing with those industries,
a move which will leave thousands of workers job-
Mkwasine Sugarcane Farmers’ Association less. He said the problem in the country is about
chairperson Dennis Masomere said costs incurred policy inconsistency, which is not solved by open-
by sugarcane farmers in other countries are heavily ing the borders to foreign products.
subsidised by their governments while in Zim-

Tongaat Hulett and outgrower
farmers have the capacity to
produce 600 000 tonnes of
sugar annually.

Page 24 International Investigative Stories NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

InInvteesrtniagtaiotinvaelStories

Mysterious group of
companies tied to bank
Rossiya unites billions of
dollars in assets connected
to Vladimir Putin

An email domain not The Black Sea palace has been Reporters first noticed LLCInvest. man using an LLCInvest.ru address. official in the 1990s, he noted.
visible to the public — claimed by an old friend and for- ru after a 2017 investigation in the Neither of them have any public con- “LLCInvest looks most of all like
LLCInvest.ru — helped mer judo sparring partner of Putin’s, weekly Russian newspaper Sobesednik nection to Volna. Rudnov did not re-
reporters uncover a Arkady Rotenberg. The surrounding pointed out that it was used by a net- spond to requests for comment. a cooperative, or an association, in
group of interconnected vineyards are split between two other work of nonprofits founded by Putin’s which its members can exchange ben-
companies that hold Putin associates: the son of one of his friends. Following this clue, OCCRP A separate leak provides additional efits and property,” he said.
palaces, resorts, yachts, childhood friends and a well-known and Meduza found dozens of other evidence that the LLCInvest compa-
jets, and bank accounts oligarch, Gennady Timchenko. The companies and nonprofits whose staff nies work together. In total, journalists were able to
full of cash. villa north of St. Petersburg belongs to and owners use email addresses on this identify 86 companies and nonprof-
Sergei Rudnov, the son of another old domain, and which appear to be inter- Emails from a construction compa- its that appear to be part of this loose
JOURNALISTS have struggled for friend who died in 2015. connected. ny that built a villa northwest of Saint network. Together, they hold assets
years to establish what Vladimir Putin Petersburg known locally as “Putin’s worth at least $4.5 billion, including
owns. But all these assets, seemingly held The LLCInvest.ru domain turns dacha” show that three different LL- mansions, business jets, yachts, and
by many different people, have some- out to be hosted by an IT company CInvest companies own different bank accounts filled with cash. All of
The Russian president, who cul- thing in common: They are owned called Moskomsvyaz that is closely parcels of land around the complex, them are interconnected, sharing the
tivates a public image of abstemious through companies and nonprofits linked to Bank Rossiya. A large cache while a fourth LLCInvest entity — a same corporate directors, registration
patriotism, has been linked to a num- that are connected to each other by of Moskomsvyaz email metadata was nonprofit ostensibly dedicated to the addresses, and service providers such
ber of luxurious properties, including an underlying technical infrastructure leaked to reporters by a source last “revival of marine traditions” — man- as auditors and registrars.
a vast palace on the Black Sea, acres visible through an email domain: LL- year, revealing that the managers, aged the construction.
of surrounding vineyards, a ski resort, CInvest.ru. owners, and employees of these out- A handful are owned directly by
and a villa north of St. Petersburg. wardly unrelated LLCInvest compa- “The only explanation I see is that Bank Rossiya, while several doz-
Every major asset that has been nies frequently communicated among these companies are united by a com- en more belong to the bank’s board
But tying the ownership of these publicly attributed to Putin shares this themselves in ways you would only mon management system,” said an ex- members or shareholders, including
assets directly to Putin through a pa- connection. expect from people working together. pert on corruption in Russia who re- billionaire businessman Yuri Koval-
per trail has always been impossible. viewed OCCRP’s findings. (He is not chuk and Putin’s rumored mistress
Instead, his friends have often stepped The “LLCInvest” companies also For example, Rudnov, the son of identified because engaging with OC- Svetlana Krivonogikh. About 18 of
forward to claim them as their own. hold dozens of other valuable proper- Putin’s old friend, is the owner of a CRP, deemed “undesirable” by Rus- the companies seem to have no con-
ties and businesses. Some are associat- company called Volna that uses the sian authorities, can now mean severe nection to the bank at first glance, but
ed with Bank Rossiya , a lender widely LLCInvest.ru domain. Leaked emails legal sanction, including jail time.) in fact belong to lower-level bank em-
known as “Putin’s bank,” while others show the co-founder of a completely ployees. Most of the others are owned
ultimately belong to members of his different LLCInvest company discuss- Many owners of LLCInvest compa- by Putin’s friends and associates, like
inner circle. ing Volna’s financials with another nies come from a group of friends and Rotenberg and Rudnov.
associates that coalesced around Putin
when he was a senior St. Petersburg In an attempt to understand more

NewsHawks International Investigative Stories Page 25

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

about the LLCInvest setup, reporters servative estimate. But taken togeth- loan to the company that owns it. are all leased from an insurance com- into a company called Rosinvest that
emailed over 100 LLCInvest email er, these findings offer an intriguing It’s not just yachts and vacation pany called Sogaz, which was owned was supposed to invest it in Russian
addresses discovered during the course picture of how Bank Rossiya connects by state gas giant Gazprom until it was businesses under Putin’s supervision.
of this investigation, including com- billions in assets, sourced from Putin’s homes — the latest available records sold in 2004 as part of a restructuring.
pany directors and shareholders. An inner circle, in a way that appears to show LLCInvest entities holding over But Putin soon instructed the
email tracker showed that dozens were benefit the president himself. half a billion dollars’ worth of cash in To the surprise of many market group to cancel the business projects
opened, and some sent automatic “out Villas, Yachts, and Cash their accounts, reporters found. players, it was acquired by structures and direct the money to the construc-
of office” replies, but not a single per- In northwestern Russia, on the shore ‘Flight Area — Entire World’ affiliated with Bank Rossiya, which tion of a luxurious palace on the Black
son responded to questions. of the Gulf of Finland, lies a hand- The LLCInvest companies are mostly was little known at the time. Sea, evidently for his use. A frustrated
some brick mansion known as Villa private firms that maintain a minimal From Ski Resorts to Southern Shores Kolesnikov fled Russia and told all.
"I’m a humble Sellgren. Designed by a celebrated public presence. Russair is an excep- Though LLCInvest companies own
employee and Finnish architect before the Rus- tion. Although it uses the same techni- palaces, residences, and yachts that ap- Rosinvest was dissolved after Kole-
mind my own sian revolution, it was used to film a cal infrastructure as the others, it also pear to be private assets, many of them snikov’s revelations, and since then
business. I only beloved Soviet film about Sherlock has a working website that advertises a seem to function more like investment little more has been heard about how
sign papers. You Holmes. range of aircraft-related services. vehicles, maintaining large stakes in Putin and his friends structure their
know how some- functioning businesses. assets.
times homeless In 2017, the house became famous Describing itself as a “dynamically
people are regis- for a second time. Citing sources developing carrier,” Russair claims to Some of these enterprises have long The anti-corruption expert who
tered as directors within the local administration and offer charter flights that it can orga- been known to be linked to Bank spoke with reporters said that the LL-
of a company? local residents, the independent TV nize anytime, day or night. “Flight Rossiya. Others belong to a seemingly CInvest set-up had some key similari-
I’m not home- channel Dozhd reported that the villa area: Entire world!” the website pro- disparate group of owners who, until ties to Rosinvest, but was less central-
less but I sign had turned into a vacation destination claims. now, had no obvious connection to ized — so not as vulnerable to another
the papers, like for Putin. Dozhd also found that the the bank or to each other. whistleblower.
they do, without villa was owned by Rudnov, the son of But when an OCCRP reporter
going into the Putin’s old friend. called the company to book a charter One of the most striking invest- “It reduces the chance of a ‘new
details." flight, the woman who answered did ments is held by an LLCInvest com- Kolesnikov’ revealing it, since there is
Rudnov uses an LLCInvest email not seem eager to seal the deal. She re- pany called Altituda. no front office, no uniting point for all
— Director of multiple address, and so does the director of the fused to answer questions about Rus- these businesses,” he said.
LLCInvest companies company he owns it through, called sair’s services and asked for an inquiry In 2019 Altituda was given a
Sever. The property is managed by to be sent by email. It never received 51-percent share of a company called This is borne out by the LLCInvest
Reporters also reached out by someone with no outward connection a response. Rusgazdobycha with assets worth 25 company director interviewed by OC-
phone to five representatives of LL- to Sever, a man named Pavel Zaitsev billion rubles ($380 million). CRP. He said he was not aware — or
CInvest companies. Four hung up who also owns several other LLCIn- In fact, records maintained by Rus- even interested — in what LLCInvest
without providing comment. A man vest companies, leaked emails show. sia’s civil aviation agency show that The valuable stake appears to have meant, or whether there were other
listed as director of four different com- Russair would have trouble carrying been transferred by Putin’s old friend companies linked to his.
panies confirmed he uses an LLCin- And it’s not just Villa Sellgren. Al- customers. It has no airplanes, and Arkady Rotenberg, who had previ-
vest.ru address assigned to him after most every other property that pre- just two helicopters, registered for ously held Rusgazdobycha through “If my company was part of a big
he was hired, but said he didn’t know vious journalistic investigations have commercial transport. Another four opaque corporate structures based in holding, I wouldn’t know,” he said.
who owned the companies. “I’m a associated with Putin, including the helicopters and two Falcon 7X busi- Russia and Cyprus. The other 49-per-
humble employee and mind my own infamous Black Sea palace, is owned ness jets are registered for its own use, cent stake was moved into two private Another expert, a Russian finan-
business. I only sign papers,” he said. by a company in the LLCInvest uni- but can’t carry commercial clients. equity funds whose owners are un- cial consultant, said that even setting
“You know how sometimes homeless verse. They include the Igora Ski Re- known. It’s unclear why Rotenberg aside the question of who ultimately
people are registered as directors of a sort, where his daughter celebrated A number of clues suggest that Rus- might have done this, especially con- owns the assets held by the LLCInvest
company? I’m not homeless but I sign her wedding; multiple vacation homes sair may be tied to Putin. sidering that he uses his own manage- companies, it might be unlawful to
the papers, like they do, without going allegedly used by Putin; and a house ment structures for his other assets. obscure Bank Rossiya’s connection to
into the details.” in a ritzy area near Moscow that once According to flight tracking site many of them.
belonged to Putin’s daughter and her FlightRadar, the company’s planes fly Another close ally of Putin, Gen-
Moskomsvyaz, the company that husband. routes between St. Petersburg, Crimea, nady Timchenko, also moved valu- Registering assets under low-profile
hosts the LLCInvest domain, did not and the Black Sea resort town of Ge- able investments into two obscure employees or other proxies are tech-
respond to requests for comment. Companies in the network also lendzhik. These areas host some of companies with a shared director who niques Russian banks have used to get
When a reporter called, posing as a own several luxurious yachts, two of the most significant Putin-connected appears to have ties to the LLCInvest around restrictions on giving loans to
potential client, to see if it was possible which have been spotted traveling assets held by LLCInvest companies. universe. affiliated parties, he explained.
for anyone to use Moskomsvyaz’s IT between different properties linked to
services, she was directed to a techni- Putin. A third is owned by his alleged The most expensive aircraft in Rus- In 2017, Timchenko transferred “Dozens of banks who have had
cal support staffer who asked for fur- mistress, Krivonogikh. sair’s fleet, valued at 3 billion rubles his 17-percent share in petrochemical problems with the Central Bank have
ther requests to be sent by email and (almost $40 million), is a newer Fal- giant Sibur to a company associated been punished for such practices, with
said that the company’s “policy” was At least one of these vessels appears con 7X that flies under the tail num- with LLCInvest called Delta. The fol- their licenses revoked by the Central
not to take on “private clients.” Re- to be jointly managed by multiple LL- ber RA-09009. The same number was lowing year, he transferred 19 percent Bank,” he said.
peated emails went unanswered. CInvest companies. once used by a different Falcon 7X of Russian natural gas producer No-
that once belonged to the presidential vatek to another associated company, In the case of Bank Rossiya, hid-
Asked to respond to a detailed de- A 14-meter-long aluminum yacht administration. Ena-Invest. While the precise value ing the true owners of its assets may
scription of reporters’ findings, the tender called the Brizo 46, was pur- of these stakes is difficult to calculate, be serving the interests of some of the
Kremlin answered only: “The Presi- chased by a company called Unison Using data from FlightRadar, Sibur and Novatek are two of the big- country’s most powerful people.
dent of the Russian Federation is not for 1.2 million euros in 2015. Uni- OCCRP was able to corroborate the gest companies in Russia.
linked or affiliated in any way with son’s sole shareholder and former di- claims of several industry sources that Reporters spoke with a former
the assets and organizations you men- rector, Vladimir Avramenko, uses an Russair carries high-profile passengers As a result, Delta and Ena-Invest U.S. Treasury official who worked for
tioned.” LLCInvest.ru email address. protected by the Federal Security Ser- have assets worth a staggering 881 OFAC, the office that enforces finan-
vice: On several occasions, some as billion rubles (almost $12 billion) cial sanctions. After reviewing their
Bank Rossiya did not respond to a But leaked emails show that man- recently as last July, its Falcon 7X flew according to their latest available fi- findings, he described the LLCInvest
request for comment. agers associated with an entirely differ- under the flight number RSD09009. nancial reports — more than twice as setup as “extremely suspicious.”
ent LLCInvest entity — a non-profit much as all other assets held by the LL-
Much is still unknown about the organization meant to promote “Rus- According to the international sys- CInvest companies combined. How- “It’s hard to come up with an inno-
LLCInvest companies, including sian aviation traditions” — organized tem of airline codes, the letters RSD ever, Delta and Ena-Invest are not as cent explanation for the things you’ve
whether they represent a kind of in- the yacht’s import into Russia. refer to the Special Flight Detach- clearly associated with the group, so described,” he said. “Given that Bank
formal holding structure or are simply ment, a state airline that carries the reporters did not include this figure in Rossiya is publicly said to be where
sharing technical infrastructure. Even These managers, Larisa Isaeva and president and other top officials. the total asset count. Putin and his cronies hold their assets,
the full scope of the LLCInvest uni- Alexander Samosyuk , have no con- this raises a lot of legal questions.
verse is unknown, with 86 companies nection to Unison on paper, but they According to industry sources, this Neither Rotenberg nor Timchenko
and nonprofits representing a con- strategized together on how to lower designation indicates that the flight responded to requests for comment. He noted that many oligarchs con-
the tax payments for the yacht when it carried specially protected passengers. Old Patterns and New Red Flags nected to LLCInvest companies, as
was imported. Only Putin and seven other top offi- In some ways, LLCInvest looks like well as Bank Rossiya itself, had been
cials are entitled to such protection, a more secretive and less formal ver- sanctioned by the U.S. and EU.
According to customs records, the though the president can choose to sion of a vision described 10 years ago
yachts that belong to LLCInvest com- grant it to others at his discretion. by Sergey Kolesnikov, a businessman “I wouldn’t speculate about who
panies often spend the winter in a who fled Russia after he blew the the end beneficiary owner is, but there
yacht storage facility near the Finnish Given these findings, it’s notewor- whistle — on himself. are clear indicators of a sanctions eva-
city of Kotka, not far from St. Peters- thy that a Russian blogger previously sion scheme,” he said.
burg. This is the same facility where tied the plane to Alina Kabaeva, an In an explosive open letter, he out-
former president and prime minister Olympic champion in rhythmic gym- lined a corrupt scheme he had devised The Russian corruption expert
Dmitry Medvedev’s alleged yacht Fo- nastics who is reportedly Putin’s mis- that allowed a group of Russia’s top added that the opacity of some of
tinia was recently discovered by Finn- tress. oligarchs to pool billions of rubles into the LLCInvest holdings alone should
ish journalists. a kind of “investment fund” for the be cause for greater scrutiny. To fight
The author provided no documen- benefit of Putin, who was then serving money laundering, banks are sup-
And the facility, too, has a connec- tary evidence that she was on board, as prime minister. posed to know the true beneficiary of
tion to Putin’s friends: Dmitry Gore- but pointed to public sources showing the assets they deal with.
lov, a former Bank Rossiya sharehold- that the aircraft was present in cities The money, Kolesnikov said, had
er who allegedly helped finance the she is known to have visited. been siphoned out of a charitable proj- “[Such] opaque ways of holding as-
construction of Putin’s palace on the ect to buy medical equipment for Rus- sets, connected to politically influen-
Black Sea, provided an interest-free Despite coordinating all these sian hospitals. It was then channeled tial people, indicate a heightened risk
flights, Russair’s accounting records of corruption and money laundering,”
show that it does not actually own any he said. “Establishing the real benefi-
of the aircraft it operates. Instead, they ciary owner [of an asset] is a key part
of anti-money-laundering practices.”

— Organised Crime and Corrup-
tion Reporting Project.

Page 26 Editorial & Opinion NewsHawks

CARTOON Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Tragic failure of
Zim leadership

MEDICAL professionals at Zimbabwe’s public hospitals embarked Fare thee well Alex Magaisa ...
on a strike on Monday this week to press for better pay and the
provision of essential medicines.

Announcing the job action, the Zimbabwe Health Apex Council
was at pains to explain that the decision to go on strike “was not
taken lightly”.

It can never be easy for physicians to abandon their stethoscopes;
they are sworn to a professional oath which spells out specific ethical
standards.

The strike is shining the spotlight on the catastrophic collapse of
Zimbabwe’s health delivery system.

What we are witnessing is stark evidence of leadership failure. It
is tragic that a country which allows the smuggling of gold worth
US$100 million every month does not even have a single working
cancer treatment machine. The political elites use taxpayers’ mon-
ey to access treatment in China, India, Dubai and South Africa.
Judging from this selfish behaviour, it is fair to conclude that their
attitude is: We are covered; to hell with everyone else.

Doctors say the situation in public hospitals is so dire that you
would be very lucky to find paracetamol in the empty dispensaries.

What is wrong with Zimbabwean leaders? Where is their sense
of humanity, compassion and patriotism? Export earnings in 2021
exceeded US$6 billion.

This is comparable to Kenya whose earnings in 2020 were US$6.5
billion. But when you compare the amounts spent on health by the
respective governments, the difference between a predatory author-
itarian kleptocracy and a developmental state is laid bare. Of course
there are no angels and there are no saints in statecraft, but most lev-
el-headed observers would concede that the bad governance which
has destroyed Zimbabwe stinks to high heaven.

What exactly is the government spending the nation’s coffers on?
If Zanu PF elites do not appreciate the importance of the health
sector, they have no right masquerading as national leaders.

As for the education sector, it was shredded to tatters a long time
ago. Just like the nurses and doctors who stoically remain in the
public service in these dreary times, the teachers who still wake up
every day and head for the classroom are the great unsung heroes of
this troubled nation.

Clueless politicians are in the habit of disparaging these dedicat-
ed professionals by labelling them agents of imperialism, but every
self-respecting citizen knows that the real mercenaries are the cor-
rupt and treacherous political leaders whose only preoccupation is
primitive accumulation.

What has been heartbreaking about the health workers’ strike is
that, as usual, the wider citizenry is just watching from the terraces
— disinterestedly.

These hard-working professionals deserve everyone’s support. We
have already seen a pattern: the rest of the civil servants are unlikely
to join in and the strikers will be singled out for victimisation. Who
suffers in the end?

Hawk Eye

Dumisani
Muleya

Reaffirming the fundamental impor- The NewsHawks is published on different EDITORIAL STAFF: Marketing Officer: Voluntary Media
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NewsHawks New Perspectives Page 27

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

INEQUALITY has emerged as Profiteering from pain
the number one problem both
globally and in the domestic econ- pandemic and war in creating this A recently released report titled ing in nearly a quarter of the na- Finance minister Mthuli Ncube.
omy. The Covid-19 pandemic and disruption, it strongly appears "Profiting from pain" by Oxfam tion’s income every year. In terms
Russia's invasion of Ukraine have that weakly regulated markets and revealed the shocking extent of the of wealth rather than income, es have increased to their highest
already worsened the problem. supply chains have led to over- rise in global inequality during the the top 1% control 40%. Their levels in decades. 62 new food
board profiteering, along with al- pandemic. "Billionaire wealth has lot in life has improved consid- billionaires have been created.
In the Zimbabwean economy, lowing  some individuals and sec- soared during the Covid-19 pan- erably. Twenty-five years ago, the The combined crises of covid-19,
it all started with Finance minister tors to reap unfair levels of profit. demic as companies in the food, corresponding figures were 12% rising inequality, and rising food
Mthuli Ncube’s business-orient- This has created a huge income pharma, energy, and tech sectors and 33%. … While the top 1% prices could push as many as 263
ed policies that created oligarchs, gap and the elites have seen their have cashed in. have seen their incomes rise 18% million people into extreme pov-
decimated the middle class and coffers swelling whilst the middle over the past decade, those in the erty in 2022, reversing decades of
further entrenched the inequality class has gone into extinction. In Meanwhile, millions of people progress.
problem. Zimbabwe, it is clear that there around the world are fac- Econometrics
are now only two income groups, ing a cost-of-living crisis HawksView This is the equivalent of one
The Covid-19 pandemic and the rich and the poor – no more due to the continuing ef- million people every
the Russia-Ukraine war, though middle class.     fects of the pandemic and Tinashe Kaduwo 33 hours. At the same
on a global scale, further com- the rapidly rising costs of time a new billionaire
pounded the inequality problem; Over decades of neoliberal as- essentials, including food middle have actually seen their in- has been minted on
in Zimbabwe it was policy itself sault had already led to a serious and energy. comes fall." average every 30 hours
that entrenched it. increase in inequality globally, not during the pandem-
to mention the role of procyclical Inequality, already ex- The situation of inequality, it ic. This means that in
Identifying some of the main policies, especially during the pan- treme before Covid-19, has strongly appears, has worsened the same time it took
economic challenges facing a demic, which have not allowed reached new levels. There is over the years, as the same report on average to create a
Covid-19 pandemic-hit world, a much-needed inclusive growth. an urgent need for governments by Oxfam pointed out with re- new billionaire during
recently published report, "Chief to implement highly progressive gard to inequality.
Economists Outlook: May 2022" Renowned economist Jayati taxation measures that in turn the pandemic, one million peo-
by the World Economic Forum Ghosh, in an interview with De- must be used to invest in power- "Oxfam’s research has found ple could be pushed into extreme
(WEF) and based on the opinions mocracy Now in April, pointed ful and proven measures to reduce that: Billionaires have seen their poverty this year".
of a number of leading econo- out with regard to unfair level inequalities." fortunes increase as much in 24
mists globally, pointed out "The of profiteering during the glob- months as they did in 23 years. Back home, the elite — born
barrage of shocks and disruptions al supply shock, that "The prices Economics Nobel laureate Jo- Billionaires in the food and ener- from the crisis — have taken grip
and the subsequent overload on themselves have gone higher than seph Stiglitz, in an article head- gy sectors have seen their fortunes of all economic sectors. Policy has
the capacity of policymakers and you would expect given the actu- lined ‘Of the 1%, by the 1%, for increase by a billion dollars every become inconsistent but consis-
institutions risks diverting focus al impact on supply… and that’s the 1%’ two days. Food and energy pric- tently structured  to protect the
towards rising economic nation- because there’s been very fever- interests of the elites. That is in-
alism, causing a damaging pull- ish speculative activity in what hat he wrote back in 2011, deed profiteering from pain.
back from economic integration are called the commodity futures highlighted the serious nature of
and a shift away from progress on markets". inequality, even in the context of *About the writer: Tinashe
humanity’s long-term goals, such developed countries, as "The up- Kaduwo is a researcher and econ-
as combating climate change, re- per 1% of Americans are now tak- omist. Contact: kaduwot@gmail.
ducing inequality and preparing WhatsApp +263773376128
for demographic change".

Inequality had already been
rising for decades. This emanated
from the assault of neoliberal poli-
cies in many parts of the world, on
the back of the diminishing role
of government, and regulation to
virtually unfettered markets. This
has not only reduced the extent of
pre-distribution and redistribu-
tion policies, it has also allowed
much greater perpetuation of ex-
tractive institutional designs of
the politico-economic elites to
use public policy, including us-
ing largely unregulated markets
to their advantage. This is true for
Zimbabwe where economic poli-
cy has created a protected special
class of oligarchs that has super
control of all sectors of the econ-
omy.

Highlighting the role of predis-
tribution and redistribution poli-
cies, a June 2015 WEF published
article headlined "What is predis-
tribution?" pointed out that "…
helping the less well-off through
the redistribution of income
through taxes and government
programmes — referred to as tax-
and-transfer programmes. … For
policymakers concerned about the
incomes of those at the bottom of
the income ladder, a predistribu-
tionist approach would favour
raising wages, perhaps by increas-
ing the minimum wage, over in-
creasing government transfers to
those workers in the form of, say,
earned income tax credits".

Although global supply shock
explains in part the role of the

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

Sub-economic tariffs choke TelOne

NYASHA CHINGONO

STATE-OWNED telecommunications compa- TelOne head of corporate communications Melody Mbira Harry.
ny TelOne is reeling under high inflation which
has impeded profitability while sub-economic prejudicing the company’s valued clients and
tarrifs are threatening to sink the firm. negatively impacting the company’s reputation.
A total of 39 965 customers were affected by
TelOne’s last tariff review was in September vandalism-induced downtime, during the peri-
2021 as inflation continues to eat into local od under review, amounting to a 74% increase
currency revenue, the company’s head of cor- from 22 966 clients that were affected in 2020.
porate communications, Melody Mbira Har- For the current period, the network vandalism
ry, said in a statement after an annual general cases have continued to rise, with a 21% in-
meeting in Harare. crease having been recorded for the first half of
the year compared to the same period last year,”
“The company is faced with acute viability Harry said.
challenges due to the prevailing hyperinflation
against a tightly controlled tariff. The cost of To curb the problem, TelOne says there is a
importation and distribution of 1 Mbps is need to replace the copper network with op-
US$28. However, TelOne is unsustainably dis- tic fibre and wireless technology, which are less
tributing the same unit at US$10 as the compa- susceptible to vandalism.
ny has been unable to get a tariff review,” Harry
said. To this end, funding options continue to be
pursued for the phased replacement of copper
The Postal and Telecommunications Regula- wires, with Chitungwiza having been the first
tory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) is yet to under the programme to migrate to the long-
approve a tariff review, with TelOne charging term evolution (LTE) technology, she said.
US$0.025 per minute for voice and broadband,
while US$0.00050 is charged for one mega- Despite the headwinds, TelOne posted sig-
byte. nificant growth in 2021, registering an infla-
tion-adjusted profit before tax and deprecia-
“The last tariff review was in September tion of ZW$3.2 billion up from ZW$1 billion
2021. When measured against the movements achieved in the prior year.
in exchange rates, for voice products the effec-
tive price was US$0.07 cents per minute after
the tariff increase and it deteriorated by 19.3%
to US$0.058 cents per minute by 31 Decem-
ber 2021. As at the date of publishing of this
report, no tariff adjustments had been approved
for 2022,” Harry said.

Failure to review tariffs comes on the back of
ballooning costs.

As at end of May 2022, TelOne’s total costs
had grown 107% to ZW$1.8 billion per month
up from ZW$856 million per month in De-
cember 2021.

“While this has been due to the general price
increases in the market, the movements in the
cost of fuel and power have had significant im-
pact on the overall cost structure. Diesel price in
US dollar terms surged 31% from US$1.34 in
September 2021 when our tariff was reviewed
to the prevailing price of US$1.76. This, to-
gether with the 200% upward power tariff ad-
justmen, have further put the company’s viabil-
ity status into the negative,” Harry said.

During the second quarter of 2022, TelOne
suffered an 8% slump in earnings before inter-
est, taxes depreciation and amortisation from a
high of 35% when the current tariff was affect-
ed in September 2021.

“This index has seen a rapid erosion over the
past two months, raising viability concerns go-
ing forward, in the absence of a tariff review,”
TelOne said.

The parastatal has also been affected by gross
vandalism of copper network, losing US$1.5
million in potential revenue in the period end-
ed 31 December 2021.

“These losses stemmed from 333 network
vandalism incidents being recorded during the
year translating to a 27% increase compared to
prior year. The biggest loss to the company from
acts of vandalism has been the business lost due
to voice and internet service disruptions also

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 29

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

US$5m needed to revive Mhangura mine

BERNARD MPOFU

FIRMING commodity prices on the interna- Mhangura Copper Mines’ unplanned closure had a social and biophysical impact on local communities.
tional market have prompted the Zimbabwean
government to intensify efforts in seeking US$5 At full operational capacity, the mine em- extraction and milling of copper with a scarci- and a couple of high order retail shops had no
million to fund the exploration and restart of the ployed 1 500 full-time workers in its mining ty of local backward and forward industrial and choice but to withdraw their services from the
mothballed Mhangura Copper Mines (MCM) section, that is exclusive of departments such as commercial linkages. settlement.
which halted operations at the turn of the mil- sanitation, security and other services. This was
lennium due to weakening prices, among other later scaled down to 800 at the time the mine Following its closure, local banks such as Due to bankruptcy, MCM was delisted from
factors. closed. Its local economy revolved around the Barclays, which was later renamed First Capital the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange during the year
Bank, Standard Chartered, CBZ, a local hotel of closure.
Currently, gold, platinum, ferro-alloys and
nickel constitute the majority of the country’s
mineral exports (comprising some 60% of the
total value of exports in 2020), but the govern-
ment aims to increase production of other com-
modities, including copper.

Official data from the country’s investment
agency show that MCM requires US$5 mil-
lion for copper exploration on a reserved area
covering 325 000 hectares. The reservation, the
Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agen-
cy says, also hosts semi-precious stone deposits
(beryl, aquamarine) and gold.

Mhangura Copper Mines Limited, a subsidi-
ary of Zimbabwe Mining Development Corpo-
ration, operates copper mines in the Makonde
district north of Harare, Zimbabwe. The com-
pany also operates a smelter and electrolytic re-
finery in the district which has already resumed
operations.

Jenfan Muswere, the acting Information min-
ister, this week told a post-cabinet Press briefing
that a local investor is seeking funds to kickstart
exploration works in Mhangura.

“The nation is informed that government has
engaged Scout Aerial Africa (Pvt) Ltd, a local
company, for an aeromagnetic survey, produc-
tion of a drilling programme, drilling plans and
a map indicating potential zones to mine with-
in the Shackleton claims and Mhangura exten-
sion,” Muswere said.

“The results of the aeromagnetic study will
produce a feasibility study and increase inves-
tor confidence in further developing the mine.
Scout Aerial Africa (Pvt) Ltd will source fund-
ing required for this project and will recoup its
investment from the investor who will be con-
tracted later by government to undertake min-
ing operations.”

The unplanned closure of the mine, which
has spawned a ghost town, has had a social and
biophysical impact on local communities.

BERNARD MPOFU BAZ told to rethink on Paynet contracts

THE Competition and Tariff Commission Paynet had contracts with banking institutions for the provision of electronic payment.
(CTC) has ordered the Bankers’ Association
of Zimbabwe (BAZ) to stop influencing banks is the case with the banks. policy.” sary for upholding competition in markets,” the
from terminating contracts with a business pay- “Paynet requested for payment of fees in The exchange rate, the CTC noted, was also report reads.
ment platform after it demanded payment for its
services in hard currency at a time the move was United States dollars (USD) when the country’s fixed at the time with an overvalued local cur- “After analysis, the commission made an order
outlawed by the monetary authorities. monetary policy made it mandatory for all lo- rency making US dollar demands by Paynet very aimed at preventing anti-competitive coordina-
cal payments to be made in the local currency. unreasonable from banks’ point of view. tion and concerted actions by banks operating
According to the latest CTC report, the com- This demand for USD payments, notwithstand- under BAZ that: The Bankers’ Association of
mission received a complaint against the BAZ for ing that the ZWL$ being the official currency, “The commission contends existence of an Zimbabwe should forthwith cease and desist
influencing banks to adopt a uniform position was the major bone of contention. Paynet had arrangement and concerted action which makes from coordinating activities of banks in respect
of terminating individual contracts with Paynet, foreign obligations to settle in USD while banks refusal to deal anticompetitive as it was a collec- of their selection and utilisation of electronic
which resulted in collective refusal to deal. could not pay in USD due to the announced tive position. Economic actors who are compet- payment processing systems.”
itors should make independent decisions neces-
Paynet, a subsidiary of Payserv Africa, had
contracts with banking institutions for the pro-
vision of electronic payment. The BAZ is a trade
association representing interests of banking
institutions in Zimbabwe. Membership of the
BAZ includes inter-alia, commercial banks, mer-
chant banks and savings banks.

“The conduct of collective refusal to deal is
considered in most jurisdictions as per se pro-
hibited collusive horizontal agreements. Refusal
to deal can be a result of legitimate reasons in-
cluding inter-alia non-payment, stocks shortage,
disrupted supply, breach of contractual terms
or commercial disputes,” the CTC said in its
quarterly report for the period ending 31 March
2022.

“Any party, may on its own, refuse to do busi-
ness with another party but concerted practices
or an agreement or arrangement among compet-
itors not to do business with suppliers or cus-
tomers, may constitute illegal or anti-competi-
tive group boycott, especially where as a group
of competitors collectively hold market power as

Page 30 Companies & Markets NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

BERNARD MPOFU Inflation terribly eroding firms’
economic competitiveness: CBZ
CBZ Holdings says inflationary pressures buf-
feting the domestic economy will render most CBZ says supply chain disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February will hurt Zimbabwe’s economy.
local firms less competitive as overheads surge,
while the mining sector may record easy pick- ing to three-digit figures after jumping to ering between 50% and 70% by year-end on But economic analysts and some captains of
ings. 131.7% in May from 96.4% in prior month. account of tight monetary policy among other industry say this may not be achievable in the
The central banking sees annual inflation hov- measures. short to medium term.
As plans to operationalise the African Con-
tinental Free Trade Area gather steam, experts
have warned that this initiative will paralyse
some industries in weaker economies.

In its latest trading update for the quar-
ter ending 31 March 2022, CBZ said supply
chain disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine in February would hurt Zimbabwe’s
economy.

“Rising global geopolitical tensions are ex-
pected to continue exerting both upside and
downside risks to the economy. In particular,
mining and other export-oriented sectors are
likely to benefit from firming commodity and
food prices on the global markets,” Rumbidzayi
Jakanani, the CBZ Holdings company secre-
tary, said in a statement.

“However, rising prices for oil, fertilisers,
and other critical imported raw materials,
will translate into higher domestic production
costs, thereby adversely impacting on compet-
itiveness and viability. Measures that limit the
adverse impact of the external shocks, should
therefore be prioritised. The group will con-
tinue to monitor the above-mentioned mac-
ro-economic developments with a view to bet-
ter manage emerging risks and opportunities.”

Globally, the first quarter saw the easing of
Covid-induced restrictions as countries opened
up economies and co-existed with the respira-
tory virus. This allowed business to resume, as
well as scale up operations.

However, the period was also characterised
by a surge in global inflationary pressures,
which somewhat constrained demand and con-
sumption, as central banks tightened monetary
policies while economic agents reprioritised ex-
penditures and shifted investment behaviours.

In Zimbabwe, inflationary pressures were
fuelled by rising global oil prices, as well as cur-
rency weaknesses.

The country’s inflation is dramatically surg-

Govt must allow private millers to take responsibility

DUMISANI NYONI

THE Stockfeed Manufacturers’ Association GMB monopoly in buying grains and oilseeds from uncontracted farmers crowded out the private sector from buying their own grain requirements.
(SMA) says the government should allow the
private grain-milling and stockfeed industry to ing and stockfeed industry to take responsi- the private sector from buying their own grain of ZW$17 316 per tonne. The SMA said the shift
take responsibility for procuring and storing 900 bility for procuring and storing 900 000 to requirements,” it said. from imported maize to domestic maize caused
000 to 960 000 metric tonnes (mt) of grain per 960 000mt of under the warehouse receipt sys- an increase in maize prices by almost 100% at
farming season, to avoid crowding out the private tem under supervision from GMB and AMA.” “The policy inadvertently burdened the Trea- a time when the Southern African Development
sector. sury at a time when Covid-19-related public Community (Sadc) wholesale prices were falling
While the GMB was granted monopo- health budgetary expenditures were already se- due to bumper harvests.
In 2019, under Statutory Instrument 145 ly marketing powers and adequate budget verely constraining the fiscal space. The GMB
of 2019, the government compelled farmers to to achieve a target of buying 1.8 million out grain purchases contributed to the macroeco- “The high cost of feeds in Zimbabwe due to
make grain deliveries to the Grain Marketing of the bumper harvest of 2.7 million tonnes, nomic instability — rising inflation and precip- high GMB wholesale marketing policy price
Board (GMB), instead of selling the grain to cus- SMA said the grain utility only managed to ac- itous Zimdollar depreciation — experienced in for maize has severely undermined growth and
tomers and millers themselves. quire an estimated 987 000mt of maize and the second half of 2021.” recovery of Zimbabwe’s livestock industry and
12 000mt of soybean. eroded the regional competitiveness of the do-
The regulations also ban the transportation of From January 2021 to December 2021, SMA mestic livestock sector against imports of dairy
more than five bags of maize, except when mak- “Unfortunately, the re-introduction of GMB bought 228 000 metric tons of maize from GMB products, pork and poultry meat from Zambia
ing deliveries to the state-run GMB. monopoly in buying grains and oilseeds from compared to the 182 026 tonnes bought (100% and South Africa,” the report says.
uncontracted farmers effectively crowded out imported) over the same period at a landed cost
But in its latest report, the SMA said the grain
utility’s monopoly over procurement of grain is
not sustainable.

“Fully aware of the potential trade-offs arising
from strict and blanket enforcement of GMB
monopoly statutes, the ministry (of Agriculture)
has in the past granted some policy latitude to
GMB and Agricultural Marketing Authority
(AMA) to exercise some rules-based discretion
enabling stockfeed and livestock companies to
buy maize and soybeans for direct use from local
farmers within their districts,” the report review-
ing 2021 performance reads in part.

“SMA recommends that, for the 2022/23
season going forward, the ministry of Agricul-
ture reviews enforcement of GMB statutes to
(a) accommodate common sense direct trad-
ing between uncontracted farmers and stock-
feed companies within the same district, (b)
crowd-in private sector to share the national
food security management burden by lim-
iting the national SGR stocks at GMB to
500 000mt and relying on private grain mill-

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 31

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

BERNARD MPOFU Dairy firms fined US$340 000
for violating acquisition rules
ZIMBABWE’S Competition Tariff Commis-
sion (CTC) has fined two food-processing ing barriers to entry. Notwithstanding that the Vertical integration in the dairy sector is a supplying Prodairy/Kershelmar’s rivals.
companies a total of US$343 000 for violating transaction strengthens the oligopolistic nature common practice, not only in Zimbabwe but “The commission noted that the transaction
the country’s mergers and acquisitions laws in a of the dairy processing market, the merger re- also globally owing to the perishable nature of
proposed merger which was red-flagged as oli- duced the wider market share gap that existed milk. However, the commission noted serious was implemented without the commission’s
gopolistic by the authority. between DZL and its rivals ushering effective competition concerns emanating from IAL’s approval, hence the merging parties violated
competition to DZL once a dominant player, and PGH’s presence in the upstream markets notification provisions of the Act and therefore
In December 2019, the commission received CTC said in its latest quarterly report for the of the dairy value chain, particularly the feed liable to a penalty,” the report reads.
a post-merger notification, wherein Prodairy ac- period ending 31 March. market.
quired 50% of the shareholding in Kershelmar. Following the violation, it was recommend-
“Although the merger increases chances of Stock feed, the commission said accounts for ed that the commission approves the Prodairy/
Prodairy and Kershelmar are locally regis- coordination in the relevant market, the com- between 60% - 70% of the cost of producing Kershelmar merger on condition that either
tered companies, whose main business is the mission also took cognizance of the pro-com- raw milk in Zimbabwe. IAL and PGH, through Innscor Africa Limited or Rowcost Investments
processing of dairy and dairy-related products. petitive aspect of the merger. Analysis of the National Foods Limited and Profeeds, controls (PGH’s investment vehicle) divests from the
vertical element of the merger indicated that the supply of stock feeds in Zimbabwe, com- merged entity.
Mafuro supplies raw milk, whereas both Pro- although Prodairy/Kershelmer had ability to manding 57% market share which can there-
dairy and Kershelmar are processors of dairy engage in customer foreclosure, it had no incen- fore afford to give Mafuro and other contracted A penalty of US$284 246.15 was imposed on
and dairy-related products. Mafuro is a joint tive to do so as it would not be profitable given dairy farmers large discounts on stock feed, with Prodairy and US$59 179.55 on Kershelmar, or
venture between Innscor Africa Limited (IAL) current local raw milk shortages in Zimbabwe.” the same not being extended to dairy farmers the Zimdollar equivalent as at the day of set-
and Progroup Holdings. tling the debt, for consummating the merger
without the commission’s approval.
According to the CTC, analysis of the hori-
zontal component of the merger revealed that
the Probrands/Kershelmer merger did not result
in unilateral effects as the relevant market has
Dairibord Zimbabwe Limited (DZL), which is
an equally strong rival.

“There is existence of countervailing buyer
power, and the merger does not enhance exist-

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Page 32 Stock Taking NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

2nd Flr, Bank Chambers Dealing : Research & Investments :

76 Samora Machel Manatsa Tagwireyi 263 773 289 120 Enock Rukarwa 263 777 193 053

Harare Richard Mashava 263 772 446 789

Tel: +2634797772/75/77; 797761/7/9 Email: [email protected] MD: Benson Gasura 263 735 167 321
Year High
24-Jun-2022

Opening Closing Price p Price % p Total Volume
Traded
COUNTER Isin Market Cap Sector Price (ZW$) Price (ZW$) Total Value Traded P/E Year Low
Afdis ZW0009011025 121.0500
Afsun ZW0009012080 40,501,349,448 Consumer Staples 342.2177 342.1017 (0.1160) (0.0339) 11,600 3,968,380.00 56.55 414.0000
Ariston ZW0009011041 5.8100
ART ZW000301DR35 28,452,856,440 Consumer Discretionary 19.8417 19.9819 0.1402 0.7066 18,200 363,670.00 3.94 24.0000 3.0500
Axia ZW0009012288 10.0000
BAT ZW0009011710 6,347,005,560 Consumer Staples 3.9001 3.9001 - - - - 30.00 4.8200 35.0000
Bridgefort Capital ZW0009012403 2,371.9000
Bridgefort Capital ZW0009012395 9,471,538,140 Materials 20.0000 20.0000 - - - - 51.28 28.8000 26.0000
Cafca Limited ZW0009011942 19.9988
CBZ ZW0009011967 66,232,361,971 Consumer Discretionary 118.3571 119.9535 1.5964 1.3488 14,200 1,703,340.00 126.27 210.0000 170.0000
CFI ZW0009011116 65.0000
Dairibord ZW0009011975 74,279,974,104 Consumer Staples 3599.9667 3599.9667 - - - - 42.04 4,392.0000 90.0500
Delta ZW0009011199 30.0000
Ecocash ZW0009012437 34,892,000 Consumer Staples 26.0000 26.0000 - - - - - 26.0000 155.0000
Econet ZW0009012122 62.0500
Edgars ZW0009011231 239,985,600 Consumer Staples 19.9988 19.9988 - - - - 3,703.48 20.0000 85.0000
Fbc ZW0009011926 4.0000
Fidelity ZW0009011876 8,595,340,000 Industrials 260.0000 260.0000 - - - - 11.39 260.0000 29.0000
First Capital Bank ZW0009012353 10.7000
FML ZW0009012197 98,274,131,813 Financials 127.7427 143.0000 15.2573 11.9438 1,000 143,000.00 4.62 180.0000 3.4000
FMP ZW0009012312 16.0000
General Beltings ZW0009012049 34,993,488,750 Consumer Staples 330.0000 330.0000 - - - - 485.29 330.0000 6.0000
Getbucks ZW0009012320 1.0525
Hippo ZW0009011272 17,900,042,900 Consumer Staples 45.0000 50.0000 5.0000 11.1111 100 5,000.00 37.58 60.0000 4.8500
Innscor ZW0009011298 245.0000
Lafarge ZW0009012056 464,286,091,854 Consumer Staples 363.0221 359.4096 (3.6125) (0.9951) 630,800 226,715,600.00 22.62 468.3000 161.5500
Mash Hodings ZW0009011348 80.0500
Masimba ZW0009012171 - IT, Communication 87.4786 77.4241 (10.0545) (11.4937) 833,800 64,556,250.00 221.21 189.3000 2.3000
Meikles ZW0009012114 45.0000
Nampak ZW0009012213 468,366,187,976 IT, Communication 181.1717 180.7961 (0.3756) (0.2073) 651,500 117,788,700.00 56.32 335.0000 120.0000
Natfoods ZW0009011371 11.0000
Nmbz ZW0009011389 3,021,238,905 Consumer Discretionary 4.5925 5.0000 0.4075 8.8732 900 4,500.00 20.00 6.7000 1,300.0000
NTS ZW0009011397 9.6600
Ok Zim ZW0009011785 47,708,444,817 Financials 70.0000 71.0000 1.0000 1.4286 100 7,100.00 6.51 80.0000 5.0400
Proplastics ZW0009012247 25.0000
Riozim ZW0009011959 2,396,312,402 Financials 21.9500 22.0000 0.0500 0.2278 100 2,200.00 36.67 23.0000 26.0000
RTG ZW0009011470 40.0000
Seedco Ltd ZW0009011504 26,982,324,113 Financials 12.3794 12.5000 0.1206 0.9742 400 5,000.00 5.48 13.2000 6.0000
Simbisa ZW0009012262 105.0000
Starafrica ZW0009011991 17,265,032,875 Financials 25.0166 25.0166 - - - - 48.11 28.7500 95.0000
Tanganda ZW0009012411 1.1850
Truworths ZW0009011561 14,801,551,562 Real Estate 11.7460 11.9545 0.2085 1.7751 3,300 39,450.00 4,269.46 12.6000 68.0000
Tsl ZW0009011579 1.5000
Turnall ZW0009011835 692,199,324 Industrials 1.2816 1.2900 0.0084 0.6554 200 258.00 3,225.00 2.6000 72.1000
Unifreight ZW0009012221 18,609,894,032 Financials 16.0000 16.0000 - - - - 5,925.93 16.0000 3.5000
Willdale ZW0009011850 24.0000
Zb ZW0009012007 54,393,194,935 Consumer Staples 281.8000 281.8000 - - - - 12.89 585.0000 2.8000
Zeco ZW0009012064 55.0000
ZHL ZW0009011611 245,333,129,160 Consumer Staples 469.6475 434.3898 (35.2577) (7.5073) 131,200 56,991,940.00 34.39 710.0000 0.0048
Zimpapers ZW0009011595 3.3600
Zimplow ZW0009012189 12,000,000,000 Materials 150.0000 150.0000 - - - - 2,142.86 175.0000 2.4000
19.1500
13,571,239,813 Real Estate 7.2952 7.3000 0.0048 0.0658 300 2,190.00 2.18 8.2000

14,574,207,565 Industrials 60.3103 60.3103 - - - - 11.25 82.0000

40,953,625,583 Consumer Staples 159.9503 159.0062 (0.9441) (0.5902) 32,100 5,104,100.00 28.65 280.0000

11,108,027,085 Industrials 14.8333 14.7000 (0.1333) (0.8987) 500 7,350.00 15.81 27.0000

136,800,216,000 Consumer Staples 2000.0000 2000.0000 - - - - 52.37 2,201.0000

11,418,086,568 Financials 28.0000 28.0000 - - - - 3.85 37.0000

2,970,307,314 Consumer Discretionary 11.7000 11.7000 - - - - 78.00 17.0000

47,402,100,408 Consumer Staples 41.2887 37.9317 (3.3570) (8.1306) 1,393,900 52,873,040.00 20.29 68.0000

15,116,137,680 Materials 60.0000 60.0000 - - - - 133.33 93.6000

13,423,241,700 Materials 110.0000 110.0000 - - - - (9.08) 170.0000

24,954,955,430 Consumer Discretionary 10.0000 10.0000 - - 700 7,000.00 124.69 10.0000

47,371,489,345 Consumer Staples 195.3323 195.3323 - - - - 164.12 262.0000

121,970,880,764 Consumer Discretionary 217.4010 216.9587 (0.4423) (0.2034) 549,900 119,305,600.00 54.65 359.9000

8,734,693,214 Consumer Staples 1.8002 1.8525 0.0523 2.9052 600 1,111.50 46.31 2.4750

59,770,059,113 Consumer Discretionary 231.7011 228.9474 (2.7537) (1.1885) 102,000 23,352,630.00 - 355.0000

845,985,509 Consumer Discretionary 2.2027 2.2027 - - - - 59.53 2.5000

44,994,908,070 Consumer Staples 126.0000 126.0000 - - 14,800 1,864,800.00 100.80 140.0000

1,990,361,736 Materials 4.0125 4.0125 - - - - 25.08 8.0000

3,236,816,805 Industrials 30.4000 30.4000 - - - - 16.43 37.0000

5,334,004,284 Materials 3.0000 3.0000 - - 1,800 5,400.00 88.24 4.5000

12,438,535,582 Financials 71.0000 71.0000 - - 2,900 205,900.00 13.50 104.0000

13,344,125 Industrials 0.0288 0.0288 - - - - (0.16) 0.0288

9,091,457,574 Financials 5.5326 5.0002 (0.5324) (9.6230) 8,200 41,002.00 1.75 6.2500

3,168,000,000 IT, Communication 5.0000 5.5000 0.5000 10.0000 91,000 500,500.00 28.95 7.0000

5,852,248,149 Industrials 24.5500 24.5500 - -- - 223.18 28.0000
4,484,500 675,565,012

Bindura ZWVX09010021 - Materials 0.0387 0.0387 - - - - - 0.0610 0.0315
Caledonia ZWVX301DR012 - Materials 13.0000 13.0000 - - - -
Padenga ZWVX09010013 140,001,904 Consumer Discretionary 0.2585 0.2585 - - - - - 13.0000 13.0000
Seedco Int BW0000002005 - Consumer Staples 0.2810 0.2810 - - - -
- 0.2770 0.2099
Datvest ETF ZW0009020034 - Derivative 2.0000 2.0000 - - 13,681 27,362.00
Morgan & CO Made in Zim ETF ZW0009020042 - Derivative 1.1800 1.1801 0.0001 0.0085 4,192,800 4,947,886.00 - 0.2850 0.2800
Morgan & CO Multi Sector ETF ZW0009020026 - Derivative 27.7633 27.7633
OML ETF ZW0009020018 - Derivative 11.0000 10.3204 - - - - - 2.9000 1.0000
(0.6796) (6.1782) 7,911 81,644.50
1.1800 1.0000

- 28.0000 10.0000

- 12.5300 4.7000

COMPANY Day's Risers %p COMPANY Day's losers %q
CBZ Price (ZWL$) 11.94 Ecocash Price (ZWL$) (11.49)
Dairibord 143.0000 11.11 ZHL 77.4241 (9.62)
Zimpapers 50.0000 10.00 Ok Zim 5.0002 (8.13)
Edgars 5.5000 8.87 Innscor 37.9317 (7.51)
Starafrica 5.0000 2.91 Tanganda 434.3898 (1.19)
1.8525 228.9474

This Price Sheet is based on PROVISIONAL information obtained during trading. No liability is accepted by FBC Securities (Private) Limited for any errors in this report.

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 33

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Which innovations are driving public
relations in 2022 and years beyond?

THE public relations (PR) industry is
still growing despite digital technolo-
gies such as social media, websites and
search engines.

In fact, there are five main areas that
we expect to see the PR industry grow
into over the next few years. This ar-
ticle shares those key areas, and what
you should look out for in terms of
innovation within them.

Digital PR lays the foundation
where online methods are used to
enhance traditional PR strategies. It
serves to increase awareness of a brand
using online methods. It is compa-
rable to conventional PR in many
aspects, but it allows you to reach a
far larger audience that you could
not reach using purely offline means.
Digital PR focuses on Internet-based
methods like as search engine optimi-
sation, content marketing, influencer
outreach, and social media to have the
most impact.

Public relations, as a strategic com-
munication process, builds mutually
beneficial relationships between or-
ganisations and their publics. Its pur-
pose is to inform, convince and per-
suade in order to build support for an
organisation’s programmes, products
and services with its publics.

Media relations symbol for one’s organisation has be- ucts or services. These stories can be cies). This means that there are lots of growing despite digital technologies
Media relations has continued to grow come critical. Branding also means to told through any medium (video, im- options out there for companies seek- such as social media, websites and
as part of a PR practitioner’s arsenal. promote or market a product or ser- ages, text), but they should be authen- ing better insights into how satisfied search engines. Traditional media out-
Journalists, in particular, seek person- vice by using its name or logo in order tic and compelling if they are going customers really feel about what they lets continue losing ground because of
alisation, exclusivity, and PR profes- to create public recognition and loy- to resonate with consumers who are are getting — and whether those feel- their inability to adapt quickly enough
sionals who can assist with sources and alty for it. We do this through adver- bombarded by advertising messages ings match the company’s perceptions amid changing consumer habits on-
specialists, whether they are client-re- tising, sponsorships, event marketing, every day. about themselves! line. Other forms such as video-based
lated. promotions and publicity. content are growing rapidly due to
Measurement and analytics Artificial intelligence their ability to engage audiences, both
“The popular trend for 2022 is Branding is an investment in your In the early days of public relations, We already use extensively artificial younger generation Millennials/Gen-
decentralised PR, meaning that Press company’s future that can pay off in you used to rely on Press coverage to intelligence in PR today through tools eration Z members along with baby
releases go through many trusted customer recognition, sales revenue measure how effective your campaigns like email marketing automation and boomers. Companies are searching for
platforms and sources. All this said, a and competitive advantage over those were. But with growing competition social media management platforms. ways to help them connect better.
Press release is still a key tool to have who do not invest wisely in branding for attention, it is getting harder for The next step is for artificial intel-
and most effective when personalised themselves brands to get in front of people and ligence (AI) technology to become Conclusion
to journalists and kept concise,” says Content and storytelling make a lasting Innovation is an intrinsic part of the
Elisette Carlson, Entrepreneur.com Content and storytelling have always impression. So PR industry and, as it grows, so will
contributor and founder of SMACK! been at the heart of PR. But it has only today, we are the ways we interact with our audi-
Media. been in recent years that they have tak- looking at social Corporate ence. The goal? To encourage brands
en on such a prominent role in this in- media interac- to engage with consumers without be-
However, social media has pro- dustry. tions like likes Communications ing obtrusive or intrusive. These inno-
vided organisations a direct medium and comments vations should make sharing informa-
through which they can communi- Content has become king: more and website traf- tion with customers easier and more
cate with their audiences, cultivating important than ever before in your fic — which is a effective for marketers everywhere by
healthy and productive relations. Not business strategy, relevant to almost lot easier to track Lenox Lizwi Mhlanga providing great content that’s available
only does social media provide enor- every client's need and with an in- when and where they want it — even
mous opportunities for publicity, it creased focus on social media channels than paper clips if that means waiting until after dinner
has grown to be a great tool to connect like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. thrown on a corkboard! smarter about human behaviour so it to hear about tomorrow’s new menu
with the general population as a social This means you need to create diverse Getting feedback from customers is can tailor messages for each individual items.
marketing tool. content for multiple audiences at once always important, but these days it has person or audience segment based on
— and do so quickly! never been easier or more accessible their specific needs or interests rather *About the writer: Lenox Mhlanga
Practitioners will tell you that social for organisations around the world at than simply learning from past data is a specialist communication con-
media has presented them with the As more brands focus on content every level — from local businesses all points shared by groups within an in- sultant and can be reached at: lenox-
rare opportunity of not only receiving marketing, it has become increasingly the way up through national govern- dustry sector. [email protected] and +263772
feedback in real time but also being important to have a strong narrative ments (and even international agen- The public relations industry is still 400 656.
a channel for direct communication that goes beyond just pitching prod-
with the public at large. Social media
is an excellent tool to network with
others in the field, especially one’s
competitors.

Social networking, to connect with
new clients, especially those who share
one’s interests or values, makes audi-
ence segmentation a more straightfor-
ward and measurable process.
Branding
Branding is an important aspect of
the PR industry, as creating a unique,
recognizable and valuable name and

Property
NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022 PROPERTY INTERIORS ARCHITECTURE GARDENING Page 34

The home of prime property: [email protected]

Epworth residents yet to get title deeds

Despite being promised title deeds by President Emmerson Mnangagwa during a star rally in Epworth on 12 February 2022 as a campaign tool, residents have still not been given title deeds and they still live in
squalid conditions and houses built on rocky terrain (below). — Picture: Aaron Ufumeli

NewsHawks News Analysis Page 35

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Is July Moyo new
face of corruption?

Violating constitution an
act of criminality: Experts

MOSES MATENGA “He is actually worse than [Ignatius] Chom- Local Government minister July Moyo
bo. At least Chombo was sly in his corruption,
THE government has willfully violated the this one is not.” ative directives from the minister responsible for devolution in the constitution of Zimbabwe.
country’s constitution by abusing devolution Local Government to local authorities which are This micro-managing of local authorities by gov-
funds without the required legislation amid fears “What is the use of buying fire engines even related to procurement using devolution funds.” ernment is a threat to local democracy and unac-
that the abuse of millions of dollars meant for for rural district councils? ceptable,” CHRA said in a statement.
other services in local authorities fronted by Lo- “This is a clear violation of section 264 on
cal Government minister July Moyo is a dent on “Devolution gives councils freedom of ad-
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administra- ministration and priorities and what July Moyo
tion. is doing is infringing on such. Councils should
just refuse to buy those things and make sure it
Moyo has been implicated in controversial is government banditry and no one should pri-
multi-million-dollar transactions reflecting bad- oritise this theft,” the former Gweru mayor and
ly on Zanu PF as a corrupt party ahead of the ex-Local Government deputy minister told The
2023 general elections and setting it up against NewsHawks.
the electorate.
“Citizens must begin to wake up and smell the
Moyo has been at the centre of controversy coffee. We can’t allow this glaring theft. It is now
in multi-million-dollar deals that have seen res- a citizen issue and we must resist corruption.”
idents castigating the government and Zanu PF,
saying the party is superintending over corrup- Harare Residents Trust (HRT) said the gov-
tion cases while folding their hands as the party ernment is violating the constitution of Zim-
secretary for transport is implicated in alleged babwe by directing local authorities to receive
abuse of office. unsolicited fire tenders from Belarus without the
involvement of the local authorities and ratepay-
The Local Government minister is implicated ers.
in attempts to arm-twist Harare City Council
into embracing the US$400 million Pomona “Devolution funds should be disbursed to lo-
deal that has been challenged by residents and cal authorities and the local authorities should
other stakeholders. decide how they want to utilise them in liaison
with their ratepayers. One thing that is very clear
This week, Moyo again came under fire over is that the fire tenders are very expensive, which
the directive to all local authorities to purchase, makes them unaffordable to local authorities,”
without going to tender, fire engines at an in- the HRT said.
flated price of US$464 296 in a deal that will see
the Belarusian businessman Alexander Zingman, “The question is: Who is benefiting from such
Zimbabwe’s honorary consul in Minsk, receiving an arrangement? It is not local authorities. It is
over US$61 million. definitely not the whole government involved in
these opaque deals. This can only be a few cor-
Zingman has strong links to Mnangagwa and rupt individuals who do not understand how
has business interests in and outside Zimbabwe, devolution works.”
with most of them classified as dodgy.
The HRT said residents in Harare, Chitung-
While Moyo’s name features prominently in wiza, Ruwa and Epworth should reject the deal.
the deal, there have also been accusations of him
inflating prices of water pumps meant for Ha- According to the Combined Harare Residents
rare. Association (CHRA), the directive was an attack
on devolution and should be stopped.
Moyo has not spoken on the allegations main-
ly raised by Norton member of the National As- “CHRA condemns the attack on devolution
sembly Temba Mliswa. and local democracy through numerous exploit-

“I have been saying July Moyo is destroying Local authorities are faced with serious problems, including shortage of potable water.
this government and the country through cor-
ruption and you all thought it’s just politics,”
Mliswa said.

“What do you say about this fire trucks deal
now?” Mliswa asked rhetorically.

Analyst Blessing Vava said Moyo has been a
disaster in the years he has been in government
and his behaviour reflects the government’s cor-
rupt tendencies.

“July Moyo has been a disaster and a very
corrupt minister who is habouring presidential
ambitions and is trying to consolidate his power
base within government through the control of
local authorities,” Vava said.

“But also he is just a representation of the
whole government’s corrupt record which has
reached alarming levels. They are running the
state coffers dry through primitive accumulation
which however is a sign that their days could be
numbered,” he added.

Local government expert Sessel Zvidzai said
local authorities were faced with serious prob-
lems, including potable water, passable roads,
refuse collection, among other issues, hence the
government’s use of force to have them acquire
fire engines was diabolic.

“What is important is water provision, refuse
removal and roads. The minister and his team
cannot force their wishes on councils. One needs
to go through tender processes for such and I
don’t think anyone went to Belarus for such pro-
cesses,” Zvidzai said.

Page 36 Critical Thinking NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

The politics of bail: Case of 
Taona B. persecution by prosecution
Denhere

THE American sociologist and phi- that a person who has been arrested: only realistic way the accused may proceedings and should arise, for exe- granting of bail to opposition activ-
losopher Lewis Mumford once said:  “must be released unconditionally, guarantee that he or she may face cution of the judgement”. ists, civil society activists and the gov-
“A man of courage never needs weap- trial is by keeping them remanded Some animals are more equal than ernment critics by the magistrates.
ons, but he may need bail." or on reasonable conditions, pend- in custody.  This normally applies to others
ing a charge or trial, unless there are high-profile crimes of murder, terror- The section 56(1) of the Zimbabwe- The magistrates have weaponised
The deplorable albeit unsurprising  compelling reasons justifying their ism and treason. Where public and an constitution provides that: “All and instrumentalised the denial of
optics of senior Citizens' Coalition continued detention”. national security might be at a greater persons are equal before the law and bail to government critics, opposition
for Change leaders and members of risk if the accused is released on bail. have a right to equal protection and and civil society activists as a punitive
Parliament Job Sikhala and Godfrey Additionally, section 117(1) of the benefit of the law”. This is coupled extralegal measure despite the fact
Sithole in leg irons and being frog- Criminal Procedure and Evidence Moreover, bail can also genuinely with the fact that article 14(1) of the that bail is a legal and constitution-
marched into Rotten Row magis- Act provides that: be denied in cases where there is high ICCPR provides that “All persons al requirement for the accused. Bail
trates' court in Harare has again risk of the accused absconding and shall be equal before the courts and is not supposed to be punitive in
recast the spotlight on the controver- “A person who is in custody in re- also where there is a greater likelihood tribunals”. Article 14(1) is read and character. The quantum of bail or the
sial, divisive and politicised issue on spect of an offence shall be entitled to that the accused will intimidate and operationalised together with article refusal of the bail must not be mo-
who is entitled to bail in our courts. be released on bail at any time after threaten the witnesses. Nonetheless, 26 of the ICCPR which stipulates tivated by the inclination to inflict
he or she has appeared in  court on it would be a travesty of justice if bail that: “All persons are equal before the punishment or to act as a deterrent to
Over the last three years, the mag- a charge and before sentence is im- is denied a person who will neither law and are entitled without any dis- would-be offenders.
istrates' courts have been at the centre posed, unless court finds that it is in abscond from trial nor violate any crimination to the equal protection
of this controversial issue regarding the interests of justice that he or she bail conditions. of law”.  Moreover, article 3 of the Accordingly, the majority of cases
the awarding of bail. Thus, there should be detained in custody”. African Charter provides that: “Every that are brought before the magis-
have been legal  inconsistencies and Suffice it to say that the Zimba- individual shall be equal before the trates by the state against opposition
eyebrow-raising decisions made by Thus, the applying process and bwean government is a signatory to law and entitled to equal protection members, civil society activists and
magistrates in terms of who qualifies granting of bail is underscored by the the the pre-trial rights  enshrined in  of the law”. government critics are prima facie as
or does not qualify for bail. We have rule of law principle of presumption The International Covenant on Civil a result of trumped up and baseless
been witnessing a consistent pattern, of innocence until proven guilty by a and Political Rights (ICCPR), par- Notwithstanding all  this robust charges that lack evidentiary support
whereby opposition leaders, legisla- court of law. ticularly article 9(3) which stipulates constitutional and legal architecture, to result in both sentencing and con-
tors and activists, together with civil that: Zimbabwe's judicial system still has viction. Cognizant of this fact, the
society leaders and real or perceived That is, the accused should not an institutionalised Orwellian (in) Zanu PF government, as part of its
government critics are consistently be deprived of their constitution- “Anyone arrested or detained on justice system whereby some politi- authoritarian consolidation game-
denied bail by the magistrates. How- al and civil  liberties until they have a criminal charge shall be brought cal animals and individuals are more plan, systematically denies bail to its
ever, on the other hand there has also been convicted of their crimes. This promptly before a judge or other equal than others, in total disregard opponents and uses it as a form of
been another concerning systematic principle is highlighted by the Afri- officer authorised by law to exercise for the proverbial scales of Lady Jus- punitive pre-trial sentence. Thus, the
pattern whereby senior Zanu PF offi- can Charter on Human and Peoples` judicial power and shall be entitled tice. Thus, over the last three years systematic denial of bail to govern-
cials, government ministers and Zanu Rights, article 7(1) which underlines: to trial within reasonable time or to we have witnessed a consistent pat- ment critics by the magistrates is now
PF politically exposed persons (PEPs) “the right to be presumed innocent release. It shall not be the general rule tern and culture of injustice, when facilitating de facto imprisonment.
are awarded  bail without much ado until proven guilty by a compe- that persons awaiting trial shall be it comes to the application for and
by the same magistrates. tent court or tribunal”. Zimbabwe detained in custody, but release may There is the high-profile case of
is a party to the African Charter on be subject to guarantees to appear for Joana Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri
Therefore, this opinion piece will Rights. trial, at any other stage of the judicial and Netsai Marova, who were ab-
attempt to  rearticulate the politics
and the shenanigans regarding the However, in some extreme circum-
politicisation and the partiality of bail stances the state may believe that the
application. Thus, I will argue that
notwithstanding the fact that it is a
legal and constitutional requirement
that the accused or the defendant is
entitled to be awarded bail upon suc-
cessful application for it, for certain
sections of the Zimbabwean citizenry
the awarding of bail has been at the
discretion and mercy of questionable
magistrates. It has not escaped the
public's notice that Zanu PF's polit-
ically exposed persons  are routinely
granted bail regardless of the severity
of the allegations against them.
What is bail?
Bail is a legal provision that allows the
accused who has been remanded for
trial at a later scheduled date to be al-
lowed to exercise his or her legal and
constitutional liberties until the com-
mencement of trial. Therefore, when
the accused is granted bail, he or she
would have entered a contractual ob-
ligation known as the recognisance.
That is he or she will exercise their
liberties on a legally binding condi-
tion that they pay a sum of money in
the event of  defaulting on their court
appearance on the specified date,
time and place for their trial or fur-
ther remand.

Accordingly, once the accused per-
son is granted bail, he or she is legally 
protected from deprivation of liberty
unless they have violated and disre-
garded the bail conditions or unless
the bail bond is terminated. More-
over, the right to bail is undergirded
by section 50(1) (d) of the Zimba-
bwean constitution which stipulates

NewsHawks Critical Thinking Page 37

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

ducted, tortured and sexually assault- Members of Parliament Job Sikhala (right) and Godfrey Sithole who were arrested over violence surrounding party activist Moreblesssing Ali.
ed by alleged state security operatives.
They were subsequently arrested on exhorting the public to take action involving millions of United States the courts, smartly dressed, unaccost- become graveyards of justice. Thus,
10 June 2020 charged with section against the Zanu PF government. dollars they would be facing. ed by any security forces and was im- they have become theatres where
31 (a)(1)(iii) of the Criminal Law Sikhala subsequently spent 31 days mediately granted bail. Lady Justice is dismembered and mu-
Act, namely communicating or pub- on pre-trial detention  before he was For instance, after public pressure tilated by some captured and com-
lishing a false statement prejudicial to eventually granted bail. and outcry against former Health The same treatment was also given promised magistrates.
the state as well section 184(1)(f ) of minister Moyo's involvement in the to Henerietta Rushwaya who on 26
the Criminal Law Act, namely defeat- Additionally, Sikhala, Chin'ono Draxgate scandal, he was eventually October 2020 was arrested at Robert They have become the regime's
ing or obstructing the course of jus- and opposition Citizens' Coalition arrested on 19 June 2020. Nonethe- Mugabe International Airport af- shock troops for dispensing injustices
tice as defined in section 184(1)(f ). for Change spokesperson Fadzayi less, he did not even spend a night ter a sting operation intercepted her and questionable and controversial
They were denied bail on 15 June and Mahere were arrested again on 9 Jan- in police cells. However, the follow- with 6kgs of refined gold ready to be rulings, particularly when it comes to
remanded in custody until 26 June. uary 2021 on allegations of commu- ing day he arrived at the magistrates' smuggled to Dubai. However, when the denial of bail to opposition activ-
nicating falsehoods  prejudicial to the courts, chauffeur driven and accom- she appeared for initial bail hearing, ists and government critics.
Whilst in custody they were denied state, only to be released on different panied by his personnel aides. she was automatically granted bail
access to food from their relatives. days after numerous failed attempts unopposed by the state. On the other hand, the magis-
Since then they have been re-arrest- to get bail. He was neither handcuffed nor trates have been exercising blatant
ed numerous times and refused bail humiliated by being taken to court Her situation was only made un- bias, partiality and judicial nepo-
and then belatedly awarded bail and However, this blatant instrumen- on ramshackle prison trucks. Unsur- tenable after Chin'ono had set the cat tism  when it comes to granting bail
then kept on perpetual remand, with talisation of bail by the state in ca- prisingly, he was immediately granted among the pigeons when he disclosed to government officials and Zanu
their trial failing to take place or if it hoots with the magistrates as a pu- bail and drove back to his luxurious that his reliable sources within the  PF politically exposed persons. This 
takes place, the state will continue to nitive measure against government home. NPA had already informed him that reprehensible level of judicial incon-
employ delaying tactics designed to critics is in direct contrast with the the state would not oppose Rush- sistency and favouritism for Zanu PF
defeat the course of justice, thereby manner in which senior Zanu PF Moreover, when former Labour waya's bail application. This was not- politically exposed persons, coupled
keeping the accused in the vicious officials, th3 ruling prty's political- and Social Welfare minister Petronel- withstanding the fact that there was with the unprecedented politicisation
circle of persecution through prose- ly exposed persons and government la Kagonye was arrested on corrup- a prima facie open-and-shut case of and weaponisation  of  bail against
cution. ministers are treated when they seek tion charges on 7 February 2021, she illicit smuggling of the precious yel- government critics has ultimate-
bail at the magistrates' courts. was also given red carpet treatment low metal out of the country, which ly compromised and corrupted the
This same template has also been by the magistrate in comparison to normally attracts a huge prison sen- constitutional guardrails   and legal
deployed against the student ac- Thus, in most of the cases, Zanu the vicious and degrading treatment tence. It was after this embarrassing and architecture that  are ostensibly
tivist Alan Moyo, who spent 72 PF politically exposed persons have given to government critics such as disclosure from Chin'ono and the ac- designed  to safeguard the impartiali-
days on pre-trial detention with- been granted preferential and favour- Chin'ono and Sikhala. Thus, on 9 companying public outcry that when ty, integrity and independence of the
out bail, only to be released on 19 able  treatment by the magistrates February 2021 when she appeared the state sommersalted and opposed judiciary insofar as the application for
February 2021. However, there is whenever they apply for bail. for her initial bail hearing, she nev- bail. and granting of bail is concerned.
also a high-profile case of investiga- er suffered the humiliating indignity
tive journalist Hopewell Chin'ono, There have been clear cases of ju- of being handcuffed nor leg ironed Conclusion *About the writer: Taona Den-
which demonstrates the pinnacle of  dicial nepotism, whereby the state accompanied by menacing prison or Needless to say, over the past three here is a human rights and in-
state-sanctioned  vindictive and ma- will never oppose bail applications police officials as is the case with the years the magistrates' courts, partic- ternational development lawyer
levolent  persecution by prosecution. against Zanu PF's politically exposed opposition activists. ularly at Rotten Row in Harare, have based in the United Kingdom.
Chin'ono spent a combined 82 days persons, notwithstanding the serious
on pre-trial detention within the no- allegations and charges of corruption Instead, she cat-walked through
torious and inhumane prison systems
of Zimbabwe, including in the dread-
ed Chikurubi Maximum Security
Prison.

Chin'ono was initially arrested in
July 2020 on trumped-up charges of
incitement to participate in public 
violence on allegations of violating
section 187(1)(a) as read together
with section 37(1)(a)(i) of the Crim-
inal Law [Codification and Reform]
Act. However, his arrest came hard
on the heels of explosive investiga-
tive work Chin'ono had conducted,
alongside other journalists, to expose
and unpack  the infamous Draxgate
corruption scandal that involved
the disgraced  former minister of
Health and Child Welfare Obadiah
Moyo, Zanu PF politically exposed
person Delish Nguwaya and Drax
International. On these allegations,
Chin'ono spent 45 days on pre-trial
detention, in Chikurubi. It was also
on the same criminal allegations that
opposition leader Jacob Ngarivhume
spent 45 days on pre-trial detention 
after failing to secure bail on four dif-
ferent attempts.

On 3 November 2020, Chin'ono
was arrested on flimsy and ridiculous
allegations that he had violated his
bail conditions and obstructed jus-
tice. This was after he tweeted that
he had credible information from
the National Prosecution Authority
(NPA) which showed that  the NPA
would most likely not oppose bail
against Henrietta

Rushwaya, who had been caught
red handed trying to smuggle  6kgs
of refined gold to Dubai. Conse-
quently, Chin'ono spent 20 days on
pre-trial detention in remand prison
after being denied bail on numerous
attempts.

Needless to say, on 21 August
2020 Job Sikhala was arrested and
charged on allegations that he incited
the public to commit violence. This
was after he posted videos on Twitter

Page 38 Critical Thinking NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Taona B.
Denhere

OVER the past few days, there Professor Jonathan Moyo.
has been a high-octane, ferocious,
heated and polarising  debate on Demystifying structurelessness on
the issue regarding why the Citi- Zimbabwe's political landscape
zens' Coalition for Change (CCC) atively answered the structures Therefore, in the case of the another important case study is  ising and indivisualising responsi-
has no visible political and organi- question by saying that; CCC, there are political develop- the dialectical voluntarism by the bility and authority to its ordinary
sational structures on the ground. ments that point to that type of ordinary CCC supporters when, members. This has been done by
"Whenever I hear no structure political structural arrangement against the odds, they successfully what Hwende christened “Op-
The debate was triggered by my answer to it  is simple: The 100 in the manner it has conducted raised the money for a bulletproof eration Munhu Wese KuMusha”
the controversial, divisive and million Nigerians that live in pov- its political business since its in- sport utility vehicle for Nelson whereby every ordinary member
exiled former Zanu PF govern- erty will be the structure. The 35 ception on 24 January 2022. For Chamisa. of the CCC must take it upon
ment minister, Professor Jonathan million Nigerians that don't know instance, there have been no vis- themselves to periodically visit
Moyo. Moyo has been incessantly where their next meal will come ible and conventional grassroots Furthermore, on 16 June 2022, their rural areas and spread the
and provocatively tweeting and from will be structure”. Accord- structures; nonetheless, when the we also witnessed the efficacy gospel of democracy and consci-
arguing inter alia that CCC, by ingly, Obi was in essence articu- CCC was  officially launched at of the CCC diasporan de facto entise the villagers on behalf of
failing to provide and institution- lating on horizontal power struc- the  Zimbabwe Grounds, the mo- structures, when they organised a the CCC. That is, every member
alise visible political structures on tures, where there is bottom-up bilisation and drumming up of march and a rally in the Hillbrow of the CCC must become a de
the ground, will face existential institutionalisation of power, re- support was largely done on a ad area of Johannesburg in South Af- facto political commissar and an
difficulties in its campaign for sponsibility and authority. hoc basis mainly by foot soldiers rica, as part of Africa Youth Day evangelist of the gospel of democ-
the 2023 general election. Moyo of the movement. commemorations. The speakers racy and change in the rural areas.
further argued that structures are This is where power, authori- exhorted CCC members to go
the oxygen of any serious political ty and responsibility are decen- Similarly,  the CCC fundrais- home and register to vote and to Accordingly, Professor David
organisation and without them tralised and individualised to the ing campaign for the 26 March also arrange to return to Zimba- Groeber, one of the leading figure
parties will asphyxiate. rank and file support base of the by-elections was conducted and bwe in 2023 and cast their vote in in the Occupy Wall Street Move-
political party. This involves the freelanced mainly by individual the general election. ment, said that: “ These move-
However, as expected there was informalisation or uberisation of party members in conjunction ments do not need an intellectual
also considerable pushback from responsibility, power and author- with the diasporan community. Crucially, the CCC under the vanguard to provide them with
certain sections of the Zimbabwe- ity. Thus, it is a laissez faire ap- Through launching GoFundMe stewardship of its interim sec- an ideology because they already
an netizens who included diehard proach towards  structuring and campaigns and Twitter Spaces retary-general Chalton Hwende have one; the rejection of intel-
CCC members. Accordingly, the organising the machinery of a po- fundraising platforms. Crucially, has been establishing bottom-up lectual vanguards and embrace
majority of them tend to ascribe litical party. structuration through, decentral-
to the notion that says “if it's not
broken, don't fix it”. Thus, they
believe the way the CCC has been
designed and organised is fully
servicing its purpose. That is, any 
suggestion that the CCC must
establish visible structures on the
ground must be taken with a grain
of salt. Thus, the advice must be 
viewed with a great degree of sus-
picion.

However, Joreen Freeman, in
his academic paper titled “Tyran-
ny of the Structurelessness” argued
that “Contrary to what we would
like to believe, there is no such
thing as a structureless group. Any
group of people of whatever na-
ture that comes together for any
length of time for any purpose
will inevitably structure itself in
some fashion. The structure may
be flexible, it may vary over time,
it may evenly or unevenly distrib-
ute tasks, power and resources”.

Therefore, in this opinion piece
, I will attempt to disarticulate
and demystify this deeply divi-
sive issue of political structures or
lack thereof within our body pol-
itic. I will argue that both Zanu
PF and the CCC are plagued by
a lack of visible grassroots struc-
tures within their respective polit-
ical formations. This explains why
in the case of Zanu PF, there has
been conflation of the state and
the party. However, this lack of
visible and traditional structure
does not necessarily translate to
structurelessness. Thus structures
do exist albeit informally and in a
very unconventional way.
Horizontal and vertical structuring
Peter Obi, one of the presidential
candidates in the forthcoming Ni-
gerian general elections, provoc-

NewsHawks Critical Thinking Page 39

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

of multiplicity and horizontal Citizens' Coalition for Change leader Nelson Chamisa. the party grassroots, at cell lev-
democracy itself ”. According- el, are in very poor shape and to
ly, when the diehard CCC sup- be a leaderless movement, without enon, where power, authority and structures can be clearly demon- some extent non-existent.
porters were resolutely pushing overt structure as a counter-hege- responsibilities are highly cen- strated in the manner in which
back against Prof Moyo's thesis monic and security strategy. They tralised and to a certain extent Zanu PF periodically contravenes Suffice to say that there are 
of reconstructing overt and vis- had embraced Bruce Lee's doc- personalised. Thus, ordinary party the constitution and abuses vil- interesting and valuable histori-
ible structures for their fledgling trine of “Be formless and shape- members and low-ranking offi- lage chiefs, headmen, teachers and cal  lessons and examples to also
political movement, they were in less like water”. This explains why cials are hardly allowed to make headmasters who are deployed as deploy and reflect upon on this
essence  embracing Groeber's doc- there has been intense resistance independent decisions and imple- de facto political commissars of whole controversial and polarising
trine of rejecting intellectual van- from the CCC supporters against ment their own policies without Zanu PF, especially during elec- debate about structures or lack
guardism and embracing the mul- Moyo's over-prescriptive and un- approval from the top leadership. tion season. thereof. Accordingly, between the
tiplicity of horizontal democracy. solicited notion of establishing Unfortunately to a great extent years 1963 and 1979 both Zanu
Thus, they were in essence happy overt structures. the opposition parties in Zim- This dearth of grassroots struc- and Zapu were outlawed political
with the flexibility and fluidity of babwe have also exported those ture was brought to national at- organisations within Rhodesia.
the status quo. However, vertical political hierarchical, centralised and bu- tention and sharp focus with the They were criminalised and con-
structuringvis the orthidox or reaucratised power structures into recent debacle, confusion and sidered persona non grata and
Needless to say, the CCC sup- conventional form where there their movements. disaster that accompanied Zanu had no visible political structures
porters and to a certain degree its is a centralised and hierarchical PF's national cell audit cam- whereas, on the other side, Bish-
leadership have been psychologi- distribution of positions, power However, it is important to paigns. op Abel Muzorewa and his par-
cally, emotionally and physically and authority. This is a top-down note that, Zanu PF, despite hav- ty UANC were allowed to have
scarred by the manner in which approach which results in bureau- ing the power of incumbency and Thus, the whole cell audit cam- political structures and conduct
they were forced to abandon and cratisation of power and respon- being at the helm for the past 42 paigns were marred by poor turn- their political business freely in
dump their hitherto political ve- sibilities. This form of organising years, has also been finding it dif- outs and huge apathy. In some  Rhodesia. However, when both
hicle, the MDC-Alliance. Hence, and structuring a political party ficult to establish and institution- regions such as Gwanda and Beit- Zapu and Zanu were unbanned
there is over-protectionism and has often resulted in elitism and alise organic grassroots structures. bridge they had to cancel the cell in January 1980, they  had only
excessive caution whenever out- spawning a cult of personality and Hence, the Zanu PF government audit meetings after people failed less than two months to prepare
siders, particularly former Zanu the "big man" type of politics. has always conflated the state ma- to turn up. Even the disgraced for elections, but managed to con-
PF members, have exhorted or vo- chinery with its Zanu PF political former vice-president Kembo vincingly defeat Muzorewa.
ciferously cajoled them to either Zanu PF in its current form business. This dearth of grassroots Mohadi, when addressing a Zanu
convene an inaugural congress or perfectly illustrates this phenom- PF meeting, openly admitted that Fast forward to 24 January 2022,
in this particular  case establish an when the CCC was formed from
overt grassroots structure. Their the ashes of the MDC-Alliance,
fear and insecurities are based on it had neither the visible grass-
the need to protect their newly  roots structures nor the financial
political baby from being  infil- war chest in comparison to both
trated, soiled and sabotaged by the Zanu PF and the MDC-T.
state agents. However, on 22 March 2022, it
managed to perform very well and
This was further buttressed win 19 parliamentary seats and a
by Hopewell Chin'ono when he good number of local government
tweeted that one senior Zanu PF council seats. These two historical
official has confided in him that examples point to the fact that
the lack of visible structure by the ordinary people of Zimbabwe are
CCC is making it difficult for the politically literate and streetwise
Zanu PF government to infiltrate and thus able to discern genuine
and capture key CCC officials. political forces from charlatans.
Thus, there are fears and insecu- The masses know those who gen-
rities; even though they might uinely represent and champion
border on hypersensitiveness and their socio-economic and polit-
paranoia, they may be well-justi- ical needs regardless of whether
fied. the political parties have visible
or no visible structures. Therefore,
Moreover, incognito structures in as much as visible organic and
can also be very useful as a form robust grassroots structure are an
of protective measure for the essential institutional ingredient
CCC members. That is, it will for political parties, winning the
make it difficult for the state to battle for the hearts and minds
identify, isolate and ferret out key of the electorate can mitigate the
CCC  members for abduction, lack of visible structures.
murder or neutralisation, since
there is prima facie evidence that *About the writer: Taona
points to a violent and treacher- Denhere is a human rights and
ous 2023 general elections. This international development law-
was the same strategy adopted by yer based in the United King-
the Umbrella political movement dom.
of Hong Kong, when it decided to

Page 40 The Big Debate NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

IN recent years there has been a growing Human rights and Johanne
public outcry about patriarchal practic- Marange Apostolic Church
es, gender hegemony, sexual harassment
and other forms of gender-based violence Members of the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church.
within the African apostolic churches,
particularly the Johanne Marange Ap- Pertinent questions regarding jects instead of equals in almost all This command gave impetus to early may imply that he had become an
ostolic Church (JMAC) in Manicaland church-state relations were answered religions. In most of African Christi- church fathers to assume power over embodiment of the government it-
province in Zimbabwe. by putting the two discourses in jux- anity, women are required to be sub- the state. self (“Moses became a judge - Goo-
taposition. This was achieved through missive, to their husbands. gle Search,” 2016). Another case that
Studies have been done and books a discussion of the background that In addition, Jesus described Peter shows superiority of religion to the
written on the subject of theology and motivated the researcher to undertake The situation is worse in Islam as a rock upon which the church was state was when the Israelites rejected
human rights. The relationship between this study, presentation of statement where women are denied the most to be built and he bestowed abso- theocratic rule and Saul was appoint-
religion and human rights is both com- of the problem, purpose as well as basic rights and are treated as inferior lute powers on him by declaring that ed the first king of Israel.
plex and inextricable. carefully thought-out research objec- subjects who have no say in framing whatever he bound on earth would
tives, questions and the significance their own trajectory. The situation is also be bound in heaven (Matthew Meanwhile, the 1648 Treaty of
While most of the world’s religions of the study. equally the same in African tradition- 16:18). Thus, scripturally, the power Westphalia is the most popular doc-
have supported violence, repression al religion. over the earthly dominion was vested ument that explicitly disempowered
and prejudice, they have also played a An explanation of the research on the church by Jesus himself. the church, which had enjoyed state
crucial role in the modern struggle for methodology for data collection and Thus, the deprivation of rights monopoly until the treaty ended its
human rights, as John Witte and M. presentation of the structure of this to women and children is universal. Right from the onset and accord- hegemony over the state (“The Treaty
Christian Green write in Religion and thesis concluded the paper. A detailed Nevertheless, this thesis zeroes in on ing to the scriptures, religion had of Westphalia of 1648 and the Ori-
Human Rights: An Introduction. presentation of these and more en- AICs (Musevenzi, 2017:1). The moti- power over the state. The Bible makes gins of Sovereignty,” 2021:1+).
sues. vation is to seek a deeper understand- a claim that Abraham was made the
Most importantly, religions provide Background ing of the interface between human father of all nations by God. The first proponents of the West-
essential centres of gravity and scales of Women and children are predomi- rights and theology, since religion phalian thinking biblically saw in
dignity and responsibility, shame and nantly regarded as vulnerable mem- seems to be playing a major role in The bible also states that Israelites King David, who created the investi-
respect, restraint and regret, and resti- bers of society due to the masculinity sustaining masculinity framing of went to the prophet and demand- ture dispute by anointing Solomon as
tution and reconciliation that a human framing of the world, which is domi- society, leading to the abuse of the ed statehood and to be governed by his successor, a role previously desig-
rights regime needs to survive and flour- nated by males. This is despite the fact rights of women and children. a king like other kingdoms. Thus, a nated to the office of the prophet.
ish in any culture. that there has been a rise of feminism, prophet was the one who had domin-
which seeks to attain gender equality. The relationship between human ion over political and religious mat- David thus ended church authority
A study, Gender-based Violence in rights and theology is predominantly ters. over the appointment of kings when
African Apostolic Churches: A Case Even international organisations determined by the church-state rela- he appointed Solomon to be the King
Study of Johanne Marange Apostolic such as the United Nations (UN) had tions. The power matrix between the Abraham is considered to be the fa- of Israel (I Kings 12:8). This depar-
Church in Manicaland Province, Zim- set goals for gender parity by 2020, church and the state has serious hu- ther of prophets and is the first person ture was withstood the fact that Da-
babwe, by Mavis Magede and John which have not been achieved so far. man rights implications. to be told by God that he would be vid himself was appointed King by
Mbwirire indicates that the inequality Thus, gender issues seem to be com- given a nation state. In that kingdom, Samuel, a prophet. After Solomon,
between men and women cuts across plicated as women and children are According to the church, the state Abraham assumed political authority. Israel was marred with infighting over
public and private spheres of life, and still suffering at the mercy of men is an offshoot of the church author- kingship and prophets would be con-
social, economic, and cultural, as well who dominate them due to the patri- ity. The Lord’s Prayer, which is the Later on came Moses; who was a sulted as a last resort. Kings assumed
as human rights realms. archal nature of society ("Zimbabwe: fulcrum for the confession of faith prophet, tasked with a political as- dominion over state affairs, while
Scourge of Child Marriage - Zimba- by Christians, depicts the church signment of creating statehood, Ca- prophets became kingmakers and re-
This has largely contributed to gen- bwe," 2015:9). as having power and the influence naan, the land of honey and milk. ligious advisers.
der-based violence in the apostolic over the earthly dominion (Matthew While leading Israelites from Egypt
churches. To that end, religion has been seen 610ff). In Matthew 28:16, Jesus said in the wilderness, Moses assumed the To that end, church-state power
as an enabler to the abuse of women to his disciples that all authority from role of a judge (Exodus 214, 18:13- relations can be said to be as old as
As a result of the significance of this and children who are treated as sub- heaven and earth had been given to 27). humanity itself, and this relationship
subject matter, beginning this week The him and he instructed them to go has always influenced the rights of
NewsHawks will serialise a PhD thesis and make disciples of all nations. Thus, the prophet oscillated from women and children sociologically,
by Zimbabwean academic Dr Mathew religious responsibilities and roles to
Mare titled A Theological Exploration political and judiciary ones, which
of the Interface Between Johanne Ma-
range Apostolic Church and Human
Rights (With Particular Emphasis on
Children and Women’s Rights) to stir
and steer debate on the issue.

The study was done at the University
of South Africa and supervised by Pro-
fessor  Leepo J. Modise.

Human rights, especially women and
children’s rights, sit at the heart of The
NewsHawks’ investigative journalism
project — Centre for Public Interest
Journalism — together with in-depth
reporting and analysis, as well as public
accountability.

MATHEW MARE

THE desire to ascertain why there is
a rancorous relationship between hu-
man rights and religious practices and
customs motivated this researcher to
dig deeper into the issue in order to
unpack the same.

Amongst major points in this the-
sis was the unbundling of the nexus
between human rights and the theo-
logical practices, teachings and rituals
in African Independent Churches
(AICs) in general, and Johanne Ma-
range Apostolic Church (JMAC) in
particular.

The major goal was to analyse
theological practices and rituals, and
to establish how these impact on the
quality and nature of rights being ac-
corded to women and children.

In doing so, this work employed a
comparative analysis so as to under-
stand the relationship between law
and religion. The two disciplines have
generally been studied in isolation,
but here they are synthesised in order
to come up with empirical conclu-
sions on the subject.

NewsHawks The Big Debate Page 41

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

economically, and politically, as well The abuse of women and children The challenge comes when the In line with this thinking, religious and shaping of state affairs.
as ecclesiastically. In terms of church in AICs in general, and the JMAC in state is found to ignore its legal man- doctrines ought to be, intra vires dic- The AICs were amongst key pro-
state relations, King Henry VIII particular, remains on an upward tra- date to protect citizens, particularly tates of the constitution, which is the
played a key role in limiting the pow- jectory. women and children from religious supreme law in Zimbabwe. ponents of the Second Chimurenga
ers of the church by questioning the hegemony.  which culminated into the attain-
church’s authority. According to statistics released by In terms of the Zimbabwean laws, ment of independent Zimbabwe. A
a local Non-Governmental Organisa- In the case of church-state relations churches are expected to register with majority of the AICs leadership got
Henry was the first king to issue an tion (NGO), Helpline, in 2018, 15 in Zimbabwe with regard to AICs, the state and provide a constitution arrested for resisting the colonial
Act of Parliament in 1534 to enable 000 cases of child abuse were received the major challenge is on worldview which guides their beliefs and their authority during the colonial era. It
him to be the supreme head of the and 26% of the cases involved sexu- and the “mine is right” perspective. administrative operations. can be argued that it is this political
English church (“Act of Supremacy al abuse of minors, 28% cases were AICs accuse the state of being lost by involvement of AIC’s leadership that
1534,” 2021:1). On the other hand, emotional abuse, 18% of cases were embracing foreign elements like the Historically, the church was above forged synergies with the Zanu PF
prior to the involvement of Henry of neglect, 7% on forced marriages human rights, while the state views the state insofar as the Hebrew canon party, resulting in the latter turning
in shaping church-state relationship, and 95% involved females (National indigenous churches as holding on is concerned. Kings in Old Testament a blind eye to human rights abuses
Martin Luther and John Calvin sig- Research Council, 2018:59). to archaic belief systems based on times were appointed by religion obtaining in AICs, particularly the
nificantly contributed to this through African Traditional Religion (ATR), through the prophets. JMAC.
reformation, which helped many gov- However, that study only gener- which seems to be outdated.
ernments to break away from the con- alised on the abuse of women and The diminishing and surrendering Accordingly, Hackett (1980: 216)
trol of the Pope; forging a new form children. It did not zero in on sector The danger is that both believe to of ecclesiastical powers over to the opined that AICs’ origin has been
of church-State relationship with a specific abuse, of which religion is be correct and this “mine is right” po- state has been demonstrated in Zim- largely influenced by negative effects
different texture and form from the one. sition has dire consequences on the babwe in the midst of church succes- of colonialism and the desire to chal-
former. rights and welfare of disadvantaged sion battles that are settled in courts lenge mainstream churches that came
Thus, this paper zeroes in on JMAC members of society such as women of law, which are a third arm of the simultaneously with colonialism.
Paul III in the 1534 Counter Ref- in order to understand the interface and children. government.
ormation deployed the military to between human rights and religion. A In that regard, anything perceived
thwart Protestants. The church re- dualistic approach is adopted to gain The Government of Zimbabwe has One such case is that of the JMAC to be aligned to Christian Western
mained popular in Europe, but it lost a more nuanced understanding of the limited a number of freedoms, for ex- when it failed to resolve its succession civilisation was heavily criticised, in-
the grip it had on the general popu- link between theology and human ample, the right to demonstrate and dispute after the demise of Johanne cluding the human rights discourse.
lace through management of polit- rights discourse. petition, where the exercise of this Marange (Chitando eds, 2014:15). AICs are very reluctant to embrace
ical affairs of the state. The different right should be done peacefully and The matter was determined by the the human rights discourse and prac-
reformation agendas and forms; from The trajectory is different from reli- in accordance to Section 60 of the High Court of Zimbabwe clearly tice due to its Western origins.
the protestant reformation through gious scholarship on African initiated Constitution, Amendment number demonstrating the supra role of the
to the catholic reformation, and the churches in that the study is looking 20 of 2013 (Constitution of Zimba- state over theological matters. This Hackett further highlighted that at
English reformation did significantly at the nature of the relationship be- bwe, 2013:185). was an abrogation of one of the main the centre of the AIC’s fundamental
impact on the relationship between tween theology and human rights teachings of JMAC that no member belief system is the castigation of or-
the church and the state. without being judgemental. However, it did not limit religious of the church is allowed to approach thodox Christian Western values and
rights as if to confirm that churches secular courts for any form of litiga- belief systems (ibid: 207).
There emerged a political theology, Meanwhile, Mbiti (1969:1) char- in Zimbabwe are not a legal persona tion. 
which continued to remould and re- acterised Africans as highly religious, and that they are immune to the laws Thus, the AICs represent resistance
form, not only the church as it were, a notoriously religious people. of the country. The rights are not just Whilst states have legal autono- to change, especially if that change
but the church-state relationship as enjoyed, but they must have a corre- my over the religious domain, the implies conforming to Western civil-
well. The church from time immemo- To that end, the religious nature of sponding obligation. situation is different in Africa where isation. The theologies of most AICs
rial has always been regarded as a tool the African people makes them adver- citizens are highly spiritual, making is anti-Western civilisation in its to-
of oppression and often times this has tently and inadvertently submissive to Whilst mainline and Pentecostal it difficult for them to accept domi- tality, including its health sector, reli-
led to the emergence of societal ruc- the church instead of state authority. churches in Zimbabwe castigate state nance of state over religion. gion, beliefs, teachings and practices,
tions premised along these lines. Re- actions on human rights, the AICs education, and employment, among
ligious fanatics even went out of the In Zimbabwe the AICs are key “blindly” support the status quo. In addition, religion played a crit- other things.
way to utilise religion as a means to variables in the management of the AICs have emerged to be a very im- ical role in the liberation history of
achieve political ends. affairs of the state as a reliable voting portant electoral cog for the ruling most African states and they owe their The human rights discourse has
constituency, elections, succession Zanu PF party. In as much as the independence to religion. The demo- Western origins which make it diffi-
The advent of “Holy Wars” com- and political appointments. state is vested with the constitution- bilisation process in Africa has in cult to be accepted within the AICs’
monly known as Jihads in Islam al mandate to institute a Commis- most cases involved spiritual cleans- fraternity (Nyangweso, 2010:328).
comes to the fore in this regard. Thus, The state seems, consequently, to sion of Inquiry; and that Zimbabwe ing to avert avenging and war spirits. Acceptance of Western human rights
religion emerged as a tool that could turn a blind eye to some of the hu- has such entities like the Zimbabwe by AICs has serious ramifications on
be, apparently, employed as an instru- man rights violations (Chikwanha, Human Rights Commission; it is ap- There is a dialectical approach in their founding principles.
ment to subjugate fellow humans. 2009:2) witnessed in this very im- parently reluctant to investigate AICs the understanding of the role and po-
portant constituency. It is, therefore, over human rights abuses as is not the sition of religion in the management Therefore, compelling AICs to
This subjugation is not only about key to link the current relations be- case with mainline and Pentecostal of African lives and livelihoods. It is follow Western civilisation is tanta-
one religion trying to dominate the tween AICs and the state with the churches were personalities such as this understanding which has seen the mount to a clash of civilisations.
other, as is the case in Nigeria where nexus between human rights and Robert Martin Gumbura was jailed proliferation of the gospel of prosper-
Christians and Moslems engage in JMAC theology on women and chil- for 40 years for women abuse (Siban- ity, healing and political leadership. *About the writer: Dr Mathew
turf wars, but has also manifested in dren. da & Humbe, 2020:1). Mare is a Zimbabwean academic
objectification of women and chil- State sovereignty This background is critical in this who holds two bachelor’s degrees,
dren whose voices are limited to pe- The state under the United Nations Under the general principle of the study in that it helps in the under- five master's qualifications and a
ripheral roles (Alane Marie Moore, Right to Protect (UNR2P) doctrine, greater good, rights should be enjoyed standing of whether the state can suc- PhD. He is also doing another PhD
2011:10).  constitution and the 1684 Treaty of without infringing on other people’s cessfully challenge religion in Africa. and has 12 executive certificates in
Westphalia, is empowered to ensure rights. Therefore, religious rights en- different fields. Professionally, he is
It does not matter what kind of re- that citizens enjoy their full rights by joyment should not impinge on the Pre-and post-colonial Zimbabwe- a civil servant and also board mem-
ligion it is, there is a general consensus promulgating policies, laws and pro- rights of women and children. an leadership has always been seeking ber at the National Aids Council of
that the church assumes a patriarchal grammes that promote such rights. guidance from religious figures. Zimbabwe.
hierarchy where masculinity domi-
nates all decision-making processes. Thus, religion has always been
This has led to deprivation of basic playing a key role in the management
human rights, especially  for women
and children in religious settings. 
Johanne Marange
The JMAC, a church based in Zim-
babwe, has not been left out of this
matrix. According to Musevenzi
(2017:3), JMAC’s belief system and
doctrine are not conforming to the
ever-changing world.

Allegations of the abuse of wom-
en and children are prevalent, and
the state stands accused of neglect-
ing its legal duty to protect, promote
and defend the rights of women and
children. This is even though at state
level, the Domestic Violence Act was
enacted in 2006, while the Ministry
of Gender and Women Affairs, the
Ministry of Youths, Sport, Culture
and Recreation, a Parliamentary Port-
folio on Gender and a Gender Com-
mission have been constituted.

Page 42 Reframing Issues NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

ASTRID R.N. HAAS Africa’s smaller cities are usually
overlooked: They shouldn’t be
OFTEN when one thinks or writes
about urbanisation in Africa, me- City of Mutare.
ga-cities or primary cities like La-
gos, Nairobi, Addis Ababa or Kam- ally require changes to laws and reg- One of the most important assets Mekelle – an estimated US$77 mil- structures in place that allow for the
pala, come to mind. ulations. This makes them longer for all cities is the land that they are lion of leases have already been sold. absorption of the funds, as well as
and more onerous to implement. located on. For some cities, land This is money that can then be rein- their utilisation in the overall econ-
Little, however, is written about can make up 90% of their total as- vested to service the land, as well as omy.
places like Gabés in Tunisia, Tou- Both administrative and policy set base.  provide for further infrastructure in
ba-Mbacké in Senegal, or Ibadan reforms can be supported by im- the expansion areas. In the near term, intergovern-
in Nigeria. Yet these are just three provements in technology. For ex- The urbanisation process results mental fiscal flows will remain a
of an  estimated 885 secondary, or ample, to improve tax collection in an increasing scarcity of land as Another major opportunity is to significant portion of intermediary
intermediary, cities in Africa that several secondary cities in Tanzania people and businesses begin to lo- harness the potential of remittance city budgets. This means that find-
already account for over  40% of introduced GIS mapping  to help cate in cities. payments. Research of the impact ing ways to support national gov-
the continent’s urban population. identify and map all the properties of remittances on secondary cities ernments to improve and stabilise
Their share is very likely to grow in their remit. Despite some chal- Together with the public invest- in Africa, is still scarce. Neverthe- these flows will be key in support-
over time. lenges in implementation,  cities ments made on the land to improve less  evidence from Latin America ing investments to happen in ad-
like Arusha, still managed to in- productivity and liveability, these and the Caribbean  shows that the vance of settlement.
These cities have a critical role to crease their annual revenue from two forces drive up its value. Cape majority of these flow into second-
play in Africa’s overall urbanisation property tax collection accordingly. Coast in Ghana, for example, has ary cities and towns. At the same time, it is critical that
trajectory. They have a number of land values of up to US$200 000 the dependence on these intergov-
advantages. Mzuzu, in Malawi, also used per hectare, with prices rising over A study looking at remittance ernmental fiscal flows is reduced by
technology to support a policy re- 50% per annum. This is not un- flows to eight secondary cities in looking at ways to increase interme-
Firstly, they are located closer to form for their property tax valua- common for many intermediary Latin America and the Caribbe- diary cities own revenue generation.
rural populations, they provide an tion system. This change required cities. an showed that certain cities with This is key to ensuring the overall
important market for agricultural various characteristics of the prop- large numbers of international mi- longer-term sustainability for these
goods. This means that they pro- erty to be captured. This was done This means that intermediary grants could receive up to as much intermediary cities and in particular
vide a crucial link to ensuring more digitally. The result was a 7-fold cities, particularly those still at the as 20% of the total remittance flows their infrastructure and public ser-
balanced economic growth for a increase in revenue in the space of relative outset of their urbanisa- for that country. vices, and as such unlocking the ur-
country. five years. tion process, should put in place ban dividend for the whole country
mechanisms that can capture this The same study shows that most from the urbanisation process.
Secondly, their location also en- This showed that technology can increased value and then use the of these remittances are spent by
ables people to make the transition have an important role to play to revenues from this to reinvest into households on education, health, — The Conversation.
from agricultural to non-agricul- support reform processes when the the cities. housing and insurance.
tural work more easily. And more availability and integration of data This article is based on the chap-
generally they make the move from are improved. One way for these cities to cap- A similar, smaller study con- ter “Funding and and Financing
living in the countryside to a more ture the value of land, is through ducted in  Gondar, Ethiopia  shows Secondary Cities” from the Cit-
urban existence easier. But technology cannot replace proper planning of urban expan- that about one third of households ies Alliance book “The Dynamics
the need for the underpinning re- sion. Changing or adopting new received remittances monthly, usu- of Systems of Secondary Cities in
There is in fact  global evidence forms to happen. land-use management plans, and ally reflecting their sole source of Africa: Urbanisation, Migration
from developing countries, that Opportunities the resultant impact on land values, income. In these cases, remittances and Development”.
demonstrates that for a given level There are also some opportunities can provide a major source of reve- were overwhelmingly used to sup-
of urban population growth, these particularly pertinent for interme- nue for a city. port housing investments, business- *About the writer: Astrid R.N.
intermediary cities are in fact over- diary cities. This is particularly true es, and education. Haas is a fellow at the Infrastruc-
all better in driving poverty reduc- around land value capture. In four Ethiopian intermediary ture Institute, School of Cities,
tion than the primary cities are. cities where this has been done To tap into remittances as a University of Toronto, Canada.
–  Adama Bahir Dar, Hawassa and source finance, cities must have
A further major advantage that
intermediary cities have, is that
many still have most of their growth
trajectory to come. And, unlike
many primary cities struggling un-
der the weight of large populations,
investment in infrastructure in in-
termediary cities can happen in ad-
vance of settlement.

If this is done, it helps avoid the
substantial financial, political, and
social costs of retrofitting. But this
requires substantial upfront financ-
ing. Yet raising this upfront finance
together with the revenue to repay
it, is a challenge.
Where the money will come from
Many of the options available to
intermediary cities when it comes
to generating local revenues, are the
same as available to all cities.

The first is administrative reforms
to improve the efficiency and effec-
tiveness of the collection of taxes
and fees.

Such reforms include updating
taxpayer rolls or streamlining pay-
ment systems. The benefit of these
types of reforms is that they usually
lie squarely in the city’s remit. And
a city doesn’t necessarily need to get
approvals from other levels of gov-
ernment.

In addition, the reforms can re-
sult in substantial increases in reve-
nue for cites far off from achieving
optimal efficiency.

But there is a major drawback.
Increasing revenue from these types
of administrative reforms is finite
based on efficiency being achieved.

Cities can also focus on reforms
to change the composition of what
they can collect. This includes the
types of taxes and fees, their rates
and from whom they should be col-
lecting them. Reforms like this usu-

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 43

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

FERIAL HAFFAJEE/CHENAI CHIPFUPA If South Africa needs critical skills,
why are we being chased away?
The Helen Suzman Foundation,
an independent think-tank, is
challenging the South African
government’s decision to terminate
the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit
of 178 000 permit holders. Here
Zimbabwean Chenai Chipfupa
describes her fear and those of her
compatriots in South Africa, with
an introduction by South African
journalist Ferial Haffajee.

IN his achievements for 2022, Johannesburg on my short little strained from the many mouths school education. Bursary op- Chenai Chipfupa.
President Cyril Ramaphosa of- Shona legs armed only with my she was feeding. I had to do the portunities did not come easy
ten lists the passage of the Criti- A-level pass (the equivalent of a necessary and that was to work for those of us without political but at what cost?
cal Skills List by the department South African matric). Destina- for my own money and pay my connections. According to the 2020 Unit-
of Home Affairs. Published in tion? A refuge in South Africa. way through university. I also
February, the list reveals the had to give back to those who Plus, of course, l was in the ed Nations data, Zimbabweans
full list of critical skill shortages To call it a voluntary voyage took me in while they were wrong city of Bulawayo! Not account for about 24% of the
choking the economy. would be a sham. My coun- struggling themselves. Many much funding or the warmth of South African immigrant pop-
try was imploding. There was people of my generation had al- the leadership’s care was felt here ulation.
I have known Chenai Chip- a shortage of food and of cur- ready left Zimbabwe, driven out because of tribal differences and
fupa for the past 10 years and rency, which made our plight by the country’s economic free political affiliations. Economic This mass migration provided
have seen her fill role after role desperate. My higher education fall; we had to leave to take care hardships, high passport costs, cheap labour for South African
in South Africa with dexterity college of choice was to study at of the young and the frail who plus teetering political instabil- restaurants, farms and homes
and charm. She has many of the University of Zimbabwe but were left behind. ity in the country of Zimbabwe and often, we worked illegally,
the critical skills on that list, yet I could not afford to study to simply drove a high migration, although I am not sure what
Chenai is terrified. She is one of become a lawyer (a pretty stan- I was petrified at the thought mostly from Bulawayo. this means in Africa whose bor-
178 000 Zimbabwean nation- dard desire among people like of leaving every form of safe ders are colonial constructions.
als who live, work or study in me) at the time. sanctuary l had ever known: The sprawling city is home
South Africa under the  Zimba- my family home, childhood mostly to the Ndebele-speak- No one really is the winner —
bwe Exemption Permit  (ZEP) I was raised by my courteous friends and the land l knew so ing Nguni, a people who have either the migrant or local. It is
passed when the economy of aunt after my parents’ pass- well. I was an 18-year-old and always felt discrimination by all feral battles to keep hunger
our neighbouring country col- ing early in my life and asking my relatives and neighbours had tribe. off the table.
lapsed under the weight of re- her for further tertiary educa- scrambled to make ends meet so
pressive governance. tion funding was plain pushing that I could complete secondary A decade later and now at 34 These battles entail accep-
it. Her pockets were already years old and with a degree, my tance to work for less than the
Like many, Chenai migrated dreams have come to fruition, legal minimum wage, and peo-
to South Africa and pulled her- ple working in places where
self up by her bootstraps. She safety compliance regulations
describes her permit as a libera- are not practiced. I know. To
tion. She works as an operations
officer at the Africa Leadership
Initiative, a Pan-African leader-
ship programme started by busi-
ness leader Isaac Shongwe.

Earlier this year, she told me
her story and then wrote this
essay for  Daily Maverick. It
breaks my heart but also ex-
plodes my head because one
arm of government, the Presi-
dency, acknowledges South Af-
rica’s skills deficit and says we
must open the doors to people
who want to be here. On the
other hand, the department of
Home Affairs wants to cancel
all permits by the end of De-
cember 2022. It has put fear in
the hearts of many. The Helen
Suzman Foundation is going to
court to stop the government.

“It is not the position of the
Helen Suzman Foundation that
those migrants who are in South
Africa should be entitled to re-
main, nor even that the ZEP
must continue in perpetuity.
Rather, our position is that those
who have scrupulously observed
South Africa’s laws in order to
live and work here under the
ZEP cannot have such permits
terminated without fair process,
good reason and a meaningful
opportunity to regularise their
status,” the Foundation said in
a statement this week.
Essay by Chenai Chipfupa
In 2008, I fled Zimbabwe for

Page 44 Reframing Issues NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

fund my education, I worked cause the tip earnings were “too members become the faces you So you can imagine the dis- jobs and moved in with relatives
as a waitress, a house help, a good” — families needed to be worked double shifts with, shifts tress I felt when the [South in townships. The permit deci-
cleaner in a hair salon and as a fed. Most, if not all, waitrons of that ran 18 hours at a stretch. African] cabinet decided in sion was a double-whammy.
car washer in the glitzy Sandton South African origin left. November 2021 that the ZEP,
City parking lots. Migrants did not get leave my passport to freedom and I know that I have formed
In my seven-year tenure as and, besides, holidays were a belonging, would not be ex- bonds of friendship with many
Migrant staff often work a waitress, I also helped bury dream. All our spare money was tended.  Home Affairs minister South Africans, but we are also
for tips alone while South Af- countless colleagues who were spent on groceries on trucks and Aaron Motsoaledi said we could often told to “go back home and
ricans get a basic wage plus fellow Zimbabweans. The cause buses headed north. apply for other permits, but as fight”, and often I do not have
tips. I earned less than R4 000 of death for most was related to many people will tell you, these an answer to this. Going back
(US$250) a month when I start- alcohol and drug abuse.  I received my first ZSP (Zim- are almost impossible to get. to Zimbabwe is not an option
ed and friends worked at pubs babwe Special Permit) stamp because that economy is still in
and clubs where tips were better The mental well-being and in 2011 and I renewed it every Banking institutions and freefall since I left and no one
but conditions often hazardous. stability of young people liv- three or four years as directed. most financial institutions said can fight on an empty tummy.
ing outside of their birth land In 2017, the Minister of Home they would terminate our ac-
I studied at the University are next to non-existent. They Affairs at the time, Hlengiwe counts on New Year’s Eve. I If I were to go back, many
of South Africa while working, missed their families and the Mkhize, introduced the new cannot describe the utter hor- people I support would go hun-
taking modules only as I could harsh reality of being an immi- Zimbabwe Exemption Permit ror I felt. How can people who gry and this is the same for mil-
afford them. Anything more grant, legal or illegal, has a way (ZEP permits). This programme have built livelihoods and raised lions of Zimbabweans in South
could potentially put my house- of creeping up on you. Most felt was a godsend. It allowed me to families in one country for over Africa. Multiply the numbers
hold in Zimbabwe in danger of unsheltered and turned to the legalise my stay in South Afri- 10 years be so easily discarded, I and you can see this would cause
hunger. I could not apply for oblivion of substance abuse and ca, along with my travel docu- asked myself? I know that South a disaster — I support my aunt
bursary funding as only South reckless sexual behaviour. ments. I could open a bank ac- Africa’s unemployment rate is and uncle who raised me and are
Africans could. I surfed through count, work and walk without high but the economy suffers currently in South Africa.
workplaces where employees Couples lived together, most- fear. from a shortage of critical skills
were paid wages so low that ly to mitigate high city rent- and most permit-holders also Maybe l am making excuses
most continued working only al costs and afford “black tax” The introduction of the ZSP held those critical skills. and justifying apathy, but that
for hot meals and to spend time demands back home. Children and subsequent ZEP gave us is not my intention. Mine is a
away from the squatting areas were born out of these unsealed beneficiaries access: we could I felt panicked and anxious story of a young African whose
they slept in at night. unions and almost immediately legally apply for school plac- and word spread like wildfire. I dream was to further her educa-
were sent back home to grand- ing, work, and business oper- have lived in South Africa for 13 tion and make a better life for
In 2009 in Fourways (Johan- parents so that the parents could ations. We opened businesses years and built bonds with locals herself and her future children.
nesburg), at a business centre continue working without dis- and registered for licences and and migrants. When l chat with Never in my wildest dreams did
called Design Quarter, l worked traction. These often involun- for taxes. This was when I en- my dear friends, the despair of I see myself suffering from de-
for a man who took pleasure in tary separations traumatised the rolled at Unisa and got a job at losing it all lingers in each con- pression and having severe panic
physically assaulting his waitron young parents leading to a cycle the Africa Leadership Initiative versation. Many Zimbabweans attacks as I do now.
team should food be delivered of mental breakdowns. as a programme manager of the in South Africa live hand to
cold to the table or if they did Bloomberg Media Initiative for mouth without property. The After leaving home in 2008,
not pitch for work. He hit me As the years went by, home Africa. Now this was life and I Covid pandemic hit hard in the I find myself petrified in 2022
once. became the busy flats of Hill- felt I could, for the first time in migrant community and many in a place I call home. And I am
brow, the unfriendly streets of a long time) dream again and people I knew had lost their not alone. Our humble plea to
Yet, none of us ever reported Berea and other parts of the Jo- make the world my oyster. South Africa is not to forsake us.
the assaults nor fought back be- hannesburg inner city. Family
— Daily Maverick.

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 45

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

How Patrice Lumumba’s assassination drove
student activism, shaping the Congo’s future

PEDRO MONAVILLE

DURING a recent visit to the Dem- Patrice Lumumba in Brussels in January 1960. Harry Pot - GaHetNa (Nationaal Archief NL) / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
ocratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
King Philippe of Belgium made a 1960s. adopted the moderate tone that the process that abolished economic ex- Yet, they planted seeds that grew over
speech to the national parliament in In a  forthcoming book  on the Belgians had wished for. Several lead- ploitation and ensured mental libera- the years and led to the powerful
Kinshasa expressing his  “deepest re- ing student figures from this period, tion from colonial worldviews. movement for democratisation of the
grets” for the exploitation and oppres- history of this movement, as well as whom I interviewed for my book, told Student demands 1990s. I believe that this significantly
sion of Belgian colonialism. in previous publications, I argue that me how they had criticised the politi- Students denounced the continuous weakened Mobutu’s power and con-
Lumumba’s death triggered students cians as demagogues unfit to rule the power of Belgian administrators and tributed to his ultimate downfall in
The European nation  ruled  the towards the political left. It created Congo. They argued that only a prop- faculty at Congolese universities. 1997.
Democratic Republic of Congo from a generation of intransigent activists. erly trained elite like themselves, and They demanded the Africanisation of
1908 until 1960. Before that it had These students pushed for total liber- not uneducated politicans, could lead curricula and the democratisation of In June 1970, when King Baud-
been a personal colony of Leopold II, ation from exploitation and oppres- the country towards development governing boards. ouin went on the first Belgian royal
Philippe’s great great grand uncle, for sion, as Lumumba had envisioned. and prosperity. visit of Congo since independence,
more than 25 years. Their activism transformed higher he stopped, together with President
Many students today still feel com- But, in the aftermath of Lumum- education. It paved the way ultimate- Mobutu, at Lovanium University in
Philippe also addressed students at mitted  to this tradition, and might ba’s assassination in 1961, the student ly to the nationalisation of universi- Kinshasa. In an interview with stu-
the University of Lubumbashi, in the not easily accept the clean slate envi- movement shifted. Its orientation be- ties. But it also reverberated beyond dents from that time, they told me
capital of the Southeastern province sioned in the monarch’s call to turn came a vocal voice in defence of a ful- university campuses, challenging the how they sprayed the royal delega-
of Katanga. “Today, let’s look towards away from the past. ly independent Congo and for a more political elite’s refusal to continue the tion with water. It was an expression
the future,”  he urged. Philippe de- Shifts in the student movement radical break with the colonial era. unfinished decolonisation of Congo- of their opposition to the regime and
clined to expand on his regrets, and Congolese only began accessing uni- Students became increasingly critical lese society and economy. unfinished decolonisation of their
only mentioned the colonial past, versities a few years before the end of of their Belgian professors and began university.
“our shared history,” in veiled terms. the Belgian regime. This was much identifying with revolutionary figures After General Mobutu Sese
later than in other colonial territories from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Seko  staged a coup  in 1965, he at- King Philippe didn’t experience an
His exhortation to dissipate colo- in Africa. This was a deliberate move tempted to  co-opt students  and incident like this. Yet, it doesn’t mean
nial memories is particularly prob- by colonial officials, afraid that edu- The murder opened the eyes of change their ideas about radical inde- that students aren’t looking critically
lematic in Lubumbashi. It is only cated Congolese would challenge the many to the violence of neocolonial- pendence. at the relationship between Belgium
a few kilometers away from where status quo. ism. Lumumba immediately became and Congo. Students rose up in 2015
Patrice Lumumba, the Congo’s first viewed as both a martyr and hero by However, Mobutu’s uneven adher- against then President Joseph Kabila’s
Prime Minister, was  assassinated. But as the anticolonial struggle people around the world. This strong- ence to the ideal of Congolese na- attempt to change the constitution.
This happened in the presence of the was taking off, the Belgians revised ly impressed students and they felt tionalism alienated the students. By Recently, they have protested against
Katangese secessionist leader Moïse their judgement and authorised the like it was their role to continue the the end of the 1960s university stu- the ongoing war and massacres of ci-
Tshombe and his Belgian advisers on opening of two universities. They work he had started. dents continued to oppose Mobutu’s vilians in Eastern Congo.
17 January 1961. hoped that having been given access increasingly dictatorial power. This
to the  last echelon of European ed- The student movement of the was despite the fact that the regime — The Conversation.
Lumumba’s tooth, which had been ucation, educated Congolese would 1960s adopted Lumumba’s commit- suppressed critical voices.
kept by the Belgian policeman who support the maintaining of strong ties ment to pan-African unity. It built *About the writer: Pedro
destroyed his body, will finally be re- between Belgium and the Congo. on his conviction that independence Their protests were violently re- Monaville is a professor at New York
patriated to the DRC – a gesture his involved more than a political tran- pressed and did not succeed in im- University in Abu Dhabi, United
family have been requesting for a long In the late 1950s, some students sition. It had to be a revolutionary mediately challenging the president. Arab Emirates.
time.

Belgian researcher Ludo De Witte
has  described  Lumumba’s murder as
the most important assassination of
the 20th Century. A charismatic lead-
er, Lumumba embodied the struggle
for pan-Africanism and Congolese
unity. He unequivocally  denounced
Europe’s racist oppression of Afri-
ca. His vision of decolonisation, as
a process of total liberation, marked
millions of people in the Congo and
around the world.

While Belgium has  partly ac-
knowledged  its responsibility for the
murder, no protagonists have been
brought to justice. A parliamentary
commission found that King Baud-
ouin, the monarch at Congo’s decolo-
nisation, was aware of plans to assassi-
nate Lumumba. However, Baudouin’s
complicity  remains to be officially
recognised.

The commission “tried in a way
to limit the damages with its conclu-
sions” and  shied away  from linking
Belgium directly to the assassination.
That was because  “the diplomatic,
ideological and financial consequenc-
es would be extremely great.”

This might be why King Philippe
is focusing on moving forward. His
speech in Lubumbashi positioned
Congolese students as a future-orient-
ed group with whom Belgium could
forge a new partnership.

But there’s a crucial element
missing from this logic: the specific
role historically played by universi-
ty students in further entrenching
decolonisation in the Congo. This
appeared  most strongly during the

Page 46 Reframing Issues NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

This 1997 image shows the hands of a
recuperating monkeypox patient in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.

What’s in a name? Why giving
monkeypox a new one is a good idea

MOSES JOHN BOCKARIE the name of monkeypox virus, its In addition, there is a long dark of sustained human-to-human trans- the  NCBI Genbank database  use
clades and the disease it causes”. history of black people being com- mission. This has not been so with the “West African” for the field “strain”
IN its latest update on monkey pox in pared  to monkeys. No disease no- cases  reported  since May 2022. The or “genotype”.
mid-June, the World Health Organ- Just prior to the WHO’s statement menclature should provide a trigger cases presented at healthcare facilities
isation (WHO) said that cases had a group of 29 scientists advocated for for this. involved people who had travelled to Lessons learnt from objections to
been reported from 42 member states a non-discriminatory and non-stig- The history countries outside of Africa. calling the B.1.1.529 variant (omi-
across five of its regions – the Ameri- matising nomenclature for monkey- Monkeypox is a disease caused by the cron) of SARS-CoV-2 as the ‘South
cas, Africa, Europe, Eastern Mediter- pox virus. monkeypox virus, a member of the The main symptom of monkeypox African variant’ informed the use of
ranean, and Western Pacific. same family of viruses (Poxviridae) is a rash that looks like chickenpox. the  Pango nomenclature for SARS-
hey called for a nomenclature or as smallpox. The virus was first iden- Monkeypox can spread through close CoV-2.
A total of 2 103 laboratory cas- name that is neutral and more accept- tified in laboratory monkeys in the contact with an infected person’s
es had been reported, including one able to the global health community. 1950s – hence the name. However, body fluids, respiratory droplets and To name infectious diseases based
death. They suggested a naming system sim- rodents, squirrels and non-human contaminated materials. on locations of first detection is mis-
ilar to the Pango nomenclature used primates are believed to be the reser- leading because of limited diagnos-
The outbreak mostly affected men by researchers and public health ex- voir hosts. Monkeypox is rarely a public tic or priorities in different regions.
who had sex with men or who had pert globally to track the transmission health emergency. The infections are It could also delay reporting of new
reported recent sex with new or mul- and spread of SARS-CoV-2, includ- The first human monkeypox case usually mild, compared to smallpox variants of infections discovered in
tiple partners. The WHO pointed ing variants of concern. was confirmed in 1970 in the Demo- or chickenpox. Africa.
out that the unexpected appearance cratic Republic of Congo. Since then, Naming conventions
of monkeypox in several regions that As an African scientist I agree with there have been periodic outbreaks in WHO guidelines recommend avoid- As leadership in infectious diseas-
hadn’t previously reported cases sug- this call. The new name for monkey- western and central Africa, where it ing animal names or geographic re- es research in Africa is  gaining rec-
gested that there may have been un- pox must be aligned with best practic- is endemic in 11 countries. We don’t gions for viruses and diseases. ognition, African scientists are also
detected transmission for some time. es in naming of infectious diseases to know the real prevalence of the dis- working to ensure the gains are not
It said it considered the risk at the avoid the uninformed negative nar- ease. The current classification of mon- overshadowed by historical prejudic-
global level as moderate. rative that associate diseases with re- keypox virus’ genetic diversity recog- es. It is good to know that people are
gions. There are no wild non-human early all monkeypox outbreaks in nises two clades of the virus referred listening.
The debate that dominated the primates in  Europe. There are many Africa prior to 2022 emanated from to as the “West African” clade and the
headlines, however, has been around monkeys and apes in Africa, Asia, and spillover from animals to humans. “Central African” or “Congo Basin” — The Conversation.
the WHO  announcing  that it is in Central and South America. Mon- Only rarely have there been reports clade.
“working with partners and experts keys are usually associated with the *About the writer: Moses John
from around the world on changing global south, especially Africa. Some genome sequences on Bockarie is an adjunct professor at
Njala University in Sierra Leone.

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 47

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Youths are key to bringing down
entrenched towers of oppression
DZIKAMAI BERE that open the avenue for young
ON 12 May 2022, I was privi- The late South African liberation struggle icon Nelson Mandela. people not only to be included,
leged to deliver the keynote ad- but also to shape the conversa-
dress at the Regional Symposium inspired millions across the globe grave injustices that we are con- the towers of oppression as our tion and ultimately lead it. It is
to Foster the Domestication of to resist oppression and discrim- fronting today are a result of young men and women are al- not enough to participate – lead.
the African Union Transitional ination. It is a joy to join the de- power being deployed towards ready seeing visions and futures Today, not tomorrow. The crit-
Justice Policy in the Southern Af- scendants of those great revolu- the decimation of human digni- where power is at the service of ical mass – the numbers give
rica Development Community tionaries in celebrating the birth ty, then we must define our goal good. young people the leverage to take
region. of their nation,” he said. as transitional justice activists be- the fight a level higher if need
ing to see a power shift. Confronting power is not be. Because transitional justice
The symposium was hosted by “The example of the French a joke. It is a war as power can is a revolution and young people
the Southern Africa Youth Fo- Revolution served as a beacon We desire to see power serving never be handed away without must take it head-on.
rum in collaboration with the for our own endeavours. We were the common good. Although the a fight. How we challenge pow-
Institute for Justice and Recon- certain that those who denied us language used by academics may er in the 21st century demands In this fight, through the
ciliation. Thanks to the good our rights were marching against be polite, it is indeed a revolu- critical investments in strategy. AUTJP, young people must
leadership of brethren Webster the tide of history. We who have tion. Passion and anger is not enough. shape a genuinely pan-African
Zambara and Misheck Gondo. just emerged from centuries of transitional justice agenda. It is
They lead with compassion. deprivation and tyranny draw in- Young people do not need an Young people must design hypocritical to be outraged by
spiration from your indomitable invitation into the transitional strategies for power shift without Gukurahundi, Operation, Mur-
In my keynote address, I fo- spirit.”  justice discourse because they are using violence because, as Ma- ambatsvina, Cecil Rhodes’s stat-
cused on how young people can already in the heart of it. They hatma Gandhi said, “There is no ue and other forms of injustices
be at the centre of transitional Now how should young people have been, since time immemori- way to peace; peace is the way.” in Africa without being outraged
justice processes. This was mainly understand transitional justice? al, at the centre of Africa’s histor- The question is: How do you by slavery and colonialism and
a summary of the lessons I learnt Over the years, we have found so ic transformations going back to transform powerful and often vi- their continued impact on the
in the past decade of transitional many nice definitions of transi- the fight against colonialism, and olent systems without resorting continent’s progress.
justice advocacy in Zimbabwe. tional justice. And it is nice that in modern day times – the rise to violence? Strategy!
But over these years, my ap- we speak of transitional justice in of the Black Lives Matter move- We must address all these is-
proach to transitional justice has ways that do not cause discom- ment, the Zimbabwean Lives Where do you begin the jour- sues and injustices to move for-
been evolving. fort in the towers of power. Matter movement, the Rhodes ney? Young people can begin ward through transitional justice
Must Fall movement, Fees Must with the current assets. What processes and reconciliation.
As the activist that I am, I have The reality, however, is that Fall Movement, #FreeMako do you have today? The African
come to understand transitional transitional justice is about pow- movement,  among many others. Union Transitional Justice Policy These are continuing injustices
justice in a different way than er shift.  It is a fight and a strug- Framework (AUTJP) is a good that have not been addressed that
when I started the journey. These gle. These are transitional justice beginning to tackle the issue. young people must never ignore.
are the insights I shared with the actions that are already targeting
youth movement, with no apol- When we appreciate that the It sets out five key principles And finally, our strategies to-
ogies. It is my hope that young day must go beyond awareness.
people find these useful, take When we say "critical mass" we
them up and fulfil the Madiba do not simply mean numbers, we
prophecy – “bring down the tow- mean citizens, taking positive ac-
ers of oppression”. tion to bring down the towers of
oppression.
In an address on France’s Bas-
tille Day in July 1996, the late We must seek to raise as many
South African liberation struggle young people as possible, and
icon, Nelson Mandela said: equip them with tools to scale
up the pyramid of participation
“In South Africa the youth from mere awareness to champi-
played a pivotal role in our lib- onship. Young people must lead
eration. They braved bullets with this journey. And because they
stones. Some sacrificed their possess this zeal and energy, the
youth and dedicated their entire continent hopes in them.
life to the struggle. Now they are
harnessing their own energies The continent will not die.
and creativity as fighters for re- Because in the fullness of time,
construction and development. young people will rise and de-
They are nurturing the skills and mand transitional justice.
talents which will make them the
leaders of tomorrow and the pro- This is why Zimbabwean
ducers of our nation's wealth.  founding nationalist leader Josh-
ua Nkomo said: "The country
“It is such youth, and youth will never die; the young people
such as yourselves, that will will save it."
shoulder the destiny of mankind
into the next century.” *About the writer: Dzikamai
Bere is the national director at
Prior to that, Mandela had in the Zimbabwe Human Rights
his speech spoken about Bastille Association (ZimRights) and
Day and apartheid, drawing par- the deputy chairperson of the
allels about how the experience National Transitional Justice
of the former historic event in- Working Group (NTJWG).
formed the struggle against the For more information on the
latter. thoughts shared here, read the
policy brief published by the In-
“How refreshing it is to join stitute for Justice and Reconcil-
you today in the celebrations of iation on the Role of Youth in
Bastille Day – an event which is Advancing Transitional Justice
as much a part of world history in Southern Africa. Comments
as it is part of French history.  on this article can be sent to:
[email protected]
"For generations this event has

Page 48 NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Why Commonwealth summit in Kigali
won’t be relaunch some were hoping for

LEADERS of some 54 countries The summit struggles to balance the diverse national interests of member states. fairs. The 2022 meeting will be no
— from Africa, Europe, Asia and different.
Southern America — are converg- The result has generally been uncomfortable position, as they part of members to transfer pow-
ing in Kigali between 20 June and warm words on all these issues were often accused of obstructing ers back to its coordinating body, The media are likely to focus
25 June 2022 for the  Common- but a conspicuous lack of concert- attempts by the rest of the Com- the Commonwealth Secretariat. on the future of the Common-
wealth Heads of Government Meet- ed action. This is reflected by the monwealth to put pressure on wealth secretary-general, Patricia
ing. Philip Murphy, a professor of absence of a clear and deliverable the governments of Rhodesia and From the 1990s, the Common- Scotland, who is seeking a second
Commonwealth history, examines agenda for heads of governments South Africa. But while the or- wealth has increasingly portrayed term in office. Normally, secre-
the expectations and limitations of meetings. Instead, they have ganisation was rarely united in its itself as a body united by shared taries-general serve two four-year
the Kigali conference. ‘themes’, which are intentionally approach, it can certainly claim a values rather than a shared history, terms, and it is unusual for the
What is the Commonwealth? all-encompasing. The theme of prominent role in the internation- and in 1995 it created the Com- incumbent to be challenged at
The  Commonwealth  consists of the 2022 Summit is ‘Delivering al fight against apartheid. More monwealth Ministerial Action the end of their first term. Scot-
54 independent member states. a Common Future: Connecting, recently, the Commonwealth has Group  to monitor adherence to land’s first term was due to come
Most of them were formerly ruled Innovating, Transforming’. pointed to its success in promot- those values. The group’s powers to an end in 2020, but because of
by the British, although Mozam- ing democracy among its member include the ability to recommend Covid, the heads of government
bique, which joined in 1995, and It has been four momentous states. Yet while the organisation the suspension or even the expul- meeting due that year has twice
Rwanda, which joined in 2009, years since heads last met. The is no longer prepared to tolerate sion of member states. But because been postponed. Hence, she has
do not share that historical link world has faced extraordinary military dictatorships or one-party it is so easy for members simply already served for six years. She
to the UK. There are 19 Com- challenges and the Common- states, a number of members, in- to withdraw from the Common- is being challenged by a Jamaican
monwealth states in Africa, eight wealth has done little of note to cluding the host of the 2022 Sum- wealth without immediate nega- nominee, Kamina Johnson Smith,
in Asia, three in Europe (includ- offer solutions. So its  support- mit, have poor records in terms of tive consequences, the group has who has the backing of some ma-
ing Cyprus and Malta, which are ers hope the meeting in Kigali will allowing opposition movements proved reluctant to hold them to jor member states including the
both also members of the Europe- give a much needed boost to the to operate freely. account except in the case of the UK and India. Indeed, the Brit-
an Union), 13 in the Caribbean organisation’s public profile, lead- How does it enforce its deci- most flagrant violations of the or- ish prime minister, Boris Johnson,
and the Americas and 11 in the ership and sense of purpose. sions? ganisation’s norms. has made no secret of his desire to
Pacific. What are some of the organisa- This is another area where the How will the success of the Ki- deny Scotland a second term in
tion’s genuine success stories? Commonwealth struggles. It is gali meeting be judged? office. This has led to a very public
They vary widely in size and The issue which kept the Com- not a treaty-based organisation A perennial problem for the or- row in the run up to the summit,
population. The majority of monwealth focused, energised and members are not legally ganisation is that although it is- with  accusations  from Scotland’s
Commonwealth members (32) and newsworthy from the 1960s bound by its decisions. Because sues statements about a wide range supporters that the Johnson ad-
are classified as small states with to the 1990s was the struggle to it emerged from the dissolution of international issues,  Com- ministration’s “colonial agenda”
populations of under 1.5 million. dismantle white minority rule in of the British Empire, there has monwealth heads of government risks wrecking the Common-
By contrast, India – the most pop- southern Africa. This tended to never been any willingness on the meetings  tend in practice to be wealth.
ulous Commonwealth state – has place British governments in an dominated by purely internal af-
1.4 billion citizens. Of the 2.5 bil- Press attention is also likely to
lion people who live in the Com- focus on the human rights record
monwealth, over half are based in of Rwanda, where the meeting is
India. taking place. Since 1999, the lead-
er of the host country becomes the
In 2021 the combined GDP of Commonwealth’s chair-in-office
all Commonwealth countries was until the next heads of state meet-
estimated to be US$13.1 trillion. ing, which usually follows in two
The Commonwealth is sometimes years’ time. In 2013 the decision
described as a “family of nations” to allow Sri Lanka to host proved
and as a mark of their special rela- extremely contentious due to the
tionship members call their diplo- human rights record of its govern-
matic missions in other Common- ment led by Mahinda Rajapaksa.
wealth states “high commissions”
rather than embassies. In 2022 attention is likely to
What are areas of focus for the focus on the regime of President
Commonwealth Paul Kagame of Rwanda, which
The Commonwealth takes an in- is  accused  of suppressing opposi-
terest in a wide variety of  issues. tion and freedom of speech and
These range from climate change destabilising the country’s neigh-
and deforestation to gender equal- bours. The British government’s
ity, international development, highly  controversial scheme  to
good governance, human rights deport some asylum seekers to
and the rule of law. Rwanda has put the country’s
domestic and foreign policy un-
This represents both a strength der even greater scrutiny. Neither
and a weakness. It means that it this, nor the increasingly bitter
speaks to the diverse national in- campaign for the post of secretary
terests of its member states. Yet general, is likely to give the Com-
it finds it almost impossible to monwealth the sort of positive
focus its activities on one or two “re-launch” some of its supporters
major issues where it could make were hoping for.
a genuine difference. Whereas the
more affluent countries of the — The Conversation.
Commonwealth have tended to
favour a focus on trade and good *About the interviewee: Philip
governance, the less affluent have Murphy is director of the Insti-
stressed the need to address global tute of Commonwealth Studies
inequality and promote develop- and professor of British and
ment. Commonwealth history at the
School of Advanced Study at
the University of London in En-
gland.

NewsHawks Page 49

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

Ghana Fourth Republic has been the best
the country’s had. But it could be better

CLEMENT SEFA-NYARKO

GHANA has had four constitu- A flawed fourth republic arms have four-year renewable together as uncritical partners. Independence Square in Ghana.
tional republics since indepen- The Fourth Republic of Gha- mandates, although the execu- The equal number of govern-
dence. na has two flaws. First, the three tive’s is renewable only once. the political class during electoral
arms of government — executive, ing and opposition Members of cycles to set a national agenda and
However, only the Fourth Re- legislature and judiciary — must All the arms of government Parliament in the 8th Parliament negotiate state responsiveness to
public – 1992 to the present – has keep each other in check. But the have the power to propose amend- that sat for the first time in Jan- public concerns.
remained relatively stable. This is people of Ghana are only invit- ments (through legal or constitu- uary 2021 did not make much
partly due to the fact that its in- ed to vote in four-year cycles. In tional instruments) or interpret difference. This was despite fierce In addition, citizens must elect
stitutional arrangements are dif- this arrangement, society must provisions in the constitution. resistance to government’s unpop- the chief executive officers of local
ferent to earlier more turbulent trust the state to exhibit goodwill However, I would argue that the ular Electronic Levy Bill in De- assemblies rather than the presi-
efforts. during inter-election periods. But power at the disposal of the exec- cember 2021 and January 2022. dent appointing them. This will
the state is not egalitarian, neither utive (president) is excessive. During the vetting of ministerial make those who are elected feel
Ghana is recognised as one of is it single-faced; it is janus-faced, nominees in 2021, Parliament accountable to local electorates
Africa’s model democracies partly which means it can exhibit both The president must appoint, approved all of them. This was instead of the executive. This will
because its constitutional arrange- goodwill and bad faith. Often, it and can dismiss, judges and the although some appeared not to require an amendment to  Article
ment appears robust and open to has exhibited bad faith when so- Chief Justice. He also appoints even understand their nominated 243(1)  of the constitution. Cur-
revision. It nurtures competitive ciety was not looking on dedicat- the Electoral Commissioner, the offices. rently it states that the chief ex-
politics and has dispute resolution edly. Auditor General and literally ev- Recommendations ecutive must be appointed by the
mechanisms. ery public office holder. The exec- To consolidate the  longevity of President with prior approval of
The second flaw, which is the utive must also appoint more than Ghana’s Fourth Republic, I pro- not less than two-thirds majority
Across different countries and more problematic, is the appor- 50% of cabinet ministers from the pose the following. of the members of the Assembly.
over time in Africa, various mod- tioning of unfettered power of legislature.
els of the state — federalism, con- appointment and dismissal to the First, all stakeholders must Finally, Parliament and civil so-
sociation, unitary — have been executive. This means that it dis- The Attorney-General and pursue a decoupling between ciety should collaborate to stream-
trialled . Most, if not all, have proportionately overshadows the minister of Justice is an  appoin- the legislature and the executive. line the appointment and dismiss-
been truncated by multiple bouts two other arms of government. tee  of the executive and a man- The  passage  of the Private Mem- al of public officials and members
of precipitous and catastrophic In addition, the burden of grati- datory member of the Cabinet. bers’ Bill (a proposed legislation of the judiciary to make it difficult
failures, transitions and relapses. tude that appointees feel towards It is worthwhile noting that no introduced by a Member of Par- for the executive to terminate or
the executive makes them unable person holding this post since the liament in their private capacity, manipulate appointments for po-
Ghana’s model of the state has (often unwilling) to constructive- inception of the Fourth Republic as opposed to one by a minister litical expediency. This should in-
primarily been unitary and has ly criticise it. The American-style has initiated any legal proceedings of state on behalf of the executive) clude putting a cap on the num-
equally suffered several break- three-arm government strategy detrimental to the ruling govern- by the seventh Parliament (2017– ber of Supreme Court judges.
downs and resuscitations. is used to counterbalance power ment’s interest. 2021) is a good first step.
between the executive, legislature These steps are necessary be-
In a  recent paper, I interrogat- and judiciary. Each is also mir- It is not only the executive that Second, civil society – even cause the state does not have the
ed Ghana’s institutional design rored at the national, regional and is problematic in this arrange- though it’s diverse – must contin- capacity – or the willingness – to
efforts. Using extensive archival local assembly levels. The judicia- ment; the legislature is also com- ue to claim its place at the table. keep itself in check. Nor has it
data, local media, expert inter- ry has no cap on tenure and has plicit, especially due to the sym- It must do this by building rela- shown a commitment to put soci-
views and secondary sources, my mandatory retirement at age 70 as biotic relationship between it and tionships among its constituents ety’s interest first.
study examined the power dy- seen in  article 145  of the consti- the executive. With the constitu- and with the state. It must use its
namics between the Ghanaian tution. Officers of the other two tion mandating the selection of affinity with the public and take — The Conversation.
state and society over time. more than half of cabinet minis- advantage of the vulnerability of
ters from Parliament, both arms of *About the writer: Clement
I found that a primary factor government have always worked Sefa-Nyarko is a PhD candidate
that has run through Ghana’s po- in history at La Trobe University
litical history is the imbalance be- in Australia.
tween the power of the state and
the legitimacy it gets from civil
society. It was in the Fourth Re-
public that the country’s institu-
tional design efforts began to look
as though they had found a good
balance between the appetites of
the state and the motivations of
society. This includes the arrange-
ment of a tripartite counterbal-
ancing between the executive, leg-
islature and judiciary.

Underpinning this arrange-
ment is the assumption that the
state has the capacity and willing-
ness to keep itself in check. But
this has proven not to be the case,
even with the added filter of the
four-year electoral cycle.

In my view, the best promise for
sustaining stability is if Ghana’s
civil society contributes to taming
the power of a strong state. But
this will need to be accompanied
by reforms to curb the power of
the executive.

The changes should include
overhauling the way in which
public officials and members of
the judiciary are appointed and
dismissed.

Page 50 Reframing Issues NewsHawks

Issue 86, 24 June 2022

KENYA’s constitution provides for Want to run for office in Kenya?
election of the president and 47 Here’s how much it’ll cost you
governors to head the executive or-
gans at national and county levels,
respectively. Also to be elected are
legislators: 47 senators, 290 MPs
and 1 450 members of county
assemblies. There is fierce compe-
tition for these posts, not just be-
tween parties but between individ-
uals within a party; and the more
a candidate spends, the higher the
chances of winning a seat. Karu-
ti Kanyinga is a governance and
development expert. We asked him
how much it costs to run for office,
and what the high cost signals for
Kenya’s participatory democracy.

How much does it cost to win a In Kenya’s election, helicopters have become a popular mode of transport, bringing the dangerous phenomenon of onlookers hanging onto the skids.
legislative seat?
The Election Campaigns Financ- ings in their constituencies. The to higher levels of the state and coalitions in order to secure a of politics reduces opportunities
ing Act  recognises a number of demands for money increased in senior politicians to the grass- ticket. Getting a ticket of domi- for debate and dialogue between
campaign-related expenses that tandem with approaching elec- roots. This enables the politician nant party reduces the chances of elected officials and their constit-
may arise, from party prima- tions. to draw development resources losing the election. uents.
ries to general elections. These and also provides an opportunity
include venue hiring, publicity For Ghana, which returned to for self-enrichment through con- Lastly, there is limited over- Once the  heavy spenders  win
material, advertising, campaign multiparty elections in 1992 – tracts with public institutions. sight of election financing. The elections, they turn to the ex-
personnel and transportation. the same year as Kenya – the cost Election Campaign Financing ecutive and to the public sector
Candidates may also incur social of election  increased by 59% Third, pressure from voters de- Act restricts the sources of cam- institutions for contracts and
costs, like contributing medi- between 2012 and 2016. But manding handouts also drives up paign funds but doesn’t place rent-seeking opportunities. The
cal assistance and school fees to the US$85 000 that a candidate the cost of politics in Kenya. In caps on them. Last year, MPs re- use of an electoral seat as a source
communities. required to win a parliamentary many of the interviews, respon- jected  an attempt by the Inde- of patronage in the constituency
seat in the 2016 general election dents pointed out that voters pendent Electoral and Bound- is linked to national level patron-
Our  study  – based on discus- was only 46.7% of what a Ken- openly demand money from can- aries Commission to change the age networks, which in turn is
sions and interviews with key in- yan counterpart would spend a didates before agreeing to attend law and introduce spending caps. the basis for corruption in the
formants from across the country year later, in 2017, to clinch a their meetings. Voters demand What’s the impact of high costs? public sector. These networks
– estimates that a candidate will similar seat. payment because some of those Capable candidates who lack ac- help to entrench abuse of office,
this year spend about 39 million elected rarely engage with voters cess to sizeable resources get ex- especially because political ac-
Kenya shillings (roughly US$390 Within East Africa, a after elections. cluded from politics. tors have to continue amassing
000) on average to win a senate 2020  study  in Uganda found resources for their support bases.
seat in the 9 August polls. The that candidates spent between The fourth driver of cost has Our study shows Woman Rep-
amount does not include support US$43 000 and US$143 000 to to do with wrong perceptions of resentative candidates who won High costs also lead politi-
that a candidate may get from be elected to parliament in the roles. In the past, voters judged their race spent almost three cians to neglect their functions.
the sponsoring political party. 2016 general election. elected leaders on the basis of the times as much as those who were Re-election bids begin almost
What drives these costs? development projects initiated or unsuccessful. Similarly, victo- immediately after elections as
It took an average of US$350 The first driver is the allure of number of people helped to ac- rious senators spent more than leaders, without seeking opin-
000 to win a similar seat in the elective office. Kenya pays an cess government jobs. double what losers spent. In the ions of their constituents, initiate
2017. The 12.3% cost difference MP a monthly package of at least race for National Assembly, suc- “development projects” aimed at
between 2017 and 2022 is at- US$10 000 – including basic al- The current  constitution  casts cessful candidates spent 50% boosting their visibility at cam-
tributed to the increasing cost of lowances.  Over 36%  of Kenya’s the roles of elected leaders as more than those who did not paign time.
living, and inflation in general. population live below the pover- oversight of the executive; mak- win.
ty line, earning less than US$1.9 ing laws; and representation of A final impact of money poli-
Kenya has 47 counties, imply- per day or US$57 monthly. the people. But voters still de- High costs have also led to a tics is that elected officials do not
ing successful senators will spend mand the “development record” non-functioning representative always provide effective oversight
a total of 1.8 billion shillings The second driver is patronage of aspiring MPs. To prove their democracy. Political seats mostly of the use of resources by the ex-
(US$18 million) to win their and connections, that have also worth, the aspirant is compelled go to those who lead in contri- ecutive at the national and coun-
seats. been linked to theft of public re- to contribute to projects and as- butions to development proj- ty level. This would be an exer-
sources. Upon winning election, sistance funds. ects, donations to groups, and cise in futility, given that some
To successfully run for the a patron-client network chain en- raising funds for individuals in intend to access those resources
Woman Representative seat, an sues that connects the politician Fifth, some candidates are will- need. The transactional nature for personal or political gain.
aspirant needs US$240 000 this ing to outspend others during the
year – 4.8% higher than the primaries of dominant parties or — The Conversation.
US$228 000 that a successful
candidate spent five years ago.
Kenya’s parliament has 47 such
representatives, implying total
spending in excess of US$11 mil-
lion by the successful candidates.

An MP will require an average
of US$222 000 to win in the Au-
gust polls, up from US$182 000
in 2017. The parliament has 290
elected MPs, implying a collec-
tive US$64.4 million (KSh6.4
billion) to fill the seats.

The least expensive political
seat in Kenya is that of Member
of County Assembly, at US$31
000 this year, or a total of US$45
million (KSh4.5bn) for the 1
450 electable seats.

Candidates interviewed for
this study said voters generally
viewed them as moneybags ev-
ery time they organised meet-