NewsHawks 8 April 2022

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WHAT’S INSIDE Friday 8 April 2022 NCEhWebSundo HSPuOmRdTinger
eats humble in store
ZNaEcWc Sfails pie, ambitious at Baobab
to account promise collapses
for millions Story on Page 48
in state funds Story on Page 16

Story on Page 3

ZEC refuses
to be audited
by Chiri over
public funds

ALSO INSIDE Fuel scam rocks Parliament

Page 2 News NewsHawks

ZEC refuses Issue 75, 8 April 2022
to be audited
by Chiri over
public funds

MOSES MATENGA spection with regard to the variance of ZW$128 as previously reported, the following commissions Auditor-General Mildred Chiri
603 185 highlighted in the year 2018 that ema- did not submit their statements of receipts and It said “the conduct of Zec ahead of this partic-
THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), nated from disparities between total outstanding disbursements for the year ended December 31, ular election laid bare its inability to act in a pro-
which is always accused of electoral fraud and revenue disclosed by line ministries/departments 2019 for audit examination: Zacc, Zec and ZMC. fessional and impartial manner in managing the
subverting the people’s will, while undermining of ZW$5 351 127 809 and Treasury’s figure of whole electoral process”.
democracy; especially ahead of the critical 2023 ZW$5 479 730 994.” “Therefore, l could not satisfy myself whether Activist group Team Pachedu flagged several
general elections, is caught in a major account- or not public funds received by these commissions Zec irregularities, including changes to over 150
ability and transparency gap — this time not on Zec is supposed to be an independent and pub- during the financial year under review were prop- polling stations, while 177 000 voters were moved
elections, but on public funds. licly funded commission constituted in terms of erly accounted for.” from their polling stations without their knowl-
chapter 12 of the constitution of Zimbabwe. edge in direct violation of the Electoral Act.
Besides being accused of stealing elections, Zec, There was no explanation from Zec on why it In February, the Zimbabwe Election Support
partly staffed with state security agents not used to It is mandated with preparing for, conducting failed to avail its books for auditing. Network challenged Zec to allow independent
accounting for state finances openly, by implica- and supervising presidential and parliamentary experts to scrutinise and audit the voters’ roll to
tion wants to steal public funds without oversight. elections; elections to provincial and metropoli- Zacc, for its part, said it had availed its books, restore public confidence, but the call yielded no
tan councils as well as governing bodies of local but Chiri insisted that the accounts had not results.
Zec is listed in Auditor-General Mildred Chiri’s authorities; election of members of the National reached her office. Churches which observed the 26 March
31 December 2020 financial year-end report on Council of Chiefs; referendums; and to ensure by-elections under the Ecumenical Election Ob-
Appropriation Accounts, Finance and Revenue that elections and referendums are conducted ef- “I acknowledge the response from the manage- servation team banner also said Zec was far from
Statements and Fund Accounts presented to Par- ficiently, freely, fairly, transparently and in accor- ment (that Zacc had presented its reports), how- professional in its conduct of the elections.
liament recently in 2022 as one of those public dance with the law. ever outstanding returns from the three commis- “Zec’s handling of the voters’ roll raised a lot
bodies that violated the law and governance re- sions were still to be availed for audit examination of concerns before and during the elections. On
quirements by failing to submit statutory returns Zec also supervises elections of the president of at the time of concluding this audit,” her report the 18th of February, Zec issued a Press statement
since 2019. the Senate and the speaker of Parliament to ensure says. that was originally meant to clarify some issues
that they are conducted efficiently and in accor- that had emerged through the various social media
The other entities include the Information dance with the law. Zec’s violation of the law over the legally re- platforms. Through the statement, Zec’s presenta-
ministry, National Council of Chiefs, Zimbabwe quired annual audits further plunges it into shad- tion was interpreted to mean that the voters’ roll
Anti-Corruption Commission, and the Zimba- Contrary to holding elections “efficiently, freely, owy operations. that had been in the public domain being analysed
bwe Media Commission. Their failure to meet fairly” as required by law, Zec has been subjected by different actors was a tampered copy and that it
their statutory obligations meant that Chiri could to a torrent of criticism for lack of transparency Ahead of the 26 March by-elections, the oppo- had been inappropriately released through verbal
not ascertain “the completeness of the consolidat- and credibility in conducting elections. sition was denied access to the voters’ roll, with the request.
ed schedule of outstanding revenue submitted for CCC’s secretary-general Chalton Hwende being “This raised concerns that the voters’ roll was
audit”. The criticism and scrutiny is cascading to the accosted by police offices outside Zec offices when not protected and could be tampered with. For
electoral commission’s books of account, with the he had gone to inquire on the vote register. the church, this case raised concerns regarding ei-
The risk of Zec and other public bodies’ viola- Auditor-General accusing it of violating the law ther the competency or credibility of Zec.”
tion of the law and abdication of duty and respon- by failing to submit statutory accounts for audit. In its report titled “Sowing seeds of illegitimacy
sibility is that overall outstanding revenue might — An analysis of the pre-electoral and electoral
be understated, prejudicing the public of millions In her 2020 audit report, Chiri says these enti- environment of the 26 March, 2022 by-elections
of dollars and misinforming policymakers in the ties — including Zec — have failed the transpar- in Zimbabwe”, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition says
process. ency and accountability test. Zec’s behaviour confirmed it was unable to con-
duct credible, transparent, free and fair elections.
Chiri’s key finding was: “As previously reported, “Section 32 (1) of the Public Finance Manage-
the following ministries/commissions did not sub- ment Act (Chapter 22:19) requires every director
mit their schedules of outstanding revenue for the of finance to prepare and submit annual financial
year ended December 31, 2019 for audit exam- statements for audit,” her report reads.
ination in contravention of Section 32 (1) of the
Public Finance Management Act (Chapter 22;19) “Contrary to the above-mentioned provision,
and were not included in the Treasury consolidat-
ed schedule of outstanding revenue. Therefore, I
could not ascertain the completeness of the con-
solidated schedule of outstanding revenue submit-
ted for audit”.

After assessing her finding, and the associated
risks and implications, Chiri made a recommen-
dation. “Treasury should remind all ministries,
departments and commissions to ensure that they
submit statutory returns for audit examination in
order to promote transparency and accountabili-
ty,” her report says.

The report further says Treasury has written to
the Information ministry, National Council of
Chiefs, Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission,
Zimbabwe Media Commission and Zec to sub-
mit their 2019 schedules of outstanding revenue
to enable Treasury to consolidate the figures, but
in vain.

There was also no progress in addressing similar
findings made before, resulting in financial distor-
tions.

“Treasury did not avail corrected accounts to
confirm whether or not the omission of non-tax
revenue amounting to ZW$218 853 671 on the
year 2017 closing balance had been rectified,” it
says.

“No reconciliations were availed for audit in-

NewsHawks News Page 3

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

MOSES MATENGA Zacc fails to account for
millions in state funds
IN a dramatic irony, Auditor-General Mildred
Chiri says the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Com- ing reliability, validity, occurrence, completeness tice. Corruption in the procurement of drugs and Zacc chairperson Loice Matanda-Moyo
mission (Zacc) has failed to properly account for and accuracy of the reported expenditure. medical equipment drives up costs and can lead to lar, euro, peso, yuan, rupee, or ruble robs the poor
millions of United States dollars which could have sub-standard or harmful products. of an equal opportunity in life and prevents gov-
been misappropriated as its accounting books “There were no alternative audit procedures ernments from investing in their human capital.
have remained in a shambles for a decade — since that I could perform to satisfy myself as to wheth- The human costs of counterfeit drugs and vac-
2012. er these expenses were free from material misstate- cinations on health outcomes and the life-long Corruption erodes trust in government —
ments. The statement of financial position had a impacts on children far exceed the financial costs. in this case Zacc — and undermines the social
Chiri warns the risk of fraud and theft looms suspense amount of US$432 769 which the com- Unofficial payments for services can have a partic- contract, impedes investment, with consequent
large at Zacc where public funds are spent with- mission could not explain and whose source could ularly pernicious effect on poor people. effects on growth and jobs. Countries capable
out supporting documentation for payments for not be determined.” of confronting corruption use their human and
goods and services, and other substantial disburse- Empirical studies have shown that the poor pay financial resources more efficiently, attract more
ments. The World Bank Group says corruption has a the highest percentage of their income in bribes. investment, and grow more rapidly.
disproportionate impact on the poor and most Some studies have suggested that the poor may
Zacc is tasked with fighting corruption, which vulnerable, increasing costs and reducing access even be preyed upon since they are seen as power- Yet Zacc is not only proving to be incompetent,
has become a scourge in the country. Zimbabwe to services, including health, education and jus- less to complain. Every stolen or misdirected dol- inefficient and in a shambles, but also corrupt to
loses billions of dollars due to high-level corrup- the core.
tion annually. This has badly impacted on eco-
nomic development and service delivery, while Corruption hits hard the poor and vulnerable.
hitting hard the poor and vulnerable.

Although Zacc was established to combat cor-
ruption, it has failed as it concentrates on chasing
small fish, while letting the big fish — sharks —
swim in corruption, looting on an industrial scale.

According to Chiri’s 2020 audit on state enter-
prises and parastatals, Zacc officials are spending
state funds without transparency and accountabil-
ity, with its books having been in a mess for 10
years. The commission has failed to produce sup-
porting documents on expenditures amounting
to US$1 116 548 in cash payments for the year
ended 2019, for instance. For the year ending 31
December 2017, the report says the commission
also failed to produce documents to support pay-
ments totalling over US$2 million.

“There were no supporting documents availed
in the form of invoices or supplier statements to
validate expenditure and payables amounting to
US$2 064 864 and US$417 138 respectively pre-
sented in the financial statements,” the report says.

“In addition, the commission was unable to
avail creditor’s reconciliations for the 2017 finan-
cial period. I was therefore unable to perform al-
ternative procedures to obtain assurance as to the
accuracy and completeness of these balances.”

On property, plant and equipment, the com-
mission is said to have de-recognised or disposed
of houses with a value of US$2 417 374 without
following due procedure and with no proper ex-
planations or supporting documents in the pro-
cess, suggesting corrupt asset-stripping.

“As a result, de-recognition did not meet the
criteria set out under the International Account-
ing Standards (IAS) 16 property, plant and equip-
ment,” it says.

On revenue, the report says: “The revenue fig-
ure presented in the financial statements of US$2
033 090 differed from the trial balance amount of
US$1 042 118 by US$990 972. No explanation
was provided to explain the variance.”

Regarding reconciliations and cash payments,
the Auditor-General’s report says Zacc had not
prepared back reconciliation statements on time
for periods under review as they were done in ret-
rospect.

“The years 2012 to 2015 bank reconciliations
were prepared in 2016 and 2017 bank reconcil-
iations were still in progress at the time of audit
in 2019. As a result, the commission had incom-
plete cash records. The cash records only showed
the payment side of transactions,” the report reads.

It says Chiri was not availed with vouchers that
support cash payments, including fuel purchases,
vehicle maintenance, and sub-contracting of ser-
vices totalling US$1 116 548.

“The implication is financial loss due to materi-
al irregularities and fraud that may not be detected
on time. Fraudulent activities may go undetect-
ed,” it says.

The report also raises a red flag over Zacc’s petty
cash book which was incomplete as the anti-cor-
ruption body was only recording payments and
not recording reimbursements.

“The commission had an incomplete cash re-
cord. The cash record only showed the payment
side of transactions, as a result, the statement of
cashflow had an imbalance of US$60 435. I was
unable to determine the extent of the adjustments
necessary to correct this account area,” the report
adds.

“The commission was unable to provide suffi-
cient and appropriate supporting documents for
fuel, general expenses and payroll disclosed in the
income statement amounting to US$108 215.
Due to the fact that ledgers were reconstructed
from the bank statement and limited documenta-
tion in place. I was unable to conduct alternative
procedures necessary to obtain assurance regard-

Page 4 News NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Govt loses millions of dollars The NewsHawks
in vehicle scandal — Report journos elected
Misa leaders

Bernard
Mpofu

MOSES MATENGA takes too long. be recovered and said the ministry should pay THE NEWSHAWKS journalists Moses Matenga and
The issue of vehicles is also haunting the as per the contractual agreements to ensure ef- Bernard Mpofu were elected into the Media Institute
A VEHICLE scam has hit the government, fective use of public funds. of Southern Africa (Misa) Harare chapter leadership
with several ministries, including Information ministry of National Housing which bought during elections held in the city on Friday.
and Justice, spending millions of dollars in nine new vehicles but received only six by the It also emerged that the ministry of Youth,
purchasing vehicles that were not delivered, in time of the audit, raising fears that some gov- Sport, Arts and Culture also bought 14 vehicles Matenga was elected Misa Harare chapter chairper-
a development that exposes gross corruption ernment officials may be colluding with suppli- valued at $617 863 in 2017 from Canon Mo- son, while Mpofu became a committee member.
within the regime. ers to siphon money from state coffers. tors but two Nissan NP 300 single cab motor
vehicles are yet to be delivered. No explanation Journalist Tendai Keith Guvambombe was elected
Millions of dollars were used since 2015 to Chiri also found that there was a price varia- was given. secretary. Misa advocates and promotes media diversity
2019 to buy vehicles for government minis- tion between what was paid by the government and pluralism.
tries, but it emerged the most of the cars were and the contract value, which was in contra- In 2020, the ministry of Justice, Legal and
not delivered, while others were not registered vention of the General Conditions of Contract Parliamentary Affairs also bought 14 vehicles After the election, Matenga said: “The real work
and open to abuse by senior officials. 29.1 of the Contact of Sale signed between the for $17 140 759, but three of those were yet starts today and we want to pledge as your committee
ministry of Information and four vehicle sup- to be delivered. to continue the good work Misa has been doing in ad-
Those delivered were often bought at in- pliers in 2020. vocating critical media reforms and enhancing media
flated prices, with the government paying way “I was not furnished with explanations as diversity and pluralism.”
beyond the quoted prices. The contract states that any variation of the to why the vehicles remained undelivered and
contract that may be as a result of changes in there was no evidence of follow-up with the Matenga said there is a need for journalists to be
In her Appropriation Accounts, Finance and statutory requirements, macro-economic en- supplier on the outstanding vehicles,” Chiri protected ahead of the 2023 elections as the just-ended
Revenue Statements and Fund Accounts, for vironment or a shift in government policies said. by-elections have indicated the trouble that lies ahead
the year ended 2020, Auditor-General Mildred should be agreed to by both parties through an for the industry.
Chiri revealed that the ministry of Information addendum to the contract. This was not done. The Auditor-General also noted that the
bought 29 vehicles, but only received five. Chiefs Council has failed to address the con- “How the media was treated ahead of the by-elec-
In case the addendum is added, the agree- tentious issue raised in the previous audit in tions by the government, political actors and state insti-
By the time of the audit, the rest of the vehi- ment states that the price adjustment would which vehicles were paid at a hugely inflated tutions was indicative of the need to have reforms and
cles were yet to be delivered. only be allowed after 60 days “and the increase price. protect the media to tell the real story,” Matenga said.
shall not exceed 20%.”
“According to the General Conditions of “The issue of four vehicles bought at a cost of He said the media was under siege from economic
Contract (GCC) 19.1 of the Contract of Sale “I noted that the Ministry paid an amount US$499 999 instead of US$202 000 had not and political factors, hence the need for practitioners
entered into between the Ministry and Vehicle of ZW28 334 774 (149%) above the contract been addressed,” the audit reads. and organisations to speak with one voice and plot a
suppliers during 2020, the date for completion value of ZW$19 044 519 for the supply of 12 clear strategy to achieve the media that is vibrant and
of the delivery of vehicles or the period within vehicles. The Ministry paid a further amount of Vehicles bought for the Industrial Training useful.
which the delivery was expected to be done was ZW$26 047 176 (82%) above the contract val- and Trade Testing Fund 2018 under the min-
four weeks from the date of issue of the pur- ue of ZW$31 573 531 for the supply of other istry of Higher and Tertiary Education remain Misa advocates and promotes media diversity and
chase order,” reads the audit report in part. 17 vehicles,” observed Chiri. unaccounted for, with one, a Toyota Landcruis- pluralism across the Southern African Development
er, bought in 2015 for $100 449, vanishing. Community region and its regional headquarters is in
“Audit noted that on June 3, 2021, the Min- “Both payments were made on September Harare. — STAFF WRITER.
istry had not yet taken delivery of a total of 24 25, 2020 after the lapse of 60 days. There was A Toyota Hilux 310 D4D acquired in 2016
out of 29 vehicles paid for to Solution Motors no evidence availed to audit in the form of an was allocated to a senior official who took it to Moses
(7) and Motor City (17) despite that the dates addendum to the contract with details justify- the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund Matenga
for completion of delivery of vehicles agreed in ing the increase in excess of the 20% allowed in and it is yet to be returned.
the contract of sale with both suppliers lapsed the contract.”
on October 23, 2020.” The vehicle saga has confirmed suspicions of
Chiri said there was a risk of wasteful expen- gross corruption, theft and lack of transparency
The Auditor-General raised fears that the diture or fraud being committed. in government departments as it also emerged
purchased vehicles may be concealed if delivery that besides vehicles, many public assets have
She recommended that the excess payment not been accounted for.

NewsHawks News Page 5

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Page 6 News NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

MOSES MATENGA Fuel scam rocks Parliament

PARLIAMENT is failing to account for thou- . . . procurement process in shambles
sands of litres of fuel after leaving out serial
numbers in its coupons disbursements, while Auditor-General Mildred Chiri
also failing to provide documentation for its ex-
penses in contravention of the law. Parliament of Zimbabwe

Auditor-General Mildred Chiri says the scan- conducting the audit in September 2021. The Parliament, Chiri said, acted contrary to the deposited daily in the local bank for the credit
dal could have resulted in fuel looting and loss of risk is that there may be risk of limited audit cov- requirements of section 48 (3) of the Public of the exchequer account by delaying to bank
money due to fictious payments. erage and inadequate monitoring of Parliament’s Finance Management (Treasury Instructions) US$16 062 by a period ranging from 60 to 135
internal controls.” 2019, which stipulate that money should be days.
It emerged that fuel meant for members of
Parliament was not properly noted down by
parliamentary staff and there could be reason to
suspect looting as it was not clear what was dis-
bursed and to who.

“A review of the MPs’ fuel register revealed
that 22 000 litres (3 760 petrol and 18 260 die-
sel) fuel coupons distributed in March, June, Oc-
tober and November 2020 had incomplete serial
numbers recorded,” the 2020 Auditor-General’s
report on Appropriation Accounts, Finance and
Revenue Statements and Fund Accounts reads in
part.

The report noted that the act was contrary to
the law and exposed parliamentary fuel to loot-
ing.

“This was contrary to the provisions of sec-
tion 104(1) of the Public Finance Management
(Treasury Instructions), 2019 which requires
entities to keep complete record of fuel received
and issued. There was no evidence that records
were reviewed regularly by an independent se-
nior official,” the report further reads.

She said the implication of not properly re-
cording the serial numbers of the fuel coupons
was failure to account for fuel used and dis-
bursed.

Chiri also noted in her report that the pro-
curement of goods in Parliament was not trans-
parent. She said it was open to manipulation as
several items were procured without following
tender processes.

“Goods worth ZW$12 906 032 were pro-
cured without following tender procedures. This
could have been due to lack of training of staff
assigned to carry out procurement functions.”

On direct payments, Chiri said: “I noted that
a total of ZW$15 347 443 (US$613 893) direct
payments made on behalf of Parliament of Zim-
babwe by the ministry of Finance and Economic
Development were not disclosed in the appro-
priation account for the year 2020.

“The risks and implications are that the total
expenditure figures disclosed in the appropri-
ation account may be materially understated
because of the direct payments which were not
posted to the relevant general ledgers.”

She said, consequently, there may be a risk of
double payments to the suppliers and recom-
mended that the appropriation account should
be adjusted to incorporate the direct payments.

“Follow up of direct payments should be done
with ministry of Finance and Economic Devel-
opment to ensure that direct payments are post-
ed to relevant general ledgers,” the report added.

In response, the management said payments
were made by the ministry of Finance and Eco-
nomic Development to the supplier and there
was no communication to Parliament of Zimba-
bwe management in verifying how the payment
was processed.

On payment of vouchers, Chiri said: “34 SAP
documents with a value of ZW$14 220 243
were not availed for audit. I could not confirm
with certainty the expenditure incurred. There
was no evidence of supervision of the finance
personnel by relevant senior officials to ensure
records were being maintained properly.

“In the absence of proper and complete re-
cord keeping, fictitious payments may be made.

“Records for payment of vouchers should be
properly maintained and availed for audit when
required. Finance personnel should be super-
vised by senior officials to ensure proper record
keeping,” read part of the recommendations in
part.

“Parliament has not been recording revenue
in the system, neither was it performing bank
reconciliations for revenue received. There was
no evidence of communication between Parlia-
ment and the PFMS Project office (public fi-
nance management system) on system challeng-
es being faced.

“The internal audit department was incapac-
itated since 2019 as it operated with only one
officer instead of four. Interviews to fill the three
vacant posts were conducted in November 2018.
No appointments had been made at the time of

NewsHawks News Page 7

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Page 8 News NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

First Lady, July dation, with councils contributing. Titled “Concession Agreement to Design, Build
Moyo murky The First Lady’s deals at town house are re- and Operate the Harare Pomona Waste Manage-
deals under threat ment Facility and Waste Energy Power Plant, the
l Anxiety as CCC councillors sworn in portedly being pushed by a clique of officials deal signed in the presence of Moyo and Ngu-
working in cahoots with Mwonzora’s council- waya has come under scrutiny amid fears the
MOSES MATENGA/ RUVIMBO MUCHENJE Council then approved, albeit in retrospect, lors who are desperately seeking to strengthen residents will be burdened with paying back the
CITIZENS’ Coalition for Change (CCC) the participation of council officials and further relations with the first family for political pro- money that Mnangagwa loyalists are looking to
councillors say they will immediately swing into authorised participation in the forthcoming tection. benefit from.
action and stop all dubious deals linked to First programmes being organised by the office of
Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa and some scandalous the First Lady in what observers said was to get On the multi-million Pomona deal that coun- Mutizwa has, however, come out to defend
agreements involving Local Government minis- favours from the Zanu PF government via Pres- cil signed under Moyo’s close watch, Chamisa’s the deal, saying it will benefit Harare in many
ter July Moyo. ident Emmerson Mnangagwa’s wife. councillors vowed to scrutinise the deal with a ways, including power generation.
view to blocking it as it was arrived at without
But their threats may come to naught if Moyo It also emerged that urban local authorities following tender processes. CCC councillors have, however, frowned at
strikes first by suspending councillors who are across the country were recently forced to con- the deal that was entered into with Moyo, in an
facing criminal abuse of office charges as threat- tribute ZW$32 million towards the construc- The deal was entered into between council unprecedented move personally attending the
ened last week by government officials who tion of the first lady’s orphanage in Chiredzi. and a German company, Geogenix BV, linked to signing ceremony together with Nguwaya.
spoke to The NewsHawks. a close ally of the first family, Delish Nguwaya,
The new Chambuta Children’s Home was who is said to be its local representative, and is His personal presence was interpreted to mean
The minister is said to be stopping at nothing constructed through her Angels of Hope Foun- set to generate up to 22 megawatts of electricity to defend the suspicious deal. There was dra-
to block all attempts to threaten his multi-mil- under the deal frowned upon by some council- ma during the swearing-in ceremony, snubbed
lion ventures endorsed by the MDC-T council- lors. by Mwonzora councillors, when Mutizwa was
lors. booed by CCC supporters, who accused him of
Nguwaya is close to the First Family, particu- occupying the chair illegally.
This also came as CCC councillors are expect- larly Mnangagwa’s twins, Collins and Sean. He
ed to elect a new acting mayor to take over from was involved in the Draxgate scandal in which Mutizwa remained calm despite the hostilities
MDC-T’s Stewart Mutizwa who has been act- the government issued a US$60 million tender and left immediately after the swearing-in with-
ing in the absence of suspended Herbert Gomba for Covid-19 material while flouting public pro- out mingling with his CCC counterparts.
and Jacob Mafume. curement law.
Sakupwanya, a strong Mnangagwa ally who
Full council has not convened in the recent Unsure who would be in charge of Town won a council seat he described as historic in
past after failing to constitute a quorum, mean- House in the aftermath of the 26 March by-elec- the last polls, was also not spared the booing by
ing most of the “dubious” deals were yet to be tions, council was forced to enter into an agree- CCC supporters who swarmed Town House for
endorsed. ment with a clause not to change anything in the event.
the event of political changes and it remains to
Councillors told The NewsHawks after swear- be seen how Chamisa’s councillors will stop the Councillor Kudzai Kadzombe is set to take
ing in that their immediate task will be to look deal. over as acting mayor after the elections, but is
into the deals that have raised eyebrows, in- facing competition from Enock Mupamaonde.
cluding the US$400 million Pomona Waste Main opposition CCC Harare councillors sworn in
Management agreement. The continuous use of
council resources to fund Auxillia’s programmes
will also be reconsidered.

“We will look into all deals they entered into
and we know most of them are dubious. We
can’t say more now before we settle and our way
of settling is the motion we moved to elect a new
mayor on Friday,” one of the councillors said.

Twenty-two out of the 23 CCC councillors
were sworn in on Thursday with Pedzai Sakup-
wanya, a gold dealer who is close to the First
Family.

Gomba was the only recently elected CCC
councillor who was not sworn in and will take
the oath at a given time.

In the absence of Chamisa’s councillors who
were at the time recalled, councillors loyal to
MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora endorsed
a resolution of the education, health and hous-
ing committee of 29 July 2021 that paved the
way for partnerships between the First Lady and
council in her project that include Nhanga/Gota/
Ixhiba and Nharirire Yemusha.

LIZWE SEBATHA Thugs threaten slain Ncube’s sister

A SISTER of slain Kwekwe Citizens’ Coalition waturi, Albert Maketo and Edmore Shoshera Judith was referring to avenging spirits com- comes second after contributing to 37% of hu-
for Change (CCC) activist Mboneni Ncube, says ZW$10 000 bail each on Wednesday. monly known as Ngozi in Shona culture — one man rights violations recorded in February 2022,”
she has been confined indoors following a kidnap- of the most feared and mysterious spiritual man- the report reads in part.
ing scare last Thursday. They were ordered to reside at their respective ifestations.
addresses until the matter is finalised. “ZPP recorded a significant increase in the
Judith was allegedly snatched and bundled into Analysts have warned of an increase in political profile and scope of the human rights violations
an unmarked vehicle, before being taken to an Judith said she was still traumatised by the inci- violence as the country marches towards the 2023 recorded. So, while in January ZPP recorded a
unknown location where the menacing men or- dent as well as the threatening phone calls she has elections, citing pockets of violence ahead of the total of 55 cases of human rights violations, the
dered her to stop pushing for justice for her broth- been receiving. 26 March by-elections. majority of them were of discrimination during
er who was murdered by Zanu PF thugs. aid processes and, in February, the organisation
“I am still traumatised by the incident, and I According to a Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) recorded a total of 70 cases, with the majority of
Ncube was stabbed with a spear at a CCC rally have been forced to stay indoors ever since as I February report, police and Zanu PF topped the them being of political violence that left people
at Mbizo shopping centre in Kwekwe during an have also been receiving threatening calls from list of human rights violators mainly targeting injured or dead.
address by party leader Nelson Chamisa. He died unknown numbers,” Ncube told The NewsHawks CCC supporters and ordinary citizens ahead of
upon admission to Kwekwe Central Hospital. in an interview. the polls. “In all of this, the majority of the victims, about
89%, are ordinary Zimbabweans, with nine per-
Police arrested 16 suspects after the gruesome “I have never felt safe after I heard that some “Zanu PF takes a lead in human rights vi- cent being CCC supporters. Unfortunately, Zim-
murder, with all of them linked to the ruling of the accused persons are out on prison. They olations recorded this month at 41%, and the babwean politics continues to be haunted by cases
Zanu PF. Eleven of the suspects were released are very dangerous people, and everyone knows Zimbabwe Republic Police, which is under his of violence that can be avoided if Zimbabweans
without charge when they appeared before Kwe- how they operate. But what they forget is that this (President Emmerson Mnangagwa) command as were more tolerant.”
kwe magistrate Florence Nago. battle for justice is not mine alone. My brother the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces,
will fight his own battles until justice is served.”
Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Martin
Makonese granted the five remaining suspects
Talent Imgayago, Panashe Mukavaza, Percy Muk-

NewsHawks News Page 9

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Page 10 News NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

MOSES MATENGA Suspected ghost workers
siphon ZW$3bn from govt
THE government could be financing ghost
workers, prejudicing the state, as the authorities
have failed to account for payments amounting
to ZW$2.5 billion, it has emerged.

A red flag has been raised, amid suspicion the
government could be paying for workers who are
not in their employ and losing taxpayers’ money
in a manner reminiscence of the days of the late
former president Robert Mugabe when the Zanu
PF militia was paid using government resources.

According to Auditor-General Mildred Chi-
ri in her report for the financial year ended 31
December 2020 on Appropriation Accounts,
Finance and Revenue Statements and Fund Ac-
counts, there was a variance in wage bill between
figures presented by the Public Service Commis-
sion and the Salary Service Bureau.

“Total employment costs paid by the Salary
Service Bureau (SSB) were 9% of what the com-
mission paid, which was 91%,” the report read
in part.

“The total employment costs reported by the
commission amounted to ZW$2 732 262 069,
which did not agree with the total on the SSB
payroll printout figure of ZW$221 446 282,
resulting in an unreconciled variance of ZW$2
510 815 787 for the same period.”

“As a result, I could not confirm the accuracy
of the expenditure on compensation of employ-
ees costs disclosed in the financial statements,”
Chiri’s report added.

Chiri said the government was therefore pay-
ing people who are not its employees.

“On risks and implications, it may be diffi-
cult to state with certainty the exact employment
costs incurred by the ministry during the finan-
cial year under review. Also without reconcil-
iations, it may be difficult to confirm whether
bonafide employees were paid,” she said in her
report.

“The commission should engage the SSB in
order to reconcile the variance of ZW$2 510 815
787 between its accounting records and records
maintained by the SSB,” the report further stat-
ed.

However, the management claimed the vari-
ance was as a result of the Covid-19 allowances
paid in foreign currency for the months of June,
July and August 2020 and were captured in SAP
using the exchange rates prevailing at the time.

“The other difference was in respect of pay-
ments for employer obligations like the Public
Service Medical Aid Society (Psmas) and Na-
tional Social Security Authority (Nssa). The rec-
onciliation schedule is available for inspection,”
the management said.

But in its evaluation of the management re-
sponse, the Auditor-General showed further dis-
satisfaction and insisted that there was a need to
back the claims with proof.

“There is still need for the management to fur-
nish audit with supporting documents of other
related employment costs. There is need to have
all costs processed through the SSB to ensure
completeness and effective control as the figure
at SSB is only 9% of what the commission paid,
which is 91%,” Chiri added.

On monthly pay sheets, it emerged that the
PSC did not sign and acquit monthly pay sheets
as evidence that the people paid were bonafide
employees.

“The PSC human resources procedure manual
paragraph 6.1.6 requires certification that mem-
bers on the pay sheet were bonafide employees
during the month shown and that the members
were appropriately remunerated,” Chiri added.

“The signed copy of the acquittal pay sheet
should then be filed. Erroneous and inappropri-
ate remunerations may be made if checks and
balances are not performed monthly.”

Zimbabwe has previously faced challenges of
the regime paying ghost workers, most of them
who turned out to be youths sympathetic to the
ruling Zanu PF and were being paid for unspec-
ified tasks.

In 2020, over 10 000 ghost workers were re-
moved from the government payroll in Zimba-
bwe after a registration project that was run with
the assistance of the World Bank.

It then emerged that more than 90% of state
revenue was being used to pay wages over recent
years.

It also emerged that some of the workers who
continued being paid were either deceased or out
of employment and this was due to bureaucratic
errors or corruption.

NewsHawks News Page 11

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

UN vote: Zim joins rogues’ gallery

The UN General Assembly suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council over reports of gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights in Ukraine (below).

MOSES MATENGA Of the countries that voted against, Burundi over a litany of violations that include state-spon- United States ambassador to the United Na-
is facing a severe crisis that include killings, po- sored violence. tions Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the UN has
ZIMBABWE is part of a club of rogues, includ- litical repression and a dire security situation, sent a clear message that the suffering of victims
ing eight other African states and authoritarian while Algeria is also faced with serious challenges Zimbabwe also voted with other regimes classi- and survivors will not be ignored.
regimes like China, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, to human rights such as substantial restrictions of fied as rogue, including North Korea, China and
Syria and Russia itself, that voted against a United freedom of association, assembly and movement, Iran. “We ensured a persistent and egregious human
Nations General Assembly resolution to suspend alongside state control over freedom of expression rights violator will not be allowed to occupy a po-
Russia’s membership of the UN Human Rights and of the press. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, sition of leadership on human rights at the UN,”
Council. Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mauritius, she said.
Other countries that voted against also have Seychelles and Sierra Leone are the countries that
In the vote, Zimbabwe sided with rogue re- their human rights issues, some of them red voted for. The Thursday resolution was the third adopt-
gimes known for authoritarianism and human flagged by global human rights organisations and ed by the 193-member General Assembly since
rights violations at a time the Russian military civil society with Zimbabwe even under sanctions Twenty-three African countries, including Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine on 24 Feb-
is mercilessly killing and displacing millions, in- neighbouring South Africa, Botswana, Mozam- ruary.
cluding women and children on a daily basis. bique and Namibia abstained.

The UN General Assembly on Thursday sus-
pended Russia from the UN Human Rights
Council over reports of “gross and systematic vi-
olations and abuses of human rights” in Ukraine.

A total of 93 countries voted in favour, while
24 were against and 58 abstained.

Although Zimbabwe initially abstained from
the 2 March vote that saw the UN General As-
sembly voting to demand that Russia stop its of-
fensive and immediately withdraw its troops, this
time around Harare chose to take the side of the
military attack that has seen thousands dead and
millions of civilians displaced.

By taking sides with Russia, Zimbabwe has
effectively put President Emmerson Mnangag-
wa’s international re-engagement efforts in flames
as the southern African country is now lumped
together with Russia and other authoritarian
regimes that sought to block the sanctioning of
Moscow.

Mnangagwa is seeking to mend relations with
the West, including the United States, the United
Kingdom and the European Union, but the latest
vote is likely to further isolate Harare.

Just like Zimbabwe, Algeria, Burundi, the
Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, Er-
itrea, Ethiopia, Gabon and Mali voted against.

Page 12 News NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

BERNARD MPOFU Brace for full impact of
Russia-Ukraine war: CZI
ZIMBABWE should this month brace for
full-impact volatilities from the Russia-Ukraine Russia and Ukraine account for about 15% of the world’s wheat production.
war as the country battles to tame rising infla-
tion, the country’s manufacturing sector lobby has kicked in and the high inflation rates put Official statistics show that Zimbabwe’s year- said.
group has warned. the country at a disadvantage when it trades. As on-year inflation for March stood at 72.7% “This means that the exchange rate instabili-
at February 2022, Zimbabwe had the highest mainly driven by price increases in fuel, elec-
Tremors from the Russian invasion of inflation rate compared to its regional counter- tricity and gas. ty, especially the parallel market exchange rate,
Ukraine are already spreading across the world, parts,” the CZI said. remains one of the threats towards inflation
with economies experiencing disruptions of “There are a number of reasons that can management. This also implies that remov-
fuel and wheat supplies which are stoking in- “This means that the external drivers of in- explain the inflationary trends in Zimbabwe. ing of exchange rate distortions to result in a
flation. flation are going to have a compounded effect However, inflation has been traditionally asso- reasonable convergence with the parallel mar-
in Zimbabwe compared to other neighbouring ciated with the exchange rate movements, es- ket rate, which is highly correlated with broad
Experts say over the past year, there has gen- countries due to this high base effect.” pecially the parallel market premium,” the CZI money supply movements, is critical.”
erally been a lack of confidence on the foreign
currency auction market due to its failure to
perform the price discovery role.

They say the largest source of concern was
that the auction rate creates an overvalued local
currency. Russia is also the third-largest produc-
er of wheat, while Ukraine is ranked 9th in the
world. Combined, the two countries account
for about 15% of the world’s wheat production.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries
(CZI) says the conflict, which began on 14
February, will affect manufacturers, who rely of
imports for throughput to push prices.

“Prices of fuel have increased throughout the
world due to this conflict and Zimbabwe was
not been spared. It is expected that the full im-
pact of the increase in fuel will be felt in April as
it cascades down the economy,” the CZI said in
its monthly economic report for March.

“Manufacturers and service providers will be
expected to adjust prices in response to the cost
pressures, as all cost build-ups tend to have a lag
effect in the market.

“The war will disrupt supply chains and the
challenges in accessing Russian and Ukrainian
markets will see the remaining markets being
subjected to increased demand, inevitably lead-
ing to increased prices. The increase in wheat
and associated product prices will also be infla-
tion-enhancing.”

Concerns about overvaluation of the ex-
change rate was mainly stemming from the fact
that the exchange rate was not depreciating in
line with the inflation differentials with main
trade partners, which is one of the critical at-
tributes expected in a market-driven exchange
rate.

“The African Continental Free Trade Area

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NewsHawks News Page 13

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

FORMER Finance minister Tendai Biti says Inflation surge wipes out salaries
Zimbabwean workers and ordinary people are as poverty deepens among poor
sinking deeper into poverty as their incomes get
wiped out by resurgent inflation due to endog- l Further liberalising the foreign exchange mar- Former Finance minister Tendai Biti flation expert, said: “Zimbabwe’s central bank
enous and exogenous factors, especially broad ket by allowing banks to conduct foreign ex- ments) shall be free to sell foreign currency to has raised benchmark interest rates to 80% in
money supply growth and Russia’s invasion of change transactions of up US$1 000 under an banks on a willing-buyer- willing-seller basis; a futile attempt to rein in inflation at 161%/yr.
Ukraine respectively. arrangement agreed upon between banks and and To put real, inflation-adjusted interest rates in
the RBZ and in terms of which individuals with l Ensuring that commercial imports are pro- positive territory, the benchmark would have to
In an interview with The NewsHawks yester- free funds and entities/corporates holding for- cessed through normal banking channels in line be above 160%. Ouch!”
day, Biti — who recently won the Harare East eign exchange in their foreign currency accounts with international best practice.
by-election on the main opposition Citizens’ (after meeting the statutory surrender require- Biti raised the issue of inflation and the cost
Coalition for Change (CCC) ticket — says sala- Reacting to the RBZ policy interventions, of living on Wednesday in Parliament where he
ries, incomes and savings are being wiped out by American economist Steve Hanke, a global in- returned with a bang after being recalled by his
rising inflation at a scary pace. now-defunct MDC-T rivals.

“Inflation is running riot due to many fac- “My question to the honourable minister of
tors,” Biti told The NewsHawks. “Broad money Finance and Economic Development, through
supply growth is intensifying, the currency and the leader of the House is that with the cost of
exchange differentials, premium and arbitrage living rising exponentially, with the exchange
are worsening. There is a problem of quasi-fiscal rate depreciating, the parallel market rate is now
activities through which government is creating close to 300, what are you doing to the plight of
money, which is not backed by production, to civil servants, teachers, nurses, doctors, judges,
fund infrastructure projects, especially road con- magistrates, bus drivers, Speaker of Parliament,
struction, and command agriculture. The for- Clerk of Parliament, staff at Parliament, mem-
eign currency auction system is making a bad bers of Parliament who continue to have their
situation worse because of how it is funded, ma- salaries being eroded by the rambunctious infla-
nipulated and abused by both the Reserve Bank tion and the depreciation of the Zimbabwean
of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and companies or bid- dollar?
ders. The auction system is now like a pyramid
scheme; a cesspool of manipulation, corruption “Why do you not just dollarise the salary of
and theft ultimately costing the public. All these the Speaker, the Clerk, civil servants, teachers,
factors are fueling inflation. doctors and nurses?” Biti said.

“The price or cost of political and policy de- Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mu-
cisions and failures by the Mnangagwa regime denda replied: “Order, honourable member,
are also wreaking havoc with the economy and there is no need to mention specific people. Just
worsening inflation. simply say the public, it is enough.”

“There are exogenous factors, like oil prices, However, Biti riposted: “But I was making a
which have been affected by the Ukraine war, case for your salary, too!”
and associated production and supply chain dis-
ruptions. As a result, fuel prices have astronomi- Prices of goods and services have of late been
cally gone up and that has a domino effect across rising at a dramatic pace in a new wave of sweep-
the economy.” ing escalations due to a combination of factors,
largely reflecting the economy’s unstable mac-
Zimbabwe’s annual consumer price inflation ro-economic environment — particularly cur-
climbed to 72.7% in March, from 66.1% in the rency and exchange rate volatility and low pro-
prior month, reaching its highest point since last duction — while further pushing Zimbabweans
June. Main upward pressure came from trans- deeper into poverty and suffering, mainly the
portation, at 84.2% versus 66.6% in February, poor and vulnerable.
and food (75.1% versus 69.3%), as rising fuel
and bread prices triggered a wave of price hikes The International Monetary Fund recently
of basic commodities across the economy. said Zimbabwe should tighten monetary policy
measures to contain resurgent inflationary pres-
Inflation has been gradually rising since Sep- sures. — STAFF WRITER.
tember last year, with monetary authorities at-
tributing this to the parallel exchange rate's pass-
through effect on domestic inflation witnessed
toward the end of last year. On a monthly basis,
consumer prices advanced 6.6%, following a
7% rise in the previous month.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the RBZ
met on 1 April to consider developments on the
domestic and international macroeconomic en-
vironment fronts as well as the impact of global
geopolitical factors on the economy.

“While noting the decline in month-on-
month inflation, from 6.99% in February 2022
to 6.31% in March 2022, the committee was
concerned with the escalation in annual infla-
tion, from 66.11% to 72.70%, over the same
period,” it said after the meeting.

“The committee particularly noted that global
inflation was on the increase as a consequence of
the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict which had
secondary pass-through effects on domestic and
international prices.

“Rising prices of oil, gas, fertilisers and oth-
er related products had the effect of increasing
global inflation and inevitably had a negative
impact on domestic costs of production and was
destabilising the foreign exchange market.

“In this regard, the committee reiterated the
need for the RBZ to remain focused on inflation
reduction and putting in place additional policy
measures in response to the resurging inflation-
ary pressures and foreign exchange parallel mar-
ket activities.”

The committee resolved to put in place the
following policy measures with immediate ef-
fect:
l Reviewing upwards the central bank policy
rate from 60% to 80% per annum;
l Reviewing upwards the medium-term bank
accommodation facility interest rate from 40%
to 50% per annum;
l Reviewing upwards the minimum deposit
rates for Zimdollar savings and time deposits
from 10% and 20% per annum to 12.5% and
25%, respectively;
l Further tightening monetary policy by reduc-
ing the quarterly reserve money growth target
from 7.5% to 5% for the quarter ending June
2022;

Page 14 News NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Gold miner degrades Shurugwi’s
scenic Boterekwa escarpment

STEPHEN CHADENGA environmental orders as outlined in the Ema Act Work at Boterekwa escarpment only about the damage to the environment but
(chapter 20:27) to stop implementing the two in Shurugwi also to road users as well. Fears have arisen that
BOTEREKWA escarpment located in the min- components, whose EIA report or document has artisanal miners operating illegally on the escape-
ing town of Shurugwi, 33 kilometres outside the not yet been submitted for review to Ema.” kwa has therefore been polluting the environment ment could have dug tunnels beneath the Boter-
Midlands capital Gweru, boasts of scenic views with toxic wastes putting the lives of animals and ekwa highway and, as a result, there is a risk the
of a mountainous area endowed with indigenous He added: “As Ema we had to issue a ticket of people at danger. road could collapse anytime.
trees. ZW$300 000 to Anshi for including vatleaching
and opencast in the mining project. Following the Through opencast mining, the joint mining A few years ago, the ministry of Transport had
For years, in the valleys and at the base of the illegal activities, the scenic area was disfigured.” venture between Mahara and the Chinese compa- to patch what was suspected to be the entrance to
mountains, gold panners have been scouring for ny has not only destroyed the natural landscape, a tunnel in the middle of the Shurugwi Botere-
the precious metal, inflicting serious damage on Basera said the miners were flouting environ- but also exposed part of the escapement to soil kwa-Zvishavane highway.
the environment. Environmental degradation has mental standards and had to be stopped. erosion and pollution of water bodies down-
scaled new heights since a new miner, Ansh Blue stream. Mining activities coupled with sub-standard
4/8, owned by one Mahara in joint partnership “The fact that the two operations (opencast environmental practices by both local and most-
with Chinese firm Chenjxi (Private) Limited, has and vatleaching) are not EIA-certified disquali- The provincial mining office referred all inqui- ly Chinese gold and chrome miners along the
embarked on illegal mining activities in the pic- fy the operations as being done out of specified ries to the ministry of Mines. Shurugwi-Zvishavane highway has left extensive
turesque mountain range. standard. This is why Ema has stopped the illegal environmental degredation, with people ques-
mining operations components,” he said. Mines minister Winston Chitando did not re- tioning the government’s commitment to stop-
Investigations by The NewsHawks revealed that spond to questions sent to him. ping the illegal activities.
Mahara, through his company Ansh Blue, had Vatleaching produces large amounts of waste
intially been awarded an environmental impact effluent which are acidic and the miner at Botere- Over the years, illegal panners have been dig-
assessment certificate for shaft mining before he ging for the precious metal at Boterekwa and raids
joined hands with Chenjxi to embark on opencast by the police have failed to stop their activities.
mining and vatleaching under the name Anshi 68
North 2 and 3 project. Environmentalists are, however, worried not

However, it is the speed at which mining ac-
tivities resumed early this year that has sparked
alarm, even attracting the attention of the Envi-
ronmental Management Agency (Ema), amid an
outcry from locals. Ema officials confirmed to The
NewsHawks that the mining operations were ille-
gal, adding the agency is seized with the matter.

High-level sources in the Midlands say power-
ful Zanu PF politicians are — behind the scenes
— involved mining operations in the gold-rich
Shurugwi mountain range, hence the display of
impunity. The surrounding communities are not
been amused by the miners’ degradation of Boter-
ekwa, a place they have for years considered to be
a paradise for nature lovers.

“We wonder how the new miner got a licence
to mine from the bottom to the top of part of
Boterekwa. Of course we have known illegal gold
miners digging here and there at the base of the
mountain but to go on to raze down part of the
range completely. This is new to us and totally un-
acceptable,” a Shurugwi villager said.

This week, Ema Midlands provincial manag-
er Benson Basera told The NewsHawks that Ansh
Blue mine had been ordered by the environmen-
tal agency to stop illegal mining operations.

“The miner in question has an environmental
impact assessment for shaft mining,” Basera said.

“The miner, however, went on to expand the
mining activities to include the components of
opencast mining and vatleaching.

“The components were not included in the ini-
tial shaft mine project and according to the EIA
regulations illegal. Ema has served the miner with

NewsHawks News Page 15

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

MOSES MATENGA It’s time up for Zanu PF
terror gang: Chikwinya
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has been
challenged to disband terror groups in Kwekwe, Former State Mbizo
stop giving impunity to perpetrators of polit- Security minister MP Settlement
ically motivated violence and halt the needless Owen Mudha Ncube
bloodshed, particularly ahead of the crucial Chikwinya
2023 general election.
“These people are basically finding a hideout simply voted Mnangagwa out not because of his rule to a democratic rule. He is with the peo-
Kwekwe has been a hotspot of political vio- and protection. People rejected him in Kwekwe effort, but people’s effort. He should just enjoy ple and I always wanted to be with the people.
lence since 2000 following Mnangagwa’s loss to when he contested against Matambanadzo be- his current impunity which he is going to lose I could not join Mwonzora, I had to join the
former member of Parliament Blessing Chebun- cause he was not working as an MP. To go to very soon, he knows he has crimes which he did, people.”
do and remains volatile as next year’s election Zanu PF for him is a matter of sour grapes. You his daughter will testify and we know that.”
nears. will find that he is being rejected in Zanu PF and “I am a politician and politics is defined by
he will find himself in another party. It’s a shame. Chikwinya said he stood with Chamisa even the people and I had to be with them. It was not
Mbizo MP Settlement Chikwinya, who has at the expense of his seat in Parliament as he has even an option to join Mwonzora, the option
witnessed the brutal and violent conduct of the “He is now a spent force and his time is in faith in his leadership and the vision. was to be with Chamisa, to be with the people
ruling Zanu PF in Kwekwe since his days as his rural home in Hurungwe and nowhere near and I will be with Chamisa and the people till
councillor, told The NewsHawks that it was in- politics. We have no respect for him, the people “Nelson Chamisa is our best foot forward, he the end,” he said.
cumbent upon Mnangagwa to call for the dis- is the current face of transition from Zanu PF
bandment of the Al-Shabaab terror group that
has wreaked havoc. Violent gangs linked to Zanu PF have been accused of consistently unleashing terror on opposition supporters in Kwekwe.

“We have fought a brutal fight, a very unre-
pentant violent system anchored on the violent
antics of the Al-Shabaab crew,” Chikwinya said
this week after he was sworn in.

“It is well-known and protected by senior
Zanu PF officials. They operate under the influ-
ence and instruction of senior Zanu PF officials,
including the President himself. It has been quite
a mammoth task since 2000, even before that at
the formation of the MDC,” he added.

Chikwinya said despite facing a brutal regime,
the people of Mbizo have been consistent in re-
jecting Zanu PF in elections.

“Since 1999, we have documented a number
of people who have been murdered and tortured.
The murders continue with the latest one being
that of Mboneni Ncube. The tortures continue
with the individuals identified as perpetrators re-
ceiving impunity and even if they are partially
arrested, they are quickly released from prison
and come back to continue the atrocities.”

“The police cannot do much as long as their
hands remain tied like this and as long as these
people get protection from these senior officials,”
he said.

Ncube was killed by Zanu PF activists at a ral-
ly in Mbizo.

“As long as Mnangagwa is involved and has an
interest with politics around Kwekwe, these in-
dividuals will continue to have impunity and act
in the manner they are currently doing,” Chik-
winya said.

“We know the guys involved and if you walk
around Kwekwe and ask who the Al-Shabaab
people are, they will tell you. The Ncube mur-
der perpetrators are known and the witnesses
are now being threatened. Now they can’t speak
and they are trying to distort the whole story by
threatening witnesses”

“The next thing they will begin to blame CCC
to say it was stage-managed and perhaps they
will arrest people from CCC and manufacture
witnesses. We are not ruling that out. For it to
come to an end, we have to remove the influence
of Mnangagwa and former State Security minis-
ter Owen Ncube from politics around Kwekwe
and that will bring peace to Kwekwe. As long as
these individuals are there, the perpetrators will
continue to have a home where they can launch
these attacks.”

Chikwinya said winning Parliamentary seats
is important, but the main goal ahead of 2023
is to ensure Nelson Chamisa’s victory in the
presidential race to effectively end a culture of
violence.

On return to Parliament after the recalls,
Chikwinya said: “My return hasn’t been that
easy. This was a by-election largely with very low
interest from the electorate and it is why you saw
a low turnout, but I am excited though that we
are back. We have reclaimed our space and we
have repositioned ourselves in the chambers to
represent the citizens.”

“The focus is to ensure that the voice of the
people is present in Parliament against corrup-
tion, promoting accountability, promoting
transparency to government at the same time
lobbying for developmental issues in constitu-
encies.”

Chikwinya rubbished claims by Chebundo,
now a Mnangagwa loyalist, that the CCC was
unpopular in Kwekwe and that the party had no
ideology, saying the former MDC-T activist was
a desperate man.

“The likes of Chebundo have no vision them-
selves and cannot pretend to be people who real-
ly want Zanu PF and have found a new home in
Zanu PF,” he said.

Page 16 News NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

FORMER MDC-T legislator Blessing Chebun- Chebundo eats humble pie,
do’s Zanu PF promise to win back two Kwekwe ambitious promise collapses
seats for President Emmerson Mnangagwa spec-
tacularly collapsed, denting his capacity to deliver, Former MDC-T leg-
amid high expectations after the Citizens’ Coa- islator Blessing Chebundo
lition for Change (CCC) romped to victory in
Kwekwe and Mbizo constituencies. found his way into Zanu
PF (below) by promising
Chebundo had found his way into the Zanu
PF system by promising to use his influence in the to use his influence in
Midlands city to wrest the seats. Kwekwe to wrest seats
from the opposition.
By promising big, he was beginning to find ac-
commodation in the ruling party, but the dismal
show in the 26 March by-elections has seen him
losing respect among Mnangagwa faithfuls.

The former member of Parliament recently told
a Zanu PF rally that a team of defectors was burn-
ing the midnight oil and registering an average of
60 000 people a day into Zanu PF structures, but
ruling party insiders said it was confirmed Che-
bundo is not an asset for them, especially in Kwe-
kwe district.

Zanu PF lost to Settlement Chikwinya (Mbi-
zo) and Judith Tobaiwa (Kwekwe Central) despite
Chebundo’s promises of turning things around as
he was influential in the district he served for two
terms as MP after successively defeating Mnan-
gagwa.

Chebundo, whose political fortunes have been
waning since he lost to Tobaiwa in the internal
MDC-Alliance primaries in 2018, has been des-
perately trying to find a home in Zanu PF.

To win the hearts of ruling party bigwigs, he
promised big but delivered nothing.

“Over 1 000 people defected from the oppo-
sition to join Zanu PF in Kwekwe. It is because
these people had seen that Zanu PF is the only
party which is going to take us to Canaan. There
is no way the opposition is going to win Mbizo
and Kwekwe, I declare that I am taking Kwekwe
Central to its rightful owners, which is Zanu PF,”
Chebundo said in a pre-election interview.

Chebundo added that the candidates fielded
by the CCC did not have the political pedigree to
defeat Zanu PF’s John Mapurazi (Kwekwe Cen-
tral) and Vongai Mupereri (Mbizo).

“I have no doubt that Zanu PF has what it
takes and has a chance to win both Kwekwe Cen-
tral and Mbizo. I am going to work and make sure
that we achieve what we target, to have those two
seats going back to Zanu PF.

“It’s confidence that is making me say that and
also looking at the kind of individuals fielded by
the opposition and when I assess them l don’t see
that they have the stamina to defeat Zanu PF,”
he said.

When approached for comment, Chebundo
has been ducking and diving since the by-elec-
tions were held.

On 27 March he said he was attending a funer-
al and was yet to assess the results.

On 29 March, he said he would create time to
meet our reporter, but is yet to do so.

On some occasions he has been saying he is in
meetings and would call back, but he has not kept
his word.

Mbizo MP Settlement Chikwinya said Che-
bundo has no influence in the opposition party
and alleged the former legislator was seeking pro-
tection from Zanu PF officials after falling foul of
the law. — STAFF WRITER.

Kwekwe Central
MP Judith Tobaiwa

NewsHawks News Page 17

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Mnangagwa probes by-election loss

MOSES MATENGA

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa last week President Emmerson Mnangagwa (second from left) is unhappy losing to CCC (below) in his own backyard.
dispatched his politburo and central committee
members to Kwekwe to hear first-hand reasons to stand. They had done their groundwork and all senior Zanu PF official told The NewsHawks this allowed to stand, given their support base, one of
why the party lost the crucial Kwekwe Central was set,” Zanu PF officials said. week. them could have won.
and Mbizo parliamentary seats to the Nelson
Chamisa-led Citizens’ Coalition for Change “Mapurazi is very unpopular and it was going “We were not united on the ground. People A rival group, however, blamed violence under
(CCC) in the 26 March by elections, as he seeks a to be a miracle if he was to win. Things are not who were running the campaign did not have a Zanu PF’s militant Al-Shabaab thugs for alienat-
viable strategy to win the seats in 2023. well, people are not happy. There are people who strategy, they do not have people skills and we ing the party from communities.
think they know everything and have a strategy ended up on the losing side.”
Mnangagwa is unhappy with the loss in his own to win lying to number one (Mnangagwa) of The violent group is known for terrorising peo-
backyard and where he also addressed thousands their potential. We ended up watching them do Zanu PF relied on mobilising youths around ple in and around Kwekwe and said to be linked
of party supporters at Mbizo Stadium ahead of the things and we knew it would end in defeat,” a mining claims and the strategy, sources said, was to Ncube, who is nicknamed “Mudha” in Zanu
the crucial by-elections his party went on to lose. working well and, had Ncube or Mugabe been PF circles.
The Zanu PF leader views the Midlands province
as his stronghold. He is not taking the loss lightly,
as he sees it as a slap in the face.

Mnangagwa also views the loss as problematic,
as it leaves him with no power base, hence the
push to figure out what could have transpired
and work to address the shortcomings ahead of
the party’s elective congress set for December and
ultimately the 2023 general election if he succeeds
in his bid to represent the ruling party.

Mnangagwa was memorably beaten to the
Kwekwe parliamentary seat by Blessing Chebun-
do then of MDC in 2000 and 2005, prompting
him to abandon the constituency.

Since the by-election defeat, Zanu PF mem-
bers have been blaming each other on factional
grounds.

Multiple sources in the Midlands confirmed
that politburo member Tsitsi Muzenda took the
time to listen to Zanu PF supporters, who were
open with her on what was destroying the party
in the province.

Sources said Muzenda, daughter of the late for-
mer vice-president Simon Muzenda, was accom-
panied by Wellington Magura, a central commit-
tee member in the Midlands province.

One of the reasons that Muzenda was told con-
tributed to the loss, according to a central com-
mittee member in the province who attended the
meeting, was the imposition of candidates. The
party official said disqualified candidates were an-
gered by the imposition.

“She was told that the biggest problem in the
two constituencies was imposition of candidates.
Supporters of Kandros Mugabe and Energy Ncu-
be felt their respective candidates should not have
been disqualified and Zanu PF would have won
had either one of them stood,” the senior party
official said.

The official said supporters of Mugabe and
Ncube could have deliberately stayed away from
voting in protest after Mnangagwa ordered the
two to step aside and pave way for John Mapu-
razi, who garnered 2 883 votes against the CCC’s
Judith Tobaiwa who had 6 639 votes.

In Mbizo, the CCC’s Settlement Chikwinya
garnered 7 146 while Vongaishe Mupereri had 3
232 votes.

“Mapurazi was decampaigned and that is why
you saw that a Zanu PF councillor won where an
aspiring MP lost. That was clearly bhora musan-
go,” a party insider said.

Zanu PF also lost in Mkoba constituency in
Gweru, but said it remains determined to win big
in the province long considered as Mnangagwa’s
stronghold.

The NewsHawks last week reported that Zanu
PF is deeply divided in the Midlands province
amid accusations and counter accusations over
how the party lost in the district.

Fissures are likely to worsen ahead of prepara-
tions for the 2023 elections with the party failing
to heal from the divisive provincial elections that
saw Mnangagwa imposing Larry Mavima for the
post of chairperson.

In the process, Mnangagwa fired State Security
minister Owen Ncube from his powerful cabinet
post after he reportedly defied his boss by insist-
ing on standing and allegedly engaging in violent
conduct.

The Ncube camp is said to have adopted a
passive posture ahead of by-elections in protest
while accusing those now in leadership of lack-
ing strategy to win Mbizo and Kwekwe Central
constituencies.

“In Kwekwe Central, the party would have
fared better if they had allowed Mugabe or Ncube

Page 18 News NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

MDC-T bigwigs want Mwonzora out

RUVIMBO MUCHENJE . . . Zanu PF links haunt party leader

MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora’s days at the MDC-T leader
helm of the opposition outfit could be num- Douglas Mwonzora
bered, as hawks within the party are baying for
his blood, attributing the political outfit's dismal MDC-T
performance in the 26 March by-elections to his national
Zanu PF links. chairperson
Morgen
Insiders told The NewsHawks this week that Komichi
Mwonzora’s political career is now hanging by a
thread, with a clique now calling for his removal “These are the issues that usually happen when In 2013, Cde (Tendai) Biti and (Elton) Mangoma no confidence. So it is unconstitutional. Unless
from the party leadership. political parties lose elections. We had a similar blamed Tsvangirai and asked him to resign,” he people want to amend the constitution, we can
experience in 2005. You remember MDC lost said. amend the constitution in the next congress
Mwonzora is now isolated in the party, with dismally to Zanu PF and people tend to blame where we will include such a clause, to give the
many officials who did his bidding now against each other on who has caused it. At that time a “We have to be guided by the party consti- people the right to do so in between the five-year
him after they were told by the electorate that crew led by Welshman Ncube blamed Tsvangirai. tution. Unfortunately in our party constitution mandates.”
their leader was a Zanu PF plant. there is no clause which talks about the vote of

The MDC-T failed to win a single parliamen-
tary or local authority seat. The party’s losing can-
didates say they lost because Mwonzora was not
sellable as he was seen as a sellout doing Zanu PF’s
bidding.

“The party members are not happy with the
dismal performance during the by-elections. The
calls for the president (Mwonzora) to step down
have been coming from every corner in the party
because most people have attributed the loss to his
poor leadership,” a senior party official told The
NewsHawks this week.

Vocal party candidates, including Norest Mar-
ara (Harare Central), Zivai Mhetu (Epworth) and
Fungai Chiposi (Kambuzuma), among others,
openly told Mwonzora that although the elec-
torate has a soft spot for the MDC-T, voters are
unhappy with him as the face of the movement.

“Candidates came back from their campaigns
with the disappointing news and Marara, our
candidate for Harare Central, openly told the ex-
ecutive in one meeting that the president was not
sellable to the people,” the source said.

Marara was at one time a strong Mwonzora ally
and views himself as a kingmaker in the opposi-
tion party, given his financial muscle while Mhetu
is also financially strong and poured US$50 000
into his ill-fated campaign which ended in defeat
to Zanu PF’s Zaleriah Makari.

Mwonzora, who has been linked to Zanu PF,
did not hide his desire to work with President
Emmerson Mnangagwa in blocking the holding
of by-elections and ultimately the 2023 gener-
al election. The former MDC-Alliance secre-
tary-general was helped to decimate the Nelson
Chamisa-led opposition by Mnangagwa’s military
and police who stood with him to take over the
party headquarters in Harare.

His party claimed the MDC-Alliance tag and
sought to politically immobilise Chamisa, until
the 44-year-old leader formed a new outfit, the
Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC).

Last week, on Mwonzora’s instruction, Mhe-
tu, Chiposi and other officials who are accused
of plotting to topple the party leader were barred
from entering the party headquarters, where the
issue of 3xp3lling the so-called renegades was set
to be tabled at the national council meeting.

The officials have vowed not to go down with-
out a fight, adding that Mwonzora is clutching at
straws while banking on his loyalists who include
MDC founder Morgan Tsvangirai’s son and Glen
View member of Parliament Vincent and party
youth chairperson Yvonne Musarurwa.

Mwonzora is also facing tough questions for
alleged abuse of party funds received under the
Political Parties (Finance) Act with party officials
saying he has failed to account for millions of dol-
lars.

“There are issues about the money as well.
The structures asked the executive how they were
expected to mobilise people for the by-election
without resources,” he added.

Party national chairperson Morgen Komichi
and Elias Mudzuri, who were contesting for the
presidential post at the party’s 2020 congress are
allegedly pushing for Mwonzora’s ouster and posi-
tion themselves for takeover and possible alliance
with the CCC.

Komichi, Mudzuri and Thokozani Khupe
challenged Mwonzora at the congress they said
was manipulated in his favour.

However, Komichi dismissed the reports, say-
ing they were working to resolve the challenges
ahead of the 2023 elections.

NewsHawks News Page 19

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Civil servants’ salaries war erupts

MOSES MATENGA l Pay workers living wages: CCC
l Remove sanctions first: Zanu PF
THE ruling Zanu PF says the opposition Cit-
izens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) should call Harare East Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
for the removal of sanctions first before ad- MP Tendai Biti Affairs minister Ziyambi Ziyambi
vocating living wages for restless civil servants
who have declared incapacitation for over “The President at no point has he even Vision 2030 is also premised outside sanc- from breathing.”
three years citing poor remuneration. spoken about sanctions. He has continued to tions. So, I do not see the Vision 2030 where Zimbabwe is losing thousands of quali-
advocate for transformation through our re- the President says with sanctions — no he
Upon their return to Parliament this week, sources that we have, resource mobilisation. leaves them out knowing very well they are a fied workers every month to greener pastures
CCC members of Parliament have pressed for The question here is pertinent in saying that hindrance. The hindrance has not stopped us mainly in Europe and other economically sta-
better remuneration for government workers, ble African countries.
saying what they were getting from their em-
ployer was despicable. Zanu PF chief whip Norton MP
Pupurai Togarepi Temba Mliswa
Harare East MP Tendai Biti quizzed the
leader of government business in Parliament
who is also the minister of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi, on
what the government was doing to cushion its
struggling workers against the abject poverty
many are finding themselves in.

“The cost of living is rising exponentially.
The cost of basic commodities like cooking
oil, bread, milk and rentals is rising. Equally,
the consumer basket has now gone up. For a
family of six, it is now in excess of ZW$120
000,” Biti said.

“Only yesterday the official exchange rate
was 145, but the parallel market rate is now
close to 300. What are you doing to the plight
of civil servants, teachers, nurses, doctors,
judges, magistrates, bus drivers, Speaker of
Parliament, Clerk of Parliament, staff at Par-
liament, MPs who continue to have their sal-
aries being eroded by the rambunctious infla-
tion and the depreciation of the Zimbabwean
dollar?” Biti asked.

Biti questioned why the government is not
dollarising salaries in line with calls by work-
ers who are fighting for US$540, the pre-Oc-
tober 2018 salary.

Zanu PF chief whip Pupurai Togarepi in-
terjected Biti’s speech, flagging the sanctions
issue. He said Biti and the opposition had
contributed to the government’s failure to
pay adequately after campaigning for Western
sanctions.

Ziyambi then said: “What we are alive to
is that the fundamentals that have to support
our dollar are there but because we have a sit-
uation in this country whereby we have sanc-
tions and those sanctions directly attack our
currency, we will continue with the policies
that we are making to ensure that we strength-
en our currency and review the salaries of our
civil servants.

“We will continue to soldier on despite the
fact that those that are calling for the return of
the United States dollar are the ones that made
sure that we suffer so that they can scream on
top of their voices.

“The effect of sanctions is to ensure that
the people suffer. If you take, for instance,
any country and you compare it with Zimba-
bwe in terms of ease of transacting with the
whole world, if you do a business transaction
in Zimbabwe, for example you send money to
China and somebody in Zambia sends to the
same company, money from Zimbabwe will
take a week or two and from Zambia it takes
two days,” Ziyambi said.

“My call to him (Biti) is, if you want us to
pay decent salaries, let us have a level playing
field, whereby we can trade equally with any-
one and our economy will be able to pay all
our civil servants comparable to anyone in the
world.”

Norton MP (Independent) Temba Mliswa,
however, rubbished the sanctions excuse, say-
ing it was an attempt by the government to
hide behind a finger.

“The President in the Second Republic said
that Zimbabwe was open for business. I am
sure the aspect of sanctions was factored in.
We talk about a US$12 billion economy in
terms of the mining sector, withstanding sanc-
tions. If we go back on sanctions, I do not
think we will make progress at the end of the
day. The truth of the matter is that, notwith-
standing sanctions, we have come up with a
roadmap which should make sure that there is
transformation,” Mliswa said.

Page 20 News NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Farmers pursue land invader

AFTER struggling to serve university lectur- tified as his own and they we were not able The trio claim that as a result they suf- Human rights lawyer Siphosani Malunga
er and land grabber Dumisani Madzivanya- to spray or water their crop. He continued in fered loss of potential earnings amounting to eviction.
ti with court papers demanding about unlawful occupation of the farm despite an ex- US$339 660.
US$340 000 in damages for disrupting their istent order of the court for the eviction and Madzivanyati claims he was allocated 50
farming activities at Esikadeni Farm in Nya- directing him to restore the plaintiffs' irrigation Malunga, a fervent government critic and hectares of the farm after Lands minister Anx-
mandlovu as he was out of the country, prom- systems,” reads the summons. son of late nationalist Sydney Malunga, claims ious Masuka gazetted the property for com-
inent human rights lawyer Siphosani Malunga joint ownership of the farm with his business pulsory acquisition under section 72(2) of the
and his business partners are now taking the The farmers complained that although associates Moyo and Dhlamini. constitution.
legal action forward since the land invader is Madzivanyati was aware that his conduct would
back. cause significant damage to the crops, he per- In November last year, Bulawayo High Malunga and his associates then approached
sisted on the ruinous path. Court judge Justice Evangelista Kabasa directed the High Court seeking a spoliation order di-
The trio has filed summons against the eviction of Madzivanyati, a lecturer at the recting Madzivanyati and others to stop inter-
Madzivanyati, claiming US$339 660 damages “As a result of being deprived of water for a fering with their operations at the farm.
for loss of potential income caused by his inva- significant period of time at a critical reprodc- National University of Science and Technol-
sion of Kershelamar Farms, also known as Esi- tive stage, the crop experienced wilting and ogy. High Court judge Justice Martin Makonese
dakeni Farm, in Nyamandlovu near Bulawayo. drying off of foilage, flower abortion, underde- ruled in their favour in early October, but
veloped fruits which were not markatable,” they Kabasa granted Malunga and his co-partners Madzivanyati appealed to the Supreme Court
Madzivanyati has been difficult to locate and wrote. the authority to evict Madzivanyati from a por- days later.
at one instance a letter the three had served on tion of the farm measuring 553 hectares despite
him at Leeside Butchery was returned amid in- his pending Supreme Court appeal against his The matter is still pending at the Supreme
dications that he was no longer there. Court. — STAFF WRITER

“We have made efforts to locate Mr
Madzivanyati with no lucky success. We have
no option but to return the summons to your
office. May you serve Mr Madzivanyati at his
workplace or residence,” a letter returned by the
butchery read.

According to the summons now before the
High Court in Bulawayo, Malunga and his
business partners Charles Moyo and Zephania
Dhlamini said they were in peaceful occupa-
tion of the farm before they were disturbed by
Madzivanyati.

They claim Madzivanyati invaded their farm
against a court order evicting him and barring
him from interfering with their operations.

They had installed and equipped the farm
with three boreholes for purposes of irrigatiing
their crops.

According to the summons, they had planted
150 000 tomatoes and 65 000 butternuts.

But from the period September 2021 to
November 2021 they lost a potential bumper
harvest as a result of moisture stress and in-
sect infestation. Court papers show the most
stress and insect infestation were caused by
Madzivanyati who had taken occupation of the
farm and tampered with their irrigation system.

“The defendant forcifuly and unlawfully
took occuptaion of the farm, tampered with the
plaintiffs’ irrigation systems depriving the crops
of water during critical reproductive stage.

“He unlawfully diverted the plaintiffs’ water
system to service a piece of land he had iden-

NewsHawks News Page 21

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Police summon Mnangagwa challenger

MOSES MATENGA Zanu PF youth league member Sybeth Musengezi approached the High Court (below) challenging President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s legitimacy.

IN a strange move viewed as intimidatory, police
have invited Zanu PF youth league member Sy-
beth Musengezi for “interviews” at the Harare Law
and Order section.

Musengezi is challenging the legitimacy of Pres-
ident Emmerson Mnangagwa’s rise to the ruling
party’s helm. Police have been hunting for Musen-
gezi for unknown reasons, forcing his lawyers,
Ncube Attorneys, to write to them on 7 January
2022 asking the law enforcers to come out in the
open on why they are desperately hunting him.

Musengezi in October 2021 challenged Mnan-
gagwa’s rise to the Zanu PF leadership, saying the
central committee meeting that propelled him to
power after his sacking by the late former president
Robert Mugabe was unprecedural and unconsti-
tutional.

In a letter addressed to Musengezi’s lawyers dat-
ed 6 April 2022, the police invited Mnangagwa’s
challenger for “interviews”, but did not state their
agenda.

“Reference is made to your letter dated Janu-
ary 7, 2022 in connection with the above subject.
We are kindly inviting you and your client Sybeth
Musengezi to come to law and order Harare for in-
terviews,” the letter signed by the officer-in-charge
of the Criminal Investigations Drpartment’s Law
and Order section in Harare, Detective Inspector
Arimon Mirimbo, reads.

The lawyers representing the Zanu PF mem-
ber, who is also a local businessman and econo-
mist, wrote to the police inquiring why they were
stalking him. Police even visited the home of his
in-laws in Harare’s Budiriro suburb on 5 Janu-
ary this year, telling the family that they wanted
Musengezi over undisclosed allegations.

In his application that has ruffled feathers in
Zanu PF which is battling internal fissures over
power struggles between Mnangagwa and his dep-
uty Constantino Chiwenga, Musengezi said the
party constitution was not followed in Mnangag-
wa’s rise. Zanu PF insiders confirmed that Mnan-
gagwa and Chiwenga were locked in a bitter fight
ahead of the party’s elective congress due in De-
cember this year.

“Our client is obviously worried about such
a visit, taking into consideration that there is a
pending matter where he has approached the High
Court of Zimbabwe over the legitimacy of the in-
cumbent President who doubles as the President
of Zanu PF and its 1st secretary,” the lawyers’ letter
reads.

“It is in light of this background that we are
being retained to enquire into the nature of the
visit, in particular whether there are any criminal
charges, so that we arrange that our Mr (Nqoba-
ni) Sithole who is in Bulawayo accompanies our
client on a pre-agreed date as to ensure that his
legal rights are duly observed in whatever process is
intended. From the above, we request that you fa-
vour us with information regarding your visit, and
that you advise if we need to avail our client, and if
so, when and where?”

After Musengezi filed his application last year,
Mnangagwa’s lawyer, Edwin Manikai from the law
firm Dube, Manikai and Hwacha (DMH), said
the President could not be sued because he has
immunity. Mnangagwa’s lawyers sought to force
Musengezi into withdrawing the matter.

Mnangagwa’s lawyers filed the respondents’
opposing affidavit before turning around and de-
manding the withdrawal of the case lest the appli-
cant and his lawyers suffer the consequences, in a
clear case of litigation by correspondence.

But in his answering affidavit in the High Court,
Musengezi came out guns blazing against Zanu PF
(first respondent), Mnangagwa (second), Obert
Mpofu (third) and Patrick Chinamasa (fourth).

The fifth respondent is former vice-president
Phelekezela Mphoko and the sixth is ex-Zanu PF
secretary for administration Ignatius Chombo.

After the threatening letter from Mnangag-
wa’s lawyers, Ncube Attorneys wrote a letter dat-
ed 18 November 2021 acknowledging receipt of
Manikai’s earlier correspondence of 11 Novem-
ber 2021, and simultaneously complained about
DMH’s conduct.

Musengezi’s lawyers reported Manikai to the
Law Society of Zimbabwe for “unprofessional”
and “unethical” conduct.

Page 22 NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

SIPHIWE Gloria Ndlovu’s 2018 novel, The A question of colour, identity
Theory of Flight, may be the first to take to
take Zimbabwe’s complicated race politics,
beyond the obvious black versus whites, se-
riously. Ndlovu is a Zimbabwean-born nov-
elist and filmmaker.The novel takes place in
an unnamed country and features a main
character, Genie, who has fantastical be-
ginnings. Genie was not born; she hatches
from a golden egg and dies by ascending
above the clouds on silver wings. Though
the setting is unnamed, it is obvious that
Siphiwe is writing about Zimbabwe. As the
judges of the 2022 edition of the Windham
Campbell Prize described her this month,
“Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu is both a chronicler
and a conjurer whose soaring imagination
creates a Zimbabwean past made of anguish
and hope, of glory and despair: the story of
the generations born at the crossroads of a
country’s history.” Siphiwe is from Zimba-
bwe’s second-largest city, Bulawayo, and this
is where a lot of the action of the novel takes
place. Siphiwe studied screenwriting in a
United States college and has a postgradu-
ate degree in film. Her short film, Graffiti,
has won film prizes such as the Silver Dhow
Award at the Zanzibar International Film
Festival in 2003. I have interviewed her be-
fore, discussing the Afrofuturist themes in
The Theory of Flight (this was her first novel;
her second is The History of Man). But this
time, what interests me is how she writes
about race in Zimbabwe in The Theory of
Flight. I was struck by one character in par-
ticular: Vida, or Jesus, who is Genie’s great
love. He is what is known in southern Afri-
ca as “coloured” —shorthand for a person
of mixed race, though it points to a more
complex history than just mixing. In a vid-
eo interview with Siphiwe about The Theory
of Flight, English professor Tsitsi Jaji, who
is also from Zimbabwe, said about Vida/Je-
sus: “I have to say: I have never read a novel
that took a coloured Zimbabwean seriously,
as [someone with] a rich and complex inner
life, as well as social life, [like The Theory of
Flight does].” The interview explores these
themes. Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu (SGN) is in-
terviewed by Sean Jacobs (SJ), founder and
editor of Africa is a Country, faculty mem-
ber of The New School and a Shuttleworth
Fellow.

SJ: Do you think that The Theory of Flight’s ru. That novel really helped illuminate for to make room for love. Not all encounters were Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu
combination of myth and actual history, espe- me some of the experiences that coloureds in violent — there are love letters in the archives shame often leads to silence and silencing. For
cially postcolonial history, makes it possible to then-Rhodesia had during the war. that tell this story, letters confiscated by a co- a while there, Southern Rhodesian coloureds
emphasize and complicate all kinds of Zimba- lonial system afraid of losing face and eager to preferred to have Cape Coloured roots (wheth-
bwean racial and ethnolinguistic identities? I have recently read Violette Kee-Tui’s won- hide certain truths. But the idea of love is com- er real, imagined or manufactured). But while
derful Mulberry Dreams, which presents us plicated here as well. If the white man exists in Cape Coloureds had definitely come with the
SGN: I think being absolutely honest about with the social lives of coloured Zimbabweans. a system in which he has all the power, is it love settlers (working as drivers, porters, etc.), they
Zimbabwe’s actual history is what makes it pos- I am sure there are other books — or, rather, or coercion? How much choice and agency can were not the sole root of Southern Rhodesia’s
sible to show the complexities of Zimbabwean I hope that there are — which highlight dif- a black woman be seen to have under the cir- coloured population.
identity. If anything, I am writing against the ferent aspects of the coloured experience in cumstances?
nationalists’ myth of an uncomplicated nation the country. Zimbabwe sorely and desperately SJ: Just to clarify for readers, the term “Cape
— a nation whose people are encouraged to needs a diversity of voices and representation All these complexities tend to silence the Coloured” is used to distinguish coloureds
think about and discuss difference in the sim- in its literature. tongue, but I think what silences it even more from Cape Town and surrounds from the rest
plest of terms (black versus white, ethnic group is the treatment that mixed-race or coloured of South Africa and the region; it is also where
A versus ethnic group B, etc.). But in order for SJ: Why do you think there is so much si- people had to face. most people deemed “mixed” live in South
this [mythological thinking] to happen, histo- lence about mixed-race or coloured people in Africa and Southern Africa and comes with a
ry — actual history — has to be misrepresent- Zimbabwe? In the early days of the [colonial] encounter, certain cultural capital in terms of politics of
ed, mistaught, or simplified. Because history you could actually have racially mixed families, belonging . . .
— actual history — never results in anything SGN: I think there is so much silence about but that did not last long — settler colonialism
that simple. History — actual history — is ex- mixed-race or coloured people because to talk and its very binary understanding of the world SGN: And because nothing stays the same,
tremely messy and complicated and often bru- about mixed-race or coloured people would be and its peoples could not let it. Families were there was a time when settler colonialism real-
tal, violent, and ugly. History — actual history to talk about the many messy things in our ac- torn apart. ised it could use the coloured community to
— is about change, change that is the result of tual history. We would have to talk not only create something of a middleman, and to this
contact and encounter . . . and there is power about the colonial encounter and the violence White fathers [were] made to not be directly end focused on educating coloured children to
at play in every contact, . . . in every encounter. it visited upon the black body — though actu- responsible for their offspring by anti-misce- act as such — even if educating them meant
But that is exactly what we inherit: this messy, ally, this is something that we have been taught genation and racist laws; black mothers were forcibly removing them from the only homes
messy, knotty thing. So our desire to simplify not to have a problem discussing because it made to bear the brunt of both colonial and and families they had ever known. Again, fam-
it makes sense, but does not lead to honesty. I falls neatly into the oppressor versus oppressed traditional patriarchies’ very narrow and my- ilies were torn apart. As a result, in segregation-
do not particularly relish having to agree with category — but also talk specifically about the opic sexist ideas about unwed mothers; and ist Southern Rhodesia, four races were created
violence visited upon the black female body. mixed-race children were forced to exist in a — white, coloured, Asian, and black — and a
Hegel on anything, but I do agree with his liminal space, never quite being either or. racial hierarchy was established.
dialectic; once A encounters B, the result is The difficult thing here is that we also have
something new and different — it is change. All this led to a deep sense of shame — and Within this hierarchy, relations between the
In my work, I am trying to be honest about
the changes that have happened throughout
the country’s history and how these changes
have impacted, and in some cases even created,
particular “Zimbabwean” identities.

SJ: Were you surprised by Tsitsi Jaji’s com-
ment that coloureds are missing or treated su-
perficially in novels or fiction about or set in
Zimbabwe?

SGN: I was not surprised, no. At the time I
published The Theory of Flight, I had only read
one novel that focused on the experiences of
coloured Zimbabweans: Paul Hotz’s Muzuku-

NewsHawks International Investigative Stories Page 23

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

“races” were erased, so when Independence was and always already dangerous. This meant that Siphiwe Gloria ances right?
attained in 1980, it became easier and more ex- whatever white men did to black female bodies, Ndlovu SGN: I am not sure. I guess the irony is that
pedient for those who now had power — the they were never held accountable.
blacks — to be silent about that relationship takes place entirely “at home” and not in lo- I wrote 90% of the novel while I was living in
as well. Silence is evidently preferable to ac- The same could not be said of black men cales in the diaspora, the loci of much of the the diaspora. Perhaps nostalgia and distance
knowledging the messy, messy, knotty history where the white female body was concerned. recent fiction with Zimbabwean themes? Does gave me 20/20 vision. — AFRICA IS A COUNTRY.
we have inherited. The white female body, especially in the col- that explain why, despite the novel taking place
onies, was written or seen as pure and virtu- in an undisclosed country, you get the local nu-
As the above shows, whites, blacks, and co- ous — the complete opposite of the colonised
loureds themselves have played a part in cre- female body. To keep that virtue intact, there
ating the different silences about the coloured were fears of Black Peril and Yellow Peril. And
and mixed-race experience in the country. whereas the white man could get away scot-
free for violating a black female body, the same
SJ: How did you go about constructing Vida could most certainly not be said about the
or Jesus? What was your research process like, black man violating the white female body.
and did you unearth anything surprising?
So in the novel, when Beatrice Beit-Beau-
SGN: After the war, when my family re- ford, a white female, decides to have a relation-
turned to the newly independent Zimbabwe, ship with a black man, she is doing so much
we settled on a beautiful smallholding on the more than sleeping with the enemy. She is at-
outskirts of the city of Bulawayo, called Range- tacking the very foundation that upholds the
more. It had been, under Rhodesia’s segrega- narrative of settler colonialism — and therein
tionist laws, a coloured zone. We were one of lies her real danger.
the first black families to move in and it was
in this community that I spent my formative SJ: This interview has focused on questions
years. about race in relation to Vida, but you extend
the same complexity to other characters. For
I lived in Rangemore, but attended a school example, there is a character who is a state spy,
in the city: Coghlan Primary School. I would representative of Shona majoritarianism and
board the bus from the city to Rangemore at the violence of the postcolonial state. But even
City Hall. And at the bus terminus at City he is humanised and redeems himself. Simi-
Hall, there was a former Rhodesian Forces larly, there is a character, Genie’s mother, who
soldier who wore his military fatigues and was aspires to be a country singer; she models her-
christened Jesus by the denizens of the city. self after Dolly Parton. It reminds me of some-
thing I read that Dambudzo Marechera once
All of this is to say: I did not rely on research said about Zimbabwean literature: “If you are
to construct Vida/Jesus; I relied heavily on a writer for a specific nation or a specific race,
memory. then fuck you!” I think you successfully avoid-
ed that trap. Was that your intention?
SJ: If I think of scholarship on coloured
Zimbabweans, I think of the work of Ibbo SGN: You’ve got to love Marechera! I abso-
Mandaza (whose study, Race, Colour and Class lutely agree with him, although I am sure that
in Southern Africa, also included Zambia and my Lutheran upbringing would make me ex-
Malawi) or James Muzondidya. But those are at press myself very differently. Yes, it was defi-
least a decade or two old. Did you come across nitely my intention to portray my characters as
more recent scholarship? complex human beings.

SGN: Yes, you are right; scholarship on My experience of human beings is that they
coloured Zimbabweans is scanty at best, and are incredibly self-contradictory, complicated,
while the works of Mandaza and Muzondidya complex, and prone to conflict; my experience
are seminal, there definitely needs to be new of fictional characters is that they are incredibly
scholarship. self-contradictory, complicated, complex, and
prone to conflict.
I have appreciated coming across person-
al and social histories — a particular favorite There are so many different things that make
autobiography is The Other: Without Fear, Fa- up who we are — some of them are good and
vour or Prejudice by Judge Chris N. Greenland some of them are bad. As a writer, I think it is
and Palmira R. Greenland, but that too is now always important to remember, as Dave Mason
more than 10 years old. once sang, “There ain’t no good guys, there ain’t
no bad guys. There’s only you and me and we just
SJ: Is it coincidental that Vida is also the disagree.”
character that at first, when he enjoys profes-
sional success as an artist, is deemed perfectly SJ: Does it help that The Theory of Flight
postcolonial (“a truly postcolonial artist”), then
later is classified as “too white” by those in pow-
er? Is this the fate of the mixed-race or coloured
person: that he or she is never enough?

SGN: I think it is the fate of most ethnic
minorities to be used as pawns in the game
of politics. I think when it is convenient, as it
was at a certain point during the colonial era,
then coloured people are seen and counted,
and when it is not convenient, as it has been
for most of the postcolonial moment, then co-
loured people are not seen or counted — that
is, made to matter politically. They are treated
as expendable entities, which makes their posi-
tion in society extremely precarious.

In the novel, Vida enjoys his moment of
fame and is politically recognised, because The
Man Himself [the president of the unnamed
country] wants to be seen as cosmopolitan,
open-minded, anti-racial, etc. But when that
image is no longer the one that will give him
the most political capital, he eschews it and
Vida along with it.

SJ: In 1965, Beatrice Beit Beauford, who
owned the farm where the main character Ge-
nie was born, gave birth to two coloured twin
boys, “flouting the state anti-miscegenation
laws”. As a result, the white state decided that
whites like her who slept with blacks could not
be trusted. Is there a long history of the British,
Rhodesian, and then Zimbabwean states pre-
venting the races from mixing?

SGN: You cannot establish a narrative in
which one race is inherently superior to an-
other and then allow the races to mix — that
would be antithetical and reveal the very lie
at the heart of the narrative you have created.
Now, of course, as I have already mentioned
in an earlier answer, the races mixed. But all
things are never equal, and the “acceptable”
mix was the one between a white man and a
black woman. So while there were anti-mis-
cegenation laws, the black female body was
rendered oversexed and, therefore, unrapeable

Page 24 NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

InInvteesrtniagtaiotinvaelStories

Putin’s Two Biggest Secrets:
What’s Known About His
Sanctioned Daughters

Putin’s alleged daughters: Maria Vorontsova (left) and Katerina Tikhonova (right). (Credit: “Doctor” TV Channel/YouTube, Russia 24/YouTube)

For 20 years, Russian tially confirmed that the sanctioned comes from the book First Person, the second floor, tied up some sheets Until 2015, nothing was known
President Vladimir women were Putin's daughters, ac- published when he first became and convinced her to use them to about Maria and Katerina's careers
Putin has been hiding knowledging them himself for the president in 2000. It was written climb down from the balcony. or personal lives. The general public
his daughters from his first time. by journalists Natalia Gevorkian, didn’t even know what they looked
marriage to Lyudmila Natalia Timakova, and Andrei Kole- There aren’t many photos of Ma- like. For a long time, tabloids mis-
Putina. They lived under When asked for the Kremlin’s snikov, who personally interviewed ria and Katerina as children. Un- took the young woman in this old
assumed surnames and opinion on the sanctions against Putin, his wife Lyudmila, his chil- til recently, there were no pictures photo for one of Putin's daughters.
never appeared in pub- Vorontsova and Tikhonova, Peskov dren, friends, and acquaintances. showing their faces at all. The last of-
lic in connection to him. said: “These sanctions are a con- ficial photos of Putin and his family Putin's family life would always
He attributed this to tinuation of this frenzied policy of According to the book, Maria was were published in 2002 — but both be surrounded by a veil of secrecy,
security concerns and imposing various restrictions. But born in Leningrad in 1985 just be- daughters were shot from the back. his spokesman Peskov said in 2013:
to their own reluctance in any case, the continuing policy fore the Putin family left for Germa- “Rumors abound. But we never say
to take on public roles. of applying some kind of restric- ny, where he worked as a spy until However, in June 2020, Sergei anything about Vladimir Putin's
tions on family members, well, that 1990. A year later Katerina was born Pugachev, an oligarch formerly close family, and we never will.”
EVEN after the media reported speaks for itself. Such steps, such in Dresden. to Putin, published some photos
that Katerina Tikhonova and Ma- approaches hardly need any assess- taken in the early 2000s at his home But it’s difficult to completely ob-
ria Vorontsova were the president's ment. It’s something that’s difficult Maria's godfather is Sergei Rol- in St. Petersburg. In them, Maria scure the lives of two adults, espe-
daughters and they began to appear to understand or explain.” dugin, a cellist and close friend of and Katerina are surrounded by cially if they’re involved in multi-bil-
in glossy reports on state television Putin who made an appearance in their friends and by members of the lion-dollar government projects.
channels, Putin refused to acknowl- Bloomberg noted that the im- the Panama Papers as a figure who then-popular pop group Strelki.
edge their relationship. Neverthe- position of sanctions against Pu- seemed to hold money for the presi- In January 2015, the Russian
less, on April 6, the United States tin's daughters is largely a symbolic dent. As reported by OCCRP based The girls likely didn’t spend much outlet RBC published an investiga-
imposed personal sanctions against move, since it’s unknown whether on that leak, Roldugin controlled time with their peers. Putin admit- tion into plans to build a scientific
them. On the next day, Kremlin they have any serious assets outside offshore companies with over $2 bil- ted that Maria was homeschooled center at Moscow State University
spokesman Dmitry Peskov essen- of Russia. The intent is to draw the lion in assets. since the ninth grade, and Katerina in southwest Moscow. The report
attention of the Russian president. since the eighth. named Katerina Tikhonova as the
In 1996, Maria almost died in a head of Innopraktika, the company
Here’s what we know about fire at the family’s house near St. Pe- “Masha talks very seriously about that was implementing the project,
these two mysterious women. tersburg. According to Putin's own ‘management,’ while Katya says she without mentioning any connection
recollections, the sauna of the house wants to be a designer, to design fur- to Putin.
“Masha talks very seriously about caught fire. While Katerina was on niture,” Putin said when his daugh-
‘management,’ while Katya wants to the first floor and managed to run ters were still in school. But their On the next day, Reuters and
design furniture” out, her older sister had to be res- lives turned out differently. Bloomberg reported that she was his
cued. Putin found her in a room on youngest daughter.
The little that’s known about The Secret Comes Out
the childhoods of Putin’s daughters At the time, Peskov said he didn’t

NewsHawks Page 25

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

know any Tikhonova and only dealt Vladimir Putin with his alleged daughters (Credit: unknown)
with the president’s affairs. This
only fueled interest in Tikhonova's Vladimir Putin with his ex-wife Lyudmila (right) and a young woman who the media mistakenly described as his daughter to twins in Moscow. The identity
identity, and late in 2015, Reuters Maria (left). (Credit: unknown) of their father is unknown. But in
learned more details about her. The 2008, the newspaper Moskovsky
agency reported that Tikhonova was him in 2017 when he said that he Economic Aspects.” young scientists. As its director, Tik- Correspondent had reported on the
into acrobatic rock and roll and even recently had a second grandchild. In 2019, it was reported that Ma- honova supervises the Moscow State impending marriage of Putin and
placed fifth at a tournament in Swit- University’s expansion project, the Kabaeva. A few days later, the paper
zerland in 2013. Successful Scientists, Managers, ria runs a medical company called so-called “MSU Valley” (in reference closed down.
and Investors Nomeko and participates in a large to Silicon Valley). Its cost has been
That same year, she married Kirill healthcare investment project: the estimated at 120 billion rubles ($1.8 In 2013, Putin officially an-
Shamalov, the son of Putin's long- Maria and Katerina's careers creation of a multidisciplinary med- billion). Innopraktika is also known nounced his divorce from his wife
time friend Nikolai Shamalov. At are similar. Both have PhDs and ical complex for 40 billion rubles for earning hundreds of millions Lyudmila. But it’s unknown wheth-
Reuters’ request, financial analysts are involved in large-scale govern- ($615 million). As an endocrinolo- of rubles from contracts with state er Russia has had a new first lady
estimated that the couple's fortune ment-supported projects. gist, Maria often appears in stories companies. since then. Kabayeva gives no in-
stood at two billion dollars in 2015. on state television. She is also inter- terviews and hardly ever appears at
As reported by the Russian service ested in genetics and supervises an- In a 2017 interview with Amer- social events. Since 2014, she has
The bulk of that amount came of the BBC, Vorontsova graduat- other multi-billion dollar project in ican filmmaker Oliver Stone, Pu- chaired the board of directors of
from Shamalov's stake in Russia's ed from Moscow State University's this field. tin said that he was proud of his the National Media Group, which
largest petrochemical company, Department of Fundamental Medi- daughters. "They’re not involved in includes Channel One, one of the
Sibur. He owned nearly 21 percent cine in 2011 with a medical degree. Her younger sister Katerina stud- politics, they’re not involved in any main mouthpieces of Kremlin pro-
of its shares, receiving his first 3.8 Until 2014, she did her residency at ied at St. Petersburg State University big business. They’re involved in sci- paganda.
percent for only $100, as report- a pediatric endocrinology research and Moscow State University, and in ence, education,” he said.
ed by iStories, an OCCRP partner. center under the Ministry of Health. 2019 she defended her doctoral the- Much more is known about Svet-
Tikhonova and Shamalov later di- She did her postgraduate studies sis there, devoted to the study of the Unofficial Families lana Krivonogikh and her daughter
vorced, and Shamalov sold а large at the same institute, and later de- vestibular system. One of Tikhono- Putin may also have other chil- Elizaveta, about whom Russian out-
portion of his Sibur stake and left fended a dissertation about dwarf- va's scientific supervisors was Viktor dren. In 2019, tabloids reported let The Project reported in 2020. Ac-
the company’s board at the end of ism called “Treatment of Children Sadovnichy, the university's rector. that former gymnast and Olympic cording to the report, Krivonogikh
last year. with Pituitary Nanism with Growth champion Alina Kabaeva gave birth owned residential real estate worth
Hormone Preparations: Medical and Since 2013, Tikhonova has led In- 1.1 billion rubles ($15 million) at
Reuters also wrote about Putin's nopraktika, a company that supports the time of publication. Her neigh-
second daughter, Maria, reporting bors included Putin's judo sparring
that she had taken a foreign last partners Vasily Shestakov and Ark-
name, Faassen, from her husband, ady Rotenberg, as well as the presi-
Dutch citizen Jorrit Faassen. It is not dent's associates at the Ozero dacha
known when they married, but by cooperative Yury Kovalchuk, Sergei
2007 Faassen was appointed a man- Fursenko, and Nikolai Shamalov.
ager of the state-owned Gazprom-
bank and later became vice president Krivonogikh owns 2.8 percent of
of Stroytransgaz, one of state gas gi- Bank Rossiya, which is controlled by
ant Gazprom's largest contractors. Kovalchuk. She is also a co-owner
of the ski resort near St. Petersburg
In 2011, Faassen was beaten up in where Katerina Tikhonova married
Moscow by the security guards of a Kirill Shamalov in 2013.
banker named Matvey Urin because
Faassen’s car had not allowed Urin’s Two of her acquaintances told
motorcade to pass. This ended up The Project that Krivonogikh and
being a costly affair for Urin. Almost Putin were in close contact, but the
immediately, his motorcade was per- romance reportedly ended by 2010.
sonally stopped by the head of the
Moscow police department, Vlad- Krivonogikh’s daughter Elizave-
imir Kolokoltsev, not far from the ta was born in 2003. Documents
Kremlin. Urin and his guards were seen by The Project do not indicate
first sentenced to 3 years in prison Elizaveta’s father. Only her patro-
for hooliganism, then Urin got an- nymic,Vladimirovna, is known. Her
other 7.5 years for fraud. Kolokolt- appearance certainly bears a striking
sev, on the other hand, was given resemblance to Putin. But there is
the position of Minister of Internal no official confirmation that she is
Affairs. the president’s daughter.

According to several media out- — Organised Crime and Cor-
lets, it was Faassen’s relationship ruption Reporting Project.
with the president's daughter that
explained why Urin had to pay so
dearly for beating up a foreigner.
The fact that Maria Faassen also has
another surname, Vorontsova, was
reported in early 2016 by The New
Times magazine. The origin of this
surname is unclear, but the outlet
reported that Vorontsova-Faassen
lives in an elite house in the center
of Moscow with a view of the U.S.
Embassy, and published photos of
her taken in the Netherlands, Italy,
and Japan.

“If you believe the Internet, Ma-
ria Vorontsova-Fassen has the widest
and most diverse circle of acquain-
tances, indicating that neither Maria
nor her friends pay attention to the
lamentations of state propaganda
about ‘gay Europe,’ ‘Ukrofascists,’
or enemies from NATO,” The New
Times wrote.

Vorontsova and Faassen have a
son, who by now should be 8 or 9
years old. Recently, the Dutch pub-
lication Follow the Money managed
to speak with Faassen, who said that
he does not have any relationship
with Maria.

A new joint investigation by
Meduza and Current Time reveals
that Vorontsova has a new husband
named Yevgeny Nagorny. Like Faas-
sen, he has not formalized his rela-
tionship and lives with the presi-
dent's daughter in a civil marriage.
Nagorny and Maria also have a
child, according to the investigation.
Most likely, Putin was talking about

Page 26 Editorial & Opinion NewsHawks

CARTOON Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Elvis Nyathi can’t
just die in vain

IN the aftermath of the gruesome murder of Zimbabwe- Nyathi death: This is pure evil
an man Elvis Nyathi (43) by vigilantes in Johannesburg’s
Diepsloot township, tough questions must be asked. Hawk Eye

Nyathi cannot die in vain. The time has come to hold Dumisani
the political leaders of both South Africa and Zimbabwe Muleya
accountable.

When will South African politicians be held account-
able for inciting killings?

When will Zanu PF leaders be held accountable for
destroying Zimbabwe’s economy and sparking a mass ex-
odus of desperate refugees? Is the life of an African worth
anything at all?

Whenever such an outrageous killing occurs, there is
a public uproar for a few days, but the chatter soon sub-
sides and people quickly return to their routine lives. Pre-
dictably, politicians, on both sides of the Limpopo River,
will make a few glib statements for the next couple of
days and then go back to their ivory towers.

Nyathi’s murder is a tragedy that must never be taken
lightly.

The married father of four went to South Africa in
search of a better livelihood.

After surviving the typically perilous journey — un-
documented immigrants must contend with crocodile at-
tacks, marauding robbers and corrupt law enforcers — a
Zimbabwean is slaughtered like a chicken by a murder-
ous mob in South Africa.

He arrived in that country and secured a job as a gar-
dener in the Fourways area of Johannesburg. He did not
snatch anyone’s job; this type of menial work is often
shunned by South Africans.

Politicians in both Zimbabwe and South Africa must
be held accountable.

Zanu PF has looted, plundered and vandalised the
economy, plunging citizens into untold poverty. Migra-
tion is as old as humanity, of course, but the sheer scale
of the mass exodus we have witnessed in the past two
decades has been staggering.

Zimbabweans are voting with their feet in massive
numbers, making the country the biggest producer of
economic refugees in this part of the world. For a nation
endowed with vast natural and human resources, this is
a crying shame.

South Africa’s governing ANC has been complicit in
assisting Zanu PF to cling on to power, even when the
party has lost elections.

This misplaced support is deceptively couched as the
unbreakable solidarity of former liberation movements.
In reality, the ANC has supported criminality in Zim-
babwe.

What South African politicians now conveniently de-
scribe as the crisis of undocumented immigrants is actu-
ally the logical outcome of the ANC’s scandalous support
of bad governance in Zimbabwe.

As political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki aptly characteris-
es it, the chickens are coming home to roost. Political
leaders on both sides of the Limpopo must rake respon-
sibility.

Another election is approaching in Zimbabwe. The
ANC, instead of defending the values of freedom and de-
mocracy which Africa’s oldest liberation movement was
renowned for during the days of Nelson Mandela and
Walter Sisulu, has been backing brutal autocracy. Cry the
beloved Africa!

Elvis Nyathi must not die in vain. The people of Africa
deserve better leaders.

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

MOSES MATENGA Ipec sheds light on FML
in-depth investigation
THE Insurance and Pensions Commission (Ipec)
says a recent assessment of the affairs of First policyholders and pension scheme members. vice versa,” Ipec said. 2021 in line with Section 67 of the Insurance Act
Mutual Life Assurance (FML), a wholly-owned The commission confirmed it has been con- In her 8 February letter to Rushwaya, Mu- (Chapter 24:07).
subsidiary of First Mutual Holdings Limited
(FMHL), over its failure to separate assets be- ducting an asset separation exercise in the insur- radzikwa said a forensic was necessitated by the “The commission has therefore commenced
tween shareholders and policyholders, has war- ance and pensions industry in line with the pro- company’s failure to comply with the asset sepa- tender processes to obtain a forensic investigator.
ranted an in-depth probe. visions of the Insurance Act [chapter 24:07] and ration policy and law. The full costs of the forensic investigation shall be
the Pension and Provident Funds Act [chapter recovered from FML in terms of Section 67 (7) of
As reported by The NewsHawks last month, 24:09]. “Reference is made to our letter of 31 Decem- the Insurance Act (Chapter 24:07). The commis-
Ipec, a statutory body, launched a forensic inves- ber 2021, wherein the commission expressed sion will keep your organisation updated on the
tigation into the affairs of FML on the issue and “The exercise was necessitated by the notable concern over the failure by FML to adhere to the processes of the forensic investigation. Be guided
in a statement this week, the commission said a non-compliance by several insurance companies agreed timelines and the quality of submission accordingly.”
comprehensive investigation was now underway. against the aforementioned legal requirements, thereof,” the letter says.
which had the potential to prejudice policyhold- Section 29 of the Insurance Act [chapter
“With respect to FML, the assessment done ers in favour of shareholders.” “Notwithstanding your late submission, and 24:07] and Section 16 of the Pension and Prov-
by Ipec to date, in verifying the extent to which after assessing your submissions of 24 and 29 De- ident Funds Act [chapter 24:09] require separa-
FML complies with the provisions on asset sepa- The commission said the objective of the as- cember 2021 respectively, regrettably, they were tion of assets between shareholders and policy-
ration, has warranted an in-depth investigation,” set separation exercise was to enforce compliance still not adequate to enable the completion of the holders; and insurance and pension businesses.
the commission’s statement reads. with requirements of the legal provisions. asset separation exercise of the entity.
The verification of whether insurers are com-
“The audit is part of the commission’s super- “The spirit behind these legal provisions on as- “To this end, the commission is proceeding plying with statutory provisions relating to this is
visory interventions to gauge the level of compli- set separation, is to ensure that there is no transfer with instituting a forensic investigation into FML being done by Ipec retrospective to 2009.
ance with the above legal provisions.” of assets from policyholders to shareholders and as communicated in our letter of 18 November

The audit, Ipec said, is expected to take less
than four months after the signing of the contract
with the appointed firm.

FML is the second-largest life assurance com-
pany in Zimbabwe by market share. It also pro-
vides retirement, medical insurance, micro-in-
surance and other long-term financial security
products. The company is accused of violating the
law by failing to separate insurance from pension
business amid internal squabbles over the issue.
This has seen some executives being removed.

It also emerged that the leading financial ser-
vices conglomerate, CBZ Holdings, is in the
process of taking over FMHL to build a business
behemoth in the local and regional markets.

According to a letter dated 8 February ad-
dressed to FML board chairperson Samuel Rush-
waya, copied to FMHL chief executive Douglas
Hoto, FML boss Reuben Java and FML acting
principal officer

Williefaston Chibaya, Ipec commissioner for
insurance, pension and provident funds Grace
Muradzikwa says a forensic investigation into the
company’s issues has begun after the firm failed to
comply with the asset separation policy and law.

Ipec is established in terms of the Insurance
and Pensions Commission Act [chapter 24:21]
to regulate the insurance and pensions industry
with the objective of protecting the interests of

RONALD MUCHENJE Pensioners lament meagre payouts

THE Insurance and Pensions Commission of the complaints received in the quarter, whilst The regulator added that the issue of com- (including beneficiaries) of ZW$337 824.58
(Ipec) says it is seized with putting in place late payment of benefits, accounted for 15% in pensation as recommended by the Justice compared to ZW$121 852 as at 31 December
measures to improve benefits for pensioners the last quarter of 2021 while unremitted con- Smith-led commission of inquiry remains out- 2020.
after 53% of the complaints it handled in the tributions constituted 8% of the complaints standing as members seek a final solution to the
fourth quarter of 2021 were related to low pen- received in the period under review. long-standing programme. Given the annual rate of inflation of 24.9%
sion values. for December 2021, the 177% increase in av-
“During the quarter ended 31 December “The commission is seized with putting in erage asset per member indicates that the asset
These were occasioned by the currency con- 2021, the Commission received a total of 123 place a framework for pre-2009 compensation values are generally tracking inflation.
version of 2009 with most pensioners following complaints relating to pensions, out of which in line with recommendations of the commis-
up on the Commission of Inquiry recommen- 43 were resolved, 15 were under investigation sion of inquiry to bring closure on the compen- “However, it is important to note that pen-
dations. and 65 related to the pre-2009 compensation, sation of the members who lost their pension sion values are still very low, and the commis-
which requires implementation of the Com- values,” Ipec said. sion is working together with the industry to
The measures include regulation of adminis- mission of Inquiry’s recommended compen- improve members' benefits through various
tration and investment management expenses, sation framework. Those under investigation During the period, the industry’s asset base initiatives. The increase in the asset base was
enhancing governance of pension funds and related to unremitted contributions, addition- grew in nominal terms by 189% to ZW$318.96 mainly driven by quoted equities and invest-
allowing offshore investments to diversify sov- al information required from pensioners and billion from ZW$110.24 billion recorded in ment properties, which had a combined share
ereign risk, among others. investigations by pension funds on payments December 2020 as the values for major asset of 81.15% of the industry’s total assets. Quoted
made through cheques submitted to members’ classes adjusted in response to inflation. equities now constitute a bigger portion of the
In its 2021 fourth-quarter report, Ipec noted former employers,” Ipec said. investment portfolio for the pensions industry,”
that the pensions industry continued to battle The asset base of ZW$318.96 billion trans- Ipec said.
during non-payment of benefits, low values lates to an average asset share per member
caused by hyperinflation and dollarisation in
February 2009 and late payment of benefits.

Non-payment of benefits accounted for 24%

Page 28 Companies & Markets NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Cambria invests US$100m in 14 yrs

DUMISANI NYONI

LONDON Stock Exchange-listed multination- Millchem is among Zimbabwe’s leading distributors of industrial solvents and metal treatment products.
al investment firm Cambria Africa has invested
more than US$100 million in Zimbabwe since He said they remained cautiously optimistic net equity per share. This would bring our mar- profit in the period under review stems main-
its establishment 14 years ago. about achieving full value for the company’s as- ket valuation closer to the company’s current ly from Payserv revenues of US$1.13 million.
sets beyond its net asset value (NAV). NAV of US$1.16 cents per share which is 3.5 NAV fell by 1.63% to US$6.32 million.
Cambria, formerly known as LonZim before times the closing price of US$0.36 US cents per
rebranding in February 2012, was established in “At this point in time, we hope to increase share on 28 March 2022. Revenues declined by 8% to US$1.22 mil-
December 2007 and has acquired a portfolio of shareholder value through appreciation of the lion while operating costs declined by 0.8% to
companies and assets in Zimbabwe. company’s share price to reflect at the very least, Meanwhile, Shasha revealed that consolidated US$838 000.

Its investments in Zimbabwe encompass the
Payserv Group and Millchem.

The Payserv Group is the country’s leading
provider of payment solutions and business pro-
cess outsourcing services targeted at financial
and related sectors.

The group comprises four business units:
Paynet Zimbabwe, AutoPay, Loanserv and Soft-
serv. Millchem is among Zimbabwe’s leading
distributors of industrial solvents and metal
treatment products. The company was estab-
lished in 1986 as Millpal and rebranded to Mill-
chem in 2011.

According to its audited results for the year
ended 31 August 2021, the firm has invested
more than US$100 million in Zimbabwe since
its establishment.

“The company’s investment in Zimbabwe
since its establishment has been over US$100
million. Almost US$6 million of this invest-
ment was my direct contribution to this invest-
ment since taking the helm of Cambria when it
was at the brink of bankruptcy,” Cambria chief
executive Samir Shasha said.

Shasha said Cambria’s board of directors,
himself included, have continued to serve the
company without compensation since 2015,
fighting to return value to shareholders.

“Despite the unfavourable economic factors
leading to the abandonment of parity to the US
dollar and its huge impact on the company, we
hold on jealously to our cash, our liabilities are
negligible, and our remaining operations are
profitable,” he said.

“We still see value in our listing, having dis-
posed of most of the company’s depreciating as-
sets and used the proceeds to bring remaining li-
abilities down to their current negligible values.”

LONDON Stock Exchange-listed firm Cam- . . . firm seeks to offload Radar stake
bria Africa says it is pursuing avenues to offload
its stake in construction-allied and brick manu- in the valuation of its commercial property Cambria chief executive Samir Shasha is actively pursuing avenues to sell its proper-
facturing company Radar Holdings after failing conducted by Hollands Harare Estate Agents The company’s property was valued by Hol- ty and its indirect interest in Radar Holdings
to acquire a controlling stake in the entity. (Hollands). lands at US$2.3 million as at January 2022. Limited shares. While we believe there is firm
“In its efforts to realise its NAV, the company interest in our investment, the company will
The sale, which has been necessitated by a only sell such investments if it can achieve val-
drop in the group’s net asset value (NAV), is ue at the holding level. Another component of
expected to see the company pocketing in ex- the company
cess of US$1.7 million.
NAV is its indirect shareholding in Radar
Cambria in August 2018 snapped up a having failed in our bid to exercise constructive
7.83% equity stake in Radar in a US$1.6 mil- control. If successful, such a sale will earn the
lion deal. company about US$1.7 million less costs. The
Company will only sell its investment if it can
The acquisition was facilitated through the achieve value at the holding level. The invest-
subscription by Paynet of 62.84% of the ordi- ment is robust and if a sale is not achievable in
nary shares in AF Phillips (Pvt) Ltd and was this fiscal year, the company is confident that
settled through the utilisation of Paynet’s exist- the holding will preserve its value,” he said
ing cash resources.
Cambrias’ NAV was further impacted by the
AF Phillips holds a 15.6% stake in Hinshaw change in the closing value of the company’s
(Pvt) Ltd which, through its wholly owned sub- Old Mutual Limited shares on the Johannes-
sidiaries, holds a 79.65% interest in Radar. burg Stock Exchange compared to the last clos-
ing price on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
However, efforts to acquire a further stake
was frustrated after an arbitrator ruled in favour “Another component of NAV is the compa-
of Caulicle (Pvt) Ltd in a case in which the lat- ny’s goodwill (intellectual property). Currently,
ter contested a transaction used by Cambria to intellectual property is driving the earnings in
shore up its shareholding in the local firm . Tradanet — the largest contributor to the com-
pany’s earnings. This 51%-owned subsidiary
The row erupted over 4 000 Hinshaw shares of Paynet processes microloans on behalf of
that were used to shore up Cambria Africa’s CABS, Zimbabwe’s largest building society. At
shareholding in Radar after Caulicle argued their peak in 2019, these microloans comprised
that a share offer to AF Phillip for the shares for about a third of the bank’s assets and the direc-
the purchase of an equity stake in Radar Hold- tors believe that a return to those levels is fully
ings by Paynet Zimbabwe was revocable. conceivable. Almost three years has passed since
banks collectively blocked the use of Paynet’s
In a statement accompanying the company’s payment technology, claiming varying levels of
financial statement for the 2021 full-year (FY), ability to pay in foreign currency and immedi-
Cambria chief executive Samir Shasha said the ate availability of locally priced solutions,” Sha-
company will only sell its investment if it can sha said. — STAFF WRITER.
achieve value at the holding level.

During the period, the company's NAV fell
by 1.63% from US$6.42 million in FY 2020
to US$6.32 million FY 2021 (1.16 US cents
per share).

The reduction in NAV was attributable in
part to a US$200 000 downward adjustment

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 29

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

AfDB mulls US$800m debt
clearance plan for Zim

BERNARD MPOFU is expected to jet into the country to help Zim- false starts in clearing arrears such as the Lima lion in arrears on loans owed by Sudan, AfDB
babwe clear its arrears. plan of 2015, the authorities remain committed. completed the arrears clearance process, enabling
THE African Development Bank (AfdB) is on the East African country to have immediate ac-
working on a nearly US$800 million bridge-fi- Yacine Fal, AfDB vice-president in charge of “We are in an arrears clearance programme, cess to new financing.
nancing facility to help Zimbabwe clear its ar- regional development, integration and business we haven’t forgotten about it. It’s a continuous
rears with the regional bank as the debt-ridden delivery, said the regional bank’s boss would play process and it always takes two to tango,” Man- According to the regional lender, the clear-
nation seeks to normalise relations with credi- a role in helping Zimbabwe’s re-engagement gudya said. ance of Sudan’s arrears was made possible with
tors, The NewsHawks has established. with creditors. the support of the United Kingdom government
“You need also people to assist you obvious- through bridge financing of 148 million Britain
Zimbabwe has had arrears with the AfDB and “The AfDB is very happy with this continued ly for that arrears clearance. You need both the pounds to clear Sudan’s arrears to the African
the World Bank since the turn of the millenni- re-engagement with the authorities and in this domestic support and international support to
um and this has disqualified the country from context we are here to also convey our apprecia- clear our arrears. We remain committed and we Development Fund. Sweden provided grant
accessing long-term cheap capital from multilat- tion of the positive commitment of Dr Akinwu- cannot wish it away.” financing of about US$4.2 million to meet
eral lenders. mi Adesina, president of the AfDB, to act as a Sudan’s burden-share for the operation. The
champion in supporting Zimbabwe’s efforts with Last October, Mokadem said the regional Republic of Ireland has also committed to pro-
A few years back, the country cleared its arrears regards to arrears clearance scheme and other ef- lender will support Zimbabwe’s debt and arrears viding 150 000 euro towards Sudan’s future debt
with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forts to restore economic resilience,” she said. clearance plan. service.
using its Special Drawing Rights holdings, but
Harare remains ineligible to access capital until it Official figures show that as at 31 Decem- “The bank continues to work with the inter- Consequently, the AfDB sanctions on Sudan
clears arrears with the three multilateral lenders. ber 2021, Zimbabwe’s total public and pub- national monetary institutions and other devel- were lifted and a policy-based operation was pro-
licly guaranteed (PPG) debt stood at US$10.7 opment partners in supporting the government vided to the country as part of the regional lend-
This comes as AfDB president Aknwumi Ade- billion. This represents 72.6% of the country’s to meet conditions to clear Zimbabwe’s arrears, er’s full re-engagement with the country.
sina is soon expected in Zimbabwe as the coun- gross domestic product. PPG external debt owed as we did in Sudan and Somalia, who are now
try seeks to rejuvenate its arrears clearance plan, to the multilateral creditors, as at 31 December back on lending,” she said at the launch of the Last month, the IMF said Zimbabwe’s re-en-
barely a month after the IMF expressed reserva- 2020, amounted to US$2.68 billion, of which AfDB Zimbabwe country brief. gagement with creditors had lost steam despite
tions on the ongoing programme. US$1.53 billion is owed to the World Bank ongoing efforts by Harare to normalise relations
Group, US$729 million to AfDB, US$356 “We appreciate the resumption of token pay- with multilateral creditors before extricating it-
Information gathered by The NewsHawks million to the European Investment Bank and ments to multilateral development banks and self from a huge debt overhang.
shows that the bridge-financing would be mod- US$68 million to other multilateral creditors. the Paris Club members. We are also working on
elled along the same structure as that of Somalia the drafting of the roadmap on arrears clearance. “International re-engagement has lagged as
and Sudan which have since cleared their arrears On the other hand, bilateral PPG external debt The roadmap should be coordinated and I think stakeholders seek political and economic re-
with the regional financial institution. amounted to US$5.75 billion, with US$3.79 bil- it will be (achieved) with all stakeholders, to forms. The 2019 Staff-Monitored Programme
lion owed to Paris Club bilateral creditors mainly achieve intended results. One of the key objec- experienced significant policy slippages and
Adesina’s visit comes a few months after the comprising Germany (US$1.02 billion), France tives in our country brief is really to aggressively elapsed without a review,” the IMF said.
regional lender’s director-general for southern (US$724 million), Japan (US$435 million), UK support the government in this arrears clearance
Africa, Leila Mokadem, said the regional lend- (US$416 million) and USA (US$285 million). agenda.” “Directors encouraged the authorities to ad-
er would support Zimbabwe’s debt and arrears vance reforms, noting that a new Staff-Moni-
clearance plan. John Mangudya, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Following last year’s approval of the proposal tored Programme could help establish a track
governor, told The NewsHawks that despite past by the boards of directors of the African Devel- record of sound policies and provide further im-
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said Adesina opment Bank Group to clear about US$413 mil- petus to their re-engagement efforts.”

Page 30 Companies & Markets NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Banking sector earnings surge 28%

DUMISANI NYONI

THE Zimbabwean banking sector’s US dol- The RBZ bank has ruled out a return to using the US dollar as official currency.
lar-denominated earnings increased by 27.74%
to US$535.3 million in 2021 largely due to in- 90.55% of total banking sector deposits. because there are not enough greenbacks in the thing from fuel, food, medicines and school fees.
terest income from loans and advances, the Re- The deposits, according to the report, were country. State workers and bank employees have request-
serve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has revealed. ed to be paid in greenbacks.
fairly balanced between local currency-denom- In his monetary policy statement released in
In its banking sector report for the year ended inated deposits (51.41%) and foreign currency February, RBZ governor John Mangudya said The country shifted to the US dollar from
31 December 2021, the central bank revealed deposits (48.59%). the financial system was still dominated by the 2009 to 2019, after the local currency collapsed
that the “banking sector United States dollar-de- local unit. and a bout of hyperinflation decimated savings
nominated earnings increased by 27.74% from The country’s central bank has ruled out a re- and resulted in fuel and food shortages.
US$419.06 million for the year ended 31 De- turn to using the US dollar as official currency The US dollar is being used to pay for every-
cember 2020, to US$535.3 million during the
corresponding period in 2021.”

The report notes that the net aggregate bank-
ing sector profit, on local currency basis, in-
creased from ZW$34.24 billion to ZW$59.29
billion.

“The growth in earnings was largely attribut-
able to interest income from loans and advanc-
es and fees and commission, which constituted
34.99% and 31.80% of total income, respec-
tively,” the report reads in part.

The report shows that the increase in the pro-
portion of interest income from loans and ad-
vances from 17.82% of total income in 2020,
to 34.99% as at 31 December 2021 indicates a
shift by the sector towards the traditional bank-
ing sources of revenue which are considered
more stable.

“Non-interest income was driven by fees
and commissions due to increased transaction-
al volumes on digital platforms in the wake of
Covid-19, as well as initiatives by banking in-
stitutions to promote the use of plastic money,”
it said.

Translation gains on foreign currency-de-
nominated assets, as well as revaluation gains
from investment properties also contributed to
the growth in non-interest income, the report
reveals.

In the period under review, the banking sector
deposits increased from ZW$367.02 billion as
at 30 September 2021 to ZW$476.35 billion as
at 31 December 2021, representing a 29.79%
increase. Commercial banking sub-sector de-
posits dominated the deposits and constituted

BERNARD MPOFU Bullish mineral prices buoy Zim mining

PRICES of gold and other precious metals on the Chamber of Mines last year indicates that mining billion; diamond, US$0.8 billion.” 750/ounce in December 2021.
global market are this year reaching new highs companies are ramping up production in 2022, In 2022, the report says, the gold price is ex- “Gold will also have support from high de-
driven by a surge in demand triggered by the with mineral exports expected to benefit from fa-
Russia-Ukraine war, the Chamber of Mines of vourable prices. The gold and PGMs (platinum pected to remain elevated above US$1 900 per mand from central banks and jewellery sectors.
Zimbabwe has projected in its latest report. group metals) sectors are the main growth pillars ounce throughout the year. With the geopolitical In the second half of 2022, we anticipate the gold
for the mining sector in 2022. The mining indus- tension, gold still will be a main safe haven asset. market to revert to macro drivers such as real
As global economies continue to feel the try is expected to generate approximately US$5.5 rates, US Federal Reserve policy,” the Chamber
shocks of the conflict in Eastern Europe, Zim- billion in 2022, underpinned by strong perfor- Meanwhile, the gold price has already re- says.
babwe’s large mining companies have projected a mance in: gold, US$2.1 billion; palladium, US$1 sponded to the unfolding crisis in Europe, surg-
bullish outturn of the commodities market with ing above the US$2 000 per ounce mark during The ongoing crisis, the report further states,
gold being a haven for those seeking to preserve the period of conflict, from an average of US$1 will increase the price of minerals such as plati-
capital. num group metals, nickel and iron.

Zimbabwe’s economy is projected to grow by “Amid growing geopolitical tensions, palladi-
5.5% underpinned by an anticipated strong re- um price increased by over 55% to US$21 440
covery in mining (8%), manufacturing (5.5%) by end of February 2022. The imposition of sanc-
and construction (17.4%). tions on Russia is expected to result in the shrink-
ing of PGMs supply to the rest of the world,
According to the Chamber of Mines Com- propping up PGM prices,” the report reads.
modity Outlook for 2022, the prospects for firm
mineral prices in 2022 are expected to provide “The imposition of sanctions on Russia, one of
an impetus for increased activities in the mining the biggest producers of nickel, will result in sup-
sector. ply constraints and high prices in 2022. Produc-
tion disruptions in Ukraine (another big player
“The outlook for commodity prices is on the in the nickel industry) due to the current war will
upside, with most minerals expected to remain el- hurt the supply of nickel.”
evated at levels above their long-run averages. The
Zimbabwe mining industry is set to benefit from Russia accounts for approximately 38% and
the commodity price boom,” the report says. 10% of global palladium and platinum, respec-
tively.
“For the greater part of 2022, precious metals
will find support as a safe haven on the back of Economic analysts say risks to the macro-eco-
the crisis in Europe. We anticipate gold prices to nomic outlook which include power shortages,
trend towards the all-time high reached in 2020. foreign exchange constraints, exchange rate vol-
Palladium prices are expected to reach their pre- atility, high inflation and new Covid-19 variants
vious peaks as deficits emerge from constriction may slow down the growth.
of supply from Russia — the world’s largest pro-
ducer. Platinum prices will also trend up with the The downside risks to the above projections
increasing fungibility with palladium. include an erratic power supply (resulting in pro-
duction disruptions), capital shortages (with a
“Zimbabwe’s mining sector is set to benefit funding gap exceeding US$10 billion for the next
from global developments. In 2022, favourable five years), exchange rate volatility and widening
commodity prices are expected to spur Zimba- parallel exchange market premiums, and foreign
bwe’s mining sector performance. The State of exchange constraints.
the Mining Industry Survey conducted by the

NewsHawks Stock Taking Page 31

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Price Sheet A MEMBER OF FINSEC & THE ZIMBABWE STOCK EXCHANGE

Friday, 08 April 2022

Company Sector Bloomberg Previous Last VWAP (cents) Total Total Price Price YTD Market
Traded Traded Change Change (%) Cap
Ticker Price (cents) Traded Volume Value ($) (cents) ($m)
(%)
Price 500 117,500
73,800 664,256
AFDIS Consumer Goods AFDIS: ZH 23500.00 23500.00 23500.00 - - 88.00 28,081.21
African Sun Consumer Services ASUN: ZH 900.63 900.00 900.08 1,800 35,800 -0.55 -0.06 40.14 12,816.52
ART ARTD: ZH 2000.00 1800.00 1988.89 285,300 899,074 -11.11 -0.56 90.32
Ariston Industrials 315.20 317.00 315.13 3,935,750 -0.07 -0.02 -15.34 8,691.00
Axia Consumer Services ARISTON: ZH 8114.33 9105.00 9089.49 43,300 17,567,900 975.16 12.02 202.48 5,128.41
BAT AXIA: ZH 4,800 -2.19 -0.00 14.34 50,187.65
CAFCA Consumer Goods BAT: ZH 366000.00 365900.00 365997.81 300 75,000 47.06 75,518.22
CBZ Consumer Goods 25000.00 25000.00 25000.00 2,465,480 - - 18.41 2,183.78
CFI CAFCA: ZH 8800.00 9000.00 8900.65 27,700 100.65 1.14 38.98 46,520.27
Dairibord Industrials CBZ: ZH 12210.05 13005.00 13005.00 100 13,005 794.95 6.51 0.11 13,790.62
Delta Banking CFI:ZH 3509.99 3500.00 3503.86 4,131,050 -6.13 -0.17 63.20 12,543.85
Ecocash 24421.39 26805.00 26525.46 117,900 33,130,310 2104.07 8.62 87.20 345,938.58
Econet Industrials DZL: ZH 7317.29 7700.00 7610.16 124,900 2,381,980 292.87 4.00 70.09 197,147.07
Edgars Consumer Goods DLTA: ZH 13811.26 14450.00 14457.29 153,420,800 646.03 4.68 7.01 374,527.21
FBC Consumer Goods EHZL: ZH 31,300 10.88 2.39 32.93 2,812.65
Fidelity ECO: ZH 454.60 470.00 465.48 1,061,200 684,717 -17.65 30,237.75
First Capital Technology 4500.00 - 4500.00 - - - 104.99 1,416.00
FML Telecommunications EDGR: ZH 1300.00 - 1300.00 147,100 - - - -10.00 15,292.57
FMP Consumer Services FBC: ZH 660.75 708.05 - 47.30 7.16 60.26 12,422.58
GBH FIDL: ZH 1800.00 710.00 1800.00 - 2,158,859 - - -31.61 15,476.97
Getbucks Banking FCA: ZH 1250.00 - 1250.00 - - -
Hippo Financial Services 132.57 156.96 304,900 24.39 18.40 - 842.23
Innscor FMHL: ZH 600.00 1250.00 600.00 - 1,250 - - 7.15 6,978.71
Lafarge Banking FMP: ZH 29097.45 156.75 30001.80 24,015 904.35 3.11 97.68 57,909.64
Mash Financial Services GBH: ZH 31344.84 600.00 32103.33 100 758.49 2.42 68.75 182,949.32
Masimba 13500.00 30005.00 13500.00 15,300 5,400 - - -9.15 10,800.00
Medtech Real Estate GBFS: ZH 299.94 32240.00 294.79 1,500,090 -5.15 -1.72 3.71 5,480.36
Medtech Class B Industrials HIPO: ZH 5695.00 5703.81 900 10,594,100 8.81 0.15 -48.57 13,783.47
Meikles 1800.00 - 1800.00 5,000 - - 36.00
Nampak Financial Services INN: ZH 3400.00 290.00 3400.00 33,000 - - - 9.93 216.00
NatFoods Consumer Goods LACZ: ZH 13501.77 5800.00 13751.70 563,340 249.93 1.85 35.34 45.63
NTS MASH: ZH 1472.65 1510.00 - 598,900 37.35 2.54 49.63
NMBZ Industrials MSHL: ZH 205675.00 - 205675.00 191,100 - - 33.33 34,743.13
OK Zim Industrials MMDZ: ZH 840.00 - 840.00 - - - 98.68 11,410.29
Proplastics Real Estate MMDZB: ZH 1400.00 14000.00 1600.00 10,500 - 200.00 14.29 9.32 140,681.92
RTG Industrials MEIK: ZH 2939.76 1510.00 3000.55 - 1,292,660 60.79 2.07 44.84
RioZim Financial Services NPKZ: ZH 4200.00 205675.00 4200.00 - 1,510 - - -15.72 2,132.53
SeedCo Financial Services 657.38 - 657.38 1,234,050 - - 84.09 6,466.75
Simbisa Industrials NTFD: ZH 7200.00 1600.00 7363.64 9,400 - 163.64 2.27 70.95 38,583.60
Star Africa Industrials NTS: ZH 18036.28 3000.00 18045.86 100 1,600 9.58 0.05 213.36 10,581.30
Tanganda Consumer Goods NMB: ZH 27378.21 4200.00 28202.55 600 53,172,710 824.34 3.01 29.94 16,404.89
Truworths Industrials 139.32 - 150.55 - 1,020,600 11.23 8.06 78.95 8,985.81
TSL OKZ: ZH 10816.21 7500.00 12000.36 100 - 1184.15 10.95 -5.12 44,609.84
Turnall Banking PROL: ZH 190.00 18050.00 189.75 81,000 -0.25 -0.13 59.61 158,550.45
Unifreight Consumer Services 11200.00 28005.00 11200.00 1,772,100 8,625,920 - - 86.29 7,098.56
Willdale RTG: ZH 710.00 150.00 764.00 24,300 47,803,320 54.00 7.61 11.79 31,328.69
ZB Industrials RIOZ: ZH 3350.00 12000.00 3350.00 - 152,358 - - 5.07
Zeco Consumer Services SEED: ZH 305.65 189.75 325.17 1,100 16,740,500 19.52 6.39 -28.57 728.77
Zimpapers 5500.00 - 5500.00 47,800 949 - - 316.67 39,995.47
Zimplow Basic Materials SIM: ZH 800.00 - - - -14.09
ZHL Consumer Goods SACL: ZH 2.00 - 2.00 169,500 3,820 -2.35 -0.93 -2.19 3,766.83
Consumer Goods TANG: ZH 252.35 350.00 250.00 101,200 - 38.34 1.69 6.81 3,566.89
TOTAL Consumer Goods TRUW: ZH 2270.00 5500.00 2308.34 139,500 7,804 1.77 0.44 5,781.53
Consumer Goods 399.91 - 401.68 38,500 9,635.49
Consumer Services TSL: ZH 250.00 500 -
Consumer Goods TURN: ZH 2090.00 - 250 9.27
UNIF: ZH 409.25 74,340,120 1,440.00
Industrials WILD: ZH 500 180,353 7,954.09
Industrials ZBFH: ZH - 439,666,599 7,303.42
Industrials ZECO: ZH 2,121,497.75
2,400
Banking ZIMP: ZH 700
Industrials ZIMPLOW: ZH -
Consumer Services 100
Industrials ZHL: ZH
Financial Services 3,220,500
44,900

8,016,100

ETFs DMCS.zw 187.95 188.00 187.72 142,368 267,254 -0.23 -0.12 87.72 132.41
MCMS.zw 1461.00 1500.00 1496.74 814 12,183 35.74 2.45 49.67 1,925.90
Datvest Modified Consumer Staples ETF OMTT.zw 845.06 844.00 843.50 -1.56 -0.18 91.67 1,211.48
Morgan&Co Multi-Sector ETF 18,175 153,305
Old Mutual ZSE Top 10 ETF 12,451.76

FINSEC Financial Services OMZIL 15000.00 15000.00 15000.00 11,495 1,724,250 - - 50.00 US$m
61.09
Old Mutual Zimbabwe 8.06

VFEX (US cents) Mining BIND:VX 5.00 4.80 4.80 59,478 2,855.14 -0.20 -4.00 -12.73 114.01
Mining CMCL:VX 1300.00 - 1300.00 - - - - - 107.19
BNC Consumer Goods
Caledonia Consumer Goods PHL:VX 21.04 21.05 21.05 780 164.19 0.01 0.05 0.24 YTD %
Padenga SCIL:VX 28.05 28.10 28.10 28,062 7,885 0.05 0.18 0.18 -31.61
SeedCo International +98.68
+202.48
Index Close Change (%) Open YTD % Top 5 Risers Price Change % +78.95
ZSE All Share 17,216.77 +3.72 16,599.79 +59.09 GBH 156.96c +24.39c +18.40 +63.20
Top 10 11,370.22 +3.97 10,936.34 +66.93 NMBZ 1600.00c +14.29
Top 15 12,519.49 +3.93 12,046.23 +66.28 Axia 9089.49c +200.00c +12.02 YTD %
Small Cap +2.96 428,762.88 +9.61 Tanganda 12000.36c +975.16c +10.95 -9.15
Medium Cap 441,440.78 +2.98 27,650.60 +39.53 Delta 26525.46c +1184.15c +8.62 -14.09
28,474.34 +2104.07c +90.32
+0.11
Top 5 Fallers Price Change % -5.12
Mash
Zimpapers 294.79c -5.15c -1.72
ART 250.00c -2.35c -0.93
Dairibord 1988.89c -11.11c -0.56
Truworths 3503.86c -6.13c -0.17
189.75c -0.25c -0.13

SALES & TRADING: Davide Muchengi: [email protected] | Lungani Nyamazana: [email protected] | Tatenda Jasi: [email protected]
RESEARCH: Batanai Matsika: [email protected] | Precious Chagwedera: [email protected] | Tafara Mtutu: [email protected]
Tel: (+263) 08677008101-2 | Email: [email protected] | Address: 14165 Sauer Road, Gunhill, Harare

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Property
NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022 PROPERTY INTERIORS ARCHITECTURE GARDENING Page 32

The home of prime property: [email protected]

SMEs drive demand for retail space

Establishment of new enterprises has led to high demand for space in the country’s CBDs.

ALEX MHANDU commodities. Some landlords have capitalised commodities being sold in the retail outlets due square metres of retail space.
on this and created 'flea markets' where tenants to a mismatch between high inflation and low Due to the firm demand, Bulawayo has also
DEMAND for both central business district lease a stall/table on a daily basis. consumer disposable incomes, the Covid-19
(CBD) and suburban retail space has remained pandemic has driven strong demand for retail witnessed the development of Egodini Mall, by
high, driven mainly by budding small and me- “In most cases the tenants will be selling the space from pharmacies in both the CBD and Terracotta Trading, comprising a bus/taxi rank
dium enterprises (SMEs). same commodities, so the level of profitability suburban areas. and about 7 000 square metres of informal retail
is less certain. As a result of the high demand space.
As the economy grappled with the adverse for space, there are no voids in the retail sec- Big retailers such as OK and Pick n Pay have
impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and with tor,” Knight Frank Zimbabwe said in its market also seen scope in expanding into suburban Other retail developments that are on the
limited formal employment, many Zimbabwe- update report for the six-month period to 31 space. In Harare, for instance, there is construc- drawing board include the AfreximBank Trade
ans turned to informality, starting their own December 2021. tion activity of the new Highland Park Shop- Centre, which is a mixed-use development in
enterprises. ping Mall, at the corner of Emmerson Mnan- Newlands that will incorporate a four-star ho-
According to the property management firm, gagwa Road (formerly Enterprise) and Arcturus tel, conference facilities, offices and shops. The
Retail business tops the list of the new enter- retail rental rates in Harare have remained flat at Road. construction timetable for this project is not yet
prises, thus driving demand for space in both around US$12 to US$15 per square metre for publicly available, according to Knight Frank.
the CBD and residential areas. suburban locations and US$8-$10 per square Developed by Terrace Africa, this suburban
metre for the CBD, depending on location and shopping centre is anchored by Pick n Pay and “The emergence of suburban shopping cen-
“Demand for both CBD and suburban retail size. In Bulawayo, the retail rents range between will also provide space to several known retailers tres in most of the suburban areas has resulted
space remains high. Because of the non-avail- US$7 to US$8 per square metre. and a service station. in retail shopping by residents being localised
ability of formal employment, most people because they are conveniently located and easily
want to start a retail business selling various While there is weak demand for goods and It is expected to provide an estimated 4 500 accessible,” Knight Frank said.

NewsHawks News Analysis Page 33

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Mnangagwa presides over corrupt govt

PALESA MUWANI in his office to prove his determination well as former Health minister Oba- appetite by investors to list on the Auditor-General Mildred Chiri.
to fight graft, although the move was diah Moyo after having been arrested Victoria Falls Stock Exchange. The fight to curb corruption.
REVELATIONS by Auditor-General deemed unconstitutional. over a slew of  graft allegations by the forex-indexed bourse has attracted
Mildred Chiri that Treasury made for- state has eroded public confidence only a handful of listings, most of “Political will by the government
eign direct payments on behalf of 16 However, corruption has continued over government’s seriousness in fight- them companies already domiciled in itself is critical if we are going to speak
government ministries amounting to to thrive under Mnangagwa’s watch ing the scourge. Mnangagwa has been the country. At a dialogue organised about formalisation of the informal
more than US$300 million without with the First Family and high-level accused of using anti-corruption bod- by the Zimbabwe Economics Soci- in Zimbabwe. How they are going
the required parliamentary approv- government officials also being impli- ies to settle scores with his political ety in conjunction with International to deal with corruption and corrupt
al and the knowledge of beneficiary cated in shady deals. opponents. Labour Organisation (ILO), United activities in Zimbabwe  will also be a
ministries has yet again exposed the Nations Development Programme determining factor as to how far we
deep-rooted corruption that is embed- Reports published by the Audi- The corruption scourge has re- (UNDP) and the ministry of Labour are going towards the formalisation
ded in President Emmerson Mnan- tor-General have continued gathering sulted in the country being placed and Social Welfare on the proposed of the informal aspect of corruption,”
gagwa’s administration. dust, with Mnangagwa’s government 159th out of 180 on the Transparency national formalisation strategy last Taruvinga said. “In the absence of a
failing or unwilling to comprehensive- International index, nearly five years month, participants said the high level government having a robust approach
Of the amount paid, about two ly deal with the corruption that has since Mnangagwa made a  declaration of corruption  has frustrated  efforts to towards corruption, we are going no-
thirds, US$184 million, is being dis- weighed down government operations against corruption at his inauguration. formalise the economy. where as a country because everything
puted by the beneficial ministries, rais- and has bled the fiscus. that you are trying to put forward is
ing questions over the ultimate benefi- Commenting on Mnangagwa’s re- Economist Vincent Musewe told being pushed backwards by the cor-
ciaries of the murky payments. Zacc has struggled to adequately marks during his visit to the Dubai participants at the dialogue meeting rupt activities that are happening in
tackle corruption as evidenced by the Expo last month of his country’s in- that  there was no political will for the Zimbabwe. Those that are close to
This was revealed in the Audi- grim statistic of having only managed tolerance against corruption in a bid economy to be formalised as it was the power are the perpetrators and noth-
tor-General’s 2020 report on Appro- four convictions in 2021. to lure investment, prominent analyst political leadership of the country who ing is happening to them as they are
priation Accounts, Finance and Rev- Stephen Chan warned that it would were benefitting from the status quo not being brought to book. We see
enue Statements and Fund Accounts. Zacc has also been bogged down take more than bold words by Mnan- which enhanced corruption. them moving scot free.”
by poor funding and lack of polit- gagwa to entice investors.
The report, which has now been ta- ical will to support it, rendering it a “We have briefcase businessmen The fight against corruption, as Au-
bled in Parliament, sheds light on how toothless bulldog. Its reputation has “Well he can say that, but Zimba- making millions of dollars and that ditor-General Chiri’s report reminds
government finances continue to be in been tarnished by strident criticism of bwe still remains 159th out of 180 on has an impact on the ability of the everyone, is difficult to curb as it faces
a mess, with Treasury and ministries incompetence by the   police and the the Transparency International index,” country to put resources together so stiff resistance from powerful figures
making payments without supporting National Prosecution Authority over Chan observed on microblogging site that we formalise the economy,” he who benefit immensely from corrup-
documentation in numerous cases, re- investigating corruption cases. Twitter. “As it is and as I have found, said. tion over a prolonged period, accord-
sulting in blatant corruption and loss Gulf economic intelligence is im- ing to economist Prosper Chitambara.
of millions of dollars in public funds. Chiri also revealed in the audit mensely and deeply detailed.” “There is a secret economy in Zim-
that Zacc’s own books have not been babwe that is highly informal, very “The major challenge is how does
Several government ministries lost in order since 2012. The commission Mnangagwa’s poor record in com- wealthy and is basically sucking the one change a system that has been en-
revenue after paying for goods, includ- has failed to produce vouchers for its bating corruption has contributed country out of its resources.” trenched over a prolonged period? The
ing cars, which were not delivered, expenditure, raising fear that public to investors repelling the country. corruption is so well rooted in govern-
while in many cases purchased assets funds are being misappropriated. Foreign direct investment has plum- Zimbabwe Congress of Trade ment and the private sector,” he said.
were not recorded in official registers. meted from US$717 million in 2018 Unions president Florence Taruvinga
The failure to prosecute the likes to around US$150 million last year said the drive for formalisation will be “The fight against corruption is dif-
The ministry of Finance, according of former Transport minister Joram .  It has also contributed to the low determined by political will and the ficult to implement because of strong
to Chiri, made unauthorised excess Gumbo, Local Government and Fi- vested interests that stand to lose a lot.
transfers of ZW$100 690 788 418 nance minister Ignatius Chombo as
without condonation from Parliament
as required by section 307 of the con-
stitution of Zimbabwe, among many
other anomalies.

The Auditor-General also expressed
concern over the non-delivery of pro-
cured assets, including cars.

“Assets comprising 30 motor ve-
hicles worth ZW$117 042 902 that
were purchased by three ministries in
2020 had not been delivered by Sep-
tember 2021,” she says.

At least 24 of the vehicles in ques-
tion were purchased by the ministry
of Information, Publicity and Broad-
casting Services, while three were
procured by the ministry of National
Housing and Social Amenities.

The revelations by Chiri are  not
surprising given that year after year
she has exposed sleaze in government
ministries. There has however been lit-
tle or no action by the government to
address the corruption that is prevalent
in various ministries. This has been the
trend even under the leadership of the
late former president Robert Mugabe.

However, there was anticipation
that Mnangagwa, who succeeded
Mugabe after a coup in 2017, will nip
corruption in the bud after he declared
that under his government, which he
has described as the "New Dispensa-
tion", there will be zero tolerance for
corruption.

“As we focus on recovering the
economy, we must shed misbehaviours
and acts of indiscipline which have
characterised the past. Acts of corrup-
tion must stop forthwith, ” Mnangag-
wa said in his November 2017 inau-
guration address. “There should be no
sacred cows.”

When he assumed power, Mnan-
gagwa  fired the entire Zimbabwe
Anti-Corruption Commission board
which was chaired by Job Whabira
over its failure to combat corruption.

He put in place a new board chaired
by Loice Matanda-Moyo which was
expected to effectively curb graft. The
septuagenarian leader also formed the
Special Anti-Corruption Unit (Sacu)

Page 34 Critical Thinking NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Alex T. Dealing in numbers: Call for
Magaisa a data-based election strategy

ELECTIONS are a numbers game, it sition is entitled to take that victory The fact that the CCC won does While the low voter turnout af- the urban wards where the CCC can-
is often said. It may be a cliché, but it when it comes without undermining not, therefore, mean that the elec- fected most constituencies, the trend didate performed more strongly had
captures the essence of electoral con- its concerns. tions were free and fair or that the was that it was more pronounced in just been slightly higher, this might
testation. elections referee is beyond reproach. urban areas than their rural counter- have made a difference. The following
While an opposition party operat- Rather, it won despite the unfairness parts. No constituency illustrates this comparison illustrates the point:
At the end of the day, the differ- ing in an environment that is neither and a litany of repressive measures better than Mutasa South, a peri-ur-
ence between success and failure is free nor fair is more likely to lose and and electoral malpractices.  But there ban constituency that has both urban, Take Ward 12, an urban ward that
represented in the figures. In normal cry foul, it is also not impossible for is no cause of action when you have peri-urban, and rural wards. An anal- has 7 861 registered voters. Only
situations where election data is reli- it to succeed albeit on rare occasions. won, unless of course candidates who ysis that was done by elections watch- 2 144 voters turned up on polling
able, it is possible to read the general The success of opposition parties in lost choose to challenge the outcome dog Election Resource Centre Africa day representing just 27.27% voter
story of an election from the figures the Gambia in 2016 and Zambia in their constituencies citing those ir- shows that the average voter turnout turnout. An overwhelming majority
and to inform strategy. While the reli- last year present two recent examples regularities. Therefore, the argument in the urban wards was just 28.03% (65%) of these voters voted for the
ability of election data in Zimbabwe is where the opposition parties succeed- that the by-elections were a form of while in rural wards it was 48.63%. In CCC candidate. The Zanu PF candi-
questionable due to the controversies ed despite the odds. The electoral entrapment that deprive the CCC of peri-urban areas, it was 39.3%. date got 32.1% of the vote. Perhaps a
surrounding electoral processes, it is environments were manifestly unfair grounds to question unfair electoral higher voter turnout could have yield-
not a bad starting point for an analy- and favoured the incumbent, but they conditions is without foundation. It’s This gets interesting when one con- ed more voters for the candidate and
sis of voting trends and patterns. One still prevailed. Their success did not not a zero-sum game where taking vic- siders the performance of candidates made a difference.  
can consider the weaknesses of the make their concerns over the electoral tory means one forfeits their right to in these respective zones. The CCC
data but still draw some useful lessons processes redundant. It simply meant challenge the unfairness of the process candidates won all the urban wards Now compare with Ward 25, a ru-
from it. that they were able to counter systems in future elections. plus one peri-urban ward, but this is ral ward that has just 1 622 registered
that were designed to thwart them. Why voter turnout matters where voter turnout was the lowest. voters. 846 turned up to vote to rep-
The purpose of this article is to be- Now I address the key issue of why By contrast, Zanu PF won all the ru- resent 52.16% voter turnout. At 85%,
gin this exercise of analysing and inter- Likewise, although the CCC won higher voter turnout can make a dif- ral wards plus two peri-urban wards, Zanu PF took an overwhelming ma-
rogating election data to understand the recent by-elections, its acceptance ference. The by-elections were charac- where the voter turnout was the high- jority of the voters that turned up.
voting patterns and the strengths and of the outcome does not in any way terised by a disappointingly low voter est. Clearly, the Zanu PF candidate
weaknesses of both the ruling party sanitize the weaknesses of the electoral turnout. Only 35% of the eligible vot- benefited from the higher voter turn- The CCC candidate got just 9.6%
and the opposition. While elections in process. The success can be attribut- ers turned up on polling day, which out in his strongest rural zones while of the vote.
unfair environments are notoriously ed to several factors, none of which means an overwhelming majority the CCC candidate suffered from the
problematic, the opposition can win mean that the electoral process was stayed away. One explanation is that low voter turnout in his stringer urban The difference in the margins of
if parties establish effective strategies conducted in a free and fair manner. by-elections traditionally draw fewer zones. victory/defeat also varies according
that enable them to focus on their key Given the location of the by-elections, voters to the polls than general elec- to the location of the ward. Where
strengths and seek to maximise their where the majority were in urban ar- tions. This trend is not confined to Voter turnout is even more signifi- the Zanu PF candidate won in rural
advantages. For example, while it is eas that are traditional strongholds of Zimbabwe. People tend to pay more cant where the margin of victory/de- wards, the margin of victory was sig-
difficult to get the state broadcaster to the opposition, an opposition victory attention to general elections which feat is small. In one case, the Zanu PF nificantly bigger compared to where
comply with the law, parties have their was generally a foreseeable outcome. include the important presidential candidate won by just 549 votes. Yet the CCC candidate won in the urban
means to encourage and promote a They were more likely to win than lose vote than they do to by-elections. consider the fact that there are more wards. In Ward 12 where the CCC
higher voter turnout which enhances those by-elections even with the risk registered voters in the urban wards candidate won 65% of the vote, the
the chances of success. A higher vot- of rigging, vote-buying, and electoral (18 715) than there are in the rural Zanu PF candidate had 32,1%. By
er turnout and enhanced vigilance on malpractices. wards (14 472). If voter turnout in contrast, in Ward 25 where the Zanu
polling day are two important ways to PF candidate had 85% of the vote, the
maximise a party’s advantages. CCC candidate only got 9.6%.
Logical fallacy
First, however, I must address a certain Now, it is true that Mutare South
logical fallacy that has arisen in the is only one of 28 constituencies that
wake of the recent by-elections. were contested in the recent by-elec-
tions, and it is also true that there are
Some people have argued that multiple variables beyond the factor
the Citizens' Coalition for Change of voter turnout. But given its hybrid
(CCC) was wrong to celebrate the character as a peri-urban constituency,
outcome of the recent by-elections it provides interesting insights into the
because such celebration represents electoral dynamics and how parties
an acceptance of flawed elections. should strategise.
According to this logic, accepting the
outcome of a flawed election under- A fact that opposition parties must
mines the CCC’s complaints regard- learn to adapt around is that there will
ing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commis- always be irregularities in elections
sion’s failings, and other irregularities held in an authoritarian environment.
and electoral malpractices. Vote-buying and abuse of the assisted
voting facility are serious handicaps
Purveyors of this logic go into con- that will not go away overnight, espe-
spiracy-theory territory, and say the cially when dealing with an elections
by-elections were a trap for the CCC referee that is willing to turn a blind
in that the party was enticed into ac- eye to the ruling party’s shenanigans.
cepting a favourable outcome so that, In short, there are things that the op-
should things go wrong in 2023, they position cannot control, but there are
cannot complain that the elections also certain things that are within its
were flawed. If you accept the out- control. One of them is voter turnout.
come of flawed by-elections, how can
you argue against flawed general elec- If people are registered to vote, they
tions in 2023, so the argument goes? are eligible to vote, and their vote can
affect the outcome of an election. The
This argument is a good example problem is that too few people are
of a logical fallacy. On the face of it, turning up to vote and as we have al-
the argument appears to make sense. ready seen in the hybrid constituency
If the by-elections are flawed, you are of Mutasa South, it impacts the oppo-
boxing yourself into accepting flawed sition more as too few people in op-
elections in the future. However, the position strongholds are turning up to
flaw in the logic is that the only pos- vote compared to their rural counter-
sible and therefore acceptable out- parts which traditionally tilt towards
come of a flawed election is a defeat the ruling party.
for the opposition party. Therefore, if Strategising for elections: It’s all in
the opposition wins, so the logic goes, the numbers
it must mean that the elections were As indicated, I am currently doing a
free and fair. It does not consider the study of election results and voting
fact that an opposition party can win patterns across the country. My inter-
a flawed election. And that the oppo- est is to identify voting trends in the
different provinces and to investigate

NewsHawks Critical Thinking Page 35

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

factors that account for those voting This means there is a chunk of voters win every constituency. Even in old- parliamentary race. Readers may recall standing this local political economy
patterns. I do so with the qualifica- who did not vote for the Zanu PF par- er democracies, political parties know that Nguni is an ex-Zanu PF MP and is important for the opposition parties
tion that voting figures are mired in liamentary candidate, Chris Mutsvan- their opponents’ strongholds – but minister who was sacked a few years in devising their policies and election
controversy. Nevertheless, they are the gwa but opted for Mnangagwa for the you do not give up but you try your ago. If these supporters had chosen strategies.  
data set that we have and their weak- presidency. Indeed, Mutsvangwa’s 4 best to minimise the gap while focus- Mnangagwa, he would have won with Conclusion
nesses notwithstanding, they provide a 255 votes were 5 181 votes fewer than ing on your strengths. This is especial- a wide margin. But clearly, they chose In this article we have only considered
useful starting point for analysis. Mnangagwa’s votes in the presiden- ly important in an electoral system in someone else, most likely Chamisa. one province, but already you can
Mashonaland West tial race. Looking at these numbers, which every vote counts at the presi- Chamisa may have picked up a few see the complex and multiple issues
I am starting with Mashonaland West Norton is a safe seat for Chamisa, dential level.    other voters to give him a thin mar- arising from a simple examination of
province based on the 2018 election but there is room to maximise its po- Strategic role of electoral pacts gin of victory in the presidential race. the figures. Whatever the right expla-
results. I look at how the presiden- tential. Those voters who abandoned By contrast, in the rural constituen- Here, again, we see another signal of nations might be, the bottom line is
tial candidates performed but for a Mutsvangwa but voted for Mnangag- cies that Chamisa won, the margins why electoral pacts can make a differ- that opposition strategists would do
broader view of voting behaviour, I wa should be the target. were quite small. For example, Cha- ence in the presidential race. well to study all the results to come
also compare this to the performance Differences in the margin of victory misa won Magunje constituency, but up with the right campaign strategies.
of parliamentary candidates. It will A major feature of the presidential with a majority of just 496 votes. The Mhondoro-Ngezi was also won by There are areas where the opposition is
be clear that while there are similar race is the big difference in the mar- tightness of this constituency is evi- Zanu PF, but the parliamentary can- strong and others where it is weak, and
trends, there are also points of diver- gin of victory for the respective can- dent when one considers that despite didate with 12 708 performed better this should not be obfuscated by con-
gence which present useful teaching didates and this also demonstrates the Chamisa winning, his party lost the than Mnangagwa who had 11 475 stantly raising the rigging card when-
moments. In 2018, the presidential rural-urban divide. Where Chamisa seat to Zanu PF in the parliamenta- votes. Of greater interest, though, is ever questions are asked. It is easy and
election was effectively a two-horse won, the margin of victory was rela- ry race. The MDC-Alliance candidate that the MDC-Alliance parliamentary convenient to raise rigging and, while
race between Emmerson Mnangagwa tively smaller than where Mnangagwa got 5 694 votes while the Zanu PF candidate also performed poorly com- it is undoubtedly a big problem in our
and Nelson Chamisa. The other 20- was declared the winner. The Chegu- candidate polled 6 726 votes. Inter- pared to Chamisa in the presidential electoral system, all too often it can
odd candidates made no significant tu constituencies illustrate this point estingly, an independent candidate, race. The candidate got 6 563 votes breed laziness and shift responsibili-
impact at all to warrant serious con- well: in Chegutu West, where Cha- Godfrey Gandawa, was a close third compared to Chamisa’s 10 407 votes. ty. An alternative approach is to con-
sideration. misa won, the difference was 3 445 with 5 598 votes. It helps to note that One possible explanation is that in duct rigorous analysis of election data,
votes while in the neighbouring Che- Gandawa was an ex-Zanu PF MP for addition to those who voted for the taking into account its weaknesses.
There are 22 constituencies in gutu East, where Mnangagwa won, the area and pledged his support for minor candidates in that constituency, Such an approach will yield a bigger
Mashonaland West. With a mix of the difference was 8 800. The margin Chamisa. His supporters voting for some of the Zanu PF parliamentary and better picture of where parties
urban and rural constituencies, one is even smaller at the parliamentary Chamisa may explain why Chamisa candidate’s supporters chose Chamisa are strong and where they are weak.
of the three Mashonaland provinces level in Chegutu West where Dexter pipped Mnangagwa in that constitu- ahead of Mnangagwa. It will inform the campaign and mo-
presents a representative picture of the Nduna lost by just 16 votes although ency albeit by a small margin. bilisation strategies as well as resource
trends between rural and urban voting the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission One thing for sure is that the allocation. It will inform whether you
patterns that are a conspicuous feature unjustly handed this seat to him in a The Magunje scenario is a reminder Mhondoro constituencies are battle- need pacts and, if so, how they can be
of Zimbabwean elections. bizarre case of electoral fraud. of the role of carefully designed elec- ground seats that can swing an elec- designed.  
Differences in presidential and par- toral pacts in national elections where tion one way or the other. Such con-
liamentary races However, Chamisa’s margins in realpolitik sometimes must hold sway. stituencies require different strategies The recent by-elections gave a shin-
Mnangagwa won in 13 constituencies some urban constituencies were quite This is because at times there must be a compared to strongholds or safe seats. ing example in Binga North of how
while Chamisa took the remaining large. For example, in Norton, he had realisation that because of the local na- Political economy to beat the rigging and vote-buying
nine. Of the nine constituencies that a majority of 10 758 votes and in ture of politics, some locals may gen- Finally, the four Zvimba constituen- machinery. Prince Dubeko Sibanda of
Chamisa won, five were urban and Chinhoyi he was ahead by 10 652. In uinely prefer their local candidate for cies present an interesting point in the the CCC rightly emerged as one of the
were were rural. Of the 13 constitu- Kadoma Central Chamisa’s majority Parliament or council and will happily study of electoral dynamics. Chamisa stars of the by-election because he did
encies that Mnangagwa won, 12 were was 9 209 votes. But, as we shall soon trade their votes to a presidential can- and Mnangagwa shared the spoils, not allow the impediments placed in
rural while only one was urban. There- observe, their margins pale by com- didate if he or she is willing to support taking two each. Chamisa won Zvim- his way to break him. Many will recall
fore, Chamisa won most of the urban parison with Mnangagwa’s victories in their preferred candidate. In this case, ba East with 16 179 to Mnangagwa’s that Binga is one of the areas where
constituencies while Mnangagwa rural constituencies. These margins in realpolitik would have dictated that 15 465, a small majority of 714 votes. the CCC was barred from convening
dominated the rural constituencies. urban areas could be enhanced with a the MDC-Alliance could have trad- He also won Zvimba West with 8 474 a star rally. This means the excitement
This is consistent with the national higher voter turnout. ed the Magunje seat to Gandawa in against Mnangagwa’s 8 205, a tiny and camaraderie that come with rallies
trend where the opposition tends to Rural avalanche return for his supporters’ votes in the majority of 269 votes. By contrast, were absent in Binga North. Zanu PF
win in urban areas while Zanu PF The tide turns significantly when the presidential race. Mnangagwa won Zvimba South, tak- invested heavily in that seat, hoping to
does well in rural areas. rural constituencies where Mnangag- ing 13 298 votes against Chamisa’s 7 grab it from the opposition. They de-
wa won are considered. For example, But with the way events unfolded, 706 votes, a majority of 5 592. But by ployed all their bigwigs to the constit-
Interestingly, at the parliamentary in Chakari, Mnangagwa won by a the seat was lost to Zanu PF and the far the large majority came in Zvimba uency, from Mnangagwa himself and
level, Zanu PF won 17 constituencies majority of 20 368 votes and had a constituency ended up being repre- North where Mnangagwa got 20 263 his deputies. There were major efforts
(four more than Mnangagwa won) 20 461 majority in Mhangura. In sented by the minority because the to Chamisa’s 3 747, a difference of 16 toward vote-buying. They brought bi-
while the MDC-Alliance got four Makonde, Mnangagwa took 18 868 opposition votes (11 292) were split 516 votes. cycles, maize, money, and other trin-
constituencies (five less than Cha- votes ahead of Chamisa with 4 808 between Gandawa (5 598) and the kets. However, as Sibanda explained,
misa won) with the remainder going votes. The pattern was similar in the MDC-Alliance candidate (5 694) and It should be interesting to investi- his campaign was well-grounded in
to an independent, Temba Mliswa. parliamentary race in which the Zanu probably more of Gandawa’s support- gate the factors that result in such a the communities. The structures built
This could mean several things one PF candidate had a 20 826 majority ers who could have augmented Cha- mixed set of results in the same area. around every polling station worked.
of which is that there are voters who in Chakari. But in Mhangura, the misa’s vote stayed away. We have only One factor, it appears, is that Zvimba Despite its heavy investment, Zanu
preferred Chamisa for the presidency Zanu PF parliamentary candidate had looked at this one case as we consider has a mix of rural and pockets of ur- PF failed to build any significant gains
but did not fancy his party or its par- a wider margin of 22 606 over the the electoral strategy of electoral pacts, banised areas. This means some con- in the constituency.
liamentary candidates. Another is that MDC-Alliance candidate. In fact, the but keep an eye on it as we analyse re- stituencies are essentially peri-urban
there are people who preferred Zanu Zanu PF candidate was more popu- sults in other provinces over the next and this may account for Chamisa’s Binga North is a good example
PF or its parliamentary candidates lar than Mnangagwa by 1 148 votes. few weeks.     better performance. Others indicate that when fighting an election in an
ahead of its presidential candidate, This might be the difference between Swing constituencies that the presence of military canton- authoritarian environment, you must
Mnangagwa. A good starting point Chamisa’s votes (4 463) and the MDC The two Mhondoro constituencies ments in some of the Zvimba con- prepare for the worst and devise strat-
would be to identify constituencies parliamentary candidate’s votes (3 present a fascinating picture that stituencies may also impact on the re- egies to overcome the impediments.
where Mnangagwa performed weaker 466). makes them swing constituencies. sults. Some speculate that some locals It is not enough to cry foul and point
than his candidates. Chamisa won the Mhondoro-Mubai- may not have forgiven Mnangagwa to the litany of irregularities. They
A closer look at Norton constituency Hurungwe East was another big ra constituency with 9 465 votes to for Robert Mugabe’s ouster and Zvim- are known to exist in authoritarian
Norton constituency, which has both majority for Mnangagwa where he got Mnangagwa’s 8 794 a majority of ba was Mugabe’s rural home. Mugabe environments and there is no credit
rural and urban wards, is an interest- 21 313 votes against Chamisa’s 5 090, just 671 votes. On the other hand, himself declared before the 2018 elec- to be gained from articulating them.
ing case. Temba Mliswa, whose polit- a majority of 16 223. Mnangagwa Mnangagwa won Mhondoro-Ngezi tions that he would vote for Chamisa. People want to know what you will
ical totem is Zanu PF despite his sta- also won the other three Hurungwe but also by a small majority of 1 068 do to counter the impediments. Binga
tus as an independent, polled 16 857 constituencies with an average ma- votes. These figures suggest that the As we shall see in analysing the North reminds us that you must do
votes, beating the MDC-Alliance can- jority of 4 449 votes. It is important two closely contested constituencies voting trends in other provinces, the what is within your control, and that
didate who had 7 850 votes and Zanu to note that of the four Hurungwe can go either way. Results from the local political economy plays a critical is to spread your message, to get peo-
PF candidate Chris Mutsvangwa who constituencies, Chamisa was closest in parliamentary race provide a perfect factor in voting choices. Where there ple to vote and, finally, to watch and
took 4 255 votes. You may recall that Hurungwe West where he had 8 330 illustration. Zanu PF won Mhon- are large resettlement areas with ben- guard the vote.
Chamisa had 20 194 votes in the pres- votes against Mnangagwa’s 10 266. doro-Mubaira with 9 418 votes with eficiaries of the fast-track land reform
idential race ahead of Mnangagwa Makonde was another Mnangagwa the MDC-Alliance candidate polling programme whose status on the land The CCC will go into the 2023
who had 9 436 votes. It appears the stronghold, giving him a majority of 5 514 votes. is perennially insecure, the ruling par- general election knowing that the
people who voted for the MDC-Alli- 14 060. ty has huge leverage over voters. Like- odds are heavily against it. It must
ance candidate and most of those who So how come Chamisa won the wise, where there are large numbers approach 2023 just like the people of
voted for Mliswa chose Chamisa for Muzvezve gave Mnangagwa a ma- presidential race in that constituen- of people whose personal economies Binga North did. Their will prevailed,
the presidency. jority of 11 306 and Sanyati delivered cy when his candidate performed so depend on artisanal mining (ma- despite the best efforts of the regime
a smaller majority of 5 828. badly? Mnangagwa’s (8 794) and his korokoza), which is permitted at the to thwart it.
However, if you add Mliswa’s votes, parliamentary candidate’s votes (9 government’s benevolence, voters tend
and the MDC-Alliance candidate’s What these figures reveal is that 418) are not significantly different. to believe that they are at the mercy of *About the writer: Dr Alex Magai-
votes the total is 24 437. That is 4 243 the opposition has a lot of work to The answer seems to lie in the 3 151 the ruling party. sa is a law lecturer at Kent Univer-
votes more than Chamisa’s total votes. do in these constituencies even if the voters who opted for an independent sity in Britain and former adviser to
pursuit is of a more modest ambition candidate, Sylvester Nguni, in the It is because of this that where res- the late Zimbabwean prime minis-
of closing the gap. You do not get to idents are in illegal settlements, the ter Morgan Tsvangirai.
ruling party can lure them with prom-
ises of giving them secure title. Under-

Page 36 Reframing Issues NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

How multinationals avoid taxes
in Africa and what should change

JIA LIU/ OLATUNDE JULIUS OTISANYA

IN developing countries, and the companies and tax havens is therefore its mineral wealth.  For example, in Zambian public services US$27 mil- .
sub-Saharan region especially, the central to the antisocial tax practices 2011, five companies producing cop- lion — enough to put 48 000 chil-
scale of unmet basic needs is enor- of corporations and elites. per worth US$4.28 billion paid only dren into school. The revenue lost to As  our investigation  reveals, how-
mous. It is  estimated  that three bil- US$310 million to the government tax havens was 10 times greater than ever, opening economies to the out-
lion people in the developing world A 2015 report by the UN Confer- in taxes. This represented 11% and the amount given each year to Zam- side world can have the opposite
subsist on less than US$2 a day per ence on Trade and Development es- 19% of production for 2010 and bia by the UK in educational subsi- effect of that intended. Rather than
person. timated that profit-shifting by multi- 2011 respectively. In fact, only one or dies. attracting the lucrative inward in-
national companies costs developing two mining companies declared pos- vestment so desperately needed,
About 2.37 billion people are with- countries US$100 billion a year in itive earnings. Others reported losses Nigeria provides another example. countries in sub-Saharan Africa have
out food or unable to eat a balanced lost corporate income tax.  Another of questionable validity, according The Shell Group, through its affili- opened their economies to self-inter-
diet on a regular basis. The prevalence report, by International Monetary to the UK-based non-governmental ate,  Shell Petroleum Development ested multinational corporations.
of undernourishment is highest in Fund researchers, estimated that de- organisation  War on Want  and the Company of Nigeria, had a special
sub-Saharan Africa:  24.1%. Out of veloping countries may be losing as Zambia Extractive Industries Trans- sharing arrangement with another af- Globally, between 50 and 60 tax
the almost 60 million children not much as US$213 billion a year to tax parency Initiative. filiate, Shell Petroleum International havens  give sanctuary  to more than
in school, 33.8 million are in this re- avoidance. Mattschappij BV (SPIM). Services 2 million companies, including thou-
gion. Consequently, the country  los- and expenditure were charged to sands of banks and investment funds.
In addition, Oxfam estimated that es  about US$3 billion  a year in tax the group so that it made no profit Of the Fortune 500 companies, near-
Revenues from taxation are funda- developing countries lose between revenues, a sum  equivalent  to an over eight years, between 1992 and ly three-quarters have subsidiaries in
mental to changing this dire situation. US$100 billion to US$160 billion eighth (12.5%) of its current annu- 1993. This cost Shell £20.09 million offshore tax havens.
Taxes enable the state to redistribute annually to corporate tax dodging. al GDP. (US$44.75 million) in tax revenues.
wealth to alleviate poverty. They also This is published in the Nigerian Rev- As long as small, independent na-
provide education, healthcare, social African countries, rich in resourc- War on Want has accused Vedanta, enue Law Report, 1998-1999 Shell tions gain financial benefit from de-
security, pensions, efficient public es, easily fall prey to aggressive tax a copper producer operating in Zam- Petroleum International Mattschap- claring themselves tax havens, poor
transport, clean water and other pub- planning and tax evasion enabled bia, of dodging taxes through  trans- pij B. V. v Federal Board of Inland nations will be exploited.
lic services taken for granted in devel- by offshore companies. As the UN fer mispricing. This is when related Revenue, appeal no. FHC/L/CS/1A
oped economies. Conference on Trade and Develop- companies or divisions trade with 96, Volume 1. This is not unusual; it There is an urgent need to clamp
ment reported in 2020, high volumes each other at prices that aren’t market is one of many cases. down on tax practices that drain
But in both developed and de- of intra-company trading, the secrecy related, to avoid being liable for tax. Why does exploitation continue? countries with impoverished econ-
veloping countries, tax revenues are cloaking foreign investment activi- Vedanta has 29 subsidiaries operating In an age of globalisation, developing omies, and to give poor countries a
being undermined by the ability of ties, and loopholes in treaties leave in the “secrecy jurisdictions” of Mau- countries have been encouraged to real voice in tax negotiations.
some of the wealthiest taxpayers – countries in Africa vulnerable to tax ritius, the Netherlands, the British deregulate and privatise their econ-
including many transnational com- avoidance. Governments in sub-Sa- Virgin Islands and Jersey.  Zambia’s omies to attract foreign investment. It seems probable that if the loop-
panies – to effectively opt out of the haran Africa lack the human, finan- tax regime  allows the company to The  flow of foreign direct invest- holes in the tax laws are not closed,
corporate tax system. They do this cial, and technical resources to stem pay less tax when it spends money ment into Nigeria from transnation- then the rule of law and the effec-
through a combination of ingenious this outflow of wealth. on physical assets or makes losses. al corporations grew from US$0.59 tive administration of tax will not be
(and lawful) tax haven transactions, Zambia and Nigeria It paid only US$11 111 against prof- billion in 1990 to US$2.14 billion in strengthened in Africa. Consequent-
and huge tax concessions awarded by Zambia and Nigeria provide exam- its of US$221 million in 2011-2012. 2000 and US$2.31 billion in 2019. ly, the continent may continue to lose
governments. ples of tax dodging practices among That represented 1.09%, 1.64%, and billions of dollars to the activities of
transnational corporations, enabled Likewise, Associated British 0.52% of GDP respectively. Zam- transnational corporations and their
These practices have received plen- by tax havens. Foods  was accused  in 2015 of pay- bia attracted US$0.12 billion in 2000 affiliates.
ty of attention from scholars. Broader ing no tax in Zambia, even though and US$1.11 billion in 2017.
accounts of their impact on devel- Zambia, a country rich in natural its local affiliate, Zambia Sugar, made About the writers: Jia Liu is pro-
oping countries are relatively scarce, resources, gains scant rewards from profits of US$123 million. This, ac- fessor of finance at the University of
though. In a recently published  pa- the foreign companies that extract cording to War on Want’s report, cost Portsmouth in the United Kingdom.
per we therefore aimed to investigate
the effect of tax dodging on develop- Olatunde Julius Otusanya is pro-
ment in Africa, with a focus on Nige- fessor of taxation at the University
ria and Zambia. of Lagos in Nigeria.

Using publicly available evidence,
we show that tax havens and offshore
financial centres, shaped by global-
isation, facilitate the sophisticated
tax schemes of highly mobile trans-
national corporations. The effect of
low-tax jurisdictions (“tax havens”)
hampers the social and economic de-
velopment of poorer states.

We advocate radical reform.
This should close the gaps that
allow tax evasion and avoidance by
transnational corporations. It calls for
legislation and stronger institutional
structures.
Forms of tax dodging
Tax dodging is used to describe all of
the ways – tax avoidance, tax evasion,
corruption and offshore accounts –
that companies and rich individuals
employ to reduce their tax bills. They
lobby governments for tax breaks and
lower corporate tax rates, exploit ob-
scure loopholes in tax laws or shift
profits into tax havens.
Globalisation has created new
transnational spaces where econom-
ic actions take place without much
regulation, taxation or surveillance.
Behind a wall of secrecy, corporations
can devise complex schemes to boost
their profits. The activity of offshore

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 37

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

BARNABAS TICHA MUVHUTI A street art mural in Zim try’s liberation struggle. Nde-
exposes a divided society bele people in particular were
THE Shona and the Ndebele are incensed that Pyongyang had a
Zimbabwe’s two most dominant land and parts of Midlands in the Who were Nehanda and Lo- who never met in the flesh. hand in training the Fifth Bri-
ethnic groups. 1980s. It’s described by feminist bengula? Public art in Zimbabwe gade, a section of the Zimbabwe
academic and activist Shereen Mbuya Nehanda is a  Zezu- This is the first major controver- National Army responsible for
Explaining the ever-present Essof as the  Robert Mugabe  re- ru  (Shona) ancestral spirit sy around murals and graffiti in unleashing Gukurahundi. Zim-
tension between them, histo- gime’s “first, and still unpun- (mhondoro) said to possess dif- the country in years. Sometimes babweans were also unhappy
rian Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsh- ished genocide”. British author ferent women at different times municipal authorities don’t erase that no local sculptor was as-
eni  points to  the abuse of the Hazel Cameron  claimed  that in history. The Nehanda in the work at all, despite it being cre- signed to do the work.
post-colonial state by the ruling the massacres were commit- mural is  Charwe Nyakasikana. ated without permission. This is
Shona-dominated government ted under the watchful eye of She led the Shona resistance the case with Basil Matsika’s mu- Last year, the government
“in its drive to destroy Ndebele the British government eager against  Cecil John Rhodes’ col- rals in Mbare. withdrew the first statue of  Ne-
particularism”. He explains, to safeguard its significant eco- onising forces. For her role in handa after a public outcry. The
“This sets in motion the current nomic and strategic interests in the  1896-7 First Chimurenga It is the state-sanctioned pub- youthful, large-bottomed depic-
Matabeleland politics of alien- southern Africa. Uprisings, she was hanged. To lic art, mostly statues, that tend tion of Nehanda went viral on
ation, resentment and griev- emphasise her importance, the to attract controversy. Issues of the internet. The artist, David
ance.” To this day, Zimbabwe’s ruling regime erected  her stat- patronage and who commis- Guy Mutasa, was given a chance
leadership refuses to publicly ue in Harare last year. sioned the work are crucial in to amend his mistakes. The
This continued marginalisa- acknowledge and address the determining whether it survives Nkomo and Nehanda statues
tion of Matabeleland (a region massacres, with Mugabe once A son and successor of  King a critical and public onslaught. went ahead because they were
in southwestern Zimbabwe in- referring to them as a  moment Mzilikazi, founder of the Nde- In 2010 people were generally political posturing from the gov-
habited mainly by the Ndebele of madeness. bele Kingdom,  King Lobengu- unhappy when the government ernment, disguised as cultural
people) by the Zanu PF-led la  ruled the nation from 1868 commissioned the  North Kore- revival initiatives.
government has rendered Zim- I would argue that the unad- to the 1890s when his kingdom ans for a pair of statues of Joshua
babwe so fragile a nation that dressed atrocities have left Zim- succumbed to the British. He Nkomo for Bulawayo and Hara- The same cannot be said of
even a street mural can expose babweans failing to collectively was never captured. In polarised re. Bow’s mural as an indepen-
its disunity. embrace and appreciate even a Zimbabwe, some Shona people dent initiative. The artist has
harmless but constructive ex- blame him for signing the Rudd Nkomo was a nationalist and worked with advertising compa-
The mural in question bor- pression of art. Concession. This paved the way revolutionary leader of the Zim- ny CaliGraph to create murals of
rows two historical figures – for the colonisation of the coun- babwe African People’s Union other figures like musician San-
King Lobengula and Mbuya As long as Gukurahundi con- try. To this day Shonas and Nde- (Zapu), which fought alongside dra Ndebele and socialite Mbo
Nehanda – to express the possi- tinues to be ignored by the state, beles identify with these figures, (now ruling) Zanu in the coun- Mahocs and these have not been
bility of unity between the two Zimbabweans will not find com- removed. This would indicate
dominant groups. How the mu- mon ground. that the authorities embrace his
ral was dealt with is the subject work as long as it is about aes-
of this analysis. thetics and not politics.
The mural that caused the
trouble Alongside the likes of Black
Over the weekend of 22 January Phar-I,  Aero5ol,  Kombo Chap-
2022 a mural appeared at the fika, the Bulawayo-based Bow
corner of Fife Street and 8th Av- is part of a new breed of street
enue in  Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s artists. He is reported saying he
second largest city and the main was raised by a Ndebele grand-
city of Matabeleland. The mural mother and a Shona grandfather,
was by  Leeroy Spinx Brittain, which makes it difficult to assign
popularly known as Bow (black him an ethnic group unless he
or white). By the afternoon of identifies with one.
the 24th, the city’s municipality
had erased it. This makes him a neutral
observer in the socio-political
King Lobengula is portrayed divide. Driven by his desire to
with an arm around the shoul- see a more united Zimbabwe,
ders of Mbuya Nehanda, in life- Bow promises to do more post-
sized images resembling popular er art and murals that call for
archival reproductions of them. unity between the Shona and
In his other hand Lobengula is the Ndebele. This will continue
holding a heart-shaped balloon challenging the status quo and
instead of his usual spear. It is initiating dialogue around the
derivative of UK-based street country’s history.
artist  Banksy’s mural  Girl With Freedom of expression
Balloon. Instead of the mural brewing
a fresh tribal storm or creat-
Bulawayo deputy mayor ing a bitter debate — as high-
Mlandu Ncube is  reported  to lighted in articles in  The Stan-
say that the artist had not ap- dard and Okay Africa — I argue
plied for permission and creat- that Bow’s piece reminded the
ing a mural without the city’s nation how polarised it has al-
licence could attract a hefty fine ways been.
or jail time.
And the jail threats of the dep-
The artist was calling on Nde- uty mayor would certainly deter
beles and Shonas to begin a di- graffiti artists who desire to ad-
alogue and unite. But judging dress contentious political mat-
from the divisive comments on ters that rattle the state. As long
social media platforms like Twit- as the government continues to
ter and Facebook, few embraced stifle freedom of expression, art-
his message. According to on- ists who do street art and graffiti
line comments and news  arti- are in danger of limiting their
cles some found the mural disre- expression to commissions for
spectful and offensive — because social campaigns.
of the contentious matter of
the Gukurahundi massacres. — The Conversation.
Echoes of Gukurahundi *About the writer: Barnabas
Gukurahundi refers to an ethnic Ticha Muvhuti is a PhD in art
cleansing atrocity which claimed history candidate at Rhodes
up to 20 000 lives in Matebele- University in South Africa.

Page 38 Africa News NewsHawks

LOREN B LANDAU/ JEAN PIERRE MISAGO Issue 75, 8 April 2022

ONCE relegated to the margins Rising vigilantism: S. Africa
of South African politics, anti-im- reaping the fruits of misrule
migrant activism has gone main- side eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal.
stream. Several anti-immigrant In early 2019, the Delangokubona
groups, including  Operation Dud- Business Forum displaced and kid-
ula,  All Trucker Foundation  and napped about fifty foreigners living
the  South Africa First Party, have in the area.
become reference points for nation-
al debate. Claiming to champion  ‘black
economic empowerment’, they ac-
Reflecting forms of radical pro- cused foreigners of blocking the
tectionism, they channel the frus- economic advancement of poor
trations of South Africans with cor- black citizens.
ruption, crime, and unemployment.
The results are campaigns to "clean" They extracted ransoms from
the country of immigrants, home their families and friends, while ne-
invasions and  widespread threats gotiating with the government for
and violence. their safe return. Successful on both
counts, they positioned themselves
This is not a response to an im- as intermediaries and peacemakers
migration crisis. Immigrant num- – the de facto local authorities.
bers are  not higher than they have
been for a decade. This is a crisis of As in other cases in the coun-
constitutional credibility. try, these groups  effectively create
multi-faceted protection rackets.
Anti-immigrant activism is poli- Increasingly (and  implausably)
tics by other means, with violence claiming to be military veterans of
likely to become common amid the anti-apartheid struggle, they use
fundamental ruptures in gover- violence to create instability and in-
nance. After years of unfulfilled stil fear to extract resources and es-
promises, a youthful citizenry  has tablish legitimacy.
lost considerable faith in formal
electoral politics. These actions create powerful
local forces that demand payment
Popular embrace of nationalism, from any state development proj-
street justice, and anti-immigrant ects in the areas they control. This
activism reflects the ascendency of way, the state is able to preserve the
an extra-legal order. That regime is a appearance of authority and consti-
mix of formal institutions and local tutionalism while allowing someone
fiefdoms held together by patronage else to do the dirty work of keeping
and coercion. That system is now people in line. But trouble ensues
unravelling. when the developers can no longer
Perils of indirect rule and patron- pay or other parties are eyeing the
age booty - money, houses, businesses,
During the apartheid era, local and votes.
gangsters often made alliances with
the apartheid state. Some justified Operation Dudula members at a taxi rank in Diepkloof, Soweto, last month. Image: Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images Conclusion
their violence and venality as a strat- Given the legacy of indirect rule, it
egy to make the country ungovern- The dominant parties maintained they have broadly welcomed new- tory vacuum. One is the South Af- is unclear who the government can
able. This latter group – the "com- this system of indirect rule, relying comers.  Covid-19 has exacerbat- rican National Civic Organisation. call to reign in the violent leaders
rade tsotsis" (young thugs so-called on civic associations, local chiefs ed concerns about immigration, The other, the Phomelong Resi- who effectively govern some  town-
for claiming to being anti-apartheid and other "community leaders" to as  youth unemployment hovers dents Association, is a local infor- ships. Or, indeed, if it has the de-
activists) – later connected with the deliver votes and maintain order, near 70%. mal group headed by self-appointed sire or popular legitimacy to do
post-apartheid governing party, the over two decades. leaders. Those wanting to build, do so. Impunity for past misdeeds has
African National Congress (ANC). There is clearly cause for anxiety. business, or even transport goods emboldened these groups, strength-
This allowed them to maintain lo- Unwilling or unable to displace Politicians with  few plans for ad- through the area pay them or get ening them so much that police re-
cal influence with the tacit permis- them from local positions of au- dressing this gap  have capitalised out. spond to them rather than the other
sion of the ANC. The opposition thority, national, provincial, and on these attitudes. way around.
Inkatha Freedom Party has similarly municipal governments negotiate To finance their protest and po-
relied on its sometimes violent net- with them, further entrenching Yet, these widespread trends do litical activities, the two groups Authority to decide who lives
work of hostel leaders. their power. The challenge now is little to explain the violence in spe- plunder foreign-owned shops and where, who does what, and what are
that the political and economic re- cific places, at particular times, or businesses. Like the self-financing appropriate standards of behaviour
This created a system of "indirect sources the three spheres of govern- why it is so difficult to counter. An- armies of old, protesters are given rests with them - rather than the
rule", reflecting a similar logic to ment used to maintain this system ti-outsider violence is  not univer- license to loot. One leader reported constitution or town councils.
the colonial administration where are dwindling. sal nor always aimed at immigrants that, "when protesters feel hungry,
local "chieftans" worked in complex alone. they go and get food from shops South Africa’s  national action
patronage networks to keep pub- South Africa’s economic crisis to eat or take home to cook; and plan on xenophobia  calls for con-
lic order. But, where the gangsters means there are fewer government It is also not easily explained by if shops here are closed they go to versations and dialogue with these
once worked under the national tenders available, and less mon- poverty. Many of the poorest areas shops in other locations". groups. This is precisely the system
government, the police and officials ey for social programmes. More have remained peaceful while more they have manipulated to entrench
now appear to answer to vigilantes, importantly,  the dip in ANC sup- prosperous ones have not. Instead, Through the distribution of re- their power.
participating in Dudula raids under port below 50% in the 2021 elec- violence tends to occur repeatedly sources and the eviction of foreign-
"sole authority of the local commu- tions means party and bureaucratic in specific neighbourhoods, because ers, the associations legitimate their Ending violence against foreign-
nity". bosses now face uncertain futures. of localised political power games. form of rule, positioned as gangster ers and true economic recovery can
Amid this, upstarts seeking oppor- Outsourcing state authority intermediaries. With popular sup- only happen by first recognising
The post-apartheid system of tunities and jockeying for position One example from  our research  in port, they then demand attention – and addressing – the hazards of
indirect rule has been expedient engage in new alliances, mobilisa- Mamelodi, outside Pretoria, the by the municipal authorities. Clev- South Africa’s crumbling system of
for the governing party. Rather tion and violence. country’s seat of national govern- erly, their leaders borrow the lan- indirect rule.
than extend its presence into cities Cause for anxiety ment, illustrates this point. guage of continued black depriva-
whose populations  swelled in the To be sure, more is going on than a tion and need for "radical economic — The Conversation.
post-apartheid era, it  closed party crumbling patronage system. South Its population growth has out- transformation" to legitimise them-
offices. Africans would generally prefer less paced any kind of state interven- selves. *About the writers: Loren
immigration. There has been no tion, police control, or service pro- B Landau is co-director of the
Under the country’s party list time in the last two decades where vision. Another example of this indirect Wits-Oxford Mobility Gover-
system, locally elected municipal rule is Philani, a poor area largely nance Lab at the University of the
councillors are often absent or pow- Working together two groups neglected by city government, out- Witwatersrand in South Africa.
erless. Viewed from the perspective have filled the political and regula-
of the historically neglected  black Jean Pierre Misago is a re-
residential areas  and informal set- searcher at University of the Wit-
tlements, elected officials are often watersrand.
more committed to  pleasing the
party than the people they ostensi-
bly represent.

NewsHawks Africa News Page 39

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Algorithms, bots and elections in Africa:
How social media influences political choices

MARTIN N NDLELA

THE rise in the use of smartphones
and an increased adoption of mobile
internet in Africa are fundamentally
altering the media ecology for elec-
tion campaigns.

As mobile phones become  com-
monplace, even in Africa’s poorest
countries, the uptake of social media
has become ubiquitous. Applications
like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
WhatsApp and blogs form an inte-
gral part of today’s political commu-
nication landscape in much of the
continent.

These platforms are becoming a
dominant factor in electoral pro-
cesses, playing a  tremendous role  in
the creation, dissemination and con-
sumption of political content.

Their influence and embedded
power over political content invites
further scrutiny, which informed my
research. Is the rise in social me-
dia uptake in the continent a game
changer in political communica-
tions? And if it is, does social media
influence political campaigns?

To answer these questions, I con-
sidered the interplay between ele-
ments in the infrastructure of social
media and human agency.

The infrastructure refers to the
architecture that makes up social
media systems. Even though the in-
frastructure is not immediately visi-
ble, it plays a critical role in the (re)
production and dissemination of in-
formation.

Human agency entails the choices
human beings make when they inter-
act with social media systems.

I found that there are three main
ways that political campaigns are in-
fluenced via social media: through
algorithms, bots and the people who
use them.

The power of algorithms algorithms influence what people see People are then likely to share cations, a strategic communications litical power and money can easily
Imbued in social media platforms, or do not see. visible information on non-al- consultancy, in their report,  How hire automated systems, like bots, to
with the exception of WhatsApp, is gorithm-based applications like Africa Tweets, Twitter bots account influence the flow of political con-
a system of software, codes and al- They have the power to amplify WhatsApp and Messenger, as well as for more than 20% of influencers in tent across social media. They can
gorithms that manage, interpret and and marginalise certain content and, in mainstream media. countries like Lesotho and Kenya. also distort information.
disseminate large quantities of infor- like human gatekeepers in traditional Bots and deepfakes
mation across social media networks. mass media, determine what infor- Social bots can also be deployed to One of the surprising findings in The role of non-human actors
mation users are exposed to. manipulate public opinion and influ- the report was the limited influence should be worrying to anyone keen
The power of the algorithm is in ence votes. They mimic and poten- of politicians on the conversation. on democratic processes.
its ability to search, sort, rank, pri- For example, Facebook’s EdgeR- tially manipulate humans and their Human element
oritise and recommend the content ank algorithm determines what is behaviour on social networks. They African political parties are spending There are indications that social
consumed by users. The system, shown on a user’s Top News by dis- run automatically to produce mes- huge sums hiring consultancy com- media algorithms and bots are slowly
therefore, influences the choices we playing only a subset of stories by sages, post online and interact with panies with expertise in digital cam- changing the dynamics of elections
make. one’s friends. These are derived from users through likes, comments and paigning and even manipulation of in Africa. This is seen in the number
a set of factors, such as the type of follows (fake accounts). social media content. of political parties hiring a new breed
Algorithms watch your behaviour content (links, videos or photos) and of communicators, such as social me-
when you interact with certain con- the frequency and types of interac- Even more worrisome is the rise International consultancy firms dia managers.
tent in the platform, make assump- tions with these friends (like tags or of deepfakes. This involves the use like the  now defunct Cambridge
tions and predictions on your prefer- comments). Similarly, Twitter algo- of artificial intelligence to fabricate Analytica (CA) have been accused of The interplay between media and
ences, and then recommend similar rithms display ranked tweets. That is, images and videos by replacing the attempting to influence digital cam- politics is central to any understand-
content in your feed. first they rank them and then display face or voice of someone, usually a paigns in Africa and in other parts ing of political campaigns, given
what they think is most relevant to public figure, with someone else’s in of the world. CA worked on sever- their role as conduits of political
For instance, if you constantly in- the user. a way that makes the content look al campaigns in Russia, the United information, persuasion and discus-
teract with posts – by liking, replying authentic. Kingdom, United States and Kenya. sion. Social media provides spaces for
or sharing – from certain individuals, These algorithms are not neutral. participation – but also for misinfor-
you are likely to see more posts from They encode political choices, in- The intention is often to mislead In  Kenya, it emerged that Presi- mation and disinformation.
them. If you have shown interest in fluencing the information seen by the audience and make them believe dent Uhuru Kenyatta had hired CA
watching videos from a political out- users. When a user opens his or her that the targeted public figure said ahead of the 2013 elections. CA’s ac- — The Conversation.
fit, you are likely to get more videos social media account, he or she will something (often controversial or tivities sparked global outcry when
from them. be met by algorithm-filtered and rec- provocative). it became known, culminating in its *About the writer: Martin N
ommended content, based on prior collapse. Ndlela is Martin N Ndlela is pro-
Which items are promoted and activities and interactions on the As noted by Portland Communi- fessor of communication at Inland
why? We may never know why the platform. It is evident that those with po- Norway University of Applied Sci-
algorithms are coded (by program- ences.
mers) in such a way as to rank certain
items, individuals or political parties
higher. What we know is that these

Page 40 World News NewsHawks

SHIVSHANKAR MENON Issue 75, 8 April 2022

RUSSIA'S invasion of Ukraine has pro- The fantasy of the 'Free World'
voked outrage and unleashed a barrage of Are democracies really united against Russia?
economic sanctions from many Western
governments. Some, such as Germany, ther unthinkable nor fraught with the sanctions and may therefore implement Russian President Vladimir Putin. New Delhi to take a more strident offi-
have boosted their military spending af- same risks of annihilation or escalation, U.S. and EU sanctions on Russia where received a good deal of criticism for its cial position against Moscow is unreal-
ter years of riding on American coattails. despite some alarmist panic about these it cannot evade them. reluctance to speak out against the war istic, and Western criticism and pressure
In these actions, certain analysts have apocalyptic possibilities today. Europe is in Ukraine. (It also abstained from the will probably rankle a postcolonial soci-
found a silver lining to the devastation of a sideshow to the main theater of geopo- The rest of Asia is considerably less February UN Security Council vote ety like India’s.
the war in Ukraine. Writing in  Foreign litical drama: Asia. exposed to trade with Russia, and there condemning the invasion.) U.S. officials
Affairs  in March, Michael Beckley and is little or no Russian investment in have also warned India not to agree to As shocked as Western policymak-
Hal Brands argued that the international Today, the center of gravity of the South, Southeast, and East Asia. Yes, Russian proposals that might help the ers profess to be by Russia’s invasion of
reaction to the invasion would reverber- world economy has moved from the these countries will experience some Kremlin evade the effects of sanctions. Ukraine, they might remember that
ate well beyond the current crisis. The Atlantic to east of the Urals. Geopoliti- turbulence thanks to the war. All South such behavior is neither unprecedented
concerted response to Russian President cal disputes and security dilemmas that Asian countries, for instance, are net oil For India, the war has posed a stark nor representative of a real change in
Vladimir Putin’s actions could “consol- could affect the global order are concen- importers and are vulnerable to price and unwelcome choice between the West the norms of state behavior in Europe
idate a global alliance that unites de- trated in maritime Asia. And the world surges just when their economies are and Russia, a choice that it has done ev- and the world. For one, such a viola-
mocracies against Russia and China and seeks a new equilibrium to account for undergoing pandemic-induced inflation erything possible to avoid making. The tion of sovereignty and territorial integ-
thereby secures the free world for a gener- China’s rise. The complex political dy- and shocks. Most South Asian countries United States is an essential and indis- rity is something that Asia has seen and
ation to come.” In this view, Russia’s war namics in Asia don’t lend themselves have elections upcoming in the next two pensable partner in India’s moderniza- experienced in the past at the hands of
in Ukraine might be a pivotal episode in easily to the kind of stark confrontation years, and their incumbent leaders are tion, but Russia remains an important major powers. The long list of outside
a global contest between autocracy and underway in Ukraine. Policymakers in likely to make populist decisions in han- partner for geopolitical and military rea- interventions and invasions (including
democracy. Chastened by Putin’s gross Western countries shouldn’t think that dling the volatility of commodity prices, sons. Whereas Russia is willing to code- the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and
violation of norms, democracies will their actions on the new frontlines in Eu- choosing subsidies, price cuts, and elevat- velop and produce sensitive defense tech- the Vietnam War), of ongoing proxy
band together in a muscular reaffirma- rope will shape the contours of a wider ed debt over steps that would be more nologies such as the BrahMos missile and wars and “frozen” conflicts in which ca-
tion of the liberal international order. struggle to come. economically sound over the long term. to share nuclear submarines with India, sualties mount daily, is proof that major
An unenviable choice North America and Europe provide In- powers are content to pay lip service to
That is wishful thinking. The war is To be sure, the war in Ukraine will But the war will not change the fun- dia with access to advanced technologies, norms about sovereignty and territorial
no doubt a seismic event that will have have significant second-order effects on damental geopolitical dynamic in Asia, markets, and financial and educational conflict even as those norms are repeat-
profound consequences for Russia, its countries in Asia — on their economic unless the United States becomes very systems that Russia cannot match. The edly breached. Besides, it is hard to think
immediate neighbors, and the rest of prospects when it comes to the supply distracted from its Indo-Pacific strategy. United States is an essential partner for of any powerful state that has not been
Europe. But it will neither reshape the of energy, precious and strategic metals, Many Asian countries, including U.S. India’s maritime security in the Indo-Pa- associated with such acts of commission
global order nor presage an ideological fertilizers, and grain. The slowdown in allies, are economically bound to China cific, including working together under or omission in living memory. That does
showdown of democracies against Chi- the  global economy  resulting from the yet rely on the United States for their the auspices of the so-called Quad, a not justify Russian actions in Ukraine.
na and Russia. After all, many of the spike in oil and gas prices will particular- security. India is one example. Its trade partnership that also incorporates Aus- But it does suggest that analysts and pol-
world’s biggest democracies, including ly affect countries in Asia which, by and with China has set new records in the tralia and Japan. But India’s interests on icymakers should use greater delicacy in
India, have so far not joined the U.S.-led large, account for almost 60 percent of last two years despite frosty political rela- the Eurasian continent require working how they frame the contest and in the
economic campaign against Russia or crude oil imports in the global economy. tions and a military buildup and clashes with Russia and Iran now that the Unit- demands they make on Asian and Afri-
even explicitly condemned the invasion. The resulting rise in energy intensive fer- along their shared border. At the same ed States is no longer militarily present can states.
Far from consolidating “the free world,” tilizer production costs will intensify the time, India’s security and intelligence ties in Afghanistan. Indian diplomats have A line in the sand?
the war has underscored its fundamental pain caused by the withdrawal from the with the United States have increased therefore chosen to stress the need to find No matter how long the war in Ukraine
incoherence. In any case, the future of market of Russian and Ukrainian wheat, substantially. Russia, which accounted a negotiated way out of war in Ukraine, lasts, how the West isolates Russia, and
global order will be decided not by wars which accounts for over 25 percent of for 88 percent of Indian arms imports in and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has how the war’s secondary market effects
in Europe but by the contest in Asia, on wheat traded in the world. 2002, saw its share decline to 35 percent encouraged Putin and Ukrainian Presi- hit Asian economies, the balance of pow-
which events in Ukraine have limited by 2020, by when the United States and dent Volodymyr Zelensky to talk directly er in Asia is unlikely to be significantly
bearing. China is probably the Asian economy its allies accounted for 65 percent. India to each other to rapidly end the crisis. affected. To be sure, the total collapse
Grand illusions with the greatest economic exposure to does retain large stocks of legacy Russian of the Russian state would have serious
Many countries have heaped opprobri- Russia, for food, energy, and other prod- platforms, but the trend toward diversi- India has subtly expressed its unhap- ramifications, but that outcome seems
um on Russia, but condemnation has ucts and as a market for Chinese exports. fication in its arms imports is clear and piness with the invasion by reiterating its unlikely for now. In Asia, the war will
not been universal. The varied responses It also counts Ukraine as its third-largest steady. support for Ukraine’s territorial integri- not close the gap in military strength
to the war muddle any vision of U.S.- source of imported arms, after Russia ty and sovereignty. If past experience is between, on the one hand, the United
aligned democracies pitted against Rus- and France. So far, China has chosen Far from consolidating “the free a guide, Indian officials will have made States and China and, on the other, the
sian-aligned autocracies. Several major Russia over Ukraine in its public stances, world,” the war has underscored its fun- their displeasure clear to their Russian large number of middle and subregional
democracies, notably India and South but its relationship with Russia can in no damental incoherence. counterparts in private. Public opinion powers in Asia. The latter will still have
Africa, abstained from the UN General way compare with or replace China’s eco- in India about the invasion remains di- to negotiate between the sole superpower
Assembly vote on March 2 that demand- nomic dependence on the West. China This dynamic of multiple affiliations vided, although many high-profile pub- and China. Nor does it seem likely that
ed that Russia withdraw from Ukraine. will presumably want to avoid secondary and partnerships is the norm in Asia, and lic figures have been stronger in their a newly consolidated Western alliance,
Big democracies in Latin America, in- it will complicate any Western framing condemnation of the invasion than the however invigorated, will find the ener-
cluding Brazil and Mexico, have refused of a larger confrontation with the au- government has been. But expecting gy to take an active or meaningful role
to participate in sanctions. Close to half tocracies of China and Russia. India has in security dilemmas in Asia so long as
of all Asian and African countries ab- it is preoccupied with containing Russia
stained or voted against the resolution. in Europe.
And only three Asian countries — Japan,
Singapore, and South Korea — have Instead of consolidation, the war in
wholeheartedly joined U.S. and EU Ukraine seems likely to lead to great-
sanctions on Russia. er fragmentation of the global order. It
has reinforced the urge to build strategic
Countries in Asia were of course autonomy in Europe as European coun-
alarmed by the invasion. Stock markets tries begin to take a greater share in their
throughout the region fell precipitously own defense rather than rely to such an
following the news of  Putin’s gambit. extent on the United States. It has also
But most commentary in Asian capi- reinforced Asia’s sense of its own differ-
tals has regarded the conflict as a war ence — its focus on stability, trade, and
between Europeans over the European the bottom line that has served Asian
security order — not an epochal glob- countries so well in the last 40 years. The
al conflagration. Yes, the conflict has war will likely challenge economies that
changed the European security calculus are already reeling from the pandemic
in fundamental ways. Western European and the retreat from globalization over
countries have scrambled to strengthen the last decade. The combined economic
their defenses, Germany has announced and political effects of the war are likely
a process of rearmament, NATO is more to persuade Asian countries to embrace
unified than ever before, and the trans- greater self-reliance, a trend already en-
atlantic alliance has been reinvigorated. gendered by the pandemic.
The unprecedented stringency of the EU
and U.S. economic sanctions on Russia But Russia’s invasion does not draw
is emblematic of this newfound Western a line in the sand between the allies
unity. of the free world and its foes. A global
Manichaean struggle is not in the offing.
But from an Asian perspective, the war Those observers hoping for a conflict
in Ukraine doesn’t augur shifts to come of that scope to arise from the rubble
so much as it underlines a shift that has of Mariupol and Kharkiv will be disap-
already taken place. The fact that a war is pointed.
being fought between Europeans on Eu-
ropean soil is a reflection of how much — Foreign Affairs.
global geopolitics has changed since the *About the writer: Shivshankar Me-
end of the Cold War. Before then, when non is a former diplomat who served
Europe was the central fault line in the as National Security Adviser to Indian
superpower contest, no wars were fought prime minister Manmohan Singh from
in the region; borders stayed frozen, lest 2010 to 2014. He is currently visiting
any change provoke conflict between professor of international relations at
two nuclear-armed superpowers. But Ashoka University in India.
after the Cold War, conflict in Europe
— in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s
and today in Ukraine — became nei-

NewsHawks World News Page 41

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

RUCHIR SHARMA Emerging markets are the
next comeback nations
EARLY in the Covid-19 pandemic, I ar- Emirates, and other emerging nations. 
gued in an article for Foreign Affairs that markets, and from there to the 0.01% of repeat itself: the boom of the 2010s will File photo. The pandemic is also accelerating the
in the 2010s, the United States had defied the country’s economic elites, widening wither and the 2020s will prove far less guing in 2012 that excess and compla-
predictions of its imminent decline and inequality and the US financial system’s great than the previous decade was for the cency had left the big emerging markets digital revolution, which was already un-
instead risen to new heights as an eco- growing addiction to debt. This approach United States. such as Brazil and Russia broken — and folding with more transformative impact
nomic superpower. further accelerated the rise of monopolies, An emerging market decade the United States poised for a comeback. in emerging economies than developed
since easy money gives the largest compa- Should the United States turn from boom That is ultimately what happened in the ones. Since consumers in emerging econ-
This revival, I warned, was in its very nies both the incentive and the means to to bust — or simply drift sideways for a 2010s: emerging markets, save for China, omies are less likely to have access to brick
mature stages and likely to end in a long buy out the small and tighten their grip period of time — the winners may well dwindled and lost shares of both global and mortar businesses, they are moving
hangover. If the United States had been on industries. It also accelerated the rise be emerging economies outside of Chi- GDP and global markets, while the Unit- much more quickly to adopt mobile In-
the comeback nation of the last decade, of “zombies” — firms that do not earn na. Though the pandemic and the war in ed States grew ever stronger as a financial ternet services, from digital cash to online
the 2020s would belong to the rest of the enough to service their debts and survive Ukraine are deepening a sense of gloom superpower. education and shopping.
world. Two years on, the pandemic and only by taking on more debt. Labor pro- about the prospects for developing na-
the Russian invasion of Ukraine are solid- ductivity briefly surged in 2020, as work- tions, many of these countries are likely to It is the turn of smaller powers — not Digital revenue not only accounts for a
ifying that forecast by accelerating trends ers still on the job scrambled to make up thrive in the coming years. Most nations superpowers — to stage a comeback. higher share of GDP in emerging econo-
that could erode US preeminence. Debt for those who had been let go as a result in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle mies than developed ones, it is also grow-
is rising faster in the United States than in of the pandemic-induced recession, but it East are large commodity producers, and The global economy of the 2020s is ing faster: India, for instance, is home to
most other countries. Inflation is running is now fading. their exports will be more valuable as the different. The excesses created by boom as many new technology companies today
well above the global average. And many world reduces its dependence on supplies times in the United States are matched as is France or Germany. In regional mar-
nations, observing the crippling effect of And the outlook has only gotten from Russia. by pockets of strength in the emerging kets from Africa to Asia, the dominant
US sanctions on the Russian economy as worse. The federal government and U.S. world, in regions ranging from eastern brand names in Internet service industries
the war rages on in Ukraine, are looking corporations are currently so deep in debt Even before the Russian invasion of Europe to Southeast Asia and in indus- such as e-commerce and search are often
for ways to reduce their dependence on that it is hard to imagine how they can Ukraine, emerging economies driven by tries such as manufacturing, natural re- those of local players, not familiar US gi-
the mighty dollar, which is the founda- further boost the economy, especially as exports of oil, metals, farm products, and sources, and digital technology.  These ants such as Amazon or Google.None of
tion of the United States’ position as the interest rates are now rising. In 2010, the other commodities were poised to rally. possibilities have largely been overlooked this means that American declinists will
preeminent financial superpower. United States owed the rest of the world The campaign to build a greener global because, in the past, emerging world finally be proved right, particularly since
US$2.5 trillion, a sum equal to 17% of economy has simultaneously increased success stories were confined mainly to their standard narrative is that the United
Potent economic booms often lead to US gross domestic product (GDP). By the demand for energy and raw materials export manufacturing economies such States is losing ground to China. Mea-
politicians and economic stewards los- early 2020, those liabilities had risen while making it increasingly difficult to as Taiwan, South Korea, or China itself. sured in real US dollars, the United States
ing discipline and pushing their econo- to US$12 trillion, or well over  50% of invest in new oil fields, aluminum smelt- Now, with both exports and manufactur- still accounts for about a quarter of global
mies off the rails. The US boom of the GDP — a threshold that has often trig- ers, or copper mines. The result has been ing shrinking as a share of global GDP, GDP — the same share as in 1980. Chi-
2010s was unexpectedly potent: for  the gered currency crises in the past. They what is known as greenflation — a rise in this path is increasingly narrow — but it na’s rising share has come largely at the
first time since record keeping began in now stand at US$16 trillion, or 70% of commodity prices driven by environmen- is not closed. As factories seeking cheaper expense of Europe and Japan, and declin-
the 1850s, the United States experienced GDP. Zombies, which barely existed 20 tal pressures — which could last for much labor or shorter shipping routes move out ists overlook the fact that China faces its
a full decade  without  a single recession. years ago, now account for as many as one of this decade, with new supplies entering of China, they are providing a big boost own huge debt problem, magnified by
Growing faster than many other econ- in five US-listed companies.  the global market very slowly. This new to a select few countries, such as Bangla- the challenges of an aging population and
omies — developed and developing — commodity up-cycle should lift the for- desh, Cambodia, and Vietnam. shrinking labour force. These signs point
the United States saw its share of global Many Americans, including US Pres- tunes of major exporters such as Brazil, to a flat decade for both superpowers, cre-
GDP expand from a low of 21% to 25% ident Joe Biden, ignored the underlying Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. Nothing inspires reform like a crisis, ating an opening for emerging markets to
over the course of the decade. Its share decay of the US financial system and and a crisis on the scale of the pandemic make significant gains.
of global stock markets expanded even interpreted the recovery of 2021 not for To be clear, I am not predicting a return was bound to force a major wave of re- Comeback nations
more rapidly, from 42% to 58%. Average what it was — a bounce off the depths of to the first decade of this century, when a form. Emerging nations couldn’t borrow Many analysts dismiss or ignore the
incomes in real dollar terms started the the 2020 recession — but as the sign of perfect storm of global forces including and spend to ease the pain the pandemic budding economic success stories of the
decade 26% higher in the United States another hot decade to come. Optimism rapidly expanding trade and rising com- inflicted on their economies the way the developing world out of an attachment
than in Europe and finished more than seized the stock markets as millions of modity prices simultaneously accelerated United States did. Instead, many  were to a bygone era. They compare growth
60 percent higher. US business and con- Americans started trading for the first growth in virtually all emerging econo- forced to adopt reforms that ultimately today to the unusually high growth rates
sumer confidence hit highs last seen in time. Relative to other markets, the US mies. That was a freakishly unusual syn- should boost productivity and growth. achieved in the post-World War II de-
the 1960s. stock market rose to a 100-year high in chronized boom, but it led nonetheless to India has been privatising some of its cades, when the world was in the midst
2021, reflecting unbridled confidence forecasts of a coming  “emerging market inefficient state-owned enterprises, Indo- of a demographic and productivity boom
Having staged a comeback in the in the American future.  Such giddiness century.” I demurred in  these pages, ar- nesia has cut taxes and eased labor laws, that makes every economy today look
2010s, the United States is unlikely to makes it only more likely that history will and Saudi Arabia is loosening immigra- sluggish in comparison. Developed or
repeat the feat in the 2020s. Hot decades tion barriers. Similar reform campaigns developing, all economies now face the
often lead to downturns. Witness how are underway in Egypt, the United Arab challenges of slower population growth,
the US boom of the 1960s ended in the declining productivity, and higher debt
malaise  of the 1970s; the boom of the burdens. Growth is likely to be slower ev-
1990s ended in the dot-com bust, with erywhere in coming decades, but success
the United States leading the world into is always relative. An era of slow global
two recessions in the first decade of this growth will still give rise to relative win-
century. The boom of the 2010s was al- ners and those will still be found mainly
ready showing fissures when the pandem- in the emerging world.  
ic came along and wrenched those cracks
open. As the global economy enters this
new era of multipolar growth, the Unit-
This is not to say that the United States ed States would be wise not to succumb
will necessarily decline in the coming to tunnel vision in foreign policy. The
years — nor that China will surpass it Ukraine war has only narrowed the fa-
and take the helm of the global economy. miliar debate over which foreign rival
What is more likely is that the United the United States should focus on more,
States will have a mediocre decade, stag- China or Russia. But the old superpowers
nating rather than expanding. It is a vic- are not among the economies most likely
tim of its own success after such a strong to gain on the world stage in this decade.
comeback. The markets appear to sense The United States will see the rise of new
this impending shift: despite the shadow economic challengers — or partners —
cast by the war in Ukraine, seven out of in countries such as Poland and Vietnam,
every ten emerging stock markets are out- driven by manufacturing and tech; Brazil
performing the US market so far in 2022. and Saudi Arabia, fueled by commodi-
China also faces similarly daunting debt ties; and India and Indonesia, propelled
burdens, which are compounded by the by digitization and a dash of economic re-
challenges of a rapidly aging population. form. A foreign policy that neglects these
The winners of the next decade will likely potential players would be shortsighted.
emerge from other parts of the globe — All these nations stand to gain from the
and that process may have already begun. pattern of history, which often leaves the
The perils of easy money hottest economy of one decade cool to
I wrote in 2020 that the United States the touch the next. It is the turn of small-
was taking its success for granted by er powers — not superpowers — to stage
not responding to mounting threats a comeback.
from debts and deficits. Over-indebted-
ness has historically posed an existential — Foreign Affairs.
threat to financial empires, but rather *About the writer: Ruchir Sharma is
than attempting to chip away at the fed- chairperson of Rockefeller Internation-
eral government’s arrears, Washington al and the author of  The Ten Rules of
has instead upped its borrowing. In the Successful Nations.
spring of 2020, flush and confident in
the wake of its decade-long boom and
facing arguably the worst global eco-
nomic downturn since the Great Depres-
sion, the U.S. government rolled out the
most generous stimulus package of any
large economy in response to the havoc
wreaked by Covid-19, pushing its debts
to new heights. Easy money gushed from
the US Federal Reserve into the financial

Porsche just got angrier Being a Fashion Model

&Life Style

STYLE TRAVEL BOOKS ARTS MOTORING

Page 42 Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Refining the standards of broadcasting

JONATHAN MBIRIYAMVEKA industry and he knows talent when talk FM there is Maureen Makonese “Currently our students are enjoy- was picked up to be on air at Capitalk
he sees it. aka Folake while at Nyaminyami FM ing great success and allow me to cel- FM,” Nyanhi said.
IF you are a keen listener of Zim- there is Talvin Tshuma aka The Virus. ebrate some of them,” Nyanhi said.
babwean radio stations, something Last week, 20 budding radio per- Takunda Mandeya, affectionately
would not have escaped your notice. sonalities graduated from the Radio At the newly launched 3Ktv there He, however, bemoaned the im- known as BMT 150, is already work-
Presenter MasterClass of 2020, which is Edith Marwiro, aka Mazwi. pact of Covid-19 on the class of 2020 ing for Capitalk FM while Barbara
Generally, the presenters tend to gives different radio stations a pool to Great strides which was disrupted by the pandem- Chikwa, aka Barbs, is a trainee pre-
sound almost the same, right? One is chose from if they are recruiting. Napoleon Nyanhi, curator and ic. senter at ZiFM Stereo.
inclined to ask: Why is this the case? founder of the Radio Presenter Mas-
Previous graduates of the Master- terclass, said the programme was “The delay in graduating however Monalisa Chishato is working for
Well, perhaps this is because they Class have dominated the airwaves in birthed out of a deep passion for ra- did not stop the broadcasting insti- Zimpapers Television Network.
are cut from the same cloth. Radio Zimbabwe’s leading urban radio sta- dio and love for talent identification, tutions from picking up some of our
presenting has evolved over the years, tions. These include Kudzai Kuveya, groomed during his tenure at Zimpa- talented students and today as they Tafara Ndaguta is with 3Ktv
from just a solo presenter hosting a aka Renailo, at Power FM Zimba- pers radio stations. graduate some of them are already while Victor Mabutho, Moreblessing
show, to today's slots featuring duos. bwe. She was recruited after gradu- gainfully employed,” he said. Sithole and Ndomupeishe Chipendo
ating from the class of 2019 and she “As the Centre for Broadcasting have all had dalliances with Capitalk
It is either a male and a female pre- now also presents Woza Friday show Excellence, we have had the privi- Farai Magada, one of the students FM. Another remarkable product of
senter or females only or vice versa. on ZBC TV. lege over the last four years of receiv- who graduated last week, is working the Radio Presenter Masterclass is
ing strong support from the biggest for Classic 263 based in Bulawayo. Mitchel Mutongwizo, also known as
And, also, these days presenters are At Classic 263, there is Sibukele broadcasting institutions in the coun- Yahya Goodvibes, who has become
fond of switching from Shona to En- Maphosa, a 2019 graduate majoring try like the BAZ, the ZBC, AB Com- And then Precious Musasa joined an Instagram sensation with over 100
glish or isiNdebele to English. in sports broadcasting from Mon- munications and Zimpapers, but our the Masterclass in 2019 as the young- 000 followers.
trose Studios in Bulawayo while at biggest satisfaction comes from lis- est at the age of 18.
Asked about this new phenom- Star FM there is Thobekile Sibanda, tening to our current and former stu- In this small but important step,
enon, Zimpapers Radio Services one of the main news anchors. Then dents after they have been assimilated “There were extenuating circum- the Radio Presenter Masterclass has
general manager Comfort Mbofana, there is Aaron Dobbie. into various radio stations. stances then that prevented her from achieved is makinh a difference in
quipped: “That is how people speak graduating, but she did not give up. creating all-rounders empowered to
nowadays. They use both Shona and At ZiFM Stereo there is Yolanda She re-auditioned, made it into the raise the standard in the broadcasting
English or Ndebele and English.” Zinyemba aka MisY while at Capi- next class and now she finally gradu- industry.
ates and a couple of months ago she
Mbofana has been around in the

NewsHawks Life & Style Page 43

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Story of subverted national dream

FROM a cultural standpoint, Zimba- maneMondays show, which discusses that this would be the death knell for Morgen Komichi. in November 2017 with the military
bweans in the last year have evolved into democratic developments unfolding Chamisa’s political aspirations. On the constructing their speeches. Research is coup which even the late leader of the
some kind of wonderful! in Africa, Chamisa was able to cast very cusp of the deadline for registration important in this regard. Politicians in opposition MDC t helped sanitise os-
himself as the victim of treachery and of parties for the by-elections, Chami- their usual hubris like to narrate their tensibly because he was convinced that
The Mugabe years were times in referred to his onetime colleague Doug- sa registered the Citizens' Coalition for political histories or flaunt their struggle the demise of Mugabe would usher in
which fear reigned supreme. The "sec- las Mwonzora and other former senior Change (CCC) effectively birthing a credentials. a new political order. Perhaps in the
ond republic", though just as deadly, opposition politicians who have openly new political phenomenon. guise of a transitional authority involv-
has not been welcomed with as much joined Zanu-PF or the MDC-T led by Do people "eat" struggle credentials? ing different stakeholders. Naively so.
awe. Perhaps it is because suddenly our Mwonzora as bad apples. The seeming juggernaut Zimbabweans need a clear message But Tsvangirai was not alone in having
people realised that nothing is forever. The nascent party was soon on the cam- around the managing of the country’s believed whatever  story the coup or-
That kingdoms shake and crumble. From early 2020, Chamisa lost sever- paign trail unleashing in its wake the resources. They understand that the ganisers was selling to the role players.
Mugabe is gone but the apparatus re- al senior party officials, including MPs sort of excitement that attends a pop country is well endowed but that an The late Dumiso Dabengwa was among
mains in place. But I digress. to the ruling Zanu-PF or the MDC-T, culture icon. I attended at least one ral- incompetent cabal thinks nothing of them. I recall talking to him after it be-
The power of narratives in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ly out of sheer curiosity. I had a front pillaging the economy for selfish ends. came clear that they had all been sold
I want this week to explore the power which found against Chamisa as the seat at the White City Stadium rally in Zimbabweans want to hear from poli- a dummy. Zanu PF is an experienced
of narratives in political discourse. My rightful leader of the MDC-T. Among Bulawayo. I arrived early around 11am ticians who speak to accountability and salesman of moonshine. Underestimate
trigger for this week’s installment was them were stalwarts including Komi- with colleagues transparency in the handling of public their ability to spin yarns at your own
really the leaked voice note attributed chi, Elias Mudzuri, Mwonzora, Lillian in the profession. coffers. The social contract between peril. It is a skill they perfected during
to Morgen Komichi of the MDC-T Timveous, Blessing Chebundo, Tapiwa I wanted to get a the war of liberation with all art and ar-
in the wake of his party’s dismal show- Mashakada, Paurina Mpariwa, Solo- feel of the senti- those that govern and tifice. I know from experience.
ing at the recent polls. It was between mon Mguni and Tongai Matutu. ment and mood. the governed is bro-
Komichi and one of his party members Young and old, Addy ken. There is a palpa- Though many naively believed that
discussing the results. Komichi basical- "We understand that we have been they trickled in ble trust deficit. The a regime change outside of the elector-
ly admits that the people or electorate affected by what Mr. Mnangagwa has at first. Latterly, Kudita narrative about some al system was a good idea, I was one of
rejected them and that they needed to been doing, but, thank God, Mr Mnan- people having liber- the few that called it differently in pub-
face that reality and maybe do a post gagwa has done a fantastic thing for us," the stadium was ated the country ring lication writing under the same editor
mortem to establish the reason for the quipped Chamisa. “He has managed to near capacity and hollow with the ex- as this paper. I knew that the euphoria
rejection. Somehow, one gets the feeling reorganise us (MDC-Alliance) by tak- people were still coming as Chamisa trajudicial killings of would not last long. It was the strang-
that while recommending that course of ing away from us the bad elements and was addressing the crowd. My assess- political opponents est of moments. I was relieved Mugabe
action, Komichi is aware of the reason bad apples and bad elements. All dicta- ment was that he was on message. He and the apparent lawlessness. When was gone. But not this way. History is
why the voters punished them. It is ob- torships thrive on the appetite and greed addressed the key concerns of people in the constitution is eviscerated through replete with such tales of coups that go
vious to him as it is to the electorate that of the oppressed and the vulnerabilities the region: the Gukurahundi issue, in- some dubious pieces of legislation, is awry and African post-colonial history
the moment his party was perceived as of those who are active in politics.” dustrial revival, the Ndebele monarchy that not lawlessness? is a hotbed of such tales. 2017 was the
a surrogate of the ruling Zanu PF, the question, unemployment, devolution. I The public needs the sense that law year of the great heist. A lot of people
voters could not wait to deal with that Effectively, Chamisa was able to had watched some of his rallies and felt enforcement officers are fully conver- were duped by the coup which was
party at the ballot. Yes, the self-styled frame the discourse of victimhood. He that the messaging had been too off-the- sant with the constitution and do all in cannily handled by the junta. The pub-
opposition outfit failed to garner a sin- emerged as the underdog and the public cuff and not tackling substantive issues. their power to uphold it... Somehow, lic face of that coup was the late Lieu-
gle council or parliamentary seat. The always roots for the underdog. Helped this is not always the case as the default tenant-General  Sibusiso Moyo and he
state-assisted heist of the opposition in no small part by the work and writ- Messaging in strategic communica- setting of the law enforcement agents is made a compelling case throughout the
role came to a juddering end. And yes ings of the likes of Alex Magaisa and tions resorting to laws which cannot stand the period that the coup plotters were really
they still huff and puff as if they still Hopewell Chin’ono, Chamisa had it Politicians need to grasp that strategic test of the sonstitution. targeting the criminals around Mugabe.
have a platform, but it is illusory. The made and Douglas Mwonzora was the communications is anchored on persua- They continued to address him as His
story of the MDC-T is a story that real- villain of the peace. It did not help mat- sion. But one must be able to establish Storytelling in strategic communica- Excellency till the day he was forced
ly and truly ended the moment Morgan ters that Mwonzora claimed the propri- what the audience’s concerns are before tions to resign. The world was dumbfound-
Tsvangirai died. The protagonist left the etary rights to the MDC moniker just The story of Zimbabwe’s political transi- ed and transfixed by the episode. The
stage replete with jostling contenders before the elections, perhaps hoping tion is a difficult one and its unraveling regime even branded itself "second
and, ultimately, something had to give. republic" which for all intents and pur-
poses and to the extent that it regularly
Most people in politics do not ap- violates the constitution with various
pear to appreciate the role of storytell- pieces of legislation, is a misnomer.
ing. None more so than MDC-T. For The story of Zimbabwe
national chairperson Komichi to say Zimbabwe was won after a protracted
that he has no clue as to why his par- struggle. But it was really not just Zanu
ty performed dismally in the 26 March that waged the war. There was Zapu and
by-elections is reality bending. The par- of course the masses who supported the
ty lacked credibility and public trust combatants in spirit and in kind. The
over the recalls of opposition legislators Zimbabwean story cannot and should
from parliament. In the leaked audio not be monopolised by one political for-
while speaking to a person only identi- mation. What is lost in the fog of poli-
fied as Mukucha, who is also a member tics is the sheer desire for freedom which
of the MDC-T, Komichi said: led the ordinary citizens of this country
to be involved in the struggle. The free-
“The truth of the matter is that the dom fighters sold us the narrative that
people rejected MDC, to them MDC they wanted a majoritarian democracy,
is no longer a party, MDC is just a pup- land and self-determination. It was an
pet of Zanu. Even if you add the votes irresistible message for a people who had
won by MDC and Zanu in areas that suffered under a minority government
were won by CCC, our combined votes led by Ian Smith. His exclusionary pol-
are less than those garnered by CCC…” icies meant that the majority had to toil
in poverty while just a few ate on behalf
The 26 March vote should mark the of everyone else. 42 years down the line,
political end of a rag tag band of poli- the plight of millions who subscribed to
ticians who must face the ignominy of the liberation struggle is worse off. The
having betrayed the opposition. How land question is unresolved and remains
does one resurrect themselves from such a mirage. There is still no security of
a fate? What indeed was the motive of tenure for resettled people. What is the
the Mwonzoras and the Khupes in ex- justification? The narrative of sanctions
ecuting the recalls? Did they seriously can best be described in this vein: cor-
expect the electorate to pat them on relation is not causation. How can any-
the back? Either they drank too much one explain away the Auditor-General’s
of their own brew or they have some of reports over the past decade or so? What
the biggest egos in the history of African is the actual quantum of the financial
politics. Again, the prescient words of prejudice to the economy of the graft
Bob Marley’s song Zimbabwe ring true. and mismanagement in comparison to
"Soon we’ll find out who is the real rev- what the famous sanctions may have
olutionaries and I don’t want my people inflicted?
to be tricked by mercenaries." I recall The ridiculous
Jamwanda2 (George Charamba) on his Personally, I found it stupefying how at
Twitter handle chiding Mwonzora and one point last year the government was
saying words to the effect that he should celebrating the awarding of
eat with his mouth shut! So many clues ... To next page
out there…
The other side
Last year, while appearing on the #Mai-

Page 44 State of the culture NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Jah Prayzah, Makhadzi hint at collabo

JONATHAN MBIRIYAMVEKA companied by some fire emojis. said. where Jah Prayzah waxed lyrical on palms.
Later, Jah Prayzah acknowledged However, Mushapaidze could not a fast-paced beat -- exactly what the The crowd loved every minute of
AS a Zimbabwean or South African Ghanama hitmaker is known for.
music fan, what do you anticipate how indebted he was and replied: reveal when the song will be out, say- her set and danced to each song. It
to be the collaboration of the year in “Makhadzi, you know I believe in ing they were working on a “release The video, released in October felt like she was performing before
2022? your vibe always. Let’s create more strategy”. 2020, has so far garnered 1.4 million a home crowd across the Limpopo,
magic. Studio has been cleared for views on YouTube and still counting. considering the vibe and energy.
Well, tastes differ, but do not look you today and I am ready for this “We just did the song and now
beyond Jah Prayzah and Makhadzi’s one.” concentrating on the release strategy. For some reason, Makhadzi did The supporting acts, the likes of Mr
upcoming combination later this It’s too early to tell, but we have big not perform the song since Jah Brown, Jah Master, Suluman Chim-
year! Away from the light-hearted ex- plans for it as it is definitely going to betu, Juntal, Feli Nandi and Freeman
change between the two music be a big song,” he said. Prayzah was not part of the billing HKD, were equally exciting.
Makhadzi, who was Harare for stars, Jah Prayzah’s publicist, Keen at JamAfro Festival. 
the JamAfro Festival at Alexandra Mushapaidze, confirmed that the duo The song, produced by talent- However, Jamaican Neelah re-
Sports Club last weekend, revealed in was indeed in the studio recording ed Rodney Beats, promises to be a However, Makhadzi literally ceived a warm reception since it was
a tweet: what promises to be a cracker. surefire hit, considering that he has brought the curtain down, leaving the first time for most people to hear
worked with Jah Prayazah on a num- festival goers wanting more. her sound.
“Jah Prayzah, I owe you a song and “Collaboration was done last night ber of hits.
I am in Zimbabwe what do (you) (Monday) into this morning. Song She performed some of her best She was dressed in a sexy leotard
think (?),” she captioned the tweet ac- still to be given name,” Mushapaidze The two artistes have collaborated songs coupled by scintillating dances which had the crowd glued to her
From previous page on Makhadzi’s song titled Kokovha, that had the crowd eating out of her performance from start to finish.
close to US$1 billion in Special Draw-
ing Rights by the International Mon- Story of subverted national dream
etary Fund to Zimbabwe. Juxtapose People have to suspend all logic and ments because parties come and go. True Education announced that the country nations through its diligence and indus-
that development with the revelation uncritically accept the sanctions mantra. patriotism is best built upon transcen- has an acute shortage of STEM teach- try in economic administration. Sadly,
in 2020 by Finance minister Mthuli Who are they fooling? dent values of liberty, freedom, account- ers. What happens in the minds of our the spirit of excellence which attends its
Ncube of the fact that the country was The patriotism narrative ability and democracy. Putting partisan leaders? Why was the STEM initiative own economic management efforts has
losing close to US$100 million month- Patriotism, I propose, does not imply or factional interests ahead of national suspended if it is not because of pettiness not been imitated by its client nations
ly through gold smuggling. This is the partisanship. The idea that a citizen does interests is stupid and myopic. It otheris- and political vindictiveness? The collat- in most of Africa. Zimbabwe is current-
same year the current president of the not use the ruling party or CCC song es others and excludes from the national eral damage of such parochial interests is ly an example of a dream gone awry
Zimbabwe Miners' Federation, Henri- book does not in itself invalidate the val- brain trust, people who could ably con- citizens and especially our children. One by most measures. The retrogression
etta Rushwaya, was apprehended while ue of their ideas. We need a new ethic tribute to the progress of our great na- of fundamental problems with Zanu PF in infrastructure terms is sustained by
attempting to smuggle six kilogrammes around how our society is set up. The tion. I submit that the nation during the is its pettiness and mediocrity. There is buck-passing narratives. Even when one
of gold bullion to Dubai. How many political culture currently obtaining is Gukurahundi genocide lost thousands hardly a single monument to black ex- looks at Russia, another of this country’s
other times had she passed through that stupid. The Zimbabwean constitution is of people who could have potentially cellence 42 years after Independence. allies, its oligarchs are clearly helping the
airport carrying similar contraband? in my view the greatest approximation helped build Zimbabwe. More recently, Show me one. nation reestablish its industry and su-
Subsequent to that incident, one of her of Zimbabwe’s vision of society. It is a under Mugabe, the government then, Parting shot perpower status. What do our own oli-
acolytes was caught at OR Tambo Inter- people’s document and there is really no introduced the STEM initiative. What That China is an ally of this govern- garchs spend energy on? This is the in-
national Airport in South Africa carry- need to cast a new vision of our coun- happened to it? Do we have no more ment is a matter of history insofar as the dictment. Zimbabwe will change when
ing 12 kilogrammes of gold. He was of try apart from the one the constitution need for STEM graduates? Just last week armed liberation struggle is concerned. our leaders begin to tell themselves and
course arrested. The country continues holds. We do not need partisan docu- the director of communications in the In my view, China has bettered most the nation at large new and more cred-
to hemorrhage from these illicit and ministry of Primary and Secondary and ible stories.
treacherous acts. But so does the pontif-
ication about patriotism and sanctions.

NewsHawks Poetry Corner Page 45

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Title: The Chicken Bus Title: The Thick Black Blanket Title: In my eyes
Poet: Garikai Magaya Poet: Andy Kahari Poet: Drey ZW

Matching flowing daisies, adorning a panoram- Laid on that hut bed; From the period of being juvenile,
ic vlei My heavy heart felt Through budding like a flower;
Charging glowing doves chirping in celebration The heavy burden blanket, To this point of existing.
of a future in awe I saw pulled halfway; In my eyes, a lot I have attested.
The radiant princess and the glowing prince Overwhelmingly, daringly From captivating moments to those dis-
blaze our hearts with joy And promisingly heartening.
The royal couple, the serving faithful, the Awaiting to cover I whole. Ambiguous and erratic moments I've been
cheering masses chatter deep into the African But I couldn't tell, encountering.
night Whether halfway, And those sensational ones are yet to be
Conversing on the grandeur and splendor Meant up or down? side-lined.
awaiting the privileged duo For I knew not; A phase of flashbacks creep in.
Alas, before the cock did to a new day coo If in today as in tomorrow, A couple at the verge of separation was in
The royal messenger with sacred drum in tow The blanket my eyes.
To the mountain top did ascend. Would still be undivided A cantankerous man, Conniving and cruel
In a feared but familiar rhythm to the disbeliev- In knowing its fate; he was.
ing masses, sad tidings descended upon us. But heavy burdening, To flee was the only option for her.
The emerging fruits of the promised dream of It had been A begging street kid I spotted,
triumphalism went submerging into a night- For my frail self; His lips dry and chapped,
mare with the ancestors – Though I begged in prayers, It was a disheartening view.
In spite of our denialism It remained lower In my eyes I witnessed indigence...
For while in sweet slumber with them we chat- Only for a little while, In my eyes I witnessed corruption...
ted For tomorrow Happiness and love also experienced.
The chicken bus rattled by with our beloved I needed to see; All these in my eyes.
ones now scattered But the night became
A bountiful field unharvested, a beloved gar- Loudly darker, Title: Paranoid
den unweeded For my ear eyes Poet: Fortune Munsaka
Glorious tales of the Halcyon days of yore in Not to hear
passages unfinished The screeching pulling up Why these constant flicks of
In usual theatrics, the Pastor now conductor, Thick black blanket, flickers that flash off the phantoms of my
the rites reader, assuages the masses with Hammered in blunt nails, ferocious affections keep me haunted?
soothing tales of the afterlife And all halfway burdens Maybe it's just a feeling.
The driver, the grim reaper with Hobson’s Became miniature nails, But initially, I insisted
choice passes Long enough, Into my intuitions
As the Chicken bus rattles by To prick and count and see That you've probably fallen for Melinda.
Not every caterpillar shall become a butterfly, In the thicket of the thick black blanket; Or maybe I'm just day dreaming...
not every cub the king of the jungle Covering the dead day Hello Hilary, how long did it take her to
Dreams unquenched, plans unpanned, In pursuit of my body and soul! hack into your heart while I was off to ma-
Love unrequited, sentiments unregimented ternity last summer?
As unpredictable as the reclusive dark night Overview: You know what,
thunder, such is the fickle way of the Gods This piece came to me as I sat in the dark I've sensed since Sunday
As unreliable as the seductive red-lights lover, night during load shedding. I saw how the Your compromised love I now share with
such is the feeble fate of man night blankets us all and seals us whole, not your cell phone, this makes me curious.
When the chicken bus rattles by to have a glimpse of light, just as shall be our I am watching you.
final drawn curtain on that fateful day. You’ve raked me off your heart, ready
to dispose of me somewhere in the dust
bins.
This erases my hopes in you
for I now beg for a conversation,
but when she calls you jump like a Ga-
zelle...
So why rush out when taking calls?
Maybe I'm just... I'm just being paranoid.
It all hurts more when you have no proof.

Page 46 People & Places NewsHawks

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

Durban’s premier travel indaba back

AFTER a two-year hiatus due to the African Tourism Mecca: Durban in South Africa.
global Covid-19 pandemic which
brought the world to a standstill, South African Tourism CEO Mzilikazi Themba Khumalo. launch KZN back to the global ing, the trade show will also feature
Africa’s premier travel indaba host- arena to start regaining the inter- Bond Day sessions which will ad-
ed by South Africa Tourism (SAT) Khumalo said. Communications, said: national travel markets back to the dress various topics for delegates to
is back: It will be held in the eastern Tourism KwaZulu-Natal’s Pinky “Africa’s Travel Indaba will be province. This is an opportunity to share insights and ideas, contrib-
coastal city of Durban, the region’s showcase the destination’s hosting uting to the growth of the broader
tourism mecca. Radebe, senior manager: PR and a phenomenal springboard to re- capabilities and hospitality. We will global tourism industry.
also offer buyers a first-hand expe-
Tourism operators, visitors, rience through pre and post tours, At the last edition of Africa’s
business, international exhibitors reinforcing the destination brand in Travel Indaba in 2019, the show at-
of hospitality products and media the minds of the participants.” tracted about 6 200 delegates from
will gathered in Durban as SAT all over the world, with 1033 exhib-
welcomes delegates from across the Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, Chief iting businesses from 19 countries
continent and the world to connect Conventions Bureau Officer at the on the continent, showcasing an
and do business contributing to the South Africa National Convention array of travel and tourism offerings
African continent’s tourism sector Bureau, said that there is a lot to to almost 1 177 local, regional and
recovery. look forward to at this year’s event. international buyers.

Zimbabwean tour operators, visi- “As always, the programme for Furthermore, around 452 local,
tors, businesspeople, exhibitors and Africa’s Travel Indaba is packed regional and international media
media are expected to attend the with opportunities to ensure that representatives participated at Af-
prestigious event. both our exhibitors and buyers rica’s Travel Indaba 2019, showing
extract maximum value from the the stature and global profile of the
Africa’s Travel Indaba is one of the trade show. Our internationally African continent’s tourism indus-
largest tourism marketing platforms benchmarked diary system that try. 
on the African calendar and one of pairs global vetted buyers with
the top three must-visit events of its quality exhibitors will ensure seam- So far over 400 African exhibitors
kind in the global world. less booking of meetings ahead of and 454 buyers from 47 countries
the show,” she said. around the world have confirmed
It showcases the widest variety of attendance to Africa’s Travel Indaba
Africa's best tourism products and While Africa’s Travel Indaba is 2022.
attracts international buyers as well about doing business and connect-
as media from across the world. – STAFF WRITER.

Africa’s Travel Indaba is owned
by SAT and organised by Synergy
Business Events (Pty) Ltd.

It has won awards for Africa’s best
travel and tourism show, includ-
ing from the Association of World
Travel Awards.

Among other things, it brings to-
gether a showcase of Southern Af-
rican tourism products and services
for the international travel trade.
Usually exhibitors in the Durban
Exhibition Centre includes pro-
vincial authorities, provincial prod-
ucts and African countries. At the
International Convention Centre,
exhibitors’ categories entail accom-
modation, tour operators, game
lodges, transport, online travel, lux-
ury products, hidden gems, indus-
try associations and media.

Outdoor exhibitors encompass
transport, camping and safari com-
panies.

This year’s theme, Africa’s stories,
your success, reaffirms the fact that
Africa is reclaiming its own narra-
tive and is ready to share with the
world inspiring stories of resilience
and innovation shown throughout
the pandemic.

SAT acting chief executive Mzi-
likazi Themba Khumalo urged
players in the tourism industry,
local, regional and international
stakeholders, to come and attend
Africa’s Travel Indaba. He said the
event is an African trade show spe-
cifically tailored to advancing the
continent’s tourism sector needs,
with a clear outlook towards recov-
ery.

“We believe that this platform
will showcase authentic African
experiences and products. Buyers
from across the globe will have ac-
cess to only the best and uniquely
African products and experiences,”

NewsHawks Sport Page 47

Issue 75, 8 April 2022

How cricket is at a crossroads in Zim

BRENDAN Taylor, former Zimbabwe Zimbabwean cricket has been on a downward spiral for the past 18 years. to be 20 years ago when cricket was al-
cricket captain, was handed a three- most competing with football for pub-
year ban earlier this year for failing to strength to strength.” gifted young black player, made his on current form, they may miss out lic interest.
report a match-fixing approach from a But the players are not totally sat- Test debut in 2021. He also played on another World Cup which will be
trip to India. three One-Day Internationals and a huge financial blow. Government schools like Prince
isfied with the board’s handling of eight T20s. A former headboy at one Edward and Churchill, which used to
He made the trip in October 2019 things. “I have played for Zimbabwe of the country’s prestigious schools, St Former Zimbabwe bowler Gary churn out a great number of nation-
where he received US$15 000 which under some very difficult conditions in George’s College in Harare, and Zim- Brent, recently appointed the nation- al team players, are struggling with
he claimed he was blackmailed into the past and we have gone for months babwe’s captain at the 2019 Under-19 al women’s team coach, believes the crumbling facilities and now produce
accepting by his hosts using a video of without being paid,” said a senior play- World Cup, a national contract was country will be stronger if everyone half-baked players – a far cry from the
him taking cocaine. er who requested anonymity. “They almost guaranteed for Myers. available was allowed to contribute. “I likes of Tatenda Taibu, Hamilton Ma-
need to improve their communication see cricket in Zimbabwe as I have seen sakadza, Elton Chigumbura, Prosper
The suspension has brought back so that people can plan accordingly. But he did not find it tempting and it for the last 15 years,” Brent told Al Utseya – all former national captains
into the limelight the plight of players Things have improved a bit, but there decided not to stick around. Choosing Jazeera. “We have great talent, but we who were schooled at the latter courte-
and the state of the game in Zimbabwe is just no consistency. My main issue to secure his future, the 19-year-old, are unable to fully harness and nurture sy of ZC bursaries.
where cricket has a significant fanbase. with our administrators is that they on the advice of his family, is now that talent to be a fully competitive side
Taylor, who accepted his offence, said don’t know how to communicate. Last studying agriculture at Royal Agri- in international cricket. It is not just the schools that are hav-
he had been under financial pressure year, when we had salary delays, we culture University in Gloucestershire, ing to contend with poor infrastruc-
because the players had not been paid were left to just speculate.” England. “It starts with the grassroots, all the ture. Across the country, club facilities,
for six months around the time of his way to franchise cricket. It’s a pity we which used to be looked after by the
India trip. Disillusionment and lack of confi- In 2018, Zimbabwe failed to qualify can’t all work together to build a solid national association, are in bad shape
dence in the system has also resulted in for the 2019 World Cup, the first time Zimbabwe cricket team. We have to because members are unable to meet
At that time, the country was sus- serious talent drain, with many of the since 1983 they were not taking part in forget what happened, we can’t do any- costs for maintenance.
pended by the International Cricket country’s brightest young players no the global event. The team is current- thing about it. If we work together, I’m
Council (ICC) for government inter- longer finding the prospect of repre- ly sitting bottom of the ICC Cricket sure we will be extremely competitive.” It is a reflection of the club game
ference in the affairs of the governing senting Zimbabwe appealing. World Cup Super League, pathway to itself which is virtually non-existent,
body, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), which 2023 World Cup qualification. Based The grassroots that Brent speaks of with seasons not coming to logical con-
came after a government-appointed Dion Myers, a teenage prodigy and are no longer as vibrant as they used clusions even in pre-pandemic times.
body, that controls all sports in the
country, fired top ZC officials on sev- The strength of club cricket was
eral charges, including financial mis- what bred Zimbabwe’s competitive
management. streak at international level. Promo-
tion to the first XI, sharing a changing
ZC, which is often in financial hard- room with national team players, or
ship but claims to have now completed facing international players in the op-
payment of huge debts running into position, was something for a young
nearly US$20 million, has been forced player to treasure.
to operate under controlled funding
from the ICC. It is a feature of Zimbabwean cricket
that is very hard to speak of in the past
The ZC suspension in 2019 there- tense by those who witnessed those
fore meant ICC funding was frozen days, like Nick Chouhan, a former ZC
and players had to bear the brunt of board member in charge of develop-
it. The ICC suspension was eventual- ment.
ly lifted later that year after the sacked
officials were reinstated. Players were A one-time sport broadcaster and
then awarded a lumpsum for the six now a regular blogger on the history of
months they were owed. By early sport in Zimbabwe, Chouhan reckons
2020, ZC announced it had reduced the demise of club cricket structures
salaries by 30%, which was followed, has hurt the national side. “There is
until the present, by frequent delays in no formal league cricket structure now,
payments. they are just playing when they want,”
Chouhan said.
ZC chief Tavengwa Mukuhlani de-
fended the cuts when he revealed the “Some players practice but there are
move two years ago, saying it was a no games. You can spend the whole
necessary measure to “make sacrific- day in the nets, but if you can’t play
es today and survive tomorrow”. He proper games, it won’t be the same.
rejected allegations of maladministra- Years back, we had eight teams in the
tion, saying he had done well under the first league, eight teams in the second
circumstances, especially after clearing league, eight teams in the third league
what he refers to as “legacy debts”. and six to seven teams in the fourth
league. We played league cricket from
“We are in a very healthy financial September to March, and all were
situation,” Mukuhlani told Al Jazeera. completed. “These days a lot of our
“We are the only [sporting] associa- players go straight into the national
tion in the country that is audited by team. In the other countries, guys play
one of the big four in the world. We 200 to 300 games before international
are the only association that constantly cricket.”
publishes results. We are moving from
– Al Jazeera

I HANDED over this column over the Thanks, lads, your views here But I will never claim to know the game
past fortnight to two external colleagues, have been much appreciated better than guys like Mojo and, when I in-
Alwyn Mabehla and Nyasha Mucho- vited him to feature here last week, I knew
chomi, two good friends of this publica- game these days. You cannot doubt that wonder solo goal for in-form Dynamos cheer at a time when we nearly all do not that whatever he had to share would be
tion who I have the outmost respect for in coming from Elder, called such from his against Black Rhinos last weekend only know where we are headed as a footballing worth a read and well received by our au-
their respective sporting codes of choice, college days in recognition of his faith, a amplified the great anticipation, for me, nation at the moment. dience. I was right.
football and rugby. religious young chap I had the greatest for what prom- What about last
pleasure of working with in a previous ises to be a week’s piece on The biggest point he raised, for me,
A great many thanks to Elder and time on a local daily, his knowledge of hugely enthrall- rugby by Nyasha was the need of instilling a new winning
Mojo for the most welcome relief, fellas! football is unfettered. ing ending to Muchochomi? His culture in Zimbabwe’s rugby team by
the 2022 PSL HawkZone close mates call blooding new talent and doing away with
I will be inviting more such experts to I have never personally given up on season. him Mojo and, fit- players who are now accustomed to be on
grace this corner from time to time, just to Zimbabwean domestic football myself Exactly what tingly so, he has the the losing side all the time.
provide some variety of opinion for read- even when it has seemed fashionable to do you need in magic charm when
ing pleasure.   so, you could say this is because of a sense these uncertain Enock breaking down a Young newcomers who were groomed
of duty and some reserves of patriotism times of an in- rugby match. in the tough South African rugby system,
But for now, I must say I learnt a great existing somewhere in you. ternational ban Muchinjo Now, I have from school up to college, bring that
deal from our guest columnists over the on this country covered this amaz- winning mentality to Zimbabwe, opined
past two weeks. When I read of the excitement for the by world foot- ing sport for the Mojo. All they know, he wrote, is win-
2022 PSL season from a man who takes ball governing past 18 years for ning.
Just like a lot of us, I was raised on a time off his busy business schedule to body Fifa. What has been happening in mainstream media in Zimbabwe, and
strong diet of Zimbabwean football in watch quite a few matches every week- the PSL, with a variety of teams exhibit- watched it for exactly 30 years ever since We did not start so well in our Currie
which the domestic game was the life- end, so therefore knows what he is talking ing some eye-catching football and show- I first got hooked as a young boy three Cup opener against European side Geor-
blood of many folks in this country. about given his analytical and journalistic ing their title credentials, is something to decades ago. gia last weekend, but it was not difficult to
skills, I too was excited.   see what these Zimbabwe newbies bring
The passion was real, the loyalty to to the table. And while not a hell lot of
one’s team was genuine – fiercely so to an The feel-good story of Bill Antonio’s them will play in the World Cup qualifiers
extent. in July, I foresee a few of them, to buttress
Mojo’s point, being the secret weapons to
Distressingly, the period stretching the Sables’ journey to France 2023.
back to the past decade has not been along
a similar vein because, even to a lot of old Just like how Alwyn has predicted in
diehards, quite simply Zimbabwean do- his corner about how the PSL race will be
mestic football has been a waste of time. an engrossing affair.

So for me it was quite refreshing to
learn that there is a kind of vibe in the

Sports A crippling
poverty of
leadership
at Zifa

‘Humiliated, intimidated,
degraded’ ref reports
Thursday 1 October 2020 sexual advances

Friday 8 April 2022 @NewsHawksLive TheNewsHawks www.thenewshawks.com

ALWYN MABEHLA Humdinger inNEWSWHAT’S INSIDE CULTUREbeaten Ngezi at Baobab since
$60 Covid Communthietyminers gained PSL promo-
HIGH-RIDING Dynamos have tariff for rraegduiolatiostnioonInsninifna2c20t,01i18n6, tb.heefolaresttfhuellCPoSvLids-e1a9-
a chance to lay down a marker in visitors &
their quest for a first league title under revdaniisteuimrwbpanrecsessi,veNhgeozmi ec-aonmdp-alewteady
in seven years when they travel
to Baobab Stadium to face Ngezi Story on Page l8eague double over DeMbare,
Platinum Stars on Saturday. with an identical score of 1-0. 
Ndiraya, a former Ngezi Plati-
The Glamour Boys have lost num coach himself, will tell you
their stranglehold of the Premier that tomorrow's fixture is a po-
Soccer League (PSL) to Norman tential banana skin.
Mapeza's FC Platinum, who But DeMbare travel to Ngezi
have won the league title in the storeCathBaamobiasba reactourists
last three seasons. Story on Page 3
out to with a bit of a psychological up-
However, the story has been a Khupeper-hand in the knowledge that
different one this season for the their opponents have not had
record Zimbabwean champions, the best of seasons in 2022.
who are looking closer to their In an effort to improve results,
PSL best. Madamburo recently appointed
former Zimbabwe captain Ben-
Buoyed by the sound financial calls for emergejani Mwaruwari as their new
backing from Sakunda Hold- Unofficial president head coach.
ings, Tonderai Ndiraya's men In his first match in charge,
head into match-day 11 with 22 the ex-Manchester City forward
points, sitting second on the ta- escaped with a point after forc-
ble and trailing leaders Chicken ing a 1-1 draw against Bulawayo
Inn by a single point. Chiefs.
This fixture, in front of the
Red-hot DeMbare are also Ngezi faithful for the first time,
unbeaten in their last five league is a tough initiation into life in
games, which makes the Ngezi the PSL for the “Undertaker”,
encounter much more exciting. in his first job as a senior team
coach.
Ghanian striker Emmanuel Ngezi Platinum are not yet
Paga and youthful winger Bill out of the championship race,
Antonio have been the star men although a dark horse, so this
in the DeMbare line-up, proving could be the perfect stage to
Ndiraya's trump cards over the New Ngezi Platinum head coach Benjani Mwaruwari (right) with assistant coach Bongani Mafu before last week's trip to breathe new life into their title
past few weeks. Bulawayo Chiefs.
challenge.
However, Ngezi Platinum are
definitely no pushovers, espe-
cially at home.

The Harare giants have not

Zim make extensive changes for Griffons tie

ZIMBABWE have made five starting Losing their starting spots from last flankers Dylan Utete and Johan Du to 13 in a midfield combination that 2. Aaron Juma 3. Bornwell Gwinji 4.
line-up and three positional chang- week – relegated to the bench or taken Preez alongside inside centre Bren- could prove a handful for Free Staters Godwin Mangenje 5. Andrew Evans
es for Saturday’s second Currie Cup out of the match-day 23 altogether – don Curle. Harare-born Du Preez was Griffons. 6. Dylan Utete 7. Johan Du Preez
match against Griffons in Welkom, are hooker Matthew Mandioma, lock schooled in Pretoria, turned out for The midfield reshuffle sees Rus- 8. Tonderai Chiwambutsa 9. Hilton
following last week’s opening heavy Kudakwashe Nyakufaringwa, flank Blue Bulls Under-18 and now plays sell Dinha move from outside centre Mudariki (captain) 10. Boyd Rouse
34-10 defeat to European side Geor- Biselele club rugby in the Russian top-flight to right wing, a position the former 11. Darrel Makwasha 12. Brendon
gia. Tshamala, eighthman Aiden Bur- league for Lokomotiv Penza. Young Sables skipper will be more Curle 13. Takudzwa Chieza 14. Rus-
nett and wing Munashe Chaitezwi. ALinSSOHabaIlreNasreS,hIohDpaseEfpullayCeFduirnaleta, tnhacelseohiMgbhoiernsntistywthwaasnhipac,eowmshofoourstttaabr$tlee3d.w2initBhth.ialDltioraornlreeldagMeaipankos-tsitoserlsl Dfuinnhda s15. ConZnoimr K'senlanetdeys.t
Such extensive changes will be a Mandioma, Tshamala and Burnett land c
feature of the Zimbabwean side in
their eight matches in the Currie have been rested while Nyakufaring- domestic level in the United States, the Georgians, moves across to 11. Subs: 16. Declan Ralphs 17. Deanne
Cup’s second-tier competition, as wa and Chaitezwi drop to the bench where his mother comes from. The other positional change is in the Makoni 18. Panashe Rukodzi 19. Ku-
coach Brendan Dawson continues to this week for a Zimbabwean side play- A regular flyhalf in XVs rugby, pack, where Chiwambutsa has been dakwashe Nyakufaringwa 20. Dustin
tinker with different combinations ing in the tournament as Goshawks. Curle comes into the set-up for the shifted from flank to eighthman. Andrews 21. Ernest Mudzengerere
in pursuit of the right mix for July’s The five replacements are hooker first time at inside centre, with the SQUAD 22. Munashe Chaitezwi 23. Ronald
World Cup qualifiers in France. Aaron Juma, lock Godwin Mangenje, experienced Chieza moving outside Starting line-up: 1. Victor Mupunga Ndidura.

ALSO INSIDE Zim cricket has been on a downward spiral for the past 18 years