NewsHawks 24 November 2023

Price US$1 Friday 24 November 2023 NEWS US$29 million assets recovered offshore: Zacc Story on Page 3 NEWS General Philip Valerio Sibanda to step down from the military WHAT’S Story on Page 6 INSIDE SPORT More reason to separate the wheat from the chaff Story on Page 50 ALSO INSIDE Faz spearheads Zanu PF by-elections campaign Mnangagwa a beneficiary of Gold Mafia dodgy deals: Accountant

Page 2 News NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 OWEN GAGARE INVESTIGATIVE journalists who worked on Qatar-based global news network Al Jazeera’s Gold Mafia documentary say whistleblowers and an accountant for one of Africa’s most notorious gold dealers confirmed that criminals were making regular payments to President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State House to ensure they operate smoothly. The journalists said documents they had studied also confirmed the payments. Sara Yeo and Alexander James told The NewsHawks in an interview on the sidelines of the African Investigative Journalism Conference at Witwatersrand (Wits) University in Johannesburg, South Africa, this past week that whistleblowers and Pattni’s accountant confirmed that Mnangagwa received regular payments. Yeo and James told journalists attending the conference that they had no doubt that Mnangagwa was the power behind the rival gangs looting Zimbabwe’s gold and that he was receiving payment from criminals. Although the gangs were different, they all operated with Mnangagwa’s blessing. “I think with Kamlesh Pattni as well, we were speaking to Raj, who is also his whistleblower, who is also his accountant. So he confirmed what Kamlesh Patni was saying; that he had to deliver to the State House every fortnight, I think it was just payment to Number One,” Yeo said. James said all the evidence they gathered corroborated what the gangs revealed on camera. “When they're talking about it, they're confirming essentially what we're seeing on the documents or what we're seeing through the testimony of the whistleblowers too,” James said. “These guys, you know, they have the veneer of legitimacy. They have paperwork. They have gold trading licences. They are not hiding in the shadows. They're doing their own scams, too . . . I'm sure there's stuff that the President wasn't aware of that they're doing, too, but they operate at his discretion. “They serve at his will. “Every single one of them talks about the necessity, as Pattni says, to have the king with you. And we're left in no doubt that that was how they operated and how they continue to operate. Someone like Kamlesh Pattni is a political operator first and foremost, too. So they occupy this space, and they occupy the space because of the situation created by President Mnangagwa.” James said Mnangagwa was the glue holding the operations together because of his relations with the dodgy businessman and key players in Zimbabwe such as controversial charismatic pastor and businessman Uebert Angel and his niece Henrieta Rushwaya, who is also the Zimbabwe Miners' Federation  boss. “I think the phone call with Auxilia Mnangagwa confirmed that we were really dealing with the very top,” James said. Kamlesh Pattni, who was implicated in the Goldenberg scandal which almost bankrupted Kenya in the 1990s, revealed his younger brother paid Mnangagwa every two weeks to enable him to smoothy carry out his gold and money laundering operations in Zimbabwe. “This is like the norm of life. The incentives, the fees . . . the appreciation,” said Pattni. “Every two weeks, Swetang, my brother is there. Every fortnight, he is there at the State House. We always contribute our appreciation.” At that point one of the reporters asked: “To Mnangagwa?” “To the King himself,” responded Pattni. “When you work, you must always have the king with you. The President.” He also showed reporters pictures of him with Mnangagwa and First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa. “This is his number. I call him Tembo,” said Pattni. One of the undercover reporters then said: “You WhatsApp him?”. “I always give him how much we have done . . . Yeah, he has to be informed. I was just writing him a message here,” responded Pattni, showing the reporters WhatsApp messages he exchanged with the President. One of the undercover reporters appeared stunned and asked: “This is the President’s number? Direct to the President?” Pattni responded: “Yes, directly . . . I have to inform him.” Pattni, also known as Brother Paul, tells reporters they would enjoy the same protection that he gets from Mnangagwa before assuring them that the President was “100%” aware of the money laundering plan.” Ewan Macmillan, a veteran Zimbabwean gold smuggler first arrested in the 1990s, revealed Mnangagwa was his business partner and friend although he abandoned him when he was arrested. “He was my partner, my exact partner. He said to me, don’t open your mouth. Your life will get worse than it is,” Macmillan recalled. “I said f**k, are you kidding me?” Alistair Mathias, who sets up complex gold smuggling schemes for criminals looking to cleanse millions of dollars of undeclared cash, also claimed Mnangagwa was his business partner and friend. “In Zim, ED is my partner. I can’t say it in public because he’s sanctioned,” Mathias said. Footage of the Al Jazeera investigative docuseries shows Angel calling First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa to ask if the criminals should use their own plane as they sought to bring US$1.2 billion dirty money into Zimbabwe? “Remember those people that want to move cash,” Angel asked. “They would want to know, are we providing the planes or [are] they providing the planes?” Auxillia referred her to Mnangagwa. James told The NewsHawks the Al Jazeera team had done a thorough job in their investigation which took four-and-a-half years. “I think first and foremost what we have been able to do is to put something down on record. The corruption that our film exposes is incontrovertible. It's a mixture of documents, it's backed up by sources and the undercover filming,” James said. “You are hearing it from the perpetrators of that corruption. So don't let any of these media figures or politicians hoodwink you into thinking that this is part of an international conspiracy against the President. We followed a chain of evidence and that led us to our conclusions and the evidence is there for you to see. And maybe those in power do not want to confront this evidence right now, but it's there and if people are going to refer back to it in the future, it will still be there.” Asked what the major takeaway from the investigation was, James said: “It's that Zimbabwe, under President Mnangagwa, is a captured state, and the distinction between supposedly independent institutions like the Reserve Bank and the pockets of the President and those around him, the gold miners, the lines of distinction aren't there. “So when people talk about sanctions on the President, it's by extension the capture of the state because he has control of that state. And that was it. It was showing essentially the theft of a country, the theft of a nation by the gold mafia, by those close to the President and, by all accounts, these people are still doing business in Zimbabwe, still making money, still robbing the country.” Did Al Jazeera play into Zanu PF’s factional politics? James said the Al Jazeera documentary was not motivated by Zanu PF factional politics. The documentary was released in March, four months before Zimbabwe’s general elections. There was talk in Zimbabwe’s political circles that Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga had pushed for the documentary to discredit Mnangagwa ahead of the elections. “I've spoken to some people, friends involved have talked about this, that essentially because we focused on Mnangagwa, that we played into some sort of factionalism within Zanu PF between Chiwenga and Mnangagwa,” James said. “I think we followed the evidence. There are other guys in the Spincash story, there's the President. Vice-President Chiwenga is involved in money laundering, but our evidence didn't flow to Chiwenga. We focused on, as I said, the loops we felt we could close, where we could show each step of the way there was some money moving, and we could demonstrate that very clearly. “I think that's one of the strengths of the investigation, that we've, through both the undercover work and the documents and the whistleblowers, we can confidently close those loops in which the money flow is moving. So in our case that all flowed to Number One (Mnangagwa). There wasn't really anything that led to Number Two (Chiwenga). That’s not to say all flowed to Number One, there wasn't really anything that led to Number Two . . . It was just that the evidence we had just flowed in that direction.” Spincash, an investigation by The Sentry, reveals South African chrome miner Zunaid Moti, who partnered the army to mine chrome in Zimbabwe, paid US$3 million to companies linked to Mnangagwa and Chiwenga. Gold Mafia exposé: Mnangagwa main beneficiary of corrupt deals Gold dealer Kamlesh Pattni

NewsHawks News Page 3 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 BRENNA MATENDERE THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) has recovered externalised assets by corrupt citizens worth US$29 million, a new report submitted to Parliament has revealed. Experts say the southern African nation has been losing millions of dollars due to illicit financial flows, smuggling of precious commodities and corruption, resulting in the underfunding of critical social services such as health and education. The anti-corruption body said it conducted dragnet arrests and referred all the cases of unexplained wealth and civil forfeitures to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The report was compiled by former Zacc chairperson Loice Matanda-Moyo, who is now the Prosecutor-General (PG). "The commission conducted several seizures, completed and referred twenty (20) case files for both Unexplained Wealth Orders and Civil Forfeiture to the National Prosecuting Authority valued at US$29 million. "From the case files referred to the High Court, a total of eleven orders were received and summarised as follows: two (2) Freezing orders, five (5) Unexplained Wealth Orders, three (3) Seizure orders and one (1) Civil Forfeiture Order respectively," Zacc's 2022 annual report reads. The commission revealed that part of the externalised properties included both moveable and unmovable properties recovered in South Africa. "Of note were seizure orders for sixty-three (63) heavy duty trucks with twenty-three (23) trailers, seven properties and several vehicles including a Lamborghini and conducted five (5) cases involving extra-territorial investigations, with some resulting in freezing and seizure orders being granted against properties under investigations in South Africa," reads the report. During the year under review on 20 August, two supercars belonging to President Emmerson Mnangagwa's ally and former Zanu PF Gokwe Nembudziya legislator Mayor Justice Wadyajena were impounded by Beitbridge border authorities and towed back to Harare as part of a wider probe into a US$5 million grand corruption case. Wadyajena’s Lamborghini and BMW X6M were impounded at the border amid speculation that he wanted to take them outside the country as he feared they would be forfeited to the state in the corruption case that was being handled by Zacc. Two days later, Harare magistrate Barbara Mateko ordered the seizure of 24 vehicles, among them a fleet of trucks and supercars belonging to Wadyajena. Mateko issued a warrant of search and seizure to Zacc in terms of section 49 (b) as read with section 50 (1) (a) of the Criminal Procedure And Evidence Act [Chapter 9:07] that provides for the seizure of all property from proceeds of crime. The trucks included a Freightliner (horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 6137;  Freightliner (horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 6136; Freightliner (Horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 9244; Freightliner (road tractor) vehicle registration number AEZ AE26255; Freightliner (road tractor) vehicle registration number AEZ 6256; Freightliner (horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 6139; Freightliner (horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 6138; Freightliner (Horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 6116; and a Freightliner (horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 6114. Other seized trucks included a Freightliner (road tractor) vehicle registration number AEZ 6134; Freightliner (horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 9247; Freightliner (Road Tractor) vehicle registration number AEZ 6254; Freightliner (horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 9245; Freightliner (horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 9246; and a Freightliner (horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 9243. Also impounded were the Freightliner (horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 6115; Freightliner (horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 6121; a Freightliner (horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 6125; a Freightliner (horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 6126; Freightliner (road tractor) vehicle registration number AEZ 6133; Freightliner (horse) vehicle registration number AEZ 6134; and a Freightliner (road tractor) vehicle registration number AEZ 6134. In the latest report, Zacc says the commission’s anti-corruption drive is not only motivated by arrests and so it introduced several pro-active initiatives to prevent “expenditure-driven corruption” in public entities and promote accountability in public entities. “These interventions included evaluation of the implementation of the Auditor-General’s recommendations by public entities; programs encouraging public entities to formulate integrity strategies; development of a Prevention of Corruption Toolkit, and the establishment and operationalisation of Integrity Committees. This was done to complement the continuous compliance spot checks, systems and processes review exercises and public awareness," reads part of the Zacc report. There were also cases of corruption unearthed in government by Zacc. "For cases relating to public officials in Ministries, most of the complaints received were against public officials within the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement; Ministry of Mines and Mining Development; and the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works. 46% of the complaints were against officials from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development particularly the Lands Department," reads the report. Former Zacc chairperson Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo ZACC officials recover US$29m assets offshore

Page 4 News NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 Elections cost taxpayers US$188m NATHAN GUMA THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) received ZW$860 billion (US$188 266 199) to conduct the 23 August general elections, a figure which is likely to balloon in the forthcoming parliamentary and local authority by-elections, The NewsHawks have learnt. The country is going back to the polls on 9 December following controversial recalls by main opposition self-proclaimed secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu. The recalls, which have been endorsed by Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda, have been largely viewed as a ploy by the ruling Zanu PF to force through a two-thirds majority that would allow it to amend the constitution to bolster President Emmerson Mnangagwa's stay in power. According to Zec’s report on the 2023 harmonised elections, the ZW$860 billion budget supported the acquisition of election materials and equipment, vehicles and equipment hire, training welfare of elections officials and related costs. “Unaudited expenditure as at 18 September 2023 is ZW$612 billion (71%). Treasury availed the budget in time, save for delays experienced in some circumstances which was however urgently attended to. “The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is commended for timely realising of the budget,” reads the report. The commission also received support from the European Union's ZIM-ECO 2 project which mostly covered publicity programmes and media moniotoring. In September, the EU pulled its US$5 million funding to the ZIM-ECO 2 project after the sham elections, further casting funding of the polls into doubt. The EU had been funding the ZIM-ECO 2 project to enhance Zec’s capacity to conduct the electoral process, with the aim of contributing to the improvement of the entire electoral cycle, not limited to elections alone. “The project supporting Zec, which is managed by UNDP [United Nations Development Programme] and scheduled to run until December 2024, is currently under scrutiny due to concerns raised by several international Electoral Observation Missions (EOMs) regarding the independence and transparency of Zec during the 2023 harmonised elections,” the EU said in a statement. “The recent preliminary statements from multiple EOMs, including the EU EOM, have raised concerns about Zec’s management of the electoral process, particularly regarding its independence and transparency. “The EU contributes together with other donors to a UNDP-managed project aiming at enhancing Zec’s institutional and technical capabilities to fulfil its constitutional mandate. In response to these concerns and in adherence to responsible management of EU development cooperation funds, the EU has initiated a procedure to suspend its contribution to this project.” While Zec was embroiled in a ballot paper scandal, the commission said it procured goods and services in terms of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act and subjected processes to due dilligence for value for money. This is ironic, considering that Zec has been under fire for failing to provide enough ballot paper during the general election, which saw some voters casting their ballots deep into the night, sparking outrage from the opposition and key election observers. Zec has however shifted blame on court challenges against it for the challenges in the production and distribution of ballot paper. “During the election activities, auditors were deployed in all the provinces including districts. The Ballot paper and voters' rolls for the 2023 harmonised elections were printed by the Printing and Minting Company of Zimbabwe (PCMZ) formerly Fidelity Printers. The commission faced challenges in the production and distribution of ballot papers,” Zec said. “These challenges emanated largely from what has now come to be called lawfare against the commission. The commission faced an unprecedented number of court challenges (more than 100 applications) arising from the outcome of the nomination courts. “The court challenges derailed its preprationsand roadmap as it sought to attend to the court challeges and to meet the proclaimed electoral timeline. “The production and distribution strategy adopted by the commission prioritised the remote and more distant provinces to ease distribution challenges against limited timeframes.Thus it should be noted that the delays werelargely experienced in Harare.” Zec said the delays in ballot paper distribution were further caused by the need to reprintballots after it had been observed that therewere errors on the ballots that had been sent tothe affected polling stations. “While the commission experienced theaforestated challenges, efforts were made to ensure that no voters were disenfranchised. Therefore a stastical analysis average voter turnout by polling station showed no statistically signficant difference between  affected and unaffected polling stations,” reads the report. “The commission requested the President to consider exercising his powers under StatutoryInstrument 85 of 2023 that voting could be extendined to the 24th of August 2023 in those areas that have been affected by the delays under SI 151 of 2023 thereby extending voting to24 August 2023.” Zec Chairperson Priscilla Chigumba and other officias addressing the media

NewsHawks News Page 5 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 BRENNA MATENDERE THE once formidable opposition MDC’s vast property empire is under threat as party  leader Douglas Mwonzora bids to sell some of its prized assets to raise money to settle arrears, including utility bills, salaries and other operating costs, while also raising cash for himself, insiders say. Sources said the party’s properties include its headquarters Harvest House, now known as Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House, in central Harare, residential stands, provincial offices and 25 safe houses bought and donated by well-wishers since the party’s formation in 1999. Some of the properties such as provincial offices are registered under a company called Laphonic Investments formed during the late founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s leadership. The company’s directors at inception included senior party officials, particularly Tendai Biti, Elton Mangoma and  Theresa Makone. The MDC was founded in September 1999 by Tsvangirai and his Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union and professional colleagues such Gibson Sibanda, Isaac Matongo, Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti, Gift Chimanikire, Fletcher Dulini Ncube, Tapiwa Mashakada, David Coltart, Thokozani Khupe, Tafadzwa Musekiwa, Job Sikhala, Learnmore Jongwe, Evelyn Masaiti, Esaph Mdlongwa, Morgen Komichi and Pauline Mpariwa. The party split starting 2005 and several times after that, but the MDC-T faction led by Tsvangirai remained the main formation until his death in February 2018. When Tsvangirai died, Nelson Chamisa took over amid a fierce succession battle with Khupe. After the 2018 elections, Mwonzorwa seized the MDC-T and the   MDC-Alliance backed by Zanu PF and the courts. He was assisted by state agents to physically seize control of the party headquarters. After his ascendancy to the helm of the party following a controversial court ruling, apparently with Zanu PF and state assistance, Mwonzora changed the directors to include himself, Mashakada and Julius Musevenzi. Properties listed under Laphonic entail the MDC provincial offices for Harare in Highfield and other regional offices in Kwekwe, Bindura, Marondera, Chinhoyi, Gweru and Masvingo, sources said. There is also a stand under the company in Harare’s Kopje area and two others in Mutare, they said. Further, Mwonzora is now exerting pressure on party structures to sell some of the properties to raise funds for the party and himself. His moves started in earnest in August during a party standing committee meeting in Harare as he sought a resolution to first sell properties occupied by the Citizens' Coalition for Change (CCC) in Chinhoyi, Kwekwe and Bulawayo. “Manoeuvres to sell party properties are underway. Mwonzora wants to sell the properties to settle bills and raise money for himself. He is saying if we sell the properties now at our greatest time of need, we will replace them when the time comes. His intention is to sell the properties at higher prices, pay bills and then buy cheaper ones so, while keeping some of the money in the process,” said a source. The NewsHawks heard that MDC Bulawayo offices were at an advanced stage of being sold, but the deal fell through when the prospective buyer demanded title deeds, which Mwonzora did not have. Some of the people who donated properties to the party withheld the title deeds. The sources said Mwonzora also wants to sell off the MDC’s 25 safe houses which were used to provide refuge to party members and supporters whenever they were under threat from Zanu PF or the state. “There is also the issue of the 25 safe houses which the party owns. Mwonzora also wants to sell them. Currently he is keeping with him documents for the safe houses which he got from Toendepi Shonhe (former MDC director-general) who used to manage them during the Tsvangirai era. Shonhe surrendered the papers to Mwonzora under a certain arrangement. As for the Harvest House, Mwonzora  has put a price tag of US$3.5 million on it,” a source said. Sources said Mwonzora’s motivation is to collect state funds that were due to the MDC before the recent elections and raise more money from sale of the properties. The Political Parties (Finance) Act provides for the financing of political parties by the state; to prohibit foreign donations to parties and candidates. Mwonzora has collected millions that were disbursed to the MDC under the law. He got US$45 000 just before the August elections. The sources said Mwonzora also pocketed US$8 000 from an Indian firm that wanted to rent part of Harvest House. The expectation was that the money would be used to pay outstanding salaries of workers, but sources said Mwonzora insisted that he wanted to use it to travel to the United Kingdom to attend the Labour Party’s congress held recently from 8-11 October. “Mwonzora’s deals are dodgy and messy. There is now a stand-off with the Indians who want to rent some of the party’s space as a Chinese company was also given a lease to rent the same section of the building. Attempts to evict a tenant renting the former regalia shop selling groceries to pave way for the Indians has hit a brick wall. The Indians now want to go to court,” said the source. Mwonzora’s spokesperson Llyod Damba said issues against his boss were unfounded. “For your own information, the President does not micro-manage every department and he is not the party treasurer. Those are malicious rumours peddled by enemies of the party. Your question is administrative, so the best person to answer those stupid malicious stories of yours is Tapiwa Mashakada and the treasurer-general Brain Dube,” he said. Mashakada was not reachable while Dube did not respond to questions sent to him. Chengetrai Guta, the MDC director of information and publicity, told The NewsHawks: “First, it was MDC workers have kicked out Mwonzora and taken over MRT House, then it was Zesa and police lock our headquarters for illegal connections and now this? There is no truth in all that. Those are frivolous and malicious allegations which cannot be sustained.” Contacted for comment, Mwonzora said: “I am not interested in your rubbish. So unprofessional, so cheap. We are no longer talking to you and your publications. You are unprofessional and biased against the MDC. I have advised our officials never to have anything to do with you. If you continue defaming us we will have no option but to sue you.” Mwonzora moves to sell off MDC property to pay bills — PICTURE: AARON UFUMELI

Page 6 News NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 OWEN GAGARE ZIMBABWE Defence Forces commander General Philip Valerio Sibanda will retire at the end of the year and pave way for a new security services chief in charge of the country’s military, an official source says. “Sibanda will retire at the end of the year soon after turning 69,” a source said. “After the recent political developments, he is going. The only question now is who will replace him? “The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) is hierarchically structured, with a three-star headquarters commanded by a lieutenant-general, who is the commander. The ZNA commander is deputised by three major-generals appointed chiefs-of staff. Together with the commander, they constitute the ZNA command element. The structure has five branches namely: general staff, training, administration, quartermaster and inspectorate. General, administration and quartermaster staff branches sponsor corps and directorates grouped according to their specialised roles.” The source continued: “There are several suitable candidates to take over from him who are serving and retired lieutenant-generals. The obvious names that come to mind, for instance, are those of ZNA commander Lieutenant Anselem Sanyatwe or retired Lieutenant-General Engelbert Rugeje. Although these are Vice-President retired General Constantino Chiwenga’s close allies, they are well-positioned to take from Sibanda. “The changes will therefore shake up the structure and end up touching several important positions in the army, including the Air Force. If Sanyatwe moves up to become ZDF commander, then ZNA Major-General Hlanganani  Dube, Chief-of-Staff (Quartermaster Staff), may take over from Sanyatwe. Apart from Dube, there are others such as Major-General Kasirai Tazira and Major-General Emmanuel Matatu who are qualified for that job. “However, Rugeje is being tipped to return even if Mnangagwa may not prefer that option. In doing all this, there is always the issue of balance between former Zanla and Zipra commanders at the top. At the moment former Zipra commanders are occupying top positions of ZDF commander (Sibanda) and Air Force of Zimbabwe Air Marshal Elson Moyo. Changes will take all that into account.” The source said police might also see some changes, particularly with the likelihood of Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga being sent to Tanzania as ambassador, while being replaced by deputy commissioner-general Stephen Mutamba.” This follows Sibanda’s unconstitutional appointment into the ruling Zanu PF decision-making administrative organ, the politburo, as an ex officio member amid a series of constitutional violations which characterise Mnangagwa’s presidency. Mnangagwa had appointed Sibanda into the politburo last month at the end of the Zanu PF annual conference in Gweru, but was pressured to reverse it after initial resistance. “To fill the vacancy, I am appointing Cde Rose Mpofu of Matabeleland South province as a Politburo member and the new Secretary for People with Disabilities. Additionally, ‘Cde Gwenzi’, General Philip Valerio Sibanda, as an ex-officio member of the Politburo,” Mnangagwa said. The move was widely and swiftly criticised as unconstitutional and unlawful. Section 208 of the constitution provides for conduct of members of security services, specifically prohibiting acting in a partisan manner and furthering interests of any political party or cause. Section 208 of the constitution on the conduct of members of security services, says: (1) Members of the security services must act in accordance with this constitution and the law; (2) Neither the security services nor any of their members may, in the exercise of their functions: (a) act in a partisan manner; (b) further the interests of any political party or cause; (c) prejudice the lawful interests of any political party or cause; or (d) violate the fundamental rights or freedoms of any person. (3) Members of the security services must not be active members or office-bearers of any political party or organisation; and (4) Serving members of the security services must not be employed or engaged in civilian institutions except in periods of public emergency. However, Mnangagwa insisted on it as brazenly illegal as it was amid a storm of protest. “People are mistaken, they think that General Sibanda is a civil servant. He is not a civil servant; first point. Second point, he is an ex-officio member of the politburo which means that he is not a substantive member of the politburo, he cannot vote in the politburo. He is ex-officio. So, there is no problem, there is no contradiction. He is just a civil servant and I as the President can appoint anybody as an ex-officio member which means by virtue of a certain particular position you can be allowed to sit in our substantive body of the politburo. That’s how it is. Idon’t know who gets offended by him sitting in the politburo. He cannot vote, but he can contribute.” However, public pressure did not relent. Last week, Harare human rights lawyer Kudzi Kadzere wrote to Mnangagwa through Mbidzo,Muchadehama & Makoni Legal Practitioners,demanding reversal of Sibanda’s appointmentwithin 10 days. General Sibanda going yearend ZDF commander General Phillip Valerio Sibanda

NewsHawks News Page 7 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 BRENNA MATENDERE PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s promises to break with the past and chart a new path for Zimbabwe after the ouster of long-time leader Robert Mugabe are ringing hollow as the southern African nation further slides into an authoritarian state six years on, political analysts have said. On 21 November 2017, Mugabe’s iron-fisted rule came to an end after his prodigy, Mnangagwa, took the reins backed by the military. Euphoria gripped the 15-million-strong nation following Mugabe’s ouster codenamed Operation Restore Legacy. Upon returning home following his sacking and dramatic escape from the country, Mnangagwa pledged to break with the past and usher in a new era for Zimbabwe. “The voice of the people is the voice of God,” he told multitudes gathered at Zanu PF headquarters on his return. Many thought this mantra signalled his plans to build a strong democracy in the region. But a series of events that were to later unfold told a different story. For starters, Mnangagwa lost international goodwill when the security forces opened fire on unarmed civilians protesting the delay in announcing the presidential election result. Now analysts say Zimbabweans are living in dire situations engulfed by a culture of impunity and fear. This, they say, has made Mugabe's repressive rule appear better compared to the status quo. A trend analysis of Afrobarometer data clearly shows that seven out of 10 Zimbabweans are unhappy with the direction the country has been taking since 2017. For instance, in early 2017 under the late president Mugabe, 60% of citizens felt Zimbabwe was going in the wrong direction. After Mnangagwa took over, this perception increased to 62% in mid-2018, then jumped to 67% in 2021 and reached 72% in 2022. There is also considerable consensus that, contrary to the 2017 grandiose governance promises, the situation is worse off. Professor of World Politics at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, Stephen Chan, told The NewsHawks that all hope that was rekindled during the coup has been lost. “The overthrow of Mugabe led briefly to great hope, but all hope was disappointed. Everything has gotten worse, both economically and in terms of free political openness. Space and prospects have been reduced for the majority of the people. Projects and policies are designed to benefit only the elite. One has to say that the Mnangagwa regime sees Zimbabwe in its worst state since independence,” he said. Political analyst Vivid Gwede in an interview with The NewsHawks this week said: “What is clear is that the promises made during the coup have not materialised. Many people still struggle with their extreme poverty as shown by the World Bank reports, democracy is challenged by disputed elections, human rights violations still abound, and international re-engagement is a pipe dream. “Of course the motivations of the coup, as people now realise, might have been different from what they expected. Over half a decade later, there is need for deeper reflection and a more inclusive development path.” Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition spokesperson Obert Masaraure concurred. “Mnangagwa has betrayed the legacy of the liberation struggle, betrayed his own Zanu PF party, betrayed the people of Zimbabwe and defiled the national constitution. “The man has managed to reduce all state institutions into a circus in six years, reduce the majority of our people into paupers, destroy social services and even mortgage some national assets to foreigners. “The highly corrupt Emmerson Mnangagwa government has trampled on workers' rights and destroyed education. Six years on, Mnangagwa isn't slowing down; he is on a spirited drive to destroy Zimbabwe,” he said. Political analyst Rashweat Mukundu said that six years after the coup, Zimbabwe is now worse off. “I think Zimbabwe is in serious trouble after that coup. It was the worst decision for the citizens of this country to support the coup,” Mukundu said. “We are actually seeing the negative effects of this unconstitutional removal of a political leader because the disregard of the rule of law by Mnangagwa in terms of how citizens in the opposition are attacked, changes in the constitution, brazen maladminstration of the electoral process, are all outcomes of the 2017 coup. “So this was the worst thing that could happen to Zimbabwe if we look back retrospectively. We essentially destroyed the essence of the rule of law and we are seeing the effects now,” he said. While corruption is still rampant, with the latest evidence being Al Jazeera's Gold Mafia corruption exposé that caught the perpetrators of graft speaking on camera about they siphoned bullion worth millions of dollars, political tolerance and respect for human rights promised during the coup remain pie in the sky. Cases of opposition activists being the targets of systematic state-sponsored intimidation, brutality and in some cases extra-judicial killings are on the rise. The recent abduction, torture and murder of Mabvuku pastor and CCC activist Tapfumaneyi Masaya has also highlighted the growing culture of impunity as no charges have been placed on the suspects. He was murdered by suspected Zanu PF goons while coming for the opposition Citizens' Coalition for Change party. Weeks ago, an opposition MP, Takudzwa Ngadziore, was abducted, tortured and left for dead by suspected state security agents. After six years of the so-called new dispensation, Zimbabwe remains under Western sanctions and isolated from the community of nations because of its failure to reform from the dark days of Mugabe’s draconian leadership style that included rigging elections, an occurrence that happened again on 23 August this year. On 15 April, 2022, just three days before Zimbabwe’s 41st Independence anniversary, Mnangagwa dispatched a tweet whose central message is a stark summary of the current state of the nation. “Zimbabweans, our roads are in a state of emergency. It pains me to see so many potholes on our once great highways. We must act urgently,” he wrote on the social media platform, sparking animated debate across the country. However, the state of the roads, especially the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway remains deplorable. Rewind to 13 November 2017, the then commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and now Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga held a Press conference shunned by state media and promised the nation that the military was geared to upholding the constitution and ensuring that citizens enjoy all their freedoms. There is a sharp increase in cases of brute repression and worsening levels of corruption, with many saying the discredited politics of old are still ruling the roost. On 13 November 2017, the then commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and now Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga held a Press conference shunned by state media and promised the nation that the military was geared to uphold the constitution and ensure Six years after coup, Mnangagwa still squandering massive goodwill

Page 8 News NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 that citizens enjoy all their freedoms. The address by Chiwenga marked the beginning of the coup in earnest. “Let us begin by quoting the constitution of this country, particularly the preamble which speaks of 'Exalting and extolling the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives during the Chimurenga/Umvukela and national liberation struggles and honouring our forebears and compatriots who toiled for the progress of our country' . . .” “From a security point of view we cannot ignore the experiences of countries such as Somalia, DRC, Central Africa Republic and many others in our region where minor political differences degenerated into serious conflict that had decimated the social, political and economic security of ordinary people,” said Chiwenga. He went on to quote specific sections of the constitution. “Section 212 of the constitution of Zimbabwe mandates the Zimbabwe Defence Forces to protect Zimbabwe, its people, its national security and interests and its territorial integrity and to uphold this constitution.” “. . . Further, we must understand that the freedoms that we enjoy today were as a result of supreme sacrifice by some of our countrymen and women and this must not be taken for granted. Let us remove this air of uncertainty and allow Zimbabweans to enjoy their freedoms and rights as enshrined in the national constitution,” he said. Two days later, in the early hours of 15 November 2017, the then major-general Sibusiso Moyo who at the time was chief of staff (logistics), made a hair-raising speech on the national broadcaster ZBC vowing that the army had begun an operation to arrest criminals around the late Mugabe and fight corruption in the country. At that time, the military had seized the ZBC, restricted Mugabe’s movement and blocked access to government offices as the coup gained traction. “Following the address we made on November 13, 2017, which we believe our main broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and The Herald were directed not to publicise, the situation in our country has moved to another level. Firstly, we wish to assure the nation that His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and commander-in-chief of Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Comrade RG Mugabe, and his family are safe and sound and their security is guaranteed.” “We are only targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice,” he said. The late Moyo, who died after having been appointed Foreign Affairs tzar, made further promises to improve the welfare of civil servants, ensure the independence of the judiciary, protection of the democratic roles of legislators, bring an end to political violence and the upholding of freedoms of citizens. “To the judiciary, the measures underway are intended to assure that as an independent arm of the state you are able to exercise your independent authority without fear of being obstructed as has been the case with this group of individuals.” “To our members of Parliament, your legislative role is of paramount importance for peace and stability in this country and it is our desire that a dispensation is created that allows you to serve your respective political constituencies according to democratic tenets.” “To the generality of the people of Zimbabwe, we urge you to remain calm and limit unnecessary movement. However, we encourage those who are employed and those with essential business in the city to continue their normal activities. Our wish is that you enjoy your rights and freedoms and that we return our country to a dispensation that allows for investment, development and prosperity that we all fought for and for which many of our citizens paid the supreme sacrifice.” “To political parties, we urge you to discourage your members from engaging in violent behaviour.” “To the youth, we call upon you to realise that the future of this country is yours. Do not be enticed with dirty coins of silver. Be disciplined and remain committed to the ethos and values of this great nation.” “To all churches and religious organisations in Zimbabwe, we call upon you and your congregations to pray for our country and preach the gospel of love, peace, unity and development,” the late Moyo pledged in the televised address before he boldly declared: “To both our people and the world beyond our borders, we wish to make it abundantly clear that this is not a military takeover of government. What the Zimbabwe Defence Forces is actually doing is to pacify a degenerating political, social and economic situation in our country, which if not addressed may result in a violent conflict.” However, many of those who celebrated Mugabe’s dramatic ouster have since admitted their naivety. On 1 August 2018, barely a year after taking power, Mnangagwa’s government deployed soldiers who shot dead six unarmed civilians in central Harare. They were protesting a delay in the release of presidential election results. When the massacre unfolded, the capital city was teeming with foreign journalists and election observers. The shootings were beamed to a stunned global audience. Mnangagwa had failed a major test; the fancy mask of the “Second Republic” had fallen. There were further killings in January 2019. Over the years, human rights groups have reported an escalation in cases of extrajudicial killings, state-sponsored abductions and torture. Pro-democracy campaigners, opposition activists and journalists have been arrested. Tafadzwa Mugwadi, Zanu PF’s then director of information, recently made a startling revelation at that time: He expressed confidence that Zimbabwe would soon become a one-party state. With the clampdown on the opposition CCC through recalls of its MPs and councillors by an imposter Sengezo Tshabangu, it is clear Zanu PF is still pursuing that path predicted by Mugwadi. On 17 November 2022, Sapes Trust led by academic and publisher Professor Ibbo Mandaza convened a webinar on Zoom, titled Back to the Future: A Review of the Post-November 2017 Coup in Zimbabwe. Petina Gappah, an international trade lawyer, author and former government technocrat who later left the regime, explained why she parted ways with the Mnangagwa administration, pointing out it was because of its non-commitment to improving brand Zimbabwe. “I was sabotaged, I was attacked, because people couldn’t quite work out what my agenda was. “And my agenda was very simple. It’s an agenda, unfortunately, that is not shared by many people, which is why I left and my agenda was the country. Right, I want Zimbabwe to do well, and I left because I felt that the level of ambition was too low. President Emmerson Mnangagwa

NewsHawks News Page 9 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 ZIMBABWEAN police are coming under intensifying pressure and growing scrutiny over the recent abduction and murder of opposition activist Pastor Tapfumaneyi Masaya ahead of by-elections next month. Police at Mabvuku Police Station in Harare’s eastern township have been given names of suspects who are known in the community where Masaya was kidnapped and eventually killed. “Police were given the names of the suspects. One is a driver of a Zanu PF candidate at municipal level. He is well-known in some areas of the community. “Then there is a law enforcement agent based at Mabvuku Police Station. Locals say he is a Central Intelligence Organisation operative. There is also a lady who was involved in identifying opposition activists targeted for attack, including Masaya. These people were seen by locals and are linked to the murder crime,” an informed inside source told The NewsHawks. “However, police are not moving fast enough to act. By now all those people or suspects should have been arrested and kept under lawful police custody to facilitate further investigations. We can’t have a country where people are killed in cold-blood with impunity in the name of politics and nothing happens. That political culture must stop.” Mabvuku residents are still in a state of shock and anger over Masaya’s killing, which has left his wife, children, family, relatives and friends in deep grief and feeling vulnerable without a breadwinner. Last Wednesday, sorrow enveloped Shashe Crescent in Mabvuku as mourners gathered to pay their last respects to the cleric and pro-democracy activist killed in yet another case of suspected state-sponsored abduction, torture and murder. They were restless and anxious awaiting an update from family members and area leadership that had gone to the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals for a post mortem to determine the actual cause of death. When the body eventually came showing that it was battered and disfigured from the impact of brutality that deepened the pain. Masaya was abducted in broad daylight during a door-to-door campaign on Saturday 11 November 2023, drumming up support for the opposition party’s MP candidate, Munyaradzi Febion Kufahakutizwi, who was recalled from Parliament by an activist posturing as the party’s secretary-general, Sengezo Tshabangu. By-elections will be held on 9 December in the five constituencies whose MPs were recalled. Masaya's mutilated body was discovered two days later at the intersection of Arcturus and Lobo roads in Cleveland area and positively identified by his wife at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals mortuary despite having been swollen. The body was found naked. A few hours after our arrival at the core house where Masaya and his family had lived till Saturday 11 November, some distraught, but intoxicated opposition party supporters belted out songs that accused the Zanu PF candidate for Mabvuku-Tafara constituency and a close ally of President Emmerson Mnangagwa Pedzai “Scott” Sakupwanya as the person behind the abduction and murder of Masaya. “Scott ndiwe wakauraya hazvina mhosva pahukama. (Scott you are behind this murder, but it is okay),” they would break into song. The song was sung repeatedly, while many people bemoaned the fact that a peace-loving pastor was killed just because someone desperately wants to enter Parliament. “Amai nababa musandicheme kana ndafa neZanu, ndini ndakazvida kubvisa Zanu pamwechete nevamwe vangu (Mother and father, do not mourn me when Zanu PF kills me. It is I who chose to remove Zanu PF from power alongside my friends),” they sang. In between the silence and the songs were screams and cries from relatives who would intermittently arrive at the Masaya residence. Masaya left behind a wife, a son and two daughters. Although the murder was shocking, human rights and opposition activists say violence has been an operating manual for the ruling party and state security agents. The murder was widely condemned locally, regionally and internationally. Tonderai Dombo, a party member and wellknown activist who was part of the search party, said Mabvuku residents know Masaya’s assailants and have given their names to the police. “We have since made it known to the police that those people were positively identified during the abduction of two of our members. Unfortunately, one of them didn’t make it back home to his family, that is why we are gathered here to mourn his death,” he said. Mourners expressed frustration at the lack of action by the police. “We know that Mabvuku police has got all the names which we have made known to them; the people who were part of the entourage of vehicles that hijacked and abducted our comrades,” said one of the mourners. “So the matter has been reported to the police and we are surprised that the police have not acted.” The deceased’s brother, Edwin Masaya, said they would want perpetrators brought to book by the authorities and justice to prevail. “From the pain induced by this murder, we would be hoping that the perpetrators would have bad things befall them or even have them caught by the police and arraigned before the courts,” he said. “We have seen and heard that opposition activists’ disappearances and murders are barely a priority for the police, but we do not know who did this.” Amid the confusion surrounding the abduction and murder and all the emotions around the loss of a father, a husband and a church leader, presidential spokesperson George Charamba claimed the identified body is not that of Masaya. He did not produce any evidence and his claims later proved to be false, malicious and misleading. Before Masaya’s disappearance, Harare youth quota member of Parliament Takudzwa Ngadziore was abducted, but managed to expose his abductors on social media. He was dumped in the Mt Hampden area a few hours later after the faces of his tormentors were all over social media, forcing them to abort their sinister mission. It was Ngadziore’s second abduction, with the first one occurring outside Impala Car Rental where he ended up at Harare Central Police Station. On 23 October, former member of Parliament for Mabvuku-Tafara James Chidhakwa was abducted and dumped in Arcturus. His dreadlocks were cut and his feet were bleeding, suggesting he was cut with sharp objects. He also suffered a fractured leg and pelvis. Earlier on 2 September 2023, Harare’s elected ward 27 councillor Womberaiishe Nhende and Sanele Mkhuhlane were abducted in similar fashion, by men in an unmarked Toyota Fortuner vehicle at Selbourne Routledge in Harare. They were dumped in Mapinga, about 73 kilometres from Harare and, in line with the modus operandi, they were injected with unknown substances. In the aftermath, on 16 October 2023, Harare West lawmaker Joana Mamombe sent an SOS that gun-toting men had jumped into her home’s yard on an unknown mission. On 27 August 2023, former Marondera West councillor Nelson Mukwenha (2018-2023) under the MDC-Alliance was abducted after he jumped to the defence of Citizens’ Coalition for Change spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi, when Law and Order section police details, who had not identified themselves, wanted to forcefully snatch Mkwananzi during the Press briefing. A few hours later, CCC put out a notice that Mukwenha had been abducted but had been found. On the eve of the 23 August elections, Tafadzwa Chitsunge, a CCC supporter, was killed in cold blood during an election campaign programme in Glen View, Harare. His killers are all out on bail, and they were not charged with murder but, surprisingly, incitement to commit public violence. In the run up to the by-elections of 26 March 2022, another CCC activist Mboneni Ncube, was killed in cold blood at an opposition rally. In 2020, Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova were abducted from Harare Central Police Station and dumped in Mashonaland Central province. In every election period, lives are lost. Zimbabwe has a long history of political violence, brutality and murder, especially during elections. – STAFF WRITER. Pressure intensifies on police over Masaya abduction case Late former Bishop Tapfumaneyi Masaya was abducted while campaigning for CCC in Mabvuku.

Page 10 News NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 NATHAN GUMA HUMAN rights watchdog the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (The Forum) says terror is reigning supreme in the country as violations of fundamental rights escalate with no trusted avenues for recourse. The post-election period has been marred by serious violations, which have seen opposition activits and human rights defenders being targets. This growing culture of impunity has attracted the ire of the international community and pressure groups. In its latest communiqué, The Forum urged the government to fulfil its commitment to international instruments that seek to protect human rights, amid indications of an increase in impunity. “Enforced disappearance is a practice that is strictly prohibited under international human rights law in all circumstances. It is an abhorrent practice that amounts to a serious violation of several freedoms and rights protected under international human rights law,” reads the communique. “Given the potentially explosive situation we now find ourselves in as a country, The Forum strongly urges the government of Zimbabwe to stand firm by its commitment during the 77th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, that it welcomes a fact-finding mission to look into human rights issues of concern raised by Zimbabwe CSOs [civil society organisations] and various regional human rights organisations that are inclusive of but not limited to abductions/enforced disappearances. “Urgently constitute and operationalise the independent complaints mechanism envisioned under section 210 of the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe which will enable victims and survivors of human rights violations and abuses by of members of the security services to lodge complaints and have an avenue for redress.” The country has seen an increase in human abuses ahead of the by-elections slated for December 9, after a series of recalls by self-proclaimed Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu. For instance, former Mabvuku legislator James Chidhakwa was abducted on October 23, while picking his wife from work. This month, Bishop Tapfumaneyi Masaya, a cleric was abducted while campaigning in Mabvuku, Harare on behalf of CCC’s main candidate for the December by-elections. He was bundled into a vehicle by unknown men and was never seen or heard from again. His body was found three days after his abduction. According to his own narration, while parked outside, a metallic blue Toyota Fortuner parked next to him, at around 1900hrs, and the assailants forcefully bundled him into their car. A sack was placed over his head, after which the assailants proceeded to thoroughly beat him as the vehicle drove away. After the car stopped, a knife was used to cut off his clothes from his body, and was later injected with an unknown substance, after which he was again physically assaulted and beaten again. Earlier this month, main opposition CCC legislator Takudzwa Ngadziore was saved by a seven-minute long Facebook Live video he was recording after learning that he was being followed by AK47-wielding assailants. Ngadziore was found tortured, battered and naked, also allegedly injected with an unknown substance before being dumped at Christon Bank, Mazowe, a few kilometres from Harare. “It is a well-established fact that victims of abduction are themselves turned into accused persons when they attempt to file reports with the police. The victim-turned-accused trend has been deployed in some cases to victimise victims of abductions and torture in Zimbabwe,” it reads. Terror reigns supreme as violations of rights rises CCC legislator Takudzwa Ngadziore in hospital Zimbabwe has seen an increase in human rights abuses ahead of the by-elections slated for December 9.

NewsHawks News Page 11 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 RUVIMBO MUCHENJE ZIMBABWE’S main opposition Citizens' Coalition for Change (CCC) has accused the Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda and the President of the Senate Mabel Chinomona of acting in contempt of court after they allowed further recalls of lawmakers and councillors sanctioned by self-imposed secretary-general of the party Sengezo Tshabangu to sail in open defiance of a High Court order. The CCC, through its lawyer Obey Shava, plans to challenge the illegal action by Mudenda and Chinomona of recalling CCC MPs including opposition chief whip Amos Chibaya, senators and councillors including Harare mayor Ian Makone and his deputy, Kudzai Kadzombe. “We reiterate that there is a court order stopping any further recalls and we are taking action against it, we are challenging it before the courts,” said Shava, the party’s lawyer in the matters that are currently before the courts. Tshabangu has recalled over 30 MPs in what critics and opposition party activists say is a ploy by Zanu PF and the state apparatus to weaken the party and push for a two-thirds majority dominance of the ruling party. The party, through its president Nelson Chamisa and deputy spokesperson  Gift Siziba, who was also recalled, have openly questioned Tshabangu’s credentials as well as endgame in the rapidly unfolding political drama. On 14 November 2023, Mudenda and Chinomona read letters from Tshabangu that recalled 13 members of the National Assembly and five senators respectively. This was in open defiance of the High Court order granted by Justice Tawanda Chitapi, which stated that recalls be halted until a determination on the matter where the CCC is challenging the eligibility of Tshabangu to act in the capacity of secretary-general. “Pending the determination of this urgent application, the 1st Respondent shall not purport to nor issue any suspensions of an letters of suspension of any members of The National Assembly, The Senate or Local Authorities elected under the Applicant's ticket and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Respondents as the case may be, shall not effect any recalls made pursuant to any request by the 1st Respondent in terms hereof,” read Justice Chitapi’s order that had been granted on the same day at 11am. Despite this judgement, Mudenda went on to read the recall letters from Tshabangu, and in his defence he said: “Fourth announcement, Section 129 (1)(k) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that 'a seat of a Member of Parliament becomes vacant, if the Member ceases to belong to the political party of which he or she was a Member, when elected to Parliament and the political party concerned, by written notice to the Speaker or the President of the Senate, as the case may be, has declared that the Member has ceased to belong to it'. Accordingly, I have to inform the House that with effect from 7th November, 2023, the following Members ceased to be Members for Citizens Coalition for Change Political Party. First, Admore Chivero — Chegutu West Constituency; Stephen Chatiza — Goromonzi South Constituency; Gift Ostallos Siziba — Pelandaba Constituency; Tapfumanei Willard Madzimbamuto — Seke Constituency; Oliver Mutasa — Zvimba East Constituency; Amos Chibaya — Mkoba North Constituency; Emma Muzondiwa — Midlands PR; Machirairwa Mugidho — Masvingo PR; Constance Chihota Mashonaland East PR; Monica Mukwada — Manicaland PR; Linnet Mazingaidzo — Harare Province and Dephine Gutsa — Mashonaland East PR,” read Mudenda. Just as he completed making his announcement, CCC MP for Hwange Central, Daniel Molokele rose on a point of order to make Mudenda aware of the court order. “On a point of order, Mr Speaker Sir. Having listened to your announcement, I need to clarify whether the Honourable Speaker is aware that earlier today, the High Court of Zimbabwe ruled — there was a court ruling today that nullified any further recalls, pending the finalisation of the matter that is before the courts. Is the Honourable Speaker not aware of that ruling of the High Court that there are no further recalls, pending that decision?" queried Molokele. In his defence, the Speaker said he was yet to receive the copy of the order, although at law, a court order is effective on pronouncement and not only when put on paper. ank you very much. I have not received from any representative of the Citizens Coalition for Change Political Party a copy of that Order. Once that Court Order is received and states what you are saying, in terms of the law, the Court Order will supersede the recall accordingly. So, as soon as I get that, I will act in terms of the Court Order. Thank you,” said Mudenda. On that same day, in the Senate, the recall of five senators was announced, but there was no resistance from the senators. “Section 129 (l) (k) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that: 'a seat of a Member of Parliament becomes vacant if the Member has ceased to belong to the political party of which he or she was a Member when elected to Parliament and the political party concerned, by written notice to the Speaker or the President of the Senate as the case maybe, declare that the Member has ceased to belong to the party'. I therefore wish to inform the House that with effect from the 10th of November 2023, the following Members ceased to be Members of Citizens Coalition for Change political party. 1. Hon. Sen Webster Maondera Harare 2. Hon. Sen Jameson Timba Harare 3. Hon. Sen Editor Matamisa Mashonaland West 4. Hon. Sen Vongai Tome Harare 5. Hon. Sen Ralph T Magunje Mashonaland West Accordingly, if the aforesaid five Members are in the House, may they respectively leave the House now,” The following day, 15 November,  Mudenda continued with parliamentary business despite being served with the order. CCC chief whip, Clifford Hlatywayo, raised on a point of order to again remind the speaker of the court order. “On a point of order. Mr Speaker, yesterday you informed the House that you had received a letter from one Tshabangu, illegally recalling CCC Members of Parliament. We informed you Mr Speaker that there is a court process that was underway and a judgement from the court was there to stop any recalls from one Tshabangu. Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, you promised the House that you are going to reinstate the Citizens Coalition for Change Members of Parliament after receiving that judgement. I understand, Mr Speaker, that you have received that judgement and we expect you to then action your promise to reinstate Members of Parliament who were illegally recalled by Tshabangu,” said Hlatywayo. Mudenda changed tune, saying the court order had no consequence on notices of recalls that were submitted before the ruling. “You must be very careful in interpreting legal language. The court made an interim relief and the interim relief was made after I had made the announcement. The delivery of that relief was given after the announcement, you must be very logical. "Further, the notice of recall is effective from the date of the letter which is the 7 th of November 2023. If you read paragraph four of that interim relief, it says the respondent, Tshabangu, was indicted from making any further recalls from that sitting of that court. There is no way the Judge would say no to make any further recalls when in fact the recalls were made. So, in my discussion with Honourable Hlatywayo, in the presence of Honourable Hwende and Honourable Gumbo, the lawyer in my boardroom, I explained to them having been sent as emissaries by CCC members of Parliament that as the judge indicated, the matter will be finalised, that is the urgent application, will be finalised on Monday. After the finalisation of that matter on Monday, the National Assembly Speaker and the Senate President will be directed in terms of the status of the first respondent, Tshabangu, that is what we agreed on yesterday. I thought we understood each other. So, the recall of the 7th of November stands and is, not affected by the interim relief and further, do not be misled by NewsDay and Daily News who totally misunderstood that interim relief. So, I rule that the notice read yesterday stands and those members who were affected can they kindly leave the chamber,” said Mudenda. In the Senate, Senator Nonhlanhla Mlotshwa rose on a point of order to make the President of the Senate aware that there is a court order against recalls. “I rise on a point of order. Yesterday, our senators were recalled but we had a High Court interdict stopping the Senate and the National Assembly from recalling our members. We need clarification on whether this House is going to follow the interdict,” said Mlotshwa. The President of the Senate said the court process is a parallel process to Parliament's process. “Thank you, Honourable Mlotshwa. Unfortunately, that issue is not for debate in this House as the case is with the courts. So we will allow the courts to do their work and if any instruction is given to us, we will comply,” said the acting Senate president. In the aftermath of the recall, Mabvuku-Tafara residents petitioned Parliament to reinstate their member of Parliament, but Mudenda dismissed it. “I have the following announcements. First, I wish to inform the House that on 18th October, 2023, Parliament of Zimbabwe received a petition from the residents of Mabvuku and Tafara constituency, beseeching Parliament to reverse the recall of their member of Parliament. The petition was deemed inadmissible because the petitioners’ prayer falls outside the jurisdiction or mandate of Parliament,” said the Speaker on the same day he announced the second batch of recalls. Meanwhile, many were left in awe this week when the party led by Nelson Chamisa, the Citizens' Coalition for Change, was described as a reincarnation of the MDC-Alliance by Tshabangu. Tshabangu’s lawyer, Nqobani Sithole, said the CCC is not a new creation but a rebranded MDC-Alliance. “The MDC moved or morphed into CCC, the events of the 21st day of February (January) 2022 leading to the 22nd day of February (January) 2022 where a decision was made, Job Sikhala presided over it as the chairperson of the party at the material time. That the MDC (Alliance) is going to participate in an election as CCC and every other office bearer in that respect is retained,” said Sithole. The judge indefinitely reserved judgement in the matter. CCC accuses the Speaker of doing Zanu PF bidding Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda

Page 12 News NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 BRENNA MATENDERE FOREVER Associates Zimbabwe (Faz), a shadowy organisation linked to the country’s spy agency, has retraced its footsteps back into the political arena, this time campaigning for ruling party candidates vying for nine parliamentary seats which fell vacant following recalls by the self-imposed main opposition party secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu. Vacancies were created when Tshabangu wrote to the clerk of Parliament, announcing that he had recalled 14 legislators drawn from Matabeleland South, Matabeleland North and Bulawayo provinces as well as Mabvuku-Tafara constituency in Harare. Several opposition local authority councillors were also recalled. Now as the 9 December by-elections draw closer, Faz, which was at the centre of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s disputed electoral victory, is using both overt and covert tactics to win erstwhile opposition seats. While some vacancies will be filled without going to polls through proportional representation, there will be by-elections in nine constituencies. Information gathered by The NewsHawks indicates that Faz, which is headed by deputy director-general of the Central Intelligence Organisation Walter Tapfumanei, has therefore redeployed its officers in the constituencies where they are using various campaign strategies to help Zanu PF snatch seats from CCC and achieve its aim to have a two-thirds majority in Parliament that can enable the ruling party to tinker with the constitution. In Lupane, where there is a by election, The NewsHawks has established that Faz is employing intimidation tactics by threatening villagers that they will be excluded from government food handouts and agricultural input programmes if they continued voting for the opposition. In other areas, Faz members are carrying out door-to-door campaigns, with Zanu PF cell registers forcing residents to give out their personal details that the shadowy group will use on its exit poll survey desks. Gift “Ostalos” Siziba, the CCC deputy spokesperson, in an interview with The NewsHawks, confirmed that Faz has gone back to the ground in its bid to push for Zanu PF victories in the campaigns albeit through undemocratic means. “Faz is working in communities so that Zanu PF wins on the margin of terror. They are also coming into urban areas now and the case of slain Bishop Tapfumanei Masaya is the latest example. “In a free and fair election, Zanu PF knows that it will never win a single seat in those by-elections. We have said that any elections without reforms is not about political choices but life and death. The elections are no longer about contestation of ideas but life and death,” he said. Siziba revealed that the CCC has since devised ways to slow down Faz and push back on its nasty activities. “We are deploying young people to defend the vote. We know they want to win through ballot stuffing. As a democratic party, we are also continuing to report cases to police even though they seem powerless to tackle Faz. We are saying police under all circumstances must perform their constitutional duties of protecting citizens,” said the deputy CCC spokesperson. During the last elections, The NewsHawks gathered details of how the intelligence service through Faz was running the Zanu PF campaign as defined in its operating manual titled “Scope of Campaign Activities”. Part of the document reads: “The mainstay of this campaign is door-to-door intimate voter contact. This allows the volunteer to move from house-to-house and workplace-to-workplace, talking to individual voters one at a time. This, in turn, enables the volunteer to know the problems voters face, gauge their level of support for party and candidate, and tailor massages and campaign activities to address their concerns.  These visits must not be once-off, but must become regular to help the party to dominate and saturate the environment while denying the same to opponents.” Faz also played a major role in destabilising the opposition at the candidate nomination exercise for the 23 August polls. The shadowy group planted double and sometimes triple parallel candidates to those genuinely put forward by the Nelson Chamisa-led party, in a well-orchestrated ploy to split the opposition vote. The chicanery involved sponsoring the candidates to submit nomination papers to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) without the approval of the CCC and also forging the signatures and logo of the party. The trend was rampant in Harare’s peri-urban constituencies where Zanu PF was anxious to outfox the opposition. Kudakwashe Chatambudza was the only candidate on the official CCC shortlist for Epworth South, but two names, Solomon Baramasimbe and Dydmus Bande, emerged on a Zec list, making a total of three CCC candidates vying for that constituency and the mess was engineered by Faz. In Harare East, where Allan “Rusty” Markham and Tendai Biti made it to the final CCC shortlist and Markham emerged as the preferred candidate but, shockingly, a strange individual Malvin Razaru, appeared on the Zec list as a CCC candidate. Joana Mamombe was the CCC candidate for Harare West, but Faz pushed through Farai Michael Padzarondora to appear alongside her as a CCC candidate. In St Mary’s (Chitungwiza), Freddy Michael Masarirevhu of the CCC was listed allegedly without his knowledge as another candidate after the party’s official candidate, Brighton Mazhindu. Faz forged signatures as well as the party logo and proceeded to pay nomination fees for him. Harare South, a peri-urban area represented by Mnangagwa’s relevative Tongai Mnangagwa on a Zanu PF ticket, ended up having three candidates for the CCC: George Magweta, Dorothy Musonza and Trouble Hasha after Faz interference. While Agency Gumbo was the official candidate for the CCC in Hatcliffe, Faz added one more, Lloyd Sande, in a bid to split the opposition and harvest votes for Zanu PF. Faz spread its operation to Hunyani constituency where Lovemore Chinoputsa, the official CCC candidate, appeared on the Zec list with another individual, Terrence Khumbula, using the opposition party name. In Hatfield, the CCC’s Revai Nyamuronda again appeared on the Zec final list with another candidate pushed by Faz to contest using the same party name, Admire Griza. In Bulawayo, three constituencies had two CCC double candidates — Phelandaba-Tshabalala, Entumbane-Njube and Pumula. CCC candidates Donald Mabutho and Bekithemba Nyathi both filed papers to contest in ward 9, again at the instigation of Faz. Soon after the August 23 general elections, foreign election observer missions accredited to Zimbabwe flagged the involvement of Faz in manipulating voting preferences, predominantly in rural areas. Faz has been accused of intimidating the rural electorate while mobilising support for Zanu PF as part of Mnangagwa’s power retention plan. Faz spearheads Zanu PF by-elections campaign Central Intelligence Organisation deputy director-general Walter Tapfumanei

NewsHawks News Page 13 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 Govt plotting to lock me up: MP RUVIMBO MUCHENJE CITIZENS' Coalition for Change candidate for Mabvuku in the forthcoming by-elections, Fabion Munyaradzi Kufahakutizwi, says he has exposed a plot by Zanu PF candidate Pedzai Sakupwanya and the state machinery to have him arrested before the polls. Kufahakutizwi is one of the nine opposition lawmakers who were controversially recalled by self-proclaimed secretary-general of the party Sengezo Tshabangu barely two months after Zimbabwe held general elections. The by-elections will be held on 9 December. Kufahakutizwi told The NewsHawks during a door-to-door campaign in his constituency that the charges are trumped up and he has credible information that the arrest is imminent. “We have started our door-to-door campaign today, but as I am speaking to you we recently buried the late [Tapfumaneyi] Masaya, but Zanu PF is continuing its onslaught against the candidate, specifically I as a candidate for Mabvuku-Tafara constituency. So they have intensified in terms of framing and coming up with a number of charges which they are trying to cook up and frame me on charges so that they can disturb my campaign,” said Kufahakutizwi. Kufahakutizwi’s constituency was in mourning last week after the abduction and gruesome murder of one of the key people in his campaign team, Bishop Tapfumaneyi Masaya. Masaya was earlier this month abducted while campaigning for Kufahakutizwi in the high-density suburb. His body was found three days dumped. Some opposition activists say they witnessed the abduction and made reports to the authorities, but no charges have been levelled against the suspects. Contacted for comment, police said investigations are ongoing. Kufahakutizwi says the ruling party also wants him to be arrested on charges related to damage of property. He denies such charges. “On Tuesday I heard  from an eyewitness that one of the Pastors for ED in Mabvuku, Chiremba, went to a car park where his dysfunctional commuter omnibus is parked and plucked out windows and placed them in the road in such a systematic way that it shows that they were placed there,” he said. A visit to the scene by The NewsHawks showed bits of glass that have been reduced in size due to the heavy traffic along Mabvuku Drive, the main road in the township. Vendors by the roadside who spoke on condition of anonymity say they saw broken glass scattered close to where Masaya’s body was found by local police. “I personally did not see anything happen. I came to work in the morning and just saw them on the road. I do not know how they got there,” said one of the vendors. Another informal trader said: “ We work until 6pm and there was nothing during the day that could have happened to the effect of shattering glasses along this road. It’s a busy road, if it had happened during the day we would have seen it and it would have attracted people here, but nothing like that happened.” Meanwhile, with just two weeks before the by-election, Kufahakutizwi, a duly nominated candidate for the Mabvuku-Tafara National Assembly seat, is yet to receive the voters’ roll. “We have a problem with Zec, they have not yet given us the voters’ roll. Our suspicion is that they have tampered with it. They failed to run the 23 August election and we were hoping that they would do better this time but the situation has degenerated. We thought that they would run these elections that are happening under duress, under force, in a professional manner,” said Kufahakutizwi. Ahead of the chaotic 23 August polls,  Zec hogged the limelight for refusing to release the voters’ roll. CCC candidate for Mabvuku in the forthcoming by-elections Fabion Munyaradzi Kufahakutizwi

Page 14 News NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 NATHAN GUMA THE Centre for Research and Development (CRD), a civil society organisation, is lobbying Parliament to initiate an investigation into a Chinese-run steel company after raising concerns over the displacement and exclusion of the local community from the US$1.5 billion project. Chivhu and Mvuma communities, particularly those relocated to pave way for the establishment of the Manhize Steel Plant, say their lives have deteriorated despite the project being hyped up as a game changer in the nation’s economy, raising fears of another resource curse. According to the community watchdog, the Mvuma-based Dinson Iron and Steel Mining Company (Disco) is expected to create thousands of employment opportunities which the local community may not benefit from. The plant, a local subsidiary of Chinese firm Tsingshan, is located between Mvuma and Chivhu, and has been touted as Africa’s largest integrated steel plant. However, CRD has raised concerns over the company’s operations, which have seen more displacements after the company took over farming and grazing land, while desecrating graveyards. In a report titled Hold Dinson to Account, CRD says the company has been undertaking its mining activities without exercising due diligence, which has led to the capture and destruction of traditional agricultural land in Manhize without informed prior consent. In 23 June 2023, the company was given an open-ended lease to mine iron ore and set up a US$1.5 billion steel plant on 12 270 hectares of land in Manhize farming communities of Mashonaland East and Midlands provinces. Prior to the award, Disco had already started extracting iron ore on Tradou Farm in 2022 whilst setting its iron ore processing plant in Mushenjere and Kwaedza villages. During this period, Disco fast-tracked the relocation of six families to Singleton farm near Chivhu without memorandum of agreement on issues of compensation and secured livelihoods on relocated land. Another 14 families were moved from Mushenjere and Kwaedza villages to a paddock area reserved for animal grazing at Rusununguko Farm between November and December 2022 without due process. Villagers of Rusununguko Farm, formerly known as Elmin, who were interviewed by CRD, expressed anger for losing grazing land to new settlers. Victims of the forced relocations interviewed by CRD on Mvuma’s Tradou and Singleton farms said that Disco rushed to build sub-standard houses for them in Singleton and pegged them at US$20 000 for each plot holder. “CRD calls for government to halt accelerated mining-induced relocations by Disco that are violating human rights. Government has a responsibility to halt Disco's fast-tracked relocations and mining developments on people's agricultural land that are violating human rights,” reads the report. “CRD is also calling upon Parliament to investigate Disco's mining impacts in Manhize to ensure that communities adversely affected by their operations are adequately compensated and protected. “CRD would like to remind government of its obligation to come out with a compensation and relocation legal framework that embraces international best practices on internally displaced persons and the rights of traditional communities in exploitation of natural resources.” “In the absence of a guiding policy on relocations, CRD is calling for government to ensure community consultation and approval through free prior and informed consent, inclusive, independent, and consultative assessments and relocation with prompt, fair and adequate compensation.” Disco has also been accused of denying the victims compensation for improvements on their land, and disturbance allowances. “Disco argued that the costs it incurred in constructing new houses for them surpassed evaluations costs prepared by government on improvements they made on land they occupied at Tradou Farm. Evaluation figures gleaned by CRD indicate amounts ranging from US$700 to US$13 000 for the affected families,” reads the report. “Efforts by affected families to remain on Tradou Farm until they had been compensated did not hold after their district administrator (DA) threatened that government was not going to guarantee them of alternative land when Chinese start mining on their occupied land at Tradou, said sources at Singleton." Relocated families in Rusununguko and Singleton in Mvuma have however been confronted with lack of clean water, untilled land, cracking floors and walls of poorly constructed houses by Disco, among other issues. Despite the complaints sent by the villagers to the company, no action has been taken, raising an outcry. The Chinese have also been under fire for failing to fulfil their promise to uplift surrounding communities through undertaking local enterprise development. “Since 2021, 101 families from Mushenjere village have since lost farming and grazing land to accelerated Disco mining developments. They have continued to watch in horror the destruction of their land by Disco who are setting up of water pipelines, power plant and other infrastructure,” reads the report. “Others are losing land to waste dumping by Chinese infrastructural developments. The clearing of their land by Chinese is also destroying orchards and graveyards of their departed loved ones. CRD observed a long winding durawall that Disco is erecting to enclose farming and grazing land for 101 families in Mushenjere village which have become part of their mining lease. “138 families from Kwaedza village are also facing a similar predicament as Disco has already set pegs in their village. These villagers mainly originated from poor and densely populated communal areas of Rukovere, Mahusvu, Msasa, Unyetu villages of Chikomba district in Mashonaland East.” The land had been previously allocated on purchased farms by government under the “minda mirefu” land reform programme that was initiated by the government soon after Independence in 1980, from where they produced high yields ranging from four to 10 tonnes of maize per annum, due to soil fertility. However, the villagers have been facing emotional trauma, due to loss of land on which they had invested for years, CRD said. In response, Manhize Steel project director Wilfred Motsi told The NewsHawks that Disco is doing a lot to improve livelihoods of the local people. “We do not work alone. Government identifies relocation land, and we work accordingly. In this case, government identified the land, and we relocated the people. We had a series of meeting with the villagers and they were content with where we were relocating them. “We made some promises and have been improving their living conditions. So, I do not really know where these complaints are coming from. We have drilled them boreholes for water, we have given them fields and constructed a bridge. They chose land, and we built them houses. “The houses were an upgrade — three-bedroom houses. Most of the people, those I know, are content with everything. I just do not know where the complaints are coming from.” Displaced Manhize villagers restless Manhize Steel Plant

NewsHawks News Page 15 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 BRENNA MATENDERE THREE Constitutional Court judges have come under the spotlight after they failed to comply with the Judicial Service Commission code of ethics which requires them to deliver a judgement reserved within the stipulated 180 days. A complaint has also been lodged against Justices Ben Hlatshwayo; Bharat Patel and Paddington Garwe amid growing suspicions of corruption against the judges in matter involving a Harare businessman. On 28 February 2022, a Harare resident, Tendai Mashamhanda, the son of prominent businessman Alex Mashamhanda founder of Mashwede Holdings, put foward an application for direct access to the constitutional court in a matter recorded as of Tendai Mashamhanda and Bariadie Investment (Pvt) Ltd and Puwayi Chiutsi and The Registrar of Deeds and the Sheriff of Zimbabwe and Eliot Rogers and the General, case number 12/22. In the matter, Mashamhanda sought leave for direct access to the Constitutional Court on the basis that his constitutional rights had been violated in a case in which the Supreme Court had ruled that title deeds for a house he bought in Highlands be forfeited after he had made a full payment of US$230 000 and developed the property to the value of US$ 1.5 million.  It was heard by Justice Hlatshwayo, Justice Patel and Justice Garwe on 4th July 2022.Judgment was reserved and to date this reserved judgment has not yet been availed 16 months later. Section 19 of the Judicial Service (Code of Ethics) Regulations, 2012 states as follows;“19.(1) Where a judgment is reserved to be delivered on notice, the judicial officer shall use his or her best efforts to ensure that such judgment is delivered within the next ninety (90) days and, except in unusual and exceptional circumstances, no judgment shall be delivered later than one hundred and eighty (180) days from the date when it is reserved. “19.(2) Where a judicial officer reserves judgment in any case and the judicial officer has reason to believe he or she will not be able to render judgement within the ninety-day period referred to in sub-section (1), he or she shall inform his or her head of court or division of that fact. “19.(3) Upon receiving the information referred to in sub-section (2)the head of court or division shall, with reasonable promptness, give such appropriate directions as will enable or assist the concerned judicial officer to deliver judgment within ninety days from the date of reservation or no later than one hundred and eighty days thereafter.” In a 419-page paged letter of complaint dated 6 November written to Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi obtained by The NewsHawks, Mashamhanda said his rights had been violated by the delay in availing the judgement by the three Constitutional Court judges. “The irrefutable import of section 19 (of the Judicial Service Code of Ethics) is that no reserved judgement shall be delivered later than one hundred and eighty (180) days from the date when it is reserved. Unfortunately, this has not been the case in the Constitutional Court matter that has a direct link to my lawful rights. “It is now more than the mandatory 180 days and judgment has not been delivered within the timeframe stipulated by the law. An oral order dismissing the application was delivered on 25 July 2023 well after the stipulated period of 180 days but in essence, the judgment has not been delivered after 480 days, far more than double the mandatory 180 days. “I fail to understand how three senior justices of the Constitutional Court, the highest court in the land fail to write a judgment for over 480 days,” part of the letter by Mashamhanda to Ziyambi reads. The tycoon further states that justice delayed is justice denied. “Apart from the clear expectations of the law, which the Judges have failed to comply with, it is well established that justice delayed is justice denied. These Judges have blatantly violated the law and in the process denied me the justice that I seek,” he wrote. Mashamanda also complained that in another matter that involves him held in the High Court by Justice Never Katiyo, again judgement had been reserved for more than the stipulated 180 days. Justice Katiyo reserved judgement on 18 November last year in the matter involving Constantine Chaza and Harare magistrate Munashe Chibanda. In the case recorded as HC 3413/22 Katiyo was supposed to issue a judgement on an application made by Chaza to stop proceedings at the magistrate court where he was accused of forging papers for a house bought by Mashamhanda to make it appear that it had been purchased by someone else before him hence the need for his title deeds to it to be cancelled.  The tycoon in his letter of complaint to Ziyambi said if judges are not reined in, judgements will be reserved forever which translates to miscarriage of justice. “I understand that Judges, in the past who failed to deliver judgments within the prescribed periods were subjected to a disciplinary process and dismissed. This precedence must also apply here, otherwise Judges will have the power, without consequence, to reserve judgments forever,” he wrote. As previously reported by The NewsHawks, the tycoon is also pressuring Ziyambi over the need for thepppppppppresignation of Deputy Chief Justice Elizabeth  Gwaunza, Supreme Court judges Chinembiri Bhunu and Antonio Guvava over corruption. The development comes as last Friday Justice Webster Nicholas Chinamora resigned from the bench after President Mnangagwa set up a tribunal to investigate the judge’s suitability to hold office following the compilation of a damning dossier by the Judicial Service Commission alleging a litany of transgressions by the judge in the course of his duties. Mashamhanda accused the DCJ, Guvava and Bhunu of unfairly presiding over an appeal case at the Supreme Court  in which they accepted false evidence that a house he bought in Highlands, Harare for US$ 230 000 before developing it to a value of US$1.5 million, had been sold at an auction before by  Bariadie Investments (Private) Limited. He also accused the three judges of again accepting false evidence that the house he bought from Harare lawyer Puwayi Chiutsi,l had a caveat. Caveat in Latin means "let him beware" and comes from the verb cavēre, meaning "to be on guard."  Caveats are used to protect interests in land. A caveat acts as a "freeze" on the property in question and prevents anyone else registering a dealing with that property that may be contrary to the interest of the person who lodged the caveat. Mashamanda dismissed the issue of a caveat being registered against the Highlands property, saying it is false and devoid of merit because the Deeds Registry office stated that it did not exist.  He also cited that in the magistrates' court case of State vs Chiutsi number Dr 15/03/19 recorded at Rhodesvile Police Station under CR 21/02/19 it was established beyond reasonable doubt that there was no caveat. Mashamhanda maintained that the conveyancer did a diligent search and found out that there was no caveat. ConCourt judges flout JSC code of conduct Chief Justice Luke Malaba

RUVIMBO MUCHENJE THE crucial Supreme Court appeal by 14 main opposition CCC legislators against their arbitrary recalls by an opposition activist upheld by the High Court will be heard this week after their lawyer Advocate Thabani Mpofu obtained an order for an urgent hearing on the matter set for Friday. The case is critical as it goes to the heart of Zimbabwe’s electoral politics, the people’s will and democracy itself. The court is ultimately confronted with a question of whether an individual, with the sympathy of some authorities in the executive, Parliament and the judiciary, can arbitrarily recall popularly elected representatives. Mpofu, one of Zimbabwe's most prominent lawyers, will be in action representing the recalled MPs, senators and councillors battling to get the High Court judgement upholding the controversial recalls reversed. Already, Mpofu has ruthlessly torn asunder Tshabangu's case of recalling main opposition CCC MPs, senators and councillors, saying he has admitted that the grounds upon which he stood executing his mission were precariously shaky politically and legally to sustain his disruptive and undemocratic subversion of the people's will. Initially, Tshabangu said his mission was to "restore sanity" by addressing impositions of candidates in CCC, particularly Shona elected representatives in Bulawayo, a mainly Ndebele-speaking city. However, Tshabangu went further than that, recalling MPs everywhere without showing how they were imposed, raising questions about his underlying motives and political agenda. Mpofu says Tshabangu has no locus standi and jurisdiction in the party where he claims to be an interim secretary-general to begin with, but also did not produce evidence to prove and support various allegations to justify his disruptive recalls. He only succeed so far largely  because the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda and the High Court, in  particular, misdirected themselves. In his heads of argument in a Supreme Court appeal against a recent High Court judgement by Justice Munamato Mutevedzi dismissing 14 CCC MPs' challenge against the recalls, Mpofu asks relevant and fundamental questions which were ignored by the Speaker of Parliament and Mutevedzi in enforcing the recalls by what the legislators have described as an impostor. Mpofu says Tshabangu admits he has no political standing to do what he did as he made the recalls as an individual to "restore sanity" in the party and to remove Shona people who were elected MPs in Bulawayo, a mainly Ndebele-speaking city. In the heads of argument filed on behalf of 14  CCC appellants' Supreme Court appeal, Mpofu argues that Tshabangu's case is fundamentally flawed and unsustainable. He says the High Court failed to establish the facts, resolve the root cause of the dispute and uphold the rights of legislators, and ultimately the voice of the electorate. Mpofu said: "It must, if at all, take exceptional circumstances for people's political choices, constitutionally expressed through a process of adult universal suffrage, to be ignored by anyone, let alone the courts. Whilst it belongs to political actors to make and score political points against each other, a court of law must, when confronted with a matter, never lose the essence. Regrettably the court aquo completely lost its path and did not consider, that in matters electoral, the voice of the electorate is sacrosanct; that any perceived procedural inadequacies cannot trump the clearly expressed voice of the people, and that for a court of law, there is really no choice between sense and nonsense. A document which is completely dispositive of this matter and appears at record page 165 was not had regard to aquo. The appeal ought to succeed. The facts necessary to dispose of this matter resolve it without any analysis and are these: "a. Appellants were in August of this year elected as members of the house of assembly on the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC)1 political party ticket. They were sworn in as members of the House of Assembly sometime in September 2023. b. The fourteen never resigned their membership with the CCC neither were they at any point in time expelled. c. On the 4th of October 2023, a few days after they were sworn in, first respondent wrote to second respondent. In that letter he advised that: i. He was the interim Secretary General of the CCC. He did not explain whether he had been voted into office at a congress or otherwise appointed and if so by whom. ii. He had a copy of the constitution of the CCC which he shared with the second respondent. He did not explain who had authored this constitution or whether it had been adopted by the CCC at any congress or some such gathering. Crucially, there was no reference to whether the membership of the appellants had been acquired and subsequently lost in terms of that constitution. iii. First to fourteenth appellants had ceased being members of the CCC. He did not explain whether such cessation of membership was because of their deliberate acts or the acts of the political party the CCC. iv. That second respondent was as a result asked to proceed in terms of the provisions of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013. Such provisions not having been identified, it is curious why second respondent thought the letter required him to activate the recall provisions. d. At round about the same time, second respondent also received correspondence from Advocate Nelson Chamisa (Chamisa) which advised him that on matters relating to the CCC, he only had to receive and act on correspondence from his office and that the correspondence he had received from first respondent did not reflect the position of the CCC party. Chamisa, an officer of the High Court, is the leader of the CCC party, a fact accepted by the first respondent. e. On the 6th of October 2023, second respondent wrote third respondent advising that there were now vacancies in appellants' constituencies. This triggered an urgent court application filed by the appellants whose dismissal has now led to this appeal. f. On the 11th of October 2023, first respondent issued a statement (at record page 165) in terms of which he explained that: i. The recall of appellants was his own act and Page 16 News NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 Battle-lines drawn on recalls as Mpofu tackles Tshabangu Advocate Thabani Mpofu

NewsHawks News Page 17 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 not that of the CCC political party. ii. That it had been necessitated by the fact that appellants had in his view, been corruptly elected during the internal CCC election process and that some of them were Shona people in Ndebele territory. iii. That the fourteen had in fact not ceased being members of the CCC party. iv. That Chamisa was the leader of the CCC political party. 1.3 It must take an unfortunate willing suspension of disbelief for anyone to claim, let alone conclude, that honourable members who took oaths of office representing a political party in September had, without being dismissed, renounced such oaths by the 4th of October. It would equally take a cruelty beyond comprehension for anyone to require the masses that queued up for 24 hours in August in order for them to cast their votes to queue up again in December for the same process. At a level that we must all accept; the law is meant to serve the people and meet their legitimate aspirations. The duty to state this is intrinsic in the authority granted the Supreme Court by the people of Zimbabwe. Much is given to this court; justifiably, from it, much is expected. 1.4 The law governing recalls is clear and straightforward. The court below set it out with consummate ease. Section 129(1)(k) of the constitution provides as follows: "The seat of a Member of Parliament becomes vacant (k) if the Member has ceased to belong to the political party which or she was a member when elected to Parliament and the political party concerned, by written notice to the Speaker or the President of the Senate, as the case may be, has declared that the Member has ceased to belong to it. In Madzimure & Ors v Speaker of Parliament & Ors CCZ-8-19 the apex court considered that this provision contemplates and is triggered by, in paraphrase, the following: a. The member should have been sponsored by the political party upon their entry to Parliament. This is indubitably true of all appellants. b. The member should have ceased, as a matter of fact, to belong to the political party that sponsored their entry to Parliament. Disagreements with that political party or members, real or imagined, do not scale the constitutional threshold. The legality of the process of cessation stands quite apart from the fact of existence of such process Hwende v Speaker of National Assembly & Ors HH-341-21 and Hlalo v MDC-T & Ors HB-98-16. c. Cessation should either be by withdrawal of membership through the act of the member, or via expulsion from the political party through the act of the political party concerned. For this reason, there must be objective evidence of such cessation.  Evidence of this kind, on the basis upon which constitutional processes are made to depend must when required be readily produced. The political party should give written notice of the cessation of membership to the Speaker. There is thus need for there to be an act of the political party. This is both a factual and legal requirement. The notice is ineffectual unless and until it is the act of the political party concerned. In this regard there is a difference between the act of a member, real or imagined, of a political party on the one hand and that of a political party on the other hand. e. The notice given by the political party must contain a declaration. There is a difference between notifying the Speaker of the cessation of membership on one hand and declaring that there has been such cessation, on the other. The need for a declaration speaks to the solemnity of the adopted position. The declaration must when evaluated meet the test of being a correct reflection of the situation on the ground- Prebble v Huata [2004] NZSC 29. A notification without a declaration is legally invalid. 1.6 Beyond setting out the law and with respect in less than the detail it merited, the court aquo otherwise did not become engaged with these requirements. That is the bedrock of its many misdirections. It simply did not use the requisite work tools, purposefully given it by the law. 1.7 It is also important to point out that a person or authority seeking the activation of these requirements must comply with them in full. A person cannot activate these requirements unless the person against whom they seek to activate them was: a. A member of the political party concerned upon being elected to office. b. Had as a matter of fact ceased to belong to the sponsoring political party c. Such cessation is susceptible to objective proof, that is to say, can be proven either by a resignation or an expulsion. A notice highlighting this objective cessation has been given by the political party and not simply by someone claiming to act on behalf of the political party. e. There is in the notice a declaration bearing on the solemnity of the cessation — Mutasa & Anor v Speaker of the National Assembly & Ors CCZ-18-19 and Khupe & Anor v  Parliament of Zimbabwe & Ors CCZ-20-19. 1.8 Thus apart from applying the constitutional standard, the court aquo was required to also apply it in favour of the first respondent if his actions were to pass muster. The standard could not be applied in the air. The court aquo ought to have satisfied itself that first respondent, whoever he is, met the requirements that must be met by a person seeking to activate provisions of section 129(1)(k) before he assayed to do so. Regrettably, the court aquo did not even become engaged with this issue. It also ignored the document at record page 165 which was dispositive of the matter. 1.9 In relating to section 129(1)(k), the court must bear in mind that this is a provision that prima facie negates the will of the voter. The will of the voter will only be negated if it was expressed in favour of a scoundrel or a representative who subsequently becomes a scoundrel. Put differently, if people vote for a person who subsequently flies from their colours, the court will allow a political party triggering this provision to negate the will of the voter. If the member has not however, deserted the standard, the will of the voter becomes paramount and remains at all times and for all purposes sacrosanct. For that reason, the court in Madzimure said: "Section 129(1)(k) of the constitution is a provision clearly intended to benefit a political party in order to protect it from members who abandon its cause. The provision is meant to avert floor-crossing. It is the political party concerned which is ultimately answerable to the people. The object of section 129(1), as read with s 129(1)(k), of the Constitution, like the anti-defection provisions of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution of India, is to preserve and promote democracy. The vacancy is created in a seat of a Member of Parliament, who has ceased to belong to the political party of which he or she was a member when elected, to give the electorate the right to decide in a bye-election whether to give the mandate to represent them in parliament to the political party concerned or to the same person who lost the seat if he or she stands as an independent candidate or as a candidate sponsored by another political party. A court of law must therefore not be astute to find that the will of voters stands to be negated. It has an obligation towards the voter. This is because the voter is never party to these proceedings. A compelling case for such negation must therefore be made. If such negation cannot be justified on the basis of the Madzimure standard, then it may not be justified at all. Indeed, a court of law must look with suspicion to an allegation that a member of parliament, has less than a month of being sworn in under the ticket of a certain political party, ceased to be a member of such political party. This court lives in the real world and indeed section 24(3) of the Civil Evidence Act (Chapter 8:01) enjoins it to take judicial notice of notorious matters known to all. 2.2 Key questions arose on the pleadings aquo. The court aquo did not allow those questions to confront it. In the result, it did not answer them. The result is that it did not exercise its function over and in respect of the dispute that was before it. When a court fails to resolve the dispute placed before it, its judgment must be vacated. When it comes to resolving disputes, the court must resolve the nub of such disputes. It is no use following rabbit holes and fastening attention onto some unedifying aspects of the dispute with the result that the essence is not addressed. It is for that reason that onappeal, this court will interfere not only with the direct dictates of a judgment but also with its effect- Williams & Anor v Msipha N.O & Ors SC-22-109. 2.3 The following key questions arise from the court record: a. When did the appellants cease being members of the CCC party? b. How did they cease being members of the CCC? c. Is such cessation reflected in a document, perhaps a written resignation or expulsion such as would afford objective evidence of the fact? d. Is there a statute on the basis upon which such membership ceased? e. Where does that statute come from? How does it work? Is it that statute that made them members in the first place? What is the effect of the constitution served upon second respondent by first respondent? Is it the one that regulates the question of the membership of the appellants? g. If there is not statute governing the question of the cessation of the membership of the appellants, is there an unwritten process that is known to the CCC party by which the question of cessation of the membership of the appellants is governed? h. Is the first respondent the CCC political party? i. Does the CCC as a political party consider as a matter of fact, that the appellants' membership with it has ceased? j. In the face of the letters written by Chamisa, how did the speaker conclude that he had a credible position from first respondent? k. Faced with two letters that prima facie say different things, how did first respondent decide which letter he was going to act on? l. In the face of the concession by first respondent at record page 165, was there still a dispute for the court to relate to? 2.4 The provision of answers to all these questions was indispensable to a proper discharge of function in the dispensation of simple justice as between men and men. Put differently, this matter could not be resolved unless and until these questions were  answered. Whether the speaker was also required to answer these questions is irrelevant. At the point of challenge, the court must answer the questions. Self-imposed secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu

Page 18 News NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 BRENNA MATENDERE ALPHA Media Holdings (AMH) publisher Trevor Ncube has exposed his duplicity and insincerity after he falsely projected himself as a constructive critic of opposition leader Nelson Chamisa despite having served as President Emmerson Mnangagwa's adviser and co-owns his media empire alongside the first citizen’s son-in-law. As turmoil engulfs the country’s main opposition party after it emerged as a force to reckon with during the past general elections on a shoe-string budget and no political structures, Ncube has waded into the drama, blaming Chamisa for being complicit. After losing a legal wrangle to take control of the Movement of Democratic Change and the party’s assets, Chamisa last year introduced an alternative, the Citizens’ Coalition for Change and contested in by-elections triggered by Douglas Mwonzora’s recall of lawmakers aligned to the youthful leader. Unlike Mwonzora who had funding from Treasury, Chamisa rode on his political capital to win the majority of the seats that had become vacant during the by-elections. This week, Ncube sparked fresh controversy when he accused Chamisa of resisting well-meaning advice from those who would want to see his party succeed. Yet Ncube's disdain for Chamisa, a politician he views as immature, has been in the public domain. AMH, co-owned by Mnangagwa’s son-inlaw Gerald Mlotshwa, group CEO Kennias Mafukidze and Ncube, runs three newspapers, Zimbabwe Independent, The Standard and NewsDay. The group also has an online television and radio station called Heart & Soul. Chamisa became leader of the MDC-T after the death of its founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai in February 2018. He then became the MDA-Alliance presidential election candidate for the July 2018 polls. At that time, Ncube, previously a Zapu, MDC and Mavambo supporter, had abandoned his Alliance for People's Agenda (APA) project led by Nkosana Moyo to join Mnangagwa's coup gravy train. APA was formed in June 2017. Prior to that, Ncube had tried to recruit Chamisa to join APA in August 2016 as consultations were underway. Ncube abandoned APA in November 2017 during the coup without even officially resigning from his party. He then went to serve Mnangagwa's Presidential Advisory Council as the coup project's official mouthpiece. However, Ncube later resigned out of frustration without having changed anything. He neither made a mark nor obtained the radio and television licences he craved. The situation had become acrimonious after he had attacked business mogul Kudakwashe Tagwirei soon after having dinner with him. Even though Ncube left Mnangagwa’s coup gravy train, he remains a Mnangagwa ally and still works with his son-in-law. He is therefore tying himself in knots when he complains that Chamisa is not accepting his advice and does not listen. “Why should Chamisa listen to his political rival's adviser for advice?” a source questioned. Ncube has been consistently lambasting Chamisa, calling him all sorts of names, going as far as insinuating he is a tribalist and dictator, but the CCC leader typically does not reply. Ncube co-owns AMH, publisher of NewsDay, Zimbabwe Independent, The Standard and Trevor Ncube’s hypocrisy exposed Seven years ago . . . CCC leader Nelson Chamisa (left), then MDC-T vice-president, with media mogul Trevor Ncube

NewsHawks News Page 19 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 online broadcasting platform Heart & Soul. NewsDay and Heart & Soul are names of Ncube's media platforms derived from BBC programmes. The NewsHawks gathered that although he postures as a neutral political observer who only wants to fix Zimbabwe's problems, Ncube — who behaves as if he has a God-ordained mission to do that — is actually a partisan political player operating in the dark shadows and an opportunist who hops from one party to another. He has been all over the place politically — from Zapu to MDC, then Mavambo/Kusile/ Dawn, Alliance for People's Agenda (APA) and most recently Zanu PF by association. He is also a longtime Mnangagwa ally. Ncube's politics is not based on discernible ideological and policy ideation, values and principles, but opportunism and self-interest. He is also not principled. For instance, Ncube just went AWOL (Absent Without Official Leave) in 2017 when he was APA chair, only to emerge as Mnangagwa’s adviser after the November 2017 coup without even officially resigning from his party. Ncube joined Mnangagwa’s coup project and became its media mouthpiece in a bid to revive his faltering publishing business interests after losing control of the Mail & Guardian in South Africa. His prime intention in hobnobbing with Mnagagwa was to acquire radio and television licences to expand his media interests, while repaying a US$2 million debt to the Media Development Investment Fund, an American fund which provides debt and equity finance for independent media in countries where access to reliable news and information is under threat. APA had been formed in June 2017, with prominent business executive and academic Nkosana Moyo as the leader. Ncube's jumping ship and joining the coup gravy train led to APA leader Moyo to tellingly say that he had sadly come to realise that some Zimbabweans are not fighting to change the system but to be part of it. Ncube keeps on complaining about Chamisa not taking his advice, yet he was Mnangagwa’s adviser. Ncube says Chamisa does not listen and repeatedly keeps on referring to a photo he took with him seven years ago as evidence of their meetings to discuss local political issues. By so doing he justifies his conclusion and attacks on the CCC leader on the basis of one interaction seven years ago he keeps spinning to appear as if he meets and talks to Chamisa every day. After Ncube again continued with his diatribe against the opposition leader during a talk show hosted by his employee online, a Chamisa adviser told The NewsHawks: "We have seen the video and remarks by Mr Trevor Ncube in which he attacks our leader Nelson Chamisa and says all sorts of things about him. We have no problem with Ncube or anyone for that matter legitimately criticising Chamisa as a leader, a hugely popular one at that. “Ncube has a constitutional and legitimate right to criticise him and other political leaders. That's what should happen in a democracy. "However, Ncube must stop crudely misrepresenting and manipulating one meeting he had with Chamisa seven years ago for cheap political capital, publicity and relevance. “In fact, he must stop lying about it. We have kept quiet throughout his lies and drama for far too long. I think we now need to set the record straight in the public interest and stop this charade. "The facts are very clear on this issue. Ncube invited Chamisa to his office in Graniteside, Harare, where AMH operates from on 5 August 2016 to discuss local political issues, including the formation of APA. Ncube wanted Chamisa to be part of that process led by Nkosana Moyo. At that meeting Ncube told Chamisa that he had held many consultative meetings in Zimbabwe and South Africa on the APA project, which he claimed was supported by telecoms mogul Strive Masiyiwa and many other prominent businesspeople, some of whom ended up with him as Mnangagwa's advisers.” At the time, Chamisa had just been appointed one of the three vice-presidents of the MDC-T by the late Morgan Tsvangirai the month before, that is in July 2016. Effectively, he was not the leader of the MDC-T at that time and did not even know one day he will lead the party. “In that meeting, Chamisa told Ncube upfront that while he appreciated the invitation to join APA, he was not able to do so because he wanted to help Tsvangirai rejuvenate the MDC-T post the 2013 elections and prepare for the 2018 elections. “So Chamisa politely declined Ncube's offer to join APA. The idea was to use Chamisa's growing social base to back Moyo as APA leader in his presidential election bid in 2018. "The meeting, which ran for close to two hours from around 9am to just before 11am (that photo was taken at that time), ended on a somewhat sour note with fake smiles because Chamisa had rejected the APA invitation, saying he is a loyal MDC-T member and one of the leaders. Interestingly, it ended with a prayer,” said the source. The NewsHawks learnt that Ncube gave Chamisa a book co-authored by Harvard Business School professor Bill George and Peter Sims titled True North, which is about leadership as part of his motive to lure the vibrant and youthful MDC-T vice-president. “Since then, Ncube has not spoken to Chamisa, not even once, except on 14 July 2021 when he sent a condolence message to him after a family bereavement. So Ncube is lying that he has engaged Chamisa on political issues and he doesn't listen. There is no such thing; it's just a needless malicious campaign and posturing. “Chamisa talks to many people and takes ideas and proposals from them. He implements what is strategic and practical for the CCC, given political conditions and circumstances. "The claim that Chamisa doesn't listen, does not have structures, works alone and is a dictator is nonsense. He is a democratic leader who believes change can only be secured through democratic elections. Some may not like his style, but that is normal in politics,” said the source. The source added that there is a difference between style, strategy and substance. "In any case, why should Chamisa listen to advice coming from his rival's advisers? Ncube is a known Mnangagwa ally and now he works with his son-in-law at his media business. So why on earth would Chamisa listen to advice from that sort of a dishonest person who even lies about a meeting held seven years ago in a totally different setting, time and space? That's ridiculous. “Let's learn to discuss ideas, not people and events; this noisy mediocrity which pervades our polity masquerading as insightful leading lights of our politics is now part of the problem rather than the solution. He has his own system and team that he works with. It's ridiculous to suggest that Chamisa won 44% of the vote going by official results, which we reject as a fraud, and all those seats in Parliament alone,” another source said. “How is that possible really? Is he superhuman? He works with others, but it is also true that other people are not happy. That's what happens in politics. He is also fully aware of critical issues that he needs to address urgently, that is the limitations and weaknesses from a political, structural, organisational and strategic point of view. “Chamisa welcomes ideas and criticism from well-meaning people, not some malicious malcontents and bullies. He is a bona fide opposition leader who genuinely wants a solution to the country's problems and he is open to working with other people who seriously want to resolve national issues, not noisemakers and impostors. “It's time we challenge these false and negative narratives by people who are more opposed to the opposition than the ruling party. Chamisa is an opposition leader trying to help find a solution to our country's problems, he is not the leader of the country and the problem. “He is the alternative to a failed leadership and its policies that have ruined the country with devastating consequences for all, especially the poor and vulnerable. He may have his own weaknesses, like all of us, but he is the best alternative at the moment. Anything else is just mere wishful thinking and drama." File photo . . . Trevor Ncube (third from left) with President Emmerson Mnangagwa (right)

Page 20 News NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 New strategies for African scribes NATHAN GUMA RECENTLY IN JOHANNESBURG SOON after touchdown at South Africa’s OR Tambo International Airport on 16 November at 10am, travellers shove their way through busy long queues waiting to be cleared my immigration and security. While the airport is the biggest and busiest in Africa, traffic is unusually high in the festive season, as people travel to their favourite holiday destinations. However, among the arrivals are journalists trickling from across the the world, to attend the 19th Africa Investigative Journalism Conference (AIJC), the continent's leading gathering of working journalists hosted by Witwatersrand University. The AIJC, an annual meeting, also brings together editors and experts from across Africa and the world to share knowledge, skills, and experiences and is also a platform for networking and collaboration among investigative journalists. This year, the conference also held its inaugural Africa Investigative Journalist of the Year award to award excellence in investigative reporting across the continent. At the airport, taxi drivers are flagging delegates who have been selected for the AIJC Masterclass, a fellowship that precedes the actual conference. In the airport’s mid-ring are banner-hoisting transporters with names of some of the delegates, preparing to shuttle them to the main conference. Most of the journalists are strangers to each other but, in no time, the ice breaks and networking starts as they transit to the hotel, where they rest in preparation of the real business that follows. The day after is busy, and packed with educative material on the use of open source intelligence (osint), which involves collecting, evaluating and analysing publicly available information to answer a specific question in investigations. Osint provides new tools to journalists attending the masterclass, and Bellingcat, an investigative journalism group, is up to the task, simplifying all concepts to equip the class with new skills. Bellingcat is famed for one particularly huge investigative coup, in which they revealed the true identity of Russian suspects in the Salisbury poisoning. After the suspects appeared on television, it took just under two weeks for the real identity of one of them to be revealed, using osint tools. For three days durjng the masterclass, journalists are taught how to use key tools to carry out crucial tasks like geolocation, chronolocation, verification, passive research and tracking different modes of transportation including airplanes, ships and fishing boats. Back home, across the continent, most media are still clawing their way out of the abyss, and are lagging a few light years in terms of adopting technology. The conference itself is a hive of activity featuring some of the biggest names in investigate journalism. In attendance is Anas Aremeyew Anas, a top Ghanaian investigative journalist. He never takes off his mask in public. His presentation, though not a keynote address, is packed as people wait for Kodak moments with him immediately after he has delivered his presentation. “Journalists should support and make noise for one another in the face of persecution. Journalists across the country have not been as united in the face of persecution. We have created a safe space (safe house) for other journalists who are in danger across the continent,” Anas says. There is total silence, in the emotion-saturated auditorium, as he makes his presentation on the murder of Arsene Salomon Mbani Zogo, Martinez Zogo, popularly known as Martinez Zogo, who was abducted and killed after unearthing a major corruption scandal. His mutilated body was found near the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé. Al Jazeera lead investigators Alexander James and Sarah Yeo, renowned in Zimbabwe for a major investigative coup, the Gold Mafia, produced earlier this year, are also present. The hard-hitting documentary exposes how well-connected political elites have been smuggling the country’s gold, while laundering money through South African and United Arab Emirates (UAE) banks. The racket also included several people, all of them linked to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, including Ambassador-at-Large Uebert Angel and Zimbabwe Miners' Federation president Henrietta Rushwaya, among others. James and Yeo’s findings show that criminal gangs have been legitimising money laundered through gold exports and front men, who wash the dollars through initiatives such as the Advance Payment Scheme. While the evidence was overwhelming, no arrests have been done. “Zimbabwe, under President Mnangagwa, is a captured state, and the distinction between supposedly independent institutions like the Reserve Bank and the pockets of the President and those around him, the gold miners, the lines of distinction are not there,” James told The NewsHawks on the sidelines of the conference. “So when people talk about sanctions on the President, it is by extension the capture of the state because he has control of that state. And that was it. It was showing essentially the theft of a country, the theft of a nation by the Gold Mafia, by those close to the President, and by all accounts these people are still doing business in Zimbabwe, still making money, still robbing the country.” Other presentations focused on crucial issues pertaining to the safety of journalists. Bellingcat’s Youri van der Werde presented on how they have been tracking stolen money and investigating suspicious real estate deals in France and beyond. The NewsHawks news editor Owen Gagare presented in a session titled: Media and Money; Multiple Models for Sustainability, alongside experts like Guy Berger, a researcher, Stephen Omiri, from South Sudan’s Eye Radio, Internews’ Tim Zunckel and Sebenzile Nkambule from IJ Hub. Respected South African investigative paper, amaBhungane, presented yet another key investigation involving Zimbabwe featuring south African tycoon Zunaid Moti. After a US$120 million mining deal that led to a payout to President Mnangagwa’s farm in 2017, South African chrome magnate Moti used a fraud-ridden bank and accounts linked to a convicted gold smuggler to move US$44 million out of Zimbabwe, records by The Sentry show. In addition to the US$1 million paid to Mnangagwa’s Pricabe Enterprises, Moti’s chrome deal also resulted in a US$2 million payment to a shell company controlled by Vice-President Chiwenga’s associates.

NewsHawks News Page 21 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 DONALD MADONDO EVERY now and again, legal practitioners are required to represent free people (pro deo) who cannot afford lawyers but face very serious offences like murder. This is done in the interests of justice where in criminal cases, the possibility of an accused facing a grave sentence like the imposition of a death sentence is likely. Such an accused person needs a trained legal mind to have his rights protected. I say “his” because section 48 of the constitution provides for the imposition of the death sentence to males between the ages of 21 and 70 years found guilty of murder in aggravating circumstances. Females are constitutionally exempted from the death sentence. No sooner I had been registered as a legal practitioner with one of the oldest law firms in the country than the registrar of the High Court sent me an allocation to represent an indigent who was being charged with murder and was facing the possibility of a death sentence. I was so enthusiastic and saw myself acting out the television lawyer I had envisaged myself to become. However, I quickly realised that, television law and real-life law were worlds apart. I also learned pretty fast that a legal practitioner has a duty to the court to make sure that justice is not only done, but must be seen to be done. It also dawned on me that a lawyer must not be associated with his or her client's cause. A lawyer is just an instrument representing his or her client's cause. All these principles had been dispensed to us in law school, but in the real world you must put them into practice. As fate would have it, my client was convicted for murder with aggravating circumstances after a full trial. The practice in our jurisdiction until recently was that when passing the death penalty, the judge first of all informed the accused persons that they wanted to pass the death sentence and the judge asks the accused why that sentence must not be passed. This gave the accused person the right to make further submissions and thereafter the judge adjourned court and would retire into their chambers. Chambers are the judge’s office. The judge then came back wearing black robes, having removed the red robes that are won in criminal trials.  As the judge entered the courtroom, the registrar of the court would shout, “hear ye all, hear ye all, a death sentence is about to be passed”. When the registrar made this pronouncement, all business around that court stopped as the penalty is pronounced. The process is called allocator. In the olden days when the colonial government set up shop in the motherland, the process of executing the native was fast and could not wait. When passing the death sentence, a judge would pronounce the sentence and immediately the record of proceedings would be taken before the Prime Minister whose office was opposite the High Court. The Prime Minister would make considerations and if he was of the view that the penalty should not be meted out he would ring the bell at his office and the penalty would not be meted out. If the bell did not ring, the execution would follow without delay. The execution chambers were located in the courtyard of the High Court where natives were hanged. It was as if it was God’s case, no appeal. Currently there are death chambers at Harare Remand Prison and at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, with most death row inmates being housed at Harare Remand Prison. As my client was sent to the death chambers at Harare Central, I regularly visited him as I executed his automatic right to appeal in the Supreme Court. This is a huge and progressive departure from the colonial times where one’s final fate from sentencing was with the Prime Minister. The process now involves an automatic appeal in the Supreme Court and, if the Supreme Court does not overturn such sentence, the President of the Republic can still use his or her powers as envisaged in section 112 of the constitution to grant a respite or pardon to the sentence. One whose life has been condemned has a fighting chance. Accessing my client was an adventure on its own; going through the many prison gates and waiting for my client to be brought to the waiting room. He was no ordinary prisoner. He would come with the security detail at the prison in leg irons and handcuffs that were not removed. My consultation with him was within an earshot of the security detail. This is something I later challenged as the constitution not only gives the prisoner the right to consult in private, but that right is also the right of a legal practitioner. The prison tales my client would share with me belong to an action movie. The prisoners are kept in solitary confinement where they are allowed very minimum time for exercise or reading. While confined in the cells, they are never told when they will be hanged. Every sunset does not announce the dawn of a new day, but a continuous game of guessing if sunrise will come with death. With prison guards often harassing the death row inmates and tormenting them with innuendos of their impending deaths, the inmates suffer from mental illness and most die before their actual deaths. These gruelling stories of life on death row are confirmed in some judgements of the High Court. The conditions are inhuman and takes away the dignity of a human being. When the death penalty is passed, it is we the people of Zimbabwe who will be passing that sentence. The sanctity of life requires that we do not just take life away. From 1980, we the people of Zimbabwe have executed the death sentence on 79 condemned prisoners, with the last execution being of Mandlenkosi Never Masina on 22 July 2005. Before him, in 2004, Edmund Masendeke and Stephen Chidhumo were hanged after they had escaped from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. They were notorious for murder, rape and armed robbery. We are currently in a de-facto moratorium which has its own challenges on the dignity of a condemned inmate to stay on death row for a prolonged period.  The de facto moratorium raises constitutional issues that must be attended to by the government of Zimbabwe. If the judiciary passes a sentence, the dictates of the rule of law are that the sentence must be executed and the convicted individual must serve the sentence.  The current moratorium is not provided for by law and simply not executing sentences outside any legal statute is problematic. The President of the Republic has an obligation in terms of section 90(2) (c) of the constitution to ensure protection of the fundamental human rights and freedoms and the rule of law. By not executing inmates on death row, the President becomes a constitutional delinquent. The constitution gives the President powers in terms of section 112 to grant respite to sentences. The current moratorium is not in terms of such powers. It appears to be a simple "I shall not execute because I once escaped execution at a young age". But the President must rule in terms of the law, not how he feels on a particular day or what has happened to him in the past. The real challenge, though, is whether as a country we should maintain the death penalty as part of our laws. Does the death penalty serve the purpose of being a deterrent to crime when we still have violent murders being committed every day? Is the death penalty not a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment? Executions are irreversible and final. Should human beings be the final arbiter on who lives and who dies? Should we not leave that to the Creator? Yet at the same time, what should happen to people who kill others in a cruel manner, that is with aggravating circumstances? Shouldn’t they also face the same fate—death? Zimbabwe is currently reconsidering its position insofar as the death penalty is concerned, with public consultations having already taken place. However, with Parliament having lapsed, the dictates of the law demand that the process start again from scratch. By the way, this is the position with regards all legislation that lapsed in the last Parliament. It cannot just be resuscitated, it has to be given a fresh and new life by going back to the very beginning. Is this not a matter of life and death? As a legal practitioner with a client on death row, this is an issue l am confronted with on a daily basis and one I have to confront every time l visit my client who stays in the death chambers waiting for his day. The mental torture for the condemned prisoner, the family, the victims and other stakeholders is gruelling. Let us resolve the death penalty conundrum soon and have a clear position as a country. Let us ask ourselves hard questions. Is it morally and culturally compatible that fellow human beings appropriate to themselves the life givers to take life he granted? Can we solve violent crimes using violent solutions? Have executions helped us reduce violent murders? Let us ask ourselves these serious questions and deal with this matter as it is, that of life and death. All said, I am unapologetically an abolitionist. *About the writer: Donald Madondo is a pseudonym for a local lawyer. The chilling dynamics of the death sentence in Zimbabwe jurisdiction Legal Insights

Page 22 News NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 Sponsored by: IN 2020, Harare West MP Joana Mamombe, together with two other female politicians Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova, were abducted, tortured and sexually assaulted by suspected state security agents before being arrested on what human rights defenders described as trumped-up charges. They have since been acquitted. With the post-election political environment becoming more toxic for opposition political players —characterised by abductions and recalls to opposition legislators — it has become even more toxic for women and other marginalised segments in politics. Despite the dog-eat-dog contest, other women leaders have vowed to remain steadfast. This week, The NewsHawks' Patricia Rwafa (PR) caught up with Mamombe (JM), who shared her experience in the pre- and post-election period, and what has kept her going in the face of challenges facing women politicians in Zimbabwe.  Below are excerpts of the interview:   PR: There has been a surge in abductions of opposition members and activists. What does that mean to you, and what is your feeling towards the situation as a female opposition legislator? JM: It is emotionally disturbing and painful to continuously hear about abductions and torture of the leaders in the Citizens' Coalition for Change (CCC), let alone the killing of our champion (the cleric Tapfumaneyi Masaya). When will this end? When shall we be free from abductions and torture? Such criminality has to stop. Abductions and murder of CCC leaders is now a state of emergency! Citizens of Zimbabwe deserve an unbiased police service. The police must conduct unbiased investigations into the killing of Reverend Tapfumaneyi, kidnapping and torture of comrades like Honourable Taku (Takudzwa Ngadziore), Councillor Wombe (Womberaiishe Nhende) and former MP James Chidhakwa, and enforced disappearances in compliance with section 219 of the constitution. By now police should have started the investigations into the abduction and murder. The impunity must stop and perpetrators must be held accountable. PR: How has been your political journey, since May 2020 when you were abducted, to now?  JM: Abductions and sexual assaults were also part of the violence and intimidation. In 2020, alongside Cecillia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova, we got abducted, severely beaten and tortured as a way to oppress and suppress my political views. We were abducted for flouting Covid-19 rules and taking part in a protest in Harare against the state's failure to provide for the poor during the country's lockdown. Our whereabouts were unknown until the Friday morning of May 15, 2020, when we were found dumped in Bindura, and in a bad state. We were later taken to Parktown Hospital for medical attention. Violence and harassment are some of the problems that I have identified as a stumbling block to robust participation of women in the political process and in governance. It was used as a targeted and destructive tool in various ways throughout the electoral cycle to dissuade women from participating as voters, candidates. As women, we are victims of gender-based hate speech, especially on social media. I experience most of these on my social media accounts. The gender-based hate speech is in form of comments on my Twitter [X], Facebook, Instagram accounts. I have experienced an isolation, whereby our cultural and traditional norms have shaped the world in such a way that only men should participate in politics and other leadership positions. A lot of people have projected their cultural and traditional beliefs on my capabilities, as they are of the belief that women should not participate or partake in leadership roles. And not only that, through discussions with other women, I have come across men barring their wives from working or participating in economic activities. Limited finance has been a factor that I have experienced, which hinders participation, because the cost of campaigning is very high. Socio-economic status of women to a greater extent plays a significant role in enhancing participation and representation in political decision-making bodies. PR: What gave you courage to stand for election despite persecution? JM: I thank my strong support system (family, friends, comrades in CCC and mentors) for being a source of strength. As Nelson Mandela said: "There is no easy walk to freedom”, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires. PR: What advice would you give to women in politics? JM: For women and young people who would like to participate in any form of leadership with the aim to make a difference in your communities, I would advise them that since fear is the major barrier, they should bear in mind that the fear of big politics, self-doubt, stereotypes and other reservations prevent women from going into political, social and economic participation. Thus, women and young people should have a mentality of doing what they fear the most. Women and young people should look for special mentoring programmes, for example developed by political parties to help young women get support from more experienced women politicians to gain the necessary experience, improve their skills. Training and leadership programmes are also of much help since they not only teach women how to understand the budget or draft decisions, but they also help them create communities, become self-confident women learn the mechanisms of self-defence against oppression and are determined, thus playing an important role in the making of women politicians. PR: In light of the persecution you have been facing, did you seek professional counselling? JM: I have encountered most of my challenges by seeking support and assistance from organisations such as CCC, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development (EJS), One Young World and the United Nations, where I have been given a platform and opportunity to improve my leadership skills as a chief delegate. I have established an independent fund...which helps to support in overcoming the barriers to political participation. I have also been networking with other women in leadership to improve on self-confidence and learn other self-defence mechanisms against oppression. Women's support mechanisms in politics are key: Mamombe Harare West MP Joana Mamombe

NewsHawks News Page 23 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 Women in Politics TAFADZWA MWANENGURENI "I WAS particularly jaded by party politics and I switched off,” said former MDC-T Harare West member of Parliament Jessie Majome who was last seen in political circles after the 2018 elections when she lost her seat to Joana Mamombe. Majome is one of the pioneer female politicians following the formation of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) by the late Morgan Tsvangirai in early 2000s. In a way,  the death of Tsvangirai in February 2018 left her vulnerable and hopeless  in politics as the new president Nelson Chamisa, who is now the leader of the Citizens' Coalition for Change (CCC), allegedly substituted her with his candidate of choice and she decided to run as an independent. "In 2018, I lost my bid to be party candidate when Nelson Chamisa the new party leader who ascended thereto in questionable circumstances after Morgan Tsvangirai’s death deployed all his power to irregularly instal his choice of candidate and displaced me," she said. This marked the end of her 17- year political journey. Her journey began in the early 2000s when she was appointed a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee (Copac) during Zimbabwe's constitution-making process. She recounts the years when Zanu PF's authoritarian government unleashed its fury on the opposition. "During that tenure I was  extremely busy as a lawyer, yanking MDC activists in Matabeleland North from the  grizzly jaws of the legal system of the Mugabe regime, which had perfected the vice of  abusing the criminal justice system to persecute the opposition in the bloody years of the MDC’s infancy". Upon realising Majome's hard work, the then  MDC Matabeleland North provincial chair  Morgen Komichi invited her to run for councillor of ward 1 on the Hwange Local Board. "I realised then that as I contemplated a political career later on in my life that was just as well as good a time as any, as I was already very politically exposed from my legal work". "I ran in the local government election and won in August 2003 despite a hazardous and  maliciously sensational collapse of my marriage," said Majome. The domination of the patriarchal system from the grassroots to top-level politics in Zimbabwe sidelines many women from participating in politics. However, for Majome that was not always the case. But she was not spared the violence and abuse by the ruling Zanu PF while on the other hand she had to take care of her children as a single mother. Just like any other female politician in the opposition movement, she faced the wrath of the Zanu PF government when she was  suspended by the then Local Government minister after she booted out a council chief executive for corruption and refused to back down from her action. Unfortunately, her efforts to challenge her suspension in the High Court were dismissed which led her return to Harare but unable to contest again for the local authority seat. The 2008 national elections saw Majome winning the Harare West constituency seat. The 2008 polls would go down in history as one of the most violent elections. She served two terms in the National Assembly and still believes she achieved a lot. "My politics was politics of issues. l believe I am remembered as an effective MP and minister," said Majome. In the inclusive government which ran from 2009 to 2013, Majome was appointed deputy minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, deputising Emmerson Mnangagwa who is now President. She is even convinced the results of her motions and debates in Parliament are now manifesting in the current government despite her absence from the political arena and she is glad that President Mnangagwa kept his word. "The recent amendments to the marriage law, barring child marriages and making marriage registration more accessible by roping in traditional leaders were a result of my efforts to lobby the then Justice minister, who is now the President, to expunge child marriage from the law." "He agreed and invited draft amendment clauses of the relevant legislation. I roped in various civil society organisations and we prepared and presented to him a lay Bill on ending child marriage. He kept his word and now all of its  provisions are in the Marriages Act [Chapter 5:17. ]", she said. As one of the trailblazers, she faced a lot of criticism on issues to with gender-based violence. In 2015, she condemned the sexualisation of schoolgirls in uniform following the release of Jah Prayzah's video tutled "Eriza". "I got many brickbats from public opinion, but the message got across and the artiste’s manager reached out." The year 2018 saw the end to her political career after Chamisa took over the control of the MDC. Many alleged that he installed his candidate of choice, Joana Mamombe, to replace Majome to run for Harare West constituency. "I refused to participate in the sham primary election that was planned and withdrew my bid for the party ticket." In an attempt to retain the seat, she then ran as an independent candidate and lost to Mamombe. "I accepted defeat, congratulated the winner and wished her well." "In August, having pondered on my political future and realised that there was no party that I could repose my confidence in and support of, and that I had no intention of running for office again as an independent, I took the decision to retire from politics and participate in it only as a private citizen," said Majome. Her loss in 2018 clearly indicated how vulnerable women are in Zimbabwean politics when they are not affiliated to any male-led party. In Zimbabwe, for a woman to survive in politics she has to serve in favour of the party leader otherwise running independently or forming a political party can lead to the political wilderness. Efforts to take control of opposition politics by former MDC deputy president Thokozani Khupe did not reach far, after she contested for public office in 2018 and later joined the CCC. "I also can’t help but  notice with heartache how a once formidable opposition movement has been demolished by power grab personality cult politics, yet  Zimbabwe is better off with healthy, serious and ideologically principled political contenders for the electorate’s support." "So, I don’t pay much attention to them but even then I can’t help but notice  that they seem to be doing little else besides acrimonious jockeying for positions and individual power," she said. In 2019, President Mnangagwa appointed her among eight commissioners of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc), and she is chairperson of the legal committee. She perceives her current position as a total opposite of politics as the board works to bring collective results. "Comparing leadership in it (Zacc) with political leadership is like trying to find the qualities of chalk in cheese." According to her, Zacc’s key achievements since she joined include the facilitation of Zimbabwe in adopting a National Anti-Corruption Strategy for the first time in the country’s history, and this is generating confidence in reporting corruption as evidenced by the increase in reports  since 2019. However, she raised concerns over the insufficiency of legislative tools to combat corruption, saying provisions of the main statute, the Anti-Corruption Act, are now invalid and inconsistent with the constitution. "A lot of its provisions are now invalid because they are inconsistent with the constitution. It also lags behind global developments in anti-corruption and particularly falls short of the standards of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption as well as the African Union and the Sadc protocol," said Majome. Jessie Majome My politics was the politics of issues: Commissioner Majome

Page 24 NewsHawks News Issue 158, 24 November 2023

IN early 2006, Hushang Ansary — a former Iranian statesman who immigrated to Texas to make a fortune in the U.S. oil business — strode into the Curacao headquarters of Ennia, a private pension fund and the island nation’s largest insurance company. He had just purchased the business, and employees lined the walls and clapped loudly to welcome their illustrious boss. With a wide smile, Ansary clapped, too, and bowed in a show of respect for the old hands at his new enterprise. Longtime Ennia employees, though, found Ansary’s takeover curious. He was a powerful force in the United States, a major donor to Republican causes and a friend of the Bush family, Henry Kissinger and other conservative luminaries. The Texan had little known experience running an insurance and pension business like Ennia. What were his intentions? Nearly two decades later, many more people across the Caribbean island are asking the same question. The Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten has accused Ansary of draining assets from Ennia, threatening the income of 30,000 pension holders in Curacao and neighboring islands. Authorities say Ansary used the money to invest in his other businesses, for private jet travel, to dispense millions in questionable payments to acquaintances and to send donations to conservative causes in the United States. Now the central bank is suing Ansary in Texas to recover the hundreds of millions of dollars it says he owes Ennia. Like with most white-collar scandals, behind the high-profile names in the Ennia controversy are the accountants — often at global firms — who inspect companies’ books and create transactions of such complexity it can take years for investigators to untangle them. The global giant KPMG, for example, audited key parts of Ennia’s business during Ansary’s reign, signing off on financial statements during its now-controversial years. But in its exploration of the Ennia turmoil, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists focused on the role of the London-based accounting giant PwC, formerly known as PricewaterhouseCoopers. ICIJ spent hours speaking with Ansary and reviewed extensive financial records and court documents that paint a troubling picture of PwC’s role with Ennia. Six years into running the company, Ansary had PwC set up offshore shell companies. Those companies helped Ansary minimize taxes and participated in complex maneuvers that Curacao authorities later said wrongfully deprived Ennia of hundreds of millions in assets. In 2018, the Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten, which also serves as a regulator of financial businesses on the two islands, declared that Ennia was going broke and seized control of the insurer from Ansary. Even after the central bank had taken over Ennia’s day-to-day operations, PwC helped to incorporate new shell companies in Cyprus and Texas tied to Ennia — for exact reasons that, so far, no one has been able to explain to ICIJ. Ansary, who is 96 years old, told ICIJ that he is staying healthy in his advanced age in large part so he can fight back against Curacao authorities. He said the central bank is leading an international scheme that seeks to take his honestly earned money. “I think this is the Ponzi scheme of the century, and I cannot do anything about it,” Ansary said. The offshore movements of Ennia-linked money are detailed in internal records of the Cyprus office of PwC. The findings are part of Cyprus Confidential, an investigation led by ICIJ and Paper Trail Media with 67 media partners. They come in large part through ICIJ’s analysis of 3.6 million leaked records that show the key role the firm played in helping Russian oligarchs and others accused of crimes and financial misappropriation. Citing client confidentiality, PwC declined to answer detailed questions about its work with Ansary and the shell companies. But in an email to ICIJ, PwC spokesman Mike Davies said that the firm strives to maintain the highest professional ethics. “PwC’s internal standards are reviewed and updated to reflect both lessons learned and changing circumstances,” Davies wrote, “and we do not hesitate to take action when our standards are not met.” Meanwhile, in Curacao, many thousands are awaiting definitive action. Ralph Koch, a 77-year-old former teacher and government worker, said that if he loses his Ennia pension income he will survive, but what bothers him most is the sense of unfairness. “The people [at] Ennia took the money,” Koch said. “That’s the pain I Page 25 International InvestigativeStories A US billionaire took over a tropical island pension fund — then hundreds of millions of dollars allegedly went missing International Investigative Stories The Ennia building in Willemstad, Curacao. Image: Dick Drayer / ICIJ NewsHawks 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 With help from PwC Cyprus, Hushang Ansary set up shell companies and oversaw a series of transactions that authorities say drained a Curacao fund holding pensions for 30,000 people.

Page 26 International Investigative Stories NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 have from this situation.” A winding path to prosperity Ansary was born in 1927 to middle-class parents living in Iran’s coastal Khuzestan province, far from the country’s power center of Tehran. His father, a bank clerk who had studied in India, taught Ansary to look outside Iran for his destiny. “I’d like you to leave this country as fast as you can,” Ansary recalls his dad telling him. After school on Fridays, Ansary’s father had him take typing classes that used English-language typewriters, Ansary said. “He would tell us: English, English, English.” In his early years, Ansary’s gift for mastering languages landed him jobs with foreign wholesalers shipping goods to merchants in the country’s sprawling bazaars, he said. In his 20s, after a stint as a correspondent covering the Soviet invasion of northern Iran for the International News Service and other international news organizations, Ansary visited Japan. He ended up spending years there. The country was in the midst of a massive economic restructuring after its World War II defeat. “In Japan, making money was the easiest thing in the world,” Ansary said. When the Shah of Iran arrived in Japan for a state visit, he was impressed by the young Iranian and invited Ansary to come back to Iran to join his government. Ansary agreed, and in less than a decade he vaulted through the ranks of Iran’s ruling class, a fast ascent that commentators could attribute only to a legendary intellect and a sharp instinct for locating and seizing opportunity. “His mind was more agile than erudite, his determination was relentless, and his generosity was calculated,” wrote Abbas Milani in his book “Eminent Persians: The Men and Women Who Made Modern Iran, 1941-1979,” published in 2008. “He had a knack for surrounding himself with good lieutenants and assistants and, though he was a stern and demanding task master, he showered those around him with gifts and bonuses.” In 1967 Ansary became Iran’s ambassador to the United States. By 1975 he had advanced to finance minister. That year, wearing a plaid necktie and sitting next to Kissinger, President Richard Nixon’s secretary of state, Ansary signed a major deal that included an agreement for the U.S. to help Iran develop nuclear energy. The following year Ansary made headlines when he projected that the U.S. would soon “occupy the first position among Iran’s trading partners.” As Kissinger and Ansary orchestrated a major arms and trade deal, The New York Times pointed to their relationship “as underscoring the growing political, economic and military ties” between Washington and Tehran. In 1977, Ansary took the helm of Iran’s national oil company, cementing his place as one of the most powerful men in the country. But in another show of intuition, Ansary resigned his post in 1978 and left the country just months before a revolution unseated the shah. He ended up in Houston, the heart of a booming Texas oil industry, where he had made powerful friends. They were apparently eager to work with the wealthy new arrival who had a penchant for getting things done. One of Ansary’s new ventures included going into business with Kissinger and Frank Carlucci, who would later become President Ronald Reagan’s defense secretary. In the early 1980s, Ansary invested in a Caribbean resort and casino on a piece of beachfront land in St. Maarten, a former Dutch colony with close ties to Curacao. Kissinger would sit on the board, and Carlucci would become a part owner. Ansary, who has become a U.S. citizen, told ICIJ that his interest in doing business in the Caribbean was motivated by goodwill toward U.S. allies rather than profits. “The idea was not to go and make money on the islands,” he said, adding that he wanted to take money he made in the U.S. “and allocate a portion of it for job creation and job security and economic benefit to these islands. The intention was to give them a helping hand.” The new boss Part of the Netherlands Antilles group of islands, Curacao is a former Dutch colony that, along with St. Maarten, was granted independence in 2010. Although now autonomous, Curacao remains a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which helps oversee the island’s national defense and foreign relations. Curacao’s central bank, which also regulates financial institutions in St. Maarten, is tasked with keeping tabs on major insurance and pension firms like Ennia. In the world of global finance, nothing seemed wildly out of the ordinary about Ansary’s takeover of the firm in 2006, although some Ennia employees were uneasy about being managed by Americans rather than Dutch bosses, three longtime employees told ICIJ. Also, Ansary was known as an investor, not an insurance or pension professional. Within two years, more concrete worries about Ansary’s leadership surfaced. In 2008, Herman Couperus, an Ennia actuary responsible for assessing risks the business might face, began to notice a series of startling decisions Ansary was making as he managed the firm’s assets, Couperus told ICIJ. These assets were crucial reserves to ensure future payments to thousands of policyholders, Couperus said. Ansary’s team had created a new company under the overall Ennia group but outside the company’s insurance and pension divisions called EC Investments BV, which would hold hundreds of millions of dollars in assets. Couperus said it appeared that the company’s investments were being moved to the separate entity, and he struggled to understand why. “It wasn’t a logical management decision for any insurer, and it wasn’t for Ennia,” he said. “There was simply no business need for it.” Even more troubling for Couperus was how the company’s investments were being used. Ansary had transferred his St. Maarten property to Ennia, Couperus said. According to former employees, questions swirled around the deal. “There was a clear conflict of interest,” Servaas Houben, who led Ennia’s actuarial department from 2013 to 2018, told ICIJ. The St. Maarten property, known as Mullet Bay, could have theoretically produced good income for Ennia, except that many of its attractions were largely destroyed by Hurricane Luis in 1995 and had been closed ever since, according to court records. What Couperus and Houben say they knew for certain was that Ansary benefited from a deal in which Ennia became saddled with a damaged asset of uncertain value. Ansary told ICIJ that, while parts of the property had been damaged, “Mullet Bay has long been St. Maarten’s most valuable asset,” and pointed to its golf course that still hosts tournaments. By early 2010, Couperus was growing even more troubled as he examined how hundreds of millions in Ennia money had been invested into Ansary’s Houston-based Stewart & Stevenson, a manufacturer of military, oil and gas equipment, he said. In its lawsuit against Ansary, the central bank said the Mullet Bay investment represented an “obvious conflict of interest,” alleging that Ansary overvalued the property to make excessive distributions and withdrawals from Ennia accounts. According to the central bank’s litigation against Ansary and others, by 2010 the Mullet Bay property and the Stewart & Stevenson investment accounted for most of Ennia’s assets. The central bank alleges that Ansary and his management team deprived Ennia of its rightful share of profits from the Stewart & Stevenson investment, claiming that they pocketed $509 million “with an investment of USD 5 million.” During more than four hours of interviews with ICIJ, Ansary rejected the claims that he mismanaged Ennia funds. To the contrary, he said, he took a poorly performing firm and made it more profitable. The activities of EC Investments, the new investment vehicle he created under the Ennia umbrella, had little to do with the insurance company’s solvency, he insisted — it was simply a separate investment firm that was off Ennia’s books. Ennia could, however, benefit from lending money to the new investment firm, Ansary said. “This was designed in order for Ennia insurance companies not to be subjected to the shocks of the marketplace,” he said. “If they have the name of ‘Ennia,’ it doesn’t mean they’re all the same company.” In court filings, lawyers for Ansary have called the central bank’s contention that Ennia was deprived of its fair share of Stewart & Stevenson proceeds “entirely untrue, unwarranted, and baseless.” Ennia policyholders “were in no way participants” in the Stewart & Stevenson investment and that Ennia never missed a payment to its customers, according to the filings. In July 2010, Couperus emailed Ennia’s board outlining his concerns and urging that “we do need to intervene here.” He said the alarms he raised to the firm’s senior leadership and board resulted in no lasting changes. “At that stage, I knew management could not be stopped,” Couperus said. Shortly after that Couperus stopped working with Ennia. Couperus wasn’t the only one calling attention to the transactions. Later that year, Ennia’s chief lawyer, Ludwig Voigt, sent a memo to management citing “a very serious, worrying and alarming situation.” “The picture has emerged of very dominant officers” governing Ennia, Voigt added, “initiating financial transactions without any benefit to Ennia, with the management board following without any protest.” In early 2011, Ansary, who lives in Houston but periodically visited Ennia’s headquarters in Willemstad — Curacao’s capital — convened Ennia’s senior management, according to court records. “The outcome of the meeting,” a summary of meeting minutes states, “was that Ansary made it extremely clear that he would make the investment decisions himself.” Ansary said court records mischaracterized this meeting. He was chairman of the Ennia board, and his lawyers note that he always voted with the majority of board members, which included prominent figures such as Carlucci and former Republican politician and football player Jack Kemp. Ansary’s time at Ennia overlapped with a period of significant political giving. Since 2006, Ansary and his wife, Shahla, have donated more Hushang Ansary (center) with his wife, Shahla Ansary (left), and Henry Kissinger (right) at an event together in New York in February 2006. Image: Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

NewsHawks Page 27 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 than $13 million to politicians in the United States, mostly Republicans, including $2 million in donations to Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration, according to OpenSecrets, a Washington-based research nonprofit that tracks money in politics. In its litigation against him, the central bank accused Ansary of using millions in Ennia funds to support unrelated causes in the U.S., including contributions to George W. Bush, a foundation associated with the Bush family, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. A spokesperson for the Museum of Fine Arts said Ansary had donated but that Ennia was not a donor. Ansary said that EC Investments, the Ennia investment firm he set up, never made a political donation in the United States. One manager who spent decades at Ennia told ICIJ that upper management instructed him to wire a $1 million donation to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library. The former manager, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid business repercussions on the small island, said he carried out the order but added: “I never got an explanation for this.” The George & Barbara Bush Foundation, which receives private donations for the Bush library, did not respond to multiple requests to comment on the donation. “Our business had absolutely nothing to do with the United States,” the former Ennia manager said. “It was strange. It was part of a lot of strange things I saw.” A partner in secrecy As a Big Four accounting firm, PwC is a key player in the global financial system, performing audits and other services for some of the world’s largest companies. It has also brought some of the world’s wealthiest citizens on as clients. In some cases that has led to major legal and ethical lapses. A 2014 ICIJ investigation revealed how PwC Luxembourg helped giant companies shift profits around the globe to slash billions from their tax bills. Six years later, ICIJ detailed the way the firm disregarded accounting red flags to work with Isabel dos Santos, an Angolan billionaire who had reportedly engaged in corrupt deals. Last week, ICIJ published a wide-ranging project looking at the Cyprus office of PwC and its role in Russia’s wartime financial machine, including moving money for oligarchs and figures involved with President Vladimir Putin’s military operations. The firm’s Cyprus operations also helped those outside Russia, including tyrants and criminals, around the world. In 2012, amid internal alarms being raised at Ennia, Ansary turned to PwC to help construct a set of shell companies owned by EC Investments. “PricewaterhouseCoopers was brought in by us because, number one, they were the largest accounting firm in the world,” Ansary said, adding that the offshore companies were used to navigate global taxation treaties. “We had no tax obligations in Curacao as a result of that network.” PwC administered one of the firms in Cyprus that owned a shell company in Luxembourg, a well-known destination for clients seeking low taxes and secrecy. The firms held more than a hundred million dollars in the Stewart & Stevenson investment. Curacao officials later alleged that this investment was the subject of complex manipulation by Ansary and others that deprived Ennia of hundreds of millions in proceeds. At first, few knew about the shell companies, according to former Ennia employees. Houben, from the actuarial department, said he was surprised to learn Ansary’s team had created a stack of offshore shell companies within Ennia’s already complex corporate structure. But what was most surprising to Houben was how he learned about the shell companies — from news reports. “We were left in the dark,” Houben said. “Myself and the risk manager should have been aware of those things. It’s crucial to know what’s happening on the asset side.” In June 2016, news outlets in Curacao and the Netherlands reported that the government of the Netherlands, where Ennia has some operations, believed Ansary siphoned money out of the company, leaving a major deficit in Ennia’s core business and threatening tens of thousands of pensions. Regulators had begun closing in on the firm. On July 4, 2018, alleging Ennia was nearing collapse due to Ansary’s withdrawals, Curacao’s central bank seized Ennia’s insurance and pension business in an attempt to stop the outflow of cash. The central bank took over the day-to-day operations of the firm and began hunting for the money that it believed belonged to Ennia. Ansary asserts that Curacao authorities took over his company illegally, depriving him of due process under Curacao law. He said that the central bank stacked the deck against him, presenting him with hundreds of pages of court records in Dutch just minutes before hearings. The central bank began to seize assets it argued belonged to the firm. On Jan. 22, 2019, central bank officials told a bankruptcy judge in Manhattan that the situation was urgent. “We would go under” if the negative cash-flow problem isn’t fixed, an Ennia officer told the judge. Days later, the judge ruled in the central bank’s favor, granting Ennia access to some $240 million in accounts associated with Ansary. The money would strengthen Ennia’s business, including payments to its pension holders in the short term. Curacao authorities would say, though, that much more needed to be recovered from Ansary and others to keep the business afloat for decades to come. The Texas branch In late 2018, with Ennia’s business operations under central bank control, PwC oversaw a series of strange transactions connected to the company. At the time this story was published, ICIJ had not found anyone who could or was willing to explain these transactions. In December 2018, PwC registered a new Cyprus shell company linked to Ennia called Onafield Ltd., a secretive appendage to Ennia’s preexisting offshore structure. It remains unclear who directed Onafield to be incorporated. In its public filings, Onafield’s only officers are Cyprus-based stand-in directors affiliated with PwC. Leaked internal PwC records that ICIJ reviewed present a seeming and central contradiction around Onafield: Ansary was listed in PwC files as Onafield’s owner, even though it was a subsidiary of Ennia — under the control of Curacao’s central bank — which is suing Ansary. PwC’s “know your customer” files on Onafield contained a copy of Ansary’s passport as well as a chart stating that he owned the firm, but in interviews Ansary repeatedly denied any knowledge of Onafield’s incorporation. The central bank did not directly answer ICIJ’s repeated questions as to whether it, or Ennia under its control, incorporated Onafield. But an official close to the central bank indicated that circumstances around Onafield were under investigation. “Our understanding may be further informed as investigations continue,” the official said. The official said in an email that Onafield had been incorporated for “tax purposes based on a preexisting tax advice from PwC Cyprus.” The official did not provide a clear explanation of what that tax purpose was. In early 2019, PwC Cyprus helped create another shell company serving as a branch of Onafield and registered in Dallas. Its name was also Onafield Ltd. It remains unclear who directed this firm to be registered. In a meeting held at PwC’s Nicosia, Cyprus, office on Jan. 22, Onafield’s directors authorized plans to transfer a $301.8 million “loan receivable” to the new Texas-based Onafield. Documents show that the move entitled this company to be paid the entire balance of the loan, although it’s unclear how much of the loan, if any of it, was ultimately paid to the newer Onafield. The entity responsible for paying the loan to Texas — at least on paper — was EC Investments, the Ennia investment company. In an initial interview, Ansary said he hadn’t heard of the large loan receivable. Then in mid-October, he told ICIJ that he had passed the information “to PwC in Houston immediately for explanation,” adding, “I was told that they have asked Cyprus for information.” A few days later, Ansary told ICIJ that the loan receivable transfer was a “deferred tax benefit,” though he was vague about the details. In a subsequent statement he indicated that this was only a guess at what it could be. Weeks later, Ansary told ICIJ that PwC had given him no answer about the loan receivable transfer to Texas. Reuven Avi-Yonah, a University of Michigan law professor and international tax expert, told ICIJ that a business in the United States that holds a loan receivable can take tax deductions if the loan goes into default. Emails from mid- to late-2020 show an official at Ennia communicating with PwC Cyprus employees about paying taxes on a $760,496 profit that Onafield in Cyprus was estimated to make that year. The emails indicate that Ennia employees had at least a degree of control over Onafield in 2020. The official close to the central bank said that the Cyprus-registered Onafield also made payments to PwC Cyprus and to Centralis, a corporate services firm that helped administer some of Ennia’s shell companies, including the Onafield incorporation in Texas. Centralis did not respond to repeated requests for comment about Onafield and the loan transfer. PwC also declined to comment on the loan transfer. Internal PwC documents contain unsigned invoice payment records for the Cyprus-registered Onafield between 2019 and 2022 that list as an intended signatory the name of Abdallah Andraous, a co-defendant of Ansary’s in the central bank’s litigation and one of Ansary’s co-investors in Ennia. In response to ICIJ’s questions, his attorney, Rutsel Martha, said Andraous had nothing to do with Onafield, writing in an email: “Mr Andraous has never heard of this company.” Bankrupting a company ‘in perfect shape’ In late 2021, Curacao authorities won their initial case against Ansary, with a court on the island ordering Ansary and others to pay $563 million to Ennia. Ansary appealed, asserting that his investments were sound and that funds the central bank was seeking were never part of the insurance business. In a partial ruling this past September, an appeals court affirmed Ansary’s liability but lowered the sum that he and his co-defendants owe. The appeals court reduced the amount they must pay relating specifically to Ennia’s Stewart & Stevenson dealings from $415 million to $117 million. In addition, the appeals court said Ansary and some of his co-defendants must pay Ennia $11 million for an improper investment in oil rigs and another $14 million for using Ennia money to dispense donations to political figures, pay consultants and “phantom staff” in the U.S. The appellate judges said Ansary and others are potentially liable to pay tens of millions more in what they call improper uses of Ennia money for private jet travel, consultancy fees, supervisory directors’ fees, dividend distributions and other purposes unrelated to Ennia’s business. But the court delayed calculating those additional damages pending a review by independent experts. Ansary said that the changing calculation called the entire case against him into question and contended that he never allowed Ennia to pay for his air travel. He told ICIJ that he believes Curacao’s central bank is responsible for “bankrupting a company that was in perfect shape” by mismanaging Ennia and scaring off potential customers through declarations of insolvency. “You can take any company that is in excellent financial condition … and declare that it is in bad business, declare that it cannot have the confidence of its policyholders,” Ansary said of the central bank’s management of Ennia, “and it doesn’t take more than five years to push it into bankruptcy if that is your intention. And that, we will show, was their intention.” ‘It is everything to us’ Curacao is widely known as a place where tourists flock to beachside villas, but for decades its economy centered on a vast oil refinery in the heart of Willemstad. There, neighborhoods were blanketed by downwind sulfurs and other toxins, raising complaints from residents and environmental groups. The refinery operated for roughly a century, giving Curacao a major income source outside of tourism. In 2018, though, the refinery’s main customer, Venezuelan conglomerate PDVSA, ceased its business on the island and left the country’s huge oil system mostly idle. Unemployment spiked to more than 20%. Two years later, the COVID-19 pandemic battered the tourism industry, sparking fears of an economic crisis. Although tourism is recovering, there is widespread angst across the island about its economic future. The drop in oil and tourism revenue has been coupled with high inflation that has outpaced Curacao’s Caribbean neighbors. The unaffordability of basic living necessities — food, water, air conditioning — is a constant topic of conversation. In this way, the dependency of the approximately 30,000 residents of Curacao and neighboring islands on their pensions, which provide fixed monthly payments to retired workers of firms that used Ennia as their pension provider, has become all the more crucial. Signs of Curacao’s hundreds of years as a Dutch colony pervade Willemstad, from its baroque Dutch architecture to a visible show of wealth by the remaining European population. The two- and three-story 17th-century buildings of the city center are either assiduously maintained with bright pastel exteriors or look like ancient ruins, weathered by a constant salty wind known to shorten a structure’s lifespan. Only a few modern office buildings rise above the low-slung city. The most prominent building on Willemstad’s east side is the Ennia headquarters, the massive glowing letters of its logo a reliable landmark for orienting tourists. Ennia, which is the largest source of health, life and car insurance in Curacao, also looms large over tens of thousands of livelihoods on an island that is wary of meddling from powerful outside forces. Across the country, most everyone knows the problems with Ennia and its importance to the island. In conversations, the name “Ansary” is invariably enunciated out of the mix of languages: Dutch, Spanish, English and Papiamento, the creole language common on the island. ICIJ spoke with more than a dozen Ennia pension holders, including teachers, nurses, a mechanic, a hospital janitor and people who worked in the country’s financial sector. Lisette Croes, a 74-year-old Curacao resident, now draws $500 per month from her Ennia pension from when she worked at a bank in Willemstad in the 1990s and early 2000s. “It is a serious thing,” Croes said of the pension worries, since she also uses the money to pay for her electric and water bills as well as school supplies for her daughter. “If it stops, I may go to Holland. Maybe they can help me with social security.” Croes was sitting in the spartan dining area of a popular Dutch grocery chain. A few feet away, just inside the constantly moving sliding door, a 70-year-old woman sat on a steel folding chair selling rolls of bright purple lottery tickets. She, too, lives partly on an Ennia pension. “I already live as cheaply as I can,” the woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said. “I have to eat.” “If Ennia goes down, we go down,” said an 80-year-old woman in Willemstad who relies on the pension with her 81-year-old husband. “It is everything to us.” Over the summer the Netherlands was in talks with Curacao to loan the country $650 million to make Ennia whole. The deal sought to ensure that no one would lose their Ennia pensions. But Curacao is already struggling to pay the Netherlands back for billions of dollars’ worth of COVIDera loans. On Oct. 5, the Curacao Chronicle reported that Curacao had decided to reject the loan, writing that the central bank appeared to be interested in gradually shutting Ennia down. “Under this approach, policyholders would receive compensation from the government to offset the expected reduction in their pension payouts,” the Chronicle reported. “However, the exact amount of compensation remains shrouded in uncertainty.” Peter de Groot, who worked as a claims investigator at Ennia for 28 years until he retired in 2014, said he’s worried about his own pension from his former employer. If his pension indeed gets cut, he said, he may immigrate to the Netherlands, which has a more robust social safety net. Regardless of what happens with his pension, de Groot hopes Curacao will prevail in its actions against Ansary. “One way or another,” he said, “the money has to come back.” Contributors: Dick Drayer, Delphine Reuter, Jesús Escudero — International Consortium of Investigative Journalists International Investigative Stories

Page 28 NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 WHILE international firms, big companies, and even small and medium businesses, do not hesitate recruiting Africa's diaspora talents, most African leaders are hostile to them. Zimbabwe is one country which is hostile to diaspora talents and skills. The attitude of government and its authorities, as well as the operating environment are remarkably hostile. Yet some leaders in Africa like Paul Kagame — unlike Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa  — identify and recruit talent or at least work with them as consultants or in other capacities. A lot of these talents do not want to come back and settle in Africa if local offers are not as attractive as they want them to be, but innovative governments and leaders find a way of working with them in progressive ways that make their communities and countries better. This is well the case with many Zimbabwean diaspora talent spread across the region and overseas. James Manyika is a case in point. Mnangagwa and his government is not making use of such great talents like Manyika celebrated in foreign lands, but not even acknowledged at home. Manyika is a senior vice-president at Google LLC. As head of technology and society, he focuses on artificial intelligence (AI), the future of work and the digital economy, computing infrastructure, sustainability, and other areas with the potential for broad impact on society. Previously, Manyika spent over 25 years at McKinsey & Company, including serving on its board, and is now senior partner emeritus and chair emeritus of the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), which he helmed for 13 years and where he led research on technology and the economy. Based in Silicon Valley, Manyika worked with the chief executives of many leading technology companies. Manyika was appointed vice-chair of the Barack Obama administration’s Global Development Council and served on the Commerce Department’s Digital Economy Board and the National Innovation Board. He has served on task forces related to technology and the economy, most recently co-chairing the CFR Task Force on US Innovation and National Security. The governor of California appointed him to co-chair the California Future of Work Commission. He serves on the boards of the Hewlett and MacArthur philanthropic foundations. He is a visiting professor at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government and a member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s committee on responsible computing. He serves on the board of the broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and on the advisory board of research institutes at Harvard, Oxford, MIT, London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Toronto, and Stanford University, where he has also served on the steering committee of the hundred-year study of AI. Manyika has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a life fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a distinguished fellow of Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centred AI, a distinguished fellow in ethics and AI at Oxford, a fellow of DeepMind, and a visiting fellow of All Souls College and Balliol College, Oxford. A Rhodes scholar, Manyika received his BSc in electrical engineering from the University of Zimbabwe and his MA, MSc, and DPhil from Oxford in AI and robotics, mathematics, and computer science, respectively. But then again as they say, a prophet is not honoured in his hometown. The NewsHawks is published on different content platforms by the NewsHawks Digital Media which is owned by Centre for Public Interest Journalism No. 100 Nelson Mandela Avenue Beverly Court, 6th floor Harare, Zimbabwe Trustees/Directors: Beatrice Mtetwa, Raphael Khumalo, Professor Wallace Chuma, Teldah Mawarire, Doug Coltart EDITORIAL STAFF: Managing Editor: Dumisani Muleya Assistant Editor: Brezh Malaba News Editor: Owen Gagare Digital Editor: Bernard Mpofu Reporters: Brenna Matendere, Ruvimbo Muchenje, Enock Muchinjo, Jonathan Mbiriyamveka, Nathan Guma Email: [email protected] SUB EDITORS: Mollen Chamisa, Gumisai Nyoni Business Development Officer: Nyasha Kahondo Cell: +263 71 937 1739 [email protected] Subscriptions & Distribution: +263 71 937 1739 Reaffirming the fundamental importance of freedom of expression and me- dia freedom as the cornerstone of democracy and as a means of upholding human rights and liberties in the constitution; our mission is to hold power in its various forms and manifestations to account by exposing abuse of power and office, betrayals of public trust and corruption to ensure good governance and accountability in the public interest. CARTOON Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe The NewsHawks newspaper subscribes to the Code of Conduct that promotes truthful, accurate, fair and balanced news reporting. If we do not meet these standards, register your complaint with the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe at No.: 34, Colenbrander Rd, Milton Park, Harare. Telephone: 024-2778096 or 024-2778006, 24Hr Complaints Line: 0772 125 659 Email: [email protected] or [email protected] WhatsApp: 0772 125 658, Twitter: @vmcz Website: www.vmcz.co.zw, Facebook: vmcz Zimbabwe Manyika: No prophet is glorified at his hometown Dumisani Muleya Hawk Eye Editorial & Opinion A SERIOUS cholera outbreak has erupted in Zimbabwe, infecting more than 8 000 people and claiming the lives of 155. The recurrence of this primitive disease is an indictment on the shameful opportunists who masquerade as national leaders. There can never be any excuse for such criminal negligence. The blood of the innocents is on their hands. It is tragic that in today's Zimbabwe, 43 years after Independence, in Harare’s low-income townships and in the rural communities of Manicaland province, the simple act of sipping a glass of water can send you to an early grave. This is not the first time Zimbabwe is experiencing a cholera outbreak. As a country, we seem incapable of learning. As a result, lives are being lost. The deadliest cholera outbreak in recorded African history killed 4 288 people and infected 98 592 others in the capital of Zimbabwe in 2008 and 2009. And in 2018, a twin cholera and typhoid outbreak hit Harare, piling on the misery. It claimed 69 lives and over 10 000 people were affected by the diseases, highlighting the dangers of a dilapidated water-supply system.  Harare's population has grown sharply over the past 30 years, without a corresponding increase in budgetary spending on public water infrastructure. The quality of the water, owing to ageing pipes and cross-contamination from burst sewers, is quite simply a health hazard. The country finds itself trapped in a distressing cycle of recurrent chol bouts. This medieval disease continues to haunt citizens, leaving devastation in its wake. An honest, no-holds-barred conversation is long overdue. More importantly, decisive practical action must be taken without further delay. Understanding the reasons behind Zimbabwe's repeated battles with cholera is crucial if we are to find lasting solutions and mitigate the devastating impacts on public health. Delapidated public infrastructure is a major problem requiring urgent solutions. Decades of economic decay have taken a toll on Zimbabwe's infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems. Even in the few suburbs which still receive potable water, the relentless frequency of pipe bursts has become worrying. In many of these areas, the only sustainable solution is to replace the entire network of Rhodesian-era pipes. Poor sanitation is another major headache. Inadequate access to proper sanitation facilities has been a persistent challenge for many Zimbabweans, especially in densely populated urban areas. Lack of proper waste disposal mechanisms, coupled with haphazard sewage systems, leads to the contamination of water sources, facilitating the transmission of cholera. A local council can invest considerable effort in purifying the raw water, but all this is bound to come to naught if the piped water gets contaminated through burst sewers before it comes out of domestic taps. People are drinking their own sewage. Directly linked to poor sanitation is the problem of limited health education and awareness. Insufficient knowledge about preventive measures and inadequate access to health education contribute to the persistence of cholera outbreaks. Zimbabwean communities must be empowered with the understanding of personal hygiene practices, safe water storage, and proper food handling techniques. Some social commentators have correctly observed that it is very difficult to eliminate cholera and other primitive diseases in a poverty-stricken society. They are spot-on. Widespread poverty and economic instability amplify the vulnerability of citizens to cholera. Limited financial resources hamper the implementation of robust water treatment systems, sanitation improvements, and public health initiatives, leaving the population at the mercy of this relentless disease. To tackle cholera, Zimbabwe must begin taking seriously the issue of infrastructure development. The country needs urgent investment in modernising water and sanitation infrastructure. You do not need a PhD in public health science to realise that repairing and expanding water supply networks, improving sewage systems, and enhancing waste management practices will significantly reduce the prevalence of cholera. Both central government and local councils should spearhead public health campaigns and educational programmes emphasising the importance of proper waste disposal, handwashing, and hygienic practices. Building proper toilets and an efficient sewerage system, providing affordable access to clean water, and incentivising better sanitation habits will contribute to preventing future outbreaks. But the buck stops with Zimbabwe's leaders. Tackling the recurrent cholera outbreaks will demand urgent attention and effective intervention — not hollow rhetoric, grandstanding and cheap politicking. Already, some self-important mandarins are fomenting a war against the poor by seeking to impose a ban on street vending. Utter madness! Stop victimising the victims of your own failed economic policies. Cholera is sign of failed leadership

Page 26 NewsHawks Issue 76, 15 April 2022 Business MATTERS NewsHawks CURRENCIES LAST CHANGE %CHANGE USD/JPY 109.29 +0.38 +0.35 GBP/USD 1.38 -0.014 -0.997 USD/CAD 1.229 +0.001 +0.07 USD/CHF 0.913 +0.005 +0.53 AUD/USD 0.771 -0.006 -0.76 COMMODITIES LAST CHANGE %CHANGE *OIL 63.47 -1.54 -2.37 *GOLD 1,769.5 +1.2 +0.068 *SILVER 25.94 -0.145 -0.56 *PLATINUM 1,201.6 +4 +0.33 MARKETS *COPPER 4.458 -0.029 -0.65 A CONSORTIUM led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ally Robert Gumede has taken control of financially troubled South Africa-headquartered sugar producer Tongaat Hulett. Tongaat Hulett, an agriculture and agri-processing business with interests in Zimbabwe through its local unit, focuses on sugarcane and maize. Early this month Tongaat Hulett’s business rescue practitioners confirmed that Gumede’s Terris consortium had entered into an agreement to buy the billions owed by the company to banks, effectively bringing the group a step closer to owning Tongaat. The company has been in business rescue since 2022 after fraud and corruption collapsed its finances. Tongaat Hulett was a solid business worth about R23 billion. According to its website, it currently employs over 38 000 people. Before Gumede’s consortium moved in, Kagera Sugar of Tanzania had emerged as the most preferred bidder for Tingaat, with a deal that hovered around R3 billion. A few months after long-time leader Robert Mugabe threw in the towel due to pressure from a military-assisted operation, Gumede flew into the country to scout for business opportunities in what was widely seen as signalling his support for Mnangagwa who had taken over the reins. A day after his arrival, Gumede met with Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga. After the meeting, Gumede told local journalists that he was looking at the possibility of building a five-star resort with a flagship hotel in Victoria Falls. Before this in 2015, Gumede’s IT firm, Gijima Holdings, was named as one of the 27 companies that submitted bids to supply a traffic monitoring system for the country’s telecoms regulator. Media reports have also shown that Gumede has in the past shared air flights with Mnangagwa, raising suspicions that the businessman funded the country’s ruling party. In 2018, Gumede, a South African billionaire, denied allegations that he funded Zimbabwean president-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa’s presidential election campaign or donated cars to his Zanu-PF. This came after The Sunday Times reported that Gumede was said to be one of the key benefactors of the ruling party’s election machinery that delivered victory in the 31 July polls. Mnangagwa had a wafer-thin victory over his archrival Nelson Chamisa, then leader of the MDC-Alliance. The report said according to close sources‚ some of the donated millions were then used to buy about 100 pick-up trucks and two trucks all fitted with public announcement systems. Gumede said he is an “international businessman” who through his companies‚ “invested in several African countries for many years and in Zimbabwe for over 10 years.” “There is nothing untoward nor suspicious about my engagements with President Mnangagwa given that I have committed to investing in the country. I love Zimbabwe for the role it played in bringing democracy to South Africa during the struggle led by the ANC". Gumede said he answered President Mnagangwa's call for local and foreign investment as the country was “open for business anchored by economic reforms.” — STAFF WRITER. Mnangagwa’s ally Gumede takes control of ailing Tongaat Hulett South African business mogul Robert Gumede

Page 30 Companies & Markets NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 BERNARD MPOFU ZIMBABWE’S horticultural sector has outlined its plan to establish a US$1.2 billion industry as the sector continues lobbying for business-friendly reforms. The horticulture sector suffered a plunge in output following the chaotic fast-track land redistribution programme at the turn of the millenium. The country embarked on agrarian reforms at the time, resulting in more than 4 000 white commercial farmers losing vast tracts of land to locals. Opening of new markets and a gradual increase in investment in the sector have seen the sector recovering over the years. According to a presentation made at the Horticulture Development Council (HDC) annual investment forum held recently, land security, policy and regulatory environment and access to finance and investment readiness, remain some of the major impediments which stifle growth in the sector. The HDC seeks to grow area under horticulture from 36 600 hectare (ha) to 55 300ha by 2025. It anticipates that gross value will rise from US$3.3 billion to US$3.9 billion by 2025. The sector is targeting an annual export value of US$1.32 billion by 2025   “Our call to action is for everyone to pull their weight to make this happen. A Team Zimbabwe for Horticulture approach is needed,” the council says. Official figures show that Zimbabwe has been one of Africa’s traditional major exporters of horticultural products, alongside Kenya and Ethiopia, for most of the late 1980s up to the early aughts. According to the HDC, the country’s horticultural exports increased from only US$6 million in the 1987/88 season, to US$103 million by 1997. The exports grew by an annual average rate of 25% for the period 1998 to 2004, peaking at above US$250 million by the early 2000s. Until the late 1990s the sector contributed between 3.5% and 4.5% of national gross domestic product and was a major foreign exchange earner for the country, with diverse exports of horticultural products, including tropical, citrus and deciduous fruits; various vegetables; tree nuts; avocados and cut flowers to European markets. The sector contributed over US$125 million in export earnings at its peak in 2000. Currently, the industry contributes US$77 million to export revenue. According to the HDC, the sector employs 18 700 people and has the potential to double jobs in the next four years (2022-2025). Furthermore, the sector is projected under the Horticulture Recovery and Growth Plan to contribute export earnings of US$300 million per year, by 2030. Last year, the government launched a US$30 million Horticulture Export Revolving Fund to boost output in the sector. The US$30 million facility, which will be disbursed through normal banking channels, seeks to empower local farmers to embark on horticulture projects, as well as acquire value-addition facilities that will enable the dehydrating, freezing, canning, bottling, extracting, juicing and concentration of their produce. A NEW Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) launched by the state-owned National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) says the country’s economic recovery will be mirrored by the strong growth in the construction and property sectors. Revitus Property Opportunities I-REIT intends to raise a total amount of ZW$48 551 520 000 (Forty-eight billion five hundred and fifty-one million five hundred and twenty thousand Zimbabwe dollars) through an initial public offering (IPO) of 121 378 791 units in the fund at a subscription price of the ZW$400 per unit. The NRZ pension fund recently launched its REIT as the parastatal, which prides itself in having some of the most iconic properties in major cities, diversifies its investment portfolio. An I-REIT is a special category of listed companies that own and operate income-producing properties and usually enjoy special tax status. On conclusion of the IPO, it is envisaged that the entire issued units of the REIT totalling 368 326 243 will be listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. According to the prospectus, subscriptions paid in foreign currency will be converted to Zimdollars at the prevailing Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe interbank mid-rate on the day of allotment. The resultant Zimdollar subscription will be the basis for the computation and allotment of units. In the event of over-subscription, the REIT units shall be allocated to applicants on a pro-rata basis. “The economic stability that the country has started witnessing is poised to bring about a sustained rebound in economic activity and growth,” reads the prospectus. “The commercial property sub-sector will be one of the key beneficiaries of economic recovery. Investment in new property developments is on the back of investors’ need to preserve value and grow it in the long term. Similarly, investments in currently distressed properties will allow capital appreciation and growth in earning capacity as the economy recovers. “Most investors in the commercial property sector are institutions, dominated by pension funds who alongside listed property companies directly own the majority of the CBDs’ high-rise buildings. Indirect investment structures for institutional investors such as property unit trusts and Real Estate Investments Trusts (REIT) are not yet established compared to neighbouring countries such as South Africa and Botswana. This presents a strong case for the development of such structures.” Market watchers say the depressed state of central business district (CBD) properties and exodus by a number of entities from the CBD to suburban areas presents an opportunity for a contrarian investor to purchase those properties, inject some capital and repurpose them to suit current trends or new uses in response to changes in demand patterns within the CBDs. Whilst larger businesses may be exiting the CBDs, there is emerging demand from small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) as well as the informal sector who prefer being located in the CBDs for the convenience of their customers. This therefore presents an opportunity for a fund that pools together investors seeking an exposure to commercial real estate and purchase targeted distressed properties that have significant turnaround potential. Such properties would be acquired, reconfigured, remodelled and renovated positioning them for improved occupancy, rental income and capital value. Over two decades of economic challenges saw Zimbabwe’s commercial property market experience a decline in demand for space, particularly in the office sector as businesses downsized or closed down. The retail sub-sector has been relatively resilient, largely due to limited availability of quality space. The industrial property sub-sector has persistently underperformed due to subdued manufacturing activity, fluid operating environment and rising volumes of imports. — STAFF WRITER. Commercial property sector promising Zim’s horticulture plans US$1,2 billion industry

NewsHawks Page 31 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 Companies & Markets BERNARD MPOFU THE World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) says Zimbabwe is on track to ramping up output of the white metal to an all-time high of 502 kilo ounces (koz) following massive investment by one of the country’s top miners. The southern African nation has one of the largest known platinum reserves in the world together with South Africa and Russia. According to a new report done by the United Kingdom based-WPIC, the third quarter of 2023 saw a consolidation of several demand themes across the platinum market, with supply remaining constrained, and demand robust, with the exception of some weakness in the investment markets. The report shows that mining supply increased by 2% year-on-year to 1,418 koz in Q3’23, underpinned by Southern Africa. South African production increased by 19 koz to 996 koz and Zimbabwean output increased by 13 koz in the third quarter. South African production represented the first quarterly of year-on-year growth since the fourth quarter of 2021 and was led by better management of load curtailment and less downstream processing capacity downtime. “Zimbabwe’s production is on track to reach an all-time high of 502 koz as a result of the commissioning of the third concentrator at Zimplats in 2022,” the report says. “Furthermore, a new power agreement for the operation should continue to deliver improved power stability. “Zimbabwe’s quarterly output is estimated to have increased 11% year-on-year (+13 koz) reaching 129 koz, an all-time high. The growth came from Zimplats which realised additional milled volumes from the third concentrator plant, in addition to the impact of scheduled furnace maintenance last year. Output from other producers, Unki and Mimosa, remained virtually unchanged year-on-year.” In June this year, Zimplats commissioned a new US$100 million concentrator plant to support its US$1.8 billion expansion of the country’s biggest mine. The platinum producer is currently developing two mines, Bimha and Mupani, and the extra output means the mine requires extra concentrator capacity to process the additional ore. Before the new plant, the mine ran two concentrators at Ngezi and Selous. A third concentrator — the plant which turns ore into raw materials for platinum extraction — has now been commissioned. Elsewhere, producers decreased inventories during the third quarter of 2023 (Q3'23) leading to an 18 koz net increase in platinum supply. Russian production decreased year-on-year but, was ahead of expectations as downstream maintenance has been deferred to 2024. Recycling supply has not appeared to benefit from increasing new vehicle sales through 2023. “Lower end-of-life vehicle availability appears attributable to the longer running of vehicles as mileage decreased during the Covid pandemic,” the report says. “Furthermore, reports of scrapyards holding out for higher metals prices may be restricting spent autocatalyst availability. Total supply in Q3’23 of 1,770 koz was down 2% year-on-year and 3% quarter-on-quarter. Total demand for Q3’23 was robust at 1,810 koz, up 24% yearon-year. “Demand benefitted from a 14% year-on-year increase in automotive platinum demand and reduced selling of platinum investment products (11 koz versus 260 koz in Q3’22). Automotive demand growth was underpinned by platinum for palladium substitution, growing vehicle numbers and higher platinum group metal loadings due to tighter emissions legislation.” Zim poised for record platinum haul

Page 32 NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 Companies & Markets NATHAN GUMA LOCAL financial institution First Capital Bank, formerly Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe, ran an expo at the weekend to promote women’s small-to-medium enterprises agenda, saying it will continue to empower women entrepreneurs in the country. While the bank has been promoting women entrepreneurs through its Hustlepreneur platform on Facebook since 2017, it had not yet organised a physical expo to bring them together to discuss business ideas and network, while encouraging new businesspersons to emerge. Speaking to The NewsHawks on the sidelines of the expo held at First Capital Bank Sports Club in Harare on Saturday, First Capital head of marketing and communications Emily Nemaware said the new platform will help encourage more women to start their own businesses, thus promoting financial independence. The event featured three hustlepreneurs, Chiedza Mhosva, an award-winning Inuka distributor and Inuka Team Leader, Claris Shava, founder and operations director Care Angels, and Bertha Muyambo, founder and chief executive of B&M Cleaning and Packaging Services. Nemaware said: “We are really excited about the expo. Even after the five years, we asked ourselves how we could get all these women all under one roof since we have over 22 000 women online. We said what if we have an event where we can bring them together, not only for networking purposes, but also from a buying and a purchasing point of view. “And, also having discussions where women will then have to grow their businesses, while encouraging those who have not yet started to hear and be inspired by success stories of others. We have a lot of women in Zimbabwe, which is predominantly the number of women whom we have on our platform, but we also have women in South Africa, in fact Southern African countries are represented. “We also have got a lot of women in the diaspora — in the United Kingdom, in the Americas and all over the world. First Capital Bank was eager to bring all these women on one platform where we discuss business issues for women, about women and by women.” Nemaware said while First Capital has been capacitating women-led start-ups, the bank is seeking to help them formalise their operations to increase their contribution to the national economy. “Our mandate was simple: ‘Walk with the entrepreneur till they are formalised — when their hustle becomes a business’. Today we have a network of over 22 000 strong women that are giving their best to their businesses daily. The businesses vary from construction to catering to health care and so on,” she said. “You may ask why we focus on SME development through our deliberate operational strategy; it’s because small and medium enterprises play a crucial role in the economy of Zimbabwe. They contribute to employment generation as they are significant employers, providing job opportunities for a substantial portion of the population.” Nemaware said her organisation is keen on working with entrepreneurs as they stimulate innovation, thereby driving competition in the market. She said SMEs also enable individuals and families to generate income, improve their living standards, and contribute to economic development. “They diversify the economy by operating in various sectors, reducing the country’s reliance on a few dominant industries. They often have linkages with larger enterprises, acting as suppliers or service providers. This interdependence promotes collaboration and supports the growth of both SMEs and larger businesses,” she said. “They play a vital role in promoting exports and foreign exchange earnings for the country, contributing to a favourable balance of trade. All the above are clear evidence of the importance of every SME within the country. To support the SMEs, we have a dedicated department that has presence at each of our branches countrywide.” The Banker First Capital Bank promotes women commercial start-ups Emily Nemapare, First Capital Bank head of marketing and communications Claris Shava founder of Inuka Products

Page 33 BRENNA MATENDERE ZIMBABWE’S main opposition CCC leader Nelson Chamisa can still make a last-minute attempt to salvage the party from imminent collapse sparked by controversial recalls backed by a state-sponsored campaign to create a one-party state, prominent political scientists contend. Barely two months after the 23/24 August general elections, the CCC has since then been rocked by a series of recalls on members of Parliament and councillors currently being pushed by self-styled secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu. Political analysts Professor Ibbo Mandaza and Professor Stephen Chan told The NewsHawks in two separate interviews that Chamisa should go back to the drawing board, set up structures and work closely with aggrieved seasoned opposition stalwarts in order to navigate the turbulent political waters tearing apart the movement. Sengezo has also written to the government demanding to be given the CCC share of money from the Political Parties (Finance) Act. Fears abound that he is being sponsored by Zanu PF.  There have been assertions that while Chamisa is the victim of a Zanu PF onslaught, he seems bereft of solutions whenever he is cornered. "Chamisa needs to go back to the drawing board, where he began under the MDC banner and structures that he appears to have recklessly abandoned,” Mandaza said. "More than that, he has to, if it’s not too late, mobilise Zimbabweans into a confidence huddle, reconcile and reconnect with erstwhile allies, and above all acknowledge the extent to which he’s singularly culpable for affording his enemies the opportunity to try and annihilate him." He highlighted that even though Chamisa is under siege, there is still hope for him to reclaim his dominance in the political sphere. "Yes, there is hope, but he needs to live up to it," said Mandaza. Chan said: "It is highly likely that Zanu PF is behind the actions of the imposter secretary-general. This person seems intent only on destabilising Chamisa's authority and making the CCC unable to use its full parliamentary strength. He has no vision for the CCC or the country. "But he has exploited Chamisa's 'strategic ambiguity' and reluctance to manage the CCC in a formal constitutional manner." As a solution to the crisis, Chan said, Chamisa must formalise the party with substantive leaders from top to bottom elected at congress and also put together the party's constitution.  "Chamisa must move swiftly in the direction of a constitutionalised party with clear offices and named officers elected in a transparent and recorded public fashion. He must, in short, overcome his own stubbornness in order to save the party and, above all, save the constitution," he said. Political analyst Rashweat Mukundu said Chamisa and the CCC must build a broader alliance typical of the 1999 model of opposition politics and then reach out to the people. "They must reach out to churches, trade unions,  students among others and form a broad alliance to push for democratisation in Zimbabwe. What they need is a bigger and broader wave of political change not the bits and pieces of pushing for reforms," he said. Mukundu said he still defended his position that the CCC must completely walk out of Parliament and councils.  "They need to sacrifice being in Parliament and councills where they will always be at the mercy of Zanu PF for bigger fights. Tshabangu will continue with the recalls and the courts will keep supporting him. "The police will continue to support him also. What you need is a revision of the strategies to bring about change by going back to the model of 1999 and the year 2 000 of broader alliances. It's time to talk to others and reach out to people who are not happy with the situation in the country like labour, churches, civil society and citizens. It's time to conscientise the people on the crisis rather than enjoy sitting in Parliament," he said. Chamisa can still salvage the decimated opposition News Analysis CCC leader Nelson Chamisa NewsHawks 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023

Page 34 NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 EAST FRUIT analysts draw attention to an unexpected fact — currently the world leader in the growth rate of blueberry exports is a country that is better known for its record breaking hyperinflation rates and poverty. However, this country was once very rich and had a highly developed agriculture, so its potential should not be underestimated. According to EastFruit, there is currently an investment boom in blueberry farming in Zimbabwe. New plantations are established mainly by investors from neighboring South Africa, who often diversify or even move production to this country due to very favorable climatic conditions, availability of high-quality water for irrigation and inexpensive labor. In addition, recently there has been an increase in investments from other countries into development of new blueberry plantations in Zimbabwe. Since blueberry production in Zimbabwe is developed mainly by investors who already have experience growing blueberries in similar climatic conditions, the productivity of the plantations and the quality of the products are quite high. Also, these companies already have established blueberry sales channels, which allows them to do the same with berries grown in Zimbabwe. As a result, Zimbabwe’s blueberry exports are currently growing faster than any other country in the world. “On average over the past five years, Zimbabwe has increased blueberry exports by 63% each year or by 1 200 tonnes. In 2022, exports grew by 85% or 2.3 thousand tonnes and exceeded 5 thousand tonnes, which allowed the country to enter the top 15 countries in blueberry exports and overtake Serbia in volume,” says Andrij Yarmak, an economist and agricultural market analyst. EastFruit experts expect that in 2023, blueberry exports from Zimbabwe could grow by another 30-40% and reach 6.5-7.0 thousand tonnes. Considering the high price level for blueberries due to the poor harvest of this berry in Peru, the country can make good money from exporting blueberries in the new season. Significant quantities of blueberries from Zimbabwe are exported to South Africa, apparently for further re-export. The country also directly exports fresh blueberries to the United Kingdom, European Union and Middle East countries, as well as Russia. Georgia is also among the leaders in the growth rate of blueberries in the world, with an average annual increase in exports of 50%. In 2023, blueberry exports from Georgia increased 2.5 times and reached 3.4 thousand tonnes. True, obviously, some of these blueberries were grown in Ukraine and re-exported by traders from Georgia to the Russian market. Ukraine itself, despite its leading positions in the world in terms of the rate of blueberry area increase, is somewhat behind Georgia in terms of the growth rate of exports. However, in 2023, the blueberry exports from Ukraine increased sharply, which is partly due to a decrease in the local blueberry market size due to the outflow of population as a result of Russian military aggression. — EastFruit. Surprisingly, Zim becomes a global leader in blueberry export growth Reframing Issues

Reframing Issues Page 35 Gukurahundi and rape orgies Dr HAZEL CAMERON PUBLIC spectacles of rape have been described by Gill et al. (2009: 28, 33) as “an undertaking to break the bodies and identities of the community, through the bodies of the community’s women”. In Zimbabwe, entire villages were ordered by the soldiers of the Fifth Brigade to attend all-night gatherings known as a “pungwe.” In the context of the violence of Operation Gukurahundi, the pungwe “not only represented an alien hegemonic culture but was a purveyor of forced indoctrination and a space where the military committed violent atroci-ties against civilians” (Maedza, cited in Ndebele 2021). Ninety-four per cent of the participants of this study were forced to attend the overnight pungwe’s of Operation Gukurahundi and corroborated that multiple perpetrator rape (MPR) (Horvath 2009) was a key feature of such occasions, and central to the demeaning destructive and genocidal effect of these gatherings of terror and death, which were all pervasive during the peak periods of Gukurahundi violence between 1983 and 1984. Of note is that MPR was not restricted to the large public night-time gatherings of the pungwe; the strategy of MPR was simultaneously a ritual of degradation and physical harm in rural villages during daylight hours as well as in the dark of the night. Buhle was only 19 years old and living with her family in Matabeleland North when the soldiers of the Fifth Brigade “came into the village armed with AK-47s, in camouflage and in red berets.” She recounts how in public and full view of the village community: “I was raped again and again that day by 16 of them, they took turns. I was bleeding. They only spoke Shona. I thought they would stop but they continued raping me even though I was bleeding”. This strategy of public spectacles of MPR in villages to the physical damage of the victim continued unabated as confirmed by the interviews with survivors. Indeed, the same pattern is detectable over one year in later Matabeleland South. There were about 1000 people living in the area where Nomvula (24 years old, MS) lived. Most girls were raped. The soldiers would come to our homes and say “You! You must be our wife — it is you.” We knew this meant we were going to be raped by these soldiers. Our village was near the Shashani river so sometimes, my sisters and I, we slept on the riverbanks, we ran away from home so they couldn’t keep raping us. Survivors consistently reported how soldiers repeatedly went door-to-door in villages at night, forcing women to have sex with a different soldier each night. As a result, many tried to flee the areas where MPR was relentless. Those who did man- age to flee continued to be targeted with sexual violence. Melawami (19 years old, MS) recalls: Because all the females were being raped, many families sent their daughters, wives, aunts away to Bulawayo for protection. Other neighbours did that too. The Fifth Brigade called our families to a meeting and told everyone they must call all their daughters to come home from Bulawayo. They were then badly beaten and left with broken bones. The daughters all came home, and it was terrible. They were all attacked, and these daughters were all raped. Not all episodes of MPR were public spectacles. With deleterious effect, immeasurable numbers of women and girls subjected to MPR were forcibly removed by the military from their villages and held in sexual servitude in small mobile tented remote camps established close to villages, often on riverbanks, at schools, Christian mission stations, police stations and other government stations in rural Matabeleland. There they were forced to cook for those incarcerating them as well as being subjected to multiple rapes. Others were transported to established military bases in large army trucks, each capable of carrying scores of victims. Charles (17 years old, MN) vividly recalls how women were removed from villages and sexually enslaved in the military camps occupied by the Fifth Brigade. They came and took away all the females from each village in the area. If there were five women, they would take five. If there were 20 women, they would take 20. There were junior and senior soldiers. The senior soldier would order the junior ones to take the ones selected for rape. He’d say, “okay take 1, 2, 3, they count, 1, 2, 3, take them, let’s go!” They would then walk them to where their vehicles were in the distance. They left their vehicles a distance from the village and walked in as they knew that once people see and hear the sound of a vehicle, they would run away and scatter. They took these ladies away in their vehicle for rape. Not all returned. In the very early stages of Operation Gukurahundi in Matabeleland North, a “nurse of [the] mobile unit” (NGO Report 1983: 23) was raped. She was “taken to 5 Brigade camp and repeatedly raped for 4 days” (ibid.). It was well-known to the survivors of this study that those with status in their communities, including teachers and nurses of the Catholic church missions, were amongst some of the first to become preyed upon by the security forces in Matabeleland. Shelton’s memories of the state’s targeting of a Christian mission near his village in Matabeleland North was indistinguishable to patterns identified in other districts of the province, and also those of Matabeleland South. He retold how “[t]he Sisters in that mission were called outside of the mission, they were all raped. Even the nurses there would get raped” (15 years old, MS). Menzi (12 years old, MS) knew the seven or eight teachers at his primary school. “One morning [he] arrived at the school and found that the female teachers had been raped during the night. Guys [Fifth Brigade] came with guns and they raped the teachers.” That the genocidaires of Zimbabwe between 1983 and 1984 prioritised the sub- jugation and destruction of those with status and education within the collectivity is not a pattern of behaviour unique to Gukurahundi. The systematic destruction of leading figures of a society or a group, as observed throughout Gukurahundi was a tactic employed in the Armenian Genocide, the Cambodian Genocide, the German-Soviet occupation of Poland and during the conflicts of the Former of Yugoslavia (Gratz 2011). The research undertaken has provided new insights into the age distribution of those targeted for rape and other forms of sexual violence during Operation Gukurahundi. It was remarkable that during individual interviews, the survivors were in overwhelming agreement that in villages where the Fifth Brigade arrived, it was a rare occurrence for any female aged between 15 to 25 to escape being raped on multiple occasions. Nomalanga (17 years old, MN) affirmed that many were raped, especially the girls who were 17, 18, 19, 20. I think every girl in our village of that age was raped. It was only sometimes that the older women were raped. It is so hard to talk about it in our community. Children and young girls were not exempt from sexual harm and form a significant cohort of those subjected to MPR. In both Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South, schoolgirls were removed from their schools by force, always overseen by the senior officer in charge who chose those to be raped. School-age children were removed from their villages and schools to be detained in dedicated centres of rape within established military camps where they were subjected to MPR on multiple occasions. On Friday’s they [Fifth Brigade soldiers] would take those girls from the school that were age 14 and above, yes, for whole weekends. They took them away in trucks to Jolotsho [MN] where their main camp was, and they would make them sing the whole night and they were raping those girls. They would bring them back, but some disappeared. Some never came back to school. My two sisters were involved. (Londiwe, 12 years old, MN). The evidence of the forced removal of school children for the purposes of sexual servitude gathered from participants is corroborated in Breaking the Silence, which reveals how on one occasion over 50 schoolgirls were removed from their school to the Fifth Brigade camp. “They were raped repeatedly over the next few months, until the army left the area. Some fell pregnant and others ran away and never went back to school” (CCJP & LRF 1997: 105). On another occasion, the Fifth Brigade arrived at a school in Matabeleland North and removed all pupils aged over 14 years. In one case they removed over 60 pupils. The girls were all raped. Later some of them were ordered to have sex with some of the boys from the school under the watchful eye of the soldiers (CCJP & LRF 1997: 87). The selection of children for multiple episodes of MPR was a pattern that would continue to be widespread over a year later, with the focus having shifted to the female children of MS. Sicelo (35 years old, MS) shared how there were about 80 people living in my village. There was too much [a great number] of rapes. Even the young ones. Two of them were about 11. At that age, they were just too small. They were raped by three soldiers. I know them. Two of them passed away immediately. The rape of children during the genocide is not novel and has been documented throughout the twentieth century, beginning with the Armenian Genocide from 1915 to 1916 (see Bryce & Toynbee, 2000: 92; Roy 1975: 66). Banele (36 years old, MN) explained: When these guys came to our area, they would take all the females there to rape — maybe from age 10 and above, they would take them to the bush. Not only 18, 19, 20 years of age, but small ages were raped. They would take more than ten children at a time from our village to rape. There was usually about six soldiers who went to the bush with them. There was a senior commander — a soldier giving the instructions. They would go to a homestead and if there were five girls in the homestead, the commander would look at them to decide if they were fit for rape, then he would instruct “you go join that group” and “you go join that other group.” Then they would go to another homestead and take the girls suitable for rape and join different groups, up to a number of 30 or more girls. They would then take them to the bush to where their camp was and keep them there for three, four or maybe four days. Sometimes they would take them for a month. They had to be their wives, cooking for them, sleeping with them. The commander would take the girls to the tents and stay with them for 3–4–5 days. *About the writer: Dr Hazel Cameron is a criminologist and a lecturer of peace and conflict studies within the School of International Relations, University of St Andrews in Britain. Her main research interests include state crime; global elite bystanders to crimes of the powerful; political violence; torture; genocide; war crimes; and crimes against humanity. Cameron has spent over a decade undertaking fieldwork in Rwanda which experienced a horrific genocide in 1994. She has also researched on Zimbabwe’s 1980s massacres; crimes against humanity,  which  included torture, forced starvation, disappearances, displacements, and rape, known as Gukurahundi. NewsHawks 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023

Page 36 Reframing Issues NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 PROFESSOR ARTHUR G.O. MUTAMBARA IN private discussions, Mugabe has immense respect for Herbert Chitepo – Zimbabwe’s first Black barrister (qualified in 1954), ZANU’s distinguished Chairman, a dedicated revolutionary and resolute freedom fighter – who was killed in Zambia on 18 March 1975. He explains that the main reason he went to Ghana in 1957 was to work and raise money so that he could go to London and train as a lawyer like Chitepo. Robert Mugabe says: “Herbert Chitepo was my role model.” Even when he returns from Ghana and joins the nationalists in 1960 (NDP), Mugabe is under the political tutelage of Herbert Chitepo. I guess his narcissism and inflated ego would not allow him to publicly acknowledge Chitepo as a personal inspiration or potential mentor. Of course, he wants to ride on the farcical fiction and myth cultivated by his ZANU-PF sycophants, propagandists and bootlickers that he is the alpha and omega of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. Zimbabwe’s only founding father, a freedom fighter with neither peers nor equals. It is as if Robert Mugabe was carrying two guns and fighting alone to liberate the country. Shame! Yet, by the end of the war in 1979, he could not even fire a pistol. The only African leader Mugabe acknowledges publicly is Kwame Nkrumah. “He was my inspirer,” he asserts on one occasion at a public event. I guess Nkrumah is too distant from Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle to dent Mugabe’s unflinching and firm grip on its narrative. The ZANU-PF functionaries (with Mugabe’s blessing) would want the country to believe that Chitepo wanted to be like Mugabe. Quite the opposite! Robert Mugabe was unworthy and unqualified to untie Herbert Chitepo’s shoes. This, he confesses to me, without equivocation or ambiguity. I also discover that, quite contrary to ZANU-PF’s inspired conventional wisdom, buttressed by his own public utterances, Mugabe does not share the view that the external ZANU’s Dare ReChimurenga (Revolutionary War Council) and the ZANLA High Command were completely innocent in the death of Herbert Chitepo. Privately, Robert Mugabe does not believe in that cheap propaganda. A cruel distortion of history. While he sees the potential hand of Ian Smith and the likely complicity of the Zambian government – given Kenneth Kaunda’s antipathy towards ZANU and undiluted affinity for ZAPU – he is quite disparaging about the goings-on in ZANU’s Dare leading to Chitepo’s death. He was quite fond of John Mataure — Dare’s Political Commissar — who Tongogara (Dare Secretary of Defence and ZANLA High Command’s Chief of defence) and other Dare leaders acknowledge “was killed at the hands of ZANU” after the crushing of the Nhari Rebellion, and just before the assassination of Herbert Chitepo. Mugabe says: “How could they do that? John Mataure was a good man – a committed freedom fighter. He is the one I gave the party office keys when I left Tanzania for Rhodesia in 1963. My information is that they asked William Ndangana to do the actual killing since he was also a Manyika like John. This was supposed to demonstrate Ndangana's loyalty and absolve him of the Manyika conspiracy they were levelling against John Mataure and Herbert Chitepo. It was terrible and unconscionable stuff. The goings-on in Dare and the High Command in 1974 and 1975 were quite deplorable." I must state that Mugabe’s position that Ndangana did the gruesome and despicable killing of John Mataure is disputed by Rugare Gumbo, ex-Dare ReChimurenga Information and Publicity Secretary (the only surviving Dare member). In my conversation with him in August 2022, a visibly agitated Rugare Gumbo asserts that: “No, that is not correct. It was Robson Manyika who did it. William Ndangana had been one of those arrested by the Nhari rebels. Mugabe blames Ndangana to shield and protect Robson Manyika – a fellow Zezuru.” Indeed, 1974 and 1975 are really ugly years in the history of ZANU. Unbridled ethnic conflict, internal strife and violence, unprecedented power struggles, and gruesome murder among revolutionary colleagues. The Nhari Rebellion occurs in November 1974, during the liberation struggle, when ZANLA cadres in Chifombo, Zambia, rebel against ZANU’s Dare ReChimurenga (War Council) leadership and the ZANLA High Command. The uprising is led by ZANLA Field Commanders Thomas Nhari and Dakarai Badza. The uprising is viciously thwarted, and all the key participants and leaders are brutally executed. In the trials conducted by ZANU’s Dare ReChimurenga after the Nhari Rebellion, the Political Commissar John Mataure is accused and convicted of collaborating with the rebels. Various accounts of his execution indicate barbaric torture leading to a gruesome killing. John Mataure died a terribly painful death. In the same post-Nhari Rebellion reprisals, Herbert Chitepo, Dare’s Chairman, is pronounced by his colleagues to be a suspect with a curious caveat: “However, there is not enough evidence at the moment.” This Dare position on Herbert Chitepo's culpability is well-documented in the literature of that episode. Nevertheless, when Chitepo is killed on 18 March 1975, ZANU’S Dare ReChimurenga and the ZANThe late Herbert Chitepo Robert Mugabe on Herbert Chitepo (and a Rejoinder on the Missed Opportunity of the 2017 Coup) Book Excerpt from: In Search of the Elusive Zimbabwean Dream, Volume III (Ideas & Solutions)

Reframing Issues Page 37 LA High Command deny any involvement. Unsaid in Mugabe’s views and remarks about the circumstances leading to Herbert Chitepo’s death is the intelligent assessment that if you can kill your own party’s Political Commissar (John Mataure) and accept full responsibility for it, what will stop you from killing the party’s Chairman – Herbert Chitepo? As indicated earlier, Josiah Tongogara (Dare Secretary of Defence and ZANLA High Command’s Chief of Defence) is widely quoted as saying: “Yes, John Mataure – the Dare Political Commissar was killed at the hands of ZANU.” How is the murder of the Political Commissar different from that of the Chairman? Why is it OK to kill your party’s Political Commissar? Is it a more acceptable crime? Surely, if organisationally you find it sound, rational and proper to brutally eliminate the Political Commissar of your party, nothing can stop you from taking similar action against the Chairman. Absolutely nothing! Moreso, if he is: “Guilty, but no evidence at the moment.” It is called common sense. However, what I find most intriguing and revealing is that with all his views about the potential role of ZANU’s Dare ReChimurenga and the ZANLA High Command in the death of Chitepo, ZANU Secretary General Robert Mugabe goes on to, publicly (in 1975 and 1976) and opportunistically, totally absolve (without any shred of evidence) the ZANU Dare leadership and the ZANLA High Command who had been arrested over Chitepo’s death. He brazenly blames Ian Smith and Kenneth Kaunda for the tragedy. Of course, this is a Machiavellian masterstroke on Mugabe’s part! Why? Because the beleaguered (after having been illegally overthrown by his colleagues while in detention) ZANU President Ndabaningi Sithole – being both principled and naive – condemns the arrested Dare and High Command leaders. He says: “Justice must take its course. The detained leaders must be tried.” In that one swift and calculated move alone, Mugabe gets the support of the entire detained Dare leadership and Tongogara’s High Command, while Ndabaningi loses the same folks. Combining this spectacular feat by Mugabe with the October 1975 Mgagao declaration by ZANLA fighters who endorse him as their spokesperson, he is on his way to taking total and unquestionable control of the external ZANU wing, more specifically and importantly, the ZANLA forces. Whoever controls the ZANLA forces is the ZANU leader. Period. Bona’s son’s ascendancy to the leadership of ZANU is now unstoppable! Conversely, Ndabaningi Sithole’s fate is sealed! The Dare and High Command leaders detained in Zambia (over Chitepo’s death) are thoroughly disappointed with Sithole. They are totally disenchanted with him. In particular, Tongogara is palpably furious and apoplectic with rage. He says: “I defended you (Sithole) when you were unprocedurally and fraudulently removed from the presidency of ZANU by Central Committee members in detention [in then Rhodesia]. We condemned and refused to recognise that foolish coup d’état engineered by Edgar Tekere and others. Now, you are betraying me regarding Chitepo’s death.” One of the detained ZANU Dare leaders, Information and Publicity Secretary Rugare Gumbo, who later falls out with Mugabe at two separate historical points, says to me: “When we were detained in Zambia after the death of Chitepo, and Robert Mugabe supported us and blamed Smith and Kaunda for the murder, we said: ‘Now that is our leader.’ We immediately denounced Ndabaningi Sithole and embraced Mugabe. Of course, we lived to regret it. We had jumped the gun. It was a monumental error.” Rejoinder: Mnangagwa of November 2017 versus Mugabe of April 1980 With hindsight, it is not correct to say that in November 2017, the interests of the political elites (the rulers) coincided with those of the ruled (the ordinary folks). The elites duped the people into supporting a coup d’état that had nothing to do with people. The people thought — wrongly — that the departure of Robert Mugabe would signal a break with the past and a step into a new dispensation characterised by a democratic, prosperous and inclusive Zimbabwe. Yes, people freely marched without coercion or enticement. However, their agenda and that of the coup plotters were at cross purposes. Put differently, the coup plotters missed an opportunity to embrace the people’s agenda and harness the global convergence of goodwill that characterised the country, continent and the globe, after the coup. It was a huge missed opportunity. The goodwill was shamefully squandered. In fact, at a cynical level, if they had done that, their rulership could have been sustained while the country would be in better shape. Lack of strategic thinking, crass, narrow, misplaced self-interest and outright absence of Machiavellian instincts were the order of the day. Emmerson Mnangagwa miserably failed to utilise the coup d’état dividend to entrench himself effectively. Indeed, after the coup, because of lack of strategic insight and foresight, Emmerson worked against his own self-interest. Not to talk about the national interest. Now, he is thoroughly discredited, gallivanting from one discredited election to the next. And the country is a mess! It did not have to be this way. Why did Emmerson not learn from his master and mentor? Robert Mugabe, with all his faults, had better instincts after his victory in the 1980 elections. He tried to harness the goodwill granted to the new nation by reaching out to Joshua Nkomo and Ian Smith. Of course, this was short-lived, as Gukurahundi would soon follow. It was downhill from there. However, let us examine what he did after his ascendancy in 1980. Tactically, he knew the Rhodesians could undermine him. They still controlled the state infrastructure and instruments of violence in all respects. His party had won but was inexperienced in statecraft. They were vulnerable. Although he had won outright – 57 out of 80 of the open parliamentary seats – he needed time to establish an administration and consolidate his grip on national power. In our discussions at State House, Robert Mugabe clearly explained his intricate and nuanced manoeuvring to me: “I had to proceed very carefully and strategically, indeed. We invited our colleagues from ZAPU into government. With Smith, I told him I wanted to include some of his people in my government. He wanted to give me the names. I said: ‘No, I will choose on my own from your people.’ Smith reluctantly agreed. That is how we ended up with the likes of David Smith, Chris Anderson and Dennis Norman. In fact, I continued with Ian Smith’s Chief Secretary to the Cabinet – Justice George Smith – for nearly five years. I also kept Ian Smith’s Private Secretary — Constantine ‘Costa’ Pafitis — up to 1982. Of course, we continued with all the Rhodesian security chiefs heading the Army, Police and CIO, including Peter Walls, Ken Flower and David ‘Dan’ Stannard. Well, the Selous Scouts – those we immediately disbanded as an outfit. More significantly, I would meet with Ian Smith on Monday before every Cabinet meeting which was held on Tuesday. I did this every week. I only stopped because Smith was now going around saying: ‘That Robert Mugabe knows nothing. Every Monday, I give him all the ideas that he is implementing.’ Of course, I had to put an end to the Monday meetings with Ian Smith. There you are. So, yes, indeed, we tried to move with care in 1980. Of course, we never trusted the Rhodesians. I made them think that I trusted them. When we were good and ready, we got rid of them. You know how we dealt with people like Peter Walls and others.” So that is how a Machiavellian Mugabe played the game in 1980! A cunning, strategic and astute poker player. Robert Mugabe worked with his worst enemies to consolidate his grip on power and entrench himself. If only Mnangagwa had 10 per cent of that political aptitude and sophistication in 2017, Zimbabwe would be a different place today. Even his colleagues and supporters acknowledge Emmerson’s unmitigated folly. ZANU-PF stalwart Tshinga Dube, in his autobiography released in November 2019, argues that Zimbabwe could have fared much better if Emmerson Mnangagwa had reached out to Morgan Tsvangirai, with a view to set up an inclusive transitional arrangement, soon after the coup d’état of November 2017: “… If the MDC Alliance was brought closer when the new dispensation was ushered, we would today be in a different situation. We would have emerged out of the woods and exited a life of perennial doom and gloom. The lost opportunity has cost us immensely. We have without doubt retrogressed.” Dube posits that Mnangagwa’s “bid to grab everything while leaving out the main opposition MDC that helped him camouflage to the world as a popular uprising, what had all the hallmarks of a coup, has backfired …” This is a common-sense position that we have articulated elsewhere in this book. However, it is refreshing to see the same views being regurgitated by ZANU-PF leaders. This means that Mnangagwa's lack of strategic thinking, political acumen and governance gravitas is common cause even among his party members. What a pity. Zimbabwe deserves a better leader. *About the writer: Professor Arthur G.O. Mutambara is the director and full professor of the Institute for the Future of Knowledge (IFK) at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. The late former President Robert Mugabe NewsHawks 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023

DR REWARD MUSHAYABASA THE affordances of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have helped to redefine participatory democracy in most of the African countries that are in democratic transition. This new development has helped to create communicative spaces for subaltern groups to challenge the dominant power groups. This study critically evaluates the relationship between democratic transition and digital media activism in Africa. The study noted that there is a symbiotic relationship between democratisation and digital media activism in Africa, and will also argue that many Africans are taking advantage of the affordances of ICT to promote democratisation. However, while many citizens are now taking advantage of this window of opportunity to reclaim their civil and political rights, some African countries, especially those under authoritarian rule, are seeking new tactics and strategies through which to subvert the communicative spaces created by ICT’s affordances. Some of these strategies and tactics include internet shutdowns and raising data tariffs and internet tax in, e.g. the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Zimbabwe. These government measures clearly demonstrate that digital media activism, especially in countries in democratic transition, is not ‘harmless politics’ (Fuchs, 2018) as some scholars suggest. In these countries, the digital media provide social activists with tools for mobilisation and discursive practices. However, before discussing and analysing the nexus between digital media activism and democratisation in Africa, this chapter has critically evaluated the political situation in most African states during the third wave of democracy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Background From the 1980s to the 1990s there were noticeable “winds of change” on the African political landscape, almost three decades after the introduction of the Third Wave of Democratisation. In Democratisation in Africa: African Views, African Voices, Kpundeh (1992) captures the movement towards democracy on the continent as a result of both the internet and external forces. Economic and political challenges caused new African thinking, protests and increased demands for change. There was a marked shift from decolonisation to new struggles of economic recovery and good governance. More importantly: Although pressures for change had been building in a number of countries, it was widely agreed that the ending of the Cold War served as a catalyst for action. During the Cold War, some countries capitalised on superpower competition, seeking military and development assistance from either the Soviet Union and its allies or from the West in exchange for strategic considerations (Kpundeh, 1992, p6). The end of the Cold War and other external events combined with internal events within some African countries resulted in heightened pressure for change. Kpundeh (1992) also observes how: Multiparty democracy has become the rallying cry for much-pursued political reforms, but, in a larger sense, the agitation in Africa in the last three years stemmed from a modest question of accountability. How to hold leaders responsible for their conduct in office and how to make governments more responsive to the wishes of the people. These calls for greater political changes have had varying effects across Africa in both the Middle East and North African (Mena) and sub-Saharan African regions, bringing multiparty democracy and a climate of new expectations. In recent years, “the combination of political liberalisation and diffusion of satellite TV and internet technology in Mena have led to a relatively open, transnational, and electronic communicative space which some scholars, like Hafez (2001), call a ‘new Arab public sphere’” (cited in Gheytanchi and Moghadam, 2014, p6). The new generation of activists in Mena use satellite TV channels such as al-Jazeera, al-Arabiyya, CNN International and BBC to counter-hegemonic narratives. These communicative spaces in Mena have created what Tadros (2005) calls a “parallel community of activists”. The new phenomenon has been “strengthened by the fact that individuals who normally would not be involved in activism are now ‘speaking out’ and expressing themselves on the internet”. The activism in Mena is mostly a result of growing levels of inequalities, corruption and unemployment that are triggered by the neoliberal economic policies that are pursued by the incumbent governments in the region (Gheytanchi and Moghadam, 2014). This backdrop helps to contextualise the protests that have engulfed North African countries, such as Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia in recent times. The nuances between digital media activism in Mena and sub-Saharan African countries are also worth noting. These stark differences might be attributable to Democratic transition and digital media activism: A Zim case study Page 38 Reframing Issues NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023

Reframing Issues Page 39 a wide range of cultural, political and economic factors (Skjerdal, 2016). For instance, Mena countries liberalised media systems as part of neoliberalism, while the notion of media reforms in the sub-Saharan African region is still a contentious issue and has received lukewarm support from some governments. According to Mpofu and Matsilele (2020) episodes of digital activism in sub-Saharan African countries such as Zimbabwe “are ephemeral and fleeting, failing to unseat hegemonic actors” when compared with activists in Mena (p. 222). Ndlela and Mano (2020) contend that the media play a pivotal role in the mediation of politics in Africa. This realisation may explain why most African countries nationalised the mass media after attaining independence. However, there have been some significant changes in mass media ownership in most African countries in the last two decades. The changes were spawned by the political and economic liberalisation programmes that were introduced by the Bretton Woods institutions in those countries as part of the neoliberal agenda driven by the developed nations and this has had a profound effect on the media ecology in Africa. There was liberalisation in the mass media, and this paved the way for private ownership of the media. These changes ushered in a new era of media pluralism, diversity and media freedom (Ndlela and Mano, 2020). This study argues that these changes on the political landscape in Africa gave impetus to the democratisation process in the continent. In addition, the recent advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) have also helped to create more democratic space for counter hegemonic narratives. These recent developments in digital technologies in Africa have witnessed a significant increase in the number of internet users on the continent. Over the past few years there has been “a 20 per cent year-on-year growth in the number of internet users” in Africa (Ndlela and Mano, 2020, p3). However, in terms of global rankings in internet penetration, some of the countries with the lowest rates of penetration are found in the continent and these are: Eritrea (1 %), Niger (4 %), Burundi (6 %), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (6 %) and Chad (5 %) (cited in Ndlela and Mano, 2020: 3). The penetration rates in the different African regions are as follows: Southern Africa (51 %); Northern Africa (49 %); Western Africa (39 %); Eastern Africa (27 %) and Middle Africa (12 %) (Ndlela and Mano, 2020). From these statistics, it can be noted that there is a positive correlation between economic growth and the rate of internet penetration. Manji et al; (2012) argue that countries with a higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have higher rates of internet penetration. As a result, Manji et al; (2012, p5) agree with the notion that “technology amplifies social differentiation” and this is clearly illustrated “in the way in which the internet is distributed in Africa”. Among the countries with the highest rates of internet penetration in Africa are Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa – “between them represent some 73.5 % of internet usage African-wide” (Manji et al; 2012, p5; Internet World Stats, 2010). In addition, over the past few years outstanding progress has been made in the establishment of tech hubs in some African countries like South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt and Morocco. Schelenz and Schopp (2018) also note that a lot of progress has been made in Africa in the provision of digital technologies and these innovative changes include cloud computing communication tools and electronic data storage and retrieval systems. While some scholars suggest that Africa’s rate of internet penetration remains very low by global standards, others argue that “the digital face of Africa is mobile” and has been transformed in recent years. Almost 82 percent of the continent’s population have access to mobile connection (Majama, 2018). This is supported by official statistics published by Internet World Stats (2018; 2021; 2022). The figures show that there has been a noticeable increase in the number of subscribers for Facebook in Africa in recent years. For instance, there were 204 million Facebook subscribers from the continent for the period ending December 2017 (Internet World Stats, 2018). As of 31st January 2022, the number of Facebook subscribers in Africa stood at 289, 759, 800 (Ibid, 2021). The statistics also showed a significant high rate of penetration among resource-rich countries like Egypt, Angola, Algeria, Nigeria, South Africa and Morocco and “less penetration in countries like Togo, Swaziland, Malawi, Guinea- Bissau and Lesotho” (Ndlela and Mano, 2020: 3). It was also interesting to note that countries from the African continent, including Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Morocco (2 hours 24 minutes) fared much better than some developed nations in relation to the amount of time spent on social media on average (Ndlela and Mano, 2020). From this discussion, it is clear that digital technology has made significant gains in Africa in a short time and has transformed the way people communicate. These gains have been noted especially in the use of mobile phones and social media. This point is underscored by De Bruijn, Nyamnjoh, and Brinkman (2009) who refer to “the mobile phones as the new talking drums of everyday Africa” (p13). Among the most popular social media platforms in Africa are Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and YouTube. These ‘new talking drums’ are also often referred to as “disruptive innovations” because they have transformed the way “citizens interact with political messages” and loosened the political elites’ stranglehold over the mass media in Africa (Ndlela and Mano, 2020: 3). These recent developments mark a departure from the period when State-owned media enjoyed a monopoly in many African countries, and they have enabled social movements to find their voices. Hence, we have recently witnessed the weaponisation of digital media in the struggle for democratisation in Africa, and this has occurred in North African countries, such as Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia. For instance, Twitter messages were used in the revolution that led to the demise of Sudan’s strongman Omar al-Bashir and the resignation of the Algerian President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in 2019. However, the role of digital media in Africa should not be romanticised. The digital media operate as a double-edged sword, which can be used to promote democratisation by social movements, while, in the hands of authoritarian regimes, it can be used by social movements to suppress and keep citizens under surveillance. This inherent potency of digital technologies may help to explain why some African countries view social media with great suspicion and some have recently shut down internet access in order to quell political activism. It is also interesting to note that shutdowns have happened not only in countries with higher rates of internet penetration, like South Africa, but also in countries with the lowest rates of penetration like Chad. Other African countries which have experienced internet shutdowns so as to deny digital media space to political activists are Gambia, Uganda, Burundi, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. However, as noted earlier, great caution must be exercised in avoiding exaggerations of techno-optimistic determinism when discussing the role of the digital media in the democratisation process in Africa. Fuchs (2015) argues that there is a need to critically evaluate the political economy of digital media. He acknowledges the potency of digital media as agents for change, but he cautions that these technologies are a double- edged sword that can also be used by the ruling political elites for surveillance purposes. In addition, the use of digital media is not evenly spread. There is a digital divide in most African countries, and it is characterised by what Van Dijk and Hacker (2003) termed a yawning gap between the ‘information-haves’ and the ‘information- have-nots’ on the continent (p315). Techno-pessimists (Gladwell, 2010) caution against over-reliance on new technologies for participatory democracy, arguing that the digital media reproduce the structures of domination and inequalities in society. Africa is still characterised by fragile democracies, weak economies, poverty and unequal distribution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) resources. It is hence important not to strip the African countries of their particularities. Some media penetration in some countries is very low, and in some, it is mainly an urban phenomenon. We have to understand Africa as a plural entity by avoiding any forms of digital universalism (Ndlela and Mano, 2020, p14). In a nutshell, digital technologies in Africa are mostly the preserve of urban-based citizens, while the majority of the population in rural areas is still marginalised. Hence, this study argues that digital media has its limitations; on its own it cannot help to achieve democracy. It can only be effective when weaponised as a tool to create a nexus between online and offline political engagement in a context-specific situation. In this regard, Gambia can be cited as a good exemplar, in which political activists both outside and inside the African country, have effectively used new media to unseat the former President, Yahya Jammeh, who had ruled the country for over two decades. The activists used “online forums to exchange ideas, mobilise funds, and people in such unprecedented ways that made it impossible for the suppressive regime of Yahya Jammeh to control” (Ndlela and Mano, 2020, p4). Against this backdrop, this study undertakes to critically examine the nexus between using digital media political activism and democratisation in Africa. In recent years the phenomenon has generated a lot of interest among research scholars (Makinen and Kuira, 2008; Mare, 2018; Mhiripiri and Mutsvairo, 2013; Nyabola, 2018). More recent struggles for democratisation have led to the departure of entrenched dictatorships in the Maghreb and Sub-Saharan regions in Africa, and these include Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Egypt, Kenya, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Algeria and Sudan. The same changes also happened in South Africa where the former President, Jacob Zuma, resigned after being recalled by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party for committing acts of misdemeanour whilst in office. He was replaced by his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa. Against this backdrop, we have also seen some citizens increasingly turning to digital media activism to create free spaces for political and social commentaries on developments in their countries. This point is supported by (Castells, 2012; Diamond, 2010; Shirky, 2008) who view digital media as a ‘magic wand’ that can be used by political activists to push their agenda. Diamond reinforces the argument by adding that new technologies “enable citizens to report news, expose wrongdoing, express opinions, mobilize protest and monitor elections” (Diamond, 2010, p70). In addition, Manji et al; (2012) argue that the advent of new technologies “creates potential for new, effective spheres of protest, mobilisation and resistance” (p8), adding that: The diffusion and evolution of new media technology in Africa have enabled activists and civil society groups to organise, campaign and engage in political struggles in new ways: whether through SMS campaigns, mobile phone-based crowdsourcing, blogging, video clips or internet radio, these tools offer opportunities for keeping local groups informed, compiling location data during times of crisis and facilitating linkages of significant geographic scope between civil society actors. Chiumbu (2015) also acknowledges the contribution of digital media to political activism. She argues that digital media are not only used as part of the activists’ repertoire of contention (Ibid.). They are used for fulfilling mostly other key tasks, like administration and networking (Ibid.). This study focuses on the case of Zimbabwe in order to critically evaluate the use of digital media activism in Africa, with particular reference to the last years of the late former president Robert Mugabe era, from 2016 to the current President Emmerson Mnangagwa administration, which is also known as the Second Republic or New Dispensation period. Zimbabwe is among the few African countries with a well-developed infrastructure for internet connectivity (Bosch et al; 2020). This is an extract from Dr Reward Mushayabasa’s PhD thesis awarded by the University of Westminster in Britain. Mushayabasa is a veteran media lecturer. NewsHawks 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023

Page 40 Reframing Issues NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 TOM NYIRENDA Each year antimicrobial resistance – the ability of microbes to survive agents designed to kill them – claims more lives than malaria and HIV and Aids combined. Africa bears the brunt of this development, which thrives on inequality and poverty. Nadine Dreyer asked Tom Nyirenda, a research scientist with over 27 years’ experience in infectious diseases, what health organisations on the continent are doing to fight this threat to medical progress. Question: What is antimicrobial resistance? Answer: Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines (including antibiotics). This makes infections harder to treat and increases the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. In Africa, drug resistance is already a documented problem for  HIV, malaria, tuberculosis (TB), typhoid, cholera, meningitis, gonorrhoea and dysentery. Q: How big a problem is antimicrobial resistance? A: It is one of the  top 10  global public health threats, and threatens to undermine years of medical progress. Nearly 5 million deaths were associated with antimicrobial resistance in 2019. The African continent bears the heaviest burden. The first  comprehensive assessment of the global burden of antimicrobial resistance has estimated that in 2019 over 27 deaths per 100 000 were directly attributable to it in Africa. Over 114 deaths per 100 000 were associated with it. In high-income countries, antimicrobial resistance led directly to 13 deaths per 100 000. It was associated with 56 deaths per 100 000 people. The study showed that young children were particularly at risk. Half of the deaths in sub-Saharan Africa in 2019 were among children under the age of 5. Q: How do inequality and poverty come into it? A: In many African countries, poverty and inequality propel the likelihood of antimicrobial resistance. Access to clean running water, proper sanitation and safe water management is a big challenge in many hospitals and clinics in African countries. And there is often a dire shortage of health workers. Wards are often overcrowded. As a result, infections spread faster. Some of these infections are resistant to antibiotics. Inappropriate use of antibiotics, inadequate health resources and limited access to the right medicines has also fuelled antibiotic resistance in sub-Saharan Africa. Sub-standard and falsified  medicines, due to their inferior doses, can allow bacteria to adapt, persist, develop and spread. Studies show that the African continent is affected by such medical products. Global antibiotic shortages also encourage the use of inferior medicines. With weak regulation,  over-thecounter  prescription of antibiotics is highly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. The highest rates of over-thecounter antibiotics have been found in Eritrea (up to 89.2%), Ethiopia (up to 87.9%), Nigeria (up to 86.5%) and Tanzania (up to 92.3%). In Zambia up to 100% of pharmacies dispensed antibiotics without a prescription. Q: Is there any good news? A: While tackling antimicrobial resistance on the African continent may be tougher than in other regions, many deaths are preventable. There have been some encouraging moves to protect health systems and communities against antimicrobial resistance. The African Union has established the African Union Framework for Antimicrobial Resistance Control. It aims to strengthen research; advocate for policies, laws and good governance; enhance awareness; and engage civil society organisations. Fighting antimicrobial resistance involves developing new antibiotics and making sure they reach the people who need them. This is what organisations like the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership were created to do. We are seeing encouraging progress for an antibiotic against drug-resistant gonorrhoea, a high priority pathogen. Six South African sites were involved in the clinical trial. Measuring and monitoring antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial use has an essential role. Here too there’s progress. The  Mapping AMR and AMU Partnership consortium has recently published 14 new country reports on the situation across Africa. The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials  research for medical tools to detect, treat and prevent poverty-related infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. The vital field of neonatal sepsis is included. It's crucial to shift attitudes towards antibiotics so that they are used wisely. Organisations such as ReAct Africa and the South Centre have made good progress on this front. They advocate for responsible use of antibiotics as well as ways to prevent and control bacterial infections. In Kenya and other African countries, antimicrobial resistance champions raise awareness in schools, universities, clinics and communities. A bold  move  by African countries to establish and expand local manufacturing of medical products requires strict regulation so that it does not fuel drug resistance with sub-standard or fake products. Q: What does the future hold? A: The antimicrobial resistance challenges in African countries are huge. But momentum to counter it is building. Crucial steps include: • greater investment • expansion of infection, prevention and control programmes, including good clinical prescription practices • improving access to essential antibiotics and diagnostic tools • the development of new antibiotics that can treat infections that are multi-drug resistant. This article is part of a media partnership between The Conversation Africa and the 2023 Conference on Public Health in Africa. The author acknowledges valuable input from Carol Rufell of the Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership Africa. — The Conversation. *About the interviewee: Tom Nyirenda is extraordinary senior lecturer in the Department of Global Health at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Antibiotic resistance causes more deaths than malaria and HIV and Aids combined Drug resistance against malaria and other diseases is a growing problem. TONY KARUMBA/AFP via Getty Images

Reframing Issues Page 41 GORDON BROWN As the president of Cop28, the United Arab Emirates’ Sultan Al Jaber faces the crucial task of delivering on his promise to devise a plan to bridge the Global South’s annual US$1 trillion shortfall in financing for mitigation and adaptation initiatives. He should start by endorsing a levy on petrostates’ windfall oil revenues. THE United Nations Climate Change Conference (Cop28) in Dubai is just weeks away. But it has become increasingly clear that only a bold financing initiative spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates could provide essential funding and support to the Global South. Despite being preceded by a summer of devastating droughts, floods, and wildfires that underscored the need for urgent action, the pre-summit talks on a  Loss and Damage Fund  to help the world’s most impoverished countries mitigate the effects of climate change have made little progress. The fund, it was decided, will be housed for four years at the World Bank – but there has been  no agreement  on the obligations of the historic emitters and, as yet, no substantial flows of cash. As the president of Cop28, the UAE’s  Sultan Al Jaber  faces the crucial task of breaking the current impasse and delivering on his  promise  to devise a funding plan to bridge the Global South’s annual  US$1 trillion shortfall  in financing for mitigation and adaptation initiatives. The UAE holds the key to closing the climate financing gap. Persuading the world’s wealthiest petrostates to pay a 3% voluntary tax on their windfall 2022 revenues from oil and gas exports could raise US$25 billion. Such a levy could provide the initial capital required to motivate the developed economies that account for most global greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions to issue guarantees that would enable multilateral development banks (MDBs) to boost investment. To be sure, Al Jaber is well aware of the urgent need for decisive action. In June, in a private communication to some governments, he emphasized the importance of adopting a coordinated strategy that would use state guarantees to leverage private capital, reflecting the UAE’s vision of new, innovative financial mechanisms to leverage private finance. He also wants to use large-scale state-guarantee mechanisms to mobilize significant private investments, framing this as a way to unite all parties and stakeholders in promoting climate action. But Al Jaber is not just the president of Cop28; he is also the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. He is uniquely positioned to lead by example and steer his own country toward contributing its fair share. A US$25 billion levy, representing less than 10% of the oil and gas industry’s annual revenues in 2022, should be considered the minimum contribution expected from major oil-exporting countries. The stark contrast between the oil-producing countries’ record-breaking export earnings and the millions of people across the Global South pushed into poverty by soaring electricity costs underscores this imperative. In 2022, the export earnings of OPEC countries alone totalled US$888 billion, a US$266 billion increase from the previous year. The six wealthiest oil exporters alone raked in roughly US$800 billion. The UAE’s own oil-export earnings soared from US$76 billion in 2021 to US$119 billion. The surge in energy prices has been particularly lucrative for the Middle East’s petrostates. Qatar’s energy-export earnings jumped from US$87 billion to  US$132 billion  in 2022, while Kuwait’s increased from US$63 billion to  US$98 billion, allowing both countries to pay a levy of US$2 billion each. Norway, having nearly tripled its export earnings from US$48 billion to US$140 billion, could easily afford a US$5 billion levy. But the largest contribution should come from Saudi Arabia, whose oil-export revenues skyrocketed to US$311 billion in 2022 – a staggering $120 billion increase from the previous year. A US$9 billion contribution would be less than what the Saudis spend annually on football (soccer) and golf, and less than half of what they were reportedly willing to pay to acquire Formula One. Moreover, a levy on windfall revenues from fossil fuels could incentivise all developed countries to contribute. The principle of fair burden-sharing is simple: those countries and industries that have historically contributed the most to GHG emissions and enjoy the highest per capita incomes should bear a larger share of the costs. A portion of the US$25 billion levy should be directly allocated to the Loss and Damage Fund. The rest should serve as paid-in capital for a new climate-financing facility aimed at supporting the Global South. This capital, in turn, would be supplemented with multi-billion-dollar guarantees from the world’s largest emitters. MDBs could then leverage these funds and potentially quadruple the resources available to low- and middle-income countries. This strategic use of guarantees has been endorsed by several international bodies and highlighted in three recent  reports to the G20, including those authored by economist  N.K. Singh  and former US Treasury Secretary  Lawrence H. Summers. Adopting the Singh-Summers proposal to  triple the World Bank’s annual spending to US$390 billion, along with Barbadian Prime Minister  Mia Amor Mottley’s initiative to direct US$100 billion in international funding to the Global South, would represent a major step toward mobilising the  US$1 trillion in annual investment required for the world’s poorest countries to accelerate their transition to a climate-resilient future and achieve their development goals. — The Conversation. *About the writer: Gordon Brown, a former prime minister of the United Kingdom, is UN special envoy for global education. How to Salvage Cop28 climate summit A person walks past a "#COP28" sign during The Changemaker Majlis, a one-day CEO-level thought leadership workshop focused on climate action, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, October 1, 2023. The COP28 climate conference will run Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 in Dubai. (Amr Alfiky/Reuters) NewsHawks 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023

Page 42 Reframing Issues NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 DELPHIN R. NTANYOMA THE security situation in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to deteriorate. The region comprises North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces. It’s about seven times the size of neighbouring Rwanda. The violence in North Kivu has drawn most of the attention of the DRC’s neighbours and the  international community. This close attention is aimed at preventing  possible confrontation between Rwanda and the DRC. Since late 2021, North Kivu has been confronted by M23 rebels who have executed people and forcibly displaced thousands within the province and outside the DRC. The DRC and UN officials have accused Rwanda of supporting M23 rebels. Kigali denies this. In  mid 2022, the East African Community sent a regional force into the DRC to halt the military advancement of M23 in an effort to address rising tension between the DRC and Rwanda. The DRC shares a 2 500km border  with five east African countries: Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Since this deployment, however, DRC president Felix Tshisekedi and residents of North Kivu have  criticised the east African force, accusing it of deferring to the M23. The future of the force will be decided at an East African Community  heads of state summit on 24 November 2023. The DRC’s leadership is now seeking  support  from another regional bloc, the Southern African Development Community (Sadc). Sadec  has pledged  to deploy a military unit to North Kivu in the coming days. The DRC is a member of Sadc, as are its neighbours Tanzania, Zambia and Angola. The Sadc mission will support the Congolese army  in its quest to root out M23 and other armed groups operating in eastern Congo. It’s still unclear if these troops will replace the east African force, or cooperate with it. Either way, this deployment comes on the heels of the gradual planned exit of UN peacekeepers from DRC starting in December 2023. As a researcher on micro-level violence, I have  studied  the drivers of conflict in eastern DRC since 2017. In my view, there are four risks to the proposed Sadec mission. These are: • it would primarily target M23 rebels, leaving out the other armed groups in eastern DRC • it could give Rwanda more room to exploit the M23 rebel force • it could antagonise the East African Community, which the DRC joined in 2022 • the Sadec force could end up being outnumbered in a vast region. The focus on M23 rebels The primary mission for the Sadc force would be to stabilise and contribute towards peacebuilding in eastern DRC. The danger is that this mission, especially if deployed under the banner of the Congolese national army, could end up condoning the army’s perspective. This perspective tends to concentrate on the danger posed by M23 and disregards the  armed groups (more than 120) operating in eastern Congo. Further, it tends to accommodate other armed groups that commit atrocities against civilians. In countering M23 attacks,  the army has co-opted foreign and local militias, providing them with guns and ammunition. The Sadc mission in the DRC may end up trapped in the Congolese army’s approach. This would be dangerous for the stability of the region. Some of these local and foreign  militias have vowed to wipe out  ethnic communities whom they believe are not “real Congolese”. Any regional force aiming to stabilise eastern Congo should remain neutral in its actions and be alive to the ways the Congolese army has fanned violence and committed atrocities against civilians. Rwanda and the M23 Efforts to stabilise eastern DRC should dissociate Rwanda’s grievances from those of the M23. The rebel group claims to be fighting for the rights of Congolese Tutsis and other ethnic communities in the Kivus. Rwanda, on its part,  accuses the DRC of working with a rebel force, the FDLR, that seeks to overthrow the Rwandan government and operates out of Congo. In a 2022 report, a group of UN experts on the DRC  claimed that Rwanda armed M23 rebels to enable them to go after FDLR combatants. Rwanda has dismissed such allegations. The M23 cause shouldn’t be  exploited. Instead, preference should be given to enabling peaceful negotiations between the rebels and the Congolese government to address grievances. However, the Congolese army and Tshisekedi’s stance against the M23 – particularly ahead of the DRC’s general elections in December 2023 – could push Sadc forces to opt for a military solution to the rebel group’s offensive. Sadc should be careful not to back a stance that would end up forcing M23 to remain a rebel force that regional countries could manipulate for their own agenda. DRC and its neighbours Antagonising the East African Community The East African Community’s force is  largely criticised  by Kinshasa and residents of North Kivu for failing to attack M23 rebels. The public – under the influence of Congolese political figures – tends to see the threat posed by M23 and disregards other forms of violence in the region. Kinshasa has demonised the rebel force and its links to Rwanda for political mileage. Calling the east African troops’ efforts to root out M23 a failure after less than two years is premature. Particularly since the UN peacekeeping mission,  Monusco, has been in the DRC for more than two decades. The upside to the East African Community’s intervention is that it combines political consultations and dialogue among different belligerents. It is unclear what will happen to the peace talks initiated by former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta should the Sadc mission replace the east African one. Limited force strength in a vast area Eastern DRC contains at least 120 armed groups, and borders Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi. The Sadc mission in the DRC will, therefore, be taking on multiple rebel forces in a vast area with complex politics. It runs the risk of having its efforts criticised just like those of the East African Community because of its limited capacity to tackle the underlying causes of violence in eastern Congo. The Sadc force could choose to focus on attacking M23 rebels – which is how the group was first rooted out in 2012-2013. Or it will get lost in the vast jungles of eastern Congo. Either scenario won’t bring lasting peace. Many of the drivers of violence in eastern DRC are linked to the state’s absence  in the daily life of ordinary Congolese. This is largely driven by the political elites’ focus on their own survival. A purely military approach to addressing the violence would, therefore, be ill-advised. — The Conversation. *About the writer: Delphin R. Ntanyoma is a visiting researcher at the University of Leeds in Britain. Sadc troops versus M23 rebels in DRC: The risks this poses M23 soldiers in DRC.

Africa News Page 43 KLAUS BACHMANN/GERHARD KEMP POLITICAL actors in Tanzania have in recent years  demanded  compensation from Germany for colonial atrocities committed in the early 20th century. In early 2017, the National Assembly of Tanzania stopped short of putting the label of genocide on the atrocities committed by German troops during the Maji-Maji uprising (1905–1907). During a visit to Tanzania recently, the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, asked for “forgiveness” and expressed “shame” for the colonial atrocities committed in what was then German East Africa. This was in  reference to the killing of up to 300 000 people during the Maji-Maji uprising. German involvement in Tanzania began in 1890 when Berlin decided to take over administration of east African territories which German traders and travellers had secured. To reduce the cost of administration, governance rested on a few German officers with unchecked power, along with African and Arab fighters (called Askari) to suppress resistance. Abuse of power was rampant in this system, which provoked rather than prevented resistance. By the end of the 19th century, German troops had brutally quashed an  uprising of the Wahehe  in southern Tanzania. In 1905, the Maji-Maji uprising began  as a rebellion against Arab traders and cotton plantation owners of the south-eastern coast. Usually the insurgents would first uproot the cotton plants, and then raid farmhouses or office buildings. But the raids transformed into a peasants’ revolt as the violence progressed into the interior. The German response was brutal and catastrophic  (page 265). A three-yearlong mass starvation (page 274) devastated a large part of the southern territory. Entire areas were depopulated or ravaged by disease (page 274). In one location, 25% of the women became unable to fall pregnant. As many as 300 000 people were killed. We are widely published scholars of transitional justice and international criminal justice. Our historical and legal  analysis  of the suppression of the Maji-Maji uprising shows that there were indeed widespread instances of war crimes committed in the conflicts between the German military and various anti-colonial groups. It also shows that German conduct in that conflict can be described as genocidal in terms of intent and impact. There is a nuance to our finding. We could not find any genocidal directive from the imperial authorities in Berlin. But the evidence suggests that the atrocities committed against civilians were indeed intended to destroy an identifiable group in whole or in part. This is the core element of the current definition of genocide. Finding that the violent quashing of the Maji-Maji uprising would be regarded as genocide in the legal sense doesn’t have any practical implications, such as a legal obligation to pay compensation. Today’s international law doesn’t apply to what happened then. The implications are instead political and moral: if Germany’s colonial actions were to be regarded as genocide, the German public might be open to Tanzanian compensation claims, as they were to Namibia’s. Suppression as genocidal violence Many of the atrocities committed during this conflict could be construed as war crimes committed by both sides. But our focus was the possibility of a genocide. A resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1946 noted that, historically,many instances of such crimes of genocide have occurred when racial, religious, political and other groups have been destroyed, entirely or in part. This resolution was precursor to the Genocide Convention of 1948. The convention defines the crime of genocide and serves as the basis for the prevention and punishment of genocide as a crime under international and domestic laws. Under international law, the Genocide Convention and its progeny don’t apply to states or individuals retrospectively. These laws cannot be invoked as a basis for a legal claim against Germany for events that occurred in the early 20th century. But characterising an atrocity as a genocide  can serve as impetus  for acknowledgement and some form of voluntary compensation. The genocide question We analysed first-hand archival records from Germany and Tanzania to examine whether German actions constitute genocide according to the Genocide Convention or the International Criminal Tribunals’ jurisprudence. German documents and letters from the time rarely distinguished between ethnic groups and usually referred to “Negroes” (Neger) and “Blacks” (Schwarze) in a sweeping way. Racialisation didn’t indicate victimisation in itself, because some of these populations were regarded as friendly to the German colonial authorities. One could conclude that the German authorities targeted their political (anti-colonial) opponents rather than a group that’s protected under the current definition of genocide. The protected groups are national, racial, ethnic or religious. But a more expansive reading of genocide law leads to a different conclusion. The first genocide conviction delivered by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was in the case of Akayesu. In this case the judges reasoned that the four protected groups should not be seen as inflexible categories. They stretched the limits to accommodate groups that have similar qualities to the groups explicitly protected. Subsequent decisions by international criminal tribunals followed that reasoning. They took into account the way the perpetrator saw the group. A group protected by the Genocide Convention does not have to exist objectively. It is enough if it exists in the mind of the perpetrator and he wants to destroy it in whole or in part. The “Blacks” the Germans had in mind when they wrote and spoke about their enemies did not exist as such a group. Instead they consisted of a plethora of ethnic groups, tribes and extended family clans. They had as much in common with each other as the Germans had with their colonising British neighbours in the Uganda protectorate. But in the German officers’ minds these “Blacks” did exist as such a group. That is why they would have been protected if the Genocide Convention and the respective jurisprudence had been in force then. This has relevance for the question of whether the German conduct during the Maji-Maji uprising was genocidal. The lack of genocidal directives doesn’t imply a lack of genocidal intent. Circumstantial evidence suggests the German administration wanted to destroy not only hostile individual members of a racialised group, but the group in whole or in part. The trial and appeals chambers of the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia accepted this kind of reasoning: the basis for establishing a perpetrator’s genocidal intent does not always have to be written evidence or witness testimony. Sometimes the perpetrator’s own behaviour allows such a conclusion. In Srebrenica it was the policy to separate men from women and children and then to kill the men in mass executions. In a patriarchal society like the Bosnian Muslims’ the whole Muslim group would not survive without its men. We apply a similar standard to the German conduct to eradicate the traditional leaders of the communities that took part in the Maji-Maji uprising. These communities would have perished without their leaders. In some cases, they did perish. And depriving these groups of their ability to make collective decisions and to “survive as groups” (rather than as individuals or nuclear families) was the explicit aim of the German commanders. — The Conversation. *About the writers: Klaus Bachman is professor of political science at SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Poland. Gerhard Kemp is professor of criminal law at the University of the West of England. Between 200,000 to 300,000 Indigenous people were said to have been killed by German troops. PHOTO | COURTESY 300 000 Tanzanians were killed by Germany during the Maji-Maji uprising – it was genocide and should be called that NewsHawks 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023

Page 44 NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 Climate change and farming: economists warn more needs to be done to adapt in sub-Saharan Africa ABEEB BABATUNDE OMOTOSO/ OBIDUN OLUSOLA OMOTAYO SUB-SAHARAN African countries strongly rely on the agricultural and forestry sectors. Agriculture contributes up to 60% of some countries’ gross domestic product. But the sector is highly vulnerable to climate change because it relies heavily on climatic factors. This vulnerability is particularly marked in the region because of its slow rate of technological advancement. As agricultural economists we carried out a review of the literature on the climate change challenge for agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. We explored the distribution of various climatic factors (like rainfall, temperature and extreme weather events) across the region, and their impact on agriculture. We also investigated what rural farmers were doing to respond to climate change. We found that the implications of climate change for agricultural and economic development are diverse across the region. It is difficult to predict exactly how climate change will affect agriculture and economic development. But is is clear that sub-Saharan African countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, and Kenya are extremely vulnerable to climate change. Farmers are not using effective adaptation strategies. These include planting drought tolerant crop varieties, and conserving water and soil. Limited resources and infrastructure have held them back. Mitigation programmes such as carbon pricing, water management, recycling, afforestation and reforestation have had limited impact. Poor climate change awareness, unstable government policies and political instability have hindered the programmes. The impact of climate change on vulnerable households will be extreme if adequate measures are not taken in time. Research suggests that countries such as Togo, Nigeria, Congo and Mali will record more agricultural losses without adaptation. Governments, international organisations, local communities and other stakeholders need to develop strategies to address the diverse needs of rural farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. What our review found The studies we reviewed indicated that patterns of rainfall, temperature and extreme weather events have changed significantly in the region. This trend is not expected to change in future decades. Sub-Saharan Africa experiences diverse rainfall patterns. Annual rainfall can be as low as 100 millimetres in arid areas in the Sahel and parts of east Africa and over 500 millimetres in tropical areas in central and western Africa. Temperatures can often exceed 40°C (104°F) during the hottest months. Over the last century, the mean temperature has  increased by about 0.74°C. The region  experiences  various extreme weather events, including droughts, floods and heatwaves. Coastal areas, especially in the eastern and southern regions, experience  cyclones or tropical storms. Many studies show that these conditions affect agricultural production and society in a number of ways: 1. Yield reduction: Climate change reduces crop yield. Higher temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, droughts and floods affect harvests. For instance, farmers in Nigeria have seen lower yields caused by new pests, disease outbreaks and the drying up of rivers. 2. Food insecurity: Poor agricultural productivity often leads to food insecurity, which affects both rural and urban populations. Lower crop yields can cause prices to rise. Reduced access to food can worsen malnutrition and hunger. 3. Income loss and poverty: Lower agricultural output affects the income of smallholder farmers. This can increase poverty levels and economic vulnerability. We found a decline in cereal production over the last decade in Ghana, Congo and South Africa. 4. Decreased livestock productivity: Higher temperatures, changes in forage availability, and water scarcity are a challenge for livestock farmers. These make livestock prone to diseases and death. Farmers incur high costs to immunise and treat animals. 5. Vulnerability of smallholder farmers: These farmers don’t always have the resources and capacity to adapt to the impact of climate change. Recommendation and policy implications The review of studies showed that sub-Saharan Africa could develop economically if rural farmers took more effective measures against climate change. We made the following recommendations to protect farmers from the impact of climate change: • Strengthen institutions for policy development and implementation. Coordinating climate change adaptation efforts and sustainable agricultural practices improves farm productivity. • Improve rural infrastructure. This would promote economic growth, reduce poverty and make rural communities more resilient. • Initiate public welfare programmes. Improved access to finance, markets, education and climate information would enhance social protection. • Establish more forest plantations and maintain existing ones. They would help absorb the impact of climate change on agriculture and promote economic development. • Afforestation and reforestation can also help absorb carbon and conserve biodiversity. — The Conversation. *About the writers: Abeeb Babatunde Omotoso is a post-doctoral research associate at North-West University in South Africa. Abiodun Olusola Omotayo is a senior lecturer/researcher st North-West University. A subsistence farmer gathers withered maize from his farm. James Wakibia/ Getty Images Africa News NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023

World News AI and international relations — a whole new minefield to navigate TSHILIDZI MARWALA What are the benefits of artificial intelligence? How do we govern this constantly evolving and emerging field? How do we centre humanity in the shift? We must begin by understanding AI within the context of international relations. AT the heart of international relations is how we connect with one another — as humans, as nations, as organisations and beyond. Dwight Eisenhower once said, “The world must learn to work together, or finally, it will not work at all.”  These words continue to hold significant weight. Our current context, for instance, shows distressing discord. We find ourselves amid unprecedented turmoil where the world is convulsed in the throes of global conflict in various pockets of the Earth. Indeed, the post-pandemic setting is one defined by war and destruction. Humanity stands on the precipice of an uncertain future. A harrowing panorama of destruction and despair has replaced the fragility of peace. At the same time, our systems and structures are called to change. It is no secret that we need to catch up regarding the sustainable development goals (SDGs), while artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining pace in a manner challenging to keep up with. There are some certainties alongside an era of war and destruction. We are also entering the age of AI, and we must respond to that. The future depends on what we do today, and we have it within our powers to change the course. This represents the root of international relations (IR) — a field that AI will increasingly define. We must begin by embracing diverse thought and challenging our perspectives. Seven years ago, the United Nations established the SDGs. This was a comprehensive reframing and reworking of the previous millennium development goals (MDGs). Sustainable development approaches are long-term plans that seek to meet the requirements of the present without compromising resources and possibilities for future generations. We are now at the midpoint towards the envisioned just, equitable and more sustainable future. And progress could be faster. In fact, across many metrics, we have completely stalled. Although this is partly a legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic, I am mindful that we were off track before this. The 2023 SDG Report warns that “the promises enshrined in the SDGs are in peril.” Although the slowdown in progress towards the SDGs affects all nations, it disproportionately impacts poorer countries because of their limited representation on the global platform. Once more, the growing economic disparity between developed and developing countries, coupled with the unequal effects of the climate crisis, is a significant worry. UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently sounded a warning. “Unless we act now, the 2030 Agenda will become an epitaph for a world that might have been.” The world is now witnessing a rise in extreme poverty, a trend not seen in a generation, with projections indicating that the number of people affected could reach 575 million by 2030. We are running out of time, and there is a renewed urgency to act — AI could be our great definer. Defining strengths and pitfalls What are the benefits of AI? How do we govern this constantly evolving and emerging field? How do we centre humanity in the shift? We must begin by understanding AI within the context of international relations. Firstly, how do we ensure that AI development and adoption emphasises transparency? Here, we must consider how we can provide meaningful insights into AI decision-making processes. AI is about making machines that think, act and interact. In many ways, AI replicates human intelligence through computer machines. The challenge of transparency in AI lies in the complexity of algorithms and the opacity of decision-making processes. Do we understand these systems? In the Handbook of Machine Learning, for instance, the complexities of these technologies are outlined in depth. As the book demonstrates, there are three broad types of AI — prediction machines, clustering machines and generative machines. Prediction machines forecast future outcomes or make predictions based on historical data. Clustering machines group similar data points based on specific characteristics. Generative machines, including Chat GPT, create new content, such as images, text, or even music, that resemble human-created content based on algorithms that learn patterns from existing data. Understanding how this technology works is an essential step in tackling this challenge. Transparent AI systems are essential for building user trust and ensuring accountability. Secondly, it is imperative to consider cross-border data flow to promote unrestricted data movement across borders, fostering global collaboration and innovation. This promotes education, economic development, healthcare, innovation, and environmental sustainability. Thirdly, what are the applications of AI? The book Hamiltonian Monte Carlo Methods in Machine Learning  presents advanced methods with applications in renewable energy, finance and image classification for the biomedical sector. Fourthly, what is the impact of AI on political outcomes? In 2019, a video of Nancy Pelosi, the then-US House of Representatives speaker, was deliberately slowed by 25% to modify the pitch to make it appear like she was slurring her words. The video is an example of a deepfake.  Deepfakes  use deep learning technology — a branch of machine learning able to alter data sets — to create a fake because the technology has learned what a face looks like at different angles and is thus able to transpose a face onto a target as if it were a mask. Doctored videos like this are available online, and their use in politics presents a disturbing reality. How do we distinguish the fake from the genuine? Could deepfakes be used for more nefarious purposes? Consider the implications of a deepfake video of a head of state announcing that a country would be launching a nuclear attack on another nation. As these generative AI systems continue to advance, we must also consider the ethics challenge. The technology can be misused to create deepfake content, manipulate information, or infringe upon privacy and consent. Addressing these ethical dilemmas requires stringent guidelines. Fifthly, data challenges in the context of AI encompass various issues related to collection, quality, privacy, and biased data. Addressing these challenges is essential for developing ethical AI systems. The book  Deep Learning and Missing Data in Engineering Systems  explores advanced computer techniques to generate synthetic data to deal with quality, privacy, and biased data. Data is the bedrock of AI, and we must take the challenges surrounding it very seriously. As we consider quality data that is inclusive, we must have a thorough understanding of synthetic data. Embracing synthetic data in tandem with real data allows for the development of robust and ethically sound AI systems, fostering innovation while respecting privacy concerns. Sixthly, it is vital to consider the impact of AI on economics. AI technologies are poised to disrupt the job market. These technologies enhance efficiency, optimise supply chains, and facilitate automation, increasing productivity and competitiveness for nations engaging in international trade. The integration of AI in industries such as logistics, manufacturing, and services reshapes traditional trade patterns. However, we must also be mindful of the challenges that may emerge, including the need for standardised regulations, addressing ethical concerns, and ensuring fair access to AI benefits, particularly as the intersection of AI and cross-border trade becomes a critical factor in shaping the future of the global economy. Seventhly, there is the challenge of the truth. AI is also learning when to deceive. In 2007, alongside Evan Hurwitz, we built software agents that can bluff playing a game of poker. While this is a light-hearted example, there are certainly some sinister connotations. When exposed to large datasets, machine learning algorithms can incorporate biases and deceptive patterns in the data. As AI evolves, understanding and mitigating the risks associated with deceptive behaviours become paramount. This calls for vigilant oversight and responsible development to harness these powerful tools for the greater good without compromising the fundamental values of truth and integrity. Eighthly, there is the challenge of wars and the changing face of conflict. AI can be harnessed for military applications, enhancing strategic decision-making, surveillance, and even autonomous weaponry. This raises profound ethical and security concerns. For example, the use of AI-driven drones, cyber-attacks orchestrated by intelligent algorithms, and the potential for autonomous weapons to make lifeand-death decisions blurs the lines of accountability and raises questions about the humane conduct of war. Moreover, the prospect of AI falling into the wrong hands or being manipulated for malicious purposes adds a layer of complexity to global security. What is required are robust international agreements and ethical guidelines, but also continuous vigilance to ensure that AI technologies are developed and deployed responsibly and in a manner that safeguards human lives. In a 2011 book titled  Militarized Conflict Modeling Using Computational Intelligence, we researched how AI could help us understand wars. We modelled the relationship between key variables and the risk of conflict between two countries. We established a framework on how these models can be used to achieve peace. This is an example of how AI can mitigate conflict. Related to this is the ninth challenge, which is about human rights. AI has been applied to predict and avoid interstate conflict, challenge climate change, spur a technology revolution, facilitate trade, safeguard human rights and outline and improve the international financial architecture. Moreover, training large AI models can be energy-intensive, contributing to environmental concerns. Finding ways to make AI development and usage more environmentally sustainable is essential. As this challenge indicates, even as we readily embrace AI as a solution and a fundamental tenet of international relations, we must do so ethically and with humanity in mind. As much of our research indicates, collaboration between AI systems and human oversight will have to converge to ensure the responsible and ethical development and deployment of AI technologies. Many AI systems are trained on biased data, leading to discriminatory outcomes. Addressing bias and ensuring fairness in AI algorithms is an ongoing challenge. We must ensure that these systems are inclusive and based on equitable structures and systems. Admittedly, finding the right balance between innovation and regulation to ensure public safety and the ethical use of AI is a continuous struggle. In this regard, it is necessary to develop governance structures that can adapt to the evolving landscape of AI technology. In conclusion, as Henry Kissinger said, “The greatest need of the contemporary international system is an agreed concept of order.” AI may very well be the key to this agreement. — Daily Maverick. *About the writer: Professor Tshilidzi Marwala is the seventh rector of the United Nations (UN) University and UN Under Secretary-General. NewsHawks Page 45 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023

JONATHAN MBIRIYAMVEKA LIFE, according to Paulo Coehlo, “has a way of testing a person’s will”. The famous Brazilian author, who delves deep into spirituality in his work, sums up the bad and good situations that life throws at us. Coehlo adds that life tests people “either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happens at once”. Many Zimbabweans today will testify to this, regardless who they are, whatever their background. Ask Brooke Bruk-Jackson, a white girl from the more affluent parts of the Zimbabwean capital city Harare. Because of her background you might think she is more privileged than most fellow citizens in her troubled homeland, but Brooke has her own story of trials and tribulations to tell. Believe it or not, Zimbabwe’s most beautiful woman today worked in a hair salon, yet today she is a tourism ambassador for her country. Not only is she going to be tourism ambassador for destination Zimbabwe, but Brook will also be the voice of change. This is the story of Brooke Bruk-Jackson, who took part in the recently held Miss Universe World pageant in El Salvador, where she appeared more or less like a bridesmaid. The svelte model oozed cool confidence, great poise and intent to pursue a new career path thanks to her experience at the Miss Universe World. “Gosh, I think I need to find my feet a little bit,” she said with a chuckle. “It’s been a whirlwind of emotions. I am going to fulfill my duties for this next year and hopefully beyond. I am gonna keep working with the informal sector and keep doing my best to make a social change. I wanna be an ambassador for social change; that is truly my goal and where my heart is.” Asked about her experience at the international pageant, Brooke said she was humbled, coming from a background as a beauty therapist. “It actually was a once-in-a-lifetime experience; my goal was to put Zimbabwe back on the map and you know I think just being there and being present put us back on the map. Everybody knows about Zimbabwe and I can tell you that for a fact I got top 10 Voice for Change, which was one of the challenging parts of the competition.” The 21-year-old blonde said while she lost the crown she was looking ahead with a positive mind to promote tourism. “So, in every interview everybody asked me questions about our country, our people, about our historical moments literally everything and that’s where I spoke about our beautiful nation and also what put us back on the map like I said it’s getting into the top 10 Voice for Change. “Like I said, that was one of the most challenging parts of the competition and I was amongst other nine countries, so it put us back on the map because people now know about Zimbabwe, now everybody is talking about us wondering where we are because before, nobody really knew where Zimbabwe was and now they do and you know just being there wearing my sash across my chest just shows that we were there,” she explained. “One of the things I did mention on what Zimbabweans are known for, I said everybody is friendly, everyone goes around saying 'how are you, shamwari yangu?' (my friend) to me that was a special part that I shared with the world because truly Zimbabweans are so friendly. The people of Zimbabwe are so unique and just so welcoming, “I hope that people come here bring tourism and just come see our beautiful country because we truly have a lot to offer.” Brooke arrived on Wednesday at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport to a rousing welcome by Mufakose-based Hwamanda Traditional Dance Group. She was received at the airport by Zimbabwe Tourism Authority CEO Winnie Muchanyuka, who was representing Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister Barbara Rwodzi. Muchanyuka said Brooke was a true ambassador for Zimbabwe who did the country proud. “She did our work so much easier. She had so many countries that were surrounding her, so many beautiful ladies from countries across the world and her message to them can only bring more of visitors in beauty pageantry business to come into Zimbabwe,” Muchanyuka said. “We are so proud of you for being amongst the top 10 Voice for Change and working with the informal sector is critical for tourism because a lot of people in tourism are actually in informal sector. “We look forward to working with you and you don’t seem to have your to-do-list we would love for you to promote some of the products and carry the Zimbabwean flag wherever you are since people will remember you from the Miss Universe pageant.” Brooke made it to the Miss Universe 2023 Voice For Change but failed to bring the crown home. The Voice For Change Silver Finalist was about representing a global shifting tapestry of voices committed to making a difference. She was selected together with Angola, Brazil, Chile, Lebanon, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa and Ukraine. The finalists captured the audience’s attention and demonstrated a passion for positive change through their impactful advocacy videos. The competition went beyond traditional beauty pageant norms, allowing viewers to play an active role in shaping the outcome. The Voice for Change competition was won by the Philippines. STYLE TRAVEL BOOKS ARTS MOTORING Porsche just got angrier Being a Fashion Model Life&Style Page 46 Issue 158, 24 November 2023 From the salon to an ambassador: The story of Zimbabwean beauty Brooke Bruk-Jackson

People & Places Page 47 The legacy of Terry Venables NewsHawks 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 SOPHIA MIA TERRY Venables is the person in question. His life was intricately woven into the very fabric of the sport, and when the curtain is pulled down on a life that was painstakingly stitched into the sport itself, the indelible effect that he made as Barcelona’s coach from 1984 to 1987 continues to resonate through the decades. His life was tightly knitted into the very fabric of the sport. As we must inform you with a heavy heart of the passing of a great man whose influence was felt far beyond the bounds of the touchlines, we must inform you of the passing of this individual. This legendary man was a master who led Barcelona to the summit of La Liga success during the 1984-1985 season. He helped Barcelona achieve this victory. Terry Venables has established himself as a legend in the sport of football all over the world, transcending the limitations that are associated with his ethnicity. His name has become synonymous with the highest level of footballing performance, and he has become a legend in the sport of football. His name has become synonymous with the highest level of footballing performance. On January 6, 1943, Venables was born, marking the beginning of a journey that would eventually take him to become not just a well-known player, but also a well-known coach and a luminary whose influence was felt over the course of several decades. This route would eventually lead him to become someone who was known for all of these things. Due to the fact that he had an instinctive understanding of the nuances of football, he was raised to a level of prominence that is reserved for the very finest. This sensitivity was something that he possessed in addition to his charming character for sure. It turned out to be a gentleman. He was a legendary figure.

Page 48 Sport NewsHawks Issue 158, 24 November 2023 ANTHONY Joshua could revisit the Rumble in the Jungle as part of an "iconic" bout around the 50th anniversary of the legendary fight, says Eddie Hearn. Promoter Hearn says talks have taken place over the heavyweight contender fighting in Africa, and that government backing for an event is available. Joshua, 34, has Nigerian ancestry but has never fought on the continent. "It's something that would be iconic for the sport," Hearn told BBC World Service's Newsday of the proposals. "When we're visiting these countries, there's government funding to stage these events. "Sometimes that isn't forthcoming in all areas but there have been discussions and I think it will happen in time." Muhammad Ali and George Foreman contested the heavyweight world championship in Zaire - now Democratic Republic of Congo - in October 1974 in one of the greatest fights of all time. Both men were champions during the long careers that made them legends, with Ali knocking out Foreman in the eighth round to win the WBA, WBC and Ring titles. Joshua held the WBA belt for a combined total of almost four years and has been IBF, WBO and IBO champion, although he is currently aiming to win back the titles he failed to regain from Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia in August 2022. The 2012 Olympic gold medallist, who grew up in London after his parents emigrated from Nigeria before he was born, remains one of the biggest ticket-sellers in the sport and has called himself "proudly Nigerian and proudly British", sporting a tattoo of Africa with Nigeria outlined on his right shoulder. "With that anniversary approaching, we've often talked about a big Anthony Joshua fight - even revisiting the famous scenes in Zaire of the Rumble in the Jungle," said Hearn. "We've had a couple of approaches. Obviously, Anthony Joshua - with his Nigerian descent - is always keen to visit and stage a major event there. Ngannou fight on horizon? "Visually, it would be incredible and something Anthony would love to tick off the box before the end of his career." Despite its lasting resonance, the Rumble in the Jungle remains the last time a fight of such scale took place in Africa. Earlier in November, Hearn told BBC Sport he was exploring a potential fight between Joshua and former UFC champion Francis Ngannou as part of a plan for the next "six to 12 months" of Joshua's career. Like Joshua, Ngannou is a huge name in Africa - particularly in Cameroon, where he was born and took his first steps in combat sport before moving to Europe to fulfil his MMA dream. Ngannou almost stunned WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury on his professional boxing debut in October, losing on a controversial split decision in Saudi Arabia in a performance that has seen him ranked in the top 10 by the WBC and strengthened his chances of fights against established names such as Joshua. Speaking after that bout, Hearn suggested he was still exploring whether a fight in Africa was financially viable and said he had exchanged messages with Ngannou's camp. "All of a sudden, that fight between two giants becomes a massive fight," said Hearn, describing Joshua and Ngannou as "carved out of stone". "We're definitely willing to consider it." After leaving the UFC at the start of 2023, Ngannou joined the Professional Fighters League, an MMA promotion with ambitions to expand to Africa. Ngannou is a minority equity owner and chairman of the newly created PFL Africa, which PFL chief executive Peter Murray told BBC Sport will launch in 2025. The fighter known as 'The Predator' does not have a scheduled bout but has set his immediate sights on continuing in boxing and is also a fighter for the PFL. Joshua's next contest will be a non-title bout against Otto Wallin on 23 December in Saudi Arabia as a headliner alongside Deontay Wilder, the former WBC champion and a figure he has long been linked to a much-anticipated fight with. Wilder said last year that he "would love" to face Joshua in Africa. Next month's event, which has been titled 'Day of Reckoning' and is part of the annual Riyadh Season, will mark the third time Joshua has fought in Saudi Arabia since 2019. — BBC Sports Africa. Anthony Joshua Anthony Joshua: Talks held over boxing match in Africa, says Eddie Hearn

NewsHawks Sport Page 49 1ssue 158, 24 November 2023 NGONI Chibuwe, the Zimbabwe rugby player, had always prided himself in his many talents. Some years back he was a Zimbabwe team non-travelling reserve for the Under-19 World Cup of cricket, a sport he thought he was better at. Chibuwe only came into contact with rugby as a 16-year-old at Mutare Boys High School in his hometown. The Mutare-born star fancies his gift to make people laugh, too. As a content creator, he has posted humorous videos on YouTube with his Romanian partner. He also has a podcast. From Mutare Boys High, Chibuwe was fortunate enough to be transferred to Hillcrest College in the city, where his rugby took off like a rocket. He was then enrolled at Sharks Academy in Durban, South Africa, from where he moved to Spain for his first professional contract. These days, the robust Sables centre turns out for Romanian top-flight club Steaua București. The 29-year-old is known to have a big heart. He gets fulfilment from helping other young people realise their dreams and, as they say, charity begins at home. Chibuwe has set up the aptly named Hearts of Stone Rugby Academy in Mutare, reviving a sport that had long been forgotten in his hometown, especially by young people from non-traditional playing areas of the city. Stone, or Stoney, is Chibuwe’s nickname because this is what his surname means in the local dialect, chiManyika. And now, his fashion label, Stonefit, is also blossoming. Chibuwe is also a fitness enthusiast, so Stonefit also includes health and wellness. — STAFF WRITER. Inspired by the stone: Zim rugby star’s clothing label hits the market Ngoni Chibuwe Continued from page 50 What of Tanaka Shandirwa, the Dynamos play-making starlet? Well, he should have sealed the three points for Zimbabwe against Nigeria with a last-gasp winner, but blew a glorious chance deep in added time. But what a cameo role he had, what a player this chap promises to be for the future — a clever footballer with remarkable vision, technical ability and vision on the field. Is this a true reflection of the quality in the Zimbabwean PSL? I have of late been spending some time with Leonard Fiyado, the free-scoring former Gunners and CAPS United striker. The quality isn’t exactly obvious across the PSL right now, he tells me. But there is some real talent in the league, pretty good footballers, whose natural ability doesn’t quite show when they play locally because they are surrounded in their own clubs by 50% mediocrity and equally the same percentage in the opposing teams. But when you put them in an environment of teammates like Marvelous Nakamba, Andy Rinomhota and Marshall Munetsi — and then against opponents of the same pedigree — you will see the real Donovan Bernard, Andrew Mbeba, Walter Musona and Tanaka Shandirwa. It is definitely something markedly different from the sporadic flashes of genius you see from them every week in the PSL. So I wanted to know from Fiyado: how do you then make sure that the PSL’s finest crop continue to develop into something even more special for the nation? “Make them spend more time with the foreign-based professionals in the Warriors set-up, in the meanwhile, if you can’t immediately get them signed abroad.” How do you do that, on the first one, taking into account the tight Fifa international calendar? Well, somehow. Even more reason to separate the wheat from the chaff

NEWS $60 Covid tariff for visitors & tourists CULTURE Community radio regulations under review @NewsHawksLive TheNewsHawks www.thenewshawks.com Thursday 1 October 2020 WHAT’S INSIDE ALSO INSIDE Finance Ministy wipes out $3.2 Billion depositors funds Zim's latest land cStory on Page 3 Story on Page 8 Chamisa reacout to Khupe Unofficial president calls for emergeFriday 24 November 2023 Zim rugby star’s clothing label hits the market ALSO INSIDE Sports Springboks win Rugby World Cup Even more reason to separate the wheat from the chaff I MUST confess from the start that, for the better part of a decade, I did not think much of players in Zimbabwe’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) competition. I felt, in my own defence, that a league that had exported stars like Nyasha Mushekwi and Willard Katsande only a few seasons earlier was now suddenly struggling for quality players to make real impact anywhere outside Zimbabwe. In more recent times, the country’s best players have been signed by teams in South Africa and in minor European leagues. Those few lucky ones to escape Zimbabwe however did not stand the heat and quickly got out of the kitchen – quickly returning to the comfort of home after failing to make the grade abroad. So I couldn't be bothered, to be honest, I really couldn’t be, for the most part. And for that I make no apologies. Often, I hear people I know well getting excited about some of the talent left in the PSL. It does give you a sense of relief because after all, regardless of your misgivings, it is still your national league, your country. It is one of those occasions when you wish you can be proven wrong, for all your reservations. I couldn’t have been the only one not at ease with the number of PSL players in the Warriors squad that had been selected for the opening double-header of World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Nigeria last week. How naïve we were, I thought, to think that a league that had been suspended for several months because of shortage of grounds, can have players to stand a chance against Rwanda, who have been investing heavily in sports and infrastructure as part of a wider nation-building exercise. Let alone a Nigerian side, with its array of ever-exciting European-based stars. But what a shift put in by the lanky Highlanders fullback Andrew Mbeba at right-back over the two games in Rwanda. Mbeba was an ever-calming presence in that Zimbabwe line of defence and I would like to see him make that position his own for many more years to come. The new Zimbabwe firstchoice goalkeeper, Donovan Bernard, who plays his domestic football at home for a club called Chicken Inn, was another outstanding Warrior over the two ties in Butare. Some irate Nigerian fans on social media, frustratingly heaping scorn on their own team in disappointment, couldn’t resist the temptation of drawing attention to the name of the Zimbabwean goalkeeper’s club. But they’ll of course be the first to concede that Donovan definitely didn’t chicken out as the 28-year-old stopper exhibited bravery to thwart the Super Eagles on numerous occasions. Add Walter Musona’s stunning free-kick from 30 yards out in the 1-1 draw with Nigeria. The FC Platinum forward, time after time in the Zimbabwean league, has proven he deserves another chance abroad after earlier stints didn’t bear fruit. To page 49 Walter Musona (extreme left) and Tanaka Shandirwa (third from left) pose with some of Zimbabwe's foreign-based stars at training in Rwanda last week. Enock Muchinjo HawkZone