NewsHawks 7 April 2023

Price US$1 Friday 7 April 2023 NEWS Mnangagwa lavished with gifts worth millions by corrupt investors Story on Page 3 NEWS Zim glitterati Danielle, Nigerian husband wanted for drug trafficking WHAT’S Story on Page 8 INSIDE SPORT ‘I consider myself an African, and she thinks of herself as an American’ Story on Page 52 ALSO INSIDE Arrest Eubert Angel: Hwende Gold Mafia film: Mnangagwa the documentary protagonist to see him costs US$200k-US$1m President takes “gifts” not “bribes” he has US$240m election war chest one gold dealer says ED a partner all main characters linked to him

Page 2 News NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 OWEN GAGARE AS the narrative of Qatar-based international television news channel Al Jazeera’s Gold Mafia investigative film on gold smuggling, money laundering and corruption unfolds and audiences navigate the story arc, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has firmly emerged as the protagonist: Leading actor. Even if he is not being directly investigated in the documentary and narrowly escaped being recorded after undercover Al Jazeera journalists stopped short of crossing the ethical line by resisting to pay the US$200 000 “facilitation fee” to see him, everything still revolves around him. He is the fulcrum of action and centre of gravity. The commission paid to see Mnangagwa ranges from US$200 000 to US$1 million, according to the investigation. Together with his ambassador plenipotentiary, self-styled Prophet Uebert Angel (real name Uebert Mudzanire), Mnangagwa is the pivot of action, events and the narrative. In the past three episodes — the film has four — audiences have been through the five stages: advance publicity of the documentary through a trailer; exposition, and rising action. The climax will come in Episode 4 and thereafter falling action, and dénouement. It is at the climax where Mnangagwa and those close to him are expected to take centre stage as the full cast is shown and their roles become even clearer. Episode 1 showed that all the main characters involved are the president’s men. Angel’s business partner Rikki Doolan, who is married to his niece Nicola, said if one “greases the wheels” — meaning pay bribes — everything moves properly. Doolan told the undercover reporters Zimbabwean ministers and officials accept bribes to facilitate dirty deals. “Once we get the ball rolling, there will be points at times along the way where people will need to be greased, ministers, different guys. In a country like the one we are talking about, it’s the only way to get things done smoothly,” he said. Doolan also said Angel needed payment too for his role in pushing the deals by the undercover reporters. “He is bending over backwards. He is calling the President. He has arranged a meeting for you already. The ambassador is not being appreciated yet… Now back to the main thing that we have not yet addressed, this thing of appreciation, this thing of facilitation, whatever you want to call it. What are we doing?” asked Doolan. In episode 2, gold dealer and convicted smuggler Ewan MacMillan says Mnangagwa is his partner. “I have been doing gold since I was 19; I went to jail for the first time for gold when I was 21…and you will not believe this but my partner is the President. I did 60 days in the prison and my partner is the new President,” Macmillan said. In Episode 3, we learn that Mnangagwa is very rich, he has a personal fortune and as a result does not receive “bribes” but gets “gifts” as high as US$1 million. We are told that he is wealthy and that he is funding campaigns for the forthcoming general elections to the tune of US$240 million. Angel says Mnangagwa does not take bribes or small money, but millions are given to him as appreciation for sealing deals with investors. “That guy does not take bribe, Oh no, no, he won’t,” he said. “There is a big difference in appreciating somebody and bribing. At this level, people don’t bribe nobody. You get my point? Yeah people do. There is somebody saying thank you for everything you are doing for us dha, dha, dha, dha. Big difference because he is just not that kind of a person. “His election, I think they are spending something like US$240 million and that is his money. It’s not the party, it’s his money. So when somebody got that money to spend on election campaign, you give him US$1 million, it’s like a slap in the face, unless you say this is a thank you,” Angel said. Angel has featured prominently in the first three episodes of the documentary in which he has bombastically said many things, some of them revealing and shocking – including claiming to be empowered to sign treaties, contracts and agreements on behalf of the government without seeking anybody’s authority as a plenipotentiary presidential envoy and ambassador-at-large, with far-reaching implications for Mnangagwa, governance and public accountability. There is no doubt that he is the star interlocutor in the film. In the process of all this, Mnangagwa has been left exposed and politically vulnerable following the gold smuggling and money laundering corruption scandal. The disclosures have shaken the country and the political landscape to the core. For the first time, Zimbabweans have seen the optics of how their gold is smuggled and money is laundered by criminal syndicates connected to top government officials and politicians who have cornered the precious mineral found in abundance across the country, while leaving them impoverished. While the investigation brought so many things to light and left the nation shell-shocked, one of the most instructive disclosures about Gold Mafia — the investigative documentary film — is that all the main characters are linked directly and indirectly to Mnangagwa. More revelations are coming which will leave Mnangagwa worse off. Mnangagwa’s wife First Lady Auxilia is expected to feature in the last episode of the documentary series talking to Angel about gold dealings and influence peddling. Already, we have learnt from Angel that if one needs to see Mnangagwa they would have to pay US$200 000 cash upfront for access. The issue of people being charged to see Mnangagwa has been there for years now, but the Office of the President and police have warned against abuse of his name for personal gain, including name dropping. The cash-for-access strategy in government is familiar. Controversial Zimbabwean socialite Susan Mutami, who now lives in Australia and has accused Mnangagwa of rape, claimed some Russian mining investors in 2019 had to pay US$150 000 through Mines deputy minister Polite Kambamura which he shared with an unnamed President’s son for their papers to be signed. “In early 2019, there was a private jet that came to Zimbabwe and parked at Harare International Airport (now Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport) for a couple of days,” Mutami posted on Twitter on 5 February 2022. “These guys were Russian and wanted a deal in mining, but because (Mines minister Winston) Chitando kept on going around in circles in signing their paperwork. “These guys then offered Polite Kambamura US$150 000 cash and Polite roped in the president’s son in the deal and they flew on their private jet to Victoria Falls where the president was for him to sign their paperwork.” The US$150 000 which Mutami — who claimed to have had a love relationship with Kambamura — says the Russians paid in 2019 for Mnangagwa to sign their mining deal papers is not far removed from the US$200 000 that Angel spoke about as the access fee. Zimbabweans are reeling under severe poverty amid economic implosion, with far-reaching social and political ramifications. Every part of the country has gold deposits in varying quantities and qualities, and the mining is largely operated by artisanal miners who produce 60% of the mineral despite remaining poverty-stricken. Zimbabwe has significant reserves of platinum group metals, gold, chrome, coal, diamonds and lithium, among others. The mining sector contributes about 12% of the country’s US$25 billion gross domestic product, and over 60% of its export earnings. The country, which earns about US$2 billion from gold annually, is losing at least US$100 million a month through smuggling and corruption. Zimbabwe's gold output surged to 35.38 tonnes in 2022, spurred by new mining projects, timely payments and incentives to miners. Since he came to power through a military coup in November 2017, Mnangagwa’s criminal associates and wheeler-dealers have crawled out of the woodwork. Opportunists have also jumped onto the bandwagon, parading themselves with him and posting pictures at the slightest opportunity to demonstrate their proximity to power and leverage. The President is surrounded by dodgy characters deeply mired in corrupt activities. The Al Jazeera investigation reveals how billions of dollars’ worth of gold is smuggled from Zimbabwe to Dubai, allowing criminals to clean dirty money through a web of shell companies, fake invoices and paid-off officials. Angel was recorded in Al Jazeera’s undercover investigation promising to help smuggle US$1.2 billion into Zimbabwe through a diplomatic bag and launder money from a Chinese mafia led by a fictitious Mr Stanley, a Sino gangster with links to the Triads. The self-proclaimed prophet even said he could smuggle a person in his diplomatic bag, just to emphasise his freedom and impunity. Initially the mafia had said they wanted to smuggle and clean US$100 million through Zimbabwe. Angel promised the Chinese mafia smuggling and laundry services for the money. He said “it’s easy” to do it because he would use a diplomatic bag which is not searched in terms of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and no one would dare stop him until the money reaches his Greystone Park home in Harare. Continued on next page Gold Mafia film: Mnangagwa the documentary protagonist President Emmerson Mnangagwa

NewsHawks News Page 3 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 BRENNA MATENDERE EUBERT Angel, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Ambassador-at-Large for Europe and the Americas, suggested to undercover Al Jazeera reporters who were posing as Chinese gangsters seeking to launder over US$1 billion into Zimbabwe that they could give the head of state a gift of over US$ 1 million as appreciation for his involvement in ensuring that the  deal to clean their dirty money succeeded. The revelations are contained in the third episode of Al Jazeera’s documentary titled The Gold Mafia which was aired on Thursday this week. In the latest episode, Angel said Mnangagwa does not take bribes but millions of money that are given to him as appreciation for sealing deals with investors. “There is a big difference in appreciating somebody and bribing. At this level, people don’t bribe… There is somebody saying thank you for everything you are doing for us. Big difference because he is just not that kind of a person. “His election I think they are spending something like US$240 million and that is his money. It's not the party, it is his money. So when somebody got that money to spend on election campaign, you give him one million, it's like a slap in the face, unless you say this is thank you,” said Angel. Doolan also told the undercover reporters that ministers and bureaucrats in Zimbabwe accept bribes to facilitate dirty investments. “Once we get the ball rolling, there will be points at times along the way where people will need to be greased, ministers, different guys. In a country like the one we are talking about, it’s the only way to get things done smoothly,” he said. Doolan also suggested that Angel needed payment too for his role in pushing the deals by the undercover reporters. “He is bending over backwards. He is calling the President. He has arranged a meeting for you already. The ambassador is not being appreciated yet… Now back to the main thing that we have not yet addressed, this thing of appreciation, this thing of facilitation, whatever you want to call it. What are we doing?” Doolan asked the undercover reporters. In last week’s episode, he told the undercover reporters that facilitating a meeting for them with Mnangagwa required a fee of US$200 000. Speaking in the documentary’s second edition released on Thursday last week, Doolan, who said he preferred to call Mnangagwa "Number One", Mnangagwa lavished with gifts worth millions by corrupt investors insisted that once he is made aware of a money laundering deal, the country’s leader ensures that the launderers are not arrested and have easy passage into the country with wads of cash and get away with gold. Before his conversation with Al Jazeera’s undercover reporters who postured as gangsters from China wishing to clean over US$100 million, a man whom he said was his chief security officer collected mobile phones of all the people in the room so that there could be no eavesdropping. A lady who posed as Ms Sin, a financial adviser to Mr Stanely, both of whom were undercover journalists, asked Doolan: “We want to be very clear. We are cash rich. It's embarrassing. This is black money. This is money which cannot be declared. And we need jurisdictions which are not that rigid.” In response, while implying that Mnangagwa takes bribes from money launderers, Doolan said: “I like embarrasing cash… That is why you need this team of people (Mnangagwa and Prophet Angel whom he has written in his book as Number 1 and Principal).” “So during this conversation, we will not mention names. I don’t think we need to. Principal. You know who my principal is. We know who the number one is. Number one is the President.” “As long as you grease the wheels in Africa, there is no issue. And this protection is from Number 1 (Mnangagwa). Now the greasing of the wheels we are going to figure that out ourselves using this team to make sure that everybody is taken care of, everybody is happy, and things move without questions being asked.” “There is no way it can never happen. How can questions be asked when these people are happy?" “The police, banks, customs, immigration (will not ask questions on dirty money). This is the executive power.” “Work with me on everything. And what I am going to do is make sure that through these people (Mnangagwa and Prophet Angel) it happens. That this person (Mnangagwa) knows everything… that you are bringing in this amount, you are investing in this, doing this, and he will be like ‘oh very good, okay, no problem’. Meaning that probably when you arrive at the airport on that private jet, you will have a motorcade to take you to where you need to go.” Ms Sin then asked: “So it (dirty money) becomes legal?” And Doolan responded: “More than legal. It becomes protected at the highest level. So that you arrive as investors, not people trying to sneak things through the border. As soon as you arrive in that country, you are now treated as executives. And it’s a system that is secured. Everything will be done with this person’s knowledge (Mnangagwa).” At that point, an Al Jazeera undercover reporter asked: “You mean number 1?” “Of course,” replied Doolan. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Ambassador-at-Large for Europe and the Americas Eubert Angel Continued from previous page Further, Angel adds that he is the No.2 diplomat in Zimbabwe to Mnangagwa and has plenipotentiary powers — independent authority — to sign agreements and treaties on behalf of the country. Essentially, Angel says he can smuggle and launder the money for a commission. Smelling a life-changing staggering commission from the US$1.2 billion being dangled in one of the sting operation meetings, he even says Mnangagwa will die in office. It is his way of avoiding spooking the mafia with their cash due to political uncertainty. The investigative film is titled Gold Mafia. Its main characters include Kenyan tycoon Kamlesh Pattni, who was involved in the 1990s Goldenberg Scandal which almost bankrupted Kenya, but is now smuggling gold from Zimbabwe; Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation president Henrietta Rushwaya, who is also Mnangagwa’s niece; notorious gold dealer MacMillan; Alistair Mathias, Macmillan’s business partner who advises clients on how to clean their dirty cash; local business magnate Simon Rudland; Doolan who is married to Angel’s niece Nicola; and Angel himself. In meetings, Angel is seen sitting next to his brother Limit Mudzanire and Dr Sobona Mtisi, chief investments and projects officer in Angel’s office, who is married to his niece Joy; sister to Nicola. There is also Dmytro Abakumov, Pattni’s runner, featuring in the documentary. Mnangagwa, whose local political allies like former State Security minister Owen “Mudha” Ncube and Pedzisayi “Scott” Sakupwanya, among others, are involved in gold dealings, is closely linked with the dodgy characters in the Gold Mafia film. Pattni, the MacMillans — Ewan and his family — as well as the Rudlands, Angel and Rushwaya, including their business partners and runners, are directly and indirectly linked to Mnangagwa and his network, making him the centre of gravity in the scandal. The latest Mnangagwa entanglement in a gold scandal comes after he was also implicated in another similar issue 20 years ago. In 2003, Mnangagwa, then Speaker of Parliament after he had lost his Kwekwe parliamentary seat to the then MDC official Blessing Chebundo in 2000, was accused of receiving ZW$8 million from an illegal gold miner. The allegations surfaced when Mark Matthew Burden, accused of trading in gold without a licence, appeared before the High Court. Owner of several licensed mining operations, including Ivan Hoe Mine and eight gold custom mining plants, Burden was in court for illegally milling ore from small-scale miners and panners in Mnangagwa’s hometown, Kwekwe. “Upon perusal of the bank documents, police discovered that the accused had made the following cheque payments to ED Mnangagwa. On 17 September 2003, the accused paid ED Mnangagwa ZW$8 million using bank cheque 693803,” court records show. “When asked about these payments, which the police suspected to have been related to gold transactions, the accused could not satisfactorily explain,” the state said in the charge sheet. Mnangagwa’s name was later removed from the charge sheet, but not before reporters knew it was there. Mnangagwa the documentary protagonist

Page 4 News NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 Audit firm Ernst & Young implicated in gold scandal BERNARD MPOFU GLOBAL audit firm Ernst & Young (EY) has been caught up in a complex web of money laundering and illicit financial flows in Dubai, raising questions on the integrity of accounting firms in discharging their duties, the latest episode of the Al Jazeera docuseries on 'Gold Mafia' operating in and outside Zimbabwe has exposed. According to the one-hour-long documentary titled Gold Mafia: El Dorado Part 3, EY, which has an office in Zimbabwe, was fined US$11 million in damages and expenses to a former EY partner. Amjad Rihan, who features in the documentary, claimed he was pushed out of Britain-headquartered EY after raising concerns about irregularities at precious metals dealer and refiner Kaloti in 2013. British High Court judges ruled that the EY had tried to “sweep under the rug” the findings of  Kaloti money laundering. EY, one of the world’s “Big Four” accounting firms, threw out findings made by Rihan and team of auditors exposed how the refiner had US$5 billion cash holdings within a year. A team of auditors which carried out intensive interviews at Kaloti as well as sifted through the company’s records saw something amiss, Rihan observed. “They started discovering some shocking disturbing violations. We found out that Kaloti was doing over US$5.2 billion in cash in one year. That represents about 40% of Kaloti’s business done in cash,” Rihan narrated. “You think about US$5.2 billion, you are talking about US$100 million a week. That’s a huge number and to be done in cash that raises a lot of suspicions. We concluded that Kaloti due diligence management system is a huge failure, it is not functioning effectively.” EY, according to the documentary, accepted Rihan’s findings but ordered him to work with the Dubai authorities. “To my shock, instead of supporting me and backing me up, they instructed me to help the Dubai regulator and the Dubai refiners.” He refused to go along with the plan and resigned. “I felt that it was unsafe for me to challenge the decisions made to actually do my job properly while the regulator, the refiner and EY all of them were not supportive of what I said,” Rihan said. “I would be at odds with very powerful people and entities in Dubai. I would have been at risk.” After his resignation, he then brought a claim to a London Court challenging EY. In 2013, Kaloti was one of the UAE’s largest gold refineries in Dubai’s US$70 billion gold industry. Independent statistics show that 25% of the world’s gold trade passes through the UAE capital. Kaloti remained accredited by the UAE authorities until 2015, when a different auditor found it was buying gold from Sudan, which was then under US sanctions. The company, according to Al Jazeera, is now known as MTM & O Gold. The four-part documentary has so far revealed that the UAE is the destination for billions of dollars’ worth of gold smuggled from across Africa. Having access to refineries, the documentary revealed, is central to the mafia’s ability to launder money through gold. Kamlesh Pattni, who is named as a central figure in gold smuggling and money laundering activities in Zimbabwe, works with four Dubai-based refiners—MTM & Co, Emirates Gold, Sam Precious Minerals and Al Etihad Gold — in carrying out underhand dealings. In Zimbabwe, Pattni, Al Jazeera revealed, worked hand-in-glove with Fidelity Printers and Refiners. Patnni allegedly paid former Fidelity Printers and Refiners general manager Fradreck Kunaka and the company’s ex head of gold operations Mehluleli Dube US$30 000 and US$3 000 kickbacks apiece each to facilitate illicit transactions and gold smuggling activities. “The gold refiners are very important point in the gold supply chain,” Rihan said. “Without the refiner doing a good job in ensuring that it is scrutinised in the supply chain and they cover the risks in the supply chain, it is so difficult for those after the refiner to do that job. The refiner's job is critical in ensuring that the gold before it refined is cleaned.” Amjad Rihan

NewsHawks News Page 5 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 RUVIMBO MUCHENJE WHILE the Zimbabwean government says it has taken measures to freeze accounts of the gold mafia and investigate the gold smuggling, money laundering and corruption, one of the kingpins, Henrietta Rushwaya has so far been spared. Rushwaya, who is President of Zimbabwe Miners Federation, is President Emmerson Mnangagwa's niece. Government, through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), has frozen bank accounts of those prominently mentioned in the Al Jazeera investigation into gold smuggling and looting. Authorities acted against some gold barons, including Ewan Macmillan, Kamlesh Pattni and Simon Rudland, among others. Prior to that FIU had dealt with Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe security manager Cleopas Chidodo who allegedly facilitates smuggling of contraband through the airport, David Chirozvi of Aurex jewellery, Mehluleli Dube of Fidelity Printers as well as Fredrick Kunaka of Fidelity Printers and Refiners. However, Rushwaya has been spared action. This raised eyebrows, especially given that she was arrested at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare while checking in to board a flight to Dubai with 6kgs of gold worth US$360 000. As previously reported by The NewsHawks, Rushwaya tried to call the First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa to rescue her. Rushwaya is also linked to Tashinga Nyasha Masinire who was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport in May 2021. In addition, she features prominently in the Al Jazeera documentary. "You are being directed to immediately identify and freeze all assets of the following individuals; Cleopas Chidodo, David Chirozvi, Mehlululi Dube and Fredrick Kunaka. May you also freeze all assets of legal persons and arrangements associated with them. Kindly treat this request as urgent," read the FIU memo in part. The FIU was however silent on people involved in the cockpit of the gold mafia ring, Uebert Angel who is President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Special Envoy and Ambassador-at-Large to Europe and the Americas. Angel brags about how he can smuggle in money and gold using his diplomatic position and proximity to Mnangagwa. Ewan McMillan who is on the video exposing his operations is also excluded from the list. Kenyan national Kamlesh Pattni, one of Africa’s most notorious gold dealers, was also not sanctioned. He calls himself "Brother Paul" and boasts of extensive contacts on the continent, including heads of state. He is among the dealers exposed through the investigation and has assets in Zimbabwe. Another name exposed in the documentary is Mnangagwa’s niece Henrietta Rushwaya, who is the president of the Zimbabwe Miners' Federation. Angel calls Rushwaya during the meeting with Al Jazeera reporters who are posing as criminals with dirty cash that needs cleaning. Rushwaya readily offers to help the “gangsters” clean their money while offering a ready supply of gold. It is not the first time Rushwaya has been implicated in a gold scam. In 2020, she was briefly arrested while trying to carry 6kg of gold from Zimbabwe to Dubai. The money laundering plan Rushwaya outlined to reporters involved using dirty cash to buy Zimbabwean gold — which the criminals could then sell on the international market in exchange for legitimate money. The four people who have had their accounts frozen are alleged  facilitators, but the actual Rushwaya spared govt gold crackdown President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s niece and Zimbabwe Miners' Federation president Henrietta Rushwaya Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe head of security Cleopas Chidodo smugglers were let off the hook. Part 2 of the four-part documentary lays bare how porous the airport is for smugglers through the help of Chidodo, a security manager. He revealed  how criminal gangs can smuggle minerals and money through the airport, without repercussion – thanks to his facilitation. Chidodo revealed he could facilitate smuggling with his own sidekick or with the smugglers’ courier of choice.  Either way, he makes it possible. Former Fidelity Printers and Refiners general manager Fradreck Kunaka  and the company’s head of gold operations Mehluleli Dube were allegedly paid US$30 000 and US$3 000 kickbacks apiece each month by controversial Kenyan tycoon Pattni to facilitate illicit transactions and gold smuggling activities. Chirozvi is Aurex Jewellery head of finance who is accused of enabling Pattni’s company to export gold and diamond jewellery. In return, Pattni pays tuition for Chirozvi’s child at University of Pretoria. These four are enablers to the mafia operations, but the kingpins were left untouched. Former minister Jonathan Moyo was among those who decried the arrest of enablers while leaving out the masterminds. “Save that it is a misnomer to call Cleopas Chidodo, David Chirozvi, Mehluli Dube and Fredrik Kunaka, 'Gold Mafia suspects'. Far from it, none of these suspects are the 'Gold Mafia', as captured in the Al Jazeera documentary; rather at worst they can best be described as 'Gold Mafia Enablers' or 'Gold Mafia Pikininis'; otherwise they are all very important key 'Gold Mafia Witnesses'. It would be unwise to go after all of these pikininis - on grounds that they incriminate themselves in the documentary when everyone has seen that their handlers, the real Gold Mafia as described in the documentary, have done more and better self-incrimination, and basically nailed themselves beyond any escape. For example, Ambassador Plenipotentiary Uebert Angel said he owns and runs something called Billion Group, which facilitates gold smuggling and money laundering. There is no reason for not freezing the assets of the Ambassador's Billion Group, given what he says about it in the documentary,” said Moyo.

Page 6 News NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 BRENNA MATENDERE KUWADZANA East legislator Chalton Hwende this week in Parliament cranked up pressure on the government to arrest President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Ambassador-at-Large to Europe and the Americas Uebert Angel over his abuse of diplomatic privileges exposed in the Al Jazeera documentary. Angel offered to use his status to launder millions of dollars through a gold-smuggling scheme during an undercover operation by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit). “My question is, what is government policy with regards to ambassadors who charge fees to people for facilitating meeting the President when those people are supposed to bring investment to this country?” asked Hwende. Jacob Mudenda, the Speaker of the National Assembly, answered:  “That question is very specific. If you know these people, you should have put forward a written question stating the ambassadors who are doing that. Ambassador A and B are saying that any potential investor who needs an appointment with the President must pay so much. Not all ambassadors do that.” However, Hwende stood his ground. “That is why I had asked what government’s policy is with regards to ambassadors who represent the country with regards to investment. I did not want to mention Eubert Angels’ name because it would become specific, but he is the ambassador who is charging US$200 000,” he said. Mudenda finally gave in and allowed the leader of the House of the day, Monica Mutsvangwa, to respond. “Government’s policy is to appoint ambassadors to represent the country out there. If this question is specific, he should put it in writing and put in the evidence and we direct that to the ministry of Foreign Affairs. “I was an ambassador for a long time. An ambassador represents the needs of his or her country in accordance with the mandate that you are given by the President of your country; to put your country on the map and make sure that there is trade or export and make sure that there are good relations between the two countries,” she said. In a supplementary question, Hwende challenged the government to arrest Angel. “I thought the minister should have said yes or no, government’s policy does not allow ambassadors to charge anything but just to look for investment for the country,” he said. Mudenda insisted that Mutsvangwa had answered the question appropriately, but Hwende would have none of it. “She did not go straight to the point.  That it is not government policy? Then arrest those who are doing that,” he said. However, Mudenda ruled that the matter could not go on. “I think the honourable minister’s response was quite comprehensive,” he said. Angel, appointed ambassador-at-large and a presidential envoy by President Mnangagwa in March 2021, told reporters he would be able to carry large volumes of dirty cash Arrest Eubert Angel: Hwende into the country using his diplomatic status. The 44-year-old, who claims to be a prophet and heads a congregation — the Good News Church — with branches in 15 countries, said he would facilitate a scheme through which unaccounted cash could be exchanged for Zimbabwe’s gold. Recipients of the gold could then sell the precious metal for legitimate money, effectively turning their cash clean. Angel and his  business partner Rikki Doolan also claimed that their laundering operations had the approval of Mnangagwa, who has been in power since November 2017, when Zimbabwe’s controversial former leader Robert Mugabe was ousted in a military coup. “You want gold, gold we can do it right now, we can make the call right now, and it’s done,” Angel told Al Jazeera reporters. “It will land in Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe can’t touch it too until I get to my house. So, there can be a diplomatic plan.” “So, it is a very, very easy thing,” he said. Above: Kuwadzana East legislator Chalton Hwende Below: Uebert Angel

NewsHawks News Page 7 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 Media groups petition Parliament over George Charamba diatribe BRENNA MATENDERE MEDIA groups have petitioned Parliament over the recent threats against journalists by President Emmerson Mangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba for reporting on corruption, abuse of diplomatic privileges and illicit financial flows revealed in the Al Jazeera documentary titled The Gold Mafia. Before the release of the second episode of the documentary which aired last Thursday, Charamba, using his twitter handle “Tinoedza Zvimwe1”, said any journalist who reported on contents of the documentary which implicated Mnangagwa in grand corruption deals risked being arrested. He further made direct threats to The NewsHawks over its coverage of the documentary in which Mnangagwa's various allies were filmed explaining how they illegally move money in and out of Zimbabwe as well as clean dirty cash through murky gold trade. In a petition presented to Parliament by the Zimbabwe Media Alliance, Zimbabwe Union of Journalists and the Zimbabwe Editors Forum, the media organisations implored the legislature to open investigations into Charamba’s threats to journalists. Part of the petition reads: “Against this background, we specifically petition Parliament to:  Use its powers and privileges to summon the alleged owner of the Twitter account Tinoedza Zvimwe to categorically pronounce himself on these threats against the media and reaffirm government commitment to promote and observe journalistic freedoms “Compel Tinoedza Zvimwe (Charamba) to withdraw his threats and exercise restraint in his language and use professional channels when offended by the media. “Speak strongly against harassment of journalists and put on record that such attacks on the media are unacceptable. “Carry out any other investigation into threats against journalists and the media as the legislature deems necessary in the support of media freedoms and broadly human rights in Zimbabwe.” In one of his tweets, Charamba, wrote: “Friendly advice to all reckless journalists: Al Jazeera is not a court of law before whose claims impart privileges to defamatory utterances.  It is merely some weaponised channel. “If you are reckless enough to repeat what its phony documentary defamatorily says, hoping to plead: “I heard/saw it on Al Jazeera, you will be sorry for yourself. Do not for once think there is no grit to act against reckless, defamatory and politically motivated journalism. Faceless Twitter names egging you on will not be factor when brickbats come. Be warned!” The media groups told Parliament that such dire threats have a chilling effect on free expression and freedom of the media. “The threats instill fear and self-censorship among journalists, thereby compromising the citizens’ right to access to information as provided for by our constitution of which the media plays a critical role in the advancement and enjoyment of that right,” the groups said. “Statements that seek to silence journalists go against the reform trajectory that the government has been undertaking, which has seen the outlawing of criminal defamation and the adoption by cabinet of the principle of co-regulation and acknowledgement of the existence of internal remedies to address grievances against the media. “We fully acknowledge that freedom of expression is not absolute, and there are professional and legal parameters that the journalists and the media are bound by, repeated threats against the media are retrogressive and unconstitutional.” Section 119 of the constitution, read together with section 61 says that Parliament must protect the constitution and promote democratic governance in Zimbabwe. Section 61 (2) of the constitution reads: “Every person is entitled to freedom of the media of communication, which freedom includes protection of confidentiality of journalists’ sources of information.” The media groups said from the afore-mentioned provisions of the constitution, they were compelled to petition Parliament, which is the institution empowered to hold accountable “all institutions and agencies of the state and government at every level” and protect the constitution, which provides for media freedom, which is under attack. Last week, Dzivaresekwa legislator Edwin Mushoriwa requested Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa to issue a ministerial statement explaining why the government had threatened journalists reporting on the Al Jazeera documentary. Mushoriwa raised a matter of national interest in the National Assembly on Thursday demanding to know why journalists exposing corruption by some government officials were being threatened. He said the warning by Charamba was reminiscent of threats which preceded the bombing of the Daily News in 2001. “We want the minister to explain whether or not our own government is no longer committed to the freedom of the Press,” said Mushoriwa in Parliament. Acting speaker of the National Assembly, Tatenda Mavetera asked Mushoriwa to pose the question to Mutsvangwa on her next appearance in the august House. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba

JONATHAN MBIRIYAMVEKA THEIR marriage ceremony at The Nest, an upmarket and exclusive venue in Harare, was dubbed weddingof-the-year in Zimbabwe last year. It was attended by the who-iswho in the local social scene, cost a staggering US$500 000; the sort of money some companies in the country declare as annual profit. The event, which reverberated across the city and flooded social media platforms, was hailed as the best to happen in 2022 largely because of the A-list guests, the theme, the decorum, a fleet of flashy cars, jewellery, money, cake and the flow of champagne resembling the Victoria Falls waterfall. Money was splurged  like confetti at the flashy wedding. Green-themed, the party only had 100 guests who were treated to some of the finest wines, whiskies and champagnes the world has to offer. Even the rings and chocolates shared were some of the most expensive. The guest list included some of Zimbabwe’s most familiar faces on the social scene such as Pokello Nare, Mike Chimombe, Jackie Ngarande, Tanya Chikuni, Michelle Chiyangwa, Pamela and Martin Hakunavanhu, Joseph Tazvi Mhaka, Trish Carmen, Luminitsa Jemwa and her boyfriend Khathu Muleya — you name them. The couple, now based in Los Angeles, the United States, arrived in Zimbabwe three days before their lavish wedding on 9 January 2022, while Nigerian Afro-beats superstar Davido flew into the country with his friends aboard his private jet. That was the wedding of Zimbabwean businesswoman, fashionista and socialite Danielle Simbarashe Allen — a Marondera born and bred woman who lived in Harare, London (United Kingdom) and now Los Angeles (United States) — Nigerian husband Igho Ubiribo who are now wanted by police in Nigeria for drug trafficking. The two lovebirds’ celebrity wedding last year made headlines in both their native countries and across the continent; a lavish and expensive event which highlighted conspicuous consumption at another level. The wedding also brought to the limelight the current reckless consumer culture, a lifestyle hyper-focused on spending money to buy material goods, and displaying ostentatious wealth to gain status and reputation in society rampant in Harare. This culture is now best represented by some businesspeople and socialites like Philip Chiyangwa, selfstyled preacher Passion Java, Prophet Uebert Angel, Nare, Mhaka, Roland Muchengwa and the so-called Rich Cousins: Gina Duri, Chipo, Thandie Makuyana, Riri Mum, Zodwa Mkandla, Michelle Kawome, among other flamboyant Zimbabweans whose source of wealth is suspicious. Danielle, the late socialite Genius “Ginimbi” Kadungure’s girlfriend, and Ubiribo, also known as Tiny, wedded on 9 January 2022 in Harare with green being the colour theme. Ginimbi’s official girlfriend was Mkandla, but Danielle was in the driving seat until his tragic death. Danielle and Ubiribo roped in the services of Yolanda Mubaiwa of Exquisite Events for the event’s arrangement and coordination. True to the name of the organisers, the event was exquisite. Their metre-long tier cake was baked by Mrs Micheals. Guests were presented with gift packs that included a torch inscribed with the couple names, diaries, notepads and branded umbrellas as souvenirs. The bride walked down the aisle accompanied by the groom’s mother who was celebrating her as per Nigerian culture and two dancers gyrating to the late South African music legend Brenda Fassie's song “Nomakanjani”. The song’s lyrics fitted the occasion. Nomakanjani we dali wami Ngeke ngikushiye, Sofa silahlane Nomakanjani we dali wami Ngeke ngikushiye, Sofa silahlane (Whatever happens my darling, I’ll never leave you; till death do us part). In wedding ceremonies, this line is often cited indicating that the marriage bond is intended to last until death. Danielle, who by public acclaim is awesome and mesmerising, was dressed Nigerian-style and, according to a close source, the garment was made from one of the most expensive materials in the West African country and, as per the culture, it is usually worn by the chief. The event also saw local socialites competing with Nigerians in splurging money and in vanity. Later on the day of the wedding, an after-party was held at the upmarket hangout Pabloz at Sam Levy's Village in Borrowdale where the couple not only dined with the guests, but also lavished them with expensive whiskies,  cognacs and champagnes. Reporters from The NewsHawks were there at Pabloz and witnessed the spending craze on food and alcohol. The spending competition between Danielle and her Nigerian party, and Zimbabwean socialites was fierce. Page 8 News NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 All that glitters is not gold after all… Zim glitterati Danielle and Nigerian husband wanted for drug trafficking Above and below: Danielle Simbarashe Allen

On high tables, the champagne lifestyle of the couple and their close friends and Zimbabwean socialites was self-evident. All this spending in a sea of poverty. Naturally, people were asking where does this sort of money come from. This did not have answers. Now it has merged Ubiribo comes from a family of drug peddlers. His father was involved in drugs, while his older brother was jailed for drug dealing and is still serving a prison term. Ubiribo is now on the run. According to a Nigerian paper The Punch, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) this week declared a popular Port Harcourt-based prophetess and founder of Christ Power Adoration Ministries Faith Ugochi as well as celebrity Ubiribo and Danielle wanted for recruiting teenage girls into drug trafficking. Police have cracked their drug ring. In a statement, the spokesperson of the anti-drug agency, Femi Babafemi, said the Zimbabwean woman and her Nigerian husband serve as the arrowheads of an international syndicate operating from Los Angeles. That is where Danielle and her husband currently live. Interestingly, Nigerian social media influencer Ray Hushpuppi, who flaunted a lavish lifestyle supported by laundering millions of dollars, operated from Los Angeles. But his luck ran out and he was arrested. He was tried and sentenced to more than 11 years in prison. Ramon Abbas (40), as Hushpuppi is known, was also ordered by a federal judge to pay US$1.7 million in restitution to two fraud victims, according to the United States Department of Justice. Abbas was “one of the most prolific money launderers in the world,” Don Alway, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said in the statement. Prosecutors said Abbas and a Canadian man laundered money from various online crimes including bank cyber-heists and business email compromise, or BEC, a prolific crime in which crooks hack into email accounts, pretend to be someone they are not, and fool victims into wiring money where it doesn’t belong. In 2019, Hushpuppi helped launder some US$14.7 million stolen by North Korean hackers from a bank in Malta, funnelling the money through banks in Romania and Bulgaria. He also helped launder millions of pounds stolen from a British company and a professional football club in the UK, got a New York-based law firm to transfer nearly US$923 000 to a criminal account, and acknowledged in a plea agreement that he helped defraud someone in Qatar who sought a US$15 million loan to build a school. In the case in which the Zimbabwean fashionista Danielle is involved, Babafemi said a freight agent, Ukoh Ifeanyi Oguguo, was immediately arrested, while further investigations led to the arrest of four more suspects: Chikodi Favour, Obiyom Shalom Chiamaka, Nnochiri Chidinma Promise and Edward Omatseye (aka Montana). “The 15-year-old Favour was the first sales girl to be arrested at a fuel station in Ajah area of Lagos. She thereafter led the operatives to a duplex accommodation around the Ikate area of Lekki, which was later discovered to be a rented apartment by the criminal group purposely for four young girls that the syndicate uses for marketing and distribution of illicit drugs,” he said. “Another girl, Shalom, who is a fresh graduate of Agricultural Science from Rivers State University of Science and Technology, was picked from the house alongside Favour. During their preliminary interviews, it was learnt that the syndicate rented another building used as a drugs warehouse inside Richmond Estate, Lekki. By the time operatives located the house, it was discovered that other members of the syndicate had broken into the store and carted away bags of illicit substances. “However, some illicit drug paraphernalia, including sealing machines, bloating machines and packaging bags, were recovered from the NewsHawks News Page 9 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 Above: Nigerian musician Davido dancing with Igho Ubiribo and below is Igho Ubiribo with wife Danielle.

Page 10 News NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 warehouse. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of Edward Omatseye at his residence around the Lekki area. Edward confessed during an interview to be working for Igho and his wife, Danielle, who are identified as the overall heads of the criminal group. The statement added: “Investigation was able to establish that Favour and Shalom were recruited as sales girls in the illicit drug trade by Prophetess Faith Ugochi of Christ Power Adoration Ministries, using her church platform to recruit teenage girls brought to her for help, on behalf of the celebrity couple: Igho Ubiribo (aka Tiny) and Danielle Simba Allen (aka Dani), who are the owners of the business, while Edward Omatseye (aka Montana) coordinates the illicit drug trade activities for them in Nigeria, with Nnochiri Chidinma Promise as representative of Ben Cargo Ltd, a freight company responsible for the shipment of illicit consignments into the country. “While Nnochiri Chidinma Promise and Edward Omatseye (aka Montana) have already been charged to court and are currently facing trial at the Federal High Court, Lagos alongside Ben Cargo Ltd, a freight company which had been linked to two previous drug seizures and also involved in the current case, several attempts to get Prophetess Faith Ugochi, Igho Ubiribo and Danielle Simba Allen submit themselves for questioning have proved abortive. “A letter of invitation sent to Prophetess Faith Ugochi of Christ Adoration Ministries, No. 27 Anozie Street, Mile 2, Diobu, Port Harcourt, Rivers State on 28th November 2022 was received and acknowledged by her mother with whom she runs the Church. The letter was followed with a reminder on January 9, 2023 after a long wait. In the same vein, letters of invitation were also extended to Igho Ubiribo and Danielle Simba Allen. “A reminder was also sent when the couple didn’t show any readiness to respond to the first invitation. While Prophetess Ugochi fled her home and went into hiding, but continued her prophetic ministration on Facebook, the duo of Igho and Danielle initially sent a legal representation to ask for another time to honour the invitation, they have since gone incommunicado. “Curiously, they hurriedly moved all funds traced to their company Lasgidi Backwood Ltd where all proceeds from the sales of illicit drugs were deposited into a private account of one Victor Imagoro. “The agency has since blocked the sum of eighty million Naira (N80 000 000) traced to the account and obtained a court order to seize all properties, including a fuel station, linked to the suspects in Lagos and Port Harcourt. “The NDLEA has further sought and obtained an order of the Federal High Court Lagos to declare wanted the celebrity couple: Ubiribo Igho and Danielle Allen, as the arrowheads of the illicit trade as well as Prophetess Faith Ugochi, who recruits teenage girls as sales representatives for the duo.” Nigerian detectives say while they have arrested some drug peddlers, those who are on the run, including Danielle and Ubiribo, will be hunted down and brought to justice to face the consequences of their actions. Who is Danielle? Danielle Simbarashe Allen is a half-Zimbabwean, half-British businesswoman, fashion designer and socialite. She is from Marondera, 75 kilometres east of the capital Harare. Danielle was born on 9 June 1979. She was born to a British father and a Zimbabwean mother, hence she is of mixed race (coloured) and has dual citizenship. She grew up in Marondera where she later lived with her grandmother after the death of her parents. Danielle went to Diggelfold Primary School and Nagle House for her secondary education in Marondera before she moved to London where she got a degree in hospitality management. She started several businesses, including a modelling agency in London, and then an events and accessories company. Danielle later moved to Nigeria where she went on to run a franchise for The Body Shop being the sole distributor for the brand. She opened her trademark business, TIR Fashions, in October 2013 in Zimbabwe with a supporting factory in Nigeria. TIR Fashions has grown into a big brand. Danielle’s designs have been worn by some of Zimbabwe’s high-profile celebrities like Ammara Brown and Ruvheneko Parirentaywa. In 2016, TIR Fashions was listed amongst the designers to showcase at Africa Fashion Week Nigeria. Danielle also participated at the Off Show at London Fashion Week 2014. On her LinkedIn profile, Danielle writes about herself: “Danielle Allen is a British-born entrepreneur of Zimbabwean heritage who has always had a passion for designing. She decided to launch a fashion house in her motherland Zimbabwe in October 2013 with a supporting factory in Nigeria where she is currently based. “Her trust in the motherland and with Africa at heart, has been the foremost reasons of investing her time and money in Western Africa and beyond as she now finds herself investing in Africa as a whole. “As a designer she is a perfectionist. Articulate without a trace of mediocrity, this evidently is shown in the excellent quality and finishing of the brand’s designs. She has only scratched the surface of her plans to take Zimbabwe by the horns, putting them on the map is her end goal.” Before meeting her husband Uribibo, with whom she lives in Los Angeles, she dated Ginimbi for sometime. The relationship ended when Ginimbi died in November 2020. Hardly a month after Ginimbi’s death, Danielle moved on after meeting Uribibo in Ghana on New Year’s Eve in 2020. They moved to Nigeria. In February 2021, Daniella and Uribibo left Nigeria for good and never went back. Now they are wanted there for drug trafficking. The couple got married on 6 July 2021 in Las Vegas, United States, after having been together for only three months. Their wedding was held at The Chapel of the West, Las Vegas. This led to their flamboyant traditional wedding in Harare in January last year. Davido, Nigerian international music superstar who attended their wedding, wished them “success and happiness in their marriage”, which many admired as a dream life, not knowing how it was funded and what the couple does for a living. “I call the groom Tiny because we grew up together and I am happy for him that he has found Daniella. I wish them success and a happy, peaceful and loving marriage,” Davido said at the time. Hardly a year after that, Uribibo and Danielle are on the run, wanted for drug trafficking in Nigeria. They now face a dark future, a long jail term if they are caught, which is almost certain they will. A number of Zimbabwean socialites flaunting expensive and flamboyant lifestyles – which teach young people bad lessons – are involved in criminal activities. It is just that they have not yet been caught. This reminds us that people must learn to be content with what they have. All that glitters is not gold. Jailed Nigerian fraudster Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, widely known as Hushpuppi, lived a billionaire's lifestyle funded by fraud and money laundering. Genius "Ginimbi" Kadungure with his lady friends.

NewsHawks News Page 11 Issue 126, 7 April 2023

Page 12 News NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 RUVIMBO MUCHENJE IN a move which threatens general elections likely in August, the Constitutional Court on Thursday granted an urgent chamber application by MDC-T president Douglas Mwonzora who was seeking leave for direct access to the apex court to challenge the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) delimitation report. A three-judge bench chaired by Justice Paddington Garwe ruled that his delimitation challenge has merit and must therefore be heard by a full bench. The development threatens the elections due in August. "It is in the overall interest of justice that direct access be granted to allow the matter to be argued before a full bench. It is hereby ordered that the application for direct access is granted.  "Applicant shall file the substantive submissions within three days of the granting of this order and the matter shall proceed according to the rules of this court," said Garwe in a brief judgement after hearing lengthy arguments which took all day. Mwonzora is seeking nullification of the Zec delimitation report on grounds that electoral commission did not comply with the law by relying on a preliminary census report by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat). Mwonzora recently filed a High Court application seeking to have his challenge heard in the upper court  complaining that the report was marred with irregularities. He cited Zec  together with President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and Attorney-General Prince Machaya as respondents. He said the recently delimitation report gazetted by the President is null and void as it is in breach of the constitution. “Applicants seek leave for direct access to the constitutional court in an application they seek a declaratur to declare the delimitation report prepared by first respondent and gazetted by second respondent on 20 February 2023, null and void on grounds that it does not comply with the requirements of section 161 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe." He wants consequntal relief that  Zec conducts a  “proper  delimitation exercise and produce a delimitation report that conforms to the requirements of section 161 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.” “We seek a declaratur declaring the delimitation report prepared by first respondent (Zec) and gazetted by second respondent (Mnangagwa) on February 20 null and void for not being in accordance with provisions of section 161 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe,” reads court papers. “Applicant also seeks an order for consequential relief in the form of a mandamus (a judicial writ issued as a command to an inferior court or ordering a person to perform a public or statutory duty) directing the first respondent to conduct a fresh exercise of delimitation in compliance with the dictates and requirements of section 161 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, and in particular to base the report on a final population census report. “Applicants further seek consequential relief directing second respondent not to proclaim elections before the first respondent has prepared a delimiMwonzora ConCourt move threatens general elections tation report that is in compliance with section 161 of the constitution of Zimbabwe.” Mnangagwa gazetted the constituency delimitation report setting the stage for crunch elections to be conducted later this year. This was however surrounded by so much controversy amid reports that he was not impressed with the electoral boundaries and there was tension between him and Zec bosses. The report also received wide criticism, with some reports claiming that some coordinates used by Zec  in the final report are from Antarctica, Zambia and South Africa among other countries. A Zanu PF activist also filed a Constitutional Court application earlier this year challenging the report. Elections are expected in August this year, but the actual date is yet to be announced. Mwonzora feels that under the current circumstances, the elections will not be free and fair. Mnangagwa last week hinted that general elections would be held in August, but Mwonzora argues that the country cannot have a free and fair election with a contested delimitation report. “Once it is held not to have been complied with the constitutional requirement, the other matter is whether if the delimitation report is invalid, and election that depends on it can be held and if an election is held, it will meet the standard of freeness and fairness and universal adult suffrage and equality of votes contemplated in section 155,” reads his application. In Thursday's proceedings, Mwonzora was represented by his attorney Trust Maanda while Zec was represented by Tawanda Kanengoni. Maanda said it would be fair for his client who intends to contest in the upcoming General elections if the report is reversed. "He is a senator in the Parliament of Zimbabwe. In terms of the law, elections must be free and fair. In terms of section 155 which talks about the principles, the political rights are also safeguarded. "The contention is that the delimitation report is an essential element of achieving free and fair elections. The position of the applicant that unless the delimitation report is in terms of the constitution, it is unconstitutional," said Maanda. On the other hand, Kanengoni urged the court not to entertain Mwonzora, arguing that re-doing the exercise would be a waste of resources. Kanengoni also submitted that Mwonzora’s application was vague since he failed to highlight which constitutional rights were violated. Douglas Mwonzora

NewsHawks News Page 13 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 BRENNA MATENDERE CITIZENS' Coalition for Change spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere was on Wednesday convicted for violating a law which the High Court in 2021 said did not exist and was also dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2013. The development heightens fears of lawfare ahead of the next elections. Mahere went through full trial on charges of communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the state. The case involved her tweet over a woman whose child was erroneously reported to have been struck to death by a baton-wielding Harare police officer while he was enforcing Covid-19 lockdown regulations in 2020. Police denied the claim and said the child at the centre of the storm was alive. However, in 2021, High Court Justice Jester Helana Charewa ruled that “there is no offence called publishing or communicating statements prejudicial to the State under Zimbabwean law”. Judge Charewa also ruled that section 3 (a) (iii) of the Criminal Law Act Chapter 9:23 is no longer part of Zimbabwean law. The ruling was made after journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, who was arrested on the same week as Mahere, had approached the court challenging the law. In another Supreme Court judgment delivered on 3 June 2013 by Justice Luke Malaba who is now Chief Justice, it was again ruled that the law does not exist. The case had been brought before the courts by journalists Constantine Chimakure and Vincent Kahiya as well as The Zimbabwe Independent against the Attorney-General. The matter was a referral for determination of a question of validity of statutory provisions for the restriction of the exercise of freedom of expression in terms of Section  24 (2) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. The question was whether or not section 31(a) (iii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Cap. 9:23) (“the Criminal Code”) contravenes the declaration of the fundamental right to freedom of expression under Section 20 (1) of the Constitution. The section prohibited under threat of punishment the publication or communication to any other person of a false statement with the intention or realising that there is a real risk or possibility of undermining public confidence in the law enforcement agency, the police, prison service or the defence forces of Zimbabwe. Part of the Supreme Court ruling reads: “The pervasive threat inherent in the very existence of a law authorising a criminal prosecution for making a false statement coupled with the prospects of suffering a sentence of imprisonment up to twenty years has an unconstitutionally inhibiting effect on the exercise of the right to freedom of expression by all citizens. “People may be inhibited from saying what they desire to say or publish for fear that if they are caught, prosecuted and fail to prove that what they said or wrote is true they may be convicted and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. “This is particularly the case when regard is had to the fact that because of the pervasive nature of false factual statements, Government is provided with a weapon which it may use to prosecute falsehoods against security service institutions without more.  Those who are unpopular may fear that the Government will use that weapon selectively against them. “The chilling effect of the disproportionate threat of the period of the maximum penalty of imprisonment to which a person convicted of the offence is liable harms operations of a free media.  By authorising the discretionary imposition of a maximum punishment of twenty years imprisonment for offences amounting to attempts, s 31(a) (iii) of the Criminal Code has a serious inhibiting effect on the exercise of the right to freely criticise public institutions in the performance of their functions. “A strong constitutional protection of freedom of expression cannot tolerate the imposition of self censorship on free speech and press through fear of lengthy sentences of imprisonment for offences of publishing or communicating false news. “Taking into account the fact that freedom of expression is peculiarly more vulnerable to the “chilling effects” of criminal sanctions than any other fundamental right it has been stated by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression that penal sanctions, particularly imprisonment should never be applied to offences of publishing false news.  The higher the level of the maximum penalty of imprisonment the greater the chilling effect on freedom of expression. “In the case of offences such as publishing or broadcasting 'false' or 'alarmist' information, prison terms are both reprehensible and out of proportion to the harm suffered by the victim.  In all such cases imprisonment as punishment for the peaceful expression of an opinion constitutes a serious violation of human rights.” Malaba in the 2013 Supreme Court ruling added: “Experience has shown that it is difficult to excise false statements on matters of public concern such as the performance of law enforcement agents without significantly damaging democratic self-governance. “What all this means is that such laws are not deemed necessary in a democratic society.  What is clear is that because of the severity of the deleterious effects on the exercise of freedom of expression of the level of the maximum penalty of imprisonment the law is not justified by the objective it is intended to serve. “The requirement that there must be a reasonable relationship of proportionality between the means employed and the aim sought to be realised by the measure applied by the State in restricting the exercise of freedom of expression was not met.” Then Chief Justice Godrey Chidyausiku and Judges Paddignton Garwe, Maphios Cheda and Vernanda Ziyambi agreed with the judgement. Responding to the conviction of Mahere on Twitter, Chin’ono said: “What happened here is that my lawyer Harrison Nkomo didn’t allow the case to go to trial as happened to Fadzayi. He went straight to the High Court on what is called a Review challenging the charge and the law used. There is no crime called Falsehoods and the law doesn’t exist!” After the High Court’s ruling, proceedings on Chin’ono’s case which had been recorded number CRB number 353/2021 were stopped. CCC leader Nelson Chamisa also posted on his Tweeter handle lamenting the conviction of Mahere. “The malicious conviction of Champion @advocatemahere is evidence of the increasing attacks on democratic forces in Zimbabwe. We also have our Change Champion @ JobSikhala1 unjustly incarcerated. The conviction is a stark reminder that Zimbabwe needs fixing.” “We stand against this persecution and weaponisation of the law. This, we must and will end.” Making his ruling on Mahere, Harare magistrate Taurai Manuwere said: “It is not in dispute that she communicated on her Twitter handle. What is false is that a police officer beat a woman and the baby died. Therefore, the State managed to prove the main and alternative charge that she communicated falsehoods. “It is true that the tweets did not result in public disorder. Be that as it may, the State did not manage to prove that the publication was meant to incite public violence because there is no evidence to prove that. The State proved that the false statement by the accused was detrimental to the police that they had killed the baby.” A video of the incident went viral in 2020, with the mother wailing, while holding onto a police officer who had “allegedly assaulted her baby to death”. The magistrate said Mahere was learned enough as a lawyer to know that accusing the police of killing a toddler without any evidence was an offence. “Which lawyer would take a video on social media, believe it to be true without verifying? What she did is rumour mongering, she was supposed to verify with the police or the mother before publishing. She did not do so. She was reckless, so her defence of a mistake of fact is not genuine.” Mahere pleaded for leniency, saying she was a first offender, leading to her being fined US$500. Prosecutor Sheilla Mupindu had earlier said a fine would trivialise the offence, arguing her actions undermined the authority of the police. She suggested a custodial sentence of three years. Mahere convicted for a non-existent crime Fadzayi Mahere

Page 14 News NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 After Zimbabwe’s main opposition CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere was on Wednesday found guilty and fined US$500 for publishing falsehoods prejudicial to the state and undermining police authority – under a section of the Law (Codification and Reform) Act’s Section 31(a) (iii) which has been struck off by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) – it became necessary to publish the landmark judgement delivered by then deputy chief justice Luke Malaba who was second-in-command to the late chief justice Godfrey Chidyausiku. Malaba is now chief justice. The judgement, a product of five judges who heard the case between 3 June 2010 and 30 October 2013, was No. SC 14/2013 in a constitutional application No. SC 247/09. The applicants in the case were Constantine Chimakure, Vincent Kahiya and Zimind Publishers (Pvt) Ltd versus The Attorney-General of Zimbabwe. The applicants were represented by Innocent Chagonda, while Tawanda Zvekare stood for the respondent. In October 2013, pursuant to the old constitution, the ConCourt of Zimbabwe issued a rule nisi (an order upon condition that is to become absolute unless cause is shown to the contrary). Specifically, the ConCourt issued a rule nisi that Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act’s Section 31(a)(iii) infringed upon the right to freedom of expression. Under Section 24(5) of Zimbabwe’s old constitution, the minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs had the right to persuade the court that section 31(a)(iii) was justifiable, despite its impact on the right to freedom of expression. If the minister was not able to show cause, the rule would be “declared to be ultra vires section 20(1) of the former constitution and accordingly invalid”. The minister did not exercise this right. Rather, he submitted a document arguing that section 31(a) (iii) did not infringe upon the right to freedom of expression, instead of arguing for and giving reasons why the law should remain despite its infringement upon this right. The minister did not attempt to argue that section 31(a)(iii) was justifiable or provide factors for the court to consider. The court noted, however, that section 24(5)’s purpose is not to give the minister, a non-party, the power to review the court’s decisions. Later, a representative of the minister informed the court that he would no longer oppose the rule’s confirmation. Accordingly, the court ordered that section 31(a)(iii) of the Act “was in contravention of s20(1) of the former constitution and therefore void.” Additionally, the court ordered that the respondent pay for the application’s costs and costs for the rule’s confirmation. On 15 January 2014 the minisMahere convicted under a law that virtually no longer exists ter’s representation indicated that he was no longer wishing to oppose the confirmation of the rule nisi and the order of the court was reversed. The court ordered that section 31 (a)(iii) was void since it was in contravention of section 20(1). Lastly, the minister was ordered to pay reparations. MALABA DCJ: This is a referral for determination of a question of validity of statutory provisions for the restriction of the exercise of freedom of expression brought to the Supreme Court in terms of s 24(2) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe (“the Constitution”).  The question is whether or not s 31(a) (iii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Cap. 9:23) (“the Criminal Code”) contravenes the declaration of the fundamental right to freedom of expression under s 20(1) of the Constitution.  The section prohibits under threat of punishment the publication or communication to any other person of a false statement with the intention or realising that there is a real risk or possibility of undermining public confidence in the law enforcement agency, the Prison Service or the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe. The relief sought is a declaration to the effect that the section is unconstitutional and therefore null and void. The Court apologises for the delay in giving judgment in this case.  The delay has been caused by the fact that reasons for judgment in the case of Jestina Mukoko v The Attorney-General SC-11-12 had to be given first.  The facts of that case had a direct bearing on the circumstances in which the statements forming the subject matter of the charges which gave rise to the Constitutional questions for determination in this case were published. The determination of the issues raised in the case of Mukoko v The Attorney-General required time for research and reflection on the interpretation and application of the relevant law. The constitutional question was raised by the applicants in criminal proceedings in the Magistrates Court. They were charged with having committed the crime of publishing or communicating a false statement prejudicial to the State.  Following their request the question was referred by the Magistrate to the Supreme Court for determination in terms of s 24(2) of the Constitution. The first and second applicants are the reporter and editor respectively of a weekly newspaper called “The Independent” (“the newspaper”).  The newspaper is published by the third applicant, a company incorporated in terms of the laws of Zimbabwe.  They were jointly charged with the offence of publishing in the newspaper a false statement to the effect that the law enforcement agency abducted people during the period extending from 25 November to 13 December 2008. The allegation was that they published the statement with the intention or realising that there was a real risk or possibility of undermining public confidence in the security service institution. The period extending from 2 August to 20 November 2008 saw bombs being planted by saboteurs at CID Harare Central Police Station; Manyame River Bridge; Manyame Rail Bridge; CID Headquarters at Morris Depot and Harare Police Station.  When the bombs exploded, extensive damage was caused to the bridges and parts of the buildings such as the CCC spokesperson Advocate Fadzayi Mahere

NewsHawks News Page 15 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 walls, doors and window panes. From 25 November to 13 December 2008 a few human rights activists and some members of the MDC-T political party employed in the security department were abducted from different places at different times.  The identities of the abductors and places where the abductees were taken remained a closely guarded secret.  Except for those who were involved in the planning and execution of the abductions no-one knew what had happened to the people abducted.  As a result fear for their lives gripped family members and relatives. The cases of abduction were widely reported in the print and electronic media.  The question of who had kidnapped the people concerned became a matter of public discussion. The law enforcement agency, that is to say, the police and State security agents said that they had no knowledge of who the abductors were and what their motive was.  The police said they were investigating what had happened with the view of apprehending the culprits and accounting for the whereabouts of the victims.  As the law enforcement agency denied having the abductees in its custody and without communication from the persons concerned, family members and relatives could not invoke the legal remedy of habeas corpus. On 22 December 2008, after twenty-seven days of forced disappearance, the victims appeared at various police stations in Harare. They had been brought there by State security agents.  These people were divided into two groups. The first group was made up of seven people who appeared at the Magistrates Court at Rotten Row on 29 December 2008 in the case of the State v Kisimusi Emmanuel Dhlamini and Six Others. They were charged with the crime of insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism in terms of s 23(1)(i) and (ii) of the Criminal Code. The allegation was that whilst acting in common purpose they planted and ignited the bombs that exploded at the Police Stations, Manyame River Bridge and Manyame Rail Bridge. The second group was made up of nine people who appeared at the Magistrates Court at Rotten Row on 14 January 2009 in the case of State v Manuel Chinanzvavana and Eight Others. They were charged with the crime of contravening s 24(a) of the Criminal Code.  The allegation was that whilst acting in common purpose, in the months of June and July 2008 they recruited or attempted to recruit or assisted in the recruitment of a former member of the Zimbabwe Republic Police to undergo military training in a neighbouring country in order to commit any act of insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism in Zimbabwe. On 31 December 2008 all the accused persons in the first case deposed to affidavits in which they revealed that they had been forcibly abducted by State security agents and members of the police.  They alleged in the affidavits that they were taken to Goromonzi Prison where they were held until they were released into the custody of the police. In the affidavits deposed to on 31 December 2008 and 20 June 2009 Kisimusi Emmanuel Dhlamini gave names of the State security agents and members of the police he alleged abducted him from home on 25 November 2008. In the second case only Jestina Mukoko raised the question of the violation of the fundamental right not to be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment.  She requested the magistrate to refer the question to the Supreme Court for determination.  Reasons for judgment in Jestina Mukoko v The Attorney-General SC-11-12 have since been given. There is uncontested evidence that Jestina Mukoko was abducted from her home at 4a.m on 3 December 2008 by State security agents. On 6 April 2009 the respondent served indictments on Kisimusi Emmanuel Dhlamini and Six Others for trial at the High Court on 29 June 2009. The respondent gave notice in terms of s 110(6) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act [Cap. 9:07] that at the trial he intended calling the witnesses whose names he gave. A summary of what each witness would say at the trial was given.  The witnesses were members of the law enforcement agency.  After perusing the indictment papers, and the notice the first applicant wrote two articles which the second applicant edited and the third applicant published in the edition of the newspaper for the week beginning 8 May 2009. The first article was on the front page.  It was titled: “Activists’ abductors named”. The story was that: “The Attorney-General’s Office revealed the names of some members of Central Intelligence Organisation and the police who were allegedly involved in the abduction of human right and MDC activists last November.” At page two of the newspaper there was the second article.  It was titled: “CIO POLICE ROLE IN ACTIVISTS’ ABDUCTION REVEALED”.  Under the heading the article stated that: “Notices of indictments for some of the activists this week revealed the role the CIO and the Police played when the activists were reported missing last year. A perusal of notices revealed that Assistant Director External in the CIO Retired Brigadier Asher Walter Tapfumaneyi, Police Superintendent Regis Chitekwe and Joel Tenderere, Detective Inspector Elliot Muchada and Joshua Muzanago, Officer Commanding CID Homicide Crispen Makendenge, Chief Superintendent Peter Magwenzi and Assistant Commissioner Simon Nyathi were involved in some of the abductees’ cases.” The respondent was of the view that the articles contained false statements about the involvement of the law enforcement agency and its members in the abduction of the human rights activists and members of the MDC-T political party.  He concluded that the articles contained statements which were materially false and prejudicial to the State.  The respondent authorised the institution of criminal proceedings against the applicants for contravening s 31(a)(iii) of the Criminal Code. Section 31 falls in the category of offences under the heading: “CRIMES AGAINST THE STATE”.  Under the heading is found political crimes such as treason, subversion of constitutional government, insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism and recruiting or training insurgents, bandits, saboteurs or terrorists.  Section 31(a)(iii) of the Criminal Code deals with consequences of the publication or communication of a false statement which harms or is likely to harm the interests of the State in the performance of its functions.  To be continued Chief Justice Luke Malaba

Page 16 News NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 RUVIMBO MUCHENJE THE Citizens' Coalition for Change nomination process degenerated into chaotic scenes of violence and disruption in some constituencies amid fears of imposition of candidates, although the party says it has brought the situation under control. In Harare's Warren Park, the incumbent MP Shakespeare Hamauswa, drove off with members of the panel that were supposed to have oversight over the process after insults were exchanged by contending groups. Other members of the party who were vying for the post of MP, Pride Mkono, Kudzai Kadzere and Paddington Japajapa claim that their support base was missing from the street point person registers that were compiled at the rebranding of Citizens' Coalition for Change from MDC Alliance. Videos on social media show an angry Japajapa exchanging words with an unidentified man while Mkono negotiated with members of the panel that was supposed to provide oversight over the process. The process for the constituency’s candidate selection process was abandoned. In Glen Norah, also in Harare, vocal party youth Womberaiishe Nhende was assaulted by a group of thugs aligned to former Harare mayor Herbert Gomba. In Dzivaresekwa, there are reports that the process failed to kick off due to logistical problems. In Harare Central, supporters of Gladys Hlatywayo clashed with those of incumbent MP Murisi Zwizwai. Despite widespread videos of these chaotic scenes, there were other areas were the process proceeded fairly well. Party spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere on Thursday addressed the issues in a Press briefing a day after the process. She downplayed the chaos, saying the incidents were isolated. “There were a few teething problems in limited areas, however safeguards were swiftly put in place to ensure the process remains transparent, fair and robust,” she said. “The cases, as I indicated at the start of the presser, every citizen's complaint has been forwarded to the commission which is going to be dealt with independently to ensure that there are safeguards in place to ensure that the process is transparent. There is no room whatsoever for violence,” she added. Mahere says if any candidates are found guilty of having perpetrated or participated in violent acts, they will Chamisa's CCC candidate selection hits turbulence be disqualified from the process. “Wherever a person is fingered and found to have participated in a violent incident, responsible for it, that person will be automatically disqualified because violence is not in the DNA of the CCC; violence is a Zanu PF culture and we will not tolerate any violence whatsoever,” said Mahere. Mahere added that apart from internal problems their process was hampered by poor road networks. “There were also logistical challenges in limited areas again caused by our poor road network which made the 36 000 villages that I made reference to very difficult to access. We obviously had challenges with erratic telephone network issues all of which are obviously testament to the dilapidated state of the nation,” she said. The independent commission appointed by the party said they are still compiling and validating nominations from all over the country, but at the time of the presser they had only done less than five constituencies. “The few challenges are that for example the wards are too many as was said by Fadzayi about 1900 wards in the country. So, it will take time to validate all the nominations but so far, we have validated a few constituencies which I am going to share with you, for example here in Harare we are done with Harare West where we have MP nominees, Vongai Tome and Joana Mamombe, for Bindura South, Mp nominees we have George Gwarada, Moses Mafara and Sidney Mapemha, for Mbvuku MP nominees we have got Munyaradzi Kufahakutizwi and James Chidhakwa then constituency for Mt Darwin nominees Reason Gura, Godfrey Chaita and Ian Madziva,” said Shepherd Ngandu who was representing the commission. Party members and the nation will have to wait until after the holidays for the remainder of the results. “We will continue with the process, we will then also release names as and when they become available, so far these are the names that are available,” said Ngandu. Citizens' Coalition for Change leader Nelson Chamisa

NewsHawks News Page 17 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 BRENNA MATENDERE ZANU PF’s rigging practices in elections were seriously exposed during internal primary polls to choose candidates who will represent the party in the coming watershed general plebiscite. The party has initiated a plan to rescue some bigwigs who lost in primary elections by disqualifying winners in their constituencies and calling for re-runs in other parts of the country. In other areas, losers in the primary elections who are close to President Emmerson Mnangagwa or senior party chefs were declared winners in the final result announcements at party headquarters. Information Communication Technology (ICT) minister Jenfan Muswere bounced back after losing the Makoni West ticket to Moses Ruwona in Manicaland province under controversial circumstances. During a recent media tour organised by Potraz in the constituency, Muswere boasted of being a kingpin of violence against his opponents following skirmishes in the area after he hi-jacked Ruwona’s campaign event and unleashed his supporters to cause chaos. In an unprecedented move, Zanu PF’s politburo sat for the second time within a few days to deliberate on the just-ended party primary elections that saw several bigwigs and Mnangagwa’s allies falling by the wayside. The party has ordered re-runs in constituencies where rigging, intimidation and violence were alleged but the general feeling in Zanu PF is that the move is meant to bring back into the fold Mnangagwa’s allies who lost in the primary polls. Some of the constituencies to have re-runs include where Mnangagwa’s allies such as Justice Mayor Wadyajena and Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi lost the primary polls. Two re-runs were also ordered in Churu and Mbare constituencies in Harare where violence reportedly erupted during polling last week. Addressing journalists after the politburo meeting held early this week, Zanu PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa said Muswere was now the winner in Makoni West. Muswere is a close ally of Mnangagwa and is a friend to Mnangagwa’s sons. In a shock announcement, Mutsvangwa said the paper trail regarding Ruwona’s transfer from Matabeleland North to Manicaland provinces was not clear. “We tried to follow his paperwork, he (Ruwona) was from Matabeleland North and his credentials are not clear, the hierarchy was not in the picture of his paperwork and the system has flushed him out,” Mutsvangwa said. In Insiza North, a re-run has been ordered in what is seen as an attempt to save former Zimbabwe Electoral Commission commissioner Qhubani Moyo who lost primary elections to Farai Taruvinga. Another winning candidate, Robert Nyemudzo, from Chipinge South was disqualified after being accused Zanu PF’s rigging tendencies exposed of running an illicit beer manufacturing factory in Chipinge. Nyemudzo had defeated sitting legislator Enock Porusingazi who is a long-time ally of Mnangagwa. Porusingazi has now been declared winner. “Beyond the issue of violence, we have also been considering the issues of ethics and the behaviour of candidates, for instance in Chipinge South, Robert Nyemudzo owns one of the biggest factories which sells illicit beer and the issue of drugs is one of the issues we have always been discussing at highest level, and has been disqualified,” he said. In Tsholotsho, Zanu PF politburo member Obert Mpofu is mired in a nepotism storm after ousting veteran politician Sibongile Nyoni, winner of the party primary election, in place of his losing niece, Alice Dube. The controversial move has elicited angry protests from some Zanu PF followers who have threatened to boycott voting in the harmonised elections due later this year. According to results from the primaries, Nyoni, a Zpra veteran, triumphed by 3 468 against Dube’s 1 796. But according to the final list of candidates set to represent the ruling party in general elections this year, Dube’s name is listed. In Mutare South, Godfrey Harahwa was disqualified for allegedly tampering with ballot papers. “We have evidence that ballot papers were tampered with and the tampering changed the results,” said Mutsvangwa. The incumbent, Jeffrey Ngome, a businessman based  in South Africa, was allegedly personally invited by Mnangagwa to represent the party in the constituency in 2018. An aspiring Zanu PF member of Parliament for Tsholotsho South was disqualified from contesting in the party primary elections as he was said to be an army deserter. Judas Nkomo was set to challenge the incumbent, Musa Ncube, in the primary elections slated for Saturday. According to a Zanu PF Matabeleland North candidates list, Nkomo was blocked on an allegation that he deserted the army and was not in the local structures. Nkomo is a South African-based businessman. He recently sponsored a Heroes' Day sports tournament in Chefunye, Tsholotsho South, and had gained the support of locals. The event, according to state media, was “aimed at celebrating the immense contribution of the men and women that fought to liberate the country from colonial rule”. Nkomo plans to make the tournament an annual event. In another show of rigging within the ruling party,   Zanu PF Central Committee member Believe Gaule was blocked from contesting for the Tsholotsho North Member of Parliament over flimsy disciplinary issues. The allegations are that Gaule was recorded telling a journalist to write a story claiming that Vice President Chiwenga’s faction was losing ground in Matabeleland North. Gaule was set to go up against Sibangumuzi Sixtone Khumalo who is a minister of State in Chiwenga’s office and the incumbent Tsholotsho North MP. Veteran politician Sithembiso Nyoni who is the minister of Women's Affairs, Community, Small And Medium Enterprises Development, was unchallenged after four of her challengers were disqualified for various reasons which are deemed trumped up by the victims. In the Midlands, The NewsHawks  gathered that five of Mnangagwa’s close allies were not subject to primary elections. These are Local Government minister July Moyo, who has since been listed as an unopposed candidate for Redcliff constituency; minister of State in the President’s Office in Charge of Policy Implementation Jorum Gumbo, who will represent the party in Mberengwa unopposed as a senator and former State Security minister Owen “Mudha” Ncube, who is eyeing the Gokwe-Kana constituency. Mnangagwa’s other allies who will not be subjected to primary elections are former party youth leader Edmore Samambwa (Zhombe constituency) and Gokwe-Mapfungautsi MP Tatenda Karikoga. They were listed as unopposed in a list sent to the party’s national commissariat by the provincial party leadership led by Senator Larry Mavima. In Makoni South, Albert Nyakuedzwa is at the centre of vote rigging allegations against the incumbent Misheck Mataranyika. Mataranyika is reportedly Mnangagwa’s top ally. Concerns were also raised in Mutare West constituency and Zanu PF is yet to decide if there is need for a re-run. Some of the constituencies to have re-runs include where Mnangagwa’s allies such as Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and Justice Mayor Wadyajena lost the primary polls.

Page 18 News NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 BERNARD MPOFU OVER 100 years ago, German sociologist Max Weber in his lecture “Politics as a Vocation” (1918), defined the state as a “human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.” Weber, like most realists, viewed the state as hegemonic and powerful. Contemporary scholars now challenge this school of thought, citing the rise in civil disobedience and in some cases terrorist attacks as well as violent extremism as case in points. Under  feudalism, no lords, including the king, could claim a monopoly over the use of violence, since their vassals promised to serve them but remained free to exercise power in their fiefdoms. Moreover, the king and the landed nobility had to share power or compete with the Roman Catholic Church. The modern state, according to Weber, emerged by expropriating the means of political organisation and domination, including violence, and by establishing the legitimacy of its rule. In Zimbabwe, cases of police brutality targeting journalists have been documented by pressure groups and they say ominous signs of an escalation remain present despite constitutional guarantees on the practice of the profession. This week, Zimbabwe journalists based in the capital had two meetings with police officers commanding the metropolitan provinces. Predictably, issues relating to police brutality targeting journalists covering political gatherings stood out as a major stumbling block in normalising relations between the law enforcement agency and the media. National police spokesperson Paul Nyathi promised to mend bridges, but maintained the realist view that law enforcers will stop at nothing in their discharge of duties. For them, the end should always justify the means, not Immanuel Kant’s idealist approach where the means should justify the means. Compromise is the largely contested grey area for local journalists. Journalists have often been treated as collateral as police use “minimum force” to restore public order. Media watchers say this may continue to be the case despite promises by the Zimbabwe Republic Police that scribes would execute their duties freely. This, they say, will limit the public’s access to information and will render journalism less of a public good. “I would like to assure all journalists that they will get stories from the police despite their different  media organisations…now we are engaging each other and let bygones be bygones,” Nyathi said. “The police and the media serve the same constituency, that is the public, and I am so happy that at this meeting there are various commanders who will also teach our junior officers to work in peace with the media. “To avoid situations where journalists come up to us saying we have been harassed by police officers, we have district police officers commanding various districts whom you can engage.” While Nyathi says cases of police brutality targeting journalists while on duty had gone down after the “Second Republic” — a term loosely used to define the post-Robert Mugabe era — media organisations and civil society organisations have painted a different picture. Perfect Hlongwane, the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists secretary-general, said while media professionals welcomed the gesture extended by the police towards journalists, reported cases of harassment across the country remained worrisome. The list of journalists either harassed in full view of the police at political rallies or by members of the force continues to grow. Just a few months back, last October to be precise, Dunmore Mundai and Gaddaffi Wells, journalists with  HStvNEWS, were on 10 October 2022 assaulted by the police in Harare’s Mbare suburb while they were working on a documentary. The journalists had gone to Mbare to work on a documentary when they witnessed the police dispersing and assaulting vendors and proceeded to film the incident. According to the journalists, they were caught up in the melee before being bundled into a police truck where they were detained. They were only released after disclosing that they were journalists. Before that, freelance journalist James Jemwa lost his video camera and was assaulted while covering a Press conference condemning the abduction of exiled Zimbabwe National Students Union member Tawanda Muchehiwa. The Media Institute of Southern Africa, a regional advocacy organisation pushing for media diversity, plurality, protection of journalists and access to information, last year issued a litany if statements condemning rising cases of reported cases of police impunity. “We therefore urge the government of Zimbabwe through key stakeholders such as the ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Zimbabwe Media Commission, the ministry of Home Affairs, and the Zimbabwe Republic Police to come up with concrete mechanisms to curb these worrying media freedom violations,” Misa said in one of its statements. This week, police commanders in Harare undertook to hold weekly meetings with journalists with a view to reducing brutality targeting journalists as well as help the media professionals to appreciate how the law enforcement agency operates. Time will tell whether or not this partnership will last. But one thing the police said is journalists should scurry for cover when anti-riot police, who are known as “Black Boots”, jump out of their trucks to restore order. Unlike the 2018 elections which were preceded by the post-Mugabe euphoria, 2023 will be different. For starters, the outcome of the last polls remains a contested arena. Lastly and probably more importantly, incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa does not want history to remember him as the leader who ruled Zimbabwe for one term. His rival, Nelson Chamisa, on the other hand, is optimistic that the time is now. His wafer-thin loss and lessons learnt from the last elections have given him renewed energy to live to fight another day although critics say his party may struggle to gain control of the legislature due to a lack of political structures.  Chamisa however discounts such claims. Analysts and critics say there are ominous signs that the polls may literally and figuratively cost an arm and leg for the two main political parties in the race to govern the country. Fourth Estate and Zim police: Uneasy partners BERNARD MPOFU AS political activities heighten ahead of this year's general elections, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has defended its bans on some political gatherings, saying such decisions would have been taken on the grounds that the actors would have failed to comply with the law. The Nelson Chamisa-led Citizens’ Coalition for Change has since its introduction last year accused the country’s law enforcement agency of taking a partisan approach in giving the greenlight to the ruling party while barring the opposition. Chamisa told The NewsHawks in January that the opposition CCC has had 62 of its meetings banned since the party’s formation a year ago, in what analysts have described as growing intolerance by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration. Zimbabwe is expected to hold general elections by the end of August this year at a time political temperatures are slowly rising. National police spokesperson Paul Nyathi told a media engagement meeting convened by the Media Institute of Southern Africa-Harare Chapter that some parties are not complying with the law. Critics say the police have always given Zanu PF the nod to hold its political meetings, sometimes at short notices, yet the opposition has not been treated similarly. They say while the constitution guarantees freedoms of assembly and association, opposition meetings have often been frowned at. “These are the ones who enforce Mopa [Maintenance of Peace and Order Act] when it comes to notification. People always think that when there is a notification, then they think everything is there,” Nyathi said. “No. You also need to understand that once you have put in your notifications, you have to work with these regulating authorities (Dispols) in terms of the security. There is difference between notifying the regulating authority and complying with the provisions of the law, where people sometimes exaggerate issues, where people sometimes they don’t tell the truth. He just thinks that the moment he notifies, everything starts and ends there.” The ZRP has eight districts in the capital city, each led by a chief superintendent known as a Dispol. They enforce the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act. The government replaced the Public Order and Security Act with the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act ostensibly as part of its political reforms, but critics doubt the letter and spirit of the law in opening up the democratic space. The Act requires that: “The convener shall not later than seven days before the date on which a procession or public demonstration is to be held, give notice of the procession or public demonstration in writing signed by him or her to the regulating authority for the district in which the procession or public demonstration is to be held; five days before the date on which a public meeting is to be held, give notice of the public meeting in writing signed by him or her to the regulating authority for the district in which the public meeting is to be held: “Provided that — if the convener is not able to reduce a proposed convening notice to writing a regulating authority shall at the convener’s request do it for him or her; during an election period the period of notice referred to in paragraph (b) shall be three days.” The convening notice shall contain at least the following information — the name, address and telephone or cellphone and electronic mail numbers, if any, of the convener and his or her deputy; the name of the organisation on whose behalf the gathering is convened or, if it is not so convened, a statement that it is convened by the convener; the purpose of the gathering; the time, duration and date of the gathering; the place where the gathering is to be held and the anticipated number of participants. It also requires the proposed number and, where possible, the names of the marshals who will be appointed by the convener, and how the marshals will be distinguished from the other participants in the gathering. In the case of a procession or public demonstration, the law requires, among other stipulations, that the organiser notify the regulatory authority on manner in which the participants will be transported to the place of assembly and from the point of dispersal; and the number and types of vehicles, if any, which are to form part of the procession. Police defend ban on opposition rallies

NewsHawks News Page 19 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 President Mnangagwa ratchets up political persecution: ZLHR NATHAN GUMA THE Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), an organisation that protects and defends human rights through sustainable litigation, has raised concern over the continued prosecution of perceived opponents of President Emmerson Mnangagwa ahead of the general elections. The trend is likely to continue due to shrinking civic space, the ZLHR warns. This comes after the government resuscitated the prosecution of human rights activist Rashid Mahiya on charges of attempting to overthrow the Mnangagwa government, four years after he was initially accused. Mahiya, who is executive director of Heal Zimbabwe, a civil society organisation, was arrested in 2019 alongside several pro-democracy campaigners, trade unionists, civil society and opposition legislators after countrywide demonstrations against fuel price hikes. The state has resuscitated his case, accusing him of unlawfully convening a meeting at Wild Geese Conference Centre in Harare's Pomona suburb between 3 December and 6 December 2018. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says the meeting was aimed at toppling Mnangagwa. “NPA says deliberations from the meeting were aimed at overthrowing or attempting to overthrow President Mnangagwa’s government by unconstitutional means or usurping the functions of government or coerce Zimbabwean workers to engage in acts of boycott, civil obedience or passive resistance to law,” said the ZLHR. Mahiya was summoned by the NPA to appear before the Harare magistrates' court to answer charges of subverting a constitutional government as defined in section 22 (2) (a) (i) of the Criminal Code. Before his summoning, Mahiya had been removed from remand on 5 November 2021 after his lawyer, Tonderai Bhatasara of the ZLHR, successfully challenged his lengthy prosecution without trial from February 2019. This week, ZLHR executive director Roselyn Hanzi told The NewsHawks that the persecution of activists and perceived opponents of those in power is likely to increase, with the government constricting civic space. “Basing on our experiences from previous years, we have seen the targeting of different human rights defenders or those that are holding different views from the ruling party, especially as we head towards the elections, as a way to disrupt their work, to silence them,” she said. “So, it is a trend that we have seen in the previous elections, and unfortunately, until now, we have seen that they are still using the same tactics of targeting human rights defenders who speak out against bad governance, accountability and human rights violations. “And of major concern is that this case (Rashid Mahiya) has been resuscitated at a time when there is shrinking of the civic space through introduction of laws such as the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Bill, which is now awaiting presidential assent. “Then there is also the intention to infuse patriotism in the Criminal Law Codification Act, which is blatantly unconstitutional and will stifle many rights that includes assembly, association, among others.” President Mnangagwa has a worse track than former president Robert Mugabe in stifling civic space ahead of polls, according to a local thinktank, the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute. The ZDI’s report titled: “Civic Space Contestation Ahead of 2023” shows a drastic fall in civil liberties during the political tenure of Mnangagwa, compared to that of the late Mugabe. The organisation made an analysis of the civic space between 2014- 2021 by contrasting Mugabe’s final four years in power ahead of the 2018 elections, and Mnangagwa’s initial four years into power ahead of the 2023 elections. The findings showed a 2% increase in civic space and state freedom during Mnangagwa’s first year in power, compared to Mugabe in 2014, while 2019 saw a 13% decline in state freedom from 44%. Some of Mnangagwa’s critics have been languishing in prison. For instance, senior opposition leader Job Sikhala has been detained since midJune 2022. On 14 June 2022, Sikhala and Godfrey Sithole (CCC legislator for Chitungwiza North) were arrested and charged with inciting violence following the murder of party activist, Moreblessing Ali, whose family Sikhala was representing as a lawyer. Ali was abducted in Nyatsime on 24 May, allegedly by a Zanu PF activist. Her mutilated body was later found in a disused well, raising public outcry. In November last year, 15 other people arrested together with Sikhala were released ahead of a visit to Harare by a Commonwealth delegation led by assistant secretary-general Professor Luis Franceschi from 12 to 18 November, which was meant to assess if the country is ready to rejoin the club. Sithole was granted ZW$300 000 bail by Harare magistrate Marevanazvo Gofa after spending 150 days in prison. Other activists, Pride Mukono and Obert Masaraure, have been facing lengthy prosecution, accused of attempting to subvert a constitutionally elected government, a charge they deny. President Emmerson Mnangagwa

Page 20 News NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 BRENNA MATENDERE THIRTY-EIGHT senior magistrates across the country’s provinces last week received posh vehicles from the government ahead of the next elections. Four regional magistrates got double cab Ford Rangers while 34 provincial magistrates received sedans. The total figure of magistrates who are now driving posh cars when added to those who received late last year now stands at 88. Walter Chikwanha, the Judicial Service Commission secretary, confirmed the development in an interview with The NewsHawks on Thursday. He said the vehicles are not part of the contract of employment packages for the magistrates but pool cars that they can use in the course of their duties. “The vehicles are poor cars for the magistrates. They can use them to move from their homes to their stations of work and also to travel to circuit courts,” he said. Chikwanha said not all magistrates had received the vehicles. Zimbabwe, according to acting chief magistrate Faith Mushure, has a total of 233 magistrates. “The plan is to have all magistrates get the vehicles but due to financial constraints, that has been a challenge,” said Chikwanha. The government has been dolling out various perks to different sectors of society ahead of the next elections, which has raised fears of vote-buying and soliciting for support in the coming polls. Chiefs and village heads were last week offered payments dubbed Covid-19 allowances backdated to May 2022. Zimbabwe has approximately 26 000 traditional leaders countrywide. The scheduled windfall payments to the traditional leaders were announced by the ministry of Local Government and Public Works’ communication and advocacy director Gabriel Masvora in a statement in which he said the payments have since been approved and will be distributed through the Salary Service Bureau. “The ministry has now approved that village heads receive US$50 per month as the Covid-19 allowance, and it will be backdated to May last year. “Village heads approached the ministry and argued that they have been playing a major role in the fight against the pandemic, hence they deserved to receive the allowances,” he said. Masvora said the government has also approved a medical aid facility with the Premier Service Medical Aid Society (Psmas) for the traditional leaders. “Government will pay 80% of the cost. Chiefs will contribute US$3, sub-chiefs US$2 and village heads US$1 per month towards the medical aid facility,” he said. Recently, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who will contest the next elections with arch rival Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens’ Coalition for Change, handed over vehicles to 38 newly installed chiefs during the annual chiefs’ conference held in Bulawayo in another apparent vote buying spree. Recently, civil servants such as teachers, who play a critical role in elections as presiding officers, got a 100% Zimdollar salary increment, according to a statement released by Finance ministry permanent secretary George Guvamatanga. Guvamatanga also announced an increase in the cushioning and Covid-19 allowance from US$200 to US$250 across all sectors of civil servants, excluding the health sector. In the education sector, Guvamatanga announced a US$80 teaching allowance for every teacher, indexed to the interbank rate and paid in the moribund local currency. There was also an increase in the cushioning and Covid-19 allowance for government pensioners from US$90 to US$100 and a promise of free primary education up to a maximum of three children at government schools for teachers as well as a funded funeral insurance framework for the rest of civil servants. Ministers and their deputies early this year got loans of US$400 000 and US$350 000 respectively while MPs got US$40 000. A couple of weeks ago, the government parcelled out ambulances emblazoned with big portraits of Mnangagwa, which is again tantamount to vote buying. Before that, Zanu PF officials had been busy on the campaign trail, dolling out more goodies, with a notable incident being that of an unidentified man who was caught on camera distributing cash in anticipation of votes in Zanu PF’s primary elections. There has also been distribution of chickens, fertilisers and drilling of boreholes by Zanu PF functionaries in vote-buying tactics. In the rural areas, the ruling party has of late been distributing food in a partisan way to starving villagers which manifests itself in the carrot-andstick approach where there is both inducement and coercion. Magistrates get posh cars ahead of elections Judicial Service Commission secretary Walter Chikwanha

NewsHawks News Page 21 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 Zimcodd in landmark public debt victory NATHAN GUMA THE High Court has ordered Treasury to gazette within 12 months a Bill amending the Public Debt Management Act [Chapter22;21], after it emerged Finance minister Mthuli Ncube has been approving loans without Parliament’s authorisation, in violation of the constitutional tenet of accountability. This comes after the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd), an organisation that promotes social and economic justice, sought a court declaration compelling the government to approve loans, only after parliamentary authorisation. According to Zimcodd, the old Act has been enabling the Finance minister to contract loans without Parliament’s approval. “Literally, the minister was signing off loans and issuing guarantees without going to Parliament to seek approval. The Public Debt Management Act empowered him to do so, while the constitution required him to seek prior approval by Parliament. “So there was a legislative gap and a contradiction. The High Court order therefore aligns the Public Debt Management Act with the Constitution of Zimbabwe,” said John Maketo, Zimcodd programmes manager. The High Court ruled that the Finance Ministry Amendment Bill ought to include: “The procedure in respect of which Parliament ratifies or rejects any loan or guarantee. The procedure in which the state regularly updates Parliament on debts are ' obligatory loans including guarantees'.” Zimcodd’s founding affidavit shows that the government issued guarantees for domestic creditors amounting to ZW$20.2 billion and US$1.4 billion without Parliament’s approval in 2021 alone. The document also shows that the government has for sev- ...Court orders minister to account Finance minister Mthuli Ncube has been approving loans without Parliament’s authorisation, in violation of the constitutional tenet of accountability. eral years been approving loans and contracts without authorisation. “As recent as the 12th of March 2021, through General Government Notice 367/2021, 368/2021, 369/2021, 370/2021, 371/2021 the 1st Respondent (Finance Ministry) issued various guarantees to different companies,” reads the affidavit. “In all these guarantees, the approval of Parliament was not provided yet the guarantees provided by the 1st Respondent are levies on the Consolidated Revenue Fund. On the 25th of November 2021, during the presentation of the 2022 budget statement, the 2nd respondent tabled a separate document headed ‘Statement of Public Debt’. “That document, disclosed that during the period of January to September 2021 Government had issued guarantees for domestic creditors amounting to ZW$20.2 billion and US$1.4 billion. “In 2020, government had issued domestic guarantees to private companies totalling ZW$24.2 billion … and a 77% recovery rate for guarantees in respect of CBZ Agro-Yield (Pvt) Ltd for farmer only a 0.6% recovery in respect of CBZ AgroYield loans to farmers and a 22% recovery to farmers for the 2022 one agricultural season and only 13.2% recovery for 2020-2021 finance to soya beans farmers.” In terms of the current law, Treasury is empowered to provide guarantees in term of Section 20 of the Public Debt Management Act [Chapter 22:21]. According to Zimcodd, approval of loans without Parliament’s endorsement weighs heavily on citizens, who end up paying the debt, since loans or debts contracted are ultimately paid by the people of Zimbabwe through the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Zimbabwe has been weighed down by debt, which has seen the country fail to get external lines of credit from institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. With a total consolidated debt of US$17.5 billion, Zimbabwe owes international creditors US$14.04 billion, with domestic debt pegged at US$3.4 billion. Debt owed to bilateral creditors is estimated at US$5.75 billion, while multilateral creditors are owed an estimated US$2.5 billion. In February, African Development Bank president Akinumwi Adesina jetted into the country together with former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano to the Second Structured Dialogue Platform Meeting on the Arrears Clearance and Debt Resolution Process, aimed at mapping closure to Zimbabwe’s debt. However, Zimcodd believes strengthening parliamentary oversight is important in avoiding unsustainable debt.

Page 22 News NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 RUVIMBO MUCHENJE WHEN Marjorie Mutemererwa left Seed Co. Ltd last year after some years of dedicated and long service where she was public relations and special programmes manager, she was paid some cool US$85 000 severance package. That is the money she banked on to sustain herself as someone who lives alone. Mutemererwa lost her only child Richard Kevin Rugube who was electrocuted at his father’s house while taking a shower to go to school at St. George’s College in February 2011. It is an experience that has shaped her life ever since. She has formed RKR & MFM Trust – named after her son and herself – to honour Richard. RKR stands for her son’s names, while MFM is herself. Her middle name is Fadziso. Mutemererwa, a communication strategist who sits on various corporates boards, has penned a book titled 7S: Shattered, Shaken yet Still Standing; Evidence of God’s Strength, Supremacy and Sovereignty in memory of her late son. In the 84-page book, Mutemererwa opens up on the emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual, mental, physiological and health stages and challenges she has gone through following the death of her son. Against this backdrop, Mutemererwa says in her court papers that on 21 January, prominent pastor and businessman Shingi Munyeza, who was in President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s now moribund Presidential Advisory Council, called her urgently asking for money to address an emergency. The papers say the following day Munyeza, in the company of his wife Wilma, visited Mutemeterwa at her Borrowdale Brooke home to finalise the deal to borrow money from his neighbour. Munyeza and Mutemererwa are neighbours. After the visit on 22 January, the following day Mutemerewa transferred money to the Munyezas’ account in Botswana. Mutemererwa says she gave Munyeza the money because they knew each other well and worked together on community issues. She also says she had first confirmed with his wife the need for urgent assistance. Munyeza had agreed and promised to pay back the money with a generous interest of US$15 000, meaning a total of US$100 000 by 31 January 2023. However, Munyeza failed to pay when the money was due. Almost a month went by with the two communicating back and forth over payment. Then on 27 February Munyeza promised to pay back the following day – 28 February – but again he failed to do so. Upset that her severance package was now at risk of being lost in a bad debt situation characterised by betrayal of trust, Mutemererwa reported Munyeza to the police. Documents say Munyeza was subsequently arrested over the issue and slept in police detention. However, Munyeza has said that he was not arrested because it is a civil issue. He says he was only called to a police station for an interview and went back home thereafter. Documents say he was arrested on 3 March and appeared in court on 4 March. Mutemererwa has taken the issue to the High Court (Civil Division) as she wants her money back to look after herself. The case was in the courts on 5 April at the High Court in Harare. “The plaintiff (Mutemererwa)’s claim against the defendants (Munyezas) jointly and severally the one paying the other to be absolved is for provisional sentence in an amount of US$10 000 together with interest on that amount at the legally prescribed rate of interest calculated from 1 February to the date of the full and final settlement and legal costs on an attorney-client scale,” summons say. “The plaintiff’s claim is based on two acknowledgements of debt executed by Shingi Albert Munyeza and Wilma Munyeza and dated 22 January 2023 and 27 February 2023 respectively. In terms of the documents an amount of US$100 000, together with interest of 5% per annum, is payable calculated from the date of default (1 February 2023).” Although news reports last month suggested Munyeza was arrested, he denied the allegations, maintaining that the police only interviewed him since the matter is civil and not criminal. Despite acknowledging the debt and promising to repay Mutemererwa, Munyeza’s promises have lost credibility as she no longer believes him and wants the court to help her recover her money that she badly needs to sustain herself. Mutemererwa says Munyeza “ate” her US$85 000 severance package Marjorie Mutemererwa Shingi Munyeza and his wife Wilma

NewsHawks News Page 23 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 RUVIMBO MUCHENJE WHILE the common belief is that property rights are the key to overcoming poverty, especially in the developing world, a new study by the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa says title deeds and formalisation of customary land rights are not a magic wand on their own. In his widely acclaimed book, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else, economist Hernando de Soto says property rights are key in land ownership and to overcoming poverty in the impoverished developing nations. "The hour of capitalism's greatest triumph," writes de Soto, "is, in the eyes of four-fifths of humanity, its hour of crisis". The world-famous Peruvian economist takes up one of the most pressing questions the world faces today: Why do some countries succeed at capitalism while others fail? In strong opposition to the popular view that success is determined by cultural differences, de Soto finds that it actually has everything to do with the legal structure of property and property rights. Every developed nation in the world at one time went through the transformation from predominantly extra-legal property arrangements, such as squatting on large estates, to a formal, unified legal property system. In the West, it is understood that creating this system is what allowed people everywhere to leverage property into wealth. De Soto’s book revolutionised people’s understanding of capital and points the way to a major transformation of the world economy. However, a research paper on this subject presented by Zimbabwean academic Dr Phillan Zamchiya at a regional land policy brief on 29 March in Johannesburg, South Africa, says property rights alone do not address poverty, especially among rural women. The conference was attended by delegates, including policymakers, from South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The research is an outcome of a project conceived in 2020 to investigate how and why the formalisation of customary land rights is affecting tenure security for women living in rural areas in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Zambia and the relational implications for policymakers. “Customary land rights are often multiple (a bundle of land rights), nested, shared (even with seasonal users) and overlapping in character and therefore difficult to individualise and record,” Zamchiya said. “The processes can make customary tenure more legible and available on the open markets (which are not gender neutral) dominated by wealthier big private companies, more educated and more powerful women and men with social and political networks at the expense of the poor households with traditional elites selling land. “This can lead to market-driven displacements of the poor and vulnerable.” However, the research across four countries in the region, including Zimbabwe, says property rights are not simply the magic wand to this problem. “Formalisation has also proven not to be a magic bullet to unlock lending to the poor by commercial banks,” Zamchiya said. “Commercial banks do not lend to the poor because of the high risk of not repaying the loan, the low value of their household assets, and high transaction costs. Families earning less than around US$2 400 per month are unlikely to get access to formal credit using land or housing as collateral, whether or not they hold state leaseholds/title deeds/duats or rural certificates to their homes and land. “Even if the government was to make it legally mandatory or persuade the commercial banks to lend to the poor using their land, houses or assets as collateral, failure to repay the loans would result in possession of their homes leaving them landless and homeless. They have other informal networks where they borrow as we have seen. “Technically fixing land governance without agrarian support is not likely going to lead to increased productivity, investments, economic development and poverty reduction. In fact, there is a danger to institutionalise gendered inequalities.” Formalisation, he further said, can cause conflict such as gender-based violence through introducing simplified and alien categories such as the “owner” which tend to contradict local custom and to exclude the husband and other family and community land users. Documentation of land rights has also helped to enhance the territorial interests of the state and traditional authorities to govern, control people and consolidate authoritarian power, he said. “Registered title deeds creates unaffordable costs for many poor people. They have to pay rates and most end up losing their land. The associated land registers are a recurrent cost and difficult to maintain to an extent that they lose track over time and fail to reflect the contemporary accurate record of changing local land relations,” Zamchiya said. “Titling is probably useful to elite and middle-income men and women who can afford financial leverage, risk and real estate markets. For the poor, whose concerns are more about day-today survival, direct access to livelihood and keeping costs down it may provoke their further descent into poverty. Most countries including in the Global North are struggling with how to reform tenure to improve land tenure security for all - especially women - and deepen democracy. A number of global instruments have been put in place to secure women’s land rights. However, in sub-Saharan Africa and in the Global South one of the most dramatic developments is the rapid drive towards formalisation of property rights in land  through surveying of boundaries, registration and documentation of customary land rights as a way to improve tenure security. This proposition is embedded in the gender-blind Evolutionary Theories of Land Rights whose central overt and covert logic is a drive towards Western forms of individualised private property. This can be conceptualised as evolutionary development and is mainly supported by some free market economists and African feminist lawyers. To signify this trend, between 1990 and 2018 there were 33 new land laws enacted across sub-Saharan Africa, much of them with a focus on formalising property rights in land under customary tenure. Aspiration six of the African Union Agenda 2063 also stipulates that 90% of rural women must have access to productive assets, including land, by 2025 which remains pie in the sky. Formalisation takes different dimensions in different countries depending on local circumstances and the different interests of stakeholders. However, the formalisation programmes seem to be largely embedded in Western evolutionary models of land tenure rights that draw from a narrow construction of legality, which presumes that individual ownership is ultimately inevitable for all social contexts. “In all four countries, formalisation is accelerating the commodification of customary land, leading to the rise of informal ‘land markets’,” said Zamchiya. ‘This is despite the fact that land laws in all four countries do not permit the selling of customary land. The processes of commodification are starker in our study sites in South Africa where over three quarters (75.25%) of our respondents who ac- quired residential plots or arable land in the past ten years paid for it in cash to the traditional authority or individuals. “This is followed by Zimbabwe where 59% of our respondents had bought land in the past five years. In our study sites in Mozambique and Zambia informal land markets are also established. Traditional leaders are primarily the ones selling land in South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe outside the law, while in Mozambique it is mainly individuals and domestic elites.” Zamchiya added: “Land prices are also increasing, to the disadvantage of many vulnerable women. Some urban elites, salaried local workers, migrants, and the local big shots – mainly men – acquire land in corrupt exchanges for speculative and not production purposes. “In many cases, the poor women could not afford the costs involved, putting land rights beyond the reach of many, especially in a region where close to 88 million people (translating to 45.5% of the population in rural areas) live in extreme poverty with the highest number being among the female-headed households. The emerging new land rights property system is becoming a mechanism to redistribute land from the poor to the rich and from farmers to speculators.” Commodification of land is resulting in a new question of elite concentration in southern Africa. “The privatisation of customary land shows that there is an evident shift in decision-making power from families and communities to the state officials, private consultants, traditional leaders and local big ‘men’ sometimes connected to the ruling parties who challenge the authority of the traditional ‘rural big men’,” said Zamchiya. “Emerging is a hybrid of traditional, elected and appointed institutions to govern customary land whose nature and characteristics we still need to fully understand. "The research found no evidence of certificates or customary land and houses being used to apply for loans from commercial banks. The land laws in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia do not provide for the use of customary land as collateral.” Formalisation of customary land rights might dispossess the poor

Page 24 NewsHawks News Issue 126, 7 April 2023 RUVIMBO MUCHENJE THE Easter holidays have seen the Christian community increasing local tourism revenue, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority head of corporate affairs, Godfrey Koti, has said. Koti spoke to The NewsHawks on how national tourism revenue streams are  responding to holiday travel and he said religious tourism peaks during this holiday and reverberates on the revenue of the sector. “Domestic tourism has also grown in leaps and bounds. Last year we recorded 12.8 million trips within, so we are hoping also that this will spur activities for this Easter in the country, particularly with what we call religious tourism where people go for their pilgrimages,” said Koti. Different sects within the Christian fraternity are going on church camps to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, resulting in increased bookings countrywide. “There are places that are really packed, you go to Bernard Mizeki, it's one of the places that are really packed. You go to Mbungo in Masvingo for the ZCC guys, it’s also packed. You go to Bindura for the Zaoga guys, they are also packed there,” said Koti. “What it means is that there is a concentration in Marondera, Masvingo and Bindura with these pilgrimages where thousands of congregants are following these churches. “Here in Harare, you talk of the likes of Makandiwa, I know they have got a celebrity pastor that has just come in today. We will obviously expect people to move from all corners of the country to witness those kinds of events, then in Bulawayo you also have the Anglican diocese congregating people at St Columbu's, we have the Roman Catholic across the country,” he said. ZCC members and all other mainline churches have for decades travelled from all over the country for annual Easter pilgrims. ZIMBABWE is getting ready to host the Victoria Falls Carnival this month, with organisers targeting an increased participation by the corporate world, which is expected to boost business for the tourism sector, The NewsHawks have learnt. The Vic Falls Carnival, held in April, is one of the country’s largest parties, luring more than 4 000 visitors to last year's destination.  Vic Falls Carnival organiser Bongani Ngwenya said they are going to convene the show with a business creation perspective to benefit players in the tourism sector. "Last year we had 4 000 people that came to witness the 2022 addition of the carnival, and this year tickets are selling at a very fast pace and we believe that we will surpass last year's numbers. "We have created partnerships with players in the tourism sector in Victoria Falls. We have made arrangements with various players in making sure that packages are created for the expected traffic. “We put those packages in place to make sure there is a downstream benefit to as many players. The event presents a perfect opportunity for the growth of meetings, incentives conferences and exhibitions (MICE) tourism, and we want to make sure that as many players as possible benefit.   "We are delighted to note that we have had a very good response from the corporate world in terms of support and creation of that downstream business network. We are looking forward to the coming next few weeks as we get into this edition of the carnival," Ngwenya said. Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) head of corporate affairs Godfrey Koti said his organisation is working on increasing participation from both local and international markets. "We use the carnival to raise awareness on destination Zimbabwe in its totality and the conservation activities that are being done around the country. This is good for Victoria Falls because it increases our room nights spent in the destination. So we are hoping to increase the quantum of receipts from that particular area during that time,” Koti said. "This year, we are excited to hear that there is a very good line-up of entertainment acts and activities. It really gives the industry players increased business and that is what we are looking for as the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority.  "As we continue also to celebrate the awards that we have received on the international scene attest to the fact that Zimbabwe is a must-visit destination. We (Zimbabwe) were named the Destination of the Year in the natural beauty category. The minister was awarded African Minister of the Year whilst our chief executive officer was named Professional Destination Manager of the Year. "These are good things that are happening to the sector. They endorse our work and the destination in such a big way. So we are very excited to be having such an event at such a time,” he said. — STAFF WRITER. Religious tourism spurs Easter travel Zim readies for Vic Falls carnival NATHAN GUMA MOST workers are singing the blues this Easter holiday, unable to purchase basic commodities due to low disposable incomes, unions say. The unions insist workers’ living conditions under President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration are worse off compared to former president Robert Mugabe’s era. This is despite the government effecting a 100% salary hike for civil servants, and a slight raise on Covid-19 United States dollar allowances, from US$200 to US$250 across all sectors. As previously reported by The NewsHawks, an experienced rural teacher earned ZW$39 636 (about US$30 on the prevailing parallel market rate), while the rural allowance is ZW$1 982 (US$1.30) and the housing allowance is ZW$7 508 (US$5). After the 100% hike, this means a teacher would earn ZW$79 272, a cushioning allowance of US$250, and an additional teaching allowance of US$80, bringing the total to US$330, which is lower than the US$800 and US$1 200 proposed by worker organisations. When President Emmerson Mnangagwa rose to power on the back of a military coup in November 2017, teachers, among other public sector workers, were earning an average of US$540, which they are now demanding. Teachers say the Easter holiday is a nullity, with civil servants still wallowing in poverty. “The holiday is actually a nullity insofar as teachers are concerned, because they are struggling to survive and they are wondering how they are going to go through the holiday, and even the one-month holiday (school vacation) until they open for second term. “And their families are actually in trouble. Their families expect them to celebrate and travel with others. “Civil servants cannot afford such a luxury. It is unfortunate that the government is irresponsible, and has chosen to take a hard-line stance, choosing a callous and crude way of dealing with the workers. And I can tell you that it will be very difficult for teachers to open for second term, unless government uses the long holiday to rectify the issue of worker salaries,” said Takavafira Zhou, the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president. He said while the holiday is expected to give a reprieve to teachers and other civil servants, teachers and their families are “angry, hungry, aggressive, and will be scavenging for food over the Easter holiday”. Zhou said teachers are likely to face incapacitation when the time comes to return for the second school term. While the government promised to pay fees for at least three beneficiaries from teachers’ families, a handful have benefitted from the scheme. “The challenge is that the process is more expensive than the benefit. Teachers would spend money visiting the schools where their children. One may have children learning at three different places, and the money you would spend travelling to get invoices was more than the ZW$20 000 offered by government. “So, we have argued that we would like a system where the benefits would be remitted into the teacher's account, whether he has, or has not any children. It is a benefit for teachers, hence it must benefit all the teachers. “That one is surely not a benefit. What we are looking for is a realistic approach to the salaries of teachers, and we would be happy if the government would even restore the US$540 we were earning prior to October 2018. “Unless it is done, it is going to be difficult to open for the second term. So, all we want to do is to forewarn the government to address the issue of teachers’ salaries before the opening of schools,” Zhou said. Workers' unions have been on a stalemate over the minimum wage and United State-dollar salaries at the Tripartite Negotiation Forum (TNF). In December 2022, the government approved a US$150 minimum wage for workers, from the old wage pegged at ZW$2 574. However, most employers are yet to implement the agreed salary scale, plunging workers into poverty. Labour is demanding a minimum wage be negotiated at national level and partly paid in foreign currency, while the government and the business sectir argues that negotiations for wages should be done at a sector level. They have also rejected the proposed blanket policy compelling companies to pay in foreign currency, which has left workers, particularly unskilled labour, on the tenterhooks. “The stalemate is still as is, and we are so hopeful that we are going to have a finalisation of the minimum wage as per agreement. “Taking into consideration that by now we should have reviewed it in the first quarter, at the back of our minds, we are trying to understand how we can push for it by the time that we agreed, so that we cannot have workers on the losing end,” said Florence Taruvinga, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions president. The washing of feet ceremony being held at Harare Anglican Church on Thursday. Workers sing the blues over Easter holidays

Page 25 IN 2017, Spanish authorities cracked down on over two dozen shell companies, masquerading as a bank in Madrid, that were allegedly laundering money for criminal clients. Since then, figures linked to that operation, which used the name “Bandenia,” have gone on to open hundreds of new companies in the U.K. and other jurisdictions — even one that pretends to be a thriving British bank. Speaking before a U.K. parliamentary working group in November 2022, Imran Qureshi, CEO of Bandenia Challenger Bank, boasted of his institution’s innovative use of blockchain technology and streamlined verification processes. The British member of parliament who had introduced Qureshi, Martin Docherty-Hughes, gushed that Bandenia Challenger aimed to “revolutionize the trade finance and mortgage industry in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.” What Qureshi’s booster didn’t realize was that the bank didn’t really have the noble aim of reinventing finance. In fact, it isn’t a bank at all. Bandenia Challenger Bank claims to offer “first-class business corporate banking services.” But OCCRP has learned that it’s really just a shell company that uses the word “bank” in its name. Its headquarters is a mailbox in London’s Hatton Garden neighborhood. The bank license it displays on its website, supposedly issued by the island of Mwali in the Comoros, is a fake. Even the name “Bandenia” should have been a red flag. In 2017, Spanish authorities cracked down on a group of around two dozen U.K. and Spanish companies operating as a fake bank — and also using the brand “Bandenia.” Centered around a U.K. firm called BBP Bandenia PLC, the firms had moved money on an “industrial” scale through Spanish banks for drug traffickers and fraudsters around the world, according to an indictment in the case, which is pending trial in Spain. OCCRP reached out to Qureshi and Bandenia Challenger Bank for comment, but instead got a reply from the email address of a related company, also using the name “Bandenia.” The email, which was unsigned, did not directly address questions about Qureshi’s role in the company or its fake credentials, but it denied there was any relationship between the new Bandenia Challenger Bank and the older Bandenia firms. The email insisted that Bandenia Challenger had simply bought the brand through an online consultant: “We just liked the trade name,” it said. But OCCRP found that the two Bandenias share more than just a name. Bandenia Challenger Bank’s fake license comes from exactly the same obscure jurisdiction — the Comoros island of Mwali — as one advertised on websites used by the previous Bandenia group uncovered in Spain. Moreover, the man listed as the founding shareholder and director of Bandenia Challenger Bank was previously a director of BBP Bandenia, the U.K. company at the heart of the older operation that was targeted by Spanish investigators. Bandenia Challenger Bank is not the only newer firm linked to the older Bandenia operation. As authorities clamped down, its former directors continued to set up hundreds of new shell firms in the U.K. and at least 12 other jurisdictions. Even BBP Bandenia’s former CEO — who was indicted in 2014 for laundering money through Bandenia, and convicted last year — got in on the action. Many of these firms are registered at an address above a tapas bar at London’s West End, just a short bus ride away from Bandenia Challenger Bank’s mailing address. International InvestigativeStories Fake bank was shut down in Spain. Now a new one has popped up in the UK International Investigative Stories The building in Madrid where Bandenia had its headquarters. Credit: Carlos Pina/infoLibre NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023

Page 26 International Investigative Stories NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 The extent of this newly uncovered group of companies has never been reported, and Spanish authorities said they were unaware of all the firms uncovered by OCCRP. There is no evidence that any of these shell companies engaged in money laundering, and it is not clear what most of them were used for, if anything. A Spanish investigator who worked on the Bandenia case, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters, raised the question of whether the newly discovered companies might be the same operation reconstituted in a larger form. He called the new findings “of great interest.” By 2017, a Google search for “Bandenia” would have revealed articles mentioning money laundering and its executives. Yet there appears to have been little interest among U.K. authorities in examining the group’s activities in their country. “There was a meeting at Europol and we asked the British Serious Fraud Office to investigate [another Bandenia director],” the investigator said. “They showed no interest.” The Serious Fraud Office told OCCRP it could “neither confirm nor deny any SFO interest in this matter,” and could not “provide any wider comment at this stage.” The fact that people associated with the money laundering operation busted in Spain have started companies “under the same brand” in so many different countries is “really worrying,” said Ben Cowdock of the U.K. chapter of the advocacy group Transparency International, adding that it “points to a lack of enforcement interest.” The MP who had boosted Bandenia Challenger Bank, Docherty-Hughes, said he was resigning from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Blockchain after learning about Bandenia Challenger Bank’s background. “I am deeply sorry that I may have inadvertently given them any sort of endorsement by allowing them to appear here,” he told OCCRP. The First Fake Bank At the old Bandenia operation’s former headquarters in the upscale Spanish town of Las Rozas, 20 kilometers outside Madrid, a Bandenia logo still hangs in the corridor outside its offices. But the light on the landing doesn’t work and the doorbell is broken. Nobody answers a reporter’s knock. Though silent now, this was once a hive of activity. The fake bank is accused of moving money on behalf of an estimated 253 clients, most of them criminals, including drug traffickers, alleged fraudsters, and money launderers, according to a July 2019 indictment against 10 people and six companies linked to Bandenia. A trial is pending. Bandenia allegedly used the shell companies, registered in Spain and the U.K., to open accounts at major banks, deposit money it received from its clients, and send it around the world. In the indictment, Investigating Judge José de la Mata outlined how the firms functioned as a “shell bank,” using fake lines of credit and banking guarantees to justify the movement of cash between companies and individuals, and across borders. The investigating judge called the set-up “perfectly structured” for “industrial-scale” money laundering. According to the investigating judge, between June 2012 and February 2015 alone, the main U.K. firm in the network, BBP Bandenia, moved at least 12 million euros in criminal money between various companies and banks. He also pointed out that BBP Bandenia had received millions in deposits from clients in Iran, a country under varying degrees of financial sanctions since 2010. By the time the investigating judge finalized that indictment in 2019, BBP Bandenia’s former CEO, José Artiles Ceballos, had already been indicted in a separate case for using the company to launder drug money. He had come to the attention of Spanish police in 2014 as they were investigating Ana Cameno Antolín, a major drug trafficker known as “The Cocaine Queen.” Investigators found that she was using the fake bank to send money to Panama for her Colombian drug suppliers. On the back of this, they opened a wider probe into Bandenia itself. They found that Bandenia claimed to have a banking license from Mwali, one of the Comoros Islands, to create the illusion that it was a legitimate financial institution. (Later, in 2015, one of its affiliates obtained a real banking license from the Caribbean island of Dominica, although it was revoked in 2018.) Then, it assigned its clients account numbers and gave them paperwork similar to what a normal bank would provide — but all fake. “Bandenia provides documentation and business structures that allow all kinds of criminal networks to move money,” said the Spanish investigator. But how could a fake bank move real money? According to the investigating judge’s indictment, shell companies linked to Bandenia would open accounts at major financial institutions like Spain’s CaixaBank and Ibercaja, as well as the Spanish branch of Dutch giant ING. Although the money deposited into these accounts was supposed to belong to their respective companies, Bandenia was actually using them to pool its clients’ funds instead — then sending the money around the world. “Funds were sent through an electronic transfer to extraterritorial banks or companies … located in places where banking and corporate secrecy is strong enough to lose the traceability of the money,” the indictment said. ING declined to comment on its role in the scheme because of “ongoing legal procedures.” CaixaBank said it had been cleared of allegations of wrongdoing, which a court confirmed. Ibercaja did not respond to a request for comment. The Other Bandenias Though Artiles Ceballos might have been the main suspect in the Spanish investigation, authorities never believed he was acting alone. “Artiles is someone’s man. He acts on other people’s orders,” the Spanish investigator who worked on the case told OCCRP. He added that investigators believed the fake bank had started as a “small-to-medium Spanish money laundering network” that was then “taken over” by others. He did not elaborate, but OCCRP has found that three Italian men who held key positions in the companies named in the Spanish investigation continued to appear on the boards of similarly-named companies around the world, even after Artiles Ceballos’ arrest. (Reporters have not found evidence these companies were involved in any illegal activities.) The most prolific was Fabio Pastore, the current CEO of BBP Bandenia, which still exists but is now in liquidation in the U.K. The U.K. High Court issued an arrest warrant for Pastore after he failed to show up in court in 2021 for a case involving BBP Bandenia. He has also served as director of dozens of other companies identified by reporters that have similarities to previous Bandenia companies. Two other Italian men, Massimiliano Arena and Giovanni Modafferi, are also former directors of BBP Bandenia who were listed as directors of other firms in the group discovered by reporters. Neither Pastore nor Modafferi responded to requests for comment. Arena said that, while he had been a “Director of Bandenia,” he held “no executive and/or managerial position” and “never had access to any of the company’s information or documentation.” He said he could not answer any other questions about the firms he was listed as playing a role in. Artiles Ceballos said that BBP Bandenia “had the appropriate financial licenses and was subject to the Money Laundering Regulations of the Office of Fair Trading.” He said he had known Pastore for years, as a financial consultant. He added that “Bandenia Banca Privada had a permanent office in Madrid, but did not operate in the Spanish stock market and therefore was not subject to Spanish regulation. When asked about the wider group of companies discovered by reporters, he said, “All international companies diversify their investments and businesses.” Serving Time, Keeping Busy Despite being a convicted money launderer who has spent long stints in pre-trial detention since 2017, Artiles Ceballos has proven remarkably busy in U.K. financial circles. As of April 2023, the ex-Bandenia boss, who was banned in 2014 from directing Spanish companies for eight years, is listed as the director of 185 British companies identified by reporters. And Artiles Ceballos is not alone in this quest for new opportunities. In 2019, a former corporate officer in BBP Bandenia became the initial shareholder and first director of a new company in the U.K. called Bandenia Challenger Bank. This is the same company that Qureshi would use in late 2022 to get himself before the parliamentary working group, known as the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Blockchain. Despite its name, Bandenia Challenger Bank is not licensed to bank in the U.K., or anywhere in the world. However, on its website it offers letters of credit, bank guarantees, and other financial services that appear very similar to those once offered by BBP Bandenia. People claiming to work for Bandenia Challenger Bank on LinkedIn are also using seemingly fake profile photos. Reporters found one profile, supposedly for the head of trade finance at Bandenia Challenger Bank, that used a generic corporate portrait from a stock photo website. Another profile, supposedly for a senior Bandenia Challenger Bank employee, used the image of a music professor at Washington State University. An unsigned email from its sister firm, Bandenia Challenger Finance, responding to questions addressed to Qureshi, said it had simply bought the company name online. “We don’t have any idea [about] BBP Bandenia and their group or what activity they have done in the past,” the email said. Bandenia Challenger Bank’s website is emblazoned with a familiar symbol: a bogus banking authorization from “The Autonomous Island of Mwali (Mohéli).” BBP Bandenia — which claimed to be registered in “The Autonomous Island of Mwali (Mohéli)” in the Comoros islands — also boasted the same non-existent African license. The Central Bank of the Comoros confirmed to OCCRP that the license was not real, and noted that it was aware of fake websites purporting to represent the country’s financial authorities — including a fake Mwali companies registry, which also prominently displays the same logo used by Bandenia Challenger Bank. The Central Bank is the only authority that can issue banking licenses in the nation, it said, adding that Bandenia Challenger Bank “is an offshore entity operating illegally with a fraudulent license.” Bandenia Challenger Bank has also declared in U.K. corporate filings that it has an astonishingly high 180 million pounds in unpaid share capital — possibly a means of artificially inflating the company’s balance sheet. Another company directed and owned by Qureshi, London Trade Capital, declared 300 million pounds in unpaid share capital. Cowdock, of Transparency International, said this was an accounting manoeuver that might give a company “a superficial veneer of legitimacy,” possibly making it easier to get bank accounts or take out loans. Asked to comment on its fake license and share capital declarations, Qureshi and Bandenia Challenger did not respond directly, but the email from Bandenia Challenger’s sister firm noted that it was seeking funding. “If you are looking for any money from our side you are looking at the wrong company,” it said. “We don’t have money and are looking for seed funding to sell the shares and launch a tech product Banking as a Service model… “[I]f you can find someone who is interested in funding a mortgage broker tech project, please let me know, We will be more than happy to connect.” — Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. The street in London where Bandenia Challenger Bank’s mailing address is located.

Page 27 IN early 2021, Eli Luchak, a bartender and singer in New Orleans, was trying to conjure up a name for the Southern sludge/ metallic hardcore band he and five other twenty-something friends were putting together. One early idea for the group’s name had been Poodle Moth, a reference to a mysterious and fluffy insect that’s been spotted just once, in the Gran Sabana region of Venezuela. But that didn’t capture the kind of loud and politically passionate music Luchak and his bandmates were gravitating toward. So he started thinking about a global event that had caught his attention back in 2016, during his sophomore year of high school in Philadelphia: the Panama Papers investigation. For Luchak, the collaborative journalism initiative had been a moment of political and economic illumination that helped him understand “how the world works.” The Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation, which revealed names and other specifics of powerful figures who exploit offshore financial secrecy at the expense of the rest of the world’s population, offered Luchak a possible name that could speak to his awakening. He suggested calling the band Mossack Fonseca, after the Panamanian law firm at the center of the Panama Papers. Or Panama Papers Shredders, playing off the idea of hidden documents being destroyed but also the “shredding” style of guitar work often used in heavy metal. Neither of those quite clicked. He and the band decided that a straight-forward and alliterative name — Panama Papers — was the way to go. After an intense period of songwriting and practicing, they’ve been playing under that name at house parties and clubs around New Orleans for a year now. The band’s name is a testament to the cultural impact that the Panama Papers investigation has achieved since it debuted on April 3, 2016 — seven years ago today.ggling from a known conflict zone.” The investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 100 media partners helped oust prime ministers in Iceland and Pakistan and sparked arrests, new laws and government probes in dozens of countries. Today the Panama Papers endures as a catchphrase that helps frame and fuel public debates about corruption, financial crime and inequality. At the same time, the Panama Papers’ influence has stretched far beyond legislatures and courthouses. The investigation has penetrated deep into global popular culture, inspiring movies, books, artworks and a variety of musical projects — all of which have helped keep its memory and impact alive in public consciousness. The New Orleans-based band Panama Papers is one of at least five musical groups around the world that have named themselves after the investigation. At least 11 record albums are named after the 2016 investigation. And musicians in multiple countries and languages have written, recorded and performed at least 38 songs titled “Panama Papers” or some variation, such as “Panama Papers Blues.” These songs rise up from many genres, including punk, funk, metal, techno, ambient, lounge, dubstep, indie rock and free-form jazz. Some are instrumentals, but others feature lyrics that directly address injustice and inequality and their enablers in the offshore financial world. Vanquished Kingdom, an Australian metal band, released a song called “Panama Papers” in 2018 that includes these inyour-face lyrics: White washed tombs, corrupted hearts the Almighty Dollar’s shills, it’s all legal, never mind who it robs or kills Siebe Pogson, the band’s bassist, says his bandmate and cousin Zac Anderson wrote the song “as an angry reaction to the story as it was breaking” — including the revelation that Australia’s prime minister at the time, Malcom Turnbull, had been director of an offshore company set up in the British Virgin Islands. “It was one of our favorite songs to record and play live, especially as it has so much energy,” Pogson said. “We were always able to get the crowd going at the end with the chant” — a man, a plan, a canal, Panama. Another Panama Papers song that features an audience-rousing chant was created and recorded by Shaolin Temple Defenders, a French funk band with an affinity for James Brown and kung fu movies. When the investigation was released, the band was in the middle of recording its sixth album. Its vocalist, Emmanuel “Brother Lion” Guérin, had already written a song about offshore secrecy titled “Another Daily Robbery.” As news of the investigation rocketed around the world, becoming the No. 1 trending topic globally on Twitter, Guérin and his bandmates decided the song needed a new name. “The scandal came,” bassist Jeremy Ortal said, “so we decided to change the name to ‘Panama Papers’ because it symbolized all this behavior of finance and tricks. . . . We were sure people would be intrigued by the name.” Their artistic mission, Ortal said, drives them to raise their voices about “painful truths.” He said whistleblowers like Panama Papers’ John Doe “should have a statue in each town of the world. They are the new freedom and justice fighters.” The band performed the song live most recently eight days ago at a show in Geneva, Switzerland. They were singing about tax havens in perhaps the world’s oldest and most notorious tax haven, belting out a chant that tries to provoke listeners to take action: Give back all the money Gotta take back all the power. Doom and noise How Panama Papers rocked pop culture New Orleans band Panama Papers playing a show at Gasa Gasa. Image: Annie Delatte, courtesy of the Panama Papers band NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 International Investigative Stories

Page 28 NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 The Panama Papers investigation has had staying power as a cultural phenomenon in part because it hits home for many people in an era when billions of lives have been affected by political and corporate corruption, the widening gap between rich and poor and the social media-driven spread of disinformation and authoritarianism. Mac Fisher, a guitarist/vocalist and bandmate of Luchak in the Panama Papers band, was also in high school when the Panama Papers came out. At the time, real estate impresario and reality TV frontman Donald Trump was closing in on the 2016 Republican nomination for president, fueling her concerns about how the power of the mega-wealthy was hurting people trying to get by from day to day, paycheck to paycheck. The Panama Papers was “formative” for her as a teenager growing up in Asheville, North Carolina, she said. “It was amazing how something so enormous could just get swept under the rug by so many people,” Fisher, now 23, recalled. “It was a reminder of who was benefiting from that — and that they, in fact, had names and addresses and corporeal forms. And it showed how much we were willing to accept and just how many unspoken, awful truths there are in the way our world operates.” For Fisher, Luchak and their bandmates — drummer Omar Shbeeb, bassist/vocalist Soumya Ramineni and guitarists Cameron Slate and Thomas Henry Williamson — wealth inequality and economic exploitation aren’t theoretical issues. They play before audiences made up largely of young adults looking for a head-banging respite from working soul-crushing shifts at low-paid service industry jobs. The band says its music is influenced by a variety of genres, including “doom, noise, Southern rock, bluegrass, dance, post punk, hip hop, prog, dream pop and indie rock.” The band hopes to record its first album soon. One song that may go on the album is called “Nasdaq Prescott.” Luchak, who wrote the lyrics, came up with the song’s name by combining the name of Nasdaq, one of the world’s largest stock exchanges, with the name Prescott, which has an “old money” ring to it. The song is a dialogue between a rich man and a not-rich person. It starts in the voice of the rich guy: Tied to these offshore holdings These tricks and guilts all-knowing You breathe and sleep so hardly I lie and kill so calmly A horse and a ‘black-hearted’ joke It’s not just bands and songs that carry the Panama Papers name. Seventeen days after the first Panama Papers stories exploded into the public domain, a thoroughbred horse was born in Germany and given the name Panama Papers. It was, perhaps, a reflection of the crucial role played in the investigation by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which obtained the 11.5 million leaked files from the anonymous whistleblower John Doe and shared them with ICIJ and other partners. The biggest win to date for the racehorse named after the investigation came last year at Kilmore Racecourse in Victoria, Australia, where it defeated a horse called A Pinch of Luck. The investigation also inspired flourishes of entrepreneurial creativity. At least two ventures marketed Panama Papers brand rolling papers for those who like puffing tobacco or other leafy substances via doit-yourself cigarettes. One offered “Offshore Flavored” palm leaf “pre rolls” that were “Made in Panama” and “100% Vegan.” Another offered Panama Papers rolling papers in packaging with the slogan “Rolling Onshore.” On a Facebook account under the name Panama Papers Inc., the second venture threw shade at the secrecy-cloaked offshore companies revealed in the investigation, announcing: “The Most Transparent Company in Human History is online now! Thanks to all that support our crazy idea to become the only 100% transparent business on Earth.” The Panama Papers investigation has also made a name for itself in more mainstream forms of entertainment. It’s been the subject of cartoons in The New Yorker and dozens of other publications and has popped up on TV programs such as “The Daily Show,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” “Billions” and “Jeopardy!” The 2019 movie “The Laundromat,” starring Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas, centers on the Panama Papers. At its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, Streep said the film was an entertaining way of “telling a very, very dark, black-hearted joke — a joke that’s being played on all of us” by the clients and the enablers who make the offshore financial system a reality. The investigation was also the subject of a 2018 documentary film by actor and filmmaker Alex Winter, “The Panama Papers,” which told the story behind the story: how a global team of journalists sifted through the secret documents and broke one of the biggest financial and political scandals in history. Winter, best known for his role as Bill Preston in the “Bill & Ted” comedies, has directed several documentary films about social and political issues — most recently “The YouTube Effect,” an examination of social media’s role in spreading disinformation. He worries that many people’s information diets include little more than superficial takes and outright disinformation. Documentaries and investigative journalism like the Panama Papers, he told ICIJ, break through the media clutter by offering well-substantiated information and “narratives that provide deep and meaningful context.” His Panama Papers documentary continues to get traction on streaming platforms and is now shown in classrooms — doing its part to help people understand that financial subterfuge and offshore secrecy are driving forces behind a global system that, Winter says, enables corrupt figures such as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Winter said he often hears from people who have watched the documentary and tell him that they now realize that figures like Putin “aren’t operating within some sort of otherworldly silo. He’s part of the system.” To change or topple this reality, Winter said, requires reliable information and long-term commitment. “You don’t change ongoing, systemic corruption overnight with a handful of arrests, or even a lot of arrests,” he said. “You can’t expect instant gratification.” Investigative reporting and documentary work that seize the popular imagination, Winter said, can help equip ordinary people with the patience and determination to fight the long fight for lasting change. Panama Papers remix Last week — the day after Shaolin Temple Defenders performed their Panama Papers song in Switzerland — an international collective of art and music aficionados known as The Asymetrics released an online “mixtape” of Latin, Afro and Caribbean music from the 1960s and ’70s. Its title: “Panama Papers Vol. 4.” This is the latest in a continuing series of mixtapes put out by the collective that feature songs ripped from vintage vinyl disks and curated by DJs based in Panama. One of The Asymetrics’ founders — who goes by his DJ name, Malong — came up with the name for the series. He also curated the collective’s second Panama Papers mixtape, casting off his DJ name and giving himself a new moniker, Samson Fockseca, which sounds a lot like the law firm at the heart of the global financial scandal. Malong said the motivation for the naming of the mixtape series was more about sly humor than politics. Malong, who is French-born but now lives near the Panama Canal, said that when he mentions living in the country to people in other parts of the world, they will either mention the canal or say: “Panama? Like the Papers?” The association with secrets and scandal now written into the country’s legacy may be a source of annoyance for some Panamanians. That’s understandable, given that the Panama Papers investigation was as much about offshore clients and operatives in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and more than 200 other countries as it was about the workings of a law firm headquartered in Panama. For Malong, Panama is more than an infamous offshore haven. It’s “a quiet and beautiful country” where he can step out of his home and trek through a national park and eyeball sloths, parrots and toucans. And its rich musical history also makes it a haven for vinyl collectors like Malong, who haunt second-hand stores and record fairs and drive from village to village knocking on doors and asking occupants if they have vintage vinyl gathering dust in their attics. Guérin and Ortal, the French funk musicians whose take on the Panama Papers is aggressively political, said their song isn’t a critique of Panama itself. “I don’t think the Panamanian people should be held responsible for this at all,” Guérin said. “It’s the whole system we criticize, not Panama in particular. It could have been in any other place, any nation laundering money. It’s the unfairness of the system that arouses anger.” — International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. International Investigative Stories

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] Marketing Officer: Charmaine Phiri Cell: +263 735666122 [email protected] [email protected] Subscriptions & Distribution: +263 735666122 Reaffirming the fundamental importance of freedom of expression and media 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 Gold mafia exposes Mnangagwa Dumisani Muleya Hawk Eye Editorial & Opinion This Gold Mafia report is very tricky. At first we thought we could just brush it off, but I can tell you things are not well! ONE of the most malignant maladies at the heart of Zimbabwe’s governance crisis is the despicable tendency by the government to recklessly contract public debt while subverting parliamentary oversight. Zimbabwe’s public debt is a crime scene. The government has carte blanche to take out loans, while completely disregarding Parliament's oversight role. Not every loan is beneficial to the republic. Taxpayers have been left saddled with an unsustainable debt burden. Even the unborn will eventually pay through the nose. What Zimbabwe needs urgently is a comprehensive debt audit to establish the true magnitude of the public debt. Officially, the consolidated debt is said to be US$17.5 billion. But who can really believe this figure, considering the lack of transparency and accountability in the handling of public finances in this country? Not only that; the audit must also show what the billions of dollars were spent on and whether such expenditure was in the national interest. Debt is not necessarily a bad thing; loans can be worthwhile if they are used for productive purposes, but if they are hijacked by political elites to fund aimless consumption, the taxpayers are ultimately burdened. In recent days, the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd), an organisation that advocates socio-economic justice, won a landmark victory at the High Court. In granting Zimcodd's application, the High Court ordered Treasury to gazette, within 12 months, a Bill amending the Public Debt Management Act [Chapter22;21], after it emerged that the Finance minister has been approving loans without Parliament’s authorisation, in violation of the constitutional tenet of accountability. There is currently a lacuna in the law — a yawning gap or deficiency that needs plugging. Section 20 of the Public Debt Management Act enables the Finance minister to contract public debt on behalf of the government, without parliamentary approval. This is highly problematic because the constitution — in sections 299, 300 and 302 — underlines the role of Parliament in approving public expenditure or any levy to the Consolidated Revenue Fund. You do not need a PhD in law to appreciate that the Act must be amended to align it with the constitution. It is trite law that any Act that is inconsistent with the constitution is null and void to the extent of its own inconsistencies (Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment 20 Act 2013:16). In its founding affidavit, Zimcodd showed that the government issued guarantees for domestic creditors amounting to ZW$20.2 billion and US$1.4 billion without Parliament’s approval in 2021 alone. As the civil society organisation correctly notes, the approval of loans without Parliament’s endorsement weighs heavily on citizens, who end up coughing up, since the loans or debts must ultimately be paid by the people of Zimbabwe through the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Some of these debts are toxic. Political elites and their corporate cronies are gaming the system for self-aggrandisement. They take out loans in their personal capacities, but when they fail to repay, the debts are offloaded into the shoulders of long-suffering taxpayers. Today, a politically connected person can use his proximity to power to acquire agricultural equipment on loan. When he fails to pay back, the debt is "inherited" by the state tomorrow. These opaque dealings are corrupt, unjust and unacceptable. Respect the public purse NewsHawks Page 29 Issue 126, 7 April 2023

New Perspectives FOLLOWING the article under this column (Move towards modernising money) published on 17 March 2023, it is official, the RBZ is set to issue a digital currency, the digital Mosi-oa-Tunya Gold Coin. We are in the digital era and the future of money is being rewritten through the issuance of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). In the latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) update, the Reserv3 Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) said: “To expand the value-preserving instruments and enhance divisibility and widen their access to the public, the MPC resolved to complement the current issuance of physical gold coins with backed digital products. “This initiative will allow gold coins to be widely traded and in the process expand tradable assets in the economy for store of value purposes and will be over and above the procurement, by the Bank of smaller US$ denominations for divisibility purposes and change for transactions in the economy,” said RBZ governor John Mangudya. At this juncture, the digital gold coin is being treated as an asset class but banks around the world are moving towards issuing CBDCs. Given the ongoing economic challenges in Zimbabwe which are tied to currency reforms, every economic player has been interested in exploring and experimenting new ways to solve business challenges. With CBDCs – among others – the future of money could be rewritten. Depending on their design and purpose, digital currencies could enable new customer-centric business models and financial inclusion with fit-for-purpose features at their core. They may provide significant value to corporates and societies by allowing timelier, seamless and more secure collaboration across central banks, countries, corporates and individuals. Payments and settlements of financial transactions could be faster, safer, less error prone and at reduced cost. New formats of money may offer an opportunity to better align the world’s financial system with the realities and challenges that businesses are facing in the digital age. This should be the underlying motivation by the RBZ to issue a digital gold coin. If implemented well, it is the solution to the ongoing currency crisis. CBDCs offer the opportunity to enhance the financial system to keep up with today’s business realities and challenges. Depending on the design of new forms of money, businesses and banks could walk away from batch processing and benefit from micro payments and a higher velocity of money. Businesses would be able to support pay-per-use business models and to continuously perform payments and fundraising. Instant delivery against payment would be possible. In addition, intra-day limits between banks and corporates could be eliminated. This would make daily life enormously easier. In other words, we would operate in a new and different payment and financial markets infrastructure than today. It is important to note that existing payment systems no longer meet the digital era's needs. There is still a need for several intermediaries to conduct a cross-border payment, which makes the process slow, costly and fraud-prone. In the digital age, one would wish to see not only domestic but also cross-border payments be executed much faster. Even with SWIFT, there is sometimes lack of transparency on where the money sits and where the fees are deducted. To settle big-volume transactions like mergers and acquisations or bonds, the settlement day is a challenge and often cumbersome – amounts have to be sliced in tranches to run through the system. Delivery against payment is possible with escrow accounts or when all involved parties use the same bank – which, from a counterparty risk perspective, is not a preferred option. Different payment format-requirements and cut-off times that vary among banks drive costs and complexity at the end. Depending on the design and characteristics of CBDCs, these currencies could join business transactions as cash/ money on chain and automatically execute smart contracts including payments and book entries in individual systems of respective business partners. Saving resources in reconciliation and administrative tasks would enable everyone to focus on innovation and value creation to the benefit of societies. This is exactly what the digital gold coin should bring, not just being an alternative investment asset. The world is moving towards digital assets which also need to be supported by digital currencies for smooth flow of transactions. Digital assets are set to transform financial services in many ways and are not a "tomorrow problem" but are something  every economic player needs to think about today. The major reason digital assets have been such a hot topic, and may disrupt the traditional financial system, is because they offer a new way of exchanging and storing value. This will ultimately mean lower fees, faster transactions and greater security and more. The impact of this to the economy and the financial system includes increased liquidity, greater ease with transferring assets across international boundaries, and the creation of new asset classes. It is high time financial services players focused on developing and investing in capabilities to support customers to participate in digital assets. The RBZ has taken a bold step in modernising money which every player in the financial services sector should support by investing in appropriate infrastructure, delivery channels and supporting products. *About the writer: Kaduwo is a researcher and economist. Contact: [email protected], WhatsApp +263773376128 Modernising money........continued Econometrics HawksView Tinashe Kaduwo Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Page 30 NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023

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 PRISCA TSHUMA THE National Social Security Authority (Nssa) has enhanced its business strategy by consolidating investments in CBZ Bank Limited, FBC Bank Limited and National Building Society to reduce the capitalisation burden on the authority while creating solid growth and dividends. This follows the implementation of a portfolio refocus and restructuring strategy designated to consolidate its investment in the insurance sector and banking sector, so as to create companies with economic scale that are able to grow capital and pay substantial dividends. Nssa currently holds 35% shares in FBC, 100% shares in National Building Society (NBS) and 18% shares in CBZ with an intent of later becoming a major shareholder in CBZ when transactions are finalised. Speaking to The NewsHawks, Nssa's deputy director of marketing and public relations, Tendai Mutseyekwa, said solid investments in companies that are leaders in their industries guaranteed the sustainability of Nssa and its schemes. “Creating a solid banking portfolio is certainly helping the Authority in its sustainability drive. Solid and well-capitalised banking institutions will also not require frequent capitalisation from the shareholders,” he said. He said refocusing investments in these three banks helped reduce the burden of capitalisation. The minimum capitalisation for big commercial banks is US$30 million while for tier-2 institutions like NBS it is US$20 million. Mutseyekwa said Nssa is providing services to pensioners through these banks and so these investments would benefit the retirees, as there has been solid growth in capital and dividend income from FBC and CBZ, which has been part of the investment income used to pay out pensioners. “Having significant holdings means that the Authority is able to implement value-adding proposals such as pensioner revolving facility and zero-rated facility that benefit members,” he said. He added that Nssa was actively pursuing opportunities with the government’s privatisation and commercialisation agenda in a bid to support the government vision of revitalising the economy towards Vision 2030. “One such focus area is the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector in which the Authority is undertaking due diligence on Silo Foods. Such an investment will help in ensuring food security while providing solid returns for Nssa,” said Mutseyekwa. The social security entity has two active projects which are part of the investment into the FMCG sector that includes the construction of modern shopping centres with leading retail shops as anchor tenants. These are anticipated to deliver consistent rental income and solid asset growth in the near future. Economist Prosper Chitambara said that investing in banking was a positive development as the sector was robust and strong; and it had been able to weather a lot of storms in the past. “Definitely, these kind of investments are critical in terms of the preservation of value. The banking sector is one of the sectors that has been making a good profit compared to other sectors,” he told The Newshawks. “Obviously establishing its investments in these institutions goes a long way in terms of ensuring the preservation of value which also ultimately benefits pensioners in terms of their pension payouts,” added Chitambara. However, one of the beneficiaries of the fund was not convinced that Nssa was doing a great job in investing in the banking sector, as some of the investments made by the fund had not yielded good returns. “I do not think them investing in the banking sector would help us in any way nor add value to the payouts that we receive from the fund,” said Musa Muchenje in a phone interview withThe NewsHawks. A pensioner, only identified as Muchenje, cited the Beitbridge Hotel as an example of one bad Nssa investment deal. “Last time the fund built a hotel in Beitbridge, which was a waste of time and money; also they built houses but we are not aware of how they are adding value to our pensions,” he said. In the past, Nssa has made a series of overpriced property investments that ended up being a liability to the fund rather than an asset. The social security invested US$44 million in building the Rainbow Towers hotel in Beitbridge, which to date does not operate as one. “The Beitbridge Hotel has been operating as an isolation centre supporting the government’s health emergency programme during Covid-19.  The Authority is currently working on alternative uses for the property in light of the economic dynamics in Beitbridge,” said Mutseyekwa. In 2019, an audit showed that Nssa had lost up to US$88 million due to poor investment decisions. The authority also lost US$30 million in Capital Bank whose licence was cancelled in 2014 by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. Nssa consolidates bank investments

Page 32 NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 PRISCA TSHUMA SIMBISA Brands, Zimbabwe's largest fast-food restaurant operator, has set a target of having 680 stores by the fiscal year ending 30 June 2023, as part of an expansion programme. In a statement accompanying the group's first half-year financial statements on the Victoria Falls Exchange (VFEX), chairperson Addington Chinake said the company plans to open 49 more stores in the remaining six months, adding to the current 631, to close the fiscal year with 680 stores. Chinake said the company opened 46 new counters between 31 December 2021 and 31 December 2022 to close with 631 counters.  “The group expects to open a further 49 stores to close the financial year with 680 stores. The board will continue to invest any additional free cash generated in strategic assets to achieve the group’s overall target growth trajectory,” said Chinake. On 18 November 2022, Simbisa delisted its ordinary shares from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) and listed on the VFEX on 2 December 2022. The group migrated the local currency bourse to gain access the US dollar capital on the VFEX market and increase shareholder value. Following the listing on the VFEX, which is a US dollar-denominated stock exchange, the group adopted the US dollar as its reporting currency, in terms of IAS 21. The group adopted the US dollar to enhance the usefulness of the financial statements to the group’s stakeholders. In addition, the group re-assessed its functional currency determination and concluded to change it from the Zimbabwe dollar to the US dollar. The functional currency is the currency of the primary economic environment in which the entity operates. “The re-assessment was triggered by operational and regulatory changes in the monetary landscape in Zimbabwe,” said the chairperson. In July 2022, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) effectively increased the minimum lending rates for corporates from 80% to 200%, for all local currency borrowings. Additionally, the RBZ directed that 25% of the unutilised export proceeds would be liquidated at the willing-buyer willing-seller exchange rate after 120 days from the date of receipt. In the same month, the central bank introduced gold coins in a bid to tame the local currency liquidity in the market. The RBZ sold more than 90% of the coins were sold in Zimdollars, which mopped up the excess local currency liquidity in the market, resulting in most transactions within the economy being conducted in US dollars. In his 2023 Monetary Policy Statement on 2 February 2023, the RBZ Governor reported that 70% of the economy’s transactions were being completed in US dollars, whilst 65% of customer deposits for the banking sector are in US dollars, which was evident in Simbisa’s revenue and expenditure within the period under review. Group revenue increased by 24% to US$146 million from US$117 million. The business achieved a 20% overall growth in operating profit. Growth Revenue increased by 31% in Zimbabwe boosted from an increase in customer counts of 38.4%. Meanwhile, the board declared an interim dividend of 0.88 US cents per share. Furthermore, the board approved a dividend of US$248 569 to the Simbisa Employee Share Trust. “The dividend will be payable in United States dollars on or about 20 April 2023 to shareholders registered in the books of the company at the close of business on 14 April 2023. The last day to trade cum-divided is 11 April 2023, and the ex-dividend date is 12 April 2023,” said the group. Simbisa Brands targets 680 stores by year end BERNARD MPOFU FEARS of yesteryear losses triggered by the dramatic collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar and loss of value in pension payouts continues to haunt life assurance companies after a new report revealed that  traditional products contributed only 10% of business written by the sector while funeral assurance contributed the bulk of the transactions. Zimbabwe has over the past 15 years experienced cycles of currency volatilities which have dampened confidence in the country’s financial services sector which includes insurance companies. The government, through the Insurance and Pension Commission (Ipec), has since 2010 been making frantic efforts to stimulate the uptake of insurance products to promote a culture of savings as well as drive economic growth. Insurance companies are heavily exposed in the equities market, property market and money market. But the weakening of the domestic currency has had a huge toll on the return on investment. According to the latest Ipec quarterly report as at 31 December 2022, there were 12 registered life assurers and four registered life re-assurers under the supervision of the insurance regulator. This report is based on 11 out of the 12 direct life assurers, and the four re-assurers. “In terms of business composition, 76% of the total GWP [gross written premiums] was generated from funeral assurance business which has become the mainstay of the sector,”  Ipec says in in fourth-quarter life assurance report. “Traditional life assurance products, which include term assurance, endowment policies, pure endowment and whole life, accounted for a small proportion (10%) of business generated by life assurers. This reflects a low appetite for traditional life assurance products by the market as confidence in the sector remains low. “The Commission encourages all life assurers to deploy customer-centric product development that leverages on modern technology to redesign their products in line with customer expectations in terms of relevance and value preservation. “The Commission encourages all life assurers to deploy customer centric product development that leverages on modern technology to redesign their products in line with customer expectations in terms of relevance and value preservation.” Recurring business, the report shows, contributed about 88% of the GWP for the life assurance sector for the year ended 31 December 2022. “The low GWP generated from new business reflects the volatile macroeconomic environment that prevailed during the period under review, which limited the uptake of new business due to low disposable incomes,” Ipec says. “However, there was a slight improvement from the third quarter which ended 30 September 2022, where new business was 10% of the GWP, reflecting slight improvement in economic stability being witnessed in the economy since June 2022.” The report further shows that for the year ended 31 December 2022, the life assurance sector wrote foreign currency business amounting to US$23.2 million. Funeral assurance business was the major contributor, with one entity writing 50% of the business. After the introduction of the greenback, the government in 2015 commissioned a special inquiry to investigate the impact of the currency reform on both policyholders and the economy. The inquiry was led by retired High Court Justice George Smith. During the inquiry, the commission received many complaints from individual members of the public, as well as from insurance and pension representative organisations. The main concerns related to the loss of value arising from pension contribution arrears, value lost during hyperinflation, inter-generational transfer of benefits, value lost through conversions on dollarisation, forced commutations of the full pension, loss arising from de-mutualisation of Old Mutual and First Mutual and conversion of pension schemes from defined benefit funds to defined contribution funds. A few years ago, cabinet resolved to compensate policyholders, but critics say the amounts are just a drop in the ocean. Funeral policies dominate assurance business Chief Secretary  to the President and Cabinet Misheck Sibanda Companies & Markets

NewsHawks Page 33 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 PRISCA TSHUMA FOOD processing company National Foods Holdings Limited recorded a 9% decline in sales volumes to 275 000 metric tonnes (mt) driven by the poor performance of various units. Group non-executive chairperson Todd Moyo attributed the decrease to the harsh trading environment of the period under review. “From a trading perspective, the period was a challenging one for the group, impacted mainly by global wheat price increases which significantly dampened demand in the flour and flour-related categories and various market adjustments following the drastic but necessary policy interventions which occurred in May and June 2022,” said Moyo. In the flour unit, volumes decreased by 20% due to the increase in the global price of wheat. The import wheat price was US$600 per metric tonne above the normal levels of US$400-US$450/mt, which resulted in bread prices rising. “This led to reduced bread consumption and bread was substituted by favourably priced alternative starches such as rice,” he said. Also performing negatively was the maize milling unit whose volumes declined by 6%. The stockfeeds unit and the biscuit unit volumes dropped by 4% and 15% respectively. In addition, the traded goods unit fell heavily by 44% during the period under review compared to the preceding year, largely because of the performance of the pasta category. “The pasta category performed poorly as a result of product supply challenges following an embargo on exports of pasta from Egypt,” Moyo said. In spite of the lower volumes, Moyo said the Group revenue increased by 8% to US$167 million, a reflection of higher global commodity prices which affected the cost of all of the major raw materials with the exception of rice. Meanwhile, the cereal unit, snacks unit and the downpacked unit had increased volume sales of 42%, 18% and 12% respectively. The group also recorded a 37% in net profit for the period under review despite 5% growth in operational expenditure, as many cost lines increased in real terms with the increased use of US dollars in the economy. “EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation] US$ 13.96 million was 16% below last year, with the result at PBT level being heavily impacted by net interest cost of US$3.3 million incurred on ZWL debt in the first quarter,” he said. “Interest rates were increased to 200% per annum for the quarter, and the high costs were incurred as we took measures to swap our expensive ZWL debt for US$ debt,” he added. National Foods successfully listed on the Victoria Falls Exchange on 23 December 2022. Like the other companies that migrated from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, the group listed on VFEX to gain US dollar capital and add shareholder value. NatFoods records sales decline PRISCA TSHUMA RUBBER and chemical manufacturer General Beltings Holdings Limited has recorded a 53% increase in turnover to ZW$3 billion for the year ended 31 December 2022 compared to the prior year’s ZW$2 billion despite the decrease in sales volume. Overall volumes fell from 1 488 metric tonnes in 2021, which included 514 metric tonnes of Covid-related business to 944 metric tonnes in 2022. Group chairperson Godfrey Nhemachena attributed the positive turnover to increased market consolidation and product mix. “The company’s improved process efficiencies and strong technical partnerships cushioned it against the logistical constraints,” he said. Despite stiff competition from imports, Nhemachena said the company kept its prices, product quality, and turnaround times competitive. “The order book firmed up as consumers of the company’s products opted for a local producer as a mitigant against their own supply risk,” he said. Due  to  improved  overhead  recoveries,  gross  profit  increased  by  96%  to  ZW$1.6  billion  in  the  period  under  review,  compared to ZW$846 million in the previous period. The company also increased its operating profit by 274% to ZW$564 million  from  ZW$151  million  the  previous year. Despite unrelenting inflation and increased dollarisation, operating expenses at ZW$ 1.183 billion were 69% higher than the prior year's ZW$698 million due to cost-cutting measures implemented during the year. In 2022, the operating environment was characterised by high inflation, with year-on-year inflation reaching 243.8%, up from 61% in the same period the previous year. As a result, aggregate demand fell as disposable incomes were decimated as the economy became more dollarised, while punitive interest rates of more than 200% discouraged borrowing. According to Nhemachena, the rubber division volumes increased by 22% to 379 metric tonnes in comparison to the same period the previous year, which was driven by growth in the mining sector. This resulted in a 144% increase in turnover to ZW$2.126 billion from ZW$995 million in 2021. “The division was buoyed by a consistent order book and improved throughput despite intermittent shortages of raw material in 2 months of the year,” said the chairperson. Cernol Chemicals total volumes were 564 metric tonnes, a 52% decrease from the previous year's 1 178 metric tonnes, dragging down division turnover by 11% from ZW$983 million in 2021 to ZW$884 million in 2022. “The decline in volumes was attributable to depressed aggregate demand and the absence of exceptional Covid-19 business recorded in the prior year,” he said. Meanwhile, the group recorded a net profit of 105 million from a loss of 40 million recorded in the prior year. Going forward, the company expects to deliver an improved performance in 2023, though the supply of industrial power remains a significant operational risk that threatens the company's current growth momentum. General Beltings turnover increases Companies & Markets

Page 34 NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 Companies & Markets BERNARD MPOFU CHIEF Secretary  to the President and Cabinet Misheck Sibanda says while the government has approved more than 20 public-private partnerships worth over US$4 billion since the establishment of the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (Zida) three years ago, a lethargic approach by  some ministries and stateowned enterprises has unnerved potential investors. Limited fiscal space and dried-up concessional funding from international financial institutions has resulted in a huge infrastructure gap in Zimbabwe. The country’s investment agency however believes that public-private partnerships can play a vital role in bankrolling capital-intensive infrastructure projects. According to the African Development Bank, Zimbabwe requires nearly US$10 billion to mend its rundown infrastructure, neglected by years of poor government policies and economic turmoil. “Many times after his Excellency’s successful engagements with keen investors, both locally and internationally, limited success is realised due to lack of timeous response by various players in our ministries, departments and agencies which is attributable to limited capacity to clearly articulate the necessary processes,” Sibanda said. “As you are no doubt aware, the world over, resources are limited, hence the growing need to be innovative in coming up with viable financing models for development. In line with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS 1), public-private partnerships are key.” Official documents show that PPPs were introduced in the country in the late 1990s when the economy slowed down after adopting neo-liberal policies such as the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme. During this period, three projects, namely Beitbridge-Bulawayo Railway between 1996-98; the Limpopo Bridge; and the Newlands By-Pass were implemented. “However, uptake of the concept was inadequate for the scope of developments that were envisaged. That was attributable to the macro-economic environment that was characterised by volatility and hyper-inflation which reduced private sector capacity to embark on long-term projects requiring huge financial infusions; and the absence of a clear legislative and regulatory framework governing PPPs,” Sibanda said. “A total of 21 PPPs projects with an estimated value of US$4.2 billion have been processed and approved by cabinet since the establishment of Zida.” Notable projects approved and under implementation, he added, include the upgrading and mordenisation of Beitbridge Border Post, Bulawayo Electronic Parking System, ZETDC Manhize Transmission Power Line and, revamping and upgrading of Zim Parks Lodges along the Zambezi River, among others. Experts say a significant number of PPPs in Zimbabwe have failed to take off due to failure to reach financial closure, limited resources to undertake bankable feasibility studies, conflicts due to misrepresentation of parties and lack of role clarity of stakeholders, among others. “To mitigate the project preparation challenges, government established a project preparation and development fund under the ministry of Finance and Economic Development,” Sibanda said. “However, the fund has not performed as per government expectations due to a combination of factors attributed to the absence of a lead coordinating agency within government ministries, departments and agencies…Capacity issues within ministries departments and agencies to successfully process projects to bankability and lack of an identified national priority list.” Lethargic officials unnerve investors Chief Secretary  to the President and Cabinet Misheck Sibanda

NewsHawks Page 35 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 Stock Taking Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Pricelist Top 5 Gainers Top 5 Losers Value Leaders ($) Top 5 Gainers YTD Market Cap ($mn) 3,181,183.23 0.59% Truworths 15.00% ZHL -10.79% Delta 124,500,000 Tanganda 291.64% All Share Index 38,375.64 0.07% RTG 13.33% FML -6.82% Econet 109,228,100 Nampak 255.16% Top 10 Index 22,627.11 -0.08% TSL 8.60% Econet -5.20% Hippo 88,842,000 Hippo 248.03% Value Traded ($) 372,568,083.75 -58.74% Mash 6.87% Edgars -1.92% NMB 30,155,000 SeedCo 191.06% Interbank rate (USD/ZWL) 945.9365 0.13% FCB 6.75% EHZL -1.89% Proplastics 7,500,000 Meikles 190.22% Market Cap (US$mn) 3,362.9987 0.59% YTD Movement (%) 11.18%  Bloomberg Opening LTP Closing Price Previous Volume traded Value traded Shares In Market Cap Market Cap Price Change Price Change Ticker (RTGSc) (RTGSc) (RTGSc) Change (%) Price (RTGSc) (shares) (RTGS$) Issue (mn's) (RTGS$ mn's) (US$ mn's) RTGS YTD (%) US$ YTD (%) Afdis AFDIS: ZH 31,668.89 - 31,668.89 - 31,668.89 - - 119.49 37,842.59 40.01 20.23% -13.02% African Sun ASUN: ZH - SUSP - - 0.00 - - 1,477.90 0.00 0.00 -100.00% -100.00% Ariston ARISTON: ZH 1,010.00 1,000.00 992.20 -1.76% 1,010.00 5,000 49,610.00 1,627.40 16,147.02 17.07 144.75% 77.06% Art ARTD: ZH 2,895.22 2,960.00 2,960.00 2.24% 2,895.22 100 2,960.00 436.98 12,934.53 13.67 111.43% 52.96% Bridgerfort MMDZ: ZH 920.53 - 920.53 - 920.53 - - 12.00 110.46 0.12 15.07% -16.76% Bridgerfort Class B 2,930.00 - 2,930.00 - 2,930.00 - - 1.32 38.79 0.04 12.69% -18.47% BAT BAT: ZH 327,935.41 - 327,935.41 - 327,935.41 - - 20.63 67,664.61 71.53 17.16% -15.24% Border BRDR: ZH SUSPENDED - - - - - - 42.94 0.00 0.00 - - Cafca CAFCA: ZH 37,977.75 - 37,977.75 - 37,977.75 - - 8.74 3,317.40 3.51 89.79% 37.31% CBZ CBZ: ZH 18,365.00 20,000.00 19,546.88 6.44% 18,365.00 12,800 2,502,000.00 522.66 102,164.01 108.00 44.79% 4.75% CFI CFI: ZH 58,880.00 - 58,880.00 - 58,880.00 - - 106.04 62,436.87 66.01 43.02% 3.46% Delta DLTA: ZH 83,001.64 83,000.00 83,000.00 0.00% 83,001.64 150,000 124,500,000.00 1305.85 1,083,855.17 1,145.80 130.70% 66.90% Dairibord DZL: ZH 9,716.67 10,000.00 10,000.00 2.92% 9,716.67 1,400 140,000.00 358.00 35,800.09 37.85 185.71% 106.70% Ecocash EHZL:ZH 6,790.47 6,700.00 6,662.18 -1.89% 6,790.47 11,900 792,800.00 2590.58 172,588.92 182.45 66.22% 20.25% Econet*** ECO: ZH 24,837.59 23,500.00 23,545.60 -5.20% 24,837.59 463,900 109,228,100.00 2590.58 609,966.86 644.83 144.56% 76.93% Edgars EDGR: ZH 2,600.00 2,600.00 2,550.00 -1.92% 2,600.00 400 10,200.00 604.25 15,408.32 16.29 168.42% 94.19% FBC FBC: ZH 11,650.00 12,000.00 12,000.00 3.00% 11,650.00 2,400 288,000.00 671.95 80,633.99 85.24 93.55% 40.02% Fidelity Life FIDL: ZH 3,000.00 - 3,000.00 - 3,000.00 - - 108.92 3,267.70 3.45 25.00% -9.57% FCB FCB: ZH 3,131.35 3,250.00 3,342.78 6.75% 3,131.35 900 30,085.00 2159.91 72,201.20 76.33 112.24% 53.54% First Mutual FMLH: ZH 2,200.00 2,050.00 2,050.00 -6.82% 2,200.00 20,000 410,000.00 690.14 14,147.93 14.96 -19.92% -42.07% First Mutual Properties FMP: ZH 1,500.00 1,450.00 1,499.17 -0.06% 1,500.00 12,000 179,900.00 1,238.16 18,562.08 19.62 24.93% -9.62% GB Holdings GBH: ZH 200.00 200.00 200.00 - 200.00 15,100 30,200.00 536.59 1,073.18 1.13 11.52% -19.32% GetBucks GBFS: ZH 2,300.00 - 2,300.00 - 2,300.00 - - 1,163.12 26,751.72 28.28 5.50% -23.67% Hippo HIPO: ZH 62,000.15 64,500.00 63,549.36 2.50% 62,000.15 139,800 88,842,000.00 193.02 122,663.33 129.67 248.03% 151.78% Lafarge LACZ: ZH - SUSP - - 0.00 - - 80.00 0.00 0.00 - - Mash MASH: ZH 1,310.00 1,400.00 1,400.00 6.87% 1,310.00 100 1,400.00 1,687.58 23,626.18 24.98 51.39% 9.52% Masimba MSHL: ZH 14,500.00 - 14,500.00 - 14,500.00 - - 241.65 35,039.79 37.04 81.35% 31.20% Meikles MEIK: ZH 32,505.00 - 32,505.00 - 32,505.00 - - 256.15 83,261.80 88.02 190.22% 109.96% Nampak NPKZ: ZH 3,100.00 3,200.00 3,200.00 3.23% 3,100.00 100 3,200.00 755.65 24,180.74 25.56 255.16% 156.94% NMB NMB: ZH 6,005.00 6,005.00 6,006.97 0.03% 6,005.00 502,000 30,155,000.00 404.17 24,278.47 25.67 59.48% 15.37% NTS NTS: ZH 1,400.00 - 1,400.00 - 1,400.00 - - 253.87 3,554.21 3.76 37.25% -0.70% OK Zimbabwe OKZ: ZH 6,428.06 6,500.00 6,542.53 1.78% 6,428.06 51,000 3,336,690.00 1,296.31 84,811.59 89.66 102.43% 46.45% Old Mutual OMU: ZH - SUSP - - 0.00 - - 62.68 0.00 0.00 - - PPC PPC: ZH 8,199.06 SUSP - - 8,199.06 - - 37.09 0.00 0.00 - - Proplastics PROL: ZH 8,000.00 10,000.00 7,995.00 -0.03% 795.00 75,000 7,500,000.00 251.94 20,142.25 21.29 -75.91% 75.27% RTG RTG: ZH 1,500.00 1,400.00 1,400.00 13.33% 1,500.00 1,100 18,700.00 2,495.50 34,936.94 36.93 69.11% 14.19% Seedco SEED: ZH 21,690.17 - 21,690.17 - 21,690.17 - - 249.37 54,089.57 57.18 191.06% 110.57% Star Africa SACL: ZH 169.18 180.00 170.33 0.68% 169.18 227,100 386,828.25 4,715.08 8,031.20 8.49 -19.58% -41.82% Tanganda TANG:ZH 35,000.00 35,000.00 35,000.00 0.09% 35,000.00 9,100 3,185,000.00 261.06 91,372.61 96.59 291.64% 183.33% Truworths TRUW: ZH 270.00 310.50 310.50 15.00% 270.00 100 310.50 384.07 1,192.53 1.26 12.91% -18.32% TSL TSL: ZH 10,260.00 10,250.00 11,142.86 8.60% 10,260.00 700 78,000.00 358.08 39,900.02 42.18 153.22% 83.19% Turnall TURN: ZH 600.00 - 600.00 - 600.00 - - 493.04 2,958.24 3.13 51.99% 9.96% Unifreight UNIF: ZH 7,000.00 - 7,000.00 - 7,000.00 - - 106.47 7,453.20 7.88 35.53% -1.95% Willdale WILD: ZH 352.89 - 352.89 - 352.89 - - 1,778.00 6,274.39 6.63 96.05% 41.83% ZBFH ZBFH: ZH 10,652.50 - 10,652.50 - 10,652.50 - - 175.19 18,662.18 19.73 -5.69% -31.77% Zeco ZECO: ZH 3.31 - 3.31 - 3.31 - - 463.34 15.34 0.02 0.00% -27.66% ZHL ZHL: ZH 1,200.00 1,200.00 1,070.53 -10.79% 1,200.00 83,800 897,100.00 1,818.22 19,464.58 20.58 103.91% 47.52% Zimpapers ZIMP: ZH 600.00 - 600.00 - 600.00 - - 576.00 3,456.00 3.65 148.66% 79.89% Zimplow Holdings ZIMPLOW: ZH 3,613.44 - 3,613.44 - 3,613.44 - - 344.58 12,451.21 13.16 112.56% 53.77% Hwange HCCL: ZH SUSPENDED - - - - - 167.89 - - - - RioZim RIOZ: ZH 18,400.00 - 18,400.00 - 18,400.00 - - 122.03 22,453.42 23.74 31.43% -4.99% Econet shares in issue include Class A Shares Opening LTP Closing Price Change Previous Price Volume traded Value traded Market Cap Market Cap Price Change Price Change (RTGSc) (RTGSc) (RTGSc) (%) (RTGSc) (RTGS$) (RTGS$ mn's) (US$ mn's) RTGS YTD (%) US$ YTD (%) Cass Saddle Agriculture ETF 205.24 - 205.24 0.00% 205.24 - - - - 14.02% -17.51% Datvest Modified Consumer Staples ETF 185.00 185.00 185.00 0.00% 185.00 21,458 39,697.30 419.09 0.44 18.59% -14.21% Morgan&Co Made in Zimbabwe 193.29 - 193.29 0.00% 193.29 - - 4,758.80 5.03 69.93% 22.93% Morgan&Co Multi Sector 2,950.03 3,100.00 3,100.00 5.08% 2,950.03 7,600 235,600.00 3,903.76 4.13 34.78% -2.49% OM ZSE Top-10 ETF 999.46 1,100.00 1,091.92 9.25% 999.46 2,540 27,734.80 1,568.27 1.66 69.55% 22.66% Opening LTP Closing Price Change Previous Price Volume traded Value traded Market Cap Market Cap Price Change Price Change (RTGSc) (RTGSc) (RTGSc) (%) (RTGSc) (RTGS$) (RTGS$ mn's) (US$ mn's) RTGS YTD (%) US$ YTD (%) Tigere REIT 5,000.00 5,062.00 5,062.00 1.24% 5,000.00 5,475 227,144.50 36,412.13 38.49 23.51% -10.64% Victoria Falls Stock Exchange Pricelist Market Cap US$ (mn) 1,024.01 -0.01% All Share Index 91.26 -0.01% Value Traded US$ 506.86 -93%  Bloomberg Opening LTP Closing Price Previous Volume traded Value traded Shares In Market Cap Market Cap Price Change Price Change Ticker (USc) (USc) (USc) Change (%) Price (USc) (shares) (US$) Issue (mn's) (US$ mn's) (RTGS$ mn's) US YTD (%) RTGS$ YTD (%) Axia Corporation Limited AXIA:ZH 10.35 10.05 10.20 -1.45% 14.75 1,020 104.01 552.15 56.32 53,274.48 -13.79% 19.17% BNC BIND:ZH 1.97 1,98 1.97 0.00% 1.97 600 11.83 1,272.73 25.07 23,717.21 -14.35% 18.39% Caledonia CMCL:ZH 1,560.00 - 1,560.00 0.00% 1,560.00 - - 0.62 9.67 9,149.10 20.00% 65.87% Innscor Africa Limited INN:ZH 64.75 65.00 64.98 0.36% 64.75 435 282.66 569.88 370.31 350,285.69 -1.24% 36.51% National Foods Holdings Limited NTFD: ZH 181.95 - 181.95 0.00% 181.95 - - 68.40 124.45 117,725.58 1.85% 40.79% NedBank Zim Depository Receipts 1,085.33 - 1,085.33 0.00% 1,085.33 - - 0.16 1.74 1,644.34 -5.62% 30.45% Padenga PHL:ZH 18.15 - 18.15 0.00% 18.15 - - 537.67 97.59 92,311.67 -20.81% 9.46% Seed Co Intl SCIL:ZH 26.10 - 26.10 0.00% 26.10 - - 393.65 102.74 97,187.48 -12.85% 20.46% Simbisa SIM:ZH 42.10 42.00 42.00 -0.24% 42.10 258 108.36 562.18 236.12 223,352.27 14.75% 58.62% * The complete list of ZSE Indices can be obtained from the ZSE website: www.zse.co.zw * The complete list of VFEX Indices can be obtained from the VFEX website: https://www.vfex.exchange/ Exchange Traded Funds Real Estate Investment Trust Ϭϲ Ɖƌŝů͕ ϮϬϮϯ Ϭϲ Ɖƌŝů͕ϮϬϮϯ

Page 36 NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 News Analysis NATHAN GUMA GOVERNMENT should investigate all people implicated in the Al Jazeera documentary for the country’s fight against corruption to be taken seriously, which will help cleanse its soiled image on the international forum, analysts say. This week, the Zimbabwean government – three weeks after the airing of the first episode of the four-part series, which showed how politically-connected elites have been smuggling the country’s gold through illicit channels – finally said it takes the allegations seriously. In a statement, Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa said: “Government takes note of a documentary 'Gold Mafia' which is currently being sacralised by an international channel purporting to expose alleged money laundering and gold smuggling in Zimbabwe. “Government takes the allegations raised in the documentary seriously, and has directed relevant organs to institute investigations into the issues raised therein. Any person found to have engaged in acts of corruption, fraud, or any form of crime will face the full wrath of the law. “Government takes the opportunity to re-affirm its commitment to upholding local and international laws, including laws relating to financial transactions, the trade of gold, and other precious minerals,” wrote Mutsvangwa in the statement. Political analyst Rashweat Mukundu says while Zimbabwe has made important strides in acknowledging the content of the documentary’s findings, it is important for the government to go beyond mere words and take action against everyone involved in the scandal. He says Mutsvangwa’s statement is a public relations stunt.  “First of all it is a positive step that the government is acknowledging the exposé by Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit on the documentary on gold smuggling and money laundering. But, closer reading of the statement (by minister Mutsvangwa) shows the defensive mode that the government has entered into. They are saying these are purported criminal activities, and this shows that what they are doing and saying is a mere public relations exercise. “This is because the name of the government of Zimbabwe, its leaders, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and arms of the state have been exposed in a big way, at an international level in their complicity in the issues that are being raised in the documentary,” says Rashweat Mukundu, a political analyst.   He says Zimbabwe is unlikely to be trusted should it fail to deal decisively with all people implicated in the documentary. “And the country’s standing in the international community is hugely damaged, essentially as the international community sees this country as a criminal state and lawless state, and this is what happens when corruption is abated for personal gains of the few. “The whole country suffers, as no one takes seriously a country with such high levels of corruption. The contrast is obviously what we are seeing across the border in South Africa where these matters are being taken seriously by institutions that are involved,” Mukundu says. He says failure to investigate all people implicated in the smuggling racket is likely to bare government’s already exposed soul. “So, whilst the government has done well by acknowledging, or at least indicating that some form of investigation is taking place, however they will be judged by what they will do. “If nothing happens, then this essentially cements Zimbabwe as a kleptocratic, lawless and failed state. And a country that cannot be trusted at an international level to do the basics in terms of promoting its own interest,” Mukundu says. This week, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) also ordered the freezing of assets belonging to a few individuals facilitating the smuggling, while leaving out people involved in the alleged crimes. According to a report by state media, the FIU said: “You are being directed to immediately identify and freeze all assets of the following individuals; Cleopas Chidodo, David Chirozvi, Mehlululi Dube and Fredrick Kunaka. May you also freeze all assets of legal persons and arrangements associated with them. Kindly treat the report as urgent” The four are deemed minnows in comparison to the implicated big fish, who are closely linked to Mnangagwa. For instance, in the first episode of the documentary, Mnangagwa’s controversial envoy, Uebert Angel, brags about being able to sign binding treaties, even without the President’s knowledge. In the documentary, he is also caught pants down, promising Al Jazeera’s undercover investigative journalists to smuggle US$1.2 billion in a diplomatic bag into Zimbabwe for money laundering services for him to get paid out of it. Presidential spokesperson George Charamba through his Twitter handle @Tinoedza Zvimwe1 refuted reports that Angel had been stripped of his diplomatic passport, contrary to what Mnangagwa’s biographer Eddie Cross had told Al Jazeera.   Also implicated is controversial miner Henrietta Rushwaya, who was arrested for attempting to smuggle 6.7kg of gold worth US$366 000 at Robert Mugabe International Airport in 2020. Despite her high-profile arrest, she managed to wriggle out. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has washed hands on her case, saying it has failed to get substantial evidence against her. The Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd), an organisation that promotes accountability, says Zimbabwe must proffer immediate recommendations for investigation and resolution of the matter. “The broadcast episodes show that Zimbabwe is losing an average of 500kgs of gold per week to gold smuggling syndicates who claim to have connections to the highest echelons of power. “Key public institutions such as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and Fidelity Printers and Refiners who are custodians of gold production and exportation are all implicated. This points to the scale and magnitude of the gold smuggling which has possibly been institutionalised,” according to a report released by the organisation. Zimcodd says effects of the illicit flows of gold heavily weigh on citizens. According to the organisation, 7.7 million people are living in extreme poverty while 3.8 million rural people are in need of food assistance. Over 1.6 million urban people are in need of food assistance, while 4.8 million children are living in poverty, raising the need for plugging gold leakages. Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) says failure to investigate all people implicated in the smuggling case is likely to worsen Zimbabwe’s track record in the fight against corruption. In response to the four-part documentary, TIZ said government institutions should institute in-depth investigations in order to put an end illicit financial flows in the country. “The documentary comes after the release of the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index which revealed ongoing endemic corruption in Zimbabwe, with a score of just 23 out of 100. New scandals of grand corruption and abuses of public office continue to emerge, which damages the country in the perspective of investors and development partners. “As the documentary highlights, more and more cartels work with individuals and institutions in Zimbabwe to move dirty money using anonymous trusts and shell companies in tax havens and other secretive jurisdictions. This insidious relationship facilitates organised crime and huge outflows of gold and other precious minerals. In particular, the documentary exposes incidences of alleged under invoicing and under declarations by registered gold dealers to Fidelity Printers and the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, alleging even higher losses than previously assumed. “This reduces the country’s ability to build critical infrastructure and support the needs of the population or respond to urgent challenges. To combat this, the government of Zimbabwe should strengthen mutual legal assistance with other involved jurisdictions to facilitate the exchange of information. They must also ensure that such institutions have the capacity to manage mutual legal assistance requests,” according to TIZ.  To stop the bleeding, TIZ says law enforcement, anti-corruption agencies and regulatory authorities should immediately revoke gold trade and export licenses given to the implicated individuals and corporations, pending an investigation into the allegations. The country’s corruption fight has been hollow with the country already falling behind fellow regional neighbours. This year, Zimbabwe was a non-mover on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), a corruption tracker produced by civil society group Transparency International to measure perceptions of public sector corruption levels in 180 countries around the world. With a 23/100 score, Zimbabwe fell below the regional average of 32/100, while ranking 157 out of 180 of the most corrupt countries in the world, according to the index. Zimbabwe has the lowest score in the Sadc region, trailing all its neighbours, with the Seychelles scoring 70/100, the highest score in the sub-Saharan region, followed by neighbours Botswana with 60/100. The country also falls below South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi, among others, scoring 43/100, 26/100, 33/100 and 34/100 respectively. Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services minister Monica Mutsvangwa All corrupt elements must be investigated: Watchdogs

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 37 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 CLAYTON MOYO AS  Al Jazeera’s “Gold Mafia”  exposé continued to unearth the shocking corrupt dealings of associates of Zimbabwean ruling politicians, there was an expectation of a response from government officials. A response has indeed come. A top official, Deputy Chief Secretary in Presidential Communications (long title for presidential spokesperson) George Charamba, is threatening journalists with imprisonment.  Some of the top journalists in the country have already expressed concern over this. Editor of online outlet ZimLive, Mduduzi Mathuthu, posted a tweet pointing out that the government would act against them. Government threatens Zimbabwean journalists over ‘Gold Mafia’ story In late February, Al Jazeera aired promos for their March programming. In those teasers, they flagged a four-part documentary series on the “Gold Mafia” in southern Africa, with Zimbabwe being the centre of focus. That got everyone’s attention. In Harare they were agitated. True to Igbo wisdom as articulated in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, when a tadpole jumps in broad daylight — something is after its life. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which is implicated in money-laundering allegations, responded with a preemptive long denial with its signature cliche of “dismiss[ing] the false allegations with the contempt they deserve” before a single episode had been aired. The expose names quite a number of characters who do not necessarily have a clean reputation in Zimbabwe — and so no surprises. What has shocked people is the scale and brazen detail in which they carry out these activities. That is not all. Al Jazeera’s phased expose implicates high offices. That is how the presidential spokesperson and journalists come into the picture. In a threatening tweet, Charamba, who uses an account that he has confirmed to be his, despite the fact that its profile is not in sync with his position and the role he plays in the government, warns that: “FRIENDLY ADVICE TO ALL RECKLESS JOURNALISTS: Al Jazeera is not a court of law before whose claims impart privileges to defamatory utterances. “It is merely some weaponized  channel. If you are reckless enough to repeat what its phoney documentary defamatorily says, hoping to plead: ‘I heard/saw it on Al Jazeera,’ you will be sorry for yourself. Do not for once think there is grit to act against defamatory and politically motivated journalism. Faceless Twitter names egging you on will not be a factor when brickbats come. Be warned.” Criminal defamation has been abolished by the constitutional court but in a country where journalists’ safety has never been guaranteed, this is sufficient warning to anyone interested in covering this expose. Charamba has ignited a loop of self-censorship. Those who the Zimbabwean government targets have a tough time. In his threat, the presidential spokesperson ominously made reference to jailed opposition parliamentarian  Job Sikhala  to signal how the government would deal with journalists who fell out of line in coverage of the story. What Charamba is trying to avoid is the amplification of the details in the documentary. If credible journalists are gagged, lesser-known, “faceless Twitter names” get to share the story and their messages do not carry the same weight as journalists with an established professional reputation. There is a method to this. In Zimbabwe, it is not Al Jazeera’s broadcasts that are accessible to the majority, it is the screenshots forwarded to WhatsApp groups. If journalists and news outlets do not cover a story, the screenshot information distribution system is starved and this story could fade without the virality and impact that journalists would prompt. Some Twitter users have been quick to dismiss Charamba’s threat by reminding him that the time when state media used to dominate the information landscape is long gone. They reckon that people will use social media to pick up these stories, despite the threats. The implication here is that we can do with the silence of journalists. That underestimates Charamba’s actions. Professional journalists and their credible journalism are the heart of the functioning of democratic processes. Choking journalism is a calculated assault on democracy and it must be treated as such. It is not a rant or reckless banter by an overzealous Harare bureaucrat. The presidential spokesperson’s threat is blistering. He draws parallels with how Al Jazeera journalists were victimised by the Egyptian government. In 2021, it released Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Hussein who it had detained for four years without charges or trial. This attempt at silencing journalists a few months before elections must be resisted. The United Nations has an elaborate Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity and one of the actions is coalition building. That must be a starting point for confronting the government on its latest attempts to gag journalists and to undermine constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression. Individual journalists and media houses must not be left alone to deal with threats from powerful political actors. There must be collective confrontation of those with political interests and demands for accountability and respect for the journalism profession. As the 2023 Zimbabwean election draws close, the safety of journalists must be protected. These signs of an appetite to trample on it are enough. — Mail & Guardian. *About the writer: Clayton Moyo, a Canon Collins PhD scholar, is a digital media enthusiast teaching broadcast media at the National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe. He shares media skills outside the university with citizen journalists and emerging media entrepreneurs. Deputy Chief Secretary in Presidential Communications George Charamba

Page 38 Reframing Issues NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 This is an abridged version of a presentation made by Dr Phillan Zamchiya, a senior researcher at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape to a regional land policy brief on 29 March in Johannesburg. The conference was attended by delegates from South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.   This research is an outcome of a project conceived in 2020 to investigate how and why the formalisation of customary land rights is affecting tenure security for women living in rural areas in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Zambia and the relational implications for policymakers. DR PHILLAN ZAMCHIYA MOST countries including in the Global North are struggling with how to reform tenure to improve land tenure security for all — especially women — and deepen democracy. A number of global instruments have been put in place to secure women’s land rights. However, in sub-Saharan Africa and in the Global South one of the most dramatic developments is the rapid drive towards formalisation of property rights in land  through surveying of boundaries, registration and documentation of customary land rights as a way to improve tenure security. This proposition is embedded in the gender-blind Evolutionary Theories of Land Rights (ETLR) whose central overt and covert logic is a drive towards Western forms of individualised private property. This can be conceptualised as evolutionary development and is mainly supported by some free market economists and African feminist lawyers. To signify this trend, between 1990 and 2018 there were 33 new land laws enacted across sub-Saharan Africa, much of them with a focus on formalising property rights in land under customary tenure. Aspiration six of the African Union Agenda 2063 also stipulates that 90% of rural women must have access to productive assets, including land, by 2025 which remains pie in the sky. The 2015 African Union’s Special Technical Committee on Agriculture, Water and Environment recommendation requires states to allocate at least 30% of land to women by 2025. Formalisation will enable women to: • Own property in their own names (Deininger et al 2008); • Co-own family and common property resources (see Amanor 2012); • Bequeath land as inheritance (see Amanor 2012); and • Borrow money from banks and invest (Ji et al., 2021);         Formalisation will also lead to: • Transfer of land to “efficient” farm users (Cao et al 2022; Yan and Huo, 2016, Wang et al., 2018); • Replacement of patriarchal customary land governance systems; • The deepening of democracy (Atuahene 2005); and • Reduction of land conflicts and violence against women (Mekonen et al 2020; Bessa and Malasha 2020, ) Women in particular are expected to benefit remarkably from formalisation, in a context where customary norms are backward and not gender-neutral (Terra Firma 2013; Cabral and Norfolk 2016:22). As Celine Salcedo-La Viña (2020) argues, land titles are often used as a proxy for women’s land tenure security. Formalisation is taking different formats across the four studied countries. The first is "formalisation from above" by legally mandated state institutions in Mozambique where the 1997 Land Law provides mechanisms through which individuals, communities, and investors could register landuse rights, including a Direito de Uso e Aproveitamento da Terra (Duat), which comprises a right to use and benefit from land that may be held individually or jointly. This is being driven by the state and is massively funded by Western donors and the World Bank in particular which has donated US$100 million in 2018 to regularise 2 million Duats (World Bank Group 2018).  The programme targets 40% of beneficiaries to be women (WBG 2018). Zambia has two broad processes of formalisation of property rights in land, for people who live under customary tenure. The first is an official process enshrined in section 8 of the 1995 Lands Act (Republic of Zambia 1995) that provides for the conversion of customary land to state land through leasehold titles not exceeding 99 years. The second, which is a focus of this study, is neither recognised by the 1995 Lands Act nor the Zambia National Lands Policy (Republic of Zambia 2021). It involves the surveying of boundaries, registration and issuance of doc- uments called customary landholding certificates to individuals by the traditional leaders working with civil society organisations (CSOs) and Western donors. The third involves the conversion of customary land to state land for the government’s various rural development projects in Zimbabwe sustained by a resurgent "modernisation" belief of the 1950s in the post-Robert Mugabe era. The fourth dimension is exemplified by South Africa where there is an increase in urban domestic elites acquiring huge tracts of customary land in alliance with traditional leaders, especially for residential purposes. Formalisation takes different dimensions in different countries depending on local circumstances and the different interests of stakeholders. However, the formalisation programmes seem to be largely embedded in Western evolutionary models of land tenure rights that draw from a narrow construction of legality, which presumes that individual ownership is ultimately inevitable for all social contexts. The resurgent modernist school of thought whose central logic is that "the African relationship to the land, African authority and African society" are "backward", "traditional", and unready for the strict discipline and rationality of modern rural development predicated on state merit. Across the four countries, decision making and authority over customary land is largely vested in the executive (responsible minister and president), rural district councils and customary authorities rather than in women and men who are the real land rights holders and users. This stems from distorted versions of African customary law as part of the apartheid and colonial legacy. A declaration by the government in any of the four countries automatically renders the land the private property of the state. The Southern African states are reluctant to domesticate the international principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC). Formalisation of customary land rights and implications for women

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 39 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 FPIC is an international principle that gives people the right to say yes or no to developmental projects, therefore upholding the universal right to self-determination (Food and Agriculture Organisation 2014, p.12). FPIC at a policy implementation level entails that the rightsholders-men and women- must make decisions free from undue influence, coercion, bribe and fear (Franco 2014). Some women have lower tenure security and are least beneficiaries in the tenure reforms. Single women are expected to leave the family land once they are married, and tend to be considered “transient” in rural cultures; A Divorcee is expected to leave her husband’s land and return to the family land from which she came; Young women in general remained excluded as only 8.45% of our respondents who acquired land in the past five years were aged between 18 and 35 years; Married women. Even when a married woman’s name is on the land certificate it does not always transform gendered power relations over who controls the land; Single women with children (not divorcees) tend to have better access to land. It seems customary law is adapting to the high number of women who do not want to get married: Most widows no longer face immediate eviction after the death of husband but are conditioned to patriarchal norms, like they cannot remarry and they have to be indoors by sunset and are not allowed to wave at men; Old women have more bargaining power and decision making power over land which is acquired over time after fulfilling some constructed social reproduction roles such as having children. Formally educated women with access to information, strong social and political networks, and good financial income are in a better position to benefit from reforms and enforce their rights unlike the poor and vulnerable. Ignoring some of the differentiated gender experiences leads to simplified land policies in all countries, obscures analysis of the impact of formalisation and exacerbate the vulnerabilities of those affected, rather than help them. In all four countries, formalisation is accelerating the commodification of customary land, leading to the rise of informal “land markets”. This is despite the fact that land laws in all four countries do not permit the selling of customary land. The processes of commodification are starker in our study sites in South Africa where over three quarters (75.25%) of our respondents who ac- quired residential plots or arable land in the past ten years paid for it in cash to the traditional authority or individuals. This is followed by Zimbabwe where 59% of our respondents had bought land in the past five years. In our study sites in Mozambique and Zambia informal land markets are also established. Traditional leaders are primarily the ones selling land in South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe outside the law, while in Mozambique it is mainly individuals and domestic elites. Land prices are also increasing, to the disadvantage of many vulnerable women. Some urban elites, salaried local workers, migrants, and the local big shots — mainly men — acquire land in corrupt exchanges for speculative and not production purposes. In many cases, the poor women could not afford the costs involved, putting land rights beyond the reach of many, especially in a region where close to 88 million people (translating to 45.5% of the population in rural areas) live in extreme poverty with the highest number being among the female-headed households. The emerging new land rights property system is becoming a mechanism to redistribute land from the poor to the rich and from farmers to speculators. This is resulting in a new land question of elite concentration in southern Africa. The privatisation of customary land shows that there is an evident shift in decision-making power from  families and communities to the state officials , private consultants, traditional leaders and local big ‘men’ sometimes connected to the ruling parties who challenge the authority of the traditional ‘rural big men’. Emerging is a hybrid of traditional, elected and appointed institutions to govern customary land whose nature and characteristics we still need to fully understand. The research found no evidence of certificates or customary land and houses being used to apply for loans from commercial banks. The land laws in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia do not provide for the use of customary land as collateral. However, all the managers of the commercial banks we surveyed for this research said their institutions only recognise state-issued leaseholds or title deeds as proof of land ownership. On average only 2.5% of respondents across the four countries had acquired loans using either customary land or the certificate as some form of collateral. The distribution is as follows: South Africa (4.3%); Zimbabwe (4%);    Zambia 1.7% and Mozambique (0%). The sources of the loans were family, micro-financial institutions. , friends, church and not the conventional commercial banks. The data show that the acquisition of a certificate (Mozambique and Zambia) and individualization of property rights (in South Africa and Zimbabwe) was not, on its own, sufficient to make people feel secure enough to invest. Rather,  the majority of respondents ( 51.1 %) said that they were continuing to invest on the land as a way of legitimating their stay and ensuring security of tenure. This is as follows: Mozambique(34.1%); South Africa (49.7%); Zambia (60.7%) and Zimbabwe (76%). Thus, although insecurity of tenure is a disincentive to invest, it is paradoxically often also an incentive from our study, because people feel investment will itself increase security. The research found no evidence directly linking agricultural productivity to the acquisition of certificates (Mozambique and Zambia). The dominant story was that the certification programme could not be linked to increased production. As a respondent, explained: The certificate will only help me to reduce conflicts over boundaries. It cannot help me to have [a] bumper harvest. But state-subsidised fertiliser will help me to have a bumper harvest. If government can also help us with markets because some traders shortchange us … To many women, what mattered most to productivity, was linking tenure reform to largescale state programs that support agricultural productivity. Across our study sites, almost one in every three households (30.3%) said that conflicts have increased in the past 10 years revealing deepening social and gendered divisions. There are intensifying conflicts over land across the region, revealing deepening social and gendered di- visions. Almost one in every three households (30.3%) said that land conflicts have increased over the past 10 years. The distribution within countries is as follows: Zimbabwe (59%), South Africa (49.8%), Zambia (10%) and Mozambique (2.3%). The most prevalent of these conflicts relate to: (a) double allocations of the same parcel through corrupt practices; (b) access to common property resources (c) boundary conflicts; (d) inheritance conflicts; (e) divorce disputes; (f) disputes with new settlers and returnees; (g) eviction by the state and private investors, and (h) gender-based conflicts. Across our study sites, 27.5% of respondents feel insecure on their land and fear that they may lose their land in the next five years. The distribution of respondents who fear losing their land to government per country is as follows: Zimbabwe (84%), Mozambique (58.3%), South Africa (20%), and Zambia (20%). The distribution of respondents per country who fear losing their land to private investors is as follows: Zambia (53.3%), South Africa (40%), Mozambique (16.7%), and Zimbabwe (10%). Owing to the existential threats, most households said that common property resources such as (a) forest land, (b) rangelands, (c) community grave sites, and (d) rivers are the most insecure and the most likely to be grabbed by government and private investors. Most African tenure systems include a set of rights namely (1) individual/family rights for residential sites (2) arable lands or cropping land and (3) collectively held rights for common property resources like forest and grazing land. An individualisation approach does not work with rural common property resources which are never an  exclusive right to one person, and which have fluid boundaries and flexible rules. Access to land and natural resources is based on membership and affiliation to different social groups and it becomes difficult to register such ever changing affiliations. Land tenure represents a set of mobile social relations valid for a point in time. They are not static. It is living customary law. The challenge is to capture a moving target, a set of mobile social relations. Customary land rights are often multiple (a bundle of land rights), nested, shared (even with seasonal users) and overlapping in character and therefore difficult to individualise and record. The processes can make customary tenure more legible and available on the open markets (which are not gender neutral) dominated by wealthier big private companies, more educated and more powerful women and men with social and political networks at the expense of the poor households with traditional elites selling land. This can lead to market-driven displacements of the poor and vulnerable. Formalisation has also proven not to be a magic bullet to unlock lending to the poor by commercial banks. Commercial banks do not lend to the poor because of the high risk of not repaying the loan, the low value of their household assets, and high transaction costs. Families earning less than around US$2 400 per month are unlikely to get access to formal credit using land or housing as collateral, whether or not they hold state leaseholds/title deeds/DUATS or rural certificates to their homes and land. Even if the government was to make it legally mandatory or persuade the commercial banks to lend to the poor using their land, houses or assets as collateral, failure to repay the loans would result in possession of their homes leaving them landless and homeless. They have other informal networks where they borrow as we have seen. Technically fixing land governance without agrarian support is not likely going to lead to increased productivity, investments, economic development and poverty reduction. In fact, there is a danger to institutionalise gendered inequalities. Formalisation can cause conflict such as GBV through introducing simplified and alien categories such as the ‘owner’ which tend to contradict local custom and to exclude the husband and other family and community land users (Ayano 2018). Documentation of land rights has also helped to enhance the territorial interests of the state and traditional authorities to govern, control people and consolidate authoritarian power (Boone 2007, Chinigò 2015, Scott 1998). Registered title deeds creates unaffordable costs for many poor people. They have to pay rates and most end up losing their land. The associated land registers are a recurrent cost and difficult to maintain to an extent that they lose track over time and fail to reflect the contemporary accurate record of changing local land relations (Cousins 2021). Titling is probably useful to elite and middle-income men and women who can afford financial leverage, risk and real estate markets. For the poor, whose concerns are more about day-to-day survival, direct access to livelihood and keeping costs down it may provoke their further descent into poverty. (Kingwill et al 2006, 7). To be continued Dr Phillan Zamchiya officially is a senior researcher at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) at the University of the Western Cape since 2017. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in International Development from the University of Oxford. His academic interests are twofold. He studies contemporary trajectories of land and agrarian change in Southern Africa and the politics of post-colonial states in democratic transitions. He is currently the regional coordinator of PLAAS’s new project on the privatisation of customary land and women’s land rights in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.

Page 42 Reframing Issues NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 Page 40 MATTHEW MARE THIS study looked at various abuses obtaining in the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church (JMAC) and relating these to the provisions in the constitution. The reference to the constitution is premised on the fact that Zimbabwe is a constitutional democratic state. Without quoting the law it is difficult to expose how the church is violating the rights of its congregants. Human rights are explained from the perspective of the constitution, especially when dealing with a constitutionally democratic state (Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment 20 Act 2013:16). To add on, there is a need to understand that Zimbabwe has a dual legal system, namely, customary and civil law. One must therefore have a deep understanding of the two sets of laws if one is to avoid confusing the two. Whenever one talks of ecclesiastical human rights violations, one must identify when the teaching, practice or ritual is violating customary or civil law or both. In Zimbabwe, the courts are divided into two: civil and customary courts. Human rights violations are a constitutional matter where each identified practice, ritual and teaching must be linked to a specific clause in the constitution. The constitution does decree that any other laws that are inconsistent with the constitution are null and void to the extent of its own inconsistencies (Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment 20 Act 2013:16). Of note, Zimbabwe operates on a dual legal system, namely customary law and Roman-Dutch Law. More importantly, some of the provisions in the two pieces of legislation contradict each other. A reading of either customary law negating civil law may misconstrue the research findings. What might be illegal in civil law is legal at customary law and churches’ practices, rituals and teaching relate more to customary laws than to civil law. Civil law is only invoked where there is a criminal case that could have been raised. Given that JMAC teaches that none of its members should approach any secular court for any form of remedy, civil law is never applied since human rights issues are kept secret. Particular concern about the church is on how it has used religious practices to cascade into social behaviour that now includes early marriage, pre-arranged marriage, forced marriage, virginity testing, prioritisation of the boy child as far as accessing economic and educational opportunities, thus neglecting the girl child. In addition to this are concerns about church-initiated marriages with or without consent, the barring of church membership to access Western medical healthcare services, prenatal and post-natal healthcare services to women, access to both control initiatives and family planning methods to women and health care and inculcation of a chauvinist patriarchal sub-society based on religious doctrinaire that has been attributed to the church. Therefore, the study aimed to clarify and examine the said practices, allegations and establish factual research-based findings whereupon recommendations can be instituted, by all stakeholders involved in the implementation of women and children’s rights implementation bodies in Zimbabwe. The nature of the relationship and power dynamics between the state and the church is a very important determinant factor that helps to explain on whether the state is able to force the church to repeal some of its theologies, doctrines and traditions that are deemed to be violating the rights of women and children. Historical facts help to trace in history the nature and the scope of the problem at hand. There have been grey areas with regard to whether the government of Zimbabwe is unwilling or incapable of responding to human rights violations in African independent churches (AICs). There are assumptions that AICs, through their radical doctrines, are resisting state authority in the same manner that it even resisted the colonial authority despite persecution and prosecution. The church’s resistance to state authority is a historical fact tracing back from 1648 Treaty of Westphalia or beyond. The epitome of these power relations is the investiture dispute between the church and the state. The question was who had the power of investiture between the priest and the king. The French Revolution had this debate as a topical matter to the conflict. Under the general principle of the greater good, rights should be enjoyed without infringing on other people’s rights. This is to say, religious rights enjoyment should not impinge on the rights of the special groups like women and children. Legally, both at municipal and at international level, the state is the enforcer of human rights. Whilst the state has the constitution as the point of reference, the church has the Bible as its point of reference. Notably, when the church designs its theology it uses the Bible and revelation, and not the constitution. To note, churches like JMAC openly instruct its congregants not to respect the secular courts and its laws. It is the duty of the state to ensure that the church abides by the constitution. Perhaps the church is still living in the shadow of the past, where it enjoyed absolute authority over the state. Historically the church was above the state insofar as the Hebrew text is concerned. Kings were appointed by religious functionaries up until the 1648 Westphalia Treaty. As long as power contestations are not resolved, women and children will continue to have their rights violated. The church ends up concealing and presiding over crimes against the state which are meant for the secular courts, for example rape, infanticide, child marriage and gender-based violence. While states were given the legal autonomy over the religious domain by the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, the unwritten laws are the ones recognised in Africa. Africans have so much respect for their culture which defines their value system and influences the state’s behaviour. In Africa, spirituality is more important than laws and rules. To note, spirituality played a key role in liberating Africa, such that spirit mediums were taken to war. Africans believe they gained political independence because of the active participation of religious functionaries in fighting colonialism, hence, most, if not all, African presidents consult the spirits to direct their leadership. The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia is more on paper than it is being practised in Africa. Owing to this, most African states seem reluctant to reprimand AICs whose theological practices and doctrinal elements may be found to be infringing into the rights of the citizens, as is the case with JMAC with regards the rights of women and children. There is a hen-egg debate on whether the government of Zimbabwe has the moral locus standi to teach churches on human rights when in fact the government itself was redflagged by the UN for state-initiated human rights violations. Both the state and the church have to be reformed so that they respect the fundamental human rights. The mentioning of the churchstate relationship is not a deviation from the question, but that theology is enforced by the church and human rights by the state. The relationship between these two enforcers is very important. The JMAC and the state are merely two sides of the same coin in terms of human rights abuses. The church has less to learn from the state with regard to human rights issues. This literature helps to explain why the state is perhaps turning a blind eye to rights violations on women and children. Regardless of the church-state relations in Zimbabwe, the duty to protect and promote the rights and welfare of its citizens lies with the state and not the church. The role of the church is complementary to the state. In the preamble of the constitution, chapter 1 on the founding provisions section, it opined that the constitution is the supreme law of Zimbabwe and any law, practice, custom or conduct inconsistent with it is invalid to the extent of its inconsistency (Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment 20 Act, 2013:16). Thus, in Zimbabwe any theological or doctrinal practice that violates the rights of the other is an invalid practice that must be repealed and realigned to the provisions of the constitution. The constitution is very clear that the rights of women and children must be protected. Therefore, all theological teachings and practices that do not conform to the constitution must be repealed. *About the writer: Matthew Mare is a Zimbabwean academic who holds two bachelor’s degrees, five master’s qualifications and a PhD. He is also doing another PhD and has 12 executive certificates in different fields. Professionally, he is a civil servant and also board member at the National Aids Council of Zimbabwe. Egregious human rights violations on women and children in church

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 43 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 NewsHawks Page 41 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 in the 2017 elections, ending 12 years of United Party rule by garnering 63% of the vote. More importantly, Weah’s triumph brought about the country’s first peaceful transfer of power since 1944. This is a second important condition that  scholars  frequently  identify  as crucial to democratic endurance. Third, and perhaps most worrying, is that a majority of survey respondents in three of the four west African countries believed that multiparty electoral competition led to violence often or always. Some of these countries have a history of political violence. Togo erupted into violence with scores of deaths around its 2005 elections. Sierra Leone experienced an increase in political violence in the 2010s. What should worry election observers, civil society actors and democratisation scholars is that rather than blaming government’s use of force, citizens appear to view multiparty competition as the cause of violence. Solutions for citizens’ most pressing issues Fourth, citizens in these countries said they would evaluate governing parties on their ability to provide solutions to the countries’ most pressing problems. The figure below illustrates that routine concerns like economic management, the supply of public goods and infrastructural quality weigh heavily on citizens’ minds. Politics in these countries has largely been free of the  divisive appeals  along ethnic or religious lines that have  resulted in violence  elsewhere on the continent. So presidential incumbents running for reelection in Sierra Leone and Liberia will have to take responsibility for their nations’ successes and failures. These issues are likely to feature heavily on the campaign trails in the coming months. For the democratic optimist, these public opinion surveys offer hope. In these countries, citizens are likely to base their voting decisions on their living conditions. They will consider whether their basic needs are being met, and will appraise ruling parties’ economic management. This reflects democratic mechanisms at work, rewarding or punishing incumbents for their performance. Several concerns for democracy’s consolidation remain, however. Perhaps most troubling for the prospects of democratic competition, a majority of citizens fear outbreaks of electoral violence. This raises the stakes for ordinary citizens to cast their vote. What happens between now and the elections will likely determine outcomes like voter turnout, voter decisions and whether violence engulfs these countries. Institutional reforms, whether before or after the elections, would go some way to enshrine democracy in these countries. But it would require a political change of heart by those who are likely to benefit from the uneven playing field in the short run. — The Conversation. *About the writers: Robert Nyenhuis is associate professor, Department of Political Science, California State Polytechnic University, United States. Matthias Krönke is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Studies, University of Cape Town in South Africa. Thomas Isbell is a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Cape Town. Is democracy on the ballot in west Africa? What the latest data tells us ROBERT NYENHUIS/ MATTHIAS KRÖNKE/ THOMAS ISBELL DEMOCRACY indices compiled by respected organisations have suggested that around the world, there is an increase in authoritarianism or democratic backsliding. These indices typically draw from expert evaluations. They seldom consider the  opinions of citizens  in the countries concerned. So they may miss  important parts  of the democratic story. One way to evaluate potential democratic backsliding is to examine nationally representative public opinion data. We have done so for three West African countries that have yet to hold elections in 2023: Sierra Leone (June), Liberia (October) and Togo (December). Drawing on recently collected data from  Afrobarometer, a non-partisan research network, we identified four themes prevalent in citizens’ attitudes about the democratic process. First, most citizens favour elections over alternative ways to select leaders. Second, they see their previous election as having been flawed. Third, citizens expect elections to feature violence. And fourth, they want candidates to focus on making the country better. Afrobarometer  conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, the economy and society through nationally representative face-to-face interviews with 1 200 citizens in almost 40 African countries. For this analysis, we relied on the most recent results from 2022 (Togo in March; Sierra Leone in June-July; Liberia in August-September). We also used data going back to 2008 when describing longitudinal trends. Demand for elections First, a large majority of citizens in all three countries agreed that their national leaders should be chosen through regular, honest and open elections (see figure 1). Around 9 in 10 Liberians (92%) and Sierra Leoneans (89%) agreed or strongly agreed with this statement, while around 3 in 4 Togolese did. democratic consolidation. In Liberia, the newfound trust in electoral quality is likely due to former footballer George Weah’s victory An armed soldier at a polling station during the counting of votes in March 2018 in Freetown. Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images

Page 42 Reframing Issues NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 TEURAI RWAFA IT is now more commonly known that alcohol and tobacco use make us ill. Less known is that just four industries account for at least one-third of global preventable deaths. These industries are: unhealthy processed food and drinks, fossil fuels, alcohol and tobacco. Collectively they cause 19 million deaths every year, according to a  recent series of reports published in The Lancet. These deaths happen because of accepted business practices that prioritise profit over health - and not only through the companies’ products. This include cigarettes that  cause cancer, sugary drinks that result in obesity or coal that drives carbon dioxide emissions, for example. The world’s largest commercial companies routinely operate in a way that masks their practices and allows them to continue and expand in the name of neoliberal economic freedoms. These transnational corporations  drive  rapidly rising sickness and death levels, disability, environmental damage, and widening social inequities. The Lancet series describes a “pathological system” in which a substantial group of commercial actors are increasingly enabled to cause harm and to make others pay the costs of doing so. They profit without bearing any of the costs of the harmful products marketed to an unsuspecting public. Commercial actors must meet the actual costs of the harm they cause if further damage is to be prevented. Governments will need to hold commercial actors to account. And norms need to be reshaped in the public interest, drawing attention to the right to health and the governmental obligation to protect health, not just corporate freedoms. The commercial sector exists to make a profit. In the logic of the private sector, this outweighs public health and well-being considerations. Commercial activity’s health impacts can be positive, such as employing people in communities. But most are harmful. In public health, we call these  “commercial determinants of health”. The commercial practices that lead to these impacts range from legal to illegal, evident to subtle. They often overlap. At the same time, several types of practices used by commercial actors harm us. The most obvious are marketing, reputation management, questioning scientific evidence, and financial manipulation. This matters because it is the unsuspecting public that pay. They bear the suffering and the costs of the global epidemic of noncommunicable diseases, and the rapidly accelerating climate emergency. Marketing: making people consume more The commercial sector uses various “dark marketing” strategies to create demand for brands and increase product consumption. Advertising for fast food and other ultra-processed food (high in fat, sugar and salt) dominates many countries’ advertising space.  Nearly half  of the advertisements viewed during child or family time in South Africa are for ultra-processed food and drink products. The company’s marketing practices target mostly poor South Africans, seen as its growth market. Its products are available everywhere, from supermarkets to street vendors and remote rural areas. Branding is pervasive, from school and shop signs to billboards, television advertisements and social media presence. One under-discussed aspect of this practice is how marketing reshapes cultural norms. It makes a deadly product aspirational – much as the  tobacco industry did decades ago. Reputation management: covering their tracks Creating brand loyalty can fall into the realm of reputation management, sometimes in the guise of “corporate social responsibility”. For example, some big food companies distributed unhealthy products with no nutritional value during the Covid-19 pandemic. Coca-Cola donated sugary drinks in  Ghana. Krispy Kreme donated doughnuts to  frontline emergency workers  in the United States. South African Breweries claimed to have recycled beer crates to make face shields for health workers. The commercial sector seeks to influence policies so that they support the trade of harmful products or services. For example, the sugar industry in South Africa successfully lobbied to halve the proposed tax on sugary drinks. The world’s largest tobacco company, Philip Morris International, has been  calling for relaxed regulations  on advertising its “smoke-less” products in South Africa ahead of a new  Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill. The alcohol industry once formed an interest group, known as the Association for Responsible Alcohol Use, to influence government policies in South Africa. Skewing science Commercial influences on the scientific process can be subtle but pervasive. Funding research in non-transparent ways creates bias. Many commercial sectors attempt to manipulate scientific findings in their favour or to hide or falsify results. In 2017, for example, independent researchers uncovered how Exxon Mobil had intentionally  misled the public about how extractive activities contributed to climate change. Pharmaceutical companies use intellectual property rights to keep drugs at a high price. This limits access to medicines. Recently,  COVID-19 vaccines were affordable for only the wealthiest countries. The same thing happened  two decades earlier  with antiretroviral drugs for HIV. Financial manipulation: tax avoidance and more Multinational mining companies continue to  cheat Africa out of billions of dollars  by under-reporting profits and paying lower taxes. In Zambia, for example, copper earns transnational copper mining companies billions annually. It’s estimated that their corporate tax avoidance denies the country US$3 billion in taxes yearly. This is more than 12.5% of Zambia’s entire GDP. Some companies exploit labour (for instance, in the agricultural sector) and pollute the environment (for example, in the mining sector). These practices harm human and environmental health but were previously considered “normal” modes of doing business. Looking ahead Many of these “routine” commercial methods overlap and support each other. Transnational corporations with deep pockets can use them particularly well in weakly regulated lowand middle-income countries. Individuals and their families, civil society, and governments increasingly bear the costs of harm caused by corporations. It will take concerted joint efforts, such as an international convention, to change the system. This change needs to be in the direction of prioritsing societal and environmental well-being and health impacts. Until this happens, health and equity will continue to be threatened, causing significant economic damage and declining social development. — The Conversation. *About the writer: Dr Teurai Rwafa is a senior researcher at the SAMRC/Wits Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science – PRICELESS SA, University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. According to reports, collectively, unhealthy processed food and drinks, fossil fuels, alcohol and tobacco cause 19-million deaths every year. Profit versus health: 4 ways big global industries make people sick

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 43 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 ZANELE NYONI-WOOD PEOPLE in same-sex relationships in Uganda now face the possibility of life in prison after the country’s Parliament  unanimously  passed its 2023 anti-homosexuality Bill. The legislation, which Amnesty International has called  “appalling”, “ambiguous” and “vaguely worded”, establishes a range of harsh penalties for same-sex “offences” – including the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”. The text of the Bill says the law is intended to “protect the traditional family” by not only criminalising same-sex acts themselves but also “the promotion or recognition of sexual relations between persons of the same sex”. If assented to by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, the law would also make it a duty of a gay person’s family and community to report individuals in same-sex relationships to the authorities. It is a significant blow to the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda, which fought to overturn the  Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014 that already contained draconian provisions, including life imprisonment for same-sex acts. Just five months after Museveni assented to the 2014 act, Uganda’s constitutional court overturned it, not due to public outcry, but on procedural grounds. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the passage of the law opened the floodgates for  persecution of sexual minorities. HRW  has described the current law as a “more egregious version” of the 2014 act and expressed concern that it “criminalises people simply for being who they are”. The 2023 Bill was introduced into a climate that already criminalised consensual same-sex acts, which it referred to as “unnatural offences” under Uganda’s  penal code. Aspects of the the 2023 Bill seem to be an unnecessary duplication of the penal code. However, Parliament considers its passage necessary to address legislative gaps and “place emphasis on emerging matters” that are not contained in the criminal law. For example, criminalising the procurement, promotion and dissemination of literature relating to homosexuality. Uganda’s constitution already prohibits  same-sex marriage  and the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Act of 2016 in effect prevents the registration of organisations involved in promoting International protests: a gay rights campaigner demonstrates against Uganda’s draconian new anti-gay laws in Nairobi, Kenya. EPA/Dai Kurokawa LGBTQ+ rights. This prevents civil society organisations from advocating for the rights and welfare of sexual minorities. This was the case for Sexual Minorities Uganda, the country’s leading sexual minority rights organisation, which was  denied registration as the proposed name was deemed “undesirable”. The group was subsequently forced to close. Discrimination and intolerance The criminalisation of homosexuality has led to discrimination and marginalisation from employment, health and other services. Sexual minorities are ostracised from their communities and threatened with or experience homophobic attacks. Non-partisan, pan-African research network Afrobarometer reported a 2020 survey which found that only 3% of Ugandans were tolerant of people with a different sexual orientation or identity. Opponents of the anti-homosexuality bill argue it is in direct contravention of the  Bill of Rights  in the country’s constitution. This guarantees and protects a number of rights and freedoms applicable to all citizens. These include, but are not limited to, the right to privacy, freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment and protection against discrimination. But article 43 of Uganda’s constitution also states that the enjoyment of rights and freedoms is subject to limitation if that limitation is seen to be in the public interest and “acceptable and demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society”. The public interest here is the protection of moral values and the traditional heterosexual family. In her submission to the legal and parliamentary affairs committee, prominent human rights activist and academic Dr Sylvia Tamale wrote that same-sex relations have always existed in African societies without persecution and have tended to be treated as a private matter. To criminalise them is to transform them into a matter of public concern and introduce “sexual apartheid”, she added. Like the 2014 act, the new bill has been met with international condemnation. Uganda is a signatory to international human rights instruments such as the international covenant on civil and political rights (ICCPR)  which enshrines the right to non-discrimination, including in private sexual relations. While the ICCPR does not specify sexual orientation as a protected ground, the  United Nations Human Rights Committee  has found that the treaty includes an obligation to prevent discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. These obligations are not legally binding on Uganda as the constitution is the country’s supreme legal instrument. Everything hinges on whether Museveni signs the bill into law. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said: “The passing of this discriminatory Bill – probably among the worst of its kind in the world – is a deeply troubling development,” and he urged Museveni not to sign it. He said: If signed into law by the President, it will render lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Uganda criminals simply for existing, for being who they are. It could provide carte blanche for the systematic violation of nearly all of their human rights and serve to incite people against each other. But, after passing the 2014 law, Museveni described homosexuals as “disgusting” and it is thought likely that he will sign the bill into law. This will legitimise anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and open up the possibility that people could even face the death penalty for committing a private, consensual sexual act. The  threat of losing international aid  was not sufficient to dissuade Museveni from assenting to the 2014 Act and it is doubtful whether it will dissuade him now. — The Conversation. *About the writer: Zanele Nyoni- Wood is a lecturer, Law School, Lancaster University in Britain. Uganda’s new anti-LGBTQ+ law could lead to death penalty for same-sex ‘offences’ NewsHawks Reframing Issues Issue 126, 7 April 2023

Page 44 NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 Reframing Issues ARIANNA LISSONI TANZANIA'S President Samia Suluhu Hassan recently paid a state visit to South Africa aimed at strengthening bilateral political and trade relations. As the South African presidency noted, ties between the two nations date back to Tanzania’s solidarity with the anti-apartheid struggle. This history is an important reminder of the anti-colonial and pan-African bonds underpinning international solidarity with southern African liberation struggles. It is also a reminder of the sacrifices many African countries made to realise continental freedom. Tanganyika, as Tanzania was known before independence in 1961, was the first safe post for South Africans fleeing in the aftermath of the  Sharpeville massacre  on 21 March 1960, when apartheid police shot dead 69 peaceful protesters. The apartheid regime  banned liberation movements shortly thereafter. Among those who left South Africa to rally international support for the liberation struggle were then African National Congress deputy president  Oliver Reginald Tambo, Communist Party and Indian Congress leader Yusuf Mohammed Dadoo, and the Pan Africanist Congress’s  Nana Mahomo and Peter Molotsi. Not many people will know that on 26 June 1959 Julius Nyerere, the future president of Tanzania, was among the speakers at a meeting in London where the first boycott of South African goods in Britain was launched. Out of this campaign, the British Anti-Apartheid Movement  was born a year later. It spearheaded the international solidarity movement in western countries over the next three decades. Liberation struggle bonds Tanzania’s support for South Africa’s liberation struggle needs to be understood as part of its broader opposition to colonialism, and commitment to the achievement of independence in the entire African continent. In 1958, Nyerere  helped establish  the Pan African Freedom Movement of Eastern and Central Africa to coordinate activities in this regard. This was extended to the Pan African Freedom Movement of Eastern and Central and Southern Africa at a conference in Addis Ababa in 1962. Nelson Mandela  addressed the conference with the aim of arranging support for the armed struggle in South Africa. These efforts eventually led to the creation of the  Organisation for African Unity (OAU) in 1963. In February 1961, James Hadebe for the ANC and Gaur Radebe for the PAC opened an office in Dar es Salaam representing the South African United Front. It was the first external structure set up by the two liberation movements. Their unity was shortlived. But, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s capital, grew into a centre of anti-colonial activity after independence from Britain in December 1961. The Tanzanian government donated the land. Also stationed there were the armies of other southern African liberation movements —  Zapu,  Frelimo,  Swapo and the MPLA. In 1964, the PAC also moved its external headquarters to Dar es Salaam after it was pushed out of Lesotho. It established military camps near Mbeya and later in Mgagao, and a settlement in Ruvu. Both the PAC and the ANC held important conferences in Tanzania, in Moshi in 1967 and in Morogoro in 1969, respectively. These led to internal reorganisation and new strategic positions. Hitches in the relationship In spite of Tanzania’s support for the liberation movements, their relationship was not without its contradictions or moments of ambivalence. In 1965, for example, the ANC had to move its headquarters from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro, a small upcountry town far from international connections. The Tanzanian government had decided that only four members of each liberation movement would be allowed to maintain an office in the capital. This reflected Tanzania’s anxiety over the growing numbers of revolutionaries and trained guerrillas it hosted. In 1969 Tanzania, Zambia and 12 other African countries issued the Lusaka manifesto, which was also adopted by the OAU. It expressed preference for a peaceful solution to the conflict in South Africa over armed struggle. There were also rumours of ANC involvement in an  attempted coup against Nyerere. In this climate, the ANC had to evacuate its entire army to the Soviet Union. Its soldiers were allowed back in the country a couple of years later. Lived spaces of solidarity In the 1970s, ANC headquarters moved to Lusaka, in Zambia, and uMkhonto we Sizwe operations moved to newly independent Angola and Mozambique. But Tanzania remained a significant place of settlement for South African exiles. In the late 1970s and 1980s, additional land donations from the Tanzanian government enabled the ANC to open a school and a vocational centre near Morogoro. The Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College in Mazimbu and the Dakawa Development Centre were set up to address the outflow of young people from South Africa following the June 1976 Soweto uprising. Its other aim was to counter the effects of Bantu education, a segregated and inferior education system for black South Africans. These became unique spaces of lived solidarity between the ANC and its international supporters. They accommodated up to 5,000 South Africans. Some of them died before they could see a liberated South Africa. Their graves are in Mazimbu. Besides educational facilities, the camps included an hospital, a productive farm, workshops and factories. They were all developed with donor funding. Tanzanians, too, contributed to these projects through their labour. Many Tanzanian women became entangled in South Africa's liberation struggle through intimate relationships, marriage and children. Thanks to these everyday social interactions, Tanzania became "home" for many South African exiles. The ANC handed over the facilities at Somafco and Dakawa to the Tanzanian government on the eve of the first democratic elections in 1994. But these personal and affective connections live on. *About the writer: Dr Arianna Lissoni is a researcher at the History Workshop, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, left, hosts his Tanzanian counterpart during a state visit in March 2023. GCIS/Flickr The late Julius Nyerere was a staunch supporter of the movement for Africa’s independence. William F. Campbell/Getty Images) Tanzania-South Africa: Deep ties evoke Africa’s sacrifices for freedom

NewsHawks Africa News Page 45 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 EMMA RUITERS If the chatbot remains free to use and access, it could level the playing field for the continent — but enabling universal access requires systems to be in place: connectivity, affordable data, appropriate device access, digital skills and energy to serve the entire population.  IN the 1930s, economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that by 2030 people would work  only 15 hours per week.  As far as we can tell the prediction has not yet worked out, but perhaps Keynes anticipated the dawn of ChatGPT. This, and other artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, is already transforming the way we look at work, education, public services and art. For African governments and societies, AI poses a set of questions: how to seize the opportunities, minimise the risks and retain the value. The decisions the continent makes in the coming years could have a profound effect on its future. On 14 March, AI research laboratory OpenAI announced the release of  GPT-4, significantly more powerful than its already impressive  GPT-3, scoring in the 99th  percentile in various tests where its original iteration middled in the 31st. As new versions are released, the generative power of the technology is likely to become even more precise and expressive.  Creative AI A slew of other AI — Dall-E 2, Stable Diffusion,  Lumen5,  Soundraw,  PodCastle  and more — produce anything from art to royalty-free music from simple text prompts. And so, day by day, we enter the realm of philosophy, departing from scarcity and pragmatism towards a wealth of limitless resources and possibilities. This prompts us to reconsider hard questions about what it really means to be human: what is art if it isn’t made by a (human) artist? If we don’t  need  to work, what should we do? If for all intents and purposes an AI platform thinks like a human, could that make it human? The rapid advance of AI is forcing us, our governments, our businesses and our societies to answer these questions right now. On the other hand, there are concrete problems that new technologies can solve. Certainly, the problems will differ from country to country, region to region. The  State of AI in Africa report  demonstrates that Africa’s tech and AI market is growing rapidly, but digitalisation often takes place only in spurts. Across African countries, we have lacked access for various reasons. There is always a need for analytical and research capability across the continent, where  brain drain  often takes the best and brightest overseas. Maybe ChatGPT, if it remains free to use and access, can level the playing field. However, the technology can only be adopted in places where ecosystemic conditions are in place. Across Africa, this means where there is connectivity, affordable data, appropriate device access, digital skills and energy to serve the entire population. Ensuring universal access to new technologies still requires a lot of work. Extent of bias An additional concern for us on the continent is inherent bias stemming from the data that is fed into the algorithm. There are countless studies that demonstrate how predictive algorithms are biased  against black people in the criminal justice system, or how most  facial recognition software performs better in identifying white males  compared to other genders and races. South African computer scientists like Raesetje Sefala are working tirelessly to mitigate these risks by developing and interpreting data with local insight. It is also the work of governments, watchdogs and other institutions to dedicate resources to protecting and regulating powerful technologies we do not yet entirely understand. While  we understand how ChatGPT works, truly understanding the extent of its biases will take a long time. Moreover, it’s often the second-order impacts of new technology that really change society. There is a documented lag in the adoption of a technology as society learns it, adjusts to it and organises around it. This is called the productivity paradox, exemplified by how the transition from steam power to superior electricity was slowed  by the architecture of factories, factory floor design, business models and the expectations of owners and workers. It took more than 20 years to realise the productivity gains of electricity, as entire designs of factories needed to be changed to accommodate the new technology. Thus, sometimes there are advantages to being “late movers” — the latest technology can be accessed on a clean slate, without the tangled lines of existing constructs that evolve around technologies. Here, African countries may benefit. What about consent and compensation? Perhaps the greatest cause for caution must be in ensuring that the value of this invention does not funnel into a smaller and smaller set of hands. The insight it generates is derived from the inputs of all. New lawsuits have been brought against AI companies like Stable Diffusion that have scraped the web for the work of artists and illustrators that their models are trained on. These artists have claimed that AI is using their artwork without consent or compensation. Is there a way to ensure that those who contribute to ChatGPT and AI (i.e. all of us) get compensated fairly for it? At the heart of it though, AI is just an amalgamation of what already exists. What does it know about the things that are unknown, and that don’t exist online? Moreover, we don’t expect ChatGPT to learn new things for us. Certainly, researchers and those knowledgeable will still have jobs to fill in those gaps.  For African countries, the truth is that the world still doesn’t know very much about the “dark continent”. A lot of our knowledge is still offline. Certainly, there may continue to be a lot of work for humans to do in the Age of AI. — Daily Maverick. *About the writer: Emma Ruiters is a technology and public policy analyst at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. If the chatbot remains free to use and access, it could level the playing field for the continent, providing universal access is realised, writes the author. (Photo: Youtube) ChatGPT is on everyone’s lips, but the age of AI is still muted for Africa

Page 46 NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 Africa News In this final instalment of his insightful opinion-editorial piece, Dr William J Mpofu addresses the question of Africa in a world of disorder as he calls it. Prior to this, Mpofu had tackled Thucydides Trap which the world might plunge into as the United States declines while China rises. Mpofu had written: “In its form and content, not only for Africa, but for the whole world this New World Disorder is ghastly to ponder. Graham Allison pondered it in 2015 and came up with the alarming observation that ‘war between the US and China is more likely than recognised at the moment’ because the two powerful countries have fallen into the Thucydides Trap. The ancient Greek historian, Thucydides, described the Trap when he narrated how war becomes next to impossible when a ruling power is confronted by a rival rising power that threatens its dominion. Thucydides had witnessed how the growing power and prosperity of Athens threatened Sparta in ancient Greece driving the two powers to war. The political and historical climate between China and the US captures the charged political temperatures that punctuated the relations between an entitled and proud Sparta that was confronted with the growth and anger of a frightening Athens. For the US and China to escape the Thucydides Trap that is luring both superpowers to war, ‘tremendous effort’ is required of both parties and their allies”. DR WILLIAM J. MPOFU THE symptoms are spectacular and everywhere to be seen. It can be the Namibian President Hage Geingob on live television having to shout at German politician Norbet Lammert for complaining about the growing Chinese population in Namibia. Geingob asks why Germans land in Namibia on a “red carpet” and do “what they want”, but it become a huge Western problem when the Chinese are seen in Namibia. That Namibia should not be reduced to a theatre of contestation between the West and China because it is a sovereign country was Geingob’s plea to German.  It can be President Emmanuel Macron of France, in May 2021, asking President Paul Kagame of Rwanda for forgiveness for France’s role in the genocide of 1994. The bottom line being that African conflicts and genocides bear European footprints and fingerprints. Africa is reduced to a Western crime scene, from slavery to colonialism and from colonialism to present coloniality. Coloniality is brought to life with, for instance, the United States Republican lawmakers launching a Bill “opposing the Republic of South Africa’s hosting of military exercises with the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation and calling on the Biden administration to conduct a thorough review of the United States-South Africa relationship.” Prior to that last year, the US has tried to come up a new law to punish states that back certain Russian actions. This could have major implications for African countries. The proposed US law would oblige Washington to punish African governments that abet Russian “malign” activities on the continent if it had sailed through Congress. The Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa  Act passed the House of Representatives on 27 April 2022 by a huge, bipartisan 419-9 majority and was expected to be law before it was shelved. It would direct the US secretary of state “to develop and submit to congress a strategy and implementation plan outlining United States efforts to counter the malign influence and activities of the Russian Federation and its proxies in Africa”. The Bill broadly defines such malign activities as those that “undermine United States objectives and interests”. The US secretary of state would have to monitor the actions of Russia’s government and its “proxies” — including private military companies (clearly Russian mercenary company Wagner was in the sights) and oligarchs. The US government would have to counter such activities effectively, including through US foreign aid programmes. It would need to “hold accountable the Russian Federation and African governments and their officials who are complicit in aiding such malign influence and activities”. The Bill was introduced to congress on 31 March 2022 and was clearly a response to Russia’s 24 February invasion of Ukraine. Several other punitive laws aimed at Russia – including one directing the administration to gather evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine – were introduced at about the same time. However, in their 42nd ordinary summit of heads of state and government held on 17 and 18 August 2022 at Palais du Peuple (Parliament Building) in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, leaders of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) vehemently expressed their collective opposition to a proposed US law on countering Russian influence and activities in Africa. The 16-member regional bloc complained that the US had made the African continent “the target of unilateral and punitive measures” and its Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee pushed the Bill designed to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin using Africa to bypass US sanctions and fund his war in Ukraine, as well as to protect African people from human rights violations by Russian mercenaries. The Sadc leaders reaffirmed their collective position of non-alignment towards conflicts outside the continent. The summit was held under the theme Promoting Industrialisation through Agro-processing, Mineral Beneficiation  and Regional Value Chains for Inclusive and Resilient Economic Growth. “Africa Is Not For Sale. Africa is open for business not for sale or looting. We must defend what is ours and make sure that no one takes from us what is ours,” declared Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera at the summit, pointing to the bold stance against the scramble for Africa’s resources by external powers. “If the world wants what we have, they must buy in a fair trade so that we use proceeds to build ourselves new cities, new universities, new infrastructure, industries and new programmes that lift people out of poverty and vulnerability.” Chakwera urged African leaders and their people to build Africa and future generations not for those bent on looting its resources. He said the resources of Africa must remain in the hands of Africans, but not to be stolen by some people. Let us stand up with one voice and tell the World, Africa is open for business, but not for sale, Chakwera suggested. “It takes only Africans to build the African continent . No foreigners will develop the continent. We must not always look upon them because what they give us does not build anything but simply causes tension in the continent like they did in the past.” In that scathing speech, he further lambasted Western and Eastern countries that they must not just be in Africa to  steal but to build. There is no-one outside Africa who can build it, not any European, Asian or American,” he said. Africa as an object that does not have the agency to act for itself, but is acted upon in the New World Disorder, is real. It is not only Africa as a child in the world system that must be protected from other relationships and that must be told who to relate with and who not to relate with is a reality, but it is also Africa as an owned thing. Behind the myth of African independence and liberation is the reality of Africa as a “sphere of influence” about which world powers are still scrambling for control and ownership. When in January 2018, Donald Trump referred to African countries as “all these shithole countries” he meant exactly that Africa still metaphorised the toilet of the world order where disposable waste and dispensable people were to be found. Looking at the world disorder from Africa with African eyes and sensibility makes it obvious that it is Africa that should be against war and for a decolonial multipolar world order where differences are not criminalised but are legitimated. Where economic competition, political opposition, and rivalry are democratised from antagonism to agonism, where political opponents are adversaries that are not necessarily blood enemies that must work on eliminating each other to the “last man”. Such a world order may be liberating in that both fears and desires of nations may play out in a political climate where might is not necessarily right. World powers need to be persuaded or to pressure themselves to understand what Mahbubani prescribes as a future world order that is against war, and liberating in that it is, minimalist, multilateral and Machiavellian. Minimalist in that major countries should minimise thinking and acting like other countries are minors that should be changed into their own image. Multilateral in the sense that world institutions such as the United Nations must be Pentecostal sites where differences, fears and desires of all countries are moderated and democratised. Machiavellian in that world powers, no matter how mighty they believe they are, must adapt to the change to the order of things and live with the truth that they will not enjoy world dominion alone in perpetuity as the world must be a shared place that naturalises and normalises political, economic, cultural and human diversity. *About the writer: Dr William J Mpofu is a researcher at the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies (WiCDS) at the university of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mpofu is a senior research associate of Good Governance Africa (GGA). His research interests are in decoloniality, especially the philosophy of liberation and critical diversity literacy. Against war: Africa in New World Disorder Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera

World News SERGEY RADCHENKO/ VLADISLAV ZUBOK THERE aren’t enough palm trees, the Soviet general thought to himself. It was July 1962, and Igor Statsenko, the 43-year-old Ukrainian-born commander of the Red Army’s missile division, found himself inside a helicopter, flying over central and western Cuba. Below him lay a rugged landscape, with few roads and little forest. Seven weeks earlier, his superior — Sergei Biryuzov, the commander of the Soviet Strategic Missile Forces — had traveled to Cuba disguised as an agricultural expert. Biryuzov had met with the country’s prime minister, Fidel Castro, and shared with him an extraordinary proposal from the Soviet Union’s leader, Nikita Khrushchev, to station ballistic nuclear missiles on Cuban soil. Biryuzov, an artilleryman by training who knew little about missiles, returned to the Soviet Union to tell Khrushchev that the missiles could be safely hidden under the foliage of the island’s plentiful palm trees. But when Statsenko, a no-nonsense professional, surveyed the Cuban sites from the air, he realized the idea was hogwash. He and the other Soviet military officers on the reconnaissance team immediately raised the problem with their superiors. In the areas where the missile bases were supposed to go, they pointed out, the palm trees stood 40 to 50 feet apart and covered only one-sixteenth of the ground. There would be no way to hide the weapons from the superpower 90 miles to the north. But the news apparently never reached Khrushchev, who moved forward with his scheme in the belief that the operation would remain secret until the missiles were in place. It was a fateful delusion. In October, an American high-altitude U-2 reconnaissance plane spotted the launch sites, and what became known as “the Cuban missile crisis” began. For a week, U.S. President John F. Kennedy and his advisers debated in secret about how to respond. Ultimately, Kennedy chose not to launch a pre-emptive attack to destroy the Soviet sites and instead declared a naval blockade of Cuba to give Moscow a chance to back off. Over the course of 13 frightening days, the world stood on the brink of nuclear war, with Kennedy and Khrushchev facing off “eyeball to eyeball,” in the memorable words of Secretary of State Dean Rusk. The crisis ended when Khrushchev capitulated and withdrew missiles from Cuba in return for Kennedy’s public promise to not invade the island and a secret agreement to withdraw American nuclear-tipped missiles from Turkey. The details of the palm tree fiasco are just some of the revelations in the hundreds of pages of newly released top-secret documents about Soviet decision-making and military planning. Some come from the archives of the Soviet Communist Party and were declassified before the war in Ukraine; others were quietly declassified by the Russian Ministry of Defense in May 2022, in the run-up to the sixtieth anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis. The decision to release these documents, without redaction, is just one of many paradoxes of President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, where state archives continue to release vast troves of evidence about the Soviet past even as the regime cracks down on free inquiry and spreads ahistorical propaganda. We were fortunate to obtain these documents when we did; the ongoing tightening of screws in Russia will likely reverse recent strides in declassification. The documents shed new light on the most hair-raising of Cold War crises, challenging many assumptions about what motivated the Soviets’ massive operation in Cuba and why it failed so spectacularly. At a time of escalating tensions with another brash leader in the Kremlin, the story of the crisis offers a chilling message about the risks of brinkmanship. It also illustrates the degree to which the difference between catastrophe and peace often comes down not to considered strategies but to pure chance. The evidence shows that Khrushchev’s idea to send missiles to Cuba was a remarkably poorly thought-through gamble whose success depended on improbably good luck. Far from being a bold chess move motivated by cold-blooded realpolitik, the Soviet operation was a consequence of Khrushchev’s resentment of U.S. assertiveness in Europe and his fear that Kennedy would order an invasion of Cuba, overthrowing Castro and humiliating Moscow in the process. And far from being an impressive display of Soviet cunning and power, the operation was plagued by a profound lack of understanding of on-the-ground conditions in Cuba. The palm tree fiasco was just one of many blunders the Soviets made throughout the summer and fall of 1962. The revelations have special resonance at a time when, once again, a leader in the Kremlin is engaged in a risky foreign gambit, confronting the West as the specter of nuclear war lurks in the background. Now, as then, Russian decision-making is driven by hubris and a sense of humiliation. Now, as then, the military brass in Moscow is staying silent about the massive gap between the operation the leader had in mind and the reality of its implementation. At a question-and-answer session he held in October, Putin was asked about parallels between the current crisis and the one Moscow faced 60 years earlier. He responded cryptically. “I cannot imagine myself in the role of Khrushchev,” he said. “No way.” But if Putin cannot see the similarities between Khrushchev’s predicament and the one he now faces, then he truly is an amateur historian. Russia, it seems, still has not learned the lesson of the Cuban missile crisis: that the whims of an autocratic ruler can lead his country into a geopolitical cul-desac — and the world to the edge of calamity. In 1962, Khrushchev reversed course and found a way out. Putin has yet to do the same. — Foreign Affairs. A CIA reference photograph of Soviet medium-range ballistic missiles in Red Square, Moscow. National Security Archive / Central Intelligence Agency Blundering on the brink: The secret history and unlearned lessons of Cuban missile crisis NewsHawks Page 47 Issue 126, 7 April 2023

JONATHAN MBIRIYAMVEKA FUN lovers used to know that if you are looking for a place to hang out in Harare, any day – midday, weekend, public holiday, any day really – and you did not want to waste your time searching, you could trust Jongwe Corner in Harare's Hatfield suburb! Last weekend, you could have been anywhere in the world, but if you turned up at Jongwe Corner, the place felt so drab. If anything, it is more like a sex workers' paradise. And be warned, cheap thrills will cost you dearly! I will explain this later! And to think that this is the same place that came to prominence following a promo audio by one of the popular sound systems, Judgment Yard. As the mix tapes were played in kombis and even in private vehicles, the hangout grew in popularity and stature. Jongwe Corner! The famed joint also hosted some popular Zimdancehall artistes who drew scores of people week in, week out. At its peak, Jongwe Corner opened another branch in Chinhoyi, following the hype from the mix tapes. The open-air joint would be filled with a merry bands of patrons. Needless to mention, there was hardly space to swing a cat. In the midst of all that, patrons used to enjoy the cool ambience and the quality of music as well as icecold beers. Imagine, when you listen to the previous mix tapes that were produced live at the venue, you would hear names of some of Harare’s who’s who and socialites. Abisha Palmer, who rocked the mix tapes, is famous for promoting the venue with gusto. Palmer and the Judgment Clique would make the club jump, and everybody loved it to bits! But this past weekend, Jongwe Corner resembled dingy bar, if not a mugging scene. As we parked our car on the roadside, obviously at owner's risk, there were no security guards keeping an eye on the vehicles. This is where the drama starts. The four of us decided to take our cellphones into the club as we feared the car might be broken into while we partied. Wrong move! So, so, wrong! The clock had struck 11pm and, boy oh boy, there were more people milling outside the club than inside, the reason being that a lot of activity happens outside the club. And what a cross section of females: young and old, different shapes, obviously scantily dressed, hoping to attract patrons. Just a passing glance at the ladies of the night cost one of my friends a cellphone. In just a matter of seconds, his mobile phone had been snatched by a pickpocket! And luckily for him, he identified the cellphone thief and a scuffle ensured! Sensing danger, the pickpocket swiftly returned the cellphone, but not long before the crowd had mobbed us. Among the crowd were other pickpockets who wanted to take advantage and add confusion to what may already have been a tense moment. There was no security to our rescue and, had we not stood our ground, we could have easily lost the cellphone and become victims! Normally in such incidents the thieves would turn the tables and accuse the victims of being the thieves. And why not, no one knew us and our reputation! That did not happen and we regrouped and went back, got into our car and left.  The once famous Jongwe Corner, how the mighty have fallen! STYLE TRAVEL BOOKS ARTS MOTORING Porsche just got angrier Being a Fashion Model Life&Style Page 48 Issue 126, 7 April 2023 Jongwe Corner: Good joint gone bad, spectacularly!

Poetry Corner Title: The Last Stand Poet: Gift Sakirai At two I knew not what they taught Daily, I stayed indoors \doggedly pursuing mother to a fault. Snotty-nosed and recalcitrant, I threw tantrums to my mother's consternation. At five, I left the comfort that home guaranteed and found my personage in the midst of people unknown. Fear thus a friend of mine became in that class of peers unforgiving. I learned mostly from a curriculum unofficial, kicks and fists thus my friends became and homeward I took nosebleeds like homework daily. At fifteen I loved my first love, a gem of a girl whose smile was the envy of many a teenager. I mumbled in her presence daily for words would fail me always. This it was for a whole year until like a bird in flight she flew out of my life. At twenty I stumbled into university, having scrapped by my studies. Therein all hell broke loose for what mother had taught was useless thus rendered. I partook in pomp and fanfare. By chance it was that I finished my studies, only to be accosted by a job market unforgiving. At thirty-five I decided to take the plunge after years of a hesitation acute and hitched myself to a woman who had thus been a decade patient. Therefrom, I second guessed myself into fatherhood, and bumbled along in a world where I was a stranger unwelcome. At sixty-four with hair turned grey I'm still waiting to exhale and for once have a momentary relief from a life vengeful a year before I'm put out to pasture like a heifer overworked. I know not what the twilight years will my way bring a mystery it was in childhood, a mystery it still is in old age. A hustle death will have in taking me to the world beyond though. Having been short changed many times over in life, I swear my fall won't be as easy as that. This time, I won't go down without a fight. Death, beware! ***************************************************** Title: A Farmer's Return Poet: Farai Chinaa Mlambo Fed with toil, Having dedicated his entire life to tilling the soil, At last, the farmer returns to his wife. Several seasons away, in far off arable lands, Leaving everything in the logical will of the rainmaker, And in God's able hands – Himself, the ultimate peace and Love maker. Like one fresh from detention He arrives home with determination. And the first thing to grab his attention is her pregnancy. The wife, now bulging with expectancy, Hurries to embrace her dear husband Under her own oppressive load. Her thoughts race faster than her feet. And her heart skips a bit, overcome with fits. But she quickly calms herself As an almighty voice commands a storm to cede its untimely and unnecessary havoc. A sweet smile of reassurance she wears And in her heart she confidently swears; "This time I'll bear him a son, for sure, I shall bring honour to him and his family. He shall be very very pleased; Isn't what he always longed for. I shall kowtow and call him Shewe. I shall forever be his heart's desire." But the farmer is functionally illiterate. He is not too good with his mathematics. He can't even count days of the calendar. So he doesn't quite remember when they last mated. He just knows it was many moons ago When there were some monsoons. That night, like one possessed, She flung herself wildly upon his being And he thrust his plough into her fallow regions Digging furrows so deep she screamed. Or could it have been a mere dream? He desperately tries to read the signs. Then he resignedly sighs. Something isn't adding up. Still, he silently shoulders the responsibility of the paternity For he fears to offend her, should he ask; He is aware of her suicidal tendencies. He might lose both the seeds of the land he impregnated And the almost ripe seed in her womb Upon the collective wrath of the ancestors Who are quick to frown at harassment of the fairer sex. ***************************************************** Title: Days like these Poet: Sir OCTAgon There are mornings that smoke weed, That roll my days into blunt truths Like this rolling stone which keeps gathering moss Dust is a sure bet! Noons are for toi toi; Negotiations for joy with this mournable body Patching leaking eyes with plastic hope from recycled faith Nights are for resolve; Myriad of dilemmas to solve Thoughts scattered about, and emotions gathered in a corner Its here they share a joint and discuss what to do with me tomorrow. ************************************************ Title: Distant shadows Poet: tchigazz silhouetted distant shadows waltz before his cold strained eyes causing odd reflections on ice of horses, beggars and wishes too. if only he were the grubby walls which the shadows were gleefully licking he wouldn’t be wishing or imagining but experiencing the feel of their tongues they attract furtive peeps of strangers, and keen puzzled peers of perplexed passers-by, cherishing the beauty of distant shadows his fingertips itch to softly caress sketching out the shadowy outline nonchalantly nodding back and forth, to a wheeze of his curious breath’s puff they appear golden-like summer sunset shades beautiful like a rainbow reflection, across the slanting, sunlit rain showers behold the beauty of distant shadows *********************************************** Title: Progress Check Poet: Patrick Hwande Day by day, towards zero hour we're itching, Bring your progress record for public scrutiny, It's time we separated men from mice, Rigmarole is an exercise in futility. Why did Dorica die of treatable disease? Why is the mass still mired in a bottomless pit of poverty? Why did Dhongi vanish for daring to flap his wings? Happiness is now a pure rarity, Are we still living? Why did you condemn us the living dead? ************************************************* Title: Drops Of Rain Poet: Andy Kahari All I ever wished for was to be rain And be in a race with mankind With every thunder starting gun Be the sprayed bullets in amorous congress with spayed not clouds Hope I had to espy on seeds of union droplets they be; To ravage in precipitation sweat drenching pores; Living I then rain in awe As to who among men has ever been able to eschew drops of rain Yet many when in torrents Will I espy on again striving to outrun dews of mist; When their days are already drenched moaning’s enduring a chew Living nothing of this torrid man's broken life shoe; Only for I to understand what they do not perceive Still to this sounding bell of time Why they all are sweaty gongs in this race they deem existence When in pluvial already the wetting uterus is dim wide for the dream running man NewsHawks Page 49 Issue 126, 7 April 2023

Page 50 NewsHawks Issue 126, 7 April 2023 People & Places Danielle: A life of drugs and money