NewsHawks 4 November 2023

Price US$1 Friday 4 November 2023 NEWS ZDF boss destined for higher office Story on Page 7 NEWS Speaker of Parliament grilled over MP recalls WHAT’S Story on Page 9 INSIDE SPORT Which of the ‘British Brigade’ will say YES to Zimbabwe? Story on Page 48 ALSO INSIDE ZETDC fails to account for millions Zim military intelligence commander to be soon redeployed

Page 2 NewsHawks News Issue 155, 4 November 2023 BRENNA MATENDERE AS President Emmerson Mnangagwa continues to make surprise post-election appointments amid political manoeuvres by the military to reposition itself for a more influential role going forward, Zimbabwe’s Military Intelligence Directorate (MID) commander Major-General Thomas Moyo is set to be redeployed, security sources say. The changes in the army reflect a fightback by the military, which installed Mnangagwa in power following a coup in November 2017, after it was recently sidelined from politics, including the elections. Zimbabwe’s politics is militarised. The sources said Moyo, who is related to Air Marshal Elson Moyo and the late Foreign Affairs minister Retired Lieutenant-General Sibusiso Moyo, is likely to be posted to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to replace the late Johannes Tomana or deployed to Minsk, Belarus. “More changes in the army are coming,” a security source said. “The MID commander Tom Moyo is likely to be redeployed and sent to DRC. Some say he might be going to Belarus. DRC is open after Tomana’s death in August. Belarus might be tricky because a new ambassador, Graham Mudzimba, was appointed in July, coming from Cuba/Guyana.” Sources said there are still going to be new changes in the military in line with post-election politics. “More changes are coming in the army. The changes are mainly driven by the military, something which Mnangagwa can’t resist,” the source said. This comes soon after shock changes within the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) led by General Philip Valerio Sibanda. Mnangagwa, who promoted five colonels, including a woman, to become brigadier-generals a few days ago, last week appointed Sibanda an ex officio member of Zanu PF’s decision-making administrative organ, politburo, a move widely criticised as unconstitutional and unlawful. Before that, Mnangagwa had recently redeployed former ambassador to Tanzania retired Lieutenant-General Anselem Sanyatwe to be  the new Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) commander. He replaced the retired General David Sigauke who had taken over from the late Lieutenant-General Edzai Chimonyo in 2021. Sanyatwe is a close ally of Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, a retired general. “Whether Moyo is going to DRC or Belarus, Sanyatwe will be replaced by Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga. Deputy Commissioner-General Stephen Mutamba will then take over the police,” the source said. “If Sibanda, who was not happy with Sanyatwe’s appointment, ends up quitting to join politics fulltime, then it would be interesting to see who becomes the ZDF commander. Will they quickly promote Sanyatwe again to take over that role or bring back someone like retired Lieutenant-General Engelbert Rugeje, whom Mnangagwa does not want and blocked from replacing Chimonyo as ZNA commander? If Sanyatwe goes up again, who takes over the ZNA? Perhaps Major-General Hlanganani Dube. Such changes can only happen if Chiwenga has regained control. These sort of changes would signify a military manoeuvre and a strong bouncing back, meaning Mnangagwa will be on his way out.” These changes are happening amidst speculation Mnangagwa wants a third term of office. When Mnangagwa and his military allies seize power through a coup in November 2017, Zim military commander will soon be redeployed Major-General Thomas Moyo, Military Intelligence Directorate commander. — File photo: Zimpapers.

NewsHawks News Page 3 Issue 155, 4 November 2023 there was a deal on how to share the spoils of victory over the late former president Robert Mugabe, although a fight broke soon after that. The deal collapsed after Mnangagwa reneged on serving one term and leaving power to Chiwenga. This has caused political tensions between the two, which sometimes explode into the open. The political war of attrition between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga most prominently found expression in the President’s controversial 2021 biography as internecine unresolved leadership issues linger on. Former independent Norton MP Temba Mliswa previously said Mnangagwa’s former adviser Chris Mutsvangwa, now War Veterans minister, has been plotting to remove Chiwenga from his position. Mutsvangwa was recorded by Chimonyo discussing the issue. Mnangagwa and Chiwenga are fighting over the spoils of the November 2017 military coup. Chiwenga, who engineered the coup and put Mnangagwa in power, thought the President would serve only one term and hand over the reins of power to him in 2023, but that has been publicly rejected, fuelling tensions and hostilities. Chiwenga feels betrayed. Mnangagwa’s authorised biography titled A Life of Sacrifice: Emmerson Mnangagwa exposes the rift between the two. The 154-paged biography, which Mnangagwa described as a “brief window” into his life, was authored by Eddie Cross, a former opposition MDC high-ranking official and MP who became the President’s adviser. It depicts Chiwenga in negative light through its narrative. Cross, Mnangagwa’s biographer and new loyalist, said the President will brook no nonsense from those threatening his hold on power, a warning to Chiwenga. Mnangagwa, who at the time of the coup had fled the country to South Africa after his mentor-cum-tormentor Mugabe had hounded him, only returned after Chiwenga led the coup that ended the late dictator’s 37 years in power. Mugabe later described Mnangagwa as his “tormentor”. The book reveals that Chiwenga’s appointment as co-deputy, together with Kembo Mohadi, was part of Mnangagwa’s coup-proofing ploy. Mnangagwa appointed Sibanda to succeed Chiwenga as ZDF commander as he saw him as loyal, although the army’s project remains intact. Sibanda, according to the book, is “possibly the best soldier in southern Africa and a man that was deeply respected in the army”, which brings into focus Mnangagwa’s decision to appoint him an ex-officio member of the Zanu PF politburo. “Mnangagwa’s actions drew little attention, but what the President was doing was closing the door on any possibility of the military assisted transition (military coup) being repeated. He needed to know that the security services were led by men in whom he had confidence as professionals,” the book says. Differences between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga played out when the latter demanded that a state of emergency — Martial Law — be declared during the 2019 riots which had been triggered by a 150% increase in the price of fuel. “When it became known that a state visit to Russia was planned for the week beginning the 14th January 2019, disturbing intelligence was received that disturbances were planned,” the book reads. “The President consulted his security chiefs about the threat and gave instructions about what was to happen in his absence…The acting President retired General Chiwenga, demanded that a state of emergency be declared and that Martial Law be introduced. This would have effectively meant that the armed forces took over the administration of the state and the commander-in-chief of security services, but General Sibanda refused. He said his orders from the President were very clear.” This suggested a new rift between Chiwenga and Sibanda, although insiders say it was only a question of timing and strategy, not rivalry. Internet services were suspended during the protests after security forces were deployed to quell the disturbances. The coup deal between the coup-plotters was: Oust Mugabe, then install Mnangagwa and Chiwenga, then ZDF commander, and Mohadi as co-vice-presidents. Mnangagwa was to be the political and civilian face of the coup to avoid a backlash from the Southern African Development Community, African Union and the international community, including the United Nations. Chiwenga was the military architect of the coup. He was at the centre of the planning and execution of the putsch, whose strong roots go back to 2008 when the army rescued Mugabe after he had lost to the late main opposition MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe told journalists in interviews in March 2018 at his Blue Roof Borrowdale mansion in Harare that Chiwenga was the architect. Mnangagwa, with Chiwenga as the point man, engineered a contrived run-off between Mugabe and Tsvangirai when the opposition leader had actually won the presidential poll outright to save Mugabe. The MDC-T defeated Zanu PF by one parliamentary seat in the March 2008 elections. Security sources say soon after the 2008 election fiasco for Mugabe and Zanu PF, and the army’s subsequent intervention, Mnangagwa and Chiwenga effectively took control. After rescuing Mugabe, their only stumbling block was retired army commander General Solomon Mujuru who had managed to leverage his power and influence as a kingmaker to impose his wife Joice as vice-president at a Zanu PF congress at Sheraton Hotel (now Rainbow Towers) in Harare in December 2004. This followed Mnangagwa’s Tsholotsho Declaration fiasco, which triggered purges within the party. Mujuru and his faction defeated Mnangagwa’s group and took over control in December 2004 after congress. Their influence was hugely felt and manifested itself two years later at Zanu PF’s annual conference in Goromonzi in 2006 where leadership succession undertones grew louder. Things went off the rails in 2007 when Mujuru, strongly supported by the late Dumiso Dabengwa, forced an extraordinary congress in December 2007 ahead of the 2008 elections after a dispute over Mugabe’s candidature which played out in the politburo for months that year. When Mugabe shrugged off Mujuru’s challenge in 2007, the former Zanla and ZNA commander plotted “bhora musango” (internal sabotage) — whose manifestation through centrifugal forces was the ead political actor Simba Makoni and his Dawn/Mavambo/Kusile project underwritten by Mujuru. After the 2008 elections and the subsequent Government of National Unity which lasted from 2008 to 2013, Mujuru’s star started waning, although his wife remained vice-president. Mujuru remained a hindrance to Mnangagwa and Chiwenga’s coup project. After heightened internal strife, Mujuru died in a mysterious fire on 15 August 2011. Three years later, his wife Joice was kicked out as vice-president in a military operation executed through party structures in the form of recalls and dissolution of structures. Mnangagwa came in to replace her. Phelekezela Mphoko was appointed by Mugabe another vice-president from nowhere in 2014 to replace John Nkomo who had died the previous year.From 2014, Mnangagwa and Chiwenga started planning how to remove Mugabe as his succession battle intensified. Efforts to get comment on Moyo’s looming redeployment were unsuccessful. Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander General Philip Valerio Sibanda conferring new army rank on Lieutenant-General Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe.

Page 4 News OWEN GAGARE SOUTHERN African Development Community (Sadc) leaders received their controversial election observer mission report on Zimbabwe at an extraordinary summit of heads of state and government in Luanda, Angola, on Saturday, paving way for further action on the issue which has divided the nation, region and international community. Diplomatic sources say Sadc leaders have appointed a sub-committee which includes Angola, Namibia and Tanzania to handle the Zimbabwe situation currently being delicately discussed privately within the regional grouping’s circles. The sub-committee will act after receiving Zimbabwe's response to the report. The NewsHawks has been reporting on behind-the-scenes Sadc processes around Zimbabwe since the country’s shambolic and disputed elections on 23-24 August whose outcome was rejected by the regional body, saying they did not meet the standards set by the country’s constitution, the Electoral Act and Sadc's Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, as well as international best practice. Sadc leaders initially convened on Tuesday for a virtual summit before deciding to meet in person in Luanda to discuss the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zimbabwe mainly. Eswatini featured due to its recent elections. Lesotho was also mentioned, together with other Sadc countries going to elections. Part of the communiqué issued after the Luanda emergency summit said: “Summit received an update on the elections in the Sadc member states and noted the report of the Sadc Election Observation Mission to the harmonised elections in the Republic of Zimbabwe held in August 2023, and the general elections in the Kingdom of Eswatini in September 2023. “Summit wished the Republic of Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo peaceful and successful elections as the two Sadc member states hold their elections in November and December 2023, respectively, and reiterated Sadc’s support through the deployment of the Sadc election observation mission.  “Summit reiterated the urgent need for all stakeholders, in particular, political parties in the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Lesotho, to ensure that the reform process is brought to finality in the interest of national political, economic and security stability. “Summit commended the efforts by H.E. Mr. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço as the designated facilitator by the African Union (AU) in bringing peace in the Eastern DRC. Summit mandated the chairperson of Sadc, supported by the organ troika to intensify the diplomatic efforts between the DRC and Rwanda to bring lasting peace in the DRC. Summit commended H.E. Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia and the chairperson of the organ on politics, defence and security cooperation, for his leadership in sustaining peace and security in the region.”  This came against a backdrop of resistance by President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Foreign Affairs minister Fredrick Shava to have Zimbabwe on the agenda and to be discussed at the meeting. Their feeble protest failed. Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu PF and its government are in denial over the country’s deep-seated problems. About four million Zimbabweans — a quarter of the population — have fled the country due to social and economic woes, posing a regional political and security threat. Sadc, led by Angolan President João Lourenço and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, warded off Mnangagwa and Shava’s pressure to remove Zimbabwe from the agenda. Lourenço is Sadc chair, while Hichilema chairs the troika of the organ on politics, defence and security cooperation. Despite resistance from Harare, Zimbabwe was discussed on Tuesday and on Saturday, yesterday, as Sadc leaders intensified diplomatic efforts to find a political settlement to the protracted crisis which has gripped the country for over two decades now. Strangely, Mnangagwa suggested after the meeting that Zimbabwe was not discussed. However, Hichilema had said before the summit it was on the agenda and would be discussed. Prior to that, the Sadc Council of Ministers and the troika of the organ on politics, defence and security had met virtually on 26 and 27 October respectively in Lusaka to discuss the same issues — DRC and Zimbabwe. Again, Eswatini was just mentioned. Lesotho is also an issue on the regional agenda. Sadc ministers stood firm behind their election observer mission led by former Zambian vice-president Nevers Mumba who was appointed by Hichilema. They rejected the bile and insults directed at them by Zanu PF and government officials led by Zanu PF spokesperson and now War Veterans minister Chris Mutsvangwa and Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George CharambaHichilema has been pushing privately for Sadc to tackle the Zimbabwe issue amid diplomatic manoeuvres by different stakeholders involved. So far, the Zambian leader has won all his battles regarding Zimbabwe’s recent chaotic and fraudulent elections. Mnangagwa used the United Nations General Assembly in September to engage and lobby Sadc leaders who were pushing for an extraordinary summit after the electoral observer mission’s preliminary report highlighted that Zimbabwe’s general elections had violated Sadc leaders receive report on Zim Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

News Page 5 the constitution, Electoral Act and the regional body’s Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections. The final report said the same, meaning Zimbabwe’s elections were not free, fair and credible in the eyes of Sadc. Chaired by Lourenço, the summit was attended by heads of state and government or their representatives: DRC President Félix Tshisekedi, President Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa), President Samia Suluhu Hassan (Tanzania), Hichilema (Zambia), Prime Minister Ntsokoane Matekane (Lesotho), Vice-President, Nangolo Mbumba (Namibia), Dr Lemogang Kwape (Botswana), Nancy Gladys Tembo (Malawi), Verónica Nataniel Macamo Dlhovo (Mozambique), Thabisile Mlangeni (Eswatini) and Mnangagwa (Zimbabwe), among others. As recently disclosed by The NewsHawks — which has a detailed brief on what has been happening on the issue of late behind the scenes — the special meeting follows intense regional consultations in the aftermath of Zimbabwe’s disputed elections held on 23 and 24 August. The elections left the country, region and international community more polarised and deeply divided amid deepening economic deterioration gripping the country. Sadc leaders have been pushing for an extraordinary summit on Zimbabwe as they resolutely dug in on the country’s recent disputed elections. There is consensus in Sadc that the 23-24 August general elections violated Zimbabwe’s constitution, Electoral Act and Sadc Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections as highlighted by the regional body’s election observer mission. Diplomatic sources said minutes of the extraordinary meeting of the Sadc organ troika ministerial committee held on 26 September captured the thinking of Sadc leaders. The ministers, diplomats said, cannot reflect their own opinions but express the views of their leaders. The minutes showed that the ministerial committee defended the report produced by Mumba and his team. The ministers slammed senior Zanu PF and government officials for vilifying Mumba and Hichilema after the observer mission, for the first time, gave an adverse report on the polls. They said attacks from Harare had the potential of undermining Sadc processes and credibility while insisting that the report reflected the opinion of the regional observers and not Zambia as wrongly portrayed by Zanu PF propagandists. Diplomats told The NewsHawks that the ministers reflected the Sadc opinion which was expressed in a way that heads of state would not do. Sadc is headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana’s capital. Angola is the current chair, while Zimbabwe is the incoming chair. DRC is outgoing or ex-chair. Zambia chairs the organ on politics, defence and security cooperation, while Tanzania is the coming chair. Namibia is outgoing or former chair. Zimbabwe’s disputed elections are a subject of debate and discussion among its disgruntled population, the region and world capitals. Zimbabweans are deeply engaged on the issue daily largely due to their economic woes. In the region, it is being discussed widely, with Ramaphosa engaged in secret talks with Mnangagwa on the way forward. They recently met three times in a month and also yesterday. Ramaphosa is deeply concerned about the impact of Zimbabwe’s continued crisis on South Africa, especially ahead of his country’s crucial elections next year in which the governing ANC faces a litmus test of political survival. Immigration is now a big election issue in South Africa. About four million Zimbabweans — a quarter of the population — have fled the country as political and economic turmoil at home became dire and still further deteriorates. The majority of those are in South Africa. Internationally, Zimbabwe’s elections have also been causing waves. They were discussed in the United Kingdom’s House of Lords, for instance, and on many other platforms. Even in countries like Russia, notorious for authoritarian political repression and democratic aberration, when they talk about election rigging, Zimbabwe features. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his ruling Zanu PF won the disputed elections amid complaints of brazen voter suppression and manipulation of the voter registration, voters’ roll inspection and the voting process, as well as a series of irregularities and illegalities. Main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, who leads the CCC, described the polls — unconstitutionally and illegally run by a Central Intelligence Organisation-controlled hybrid securocratic entity Forever Associates Zimbabwe (Faz) — as a “gigantic fraud”. With the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) dysfunctional due to internal divisions and divisive partisan conduct, Faz ran the elections after the army was withdrawn by Mnangagwa for self-serving political reasons over bhora musango (internal sabotage) from the process. The pliant judiciary, which is crucial in elections, was partisan and made compromised judgments, favouring officialdom, while discrediting the electoral process. The CCC is now in turmoil over Faz-engineered recalls that have divided the party. Before that, Faz tried to block its parliamentary election candidates for Bulawayo. As The NewsHawks reported, from day one Sadc leaders were determined to discuss the issue of flawed Zimbabwean elections and the aftermath as they are clear the recent polls have a destabilising effect on the region. While Mnangagwa and his supporters protested vehemently against the Sadc report, urged by a wounded Zanu PF, regional leaders knew where they were leading to. The issue of disputed elections in Zimbabwe falls under the Sadc troika of the organ on politics, defence and security cooperation, chaired by Hichilema. The Sadc organ on politics, defence and security cooperation has jurisdiction over any matter affecting peace and security in any member state as enshrined in Article 11 of the Protocol, of which Zimbabwe is a signatory. This is the basis for Sadc’s intervention in Zimbabwe. It was the same basis which Sadc used in 2008 to step in, resulting in the creation of the transitional Government of National Unity (GNU) led by the late president Robert Mugabe and his bitter rival Morgan Tsvangirai. After Mumba issued the damning report on Zimbabwe, Harare officials and their media hacks went ballistic, calling Mumba all sorts of names and levelling threats against him. Hichilema was also targeted. However, Mumba, supported by Hichilema, stood firm. The Sadc council of ministers and the troika of the organ on politics, defence and security also supported Mumba and the report — after their extraordinary meetings from Lusaka last month — which is now the regional body’s property authored by its secretariat and experts. After their virtual meeting coordinated from Lusaka on 26 September, ministers said they “noted with concern” personal attacks and threats through the media on Mumba and Hichilema. They said there was risk that if left unchecked the attacks might damage and undermine the credibility of Sadc as an institution. Prior to that, Sadc had issued a statement saying: “Sadc expresses concern on statements made about its electoral observation of mission) following the release of its preliminary statement on Zimbabwe’s harmonised (general) elections.” Given its responsibilities under the Sadc Treaty and relevant protocols, Zimbabwe’s attacks on the troika of the organ on politics, defence and security were out of step with obligations. Although Mnangagwa and Zanu PF are deeply wounded by Sadc findings as the region used to treat them with deference in previous fraudulent and disputed polls, they do not have sufficient regional support to resist the processes and their responsibilities as a member state. Signs that Sadc leaders are unhappy were already there. Only three leaders, Ramaphosa, Tshisekedi and Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique, attended his inauguration. The leaders at the inauguration were heavily criticised by the opposition and civil society in the region for indulging Mnangagwa. The chairpersons of Sadc — Lourenço — and the Sadc troika of the organ on politics, defence and security, Hichilema, were not there. After that, private consultations through the Sadc summit troika, which comprises the DRC, Angola and Zimbabwe, and the organ, which has Zambia, Namibia and Tanzania, accelerated to discuss problems destabilising the region and threatening stability — leading to the extraordinary summit. Zimbabwe has been a deep scar on the conscience of the region for some time now. An extraordinary summit on Zimbabwe was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in March 2007 where Sadc asked former South African president Thabo Mbeki to mediate talks between Zanu PF and then then main opposition MDC. Mbeki’s mediation ended up with a Government of National Unity in 2009. Zimbabwe has had several negotiated political settlements before. NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023 Sadc heads of state and government at an extraordinary summit in Luanda, Angola

Page 6 News THE Extra-Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), hereafter called Summit, was held on 04 November 2023, in Luanda, Republic of Angola. Summit was officially opened and chaired by, His Excellency Mr. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola and Chairperson of SADC. Summit was attended by the following Heads of State and Government or their representatives: Angola: H.E. President Mr. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço Democratic Republic of Congo: H.E. President Mr. Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo South Africa: H.E. President Mr. Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa United Republic of Tanzania: H.E. President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan Zambia: H.E. President Mr. Hakainde Hichilema Zimbabwe: H.E. President Dr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Kingdom of Lesotho: The Right Honourable Prime Minister, Mr. Ntsokoane Samuel Matekane Namibia: H.E. the Vice President, Dr. Nangolo Mbumba Botswana: Honourable Dr. Lemogang Kwape, Minister of Foreign Affairs Malawi: Honourable Nancy Gladys Tembo, MP, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mozambique: Honourable Verónica Nataniel Macamo Dlhovo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Kingdom of Eswatini: Ms. Thabisile G. Mlangeni, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Economic Planning and Development The Executive Secretary of SADC also attended the Summit. Summit expressed concern at the deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in the Eastern DRC and the reported resumption of attacks and occupation of territory by the M23, in clear violation of the Cease Fire. Summit provided strategic guidance on the deployment of the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) to restore peace and security in the country. The Summit commended Member States that have committed additional pledges towards deploying the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC). Summit reiterated the need for SADC to spearhead efforts towards mobilisation of resources for facilitating peace and security in the SADC Region. These efforts include reviving discussions to establish and operationalise the SADC Peace Fund and engaging International Cooperating Partners. Summit received an update on the elections in the SADC Member States and noted the report of the SADC Election Observation Mission to the Harmonised Elections in the Republic of Zimbabwe held in August 2023, and the General Elections in the Kingdom of Eswatini in September 2023. Summit wished the Republic of Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo peaceful and successful elections as the two SADC Member States hold their elections in November and December 2023, respectively, and reiterated SADC’s support through the deployment of the SADC Election Observation Mission. Summit reiterated the urgent need for all stakeholders, in particular, political parties in the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Lesotho, to ensure that the reform process is brought to finality in the interest of national political, economic and security stability. Summit commended the efforts by H.E. Mr. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço as the designated facilitator by the African Union (AU) in bringing peace in the Eastern DRC. Summit mandated the Chairperson of SADC, supported by the Organ Troika to intensify the diplomatic efforts between the DRC and Rwanda to bring lasting peace in the DRC. Summit commended H.E. Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia and the Chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, for his leadership in sustaining peace and security in the Region. Summit extended its appreciation to the Chairperson of SADC, H.E. Mr. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola, for successfully hosting the Extraordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government. The Chairperson of SADC expressed gratitude to all Heads of State and Government for attending the Extraordinary Summit and for their unwavering commitment to peace, security, and development of the SADC region. Done on 4 November 2023 Luanda, Angola. Angolan President João Lourenço Communiqué of extraordinary summit of Sadc heads of state NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

News Page 7 BRENNA MATENDERE ZIMBABWE Defence Forces (ZDF) commander General Philip Valerio Sibanda, who was recently appointed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa as an ex-officio member of the Zanu PF politburo, is destined for higher political office, political analyst Professor Eldred Masunungure has said.  Sibanda was appointed at the end of the Zanu PF annual conference in Gweru last Saturday. However, the national constitution, in sections 208 and 211, forbids members of the security services from participating in political party activities or holding office in parties. By being appointed an ex-officio member of the politburo, General Sibanda can attend Zanu PF politburo meetings and take part in discussions. Masunungure, who teaches political science at the University of Zimbabwe, told The NewsHawks in an exclusive interview that Mnangagwa must have taken a long time in planning the appointment of Sibanda, opening the way for the top soldier to venture into fulltime politics. “The political  (interpretation of Sibanda’s appointment)  relates to the intent behind the President’s seemingly unprecedented and anomalous decision. It is evident that he must have thought about this long and hard, weighed the costs and benefits, politically, of moving in that direction. One can only speculate about the ‘hidden’ intent and in doing so, a thought runs to the chronically unresolved issue of the succession question in Zanu PF. “Speculation therefore is warranted that he is due to migrate from his military career to a second career, a political one. In the latter domain, he can then be earmarked for top positions in the party and government, first as VP (most likely replacing the sexually blemished Mohadi) before being elevated to the pinnacle of power i.e., being President,” said Masunungure. He added: “Incidentally or intentionally, this would mark the continuation of the Shumba clan while also satisfying the long-held grievance of Zapu/Zipra being marginalised by not being considered for the highest office in the land. So, ED would have killed at least two birds with one stone.” The political scientist also opined that the constitutionality of Sibanda’s appointment must be tested in a competent court of law. “The appointment was and remains controversial and contestable with various interpretations to it that can be reduced to two: constitutional and political. The constitutional lies in the realm of the Constitutional Court to determine whether the appointment is consistent with the supreme law of the country. “The constitutionality of the appointment should be determined by the judiciary to the extent that it can do so impartially,” he said. The ZDF boss is now an active member of the Zanu PF party, who is expected to be furthering the interests of the party. The constitution, the supreme law of the country, on the other hand requires security forces to be professional and non-partisan, all the time. Section 208 of the constitution expressly bars the security services — listed in section 207 as defence forces, police service, intelligence services and prisons and correctional services — from acting in a partisan manner. ZDF boss destined for higher office ZDF commander General Philip Valerio Sibanda NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 8 News RUVIMBO MUCHENJE THE CCC has  suffered a major blow, losing 14 National Assembly and nine Senate seats, after the High Court dismissed an application by opposition legislators challenging their recalls by Sengezo Tshabangu who claims to be the party's acting secretary-general, meaning President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s quest for a two-thirds majority via the backdoor is on course. The judgement also confirmed that by-elections set for 9 December 2023 will go ahead as scheduled. Nominations is on 7 November 2023. Zanu PF insiders say Mnangagwa desires to change the constitution as he entertains the idea of running for a third term. High Court Justice Munamato Mutevedzi said the applicants failed to prove that they were more bonafide CCC members than the first respondent (Tshabangu). The CCC’s failure to support the application, or its failure to make the application on behalf of the legislators as well as the failure to produce a constitution proved fatal. “On the background of all the above issues, what stands out is that the first respondent’s letters to the presiding officers of Parliament satisfied all the requirements under s129(1) (k)of the Constitution. In addition he attached annexures ‘ST2’, a document addressed to the third respondent which showed that he was designated by the CCC as its officer,” Mutevedzi said. “There is nothing to rebut that other than the belated and discredited letters of Nelson Chamisa. He went out of his way to prove what he ordinarily was not required to prove. The applicants failed to produce their party constitution or any document which showed that the first respondent could possibly not have held the position he claimed he held. “It was simply their word that he wasn’t. That is not enough. Contrary to counsel’s allegation that the first respondent conceded that he was not a member of the CCC party, his opposing affidavit has claims in innumerable paragraphs saying he is a bona fide member and official of that party with authority to write correspondences of recalls like he did. The onus to prove entitlement to the declaratory orders sought was on the applicants. "They did not even begin to discharge it. They have not established their case on a balance of probabilities as required by law and are therefore not entitled to the declaratur which they seek,” wrote Mutevedzi. Tshabangu wrote to Parliament posturing as the secretary-general of the CCC and in his correspondence he recalled 15 legislators across the country. Justice Mutevedzi said it was the prerogative of the party to challenge Tshabangu's CCC membership and not that of the members. “Just like it is difficult if not impossible for a man to impugn the paternity of his brother without directly involving the parents it is naïve for a member of a political party to approach a court seeking to prove that another is a non-member of the same party without the involvement of the political party itself. The applicants in the two applications before me all share the mortification of failing to appreciate the elementary notion that they are individuals who are distinct from their political party. They cannot conflate the rights acquired through their individual membership in the party with the responsibilities which are reposed in the political party itself. I will later in the judgment, demonstrate the fallacy of believing otherwise,” Mutevedzi wrote. In their court application, the group insisted that Tshabangu is not a CCC member and, as such, could not recall them. They described his actions as of fraud, also complaining that it was wrong for the Speaker of Parliament to act on his letter. They had cited the Speaker of Parliament, the Senate President as well as the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) as respondents, but later altered their draft order to only seek an order against Tshabangu. Tshabangu, who was represented by Advocate Lewis Uriri, argued that the CCC was happy with the recall, the reason why it was not party to the proceedings. Mutevedzi, sitting at the Harare High Court, upheld Tshabangu's arguments that the aggrieved brought nothing before him to confirm that they were never recalled. "A closer reading of s129(1) (k) would show that nowhere in it is the Member of Parliament accorded any active role,” the judge said. "The power of recall from Parliament created by s129(1) (k) of the Constitution is reposed in the political party to which the Member of Parliament belonged at the time of the election. "It is that concerned party which recalls a Member. By parity of reasoning the Member cannot contest his/her recall against any other person without joining the concerned political party." The judge further ruled: "Put in another way, the parasite and host relationship described above is not removed by the allegation that there is an intruder or an insurgent who has come between the concerned political party and the member and has arrogated himself the political party’s entitlement." Mutevedzi said the political party cannot abdicate the responsibility to approach the courts, broach the subject and seek redress in terms of s129(1) (k) to reclaim its right. "Where the concerned political party does not agree with the recall, it is as of necessity, required to contest the lawfulness or otherwise of a recall in court. A recalled Member of Parliament cannot come to court alone, drag in a third party and choose to ignore his/her political party," he said. Mutevedzi said in light of the foregoing issues, what stands out is that Tshabangu's letters to the presiding officers of Parliament satisfied all the requirements under s129(1) (k) of the Constitution. Attack on Zanu PF The judge also chastised CCC legislators' lawyers for insultimg the ruling party, saying it worked negatively on their part as they lost track of reason why they were before the court. "It is inappropriate for a litigant to denigrate a person or institution which he/she has deliberately neglected to cite in court papers with the full knowledge that whatever aspersions he/she casts on that person/institution, he/she/it will not have the opportunity to answer back. "The applicants’ attack on the political party called Zanu PF appears completely off side. In reality it smacks of cowardice and uncalled for grandstanding.” The judge said allegations can only be made against a party who is before the court. "In legal parlance, an allegation refers to a claim of fact not yet proven to be true,” he said. "It is not synonymous with an insult. The principles of natural justice require a party against whom a decision adverse to his/her/ its interests to be heard before such decision is made. "I cannot in this instance, make a finding that Zanu PF connived with the presiding officers without hearing its side of the story. Commendably at the hearing Ms. Ndhlovu who appeared with Mr Muchadehama for the applicants unreservedly apologised to both the court and the respondents for the use of that over the top language." Justice Mutevedzi said putting ethical issues aside, the MPs further contended that in a move aimed at pre-empting the effects of the letters written to the presiding officers, the CCC on 4 October 2023 addressed a letter written by its leader Nelson Chamisa to the presiding officers advising that the first respondent’s letter of recall was a fraudulent document and did not represent the position of the CCC party and that all the applicants had not been expelled from the party. The court heard that on 6 October 2023 the presiding officers wrote to the third respondent, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, notifying it of the existence of the vacancies which had arisen in both houses of Parliament. The subsequent expulsion from Parliament was announced on 10 October 2023. Imposter inflicts major blow on CCC Self-declared CCC secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

News Page 9 BRENNA MATENDERE THE International Parliamentary Union (IPU), a global organisation of 180 national parliaments, has grilled Zimbabwe’s Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda over his decision allowing the recalling of 15 MPs from the Nelson Chamisa-led Citizens' Coalition for Change (CCC) based on a letter from an imposter, Sengezo Tshabangu. More pressure is looming for Mudenda after the CCC also wrote to the Sadc Parliamentary Forum, Pan-African Parliament and the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific-European Joint Parliamentary Assembly over the controversial recalls of opposition MPs which the party has described as “continued abuse” of Parliament and Zimbabwe’s constitution. Mudenda is already feeling the heat after the IPU sat him down for a hearing following complaints from the opposition CCC at its 147th Assembly that took place in Luanda, Angola, held from October 23 to 27. The hearing of Mudenda was  held by the IPU’s Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians. In its report after the hearing, the committee said Mudenda stated that section 129(1)(k) of the Zimbabwe Constitution stipulates that the seat of an MP becomes vacant "if s/he ceases to belong to the political party and if the party, by written notice to the Speaker, declares that the member has ceased to belong to it.” However, the committee put it to Mudenda that the individual who had written the letters recalling the opposition MPs, Tshabangu, was an imposter and questioned why he took him seriously. Part of the IPU report reads: “According to the complainant, Tshabangu is an imposter with no position in the CCC and who has no authority to request the recall of any CCC members. Moreover, none of the individuals concerned in Parliament stated that they had left the CCC,” the IPU committee said in the report obtained by The NewsHawks. The report shows that Mudenda gave incoherent responses to the IPU committee’s concerns. “In the hearing with the IPU Committee, the Speaker of the National Assembly stated that Tshabangu's letter of October 3, 2023, had been received before the letter from Chimasa dated September 11. Had this been the other way round, the Speaker's decision may have been quite different. He (Mudenda) also stated that the CCC did not have clear and publicly known internal structures or the names of those holding the most important positions in the party. Should a request to recall members of the National Assembly belonging to Zanu PF be put before him, he said it was public knowledge who is entitled within the party to make that request.” However, while Mudenda made these submissions, in its complaint to IPU, the CCC accused the Speaker of acting unconstitutionally by ignoring the written and oral submissions of known party members, refusing to hold any discussions on this issue, and accepting the letter from Tshabangu without ensuring that it was legitimate communication from the political party concerned. “According to the complainant, these allegations have to be seen as part of a pattern of repression, the erosion of the independence of the Judiciary and the shrinking civic space that accompanied the disputed 2023 elections, as well as pre-existing violations of the rights of parliamentarians belonging to the opposition,” the IPU committee said. The IPU governing council was advised that the CCC case requires the setting up of a mission to Zimbabwe as soon as practicable ahead of the IPU Committee’s 173rd session scheduled for January 2024. The IPU then proposed to send a mission to Zimbabwe before the end of this year. Although the IPU appreciated Mudenda’s argument, it  flagged  the swiftness with which the decision to revoke the mandate of the newly-elected parliamentarians was taken and the fact that no debate on the issue was allowed “It (IPU committee) wishes to receive additional clarification from the parliamentary authorities of the National Assembly and the Senate. The committee requests that the secretary-general conveys this decision to the parliamentary authorities and other relevant national authorities, the complainant, and any interested third party likely to be in a position to supply relevant information to assist the committee in its work,” the committee report further reads. Mudenda grilled over MP recalls Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 10 News OWEN GAGARE PROMINENT lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa has accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of failling to “uphold, defend, obey and respect the constitution” after he failed to appoint a tribunal to look into the suitability of Justice Webster Chinamora to hold office as recommended by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). The JSC early this year recommended that Mnangagwa set up a tribunal to investigate the suitability of Chinamora and former Bulawayo High Court judge Martin Makonese to hold office. Although Mnangagwa instituted a tribunal to investigate Makonese, leading to his resignation, he has inexplicably not acted on the recommendation to investigate Chinamora. 7Section 187 sub-section 3 makes it mandatory for the President to appoint a tribunal once the JSC makes a recommendation. 7In an open letter to Mnangagwa and the JSC, Mtetwa said the President had failed to uphold the constitution. She said: “The Constitution of Zimbabwe has founding values and principles which include the rule of law, recognition of the equality of all human beings and good governance. To emphasize the Importance of good governance, its principles are specifically delineated and the delineation includes, 'respect for the people of Zimbabwe from whom the authority to govern is derived'. “Good governance also includes: “transparency, justice accountability and responsiveness”. “Sadly, the President has failed to abide by these principles in so far as his obligations under Section 187 (3) are concerned. Section 187 (3) provides as follows: 'if the Judicial Service Commission advises the President that the question of removing any judge, including the Chief Justice, from office ought to be investigated, the President must appoint a tribunal to enquire into the matter”. Subsection of section 187 in turn provides for the suspension of the concerned judge once the question of removing the judge has been referred to a tribunal for investigation'." As revealed by The NewsHawks in previous articles, Mnangagwa does not want Chinamora removed from the bench as he sees him as a pro-establishment judge who has ruled in favour of the government in crucial matters. Following the JSC’s recommendations, there have been high-level moves involving senior Justice ministry officials to save Chinamora. Mtetwa however said Mnangagwa’s manoeuevre was unconstitutional. She also questioned why the Judicial Service Commission, Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and Law Society of Zimbabwe were failing to act in the matter. “Chinamora continues to sit as a High Court judge more than six months after his colleague had opted to resign. Legal practitioners whose clients are involved in the complaints against him are forced to appear before him in other matters,” Mtetwa said. “. . . The public, which is entitled to justice dispensed by independent, impartial and fair judges who expeditiously act without 'fear, favour or prejudice', continue to have their matters heard by a judge who has been adjudged to have a case to answer by a panel of three judges.” Mtetwa said Mnangagwa had failed in his duties by failing to uphold the constitution. She also took a swipe at oversight institutions for ignoring the matter. “Section 90(1) of the constitution requires the President to “uphold, defend, obey and respect” the constitution. And Section 324 of the constitution requires that, 'all constitutional obligations be performed diligently and without delay', yet the President has, for a period of close to a year since referral, has been anything but expeditious and diligent in discharging an extremely important obligation which goes to the very root of the founding values and principles of Zimbabwe,” Mtetwa said. “Despite this blatant disregarded of an important constitutional obligation, Zimbabwe’s oversight institutions and civil society organisations have remained mute. One of the functions of the JSC is to tender advice to the government 'on any matter relating to the judiciary or the administration of Justice and the government must pay due regard to such advice'. Despite the constitution requiring the JSC to conduct its business in a just, fair and transparent manner, the people of Zimbabwe do not know whether or not the JSC has in fact discharged its Constitutional obligation of tendering advice to the President particularly with regards the need to diligently and expeditiously discharge constitutional obligations. “Then there is the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission whose various functions include 'to protect the public against abuse of power and maladministration by the state and public institutions'. Has the ZHRC done anything to ensure that the JSC referral of the matter to the President is acted on diligently and expeditiously as is required by the Constitution? Is there any reason why it has not sought a mandamus to compel to the President to discharge his constitutional obligations or is the ZHRC as complicit in these failures as the JSC and the rest of us?” Mtetwa said lawyers had also failed by failing to take up the matter through the Law Society of Zimbabwe. “If the lawyers cannot decisively act to protect their own interests, why should the litigating public believe in their capacity to protect their interests? What sorts of professionals are these who are not protecting the integrity of their own institutions and processes? How does it feel to be the lawyer whose client made the complaints but who, a year later, still has to appear before the judge complained against? And can the public have confidence in our justice delivery system when there are such epic failures that no one is attending to? “And where are our civil society organisations when we need them?” Mtetwa urged Chinamora to respect the oath of office he took. “Where is your respect for the office of the High Court judge? Where is your respect for the office of the litigating public? Do you not crave public confidence and respect for the justice system that you serve? And when you receive all the emoluments that go with your office, do you feel that you have earned these in line with the principles that are supposed to guide you in dispensing justice?” asked Mtetwa. The complaint against Chinamora was filed by Advocate Thabani Mpofu. A panel set up by the JSC to review the complaint comprising judges Anne-Marie Gowora, Alfas Chitakunye and Custom Kachambwa concluded that Chinamora has a case to answer. Mpofu filed a complaint in a case in which another attorney, Advocate Taona Nyamakura, lodged a complaint against Chinamora for alleged conflict of interest in a legal dispute between Zimbabwe’s Delta Beverages (Pvt) Ltd, Schweppes Zimbabwe Ltd and Blakey Plastics (Pty) Ltd, a South African company. Chinamora was already facing a series of accusations ranging from conflict of interest, judicial misconduct, bribery to different forms of corruption. Mnangagwa violates law: Mtetwa Lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

News Page 11 RUVIMBO MUCHENJE ON Wednesday morning, many opposition activists were in panic mode after Zimbabwe's youngest member of Parliament, Takudzwa Ngadziore (24), recorded a Facebook Live video, showing two armed men just before they kidnapped and tortured him. Ngadziore’s abduction is the fourth recorded abduction of opposition activists since the August election period. It has reignited trauma for ward 27 councillor Womberaiishe Nhende, who says such things should not be happening. Nhende was forced into an unmarked vehicle alongside Sanele Mkhuhlane. He says the news about the Ngadziore abduction, two months after his own, has reinforced his belief that he and fellow activists are not safe. “It makes me feel very unsafe. The issue of safety becomes a fundamental question that cannot be concluded to say we are safe in Zimbabwe,” said Nhende. “So there is a traumatic experience that comes from those things (abductions). The moment you assume that you are going to be safe, then you get back to Zimbabwe and you hear that Taku has been abducted, seeking the whereabouts replays my abduction." He recalls how, despite being visibly unfit to flee as he was walking with the support of crutches, his tormentors somehow saw him as a threat. On the eve of the abduction, and in the run up to the 23 and 24 August general elections, Nhende was among the casualties in the aftermath of a violent attack of a CCC campaign team in Harare's Glen View suburb by Zanu PF thugs. The attack claimed the life of Tinashe Chitsunge and left many injured. Nhende says tjat during his four-hour ordeal he was subjected to interrogation into CCC operations. His tormenters tortured him with tasers to induce answers. “They would  consistently ask what we (CCC youths) were planning with Chamisa in the aftermath of the widely condemned election process. They assumed that maybe we were planning a demonstration and a parallel inauguration process because they would ask me questions like how far have you gone with the process,” recalls Nhende. For close to 70km, the duo was assaulted and tased with electric shockers, and all this was happening while they were blindfolded. Nhende was the second recorded case of abduction after the elections. Ahead of the announcement of presidential election results, Nelson Mukwenha, a former councillor in Marondera Rural District Council, was abducted after he shielded party spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi from state security agents who wanted to forcefully take him from the Sapes Trust premises in Harare. Just like Nhende, Mukwenha was found dumped in Mapinga and he retreated to a safe house for a while. Former Mabvuku legislator James Chidhakwa was abducted from Harare and dumped in Arcturus after being tortured. He had is dreadlocks cut during a violent ordeal that left him with cuts on his feet. Harare West MP Joana Mamombe had her house visited by armed men in the middle of the night after she put up a fight against the recalls of 15 of her colleagues in Parliament. Ngadziore was abducted as he prepared to go to Parliament. MP abduction evokes impunity CCC leader Nelon Chamisa visits Harare party MP Takudzwa Ngadziore in hospital after his abduction this week. NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 12 News NATHAN GUMA THE loss-making Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco), which has been embroiled in numerous corruption scandals, has failed to account for ZW$3.4 billion in revenue it generated in urban areas, due to non-submission of information, raising the risk of possible fraud. Zupco, which has been under fire for being a cashcow for politically-connected elites, is struggling to operate, with most buses having disappeared from the roads after the re-introduction of privately owned commuter omnibuses.  In May last year, the parastatal’s operations opened a can of worms amid reports that Parliament was blocked from making inquiries on the procurement, ownership and whereabouts of over 500 purchased buses in the wake of a severe transport crisis. While thousands of Zimbabweans, particularly in urban centres, struggle for transport on a daily basis, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has on several occasions officially unveiled buses that are rarely seen on the roads except on Zanu PF occasions, a puzzle that has raised questions. Findings by acting Auditor-General (AG) Rheah Kujinga in her report on State-Owned Parastatals for the year ended 31 December 2022 have shown that the parastatal has been struggling to account for the revenue generated from its operations in urban areas, amid indications of late payment of other payables. “I was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence that management had properly accounted for urban revenue amounting to ZW$3.4 billion due to the non-submission of information to support the reported figures. I was therefore unable to confirm the accuracy and completeness of the revenue recorded through other alternative means,” read the report. “Included in cost of sales is diesel amounting to ZW$3.4 billion and operator fees ZW$2.6 billion. The system of control over the recording of diesel and expenses of mini-buses operators’ fees was not effective. I was unable to verify these expenses due to the state of the accounting records and non-submission of information by management in support of these expenditures. I was unable to perform other alternative procedures in order to confirm that cost of sales had been accurately recorded.” The acting AG said she was also unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence on cash and cash equivalents balances totalling ZW$36 million due to non-submission of information, making it difficult to confirm Zupco’s cash and bank balances. Zupco has also failed to maintain accounts for money owed to operators who have been leasing their vehicles to Zupco, with payments during the year not supported by invoices, raising fears of fraud. “There were no accounts payable sub-ledgers for bus operators who were leasing out minibuses to Zupco. As a result, management did not provide a list of individual creditors and supporting third-party documents. There were no reconciliations of individual creditor balances to creditor statements. I was therefore not able to verify the trade and other payables balance of ZW$749.5 million,” reads the report. “The Company was earning some rental income from properties it was leasing out during the year. However, these properties were classified as part of property and equipment in the Company’s financial statements. This was contrary to the provisions of IAS 40 – 'Investment Property', which requires assets to be accounted for as investment property. I also noted that management was processing payments using manual records maintained by the depot managers which were not adequately supported. As a result, there were variances amounting to ZW$241.9 million between balances disclosed in the financial statements and balances in the company records.” Zupco is also operating on the brink, with current liabilities exceeding current assets, which the AG said is likely to plunge the parastatal into economic uncertainty. “I draw attention to the fact that the Company had a net liability position (current liabilities exceed current assets) of ZW$312.8 million (2019: ZW$368.1 million) as at December 31, 2020. In addition, the Company incurred an operating loss of ZW$3.8 billion (2019: ZW$2.7 billion),” reads the report.   “These conditions indicate the existence of material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. My opinion is not modified in respect of this matter. The controls around the Company’s revenue collection systems were inadequate. There were no reconciliations being done on the banking summary to the revenue posted into the system. As a result, there were variances of ZW$26.48 million from cash collected to the cash deposits/banking.” The acting AG also flagged Zupco over inadequate controls on fuel procurement, amid indications of fraud, as there were no documents to support expenditure for procurement of diesel amounting to ZW$290 million. “In addition, there were variances between the quantities of diesel invoiced by suppliers and the quantities of diesel received,” reads the report. “There were no adequate controls over billing for bus hire customers as waybills which are used as primary source documents for billing were not properly completed by the customers. As a result, some waybills did not show key details important for accurate billing such as the route and the distance covered.” Zupco can’t account for ZW$3bn NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

News Page 13 NATHAN GUMA THE Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (Zetdc) is failing to account for millions of dollars in revenue, due to a porous client payment system, with perennial losses casting the parastatal into operational uncertainty. ZETDC, a subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) Holdings, is responsible for the transmission of electricity from power stations and retailing to end users. Findings by acting Auditor-General (AG) Rheah Kujinga in her report on State-Owned Parastatals for the year ended 31 December 2022 revealed that the ZETDC’s client payments system was not interfaced with banks, which saw payments amounting to ZW$793.4 million being processed, but not allocated to the respective customer accounts. In response, the company said the unallocated payments have been caused by direct deposits from customers, which do not have useful supporting customer information. The organisation has been operating on the brink, with its current liabilities exceeding current assets, a recurrent issue that was flagged by former AG Mildred Chiri in her previous report. “The Company incurred an operating loss before tax for the year ended December 31, 2021 of ZW$816.02 million (2020: ZW$25.9 billion). The Company’s current liabilities exceeded its current assets by ZW$24.5 billion (2020: ZW$47.5 billion) as at December 31, 2021,” reads the report. “The Company defaulted on repayments of its foreign loans which have not been rescheduled. "These conditions indicate the existence of a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” ZETDC was also incurring transmission losses ranging from 1% to 5%, in the period under review, above the stipulated limit of 14% on units of electricity sold, versus the units of electricity purchased, with no evidence to support an investigation into the variances. More irregularities have been revealed, with the company failing to review payslips and payroll summaries, which has seen it process fuel and electricity allowances to employees, contrary to its human resources policy, which stipulates that an employee is entitled to one of these benefits, not both. Kujinga also flagged the ZEDTC for failing to remit the rural electrification levy to the Rural Electrification Fund (REF), with an outstanding balance amounting to ZW$4.3 billion (2020: ZW$1.8 billion), as at 31 December 2021. “The Company is still failing to take meter readings as per company policy due to shortage of operational vehicles. The Company has secured funding through a bank loan facility for the installation of prepaid meters to the remaining approximately 103 000 clients and the installation of smart meters to the large users of electricity,” reads the report. “Once the projects are completed, in 2022 every customer is either on prepaid meter or smart meter, the issue of meter reading will be a thing of the past. The project is still pending. The meters are expected to be received by end of June 2022 and to complete the installations by the end of the fourth quarter 2022.” The ZETDC has also been hit by heavy operational constraints that have seen a shortage of vehicles for staff to effectively carry out their duties. “The company had an ageing fleet of motor vehicles that were experiencing frequent breakdowns. As a result, there was a shortage of operational vehicles to enable staff to perform their duties. For instance, some meters were not read for a period of more than 12 months. This was contrary to the company policy which requires meter readings to be done every three months as the clients are billed using estimates,” reads the report. The company has been failing to comply with international accounting standards, raising the risk of mis-statement of financial figures.  Reads the report: “The valuation of the property, plant and equipment was performed by Directors as at December 31, 2021. The property, plant and equipment valuations were determined in United States dollar and then translated to Zimdollar using the auction rate as at December 31, 2021.  Although the determined United States dollar values reflected the fair value of the property, plant and equipment in United States dollar, the converted Zimdollar values were not in compliance with IFRS 13 ‘Fair Value Measurement’ as they may not reflect the assumptions that market participants would apply in valuing similar items of property, plant and equipment in Zimdollar.” ZETDC fails to account for millions NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 14 News NATHAN GUMA THE failure by local authorities to craft proper risk management policies has led to losses running into millions of dollars, through overpayments, mis-statements and non-delivery of paid for goods. Risk management policies are crafted to guide institutions on how they can manage economic pitfalls that possibly lead to financial losses. Findings by acting Auditor-General Rhea Kujinga in her report on Local Authorities for the year ended 31 December 2021 has revealed that several local authorities have been operating without risk management policies, thereby raising accountability issues. For instance, Bindura Municipality has failed to account for US$418 000 which was invested with an asset management company between 2020 and 2021, amid indications that the council does not have a proper risk management policy. “This was contrary to the Public Finance Management Act [Chapter 22:19], section 1(a) (i) which requires an accounting authority to ensure that the public entity maintains effective, efficient systems of financial and risk management. The non-disclosure of the investments was also against fair presentation according to IPSAS 1- ‘Presentation of Financial Statements’,” according to the report. More local authorities have been losing more money due to poor risk management, with the acting AG also flagging Kadoma City Council over non-delivery of goods which were paid for by the local authority. “The Council procured a motor vehicle (High Rider Single Cab Toyota Hilux 2.4L Diesel) on July 13, 2021 with a condition that the contractor delivers the motor vehicle within six weeks from the signing of the contract. At the time of my audit in 2022, the council had not yet received the procured vehicle,” she said in the report. Redcliff Municipality has also been flagged over the delivery of wrong equipment, which has led to financial loss. “In 2020, the Municipality (seller of land) entered into an agreement with a certain company (purchaser of land) for the supply of vehicles in exchange with land,” reads the report. “However, I noted that during the execution of the contract in 2021, the company breached section 2.2 (iii) and (iv) of the contract which required the purchaser (the company) to supply Garbage Truck Faw Underpan 10m3 motor vehicle at a price of US$41 260 but instead supplied a Dong fang garbage truck valued at USD57 819. The same contract also stated that the company had to supply a Fire tender Faw Underpan motor vehicle valued at US$66 802 but instead supplied a Dong Fang fire tender at a price of US$74 180. In addition, the company was supposed to deliver brand new vehicles as per section 2.6 of the agreement which stated that motor vehicles to be delivered by the company to the Municipality shall be in brand new condition. However, one (1) of the vehicles delivered was not brand new. The value of the vehicle as per invoice was US$75 000 but the value on the contract was US$42 414.” Masvingo City Council has also been under fire, amid indications that the local authority lost millions in 2021 through overpayments in the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP). “The Council entered into a contract for an emergency road rehabilitation programme. However, I noted that there was an overpayment ZW$2 561 445 to Earthlygate Precast and Civil Contractors for the emergency road rehabilitation programme (ERRP) phase one works which had an initial contract sum of ZW$19 416 900 in April 2021,” reads the report. “Subsequently, in August 2021 an addendum for a variation of ZW$3 495 042 to bring the contract price to ZW$22 911 942 was signed citing that the charging of Preliminaries and Generals cost (Ps and Gs) had been ‘omitted’. “However, according to the contractual agreements signed on April 14, 2021, no variations were permitted except where the works were specifically stated as being a measured item, necessitated by the employer (the Council) or by government regulation.” The price variation resulted in the contractor engaged proving not to be the cheapest bidder as was indicated on the supplier evaluation sheet as the cheapest bidder would have been Jepnik with a bid amount of ZW$19 861 930 which might have led to a saving of ZW$3 050 012. This is contrary to the Public Finance Management Act [Chapter 22:19] Section 85 (1) (b), which does not permit irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. Kujinga also flagged Harare City Council for having insufficient systems in place to correctly account for impairment on receivables from non-exchange transactions amounting to ZW$441.2 million in 2019. Reads the report: “An impairment assessment of outstanding receivables from non-exchange transactions was not performed. I was not able to quantify the impact of the resultant misstatement on receivables or the impairment expense as it was impracticable to do so. Following the withdrawal of the BIQ system in March 2019, there was no alternate billing system until June 2019. Management did not submit records of what transpired between March 2019 and June 2019. I was also not able to verify the opening balances used in the new billing system. Following the withdrawal of the BIQ system in March 2019, there was no alternate billing system until June 2019. Management did not submit records of what transpired between March 2019 and June 2019. I was also not able to verify the opening balances used in the new billing system.” Local authorities lack risk management policies: AG Acting Auditor-General Rhea Kujinga NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

News Page 15 RUVIMBO MUCHENJE THE Auditor-General’s latest report on Local Authorities has once again flagged Harare City Council for failing to fully account for its finances. Acting Auditor-General Rheah Kujinga’s report reveals that council did not have a determination on the audit conducted, because it did not provide sufficient material for the audit. “I do not express an opinion on the financial statements of the City of Harare. Because of the significance of the matters described in the Basis for Disclaimer of Opinion section of my report, I have not been able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion on these financial statements,” said Kujinga. Harare failed to submit sufficient data for audit because the city council does not have proper accounting systems in place. In 2019, Quill Associates, previous provider of the city’s Business Intelligence Quotient (BIQ) System, abruptly withdrew its service after the local authority failed to pay for it for a consecutive five months. Since then, the local authority has not procured an accounting system, resulting in revenue leakages leading to poor service delivery. Kujinga reports that the material submitted for audit by Harare is not a true reflection of all the transactions that happened at the àalocal authority. “The City Council’s accounting and financial management system collapsed following the withdrawal of the BIQ financial accounting and reporting system in March 2019. I was not able to obtain sufficient appropriate evidence as to whether all the recorded balances and transactions during the year under review had actually occurred, been correctly classified, and had been completely and accurately recorded. In addition, I was not able to confirm the reported balances by alternative means and I was not able to obtain sufficient appropriate evidence that management fulfilled its responsibility in the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in accordance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs). Based on the audit evidence I gathered, it is my opinion that the financial statements submitted by City of Harare are not based on credible underlying accounting records as there was no credible financial accounting system,” reported Kujinga. In 2020, the then Auditor-General Mildred Chiri warned council against operating without a proper accounting system in place. Harare says because the cancellation was abrupt, they could not extract all the 64 cashbooks in the system. In 2020, Chiri recommended that systems be put in place to address the governance crisis. “The Council’s cashbooks were not furnished for audit. Cash receipts and payments journals linked to the bank accounts were also not availed. Reconciliations of bank accounts, EcoCash accounts were not updated and proper checking and authorisation of the same was not being done. Some of the bank accounts were not in the accounting system. The risk is that fraudulent transactions might not be detected and acted upon on time as well as possible financial loss. I recommend that the council should ensure adequate and proper maintenance of records. Monthly bank reconciliations should be done and reviewed,” said Chiri in the previous report. A year later, acting Auditor-General Kujinga could not make a determination on the receipts provided by the local authority, citing insufficient evidence. After Chiri’s report, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee instituted an inquiry into the shambolic state of affairs in the local authority’s accounting and made similar observations. In their inquiry, the MPs were told that all receipting and invoicing was now being done manually, which was a nightmare for finance officers. “Mr Mhukarume (Francis), the Finance Director at Harare City indicated that it was an agreed position that the current Sage system that replaced BIQ is not functional and it is a nightmare operating in an environment in this day and age without a proper system. He submitted that Harare City was struggling in receipting as it receipts manually. As a result, all receipts were not accurately accounted for. The billing was not being done accurately because SAGE did not have the capacity. In a nutshell, Harare City did not have an accounting system, and was just operating on an auto pilot. The Procurement was also affected as there was no system being used. At the end of the day, Harare City Council’s financial reporting was not transparent and that signals failure. Mr Mhukarume further submitted that the environment currently was a nightmare because the only module which was working was the billing which was operating at 50%,” read the report by PAC. Meanwhile, in addition to the accounting nightmare at Harare City Council, the other problem that has persisted is the failure by the local authority to account for its subsidiaries. Noted Kujinga in the latest report: “The Council did not consolidate and/or disclose the full list of subsidiaries, associates, joint ventures and other entities that the City of Harare invested in. No financial statements of subsidiaries, associates, joint ventures and other entities the City of Harare is invested in were submitted. International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 600, ‘The Work of Related Auditors and Other Auditors in the Audit of Group Financial Statements’, requires the group auditors to have full access to information on all group components. In addition, management reported that the joint arrangement with Easi-park (Pvt) Limited had been terminated. I was not able to establish the terms and conditions of the reported termination and how the termination was accounted for in the council’s books. Besides, this joint venture had never been accounted for in the council’s financial statements in accordance with accounting standards. I was not able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence that the financial statements and the notes thereto have been properly prepared in accordance with applicable standards.” Her predecessor, Chiri, also raised concerns over the issue of subsidiaries, saying: “International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) 6- Consolidated and separate financial statements requires the consolidation of all controlled entities. I noted that City of Harare’s wholly owned subsidiaries, namely Rufaro Marketing (Pvt) Ltd, City Parking (Pvt) Ltd and Sunshine Holdings, were not consolidated or accounted for. Access to the identified entities was not granted and the investments, in aggregate, may be significant and material. It was also unclear whether all the interests in Sunshine Holdings were known.” Management promised to follow it up and address the anomaly by 2019, but did not. “Noted, all accounts for subsidiaries will be consolidated in 2019. Council will endeavour to comply to all the requirements of the IPSAS Guideline,” responded management. Harare was among six local authorities flagged for failing to provide sufficient data for audit by the Auditor-General. Harare’s shambolic books exposed NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

OWEN GAGARE THE chickens have finally come home to roost for Henrietta Rushwaya, or so it seems, following numerous close shaves with the law. When she was arrested at Robert Mugabe International Airport in October 2020 while trying to smuggle 6 kilogrammes of gold to Dubai, many Zimbabweans believed she would escape with just a slap on the wrist — like she had done several times before. The gold was worth US$333 042, 28. But early this week, Rushwaya, who is President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s niece, a close relative of chief secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet Martin Rushwaya, the president of the Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation was found guilty of the offence. She was of course denying the smuggling charges, claiming she picked the wrong handbag as she went to the airport. High Court judge Justice Pisirayi Kwenda convicted Rushwaya (56) and remanded her in custody to 10 November 2023 for sentencing. Rushwaya was indicted to the High Court for trial early this year. The conviction came as a surprise to many people, given the perception that she has over the years enjoyed protection because of her relations with Mnangagwa and other senior Zanu PF officials. Besides Mnangagwa, Rushwaya was also close to former vice-president Joseph Msika. At one time she served as director of sport in his office. Rushwaya’s catalogue of close shaves The controversial former Zimbabwe Football Association chief executive, whose tenure was marred by allegations of match fixing in which she played a central role, complicated her situation when she nailed herself as a dirty player in the gold sector, who has facilitated the looting of gold through private jets and helped in money laundering schemes, after being recorded by an Al Jazeera undercover investigative team and broadcast early this year. This was before her gold smuggling case had been finalised. Henrietta, who has a string of past scandals dating back to 2007, was among those exposed by undercover reporters who, posing as gangsters with up to US$1 billion in dirty money, approached President Mnangagwa’s Ambassador-at-Large, Eubert Angel, and critical players in Zimbabwe’s gold sector seeking to launder cash, with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Fidelity Printers and Refiners acting as a laundromat. Angel is recorded phoning Henrietta, who reveals they use private jets to pick up gold as part of their smuggling and laundering activities. “You want gold, we can make the call and it’s done with the president of the miners’ association, right this minute. Let me just call Rushwaya,” says Angel to undercover reporters, while calling. Angel then tells Rushwaya he has people who want to get gold “like the other deals that we normally do with these people, like the one we did in Dubai. He tells the ZMF boss that the investors are prepared to send a private jet that picks up gold every week. “Oh perfect. Now that’s okay. It’s doable. What quantity do they do?” asks Rushwaya. Angel tells Rushwaya the dealers want 100kgs of gold every week. She immediately offers them a 4% discount on world prices, before detailing how she can assist them to clean their money. “They bring in US$10 million, for instance. Five million will be put into Fidelity for the duration of their relationship. They get gold worth US$5 million every week, they take it out, bring another US$5 million,” she says. Rushwaya also offers to clean an additional US$5 million through one of her producers, whom she says can add onto the parcel that is taken out, bring the total to US$10 million a week. “You can easily open an account for them under one of your many companies. We are the only sector in the country that is paying in foreign currency cash basis,” she says. Rushwaya's close dance with the law can be traced back to 2007, after her appointment ZIFA chief executive. She was accused of stealing Zifa funds between 2007 and 2008, but was eventually found not guilty after her trial in 2008. Rushwaya was also arrested while on bail in the matter on attempting to defeat the course of justice charges. In 2012 she was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Commission on allegations of bribery and match-fixing linked to the Asiagate match-fixing scandal. She appeared in court facing 11 counts of concealing transactions from a principal, two counts of fraud, and 15 others of bribery involving US$1 million. Chitungwiza regional magistrate Estere Chivasa however found her not guilty of the charges in 2013. Rushwaya was arrested again in 2014 on charges of extorting Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries leader Walter Magaya. She was arrested again in 2016 over match fixing allegations involving the senior national team, players, referees, coaches and betting syndicates following a trio to Malysia as well as her involvement in what is known as the Limpopogate scandal, where she allegedly fixed an African cup of Nations qualifier against Swaziland. The case died down without a conviction, just like her other cases. Rushwaya was fired from Zifa on 26 October 2016 after a disciplinary tribunal ruled she had been responsible for mismanagement and insubordination. She was then surprisingly elected president of the Zimbabwe Miners' Federation in 2018, giving her a platform to engage in dirty gold deals, which have resulted in her being locked up. Rushwaya exhausts nine lives Henrietta Rushwaya, Youths hold placards at a gathering of a group of Muslims and Christians at a Mosque in Harare, last Thursday to protest against the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have died since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on 07 October, and the Israeli strikes on the Palestinian enclave which followed it (left) and A child holds a scarf in the Palestinian colors at a gathering of a group of Muslims and Christians at a Mosque in Harare on Thursday to protest against the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have died since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on 07 October, and the Israeli strikes on the Palestinian enclave which followed it. — Pictures: Aaron Ufumeli Page 16 News NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

News Page 17 NATHAN GUMA ZIMBABWE’S largest referral hospital, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, which services Harare and other nearby provinces, has been operating with only one functional ambulance, reflecting the country’s continually crumbling healthcare services. The hospital was established in terms of the Health Service Act [Chapter 15:16], and is a principal referral centre located in Harare, consisting of Mbuya Nehanda Maternity Hospital, Sekuru Kaguvi Eye Unit, Annex Hospital for the Mentally Disabled and the Main Hospital. Findings by acting Auditor-General Rheah Kujinga in her report on State-Owned Parastatals for the year ended 31 December 2022 have revealed that the institution was operating with an aged vehicle fleet of 16 vehicles, with only four functioning. “As a result, the Hospital incurred repairs and maintenance costs of ZW$11.2 million. In addition, the Hospital had only one out of four ambulances which was functional,” reads the report. The hospital’s infrastructure is dilapidated, with four out of 21 functional theatres, two out of eight functional X-Ray machines and one non-functional CT Scan as at 31 December 2021, which saw patients being referred elsewhere for services such as computerised tomography (CT) scans. The remaining functional theatres have been in dire need of repairs. Parirenyatwa has also been operating without analysing tools for maintenance and calibration of medical equipment to ensure safe and effective use in the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of patients. The equipment includes: “Biomedical Devices Electrical Safety Tester, Electrosurgical Analyser, Incubator Performance Analyser, Intravenous (IV), Pum Analyser, Non-Invasive Blood Pressure Monitor Analyser, Pressure and temperature Measurement Device, Ventilator Performance Analyser, Bio-Signal Simulator, Radiation Compliance Testing Device and Defibrillator Analyser.” The hospital’s residential facilities are also in a shambles, in need of immediate renovations, with 27 rooms now uninhabitable. “The residential buildings’ plumbing works, floors, ceilings and cardboards were damaged and needed to be repaired. As a result, some students were now sharing rooms while some of them had been on the waiting list for a long time whilst other occupants were now renovating their rooms contrary to the lease agreements. Upon enquiry, management indicated that the capital budget for 2021 was released in October 2021 and was inadequate to fund the renovations,” reads the report. Parirenyatwa’s accounting system has also been under scrutiny, with the hospital failing to settle in time money owed suppliers.   “The Hospital was offering services to those who were exempt from paying. The cost of offering such services during the year was ZW$370.4 million and the budgetary support for these services amounted to ZW$117.6 million leaving a funding gap of ZW$253.1 million (68%),” reads the report. “The Hospital was not settling its payables as and when they fell due. The Hospital had payables amounting to ZW$113.7 million which were more than 120 days. As a result, the Hospital experienced periods of stock-outs of essential medicines. This was contrary to the Essential Drugs List of Zimbabwe (EDLIZ) which requires the minimum quantities of drugs to be available at the Hospital at all times.” Things are also not looking good at other hospitals, with the AG’s report showing other key referral hospitals such as the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) and Sally Mugabe Central Hospital incurring losses.   “I draw your attention to the fact that the Hospital (UBH) incurred a deficit amounting to ZW$86.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2020 and it had accumulated losses amounting to ZW$251.3 million as at year end,” reads the report. “These factors indicate that a material uncertainty exists that may cast doubt on the Hospital’s ability to continue operating as a going concern. However, the financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis.” The UBH consists of four hospitals that have different service lines, namely Richard Morris Eye Unit, Lady Rodwell Maternity Hospital, Robbie Gibson, an infectious diseases hospital and the Main hospital. On Sally Mugabe Hospital, Kujinga said: “In my opinion, because of the significance of the matters described in the Basis for Adverse Opinion section of my report, the financial statements do not present fairly, the financial position of Sally Mugabe Central Hospital as at December 31, 2021, and its financial performance and cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs).” In June, the parliamentary portfolio committee on Health also revealed the state of dereliction in Zimbabwe’s healthcare facilities, after it emerged that radiotherapy cancer treatment machines at Mpilo Hospital — purchased by the taxpayer for US$2 million — have not functioned for four years because central government has not bought spares worth US$80 000. The chairperson of the committee, Dr Ruth Labode, described the negligence and dereliction of duty as “sad”. Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo is a referral institution serving patients from Bulawayo and the Matabeleland region. A public resource management situation report by the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd) released in June showed that only a paltry 4% of 57 districts surveyed have good healthcare facilities, with the majority (85%) reporting poor medical facilities. One ambulance for Parirenyatwa NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 18 News NATHAN GUMA THE Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has updated the 77th African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Session (ACHPR) on the worsening post-election human rights crisis, urging it to exert pressure on the Harare government to investigate, make findings public and prosecute people involved in post-election violence. The ACHPR, inaugurated in 1987 in Ethiopia, looks into the protection of human rights across the African continent. The Zimbabwean government has been at pains to sanitise the chaotic general elections, which were for the first time dramatically rejected by the Southern Africa Development Community Electoral Observer Mission (SEOM) over gross irregularities that included failure to align with regional and domestic laws for free and fair polls. Key observer missions including the European Union (EU) and The Commonwealth and the Carter Centre also red flagged the elections citing gross irregularities in the conduct of the polls. While the government has maintained that the elections were free and fair, The Forum has told the ACHPR that Zimbabwe has not been upholding human rights in the post-election era, with a spike in cases of torture, harassment and abduction. By 30 September 2023, a total of 153 opposition political party supporters, election agents and their families were in urgent need of relocation or safe housing, according to The Forum. “The Forum presents this statement against the backdrop of the recently conducted 2023 Zimbabwe Harmonised Election. Whilst the government insists on a narrative that the elections were free, fair and peaceful, this goes contrary to our own observations as we were among the groups accredited to observe the elections,” The Forum said. “We therefore request the Honourable Commission to exert pressure on the Zimbabwean government to immediately put an end to the unprecedented levels of post-election victimisation, and to show a genuine commitment to do so by setting up an independent commission of  inquiry  to conduct investigations into all reported instances of post-election related human rights violations; to make the findings of the investigation’s public; and to prosecute all implicated persons accordingly. "Act immediately to restore public faith in the judiciary and in the Zimbabwe criminal justice system by facilitating the immediate and unconditional release of Job Sikhala, Jacob Ngarivhume and all political prisoners as well as withdrawing all trumped-up and malicious charges against politically persecuted persons.” The Forum said while the government has been insisting that the general elections were free, and fair, this has been contrary to reports by accredited observers including the Sadc, the EU and the Commonwealth, which could not qualify the elections as having been free, fair and credible. “Issues of concern include the closure of space for other political parties with rallies being banned by the police, opposition activists being arrested, the State media failing to afford equitable coverage to the opposition, the use of traditional leaders who are required to be non-partisan as well as being complicit in the death of an opposition supporter who was allegedly stoned to death with the police version being that he was run over by a lorry carrying opposition supporters.” The Forum told the ACHPR about Zimbabwe’s shrinking civic space which saw opposition rallies, particularly those of the main opposition Citizens' Coalition for Change (CCC), being banned by the police, with activists being arrested. “People like the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum’s former executive director Musa Kika were denied accreditation to observe the election and yet he has no criminal record. How then can he be a security threat? An issue of partisan policing by the Zimbabwe Republic Police remains an issue of serious concern,” The Forum said. “An example of such was the arrests of 39 Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) and Elections Resource Centre (ERC) staff members and volunteers who were arrested while conducting lawful, non-partisan election observation work. The country’s chief elections management body — the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission had itself encouraged organisations to conduct parallel tabulation as ZEC felt this would dispel the notion that it manipulates the counting process.” The Forum also raised concern over the increase in violence, which includes abduction cases, torture, malicious damage to property through arson, forced displacement of victims of arson, the harassment in opposition political party strongholds, particularly of opposition political party election agents, many who have been left in dire need of relocation out of fear for their lives. “The recent arrest of lawyers, Doug Coltart and Tapiwa Muchineripi and even more recently Kenias Shonhai needs to be condemned by all right-thinking citizens. Lawyers are the last line of defence and should be protected and not persecuted for the work that they do." The Forum also highlighted the country’s worsening socio-economic crisis that has been underlined by chronically high inflationary which has eroded real incomes, with millions wallowing in abject poverty. “On 7 June 2023, a dire outlook was provided by the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe which indicated that the low-income urban earner monthly basket for a family of six now stood at ZW$1 015 962, 61, according to the report. “In essence, a family of six now needed over ZW$1m to survive a month. Teachers in Zimbabwe are critically underpaid, the impasse between the government and teachers in relation to wages and salaries, as well as the apparent inability on the part of the government to address this issue has led to the incapacitation of these essential service providers.” Govt must uphold human rights NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

NewsHawks News Page 19 Issue 155, 4 November 2023 EVIDENCE CHIPADZA IN the quiet corners of Mvuma, in the Midlands province, where the golden sunlight meets the shadows of hidden struggles, a community is grappling with a pervasive issue that has seeped into the very fabric of its existence — drug abuse. In recent years, Mvuma, which was once known for its close-knit neighborhoods and vibrant culture, has found itself ensnared in the clutches of substance misuse, leaving many dreams shattered. Mvuma is a small mining town in the Midlands which is located 192 kilometres south of Harare, along the Harare-Masvingo highway. It is approximately 100km from Masvingo. In this small town which was once famed for gold, silver and copper mining, drug peddlers have taken over and are terrorising the community, with many young people now abusing drugs due to high unemployment. Young people who obstinately abuse substances experience an assortment of problems including academic difficulties, health complications and constant brushes with the juvenile justice system. The most common drugs sold in Mvuma include crystal meth (mutoriro), zvimbwa and marijuana (mbanje). Statistics compiled in 2021 by the Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network revealed that 60% of psychiatric admissions are due to drug abuse. And 80% of these were aged betwee 16-25, including school girls. Bridget Chinyowa, resident of Mushayabvudzi  area in Mvuma, narrated in an interview the heartbreaking story of her son who became a drug addict and dropped out of school. “My son had a very bright future and he passed his 'O' Level with flying colours, but as we speak my heart breaks because he can sell anything so that he can buy drugs. Last time he sold my phone for US$5 and he was arrested,” said Chinyowa. She added that the law enforcement agents are not doing their duties diligently as they are failing to crackdown on known drug bases. “These bases are well known and it's business as usual. These people are only arrested for two days and the next day we see them. These people have destroyed the future of Mvuma,” she added. Farai Maturire, a young man from Mvuma, said drug abuse is now a major challenge and urgent attention is needed so that young people’s lives are abetted. “Drug abuse has caused a lot of harm in Mvuma and development has stopped. There was a lot of potential talent among youths, but these drugs have destroyed our community. We hope for healing and recovery,” said Maturure. Meanwhile, the director of the Mvuma Residents' Association, Sitshengisiwe Kalenge, has appealed for more awareness campaigns in partnership with the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to fight drug abuse. “Police should impose stiffer penalties on both drug peddlers and drug users so that we restore our pride as Mvuma,” said Kalenge. Drugs menace rattles Mvuma

Page 20 News BRENNA MATENDERE A WAR of words has erupted in Lupane, with locals taking aim at the Kusile Rural District Council (KRDC) which oversees the administration of the Matabeleland North provincial capital, over misplaced priorities on the use of money collected from the sale of timber. KRDC has a permit from the Forestry Commission to harvest 350 cubic metres of timber every month, which it then sells to various furniture-making companies in Lupane. However, Lupane Youth for Development Trust’s programmes coordinator Tawanda Mazango says villagers are not benefiting from the proceeds of timber sales. Mazango said villagers are facing challenges such as absence of facilities to easily access education, health, recreation, among others, yet the KRDC was raking in thousands of money from timber that is being harvested in the communities. He said his organisation had gathered that the RDC had an agreement with the Forestry Commission to harvest 350 cubic metres of timber every month and sell it to companies in Lupane. A single cubic metre of timber costs US$33 implying the KRDC rakes in about US$11 500 every month. "School children still walk for as far as seven kilometres to school, yet the money which the council is getting can build six blocks of classrooms a year because we gathered that a single block costs US$16 000," he said. "It is sad that we are still poor, yet our area is rich in timber which is being sold out by the KRDC every month. The money, it seems, is now only for the big boys. The community people are angry about this.” The biggest natural forest in Zimbabwe found in Lupane measures a total of 286 165 hectares of hard wood. The forest comprises solid hardwood such as teak, rosewood and hhahogany. The NewsHawks gathered that due to the failure of the community to benefit from these natural resources, community members were now venting their anger through committing acts of sabotage. Such actions include the deliberate starting of veld fires in areas with matured timber so that they disrupt the council's bid to generate money from timber. Mazango confirmed the development. “They are doing what we call compensatory behaviour. They don’t care. In the next coming few years there will be no teak to talk about in Lupane,” he said. “There is a need to create a community account where we say 70% of revenue from timber goes into it and 30% is left for KRDC administration. It used to happen.” Sifiso Hadebe, the KRDC chief executive refused to comment. “I cannot comment because I do not know the agenda of the people who are complaining to the media instead of coming to us. I also do not know the context under which the said community people spoke about that issue,” Hadebe said. The NewsHawks also observed that despite the brisk commercial activity involving timber in Lupane, infrastructure such as roads is in a deplorable state. The government has also not invested in the rehabilitation of the road that leads to Victoria Falls. As part of measures to make sure that local people benefit from their resources, devolution was adopted as a key component of the constitution of Zimbabwe voted for in a referendum in 2013. Chapter 14 of the constitution states that whenever appropriate, governmental powers and responsibilities must be devolved to provincial and metropolitan councils and local authorities which are competent to carry out those responsibilities efficiently and effectively. The objectives of the devolution of governmental powers and responsibilities to provincial and metropolitan councils and local authorities are to give powers of local governance to the people in communities.  It is also meant to enhance their participation in the exercise of the powers of the state and in making decisions affecting them. According to the constitution, devolution also aims at promoting transparent, accountable and coherent governance in Zimbabwe as a whole. The supreme law also recognises the right of communities to manage their own affairs and to "further their development; ensuring the equitable sharing of local and national resources;" while”transferring responsibilities and resources from the national government in order to establish a sound financial base for each provincial and metropolitan council and local authority."  However, as seen in Lupane, the devolution policy is not benefitting the local people as enshrined in the constitution. Timber war erupts in Lupane NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

News Page 21 Social protection assertion queried NATHAN GUMA FINANCE minister Mthuli Ncube says Zim- babwe has increased spending on social pro- tection and infrastructure development since 2018, but his claims are contrary to what in- dependent think-tanks have been saying. Zimbabwe is preparing for the 2024 Na- tional Budget, amid growing concerns over deteriorating social protection, with almost 40% of the population wallowing in abject poverty. Ncube however insists that the gov- ernment is doing well on social protection. In his Pre-Budget Seminar presentation, Professor Ncube said Zimbabwe’s revenue has increased considerably, which has seen a sharp rise in social protection spending by over 200%. “Government revenues in United States dollar have increased substantially from US$2 billion in 2018 to current levels of around US$7 billion. This is a testimony that the economy is indeed growing and more resourc- es are being channeled towards addressing the needs of citizens,” he said. “Revenue collections for the period January to September 2023 stood at ZW$11.5 trillion (approx. US$4.1 billion), against expenditures of ZW$12.6 trillion (approx. US$4.5 billion), resulted in a budget deficit of ZW$1.13 tril- lion. “Cumulative revenue collections for the pe- riod January to September 2023 amounted to ZW$11.5 trillion, comprised of tax revenue of ZW$11.2 trillion (97.5% of total revenue), and non-tax revenue of ZW$288.2 billion (2.5% of total revenue).” He said the government has, since August 2022, been making substantial savings, ap- proximately 30%, through implementation of value for money on procurement of public goods and services. “This is being achieved through the review of the procurement processes, including re- quirement to exercise due diligence to avoid paying for overpriced products. “Government is currently working on strengthening the Public Procurement Act, and relevant regulations, including the intro- duction of the e-procurement system. Already, the Government has set standardisation of prices of goods supplied to all Government Departments." However, findings by a study titled Five Years of Progress or Stagnation published by the Sivio Institute in August, the Zanu PF government has failed to deliver in the social services cluster that includes pension systems and allocations, housing, health, education. The government made nine promises with regards to pension systems and allocation, with a performance of 49%, while making 15 promises in the health sector with a performance of 37%. More promises were made in the education sector, with a performance of 47% while the lowest score was recorded in housing with a score of 36%. For instance, while the Zanu PF government promised to build 78 new hospitals and at least one new hospital per administrative district by 2023 to promote the health sector, it has managed to build only 13 new clinics.  The government has also allocated 11% of the national budget on health, which is 4% lower than its target of 15%. “Under the Health sub-sector, two promises have been broken; (i) the review of the remuneration structure for medical professionals and (ii) ensure that the Treasury allocates at least 15% of the National Budget to healthcare (in line with the Abuja Declaration). The period under review has been characterised by a number of industrial actions, especially by nurses and doctors going on strike for improved conditions of service. “Several nurses have taken advantage of opportunities in the UK to migrate there,” reads the report. With the national hospitals in a dilapidating state, the government has also missed its target to reduce hospitals fees by at least 50% and to provide free healthcare for cancer patients, as per its 2018 promise.  In 2022, the government effected a hike in hospital fees which would see adult and children consultation fees pegged at US$12 and US$6, representing a 1 748% hike, sparking an outcry. Ncube also said the government has been making strides in building houses as part of its social protection scheme, which has however not been the case over the past five years. “Housing development for both residential and institutional accommodation is un- derway. Key projects that were completed include Lupane Civil Servants houses, Binga houses and Beitbridge flats. On-going works in Marondera, Dzivaresekwa and Senga are focused on residential flats, as well as servicing of stands,” he said. “The number of housing units completed and fully serviced as of end May 2023 stood at 49 150 and 136 850, respectively, giving a total delivery of 186 000 housing units across all provinces.” This is ironic as the Zanu PF government has failed to meet its target to build 1.5 million housing units as per its 2018 manifesto, in collaboration with the private sector, with only 180 000 units being built, according to the Sivio Institute’s barometer. The government has also failed to keep its promise to invest in more schools and proper resourcing of existing ones by 2023. According to the report, the government has managed to register only 33 new schools, upgrading 13. NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 22 News Sponsored by: NORMA TSOPO LINDA Masarira (pictured) is arguably the most vilified politician in Zimbabwe. This is not because of any outrageous political stance on her part but only because of her biology – being a woman. Or so she believes. These abuses, the Labour Economics and Afrikan Democrats (Lead) president opines, are only serving to scare women from aspiring for political leadership – especially those who feel their skin is not thick enough to endure the defamation – who are in the majority. "Most of the times when a woman stands up and says l want to be a councillor, l want to be MP, or I want to be President or l want to be involved in politics, [she is subjected to] a whole lot of names that she is loose, she is not wife material, and a whole lot of things attached to you. “Body shaming comes along the way and most women are not brave enough to stand all those things that are said to women in politics and we end up having few women participating in political processes in this country,” Masarira said. The number of women contesting for elected political positions has been on the decline as abuse of women, including cyber-bullying, has been on the rise in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Media Monitors (ZMM) reports show a significant decline in women's participation at all levels of candidacy between the 2018 and 2023 elections. In 2018, 17 contested the presidential seat and in 2023 only 9% contested, representing an 8.7% decline. For the National Assembly, 15% contested in 2018 and 11% in 2023, a 4% decrease. For the local authority elections in 2018, 17% of participants were women, with the numbers falling to 14.9% in 2023 – a 2.1% fall. Masarira, who has been a member of the Movement for Democratic Change and People’s Democratic Party before forming LEAD, which she considers a "feminist transformation political party", believes the marginalisation and discrimination of women is both structural and systemic across all the country’s major political formations. She contends that they are often relegated to pursue illusions of power while their male counterparts contest and claim influential positions. "Women are structurally and systematically marginalised in political leadership. For example, in political parties they are clustered into a women's wing or a women's league, depending on the structures of the political party. “Whilst they are in those wings, they are most prone to be fighting against themselves for an illusion of powers that is non-existent,” Masarira said. The Lead president said the women’s departments are condemned to the fringes of their respective political party decision-making bodies. “You find that when they get into the politburo, in the instance of Zanu PF, there is only one woman from the whole women's league who actually goes and sits in the politburo. In the standing committee of the MDC-T, it is only the women's chair of the women's wing that goes to sit in the standing committee and in other political parties who have a women's wing it’s just one woman who sits in there," said Masarira. With women fighting for fringe positions, power remains the preserve of men, she said. "When it comes to the most powerful positions which will be the main wings or the politburo, or whatever you call it in different political parties, you find out it will be men jostling for those positions of power, which leaves women marginalised in the so-called women's leagues or wings that have got no power at all, so when we talk about women being structurally marginalised it is the political parties the way they are structured," she added. Media lecturer and political analyst Dr Alexander Rusero said the marginalisation of women in politics is due to a culture that perceives women as subordinate to men. "Does Zimbabwe have a political culture that regards women as equals?  The question is not about readiness because Zimbabwe like any other progressive states should be ready for women in leadership positions, but it’s not much about Zimbabwe but the political parties and the political culture. "Do we have a culture that regards women equals in as much as political contest, political participation, political appointment, and occupation of political leadership positions are concerned? I would say no! That political culture is not there," Rusero said. Dr Rusero said the treatment of women in politics in the country was heavily influenced by the ruling party’s attitude towards women. "Whatever political culture our country has is heavily reflected by the ruling party of the day. So, the Zanu PF ruling party as much as it has got a whole dedicated wing of the women's league and with the noise that they make does not correlate with the number of women in positions of leadership in Zanu PF, because besides Amai Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, there is no one occupying a meaningful position both at government and party level... “So, you see there is no political culture that regards women as equals, " he said. Dr Rusero noted that Zimbabwe's political leadership status is not reflective of its population demography where women outnumber men. "Our country is not reflective of its population demography where women outnumber men, if you look at Zanu pf presidium, government ministers, and deputy ministers. How many women do we have? "If you go to the opposition, it’s even worse, it’s even pathetic, at least Zanu PF has got some postures. Deep down its conscience, Zanu PF knows. The opposition, they are actually clueless, it’s a boy's game and there is not even any effort to invest in women despite that there are also talented opposition figures who are women," he said. Dr Rusero added that the change that can happen to accommodate women is the change of political culture. "You can only resolve this by changing the culture and culture is very notorious because it’s something you hardly change overnight unfortunately, but we need to change the political culture and the instruments are there. We cannot talk of regional, national and continental protocols because all the legislations are there, including a Gender Commission, but the culture of adhering to what we have adopted, legislated and domesticated, it’s not there. So, it’s about how we can foster the idea of parity of gender, that tolerates the ideas of equity and equality between and amongst genders,"   Rusero said. The Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) says women’s competency in leadership is not in question in various sectors including Parliament, ministerial positions and corporate realm, showcasing their competence and effectiveness. Despite these achievements, challenges persist primarily due to structural socio-cultural, economic and political barriers. ZGC chief executive officer Viginia Muwanigwa said the patriarchal nature of Zimbabwean society also contributes to the decline in female participation in politics. "The participation nature of our Zimbabwean societies also contributes to the declining numbers. Gender stereotypes and discrimination mean women often face negative stereotypes and discrimination in politics, which discourage them from running for office or getting involved in political campaigns," Muwanigwa said. Muwanigwa also said lack of resources discourages women from running for office due to high financial requirements for candidacy. "High financial requirements for candidacy for women participating in politics disproportionately affects women due to resource disparities," Muwanigwa said. She noted that the first-past-the-post electoral system used for direct elections does not in principle enable proportional representation of women and men in the general elections. Likewise, intra-party obstacles arise from constitutions, male-dominated structures, procedures and systems negatively affect women's equal representation, resulting in declining numbers in women's participation in elections. Muwanigwa added that the Gender Commission has undertaken initiatives to address challenges. "Zimbabwe Gender Commission has undertaken various initiatives to address these challenges effectively. These efforts include providing training and mentorship to women with political aspirations through partnerships like the Women Rise in Politics (WRlP) program in collaboration with UN Women. “Additionally, the ZGC conducts gender audits of political parties to assess their commitment to gender equality and identify areas for improvement in supporting women candidates. "Recommending changes to laws, customs and practices is also our key focus, with lobbying efforts aimed at reducing systemic barriers to women's participation in politics and promoting fair and accurate reporting on women's participation," Muwanigwa said. According to a ZMM report on elections, the media has also played a role in the marginalisation of women in politics, particularly around election reportage. It noted that women's voices constituted only 11% while men constituted 89% of the news sources, which reflects a continuation of a trend from 2018 when women comprised 9% of news sources. The report notes that political party systems sidelined women through the construction of politics and elections as masculine spaces. The report also states that the transfer of patriarchy into the space outside of the home creates imbalances and perpetuates segregation of women. Citizens on their own are also influencing the withdrawal of women from the electoral space through online gendered violence on social media. This behaviour contributes to the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes and biases amplifying gender-based discrimination and misinformation. Women equality still an illusion NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

News Page 23 IT being a claim for damages, the plaintiff (Rita Marque Liunga-Mbatha) has filed an affidavit of evidence in terms of Rule 60 of the old rules of this court, now Rule 25(1) of the new High Court Rules, 2021. She has suffered psychological damage. Amongst her pile of papers is a brief medical report from a general practitioner. There is also a more detailed one from a psychiatrist. The sum total of these reports is that, as a result of the sexual harassment, the plaintiff suffered severe post-traumatic stress disorder. This condition manifested almost immediately after the abuse. She experienced recurrent involuntary and intrusive memories of the traumatic event. Her pain was acute, with chances of recovery rated as being very poor. Treatment would be extensive and indefinite. During treatment, which included counselling, the plaintiff would often meander and get distracted. She suffered physical and emotional pain, with scarcely suppressed anger. During the counselling sessions, she would lose track of her answers midway through and would ask that questions be repeated. The psychiatric report notes that the psychological damage is widespread. Her personality has changed significantly. Before the incident, she was engaging, outgoing, and loved reading. She had a good sense of humour.  All that is gone. She experiences recurrent nightmares. Her sleep is broken most nights. That leaves her drained physically and mentally. She was pursuing a law degree. She has had to drop. She has lost all confidence in herself. There was another kind of collateral damage. She says her marriage broke up; largely because of the change in her personality. Furthermore, being out of employment, and, therefore, without a steady income, she had to sell her immovable property to finance medical bills, legal costs, and the general upkeep of her family. All this was in the psychiatric report. She says she lost another immovable property that she had been buying. She says the situation was further compounded by the defendants' conduct after her unfair dismissal. She could not secure alternative employment thanks to the defendants' negative testimonials to her potential prospective employers. The plaintiff's case seems such a textbook case. Manifestly, no amount of money seems adequate enough to compensate her loss. The quantum Principles are easy to set out. They are not so easy to apply to the nuts and bolts of any given case. Considering all that the plaintiff has gone through: what is the level of damages that is fair, adequate, proper, and reasonable? At the end of it all, it boils down to the exercise of a value judgment by the court. It is a matter of discretion. A fair balance between the principles on the assessment of damages and the peculiar circumstances of the case should ensure that the exercise of that discretion is judicious, not capricious or whimsical. As said by the court, in Minister of Defence & Anor v Jackson 1990 (2) ZLR 1 (SC), the court must take heed of the effect of its decision upon future awards. But, at the same time, the court must not be seen to be paying lip service to values espoused in the Constitution on human dignity and integrity. Compensation must be tangible. In this case, that the sexual harassment happened and must be compensated for the harm it has caused is the one aspect. But, there are some other aspects of the case that have to be taken into account in arriving at the quantum: The sexual harassment was persistent. There has never been an apology. One thinks it would have been quite salutary and a measure of atonement for the injured brain. At the arbitration, the first defendant sought to dismiss his reprehensible conduct as mere jokes. He was callous. He engineered the plaintiff's dismissal from employment. After the incident, and the dismissal, she was not treated with sensitivity. Even discounting what the second defendant's President is alleged to have said to her [because that aspect is still to be decided], the person to negotiate an out of court settlement with the plaintiff, was none other than the first defendant himself. He was non-committal. Inevitably, an out of court settlement was still born. The power balance and socio-economic dynamics between the plaintiff and the first defendant were skewed. He was the Chief Executive Officer. She was his personal assistant. He had immense power over her. When litigation commenced, it was intentionally stalled. It is now almost two decades since the incident happened. It is only thanks to her tenacity that the case has remained alive in the legal system. Undoubtedly, a measure of punitive damages is warranted. But, unfortunately, none of all this tells the court how much to award. The plaintiff wants a globular USD500,000. This level of quantum has no precedence. But, again, damages for sexual harassment have no precedence at all in this jurisdiction - at least to one's knowledge. However, there is a salient detail that has contributed to the decision on quantum. In 2010, during without prejudice negotiations for an out of court settlement, when she was still legally represented, the plaintiff's monetary proposals for mutual termination of employment were $60,000 after tax, $100,000 for sexual harassment and $8,500 for legal fees. Taking all factors into account, it is considered that the proper level of damages for the sexual harassment perpetrated by the first defendant upon the plaintiff, during the period of the plaintiff's employment with the second defendant, from September 2002 to June 2003, is USD180,000 [one hundred and eighty thousand United States dollars]. Therefore, the following order is hereby made: (i) The first defendant shall pay the plaintiff the sum of USD180,000 [one hundred and eighty thousand United States dollars], or the equivalent thereof in local currency, convertible at the inter-market bank rate at the time of payment. (ii) The first defendant shall pay the plaintiff the amount aforesaid together with interest at the prescribed rate from the date of this judgment to the date of payment. (iii) The first defendant shall pay the plaintiff's costs of suit. (iv) The first defendant's liability in terms hereof is joint and several with the liability of any other person as may be found liable to the plaintiff in respect of the sexual harassment which is the subject of this judgment. Legal Insights Sexual harassment case: Mbatha vs Zizhou — The plaintiff's case Rita Marque Mbatha NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

THE United Kingdom has passed landmark transparency reforms intended to crack down on criminals and bad actors seeking to exploit weaknesses in the country’s financial system to hide their identities and launder the proceeds of crime. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, which passed into law on Oct. 26, will make it harder to set up shell companies anonymously and to file false information about company ownership with U.K. authorities — a practice that has enabled several major scandals, including some documented by ICIJ. Companies House, the U.K.’s company registration agency, will be given powers to verify the identities and addresses of company directors, remove non-compliant or fraudulent firms from its register, and share information with criminal investigation agencies. The new rules will also bolster law enforcement powers to seize and freeze crypto assets, and create a new criminal offense to prosecute large companies for “failure to prevent fraud” committed by members of their staff. In 2020, ICIJ exposed a cottage industry built around the administration of abuse-prone British limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and limited partnerships (LPs), operating in the heart of London. The shadowy companies are set up by offshore formation agencies, which register the companies and file the required paperwork with the British registrar. ICIJ identified $4.5 billion in transactions connected to British shell companies, deemed suspicious by multinational banking groups. The investigation was carried out as part of the FinCEN Files, a project led by ICIJ and BuzzFeed News that found some of the world’s biggest banks were at the center of a sprawling global money laundering industry. The U.K. branch of Transparency International, an international anti-corruption advocacy organization, welcomed the passage of The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act as “a major step forward in the fight against corruption” that will build on emergency reforms, passed in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, meant to reveal foreign ownership of U.K. property. “It should not have taken the invasion of Ukraine to finally bring this bill forward, but its implementation should significantly strengthen Britain’s defenses against fraud and money laundering,” said Duncan Hames, Transparency International UK’s policy director, in a statement. Even so, the group urged lawmakers to address remaining “loopholes” in the U.K. financial system, such as opaque trust structures and limited access to shareholder information. Economic crime consultant Graham Barrow, who hosts The Dark Money Files podcast, told the ICIJ that the new laws may not be “the panacea that is being claimed”, adding that implementing them could take years, even with sufficient resources and funding. Barrow described the requirements for greater interagency information sharing as the U.K.’s “best hope” to expose “the different elements involved in the entire lifecycle of moving criminal funds through the system.” A more “complete picture of what is going on … should significantly improve the possibility of identifying those who seek to abuse the system,” Barrow said. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act also includes legal reforms that will allow courts to quickly dismiss spurious lawsuits brought against journalists covering financial crime and corruption by the targets of their reporting. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPPs, have long been the focus of free-speech advocates who argue the lawsuits are used to intimidate journalists and deter legitimate public interest reporting. The UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition, a group of civil society organizations that lobbied for the changes, hailed the announcement as “a landmark moment,” while calling for similar protections for other types of journalism. “We acknowledge and applaud this important first step but reiterate that SLAPPs are not only related to economic crime and can relate to any context, such as journalists exposing warlords and survivors of sexual abuse recounting their experience,” said Dalia Nasreddin, UK Campaigns Manager at English PEN, which is part of the coalition, in a statement. — International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Page 24 International InvestigativeStories New UK transparency laws will target money launderers and fraudsters, but advocates warn ‘loopholes’ remain International Investigative Stories A commuter crosses Waterloo Bridge in front of the Houses of Parliament in London, United Kingdom. NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

NewsHawks International Investigative Stories Page 25 Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 26 The NewsHawks is published on different content platforms by the NewsHawks Digital Media which is owned by Centre for Public Interest Journalism No. 100 Nelson Mandela Avenue Beverly Court, 6th floor Harare, Zimbabwe Trustees/Directors: Beatrice Mtetwa, Raphael Khumalo, Professor Wallace Chuma, Teldah Mawarire, Doug Coltart EDITORIAL STAFF: Managing Editor: Dumisani Muleya Assistant Editor: Brezh Malaba News Editor: Owen Gagare Digital Editor: Bernard Mpofu Reporters: Brenna Matendere, Ruvimbo Muchenje, Enock Muchinjo, Jonathan Mbiriyamveka, Nathan Guma Email: [email protected] SUB EDITORS: Mollen Chamisa, Gumisai Nyoni Business Development Officer: Nyasha Kahondo Cell: +263 71 937 1739 [email protected] Subscriptions & Distribution: +263 71 937 1739 Reaffirming the fundamental importance of freedom of expression and me- dia freedom as the cornerstone of democracy and as a means of upholding human rights and liberties in the constitution; our mission is to hold power in its various forms and manifestations to account by exposing abuse of power and office, betrayals of public trust and corruption to ensure good governance and accountability in the public interest. CARTOON Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe The NewsHawks newspaper subscribes to the Code of Conduct that promotes truthful, accurate, fair and balanced news reporting. If we do not meet these standards, register your complaint with the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe at No.: 34, Colenbrander Rd, Milton Park, Harare. Telephone: 024-2778096 or 024-2778006, 24Hr Complaints Line: 0772 125 659 Email: [email protected] or [email protected] WhatsApp: 0772 125 658, Twitter: @vmcz Website: www.vmcz.co.zw, Facebook: vmcz Zimbabwe Zim impunity must end Dumisani Muleya Hawk Eye Editorial & Opinion Naked state terrorism . . . DRAMATIC video footage showing the abduction of Zimbabwe's youngest legislator, Takudzwa Ngadziore (24) elicited a collective gasp of astonishment from long-suffering Zimbabweans on Wednesday. What kind of banana republic has this country become? It would have been unthinkable. A member of the National Assembly is abducted by AK 47-wielding state agents in broad daylight in Harare? Had the quick-thinking opposition MP not swiftly recorded a Facebook Live video of the two armed agents, the government's propagandists and apologists would have found convenient cover to deny the brazen abduction and torture. This is the kind of sad spectacle the world used to witness in godforsaken places like Somalia, Libya or Syria. Now the havoc has come to Harare. And this is not an isolated incident. As we report elsewhere in these pages today, there is a growing pattern of abduction and torture. The opposition CCC's newly elected councillor for ward 27 in Harare, Womberaiishe Nhende, was abducted and tortured in the aftermath of the stolen 23 and 24 August general election. On the eve of the sham election, opposition activist Tinashe Chitsunge was murdered in cold blood by Zanu PF thugs in Glen View. Nelson Mukwenha, a former councillor in Marondera Rural District Council, was abducted after he shielded CCC spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi from state security agents who wanted to forcefully snatch him away. But how has the Zanu PF government reacted to all this? With typical impunity. There is no better evidence that Zimbabwe has become a banana republic than the Orwellian statement issued by the police following the abduction and torture of Ngadziore. "The ZRP has been keenly following an allegation of abduction and torture on Social Media. The Police informs the public that no such case has been reported. We are trying to make contact with the alleged victim so as to elicit the facts beyond what is on social media," the Zimbabwe Republic Police announced. Although citizens have known for a long time that the law enforcement agency has degenerated into a partisan Zanu PF appendage, this is utterly shameful, even by the ZRP's woeful standards. Torture is a crime against humanity. The crisis encompasses a range of issues, including political repression, human rights abuses, and a lack of respect for democratic principles. The torture of opposition MPs signals a severe deterioration in the political climate in Zimbabwe and highlights the government's disregard for the rule of law and basic civil liberties. It indicates a growing suppression of dissenting voices. Such actions not only violate international norms and conventions but also hinder the ability of opposition politicians to exercise their democratic rights and fulfill their responsibilities to represent their constituencies effectively. The use of state agents to target and intimidate opposition MPs demonstrates a systematic breakdown of democracy in Zimbabwe. Job Sikhala and Jacob Ngarivhume have been injustly incarcerated in a calculated bid to intimidate Zimbabweans. The unfolding crisis is not limited to the treatment of opposition politicians alone. It extends to other areas such as media censorship, restrictions on peaceful assembly and association, and violations of freedom of expression. Together, these actions create an environment of fear and intimidation, inhibiting the ability of citizens to engage in open and meaningful political discourse. The autocracy in Zimbabwe also has broader implications for the country's governance and socio-economic progress. It erodes public trust in the government, undermines the credibility of institutions, and impedes foreign investment and development efforts. As a result, Zimbabwe faces significant challenges in terms of economic stability, social cohesion, and the overall well-being of citizens. NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

New Perspectives Page 27 THE incessant procession of interest rate hikes by the United States Federal Reserve has aggravated the myriad challenges facing the global economy, and particularly emerging nations are expected to face the brunt of the burden. Since March 2022, the Fed has executed a continuous upward march, pushing rates higher on 11 consecutive occasions. This monetary tightening has interest rates perched at their loftiest point in nearly two decades, settling within a range spanning from 5.25% to 5.50%. The recent spike in the yield of the US 10-year Treasury bond, with its far-reaching consequences, has particularly cast a pall of uncertainty over the prospects for international economic growth, placing the spotlight on developing nations as they grapple with a host of daunting challenges that threaten their stability and expansion. The escalation in yields on US bonds paves the way for an ever-widening chasm in interest rates between American bonds and those of other nations. At the same time, the momentum of the dollar exchange rate is gaining traction, foreshadowing a development that might initially seem localised but carries the potential to rapidly evolve into a global challenge. The reverberations of this shift ripple are being felt across the globe. The emerging economies, often marked by their inherent fragility in the face of external upheaval, now confront a formidable dual threat – the surge in US bond yields and the concurrent fortification of the US dollar. This unholy alliance of forces ushers in a dire amalgamation of troubles, giving rise to a host of challenges for these developing countries. The sharp rise in US bond yields sparks a significant increase in the costs related to debt servicing for countries burdened with US dollar-denominated obligations. An array of emerging economies hinges on debt denominated in foreign currencies, and as the dollar strengthens, the weight of repaying these liabilities will grow ever more burdensome. This will create a precarious scenario where the fiscal allocations of governments in these nations are forced to devote a considerable share of their budgets to debt servicing, a shift that diverts resources away from vital social and economic development initiatives. The stronger dollar, exacerbated by rising bond yields, has a direct impact on the cost of imports for emerging economies. As their currencies depreciate against the dollar, the prices of imported goods and commodities increase, leading to inflationary pressures. This can erode the purchasing power of citizens and create a volatile economic environment. The global financial system is interconnected, and the US bond market serves as a benchmark for interest rates worldwide. The escalating strength of the dollar, compounded by the surge in bond yields, will cause a direct and unforgiving blow to the import costs borne by emerging economies. As their own currencies depreciate in the face of the dollar’s ascendancy, the prices of imported goods and essential commodities will invariably surge, thrusting these nations into the throes of inflationary turbulence. The result is a perilous terrain where the purchasing power wanes and the economic landscape becomes a volatile expanse. It is essential to bear in mind that in our intricately interconnected global financial ecosystem, the US bond market occupies a central role, exerting a profound impact on interest rates across the globe. When US bond yields rise, this sets off a chain reaction, causing borrowing costs to increase across the globe. One of the most immediate and direct consequences of the rise in US bond yields is the exodus of capital from emerging markets. Investors, attracted by the higher returns offered by US bonds, are quick to withdraw their investments from these countries. This capital flight can lead to severe liquidity crises and a depletion of foreign exchange reserves, leaving these economies vulnerable to external shocks. For example, Egypt was harmed by the US monetary policies, which have caused the fleeing of more than US$20 billion in investments in government debt from Egypt. As US bond yields experience an upsurge, a domino effect is set into motion, causing a ripple of escalating borrowing costs that extends across the globe. For emerging economies that rely on international capital markets for financing, this translates into higher borrowing costs, making it more challenging for them to access the funds needed for development and infrastructure projects. The international ratings agency Moody’s has cautioned about the global unsettling due to the abrupt rise in the 10-year US Treasury yield which has shaken people’s confidence in the US economy and may cause the US economic expansion to go off track. This sentiment further exacerbates the challenges faced by developing nations, as the global economic landscape becomes increasingly uncertain. The impact of rising US bond yields on emerging economies is not a new phenomenon, but it has been amplified in recent years. This confluence of economic challenges has left these nations with limited room to manoeuvre and adapt. While the US may have its own rationale for raising bond yields, it is imperative to grasp the reverberations this sends across the global economic spectrum, especially for countries struggling with the formidable spectres of poverty, instability, and underdevelopment. Against this backdrop, international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund can play a crucial role in providing financial support and expertise to countries facing external economic challenges. This support can help stabilise their economies and prevent crises. Developing countries burdened with high levels of debt should be offered debt relief or restructuring options to make their financial obligations more manageable. This can alleviate the pressure on their budgets and free up resources for critical domestic needs. Emerging economies should work on diversifying their sources of financing and reduce their dependence on foreign-currency-denominated debt. Exploring alternative funding options, such as partnerships with other countries or institutions, can help mitigate the impact of US bond yield fluctuations. While the ascent of US bond yields may ostensibly mirror the internal dynamics of the American economy, it is important to analyse the intricate web of global interconnectedness within the economic framework. What transpires in one nook of the world has the potential for profound repercussions across the globe, particularly for the world’s most susceptible nations. The recent upswing in US bond yields should act as a clarion call for policymakers, compelling them to contemplate the sweeping consequences of their choices on the international stage. *About the writer: Kaduwo is a researcher and economist. Contact: [email protected], call/ Whatsapp +263773376128 Rising US bond yields spark global concern Econometrics HawksView Tinashe Kaduwo The exterior of the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 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 BERNARD MPOFU THE Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) is lobbying the government to reform the country’s tax system as multiple layers of statutory obligations remain a nagging headache for business. Critics say Zimbabwe has multiple layers which have often been blamed for high cases of tax avoidance and evasion by some individuals and companies. The taxes, experts say, have also pushed up the cost of production, making the southern African nation less competitive than its regional peers. Finance minister Mthuli Ncube is this month expected to present the 2024 National Budget at a time commodity prices remained subdued on the global market. In its pre-budget submissions to Treasury, the ZNCC said issues that were not attended to in the previous budget included those relating to value-added tax (VAT) payments and the intermediate money transfer tax (IMTT). “The government is the biggest consumer in our economy. Once a business issues an invoice to the government, settlements are made in about 6 months or even more and businesses are compelled to pay VAT regardless of the payment being received or not,” the ZNCC says. “The current set-up is that a fiscal tax invoice should be issued within 30 days of supply and on/before the 25th of every month VAT returns should be submitted. However, in some cases, payment will not have been received by then. “VAT payments should be made on the actual cash received by the business and not on an invoice basis. Also, the VAT burden should not be on businesses except to collect the VAT on behalf of the Government. Turnover tax is being used as an avenue in other countries and it can be used also as an option by Zimra.” Turning to IMTT, the ZNCC says when 2% the tax was introduced, the spirit of the tax was to bring into taxation the informal sector which was not being taxed. “What it has done, however, is to overly tax the formal taxpayers. Businesses are incurring the IMTT even when paying tax dues to Zimra, thus it is a tax on tax,” the ZNCC says. “To cushion the supply chain players against the increased cost of production, the cost is passed on to the consumer in the form of price increases across all goods. “IMTT is not tax deductible. Its application has to be different between businesses and consumers. The burden of the IMTT tax is huge on business and, therefore, the Chamber proposes that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should allow the IMTT to be tax deductible and it should be removed when remitting tax to Zimra.” The business lobby group also asked the government to periodically review the tax-exempt transactions in local currency whenever the domestic currency loses value. “When the IMTT was introduced, the value of the tax-exempt transactions was at most US$10. In the 2022 Mid-term Budget Statement, the Honourable Minister proposed to increase the value of tax-exempt transactions from ZW$1 000 to ZW$2 500,” the ZNCC says. “As the exchange rate continues to depreciate and to cushion the 44% of Zimbabweans languishing in poverty, it is ideal to upward review the value of tax-exempt transactions to at most US$20 and align this to the exchange rate movement to stimulate aggregate demand in the economy by reducing the effect of the IMTT on disposable incomes. This should be replicated for corporates.” Reform the tax system: ZNCC Finance minister Mthuli Ncube

Companies & Markets Page 29 BERNRAD MPOFU ZIMBABWE’S investment agency says it is ready to engage with the central bank over new foreign currency retention thresholds should investors express worry over the new policy shift. Last week, analysts warned that the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) could lose its sparkle as a haven for investors seeking returns in hard currency following a decision by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to cut the foreign currency retention threshold on exports and other sectors to 75% from 100%. Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (Zida) chief executive Tafadzwa Chinamo told The NewsHawks that wide consultations are critical in formulating policy which may unnerve investors. “So obviously, we are not involved in that stage of this monetary policy,” Chinamo said. “We obviously see these things and the best I can say is that those investors who are affected directly will come to us and start asking these questions and so forth. So that when we start using those platforms for Memorandum Of Understanding to engage the central bank for revision. But an ideal situation is wide consultation and that would be better.” The Monetary Policy Committee announced that it would lower the threshold, triggering fears that the authorities in Harare were on the brink of abandoning the current monetary system for the sole use of the domestic currency. The government has since allayed those fears by announcing that the multi-currency system will be in place until 2030. “With effect from 1 November 2023, foreign currency retentions on exports shall be standardised at the level of 75% across all sectors of the economy and all special dispensations granted to some sectors of the economy shall be removed,” Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya said in a statement. The VFEX offers tax incentives for shareholders which include a 5% withholding tax on dividends and no capital gains tax on share disposal. Shareholders would be able to retain more of their earnings compared to the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. Capital raised through a VFEX listing may be held in an approved local or offshore account, and there would be an allowance for offshore settlements for executed trades for easier repatriation of dividends and more transactional flexibility to existing shareholders. BERNRAD MPOFU THE United States has intensified its interest in Zimbabwe’s tourism sector and lithium mining as the global race for renewable energy gains momentum. This is despite the uneasy diplomatic relations between Harare and Washington DC, statistics from the local investment promotion agency have shown. Tafadzwa Chinamo, Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (Zida) chief executive, said while investors were reticent before the 23 August general elections, the third quarter ending September recorded the highest number of investor interest compared to preceding quarters. Diplomatic relations between Zimbabwe and the US hit rock bottom when the southern African nation was slapped with economic sanctions on allegations of electoral fraud, failure to observe the rule of law and violating property and human rights. Harare dismisses the claims, saying the restrictions were triggered by the land reform programme which saw over 4 000 white former commercial farmers losing vast tracts of land to locals. Statistics from Zida show that the agency issued investment licences totalling US$2 million during the third quarter of the year compared to none during the same comparative period last year. “America is a huge economy and it would be remiss to conclude that they all think alike,” Chinamo said in an interview with The NewsHawks. “They have always been investing here for years. I think tourism, they have an interest there and renewable energy and to some extent minerals such as platinum and so forth. I think maybe it’s the arms race to self-sufficiency in energy and not relying on other countries which are driving investment. With minerals like lithium, you have to go where that ore is found.” According to Zida, at licensing, the energy sector registered the highest projected investment value at USD$2.8 billion with six new licences being issued during the quarter. The mining sector was second with a projected investment value of USD$411.97 million, with 86 new licences issued. “Overall, the third quarter recorded a 12.5 % increase over the second quarter in the number of investor licences issued by the agency,” Chinamo says. During the year to September 2023, Zida managed to draw investors from 38 countries whilst in 2022 investors were drawn from 27 countries. During both periods, investors from China were dominant by number and investment value, with mining being their most preferred sector followed by the manufacturing sector. RBZ forex retention spooks investors US keen on Zim tourism and lithium despite frosty relations Zida chief executive Tafadzwa Chinamo NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 30 Companies & Markets EDGARS has replaced its CEO and its chief finance officer, as majority shareholder Sub-Sahara Capital Group (SSCG) makes changes to shore up the struggling clothing retailer. Tjeludo Ndlovu has stepped down as CEO and leaves the company with effect from 31 October. She has been CEO of the company since 2020, when the company was battling to stay afloat during Covid. Also leaving is CFO Happiness Vundla, who was appointed to the post in 2021. The new CEO is Sevious Mushosho, a former executive of SSCG, who was appointed to the Edgars board after SSCG bought the majority stake from South Africa’s Edcon in 2019. Like many formal retailers, Edgars is facing declining profits due to currency distortions, rising inflation and competition from the informal market. Edgars was hit hard by Covid, losing seven trading weeks in the 2021 due to lockdowns. When its stores finally reopened, the company found itself with a buildup of old merchandise that customers didn’t want, which hit its stock turn levels. Edgars had to put the merchandise on sale to clear it. In 2021, Edgars said it had to increase borrowings to pay rentals, utility costs, and “ensuring that our employees were remunerated on time”. There was more trouble last year when central bank sharply increased interest rates to 200% to try and tame inflation. This saw Edgars’ finance costs rising by 177%. “The business was not able to recover these costs from our customers,” Edgars reports in its last annual financials. Clothing retailers such as Edgars have to order and pay for merchandise six months before it is delivered. The merchandise is then sold on a six-month basis, and high interest rates mean the business makes losses. Edgars is the largest clothing retailer, with over two dozen branches. It also has 25 Jet Stores, the Club micro-finance unit as well as Carousel, the garment manufacturing factory based in Bulawayo. Who is SSCG? SSCG is a private fund based in Mauritius. It bought 41.75% of Edgars from South Africa’s Edcon in 2017. It has ties to Innscor shareholders. Mushosho, who represents SSCG, has worked for Innscor Africa and Distribution Group Africa, a unit of former Innscor subsidiary Axia. SSCG also bought Innscor’s stake in Capri in 2022 and was, according to a regulatory filing last year, a shareholder in Mafuro Farming, an Innscor subsidiary. Previously, SSCG was invested in Vast Resources, which later sold a mine to Padenga, a company that has common shareholders with Innscor. Matt Fowler, who sits on the board of Padenga’s gold subsidiary Dallaglio, is one of the founders of SSCG. — NEWZWIRE. BERNARD MPOFU A DROP in metal prices coupled with effects of an El Niño -induced drought will present downside risks to Zimbabwe’s economic growth, a new report by a research firm has shown. Official figures show that Zimbabwe’s real gross domestic product growth remained high at 6.5% in 2022 from 8.5% in 2021 driven by a continued growth in agricultural production. The mining sector benefitted from rising global prices and together with tourism contributed to overall economic growth. According to the IH Securities third-quarter equities report, downside risks globally include the ongoing El Niño phenomenon, which historically has raised global food prices by more than 6% in a year and poses risks to the global food chain. Moreover, price volatility will likely persist for the remainder of 2023 driven by increased geopolitical strains in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, IH says. “Downside risk will emanate from a drop in global metal prices and rising local costs which could hurt mineral earnings this year,” IH says. “Continued disruption of international supply chains could constrain global demand conditions which, compounded by the decline in international mineral commodity prices, could see emerging markets and developing economies constrained.” Last year, the mining sector benefited from rising global prices and together with tourism contributed to overall economic growth. According to the ministry of Finance, this season’s expected drought and a dip in commodity prices could potentially cut economic growth to 3.5% from the projected 5.3% in 2023. Finance minister Mthuli Ncube this week revised economic growth target for 2024 to 3.6% from 5.2% due to the impact of the El Niño phenomenon. Speaking at the 2024 pre-Budget seminar in the capital, Ncube also maintained a bullish outlook this year driven by agriculture and mining. The IMF sees Zimbabwe’s economy expanding by 4%, an upward revision from the initial forecast of 3.2%. Edgars bosses step down, new outfit takes over Commodity slump, El Niño likely to slow down economy NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Companies & Markets Page 31 MICHEL CAMDESSUS/ANOP SIGH/BERNARD SNOY THE global economy is at an impasse. The needs resulting from climate change, attacks on the environment, pandemics, the debt burden of many countries, demographic evolutions, and the ravages of conflicts in Ukraine, Africa and now the Middle East are upsetting the balance of the international financial system and deepening its fragmentation. The resources necessary to meet these needs are scarcely available, even if we count on the full implementation of the decisions taken at the recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meetings in Marrakech. This points to unacceptable risks on the horizon and feeds the concern of a world threatened with inequalities and dramatic shortages. The world community must take a major initiative without delay, while working to restore multilateral cooperation. A central element of this initiative should be reform of the international monetary system. There is no paucity of work that has been done in this direction since the Global Financial Crisis (GFS), such as the Palais Royal Initiative, but just a few steps have been adopted. Even if the present political climate does not allow for immediate change, we need to prepare for much needed reforms by identifying the basic pillars of a renovated central institution of the system, the IMF. These pillars would be greater fairness in the IMF’s functioning, an adjustment of its mandate for the 21st century and a reinforcement of its role in global monetary and financial governance. Fairness Making the system equitable should be the first pillar of any real reform. Thus, reviews of IMF quotas should ensure a much more effective representation of each member country, corresponding closely with its actual economic importance today. In particular, the quotas of China and other emerging countries largely remain too small in comparison with those of the US and other industrialised countries. The same fairness principle should apply to the composition of the IMF’s Board of Directors. The required majority of 85% for important decisions, which gives de facto veto power to the US, needs to be reduced, as was proposed unanimously by the Palais Royal Initiative (including Paul Volcker, former US Federal Reserve chairman). Fairness should also apply to the distribution of Special Drawing Rights (SDR), this embryo of a global currency that the IMF may issue under certain conditions. The last SDR allocation of an equivalent of US$650 billion was decided in 2021 after the covid crisis, and, like the preceding ones, it was done in proportion to the quotas, which meant disproportionate shares for countries that need them the least. As a positive measure, the IMF recently invited rich countries to give a fraction of their SDRs to the poorest ones through IMF Trust Funds. We would suggest a change in the system, earmarking around 20% of future allocations for the poorest countries. More fairness is also called for in IMF surveillance of its members, which currently exerts itself mostly on countries that need its financing, while others in a situation of external payments surplus, or whose global influence is systemic, often ignore its recommendations. This monitoring should focus particularly on countries’ external reserves, which, in some cases, greatly exceed reasonable levels, thereby sterilizing a significant fraction of global savings invested in short-term instruments and reducing our collective ability to finance indispensable long-term investments, such as for the ecological transition. Mandate: The IMF’s mandate should explicitly include effective surveillance of capital flows, which, in a highly financialised world, has much greater influence on exchange rates and countries’ macroeconomic situations than fluctuations in current account balances. Towards this, the IMF, together with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and leading central banks, should establish a framework for the management of global liquidity, with the objective of preventing financial crises and fragmentation of the global financial system. SDRs could become an essential tool in this context. By issuing SDRs in the event of a shortage of liquidity or withdrawing them from circulation in the event of an over-abundance, the IMF could better play the role of a global central bank. To allow SDRs to fully play an effective role in the management of global liquidity, steps to broaden the SDR market and develop its role as a global currency need to be taken. The IMF role of lender-of-last-resort should also be more explicitly recognized in its Articles of Agreement and its resources should be increased significantly. This recognition would assure countries exposed to aberrant capital-flow fluctuations of protection without their having to accumulate excessive and poorly productive reserves. Governance: To endow the IMF with greater democratic accountability and legitimacy, the decision-making role of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) — composed of the finance ministers and central bank governors of the 24 countries with seats at its Executive Board — should be enhanced, while its executive directors, who have a more administrative profile, should prepare the agenda. Given that re-orienting global financial institutions is now effectively viewed as a G20 mandate, it’s desirable to review the G20’s composition for truly universal and equitable representation of all countries in the design and implementation of global strategies. This can be done via a system of regional constituencies that has served the Bretton Woods institutions well, and steps were taken in this direction under India’s G20 presidency. With the reforms outlined above, the IMF would become more truly democratic and universal, and would have at its disposal the instruments needed to exercise its responsibilities. Given the IMF’s role and importance, it would amount to reforming the international financial system. *Michel Camdessus is former IMF managing director, Anoop Singh a distinguished fellow, Centre for Social and Economic Progress and Bernard Snoy, Robert Triffin International Association chair. IMF should establish a framework for the management of global liquidity. Reform global financial system NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

AN International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team led by Wojciech Maliszewski conducted a staff visit in Harare during October 18–25, 2023 to discuss recent economic developments and the economic outlook. At the conclusion of the IMF mission visit, Maliszewski issued the following statement: “Zimbabwe’s economy has continued its post-Covid recovery, but enhancing its longer-term growth potential would require strong reform efforts. Real GDP is projected to grow by around 4.8% in 2023, supported by strong activity in the mining sector and — reflecting the beneficial impact of structural reforms — in agriculture and energy sectors. Growth is expected to slow to 3.5% in 2024 due to weaker global demand for minerals and a weather- related slowdown in agriculture. As external conditions worsen, the economic outlook will even more crucially depend on progress toward macroeconomic stabilisation and transformational structural reforms. Local-currency (ZWL) inflation and exchange rate pressures have abated in recent months, following significant price increases and exchange rate depreciation in the second quarter of 2023. The IMF mission notes the authorities’ recent efforts into stabilising the foreign exchange market and lowering inflation through the tightening of ZWL liquidity conditions. The mission welcomes the removal of surrender requirements on domestic sales in FX. The announced plan for the transfer of RBZ FX liabilities to the Treasury is also welcome. Nevertheless, the parallel FX market premium is large at above 30%, and ZWL inflation remains high. The fiscal deficit, excluding QFOs, is projected at 2.3% of GDP in 2023. “Key economic policy reforms identified in previous Article IV consultations remain paramount to fully restore macroeconomic stability. First, comprehensively addressing the RBZ’s quasi- fiscal operations (QFOs) remains imperative to mitigate liquidity pressures and thus re-anchor inflation expectations. These measures should be complemented with an enhanced liquidity management framework, including through the use of appropriate interest-bearing instruments by the RBZ to mop up excess liquidity. Second, the consolidated fiscal stance, including QFOs, should be aligned with the short-term stabilisation objectives. Third, there is an urgent need to accelerate the FX market reform, by allowing more flexibility in the official exchange rate through a more transparent and market-driven price discovery; removing the restrictions on the exchange rate at which banks, authorised dealers, and businesses can transact; and further minimising export surrender requirements. “Structural reforms aimed at improving the business climate and reducing governance vulnerabilities are key for promoting sustained and inclusive growth and would bode well for supporting Zimbabwe’s development objectives embodied in the country’s National Development Strategy 1 (2021-2025). “Sustainable development will also require a resolution of debt overhang. The Fund continues to provide policy advice and extensive technical assistance in the areas of revenue mobilisation, expenditure control, financial supervision, debt management, economic governance, and macroeconomic statistics. However, the IMF is precluded from providing financial support to Zimbabwe due to unsustainable debt — based on the IMF’s Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) — and official external arrears. A Fund financial arrangement would require a clear path to comprehensive restructuring of Zimbabwe’s external debt, including the clearance of arrears; and a reform plan that is consistent with durably restoring macroeconomic stability, enhancing inclusive growth, lowering poverty, and strengthening economic governance. International reengagement remains critical for debt resolution and access to financial support. In this regard, the authorities' reengagement efforts — through the Structured Dialogue Platform — are well noted and are vital for attaining debt sustainability and gaining access to external financing. “The outcome of this staff visit will serve as a key input in the preparations for a Staff Monitored Programme (SMP) and the next Article IV consultation. “The IMF mission held meetings with Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Hon. Professor Mthuli Ncube, his Permanent Secretary Mr. George Guvamatanga, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr. John Mangudya, the Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Mr. Willard Manungo, other senior government and RBZ officials, representatives of the private sector, civil society, and Zimbabwe’s development partners. “The IMF staff wishes to express its gratitude to the Zimbabwean authorities and stakeholders for the constructive and open discussions and support during the mission.” — IMF. Page 32 Companies & Markets The Banker Zim 2023 growth forecast 4.8% Finance minister Mthuli Ncube NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 33 MOSES MADYIRA I INTEND neither to launch an emotional war on the education system nor to write a full-length indictment against those who have invested a lot in learning. But how can one keep calm when thousands of young dreamers are being channeled into a vast existence of emptiness yearly, with their dreams squashed to death by circumstances? According to statistics from Zimbabwe’s ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, approximately 30 000 students graduate annually from institutions of higher learning. A student needs approximately US$ 6 000, inclusive of tuition fees, meals, and residential costs, to complete a four-year undergraduate degree. That is a staggering figure, just staggering! All state universities' graduation ceremonies are attended by the President himself, who presides over the charade which gives false hope to thousands of dreamers. These graduands are ushered into the darkness by high-ranking officials who know the truth but are determined to uphold the pretense. Were it not for my loving parents, I would have attended my graduation clad in a pink suit, lime green shoes, a blue tattered overalls jacket, and shaggy hair just to express my broken world view and discontentment towards the whole warped ceremony. The industries which are supposed to be the primary source of employment for graduates have closed down. Regardless of that, the number of graduates keeps increasing every year because there are too many dreamers hoping to find an elixir in education. And now there are so many graduates that when I throw a stone in any direction, the probability of hitting a disillusioned graduate is almost a certainty. Most of those graduates never tasted normal life on campus; many survived on one meal a day, some would squatter in their friends’ rooms and some would bear the brunt of raising tuition fees on their own. We were all indoctrinated into believing that if we keep fighting for success, life would get better after we attain a degree. But reality is rubbing hot pepper into our naïve eyes, rudely reminding us how education has become the equivalent of mental masturbation whose orgasm never comes. We just made universities richer in exchange for nothing. Sometime ago, education was the sole way of escapism from poverty, but today, those who have never stepped at the doorstep of tertiary institutions are having a life worth living while graduates are wallowing in abject poverty. What went wrong? I believe that the role of a government is to create a conducive environment that allows its people to prosper in whatever endeavours they might be undertaking, hence bad governance renders everything useless, including education. And victims of bad governance range from those poor greengrocers stuck under some weird verandahs trying so hard to earn a living to those firstclass degree holders roaming the streets as they try to escape from the jagged teeth of poverty. Just imagime for a moment those shopkeepers who earn so little that they cannot even pay rentals. What about the civil servants who are expected ronserve a nation, yet they are so impoverished that they cannot even afford school fees for their kids. The essence of life has been destroyed by bad governance which, arguably, has reduced education to a scam. And my generation is stuck in a situation where every sunset seems to be shoveling your dreams into a never-full and ever-empty pit latrine, dreams being mocked to death by time. Trying to escape from poverty through education has become meaningless like a madman running into a onceupon-a-time haven whose roof and walls wait for him to sleep and crush him to death. Is there anything to celebrate about graduation nowadays? You have absolutely nothing to celebrate because, after completing your studies, you do not know where your next meal will come from. Your degree, diploma or certificate gathers dust and cobwebs while you sleep on an empty stomach. And from time to time, you fumble your hand onto them to take a deep look in reminiscence; how you wasted four fabulous years of massive studying, enduring sleepless nights working on a dissertation, only to become a tout, a drug addict, a beer-guzzling little Judas. What is the meaning of life? The shebeens and bars and bus terminuses, betting houses and street mazes have become a haven for frustrated graduates. Enter any shebeen and you get to hear how a beer-guzzling tout wasted his years going to college, that airtime peddler knows the inside of s university lecture theatre. Some newspaper vendors hold degrees. Amazing! Did we spend four years on campus wasting time? I do not know, perhaps no one knows. But in all circumstances, I do not blame myself for pursuing education. There is absolutely nothing I could have done better, it is those live-now-thinklater chaps who have made it to cabinet, and the get-rich-faster Judases who have flooded our politics. They plunged us into a veritable hell. How can you happily chase your dream when everything seems to be working against you? You need to remain focused on your dream career, at the same time you need to eat, you need clothes and you need to survive. Things are going down and down and down while we are hanging by a thread waiting for angels to locate and rescue us. Reality hits you hard in the face after graduation when you try to settle with your things only for them to shoot up like splinters of a broken glass and laugh at your existence audibly saying: "Hey, little boy, forget about your certificates and go out to hustle". And hustling is not for everyone. You then remember the President said go and make money and stop meddling with politics because it will get you into trouble, but in whatever you try to do there seems to be a monster savagely threatening to consume your dreams. Graduates singing the blues! I have set my face towards Jerusalem! *About the writer: Moses Madyira is a Zimbabwean journalist. You can follow him on X: @MosesyMadyira, Email: madyiramosesy8@ gmail.com and cellphone: 0778049711. Getting education now feels like a big scam NewsHawks News Analysis Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 34 Reframing Issues DR SIPHOSAMI MALUNGA THE concept has its origins in the post-Nuremberg Industrialists case, where the International Military Tribunal (IMT) convicted two industrialists for supplying the poison that the SS used in the gas chambers to exterminate Jews. The Statutes of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) provide for “aiding and abetting” as a mode of criminal participation or liability. Article 25(3) (c) of the Rome Statute also provides for aiding and abetting. The ICTY and ICTR have elaborated the concept of aiding and abetting in their jurisprudence. Aiding means “giving assistance to someone” and abetting involves “facilitating the commission of a crime by being sympathetic thereto”. Despite being two distinct modes of liability or participation, aiding and abetting are often charged in juxtaposition. In Tadić, the Appeals Chamber held “the aider and abettor is always an accessory to a crime perpetrated by another person, the principal. In Vasiljevic the Appeals Chamber held that within a JCE, the aider and abettor carries out acts aimed at assisting, encouraging and lending moral support to the commission of specific crimes. The Appeals Chamber findings in the Tadić and Vasiljevic cases reaffirm that whatever support is provided by the aider and abettor, it should be directed at the commission of the crime. This entails that any support which may assist, encourage or lend moral support, but is not directed towards the commission of the crime, may not suffice as aiding and abetting.” In Prosecutor v Emmanuel Rukundo, the ICTR Appeals Chamber held that mens rea required for aiding and abetting is knowledge that the acts performed assist the commission of the specific crime of the principal perpetrator. Specific intent crimes such as genocide also require that “the aider and abettor must know of the principal perpetrator’s specific intent”. The ICTR Appeals Chamber made a similar finding in Prosecutor v Dominique Ntawukulilyayo. The ICTR an “aider and abettor commit[s] acts specifically aimed at assisting, encouraging, or lending moral support for the perpetration of a specific crime, and that this support had a substantial effect on the perpetration of the crime”. The Appeals Chamber held that the Appeals Chamber recalled that ‘the actus reus of aiding and abetting is constituted by acts or omissions specifically aimed at assisting, encouraging, or lending moral support to the perpetration of a specific crime, and which have a substantial effect upon the perpetration of the crime “(...) whether a particular contribution qualifies as “substantial” is a “factbased inquiry”, and need not “serve as condition precedent for the commission of the crime”. The ICTR concluded that the accused had “substantially contributed to the Kabuye Hill killings by encouraging Tutsis to seek refuge there and then providing reinforcements to those attempting to kill them. These acts alone suffice to constitute the actus reus of aiding and abetting”. An important consideration relates to specific intent crimes such as persecution and genocide. With regard to the crime of persecution, an offence with a specific intent, an aider and abettor must thus be aware not only of the crime whose perpetration he is facilitating, but also of the discriminatory context in which the crime is to be committed and know that his support or encouragement has a substantial effect on its perpetration. However, they need not know either the precise crime that was intended or eventually committed. This means that an individual may be found liable for aiding and abetting if he or she is aware that one of a number of crimes will probably be committed as a result of his or her assistance. The aider and abettor need not possess genocidal or discriminatory intent respectively. But the aider and abettor’s mens rea must be distinguished from that of the principal. Participatory liability has its own mental element through which the mental element of the underlying crime is established. Judge Shahabuddeen’s partial dissenting opinion in Krstić is compellingly persuasive in this regard. He held that the intent of the aider and abettor is not the same as the perpetrator and the intent of the aider and abettor is to provide means by which the perpetrator can commit the crime. This provides a clear distinction of the mental element requirement between the principal and the accessory. There are two elements of aiding and abetting: first, the accused must lend practical assistance, encouragement, or moral support, and second, which must have had substantial effect. As to the first, aiding/abetting may occur at one or more of the three possible stages of the crime, planning, preparation, or execution. In the case of Prosecutor v Kvočka et al, the ICTY held that an aider and abettor may also become a co-perpetrator if their assistance lasts for an extensive period of time. The Trial Chamber held that an aider and abettor may eventually become an accomplice, even without physically committing crimes, if their participation lasts for a long time or becomes more directly involved in sustaining the functioning of the enterprise. However, this raises the questions of what constitutes an extensive or “long time”, and also what does the maintenance and the functioning of the enterprise entail. Scholars posit that the manner in which the ad hoc tribunals and the ICC have dealt with aiding and abetting is fragmented. They argue that the definition of actus reus and mens rea for aiding and abetting has varied between the tribunals and the ICC and that the latter has set different standards for satisfying aiding and abetting. In relation to the actus reus, the ICTY, ICTR, Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) and Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of  Cambodia  (ECCC) all require that the alleged act of aiding or abetting has a “substantial effect” on the commission of the principal crime whereas the ICC requires the assistance to have “an effect’ on the principal crime and not necessarily a substantial effect”. This suggests that the International Criminal Court (ICC) sets a lower bar compared to the ad hoc tribunals. The substantiality requirement has also been a subject of debate among scholars particularly in relation to the ICC. Finnin has argued that the ICC should follow the substantial effect standard set out by the ad hoc tribunals despite the Rome Statute not explicitly providing for this, whereas Kai Ambos has argued that the terminology “facilitating” under Article 25(3)(c) entails that direct and substantial assistance is not necessary. However, what constitutes a substantial effect remains unsettled, even though there have been judgments to this effect, for instance, in Furundzija, the ICTY Trial Chamber held that “any marginal participation” will not satisfy the substantiality requirement and in Nyiramasuhuko, the ICTR Appeals Chamber held that the substantiality requirement does not entail a causal relationship. This is also supported by Ambos who argues that a causal relationship does not need to be established. However, the ICC Trial Chamber in Prosecutor vs Bemba et al has held that a general causal requirement or link is required. Despite this emphasis, it seems the substantiality requirement does not carry much weight in practice as only two individuals were acquitted by the ad hoc tribunals for the lack of the substantiality requirement. Similarly, in relation to the mens rea, the ad hoc tribunals require “knowledge” that the acts assist in the commission of the principal crime whereas the ICC requires “purpose” to facilitate the commission of the principal crime. This shows that the ICC requires a higher mens rea standard for aiding and abetting compared to the ad hoc tribunals. The elements of aiding and abetting as summarised above implicate the top political and military leadership in Zanu PF and Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA). As outlined above, the accused must lend practical assistance, encouragement, or moral support at one or more of the three possible stages of the crime namely planning, preparation, or execution. As already indicated, the then Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Eddison Zvobgo supported the late former president Robert Mugabe’s plan to eradicate all opposition to Zanu’s quest for a one-party state and therefore provided moral support at the planning stage of the crime. Additionally, Allan Doran notes that Zvobgo who was a member of the Zanu central committee spoke of a “decision of the central committee that there had to be a massacre of Ndebeles”. The central committee of Zanu is a principal organ and acts on behalf of the congress when it is not in session and implements all policies, resolutions, directives and decisions as enunciated by congress. This means that the support of Mugabe’s plan by the central committee was akin to support by congress. At the time the central committee was a twenty-member group, and Zvobgo’s support of Mugabe’s plan in this committee illustrates the substantial effect and impact on the commission of the crimes committed by Five Brigade. Without the support of key members in the central committee, it would have been difficult for Mugabe to carry out his plan. Additionally, it could be argued that the then commander of the ZNA General Solomon Mujuru provided practical assistance at the preparation stage of crime. Mujuru used his position as the commander of the ZNA to purge former Zipra combatants in the army that were aligned to Zapu leadership and this conduct had substantial effect to the commission of the crime as it set the ground for the elimination of former Zipra combatants by Five Brigade under the guise of combatting dissidents. In addition, the then Air Vice-Marshall Josiah Tungamirai provided practical assistance at the execution stage of the crime. As the acting commander of ZNA, he established the ZNA task force deployed to Matabeleland to counter growing dissident activity and also continued the purging of former Zipra combatants from the army in an “accelerated policy of de-Ziprafication and concomitant Zanlafication” within the ZNA. Blessing Miles Tendi notes that the British Military Advisory and Training Team (BMATT) in Zimbabwe was also complicit in this design. Furthermore, the then Brigadier Constantine Chiwenga who commanded the One Brigade in Matabeleland at the time of Five Brigade incursions, who was later succeeded by Lieutenant-General Edzai Chimonyo, and Lieutenant-Colonel Lionel Dyck who commanded the parachute battalion as well as Ken Flower who headed the Central Intelligence Organisation, provided practical support at the execution stage of the crime by providing military, logistical and intelligence support to Five Brigade which contributed and had substantial effect to the commission of the crime. *About the writer: Dr Siphosami Malunga is a Zimbabwean international lawyer. Gukurahundi: Aiding and abetting genocide NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

LUKE TAMBORINYOKA SERVING Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Philip Valerio Sibanda, who was controversially and unconstitutionally appointed an ex-officio member of the Zanu PF politburo, is being lined up for succession. As Zimbabweans go agog on the unconstitutionality of a serving commander being appointed into an organ of a political party, the real story is that Mnangagwa is now practically laying the groundwork for his brother to succeed him. Mnangagwa and Sibanda are family. They are cousins. Their fathers were blood brothers and had the same father by the name of Mapanzure. The family uses several surnames and these include Mnangagwa, Sibanda, Shumba (their totem), Chibga, Murambwi (also their totem), Siphambi or Ziyambi. Dear reader, some of those surnames explain a lot of things, including appointments into government. Never mind their adopted Midlands credentials, the family is originally from Chivi in Masvingo province. The plot to elevate Valerio was initially laid out some two-and- a-half years ago. Avid followers of my articles will recall that I was the first to intimate to you, my fellow citizens, on the planned imminent elevation of Valerio Sibanda first to the vice-presidency but all as a prelude to the grand prize. As Mnangagwa rides out his second and final stolen term, all indications are that Sibanda is being groomed to take over the mantle and to shut out fellow military strongman Constantino Dominic Nyikadzino Guvheya Chiwenga in the morbid Zanu PF succession race that will certainly reach its crescendo in 2028. It will be a rat race, a bloody battle to the wire. I had all this on good authority a long time ago. Ardent readers will recall that I was the first to alert Zimbabweans on the imminent elevation of Philip Valerio Sibanda first to Vice-President and eventually to leader of the party and potentially President of the country. Two-and-half years ago, in an Easter piece on 2 April 2021 that was titled "It is finished..…as Mnangagwa lines up a cousin for Vice-President", this writer gave you sufficient advance notice of Mnangagwa’s sinister plot to create a dynasty, nay a family fiefdom, by elevating Velero Sibanda, his cousin, first to the proximity of power before allowing him to snatch it. In 2021, following the expiry of his renewable one-year term in March 2021, the initial idea was to make him Vice-President to replace the then suspended Kembo Dugish Campbell Mohadi. The eventual grand plan was always to eventually make him President. After his renewable one-year contract ended on 31 March 2021, the idea was not to renew his term then but to retire P.V. Sibanda and send him on a cooling off period as a civilian before his appointment into the Zanu PF presidium as Kembo Mohadi’s replacement either later that year in 2021 or early 2022. And I wrote about this on 2 April 2021. In 2021, Mnangagwa was said to have initially thought of retiring Sibanda from the military and immediately appointing him as Mohadi's replacement, but his sidekicks reportedly told him it would be impolitic to have PV Sibanda trade his military fatigue for the party slogan in the same week. That is when he had reportedly considered pasturing out his relative for a “cooling off” period pending his political appointment to replace Mohadi in late 2021 or early 2022, which eventually did not happen and was temporarily put in abeyance for some time. But the succession plan with Valerio as the kingpin is now being actively pursued once again. Last week was significant in that Valerio was unconstitutionally brought into the party's top administrative body, the politburo, in spite of all the legitimate protestations. Indeed, the idea to bring Valerio into the succession matrix was mooted at the time when I broke the story on 2 April 2021, 48 hours after the expiry of his renewable one-year term as army general. Mnangagwa’s brother Valerio Sibanda is a former Zipra commander and Mnangagwa’s plan at the time was to kill two birds with one stone as he was always going to say he had acted in the spirit of the 1987 Unity Accord that mandated that one of the Zanu PF deputies must be a former Zapu cadre. It would seem politic for ED to appoint a former Zipra commander as Mohadi's replacement when, in fact, the most important factor was that Valerio is family. Well, Mohadi has since bounced back. But it appears the plan to bring back the brother in the party's succession matrix is now actively and ferociously being implemented, this time in earnest, following his appointment last week into the Zanu PF politburo. With the brazen, arrogant, provocative and patently unconstitutional appointment of General Sibanda into the politburo last week, Mnangagwa appears not to care what the world says. All he is geared for is to make this country a fiefdom of his family by laying the ground for his brother to take over and to checkmate Chiwenga. Dear reader, I am writing this piece wearing my other hat as a journalist. And I am reliably told that Mnangagwa fancies that being a soldier who has wielded control over the country's military, his brother is the perfect chess piece to checkmate the ambitions of fellow soldier and former ZDF commander, retired General Chiwenga, who now cuts a pitiful, forlorn, vulnerable, and dangerously exposed figure after his military allies died in controversial circumstances in the past three years. With Chiwenga at his weakest, Mnangagwa has made an audacious move by bringing his brother into the succession arena, a soldier with similar military credentials to checkmate his rival. Mnangagwa probably reckons that, if need be, and with his brother doubling as both a soldier and a serving politician, Valerio will be able, when the critical time comes, to bring in the military tanks to "finish the succession sports". Dear reader, given the way Mnangagwa has nepotistically executed his nasty dynastic politics in the past two months, do not be shocked to wake up to the news that his son in the military, Sean, is now somewhere high up in the country's military establishment. The signs are clear and palpable that ED is lining up his ducks for a dynasty. Dear readers, make no mistake about it: Valerio is actively coming into Zanu PF for the long haul; for the top post. The brother and soldier is Mnangagwa’s chosen successor. Given that this is his last term, Mnangagwa is simply sticking up the middle finger to Zimbabweans and his colleagues in Zanu PF. He is determined to leave this country in the hands of his cousin, Philip Valerio Sibanda. Dear reader, do not be surprised that Mohadi may have been brought back into the fray on condition that he will back Sibanda, his former Zipra comrade, when the crucial hour beckons! The man is planning a dynasty. And with Chiwenga on standby and also fancying his chances, Mnangagwa has simply decided to line up his brother, a fellow soldier. He may even cheekily say Zapu must not perennially play second fiddle almost 40 years after the Unity Accord. He will say it is high time the presidency went to the other party in the skewed 1987 Unity pact, knowing fully well that he is keeping it in the family. The other motive will be to freeze out Chiwenga, who literally handed him the mantle in November 2017. But then developments seem to point to the fact that the 2017 Zanu PF civil-military coalition has irretrievably broken down. Mnangagwa is desperate to stitch it up but nepotistically, further widening the rifts inside both the party and the military establishment. Born on 24 December 1954, Philip Valerio Sibanda is 69 years old. When he was initially set to be retired as a prelude to higher political glory in 2021, he was 67 and was serving a one-year renewable term, which is still the current arrangement. As Mnangagwa serves out his last term, he appears to be deliberately thickening the plot in Zanu PF's already toxic succession dynamics. If need be, ED seems to want the two soldiers, Valerio and Constantino, to shoot it out for the top post, either literally or metaphorically. Zimbabweans will be watching from the sidelines, hopefully far and safe from what may turn out to be a nasty and bloody duel. Mnangagwa appears wont to torch the furnace in Zanu PF. He does not care what chaos he brews as he serves out his last but stolen term. Much like Louis XV, a French autocrat whose reign preceded the French Revolution, who famously said: "After me, the deluge." Well, I rest my case for the week! *About the writer: Luke Tamborinyoka is a citizen from Domboshava. He is a journalist and a political scientist by profession. Tamborinyoka is a change champion in the Citizens' Coalition for Change (CCC). You can interact with him on his Facebook page or on the X handle: @LukeTambo. Page 35 Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Philip Valerio Sibanda Reframing Issues Valerio Sibanda is being lined up to succeed Mnangagwa NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 36 Reframing Issues PROFESSOR ARTHUR G.O. MUTAMBARA MUGABE feels, rightly so, that Simba’s Mavambo project took away votes from him through the bhora musango (sabotage the play) phenomenon – where ZANU-PF supporters voted for their party’s candidate for Parliament but voted for Simba Makoni for the presidency. Furthermore, it is Mugabe’s considered view that Simba is just a pawn. The prime mover is Solomon Mujuru – a man who had been his bosom partner in constructing a Zezuru hegemony in Zimbabwe for over 26 years. A man who was his conniving comrade in the treacherous and divisive ZANU politics in Mozambique. Mugabe’s sense of betrayal is total. That is the short background and history of Mugabe’s growing disdain towards Mujuru. Of course, nothing happens to Solomon Mujuru from March 2008 until his death in a mysterious fire on 15 August 2011. Had Mugabe forgiven him? This is hard to believe. Was Mugabe waiting for a strategic opportunity – a Machiavellian moment – to strike during the stability of the GNU? This is an open question. However, an affirmative response seems to make sense. Another curious aspect of Robert Mugabe’s decidedly negative attitude and unbridled antipathy towards Solomon Mujuru is that long after he is dead, at rallies and public platforms, he continues to lambast the General – a distinguished freedom fighter whom he has accorded National Hero status. Why? It is clear from some of the public utterances that he has never gotten over Mujuru’s attempts to elbow him out. He has not forgiven the dead man. Eliminating him was not enough. For example, at a rally in 2015 (four years after Mujuru’s death), Mugabe says: “Mujuru was a nasty and useless fellow – a very unpleasant man, indeed. He was now saying: ‘Our problems in the party are being caused by one man – Robert Mugabe. He must go!’ How could he say that? How can I – just one man – create all the challenges? For sure, Solomon Mujuru was now an undesirable character – an impediment in our party.“ Clearly, Mugabe never forgives Mujuru for the simmering treachery and disloyalty which started in earnest in 2006 at the Goromonzi Conference. Although Solomon Mujuru retains his position in the ZANU-PF Politburo and Joice Mujuru is Vice President in the GNU, Mujuru is a marked man. Joice is a lame-duck Vice President – an inconvenient irritant. Mugabe and Mujuru had become mortal enemies. It is game on. From 2006 to 2011, Mugabe, being the sophisticated Machiavellian politician that he is, is hiding his feelings and waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Mugabe rewards Emmerson Mnangagwa with the Ministry of Defence in the GNU for his participation and orchestration of the brutal and fraudulent runoff presidential election of 27 June 2008. The ‘political general’ Constantino Chiwenga, another architect of the 2008 genocidal campaign, is retained as Commander of Defence Forces. In the GNU, Mnangagwa and Chiwenga are the leading pillars of support for Mugabe’s presidency. As Miles Tendi puts it: “They work in sync towards the progressive development of a state within the state, a deep state, as a means of protecting Mugabe’s presidency and ZANU-PF rule from the political threat posed by the MDC in the power-sharing government.” General Solomon Mujuru dies in a fire in the early evening of 15 August 2011, at his Alamein Farm, in clearly suspicious circumstances. A maid and guard at the farm later testify that they heard gunshots two hours before flames were seen at his farmhouse. Mujuru had left groceries and his cellphone in his car, something he had never done before. The General had taken 40 minutes to drive from the hotel to his farm, a journey of 10 minutes. The lone policeman on guard at the farm is asleep at the time, and after he wakes, his cellphone has no airtime, and the communication radio is broken. When the Harare City fire truck arrives, it has no water. All this does not add up. Something is amiss. What a festival of absurdities! The night of Mujuru’s death (15 August 2011) is when Wilfred Mhanda launches his autobiography – Dzino: Memories of a Freedom Fighter – by Weaver Press. Given my affinity for history and respect for the liberation struggle fighters, I could not miss the book launch for anything. However, we are also scheduled to travel to Angola for one of those SADC discussions involving the GNU and its GPA starting on Tuesday, 16 August 2011. Usually, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and I travel on commercial airlines to these meetings, while President Robert Mugabe uses a dedicated Air Zimbabwe plane. This means Tsvangirai and I have to go that Monday evening. I decide not to do that. I want to attend Wilfred Mhanda’s book launch fully and not be rushing to some airport. Hence, I ask Mugabe for a ride on his special plane. He graciously agrees, amusingly saying: “There is always space in my mother’s house.” The book launch goes well. Veteran freedom fighter and ZIPRA Intelligence Supremo – Dumiso Dabengwa – is the Guest of Honour. As it turns out, Tsvangirai does show up briefly for the event but must rush off to catch a flight to Angola. I do not sleep that evening. I finish reading the entire Dzino autobiography overnight. I am quite a fast reader. What a fascinating read! As fate would have it, that is the night Solomon Mujuru dies. Early morning of the next day, Tuesday, 16 August 2011, without any information of what has transpired, I rush to Munhumutapa building. I intend to attend Cabinet and then proceed to Angola with President Mugabe. Then suddenly, reports start filtering through our security aides with an unsettling message: “There was a fire last night at Mujuru’s farm, and he has died.” What? Nothing is authoritative. The upsetting and disturbing news is just being passed around. As the time to attend Cabinet – 9:00 am – approaches, fellow Cabinet Ministers confirm the sad news. I am shattered. During this GNU, I have grown fond of General Solomon Mujuru. We spend a lot of time together. In fact, during most national public events, I sit next to him, or he sits next to my wife, Jackie. So many anecdotes from the cunning and humorous man: How he made Mugabe; His interactions with Samora Machel and Julius Nyerere; Liberation war escapades; Jokes about me marrying above my class (“M-m-ukadzi akanakaso, uye aine hunhu kwahwo, wakamuona kupi? Ha-a-si muleague yako! [How did you convince such a beautiful and well-groomed woman to marry you? You don’t deserve her!]); The late General Solomon Mujuru Mugabe versus Mujuru (Part 2) Book Excerpt from: In Search of the Elusive Zimbabwean Dream, Volume III (Ideas & Solutions) NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Reframing Issues Page 37 Snide remarks about my shoe types (Bhu-utsu dzawakapfeka idzo ndedzepwere [You must put on classy shoes, not that!]). That was General Solomon Mujuru. Always hospitable and exhibiting a fascinating sense of humour. Now he is gone. The Cabinet meeting is tense, as Ministers express condolences to each other as is the African custom. Everyone is engulfed with trepidation, sorrow and uncertainty. Except Robert Mugabe. He is relaxed and cracking jokes with petrified Cabinet Ministers. As the meeting starts, Minister of Mines Obert Mpofu raises his hand and says: “Your Excellency, given what has happened, I propose that we cancel Cabinet to allow colleagues to go to Solomon Mujuru’s farm. Most of us have not had a chance to do so.” Mugabe is derisively and scornfully dismissive: “What? Why cancel Cabinet? What is wrong with you? The business of the state continues. We will proceed as usual.” What a startling response! Of course, Obed Mpofu neatly and firmly tucks his tail between his legs, as all these ZANU-PF sycophants do whenever Mugabe raises his voice authoritatively on any issue. As the Cabinet progresses, every time a Minister raises a hand to speak, they invariably start by saying: “Your Excellency, I want to start by expressing my condolences on the passing of General Solomon Mujuru ...” However, the excellent one – the Chairperson of Cabinet, President Robert Mugabe – shows no interest in those remarks. He shows no remorse but sheer contempt for the distressed Ministers. In fact, he continues with his relaxed demeanour and joking spree as if nothing dramatic has happened in the country. Mujuru’s death is a non-event to Mugabe. We are shocked. When Cabinet is over, since I am travelling to Angola with Mugabe, my two official vehicles join his motorcade towards Harare International Airport. Before we get to the airport, the convoy makes a detour to One Commando Barracks, where they have brought Solomon Mujuru’s body. We are taken to a room where we console a bereaving Vice President Joice Mujuru – Solomon’s widow – her children and close relatives. Other key ZANU-PF and military leaders are there: Sydney Sekeramayi (Minister of State Security), Tendai Savanhu (Mbare MP and top ZANU-PF Politburo member), Perrance Shiri (Air Force Commander), Paradzai Zimondi (Prisons Commissioner General) and Constantino Chiwenga (ZDF Commander). Emmerson Mnangagwa – Minister of Defence –  is conveniently away in Luanda when Mujuru is killed. Then suddenly, we are all summoned by Minister Sekeramayi and General Constantino Chiwenga to come and view the body. Among all these people, I am the only one from outside ZANU-PF circles. My joining Mugabe’s plane to Angola has led to this unusual circumstance. Chiwenga is looking jittery and uncomposed. He is fidgeting all over the place. Does he know something that we do not know about the cause of Mujuru’s death? I wonder. My mind races with trepidation as we approach the room with Solomon Mujuru’s body. We enter the dreadful room. There it is – the corpse is lying on a table and is covered by a plain white cloth. Sekeramayi opens the fabric, and what do we see? A burnt-out skeleton with no flesh! We are all in shock. What is this? Mugabe quickly says: “Vharai, vharai! (Cover up the corpse, cover it up!)” He leads us out of that dreadful room. Mugabe looks unsettled and irritated, but not remorseful or shocked. After that scene, the body is never shown to anyone until it is buried. As it turns out, I am the only one outside ZANU-PF circles who sees these unsightly remains of General Solomon Mujuru. What is clearly inexplicable is how a victim of an ordinary fire could end up as a skeleton. The human body is at least 60 per cent water. When someone dies in a fire, the body’s swollen, water-filled flesh would be there. The state of Mujuru’s remains is only possible if the body had been in a raging fire for over six hours or was burnt with an accelerant (an industrial chemical used to intensify and spread fire). The latter is more plausible. There is talk of a blue flame that was found emanating from the charring body. All these observations put paid to the allegation of an ordinary fire accident caused by a candle! Indeed, an accelerant has been used. Something stinks to high heaven. There is another interesting fine point. Just before Solomon’s death, Joice Mujuru was meant to travel out of the country. For an unexplained rationale, Mugabe stops her from leaving the country. At the One Commando gathering where we view the body, he nonchalantly and casually remarks about how it was going to look for her husband to die like this in her absence. It is as if Mugabe knew that Mujuru was going to die. It is puzzling. Something is not adding up. Furthermore, while Joice Mujuru is still in shock of the gruesome and untimely death of her husband, Mugabe asks her to act as the President of the country while he and I proceed to Angola for the SADC Summit. Is he just being insensitive, or is it a crass statement to absolve himself from Solomon’s death? “If I can leave you as Acting President of the country, surely I have nothing to do with the death of your husband. Do not make unnecessary noises about Solomon’s demise. Your political future is secured. You can be the next President of Zimbabwe.” Is that Mugabe’s Machiavellian message to a naive, unsophisticated The late former President Robert mugabe From left: Former Vice President Joice Mujuru, the late General Solomon Mujuru and the late former President Robert Mugabe. NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 38 Reframing Issues and gullible Joice Mujuru? Food for thought. Of course, with the death of Solomon Mujuru, Joice’s career in ZANU-PF is finished. She just does not know it yet. She is too naive to understand the implications of what has just happened. Poor woman. This is August 2011, and she will only come to terms with her obvious and inevitable fate in December 2014 – a good three years later! Sad. Mugabe and I proceed to Harare International Airport and board his special plane to Angola. I am sitting next to him all the way to Luanda. We had great discussions for the entire four-hour flight. I am still shaken about Mujuru’s fate. Not him. He is relaxed and chatty. I try to probe him about what could have happened. He is unequivocal: “Ah, it was just an accident, a candle maybe. Solomon drank too much. People make mistakes and perish. That is life. We must move on. This is not the first time Mujuru has accidentally caused a fire. He almost burnt down our hotel at the Geneva Conference in 1976 through a carelessly disposed cigarette. Mujuru was a reckless chap. Life goes on.” I am startled by the casual way he is dealing with this tragedy. Later, in Luanda, again I try to bring up the subject of Mujuru’s death. I inquisitively probe Mugabe: “What is the latest information on General Mujuru’s demise? Is there going to be a thorough investigation?” Again, Mugabe is unfazed: “There is nothing there. It was a fire accident – maybe a candle carelessly left unattended. We cannot keep those bones for long. We have to bury him very quickly. There is no need for any elaborate enquiry. What for?” It is said that Joice Mujuru had a sense that her husband had been murdered. If indeed Solomon Mujuru was taken out, the information about it would have filtered to her, given her seniority and history in the party, coupled with the extent of her husband’s influence in the security establishment and the securocratic state. Why did she play along with the murderers of her husband and not voice her concerns immediately when the death occurred in August 2011? She only makes ineffective noises alleging murder most foul after she is off-loaded from ZANU-PF and its government in December 2014. It is too little, too late. No one believes her now at this late stage. She should have spoken out in August 2011, albeit cautiously but assertively. She was naive and completely without common sense. She was hoping that despite everything, if she keeps quiet, she could still succeed Robert Mugabe. How could she believe that schemers and plotters would kill her husband and, after that, hand over the presidency of ZANU-PF and the country to her? How daft can she get? Of course, whoever assassinated Solomon Mujuru would not countenance a Joice Mujuru presidency. What if, during that presidency, she moves to punish the killers? Even if she would not act, what of her children? Why would they not take advantage of her presidency to seek justice for their father’s death? It is complete madness and thoughtlessness for her to acquiesce and cavort with a system that she knew eliminated her husband. Her misguided hope of succeeding Mugabe clouds her judgement. Once Solomon Mujuru is killed, that is the end of Joice Mujuru’s hitherto plausible presidential ambitions. It is obvious. The die is cast. It is an open-and-shut case. Furthermore, all along Joice Mujuru fails to realise that her prominence and assumed power are Solomon Mujuru’s. There are not hers. She is just a place filler. An agent and not a principal. Mugabe does not have any semblance of intrinsic respect for her as a political gladiator, a leader or a government functionary. He views her as a political novice who is both intellectually inept and technically incompetent. Mugabe expresses to me, on several occasions, his blistering disdain and contempt for Joice. “She is just an unimaginative simpleton. There is nothing there.” He often retorted. Mugabe is simply using her to placate his long-term partner – Solomon Mujuru – and once he is eliminated, she ceases to be relevant. She has to be discarded. So, who killed Solomon Mujuru? It is not inconceivable that Robert Mugabe and the 2017 coup d’état folks (plotters and beneficiaries) were together on this one. Different motives but the same target. *About the writer: Professor Arthur G.O. Mutambara is the director and full professor of the Institute for the Future of Knowledge (IFK) at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Reframing Issues Page 39 BARNABAS TICHA MUVHUTI THE  work  of award-winning Zimbabwe-born sculptor  Shepherd Ndudzo is instantly recognisable. Fluid, elongated black bodies and body parts flow from white rock in a typical work. The bodies are dancing or praying, holding hands or reaching out. These figurative sculptures, carved out of stone (marble and granite) and wood (ironwood), were recently shown along with his abstract wooden sculptures (titled Seed) at the FNB Joburg Art Fair  in South Africa by Botswana’s Ora Laopi contemporary art gallery and research project. The work by the artist (born in 1978) was displayed as a celebration of the sculpture of Botswana, where he lives and works. The show was  dedicated  to his father,  Barnabas Ndudzo, the famed creator of realistic, often life-size sculptures. In a  documentary  produced by the gallery, Shepherd tells how he was taught to sculpt by his father. He says his works speak about migration and help tell his family story. It is a tale that spans three neighbouring southern African nations, all known for their sculpture – Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. It exposes a history of shared traditions and schools of teaching, of colonial-era gatekeeping and art world wars. It is this history that informs the research for my  PhD thesis  on Zimbabwean art. It is my view that Shepherd Ndudzo’s work can only be fully appreciated by understanding his transnational story and how it has shaped his life and career, showing how art traditions are invented and reinvented across borders. Kekana school His father Barnabas was born in Zimbabwe and attended the Kekana School of Art and Craft in the late 1960s. Early art schools in Zimbabwe were founded and run by white missionaries and expatriates. But the Kekana School was founded by a black artist and teacher. The school was started at St Faith’s Mission near Rusape by South African sculptor Job Patja Kekana in the early 1960s, long before Zimbabwe attained  independence in 1980. Kekana had trained at Grace Dieu Mission Diocesan Training College near Pietersburg (Polokwane). The same institution was attended by Gerard Sekoto and Ernest Mancoba, two of South Africa’s prominent black modernists. (Modernism  was an era of experimentation in art from the late 1800s to the mid 1950s. It saw new ideas, new media and the uptake of socio-political concerns.) Kekana had settled at St Faith’s in 1944 and stayed until he died in 1995, except for the three years (1960-1963) when he attended art college in the UK. When Shepherd enrolled at St Faith’s High School in Zimbabwe in the early 1990s, he briefly met his father’s ageing mentor. Shepherd mostly learned from assisting and observing his father at work. Like Kekana and all his students, Barnabas mostly carved realistic statues and busts. Art war Zimbabwe is famous for its  “Shona sculpture”  tradition in which artists use handmade tools, patiently carving human and animal forms from  serpentinite  rocks. UK-born artist, teacher and museum curator  Frank McEwen  pigeonholed artists from various ethnic backgrounds and different countries – and not just from the  Shona people  – in a single  misnamed cultural basket. Their individual creative styles did not matter. McEwen was the founding director of the Rhodes National Gallery (National Gallery of Zimbabwe). Although he was celebrated for his efforts at promoting Zimbabwe’s abstract stone sculpture tradition, ensuring that the world accepted it as modern art, his presence was bad for artists who worked with media like wood and were making realistic works, as well as for those stationed at missionary workshops. (Figurative art represents existing objects. Abstract art usually has no real-life visual reference. Realism refers to accurate depictions usually portraying a sitter or model.) McEwen preferred working with sculptors from the National Gallery School and the  Tengenenge  workshop until he had a fall-out with its founder, Tom Blomefield. As reported in the press, Blomefield accused McEwen of stealing artists from his stable. Art historian  Elizabeth Morton  highlighted that when Kekana visited the National Gallery School soon after his return from the UK he was chased away by McEwen, who didn’t want to see him near his students. Barnabas With McEwen holding the most powerful position at the nation’s central art institution, artists from Kekana’s school found themselves on the periphery of Zimbabwe’s mainstream art canon. They had to rely on church commissions and teaching jobs. This probably explains why Barnabas briefly found himself conducting “ecumenical workshops” for the Methodist Church in 1970 and 1971. Today the national gallery doesn’t have a single piece of his in its collection. Barnabas headed south, finding a home at the  Federated Union of Black Artists  (Fuba), an academy in Johannesburg. He settled in Botswana in the mid-1990s. He taught art at Gallery Ann and other institutions before moving to  Thapong Visual Arts Centre  where he continued to mentor emerging artists. He gained considerable recognition and respect in Botswana. And it’s in Botswana that his son Shepherd continues to sculpt, having moved to the country initially to assist his father. Shepherd The younger Ndudzo collects the  hardwood  he uses from construction sites, especially from trees bulldozed for road construction. He prefers marble from Zambia and Namibia which comes not only in white, but also in various shades of grey and brown. He highlights how citizens of these countries walk across the countryside on this resource, hardly appreciating its importance. The black granite he combines them with is mostly from Zimbabwe. Recently, Shepherd took me to his home in Oodi village in Kgatleng district. His vast open yard is his studio – where his artist neighbours tolerate the deafening noise of his sculpture making. Though he  talks  about moving away from his father’s realistic style, I still see strong elements of it in his work. The  bas-relief  carving in the larger works of wood exhibited at the Joburg Art Fair is a good example. It is a style inherited from Kekana, who “taught his students bas-relief carving, and realism and understanding of the wood grain”. Thus I see Shepherd Ndudzo as an artist sustaining a legacy emanating from the Kekana school. However, his work oscillates between figuration and abstraction. It is quite conceptual in that it is about ideas and quite experimental in that it blends different elements. The artist points to the likes of Tapfuma Gutsa as his greatest inspiration. Gutsa transformed Zimbabwe’s stone sculpture tradition, blending stone with various other elements. Lineage Shepherd’s decision to dedicate his exhibition to his father and mentor is an important gesture. It highlights the story of a sidelined artist, mostly written out of history, like others from the Kekana school. Artists do not make art in complete isolation. Highlighting the lineage Shepherd Ndudzo belongs to helps us understand his practice, choice of materials and aesthetic references. It is a lineage that is transnational in outlook – linking Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe – and his materials are drawn from different countries. This helps us appreciate how artistic practice can feed off art ecosystems across southern African borders. —The Conversation. *About the writer: Barnabas Ticha Muvhuti holds a PhD in art history from Rhodes University in South Africa Shepherd Ndudzo’s celebrated sculptures tell untold history of southern African art NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 40 Reframing Issues TONY ROBERTS GOVERNMENTS around the world use surveillance technology to monitor external threats to national security. Some African governments are also spending vast sums on mass surveillance of their own citizens. They are using mobile phone spyware, internet interception devices, social media monitoring and biometric identity systems. Artificial intelligence for facial recognition and car number plate recognition is another digital surveillance technology in their growing toolkit. I recently led research which found that governments in Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco, Malawi and Zambia were collectively spending over US$1 billion a year on these digital surveillance technologies, supplied by companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, the European Union and Israel. These are enormous amounts of public expenditure in countries where public services such as education and healthcare are under-funded. The  research  also uncovered the harms that this digital surveillance causes. We found that states were using surveillance technology contracts to spy on  opposition politicians,  journalists  and  peaceful activists. They were singling them out for harassment, arrest and even torture. This is in violation of  countries’ constitutions, international human rights law and domestic laws. All the five countries studied have signed international conventions on the right to privacy and have incorporated privacy rights into domestic constitutions and national laws. Our findings give cause for concern about the chilling effect of mass surveillance on citizens’ freedom of speech, stifling debate, closing civic space, and damaging democracy. The report documents the use of surveillance to monitor, arrest and threaten journalists and peaceful activists who criticise government policies or ministers. The study We examined over 2 400 database records of contracts for the supply of surveillance technologies for the five countries. Ten countries were originally selected for this study to represent Africa’s main regions and economies. However, we were forced to discontinue research in Egypt, Ethiopia, Algeria and Tunisia due to security risks for the researchers. The author of the Côte d'Ivoire report had to withdraw for unrelated personal reasons. This study covers only 10% of the countries in Africa, so the total expenditure on surveillance technologies is certainly much higher. Despite these limitations, our report provides the most detail to date on the size of the market. It also details companies and countries supplying the surveillance technologies. According to the evidence available to us, Nigeria has procured more than any other country on the continent. The government is a customer of nearly every major surveillance technology company that we examined. It spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually, and at least US$2.7 billion  on known contracts between 2013 and 2022. This is the equivalent of US$12 per Nigerian citizen. However, this is only a fraction of the true total as the monetary value of many known contracts is not public knowledge and many contracts are not in the public domain at all. The findings We found that different African countries had distinct surveillance profiles. Morocco has been an avid consumer of internet and mobile phone interception technologies. It has even conducted mobile surveillance of its own king. Ghana focuses on mobile phone spyware and on surveillance of public space. It spent over US$250 million between 2018 and 2021 on a “safe city” project. This involved over 8 400 CCTV cameras on streets, equipped with facial recognition technology and streaming information to a national surveillance data centre with equipment from Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE. Zambia has also made a huge investment in a safe city surveillance system. In Nigeria,  facial and car number plate recognition  is used across Lagos and Abuja. Malawi’s investment in surveillance systems is comparatively modest; so far it has rejected the safe city surveillance package being rolled out across Africa by Chinese companies. Human rights cost Beyond the financial cost, the widespread use of digital surveillance products has taken a toll on human rights. It has caused long-term physical and psychological harm to individuals unjustly targeted by surveillance tech and held without trial or even tortured by authorities, as documented in the report by the “surveillance stories” case studies from each country. Journalists and activists, or regular citizens, have been tracked, arrested and detained just for posting a critical message on social media. Under the pretext of national security, governments have exceeded their legal powers of surveillance. They have done so with impunity. As our reports document, even when courts find that security agencies have exceeded their legal power, nobody has been prosecuted or even demoted. The few rules of surveillance supply that are in place are not being followed. For instance Frontex, headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, and the European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic agency, are being investigated by the European Ombudsman over failures to conduct human rights assessments of their surveillance technology transfers to non-EU countries. Self-policing of companies has proved inadequate in preventing violation of human rights. Surveillance is a violation of the  right to privacy of communication and correspondence.  Privacy  is important in its own right. It is also important in making possible free trade, freedom of expression and open democracy. What to do about it Our study points to an urgent need for international governance in the absence of effective national checks for the use of artificial intelligence in surveillance. Authoritarian governments could misuse it to violate privacy and repress peaceful opposition. On the supply side there’s a need for robust legal frameworks to abolish the export of surveillance technologies used to violate human rights. Companies supplying these to known human rights abusers should be sanctioned, as is the case with companies that breach legal controls on the export of weapons and munitions. On the demand side the public needs to be more aware of their privacy rights and of the expansion of mass surveillance. Civil society has a role to play in getting the courts to protect their rights and freedoms. Public expenditure on surveillance should be defunded and the money redirected to productive social services such as education and health. The goal should be the abolition of all rights-violating surveillance technologies. — The Conversation. *About the writer: Tony Roberts is a digital research fellow at the Institute of Development Studies in the United Kingdom. Some African governments are spending millions to spy on their citizens — Stifling debate and damaging democracy NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Reframing Issues Page 41 Presentation by Misa regional director Dr Tabani Moyo at the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commission Panel Discussion on Legal Threats to Safety of Journalists in commemoration of International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. Date: 02 November 2023, Geneva, Switzerland. DR TABANI MOYO THE past few years have seen the enactment of laws that have an adverse effect on freedom of expression and of the media across southern Africa. Southern African countries have claimed that the civil society laws they have introduced are meant to ensure these nations comply with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. The FATF recommendations, particularly Recommendation 8, which focuses on non-governmental organisations and the potential use of NGOs as vehicles for money laundering and terrorism financing, have become an albatross around the necks of civil society in southern Africa. These include the NGO laws in Malawi and Tanzania, the Social Communications law in Mozambique and the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (Patriot Act) in Zimbabwe. This is in addition to the proposed NGO law in Angola and the Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill in Zimbabwe. In addition, there was a flurry by southern African nations to enact cyber security laws, which, instead of protecting users online, were meant to stifle freedom of expression online. These laws criminalised the publication of falsehoods regardless of the existence of freedom of expression provisions and (court) rulings that pointed out that criminalisation of publication of falsehoods has a chilling effect on freedom of expression. These cyber security laws have criminalised defamation. This is regardless of soft law and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) recommendations that defamation should not be criminalised. The cyber security laws have also entrenched surveillance. Just recently, two journalists from Botswana were on 20 July 2023 arrested and had their gadgets confiscated. The security services wanted to go through their devices to find out who they were engaging with as well as their news sources. A report by Citizen Lab in December 2020 revealed that at least three southern African countries — Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe — had acquired surveillance equipment from Circles, an Israeli firm. Our approach as Misa is that where there is a need to deploy surveillance equipment, it should be transparent, there should be judicial oversight, and it should be based on a human rights-based approach. Safety of journalists  Southern Africa has been a mixed bag over the past years, with countries in the region, both improving and backsliding in terms of the safety of journalists. Overall, there is what can be described as democratic backsliding. For example, in 2022, we celebrated that no journalist had been detained or harassed during their duties in Lesotho, even though this was an election season. However, five months into the year, a broadcaster was shot and killed as he left his place of work. Several people have been arrested for the crime, but even as this was happening, some journalists continued to receive threats online that they would meet the same fate as Ralikonelo Joki, the slain journalist. More than three years after he went missing, Ibrahimo Mbaruco, the Mozambican journalist, is yet to be accounted for. In Tanzania, Azory Gwanda, is yet to be accounted for more than six years after he went missing and has now been declared presumably dead. Also in Tanzania, on March 28, 2021, Blandina Sembu,  ITV and Radio One (local stations) presenter, was found dead and her body thrown by the roadside. Her death remains unresolved. Media laws  Civic space has generally been shrinking in Southern Africa, with attacks on journalists and civil society becoming less overt and more subtle. This is particularly more so through online attacks on journalists. While traditionally, we campaigned for media law reform, there is need for a more nuanced approach in terms of the reforms we need and how these address emerging issues. There is need to put in place institutional safety mechanisms for the safety of journalists in each country. For example, in Zimbabwe, albeit informally, we devised the Police-Media Action Plan. This, (Action Plan) came  after realisation that the police were by far the most responsible institution for attacks on journalists. Police and the media across the country engaged on how the safety of journalists could be improved, which helped ease mistrust between journalists and the police. As a result, we have recorded very few attacks on journalists, even though this was an election year. In Zimbabwe and Lesotho, we led the process of mobilising the media to sign a pledge to report on elections ethically and professionally, which was endorsed by multiple stakeholders and contributed to a low number of attacks against journalists while covering elections. There is need for us, as civil society, to advocate for the domestication of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists. This will go a long way in ensuring that legal provisions promote journalists’ safety. There is also a need to domesticate the ACHPR Resolution 522 on the Protection of Women Against Digital Violence in Africa. This is particularly important where it concerns the resolutions to undertake measures to safeguard women journalists from digital violence, including gender-sensitive media literacy and digital security training. There is also need  to repeal vague and overly broad laws on surveillance as they contribute to the existing vulnerability of female journalists. Recommendations Domesticate the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists so that the safety of journalists is guaranteed by law. • Ensure that regional and international best practices inform the cybersecurity regulation. • Investigate and hold to account the perpetrators of attacks on journalists. • Be transparent in how surveillance is used, and this should always be with judicial oversight. • Decriminalise expression and media freedom which is under attack from the weaponisation of anti-terrorism laws. *About the speaker: Dr Tabani Moyo is the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) regional chair. Media: Weaponisation of the law Dr Thabani Moyo NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 42 World News Africa News THALIA GERZSO CHANGES to Kenya’s constitution in 2010 on the independence of the judiciary created room for judges to act as guardians of the electoral process. Before this, the law gave Kenya’s presidents considerable influence over courts’ actions.  Historically, the judiciary was not an independent branch. It was categorised as a governmental department working under the authority of the attorney general. The president was responsible for appointing judges. For instance, Daniel Moi, who was president from 1978 to 2002,  systematically appointed loyalists. The close links between the government and the judiciary made it pointless to go to court to challenge electoral disputes. The 2010 constitution changed this. And in 2017, the Kenyan supreme court, the highest court in the country,  annulled the re-election of the presidential incumbent, Uhuru Kenyatta. The ruling asked the electoral commission to organise a rerun of the presidential election. This was despite the  threats and pressure  the judges faced. As a political scientist and former lawyer researching judicial politics in non-democratic settings, I found this change in behaviour puzzling. In  a recent paper, I sought to understand why a court would take such a risk. Where judges face retaliation and pressure from political actors, why — and when — would courts take the risk of nullifying the elections of ruling party candidates? I found that courts take such risks when there has been institutional reform. But to have this effect, the reform must meet two conditions. First, a legal framework must shield the judiciary from political interference. It must create distance between the executive and the judiciary branch. Second, legal reforms must also mobilise judicial activists, lawyers and scholars to train and monitor courts on electoral issues. The Kenyan case illustrates how this works. The legal framework Kenya’s 2010 constitution put in place mechanisms to shield the judiciary from executive branch interference. First, the judiciary stopped operating under the leadership of the attorney general, an executive office. This made the separation between the two branches of power official. Second, the constitution removed the president’s prerogative to appoint judges. My study found that constitutional reforms should not give the executive branch any decision-making power over the functioning and organisation of the judiciary. In Kenya, the  Judicial Service Commission, an independent body established under the constitution in 2010, is responsible for all appointments. Judges go through a rigorous process where their legal skills and personal ethics are questioned before they are appointed. This process prevents the president from appointing regime supporters. Kenya’s reforms also modified the structure of the judiciary by creating the  supreme court  and diluting the authority of the chief justice. A new  special fund  gave the judiciary financial autonomy. The constitution also contains specific provisions regulating how the judiciary settles electoral disputes. Before 2010, it took years to settle them. The constitution established a mandatory timeline. Courts have six months to deal with electoral disputes and 14 days to rule on presidential elections. Strong judicial networks These legal mechanisms are not sufficient on their own. They must create the space for civil society groups to interact with the judiciary, and encourage collaboration between activists, lawyers and scholars. By teaming up, these groups bring together more resources, expertise and experience. They can help courts to resist government pressures. In Kenya, I found that these networks of lawyers, activists and scholars used three strategies to empower courts. 1. Strategic petitions Lawyers, activists and scholars in Kenya have engaged in strategic litigation to improve the quality of election petitions, pushing courts to depart from the old English precedent, Morgan v Simpson. The 1974 ruling requires plaintiffs to show that electoral fraud occurred, and that the fraudulent behaviour affected an election’s outcome. These Kenyan networks have given courts the opportunity to change their electoral jurisprudence. In the 2017  presidential election petition  filed by  Raila Odinga, the supreme court changed its jurisprudence. It established that petitioners had to prove either that electoral fraud took place, or that these irregularities affected election outcomes. This means plaintiffs don’t need to meet the two conditions at the same time, making it easier for opposition candidates to win a case. 2. Judicial training These networks hold training and professionalisation workshops with the  Judiciary Committee on Elections. The sessions help judges to deal with issues such as tight constitutional timelines. They also aim to build a more coherent approach to electoral petitions and discourage arbitrary decisions. 3. Increased scrutiny The mobilisation of these networks has put the judiciary under intense scrutiny. They can detect inconsistencies or flawed legal reasoning in courts’ decisions. This scrutiny has direct effects on courts’ behaviour. Most of the judges I interviewed for my paper remember the atrocities committed following Kenya’s  2007 election. For many, the judiciary’s inability to settle the electoral dispute effectively plunged the country into violence. More than 1,100 people died. The conflict almost put the future of judicial institutions into jeopardy. The supreme court knows that any future misstep could threaten the institution’s survival and the country’s political stability. The lessons Policymakers can draw important lessons from the Kenyan case. First, to prevent political actors from using courts for their own political gain, policymakers must design judicial institutions that cannot be influenced by the government’s agenda. They should identify all pathways through which governments could influence courts – not only through appointments. Second, by funding and supporting civil society’s judicial activities, donors can help courts uphold electoral integrity and put states on the path to democratisation. — The Conversation. *About the writer: Thalia Gerzso is a post-doctoral fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom. Kenya’s supreme court judges annul the results of the 2017 presidential election. Simon Maina/AFP via Getty Images Kenya’s courts were under political pressure: How constitutional reform empowered judges NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Africa News Page 43 The unfinished African liberation DZIKAMAI BERE RECENTLY I joined human rights defenders from across the continent at the NGO Forum, a precursor to the 77th Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Arusha, Tanzania. The NGO Forum is an advocacy platform coordinated by the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies to promote advocacy, lobbying and networking among and between human rights NGOs, for the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa. The ACHPR session was to officially open on 20 October 2023 and run until 9 November 2023. Arusha has become central to African diplomacy. As one of our hosts, Onesmo Olengurumwa, the director of Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition said, Arusha is the Geneva of Africa. This was my first time in Tanzania. What I remembered from stories from friends in civil society was that Tanzania was not usually friendly to human rights defenders during the time of former President John Magufuli. During my recent visit, I met very friendly people. The Zimbabwean brother I met at the airport told me the people of Tanzania reminded him of the authentic Zimbabwean culture that truly rejoices at the sight of visitors. In our culture visitors are loved, welcome and pampered with gifts. Urbanisation has eroded these good ancient values. But not in Tanzania. It felt like home. True to Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s wisdom, I found the taxi drivers to be the most reliable sources of current affairs. And of course, what places to get good food, and good African wear. The greatest of my experience was connecting with fellow human rights defenders from across the continent who love Zimbabwe just like it was their own home. It was their home. “When my neighbour’s home is burning, my home is burning.” Alice Mogwe, the president of the International Federation for Human Rights would later say at the Zimbabwe Solidarity Dinner. One of the evenings we were hosted by the CEO of the Pan-African Lawyers' Union, Donald Deya, and he spoke so passionately about the great hope he had for Zimbabwe in 2008 on the verge of the Global Political Agreement (GPA). We were a people on the verge of making a gigantic breakthrough. But look at where we are today? Deya later spoke and shared the same views at the Zimbabwe Solidarity Dinner that we held on 18 October 20203, with colleagues from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, and the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, to reflect on the state and direction that Zimbabwe was taking. “Zimbabwe today is like Uganda. Marauded by a beast, sending the military to kill its own people,” Deya told the delegates. Many comrades spoke that evening, who included our host Onesmo Olengurumwa, who reminded us that we must learn from the solidarity that our forebears showed. The liberation struggle would not have been a success were it not for the solidarity that Africans showed each other. “Let’s go back to our history. The way we fought colonialism in Africa. The way we fought apartheid in South Africa. The level of solidarity our leaders had cannot be measured anyhow. That solidarity that our fathers had cannot be seen anywhere today. All the plans and strategies for the wars in Africa were done here in Tanzania. But today, as we fight for human rights, we don’t see that kind of solidarity. This is the message I want to share, not only with Zimbabweans but all people from Africa. My message is, why have you forgotten?” Why have we forgotten? This was very touching for me as a human rights defender. In closing the evening of solidarity, I thanked the human rights family for standing with us and recalled the memory of the liberation struggle. I believe the time has come for us to recall that spirit of liberation solidarity which radicalised a generation under oppression to do everything in its power to overcome the bondage of colonialism. I remarked: “Friends, human rights work is a struggle. It is a liberation struggle. The fact that we choose to wage it without violence does not make it any less important. We must confront oppression with the same vigour, the same passion and the same energy with which our forbears confronted colonialism.” Thank you, Arusha, for giving us hope, and for reminding us that we are not alone. As the 77th Session of the African Commission continues this week into next week, we must insist that the commission tacks serious the human rights problems confronting Africa, just as the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) took seriously the problem of colonialism. If these mechanisms, these peaceful mechanism of resolving our problems, fail for one reason or the other, the alternative, while unthinkable, will become inevitable. And for this reason, I plead with our African human rights system and my brothers who serve in these spaces to say please, do not fail our people. The liberation of Africa is unfinished business as long as the ideals of the Africa Charter are not realised. The resolution of human rights issues in Africa is urgent today, just as the liberation of Africa was at the time when the OAU was formed. In giving us the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, our forefathers gave us an option other than violence. Let us not squander it. *About the writer: Dzikamai Bere is the national director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights). Feedback can be sent to: [email protected] The late former Tanzanian President John Magufuli. NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Page 44 World News The BCG vaccine for TB has been used for 100 years. It is largely effective for children under five, but less so in older people and can’t be used on patients who have certain medical conditions. Today we’re the closest we’ve ever been to discovering a vaccine that might replace or complement it. Charles Shey Wiysonge, the World Health Organisation’s regional adviser for immunisation, discusses the latest developments in the fight against one of the world’s deadliest diseases. Why has it taken so long? We do not yet have a new vaccine for TB. But, for the first time, there are several vaccine candidates that are at  advanced stages  of clinical development. Vaccine development usually takes decades and unfolds step by step. Experimental vaccine candidates are created in the laboratory and tested in animals before moving into progressively larger human clinical trials. Clinical trials are research studies that test an intervention such as a vaccine in human beings and occur in phases, from phase 1 to phase 3. We say vaccines are in clinical development when they reach the clinical trial stage. • A phase 1 trial is a first-inhuman study which recruits a small number of healthy people (usually fewer than 100), to assess whether a candidate vaccine is safe. • Phase 2 trials are typically conducted among several hundred participants, to assess whether the candidate vaccine produces an immune response. For phase 3 trials, thousands of people are enrolled to assess whether the vaccine is efficacious and safe. Phase 3 TB vaccine trials are currently going on in Gabon, Kenya, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. Even though we are still, at best, three years away from broad regulatory approval of a new TB vaccine, the scientific community can do a lot now to prepare for its use, and to inform the public so that the vaccine may be accepted when it becomes available. TB vaccines are very challenging to develop. The bacterium that causes the disease is complex, and is proficient at evading the human immune system. We don’t yet have a full understanding of how to appropriately target the bacterium or what kind of immune responses are needed to induce immunity. But there are some interesting approaches in the pipeline and there have been some encouraging data from clinical trials that are providing clues. Why do we need a new TB vaccine? TB is a global health emergency. About 2 billion people are currently infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and of those, 5% to 10% may become ill with TB and will potentially transmit the bacterium. In 2021, nearly 10.6 million people developed TB disease and 1.6 million died. We urgently need new tools to fight TB, including new and improved vaccines. The  Bacille CalmetteGuérin (BCG) vaccine has saved tens of millions of lives and is effective in children under the age of five in preventing TB deaths and severe forms of the disease. The vaccine has variable efficacy for protection against  pulmonary TB  (TB affecting the lungs) in adolescents and adults – and it is pulmonary TB that’s responsible for the majority of TB transmission. So new and improved vaccines that are effective in preventing pulmonary TB in adolescents and adults are essential to control TB, and to reduce transmission to all, including newborn babies. TB is the leading cause of death among people living with HIV. People living with HIV have up to  20 times higher  risk of developing TB disease compared to those without HIV infection. The current BCG vaccine is not recommended for use in people living with HIV, for safety reasons. Although BCG is a safe vaccine in  immunocompetent  infants (those whose immune systems are working properly), severe adverse events can occur in HIV-infected infants following vaccination with BCG. These adverse events include a rare but life threatening condition known as disseminated BCG disease. However, new TB vaccine candidates are being developed and evaluated to offer clinical benefit in people living with HIV. How effective has the BCG vaccine been? BCG vaccines are given to more than 100 million children every year worldwide, at birth or soon after. The effectiveness of BCG can vary depending on several factors, including the prevalence of TB in a given area, the strain of the BCG vaccine used, and the age at which BCG was administered. Several studies  have shown that the effect of the BCG wanes as children approach adolescence. People may become infected with TB but not be aware of it. What will happen to the BCG vaccine? The BCG vaccine will not be replaced by another TB vaccine until and unless there is compelling data on the safety and efficacy of an alternative. Most of the current vaccines in advanced stages of clinical trials are tested in adolescents and adults. Their safety and efficacy would need to be proven in newborn infants to be able to replace BCG. In addition, BCG vaccination has  nonspecific beneficial effects on overall mortality  and leads to more reductions in child mortality than would be expected by just protecting against tuberculosis. There is thus a great possibility that BCG would remain in use. What will a new vaccine mean for the fight against TB? This depends on what the clinical trial data for the new vaccine candidates show. Most importantly, any new vaccine will need to be safe, and it will need to offer clear clinical benefit to populations at risk. We hope that the TB vaccine candidates that are in the pipeline will be effective at reducing TB infection, TB disease and TB transmission and can become part of a combination of tools in the fight against TB. —The Conversation. This article is part of a media partnership between The Conversation Africa and the 2023 Conference on Public Health in Africa. *About the interviewee: Charles Shey Wiysonge is regional adviser on immunisation at the World Health Organisation's regional office for Africa at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. TB vaccine: WHO expert explains why it’s taken 100 years for a scientific breakthrough NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

STYLE TRAVEL BOOKS ARTS MOTORING Porsche just got angrier Being a Fashion Model Life&Style Page 45 Issue 155, 4 November 2023 JONATHAN MBIRIYAMVEKA THEY have their first major breakthrough, winning the Chibuku Road to Fame 2023 title. First mission accomplished! Now, the longer journey is about to begin for 911 Band, entering the mainstream music scene. Others before have won the Chibuku Road to Fame, which aims to unearth music gems from Zimbabwe, but then didn’t go on to launch successful professional careers. But 911 has burning ambition. Already, the Gweru-based group is working on its debut album, which is due out before year end. And they are also looking forward to setting base in Harare, depending on the number of gigs coming their way. But firstly, a lot of charmed fans have been asking: why the name 911 Band? “We want to be the first band to come to mind when there is a great need for entertainment,” explained Tona Tiakudze, who is the lead vocalist and public relations man for the self-managed group. “So, in the US, people call 911 when they have an emergency. So here in Zimbabwe, people should be calling us if they need good fun and good music.” The 911 Band comprises Taona Tiakudze (TK), Matthew Mabengo aka Migobass on bass, Tinaishe Mugari (hotsticks) drummer, Peniel Kariteni (pennystrings) acoustic guitarist, Clemence Shirichena (cleanbird) lead guitarist and Tanatswa Yotama the keyboardist. The group is yet to release its debut album after winning the US$15 000 grand prize in the Chibuku Road to Fame, a talent search show for unheralded groups. “An album is still in the making and perfection and at this concert we will sample two to three songs from our upcoming album due out later this year, but most of the songs on this show will be cover songs,” Tiakudze said. The group was founded in 2019 but after the Covid-19 pandemic, it only regrouped in 2021. The versatile group plays music for everyone insofar as covers are concerned, but it identifies with Afro-fusion. And it is easy to see why the group is inspired by several musicians from Winky D, Jah Prayzah, Oliver Mtukudzi, Mokoomba and Travellers band, also from Gweru. But what sets 911 Band from the rest is that it is not “just a band but a musical enterprise, hence our key values are professionalism and integrity.” Added TK: “We have set ourselves as a company and the money we got we invested in our sound and transportation. We want to appreciate our fans and families for their steadfast commitment to supporting us this far and we pray that God makes them flourish and live long to see us shine till the end!” 911 recently had their debut performance in Harare at Theatre in the Park. “Well, we were so excited about our first show at Theatre in the Park and we look forward to more business with Theatre in the Park as well as other new opportunities that are coming our way,” he said. “I guess we will have to have a base in Harare and a base in Gweru because some of the group members, including myself, are still at the Midlands State University. But we wouldn’t mind a donor so that we have a house in Harare.” The Harare gig was a major breakthrough for the group as it introduced itself to a wider and crossover audience at Theatre in the Park, which also plays host to several acclaimed local and international plays. Daves Guzha, the producer of Rooftop Promotions who also runs Theatre in the Park, said the venue has always been a space and platform to herald new and upcoming artists. ‘Call us!’: Buoyant 911 Band sets sights on mainstream music career

Page 46 People & Places Fluminense win Copa Libertadores NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

Sport Page 47 ZimCricket at crossroads – time to confront some uncomfortable truths IN professional sport, change is often a bitter pill to swallow. The perennial challenge lies in deciding when to bid farewell to legendary figures, the stalwarts who have dedicated their lives to a cause in their careers. Zimbabwean cricket faces one such dilemma today. With a 3-2 loss in the T20I series to Namibia, it is time to confront some uncomfortable truths. Senior players Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza are both aged 37 while their captain Craig Ervine is aged 38. They all have undoubtedly been valuable contributors to Zimbabwean cricket. Still, it may be time for them to step aside and allow the younger generation to take the reins, building a team for the future. The weight of legacy Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza have been the cornerstones of Zimbabwean cricket for well over a decade. Their dedication and commitment to the team are beyond question. Williams, a left-handed all-rounder, and Raza, a gritty middle-order batsman and off-spinner, have often carried the team on their capable shoulders. Both players have a string of impressive individual records to their names. Williams has been a model of consistency, with over 7 000 runs and just under 150 wickets in international cricket across all formats. Raza, on the other hand, has been the glue holding the middle order together, with over 6 500 runs and over 160 wickets across all formats. Their contributions to Zimbabwean cricket should not be underestimated. The captain, Craig Ervine, has also played a crucial role. His leadership skills have steered the team through some challenging times. He has been a dependable batsman, amassing over 5 000 runs in all formats. Ervine's captaincy has provided stability and direction, helping the team navigate the tumultuous waters of international cricket. The harsh realities However, it is important to look beyond the accolades and recognise that cricket is a team sport. Zimbabwe's inability to qualify for the last two 50- over World Cup tournaments raises pertinent questions. The harsh reality is that despite the valuable contributions of Williams, Raza, and Ervine, the team's overall performance has not been up to the mark. Cricket World Cups are the pinnacle of the sport, and failing to secure a berth in two consecutive tournaments is a matter of great concern. It calls for introspection and strategic planning for the future. Continuing with the same set of senior players might not be the solution, given the current results. The necessity of transition Transition in sports is never easy. There is always an emotional attachment to legendary figures, and letting go is never straightforward. However, it is an essential part of any sport's evolution. The time has come for Zimbabwean cricket to embrace this transition. Cricket is a physically demanding sport, and age eventually catches up with even the most dedicated athletes. While players like Williams, Raza, and Ervine have defied age for a while, it is crucial to realise that their best years may be behind them. A transitional plan should be set in motion, focusing on grooming the next generation of talent. Young players need exposure and opportunities to develop, and this can only happen if the seniors make way for them. Leadership change In addition to stepping down from their playing roles, it is also time to consider a change in leadership. While Craig Ervine has led with distinction, a fresh perspective may be necessary for the team's progress. Sometimes a new captain can inject new ideas, strategies, and motivation into the squad. It is important to highlight the context in which David Houghton took over as the coach. Lalchand Rajput was relieved of his duties after losing heavily to Namibia and Afghanistan, then a lower-ranked team. Zimbabwean cricket was in a state of flux then, and a change in leadership was seen as a means to revitalise the team. While Houghton's appointment might have been seen as a move in the right direction, his recent series loss to Namibia raises questions about his tenure as well. The perils of consistency Consistency is often seen as a virtue in cricket. However, clinging to the status quo can also be detrimental. In the case of Zimbabwean cricket, the reluctance to let go of senior players, despite diminishing returns, has hurt the team's chances of development and growth. Williams, Raza and Ervine are undoubtedly great servants of Zimbabwean cricket. But their continued presence may inadvertently hinder the emergence of new talent. This raises the question: is it fair to expect players in their late 30s to shoulder the responsibility of rebuilding a team and competing at the highest level? The need for a bold vision To move forward, Zimbabwean cricket needs a bold vision and a commitment to nurturing young talent. This may involve short-term sacrifices for long-term gains. Giving the next generation of players a chance to learn, adapt, and grow in international cricket is paramount. Investing in youth development programmes, scouting young talents in domestic cricket, and providing them with international exposure is the way forward. A team built around promising youngsters, with the guidance of experienced mentors, can set Zimbabwean cricket on a path to resurgence. Farewell with dignity The decision to retire is always a deeply personal one. It should ideally be made by the players themselves, who are best placed to assess their own capabilities and contributions. The respect and dignity they have earned throughout their careers should be honoured in their exit. Zimbabwean cricket authorities, alongside the players, should engage in open and honest discussions about their future roles. The experience and expertise of Williams, Raza and Ervine could be invaluable in mentoring and coaching the next generation. Retirement should not mean goodbye but rather a transition into new roles within the sport, continuing to serve the cause of Zimbabwean cricket. As I conclude, I say in cricket as in life, change is inevitable. The 3-2 series loss to Namibia is a reminder that Zimbabwean cricket is at a crossroads. It is time to acknowledge the valuable contributions of senior players like Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza and Craig Ervine while also recognising that their era may be coming to an end. The failure to secure World Cup berths in consecutive tournaments should trigger a reconsideration of the team's composition and leadership. The time has come for a transition, where the torch is passed to the younger generation, allowing them to build a team for the future. As fans and stakeholders of Zimbabwean cricket, we owe it to the sport we love to embrace this change with open hearts and hopeful eyes. The legacy of Williams, Raza, and Ervine will forever be etched in the annals of Zimbabwean cricket, and it is time to ensure that their contributions continue to guide the team towards a brighter future. *Guest columnist Joseph ‘Jonty’ Madyembwa, a regular NewsHawks contributor, is a UK-based former Zimbabwe national team performance analyst and Mashonaland Eagles franchise team manager. Jonty is currently undertaking a PhD programme at Loughborough University’s Institute of Sports Business. JOSEPH MADYEMBWA HawkZone Craig Ervine (left) and Sikandar Raza have carried the team on their shoulders, but are approaching the twilight of their careers. NewsHawks Issue 155, 4 November 2023

NEWS $60 Covid tariff for visitors & tourists CULTURE Community radio regulations under review @NewsHawksLive TheNewsHawks www.thenewshawks.com Thursday 1 October 2020 WHAT’S INSIDE ALSO INSIDE Finance Ministy wipes out $3.2 Billion depositors funds Zim's latest land cStory on Page 3 Story on Page 8 Chamisa reacout to Khupe Unofficial president calls for emergeFriday 4 November 2023 ZimCricket: Time to confront uncomfortable truths ALSO INSIDE Sports Springboks win Rugby World Cup ISAAC Mabaya, the Liverpool attacking midfielder of Zimbabwean heritage, has been named in the southern African country’s squad for two World Cup qualifiers this month. 19-year-old Mabaya, an academy product at the Merseyside giants, was rewarded with his first professional contract by Liverpool early this year after impressing manager Jurgen Klopp during an off-season stint with the Reds’ senior team. It isn’t however clear if the Preston-born starlet will answer the call from his parents’ homeland after he was earlier this year reported to be eying an international career with England. Zimbabwe, who are homeless following an international ban on their stadiums, will open their World Cup qualification campaign away to Rwanda on 15 November. The Warriors will then stay on in Rwanda for a “home” game, hosting Nigeria on 19 November. Mabaya is among quite few exiled players of Zimbabwean origin included in the 27-man provisional squad. Local media refers to this group of players as the “British Brigade.” They include Brentford goalkeeper Marley Tavaziva, midfielder Andy Rinomhota of Cardiff and Leicester City forward Tawanda Maswanhise. There is also Reading defender Tivonge Rushesha as well as forward Leon Chiwome of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Zimbabwe are being coached by Baltermar Brito, the Brazilian-born mentor who has come to the limelight as a former assistant coach of the world-famous Jose Mourinho at leading European – Chelsea and Inter Milan. The 71-year-old Brito was appointed Zimbabwe’s interim coach in September to take charge of the Warriors’ World Cup qualifiers, up until mid2024. There is however one big question: Will the “British Brigade” answer the call from the land of their forefathers? While some of them have previously featured for the Warriors with great pride, others – the new call-ups – have said NO because they lack any connection to Zimbabwe. Let’s just wait and see if they will be interested this time around. — Staff Writer/ SportsCast. co.zw Andy Rinomhota Which of the ‘British Brigade’ will say YES to Zimbabwe?