NewsHawks 4 November 2022

WHAT’S INSIDE Friday 4 November 2022 GNEloWbeStrotting Price
circus: 47 trips
ANEilWingS but Mnangagwa US$1
economy still isolated
troubles PSPraOisReTfrom Sir
Zanu PF Story on Page 4 Andy, but ex-Zim
stars must also
Story on Page 3 find their voices

Story on Page 42

Chiwenga
down but
not out —
VP allies

ALSO INSIDE Chihuri’s victory over property siege

Page 2 News NewsHawks

Chiwenga Issue 105, 4 November 2022
down but
not out —
VP allies

OWEN GAGARE issue more profoundly and objectively Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga
before concluding that
ALLIES of Vice-President Constanti- Zanu PF co-deputy president Kembo Mohadi
no Chiwenga, who was brought to his Chiwenga was crushed at congress.
knees by President Emmerson Mnan- He may be down, but certainly not stalled himself vice-president when he president), Muchinguri-Kashiri (chair- leader as he is the only one who has
gagwa — literally and metaphorically out. In fact, his role in the party and exchanged military fatigues for a ci- person), Obert Mpofu (secretary for repeatedly told him in his face that he
— at the crucial Zanu PF congress last national affairs won’t change much. vilian suit, blocking Mnangagwa’s bid administration), Patrick Chinamasa wants to be president.
weekend, say the former military com- In any case, congress did not change to appoint Defence minister Oppah (finance), national political commissar
mander is down but not out. internal Zanu PF politics; the same Muchinguri-Kashiri co-deputy leader Mike Bimha and secretary for security Good-homouredly, Mnangagwa
leadership was retained, meaning that with Kembo Mohadi. Lovemore Matuke. Except Chiwenga said if Mohadi wants to be president he
It is a strategic retreat after losing nothing much would be different. It’s and Mpofu, the rest of these appointed must first survive a sustained campaign
some ground in processes culminating too early to write off Chiwenga in this He also took over the defence and top party officials support Mnangag- of vilification and threats, poisoning,
in congress, they argue. long haul political power struggle for war veterans portfolios that Mnan- wa, insiders say. expulsion, walking 40 kilometres and
the party leadership in the post-Mug- gagwa had initially given to Mohadi then a dramatic recovery from that,
Chiwenga’s allies and independent abe era.” who was briefly put in charge of se- Mohadi, who helped checkmate which was a description of his own rise
sources say the vice-president retreat- curity. Muchinguri-Kashiri was later Chiwenga during the bruising pow- to power under the late former presi-
ed on his mission to seize party struc- After a brutal political battle fol- appeased through an appointment as er struggle, threw his weight behind dent Robert Mugabe’s last days.
tures and control at the congress after lowing the 2017 military coup which party chair, a position she retained at Mnangagwa in his congress address.
some reversals in internal district and propelled Mnangagwa to power, char- congress. Mnangagwa lightheartedly described Said a source: “Congress left Mnan-
provincial elections to re-strategise and acterised by plotting, internal strife, gagwa stronger, but that doesn’t mean
fight back. purges, poisoning and a grenade attack Zanu PF’s top positions have re- Mohadi as “naughty” — a reference that Chiwenga has been overwhelmed.
amid dead bodies, Chiwenga was sub- mained unchanged after congress: to his sex scandals — but said he is de- He suffered a setback and to retreat,
In separate briefings with The New- dued at congress. Mnangagwa (president), Chiwenga pendable and useful. but he still has capacity to fight back
sHawks, various sources said Mnan- (deputy president), Mohadi (deputy and achieve his objectives.”
gagwa used congress to consolidate His surrender — at least for now He said Mohadi is also an honest
and retain power, but Chiwenga still — was symbolised by his kneeling
has several options to turn the tables, before Mnangagwa before the 4 000
including: The general elections, im- delegates.
peachment and a palace coup.
Delegates, foreign fraternal party
A well-placed source said: “After representatives, diplomats, observers
losing ground during congress, the VP and journalists witnessed the kowtow-
(Chiwenga) has several options to re- ing spectacle.
cover. One of them is bhora musango
[internal sabotage]. Chiwenga and his Those who spoke to The NewsHawks
allies in the party can and will sabotage found the kneeling symbolic of defeat.
Mnangagwa who is already unpopular
as aptly shown by the 2018 general “That summarised the key outcome
elections. Chiwenga will do a Mujuru of the congress; Mnangagwa emerged
on Mnangagwa [the late former army triumphant and Chiwenga defeated,
commander Solomon Mujuru in 2008 given their power relations in 2017
sabotaged ex-president Robert Mug- and the power shift now,” one delegate
abe who died in 2019] through bhora said.
musango.
“This is not to say Chiwenga is
“There is also an impeachment down and out. This means he is down,
option which Mnangagwa feared in but not out. The fact of the matter is
2018, and said so publicly. If Chiwen- simply that he was routed at congress
ga’s faction wins a majority in Parlia- and needs to retreat and regroup.”
ment in the 2023 general elections,
they can impeach Mnangagwa. Chiwenga himself accepted the
trouncing, going as far as claiming
“Chiwenga can also leverage the leaders are ordained by God.
military to stage a palace coup, that
is a situation in which Mnangagwa He implied Mnangagwa, whom
gets removed from power by people he once claimed was the great Mun-
who have worked with him. The mil- humutapa [historical Shona-speaking
itary can be used — without resorting people’s monarch], had the divine
to a hard coup like they did in 2017 right to rule.
— to pressure leadership for internal
change.” Said Chiwenga: “The party member-
ship through its structures and leagues
A Chiwenga ally said given the role has already clearly and thunderously
of the military, which the former com- endorsed Cde Emmerson Dambudzo
mander still largely controls, in the Mnangagwa as the president and first
elections, the vice-president is still a secretary, and as the sole presidential
major factor in Zanu PF and national candidate for the ruling party, Zanu
politics. PF, in the 2023 harmonised elections.
People have thus spoken."
“Mnangagwa might have won at
congress, but Chiwenga still remains Singing praises of Mnangagwa, he
important and influential in the party added: “He is the one and only candi-
and national politics, especially in the date that we know.”
upcoming general elections. So to say
that Mnangagwa has completely over- This was a far cry from his plan in
whelmed Chiwenga and to imply he 2017 during the coup when he called
no longer needs him is incorrect, par- the shots. Chiwenga’s strategy was to
ticularly given the role of the military install Mnangagwa as president for five
in elections. We need to look into this years, and then take over in 2023.

This was part of the military plan
to then keep power within their struc-
tures and among themselves.

In 2017, Chiwenga practically in-

NewsHawks News Page 3

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Ailing economy troubles Zanu PF

OWEN GAGARE runaway inflation and exchange rate volatility, dollar and the black market were at 1:2 when Finance minister Mthuli Ncube
an indication that they have failed in fulfilling Patrick Chinamasa was the Finance minister. livelihood.
ZANU PF remains worried by the state of the their mandate. When a professor of economics came in, Min-
economy ahead of general elections next year, ister Mthuli Ncube, the exchange rate now is “We have people like (Provincial Affairs and
with ruling party officials believing economic Zanu PF provincial secretary for economic embarrassingly high. Devolution) permanent secretary Tafadzwa)
hardships will present a big hurdle for the par- affairs Blessing Chimanga, whose department Muguti who came here and told us that mar-
ty’s quest to win polls at all levels. organised the meeting, said Harare needed “In October, there was over US$1 billion kets would be opened, but up to now there is
proper development if the ruling party enter- which was said to be from the US. Professor nothing. He now behaves like our boss and we
Amid indications that President Emmerson tained any hopes of winning. He warned sabo- Ncube came and told us the money will sta- are his subjects. The President is up and down
Mnangagwa — who secured a mandate to lead teurs, accusing them of endangering the party. bilise the exchange rate and prices. He told us trying to show his appointees how to do things,
the party at next year’s elections — will call an the money was credited, but rates continue to but they do not learn.
election at the earliest legally stipulated time, “While others in different provinces depend soar.”
sitting legislators remain concerned that their on mining, agriculture and so on, in Harare we “We have roads courtesy of the President,
prosects may be affected by the state of the depend on employment and businesses. With- He said under the prevailing economic cir- investors come in daily, we have seen his work
economy. out all that, we are not safe,” Chimanga said. cumstances it would be difficult for the prov- ethic, but we feel those appointed are sabotag-
ince to perform well. ing the President.
Zanu PF got a majority in National Assem- “We hope to have answers for all those ques-
bly in 2018 after amassing 144 seats while tions we are grappling with. If the economy re- “Today, you cannot buy bread. How do you “When the son of God came, he had a big
MDC-Alliance, then under the leadership of mains unwell, we will have no joy as a party in expect us to perform well as a party when the job at hand and he chose disciples to work with.
Nelson Chamisa, got 64 seats. Harare. Reasons for this mess are so many. We One of the disciples he chose sold him out.”
had a central bank official who clearly did not economy of Harare is not well?” Chimanga
“It may be tougher this time around, given have answers for a number of problems raised asked. Zanu PF supporters present during the ind-
the state of the economy and the fact that in here. aba quizzed the director of economic research
2018 there was a lot of goodwill following the “The party deployees in government, some and policy in the Reserve Bank, John Ma-
ouster of (former president Robert Mugabe) “In 2017, the rate was 1:1. The United States of them, act as if they don’t care and close mar- fararikwa, whom they accused of not proffering
Mugabe. Zanu PF MPs have expressed their kets at will, yet they know it’s a huge source of solutions to the troubled economy.
concern over the state of the economy numer-
ous times,” said a Zanu PF legislator.

“It is also on record that legislators have not
been happy with the performance of Finance
minister Mthuli Ncube, whom we believe has
largely failed to deal with the economy. The

Hansard is full of complaints and concerns
from legislators.”

Concern over the economy was also high-
lighted by the party in the central committee
report presented during congress last week.

On the economy and national security, the
ruling party said price volatility caused by sharp
exchange rate movements had become a securi-
ty threat “which consequently had blighted its
chance of a landslide win in the 2023 harmon-
ised elections”.

The party applauded interventions by gov-
ernment, including the introduction of gold
coins, which have stabilised the exchange rate,
but called for more measures to strengthen the
economy.

“However, there have been concerns regard-
ing the welfare of the population. It would
therefore be prudent for the government to
address social welfare issues, including service
delivery so that as we approach the elections in
2023 the country does not fall into the same
predicament that befell it in 2021 whereby
the opposition won some of the crucial urban
by-elections despite several infrastructural de-
velopment programmes done by the ruling par-
ty,” the central committee report says.

In July, senators said Ncube and the Reserve
Bank had run out of ideas as shown by the in-
troduction of complicated policies that confuse
and disadvantage the ordinary people while
failing to address the economic crisis.

The upper House said the introduction of
countless measures, had failed to address eco-
nomic problems, arguing that the minister
ignored advice to dollarise which came from
stakeholders during budget consultations.

In June, Zanu PF supporters strongly
warned the party of impending electoral defeat
in the 2023 general election because of the eco-
nomic crisis. They also accused Mnangagwa’s
deployees in government, particularly Ncube,
of failing to address economic challenges while
behaving as if they are sabotaging him.

The Zanu PF officials gathered at the Harare
provincial offices to discuss the economy and
argued the situation had worsened on Ncu-
be’s watch in the last four years. Some officials
suggested that former finance minister Patrick
Chinamasa had performed better, despite being
a lawyer and not an economist.

The irate supporters and officials accused
Ncube of failing to deal with a troubled econ-
omy and always peddling explanations instead
of delivering results to a restless society that is
likely to vent its anger by voting against the rul-
ing party in the next election.

The meeting on economic affairs was attend-
ed by national commissar Mike Bimha and Re-
serve Bank officials. The central bank officials
came under fire, with Zanu PF officials and
supporters accusing them of failing to arrest the

Page 4 News NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Zacc probes 26 tobacco companies

OWEN GAGARE

THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission ments. We have nothing to hide and we are open Another global giant under investigation, BAT vouring, because of its high quality.
(Zacc) has launched an investigation targeting to be investigated. We are not involved in any Zimbabwe, is a subsidiary of one of the United Over the years, there have however been con-
25 tobacco merchants, including global giants transfer pricing or anything illegal, so we are fully Kingdom’s 10 biggest companies. BAT sells more
British American Tobacco and Tian Ze Tobacco complying,” Li said. than 650 billion cigarettes annually. cerns that despite the tobacco industry generating
Company, a subsidiary of China Tobacco, over more than US$1 billion annually, many small-
allegations of fraudulently under-pricing tobacco China is now the biggest importer of Zim- Zimbabwe’s tobacco is in demand globally be- scale farmers are wallowing in poverty because of
exported from the country, resulting in the loss of babwean tobacco. The country buys some 62 cause of its high quality which is partly attribut- an unfair pricing system which often leaves them
millions of dollars. million kilogrammes of packed tobacco worth ed to good soils and climate. The country grows in debt.
US$500 million every year, accounting for well some of the finest flue-cured tobacco with mini-
Local giant Pacific Cigarette Company of Zim- over half of the country’s tobacco exports by val- mal chemical residue. Most of Zimbabwe’s tobacco is grown by
babwe is also under probe. ue. small-scale farmers, but the majority have noth-
Zimbabwean tobacco is mostly used for fla- ing to show for it.
Both Zacc and the Tobacco Industry and Mar-
keting Board (TIMB) confirmed the investiga-
tions.

TIMB is a regulatory and advisory statutory
board whose functions include controlling and
regulating the growing, marketing and export of
tobacco in Zimbabwe. It caters for the interests
of all classes of tobacco growers, buyers and other
stakeholders.

Zimbabwe is the largest producer of tobacco in
Africa and ranks sixth globally.

The crop, known as the golden leaf, is one of
the biggest foreign currency earners for the south-
ern African nation, alongside gold and remit-
tances. Last year alone, tobacco earned US$1.2
billion, but Zacc believes more could have been
earned, were it not for under-pricing.

Zacc investigators are scrutinising export fig-
ures from 1 January 2021 to date, after being
alerted by whistleblowers.

Companies under investigation, according
to documents seen by The NewsHawks, include
Zimbabwe Leaf Tobacco, Northern Tobacco,
Premium Leaf Tobacco, Mashonaland Tobacco
Company, Boost Hail and Cotton Pvt Ltd, Cur-
verid Tobacco, Voedsel Tobacco International and
Voedsel Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd.

Investigators are also probing Genotab Traders
(Pvt) Ltd, Cutrag Processors Pvt Ltd, Interconti-
nental Leaf Tobacco, Sahara Leaf Pvt Ltd, Norton
Leaf Tobacco, Consolidated Tobacco Processors,
Chevron Tobacco Company and Fontshed In-
vestments (Pvt) Ltd.

Other companies under scrutiny are Tinorby
Trading, Sub Sahara Tobacco (Pvt) Ltd, Victory
Risk Services, Equinox Leaf Tobacco (Pvt) Ltd
and Toryblue Investments.

As part of the investigation, Zacc general man-
ager Peter Rwodzi on 11 October wrote to TIMB
requesting for documents of the companies under
probe.

“The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commis-
sion is investigating cases of fraud as defined in
Section 136 of the Criminal Law (codification
and Reform Act), chapter 09:23 emanating from
fraudulently underpriced of tobacco exported
from Zimbabwe,” Rwodzi wrote.

“To facilitate our investigation, kindly furnish
the Commission with the copies of attachments
submitted by the below listed companies when
applying for tobacco export permits and subse-
quent acquittals done in respect of the exported
tobacco for the period 01 January 2021 to date.”

After receiving the letter, TIMB acting chief
executive officer Emmanuel Matsvaire wrote to
companies being investigated, requesting doc-
uments. One such letter was written to Tian Ze
managing director Wang Hua on 20 October.

“TIMB received communication from the
Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission as at-
tached letter dated 11th October 2022. As indi-
cated in the letter TIMB requests you to submit
the information for validation and triangulation
for onward transmission to Zacc before end of
day Friday 28 October 2022,” Matsvaire wrote.

Asked how the investigations are proceeding,
Zacc spokesperson Thandiwe Mlobane said “all
we can confirm is that investigations are under-
way.”

TIMB spokesperson Chelesani Tsarwe said:
“TIMB wishes to confirm that Zacc requested
for some information to carry out their investi-
gations. As a board we are cooperating with the
commission and playing a coordination role and
facilitating the submissions of the required doc-
uments.”

Tian Ze spokesperson Li Wenjie said his com-
pany had supplied TIMB all requested docu-

NewsHawks News Page 5

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

MARY MUNDEYA Presidential inputs scandal:
GMB rips off rural farmers
THE distribution of basic farming essentials
under the Presidential Input Scheme — also that government through the GMB pays the bag of compound D [fertiliser], they were sup- the inputs that on three different intervals,
known as Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme — transporters.” posed to pay US$1.50, of which US$1 per immense violence erupted and people were
has come under scrutiny amid allegations that bag would go towards the transporters’ pay- injured.”
Grain Marketing Board (GMB) managers are In a separate set of interviews, farmers in ment and the remaining US$0.50 would be
conniving with Agricultural, Technical and Guruve and Karoi, who also spoke on the con- channeled towards the GMB’s representative "GMB officials and transporters responded
Extension (Agritex) officers to milk communal dition of anonymity, disclosed that a year ago and Agritex officer’s transport costs. by denying farmers from my ward the presi-
farmers. they were denied inputs after they refused to dential. In wards where people made contri-
pay transport costs. This was after they were “As the distribution committee members, butions, farmers received inputs."
The farmers are losing money every year af- informed that the government had covered all we also get a bit of money towards logistics
ter being forced to pay transport fees already costs. such as airtime and we submit the money we The NewsHawks reached out to Patricia Dzi-
covered by the government, it has emerged. would have collected to our Agritex officer, va, manager of the GMB Timbermills depot in
“Everyone who refused to pay the transport Mai (Roziwiter) Muringai, who gives it to the Headlands and Stanley Mutizwa, the manager
An investigation by The NewsHawks in money that was being demanded for the Pfum- transporter of the day when the time comes”. of Kachuta depot in Guruve. After our report-
Headlands, Guruve and Karoi where a lot of vudza inputs was denied access to the inputs. er introduced herself to Dziva and briefed her
subsistence farming is practiced revealed that If you didn’t pay the required US$5, there was Muringai confirmed Kavhumbura’s claims. on why she was phoning, she abruptly termi-
farmers, who are the major beneficiaries of the nothing for you,” said an affected farmer. When asked how much the Pfumvudza bene- nated the call and blocked her.
programme, have been contributing unautho- ficiaries are paying for transportation this year,
rised amounts ranging from US$1.50 to US$5 Sources in and around the GMB's Timber- Muringai said: “We are yet to be advised on Mutizwa said: “I’m not aware of any farm-
towards the transportation inputs from GMB mills depot in Headlands and Kachuta depot how this year’s programme will go. Sometimes ers’ contribution towards inputs transporta-
depots to their respective wards since 2020. in Guruve revealed that money contributed we have the inputs delivered for free, some- tion because I’m no longer at that that depot.
The government has however been paying towards the transportation of Pfumvudza/ times people are required to pay, so I will be I’m now based in Chiweshe, I was transferred
transporters for the delivery of inputs, mean- Intwasa inputs is shared among GMB depot only sure after tomorrow’s meeting.” last year.”
ing that officials are corruptly pocketing the managers, transporters and Agritex officers.
money. Headland’s ward 6 councillor Pedzisai Sa- Asked to give clarity on the GMB’s stance
The sources explained how the racket works. manyanga confirmed playing a role in mobil- concerning the transportation of the Pfum-
Farmers from Headlands who spoke to The When there is an expected delivery of the ising people to pay. vudza/Intwasa inputs scheme, the parastatal’s
NewsHawks disclosed that they were not aware presidential inputs, beneficiaries are required chief executive officer, Rockie Mutenha, said:
that the government has been paying for the to pay an amount prescribed by the area’s Ag- “As councillors, we also mobilise people to “Local transporters around the depots are en-
transportation of the Pfumvudza/Intwasa in- ritex officer. Village inputs distribution com- pay mostly between US$1 and US$1.50 for gaged for movement of inputs across the coun-
puts. This was confirmed by community lead- mittee members collect the money before the the transportation of each bag of fertilizer try under the Presidential Inputs Programme.
ers on the record. load arrives. which is shared among different stakeholders, The transporters will then invoice GMB for
The money is then handed to Agritex offi- including the transporters, GMB personnel payment. Arrangement and payment is the re-
“Since Pfumvudza began, each beneficiary cers who, when delivery is made, hand it over and distribution committees because they all sponsibility of GMB.
has been contributing between US$1.50 and to the transporter. The money is however later have a role to play as far as the distribution of
US$2 per load of inputs that we have been get- shared between the transporter, GMB officials the presidential inputs is concerned. We know “Presidential Inputs Programme transport-
ting from the programme. We are not aware and Agritex officials. that government through the GMB also pays ers are always paid upon submission of their
that we were not supposed to pay anything Transporters then submit invoices to GMB the transporters, but they say that the money invoices. Both inputs and transport are met
towards the inputs transportation costs,” said headquarters in Harare, claiming payment is not enough to buy them fuel which requires from the President’s budget. GMB is given the
a farmer. from the government as per their contractual US dollar payments, hence people have to transport budget to pay transporters.”
agreement. contribute money in US dollars,” he said.
Another farmer said: “The only difference A Headlands-based Pfumvudza/Intwasa Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and
between now and 2020 is that as villagers, we inputs village distribution chairperson, Alice Kudakwashe Chigumo, the Karoi ward Rural Development chief director Obert Jiri
are no longer looking for the transporters our- Kavhumbura, confirmed the goings-on. 6 councillor, said distribution this year was told The NewsHawks that farmers should
selves. It's now the work of GMB; otherwise “Every year we contribute towards transpor- marred by violence. not pay for the transportation of agricultural
the same manner in which we were contribut- tation of the presidential inputs. For example inputs under the Presidential Input Scheme.
ing money towards the transportation of the last year, for a beneficiary to be given a 50kg “Most people in my ward who refused to He said it is the responsibility of the GMB to
Pfumvudza inputs which we give to Agritex contribute money towards the transportation move inputs from depots to distribution cen-
officers who pay transporters hasn’t changed. of Pfumvudza inputs were denied access to tres in wards.
What you are asking us about the government
catering for the transport costs is news to us;
there is no such thing.

“We recently paid US$1 towards the trans-
portation of the sunflower seeds we received as
part of the ongoing 2022 Pfumvudza inputs
distribution programme and we are not aware

Page 6 News NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

BRENNA MATENDERE Fresh probe exposes illegal
financial flows, corruption
A FRESH report by authors Lauren
Keevill and Norman Mukwakwami work- A study says more than US$9 billion in minerals remained unaccounted for due to trade misinvoicing that occurred from 2002 to 2012.
ing in collaboration with the Zimbabwe
country office of the Civic Engagement for
Accountability and Democracy (CEADZ)
has revealed worsening illicit financial
flows and corruption in the country.

Titled Illicit Finance In Zimbabwe, the
report adds to existing dossiers that show
corruption is on the rise in both the pri-
vate and public sectors.

The report's corruption findings are
centred on mining. Trade mis-invoicing
is rampant, sometimes to beat bottlenecks
caused by the country’s foreign currency
policies, the report reveals.

“Companies in Zimbabwe engage in
trade mis-invoicing to overcome regres-
sive capital controls and move capital in
and out of the country more freely. A typ-
ical large-scale mining operation is a capi-
tal-intensive process and requires millions
of USD in upfront investment, and Zim-
babwe’s financial sector does not have ad-
equate capital to finance these investment
needs,” the report reads.

“As a result, most sector investment
comes from foreign sources, such as banks,
venture capitalists, and downstream buy-
ers of the minerals who are domiciled out-
side Zimbabwe. Restrictions on the move-
ment of capital and the foreign currency
shortage makes it exceptionally difficult
for foreign mining companies to exchange
ZWL into USD in order to pay dividends
to shareholders.”

The document also maintains that min-
ing companies that receive these invest-
ments are incentivised to pay it back as
quickly as possible to minimise the high
cost of borrowing, especially in the cur-
rent hyper-inflationary environment.

“To do this and pay these investors in
USD, companies exploit opportunities to
move their profits out of Zimbabwe (and
ZWL) and into offshore bank accounts
(and USD).

In aggregate, this has a deleterious ef-
fect on the economy and stunts the min-
ing sector’s growth potential. One study
found that more than US$9 billion in
minerals remained unaccounted for due
to trade misinvoicing that occurred from
2002 to 2012,” the report reads.

The document shows how the country’s
mining sector has failed to effectively con-
tribute to the economy due to corruption.

The sector’s wealth-generation poten-
tial, on top of the opacity and inconsis-
tencies within mineral pricing, has seen
trade mis-invoicing become pervasive,
according to the report.

Leakages in mining have previously
been cited in the production of gold and
diamonds in many parts of the coun-
try, mainly along the mineral-rich Great
Dyke.

The minerals are then smuggled through
the country's porous borders, including
Robert Gabriel Mugabe International
Airport which is vulnerable to corruption
and does not have sophisticated scanners
to detect possible cases of smuggling.

There are also concerns that lack of
transparency by mining companies, in-
cluding hidden beneficial owners that
complicate financial crime investigations,
further stymies efforts to prevent this
crime of misinvoicing.

The energy sector was also flagged in
the report, which also reveals that the
structures and institutions in Zimbabwe’s
economy and political system bind to-
gether when it comes to financial crimes.

“Zimbabwe’s energy sector is concen-
trated in the hands of very few entities,
including several SOEs [state-owned en-
terprises], and represents a significant
proportion of the country’s GDP [gross
domestic product],” reads the report.

Local civil society organisations in the
past have also produced damning reports
on corruption in mining, in which indi-
viduals with links to Zanu PF and govern-
ment officials have been implicated.

NewsHawks News Page 7

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

NATHAN GUMA Globetrotting circus: 47 trips
but Mnangagwa still isolated
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has trav-
elled 47 foreign trips since coming to power, in a
re-engagement drive that has been bogged down
by human rights abuses and failure to implement
key political reforms, the 2022 Zanu PF central
committee report has shown.

Mnangagwa was catapulted to power in 2017
by a military coup that ousted long-time president
Robert Mugabe. He has been under pressure to
patch relations with the West, which has proven to
be an uphill task, in view of his atrocious human
rights record.

In July 2019, a team from The Commonwealth
visited the country to assess Zimbabwe’s bid for
readmission to the grouping of mostly former
British colonies.

However, the readmission process has stalled,
largely on account of the Zanu Pf government’s
failure to implement geuine political reforms.

Zimbabwe has also failed to effect critical rec-
ommendations of the European Union election
observer mission following a disputed 2018 gen-
eral election that saw Mnangagwa win by a wa-
fer-thin margin against opposition Citizens' Coa-
lition for Change leader Nelson Chamisa.

Political observers have already warned of a
potentially chaotic 2023 poll if key reform issues
remain unresolved.

A recent report by an independent public pol-
icy think-tank, the Zimbabwe Democracy Insti-
tute (ZDI), has shown how the Mnangagwa ad-
ministration is tightening a stranghold on rights
by shutting civic space ahead of the polls.

The ZDI says Mugabe in certain democratic
indicators fared much better than Mnangagwa.
National freedom finally tipped into the negative
in 2021, with a -12.5% deterioration of freedom
of the public sphere during President Mnangag-
wa’s tenure in office, compared to 14.29% under
Mugabe in 2017.

Regional trips and international summits President Emmerson Mnangagwa attends the 48th annual session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2018.
Mnangagwa made a lot of trips in a bid to
propel his re-engagement drive in the region. In
2018, a few months after coming into power,
Mnangagwa made a courtesy call on Angolan
President Joao Lourenco, before flying to Namibia
three days later for a bilateral meeting.
After that, he made five more regional visits be-
fore embarking on additional trips in an attempt
to bridge the chasm between the Zanu PF govern-
ment and the community of nations.
From January 23 to 26, he went to Davos, Swit-
zerland, for the 48th annual session of the World
Economic Forum, before making more flights
to the China-Africa summit in September 2018
where President Xi Jingping urged Chinese com-
panies to invest at least US$10 billion until 2028.
Chinese companies have been operating in the
country — with some players in the extractive sec-
tor being implicated in human rights abuses with
government collusion.

Engagement and re-engagement meetings Mnangagwa (left) with Russian President Vladmir Putin in 2020.
In January 2019, Mnangagwa went on official
visits to Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Kazakh- Enhancing the country’s image United States assistant for African Affairs, Tibor EU-Africa summit to try and mend relations with
stan, creating a new version of the "Look East" The Zanu PF leader travelled to Mozambique Nagy. According to the central committee re- the European Union.
policy as the West continued insisting on the re- in May 2020 to discuss instability in the gas-rich port, Mnangagwa attended four regional events
spect for human rights and other deliverables the Cabo Delgado region caused by Islamic insur- in 2021, three of them being Tanzanian president Mnangagwa also attended the World Econom-
Zimbabwean authorities had set fof themselves. It gents. John Magufuli’s funeral, the commissioning of ic Forum in Switzerland, the Southern African
was whilst on this trip that fissures of discontent Mnangagwa did little to engage with the West, Kazungula Bridge and the inauguration of Zam- Development Community summit in Kinsha-
on the economic crisis facing the country would choosing instead to fly to regional and continental bian leader Hakainde Hichilema. sa, and the United Nations General Assembly in
open. meetings — attending the February 2020 African May, August and September respectively.
At least eight people were killed and 25 others Union summit in Ethiopia. Hichilema also invited Zimbabwe's opposition
were wounded in violent clashes, amid protests The late foreign affairs minister, Sibusiso Moyo, leader Nelson Chamisa. Despite that, re-engagement with the West has
triggered by steep fuel price hikes. attended two virtual events: first with the British been fraught with immense difficulties as Mnan-
The government effected a 130% fuel price Foreign Commonwealth Office for Africa and the Engagement, re-engagement meetings, 2022 gagwa’s government has been found wanting on
increase, prompting public outrage, with officials This year, Mnangagwa has already attended the the all-important scorecards of human rights, de-
denouncing the protests as acts of terrorism. mocracy and anti-corruption.
The authorities deployed the military in Hara-
re to patrol the streets and crush demonstrators,
while the police rounded up countless citizens in a
massive crackdown.
From then on, Mnangagwa made regional
and continental trips to Botswana, South Africa,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Mala-
wi, among others.
In January and March 2020, he attended the
inauguration of his counterparts, Phillipe Nyusi of
Mozambique and Haige Geingob of Namibia, be-
fore attending the February 2020 African Union
Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In October, Mnangagwa flew again to Azer-
baijan for the Non-Aligned Movement and Rus-
sia-Africa summits in Sochi, Russia, before ending
the year with the Africa-Caribbean Summit.

Page 8 News NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Poverty shocker: 73% earn less US$100

BERNARD MPOFU Food insecurity has become increasingly prevalent in Zimbabwe. 68% of the population having gone without
money and needing to make alternative plans to
DESPITE projecting a rosy picture of the coun- cial Inclusion Strategy in part. of income. meet daily needs, while 61% had to skip a meal
try’s economic fortunes, a new government report “Most of the population earn small, inconsis- “Vulnerability indicators, according to the due to lack of money for food.
has exposed the rising levels of poverty after re-
vealing that more than 73% of the population is tent and irregular income, with 58% of the pop- 2022 FinScope Consumer Survey, point to more “The increased hardships were driven mainly
earning less than US$100 per month. ulation relying mainly on piece jobs as a source hardships for the majority of Zimbabweans, with by sustained recession in 2019 and 2020, with
GDP estimated to have contracted by -6.14%
Buoyed by the short-lived international good- and -5.28%, respectively, on the back of climatic
will which came after the ouster of long-time shocks and other exogenous shocks such as Cy-
president Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwean leader clone Idai, and the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Emmerson Mnangagwa promised to break with
the past, undertake several political and economy Official figures show that Zimbabwe recorded
reforms with the hope of normalising relations significant progress in formal financial inclusion
with the international community and grow the from 69% of the adult population in 2014 to
economy. 83% in 2022, reducing the financial exclusion
gap from 23% in 2014 to 12% in 2022.
This week, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube
launched the National Financial Inclusion Strat- According to the World Food Programme
egy II (2022-2026) which showed the high levels (WFP), food insecurity in recent times has be-
of poverty at a time Mnangagwa has made an am- come increasingly prevalent in Zimbabwe, largely
bitious pledge to build an upper middle-income due to the country’s macro-economic crisis, char-
economy by 2030. acterised by high levels of inflation and rising food
costs.
The concept of financial inclusion is loosely de-
fined as the process through which a society has The World Bank says Zimbabwe, currently
access to various financial services (credit, savings, battling a floundering economy and a toxic polit-
insurance, payment and pension services), as well ical environment, needs more reforms to anchor
as financial education mechanisms, with the goal an average economic growth rate of 8.9% over
of improving its material conditions of well-be- the next eight years to reach this milestone against
ing. current estimates of 3%.

“According to the 2022 FinScope Consumer But a series of policy missteps, high levels of
Survey, the poverty levels have increased from corruption, effects of climate change and lower
65% in 2014, with 73% of the population earn- foreign direct investment compared to regional
ing not more than US$100.00,” reads the Finan- peers has seen Zimbabwe’s economy wobbling
since Mnangagwa took over in 2017.

NewsHawks News Page 9

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Neglect condemns cancer patients to death

MARY MUNDEYA that my chances of survival were close to none. tain that I wouldn’t have made it to today,’’ Tembo The paper indicates that over 5 000 new cancer
Besides, my body was spent from the 18 sessions says. cases are diagnosed in Zimbabwe annually.
RUDO Matare was 38 years old when she was of chemo I had already gone through.
diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2017. “Its such a shame that other cancer patients The statistics are however believed to be a tip of
“A month later, my husband and I resorted to without financial resources to seek treatment at the iceberg as many cancer patients are not cap-
Her decision to follow the doctor’s advice to getting another opinion in South Africa where we private institutions or go out of the country end tured by the routine National Health Information
undergo a mastectomy in order to remove her left were told that I was free of cancer, meaning the up dying because of the current state of cancer System because they do not present for treatment.
breast to stop the cancer from spreading to other cycle of chemotherapy I had gone through had treatment in our public institutions,” Tembo said. Some deaths are also not formally recorded.
parts of the body turned out to be disastrous. worked and there was no need to go for another
cycle.” According to the World Health Organisation, In 2020, the World Health Organisation’s re-
Her friend and breast cancer survivor Monica cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, ac- search on cancer revealed that Zimbabwe was los-
Simande says Matare’s life took a dramatic turn for In April 2017, after her South African trip, counting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020. ing half of its cancer patients, and among the many
the worse when her removed left breast was taken Tembo went to a local private hospital where the reasons for this is the late detection of the disease.
to Lancet Laboratories for further tests which in- results she had received in South Africa were cor- Zimbabwe’s ministry of Health and Child Care Another reason is that the country’s public health-
dicated that it was cancer free. roborated. National Cancer Prevention and Control Strate- care system is not equipped to deal with cancer at
gy for 2014 to 2018 highlighted that, cancer is a its various stages and in its different formats. The
“Upon receiving results from Lancet Laborato- “If it was not for my husband who sold our car major cause of morbidity and mortality with over absence of properly functioning cancer testing and
ries that her removed left breast did not have any so that we go to South Africa for another opinion 5 000 new diagnoses and over 1 500 deaths per treatment machines at Zimbabwe’s public hospi-
cancer, she suffered from cardiac arrest and died. on the diagnosis that I had been given, I’m cer- year. tals has also led to many cases of mis-diagnosis
We were all left shocked as to how it was possible that have resulted in the death of patients.
that someone could be diagnosed of an advanced
stage of breast cancer when she didn’t have it at Speaking at a meeting for senior health and
all,” Simande said. government officials who were gathered at a hotel
in Harare in February this year to discuss issues
“It all made sense when several days after my and problems related to cancer treatment in the
friend’s death, Dr Edwin Muguti (former health country as it faces a critical shortage of radiother-
deputy minister) appeared on national TV saying apy and chemotherapy equipment, Dr Nothando
that the cancer machines we had in Zimbabwe Mutizira, a cancer specialist at Parirenyatwa Hos-
were not working properly since certain elements pital, said: "Cancer treatment services in the coun-
had gone obsolete.” try are highly unreliable.”

Matare’s story is typical of the untold horror Cancer Association of Zimbabwe (CAZ) gen-
that cancer patients in Zimbabwe have been go- eral manager Junior Mavu concurred with Mu-
ing through for the past decade as a result of the tizira’s sentiments highlighting that investing in
malfunctioning and obsolete cancer diagnosis and cancer testing and treatment machines for the
treatment machines in affordable public hospitals. country’s public hospitals was the only way to beat
the cancer mis-diagnosis that has been rocking the
In February 2017, after undergoing 18 sessions country for years.
of chemotherapy for the stage three breast cancer
she had been diagnosed with, Maria Tembo re- “Our public health institutions do not have
ceived devastating news that her cancer had spread properly working cancer-related machines hence
to the lungs. the increased numbers of cases where people are
being misdiagnosed and are ending up dying be-
Doctors at Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare cause of wrong medication,” she said.
told her that in order to curb the cancer from
spreading from the lungs to the rest of her body, “As a nation, we need to equip our public
she was supposed to undergo another cycle of che- health institutions with properly working cancer
mo therapy. machines so that we avoid such occurrences,” she
said.
She says: “Having seen other people go through
another cycle of chemotherapy and dying, I knew

Page 10 News NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Skint Zanu PF survives on donations

NATHAN GUMA

ZANU PF has been mainly surviving on dona- Zanu PF failed to reach targets in mobilising funds for programmes that include construction of the Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology (below).
tions, with little contributions from member-
ship fees and subscriptions as well as government and US$35 760 for its programmes during the was also another major expense, costing US$1 The US$890 000 expenditure was constitut-
grants and investments, a central committee year. 063 539 in foreign currency, with no local cur- ed by US$75 Covid-19 and US$100 cushioning
report presented at the party’s 7th congress in rency expenditure. allowances paid workers during this period, and
Harare last week reveals. To support the 7th women’s league con- a total of ZW$11 003 658 in gratuities was paid
ference held this year, ZW$24 689 146 and The party’s wage bill for 2022 amounted to for retired and deceased members of staff, ac-
The financial record shows that Zanu PF had US$996 400 was spent. ZW$437 557 209 and US$890 000, after a cording to the financial statement.
income totalling ZW$1 606 130 701 and US$6 20% salary increase to junior staff members.
509 451 in 2022. The inaugural war veterans league conference

Of the local currency component, ZW$1
222 300 000 was attributed to donations, while
membership and subscriptions contributed
ZW$17 946 201.

The report shows that government grants con-
tributed ZW$350 150 000, while investments
contributed ZW$15 734 500 to the coffers.

Of the US$6.5 million raised by the party, a
total of US$6 462 500 was donated by individ-
uals and corporates, with only US$46 951 com-
ing from subscriptions.

The party failed to reach its fundraising targets
in mobilising funds for its national programmes
that include: the party’s wage bills, youth confer-
ence, women’s conference, war veterans confer-
ence, congress and construction of the Herbert
Chitepo School of Ideology premises in Harare’s
central business district.

In July 2021, Zanu PF’s department of fi-
nance launched a fundraising committee
chaired by Philip Chiyangwa. The committee
was tasked with raising a minimum of US$140
million, and provinces were requested to set up
six-member committees that would raise a min-
imum of US$14 million each.

Other members of the Zanu PF fundraising
committee are gold magnate Scott Sakupwanya,
Everisto Mudhikwa, Zodwa Mkandla, Tafadzwa
Musarara and Nkosana Mkandla.

The party also had total expenditure of ZW$1
805 058 326 and US$4 872 708, with staff sala-
ries gobbling up ZW$437 517 209 and US$890
000.

Commissariat programmes, Chitepo School
of Ideology and transport welfare were some of
the major expenses which spent ZW$514 769
890, ZW$143 000 200 and ZW$260 675 674.

The school of ideology spent US$7 400 while
transport and welfare cost US$498 223, with
the money being used for training and work-
shops.

The women’s league used ZW$11 871 500

NewsHawks News Page 11

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

NATHAN GUMA Crytsal meth addicts are
trapped in cycle of shame
A RESEARCH study has ranked the main
factors which hinder youths who abuse crystal At least 10 young people die daily of drug-related illnesses, with crystal meth claiming many youths in Mbare suburb (below).
meth from accessing treatment services, with
stigma and privacy issues the most common. youth’s attention to more productive activi- seek treatment, which may burden the health- ment and recreational facilities pathways to
ties. Instead of focusing on the stance of im- care system in the long run, health promotion save youths from needing treatment in the first
Crystal meth is a strong and highly addictive plementing strategies to motivate youths to practitioners may alternatively create employ- place,” recommends the study.
illicit drug which gives a hallucinatory effect
to users.

As consumption of the dangerous drug has
risen, the mental health of addicts has taken
a severe battering, with six out of 10 patients
admitted to mental institutions suffering from
drug-related issues, according to narcotic ex-
perts.

In Mbare, one of the country’s oldest town-
ships, at least 10 young people die daily of
drug-related illnesses, with crystal meth claim-
ing many youths.

Stigma and privacy issues have emerged as
the most prominent reasons why youths do
not utilise treatment services, according to re-
search titled: “Low utilisation of treatment ser-
vices among youths with crystal meth use-re-
lated problems. Findings from working with
Mubatirapamwe, a treatment service provider
in Harare, Zimbabwe.”

Findings of the investigation show that
85.4% of the youth who participated in the
research were deterred by what other people
will think of them should they leave the drug
or seek treatment.

“According to the participants, the item ‘I
am concerned about what other people will
think of me’ played the most significant role
in deterring utilisation of treatment services,”
reads part of the report.

The second most common factor has been
a view taken by drug abusers that crystal meth
is normal and not harmful, while a further
82.2% of the respondents said they were not
ready for rehabilitation.

“This factor was endorsed by participants
who could perceive that they are in a problem
situation, but were however not ready to em-
bark on a journey of change. The item ‘I like
meth and I don’t want to give up’ was endorsed
by 78.8% of the young participants,” read part
of the study.

The research ranked financial problems and
time constraints as the fourth most influential
factor, with 77.1% of the participants saying
they could not afford to pay for treatment
costs.

In low to middle income countries such
as Zimbabwe, the recent surge in the use of
substances, particularly among the youths, has
been attributed to economic hardships such as
rising unemployment.

Already condemned to a life of poverty due
to Zimbabwe’s economic problems, youths are
trapped in a growing drug problem that has
caused deep-seated social problems.

Excessive use of crystal meth leads to sev-
eral side effects, including increased attention,
higher levels of activity, decreased appetite, re-
duced fatigue, a feeling of power and euphoria.
Other side effects include irregular heartbeat,
high blood pressure, dry mouth, and loss of
appetite.

Youths who abuse crystal meth also suffer
from hallucinations and paranoia, known as
“kutsomwa” or “kuteerwa” in street lingo.

Anxiety and uncertainty about treatment
services were ranked the second least influen-
tial factors in determining the use of treatment
services.

Most participants said they were worried
about bad feelings that would accompany
withdrawal from the use of crystal meth.

Lack of information ranked as the least in-
fluential factor in participants' decision to get-
ting treatment services.

“The item ‘I think that going for help might
get me in legal trouble was endorsed by 72.8%
of the young people participating in the study.

It is estimated that 269 million people
globally — approximately 5.3% of the global
population aged 15-64 years — used drugs in
2018, according to the World Drug Report of
2020.

“To mitigate the effects of stigma against
substance use, and to motivate people using
substances to seek treatment, there is need for
greater awareness on mental health issues in
general.

“Employment creation and provision of
recreational facilities could aid to divert the

Page 12 News NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

PVO Bill enables capture of NGOs

NATHAN GUMA Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare minister Paul Mavima

THE Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) political weapon by the government. tions. This is contrary to the FAFT’s emphasis “Failure to include such consultation clears
Bill will see government agents capture some “The Minister determines if an entity is a that countries should work with NPOs to devel- all doubt that the main purpose of the PVO Bill
civil society organisations (CSOs), thereby un- op and refine best practices to address terrorist is not authoritarian capture and closure of the
dermining transparency and accountability, an ‘high risk’ of terrorist financing without con- financing risks and vulnerabilities. public space.”
independent public policy think-tank, the Zim- sulting or engaging the non-profit organisa-
babwe Democracy Institute (ZDI), says.

The government is pushing for the PVO Bill,
which has already undergone its second read-
ing, to ban "rogue" non-governmental organisa-
tions, which it says are being used as a stalking
horse by the West to fund political activity in
the country.

President Mnangagwa has not hidden his
stance towards the Bill, saying he is ready to sign
it should it go through all stages of Parliament.

The Bill’s second reading in August went
unopposed, with the opposition Citizens' Co-
alition for Change (CCC) failing to attend par-
liamentary proceedings.

Civil society organisations say the Bill will
close the civic space, while clamping down on
independent entities that have been playing an
oversight role on Zimbabwe’s human rights sit-
uation, providing political surveillance and legal
representation, among other services.

The government’s main excuse for pushing
the Bill has been compliance with the Finance
Intelligence Task Force (FATF) on anti-money
laundering and combatting financial terrorism
and proliferation.

However, the ZDI says the Bill will allow
the government to install pre-emptive strategies
for disrupting planned CSO activities — and
crushing dissent.

“Government will have access to all the infor-
mation,” the ZDI says in a report titled: Civic
Space Contestation ahead of 2023.

“The PVO Bill gives the Minister power to
fire the board of CSOs, and replace it with loyal-
ists of the state. In addition, the CSOs that will
be registered under the PVO Bill will operate in
an environment of self-fear and censorship.

“This means issues such as accountability,
oversight anti-corruption, human rights mon-
itoring will be outside the scope of ‘legal’ CSOs
because criticising politicians in these areas of
programming is unavoidable.”

Signs of capture have already been visible,
with other CSOs conniving with state security
agents to disrupt meetings held by their coun-
terparts, the ZDI says.

“The FATF recommendations have been used
as a justification for authoritarian clampdown
on CSOs regarded opponents to the Mnan-
gagwa regime. Government is using a blanket
definition of non-profit organisations (NPO) to
envelop as much critics as possible."

The government has put CSOs that are regis-
tered as trusts on the hit-list, contrary to FATF
recommendations and in what is regarded as a
calculated attempt to silence government crit-
ics, says the ZDI.

A trust company is a legal entity that acts as
an agent, on behalf of a person or business for
the purpose of administration, management,
and the eventual transfer of assets to a beneficial
party.

“According to the FATF, an NPO that ought
to be targeted by the PVO Bill is a legal entity
or organisation that primarily engages in raising
or disbursing funds for charitable, religious, cul-
tural, educational and social or fraternity pur-
poses or the carrying out of other good works.”

“Most organisations registered as Trusts tack-
le human rights, accountability, advocacy and
democracy issues — which do not fall within
the FATF definition. A 2014 study showed that

NPOs that specialise in service activities are
most at risk of terrorist financing abuse, while
those in ‘expressive activities’ were not at high
risk of abuse.

“However, this may not be the case in Zim-
babwe where those in the services sector suffer
little or no impact of the Bill, whereas the others
are targeted,” the ZDI says.

The think-tank says the Bill gives more pow-
er to the minister of Public Service, Labour, So-
cial Welfare to determine the level of risk posed
by a CSO, leaving it prone to manipulation as a

NewsHawks News Page 13

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

BRENNA MATENDERE Tsvangirai ally announces
bid to dislodge Mwonzora
A SENIOR MDC-T official, who was close
to the late opposition icon Morgan Tsvangi- mances. ing people it was a genuine opposition. MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora
rai, Norest Marara, says he will challenge par- Komichi is on record as saying the majority of In the past, MDC-T senators were cajoled dated President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s power
ty leader Douglas Mwonzora at the upcoming by — among other things — making him able
congress, becoming the first official to publicly people regard the MDC-T as a project of Zanu into voting with Zanu PF to pass controversial to single-handedly pick the chief justice, deputy
throw his hat in the ring. PF because it had not done enough in convinc- amendments to the constitution which consoli- chief justice and judge president.

Marara, who facilitated the purchase of two
of Tsvangirai's Toyota Prado vehicles in 2011
and was later arrested on charges of smuggling
them through the Beitbridge border post, told
The NewsHawks that he had resolved to vie for
the MDC-T presidency.

Marara is the secretary for special projects
and party business in the national executive of
MDC-T as well as head of finance and admin-
istration.

In the 26 March by-elections this year, he
stood for the MDC-T as the party’s candidate
for Harare Central, but lost to Murisi Zvizwai of
the Nelson Chamisa-led Citizens' Coalition for
Change (CCC).

The MDC-T is yet to announce its dates for
the elective congress, but other potential candi-
dates for the position include treasurer-general
Tapiwa Mashakada, national chairperson Mor-
gen Komichi and vice-president Elias Mudzuri,
according to insiders.

Marara said he will await the official an-
nouncement of the congress dates by the party
before he can unveil his manifesto.

“The procedures of the party are such that
campaigning can only begin after the announce-
ment of the congress dates, so before that stage
it may be deemed unacceptable. So, at this stage
I am not giving much on my ambitions besides
confirming interest to run for the post of party
president,” he said.

He also indicated that divulging much on his
campaign preparations and strategies could be
viewed as an act of indiscipline before the dates
are announced.

The congress had been provisionally set for
July 23 to 24 this year, but was shifted in order
to pave way for creation of grassroots structures,
according to party spokesperson Witness Dube.

Sources told The NewsHawks that Mwonzora
prefers to go into congress unchallenged, which
is why he has not been decisive in announcing
congress dates as a strategy to confuse voters
and side-step opponents while secretly creating
a strong base.

As MDC-T leader, Mwonzora enjoys some
trinkets in the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad)
and in Parliament where his party is regarded as
the official opposition even though it suspended
participation in by-elections after dismal perfor-

MDC-T treasurer-general Tapiwa Mashakada MDC-T senior official Norest Marara

Page 14 News NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Chihuri’s victory over property siege

THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Chinake said Chihuri and his family will not The state alleges that on 17 July 2018, Chi- Former ZRP commissioner
suffered a blow on Friday after the Supreme be prejudiced by the granting of condonation- huri’s wife, Isobel Halima Khan Chihuri, sold general Augustine Chihuri
Court struck off the roll an appeal in a case and extension of time within which to note stand 1421 Gletwyn Township which was
the state is seeking to confiscate former police the intended appeal as the record of appeal is walled, gated with a borehole, water tank, tank of five properties that were part of the fami-
boss Augustine Chihuri’s properties over "un- already available and needs no further process- stand, and wooden cabin to Brian Chijaka for ly’s large real estate portfolio even when they
explained wealth". ing, thus averting further inordinate delays. US$130 000. had been placed under the Asset Management
Unit.
Prosecutor-General Nelson Mutsonziwa had The state is seeking to forfeit some of Chi- Her brother Aitken Khan had her power of
appealed to the Supreme Court after the lower huri’s property, including houses and motor attorney to make the transaction, reads the ap- Chihuri is alleged to have sold five proper-
court ordered that it was improper for the state vehicles, in a bid to recover US$32 million plication. ties between 2017 and 2018 after his departure
to question Chihuri how he acquired wealth in allegedly lost through his alleged corrupt prac- from the police service.
the 1990s. tices. On 21 March 2018, Khan sold 8 St Aub-
in’s Chisipite in Harare on behalf of the own- Chihuri is contesting court orders allowing
The bench, comprising Justices Susan The matter spilled into the courts after the er, Chihuri’s daughter Samantha, to Erinah the state to forfeit his properties.
Mavhangira, George Chiweshe and Joseph then prosecutor-general, Kumbirai Hodzi, Muchingami for US$365 000.
Musakwa, struck the appeal off the roll for checked with the Deeds Office and established He argued that he was gainfully employed,
non-compliance with Supreme Court rules. the rushed disposal of assets by the Chihuris. The property, measuring 9 094 square me- having risen through the ranks in the police
tres, has a four-bedroomed house, gated and force.
Mutsonziwa admitted he erred, but swiftly This resulted in him being granted powers to walled.
corrected his mistake by filing an urgent appli- freeze the properties and assets. Chihuri also said he was a successful farmer.
cation for condonation. The state is also seeking answers on the sale However, the state said Chihuri must simply
explain how he built his empire as he is not
“Applicant indeed filed the Notice of Appeal facing a criminal but civil trial as ordered by
which however turned out to be non-compli- the court. — STAFF WRITER.
ant with one of the rules of court,” said chief
law officer Chris Mutangadura on behalf of the
Prosecutor-General.

“That is a direct opposite of a litigant who
does not attempt to appeal in time only to later
on seek condonation.”

Mutangadura said the first error of fact stated
in the grounds of appeal that the High Court
committed was when it made a finding of fact
that all assets acquired by the respondents be
removed from the terms of the unexplained
wealth orders earlier granted in HACC16/20
and HACC20/20 were acquired prior to 2015.

He explained: “The record of proceedings
shows that stand 832 Mount Pleasant Town-
ship of Mount Pleasant Harare was acquired
on 18 July 2017. Lot 28 Chisipite Township
of Chisipite Harare was acquired on 21 March
2018. All the six properties (at) Gletwyn
Township of Gletywn were acquired and de-
veloped during the period when US$34 875
948.10 was stolen from the public purse. This
ground of appeal enjoys prospects of success
on appeal.”

Cited as respondents are Chihuri, his wife,
children and companies.

Mutangadura said there were also prospects
of success in that the High Court erred in law
and fact when it determined the merits of the
respondents’ explanation made in the applica-
tion for setting aside of an unexplained wealth
order, thereby usurping the administrative du-
ties of the law enforcement authority.

“The statutory duty to investigate the veraci-
ty or otherwise of the respondents’ explanation
is vested upon the appellant within 60 days of
compliance with an unexplained wealth order
by the respondents and the determination of
the respondents’ explanation by the court a
quo was not yet ripe.

“I also aver that the third ground of appeal
enjoys reasonable prospects of success on ap-
peal in that the High Court made an error
of law when it delinked the theft of $34 875
948.10 from the other movable and immov-
able assets when the law permits seizure or
confiscation of property equivalent in value to
stolen assets even when such property is found
not to be tainted.

“In other words, assuming that the immov-
able and movable assets removed from the
unexplained wealth orders is to be found un-
tainted after investigations, the law permits the
court to seize and confiscate it,” he said.

On the last ground of appeal, Mutangadu-
ra said the High Court erred when it removed
property owned by minors from unexplained
wealth orders whereas the law allows the grant-
ing of unexplained wealth orders, whether or
not there are other persons who also hold the
property.

“The PG [Prosecutor-General] avers that
reasonable prospects of success are very clear as
the minors are not the ones who are primarily
targeted by an unexplained wealth order.”

He added: “I aver that the matter enjoys
public importance in that the law under which
the matter stands to be adjudicated is fairly
novel and concerns jurisprudential issues of
both public importance and development of
Zimbabwean law.”

NewsHawks News Page 15

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

BRENNA MATENDERE Zim’s plot to mislead World
Diamond Council laid bare
THE government and the Marange commu-
nity are set to collide during next week’s visit Families relocated from Marange to Arda Transau were promised jobs in the mines and housing.
by officials from the World Diamond Council
(WDC) at a time human rights abuses and the Chiadzwa. ticipants during a demonstration within a Pro- situation is in Marange,” he said.
looting of diamonds in the area are escalating. The CSOs are Marange Development Trust tected Area. “There is no investment in education. I

The WDC’s visit to Marange on Tuesday is (MDT), Centre For Research and Develop- “Having considered the aforementioned think there is only one secondary school in
part of an exercise to assess the diamond situ- ment (CRD), Chiadzwa Community Share statutory provisions, your intended demon- ward 14. I know that the World Diamond
ation in the area ahead of Zimbabwe’s occu- Ownership Trust, Chiadzwa Community stration cannot go ahead.” Council officials are going to be flown to Ma-
pation of the Kimberly Process Certification range, but if they were to drive there, they will
Scheme (KPCS) chair in mid-2023. The po- Development Trust (CCDT), Bocha Com- Farai Maguwu, the CNRG director, told see how pathetic the situation is.”
sition is rotational among member states and munity Development Trust (BCDT), Zim- The NewsHawks that villagers are insisting the
Zimbabwe’s turn is coming next year. babwe Diamond Allied Workers' Union demonstrations will go ahead. James Mupfumi, the CRD director, said the
(ZIDAWU), Zivai Community Empower- ban further exposes the Zimbabwean authori-
Villagers and civil society organisations ment Trust (ZICET), Young Entrepreneurs “From what we are hearing from the com- ties who are planning to hoodwink WDC of-
(CSOs) operating in Marange however believe Trust Zimbabwe (YETZ), and the Centre for munities of Marange, the demonstrations will ficials.
that the government wants to project a brazen- Natural Resource Governance (CNRG). proceed despite the ban by the police because
ly false narrative that the gems have immensely the people are saying they are not going to be “The denial of the community’s right to
benefited the community, when locals are in In their letter of notice for the demonstra- killing anyone, they are not going to be vio- demonstrate exposes the extent to which the
fact wallowing in poverty. The villagers say the tion dated 26 October 2022 to the Mutare po- lent. In the past there has not been violence state has weaponised provisions of the PPA to
lives of people forcibly moved from the area lice regulatory authority, the CSOs said: in the area. deny the rights of the people of Marange to
to pave way for mining are worse than they express themselves. Government has betrayed
were after mining companies failed to provide “We, as the community, are languishing in “The community is saying even if the po- the people of Marange's right to economic
essential amenities to resettled people. poverty while the diamonds are being extract- lice are saying there will be violence, it is not emancipation, human dignity and freedom
ed. It is high time we have our entitlement as understandable because they are not prophets ever since the violent capture of the diamond
Villagers have notified police of their inten- the community.” who can prophesy on what will happen. When fields by state security forces in 2008,” Mup-
tion to stage demonstrations during the visit they demonstrated in 2018, there was no vi- fumi said.
but the police have banned the action. CSOs However, in a response letter dated 30 Oc- olence and not even a cockroach was killed.
say the villagers are determined to go ahead tober 2022 signed by one Chief Superinten- So, the people find police’s prediction of vio- Mupfumi said CSOs want the demilitarisa-
with the protests. dent R. Mbira who is the regulating author- lence as frivolous because it is not backed by tion of Marange and that state security forces
ity for ZRP Mutare Rural District, the police evidence,” he said. be obliged to wear name tags in the interim
The KPCS’s mandate is to control rough di- banned the demonstration. to address rights ongoing violations and illicit
amond production and trade to reduce conflict Maguwu said the villagers are clear on what digging and financial outflows involving state
gems. Mbira wrote: “I draw your attention to the they want. security forces.
provisions of section 7(2)(h) and 10(1)(2)
The WDC has representation on all the of the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act “They want to see the roads being tarred “Zimbabwe government is yearning to take
Kimberly Process working groups and is influ- Chapter 11:23 which your convening notice is so that even if mining is ended their infra- over the chairmanship of the KP but it is un-
ential in determining its implementation and not in compliance. structure is sustainable. There is also a cry for willing to be transparent and accountable with
future reforms. investment in the health sector. There is Ma- Marange diamonds. CSOs will continue to
“Further reference is made to section 5(2) range Clinic which is dilapidated such that it support legal actions that vulnerable commu-
The WDC is an organisation representing of the Protected Places and Areas Act Chapter is humiliating to even tell anybody, including nities Marange are taking to ensure that they
the entire diamond value chain, including rep- 11:12, which provides that conduct and move- the visiting WDC, that this is a clinic situated claim their rights,” he said.
resentatives of diamond mining, manufactur- ment of persons within a Protected Area ought in an area with billions' worth of diamonds. If
ing, trading and retail. The council was estab- to be regulated and/or directed by an Autho- they want, they can visit the clinic. If you want Mines minister Winston Chitando and his
lished in July 2000. rized Officer. to close the tap at the clinic you have to place deputy Polite Kambamura did not respond to
a huge rock on top. This is how shameful the requests for a comment.
The council was set up in Antwerp, Belgium, “As the Regulating Authority, I cannot
after a joint meeting of the World Federation guarantee the conduct and behaviour of par-
of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), representing
all the world's significant diamond-trading
centres, and the International Diamond Man-
ufacturers Association (IDMA). The founding
president was Eli Izhakoff, who served in the
position until July 2013.

Charter members are the WFDB, the IDMA
and International Confederation of Jewellers
(CIBJO).

The WDC, headquartered in the United
States, is currently led by Edward Asscher from
Amsterdam, Netherlands.

CSOs in the area say as part of the sched-
uled visit, WDC officials will be taken to some
thriving projects in the area and be given the
impression that they were established by gov-
ernment and diamond-mining companies.

The projects are Kusema fishing project,
Makwada Primary School project, Chipuno
solar project and Betera Dam project. Accord-
ing to the schedule, the WDC officials will get
presentations on the Nyamariya Dam project
as well as a ward 29 herbal project “which
cannot be visited due to time constraints”, ac-
cording to the itinerary obtained by The New-
sHawks.

However, CSOs say the projects are initia-
tives of different individuals in Marange who
did not get support from the government and
the diamond companies in Chiadzwa as pur-
ported.

Since 2008 when the Chiadzwa area was de-
clared a highly protected area under the Pro-
tected Places and Areas Act (PPAA) (Chapter
11.12), there have been reports of gross human
rights abuses villagers by security forces. The
villagers want it to be placed on record.

Villagers also believe the government will
also seek to hide its failures to fulfil promises it
made to relocated families from Marange now
staying at Arda Transau in eastern Zimbabwe.

The relocated families were promised jobs
in the mines, three-bedroom homes, electric-
ity, running water, tarred roads, half a hect-
are (about 1.2 acres) of land with irrigation
systems, schools, a clinic, seeds, fertilizer and
food delivery every three months.

The families, previously farmers dependent
on the land for their livestock, were also prom-
ised capital to embark on piggery projects.

The government reneged on all these prom-
ises.

In order to alert the WDC of the situa-
tion on the ground, nine CSOs plan to hold
demonstrations at Zengeni Business Centre in

Page 16 International Investigative Stories NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

InInvteesrtniagtaiotinvaelStories

Russian mercenaries in Sudan;
Rwandan disinfo on dissidents

RWANDAN dissidents have claimed than 1,000 people who sought ref- the U.S. government knew as early port was Linda Thomas-Greenfield, This was a common allegation
that President Paul Kagame has used uge in the hotel he managed during as 2015 that agents of the Rwandan the current U.S. ambassador to the against the regime’s detractors. Be-
dirty tactics to go after his critics the country’s 1994 genocide. But it government had repeatedly attempt- United Nations, who was an assis- tween 2012 and 2014 the FBI in-
abroad. Now, a classified FBI report was only the latest in a decades-long ed to mislead and co-opt U.S. law tant secretary at the State Depart- vestigated people affiliated with
obtained by OCCRP confirms that crusade of harassment, threats, assas- enforcement to target Kagame’s crit- ment’s Bureau of African Affairs at the U.S.-based Rwanda National
Rwanda has been conducting “poi- sination attempts, and smear cam- ics. the time. Her office did not respond Congress (RNC), an anti-Kagame
son pen” operations on American paigns orchestrated by the Rwandan to questions sent by email. opposition group, after the Rwan-
soil for years. regime, according to a lawsuit filed Despite this, the U.S. government dan government alleged that it was
by the Rusesabagina family in a is Rwanda’s largest bilateral donor, “Virtually any country that has supporting Central African terrorists
When Paul Rusesabagina left Washington, D.C., court. with $147 million handed over to an oppressive enough government but found no evidence of criminal
his Texas home in August 2020, Kigali in fiscal year 2021. to create dissidents who would flee activity.
he believed he was traveling to the For years, Rwandan dissidents to the West are going to engage in
East African nation of Burundi for have claimed that Kagame has used “Poison Pen Information” operations against those dissidents,” However, the FBI report said its
a speaking tour. But on a layover unscrupulous tactics to go after his Written in the build-up to Kag- retired FBI agent and counterintel- investigations were “consistently
in Dubai, the famed human rights foreign-based critics — including ame’s re-election to a third seven-year ligence expert Todd K. Hulsey told hindered” by Rwandan intelligence
activist was diverted onto a private filing false charges and abusing the term, the 2015 FBI report warned OCCRP, citing Russia, China, and services “operating double-agents in
plane, flown to his native Rwanda, Interpol red notice arrest warrant top American diplomats that Rwan- Cuba as examples. the United States who were provid-
and detained on dubious terrorism system, a policy that Freedom House da was using its intelligence services ing mis-information to investigating
charges. calls “transnational repression.” to spread disinformation in the U.S. But “it is not normal for a part- agents.”
Prominent dissidents have even been about Rwandan asylum seekers and ner nation, and certainly not an ally,
In an interview with the Guard- assassinated in South Africa, Ugan- opposition members. Its tactics in- to run a poison pen operation on Rwandan intelligence services
ian, Rwandan President Paul Kag- da, Kenya, and Mozambique. cluded “providing poison pen [in- American soil,” he said. sought to use an intermediary to
ame described the operation that tentionally false or misleading] in- plant “derogatory information” that
lured his 68-year-old critic out of the Now, a classified FBI report ob- formation to U.S. law enforcement The FBI report said that a number would discredit RNC members, with
U.S. as “flawless.” tained by OCCRP confirms that agencies concerning alleged criminal of dissidents were targeted, includ- the goal of getting them deported,
U.S. law enforcement has long violations through the use of double ing Rusesabagina. the FBI report said. The intermedi-
The elaborate kidnapping plot known of Rwandan intelligence op- agents, as well as attempting to ma- ary confessed to working on some
that entrapped Rusesabagina sparked erations against civilians on its soil, nipulate U.S. government immigra- In 2011, nine years before he was 40 individual cases. The person also
international outrage; the world including the targeting of Rusesaba- tion law and the Interpol Red Notice kidnapped, the Rwandan govern- provided false information alleging
knew him as the subject of the Hol- gina, a U.S. permanent resident, as System,” the FBI concluded. ment made a formal request to U.S. that RNC officials were plotting to
lywood film “Hotel Rwanda,” which early as 2011. The report also reveals One recipient of the FBI’s re- authorities to investigate Rusesaba- kill Kagame in 2011 while he was on
feted him for saving the lives of more gina for his alleged support of mil-
itants in Central Africa.

NewsHawks International Investigative Stories Page 17

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

a visit to the U.S..
The FBI and U.S. State De-

partment declined to comment. A
Rwandan government spokesperson
did not respond to questions.

Open to Abuse A handcuffed Rusesabagina arrives at a court in Kigali, Rwanda, on February 17, 2021
The Rwandan government also ma-
nipulated Interpol — an interna- as facilitating politically motivated tion proceedings against them be- I’m safer than someone in Kiga- designed to dissuade any political
tional policing body based in France activities.” gin, Hayes said. To challenge it, they li [Rwanda’s capital] with similar challengers to Kagame. Foreign law
— and its red notice system to get must petition an Interpol commis- thinking like me, Nyamwasa told enforcement agencies don’t always
foreign law enforcement agencies to “They manipulated Interpol. sion, which meets four times a year OCCRP. “They are more exposed to realize what they’re dealing with, she
go after its targets. They snuck the arrest warrant into and can take nine months to issue a lot of danger.” said.
the system but we were able to get decisions.
Léopold Munyakazi, a former it deleted,” Gasana’s lawyer, Charles “We have our own way of get- “The message is, ‘You can run, but
trade union official in Rwanda, Kambanda, told OCCRP. He’s now In 2016, Enoch Ruhigira, a Rwan- ting to know what is intended,” you cannot hide. I will get you in the
moved to the U.S. in 2004 and later representing Gasana in the civil liti- dan living in New Zealand who was Nyamwasa said, explaining how he end.’ That’s what all these operations
taught French at a private liberal arts gation in New York, and speculates traveling to the U.K., was detained has managed to stay alive. “But you boil down to,” Wrong said. “This is
college in Maryland while waiting that after the Rwandan government in Germany on the basis of a red no- cannot control everything. The situ- a personalized message directed at
for political asylum. failed in its efforts to go after Gasana tice, even though it had already been ation is threatening but you get used Kagame’s own entourage, which he
through law enforcement, its inten- deleted at the time. Ruhigira, the to it. You learn to live with it.” believes would be the source of any
The Rwandan government asked tion now “is probably to bankrupt head of presidential staff under the serious challenge to his regime.”
Interpol to issue red notices for him him.” previous Rwandan President Juvénal The Rwandan regime gets away
in 2006 and 2008 after he criticized Habyarimana, had been accused by with abductions, disappearances, Reconsidering U.S. Support?
the government, and U.S.-based “Litigation in New York is damn Kagame of genocide in 2004, but and assassinations at home and in Despite Rwanda’s poor track re-
Rwandan diplomats and intelligence expensive. We’ve been on the civil presented convincing evidence to other African countries, where per- cord on human rights, Western allies
officials monitored Munyakazi’s ac- case for three years now. They always the contrary and got the red notice petrators can avoid justice by paying have maintained their support for
tivities between 2011 and 2013, find some reason to delay the case against him rescinded in 2015. Still, bribes, Nyamwasa explained. In Eu- decades.
according to the FBI report. But since they know they don’t have a he spent eight months in custody rope and in the U.S., where there are In addition to training the Rwan-
Rwanda’s allegations against Munya- substantive case against him, so they while the confusion was sorted out. stronger institutions and rule of law, dan military, the U.S. proposed to
kazi were inconsistent, first claiming use procedural tricks to keep the case Rwanda uses disinformation instead. spend $145 million in assistance to
that the dissident was a member of going,” said Kambanda. “They’ve Interpol declined to comment. Kigali in 2023. The U.K. signed a
the RNC, then saying he was wanted hired a lot of lawyers — I’m fighting “You Can Run But You Cannot The disinformation and intel- bilateral agreement to send asylum
on charges related to the genocide. five law firms I think. One of them, Hide” ligence operations are run out seekers from the U.K. to Rwanda,
a lawyer, is representing Kagame in Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic of Rwanda’s embassies all over despite being warned that Rwanda
U.S. immigration authorities in- the case against Rusesabagina’s fam- Front took power in the aftermath the world, according to former tortures and kills political oppo-
vestigated Munyakazi and deported ily.” of the 1994 genocide, which saw high-ranking security officials now nents.
him in 2016 for suspected human nearly 1 million members of the living in exile. One U.S. lawmaker is pressuring
rights violations, despite the fact Will Hayes, a lawyer at U.K. law Tutsi ethnic group and their sympa- the Biden administration to finally
that the 2015 FBI report said the firm Kingsley Napley who represents thizers murdered. Lauded for bring- Robert Higiro, a former major in reconsider supporting Kigali, espe-
investigation was “almost certainly” clients fighting extradition requests ing peace and fast economic growth, the Rwandan army, says sometimes cially after Rusesabagina’s kidnap-
compromised by a Rwandan intelli- and challenging Interpol red notices, his government has been embraced the operations are carried out by ping in 2020.
gence agent, and cast doubt on the told OCCRP the current system is by Western allies for nearly three de- people posing as refugees who are “Not only would Rwanda be
allegations. In Rwanda, he faced “open to abuse.” cades. But at the same time, it has actually working for the govern- flouting U.S. laws by targeting dis-
trial on genocide charges and was targeted, criminalized and crushed ment. They “push aggressively” by sidents inside the United States,
sentenced to life in prison — only “The effects of red notices are so his detractors at home and abroad. telling the U.S. State Department, Rwanda appears to be the only for-
to be cleared of atrocities a year lat- onerous and significant compared Human rights organizations have FBI, CIA or the U.K.’s Foreign Of- eign government in the world that is
er and re-sentenced to nine years for to the ease with which they can be documented numerous killings, fice that certain targets are criminals both wrongfully detaining an Amer-
“downplaying the genocide,” accord- issued,” said Hayes. “This highlights disappearances, threats, attacks and and shouldn’t get asylum, according ican resident and seen by the United
ing to multiple media reports. the disparity between the power of forced returns under Kagame’s rule. to Higiro. States as a partner and ally,” wrote
the authorities that request them The RNC, an opposition group Senator Robert Menendez, the
U.S. Immigration and Customs and the subject who then has to deal established in the U.S. in 2010 by Several exiles told OCCRP about chairman of the Committee on For-
Enforcement did not respond to with the consequences.” exiled former senior government warnings and briefings they had re- eign Relations, to Secretary of State
questions. officials, has drawn particular ire. ceived by police in the U.S., U.K., Antony Blinken in July.
The minimum requirements for RNC co-founder Patrick Karegeya, Belgium, and the Netherlands, sug- The lawmaker said there was a
Even senior officials can be tar- issuing a red notice are very low, ac- a former head of Rwandan intelli- gesting that despite warm diplomat- “need for a more effective U.S. pol-
geted: Eugène Richard Gasana was cording to Hayes. Although in theo- gence, was murdered in a hotel room ic relations, these governments are icy” and that he would place a hold
Rwanda’s permanent representative ry the requesting country should be in South Africa in 2014. Co-founder aware of Kigali’s tactics. on all security assistance to Rwanda
to the United Nations until he dis- able to provide information demon- Faustine Kayumba Nyamwasa, an until the State Department under-
agreed with changes Kagame made strating the accused’s participation ex-Rwandan army chief, has sur- British journalist Michela Wrong, takes a comprehensive review.
to Rwanda’s constitution in 2015 in an offense, in reality, “as long as vived three assassination attempts. author of “Do Not Disturb,” a book
that cleared his way for a third term there is a valid arrest warrant and the “I am a high-profile target, but about the Kagame regime and the — Organised Crime and Cor-
in power. Gasana knew he couldn’t person is sufficiently identified, it’ll killing of Karegeya, told OCCRP ruption Reporting Project.
return to his homeland and settled go through,” he said. that Rwanda’s extradition efforts are
in New York, his lawyer told OC-
CRP. Often people learn there is a red
notice against them only when they
Soon he was being accused of attempt to travel, or when extradi-
supporting rebel groups. His lawyer
told a New York court that the U.S.
investigated these allegations and
did not find them credible, while an
internal Interpol document about
Gasana’s case indicated the policing
body found the charges to be politi-
cally motivated.

Then, he was accused of rape by a
Rwandan woman who had interned
in his office at the U.N. several years
earlier. New York law enforcement
investigated the criminal complaint
but did not find a basis on which to
bring criminal charges, according to
a subsequent Interpol investigation.
The accuser is now suing Gasana in
New York over the same allegations.

In 2020, Interpol issued a red no-
tice when the Rwandan government
recycled the same charges. Gasana
challenged the notice, arguing that
the charges were political. The inter-
nal Interpol review obtained by OC-
CRP also concluded that there was
“a predominant political dimension”
to Rwanda’s case against Gasana,
and that Interpol “may be perceived

Page 18 Editorial & Opinion NewsHawks

CARTOON Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Climate crisis
demands action
THE 2022 United Nations Climate Conference (Cop27) kicks of this Sun-
day in Egypt, with the world struggling to come to terms with the ever-grow- When politicians want votes —
ing threats posed by rising carbon dioxide emissions, unrelenting pollution They're willing to do anything
and destruction of biodiversity.

For Zimbabwe, the climate crisis is no longer a fairytale that people read
about in foreign newspapers; it is a lived reality. The country’s precarious reli-
ance on rain-fed agriculture is a constant reminder of the vulnerabilities asso-
ciated with unpredictable climate patterns.

Rural communities are particularly vulnerable. Extreme weather events are
responsible for decreased agricultural yields and heightened water stress. Food
insecurity, malnutrition and child stunting are posing severe challenges.

The time is long overdue for governments around the world — especially
the industrialised nations which are among the biggest polluters — to live up
to their international commitments to cutting down on emissions. Interna-
tional treaties on climate action must mean something profound — beyond
merely existing on paper. Those who continue paying lip service to this grave
matter are playing a very dangerous game.

Climate action is needed now, without further delay.
Food security, ecological biodiversity and socio-economic progress are at
stake.
According to the Centre on Global Adaptation, by 2040 the impacts of
the climate emergency will wipe out between 2% and 4% of Africa's gross
domestic product. This is nothing to be sneezed at.
In much of Africa, communities are suffering immensely from extreme
weather events. One moment, a region experiences devastating floods and
soon after that a crippling drought sets in.
Countries of the global South are finding it very difficult to devise sustain-
able climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.
An important aspect of Cop27 is the issue of climate finance owed by the
developed North to the developing South. This is underlined by the theme,
"Together For Implementation".
At Cop26, which was hosted by Glasgow, Scotland, advanced economies
committed themselves to providing increased climate finance. In the main,
they have not honoured their pledges.
Some climate deniers have tried to wriggle out of these international com-
mitments by claiming that climate finance is an onerous obligation on devel-
oped countries. That is a fallacy. The money is certainly available. Why is it
that when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, the developed nations swiftly
raised huge amounts of money to finance the fight on the respiratory infec-
tion? With a bit of political will, the same can be done for the climate crisis
— which poses existential threats to humanity.
But African governments are failing to show seriousness in tackling the
climate crisis.
In Zimbabwe, the government is allowing the destruction of fragile wild-
life habitat in places like Victoria Falls. Restaurants and entertainment facil-
ities are being built inside wildlife corridors, posing dangers to biodiversity.
The planet's largest curtain of falling water is now at risk of losing its World
Heritage Site status. The over-development and over-commercialisation
of the Victoria Falls and Livingstone environs must be condemned by all
right-thinking Africans.

Hawk Eye

Dumisani
Muleya

Reaffirming the fundamental impor- The NewsHawks is published on different EDITORIAL STAFF: Marketing Officer: Voluntary Media
tance of freedom of expression and me- content platforms by the NewsHawks Digital Managing Editor: Dumisani Muleya Charmaine Phiri Council of Zimbabwe
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NewsHawks

Issue 76, 15 April 2022
BusinessPage26
MATTERSNewsHawks

MARKETS CURRENCIES LAST CHANGE %CHANGE COMMODITIES LAST CHANGE %CHANGE
USD/JPY
GBP/USD 109.29 +0.38 +0.35 *OIL 63.47 -1.54 -2.37
USD/CAD
USD/CHF 1.38 -0.014 -0.997 *GOLD 1,769.5 +1.2 +0.068
AUD/USD
1.229 +0.001 +0.07 *SILVER 25.94 -0.145 -0.56

0.913 +0.005 +0.53 *PLATINUM 1,201.6 +4 +0.33

0.771 -0.006 -0.76 *COPPER 4.458 -0.029 -0.65

VFEX gains momentum as year ends

PRISCA TSHUMA . . . more companies list on forex bourse

THE Victoria Stock Exchange (VFEX) has National Foods Holdings Limited says it is moving from the ZSE to the VFEX market.
gained momentum after two years of poor per-
formance, as three companies have confirmed ipation from Zimbabwean investors. investors, both in Zimbabwe and abroad, we this robust investment opportunity, boasting
their intentions of listing by year-end, includ- “From our discussions to date with potential have received extremely positive feedback for highly attractive returns,” he added.
ing blue chip company Simbisa Brands.

VFEX was launched in October 2020, but
for about a year Seed Co International was the
only listed security. This raised fears about the
stock exchange's sustainability, with economic
analysts attributing the slow start to policy in-
consistency by the government and trust defi-
cits around foreign currency management in
the economy.

The forex-denominated stock exchange was
founded in response to the need for hard cur-
rency capital by real sectors of the economy
and the need to reduce exchange risks that
were being faced by foreign investors.

Padenga Holdings was listed on the bourse
as the second security in July 2021, followed
by Caledonia Mining Corporation and Bin-
dura Nickel Corporation, which listed in De-
cember. The market continued for another
year with those four companies until Simbisa
Brands announced its exit on the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange and intention to list on the
VFEX in September this year.

“The directors of Simbisa Brands Limited
wish to advise all shareholders and the invest-
ing public that the board has approved the
de-listing of the company from the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange, immediately followed by its
listing on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange,”
said the company in a statement.

ZSE stockbroker Morgan & Co said this
move by the fast food restaurant operator
would encourage migrations from the Zimba-
bwean dollar market to the United States dol-
lar market.

“An approval of the migration of a business
such as Simbisa will likely set a precedence for
several businesses that are driven by local oper-
ations,” said the firm in a research note.

True to the prediction, Zimbabwe’s largest
food manufacturer National Foods Holdings
Limited said it was moving from the ZSE to
the VFEX market on Monday.

“The directors of National Foods Holdings
Limited wish to advise all shareholders and the
investing public that the board has approved
the delisting of the Company from the Zim-
babwe Stock Exchange, immediately followed
by its listing on the Victoria Falls Stock Ex-
change,” the company confirmed in a state-
ment.

Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed plat-
inum group metals (PGMs) and chrome
co-producer, Tharisa, said it would join the
forex-denominated bourse through listing its
subsidiary, Karo Mining Holdings, in Decem-
ber this year.

The company's chief executive officer, Pho-
evos Pouroulis, said this move stemmed from
Tharisa’s firm record of accomplishment in de-
veloping projects on time and on budgets as
well as the outstanding fundamentals of Karo
Platinum Project. They expected strong partic-

Page 20 Companies & Markets NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Tetrad directors suffer major blow

BERNARD MPOFU

IN a major blow, Tetrad Investment Bank (TIB) Bard Santner Markets chief executive Senziwani Sikhosana
directors and management have suffered a re-
versal after the High Court in Harare ruled that The judge said there was nothing urgent about haven’t received a return on investment for eight which directors are battling with as it spins out of
their urgent chamber application for an interdict TIB’s application as it could not even establish years can’t be said to be unlawful, let alone cause control. The court action is more about contain-
against Bard Santner Investors (Pvt) Ltd (BSI) to cause for intervention on an urgent basis. irreparable harm to anyone. The real question ing shareholders than restraining BSI.
prevent it from engaging disgruntled stakehold- here is: What are the bank directors and manage-
ers is not urgent. Prior to this, TIB had written BSI a letter dat- ment trying to hide or afraid of?” Against this backdrop, a host of minority
ed 6 October 2022 demanding that it cease inter- shareholders are now growing increasingly im-
This means BSI, an asset management compa- acting with its shareholders. The fierce confrontation between directors/ patient with the TIB board of directors running
ny which is a subsidiary of local financial adviso- management and shareholders, whose money is the bank’s affairs, including managing its nearly
ry firm Bard Santner Markets Inc, can now talk However, BSI had replied on 10 October, say- tied in the bank without a return for years now, US$13 million property portfolio from which it
to TIB shareholders who want to engage it over ing it had done nothing wrong in engaging TIB has shaken those trying to maintain the unjust collects rentals and leverages it.
their equity stakes in the defunct bank without shareholders as that is precisely why it exists, and status quo.
legal threats hanging over their head. thus its action posed no harm to anyone at all. Shareholders are worried and fretting that they
The revolt by shareholders was specifically trig- have gone for eight years without receiving a re-
Through its lawyers, Gill, Godlonton & Ger- “This interaction between our client (BSI) and gered by BSI’s takeover of private clients’ portfo- turn on investment.
rans, TIB and The Trustees of the Vincent Trust the said shareholders poses no harm to either lio from TFS Management Company, which is
had filed an urgent chamber application for an your clients or anyone,” Samkange wrote in reply. under liquidation, recently. Besides lack of return on investment, the
interdict against BSI to stop it from engaging the shareholders are complaining about lack of au-
bank’s shareholders demanding a return on in- Bard Santner chief executive Senziwani Sikho- BSI is a subsidiary of Bard Santner Markets dited financial accounts.
vestment. sana said: “We are relieved and happy with the Inc, a new Harare-based financial advisory ser-
court’s finding on this matter so far. We await vices firm offering a wide range of products to Shareholders have not received audited finan-
TIB and the trustees are the applicants in the its finalisation in due course through the normal clients to unlock value in their investments, espe- cial accounts for the past three years. The last fi-
case, while BSI is the respondent. court processes. cially dormant or defunct assets. nancials they received were qualified statements
for 2018 which only came in 2022.
In a ruling on Thursday, Justice Esther Murem- “However, we find it strange that Tetrad Bank As part of its consolidation process, BSI took
ba said TIB’s case was not urgent and should directors and management are trying to tell over Tetrad’s managed clients portfolio after The other big issue troubling shareholders is
proceed through the normal court process. She shareholders what to do with their investments, reaching an agreement with the liquidator. Some the impression that management or directors are
struck the case off the roll of urgent matters. while in the process dragging us into their issue of BSI clients under the arrangement are also benefitting from the bank’s diversified property
when we are merely representing our clients and shareholders in TIB, hence their interest in the portfolio from which they are receiving rentals
“Justice Muremba found that the matter could those who also have an interest in unlocking val- bank’s affairs. and other benefits.
not be dealt with on an urgent basis. The appli- ue in their investments.
cant could not show cause why it should be treat- That is why they approached the asset man- Shareholders are also disgruntled because the
ed as urgent; they could not identify that which “We will always stand with our clients who are agement firm for help. After reading about BSI’s directors have made a series of empty promis-
could not wait, requiring the court to intervene also shareholders in the bank. Even those who takeover of TFS Management Company’s man- es on purported takeovers and capital injection
urgently,” BSI lawyer Everson Samukange said in are not our clients, we are willing to help them if aged clients portfolio in the media, some TIB which have not materialised, including the fake
a media brief. approached. That’s our business. That’s why we shareholders have been flooding the new asset story of Russians coming a few years ago.
are there. management company seeking help on numer-
“As a result the matter was struck from the roll ous problems. The other issue arising is that some of the
of urgent matters. The applicant was ordered to “Shareholders are free to act in their best in- shareholders are mainly old people. As a result,
pay the respondent’s costs. It was also found BSI terest, and approaching an asset management This has fuelled a shareholders’ revolt at TIB, some of them have died without benefitting any-
as a duly licensed asset management company firm to try to see how to unlock value since they thing from their investments.
had not forced any of TIB shareholders to seek
its services.

“Further, it was found the allegation of repu-
tational damage by applicants cannot be a justi-
fication for the court’s intervention on an urgent
basis.”

While Samukange of Samkange Hungwe At-
torneys represented BSI, Herbert Mutasa stood
for Tetrad. This comes amid an ongoing heated
row between TIB shareholders and directors/
management for the control of the closed finan-
cial institution’s US$13 million asset portfolio.

Shareholders led by Jackie Levey and Dimitri
Divaris are battling it out with directors led by
Andre Lourenco Vermaak and trustees such as
John Pybus.

Since 30 October 2018, a five-member board
led by economist Appollinaire Ndorukwigira,
who is the acting chairperson, has been running
the affairs of the bank.

The bank is now owned by its shareholders,
not Tetrad Holdings as used to be the case before
the debt-to-equity scheme of arrangement.

In its court application, TIB and its trustees
had said they had “reasonable apprehension” that
BSI has certain information about shareholders
as a result of “data breaches” that could cause “ir-
reparable harm” to their business interests.

“The First Applicant (TIB) has a reasonable
apprehension of irreparable harm arising from
certain data breaches relating to the information
that it is in possession of,” the court application
said.

“The second applicant (The Trustees of the
Vincent Trust) being the data subject concerned
has an equal apprehension of irreparable harm
arising from the aforesaid data breach.

“The respondent (BSI) has been, since the
beginning of the month, using the aforesaid
personal information, in particular the e-mail
addresses and telephone numbers to contact the
first respondent (TIB)’s shareholders seeking
from them their authorisation to take over man-
agement of their shareholding in the first respon-
dent (TIB).

“Even though it is apparent that its actions
are unlawful, the respondent (BSI) has refused
to make an undertaking to cease the unlawful
processing of the personal information that it ob-
tained from the first applicant (TIB)’s database.
The first applicant (TIB) will suffer serious rep-
utational damage unless the unlawful actions of
the respondent are immediately arrested.”

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 21

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

BERNARD MPOFU Industry capacity utilisation
drops to 48%, says ZimStat
ZIMBABWE’S manufacturing sector capacity
utilisation stagnated to 48% at the end of the sec- “Manufacturing respondents’ views towards ZimStat says. isation, production, employment, order books,
ond quarter of the year compared to the first three current levels of local order books were such that “The outlook for changes in selling prices was inventories, selling prices, supplier delivery time
months of 2022, as limited access to foreign cur- only 3% viewed them as being above normal for as well as constraints to production. Key indica-
rency and policy inconsistency continue to blight the season during the second quarter, while 54% such that 59 percent of the respondents in the tors produced from the survey comprise Capacity
the sector’s recovery, a new study by the country’s indicated that they were normal for the season. manufacturing expected prices increases over the Utilisation, Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI),
statistical agency has shown. Current levels of export order books were regard- next three months.” Manufacturing Confidence Index and Balance of
ed as above normal by 2% of the respondents,” Opinion or Net Balance.
A sharp decline in agricultural output has re- Variables from which opinions were sought
sulted in most manufacturing firms accessing included general business climate, capacity util-
throughput offshore. This is compounded by
the high cost of borrowing and limited access to
cheaper lines of credit which have made most
companies less competitive in the region.

According to the Zimbabwe National Statisti-
cal Agency (ZimStat)'s manufacturing and min-
ing sector business tendency survey for the period
under review, the three major constraints to pro-
duction as cited by respondents were: shortages
of raw materials; cashflow challenges; and the
uncertainty of the economic environment. The
same were also cited as major constraints in the
first quarter.

“Capacity utilisation for the manufacturing sec-
tor during second quarter 2022 was 48 percent,
same as reported in the first quarter,” reads the
report.

“The ‘Foodstuffs’ industry group recorded the
highest capacity utilisation value of 58 percent,
as the ‘Transport’ group booked the least utilisa-
tion value of 26 percent. The survey was under-
taken with the objective of producing indicators
for use in monitoring current business situation
and short-term developments in the sector. This
was based on views of senior managers of manu-
facturing and mining companies towards business
conditions.”

The survey also shows that proportion of the
surveyed manufacturers reporting an increase in
production levels over the past three months was
14%. Major contributors to the positive balance
were manufacturers in the ‘Metals and Metal
Products’ industry group. Forty-two percent of
the respondents were more optimistic towards an
increase in production levels in the next 3 months.

Karo Mining plans US$50m bond listing

KARO Mining Holdings (KMH), the local unit The project is scheduled to commence pro- and abroad, we have received extremely positive ings MD, said.
of Tharisa Plc is planning to raise US$50 million duction, with the first ore milled in July 2024. feedback for this robust investment opportuni- "Our investment commitment by guarantee-
to be listed by way of introduction on the Victoria Ground-breaking is expected to take place in De- ty, boasting highly attractive returns. We expect
Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX). cember 2022. A local earthworks contractor has strong participation from Zimbabwean investors ing the Bond and investing US$10 million in the
been appointed and is expected to start on-site in particular. This interest stems from Tharisa’s Notes demonstrates Tharisa’s support for not only
KMH is seeking to raise the US$50 million activities in December 2022, marking the begin- strong track record in developing projects on time the project but the economics of the Bond, bene-
through the issuance of a bond by way of private ning of the Karo construction phase. and on budget, as well as the outstanding funda- fitting from the protections afforded to investors
placement to part-fund the Karo platinum-min- mentals of the Karo Platinum Project,” Phoevos by the Special Economic Zone.”
ing project, the successful development of which The proceeds from the issue of the bond, net of Pouroulis, the Tharisa CEO, said.
will introduce a fourth significant platinum-group costs, will be used to part-fund the development “Developing a tier-one project in this unique
metals producer, entrenching Zimbabwe as a key of the Karo platinum project, which has a total "Zimbabwe has indicated it is open for busi- geological setting comes once in a lifetime. Fund-
global producer and importantly opening up a capital cost for phase one of US$391 million and ness and through our interactions with all levels ing for any mining project remains key and I am
significant long-life source of the versatile metals. is set to be the second world-class asset in Tharisa’s of Government, it is clear there is strong commit- delighted that we have not only received support
portfolio. ment to support Tharisa as we develop the Karo from Tharisa in the form of early equity, but that
The bond, according to the company’s pro- Platinum Project into a fully producing PGM Tharisa has committed to anchor this proposed
spectus, is a US dollar-denominated bond and “This is a historic moment for Tharisa and mine. We look forward to welcoming investors bond raise. I look forward to engaging with stake-
will be issued by KMH. The notes will be issued our tier-one Karo Platinum Project on the Great on this exciting journey into a new operating ju- holders in Zimbabwe and beyond to ensure this
in minimum denominations of US$2 500. The Dyke in Zimbabwe. From our discussions to risdiction, Bernard Pryor, the Karo Mining Hold- Bond raise is completed successfully,” Pryor add-
minimum amount to be raised from the bond is date with potential investors, both in Zimbabwe ed. — STAFF WRITER.
US$25 million. Should applications for less than
this amount be received the bond issue will not
proceed.

“Tharisa, the platinum group metals and
chrome co-producer dual-listed on the Johan-
nesburg and London stock exchanges, is pleased
to announce the opening of a fixed income note
offer by Karo Mining Holdings plc, a subsidiary
of Tharisa, to raise US$50 million to be listed by
way of introduction on the Victoria Falls Stock
Exchange. The proceeds from the bond will be
applied to part-fund the Karo Platinum Project,”
the company said.

“The VFEX has approved the listing of the
bond on the VFEX, a subsidiary of the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange and established in a Special Eco-
nomic Zone. Participation in the bond will be by
way of private placement and is not restricted to
Zimbabwean financial institutions or residents.”

Tharisa is a 70% shareholder in the issuer, a
company incorporated in the Republic of Cyprus
which, in turn, indirectly owns 85% of the Karo
platinum project, with the government of Zimba-
bwe holding the remaining 15% shareholding, on
a free carry basis.

Page 22 Companies & Markets NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Commodities boom eludes Zim
BERNARD MPOFU
Zimbabwe’s mineral exports, including gold, dropped in August.
ZIMBABWE may have failed to fully benefit
from the bullish outlook of the international mechanical appliances at 12.7% in August 2022. “South Africa remained Zimbabwe’s major from Singapore increased to 16.2% in August
commodities market following the outbreak of Other imports in August 2022 included animal/ trading partner. In August 2022, the value of ex- 2022, from 13.9% in July 2022.
the Russo-Ukraine conflict after the country’s vegetable fats and oils (3.5%), vehicles (8.0%). ports to South Africa were 44.5% of the total val-
mineral exports, particularly gold and nickel, ue of exports, compared to 38.9% in July 2022. The value of imports from China decreased to
dropped in August compared to prior month, “Notably, the value of major imports in Zim- Exports to United Arab Emirates constituted 12% in August 2022, from 17.6% in July 2022.
figures from the government-run statistical agen- babwe aggregate to 92.6% of total value of im- 30.6% in August 2022, compared to 36.0% in Other imports in August 2022 came from Mo-
cy have shown. ports in August 2022. The value of cereal imports July 2022. Value of exports to China decreased to zambique (4.5%), Zambia (3.8%), India (3.2%),
including maize increased from 3.1% of total val- 6.4% in August 2022, from 7.5% in July 2022. Mauritius (2.9%), United Arab Emirates (2.6%),
As global economies continue to feel the ue of imports in July 2022, to 5.0% in August Argentine (1.4%), Hong Kong (1.2%) Belarus
shocks of the conflict in Eastern Europe, Zim- 2022. Rice, which makes the bulk of cereal im- Exports to Mozambique constituted 6.5% in (0.9%), and United Kingdom (0.8%).
babwe’s large mining companies have projected a ports, constituted 2.3% of total value of imports July 2022, being a decrease to 2.7% in August
bullish outturn of the commodities market, with in August 2022, compared to 1.4% in July 2022. 2022.” The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency
gold being a haven for those seeking to preserve The value of maize (excluding seed) imported re- (ZimStat) produces the monthly summary of
capital. mained low at 0.5% of total value of imports in The proportion of imports from South Africa external trade statistics report using data on mer-
July 2022 compared to 0.7% in August 2022,” was 38.3% in August 2022, compared to 38.8% chandise statistics from the Zimbabwe Revenue
Experts predicted that prices of gold and other the report reads. in July 2022. Authority (Zimra) and secondary statistics from
precious metals on the global market were expect- companies and trade organisations.
ed to reach new highs driven by a surge in de- Further, the proportion of the value of imports
mand triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Data for August 2022 obtained from the Zim-
babwe National Statistical Agency (ZimStat)
show that main exports were semi-manufactured
gold (30.2%), nickel mattes including platinum
group minerals (PGMs), (19.7%), nickel ores
and concentrates (14.3%), tobacco (9.0%), fer-
ro-chromium (7.3%), platinum unwrought or in
powder form (3%), coke and semi-coke of coal
(2.6%).

“During the month of August 2022, the coun-
try exported semi-manufactured gold valued
at US$149.1 million, signifying a decline from
US$195.7 million in July 2022,” reads the Zim-
Stat Monthly Summary of External Trade Statis-
tics for August which was published recently.

“In the same month of August 2022, the
country exported 16 072 tonnes of nickel ores
and concentrates valued at US$70.5 million,
compared to 26 035 tonnes valued at US$169.6
million in July 2022. Besides the major miner-
als usually exported, Zimbabwe also exported 7
kilogrammes of industrial diamonds valued at
US$7.0 million in August 2022, while in July
2022, a total of 7 kilogrammes valued at US$ 6.1
million were exported.”

Mineral fuels and mineral oil products, the sta-
tistical agency said, remained Zimbabwe’s major
imports accounting for 22.2% of the total value
of imports in August 2022, compared to 19.4%
in July 2022. This was followed by machinery and

BERNARD MPOFU Innscor plans to invest US$56m

ZIMBABWE Stock Exchange-listed diversi- indicating that the Group had been issued with Innscor chairperson Addington Chinake for the year ended 30 June 2022.
fied group Innscor Africa Limited says it plans Treasury Bills in lieu of the statutory receiv- these Treasury Bills will be held to maturity,” “In July 2022 the Directors received a no-
to inject an additional US$56 million into the ables and the Treasury Bills mature in 2025, Addington Chinake, Innscor chairperson, said
business in the coming year for expansion as in a statement accompanying full-year results tification from the Group’s Bankers indicat-
the group awaits the maturity of Treasury Bills ing that the Group had been issued Treasury
issued by the central bank. Bills in lieu of 'Statutory Receivables' in note
5 above. The Treasury Bills mature in 2025.
As reported in previous group annual infla- No additional information was received from
tion-adjusted financial statements, the group the authorities but the Group intends to hold
has foreign legacy debts amounting to US$3 these Bills to maturity.”
453 811 (2021: US$3 783 811), being foreign
liabilities that were due and payable on 22 Innscor recorded revenue of ZW$290.78
February 2019 when the authorities promul- billion during the financial year under review,
gated Statutory Instrument 33 of 2019 which representing a 49% increase on the compara-
introduced the ZW$ currency. tive year.

The foreign liabilities were registered and Revenue growth, Innscor says was un-
approved by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe derpinned by strong sales volumes across all
(RBZ) and the group transferred to the RBZ core categories as the group’s business units
the ZW$ equivalent of the foreign liabilities achieved improved capacity utilisation, intro-
based on an exchange rate of ZW$1=US$1 duced new products, and expanded product
in line with Exchange Control directives offerings across existing categories.
RU102/2019 and RU28/2019 and as directed
by the RBZ. “The­ group embarked on an ambitious
US$70m investment programme in 2021,
Innscor says the foreign liabilities have been with this initiative having reached completion
accounted for at the closing rate of exchange during the year, a further US$56m of addi-
as at 30 June 2022 in line with International tional investment is planned for the forthcom-
Accounting Standard 21 and the deposits with ing financial year,” Chinake says.
the RBZ have been accounted for as statutory
receivables at the same closing exchange rate, “As highlighted earlier in this Statement,
in compliance with International Financial the 2023 financial year will see a considerable
Reporting Standard 9 which deal with effects number of these projects being commissioned
of changes foreign exchange rates while across the group, enabling production capac-
ity increases, adding new product categories,
IFRS 9 requires an entity to recognise a fi- significantly improving product quality and
nancial asset or a financial liability in its state- further enhancing production efficiencies; all
ment of financial position when it becomes enabled via the introduction of world-class
party to the contractual provisions of the in- technologies and plant automations.”
strument.

“Subsequent to year end the Directors re-
ceived a notification from the group’s Bankers

NewsHawks Companies & Markets Page 23

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

IDBZ seeks more capital injection

STATE-OWNED Infrastructure Development IDBZ chief executive Zondo Sakala
Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) says it is in talks with
the government to boost its capital levels follow-
ing the injection of an additional ZW$1 billion
at the end of September.

In its half-year financial results, the IDBZ
announced that it had raised ZW$450 million
through a rights issue undertaken in October
and is seeking more capital to shore up its bal-
ance sheet as the government embarks on several
capital projects such as road construction.

“An additional capital injection of ZW$980
million was received in the third quarter of 2022
. . . The bank continues to engage its sharehold-
ers for additional capital in line with its capital-
isation roadmap,” Zondo Sakala, the IDBZ chief
executive, said in a statement accompanying the
financials.

“A key initiative in strengthening the bank’s
balance sheet is the proposal for the cession of
valuable land assets to the bank by the Govern-
ment of Zimbabwe. The bank will then leverage
the value and commercial opportunities present-
ed by the land assets to attract investors who will
partner it in developing and implementing com-
mercially viable projects.”

During the period under review, the IDBZ re-
ported an inflation-adjusted profit before tax of
ZW$2.3 billion from a loss of ZW$515 million
in the prior period. The bank says it benefited
from favourable movements in the exchange rate
for United States dollar-denominated assets as
well as cost cuts.

Sakala said during the period under review
the bank raised an equivalent of US$7.5 million
towards project implementation. The funds, he
said, were for the ongoing Bulawayo Students
Accommodation Complex project and the
Waneka housing project in Harare.

“Despite the limited resources and liquidity
challenges experienced in the first half of 2022,
US$0.21 million was disbursed towards proj-
ects preparation activities. An equivalent of circa
US$0.11 miliion was disbursed from the bank’s
project preparation and development fund and
an equivalent of US$0.10 million for irrigation
projects was disbursed from the National PPDF.”

— STAFF WRITER.

Property
NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022 PROPERTY INTERIORS ARCHITECTURE GARDENING Page 24

The home of prime property: [email protected]

Work on new retail block begins

Earthmoving and excavation work for a new block of shops has begun at the intersection of Jason Moyo Street and Mbuya Nehanda Street in Harare. — Picture: Aaron Ufumeli

NewsHawks CrSitioccakl TThakininkging Page 25

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Price Sheet A MEMBER OF FINSEC & THE ZIMBABWE STOCK EXCHANGE

Friday, 04 November 2022

Company Sector Bloomberg Previous Last VWAP (cents) Total Total Price Price YTD Market
Traded Traded Change Change (%) Cap
AFDIS Consumer Goods Ticker Price (cents) Traded Volume Value ($) (cents) ($m)
African Sun Consumer Services (%)
ART Price -
Ariston Industrials -
Axia Consumer Services AFDIS: ZH 29795.00 - 29795.00 - - - - 138.36 35,603.39
BAT 71,300 - - - 295.48 37,538.70
Bridgefort Capital Consumer Goods ASUN: ZH 2540.00 - 2540.00 23,300 - - - 62.68
Bridgefort Class B Consumer Goods ARTD: ZH 1700.00 - 1700.00 1,800 272,618 -13.76 -3.47 7,428.62
CAFCA 400 1,931,610 0.17 0.00 2.72 6,222.35
CBZ Industrials ARISTON: ZH 396.11 400.00 382.35 - 5,400,000 -17500.00 -5.51 175.88 46,003.84
CFI Financial Services - 3,200 - - -6.28 61,900.55
Dairibord AXIA: ZH 8290.00 8290.00 8290.17 1,000 - - - -77.14
Delta Industrials - - - - 96.00
Ecocash Banking BAT: ZH 317500.00 300000.00 300000.00 200 132,900 - - 4.00 34.89
Econet 119,300 - - - 17.68 1,747.46
Edgars Industrials BFCA: ZH 800.00 800.00 800.00 3,400 9,950 24.40 0.49 76.80 69,461.71
FBC Consumer Goods BFCB: ZH 2600.00 - 2600.00 619,200 28,603,230 -18.51 -0.08 339.50 43,609.31
Fidelity Consumer Goods CAFCA: ZH 20005.00 - 20005.00 800 143,130 7.15 0.17 42.14 17,810.54
First Capital 13290.00 13290.00 100 53,729,020 -174.13 -1.97 47.52 313,088.93
FML Technology CBZ: ZH 41125.00 13290.00 41125.00 - 6,008 -9.00 -1.18 3.55 109,055.79
FMP Telecommunications CFI:ZH - 20,200 5,600 3.92 0.07 2.08 224,788.76
GBH Consumer Services 100 - - - 72.64 4,537.90
Getbucks DZL: ZH 4950.60 4975.00 4975.00 800 193,880 -100.47 -9.48 65.42 37,629.20
Hippo Banking 1,400 2,450 5.00 0.20 52.04 2,614.16
Innscor Financial Services DLTA: ZH 23994.39 24000.00 23975.88 4,000 7,120 30.00 3.49 177.88 20,730.86
Lafarge EHZL: ZH 4202.56 4200.00 4209.71 - 2,800 - - 22.50 16,908.50
Mash Banking ECO: ZH 8851.30 8680.00 8677.17 236,100 75,800 - - 14.10 11,019.60
Masimba Financial Services - - - - -12.85 1,073.18
Meikles EDGR: ZH 760.00 751.00 751.00 202,300 80,379,780 -109.17 -0.32 215.83 22,041.09
Nampak Real Estate FBC: ZH 5596.08 5600.00 5600.00 1,500 - - - -26.07 39,955.26
NatFoods Industrials FIDL: ZH 2400.00 2400.00 1,100 1,621,065 1.32 0.17 109.64 194,013.30
NTS FCA: ZH 1060.27 - 959.80 4,800 117,000 - - 50.00 9,600.00
NMBZ Financial Services 2445.00 950.00 2450.00 - 110,440 -7.17 -0.07 146.96 13,522.95
OK Zim Consumer Goods FMHL: ZH 2450.00 - 42,321 -0.31 -0.04 41.82 18,848.99
Proplastics 500 - - - -19.74 25,717.53
RTG Industrials FMP: ZH 860.00 890.00 890.00 6,300 - - - -20.97 6,662.47
RioZim Industrials GBH: ZH 200.00 200.00 200.00 - 12,500 - - -19.76 75,445.32
SeedCo Real Estate GBFS: ZH 1895.00 1895.00 1895.00 6,700 186,730 -31.81 -1.06 90.48 3,046.47
Simbisa Industrials - - - - 210.44 10,104.29
Star Africa Industrials HIPO: ZH 20700.00 - 20700.00 2,100 54,940 8.00 0.99 7.99 38,422.29
Tanganda Industrials INN: ZH 34153.97 34110.00 34044.80 133,000 - - - 1.72 7,431.04
Truworths Consumer Goods 12000.00 12000.00 17,600 173,200 42.62 0.52 5.13 20,463.06
TSL Industrials LACZ: ZH - 100 31,961,050 -101.75 -0.42 262.50 17,694.27
Turnall - 32,560 -0.24 -0.13 -21.87 20,567.39
Unifreight Banking MASH: ZH 800.00 805.00 801.32 - 9,000 500.00 5.88 167.01 135,097.84
Willdale Consumer Services MSHL: ZH 7800.00 7800.00 7800.00 - - - - 59.68 8,722.91
ZB MEIK: ZH 10047.17 10040.00 10040.00 - - - - 34.21 23,495.81
Zeco Industrials 1,700 - - - 27.00 975.53
Zimpapers Consumer Services NPKZ: ZH 882.00 881.00 881.69 - - - - -40.00 15,075.04
Zimplow - 4,845 - - -4.66 1,927.79
ZHL Basic Materials NTFD: ZH 110300.00 - 110300.00 9,200 - - - 76.76 5,639.86
TOTAL Consumer Goods NTS: ZH 1200.00 - 1200.00 100 - - - -7.91 5,067.30
Consumer Goods 5,900 23,903 -0.18 -0.07 48.70 20,059.33
Consumer Goods NMB: ZH 2500.00 2500.00 2500.00 1,496,300 1,825 45.00 2.53 589.58 15.34
Consumer Goods 29,498 2.14 0.43 -10.71 1,496.56
Consumer Services OKZ: ZH 2995.78 2900.00 2963.97 205,279,973 -22.67 6,288.59
Consumer Goods PROL: ZH 2949.58 - 2949.58 32.94 9,090.55
1,825,392.42
Industrials RTG: ZH 812.00 820.00 820.00
Industrials RIOZ: ZH 14500.00 - 14500.00
Industrials SEED: ZH 8205.00 8247.62
9000.00
Banking
Industrials SIM: ZH 24132.61 24500.00 24030.86
Consumer Services
Industrials SACL: ZH 185.24 185.00 185.00
Financial Services
TANG: ZH 8500.00 9000.00 9000.00

TRUW: ZH 254.00 - 254.00

TSL: ZH 4210.00 - 4210.00
TURN: ZH 391.00 - 391.00
UNIF: ZH 5296.92 - 5296.92
WILD: ZH 285.00 285.00 285.00
ZBFH: ZH 11450.00 - 11450.00
ZECO: ZH -
3.31 3.31

ZIMP: ZH 260.00 259.00 259.82

ZIMPLOW: ZH 1780.00 1825.00 1825.00
ZHL: ZH 497.83 500.00 499.97

ETFs CSAG.zw 200.00 200.00 200.00 1,470 2,940 - - 100.00 72.40
Cass Saddle Agriculture ETF DMCS.zw 175.00 174.00 174.69 10,640 18,587 -0.31 -0.18 74.69 123.22
Datvest Modified Consumer Staples ETF 106.00 106.00 6.00 2,534.47
Morgan&Co Made in Zimbabwe ETF MIZ.zw 2165.85 - 2165.00 - - - - 116.50 2,785.77
Morgan&Co Multi-Sector ETF MCMS.zw 521.35 2165.00 521.35 200 4,330 -0.85 -0.04 18.46 748.79

Old Mutual ZSE Top 10 ETF OMTT.zw - 12750.00 - - - -

FINSEC Financial Services OMZIL 12750.00 - 3.00 -- - 27.50 10,583.99
Old Mutual Zimbabwe 1300.00
Mining BIND:VX 3.00 3.00 1,812,420 54,362 - - -45.45 US$m 38.18
VFEX (US cents) Mining CMCL:VX 1300.00 - 24.12 - - - - - 8.06
BNC Consumer Goods 36.87 0.02 0.08
Caledonia Consumer Goods PHL:VX 24.10 24.10 636,062 153,419 -1.13 -2.97 14.86 130.63
Padenga 38.00 35.00 431,152 158,960 31.44 140.64
SeedCo International SCIL:VX Change
YTD % +500.00c %
Index Close Change (%) Open +39.67 Top 5 Risers Price +30.00c +5.88 YTD %
ZSE All Share 15,115.56 -0.47 15,186.72 +30.23 Tanganda 9000.00c +45.00c +3.49 +34.21
Top 10 8,870.73 -0.64 +31.86 FMP +8.00c +2.53 +14.10
Top 15 9,928.47 -0.49 8,928.17 +29.73 Zimplow 890.00c +42.62c +0.99 -22.67
Small Cap -0.01 9,977.49 +64.88 RTG 1825.00c +0.52 +5.13
Medium Cap 522,497.81 -0.10 522,528.51 SeedCo Change -21.87
33,647.23 33,681.10 820.00c -100.47c %
8247.62c -9.48
-17500.00c -5.51
Top 5 Fallers Price -13.76c -3.47 YTD %
First Capital 959.80c -1.97 +177.88
BAT 300000.00c -174.13c -1.18
Ariston 382.35c -9.00c -6.28
Econet 8677.17c +2.72
Edgars 751.00c +2.08
+72.64

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

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Page 26 RNeferwams AinngaIlsysuises NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Zanu PF early election plot meant
to catch the opposition by surprise

BRENNA MATENDERE termined to win the crunch of Zambia," in a packed results CCC leader Nelson Chamisa. so that we have certainty that
polls by hook or by crook. centre in the capital Lusaka. our people are really registered
FOLLOWING the major po- ters in Harare there is a fleet of to vote,” the central commitee
litical developments and rev- This therefore makes it im- Hichilema is friends with branded motor vehicles, some report reads.
elations that emerged at Zanu perative for the opposition to Chamisa of which it bought for itself,
PF’s just-ended elective con- swing into action and initiate while others were purchased by With all eyes on the elec-
gress, the writing is on the wall next year’s election campaign While Zanu PF may not read donors and well-wishers. tions, Zanu PF will also con-
for the opposition to seriously in earnest if it hopes to beat much into the Kenyan elec- tinue working with indigenous
begin preparing for the next Zanu PF at its game. tions since the favourite of the Mnangagwa has also ensured religious groupings in its mass
elections, which may be called opposition was Raila Odinga, that MPs, who have not been mobilisation drive, as well as af-
earlier than expected. The events that also hap- the transition of power into the paid salaries and allowances for filiates such as Teachers for ED,
pened in Zambia last year are hands of William Ruto against a long time, get their monies to Young Women for ED, Jour-
As reported by The News- still fresh on the minds of the the wishes of the then incum- enable them to campaign for nalists for ED, Returnees for
Hawks last week, President Em- Zanu PF leadership. bent president Uhuru Kenyat- themselves and him too. ED, Affirmative Action Group
merson Mnangagwa’s regime ta makes Mnangagwa and his led by gold baron Pedzai "Scot"
may, in a few months’ time — Opposition leader Hakainde henchmen a bit nervous ahead The central committee re- Sakupwanya and the Economic
likely March or April — call an Hichilema secured a stunning of next year’s polls. port says Zanu PF has 84 917 Empowerment Group.
early election. landslide victory over incum- cells, 17 496 branches and 3
bent Edgar Lungu in Zambia's The other factor that must 216 districts countrywide that For purposes of re-invigorat-
The last polls were held at presidential election. make Chamisa his "CCC are already rejuvated. ing the party, Zanu PF also re-
the tail-end of July. champions" immediately start solved at congress that Mnan-
The electoral commission rolling up their sleeves ahead “The (District Coordinat- gagwa will restructure the
However, current indications said Hichilema got 2 810 777 of next year’s elections is the ing Committees) DCCs have politburo, the administrative
from the Zanu PF congress votes against Lungu's 1 814 planned political gamesman- become an important cog in body of the decision-making
show the party is desperate to 201, with all but one of the 156 ship that Zanu PF speaks of in ensuring that the grassroots central committee, to create
have elections earlier next year constituencies counted and its central committee report as are well-organised and are an new portfolios, including one
due to a number of factors electoral commission chairper- a winning formula. integral part of the mainstream dealing with labour issues.
currently unsettling the ruling son, Esau Chulu, had no choice mobilisation. Through the em-
party. but to say: Zanu PF has already ordered phasis on cells as the nucleus This is meant to address
five million pieces of campaign and DNA of the party. This has workers’ issues and hopeful-
These include the rising "I therefore declare that the materials and at its headquar- re-awakened the need to strate- ly get their votes. The party is
popularity of Citizens' Coali- said Hichilema to be president gise around the polling stations also targeting artisanal miners,
tion for Change leader Nelson widely known as makorokoza/
Chamisa who has proven to be otsheketsha, in places like Ma-
a cut among the rest of the op- zowe and Penhalonga, as well
position figures. as others around country. It is
also raising funds through gold
There are also political de- mining activities and leverag-
velopments that are pushing ing its control of mining con-
Zanu PF and its uncharismatic cessions for political support.
leader Mnangagwa to the edge,
like the recent election results Political analyst Rashweat
in Lesotho which saw an oppo- Mukundu told The News-
sition leader winning against Hawks that there is no doubt
odds. that Zanu PF will be analysing
the political situation in Zim-
According to final results babwe with a view to catching
published by the Lesotho elec- the opposition by surprise.
toral commission on Monday
10 October 2022, the Revolu- He said Zanu PF would want
tion for Prosperity, a party set to go for elections when it
up only six months prior to the seems the opposition is in dis-
poll by millionaire business- array and that may involve call-
man Sam Matekane, won 56 ing snap polls early next year.
out of 120 seats in parliament.
“The opposition must look at
The seasoned All Basotho this period as an election time
Convention party formed in and start putting their strategy
October 2006 and founded by implementation in place. Their
Tom Thabane, a former minis- strategies around voter mobil-
ter in the Lesotho Congress for isation, manifesto and candi-
Democracy (LCD) suffered a date selection must now be put
sharp drop and garnered a mea- in place.”
sly eight seats.
“Of course there are legal
On the other hand, the processes that must take place
Democratic Congress party of before the elections like disso-
Mathibeli Mokhothu, which lution of Parliament, calling for
had also been expected to shine nominations by the Zimbabwe
due to experience, came in sec- Electoral Commission, but the
ond, securing 29 lawmakers. opposition cannot wait this
long to start signaling its inten-
Chamisa’s CCC is yet to mark tions to the people of Zimba-
a year in existence and, if the bwe in terms of its own propos-
trends in Lesotho are anything al on developmental issues,” he
to go by, Zanu PF has a reason said.
to fear an upset at next year’s
elections and therefore get de-

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 27

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

EVIDENCE CHENJERAI Zimbabwe’s education was once
the envy of Africa. Not anymore
Educators during the country’s
post-independence golden age periencing extreme hyperinflation are paid in Zimbabwean dollars, 22% of the country’s total budget; sive education for all Zimbabwe-
wanted for nothing. Today’s – abandoned the old Zimbabwean except for coronavirus-related al- but by 2021, it was 13%, accord- ans, and has provided a vast array
teachers say they barely scrape dollar and adopted a multi-cur- lowances that are paid in US dol- ing to a 2021 Unicef report. The of incentives [for teachers] such
by. rency system that included the US lars. recommended level is 20%. as allowances for pandemic, hous-
dollar. The return to a single-cur- ing, transport and duty-free im-
IT was not just his well-fitted rency system with a rebooted Zim- It is important to put pressure Even so, education expenses portation of motor vehicles,” says
suit, the crisp shirt, and the neat- babwean dollar sparked another on the government to return the far exceed budget. In fact, budget Taungana Ndoro, director of com-
ly paired tie that caught everyone’s rise in inflation, effectively reduc- teaching profession’s historic pride, overruns have widened since 2018, munications and advocacy for the
attention. When Amos Mawoyo ing the teachers’ wages. And infla- Chitambara says, which can only according to the report. In 2020, ministry of Primary and Secondary
walked through the rural areas tion has only skyrocketed further happen if teachers get paid as well there was a 99% budget overrun. Education. “There’s no strike,” he
of Imbeza, a timber estate in the since then. as they did in the past. “Zimbabwe High inflation and the dwindling says. “It’s just wishful thinking by
Eastern Highlands of  Zimbabwe, has nurtured many astute academ- value of the local dollar were cited teachers’ union leadership.”
almost everyone looked at him in “As long as inflation is rising, ics globally, and it is the education as the main reasons.
awe. Some offered to carry his bag, your real purchasing power keeps sector from the 1980s that we owe Even though the teachers are
others stopped just to greet him. eroding,” says economist Prosper the production of such brains to,” Beyond the numbers, the im- back to work, Progressive Teach-
Chitambara, of the Labour and he says. “To have quality education passe also threatens the future of ers' Union of Zimbabwe president
The villagers referred to him as Economic Development Research just like in the old days, remunera- the children of Zimbabwe. Final Takavafira Zhou says “their pa-
Teacher Mawoyo, just like “the Institute of Zimbabwe, a nonprofit tion issues must be addressed.” exams that determine universi- tience has been overstretched, and
British confer an honorary title of research think tank. “This has been ty and class placements are given anything can happen as teachers do
Sir to highly esteemed people”, he happening in Zimbabwe over the The literacy rate in Zimbabwe during the third term. And a year not have money to report for work
recalls. Back then, with his salary past couple of decades — which is is about 91%, according to a 2019 of learning was already lost due to daily”.
as a teacher, he could afford a car, a how the real incomes of teachers household survey conducted by school closures during the corona-
house, all the necessities of a com- have eroded.” the national statistics office and virus pandemic. Some parents have Mawoyo, the retired teacher,
fortable life and even to send his Unicef. That’s far above the aver- paid for private tutors but not ev- was among those who enjoyed the
children to boarding schools – the Frustrations over pay and work- age rate of 66% for the sub-Saha- eryone can afford the hired help on golden period for educators in the
equivalent of today’s rather expen- load have resulted in a standoff ran Africa region. top of regular school fees. country. But in 2019, when he re-
sive private schools. between teachers and the govern- alised how everything was chang-
ment. The achievement dates to Zim- Sinikiwe Masola says she had to ing, he decided to seek an early
That was Zimbabwe in the babwe’s Independence in 1980, have her child repeat a grade af- retirement – a decision he does not
1980s and ’90s. Today, the retired In Zimbabwe, a teacher earns when the newly elected govern- ter he scored badly. “Government regret.
teacher says, “I see young teach- less than US$100 per month based ment promised free and compul- needs to realise every person’s ca-
ers milling around during work- on an unofficial exchange rate that sory primary and secondary educa- reer goes through the hands of a “The pension is not much, but
ing hours far from their schools”. is widely used for goods and ser- tion to all children to redress the teacher, and if they are unhappy, it is money that is coming while I
Instead, they work part-time jobs vices in the country. Teachers are imbalances of the colonial educa- an entire generation’s future suf- am sitting at home,” he says. “The
that have nothing to do with demanding they be paid in US dol- tional system that excluded black fers,” she says. amount is almost like what those
teaching. When he asks why, “they lars and not Zimbabwean dollars, pupils. To achieve this goal of uni- going to work today are getting.
say that this pays them better than where the official exchange rate versal education, teachers were im- Education officials insist the They need to pay for the transport
going to work”. fluctuates daily. mediately in high demand. government is working for the wel- to work, lunch and other things
fare of the children and has already from their salary’s money. I realised
Frustrations over pay and work- Currently, Zimbabwe uses two Since then, education has be- offered several incentives to the I was better off at home.”
load have resulted in a standoff main currencies, the US dollar and come less of a priority. Even in teachers. “The ministry is there to
between teachers and the govern- the Zimbabwean dollar. Teachers 2015, education still accounted for provide quality, relevant and inclu- — Global Press Journal.
ment. Teachers went on strike for
more than two weeks in early Feb-
ruary, demanding salaries two to
three times more than what they
earn. They returned to work after
the government offered a 20% sal-
ary increase and other incentives,
including payment of school fees
for up to three biological children
per teacher.

But months later, even as schools
opened for the third and final term
of the school year on 5 September,
the government’s promises are yet
to be fulfilled, teachers say.

For a country that held educa-
tion as one of its topmost priori-
ties after becoming independent
in 1980 and has since been among
the most literate nations in Africa,
Zimbabwe today is in the middle
of a crisis with the torchbearers of
this sector feeling disillusioned and
undervalued.

“People are back at work fear-
ing victimisation and salary cuts,”
teacher Leonard Mabasa says.
“The ugly difference [of salaries
compared] with other fellow civil
servants is further dampening the
spirit of poor teachers. The morale
is at its lowest ebb.”

Teacher Danny Malingeni says
that he and his colleagues do go to
work, but they are not really teach-
ing children. “They show up at
schools, but not much teaching is
done in the classes…due to frustra-
tion over remuneration and other
welfare packages.”

The pay dispute began in late-
2018 when teacher salaries were
drastically reduced following the
country’s switch back to local cur-
rency after almost a decade of us-
ing the US dollar.

In 2009, the government – in an
attempt to salvage an economy ex-

Page 28 Reframing Issues NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Early marriages a scourge in society

MATTHEW MARE

THERE is a plethora of statistical ev- (AICs) is concerned. In Zimbabwe, child marriages are caland 30%, Matabeleland North ied at the shrine. When investigations
idence on early marriages in both the The Constitution of Zimbabwe in a topical issue in JMAC, and the gov- 27%, Harare 19%, and Matabeleland were done pertaining her death, the
religious and secular spheres. The issue ernment is seemingly taking a blind South 18%. church together with her parents had
of child marriages is a global concern terms of section 81 guarantees that eye because of the political elector- to lie about her identity, claiming she
and efforts are underway to ensure children under the age of 18 have the al gains from AICs. AICs tend to be Thus, Zimbabwe is among the 41 was Memory Machaya, her cousin
that the scourge is discouraged, crimi- right to health, the right to be pro- an important voting constituency in countries in the world with many cas- aged 22.
nalised and eradicated. tected from sexual exploitation or any Zimbabwe. es involving minors, being forced into
other form of abuse, the right to edu- marriages by their parents or guard- This was an attempt by both JMAC
Whilst states, interstate agen- cation, and the right to be protected Zimbabwe is allegedly one of the ians. This means that the issue of child and Anna Machaya’s parents to defeat
cies, Civil Society Organisations, by the law. countries in the world with high cases marriages is a topical one in Zimba- the course of justice. If children had
Non-Governmental Organisations are of child marriages and the Zimbabwe bwe and as such requires urgent atten- full rights both within the religious
seized with the matter, the religious Are the children in the AICs pro- National Statistics Agency Multiple tion by the state. sphere as well as in the secular world,
sphere has not registered any docu- tected by law when their conditions Indicator Cluster Survey ZNSAMICS the predicament befalling the girl child
mented evidence on how its theologies and predicament are not improving? (2014) indicated that, the proportion Other than rape, there is a rise in would have been much better.
seek to eradicate the same. In abolishing child marriages, the of women who were married before terms of rituals of a criminal nature,
Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe the age of 15 is more than that of men. whereby children are being raped, The issue of child marriages is
In fact, cases of early child mar- has given life to section 81. killed and mutilated in ritual related an aspect of the society that can be
riages seem to be rapidly rising with The statistics revealed that 5% of incidences. socialised and was borrowed from
churches like Johanne Masowe Ap- However, there is need to realign women and 0.3% of men aged 15-49 ATR (Rose 1970:50). The concept
ostolic Church (JMAC) continuing any laws that are at variance with the years were first married or in union be- Cases of child abuse are rampant of arranged marriages (kuzvarira) and
to have traditions, doctrines and the- judgement. Even if the realignment of fore the age of 15. Also, 1 in 3 women and a majority of them are unaccount- musenga bere, meaning forced mar-
ologies that promote and sanction the laws is done, will that guarantee and less than 1 in 20 (3.7%) of men ed for since they are not reported be- riage, are popular ATR customs which
child marriages. Interestingly, most if the girl child in AICs a reprieve given aged 20-49, were first married or cause most girls are abused by close were borrowed by JMAC.
not all states have no known policies, that she has been neglected for the past union before the age of 18. The statis- relatives, Pastors, Priests and the rich.
laws, programmes and commissions 36 years? tics of child marriages in Zimbabwe is The similitudes in value systems
of inquiries on how states intend to extremely high, worrisome, and expos- Most cases are concealed as the made it easy for either ATR or JMAC
confront child marriages and related Literature presents, early marriages es young women to the risk of unin- grieved parties embark on out of court to influence each other. There is evi-
abuses in the religious sphere. are a big threat to Human Rights and tended pregnancies, unsafe abortions settlements for material gain. It is so dence of the spread of JMAC theology
well-being of the children. Unicef, es- and sexually transmitted infections. pathetic that parents rush to opt for to non-JMAC communities through
Human Rights are formulated and timated that 14 million girls between such out of court settlements, a culture socialisation and family linkages (Ray
enforced by the state and under the the ages of 15 to/and 19 give birth This is much worrisome given that so prevalent in Zimbabwe. 1976:204). As alluded to by this re-
United Nations Responsibility To Pro- each year (Unicef 2014). members of these apostolic sects do search, the spread of AICs and JMAC,
tect doctrine which states that States not encourage the use of condoms and The country, because probably in particular, is through family social-
have the legal obligation to ensure that It also revealed that, they are twice birth control measures like contracep- ATR; is found to be somewhat a high- isation.
every citizen is protected and enjoys all more likely to die during pregnancy or tive pills. According to United Nations ly secretive society.
the Constitutional rights. childbirth than women in their 20’s. Population Fund (UNFPA) 31% of In places where JMAC members are
The report went further to state that, girls are married before the age of 18 Even at state level, the country is a majority, child marriage becomes, a
Also, to note is that, Unicef, which child marriages deny the young an op- in Zimbabwe. known for denying the existence of fashionable practice. The church and
is a critical arm of the United Nations, portunity to grow and empower them- crises to both the internal and the in- state relations have an influence on
has produced volumes of evidence on selves. It also challenges, the basic right According to the ZNSAMICS ternational community. how the status of women and chil-
religious abuse but the United Na- of these children to education, health, (2014), 39% of the women in rural dren are interfaced in JMAC and the
tions, is yet to come up with a religious protection and development. areas aged 20-49 years where AICs A number of studies that were car- influence of such malpractices on the
specific treaty or convention. are deep rooted are currently in mar- ried out on AICs and JMAC did not adjacent society.
Literature also revealed that, the riage or union before the age of 18, yield much because of this phenome-
The Convention on the Rights girls are forced into it a lot more in compared to 21% in urban areas. Ac- non. *About the writer: Matthew Mare
of Children and Convention on the comparison to their male counterparts cording to the ZNSAMICS (2014), is a Zimbabwean academic who
Elimination of all forms of Discrimi- and impacts girls with more intensity. Mashonaland Central a province with In so many interviews carried on holds two bachelor’s degrees, five
nation Against Women has seemingly In JMAC, child marriage has many high number of AICs tops on the list JMAC, the church denies the exis- master’s qualifications and a PhD.
been ineffective in addressing Hu- causes, religious, social and economic. of provinces with the highest number tence or occurrence of child marriages He is also doing another PhD and
man Rights violations in the religious In many cases, a mixture of these caus- of cases of child marriages with 50% and other related abuses, prompting has 12 executive certificates in dif-
sphere. es results in the dragging of children of the marriages involving minors, researchers to resort to phenomenol- ferent fields. Professionally, he is a
into marriages without their consent. followed by Mashonaland West with ogy and ethnography to gather data. civil servant and also board member
One wonders why the United In AICs girls from poor households 42%, Masvingo 39%, Mashonaland at the National Aids Council of Zim-
Nations Security Council has nev- are twice more likely to be married East 36%, Midlands 31%, Mani- A classical example is the case of babwe.
er attempted to engage or sanction early than the girls from higher in- Anna Machaya, a 14-year-old girl
any church for violating the rights of come groups. who died during childbearing at a
women and children. It appears as JMAC shrine on the 15 July 2021.
though the UN is seized with political The church, in connivance with her
power dynamics, totally negating the relatives, had to secretly have her bur-
religious sphere.

Feminists, CSOs, NGOs, protes-
tors in all their forms have not been
forceful enough on religious abuse in
the same manner they confront gov-
ernments on political and economic
issues.

It is the assumption of this study
that the above-mentioned organs have
failed children and women who con-
tinue to fall victim to some ecclesiastic
doctrines that are found to infringe
into their rights.

There is no specific Act of Parlia-
ment against child marriages other
than basing on the Constitutional
court ruling of the 20th of January
2016, in which marriage of children
under the age of 18 years was out-
lawed.

The ruling was widely celebrated as
a milestone development in preserv-
ing the sexual reproductive health and
Human Rights of minors who are be-
low the age of 18.

While the development is worth cel-
ebrating, nothing much has changed
in so far as the plight of the girl child
in African Independent Churches

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 29

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

IMRAAN VALODIA/ JULIA TAYLOR

COP27 is the 27th Conference of COP27 explained by experts:
the Parties (countries) that signed up What is it and why should I care?
to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change. is the 2015 Paris Agreement. It cov- There are three policy areas which particularly when it comes to adap- The negotiations led to the pro-
The convention was established at ers climate change mitigation, ad- have emerged to respond to climate tation. Loss and damage, however, posal to establish the Glasgow Fi-
the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, and aptation and financing and aims to change. has received far less attention in in- nance Facility for loss and damage.
has been ratified by 198 countries. limit the rise in temperatures to less ternational treaties and negotiations. But the wording of the decision
than 2°C above pre-industrial lev- The first is mitigation – the re- Highlighting loss and damage was changed at the last minute to the
They agreed to stabilise the pro- els. All signatories need to develop a duction of greenhouse gas emissions The Warsaw International Mech- Glasgow Dialogues, which commit-
duction of greenhouse gases in or- non-binding plan for climate change to stabilise the climate. Examples of anism on Loss and Damage was ted to discussing arrangements for
der to prevent dangerous climate mitigation, including reducing emis- mitigation include replacing fossil established in 2013 to provide a funding activities to avert, minimise
change. sions. They also have to report on fuels with renewable energy sourc- framework to address loss and dam- and address loss and damage. This
progress. es, or developing electrified public age. It aims to improve understand- change has delayed any real financial
Since then, the Conference of the transport to replace private vehicles ing of risk management approaches, support for loss and damage in the
Parties has been hosted in a different A key weakness of the Paris Agree- powered by combustion engines. increase coordination and dialogue short term.
country each year. These conferences ment is that it is non-binding. Also, among stakeholders and enhance ac-
broadly provide a platform for the the commitments are self-deter- The second is adaptation — in- tion and support. This was very disappointing for
negotiation of international climate mined. A  recent study  found that terventions which would support developing country parties, who
change treaties. even if all countries did meet their climate resilience and reduce vulner- The issue of loss and damage was will be pushing once more to se-
commitments, it would not be ability. Examples include improved incorporated into the Paris Agree- cure financing for loss and damage
The very first treaty acknowledged enough to limit warming to below water management and conservation ment, but without any specific at COP27, and holding other coun-
that the responsibility for action was 2°C. to reduce the risk of drought; initia- commitments around it. During ne- tries to account for the US$100 bil-
different for developed and devel- tives to improve food security and gotiations at COP25, the Santiago lion annual commitment towards
oping countries, because developed It is important to understand support for biodiversity. Network was set up to avert, min- climate finance which has yet to ma-
countries were responsible for most and engage in these processes as imise and address loss and damage terialise.
greenhouse gas emissions. the impacts of climate change are The third policy area deals with for developing countries but it fo-
increasing globally. The increase in loss and damage. Loss and dam- cuses mostly on technical assistance Many climate activists from the
Despite some gains, commitment the global average temperature is age refers to “the economic and rather than finance. At COP26 (in global south feel that if a  financing
to these treaties has not translated one of several climate impacts. Oth- non-economic damages associated 2021) there was an  agreement to facility for loss and damage  is not
into the action necessary to shift the ers  include  increased likelihood of with slow-onset events and extreme fund the Santiago Network, but the discussed at COP27, it will be a
course of global climate change. The droughts or floods, and increased in- weather events caused by global institutional framework is not yet fi- failed conference.
recent  Intergovernmental Panel on tensity of storms and wildfires. warming and the tools and institu- nalised.
Climate Change report  states that tions that identify and mitigate such — The Conversation.
global average temperatures have The frequency of climate events risks”. Interventions to address loss Loss and damage was raised as
already reached 1.1°C above pre-in- will increase as temperatures rise. and damage can include risk man- an important issue to be addressed *About the writers: Imraan Val-
dustrial levels and that warming of There is an urgent need for action agement support and finance, often during COP26. There were some odia is pro vice-chancellor for cli-
over 1.5°C is all but inevitable unless to prevent global warming from ris- framed as climate reparations. promising moves, such as the Scot- mate, sustainability and inequal-
drastic action is taken. ing above 2°C. Temperatures over tish first minister, Nicola Stur- ity and director if the Southern
2°C will result in irreversible climate Mitigation and adaptation are geon, pledging £2 million towards a Centre for Inequality Studies at the
Everyone is affected by climate impacts such as sea level rise, and af- well understood and established loss and damage finance facility. But University of the Witwatersrand in
change, but some people and regions fect far more people than an increase within climate policy. And they have many rich nations did not support South Africa. Julia Taylor is a re-
are more vulnerable than others. Re- of 1.5°C. finance mechanisms within interna- this. searcher on climate and inequal-
gions that will experience the most Responses to climate change tional treaties, even though existing ity at University of the Witwa-
adverse impacts of climate change commitments to these mechanisms tersrand.
are West, Central and East Afri- have not materialised in practice,
ca, South Asia, Central and South
America, Small Island Developing
States and the Arctic. Populations
living in informal settlements will
have the worst of it.

Vulnerability to climate change
impacts is driven by socio-econom-
ic, political and environmental fac-
tors. African countries have  already
experienced loss and damage due to
climate change. For example, food
production, economic output and
biodiversity have all declined and
more people are at risk of dying due
to climate change in African coun-
tries.

The COP27 is therefore import-
ant because that is where decisions
are made about how to respond to
climate change.
Climate change treaties
Three international treaties have
been adopted on international cli-
mate change cooperation. They led
to the development of different bod-
ies which all convene under the ban-
ner of the COP. COP is where they
meet, negotiate and evaluate prog-
ress, even though COP technically
only refers to the parties to the UN
Framework Convention on Climate
Change.

The first treaty was the UN
Framework Convention on Climate
Change. The second was the Kyoto
Protocol, established in 1997. Coun-
tries made commitments to reduce
their emissions of greenhouse gases.
The Kyoto Protocol was based on
the principle of common but differ-
entiated responsibilities. It acknowl-
edged that because of their higher
levels of economic development, de-
veloped countries could and should
take greater responsibility to reduce
emissions.

The third and most recent treaty

Page 30 Reframing Issues NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA Vital to fix the world's food trade

IN addition to getting food from commits countries to end hunger by international market prices – which tentially easing strains at home but to a more sustainable and equita-
where it is abundant to where it is 2030, and to improve nutrition and are widely seen to distort production exacerbating shortages elsewhere in ble global food system will require
needed, trade supports jobs, liveli- promote sustainable agriculture – are and harm farmers in other countries. the world. greater efforts to align trade, environ-
hoods, and incomes. But too often, significantly off track. The use of such subsidies has fallen mental, and food policies. A holistic
international markets for food and dramatically, from almost US$7 bil- Against this backdrop, the mul- approach to managing how food is
agriculture function poorly, owing to Trade is vital for achieving food se- lion in 1999 to under US$12 million tilateral cooperation that we saw at produced, distributed, and consumed
trade-distorting subsidies and high curity, as the World Trade Organisa- in 2020. But OECD data show that MC12 in June was most welcome. is necessary to maintain sufficient
levels of protection — two problems tion’s 164 members emphasised at our total public support to the farm sec- WTO members collectively com- supply, address climate and other en-
that have worsened in recent years. 12th  ministerial conference  (MC12) tor in 54 advanced economies and mitted to  exempt  World Food Pro- vironmental risks, ensure sustainable
this past June. Apart from its basic 11 major emerging markets reached gramme humanitarian purchases land use, and manage scarce water re-
Between rising hunger and the role as a conveyor belt for getting US$817 billion in 2019-21. And from export restrictions – saving the sources. A long-overdue update of the
prospect of still more supply shortag- food from where it is abundant to only US$207 billion of that was for agency time and money in providing WTO rulebook for agricultural trade
es, dark clouds are hovering over the where it is needed, trade supports general services such as research, relief to millions of vulnerable peo- is needed more urgently than ever,
global food system. Not only has the jobs, livelihoods, and incomes. It is a training, or payments to consumers. ple. They pledged to keep agri-food because we need to create a better in-
war in Ukraine limited access to, and key factor in the sustainable and ef- trade open, and to minimise the trade centive framework for investment in
raised prices for, food and fertilizer, ficient use of scarce global resources. Other support programs frequent- distortions resulting from emergency the sector.
but extreme weather events are  dis- ly incentivise unsustainable produc- measures. And they agreed on a bind-
rupting  production, and economic But all too often, internation- tion and consumption patterns and ing accord  to curtail US$22 billion To find solutions to growing food
downturns have  diminished  people’s al markets for food and agriculture undermine fair competition in global in annual public spending on harm- insecurity, we must expand the dia-
ability to afford adequate and nutri- function poorly, owing to problems markets. While average tariffs on ag- ful fisheries subsidies, which will logue and explore the systemic driv-
tious diets. Climate change is fuel- like trade-distorting subsidies and ricultural products were around 6% contribute to food security and live- ers of the problem. With a stronger
ing droughts and exacerbating water high levels of protection. In many in 2020, many countries maintained lihoods by improving the health of evidence base, WTO members will
scarcity, adding to the list of threats regions, persistent underinvestment prohibitively high tariffs on certain marine habitats. have a better understanding of how
facing agricultural production. in research, extension services, and products, with peaks reaching 1 trade can be used to the fullest pos-
market-linking infrastructure has 000%. But over the past month, export sible extent to enhance access to food
Progress in tackling hunger and led to low and stagnating agricultur- restrictions on food, feed, and fertil- for everyone.
malnutrition was already stalling be- al productivity. Crop yields across At the beginning of this year, food izers have  ticked back up, reversing
fore the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, much of Africa are particularly small, prices had already reached high lev- the earlier downward trend. The total — Project Syndicate.
the World Food Programme  esti- and have  not matched  the increases els compared to recent years, and number of such measures introduced *About the writer: Ngozi Okon-
mates that the number of people fac- achieved in other developing regions. international agencies had  begun to since February – and still in force – is jo-Iweala, director-general of the
ing, or at risk of, acute food insecurity warn  of growing hunger. Then the now up to 52. The WTO is working World Trade Organisation, is a for-
(defined  as those who “lack regular WTO members have taken some war in Ukraine made the situation hard through monitoring, transpar- mer managing director at the World
access to enough safe and nutritious important steps to address these much worse. Prices  spiked  to record ency, and jawboning to bring this Bank, finance minister of Nigeria,
food for normal growth and develop- problems. In 2015, they  agreed  to highs, and WTO monitoring found number down, but it remains a cause board chair of Gavi, the Vaccine
ment and an active and healthy life”) eliminate agricultural export subsi- that many governments  respond- of global concern. Alliance, and African Union special
has increased by more than 200 mil- dies – payments that cover the dif- ed  by restricting food exports, po- envoy on Covid-19.
lion since 2019. Key global objectives ference between domestic costs and Ensuring that trade contributes
like the second United Nations Sus-
tainable Development Goal – which

NewsHawks Reframing Issues Page 31

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

AL CHUKWUMA OKOLI Nigerian government should
not downplay terror threat
TERRORISM is one of the world’s
greatest security challenges. Trying
to predict it is an important part of
the effort to counter terrorism.

Intelligence and security agencies
around the world occasionally issue
warnings about the likelihood of ter-
rorist attacks in certain places.

On 23 October 2022, the United
States embassy in Nigeria  released
an advisory to alert US nationals in
the country of possible terrorist at-
tacks in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal cap-
ital territory. The alert led to wide-
spread public anxiety.

The level of concern is not sur-
prising. Terrorist violence has wors-
ened in Nigeria in recent years. The
latest  Global Terrorist Index  ranks
Nigeria as the sixth most terrorised
country in the world. Abuja has
been targeted for terrorist attacks in
the past, including the tragic 2011
Police Headquarters and United Na-
tions Building incidents.

I am a political science lecturer
who has researched terrorism de-
fence strategies, and I am uneasy
about the Nigerian government’s
handling of the latest terror alert.

The government appears to
have downplayed the latest threat.
It  called for calm. But this is likely
because it feels it needs to assert itself
politically. No country likes to let a
foreign entity define its national se-
curity situation.

However, terror alerts should be
taken seriously – and there are sev-
eral measures that can be taken to
protect citizens.

What are terror alerts? Terrorist violence has worsened in Nigeria in recent years.
Predicting terrorism entails forecasts
based on intelligence gathering and rated by the authorities of the Unit- and emergency responders in Lon- closely with relevant foreign and crowd management concerns in
risk assessment. ed Kingdom’s high commission in don mobilised to a commercial area local stakeholders to set up a collab- their places of worship.
Nigeria. after a  terror alarm that turned out orative intelligence regime that can
The process involves issuing and to be false. But it would be a great address terrorist threats more robust- Similarly, managers of markets,
publicising classified threat alerts to The Nigerian principal intelli- risk to simply dismiss or downplay ly and proactively. parks, event centres, shopping malls,
notify the public of the possibility of gence agency, the  Department of the threat alert. schools, and recreational facilities
a terror attack on a certain target in State Service, reacted to the terror There is a need for a contingency should put measures in place to
a particular location. alert by asking the public to exercise The Nigerian government and cit- intelligence framework that can pre- detect and prevent threats. Public
calm. It said there was no serious izens should take the alert seriously. empt and predict threats more pre- spaces should have CCTV cameras,
Such alerts enable government cause for alarm. It is strategic intelligence that must cisely and comprehensively. scanning devices, and so on.
and its security agencies to be poised be carefully processed and acted on
for the eventuality of an attack. They The agency’s stance seemed to be to avert danger. Citizens should take personal pre- The best way to respond to a ter-
also enable the public to be vigilant that the threat alert was not worth cautions to reduce their exposure to ror alert is to take measures to avert
so as to avoid being a victim. the public tension and anxiety it In intelligence science and prac- terrorist attacks. They should avoid it, or mitigate its impact. These
provoked. Apparently, the agency tice, even a rumour matters. So, crowded public places as much measures need to be taken with all
More importantly, alerts enable had superior intelligence about the whether the basis of the terror alert as possible. Being with the whole seriousness regardless of whether the
the security agencies to put measures threat. is real or not, and regardless of the household in a big public gathering source or substance of the alert is
in place to avert incidents. legitimacy or otherwise of its sourc- may not be advisable. credible or not.
Although it did not dismiss the es, the ultimate concern of the Ni-
Some threats will not be noticed threat entirely, this reaction seems gerian government should be to put Social, religious and political Apart from harming people and
by the intelligence and security com- like an effort to save face. The De- pragmatic measures in place to pre- gatherings should be planned and property, terrorism destabilises sys-
munities. The 9/11 attacks in the US partment of State Service would not vent any threat happening. hosted in a way that guarantees max- tems and makes it harder for societ-
evaded the forecasting prowess of the want to be seen as lacking control of How to handle threats imum event security. Relevant secu- ies to develop and sustain progress.
country’s sophisticated military and the situation. It would look like pro- Nigeria’s intelligence systems and rity agencies should be involved and
intelligence sectors. fessional ineptitude to allow a for- institutions are struggling amid op- safety measures must be taken. — The Conversation.
eign entity to lead in a critical matter erational challenges and complex
Terror alerts are as reliable as of national security. national security threats. The in- Providing a first aid point in an *About the writer: Al Chukwuma
the validity and objectivity of their telligence community should work event arena is one simple measure to Okoli is senior lecturer and consul-
sources and procedures. But no mat- Also, it is unnecessary to create take. tant-researcher in the Department
ter how controversial or disputable a panic where there is probably no ba- of Political Science at the Federal
terror alert may seem to be, the best sis for it. In November 2017, police Leaders in churches and mosques University of Lafia in Nigeria.
thing to do is to take proper pre- should provide for security and
cautions. After all, precaution is not
cowardice.
Nigeria’s latest alert
The Abuja threat alert was corrobo-

Page 32 Africa News NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Several internation-
al forces are deployed
in the eastern Con-
go, where the Rwan-
da-backed rebel group
continues to seize towns
and territory.

STEPHANIE WOLTERS

LAST week, Angola’s President João Democratic Republic of Congo army soldiers sit at the back of a pick-up truck.
Lourenço confidently stated his belief
that his Rwandan and Congolese coun- Can the DRC survive the
terparts are ready to reconcile with one resurgence of M23 rebels?
another after a year of strained relations.
been present since 2001. And the Force anti-government rebels. Both the Ugan- itary defeat of the M23 or a Rwandan Mediated talks between the Congo,
His announcement came after many Intervention Brigade (FIB) arrived in dan and Burundian contingents will re- admission of guilt will bring an end to Rwanda and the M23 may also be a
months of mediation, yet just days be- 2013 after the M23 captured key towns main where they were before the EAC the violence. useful approach. Although talks with
fore heavy fighting between the Rwan- in eastern DRC. Composed of troops rebranded their military engagements as the rebels will be politically costly for
dan-backed M23 rebel group and the from South Africa, Tanzania, and Ma- a regional stabilising force. However, this has backed the Con- Tshisekedi, the armed group’s ongoing
Congolese army began once again. lawi, the FIB’s deployment coincided golese government into a corner. The military successes are already making
with a rare moment of international The East African unit’s official man- DRC’s attempts to garner international his government look weak. But in order
Relations between Rwanda and the consensus that Rwanda must end its date is to go after rebel groups — do- condemnation of Rwanda’s actions have for Tshisekedi to accept such talks, there
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) support of the M23 and stop destabilis- mestic and foreign — that refuse to been largely unsuccessful. Despite the must be a quid pro quo from Rwanda
have not always been so difficult. When ing the region. surrender. Former president Uhuru UN Panel of Experts report, the historic in the form of some admission of its role
Felix Tshisekedi become president in Kenyatta is mediating talks in Nairobi reluctance among many governments to in supporting the M23.
January 2019, he invested substantial Since the M23 reconstituted itself with those that have. But as the M23 criticise Kagame remains a key obstacle.
energy in improving the DRC’s rela- in 2021-2022, a new regional bloc captures more terrain, it likely that some This could lead to improvements in
tions with its neighbours. He welcomed has entered the fray. The East African of those armed groups may resume It may be significant that Tshisekedi the short-term. In the long run, how-
Paul Kagame, who became the first Community (EAC), of which the DRC fighting. and his team are relative newcomers to ever, mediation efforts — supported
Rwandan president to visit the DRC in became a member in March 2022, has the regional game. Unlike former pres- by the Africa Union, EAC, southern
over 20 years, on numerous occasions. initiated a two-track process aimed at For the M23’s part, its military ident Joseph Kabila, who had intimate Africa’s SADC, UN, and special envoys
And he allowed Rwandan troops to ending instability in eastern Congo: strength is apparently greater than ever. knowledge of the key military and civil- from key countries — must address
deploy clandestinely in Congolese terri- political talks with rebel groups that UN Secretary General Antonio Gu- ian leaders in the Great Lakes, and who the entrenched drivers of violence in
tory. In turn, Rwanda deployed a new have expressed a willingness to surren- terres has warned that MONUSCO spent over 20 years interacting with his the Great Lakes. It is not enough just
ambassador to Kinshasa. RwandAir der, coupled with the deployment of cannot contend with a M23 that has the Ugandan and Rwandan counterparts, to reconcile Kagame and Tshisekedi or
started flying between the Congolese an East African Force. So far, Uganda, fighting power of a conventional army. Tshisekedi’s inner circle is composed militarily defeat the M23. After three
and Rwandan capitals. Burundi, Kenya, and South Sudan have The question also remains of whether of civilians, most of whom are relative- decades of conflict and meddling in
contributed to this new unit. The DRC Kenyan and South Sudanese troops will ly unfamiliar with the byzantine inner the eastern DRC, relationships in the
Things changed, however, in 2021. has welcomed the force but stated that be able and willing to get involved in workings of the insecurity dynamics in region are characterised by distrust and
By now, some were expressing concerns it would not accept Rwanda’s participa- what is now a hot war. eastern DRC and wider region. This disrespect. This will not change until
that Tshisekedi had been naïve in rush- tion in it. Constrained in the Congo complicates the possibility of a behind- the cost of the status quo becomes un-
ing his rapprochement with Kagame. In moving forwards, President Tshiseke- the-scenes rapprochement. bearable not just to the DRC but also to
And when the Congolese president The neutrality of the EAC’s inter- di is constrained by a number of factors. Mediating the divide Rwanda and Uganda.
turned down Rwanda’s secret request vention, which will be commanded by Lourenco’s comments last week may
for a larger-scale military deployment Kenya, is questionable. Over the last To begin with, the M23’s resur- have been premature, but his job as — African Arguments.
in the eastern Congo, the relationship three decades, Uganda has intervened gence has stoked ethnic hatred and mediator is vital. He must keep the two
soured. In October 2021, the Rwan- unliterally in the DRC countless times, anti-Rwandan sentiment in the DRC. presidents talking with the aim of dif- *About the writer: Stephanie Wolt-
dan-backed M23 rebel group resurged. pursuing its own political and econom- There is a little popular appetite for talks fusing the crisis, halting the violence, ers is a senior research fellow at the
ic interests. Meanwhile, the Burundian with the rebels or for attempts to de-es- and keeping the DRC and Rwanda South African Institute of Interna-
Rwanda was likely further antag- army has also been secretly active in the calate tensions with Rwanda. Tshisekedi from full-scale war. tional Affairs and a director of Okapi
onised by the DRC’s improved relations eastern Congo for some time, pursuing has raised expectations that only a mil- Consulting.
with Uganda, which was invited to de-
ploy troops in the north-eastern DRC
in November 2021 as part of joint op-
erations against the rebel Allied Defence
Forces (ADF).

Despite solid evidence presented by
a UN Panel of Experts that Rwanda is
providing logistical support to the M23
and reinforcing its ranks with Rwan-
dan Defence Force (RDF) soldiers,
Kigali denies backing the rebel group.
At the same time, however, it has said
any military involvement it does have
in the eastern Congo would be justified
because the DRC is working with the
FDLR, a Rwandan Hutu militia whose
leaders were involved in the 1994 geno-
cide.

In fact, despite its official denials,
Rwanda is participating in internation-
ally supported mediation efforts with
the DRC, which suggests it recognises
there is something to be reconciled. And
on 24 October, it accused the Congolese
government of abandoning a negotiated
solution with the M23. The DRC  re-
sponded  by saying the statement was
tantamount to “a clear and irrefutable
admission that it is Rwanda that oper-
ates behind the M23” and accused it of
defending “an armed group, a terrorist
one at that, in another state”.
Deployments to the eastern DRC
The M23’s resurgence has prompted
several bilateral and multilateral ef-
forts. Already on the ground are the
UN mission MONUSCO, which has

NewsHawks Africa News Page 33

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Kenyan police killings point to systemic rot

NAOMI VAN STEPELE

BARELY a month into office, does not seem to be prompted bodies with clear signs of torture. True police reform disbanding all police units impli-
President William Ruto of Ken- by a quest for justice. Instead, it There are no direct witness ac- Extrajudicial killings by police cated in violence over the years.
ya ordered the  disbandment  of seems more likely spurred by a counts to verify police involve- rarely attract wide public outcry The entire service could be over-
a special police unit placed at the wish to replace influential officers ment in each case but there is outside the urban settlements and hauled.
centre of a widening investiga- from the previous regime with reasonable suspicion. This suspi- poor rural areas where they most-
tion into a wave of  extrajudicial new and trusted ones. This is a cion is derived in part from the ly occur. They have been  nor- Second, all perpetrators should
killings  and enforced disappear- tactic Kenya has seen before. fact that several of the deceased malised in public discourse. be brought to justice instead of
ances. Police violence is systemic were on police “death lists”. being redeployed.
Investigations are rare unless Despite mounting evidence,
At least nine officers of the there is overwhelming  public Death lists, according to social only a small fraction of the doc- Finally, a reformed police ser-
Special Service Unit face charges outrage  stoked by the media, justice activists, are names and umented cases reach the courts. vice should be completely trans-
relating to the disappearance in or the victim is well-known or pictures circulated by police and With such a low success rate, parent and held accountable by
July 2022 of two Indians and well-connected. their paid informers. These lists activists find it more and more the communities it serves. Only
their Kenyan driver. The Indians of crime suspects are mostly cir- difficult to persuade witnesses to then will police work with local
were in Kenya at the invitation of That might explain why jus- culated in WhatsApp groups and come forward. communities on safety issues in-
Ruto’s presidential digital cam- tice was won for lawyer Wil- sometimes even on  Facebook. stead of doing the bidding of po-
paign outfit. lie Kimani, his client and their Many are killed after ending up This explains the high levels of litical and business elites.
driver following their abduction on these lists. cynicism about potential police
Police killings of citizens are and execution by police in 2016, reforms among the social justice This article has been co-authored
shockingly commonplace in Ken- while  thousands  of other com- Even in cases where there is activists I have spoken to recent- by Samuel Kiriro (Social Justice
ya. Those who bear the brunt are plaints are unattended. ample evidence, “killer cops” are ly. There is not much to read in Movement Kenya  and director
mostly poor, young and male sus- rarely prosecuted. the  replacement  of one director of Ghetto Foundation Kenya) and
pects of crime or terrorism. It might also explain why the of the Directorate of Criminal Perpetua Kariuki (Social Jus-
disappearance of Ruto’s cam- Criminal violence by police Investigations with another. As tice Movement Kenya  and liaison
Since 2017,  a total of 1 264 paign staff is being pursued with also takes place in other  cities, noted, it is not uncommon for a to Missing Voices).
cases of executions and 237 en- vigour – involving more than 100 at  the coast  and in remote  rural new president to replace top offi-
forced disappearances  have been police officers at one point. areas in Kenya. cers within police cadres. What’s *About the writer: Naomi van
documented by the Police Re- more, the replaced director Stapele is a professor in inclu-
form Working Group in Kenya, a Over in Nairobi’s poor neigh- This points to a  structural was no friend (12:55) of the new sive education at the Centre of
civil justice advocacy group. An- bourhoods, it is business as usual. rot  within the  police service, of president. Global and Inclusive Learning,
other player in the social justice Social justice activists document which the Special Service Unit is Hague University of Applied
movement is the  Mathare Social a rising number of cases of dead a  symptom rather than a rogue A genuine move towards jus- Sciences, Netherlands.
Justice Centre, which has been element. tice and peace could start with
documenting these state-sanc-
tioned murders in Mathare, a
low-income area of northern Nai-
robi, since 2014. Other centres
followed suit in other neighbour-
hoods in Nairobi where unlawful
police killings occur regularly.

Yet these and other records are
incomplete for a number of rea-
sons. First, they tend to focus on
a specific locality. Second, they
only include cases that multiple
sources show to be police related.
“Police related” means, for exam-
ple, that the victim was last seen
with police officers. In most cas-
es, such victims were later found
in the morgue or never again.

The special police unit is not
the only culprit. It is the third
special squad under the Direc-
torate of Criminal Investigations
to be disbanded under a cloud in
the last 13 years. Other security
and policing agencies implicat-
ed in extrajudicial killings and
enforced disappearances include
the  armed forest and game park
ranger units, the  Kenya Defence
Forces  and the  Anti-Terrorism
Police Unit.

Since 2005, I have researched
police violence and extrajudicial
killings in Kenya, especially in
Nairobi, Mombasa and Kwale. I
work closely with grassroots or-
ganisations.

Considering the evidence
of police killings of citizens over
decades, some social justice activ-
ists I have spoken to recently are
asking “why now?”.

Police killings are systemic in
Kenya and have been since the
late 1990s. So the disbandment

Page 34 World News NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Russia dangerous decline: Kremlin
won’t go down without a fight

ANDREW KENDALL-TAYLOR/
MICHAEL KOFMAN

AT a White House ceremony on 9 Given these factors, there will be to ratify the expansion of Nato to with the illegal annexation of four tened the country’s decline. Today,
August, days after the United States a strong temptation to downgrade include Finland and Sweden, US Ukrainian regions. Russia’s long-term outlook is decid-
Senate agreed in a near-unanimous Russia as a threat. That would be President Joe Biden highlighted edly dimmer.
vote to ratify the expansion of Nato a mistake, and not just because the how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Putin reacted to Russia’s falling
to include Finland and Sweden, war has yet to be won. In Ukraine had backfired on Russian President fortunes in Ukraine just as he did Given these factors, there will be
United States President Joe Biden and elsewhere, the more vulnera- Vladimir Putin. to its shrinking role on the world a strong temptation to downgrade
highlighted how Russia’s invasion ble Moscow perceives itself to be, stage: dealt a losing hand, he dou- Russia as a threat.
of Ukraine had backfired on Rus- the more it will try to offset those “He’s getting exactly what he bled down on his risky bet. To Pu-
sian President Vladimir Putin. vulnerabilities by relying on uncon- did not want,” Biden announced. tin’s evident surprise, the war in That would be a mistake, and
“He’s getting exactly what he did ventional tools — including nucle- “He wanted the Finlandisation of Ukraine has accelerated long-stand- not just because the war has yet to
not want,” Biden announced. “He ar weapons. Nato, but he’s getting the NATOi- ing trends pushing his country to- be won. In Ukraine and elsewhere,
wanted the Finlandisation of Nato, sation of Finland, along with Swe- ward decline. the more vulnerable Moscow per-
but he’s getting the NATOisation In other words, Russian power den.” Indeed, Russia’s invasion of ceives itself to be, the more it will
of Finland, along with Sweden.” In- and influence may be diminished, Ukraine has been a massive strate- Europe is moving to  reduce  its try to offset those vulnerabilities by
deed, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but that does not mean Russia will gic blunder, leaving Russia militari- energy dependence on Russia, di- relying on unconventional tools —
has been a massive strategic blun- become dramatically less threaten- ly, economically, and geopolitically minishing both the country’s lever- including nuclear weapons.
der, leaving Russia militarily, eco- ing. Instead, some aspects of the weaker. age over the continent and the
nomically, and geopolitically weak- threat are likely to worsen. government revenues that depend In other words, Russian power
er. Ukraine’s offensive in Kharkiv in heavily on energy exports. and influence may be diminished,
For the West, recognising that September underscored the mag- but that does not mean Russia will
Ukraine’s offensive in Kharkiv in reality means abandoning any near- nitude of Putin’s error. As Rus- Unprecedented international become dramatically less threaten-
September underscored the mag- term hopes of a chastened Russia sian forces grew exhausted, losing sanctions and export controls are ing. Instead, some aspects of the
nitude of Putin’s error. As Russian and maintaining support for Rus- momentum on the battlefield, limiting Russia’s access to capital threat are likely to worsen. For the
forces grew exhausted, losing mo- sia’s targets. That effort should be- Ukraine seized the initiative, deal- and technology, which will cause West, recognising that reality means
mentum on the battlefield, Ukraine gin in Ukraine: the US and its allies ing the Russian military a decisive Moscow to fall even further behind abandoning any near-term hopes of
seized the initiative, dealing the must provide sustained support to blow. Ukraine’s battlefield success- in innovation. a chastened Russia and maintaining
Russian military a decisive blow. Kyiv to ensure that Russia suffers a es revealed the extent of the rot in support for Russia’s targets.
defeat. Putin’s army — the sagging morale, A year ago, we argued in these
Ukraine’s battlefield successes the declining manpower, the dete- pages that reports of Russia’s decline That effort should begin in
revealed the extent of the rot in But even if Putin loses, the prob- riorating quality of the troops. In- were overstated and that Russia was Ukraine: the United States and its
Putin’s army — the sagging mo- lem that Russia poses will not be stead of giving up, however, Putin poised to remain a persistent pow- allies must provide sustained sup-
rale, the declining manpower, the solved. In many ways, it will grow responded to these problems by er — a country facing structural port to Kyiv to ensure that Russia
deteriorating quality of the troops. in intensity. So, too, should the re- ordering a partial military  mobil- challenges but maintaining the in- suffers a defeat. But even if Putin
Instead of giving up, however, Pu- sponse to it. isation, introducing tougher pun- tent and capabilities to threaten the loses, the problem that Russia poses
tin responded to these problems by ishments for soldiers who desert United States and its allies. Putin’s will not be solved. In many ways,
ordering a partial military  mobil- At a White House ceremony on or surrender, and moving forward disastrous invasion underscored the it will grow in intensity. So, too,
isation, introducing tougher pun- 9 August, days after the US Senate dangers of dismissing the threat should the response to it. – Foreign
ishments for soldiers who desert agreed in a near-unanimous vote from Russia, but it has also has- Affairs.
or surrender, and moving forward
with the illegal annexation of four
Ukrainian regions.

Putin reacted to Russia’s falling
fortunes in Ukraine just as he did
to its shrinking role on the world
stage: dealt a losing hand, he dou-
bled down on his risky bet. To Pu-
tin’s evident surprise, the war in
Ukraine has accelerated long-stand-
ing trends pushing his country to-
ward decline.

Europe is moving to  reduce  its
energy dependence on Russia, di-
minishing both the country’s lever-
age over the continent and the
government revenues that depend
heavily on energy exports.

Unprecedented international
sanctions and export controls are
limiting Russia’s access to capital
and technology, which will cause
Moscow to fall even further behind
in innovation.

A year ago, we argued in these
pages that reports of Russia’s decline
were overstated and that Russia was
poised to remain a persistent pow-
er — a country facing structural
challenges but maintaining the in-
tent and capabilities to threaten the
United States and its allies.

Putin’s disastrous invasion un-
derscored the dangers of dismissing
the threat from Russia, but it has
also hastened the country’s decline.
Today, Russia’s long-term outlook
is decidedly dimmer.

NewsHawks World News Page 35

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

NGAIRE WOODS In defence of non-alignment

AS the United States and China di- War, aligning with the US enabled It also enables countries to hold selves unconditionally to a superpow- cal capabilities if it wishes to act ac-
vide the world into allies and en- Western European countries to ben- superpowers to account. Non-aligned er’s international policies and pref- cording to its values “without being
emies, many smaller countries are efit from open trade and rebuild their Singapore, for example,  refused  to erences. For the superpowers, this is bullied by others.” With such consid-
resisting pressure to take sides. It is economies and democratic systems. support Indonesia’s invasion of East challenging. Blind allegiance is more erations in mind, the EU has already
wiser to navigate rising economic But other countries derived no such Timor in 1975, opposed the US comfortable and allows them to proj- taken steps toward its goal of greater
nationalism without unconditionally benefits and responded to the Cold invasion of Grenada in 1983, and ect greater power. strategic autonomy by establishing
adopting the foreign-policy prefer- War accordingly. The Non-Aligned has condemned Russia’s invasion the European Battery Alliance, which
ences of superpowers. Movement was  founded  in 1961, of Ukraine. The countries compris- Today’s emerging nationalism re- aims to develop a competitive and
championed by Egyptian President ing the  Organisation of American quires economic self-reliance, which sustainable battery value chain on the
Critics  of geopolitical non-align- Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ghanaian Presi- States  have  condemned  Russia’s in- can be difficult to achieve after de- continent.
ment have long characterised it as a dent Kwame Nkrumah, Indian Prime vasion and suspended its observer cades of actively participating in
flawed and doomed policy, and in the Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Indone- status. But they have not joined the global markets. To strengthen its But there is still a long way to go.
wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sian President Sukarno, and Yugoslav US-led sanctions against Russia, cit- financial resilience, India has accu- The global power balance is shift-
non-alignment is rapidly falling out President Josip Broz Tito. ing the effects on people in Cuba mulated  more than US$500 bil- ing as the US-China rivalry escalates.
of favour. After all, Ukraine was in- and Venezuela. Kenya voted to  con- lion  in foreign-exchange reserves, Moreover, both superpowers face
vaded because it was not a member Non-alignment during the Cold demn  Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while Brazil increased its reserves to domestic political challenges that
of Nato, causing Sweden and Finland War never meant not taking sides. in the UN General Assembly, but a over US$300 billion. Another way to could affect their foreign policies.
to abandon their long-held neutrality Within a year of founding NAM, month later abstained from the vote strengthen resilience is to reduce for- In the meantime, other countries
and apply to join. Nehru  turned  to the US for assis- to remove Russia from the Human eign debt. In the mid-2000s, 46% of should not be faulted for pursuing
tance in the Sino-Indian War. A de- Rights Council. Kenyan Ambassa- Indonesia’s public debt, and 83% of non-alignment to achieve self-reli-
But non-alignment, or the re- cade later, Nehru’s daughter, Prime dor Martin Kimani  reminded the Chile’s, was denominated in foreign ance. Perhaps resisting the pull of the
fusal to ally with any major power Minister Indira Gandhi, turned to world  that the West had suspended currencies. By last year, Indonesia and major superpowers can help to ensure
unconditionally, may be necessary the Soviet Union for  help. Egyptian Libya from the Human Rights Coun- Chile had cut this share to 23% and a more equitable world order.
to restrain the world’s superpowers. President Anwar El-Sadat famous- cil as a precursor to invading the 32%, respectively. — Project Syndicate.
Otherwise, their increasing national- ly dumped the Soviets for the Amer- country, with disastrous consequenc-
ism could lead to a global order an- icans in the early 1970s. To a degree, es for Libya’s neighbours. But boosting self-reliance can be *About the writer: Ngaire Woods
tithetical to the interests of all other non-alignment enables some coun- difficult even for wealthy countries. is dean of the Blavatnik School of
countries. tries to pit one side against the other Non-alignment also enables small- For example, a recent report by the Government at the University of
for investments, aid, arms purchases, er countries to advance their values European Council on Foreign Re- Oxford in Britain.
Economic nationalism is on the and security arrangements. and interests without tethering them- lations argues that the European
rise among the world’s major su- Union  must improve  its technologi-
perpowers. A  2019 report  by the
Peterson Institute for Internation-
al Economics highlighted then-US
President Donald Trump’s advocacy
of protectionism, restrictions on in-
ward foreign investment and immi-
gration, and rejection of multilateral
constraints. Previously, the United
States offered allies its commitment
to a rules-based international order
and shared security, which President
Joe  Biden’s administration  seeks to
restore. But Trump’s “America First”
narrative has changed that offer, and
many Republican candidates in No-
vember’s midterm elections are vow-
ing to weaken it further.

China is also reshaping its offer to
potential allies. Ten years ago, Chi-
na’s Belt and Road Initiative promised
partner countries generous funding
for infrastructure and development
projects as Chinese policymakers cre-
ated a powerful network of economic,
financial, political, and security rela-
tions across the world. Those invest-
ments are now being  scaled back  as
China takes a harder-nosed commer-
cial approach to overseas ventures.

Likewise, just six years ago, Presi-
dent Xi Jinping  pledged support  for
a global rules-based order. At the
Communist Party of China’s 20th
National Congress this month, he de-
clared  that profound changes in the
international landscape and external
attempts to blackmail, contain, and
blockade China mean that “we have
to put our national interests first.”

The new nationalism of superpow-
ers forces other countries to make
some hard choices. During the Cold

Page 36 Reframing Issues NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

US embassy’s Sandton terror alert failed

to meet the basic security parameters

SIPHUMELELE DUMA problematic on many levels, one of potential terror attack demonstrated higher priority than the safety and the mission against any intrusion or
which is around the determination of not only a lack of regard for South security of US citizens around the damage and to prevent any distur-
IN the wake of the  11 September its credibility.  African sovereignty but also for the world.” No one disputes this asser- bance of the peace of the mission or
2001 terrorist attacks  on New York country’s government in general and tion; in fact, every country has that impairment of its dignity”.
by  Al Qaeda, the then government A security threat assessment must the country’s intelligence agencies in responsibility to its citizenry, and it is
of George W Bush declared “war on lead to the identification of the actors particular. not peculiar to the US.  While there is no international law
terror”, which extended beyond the behind the threat, the ideology and that explicitly deters the US embassy
borders of the US and stretched to motivation for the planned attack, Ramaphosa correctly pointed out However, two things can be true at from issuing such an alert without
other parts of the world. This saw the the method through which it will be that the alert caused panic among the same time and not necessarily be informing the security agencies of the
US increasing its investment in secu- affected, the risk of it being carried Sandton residents and the nation at mutually exclusive. As a foreign mis- host country, there has to be proper
rity operations in places such as the out and the target (location) of the large, especially since thousands of sion, the US embassy in South Africa coordination and cooperation with
Middle East and Africa, operations threat.  people were preparing to gather in does have a right to warn its citizens relevant agencies in the quest to con-
that are run by its people.  Sandton for the Joburg Pride march, of a potential terror threat, which duct a thorough security threat as-
While the embassy identified fearing that this event could be the does not mean it cannot be done sessment and neutralise the threat, if
Through these operations, the Sandton as the target, it could not target. in coordination with the national not for anything else, as a show of
US would identify security threats establish the identity of the people security forces of the receiving state, courtesy to the receiving state. 
in these countries and issue alerts. behind the threat; it did not identify Deputy minister of state security which is South Africa in this case. 
Although clearly in violation of the ideology or the method involved. Zizi Kodwa said that the US govern- This would not only help ensure
the principle of sovereign equality Therefore, the basic parameters of ment would not provide them with There is a protocol to follow when that all the basic parameters of the
of states, the practice never met se- security threat assessment in the case further information regarding the issues like this arise, of which the US security threat assessment are met
rious resistance and so it became of the US-issued security alert on potential terror attack (at the time) government is aware. This is import- but also avoid unnecessary diplomat-
entrenched. It is against this back- Sandton were not met. As such, it except for what was in the public do- ant because the South African secu- ic tension between the concerned
ground that the recent behaviour of lacked credibility and was essentially main.  rity forces are responsible for pro- countries.
the US in the context of South Africa reckless. tecting everyone within its borders,
must be understood.  When asked about the alert by including, as pointed out in the Vi- — Mail & Guardian.
When South African Presi- members of the media in Washing- enna Convention on Diplomatic Re-
The “terrorist attack alert” that was dent Cyril Ramaphosa said the gov- ton concerning the complaints raised lations, foreign diplomatic missions. *About the writer: Dr Siphu-
issued by the US Embassy in Preto- ernment had received no communi- by the South African government melele Duma is a post-doctoral
ria on 26 October warned that the cation from the US Embassy, calling regarding the lack of communication Article 22 (2) of the convention research fellow at the Universi-
attack would be targeting large gath- the incident “unfortunate”, it was about the matter, US state depart- provides that “the receiving state is ty of Johannesburg’s Institute for
erings in Sandton. This proved to be a surprise to many. The US embas- ment spokesperson Ned Price insist- under a special duty to take all appro- Pan-African Thought and Conver-
sy in issuing the alert regarding the ed that the US government has “no priate steps to protect the premises of sation in South Africa.

Porsche just got angrier Being a Fashion Model

&Life Style

STYLE TRAVEL BOOKS ARTS MOTORING

Page 37 Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Rick Ross

JONATHAN MBIRIYAMVEKA Nasty C leads coterie Rita Ora and Taika Waititi live from the
of curtain raisers at PSD Bank Dome in Düsseldorf, Ger-
SOUTH Africa’s chart topper Nasty Rick Ross concert many, 13 November.
C will lead a coterie of young Zimba-
bwean rappers as curtain raisers for the does not come cheap and is not meant Nasty C one of their major promoters. Already, Nasty C has long endeared
American star Rick Ross. for every Tom, Dick and Harry. The brand's range also includes a himself well with Zimbabwean fans.

Rick Ross is billed to perform in People often ask: What is this Be- Brut and Luxe, a demi-sec sparkling Having performed in Harare on a
Zimbabwe for the first time on 18 laire Rosé and why is Rick Ross always wine, according to online reports. number of occasions and also support-
November, at the Harare International talking about it? ed King 98’s charity work, Nasty C is
Conference Centre. As they say, Rick Ross got game. He a firm favourite among Zimbabwean
Belaire Rose is a French sparkling has the hits and makes moves just the youth.
Also on the bill are DJs Rimo, Ma- wine produced in the Provence-Alpes- way fans love it.
deHerBalieve, King Her, MC Cut and Côte d'Azur region of the South of But his popularity is not just in
MC Tatts, among others. France. The Aston Martin Music singer has southern Africa but also across the con-
done collaborations with several artistes, tinent.
There is lots of hype surrounding the Officially labelled "Luc Belaire Rare the likes of P Square, Mary J Blige, Jay
gig, with Rick Ross dropping promo Rosé," the wine is a blend of Syrah, Z, Nicki Minaj, Meek Mill, DJ Khaled, In March 2020, Nasty C signed a
videos ahead of his debut performance. Grenache, and Cinsault grapes typically French Montana, P Diddy and dis- joint venture deal with Def Jam Records
used in the production of Provençal rosé graced R&B sensation R Kelly, among and released his United States official
“I am celebrating for you. You better wines. And needless to say the brand is others. Also worth noting is that Nasty single after joining Def Jam, “There
get your tickets now. One time for the owned by the New York-based compa- C, who will be performing as a support- They Go”, which gained him global rec-
whole team. It’s the biggest boss!” Rick ny Sovereign Brands. ing act, is also billed to perform at the ognition.
Ross said in the video. MTV Europe Music AwardS 2022.
The brand's packaging is noteworthy He then released his third album on
Politics aside, the Maybach Music for its opaque black bottles. Rick Ross is The MTV EMAS will be hosted by 28 August 2020, and his first on the la-
owner will jet into Zimbabwe, a place bel which is titled Zulu Man with Some
once described by Jamaican Sean Paul as Power.
a “Concert Country” when he first per-
formed at the National Sports Stadium The award winning Nasty C has
alongside Akon for the Real Deal gig in plenty up his sleeves and the last time he
2011. performed in Harare at the Unplugged
concert he nailed it. Other local acts
And Rick Ross will no doubt make Nutty O, Holy Ten and Takura will add
his presence felt through a top notch act colour to what may already have been a
as he promised to drink from the bottle star-studded concert.
like what he sings in one of his songs
where he says “Belaire here, Belaire The show is being put together by
there, Belaire everywhere.” ROAR Entertainment, a global media
and entertainment company, Better-
Given the hype, the show obviously bands, MTV Base and Belaire.

Page 38 Life & Style NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Poor sound
quality

affecting Jah
Prayzah brand

JONATHAN MBIRIYAMVEKA
THERE was a time that Jah Prayzah never seemed to put a foot wrong in his career.
He was soaring like an eagle, both in live performances and in the studio, churning one
hit after another, one album after another.
But lately, the Zimbabwean contemporary singer’s live shows have been badly affected
by poor sound quality.
For live performances, promoters usually invest heavily in good public address (PA) sys-
tems, artistes are solely to blame for the less-than-edifying output.
What makes for a great show is the sound quality and every performing artiste should
know this. Sound can make or break any live performance.
And for this reason, most international artistes make sure when they compile their tech-
nical riders – basically a list of requirements of what they want – they include instruments
that they know will produce sound of the highest quality.
With Jah Prayzah, there are a good number of factors affecting his sound.
And one of the many reasons besides that is that he fired almost the entire original Third
Generation members, so Jah Prayzah is now using the loop.
What this means is that he is now playing backtracks to aid his backing group.
The original band members who played most of his music are no longer there. The new
ones are adding their own style to the music.
This results in poor sound or distortions because every instrumentalist brings their own
flair to the table.
So when you listen carefully to the sound during live shows, it is full of distortions and
does not compare to the CD quality.
Ordinarily, if you are a fan, or perhaps boozing during Jah Prayzah’s shows, you would
not pick this up.
But to the sober mind, the poor sound is quite glaring and has been going on since he
started using the loop.
To the neutral – not the diehard fan – it is quite annoying that Jah Prayzah is failing to
reproduce his music as we hear it on the CD.
But then he is not the only artiste who is being affected by the loop.
Another musician who comes to mind is Winky D, although with the Gaffa it is not
always the case because of the genre, Zim dancehall.
Winky D gets away with it because he has been using the loop over time. So, here and
there, he has perfected the art.
However, his sound is not that good because, again, the instrumentalists put their own
flair, whether it is the guitar riffs or wrong keys on the keyboard.
So when you listen to Winky D live, it sounds like he is performing a medley as he sings
one song after the other.

NewsHawks Poetry Corner Page 39

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

Title: uncle's car Title: The Market Place Where Death Is Sold Title: Sad stories
Poet: Chenjerai Mhondera Poet: Plaxedes Mahanise aka Meredith Bur- Poet: Patrick Hwande
tley
they view it with disdain The way we cut down trees,
they don't care what becometh of it, The mighty women of gossip, Bet in decade or so,
they say it's uncle's car! Throw the tots of grapevine like grain, Posterity will stand to inherit wastelands.
pointing fingers in the blue Always having a knack for pure gossip, The way we run schooling systems,
pointing even with no clue, Where they bewitch the listener with the anec- Sooner than we think,
others keeping passive eyes glued dotes, Of the street grapevine, Borderlines will be in charge of all affairs.
they say it's uncle's car That does the rounds, The way we abuse hard substances
passing in view And sing every dry grass, In no time at all,
this car they forget With tongues of flames of malice. The healthy will be confined to museums.
uncle bought Poisoned is the well, The way we handle matrimonies,
for everyone's convenience From whence we dwell, As many as are my fingers,
they forget even to clean the car, Their parody is but hell, Nobody will be somebody's flesh.
they cause dents on the car, It comes as a bell's signal, The way we mis (inform) the masses,
they scribble their ugly writings on thick coat of That chimes at odd hours, Given another decade,
dust Awakening skunbering witches, Dogmatism will be the air we breathe.
soiling its body To another meal; a newly unborn. The way we love to hate another,
till it screams, He who acquires a fleet, Pretty soon people of the same clan,
"WASH ME! WASH ME PLEASE!" Invites death to their doorstep Will scowl each other as Martians.
all they think and say is, "it's uncle's car!" For the wiles of the street women, There is a lot going on our heads,
they give no damn, Is naturally destructive, Wishing we could debate whims and feel-
so proceed to treat it with such disgust. Turning their homes into marketplaces of death, ings; To survive this decade.
***************************************************** Were rile is but the only tuck for survival. ***********************************************
.************************************************
Title: Untitled Title: Tynwald deaths
Poet: Stephen Mupoto Title: Farewell Poet: Blessing S Chigunda – Radical
Poet: Gift Sakirai
As we ride on the back of time, Speed thrills
Mirroring on the dark past behind, Look here love but
Our hearts are reverted on the glory ahead. I know not what to tell you anymore. kills
Like a pendulum, My eyes have come face to face with the spectre death is a harlot
We bob back and forth, of truth. selling thighs
In search of the spindles of a lost destiny. Forgive mine deceit for promising a tomorrow that to mr life
On these market stalls, was never mine to give. who feasts on the hive
Death is for sale, Conceited, I thought that I could with ease tread at the expense of people's joy.
You choose how you want to die. softly on the mine infested land of lies on my way Death!
The calendar is but a false trudge, to a mirage of truth. a raunchy
In a conditioned twelve moon orbit, Forgo with contempt all that I said, if not filthy
Where abortive dreams are nurtured, all that I promised to give. committed employee
And resolutions envisaged die still. Mine heart thought with certainty that I could with manipulated by the brutal hands of circum-
In these opulent buildings, exertion great hew into existence a life affluent stance.
They squabble all day, befitting your beauty and intellect. gripped by the clamp of reality
Creating absurd legislations, Hate not how our union came to be, we all owe him our souls.
That protect the elite, what's not to love? However...
And smack the poor, Our heartfelt vows of yesteryear notwithstanding, Should we recklessly
With whips that crack the last lines of defence, I must with acute regret bid you farewell, live?
That is a little piggy bank saving, I can no longer withstand that glazed look on your Should we carelessly
Gobbled by a raging tax. weather-beaten face. survive? Should we
I have but deep conversations with self, Silently, it speaks volumes of all that I failed to inconsiderately
And still wonder if I am going anywhere, provide. A one-time dreamer, drive?
As we have collectively bargained for a fail, I awoke to a lifetime of never-ending horrors Take audit of our actions.
Bolted to the cross of penury, invariably fuelled by shops that laugh in my tired Make a serious
Like death row criminals. face, fiend-like. Please go my beloved, critical analysis
Where has justice flown to, salvage the little dreams that you still can in this of our habits.
When we are involuntarily enlisted, auction of an existence, Muzzle complacency!
Into the bandit brigades, my bids are fated to fall through ad infinitum. Lest...
To subdue our own, I am a hunter who chased after the wrong game, we all prematurely die,
Maim and kill. mine academic accolades proved worthless in we become victims
this casino economy. left with no parents
.***************************************************** Goodbye my love, within your heart we leave orphans behind.
find some way to forgive mine folly: ***********************************************
I'm just but a fool; who dared to dream.
***********************************************

Page 40 State of the Culture NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

THIS week I want to discuss an Technology impacting lives
issue around technology and the
manner in which it is shaping hu-
man society.

As invasive as technology has be-
come, it is impacting upon our lives
like at no other time in human his-
tory. Yesterday, we could have been
able to live "off line" without need-
ing to refer to or enlist the help of
technology to connect with one an-
other but now it is a different world
altogether. Hardly an hour passes
without someone seeking some sort
of direct or indirect contact with us.
Watching France 24 this past week
got me interested in digging deeper
into the subject of technology. Spe-
cifically artificial intelligence (AI).

The age of data Elon Musk.
Industry and tech watchers these
days highlight this epoch as be- which feature their artificially gen- from the fact that the advert is a an ad pops up. deep fakes in revenge porn. There is
ing one in which “torrential data erated likenesses! One of the world’s parody, Musk may not find it funny That is all AI at work and this ap- a number of devious ways in which
flows…outstrip our limited human richest people Elon Musk is one of that his likeness is having to endorse deep fakes can be used to misrepre-
ability to comprehend and act on the more famous personages along products he does not necessarily en- plies to cookies on websites which sent people and in some cases even
this information”. In this mix, mar- with Bruce Willis a notable Holly- dorse. you visit. They all help in the de- extort. Audio and visual simulations
keting folk among many profession- wood actor. But the ‘dastardly deed’ will have termination of which ads are most are very real and possible. Law en-
als have the task of monitoring cus- Ethical and legal issues surely been done and 1.2 million reported suitable for you and which have the forcement officers around the world
tomer interactions with brands and must arise. Imagine with me, seeing views of the ad later, it is not a bad biggest impact on your life albeit via need to get up to speed with what is
entities. There are a number of dig- your famous or non-famous self in gamble to have made. The age of the your interests. going on.
ital platforms on which to do this. a video selling a product or service "deep fake" is upon us if marketers
and you know nothing about ever can get away with taking shots at The digital trail of your online The Job Sikhala case is one that
Why is it important for them to having participated in the making well-resourced individuals such as engagements is what artificial intel- comes to mind especially where the
do so? They do have gauge the in- of such? Welcome to the world of Musk. ligence is absorbing. prosecution has at some point had
teractions through the use of algo- artificial intelligence. Of course by It likely is globally still a grey to present video "evidence" of an al-
rithms and right now it is easy for the time many in "tardily catching area of law which legal minds and Addy leged crime. For Zimbabwean read-
websites and social media sites to up" parts of the world, and among governments will have to deal with. Kudita ers of this column, you will recall the
afford marketers and researchers those who live by the seeing is be- Who could have known that some- leaking of the audio recording of the
alike the demographic profile and lieving credo, finally come to into day we would need to patent our- Ultimately purported conversation between the
even sentiments of customers. It this awareness, some may have paid selves to pre-empt nefarious and Data science has enabled market- former vice president of Zimbabwe
is a marketer or researcher’s dream terrible prices for their ignorance to mischievous marketing folk from ers to clarify their target audiences. Kamba Mohadi and some which led
epoch, methinks, because one now the trend. taking advantage?   It has helped marketers considerably to his removal from office woman.
quantitatively as well as qualitative- Imagine with me a deep fake of with algorithms for targeted adver-
ly defines their target market using some political target being present- An industry perspective tising and in the case of deep fakes, Could it not have been reason-
desktop research alone. It is most ed in court as ‘evidence’ of a crime?     A  c  c o  r d ing to Forbes magazine, to lower the cost of advertising cam- ably argued that the recording was a
likely easier now to convince pen- It is a lot to chew upon. For now, leading companies are increasing- paigns involving simulations of high deep fake and would the burden of
ny pinching accountants to release the likes of Elon Musk are having ly likely to utilise AI in marketing. profile individuals. Deep fakes some the proof have not been on the one
the needed ad spend given the ac- to watch with amusement videos Zigatta, a US and Mexico technol- experts contend can be repurposed alleging that it was Mohadi? It will
cessibility of empirical data. But I of themselves in shower caps do- ogy solutions company, quotes a and edited for future campaigns. be interesting to see how this subject
digress.   ing stuff they did not actually do. Salesforce report putting the fig- Of concern however is the ability pan out in the near future in court
A "deep fake") version of Musk ap- ure of marketing leaders deploying of audiences to distinguish the real cases and along with the legal impli-
You must understand how a cus- peared in an ad of real estate start AI as having scaled up from 29% and the simulated. cations for our courts.
tomer interacts with your brand and up reAlpha. (2018) to a whopping 84% (2020). Moreover, a 2019 report by Deep- Parting shot
how that customer interacts with The wisdom of such a controver- Marketing AI relates to any system trace an AI firm managed to spot On the brighter side, awareness of
other brands —especially compet- sial gimmick is perhaps the publici- which ‘leverages human capacities 15,000 ‘deep fake’ videos. A con- the opportunities which AI present
itors — and other customers. And ty which a possible Musk litigation for learning, perception, and inter- siderable 96% of these videos were in for example education around
now, with increasing economic may elicit from the media. I read an action to solve marketing problems pornographic. Imagine the use of how machine learning and AI can
pressures, it is more imperative than article highlighting the fact that the at a level of complexity that super- be used in marketing campaigns is
ever for you to make timely deci- company had lawyers ensure that sedes human abilities. An example helpful. For now, perhaps in coun-
sions with what information you there were disclaimers indicating are Facebook ads. You write about tries yet to move away from the
have to optimise brand performance that Musk did not actually partic- stuff and have these chats with analogue to the digital domain, the
and achieve the business outcomes ipate or endorse the advert. Aside friends on your page and next time uptake will be slow. But it will even-
for which you are accountable. tually need to take place.
What is AI?
Encyclopaedia Britannica describes
artificial intelligence as “the ability
of a digital computer or comput-
er-controlled robot to perform tasks
commonly associated with intelli-
gent beings.”

AI is commonly “applied to the
project of developing systems en-
dowed with the intellectual process-
es characteristic of humans, such as
the ability to reason, discover mean-
ing, generalise, or learn from past
experience”.

For the purpose of this instalment
I wish to focus on the use of AI in
the field of marketing. As I hinted
earlier, a France 24 news item got
me interested especially as it men-
tioned the use of celebrities in ad-
vertising and marketing campaigns.

What was novel about this piece
of news? Well, the fact that these ce-
lebrities and famous people do not
have to or rather are not having to
have their consent in the campaigns

Page 41 People & Places NewsHawks

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

African leaders, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa, this week gathered at the 2022 Africa Investment Forum in Abijan, Cote d’Ivoire. The three-day forum drew project sponsors, investors, and heads
of state from around the world to participate in boardroom sessions that could lead to transactions worth billions of dollars. Cote d’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara (pictured with President Mnangagwa) said
Market Days 2022 would break the US$100 billion threshold in investment interest. (link is externa in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire’s economic capital, the leaders vowed to continue working to strengthen the econom-
ic resilience of their countries against external shocks. The three-day forum has drawn project sponsors, investors, and heads of state from around the world to participate in boardroom sessions that could lead to
transactions worth billions of dollars. President of Cote d’Ivoire Alassane Ouattara expressed the hope that Market Days 2022 would break the $100 billion threshold in investment interest.

NewsHawks Sport Page 42

Issue 105, 4 November 2022

We listened to boy-wonder Nkosi in
pure awe, now meet one of his mentors

ENOCK MUCHINJO Nkosilathi Dube (in lighter-coloured blazer) with some of his Heritage School golf teammates. al police service of times gone by.
As a boy in the '80s, he supported
WHEN adorable little Christine passed in Harare since 2019, told The News- other vices. are teachable – that’s the kind of leaders
away tragically after choking on a ly- Hawks this week. In Epworth, he had to sleep on the I would like to see. Leaders that never Black Mambas, the police’s foremost
chee seed in 2015, aged just four, her become too big to do the small things. football club, never missing the team’s
family was devastated and heartbroken. “Whenever I see children, I always couch in a tiny house, and used public That’s the qualities that Nkosi has. I home matches at Morris Depot.
say to myself I have over 350 of them transport to reach Heritage, a well-off mean, I meet him every Thursday, I
The infant’s death in the freak acci- (at the school), you know, and they are private school located in the affluent have tea with the school heads – head- “I grew up at different times with
dent at home in Harare was a hammer so important and dear to me. Losing Borrowdale Brooke suburb. boy, headgirl, deputy headgirl, deputy George Mbwando, Masimba Dinyero
blow for dad Crispen Mhike, a man my daughter tragically through chok- headboy, and sports prefects. We go and Nqobizitha Ncube in Morris De-
with an in-born passion for serving the ing made me realise that our time on Dube – a gifted rugby player and through a lot of nurturing, go through pot. George and Nqo’s dads were also
community as well as grooming chil- earth can end anytime, so we need to golfer who first arrived at Heritage on a lot of leadership skills and training be- policemen. Like myself, George, who
dren and young people. make an impact whilst we can. I really a sports scholarship in 2017 – revealed cause I believe that they can instill that was older than me, went to Churchill
want to make an impact, I really want how an aunt and cousin came through kind of culture in others. So when we and was also a very good swimmer.”
It was only natural that he would to change lives, inspire and make young with financial assistance to make his meet we discuss these things because
carve a career out of education and people humble, because that’s the cor- student life easier. they are closer to the other students and Mbwando and Ncube went on to
sport. nerstone.” have great influence on them. Most of play international football for Zimba-
His unforeseen unfortunate circum- the things he (Dube) said in that speech bwe whilst policeman-cum-footballer
44-year-old Mhike was a very young The word “humility” dominates stances, Dube said in his speech, made resonate well with what I stand for, and Dinyero has legendary status at Dyna-
teacher, 22 then, when he left Harare discussion with Mhike, and it is no co- him stronger as a young person, and what we stand for as a school.” mos, the country’s most successful club.
at the turn of the millennium to teach incidence that his outgoing head-boy, he pleaded with parents not to “spoil”
geography at Hillcrest College, a presti- Nkosilathi Dube, this week left the na- their children as way of showing love. Oldest son of the late former Zim- “When Mambas folded, I then start-
gious private school established in Zim- tion spellbound with a powerful speech babwean police deputy commissioner ed supporting Dynamos,” chuckled
babwe’s third-largest city of Mutare just that oozed passion and humility. It was a rare show of honesty and Philip Mhike – who served with dis- Mhike.
15 years earlier. modesty by a teenager growing up in tinction until retirement in 1999 and
The delightfully eloquent teenager times where peer pressure and materi- death in 2015 – it is no surprise that the This, I can testify, from living in
Yup, a teacher at heart, but the main – who was endorsed by Mhike at the al desires can so easily take control of good values of discipline and humility Hatfield for a couple of years, mingling
attraction – by Mhike’s own admission end of last year to be Heritage’s 2022 adolescents. are rooted in the family of this dedicat- with the Mhikes and others during
– was the opportunity to coach sports headboy – delivered an emotional and ed educator and keen sportsman. spare time in the days Zimbabwe’s re-
at a place that had quickly established heart-filled speech at a recent event, “My relationship with Nkosi is very cord-breaking hyperinflation was tak-
itself as a force to reckon with in Zim- telling the awestruck audience how his strong,” headmaster Mhike remarked. Growing up initially in a police res- ing heavy toll on the nation’s psyche.
babwe, challenging the status quo and once privileged family once hit rock “What made me appoint him headboy idence, Morris Depot, Mhike and his
frequently defeating some of the coun- bottom that they were forced to retreat was that I’m a greater believer in humil- siblings were exposed to a variety of The watering hole for the group was
try’s oldest top schools. to Epworth, a poverty-stricken settle- ity. So young people who are humble, sporting codes and good facilities, a leg- across the main road where countless
ment just outside Harare notorious for who accept who they are and what they acy of the predominantly white nation- hours were spent over rounds of cold
Back home in Harare, Mhike had drug abuse, rampant prostitution and have, and at the same time take criti- ones, with sport dominating conversa-
been an all-rounder of sorts as a school- cism and understand that they are not tions.
boy growing up in the '80s to early '90s perfect, and they can be moulded and
– a bits-and-pieces rugby player, crick- The three Mhike brothers all sup-
eter, footballer and champion swimmer ported Dynamos, who in 2007 had
at David Livingstone Primary School won their first title in a decade, fol-
and later Churchill Boys High. lowing up with a good run in the
subsequent year’s African Champions
So in 2000 upon arrival at Hillcrest, League, where they went all the way to
Mhike was put in charge of the Un- semi-finals under David Mandigora.
der-14 rugby team. Within two years,
at the age of 24, he was appointed first- Hardly did the crew miss a Dyna-
team rugby coach, a position he would mos home tie at Rufaro Stadium, the
hold on to for the next 17 years until Mhikes boys leading the roadshow on
his departure in 2019 in the position of the family’s double-cab pick-ups: Old-
the school’s deputy headmaster. est Cris then Joe – who played Un-
der-14 rugby at Churchill with none
As Hillcrest’s deputy headmaster other than Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira
and first-team rugby coach, Mhike years back – and Allan, a one-time
also doubled as sports director, which sports reporter.
meant more involvement with a diver-
sified range of codes at the school. Others would be Walter Njowa,
one of Zimbabwe’s top rugby referees
Raised in Harare’s middle-class and a DeMbare diehard fan. Then an
neighbourhood of Hatfield, Mhike ice-cream vendor in the neighbour-
always yearned to be a role model to hood, who they called Bosso, or Wasu.
those younger than him, and it was at “Bosso” because of his undying love
Hillcrest – with his broadened role – for Highlanders, in spite of his Mutare
where his calling came to the fore. roots. He used to explain that when he
was 12 or 13, his father relocated with
During his time there, top-class the family to Bulawayo, where High-
sportsmen were produced by Hillcrest. landers made a lasting impression in
Examples are former Zimbabwe crick- him. Not forgetting Modreck Mako-
eter Tino Mawoyo and Zimbabwean tose, the only non-football fan among
rugby great Jacques Leitao – both pure- the friends, who would join just for the
bred Mutareans – as well as one-time fun.
England rugby team call-up Dave Ew-
ers. Modreck, who worked in the Zim-
babwe Rugby Union offices, died sud-
In his last three years at Hillcrest, the denly in his mid-30s in 2011, a won-
school offered a scholarship to Tavon- derful friend and confidant of us all.
ga Ablant, a bright rugby talent from
Mbare, the well-known Harare town- He learnt his sport at Murray Mc-
ship. But Ablant’s bursary did not in- Dougal Primary School in the Lowveld,
clude on-campus boarding, so Mhike where he was raised, and in boarding
took the disadvantaged but outrageous- school at Plumtree High.
ly skilful youngster into his home and
raised him as his own son. Ablant later But Modreck liked to lead a hum-
won another scholarship to Maritzburg ble life, despite a background of relative
College in South Africa and is soon on privilege. His sudden demise in what
his way to the United States on a varsity was supposed to be the prime of his
bursary. life, together with his happy but mod-
est lifestyle, also provides inspiration
The terribly tragic death of his to Mhike in his work with the young
young daughter seven years ago was a ones.
soul-crushing experience for Mhike,
which only fueled his strong desire to “Modreck was a good friend of ours
make a real difference in the lives of and a likeable character,” said Mhike. “I
others. miss him so much. He also exhibited
traits of simplicity and humility, as you
“It hurt so much and I started to re- remember well.”
alise that young people need to be guid-
ed, that young people need to live long, Thankfully there is still hope though
that we need to care for young people,” for servant leadership in Zimbabwe,
Mhike, headmaster of Heritage School with even younger people like Nkosi
Dube showing us the ability to carry
the torch.

Sports Bye for now,
African teams Big Phil, see
should aim to you soon
win World CupThursday 1 October 2020

Friday 4 November 2022 @NewsHawksLive TheNewsHawks www.thenewshawks.com

WHAT’S INSIDE NEWS CULTURE

Community
radio
regulations
Praise from Sir Andy, but ex-Zim$60 Covid
tariff for
visitors &
tourists under review
stars must also find their voicesSIR Andy Roberts, the West Indies fast

bowling legend, was livid with the Carib-

Chamisa reacbean side’s miserable performance at the
Story on Page 3 Story on Page 8
ingenuity and common vision.
This is a national game for everyone.
We all have different roles to play,
T20 World Cup, drawing contrasts with crucial in their own ways. The former
Zimbabwe in a manner that would have Khupeplayers, whom I address here, are there
left our Chevrons dead chuffed. out to to safeguard performance standards by
reminding current players of their specific
In an article that circulated worldwide roles in the team.
this week, the inimitable Roberts spoke In the past 15 years or so, the Zimba-
critically of Jimmy Adams, director of bwean team had bred an extremely dis-
cricket for the West Indies Cricket Board,
slamming the former Windies captain for turbing culture of free-riders.
being on a “joyride” rather than strength- Unofficial president calls for emergeWith just one or two players perform
ening the combined islands’ once indom- – and no serious competition in reserves
itable team. – it became too easy for non-performing
"He (Adams) should be more into the players to hide behind group failure, as I
development of the skills set of these play- have termed it before in previous blogs.
ers because when you look at it, Ireland In such an environment, there is no ac-
are more skilful than us, Zimbabwe are countability for results, which means the
more skilful than us and it shows." difference between winning and losing
Of course, the man they call “father of doesn’t matter anymore within the team.
modern West Indian fast bowling” long But with the Zimbabwe slowly now
earned every right to opinion on cricket building a core group of players, and un-
in his beloved region, and beyond, having der new refreshing management for the
set an extremely high bar as part of the past five months, we have been seeing a
extremely dominant Windies side of the shift. Players, whilst they cannot all be fir-
mid-70s to early '80s. ing, seem more aware of their responsibil-
Those who habitually think less of ity, more accountable of their individual
Zimbabwe will be quick to interpret the performance or lack thereof.
great man’s mention of the Chevrons as The Zimbabwean cricket public has
nothing more than mockery, deliberately revived its interest in the game again and,
done to pour scorn on the West Indies with that, the fans have developed a deep-
team out of utter frustration over the er understanding of the player base and
current state of affairs in the game in the constantly asking questions of the selec-
Caribbean. tors and coaches, who now know they
A hyperbole, they will be saying, to can no longer make contentious decisions
illustrate how mediocre the current gen- without being taken to task.
eration of West Indian cricketers is. Even as Zimbabwe’s batting order has
Read it the way you want, I have cho- been fragile, a one-batsman line-up, we
sen to take Sir Andy’s word for it and, Fast bowling legend Sir Andy Roberts reckons Zimbabwe and Ireland's teams are more skilful than the cur- have seen in this World Cup the likes of
even though the remarks were made just rent West Indies side. Sean Williams, skipper Craig Ervine and
before Zimbabwe’s disappointing turn in star in the opposition camp to have come at their disposal nowadays to make sure being misconstrued at a time cricket was young Wessly Madhevere adding import-
the Super 12, the Chevrons have gained hard on his old team in response to Zim- they perform the task expected of them deeply polarised in this country. ant runs onto the scoreboard to support
new respect in the cricketing world with babwe’s performance. without interferences. So former interna- Here is hoping that indications are the superb Sikandar Raza.
a refreshing brand of fearless cricket over Earlier, another fast bowling great, Pa- tionals are justified to sneer at anything correct that these divergences are a thing This means at least four batsmen in
the past five months and in this World kistan’s Shoaib Akhtar, reacted with dis- less than the standards their genera- good nick or thereabout, making it eas-
Cup. may after Zimbabwe stunned the Asian tion set. ier to notice those contributing and those
On the contrary, the West Indies were giants by one run in their second Super As Zimbabwe’s turnaround con- not. In this kind of team, there is no place
simply lifeless, and were roundly criti- 12 tie last week. Akhtar took a dig at his tinues beyond this World Cup, hope- to hide. The body language with the in-
cised at home and abroad for lacking pas- fellow countrymen in a Tweet: “That’s fully, I would like to see ex-Chevrons HawkZone dividuals at this World Cup has shown
sion after they were eliminated from the embarrassing, to be most polite!” getting more involved in the affairs of that the players are aware that it no more
World Cup in the first round. EnockIt is quite depositoburssLinofenusgsnamds ausysuitall.ive.ZIfimnot's, wlae tneeesdt
Yes, West Indies did beat Zimbabwe
sports, for past
in their only win of the preliminaries, but normal, in professional ALtinhSgeOtpeearImfNo,rmShaaIvnDinceEgsafrsoamy,Fatihnnedapdlneamyceaerns dMas- inisty wipes out $3.2 Billion olaurnd c
stars to pile on the pres-
sure on the current players as a way of was demanded of them during their own legends to perform their watchdog
Muchinjonot clinical. Zimbabwe nearly and should role. Even if it means becoming unpop-
the two-time T20 world champions were demanding standards. time. ular, like Sir Andy and Shoaib Akhtar
These guys also went through the pro- For a number of years now since
have capitalised, as did Ireland and Scot- cess in their time. And they delivered, Zimbabwean cricket took a nose- probably are now in the West Indies and
land. mostly under conditions less favourable dive, former players – even the dis- Pakistan dressing rooms.
Sir Andy, who is now at the ripe age than those exposed to present-day sports tinguished ones – dodged anything to of the past – that cricket in Zimbabwe is As long as you do not overlook the big
of 71, was not the only yesteryear super- stars, who have pretty much everything do with the game or the team, for fear of ready to make great progress again with picture.

ALSO INSIDE Meet one of boy-wonder Nkosi mentors