DID you see where  First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa was seated during last Friday’s Zanu-PF Extraordinary Congress that was held in Harare? Did you see how composed she was as she sat among other delegates? Did you see how much she sat at ease even as it was announced that she had donated food hampers to the approximately 7 000 delegates?

Just rewind a few months ago, you will understand why the issue about the First Lady has become topical in our beloved country. As a responsible Bishop I won’t take you back to that traumatising era. The Holy Book in Proverbs 3 vs 10-13 warns us that: “A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds. Her husband trusts her without reserve, and never has reason to regret it. Never spiteful, she treats him generously all her life long.”

First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa is quite refreshing. Mukadzi kwaye, kwete mujamba jecha. Marujata! No names please. The Zanu-PF delegates “suddenly reformed” and they took us back to the original Zanu-PF slogan that praises the party and the leader only. Kwete mahumbwe ekuti “Pamberi naFirst Lady! Munhu wese kuna Amai!” Amai vaani? Don’t we all have our lovely mothers?

So mukaona First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa seated at the high table during Zanu-PF meetings mobva maziva kuti kaproblem kedu kaya kava kuda kudzoka. Mukanzwa kwonzi “Pamberi naFirst Lady!” or “Munhu wese kuna Amai” just know that demoni riya radzoka. Tose toti “Puma Satan!”

But let me not be unfair to the President himself. President Mnangagwa is also quite refreshing. Actually, he is a cool President. Can you imagine some people refer to him simply as “ED” and he is cool with it?

As I was watching, President ED during the Congress, I said to myself, we have a cool President here. When the Zanu-PF national spokesperson mistakenly referred to him as His Excellency President Mugabe, President Mnangagwa saw the funny side of it and smiled. That’s what a cool President does because, surely, after 37 years knowing one leader, people like Cde Simon Khaya Moyo are bound to have some residue from the past.

But I have to warn you good people, being a cool President does not mean a weak President. Ngwena will always be Ngwena. Did you hear the President saying “Ask the ministers if it’s still business as usual in Government?” Don’t say I didn’t warn you. In March next year, expect some mini-earthquake.

During my last sermon, I warned that “President Mnangagwa is not some ice-cream” and makavanzwa voga vachiti musandinanzve vanhuwee. “The praise song I desire, if you were to sing one, is that of our national anthem and those from the liberation struggle, not for myself, no!

“If you sing the national anthem, if you sing those national songs, then me and you are together,” President Mnangagwa told delegates.

Vagonzwa here vamwe vacho. Soon after this, some provinces started singing songs praising the President. Chakabaya chikatyokera. Anyway, old habits die hard.

Talking of old habits, looks like the MDC-T hasn’t learnt a thing since its formation in 1999. We are fully aware that the MDC-T is broke and we also know that Nelson Chamisa and Tendai Biti didn’t have enough funds for Christmas, but what on earth were the two doing in the US over the past few days?

The two did what Morgan Tsvangirai did during the formative years of the MDC and they should ask him how much that boob to Europe was used at each and every turn by Zanu-PF to lynch him. I know some are still not sure, but Bishop Lazarus is dead sure that – that trip of shame to the US – was the final push into oblivion for the MDC-T.

Biti and Chamisa even tried to put up brave faces as they defended themselves against angry Zimbabweans. It’s a shame really because while the puppets had gone back to the sender, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) was pouring $1,5 billion into Zimbabwe to revive the productive sector to stimulate more exports.

And while the MDC-T was busy finishing itself, the IMF was showing that it is warming up to President Mnangagwa’s vision for Zimbabwe. “They presented their 2018 Budget on December 7th and that Budget stresses that the Government’s intention to re-impose budget discipline, reform and open the economy and engage with the broader international community . . .

“In this regard, the clarification and simplification of what’s called the indigenisation policy is a step in the right direction,” said IMF spokesman William Murray.

You all know that Bishop Lazarus is convinced that these imperialist and capitalist institutions were never created to save and serve countries of the South, but even when the devil speaks, let’s listen. That is the only way we will know what the devil is up to.

Just a warning to the MDC-T, a few months ago, the G40 cabal in Zanu-PF got to the river and they saw still waters. Like little puppies, the cabal was fooled by the still waters. They started jumping around, criss-crossing the river with reckless abandon. Some even started urinating in the river.

Then “Ngwena” splashed the still waters and in a flash the G40 cabal was gone. Gone, gone?

Now the MDC-T has to be warned. Ngwena is not Gushungo. President Mnangagwa is going to do things his own way. He went for the G40 criminals that had surrounded former President Mugabe. Criminals in the opposition should know that “Operation Restore Legacy” is an ongoing exercise.

Let me not say much for now. Pane aimbofunga kuti those army tanks could roll into the streets of Harare? Please Bishop Lazarus restrain yourself.

President Mnangagwa is still setting up his Government and Zanu-PF teams. His appointments should tell the opposition that there is a new game in town. Parikuda kurohwa basa kwete mbichana.

The opposition and its activists have been crying foul that the President is militarising Government and others are crying foul saying vari kuzadza masoja and war veterans muZanu-PF.

Well, what did you dear congregants expect? Didn’t you see the war veterans fighting in President Mnangagwa’s corner? Didn’t you see how “Operation Restore Legacy” restored the legacy?

After showing such loyalty and sacrificing a lot, you can’t expect President Mnangagwa to suddenly discard these comrades who cleared his way to power. Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty macomrades!

Don’t we know the famous statement which says: “Look out for the people who look out for you. Loyalty is everything.” American author Mario Puzo puts it differently when he says: “The strength of a family, like the strength of an army lies in its loyalty to each other.” Proverbs 17 vs 17 says: “Loyalty is unwavering in good times and bad times.”

With elections coming in 2018, President Mnangagwa has to come up with a winning team. If the opposition and their activists think the President’s team is not a winning team, democracy will give them a chance next year to express themselves.

Meanwhile, I repeat – Ngwena is not Gushungo. Short but very loaded statement. Muchaziva henyu kuti ndorevei.

Bishop is out!

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Mabasa Sasa Editor
I am sorely tempted to gloat. I’m human. The uncharitable urge grips us all from time to time and we want to strut like a peacock and ungraciously yell, “I told you so!”

But I will keep that nasty little imp in its bottle. Maybe I’ll whisper it, naturally in a very self-deprecating manner, to a few buddies who have taken upon themselves the burden of being my drinking mates.

It’s the cross they chose to carry. And carry it they shall. So rather than gloat about how the Congress that was supposed to seal a certain man’s fate actually became the one that proclaimed him numero uno, or about how the people who initially schemed to hold that Congress were instead watching it from South Africa and Kenya; I will instead draw attention to a story that appeared in the media a few days ago.

It was a little story, pushed into a corner, drowned by the momentous developments sweeping Zimbabwe to a brighter tomorrow. That’s the tragedy of print media: there simply isn’t enough newsprint and ink to accommodate everything under the sun; and the economics of the business, like any other, often elevate Mammon to the head of the altar.

Anyway, to the little story in question. There is a 33-year-old chap in Bulawayo who goes by the name of Andrew Zhou. He has no known claim to national fame. We don’t know where he works. We don’t know who his parents are. We know not where his umbilical cord is buried.

What we do know is that our Andrew Zhou is doing his bit for Zim-Asset by supporting tobacco. Before I am lynched by the anti-smoking lobby, let us consider these few stats ably supplied by a quartet of solid researchers who go by the names Ian Scoones, Blasio Mavedzenge, Felix Murimbarimba and Chrispen Sikune, as first published on April 27, 2017.

The four musketeers say, “Tobacco contributed about 11 percent to total gross domestic product in 2014, valued at US$685 million, with 106 456 registered growers . . .”

They also tell us that most of the tobacco is produced by small-scale farmers in highly labour-intensive operations that are not mechanised. The 2012 census by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency decrees that the average family size in the country is 4,2.

Simple extrapolation of the stats from Scoones et al tell us tobacco directly supports no less than 445 200 Zimbabweans. Before Professor Scoones and company usefully dished these numbers, the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa had dug up its own figures.

They concluded that, in Zimbabwe, the tobacco industry as a value chain employed 1,13 million Zimbabweans with 5,67 million dependants. And the industry is only growing.

So, our Andrew Zhou (33) of Bulawayo – employment, parentage and umbilical details unknown – is a vital cog in a major industry. Wait. Remember: tobacco is harmful to health.

Like a gun, a cigarette is one of the few things in this world that actually kills when it is used for the exact purpose for which it is created.

But when our Andrew Zhou falls ill, our fine doctors and nurses and the pharmaceutical industry will solemnly benefit from his patriotic decision to light up a cigarette. And when he, God forbid, bids this mortal orb a painful farewell, Doves, Nyaradzo or whoever, will likely perform the grim duty of returning him to the dust from whence he came, and pocket some dollars for its pains.

Our Andrew Zhou loves his country.

He is not a selfish man. He is sacrificing his own lungs, throat, oesophagus and other sundry body parts for Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans. He is the salt of the earth, a martyr-in-waiting.

Right? Well, not quite. You see, how we come to know the little of Andrew Zhou that we do is because he was hauled before a magistrate, Ms Rumbidzai Mkanga, last week.

Our Andrew Zhou was fined US$100 or two months in jail because on November 28 he beat up his wife, Melody Nyathi.

And, pray, what had the poor lady done?

She had asked our Andrew Zhou to brush his teeth because he was reeking of cigarettes. The fellow took offence.

“He stood up and went inside the bedroom. I then followed him and closed the door. He assaulted me with clinched fists on the forehead.

“He also threatened to kill me. I moved out of the bedroom to the dining room where he followed me and grabbed me by hand before dragging me back to the bedroom. He pushed me on to the bed and had sexual intercourse with me twice without my consent.”

Hey! She alleges two counts of rape.

Why was this not dealt with? Is it being handled separately? Did the magistrate address the allegations? Did the complainant withdraw the rape allegation and stick only to domestic violence? Was the newspaper reporter delinquent in that grave aspect while choosing to focus on the not-so-juicy matter of foul breath?

Which takes us to Zimbabwe.

In dealing with the economy, are we not concerned with the “juicy” bits of pursuing those who externalise money while neglecting the greater infrastructure that allows – maybe even encourages – such to happen?

We have to ask ourselves why people see the need to spirit money abroad (apart from ungovernable greed and criminal inclination) and address the superstructure that makes it a necessity for some businesses to keep hard currency offshore.

Is the multi-currency system still serving its initial purpose of stabilising matters economic or should we now seriously start looking at the reality of how difficult it is to run a national economy without a currency of our own?

Focus should start moving to addressing the fundamentals that are needed to support a stable, predictable local currency in the medium term, perhaps around 2019, so that we do not find ourselves eternally chasing illicit financial flows and the people behind them.

We need to create the conditions that foster disciplined, honest national economic conduct that stems externalisation and encourages domestic investment.

That can only be done by boosting local productive capacity, and through Command Agriculture we have seen that it is possible to do so.

Yes, it is important to chase criminals and bring back money that should be circulating locally. But let us not run the risk of making it a national preoccupation lest we become more concerned with the foul breath than the rape.

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Tau Tawengwa
In October 2017 it emerged that an opposition MDC Alliance member, the Multi-Racial Christian Democrats, had written to Queen Elizabeth II.

In their letter, the party asked that Britain relax its stance on Zimbabwe and consider lifting stated and unstated sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe. Cde Robert Mugabe was still at the helm, and the opposition was implementing a strategy aimed at pre-empting his arguments that opposition-inspired sanctions were the cause of citizens’ economic woes.

A mere two-and-a-half months later, more members of the MDC Alliance appeared before a United States Congressional Committee on Foreign Relations in the United States to appraise the Americans on the situation in Zimbabwe.

This time the opposition is asking for an extension of US sanctions on Zimbabwe. Representatives of the MDC Alliance who travelled to America are MDC-T vice-president Nelson Chamisa  and the People’s Democratic Party’s Tendai Biti. They were accompanied by one other obscure chap.

Stephanie Sullivan, the principal deputy assistant director in the Bureau of African Affairs at the US State Department, appeared before the committee alongside Peter Godwin, the                                        author. Ever since this panel appeared before that committee, social media have been awash with disparate sentiments.

On the one hand, some feel betrayed, particularly by the MDC Alliance. This group feels that opposition calls for what is generally perceived to be maintenance of sanctions will further the suffering of ordinary Zimbabweans.

There is a strong feeling that the opposition wants to sacrifice livelihoods on the altar of political expediency.

On the other hand, there are those who support the opposition.

Ideology or diplomacy?

Information at hand suggests inflation is still taking a toll and that the liquidity problem is only moderately better.

This is not good news for the citizen who naively believed President Mugabe was the source of all economic problems and concluded that his removal was a panacea in itself. Now that reality is setting in, citizens are looking to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF for solutions.

What we have is the anti-sanctions ideology and a drive to re-engage the international community. President Mnangagwa seems eager to take a more diplomatic and moderate approach to international relations than his predecessor.

While some Zimbabweans have adopted a wait-and-see approach towards the new Government, opposition politicians are adamant that President Mnangagwa’s team will fail to bring any meaningful economic change before elections and that he will be no different from his predecessor.

These are opposition politicians who think President Mnangagwa is “beat-able”, which is misconstrued.

He is only “beatable” inasmuch as Zanu-PF is beatable as he is now the face of Zanu-PF.

As long as Zanu-PF’s political infrastructure remains intact, the opposition does not stand a chance against a Zanu-PF Presidential candidate in 2018. This is the reason why the opposition is calling for an extension of sanctions. They want to hold elections under conditions that favour them.

Nevertheless, I have argued elsewhere and I will argue again here that Zanu-PF is poised to win the 2018 harmonised elections on the back of Command Agriculture and the rural vote. Cde Mugabe’s resignation and his wife’s expulsion from the party have only further contributed to re-energising what were previously disoriented and disgruntled Zanu-PF urban structures.

As of November 21, 2017, Zanu-PF’s urban support base has grown and come 2018, Zanu-PF will give the opposition a run for its money in Harare and Bulawayo.

It is in this light that the opposition’s recommendations to the US Congressional Committee on Foreign Relations should be viewed.

Essentially, the MDC Alliance knows it doesn’t stand a chance under current conditions. It is, therefore, reverting to its old ways of sanctions-mongering.

What’s needed now is for President Mnangagwa and his team to score essential wins on behalf of the electorate, beginning with solutions to cash shortages and critical services like healthcare and education.

One thing is certain: After Zanu-PF wins the 2018 harmonised elections, the opposition will take a long time to recover.

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In his inauguration speech on November 24, 2017, President Emmerson Mnangagwa outlined his vision for a favourable investment environment and inclusive engagement. At the centre of Zimbabwe-West relations in the last 17 years has been land reform. The Sunday Mail’s Chief Reporter Kuda Bwititi spoke to Mr Charles Tuffs, former president of the Commercial Farmers’ Union, on land reform under the new dispensation.
***

Q: What do you make of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s policy of inclusivity?
A: The speech was extremely welcome. It was very positive. I agree with most of the sentiments and believe that the President has a real opportunity to put Zimbabwe on a trajectory of growth where the whole country and all its citizens — regardless of race, colour and creed — can participate in the expansion of the country. This is what is exciting to me.

Q: What do you, as former commercial farmers, have to offer in this new dispensation?
A: I am a professional agriculturist. What I would like to say to the President, given that he is a pragmatist, is that let’s deal effectively and once and for all with the elephant in the room, which is the land issue.
We know that in recent years, there were lots of anomalies with land allocation.

It is extremely encouraging to hear from the Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Minister (Retired Air Marshal Perrance Shiri) that he is going to deal with illegal settlers.

Let’s deal with the issue of title deeds and respecting property rights so that we open the country for business.
We need to work together with Government to put agriculture on track, creating real forex for industry. You should remember that the immense potential that Zimbabwe has in agriculture is unbelievable.

Prior to 2000, 47 percent of all raw products into industry came from agriculture. Not only that; 60 percent of the market for industrial products was the farming sector.

So, what we need to do is get back to a situation where for every job we create directly in farming, we create seven to 10 jobs in industry.

Let’s focus on getting the industry and manufacturing sector up through agriculture production.
Government needs to send a message that it’s open to business, that it respects property rights. I am so glad that they have done that in just the couple of weeks that they have been in office.

Let’s now work together as Zimbabweans so that we move the country forward. What we should understand is that by Southern African standards, Zimbabwe is a developed country.

We have good infrastructure, towns, railway lines. However, internally, there is very little debt because the mortgage market was almost wiped out by hyperinflation. So, people own houses and don’t owe money against those houses like it is in other countries.
Therefore, let’s get the message to the international market that we respect property rights: Bring in the money, create the mortgage market, capacitate banks, allow everyone to purchase those houses and the loans will stimulate the value of money and accelerate money without having to build anything.

For example, if you have a house, you should be able to go to a bank and get a 25-year loan for that house while investing in agriculture business.

There are so many houses in Zimbabwe that are being built. And if we put all these houses together, we are talking of billions of dollars.
That’s what I am saying, and I am excited about such prospects.

Q: What critical issues, in your view, need to be resolved?
A: As a minority group, what we want as white persons in this country is not to be viewed as second-class citizens or as the other citizens. The issue of being black or white should not really come up. We want to be treated as Zimbabweans. That is the main issue.
I want us to be all treated the same. The racial issue should never come up because we are all equal and the same. We need to repair Zimbabwe through this message of inclusivity so that people can understand that we are all equal and as the white community, we want to work to build Zimbabwe.

Q: What’s your position on compensation?
A: What needs to be done is sit with Government and work out values of what needs to be done, acquired and paid. We are working with Government.
The compensation issue must be turned into a positive.
It must be the key to recovery. We don’t want compensation to be an albatross around our necks. We actually want the issue to be a key to our recovery. We want that money which is paid as compensation to be reinvested into this country.

So, it’s a multi-faceted programme.
Simultaneous to that, we need to put the land on the market. Once we have dealt with compensation, we will know that conflict is gone and that land is free to go on the market – whether through a lease or to be sold.
We can capacitate the land market and the land bank by giving long-term funding to anybody who wants to purchase land or whatever tenure they want to use.

The person who has been allocated land can say that I want to purchase the land, then you can go to the bank and the bank says there is a 25-year loan with concessionary interests.

We want to put the whole land question on an economic platform rather than on a political one. The land that we are talking about is 7,2 million hectares.

The land mass of this country is 39 million hectares.
So, at the moment, the 7 million hectares in question here has held the 39 million hectares to ransom for 17 years because no land has been able to lever its value.

What we need to do is to work together with Government and create a tenure system, encompassing all land in this country. Land is the biggest asset in this country and can be used to mobilise money.
Even the person with one hectare must be able to use that value to lever on that land to improve his/her life. This is how you move from subsistence to commercial.

The Rukuni Commission has a brilliant document that was commissioned around 1994. The commission came up with multiple tenure systems across the country and I think we really need to relook that through the Land Commission and come up with tenure systems that are suitable for all types of Zimbabwean citizens.

Q: What role should Britain play in land compensation?
A: Zimbabwe and Britain have a history that goes back more than 120 years. This history was premised on the land subject. It is imperative that Britain and the British government take a leading role in dealing with this issue on land.
I would really urge the British government to work closely with the Zimbabwe Government to come up with a strategy that deals with the land question once and for all.

From the messages that I’m getting from the British, there are encouraging signs. The message that our President has sent is encouraging, but Britain really needs to take a leading role as the colonial power.
For example, once there is an agreement in place between the Government and farmers, Britain should set up a land donor conference.

Q: Land donor conference . . . ?
A: If an agreement is made that so much money is owed, we need to call an international conference so that we raise money, structured money to fund the process without putting that albatross on our necks.

There is absolutely no point in demanding compensation which brings Government and people down. We should have a form of compensation package that uplifts Government and the entire Zimbabwe.

My view on this is that once you have the compensation agreement, tenure system and land market in place, that is going to be far greater in terms of value than any compensation.

Government, farmer representatives and official evaluators from both sides should come up with an agreed position on what is owing. The Government has already agreed that it will pay for improvements on land. The land now needs to be valued so that it is paid for.

Once we have agreed, we can then go to our international friends and ask them to assist. The key is that the structure we create must be the key to opening up investment and lines of credit. This country has been out of the international financial system for 17 years. Therefore, a lot of our technologies have not been refurbished because a lot of it is old.

Technology has moved so much and we now have the opportunity to redo our manufacturing sectors using latest technology.
We need to treat this compensation issue as part of Zimbabwe (Private) Limited. It’s part of the whole process of rebooting this country in all its forms, including its people.

It’s a fact that most of the farmers are ageing and compensation needs to be done quickly so that Zimbabwe benefits in future. I am very encouraged by what we are hearing in Government and, in the New Year, I hope we can hit the ground running on that.
One of the decisive developments on land between Zimbabwe and Britain was Claire Short’s insulting letter (stating) that the Blair administration did not respect the Lancaster House Agreement.

Q: How can this be corrected?
A: We have a Conservative government in Britain and I think they have an opportunity to mend the relationship with the Zimbabwe Government.
The Government of Zimbabwe also has that opportunity. We have Britain leaving the European Union and wanting to reboot its global footprint.

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Zack Stan Murerwa
A complete turnaround of our economy will not be realised if urgent attention is not given to the Parastatal Reform Programme.

The programme must be dynamic and not piecemeal, complete and not experimental, rapid and not dependent on bureaucratic protocols and procedures. Over 80 percent of Zimbabwe’s roughly 100 State enterprises and parastatals are not commercially viable and are draining the fiscus.

In fact, we would be better off with some of them completely closed. In Africa south of the Sahara, State enterprises in performing economies are contributing 23 percent to 27 percent of GDP. In Zimbabwe, we estimate they are contributing as little as six percent; down from 36 percent in 1985.

The following summarises challenges of parastatals: l Lack of effectiveness/performance/value for money for audits. Audit is currently on compliance; l Poor state of infrastructure and equipment;

l Effects of loss of critical skills and expertise. Parastatals have been affected by brain drain; l Non-compliance to good corporate governance practices;

l Inadequate fresh capital injection from the shareholder. The economic downturn has affected these institutions; l Lack of access to lines of credit, which is affecting the whole economy;

l Low capacity utilisation, particularly in industry;

l High operating costs, especially wage bills;

l Poor debt recovery strategies;

l Legacy debt and high inter-parastatal debt; and

l Cumbersome procurement procedures.

While the Public Entities Corporate Governance Bill is welcome, implementation of the proposed law must be swift and strictly monitored.

Boards must have continuity.

The new political dispensation has brought much hope. However, new ministers have always wanted to appoint their own boards and this can break continuity.

We need to move away from politically-preferred candidates to technocrats and non-bureaucratic personalities driven by the desire to strategically turnaround operations and achieve results.

We have historically, by design or by accident, entangled ourselves in an intricable legal web in the form of parent Acts which form and govern parastatals’ operations.

And some Acts are now irrelevant and archaic.

The Parastatal Reform Programme would be incomplete if these laws are not changed and aligned not only to our Constitution but to current global economic dictates.

I have read with interest experiences in Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia and China where parastatal reform programmes have succeeded.

Strategies included privatisation, closure and refocusing core activities of parastatals.

Why, for example, should enterprises such as TelOne, NetOne, Petrotrade, Allied Timbers, NHS, Hwange Colliery and Cold Storage Co not operate in terms of the Companies Act and still declare a dividend to Government?

Government would still retain its shareholding, with the enterprises allowed to operate as private companies. This kills the culture of red tape associated with Government procedures.

With privatisation, the enterprises would be able to enter Private-Public Partnerships, technical partnership and project management agreements – all of which would be investment strategies.

The reality on the ground is that most of these parastatals are financially incapacitated to finance their projects. Therefore, investment partners and PPPs will be inevitable for large projects.

The big advantage is the State would still maintain control, owning the resultant infrastructure.

Thus Government should allow Build-Own-Operate-Transfer arrangements for some projects, and build-lease-transfer provisions for others.

I have read suggestions that some non-performing enterprises be turned into Government departments.

No!

This is simply transferring a burden to the already burdened civil service. Zimbabwe needs to be competitive globally, and we need to meet our economic challenges head-on.

The concerned parastatals are infested with personnel whose work ethic, orientation and commitment are out of sync with the ever-changing macro-economic dynamics.

Some salaries are high and yet performance is low. We say no to magnanimous practices where there is mediocre performance. There is need to revisit performance contracts, terms of office and work ethics.

In his inauguration speech, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said: “Flexibility must be built in our operations so that the machine of Government does not become one huge, ponderous stumbling block to decisions that must be made and communicated expeditiously.”

Parastatals must move away from this syndrome. This should be done immediately or else more damage can be done.

In his 2018 National Budget Statement, Finance and Economic Planning Minister Patrick Chinamasa remarked: “Our public enterprises remain a drawback through their inefficiencies, with their contribution to the economy down from around 60 percent to current levels of about two percent.

“Their inefficient operations are a drain on the Budget; over and above serving to worsen the high cost of doing business in the economy. Last year’s financial audits indicate that 38 out of 93 public enterprises incurred a combined US$270 million loss, as a result of weak corporate governance practices and ineffective control mechanisms.”

The Parastatal Reform Programme must move with speed, including closing institutions that are in a state of virtual insolvency.

Zack Stan Murerwa is an economist and consultant based in Harare who writes in his personal capacity. He wrote this article especially for The Sunday Mail

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Richard Runyararo Mahomva
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr Sibusiso B. Moyo must be commended for expeditiously pronouncing Zimbabwe’s foreign policy and situating its principles within the context of Operation Restore Legacy.
The pronouncement rebuts calls by the opposition for continued hostilities between Zimbabwe and the West.
This follows the much-criticised MDC Alliance’s anti-Zimbabwe propaganda trip to the United States to seek strategic “opposition global repositioning”.

Tendai Biti, Nelson Chamisa and opposition activist Dewa Mavhinga tell us their treacherous mission was merely to attract Western mediation in Zimbabwe’s “political crisis”.

Crisis? What crisis?

MDC’s conduct has widely been viewed as an open villain agenda to undermine President Mnangagwa’s Government as it pursues a new trajectory of political pluralism and economic revival.

What the MDC Alliance has done is discount the reality of unfolding political progress to the outside world.
This is the same old opposition anti-narrative of soiling Zimbabwe.

Instead of reforming, MDC-T remains bent on disparaging the country as being a captured space lacking the culture of “free and fair” elections.

However, it is pleasing that Dr Moyo dispelled this misguided neo-liberal misgiving of Zimbabwe’s alienation from the global community of democrats.

He exposed the MDC Alliance’s anecdotal deconstruction of Zimbabwe’s political landscape by stating that the political transition was sponsored by citizens yearning political reform.

“The advent of the new dispensation in our country, Zimbabwe, was realised at the inauguration of HE President ED Mnangagwa. This new era was achieved by our people, at home and abroad, who demanded change for the better.

“Street manifestations, which were joyous and peaceful, were constructed by all our citizens in their colourful diversity without regard to political affiliation.”

The solidarity of Zimbabweans at home and abroad on November 18, 2017 attested to coalescing and demonstrated the collective political direction Zimbabweans had taken.

Therefore, November 18 outmatched the pretentious mantra of the opposition being the sole liberal interlocutor for democratising the country.

From the outset, MDC-T fell short of understanding November 18’s philosophical mobilisation gravitas which emanated from the historical interconnectedness of the gun and politics.

In that regard, Operation Restore Legacy indented an indelible statement of cordial civil-military relations.
The same was also pronounced during agrarian reforms at the turn of the millennium. Further, Command Agriculture excelled under the stewardship of Air Marshal (Retired) Perrance Shiri, a liberation war hero and now Land, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Minister.

It is undisputed that war veterans play a key role in preserving the national memory; simultaneously being points of reference for consolidating liberation gains.

Operation Restore Legacy and the people’s triumph pushed the opposition against the wall and an alternative truth. And this alternative truth has merely been aimed at negating Zimbabwe’s efforts towards constructive engagement with the West, principally America.

The MDC Alliance’s trip ignored Dr Moyo’s diplomatic brief with Ambassador Harry Thomas Jnr, Washington’s top man in Harare.
Addressing Heads of Missions accredited to Zimbabwe in the capital last week, Dr Moyo further stated that beyond the odds of opposition demonisation, Zimbabwe will reinvigorate its global engagement.

“I have already begun serious and focused dialogue with key constituent countries of the West, amongst them our erstwhile coloniser, the United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany and others, with the objective of normalising our relations,” he said.

In the same context, Dr Moyo declared Zimbabwe’s commitment to mutually transactive international relations, also making it clear that developing such relations did not equal compromising national economic development.

This declaration speaks to Operation Restore Legacy’s exhortation to transcend asymmetrical multilateral interactions that subjugate national interests to external domination.

Dr Moyo’s position thwarts potential subjection to linear political and economic dictates.
Through this stance, Zimbabwe has opened its doors to better international relations. This is because the legacy under restoration embodies our informed nationalist defence of collective African interests in global dialogue and policy-making.

Therefore, the Zanu-PF Government must continue to inspire Africa as a leading example of practically carving the notion of post-colonial power matrices.

That said, past hostilities must not destroy Zimbabwe’s present and future diplomatic architecture.
Richard Mahomva is an independent researcher and a literature aficionado interested in the architecture of governance in Africa and political theory. He wrote this article for The Sunday Mail

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Kuda Bwititi
Zanu-PF should take concrete steps to fulfil key aspirations of the people, President Emmmerson Mnangagwa has said.

In his foreword to the Central Committee Report tabled at Zanu-PF’s Extraordinary Congress on Friday, President Mnangagwa implored the ruling party to restore its basic principles.

“As you may all be aware, the electorate has high expectations, and it is important that the party and Government are seen and perceived to be taking concrete steps towards fulfilling the following key aspirations of our peoples:

“Maintaining the gains of reclaiming our land; ensuring land is utilised optimally; jobs, jobs, jobs; attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI); poverty eradication; addressing liquidity challenges; eradicating corruption; enhancing capability of security services to deal with any and all existing and emerging threats so as to create a stable and peaceful political environment; and re-engagement and normalisation of political and economic relations with all nations of the world.”

President Mnangagwa encouraged party members to forgive, unite and be tolerant.

“The Congress is coming right after some significant changes to our party.

“I would, therefore, want to appeal to all the delegates to embrace a spirit of forgiveness and unity as we chart our path into the future. We need to maintain peace and remain tolerant of each other.”

Regarding the performance of party departments, he said: “I applaud those departments that are doing well and urge them to keep on the good work and those that are lagging behind to self-introspect and quickly take corrective measures. Mediocrity no longer has a place in the both the party and Government.”

In its contribution to the report, the Administration Department said Zanu-PF’s 2018 election manifesto must be people-oriented.

“Developmental issues are key to winning elections. In 2013, certain promises were made, premised on economic emancipation of the people. To this end, it is important for the party to review the extent to which it has delivered on its promises and draw lessons from the introspection to inform the people’s manifesto.”

The Finance Department reported that the party raised US$9 million in 2017, part of the revenue coming from a State political parties’ grant of over US$3,8 million.

Other income came from fund-raising (US$3,2 million), donations (US$1,5 million), investments (about US$420 000) and membership cards (US$42 000).

Liabilities were more than US$21 million and the department resolved to explore innovative means of increasing revenue. The Commissariat was linking all party membership to cells via an initiative dubbed Musangano Kumacell/Danemutande/Uhlelolobulwembu.

“The ultimate goal is to create party cells around the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission-designated polling station-specific voter registration and voting centres. This method of mobilisation, campaign and monitoring of voters will enable the party to establish its membership that should enhance its chances of election victory.

“Membership statistics will be computed at ward, constituency and provincial levels that will, in turn, be consolidated into national statistics.”

The External Relations Department undertook to continue working with progressive parties worldwide in implementing Zimbabwe’s foreign policy.

On the other hand, the Information and Publicity Department reported that it will strengthen its structure through comprehensive Internet infrastructure; while the Department of Transport and Social Welfare said it had taken delivery of 48 vehicles and three buses in 2017.

Sixty-six more vehicles are to be registered by year-end and another fleet is expected in 2018.

The Economic Affairs Department underscored the need to take stock of Zim-Asset’s successes and shortcomings as the economic blueprint completes its term. The Women’s League said its members were registering to vote and it had implemented several developmental projects. In its report, the Youth League highlighted the factional operations of the Kudzanai Chipanga-led executive, which failed to address members’ concerns and slackened on voter mobilisation. The league pledged to help rehabilitate its backsliding members.

Further, the organ resolved to push for a full-scale investigation into how the US$10 million Empower Bank fund was utilised as its administration was linked to the G40 cabal.

The Education Department embarked on numerous initiatives to increase access to and quality of education; while the Department of Health, Child Welfare and the Elderly said it supported construction of new clinics and district hospitals.

A report on welfare of disabled and disadvantaged persons shows that the responsible department wants its constituency to be supported in order to vote next year. The department also advocated a quota in the National Assembly, Senate and councils, and funding for economic ventures.

The Gender and Culture Department requested increased funding to implement its heritage preservation programme of action. The Lands, Land Reform and Agriculture Department noted the success of the Presidential Well-Wishers Agricultural Input Support Scheme and Command Agriculture, highlighting that land reforms had brought many economic benefits to the people of Zimbabwe.

The Department of Environment and Tourism said it was raising awareness on the Know-Your-Zimbabwe-Campaign to promote domestic tourism.

It advocated swift implementation of Special Economic Zones, reduction of veld fires and better waste management.

On its part, the War Veterans Affairs Department said it had worked well with its parent ministry on school fees for dependents, medical assistance and establishing business ventures.

“The relationship between the party and war veterans has improved significantly as demonstrated at the Solidarity March on 18th November 2017 and the resolutions of the Special Session of the Central Committee to the effect that war veterans deserved respect and recognition of the role they played and that they should be accommodated in the party and Government if they have the requisite skills and qualifications.”

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In May 2016, we published an interview where Cde Julian Maodza Murenga Mukomawashe claimed that as a young boy from 1970, he was given the responsibility to look after homwe yaMbuya Nehanda. In that interview he claimed that he looked after Mbuya Nehanda with assistance from another equally young girl.

Our Deputy Editor Munyaradzi Huni managed to track down this “young girl”, Gogo Taripiwa Shawu whose responsibility in the early 1970s was to cook and bath homwe yaMbuya Nehanda. Gogo Shawu narrates how as a little girl she was given the task to cook for Mbuya Nehanda when she could hardly cook. She narrates how in 1972, some Zanla comrades arrived in Tsokoto to take Mbuya Nehanda to Chifombo before the start of the Second Chimurenga. She recites Mbuya Nehanda’s last words to the Zanu leadership at Chifombo. Her honesty and the way she remains humble is just a marvel. Read on . . .

MH: Gogo, thank you so much for this time. It’s finally good to have this opportunity to talk to you. Can you briefly tell us about yourself?

Gogo Shawu: My name is Taripiwa Shawu. I was born in Dande. I don’t even know when I was born because ndichingoita kamhandara ndakabva ndanzi bikira muchembere. I didn’t go to school and even my parents were not educated. So I grew up ndichingobikira mweya. Even Sekuru vangu Murenga vanoziva kuti handina kuenda kuchikoro. Handina kudzidza nekuti handina kuwana mukana wacho. I am told that my father was called Friday vachiyera Shava. He went to Zambia a few months before I was born and he never came back. My mother later remarried.

I grew up in Dande around the Tsokoto area under Sabhuku Mazheru. As young girls I remember we would on many occasions go musango kunononga masawu and so on. There wasn’t much to do and remember I still very young by this time.

MH: You say you didn’t have the opportunity to go to school. At that time, didn’t this worry or trouble you because other children of your age were going to school?

Gogo Shawu: There was nothing I could do. This is something zvakarongwa nevakuru. Ndaiva nambuya vangu, VaMakururukwa, vaigarawo na- Mbuya Nehanda but vakazokura ndikanzi ini ndichinogara naMbuya. Zvakandirwadza but ndakaona kuti hakuna kwandingaende. Ndakati regai ndiite zvomweya ndakazvipira pazviri. Mbuya Makururukwa realised that she could no longer look after Mbuya Nehanda properly because she was old and so I was chosen to replace her. My father was a son to Mbuya Makururukwa, so that’s how I was chosen to look after Mbuya Nehanda. Mbuya Makururukwa actually told Mbuya Nehanda kuti muchembere ndakura handichagoni kukubikirai nekukupai bakwa refodya, I can no longer wash for you so ndava kutora mwana wemwana wangu to look after you.

Mbuya Nehanda was from Chienderamwano in Dande.

When I was chosen, I actually cried because I couldn’t do some of the duties like cooking for her. I can’t remember how old I was but by this time I couldn’t cook sadza. I remember the first day ndaibika sadza and porridge zvine mapundu but Mbuya vaingodya zvakadaro.

MH: You say you were young when you started staying naMbuya Nehanda, but what do you remember about her? What kind of a person was she?

Gogo Shawu: Mbuya Nehanda was so old that she could not walk on her own. Vaiita zvekukambaira. Kuti vaende kunogeza waitobata tsvimbo yavo. But before taking her for bathing, very early in the morning you had to make sure waisa moto kuti vagare vachidziirwa.

MH: What exactly where your duties?

Gogo Shawu: My duties included cooking for Mbuya Nehanda, making sure that she ate her food, kuwacha machira avo, making sure she had water to drink and bathing her. She could not eat food that was prepared by any other person.

MH: Why you only?

Gogo Shawu: Ndicho chakanga chiri chiga chacho.

MH: What kind of food would you cook for her?

Gogo Shawu: Ndaitora nzungu ndotsikinya mafuta mudovi. Mafuta iwayo woisa muriwo. Wotora mapfunde kana kuti chibage wotswa. Wozvinyika muhari kuti zvipfave. After this wovabikira sadza vodya. I was taught how to cook for her by Mbuya Kagede.

MH: Where would you get nzungu, chibage and so on to cook for Mbuya Nehanda?

Gogo Shawu: The chiefs and headmen in the area would go around homesteads in the area to collect these things for us. Some people would come on their own to make donations to Mbuya. Isu hatairima. Mambo ndiye aifamba mudunhu achipihwa chikafu chedu.

MH: So what was Mbuya Nehanda’s favourite food?

Gogo Shawu: Ummm, sevanhu vemweya kudya kwacho kwaitoshupa. Sometimes she would eat in the afternoon only the whole day. Sometimes she would go for days without eating anything, just drinking water. But I can say her favourite food was sadza even though she would not eat it that often.

MH: Would you sometimes sit down with her and talk?

Gogo Shawu: Like I told you I was still very young so most of the times after doing my duties ndaienda kunotamba. At that time I didn’t see it necessary to sit down and hear nhorowondo yavo.

MH: By this time were you aware that Mbuya Nehanda was such an important person?

Gogo Shawu: I knew. Pane vamwe vana mbuya vaindiudza kuti pawawuya kuzotamba, wasiya wabikira Mbuya here? They would tell me how important she was to the country. Even pandaienda kurwizi kunotuhwina nevamwe, I would always find time to rush back home to cook for muchembere.

Like I said, during the first days I asked myself kuti “umm, ndinozvigona here?” But kana wanzi uri kuenda pamweya, mweya iwowo unokupinda pamoyo kusvika wava kuziva zvauri kuita.

MH: What do you mean kupinda pamweya?

Gogo Shawu: Ko Ambuya handiti ndivo vakatungamirira nyika ino? Ndivo vaiwudza vakomana zvekuita. Kana vakati hondo iri kuuya mangwana, yaitowuya zveshuwa. Even pavakaparura, vakaudza vakomana kuti ini ndava kuparura asi ndichange ndichiudza Chidyamauyu kuti hondo ichange ichifambe sei. Chidyamauyu aiti akauya achiti ndanzi naMbuya endai mucover, zveshuwa waitowona hondo yauya.

MH: Tell us briefly about Mbuya Nehanda’s dressing.

Gogo Shawu: She would put on ordinary clothes but vaipfeka matehwe kana vava pamweya. As I said, iyi yaiva homwe yaMbuya Nehanda saka homwe hayaipfeka matehwe. But kana mweya wasvika, ndipo pavaipfeka matehwe. The difference between homwe and mweya was that kana vava kumweya ndipo pavaitaura zvinokosha. Zvavaitaura kana kuronga ndizvo zvaitoitika. Kana iri homwe, ahh, taitotaura nyaya tichitoseka zvedu.

MH: As you stayed with Mbuya Nehanda in Tsokoto, who are some of the people who would visit her?

Gogo Shawu: Mostly it was the chiefs. They would come to thank Mbuya for a good harvest or for the good rains. Sometimes they would thank her for looking after madunhu avo.

MH: What would Mbuya Nehanda say to these chiefs?

Gogo Shawu: I would not even listen to what she would say. Ndaitoenda kunotamba zvangu neshamwari dzangu vana Chiedzo, Rudia, Trish, Violet and others. Vese ivava hakuchisina kuDande, vakafa kare. I went to Dande in August last year and havasisiko vese.

Sometimes white people would also visit her. They would come in many vehicles vovatora macard. Varungu ivavo vachingofamba a short distance, something would happen. Quite a number of them died. Mbuya vaitorwa mapikicha variko kuDande asi hapana kana pikicha one yakabuda.

MH: Why?

Gogo Shawu: Mbuya vakanga vasina kodzero yekutorwa mapikicha. Mbuya waiva mudzimu mukuru usingatambwi nawo. Mbuya Nehanda’s name was known all over because in addition to guiding the comrades during the war, vairapa vanhu vazhinji vachipora ipapo. That’s why many whites were fascinated by her. She would say they can take as many pictures as they want, but they will not take the pictures anywhere. She would say “torai henyu mapikicha, asi mberi kwamuri kuenda hamusikusvika”. And, indeed, hapana kwavaisvika.

MH: Gogo, are you telling us the real truth here?

Gogo Shawu: (laughs) Zvaiitika pafair chaipo.

MH: Some people won’t believe you?

Gogo Shawu: Hoo, ahh, pakanaka. Mbuya Nehanda vaiyera. Kuti tizopinda murusununguko ndimuchembere. Dai pasina muchembere dai takaitora here nyika ino?

MH: So how would you know that it was time to cook for Mbuya Nehanda?

Gogo Shawu: I would just look at the sun. Kana ravapakati I would know kuti muchembere anoda kugeza. So around 12 I would warm her bathing water because she could not bath in cold water due to her age. After bathing her, I would make sure she eats then I dash to go and play with others. Late in the afternoon, I would come back home and start cooking sadza. Taingodya tiri two kapoto kedu ikako.

In the evening, I would refuse to sleep nemuchembere. I would go and sleep with other young children. Mbuya vairara nedzimwewo chembere. Mbuya Nehanda actually agreed kuti ndinorara nevamwe saying “mwana musiyei asununguke”. This was our life until the day some comrades came to take us from Tsokoto. Ambuya vakaramba vachiti hamumbondisimudza pano ndisina kuona mwana wangu anondibikira kuti tiende naye. Ndobva ndauya kuzomutswa naSabhuku.

MH: Tell us exactly how these comrades came to take Mbuya Nehanda?

Gogo Shawu: Dare racho rakarongwa ndisipo. What I remember is that comrades like Chimurenga said before starting the war, we should carry Mbuya Nehanda to Zambia. They said the Smith regime would come and torment Mbuya Nehanda and so they wanted to take her to Zambia for safety. On the day when they took us, like I told you Sabhuku came to wake me up saying “Mbuya varamba kusimuka vachiti vanoda iwe kunge uripo.” The comrades didn’t know about me. So I woke up and went to tell Mbuya that we were going together. I then packed all my belongings.

In the yard, there were very few comrades. They were all armed and that really scared me. By this time, we didn’t know anything about freedom fighters. We were only hearing reports that kune magandanga who are coming into the country in the middle of the night.

So after packing my belongings and we were ready to go, I suddenly saw many other comrades surrounding the yard. I started asking myself where these people were taking us. We then started walking but after a few metres, Mbuya Nehanda vakasvikirwa vakati ndiisei pasi. She said muri kundiendesa kupi. The comrades explained that they were taking her away to Zambia so that they could start the war. Mbuya vakabva vabvunza kuti mandikumbira here? The comrades said “tanga tisina,” zvikanzi matadza. Ndidzorei kwamanditora. Sekuru Chidyamauyu vakabva vataura nemweya uya kusvika vabvuma kutakurwa. There was Chiodzamamera, Chidyamauyu and Chipfeni. Ndiwo masvikiro aifamba naMbuya Nehanda. Vaiva vazukuru vaMbuya Nehanda kumweya.

MH: Now take us through your journey.

Gogo Shawu: The comrades were carrying Mbuya Nehanda on some stretcher and all of us we were walking. We would rest during the day under cover and walk during the night. The comrades said we had to walk during the night so that vanhu would not sell us out to the Rhodesian soldiers. You know we later heard that some people after we left rushed to report to that Mbuya Nehanda vakatorwa nemacomrades? So we would walk the whole night.

MH: As you were walking or resting during the day, would Mbuya Nehanda speak to the comrades?

Gogo Shawu: She was very quiet most of the times. You know we walked for days until my legs were swollen. Also along the way, while resting, I would cook her food.

MH: You said some people went to report that Mbuya Nehanda had been taken by comrades. Did the Rhodesian soldiers try to track you down?

Gogo Shawu: Yes, they did. They caught up with us at Ruzeze and there was a big battle. I remember there was Cde Gurupira, Cde Masamba and another comrade who had been given the responsibility that in case of an attack, they were supposed kubereka Mbuya votiza navo.

But when we were attacked, these comrades failed kutakura Mbuya. Hondo payakauya these comrades vakangorasa Mbuya vachibva vatiza. These comrades actually said to me “iwe mwana iwe handei, tasiya Mbuya vako uri kugarirei hausikuona hondo iyo?” I said hapana kwandiri kuenda ndofira pamwechete naMbuya vangu.

Mbuya vakanditora as this attack was on vakandigadzika pamakumbo avo. Within a few minutes some white soldiers vakapfuura very close napatakanga takahwanda. They were walking to a nearby base where they went on to burn many houses around the village. I actually remember Mbuya vachinditi “uri kuona varungu ava”, as they were walking past us. These white soldiers ransacked the villages looking for Mbuya Nehanda.

After this battle, some of the commanders came saying “vakomana vatakati takurai Mbuya tanzwa kuti makavarasa during the battle. Come in front.” The comrades walked to the front. The commander then said he was going to shoot these comrades, but Sekuru Chidyamauyu intervened saying that was not the way to solve the issue. He said Mbuya havadi ropa and mukadaro hondo haizoperi.

I remember there was another battle. During this second battle, that’s when I got separated from Mbuya Nehanda. In that confusion, Mbuya vakabva vabira Zambezi while I remained on the other side. When Mbuya got to Rudodo, she spent about a week without eating anything. She was saying “mwana wangu aripi?”

So the comrades looked for me until they found me in the company of other comrades. We then crossed Zambezi and I went to Rudodo. This was a week later. On arrival at Rudodo, Mbuya said “gadzira poto yesadza ndidye”. After this, we continued the journey to Chifombo Base in Zambia.

I don’t even know how many weeks it took us to get to Chifombo but what I can tell you is that when we got to Chifombo, my legs were swollen such that I spent weeks unable to walk. I still had to cook for Mbuya so kufamba ndaiita zvekugwesha.

MH: When you got to Chifombo, who are some of the commanders you saw?

Gogo Shawu: I remember Fox Gava, Tongogara, Mayor Urimbo and others. These commanders had spoken to the Zambian chief in the area asking kuti tipeiwo nzvimbo yekugarisa Mbuya Nehanda.

So they built a hut for us a few kilometres from Chifombo Base. Because of my duties looking after Mbuya Nehanda, the commanders instructed that some of the comrades would wash my clothes. Even pakazoparura Mbuya Nehanda, the comrades continued treating me with respect. They didn’t want me to do any work. Many comrades actually knew me as “Ambuya”.

MH: Let’s go back to Chifombo. How was your stay with Mbuya Nehanda at Chifombo?

Gogo Shawu: Our area kwataigara kwainzi kuPasichigare. So we were staying together nana sekuru vaya Chiodzamamera, Chidyamauyu and Chipfeni. All the people who came to Pasichigare would remove their shoes before entering our yard and talking to Mbuya.

Most of the high-ranking Zanu commanders came to see Mbuya Nehanda. The comrades would bring us lots of food and they looked after us very well. Also at Chifombo, Mbuya Nehanda would treat many comrades and tell them what to expect muhondo and how to go about it.

Before vaparura (before her death) Mbuya Nehanda said “ahh, vanangu zvekuti kana hondo yauya ndoberekwa aiwa ndaneta. Tinofamba mumweya tese. Mashoko angu ese ndichange ndava kusiira Chidyamauyu mumhepo. Ndiye achakuudzai kuti Mbuya vati zvinoti nezvinoti.

“Regai ndizorore nekuti hondo ikauya munozondirasa futi varungu vakanditora vakadzokera neni. Regai hangu ndiparure asi tichange tichishanda tese mumweya.”

Next week Gogo Shawu narrates some shocking drama after the death of Mbuya Nehanda and how she was buried. She will speak about her life after the death of Mbuya Nehanda and many other fascinating episodes of the spiritual side of the liberation struggle.

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This week, allow us to play the Devil’s advocate.
But before we do that, we would like the nation to appreciate the momentousness of the message that President Emmerson Mnangagwa delivered to all the people of Zimbabwe on Friday at the Extraordinary Congress of Zanu-PF.

He spoke on many issues, all of them of great import to the destiny of our country and all of them well received by progressive Zimbabweans.

In many ways, the President expounded on his vision as presented in his inaugural address when he became Head of State and Government, outlining the economic and foreign policy route his administration is pursuing.

And he also spoke of himself as “primus inter pares” – the first among equals.

The phrase is often used as an honorary title in recognition of someone who is equal to everyone else within a defined group, but is accorded greater respect because of the office that he or she holds.

In the context in which President Mnangagwa spoke, it was primus inter pares in Zimbabwe.

It is something President Mnangagwa referred to when Zanu-PF’s Central Committee nominated him to succeed Cde Robert Mugabe; it is something he spoke of when he was inaugurated as State President; and it is something he returned to in greater detail on Friday at the Extraordinary Congress.

Making reference to Article 2 (Section 14) of Zanu-PF’s Constitution, he said the ruling party’s aims and objectives included “to oppose resolutely tribalism, regionalism, nepotism, corruption, racism, religious fanaticism, xenophobia and related intolerance, discrimination on the grounds of sex and all forms of exploitation of man by man in Zimbabwe”.

He went on: “In line with this instruction, therefore, my ascendance to the helm of the party must never be interpreted as a defeat of one faction and installation of another. My Presidency should not be perceived as a rise in the fortunes of a region, or a tribe or a totem, no. My Presidency is about a united Zanu-PF, a national party with a national outlook.”

President Mnangagwa was not done.

“I stand before you, therefore, as the President of a united, non-racial Zimbabwe, itself home to many tongues, dialects, cultures, colours, age groups.

“I am a President of women and men; the young and the old; the able-bodied and the physically-challenged; the rich and the poor; the well and the sick. I am an emissary of all the veterans and heroes, dead or alive, who through their blood sketched the cause and mission which my Presidency must promote, must actualise and advance.

“I am a President for Ndebeles, Shonas, Zezurus, Ndaus, Karangas, Manyikas, Vendas, the Chewas, Sothos. I am also the President for the Tongas, Tswanas, Xhosas, Khoisans, Shangaans, Kalangas, Nambyans and other races, all who are celebrated in our national Constitution. The role you have given me, and the Office you have inserted me into can never be partitioned to anyone.”

That is exactly how the first among equals should speak and act. President Mnangagwa is a self-assured man. He has been through a lot and even when he had to briefly go into exile to preserve his life, he emerged from it all as Republican President.

This not only speaks to his strength of character but also to his intellectual capacity and political acumen. That is the reason why he is primus inter pares. That is also why he has welcomed constructive and valid criticism as he seeks to steer Zimbabwe onto the path of prosperity on the back of hard, honest work.

His is not a fragile ego.
Which is why we see it fit here to play the Devil’s advocate and ask why State authorities see it fit to arrest three people expelled from Zanu-PF because they posted pictures on social media wearing clothing associated with ruling party supporters.

Ignatius Chombo, Kudzanai Chipanga and Innocent Hamandishe are no longer members of Zanu-PF. The ruling party has the right to expel members who are not in good standing. They did that with the above-mentioned trio.

That trio is already facing criminal charges related to their time in Zanu-PF. This festive season will not be so festive for them. They will try and find any means to ease their discomfort, even if it means hypocritically and belatedly extolling President Mnangagwa after having evidently worked so hard against him when they were in Zanu-PF.

But does that mean they should be arrested for that? The establishment must ask itself how many people have been brought before the courts over the past decade for insulting Cde Mugabe.

How many of those cases resulted in convictions? What good did these prosecutions do for the image and standing of the Office and person of the President?

Is the State not creating victims out of already defeated men? Further to that, is this not an attempt by some people around President Mnangagwa to create the kind of cultism that fuelled factionalism in Cde Mugabe’s last years in office?

Surely, the State has more urgent things to busy itself with than a trio of already-under-the-cosh factionalists. The first among equals does not require politically clumsy individuals to ruin a good thing for him.

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Dr Gift Mugano
In recent weeks, we have noticed ridiculous price hikes that have left the general citizenry and workers poor.

Quite a number of product prices hit the roof.

However, the price of bread dominated discussions last week. As we are preoccupied with this matter, it is important to understand the causes of price hikes.

My observation is that price increases are coming from rent-seeking behaviour by some sections of the private sector, shortage of cash and structural rigidities.

Foreign exchange shortage

It is in the public domain that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is failing to cope with demands for foreign exchange to import merchandise and key inputs required in manufacturing.

Official statistics show that the RBZ has a backlog of foreign payments amounting to US$700 million.

Against the background of this backlog and shortages of foreign exchange, companies are acquiring the scarce foreign exchange from the parallel market or from cash-rich brokers who have taken over their procurement or supply chain process.

Brokers charge a premium on foreign exchange, and retailers or manufacturers – because they use a cost-plus pricing model – pass on the prices to consumers resulting in price hikes.

Rent-seeking behaviour

Inasmuch as it is understood that there are severe shortages of foreign currency, the increase in prices of products like bread and bricks which require minimum foreign currency is ridiculous.

With respect to bread, evidence from the Grain Millers’ Association of Zimbabwe show that millers have not increased the price of flour since 2009.

Now, coming to the production economics of bread, the contribution of the cost of flour to the overall cost of bread is 80 percent.

The remaining 20 percent is shared among 17 other cost-drivers. Now, if the price of flour has not gone up and knowing that other cost-drivers are insignificant, what is it that has caused the price of bread to go up by 22 percent?

This is clearly rent-seeking behaviour.

The efforts were meant to milk households during the festive season, and this is counter-productive.

And when you hold a brick, you are holding our soil.

Brick-making is largely centred on soil, which is not imported. It requires a minimum foreign component which is fuel for transportation.

Again, the prices of fuel have not gone up significantly. On this basis, what can brick-makers proffer as explanation for a 100 percent price increase except economic sabotage?

Structural rigidities

Zimbabwe’s economy has serious supply-side bottlenecks and as such, we are importing commodities we can actually produce. For example, the country spends about US$250 million annually on soyabeans, US$150 million on vegetables, US$203 million on pharmaceuticals and US$502 million on cereals.

So, cumulatively, Zimbabwe spends about US$1 billion on soyabeans, vegetables, cereals and pharmaceuticals.

I didn’t include pampers, tooth-picks, tissues and the papers we can produce.

The compounding effect of this scenario is that since dollarisation in 2009, we have externalised a cumulative US$30 billion through trade deficits.

The effect of trade deficits, together with ever-increasing national debt which has hit US$4 billion, is foreign exchange depletion.

Our efforts to stabilise prices should focus on containing both trade and budget deficits.

We can contain trade deficits by making concerted efforts aimed at avoiding unnecessary imports by producing the commodities indicated above.

Budget deficits should be contained by going back to cash budgeting and expanding fiscal space through promotion of new investment under Special Economic Zones.

In our discussions aimed at addressing price hikes, we must concentrate on looking for ways to address budget and trade deficits as these are the root causes of price hikes.

In cases where there is compelling evidence of price-fixing, the Competition and Tariff Commission must rein in unscrupulous companies.

For example, why are we seeing all bakeries charging the same prices as if they have similar cost profiles and business models?

This is clear evidence of price-fixing, yet, sadly CTC is doing nothing about that.

As we work on dealing with the pricing menace, we should not at any point think of price controls. We have been through that road and we didn’t find it good.

In the same vein, business must take restraint and act as responsive citizens.

Dr Gift Mugano is an economist and registrar of Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University. He wrote this article for The Sunday Mail.

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Denias Kagande
Accountability is one of the highest leverage changes a leader can make. As you go forward, remember that you should be on a journey to build a culture of what I call “results, not reasons”. There will always be reasons as long as those are good enough for you.

As President Emmerson Mnangagwa vigorously pursues an economic reform agenda and lays the path for new ways of doing things in Zimbabwe, it is imperative that we realise the importance of achieving the best accountability practices for both public and private sectors.

During this great year, I have enjoyed an increasing role as facilitator on public sector procurement.

And throughout that facilitation and coaching, I have observed changes that are made by executives and have the greatest impact.  These should be considered as Zimbabwe implements President Mnangagwa’s vision to do away with corruption and lay foundations for transparency and diligence.

What is accountability?

To be accountable is to be “liable; called to account; answerable”. A synonym is “responsible”. The definition shows two players: The one accountable for his or her actions and the one to whom he or she is accountable.

Being accountable requires action from the authority holding you to answer for your actions or lack of action. Thus, you can be listed on a plan or “to do” list as being the one responsible, but if there are no consequences for not fulfilling your commitment, then are you really being held accountable?

I think not!

Accountability is the glue that ties commitment to results.

It is the measure of a leader’s height. How high a leader will go is determined by how accountable he or she is. Accountability is not only what we do, but also what we do not do for which we are accountable. You either make yourself accountable or circumstances will make you accountable.

A colleague and procurement executive, Dr Abel Dzuke, likens accountability to rain.

“Everyone knows they need rain, but no one wants to get wet. It’s easy to talk about how ‘they’ need to be more accountable, but it can be uncomfortable when we apply it to ourselves.

“When is the last time you heard someone say, ‘I really need to be more accountable for my results?’ It doesn’t happen very often. Yet, we get more accountability from our teams by being accountable to them. It’s a two-way street.”

It is interesting that more often, the term is used in a moral or ethical context as we talk about politicians and other leaders being “held accountable for their actions”.

I hold this concept in a much simpler context; simply, being made to honour the agreements that one makes.

Accountability is an important public procurement principle that needs to be adequately addressed.

In public procurement, accountability essentially means to be responsible for our actions and decisions. Having the obligation to report and or answer to a designated oversight entity (and the public) on the consequences of those actions and decisions.

When accountability works

Think about it. What gives you peace of mind as President, minister, a leader, manager, supervisor or parent? It is simply knowing you can depend on others to do what they say they are going to do.

Imagine if that were the case with every employee, employer, and every responsibility or task that needed to be done.

Malcolm Forbes, a flamboyant multi-millionaire whose enthusiastic pursuits included yachting, motorcycling and ballooning, was once asked how he could be riding around Manhattan on his Harley and flying around the world in balloons when he had a huge business empire to run.

He simply stated: “I did my job.”

I’m convinced beyond reasonable doubt that what he meant was that he assured that everyone else was doing their job.

In short, he had built a culture of accountability in his organisation. The clarion call is to uphold this accountability culture in the public, NGOs and private sectors.

Accountability breeds

responsibility

As a country, we need to witness our transition from beating ourselves up for the failures of our diverse teams to seriously confronting our team members over non-performance on simple, clear, short-term commitments.

What should change? We need to extract very precise commitments from our people for action, either a result or a change in behaviour to get in line with policy.

We need to put in place tools for accountability. A clearly delineated strategic plan with quarterly commitments for action by our team members and data on performance in each area of our institutions.

Lastly, we need to mandate policy in all areas of the institution to get the norms we want clearly defined.

In short, these leadership actions will send shock-waves through the troops. I have come to a sobering conclusion that the old game is over. The new game is accountability or no game at all.

I have no doubt that this shift in leadership action will have dramatic impacts on the performance of institutions and Government over time.

Steven Covey said it well: “Accountability breeds response-ability.”

 How to get there from here

So, how do you make that shift as a leader?

First, do self-assessment. Are your people honouring their commitments to you, even the little ones, for instance, being on time to meetings, getting back to you when they say they will, etcetera? What are the consequences for them if they do not?

What are you training them to do or not do by your actions?

Having done the assessment, is change needed? If yes, then go about putting in place clear agreements you can hold others accountable to.

If an agreement is broken, demand that a new agreement be kept. If there is a pattern of broken agreements, confront the employee and consider asking them to take some time off, at their expense, to think about how they are “showing up” now and how they want to show up in the future.

Also, make the commitments of team members visible by posting your strategic plan in the conference room or holding regular team meetings to review progress on commitments.

Then, as you monitor the plan or “to do” list as a team, others become aware when team member “X” has not met the agreement.

Reviewing commitments as a team encourages accountability as no one wants to be the “odd man out” who is not getting the work done.

Accountability is one of the highest leverage changes a leader can make. As you go forward, remember that you should be on a journey to build a culture of what I call “results, not reasons”. There will always be reasons as long as those are good enough for you.

Is this easy? No. Straightforward? Yes. Easy? No. It’s not going to be as easy as cutting margarine with a hot knife. It’s not a stroll in the park. I struggle with it myself. But I know that targeting accountability is one of the highest leverage changes a leader can make.

Holding others and yourself accountable is tough and not for the faint-hearted.

Denias Kagande is a public procurement specialist consultant, fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply and an executive member of CIPS (Zimbabwe branch). He wrote this article for The Sunday Mail.

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Lovemore Ranga Mataire
In the last three years or so, Southern Africa has been experiencing leadership renewal, particularly within former liberation movements.

Since 2015, younger cadres have been taking over the reins of leadership, a development observers attribute to a new youthful demographic outlook.

Interestingly, the majority of them have roots in their respective nations’ liberation from imperial control.

But they exhibit a marked difference in that their focus is more on economics and less on populist rhetoric.

This league appears smarter, too; embracing new technologies like Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp.

There seems to be undeniable awareness amongst the new leadership of the imperative of bringing the post-liberation constituency into the fold.

And this constituency mainly comprises “born-frees” who are more amenable to global connectedness and working economies in which their various skills flourish.

In Mozambique, the ruling Frelimo party has led the way in constantly renewing leadership, with preference being much younger cadreship.

Mozambican President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi was elected in 2015, replacing Armando Emilio Guebuza.

President Nyusi is 59 years old while his predecessor is 16 years older.

He joined Frelimo at the age of 14, a party that both his parents were veterans of.

He holds a Mechanical Engineering degree (Brno University of Technology, Czechoslovakia) and a post-graduate degree in management (Victoria University of Manchester, Britain).

In power for nearly three years, President Nyusi is considered a man of the people.

From humble beginnings in the north of Mozambique, his mandate has been to continue his predecessor’s work and oversee foreign investment inflows and development of strategic national resources.

President Nyusi is said to be technologically adept and has vibrant Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Angola’s new leader, President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, 63 years old; is relatively young, just like President Nyusi.

President Lourenço grew up in a politically-engaged family of 10 children.

His father, Sequeira Joao Lourenço, was of the Malanje ethnic group and a nationalist who served three years’ imprisonment in Portuguese Angola for “illegal” political activities.

His mother was a seamstress of the Namibe group.

Like President Nyusi, the Angolan leader is also a former Defence Minister considered to be a loyal MPLA party soldier.

He once served as governor in several provinces of Angola, and between 1992 and 1997 and was at one time the information tsar in the MPLA’s Politburo.

He later served as the party’s secretary- general for several years.

At the time of his elevation, Lourenço was the deputy president of the governing MPLA and a defence minister.

A technically minded individual, President Lourenço did not waste time in enunciating his vision which is focused on economic delivery and curbing corruption.

Like President Nyusi of Mozambique, President Lourenco has effectively used his Twitter handle “João Lourenço (@cdajoaolourenco)”, to disseminate his messages to the public, a clear awareness to reach out to a larger audience that now depends more on mediated information.

True to his word, within three months of taking power, the Angolan leader moved swiftly in effecting changes to state-owned company Sonangol.

He quickly appointed a new crop of new ministers to differentiate himself from Dos Santos and replaced key security personnel.

In his bid to further consolidate his grip on power, President Lourenço has already started implementing an ambitious six-month plan that includes consolidating taxes, limiting public debt, improving productivity and attracting foreign direct investment.

There is less populist rhetoric as he moves to change the country’s fortunes and address more pressing issues. President Lourenco’s firm tackle on corruption and largesse tendencies resonates well with Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa’s resolve that there will be no sacred cows as the country transit to a new era.

During his campaign, President Lourenço made it clear that “No one will be above the law . . .” and that “he will be the only President”.

Although slightly older than his Mozambican and Angolan counterparts, President Mnangagwa (75), has already shown that he is no prisoner of history.

While he appreciates and cherishes the country’s rich historical trajectory and that of Zanu-PF as a party of liberation, he realises the urgent need to address bread and butter issues. In his first public address after returning from exile in South Africa, President Mnangagwa made it clear that his biggest challenge was to grow the economy and create jobs.

“Today, we are witnessing the beginning of a new and unfolding democracy,” he told the thousands who had gathered to welcome him home.

His brief stint in the Diaspora may have enhanced his appreciation of the social media as a communication tool that can reach a wide audience. His message promising to come back was widely circulated on social media and became viral within a short space of time.

In an interview with a local journalist, President Mnangagwa could neither deny nor confirm that he has a Facebook account or Twitter handle in his name.

He jokingly said that if positive comments are posted, then it’s his, but if the comments are negative, it’s not.

It would be good if the Twitter handle is verified so that his legion of supporters can freely interact with him.

President Mnangagwa has expressed keenness in reshaping Zimbabwe into a more inclusive nation across the lines of race and political affiliation. His vision includes re-engagement with the international community.

Popularly known as ED, the President has impeccable liberation credentials but is quite aware of the exasperation of his people to deliver the promised milk and honey.

ED’s quest for an economic turnaround and using all communication tools at his disposal to drum up his vision seem to be shared by his Namibian counterpart, President Hage Geingob.

Riding on the wave of his “No Namibian will be left behind”, Geingob has declared poverty as number one enemy. According to President Geingob, the mark of a leader is the ability to create a vision for his people and get them to believe in that vision.

A greater amount of time during his first year as president was committed to outlining his vision, which saw a lot of induction seminars for ministers, deputy ministers and permanent secretaries. The officials were taken through good governance and ethics, poverty eradication and reduction of income disparity, accelerated economic growth, job creation and rapid industrialisation.

Just like ED, Geingob requested all ministers to prepare declarations of intent, in line with government goals and objectives of Vision 2030. President Mnangagwa has given his ministers a 100 days ultimatum to have achieved something tangible in their respective areas.

Geingob has given performance contracts for all ministers, including performance agreements at civil servant level, through the Office of the Prime Minister.

Like Nyusi of Mozambique, Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe and Lourenco of Angola, President Geingob has committed himself to transparency and zero tolerance of corruption.

As proof of his serious intent, Geingob publicly declared his assets and that of his wife, an act that improved the country’s ratings on the transparency index.

But that’s not all.  Geingob is an advocate of social media with a Twitter handle that has a huge following of 85 600.

The Twitter account is constantly updated with his most recent engagements including policy pronouncements.

His government recently approved the Social Media Use Policy which provides for a unified and standard way of using social media by government communications.

The policy was necessitated by the realisation of the empowering nature of social media on individuals and the need for government to influence political agendas and policy process.

While the Namibian government has been slow in being active on social media, President Geingob’s personal social media pages have been a vehicle for collective action and first-hand information, where he interacts directly with communities and individuals. Besides enunciating the social   media policy, Geingob’s government has approved the Government Communication Plan, which was submitted by the ICT ministry, as a working government document to provide information to the public, in order to create an open and transparent government. Across the border, incoming South Africa’s African National Congress president Cyril Ramaphosa is also a social media enthusiast. His Twitter handle has 49 100 followers and was quick to congratulate the ANC for holding a successful congress.

At 65, Ramaphosa is much in tune in understanding the needs of his people, particularly those born in the post-apartheid era. He is a former trade unionist who later became a businessman and understand the need for transmitting messages in real time through social media.

In his maiden speech at the end of a five-day meeting where he was elected president of ANC, Ramaphosa said he aims at expediting job creation, improving the lacklustre economy and speeding up the transfer of land to black people.

Despite being an ardent supporter of social media, Ramaphosa is also conscious of the possible damage the platforms can cause because of their apparent unregulated operations.

Ramaphosa himself has in the past been a victim of a social media smear campaign were purported questions from a Sunday newspaper in South Africa circulated some information about his personal life.

The SA deputy president had to respond through the same platform, describing the emails as a deliberate campaign to smear him by distorting personal email correspondence that could only have been obtained through criminal means.

That as it may, Ramaphosa believes the benefits of social media far outweigh the negatives as evidenced by his campaign to NASREC, which was marshalled through social media platforms.

And one of the older leaders in the region, Prof Peter Mutharika (77) of Malawi, is also not behind in utilising social media for widespread dissemination of information.

Although his followers pale in the shadow compared with other regional leaders, there is no doubt that the Malawian leader takes social media seriously.

His Twitter account currently has 2 327 followers with 600 tweets.

Prof Mutharika also has a Facebook page with 59 789 followers, a big number that assures him of a larger virtual audience.

By far the most active Head of State on social media in the Sadc region is Seretse Khama Ian Khama who at 65 years is adept at using his Twitter or Facebook page to mock opponents or announce major government policies.

His government also has Twitter and Facebook pages, including all government ministries.

Zambia’s Edgar Chagwa Lungu (61) boasts 6 837 followers on his official Twitter handle, with 591 345 people following him on Facebook,  ni mean feat for a seating African Head of State.

Social media is the buzzword in Zambia, with lots of people addicted to it.

Many government officials, including President Lungu, have urged public, community and private media to embrace social media to reach out to people.

Outside the region, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Paul Kagame of Rwanda are known for using social media to update their people of various initiatives they are undertaking.

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Elasto Mugwadi
Our 2017 human rights year was busy and hectic in terms of developments and issues the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission attended to.

I’m happy that on the back of financial support we received from Government and development partners, among them the United Nations Development Programme and International Organisation for Migration, we discharged our mandate in terms of Section 143 of the Constitution.

The Commission successfully investigated and resolved 140 human rights violations between January and August 2017.

These cases involved arbitrary evictions whereby people constructed houses in illegal settlements and the structures were demolished.

Some people properly settled on farms under land reform were arbitrarily evicted without court orders as required by law.

Further, ZHRC dealt with environmental rights and partisan food distribution over which we received massive backlashes from the previous Administration which had been misinformed.

These were real cases, and I am pleased that remedial action was taken.

When we revisited some of the areas, we discovered that everyone was receiving food freely.

Agricultural land rights also featured on the list of cases, so did education and administrative justice issues.

People who had been retired from Government approached the Commission over pensions that were not being paid on time.

In addition, we had schoolchildren being denied public examination certificates because their parents would have failed to pay school fees.

Yet, Section 75 of the Constitution provides for free education up to secondary level.

We intervened in some of these matters and remedial measures were taken so that marginalised communities would not continue to face the same violations.

The Commission also developed an electronic case management system to enhance case intake, tracking, efficient general management and expeditious resolution of reported cases.

We participated in the periodical review process in Geneva in March 2017 and after our participation developed an implementation plan, which is directed at tracking Government’s implementation of accepted recommendations.

Sister organisations made over 260 recommendations to Government and the authorities accepted 151, noted others and rejected some, too.

And so we developed a plan under which we will approach Government in terms of timelines before we go for the next review within the next four years.

We also monitored two by-elections during the year (in Bikita West and Mwenezi East) and Biometric Voter Registration countrywide.

ZHRC has been engaging with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

It was partly through our recommendation and intervention that people previously registered as aliens are now being re-registered as citizens as they comply with constitutional requirements.

These are people born of immigrants from Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique and whose parents were Sadc citizens at the time of promulgation of the 2013 Constitution.

Furthermore, we monitored Tongogara Refugee Camp on two occasions and have followed up on Chingwizi; on people resettled in Mwenezi.

We wanted to assess how vulnerable groups there were coping and assess how far Government has gone in implementing recommendations such as compensating displaced families and relocating people to areas suitable for cropping.

We have also monitored a number of old people’s homes in Manicaland and Matabeleland provinces; and prisons in Marondera, Chikurubi and Harare Remand Prison.

The Commission plans to follow up recommendations to stakeholders, in particular the Justice Minister who administers these institutions.

During the year, we carried out 25 public outreach programmes directed specifically at publicising the Commission’s work and human rights issues.

Elections

We will continue to monitor developments as we move towards the 2018 harmonised elections.

As I’ve already stated, monitoring started with BVR and will continue into the election and post-election periods.

We are trying to make sure the political playing field is level; the rights and freedoms of association (are guaranteed); the media is exposed to everyone; people have the freedom of choice and people are not forced to attend political rallies, but attend on their free will.

These are things we are monitoring and engaging stakeholders on so that if anyone was making mistakes, they will correct them before the election.

Improving Zim’s status

There have been improvements in Zimbabwe’s human rights status because when we made our statement at the Universal Periodic Review, we also emphasised issues we thought Government needed to follow up on.

Some of these issues included aligning various statutes with the Constitution and this is an ongoing process.

In his inauguration speech, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said his Government was going to respect human rights, the rule of law and democratic principles.

These are issues we have always been harping on about.

We are aware of many people who were arrested for expressing personal views on the decorum and behaviour of some politicians and that was taken as criminal.

But people have a right to express their views and criticise public figures, especially politicians who stand for the rights of all.

So, we will remain on our feet and work with Government to achieve whatever is still outstanding.

There is no perfectictude in terms of respecting and promoting human rights.

This is where we are and getting into 2018, “we will hit the ground running” because we want the next plebiscite to be free, fair and credible for the benefit of our people.

They have suffered long enough; you can’t pretend there is peace when there is no peace of mind and conscience as well.

There is no development without respect for human rights.

Operation Restore Legacy

We haven’t received any complaints, but from a human rights point of view, our own observation is that this intervention was timely.

There was a lot of alarm and despondency on the part of the people in terms of not knowing where they were going; people could be fired from Government and political positions willy nilly.

So, that aura of uncertainty was removed by this intervention.

We are happy with the handing over of patrol duties back to the police; an issue we had recommended to authorities.

We said the intervention should have a timeline and we are happy with Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Phillip Valerio Sibanda’s announcement, stating that police would be back to their policing work in terms of their constitutional mandate and client charter.

We urge police to heed recommendations by the generality of Zimbabweans.

The people they are meant to protect are complaining that there has been heavy handedness by the police in dealing with situations and issues.

The police should be the people’s force and that is expected of the police anyway in terms of their mandate.

Anything extraneous to their mandate is unacceptable                                                           and will violate people’s rights.

Mr Elasto Mugwadi is the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission. He was speaking to The Sunday Mail’s Senior Reporter                                              Lincoln Towindo in Harare last week.

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Wonder Munyanyi
After the Second World War, international power dynamics changed. In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was formed. At the core of this military alliance was the United States backed by other Western powers like Britain, France and West Germany.
Six years later and in clear response to Nato’s hegemony, out came the Warsaw Pact which had the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics at its centre.

The 15 states making up the USSR were joined by others like Romania, Yugoslavia and Poland.

This was a bipolar world pitting the US and the USSR and separated by the Iron Curtain.

Geopolitics shifted seismically with the USSR’s break-up in 1991. The bipolar world became unipolar, making the US the globe’s only super power.

This does not, of course, downplay the international influence of countries like Russia, China and Britain.

Historians have written about Pax Romana.

Pax Britannica was a global hegemony and constabulary of this Empire, and today it is unsurprising that some speak of Pax Americana.

MDC Alliance members Messrs Nelson Chamisa, Tendai Biti and Jacob Ngarivhume are clear on the above for a week ago, they sought to abuse the influence wielded by the US.

After engaging with different US government officials in Washington, they had the audacity to boast that they hold the key to Zimbabwe’s economic recovery.

Mr Biti stated thus: “The goodwill that we have been shown on this trip as the MDC Alliance, as well as the doors that have been opened to us, has been very overwhelming. We have always told people at our rallies that we have the keys to opening up Zimbabwe’s economy – and these are not mere words, it’s true.”

These words are boastful and amount to blackmail.

Two conflicting schools of thought surround the visit. One is that the visitors were invited. The other is that they invited themselves.

If they were invited, the writer maintains that the US government should have considered other options instead of engaging individuals who do not represent the Zimbabwe Government.

The United Nations Charter states in clear terms that the world body’s purpose is to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights.

Further, it states that the UN aims to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character.

Article 2 of the Charter exhorts member states to act in good faith and uphold the sovereign equality of all its members.

The Charter also acknowledges that certain matters are solely within the domestic jurisdiction of member countries.

Implicit in this is that states should interact among themselves and not with self-appointed representatives.

The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act continues to have a deleterious effect on the people and Government of Zimbabwe.

Its implementation has seen Zimbabwe grossly disadvantaged in dealings with Bretton Woods institutions. The Act compels US executive directors of international financial institutions to “oppose and vote against any extension by the respective institution of any loan, credit or guarantee to the Government of Zimbabwe and any cancellation or reduction of indebtedness owed by the Government of Zimbabwe to the United States or any international financial institution”.

It imposes preconditions the Government of Zimbabwe has to follow before the punitive conditions can be uplifted. Does this not remind the reader of Mr Biti’s language?

Let us for a moment assume that these visitors to Washington invited themselves.

If that was the case, this would clearly show their contempt for Government, Sadc and the African Union.

They should have first sought home-grown solutions to any of their grievances before embarking on that trip.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has stated his wish to break from the past and has encouraged Zimbabweans to let bygones be bygones.

And Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa says Zimbabwe should be given a chance to move forward. In the field of international relations, no conflict, tension or misunderstanding is insurmountable.

Who ever imagined the Cold War ending without military contact between its two nuclear protagonists?

How many would have bet a dollar on an American President shaking the hand of his or her Cuban counterpart?

President Mnangagwa is prioritising an open-door policy as part of his vision for Zimbabwe to enjoy good relations with all countries of the world in accordance with the UN Charter.

Thus governments worldwide should engage authorities in Zimbabwe and not individuals in resolving any outstanding matters.

The opposition is free to hold whatever brief the law permits.

However, it would be grossly irresponsible to advocate sanctions solely to make people suffer in order to compel them to vote favourably for the opposition.

No one should be held at economic gun-point.

Would elections be free and fair if that happened?

Wonder Rodney Munyanyi holds a BL and LLB degree from the University of Zimbabwe where he also studied for a Master of Science Degree in International Relations. He holds diplomas in Immigration and Refugee Law and European Law from the United Kingdom. He has practised law in Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom. He wrote this article for The Sunday Mail.

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Richard Runyararo Mahomva
Contrary to the state of nascent advancement, the economy was disarticulated due to a parasitic bourgeoisie. The economy was largely defined by self-aggrandisement and extravagance effectually delimited to the minority.

The nationwide embrace of Zimbabwe’s new political dispensation demands commitment to economic recovery from both Government and the general citizenry.

Consequently, engaging global counterparts with fraternal aspirations to the Zimbabwean dream is also essential.

While engagements in this regard are commendable, it is apparent that the economy must equally augment developments defining the present political euphoria.

In the wake of the State of the Nation Address and exchanges with businesspeople in South Africa, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has exhibited astute principles of statecraft. He has clearly set out his terms for constructive nation-building in a manner that transcends binaries of race, ethnicity, class and creed.

And given the direction he has taken, he has left critics with no room for legitimacy, hence the futile attempts to bring in retarded sentiments to discredit how he has acquitted himself as a progressive leader.

Looking back, looking forward

As the nation celebrated Unity Day, others took the opportunity to throw sponsored tantrums to undermine the relevance of December 22 in mapping the unitary political culture desired for the future of our country.

The thousands who thronged President Mnangagwa’s outreach to the business community in South Africa last Thursday demonstrated that Zimbabwe is fast moving towards inclusive economic co-operation. On the same day, a clique of “protestors” chanted anti-Mnangagwa slogans in an attempt to refresh the Gukurahundi tale. I call it a tale because of its selective ignorance of Cold War dynamics that gave rise to insurgency at the time; and how the Unity Accord was birthed.

These “mourners” mourning more than the bereaved under the civil society banner ignore the role of the apartheid South Africa government in their unorthodox revisit of the past.

Their turning to the dark side lacks justification while their protest was oblivious of white massacres that Africans have long erased from their minds at the behest of pronouncements of tolerance from the “international community”.

On the other hand, the same global experts on forgetting the past are stuck on rewriting history selectively and curating paintings with crippled imaginations of national memory.

Is this the future we want?

Numbers speak

It’s clear, the “protestors” were outnumbered by those who hearkened to President Mnangagwa’s commitment to build Zimbabwe.

This substantiates the majority’s expectation of the new Government.

Our unity at home and commitment to international synergies is all that’s required to underscore the path towards unlocking the vistas of economic growth.

There is more to life than being engrossed in nation-dismembering scores. This narrow course has been undertaken before by regionalist civil society groups and political movements.

In a liberated sovereignty like ours, such nation-dividing antics will always be crushed by the majority’s yearning for economic development.

Moreover, the solution to Zimbabwe’s problems inherited from historical and structural deficiencies does not lie in essentialist devolution.

Zimbabwe’s path to progress resides in the hard work of progressive thinkers. After all, it’s only democratic that we have diverse views on the course of nation-building which Zimbabwe has taken.

President Mnangagwa must be applauded for taking the bold step to promise developmental deliverables and not to solely focus on political scores.

Politics alone is not enough. We must talk of a political-economy transition.

The pan-Africanist stride

President Mnangagwa’s assurance to serve as every Zimbabwean’s President – not of a particular ethnic group or race – denotes dedication to inclusive nation-building.

In the same context, this speaks of sustaining a tradition of pan-African framing of power and promoting social cohesion and integration.

Moreover, his business dialogue with the Diaspora symbolises his confidence in the African component of Zimbabwe’s economic development.

As such, he opened the first door of international economic co-operation by engaging a neighbour whose diplomatic leaning towards Zimbabwe is unquestionable and is framed within a cordial nationalist fraternal context.

It is, therefore, refreshing that the President appears poised to continue on the trajectory of pan-Africanist interventions in the quest for Zimbabwe’s growth.

SONA: Unpacking affluences of

economic growth

Resolving the national question continues to depend on addressing the economic question. Including the majority in promoting economic growth stands as a priority of legitimacy for the ruling.

As such, dwelling on economic recovery is crucial in infusing confidence.

President Mnangagwa’s position on economic recovery takes into account how national capital has largely been absorbed by international capital.

Coming to terms with such realities helps prioritise economic competences that define our mark in the global economy. In that way, Zimbabwe will be able to compete with structures of international capital, particularly in terms of challenging and determining dependence on international markets.

This is the obvious reality we must confront in addressing the international monetary system’s obligation to create stable exchange rates and rational trade regulation mechanisms with those of us in the so-called developing world.

This is crucial for Zimbabwe because the country has numerous raw materials which international capital needs.

Therefore, our openness to engagement must be situated in navigating national growth and asserting our contribution to the global economy.

In 1980, Zimbabwe was the second most industrialised country in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa.

Contrary to the state of nascent advancement, the economy was disarticulated due to a parasitic bourgeoisie. The economy was largely defined by self-aggrandisement and extravagance effectually delimited to the minority.

In the face of this systematic rundown of the country, agriculture remained the economy’s mainstay, generating 40 percent GDP income for the newly-independent State. This subtly staggering economy created 70 percent employment for the population (Stoneman and Cliffe, 1989).

As time went on, there was gradual economic collapse owing to public administration system failure under a draining colonial prototype of governance. Stringent Western prescriptions and ills like corruption also took their toll on the economy and sanctions compounded the situation.

As it stands, Zimbabwe must undo what has been for decades.

All eyes are on the new man at State House.

However, all of us must equally work to get Zimbabwe to her feet again. With total commitment to national unity and abhorring a culture of lethargy, Zimbabwe can rise again.

Iwe neni tine basa.

Richard Mahomva is an independent researcher and a literature aficionado interested in the architecture of governance in Africa and political theory. He wrote this article for The Sunday Mail.

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Jane Ngwenya
Cde Jane Lungile Ngwenya is one of the most senior surviving former Zapu nationalists. She was involved in the formation of the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress in the 1952, the National Democratic Party in 1960 and Zapu two years later. Last week, The Sunday Mail’s Chief Reporter Kuda Bwititi engaged Cde Ngwenya on Unity Day whose 30th anniversary was celebrated last Friday.

Below is Cde Ngwenya in her own words.

***

It is important to trace our unity not just from the signing of the Unity Accord on December 22, 1987, but also from the founding values of our nation.

These founding values were critical in forming the Zimbabwean nation and setting us apart as a distinct group of people with a common identity.

I got involved in nationalist politics in the 1950s and, therefore, believe that the spirit of unity became distinct when we started the African National Congress.

Our cadres were from diverse backgrounds but united by a sense of common purpose in getting rid of colonial rule. When the National Democratic Party was formed on January 1, 1960, the same spirit was evident. The NDP comprised trade unionists, teachers and every other politically-conscious person. No single tribe, region or totem was superior.

People came from Plumtree, Chirundu, Beitbridge and elsewhere to fight for independence and that united us. Our suffering bound us as a proud people who wanted to liberate their country.

What also made us unique was that our suffering was much deeper than that of Africans in other countries.

Colonialism in the then Rhodesia was entrenched as the settler rulers were more brutal and determined to cling onto this country.

What is more, we were a province of Britain and were like slaves.

So, in talking about Unity Day, it is clear that our suffering and common purpose united us as a people.

 Unsung heroes

In the lead-up to the Unity Accord, a lot happened behind the scenes. Joshua Nkomo of Zapu and Robert Mugabe of Zanu were obviously the most important figures during talks. Being a Zapu leader, I was involved in those talks. (I had also participated in the Lancaster House Conference of 1979).

I served as Deputy Minister at the time of the unity talks.

Various committees were formed to link discussions at the table and the rest of the two parties’ leaderships. Many people made significant contributions to the committees; some are now late. I pay particular tribute to Cde Angeline Masuku, a key committee member.

She was vibrant and worked diligently, putting in several hours for results to be achieved. Another untold story is the military’s role in the Unity Accord. I know there has always been an attempt to present the military as perpetrators of violence and killings that took place.

Yes, those sad developments cannot be denied.

However, there has been a tendency to ignore the role which the military played as deliberations unfolded.

The military was crucial in ensuring peace at the end. Commanders such as Phillip Valerio Sibanda were sober and stood firm in telling our leaders that they needed to sign the accord.

I particularly recall Sibanda as I had known him from his early days as a Zipra combatant.

Instead of warmongering, the soldiers became peacemakers who deserve recognition for their role.

It would have been difficult to achieve unity without them.

It was clear during talks, though, that no one wanted civil disturbances to continue. I’m also sure that none from both Zanu and Zapu wanted them to occur in the first place.

However, this should not hold us back as a country as what happened at the time was certainly not Zimbabwean.

Defending the Unity Accord

We have to continue to heal, and the Unity Accord of 1987 is obviously the foundation of preserving unity. Gukurahundi should not be forgotten, but people should also understand that enemies amongst us want to use it to divide us. This is why they use media to stir emotions around the matter.

We should not allow that to happen.

I was there when the Unity Accord was formulated. Some still want to take every opportunity to create disharmony.

They will not succeed.

We should desist from finger-pointing over past differences because that will not take us anywhere. Finger-pointing is a weapon that can be used by our enemies to destroy the unity we have built.

No one should be blamed for Gukurahundi.

Rather, we should be forward-thinking and realise the progress that we made by signing the Unity Accord. Zimbabweans are one people born of a protracted struggle.

We now need to be united in the same manner that we were in fighting colonialism. The same should apply in the new fight that our President has implored us to focus on – economic prosperity.

All we want is development, and national unity is necessary for us to achieve it.

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LAST week, Gogo Taripiwa Shawu narrated how in the early 1970s she was given the responsibilities to look after homwe yaMbuya Nehanda in Tsokoto. She narrated how some Zanla comrades came to Tsokoto and took Mbuya Nehanda to Chifombo in Zambia.

In this interview with our Deputy Editor Munyaradzi Huni, Gogo Shawu narrates how Mbuya Nehanda passed away at Chifombo and her long journey to Mozambique.

Read on . . .

MH: Gogo, as someone who had stayed with Mbuya Nehanda for a long time, how did you feel when she passed on at Chifombo?

Gogo Shawu: It really pained me but there was nothing I could do about it. Kana munhu afa anochemwa ovigwa but some people vanoramba vachizvipurira pasi, vamwe vachiti dai munhu uyu ararama. Mvura kana yadeuka hapana anogona kuidyorera mumugomo.

Mushure mekunge vati ini ndava kuparura munosara vanangu muchirwira nyika asi tichange tichibata basa pamwe chete, ndakapinda mumba ndikabika sadza. I tried to wake her up saying Ambuya, muchembere mukai tidye sadza.

She didn’t wake up. Ndakabva ndasiya sadza riya ndobva ndaisa matanda mumoto kuti mumba mudziye. Ndakabva ndapinda mugumbeze ratairara tese. Hudiki, handisi kuziva kuti vazorora.

The whole night Mbuya kana kumbonditi chindipawo chibakwa chefodya ndipute kana kuti chimbokuchidzira moto. She didn’t say anything the whole night. The next morning, I woke up wondering kuti Mbuya ava varipo here?

Ndakabva ndabuda ndikati Sekuru Chidyamauyu, Ambuya sadza riya randakabika nezuro havana kudya. Sekuru vakati uri kuti chiiko iwe? Ndikati havana kudya sadza. Sekuru Chidyamauyu and Sekuru Chiodzamamera went inside the hut and spent quite some time.

When they came out of the hut, yakanga yangova mweya chete. Kudzvova zvekusvikirwa. Vakabva vandibata ruoko, vakati ahh, muchembere azorora sezvo akawoneka kare. Kana zvazofamba zvakanaka kana Mbuya vabata pamwe, vachakutora.

After this, we later buried Mbuya after getting permission from the Zambian chief in the area. I think about a month or so later, ndipo patakazosungwa tichiendeswa kuMboroma.

MH: How was Mbuya Nehanda buried?

Gogo Shawu: Pakavakwa imba yemapango. Vakaiswa patsanga ndobva vaiswa pamusoro petumatanda twainge twakawaridzwa. The Zanu leaders said they were burying her temporarily at Chifombo but they would come back after independence to take her remains and bury her in Zimbabwe.

I really don’t know how she was later buried after independence. Sekuru Chidyamauyu was supposed to look for me but he didn’t. The instruction was that kana mapfupa avo avakuvigwa after independence, I was supposed to be there.

MH: For all the years that you stayed with Mbuya Nehanda, what would you say you learnt from her?

Gogo Shawu: What I remember most is that zvavaitaura ndizvo zvaiitika. Vairapa vanhu vachipora pamwe chete nezviratidzo. Ndiko kushanda kwemweya and I knew kuti Mbuya vanoyera.

MH: Tell us how you left Chifombo going to Mboroma?

Gogo Shawu: These were the days when the Zambian were rounding up Zanu leaders saying they wanted to know who killed Chitepo. So we were rounded up at Chifombo and were taken to Mboroma. The Zambian regiments were looking after us. During this time, Sithole was still the Zanu leader and he would sometimes come to Mboroma. Later things changed. I don’t want to say much about the politics because I was not heavily involved. Later we were flown to Chingodzi in Mozambique. What I know is that while at Mboroma, some of our comrades were poisoned. I remember that the first person to realise that the food had been poised was Cde Ndoda. He quickly blew his whistle shouting kuti macomrades vasati vadya please musadye chikafu ichi. Suddenly many comrades started vomiting. Some comrades were later taken to hospital but I had not yet eaten the food so I was not affected. I don’t think anyone died.

After this incident, as Zanu we moved away from this base and walked some kilometres away because we feared more clashes with Zapu cadres. The Zambian regiments tried to stop us from walking out of Chifombo base but we marched on.

MH: While at Mboroma, as someone who had stayed with Mbuya Nehanda, how were you treated?

Gogo Shawu: The comrades and everyone treated me with respect. Ndaingonzi Ambuya nemunhu wese. Most people didn’t know my name because they knew me as Ambuya. Kubvira kumashefu kusvika kunacomrade vese vaindikoshesa zvikuru. Hapana chandaitenderwa kuita. Kungave kuchera mvura yekuguzinya, kungave kuti vanhu vari kuenda kuhuswa, kana kuhuni, mashefu airamba kuti ndiite kana chinhu. I remember some camp commander, it must be Cde Matiwonesa she would come waking up other female comrades, but kungosvika pandiri aibva andisiya. She would say ‘Ambuya sarai zvenyu murare. Hatibvumirwi kukutumai. Hamubvumirwi kuita basa.’ Ndakanga ndisingaite chinhu ini. This was my life until the end of the liberation struggle.

MH: Tell us of the story where Sekuru Chidyamauyu tried to go and take Mbuya Nehanda’s remains from Zambia to Mozambique?

Gogo Shawu: The idea was to take Mbuya Nehanda’s remains to Mozambique. So Sekuru Chidyamauyu was sent on that mission. However, Sekuru Chidyamauyu failed kuyambuka Zambezi River naMbuya. I think Sekuru Chidyamauyu vakanga vasina kunyatsokumbira kuti tava kuyambuka naMbuya. So when the boat got to the middle of the river, it started going in rounds kuita chamupupuri. Some Frelimo comrades then said “imi akuru imi, muzimu wanu mukuru amuna kutaura imwi. Tiri kumufa muno.” So they failed to cross Zambezi naMbuya and they left her remains on the Zambian side.

MH: From Chingodzi, where did you go?

Gogo Shawu: From Chingodzi we were taken to Mabvudzi, then Chimoio. At Chimoio I was staying at Pasichigare kwaigara masvikiro. So I was staying with Sekuru Chiodzamamera, Sekuru Chidyamauyu and Sekuru Chipfeni together with their wives. While at Chimoio Sekuru Chidyamauyu would tell the comrades kuti kuchaitika zvakati zvikati.

MH: When Chimoio was attacked, where were you?

Gogo Shawu: I was at Chimoio. I gave birth to my first child, Edmore at Chimoio. That was in 1977. During that attack, ndakatiza naye achiri kasvava. I managed to hide mumwena and I spent the whole day ndirimo. I think ndakachengetwa nemweya. I only left that hiding place around 6pm when it was getting dark. When I started walking, I bumped into some comrades and they almost shot at me. One of the comrades is still alive and is in Mt Darwin. He said takanzwa kufamba kwemunhu one, takabva takoka pfuti. They then shouted kuti ndiani, ndikati ndini Mbuya. Zvikanzi, sorry, sorry Mbuya. One of the comrades was assigned to take me where other people had gathered.

MH: Before this attack, was there any warning from Sekuru Chidyamauyu?

Gogo Shawu: Yes, he had spoken about it. He warned saying mangwana vanhu chenjerai kuri kuuya hondo? Mangwana acho tichibva taiwona hondo zveshuwa.

MH: Gogo you are now telling us about your first born at Chimoio. Where you allowed to fall in love and have kids during the war?

Gogo Shawu: Sekuru Chidyamauyu called Cde Tongogara, Cde Fox Gava and other Zanla leaders and said mwana uyu akura. By this time I was now mhandara. Mweya wakaona kuti mwana wandakasiirwa naMbuya uyu anogona kuchiviwa nemacomrades. Sekuru Chidyamauyu then said handidi kuzopara mhosva. Zvanga zvadii tatsvaga comrade wechikuru anogona kugara nemwana uyu kuitira kuti kana Mbuya vabata pamwe, tinonomutora nemurume wake toti Mbuya mwana uye wamakatisiira uyu. So ndakatsvagirwa murume ndikaita mwana mumwechete. Ndiye mwana wandakauya naye kubva kuhondo.

MH: So who was chosen as your husband?

Gogo Shawu: His name was Cde Dickson Tafirenyika. He later died after independence in Mt Darwin, kwaDotito. He died in 1991.

MH: How did you feel that someone had to choose a husband for you?

Gogo Shawu: You see, I was afraid kuti zvisina kutongwa nemweya hazviiti kuti nditsvage murume ndega. I was waiting for Sekuru Chidyamauyu to give me direction since Mbuya handed me over to him. Of course, ndakatomboramba kuti umm, murume wacho ndewe chikuru. But it was explained to me that he was the suitable man aikwanisa kuzosvika panaMbuya achiwonekwa. Akanga ari mudhara akanga asiya mukadzi wake kuno kumusha. Zvinhu zvacho zvaitungamirwa nemweya so there was nothing I could do.

From Chimoio we were taken to Pungwe, then to Doroi. I was at Doroi until the end of the liberation struggle. We came back all of us – that’s Sekuru Chidyamauyu, Sekuru Chiodzamamera and Sekuru Chipfeni and their wives. All of them later died after independence.

MH: How did you come from Mozambique to Zimbabwe?

Gogo Shawu: We came through Mutare. We were taken to Chishawasha Assembly Point. When we got to Chishawasha, murume wangu akanga akapfurwa gumbo. We had left him in Maputo. All injured comrades were later flown to Southerton in Harare. I later joined him at Southerton where I stayed for almost a month.

While at Southerton, vaMugabe vakazobvisa machira, chimera and mombe dzekuwuraya. We were taken to Dande kunobika doro kutenda muchembere kuti tahwina nyika. All of us – Sekuru Chidyamauyu, Chiodzamamera and Chipfeni we went to Dande together with some comrades. We went and did the rituals and came back to Chishawasha.

MH: Tell us briefly about the ritual in Dande? What exactly did you do?

Gogo Shawu: VaMugabe said he was thanking Mbuya Nehanda. I think this was in 1981. The comrades were saying tinotenda Mbuya makatipa simba rekurwa hondo. Pakabva pabikwa doro and vanhu vakapembera. During the evening, Sekuru Chidyamauyu told the comrades who were present that tiri kufanira kuwedzera husavi so macomrades mangwana kana mamuka mukafamba pasango apo muchaona nyathi mbiri. True to his words, the comrades woke up the next day and found two buffalos roaming close by. They killed these buffalos and added the meat to the relish.

MH: Gogo you need to explain this a bit more.

Gogo Shawu: Sekuru Chidyamauyu explained that ndini ndaona kuti muriwo mushoma saka ndakupai nyama. Mhuka idzi dzinoita zvekutinhwa nemudzimu.

MH: You are saying this ritual to thank Mbuya Nehanda was done but there are some who say this was never done or if it was done, it was not done properly. What is your comment?

Gogo Shawu: I really wouldn’t know what exactly was supposed to be done. What I know is that kwakabikwa doro as I am telling you. Zvekuti zvakatambirwa here I also don’t know because izvi zvaiva zvemudzimu ini ndaiva munhu wenyama.

MH: After this ritual what happened?

Gogo Shawu: Later I met my family. My mother was overwhelmed with joy to see me nekamuzukuru kavo. She thought I had died during the liberation struggle. Amai vangu vakanga vachangobva kugara mumaKeep and so vanga vachiri kugara mumiti yemusawu. They had not yet built their own houses.

After some days, I went back to Harare and we were later told that most of the disabled comrades were staying in Ruwa. There was a camp for disabled people in Ruwa and my husband was now disabled after being shot in the leg. I think we stayed in Ruwa for about two years.

MH: You said throughout the liberation struggle all the comrades respected you as they called you Mbuya. How was the treatment after independence?

Gogo Shawu: Ahh, they had completely forgotten about me. Some comrades who knew me from the liberation struggle still gave me respect. Just like here where I am staying, no one really knows about me and my life.

MH: Why do you think you were forgotten?

Gogo Shawu: Umm, I really don’t know.

MH: Doesn’t that trouble you?

Gogo Shawu: It pains me a lot. You know after independence hapana kana akazokwanisa kundimiririrawo. It pained me a lot but I said as long as I am still alive. From Ruwa we went to Dande where we built our homestead. After being troubled by Matsanga from Mozambique we later relocated to Dotito in Mt Darwin. I think this was around 1987. I later had three more children…

You see, when most people came back from the liberation struggle, because they had gone for training and because vakabata pfuti, they were given better treatment. They forgot about me.

You know during those days when former freedom fighters were getting ma50 000, I went to the Mt Darwin offices and explained the role that I played. One of the officers said “eehh, eehh, eehhh, makutipengera pano! Hatisi kuita zvaMbuya Nehanda, ibvai pano! Ibvai hatisi kuda kukuwonai. Musadzoke futi!” I went to the back of the office and I cried. Ndakachema misodzi kuti hey, ko nyika ino ndakatadzawo chii nhai? So I went back home ndikagara zvangu. I said handisi chinhu pamberi pevanhu. Vanhu vaindida vari padambudziko but now that hondo yapera, ndosairirwa kumasese.

MH: Do you think Zimbabweans still value or respect Mbuya Nehanda?

Gogo Shawu: No, not at all. This used to trouble me a lot with the role that Mbuya Nehanda played during the liberation struggle but I ended up saying, let me just sit and watch.

Sometimes I tell my children my story but there is nothing much I can do. I think the children vanongoti mai havana kudzidza saka hapana zvavanokwanisa. On many occasions ndinorota ndichipihwa purazi. I think ndizvo zviri pamoyo pangu. Kurota zvekutambudzika pamweya. Ndatoshamisika kuti imi mandizivawo. Vamwe havachandiziva.

MH: What would you want to say to the country’s leadership?

Gogo Shawu: Inga ndakabata mugoti wenyika wani. Muchembere ndaivabikira, vodya. Vodeedza vana vavo macomrades vovapa mazano ehondo. Ndowachira chembere yangu, yadya yaguta. Ndovapa fodya. That was my role. I didn’t go for military training, but ndiro basa randakabata. Macomrades ese ayiwuya kumusha vaitosimuka nezano rambuya.

MH: Gogo as you are talking, your last born child is shedding tears. Tell us Gogo what is it that is troubling her?

Gogo Shawu: (turning to her daughter) Ko uri kuchemei? (long pause) These children grew up in lots of difficulties. Havana kumboenda kuchikoro. Ko mari yacho ndaiiwanepi? Vanorarama nekushandira vanhu. Vachisakura nekucheka huswa.

Indeed, we went through very difficult times. I can’t even explain but I always say aiwa vanangu ngatigare. Ko tinga ite sei? Ndiwo hupenyu hwedu. I always say to myself, ko mumwe musi hapanawo anogona kungoti mbuya vaya varipi? Kundivakira imbawo inowonekera. Kutambanudzawo mweya wechembere.

I am sure Mbuya Nehanda kwavari vachiona what I am going through she is not happy. Vanongoti ko iyo mhuri yangu iri kufungawo seiko pamwana uyu? Ko vangadii? Gara zvako mwanangu. Vakomana ava havachambokuziva. Ko ini ndingaitewo sei semunhu wemweya? Vapedza Mbuya.

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American actress, singer and songwriter Dale Evans once said: “Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.” Put simply, Evans was trying to emphasise that Christmas is not all about December 25. There can be so many Christmases throughout the year.

As Zimbabweans are we finding time to love? Are we finding time to give? Are we showing some love in action or this love in action is only a December 25 event?

Food for thought as we enjoy the festive season. Merry Christmas to all Zimbabweans! May the Lord continue to bless this beautiful nation!

According to former UK prime minister Winston Churchill: “Christmas is a season not only for rejoicing but of reflection.”

Zimbabweans have to use this season, not only to rejoice but to reflect because since the beginning of November, the country has gone and is still going through some life-changing developments, especially on the political and economic front.

For the first time in the history of this country, we experienced a November like no other November. November was an eventful month, with a lot of dramatic events that culminated in the resignation of former President Robert Mugabe and the historic inauguration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. As the sun set on the iconic African legend, a new dawn arrived as the man popularly known as “Ngwena” or simply as “ED” took over the reins of power.

There is no doubt that former President Mugabe laid a solid foundation for Zimbabwe. History will record that that selfless son of the soil, that Pan-Africanist, that visionary and that principled leader played his part as Zimbabwe pioneered several programmes that sought to economically free indigenous people. Of course, he offended quite a number of imperialists and in the process some Zimbabweans missed his point, but those rented emotions will die down and the former president will take his rightful place in history.

As he took his Oath of Office, President Mnangagwa was very bold saying: “Let me at this stage pay special tribute to one of, and the only surviving father of our nation, Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe. He led us in our struggle for national independence and assumed responsibilities of leadership at the formative and very challenging time in the birth of our nation . . .

“To me personally, he remains a father, mentor, comrade-in-arms and my leader. We thus say thank you to him and trust that our history will grant him his proper place and accord him his deserved statue as one of the founders and leaders of our nation.”

This statement by President Mnangagwa was very instructive. His message was very simple – this revolutionary, this jewel of Africa and this African teacher should be treated with respect. We will never, ever forget Gushungo.

While the former president laid a solid socio-economic and political foundation for Zimbabwe, President Mnangagwa has come in to put the finishing touches. He has hit the ground running, brought a new culture of “work, work, work” in Government and has shown the international community that Zimbabwe is ripe and ready for business.

President Mnangagwa has brought back smiles on the faces of many Zimbabweans, both at home and abroad. There is a new sense of optimism, there is renewed hope and there is excitement in the air. Even the opposition which at first thought it’s still the same old game, has woken up to the realisation that this new game in town is unstoppable.

The President has struck the right chord with the people and as the people go for holidays, the excitement is clear. This is despite the miscalculated mischief from some retailers who have been inflating prices of basic commodities to steal Christmas from the ordinary people.

Fortunately, these retailers have failed to steal Christmas, but going forward, Government has to come up with proper pricing structures built on economic fundamentals not speculative tendencies to maximise on people’s misery. Government has to address the issue of cash shortages and come up with holistic solutions to revive the economy.

In his address to the 107th Ordinary Session of the Zanu-PF Central Committee, President Mnangagwa showed that he is fully aware and is up to the task at hand. “We will not be able to accomplish much for as long as our sense of party work remains hidebound in the old template of looking at Zanu-PF as about politics, politics and politics alone. No more, its politics and economics.”

So as we meet as families, let’s toast to a new beginning and as rightly put by the President, Zimbabwe does not belong to Zanu-PF or MDC but to the people of Zimbabwe.

Enjoy your Christmas, but remember this is not a December 25 event. God bless Zimbabwe!

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Clemence Machadu Insight
Howdy folks!
American poet Theodore Roethke wrote, “Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.”

Most folks attempt to keep their light by taking advantage of the festive season to embark on annual pilgrimages to reconnect with their respective roots in a bid to stay grounded.

Your countryboy was no exception to that tradition as he also sojourned to his rural village somewhere in Zaka, nestled between the mist-sharing Mbengwa, Machena and Chivavarire mountains, whose thick, green forests bear mazamera, tyondyondyo, nhengeni, nhuzwa and other fruits.

And from a distance, the overlooking Manyiri, Chimarara and Ngwana mountains also serve as good horizons to cast endless imaginations. The feeling is soothing; the feeling of being home, far from the madding crowd.

You get the opportunity to see how things are changing in the countryside, how the trees are now less compared to yesteryear and how new landforms are being created. In the fields, folks now seem to get less yield for more work as the soil is tired. And while Government has been promoting increased agriculture production, rural-folk continue to face a number of setbacks.

In districts like Zaka where I come from, growing the staple maize is almost an impossibility now as the planted seeds are devoured by crickets (makurwe) before they even get the opportunity to germinate. The little that survive past the germination phase still face the ruthless armyworm, which, again, unleashes an Armageddon on the maize, much to the deterioration of yields.

If this is extrapolated to all communal areas countrywide, then the issue of pests and disease is serious to communal farming. This should not go unaddressed as the new agricultural season unfolds. The free inputs that some folks are getting from Government will just go to waste if no attention is paid to adequate extension services.

Government is making significant investments in the agricultural sector both under Command Agriculture and the Presidential Well-Wishers Agricultural Inputs Support Scheme, with the private sector and banks also contributing; thus the return should be meaningful.

Over half a billion dollars has been set aside for 2017-18 summer cropping, with the Presidential Well-Wishers Agricultural Inputs Support Scheme greatly expanded from 800 000 households to 1,8 million households.

As we move forward, quality should also be prioritised over quantity. We need to bring competitiveness into agriculture across the board. You see, pests, disease and changing climatic conditions pose an additional cost to production and also affect productivity and yields. Some folks may not afford to keep buying seed to replenish the seed destroyed in underground warfare with pests.

It’s aptly summed in Isaiah 28:24-25 which says: “When a farmer ploughs for planting, does he plough continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil? When he has levelled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin?” Other communal folks are not exposed to modern ways of dealing with pests.

My aunt, VaZvibwowa, has had to  sprinkle soil on every maize plant hit by the armyworm to try and salvage her pest-ridden crop. Her son, Sabhawa, also resorted to planting maize and cotton seed in the same hole as he believes that the chemical on the cotton seed will chase evil crickets away from maize seed, allowing it to germinate.

The cost of production for communal farmers should be managed through collaboration with Government otherwise the country will continue to be uncompetitive in agriculture. The price of maize in Zimbabwe at US$390 per tonne is very expensive compared to regional averages. Viability issues can also be observed in other crops.

In the 2018 National Budget, for instance, Government actually exempted tobacco buyers from withholding 10 percent tax in order to ease the tax burden on farmers of the crop, particularly at communal level, that are experiencing viability challenges on account of huge expenditures incurred during growing and marketing.

For our secondary agro-producers to be competitive, farmers have to be first supported to also play their part in the competitiveness matrix.

If prices of local agricultural commodities continue to be high, it will create an incentive for rent-seekers to smuggle or officially import them from other countries where they are cheap. Maize imports are an interesting case in point.

Between January and October 2017, maize imports amounting to US$113 million were realised. This is regardless of the fact that we had a bumper maize harvest, with production exceeding two million tonnes, which is in excess of the local national requirement.

Folks, extension services to communal farmers have been dwindling in recent years at a time when new pests and diseases have been proliferating.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Extension Services has been complaining about lack of demonstration material and inadequate technical staff. There is need to increase capacity and ensure farmers acquire enough training and adequate extension support.

Extension services in Zimbabwe can be traced to as far back as 1927 when Emory Alvord introduced about 10 agricultural demonstration workers (vadhumeni), with the Department of Agricultural Extension being later established to service indigenous smallholder farmers.

Given how farmers in the countryside are struggling with the vagaries of pests, disease and other climatic challenges, there is need for aggressive application of scientific research and knowledge to agricultural practices through intensive communal farmer education and support.

It has been observed in Zimbabwe that while many smallholder farmers have fully adopted use of maize hybrid seed, the adoption and use of supportive technologies such as fertilisers, pesticides and recommended agricultural management methods is still minimal.

More extension officers are, therefore, needed to interact with farmers on a number of issues, including crop health, animal welfare, natural resources, how to optimise land use, structuring irrigation systems and water harvesting.

When you look at our current agricultural productivity levels in comparison with our regional peers, you will realise that Zimbabwe is virtually at the bottom. While average maize yield in 2017 recorded a notable increase to reach 1.2 tonnes per hectare from the previous 0,4 tonnes per ha; the regional average is two tonnes per ha, with countries like South Africa actually realising about 4.5 tonnes per ha.

In light of the above, Government should not neglect extension services as it seeks to advance agriculture development, especially when it comes to communal farming. Otherwise, its significant investment in the sector will not bear fruit as intended.

A happy New Year to you all!

Later folks!

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Dr Mike Bimha
In September 2017, prices of basic goods went up as a result of social media speculation. “News” circulating then was that basic commodity shortages and price hikes were looming.

Panic buying set in, and that was a natural reaction. Our people tend to believe anything on social media even without evidence. Cabinet subsequently assembled a taskforce to consider these issues, with short- and long-term measures on the table.

Long-term measures
What we require is confidence – both locally and internationally – and a lot has been done since the new dispensation’s coming. President Mnangagwa has said we will put economic management at the forefront, with politics following. The President is saying here that we want to grow our economy, create jobs and produce goods and services.

When this becomes the thrust, it means all policies will be directed towards that common goal. Every ministry will be asking itself: what are we doing to contribute to economic growth? That’s building confidence internally and externally, and that’s what this country requires. At the end of the day, the three-tier pricing system, black market and other concerns are confidence issues. Government is engaging, building confidence.

Industry players, on the other hand, should generate foreign currency. The problem is those who need foreign currency are not themselves generating it.

We should generate foreign currency through exports, but we are helping them, hoping they will generate their own in future.

Short-term interventions
Presently, Government is appealing to industrialists, asking them to exercise restraint and to understand that consumers are out there. They should also understand that authorities know their overarching objective to make profits. However, those profits should be made via reasonable means. This means mark-ups should be reasonable.

So, we are appealing to them. Sometimes we make blanket statements, saying all retailers and producers are to blame for price hikes. However, in certain instances, it is retailers and not producers. On other occasions, it is a few retailers and not all of them. On the other hand, some distributors effect their own mark-up prices.

Now, we are carrying out a scientific and objective analysis of the entire value chain. For instance, what does it cost Producer A to manufacture a particular product? This is called cost build-up; that which goes into your production cost. We must know what it costs one to produce and come up with a reasonable mark-up enough to make a profit.

Then it goes to the retailer.
What value does the retailer put into his/her product by transporting, warehousing and passing it on? These are all stages of the value chain. We want to scientifically analyse the cost build-up so that we agree as a collective on a reasonable price.

Government will not come up with specific prices. No. Industry players themselves will be involved, participate in the process and agree on reasonable prices.

This is the exercise we have started and some prices have gone down in recent weeks as we started engaging various stakeholders, including the baking and meat industries. We have tasked the National Competitiveness Commission to go through value chains linked to basic commodities.

Dialogue is good as it enables Government to fully appreciate constraints producers and retailers might be encountering. Some cite foreign currency shortages, saying they are passing the cost of sourcing money from the black market for raw material purchases to the consumer.

We need to assess whether this is true, and if true, this concern has to be addressed.

What do we do about it? All these issues do not solely relate to the Industry, Commerce and Enterprise Development Ministry but monetary authorities, too. Thus an assessment gives us full knowledge of all facets.

We are saying certain businesses might want to adjust prices, justifiably so. Then others might just want to run with the wind and increase prices without justification. Some businesses increased prices just because we are in the festive season!

As I have mentioned before, we do not want to punish 10 people for the sin of one. Let’s identify culprits and deal with them later. Let’s dialogue, engaging each other. Let’s do it the scientific way, and I believe the NCC is the right channel to do that.

So far, we have engaged the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Honourable Patrick Chinamasa, on forex shortages and they are keen to come aboard. A lot of producers have approached us over forex and the RBZ is assisting them. We have, however, found out that some have been using the forex card as a scapegoat to hike prices.

 New dispensation
The new dispensation in Zimbabwe supports value addition and beneficiation. This is at the core of the Industry Ministry and Zim-Asset.

You can only grow an economy by producing, ensuring the country is efficient and productive, creates jobs and can export. And that’s what the new dispensation is all about.

So, we feel comfortable that the new dispensation is line with our objective of industrialisation, boosting domestic and intra-Africa trade. Government wants to empower manufacturers to produce for the local market at affordable prices and to export into the region and beyond.

We have put in place a number of measures. Statutory Instrument 64, for example, indicates our desire to promote domestic industry. Further, we are working on a local content policy aimed at bolstering local manufacturing.

I’m not talking about big companies only here, but even SMEs which we want to perform better and export. Support will always be there for them to compete on the big stage. The local content policy is one of the objectives of our 100-day programme.

Due to changes that took place nationally, some programmes lagged behind, but the idea is to speed them up and that is why this is in our 100-day programme. The policy will be at an advanced stage within the first quarter of 2018.

We need to finalise implementation of the Zisco plan within those 100 days. In addition, we are looking at a cotton-clothing strategy. Various measurables should be achieved within that prescribed timeframe. And we also want to come up with a database of all SMEs.

We are talking about anyone involved in some productive activity; it could be in the informal sector or big corporates. We need to know who is where, who is doing what for us to provide optimum support.

Dr Mike Bimha is the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Enterprise Development. He was speaking to Sunday Mail reporter Debra Matabvu in Harare last week.

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