Hoarding of foreign currency by net exporters, rent seeking, a proliferation of middlemen, and manipulations by cartels and monopolies are threatening to derail the monetary policy reforms that were intended to move Zimbabwe forward into a normal economy and are a prime force driving unnecessary price rises

These undesirable trends are compounded by the well-known economic fact that high inflation concentrates wealth into fewer and fewer hands as money moves from the poor and middle classes to the rich and so gives incentives to the ever smaller group who can manipulate the economy to do so.

The multiple problems now call for more action by the monetary and fiscal authorities. Blunt attacks on the final results, such as price controls or arresting street currency vendors, will not solve the underlying problems. The authorities need to continue tackling the  sources, as they have been doing since the start of the Second Republic. This will probably mean stricter enforcement of existing policies, heavier monitoring of how money in nostro accounts is actually spent, and perhaps an acceleration of monetary and fiscal reforms already moving Zimbabwe to its own currency.

Most foreign currency entering Zimbabwe comes from export earnings; free funds are largely remittances from the diaspora and hardly dominate the currency markets. Export earnings are split fairly evenly between the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the exporters’ own nostro accounts although as part of the reform process the percentage bought by the Reserve Bank is declining.

When the interbank currency market was introduced it was designed to create a market for willing sellers of retained export earnings and willing buyers, who had to be businesses needing to import raw materials and some finished goods.

The diminishing share of export earnings bought by the Reserve Bank is earmarked for essential imports, such as fuel, and for the Government’s own forex needs.

The initial policy announced in February gave exporters 30 days from receipt of retained foreign earnings to use that money in their own operations or sell it on the interbank market. After 30 days the Reserve Bank would buy whatever was left. Many businesses submitted that the 30 days was too short as they needed to accumulate funds for some purposes or hold funds until they had a seasonal surge in demand  that would trigger a surge in import requirements. The Reserve Bank indicated it would be flexible and so far as we know has yet to enforce the 30-day ruling on any net exporter.

Those running the interbank market report it has been starved of willing sellers, implying that many net exporters are holding onto their retained earnings. So one step would be to enforce the 30-day rule, or negotiate another time limit that can be enforced.

A second problem is the indirect leak of retained export earnings into the parallel market, a polite name for the black market, which seems to be remarkably well-organised. There is nothing so crude as net exporters taking out their cash in the nostro account and selling this on the street. Rather it involves the net exporters “diversifying” and importing stuff that they will never use and selling this to others at a price fixed by that organised street rate. Sometimes they are commissioned by a middleman and sell to that person, so there are three bites at a profit cherry before the consumer is fleeced.

Here, greater monitoring and control is required. For example a tobacco farmer using her nostro account to buy fertiliser, agricultural and irrigation machinery and spares, or even stockfeed and soya seed for her other farming operations, is one thing. Buying, say, raw materials for a plastics factory must raise questions and controls. Here the authorities can issue stricter guidelines to banks on what nostro accounts holding retained export earnings can or cannot be used for. And even here quantities can be checked; a tobacco farmer with 20ha should only be buying enough fertiliser for 20ha, not for 200ha.

There are probably other manipulations, but these two are bad enough and can be controlled.

Forex rates should not be in free fall. The major fiscal reforms of the second republic have, for the first time since independence, put a limit on money supply. With the Government only spending what the taxes bring in, new money is not being created. That in turn creates limits as to how much inflation there can be and how far an exchange rate can fall. Sloppy Government budgeting throughout the First Republic created too much money chasing too few goods and too little forex. That was hidden for most of the last decade by the fiction of the 1-1 exchange rate. The inevitable collapse of that fiction caused almost a decade of hidden inflation and exchange rate pressure to surface, giving us a very uncomfortable six months.

That correction process should be over but we have those who manipulate systems or apply costing models that make unwarranted assumptions. This is compounded by the relatively small size of the Zimbabwean economy which has given rise to monopolies and cartels, or “gentlemen’s agreements”.

Sometimes limited competition works. For example the entry of newcomers into the cooking oil and rice packing industries has produced a spread of prices and products. But sometimes we have something different. Despite smaller independent bakers and supermarkets baking in-house, the bread business is dominated by three companies who, although there are modest differences in taste that must arise from differences in recipes and processes, charge exactly the same prices and raise these in unison on the same day. Reforms require greater enforcement of existing anti-monopoly policies and upgrading these to cope with new loopholes.

The transformation of the Zimbabwean economy from tight State controls to open markets can be undone by those who seek to impose their own controls and manipulations to replace those of the State. That has to be countered, and countered by enforcing openness at source not by controls at the end point, if we are to win the full advantages of the reforms of the Second Republic.

Zimbabwe celebrated its 39th independence from colonial Britain on Thursday last week, with the main event being held at the National Sports Stadium. President Emmerson Mnangagwa addressed a bumper crowd from various social and political backgrounds. His main message was in line with this year’s theme centred on devolution as a preferred system of governance.

 A few days before 18 April, The Sunday Mail Deputy Editor Lovemore Ranga Mataire (L.R.M) had an exclusive chat with the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defences Forces, Cde E.D Mnangagwa (E.D.M), at State House, where he spoke on several issues, including his fervent belief that gold, as a mineral resource, remains a low-hanging fruit the country needs to spur economic development. Read on. . .

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L.R.M: Your Excellency, as we celebrate the country’s 39th independence this year, I would like to take you back and reflect on the actual turning point in your political life and the factors that motivated you to join your contemporaries in the fight against colonial rule?

E.D.M: Mozambique was the second phase of my political career. I only went to Mozambique in 1977, but I had joined the armed struggle in 1962 when I went to Tanganyika then (now Tanzania) and then I went to Egypt (which was then) under Abdul Gamal Nasser. Then there was a split between our political parties at the time back home in Rhodesia.

In 1963 I went to Nanking Military Academy in China and graduated in 1964. I came home and operated in this country at that time, recruiting guys to go for military training, (I) was captured and committed to ten years’ imprisonment, and I spent ten years at Khami Maximum Prison.

When I was released, I went to the University of Zambia to finish my law degree, which I had begun in prison. When I finished my degree, I spent a year or so at Dumbutshena and Company as a legal assistant. Then I went back to Mozambique in 1977. That’s what happened.

L.R.M: So what was the turning point in you deciding that you needed to do this and joining your colleagues in Mozambique?

E.D.M: When I was young, in 1962, after the independence of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) — no, not independence. In 1962, they attained self-governing status. I felt then that I should also make my contribution to my country; that was my turning point.

L.R.M: In my previous conversations with you as the Vice President in the First Republic, you mentioned that in terms of mining, gold was a long-hanging fruit that the country needed to harness to achieve economic development. Do you still believe that gold is panacea to our economic problems, and what has been the constraints?

E.D.M: I think that fact still stands. You realise that gold production has jumped because we have put thrust and focus; because the investment capital is not huge to that sector of gold mining. It has jumped from as low as 12 tonnes per year to 18 tonnes, and to 23 tonnes and this last year, it went to 33 tonnes, and we believe that again during the course of this year, we are likely to go up to 40 or so tonnes.

So it’s rapidly going up. . .if things remain constant, we are likely to reach 100 tonnes within four years, and that would mean a lot to supporting the economy in the country. Yes, of course, there are other things which are low-hanging like in agriculture. Agriculture – it’s in summer and winter, which means every six months there is production. So it’s also a low hanging fruit if we support our agriculture in the manner we envisaged mechanising that sector of our economy. But besides that, also the other area I believe is tourism. What is required is for us to open up and make sure we advertise ourselves and make Zimbabwe an attractive destination for tourists. Those are low hanging fruits which we can harness.

L.R.M: I know, Your Excellency, that you have spoken about this before but I think there is need for clarification on the issue of compensation of white former farmers on the improvement on land? Don’t you think that, maybe, the timing might be wrong for now?

E.D.M: There are two principles here: The first one is that we must be seen respecting our own Constitution, and our Constitution binds us to pay compensation for improvements on land. We do not pay compensation for land because no-one brought land to Zimbabwe, land was found here by those who came here. So there is no compensation with regards to land, but (on) improvements on the land, we agreed as a country.

But. . .we only pay when we are able to pay, so it’s understood that we can only pay when we have got resources to do so. Currently, it is estimated that that compensation may run up to US$3 billion. So with our current budget, even during the old dispensation, we put the seed money for compensation.

We are looking at the old white farmers as we make payment – we don’t pay compensation to those who are fit, but we pay to those who are elderly at the rate at which we feel we can afford. When we feel we don’t have the resources, no-one compels us to do anything. But fortunately, now we are having discussion with the commercial farmers and Government are on one side.

We are now having discussions with the British side also for them to contribute to this compensation and with that regard, l think we are moving in the correct direction, but what is critically important is that land cannot be compensated.

L.R.M: Have you invited your colleagues in the region to celebrate with us on the occasion of our 39th Independence celebrations?

E.D.M: For this independence, we have not invited anyone because we decided that it must be ours alone. We need to consolidate our vision with our people and move forward. It is true that in future we may begin inviting our colleagues within Sadc or outside to come and celebrate with us, but for now, we made a decision that we want to do it on our own.

L.R.M: What about the opposition political parties?

E.D.M: They are most welcome. Opposition political parties are most welcome because they are part of Government. They should be given the dignity and the respect they deserve, but those who choose not to come – we will never in a democracy force them to do what they don’t want.

L.R.M: Lastly, Your Excellency, there are reports that the wife of former President Canaan Banana has appealed for assistance from Government. Would you want to comment on that?

E.D.M: She appealed to me last year that she was destitute when she was in London. We then decided that it is important as Government to have a humane face. So we took her on board to give her support. She is a former First Lady of this country and we cannot ignore that fact.

Prof Simbi V Mubako

The Museum of African Liberation is one of the most ambitious projects by the emerging pan-African think tank — Institute of African Knowledge (INSTAK).

Other great projects by INSTAK are The Africa Factbook, compiled on behalf of the Africa Union (AU) Commission, and the sister publication, Book of African Records.

The principal objective of the institute is to research, gather and disseminate knowledge about Africa and African peoples.

In Africa’s contemporary history, no subject has had a greater impact on the lives and well-being of Africans than European colonialism of the 19th century and the process of African self-emancipation in the 20th century.

Hence it is most befitting that we seek to understand the process that brought about the status of freedom we now enjoy as a people and self-determining nations.

A Museum of African Liberation is a most appropriate project for a pan-Africanist body like INSTAK to embark on.

When Government was informed of some of the above programmes, there was immediate encouragement and practical assistance, culminating in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

President Emmerson Mnangagwa was personally most encouraging about the work of INSTAK, especially the idea of establishing the Museum of African Liberation in Zimbabwe.

To that end, under the MoU, the Government of Zimbabwe has constituted an inter-ministerial committee of eight ministries, including the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Defence and War Veterans, in order to support the work of INSTAK.

Establishing the Museum of African Liberation is a priority project.

The museum will be based in Zimbabwe but will house material from all African countries which took up arms to liberate themselves, but, of course, without excluding those countries that may not have taken up arms but were all the same instrumental in the liberation period.

The museum is conceived as a monument of the epic struggle to liberate the African people from European colonialism and apartheid.

The second half of the 20th century was the era of emancipation and liberation for all African members of the African Union, except for Ethiopia and Liberia.

Egypt became independent in 1936. Starting with Sudan in 1956 and Ghana in 1957, the majority of African states attained their independence before 1970 largely by peaceful protest and negotiations.

However, a hard core of colonies and apartheid South Africa would not concede African majority rule without a fight.

These were Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe — which were part of the Portuguese Empire — the British colony of Rhodesia, the South African mandated territory of Namibia and South Africa itself.

Similarly, in Kenya (1953) and Algeria (1960-1963) fierce armed resistance had been waged before these countries won their independence in the 1960’s.

Imperialism had designated all these African territories as outposts of intensive settlement of surplus European populations.

The African Liberation Museum will be owned by all those countries which fought to win their freedom, be it through military or diplomatic means, or even a mixture of both.

A vital portion of their history will be recorded and deposited in the museum.

The museum would enable Africans and the rest of the world to learn about the history and struggle for freedom and human dignity by each and all of these African countries under one roof.

Each of the countries would provide the historical material, the organisations, the weapons, the battles, losses and victories which were experienced during the struggle.

It is one of the most effective ways of teaching African history and African achievements; told by Africans themselves.

Africa must no longer wait for people from overseas to come and interpret its history.

Africans have demonstrated that they are capable of liberating themselves.

Africans must be the ones to tell the world how they did it and how it feels to be victorious and free.

It is envisaged that for each country there would be a section of the museum devoted to it.

The Zimbabwean section would mainly show the exploits and vicissitudes of the two wings of the Patriotic Front, Zanu and Zapu. We would find the stories of the massacres — Nyadzonya, Chimoio, Mukushi, Westland et cetera.

We would also learn about the Chinhoyi battle, Hwange, the downing of the Rhodesian Viscount jets, the blowing up of the Harare fuel tanks, the Mavonde battle and other encounters with the enemy.

In like manner, the museum will house the stories of other countries’ sacrifices and histories.

Inevitably, the museum will feature the histories of Frelimo (Mozambique), Swapo (Namibia), MPLA (Angola) and other gallant liberation parties, their sacrifices and their victories.

It will feature massacres at Wiriamu, Maseru, Cassinga, as well as victories such as the epic battle of Cuito Cunavale and Gorongoza.

In all cases, some of imperialism’s superior weapons, including freedom fighters’ simple weapons carried by sheer determination to attain freedom, will be displayed.

The museum will enable researchers to appreciate the seamlessness of the African struggle for freedom and the indomitable spirit for liberty even against the most powerful oppressor.

The story of African liberation cannot be told without highlighting the importance of national unity and pan-African solidarity.

The Museum of African Liberation is designed to immortalise a vital part of the African heritage.

The need for a liberation museum is something which all Africans readily accept.

At the same time, some may find the task of erecting and equipping the planned monument daunting.

They might fear that much effort and a lot of resources which are required may not be available.

While such concerns are real, the Institute of African Knowledge is convinced that the challenges are not insurmountable.

In fact, the initial steps taken so far to sound and sensitise stakeholders, governments and institutions have led us to believe that there is a great deal of interest in the project and that resources can be found.

The expertise is also available.

The support of the Government of Zimbabwe, the host country, is the most crucial first step.

Now that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Government and INSTAK has been signed, the next concrete step towards the realisation of the project is the identification of a suitable site.

This will be done with the assistance of the inter-ministerial committee which is created in the MoU, in particular the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.

When that is done, the Department of Cultural Heritage and Monuments will be called upon to render assistance in seeking the architectural design for the museum.

Designers will be invited from all participating countries.

The research and collection of material from designated countries can begin in earnest immediately.

No one should underestimate the enormity of the task which is involved.

But the importance and the need for such an institution is paramount and lead us to believe that the job can be done and must be done.

Naturally, the success of such a mammoth project will depend on the extent to which resources can be mobilised. Where there is a will, there is always a way.

When the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris was burnt down recently, the people of France expressed their will to rebuild it, and within one week, over US$1 billion was raised.

African people had the will to liberate the continent from militarily superior European powers.

They found the way to mobilise diplomatic and material support to wage and win the liberation war.

We are convinced that the will exists, and we are confident that the way will be found to display and preserve for posterity the history of the struggle in a befitting liberation monument.

Prof Simbi V Mubako is the chairperson of the Institute of African Knowledge. He participated at the Lancaster House Conference as chief legal advisor to Zanu.

Vision 2030
Allen Choruma

Vision 2030 cannot be realised unless the country promotes the full participation of women in all spheres of life as enshrined in Section 17(1) (a) of the Constitution.

According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat), women make up 52 percent of the country’s 13,5 million people.

They also make up 51 percent of the rural population and 53 percent of the urbanites.

However, when it comes to gender diversity in leadership, whichever direction one looks  — corporate, public sector or politics — men occupy most positions of power relative to women.

It, therefore, makes it imperative to change cultural perceptions and societal stereotypes that view gender equality as a women’s issue.

Gender equality is in fact a fundamental human rights issue and affects both men and women in equal measure.

Although Government has shown commitment to achieve gender equality by ratifying a number of gender-related international and regional protocols, which include the United Nations Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), the African Charter on the Rights of Women, and the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Gender and Development (SADCPGD), 39 years after independence, women remain under-represented in positions of leadership.

A recent Zimstat report titled “Understanding Gender Equality in Zimbabwe: Women and Men Report 2016” indicates that although the country made significant strides in addressing gender imbalances, a lot still has to be done to ensure full gender equality.

While the Constitution prescribes equal gender representation in all Government institutions and agencies, the recent report indicated that out of the 100 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) surveyed, there were only 23 female chief executive officers.

Also, out of the 100 SOE boards, there were only 29 female directors.

Parliament

Parliament ironically falls short of the 50-50 gender representation prescribed by the Constitution.

Figures from both the Eighth Parliament (2013-2018) and Ninth Parliament (2018-2023) and Senate shows a slight drop in female legislators as follows:

— Eighth Parliament: Men: 185 (68,5 percent), Women: 85 (31,5 percent).

—  Ninth Parliament: Men: 186 (69 percent), Women: 84 (31 percent).

— Senate (2013-2018): Men: 42 (52,5 percent), Women: 38 (47,50 percent).

— Senate: (2018-2023): Men: 42 ((52,5 percent), Women: 38 (47,5 percent).

Even Cabinet appointments fall way below the 50 percent threshold. Out of a total of 20 cabinet ministers, only six (30 percent) are women. However, at the provincial minister level, there seems to be equal representation for both men and women.

Corporate Landscape

What is, however, startling is that gender imbalances in the corporate sector are more marked than in the public sector.

A 2015 study titled “Measuring Gender Differences on Board of Directors of Companies Listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange”, which was conducted by Zimbabwe Open University’s Tavonga Njaya (Department of Accounting and Banking and Finance) and Zvinaiye Chimbadzwa (Department of Management and Business Studies), is quite revealing.

Of the 64 Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed companies that were surveyed then, there were only 40 (10 percent) female directors from a pool of 406.

Another study by TechZim in 2018 showed of the 403 ZSE directors, only 72 or 18 percent were women.

Most importantly, as at April 1, only one ZSE-listed company had a female CEO — Ms Clara Mlambo of BAT Zimbabwe.

Formerly, they were two other CEOs — Mrs Grace Muradzikwa, who used to lead NicozDiamond, and Ms Mercy Muchando-Murevesi, who headed GetBucs.

Sadc Region

Apparently, the Sadc region seems to be plagued by the same problem.

A report by the Business Women’s Association of South Africa (BWASA) in 2017 indicated that women only made up 19,1 percent of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)-listed company directors.

Further, only 4,7 percent were CEOs.

Sadc statistics also show that women occupy an average of 20 percent of all publicly listed company boards.

Female directors at publicly listed companies are relatively more in Zambia at 24 percent, followed by Botswana and Malawi at 21 percent, South Africa 19,1 percent and Zimbabwe 18 percent.

Regional trends actually show that there is an increase in the number of women occupying director positions in listed companies in Zimbabwe.

Europe

Countries such as France, Norway, Italy and Belgium have introduced legislation that makes it mandatory for all public listed companies and SOEs to have at least 40 percent women on their boards.

India amended its Companies Act in 2003 to provide for appointment of at least one woman on companies’ boards. The UK targets 33 percent for all FTSE companies’ directors to be women by 2020.

The European Union was mulling introducing a law mandating a 40 percent female quota on corporate boards.

Going forward

Government should continue with its current progressive policies on gender, particularly through correcting historical and cultural gender inequalities.

In so doing, Government should ensure, inter alia, inclusive and democratic governance, equal participation of women in politics, high rates of female enrolment in higher education, enforce equal access and opportunity to paid employment, increased participation of women in business, and supporting educational and advocacy programmes on gender equality.

The Gender Commission should be empowered and given more resources to carry out its constitutional mandate and ensure that women representation in positions of leadership is increased across the board in both public and private sectors.

The Gender Commission should push for harmonisation of all laws, including the Companies Act and the ZSE Listing Rules, with provisions of the Constitution, which call for gender parity in all spheres of society, including leadership.

It should, however, be noted that laws and protocols alone will not address gender imbalances.

Zimbabwe, and Africa at large, has a plethora of laws, policies and protocols on gender.

Where we fall short is on implementing these laws and protocols to the letter and spirit.

From a business perspective, some of the specific interventions that should be implemented to increase women representation on boards and top management include affirmative action, shareholder activism to push for gender-balanced boards, harmonisation and alignment of laws, stock exchange listing rules, and aligning corporate governance codes with the Constitution.

While it is progressive to have more women on corporate boards, the call should not end there.

There is need to address gender diversity simultaneously with other equally important issues such as ending the pay gap between men and women, having more women chair positions at both board and board committee levels, including having more women assume CEO and senior management positions in corporates.

In conclusion, multiple initiatives are required to address gender imbalances in leadership.

Above all, strong political will is needed to drive and quicken the process of attaining gender parity in Zimbabwean society in line with the provisions and aspirations of the Constitution.

Allen Choruma can be contacted on email: hoziadvisory2018@gmail.com

Nick Mangwana

In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), this writer was asked what reforms President Mnangagwa had undertaken.

The journalist asking the question was reminded that her mere presence in the Ministry of Information (Publicity and Broadcasting Services) offices in Munhumutapa whenever she wanted an interview with authorities in Government was evidence that since the Second Republic, Zimbabwe has turned for the better and was on a progressive trajectory.

Things that used to be anathema in this country are so normal now that most people don’t even notice.he journalist asking the question was reminded that her mere presence in the Ministry of Information (Publicity and Broadcasting Services) offices in Munhumutapa whenever she wanted an interview with authorities in Government was evidence that since the Second Republic, Zimbabwe has turned for the better and was on a progressive trajectory.

Neither do they remember.

For a very long time, certain foreign media could not operate in Zimbabwe.

They could only shout from across the Limpopo. Now they have bureaus in this country and still strangely tell the world that President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Robert Mugabe’s administration are the same, when clearly they are as different as night and day.

Those who were shocked by the width and depth of these reforms initially cried that their policies were being “stolen”, but now they have changed their strategy.

They now make shrills purporting that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s reform agenda is a pie in the sky.

They shout on platforms they used to be scared to shout from in the Old Dispensation that nothing has been done to show that we are truly in a New Dispensation!

Surely, there is no poverty of irony in this world.  Some have even gone to the extent of claiming, inexplicably, that the First Republic was better, while the most absurd has been the suggestion that the colonial regime was best.

William Shakespeare in his book “Julius Caesar” lamented the fickleness of the “hoi polloi,” (the masses), when it comes to matters political.

However, as President Mnangagwa promised in his first inauguration speech at the National Sports Stadium that afternoon in November 2017, he has hit the ground running on the reform front.

The most poignant point he said in that speech was to acknowledge that Zimbabwe had endured a period of turmoil, which derailed the aspirations of the liberation struggle, either by omission or commission.

He said that “for close to two decades now, this country went through many developments. While we cannot change the past, there is a lot we can do in the present and future to give our nation a different, positive direction.”

In that speech, the President declared that “today the Republic of Zimbabwe renews itself. My Government will work towards ensuring that the pillars of the State assuring democracy in our land are strengthened and respected.”

All that is being done, whilst some is already done.

New Direction

What was clear then, and clearer today, is that there was need for a departure from the previous administration.

A break with the past.

The need to forge ahead in a new, positive trajectory.

This was the birth of the reform agenda – an agenda to undo and correct past mistakes in the country’s socio-economic and political fabric.

An agenda to strengthen past successes, which provide a plinth upon which the New Dispensation is being built.

True to his word, President Mnangagwa, a trained bricklayer, has been laying his reform agenda brick-by-brick.

The manner in which the Second Republic has gone about its reform process has an uncanny resemblance to similar initiatives being undertaken in Ethiopia, where Cde Abiy Ahmed was elected Prime Minister five months after President Mnangagwa.

The Ethiopian premier has opened up the airwaves, privatised under-performing State enterprises, reached out to erstwhile foes internally and externally, reformed the civil service, embraced devolution and retired long-serving securocrats.

The reform process in Ethiopia is a mirror image of what has been happening in Zimbabwe under the New Dispensation.

Zimbabwe is Open for Business.

The only difference between the two states is that one is under debilitating sanctions and the other is not.

The other difference is that in Zimbabwe those who clamour for reforms are the same people that throw their all to take the shine from the lustre of those reforms.

Reframing Relations

Zimbabwe was an international undesirable, a pariah. Our country had become a State living in isolation. President Mnangagwa knew that a country cannot thrive on being hated whilst those who are cheer-leading are fully integrated in the global family of nations.

This was the birth of the engagement and re-engagement policies.

This policy includes re-engaging those countries whose relations with Zimbabwe had gone sideways through tactfully embarking on a charm offensive to re-integrate Zimbabwe into the community of nations under the auspices of the “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” mantra.

This policy maintained relationships with the East and other hitherto friendly nations.

The President ensured that it was communicated that Zimbabwean people had no quarrel with the American or the British people.

There were policy differences between the administrations of the two countries with Zimbabwe, and it was this that had now been internationalised.

Now the approach was no longer about drawing pleasure from being a thorn in the flesh for the geopolitical powers. Zimbabwe was now all about serving its national interests and improving the livelihood of its people.

Populism was shunted out of the door.

The thrust became about Zimbabwe leapfrogging to catch up with its contemporaries and even better them and usher in national prosperity.

Our message and tone on the international front changed. Zimbabwe was now saying it is going to succeed in spite of the sanctions, and not that Zimbabwe was not going to succeed because of the sanctions.

The same countries imposing sanctions against us would rather we talk about something else and never mention this S-word.

This we would very much like to do.

We are just waiting for them to remove them and we will stop mentioning them.

Tolerance

Let’s focus a bit on the domestic front.

The political environment is changing, with tolerance being the underpinning motto.

Sadly, in frustration of the President’s efforts since assuming leadership of the country, we remain a highly polarised people, especially on social media.

We are in a zone where one side can never do right whilst the other side can never do wrong.

This polarisation is killing our country.

But this is not for want of leadership effort.

Ahead of the 31 July 2018 elections, the President acceded to a host of electoral reforms by the opposition, and even went a step further to allow them to be part of the pre-electoral process, from selection of ballot printers to witnessing the printing of same.

It was unprecedented that the opposition campaigned freely without hindrance in Zanu-PF’s rural strongholds.

Biometric Voter Registry (BVR) was fully supported in order to have a clean and assuring election.

Events of 1 August 2018 were quite tragic and unfortunate.

Regardless, President Mnangagwa appointed a true international commission of inquiry, allowed the whole inquiry to be televised, showing his pedigree for both accountability and transparency.

He did not end there.

He personally announced the outcome, published the whole report and put in place an Inter-ministerial Taskforce to drive the implementation agenda.

There is nothing to compare with in the First Republic.

If this is not a reformist leader, then who is?

In the post-election period, the President has been magnanimous in victory.

He initiated and implemented political party dialogue with his presidential rivals in the 31 July 2018 Presidential election, although some who are still caught up in yesteryear toxic politics and election-loss hangover have rebuffed the opportunity.

Tackling Past ills and Devolution

In Zimbabwe, issues don’t come more controversial than Gukurahundi.

This vexatious issue and the thorny subject of allegations of marginalisation of the Matabeleland region has remained a touchy theme, threatening the unity of Zimbabweans.

In Zimbabwe, talking about Gukurahundi and Devolution was an abomination.

Zanu-PF had an aversion to devolution, but unbeknown to the rest, President Mnangagwa was a big proponent of this idea.

Zanu-PF turned itself on its head and Devolution was made one of its biggest Election Manifesto themes, and today, its pursuing it with fervour.

Now that’s not only reforming one’s party, but it’s reforming the national mindsets and reforming the country as well.

The position of the First Republic and this position stand at tangents.

The President further showed his commitment to this when Government allocated $31 million per province in the 2019 National Budget to get the ball rolling.

Further, to celebrate this milestone, this year’s Independence celebrations were held under the theme “Zimbabwe @39: Embracing Devolution for Vision 2030”.

The other highly contentious issue of Gukurahundi was tackled head-on.

Pursuant to addressing the issue, the President has embarked on a two-pronged approach. The first Bill he ever assented to on assuming office was the National Peace and Reconciliation Bill.

This was immediately operationalised and the vacant position of chairperson to the National Healing and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) was filled straight away.

The NPRC was also immediately resourced and they started their independent public hearings.

These public hearings brought together victims and perpetrators alike with a view to mapping the appropriate way to bring closure to the Gukurahundi issue, and indeed other previous unresolved issues which continue to fester today. Secondly, President Mnangagwa has met over 60 civil society organisations (CSOs) under the banner of the Matabeleland Collective, mostly anti-Government, from the affected region, on the same issue.

To date, tangible results of those engagements are being felt with legal re-burials of victims of the Gukurahundi, as well as issuance of death certificates and identity documents for their offspring being issued.

This issue was demystified as public debate was no longer implicitly prohibited after his public proclamation that there was a need for public conversations on this.

The leader of the First Republic’s hand is now being sought to make public reports from two previous commissions of inquiry on the subject.

Cabinet Reform

In a bid to modernise Zimbabwe’s democracy and get rid of State and party conflation, which had become a cancer that was eating into Zimbabwe’s progress, President Mnangagwa re-deployed experienced former ministers to party (Zanu-PF) headquarters, where they are fully employed.

Simultaneously, he appointed a new-look Cabinet made up of technocrats, among them Minister of Finance and Economic Development Prof Mthuli Ncube, Minister of Mines and Mining Development Winston Chitando, Minister of Youth, Sport and Arts Kirsty Coventry, and party cadres to steer the reform agenda.

Under the banner of not leaving anyone behind, for the first time Zimbabwe has both ministers and permanent secretaries appointed directly from the Diaspora. This is a first.

In the Old Dispensation, the Diaspora was viewed with suspicion. However, they are now embraced and asked to lead. This is reform in motion.

Private Sector Inclusion

Cognisant of the need to collectively forge ahead as a country and the need to be a listening leader, President Mnangagwa set up the Presidential Advisory Council (PAC), which has in its ranks a cross-section of some of the best independent brains in the country to advise him on the best way to achieve Vision 2030.

This is despite the fact that he has a Politburo at party level, security services and Cabinet at his disposal.

Gender Sensitivity

President Mnangagwa has shown beyond reasonable doubt he is a man who is gender sensitive and is willing to let women take positions of authority.

He appointed Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, the first ever Minister of Defence in Zimbabwe, retained Justice Chigumba as Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairperson, appointed five Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs, retained Auditor and Comptroller General Mildred Chiri, and recently appointed Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo as Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) chairperson.

Civil Service and Parastatal Reform

The issue of a bloated civil service was one of the key issues that were being cited as one of the major issues that were haemorrhaging the country’s fiscus.

Government has since retired redundant manpower, including youth officers, cut down salaries of senior civil servants, in the process of retiring those that have reached the mandatory age of retirement.

Following revelations that 38 out of 93 State-owned enterprises audited in 2016 incurred a combined loss of $270 million as weak corporate governance practices and ineffective control mechanisms took their toll, in November 2018, Government gave Zimpost, TelOne, Telecel, POSB and NetOne six to nine months to privatise.

A further six — including the six subsidiaries of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) — would also be privatised, while 11 (state owned) entities would be merged.

Security Sector Reform

Zimbabwe has done commendably well in this regard.

President Mnangagwa has redeployed those members of the security services who have served their country with distinction to other areas of the establishment to strengthen Zimbabwe’s democracy.

These include General Constantino Chiwenga (Rtd), who is now Vice President, Major-General Sibusiso Moyo (Rtd), who is now Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and a host of other eminent sons who have been redeployed to the party and diplomatic service.

He has also permanently retired those members who perpetuated toxic politics of yesteryear, and appointed and elevated other patriotic cadres to replace them.

Political and Media Reform

The principles for the repeal of Aippa that would see the birth of three separate legislation — the Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill, Data/Information Protection Bill and Freedom of Information Bill — were approved by Cabinet.

The three Bills are a product of a broad-based inclusive consultative process that was done by the Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, media players, citizens and the European Union (EU).

Further, the Broadcasting Services Act Amendment Bill is being crafted to align it with the Constitution.

Further, as part of efforts to issue more licences to private players, Government injected US$38 million to speed up the digitalisation process, which will free up more frequencies.

The issue of community radios is another taboo that has been debunked with the allocation of money from the fiscus to support the establishment of these community development drivers. Currently, the Ministry of Home Affairs has gazetted the Maintenance of Peace and Order Bill, which is set to repeal the Public Order and Security Act (Posa).

All these efforts are aimed at enhancing Zimbabwe’s democracy.

The benefits of this and the difference between the former Act and the proposed draft Bill needs to be done as a separate stand-alone piece.

From the foregoing, it is clear that President Mnangagwa’s reform agenda is in full steam.

It is understandable that there will always be those that will peddle a contra narrative.

That is not only a part of democracy, it also part of their own enterprising.

Government bashing is a business that pays a good dividend and more so in this period when our employment has not fully picked up.

Let them eat.

Nick Mangwana is the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services. He wrote this article for The Sunday Mail

Despite their supposed genius and intellectual heft, Western scientists are still grappling with establishing the causal link between lunar cycles and madness.

While there is innumerable anecdotal evidence to suggest the moon could have an effect — unfailingly adverse — on the mental state of human beings, or even animals and insects, including irrefutable evidence that shows that some amongst us have routine and cyclical bouts of lunacy, conclusively establishing that link has been incredibly difficult.

In fact, words such as “lunatic”, “lunacy” and “loon” were etymologically hewn from the Roman moon god called “Luna”.

US psychologists such as James Rotton and Ivan Kelly even subjected this theory to rigorous scientific inquiry.

Well, Bishop Lazi, as a man given to spirituality and was known during his school days for an incurable numerophobia (fear of numbers) and arithmophobia (fear of arithmetic), doesn’t lose sleep over all this scientific gobbledygook.

The Bishop will not trouble himself with such senseless inquisition.

In any case, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Our ancestors once quipped: why do we have to measure the length of a snake with the buck of a tree when the reptile is actually there for the eyes to see?

And the snake walked, still walks, on two legs in the form of my aunt.

Depending on phases of the moon, especially when it is either shaped in the form of a waxing crescent or a waning crescent (mwedzi mutete), she is routinely transformed from sanity to rank madness.

Argh! That woman!

When she is in her zone of lunacy, she often scampers to the nearest anthill or molehill from whence she would launch into unending tirades that usually leave everyone emotionally bruised.

However, we have become inured to it: we often take a cue from the moon to get a sense of when the next public village bashing would begin, or, conversely, we would hear from the verbal thrashing to know which phase of the moon cycle it was.

But life, as it always does, also goes on in the village.

It still does.

So, if those two US psychologists are still interested in pursuing this subject matter further, kindly tell them to give the Bishop a buzz, he will happily provide them with a viable guinea pig.

Looney Young Man

We will also point them in the direction of that boy leading the rag tag opposition formation that is hurtling towards its congress next month.

Yes, that boy who has wet dreams of one day becoming the man in Zimbabwean politics.

Well, in Acts 2:17, the Lord says “In the last days I will pour out My Spirit on all people; your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams”, but Nelson Chamisa sees different kind of visions, if we could call them that.

One would need a Richter magnitude scale to record his mood swings, including the way his mind seems to constantly zoom from being stable to being looney.

The Bishop has already begun marking his calendar for the dates the young man is given to making bizarre statements with a view of extrapolating them to the various lunar cycles.

At his rally on July 28 last year before the elections, the excitable and impressionable Chamisa told his starry-eyed supporters that Robert Mugabe was a welcome ally for the MDC-Alliance.

In his own words, he said: “Robert Mugabe is a citizen of Zimbabwe, former president, the president of the First Republic who is going to hand over to the second president of the Republic — myself here, present.” Kikikiki.

We all know how it panned out.

But you would swear by your mother that this is not the same guy who was bashing the same old man on Wednesday last week.

“Mr Mugabe is one of the people who violated the rules of secrecy of the vote by indicating that he will vote for us. We are not in the business, as I have always indicated, of choosing supporters or voters.

“The relationship (between him and Mugabe) is that of a former president and an incoming president. That is the relationship. Beyond that, there is no relationship.” Kikikiki.

By the way, this is the same guy who organised “the guys from Mbare” on August 1 last year to unleash Armageddon in Harare, but when it all came unstuck, he called the same “guys from Mbare” stupid.

Well, you might think this is an isolated case.

Then — boom! — just after the independence celebrations, on April 19, his goons must have thought his Twitter account had been hacked.

Their commander, who they affectionately refer to as Wamba Dia Wamba, was mellowing, they should have thought.

“Where we are going now requires us to think and act together as Zimbabweans. Our dire situation is no longer about MDC or Zanu-PF but about Zimbabwe. We have a nation to build and a generation to defend. We have the power!” he tweeted away.

Barely a week later, the tone had changed.

He was now talking about how they cannot be a 2023 without a 2018 and a whole litany of other political mumbo jumbo.

The next time you get confused about what he would be saying, just mark your calendar, dear reader, it would be useful in future.

But as one writer once said, Chamisa is like that village urchin who is tolerated by the community as long as they stay away from the fireplace, for they risk burning down the whole village.

The Bishop heard whispers last week that the young man is contemplating to again mobilise the muscle power from the “guys from Mbare” under the guise of protesting against rising prices.

And his retinue of media apologists are beginning to sound the war drums that will become the sound track of their envisaged offensive.

Unfortunately, there are no tutorials on Statecraft — the Bishop would have recommended one to the power-hungry political toddler. So, unfortunately, we will just watch him politically wither like Kizza Besigye of Uganda and Mmusi Maimane of South Africa, who have built unenviable reputations for perennially losing elections.

Psychiatrists will actually have a field day with this chap on their couch.

If I were patient enough, I would volunteer a therapy session with him, but Bishop Lazi doesn’t suffer fools.

Nor does the Holy Book.

Proverbs 26 is particularly uncharitable.

“Just as snow should not fall in summer, nor rain at harvest time, so people should not honour a fool.

“Don’t worry when someone curses you for no reason. Nothing bad will happen. Such words are like birds that fly past and never stop.

“You have to whip a horse, you have to put a bridle on a mule, and you have to beat a fool.

“There is no good way to answer fools when they say something stupid. If you answer them, then you, too, will look like a fool. If you don’t answer them, they will think they are smart.” (verse 1-5)

It adds: “Never let a fool carry your message. If you do, it will be like cutting off your own feet. You are only asking for trouble.

“A fool trying to say something wise is like a crippled person trying to walk.

“Showing honour to a fool is as bad as tying a rock in a sling.

“A fool trying to say something wise is like a drunk trying to pick a thorn out of his hand.”

Argh!

I guess we have no option but to accept that there is no village that doesn’t have its fair share of looneys.

But they must never — never ever – be allowed near the fireplace.

Bishop out!

Writing Back
Ranga Mataire

There shouldn’t be any qualms with a political figure adhering to his/her religious beliefs. However, it becomes a real problem and a danger to society when such a political figure assumes that his/her personal beliefs are superior to the foundational ethos of a nation.

Nelson Chamisa, leader of the MDC Alliance, has been doing so with an astounding sense naivety.

Let’s start where we are supposed to start.

‘Writing Back’ is never about opening our armpits to strangers. In fact, it is about affirming our humanity and debunking the long held prejudices of the “Empire” about us.

Even when fellow countrymen, in moments of drunken stupor, attempt to expose their backsides to strangers, elderly women and men always rush to cover such iniquities from the eyes of strangers.

Sadly, as an oddity of nature, there are times when even the elders can’t predict certain sudden spiritual afflictions bordering on some kind of madness.

These kind of afflictions normally call for real exorcism ceremonies where a traditional brew is prepared by those that are past menopause.

And before such ceremonies are held, the afflicted individuals are kept in check and completely quarantined from partaking in issues of the Dare, lest they poison the esteemed discourses that normally define and shape the clan’s trajectory.

Who then has the responsibility to quarantine a political figure who is in the habit of exposing his bare backside to strangers in the vain hope of endearing with them by profaning the very things that define his own clan, his own family and his own nation?

Who is going to call for a cleansing ceremony of a political figure who has taken it as a pastime to defame the very essence of what it means to be Zimbabwean?

After all the misogyny and intolerance of the 2018 campaign, Chamisa has brought a new outrage to our national discourse; religious fundamentalism.

“Our problems”, he tweeted, “emanate partly from the Zimbabwe Bird”, which he calls “a religious idol.”

This is not new. Even those close to him have warned us.

In 2013, Phillan Zamchiya’s paper entitled “The MDC-T’s (Un) Seeing Eye in Zimbabwe’s 2013 Harmonised Elections: A Technical Knockout”, revealed how Chamisa convinced Morgan Tsvangirai to discard all technical advice on the campaign and go by his spiritual dreams.

“God showed me in my dreams that Morgan Tsvangirai is going to win with a close margin, between 53 and 56%,” Chamisa told a campaign meeting.

In 2018, another scholar, Simukai Tinhu, wrote: “Chamisa would have been a complete politician and realist that the MDC needs at the helm of the party had it not for his occasional idealism shaped by his addiction to strident neo-liberal views and his disturbingly constant reference to the Bible at political rallies. His religious views shaped immutably and meticulously by his born again Christianism will compromise a tragic view of politics, something required to succeed in Zimbabwe’s brute political scene. But these are the things that can be worked on as he matures further.”

It seems nobody has been able to “work on” Chamisa’s fanaticism at all.

Tafadzwa Masango, writing in the Patriot newspaper of April 26 — May 2 2019, calls Chamisa “a classic case of an individual who denies his own history and identity in an attempt to please outsiders who he believes are superior to him.”

Masango was however a bit charitable. There was no need in highlighting and illustrating national symbols present in the very country that Chamisa views as the paragon of good governance and democracy. The very country which he said was on standby to donate huge sums of money once he assumes power. Let him look closely at the United States dollar note. While his mind might be muddled and is given to histrionics antics, we are certain that there are things his eyes won’t miss on that US dollar note.

Maybe the realisation that his chances of ever governing this country are becoming dim is scaring him out of his wits. Roy Porter in “A Social History of Madness” aptly captures this character’s dilemma when he says: “Because it imagines power, madness is both impotence and omnipotence. It requires power to control.” Unfortunately, Chamisa lacks that power and its driving him nuts.

The media must start calling a spade a spade. No one automatically deserves deference simply because he has some people who blindly decide not to see his glaring anti-Zimbabwe antics.

Not a day passes without a newspaper or social media speaking of President Mnangagwa and Chamisa as if they are equals. This could be the time for the media to burn these false equivalences forever. Pretending that both sides are equal when they are clearly not is not objective journalism. It is telling fairy tales, and like most fairy tales, a dishonest one.

We need to re-calibrate the default assumptions of Zimbabwe’s political discourse that give credence to hallucinations of victory and remind each other that the nation is bigger than a delusional political character who thinks that since his election ran on “God is in It” he can’t fathom the same God relegating him to a sour loser.

For feedback contact ranga.mataire@gmail.com or lovemore.mataire@zimpapers.co.zw

The Zimbabwe International Trade Fair is primarily the showcase for Zimbabwean products and services and what the 60th fair has shown is that Zimbabwe can make it and that the economy is a lot stronger, broader and functional than many might have believed.

International exhibitors are largely icing on the cake, and while this year’s layer of icing was a good deal thicker than usual, what this shows is that there are a growing number of foreign companies that think Zimbabwe is a good place to do business, again a positive sign that we are getting things right.

The fact that there were over 750 exhibitors, a record, and that numbers were so high that some had to be allocated space in marquees rather than permanent halls shows not only that the economy is growing in breadth but that many of those involved in manufacturing and services think it well worth their while to exhibit and show who they are and what they do.

This is one major function of a trade fair, and of course the accumulation of top managers and business people in one area of a city for a few days makes contact easy. Many of those in Bulawayo at the fair on business might well have been surprised just what their compatriots were now able to do.

The fair also, regrettably, shows some critical gaps. For example Zimbabwe grows a lot of cotton but does not make much cloth. We mine a lot of minerals, but make no steels and are surprisingly weak in primary heavy industry. There is a particular irony that the fair is hosted by Bulawayo, largely because our heavy industry and our primary industries are largely concentrated in that city and the Midlands. Now far more exhibitors come from secondary and light industries.

So we should use this snapshot of our economy to not just pat ourselves on the back over recovery and expansion across a range of sectors, but note where there are gaps and start working to fill those holes. This is not impossible. We have done it two or three times already after all.

But the strength of our economy on show should also make us redouble efforts to fix things that still need to be fixed, particularly the mess we are facing at the moment with fear, speculation, manipulation and greed fuelling price rises, seeing some businesses still accounting in foreign currencies, and seeing a downright refusal by too many to use the new open markets and transparent systems put in place by the authorities on the advice of the very people now determined to circumvent these.

It seems daft that the sort of flourishing economy we see at the fair should be backed by the rather primitive currency and costing deal making that goes on in the dark behind the scenes.

The guest of honour at the fair, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, also reminded Zimbabweans that bad times do pass. He came to power in Uganda after the destructive dictatorship of Idi Amin and Milton Obete’s revenge-filled and inept second stab at leadership. But Uganda then put in place the sort of modern policies that many have emulated and Zimbabwe is now rushing to implement and as a result a lot has been fixed and the country is growing into the sort of modern economy everyone wants.

Zimbabweans need to realise that we have fallen behind in Africa as so many others over the past 30 years have put in place the sort of policies and pro-business cultures that we have started introducing under the Second Republic. Proper budgeting, clean administration, a desire to help business rather than hinder it all pushed a lot of countries ahead of us.

President Museveni also spoke out clearly against sanctions. The United States and European Union claim their sanctions are tightly targeted. But they do not seem to care that there is immense collateral damage, a military term that describes what happens when you have to bomb an entire city into ruin to destroy a single headquarters. Besides the problem with global financial institutions, we are also faced with the fact that many others are scared to deal with Zimbabwe in case they cannot prove beyond all reasonable doubt that they have had no dealings, direct or indirect, with the targets.

But we should also perhaps remember that the UDI rebel regime of Ian Smith, faced with far tougher sanctions, kept the economy growing and had to be defeated by an armed struggle.

A lifting of sanctions will help us accelerate growth and move more swiftly forward, but only if we have already started moving in the right direction with the right policies. If we do not have the right approach and implement the right policies then even after sanctions are lifted we will still be in the swamp.

The 60th ZITF suggests that we are now getting things right. There are more exhibitors and more stuff on show because we have more businesses and are making more things. So we need to keep pressing forward solving each problem properly as it arises. We can do this so long as we continue to act sensibly and so long as we can stop going round in circles.

Darlington Musarurwa

As schools open this week, most parents and guardians are smarting from another brutal wave of painful fee hikes, which has been occasioned by inexplicable price increases, particularly of basic commodities.

Of course, the temptation has been to blame the wild swings in exchange rates, especially between the RTGS dollar (a de-facto local unit) and the US dollar on the parallel market, after Government abandoned the currency peg of 1:1 on February 20.

Fiscal and monetary policies, however, vehemently disagree.

Instead, they opine that price movements should, as can be proven in other markets and jurisdictions, be decoupled from movements in the exchange rate.

But any enquiry to prove the greed or otherwise of retailers should be based on science or empiricism rather than mere conjure, lest the whole argument becomes a futile harebrained analysis.

Perhaps the whole conundrum of price increases can be symbolically deduced through the recent astronomical rise in the price of bread, which recently galloped from $1,80 per loaf to the current $3,50, and this translates to a 94 percent increase.

Here there are two things to put into perspective: since the black market exchange rate was averaging 1:4,8 last week, this would mean in US-dollar terms, bread currently costs US73 cents.

Secondly, since the Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) on February 20, which abandoned the currency peg, rates on the black market have only climbed 33,3 percent to $4,80 from $3,60 per US dollar.

Put simply, bread prices have risen at an incredibly faster pace than the black market exchange rate.

And this should raise eyebrows.

Declining operational costs

Assuming that the economy is as bad as cynics would have us believe, and bakers are aligning their prices with implied real values as dictated by black market rates, this would mean all their operational costs are growing.

Or is it?

This definitely cannot be the case.

The major costs of production — labour, electricity and water tariffs, which are now denominated in RTGS dollars — have largely remained unchanged; if anything, since the currency float, they have declined.

If, hypothetically, a company was paying a cumulative bill of US$1 000 for electricity and water, this implies that from February 20 onwards, the US dollar value of the same bill has declined to a mere US$208.

Similarly, the same has been happening to wages.

Where the same companies that are aligning prices to black market rates sincere, they would have equally adjusted wages to implied US values, which is not the case.

In any case, the current market phenomenon, where prices are adjusted to mimic legacy US-dollar prices in RTGS dollar terms, assume that the US foreign currency input costs of these businesses is 100 percent.

Clearly, this is not the case.

And this is what Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya tried to explain to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Information Communication Technology on April 8.

“Not all the costs of production come from foreign currency. Sometimes in a product, maybe the import component is 10 percent, or 15 or 20 percent. You cannot use an exchange rate for determining the price of a product every day.

“You do not need to track the exchange rate on a daily basis. If your cost of production is 20 percent foreign currency, I think it would be wrong to use exchange rate as a price determining factor, which I see in Zimbabwe,” he said.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Prof Mthuli Ncube was at pains to express the same point during the International Business Conference that was held on April 24 during the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF).

“Please, it is bad economics, very bad economics where you tie price increases directly to the exchange rate. Good economics says tie prices around a consumption basket, you don’t earn your salary to go and buy US dollars,” he noted.

So, unless retailers can provide an alternative compelling explanation, they definitely have a case to answer.

The opportunity of internal devaluation

While there is a vocal community that is calling for re-dollarisation, this surely cannot be sustainable.

We have been down this path before.

Under a dollarised environment, most companies struggled to competitively supply their products to regional markets, for the costs of production was prohibitively expensive, especially against weaker regional currencies.

Since 2016, Dr Mangudya therefore unsurprisingly pushed for internal devaluation — slashing both prices and salaries — for local products to be competitive.

Floating the exchange rate has arguably accomplished this feat in one fell swoop.

This observably is pushing more companies to export as they have regained their competitiveness.

In addition, this also explains why some prices are now considerably cheaper if their RTGS prices are converted to implied US-dollar values.

But a toxic combo of heavily discounted wages and ever-increasing prices is negatively affecting aggregate demand.

This, however, can be easily remedied by adjusting wages to sustainable levels.

Actuaries can help to determine fair wage levels that do not unnecessarily burden companies, but give workers sufficient purchasing power.

Extrapolating the level of US-dollar wages, especially during the time when they were yet to be contaminated by a frenetic creation of electronic money through unsupported RTGS balances, might help as a compass to guide the determination of new wages.

But this is really for the experts to consider.

Perhaps businesses fear that increasing wages in an environment of declining aggregate demand might not be wise, but it might be argued that this is not the typical chicken-and-egg conundrum.

It is scientifically proven that there is indeed a correlation between rising disposable incomes and consumer spend.

It all gives credence to President Mnangagwa’s May Day exhortation for companies to improve their workers’ welfare.

Last Leg of Reforms

Some manufactures and retailers, especially those that are charging their products or services in US dollars when Government has since announced that the RTGS dollar is the reference currency, have a newly found hymn that they use as a pretext to justify their abhorrent practice.

Most often than not, they argue that their suppliers are also charging them in forex.

Schools have even joined the bandwagon.

These are clearly arbitrage opportunities that are presented by the rate differentials between the US dollar and the RTGS dollar.

It is now becoming increasingly apparent that adopting a fully fledged local currency might help to deal with most of these market aberrations.

And this is coming from consumers themselves, most of whom neither earn nor access the greenback.

This reality, which seems to be the last leg of the currency reforms that started in October last year, has now become as imminent as it is inexorable.

Macro-economic fundamentals, whose highlight include Government’s $100 million budget surpluses for the eight months since September last year, also seem to be creating conditions that would ably support a viable local currency.

And market watchers such as Eddie Cross are thoroughly impressed and naturally upbeat.

Overall, it all bodes well for a local economy: you cannot fail by consistently and doggedly doing the right things. There is clearly light at the end   of the tunnel.

We continue chronicling the political life of Cde Sorry Zivanayi. This week, the liberation fighter narrates to our Deputy News Editor Levi Mukarati the journey he travelled from Mozambique, together with 49 other comrades, to capture a group of renegades in Musana area.

*****

Question: After being selected in the group, were you subjected to special training since the mission would see you operate near Salisbury where Rhodesian security forces had intensified the fight against Guerrillas?

Answer: We were 50 for the task, but the leaders in Mozambique, ana Cde Mike Hip Level Karakadzai and Mvenge vaitya kuti tinogona kupanduka tavapedyo ne Salisbury tikabatana nemadzakutsaku.

As such, we went through an intensive two-week programme called special classes in politics.

We were oriented with in-depth lectures on why we were in the war, why we were special, the benefits that awaited black people if we win the war and how we would be regarded as heroes by the future generation for bringing independence.

After the course, I felt complete, motivated and destined to free my country.

Dai ari nhasi, ndingati ndaizviona kunge actor wemufirimu – Rambo. Kunzwa manyukunyuku kuti nyika iyi yakamirira ini kuti ndiyisunungure.

That is how serious the political doctrine was.

That is also why when we speak, those who did not go through the war furnace, think we are mad. We are not insane, we are a determined lot.

Anyway, after the course, we were briefed again that some comrades in Musana, Chikwaka area near Salisbury had revolted. They were led by James Mapurani Swerakuyenda Mukwasha we Zuva and they were working nemadzakutsaku (Auxiliary Forces).

We were tasked to go and capture them and wait for further instructions. With that mission at hand, the 50 of us, armed with our AK47’s and myself with an additional rocket launcher trooped back to Rhodesia.

Little did I know our mission would witness so many deaths and we would get to our destination with almost half the comrades having been killed.

Our team was armed with two mortar 60’s, two MMG’s (medium machine guns) and three Light Machine Guns, LMGs to add to the AK47’s that each one of us had. We were armed to the teeth and the weapons we carried showed the seriousness of our mission.

Our group had people like Cde Jezenga and Tanyengana Madzimbamuto. We were then transported to Nyamapanda Border and we sneaked back into the country before walking to Mutoko, Goronga area.

Since we were 50, we could not move as a unit for fear of attracting the attention of Rhodesian security forces.

As such, we would disperse into smaller groups and converge at set points. But the area’s that we were in, already had comrades operating there and they were the ones who were to assist us to get to our destination.

Our mission was also an advantage for the sections that were already on the ground because it meant we would reinforce them in the various battles against the Rhodesian soldiers.

After five or six days in an area, we would move on.

Reliving the Mukomeka battle

Question: So which areas did you operate in as you moved to Musana, any battles along the way?

Answer: We operated in areas such as Shinda, Mabamu, Nyerenyere, Kagande, Chimuzinda and Sonhera.

I remember at one time, February 1978, we joined a section that was operating in Kagande where I met Cde Simba Chiurayamhandu who had grown up in Highfield Harare. I also met Cdes Spazh Apazh and Chikaki in that section.

We then went to Mukomera base and little did we know that there was a high observation point of the white soldiers on a nearby mountain. They had seen us from that point. We were 15 in that group.

So when we got to the base, together with Cde Simba we secured our posto and started discussing city life and how we were going to enjoy in a free Zimbabwe.

After about 30 minutes in talk, Cde Simba decided to remove his ammunition belt for the light machine gun after indicating he wanted to relieve himself.

Taigara musango saka waingobva pane mumwe wofamba just 10 meters and use the bayonet of the AK47 to dig a small hole in the ground and relieve yourself. Mutoko area is rocky and as Cde Simba stood up to go and relieve himself, I don’t know what came to me, but I asked him to strap his ammunition belt.

He did not argue and as he finished digging the small hole, I heard the sound of a helicopter.

Ndakati, Simba, urikunzwa ndege here? Cde Simba, with ignorance, replied back that they were white soldiers going for border patrols. In less than a minute, the sound became loud and the next thing a helicopter was hovering above us.

Before I could figure out what to do next, the Rhodesian soldiers on the helicopter started firing at Simba from a machine gun. I could see bullets hitting the rocks and causing sparks near Cde Simba. I had my anti-tank, took aim and fired, but missed the helicopter.

I then opened fire from my AK47 and the white soldiers retreated a bit. But the helicopter was not the only one. There were seven others that had surrounded the area and other comrades were firing at them.

I think we were lucky because of the rains that day because a group of Rhodesian soldiers, who were coming to attack us from Koho Base, were delayed after their vehicles got stuck in the mud.

When the helicopters arrived, the ground force soldiers had not taken their positions. Together with Cde Simba, we took advantage of the retreating of the helicopter and began running down the mountain.

There was a depression leading to a river and some white soldiers had taken cover there.

As we ran into that direction, they opened fire at us, but missed. We had to change direction.

That is when we saw one of the comrades, who we had come with from Mozambique, trying to get a clean shot to fire at one of the choppers. He had not seen us, but Cde Simba moved towards him slowly and tapped his shoulder.

He told him that if he opened fire that would be the end of us because we would expose our position to other soldiers who were on the ground.

We then teamed up and started navigating our way out of the area. As we moved slowly, we saw four white soldiers also scouting the area and we found a place to hide.

Unexplained mysteries of the war

I knew we were cornered because the Rhodesian soldiers were many. I used to move around with snuff, so I took it out ndikatanga kudetemba ndichiti; “Mbuya Nehanda, Sekuru Chaminuka nemidzimu yenyika ino, vana vakakanganisa munotema nedemo here?

“Munotirangawoka neimwe nzira nekuti mangwana muchada kuzotituma. Hondo iyi hatisi isu takaitanga. Ndimi makatituma kuti tirwe hondo iyi. Kana pane chatakanganisa tiregerereiwo.”

As I finished, the rain intensified and after about five minutes the white soldiers began walking away.

We had hidden near a cave and the other comrade, we had teamed up with, suggested we get inside to shield from the rain and the white soldiers.

But Cde Simba objected saying the soldiers were likely to search the area and they would smoke us out.

We continued hiding under some trees that had been enveloped by creepers. In no time, one helicopter came and landed about 30 meters from where we were hiding.

We were now the ones hiding and we could see all moving objects. About five soldiers got out of the helicopter. I don’t know why they didn’t come towards us. But we were all ready to fire had they come in our direction.

They then walked towards the cave where our colleague had suggested we go and hide. I just said to myself, had we got into the cave, that was the last of us.

That battle began around 10 am, it was now around 4 pm and as the white soldiers came back from the cave, a dove rested on one of the branches of the tree we had taken cover from. The bird started singing. I remember we looked at each other with the same conviction that we will get out alive.

These were some of the mysterious things that happened in the war. Somehow, the dove gave each one of us the same assurance.

It is difficult to explain how such things used to happen. But they used to happen.

We only got out of hiding around 6 pm and my body was numb. As I walked, it seemed as if the grass was moving. I was hallucinating. It seemed as if the white soldiers were still around.

We had earlier set our gathering point at Chimuzinga area.

When we got to the gathering point we realised we had lost eight comrades at the Mukomeka battle.

The most senior to be killed was Cde Makunde who was our sectorial logistics leader.

Also, 15 youths were killed.

We then regrouped, as a team that was destined for Musami. We had casualties and the situation then was if you lose a comrade, don’t cry, but think of a way to revenge.

We were told by the villagers that there was a white district commissioner who passed through the area daily on his way to Nyanhoro area.

After about two weeks of tracking his movements, we ambushed and killed him.

With the revenge mission accomplished, we then crossed Nyadire River heading for Katiyo base.

After having established my posto, an old man came to the base.

He was dressed in red and I quickly asked him the reason for wearing bright clothes.

Before finishing the conversation, Rhodesian security forces arrived in a helicopter and a small plane.

Immediately, they started firing at us. That is when I was hit by a fragment on my nose and backside.

At first, I did not feel any pain. It was only after Cde Herald Chimurenga had told me that I had been injured that I started to feel pain.

I later managed to get the wounds treated. We then regrouped again as a unit that had a mission to go to Musana area.

After regrouping, we were on the move.

We passed through Chingwena, Chigumadzi, Mangwende then Madamombe areas.

We crossed Nyaguwe River and camped in Nzvete for the night.

That was now April 1978 and the war had thickened. We were close to the capital city Salisbury, as such, Rhodesian security forces had intensified operations in areas at the periphery of the city.

While at Nzvete, we had a surprise attack that night and that is where Cde Herald Chimurenga was killed.

Arrival into the mission area

We left the area and arrived in Chikwaka and in the morning we crossed Mubvinzi River. We spent the whole day sleeping in Mumhurwi Mountain.

We were now in the area where we were to conduct our mission. Unfortunately, we had lost 23 comrades to different battles since we crossed Nyamapanda.

At 6 pm, we climbed down the mountain towards Mapuranga area asking villagers if they had seen the comrades in the area.

We were told they had been spotted at the shops at Musiiwa.

We told the villagers including those in Ruwanika, Chaka and Frank areas that we were the real comrades and the ones they were used to had revolted.

We managed to convince them to work with us.

When we were operating within the Musiiwa Detachment, the area has no mountains so we were living with the villagers.

That is where we met Cdes Destroy, Jealousy, who is now in the army, Bernard, Max and Shaft who died in December 1978 during a battle at Mabrazer in Chikwaka.

We operated in areas that include Samvura, Gwetera, Damusi and Nyava.

We attacked a group of Auxiliary Forces in Nyava area close to sekuru Charakupa’s homestead.

Sekuru Charakupa was a well know spirit medium in the area. He used to look after injured and sick comrades in his field.

While we were in Musana, we received the gang that later attacked the fuel tanks in Salisbury who include Cdes Lobo, Mbumbazi and Taketime.

They came with a mission and our section is the one that went to receive them in Murewa, Mangwende area.

We then accompanied them through Musana before handing them over to the comrades in the Chinamhora Detachment.

You see, we would assist each other like that.

Remember we had also been assisted by other detachments and sections from Nyamapanda up to our mission point in Musana.

When we went to Mangwende area to receive the comrades, we were met by members of a section that was led by Cde Temba Mahoza.

When the comrades, destined for Salisbury arrived, I accommodated Cde Mbumbaz or Damage in my posto.

We used to smoke marijuana, but it was illegal.

We then sought some supplies and sent one of the mujibhas. We didn’t know that the same young man was also a runner for our leaders in the area.

The leaders suspected us as trying to get marijuana and when the mujibha came back he was confronted.

It was discovered that we had sent the mujibha to get us marijuana and for the offence, with Cde Damage, we were given 30 lashes each on the backside.

Continued next week.

Munyaradzi Hwengwere

I can’t help but feel sorry for Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube.

By now the economy should have been showing signs of stabilising.

Experts say for the first time since independence, or even during the UDI (Unilateral Declaration of Independence) period (1960s), the fiscal side has experienced a budget surplus.

In fact, during the January to March period, a cumulative surplus of $485 million has been realised and the trend is still continuing.

And thanks to the 2 percent Intermediated Money Transfer Tax, Zimra has since surpassed its targeted revenues by double digits.

Also, in Bulawayo, where the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) was taking place, the number of exhibitors have been the highest in six decades.

Organisers had to erect tents to accommodate the spillover.

So clearly there is a lot of good news to feed on.

Investors in the capital-intensive mining sector continue coming through, with the latest being the reviewed deal for a US$5 billion steel manufacturing plant in Mvuma, which was signed recently and witnessed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Zimbabwe and South Africa are the largest producers of chrome, but because they both compete on the primary product, their share of income is relatively low.

Both are also vulnerable to the vagaries of international commodity prices.

As such, moving up the value chain is more than just a significant development for the country, for it is expected to cushion the nation from the adverse effects of volatile global chrome prices while also unlocking industrial growth.

The Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe 2018 mining sector survey report indicated that the mining sector is mainly hamstrung by an overreliance on steel imports.

Most often, a significant chunk of the US$2 billion generated from the industry is immediately channeled to import a product that is no longer being produced locally, especially after the closure of Ziscosteel.

However, after realising that the country is for the first time on the right path in growing its chromium industry, the International Chromium Development Association (ICDA) has chosen Zimbabwe to host its 35th Anniversary from May 7 to May 9 this year in Victoria Falls.

And this is yet another key milestone.

Declining Imports

Encouragingly for the economy, imports declined by close to 90 percent in the first quarter.

It is now rare to find imported biscuits in Zimbabwe.

Local products are now dominating most local shop-shelves.

The “Buy Zimbabwe” message is now a reality for most businesses that have come to realise that the United States dollar is expensive.

Those that have chased it on the parallel market have also come to understand that consumers are not gullible and, thus, will not buy a product if they cannot afford it.

Bread manufacturers too might soon realise that at RTGS$3,50 per loaf, they may soon start eating their own bread.

Who says there are no alternatives to bread?

The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) perhaps needs a kick in its backside to promote the power of the consumer against businesses that are stuck in the 2008 hyper-inflation period and believe their role is to increase prices in spite of the low disposable incomes obtaining on the market.

Wake up CCZ! There is a job for you.

The feel-good factor has even spilled into sport.

Even perennial underachievers, the man’s national soccer team, the Warriors, have qualified for the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) as group leaders for the first time.

And the national cricket team, the Chevrons, managed to get even with the

United Arab Emirates (UAE), which prevented us from qualifying for the World Cup.

So, clearly, good news is in abundance.

Sentiment

Sadly, sentiment on the ground has really gone south.

Consumers and businesses seem to believe that the country is going through one of the worst economic periods.

The disconnect between the rosy picture that is being painted by the Treasury chief Prof Mthuli Ncube and the perception on the ground is quite apparent.

Essentially, salaries and wages have been eroded as the RTGS dollar continues to lose ground against the US dollar on the parallel market.

Inflation still remains very high.

Companies are struggling to meet employee expectations.

So how is it even possible to reconcile these gaps and ensure that the country focuses on the good while also nursing the current pain of austerity?

Fundamentally, Minister Ncube should know that the trickle-down effect of the budget surplus doesn’t cascade to consumers’ shopping carts in the short term.

It might seem that a budget surplus is merely a pie in the sky for consumers who are surviving from pay cheque to pay cheque.

This is even made worse by the lingering experiences of the 2008 hyper-inflationary period. Failure to clearly spell out well-intentioned economic reforms is inexcusable.

Economies are made for people and, thus, all economic models must necessarily seek buy-in from envisaged beneficiaries.

Merely explaining that a surgical operation would involve pain without taking the necessary steps to manage the pain would not cut it. The doctor needs to be empathetic as well.

Historical experiences of the liberation struggle taught us that a mobilised population will even sacrifice limp and life as long as they understand the end goal.

We definitely still need to put this message across.

Perhaps the mistake made was to emphasise austerity instead of focusing on prosperity.  Austerity is the means, not the end.

Predictably, locals are feeling the austerity and are yet to experience the prosperity.

When Zambia was going through the same experiences in 2005, their Ministry of Finance introduced the cultural remodeling programme.

Essentially, the programme was meant to ensure that citizens could readily connect the various activities on the ground to various programmes that were being implemented.

Secondly, the programme was designed to motivate the population to better understand their role in enhancing national productivity.

As a result, citizens got to realise their role in building prosperity.

The recently released inaugural Agricultural Sector Survey 2019 shows that most communal farmers produce 0,5 tonnes of maize per hectare, compared to commercial farmers who average 3 tonnes per hectare.

So unless we increase their productivity, most of them will remain poor.

And as prices continue to soar, they see Government as the problem.

They, however, fail to realise that they are part of the equation.

So we need to embark on a campaign where Zimbabweans understand that economies are not driven by Government alone since they, too, can play a role in shaping the future they want. There has to be a national narrative focusing on the good.

Perceptions must, therefore, be carefully managed. Of course, the starting point is to embrace the concept of inclusivity and national ownership of the agenda.

What President Mnangagwa has done with the national clean-up campaign should be used as a model to rally everyone around the narrative that they can also play a role in driving the economy.

Minister Ncube must not worry too much because many of the things he is doing are really working.

But the man on the street, confronted by ever-increasing prices, will continue seeing things differently. This, however, can be changed through a model that appreciates that inclusivity and ownership can move the nation from gloom to hope.

Feedback: munya.hwengwere@gmail.com

Vision 2030
Allen Choruma

Good corporate governance practices require company directors to think outside the box and act as responsible corporate citizens in order to retain the trust and confidence of both shareholders and key stakeholders such as communities in which they operate.

While fiduciary duties compel directors to primarily serve the interests of both the company and its shareholders, they should also cater for communities.

Company directors, as responsible corporate citizens, should not just focus on profits, but maintain a balance between the need to make profits, on one hand, and meeting legitimate expectations of communities, on the other.

This ensures that the companies they lead are run sustainably.

Price hikes

The recent wanton price increases of basic consumer goods, which have been heavily criticised by Government and consumers alike, show that something has gone wrong in corporate boardrooms as profiteering now seems to be the major priority.

However, good corporate governance is premised on upholding high ethical standards, which requires directors to think beyond balance sheets and profits.

This implies they should consider the effects of price increases on consumers.

Companies physically operate within communities and as such, must be sensitive to challenges that their customers are facing in view of the economic situation prevailing in the country.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Prof Mthuli Ncube says “its bad economics to change prices in line with the movement of the exchange rate”. The exchange rate is not the only variable in the production process that drives production costs. Other factors such as fuel, energy, raw materials, wages, rentals and interest rates are also considered.

Government has been urging corporate leaders to support Vision 2030.

While Government and business are agreed on the need to stabilise prices on the market, the latter have continued to upwardly adjust prices, leaving consumers doubting their sincerity and commitment to restore sanity to the market.

Corporate social responsibility seems to be lacking in Zimbabwe.

In recent years, corporate governance has undergone a metamorphosis as focus has shifted from simply “how companies are directed and controlled” to broader sustainable corporate social responsibility issues.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR)

While the link between corporate governance and corporate social responsibility may not look obvious, it exists.  Companies cannot talk of good corporate governance if they do not act responsibly by balancing business objectives, on one hand, with social, economic and environmental objectives, on the other hand, which form the core of sustainable development.

CSR is an integral part of sustainable development as it weaves neatly into the three pillars of sustainable development — environmental, social and economic goals.

Company directors should realise that business has a big role to play in society and should not be solely driven by profit motives.

Yes, profit is paramount, but profit should be realised in a sustainable way.

Profit realised from exploiting vulnerable communities is bad profit.

Dividends are important to shareholders and so is the going concern status of companies, but that’s only one side of the coin.

In the context of sustainable development, shareholders should expect dividends to be generated sustainably.

But this must not come at a cost to the community and environment.

Sustainability calls for directors to consider social, economic and environmental responsibilities.In simple terms, CSR is about demonstrating the value that a company brings to the community in which it does business, including guaranteeing that operations are conducted in a responsible and sustainable manner.

CSR also has a broader scope than most people think; in fact, it goes beyond donating money to charity, supporting sports, hospitals, hosting Christmas parties for senior citizens, donating food and so on.  While these interventions are greatly appreciated, CSR also extends to environmental and economic development issues.

From a sustainable development point of view, being a “responsible corporate citizen” means that a company has to balance between its business goals, social responsibilities and national development priorities.

Role of directors

From the above, it therefore becomes imperative for company directors to establish how their companies can contribute to national socio-economic development and environment conservation.

In other words, sustainability issues should be mainstreamed into every company’s strategy, procedures and systems.

Directors should ensure that a formal sustainability reporting and assurance process (at least annually) should be carried out in the companies they preside over.

The Code on Corporate Governance adopted in 2015 has a section that deals with sustainability reporting.

The international guidelines on sustainable reporting include the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, which are used as a global standard for sustainability reporting.

Below are the broader CSR issues that directors need to pay attention to at board meetings:

Act as responsible corporate citizens.

Social investment: investment in health and welfare of community in which the company does business; for example, spending part of profits in worthy social causes such as poverty alleviation and employment creation.

Protection of the environment and natural resources.

Ensuring that employees are treated fairly through fair and safe working conditions, prevention of use of child or slave labour and gender discrimination, et cetera.

Production of goods, products and services that are not harmful to consumers and the environment.

Efficient use of energy and water resources (use of renewable energy).

Education: awareness on sustainable development issues.

Waste management and pollution (For example, control of carbon emissions, discharge of effluent into water bodies et cetera).

Ethical business conduct (corporate discipline and do what is morally right).

Directors should have the exposure and training on sustainable development issues.

As King III Report puts it, sustainability should be built in the DNA of companies.

That is the essence of sustainable corporate governance.  In conclusion, company directors should look beyond profits and have an obligation to serve not only the interests of shareholders, but the interests of a broader spectrum of stakeholders, which include communities and societies in which they do business.

Allen Choruma can be contacted on email: hoziadvisory2018@gmail.com

Monica Mutsvangwa

Salutations

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to join you today, at a moment we are marking the 2019 World Press Freedom Day commemorations under the international theme “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation”.

I guess that it is no coincidence that today’s lecture has been aptly themed “Media, Social Innovation and The Restoration of Democracy in the Second Republic”.

I believe that both themes uniquely dovetail our Government’s call for the media to play its democratic role in ensuring free circulation of ideas that stimulate robust discussion of various initiatives by Government, to ensure that everyone participates.

Government is doing everything within its capacity to make sure that all constitutional provisions which guarantee freedom of expression and the media and access to information are practically realised.

Work is ongoing to align different pieces of legislation to ensure they conform to the Constitution in tandem with the ideals of the Second Republic in its desire to restore the true legacy of Zimbabwe.

It gives me immeasurable joy and satisfaction to be with Great Zimbabwe University staff and students at this historic moment in our country.

My presence here is no vain testimony of the undivided devotion to the sustenance of democratic ethos espoused by the Second Republic.

The mere mention of ‘Second Republic’ evokes the spirit of celebration among patriotic Zimbabweans who unequivocally spoke in November 2017, and your listening President, Cde ED Mnangagwa, has committed himself to deliver according to your wishes and aspirations.

The Second Republic was birthed by concerted efforts of all Zimbabweans who were clamouring for a new lease of life and the return to constitutional democracy.

We are dedicated to ensuring that the confidence and trust that Zimbabweans, students included, have reposed in us, by renewing our mandate to lead during the 2018 harmonised elections, does not go to naught.

The Second Republic is the product of the fervent aspirations and wishes of Zimbabweans and we will forever be guided by the values of servant leadership.

You will recall that, in his inauguration speech, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa in November 2017, alluded to the birth of a New Dispensation guided by the urgent need to restore the nation to democratic governance.

Such a mammoth task can only be achieved if we harness our media in facilitating the participation of all Zimbabweans in their own governance.

The Second Republic is committed to move beyond the challenges of the First Republic and make sure that citizens play a central role in the developmental processes of our country, Zimbabwe.

Such a herculean task will remain a pipe dream unless we create an atmosphere that celebrates the free flow of information and allow participatory democracy to flourish.

Our efforts are a clear indication of the commitment we have towards media plurality, diversity and freedom, but it remains the prime role of our institutions like Great Zimbabwe University to produce patriotic cadres who will immensely contribute to championing a new narrative that celebrates our diversity, that celebrates the economic turnaround initiatives and policies, and, above all, that celebrates patriotism.

For the media to play its expected role, there is need to rise above egomaniacism, parochial and sectional interests and create a public sphere in which non-violent controversies erupt.

Malcom X once said “the media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent, and that is power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”

My ministry is making sure that the media plays its democratic role of ensuring the free production and circulation of ideas that shape the developmental narrative of our nation.

As such, we cherish efforts that elicit novel system-solutions like the establishment of a campus radio station by Great Zimbabwe University.

I am doubtless that this radio station is the harbinger for a return to professional and ethical journalism that is grounded in the desire to serve the community.

Our Constitution provides for a devolved State, and this radio station today stands as a giant example of how stakeholders ought to find solutions to local problems.

Access to information goes a long way in stimulating active citizen participation in democratic and governance processes.

Because of what I presume to be monopolies and shortcomings of our media institutions, we have inevitably exposed our citizens to the nefarious and frivolous agendas of political and economic saboteurs who circulate fake news on social media.

I am much elated to see that universities have responded to our call for the return to professional and ethical journalism.

Our country is doing a lot but there is serious lack of journalists who are fully committed and professionally equipped to unpack complex economic issues for the ordinary citizen.

In the absence of professional journalism, we will continue seeing our citizens being driven by sensational news peddled on various social media platforms.

The establishment of the radio station by Great Zimbabwe University uniquely dovetails with Government’s thrust to revamp educational institutions into becoming the dependable guiding lights for social, economic and political transformation in line with the tenets upon which the Second Republic was founded.

You will agree with me that our Government has made clarion calls towards the seismic shift in our academic approaches in an effort to produce graduates who are ready to be critical cogs in the modernisation thrust of the Second Republic as enunciated by Vision 2030.

This can only be feasible if academic institutions cease to produce graduates who are desirously seeking employment and bereft of creative and innovative ideas to move the country forward.

Such an era is past and gone and we are looking at producing a whole student who is equipped for the market and for providing the much-needed solutions to the day-to-day issues affecting not only Zimbabweans, but humanity in general.

Until we reach such a stage, can we say we have fulfilled the focus of the New Dispensation.

The Great Zimbabwe University campus radio station stands as a colossal testimony of the role that academic institutions ought to play in the social transformation agenda of our nation, indeed through social innovation.

We have suffered and continued to suffer from the toxic effects of media polarisation in our country at a time when we are calling every Zimbabwean to play a role.

Where there is innovation and progress, we do not hesitate to play our part as Government in making sure that such projects get all the support they deserve.

We have licensed a number of commercial radio stations and the coming on board of university radio stations is a positive gesture that will go a long way in bringing competition, professionalism and sanity to the media fraternity. We know that for one reason or the other, some people end up in the studio without the requisite skills and knowledge.

This campus radio station should therefore set the tone for a return to professional journalism in the country.

As we commemorate World Press Freedom Day today, we need to be introspectors and judges of ourselves.

We need to ask ourselves if we have done all that we could potentially do and indeed ought to do to reflect on the cultural diversity of our country.

Our constitution clearly indicates that we have 16 official languages.

But is our media environment reflective of this enormous diversity?

If not, how can we innovatively transform our media system into stimulating robust citizen participation in economic, democracy and governance issues?

This is what we should be asking ourselves as we exult in the World Press Freedom Day commemorations.

I am happy that as GZU, you have the right to stand tall and congratulate yourselves for always moving apace with the changing times.

One of the celebrated media scholars, James Curran says “new times call for new thinking”.

This is the kind of flexibility and reflectivity that we long to see prevailing in our academic institutions.

If we fail to adapt to the dynamic and ever-changing media environment, we are doomed for good.

We will have none but ourselves to blame.

With a Government that is committed to upholding the fundamental rights to access to information and freedom of expression and the media, we have no excuse whatsoever to be lethargic in transforming our media sector.

For so long a time have we relied precariously on Western narratives of ourselves.

That Western gaze which borders and cling fast on stereotypic representations can only be rebutted and dislodged if we stand our ground and speak for ourselves.

The historic imbalance in the flow of information has been very harmful to our conception of ourselves and in the process, we have accepted our supposed inferiority in the marketplace of ideas.

But with efforts of this nature, which GZU has exhibited, I am glad to say that it’s the dawn of a new era that resonates with the Second Republic. We need to tell our own Zimbabwean story from our own perspective.

We are fully cognisant that there is need for a broadcasting license for this state-of-the-art radio station to be fully operational and benefit not only the students, but the broader community in Masvingo and beyond.

The motion for the issuance of the licence is already in place, and once we have finalised all the logistics, I am certain that Great Zimbabwe University will be granted its licence.

Our President is on record saying that Zimbabwe is open for business and by this we mean serious business even by our own institutions like Great Zimbabwe University.

I thank you!

Minister Mutsvangwa is the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services. She made this speech at Great Zimbabwe University to mark commemorations of the World Press Freedom Day.

Even though Jesus was/is God, and even though he was immaculately conceived, during the time he walked this earth ― more than 2 019 years ago ― he was a man of flesh and blood.

A man — despite having all the divinity — also had all human frailties, except sin. He could laugh, weep and whip (pun intended).

Yes, whip.

But these afflictions of human weakness were incredibly rare.

Perhaps this is why the verse “Jesus wept” (John 11:35) is the shortest in that voluminous tome called the Bible.

But Bishop Lazi is today fixated with the whipping part.

Again, this is captured in the Holy Book of John — in fact, John 2:14-15.

“In the temple courts, He (Jesus) found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money-changers seated at their tables. So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle. He poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. To those selling doves, He said, “Get these out of here! “How dare you turn My Father’s house into a marketplace! …”

At times, human beings can be so insufferable that they drive holy and pious man such as Bishop Lazi to extremes.

For this Bishop the unfortunate moment of epiphany came when he was a young teenage priest who had just returned from his studies overseas.

Having been sent to do some errands in downtown Salisbury (now Harare) by his superiors, some yobs thought the Bishop — who was then clad in his impeccably flowing cassock and a neck-band clerical collar — was fair game.

They also thought that the then wiry-thin young clergyman — by then not yet blessed with the bulbous body he now has — could have something valuable on him.

They couldn’t have picked the worst target.

At the exact moment the yobs decided to have a go on their supposedly hapless target, the Bishop instinctively delivered a combination of heavy punches, which were topped by a flawless swivel that violently delivered a calamitous mawashi geri (round kick).

The prey became the hunter, and vice versa.

As they say nowadays, “shiri yakabvuta rekeni”. Kikikiki.

Those who blinked missed the action.

Only the moaning and groaning pulped bodies of the ill-fated wannabe muggers were the tell-tale signs of the fatal misadventure.

You see, during my days overseas, I took up Kyokushin karate, which was founded by the South Korean, Mas Oyama, in order to escape boredom. Yes, the one currently practiced by Shihan Samson Muripo. Osu!

Critically, the fighting technique of this full-contact variant of karate is based on the Samurai Warriors’ principle of “Ichi geki hissatsu”, or “One strike, Certain death”.

Oyama mastered this art to such an extent that “if he got through to you, the fight was over”, “if he hit you, you broke”, “if you blocked his punch, your arm was broken or dislocated”, “if you didn’t block it, your rib was broken”.

They say because of his strength and skill, he became known as “the Godhand”.

So, in short, holy men are sometimes given to holy wrath.

And this week, the holy man clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

So, he has to whip and someone has to weep.

Sociopaths Over the past week, the Bishop has been musing on why there has been so much clamour about the recent broadband price hikes, especially from individuals he knows to be full-time trollers and social media bullies. Zimbabwean Twitter, as has been often noted by diplomats, is nauseatingly vile.

But a disgraced Professor called Jonathan Moyo is arguably the high priest of this newly found noxious religion of trolling.

Daily, he is always unloading dung-sized dross on these networking and blogging sites, from which his retinue of impressionable “dung beetles” — particularly the two-some of failed investigative journos — obligingly feed off and snowball into a stinking wrecking ball on social media platforms.

Given, Moyo is one of the most cerebral academic minds around, but his “medulla oblongata” — as singer Paul Matavire would wrongly call it — was so incompetently wired that it has to be condemned as criminal.

Each time his brain cranks up, the loose wires inexorably tangle in a perilous way that make the host bonkus. If he and his ilk had applied their minds, especially at times when their screws were not loose, to advance humanity, Zimbabwe would be an advanced country by now.

If you think that I am being unfair, I would have to call journalist-cum-lawyer Chris Mhike to my defence.

Having been on the receiving end of the raving professor’s article in The Herald issue of June 3 2013 titled “When lawyers become pedestrian for political expediency”, in which he was variously described as being part of “good-for-nothing lawyers” and “bush lawyers”, eight days later, Mhike — a former journalist with The Herald and Daily News — struck back. In his Op-Ed aptly titled “Prof Moyo & Co poisoning Zim society”, which was also published in The Herald, the fire-spitting ex-scribe took exception to the loose-tongued Professor’s propensity for being uncivil and dangerously toxic.

“Of course, Professor Moyo & Co are entitled to their opinions, but they must seriously re-consider the method and language of their communications. In placing their views in the public domain through the mass media, the expression of their views could easily adulterate the flow of information on these platforms from the mass communication form that it should be, into mass destruction of Zimbabwe’s social, moral or academic fabric. . .”

He added: “What is more worrisome though is the fact that the language used by Jonathan Moyo & Co in their attacks on lawyers, MDC politicians, and other citizens, is gravely harmful to the peace, integrity and harmony of Zimbabwean society. The culture of violence and insult on account of difference in opinion is poisonous to Zimbabwe’s sound societal configuration.”

And then the coup de grace from the learned former journo: “While well-educated and less educated Asians, Americans and Europeans make breakthrough inventions in the mobile phone and computer, aviation and motor car, rocket science, educational science and medical fields, and many other developmental sectors, some of our professors and high-ranking politicians here spend considerable time concocting noxious slurs.”

This is why, dear reader, some civilisations, buoyed by focussed academics, sent men to the moon half-a-century ago, but for us, cursed with the likes of Jonathan Moyo, haven’t been able to even re-invent the toothpick.

Most people ask, is Moyo crazy?

Well, the Bishop knows a tightly-kept secret of the Moyo/Mlevu clan that could help explain this congenial flaw, including help you connect the dots, but despite being fuelled by pious wrath, he will not be so uncivil to stoop so low and deliver for such a low blow.

At least not yet.

Maybe someday when he is goaded sufficiently enough he might be forced to spill the beans.

For now, I can only tell you than Moyo might have skeletons in his closet, but he is the biggest skeleton of them all.

I will also not worry myself with Moyo’s acolytes, who are joined to the hip to Moyo (no pun intended; please, don’t be dirty-minded) and sometimes operate his social media accounts. Those are family-less small boys who, by the time they will realise the futility of the irredeemable nutty professor’s pursuits, will have wasted a huge chunk of their lives.

For them, social media is now a loitering hall where they try to expunge and purgate their stained souls and consciences.

Also, for them, nothing positive will ever come out of/ from Zimbabwe.

Happiness and success is anathema.

In that 1997 Hollywood blockbuster called ConAir, there is a line which was delivered by Garland Greene — played by the inimitable Steve Buscemi — to try and describe people like Jonathan Moyo.

“He’s a font of misplaced rage. Name your cliché: mother held him too much or not enough, last picked at kickball, late night sneaky uncle, whatever. Now he’s so angry moments of levity actually cause him pain; gives him headaches. Happiness, for that gentleman, hurts.”

If you find yourself habitually trolling people, endlessly emitting negative energy and you are family-less (read unmarried and unattached), make an appointment at the nearest psychiatry — you need help.

I will leave you with the enlightening verse of Matthew 7: 17-19, “Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. . .”

Bishop out!

Writing Back
Ranga Mataire

Let’s look at it this way. Whether we agree or not, the Western media sets the agenda and tenor of what makes news and how it is framed across the world. This includes the slant, the pitch, and how it is played out for consumers.

Sadly, the African media is caught up in this web, and having been so flummoxed, it is reduced to mirroring what the Western media puts out about their own continent and the world.

Let’s take the example of Venezuela, a country on the southern coast of South America with diverse natural resources, including one of the world’s largest oil reserves.

I have often heard some African journalists, without having taken their time to read through what’s happening in that country, shouting about President Nicolas Maduro being a dictator. Really? Who is he being dictatorial to? Who has framed this perception? How does a country with 6,6 percent unemployment become a failed state led by a dictator?

The American government and the majority of Western media houses are portraying Venezuela as the latest “outpost of evil” that must be liquidated. It is them against us. The good guys versus the bad guys. President Maduro is presented as the “devil incarnate” who at all costs must be ousted from power.

And as African journalists, we meekly acquiesce to this framing and think that Venezuela is far removed from our daily experiences and therefore we must not concern ourselves with what is happening there.

We regurgitate what the CNN, BBC, Fox News and other Western media houses are telling us because we have a superficial relation with Venezuela. That is the dilemma confronting African journalists today; a closed door mentality solely dependent on other people’s perception of the world.

Yet we should all be concerned because what is happening in Venezuela clearly exposes what is fundamental to our existence and survival. What children ought to know and what future generations must be aware of is this; it is not about democracy, it is about the oil.

How does one explain the backing of an opposition by Exxon Mobil? Why are we not told that there has been a failed coup that killed 40 people and staged photo-propaganda designed to create the perception of a failed state?

Why are we not being told that Venezuela is a clear case of imperial bully tactics by America and its partners who have conspired to create ‘perfect’ conditions for yet another western ‘humanitarian’ intervention?

In January, John Bolton, the US national security advisor, told Fox News: “It will make a big difference to the United States economically if we could have American oil companies really invest in and produce the oil capabilities in Venezuela.”

The US has a willing conspirator in the opposition, where Juan Guido’s representative in Washington, Carlos Vecchio, told Bloomberg that his leader would open up the oil industry to more American firms. The truth is that the reality of what’s obtaining in Venezuela is different from what we are being fed by the Western media. One does not need to go far in unravelling the deception. American servicemen disillusioned by the attendant human costs caused by America’s imperial incursions are becoming the major alternative sources of what’s obtaining in Venezuela.

One of these servicemen is former US soldier now a documentary-maker by the name Mike Prysner, who has ruffled the American establishment by sensationally claiming that the Western media is blatantly biased against President Maduro. The former soldier deserves to be quoted at length. He is one of them and understands the psychology behind America’s destabilisation incursions all over the world.

Prysner also produces and co-writes The Empire Files for Latin American broadcaster, teleSUR English with journalist Abby Martin. TeleSUR is a Latin American terrestrial and satellite television network head-quartered in Caracas, Venezuela.

Prysner was recently interviewed by Renegade Inc., an independent knowledge platform for people who think differently. What Prysner said is indeed eye-opening and totally different from the drivel we are being fed by the western press, broadcasters, pundits, right-wing MPs and congressmen. Prysner tells his story from first-hand experience after spending some time in Venezuela where he embedded himself in both anti-government protestors and pro-Chavistas.

And his first salvo is straight at the BBC, which he said is “responsible for some of the most disingenuous portrayals, (where) they are showing violent protesters as if they’re some kind of defenders of peaceful protestors against a repressive police force, but in reality peaceful protests have been untouched by police.”

The former serviceman further recounts how the ‘Guarimbas’ (violent, armed opposition groups) follow peaceful protests and when they come near police, they insert themselves in between the two. They then push and push until there’s a reaction, and they have cameras and journalists on hand to record the reaction, so it looks like the police are being aggressive.

“We were once filming a protest and a group of ‘Guarimbas’ challenged us. If we’d said we were with teleSUR, at the very least they’d have beaten us and taken our equipment. But we told them we were American freelance journalists — they need Americans to film them and publicise them, so we were accepted,” says Prysner. However, Prysner says, the ‘Guarimbas’ were quick to tell all: “Don’t film what we do — just what they do to us.”

There are numerous things that the Western media is not telling the world about Venezuela, and it is all systematic and deliberate. George Orwell said: “During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”

Just this last Wednesday, opposition leader Guido called for a protest and only a handful supporters heeded the call. The CNN and other media houses that had hyped the planned protest never showed the handful supporters. In fact, the news item was mentioned in passing, a direct contrast to the earlier hype.

And another thing; the battles with police are actually small, but they are planned and co-ordinated to disrupt a different area each day to maximise their impact. In most places, life is pretty normal. It’s all about portrayal. The US mobilises everything for ‘Guarimbas; there would be some 150 people, but it’s made to look bigger. Tactics are 100 percent violent, trying to provoke a response.

It all sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Like in Zimbabwe where MDC-Alliance protestors who torched police stations and set ablaze buses and shop, only for Zimbabwe to be condemned for crushing “peaceful protests”, the ‘Guarimbas’ set fire to the country’s Supreme Court and several government buildings. All this done by supposed ‘victims’.

Truth telling is needed here. As Prysner says, democracy is absolutely not the aim of the protesters. It’s mainly a small group of people by the owners of large monopoly corporations. The opposition can’t win at the ballot box. They tried, but can’t reverse the left-wing gains. A huge majority of the people are behind the government. In essence, the protestors are trying to by-pass democracy, and that’s why violence is the tactic.

Zimbabwe has a lot to learn from the Venezuelan experience. Just like in Venezuela, Zimbabwe is experiencing economic violence.

In the case of Venezuela, some of the opposition leaders in Venezuela are owners of large corporations and they are trying to tank the economy. If Maduro lines up international finance, they have intervened to prevent the loans going through. We have the “jecha brigade” doing the same here.

What the world is not being told by the Western media is that the vast majority of people are solidly behind the government. For every huge demonstration, there is always one bigger pro-government, peaceful Chavistas demonstration. Of course, just like any other country, Venezuela has its own problems. Falling oil prices is one of them. However, there is a clear attempt to create an avenue for the Western, mainstream media to say “this country is crewed” so it can be ‘rescued’.

It does not need one to have a degree in economics to see that it’s not Maduro screwing up the economy; it is the big corporate oligarchies. It’s not Maduro’s administration instigating violence; it’s the protestors, supported and even paid by corporations and foreign governments.

The purpose, as Prysner says, is not to save democracy, but to overthrow it.

My call to my fellow scribes is to be street-wise. When we see an African leader or any leader being assaulted by the “Empire”, we need to exercise caution before joining the bandwagon. We must take time to investigate the matter. The agendas the Western media push are not always in Africa’s interest.

For feedback  contact: ranga.mataire@gmail.com or lovemore.mataire@zimpapers.co.zw

The reappointment of Dr John Mangudya by President Emmerson Mnangagwa for a second five-year term as Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, and thus the custodian of the national monetary policy, will be welcomed by those who seek a strong financial team and a continuation of present efforts to solve the raft of inherited problems so that strong economic growth becomes the norm.

President Mnangagwa has made it very clear that he expects to be judged by the people of Zimbabwe and by history first on his economic performance. This starts with the present austerity period while the fiscal disaster and resultant monetary mess inherited by the President on his election is cleaned up, and then with the correct fundamentals in place the move into strong, sustained and viable economic growth for a decade is Zimbabwe fulfils its promise and becomes a middle-income country.

Clearly the President needs competent economic advisors, perhaps more precisely the best economic advisors available. He needs them to work as a team but he does not need, and clearly does not expect to have a bunch of yes-men and nodders but those that  tender advice, draw up the plans and implement the clean up, and then ensuring the fundamentals remain sound while the private sector and others in Government push ahead with the economic growth.

With Dr Mangudya’s reappointment,, the three top figures in the economic team are now all “Mnangagwa appointees”, chosen directly by the President. The other two members of the team, Minister of Finance and Economic Development Prof Mthuli Ncube and the Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary Mr George Guvamatanga were appointed soon after President Mnangagwa was sworn in last year and the reappointment of an inherited Governor means that Dr Mangudya is known to have the confidence of the President, as was already know with the other two.

The three have distinct laid-down functions. The Minister had to get the fiscal policy right and budget for surpluses, not deficits as was the case since independence. The Permanent Secretary has to enforce the budgeting tightly, something that was done laxly for decades and from the figures we now see is being done exceptionally tightly. He is also the professional head of the team of economic civil servants, a team described by former opposition Minister Tendai Biti as exceptionally and surprisingly competent. And the Governor has to get the monetary policy right, as well as supervise the banking industry to ensure that this core element does not go off the rails.

Turf wars are the sort of thing that happen in dictatorships, Hitler’s Germany was famous for these, but the clearly defined roles laid out in Zimbabwean law and procedures prevent such nonsense, whatever some of the less-educated social media commentators pretend to see.

But the three also need to be able to work together and work as a team with the President. This they have been doing, and doing rather well. It is well known that the three are in quite close agreement over the strategy that must be followed. It is also well known that at times the precise tactics ― the size of each step and the sequencing and timing of each step ― frequently require debate. That must be expected. You cannot put three competent people in the same room and expect instant agreement, or not unless they are the undesirable yes men.

In the end it must be remembered that the President is the only elected person in that core group; even the Minister is not a professional politician, rather an outside appointment using a constitutional provision whereby the President can bring a handful of technocrats into the cabinet. So the President is the person who carries the can and that is why his openness to a broad base of advice is so obviously desirable.

His three top economic appointees all had major reputations outside Government before being called into national service. Dr Mangudya and Dr Guvamatanga headed major, and successful, commercial banks. Prof Mthuli is generally regarded as the leading Zimbabwean academic economist, but one who also left his ivory tower and built up some impressive experience in commercial and international banking and in management consulting. All three made their mark outside State service and all three could easily resume their careers outside State service. The fact that they all have now been offered and accepted appointments from President Mnangagwa shows that the required trust runs both ways.

As was said when the President started appointing his technocrats, the relationship between a technocrat and an elected leader has to run both ways. The political leader needs to trust that his technocrat does, in fact, have the required expertise and the technocrats have to trust that they will get the required political support and backing. This is one reason why the latest step, making all three at the top of the economic team appointees of the present sitting President, is important.

Rory Stewart

It’s a great privilege to be here and above all a great privilege to have the opportunity for the last hour and a half to meet some of you and to learn from you.

I think if there’s one theme that is central to the way that Britain thinks about itself in the world in the future, it’s the theme of humility, the theme of listening to other people, learning from people, working with other people.

And I think this is particularly true when we come to probably one of the most difficult intractable and exciting problems in the world, which is the question of unlocking the potential of the African economies.

When we talk about economies in Africa – and many of you will have been to these conferences all the time – there is a very strange sense that you lurch from an incredibly optimistic positive vision of where Africa’s going, to suddenly going to the absolute opposite of people being very, very gloomy.

And I don’t want to repeat the cycle, but clearly in that tension between these two principles, between the incredible potential of Africa and people’s sense of frustrations, is something there in the centre of this problem which needs to be unlocked.

And part of that problem is the question of how you unlock finance and how you unlock money in the centre of those economies.

The big picture I don’t want to bore you with because you have heard these ten thousand times before, and journalists and commentators have been talking about the potential for Africa for nearly a century.

One in ten children born in the world by 2050 will be Nigerian, potentially by the end of the century as much as 40 percent of the population in the world could be African.

And of course, that means that the labour force that is going to power the global economy potentially by the end of the century will be African, and the consumers which are going to provide the markets for our goods are going to come out of Africa.

That’s before you even get into the extraordinary natural resources of Africa itself.

So, the question is why, given all that, given the incredible potential of human capital and natural resources, do we end up in a situation in which frustratingly in the last 20 years a lot of investment flowing into Africa has now actually come out of Africa?

During my own time as minister, for example, we have seen very good long-standing established British banks getting rid of their operations, great airline companies closing their reach in Africa.

And of course, economists are very fixated on the fact that the middle-class population of Africa, people with incomes over a few hundred dollars a month, is still relatively small.

We had economists in DFID who used to point out that if you look only at that segment of the consumer population, the middle-class population of Africa feels as though it’s about the same size as the consumer population of Belgium, in a place one hundred times the size.

The way to unlock this is of course with finance, and the way to unlock finance is listening to you and combining what you have to say with what we can bring, what we can bring as DFID.

And of course I am very proud to be the Secretary of State for a Department that’s entrusted to spend 0,7 percent of British GNI (Gross National Income) – it’s an enormous amount of British taxpayers money to support the rest of the world – but above all, much bigger than DFID’s billions is the trillions that exist here in the City of London, this great financial centre, that could be unleashed into Africa.

Probably the most useful hour that I have spent recently was the hour I spent at breakfast this morning.

So, while I was sitting there working my way through my bowl of Frosties and my banana this morning, I was able to hear from an extraordinary variety of different people running businesses in Africa.

I heard from a company providing blueberries with the market in the UK, but are unable to get the money to get the labour force in to extract their blueberries even though they have the invoice ready, even though they know where their money is going to come from.

The 10-day finance thing in the supply chain simply doesn’t exist in Zimbabwe.

Or somebody else saying, okay, look around the edge of Lusaka, you can see again and again in almost every plot, buildings which are a quarter or half completed. . .people’s homes.

I spent $5 000, I buy my plot of land, maybe I have a little middle-class income, maybe I am working for a state enterprise in the capital, but I am supporting a big family.

I may have a $100 left over at the end of the month to pay towards my building.

I am getting an itinerant labour force in to try to build the first or second floor, I haven’t completed the roof.

There is no mortgage fund that I can readily access, I need $20 000 to finish my home, where am I going to get myself $20 000 from?

Have I got myself tied into debt, where I am paying an extraordinary amount of interest on trying to get this done?

Is there some way of unlocking money to allow me to complete my house?

Or again, here is Barclays with a huge amount of liquidity and here are a lot of non-bank, financial lenders who don’t have any cash.

What can we do to provide the intermediaries?

What can we do to give the confidence to Barclays that they can translate the money down to that level?

How do we deal with the fact that the money coming into the pension funds in Africa is coming in local currency and they want to make their investments in those funds?

Solving those problems is what we in DFID or FSDA (Financial Sector Deepening Africa) or even many people here in this room are trying to do. And I think there are two main lessons that I draw out of this problem.

The first lesson is that you have to have the right type of institutions and the right type of people located at the right places in order to do this.

In formal terms, that means from us in DFID that we have organisations like, for example, CDC.

I was very proud as the DFID Minister responsible for CDC to bring another very significant, nearly £4 billion worth of investment, into CDC and then to see what that means.

That means CDC ends up owning a third of the electricity generation in Tanzania, ends up employing over 20 000 people in palm oil in a relatively remote part of DRC.

But it also means thinking about the way that we provide support, for example, to Trademark East Africa in order to deal with the problems of borders, the Kenyan border or Rwanda/DRC border, reducing the time it takes to get goods across the border from three days down to seven hours.

Whether that’s investing in customs posts, training up customs officers, simplifying the paperwork or simply installing a road infrastructure to get the trucks across that border more quickly.

Or whether it is the kind of work that we do with PIDG on infrastructure or our support to green investment bonds in Nigeria, or whether it is the energy we put through AgDevCo or whether it’s our support, for example, to the garment industry.

Making sure that people working in the garment industries are not only connected to the buyers in Tescos in London, but that we have the right specialists coming over from Pakistan in order to develop the factory processes and the right type of labour protection for the individuals within that factory so that actually they have the childcare, they have the opportunity to access education, they are operating in a good space.

Underlying this I would suggest as a government the fundamental question is, what does the government do? And what do you guys in the private sector do?

How would we as the government sometimes get out of the way to provide space for you, and where do we lean in?

Here, I am going to be a little bit unashamedly patriotic: There are certain traditional British values which we ought to be bringing as a British development agency, and I would suggest that those include first and foremost a reattachment to a very old, maybe sometimes lost, British virtue of modesty or humility and the ability to listen to other people.

Secondly, an old and somewhat lost British value of patience.

Needing a lot of time to make things work.

And finally, the most important thing of all which we used to pride ourselves on is pragmatism.

Not a big theory with great strategic documents produced by consultants flying in, but a really granular exact contact to this blueberry farmer, this lady on the edge of Lusaka trying to get a roof on her house.

Secondly, innovation – we have to be innovating all the time.

Read full article on www.sundaymail.co.zw

We have to be bringing new instruments all the time. We have to adjust to the fact, for example, that since 2008 the financial regulations affecting banks in the developed world have changed, and, therefore, a whole new source of intermediaries are going to have to emerge.

We have just had a good presentation, of course, on FinTech.

We have got to think about responsibility, we have got to think about the way that as a development agency we are not only in the business of trying to grow economies as fast as we possibly can, we are in the business of trying to grow those economies in a way that works for the people in those countries in the long term.

And trying to make sure that as those businesses get off the ground; those businesses are not polluting the rivers and water sources which people then have to drink out of.

Making sure that as those businesses get off the ground we are not going to end up with 1 000 gigawatts of coal-powered generating stations pumping carbon into the atmosphere.

Trying to make sure as those businesses get off the ground we can protect things which are deeply precious to the planet, to humanity but ultimately the people within those countries themselves, whether it’s child labour or the environment.

But above all, if I was going to conclude above all, it’s going to be about people.

It’s going to be about people on the ground.

It’s going to be about people with experience of a particular country. We are not kidding ourselves that because you spent a lot of time in Benin you are suddenly an expert on Zambia, and it’s on making sure that we trust those people, making sure we have the right type of trust, to stick with somebody through changes.

To stay with an organisation in Zimbabwe where there can be a sudden change in government. Is there a coup, isn’t there a coup? Is there a fair election, isn’t there a fair election? What’s happened with the new currency?

What happens when the inflation rates in Ghana are running at 15 percent?

How do you trust people, people who know what’s going on and get behind them and stay with them for the time required to really bring the change?

Today, I am very proud to be able to announce three new things that we are doing at the Department for International Development.

I am announcing them with a certain degree of humility because in this whole speech all that I am trying to say today is that this is about us listening and learning.

There are no silver bullets.

There are no special magic tools that we can bring to solve the very risky, complicated history of how you work across an entire continent.

The first thing that I am proud to announce today is that we are launching a new partnership with the Bank of England.

The Bank of England has quite a lot of experience on the question of finance.

It has quite a long history. It has been going for many, many years, and we are very proud that we can now work with the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, to bring officials from central banks in other African nations, together with officials from the Bank of England.

The advantage of this is that this is not about consultants parachuting in, this is about patient long-term relationships between expert regulators in Africa and expert regulators in London working together, hopefully over decades, to learn from each other.

The next thing we are announcing today is the launch of a £31 million Currency Exchange Fund. Why are we putting £31 million into that?

Because we have identified one of the biggest problems for people operating in Africa is the issue of currency.

DFID wants to get into that space.

There is no silver bullet, but it is going to be a very important part of unlocking potential, particularly of pension funds, whether they are African pension funds or international pension funds, and all the money this could bring into the sector.

And finally, we are announcing today that we are going to conduct a large DFID-funded national survey across the United Kingdom in order to understand British citizens attitudes towards ethical investing in Africa, to make sure that we understand what it is citizens are looking for in those ethical investments.

And to provide the information to them so that they have some confidence in those investments, so we can harness, not just the money of British citizens, but the values of British citizens.

At the beginning of 2020, we will have an African Investment Summit and I am looking forward to seeing most of you in this room at that summit.

If that summit and today’s announcements are about anything, it is about our fundamental principle that when Africa prospers, the world prospers and when the world prospers, Britain prospers.

We should partner together, develop together, learn together.

Bring our very different strengths and weaknesses together, bring the ageing population of Britain working together with the incredible, dynamic, young populations of Africa.

Bring your natural resources together with the finance of the City of London, but above all harness the power of people.

Trust people, local people, people on the ground for their innovation, their ingenuity, their energy.

Through this partnership, through our investment which I and the British people are deeply proud to make with you, we will discover that we probably have less to teach Africa than we have to learn from Africa.

Thank you all very much indeed.

Rory Stewart is the UK secretary of state for international development. He made this speech at the Africa Financial Services Investment Conference in London, which ended on Friday.

Ends

Allen Choruma
Vision 2030

A recent wave of corruption scandals at the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara), which came out when Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joel Biggie Matiza recently appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts following evidence from Auditor-General Mrs Mildred Chiri’s 2018 audit report, show the depth and extent of rot at the parastatal.

Yet corruption unearthed at Zinara is just a tip of the iceberg of the overall rot in most State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and parastatals in Zimbabwe, which has been widely covered in the mainstream media.

Corruption scandals in recent months have rocked parastatals such as Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ), National Social Security Authority (NSSA), Zesa Holdings and its subsidiaries – for example, the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) and Zimbabwe Electricity and Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) – Air Zimbabwe, Natpharm and others.

CAAZ chief executive officer and the former Zesa CEO were recently arraigned before the courts on allegations of corruption and abuse of office charges.

Zinara’s CEO is also currently on suspension on allegations of abuse of office.

Zinara

Zinara is the frontrunner on corruption and sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest of the pack.

The extent and magnitude of corruption at the parastatal is shocking.

The Herald’s May 9 2019 issue carried a story that shocked many readers. For the past 12 months, Zinara has been paying full salary and benefits concurrently for two CEOs – suspended CEO Mrs Nancy Masiyiwa-Chamisa and acting CEO Ms Mathlene Mujokoro.

The audit report presented to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee by the Auditor-General shows that Zinara spent a whooping US$60 000 on the female managers’ hairstyles, including a payment of US$25 000 to one hair salon.

A further US$4 000 was used to buy and install gym equipment at the senior executives’ houses.

However, the parastatal continued paying subscriptions at top gyms in Harare for the same executives. The parastatal also paid for their food hampers and entertainment.

But this is not new.

Over the past 10 years, the Auditor-General has been exposing high levels of corruption at the same institution but nothing was done under the President Mugabe administration.

In 2016, Grant Thornton exposed a cocktail of irregularities such as weak internal controls on the road fund, which resulted in losses of millions of dollars involving scams where senior executives allegedly manipulated the parastatals’ more than 59 bank accounts to siphon public money for personal gain.

Similarly, another audit report for a period ending December 31 2017 reported weak internal control systems, which resulted in Zinara disbursing millions of dollars to provinces through the parastatal’s employees’ personal bank accounts.

 Zesa

Zesa presents another interesting case study for corporate corruption.

Going by the plethora of recent media reports, corporate corruption also reared its ugly head at Zesa, which handles huge public funds given the nature of their operations, which also require ernomous capital outlays.

Some years back, Zesa was unbundled into Zesa Holdings, a holding company which directly controls ZPC, ZETDC, Zimbabwe Enterprises (Zent ) and Powertel.

The objective was to improve efficiency in power generation, transmission and distribution channels, and consequently improve on service delivery.

Sadly, Zesa Holdings and its subsidiaries have been embroiled in corruption scams which threaten to derail the very objective of its restructure, including Zimbabwe’s economic development agenda.

Zesa’s immediate past CEO was recently arraigned before the courts on allegations of corruption and abuse of office.

 Corporate governance deficiencies

Corporate scandals in SOEs and parastatals have revealed serious corporate governance deficiencies, suggesting that directors in these organisations are sleeping on the job and failing to discharge their fiduciary duties effectively.

As high-profile corruption cases in these key SOEs and parastatals spiral out of control in Zimbabwe, one wonders whether some of these institutions have boards in place.

If boards are in place, as is the case, have the directors simply abandoned ship to let it sink?

Have boards simply left CEOs and management to party and dip their hands in the till without anyone reprimanding them?

Have directors simply gone on vacation, forgetting that they have fiduciary duties to superintend over operations of these public organisations?

 Role of the Board

Boards of directors are not there for window-dressing or meeting the requirements of corporate governance best practices.

Directors are there to safeguard the interests of shareholders and relevant stakeholders.

It is a well-established corporate governance principle that the board has a fiduciary duty to act in good faith and in the best interests of an organisation, and not put their own interests or the interests of those who appointed them ahead of those of the organisation they lead.

Boards should provide effective leadership based on ethical foundations and should discharge their oversight functions over management effectively to ensure that the organisations they lead prosper and realise value for their shareholders.

The board should ensure that at all times, vices such as corruption are unequivocally condemned and those who are involved in it are dismissed and prosecuted.

The calibre of directors in SOEs and parastatals should be of high standards given the pivotal role that the public sector plays in the economy.

Public entities provide the key infrastructure necessary to drive the economy and as such, they also handle large sums of public funds and are therefore prone to vices such as corruption, if there are not properly governed.

The selection and appointment of directors who superintend these institutions should be done above board.

Distinguished men and women who have proved that they are dedicated to serve and are qualified and experienced to do so should be allowed to serve on parastatal boards.

The selection process and appointment of directors of public institutions needs to be change. These positions should be advertised and shortlisted candidates should be interviewed publicly to ensure transparency. That way, the best candidates will be appointed.

This will enhance good corporate governance and performance of public institutions.

Government

Government should strengthen its supervisory (oversight) role and additionally display unwavering political will to enforce good corporate governance standards, adherence to laws and internal regulations that govern SOEs and parastatals.

Government should also ensure that all cases of corruption are thoroughly investigated by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) and that the NPA prosecutes all corruption cases without bias, fear or favour.

Allen Choruma can be contacted on hoziadvisory2018@gmail.com

Wendy Nyakurerwa-Matinde
Assistant Editor

The art of political persuasion is embedded in appealing to the inner being or to the attractive possibility of accessing daily needs and wants. That is why in the run up to elections, politicians will promise jobs, affordable healthcare, food and the like.

Successful politicians are good orators and listening to them is like savouring a delicacy.

Religion is built on the same tenets. Emotions are whipped up in order to appeal to the inner person through the prospects of a peaceful country, a less corrupt society, well-fed orphans and widows. Again, influential religious leaders are good orators.

And thus, religion and politics find themselves intertwined – they both sell attainable and unattainable dreams. While the line between a legitimate and an illegitimate mixture is not always easy to draw, it exists nevertheless, however blurred it is.

In this instalment for today, we focus on the “illegitimate mixture” – the political abuse of religion or the exploitation of God and faith in politics.

Apart from politicians that season their messages with the gospel to make the dish more palatable, we have also seen some drooling church leaders eagerly looking on the other side of fence.

In last year’s general elections for example, we saw Apostolic Faith Mission’s Dr Blessing Kasiyamhuru and Bethel Christian Party’s Dr Willard Taonezvi Mugadza joining and being thrashed in the Presidential race.

The phenomenon might only be gathering momentum in Zimbabwe now but it is as old as time. The “God Strategy” as enunciated by David Domke and Kevin Coe has always been a part of politics.

In colonising Africa, Portuguese and English missionaries fought the battle of capturing the hearts and minds of the locals through religion. Everything else easily fell into place once our forefathers accepted that everlasting joy was in Heaven, not in earthly charms – humambo hwedu huri kudenga – and when you are slapped on the left cheek, kindly offer the right cheek for another slap.

In the United States, politicians also proudly employ the calculated, deliberate, and partisan use of faith as a weapon to attract voters, identify enemies, and solidify power. While the US Constitution prohibits any religious requirement for public office, almost all of the nation’s Presidents have been Christians, including incumbent Mr Donald Trump who is a proud Presbyterian.

American Presidents are famous for their foreign policies, for speaking strongly on the alleged atrocities in third world countries, for blasting African countries for ‘human rights violations’ and then concluding their speeches with the ever-so-cliché ‘God bless America’.

Jesus’ main message is very simple and straightforward – help the needy, care for the sick, let there be peace and treat every man and woman as a brother and sister. In so many words, that voluminous Holy Book teaches us to love and take care of each other. The same goes for the Holy Quran, the Sruti texts, the Tipitaka, you name it.

Yet these notions have gotten convoluted along the way as politicians make religion the centrepiece of their political careers.

Now, the question that begs for an answer is whether the omnipresence of religion in African politics will eventually threaten African democracy? Does the current brand of religious politics put at risk Africa’s founding fathers’ vision of a democracy that protected the Church from the State and the State from the Church?

Again, could it be a coincidence that American and English politicking has found its way to African shores, with the new generation of leaders seemingly using the same modus operandi – that of charismatic preaching on the political podium. What happened to praying in private rooms, behind closed doors and far away from the public’s eyes as instructed by the Holy Bible?

MDC Alliance leader Mr Nelson Chamisa prides himself in being a firm believer in Christ. Whenever he addresses gatherings, he is more than happy to remind his audience that he is a man of God, a man of character who could steer the ship in turbulent waters. He has even entered a distressed city on horseback.

Down South, they have their fair share of the young turks who are trying to swing the vote through religion. Mr Mmusi Maimane of the Democratic Alliance is a pastor who is not shy to use his evangelical faith as political leverage.

Fortunately, South African voters have noted with dismay that the great orator is still trying to discover himself, sounding like Nelson Mandela today and Barrack Obama the next day. As a result, election results that were trickling in by the time of going to print were pointing to Mr Maimane’s embarrassing defeat at the recent SA polls.

But after all is said and done, who are we to judge? Let there be religion, let there be politics and let there be religious politics.

For feedback write to wendy.nyakurerwa@zimpapers.co.zw

Langton Nyakwenda recently in KASANE, Botswana

AS Heads of States from Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe converged in Kasane, Botswana to find a solution to the ever increasing elephant population, a few kilometres from the conference venue, a family buried a relative who had been trampled by a jumbo.

About 80km away, in Kataba village near Kachikau, a former teacher who is now into cattle farming counted losses after elephants destroyed his water pumping machine worth over US$4 000.

“The only idea which I think will work is to minimise the number of these elephants,” lamented this Kataba villager.

“Recently, a man was killed in this village. In fact, we have recorded almost 10 deaths in the past few years and it is sad,”

Elephant population management is an issue that Southern Africa, which is home to 61 percent of the world’s jumbo, is grappling with.

It is estimated that the Kavango-Zambezi region, — Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe — has over 250 000 jumbos or 75 percent of the elephant population in Southern Africa.

Zimbabwe’s elephant herd stands at over 84 000 with wildlife authorities saying the country’s national parks have a carrying capacity of 50 000.

The state of affairs has led to an increased number of human and wildlife conflicts.

Over 200 lives have been lost in Zimbabwe in the last five years due to human wildlife conflicts, and of those deaths, 40 percent are a result of elephants.

It is further estimated that more than 7 000 hectares of crop are destroyed annually by elephants.

In the midst of these challenges, the international community, mainly Europe and the Americas, are adamant elephants should not be culled, sold or traded.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has also banned the sale of elephants or its products, leaving Southern Africa, the world’s largest elephant reserve in a catch 22 situation.

It was against this background that Heads of States from four countries converged in Botswana for the Elephant Summit, which they described as a ‘masterstroke’.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Botswana leader Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi, Namibian and Zambian leaders Hage Geingob and Edgar Lungu respectively came into the same room to discuss this contentious issue of increasing animal population in a historical meeting.

The purpose was to find a common ground amongst the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Areas (KAZA TFCAs) nations on the way forward with regards elephant population management.

It also sought to establish ways in which communities living with elephants benefit from the animals, which, ironically, are wreaking havoc and threatening their livelihood. The major take home from this ground-breaking summit was that Southern Africa should speak with one voice when it comes to elephant population management, especially at international forums such as the next CITES gathering set for Colombo in Sri Lanka in October.

They want Southern Africa to sell jumbos.

The leaders agreed that Southern Africa should not be bullied by the international community on issues pertaining to elephant management.

President Mnangagwa reiterated Zimbabwe’s commitment to sustainable wildlife management and urged the international community to recognise the region’s conservation successes.

“Our successes in conservation is commendable and must be duly recognised, not criticised. It is equally imperative that the global community considers the voices and concerns of countries like ourselves that are successful in conserving these (elephants) species,” said President Mnangagwa.

“Poverty eradication, economic empowerment and improvement in the quality of the lives of our communities can only be enhanced if we are allowed to trade and benefit from our God-given natural elements,” said the President.

Namibia President and SADC chairman Mr Geingob said Southern Africa should not be bullied by European countries “who have destroyed their own species” and yet are imposing restrictions on the sale of elephants and their products like ivory.

“I listened to all these experts who were lecturing us here, I wanted to ask where they are coming from, if they are from Europe, UK, France and so on, I wanted to ask how many elephants they still have in their countries.

“How do you destroy all your species and then come and lecture us, we have a problem of population because we manage our resources properly.

“Our success is now our problem, they (Europeans) should be humble and come and ask how we have managed our wildlife,” thundered the Namibian President.

Speaking at the same platform, Botswana President Dr Masisi, whose country holds the chairmanship of the KAZA TFCAs, said wildlife management costs had come at the expense of human development.

“The huge expanses of land reserved for wildlife and its associated management costs have come at the expense of human development which includes agriculture, health provision, education, water provision and other infrastructure.

“We believe in a people centred approach to pursuing sustainable and economically inclusive solutions in the management of our wildlife,” said Dr. Masisi.

The Kasane Elephant Summit was also attended by Environment ministers from KAZA countries who also spoke with one voice on the issue of jumbo population management.

“From the statistics, collectively as KAZA we have 75 percent of the elephants in Southern Africa and over 60 per cent of the world’s population, so who else can tell us how to nurture or conserve the elephants and other animals but ourselves, we have to teach the world,” said Minister of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Prisca Mupfumira.

Botswana Minister of Environment, Natural Resource Conservation and Tourism who is also the chairman of KAZA, Mr Kitso Mokaila blasted some international media for twisting the elephant agenda.

“As expected, there has been a bad wave, fuelled by the media, not ours, but those from the West. We should continue to speak with one voice when it comes to our regional elephants.

“Together we stand, but divided we fall. It is my conviction that, as Southern Africa range states, we have an obligation to resolutely and collectively work together to find lasting solutions to the issue of our elephants,” said Mr Mokaila.