MINES Minister Walter Chidhakwa has suggested that only one company could survive the purge expected on diamond mining operations in Chiadzwa, with the rest likely to be forced to merge.
indications are that Mbada Diamonds, a hugely philanthropic diamond mining firm in Chiadzwa, could be unaffected by a restructuring of mining operations spearheaded by Chidhakwa who fears government is losing millions of dollars because of lack of transparency in mining operations.
But he declined to reveal if Mbada would survive, saying: “I do not know where that is coming from, but we are looking at a company with a proven record on social responsibility, strongest capabilities be it mining receipts, equipment, marketing, human resources.

 ”We also want a partner we can work with, one that will make contributions to national development.”
He suggested that people were speculating around Mbada because “it sponsors soccer, a popular sport.”

He revealed that forensic auditors investigating another diamond firm, Marange Resources, had completed the audit which they were due to present to the Ministry of Mines yesterday.
Chidhakwa, who spoke exclusively to the Financial Gazette, said he could not give details of the audit findings until the report is handed over to President Robert Mugabe.

He said plans to overhaul the Chiadzwa diamond mining operations, which were triggered by alleged pillage and graft, would affect six mining firms, including Anjin, which is jointly owned by the Chinese Defence and the Zimbabwe Defence Industries.

The six diamond mining companies would not have their licences renewed as government takes practical steps to improve accountability and transparency in the sector, he said.
The first merger is expected to be announced during the first quarter of the year.

Currently they are seven companies in Chiadzwa namely Mbada Diamonds, Marange Resources, Anjin Investments, Diamond Mining Company, Anjin, Kusena and Gye Nyame.

The companies operate as joint ventures with government through the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC). Marange Resources is, however, wholly-owned by the ZMDC.
“The first thing that we are doing is not to issue out new mining licenses in Marange. (The) second is to ensure that those such as Gyne Nyame would be merged. Very soon we would be announcing the merger of companies in Marange,” Chidhakwa said.

He said once the seven companies’ licenses expire, they would not be renewed until the exercise was complete.
“The licenses were issued differently and would expire at different times,” Chidhakwa said.

Asked if they would compensate the companies, Chidhakwa said: “Where there is need to compensate, certainly we would look into that. The exercise would be done in an organised manner,” he said.
He said the audit at Marange Resources was done and scheduled to be presented to the ministry yesterday. He, however, could not reveal much about the contents of the audit saying it was necessitated by misappropriation of funds at the mining company.

“That audit will be presented to the Ministry’s permanent secretary tomorrow (Wednesday). Even then if it’s presented (us), naturally I do not want the President to read it in the press. I would want to present it to him first and brief him on the developments before it is made public,” Chidhakwa said.
The audit will cover the miners’ operations from the time they first set up.

Insiders say the audit revealed that government was prejudiced of millions of dollars as management raised inflated procurement receipts and pocketed the difference.
The firm bought heavy duty mining equipment which cost millions of dollars, but management allegedly generated receipts inflating the figures to alarming levels. The audit, which was for the period January 2010 to December 2013, also investigated methods used to determine the firm’s remuneration policy.

Auditors investigated the amount of diamonds taken out of the country and how much they have been sold for.
“We will investigate all companies in the area,” he said.
“ZMDC should be our biggest company as it is the custodian of most minerals in Zimbabwe, but its balance sheet is not anything to talk about. Why? Is it the way we have structured it?

THE purchase of Zuva Petroleum assets by a company owned by John Mushayavanhu has torched off controversy over allegations the banker could be fronting for a British-based commodities firm, Glencore Holdings.
Woble Investments, which is owned by Mushayavanhu, the chief executive officer of banking group FBC Holdings, and his wife, wrapped up the transaction early this month with an announcement by London-listed Masawara Plc that it had transferred its 51 percent stake in Masawara Energy Mauritius Limited (MEM) to the company, which it described as “wholly owned by indigenous Zimbabweans”.

MEM is registered in Mauritius and is the controlling shareholder of Zuva Petroleum, which constitutes assets previously owned by BP & Shell in Zimbabwe.
After the sale of the assets to Masawara, the BP & Shells assets were rebranded to Zuva Petroleum.

But the announcement camouflaged a raging domestic conflict over ownership, with a National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board (NIEEB) report suggesting Masawara never owned the Zuva shares in the first place and that it was a front for Glencore, which funded the purchase and is again the financier of Woble’s purchase of the same shares.

The NIEEB report, a copy of which was seen by the Financial Gazette, said Masawara “never owned” the former BP & Shell assets purportedly sold to it, insisting that Alveir purchased the assets and thereby held, and still held 75 percent interest indirectly in Zuva.
According to documents seen by this newspaper, Alveir is one of several financing arms of Glencore International based in the British Virgin Islands.

“The real owners are and will remain Alveir, and now Glencore Holdings. Woble is merely a front. The proposed transaction is therefore illegal, contrary to indigenisation and empowerment law and is a sham,” said NIEEB.
“The board recommends that for the reasons (mentioned in the report), the Minister rejects the proposals and direct that only a genuine entity be allowed to purchase the 51 percent shareholding,” said NIEEB.

But Masawara said in a London Stock Exchange’s AIM filing that it had concluded the transaction “following receipt of all required regulatory approvals”.
The Masawara announcement said: “Masawara is further pleased to advise that, since the initial announcement in respect of the transaction, the parties agreed to an increase in the transaction consideration to US$29,325 million (from US$24,888 million). Following receipt of all outstanding regulatory approvals in respect of the transaction, a revised sale and purchase agreement was signed with Woble Investments (Private) Limited on 31 January 2014. The transaction consideration was received by Masawara on January  31, 2014 and proceeds will be applied in line with Masawara’s investment strategy.”

Mushayavanhu this week angrily reacted to request for a comment on the issue, saying: “This is a tired story being peddled by one Don Nyamande, an ex-employee of Zuva. He has peddled numerous, versions of the same story….”
“For the record, my transaction has been approved by NIEEB, Reserve Bank and the External Loans Co-ordinating Committee who have full details regarding the terms, collateral and other conditions attached to the loan,” said Mushayavanhu.

“I have connections with various providers of offshore and structured financial solutions as a result of my many years in the financial sector and was able to secure the funding for the transaction using these contacts,” he said.
But Indigenisation Minister, Francis Nhema, denied they had approved the transaction.
“I have raised the question with players involved in that transaction so that we can explain to people what happened. I have not approved the deal,” he said.
NIEEB said Woble was being financed by a loan from Glencore, which it said was the owner of the shares under Masawara.

NIEEB, which was given questions on the issue by the Financial Gazette on January 16, 2014, declined to comment due to the sensitivity of the matter and referred questions to the Ministry.
Oliver Lutz, an investor relations officer for Masawara in Harare, has not been taking calls.
NIEEB said in May 2013, Mushayavanhu had along with the majority shareholder of Strauss Logistics Zimbabwe, Bethwell Gumbo, held a meeting with NIEEB officials in which they indicated that Strauss Logistics wished to buy 51 percent shareholding in MEM from Masawara and that the company wanted an indigenisation certificate to do so.

“In the same meeting it was also indicated that messrs Mushayavanhu had an interest in Strauss Zimbabwe of about 10 percent. Mr Mushayavanhu, through FBC (Bank) was also supposed to arrange for financing,” NIEEB said.
“At some point it must have been apparent that the indigenisation certificate of Strauss was not forthcoming, hence the decision to have Woble Investments acquire the shares instead,” said the report.

It said Alveir had in March approached the Mauritian courts to enforce its right of first refusal after reports emerged about the planned transaction with Strauss.
“However, in this instance it appears to have no problem with Woble acquiring the same lot of shares. The only logical conclusion is that Alveir is not just agreeable to this but is intricately involved in this transaction,” said NIEEB.
It said that it was interesting that Ketani Joshi, who has interests in Strauss, also had interest in FBC led by Mushayavanhu.
Ketani is a member of the Joshi family that used to run ZANU-PF businesses until they fled the country after investigations into alleged irregularities in the operations of the companies.
They helped start FBC Bank, which was then known as First Banking Corporation.

When asked about the involvement of the Joshis in the transaction, Mushayavanhu said: “The Joshi family is not involved in this transaction at all.”
But he skirted questions on the involvement of Glencore, specifically that he was “a front for Glencore”.

NIEEB  said: “Glencore is introduced as the financier. Glencore has primarily the same interests in logistics, distribution and petroleum as does Strauss. It is interesting that as part of the conditions for financing, Woble will cede rights to distributions entirely to Glencore. Also, the effective controller of the purchased shares for the time being is Glencore. It is clearly more than coincidence that Glencore has financing interest in the sector to which it is a player, when as a matter of fact its core business is not venture financing. The only other sensible conclusion is that it must have covert interests.”

The indigenisation board said in order to more properly assess this proposed transaction, the history of the Masawara and BP & Shell transaction was important.
NIEEB, which advises the Minister of Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment, said in 2010, Masawara won the bid to acquire BP & Shell assets in Zimbabwe for about US$30 million. The transaction was consummated and approved by the Minister with the following conditions:

- That Masawara would dispose 10 percent shareholding to an employee share trust;
- That Masawara would dispose 50 percent of its retail sites to its dealers;
-That Masawara would dispose shares to youths, women and the disabled; and
- That Masawara would treat the leases of all dealers fairly.

But the transaction had been opposed by indigenisation players and other stakeholders for being “a sham, a front and not a genuine indigenisation transaction,” said the NIEEB report.
“Despite this, approval was granted on the aforesaid conditions as a means of promoting broad-based indigenisation,” said the report.

It noted that complaints by dealers and workers that conditions attached to the transaction had not been fulfilled led to investigations by NIEEB which found that Masawara had not honoured the conditions and that the company had been “diluted at the MEM level by selling 49 percent shares to an unknown entity, Alveir Management, thereby diminishing the effective indigenous interest of former BP & Shell assets to below 26 percent”.

Masawara denied that it had been diluted, but insisted it still held 99 percent of MEM, with Alveir Management, from which Masawara had borrowed through a pledge of shares in favour of Alveir, owning one percent.
“This position was contrary to the reported position from Masawara financial statements in which Alveir Management had acquired 49 percent shareholding in MEM. If it did, as indeed it did, then the extent of Alveir’s interest is unclear since it provided more than the proportion of 49 percent,” said the NIEEB report.

It said there was reason to suspect that Alveir held more interest than 49 percent since it had funded more than 75 percent of the finance under terms undisclosed to the ministry.
It said if Masawara held 99 percent shareholding, why was it exiting MEM by selling only 51 percent?

“This shows that Masawara misrepresented the true shareholding to government and that Alveir in fact owns 49 percent of MEM. This casts light on NIEEB’s earlier findings (concerning) the dilution of Masawara in MEM.”
It also noted: “Further, despite providing the bulk of the finance for the transaction, Alveir was never mentioned prior to and upon conclusion of the transaction and acquisition of indigenisation approval. The fact is important for the question who is the actual buyer, and therefore owner of the former BP and Shell assets.”

The report said it had tried to ascertain the real identity of Alveir Management but had failed.

THE Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) faces a possible split that might compound its woes and further diminish its chances of recovering the ground it has lost over the years, as Morgan Tsvangirai, the party’s embattled leader, attempts to whip into line all those who are opposed to his continued leadership of the movement.
Following the party’s humiliating defeat at the hands of ZANU-PF in the July 31, 2013 elections, daggers have been drawn out against the captain of the MDC-T ship, former Prime Minister Tsvangirai, who has lead the party since its formation about 15 years ago.

Those against Tsvangirai’s continued leadership, say he has nothing new to offer to his demoralised followers, especially after he tainted himself with numerous sex scandals.
Although several party officials have spoken out strongly against Tsvangirai, it is Elton Mangoma, the MDC-T’s deputy treasurer general, who took his gloves off by confronting Tsvangirai straight in his face with a sobering letter, outlining the reasons why he should throw in the towel.

Tsvangirai has refused to bow down saying leaders are hired or fired at the elective congress, due in 2016.
Over the weekend, Mangoma was assaulted by party youths rooting for Tsvangirai after a meeting of district chairpersons from across the country. The party’s secretary general, Tendai Biti, had to be whisked away as the youths bayed for his blood.

Now there is a resolution to institute disciplinary proceedings against Mangoma for fomenting discord in the MDC-T. The idea is to quash the succession debate reverberating within the party.
MDC-T insiders say the party could implode as a result of the leadership renewal push and the stonewalling of the same by Tsvangirai’s backers.

Before Mangoma, several senior party officials, including treasurer general Roy Bennett, Elias Mudzuri and Eddie Cross had publicly said the MDC-T needed to seriously consider leadership renewal, inviting a backlash from Tsvangirai’s apostles.

Although it is still mere speculation that Biti is aligning himself with those calling for leadership renewal, daggers have also been drawn against him.
A statement released this week by Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, said after the weekend’s meeting of district chairpersons, the MDC-T leader “took the party secretary-general in his car to his house,” after sensing danger for Biti but did not elaborate why the party’s secretary general was targeted. 

                           
With the anti-Tsvangirai sentiment gaining momentum, the MDC-T leader’s supporters appear determined to set an example and have turned their guns on Mangoma, hoping to kill the succession debate once and for all. Mangoma is thought to be working with like-minded forces to oust Tsvangirai.

At the weekend, they convened a crucial party meeting that resolved to institute disciplinary proceedings against the deputy treasurer general who had cited a number of reasons in his letter why Tsvangirai should pass on the baton prior to that meeting.

Among others things, he accused Tsvangirai of having failed to undertake the reform agenda while still in government as well as using his time in the coalition for personal aggrandizement as evidenced by Tsvangirai’s acquisition of his upmarket Highlands residence. Mangoma also cited violence on dissenting voices as well as failure by Tsvangirai to follow the constitution when appointing people to key positions such as diplomatic postings.

One of Tsvangirai’s staunch defenders and a member of the party’s national executive, Charlton Hwende, claimed this week that calls for leadership renewal had no takers. He said the party’s structures have endorsed their leader and asked Bennett and Mangoma to vacate their positions.
“Our major problem is angry former white farmers and capitalists who have failed to hijack the people’s project and derail the working class agenda,” said Hwende.
“Mangoma is one of the biggest capitalists in the country and you have your Bennett and the rest of the frustrated white farmers who are angry because they think their agenda has been pushed further down on our priority list.”
On Tuesday, Mangoma scoffed at the resolution to discipline him, which could be a precursor to his expulsion from the MDC-T.
“I told the meeting that the decision was unconstitutional. That meeting cannot deal with that issue. It must be brought before the national council, which was not done,” he said, while denying being a proxy in matters that he has raised, insisting he was his own man.

Bennett did not respond to questions sent to him by the Financial Gazette.
At its formation in 1999, the MDC-T had a broad-base of alliance partners who included trade unions, students’ movements, civil society and white commercial farmers.
Towards the last elections, the alliance started to crumble with the National Constitutional Assembly and the Commercial Farmers Union opposing some of the MDC-T’s policy positions.

In its earlier years as a formidable opposition party that nearly wrested power from ZANU-PF in 2000, 2002 and 2008 elections, Tsvangirai’s party has of late been been ravaged by internal strife.
It would appear that Tsvangirai and his supporters will no longer brook any dissent real or perceived.

Consequently, the party is seen splitting right through the middle. MDC-T insiders said while the so called renewal team might stay put until the party’s congress in 2016, it was no longer safe for them to hang in there for much longer.
In 2005, the party split over the question of whether or not to participate in the following year’s senatorial polls, with Tsvangirai against participation, while other senior members of the MDC who included Welshman Ncube, the late Gibson Sibanda, Priscilla Misihairabwi–Mushonga and Job Sikhala being in support of the idea.

After the split, the pro-senate grouping invited Arthur Mutambara to lead them. Sikhala later left the Ncube group to form MDC99. Mutambara, Joubert Mudzumwe were also to later abandon Ncube’s party, but their group failed to leave any marks on the political landscape.

MDC-T founding member, Sikhala said it was difficult at the moment to say whether or not the party was headed for another split.

“What is clear is that Morgan Tsvangirai will not be able to work with the other team of Tendai Biti, Elton Mangoma and Solomon Madzore. But Biti’s faces a really challenge. Either they are humiliated in the party or they stand their ground,” he said.

Political analyst, Ricky Mukonza, said from the latest developments in the MDC-T, it would appear that Tsvangirai has reached his ceiling.
In the event of a split, he said ordinary people were likely to remain with Tsvangirai, irrespective of issues involved.

FORMER Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono recently filed an additional affidavit at the High Court in which he is responding to specific allegations made by his former advisor, Munyaradzi Kereke. We hereby reproduce the second affidavit in full.
I DR. GIDEON GONO do hereby make oath and state that:-
1.1 I am the second respondent in this matter. The facts I depose hereto are fully within my knowledge and to the best of my belief true and correct. The contentions of law I make herein I do so on the basis of counsel’s advice which advice I fully accept.

1.2 I confirm that I have read the answering affidavit of the applicant in this matter. I am fully aware that ordinarily, the court will consider three pleadings in an application matter namely the founding affidavit, opposing affidavit and the answering affidavit. I find myself in the regrettable situation that the applicant, contrary to the rules of this honourable court, has made and provided fresh and new allegations and information in his answering affidavit.

1.3 In this regard, the fresh information that the applicant has provided, is scandalous, vexatious and defamatory to myself. To that, I have instructed my legal practitioners of record to make an application to expunge the parts of the answering affidavit that are offensive.

1.4 However, in the event that this court is not inclined to the above application, I pray that I be allowed to file the instant affidavit to answer only those aspects of new evidence that have been provided by the applicant.
1.5 I wish to add that the entire manner, in which the applicant has prepared his papers in particular the answering affidavit, is to advance seriously, scandalous vexatious and irrelevant material, purely and merely to damage my reputation. I need to place on record the professional damage that the applicant has caused to myself, my family and other innocent parties and of course I am aware of the courses of action that I will pursue. However, it will be in the best interest of justice, to allow my own response to those matters that have been raised afresh in the answering affidavit.

1.6 I am fully aware that, and persist with the point that, the application was driven by malice and hatred and nothing more. If the genuine intention of the applicant was to force the Anti-Corruption Commission, to deal with the matter, and assuming it had been correctly cited, then a simple case should have been made based on the report made in the alleged non action of Anti-Corruption commission. To then go into merits, which are irrelevant before this court is reflective of the malice.

1.7 In addition, as stated in my opposing affidavit to persist to seek the order sought, when the Anti-Corruption Commission itself has been seriously abused, is also strange.  Over and above this, to the extent that the applicant persist in insisting that he is not making allegations against me but factual findings it also eludes one’s wisdom what the Anti-Corruption Commission will be investigating in a matter in which the Applicant alleges he has facts.

1.8 Thus, I beg the indulgence of this honourable court in filing this affidavit which for the purposes of the determination of this matter is absolutely not key but however, for the purposes of placing on record my innocence and bona fides, and for the purposes of clearing my own mind, it is important that I respond to the new allegations placed by the applicant before this honourable court.
1.9 Indeed, I reiterate, that the Applicant has raised new material in his answering affidavit which the court should expunge and throw out.  I am verily advised that a case stands or falls by the founding affidavit. I therefore pray that the application for expunging will be regarded favourably by this honourable court.

2.1 The new paragraphs covering new materials are many and include various generous malicious and abusive adjectives directed at me and others. The following are the key ones. That is to say:-
(a) Alleged missing fertilizers.

Paragraph “11.39 to 11.47
(b) US$20 million fertilizer contract with Intshona
Paragraphs 12.68 to 12.72
(c) Fresh Audit Reports.
Paragraph 2.16, 17, 13 to 17.21

(d) Allegations to deal with travel expenses
Paragraph 12:30 to 12.34
(e) Payments to Trade Access for generators.
Paragraph 12.39 to 12.41
(f) Government assumption of national debt
Paragraph 12.43 to 12.46

(g) Allegations to do with SMM Holdings
Paragraphs 12.47 to 12.56
(h) Allegations to do with US$3 718 023,42 debt to Afritrade International.
Paragraph 12.64 to 12.67

(i) US$6 706 015.57 paid to Salt-Lakes
Paragraphs 12.73 to 12.75
(j) Alleged missing IMF funds
Paragraph 12.76 to 12.89

(k) Allegations to do with missing shares of NDH, Dairiboard, and AICO.
Paragraphs 12.57 to 12.6
Paragraph 24.12 to 24.15
(l) US$1 500 000,00 allegedly stolen through Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Paragraph 12.90 to 12.93

(m) Theft of Number 23 Broadlands Property belonging to Rock Foundation Family Trust.
Paragraph 12.94 to 12.95
(n) Theft of US$100 000.00 from RMC Hospital.

Paragraph 12.96 to 12.97
2.2 As indicated above, it is my contention that the above paragraphs should be expunged. However, and for reasons stated above, I shall deal, with what I consider the most offensive of these fresh allegations in this affidavit. I have had to restrain myself from dealing with every allegation conscious of the fact that this is an additional affidavit.
3 Alleged missing fertilizer

Ad Paragraph 11.39 to 11.49
3.1.1    Without belabouring the point, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe purchased fertilizer, in various amounts from local fertilizer companies. They were unable to supply the fertilizer in question with the result that their liability was converted into a loan. Contrary to the applicant’s averments, that loan was correctly captured in the Reserve Bank’s books of accounts. I attach hereto marked Annexure ‘A1’, ‘A2’, ‘A3’ the Reserve Banks Directors Report for the year ending 31st December 2010, 31st December 2011 and 31st December 2012 wherein, the fertilizer in question is reflected under loans and advances made by the Bank. I also need to indicate that even in the 2013 Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe books of accounts, this entry is also recorded.

4 US$20 Million Fertilizer with Intshona
Ad Paragraph 12.68 to 12.72
4.1.1 The allegation made in this matter is that fertilizer was purchased, which was never supplied to the prejudice of the State. Nothing can be further from the truth.

4.1.2 The truth of the matter is that fertilizer from Intshona was indeed supplied and provided to government. The issues pertaining to Intshona was the quality of the fertilizer. However, the government did in fact carry out tests for this fertilizer and accepted that its quality was adequate for the purposes of Zimbabwe. I attach hereto marked Annexure ‘B1’ a self explanatory copy of the contract that the Reserve Bank executed with Intshona dated the 26th of June 2006, Annexure ‘B2’ is an analytical report in respect of the quality of Intshana’s fertilizer made by the Ministry of Agriculture dated the 26th of July 2006.  ‘B3’, is the relevant communication between the Minister of Agriculture and the Reserve Bank with regards to the importation of such fertilizer and Annexure ‘B4’ is a self-explanatory document from Intshona Agricultural product explaining quality issues and Annexure ‘B5’ is the letter from the Ministry of Agriculture dated the 14th of November 2006 once again expressing and acknowledging receipt of part of the fertilizer as well as dealing with the quality issues of the same.   

 
4.1.3 I also need to mention that, in November 2006, the government launched the 99-year lease agreement programme at the Harare International Conference Centre. During the sidelines of this meeting, a special meeting of Cabinet was convened in which the Central Bank, was asked to provide and did provide full details of the fertilizer that was imported and received from Intshona. The applicant attended this special meeting of Cabinet, when the issue was brought to closure.

5 Fresh Audit Report
Ad Paragraph 2.16; 17.13 & 17.21
5.1.1 It will be useful to describe to this Honourable Court the Reserve Bank’s Audit process in order to illustrate fully how Applicant is misleading this honourable court.
5.1.2 At first instance, junior staff and trainee auditors from external audit firms look at all transactions as sampled by the Reserve Bank. Thereinafter the said junior staffs satisfy themselves and interact with the junior staff in the accounts departments seeking clarification on those areas that they are not satisfied with.

5.1.3 If any issue remains unexplained at this level, it is escalated to the next level until an appropriate level is found with answers to all the queries. At each stage these queries are documented. 
5.1.4 When all queries are cleared or if a query remains unsatisfactorily cleared, it is escalated, to the Governor who in most cases may be holding documentation or information relating to the issue under query.
5.1.5 After clearing all queries with the Reserve Bank’s chairperson, usually at senior partner level, then a final report is prepared by the audit firm concerned wrapping up the audit for the year concerned.
5.1.6 I need to state that after the final meeting with the Governor, the external auditors appear before the Board Audit and Oversight Committee constituted in terms of Section 29A of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act [Chapter 22:15]. The Governor of the Reserve Bank is not a member of this committee and therefore does not attend these meetings. 

5.1.7 The Board Audit and Oversight Committee receives a presentation from the external auditors on how they carried out the audit for the year concerned and the Board Committee interrogates the auditors on any area of their choice. Equally the External Auditors do raise any queries and report on any area of their concern, including, if any, any documents that have not been furnished by management.

5.1.8 After addressing all issues to mutual satisfaction a final report is produced by the external auditors and on the basis of that, the actual accounts of the year are prepared, cleared by auditors and presented to the full board by the Bank’s Audit and Compliance Committee and on the basis of that submission, the Board accepts the accounts and passes a resolution authorising the Governor, Chairman of the Audit and Compliance Committee, Deputy Governor and Bank’s Company Secretary to sign the documents.
5.1.9 After signing, the Bank’s Company Secretary submits the auditor’s results to the Minister of Finance whose duty is to table the same to Parliament.

5.2.1 What the applicant has done in this matter, is to produce altered and forged extracts of reports or at most, interim extracts of drafts or working papers produced at the early stages of the audit processes that I have described above. Using this approach an incomplete, wrong, false and malicious picture is then presented to this honourable court. Thus, the applicant has been selective and eclectic. This is dishonesty. My only explanation for this is the malice that I have already stated before this honourable court and the attempt to mislead this honourable court and the public at large all in attempt to maliciously tarnish my image.

5.2.2 In paragraphs 17.15; 17.17 and 17.19, applicant purports to refer to the 2008 external audit by KPMG. I attach hereto marked Annexure ‘C1’ the final copy of the audit report for that particular year and I draw this court’s attention to page 12 and page 13 of this report, page 13 in particular dismisses the kind of allegations that are being made by the Applicant with respect to the sum of US37 535 300,00 (thirty seven million and three hundred thousand dollars).

5.2.3 I also draw the court’s attention, the deliberate misrepresentation of page 12 of Annexure ‘C1’ I have provided here.
5.2.3.1 I need to also place it on record that in the dealings between the Auditors and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the point person, at all material times was the Applicant himself. Thus virtually everything that is written in the statements and recorded as management comments, were emanated from the applicant himself. I attach hereto marked Annexure ‘C1(A)’, a letter that was written to the applicant by KPMG dated the 1st of September 2009 together with an interim management report by KPMG attached thereto. The honourable court will see that there are virtually handwritten notes by the applicant himself on Annexure ‘C1(A)’. These were in fact the notes that were then typed and became the management comments. 

5.2.3.2 Indeed I need to say that I have in my possession further interim audit statements with his handwritten notes to show the point that the applicant himself was at the centre of the Bank’s responses. Thus, on the issue with regards to the US$37 000 000,00 (thirty seven million dollars) the applicant writes at page 12 of Annexure ‘C1(A)’ the following:-
“Management has already explained to auditors the following:-
a) That all the disbursements were duly authorised internally and there is evidence to this effect.
b) That the amounts were triggered through …………..ect.

c) The amounts were not loans and this is …”
5.2.3.3 When one turns to Annexure ‘C1’ these were in fact the management comments that were sent to the auditors.
5.2.3.4 Thus, the applicant now turns around, to argue with himself.  He in fact attacks what was his work.  The applicant at all material times, was the defender of the Bank and the point of interaction on behalf of the Bank. Surely, there is nothing that can be more malicious.

5.2.3.5 Put it differently, the applicant as an employee of the Bank at the time acknowledged the legality of the transactions that were carried out by the Bank.  He personally was involved in the explanations to the Auditors.  His handwritten notes in Annexure ‘C1(A)’ in other similar audit statements that I have not provided places him at the centre, of the defence of the allegations he now makes in the present matter. This is strange and shocking.
5.2.4 For the sake of completeness, I also wish to attach hereto marked Annexure ‘C2’, the full detailed final management report produced by BDO Kudenga Zimbabwe Chartered Accountants, dated the 31st of December 2008.
5.2.5 The applicant makes reference to this report in paragraph 12.39 which is associated with Annexure 13 and in paragraph 12.59 which is associated with Annexure 17. Both Annexure 13 and Annexure 17 appear to be extracts of an interim management report and not the final management report that I have provided herein. The applicant therefore, who on his own protestations, is fully well-versed with these matters, intents to deliberately mislead this court, by providing, incorrect documents produced in the process of an audit cycle and not final audit itself.

5.2.6    I need to mention that, pursuant to the publicity that followed the applicant’s answering affidavit, both KPMG and BDO Kudenga have had to provide to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe certified copies of the final management reports for 2007; 2008 and 2009 management reports. The documents I produced hereto are thus certified copies of those reports.
6 Allegations to do with travel expenses
Ad Paragraph 12.30 to 12.34
6.1.1 The applicant has once again, tried to mislead the court. The reports he produces as Annexure 9 in his answering affidavit was again, a working draft produced during the audit process. This point, is illustrated fully by the comments I made in long hand, at page 1; 2 and 3 of the said document. Pursuant                                                                         to this document, discussions will then have been raised, and a final report produced. Indeed a final report was produced which dealt with    the issues that the auditors were raising.
6.1.2 Again out of an abundance of caution I attach hereto marked Annexure ‘C3’, a certified copy of the final report that was produced by KPMG dated the 31st of December 2009.
7 Payments made to Trade Access for Generators

Ad Paragraphs 12.39 to 12.41
7.1.1 Once again, a serious problem is reflected by the applicant.  An interim management report is produced from BDO Kudenga & Company a copy of which has been attached as Annexure ‘13’ to the applicant’s answering affidavit. I have produced in this matter a certified copy of the detailed management report for the year ending 31st December 2008 as Annexure ‘C2’. This matter does not arise in the same report for the simple and good reason that the same was cleared and certified as a legitimate authentic transaction. 

7.1.2 For the record, the transaction in question involved, the purchase of generators that were used in the March 2008 harmonised election. This, the applicant is fully aware of and yet proceeds to make the allegations that he has made in this matter.
8 Allegation to do with US$3 718 023.42 (three million seven hundred and eighteen thousand twenty three dollars and forty two cents) debt to Afritrade International
Ad Paragraphs 12.64 to 12.67

8.1.1 Once again, the applicant relies on an extract from an interim management report provided by BDO Kudenga. I have already provided the final detailed management report for that year by BDO Kudenga marked Annexure ‘C2’ herein, and it is self evident the difference between the document, Annexure ‘18’ produced by the applicant and Annexure ‘C2’. 
8.1.2 It is also evident from the Annexure ‘18’ that the applicant has produced an interim audit report.  This is why on the same page there is the following comment recorded as a management comment:-
“The observation is noted. The bank however was in a process of finalising the contract. We have a copy of the draft contract which we were about to conclude.
“In future we promise to quicken the process, it may however be important to note that this project had not been concluded as it was still on going.”
Fraud

8.1.3 The payments in question, related to a programme that the Reserve Bank ran called BACOSSI which stood for the Basic Commodity Supply Side Initiative. This programme entailed the Reserve Bank’s intervention in providing basic assistance to Zimbabweans. 
8.1.4 BACOSSI was fully audited, and has its stand alone details a fact which is known to the Applicant.

9 Allegations to do with US$6 706 015.57 (six million seven hundred and six thousand and fifteen dollars and fifty seven cents) paid to Salt-Lakes
Ad Paragraph 12.73 to 12.75
9.1.1 Once again, the applicant relies on an extract, from an audit report prepared by BDO Kudenga.  The Applicant’s malice is most captured in this issue. Once again, the applicant has attached as Annexure ‘22’, a copy of an extract of interim management report prepared by DBO Kudenga of the 31st of December 2009.
9.1.2 However, in the annexure, that is to say Annexure ‘22’ which applicant has provided before this honourable court, he deliberately deletes and excludes management comments which would offer an innocent explanation to the transactions that he refers to.

9.1.3 Out of an abundance of caution, I attach hereto marked Annexure ‘C4’, the full page of Annexure 22, with the detailed management comments that the applicant has regrettably and maliciously left out. Those management comments are to the effect that:-
“(i) the Reserve Bank has formally submitted claims to the Banks and negotiations are progressing for the resolution of the claims.
(ii) the main stumbling block has been the fact that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe owes bank’s significant amounts under statutory reserves FCAs and other historical balances that form part of what will be cleared under the overall debt resolution framework.

(iii) On Zitac itself currently under liquidation, the Bank has submitted its legitimate claim to liquidator.
(iv) Consistent with the principle of prudence, management recommends full provision of these balances.
(v) there will be written back once the current efforts to recover bear fruits.”

9.1.4 Again out of an abundance of caution, I wish to state that as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe we had advanced a facility through CBZ to tobacco merchants. The facility was granted in Zimbabwean dollars with the agreement that the bank would recover the same in US$ once the tobacco merchants had sold their tobacco. There were thus nothing unprocedural or below board with regards to these transactions.
9.1.5 The only issue the applicant fails to mention is that the tobacco in question was rain damaged and stolen.  The ZRP and Interpol are ceased with this matter.
10 Alleged missing IMF Funds

Ad Paragraph 12.76 to 12.89
10.1.1.1 The applicant again maliciously proceeds to defame myself and other persons not involved in his dispute with myself.
10.1.1.2 It is common cause that the country was granted SDRs to the equivalent of US$503 000 000,00 (five hundred and three million) in 2009.  The Government of Zimbabwe withdrew US$150 000 000,00 (one hundred and fifty million dollars) from the same. I attach hereto marked Annexure ‘D’, a self-explanatory document, forwarded to me by the Bank’s Finance and Administration dated the 25th of August, explaining the transactions. 
10.1.1.3 I also need to place it on record that all the amounts that were drawn down were used by the Government of Zimbabwe in various projects including infrastructure and agricultural projects.  I attach hereto marked Annexure ‘D2’, a public statement by the government to that effect.

10.1.1.4 I also wish to state that, in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, a person appointed as a Minister of Finance is not a signatory to any government account and does not have the capacity of making any withdrawal. The Public Finance Management Act makes it clear that the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance is the Pay Master General responsible for directing payments whilst the actual withdrawals are governed by the Accountant General.

10.1.1.5 Moreover and in addition, the books of accounts of government have been audited since 2009 and the allegations that the amounts in questions are missing is totally absurd under the circumstances.
10.1.1.6 In any event government Public Accounts are matters of public record and can be provided to this honourable court.
11 Allegations to do with missing shares of the National Discount House (NDH), Dairiboard, Cottco (AICO) and Gold Coins
Ad Paragraph12.57 to 12.63

Ad Paragraph 24.1.2 to 24.1.15
11.1.1.1 The applicant, basically makes the allegations that the Reserve Bank amounts  were used to purchase shares totalling the sum of 53 529 675 shares were bought from NDH and converted to my use.  He then proceeds to make references through Annexure 17 being extracts of an audit report. I have already made the point that the applicant continues to mislead this honourable court by referring to interim working Audit Reports. 
11.1.1.2 The NDH shares that the applicant refers to, are in fact in the possession of the Reserve Bank.  I attach hereto marked Annexure ‘E’, an extract from the Final Management Reports produced by DBO Kudenga dated the 31st of December 2008 in which it was acknowledged the bank’s shareholding in 53 580 984 shares of NDH. Annexure ‘E1’ &   ‘E2’, are the relevant share certificates.11.1.1.3 To the extent that similar allegations have been made for Dairibord and AICO, I attach hereto marked Annexure ‘E3’, Cottco & AICO share certificates and Annexure ‘E4’ are the Dairibord Share Certificates. The Dairibord and Cottco/AICO share certificates were in the lawful custody of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and were disposed  by the Bank through the right channels of the bank and proceeds were received and accounted for properly.  

11.1.1.4 Another matter, which has also been raised, is the allegation that I converted gold coins to my own use. This matter was raised in the initial interim audit statements of 2008.
11.1.1.5 There was a challenge in locating the box containing the coins when the bank moved from the old Bank Chambers to the new Vaults in the new building housing in the Reserve Bank. The situation was compound by fact that they were changes in the way the items in custody were arranged and filed within the Vaults as well with amounts of local currency in stock.  This includes the gold coins and other documents from Pre Independence.
11.1.1.6 When the matter was brought to the attention of the Governor at the end of 2008 audit when the auditors wanted the coins to be written off, the Governor ordered staff to search for the coins in the Vaults and they were located in the Vaults and the applicant is aware of this.

11.1.1.7 External Audit Reports for the period 2009 through to 2011 have always confirmed the existence of the gold coins. I attach hereto marked Annexure ‘F1’ being a self explanatory letter from Ernst & Young dated 26th of March 2013 confirming this. Annexure ‘F2’, is a newspaper report by ‘New Zimbabwe.com’, recording a Press Conference that I carried out, wherein the above gold coins where displayed to members of the public.
12 US$1 500 000,00 (one million five hundred  thousand dollars) alleged stolen through Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai

Ad Paragraphs 12.90 to 12.93
12.1.1.1 I deliberately did not comment on any allegations that were not contained in the founding affidavit for good reason. Now that this allegation has been put in the answering affidavit, I am duly bound to comment on the same in case it is not expunged. 
12.1.1.2 Indeed the sum of US$1 500 000.00 (one million five hundred thousand dollars) was provided to the then Prime Minister of the country Morgan Tsvangirai.  At the time he was a Principal of Government and a directive was made, by the Government principals, to provide such resources for the purchase of the Prime Minister’s residence.  The applicant is well-aware that this was a transaction conducted and concluded between the two principals of government and myself in my capacity as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

12.1.1.3 To suggest that I converted amounts in question to my own use or that I acted improperly is surely malicious.
13 Theft of Number 23 Broadlands Property belonging to Rock Foundation Family Trust.
Ad Paragraph 12.94 to 12.95

13.1.1.1 As the applicant knows this is a matter in respect of which, there has been litigation between the Applicant and myself in respect of which judgment has been handed down against the applicant. To then introduce this matter which applicant has clearly lost, is again malicious.

14 Theft of US$100 000.00 (one hundred thousand dollars) from RMC Hospital
Ad Paragraph 12.96 to 12.97
14.1.1.1 Once again this is a matter that is pending before the High Court of Zimbabwe in which the same is highly contested. 
14.1.1.2 To include this matter in the instant matter is once again evidence of malice.
15 CONCLUSION
15.1.1 It is clear from the papers filed of record and the instant affidavit the malice being displayed by the Applicant against myself.  However, in the event that the courts do not expunge the applicant’s answering affidavit, I pray for the incorporation of this affidavit in the present proceedings.

DOES human life begin at conception? Is it scientifically proven that personhood begins at conception or it is a matter of opinion? Should a foetus have legal rights?
These are some of the questions at the centre of the enduring pro-life versus pro-choice debate not just in Zimbabwe but all over the world.
In Zimbabwe, the Constitution explicitly states that every person has a right to life.
Section 48 reads: “An Act of Parliament must protect the lives of unborn children, and the Act must provide that pregnancy may be terminated only in accordance with the law.”

Hence, the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1977 criminalises abortion for it states that termination can only occur where the continuation of the pregnancy endangers the life of the woman; where there is a serious risk that the child to be born will suffer from a physical or mental defect of such a nature that he/she will permanently be seriously handicapped; or where there is a reasonable possibility that the foetus is conceived as a result of unlawful intercourse.

From the laws governing the country, the foetus has rights. This implies that human life begins at conception.
Despite the law being clear on this, cases of baby dumping and strangling of babies have become commonplace as women get rid of unwanted pregnancies and offspring.

Despite being illegal, abortion is actually thriving in Zimbabwe, as long as one can afford to pay the amount needed to terminate the pregnancy.
While the practice is commonplace, it has negative consequences on maternal health.
Those who can afford it are avoiding post abortion complications by seeking medical assistance in South Africa.

The risk remains for those who seek help from backyard abortionists. There, there is no room for recourse as those seeking assistance are forewarned:
“Do not tell anyone about this, we may both end up in prison. It’s illegal.”
To most women who find themselves in this predicament, choice has been taken away from them by the laws of the country.
The secret weighs heaviy on them in addition to the health complications posed by the use of “coat hangers” to extract the foetuses.
Though the country has made positive gains in terms of women’s equality, women are yet to be given the power to make their own decisions over whether or not to keep a pregnancy.
A default judgment issued in the case of Mildred Mapingure vs Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Health and Child Welfare and Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs (March 2012 and December 2012) heard by Justice Francis Bere shows how the law is still oppressive when it comes to the rights of women.
Mapingure was raped in April 2006 in Chegutu. She reported the case to the police on the same day. She had intended to terminate the pregnancy, yet there were a lot of delays from the police side of the process.
For her to lawfully terminate the pregnancy within the provisions of the country’s laws, she needed a police report within the first three months of the pregnancy. After that, it would be too late for safe termination.

Because of lack of required documentation, Mapingure was unable to get the pregnancy terminated within the legal time frame resulting in the birth of her daughter Vimbainashe.
After untiringly visiting both the police and the hospital for assistance, her efforts came to naught. This promted Mapingure to take the matter to court. 

In the court case Mapingure demanded US$10 000 for physical and mental pain as well as stress suffered, a payment of US$41 904 for the maintenance of Vimbainashe since birth till age 18 years because the police had failed to attend to her and Mapingure against her will had had to carry the pregnancy to full term.
It was a compelling case whose verdict was, however, extraordinary.

The case was dismissed.
Part of the judgment read: “The applicant cannot vent frustrations for her misfortunes on the cited Ministers or ministries because of her own inadequacies in failing to do the right thing in time…. This case has once again brought to the fore the rights of women.”

For rape, a certificate by a magistrate is needed, and is issued only after consideration of a police report and an interview with the victim.
The laborious process of satisfying these conditions has led to the growing “backyard” procedures in which skilled and unskilled personnel are involved.

The restrictive criteria for legal abortions and the continued criminalisation of abortion push women into unsafe abortions and sometimes death.
Mapingure’s case is not unusual.
Thousands of women face the same predicament every day especially when the supposed partner denies responsibility.
Such cases have contributed to the 20 000 women dying in Zimbabwe annually from unsafe abortions.
Katswe Sistahood national coordinator, Rudo Chigudu, emphasised the need for sexual and reproductive health services in Zimbabwe.
“Unsafe abortions are a huge financial burden on the country and decriminalisation would change that. It would save the lives of  many women. Women do not have unsafe abortions as a hobby;   they do so out of desperation. No one in their right mind would insert a hanger into their womb unless they felt that it was a less  torture than what they would face if they carry a pregnancy to term.

“This is about women’s bodies and a woman having a right to decide what happens with that body. Something tells me if men were to get pregnant, this debate would not exist at all. Let us decriminalise abortion and save women’s lives and let us do what is needed to prevent the unplanned pregnancies. We need women to be able to access safe abortions when they need them,” Chigudu said adding: “Things do not disappear because we choose to ignore them. It’s like hiding a rotting rat under the bed. It will smell and rot, affecting everyone around. Unsafe abortions are not merely the problem of the many women that have to resort to an abortion for many reasons. We need abortion decriminalised because it will save the lives of many women.”

Social commentator, Tawanda Majoni, said the frequency at which women are visiting backyard surgeries to terminate unwanted pregnancies is worrying and what makes the situation even worse is that the abortions are being carried out under unprofessional and unhygienic conditions, in some cases resulting in fatalities.

“It is not prudent to wish abortion away by criminalising it as is currently the case, because it is a reality that we are living with and legalising abortion might actually improve people’s psychological-social tendencies to the issue as it would entail proper counselling to affected people and better approaches to sex,” Majoni said.

With laws restricting women from making their own choices, women seeking abortions have little recourse. Some go to traditional healers, many of whom employ unsafe techniques, or to nurses and doctors, who generally provide safer services, although it is illegal. Some women try to induce abortions themselves using various unorthodox means, while others purchase abortion-inducing drugs from pharmacists.

According to Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, governments and legislators should address the reality and consequences of unsafe abortion by revising and modifying laws and policies which perpetuate damage to women’s health, loss of life and violation of gender equality in health care.”

Hope in Christ Ministries pastor, Mairos Mubvumbi, said that according to the Bible killing or murder is a sin and there are no negotiations about it.
“Life begins at conception, without conception there is no life and one can only kill when there is life so abortion is murder and the bible is absolute about the termination of life as a sin. Sin is sin and it will not change,” Mubvumbi said.

Abortion is an emotive issue. Cultural and religious values have always made it taboo and it remains a criminal offence in this country.
To anti-abortionists life is sacred from conception until natural death and it would be deceptive to treat abortion as solution to unwanted pregnancies and other maternal health issues.

Presenting oral evidence before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Millennium Development Goals number IV and V last month, Health and Child Care secretary, Gerald Gwinji, pointed out that decriminalising abortion may be one strategy that could help in addressing maternal mortality.              
 newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw

EDITOR — Your story exposing the outrageous salary being paid to a consultant at ZESA Holdings helps to explain the problems I faced with the power utility in my quest for a service as a commercial farmer. I had serious water challenges at my farm some time back that required ZESA to replace a transformer which they had relocated elsewhere. Instead of them replacing the transformer, I was asked to buy a new one which ZESA would then use to charge me for power usage.

As if that was not enough, after paying US$8 300 for the transformer I was again requested to pay some additional US$4 000 for ZESA engineers to install the transformer – a job which took less than two hours. Because the infrastructure supporting the old transformer was still intact, it took less than two hours for ZESA to milk US$4 000 out of me. The painful part was that after all this I am still supposed to buy electricity so as to farm.

To get ZESA workers to do their work, I was forced to be at their offices daily and buy some of them lunch so that they could put that transformer back on. Tell me how many small-scale farmers can afford this and does the government expect the farming sector to recover under such midday robberies from the very same companies that are supposed to assist farmers?

I mean doing business in Zimbabwe is hell. No wonder our country is going to the dogs. We need new thinking, new ideas and surely leadership renewal.  I still feel I have been grossly robbed of my US$12 000 by criminals at ZESA and they seem to be highly organised

Mambara

EDITOR — I am passionate about a tax system that works for the people and helps reduce disparities between the rich and poor.  To that end, I loathe multi-national companies or transnational corporations like the one you referred to in your edition last week that, long after colonisation of the less developed nations, use taxation systems (or their weaknesses) to deprive the poor through transfer-pricing and thin capitalisation which wipe out all the tax base from the developing countries to the tax havens where little or no tax is paid.  For that reason, any well-meaning Zimbabwean who incorporates their company in Mauritius or British Virgin Islands should be asked this question “Why?” Any answer short of “for tax haven’s sake” is as ridiculous as it is criminal or scandalous.
— Anonymous

EDITOR — I think civil servants must sue the ZANU-PF government for making false promises of pay rise during the elections. Don’t they know their rights? Dunderheads like Tonderai Maenza (Kaboko) deserve to be abused.
— Rejoice Ngwenya

EDITOR — If a ZESA consultant is earning US$528 000 annually, then how much is the CEO (Josh Chifamba) earning? – Astronomical I guess!
— Fogmaster

EDITOR — It is indeed correct that President Robert Mugabe needs to act on corruption as soon as possible but I do not like political commentators who think like Charity Manyeruke. As far as I am concerned, such commentators are just bootlickers who are singing for their supper.
— The Observer

FROM birth she is expected to adhere to the cultural, traditional and societal dictates expected of her. At adolescence she may be pushed into an early marriage or end up with an unwanted pregnancy. At the workplace she does not have the same job opportunities as her male counterparts.  For over 200 years now, the woman has been fighting for equal political, social and economic status with her male counterparts.

Although the world has taken measures to rectify the reality of discrimination against women through international and regional instruments that promote women’s rights, the battle is still to be won. These instruments include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women at international level and the ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women.

The signing of the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Gender and Development is also an important indicator of the serious dimension women’s struggles have taken.  At national level, the existence of the National Gender Policy, as well as the strategies for its implementation, address the prevailing gender inequality, while the Constitution promotes and protects the rights of women and provides more guarantees and protection for women.

The Zimbabwe Constitution contains a comprehensive Bill of Rights that undercuts existing harmful cultural and discriminatory practices.  The Bill of Rights introduces the right to security and prohibits violence against women by the State, individuals and institutions.  It gives women the right to administrative justice as well as political rights. It also gives women rights to agricultural land. However, despite all this, the ground continues to be uneven for women.

Progress towards gender equality is still painfully slow, despite the increased presence of women in decision-making positions. While Zimbabwe has one of the most progressive Constitutions in terms of advancing women’s rights, the composition of the country’s Cabinet leaves a lot to be desired. Only three out of 26 Cabinet ministers are women. Women still remain at the bottom of the societal hierarchy, with poor access to land, credit, health and education, 20 years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was signed.

Women still remain the face of poverty not only in Zimbabwe but the world over yet they constitute 52 percent of the population. “Women are not the problem,” Zimbabwean feminist, Isabella Matambanadzo, noted and adds: “Zimbabwe has huge numbers of very talented, hard working and intelligent women who are experts in all areas of life and society.” Experts say government is simply failing to adhere to the provisions of the Constitution that require that 50 percent of all public institutions, of all commissions, of Parliament, resources, everything should be shared on an equal basis between men and women.

For as long as women continue to be sidelined, undermined and excluded, analysts say Zimbabwe risks falling into a constitutional crisis that the courts should be urgently attending to. Women’s equality is no longer a myth but a reality and women should be granted the same opportunities as their counterparts.

Gender activist, Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda, said African women are more than a statistic of poverty, exclusion, and marginalisation: They are entrepreneurs extraordinaire.  “We need the narrative that lifts the positives of our continent, the entrepreneurs extraordinaire that are embodied in the daily struggles of women in our communities, the unsung heroines like my late mother, Rozaria. They are resourceful, creative and innovative. They create a world for their children each day as the sun rises, finding food where they have minimal options; creating time to hold the community’s social fabric together. These are women who may not have the book education, but they have knowledge and skills,” Gumbonzvanda said.

Despite the marginalisation, the women’s movement in Zimbabwe has managed to confront and bring to the fore women’s issues that have been bedeviling society. “Women have a lot to celebrate about, from my time in 1989 to now, you see the growth of the women’s movement in churches, market places, politics and corporate organisations. Today you see women navigating their way across borders going to Dubai and China. We have grown in all kinds of ways, organising ourselves in order to empower and equip each other.

“Unlike before, today we are also aware of our sexual and reproductive rights. We are able to make our own choices with regards to our reproductive health. All this thanks to the feminist movement in Zimbabwe,” feminist Everjoice Win said.

Win, however, challenged women to focus on structures instead of numbers and faces. “It should be about values and principles. Women need to challenge themselves they should determine what kind of leadership they want and of what governance system, political system or are we saying women should be part of that corruption and oppression. It is about the values women should bring to the table, in politics or in a family. Principles that should be governing us should include concern of the most excluded in society and values that are not selfish.”

Win reminds women to change the discourse and deal with the prevailing culture of violence and the greed breeding in today’s society. “The greed and the culture of ‘bigger’ should not be part of the feminist movement. A big house, big car, big bank account and even a big bible, meaning these are the most powerful people and can exert power over others.

All this translates into the Cuthberts and the Gumburas of today. We need to go back to the basics, what are we fighting for?” Win added. As women celebrate Women’s Day next week on March 8, they are still echoing the same issues ranging from poverty, economic empowerment, violence against women, education, health, women in the media, rural women, and the girl child that were raised 20 years ago at the Beijing Conference for Women. With each passing day, their struggle for equality is getting stronger.

newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw

BY the time you read this, the Black History Month in the United States will be coming to an end. This month gives us an opportunity to assess the progress of people of colour in this great nation over the last year and to determine developing trends for the future. I was prompted to give some thought to this by two brothers. Brother Omega from Zimbabwe accused me of thinking white in my condemnation of rap music as devilish.

The other, a brother from Texas, thought I was too harsh with our brothers and sisters of colour. I deny both charges, but the damaging criticism, that of lack of empathy will be answered in this letter. Our brothers suffer from maladies derived from structural racism, so that even the best of the work in a an unrelenting atmosphere of hostile criticism, designed to wear them down. President Barack Obama is a perfect example of that. I have a rule that one cannot judge our brothers harshly until one has walked in their shoes. Our brothers are living in the heart of Pharaoh’s land. They deserve our sympathy.

The greatest achievement this century has been to put a man of colour on Pharaoh’s throne in the White House. Rejoice. That being said, there is a whole section of the news section led by Fox News (one third of the total output) that has relentlessly followed his every step 24 hours a day in order to find fault with him. The general attitude prevailing in the black churches today is to pray for the Brother President.

If Obama flies in Air-Force One to Hawaii for Christmas vacation, he is lambasted for wasting resources. Two days ago he played golf in California during a drought. Fox News had a feast on his remains. Many talk show hosts disrespect him on a daily basis, calling him a jerk. Nevertheless serious strides have been made in many areas.

Teenage pregnancy among black girls has been reduced by half. This has increased the number of girls graduating from high school. Nevertheless, children born out of wedlock have not declined, remaining above 75 percent of the black population. This is embedded in the structural maladies. Poor women (black and white) get government subsidies if they remain single and have children. Because of high unemployment levels during the recession, Obama has made the system more sympathetic by removing work conditions.

Food stamp enrolment has grown by more than a third to 50 million people, the majority of them white. Never mind that food stamps guarantee high prices for white farmers, who receive price support.  The negative images of our brothers therefore refer to a hard core one third of the black population mired in this welfare syndrome. Outside that third, tremendous progress has been made in black colleges.

Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby among many have set aside huge endowments to strengthen excellence and pride in black colleges. While these colleges produce the talented tenth, the pity is that the hard core brothers, whom I was describing in last week’s article, the rappers, remain unaffected. Thus a very unique situation has arisen. Help is given to those who go to college. Below college level, there is only welfare for girls and imprisonment for boys.

My job as a professor was ear- marked for a person of colour. My professor had to certify that I was truly a person of colour from Africa. These affirmative action jobs are limited to very high levels of achievement, thus they help those brothers who are already doing well. The criminal justice system was designed to lock up as many black boys as possible while looking the other way when white boys commit the same crimes. Federal courts are mandated to send black boys to jail for 15 years for imbibing cocaine. White boys who inhale similar fumes are either never arrested or given probation. The courts and the white juries are designed to take a harsher view of black crime than they do of white crime. This is a structural hazard our brothers face.

Obama has tackled this in a unique way. The attorney general (a brother) has given instructions to United States attorneys in the 50 states not to prosecute non-violent citizens enjoying some form or recreational cocaine.  In Florida, bad black boys who act out in class are no longer expelled. Expulsion was the first step to jail. Since 80 percent of all crimes are associated with use or sale of drugs, he considers this a waste of resources.

Obama has given authority for two states (against federal law) Washington and Arizona to allow public sale of marijuana. Special permission has been given to two banks to accept the proceeds of dopey money, formerly regarded as laundering money. With this background the children of Pharaoh have raised US$4 million to hire lawyers for the impeachment of Obama. A president swears to uphold the law as it is written, but there is also a provision for the president to use discretion especially when funds are stretched to the limit.

A far-reaching fundamental societal structural change that may in the long run work against Pharaoh’s children and war mongers is the change in gay and gender laws.
Large sections have been freed to live as they please out of the closet. A demographic coalition of gays, Hispanics, blacks and liberal whites will fundamentally transform. US racist structures. It remains to be seen.      

mufukak@yahoo.com

Dear Cabinet and
Politburo members

COMRADES, being a Christian leader that I am, a leader who was brought up under truly African values, I sincerely believe that I owe Cde Goodwills Masimirembwa hearty apologies for labelling him a corrupt and criminally-minded member of our society. That was wrong and uncalled for. I am deeply sorry.
You are all aware that this was a result of deliberate lies that were fed to us by some West African criminals sent by our detractors in the West to cause alarm and despondency among our people.

Knowing that we always take such overtures with a pinch of salt, these people came through trusted brothers like Cde Mbeki to make their stories appear to hold water. I hope Cde Goodwills understands this and will find it easy in his heart to accept my sincere apologies. I am only happy that being an experienced and skillful leader that I have always been, I did not rush to get Cde Goodwills arrested, but I asked my boys to work glove in hand with the police to establish the authenticity of the allegations.

They have since turned out to be mere fabrications by those people who cannot wait to effect an illegal regime change in this country. Like I have already said, our detractors in the West will stop at nothing just to make sure that they cause chaos in this country… as it is emerging now, they were behind these scandalous lies that Cde Goodwills was corruptly enriching himself from diamonds using his position at the State mining firm.

They tried to stop us from selling our diamonds… and when they saw that this had not only failed dismally, but also that through the same diamonds, we had effectively managed to burst their illegal sanctions, they decided to come up with another strategy… a smear campaign against those that we had entrusted with the management of our diamond resources.

Just like the ongoing salary scandal and massive corruption that is being reported in the media, the whole idea was to cause disharmony within the rank and file of not only the party, but of the government as well… all in their hope that something like what has been happening in Ukraine would also happen here. I am so happy, thanks to our ever alert security intelligence team, we discovered this covet operation before it was too late.

Maybe I should also pay tribute to our people for being smart … I can safely say our heavy investment in the education sector right from our independence in 1980 was not a waste… that investment is paying dividends now.  Imagine what would have happened if our people were not educated and a few white men come to them with such plots! But because they are educated, their reasoning capacity always tell them that there is something fishy about anything that excites a white man. Save for a few like Morgan who are beyond redemption, our people are now too smart for these shopworn tricks.

I can safely tell you that all the plots by the West will come to nothing.  Last, but not least, Cde, I should admit that I was impressed by the bold move that my brother Cde Yoweri took this week in signing into law a bill criminalising homosexuality… we might have to consider following suit.  If the West loves these homosexuals so much, they might as well have all of them… all they need to do is send planes down here to pick them up… all of them!

Kindest Regards

Sincerely

ME

…AND CZ’s NOTEBOOK

Truth
Those who doubted CZ when he swore that nothing, and he meant nothing, would ever happen to all those who have been accused of this and that in all the financial-related scandals that have rocked the country in the past few months, can now start coming forward to prove, even in graphs and diagrams, that CZ was — for the first time ever — wrong!

Since the end of last year, the scandals have been coming thick and fast… and how many arrests have been made so far? What CZ can assure you is that those arrests carried out so far  at Air Zimbabwe will not jell into anything meaningful now that the thread is leading to very important officials.  Also that those implicated in the scandals at the Zimbabwean Broadcasting Corporation and the Premier Salaries — sorry Services — Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) have engaged the services of competent lawyers, senior party and government members would never want anything to be revealed beyond what is now already in the public domain.

This is how things have traditionally been done in this country… when a scandal erupts, everyone, especially those at the top, make sure they are seen to be doing something… one or two mock arrests are made… and a few weeks down the line, some detraction comes along and the noise  fizzles out… and it is back to life as usual. In the past we have even had a few commissions of inquiry, chaired by high-sounding names… but whatever came out of them? Nothing.

There was the War Victims Compensations Fund which was savagely looted by hundreds of senior officials… and a show of investigating the scandal was staged and that was it. The looters, most of who used fraudulent papers to claim staggering sums of money, not only went scot-free, but have been promoted to higher offices. So what is new here? Nothing. Let’s learn to know ourselves better! This is what makes us Zimbabweans!

Disappointed?
CZ knows quite a few characters that were disappointed by their removal from the European Union’s sanctions list… that status had become a badge of honour for some people who needed to flaunt their “patriotism” around. If only the Americans could see how counter-productive their sanctions are, and just remove them, that would leave the lot without any excuse for their shortcomings.

But trying to understand how American reason is sometimes as good as a man trying to understand how it feels to be pregnant… maybe one has to be an American first!
CZ read this somewhere… it was referring to the general attitude a people under sanctions tend to adopt. This was a case of Rhodesia, the same country we call Zimbabwe today. “The dividing line between “correction’ and “punishment” is paper-thin, and those subjected to sanctions in Rhodesia responded to what they saw as collective punishment by joining forces to oppose the “punisher”, not by “correcting” their behaviour.” Sounds very, very true!

What is difference between the reaction of the ordinary citizens to sanctions between those in Rhodesia and those in Zimbabwe is that whereas those in the former sought to defeat the sanctions hands down, those in Zimbabwe seek to use the sanctions not only to hide their criminal incompetence, but also to secretly enrich themselves.
When their route to the sea (via Beira) was threatened by the impending independence of Mozambique, the Rhodesian government of Ian Smith realised the need to open up a new and dependable one.

The one chosen connected Rutenga in the south-east with Beitbridge and thence on to South Africa. Work begun on the new link in June 1974 and 145 km of rail were completed after 93 days’ work, on September 10, the same year, exactly 21 months (yes three years!) ahead of schedule! Talk of patriotism!  Can we say the same thing with the calibre of our public officials today? We can’t even get a simple gravel road levelled without first lining our pockets, let alone lay down a new rail line. By the way what ever happened to the Chitungwiza rail link project?

Men and women
DISCLAIMER: This is from one CZ’s many loyal fans. It is strictly for comic relief and does NOT in anyway represent CZ’s views or those of the editor or any member of the editorial team towards women: On average a man speaks 25 000 words daily and a woman speaks 30 000. But the problem starts when the husband comes home after finishing his 25 000 words and the wife starts her 30 000.

Law of equality: The time taken by a wife when she says I’ll get ready in five minutes is exactly equal to the time taken by the husband when he says ‘I’ll call you in five minutes! Listening to the wife is like reading the terms and conditions of website. You understand nothing, yet still you click “I Agree”! I argued, she argued. I shouted, she shouted and then she cried. Result: she won by the Duckworth Lewis method.

Chess is the only game in the world, which reflects the status of the husband. The poor king can take only one step at a time, while the mighty queen can do whatever she likes. All men are brave. Horror movies don’t scare them. But five missed calls from wife surely do.

  cznotebook@yahoo.co.uk

THEIR dedication is humbling. Their sacrifice touching; while their determination is incredibly sobering. What five teachers and 135 students at one of the learning institutions visited by the Financial Gazette call school is a single enclosure — the size of half a basketball court. The structure, with a wooden pole-supported tin roof, uses grain bags for a wall.

The floor is a bare and bumpy mother earth, sprinkled with water every morning to subdue dust. The school furniture comprises makeshift benches and desks made from scrounged scrap wood and metal picked up from dumpsites.  Only two students managed to write their grade seven examinations last year after trekking 30 kilometres to a school that accepted them to sit for the exams.

One would have expected such a scene to come straight from some far-flung outback of Zimbabwe’s countryside, but alas, on the outskirts of Harare’s Tafara high density suburb is Good Hope College, a makeshift school at Caledonia Farm where teachers and students, the majority of them orphans, have for the past three years dutifully come every day for school.

And most incredible of all: The teachers are not even paid a salary. The head teacher, a 25-year-old mother of one who chose to remain in the shadows, obtained 10 points at Advanced Level and a diploma in forestry but could not find employment in  a country that is ironically losing over 300 000 hectares of its forests to wanton deforestation.

Rather than sit at home and sulk, she decided to team up with other jobless youths and kill time by affording the under-privileged children of Caledonia basic education.
And, in a country where making ends meet is an odious daily slog for many, to come across a person, let alone a group of people, who work for free, touches the heart. Sadly this is the depth Zimbabwe’s once source of pride — education — has sunk.

Despite it being compulsory for every child to attend primary school, decent education is no longer guaranteed.  The country’s position as Africa’s torchbearer in the field of education is fast diminishing as every year less than a quarter of the southern African nation’s school children pass their year-end examinations at Ordinary Level. With the majority of the country’s parents now barely affording basic education for their children due to a poorly performing economy, it is hardly surprising that education standards have sunk this low.

The Ministry of Education rightly blames the present dismal performance of the country’s children directly on the country’s poor economic performance.
“…this pass rate represents problems that started during the time that this country had serious economic problems and there was very little teaching taking place in our country,” Education Deputy Minister, Paul Mavima recently pointed out.

However, while 20 000 teachers reportedly emigrated mainly to South Africa at the height of the country’s economic woes in 2007 resulting in a record 9,85 percent low pass rate at Ordinary Level, also key to the whole problem has been government’s poor investment in infrastructure as well as some very disastrous policies that have been instituted in the last two decades. Although government has judiciously prioritised education in all its budgeting since independence in 1980, it has, however, not built a single school since the early 1990s as the annual budgets have increasingly become unpredictable and inadequate.

As a result, most of the schools that have been established since then have been private institutions where only a few of the growing number of school children have afforded to attend. The majority of the children like those at Caledonia’s Good Hope College, and elsewhere where people were resettled under the country’s 2000 fast-track land reform programme, have virtually scrounged for a place to get basic primary education, which according to the United Nations is “the basis for high-quality skills development in numeracy and literacy, which are critical for skills development in scientific and technological education”.

While the country’s economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation has picked up this glaring anomaly by acknowledging that the “social protection programmes such as the Basic Education Assistance Module have been heavily affected by limited fiscal space and the liquidity crunch in the economy, hence adversely affecting the welfare of the poor, orphans and vulnerable children”, the government’s proposal to resuscitate the education sector through speedy construction of schools in rural, urban and newly resettled farming areas in order to decongest existing school infrastructure is doomed to fail if there are no funding mechanisms in place.

For instance, with the government having already failed to award promised increments to its 230 000-strong  civil service workforce, which includes some 90 000 disgruntled teachers, one wonders where the State will get the money to build the schools. In tracing the root cause of the demise of the country’s education system, one also finds out that among the litany of problems bedeviling the country’s education are some disastrous policies such as the 2005 Operation Murambatsvina or Operation Restore Order.

The operation, meant to restore order in the country, fundamentally unhinged the entire Zimbabwean population and its effects are still haunting the nation nine years later. Murambatsvina’s disastrous trail is most evident at Caledonia Farm, a mere microcosm of the dire situation across the country. People from across Harare whose illegal homes were destroyed during the operation were commandeered to Caledonia where their stay was supposed to be temporary.  Thus the government had no plans to provide basic needs such as schools. But 14 years down the line the government has not found alternative homes for the people of Caledonia and the entire farm has since been occupied by thousands of home seekers.

According to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) Operation Murambatsvina reversed much of the gains Zimbabwe had made in primary education since Independence. During its post-Murambatsvina and land reform programme assessment, UN-Habitat noted that there had been a marked reduction in enrolment rates, increased dropout rates, the re-emergence of gender disparity and the deterioration of the quality of teaching since 2000.

The organisation, in its 2005 report noted: “Since 2000, net attendance has dropped by about 24 percent, from 85 percent to 67 percent for boys and from 86 percent to 63 and for girls. Moreover, primary school completion rates that had peaked at 83 percent in 1990 declined to 75 percent by 2000, and dropped further to 63 percent in 2002.

“Education for a substantial portion of the school age children directly affected by the Operation (Murambatsvina) has been disrupted, as the evictions took place in the middle of the academic/school year. An estimated 113 000 children aged between five and 11 while 109 000 children aged 12-18 were directly affected by the Operation.”

At Caledonia, Good Hope and several other such makeshift places of learning emerged from the ashes of Murambatsvina as people desperately tried to create a descent future for their kids after the government appeared clueless on solutions for their problems. Given this background it is difficult to imagine how the country’s children are expected to collectively perform well when a sizeable chunk of them have poor access to education.

The UN believes that because education is a crucial element of human development it hopes that Zimbabwe will again re-introduce free primary education if the country is to make any new meaningful progress towards the achieving universal primary education by 2015.  But at this rate Zimbabwe appears to have already missed the UN 2015 deadline.

newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw

ZIMBABWE’S foreign and domestic debt will continue to undermine the country’s creditworthiness and compromise its ability to secure new funding, analysts have warned. Much of the borrowing has been for consumption rather than production, implying the debt is not being used to grow the economy, they said.

Economists said while debt remained crucial to development, it was the manner in which it was used that was of concern. The appetite for debt has been increasing in Zimbabwe due to lack of balance of payment support from bilateral and multilateral institutions as well as dwindling tax revenues due to company closure and high unemployment.

Economist David Mupamhadzi said: “Without debt, the country cannot go anywhere but it is how we use the money we borrow that would determine our economic revival and debt levels in future.” He said much of the country’s debt was going towards consumption, with little going towards projects that would result in employment creation such as power generation, road construction and other development projects.

Zimbabwe’s foreign debt is currently at US$6 billion. It will result in higher taxes if the country’s major sectors of the economy do not start performing, analysts warned.
Economist Brains Muchemwa said it was important to consider the ability of government to generate future revenue to offset the current debt stock. “The ability of the Zimbabwean government to service its debt is a function of the vibrancy of its revenue model, implying therefore that the economy must keep growing, broadening the tax base whilst a rational civil service reform needs to be implemented to conserve cash and improve the debt servicing,” Muchemwa said.

He said disposal and commercialisation of loss-making parastatals needs to be prioritised, and equally, the tightly regulated industries such as telecommunications needed to be further liberalised so that government generates more revenue from taxation. Zimbabwe was divided over former finance minister Tendai Biti’s proposal to put Zimbabwe in the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) category.

Biti had said Zimbabwe had four debt and arrears clearance options which included mortgaging mineral resources to clear the growing debt, servicing through internal revenue inflows, Paris Club debt-rescheduling and the HIPC option for consideration by cabinet. Biti had proposed that Zimbabwe should adopt HIPC status because it had advantages which could reduce the country’s debt burden by 90 percent after full delivery of debt relief.

Some analysts said in theory, the initiative provided an opportunity for a country like Zimbabwe to re-channel the funds initially earmarked for debt repayment into capacity enhancing investments that serve as poverty-reduction programmes.  However, the reality of the HIPC initiative was said to be more of a Faustian bargain, in which future debt relief comes at a price of complying with several years of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank programmes with a patchy record of success in Africa.

While diligently pursuing World Bank and IMF-led reforms, African countries have often seen an increase in the poverty gap and the weakening of social services. Opponents highlight African countries in more desperate circumstances for the middle and lower classes despite such initiatives. Interest payments on foreign and domestic debt has for years remained over 50 percent of the total debt, a situation bank economists said was evident that government was broke and had no other source of income other than the domestic market.

This suggests that the solvency of government was already seriously compromised with the current interest rates, and technically government finances will not be better with even a one percent rise in interest rates. Analysts said the debt stock was likely to rise further on increased borrowing by government to finance the import of wheat and maize this year.

Government was also likely to borrow more funds to finance other recurrent expenditure like civil service salaries. Government has been forced to rely on domestic borrowings since its tax revenue base has dwindled because of company closures which have led to retrenchments. This means that government in real terms is collecting less money through corporate and income tax. The fact that Zimbabwe has no access to international capital has only made the situation worse.

Zimbabwe’s external debt has continued to grow mainly as a consequence of new payment arrears and interest and penalty charges on existing payment arrears.
While critics agreed that Zimbabwe required substantial financial support to turn its ailing economy around, civic society groups suggested the decision to seek HIPC status could be costly to the country in the long-term.

Zimbabwe’s debt levels were unsustainable, they said, but getting on the HIPC path could make it worse. The HIPC process is said to be arduous and involves a range of sometimes controversial policy demands by international creditors. With the aim of stimulating economic growth, governments in the face of tight financial and monetary constraints, resort to various fundraising measures, including the issuing of local/foreign currency-denominated bonds, and loans from multilateral institution, other countries and from private financial institutions.

The global trend toward financial liberalisation has led to diversified financing measures for developing countries. However, the redemption and interest repayments have not always taken place on schedule.  As a result of endogenous problems such as the vulnerable tax base, or exogenous shocks such as falling prices for foreign-currency earning products, natural disasters and currency and financial crisis , which the governments cannot control by themselves, countries often face solvency problems and go into default or debt crisis.

newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw

When CEOs and other senior executives resign the official reason often given in this country is that they have left the organisation to pursue “personal interests”. What a lie?!  We rarely have executives resigning to pursue personal interests in this country.

Most CEOs and executives are pushed out, but boards and shareholders do not want to tell the true reason why these executives leave. In the majority of cases these executives would have been fired.  By telling the nation and their organisations that “so and so left because they want to pursue personal interest” boards are missing an opportunity to change the culture of the organisations.

What are you teaching ordinary employees?  That in our organisation people do not get fired for non-performance but they resign to pursue personal interests?  Imagine the impact it would have if boards were telling the truth why CEOs and executives are leaving the organisation?  Ordinary employees would know that poor performance is not tolerated at all levels in the organisation and that will dramatically change employee attitudes.

We need to copy what happens in developing economies: They give the correct reasons why CEOs and other executives are leaving — non-performance, therefore they were relieved of their duties. Due to this lack of disclosure, other organisations rehire the same non-performers and go nowhere. Look at how CEOs and senior executives are recycled in this country.

One organisation says this is “poison” do not swallow and others are “swallowing” the same poison.  What a disservice to our nation! CEOs and senior executives need to understand that even useful executives should learn to say I have done my part. We learn a very good lesson from Sir Alex Ferguson. His resignation has given an opportunity to one ambitious manager who would probably never have the opportunity to manage Manchester United if Ferguson had not resigned.

Managers can learn a lot from the world of soccer especially on how managers move on to give others an opportunity. In this country we have some of the longest serving executives who want to go down with their organisations. What changes would you expect from a long serving CEO or executive which they failed to implement over the years? Shareholders must wake up to the realities of the modern world.

The same executives rarely groom successors to take over when they leave. Shareholders should note that it’s a huge risk for organisations not to have a succession plan in place. Share prices for those listed companies will tumble when these long serving executives leave without a succession plan. In some organisations it is not possible to distinguish between the CEO and the organisation.

They are one and the same and this creates a huge risk for the business. Just like in soccer we need as a nation to start disclosing who has been fired for non-performance so that new entrants know that they would not last if they do not perform.

Memory Nguwi is the managing consultant of Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting firm. Phone 481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number 077 2356 361 or email: mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com or visit our website at www.ipcconsultants.com

If you’ve ever wondered about the origin of certain VW model names, in particular Touareg and Tiguan, allow me to relieve you of the need to Google the answer. The Touareg, VW’s premium off-roader, is derived from a nomadic, Sahara-based tribe so I guess given the vehicle’s undisputed off-road prowess, there’s a good deal of relevance here,but the smaller Tiguan SUV is less obvious.

It is, apparently, derived from a blending of tiger and iguana, unlikely bed-fellows to be sure, but it seems a multitude of readers of one of Germany’s top motor titles, Auto Bild, decided that this name would complement that of big brother Touareg rather seamlessly. Whatever, my friendly local VW dealer seems much keener to publicise its wares than does VWSA, who steadfastly deny me access to any set of VW keys , and provided me with one of the smartest, best-kitted-out Tiguans I’ve ever laid eyes on.

Painted in a coat of ubiquitous, gleaming white paint, this Tiguan complemented its cool exterior with an eye-catching ,equally cool interior, decked out in Corn Silk Beige cow hide. In plain English, this is a colour which can best be described as beigy-cream, an impractical recipe you might surmise, for a vehicle which is capable of traversing some rather nasty terrain.

For me, the need for more regular cleaning matters not as this interior execution makes such a welcome change from dull, boring and heat-attracting shades of grey and black so beloved of South Africans. Further, those clever interior designers from Wolfsburg saw fit to incorporate black carpeting and black upper dash and door cappings which provide such a pleasing contrast.

Not only that, the soft-touch, nicely-grained upper trim materials wouldn’t be out of place in a luxury saloon and the same applies to the leather -faced seat coverings. This feel-good factor is enhanced by classy detailing wherever you look and despite the fact that the overall design theme might be regarded by some as too straight-laced and lacking in inspiration, there’s no denying that the cabin is a really pleasant place to spend lots of time in.

Exterior finish is equally good thanks to narrow and even panel gaps which are complemented by doors that open and close with absolute precision. It’s all very classy if lacking in pizazz but there’s no argument that there’s substance behind the premium pricing.Having said that, 17-inch multi-spoke alloys add visual appeal. This Sport and Style model is equipped with “sports” seats (electric adjustment for the driver) which are comfortable and offer good posture but don’t exactly hold you in place as the name might suggest .

In the rear quarters, there’s far more space than the Tiguan’s compact dimensions might have you believe and to add to the comfort factor, the split rear seat not only folds down but offers a degree of recline and movement together with a large centre armrest, and in this case, fold out picnic tables. Luggage space is also more than reasonable at 470 litres, expanding to a commodious 1510 litres with seat folded. A high loading lip can be a touch awkward though.

Visibility from the driver’s seat is very good, even around the rear three-quarter area, but this high-spec vehicle also featured a very useful rear camera installation as an option. Otherwise, all the mod cons are in place including dual zone electronic air con, powered mirrors and side windows, front, side and curtain air bags, tyre pressure monitor, cruise control, multi-adjustable steering wheel, multi-function computer, decent entertainment system with Bluetooth connectivity, alarm/immobiliser and so on and on.

Coming to the driving bit, this model’s name should tell you it’s fitted with VW’s multi-award-winning 2,0 litre , direct-injected turbo four that’s seen yeoman service in the Golf GTi. Probably as a consequence of being fitted with a more restrictive exhaust system, the Tiguan lacks the Golf’s throaty burble but it certainly doesn’t lack for brawn and easily-accessed thrust.

In combination with a sweet shifting and intuitive DSG 7-speed automated gearbox (minus paddles, sadly), this Tiguan treats the 120km/h speed limit with utter disdain and is more than ready to defend its status in the traffic light GPs as its conservatively claimed 0-100 km/h time of 8,5s suggests. That peak power of 155kW is produced at a comfortable 5 500 rpm but most importantly, there’s a great slug of torque, all 280Nm of it, from a mere 1 700 rpm all the way to 5 000 rpm. It’s this characteristic that makes the 2.0 TSI motor such a wonderful companion in everyday driving as it never needs coaxing to produce the goods. While some might still prefer the 2.0 TDI motor in this application, if you’re not regularly covering long distances on the open road, I’d stick with the petrol motor which works better in give and take driving conditions and offers a more snappy response at higher revolutions.

For sure, the TDI will go further on its juice but given the performance potential of the TSI, which includes a claimed top end of 207 km/h, the combined consumption of 9,9 l/100 km is bearable and is not just a pipe dream given that I averaged 10,2l/100 km overall. The Tiguan is available in two and four wheel drive interpretations and being a top-of-the-range model, the test car was equipped with 4-Motion permanent 4WD and electronic differential lock which allows 100 percent of available torque to flow to any one wheel. I had no cause to test the effectiveness of the set up but on very smooth tar at urban speeds, I did notice a mildly irritating whir from what I assumed to be the front wheel drive side of the transmission.

Other than this mild aural disturbance, there’s nothing to suggest that all wheels are receiving power but I did think the power steering system, despite being nicely weighted at low speeds, felt a little detached and wooden at higher speeds. As is common today, ESP and ASR are standard fitments. In terms of ride, this Sport and Style model boasts “dynamic sports suspension” which might suggest a board like ride from the MacPherson strut front end and multi-link rear. This is not the case as the Tiguan, although firm-feeling, does exhibit a suppleness which is underwritten by excellent rebound control.

Braking is provided courtesy of 4-wheel discs aided by ABS, EBD and BAS. Powerful, progressive and nicely weighted, even at very low speeds, this system is more than up to the job and as a result, goes unnoticed. Although the Tiguan is now in the mature stage of its life cycle, the 2011facelift has kept it looking remarkably fresh, if still a trifle conservative. In South Africa at least, there are eight models to choose from beginning with the effective and economical 1.4TSi with 2WD which offers undiminished quality but leaves more notes in your bank account. Whichever meets your fancy, there’s much to enjoy in terms of solid build quality, a comfortable and surprisingly spacious interior and the prospect of a satisfying ownership experience. In summary, a most rewarding proposition underwritten by an unusually high quality level.

wiley@telkomsa.net

EDITOR – Your story “MDC-T faces split” refers. There’ll never be a split. Expelling a few unpopular faces is not a split.
— Kalma

THE country’s opposition parties are in sixes and sevens following their devastating electoral defeat to ZANU-PF last year, with those yearning for political change surrendering to the prospect of President Robert Mugabe’s party continuing its reign beyond the next general polls, slated for 2018. In recent months, the country’s major opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T), led by former Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai has been hit by divisive power struggles, dampening the spirits of those who had seen it as an alternative to ZANU-PF.

An offshoot of the main MDC-T, led by Welshman Ncube, has had its fair share of problems as well. It went into the July 31, 2013 elections plagued by leadership wrangles between Ncube and former Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.

The MDC’s woes changed complexion after the polls. Several members of the MDC have quit the party over the secondment of Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, the party’s secretary-general, to Parliament on proportional representation without a convincing explanation. Not even the smaller parties have stayed the course. From the MDC99 led by Job Sikhala to ZAPU led by Dumiso Dabengwa and Simba Makoni’s Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn (MKD), they are all licking the political wounds inflicted on them at the last polls.

In the case of MKD, MDC99 and ZAPU, they have remained in the shadows of the personalities that established them, which goes to show that they are struggling to have a life of their own even after years of existence. The biggest disease afflicting ZANU-PF’s rivals has been political squabbling. It’s a disease that has even reared its ugly head in the newly formed National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) party, with sharp differences emerging over policy positions.

Senior NCA figures such as Takura Zhangazha parted ways with the Lovemore Madhuku-led political outfit before it had even elected a substantive leadership. While those clamouring for change do not give a hoot about what is happening in the NCA and other smaller opposition parties, it is the dog-eat-dog affair in the MDC-T that has deferred their hope for change.

Tsvangirai, the MDC-T leader, is currently under pressure to hand over the baton before the party’s elective congress in 2016.  His reluctance to give way to a fresh pair of hands and the violence and intimidation being meted out by his backers on those calling for leadership renewal within the MDC-T has brought to the fore the lack of internal democracy in the party — a principle that it said it espoused when it was founded.

The political squabbling, coupled with the ZANU-PF-led government’s hostile policies mostly aimed at fragmenting and weakening the opposition parties through draconian legislation have meant that President Mugabe’s power retention agenda stays the course.  Between now and the next election, the opposition parties are likely to be preoccupied with nursing their wounds and not keeping ZANU-PF up on its toes. While others like MKD appear to have gone into hibernation, the MDC-T will have to deal with its internal power struggles until its elective congress, unless Tsvangirai accedes to an early congress.

The upheavals and lack of a clear direction in the opposition has created a vacuum in terms of the important roles that they must play in strengthening the democratic culture, shaping policy agendas, fighting corruption, promoting constructive debate or better still act as a training ground for the country’s future leaders. At the end of the day, what is known about the parties is that they want to remove President Mugabe from office, without any clear plan or strategy for policy-based political contestation and competition.

Zimbabwean opposition parties, according to analysts, are therefore at risk of being attacked by the curse afflicting many opposition parties in Africa: They become active only during an election and disappear when the election is over. Political analyst, Gideon Chitanga, this week said the parties appear to be institutionally and intellectually ill-equipped for policy interrogation, save to say that they want to be the country’s next rulers.

“The opposition is stuck with the shock of reversals of the 2013 elections. Instead of focussing on holding government accountable, they have been so inward looking, witch-hunting and apportioning blame, a process that might lead to serious internal fragmentation,” said Chitanga. But a few Members of Parliament are making themselves heard in Parliament although there seems to lack support from the political parties in terms of research and policy propositions to strengthen their positions.

In recent weeks, some of the lawmakers have been pushing for Parliament to constitute a probe team that would investigate rampant corruption at State-run organisations while their parties play a spectator role in the face of the deepening economic crisis.  On Monday, the director of the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute, Rashweat Mukundu, said while opposition parties should present themselves as governments in waiting, they have so far been found wanting.

For example, instead of expending funds on rallies as he is currently doing, Mukundu said MDC-T leader Tsvangirai should have gone to Masvingo to see and sympathise with victims of the Tokwe-Murkosi flooding disaster which could be a source of support. “The key role of an opposition party is to counter bad policies and make tangible proposals, carry out research and fact-finding inquiries on government performance, as well as present itself as a viable government in waiting. None of this is happening,” he said.

But even after dealing with their internal upheavals, few would still give the opposition parties a chance to succeed in dislodging ZANU-PF from power unless they form a coalition. At the weekend, Tsvangirai told a rally in Harare that Sikhala and Ncube who left the MDC-T following the October 2005 split, must come back to the party to present a united front against ZANU-PF.  It seems that Tsvangirai is making the proposition when the horse has already bolted.

Attempts to unite the opposition parties ahead of the 2008 election went unheeded, resulting in the MDC-T falling short of achieving the threshold that would have enabled it to avoid a run-off. Similar suggestions were also made ahead of last year’s polls, but were again ignored, contributing to Tsvangirai and Ncube’s devastating loss.

But does this mean, ZANU-PF would win again in 2018 as opposition parties appear to have learnt nothing and forgotten nothing? Sikhala vowed that ZANU-PF would not win in the next general polls, hinting at the joining of forces to oust President Mugabe’s party from power. “For those assuming that ZANU-PF will win the 2018 elections, it’s overstretching their imagination. I am prepared to bet with anyone. ZANU-PF is going to crumble come 2018. There is going be a serious realignment of forces and ZANU-PF won’t be able to stop that juggernaut,” said Sikhala.

Sikhala said the notion that all opposition parties are not doing anything stems from the fact that the media concentrates too much on the MDC-T and leaves out other political players.

newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw

MORGAN Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) is not taking the challenge to his leadership of the party lying down.
Instead, he is fighting to the bitter end. In the coming weeks, he is set to embark on a whirlwind tour of the country’s 10 political provinces to openly confirm his popularity among the grassroots.

Suggestions to hold a mini-congress ahead of the official party congress slated for April 2016 have been resisted in the past few weeks by Tsvangirai’s supporters, as they batted off demands for leadership renewal emerging from the party’s ranks. But lately, Tsvangirai seems to be warming up to the idea.

His decision to traverse the country’s provinces could be an indication that it may not be long before the MDC-T family sits to elect new office bearers at an extraordinary congress to lead the party past the 2018 elections. Tsvangirai’s personal indiscretions and a drama-filled marriage to Elizabeth Macheka have been cited as having contributed to the failure by the MDC-T to beat ZANU-PF at the polls.

His deputy treasurer-general Elton Mangoma to bravely put it to him to answer how he would bring closure to the issue of his sex life which had become the glee of the public. Another dent on Tsvangirai has been his craving for opulence after the inclusive government bought him a luxurious mansion in one of Harare’s leafy suburbs. MDC-T officials were also mired in acts of corruption, particularly in councils under the party’s dominion, with critics accusing the party of having joined the gravy train.

The 2013 polls saw Tsvangirai suffering his third successive defeat at the hands of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party. Mangoma is the latest high ranking official to question Tsvangirai’s continued stay in power. Before him, several senior party officials, including treasurer general Roy Bennett, Elias Mudzuri and Eddie Cross had publicly said the MDC-T needed to seriously consider leadership renewal, inviting a backlash from Tsvangirai’s backers. 

The tour is therefore seen offering Tsvangirai an unofficial platform to whip up support for his continued leadership of the MDC-T while at the same time allowing him to test the waters. The stain of violence that has blighted the MDC-T after the gruesome attack on Mangoma is also something which Tsvangirai would attempt to sanitise during his nationwide tour.

Tendai Biti, the party’s secretary-general, survived a bomb attack on his home in Harare last week, fuelling speculation that he was the target of ongoing power struggles in the country’s largest opposition party. As usual, Tsvangirai would be hoping for huge turnouts in Bulawayo, a traditional MDC-T stronghold, as well as in Harare, where his party lost only three seats out of a possible 14.

The different provincial youth leagues are expected to play a key role in drumming up support for Tsvangirai during his tour of the party provinces.  The Bulawayo provincial youth assembly has already followed up after the Harare youth assembly to express its allegiance to Tsvangirai, ahead of his visit to the hub of the Matabeleland provinces.

Should he succeed in pulling huge crowds at his rallies, it would be a blow to those who have expressed displeasure with his continued leadership of the MDC-T. This would leave those waiting in the wings to succeed him with the daunting task of having to win over the hearts and minds of the grassroots supporters that Tsvangirai has earned during a 15-year-long period as president of the MDC-T.

Luke Tamborinyoka, Tsvangirai’s spokesman, said his boss remained “dearly loved” by the ordinary people, far away from the coup plotters and schemers in upmarket boardrooms and the doomsayers who have often under-estimated his popularity and his relevance to the national discourse.  “Judging by the input from the party’s grassroots leaders from the 210 districts, Tsvangirai remains the repository of national hope and confidence,” said Tamborinyoka.

“Put him before the people and Tsvangirai will certainly be in his element; his natural habitat. In the coming weeks he will continue to interact with the ordinary citizens across the country and other stakeholders to deliberate on the poverty afflicting the people of Zimbabwe”.  Shingi Chimwaza, a political commentator intimated that the task at hand now for Tsvangirai was to “rally his troops” and organise the people to dispel the notion that his party is dead and buried as recently intimated by President Mugabe of ZANU-PF.

“Tsvangirai needs to revive the spirit of non-violent defiance as was the case in the 1990s when he was still with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions,” said Chimwanza. “What does it help, after all, to be a president of a political party, with no strategy of confronting a system each time the vote is stolen right from under your nose?”

While Tsvangirai will continue to turn up the charm among his supporters, behind the scenes he would not be merely brushing aside the leadership challenge flung at him.
He is seen burning the midnight oil behind-the-scenes to secure the endorsement of his leadership team.