BY Stephen Chadenga

A GWERU gold miner has combined mining with agriculture in a bid to maximise production in the two sectors.

Speaking last Friday during a tour of the gold mine and farming projects, CMN Mines managing director, Advance Chauke said he uses water pumped from mine shafts for irrigation purposes.

“We de-water our mine shafts and use that water to irrigate crop fields,” Chauke said on the sidelines of the tour.

“At the moment we have planted maize on three hectares and the crop is ready for harvesting. We have also prepared 10 hectares of land and given the availability of irrigation equipment such as pipes and drips we can put more land under irrigation.”
Chauke added: “We also produce potatoes, tomatoes and vegetables.”

Chauke, who is also Confederation of Zimbabwe Miners president, said he started his mining venture, situated 22km north-west of Gweru off Matobo Road along Nkululeko Way, in 1999.

He said a South African investor, he was not at liberty to reveal, would partner CMN Mines by June this year in a move that would see the setting up of additional plants at the mine.

“If we set up an underground plant and another one for dumps we would increase production from the current one to two kilogrammes of gold per month to between three to four kilogrammes,” he said.

Speaking at the same event, Midlands provincial lands officer, Kudzai Katiyo commended Chauke for enhancing food security through combining mining and farming.

“This is quite commendable that a miner is using water pumped from shafts for irrigation purposes,” she said.

“We also encourage Chauke to assist other farmers surrounding him with water pumped from the mine shafts.”

Guest speaker at the event, Chief Chisadza of Lower Gweru encouraged other miners to emulate Chauke.

“Surely, if agriculture experts are engaged they can put standard canals and other irrigation equipment, turning this mining-farming venture into a world wonder,” he said.

BY FORTUNE MBELE

Goalkeeper Ariel Sibanda (pictured) has committed to Highlanders and only a good offer from outside the country can persuade him to leave the Bulawayo giants.
NewsDay Sport has been informed that Sibanda, who turns 31 in a few week’s time, is on Norman Mapeza’s Chippa United radar and could land himself in the South African top league this year.

However, the Chilli Boys, who are also reportedly interested in the services of FC Platinum goalkeeper Wallace Magalane, are yet to approach Highlanders.

Sibanda still has a year to his contract with Highlanders and yesterday said his heart was still with Bosso, the only club he has played for in the top league locally.

“I am still a Highlanders player and I am still committed to playing for the club. I have not heard anything about any club that wants my services and Highlanders have not said anything to me as yet. I am with Highlanders and if I am to go anywhere, the club obviously has to get something,” Sibanda said.

Highlanders spokesperson Ronald Moyo yesterday confirmed the Warriors goal minder still has one more year at Highlanders and the club has not had any offers for the veteran shot-stopper.

However, a source has said Highlanders are aware Sibanda is wanted by Mapeza and if he is to leave, the Bulawayo giants’ eyes would shift to Magalane.

At the moment, any inward transfers have been frozen as the club awaits to bring in Mark Harrison as the head coach.

The Bulawayo giants are likely to lose striker Prince Dube to a yet to be named club in China where he went last month together with Triangle’s Delic Murimba.

The two’s handlers Joe Smart Sports and Events Management confirmed the duo’s status on their website last Thursday, saying Murimba had missed out on a chance for trial in Europe.

“It has recently been a sad story for Delic when he once again couldn’t beat the visa application deadline to attend trials at Kups ( in Finland) as was the case when he couldn’t get Schengen visa to trial in Sweden in summer of 2019. However, this could turn out to be a blessing in disguise if everything goes according to the revised recent agreements we negotiated with the Chinese side Heilongjiang Lava Spring FC,”
Heilongjiang said Murimba will trial for a development player slot.

“This is different from Prince Dube’s situation at a different club as the coaching staff won’t be meticulous in making recommendations as to sign him or not. Prince on the (yet to be disclosed club) would be expected to spearhead the club’s attack in the coming season if all goes well,” a statement on Joe Smart’s website read.

Outgoing Highlanders coach Hendrikus Pieter de Jongh had recommended that Highlanders pursue veteran strikers Obadiah Tarumbwa and Ralph Matema for this year, but with the Dutchman gone everything has stalled.

Highlanders had targeted bringing on board Bulawayo Chiefs goalkeeper David Bizabani, striker Farau Matare and defender Malvin Mkolo, with Brendon Mpofu also in their radar, but that will all be subject to Harrison’s approval.

BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA

Having been criticised for signing novices and players of low profiles, Dynamos have shifted their focus to big names among them Ralph Kawondera who was at Triangle last season as they seek to bolster their squad for the 2020 season.

DeMbare are also negotiating with Black Rhinos for the services of Soccer Star of the Year finalist William Taderera.

The pair flourished at their respective clubs last season which earned them places on the 2019 Castle Lager Soccer Star of the Year calendar.

Informed sources yesterday said, apart from Kawondera and Taderera, ZPC Kariba and Warriors defender Ian Nekati is also on Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya’s wish list.

However, reports suggest that the Dynamos target has also attracted the interest of Zambian side Buildcon who have already raided the Zimbabwean turf after snatching up reigning Zimbabwe Soccer Star of the Year Joel Ngodzo, Ngezi Platinum forward Donald Teguru and Harare City defender Takudzwa Chimwemwe.

The trio were part of the Buildcon side that lost 2-0 to Green Buffaloes at the weekend.

Nevertheless, Dynamos, who have not hidden their desire to secure quality players believe they can win the transfer battle as they seek to strengthen their side.

Although club chairperson Isaiah Mupfurutsa could not disclose their targets, perhaps for fear of jeorpardising negotiations, he said they would announce the capture of some big names once they completed the deals, but confirmed that they were still very active on the market.

“We are still in negotiations with the players who the coach has indicated he wants. We are still working to conclude the deals and once we complete we will announce,” he said. “We still want to sign more players apart from the four whose deals we have already completed. We have key considerations in the signing of these players: Quality, experience and youth. We want to build a balanced squad with both youth and experience because we want a team that will remain in place for some time,” Mupfurutsa said.

The Dynamos boss said stakeholders were united as they seek to mould a team that can compete for honours next season.

“Like last season, we are united as we build the team, from the board, executive and the technical team. We are working with the coach very closely in acquiring the players; we are working on what he has presented to us,” he said. Some of the deals have been taking long because some players still have running contracts with their clubs.

Already Dynamos have sealed deals with former captain Partson Jaure who was on Manica Diamonds books, Nkosi Mhlanga – a midfielder, who has been playing for Yadah and two Prince Edward High School products Tanaka Chidhobha and Lennox Mutsetse.

The Glamour Boys are also looking to retain goalkeeper Simbarashe Chinani whose deal with the club has expired, although the player has been linked with a move to South Africa.

Despite being a subject of interest from Caps United, last season’s top goal scorer Evans Katema is also expected to stay put as the Glamour Boys seek to put together a formidable squad that can challenge for the championships this time around after a largely disappointing campaign last term.

BY GARIKAI MAFIRAKUREVA

An extension of the cane-cutting season in the hope of reducing a backlog ahead of the annual shutdown for the sugar-processing industry turned tragic when a contracted worker at the Hippo Valley Estates drowned in a water canal last Friday.

Tongaat Hullets sugar milling is traditionally shutdown from mid-December to March, but the period was extended in order to accommodate late harvesting.

Masvingo provincial police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Charity Mazula confirmed the tragedy, saying Elphas Sengamayi drowned in a water canal near Kyle School in Triangle.

She said Sengemayi was one of the cane cutters on a shuttle stay at Kyle Primary School and, on the fateful day, Gift Mahaso and the deceased went out take a bath at the canal close to the school.

“However, according to Samuel Zimhunga, who was also part of the cane cutters, the two had a misunderstanding leading to a scuffle resulting in Mahaso trying to push Sengamayi into the canal, but they both ended up falling into the canal,” she said.

Mahoso is said to have swam while screaming for help and was rescued by two other cane cutters from Hippo Valley Estates section 8. He only sustained a few bruises on his toes.

The rescuers, however, failed to immediately locate Sengamayi whose body was swept by the undercurrent and was later retrieved some 1 200 metres away from the scene.

The matter was reported at ZRP Triangle who treated it as murder and Mahaso was immediately arrested and is set to appear before a Chiredzi magistrate today.

BY SILAS NKALA

THE opposition Zapu has finally announced August 27 to 29 as the dates for its congress to elect a new leader following the death of its founder Dumiso Dabengwa in May last year.

The congress will be held at the Bulawayo Amphitheatre.

Donor fatigue and the country’s economic situation have largely hampered preparations for the congress, the party said.

Party spokesperson Iphithule Maphosa revealed that the preparations for the congress were 50% complete despite the numerous challenges they faced.

Zapu congress planning chairperson Stylish Magida revealed over the weekend that the congress dates have now been finalised.

“Arrival of delegates is August 26. Congress will run from August 27 to 29 midday. Then delegates will have lunch and leave at 2pm.Venue is Amphitheatre just opposite fountain at the park in Bulawayo,” she said.

Magida said they were expecting between 3 000 to 5 000 delegates, but the final number will be determined by the party’s constitution.

She said the party faces challenges emanating from the prevailing domestic economic conditions.

Zapu has always been funded by its members, but challenges linked to unemployed, successive years of drought, high transport costs and expensive accommodation have hamstrung preparations.

“Given that congress is only six months away, everybody must now be on their toes to achieve this considering the challenges mentioned,” she said.

Jostling for positions ahead of the congress has started with six candidates having been nominated by provinces to battle it out for the presidency.

Acting president Isaac Mabuka has indicated that he would be retiring from active politics after the congress.

Those eyeing the presidency are Mark Mbayiwa, Strike Mkandla, Future Msebele, former vice-president Emilia Mukaratirwa, Mateo Sibanda and Maphosa.

Other positions will also be filled during the congress.

Meanwhile, the party was thrown into mourning following the death of Hezel Chihota, the South Africa-based former youth leader and Zimbabwe African Women’s Union (Zapu women’s wing) provincial executive member.

Maphosa yesterday said Chihota (43) died after a long illness.

“She rose through the ranks and was at the time of her departure a member of the women executive in the province,” he said.

Chihota was laid to rest yesterday at the Athlone cemetery in Bulawayo and she was the only girl child in her family.

Chihota’s death came at a time the party also lost its secretary for security Canaan Ncube in November last year at the age of 80. The party also lost youth leader Thamani Ncube and secretary for health Nikela Ndebele.

Develop me :Tapiwa Gomo

It was somewhere in the mid-1980s when I joined my grandparents in one of the villages in Mashonaland Central province. At the time, the country had a functioning economy, which gave millions of people hope for a much better future.

Coming out of many decades of colonial oppression, independence meant a lot more than just freedom for the millions of people who witnessed the transition mainly those in rural areas where battles were fought, lives lost, people injured and property damaged.

Every rainy season, Mutsvaire village down in Rushinga rumbled like a mini-agriculture industry as villagers jostled to till the land and get the best out of their farms. Just like any other rural area, it had its own economic class structure.

There were those who owned large herds of cattle and farming equipment such as tractors. This was the wealthy group by that village’s standards. The second category were those who used draught power for ploughing. They owned cattle as well, but not in large numbers.

And the third group was those who did not have any of the above and either relied on hand tools such as hoes to till the land or hire draught power from the first or second group.

This simply meant that in most cases, they would be the last to complete ploughing their land and would lose out on capitalising on the rains. The harvests too would be little, requiring supplementary household food supplies to end the year.

These circumstances impacted, not only on household economy and food production, but affected choices and decisions made by different families.

Some of these improved the economies of some families while others affected the growth of the children from various families. One of the areas that was influenced by these choices and decisions was education — a major determinant factor to future employment and economic opportunities.

Children from wealthy families were not forced to go to the farm and till the land. This was because their families had the financial resources to mechanise their farming. In addition, they had the resources to hire permanent and seasonal labour. This allowed their children enough time to focus on school, play and relax.

This group of children tended to succeed and proceeded to colleges and universities opening up a whole new world of economic opportunities for them.

The second group of families, which was more like the middle class, were under pressure to catch up with the wealthy group. And for that reason, they maximised on the little resources they owned while minimising expenditure.

This meant that their children would wake up in the wee hours of the morning to yoke the oxen and till the land before joining other children for school later that same morning.

It also meant they would join their parents back on the farm in the afternoon soon after school.

The driving energy in all this was hope deriving from a functioning economy. There was hope that with hard work plus a good economy poverty was escapable. The economy made them to see an end to their suffering. I am not sure whether the same can be said of today.

As a result, while this group of families were able to harvest surplus food and cash crops to put the families in better financial situations, their children lost out on time to study, play and relax.

For this reason, most of these children took over farming from their parents when they aged, while a few of them were able to attend college and became civil servants. Those whose parents had made it into the first category and later inherited their parents’ wealth, only the third or fourth generation of children were able to enjoy a somewhat labour-free childhood in the village.

While the road was long, it was possible to transform the economic fortunes of future generations.

The situation was even tougher for the third category. First, all their farming activities were carried out manually, which meant that it was hard and exhausting. Second, each member of the family had to play their part, including children.

Third, they sold labour to the first and second category to raise money to supplement on family requirements such as school fees. It was such a horrifying poverty-stricken, labour-intense and undignifying experiencing for most children.

But in all this, they saw hope in hard work and education and their dreams too superseded the embarrassment of enslaving themselves to their neighbours in order to survive and achieve bigger dreams.

It is now over three decades and what has become of such a vibrant and promising village? The stories are both horrifying and desperate. The three categories are now one.

A bad economy has brought everyone to their knees and everyone is now equally poor. The ecosystem that used to bind the villagers together in nurturing their various hopes and dreams has been destroyed.

The first and second categories all lost their means of production and farming is no longer rewarding. To supplement income, families sold their cattle and other items. Members of all categories are now competing for limited resources, which together with bad politics, have brought paranoia and mistrust among the villagers.

And with that, that sense of working together to achieve family and personal goals has long vanished.

BY STEPHEN CHADENGA

A 35-year-old Harare man who terrorised women in and around Kwekwe by robbing and raping them was last Friday jailed to an effective 23 years and six months after being convicted on three counts of unlawful entry, robbery and rape.

Gweru regional margistrate Pathekile Msipa initially sentenced Simbarashe Munyaradzi Muwaniki to 30 years before suspending part of the jail term.

On the unlawful entry charge, Msipa sentenced Muwaniki to five years, while on the robbery count she handed him another five years, but conditionally suspended one year. A further six months were suspended on condition he restituted complainant US$80 and $12 before January 30.

The complainant, who resides in Redcliff, positively identified Muwaniki after he had been arrested by Kwekwe police over similar offences.

The State case was that on April 30 last year, at around 3am, Muwaniki broke into the complainant’s house using an iron bar.

He went into the complainant’s bedroom and ordered her to remove the password from her mobile phone after threatening to kill her.

Muwaniki stole US$80 and $12 from a wallet in the wardrobe and later raped the complainant, who narrated her ordeal to her sister and a tenant, after which a police report was filed.

guest column:Crecey Kuyedzwa

From a clampdown on protesters over a massive fuel price hike, to rolling 18-hour power cuts, Zimbabwe’s government — led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa — had its work cut out in 2019.
By the end of the year, former South African President Thabo Mbeki visited Zimbabwe, engaging key political players in a bid to increase stability going forward.

Fin24 takes a look at the game-changing events that characterised Zimbabwe’s economy in the past year.

150% fuel price hike
On January 12, Mnangagwa announced a sharp increase in fuel prices, a measure he said was meant to improve supplies as the country struggled with its worst fuel shortages in a decade.

Petrol prices were increased by some 150% overnight to among the world’s highest at US$3,31 from US$1,24 a litre and diesel prices to US$3,11 from US$1,36 a litre. The price hike saw Zimbabweans taking to the streets, in violent protests, destroying property worth millions of dollars.

The government’s response was brutal, with eight people reportedly killed after army deployment. Fuel has since gone up several times and by year end, was retailing at $17,44 per litre of petrol and $17,90 per litre of diesel.

Currency float
The fuel price hike was followed by a currency float in mid-February. The Zimbabwean government was, at last, abandoning its three-year local currency peg to the US dollar. The move effectively devalued the quasi-bond note currency from a 1:1 parity to the US dollar to 1:16,65 as at December 19.

The impact has, however, been devastating, with Zimbabwe returning to hyperinflation, and annual inflation doubling to reach 176% in June. Finance minister Mthuli Ncube suspended the publication of annual inflation figures, which independent bodies, using statistics supplied by Zimstat, put at 481% in November.

An even bigger economic knock was to come in June after Ncube outlawed the use of foreign currency for all local transactions. This move meant shares and investments made in US dollars would now be traded in local currency only. This was a staggering blow to the market capitalisation of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, which saw its lowest value since 2009 after losing US$2 billion (bn) in value in under two months after the foreign currency ban.

Pensioners are also facing value erosion: Total assets for pension funds, which were valued at approximately US$10bn in December 2018, are now valued at approximately US$622 million (m) at the going exchange rate. While properties held by pension funds can be revalued to reflect closer to their former values, shares, where they have invested 40% of their funds, might take longer, if ever, to reflect their intrinsic values.

Currency shortages
The currency float was also not enough to solve foreign currency availability challenges, with more than US$1,2bn belonging to foreign suppliers and shareholders still locked in Zimbabwe. This is in addition to multilateral debt of close to US$10bn. The southern African country has struggled to pay for supplies ranging from food, medical drugs, electricity, raw materials and fuel, among others.

South African companies such as Eskom, SAA, Multichoice, Tongaat, PPC, Nampak, AB Inbev all have millions of dollars locked in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe units are not operating at full capacity amid raw material shortages. In February, three gold mines owned by ZSE listed RioZim shut down operations over forex availability challenges.

Lights out
Failure to get adequate power supplies from Eskom has also compounded an already dire situation as the Zimbabwe’s main source of power can only generate a small fraction of its installed capacity.

Dwindling water levels at Kariba Dam has meant less than 200MW is being generated from an installed capacity of
1 050MW. The coal-powered plants at Hwange constantly break down, resulting in rolling power cuts of more than 18 hours in some instances.

This has a huge bearing on industry and has reflected in reduced production at farms, factories and mines.

Zimbabwe also experienced a devastating drought that left some 7,7 million people facing severe hunger as the southern African country battled one of its worst food shortages in years.
The Zimbabwe government was recently forced to relax conditions of importation of grain in order to ensure the continued availability of essential foodstuffs.

Incapacitation
This term came into prominence with employees across the economy claiming incapacitation to come to work. They claimed their incomes had seriously been eroded by inflation and currency depreciation, which made it “next to impossible” for them to attend work.

Close to 500 doctors were fired for their failure to attend work for over 90 days following their claim of incapacitation.

Corruption
Having declared his intention to fight corruption, Mnagagwa ovehauled the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission (Zacc) and put Judge Loice Matanda Moyo at the helm. Zacc has, however, been accused by critics of being partisian and only arresting those who would have fallen out of favour with the ruling elite.

Former Tourism minister Prisca Mupfumira became the first senior government official to be arrested for criminal abuse of office involving US$95m. She is out on bail and in December claimed she was not mentally fit to stand trial. A psychiatrist, according to her lawyer, recommended that she be given three months to recover.

The Minister of State for Presidential Affairs responsible for Monitoring and Implementation of government programmes, Joram Gumbo, was also arrested in November. Gumbo was accused of criminal abuse of office involving US$37m. In character with most high profile cases, Gumbo was released pending further investigations.

The latest corruption-related arrest is that of Zimbabwean Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga’s estranged wife, Marry Mubaiwa, accused of externalising US$1m and laundering another US$990 000.

She is also accused of attempting to kill her husband when she accompanied him to South Africa to seek medical treatment by delaying his admission into a medical facility for more than 24 hours and subsequently attempting to disconnect his life support machine.

guest column:Peter Makwanya

THE news currently filtering in from recent meteorological surveys indicate a looming drought in southern Africa due to a number of reasons.

News indicating an imminent drought in southern Africa, with Zimbabwe being the hardest hit, have sent shivers and shock waves down the spines of the majority of people who survive on rain-fed agriculture.

As the scourge which can culminate into a humanitarian disaster was communicated, it’s the nature of language use which was not palatable and unfriendly which proved worrying.

As usual, there has been these deliberate attempts to scare people through language, to sound too complex and knowledgeable, leaving out the most important stakeholders, who in this case are the laypersons and most vulnerable who will feel the impact of drought.

For this reason, communication had gone, making the whole discourse non-inclusive.

In such scenarios, people invest trust on scientists for outcomes such as these, but what do they get in return, communication and knowledge gaps, sufficient to scare and disempower them.

As usual, scientists specialise in metaphors of fear and panic, academic hedging and uncertainties, leaving out the ordinary person shocked stupid, instead of creating opportunities of character building, behavioural change and human preparedness to deal with the looming drought.

The audience requires empowering information which is inclusive and human friendly, motivating them to be able to survive within the drought of any magnitude rather than inducing fear and despondence.

In this regard, people should not continue to view climate change only as a scientific problem, thereby ignoring the environment, humanitarian and political aspects.

This communication dilemma continues to nurture gate-keeping of knowledge rather than knowledge sharing.

Now that the information on drought is in the public domain, it remains to be seen how governments prepared for this humanitarian disaster.

This scenario is not only about people requiring humanitarian aid, but also how they can absorb some climate shocks and achieve resilience.

Donor assistance will come to pass, but the people need to continue surviving by engaging in projects which cushion them and increase their coping mechanisms.

Drought is a natural and humanitarian disaster which affects both urban and rural environments.

Therefore, people concerned need to demonstrate at least few safety-net mechanisms which will enable them to survive when the drought is raging and also in the event that aid by-passes them.

The truth is that donor aid or strategic grain reserves cannot reach everyone due to corrupt tendencies of those who are in control of distribution programmes.

Therefore, information-empowered communities should be able to produce something that is drought tolerant to improve household food security. If people are not productive then they cannot adapt so they continue to be abused by the haves.

Memories are still fresh about people who lost cattle to fraudsters during the 2006-2008 drought period when a beast would be sold for a bucket of maize.

It is also common knowledge that during droughts, livestock and wildlife would die in large numbers.

Remaining with a few livestock means that owners may buy or prepare their own stockfeeds just to increase the chances of their survival.

In any drought situation, water is a major factor. Its scarcity presents sleepless nights to both urban and rural communities. In urban areas, water rationing can treble.

These are some of the projects that people can engage in, on small-scale basis just to survive and avoid climate inaction.

Issues of climate-induced disasters like droughts and floods are regular news features, but people are never fully prepared to encounter these scenarios.

Although the government has its strategic grain reserves situated at the Grain Marketing Board, oftentimes these are not enough.

People need to go the extra mile in mapping their own coping mechanisms just to be able to survive.

That is why people need to be sufficiently prepared in their mindsets, character, attitudes and overall behavioural practices through strategic communication so that they can move forward.

Strategic communication would improve people’s climate literacy and knowledge which would enable them to identify and interpret indigenous knowledge system indicators and scientific forecasters that contribute to early warning systems (EWS).

EWS are important in empowering people with context-specific knowledge of what their agricultural season would be like.

By so doing, the country and the people would be planning positively and for a sustainable future in which they would be active participants.

editorial comment

IF there is anything that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s two year-old government has managed to do and pass with flying colours, it has been its complete disregard to set rules of engagement specifically concerning its commitment to opening up the country for business.

As we speak, the cookie is crumbling big time as all old and new business prospects wither due to the regime’s casual approach to serious matters that ought to shore up its efforts to easing the doing business environment.

A perfect example of government’s apathetic attitude is its failure to bring law and order in the countryside where land invasions continue to be the order of day since the launch of the land reform programme in 2000. This has now led to the country losing €16 million worth of funding for the development of infrastructure in one of Zimbabwe’s prime wildlife conservancies – the Lowveld’s Save Valley Conservancy, which is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.

For failing to stick to the letter and spirit of an earlier pronouncement that new land invasions will no longer be tolerated, the government has now lost crucial funding which it cannot even afford to replace through own resources.

While officials in government would like to assure us that they are busy engaging the European Union (EU) to try and rescue the deal, the damage has already been done.

It is not only the EU deal that has been affected by land invasions; there are many local and foreign investment properties that are facing constant threats from unbridled individuals and gangs seeking to occupy their lands.

Examples include the Leopard Rock Hotel and a flourishing tea and macadamia enterprise, all in Manicaland province. Two decades of perpetual land invasions is not sustainable and hardly good for business.

Other individuals and families are currently being pushed off their lands silently, while Mnangagwa’s government turns a blind eye.

Zimbabwe cannot be termed open for business under such circumstances when both local and foreign investments are not guaranteed of any form of protection from marauding invaders.
The country can only be certified as open for business once investments are guaranteed of protection through the rule of law.

So it would be most prudent for the so-called new dispensation to resolutely commit to upholding the rule of law in 2020 for it to shore up any chances of endearing itself with both local and foreign investors.