This is not an apology for Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa (ED) as President of Zimbabwe, but a careful examination of the facts. Mnangagwa, popularly known as Ngwena, has been President of Zimbabwe for two years only, but calls for his resignation are getting louder and vociferous each passing day. Domestically and internationally ED is perceived as a protégé of the late former President Robert Mugabe.

A co-ordinated and well-orchestrated campaign was unleashed against him since he took over from RGM to malign his character, undermine and destabilise his government on social media, domestic and international newspapers and on-line-publications.

The intent is to convince the gullible public and the intentional community that ED’s administration is not a ”new dispensation,” but a continuity of the Mugabe era. The scandalising and destabilising campaign led by the MDC Alliance, civil society and the so-called Spotlight Zimbabwe publication (most likely a G40 publication or Zezuru project) is vicious, relentless and brutal in its ferocity and intensity.

Some of the architects and proponents of this campaign have personal vendettas against ED and bitter for having lost the opportunity to grab the coveted Zimbabwe presidency. Unfortunately, ED’s administration has a weak or ineffective information department to counter these vicious attacks which are a threat to national security. Furthermore, the Zanu PF commissariat department lacks cadres in the mould of the indefatigable Mayor Urimbo to energise the party.

ED is accused of failing to resuscitate the Zimbabwe economy destroyed by 37 years of RGM’s disastrous economic policies and mismanagement. ED’s critics and enemies assert that he has failed to change the electoral and political landscape to allow fair competition among political actors.

In this regard, ED must do the honourable thing and resign.

The MDC-A claims that he is an ”illegitimate” President who stole Nelson Chamisa’s victory. What remains a mystery is why Chamisa contested the 2018 elections in the absence of electoral reforms.
Even more puzzling is why he took his failed presidential bid to the Constitutional Court knowing as he claims it was captured by Zanu PF? It is reasonable to speculate that some marriage of convenience had taken place between the MDC and G40 elements within Zanu PF before the elections. The G40 convinced Chamisa that with their support he was going to win the presidential election. After his loss, they further encouraged him to challenge the ED victory in court. All these machinations did not work.

Against this background, the following questions beg for a thorough interrogation:

 Has ED really failed to usher us into a land full of milk and honey?

 Is ED a Mugabe protégé?

 Why does ED have so many enemies inside and outside Zimbabwe?

To all intents and purposes, it is too early to suggest that ED has failed. An economy that has been in comatose for years can never be resuscitated overnight. The painful truth is that the national economy has virtually collapsed.

ED was never given a chance or breathing space to govern or prove himself. From the outset, he was set for failure by his enemies inside and outside Zanu PF, particularly those who are benefiting from the perennial Zimbabwe economic crisis.

The MDC soon after the November 2017 ”coup” went on a diplomatic offensive telling the Western world not to lift the sanctions. Chamisa, his deputy Tendai Biti, and some leaders of the civil society in Zimbabwe convinced the USA Foreign Relations Committee not to remove the so-called targeted sanctions claiming that ED was not sincere in his desire to create a new political and economic order. Inside Zimbabwe, prices of goods and services shot up to levels never seen before even during the Mugabe era.

Undoubtedly, the violence after the 2018 elections and the subsequent intervention of the army indicate a hidden hand to sabotage and destabilise the ED presidency. Business, commerce, civil society, remnants of the G40 and the MDC-A are working in cahoots to foment unrest and to ensure that ED fails. ED’s enemies are using the freedom of speech made possible by the new dispensation, but posit that ED is no different from Mugabe. What an illogical argument?

The MDC was in the GNU for five years and failed to implement a single electoral reform and now want ED’s administration to do that in one year. We have no examples in history of any country which recovered from economic and financial downturns within a year. The call for quick solutions and immediate tangible benefits from Zimbabweans is understandable, yet there is no gain without pain.

The laying of correct economic fundamentals is a must if Zimbabwe is to recover from the current economic quagmire and regain its former glory. What is missing from Finance minister Mthuli Ncube’s economic recovery plans are safety nets for the have-nots.

That said, the government cannot watch helplessly as business and commerce continue to behave irresponsibly, eroding the wages and salaries of workers. Yes, they are in business to make profit but not to the extent of creating instability in the country through reckless price increases.

By and large, ED is incomparable to Mugabe. Mugabe was intolerant of divergent ideas or opposition to his rule and criticism of him as a person. He was a firm believer in command economics, not free-market economics.

He isolated Zimbabwe from the family of nations and persistently and consistently vilified the West. ED, as many honest commentaries have observed, is sincere about market economics and re-engagement with the West. He does not at every opportune moment recklessly attack the West or his enemies. Unlike Mugabe, ED is determined to build a culture of tolerance and maturity in Zimbabwean politics. Although a lot of work needs to be done, ED has liberalised the political landscape. What is clear is that the MDC is failing to reciprocate by behaving as a loyal opposition as it prefers to act like a rogue opposition party.

Within Zanu PF, opposition to ED’s presidency is largely motivated by tribal considerations. The ethnic factor has dogged Zanu PF since its formation in 1963. The different ethnic groups within Zanu PF fight for supremacy, leading to internal conflicts and convulsions. Arguably, the Mugabe presidency created a Zezuru hegemony and dominance (not a Shona one, as the Ndebele mistakenly think). The Ndebele mistakenly think that the Shona are a homogenous group, but the reality is that they are not. With the fall of Mugabe, the Zezurus have lost control of the political power which guaranteed and maintained their dominance in all sectors of the Zimbabwean society. It is reasonable to argue that they are not happy that ED a Karanga is now President. They view the ED presidency as a threat to their political, economic and social interests. The ED presidency has brought to the surface the long-standing Karanga-Zezuru feuds which have been going on for years under the radar during the Mugabe era. ED must decisively deal with the ethnic factor in Zanu PF through a leadership renewal and regeneration both in government and party.

Outside Zanu PF, other groups dislike the ED presidency for different sectional reasons. Some, not all Ndebeles hate ED with a passion.

The Ndebele are bitter about ED’s role during Gukurahundi, but perhaps fail to comprehend that the architect of that dark and sad moment in our history was none other than Mugabe himself. According to the Ndebele, all Shona people connived to eliminate them. Unlike Mugabe, ED has allowed free speech concerning the Gukurahundi period and the exhuming and re-burial of victims of this “moment of madness” in the history of Zimbabwe. The whites are still angry after being dispossessed of their farms and do not trust ED. The MDC Alliance is desperate to be the governing party.

Diasporans are bitter that they are still disenfranchised.

The Western world is uncomfortable with a Zanu PF presidency because it does not give them a free hand to access the resources they need from Zimbabwe. The remnants of G40 now coalescing around Savior Kasukuwere are the most vocal enemies of ED because they lost the succession battle.

Mugabe’s former spin doctor, Jonathan Moyo will never forgive ED because he thwarted his desire to destroy Zanu PF from within and ultimately become the President. These groups cannot give a sober assessment of ED’s administration. ED has done a lot to date. He is silently working. However, there is a need for a robust information department to inform the nation of his accomplishments.

It is fair and just to judge ED after the end of his five-year term, not earlier.

 Lovemore Sibanda (PhD) is assistant professor of history/social studies college of education, teacher education and administration department at the University of North Texas, United States.

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ARTISTES’ earnings have continued to be eroded by inflation since the reintroduction of the Zimbabwe dollar.

The number of live gigs keeps getting fewer with promoters battling a series of flops owing to the very volatile economic environment which is taking a toll on most artistes and concert organisers.
The economic recession directly affects the livelihood of artistes, their work and growth especially in an already underfunded environment.

Artistes have for long been urged to adopt a business approach to music to ensure multiple revenue streams and a sustainable career.

Apart from live performances, brand endorsements, touring, teaching, session earnings, composing, sound recordings, and merchandise sales, artistes get their income through royalties and licensing of their work.

Music royalties and copyrights are complex subjects and in Zimbabwe this has been a thorny issue for a very long time with conversations happening in the corridors of the music industry, but some argue that there is no industry to talk about.

A lot of artistes are wallowing in abject poverty and some die paupers despite having made great music that got widely consumed owing to a falling revenue base and the non-availability of other sources of revenue.

With the corporate world equally reeling under the prevailing economic environment, budgets for activities that involve artistes are quick to be cut. The government has not been financially supporting the sector save for a few State events.

For years, the Culture Fund of Zimbabwe was the backbone of cultural and creative funding in the country, injecting an average of a million United States dollars to at least 40 projects a year.

This support in addition to funding from development agencies and embassies gave a lifeline to most artistes and projects, but sadly most failed to evolve and create sustainable models that kept them running when the funding stopped or was reduced.

The donor dependency syndrome coupled with poor corporate governance, abuse of funds, failure to innovate and hard economic times saw most music venues, bands, events and festivals closing shop.

These and many other struggles have not deterred the fast-growing Zimbabwean music industry whose numbers continue to multiply daily. Quality also continues to improve with the emerging of new talent and holding of festivals. Despite all this, the struggles stifling the growth of the industry continue to mount.

It is much easier to become a musician in Zimbabwe now than before owing to the opening up of space, the non-existence of an artiste and repertoire (A&R) system that ensures quality at most recording companies and the advent of new technologies that have made production faster, easier, cheaper and more accessible.

The internet has opened new avenues for artistes to market and sell their content to a global audience and has given them power to control and monetise.

Platforms such as YouTube, iTunes, Deezer and Spotify are some of the many channels that are being used to distribute music and videos online as well as selling them on behalf of artistes.

Gone are the days of record bars, as the internet is the new marketplace.

Sadly in Zimbabwe, artistes still face challenges such as high data costs, difficulty to access virtual payment systems such as Visa, Master Card and Paypal since the re-introduction of the Zimbabwean dollar.

Most creatives, especially those based in the diaspora rely on middlemen to share and sell their works online.

This has resulted in artistes being duped and losing thousands of dollars monthly to middlemen who upload content on their behalf and never remit any revenue despite making rich pickings from the music and videos.

Forget street piracy, while this still remains a major problem for artistes and producers, the internet has the biggest pirates preying on unsuspecting artistes as some simply download and re-upload without the creator’s consent. At times it is done in the name of exposure and promotion.

If artistes are not educated on their online music rights they will continue to suffer at the hands of digital piracy.

Back in the day artistes who enjoyed great airplay on radio would smile every year to the bank after receiving paycheques from the royalties collection body — Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (Zimura) — which was established in 1982 to collect and manage revenue on behalf of music composers and publishers.

Now the country boasts of 17 commercial radio stations and one internet radio — an increase from the previous four State-owned. The development was well-received by artistes as it opened up space for more new voices.

Unfortunately, some artistes are owed royalties from as far back as 2014 or 2015. The situation has slowly been brewing tension between the body and its more than 3 000 members.

Music royalties are payments that go to recording artistes, songwriters, composers, publishers, and other copyright holders for the right to use their intellectual property. Songwriters, publishers, record labels and performance artistes receive royalties each time their content is used.

Locally, Zimura’s role is to protect the performing rights of authors and collect royalties on their behalf. It also renders a valued service to music users by providing them with a single central platform where applications are made by anyone wishing to perform in public or broadcast or relay music via a diffusion service.

As such, no one is allowed to conduct a public performance of music without the permission of the author. Acting to the contrary amounts to infringement of copyright.

Zimura has over the years been failing to get payment from broadcasters who are the main users of content with most citing viability challenges.

Artistes’ patience seems to be fast fading as evidenced by recent developments. Music producer and fully-subscribed member of Zimura, Lazarus Chapo, took to social media a few weeks ago protesting a 433% hike in artistes’ registration fees to $800 which he said was grossly insensitive for a body that is failing to pay royalties with some artistes including him owed from as far back as 2014.

Chapo further lashed out at the body during a live interview on Earground which had Zimura’s deputy director Henry Makombe participating.

Makombe was adamant that the body was operating above board and everything was professionally done, but cited the increase in operational costs as the reason for the registration fee hike and blamed the failure to pay artistes’ royalties in time on defaulting broadcasters.

 Plot Mhako writes in his capacity as a creative social entrepreneur, arts journalist and cultural activist.

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INDEPENDENT power producer (IPP), Alliance Africa Energy (Pvt) Limited has submitted an application for licencing to set up a solar power project with a generating capacity of 75 megawatts (MW).

BY MISHMA CHAKANYUKA

This comes at a time Zimbabwe has been facing power shortages mainly due to low rainfall received during the 2018/19 rainy season which was not sufficient to fully support generation at the Kariba Hydro-Power Station.

Zimbabwe has since liberalised its energy sector to help promote the participation of private capital in energy generation to boost power supply.

In a notice, the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) announced that it had received an application from Alliance Africa and that the applicant intended to sell the power to the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC).

“Notice is hereby issued in terms of section 4(3) of the Electricity (Licencing) Regulations, 2008 published in Statutory Instrument 103 of 2008 that Zera has received an application from Alliance Africa to construct, own, operate and maintain a 75MW solar power plant at Fairholme Farm in Chegutu,” Zera said.

“The applicant intends selling the power generated to ZETDC. The project will also include the construction of approximately 2km of a 132kv transmission line from the proposed 75MW solar plant to Selous 330/132kV substation.”

Zimbabwe’s power demand averages 1 400MW per day, but the country only generates around 1 200MW, relying on imports from South Africa, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo to supplement local supplies.

According to Zera chief executive officer Eddington Mazambani, a lot of IPPs have been failing to take off owing to the perceived country risk which makes it difficult for them to secure funding for their projects.

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The Zimbabwe dollar has depreciated by 564% to date since its introduction in February this year due to lack of market confidence and nothing to back it in terms of gold reserves and export earnings.

BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA

In February, government adopted electronic money as a local currency and called it the RTGS dollar, which operated alongside the bond note and multiple foreign currencies at a rate of US$1: ZWL$2.50.

However, this currency was later abandoned after monetary authorities reintroduced the Zimdollar in June as the sole legal tender.

But because the Zimdollar was reintroduced at a time foreign currency or market confidence were low, its value has plunged to the current rate of US$1: $16,60 of the official market.

“It seems we underestimated the depth of our challenges, ostensibly because we suppressed the economy for too long, through unsustainable subsidies, including currency subsidies — exchange rate parity (1:1) and managed foreign currency allocation system,” financial expert Persistence Gwanyanya said.

“All these are stop-gap measures, short-term fixes and half-baked solutions, which, ironically, got us nowhere, but deeper into the hole. It’s unsurprising that we missed all key macro-economic targets in 2019 as the economy adjusted to its true position following the implementation of economic reforms, which started in October last year.”

He added: “Inflation, which was projected to average 22,5% is now estimated at more than 350%, exchange rate at around US$1:$21 is way off the initial target of US$1:$3,5”.

The depreciation of the Zimdollar was confirmed in the United States Food Insecurity Department, FEWSNET’s October 2019 to May 2020 Food Security Outlook report released at the beginning of this month.

FEWSNET stated that as of late October, the local currency had depreciated by over 520% since February 2019, when the interbank market was introduced.

“The Zimdollar also depreciated by over 40% and 70% on the interbank market (official forex market) and parallel market, respectively, since mid-June when the Zimdollar was declared the sole legal currency,” part of the report said.

“This is mostly due to the continued critical foreign currency shortages, mainly of the US dollar traded at around $15,6 on the interbank market and $21 per US dollar against electronic and mobile transfers on the parallel market at the end of October.”

When the Zimdollar was reintroduced as the sole legal tender, it created shortages for hard cash in the market.

This was because the only physical representation available of the Zimdollar was the surrogate currency, the bond note, which amounted to between $500 million and $700 million.

As a result, businesses started selling their goods or services at high premiums using electronic money and discounted prices for those using cash.

“Shortages of the local currency (bond notes and coins) have resulted in the notes and coins being sold at premium rates as high as 40 to 60% against mobile and electronic money transfers on the black market,” the FEWSNET report added.

To combat these cash shortages, government has introduced the $2 bond coins as well as new $2 and $5 notes which are expected to amount to $1 billion over the next few months.

In order to restore value to the Zimdollar, experts say at least $3 billion in physical notes need to be in circulation which represents 15% of the total broad money supply of close to $20 billion.

Further, a significant amount of foreign currency was required to support the broad money supply.

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THE trial of former Midlands Provincial Affairs minister, Jason Machaya and his seven co-accused in a criminal abuse of office charge, was on Monday postponed to February 3, 2020.

BY STEPHEN CHADENGA

The accused, whose trial has failed to kick off on several occasions since last year, had appeared before Gweru magistrate, Edwin Marecha.

The State alleges that in December 2017, Machaya, former Midlands provincial administrator Cecilia Chitiyo, Matilda Manhambo (provincial projects officer), Shepherd Marweyi (then Gweru district administrator), Chisainyerwa Chibhururu, Sifelani Moyo, Ethel Mlalazi and Everest Nyamadzawo annexed over 11 000 stands owned by the State.

It is the State case that Chitiyo allegedly allocated State land totalling 4 469 stands to developers by co-signing offer letters in cahoots with Machaya.

Further allegations are that Manhambo unlawfully allocated 2 000 stands, while Marweyi is accused of parcelling 5 199 stands to land developers.

Nyamadzawo who was administrative officer and working in the same office with Chibhururu and Moyo allegedly unlawfully wrote a survey instruction letter to the surveyor general instructing his office to nominate a surveyor for the State land without authorisation.

Machaya, on $1 000 bail and the seven others on $200 bail each, are all denying the charges.

The post Machaya trial deferred to next year appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.

THE boundary wrangle pitting newly-installed Chief Neromwe (Clemence Madzingo) and Chief Tshovani (Hlausi Mundau) has taken a new twist with the latter alleging that his dominion over Chiredzi is being threatened by politicians who are meddling in the fight.

BY GARIKAI MAFIRAKUREVA

On Monday, Chief Tshovani’s subjects staged a demonstration at Chiredzi Magistarates Court, accusing politicians and the then Chiredzi district development co-ordinator, Ndeya Nyede of aiding Neromwe to wrest a large chunk of their territory. Tshovani has since sued President Emmerson Mnangagwa over the matter. The case is yet to be heard.

Chief Neromwe on the other hand has dragged Tshovani to court seeking to bar him from holding meetings in an area which used to be under Chief Tshovani before his installation.

In his opposing affidavit, Chief Tshovani, through his lawyers Majoko and Majoko Legal Practitioners, is challenging the legality of Neromwe chieftainship. They are arguing that an interdict was granted by the High Court stopping Neromwe from both taking an oath of office, and holding an installation ceremony as chief, but he defied the order and went on with the ceremony.

Neromwe further argued that that Tshovani made his submissions late, and sought the court to consider his affidavit unopposed. He also said, the opposing affidavit was also defective as it was not properly numbered as required by the court. He urged the court to dismiss the matter as the opposing affidavits were answering to questions not asked.

Chief Tshovani’s lawyers admitted that the papers were submitted late, but said it was in consultation and by consent from Neromwe’s lawyer.

The matter was postponed to December 6 for ruling.

The feud between the two chieftainships began when government decided to revive the Neromwe chieftainship which was removed by white settlers during the early years of colonial rule.

Tshovani, however, was not happy with the decision which he saw as an attack on his own chieftaincy since the revival of Neromwe meant his loss of vast territory.

Chief Serima of Gutu, Chief Nemauzhe of Chivi and Chief Maranda of Mwenezi adjudicated on the arguments for and against the revival of Neromwe in 2017, while Nyede gave guidelines.

Former Zvimba councillor Clemence Madzingo was then selected inaugural chief of the revived Neromwe throne and was given custody of wards 17, 26, 28 and 29, while chief Tshovani was left with only three wards.

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When one talks about young Africans using smartphones, the dominant narrative is that these gadgets serve mostly as platforms for connection so that users can communicate and share greetings and information via text and images. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp and Signal take pride of place in that description, despite their murkier side. What has perhaps been overlooked is how smartphones are also affecting other facets of young people’s lives. One area is the ever-growing community of sports betting in Africa.

The phenomenon of sports betting among African youths has taken the region by storm. Recent polls and anecdotal reports point to a grim scenario, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. A 2017 GeoPoll survey found that up to 54% of sub-Saharan African youth between 17 and 35 years have engaged in sports gambling. Kenya, with 74% participation in sports betting, had by far the largest percentage of youth involvement in this activity. The survey of some 2 726 African millennials was conducted in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.

A core driver of this trend has been the growing ubiquity of mobile telephony around the continent combined with the availability of smartphones. Added to this has been greater connectivity — including satellite access to sport matches —and a ballooning population of young people with high levels of unemployment.

In research on the subject we see that sports betting has brought many ills to young people in sub-Saharan Africa. These include severe gambling addiction and money laundering. Some of these concerns are also experienced in other parts of the world.

These include smartphone addiction and a closely related phenomenon: internet addiction.

These ills in turn lead to heightened levels of social anxiety and loneliness among the affected population.

The drivers?

Smartphone penetration around the continent has exhibited a remarkable growth rate. Cameroon, for instance, had 72% registered users of social networks among those aged 15 to 24 in 2016. This grew to that level from 43% in the first half of that year.

The most popular social networks for that community was Facebook, Google+, Instagram and Twitter. This development has come at a time when there is growing interest in sports betting – the most popular gambling option for African youth. Mobile phones are the preferred avenue for sports betting.

Of course the increasing availability of smartphones is unleashing the innovative potential of many sub-Saharan African youth. The plethora of social media platforms have the potential to change lives around the continent. Many social media adaptions are the result of the ingenuity of sub-Saharan youth, like M-Pesa, Ensbuuko and WorldRemit (financial services); ButterflyiQ, Momconnect, Usalama (health and security); Cityaps, Musanga and Twiga Foods (supply chain platforms); and Ushahidi, tajirat al-Facebook and Kano’s WhatsApp entrepreneurs (to strengthen social cohesion).

Another driver is clever marketing and advances in technology — the digital satellite television space across the continent broadcasts sports events of African clubs and popular European soccer leagues.

In Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and across much of sub-Saharan Africa, the advent of DStv (Digital Satellite Television) and other broadcast platforms have brought foreign league matches to viewing centres and hence to the doorstep of individuals who on their own would be hard-pressed to afford watching prized league games in their respective homes.

These viewing centres are in the nooks and crannies of urban centres in all these countries. In turn self-acclaimed fans of some of the biggest clubs in the world like Real Madrid, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona, Manchester City, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Dortmund, Juventus and Paris Germain can keep up with the performance of their teams without ever visiting the homes of these clubs.

A third driver is the youth bulge in Africa. The continent has the youngest population in the world, with an estimated 60% of people under the age of 25. Of the 420 million youth in Africa today, the majority are unemployed, have insecure jobs or are in casual employment.
For many on the continent, the slick advertising of sports betting firms provides an irresistible proposition.
— The Conversation

 Victor Odundo Owuor is a senior research associate, One Earth Future Foundation, University of Colorado

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