Black Twitter is fuming and a petition carrying over 60 000 signatures, titled Reinstate African Union Ambassador Arikana Chihombori-Quao, is demanding the return of the permanent ambassador of the African Union (AU) to the United States, who was fired by the African Union Commission president, Moussa Faki Mahamat for her disapproval of France’s constant expansionism in West Africa.

It is quite lamentable that those who take a bold stand for justice for the African continent are either quarantined, murdered or muzzled before their voices are heard.

The dismissal of the Zimbabwean international, Chihombori-Quao, after she condemned France’s continued exploitation of former colonies, is appalling, disappointing and shameful.
The French exploitation of former colonies in Africa is widely known and noted to the extent that its mention should not cause discomfort in any circles of power.

In March 2008, former French President Jacques Chirac suggested that without Africa, France would slide down into the rank of third world power.

Chirac’s predecessor François Mitterand had already forecasted in 1957 that: “Without Africa, France will have no history in the 21st century.”

France has been holding the national reserves of 14 countries since 1961: Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

The monetary policy governing such a diverse aggregation of countries is operated by the French treasury.

Under the terms of the agreement which set up the central banks of the mentioned countries and the West African CFA franc, the central bank of each African country is obliged to keep at least 65% of its foreign exchange reserves in an “operations account” held at the French treasury, as well as another 20% to cover financial liabilities.

It’s now estimated that France is holding close to $500 billion African countries’ money in its treasury, and would do anything to silence anyone who wants to expose this dark side of the old empire.

Chihombori-Quao is definitely not the first nor the last to get punished for sharing her honest and truthful views on the neo-capitalist Western-sponsored underdevelopment of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Thomas Sankara, the founding President of Burkina Faso, tried to liberate his country from Western influence and he was assassinated.

He refused aid packages from the International Monetary Fund because they came with strings attached.

Sankara famously asserted: “The one who feeds you usually imposes his will upon you.”

At the summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in July 1987, he tried to persuade other African countries to collectively refuse to pay their financial debts to their former colonisers.

“The origins of debt go back to colonialism’s origins,” he said, his voice punctuated with emotion.

“We cannot repay the debt because we are not responsible for this debt. On the contrary, others owe us something that no money can pay for. That is to say, the debt of blood.”

One of the core objectives of the African Union — the successor organisation of the OAU, encapsulated in the African Union Constitutive Act, emphasises its position on eradicating all forms of colonialism.

It clearly states that its purpose is: “To defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its member States.”

However, the apparent grounds of termination on Chihombori-Quao’s appointment are not in tandem with both the OAU Charter and the AU Constitutive Act.

Chihombori-Quao has spoken worldwide to explain and empower all peoples of African descent to unite and build the “Africa We Want” as adopted in the African Union Agenda 2063.

Paradoxically, her bold statements on the kind of Africa we want to have in 2063 got her fired, which also explains that the Agenda 2063 is a façade. Visibly, Africans are not in control of their own destiny.

The autonomy of the African Union as a multilateral organisation comes into the spotlight, interrogating its president, Mahamat’s decision-making.

If he is that allergic to criticism of manipulative tactics by neo-colonial powers, then it is sufficient to say that the regional bloc is captured by an overseas power.

Instead of standing with Africa as required by his role, the AU president chose to appease the French at the expense of Africans, simply because the staple of the AU annual budget is sponsored by foreign donors.

A bone of contention and a source of concern has always been this extreme degree of dependence on external sources of funding which has dispossessed the regional institution of the power formulating independent decisions.

Apparently, most of the decisions are meant to please the sponsors at the expense of meeting the needs and interests of Africans.

The most beautiful quote on Pan-Africanism is one by the former President of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings who once said: “You may Christianise me, but do not try to Europeanise me.”
However, with leadership that reflects Western interests while sacrificing corps who try to address the neo-imperialist challenges, it is safe to say, Pan-Africanism is dead and all that Kwame Nkrumah, Samora Machel, Sankara, Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere, and Patrice Lumumba sought to achieve for the continent, is now history.

Sankara once stated in a 1985 interview with the Swiss journalist, Jean-Philippe Rapp that: “You cannot carry out fundamental change without an amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future.”

This is the exact path of positive madness that Chihombori-Quao wanted to walk down when it dawned on her that it is not only the French who have enslaved Africans for too long, but Africans have been enslaved way too long to the extent that they are now satisfied with being slaves.

Hence, she got sacked by the African Union for her bold, but honest stance on Pan African matters.

Conclusively, in the stance and spirit of Ubuntu that binds us as Africans, this article calls for more signatures on the petition to reinstate Chihombori-Quao as AU ambassador to the United States.

 Takudzwanashe Mundenga is a Zimbabwean journalist, with special interest in the African political economy. He writes in his own capacity and can be contacted on mundengatakudzwanashe@gmail.com.

The transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energies is a global pursuit. But it is faster and more intensive in some countries than others. Take the case of South Africa. Heavily dependent on coal, the country is proceeding with a more intense transition in which renewable energies are set to play a growing role.

Renewable energy technologies have recently established their role in the global energy supply mix. This is because they have begun to overcome two big hurdles.

The first was concerns about high cost. The second was their inability to provide secure energy supply. A number of factors have improved their accessibility and affordability.

These include technological improvements, economies of scale and increased competition.

The share of renewable energies in the overall energy mix will certainly have an impact on electricity market dynamics.

This includes energy prices, which are the most effective signal to users and potential investors about alternative energy sources.

That is why understanding how a higher share of renewable energy in the energy mix influences electricity prices can help policy makers.

The impact on retail prices of electricity is not uniform. It differs from country to country, and is influenced by regulatory frameworks. Nor is it the same over time.

For example, in Spain, the higher renewable energy share in the mix led to higher electricity prices between 2002 and 2009.

This was due to the high costs of the renewable energy technologies at the time. After 2009, prices fell.

This was attributed mostly to the reduction of production cost of the renewable energy technologies as well as the economies of scale created.

We set out to look at what affected an increase in the share of renewable energy in the mix.

Variables included improvements in technologies, reductions in the cost of producing renewables, changes in market structures and increasing competition.

In all 34 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in the study, we confirmed the positive impact of increased share of renewable energy on the retail price of electricity.

But we did find that, under certain market conditions, the inclusion of renewable energies in the supply mix could increase the cost of production. This was then passed on to the end-users.
Variables used

The econometric model was based on a panel of 34 OECD countries. The variables we used were:
retail electricity prices,
electricity generated from renewable sources as a percentage of total gross electricity production,
a measure of each country’s level of development (the gross domestic product per capita measured in constant 2010 US dollars),
greenhouse gas emissions by the energy sector as a percentage of total greenhouse gas emissions,
energy dependency, and
the market share of the largest electricity generator.

We included greenhouse gas emissions by the energy sector because European Union (EU) countries operate an emission trading scheme.

Fluctuations in these emissions have a direct impact on the marginal cost of energy production.
Energy dependency indicates the degree to which the countries are dependent on energy imports.
The measure of the market share of the largest electricity generator in the market is included because an increase in this variable would indicate a reduction in competition.

But we made adjustments. One, for example, was for each country’s level of economic development and greenhouse gas emissions by the energy sector as a percentage of total greenhouse gas emissions.

Not all 34 countries had data on the level of competition in the market. So, in evaluating the impact of this variable, only 23 European Union countries remained in the sample.

In these countries we found that a 1% increase in electricity generation concentration led to a 0,091% decrease in retail electricity prices.

This suggests that increased market power led to a price reduction.

This contradicts perfect competition theory. But it’s in line with other research that found that countries with higher market concentration have more government subsidies which decreases electricity prices. The caveat here is that subsidies have to be used efficiently, else prices rise.

Overall, from our results, and controlling for the other factors, a 1% increase in the renewable energy share in the supply mix was responsible for the increase in retail electricity price in a range between 0,03% and 0,046% in each of the countries and period examined.

Do these results, therefore, call on countries like South Africa to tread carefully on promoting the adoption of renewable energies for fear of electricity price increases?
The answer is complex.

Policy options

Projections show that in the next two years, renewable energy technologies will — at the very least — be competitive on price with fossil fuels.

Renewable energies have the potential to be even more cost effective in the future.

This means that the relationship between a rising share of renewable energy in the overall electricity mix of a country and the retail price of electricity will eventually be negative.

As our research underscores, the structure of the electricity market influences the impact of renewable energies on the retail price of electricity.

But the impact differs in regulated monopolised markets compared with open and competitive markets.

Another factor to keep in mind is when considering an increase in electricity prices as a result of renewables is that the associated marginal cost is low while the environmental benefit is high.
But policy makers need to evaluate and proactively deal with the specific environments they are operating in, particularly the short-run consequences of changing the equilibrium of an energy system.

For example, in developing countries economic and social reasons need to be considered equally while the environmental benefit might be considered an added bonus, not the main purpose.
In developed countries, however, the aim might be purely environmental coupled with social awareness.

— The Conversation

 This report is based on the research co-authored by Anne Marie Oosthuizen, currently reading for her Masters in Economics at the University of Pretoria

RESIDENTS from Gweru’s Mkoba and Woodlands Park high-density suburbs have threatened to protest against the city council’s failure to provide water to ratepayers and deal with its dumpsite, which is six metres away from houses and is proving to be a health hazard.

BY BRENNA MATENDERE

Administratively, Woodlands falls under rural Vungu, but is receiving water, sewer and refuse collection services from Gweru City Council.

Speaking at a community meeting held in Mkoba by the Information for Development Trust last week, residents expressed anger at the failure by the authorities to rectify the irregularities.
Patience Musambasi called on fellow residents to confront council to force it to urgently act on the water crisis that had been worsened by the establishment of Woodlands suburb.

“We are failing to get enough water in Mkoba because supplies have been extended to Woodlands, yet the developers were supposed to have their own arrangements for water. It is high time we confronted the authorities and rebel over the issue,” she said.

Pasipano Chimbima, from Woodlands Park, said: “We get services like water, sewer reticulation and collection of refuse from the Gweru City Council. However, our councillor sits on the Vungu council. It does not augur well. We want our councillor to be at Gweru council. We must organise ourselves and march to the Gweru City Council and force them to make sure the councillor sits in their meetings.”

However, that is unlikely to happen since the councillor was elected as a rural councillor for the area in the 2018 elections.

Ward 16 community development chairperson Obert Rupanga said the issue of the dumpsite, which is six metres away from houses, has not been solved since 2012 and called upon residents to protest against the inaction by council.

“In 2012, the land developer had told us that by December of that year, the dumpsite, which is a health time bomb, would be removed from Woodlands. However, up to now, no action has been taken.

People are suffering due to the presence of the dumpsite,” he said.

“Gweru General Hospital dumps and burns expired drugs at the dumpsite and a strong smell rises from the place and wind blows it into our houses. We do not know if we are still safe in terms of our health.”

He added that shoemaking company Bata also dumps smelly hides and other forms of waste at the site, making it unbearable for the Woodlands residents.

“If you are driving and you overtake a truck coming from Bata carrying some rotten animal skins and other used up things, you will not be able to contain the stench. Those are things being dumped at the city’s dumpsite, where the first house is six metres away. Just imagine what those families are enduring,” Rupanga said.

“This is a situation we are saying must end. We need solutions from the Gweru City Council,” he said.

Residents also complained of frequent sewerage blockages.

Vungu ward 16 councillor Parirenyatwa Nyika said he was facing serious challenges in trying to settle the problems in Woodlands.

“The challenge is that when we go to the Gweru City Council, they say the land belongs to Vungu and when we go to Vungu, they also refer us back.

Gweru Residents Association director Cornelia Selipiwe said: “Our fear is that council will end up saying we are now demolishing houses near the dumpsite because in the first place, it was irregular to parcel out stands near the dumpsite.

“There is what is called a buffer zone, which was supposed to be observed in parcelling out stands near the dumpsite. So as residents’ leaders, our fear is now that if we continue to push, that will affect some residents who may have their houses demolished,” Selipiwe said.

Council’s deputy director in charge of planning, Tapiwa Marerwa, emphasised that home-seekers must check if the developer has a certificate of compliance.

Gweru mayor Josiah Makombe said he was aware of the challenges that residents in Woodlands are facing and indicated that relevant departments at council would look into the matter.

“Our departments at council are working flat out to solve the challenges that the people in Woodlands are facing. The major challenge we are having is of resource constraints, but we are seized with the matter. Our priority is to ensure that all our residents get satisfactory service and so in line with that goal we look into grievances of all our rate payers,” he said.

ZAPU activists, who on Tuesday forced the temporary closure of the Catholic mission-run St Anne’s Brunapeg Nursing School in Mangwe, Matabeleland South province, protesting alleged unfair recruitment of trainee nurses, have been arrested.

BY NQOBANI NDLOVU

Police arrested seven of the activists for disrupting activities at the nursing school.

The activists, who were represented by lawyer Prince Bhutshe Dube, were supposed to appear at the Plumtree Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Zapu southern region spokesperson Patrick Ndlovu confirmed the arrest, but said the accused were not taken to court.

“They were detained overnight in Plumtree, but were not taken to court. They were released after signing warned and cautioned statements today (yesterday),” he said.

Matabeleland South police spokesperson Chief Inspector Philisani Ndebele referred Southern Eye to national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi.

Nyathi was unreachable for comment.

The incident comes less than a month after the opposition party and civic society activists in Bulawayo, among others, stormed Mpilo Central Hospital and United Bulawayo Hospitals to protest over the same issue.

Southern Eye heard that the Zapu delegation met the priest-in-charge of the nursing facility, Hlakanipha Dube, and members of the hospital administration to register concern over the recruitment of trainee nurses.

It is understood that all trainee nurses at the institution are not from Mangwe district, with the hospital administration reportedly stating that they had no hand in the recruitment exercise. The recruitment was reportedly done in Harare through the online platform.

“Our visit to Brunapeg was a response to locals who complained about student nurse recruitment at St Annes Brunapeg Hospital as all the recruits were drawn from Harare, sidelining locals. We are challenging the State to drop its segregation of communities and implement devolution of power as provided for in the Constitution,” Zapu spokesperson Ipithule Maphosa said.

Repeated efforts to obtain a comment from St Annes priest-in-charge were fruitless. Government recently succumbed to pressure from local activists after it came under attack over the questionable recruitment at Mpilo and UBH nursing schools. Health minister Obadiah Moyo said the recruitment would be decentralised, beginning next year.

“Going forward the electronic recruitment will be administered by the province and central hospitals starting with the May 2020 intake. Government will continue to put in place measures and policies that will curb corruption,” the minister said.

However, Zapu said the system was open to abuse.

“We are suggesting an affirmative action for the southern region on education and training so that the people catch up with their northern counterparts on opportunities to jobs … Online recruitment must be ceased with immediate effect as it disadvantages others, while it is prone to manipulation by those in charge of that system,” Maphosa said.

GOVERNMENT officials in Beitbridge, who are grappling with a mortuary crisis following the suspension of morgue services at the 160-bed Beitbridge District Hospital last week, are seeking authority to conduct pauper burials for eight unclaimed bodies, Southern Eye has learnt.

BY REX MPHISA

An SOS has already been sent to stakeholders and steps are said to be underway to get authority for pauper burials of some of the bodies.

A stakeholder, who asked not to be named, said pauper burials had been suggested, but these would take up to two weeks due to bureaucracy.

“There are six minors, mostly stillbirth products and two adults, who are yet to be identified,” the stakeholder said.

As an immediate solution, officials are engaging Zesa Holdings for a waiver of power cuts at the hospital.

Alternatively, they require $230 000 to repair the hospital’s standby generator to mitigate the crisis aggravated by incessant heat experienced in the Limpopo basin, where the institution is located.

“Those are the couple of options we have at the moment. Either Zesa spares the hospital from load-shedding, or we have to find that amount ($230 000) to repair the hospital standby generator,” Beitbridge district co-ordinator Sikhangezile Mafu told Southern Eye yesterday.

“The first option is more practical and sustainable,” she said.

“We have spoken with the local Zesa authorities ,who have assured us our request for a waiver of load-shedding at the hospital has been taken up to higher authorities.”

Repairs of the generator, as the second option, were costly. Extra funds would be required for fuel.

Beitbridge district health executive in charge of Beitbridge Hospital, a referral centre for the district’s 120 000 people, and a further transit population of about 10 000 a day of late, suspended mortuary operations due to incessant power outages.

The power shortages also affected water supply.

Staff at the hospital said keeping the mortuary clean under the circumstances was impossible.
“Some bodies had maggots,” a source said.

Although Mafu did not confirm, it is understood stakeholders had sent out an SOS to police to collect bodies it deposited at the hospital.

A Beitbridge resident, Elias Chibi, questioned why it had taken long for government to upgrade Beitbridge Hospital to a central institution, which would pave way for superior cash injection.

“It’s absurd that government fails to appreciate the difference between this hospital and any other district hospital. This hospital serves the region, considering it’s at the country and sub-Saharan Africa’s busiest port. At times, there are decisions that should be made which need no effort,” he said.

“Can you imagine what is going to happen considering our holidays are known to have many fatal accidents. What plans are there for such eventualities without a mortuary here?”

Mafu said stakeholders, particularly the business community, would be approached to assist in raising the amount required to repair the hospital’s generator.

COMMAND agriculture programme beneficiaries in Mashonaland Central province on Wednesday asked Agriculture deputy minister Douglas Karoro to address challenges they were encountering in accessing inputs and the cumbersome new banking system processes to get loans.

BY SIMBARASHE SITHOLE

Karoro, who was coming from his constituency, Mbire, stopped at the CBZ Bank, Mvurwi branch, after noticing meandering queues and had the time to listen to farmers’ grievances before assuring them of speedy action.

The farmers, who are now receiving their funds through banks said the process was too demanding and required them to travel a number of times, draining their meagre resources.

“Most of us do not stay here in Mvurwi, we have farmers from Guruve, Centenary, Muzarabani and Concession coming to CBZ Mvurwi to open a command agriculture account, which is not done in one day as it involves a lot of paper work. As farmers we are saying the transport cost is too much for us. It should be done through mobile banking,” Muzarabani farmer, Misheck Marezva, said.
Another farmer from Guruve, Debra Zivanai, implored the deputy minister to consider decentralising inputs distribution as was the case in the past.

“Honourable deputy minister may you as the government assist us by making sure that we receive our inputs at depots close to us rather than centralisation as we are spending too much time on the road and not in the fields. For example, we are getting our diesel in Bindura. Why not give the fuel to service stations that are in our areas?” she lamented.

Another farmer said those from Centenary were getting inputs from Mvurwi, Harare or Concession, while those from Guruve travel to Mvurwi.

Karoro said: “Inputs distribution may appear to have been centralised at the beginning of the programme. The truth is government and all stakeholders are working flat out to make sure farmers travel shorter distances to inputs collection centres.”

Farmers also raised concern that they were being forced to open new accounts when they already had command agriculture accounts from last year. They said there were variations in account opening deposits, with Harare banks demanding between $20 and 30 while the Mvurwi bank demanded $100.

Karoro said: “On the variations in account opening deposits, it’s not true that farmers are made to pay different amounts. The correct position is that farmers are asked to deposit $50 and if a farmer decides to deposit $100 that’s their choice and to their advantage. After all it’s their money.”

THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) is poorly funded to independently exercise its duties, leaving it exposed to manipulation and Parliament should make sure it has been allocated a sound budget, the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda (pictured) has said.

BY RICHARD MUPONDE/CHELSEA MUSAFARE

He said this in a presentation made on his behalf by Parliament counsel, Gladys Pise at a two-day Zacc and Transparency International Zimbabwe media roundtable on corruption in Harare this week.

He said the independence of the commission should be enhanced by the provision of a sound budget.
“Parliament must ensure that Zacc should be independent and not subject to the direction or control of anyone, must exercise their functions without fear or favour or prejudice but accountable to Parliament. Zacc’s independence needs to be strengthened in areas of its administration, staff recruitment, and control of its own budget,” Mudenda said.

He said it was the duty of Parliament to ensure that the commission was adequately funded to enable it to exercise its functions sufficiently.

“It has the power to authorise the expandable monies from the Consolidated Fund through the passage of the Appropriation Act in terms of section 305 of the Constitution. Parliament has power through its oversight role and its role in budget processes to ensure that the commission is well resourced,” he said.

Mudenda said the Ninth Parliament would ensure that the Executive brings Bills to domesticate treaties already signed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

“The committee on Foreign Affairs is in the process of coming up with a tracking tool for all conventions and treaties that are yet to be tabled for approval. In the last session there was a motion on the National Assembly Order Paper relating to the need for government to fully implement the United Nations Covenant against corruption,“ Mudenda said.

The Speaker’s sentiments resonates well with pleas by Zacc chairperson, Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo for government to fully resource the commission so that it adequately fulfils its mandate.
Speaking before Mudenda, Zacc spokesperson John Makamure said Zacc had already presented a $100 million vote to Treasury for the 2020 budget.

“Zacc needs $100 million for its 2020 activities which includes recruiting highly qualified staff and decentralisation of its work. The amount will enable the commission to recover about $300 million worth of assets in 2020,” Makamure said.

“We request to retain a percentage of what we will have recovered to allow us to run. Zacc has to spell out the role it should play in ensuring that we achieve vision 2030. Corruption is a threat to that goal because resources will not be harnessed towards national development.”

TEACHERS at Mosi-oa-Tunya High School in Victoria Falls on Wednesday stayed at home citing incapacitation at a time they were expected to supervise a Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) Ordinary Level examination.

BY BRENNA MATENDERE

Mosi-oa-Tunya High School is the largest school in Victoria Falls followed by Mkhosana Adventist Secondary School (MASS).

The teachers were expected to invigilate the History Paper 1 “O” Level examination scheduled for 2pm, but they were conspicuous by their absence.

Efforts to persuade them to report for duty hit a brickwall as they all reportedly indicated that they were incapacitated due to their poor salaries.

Stunned by the development, Education ministry’s district officials had to hastily arrange for a bus belonging to the Public Service Commission to move around neighbouring primary schools to fetch teachers for the invigilation at the high school.

Non-teaching staff members at Mosi-oa-Tunya High School, who spoke to Southern Eye on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the situation affected the students.

“Some students were very restless and believed that the exam would not go ahead. They abandoned preparations for the sitting for the paper when they realised that there were no teachers at the school. A lot of the students had to be summoned from the playing grounds, where they had gone to play thinking the examination had been cancelled. Even though teachers from Chamabondo Primary School later volunteered to invigilate the exam, the results are likely to be poor with a lot of students failing due to the logistical challenge,” one non-teaching employee of Mosi-oa-Tunya High said.

Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) president Obert Masaraure said he was aware of the incident and revealed that the teachers who boycotted invigilation belonged to his organisation.

“The teachers at that school are our members. The integrity of our examinations is in jeopardy. We urge government to urgently address the salary crisis to restore normalcy in our schools. The situation in our schools is swiftly degenerating from crisis to catastrophe. We urge government to urgently pay teachers an interbank rate-indexed salary to avert the collapse of our education sector,” he said.

Artuz announced on October 14 that its members could no longer afford to commute to work.

The union, which has previously held protests at Finance minister Mthuli Ncube’s offices in Harare, says its members must be paid the equivalence of the salaries they received in October 2017, multiplied by the prevailing interbank market rate.

Masaraure said more scenes similar to what happened at Mosi-oa-Tunya would be experienced in future at several schools because teachers were incapacitated.

“We urge parents to join us in our fight for a living wage so that normalcy is restored in our schools. We call upon all progressive forces of the world to stand in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe as we seek to crush the neo-liberalism strategy of austerity,” he said.

Efforts to get a comment from Primary and Secondary Education minister Cain Mathema or the ministry’s permanent secretary Tumisang Thabela were in vain as they did not pick their mobile phones.