Editorial Comment

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s presidency continues to deflate ordinary people’s hopes as he appears completely out of touch with what is happening on the ground as seen by the unwarranted threats he issued to business.

Zimbabwe is currently an unfavourable place to do business because of Mnangagwa’s “trial and error” economic policies that have not done anything to improve the country’s economy, which is now far worse than when he swept to power on November 27 after a military coup that ejected the late long-time ruler, the late Robert Mugabe.

Business people do not just wake up and arbitrarily increase prices, as these are determined by market fundamentals. The threat to “whip business into line” is not going to improve the economic situation in the country. It will, in fact, worsen it. The Mnangagwa administration needs to depart from its “command” approach because it will not work — just like it never worked under Mugabe, but only impoverished the population more.

Mnangagwa’s admission that he did not understand why there was continuous rise in prices, simply shows he is either lights out on economic fundamentals or his ministers are misleading him.
Prices are determined by market forces. If those selling goods have to import them and cannot access foreign currency from the banks, they will do so on the black market to keep their business afloat, and that consequently means they would factor the cost of the foreign currency in their pricing models.

Government simply needs to admit that the local currency has failed, just like they were warned when they first introduced the bond note. And as long as they do not attend to the fundamentals, threatening business will only trigger shortages of basic commodities. Business will simply close shop because they cannot be forced to sell their goods at sub-economic prices for political expediency.

Confidence plays a huge part in people making business decisions and it is without doubt that Zimbabweans from all walks of life have no confidence in the local currency or this administration’s ability to deal with the current economic crisis. All this means Zimbabweans have to pay for the risks businesses are taking to do business in this country. It means higher prices.

It is common knowledge that corruption has been a major drain on the economy, and government efforts so far to fight it have not proved genuine, especially because some of those fingered have very close ties to the President.

It is strange that Mnangagwa’s presidency is associated with threats and the striking doctors are his latest victims. It is now obvious that the government’s failure to grasp basic economics stems from Mnangagwa’s inability to understand that he doesn’t have the power of God to perfect situations by command and that he needs the finesse of a diplomat.

Every day and with each new crisis, Mnangagwa’s reformist mask slips away and the true colours come out. Doctors do not need external forces to incite them to demonstrate for what they think is right.

We do hope Mnangagwa’s forthcoming meeting with the business community will help him appreciate the challenges they are facing and that the buck stops with him.

TODAY we conclude our mini-series on fighting corruption. I hope you have been reading each week, but if you missed you can find any article on the Newsday website by searching Ashley Thaba. As our final article, I want to share the “trump card” to fighting corruption. The 100% guarantee solution.

Selfishness comes easy. Watch a toddler steal the toy or cry when she doesn’t get his/her way. No one has to teach us to do what feels good for us, even if it hurts others. God gives us hope for a different style of life — the strength within and the wisdom to choose a life of selflessness, a life of sacrificial love, a life of serving. The most amazing thing is He doesn’t just command us to do this; He first modelled it by doing it Himself in the life of Jesus. By that same Spirit of Christ living in us, we can find the strength and even experience a change of heart where we actually want and have the ability to do the right thing. Speaking from experience, after surrendering myself and asking God to take over, I frequently will start to do something or say something that I know, in my mind, goes against the Word of God, but my flesh wants it so I do it anyway. Then, I have this strong sense of conviction where God’s Spirit clearly speaks to my inner being saying: “Don’t do this. You will hurt someone. Don’t do this. It is wrong. You will regret it. This will get you into trouble…”

It is like an internal moral compass always guiding me to the Truth. Whether I follow, it is up to me, but I can testify that if you ask him to take over the reins of your life, he is faithful to guide and direct and be that still small voice saying this is the way — walk here. His word truly becomes a lamp to your feet illuminating the way — one step at a time, one day at a time… until you look back and realise it has been a week since you did that action or thought; that thought which you never imagined you could stop! Freedom is available. In Christ, you do not have to continue to do things which later make you ashamed or later hurt yourself and others.

Many people know “Freedom in Christ” to be a sermon they have heard at church, but they haven’t experienced that type of release from bondage of anger, sexual immorality, greed and depression, among others.

They know these types of thoughts and actions are not healthy. They can see what they are doing isn’t giving them the internal peace, love and joy they deeply desire, but it is like they are a slave. Despite good intentions, they fall back into the same bad habits.

Romans 7:15-25 talks about this destructive cycle.

The only hope in becoming victorious is by choosing to surrender control of your life to your creator and saviour and truly trust Him no matter what. Study His word, His guide book: The Bible.
This outlines exactly what to do. Ask his Spirit to whisper to you to stop whenever you are doing; something he knows isn’t His will for you. Don’t be deceived by your feelings! Let Him be in control! Don’t allow yourself to justify why you shouldn’t be obedient. Just trust Him.

Let me give an example. As a parent, I frequently give my children commands such as: “Do your homework when you get home from school. Don’t eat too many sweets.” As their mother, who deeply loves them, I am convinced that these are good rules meant to protect them and will ultimately help them to enjoy their lives more! If they learn how to manage their time and be responsible students. I believe this will set a foundation for them to be productive in the workforce one day.
I believe, if they eat healthy, it will help them avoid many preventable diseases which will plague their lives.

In theory, they understand why I am saying what I say. I can even ask them to explain it to me and they can! I always try and explain to my children why I want them to do what I say.

However, in reality, any given day, despite their head knowledge, they would quickly ditch homework and go play with friends and eat so many sweets they would get sick! Why? Our nature leads us to do whatever feels good to us in the moment! My only hope is that they will learn to trust me over their own thoughts! This isn’t because I am on a power trip! It is because I deeply love them and have been around longer than them and want their best! I know their own thoughts can trick them and end up leading them to make decisions which will hurt them and lead them to make choices they will regret in their future.

God has been around longer than us. If we can submit to His leadership and listen to His guiding words, despite our desires to do the contrary, we would find tremendous joy, peace and love! In fact, imagine this… if you lived your life the way your creator intended, you would lead the fullest most abundant life possible because that is how you were created to live!

On those days where it is so tempting to participate in actions you know are wrong, for example, to get ill-gotten financial gain, let me leave you with this verse. “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:36

Ashley Thaba is a popular life-coach, team-building facilitator and motivational speaker. She is also the author of Conquering the Giants and Dive In. You can view some of her works on her YouTube channel: Ashley Thaba.

SUCCESS LIFE: Jonah Nyoni

“If you understand that wasted time is a wasted life, you will start running away from television, you will begin to run away from movies, you will run away from games like criminal case and candy crush.” Sunday Adelaga

Wasted time is worse than wasted money. We usually say time is money. There are many ways we waste time. Failure is created by small accumulative activities, and so is success. Success takes those small bricks every day. Most people need to learn how to manage their minute, their hour which will lead to the whole day.

When we start off our year, most people will be excited and they look forward to a greater and productive year. It is sad that by the 15th of January most people will have defaulted to their usual routine that leads to a mediocre life. Your daily ritual becomes your reality. What are some of the things that waste our time?

People

We live with people who eat into time. These might be our trusted friends, family, and even foes. Any person who is in your life should add one of the three: Happiness, value or money. If they cannot, assess what they are bringing.

Life is too short and valuable to waste your time with people who waste their own lives. Never waste your time with people who drain your energy or people who bring you down. Simply get them off your life or get off their lives. Accept reality, and stop wasting time with some people.

Pleasure

Life should be exciting and worth living for, however, pleasure should also have boundaries. It is easy to be involved in pleasure adding activities, but at times they lead to a bankrupt life.
There is also negative pleasure, this includes things such as drugs, illicit parties and alcohol. They give temporary pleasure, yet they have long term effects on our body and brain.

Wrong focus

We go through a lot in life. At times there are self-created problems and self-inflicted pains.
We can’t change our past, but we can do something now to change our future. When you never graduate from your past, you are paralysing your future. Remember, no one is exempted from failure and mistakes and you should never bury ourselves in those negative experiences. A wrong focus leads to a painful life. Tony Robbins says: “Where focus goes, energy goes.”

Internet and social media

The internet and social media are good tools that we use, but the same tool can be very addictive. In addition, social media has its social ills that could damage our morals. Checking text messages might seem small, but in the end, it corrodes your time. Whatsapp is very enticing and people love to chat and gossip, but most of those things don’t add value to one’s life. We love surfing the internet and constantly checking and reading emails. All those add to our time lost.

Being a “yes” person

In life we should learn that the word “no” is not as negative as we assume. We have said yes to things that we cannot accomplish. I realise that, the more I say no to some activities the better I can manage my time. The big problem is that we want to please people. Margaret Thatcher once said: “If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you should achieve nothing.” Don’t be a people pleasure. Do what you love, and love what you do.

Pursuing the wrong things

At times we enroll for a wrong course that does not fit with our purpose or mould. At times our parents choose what we should study at university and we spend our lives investing in the wrong craft. Yes, that might give us money, but might not give us fulfillment. At times we waste time on jobs that drain us, keep us grouchy and grounded. Choose your life and live your life! Stop wasting your time and get into your grind!

Jonah Nyoni is an author, success coach and certified leadership/business trainer. He is the author of Inspiration for Success and Success Within Reach.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

MEDIA practitioners yesterday said Information minister’s powers over the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) should be limited and that any laws that seek to criminalise journalism must be done away with.

This came up during a public hearing at the Parliament of Zimbabwe on the ZMC Bill conducted by the Prince Dubeko Sibanda-led Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Information and Media.

The objective of the ZMC Bill is to protect the rights to freedom of expression and the freedom of the media as granted under section 61 of the Constitution. It will also extensively amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act by repealing all provisions relating to the regulation and control of the media.

Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe executive director Loughty Dube said the Bill was full of clauses which allowed the Information Minister to intervene in the operations of ZMC, which, therefore, meant that those clauses must be done away with.

Section 2 (e) of the Bill states, “any other form of dissemination of information which may be prescribed by the Minister”. This is a very dangerous statement. Section 7 (1) (a) and (b) says the Minister of Information and the Minister of Finance are responsible for appointment of the chief executive officer. This is against corporate governance principles,” Dube said.

Dube also said the Bill should broaden the definition of “media practitioner” so that it is clear whether it wants to cover citizen journalists, camera persons or any other newsroom staffers who are not necessarily journalists.

Douglas Machongonye, who claimed to be a political analyst suggested that journalists must be given stiff prison sentences if they publish defamatory statements. But his suggestions were quashed by different media practitioners, who said one of the main reasons why media laws were being aligned to the Constitution was to ensure that journalism is decriminalised.

Media lawyer Chris Mhike said: “Bills are supposed to ensure media reforms and higher standards in reforming media policy. Calling for stiffer penalties on journalists is wrong and we cannot have such laws in a democracy as they are draconian. This is the 21st Century and not the 16th Century and if we criminalise journalism, people will be thrown into prison for minor crimes. The ZMC is not a law enforcement agency; it ought to be there to promote media freedom.”

He said section 9 of the Bill copies from the Commission of Inquiry Act and has draconian implications which give power to the ZMC to prohibit a person from participating in an inquiry.

“Empowering the Commission to prohibit a particular person from participating in an inquiry is not in line with democratic practices,” Mhike said.

Media Alliance of Zimbabwe programmes manager Nigel Nyamutumbu said the Bill should reflect the issue of co-regulation of the media in order to avoid the mistakes made in the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Media Institute of Southern Africa Zimbabwe legal expert Kuda Hove said the powers to ensure the rights of access to information were enjoyed should be vested within the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and not the ZMC because access to information also included non-media information.

AB Communications chief executive Susan Makore said the gender aspect must be included in the leadership of ZMC.

She said the Bill must clearly state the objectives of the Media Development Fund — whether it will bail out struggling media houses, improve media training standards or establish community initiatives.

Different journalists also quashed the involvement of the police in commissions of inquiry saying this would be tantamount to criminalising journalism.

By Harriet Chikandiwa

A 27-YEAR-OLD police officer appeared before a Harare magistrate on Thursday facing charges of malicious damage to property and theft of US$220.

Fidelis Katsande appeared before Harare magistrate Francis Mapfumo, who remanded him out of custody to November 5.

It is alleged that on June 19 this year, the complainant, Shupikai Round (35), a commuter omnibus operator, was driving along Mbuya Nehanda Street when he came across two Harare City Council trucks carrying Zimbabwe Republic Police officers and municipal cops pursuing vendors.

Katsande and his three alleged accomplices disembarked from one of the trucks and allegedly blocked the complainant’s commuter omnibus before smashing the kombi’s passenger window to force him to stop.

It’s the State case that Round continued driving his vehicle and Katsande and his accomplice continued to smash the vehicle’s side windows, leading to the damage on six side windows and the rear screen.

Round was taken into police custody and Katsande allegedly extorted $400 from him.

After Round was released from custody, he discovered that his phone was missing.

He alleged that Katsande and his accomplice took his cell phone when they were effecting his arrest.

When Round was making a follow-up of his vehicle at VID Belvedere depot, he also discovered that Katsande and his accomplice had allegedly taken US$220 and a jacket, leading him to file a police report.

Delight Mauto represented the State.

BY NHAU MANGIRAZI

A KAROI man died on Tuesday afternoon after throwing himself in front of a moving haulage truck, while a soldier hung himself after discovering that his wife was having an affair.

The man, only identified as Breaker, threw himself in front of an oncoming vehicle along the farming town’s Chirundu-Harare Highway after complaining that he was failing to cope with economic hardships.

“The driver tried to avoid him and applied brakes, but it was too late as the deceased threw himself into the path of the moving truck,” a witness Wellington Matenga said.

Another witness said the deceased had previously complained that he was undergoing mental torture due to the harsh economic climate.

Said Ratidzai Mubaya: “He used to say it and we thought it was a joke.”

The deceased was reportedly married and had three children.

‘‘He was always complaining that life was becoming tough daily as he was not getting enough money for his family,” another town dweller Thomas Kadura also said.

His body was taken to Karoi District Hospital for a post-mortem.

Meanwhile, a 27-year-old soldier based at Inkomo Barracks committed suicide after allegedly coming across some text messages exposing an affair by his wife.

Paul Maguramhinga hanged himself on Saturday last week.

According to neighbours, the deceased dumped his first wife and moved in with his second wife in Karoi’s Chiedza high-density suburb.

The second wife reportedly moved out of the family house and he suspected she was in an adulterous relationship.

“They had an altercation after he found text messages on his second wife’s phone that showed that she was having an affair with another man,” a neighbour who refused to be named said.
The soldier then hanged himself after the couple failed to resolve the issue.

Mashonaland West acting police spokesperson Inspector Ian Kohwera confirmed the incident.

BY BLESSED MHLANGA

AFRICAN Chrome Fields (ACF) executives recently met President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Mines minister Winston Chitando to discuss the company’s investments in the country following reports that it was disinvesting from Zimbabwe.

Company spokesperson and project liaison director Ashruf Kaka said ACF was confident that their investment in the country was safe and dismissed reports that they were disinvesting from their $250 million chrome mining and smelting plant in Chenyika near Kwekwe.

“ACF is here to stay in Zimbabwe and any suggestions of disinvestment are clearly untrue. I met President Mnangagwa personally as well as Minister Chitando with the view of giving them the assurance that ACF is here to stay and remains invested in Zimbabwe. We are committed to contributing to the growth of the economy and enriching the people of this country,” Kaka said.

Facing depressed chrome prices on the international market, ACF had, however, scaled down operations to ensure profitability.

“In the recent past, the chrome prices were severely depressed and this, coupled with the current economic conditions in Zimbabwe, placed ACF in an invidious position. Like other mining operators, ACF was required to rationalise their operations and adapt to the trying circumstances,” Kaka said.

“We reduced operations to an extent and continue to attend to the necessary care and maintenance of the remainder of the operating plants so that we can upscale when the economic conditions improve.”

The company is also in talks with the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) over renewal of its export licence, which is key to its continued stay in the country.
Kaka said he was engaging MMCZ, but declined to give more details.

“ACF prefers to deal with issues between parties at the correct forum and through the correct channels, which certainly excludes ventilating disagreements or agreements between the parties in the media,” he said.

MMCZ general manager Tongai Muzenda said work was in progress to clear issues with ACF and discussions were cordial and progressive.

Since opening the mine five years ago, ACF has set up six sites incorporating 15 spiral plants, as well as constructing permanent infrastructure such as roads, dams and boreholes along the Great Dyke.

By NQOBANI NDLOVU

THE MDC Bulawayo province is still haunted by ghosts of its provincial congress, with some party members now raising fears that the chaos that accompanied it will cost the party in future by-elections or the 2023 general elections in the city.

The party’s national leadership has failed to douse factional flames in Bulawayo, where a section of disgruntled party members are demanding a re-run of the provincial congress, citing voter fraud.

Just last week, the national leadership was in Bulawayo to try and address the divisions, but without success.

A member of the MDC’s Magwegwe district executive committee Nicholas Moyo Godlwayo last week petitioned the party leadership to address the simmering tensions in the city to avert electoral drubbing in 2023 or in by-elections.

“What happened during the Bulawayo congress does not reflect the MDC as a party that so religiously believes in devolution of power as the best governance system that unites a nation.
The leadership that was purportedly elected does not, in any way, bring happiness to the people of Bulawayo,” Godlwayo wrote in his petition.

“Instead, it is exclusive than inclusive and the MDC can never win the 2023 elections in Bulawayo or any by-election which can happen before then. It is a certainty that anything otherwise will cost us dearly as a party come the 2023 plebiscite or any by-election which may happen before then.”

Infighting was blamed for the party’s loss of the Cowdray Park council seat to Zanu PF in a recent by-election.

MDC Bulawayo chairperson James Sithole yesterday told Southern Eye that the provincial executive “was doing everything within its powers to unite” warring factions.

“We have heard those concerns, but as a leadership we have started a process to address those issues that have been raised. We have also gone further to include members who lost elections into the provincial executive structures,” Sithole said.

“We want inclusivity; we are stronger together. We realise the importance of coming together to make a big change. We are a rainbow party and the only relationship that binds us together is to be members of the MDC. We all have a common agenda to remove Zanu PF from power through peaceful means.”