FORMER Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko, who is facing a charge of corruptly causing the release of two government officials arrested for sleaze, has turned the tables against officer-in-charge at Avondale Police Station, saying he should have resisted his illegal directive.

BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE

Mphoko made the claim in his application for exception to the charge.

Through his lawyers advocate Thembinkosi Magwaliba and Zibusiso Ncube, Mphoko told Harare regional magistrate Hosea Mujaya that his right to a fair trial would be violated if he were made to answer to the charges which were vague, too broad and did not contain the essential elements of an offence.

Magwaliba said Mphoko had been refused adequate time and facilities to prepare his defence and the right to challenge the evidence.

“The State does not identify if there is any Act of Parliament and which section of that Act of Parliament or which sections of the code of conduct the accused violated. The prosecution expects the accused to plead in the dark. This is not consistent with the right of the accused person to a fair trial,” Magwaliba submitted.

Magwaliba said the allegations by the State clearly indicated that it was not Mphoko who released Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) bosses Davison Norupiri and Moses Juma from police custody on July 14, 2016, but the officer-in-charge.

He said his client could only be charged for obstructing the course of justice.

“If the officer-in-charge complied with a lawful order, then he had a complete defence to any charge of misconduct or criminal charge that he could face for releasing the two,” the lawyer said.

“But if the officer-in-charge avails himself of the defence of complying with an illegal order, still Mphoko would not be guilty of any offence since he was not a member of a disciplined force to give command,” Magwaliba added.

After filing the application for exception, Magwaliba asked the court for time to have a record of the proceedings transcribed before the State could orally respond to his application, saying he needed to note facts that are in the record for a response from the State’s submission.

However, prosecutor Michael Reza elected to respond to Mphoko’s application by February 27 before Mujaya delivers his ruling on March 4.

Mphoko is facing a charge of criminal abuse of office after he, on July 14, 2016, allegedly instructed police officers at Avondale Police Station in Harare to release two Zinara officials from holding cells without following procedure while he was Acting President.

High Court judge Justice David Mangota has dismissed an application by former Harare town clerk Josephine Ncube challenging her suspension by ex-mayor Bernard Manyenyeni.

BY CHARLES LAITON

Ncube, who is also chamber secretary, had argued that her suspension in January 2018 was not in accordance with section 140 of the Urban Councils Act and, as such, must be declared unlawful, null and void.

But Justice Mangota dismissed her application with costs, saying she had failed to support her case with relevant statutes.

“The applicant (Ncube) appears to have prepared and filed her case in a hurry. She did not develop the theme of her argument. She left it hanging in the air, so to speak. She did not rebut the respondent’s assertions which, in all respects, she should have rebutted,” Justice Mangota said.

“She did not refer me to any rule, regulations or law which prohibits an employer from suspending its worker when the latter is on sick leave. She did not refer me to any rule, regulation or law which prevents an employer from inviting its worker who is on sick leave to a disciplinary hearing.”

The judge said all Ncube managed to do in respect of her matter was to accuse the City of Harare of not having complied with the procedural requirements of the country’s labour laws.

“She did not state what those labour laws were or are. She left that very important matter to the court to guess what she exactly meant to convey to it. She put up a very poor show. She did so much to her unfortunate detriment … the applicant failed to prove her case on a balance of probabilities. The same stands on nothing. It is, accordingly, dismissed with costs,” he said.

On the contrary, the judge said the City of Harare managed to precisely articulate its argument and convinced the court that its decision to suspend her was above board.

“The respondent (City of Harare), in my view, must have agonised over the invidious position in which it found itself. It must, therefore, have done its homework and discovered the existence of another law, which, in its view, would assist it to bring about the result which it intended,” he said.

“As long, therefore, as the law it came up with was supportive of its case legally, it cannot be faulted for having departed from the Urban Councils Act in preference to the Labour Act as read with Statutory Instrument 15 of 2006.”

ZIMBABWE Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) chairperson Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo yesterday demanded the immediate arrest of members of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said to have been captured by business cartels.

BY BLESSED MHLANGA

She was responding to a recent admission by Prosecutor-General Kumbirai Hodzi that some sections of the NPA, Zacc, police and the Judiciary were captured by cartels.

Speaking to the media soon after signing a memorandum of understanding between Zacc and Transparency International-Zimbabwe (TI-Z), Justice Matanda-Moyo said the statements by Hodzi were a cause for concern.

“When he speaks about the prosecution, it’s actually worrying, but when he talks about other institutions without evidence from those other institutions, I am not worried yet,” she said.
“If our prosecutors are, indeed, captured, it’s a cause for concern. We, as Zacc, need to move in and actually arrest those prosecutors who have been captured because it’s a form of corruption to allow a person who is supposed to be independent, who is supposed to serve the nation to be captured by cartels. That is really worrisome and unacceptable in a democracy.”

The Zacc boss said she had reached out to the PG so that she could collect evidence of his allegations and the commission could move in and deal with the alleged cases of corruption, but Hodzi recanted and alleged that he was misquoted.

“The PG told me that he was misquoted. I haven’t heard the recordings. I haven’t seen the videos, so I am unable to comment, but that is what he told me,” she said.

TI-Z executive director Mundopa Muchaneta weighed in, saying the comments by the PG should be a cause of concern for every citizen.

“When it comes to fighting corruption, we expect to see strong and independent institutions. So the allegations that institutions mandated to fight corruption are captured is very worrying. It is something that should be taken seriously and investigated properly,” she said.

PARIRENYATWA Group of Hospitals requires US$31 million if it is to operate efficiently as a central hospital, the hospital’s group chief executive officer Ernest Munyawu told Parliament last week.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

Munyawu told the Ruth Labode-led Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health that the hospital required early release of its budgetary allocation because since September last year when the doctors went on industrial action, it had not been generating enough revenue from user fees.

The committee had visited Parirenyatwa Hospital in response to a petition by the Senior Hospital Doctors’ Association, which had asked Parliament to investigate the rot in the country’s health delivery system, including staffing issues.

“For us to say we are a hospital, we need an injection of US$31 million, but we have said even if we do not have that money, what we need in order to function is US$1,7 million,” Munyawu said.
“Since September 2019, we have not been collecting enough revenue and we need an injection from the fiscus.”

He told MPs that Parirenyatwa Hospital had 1 200 beds, adding that under normal circumstances, there would be a 90% to 100% occupancy rate, but this has decreased due to the doctors’ industrial action.

“In terms of the number of patients, we did 14 405 theatre operations in 2018, but these dropped to 7 107 in 2019 and this can be explained by the incapacitation that happened. We also had 50 553 persons on casualty in 2018, but in 2019, we recorded 46 025. For outpatients, we had 121 765 in 2018, but in 2019, the figure dropped to 94 693. Industrial action contributed to the reduction of the patients we were able to attend to,” he said.

Munyawu also told the committee that inflation had severely affected hospitals as they could not procure critical sundries and medicines.

“Foreign currency shortages affect us in relation to equipment and sundries because a lot of them are imported. There is also ageing infrastructure as most of our equipment is getting into 10 to 11 years and we have got to a point where we need it replaced,” he said, adding that the referral system had also left Parirenyatwa inundated with patients from elsewhere, which put a lot of pressure on infrastructure and sundries.

While Sally Mugabe Central Hospital (formerly Harare Central Hospital) has severe water problems, Munyawu told the committee that Parirenyatwa had a 2,5 million megalitre tank which supplies the hospital.

“We are the only hospital with Zupco facilities and we pay $60 000 to$70 000 per month to bring staff to hospital. We also provide staff with bread and tea in the mornings, and we provide cheap accommodation for them,” he said.

GOVERNMENT has been urged to devise a sustainable plan that ensures health workers have adequate tools of the trade to avoid recurrent strikes by doctors and nurses.

BY VANESSA GONYE

In a statement, Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) executive director Itai Rusike said government should not relax after the intervention of organisations like Higher Life Foundation (HLF) and other development partners, who bailed it from the human resource crisis that had befallen the health sector towards the end of last year.

“That doctors are back at work after the intervention of Higher Life Foundation is no reason for government to sit on its laurels without working out a permanent solution,” he said.

“CWGH believes that other than addressing issues of salaries and working conditions, there is also need to formulate a plan on how to equip and stock public health institutions to provide efficient services.”

He said while the HLF offer was commendable, CWGH was worried by the absence of a concrete sustainable plan by government after the expiry of the current arrangement.

“Will the doctors continue going to work? Will the government be able to match the current salaries and benefits? It is very unlikely,” Rusike said.

The Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa-founded HLF came to government’s rescue in stopping the prolonged strike by doctors, offering consultants $1 000; senior and junior doctors $7 500 and $5 000, respectively.

Rusike called on the government to seize the opportunity when doctors and nurses are still at work to craft a permanent solution to their grievances.

“The fact that nurses are now demanding a similar rescue package arrangement demonstrates that the Higher Life Foundation arrangement is a stop-gap measure as the humanitarian foundation cannot fund salaries for all health workers,” he said.

“We call for increased domestic resource mobilisation to ensure the needs of health workers and patients are well catered for. We also call upon the government to allocate 15% of its annual budget to the health sector in line with Abuja Declaration target to make sure that the sector is well catered for including paying reasonable salaries to doctors and nurses, purchasing of drugs, sundries, equipment and refurbishment of infrastructure.”

Rusike implored government to award non-cash incentives to doctors, nurses and other health workers to motivate them, stop brain-drain and avert strikes.

“The government must prioritise addressing the shortages of medicines in public hospitals, the paltry salaries and working conditions of health workers, dilapidated infrastructure and obsolete medical equipment in health institution,” he said.

In its latest Global Economic Prospects, the World Bank has downgraded its estimate for the global growth from 3% in 2018 to a possible 2,4% in 2019. As a result, the African continent is experiencing a slowdown with growth in the sub-Saharan African region downgraded from 2,6% in 2018 to an possible 2,4% in 2019.

Looking at the economic, trade and investment data, growth within the African continent as a whole remains quite resilient. In the face of all the current global geopolitical risks, many African economies, particularly the smaller ones, are, in fact, slowly but surely moving forward with the World Bank forecasting that growth in the sub-Saharan African region will increase to 2,9% in 2020. However, there are, in fact, many dangers lurking ahead that can have a major negative impact on the overall African growth.

At its peak, trade between the US and Africa reached $129,3 billion in 2011 and has since then declined to reach an average of above $50 billion annually, according to data from the International Trade Centre. The shale oil production boom in Texas and North Dakota has now made America the world’s top oil producer and exporter, surpassing Saudi Arabia and Russia. Its average production of 17,87 million barrels daily represents 18% of the global oil production.

As a consequence, the US does not need to import as much oil as previously from Angola, Nigeria and other oil-producing African countries. Despite the fact that African trade with the US is not as significant as with its other trade partners, American politics as well as the economic and foreign policies from President Donald Trump and his administration can potentially have a significant impact on the continent in 2020.

Since his inauguration, Trump has shown the world that he will not hesitate to take unilateral actions that were previously considered unimaginable and impossible for an American president to do.

His trade wars against China and American allies, like Canada, Europe, Japan and South Korea, have instilled enormous uncertainties in the world, resulting in a global slowdown. For now, President Trump re-negotiated the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico and declared a temporary truce with China with a ”phase one” trade deal. But he may again pressure the Federal Reserve to further cut rates to boost the American economy and re-ignite his trade war rhetoric to fire up his supporters for his re-election bid. These will in turn affect global growth and Africa.

Trump has neither any interest in multilateralism nor to be involved in global affairs, nor to maintain the American global leadership. Under his ”America first” policies, not only is America turning inwards, but is also becoming more nationalistic and protectionist as well as following solely its own self interests. Trump’s foreign policies may seem erratic to the world, but for his supporters, his overseas trips and executive actions are either meant to portray that he is a great leader on the world stage or to distract them from his domestic political woes.

These actions definitely have major consequences. For instance, his Middle-East foreign policies and unilateral decision to contain Iran create uncertainty and volatility in crude oil prices. Moreover, confronting China in the South China Sea as well as mismanaging geopolitical issues in the Korean Peninsula, the Middle East and elsewhere can potentially lead to a major conflict, that will lead to a further slump in the global economy. All these will inflict indirect consequences on African countries.

China versus America and the coronavirus outbreak

With the ongoing bruising trade war between China and America, both countries managed to agree on a ”phase one” trade deal at the beginning of the year. This is not the end. The tussle between China and America will continue on, even beyond this current administration.

As a result, with many of its exports towards the US still facing significant tariffs, the Chinese economy is slowing down. China is the largest trade partner of Africa with $162,6 billion worth of goods traded in 2018. Over the past years, China has invested heavily in Africa and has significant investment stock within the continent. During the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2018, China pledged another $60 billion of financing to Africa. With the Belt and Road Initiative, China is not only linking Africa to the world, but also helping in some major infrastructure development within the continent. With a slowing down economy and declining exports towards America, the Chinese demand for African commodities will drop, putting downward pressure on global commodity prices.

This will affect copper exports from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, iron ore from South Africa, crude oil from Angola and Nigeria as well as many other hard and soft commodities from other African countries.

To make matters worse, China is battling the recent coronavirus outbreak by taking drastic measures. This will not only further affect the Chinese economy, but the aftermath may be more serious for the global economy in the coming months. China is now the second biggest economy with deep and complex links within the world economy.

Any economic crisis in China will eventually provoke a chain reaction that will hit the world hard. In the short term, with many of the high spending Chinese tourists prevented from travelling and put in quarantine, especially during the Lunar New Year holidays, their tourism dollars will not be earned by many foreign countries and businesses. Except for the Ethiopian Airlines, many other African airlines, such as Air Mauritius, EgyptAir, Kenya Airways and RwandAir, have currently suspended their numerous flights towards mainland China.

This will have a significant impact on their future profits with declining revenue and increasing operational costs. The aftereffect will also be on business activities across all sectors with the movement of business people being disrupted. In addition, many African hotels and resorts as well as other tourism-related businesses will eventually be affected by this coronavirus outbreak in China.

The EU trade with Africa reached a peak of US$411,2 billion in 2012 and dropped by 35,2% in 2016.

Since then, trade has not yet reached its former peak, but little by little, it is improving to reach US$345,5 billion in 2018. The World Bank has projected a gloomy outlook for the Eurozone area, forecasting that its economic slowdown will continue on and will barely grow by 1% in 2020. As a group, the EU is the top trade partner of the African continent. Any economic slowdown within the EU will affect its economic and trade ties with Africa.

By the end of 2018, the former European Central Bank (ECB) chief, Mario Draghi, declared that the ECB would stop its €2,6 trillion quantitative easing.

Yet, seven months later, the central bank had to cut rates into the negative territory and re-start its economic stimulus with a monthly purchase of €20 billion worth of bonds to support the flagging Eurozone economy. Germany, Europe’s largest economic engine, is facing major headwinds.

Last year, it narrowly avoided a technical recession in the third quarter and overall, barely grew in 2019. As for France, with President Emmanuel Macron pushing for economic and pension reforms, it has been facing the yellow vests movement since 2018 and major strikes since last December.

Besides, in 2020, the EU will have to potentially battle vigorously a trade war with America. The main targets of President Trump’s trade war with Europe, France and Germany, are major economic and trade partners of many African countries. And to top it all off, Brexit!

After all the hustle and bustle, Britain under the leadership of Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now finally out of the EU. However, during the transition period till December 31st, 2020, the UK will not only have to follow the EU rules, but also, negotiate another trade agreement with the EU. It will be indeed near impossible to have a formal free trade agreement within 11 months. With the UK being a major location for the trading and transformation of African commodities, the future post-Brexit status of the UK within Europe and globally will eventually have a repercussion on Africa. Lastly, in spite of the fact that the UK is a major trade partner for many African countries, the future of any Africa-UK trade agreement still remains unclear.

To mitigate these major geopolitical risks, African countries need to continue building and strengthening new economic and trade partnerships with other countries. African countries can also create more opportunities with better regional economic integration so as to leverage the huge potential of their local domestic markets.

While the economic growth within the African continent remains resilient, 2020 will still present many challenges that will directly or indirectly affect it. Therefore, carefully navigating through these rough seas is vital to keep fuelling the African growth in the near future.

Richard Li is a partner with STEEL Advisory Partners, a management consulting firm. This article was originally published on howwemadeitinafrica.com

FINANCE minister Mthuli Ncube (pictured) has come under fire from legislators over subsidising mealie-meal at 25% compared to Zupco’s 80% subsidy amid widespread hunger.

BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA

During a Parliament sitting on Wednesday, legislator for Harare North constituency, Allan Norman Markham (MDC) asked Ncube why the country’s staple food is receiving a lower subsidy than Zupco.

“I have a problem subsidising Zupco to the quantity of 80% and yet basic foods where people are hungry, and you see queues all over you are subsidising to the tune of 25%. I cannot see how you can subsidise transport to 80% and people who are hungry only get a subsidy on roller meal of 25%,” he said.

In December 2019, government introduced a mealie-meal subsidy pegged at ZWL$50 per 10kg bag in order to protect vulnerable groups.

However, as hyperinflation continues to spiral, amid a depreciating Zimbabwe dollar, government this week raised the price per 10kg bag to ZWL$70 as millers complained that the maize subsidy was hurting supply.

Based on Treasury research, the cost build-up price of roller meal is ZWL$91 for 10kg and at ZWL$70, the subsidy government is giving is ZWL$21.

Despite the subsidy, retailers are selling the mealie-meal between ZWL$105 and ZWL$130, negating the intended benefit of the subsidy and making the staple food more expensive.

In December 2019, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government revealed that the Zupco subsidy was costing Treasury ZWL$51 million a month, and was not sustainable.

All this comes as eight million people are facing hunger, according to the United Nations.

“Minister, if you hear that people are dying of hunger, are you going to further inflict them by killing them? My suggestion is that when you saw that the black marketers were selling at a high price, was it not right to do for example what you did with the transport situation?” Kwekwe Central MP Masango Matambanadzo (NPF) asked.

“You came up with the Zupco project which actually led to a decrease in fares in the private commuter omnibuses. You fought that situation well, but this current development of increasing mealie-meal prices, have you assisted the ordinary person or you have further burdened them?”

In response to Markham, Ncube said: “Of course we continue to evaluate the relativity of those subsidies — which one should be higher, which one should be lower, should it be at the right level and, in fact, the recent review as of yesterday of the roller meal subsidy price is a result of that kind of analysis.

“If he is saying that we should review the Zupco subsidy and other subsidies, we continue to do these things. We may change it in future, and we may not, but that is normal. I do not think we want to compare one subsidy to another.”

He added: “If you think about it, if the fuel price has increased which it has, it is even more imperative to subsidise transportation for the vulnerable than before. It makes sense to subsidise fuel to this extent.”

RECENT news, which the government has not disputed, suggested that Zimbabwe is not keen on joining the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI). By joining EITI, the mining sector — the main engine for economic growth, would have been opened for citizens to question government and industry on how past and current mining deals are best tailored to contribute to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In October last year, the government launched a blueprint to grow mining sector earnings by 344% to US$12 billion in 2023, up from just US$2,7 billion earned in 2017.

Based on past records and the plunder on Marange diamonds citizens have, however, become sceptical that the envisaged mining sector growth will revamp education and health services.

What the country needs is a framework like the EITI to help surface issues, bring sectors together and build trust among them so that they all come up with solutions together.

Given lack of traction on joining EITI, it is pertinent to reflect on the potential governance gains associated with implementation of EITI. Who wins if Zimbabwe joins EITI?

Winner: Government

According to the Transparency International’s 2019 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Zimbabwe continues to perform badly when it comes to fighting corruption.

With a total score of 24 over 100, Zimbabwe is lowly ranked 158 out of 180 countries by the CPI. Fighting corruption is on the top of government’s agenda; but the public remains sceptical, though.

Joining the EITI will not increase transparency overnight, but it will help the government manage the extractives sector in a more inclusive and transparent manner. Raising transparency will also help minimise speculations and distrust towards the government.
Winner: Host communities, civil society and organizations (CSOs)

Zimbabwe has a lot to work when it comes to citizen engagement. According to the World Governance Index 2017 edition, Zimbabwe scored -1,196 when it came to the “Voice and Accountability” indicator which indicates weak performance.

By joining the EITI, mining communities and CSOs earn a platform to access information and constructively engage with companies and the government.

For a government that seeks to rebrand as a “New Dispensation” and breaking away from old habits of keeping citizens in the dark on mining deals, joining EITI is critical to winning doubters.

Winner: Mining investors, companies

While Zimbabwe was not ranked lowest when it comes to the Mining Investment Attractiveness Index 2018 of the Fraser Institute, it also fares badly on Policy Perception Index compiled by the same institute.

The Investment Attractiveness Index blends mineral wealth potential and policy attractiveness. Joining the EITI can become a game changer for the country as it aims to open the country for business to attract more investments into the mining sector.

Transparency helps level the playing field and ensure that no affiliate of those in power gets more favourable mining contracts. By supporting transparency initiatives, investors can freely compete with one another regardless of affiliation.

It also makes doing business in Zimbabwe less riskier for international investors who are bound by laws on foreign corrupt practices like those in the US and Australia.

Should Zimbabwe join the EITI?

A country like Zimbabwe, whose economy is dependent on its vast mineral wealth, embracing EITI is a critical building block to curb corruption, prove the seriousness of the agenda to open Zimbabwe for business, and to regain public confidence and trust.

Regressive elements in government will always find excuses not to open up the mining sector for public scrutiny.

To prove that this is a new dispensation, actions should speak louder than words. Joining EITI can show that the government is walking the talk.

 Mukasiri Sibanda is an economic governance officer with the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Assocaition

Marco Zaplan is a resource governance and policy specialist working on extractives transparency and data. They both write in their personal capacities.