Sikandar Raza Butt produced his career best bowling figures so far to help Zimbabwe take a firm grip on their second cricket Test match against touring Sri Lanka after day three proceedings at the Harare Sports Club yesterday.

BY KEVIN MAPASURE

Raza took seven wickets at the expense of 113 as the visitors were bowled out for 293 with the innings wrapped up just before tea.

Carl Mumba, Donald Tiripano and Victor Nyauchi took the other three wickets for Zimbabwe.

The seam trio toiled for most of the day and probably deserved more than they got for their efforts, particularly Tiripano, who bowled 12 maidens from his 24 overs conceding just 30 runs while taking a single wicket.
After a long search for a wicket, Mumba took out the big fish when he claimed the scalp of danger man Angelo Mathews (64) with Regis Chakabva taking the catch behind.
Nyauchi retained figures of 1 for 40 after bowling 22.5 overs through the innings.

By close of play yesterday, Zimbabwe had reached 62 for 1 stretching their lead to 175 runs ahead of day four today.

Regis Chakabva and Prince Masvaure will resume on 14 and 26 respectively after play was stopped prematurely following rains. Zimbabwe lost Craig Ervine (13) who faced the new ball together with Masvaure after Kevin Kasuza had been ruled out due to concussion having taken a blow to his helmet fielding at short leg.

It was the only low point for Zimbabwe on an otherwise brilliant day of cricket for the hosts.

It was, however, Raza who illuminated Harare Sports Club as he ripped through the Sri Lanka batting line up.

Incredibly, Raza was not the luckiest man on the pitch with a number of batsmen put down off his bowling.

The part time spinners’ victims included Kusal Mendis (22), whose shot crashed onto Kasuza’s protective head gear before Mumba completed the catch.

He also took out Dimuth Kurunatne, Dinesh Chandimal (6) Dhananjan De Silva (42), Dickwella (1), Suranga Lakmal (5) and Lasith Embuldeniya (5) as he fell narrowly short of Paul Strang’s record of the best bowling figures in an innings by a Zimbabwean.

Strang took 8 for 109 against New Zealand in 2000.

Raza said they were pleased with their performance and will look to continue dominating the match as they go into day four.

“As a team, we should be very happy with where we are at the moment,” Raza said.

“We will look to dictate terms with the bat and hopefully set ourselves up for another good bowling display. We still have a lot of batting in the tank and the first hour and half will be crucial. We are looking at the guys who are in to lay the foundation in the first hour so that we can be more aggressive. I must say today we are pleased with what we did, this is one of my best Test cricket days in my career. ”

This morning, Zimbabwe will be looking to further stretch their lead as they set their sights on winning this match to level the series.

WARRIORS striker Admiral Muskwe has moved a step up in his football career after joining English League Two side Swindon Town from Leicester City on loan until the end of the season.

BY HENRY MHARA

The 21-year-old has been a regular for the English Premiership side’s Under-23 team this season where he has impressed, scoring 10 goals in all competitions.

Muskwe is replacing Eoin Doyle who was recalled from his loan spell in Wiltshire by parent club Bradford earlier this month.

“I am raring to go. I like the style of play here – it’s attacking and I think that will suit me. I’m just eager to get going and try and help the team,” Muskwe said on Tuesday upon joining his new club.

He has been in outstanding form in front of goal for Leicester City’s development squad this term, helping them reach the quarter-finals of the Leasing.com Trophy as well as securing a nomination for the Premier League 2 December Player of the Month.

Muskwe joined Leicester City’s Academy at the age of nine and has represented the club at Under-18 and Under-23 levels.
This season, he has scored 10 goals in 19 appearances for Leicester City’s development squad and is the top goal scorer for a side currently sitting second in the top division of the Under-23 football.

He will now take the next step in his progression by joining Swindon, who currently sit two points clear at the top of the table in the English fourth-tier league.

Swindon have been seeking attacking reinforcements after top goalscorer Doyle returned to Bradford earlier this month, having scored a staggering 23 goals in 30 matches.

He could make his debut for Swindon in the top-of-the-table match with Exeter City on Saturday.

The Warriors star has yet to play a first team game. This will be his first loan spell away from the Foxes. He was part of the Leicester first team squad in pre-season though, where he trained with the likes of Jamie Vardy.
Muskwe has appeared four times for Zimbabwe in the last three years.

He was named in Zimbabwe’s training squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals, but failed to make the cut in the final squad.

His move to a club playing League football could be good news for the Warriors fans who want to see many of their players playing competitive football ahead of Zimbabwe’s busy Afcon and World Cup qualifying campaigns which begin in March.

THE European Union (EU) has bemoaned the slow pace at which government is implementing recommendations made by several election observer teams and the Kgalema Motlanthe Commission meant to address the political crisis in the country brought about by the disputed 2018 elections.

BY MOSES MATENGA

In an interview with NewsDay after the launch of the Zimbabwe Economic Partnership Agreement Support Project in Harare yesterday, EU ambassador to Zimbabwe, Timo Olkkonen, said nothing was moving on the reforms front.

“We want to see faster pace in implementing reforms. It is now one and half years since the TSP (Transitional Stabilisation Programme) was published. That is the main policy document. It is more than a year since the Motlanthe Commission came up with its recommendations in its report,” he said.

“It is way more over than a year when election observation missions gave their recommendations. There are issues around the constitutional alignment such as section 210 about the independent complaints mechanism. So there are issues that we would want to be seeing concrete results delivered on.”

Several election observer missions called for dialogue in Zimbabwe and urged government to act on reforms that include respect for human rights and the Constitution, among others.

The Motlanthe Commission, set up after the August 1, 2018 post-election shootings in Harare, recommended dialogue among the country’s political actors to end polarisation.

Close to two years later, polarisation is still visible in the country with President Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa avoiding to meet to end the debilitating crisis that has crippled the country.
On the humanitarian situation and the need for dialogue to end the political crisis, Olkkonen said: “When one looks at the crisis, of course the EU is doing its best also in providing relief. We have come up with significant humanitarian aid. Our member States are also doing their share.

“If there would be a functioning viable agricultural sector, Zimbabwe would not have been in a position to import support. Likewise in the economic sector, what we are seeing today is a result of years and years of mismanagement and it requires a head-on tackling of issues such as corruption, but also structural issues, for example why the agricultural or mining sectors are not providing the public resources that they would require.”

The EU envoy reiterated the need for political stakeholders to come together and talk with a view to ending the challenges bedevilling the country.

“It is not for the EU to be prescriptive about how Zimbabwe must conduct dialogue, but the situation in the country would warrant a comprehensive dialogue about these issues and to go forward as a nation,” he said.

The High Court has reversed a directive by police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga to close Support Unit Independent College on January 2 this year without prior notice, leaving about 200 pupils stranded.

BY CHARLES LAITON

Matanga closed the college early this month to pave way for the regularisation of the learning institution.

However, High Court judge Justice Amie Tsanga ordered the school to continue operating as regularisation processes simultaneously take place.

“The suspension of the operation of ZRP Support Unit College be and is hereby uplifted forthwith. The school shall reopen for one calendar term being January to April 2020 which period shall serve as notice to all parents, pupils and school authorities to regularise the school’s shortcomings, failure which it shall be closed at the expiry of this period,” Justice Tsanga ruled, ordering Matanga and his co-defendants to pay costs of the suit.
The institution, which was registered with the Primary and Secondary Education ministry a decade ago, but was yet to be formally regularised, mainly served children of junior police officers.

“Whatever the reasons the first respondent (Matanga) had in mind to order the closure of the college, the decision to do so should have been communicated within a reasonable time to afford me (one of the parents) together with other parents enough time to run around and find alternative schools for our children. In the circumstances, it is inconceivable to believe that a notice of less than two weeks is reasonable in this case,” he said.

“Considering that this is a school with more than 200 school children, the first respondent should have considered the serious adverse consequences to be faced by us … to find another school within a period of less than two weeks.”

The parents had submitted that on the closing date or any other date soon thereafter, there was no parents meeting or notification received from any of the police bosses that the college was going to cease its operations at the beginning of January 2020 and would not be opening for the first term.

“In fact, I together with other parents of the students at the college had a legitimate expectation that the college was going to operate throughout the 2020 since the first respondent had already approved the regularisation of the operation of the college. That being the case, we spent the whole school holidays mobilising funds to pay for our children for the first term of 2020. We never made any effort to find alternative schools for our children since the college was operating very well to the satisfaction of most parents and the pupils,” the disgruntled parent said in their High Court application.

An Ireland-based international human rights organisation, Frontline Defenders, has challenged President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to drop charges against seven local activists arrested in May last year after attending a capacity-building workshop in the Maldives.

By Everson Mushava

The seven activists are on bail on charges of receiving training to overthrow a constitutionally-elected government. They will be back in court tomorrow after the court on January 8 rejected their appeal to have their bail conditions relaxed.

They were arrested between May 20 and 27, 2019, on landing at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare.

The workshop was hosted by the Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies and focused on peaceful resistance, but government claimed that the activists had received training in civil disobedience.

But Frontline Defenders, in a statement yesterday said: “Frontline Defenders calls on the Zimbabwean authorities to immediately drop the charges against seven human rights defenders facing prosecution on fabricated charges.”

Its chief executive director Andrew Anderson said he was worried that Mnangagwa’s government, despite the hopes that people had in it, was emulating Mugabe’s toxic human rights record.

“We have a new wave of attacks targeting human rights defenders and civil society in 2019 in Zimbabwe as the first post-Mugabe government seemingly is following its predecessor’s playbook, despite the real hopes of the population in the wake of Mugabe’s removal from power. The case of the seven activists is a major litmus test for the direction Zimbabwe will go in 2020 and beyond. We call on the authorities to quash the charges immediately,” Anderson said.

GWERU residents have threatened to boycott paying rates after the council started implementing a $1,8 billion budget which was allegedly smuggled to the Local Government ministry without their consent.

BY BRENNA MATENDERE

Residents have threatened to resist paying bills until council justifies how it came up with a $1,8 billion budget — a massive jump from last year’s $46 million — and why it has started implementing it before approval by the parent ministry.

The 2020 budget has already seen services being hiked sharply with burial fees having been scaled up from $80 to $1 097 while council-owned two-roomed houses in Mkoba where tenants were paying $40 per month now have to fork out $600. Occupation certificate fee for home seekers was raised from $30 to $5 000 while beacon relocation costs went up to $9 000 from $150.

A fuel service station licence that is renewed annually rose from $3 000 to $84 000. Yearly licence fees for surgeries are now $40 000. Taxi licence fees rose from $85 to $1 419 per year.

In a letter addressed to acting town clerk Vakai Chikwekwe dated January 20, Gweru Residents and Ratepayers’ Association (GRRA) director, Cornelia Selipiwe, demanded an explanation on how the council arrived at the figures.

The letter obtained by Southern Eye yesterday, was copied to Midlands Provincial Affairs minister Larry Mavhima.

“We request justification for tariffs figures in the budget and detailed breakdown of expenditure items for 2020 budget statement,” wrote Selipiwe.

He also asked the acting town clerk to justify exclusion of revenue incomes that will be received by council from different institutions like the government.

“We note the failure by council to identify income from other sources, for example capital expenditure grants from common sources eg Zinara, government grants, public private partnership deals and loans from banks that the council will access. We demand justification for the exclusions and a possible explanation as to whether the council is not expecting anything,” the letter read.

The GRRA leader also took Chikwekwe to task over implementing the budget before it its approval by Local Government minister July Moyo.

“We request justification of implementing the proposed budget statement eg the ongoing levying of trading and health licences before its (budget) approval which is in contravention of the Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29:15) Section 288.”
Contacted for comment yesterday, council spokesperson, Vimbai Chingwaramusee said: “The council held budget consultative meetings with stakeholders and residents so that they can give their input. So that is what came out of the budget consultation meetings. We adjusted the budget in line with the prevailing economic situation.”
However, Selipiwe said the residents never agreed to the high figures in the budget.

“Our worry is also that council did not reveal income from its sources such as grants and money it will get from its premises like residential flats that it is leasing. Also the budget sent to the minister with high figures . . . is not the one which was presented to us during pre-budget consultations in wards,” he said.

A LEGAL battle between Old Mutual, the South African-based pan-African investment, savings and insurance group, and its chief executive officer Peter Moyo has dominated news headlines in the country for the past eight months.

The drama has involved vitriolic public attacks, numerous court cases and claims and counter claims from both parties. It is seldom that such extensive publicity is given to the dismissal of a chief executive of a listed company and to the inner conflicts in a company. These matters are usually resolved internally.

The publicity given to the Moyo saga has brought to the fore some important lessons that should be noted by company directors. The first is about what it says about directors disclosing conflicts of interest. The second is about how tricky it is to reinstate a director once they have been dismissed. In my research I found a few cases where courts have indeed reinstated executive directors. But the process is complicated because relationships have invariably turned sour.

The other useful lesson is what the Old Mutual events tell us about the role of directors – even after they have been fired. Based on my research findings I argue that directors still owe certain duties to the company, such as loyalty, even after they are fired. And that sticking to company policies on engagement with the media is the wise thing to do.

How the saga unfolded

In the middle of last year Old Mutual dismissed Moyo as its CEO because of a breakdown of trust and conflict of business interest. The action was taken because of questions around a dividend payment by an investment firm co-founded and partly owned by Moyo.

A month later a judge ordered Moyo to be temporarily reinstated. But Old Mutual refused to allow him access to his office pending its appeal of this decision. Moyo then launched an application to hold the Old Mutual board in contempt of court.

Early this year a full bench of three judges held that Moyo had been properly dismissed.

The sorry saga isn’t over yet. Moyo is insisting on his reinstatement and is appealing the judgment. He is also continuing with an application for contractual and reputational damages, a contempt of court application and an application to declare the entire Old Mutual board delinquent.

The lessons

The Moyo saga highlights the importance of a director’s duty to disclose any conflict of interests. The Companies Act sets out the rules relating to the disclosure of a director’s personal financial interests in the company’s business.

Directors are in a fiduciary relationship with their company. This means that they must act with loyalty and in good faith. They must not put themselves in a position where their personal interests conflict with their duties to the company. If they have personal interests in a particular matter, they must disclose them to the board. And after disclosure they must not take part in board decisions relating to that matter.

Failure to comply could have serious consequences. For instance, it could render the entire transaction invalid.
Another lesson to be learned from the Moyo saga is that it’s complicated to reinstate executive directors. I did find cases in my research where courts had indeed reinstated executive directors. But the close relationship between a board and an executive director makes it tricky.

The position of a chief executive of a company requires a special relationship of trust and confidence. Old Mutual said that it had lost trust and confidence in Moyo because of his conflict of interest. Moyo in turn said that he lost trust and confidence in the chairman and the directors. He said publicly that he was taking action to have the entire Old Mutual board declared delinquent.

Because of the clear breakdown in trust and confidence, the court said that there was no realistic prospect of Moyo ever being reinstated.

In another case the Constitutional Court also did not reinstate two directors who had been unlawfully dismissed by the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans because it found that their relationship had disintegrated beyond repair.

A court will not readily order the reinstatement of a director where the relationship with the board has broken down. If directors wish to be reinstated after leaving, they must demonstrate that their relationship with the company is still viable.

The dos and don’ts, even after leaving

The other reason Old Mutual cited for losing trust and confidence in Moyo was that he had given public interviews to the media after his suspension in which he criticised Old Mutual. The company said these negative statements breached its media policy and harmed its reputation. It also said that Moyo acted against its interests and that he had not acted according to the standards expected of a chief executive, even though he had been suspended.

Negative publicity about a company can discredit it, and harm the directors’ reputation. It can also affect the company’s share price. The negative publicity suffered by Old Mutual caused its share price to drop by as much as 9,3%.

As fiduciaries, directors must act in good faith and in the best interests of the company. South Africa’s corporate governance code — King IV — recommends that directors should act ethically, beyond mere legal compliance, and that directors should set the tone for an ethical organisational culture.

As I found, even after a director leaves his company, he still owes certain fiduciary duties to the company, such as the duty of loyalty.

Directors should be careful not to breach their company’s media policy — if there is one — even after they leave the company. They should exercise caution in the public statements they make about the company. Making negative statements can lead to the relationship breaking down even further, making their reinstatement impossible. It could also limit their chances of being appointed to other boards because of the fear that they may again harm the company’s reputation.

Rehana Cassim is an associate professor in company law, University of South Africa. This article first appeared on The Conversation.

THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) says it surpassed its net revenue target by 24,65% to register $23,19 billion in the 2019 fiscal year, largely as a result of inflationary pressures.

BY BUSINESS REPORTER

Zimra had originally targeted net revenue collections of $18,6 billion for 2019. However, the continued devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar (ZWL) has brought back hyperinflation.

The tax collector’s 2019 annual report says during the fourth quarter, the authority collected net revenue amounting to $11,71 billion against a net revenue target of $7,95 billion which was 47,27% above target.

“On a cumulative annual basis, the authority collected net revenue of $23,19 billion against a target of $18,60 billion for the year ending December 31, 2019 (24,65% above target). The net revenue to GDP (gross domestic product) ratio for the year 2019 stood at 18% against a regional average ratio of 15%. The authority will continue to implement voluntary and enforcement compliance strategies in order to increase this ratio,” Zimra board vice-chairperson Josephine Matambo said.

“The net revenue collected in quarter four of 2019 grew by 651,29% in nominal terms compared to the same period in 2018. In real terms net revenue collections during quarter four of 2019 grew by 11,44% from the same period last year. Generally, all revenue heads recorded growth in nominal terms which is a reflection of both inflationary pressures and the authority’s revenue collection and enforcement strategies.”

With the Zimdollar continuously devaluing due to insufficient foreign currency and weak market confidence, businesses are raising prices constantly to preserve the value of their goods or services.

This has seen Zimra seemingly benefitting as a result due to the higher margins.

The major tax heads for 2019 were excise duty which contributed 17,75% to net revenue collections, gross VAT sales (16,14%), individual tax (14,8%), and company tax (13,74%).

Matambo said the positive revenue performance was also partly attributed to several revenue enhancement measures that the authority implemented throughout the year.

These measures include a compliance management programme, registering 5 400 new taxpayers, which increased the tax base to 172 497, intensified debt recoveries and special revenue projects strengthening risk-based industries and sector audits on specific tax heads.

“Revenue performance remained positive throughout the year, surpassing revised targets despite the volatile operating environment. With the anticipated GDP growth of 3% in 2020, the authority is optimistic that the annual target of $57,58 billion for 2020 will be surpassed,” Matambo said.

GOVERNMENT and the European Union (EU) have launched a project that will see Zimbabwe access 80% of goods from the EU with no tariffs, making them cheaper.

BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA

The EU has set aside €10 million to support the implementation of the project called the Zimbabwe Economic Partnership Agreement Support Project (Zepa) which was launched yesterday. The agreement comes as trade with the EU forms only about 5% of Zimbabwe’s total trade.

“The EU has liberalised all exports, there is a duty-free, border-free access to all Zimbabwean produce to enter the European market. But, the WTO (World Trade Organisation) also demands reciprocity which means that Zimbabwe also needs to liberalise its market for European imports,” EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe Timo Olkkonen told NewsDay Business shortly after the launch of Zepa.

“And, the 20% imports relate to the amount of protection that Zimbabwe can have as establishing tariff lines, so Zimbabwe over the years will liberalise 80% of its trade and 20% of imports will be protected. So, with imports from the EU, 20% can be protected with tariffs and then 80% can be liberalised. This is not a demand that comes form the EU but from the WTO.”

He added: “Zimbabwe has a huge, huge, trade deficit. But, in fact, the trade between the EU and Zimbabwe is in favour of Zimbabwe. So, Zimbabwe is exporting more than it’s importing from the EU. It is not huge amounts, but horticulture is growing. If I remember correctly, the trade balance is around €150 million positive for Zimbabwe for 2017 or 2018”.

The overall objective of Zepa is to enhance Zimbabwe’s integration into the regional and international trading system and to increase the volume of exports between the EU and Zimbabwe. Through the €10 million grant, the EU will support Zepa through supporting policy improvements, improved trade facilitation and competitiveness and export capacity for small to medium enterprises.

A 37-YEAR-OLD Wedza man is battling for life at Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare after he was accidentally shot on the neck by a police officer who was driving away imbibers from a beerhall at the weekend.

BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA

Fungai Madziro was rushed to Mt St Marys Mission Hospital in Wedza where he was immediately referred to Harare after his condition deteriorated.

According to a computed tomography scan report shown to NewsDay, the bullet entered “zone 2, anterior neck and exited above the scapula on the left side”.

Witnesses said at around midnight on Sunday, some police officers were on patrol when they entered Gehena Beerhall at Wedza Centre and ordered the patrons to leave as it was late into the night. It is alleged that chaos erupted before a police officer identified as Chief Inspector Ndodzo snatched a pistol from his colleague and shot randomly, injuring Madziro who was already outside the building.

Ndodzo is the officer-in-charge at Wedza Police Station.

The matter was reported at Wedza Police Station under CR101/01/20.

Efforts to get an official comment from police in Mashonaland East were fruitless, but sources said the top cop accidentally discharged the firearm, resulting in Madziro being shot.

Madziro’s cousin Tendai told NewsDay that police had not been helpful since the shooting incident.

“I am the one who is running around and the police are not even helping at all, let alone admitting that their boss shot my brother. The bullet ripped through his neck and we are in dire need of financial assistance. He is critical and no one is coming to our aid,” he said.