HERALD journalists who walked away with prizes at the inaugural Zimpapers media awards in May 2007

John Manzongo At the Workplace
A motivated workforce is highly productive.
When one is motivated he or she is pushed, propelled and energised to continue even when he or she is tired and drained.
In the tough economic times that we are living in these days where the economy is not performing to expectations, there is great need for employers to incentivise their workers in various forms. Many workers nowadays are just doing work because they want to earn a salary at the end and end up doing work for the sake of it.

Many companies cannot afford regular pay rises especially where prices of goods and services have remained relatively static for a long period.

Research has shown that in the earliest days that one is employed he or she is so much motivated by the amount of money they will be getting as salary and allowances.  As times goes on, however, the worker starts craving for other things such as promotions.

It is necessary that companies continuously look at ways to promote workers so that they are always looking forward to getting to the next level in their careers. Being stagnant at the same level or position at work for a long time ends up boring and workers start losing interest in their work as it becomes routine.

It is a fact that the whole company cannot be composed of seniors or bosses as there will not be anyone who will work. This is where non-monetary incentives come in place just to rejuvenate workers.  Poorly motivated workers produce sub-standard work, workplace theft and diversion from proper work ethics will also be the order of the day.

Many companies are mainly concerned about getting positive results from their workers without minding to know what workers expect from the company. There is need for feedback forums or channels between employers and workers.

There are various forms of incentives that companies can come up with such as exemplary service awards, profit sharing, hard workers awards, and encouraging comments from employers. Housing and car loans are also great motivators to workers and of course they should be done according to one’s grade or rank. Service awards play a critical role in motivating workers as workers will feel that they are contributing something to the well being of the company, they will fight nail and tooth to stand up for the company’s cause even when outsiders would be castigating it. Service awards give workers a sense of belonging.

Workers are just used to competing for externally organised merit awards where outsiders recognise their efforts yet internally there is no such recognition. This de-motivates workers: recognition must begin at home.

The issue of profit sharing is always a bone of contention at work, rarely do companies publicly declare profits but losses always make up the loudest noises signalling to workers that all is not well.

No one really likes to be associated with a losing team or non performing company.  It is every worker’s dream to work for the best media house, airline, transport, telecommunications, bank, shop etc. Leaders need to know how best to relate to their juniors as many times bosses keep quiet when things are fine and only become vocal when the worker messes up, this if the truth be told greatly de-motivates workers.

It is always good to congratulate juniors when they do well and reprimand them when they perform badly; this is fair play. Many times you hear bosses saying “management is not happy at all about your performance, pull up your socks or ship out”.

This phrase is always said at the workplace but when workers perform employers keep quiet or they just say, “Well tried, you can do better than this”.

This is not encouraging at all it actually makes the worker feel so small and useless. Priority allocation of meagre resources is also another critical area that employers need to work on.

Sometimes a worker would so much want to work but then is let down by lack of resources. An example could be a television station where reporters, presenters and camera persons report for work on time but then there is only one camera which they all must share.

It de-motivates them automatically especially at the same time when the company is prioritising buying luxury cars for its managers at the expense of cameras which are not even expensive.  Sometimes the company under-funds the core departments and over-funds the non-core departments and when they make losses they put the blame on workers.

In some instances workers at non-core areas or departments get car or housing loans or other when the critical staff wallows in want.
Imagine it: a whole professional with loads of experience walking home while a junior secretary at the company’s headquarters driving home in a posh car! Work, work and no play ends up boring, there is need for companies to fund or establish entertainment activities for their workers or even routine mid week sporting activities, something which workers will look forward to.

What is common is that only bosses are awarded such privileges when they are given entertainment allowances, sporting subscriptions fully paid for by the company while forgetting lowly ranked workers who are making the company sustain such luxuries.

Even junior ranks are human beings who deserve all those although they can be inferior activities, it will greatly motivate them. Entertainment or sporting also enables workers from various departments to interact and know each other because many times workers from the same company do not seem to know each other.

Towards year-end many companies always host parties for their workers where they are not allowed to bring their families.
This initiative is incomplete and a mockery when after the lavish party the worker has to go back to his humble, hungry home. Companies should consider buying food hampers for their workers in addition to the parties.

 johnmanzong@gmail.com

Dr Mpofu

Herald Reporter
Government will soon impound livestock that strays onto roads and auction it, the Senate heard last week.
Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Dr Obert Mpofu said Cabinet had already approved a policy framework to that effect.
Dr Mpofu was responding to a question from Bulawayo Metropolitan Senator Matson Hlalo (MDC-T) on what practical steps Government was taking to ensure that the country did not continue to lose lives on the road due to stray animals.

“One thing we are doing is that we are appealing to those who want to join us in the rehabilitation of the roads to include fencing,” he said. “We will also have highway patrols, and Cabinet has approved that, where they patrol our highways as what happens in other countries like South Africa and Botswana.

“If they find stray cattle, they impound and sell. We have come up with measures which we will share with you on their implementation.”
Dr Mpofu said he would soon appoint new boards of vibrant people to run parastatals falling under his portfolio.

This was after Manicaland Senator Cde Monica Mutsvangwa (Zanu-PF) asked about gender balancing in reconstitution of boards.
Responding to another question, Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development Minister Cde Oppah Muchinguri said there was need to vigorously deal with sexual abuse in churches.

She was responding to a question from Mashonaland Central Senator Cde Alice Chimbudzi (Zanu-PF) on an increase in reports of such abuses in churches.

“It is my desire to see a more effective regulatory framework in place to monitor churches,” Minister Muchinguri said.
Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Deputy Minister Supa Mandiwanzira said digitalisation of broadcasting, which should be achieved globally by June 2015, would ensure that all areas of Zimbabwe receive quality transmission.

He said Government was working hard to secure US$30 million for digitalisation.
Mashonaland Central province Senator Damien Mumvuri had asked what Government was doing to ensure all areas receive radio and television signals.

Minister Chinamasa

THE salary mess in parastatals, state enterprises and local authorities has angered many and surprised much of the Government.
Now things are to be put right, and the Government has chosen the correct order of priorities, putting things right first before playing blame games and starting the long, and quite difficult process, of investigating and proving any suspected wrongdoing.
What Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa announced in the National Assembly on Tuesday was practical, fairly easy to implement and effective. It should work. The Government is now assuming, through a task force in the Office of the President and Cabinet, the sort of functions done in the small head office of a diversified private corporation, making sure that the semi-independent units follow strict rules, comply with standard corporate governance codes, and generally do their job.

Until the 1990s State enterprises were either Government departments, falling under the standard rules of the civil service, or were parastatals set up by statute and compelled to report frequently and promptly to Parliament. This system tended to be inefficient, but corruption and abuse of office were minimal.

Commercialisation, changing a parastatal from a statutory entity that the Government was expected to bail out whenever it went into the red, into a company owned by the State was expected to boost efficiency and create managements that looked for profit, or at worst at least paid their way.

In some cases this has worked well. We have profitable enterprises, owned fully or partially by the State, that are commercially run and which generate their own finance and make profits. This newspaper is owned by one.

In other cases it has not worked so well. Air Zimbabwe, to pluck an example at random, is not a lean private airline generating profit and filling a market need. It is a loss-making, overstaffed company with commercial deals that really should have been made through standard procedures laid down by shareholders in the private sector. Those arrested may well be innocent. But if they had followed a modern standard code of business they would not have been arrested in the first place.

Under commercialisation there was a lot of loose talk about paying staff and executives “the market rate”. Well salaries at some enterprises are way over market rates. In any case, the private sector tends to pay well for success, and tends to reward failure with dismissal.

We agree in principle that those working for a State enterprise should be paid roughly what they would earn if they were working for a similar private-sector company, so long as they also accept that they pay the price of failure as well as reap the rewards of success. And it is fairly easy for the Government to find out what sort of remuneration the private sector offers. Most private companies would be willing to pass on these sort of details, at least in confidence.

Moving permanent secretaries from boards was also necessary. The linesmen cannot play on the team. Running a Government ministry and running a company require different sorts of people; but permanent secretaries have to be ready to raise the flag if something weird appears to be happening at a State enterprise under their ministry.

This worked well in the 1980s when Harare municipality was ready to award top officials large increases. The local government permanent secretary stepped in and stopped the nonsense.

It is fairly clear that the present mess was created by a small group who were involved with far too many State enterprises in several capacities. They were able to manipulate Enterprise A by stating what was happening, on their watch, at Enterprise B. Well that has now also stopped.

And the Government has rediscovered what the private sector has always known. Good regular and detailed audits are vital. In fact, the enterprises where the State has a substantial shareholding and which are largely free of the sort of problems facing many others are those which have to follow the strict rules of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, rules developed by generations of shareholders wanting to ensure their money is used wisely.

Minister Chinamasa has now announced that everyone else will follow similar rules.

Traffic Friday Gerald Maguranyanga
IN much of the world, road traffic safety issues are treated, acceptably so, as a matter of life-and-death. A fool-proof system, with ample checks-and-balances, is what leads to one suitably acquiring a driver’s licence. It means that any aspiring driver routinely invests quite a bit of honest, dedicated work and is subjected to fine scrutiny. When satisfied on competence, the licensing authority may issue a deserved, full driver’s licence. Brown envelopes exchanging hands under the table to grease the process are an abomination.

Sadly, in Zimbabwe, our profoundly corrupted driver training and licensing system is so permissive, it is safe to conclude that many licences were ill-acquired without subjection to the obligatory examination. Consequently, the proficiency of anyone behind the wheel is not guaranteed.

Needless to say, it is enormously vital that each driver is competently taught to be safe for self and other road users. See, as Zimbabwe’s Highway Code (our road traffic rule book) matter-of-factly pronounces . . . “a vehicle is a good means of transport but a dangerous weapon in the hands of reckless people.” An unlicensed driver is evidently in the class of the reckless, and easily, a potential mass-murderer.

I like the Highway Code’s stressing, very early-on, in the little book, the indispensable need for a driver’s licence.
“You must be in possession of a Zimbabwean or other recognised driver’s licence (for you to drive legally). If you hold no recognised licence, you may take out a learner driver’s licence which allows you to drive on public roads to gain experience before undergoing the test for your full driver’s licence. The learner’s licence is only issued after you have passed a test on the rules of the road and the traffic signs and signals…” Aha, well-said but comparing that ideal to the existing reality on the ground, we need to re-articulate that!

“You must be in possession of a Zimbabwean or other recognised driver’s licence. If you hold no recognised licence, you may corruptly purchase a learner driver’s licence which allows one to drive on public roads to gain experience before undergoing the same fraudulent process to acquire your full driver’s licence… dishonestly evading the requisite test on the rules of the road and the traffic signs and signals . . . ”In Zimbabwe, it is legendary that if you cannot be bothered to endure the learning and testing system, and can afford it, corruptly purchasing a licence is the way out. It is hassle-free and as easy as eating sadza!”

The licensing corruption involves a sordid network of persons that includes crooked driving school instructors and VID examiners. It is always said if an aspiring driver is not willing to play ball, testing conditions are roughened, making it impossible to pass, even with multiple attempts.
In other words, resolute inducement for a candidate to bribe the examiner rears the same ugly head whichever way you turn. Many unwilling participants are reluctantly swallowed up by the controlling bribe-taking system, consequently discharging unsafe drivers. Surely, that helps to explain the burdensome carnage Zimbabwe endures.

An unidentified commentator, not content with those that blame poor roads and the police for the plenty accidents, strongly expresses these sentiments:  “Zimbabweans are an amazing lot when it comes to the blame game. A motor vehicle is driven by a human being first and foremost, it does not drive itself. So the human being, the driver, is responsible for what his vehicle does on the road.

There are laws that govern the driving of the motor vehicle by an individual as well as the use of the road when driving. To begin with, the law requires that one has to obtain a certificate of competence (driver’s licence) before driving a vehicle. How often do we hear that people drive vehicles without this fundamental requirement, especially kombi drivers? If one has not cut corners, by the time they are issued with the certificate of competence they would be in a position to competently handle a vehicle . . .”

In a few words, improperly licensed drivers cause many accidents. Not the bad roads; not the weather, nor the poor police.
A few decades back (I have been around quite a bit!), the perception, which is fact for a lot of people, was always that the VID was a decadent organisation.

In fact, the strong view was always that the VID was, by a mile, the most-corrupt organisation in Zimbabwe.
Why? Everyone believed and probably still does, that it is actually unproblematic buying a licence at the VID, without any testing at all!
Figures up to as much as $500 are thrown about as the cost of a licence, particularly if one wants a heavy truck or bus driver’s licence. It is a scary thought that a whole bus or heavy truck can be driven via such false pretences!

Authorities must affirm, loudly-and-clearly, that licence-less driving is intolerable and heavily punishable, not by a fine, but a clearly deterrent custodial sentence.

Last year, dozens of fake kombi drivers were exposed; many were sentenced to custodial sentences up to one year long. But, is that enough deterrence for a wrongdoing which may have deadly consequences? In the same vein, even though it takes two to tango, in my view, the official taking the bribe exhibits higher moral blameworthiness and must suffer severe penalties that should include an immediate loss of their job and benefits, and a fast-tracking of their prosecution.

Zimbabwe suffers much as a result of such corruption. Unhappily, the authorities seemingly drag their feet in prosecuting such malaise. To their credit, the only government arm that apparently deals swiftly and harshly with proven cases of internal corruption is the Zimbabwe Republic Police.

I advise the new Minister of Transport to fully digitalise the licensing process. The existing metal ID is an Iron Age relic unfit for today. Please second your officers to study other effective, incorruptible systems worldwide. Our driver training and testing should be user-friendly and proficient to curtail corruption.

The Commissioner General of Police is encouraged to relentlessly crack down, 24/7, on unlicensed drivers, particularly the rebellious kombi drivers, till they fully-comply with licensing requirements. The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport has, sadly, been too quiet for my liking, in spite of fast-moving events on the ground. It’s a Friday; please keep the driving ‘happy, happy!’

Gerald Maguranyanga moderates Road Safety Africa, on www.facebook.com/RoadSafetyAfrica, an interactive community page that solicits ideas to curb road traffic accidents in Zimbabwe and Africa. Feedback: WhatsApp only: +263 772 205 300; email: gmaguranyanga@yahoo.com

Bantu Holomisa

Udo W. Froese
After the May elections this year, new political party alliances will be formed. The goal is South Africa’s complete political transformation with new alliances taking over. The following is an unscientific, however, strategic pattern analysis. Since 1999, former Transkei Bantustan military dictator, General Bantu Holomisa, has been preaching the formation of an opposition alliance to challenge the ruling ANC.

When the breakaway political party, the ‘Congress of the People’ (COPE) split into two after the fallout between COPE’s leaders, Mosiuoa Terror Lekota and Mbazima Sam Shilowa, the new breakaway joined General Holomisa’s United Democratic Movement (UDM).

Having been in good contact with the ‘Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)’ and the ‘Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU)’ from their onset, the former Transkei general stated shortly after the COPE breakaway had joined his UDM, “This is just the first manifestation of a black dominated coalition.” Holomisa added in his Sunday Independent newspaper interview, “Our people (South African electorate) are bitter. That’s why I say this election can be the beginning of real change in South Africa. It will come slowly. But it is coming.”

Under South Africa’s late former president Nelson Mandela and his ANC-led government, Holomisa served as a deputy minister of tourism. Soon he fell out with the ruling African National Congress (ANC). He then formed a new political party with former colonial-apartheid minister of defence, Roelf Meyer. Meyer had served to the end of the white apartheid era as minister of defence under his former colonial-apartheid president and one of the secret Boer brotherhood (Afrikaaner Broederbond, AB) senior members, FW de Klerk. But Meyer soon opted out of his UDM with Holomisa.

Is general Bantu Holomisa the dark horse in the forthcoming elections? When will a new alliance between his UDM and COPE-2, AMCU, possibly a breakaway from NUMSA, Agang SA and a host of political parties on the fringe, be formed? He talks of a “forced coalition”.

Like Holomisa, National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa’s (NUMSA) secretary general, Irvine Jim, also hails from the Eastern Cape.
A host of small political parties on the fringe would join the new alliance Holomisa lobbies towards. He hopes to win 5 percent to 6 percent of the national vote.

Agang SA’s Mamphela Ramphele has no hope at all to lead any political party, not to mention, becoming president of the country. She is just too erudite with no foot on the ground. She is accused of being unable to complete anything she touches.

As Ramphele shares the same donors with the Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, Helen Zille, she would serve her masters better in the Holomisa camp. Though the DA has similar plans for 2019, they differ. The fall-out between Ramphele and Zille seemed to be part of a strategy yet to unfold.  The difference between Holomisa and Ramphele is quite obvious. Despite having been a former Bantustan military dictator, Holomisa remains hands-on and therefore relevant to local politics. He is respected in the Eastern Cape and has earned his stars. Unlike elitist Ramphele, boots-on-the-ground Holomisa is not just an airy-fairy token for the many well-heeled international Western interest groups.

In fact, Holomisa is by far the strongest and most credible of all political leaders in the opposition. All other opposition leaders are lightweight in comparison. If the ANC could rake him back into its fold, the thunder of a breakaway to the left from the ruling party by 2019 would be thwarted. The centre of the ANC would hold then. The DA would like to go it alone until 2019. It would continue with its strategic overt and covert efforts to weaken the ruling ANC. By its own admission, the DA plans to take over the Union Buildings in Pretoria. However, it seems that the DA has realised that it might not quite make it on its own. Therefore, the new DA strategy seems to attempt a coalition agreement with the ANC by 2019, after the ruling party has been severely undermined and weakened.

A long serving senior member of COSATU’s central executive committee (CEC) and of the ANC leadership said, “The DA and its backers seem to work on a group of COSATU affiliates. Those include the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU), the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU), the Chemical Workers Union (CWU), and regional representations of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), excluding its headquarters.”

He explained his above-mentioned point; “The opposition Democratic Alliance would need to build a large enough power-base in preparation for a serious strategy of forming a coalition agreement with the ANC by 2019.”

The role and the timing of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) seems to depend on its current leader’s situation. The question mark over Julius Malema’s political future and his leadership of the EFF would be addressed once the provisional sequestration order is finalised. Malema would see his political aspirations for a seat in Parliament evaporate, as being an unrehabilitated insolvent would prevent him from being a member of the National Assembly. Malema would just be dumped then, and Dali Mpofu might hope to quickly take over leadership of the EFF. However, he seems to lack credibility.  Some 90 percent of the Marikana mineworkers hail from the Eastern Cape. Even the Sangoma, who addressed the crowds shortly before they clashed with the police, was from Pondoland in the Eastern Cape.

In the above context, it would seem that the timing could be right for the EFF to join the new coalition after the elections, Holomisa works hard for. New political parties would converge. They could vote in a block in Parliament with a new, now defunct ‘Namibian-style Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA)’ type of coalition. The new executive of the emerging political alliance possibly led by Holomisa would then show its hand. Would disgraced former COSATU general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi become the shadow economic minister? Would the likes of AMCU head, Joseph Matunjwa, NUMSA secretary general Irvine Jim, Agang SA leader Mamphela Ramphele and a possible new head of EFF, Dali Mpofu, be part of the new executive?

If that would be the case, could one assume that the AmaXhosa in the Eastern Cape are attempting to get back into national power? There could be power wrangling between Holomisa and Vavi for the top post, if the above pattern analysis is realised. Jim too could enter the new power struggle and Dali Mpofu could aim at finance. This would be the perfect storm.

All roads leading to those power political developments point to one of the country’s strategists, former recalled president Thabo Mbeki. He was accused of being behind the breakaway formation of COPE after his defeat in Polokwane in December 2007. COPE consists mainly of Mbeki’s followers. Allegedly, he was also seen with Bantu Holomisa, Mamphela Ramphele, Julius Malema, Mosiuoa Lekota and many others, who seem to share a common interest in destroying the ANC. Thabo Mbeki remains strategic — politically very active.

Currently, there seems to be a drive to cause a migration from the ANC, while creating a coalition of interest to the left of South Africa’s ruling party. Definite emergent patterns are taking place. NUMSA’s Jim announced the breakaway from the tripartite structure, forming a new, socialist political party.

The political manoeuvring seems centred around South Africa’s platinum mining industry in its belt outside Rustenburg. It is currently one of the biggest revenue-earners for the country.

The South African rand currency value is weakened and wealth creation phased out. The strikers are used as cannon fodder, as their demands for a wage increase of ZAR12 500 seems too difficult to realise. It would give the owners of the platinum mining industry around Rustenburg a gap to close their mines down. The platinum deposits in the Limpopo province seem to be more attractive than those around Rustenburg. In other words, the strikes would suit the owners of the platinum industry.

If the above pattern analysis proves to be a reality by 2019, it could be described as a ‘real power political scam’ as it has indeed little to do with ‘democracy’.

Udo W. Froese — is non-institutionalised, independent political and socio-economic columnist, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. — theotherafrika.wordpress.com

The Flip Side  Kuthula Matshazi
AS Zimbabwe attempts to recover and establish a prosperous and progressive economy that benefits its people, it will need to adopt such an approach, which is based on the concept of efficiency. According to Joseph Heath, in his book titled “The Efficient Society”, efficiency is a principle that allows people with different goals and aspirations to engage in mutually beneficial co-operation. Efficiency allows societies to operate at optimum producing mutually beneficial outcomes for the citizens and the country.

Two examples will contextualise the concept. The polarisation of Zimbabweans led to the MDC calling for the imposition of economic sanctions against the country as a political strategy to topple the Zanu-PF government. The MDC was determined to get into power by all means necessary, and it believed that if it destroyed the Zimbabwean economy, it would weaken the government leading to its collapse.

The second example relates to the recent exposure of corruption. Systemic corruption was exposed in State owned enterprise (SEOs), parastatals and local governments where senior managers earned obscene salaries and grossly flouted corporate governance principles. These two examples show people motivated by greed and selfish interests at the expense of the nation.

The intention of these actions was never to achieve mutually beneficial co-operation that would leave everybody better off. The economic sanctions plunged the country and its citizens into poverty, while white collar crime has deprived citizens of basic public goods such as access to healthcare, water and electricity.

A society becomes efficient if the condition of one person is improved without compromising that of another. If we allow and support the pursuit of our ideas and goals in common or individually, we all benefit. If the MDC pursued its political agenda in a deliberative fashion, it would still have managed to influence the national political process in a manner that would not have undermined the economic interests of the citizens and the country.

In fact, it would have earned the reputation of a responsible opposition, and based on that reputation, put itself in good stead to probably win the elections. Similarly, if the senior managers in the public service, for instance, the Premier Service Medical Association, had not spent a large proportion of revenue on compensation, the health of citizens would not have been compromised. Citizens would have been able to access healthcare, which is important for building strong and healthy communities, and a healthy national labour force.

An efficient society, according to Heath, is determined by the level of support each society provides to its members. The support does not necessarily have to come from the government, although it is a significant party to achieving efficiency.

Despite differences such as political beliefs, religion, gender, etc. there are activities that people can work together to achieve mutually beneficial selfish interests, which leave everyone in a better position. People can operate markets and businesses, in a transparent and responsible manner to create decent paying jobs that allow the expansion of the economy and enhance the standard of living or look after the disadvantaged and vulnerable who later turn to be friends, customers, and workers when they have been empowered.

The MDC would have managed to achieve a change in the political landscape without subjecting people to poverty and literally destroying the economy. Similarly, managers such as those from the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation would have created a happy, productive workforce, affording a decent standard of living in the midst of economic sanctions. However, the managers chose obscene remuneration while failing to pay salaries of their workers for six months. ZBC managers undermined the principles of an efficient society.

A potentially lasting benefit of an efficient society is that it creates sustainable opportunities and positive relationships for a greater majority of people.

If we all work together, individually and in common, we succeed in providing opportunities for everyone, including the selfish. For instance, if ZBC operates as a profitable entity, then it pays its workers decent salaries, and promotes local artists while fulfilling its cultural, informational and entertainment mandate.

The corporation would create an ever-growing business model, which guarantees not only continued employment to the managers and staff, but potentially more opportunities that are not based on corruption. This applies to all other institutions which are part of our socio-economic system.

It is not easy to create an efficient society, but citizens and institutions such as government and the private sector can start by making small steps, reflecting on how their actions promote an efficient society.

SM Hali
Sino-Pak relations have withstood the test of time and signify the expression of mutual respect, deep sentiments of affinity and natural political alliance. Relations between the two are based on righteous policies and principled pledges, which have culminated in each nation providing support to the proposals, plans and interests of the other at regional and international forums, including conclaves and conventions at the United Nations, global trade moots, resolution of regional and international disputes and initiatives to espouse ethical and legal issues while endorsing initiatives having political implication for both China and Pakistan.

China has been unequivocal in its support of Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir and the related UN resolutions on the subject.
Both countries have complete unity of thought regarding each other’s strategic thinking and policy framework.

Wise leaders on both sides have framed superlatives to describe Sino-Pak relations but the depth and strength of the ties are beyond words since they are a manifestation of the feelings of two nations and not just their governments or leaders.

The new leaderships, which took up the mantle of control in both China and Pakistan, in keeping with tradition, gave preference to visiting each other and reiterating iron-clad bonds as well as examining fresh avenues of development and economic opportunities with divergent spread of commerce, trade and business in the regional and international arenas.

The all weather strategic partnership between Pakistan and China is sometimes viewed with envy and, at times, petty jealousy by some regional as well as international powers like the US and some other powers of the Occident.

The region, including the Indian Ocean, is rich with natural resources and an energy-starved world is vying to acquire control of mineral reserves as well as oil, gas and coal reserves.

Their ambitions know no bounds. And in keeping with their colonial philosophy and bid to dominate energy sources, they are tempted to try and create a wedge between China and Pakistan by igniting mistrust and planting seeds of doubt between the two friends.

A recent analysis titled ‘China in Pakistan: An Awkward Relationship Beneath the Surface’, published by the Royal United Strategy Institute (RUSI Newsbrief, January 15, 2014) is a clear example of this kind of thinking.

The US and other Western powers, being economic rivals of China, are trying to create suspicions between China and Pakistan, who are planning to undertake mega economic projects like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor connecting the Pakistani port of Gwadar with Kashgar in Xinjiang region of China, construction of dams for Pakistan, which has been badly hit by the energy deficit, and Chinese investment in the Pakistani textile, energy, banking, commerce, telecommunications and industry sectors, and numerous other development projects.

It appears that the evergreen friendship between China and Pakistan has become a major source of concern for the economic rivals of China.
An article titled ‘Cheen ki WikiLeaks’ (Wikileaks of China) in a leading Pakistani Urdu daily, published on January 27, 2014, also expressed similar sentiments over Pak-China cooperation, claiming that rampant corruption in China will be hazardous for Pakistan.

The op-ed recommended that the government of Pakistan should not place all its eggs in the Chinese basket.
The article maliciously implied that the Chinese are likely to cheat their Pakistani counterparts.

It is not a mere coincidence that all the sources quoted by the author of the article are western websites (The Global Mail and International Consortium of Investigative Journalists), thus casting a shadow of doubt on the veracity of the report.

The leadership as well as the people of Pakistan must be cognisant of the mindset of the protagonists who are bent upon driving fissures into Sino-Pak relations.

The rapid growth and development of China, which has propelled it to become the second largest economy of the world, poised to take the leading position, has caused the Occident to be wary of the Chinese.

Pakistan’s endeavour to benefit from its Chinese deep-rooted friendship and largesse to come out of the current morass of economic catastrophe is also viewed with misgivings. The detractors of Pakistan would like to see Pakistan unstable and weak. The antagonists of Sino-Pak relations must realise that Pak-China friendship is based on special bonds and that both countries wish to see these relations grow further and remain everlasting.

Hali is renowned Pakistani scholar who writes on political, social and foreign policy matters.

If anything, the lure of quick riches from tobacco farming have turned into a national catastrophe. The whole country is being turned into a desert by people cutting down trees to cure their tobacco

Joram Nyathi Group Political Editor
MEDIA reports estimate that at least 2,2 million Zimbabweans will need food assistance before the harvest this year. This is a staggering figure. However, deputy Agriculture minister Paddy Zhanda has described the figure of 2,2 million as an exaggeration. His view is that there are pockets of food insecure people around the country.

The good and the bad news is that we have had exceptionally good rains this year which have unfortunately created a crisis of their own by washing away crops and displacing thousands of families in the Tokwe-Mukosi dam basin in Masvingo, Muzarabani in Mashonaland Central and Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North.

Those arguing over the number of people who will need food assistance did not foresee the latest catastrophe, which means we have a bigger challenge still whether the figures are inflated or not.

In its blueprint for 2013-18, Zim Asset, Government gives agriculture pride of place under the “Food Security and Nutrition Cluster”.
This is concomitant to the much-maligned land redistribution programme. Zimbabwe should be able to feed itself. Failure to do so would be a boon for those opposed to black economic empowerment.

But progress has been very slow in this area, which could in part explain the reluctance of neighbouring nations to follow Zimbabwe’s bold land reclamation programme.

Over the past few years the country has had to go begging for food aid. Those able to help have had a field day. We have been pointed at as an example to others why they should not destabilise white farmers who seized land through colonial conquest.

No need to over-emphasise how this donor-dependency can be a serious security threat to any nation when it is used to manipulate hungry villagers in the countryside and turn everybody into a cynic about Government programmes.

Estimates put Zimbabwe’s annual maize requirements at 1,8 million metric tonnes.
This year the country is forecast to get about 1,2 million MT.
Zim Asset sets a target of 1,9 million MT by 2018.

This is too small a figure given that an estimated 300 000 families were resettled on about 10 million hectares acquired since 2000.
Part of our problem is that we are simply getting the mix wrong.

The success of the land reform programme is now measured more in terms of how much tobacco is produced per year rather food self-sufficiency, which should be our topmost priority.

If anything, the lure of quick riches from tobacco farming have turned into a national catastrophe.
The whole country is being turned into a desert by people cutting down trees to cure their tobacco.
There is need for Government intervention.

As a country we need stiff  penalties  for  people who wantonly cut down  indigenous trees without planting  replacements.
The risk is that at the rate trees are being cut and the effects of climate change, we might not be able to produce enough food, hence the task to protect our environment and our future cannot be left to the Environmental Management Agency.

While this disaster is unfolding, Government has not given food production the urgency and priority it deserves.
The supply of seed and fertiliser has often been slow and erratic. When rains come people are found without draught power or fuel.

In fact more resources were poured into this sector during the euphoria of land occupations when people didn’t even know what they were doing, than what is being provided now when people are starting to commit themselves and take farming a serious business.

Everyone who got land for free should be compelled to put a portion of his hectarage under maize.
For its part, Government needs to offer competitive prices, at high enough so that farmers committed to maize production don’t shift to tobacco farming which is proving to have disastrous ramifications.

There is need to urgently provide resources to the GMB and Agribank for them to play their pivotal role in agriculture.
The success of the land reform programme should not be measured in terms of how much tobacco is taken to the sales floors.

It should not be measured purely on the numbers of people resettled nor the number of white former commercial farmers displaced.
It should and must be measured in terms of productivity and the nation’s food self-sufficiency. We cannot continue to import food at a higher cost than we pay local farmers. It’s an embarrassing scandal.

There is also need for detailed and more accurate information on weather patterns.
As this year has just unpredictably demonstrated, it is not enough to tell farmers that “there will be normal to above normal rainfall”.
It gets worse when that normal to above normal rainfall comes late in the season, as happened this year.

By the time the rains came around December a number of farmers in the maize belt of Mashonaland West had not started ploughing.
They had already declared a drought year.

Yet if they had been given accurate information, the situation could have been saved.
Instead we are now faced with the irony of having one of the wettest rain seasons with very low maize production in the country’s richest soils.
We need to get our priorities right. As they say, a hungry man might easily forget his way to the synagogue.

Let Zimbabweans be proud of their country, not to earn the notoriety of a nation which got back all its resources but can’t feed itself.

In this file picture Cde Chinotimba addresses the National Assembly

Lloyd Gumbo Mr Speaker Sir—
When news filtered through that Joseph Chinotimba had won the Buhera South National Assembly seat on July 31, 2013, I am sure most people exclaimed in shock, “Oh my word, we are in trouble. Chinotimba where, in Parliament? What will come out of that House?” For many, it was the beginning of the end of qualitative debate in the august House and by extension the signal of an end to what parliamentary dignity and honour should be.

What will happen when he comes face-to-face with one Thamsanqa Mahlangu whom he once accused of stealing his mobile phone?
To most people, these were genuine questions.

I must confess that I feared too that “Chinoz”, as he is popularly called by all-friend and foe, would suffer the same fate as one Roy Bennett.

I thought Chinoz would not last a day in Parliament after going berserk, assaulting those from the opposition for provoking him.

I thought of a man who would not accept sitting in the same House with those from the opposition given that his party had the majority.

I had a rough time when I penned the last instalment about the need for us to have educated MPs because for some reason, I thought people would think I was aiming at Chinoz.

If being a “proper” parliamentarian is about being educated, then Chinoz kills my argument.

He reminds me of a dispatch by international relations scholar, Frederick Schuman in the book “International Politics” under the Chapter “Art of Diplomacy” where he says; “The late Duke of Tuscany, who was a remarkably wise and enlightened prince, once complained to a Venetian ambassador, who stayed overnight with him on his journey to Rome, that the Republic of Venice had sent as resident at his court a person of no value, possessing neither judgment nor knowledge, nor even any attractive personality.” “I am not surprised”, said the Ambassador in reply; “we have many fools in Venice, but we take care not to export them.”
Most people must have thought Chinoz to be a fool who knew nothing at all.

But alas, here is a man who can stand tall today and justifiably claim that he has beaten all the MPs in terms of performing his mandate, as law-maker debating serious motions with aplomb while at the same time being an MP who is alive to the concerns of his constituency.

Chinotimba has proved himself the opposite of what everyone thought him to be. Mr Chinotimba’s life has been checkered. He had a meteoric rise to prominence during the largely successful land redistribution programme of 2000.

His face became synonymous with the voice of the people as he rallied the masses to redress what was largely the dominance of whites in land ownership.  His face became the postscript of the national defiance to the imbalances created by a violent colonial past.
Also of note, though, is that he was, in a way, a leader in the making.

He was the president of the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions and the National vice-chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association. Joining the City Council in 1982 as a security guard, he rose to become a chief inspector and by the time he left in 2008, he had made a name for himself due to his militancy and questioning of the power structures obtaining in the city council then.

I am not the one to interrogate Chinotimba’s educational qualifications, but from the general perceptions, people think its basic. This, though has not impeded his level of debate in the House.

One needs to go to the Hansard and scan through Chinoz’s contributions which have become an everyday face of the National Assembly debate.
He has touched all and sundry, from the Local Government, the Judiciary, and quizzed the hierarchy in education.

The way he comprehends issues at hand when debating in the House makes one wonder whether this was the same Chinoz who was butt of several jokes doing rounds both on social media and public gatherings. He is his own man, who cares not about the consequences of his contributions in the House. He has indeed raffled feathers across the political divide.

Chinotimba is the face of those who believe in servitude. If one checks how emotional he becomes when talking about national interest, you would pray, if we only had about 20 such representatives, we would not be drowning in the current salarygate scandals.

During his debates, he has also added another humorous side to the august House.  He has queried the laughter in the House whilst debating on the hunger that is stalking his Constituency “Wanhu wane nzara, mapere ane nzara”.

Even among themselves, MPs know that Chinoz is more popular than what they could have imagined.
It will not be long before the man gains enough experience, shades militancy in his debates and replace it with focused cool approach. When not making headline news in Parliament, he will be in his constituency initiating developmental projects. He is the kind of MP voters would say truly represents them.

Chinoz recently facilitated a bursary, uniforms and boarding sponsorship for a hyena attack victim from his constituency.
He has intervened on buses that violate their timetables in his constituency, thus exposing villagers to hyena attacks when they go to catch buses late at night.

“This is not time to relax but it is time to walk the talk and deliver what we promised the people during the campaigns for the 2013 harmonised elections,” said Chinoz while addressing school heads in his constituency during the launch of a soccer tournament for primary schools recently.
“What people need now is action which brings development in their communities, which is one of the major reasons why they voted for us.”

Feedback: lloyd.gumbo@zimpapers.co.zw

Early last month, we published a story based on a December 2013 report by consulting engineer Mr Peter Morris in which the expert highlighted that a water deal between the City of Harare and China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation could have been inflated to the tune of US$100 million.

As has become the norm with some public officials in Zimbabwe, city authorities tried to deny that there was something horribly amiss with the deal that was signed in 2010 by Town Clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi and CMEC.

No one in Zimbabwe’s public office has ever done anything wrong. Everything bad about the economy, infrastructure, water, electricity, education, health and sport is as a result of some natural cause or sanctions.

Our public officials are, apparently, hardworking angels who have never put a foot wrong and we should all be eternally grateful that they take their precious time to serve us – for hefty salaries, of course.

Yesterday, we carried another story on how the City of Harare could lose 733,9 hectares of land because of the Airport Road deal with Augur Investments.

From the word go, questions have always been raised about the costing of the project and the awarding of the contract.
Again, as is natural with our super-perfect public officials, the media were just criticising for the sake of criticising.

Never mind that people have a genuine expectation of transparency from these offices, moreso when the deals mean the public lose tens of millions of dollars in spectacularly opaque circumstances.

Regarding the Airport Road mess-up, one of the readers of The Herald Online, Wilson Magaya, made a very interesting observation yesterday.
He said, “7,4 million square metres. Wow this was an ill-structured deal by the city. This comes to a whopping 88 million (US) dollars of council land at a conservative price of US$12 (per square metre).”

By any measure and standard, the deal is simply illogical. Not so for our public authorities.
What we would like to see now is action from Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo on the Augur Investments Airport Road contract, the CMEC water infrastructure rehabilitation deal, and many other deals at the City of Harare and other local authorities over past years.

Dr Chombo will be well aware that a significant proportion of the public is not exactly enamoured of how he has handled certain local government issues, especially his reinstatement of Harare Town Clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi after he had been suspended by city mayor Mr Bernard Manyenyeni.

Dr Mahachi had been suspended for reportedly failing to furnish council with a full schedule of what he and other senior managers at the municipality were earning.

Much of the public thought that the suspension would indeed pave way for some sort of investigation into the salaries issue at Town House, and that Dr Chombo almost immediately reinstated him certainly raised eyebrows.

There is a perception in some quarters that the Harare town clerk and Dr Chombo are a little too cosy.
It would be quite welcome to see a robust response from Dr Chombo at least on the Airport Road Augur Investments and CMEC water rehabilitation deals.

We know that Dr Chombo is capable of robust action as seen by his interventions on alleged and proven corruption by councillors.
It would be good to see the same stern response to alleged corruption, abuse of office and sometimes sheer ineptitude on the part of municipal managers.

Dunamis with Bishop B Manjoro
Today, I want to talk to you about the man who refused to be number two. He was a fighter and never gave up in life. He fought even before he was born and his name is called Jacob. In life you need not be average or settle for mediocrity in whatever you do. Refuse to run an average business, to have average grades, average health or even an average marriage and finances, no. You were not born to be such in life.

You are a creature of dominion.

Discover today, how you can fight and break free from the hold of mediocrity in life and how you can release the untapped supernatural power and potential to succeed in life. You were born to be number one.

Rebekah, Isaac’s wife was expecting, ‘. . . and the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so why am I thus?
And she went to enquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.’ Genesis 25:22-23. Right from the onset, there was war in the tummy, which became a battleground. The babies, though yet unborn, knew that destiny awaited them outside, hence struggled and contended to be number one in life.

Naturally there is a predisposition in human beings to want to be number one in life. Not that one will be envious or against others, No. But just to be above and to be the head. It’s fundamental if you are to be the best in life for you to be wanting and enthusiastic from inside you. Don’t die before you die or quickly surrender. You may have come out bad in your O level exams yet that’s not the end of the road. There is light at the end of the tunnel. All successful people; are people who told themselves, I will never give up. Winners never quit and quitters never win, in life. God desires and want you to be number one. Believe it and accept it.

However, even if God desires us all to be number one in all we do; not all of us are number one. Like to Jacob, he lost it, in the first round of life in the womb since his brother Esau came out first. Ever believed and hoped you would win or make it in something and it somehow seems like it has flopped? The heavy feeling! Aimed for A’s and you came out with U’s? Aimed for a happy marriage yet there are brawls and quarrels every night?

Aimed for a particular job or position and it never came? Played a game anticipating winning but got white-washed? Whatever situation it is you found yourself in, God gave me this word for you; Don’t Give Up.

Refuse to be average. Refuse to be number two. Jacob refused and though outdone, by Esau he came out with a reminder; ‘his hand took hold on Esau’s heel’ Genesis 25:26. He told himself I may have lost it here but I will be number one somewhere in life. I also think the delivery delayed a bit because Jacob was holding Esau back!

Even if you are a company or an individual, refuse to be number two. Or in church strive to be number one in your serving and commitment to God. Jabez was more honourable than his brothers and Joseph stood out from the rest of the 11 brothers, 1 Chronicles 4:9 & Genesis 39:3! Daniel and his friends also refused to be limited and were found to be ten times better than others, Daniel 1:20

The key to being number one is not to give up. Jacob did not give up yet Esau likely forgot. I have a warning for somebody, if you won or made it last year, in anything; don’t relax or think it’s over No. it’s not over until it’s over. Someone is not sleeping but working and coming from behind. Stay number one. That’s your place and position in life.

You know, God never wanted his people Israel to be the tail but the head. And even not to be below but above always.
You could be wondering right now, ‘Eh but pastor if we all be number one what about others? What others? You run and fulfil your course in life.

Don’t compare, run your race the best that you can.

Ever noticed a tail in life, especially on a cow? You will never want to be the tail, ever again.

From day one until it is slaughtered, the tail of a cow will be doing one job — wiping off flies! As though that’s not enough when the cow is slaughtered the very tail is taken and sold to sangoma’s or people who do rituals, spreading waters or concoctions with it. Aaa, no I refuse such a job, as the tail has, all its lifetime! Declare right away, ‘I refuse to be the tail!’ Whatever you do in life, fight to be number one!

Years later Jacob took oil and made an appetising meal. Esau coming from hunting was touched and said to the young brother; O my mother’s child, ‘feed me, I pray thee with that same pottage; for I am faint . . . at the point to die’, Genesis 25:30, 32. Jacob then said to him sell me your birthright and he did. Just like that, Esau lost his birthright over a meal.

Don’t lose destiny because of temporary pleasure and satisfaction, No. Be a fighter in life.

We later see Jacob getting blessed by his father Isaac after a tip off and help from Rebekah his mother, who had heard God say to her, the elder shall serve the younger. So was Jacob blessed and became number one in life. He did not give up.

Interestingly, Esau also after realizing his mistake and how he had missed the blessing, cried to his father for an extra blessing.

After much crying the father then said, it shall come to pass after you get emotional that thou shall break his (Jacob) yoke from thy neck! O hallelujah! I like it, I like it.

He had lost it yes, but his father told him, if he grew restless, he would break free and be a success in life.

I challenge you today; grow restless from your dire situation. Grow restless about the tumour in your body, the ever-piling debt, the destructive habit tearing you apart and all that you are going through. Grow emotional and restless and let the yoke of average and limitation be broken from off your life, in Jesus name, Amen!

For with God all things are possible, Mark 10:27.

Widely derided as “parasites,” “zvindakwenya,” “marovha,” “matshaya inyoka,” or simply “loose biscuits”, unemployed people have to make do with menial tasks way below their worth just to get by.If you are unemployed, society treats you worse than a criminal and it is as if your rights were temporarily suspended.

Most jobless people are worse for wear because they take long to get cash to replace worn out apparel while relatives and even blood brothers dump their old garments on them.

“Babamunini torai kajean aka musimire. Munongopfeka zvenyu muri pamba, hapana kana mahwani nekubvaruka uku,” you hear people telling their brothers.

Whether learned or not, most people believe a jobless person has to earn his food by digging, hoeing or watering the chickens and garden.

“Manje ungangodya sadza here usina kudiridza kana muriwo zvayo. Unofanira kungoitawo something kuti vanokuchengeta vafare,” you hear people saying of their unemployed relatives while gulping opaque beer in council beer halls across the length and breadth of the city.

It can be worse if the unemployed block is orphaned.

He always comes second best in every discussion, while their economic circumstance is blamed for almost everything that goes wrong in the home.

“That brother there has a big problem. I think it’s all because of stress caused by his joblessness. Someone who does not go to work does not reason properly. Wait until he gets a job, perhaps he might start thinking soundly,” you hear people saying while drinking tea in cracked cups in Mabvuku.

If there is an interesting biography to be written, yours truly believes it would be one penned by an unemployed person highlighting their ordeal graphically in an emotionally revealing manner.

Me, myself and I, the three of us, were once jobless and went through hell hence the decision to commit pen to paper detailing problems those still in the predicament have to contend with.

If you pick an argument, people around will never side with you on the mistaken belief that a jobless person is stressed and has the propensity to do anything to get the next meal.

Those who go to work, even if they are of the same age with you, expect you to do things that they themselves would never do publicly like queuing for T-Shirts at a road show or running errands on foot even when a car is required.

Getting a girlfriend can be a nightmare if you have no job because one thing for sure is that you will not have money to sponsor a hairdo or even a trip to the nearest movie house.

If you are without a job and have a girlfriend, half the time you will be quarrelling with your brothers for wearing their clothes while on a mission to visit her.

Even the girl’s sisters will not like you much because you will not be in a position to buy them ice-cream.

“Paya ndipo pasina nezvechikomba chese. Why are you spending all this time with him, missing an opportunity to meet other well-meaning guys?
“Unoti iko karovha ikako kangakuchengete. That is all nonsense. Stop doing what you are doing because even if you fall pregnant, you still run to us for assistance,” you hear mothers telling their daughters straight in the eye.

“Your itchy feet will cost you. That small boy of yours is inexperienced and has no cash at all. Karambe tikutsvagire ane mari,” you sometimes hear sisters saying about someone wooing their younger sister.

Gentle reader, in the communities in which we live in jobless is linked to worthlessness.

People hire out jobless guys in the hood to weed their gardens or ward off rival suitors and all they give them is a half-hearted “thank you.”
Some will cook you a meal without tomatoes, onion or cooking oil after working you all day long because of this belief that a jobless person has qualified rights.

If there is a theft in the community, all hell breaks loose.

Neighbours will write all sorts of bad things in police suggestion boxes for the jobless guy next door to be arrested.

“Haa ndiye chete. Wati pane munhu angabve kure kuzoba? Ndiro zirovha iroro risina kana sitayera yese,” you hear women saying behind closed doors.

A jobless brother can be a subject of ridicule for his married sister.

Each time they pick a quarrel with the husband, she is immediately reminded: “Dai pasina iro rovha rekumusha kwenyu rinoswerondinya sadza pano ndingadai ndisina kana purazi here? Take your brother away from this house and see the dramatic saves we will make in terms of food, drink, electricity, water and even washing soap.”

Going to church can be horrible for someone without a job.

Besides being worse for wear, they will not have money to pay even the tithe and people will be using them for gathering firewood and performing menial tasks that no one in his right frame of mind or better economic circumstance would want to perform.

Joblessness is as if you have committed a crime.

If people see you holding a rope to tether goats in the rural areas, people will follow you with speed thinking you are about to commit suicide.
Young children also hate their jobless uncles because in nine times out of 10 they would be competing with them for attention from their parents and also because the uncle would not afford to buy even a sweet. With neither a task to be completed, nor an errand to be covered, who can ever knock on a jobless man’s door?

There has to be something one can give to have souls around him.

People rarely pay visits where they are less likely to wring benefits.

“Ungaenda kunorara uchirumwa nenyuchi kumariro kuEpworth pasina zvinofamba? Isu tichauya wekuLondon asvika nekuti ndiye chete kumba kwavo anototenga bhokisi nekuita kuti pamariro apa pakuhwidzwe moto,” you hear people saying in jest yet they will be serious.

“Kubasa handiende, ndiri matshaya inyoka, unondida here?/Hembe imwechete woma ndikupfeke, unondida here?/Tii tinomwa kaviri pagore nyuwere nekisimusi,unondida here?” sang the late Paul Matavire in his song titled Unondidireiko, which highlights the trials and tribulations of joblessnes.

Gentle reader, the jobless are going through hell but it must be society’s duty to lighten the burden.

Inotambika mughetto.

Beatrice Tonhodzayi-Ngondo
Some years ago, a group of female musicians got together under the name “Ruvhuvhuto Sisters” and produced some music.
One of the tracks they produced had lyrics that ran like this; “Come to Victoria Falls, down in Zimbabwe.” As is the case with music, there are moments when you suddenly find yourself singing along to a particular song for no reason. That song can play in your head over and over as you shower, drive and do errands and you will find that it becomes one of your very best songs, at least for the day or week. Then another one will start playing in your mind again. Such is the power of music. Usually, I find that lyrics or the message in a song can do that. Or a memory in the mind can just trigger a song out of nowhere.

I had a moment like that recently. I found myself in Vumba for some work commitments.

The first thing to cross my mind as I drove up to Vumba from Mutare was “Goodness; Zimbabwe is beautiful!” It is by no means the first time I have gone up that area but this time around, the emotion invoked was extraordinary. Continuing up the mountainous areas, the urge to shout it from the mountaintop that my country is beautiful grew stronger and stronger and then from nowhere, that particular song started playing in my head.

Funny enough, in my mind, the lyrics changed and the song started playing this way: “Come to the Vumba up in Manicaland.” I felt this swelling, this pride to be Zimbabwean.

The magnificent splendour of the Vumba is one that needs to be seen to be understood. As I approached my destination, which was Leopard Rock, the feeling grew stronger that there is need for Zimbabweans to enjoy that which is ours.

Of course we welcome the foreign visitors, the tourists; for the obvious benefits that their coming would bring.
But it is high time that Zimbabweans too, begin to enjoy that which is theirs.

Or else the situation that is prevailing at some of these formerly very busy resorts and tourist attractions will continue. Some have become ghosts of their former selves, struggling for 100 percent occupancy while restaurants are virtually always empty.

While this sad state of affairs prevails, do you know there is a significant number of Zimbabweans who have never been to the Vumba? Do you know there are many Zimbabweans who have never seen the Victoria Falls? Do you know that some people have never gone to the Nyangani Mountains or even to Kariba? The Great Zimbabwe Ruins we talk of are something that some children of this soil only see on pictures in textbooks. The animals in our game parks remain something many Zimbabweans only read about in the Press.

Similarly, the resorts in our country are something that only foreigners will enjoy while those locals lucky enough to enjoy the facilities may only do so through workshops and conferences that are paid for by their organisations.

One thing that stands out about South Africa is that the locals enjoy their natural gifts; the resorts and wonders they are blessed with. Go to Durban at any time and you will find that South Africans from other cities will also be part of the crowds thronging the beaches. The same applies in Cape Town and many other places. South Africans enjoy their country. Incentives such as cheaper flights have even been introduced so that locals do not have to pay an arm and a leg to travel in between their own cities and towns.

But here in my home country, I am saddened that lodges, hotels, holiday cottages and resorts are underutilised today because we choose to ignore the potential that domestic tourism presents.

Today we have a working class that dreams of going on holiday. The reasons are obvious. The costs charged by these hotels, lodges, cottages, resorts — wherever they may fall — are ridiculous.

After moving around the Vumba and seeing that things are no longer as they used to be; and all the hustle and bustle is gone, I posted an invite to my Facebook friends to ‘come to the Vumba’ and experience the beauty that Zimbabwe has to offer. The response from many of them; and these are professionals from across the spectrum, including the Non-Governmental Organisation sector, the corporate sector, business people, the academia, among others, was that in Zimbabwe holidays have become a preserve for the elite while hotels and resorts are now more utilised by the ‘workshop’ crowds. Ordinary people cannot even show their children the Kariba Dam because what is charged by hotels and lodges in these tourist areas is crazy.

As the discussion continued, people called for locals who develop their own holiday cottages, let them out cheaply so that locals can afford to go to these resorts and see the beauty of Zimbabwe’s grandeur. Others called for cheaper rates charged to locals so that they can enjoy their God-give wonders. I would like to call upon the responsible authorities to see how they can seriously address this matter. Zimbabwe is ours. We can enjoy it. While we enjoy it, we can grow the tourism sector.

With dollarisation, even a few dollars will make a difference to our places of interest, which are clearly in a bad state. There are hotels that were last renovated ages ago. There are gardens and yards which are being manned by three people instead of 20 because business is not good. Many in the hospitality industry are losing jobs.

Instead of hiring qualified people, the operators in the industry are recruiting people from the streets who they can pay little because they cannot afford to pay decent wages. What makes it worse is that these hotels, lodges, chalets, cottages, and others continue to charge ridiculous amounts, thereby keeping those who can spare a little bit away. Maybe it is time we realise that making something is better than making nothing. Let us allow Zimbabweans to enjoy Zimbabwe too. A difference will surely come out of it.

btonhodzayi@gmail.com

Dr Washington Mbizvo

Assistant News Editor Takunda Maodza’s (TM) interview with Dr Wasington Mbizvo.
TM: To what extent are you involved in Zimdef (the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund)? Does the law not say a minister is the Trustee and not the secretary?
WM: True the minister is the Trustee, but in terms of the same law, the minister can delegate to the secretary.

TM: How far true is it that Zimdef bought a truck for Zimsec (the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council)? Where is the truck, a Mitsubishi Canter?
WM: The person who would know is the ministry’s transport officer, Mr Mudzamiri. All the same, upon inquiring with him, he has confirmed that the truck is currently with Puzey and Payne for repairs. Otherwise, it is invariably in the ministry’s Parking bay or at Zimdef parking bay, depending on usage. You can confirm the availability of the truck by checking with the gate security who records every vehicle that is parked overnight in the ministry.

TM: You supplied pork carcass to Harare Polytechnic and other produce from your Shamva farm. How far true is this? Were you aware that the pork was in a bad state and not suitable for human consumption?
WM: The college has at times bought pork carcass from Woodlands Farm in Shamva which  would have been slaughtered, inspected and certified by the Pig Industries Board (who can confirm this – check with the two deputy directors Mr Muza and Mrs Takaendesa). The allegation has never been brought by anyone to my attention nor to that of my farm manager, Mr Hwata. Nonetheless, feel free to check with the Principal of Harare Polytechnic, Engineer Mudondo, for validation and determining when this took place, and if at all this was pork from Woodlands Farm.

TM: What is the correct position regarding Mr Mbudzi (Kwekwe Polytechnic principal who was doubling as an acting director in the ministry)?
WM: Mr Mbudzi comes to head office twice every week since June 2011 as acting director for curriculum and examinations since the departure of the former director, Mr Pesanai, who has since joined UZ (the University of Zimbabwe). At one stage in 2012, following a misunderstanding between him and two officials engaged at Kwekwe Polytechnic, the Civil Service Commission advised me to inform him to go back. I made an appeal to retain him since it was creating an overload on the part of the secretary. Accordingly, he is currently receiving acting allowances from the Civil Service Commission for these. He will continue to act until March 10, 2014 when the new director assumes duty.

TM: Who is paying for Mr Mbudzi’s stay at Holiday Inn (in Harare)?
WM: Mr Mbudzi comes to Harare twice a week. His accommodation (which used to be provided at the Management Training Bureau but ceased after the director finance suggested that he be moved to Holiday Inn) is paid for by the Government through the Department of Standards Development and Quality Assurance. His stay is subject to normal acquittal system and audit by the chief internal auditor and the Comptroller and Auditor-General’s Office.

TM: Why were there changes to the handling of Hexco database? Why was the installation and management of the Hexco database given to one person, moving away from the old system when a team of experts were in charge of it?
WM: The national examinations office was experiencing serious problems that include course codes duplication, old database did not operate on an operating system hence was easily manipulated, had no audit trail, the database was moved on CDs and memory sticks, was only compatible with old printing machines, only kept data of the last input and required up to three months to print a candidature range of 16 000-20 000 candidates among others challenges.

TM: Are you aware that Mr Noah Manjengo, a former human resources employee in the ministry, is now employed by Zimdef? How was he employed there when he is legally a pensioner?
WM: Yes, I am aware of that. At the time of his employment, Zimdef was experiencing serious human resources challenges and did not have a human resources manager. The fund made two attempts to recruit a senior human resource manager without success through adverts in the national press and The Fingaz (Financial Gazette). It was on that basis that the ministry made the decision to second Mr Kajengo to the fund effective 1 March 2012. Mr Kajengo is a senior and experienced HR practitioner.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no law that prevents employment of a retired officer as long as he/she is suitably qualified to add value to the organisation. In fact, the ministry and its state  enterprises and parastatals such as Zimche and universities continue to employ retired  personnel following the government’s 2006 National Economic Recovery Council Policy to counteract brain drain as is commensurate with section 70(3) of the Manpower Planning Development Act (Chapter 28:02) of 1996.

The rot in parastatals and local authorities has been going on unabated for quite long, and it is overdue that Cabinet ministers seriously introspect in the way Government business is executed.A lot of nasty and corrupt activities have been exposed in the media relating to the operations of Government institutions.

In this respect, the public have been following the exposures with keen interest — somewhat to see whether the zanu-pf Government will walk the talk on graft.

We would want to applaud President Mugabe for taking the lead in condemning corruption, indicating very clearly that anyone found on the wrong side of the law will face the music.

As the leader of the State and Government, it becomes imperative for all of those who serve under him to take up the clarion call and ensure, in their various circles, that corruption is not tolerated and all guilty parties are brought to book.

More so, the guilty should pay restitution.

It is in this same vein that we should commend Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo, and his Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology counterpart Dr Olivia Muchena for taking a cue from the President.

The two ministers have become torch-bearers in fighting graft in institutions they superintend.

Prof Moyo was the first to set the anti-corruption train in motion by impugning officials who were allegedly enriching themselves, while Dr Muchena swiftly appointed a taskforce to investigate alleged corruption at the Higher Education Examinations Council.

A lot of unprofessional conduct in many Government institutions has been reported in the media and by now we expected many ministries to have instituted investigations, made some discoveries and recommended appropriate action.

The public is also disturbed by the deafening silence by special police teams and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and other arms of the State mandated to institute such investigations.

Surely there is enough expertise in Zimbabwe to investigate even the most intricate cases of graft and action should be taken.

The minimal movement from Government following revelations of corruption seems to suggest that the media are whistling in the wind and they may as well shut up.

We call upon politicians and the executive not to take people for granted.

What comes to the mind of the voter who earns less than US$300 monthly when he/she hears that someone else is taking home hundreds of thousands?

What does the ratepayer who has to contend with shoddy services think when he/she reads that municipal officials are taking home mega-salaries and fat perks?

Former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono once described parastatals and local authorities as missing links in the country’s endeavours to turn around the economy.

These institutions are still dogged by poor service delivery, corruption, inefficiency, failure to refurbish infrastructure, bloated staff, and asset stripping, yet managers are still paid handsomely.

Are the responsible ministers not seeing this?

Perhaps Government should simply ask all parastatal heads to step down and re-apply for the jobs along with other interested members of the public and then the best man/woman can be appointed to the job.

There are many people in Zimbabwe who have the expertise in running public organisations without having to rely on political patronage to secure office.

These people should be given the opportunity to head parastatals and other State-linked enterprises because many in the current crop of leaders have evidently failed and are only concerned with feathering their already plush nests.

Dealing with corruption requires bold action, and Prof Moyo and Dr Muchena have already shown that such bold action can be taken.
Nothing short of deep surgery that reaches into the marrow can cleanse the rot.

Temba Mliswa

Tichaona Zindoga
On  January 22, Zanu-PF legislator Cde Joseph Chinotimba clashed with his Hurungwe East counterpart Temba Mliswa during a party caucus in Harare.Cde Chinotimba accused Cde Mliswa of failing to support fellow party legislators in parliamentary debates.

In particular, he castigated Cde Mliswa, who is the party’s chairman for Mashonaland West Province, for stating that it was strange that Government mourned about sanctions and yet it bought vehicles from countries that imposed the same embargo on Zimbabwe.

Cde Mliswa had also pointed out that it would make better political and economic sense to support the local Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries plant.

In short, Temba Mliswa had come to town and he was being heard.

In previous years, and may he forgive this writer for saying so, Cde Mliswa was known more for being a rabble rouser of sorts.
His image as a businessman, sports development enthusiast and aspiring politician was often tainted by other activities.

At one point, he spent the better part of a year in and out of the courts and remand prison battling criminal allegations.

That has been changing recently. Firstly, with his election to Parliament, then his rise to the helm of Zanu-PF’s structures in Mashonaland West (which we need not say is President Mugabe’s home province), and now with his pointed contributions in the National Assembly.

Given the robust debate that he is giving in Parliament, especially this year, it is clear that Cde Mliswa is trying to cut out a different kind of politician for the House.

Traditionally, Zimbabwe’s legislators have not been engaging in robust debates and asking tough questions of the members of the Executive.
Interestingly, it is Cde Chinotimba who appeared to open the way for Zanu-PF legislators to ask their colleagues seconded to Government some hard questions.

They have been content with being “yes” people who are seemingly afraid to ruffle feathers of “shefs” checking those in authority, perhaps out of fear that they will be labelled “sellouts” for doing the job that the people sent them to do in Parliament.

And now Cde Mliswa has brought a new welcome dimension to parliamentary debate and his contributions lately — whatever his motives and background — point to a trajectory that if pursued will not only strengthen the hand of Parliament as a watchdog and pillar of the State, but also lead to greater focus on national development issues.

Take his challenge on Tuesday, that Cabinet ministers should disclose the nature of their businesses and how they got millions of dollars to establish them when the economy was under-performing.

The general consensus is that he had in mind former Mines and Mining Development Minister Dr Obert Mpofu (now Transport Minister), who bought the then Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group in 2012 for US$22,8 million to become the major shareholder in what is now Allied Bank.

Dr Mpofu acquired majority stake in the bank through his family-owned investment vehicle, Trebo and Khays.

Dr Mpofu is variously claimed to be the owner of a vast business empire which includes huge property holdings. Some sections of society have remarked at the sheer size of his investments in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls.

This should necessarily not be a matter about Dr Mpofu per se, but all the ministers and other top Government and political officials.
A sincere and far reaching probe should be undertaken to establish who owns what and how and when they got the same.

There is much suspicion that most of the ventures and lifestyles being led were acquired and are being maintained fraudulently, corruptly and shadily.

Surely, it should be in the interests of those suspected of foul play to come clean and show the country that they made their wealth through blood, sweat and tears and not illegal shortcuts, bribes and outright theft.

No country in the world, Zimbabwe included, cannot afford to have a mafia as its leadership, and any well-meaning politician must come clean.
Mliswa suggests that ministers intending to venture into full-time business should resign from Government.

It is a valid point, to a large extent.

This is so because it is easy for ministers to negate and neglect their duties and principles as public servants when they have their business interests to think about.

Further, it is very feasible that they can get tempted to influence Government processes to suit their huge businesses, to assist industry colleagues or to “recapitalise” their ventures. Abuse of office and public resources is the outcome.

Cde Mliswa is saying the right things at the right time.

At the beginning of the year he said Zanu-PF Mashonaland West province would recall errant National Assembly members and councillors who failed to implement programmes in line with the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset), the economic blueprint to guide economic revival from 2013 to 2018 as per the party’s winning election manifesto.

He said: “Our MPs and councillors should know that the moment they are no longer serving the interests of the people who elected them and the party, we won’t hesitate to recall them.”

People will be waiting to see how this pans out. It is to be hoped that he will honour his word.

Indeed, performance and delivery should be the watchwords and even in Parliament where legislators have had the sickening habit of warming and doing all sorts of things to the august seats without contributing to the country.

It should not be as business as usual. Another critical aspect will be looking at the merits of each case and discussing issues rather than persons.
It is quite easy for MPs to abuse their parliamentary privileges and cast aspersions on individuals and commercial entities that they either dislike, or to further personal interests.

Parliamentarians the world over like talking — and there are a lot of privileges for it — but they may tend to want to be saucy, irrelevant and conspiring.

It is in this vein that National Assembly Speaker Cde Jacob Mudenda recently called MPs to order.

Issues such as those that Cde Mliswa is bringing to the fore need rigorous debate and should not be tainted by abuse of privileges.
The current exposition of corruption behooves rigorous, non-partisan debate.

Corruption is a social and economic ill that at the end of the day gnaws at the country’s edges and into its core with the poorest being hardest hit.
These hardest hit are the people who vote the parliamentarians into office. The public gets to benefit from cleaner business and ethical and political practices.

When legislators question, as Cde Mliswa recently did on Green Fuel; procedural, legal and technical issues should inform engagements while corrective measures should take place where there are irregularities.

Zanu-PF legislators, especially, must disabuse themselves of the notion that asking hard questions from the “shefs” in the executive is “selling out”.
They may be from the ruling party but they are elected to check the excesses of the “shefs” and bring to light whatever comes from the people. The people that elected them expect these hard questions.

“Heated” debates must not necessarily be a preserve for inter-political questions but for cross-cutting issues too.
That is why there is a gaping need for more Cde Temba Mliswas in Parliament today.

I DO . . . Simba Chikore and Bona Mugabe are joined in holy matrimony last week in what has been billed the Wedding of the Year

Roselyne Sachiti and Sydney Kawadza
It was bound to be a fairytale wedding – and it happily turned out so. From the moment that the media got a whiff of the marriage of Bona, daughter to President Mugabe, and Simba Chikore, excitement and speculation swirled around, culminating in the “wedding of the year” last week.Yet precious little was known of Bona’s mystery man.

Grant it, he had a humble upbringing in Harare’s Kambuzuma high-density suburb where he, like others, played “chikweshe” (mock football). But he has royal blood in him, which makes his marriage to the First Daughter all the more special.

Born in 1977, Simba lived an ordinary life probably watching the First Family on television and reading about them in newspapers and magazines.
Simba is the third born in a family of four boys and a girl.

His parents, Reverend Sherman and Christine Chikore, were blessed with five children – Derick (born in 1970), Kudakwashe (the only girl, was born in 1974), Simba and twins Ray and Reason, who were born in 1978.

Along the dusty Shangura Road in Section 2 of Kambuzuma in Harare, Simba, who lived at House No. 437, was one of the small boys who played chikweshe after school.

Congregants from the Zaoga Kambuzuma testify to a humble Chikore family with the father working hard to fend for his family while working as a librarian before dedicating his service to the church.

“The same values can be seen in Simba who, besides growing up very close to Kudakwashe and Ray, took the opportunity of working outside Zimbabwe to upgrade his parents’ lives,” said a colleague from the church.

Family sources say Simba grew up as a quiet boy who, however, excelled in sports and music.

“They formed a musical outfit called 101 Harare Drive that sang brilliantly in church from an early stage in their lives, especially after they moved from Kambuzuma to Marlborough where his father was leading one of the first congregations for Zaoga.

“They were a talented gospel outfit from the same family and that name was derived from their home address. Derick played the keyboards.
“Eventually, Derick stopped singing with the group. Simba then took over the reins, playing keyboards. Simba relocated to the United States of America in 1997 for his studies, leaving young brother Ray in charge of the group,” she said.

A congregant from the Zaoga FIF Marlborough who attended Marlborough Primary School with Simba described him as a born athlete who dominated sprint events in school.

“There was a time when he was arguably the fastest athlete at Marlborough Primary School where he was also a school prefect and house captain. Simba grew up a sportsman as he was also into soccer and swimming at school.”

Simba, according to close associates, went to St John’s College in Emerald Hill where he excelled in sports during his six years of secondary education.

“He studied sciences at Advanced Level and was the headboy when he completed his studies in 1996 before he moved to the United States for further studies.

“Simba is a quiet person naturally and as someone who was born in a Christian family he was never into clubbing nor did he drink alcohol. The family was raised on strong Christian values and his parents dedicated their lives to serving God,” another neighbour said.

Royalty

People from Simba’s rural home in the Chikore area of Rusape remember a quiet and disciplined music lover who turned pilot because of hard work.

Many in the area believe it was only natural that he married Bona, for he also hails from a royal family.
The Chikores are the traditional rulers of that part of the country.

Simba’s uncle, Dennis Chikore, is the chief and is excited and at a loss for words with their son’s achievement.
Simba has brought him closer to President Mugabe, a dream he had since they went to Tembwe in Mozambique during the liberation struggle.

He says Simba is the first in the family to score such a big achievement.
Chief Chikore says if he could, he would literally jump and touch the sky with joy.

“I want his brothers to follow suit. This boy has put the family name in the limelight. Should I take off my clothes to show how happy I am?” he says.

Back in the village, it was just one of those ordinary days when rumour had it that Simba had married Bona.

They simply could not believe it.

It was one of those rumours that circulate in Harare pushed by newspapers for sales, they concluded.
Preparations for the wedding included even for those who did not know if they would be invited.

Scrubbing feet, plaiting hair and looking for nice clothes, it was a joyous moment.
And when the invitation cards finally came, everyone wanted to go. Sadly, only a few were able to make it to Harare. Those without invitation cards with bar codes remained behind. Joy turned to sadness for some – children and adults cried that they had not been invited.

They could not understand why.

“All our children, their children, we had told of the wedding all wanted to go to Harare. They could not all come, the ‘pin code’ barred them. We left them crying. They all wanted to attend the wedding and see the President,” said Chief Chikore’s wife, Elizabeth.

On February 27, about 20 invited relatives from the village, Chief Chikore and his wife Elizabeth included, did not sleep in their homes.
In the dead of night, they made a beeline to the local shops where they put up. They feared missing the bus. That was the last thing they wanted.

The chief could not use his vehicle as his driver also did not have a “pin code”.

It was a short journey to Harare down the dusty road passing through Chiendambuya. They would connect to the tarred road near Headlands.
They sang, they danced, spoke of their hopes and fears, what to expect at the wedding, among many others.

They also spoke of how if given a chance, they would love to tell Bona to help them develop their area, the road first.
It was exciting, a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many.

The chief’s first stop was at Simba’s parents’ house in Marlborough.
He still could not believe this was happening.

The next day, they went to the First Family’s home in Borrowdale for the wedding and took backseats waiting for proceedings to start.
It was their first time at such a big wedding.

Thousands of guests, including sitting Heads of State and former presidents from other African countries, left them speechless.
He saw President Jacob Zuma, and heard names of some presidents and prominent people he had never seen before being called out.

The décor, too, and everything that took place that day, made him happy.
It was all because of their son Simba that he experienced this.

The cake was gigantic, one they had never seen before, it was one of a kind.
The aisle was like a passage to heaven, Bona the angel.

The way aunts’ names were being called out was well co-ordinated. There was respect for tradition, nothing went out of line.
“What surprised me is we thought people like us could not have a place to sit given the thousands of people who attended the wedding.
“My husband and I were worried if we would eat, get a place to sit, but we had enough food and even left some. At some weddings people end up pushing and shoving for food, there was none of that there,” added Elizabeth.

Meeting the President

Besides the wedding, Chief Chikore’s major highlight was meeting President Mugabe.
When he saw the President during State occasions which chiefs attend, Chief Chikore did not imagine that one day they would become in-laws.

“When I saw the President at the wedding I did not know what to do. I was excited and I hugged him. I told him I just wanted to see him since he is very special. The President humbly responded saying ‘Ishe munoda kundiona kuti ndinei?’ He is so humble and charismatic.

“I always admired and loved him as our President. And now he has given us a daughter-in-law. I do not know how to thank our President,” said Chief Chikore.

Mrs Elizabeth Chikore said Bona was a well behaved woman, moulded by the best.

“She greeted us while kneeling. Just looking at her, you can see that she is disciplined and was brought up well. She is humble,” she said.
Added the chief’s wife: “We want to thank our First Lady and now in-law Mai Grace Mugabe for the splendid job she did bringing up Bona. Not many children who are brought up in well off families are well mannered. Most become naughty but Bona was the complete opposite.”

She says they do not expect her to do traditional women’s work like pounding and fetching water.

“We are happy that Simba got himself someone to care for him. We no longer cook, wash clothes and iron for him, his wife will cater for that,” she said.

For Chief Chikore, the President’s speech was spot on – it covered everything about how a woman should relate to her husband.
`Simba’s cousin, Austin Chikore, did not attend the wedding but was excited.

He had every detail of what took place at the wedding.
Those who went told him and others what they saw, heard and felt.

Through the detailed information he got from those who attended, guzzlers at their local shops were also taken through the journey.
What excited him most besides the union is that their traditional leader, Chief Chikore had hugged and shaken hands with President Mugabe.

“I was happy, I heard they embraced and hugged. I will never forget that special moment our Chief had with the President. He hugged the President like this,” he said demonstrating the hug as narrated to him by the Chief.

He said they are happy that Bona is their in-law, it means food for them in the traditional sense. She would cook for them all as her husbands.

“We want to thank the President and First Lady for giving us Bona,” he said.

Member Mutsahuni, Simba’s cousin, said he is excited.

He explains to everyone how they are related since their surnames are different: “Simba is my brother. He uses Chikore but his grandfather Magabu and mine Siwiti and Sandi were born to one mother, they were all grandchildren of Chiunye.”

He could not attend the wedding but his father did.

“I stayed behind to look after cattle and homesteads when the others went to the wedding,” he said.

To this day, villagers still throng Chief Chikore’s home, asking about the wedding.
He never gets tired of speaking of it, he wants them to know the good that has happened in his family.

Feedback:  roselyne.sachiti@zimpapers.co.zw

Elliot Ziwira The Book Store
Playwright Arthur Miller examines how the individual is responsible for his or her own failure or success.  According to him, failure is not in-born, neither is it inherited, but it is a condition that is created by the individual as he/she responds to the situations that are thrown at him/her. Suffice to say that success being an attitude may be inheritable through the values that one assumes at birth; it can also be achieved through hard work and determination. Character, which in itself is shaped by values and willpower, can also cultivate success.

It is only reasonable, therefore, to deduce that success that comes through good birth may just be a luminous vapour which fades with time. Instead, it has to be complemented by determination and character.

In “Death of a Salesman” (1949), Miller explores how dreams devoid of value judgment may lead one astray. He examines how having faith in dreams can be a deterrent to one’s quest for success as it impedes one’s reason.

“Death of a Salesman” is the story of Willy Loman, a salesman of about 60, who has been on the road for the better part of his life but has nothing to show for it.

His two sons, Biff and Happy, feed on his “massive dreams” and are also doomed. Eventually, Willy commits suicide.
The tragic hero is driven by his dreams of success, yet remaining inert in his own cocoon of a make-believe world.

This is clearly captured in the description of his home: “A fragile seeming home. An air of the dream clings to the place, a dream rising out of reality.”

He is unable to reason that dreams require positive action to come true. This is in contrast to Uncle Ben, Charles and Bernard.
Willy’s Achilles’ heel is his lack of truth. He has instilled in his entire family an element of prevarication.

Linda, his wife, becomes the chief culprit as she always finds excuses to euphemise Willy’s failures instead of calling a spade a spade.
The salesman’s lack of success and his poignant sorrow after 34 years on the road illustrates his reluctance to face reality.

His belief in “personality” and being “well liked” to make a mark on the business world is a dogma that has already outlived its usefulness.
The protagonist’s subsequent demise at his own hand is the culmination of failure.

His tragic end, like that of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, demonstrates how society discards individuals it has no use for.
These deaths are manifestations of disillusionment and frustration.

Willy dies without honour and is buried alone and without dignity like a pauper. His dream of a flashy funeral is just another of his wilted dreams.

Biff’s conclusion is that “he never knew who he was”, and Linda tearfully sums it up: “But where are all the people that he knew? Maybe they blame him”.

He “never knew who he was” because he never wanted to. His solace is only found in his reminiscences of the past when things seemed to be working well.

This “sugaring over the devil”- as Shakespeare calls it in “Hamlet” – is central to Miller’s idea of failure.
Failure stalks Willy’s family like a curse

His wife, Linda, is presented as having more than love for him, but betrays him in that she falls along with his dreams instead of looking at him with a critical eye.

The nameless woman in the play, who is always laughing, does not only proffer mockery, but a curse to his family as Biff’s failure is also a culmination of the sight of her in Boston.

Biff is a failure, not only by nature but by nurture. Naturally, he is emotionally weak, and because of this, he overreacts easily, especially in Boston. And had he not thrown caution to the wind, he could have perhaps succeeded in life like his cousin, Bernard.

Too much ill-nurturing by his parents destroys him. His father fails to enlighten him on the vile of pilferage, and as a result he “stole” himself “out of every good job since high school!”

Putting the blame on his father, he says: “I never got anywhere because . . .  (You) blew me so full of hot air I could not take orders from anybody! That’s whose fault it is!”

This vanity born of his upbringing is the cause of his failure, and it is a foible which he realises when it’s almost too late.
Women are also Happy’s downfall. As his name suggests, his gadabout nature only makes him successful with women and he is aptly called, by his own mother, “a philandering bum”.

It is Happy’s debauchery, lack of foresight and prevaricating nature which is his demise.
He believes that he is an assistant merchandise manager when in fact he is “one of the two assistants to the assistant merchandise manager”.
It is against this backdrop that success is mirrored in Bernard, Uncle Ben and Charles; the other end of the Loman line.

Uncle Ben, who is described by the dramatist as “a man utterly certain of his destiny”, is an embodiment of success, because he is aware that for one to succeed, one needs to take the bull by the horns instead of procrastinating.

This is depicted in his maxim: “When I was 17 I went into the jungle, and when I was 21 I walked out. And by God I was rich.”
Willy also has this to say about him: “That man was a genius, that man was success incarnate!”

Uncle Ben is the only person who calls Willy by his full name, William, which may suggest his lack of flattery.
His success lies in his belief that fortune knocks but once at every man’s door. Thus opportunities need to be seized, by hook or crook, as no formula is prescribed because one never needs “to fight fair with a stranger” as one “will never come out of the jungle that way”.

In Ben’s view, the world is a jungle where every man must cunningly play his part, knowing fully who he is, and avoiding getting swayed by the fairer sex.

This rationale is also expressed in Bernard who is called “anaemic” and not “well liked” by Willy although he is “earnest”; honest, both to himself and others; and is also intelligent-all the ingredients of success.

His honesty is illustrated in his persistent call for Biff to leave his thieving ways and to study hard because “Mr Birnbaum will flunk him” and that “just because he printed University of Virginia on his sneakers doesn’t mean they’ve to graduate him”.

He goes out and does what he must do and as a result he becomes a successful lawyer “arguing a case at the Supreme Court”.
Unlike Biff and Happy whose lives are full of empty dreams, Bernard lives his dreams.

Miller also presents Charles as an exponent of success in yet another dimension, as “he is a man of few words yet he is respected”.
Unlike Willy, he doesn’t pamper his only son, Bernard, with doxologies, but instead allows him to freely choose his own destiny. His belief is that success can only be realised through openness and willpower.

His strength is his sternness and use of a few words where men like Willy can talk endlessly.
Though an honest man to some extent, he believes in cheating here and there to succeed.

Lovemore Ranga Matairer
“HEART of Darkness” is one the most widely-quoted books by African and European literary critiques when it comes to Africa. It is touted as one of the foundational books on colonialism. Just like Dambudzo Marechera’s “House of Hunger”, “Heart of Darkness” is often loosely referred to, even by people who have never read it, partly because of its compelling title and the way it depicts white prejudices during early contacts with Africa.

It is for that reason that world-acclaimed Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong’o has denounced the book as racist given its generalised depiction of Africa and its people.

It is also for that reason that in its wisdom the Department of English Literature at the University of Zimbabwe found it critical to include “Heart of Darkness” and Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” as study texts for first-year students as both are foundational in their own presentations.

While Ngugi is justified in labelling the book racist, it is also important to highlight the fact that Conrad’s novella offers an illumination into the mindset of Europeans of the time.

Partly biographical given the correlation of aspects of Conrad’s life with certain events in the novella, it however fails to completely fit in that category because of its vagueness of characterisation.

Save for Marlow and Kurtz, most characters are known by their titles only like “the manager” and “the lawyer”.
It is this vagueness which is the hallmark of the book’s artistic expression and makes it uniquely captivating text.

But even the nameless characters have outstanding members like the native women of “arresting beauty” or the red-haired blood thirsty pilgrim drunk.

Conrad critiques group thinking and although Marlow is not a heroic character, it is through him that the author illustrates the need for individual thought.

It is important for any freshman studying “Heart of Darkness” to decipher the major themes underlining the novella for a better understanding of how it relates to the current Euro-Afro relations.

One of the pervading themes is primitiveness exemplified in different forms, including the title itself.
“Heart of Darkness”, as a title, symbolises backwardness in literal and metaphorical senses.

As the crew traverses the Congo River, they are confronted by largely unfettered lands sparsely inhabited by indigenous people.
It is at this time that Europeans were beginning to learn through science that Africa was the cradle of mankind.

So instead of the journey being a trip back to the source, it becomes a journey into a prehistoric era. Darkness therefore means ignorance and blindness, and the use of such terms as “noble savage” and “pestilent” completes the picture.

Besides primitiveness, the book is also full of uncertainty.
Nothing is concretised as evidenced by the shores being “hazy” and land looks “like a spine sticking out from a man’s back”.
Marlow is obsessed by Kurtz even before meeting him and his obsession is not explained. A sense of danger pervades the whole trip and Kurtz, who is so admired by Marlow, is an unrefined character largely ruled by impulses.

Thus the idea of darkness is also exemplified by this uncertainty that threads through the whole text.
It is not in doubt that Conrad’s characterisation of European and African characters is largely influenced by his negative perception of the latter which is also poisoned by the imperial authority.

The depiction of Africa as anything goes vigilantism is juxtaposed with that of stewardship in a “civilised” state (police, doctors and bureaucrats) in Europe.

Reading the book, one gets the feeling that the arrival of imperialism heralds a new order.
Black people appear like chain gang members without fathomable individual characters and with very little power.

While it is clear whether the author critiques colonialism, it is apparent that religion is under serious microscopic analysis. The pilgrims and the natives are separated by religion with the former depicted as bloodthirsty.

One of the admirable traits of Kurtz is that he manages to strike a balance between African religion and Christianity and beholden by neither. It is for this reason that Marlow admires Kurtz’s ability to have his own individual opinions in the face of various religions he                                    encounters.

The fact that in real life Conrad had to abandon his stewardship of a ship to Congo because of ill-health is also reflected in the novella as illness appears in physical and mental forms.

There is a common saying that, if something is not broken then do not fix it. A variation of it is that you do not change a winning formula. Zanu-PF seemed to appreciate a combination of the two when it crafted its successful strategy for the 2013 harmonised elections that coasted it to a commanding victory.

The party realised that its abysmal showing in the 2008 polls was down to trying to fix something that was not broken. This was widely referred to as the “bhora musango” strategy, and its disastrous results told the party loud and clear that you don’t change a winning formula.

Zanu-PF had a winning formula from back in the days of the liberation struggle.
This formula was premised on the basics: land to the people, one man-one vote, broader economic participation and — generally speaking — equality for all.

In a nutshell, it was a prototype of socialism that is better described as “gutsaruzhinji”.
An arrogant Zanu-PF lost that grounding in gutsaruzhinji in 2008 and it almost paid the ultimate political price: becoming an opposition party. And in Africa, losing parties rarely resurrect.

So it went back to the basics in 2013; the people were put back at the centre of national politics, they decided not to fix what was not broken and to keep a winning formula intact, a formula that saw the party through the liberation struggle into the new millennium.

Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, too, has his winning formula.
Lets face it: Mr Tsvangirai is not the brightest crayon in the box. Everyone knows that, including his closest aides in MDC-T and his erstwhile financial backers in the West.

In fact, it is this less-than-sharp intellectual capacity on the part of Mr Tsvangirai that has prompted more than one of his backers to stress the need for “massive hand-holding”.

Mr Tsvangirai’s formula has been simple. When he is challenged, he alleges Brutus-like conspiracy, lashes out at anyone questioning his wisdom and lack of it, lets his goons — well-oiled on marijuana and whatever cheap booze is trending at the time — and then adorns himself in the tried and tested robes of victimhood.

It has worked for Mr Tsvangirai since 1999.
He will not engage anyone, whether in MDC-T or any other Zimbabwean, on the level of ideas. Ideational engagement is not a formula he is familiar with, and he has been quite successful with his way of doing things that he really would not bother fixing that which is not broken.

He has been so successful at it that he even became prime minister of Zimbabwe!
So anyone who thinks that Mr Tsvangirai is going to change his primitive brand of politics now is hugely mistaken.

Anyone who opposes Mr Tsvangirai must expect more of the same now and in the future. And who can blame him? It has worked before and it will work again. There is a tragedy, though, in this “winning formula”.

Mr Tsvangirai is almost single-handedly — of course with the assistance of the likes of “Morgan-is-God-Anointed” Mr Nelson Chamisa who probably hopes he will hang on the coat-tails long enough to lead the party after 2018 — destroying an opposition party required to keep Zanu-PF on its toes. Well maybe not this type of party.