A group of women grades potatoes for packaging

Charles Dhewa
While it might seem Zimbabweans favour sadza and nyama, there is mounting evidence showing increasing changes in consumption patterns. By handling more than 80 different agricultural commodities daily, informal agricultural markets are major accelerators of this trend. Many urban and rural consumers have acquired tastes for commodities whose production they may not know much about in terms of origin or production patterns. New consumption patterns are defining a strong case for organized marketing and consistent supply of commodities to diverse consumers whose willingness to pay is becoming linked to increase in health consciousness.

In response to these dynamics, flexible financing should be available for local institutions that understand the context and behaviour of different commodities as opposed to saturating one or a few commodities with all the support. To the extent that they understand the movement of commodities in both formal and informal markets, traders and other intermediaries are becoming financial advisers of the future.

Informal agricultural markets continue to be at the centre of gravity for the country’s food ecosystem. More than 75 percent of food in Zimbabwe continues to pass through informal agricultural markets such as Mbare in Harare, eMalaleni in Bulawayo, Sakubva in Mutare, Garikayi in Masvingo, Kudzanayi in Gweru and kwekwe food market, to mention a few.

Insights from three agricultural commodities

Potatoes, butternuts and green mealies are some of the commodities that are stamping their authority in consumer choices. These commodities’ close inter-dependencies with the whole food basket in informal markets is becoming more remarkable.

Potatoes

Potatoes have several strengths. They are now almost available throughout the whole yea main sources being Nyanga, Mazowe, Beatrice, Banket and Chegutu, among other surrounding areas. This year, an increase in potato production and consumption has been visible through more than 400 tonnes of potatoes passing through Mbare market daily during the month of October 2017. This trend is likely to continue for the whole festive season until January 2018. Potatoes have become a staple food for both rural and urban households. It is now common for school children to have potatoes in their tuck.

Since they are not highly perishable, potatoes are much easier to store until prices improve or stabilize. On the other hand, price elasticity is not a problem in potato trading and that is critical for business planning. While on-farm, potatoes can be bought for at least $5-$6/pocket, the market price often hovers around $7 – $9. Even if supply may outstrip demand, there is no way the price of a 15kg pocket of potatoes can go down to $3. This is unlike tomatoes which can go from $7 a crate to 50c a crate during extreme circumstances.

Again, potatoes are not produced in every part of Zimbabwe like tomatoes and vegetables which are now increasingly found in every garden almost everywhere. Major production zones are Manicaland and Mashonaland provinces. That means areas which do not produce potatoes constitute a stable demand zone and these include Masvingo, Matabeleland provinces and large parts of Midlands. The fact that potatoes can be produced under both dryland and irrigation schemes can ensure consistency in supply once the market is reliably stimulated.

Another advantage with potatoes is economies of scale. One can move big trucks in meaningful volumes in ways that make business sense. Given that potatoes are part of a dominant value chain, there is room for bulk supplying wholesaling, retailing and vending.

This increases the demand chain. Both urban and rural consumers are now eating potatoes and using it in various ways such as relish. As a result, each grade has a market and it is possible to easily segment the market into fast food chains, mobile catering services, households (some of who buy small potatoes called chats), and an expanding seed market.

There is also little room for wastage. In addition to not being affected by direct imports compared to onions and other commodities, potatoes do not have close substitutes. There are minor cases where sweet potatoes substitute potatoes for breakfast but sweet potatoes cannot be consumed as relish or as additives in rice. The potato can also over-take meat but cannot be over-taken by meat, especially beef and chicken.

Squash butternut

To the extent that there is significant commonality between potatoes and squash butternuts, butternuts have the same advantages as potatoes. For instance, they are not perishable and cannot be produced in every part of the country. Butternut can easily be stored for up to six months, during which period quality will be improving. The butternut has carved its own peculiar tastes and preferences among consumers across all income levels.

The fact that it is close to a pumpkin has seen the butternut gaining a foothold among rural consumers, especially professionals working in schools, hospitals and residence at rural growth points like Gokwe, Murambinda, Mubaira, Lupane, Nkayi among others. The butternut has also joined a number of nutritional foods and this has seen it being recommended for patients. This means health centres like hospitals are becoming a big market.

From an economies of scale perspective, just like potatoes, butternuts can be profitably moved in large volumes. There is also scope for value addition as seen by the high number of young people employed to load and off-load potatoes and butternuts. For instance, each 20 ton truck full of these commodities can employ at least seven young people.

Opportunities for barter trade are also huge, for instance in dry regions like Chivi where butternut can be exchanged with small grains or groundnuts. The festive season is a major period when these commodities are in high demand. Many urban dwellers who migrate to rural areas for the festive season buy potatoes and butternuts. Both butternuts and potatoes can be grown by A1, A2 and communal farmers who can make an income from such meaningful crops and be able to fully utilise their resources.

Green mealies

The consumption of green mealies has been rising among the urban and rural population over the past few years. Urban people do not have the time and space to grow green mealies since they have small spaces for vegetables. Green mealies have a huge market due to vending, especially at long distance bus stations and along roadsides like Selous near Chegutu.

While vendors may not be able to go and fetch green mealies in bulk from far-flung farming areas, they have direct access to cash because people who travel on buses buy in cash and do not swipe or use eco-cash. Most households can also afford green mealies. Green mealies provide options for farmers who can produce them for commercial purposes while using grain for food security. Such options are often missing in other commodities.

In addition, green mealies provide enough room for negotiation. You can buy a dozen of cobs for a dollar and sell for $3 a dozen. When dry, green mealies become staple grain while when green it is more of horticulture. Green mealies also have favourable economies of scale. It is possible to move volumes and, in the event of minor gluts, one can simply reduce the price slightly and still be able to make a profit.

From a budgeting perspective, green mealies do not go above $1,50 per dozen on-farm and in the market the price range is $2 – $3,50 per dozen. Price stability on the market informs sourcing strategies while stable prices enable farmers to control their costs. Consumers have acquired enormous tastes for green mealies. That is why you can see permanent green mealie roasters along major roads and in residential areas.

Towards sustainable outcomes

Besides signalling changes in consumption patterns, informal markets have a way of prioritizing staple food crops as insurance against shocks like drought and market failure that usually affect monocrops such as tobacco and cotton. They also lessen fragmentation across the value chain. It is important to encourage agricultural interventions where sustainable and fair outcomes are optimized rather than forcing farmers into a few traditional value chains. Using evidence to clearly define and understand an agricultural-based economy is vital and can assist in managing tensions between priorities.

A financial facility should be set up to enable the purchasing and mobilization of agricultural commodities that are becoming a key part of the food basket. In the absence of such efforts, contradictory and fragmented policies undermine current and future development in ways that reverse hard-won gains.

• Charles Dhewa is a proactive knowledge management specialist and chief executive officer of Knowledge Transfer Africa (Pvt) (www.knowledgetransafrica.com) whose flagship eMKambo (www.emkambo.co.zw ) has a presence in more than 20 agricultural markets in Zimbabwe. He can be contacted on: charles@knowledgetransafrica.com ; Mobile: +263 774 430 309 / 772 137 717/ 712 737 430.

President Mugabe addresses mourners at the burial of Cde Don Muvuti at the National Heroes Acre yesterday

This is the address by President Mugabe at the burial of National Hero Cde Don Kwaedza Muvuti at the National Heroes Acre in Harare yesterday.

The bereaved Muvuti family, vana mai nana baba vekwaMuvuti, vanakomana, vanasikana. Ndakamirira musangano wedu weZanu-PF, ndakamirirawo Hurumende, pachanguwo nemhuri yangu, ndinoda kuti kwamuri zuva ranhasi tine hurombo zvikuru-kuru nekurasikirwa kwamaitwa, kwataitwa nemumwe wedu, gamba redu Don Muvuti.

Tanzwa hurukuro yatipawo zvimwe zvatanga tisingazive yabva kumwana. Tinoitenda. Honourable Vice President Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa, Honourable Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko, Chief Justice Honourable Luke Malaba, President of the Senate Mai Edna Madzongwe, Speaker of the House of Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda, the Honourable Minister of State for Harare Metropolitan Province Cde Mirriam Chikukwa, other ministers here present, members of the Politburo.

Vanababa nanamai, tose taungana pano, taunganidzwa norufu rwemumwe wedu Don Muvuti. Vazhinji vanga vasingamuzive asi isu tanga tichimuziva, kumuzivurura semumwe wedu anga achishanda nesu, anga asingavhaire, anga asina zviedzo zvine vamwe. Kwangu uku ndinobva kwakati ndiko kwangu, ndivo vanhu vangu. Vamwe hongu, vangave nhengo dzeparty asi havasi vanhu vekwangu.

Wanga asina izvozvo Don Muvuti. Waigara paHeadquarters paye musoro wakatarira pasi ruoko rwakabata penzura, ari kunyora, ari kunyora, ari kunyora. Tinoda kuti zvose zvinyorwa zvake izvozvo kuInformation kana kune mamwe madepartments eparty zviunganidzwe, tizviise kulibrary yedu, kuna Chitepo zvigova zvimwe zvinosungirwa kuverengwa nezvizvarwa zvedu.

Wanga asingakumbire, handina kudya kumba, ndarara nenzara, handina chekufambisa ndipei mota. Aah, handina kumbonzwa Don Muvuti achidaro. Isu taiona kuti ah, mumwe wedu arwara, warwarisisa ngatimutumirei kuIndia kunova ndiko kwaakafunda zvikurukuru akawana madegree emberi anga achitaurwa apa Bachelors neMasters in Economics. Hondo yedu haina kungovamba iri muno vanhu vachironga vari muno. Aiwa. Haasiriwo mavambiro ayakaita kudivi redu rekurwisa varungu, struggle yedu.

Taive nevamwe vakanga vatama vachibva kuno vachinogara kuZambia vaisevenza nemakambani akanga aine maHeadquarters kunana Zambia. Vanhu vacho vamwe vaisevenzera makambani iwaya vaigara munaLusaka vamwe kuCopper Belt, vamwe vaivewo nemabasa avaiita vamwe vaitove vanotengesa. Ko nyaya yedu yekutengesazve ukangowana mukana yekuda kutengesa, ukangowana mukana unoda kutengesa twako kuZambia vaivako vakadaro.

Kuno kwabva dama, takanga tava muNational Democratic Party yavamba musiwa January 1, yakavambwa nana Nkala nana Morton Malianga nevamwe musiwa January 1, 1960. Vakazotsvaka rubatsiro kuZambia kukava nevaitungamirira musangano ikoko. Isuwo tambokumbirwa navaNyerere kuti dai mambotipawo gweta renyu ,ndiro rataingove naro rimwe chete raitibatsira vaChitepo riuye rimboshandawo kuJudicial Establishment yedu Tanzania.

Hatina kana mumwechete zvake kunze kwemunyowani achangouya kubva kufundo yokuti ave lawyer ndiye watinoda kuti apote achitungamirwa navaChitepo kuvaprosecutor tanga tichingova nevarungu chete, kana vachitepo vanga vasati vambova prosecutor asi vanga vachiziva basa racho kuti rinoitwa sei, ah takati nhai vakomana saka toita sei ndovatanga tichisimba navo kumhosva dzedu kana dzaparwa kumusangano weNational Democratic Party kwatiri kudaro.

Ah, takumbirwa, hatingarambe. Tabva tati, aah, VaChitepo endai. We wish you well. Saka ndivo vakazosimudza judicial process prosecution side yekuTanzania vachishanda nemunyowani uyu ndakanganwa zita rake wekuTanzania. Zvino, atove mazuva, takati, aah, wagara ave mazuva, aive nenjere yekupota achituma mudzimai Amai Chitepo vachiverevedza kubva muTanzania kuya vopinda muno munyika. Hezvo, voverevedza kuuya kuGokwe, kuSikombela kwatakange takavharirwa netsamba nenhauro yaibva kuna Chitepo achitiudza kuti akadii.

Vakauya kechiposhi takati zvakanaka tinovimba kuti arikuita basa zvakanaka. Kechipiri isu takange takasungwawo, takawanda nevatungamiriri vana Mudenda, vanaMahwema vana Nkala navana Malianga, taikwanisa kuita musangano wedu, takauita.

Vauya rwechipiri, takange tambosangana zvino takati, aah, tine vamwe vedu vakawanda vakange vabuda kunze kunana Zambia, vana Simpson Mutambanengwe, vanaMukono, vanaChikore, vanaShamuyarira, aah vakawanda varikunze. Tingade kuti vabatane vauye pamwe chete vogoita Dare reChimurenga. Ndookwarakabva. Mai Chitepo ndokuenda, takati tinoda kuti ritungamirirwe naVaChitepo. VaChitepo ngavachisiya basa kuTanzania kwavaive, ndofunga vakakwanisa kuita zvainzi vaite naVaNyerere.

Aah, mazuva awanda, takudawo kuti vachitishandira, vaite dare reChimurenga rinobatanidza vatungamiri vose vanganzi inhengo dzeCentral Committee nevanga vari pamusoro pacho, vogovamba hondo yeChimurenga, vovamba struggle variko. Mai Chitepo vakatora gwaro riye vakaenda naro VaChitepo vakadaira. Vakaunganidza hongu macomrades edu vose vamwe vakange vave varikoko kunana vaTongogara vanaKadungure nevamwe, ndopakavamba Dare reChimurenga, rakazonovamba hondo kunze kwenyika.

Asi murikuona kuti izvi zvaiitirwa kuZambia, ndiko kwatakanga tichikwanisa kuzviitira nokuti kuZambia yaive yana unip. Vambobva kuAfrica congress pamwe chete naKhumbula yavaitungamirira pamwechete navaK.K Kaunda naKhumbula, vakambosiyana ndokuchiita unip, asi tainzwanana navo kuti tiri National Democratic Party takati mozemberana neUNIP mopota muchipiwa nzvimbo yekuti muronge maZimbabweans vari ikoko kuvaisa pamwechete, ndokwakaenda hama yedu yatiri kuradzika nhasi VaDon Muvuti.

Zvandiri kutaura izvi OAU yakange isati yavapo, yakazovapo muna 1963, kuEthiopia kwaitwave musangano, vanhu veAfrica maleaders eAfrica asangana ikoko vakasiyana siyana vamwe vaitongwa nemaFrench vamwe nemaPortuguese sevana Mozambique vanaAngola. Vamwe vaitongwa nemaBritish, vamwe vaitongwa nemaFrench, asi vanhu vatema vakange vazvipira kuti vabatane, ndokubatana kwavakazoita.

Dare reChimurenga rakatenge raitwa kare, kushanda kwavaiita uku kuTanzania ndipo pavakanzi ndimi moona kuti misangano iyi yose yekurwira rusununguko nyika nenyika inowana rubatsiro here, ndipo pakabva paitwa liberation committee yeOAU kumusangano wakaitwa kuEthiopia 1963.

Tanzania yakabva yanzi ndimi mova headquarters yemapato ese iwayo, movatsvagirawo nzvimbo and ichokwadi ndopakazonzi ah, zvose zvatanzi tipiwe nzvimbo kuTanzania tochitama kubva kunanaZambia toenda kuTanzania tose tasangana ikoko with Mozambique, Angola vana Golden Roberto vekuGuinea Bissau, Cape Verde aah, tazowanda, ndopakabuda mbiri yeTanzaniawo ipapo, asi vana Ghana vakambenge vachidana musangano OAU isati yaitwa tichimboendawo kuGhana kunosangana navanaNkurumah, Nkurumah achiti nguva yasvika yekuti tibatane, vese vanaNkuruma maleaders aya ndivo vakazovamba OAU in 1963 .

Ehh, uku ndokwatakazonosangana toumba zvakanaka bato redu rokurwira rusunguko, ndokwazouya vana Muvuti nevamwe tichishanda navo, vamwe vechidiki vataiti ava ndeve hondo vakange vatovamba kare vachiri kuZambia vananaTongongara, vananaKadungure, vananaMeya Urimbo nevamwe ndovatakati ndeve divi rekurwa kurwisa mabhunu ndofanirwa kudeveloper now the armed struggle.

Apa ndirikutaura ndatodadzurana neZapu tabva muZapu, but veZapu vaita zvimwechetezvo asi ava vakanyanyogara kuZambia kunana Freedom Camp kune dzimwe nzvimbo ndokwatakaita macamp avo akawanda. Isu macamp edu takazomaitira kuTanzania anaDorove, naChimoyo, kuTanzania kwese ikoko ndikoko kwatakati tinoda vamwe vezvinyora vakafunda saDon Muvuti, toda vamwe vatinoti ava macomarades, mawar veterans.

Ndokurwiwa kwakaitwa hondo yedu yeChimurenga. Ndopota ndichikupai zvimwe zvamunenge musina kunzwa kana musingazive kuti muvene nhorondo yekwatakabva. Zvanga zvakaoma zvinhu, tisina kwokuti chaikoko kwatinga wane rubatsiro rwatino zembera narwo ndorupi, hama kunana Lusaka kana vaisevedza kuLonrho kana kuCopperbelt kana vave netumabusiness twavo ndovaipa rubatsiro rokuti vanhu vedu, vanhu vedu vakabatsirika zvikuru. Torega kuzvikanganwa. Ndiko kwataipiwa sadza vanaMuvuti ndovaipa rwekutanga kuti vanhu vedu, ndidzo dzaive hama dzedu kudakara nguva yeyainge yasvika yekuti maliberation committees ngagare kuTanzania ndopatakaita husahwira nenyika dzakawanda anaChina, naRussia nanaSoviet Union nanaYugoslavia, Romania, Hungary and so on.

Vana Cuba dzadzatova shamwari, saka apo rubatsiro rwanga rwawanda zvino rokupiwa mari yekupota muchitenga zvekudya nembatya, zvombo zvekuti muchirwisa zvino vavengi izvo zvakazovamba chaizvoizvo mungwara rakanaka kumaparty ose tavakuTanzinia ndipo patakanyanya kushanda pamwetese navanaMuvuti. Saka hondo yedu haina kurwiwa nemunhu mumwe chete.

Uyu watiri kuviga pano, kunyanya ave munyori, zvokuti munhu wangasiya kumusha mudzimai nevana hongu vaivepo, wangovimbawo kuti hama vakoma nevanin’ina vandakasiya aiwa vachavachengeta. Usiri pabasaka rinokupa mari yekutumira kumusha, aiwa hapana kana cent rataitumira kumusha kana, taingoti vanozvionera ikoko vanorima vachizvionera vachiwana chekudya.

Zvaivaremera madzimai nemhuri kunyanya, vanamai zvaivaremera kuti vana vakaenda kunze tichavaona vachadzoka? Tikavaona zvechokwadi saka moyo yanamai chido chavo ndochakaramba chichivarwadza asi vakazofara vazhinji tadzoka tiri vazhinjiwo, asi vamwe vedu vakange vadanwa naiye musiki vachinzi imi munosara hamuchadzokera kunyika yamakavamba kurwira ndostruggleka zvayakanga yakaita.

Tingatye kuti takarasikirwa vamwe vanoti takarasikirwa nevakawanda kune dzimwe dzimba two brothers like what we heard mwana achitaura pano kuti munin’ina waDon aive doctor and we knew him kuti aishanda akabatsira zvikuru-kuru taive naye asi hatina kudzoka naye kwakarwiwa kukafiwa, kwakarwiwa tikava nemisangano yakawanda ndichayeuka takaenda ku Lancaster 1979, tikawirirana neconservative government yamaiThatcher ndivo vaitungamirira ndovaive Prime Minister mazuva acho kuti tichawana independence yedu, tichawana ivhu redu nerusununguko rwakakwana. Takuronga kudzoka tochiti ngatichiudzanai nokuti vakomana vepfuti vangangoramba vachidzidandaura asi hondo tichiti yapera.

Iwe Tongogara chienda unodana vose makurukota vana Mujuru nemacommanders ese tanga tinewe kuLancaster. Hondo yepfuti yapera, unovaudza kuti haihwa hondo yapera ngatichigadzirirai kuenda kumusha, asi hatina kusvika naye kumusha. Achienda kuChimoio kubva kuMaputo kwatakanga tiri. Chauya chauya. Ndokufa mota zvatakaudzwa izvozvi zviye. Ah, uyu mumwe waenda zvechokwadi, ehe waenda zvechokwadi.

Ndoyeuka zvaakanga andiudza tichangopedza musangano kuLancaster zvikanzi ah, nyika taiwana tinofara tikati ahya todzokera kumusha zvino zvikanzi ahaya asi President hatisi tose tichanosvika kumusha zvikanzi vamwe vachasara. Ah, handina kubvunza kuti urikurevei, asi ndakazoziva zvino ndanzwa kuti ashaya ndikati ko chii chaimuudza kudaro kuti vamwe vachasara tichavasiya hatisi tose tichazosvika kumusha ndomatauriro aakaita. Saka hatisi tose takazosvika, iye nevamwe vakasara.

Tinovarumbidza, takatakura mitumbi yaanaChitepo, maskeletons avo kuti tiavige kuno nemitumbi yavo ivekuno tive nekugutsikana kuti tinavo kuno kumusha kunyika yavakarwira. Don futi takadzoka naye tikashanda naye, urwu rwaverufu rwehurwere haana kuzenge aita zvakanaka mazuva ekupedzisira aingogara achirwara rwara. Takaedza nepatinogona asi mwari akanga atara kuti hupenyu hwake hwakupera.

Hongu takazonzwa kuti arwarisa takazonzwa kuti haasisiko zvino kana zvadai tinochema hongu kusvimha nemhuri yake ndozvatinoita magamba edu tine tinemi pamoyo tinemi pamoyo, tinemi mupfungwa nekuti ndozvatoitika izvi asi tinoguma toti musiki wedu ndozvaada.

Kuti tichiviga mumwe wedu isu ndisu tozoti tomuviga sei tichiona mashandiro atakaitawo naye vamwe tinoti vanopihwa hukuru maHeroes vanovigwa kumaprovince vepamusoro tinenge tichiti tinovaviga panapa dzinenge dziri shungu dzedu dzekuti maheroes edu nevari kumaprovince vave pamwechete havangakwane. Saka tinokamura toti ah maprovince movigawo vamwe asi vepamusorosoro ndovatinotora toisawo pano, ndozvatakaita vaDon Muvuti takagara pasi tikati aiwa vane kodzero nekushinga kwavakanga vakaita nebasa ravaiita from day-to-day you didn’t tell him to get up and go to work aiwa vaiziva basa ravo.

Vakanga vainechirwere chekuda basa zuva nezuva haumbomubvunza kuti arikuitei arikunyora chete arikunyora chete .Saka vemhuri vaiva nemufaro iwoyo kuti ah vaDon Muvuti vakasarudzwa kuva pano izuva hongu ratinochemesesa kuti tinovasiya pano asi tichifarisisawo kuti mukuvasiya pano tikuvasiya pamufaro vose nevamwe varipano kuti vakapiwa hukuru nenyika .

Tinotenda veZAOGA nemazwi amatipa tinotendawo vaimbi vatiimbira dzimbo dzinopindawo mumoyo medu. Baba vedu varikudenga, our Father who art in heaven in English and in song. Our Father who art in heaven. Ehe, ndoovasiki vedu. Zuva rakaita sera nhasi tose tofanira kuriyeuka kuti hatina kuzvikanda pano pasi. Hapana vanhu vangati isu takangobudawo muvhu sezvinoita makurwe zviya. Aiwa, takabva mupfungwa yevari kumusorosoro. Tinoyeuka izvozvo. Kazhinji tinogara tisingayeuke asi tinoyeutswa. Vanoenda kusvondo, vafundisi vanovayeudza vave vafundisi vakanaka, vanoda Mwari. Kwete vanoshandisa zvekwamwari kuti vapfume kurozva vanhu ndirikunzwa kuti kunotoita kunedzimwe church kunonzi madrum anozara ini ah ndinoti ko anozara sei vanhu vedu vanongochema vanongoti hatina mari hatina mari.

Asi pastor akauya achiti mose muripano zuva ramwari richasvika hapana anozonzi murombo mose muchava mupfumi nemupfumi mupfumi nemupfumi imi motendera izvozvo murikunyeperwa tanga wazvipfumisa iwe kwete kuuya nebhagidhi kuti rizadzwe inga takadzidza.Zvino aah aah mufunge tava vanhu vane njere, vanhu vanokwanisawo kuverenga bhaibheri nepedu toga. Nyanzvi dzefundo asi dzinonozadza bhagidhi iroro.

Vamwe varikuenda zvino vachida kunzwa kuti vanongoramba vakadaro here kana vachapfuurira kuenda kumusoro. Maelections arikuuya aya aah mapastor anogarawo akagadzirirazve, hameno kuti mabhaghidhi aya vanofana vatenga here. Votoenda ikoko, ndicho chii ndiudzei munhu waMwari, son of God ndiudze. Iye anokuudza kuti, aah, iwe mangwana iwe ndiwe, uchava Vice President.

President kana vaenda zviri pauri iwe ndiri kuzviona, ndiwe ndiwe ucha ooh ooh. Wogozvaira kuti uchatora nhaka, uchatora nhaka ye Zanu PF yehukuru oooh tiri vanhu vane pfungwa dzakadini nhai nhai fundo yedu irikutipa chii.

Mumwe anobva ati aah iwe iwe unoda kuzvinzwa saani ndinokukoromora ikokumusoro kwauri uko hakupere svondo usina kudonha iwe wogogwasha zvino kuti maiwe ndakufa. Ndakufa ndoenda ku..mamaiwe.

Yaa izvo izvo zvinoregererwa toti zvandisingaregereri munhukubata kamwana kadiki kane mwedzi mitatu, gore rimwe chete wokarepa woita sex nakokuti upihwe hanzi zvinopa maluck, kupa hupfumi aah vanhu vakomana. Vakadaro ndivo vanoda kufira mujeri hongu.

Kozoti zvino nyaya yekuurayana, svondo nesvondo tongoti kusvika paMonday takutodembakuti ndopatinoudzwa zvino navachihuri vachibva kuhome affairs. Vanotiudza zvose zvinenge zvakaitika musvondo rapfuura iroro aaaah ‘mai vakabaiwa baba vabva mukunwa pakaona mudzimai mvura ichifashaira pamoto paakange akubika sadza. Zvikanzi ko sadza ranguzvikanzi ndorandakubika iri zvikanzi wanga usina kubika nguva yese iya iyi . hauna kubika sadza. Mhesvi yatorwa pamusana pamai vobva vafa. kufira sadza?kwete,kwete kwete kwete.

PaMusamhi kune nzvimbo dzinonzi dzakakosha dzaMwari. They are Catholics, kunonamatwa kune madzimai akazvipira kutihatiroorwe tinova masisters manun, sekunana Dominican Convent kuya. Zvinokuna nun vakange vachienda kunonamatapane imwe nzvimbo yakakosha ndokukaririrwa ipaponemumhu anotozivikanwa kut iuyu ndewemunzvimbo iyoyo. Nun akapfeka hanzu dziye idzi dzechisister womushaya woti komumwe wedu uya akaenda kunonamata ngatimutsvage. Wotsvagwa mazuva maviri wakamushaya. Ngatirambei tichitsvagisisa angagova akaenda kupi. Munhu waMwari, munhu sister ndokuzoona aaah, munhu akatodarika ari mudhamu, akabatwa, akadzipwa,akaitwa rape, akauraiwa ndokubva akandwa mumvura. Vakomana zvichiitika munyika yedu yatinoti nyika yerusununguko.

Ndozvakarwirwa nanaDon, ndizvatakarwira izvozvo, aah, kwete saka pfungwa dzinoramba dzichiuya dzichiti patakatora isu tsamba kubva kuvarungu takabva tamisa kuti nyaya yekuti hongu munhu akauraya mumwe yemurder, munhu asungirwa for murder munhu auraiwe. Tirikukumbirwa nedzimwe nyika nyika kutidai mamboongorora kuti zvakanaka here kuti titi uyu afa touraya mumwe wechipiri vanobva vava vaviri. Tinoda humanitarianism kuti tive nepfungwa yekuregererana aah tichiona kuti aah kuzviisa mumwoyo murimimaurairwa hamamoti uyu uyu aahakakanganisa zvake asi ndaaregererwe zvinenge zvichirema asi tanga tichimboramba takadaro tichiitira tichiziva kuti tine pfungwa dzakasiyana siyana even muCabinet medu tiri vatatu. Ini ndaiti aah, ngauraiwe, VaMnangagwa vanoti ngatiitei tsitsi, VaMphoko aah, handisati ndanzwa pfungwa dzavo panyaya iyi.

Saka aah, ndafunga kuti kwete let’s restore the death penalty. Vanhu chionai varikutamba nerufu kuuraya vamwe. Ko ndozvatakarwirwa. Tiri kuviga Don nhasi apa, ndozvatakatambudzira here vakomana mumasango. Takati nyika iuye nyika yemufaro nyika yekugarisana, kwete nyika yekuurayana.

Saka ipapo mukazonzwa zvokuti munhu akuuraiwa zvino akauraya vamwe moziva kuti pfungwa dzavaMugabe dzakabva dzazoguka zvino vakanga vakamira parobot iri green zvino robot yaared. Hatidi, hatidi, hatidi, hatidi, hatidi kuramba tichinzwa izvozvo asi ipai rudzidzo kuvana vedu vechidiki ava varikukura. Zvino murume mukuru angapihwe rudzidzo rwekuita sei.

Aiwa tinotenda nekuuya kwamaita zvinopa rufaro kumhuri yavaDon asi titikuteverawo tsika yavakatisiira. Tive vanhu vanodanana munyika, vanowirirana kwete vanoda kugara vachirwa. Avo vanoti isusu aaah tiri pedu toga. Zvinotaurwa naVaMugabe hazvina nhingi izvi, hazvina musoro. Vamwe vakutoti kuno uku hakusi kwavaMugabe.ko VaMugabe havana kumboti uku ndokwangu uku hakusi kwangu ndinoti nyika ndeyedu tose saka vakomana ivavo vanoda kudzorwa pfungwa dzavo dzakaenda mudondo. Aiwa ngatinamatei ngativei nepfungwa yekuti runako rwatinoda munyika, kunzwanana kwatinoda munyika rwupfuuridze kumamana ose ose zvavo. Hapana mana rinofanirwa kushorwa. Hapana rudzi runosungirwa kushorwa muno munyika pahutema hwedu. Ava vatakabvutira nyika ivhu redu vaive vakanganisa vane ravo kumisha kwavo saka hatimboita apologise to anyone.

Aiwa ndoda kukutendai tive nepfungwa dzakanaka nemoyo yakanaka. Independence is our achievement together. The freedom is therefore, ours together.

Pamberi nekubatana! Pamberi nekubatana! Pasi nevasingade kubatana nevamwe!

Ndatenda.

Justice Makarau

Farirai Machivenyika Mr Speaker, Sir
The second phase of the voter registration blitz was launched in Murehwa, Mashonaland East province, on the backdrop of increasing confidence by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission that it will meet its target of registering seven million voters by the time the process ends. Mr Speaker Sir, while ZEC chairperson Justice Rita Makarau expressed satisfaction with the 1,2 million people registered in the first phase, political parties are of a different opinion with the major parties saying the requirement of proof of residence is proving a hindrance to many a prospective voter.

Statistics availed by ZEC at the end of the first phase show that just over 18 percent of eligible voters had turned out to register, raising questions on why there has been such a low turnout for the programme. What is also worrying is that only five provinces, namely Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Midlands, Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East, had registered over 20 percent of eligible voters, with the remaining eight all below 15 percent.

What is also disheartening, Mr Speaker Sir, is that there has been a low turnout of women and young people registering to vote, raising questions whether ZEC has done enough to publicise the event. Critics have argued that the electoral management body has not been visible on the ground, leaving most youths, especially those in rural areas and in high-density suburbs unaware of what is going on.

The Constitution requires that every eligible Zimbabwean voter be given the opportunity to exercise that right but political parties are of the view that a huge chunk of the population may be left out if something is not done to reduce the bureaucracy in registering to vote. It is commendable that ZEC, Mr Speaker Sir, has engaged the Ministry of Home Affairs to facilitate the granting of Commissioner of Oaths status to its officials as part of easing the challenges that a number of people have faced in trying to register. It’s incumbent on ZEC to ensure that all prospective voters are registered to eliminate a potential source of dispute come election time.

This should be taken seriously because we have parties that want to find excuses for their failure at the polls so this time around, Mr Speaker Sir, we should deny those that lose scapegoats for their failures. It is our hope, Mr Speaker Sir, that as the second phase of the national blitz gathers momentum ZEC increases its visibility especially in the areas where the generality of the population resides to prevent possible areas of conflict among political parties as we approach the elections.

Political parties should also play their part in encouraging their members to register and vote as it is in their interest that they register. It is the political parties that need the votes so those that do not actively take part in the process will only have themselves to blame when they lose in the much anticipated polls next year. Political parties have to go to the bottom of the issue and find out what the root causes of this apathy are.

Apart from the youths and women, persons living with disabilities have also raised concerns that the set-up at most registration centres does not take their needs into account resulting in most of them failing to register to vote. It is therefore of paramount importance that ZEC ups its game to ensure that all eligible Zimbabweans are registered to vote. Meanwhile, the announcement made in the National Assembly on Tuesday concerning measures being taken to alleviate the plight of MPs is welcomed Mr Speaker Sir.

Given the hullabaloo that had been going on in the past two weeks about this issue, resulting in the disruption of parliamentary business, it is commendable that Government has been quick to act. Parliament has more pressing issues to deal with than the welfare of MPs. President Mugabe outlined a comprehensive legislative agenda when he officially opened the Fifth Session of the Eighth Parliament that it would be a shame if that work was overshadowed by issues that are peripheral to the business of Parliament.

One hopes, Mr Speaker Sir, that going forward such issues can be avoided and one way is to adequately fund Parliament and as a long-term solution, reduce the size of a Parliament that is too large for a country of Zimbabwe’s size. It is also important that prospective parliamentarians be schooled that being a legislator, for all intents and purposes, is a part-time job, therefore people should not expect executive perks when they offer themselves for election. It is to serve.

It’s regrettable that some have taken it as a full-time job and abdicated from the primary duty of representing the wishes and aspirations of their constituents. One area of concern, Mr Speaker Sir, is the enactment of the Public Entities Corporate Governance Bill. It was disheartening to learn that 38 State-owned enterprises incurred a combined loss of $270 million in 2016 due to weak corporate governance structures and internal control mechanisms.

This is also despite the fact that most executives in these entities earn perks that the majority of us can only dream of. It is, therefore, Mr Speaker Sir, of great importance that this Bill be passed as soon as possible to ensure that there are mechanisms to deal with this rot as most of the people responsible for this mess have gotten away scot free, with some receiving golden handshakes despite them running down institutions that are supposed to anchor economic growth.

So as MPs finalise the Budget-making process next week, it is our hope, Mr Speaker Sir, that the issue of reforming parastatals and other State-owned enterprises takes centre stage. At their peak, State-owned enterprises contributed at least 40 percent to GDP and also provided a platform for other privately owned businesses to thrive, a situation that we want to better if we are to revive the economy.

Willia Bonyongwe

Zimbabwe is experiencing economic challenges that include deindustrialisation, disinvestment, unemployment and foreign currency shortages among other things that are causing serious headaches to national economic planners. Big companies are spending time queueing for foreign currency at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, while others that see the wait too long, have resorted to buying the foreign currency on the unofficial market. Yes, the money is expensive and this is threatening to choke industry if monetary authorities do not take urgent measures that stimulate industrial growth and production.

Some small businesses are struggling to operate in a market where consumers’ disposable income continues to shrink under an environment where no economist appears to be proffering a convincing explanation. Cases of companies going for months without paying salaries continue to dominate newspapers headlines and surely, the tax man, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), cannot also escape unhurt.

It is against this backdrop that proposals by the Zimra board chairperson Mrs Willia Bonyongwe to increase fines on tax offences across the board as part of efforts to promote compliance, make intriguing reading. We reported yesterday that the revenue collector is currently lobbying for promulgation of more punitive fines on tax offences through Finance and Economic Development Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo’s 2018 National Budget.

This comes amid concerns that tax offenders do not find the current fines regime punitive enough. As the country grapples with possible solutions to enforce tax compliance, debate rages on whether getting tough on companies that have already proved that they are failing to stand on their feet can yield benefits or not. At the same time, should the country continue to overburden those law-abiding corporate citizens while others enjoy public facilities for free.

This is a delicate situation that need to be handled meticulously to avoid offsetting the state of equilibrium. Critically looking into the matter, it\s grossly unfair for a few corporates and individuals to be forced to carry the burden while others evade taxes with impunity. It is our hope that when Mrs Bonyongwe sits with her board to deliberate this issue, they adopt a win-win approach where those who evade tax must be penalised heavily, but in manner that does not kill the companies.

It must become a culture for Zimbabweans to be law abiding, be good corporate citizens who pay their dues to the taxman without being followed or reminded to do so. In fact, Zimbabwe is tolerant with tax evaders compared to other countries in some parts of the world. It is our humble submission that citizens and companies that should approach Zimra with proposals to clear their tax dues not to the contrary.

Those who evade tax and use the money to buy luxurious goods and vehicles, who do they think will build roads for them to cruise with their state- of-the-art cars? Who will provide for public lighting for them to have safe communities and pay decent salaries for our civil servants so that they shun corruption. We, therefore, propose that the fines should be deterrent enough and should be done according to international best practices.

However, inasmuch as Zimra wants money through taxation, all should not be done in a manner that kills the hen that lays the golden eggs. In this school of thought, surely an all-inclusive approach should be adopted during Zimra’s hunt for tax evaders. The companies that are dogding taxation should be engaged and educated on the consequences of not contributing to national development before a guillotine chops off their heads.

Zimra allowed some companies to go for over six years without paying tax and it boggles the mind to think that the same can today pay the amount backdated after being slapped with heavy penalties. Zimra should not be spared the cane here because it allowed these companies, small or big, to go unpunished for a long time. As the taxman moots these punitive measures, surely let it be done in a manner that does not kill the remaining few companies battling to make it in this challenging environment.

Obi Egbuna Jnr Simunye
Last week the US Correspondent to The Herald Obi Egbuna Jnr was granted an interview with the pan-Africanist icon Comrade and H.E. Ambassador Jesus Chucho Garcia, the General Consul to the Boliviarian Republic of Venezuela. Comrade and Excellency Garcia is the former Venezuelan Ambassador to Angola, the very first African embassy established under the revolutionary government of the late president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Comrade and H.E. Commandante Hugo Chavez. Comrade and H.E. Garcia was the Commandante’s Advisor of African Affairs and Developments. Comrade and H.E. Garcia provided a rather insightful analysis of not only the US-EU Imperialism regime change agenda for Venezuela, but the parallels between imperialist sanctions on both nations and peoples.

OE: How does the political divide between the government of Venezuela and the pro-regime change opposition impact on the people of African ancestry and descent? In these 19 years of the Bolivarian process, Afro-descendant Venezuelans have been dignified in an unprecedented way in Venezuelan history.

AJCG: The process of social transformation with which Venezuela has experimented with over the past 18 years has not only been economical, but also a political process, where President Chavez played an essential ideological role as the leader of this humane option, of solidarity and participation.

When Chavez arrived, on an episode of “Alo, President” filmed in Palmarejo (January 2004), he declared himself Afro-descendant, and handed over 11 000 hectares along with agriculture credits, and decreed the land communal property of the afro-descendants of Yaracuy. In other words, the Sacrocracia (owners of the cane growers) were expropriated in defence of the defenceless.

Additionally, in the sub-region of Barlovento, thousands of hectares in the hands of the Cacaocracia (cacao plantation owners) who had turned our grandfathers and grandmothers’ into hunchbacks from bending over to sow the riches of the hacienda owners, who would pay them a hundred times less what each basket of cacao was worth.

Today in Barlovento we are experimenting with the socialist cacao companies and the chocolate manufacturers to work with cacao derivatives. And the six autonomous municipalities of Barlovento have voted in favour of the Bolivarian hope. In the southern area of Maracaibo Lake (Bobures, Gibaltar, El Batey, and San Jose de Hera) people placed their faith in substantial change, in the hopes of eradicating the latifundio of the cane fields owned by the Brillemburg.

This is why it doesn’t occur to us to join the guarimbas like they are doing in Altamira or in upper-class areas of Caracas and some inland cities. The Afro-descendants of this country have achieved a dignity without precedent in Venezuelan history.

OE: Please highlight how the people of African descent and ancestry have benefited from the policies implemented by the late Commandante Hugo Chavez and now President Maduro.

AJCG: The Afro-descendant communities of Venezuela have benefited in ways never before seen under previous socio-political processes. Before, the land of Afro communities was in the hands of latifundistas and agrarian bourgeoisie. One of the worst cases of discrimination was reflected in the Farriar municipality, where Cuban supporters of Batista, with the help of the [pre-Chavez] government, dispossessed thousands of hectares of ancestral land, including Cañizos Palo Quemao, Farriar, Palmarejo, and El Chino. Numerous witnesses tell of how the Batista supporters hired armed bands to assault community inhabitants at night, threatening them and burning their cane crops. This led to persecutions, and a youth was murdered when people protested these events.

OE: In the cases of Zimbabwe and Cuba being sanctioned and blockaded has tested the resolve and patriotism of the everyday people, does that dynamic hold true in Venezuela?

AJCG: We dared, under the leadership of President Chávez, to change the geometry of power in our America, including to the people of the United States showing our solidarity to more than two million impoverished people in that country with our policy of giving it warmth in winter time through the mixed company CITGO.

Sovereignty has a very high political cost as it has been demonstrated by Haiti in the 18th century, when it dared to be the first republic of the African Diaspora to achieve its independence from French and American imperialism, and then it was blocked. The same would be done to Bolivar following the Haitian example and also suffered blockade of Europe and the United States.

Then, they also blocked us in 1902 with the government of President Cipriano Castro, and we already know the history of Cuba with more than half a century of blockade and there is with his head high 90 miles from the empire and the blockade of a United States to Zimbabwe is unacceptable, but Cuba and Zimbabwe under the leadership of Cde Robert Mugabe is exemplary

The history of any country in our America that has dared to fight for its true autonomy, without military bases in its territories, without obeying the mandates of the great club or the whims of the Pentagon or the fascist leaders disguised as democrats in Europe, have run the risk and we continue to run the risk of being a perfect target of blockades, media manipulation, isolation of international bodies, asymmetric wars, covert operations of the CIA, Israeli intelligence, in order to create a climate for military intervention as might happen in Venezuela on the part of countries with miserable governments such as that of Santos in Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, among others that have been pronounced against the constitutional government of the current President Nicolas Maduro that until July 27 called the opposition to sit down to dialogue, but this one with its historic and bourgeois hatred and the feeling of being supported by the extreme right internationally refused to dialogue despite the prayers of Pope Francis, as they would say in my land Barlovento . . . they have the devil on the shoulders (they heated the electoral situation using violence facts).

OE: When the late Commandante Hugo Chavez decided to present President Mugabe with the Simon Bolivar Award, Venezuela’s highest honour, which is modelled after Cuba’s highest honour – the Jose Marti Award which President Mugabe received in 1985. What message was the Commandante attempting to send to the African world by bestowing this honour on President Mugabe?

AJCG: The Simon Bolivar prize given by President Chavez to Honourable President Robert Mugabe marks a strategic alliance of dignity before people who do not kneel before imperialism. It was not just a prize for a prize that is a political symbol. I had the opportunity to embrace President Mugabe in Venezuela at the South Africa-South Summit in 2009. I felt his vibrant energy

OE: If the Governments and peoples of Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Cuba continue to successfully prevent the US-EU Imperialist agenda from accomplishing their ultimate goal, what will be the historical implications on Africans in the Diaspora and on the continent many years down the line?

AJCG: The Cuba-Venezuela-Zimbabwe connection is a determining example of the dignity of the African Diaspora. It is a question of remaining in the battle against imperialism in all its forms. When I was head of diplomatic missions in Angola in 2009, I remember that there was a cholera fever crisis in Zimbabwe and Chavez on December 31, 2009, sent a plane loaded with medicine to Harare. This solidarity between Cuba, Venezuela and Zimbabwe must be vindicated as a great example of Africa and the African Diaspora.

OE: Thank You For this insightful interview

AJCG: The honour is mine Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Cuba will prevail to delicately paraphrase the powerful words and sentiments of Commandante Fidel Castro, history will and has absolved us. Therefore, victory is certain. We salute Mother Africa’s bravest leader and voice, Comrade and H.E. Robert Gabriel Mugabe.

•  Obi Egbuna Jnr is the US correspondent to the Herald and External Relations Officer to Zicufa (Zimbabwe Cuba Friendship Association). His email address is obiegbuna15@gmail.com

Henning Melber Correspondent
The African middle class is of huge interest to business. This was confirmed again recently by well attended seminars in South Africa’s big cities to discuss “African Lions: Groundbreaking study on the middle class in sub-Saharan Africa”.

The study was motivated by the African Development Bank’s diagnosis that (the African middle class) has grown by over 240 percent in just over a decade, and the bank defines 15 million households as now middle class. The narrow focus of the study is guided by a particular interest and echoes a poorly informed narrative about the structure of societies in Africa.

It is void of any class-related analysis and offers little bearing on reality. People are seen only as consumers with no political relevance. The study was done by the University of Cape Town’s Unilever Institute of Strategic Marketing and the global market research company IPSOS over 18 months in 10 cities – Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Douala, Dar es Salaam, Kano, Lagos, Nairobi, Luanda and Lusaka.

It defines as middle class someone who has a daily income of between US$4 and US$70. He or she also has a disposable income; is employed or is running a business or studying at college; and has some secondary school education. According to this criteria, a whopping 60 percent of the urban population surveyed fall into this definition of middle class.

The researchers conclude that those who qualify as middle class have an average income of US$12 a day and an average household income of US$17 a day. Of these, a third had a full-time job, while many ran mainly informal businesses. According to the study, an estimated 100 million people outside South Africa have an aggregated spending power of more than US$400 million a day.

It’s clear that the research is motivated by economic interests, targeting the so-called middle class as the object of desire for retailers. As the head of the institute explained, the core of the interest in the estimated R1,3 trillion-a-month market was a better understanding of the consumer landscape on the continent, (by exploring) aspirations, media consumption, buying patterns, brand relationships and much more (of such middle class).

Similar interests by the private sector exist in business circles beyond the continent. Large companies paid US$1 160 and small ones US$510 to gain insights into the investment opportunities at a recent “Middle East and Africa Summit” in Stockholm. The second day was devoted to sub-Saharan Africa, which was described as having a bulging middle class hungry for inclusion and more sophisticated consumer demands.

Such approaches perpetuate the original hype over the discovery of the emerging middle classes in the global South, defined in terms of higher living standards. They are measured on consumption and lifestyle related to Western products and status symbols.

But no insights are offered into how being middle class could be understood in a social context. This would include status and awareness as well as the political choices people make. This would require a different, analytically much more ambitious grasp of the economic and political realities in African cities and indeed wider societies.

The fight back

In the meantime, scholars in a variety of academic disciplines have started to critically explore the middle class notion. They properly investigate its meaning and definition. This is important because a middle class debate reduced purely to the exploration of consumer habits can only be used for self-serving purposes.

In contrast, the new scholarly efforts put an African middle class debate into more meaningful perspectives. They offer a deeper analysis of cultural factors and identities, consciousness, social positioning and relations to other groups as well as institutions and the state. They are on their way to a proper class analysis and the policy options and implications by the social group or groups in formation.

The challenge is to look beyond the superficial number crunching that defines a middle class in purely income and expenditure figures, void of any further analysis of other relevant factors. Such apolitical perspectives tend to put an ideological smokescreen around socio-economic processes. These rest on the assumption that relatively high economic growth rates suggest “progress” and “development”.

Meanwhile, little changes in the daily lives of most people. Crumbs from the table of the haves don’t lift them out of a fragile socio-economic habitat bordering on poverty. Many urban and rural people continue to exist in utter destitution.

Social change

Engaging with such challenges, exploring how being middle class could be understood and mobilised for social change, would require a different analytical grasp of the socio-economic and political realities in African societies. Presumably, such different research findings would most likely not be of interest to the business. But, the more socio-politically motivated analyses might contribute towards raising awareness of the class structures perpetuated.

These are not fundamentally changed by a growing number of consumers, who are able to buy goods in the shopping malls and enjoy a “Western” lifestyle. Rather, the advocacy and promotion of social justice and equality based on truly transformative social policies with deeper redistributive effects, could in the long run create a much larger and more sustainable market.- Conversation Africa

• Henning Melber, Extraordinary Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria

King Letsi III

Joseph Ngwawi Correspondent
The Southern African community is working tirelessly to ensure that stability is restored in the Kingdom of Lesotho, where political and security challenges are once again threatening peace in the region. Speaking at the Lesotho Post-Election Dialogue held in Maseru in October, South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was “invested as a region and as the people of Africa in the progress of the Kingdom” of Lesotho.

“We reiterate SADC’s commitment to working with the government and people of Lesotho in search of a lasting solution to the political and security challenges facing the country,” Ramaphosa said during the meeting.

The dialogue, which was held under the auspices of the Lesotho Council of NGOs, was attended by representatives of Lesotho political parties, and traditional and religious leaders. It provided a platform for discussing the complexities of the Lesotho electoral process; issues associated with securing national peace, political stability, reconciliation and transitional justice; pre-conditions for undertaking successful reforms, and key considerations in the process, structures and leadership that should accompany the reform process in the country.

The national dialogue is part of recommendations made by SADC in 2014 to the government of Lesotho to find a lasting solution to the political challenges in the kingdom. As part of the recommendations, SADC called upon the government of Lesotho to develop and submit a roadmap on the implementation of SADC decisions with concrete, clear milestones, and deliverables and report progress before November 2017.

Ramaphosa, who is the SADC facilitator to the Kingdom of Lesotho, said the commitment by SADC to ensuring the restoration of peace and security in Lesotho was demonstrated by its decision to deploy an expanded oversight committee as well as a proposed contingent force. The oversight committee will act as an early warning mechanism for the political situation in Lesotho. It will monitor and assist the kingdom in implementing SADC decisions.

Following a Double Troika Summit held in September, a SADC Technical Assessment Team was deployed to Lesotho to assess the security situation in the Kingdom and determine the requirements and prepare modalities for deploying the SADC contingent force by the beginning of this month. The Double Troika Summit decision followed the assassination of Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) commander Khoantlhe Motšomotšo in September, a development that jeopardised the implementation of SADC decisions and further destabilised the security situation in the Kingdom. SADC Technical Assessment Team held the consultative meetings with various Lesotho stakeholders in Maseru in September.

The stakeholders consulted included the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ministry of Defence and National Security, LDF, Lesotho National Security Service, Lesotho Mounted Police Service, Christian Council of Lesotho, Lesotho Council of NGOs and representatives of opposition political parties.

At the end of the mission, the team prepared a detailed report with recommendations on the requirements and modalities for the deployment of the SADC contingent force comprising the military, police and civilian components. Namibia became the first country to announce its contribution to the proposed SADC contingent force. The Namibian government approved the deployment of 250 soldiers to Lesotho as part of a 1 200-strong SADC standby force.

SADC condemned the assassination of Motšomotšo, saying the incident could affect efforts to promote and find a lasting solution to the political situation in the country. Motšomotšo was allegedly shot at his home by a group of soldiers who had recently been fired. To avert the possibility of further deterioration of security in the country, SADC immediately deployed a ministerial fact-finding mission to Lesotho in September.

The mission was made up of the SADC chairperson President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Organ Troika Ministers as well as defence and security experts. The fact-finding mission conducted an assessment of the security situation and held meetings with all key stakeholders in Lesotho in order to establish the circumstances behind the assassination and subsequently recommended an appropriate course of action.

One of the recommendations was the deployment of a Contingent Force comprising military, security, intelligence and civilian experts to the kingdom, which was approved by the Double Troika Summit that met on September 15 in South Africa. The Troika summit approved an expanded mandate and composition of a total of 34 members of the oversight committee to include military, security, intelligence and civilian experts to be deployed to Lesotho for a period of one month.

The Troika has called for “an urgent need to assist the Kingdom in restoring law and order, and a peaceful environment conducive to among others, the implementation of SADC decisions specifically, security sector and constitutional reforms, as well as the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry.” In this regard, SADC said it will remain seized with the political situation in Lesotho and is committed to the process of ensuring a return to political stability in the country.

Lesotho has experienced recurring political instability since its independence in October 1966. The latest political problems have seen the country holding three national elections during the past five years. The elections were prompted by votes of no-confidence passed on the respective prime ministers by the Parliament.

Since the general elections of 2012, Lesotho has experienced some instability, including an alleged coup in 2014 that was allegedly triggered when Prime Minister Thomas Thabane, facing a vote of no-confidence, suspended Parliament following challenges in the coalition government that he had formed two years earlier. An election, which was initially scheduled for 2017, was advanced to 2015 and former prime minister Pakalitha Mosisili was elected premier. However, the country slid back into a crisis when the Parliament passed a vote of no-confidence in Mosisili in February.

As per the constitution, King Letsie III called for an election on June 3, which saw Thabane returning again as prime minister after forming a coalition of opposition parties. The recent assassination of Motšomotšo adds a new twist to the Lesotho political saga, hence the latest push by SADC for a permanent solution to the problems in the Kingdom.- sardc.net

Ruth Butaumocho Gender Editor
Tariro Murinda (24) woke up to find a man slipping into her blankets in the bedroom she shared with her seven-year old sister. Before she could even scream for help, Tariro realised that the man was not a stranger but his father. He started fondling her breasts whilst signalling her to keep quiet. Tariro tried to free herself from his father’s vicious grip but he pressed her mercilessly to the floor, whilst he tore into her under-garments. Breathing heavily from the tussle, Tariro watched helplessly as her father forced himself on her. She tried to scream whilst wrestling her father’s hand that was clasping her mouth shut, but what came out was just a muffled sound.

As she lay beneath her father, Tariro could hear her young sister’s muffled and subdued cries, somewhere in the darkened room. Tariro could only whimper in pain as she endured the sexual assault whilst trying to reach out to her sister. Soon after the brutal assault, her father gathered his clothes, warned her against telling anyone, before sneaking out of the bedroom and tip-toeing to where Tariro’s step-mother lay in deep slumber.

Bruised and still in shock of the rape Tariro, grabbed her sister who was still huddled in a corner and crawled to their neighbour’s house. It has been exactly five years since her father died in prison after he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years for raping her, but the memories of the fateful night continue to haunt her.

“I have tried to move on and forget about what my father did to me, but I just cannot forget about the rape,” she said during an interview in Harare recently.

Tariro is among a group of sexual assault survivors who are receiving counselling and capacity building from Medicins Sans Frontier, MSF (Belgium) under one of its programmes to rehabilitate victims of sexual assault that are referred to them for further assistance. She has since joined a cohort of women with similar experiences who are undertaking dressmaking courses at a non-governmental organisation-run dressmaking school in Harare, funded by MSF (Belgium) to ensure that they can fend for themselves.

The assistance includes school fees for those who want to go back to school, food, bus fare and in some instances payment for the child minder for some of the victims who find themselves pregnant after rape. Unlike Tariro, who was left both emotionally and physically traumatized, Lettie Mabhaure (not her real name) discovered that she was pregnant three months after she had been raped by her neighbour’s employer whilst working as a maid in Goromonzi.

“I was so traumatised that I could not even tell anyone that I had been raped. I just left my employment and went to live with my mother,” she revealed.

Unknown to her, she was already pregnant. With no money for the upkeep of her child, or a decent place to stay, Lettie had to turn to MSF offices for assistance.

“They offered to pay for my fees at a dressmaking college, and also pay the baby minder, whilst I am attending lessons,” she revealed.

Lettie and Saru are among thousands of sexual abuse victims who have been assisted by MSF (Belgium) to get back on their feet following their traumatic rape experiences. Although they have different backgrounds, they have created a strong sisterhood bond from the misfortunes that brought them together – sexual assault. Whilst others can speak openly about it, others continue to be haunted by the past. Their only hope for the future lies in the vocational courses their undertaking.

“I do not think I will be able to have an intimate relationship. I am still traumatized, but I can’t wait to get a job once I have finished this course,” Tariro said.

MSF has to date assisted 6 000 survivors of sexual assault since the programme started in 2012 and spends $1 million on the project annually. Most of the survivors are adolescents who are often abused by relatives and family acquaintances, further compromising their security in the event that the perpetrator is not given a custodial sentence. MSF Health Promotion Information Education and Communication officer Mr Brian Hove said the programme was introduced after a realisation that hundreds of sexual assault victims needed to be rehabilitated following the assault.

“Over the years there have been cases of survivors that are repeatedly abused, and often find themselves homeless with no one to turn to. Although these cases are not very substantial, cases of re-victimisation are very common and are often not spoken about. However, there are several who are brave and come to our offices to seek assistance and we often take them aboard,” he said.

Mr Hove added that there has been an increase to 84 percent from 76 percent of sexual violence incidences perpetrated by people known to the survivor. That development has forced MSF to allocate more resources to the programme.

“The programme is on-going and we target both female and male adults and child survivors from all walks of life. As MSF in collaboration with the City of Harare we have further decentralised post-rape services to 8 polyclinics within the City of Harare. These are Rujeko – Dzivarasekwa, Glen View, Mabvuku, Hatcliffe, Budiriro, Kuwadzana, Highfield and Rutsanana,” he said.

Mr Hove added his organisation would continue to increase quality medical care for survivors of sexual abuse and gender-based violence in a timely manner in their nearest clinic to reduce transport costs. Realising the magnitude of sexual assault and gender-based violence, MSF has come up with several awareness initiatives targeted at communities to reduce the incidences.

“Over the years, MSF has been active in raising awareness in different communities using different approaches that include community trainings targeting information multipliers, drama and focus group discussions. Last year, we decided to work with various artists to create awareness against rape. We roped in local artistes and sexual violence activist Edith Weutonga, Selmor Mtukudzi, Ba Shupi and Ras Caleb and managed to come up with a single,” he said.

The organization has released a documentary titled Mask to give survivors of sexual violence a platform to share their experiences. Zimbabwe is among the countries in the world that are fighting to reduce sexual assault cases, including rape. Rape is a “global pandemonium” and not an act restricted to backward and underdeveloped world. And because of the social stigma and shaming attached to it, victims find it extremely difficult to overcome from the trauma, let alone talk about it openly.

•  Feedback:chinhemaruva@gmail.com

Masline Gapiko (left) with Paidamoyo (centre) and Grace Mavhezha

Runyararo Muzavazi & Tatenda Charamba
For Masline Gapiko (20), a young law student from Epworth, one of Harare’s poorest suburbs, educating girls and young women is a necessary investment for a peaceful and poverty-free world. She firmly believes that giving girls equal access to quality education can help lift them from the burden of poverty.

“Early marriage is not a solution to poverty,” she says. “Education gives girls and young women the freedom to make decisions to improve their lives. Education can empower these girls to have a say over their life choices by giving them the confidence to speak up for their rights and demand a chance to pursue their studies.”

For her, growing up in Epworth has not been easy. In Epworth, sexual abuse and early child marriages are rampant. Many girls drop out of school and enter into child prostitution. Masline’s mother and father divorced when her mother was four months pregnant. She says she was raised by her grandparents. After the death of her grandfather the burden of her upbringing fell in the hands of her grandmother. Poverty emboldened her in one way or another. Masline persevered through her difficulties and was determined to find a way out.

“Due to economic hardships many families let their children turn into prostitutes and thieves just to earn a living but my grandmother and I would sell fruits and vegetables. We also went around the community doing piece jobs. The money we got from selling vegetables was not enough. I nearly dropped out of school as my grandmother couldn’t afford the fees,” she says.

Joining a girls empowerment club at Epworth High School opened her life to opportunities. She learnt a lot from the club which was supported by PLAN International, an NGO that runs girl child empowerment programmes.

“I managed to enrol for my Form One in 2011 at Epworth High and was selected to be an ambassador for PLAN International. To be an ambassador one had to have humble origins and academic excellence,” says Masline who is now studying for a law degree at the University of Zimbabwe. Most of my school fees was paid for when I became an ambassador.”

Masline (right) poses for a photo with her award while Paidamoyo looks on

The Girls Empowerment Club is an initiative by PLAN International which aims to empower girls to advocate for their rights using various media channels, ensuring that their voices are heard beyond their communities.

“This exposure gave me a platform to express myself unlike before when we were forbidden to speak in public because of our backgrounds,” says Masline.

Through the programme she managed to meet high profile people such as Police Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba and many others.

Masline has participated in numerous girl child empowerment programmes and has received support from well-wishers to enable her to finish her studies. She is now a beneficiary of the Joshua Nkomo Scholarship.

“Meeting people such Charity Charamba has inspired me to move forward and work hard to better my life,” she says. “I learnt a lot from networking.”

Masline’s determination and hard work have won her praise and recognition.

“Despite the fact that I come from one of the poorest suburbs in Harare, I managed to go to Berlin, Germany, on September 28 this year to receive a special prize of the Ulrich Wickert Award in the Children and Youth Media Project category on behalf of Epworth High’s Girls Empowerment Club,” she says.

“I am currently studying for a degree in Law at the University of Zimbabwe. I wanted to study media but I couldn’t because of lack of money.”

Moving on to university did not detach Masline from the club.

“I still play a critical role in the club despite the fact that I am no longer a student at Epworth High School. I am currently the advisor and public relations officer of the club,” she said.

Masline and Paidamoyo (third and fourth from right) soon after receiving their awards

She has become a beacon of hope and inspiration.

“I want to advise all boys and girls not to let society define who they are. Living in a society full of negativity should not hinder one from going for what they want. In Africa when a country is hit by economic constraints people believe part of the solution is marriage which has resulted in the escalation of child marriages. It should be noted that marriage is not a solution to poverty, as such the more you delay the better. One should first gain independence so that they do not entirely depend on their spouse,” says Masline.

After passing her A-Levels with 19 points, she enrolled for a law degree at UZ with financial support from Joshua Mqabuko Scholarship Trust. PLAN International spokeswoman Grace Mavhezha said their organisation’s main was to empower girls.

“We aim to empower girls through providing them with education, exposing them to role models so that they can be confident and assertive, encouraging them to delay marriage so that they can make their own choices making sure that they speak out on issues affecting them,” said Mavhezha.

Plan International has an initiative termed “Because I am a Girl” which supports the youth-led global movement for girls’ rights and gender equality. Across the world girls suffer injustices everyday simply because they are young and female.

“Through this initiative we support girls to take the lead and influence decisions that matter to them. We take action and campaign for girls today so they have the power to transform their futures,” Mavhezha says.

Girls are vulnerable and need education to prevent teenage pregnancies, violence, child marriages, peer pressure, drug abuse and prostitution. According to the UN, there are nearly 600 million girls aged 10 to 19 in the world today, each with limitless individual potential. However, the global agency says, they are disappearing from public awareness and the international development agenda.

Experts say between inequities in secondary education to protection issues, adolescent girls are uniquely impacted and should benefit from targeted investments and programmes that address their distinct needs. They further say that investing in adolescent girls can have a huge ripple effect to create a better world by 2030.

“Education, I think, can make a difference to a girl child,” Masline says.

“Early marriage is not the answer to today’s challenges; education is.”

Jah Prayzah

Isdore Guvamombe Reflections
Back in the village in the land of milk, honey and dust or Guruve, elders with cotton tuft hair say a man who goes to sleep with an itchy behind wakes up haunted by smelly fingers. On the eve of this moon, November, the affable month of the evil (the moon of the goat), one of Zimbabwe’s uprising musicians, Mukudzei Mukombe, known to his legion of fans as Jah Prayzah or simply Jah, found himself haunted by his past engagement with a bouncer. The musician had to run for dear life, tall as he is, with scoundrels in hot pursuit and missiles rain- ing.

Zimbabwe is agog with the dreadlocked musician’s running antics that would have made Usain Bolt green with envy. Like village elders say, the day a monkey is destined to die, it finds all trees slippery with dogs in hot pursuit. Not every missile missed him.

Jah, who, according to the narrative, had not paid his former employ his severance package, had earlier on visited the deceased’s homestead empty-handed, not befitting a man of his social stature, whether he owed him or not. For a boy who grew up herding cattle in yonder Uzumba, Jah should have known that. Naturally emotions are high at funerals and certainly one should be hyper-sensitive to mourners.

Does anyone remember the story of Lameck, the catapult man, who also took it upon himself to discipline people at a funeral?

I will not dwell much on Lameck but he indeed reared an ugly culture of funeral violence. I have followed Jah for some time from the time he belted out “Fiona” and broke into the music scene. I appreciate his music because it has some old Chimurenga spice as epitomised by Thomas Mapfumo, especially that shifting tapestry of traditional instruments and the African drum. That is how far I go with him. His vocals are too fast and systematically intoning monotonously forwards, song after song. He needs to slow down and get the tenaciously congruent voice projection, befitting the African beat.

Back to his funeral debacle, the incident smacks of poor judgment on Jah’s part. He paid condolences at the house and if he did not want to invest in this funeral that condolence was enough. They say he went back again and spent time in his car, without talking to anyone. Why? Then they say he went to the burial a little bit too late. Going late happens with legends. They come late in order to be noticed, but that should be after making heroic contributions to the funeral.

Not just to be seen. It becomes some show off. His sixth sense, if he has any, should have told him this is disastrous. Even common sense. But admittedly common sense is no longer common. This villager, the son of a peasant, would have thought that Jah, a man who has fast learnt the art of speedy release of songs through a multifarious array of collaborations – albeit most of them being unnecessary – has learnt various cultures and gained wisdom. It seems he has only music sense and no common sense.

Karitundu, the ageless village autochthon, says the young musician has become big-headed and that he overrates himself. In his own lyrics he sings about such incidents like in “Kumbura Mhute” but maybe it means nothing to him. He is just a conveyor belt of messages and preaches what he does not practise. Not that we condone violence.

The worst thing is that the boy has become a subject of jokes and animation on social media. His image has been shredded to tatters, no matter how Jah and those who like him try to defend him. Do village elders not say that if a cockroach wants to rule over chicken, it must hire a fox as a bodyguard? Jah’s security team has no intelligence at all. They should have seen it coming and avoided it. That means Jah also needs to relook at this security. He has to relook at his conduct.

A pretty face and fine clothes do not make character. Karitundundu weeeeeeeeee!

Aliko Dangote

ON the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, told investors: “Agriculture, agriculture, agriculture. Africa will become the food basket of the world.”

Prime weather conditions, acres of empty space and well-established agricultural sectors averaging 33 percent of GDP, all make Dangote’s statement more than plausible. Yet, Africa’s thought leaders and businessmen have been emphasising the importance of agriculture for quite some time, and to date, familiar problems remain.

According to a World Bank estimate, the African agriculture sector could be worth up to $1 trillion by 2030, but lack of technology, lack of investment and an ageing farmer population all put this figure and Dangote’s vision into question. Only in the past decade or so has the sector seen a sustained development effort, but more needs to be done.

Vision versus reality

Agriculture is positioned at the forefront of nearly every African government’s development plan. The received wisdom is that rapid economic development comes from developing smallholder farms, evidenced by Europe, North America and Asia’s historical development.

Africa has about 33 million farms of less than two hectares each, accounting for 80 percent of all farms. Rather than create large commercial farms, many believe that by increasing the yields of African smallholdings, and by ensuring manufacturing capability to improve and extend value chains, Africa can retain its agricultural wealth, reduce imports, and profit from a surplus of goods in the market.

Speaking at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) 2017 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Joe Studwell, author and journalist, said: “I put it to you that smallholder agriculture is not just important; if you want to transform your society quickly there is no other way to do it.”

In 2003 the African Union echoed this belief and adopted the Nepad Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which aimed to revive agriculture by addressing numerous issues as well as pledging that each African country should dedicate 10 percent of their national budgets to agriculture.

Faced with substantial budgetary constraints, not all African countries have been able to allocate 10 percent, but progress has been made most recently by Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, who gave $200 million to coffee and cocoa farmers to meet the CAADP requirements and become a net exporter of food.

Other notable public endeavours include Ethiopia and Nigeria establishing an Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) to coordinate activities between government ministries across central and local governments, and Rwanda exceeding CAADP expectations by giving more than 10 percent of its budget.

However, policy often lags behind vision and commitment and many countries still have vastly underdeveloped sectors. Dr Agnes Kalibata, president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), said: “We are starting to see African governments beginning to get their act together but there is still work to do.”

Public-private partnerships fill gaps

At the top of the AGRF 2017 agenda was the importance of using public-private partnerships (PPP) to fill the space left over by government incapacity.

During a panel talk at the conference, Liberia’s outgoing president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, commended the cooperative model: “This forum comes at a time when Africa is more coordinated than ever, in its policies and strategies, and this synergy bodes well for the collaborative approach needed for a successful green revolution.” Many argue that if African governments can better present Africa as a viable emerging agricultural market, then foreign investment and technological know-how could greatly benefit smallholder farms.

Forums like the AGRF work well in bringing together various stakeholders in Africa’s agribusiness landscape, and some important deals were made. The Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA) was formed at the forum and includes the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and USAID. The partnership earmarked up to $280 million to increase incomes and improve the food security for smallholder households in 11 countries by 2021.

Maslaha Seeds Limited and Syngenta committed to a $1 million investment in increased rice and seed production, while BlackPace Africa Group committed to multimillion-dollar deals to develop potato processing in Nigeria and Rwanda, and Kenya’s Agricultural Finance Corporation settled on investing $2 million in lending to potato farmers – all of which illustrates the usefulness of the private sector in meeting demands.

Pressing concerns

Africa’s agricultural and agribusiness limitations are many and include both the way goods are grown and the way value is added. In a report released by the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience (CABI) at AGRF 2017, the fall armyworm – a large worm that spreads rapidly and destroys crops – has now infested 28 African countries. The worm feeds on more than 80 crops and can cut yields by up to 60 percent, raising a substantial threat to agricultural output. CABI estimates that the financial cost of the worm in just 10 of Africa’s maize-producing countries could be as high as $5,5 billion a year.

Although many farms are starting to use new technologies to counter environmental concerns, such as disease-resistant seed strains, environmentally friendly pesticides and improved irrigation, yields remain significantly under their potential. Finance is also a sizeable barrier to the upsizing of smallholder farms, as financial institutions rarely find agricultural projects bankable in Africa.

As Kalibata explains: “Banks are not in the business of losing money. It becomes about how viable smallholder farms are as entities that can hold and pay back money; that is what enables farmers to access finance.”

As an alternative to banks, more innovative methods of financing smallholdings are beginning to emerge, especially with the ubiquity of the smartphone and the greater connectivity of farms.

A young farmer at the conference said: “We need to find other channels of getting access to finance, we need to start working with other farmers to save money and borrow from other groups.”

Urbanisation and an ageing farmer population are also a concern, causing a quickly depleting workforce. The average age of Africa’s farmers, who account for two-thirds of employment, is 60 and the youth in many rural areas leave for urban centres at home or abroad.

“You need to stop talking about making agriculture sexy and cool to young people, what needs to happen is to actually make it a business and to focus on young people who are taking the choice of investing in the sector,” continued the farmer.

Finally, many raw commodities are being exported across the world and much of their potential value gets lost in the process. As the UK’s Lord Boateng said: “The global cocoa market is worth $100 billion, Africa gets 2 percent of that because we don’t process and manufacture chocolate products in Africa.” – New African magazine

Don Muvuti

Darlington Musarurwa Deputy News Editor
IT has to be a thoroughly unpleasant experience, if not traumatic, to have your parent(s) sit you down every evening for lessons on morality. For some of us whose parents believed in the virtues of the stick or rod as a handy aid to teach moral values, we will gladly take the stick – anytime. Well, Cde Don Muvuti’s kids had to put up with the late comrade’s daily lectures on hunhu or ubuntu.

It is one of those things that as a young person you will have to dreadfully live through only to thankfully realise its importance later in life. Moral lessons, like medicine, especially traditional medicine, are bitter but very curative. Such traits begin to build up the character of the comrade who was interred at the Heroes Acre on Wednesday. Even when he had the political power and means to amass as much wealth as he possibly could during his life, Cde Muvuti seemingly lived his life on the straight and narrow.

“The President saw it fit that because of his dedication to duty and hard work without expecting any monetary benefits, Cde Don Muvuti be buried at the Heroes Acre,” were the words delivered by ZANU-PF’s Secretary for Administration, Cde Ignatius Chombo, at the late hero’s family home in St Martin’s on Monday.

In a country that has become decidedly materialistic, rare comrades such as Muvuti, who obstinately stuck to their ideological beliefs, provide a flicker of hope for the country’s revolution. Zimbabwe was born out of the barrel of the gun wielded by cadres, most of who had been ideologically oriented in communist citadels such as Russia (then the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and China.

By implication, the nation state that resulted from the revolution was a Socialist Republic working for the good of the generality of Zimbabweans, or so it should have been. But Zimbabwe arguably did not outrightly repudiate some of the tenets of capitalism, which had been inherited from the Rhodesian era.

Though revolutionary leaders, especially first-generation revolutionaries, have tried to preach and remain true to their ideals, the ostentatious wealth that comes with capitalism has been difficult to resist. As a result, the tunic suits – most often a symbol of socialist cadres – have given way to tailor-made Giorgio Armani and Loui Vuitton suits.

Community-hood, which is not only a socialist attribute, but a quintessentially traditional African concept, has slowly given way to individualism. Today, the brutal realities of the excesses of capitalism confront us at every turn. They confront us in uptown restaurants, where a minority delights in sushi and prawns, while countless guests in downturn restaurants are content with poorly prepared sadza served with a heavy dose of vegetables and charred pieces that pass for meat.

Xi Jinping

They confront us in uptown pubs where the few well-heeled in our midst are set back by thousands of greenbacks in one night, while the bulk of downtown imbibers have to make do with unwieldy brown plastic containers of opaque beer. They even confront us at political rallies, where monstrous cars driven by the elite are parked to form a mock car show of sorts in front of poor countrymen.

While this is not necessarily criminal, such contradictions in a republic that is supposed to be socialist are nothing short of worrying. And this is why comrades such as Muvuti and a few of his peers, living or buried at the sacred shrine, are so symbolic at this juncture in our revolution. It is increasingly likely that ZANU-PF is going to form the next Government after the 2018 harmonised elections, as the number of potential voters registered so far, particularly in the ruling party’s strongholds, looks ominous for the opposition.

The two provinces that the opposition had a stranglehold on in 2013 have only managed to register 273 617 potential voters, while the remaining eight provinces – including Mashonaland Central, Masvingo and Matabeleland South, where ZANU-PF swept all seats – now have a whopping 1,15 million voters in their book. In Mashonaland East and Mashonaland West, where ZANU-PF did not manage to have a clean sweep, it only dropped a single seat in either province.

If this is not telling enough, then nothing is. Most importantly, this means elections no longer pose an existential question for the ruling party, rather the party now has to plan for a comprehensive plan to “lift” the people from poverty. And quite instructively, this entails destroying the current architecture of an obscenely capitalist system that is threatening to undermine the foundations and ideals of the Zimbabwean State.

Just because the majority of Zimbabweans trust ZANU-PF with power – in the same manner the Chinese have trusted the China Communist Party (CPC) with power since 1921v- this does not mean that they do not have grievances about their welfare. And this must be addressed.

Contradictions between capitalism and socialism are not peculiar to Zimbabwe. When economic reforms began in China, the same contradictions became more apparent. Not only were there a threat for China’s socialism, they were also a threat to China’s economic reform process. Trying to come up with an economy that was planned and at the same time embracing free enterprise became problematic.

Shenzhen, which was designated as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) – where conditions, as dictated by Communist and Socialist teachings, were relaxed – evolved as centre of capitalism, which inevitably set tongues wagging. As writer Wu Xiaobo noted in his book “China Emerging (1978-2008): How Thinking About Business Changed”, “other than a five-star Chinese flag, you cannot even find a single bit of socialism in this place”.

Deng Xiaoping

The Chinese were even warned to guard against the reappearance of “compradores”, those people who sold out the country by serving as intermediaries for Western businesses. Thankfully, the CPC, under the able leadership of its leader Deng Xiaoping, managed to clarify these contradictions and provide a platform for future Chinese economic growth.

“The basic route of the party will not change for one hundred years. In determining the standards by which we judge our work, we should consider whether or not the result is beneficial to the productivity and growth of our socialist society. Is it beneficial to raise the people’s standard of living?

“The basic quality of socialism is to release productivity, develop productivity, eliminate exploitation, eliminate extremism. Its aim is to finally arrive at common prosperity,” said the Chinese leader.

He added: “China should be on guard against rightism, but even more importantly, it should prevent leftism.”

Yes, as was, and still is, the aspiration of many ZANU-PF cadres, the revolution must stay on course. ZANU-PF should, contrary to individualist tendencies of some comrades we see today, “aim to arrive at common prosperity”.

Also, ZANU-PF should necessarily reject rightism (the excesses of capitalism) and, by equal measure, leftism (impractical ideological leanings that hold the country back). Corruption and indiscipline are arguably the biggest challenges to the aspirations of the revolution today. Similarly, the CPC has over the years faced the same challenges, but it has been ruthless, especially under the leadership of Xi Jinping.

ZANU-PF has to act and if need be “through blood and iron” to crush the two new cancers of indiscipline and corruption, lest they continue to eat away the party and the revolution from within. It is arguable that the inertia in implementing Government policy at times is blocked by comrades who have interests in those targeted sectors.

So, it has become urgent for the party to address these pressing issues. The party must continue to spawn selfless, blameless and incorruptible cadres like Cde Don Muvuti, or we are doomed.

• Feedback: darlington.musarurwa@zimpapers.co.zw

THE side-shows in a majority of African countries’ electoral processes are costing the continent big in terms of development, especially economic development, for at the end of the day when elections have come and gone, people want to live better lives. The dog-eat-dog scenarios we have been witnessing in most countries make us wonder whether the people are still major stakeholders in the governing process, or it is those who want power who matter most.

Why also waste the voters’ time and the countries’ meagre resources, if all that we are going to hear from the losers is that the poll was rigged?
This well-choreographed sing-song of “We wuz robbed” has become all too familiar in many African countries’ to the extent that we really wonder whether the cry-babies have the people’s interests at heart.

Multi-party democracy has turned into a nightmare for the continent as we witness how burdensome it is with each general election, and how costly and an outright embarrassment for the continent.

Somewhere between fighting for independence, governing and ushering in multi-party democracy, there seems to have been an unwritten rule that the governing party must not win an election, and every opposition party that contests has the right to romp to victory, warts and all!
If they lose, it can never be their fault, but rigging and a host of other nefarious accusations levelled against the ruling party and the electoral bodies.

However, Africa’s opposition parties cannot repetitively do the same thing, and expect different results. As long as they have that tunnel vision, and are externally controlled, they will continue to live with the notion that elections are rigged and not won — credibly, freely and fairly too.

We do not discount challenges that can affect some electoral processes, but for once, we beg opposition parties across the continent not to hold people to ransom, for elections are a process not an end in themselves.

In a democracy, the people make choices freely. After casting the ballots, they expect their lives to move on as the winning party fulfils the promises it made during the campaign period. So too the losers. They should join hands with government and see how best the programmes set out produce the desired results for the nation.

The people are bigger than all these individuals, and their welfare in environments so full of challenges is of paramount importance. These are some of the fundamentals opposition parties in Africa forget completely, as winning becomes so central.

We have belaboured the point because this year alone there were presidential elections in a number of African countries. Somalia went to the polls at the start of the year. This element was not too pronounced since Islamic militants are a major destabilising force. Then there was The Gambia, which eventually had a smooth transition. So too Angola, which shocked the international community.

In June, Lesotho went to the polls. Sadly, the Mountain Kingdom is failing to deal with the power dynamics between the civilian government and the military. Then Rwanda went to the polls on August 4, four days before Kenyans voted.

The contrast between the Rwandan transition and the Kenyan scenario is a nightmare. Although President Uhuru Kenyatta had beaten his long-time rival Raila Odinga, the latter could not take it. Hours before the official results were announced, Odinga’s alliance declared him the winner. When the electoral body finally declared Kenyatta winner, Odinga approached the Supreme Court that delivered a historic verdict as it annulled the August 8 poll and ordered a fresh election in 60 days among the top two contenders.

Odinga, probably knowing that he would lose the election, for the umpteenth time decided to boycott, plunging the country into a crisis. Although people voted on October 26, they did so against the backdrop of fear and uncertainty.

But Odinga it seems saw the loopholes to manipulate, and he knew that eventually the international community, including the African Union, would call for dialogue to heal the highly polarised nation.

The Kenyan scenario has its takers in Liberia since the recent election to replace President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has created a political impasse following claims of fraud in the first-round of voting on October 10. When the Liberian Supreme Court halted the presidential run-off pending its hearing of the challenge to the first-round results by disgruntled political parties, one Kenyan applauded: “If it was not for the Kenyan court, I do not think the Liberian court would have taken such a brave step. We gave them the precedent, now they can follow us.”

Africa has to rethink how it handles its electoral processes. The one billion people on the continent need to be fed; they need well-paying jobs; water and sanitation; health care facilities; modernisation of both urban and rural areas, and more. These can never be realised when politics is deemed a zero-sum game!

Justice Rita Makarau

THE INTERVIEW WITH Sifelani Tsiko
Elections, it is said, are the core component of democracy. After gaining its independence in 1980 Zimbabwe, has organised and held elections whenever they were due. Despite numerous problems and setbacks, the country has largely made significant improvements in its electoral system after years of steady reforms and international support. Since the launch of the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) by President Mugabe on September 18 this year, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has registered nearly 1,2 million voters out of the targeted seven million. This alone represents another significant milestone in the strengthening of the country’s electoral processes. Our Senior Writer Sifelani Tsiko (ST) speaks to ZEC chairperson Justice Rita Makarau (RM) on various issues pertaining to preparations for the 2018 general election.

ST: On October 10 2017, ZEC launched a BVR blitz across the country to register voters. You stated that the registration process will last for 72 days and it will be held in four phases with each kit spending 16 days at one centre. Could you briefly tell us about the major achievements you made in the first phase which began on October 10?

RM: A total of 1 240 459 voters were registered during the first phase of the Biometric Voter Registration exercise launched on 10 October 2017 and completed on 25 October 2017. All in all, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) established 2 528 voter registration centres. The commission managed to cover most of the country’s regions that are difficult to access during the rainy season and that in itself is a major achievement.

ST: The registration process started slowly, but later picked up with many people being registered. What could have led to the increased interest and enthusiasm in the process?

RM: The increased interest is attributed to the commission, as well as other stakeholders’ publicity efforts on voter education and publicity strategy which improved during the course of voter registration. ZEC employed various strategies which included face-to- face meetings, addressing gatherings, road shows, distribution of flyers, pamphlets, posters, radio and television programmes and advertisements, as well as disseminating information on the ZEC website. Several civil society organisations were also accredited to augment the commission’s voter education exercise. In addition, the commission established a Call Centre to receive queries from the general public.

ST: What were some of the major problems you encountered during the first phase of the voter registration process? How are you addressing these challenges?

RM: Voter registration officers encountered a few technical hitches here and there, which included failure to record dry fingerprints and some machine failure, which were quickly rectified. As the officers gained experience, the registration process gathered some momentum. Some technical hitches included the missing information which has since been rectified through the development of an enabling software.

ST: ZEC stated that the second phase would begin on October 29 up to November 13 while the third phase would run from November 16 to the 1st of December. The fourth and last phase would run from December 4 to 19. Do you think, time would be adequate for most people to register? Will you be able to reach the targeted seven million target?

RM: The Commission is satisfied with progress made so far and it is confident that it will manage to register all prospective registrants who will turn up for voter registration within the stipulated time frame. We are still optimistic that we will reach the target we set.

ST: How much money does ZEC need to be able to fully carry out the BVR process and help it attain its target of reaching seven million people?

RM: As stated before the onset of the voter registration exercise, the Commission needs over $50 million for the whole voter registration exercise. Part of that money has already been availed by Government to the tune of $7,59 million used to procure 3 000 BVR kits that are already in the field.

ST: From the first day of the BVR process, critics say there were reports of some registration irregularities or malpractices. They say some people were forced to submit serial numbers of their registration slips to some political leaders while in some cases villagers were told that BVR kits will record videos as people vote in the 2018 elections. According to your assessment, how widespread were such cases? How are you dealing with such issues?

RM: Such reports of intimidation have reached the Commission, but it is difficult to ascertain their prevalence. The Commission recently held a meeting with political parties represented in Parliament where the parties were told to desist from the illegal practice. ZEC would like to inform members of the public that the secrecy of the ballot is guaranteed even if one submits the voter registration slip to someone as this does not serve any purpose.

ST: There were numerous calls to scrap the requirement for potential voters to provide proof of residence. The complainants said this precondition served no purpose apart from making the registration process cumbersome. In some cases, reports abound that village heads are charging people for them to write letters that serve as proof of residence. What is your comment on this? How best can this issue be handled for now and in the future?

RM: Firstly, the proof of residence is a legal requirement, hence the Commission has to comply with provisions of the Electoral Act. Secondly, the proof of residence enables the registrant to be allocated a particular polling station where they will vote next year. Remember, the country has adopted the polling station specific voters’ roll whereby an eligible voter’s name appears at one polling station only.

ST: International support is critical for the development of Zimbabwe’s electoral processes. Japan donated $1 million as part of Tokyo’s contribution to promote the work of the electoral management body. Which other countries have also supported ZEC in its work? Could you state their level of support?

RM: Besides Japan, no other country has directly assisted ZEC in implementing the Biometric Voter Registration exercise.

ST: The United Nations Development Programme has also played an active role in supporting the country’s electoral process. Could you give us the breakdown of support coming from the UN agency, as well as other multilateral bodies? Do you think international support is critical to enhancing the quality of electoral processes in Zimbabwe?

RM: Of course, international support is critical as long as it does not interfere with the independence of the relevant institutions to conduct free, fair and credible processes.

ST: 2018 is just too close now. Is ZEC prepared to run the 2018 harmonised elections? What is your general comment on the state of your preparedness?

RM: The current voter registration exercise is a precursor to the 2018 harmonised elections. ZEC is confident that it will be ready when the time for the elections arrives.

ST: Zimbabweans are taking huge interest in the voter registration exercise. What is your comment on the future of democracy in Zimbabwe? Is our democracy thriving and advancing in the context of our electoral process?

RM: The definition of the term democracy is quite elusive as it depends on who is defining it, their background, perceptions and interests. However, it is the Commission’s view that democratic principles as enshrined in the country’s Constitution are being upheld in Zimbabwe. This is being demonstrated by conducting credible elections whenever they are due. Our processes borrow heavily from the standard and international best practices.

Zimbabwe can save millions of dollars in precious foreign currency by growing iots own rice using water bodies in the Lowveld

Stephen Mpofu Correspondent
The Government’s increasing focus on rural development is an exciting paradigm shift from the colonial legacy which saw an unremitting fattening by white rulers of an already obese consumer urban set-up while the sticks – a white racist mental lexemic description of Zimbabwe’s rural areas – growing poorer and poorer at the same time.

To be sure, the rural economic emancipation posits a brave new future for mother Zimbabwe and her millions of children some of whom eke out a hand to mouth existence in both the countryside and its urban geographies for lack of adequate resources. But, of course, detractors of the ruling Zanu-PF are wont to cry out “sour grapes” under the belief that the government’s announced new initiatives giving rural areas a new lease of life nothing but a campaign gimmick ahead of next year’s elections.

And, as will be expected the incumbent Government’s opponents will be echoing their foreign master’s destabilisation sentiments in hopes of de-campaigning the ruling party ahead of the polls. Yes, if elections catalise governments on the line by coming up with radical developmental plans, as those Zanu-PF has announced lately, then it would be a good idea for elections to be held more regularly as it is not possible for any government in power publicly to announce robust developmental programmes just for the sake of winning an election, as the rulers ought to know that they put their fate on the line through any such fake pronouncements.

In the case of Zimbabwe, everyone is surely aware that the content of the ruling party’s base political support in the country, where most Zimbabweans live, is unquestionably huge. As such, it is only logical that the millions of Zimbabweans out there in the country deserve a lion’s share of the benefits of a revolution that they supported to the hilt and which broke their yoke of enslavement – the development programmes the Government has announced and which include the growing of new varieties of rice funded by the Government.

This will mean a huge saving on money being spent on importing rice, with Lowveld water bodies including Manyuchi, Tokwe-Mukosi dams as candidates for irrigated rice. The Government will also introduce indigenous fruit trees the commercial value of which is being worked out, according to Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Dr Joseph Made in Bulawayo last week.

MInister Made

Wild fruits are renowned for their medicinal properties and herdsmen know that better than most people as they boost their health feasting on the fruits that, unfortunately, are systematically being rendered extinct through rampant deforestation and uncontrolled veld fires in various parts of the country.

[Which suggests that domesticating the fruit trees in point as well as preserving forests remain the only possible options for preventing a complete disappearance of fruit trees from the face of the this country. This, of course, calls for harsh sanctions against wanton forest vandals.]

Also recently reported by the Government in its gamut of new rural facelift measures is help to communal farmers in irrigating their crops as a move towards food security. When in full steam the measures will be an additional filip to the agrarian revolution that began with the land reform programme under which land was acquired by the Government from whites who occupied much of that resource which was then redistributed to the black majority who needed it the most.

Then came the most recent instalments of the revolution, Command Agriculture, Command Livestock Development as well as Command Fisheries, all of which are intended to boost rural development and with that the upliftment of people’s lives in the communal lands. Ideally, the introduction of agro-industries in designated production zones should follow naturally with workers being trained to process various crops for export to earn Zimbabwe the much needed foreign currency as well as for use at home.

Such industries will most likely lead to a reversed urban drift as rural people flocking to towns for work will now get employment in their rural set-up to boost production capacities there with the urban geographies being decongested as a result. The Government’s other plan of helping to finance tourist development zones will certainly take rural development plans a giant step forward as tourists are important agents of development in the countries that they visit.

If as initiated above that opposition parties in this country argue that development projects announced above are nothing but ruses to garner more election votes in 2018, then let these parties publish their own forward strategies for a better Zimbabwe and prudent publics will be their judges for better or for worse.

In life there are things that we want to happen in a certain way, yet they go the other way. In the journey and life of faith, you may want something to take place immediately or there and then, which is good and indeed it can happen. However, lessons can be learnt that when you live or walk by faith, there is bound to be, warfare, resistance or some form of opposition. You could have been getting low and discouraged, saying to yourself, I believe the Word, I have faith, I speak it, but why am I not seeing the desire of my heart come to fruition?

Why is my family not intact and saved yet? Why is this issue seemingly unresolved? The debt collectors still knocking at my door, my relationships still withered and the pain still aching in my body — why?

I have the key for you today from the Word of God, to let you know why it is like that and to lead you and help you overcome and show you that you can successfully have fruits of your faith life.

In (Isaiah 54:15-17) the Bible says, “If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to you. 16) See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc; 17) no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”

When you make up your mind concerning something like getting rid of a sickness in your body, it does not often go easily.

To all men and women of faith, there is bound to be warfare. Someone may ask, “What warfare now?”

The devil will be fighting to maintain his territory that is why after being prayed for or declaring your healing by faith, the pain may continue to hang around for days, the debt letters still piling up, the job hunt continues, the property you want seems unattainable and your home and relationships appear tearing apart the more and the resistance insurmountable.

It’s at such a time that many lose heart, and relinquish their faith. I have an encouraging word for you, “Do not panic in such situations and do not give up!”

Remind yourself of the Word of God and His promises and say to yourself, “Because He said it, He can do it!” By so doing you will be engaging in gears of warfare with the enemy.

The apostle Paul calls it “the good fight of faith!” Faith is a fight! It is not simply saying something and you think it’s over, No it’s not over.

There is warfare that is bound to come with walking by faith. You stand on the Word of God and you say to yourself, “What is mine is mine.”

Faith is declaring what Jesus says. Declare the Word of God, and you will have it come to pass in your life.

In the verse above God warns that surely adversaries and warfare will come. But they will not be of God, they will be of the enemy whose aim and intention is to stop the children of God from enjoying the blessing and promises of God.

The plans of the enemy to have you die a failure and nobody, will fall by wayside when you stand your ground and boldly declare, “What is mine, is mine!” For if God says yes, who can say no? Nothing is impossible with God!

Here I will introduce you to two weapons that you can use to win the fight.

Remember that the fight is not fleshy or carnal but spiritual thus the weapons are also spiritual in nature.

1. Declare the Word of God. The Word of God is the key to winning the fight. The Bible says Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness and he staggered not at the promise of God. It took him long but he believed God and stood his ground. Do you want to see the turn around you so much desire? Stand your ground. Boldly stand on God’s Word and keep a persistent and focused heart on Him. It will come to pass. The job will come your way, the child that ran away from home will find his way back, the business will get on its feet again, your health will be restored, your marriage will work and above all you will have the desires of your heart. Stand and fight, the victory is yours. Claim the promises of God.

2. Avoid Negative Talk and Fellowship with Negative people. Very often, the words we speak with our mouths are the greatest enemy to our success.

Words have the power to success or failure, thus if you speak negatively of your situation, you direct yourself to failure.

Negative talk will weaken your faith. Negative people are used by the enemy to attack your destiny by bringing fear and doubt into your mind. I urge you to close your ears to the negativity and keep telling yourself, “Nothing can hinder me from getting my miracle, nothing can stand in my way, I know that I know that I know that it is mine and God is able!”

When you talk like this, you silence the voice of the enemy and begin to gain territory till your miracle is in your hands. It is a fight and not for cowards! Cowards have no inheritance, but men and women of faith, bulldoze their way through and get what God promised them. Is there a promise you know and you want? Go for it despite the warfare. Fight! Faith is powerful!

When things are tough that means soon things will be well. God is not a man to lie or a son of man that He should change, if He said it He is bound to fulfil it. God will do it. Take heart and stand on His Word, the storm will subside and what He said will surely come to pass. Fight!

Always remember that, “For with God, all things are possible.” (Mark 10: 27).

Christopher Mutsvangwa

A young popular musician is stoned and chased away at a burial site in Zimbabwe.
The story torches off massive speculation about the musician and his relationship with the deceased, a former employee, and how he is handling his growing fame.
The youthful musician is also dragged into politics and is accused of siding or sympathising with one of two dominant factions in the ruling party.

Amid the frenzy, the matter spills into Parliament.
One honourable member accuses a counterpart of masterminding the attack on the musician.

For his own part, he says he would not take a similar attack lying down.
Actually, the bigger matter is about welfare of legislators — and the Zimbabwean legislator is broke, hungry and angry.
Unless they have other sources of income, legitimate or otherwise.

The first honourable member picks on his rival, who has attempted to smother debate about the condition of the legislator and this does not go down with others, so the incident degenerates into chaos.
It is chaos that shuts down the House.

A very senior politician is even shouted down for his pains to explain a technical matter and he is seen as viewing the same through factionalist lenses.
Both these instances demonstrate how there is some now widespread truism that Zimbabweans are currently in a foul, acidic mood, hence the resort fighting and venting off anger publicly.

Reminds us of one Nathaniel Manheru, who used to occupy these pages.
Last year, he wrote that this time of the year is bad for the national mood and psyche — and this was even historical.
He told us that nature’s inclement, tinder-dry outlook would, or could, rub off onto the populace.

He wrote:
“The Rhodesians called it the suicide season. Zimbabwe’s springtime. Particularly the month of October when temperatures soar exponentially, and then peak . . .
“Rhodesians transposed this inclement condition to the human temperament. In that sweltering heat, they reckoned the national temper to be short, to be highly combustible . . .

“And the Rhodesian syndrome? Check your record: all agitation scenarios for oppositional capital have always been set in spring, preferably the hottest months of September and October. There is a clear script founded on a psychoanalytical presumption of greater irritability of the native mind in about that period.”
Interesting! We could use that reference to point to a number of things that we have witnessed lately and over the years.

Ibbo Mandaza

Opposition party formation. Agitation. Hope. Desperation.
And when our honourable MPs want to fight in Parliament over their pieces of silver — and perhaps musicians — we know the national temper is very high.

From bad mood to madness

Let’s budget for that souring of the national mood as occasioned, we presume, by the elements.

However, there are some people who have not been able to handle their sour, bitter conditions are doing things that are patently a cause for concern.

Christopher Mutsvangwa is a mad man.

In the political fights that we have witnessed, and which also led to his expulsion from the ruling party Zanu-PF, we have seen that he cannot handle himself.

And with this heat (and perhaps whisky, too) he has gone overboard.

A few days ago he shocked us when he “invited” ex-Rhodesians to come back and “rebuild” Zimbabwe.

Ordinarily, there is nothing wrong in that, as Zimbabwe would need all that can work for her, but we know the context of Mutsvangwa’s assertions, as we shall see.

He was quoted as saying: “We want them (Rhodies) to be part of the next governance in Zimbabwe, because this country had been run on a scotched earth policy by the G40, we now want it to recover and for us to build a new country.

He adds: “We are also reaching out to the white Diaspora and the white business community, they used to run an economy and they are organised and they have the experience. If we can bring those and the new Diaspora into play then the country will stabilise and will start recovering from the ravages of G40.”

He goes further to court Western countries and the opposition.
“We are also aware of the MDC constant urban vote since 2000 and its appeal to the urban youths who are part of the future. We say we now need each other.”

Two basic things stem from this: Firstly, it becomes very evident that Mutsvangwa has become so unhinged and deranged in his hatred for the so-called G40.

For some of us who have no role in those fights, we know that Mutsvangwa and his ilk like Matemadanda have been tactless and rather foolish and allowed their hatred for and antipathy with certain characters cloud their better judgments.

They may also even have caused collateral damage on some political careers that did not exactly need their tactless and deranged activism.

Now Brother Chris — which is the second point flowing from this — is arrogating himself the role of political commissar for some cause that is hard to define.

Nobody takes him seriously.

Nobody takes him seriously because he is deluded and apparently his group or associations have been denuded of all manner of glory and power they believed they possessed.

And it is down to the poor choices and leadership from the likes of Mutsvangwa himself.

A part of us, and we have never shied from expressing this, do not believe that Mutsvangwa is a bad fellow — he just needs to swallow his pride a bit and rescue himself from his madness.

And about Ibbo?

Now here is the funny part. We are made to understand that Commissar Chris went into a diplomatic offensive that saw him spending some three months in South Africa where he was foraging for support for his hybrid experiment.

According to The Standard of October 29, he made overtures to Ibbo Mandaza through a South African minister Jeff Radebe.
Last week, Mandaza had a field day exposing this plot.

He told the paper: “An official from minister Radebe’s office called me to ascertain whether I knew Mutsvangwa and if we were working together on our NTA (National Transitional Authority) initiative. I told him I knew him, but we were not working together on the NTA.

“I told him our idea of an NTA was non-partisan and that there was no way we could work with Mutsvangwa, especially with the public knowledge that he was working to impose (Vice President Emmerson) Mnangagwa as Mugabe’s successor.

“It is our reaction to the invitation to work on the Mutsvangwa NTA model that incensed Mnangagwa, hence his vilification of Sapes with unfounded allegations that we are a CIA-linked think tank in his shallow Politburo presentation.”

We can see Mandaza, who has failed in his preferred role as a kingmaker at various stages of our post-independent history, taking extraordinary delight at being thrown in the limelight. This animal called NTA is thoroughly dead in the water, and has not had any takers apart from Mandaza and his friends. Now to think that Commissar Chris was desperately trying to ride on it is unbelievable. Surely, this is a mental case!

THE Zimbabwe Chevrons’ dogged display against the West Indies at Queens in Bulawayo, to force their first draw in a Test match in a dozen years, was the kind of never-say-die spirit that we always expect from those who are representing this country. Pushed against the wall, after they allowed the Calypso Kings to find a way to escape from a precarious position and then put together a record eighth-wicket partnership which thrust them into a very strong position in the second Test, the Chevrons were expected to just collapse and surrender.

Especially after their top batsmen, including the opening pair of Hamilton Masakadza and Solomon Mire, were blown away by a sensational fast-bowling display by the Windies pace spearhead, Kemar Roach, who bowled with both venom and accuracy to leave us starring at defeat.

Masakadza, who appears to be getting better with age, had top-scored for the Chevrons in the first innings with his career-best score of 147 and when he went without reaching double figures, and Mire was also dismissed cheaply, everyone expected the Chevrons to collapse on the fourth day and crash to an innings defeat.

They were not wrong to fear the worst because, in the past, the Chevrons have tended to wilt under every sign of pressure exerted on them and those who have been arguing that we are no longer good enough to play at this level of the game, were already preparing to write a number of damaging articles to tell the world why their gospel should now be embraced.

But this is a different Chevrons side and not even the cheap dismissal of Brendan Taylor could deflate their spirits and rather than collapse, as would have been the case in the past, they found a way to take the game back to their opponents.

Sikandar Raza, who is turning into a genuine all-rounder for this team, and PJ Moor started the fightback by resisting the Windies attack on the final day of the fourth session with a commendable display pregnant with both spirit and focus as they took the game into the fifth and final day with an unbroken stand.

And their positive attitude appeared to also rub into their teammates who fought gallantly as they defied the Windies attack for most of the day and forced the draw which was celebrated by the Chevrons fans.

This is what makes Test cricket special — the dogged resistance is as important as just blowing away your opponents and refusing to be bullied into defeat is an art itself and that is why a draw after five days of action is considered a great result depending on circumstances.

The first signs that these Chevrons are no longer easy prey came in Sri Lanka where, on the turning wickets of the Asian team, they battled toe-to-toe with their opponents en-route to helping us win our first ODI series in that country 3-2.

Then, in the only Test of that tour, the Chevrons battled all the way for five days and would have been full value for a sensational victory had it not been for a questionable call by the match officials to give their hosts a lifeline when they had their backs to the wall.

This was also the case in this Test against the Windies where, had it not been for a poor umpiring call to save the touring side’s captain Jason Holder, after he had scored just 11 runs, the script would have been very different.

Instead, Holder took full advantage of his reprieve to score a hundred for his side.

But, for us, what is important is the clear evidence that we are seeing that our national team is making huge strides, in the right direction, and Streak and his coaching staff should be commended for the great job they are doing.

It’s very clear that Streak, a former captain of the team, knows the Chevrons very well and can work wonders if given time and we should never lose focus of the main mission, which is to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019.

The return of Jarvis and Taylor has added value to the team and we were also charmed to see Tendai Chisoro getting on the wickets column in his first Test for his nation.

Our cricket is in good hands and the administrators, led by Tavengwa Mukuhlani, have been concentrating on making the game stronger and our representative teams better and we believe that we have the right combination, right now, for us to start seeing some very good results coming from our cricket.

Our national cricket team is important because it always plays at the highest level and the world would be watching and that is why it is important that they should always do well when they plunge into battle.

Right now, the signs are encouraging.

Statistics provided by the World Health Organisation on cancer are frightening, with the disease now the leading cause of death globally, having claimed 8,8 million lives in 2015 alone.

It becomes of even more grave if one considers that in 2012 alone, 14 million people had new cancer infections worldwide.

Well, 14 million is equal to the population of Zimbabwe.

The Ministry of Health and Child Care indicates that 7 000 new cancer cases are reported annually and 60 percent of them, according to the Zimbabwe National Cancer Registry, are HIV related.

Of these, only 1 300 to 2 000 cases are treated with radiotherapy.

We have to accept it — cancer has popped up as an emerging burden on Zimbabwe’s health delivery system.

The situation has been made worse by the advent of HIV and Aids, with officials indicating that 70 percent of those affected by the different cancers live with the infection.

This is why the fight against cancer calls for more concerted efforts from stakeholders.

Cancer has since become a national problem, and this calls for urgent attention and doubling of efforts to fight it.

If the statistics cited above do not jolt us into action, then we do not know what will.

It must be understood that cancer has no discrimination, it may be you today and tomorrow it’s someone else.

This is why we welcome the leading role taken by the country’s biggest media group, Zimpapers, last week, which demonstrated to the corporate world what should be done to help ease the cancer burden.

Zimpapers held a “power walk” on Saturday last week, and the event was double edged.

The five-kilometre walk was aimed at raising funds for the fight against cancer and spreading awareness about the “silent killer” disease.

Zimpapers has taken the fight against cancer so seriously that it has entered into a partnership with Island Hospice, a non-profit organisation offering palliative care to cancer patients.

The $5 registration fee paid by the participants for the power walk was channelled to Island Hospice’s coffers to strengthen the organisation’s capacity.

While we are aware that there are many corporates out there involved in various social responsibility programmes, we urge them to take a leaf from Zimpapers and channel some of their resources towards the fight against cancer.

Being the leading killer diseases in the country, it does not need debate to solicit involvement of the corporate world in stopping cancer.

Corporates need a healthy workforce, and fighting against the leading cause of deaths should be their priority.

We reckon that the awareness campaigns against cancer are some of the difficult ones, as they involve discouraging people from some of their long-acquired lifestyles.

This is because some of the causes of cancer include tobacco use, alcohol consumption, lack of physical activity and low fruit and vegetable intake.

That cancer is part of non-communicable diseases makes it extremely difficult to deal with.

One can look very healthy, without any signs of illness, yet the disease will be eating them up.

This calls for constant and sustained medical check-ups to ensure that the disease can be detected early.

Otherwise late-stage presentation has been blamed for the numerous deaths caused by cancer.

This is why we urge other corporates to emulate Zimpapers and put October, which is the Breast Cancer Awareness Month, on their events calendar to ensure they do something yearly about this huge problem.

Zimpapers has been doing it since 2015, and the results have been encouraging.

The media group has been using its various communication channels — newspapers, radio stations and Online publications — to reach as many people as possible with the message of combating cancer.

Amai Mugabe

This is the full transcript of the address by First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe at the Super Sunday, Apostolic Sects Interface held at Rufaro Stadium yesterday.

Pamberi mberi nekubatana! Pamberi ne Zanu-PF! Pamberi nekunamata Mwari! Pamberi nemutungamiri wedu VaMugabe watakapihwa naMwari! Pamberi nemhuri yese yeZimbabwe! Pamberi nekuchengetedza nyika yedu! Pamberi nekuchengetedza runyararo! Pamberi nekunamata, nekunamata muchokwadi! Pasi nevasingadi kunamata! Pasi nevanoreva nhema!

Makadii zvenyu?

Ndiri kufara chaizvo zuva ranhasi kuti tiri pano paRufaro panhandare yeRufaro Stadium.

The President of the Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe Archibishop Johannes Ndanga; Honourable Minister of Sport Recreation Arts and Culture, our host, Cde Makhosini Hlongwane; Honourable Minister of State for Harare Metropolitan Province Cde Mirriam Chikukwa; Minister of Defence Cde Sydney Sekeramayi; Secretary for Adminstration in the ruling party Cde Ignatius Chombo; Secretary for the Commisariat Cde Saviour Kasukuwere; Politburo and Central committee members vari pano; Members of Parliament who are also present; Zanu-PF provincial Harare chairman Cde Charles Tavengwa; Women Leagues, Youth League nema executive vari pano.

Ndakuchitaura zvino vatavinga machurch ari pano, ndoda kuadodomedza ese so that hamuzoti haa tasiiwa.

Johane Masowe Jerusalem church represented by Archibishop Veronica Gwati, Christ Apostolic Church Worldwide Revelation represented by Reverend Isaac Tititi, Bethsaida Apostolic Church represented by Bishop L Manhanga, Zvishamiso Zvavapositori Church represented by Archibishop Lameck Chitope, Power of God Apostolic Church represented by Bishop Douglas Mandaza, The African Apostolic Church represented by Bishop K.D Mudyawabikwa, Zambuko Apostolic Church represented by Bishop Isaac Masuka, Kubatana Kwevapostori church represented by Bishop Divas Chapenya, Zion Christian Church Reverend Charles Mutendi, Johane Masowe Vadzidzi Vajesu led by Baba Wimbo represented by Edmore Chitengu, Zambuko Apostolic Church, Johane Masowe Vechishanu Muchinjiko WeJerusalem, St Jones Wemabhiza, Kutendera Kwevapostori, Habakkuk Apostolic Church, Mugodhi Apostolic Church, Miracles of God Apostolic Church and other church members who are here with us today, war veterans, war collaborators, ex-detainees and restrictees here present; Senior Government officials, Ladies and Gentlemen, comrades and friends.

Ndinoda kuti ndinofara zvikuru nezuva ranhasi Super Sunday, iri izuva rakaitwa naiye Musiki kuti tisangane nhasi. Saka ndinoda kutenda iye Musiki kuti atiita kuti tikwanise tese kuti tisvike pano zuva ranhasi. Kana dai Mwari vanga vasingade kuti tisvike pano handifunge kuti tingadai tasvika pano.

Ndinoda kutenda Minister Makhosini Hlongwane neteam yenyu yese nevese vemuno muHarare vakubatsirai kuronga gathering iyi. Zvirambe zvakadaro nekuti tinoda kuti machurch edu, indigenous churches dzemu Zimbabwe vaone kuti tiri hurumende ne party inoziva kuti varipo.

Saka nhasi izuva renyu, izuva renyu rekuti tisangane tichipanana mashoko ehupenyu nekuti kunamata chinhu chatinofanira kuita nguva nenguva, hazvina nguva kana kuti ndaneta kana kuti ndadya. Nguva nenguva tinofanira kunamata nekuti tiri vanhu venyama Mwari akatisika nemufananidzo wake akatida. Asi chakazoitika ndechekuti kutadza kwatakaita kunoita tirambe tichitsvaga Mwari nguva yese. Saka tigere pasi pano tikasanzwisisa kuti tinotadza haukwanisi kugara zvakanaka nevamwe.

Iyezvino muri kuona kuti kuuya kwamaita kutaura kuti pakati pedu pane tolerance ne co-existence. Tinokudzana kuti tiri kunamata hongu ma church angave akasiyana asi kunamata kwatiri kuita kutsvaga Musiki mumwe chete. Zvatinenge tichitsvaga izvozvo kutsvaga kugara kwakanaka murunyararo murugare. Saka rugare ngaruwande kwamuri mese. Nyika yedu kana ine rugare ndokuti development iitike.

Tingacheme tikaitasei asi kana pasina peace inotaurwa navaMugabe hapana chatinokwanisa kuita kana kunamata chaiko paine hondo hatikwanise kunge tichiita. Saka tinofanira kunamata kuti Mwari tinokutendai isu vana ve Zimbabwe, tinokutendai kutipa vaMugabe vanoda peace, tinokutendai kutipa vaMugabe vanotirwira nguva yese vachitimiririra kuti tive vanhu tive nehunhu hwedu.

Tinozvinzwisisa hongu nyika yedu tanga takadzvanyirirwa nemaBritish pavakauya kuzotora nyika yedu asi hatikangamwe vakatiriwira nyika kuti nhasi tive nefreedom yekuita zvatinoda, tine freedopm yekugara patinoda, tine freedom yekunamata nemanamatiro atinoda, tine freedom yekufamba muZimbabwe tichiti Zimbabwe ndeyedu tese. Hatitarise kuti uri muKaranga, uri muShona, uri muZezuru hatitarise izvozvo kana kuti uri mukalanga uri muNdebele hatitarise kuti uri muManyika, tiri vana vemhuri imwe chete yeZimbabwe.

Saka ini ndinokukorokotedzai kuuya kwamaita mese kudai makorokoto makuru kuti tiri vanhu vanokwanisa kugarisana tichinzwisisa kuti Mwari akaona kuti isu tiri vanhu verunyararo anotipa ma blessings akawanda. Muno muAfrica tiri Africa ine nyika dzakawanda asi isu sema Zimbababweans tiri vanhu vakasimukira pakudzidza. Ndiri kutaura izvi nekuti isu vema church echipostori sezvambotaurwa naMinister Hlongwane kuti hatidi kuti vanhu vatitatirisire pasi, President vakataura kuti imi vanhu vechipostora muri vanhu vatinonzwanana navo, vanhu vatinoremekedza vatinokudza, vanhu vanoda runyararo saka tinoda kuti muitewo zvikoro zvenyu vana vaende kuchikoro nekuti knowledge is power nekuti ukanga wave nefundo hapana munhu angakuitise zvausingadi nekuti unenge wave neruzivo.

Imo mukunamata kwacho tinenge tichitsvaga wisdom, kunamata kwatinoita hongu tinoda kuzvininipisa pamberi paMwari kuti atiregerere zvatakatadza asi chinhu chikuru chandakadzidziswa namai vangu ndechekuti ukamuka mangwanani oga oga unofanira kukumbira njere kuti ukwanise kuita mabasa aunoda kuita pasi pano ukasakumbira wisdom unoona zvinhu zvisingakufambiri zvakanaka saka tiri pano kuti Mwari tino kumbira wisdom yekuti tishandire nyika yedu.

Ini ndinokudza mapositori zvakanyanya. Nemhaka yei, vanhu vanonzi mapositori vanopfeka zvichena moyo yenyu yakachena sembatya dzenyu. Hamuzi vanhu vanodya zvekuba, hamuzi vanhu vanodya zvevamwe, hamuzi vanhu vanodya zvevamwe munodya zveziya. Ndinokuonai kuma border, ndinokuonai pese pese muchifamba muchibinduka, muchibindukira mhuri dzenyu nekuti makanzwisisa kunamata kuti Mwari anoti munhu ngaadye cheziya rake. Rambai muchishanda, hongu zvingaome iye zvino nenyaya yema sanctions nekuti vavengi vanoona kuti Zimbabwe inyika yakakomborerwa ndambotaura nehutungamiriri leadership yatiinayo yakakomborerwa kuti izvo Zimbabwe tine ma natural resources akawandisa even though Zimbabwe tiri nyika diki diki.

Kana vachiuya vanhu ndinovataurira kuti the number one resource yenyika ino tisu vanhu varidzi venyika ino. Zvese zviripo hatirege kuzvitarisira pasi, bhaibheri rinoti haufanire kuzvitarisira pasi, hati fanire kuzvipa self esteem iri pasi nekuti takakosha, takagadzirwa nemufanannidzo wake Ishe wekudenga. Saka zvatinofanira kuti tiite ndinotarisa verse inotaura nezve self esteem kuti tinofanira kuzvitarisa semunhu anokosha, kuzvitarisa semunhu akakosha, hapana munhu asina kukosha. Hazvina basa uri bofu hazvina basa haugoni kufamba, hazvina basa hauna gumbo, hazvina basa mitezo yako haina kururama uri munhu takaenzana, mweya umwe chete watinofema ndiwo unofemwa nemunhu akaremara asina maziso neasina gumbo.

Saka Ephesians Chapter 2 verse 10 inotaura izvo kuti we are God’s work of art, hanzi tiri chiumbwa chaMwari che art created in Christ Jesus for the good works which God has already designated to make up our way of life. Zvanzi tiri chigadzirwa chakagadzirwa naMwari achitiita nemufananidzo wake. Saka ini ndinoti hakuna munhu anoti umwe iwewe hauna basa.

Vandinoshanda navo ndinovataurira kuti we should not look down upon each other because munhu wega wega akakosha. Kana uri pabasa uriwe mukuru zvinoitwa naPresident vanoziva kuti hongu vanhu vakandivhotera vakandipa basa, asi kuti basa iroro riitwe hongu ndingave nemaCabinet ministers, hongu ndingave nePolitiburo members hongu ndingave neCentral Committee asi kuti musha wedu we Zimbabwe uratidzike munhu wese anenge aita part yake. Ndinogara ndichitaura kuti Zimbabwe is like a stage, stage for us by party.

Zimbabwe pano actwa paya vanotiitira ma film vanotiitira ma drama vanogadzira stage yekuti varatidze ma drama avo, zvino ini I liken Zimbawe to be a stage where we are all actors and roles to play, equal roles. Chinongoitika ndezve kuti to avoid chaos, a chaotic situation tinopihwa leadership to guide us, leadership to guide us, tirikunzwanana ipapo.

Leadership haingovepo chete kuti aiwa tine mutungamiriri chete, kwete. Tine leadership inotipa gwara kuti tinogara sei, tinoonana sei, zvii zvinofanira kuitirwa nyika, chii chatingabvumire munyika yedu, CHII chatinobvimira munyika yedu, tinokudza vana vedu sei, zvese izvozvo saka muchiona kuine Constitution iripo inoti guider asi zvaitwa kubva ku leadership. Zvino kune vanhu vasinganzwisise kuti leadership inobva kuna Nyadenga. Leadership even zvamuri pano muri ma churches munofanira kuve ne pfungwa yekuti munhu wese haangave leader pasi pano, munhu wese haangave mutungamiri kunofanirwa kunge kuine organisation yakanaka kubva kunyika kusvika iko kuma church nekuti vamwe anongofunga kuti aiwa hutungamiriri ndinongoti kana ndahuda hunouya kwandiri.

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Ndinogara ndichiverengera vanhu Jeremiah 1 verse 5 ndinoimbira vanhu kuti vasinganzwisise pamwe vangazive kuti leadership inombouya sei. MuChirungu this verse says before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart. I appointeed you a a prophet to the nations. Ndisati ndakuumba mudumbu raamai vako ndakakuziva iwe usati waberekwa, ndikakutsaura, ndikakugadza semuporofita wemarudzi unotofanirwa kunge Mwari akakuziva. Ndakati inini madzimai mukaona ana amai vachisununguka mutarise kuti mwana, pane anobuda kadai here, ndakati mwana wega wega anobuda akapfumba chibhakera akabata chipo, a gift yaanenge apiwa naMwari.

That’s why muchiona pasi pano mumwe anogona kuparidza mumwe haagoni, mumwe anogona kutaura zve politics mumwe haagone. Mumwe ano attempter kuita engineer mumwe haagone. Mumwe anogona kudzidza kuno teacher asi agotadza kudzidzisa nekuti pamwe wakainda kudiscipline yausina kupiwa naMwari. Unozoti nenguva wozo discover kuti aiwa zvandakanodzidza hazvisi izvo zvandinofanira kuita.

Mwari akzviitira for a reason to give us different gifts kuti tikaunza ma gifts iwayo pamwe chete tinoburitsa nyika inonzi Zimbabwe. Mumwe anovaka mumwe ndiBrick layer, mumwe mumwe anogadziraalorry, mumwe anobika, ndiDoctor zvese izvozvo Mwari akazviitira for a reason kuti munhu wenyama haungagoni zvese izvozvo asi tinokupa chako chaunogona chaunokwanisa kuitira nyika yako.

President Mugabe, President Mugabe, he is an anointed leader asinganzwisisise ndiye anorwisa. An anointed leader haarwiswe nemunhu wenyama and annointed leader haabviswe nemunhu wenyama. Nyangwe dai ukaitasei, nyangwe ukararira, nekuti vamwe vanoenda ikoko kumapositori ikoku, kunze kwekuti unokumbira kuti ndinamatireiwo ndive munhu akachena ndine zvitadzo, anoenda kumapositori kuti ndiudzeiwo ndinobvisa vaMugabe sei. Haubvise vaMugabe nekuti hausiiwe wakavapa simba iroro.

Dzimwe nguva tinoenda kuno vhota totarisa musoro wavaMugabe toisa X ipapo. Unenge usinganzwisise kuti mweya waMwari ndiwo uri kuti sarudza uyu nekuti Mwari akatoti ndakakusarudza ndikakuisa padivi, vakasarudzwa naMwari munoona kana wisdom yavainayo President, iwisdom inotaridza kuti vakasarudzwa naMwari. Va Mugabe vakatakura wisdom zvekuti vamwe vanhu vanotovatiza, pane imwe nguva yatakaenda kuRome vaitizwa kana nana Blair chaivo, kutya bedzi kusvika padhuze navo nekuti vane chiremerera chakabva kuna Mwari.

Isaiah 54 verse 17, ndine ma verse matatu andinowanzoda kuverenga, pane inotaura izvo kuti no weapon formed against you shall prosper, no weapon formed against you will prevail and will refute every tongue that accuses you.

Hanzi hapana munondo ucharwisana newe ukakunda uye uchakonesa rurimi rumwe nerumwe runokupomera mhosva. No weapon formed against you shall prosper, nyangwe zvikaitasei. Imwe verse inoti don’t fight your own battles, just hand over to me all your problems. Pira kuna Mwari matambudziko ose auyinawo kuna Mwari anokunzwa.

Pakati pedu even as we work, kumusangano, munyika, kune vanhu vasinganzwisise kuti kurwisa munhu akaiswa pa position hazvifi zvakashanda, hazvishande. Hazviitike chete kuna President Mugabe chete, zvinoitika even kuma churches, kumacompany, kumabasa, vanhu vanenge vachirwisa kuti ndini ndinoda kutungamira. Iwe ukatarisa nzvimbo yako iwe une mutungamiri, wozvibvunza kuti sei ndiri kumashure kwemunhu uyu. Chaunofanira kuita, recognise kuti ndozvakada Mwari ari kudenga. Zvakatarwa hazviputswe nemunhu wenyama. Chipo change chandakapiwa VaNdanga hamungachitori, nyange mukanamata sei, mukapfugama sei, mukadikitira sei, mukatsanya sei hamuchitori chipo changu, nekuti vanhu havana kunzwisisa kuti tinopiwa ma leaders pane zvese zvatinoita. But tine leadership iri pamusoro peleadership dzese, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.

Ukaona munhu waakushaya hunhu hwekuenda kunorwisa leadership yakadaro, you are finished, you are gone. Haufi wakamuka futi, unenge uchifamba apa asi unenge uri guva. Unenge uchifema asi wakafa, unenge uchiona asi asina meso ari better panewe nekuti hauoni. Unenge uine nzeve asi usinganzwi.
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Proverbs; imwe verse yangu yandinoda, nhatu; Proverbs 16 verse 9 inotaura kuti in their hearts humans plan their course but the Lord establishes their steps, mazvinzwira. Hanzi in their hearts humans plan their course but the Lord establishes their steps, hanzi mumoyo make munhu akasikwa naMwari akaiswa spirit, that spirit that dwells in the human being ndeya Mwari. Nguva yese yaanenge aakuda kutora tinozoti ah aenda haachadzoki nekuti Mwari anenge adecider nenguva yake. Mumoyo memunhu anoronga gwara rake, Mumoyo memunhu anoronga gwara rake asi Jehovah ndiye anotonga kufamba kwake. Mumoyo memunhu anoronga gwara rake, iri shoko iri rakakosha, zvakanyanya kukosha. Tiri vanhu venyama, tamuka tese tichiti tirikuenda kuRufaro Stadium, tiri kuenda kunosangana ikoko tichinonamata Mwari tiitirei nyasha se Zimbabwe. Asi Mwari zvataronga ndozvaanga akarongawo. Dai zvanga zvisina kurongwa naMwari, zvisina blessing yaNyadenga dai tisina kuzviita paitoitika chimwe chinhu chekuti taitadza kuuya pano, asi Mwari atigonera. Inini zvese zvandinoita muhupenyu hwangu ndikafunga chinhu kuti ndoda kuita chakati. If I accomplish that goal, I say thank you Lord for allowing me, because there are so many people who would have wanted to do the same thing but you did not allow them.

Saka zvese zvatinoita tinofanira kurangarira kuti Mwari ndiye anotibvumidza. Ndinenge ndichidzidzisa izvi kuti vanhu vazive kuti Mwari zvese zvatinoita pasi pano ndiye anotibvumidza but vanhu ndofunga vari short sighted, vasina vision vasina pfungwa inoona zviri mberi nekuti havana wisdom, vanorwisa pasingarwiswe. Tinoda kuti tigare isusu maZimbabweans tiri vanhu vakabatana, vanhu vanopanana respect. Asi we can only respect and recognise kuti ini izvi ndinogona izvi handigone kana uchinge uchiziva Mwari. Kuziva Mwari, hapana asingagone kuverenga bible but kana usina kukomborerwa kuti urinzwisise, to interpret the bible properly hauzvigone, that’s why muchiona vazhinji vanoda ku interprater bible to suit zvavari kufunga mumusoro mavo and havabudiririre vanhu vakadaro, they will never make it muhupenyu hwavo.

Pakugara kwatinoita imimi vaNdanga munozviziva kuti this constituency yemapositori iconstituency yakakosha muparty yedu yeZanu-PF, the support yatinowana kubva kubandiko iri isupport yakaoma and tinofamba nemi mukutsva, mukutonhorwa, mukurwadziwa, mukufara, mukuchema, mukusuwa tinenge tiri tese nekuti munotiitira zvinokosha zvakanyanyisa. President vanga vachiti maakuenda mapfeka hembe chena, ndikati hongu baba ndiri kuenda kunoona mhuri yenyu. Taenda through ma sanctions zvandinotaura, atakapiwa nevavengi.

Asi ini ndinokumbira kut tirambe takasimba, hatiregei kuita moyo mupfupi, hatirege kufurirwa kuti ah Vamugabe vatotadza, kutadza vauraya economy, zvakaitika ndezvekuti kubva nguva yatatanga nyaya yeland reform program which is almost about 20 years ago plus, but tangotanga nguva iyoyo kuma2000 mvura yakabva yaramba kusanyatsonaya chokwadi takaita exprience drought, mvura yanga isinganaye zvakanaka for almost 16 years. Saka taingonamata kuti Mwari ndichiziva kuti munhu wese ari kumira kunamatira kuti Mwari mutipe mvura yakakwana.

Sezvineiwo gore rakapera Mwari akat ha ndinokudirirai mvura. And tirikunamata zvakare gore rino kuti Mwari musatikanganwa tipei futi mvura yakaringana, mvura isina mabhanan’ana, mvura isina hukasha, isingauraye vanhu, isingapwanye dzimba dzedu. Inini handisi munhu anovhaira kutaura zvandinoita, but I can promise you, I am an achiever, big achiever, I achieve great things, I do great things. I actually have said, I don’t compete with women because isusu semadzimai we have been marginalised for a long time, saka I compete with men. Ndinoshanda, zvakarongeka, musambonditye, kana muchida kundipa basa ndipei makasununguka.

Yes, that is the truth; that is the truth, handitauri zvekunyeba, handisati ndambotaura izvi, handisati, ndatanga nhasi but ndichataura kuti sei ndiri kuzvitaura. Vanhu vanofanira kundinzwa kuti ndinogona basa, ndipei muone, regai munzwe. Ndatanga ini kugara muPolitburo, ndakuda kumbokuudzai politics now, muteerere, ndatanga kugara muPolitburo, ndiyo nguva yakanga Mai Mujuru vachangouya. Asi kutaura chokwadi pamberi paMwari, Mai Mujuru ndakambovadeedza ndichida kuvaraira kuti Mai Mujuru be careful, kune vanhu vamuri kutaura navo vari kutumwa kwamuri makatoitirwa set a trap, huya nditaure newe but vakaramba nekuti vaive nemusoro wakaoma. Asi zvakazoitika then, ndava muPolitburo, ndaPolitiburo member ndavaSecretary weWomen’s Affairs muZanu-PF ndakaona kuti mmmm zviri kungoitika nguva nenguva kuri kungotaurwa nyaya yediscipline, disciplinary action against members dzemusangano.

Vanofamba neni nevandakambo addresser kumarally murikuzviziva kuti ndakandavakuita implore vanhu kuti please ngatiregei kuramba takungodzinga vanhu nekuti ava masupporters emusangano we need themas a party saka ngatiregei kuramba tava kungodzingana vanhu. Ndakaona kuti kune vanhu vari determined kungodzinga vanhu chete chete saka ini ndikati aiwa tiri kupedza nguva tichitaura nyaya dzediscipline kuchingodzingwa vanhu ma war veterans, mawomen’s league, kumain body, vanhu vachingodzingwa , ndikati aiwa inini, ndichisimudza ruoko, ndikati inini ndirikuda kuita deviate from the program, ndiri kuda kutaura nyaya yeconomy because ndri kufunga kuti ndozvinhu zvatinofanira kunge tichitaura muno, zvakarerekera nekugara zvakanaka kwemhuri yeZimbababwe. Zvatigere muni vanhu vari kutarisira kuti nguva yese yatinobuda vanoda kunzwa kuti chii chatavarongera chakanaka, ndopandakasimudza ruoko ndikati aewa imimi, tingaita vanhu vanosunza here isusu mazimbabweans hazviite iyezvino tiri kuona kuti mvura haisi kunya for the past 16 years mvura yakange isinganaye saka ndine program yandiri kuda kuti ndirudunure yekuiti tirime ndopandakataura program iyoyo. Program iyi yamakazonzwa ichipiwa chizita chinonzi command agriculture ndini ndakaitanga handisati ndakambozvitaura izvi, it is the first time.

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Ndini ndakataura program iyoyo, yakumhanywa nayo nevagoni zvavo, zvikanzi vari business minded, vagoni zvavo handina pandakaona pavakamboita business in my life handina kumbopaona, vagoni handina kumboona chavakaburitsa pasi pano handina kuchiona nekuti havana kuropafadzwa. Vanomhanyira zvisiiri zvavo. Saka baba vakazoona kuti aah zviri kungonzi heee Mnangagwa, Mnangagwa, ha vakati kana taenda kurally kwatiri kuita maInterface Rallies eYouth vakataura kuti iyi program yakatangwa naMai Mugabe ndovakaunza this idea. Vanyori vemapepa nekuti vanenge vachipihwa mari kuti hanziizvo don’t actually talk about her otherwise you will raise her profile musataura kuti vanogona. Ndinogona handidi kukunyeperai. Hanzi don’t say much about her because you will raise her profile. Kutyiwa, mikono yava kunditya. I am saying to you especially the female journalists, ngatibatsiranei kusimudzirana titaurane zvatinogona kana pane maprograms ngatisapotanei that’s the only way forward. Saka Baba vakazotaura, kekutanga hazvina kunyorwa, zvikanzi zviignoweyi Mugabe anopenga kechipiri Mugabe akataura, kechitatu ndobva vava kuzozvinyora kuiti First Lady ndivo vakati asi mazuva ese zvainzi ndiMnangagwa, akanga aripo as Minister makore akawanda as Vice President aidii kuuya nenyaya yacho iyoyo kana dai anga aine business acumen seyaMai Mugabe.

Saka muri kuzvinzwa kuti zvakatanga sei?

Ndochibva ipapo, inini nekuti pano apa tiri kutaura zve Zanu-PF, imimi muri member dzeZanu-PF, imbondipaiwo mvura mbichana. Ehe ndiri kuti voice rinopera, pamberi nekubatana! Saka kubva 1980 munofanira kuziva semaZimbabbweans pane nyaya dzatinoziva dzakaitika dzakawanda. Kubva 1980 ndoda kukutaurirai, kubva 1980 , kuti munhu uyu anonzi Mnangagwa akanga achida kutoita coup in 1980, ndiri kukutaurirai ,ndiri kutaura zvandinoziva I am in a privileged position ndine information yakawanda yandinoziva, he actually wanted to wrestle power from the President.

Regai ndikuudzei, akaudza, maelections aitwa muna April 1980 akati izvo President muri kuda kuuraiwa nevarungu akanga aronga izvozvo nevarungu manje kuti muri kuda kuurawa nevarungu, budai imimi President, naNyagumbo naNkala muende kuMozambique, saka President pavakaenda ndokunoudza Samora kuti ndizvo zviri kuitika, zvikanzi ‘Robert, you must go home now!’ President ndobva vangoti okay regai tiende kuna Nyerere tinomutaurira ndobva vaenda asi kwanzi hatina kuzotaura nyaya iyoyo takangoona kuti aah maelections akafamba zvakanaka and then ndobva tadzokera kumozambique hanzi patakasvika kumozambique ndokufonera Munangagwa kuti ndiri kuda kudzoka kumusha zvikanzi, ‘don’t come back! Don’t come back!’ Achida kuita coup. So munhu uyu agara aine pfungwa idzodzo kubva kare kare. Makhosini, that man let me tell you he is a liquidator, he is a ravisher you know what I mean, go and look up what it means. Haaite munhu iyeyu. Munoziva kuti iye zvino izvi akatarisa baba so anotarisa neziso reruvengo rinegodo, rinegodo.

Pane verse yandinoda kuti nditarise inotaura nezvegodo yandanyora inotaura nezvegodo, zvemunhu ane godo, pane verse iri muna Galatians 5 verse 25 inoti izvo grant Lord that I may learn to live life of love through the Spirit who dwells in me. Hanzi izvo, since we are living by the spirit let our behavior be guided by the spirit and let us not be provocative and envious of one another. Hanzi hatifaniri kugara upenyu hwekudenha vamwe, nehupenyu hwekukara zvine vamwe gutsikana nezvauinazvo, ukange une rudo, zvinhu izvi zviri mauri zvekugutsikana nezvauinazvo, zvekutambira zvaunokwanisa kuita nekugamuchira zvauri usingaite kuchiva zvevamwe ruchiva. Ane ruchiva murume iyeye, ruchiva rwunourayisa munhu chairwo. Saka eh ndataura zva1980. Mazuva ese aya ndichigara naBaba anoita tunhu twake achida kuvhiringidza achifoma tumaparty achingotryer, vana vazhinji vakadzingwa vachidzingiswa naiye.

I don’t want to be blackmailed because some people say ah ndiwe wakakonzera kuti mai Mujuru vabude handisini ndakavatuma kuti itai factionalism handisi ini. I don’t want to be blackmailed no one is going to silence me ndinotaura. Ndino zvireva chete. Nekuti vamwe vanenge vachiti ha akazodzingisa Mai Mujuru, ndakamudzingisa how? Ndakamutora ndikamugarisa pasi ndikamuti ini ita factionalism, Mnangagwa ndakamuti furira vana kuti vatuke Mugabe nemudzimai wake? I never said that handina kuzviita, ndakati inini ndinocondema hunhu hwakashata. I denounce people who want to divide the party.

We went out to the people and we have gone out to the people asking them to vote for Zanu-PF kuti tivaitire zvatinenge tava promiser kuti tinovaitira but kana tichirwisana tichiita zvefactionalism where do we get the time yekuzoita mabasa iwawo kuti vanhu vafare. We made a lot of promises and another election is on the way, we are actually going to make promises and we must give ourselves time as a party, as the ruling party to fulfil those promises . eh, ndochingoita fast forward, handiti ndozvatinoita, kana pane paunofarira uchiridza music yako unoita fast forward.

Saka, Baba vaigara vachicomplainer kuti munhu uyu anoita zvinhu zvefactionalism, asi he has actually taken the President for granted for too long, for too long. Baba munhu ane patience, ane moyo murefu, inini ndikamira pamberi penyu handidi kumira ndichitaura zvinhu zvekunyepa, ndoda kutaura zvinhu zvekuti ndikati mataura zvakati, ndine proof ne evidence yekuti mazviita, I am not a perfect person, ndinotadza ndiri mutadzi asi kana uri mudzimai wemutungamiri, samai ndakabereka ndikakudza vana ndiri mai ndinochengeta mhuri mhuri dzamataura ndinochengeta vana vandinotora. Ndiri Mai vano raira, saka kana ndiri Mai vanoreva nhema ndinoudzei vana? Ndakati ini zita rangu ndinonzi Mafirakureva. Pane imwe time yatakaenda kuMash

Central eh ndikanotaura inini because what had happened? Kwanga kwatanga kutaurwa kuti kune Lacoste, kune G40. Saka inini I tried to find out kuti chinombonzi G40 chiiko handina kuwana answer but Lacoste, ndakanzwa kuti aiwa Lacoste iriko inoleadwa navaMnangagwa vanotuma vanhu kuiti no ndinoda kuti mundi acampainngire.

Saka ndopatakaenda kuMash Central ndikano taura kuti aiwa ka pese pese panonzi VaMunangagwa vasimuke vaite slogan kana kuti vataure vanovasapota vaya vanenge vachiudzwa kuti ndakuzoita president vanenge vachiombera vachiti ‘ngwena ngwena’, asi kana mabvunzwa kuPolitburo zvinorevei kuti Lacoste hanzi handizivi.

I got angry, I said you are a liar, you are lying through your teeth. Are you not ashamed? Uri kuramba but vana vari kungodzingwa in your name. You know ndaitaura, I promised people when I went to Manicalalnd ndichiri kutaura nemadimikira kuti watch this space, watch this space. I cannot go on ndichitaura nemadimikira and betray Zimbabweans and lie to them. Ndaifunga kuti in the process munhu anonzwawo ka kuti aiwa zvandiri kunzi ndiregere kuita, chiregai ndiregere, asi munhu haana kuda kuregera. Demon rakamuti dzii. Saka pandakaenda kuMash Central, ndobva ndataura inini because vaiita zvituko nei nei, ndobva aona paTV akabva afonera baba akati ha Baba ndoda kukuonai ndobva vandiudza kuti anga achicomplainer kuti zvataurwa naAmai , zvikanzi naivo, Mai is an honest person ngati garei pasi, so we sat down the four of us. Ivo vari three, maVice Presidents neni, ndikavabvunza ndikati pakakunetsai ndepapi? Rume rikati raoma mukanwa. Igwara muchiriona rakadaro, he is a coward. Ndiri kutokutaurirai rakatadza kana kutaura but inini I took him on that day. Ndikati imimi VaMnangagwa, when you were appointed Vice President, I told you kuti Baba vanoda munhu anovabatsira kuita basa just concentrate on the work yamapiwa mosiira ipapo. Ndakavaudza chokwadi, ndikati but problem yamuinayo imimi tinozviziva kuti kwaiva kune vanhu two vano leader mafactions muZanu-PF, imimi kunyanya naMai Mujuru, Mai Mujuru was even better. Ah vakati pano nepano, zvino vanenge vangonyarara kana zvanyatsovaomera havapindure vanenge vangonyarara. Saka takaenda mberi tichingoita basa tichidaro but vana vachingodzingwa. Mangwana mangwana vana vari kungodzingwa ha ndikati inini zvekuramba vana vachingodzingwa izvika zvakwana handichada. Saka pakatanga mainterface aya ha ndakati ini rangu rasvika rechokwadi, ndoda kutanga kuvabvunza kuti VaMnangagwa zvamurikuita regai, muzvakanaka, ndaivataurira muzvakanaka ndichivaverengera maverse zvakanaka, kumarally but takazosvika pekuti enough is enough.

Tikaenda kuMash Central, the Eighth Interface Youth Rally tikavataurira kuti aiwaka, imimi VaMnangagwa muri kutuma vanhu kuti vabvise Kasukuwere nekuti Kasukuwere haadi kukusapotai panyaya dzenyu dxzefactionalism. Muri kuti Kasukuwere ane munin’ina wake nemukoma wake vari muparty muri kutaura kuti imi inepotism. Ndikati kwete, don’t speak like that, don’t ever speak like that. Nekuti inini munhu kana asvika paVice President, according to the Constitution, haufanire kunge uine constituency, saka ivo manje vakasiira mukadzi wavo constituency ndikati haisi corruption here? Haisi nepotism? Ava vakatopinda on merit vashanda makore akawanda but you want to tell me kuti Kasukuwere ari kuita nepotism ndikati kwete I will disagree with that, imi makasiirana uku and ehe, ndikati makasiirana, you have set a precedent.

Ndakazozvitaura nezuro ndichasvika panyaya yazuro. Mwari uyu zvaanoita ka anoronga zvinhu achiziva anga akaziva kuti tine interface, the 9th interface in Bulawayo kuchizoita zuva ranhasi . Imi maronga Minister ndiMwari aronga. Kwaitwa Youth vachiita Youth Assembly yavo yakaiitwa about three weeks ago tichibva tagara mubriefing Chipanga akati Amai munoda kutaura mashoko here ndikati regai ndirege kutaura muno ndozotaura panze, on second thoughts ndikati aiwa regai nditaure ndobva vandipa microphone ndikati inini, ndandichiti ndonotaura panze kune vanhu vakawanda but zvandinoda kutaura chiregai ndingotaura muno. Ndopandakatanga kutaura because zvakanga zvanzi kune vana vanoda kudzingwa vari kuita zvefactionalism zvekwaMnangagwa ndikati ka aiwaka ikozvino makuenderera mberi nezvinhu zvichisina kunaka, vana vari kusuffer, vana vachidzingwa asi hamusi kudealer neroot cause. Ndikati nyoka ngairohwe musoro, nyoka ngairohwe zisoro, (singing) ‘kana munhu anetsa varume batai munhu, batai munhu kuponda musoro’’ (laughs). Saka inini ndikati ha kana mahomuhomu, makwiramiti. Ndakajamba kusvika apa, ndikati handizvide izvozvo haticharovi imbwa takaviga mupini, ndakuda kuponda musoro.

Ehe aiwaka vana vari kudzingwa imi muchingosara makati vavavamakanyarara, hamuva condemn hamutaure chinhu asi vana vachingodzingwa. Ndikati kwete chimirai kudzinga vana ngatichi dealer nenyoka. Ndikati inini, pandakaitwa mutungamiri wemadzimai ndakanyatsounderstander mandate yangu kuti ndinofanira kusimudzira madzimai, ndomandate yangu yandiinayo ini saka ndikati ndinokumbirawo mamwe madzimai vaitwe maMinister asi ndiri kukumbira, ndobva ndatora eh Mai Mupfumira, Mandi Chimene, Mai Madzongwe, I think they were five, ndobva taenda kunaPresident, ndikati President tatichikumbirawo kuti Mai Mahofa vaitwe Minister of State for Provincial Affairs kuMasvingo. President vabva vati hoo, tikati eh tiri kukumbira, nekuti ini handiwanzoendi ndega, munoziva sometimes ndinenge ndichiti zviite chiremerera, kuti haisi pfungwa yangu ndega. Saka vadaro vakati the following day vakanoconsulter Mnangagwa kuti Madzimai vari kukumbira kuti Mai Mahofa vaitwe Minister of State, Baba vakadzoka kumba vakati VaMnangagwa vati aiwa Mai Mahofa havagoni kufamba, she is incompetent. Mai MaHofa havarigone basa racho, ndikati yekutanga yamataura iyo ndoramba because imi muri kutaura kuti kana munhu ari chirema haakwanisi here kuita basa? Saka vakabva vanzwa moyo wavo kuremerwa zvikanzi ah okay tochingoti vaite nekuti shuwa hatingati munhu chirema saka haakwanise basa saka vakabva vaenda vakati ndino appointer Mai Mahofa kuti vave Minister.

Mai Mahofa ndikavaudza ndikati ED anga asingade kuti muitwe Minister. Aappointwa zvino, pamwe ndofunga Mai Mahofa vakanoudzwa kuti ndini ndakuitira ndini benefactor wako, ha zvakudai gedye gedye, Mai Mahofa vafa anga asipo, kwakuendsea ikoko kwakunotaura zvekutuka isu hatituke tinenge tichitaura zvaanoita zvikanzi he musateerere imbwa dzinohukura. Ndakavabvunza imomo mubriefing kuti VaMnangagwa saka isu tirimbwa? President vakakupai chinzvimbo imbwa? President vakavati pindurai zvamabvunzwa naMai, zvikanzi ha kana Mai vataura havapindurwe ndikafunga kuti ah munhu kwaye. Ah tambomira kuita mainterface aya, vanhu vave kumabasa, nezuro manje, haaa Chipanga akati Mhaiyo heyoi microphone ndikati ndipe mwanangu. Ha zvakanaka, pamberi naMnangagwa, pamberi nemudzimai wake ehe tinokudzana hatirege kukudza vanhu vakuru, vakuru kwandiri.

Saka ndichibva ndataura inini chandaida kuita express, ndechekuti vana mayouth ava ndimi muri vulnerable nekuti dzimwe nguva munenge musina mari yakakwana saka panoitwa zvinhu zvefactionalism ndimi munotengwa muchipihwa mari, saka mayouth imimika zvenyaya zviri kuitwa naVaMnangagwa idzi siyanai nazvo hachisi chinhu chakambonaka vari kuita divide the party ndichibva ndataura again ndichibva ndadzokorora nyaya yaKasukuwere kuti vari kuda kudzingisa Kasukuwere muparty but isusu takatarisa separty tikaona kuti hapana mhosva yaari kunzi akapara. Ndikataura nyaya yaJonathan ndikati Jonathan anonzi akatora mari yeZimdef akaishandisa zvinhu zvake, ndikataura zvekare kuti aiwaka Baba vakasetter a committee to investigate nyaya iyoyo zvikaonekwa kuti pane dzimwe mari dzakashandiswa mamwe mabasa ndobva vaChombo vanzi nyorai kuZACC, muvaudze kuti we are satisfied ne explanation yatakapihwa Professor Moyo kuti mari yakashandiswa sei, but ivo manje nekuti Professor Moyo mhosva yavo ndeyekuti, pavakabuda muZanu-PF vachinoita independent 2006 here or 2004 vakabva vahakichwa naiye ED manje akuvashandisa, akazopedzisira ataura kuti VaMnangagwa takatomboformer party tese inonzi United People’s Movement (UPM).

Ah takatya tese musi iwoyo kuti ah kuti hoo ndozvavaita akati ehe taka former party hamunga zvirambe saka ndozvandaitaurira vanhu nezuro kuti saka ndichitaura vakanga vakatenga-tenga mayouth avanga vakadyara muvanhu vakutanga kundiita boo nenyaya yekuitwa boo munongoiziva ndirimuhardcore, ndirisimbi izvo here izvo hazvitomborina basa rese kana kundipotsera matombo. Hazvina basa chero ini ndichiziva kuti zvandiri kutaura handisi kunyebera munhu saka ivo vaizunza-zunza maoko vakagara hameno zvavaitaura nemudzimai wavo ipapo vachizunza maoko vachitsamwa kuti ndirikuzvitaurirei. Ndikati ndinozvitaura chete nekuti you are dividing the party ndaitaura kudaro nekuti mayouth anga ataurwa musiwo achida kudzingwa mayouth ekuBulawayo, ndikati kwete ndiri kuzviramba iye zvino izvi kana vanhu vese vasingade kuti kutorwe disciplinary action against Mnangagwa ndomira ndega ini ndakadaro nezuro ndikavataurira kuti imimi makasiira mukadzi wenyu constituency. Asi isu vamwe kana tiripo munoda kutaurira vanhu kuti tohoodwinker people kuti vanhu vati aiwa hanzi Mugabe akuita dynasty nemukadzi wake and vari kupanana zvinzvimbo ndikati vaMugabe aiwa motondisirawo chinzvimbo saka ndivo vakazvitanga isuwo tinenge takungoteedzarawo tichingotedzarawo tichikopa haikona kutaura, (laughs) tichikopa.

Saka ndataura zvese izvozvo paakasimuka so vari kufunga kuti hatione tiri mapofu Baba vasati vataura kwaiimbwa nziyo iya inonzi ‘mudhara achauya’ saka ivo vaitamba; ndirikuda kuti majournalists aone vaitamba vakadaiso? Muri kuona mathumbs aya vakazvinongedzera vachiti mudhara achauya ehe ehe ha mudhara achauya vakazvinongedzera vachiti mudhara achauya eh eh mudhara achauya, mudhara ano donha!

Ishe makanaka! Achizvinongedzera. You know why? Let me tell you. Ndakamuudza kuti iwe Mnangagwa iwe unofunga kuit unoziva President hauvazive, you think you know that man nekuti anoti he takazogara makore 60 hanzi mangani hameno zvaari kutaura makore akawanda anotaura kuti takagara tese ndikati iwe hazvinei kuti wagara makore akawanda nemunhu unogona ku betrayer Jesus was betrayed nevaaigara navo achidya navo everyday. Ee ah ndikati ini waunoti ndagara makore mashoma ini ndinomira naPresident handidi kukunyeperai, to the grave! l will support him. He is my President, an honest man, a man of integrity, a man whose is God-fearing, munhu anotaura chokwadi, anomirira mhuri yake nemwoyo wese. Handina chekutya ndinovamirira ndichava defender kusvika muromo ndisingachagone kutaura pandatadza kutaura ndonyora.

Saka zvakaitika ndezve kuti, because Baba munhu anoda peace, munhu anenge achiti semunhu mukuru, munhu waleader anenge achiti hatidi kuti titatsurane.

Saka vakataura ku Mash Central pandakataura ini kuti knoitwa zve factionalism, saka ivo baba vakati aiwa mai varikuti factionalism kwete i tribalism, tribalism iriko kwese kwese, inga vana Mangwana wani vakamboenda kuMash West vakazobva vakati takudzokera kumusha kuMasvingo kana kuno kune vamwe vanobva kune mamwe ma provinces you know semunhu Mukuru vachidii, vachivhara vhara kuti chii kuti munhu asadii asanyare.

Apa vaitoda kumusaver iye kuti vasamunyadzise, iye akafunga kuti haa President Mugabe irema.

Saka pandagara pasi ivo votozotamba vachizvinongedzera kudaro, President vakanzi chitaurai, moto moto, hee moto. Zvikanzi Mai Mugabe hapana chavari kutombonyepa apa vari kutaura chokwadi Mnangagwa wajaira, wajaira ndinokudonhedza mangwana chaiwo!

Ah mudhara akavava ndikati taurai Gushungo halala hekani Gushungo. Mwana waBona. Akazozviziva kuti munhu anodzi President munhu akaita sei.

Saka patakasimuka takangosimuka ndokuenda kumotikari ndokuenda kuairport. Tasvika paairport takaona shasha nemudzimai yasvika Baba ndobva vava kupinda vachikwira pamasteps kuti tipende mundege zvikanzi, what nonsense is this you are doing? Vakamubvunza, ndobva ini ndamuti hoo ndozvamandirongera? Semazuva ese anoramba, anoramba semazuva ese, but ma action ake aitopa vanhu vari umo sign yekuti chiitayi. Taizviona, ah zvinotichasangana ikoko, tinosanga ikoko.

Eeeh nyaya iripo ndeye kuti I think iyo nyaya yekuti isusu muZanu-PF tine constitution yedu, constitution yedu yakanga ichinzi because kuVictoria Falls kwanga kwabvumiranwa, I think 2004 or before, kuti tavakuda kutarisawo kuti tisimudzire madzimai.

Constitution yedu ikange ichitaura izvo kuti muPresidium, hierarchy yese yeZanu-PF, panobva President nemaVice Presidents panofanira kunge paine mudzimai muPresidium, saka constitution yanga yakagadzirwa zvakanaka yakanzi the President and the two Vice Presidents but pakanyatsoitwa state clearly kuti one VP mumwe wacho shall be a woman. But pakaita Mai Mujuru tunhu twavo constitution was amended to accommodate iye Munangagwa. Saka chigaro chedu, saka iye zvino ndinofunga zvaavakundirwisira ndezve kuti imi muri kudire kuchinjisa constitution kuti ndishaye basa.

But constitution chete haizi iyo ino kushaisa basa nekuti you are at the mercy of the President, ndiye benefactor wako, ndiye anokupa basa whether the constitution ya amendwa or haina, President vanogona ku decider any time, handiti vakaita reshuffle, vanaChombo vangova maMminister of finance vasingazive, ehe saka zvinhu zvinochinja, President vanogona kungo dropper voisa wavanoona kuti ndiye akakodzera kushanda naye.

Saka it has nothing to do with the Constitution but also, isusu seMadzimai tinoda position yedu back kuti constitution igadzirwe.

Zvekuti ndiyani anopinda hazvinei nemunhu zviri kwatiri semadzimai kuti tisarudze ani watinoziva kuti ndiye akakodzera kuve panzvimbo iyoyo.

Chamunofanira kunzwisisa ndeche kuti hatisi kuitira nhasi chete we are doing it for prosperity kuti vana vedu, ndaona twuvasikana tudiki utwu mangwana also tuchazove panzvimbo iyoyo as maVice Presidents enyika ino. Hatichambofi takabvuma semadzimai kuti pachinjwe futi it was a mistake, hatichade ndazvinzwa madzimai. Murikuzvionera, tirikuto, hapana zvekuita secretary ve administration varikutozvinzwa, vaChombo, vatori pano, aiwa ngazvitwe we will never ever allow that.

l remember 2014 patakaita congress I remember very well Muchinguri namai Madzongwe vakange vakuuya kwandiri ini ndisati ndambo appointwa secretary we women affairs munaDecember, vakutonditi vanhu vari kuchema chema panze apo kuti ko chinzvimbo chedu, ndikati madzimai you are being unfair to me, nekuti maive mulegal committee when the constitution was amended mungadai maka fighter kuti aiwa hatidi zvinozotinetsa kuti tidzosere zvinhu pakare.

So we have had to fight for makore akawanda kuti nzvimbo yedu idzoserwe pakare, saka tiri kuida.

Saka iri kugadziriswa tiri kuenda kucongress kwedu, tinoda kuenda kucongress takabatana hatidi nyonga nyonga ikoko, vanoda zvemutauro tinoda kuenda vadonhedzwa.

Ehe, tinotokumbira this time, madzimai, madzimai, madzimai vanoita zveLacoste, you are dead!

Chipanga, mayouth anoita zveLacoste they are gone! Hatisi kunyeperana tiri kuda kuenda kuCongress. Congress yatiri kuitira iyi tiri kuita congress takabatana tichitaura neone voice, tichino prepare kuti tiri

kuenda kumaelections next year. Tinoda vanhu vanonzwisisa kuti we have only one centre of power, vaMugabe, iye zvino izvi isusu tese mastructures kana takuenda kucongress anoitwa dissolve handiti vaChombo, anoitwa dissolve? Tese we are all going to step down tese kusara kwemunhu one akatoitwa endorsed ne maprovince ese is the President but isu vamwe tese tichatombodzikiswa totarisa kuti tichapihwa chigaro here kana kuti ndichanyimwa, kana wapihwa ndizvozvo kana wanyimwa ndizvozvo.

Ko handiti mapurazi tinawo kana tanyimwa tongoenda kunorima mapurazi, takapiwa vazukuru tonochengeta vazukuru, (laughs) ah titombori nelucky kuti takapiwa minda.

Imimi vaNdanga nemaleaders mamwe ese ari pano ndiri kuda kuti kunorimwa musaregere kuendawo kunotsvaga zvinhu zve command agriculture, muendewo kuno zvipiwa musaregere munhu wega wega anofanira kuzvimiririra handiti ndataura zvekudya cheziya chako saka muende.

Tinoda kurima pawarima padiki diki ipapo tikaisa grain yedu together tinoita ma millions ema tonnes akawanda for the country mamwe tichitengesa. Ende ndakataura kuti we share also with our animals, we share zvatinorima saka ngatirime tese musarege kuenda.

Kunyanya kuPresidential Inputs program muende mupihwe murime. Hapana munhu anonyimwa, even mumwe anga asinga support Zanu-PF ndakati unomupa kuti aone kuti Zanu-PF yakanaka.

Tiri kuenda kumaelections next year, tinofanira kuno register ku voter. Ngatibatsiranei, machurch leaders, vanhu ngavaende kunovhota iright yavo. Mukarega kudaro tinopindirwa nemuvengi. Imimi muri maZimbabweans, you are patriotic Zimbabweans munoda nyika yenyu saka kuti nyika yedu irambe iri nyika yatakasununguka tichiita zvatinoda ngatiende kuno register tichiziva kuit tiri kunovhotera Zanu-PF in huge numbers.

Kana musingazive huyai kuOffice yaCommissar yavaKasukuwere mubvunze kuti tinofambisa sei mubatsirwe, please, mubatsirwe.

Ndanzwa zvichemo asi ini ndine chikumbirowo nokuti hatingo kandirane zvichemo tinofanira kuitawo zvikumbiro tichinzwanana tosangana pakati toita compromise, handiti.

Nyika yedu yeZimbabwe inyika yakanaka zvakanyanya, ndataura nyaya ye leadership kuti leadership inovepo hazvina basa kuti panyika, hazvina basa kuti kumacompany, hazvina basa kuti kumachurch, kuitira kuti tiite zvine urongwa zvakarongeka. Ini ndanzwa muchiti munoda pekunamatira, chikumbiro chinotambirwa zvikuru.

Chiri kundifadza ndechekuti minister who is responsible for local government vari pano, ivo vaKasukuwere, vari pano ndo rombo rataita nhasi. Saka chikumbiro ichi ininiwo ndinofamba tichiona, apo pane vanhu vashanu apo pane vanhu two apo, munodarirei, tinodarirei?

Miraika munzwe kuti nyika yedu ifambewo zvakanaka tikaita maparty akawandisa panove nekusawirirana saka tichiramba takamira isu Zanu-PF ndiyo party hombe kuti uya mese ku Zanu-PF tive party imwe chete, hatikurudzire kuti munhu ubude muZanu-PF unoita party yako. Anenge asinga wirirane neidealogy yeparty yedu ndiye watinoti buda nekuti unokanganisa basa redu.

Saka zvakangofanana also nekuchurch, tinoda kuti kana pane ma main churches avo vane tugroup five endai munojoiner ma main churches, please ariko machurches emapostora anozivikanwa endai munojoiner iwayo ndirikukumbira samai venyu, nokuti chinoitika ndechekuti mukaita one thousand churches mese muchada one thousand stands dzinobva kupi? Hazvizokwanisike, mukabatana muchiita church imwe chete munongona kupiwa stand kana pamunda chaipo pekuti ah church yakati yapiwa munda pakati movaka church yenyu ipapo morima ipapo moita zvamunoda maprojects enyu ipapo.

And also, chikumbiro chandinacho panenge makagara mukadondo, mukadondo, mukadondo hapana toilet, hapana ma ablutions kana zvanetsa unoendepi? Kana zvanetsa unogeza maoko papi? Kunyanya isu vanhu vechikadzi takasikwa zvakasiyana nevarume tinoda nguva yese pane toilet, tinoda pane mvura tinoita sei?

Varume kazhinji ndimi munoleader machurches munofanira kurangarira maumbirwo atakaitwa naMwari, don’t think about yourselves, and most of your of followers are women there are females followers and that must be taken into consideration kuti most of the followers you have are women and there must be catered for accordingly in terms of ablutions.

Zvatinoda se madzimai nguva yese, nguva yese hapana mudzimai asiri kuenda kumwedzi nguva yese, mwedzi wese 30 days pane madzimai akwanda mazuva akasiyana vachienda kumwedzi saka tinoda kuzvigadzira kuti tisa nhuwe, tigare takachena.

Saka we don’t want men who are selfish nokuti iyo nyaya ye eagle iya yavaMunangagwa yekuti ndotoda kuita leader iwe usiri saka uchizoona church yako ichiramba ine vanhu vairi ,nekuti wakabuda pawaifanira kutungamirwa , wakabuda pawaifanira kutungamirwa hauna kuitwa mutungamiri. Saka ini ndiri kukumbira kuti vari two two three three endai kuchurch hombe tikwanise kurongana zvakanaka kuti also, kana takunoisa nyaya yenyu kuvakuru kuti muri kuda land aaah tingati uyu ane vanhu two, uyu ane vanhu three, tinozvifambisa sei, hazvizokwanisiki, tinonzi asi mava kupenga eeh tinoitwa mapenzi.

Ndinoda kuiti tikubatsirei but ronganai, please ndiri kukumbira kuti ronganai. Iyo nyaya yandataura yemabasa iyoyo ndataura kuti even mukazopihwa pekuitira kana maprojects munogona kuita zvakawanda , kana kuisa mafactory enyu nekuti ndinoziva kuti muri vanhu vanoshanda muenterprising, fungai kuti mari dziya, mukazoisa pamwechete mukaisa mafactory ekugadzira kana jira irori iri, jira iri, iyezvino izvi tirikuernda kunotenga machira outside, even atinoshandisa kumusangano wedu weZanu-PF , ini ndinenge ndichida kuti mapositori musaite zvake zvake isai mari pamwe chete muite zvanamukando zviye izvi, muvake church, muvake mafactory moitawo zvinhu kuti zvionekwewo kuti church yaVaNdanga ndozvayava kuproducer muZimbabwe izvi.

Eeh , handiti kwakaiswa iya inonzi SI 64, Statutory Instrument 64, inoita kuti izvo, zvatinogadzira muno muZimbabwe , zvitengwe, tisaite import zvinhu zvinobva kunedzimwe nyika like kuSouth Africa nekuti zvinhu zvizhinji zvinobva kuSouth nAfrica, tizvigadzirire kuti vana vedu vawane mabasa tisamirira hurumende yega kuti itiitire mabasa , isusuwo sevanhu tinoda kucreator majobs for each other.

Vana vedu vari kuenda kuzvikoro, hatisi kuendesa vana bedzi kuti vangouya vachiti I am looking for a job, I am applying for a job aiwa, tinoda kuti vaende vaine pfungwa dzekuti I will come back and be a job creator ndinoitawo company yangu.

Vana vadzidza zvekuti mukavhura makambani vana veku kushanda ikoko vachiitya zvinorova vakawanda, saka izvozvo ndochimwewo chikumbiro chandiinacho kuti dai machurch adzikiswa aita mashoma tinyatsove neorganisation yakanaka. Ndokuti chichi yenyu ikure also, pave nerecognition kuti church iya ihombe, handiti manga muchinditaurira kuti avo vane following yakakura ndozvatinenge tichida izvozvo. And, ndokukura kunenge kuchitoita organisation dzechechu dzedu. Saka maona tauya nhasi kusimuka kudai hatina kungouya kuti tiri kuda kungozotamba kwete, tirikuuya nekuti tinokunzwisisayi tinokudai tinoda kunzwa zvichemo zvenyu, tinoziva kuti munotinamatira, munonamatira nyika, munoshandira nyika that’s why tiri kuuya pano.

Ndinokumbira zvakare sevanhu vanotya Mwari kuti ngatirambeyi tichinamatira leadership. Ini ndinokumbira kuti mundinamatirewo but kunyanyanyanya namatirai President, kuti Mwari makatipa mutungamiri anotida, tinoda kuti mutungamiri wedu mumupe hutano, mumupe wisdom , murwise muvengi anoda kutikanganisira hutungamiriri hwedu. Tinamatire runyararo munyika ino yeZimbabwe . Tinamatire runyararo, zvandambotaura kuti tive netolerance , tizive kuti we coexist, nyika ndeyedu tese, hazvina basa kuti unobva kupi, ndambozvitaura pakutanga.

Chikuru ndoda kukutendai nekusapota ZANU PF, the ruling party.  Mese maleaders muripano, vanhu vese mauya pano nevasara ndinokutendai zvakanyanya kubva pakadzamadzama pemwoyo wangu nezvamuri kuitira Zimbabwe. Ndataurawo kuti zvakaoma asi tikaramba tichinamata, tichishandira nyika yedu , Mwari achatiratidza gwara nekuti tinoda kuti Mwari atiratidze, atipe wisdom yekushandira nyika kuti tive vanhu vakabudiririawo.

Ndinotenda kuuya kwamaita, handizvitore for granted, kuuya kwamaita mabva kure kure kuma provinces akasiyana siyana, kuuya kuzoti tiungane nhasi kudai. Mwari ngaatiitire zvakanaka Mwari atichengete, tinzwirane tsitsi tidanane tirege kungoti tiri vanhu vanonamata chete. Hanzi kunamata kusina mabasa hakuna kukwana. Hanzi kana uchinamata unofanira kutaridza nemaitiro ako, kuda vamwe, kunzwira vamwe tsitsi, kushandira nyika kuzvininipisa, kusarwisa vamwe kuti ini ndinoda paugere simuka ndigare nekuti ndini ndakakodzera, kwete tinongoti izvo zvakadaro tinovanamatira vane pfungwa idzodzo kuti Mwari varatidzeiwo chakanaka chehupenyu. Ehe handiti the bible says so, kuti even our enemies we pray for them kuti vaonewo chakanaka chehupenyu, vaonewo chakanaka chinoitwa nevamwe.

Ndinokudza Mwari kunyanya nezuva raatipa kuti tisangane pano tiite nguva yakanaka yekusangana tichimukudza tichitaurirana tichipanana rudo nekuzivana, izvezvi vamwewo ndanga ndisati ndavaona but tatozivana, tatotanga hushamwari, hushamwari hunoenda mberi.

Inini madzimai, semutungamiri wemadzimai muZanu-PF and samai venyu ndichakumiririrai nemoyo wanguy wese, handiregeri, kurwa kwandinoirta hakusi kurwa kwekuti ndiri kudenha munhu but ndirikurwa kuti ndinoda kugarisana kwakanaka.

Hatidi vanhu vanodenha vamwe nekuti ini chandakaona even kuna VaMnangagwa , VaMnangagwa vanoda kudenha vanhu kuti mushatirwe, so that kuti vanhu vagovanzwira tsitsi kuti ivo he is the victim, but he is not a victim, we are the victims. Nekuti munhu kana achinyebera kuti ndapoizenwa ndaitwa zvakati ari kuda kuti vanhu vamunzwirte tsitsi but vanhu vanokunzwira tsitsi nekuda kwemabasa ako nekuti iwe unonzwirawo vamwe tsitsi haungangoti ndinzwirei tsitsi.

Ehee hatidi munhu anodenha, ndisati ndagara pasi, ndiri kuda kuti eeeh ndafara zvikuru, kuti ndiuye nezvinhu pano ndaona kuti hazvizokwanisi kuti zvipihwe zvakanaka. Saka ndatii VaNdanga, tirikukupai mupunga wamusati mambonzwa pasi pano, one thousand tonnes. One tone iri one thousand kilograms saka takupai one million kgs dzemupunga.

Zvandaitira ndezvekuti ndikakupai one thousand tones dzemupunga, one million kilograms dzinouya kumachechi enyu so that mopawo vanhu vasara kumusha, for Christmas, Christmas yakuuya ka iyi saka ini ndakutoti Merry Christmas ipapa kuti mugonodya nemhuri.

Ndinoda kutenda mamusicians, vekuChipingeyo, eeeh kumakomoyo mandifadza nhasi mabviro kundifadza handina kumboziva kuti muZimbabwe kune vanhu vanoita zvakanaka zvikadai, haa ndichakukokai kuti tigoswera tese.
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Police band, ndinotenda police band vanogara vachitiimbira, but inini ndakaita a special request kuna Minister Hlongwane kui ndiri kuda Michael Mahendere kuti auye kuzotiridzira. Saka vaMahendere mwanangu, ndinokutendai, Mwarui akuitrirei zvakanaka. Music yako I know all the songs. I dance to your music. I was telling Minister Hlongwane just before I started my speech, that every morning, I work out a lot. I actually am obsessed with physical fitness, so every morning I go to the gym.

When I finish working out, I play your music and dance for another hour. I appreciate Zimbabwean music. I said to this one lady at my house, she knows I like music, she has seen me playing music in the gym so whenever she goes away on her leave she brings me some CDs but I said to her please don’t bring me pirated copies, because I want us to support our musicians and I said to her if you don’t have enough money to buy the CDs I will give it to you and you can select the music that you think I will like.

So she brought me not long ago your CD, the third one, inonzi chii yakanzi number three something. Inonzi worship something something number three, the third one, pane song iya inotaura izvo kuti eeeh, let me remember the lyrics. Ndoyandoda kuti mundiplayere iyoyo, is it number nine on that CD. Just remember that song, it is number nine. It is a beautiful song. Probably I’m tired, I have said a lot, but I will remember the lyrics then mondiitira song iyoyo. It’s a lovely song, it’s a shona song, it’s a beautiful song. Thank you very much. Pamberi nekubatana, pasi nevasingadi kubatana nevamwe.