1. The arrest of Henrietta Rushwaya for attempting to smuggle 6kgs gold at the airport is not surprising. A wind of criminality follows her like a bad smell. What is intriguing is how Zimbabwe has become a haven for foreigners of a criminal disposition. We have a reputation.
2. When she was nabbed red-handed, Rushwaya implicated one Ali Mohammed, a chap who owns an entity called Ali Japan786. She says she had instructions to deliver the smuggled gold to a chap in Dubai. Rushwaya is head of the Zimbabwe Miners’ Federation.
3. Just a few days ago, Rushwaya was with the Minister of Mines, Winston Chitando where big deals were announced. Also present at the ceremony was that Ali Mohammed of Ali Japan786, the chap who Rushwaya is implicating as her principal in the gold smuggling. The Herald covered it
4. If Rushwaya’s confession is correct, this means Minister Chitando was dealing with a criminal element. Do the intelligence guys ever do any due diligence or they just focus on going after government critics? Remember the Drax affair and that dodgy Albanian chap?
5. It looks like criminals masquerading as investors see Zimbabwe as a haven for their heists. And how many more Zimbabweans out there are acting as couriers, like Rushwaya? She was probably bleating about sanctions yesterday. But they are the ones looting in broad daylight.
6. She will probably be bailed shortly. And after a few remand hearings the matter will die quietly. It will be set up to fail, like the Nguwaya affair. There will be technicalities that will be exploited and that will be it. It all depends on who her political godfather is.
7. And here she is, Henrietta Rushwaya kneeling before President Mnangagwa in this undated image. Last time Mnangagwa was pictured with Delish Nguwaya of the Draxgate scandal where he wrongly & falsely announced that Drax had given US$60 million to the government
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1. Analysis of the ZACC investigative report into corruption at NatPharm. @ZACConline begins by citing its mandate under the Anti-Corruption Act. The proper starting point for ZACC should be s. 255 of the Constitution. Its mandate is constitutional and that must be made clear.
2. The report shows that the Deputy Minister Dr John Mangwiro exerted undue influence on the tender process and that he had a conflict of interest. The report itself does not specify Dr Mangwiro’s relationship with Young Health. There’s an annexure but the content should be clear
3. It’s key to show the beneficial ownership of Young Health in the report. The report should also show that the Constitution prohibits conflicts of interest regarding Ministers. This is in a. 106 of the Constitution. The Minister therefore potentially breached the Constitution.
1. I was reorganising my library when I came across this MDC booklet from the 2002 Presidential Election campaign. Party historians will probably find these details fascinating. I was struck by the professionalism evident in the collation & presentation of data.
2. One of the details in the booklet is a list of 103 people, mostly MDC supporters who were killed by the State and ZANU PF between 2000 & 2002. As I always say, names matter. I reproduce the list in this and the next tweet.
3. This completes the list of people who were killed by the State and ZANU PF between 2000 and 2002. Remember them. Their deaths must not be in vain. These are the known ones. There are others who were slain but were never reported.
1. For those who doubted the prognosis that the judicially-reconstructed MDC-T led by Khupe is a ZANU PF project purposefully designed to decimate the opposition in Zimbabwe. Having lost the mayoral race, they decided to make council dysfunctional so ZANU can appoint a Commission
2. Students of politics and governance have a case study of how a ruling party co-opted a few enablers and hiding under a facade of legality, systematically grabbed political space occupied by the main opposition and in the process tried to form a de facto one-party system.
3. ZANU PF wants to control Harare and other urban areas. They created a group of marionettes, gave them power and set about the destruction job. Never mind the Constitution which requires local authorities to be governed by elected councils, we might as well wave goodbye to it.
1. I often get younger ones who say mkoma, I want you to mentor me. Time does not permit us to have one on one session. My answer to you is a proverb I often quote from Achebe: “when mother-cow is chewing grass, the young ones watch its mouth” I will tell you why it’s powerful.
2. It means, you learn from those who have come before you. The cow does not tell it’s young how to chew grass. They see her chewing grass and they learn from it. This is what you ought to do. You watch what your elders and peers do and if you like it, you do likewise.
1. The bail appeal for MDC Alliance Deputy Chairman Job Sikhala didn’t take off at the High Court because apparently the record of the Magistrate’s Court has not been signed off and, you have to believe it, the magistrate is now on leave! Remember the #BSR on Lawfare?
2. So through no fault of his own, Wiwa must wait another two days before his appeal is heard. Even then, the judge won’t deliver the judgment on the day. He will probably say Wednesday next week guaranteeing more jail time for Wiwa. That’s law in a system of injustice.
3. They are not even ashamed. This is exactly what they did in Hopewell’s case. The 1st time it got there, the record from the Magistrate’s Court was not available. When it came, the State asked for more time to study the case & prepare which the judge gave. It’s an unjust system
1. Please take note of this change to the census law. This amendment means the next census will no longer be held in 2022 as per the regular pattern. Instead it will be held by July 2021. This change is a result of successful lobbying efforts by parties & CSOs & the public.
2. The Government wanted to change the Constitution so that delimitation of constituencies would be delinked from the census. This was unwise. Progressive Zimbabweans joined CSOs like @ZESN1 & @ercafrica to resist this move & suggested that the census be brought forward.
3. The amendment does this, allowing enough time for marking new electoral boundaries between the census in 2021 and the next elections in 2023. This is a fair outcome but people must now be very VIGILANT because the census is a deeply political & electoral issue.