Land & a bungling regime: a Short Story

1. It started with SI50/2021 issued on 26 Feb 2021. The decree sought to remove the Chilonga community from their ancestral lands to make way for DenDairy to grow grass for its cows. It promoted heavy resistance such as #boycottdendairy
2. A week later, government issued another decree, SI63A/2021. It changed the purpose of setting aside the land to “establishing an irrigation scheme” but retained the clause forcing the Chilonga community to depart permanently. We covered it in the BSR showing the illegalities.
3. On 16 March Government issued SI72A/2021, this time repealing the initial decree and removing the clause forcing the Chilonga community to depart permanently from their land. This is a big reversal of an unjust and arbitrary policy that disrespected citizens’ rights.
4. Why is this significant? It matters because the government has been forced into a reversal of an unjust policy. If it hadn’t been challenged, it was going to remove the Chilonga community. The revelation of cronyism, the legal challenges & social media protests helped.
5. It is those who were defending the unjust & inequitable decree that have egg on their face. What do they have to say now that it’s repealed? That’s the cost of defending absurd policies, defending out of duty without thinking. I don’t know how they do it!
6. As for the government, let’s hope the irrigation scheme is implemented & that this isn’t just a ruse to hoodwink people. As for the public, don’t let anyone tell you that protests are useless, whether on social media or elsewhere. It’s your right to SHOUT at the government.
7. Still, as I wrote in last week’s BSR, the Communal Land Act has unconstitutional provisions and as long as it remains in its current state, people who live there are vulnerable to the President’s whims. The constitutionality of that law should still be challenged.
8. You might have found the BSR a little heavier than normal but you will do well to file it for later studying. If you have family in communal lands, you should certainly take an interest in it: bigsr.co.uk/single-post/bi…

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More from @Wamagaisa

17 Mar
1. The @ReserveBankZIM announced a list of what it called the top 100 beneficiaries of the Forex Auction System for the 1st 8 months. A good move you would think, except it’s incomplete, vague and misleading. Much remains obscure in the bottom part of the list.
2. The so-called top 100 beneficiaries only account for 45% of the total forex that was sold. The bulk of the forex (55%) went to “other companies and individuals”. Who the beneficiaries in this shady category are is as clear as mud. It raises questions.
3. It is disingenuous and deceptive for the central bank to purport to be transparent when its list accounts for a small fraction of the bigger picture. It’s like inviting guests to a dinner party and announcing that the party is over after the starters!
Read 5 tweets
15 Mar
Government Guarantees

1. First, the positive is that Finance Minister @MthuliNcube has published this government guarantee as required by the Constitution. It’s something that he wasn’t doing until he was taken to court. It’s a good thing that he is now trying to comply.
2. The law requires publication of government loans and guarantees to ensure transparency in the management of public funds. It was terribly disconcerting that the government was refusing to comply with the Constitution. Still, these are baby steps. More needs to be done.
3. A guarantee is what accountants call a contingent liability. If X guarantees repayment of a debt owed by B & B fails to repay, X will be called upon to pay up the debt. X is taking a risk. In this case, the government guaranteed a debt owed by Mbano Hotels to CBZ Bank.
Read 12 tweets
14 Mar
Student life 2

1. Last week I told stories of working during my postgraduate days & promised a 2nd part. I hasten to add that I was in a relatively privileged position. I had a scholarship & got a decent stipend. But extra income was good & I learned a lot from these jobs :-)
2. One day I walked into a departmental shop which was advertising vacancies. It was in Coventry, just a few miles from college. I spoke to the manager & to my surprise I was hired. I would start the next day and work on the shop floor as a shop assistant!
3. I had always been the customer all my life. Now I was on the other side & it was a revelation. The job was a demonstration of how the movement of time is relative to the amount of work! On busy days, time passed very quickly. But on quiet days, it seemed like an eternity.
Read 13 tweets
11 Mar
1. The regime apparatchiks are not happy that their chief ghost was disqualified by Twitter. Believe you me, they are working very hard to get one back. They can use their coercive power of arrest or they can counter with reports to Twitter saying X is spreading fake news.
2. The rain in recent weeks has caused a problem of rats & mice in my area. Other villagers hired chaps to help. But I’m an original villager so I resorted to a traditional method: chikirimbani! And boy has it been effective!😅 Image
3. Chikirimbani works by enticing the mouse to the trap. I use peanuts (they call them monkey nuts in the shops!). I can’t waste cheese. The mouse thinks it’s a great meal. And boom! Before it knows what’s going on. That’s the regime’s strategy. It will throw baits, false stories
Read 5 tweets
9 Mar
1. The regime is playing hide & seek with the beleaguered Chilonga community. It has issued a new statutory instrument but the change is largely an illusion. The Chilonga community is still in danger of removal. Here’s why:

SI50/21 SI63A/21
SI50/21 designated the Chilonga land for growing Lucerne, grass for @dendairy’s cows. It provided for the permanent removal of the Chilonga community. SI63A changes the designation to establishing an irrigation scheme. BUT the provision for permanent removal remains UNCHANGED.
3. Therefore, the only change is from growing grass to irrigation but the most important clause, which is the permanent displacement of the Chilonga community is still law, according to the terms of SI50/2021. The only constant is that according to the regime the people MUST go.
Read 4 tweets
7 Mar
Of Student Life & odd jobs

1. The totality of my experience as a postgrad student in the U.K. gave me new perspectives. It’s what I learnt outside the lecture room that made an indelible mark. I had left Zimbabwe as a lawyer, complete with my own office & private secretary.
2. Now I was back at school, receiving a modest stipend which was enough to cover basics. I observed that students were doing some odd jobs here & there. I had never seen that in my time at college in Zimbabwe. We just chopped our payouts! We even paid staff to do our laundry!
3. I decided to take up temporary jobs. One of the jobs was “envelope stuffing”. Those were days of transition from regular mail to email so there was a lot of paperwork. You sat on a desk & spent hours putting letters in envelopes, sealing & stamping them. £3.90/hour!
Read 14 tweets

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