1. Fidelity Printers & Refinery (FPR) is Zimbabwe’s gold refiner & for a long time the holder of a monopoly in the purchase & export of gold. It is also the printer of currency and security documents. This is a story of how at its peak, FPR was punching well above its weight.
2. I was fascinated to learn that at one point FPR had overspill contracts to print US$ notes for the Federal Reserve. It also used to print currency & other securities for several countries in Africa. For example, FPR printed cheques for the Central Bank of Angola among others.
3. FPR had contracts to produce passports for SADC officials & Certificates of Origin for the Comesa Region. FPR produced phone recharge cards for Egyptian, Tunisian & Moroccan telecoms companies. It also serviced the local telecoms companies Econet NetOne, Telecel, TelOne, etc
4. Business was so good that in 2010 with great demand for recharge cards, FPR invested in a major new system to boost production. Given this major printing technological capacity one wonders why Zimbabwe has a backlog in the delivery of national IDs, passports, etc.
5. The story of how Zim got this capacity goes back to the dynamics of the post-UDI era in Rhodesia. It is documented in Klaus W. Bender’s book Moneymaker - The Secret World of Banknote Printing. It explains the start of the relationship with German company Giesecke and Devrient
6. Before UDI, Rhodesian money was printed by a British firm, Bradbury Wilkinson. This ended when sanctions were imposed after UDI. The Smith regime turned to the G&D, the German firm which obliged. But this resulted in a serious diplomatic tiff with the British.
7. Banknotes that G&D had printed (30 metric tons) had to be destroyed. But this did not stop the relationship that G&D had established with the regime. An arrangement resulted in G&D helping Rhodesia to build a local printing facility with a South African firm as a middleman.
8. G&D sold its old printing machines to the Reserve Bank of Rhodesia. It was from adversity that country’s banknote printing capacity began. Post-independence, the relationship with G&D remained solid. It was there printing useless notes during the hyperinflation days.
9. FPR grew into a developed into a major national asset. But now it’s a far cry from its glorious days when it had clients from all over the world. Yet another national institution that was inherited but brought down through incompetence and corruption.
10. They never tell you these stories because they are inconvenient. They are busy clowning around & performing gimmicks to promote a populist & useless agenda. When we talk these histories it is to remind ourselves of our capabilities. We just need proper & selfless leadership.

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More from @Wamagaisa

15 Jun
1. The RBZ tells us it had a problem with 18 entities. To “solve” the problem the regime issued a decree (SI127) affecting 16 million people. In their wisdom, our elders would refer to this as the behaviour of a foolish man who burns the family home in order to kill a rat. Image
2. This purported clarification by the RBZ means the regime fired the gun into the crowd before asking questions. Why did it not carry out these so-called consultations before issuing the ridiculous decree? The damage has already been done. But that’s typical of this regime.
3. However, if people in the business community take the RBZ statement seriously, then they need their heads examined. A press statement does not amend a law. SI127 is a law of general application. It affects everyone, therefore, unless it’s amended it’s still applicable to all.
Read 4 tweets
13 Jun
1. Corporations are affected by bad governance but the corporate sector would rather comply than resist. We don’t do politics, they say. But if the ruling party makes demands, they silently comply. Yet they want someone to do something about bad governance bigsr.africa/good-governanc…
2. There are big companies that are known to donate to the ruling party’s political & election campaigns. By doing so, they are investing in repression; enabling bad governance. If you lie down with a dog, you cannot complain that fleas are bothering you.
3. But here’s the thing: despite knowing some of these businesses, we continue to patronise them. The profits they make are donated to the ruling party. When you consider the vicious cycle, we are also indirectly funding and enabling our own repression!
Read 4 tweets
9 Jun
1. I have been reading the judgment by Senior Magistrate R. Mukanga at Bulawayo in the matter involving New York Times journalist Jeffrey Moyo. I’m horrified by the mutilation of the Constitution. Let me explain the horror show step by step.
2. Moyo argued for release because he was detained for more than 48 hours before he was brought to court. Section 50(3) states that if this happens the person “must be released immediately” unless a competent court has earlier extended it. There was no such earlier extension.
3. The Magistrate accepted that Moyo was over-detained. The state did not dispute it. But, incredibly, the Magistrate had a strange interpretation of section 50(3). He said it does not entitle an over-detained person to immediate release, the opposite of what the provision says.
Read 7 tweets
8 Jun
1. This is Hon. Gwaunza’s response to the request by Beatrice Mtetwa for investigations into the conduct of the @JSCZim Secretary which led to a judge recusing himself from the contempt case against Hon. Malaba. How can he be involved in a matter in which he has so much interest?
2. Malaba should be nowhere near this case. He is the man at the centre of this crisis, but he has the audacity to “instruct” the JSC to carry out investigations! As a judge, he should know better than to be involved because it taints the entire process.
3. Also, as Mtetwa requested, this investigation must be INDEPENDENT. The JSC is not in a position to carry out an independent investigation in this matter. After all, the man under investigation is its top executive. The JSC should outsource this to an independent investigator.
Read 4 tweets
30 May
1. One general rule that I have learnt purely by experience as a Zimbabwean is that there is a positive correlation between more decrees to control the foreign currency (forex) market and the expansion of the parallel (black) market.
2. In other words, the more the government tries to command & control the formal market by decree, the more the informal/parallel market grows. This is partly because economic actors seek to avoid the debilitating & punitive impact of the formal market decrees.
3. It also grows because formal market controls create opportunities for arbitrage. This happens because the formal market, access of which is restricted to a few, offers cheap forex which can be sold at higher rates either directly on the parallel market or as goods for sale.
Read 9 tweets
19 May
1. The letter announcing the appointment of judges to the Constitutional Court is odd & vague so that it is not possible to determine the law under which they are being appointed. It says the President has “approved” the appointments “at the instance” of the Acting Chief Justice.
2. The letter is coming from the Judicial Service Commission. The “approval” bit is perplexing. It’s either the President appoints or he doesn’t. Whether before or after Amendment No. 2, he is the appointing authority. If they are acting judges, his approval is irrelevant.
3. True the judges take their oath before the Chief Justice but it is unclear whether they are being appointed under the old procedure when they were interviewed last September or as amended by Amendment No. 2. But does it make any difference to the contentious cases? None.
Read 4 tweets

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