Comm-Gen Chihuri

Crime Reporter
SENIOR female police officers must prioritise investigations into gender-based violence to curb the abuse of women, Police Commissioner-General Dr Augustine Chihuri has said.

Comm-Gen Chihuri made the remarks when he addressed senior female officers at the 2016 Women Network Annual General Meeting in Harare on Thursday.

“True gender equality also requires tackling gender-based violence. This is a national problem. As the law enforcement agency, let us not be part of the Ostrich Syndrome. We cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand and wish the problem away.

“It is time the ZRP Women Network stood up to be counted. Gender-based violence in all its forms is a blight on society and should never ever be allowed to reach horrific levels,” he said.

Comm-General Chihuri applauded the Victim Friendly Unit and Press and Public Relations Section of the ZRP for raising awareness against gender- based violence.

“My appeal to you is that, make gigantic strides and continue going out in full force nipping this un-Zimbabwean malady from our midst. Our mothers and daughters deserve to be respected and not abused,” he said.

He said the network should play a central role in fighting crime.

Comm-General Chihuri said the ZRP was upholding gender balance in the force.

“I hope you also noted recently, from our peacekeeping contingents which returned from South Sudan and Liberia that there were equal numbers of both male and female police officers. We applaud these achievements and pray that you remain focused as you march into the future alongside your brothers,” he said.

The ZRP Women Network was established in 2009 under the auspices of the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation with the aim of promoting gender equality.

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
THIS time last year, Lloyd Chitembwe’s career appeared to have disintegrated into ruins, destroyed by challenges that come with a tough job whose sheer brutality had shattered the dreams and reputations of many before him, who had dared to join the ranks of top-flight football coaching.

Staggering in the darkness and battling the inevitable psychological demons that come with being rejected by a community he had called his family for more than two decades, which now dubbed him a failure, Chitembwe was walking alone as he carried a heavy load of so many questions in his head, with very few answers to provide the comfort his tormented soul badly desired.

Somehow, he had turned from being CAPS United’s most decorated footballer of all-time, with three league championship medals in his cabinet, to this outcast — the combustible Warrior that time had forgotten — and such was the extent of his humiliation that he was even being told he wasn’t good enough to coach an unfashionable Division One side called Starbill.

And, as he languished in the football wilderness, his fiercest critics had already started writing the epitaph on his coaching tombstone: “Here lies Lloyd Chitembwe, as combative a Green Machine as they will ever come but who, crucially, failed dismally to handle the transition from being a very good player to becoming a successful top-flight coach.”

Even when that hopeless Northern Irishman, a gold-digger-disguised-as-a-football coach, Sean Connor, landed at the Green Machine in circumstances more controversial than Donald Trump’s success story that has shaken the Republican establishment in United States politics, Chitembwe had to suffer the humiliation of being told to assist a man who knew virtually nothing about football, a tourist on a safari, who was just here to soak in the sunshine.

Chitembwe’s name was fast disappearing from the radar, occasionally being mentioned when the Harare Derby came along, when the journalists talked about the events of April 12, 2009, when Mushekwi’s double strike won the game for CAPS United, and occasionally the football writers would write about him, just in passing, hidden somewhere in their newspaper articles, as an historical reference to the capital’s biggest football battle.

But how had it all gone so wrong for Chitembwe?

After all, his development as a coach appeared to be well on course, especially on that unforgettable afternoon on April 12, 2009, when Mushekwi’s lightning double-strike powered the Green Machine to a deserved 2-0 victory in the Harare Derby, the very game where Charles Mhlauri had distinguished himself as a gaffer CAPS United could trust as he led them to back-to-back league titles.

But, as they say, one swallow doesn’t necessarily mean that the summer is here and there was some frustrating inconsistency with that CAPS United team, highlighted by their 1-2 loss in the game that followed their Harare Derby success story, and further losses to Kiglon, Shooting Stars, Eagles and Bantu Rovers, including a three-game losing streak, provoked a flurry of questions among the fans as to whether Chitembwe was the right man for the job.

Although CAPS United recovered well, to finish the season with a flourish, thanks largely to Mushekwi’s consistency in front of goal, which included a hattrick in the victory over Kiglon in the reverse fixture, a third-place finish for the Green Machine — 10 points behind eventual champions Gunners — appeared to be a season that hadn’t gone to expectations.

Especially given that this was a star-studded team which would provide the bulk of the players who won the 2009 COSAFA Cup on home soul, with Method Mwanjali being the inspirational captain while Mushekwi showed his class with a double strike in that final against Zambia, which the Warriors won 3-1 before a packed Rufaro.

With patience wearing thin at the Green Machine, it was probably just a question of time before Chitembwe was removed from his role as the head coach, but whether that was the right decision, did not appear to be supported by the results as CAPS United lost their way under the coaches who came and went, and only once, in 2014, did they finish as high as third in the championship race.

In sharp contrast, their biggest rivals Dynamos were reaping huge rewards for keeping faith in their coach, Callisto Pasuwa, who delivered four straight league titles for the Glamour Boys.

In August last year, after CAPS United had been held by Dongo Sawmill and Tsholotsho and lost to Chapungu, the club’s owner, Farai Jere, decided to bring back Chitembwe and, on September 1, the coach was unveiled at the Green Machine for his latest romance with the club.

A home goalless draw against Buffaloes, in Chitembwe’s homecoming game had some questioning whether this was the right move, but he soon silenced the dissenting voices with an impressive 1-0 away victory over Hwange at the Colliery and sealed his latest love affair with the fans with an impressive 3-1 destruction of Highlanders in his third game.

A 1-2 loss to ZPC Kariba at Nyamhunga might have derailed the progress but, so far, it has turned out to be the only league game Chitembwe has lost since his return and his current record will show that he has won SEVEN of the 13 matches he has played, drawn FIVE and lost just ONCE.

He has not lost, in 180 minutes, against the old enemy Dynamos, his men battling to secure a 1-1 draw at Rufaro last year, and returning to beat their biggest rivals 1-0 in the Harare Derby on Sunday.

Chitembwe took his men to Mandava, in the heat of the championship race when Norman Mapeza and his troops were fighting for the title, and forced a draw and Chapungu and Harare City, who had built a reputation as the Green Machine bogey sides, have been beaten.

CAPS United are unbeaten at home, in SEVEN league games, since Chitembwe’s returned to lead them, winning their last four straight home matches leading into tomorrow’s tie against Border Strikers, and four times — against Bosso, How Mine, WhaWha and Chapungu — they have scored three times in each game in their fortress at the giant stadium.

If CAPS United avoid defeat in the next five games, Chitembwe will match Charles Mhlauri’s impressive record of just one defeat in 18 games, between the end of 2003 and into the heart of the 2004 season when Highlanders came to the giant stadium and handed that Green Machine their only loss of the championship race.

“Obviously, the feeling is good but it’s not about an individual,” Chitembwe says.

“It’s about the team. I’m happy for the boys. I’m happy for the team and those supporters. It’s always good to see them happy.

“It’s about doing what you are supposed to.”

Of course, that’s what he is paid for, but for a coach that the domestic Premiership was beginning to forget, just eight months ago, to make such a huge comeback, and count Highlanders and Dynamos among his victims, has been nothing short of sensational.

He might not be getting a lot of credit in this cruel game from those who had already started writing about him as a spent-force, a man consumed by his shortcomings, but the statistics show he is doing a good job and the Green Machine is working in full throttle again.

Of course, life has a funny way of reminding us that we are just mere mortals, and history can repeat itself in the most cruel way possible should CAPS United, after the emotions and heroics of their first Derby win in seven years, fall at the hands of Border Strikers tomorrow.

Seven years ago, it was Monomotapa who beat them, seven days after their last Derby win, and given that Chitembwe and Method Mwanjali are part of both stories, they should know that this brutal game — just like life — has a painful way of reminding us that we are not immortals.

Sixteen more Zimbabwean women who were lured to Kuwait to work as housemaids, but ended up being abused as sex slaves, have escaped from captivity and are now under the care of the country’s Ambassador to Kuwait Mark Marongwe. Several other women have since returned home after a Parliamentary delegation that went to Kuwait a

Zimbabwean boxer Charles Manyuchi last night did the unthinkable beating the highly rated Dumitry Mikhaylenko of Russia on points to bag the World Boxing Council Silver Welterweight title in the Russian capital. The all Russian panel of judges scored the match 116-114, 118-110, 115-113 unanimously in favour of the underdog tagged Manyuchi in one of

CHINHOYI — Zanu PF says that they are going to repossess former Mashonaland West provincial party chairperson Temba Mliswa’s farm in Karoi if he continues behaving in what the party views as a wayward manner. Speaking at Chikangwe stadium in Karoi on Friday Zanu PF political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere said people should not listen to

Primary and Secondary Education Minister Lazarus Dokora has exhumed the dead bodies of Gukurahundi massacre victims, infuriated citizens charge. Dokora has opened the graves of many innocent Ndebele, Shona and Kalanga victims of Robert Mugabe’s notorious butchery in the early 80s, a public outcry stated yesterday. This came following Womens Rights NGO, WOZA’s demands published

Waterfalls preacher, Walter Magaya, is “the Saviour”, a Magaya church lady says. Writing on her social portal on Saturday, Ms Pathisa Ndebele said she regards Magaya as better the Jesus Christ of the Bible. Pathisa is one of thousands others in Magaya’s congeration who share the same sentiments of worship. When questioned on her stance

A 37-YEAR-OLD Chimanimani traditional healer was last week arraigned before the courts for sleeping with a minor. Samuel Nota (30) of Manase Village under Chief Ngorima in Chimanimani briefly appeared before senior Mutare magistrate, Mrs Sekai Chiundura and was not asked to plead. Nota was tasked with the casting out of an evil spirit that

Government has warned new farmers who have turned their farms into “braai resorts”, saying they risk losing the land if they remain unproductive. Agriculture deputy minister (crops, mechanisation and irrigation) David Marapira said government was aware of farmers who owned huge tracts of land, but were doing nothing except hosting Speaking at a field day

A CROSS-BORDER driver has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for fondling and sucking his teenage niece’s breasts before thrusting his fingers into her private parts while his wife watched. Vusumuzi Mthethwa, 34, of Pumula South was convicted of aggravated indecent assault by Bulawayo regional magistrate Chrispen Mberewere on Thursday. Mthethwa will serve an

The “This Flag” campaign spearheaded by prolific church leader, Evan Mawarire, has seen its ferocious lava spread beyond the 7th May deadline. Millions of Zimbabweans across the nation and around the world are for the first time in history, rising in anger protesting at the country’s economic woes. The lava as ZimEye.com reveals, exploded last

Controversial preacher, Uebert Angel, has been called upon to deal with President Robert Mugabe’s nephew, Patrick Zhuwao who is allegedly making it impossible for foreign investment. Filing in his third video clip, ZANU PF youth, Acie Lumumba recently fired by Zhuwao from a government post, emotively called upon Angel saying he should come in to help.

THE ZIMBABWEAN government has launched an arrest raid on company bosses it blames for “causing” the current cash crisis. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is investigating several top companies for allegedly externalising millions of United States dollars, contributing to present cash shortages. Those fingered in illicit financial flows will be handed over to the police.

Captain Thomas Sankara

Amber Murrey Correspondent
In recent weeks, news of food crises in countries across Africa has been intensifying. From the Democratic Republic of Congo all the way down to South Africa — via Malawi, Zimbabwe, Angola and many others — low rainfall has contributed to millions more being left vulnerable. Earlier this week the international NGO, Save the Children, reported that the food shortage in the drought-affected Tigray and Afar regions of northern Ethiopia has reached critical proportions. Of the 30 million people living in the region, according to UNICEF and the Ethiopian government, one third of them — some 10 million people — are in need of emergency food assistance.

The US government is now coordinating food aid and relief efforts, announcing last month that it would supplement $532 million for emergency food assistance, safe drinking water and nutrition.

Yet, direct food aid is often destructive, particularly in the long-term, for those on the receiving end. Historical examinations of famine and the aftermaths of crisis response have shown that direct food aid, rather than reducing hunger, actually suppresses local food production and distribution systems. This market suppression, in turn, contributes to the structural inequalities that sustain uneven food distribution. Uneven food distribution within the global circuits of capitalism is at the heart of modern-day hunger.

The current drought in northern Ethiopia echoes the 2005-06 drought in the Somali and Afar Regions as well as the Borena Zone of the Oromia Region — precisely because endemic, cyclical food shortage is a product of uneven economic development and is further compounded by anthropogenic climate change.

However, hunger is far from inevitable on the continent and there is an alternative African story worth retelling, one of food sovereignty, security and self-sufficiency, and one whose lessons could be revived today. Thomas Sankara’s ecological-political praxis provides an alternative framework for food justice on the continent.

“You don’t need us to go looking for foreign financial backers”

During his short political career — which prematurely ended when he was assassinated in 1987 — Sankara argued that some of the most pervasive roots of ecological disaster and hunger were over-indebtedness and over-dependence on foreign aid structures that encourage bare survival. Not only is his political-ecological praxis and his emphasis on national food sovereignty in a context of pervasive food aid still relevant for conversations about food justice today, but the successful implementation of several ecological programs in Burkina Faso provides historical evidence for the significance of national sovereignty and collective ecological practices for cultivating food security in arid and drought-prone landscapes (such as Northern Ethiopia and Burkina Faso).

In the four years that he was the president of the West African country of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara courageously worked with people on projects of self-determination in the face of enormous international and domestic neo-imperialist pressures. Known for his pro-people restructuring of the Burkinabè state, his staunch anti-imperialisms and his efforts to unite African leaders to repudiate international debt, his ecological practices have been relatively overlooked until recently.

Sankara was an anti-imperial political activist-cum-intellectual revolutionary who actively and charismatically cultivated egalitarian political policies to improve the well-being of Burkina Faso’s seven million citizens in the mid-1980s. Sankara insisted that too many of the challenges that Burkinabè people faced on a daily basis — including hunger, thirst, desertification, illiteracy, gender inequality and economic alienation — were rooted in neo-colonial political and economic relationships and structures.

At the same time that the World Bank and the IMF were implementing sweeping austerity policies under the auspices of the Structural Adjustment Programs across the African continent, Sankara was engaging in a transformative and revolutionary political project.

This was a collective project to restructure the post-colonial state of Burkina Faso to ensure that state policies and political structures worked for the well-being of the people.

For Sankara, meaningful anti-colonial political projects were rooted in self-sufficiency that “refused to accept a state of (mere) survival’ and ‘open(s) minds to a world of collective responsibility in order to dare to invent the future”.

At the 39th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, Sankara made clear the relationship between neo-imperialism and hunger in post-colonial Burkina. — Pambazuka.

Read full article on www.herald.co.zw

He said,

‘We must succeed in producing more — producing more, because it is natural that he who feeds you also imposes his will ( . . .) We are free. He who does not feed you can demand nothing of you. Here, however, we are being fed every day, every year, and we say, “Down with imperialism!” Well, your stomach knows what’s what.’

‘Even though as revolutionaries we do not want to express gratitude, or at any rate, we want to do away with all forms of domination, our stomachs will make themselves heard and may well take the road to the right, the road of reaction, and of peaceful coexistence [Applause from the crowd] with all those who oppress us by means of the grain they dump here.’

His anti-imperial language was audacious and ground-breaking but his assertions about the use of food distribution as a mechanism of control and power have since been further substantiated. This ‘dumping’ (to echo Sankara’s language) of food is, precisely, oftentimes profitable for donor countries. Since the inauguration of the US foreign food aid program in 1954, the program has been structured primarily as ‘tied aid’. Frances Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins explain that US food aid typically ‘must be grown, processed, and packaged in the United States and shipped overseas on US-flagged vessels’. An Oxfam Briefing Paper from 2006 similarly asserts that the US,

‘Sometimes uses food aid to dump agricultural surpluses and to attempt to create new markets for its exports. Indeed, food aid has the potential both to reduce domestic production of food, damaging the livelihoods of poor farmers, and to displace exports from other countries into the recipient country’.

More than twenty years before the Oxfam report, Sankara argued that humanitarian aid was counterintuitive to long-term wellbeing that would move Burkinabè society past mere survival in a neo-colonial global system. Sankara combined a formidable anti-imperialism with a conviction in the power of the people and encouraged people’s struggle and mobilisations in the face of thirst and hunger. Sankara urged the people of Burkina,

‘You are going to build in order to prove that you’re capable of transforming your existence and transforming the concrete conditions in which you live. You don’t need us to go looking for foreign financial backers, you only need us to give the people their freedom and their rights. That will be done’.

Lessons for today

Sankara lived a politics that was committed to a holistic revival of health and wellbeing – one that was inclusive of the environment, women and the masses. As Minister of Information under Colonel Saye Zerbo in 1981, Sankara pedalled to work on a bicycle. Later, one of his first acts as president was to create a Ministry of Water—this was ‘the first time the country had a ministry devoted exclusively to that essential resource’.

Meng-Néré Fidèle Kientega, who worked closely with Sankara before his death and the current Secretary of External Relations of the Burkina Faso National Assembly, said of Sankara’s commitment to ecological and food justice,

‘Even if the validity of certain commitments and actions of the Revolution are subject to debate, it is indisputable that, from the environmental point of view as well as the ecological, Burkina today would have presented a different face [had Sankara’s ecological approach survived] than the [current] decrepitude and hazardous sell of pesticides everywhere, the plastic packaging that suffocates our land and restrains our animals, and the GMOs [that proliferate] in spite of outcry and almost universal disapproval’. – Pambazuka

Business Reporter
THE country has seen a marked reduction of illicit financial flows since January this year but a lot still needs to be done to curtail the scourge, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Dr John Mangudya said. In February, the central bank governor revealed that close to $2 billion was siphoned out of the country last year, an amount which is more than what the economy attracted in foreign direct investments.

But the rate at which Zimbabwe is losing money through illicit flows has decelerated, with $50 million having been siphoned out of the country in the past three months. This was after the central bank put in place a cocktail of measures to plug the loopholes.

“It is going down but there are still pockets of taking money out,” said Dr Mangudya. Illicit financial flows and other capital flight remittances constitute a major constraint to development of financing in Africa.

IFFs which include trade mispricing and bulk cash movement cause heavy loses in government revenues, foregone investment, financial fragility and lost output. In the case of Zimbabwe, the financial haemorrhage from capital flight is exacerbated by the openness of the economy which is susceptible to regional disruptive arbitrage activities (as businesses in the region scramble to get access to US dollar from a dollarised Zimbabwe).

Dr Mangudya said the measures, which were put in place to plug the loopholes have slowed the rate at which the country was losing money through illicit financial flows.

In the 2016 Monetary Policy Statement, Dr Mangudya came up with policy measures to close the gaps and loopholes arising from inconsistencies and inadequate enforcement of rules on financial transparency and accountability, which in some instances, bodes around embezzlement of national resources and ignorance.

These included reporting of suspicious transactions to the RBZ before processing of the outgoing transactions and monitoring the operations of offshore related companies.” Economic analysts say while the rate at which the money going out of the country has declined, authorities should craft effective legislation to curtail illicit capital flows.

Analysts say companies and individuals were taking advantage of legislation loopholes to siphon money out of the country through dodging or avoiding taxes and mispricing. They argued it was unfortunate that some of the illicit financial flows were considered legal because of the bad tax treaties some countries particularly in Africa sign with multinationals.

“It is an open secret that large corporate often deceive tax authorities through mispricing and as a result, many governments, particularly in Africa are losing billions of dollars,” said one analyst with a Harare-based advocacy group.

“Punitive laws should be put in place to deal with the leakages. The money that African governments are losing is quite significant than money they are receiving in foreign aid.”

Paulo Jorge Silva

Tobias Mandoreba in Hwange
Hwange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0
Dynamos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
UNDER-pressure coaches Mebelo Njekwa of Hwange and Dynamos’ Paulo Jorge Silva took their fight for survival and relevance at the helm of their respective technical benches to another day as their charges clashed and shared the spoils in this Castle Lager Premier League soccer match at the Colliery yesterday. Hwange’s Njekwa trooped into this battle with only one win to show for his efforts after four matches, with his counterpart Silva not in any better situation as the Harare giants also landed into the coal mining town with only four points from the opening four matches, something which is simply unacceptable by the Glamour Boys’ high standards.

At the end of day, after some sweating in the field of play under the simmering Hwange temperatures, it will be the blue and white masses who will be more pleased with the point as their team were simply missing in action for most parts of the match which was well handled by Bulawayo referee Philani Ncube.

Both teams were cautious in the opening 10 minutes of the match but it was the coalminers who produced the only realistic chance of that period, after anchorman Collen Muleya held his head in disbelief as Dynamos defender Elisha Muroiwa ghosted in from nowhere to block his goal-bound thunderbolt for a corner with his goalkeeper Tatenda Mukuruva nowhere near the action.

Dynamos then threatened on the quarter hour mark after Raphael Kawondera cleverly chested down the ball for young Kudzanayi Nyakasaka who, however, disappointed by miscuing his shot with only goalkeeper Future Sibanda to beat.

Another Hwange attack minutes later saw Innocent Mucheneka roasting Muroiwa near the corner flag before laying a sitter for young Hwange enterprising striker Gift Mbweti, whose effort was again smothered by the Dynamos rearguard.

From there on, the match became a drab affair, which left both sets of fans yawning in the terraces with the more vocal DeMbare fans only rousing back to life moments before the break after some individual brilliance by Godknows Murwira saw him cleverly weaving his way past Hwange defenders Phakamani Dube and Gerald Ndlovu, before sending in a lovely cross which was completely missed by Nyakasaka with his intended diving header.

In a swift counter-attack, Hwange’s Mucheneka blazed his effort over the crossbar with a few inches to left, leaving the teams goalless at the end of the opening half.

Seeing that his toothless strike-force was fast turning his afternoon into a nightmare, Dynamos coach Silva threw in the ageless Evans Gwekwerere three minutes after the restart but he was not given any room to manoeuvre and make any impact as he was kept under lock and key by the Hwange defensive duo of David Boriwondo and Gerald Ndlovu.

The Glamour Boys continued to be in the freezer for the better part of the last half, save for some flashes of brilliance by pint-sized Bret Amidu, whose efforts had no one to complement.

There was an off-the-field drama in the 65th minute when a shirtless DeMbare fan took the security details by surprise by jumping from the terraces to sprint towards the Hwange goal area, where he left a bottle with some unknown substance.

This didn’t go down well with the Hwange marshalls, who manhandled the rowdy fan much to the chagrin of the Dynamos fans, who were already frustrated by their team’s lifeless show.

Luckily, the police in riot gear brought the situation under control within minutes. Other changes by Silva later in the game of throwing into the fray Carlos Rusere and Tichaona Chipunza for Murwira and King Nasama respectively failed to yield any dividends up to the end as Dynamos continued to play second fiddle to Hwange, whose letdown was also the final pass.

Njekwa was pleased with the point gained at the end of the day. “We did not play badly as we kept possession well but unfortunately we didn’t convert our dominance into goals. We will continue fighting in our next game,” he said. An emotional Silva took all the time in the world to grant the post match interview as he first did some warm down with his players before going to greet the animated Dynamos fans in the terraces.

“Overall, the boys did not play well as they could not keep the ball on the turf and it was made worse by our opponents who kept playing those long balls. “It’s back to work for us as we seek to get the right formula because here I am not happy with our performance,” the Portuguese coach said.

Teams
Hwange: F. Sibanda; P. Dube; P. Mpelele; G. Ndlovu; D. Boriwondo; O. Moyo; A. Chuma; C. Muleya (N. Sianchali 68th minute); G. Zulu; G. Mbweti; I. Mucheneka.

Dynamos: T. Mukuruva; O. Mushure; E. Muroiwa; S. Linyama; O. Mwerahari; G. Murwira (C. Rusere 63rd minute); R. Kawondera (T. Chipunza 73rd minute); S. Alimenda; B. Amidu; K. Nyakasaka; K. Nasama (E. Gwekerere 48th minute).

Fred Zindi Music
This week, marks the 35th anniversary of Robert Nesta Marley aka Bob Marley’s death. On May 11, 1981, the world was bombarded with the shocking news of Bob Marley’s death whom, we are told, died from cancer which had developed from his toe since 1976. Without Bob Marley, reggae music would still be largely confined to a handful of singers, bands and sound systems dotted around the Caribbean and among West Indian communities in the cities of Britain and North America. Through his devotion to the principles of Rastafari, Marley became the prophet of all Black people as he preached strength and social unity to oppressed peoples across the globe. His music crossed racial boundaries, providing black people with a new level of dignity. Since his death, there has been an uneasy vacuum within reggae music, as if it is marking time until another prophet, with the capacity to carry millions, takes up his role.

It was almost inevitable that a man so identified with the struggles against class and racial oppression should be invited to perform at the celebrations of the birth of a new nation, Zimbabwe. On April 18, 1980, Bob Marley performed at Rufaro Stadium in Harare and celebrated Zimbabwe independence.

The first contact between the new Zimbabwe Government and Bob Marley had come in March, 1980. It was simply, an invitation for Bob Marley to attend the country’s Independence Celebrations.

The intention was not for him to perform, so the invitation was just for him and his wife, Rita. However, Bob Marley, being the revolutionary he had become, wrote a song entitled ‘Zimbabwe’ just before Zimbabwe celebrated its Independence in 1980. He insisted that his whole band should be invited too and would give a performance at the celebrations.

Chris Blackwell, his manager at the time was against this tour, but Marley who had been following events in Zimbabwe decided he would go. He hired a PA system in London and paid for its freight to Zimbabwe at his own expense.

As we celebrate his life, this week, I am surprised to find out that there are several popular Zimdancehall musicians who do not know anything about Bob Marley, yet their careers have been shaped and fuelled by Marley’s musical contribution.

The other day, I asked one Zimdancehall artiste to name just one Marley tune he knows. He had no idea. The second one I asked had no idea either. After a long pause, he suddenly asked me, “Hey! Isn’t that the guy who sang ‘Zimbabwe’?”

“Yes, what other songs did he sing?” I asked further. He did not have a clue. I couldn’t believe this amount of ignorance by people who are supposed to be in the know.

Bob Marley had a long catalogue of music. Songs such as “No Woman No Cry”, “Redemption Song”, “One Love”, “I Shot The Sheriff”, “Waiting In Vain”, “Could You Be Loved”, “Bufallo Soldier”, “Three Little Birds” and “Iron, Lion Zion” are popular tunes, to name just a few.

It is true that most of these youths were not born when these songs were written. They never interacted with Marley because he died in 1981 before they were even born. I still expect them to know something about Bob Marley if they are really serious about the music which originated from Jamaica.

It has been many years since I left English Literature classes but if you were to ask me about the plays written by William Shakespeare, who died way back in May 1616, whether one likes Shakespeare or not, plays like “King Lear”, “Macbeth”, “Julius Caesar”, “The Tempest”, “Hamlet”, “Othello” or even “Romeo and Juliet” are still at my fingertips.

Bob Marley who formed the Wailers Band together with Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh in the early 1970s became an international star after being discovered by Chris Blackwell, a white man from Jamaica who was the chief executive officer of Island Records.

Stories of why Blackwell signed the group vary. A fascination with Rastafari coupled with a strong belief that reggae could, if marketed correctly, become an international music force, seem the most likely reasons. In any case, Blackwell knew they would have to move cautiously.

White European and American audiences could not be expected to change their tastes in music overnight and latch on to reggae immediately.

Blackwell financed the sophisticated “Catch a Fire” album (1973), a strong collection of diverse songs, packaged in an imitation Zippo lighter sleeve. It sold well enough for Blackwell to be as good as his word and take Bob Marley and the Wailers under the Island Records wing.

The group went to Britain later that year as the rock chic darlings. Blackwell’s campaign had paid off. Their album was nestling alongside those of the Eagles and the Rolling Stones, both in the charts and in high street chain-store browser racks. They played four nights at London’s Speakeasy and made an appearance on national television. On their departure, they went to the US to join Sly and the Family Stone on tour.

On the face of it, the Wailers had cracked the nut. By the end of that year they had completed a second Island album, “Burnin”, and confirmed a second UK tour.

The album paled in comparison to the previous one, yet it did contain the classic “I Shot the Sheriff” that rock guitarist Eric Clapton made into a hit single for himself. Suddenly the world, Zimbabwe included, was aware of the Rastaman.

Towards the close of an exhausting world tour (1980) Marley collapsed after a concert at New York’s Madison Square Gardens and was taken to Sloane Kettering Hospital where cancer was diagnosed. His discomfort must have been chronic and on May 8 he admitted himself to the Cedars Lebanon Hospital where he died three days later on May 11.

He was provided with a state funeral in Jamaica.

Bob Marley had been the biggest single foreign currency earner in Jamaica leaving an estimated $46 million behind.

This week, is Bob Marley remembrance week in Zimbabwe.

On Saturday, this week, reggae fans will converge at New Ambassador Hotel where they will be given an opportunity to celebrate and commemorate the life of Bob Marley from 2pm until late.

This will be coupled with another memorial service of the late Munya Nyemba who played the bass guitar with Transit Crew. Performances will be by Transit Crew itself, Dino Mudondo, Hotta Fyre Band, House of Stone and Chikwata 263. To enable the event to be picture perfect, Music Crossroads, Zimbabwe have kindly donated their PA system and backline equipment for this event. Come Saturday, we will all be singing:

Natty dread it inna Zimbabwe

Set it up inna Zimbabwe

Mash it up inna Zimbabwe

Africans a liberate Zimbabwe

No more internal power struggle

We come together, to overcome

The little trouble

Soon We will find out

Who is the real revolutionary

Brother you’re right, you’re right

Feedback: f_zindi@hotmail.com

WE applaud Government, through Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira for setting the record straight with regards to distribution of food aid. It is a fact that Zimbabwe, like other Southern African nations, experienced poor rains, which culminated in a drought. On February 4, 2016, President Mugabe declared the 2015-16 agricultural season a national disaster due to the dire effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon that saw the country receiving normal to below normal rainfall. The declaration was aimed at mobilising resources to alleviate food shortages. It also sought to undertake the tasks of ensuring and supervising the programme of effective delivery of relief supplies for people and livestock as well as emergency irrigation programmes.

Ever since then Government, working hand-in- glove with its development partners, has imported maize for distribution to the needy. President Mugabe is on record as saying no one will starve, urging non-partisan distribution of food aid.

There have been reports, especially from the opposition, and in particular the MDC-T, suggesting distribution of food aid was being done on partisan basis. This saw MDC–T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai writing to United Nations Secretary-General Mr Ban Ki-moon protesting what he termed politicisation of food aid by the Government.

Mr Tsvangirai claimed Zanu-PF denied his starving supporters food aid. Mr Tsvangirai did not provide Mr Ban with an iota of evidence to buttress his claims. We are told Mr Ban has since responded to Mr Tsvangirai through a top humanitarian official in his office, Edmund Mulet, pledging further food assistance to Zimbabwe regardless of Mr Tsvangirai’s claims.

Ever since then Mr Tsvangirai has been moving around the country inciting his supporters to cause mayhem by grabbing food aid at distribution points.

Addressing a rally at Man’a Growth Point in Gutu recently, the MDC-T leader told his supporters: “Now when the food has been availed, they start to say they want Zanu-PF supporters only, as if they are the only ones with stomachs. Who does not need food? We all need it. We must share it equally and in a fair manner. When they try to sideline you, refuse and grab the food and see if they will arrest all of us for demanding food. We want the world to know that people in Zimbabwe were arrested for demanding their food . . . You should make sure that the food is distributed fairly and (President) Mugabe should know that the food does not belong to Zanu- PF, but to Government.”

It is clear from Mr Tsvangirai’s remarks that it is the opposition party that is politicising a transparent food aid distribution programme so as to attract global news headlines. It is sad too that Mr Tsvangirai wants to capitalise on such a humanitarian situation to gain political mileage.

We do hereby challenge Mr Tsvangirai to prove his claims. In these days of social media, the alleged partisan distribution of food aid could have gone viral by now. We also dissuade the MDC-T leader from abusing our youths by inciting them to sabotage Government’s food aid distribution programme.

It is clear that the MDC-T is trying to use the food situation in Zimbabwe to paint Zanu-PF bad. Why would Mr Tsvangirai write to Mr Ban when the easiest he could do was to visit Minister Mupfumira’s office with the evidence? Is that route not shorter?

This is why Minister Mupfumira, whose ministry is responsible for the food distribution programme, has dismissed as “nonsense” the claims by Mr Tsvangirai. Minister Mupfumira also challenged those with evidence of partisan distribution of food aid to come forward with information, so that offenders are brought to book.

“We have said drought or hunger does not differentiate between this or that other political party. As Government we are supposed to give food to all people who need food and our ministry is involved in the actual distribution . . . There is nowhere people have been required to produce their political party cards in order to get food. If somebody tries to do that, we have said we will deal with them accordingly,” said Minister Mupfumira.

We encourage Mr Tsvangirai to be honest enough and furnish Government with evidence of the alleged partisan distribution of food, so that corrective measures are taken immediately. Hunger knows no political slogan and if any such acts are happening corrective measures must be taken. So please, Mr Tsvangirai do not play to the gallery when Minister Mupfumira’s door is open to entertain such grievances and to proffer solutions.

HIGH FLYER . . . CAPS United defender Hardlife Zvirekwi (left) evades a tackle from Border Strikers’ midfielder Livingstone Genti during yesterday’s Castle Lager Premiership soccer match at the National Sports Stadium. — (Picture by Tawanda Mudimu)

Eddie Chikamhi Sports Reporter—
CAPS United . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 1
Border Strikers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe felt his team’s performance yesterday was not the best he would expect from them but the former midfielder was still happy with the win over minnows Border Strikers at the National Sports Stadium as it was enough to take the Harare giants back to the top of the Castle Lager Premiership soccer table. Makepekepe, overnight log leaders last week when they defeated bitter rivals Dynamos in the famous Harare Derby, bounced back to the apex courtesy of a well-struck free kick by veteran forward Leonard Tsipa, just three minutes after he was introduced at the restart.

The Green Machine took advantage of the slip up by FC Platinum, who played a goalless draw with Harare City on Saturday, to shoot to the top of the table on goal difference as the two teams are now tied on 13 points after five games.

However, the CAPS United supporters who thronged the giant football facility yesterday did not get as much entertainment value for their money as they had in the opening four games of the season.

The Harare giants had the upper hand in the opening half in which they had better chances of scoring, in contrast to their opponents who appeared content just knocking the ball around without venturing forward.

“Of course, it’s a win, isn’t it?” said Chitembwe after the match. “If it’s a win then we are happy. If it was anything less than a win then obviously we were not going to be happy about it. “We were quite satisfied, we were quite happy although today it wasn’t as pretty as we would have wanted it to be. But generally if you manage to get three points whilst you are not doing so well I am sure it’s a very good thing.”

CAPS United did well from the wings where Hardlife Zvirekwi was initiating most of the moves down the right channel while Phineas Bhamusi was always causing havoc with his pace in the opponents’ territory.

The Green Machine looked comfortable as Joel Ngodzo and veteran Method Mwanjali steadied the ship in midfield where Border Strikers’ Young Warriors midfielder Livingstone Genti and Godfrey Mukambi played second fiddle.

But the scoreboard still stayed unchanged in the opening half as Makepekepe did not make good use of the opportunities that came their way. Simba Nhivi twice could have given his team the advantage when he got into scoring positions early in the first half but his finishing let him down despite the industry. Then Ronald Pfumbidzayi almost stunned the visitors direct from a corner kick in the 34th minute but the ball bounced off the crossbar.

“It’s not about utilising each and every chance that you create but all the same we are happy with the result. Yeah, it’s good to get a result whilst making mistakes because, obviously you will have time to work on those mistakes,” said Chitembwe.

The priceless goal for Makepekepe eventually came via a set-piece after the breather. Chitembwe made a rewarding decision when he pulled out Archford Gutu at the break and called on veteran striker Tsipa to boost the attack.

The new man on the pitch took the onus upon himself when a CAPS United player was fouled just outside the box and expertly swung the ball past an otherwise impressive goalkeeper Talent Sande from the resultant free-kick. Border Strikers, coming from a crippling industrial action by their players, never troubled their hosts but they showed glimpses that they could match any team in the Premiership.

The Beitbridge side passed the ball well but lacked the thrust going forward. Saul Chaminuka’s men have faced many challenges early in their debut season. They have lost all five games they have played as they remain rooted at the bottom of the table. Worse, the fact that the side is still to find the back of the nets in 450 minutes of Premiership action is now worrying the coach.

The Warriors assistant coach nonetheless remains positive his side will eventually find their groove as they go back to the drawing board. “A lot of things are in the wrong and I have every reason to be worried but technically and tactically on the field of play, I think we are working.

“It shows where we are coming from and where we are going. One of these days we are going to score goals and we will win games,” said Chaminuka.

Teams
CAPS United: J. Muchambo, H. Zvirekwi, R. Pfumbidzayi, S. Makatukua, J. Jangano, M. Mwanjali, A. Gutu (L. Tsipa, 45th minute), P. Bhamusi, J. Ngodzo (V. Musarurwa, 90th minute), S. Nhivi, D. Chungwa (K. Nyamupfukudza, 63rd minute)

Border Strikers: T. Sane, P. Muzondo, M. Variso, F. Makarati E. Mwinga, G. Mukambi, L. Genti, B. Chirumanzi, T. Muchaya (T. Mukambi, 60th minute), S. Chaminuka Jnr (K. Kwashi, 34th minute), T. Kalunga (T. Jaravani, 70th minute)

Golden Sibanda Senior Business Reporter
GOVERNMENT is seeking an official framework with South Africa to structure energy deals, secretary for Energy and Power Development Partson Mbiriri has said. An agreement in principle was reached between Energy and Power Development Minister Samuel Undenge and his South Africa counterpart Tina Joemat-Pettersson last month although no timelines have been indicated yet on when the pact should be in place.

Mr Mbiriri said the two ministers will sign a Memorandum of Understanding, informed by the fact that South Africa and Zimbabwe share many things, which include electricity, fuel and infrastructure.

He said that there is recognition of the fact that while the neighbouring trading partners have been sharing a lot in the energy sector, most of it has been happening outside an official framework.

“It was the decision of the two ministers when they met last month that there be a framework on the basis of which we then can explore various avenues. South Africa, for example, is way ahead in terms of renewable energy, in particular solar,” Mr Mbiriri said.

“There is a lot we can learn from South Africa. They are way ahead in terms of solar geysers and we want to roll out a similar programme here and there is a lot that we can learn,” Mr Mbiriri added.

The energy secretary said, surprisingly, despite Zimbabwe chronic economic problems, there is a lot that Zimbabwe can offer to its biggest trading partner from a technical point of view.

“Had the deficit we had happened in other jurisdictions, the grid would have collapsed, but we were able to keep the grid alive for many years and certainly South Africa would want to share notes with us, essentially from a technical perspective,” he said.

Further, Mr Mbiriri said all of Zimbabwe’s power stations are functioning while South Africa had a few, including fairly new one, which either not working too well or a completely grounded.

“Really, the intention is that we share notes, not necessarily reinvent the wheel and that we mutually support each other.” Zimbabwe is importing 100 megawatts from Mozambique and recently concluded an agreement with South Africa’s Eskom for the supply of a further 300MW as and when it has excess power.

Government is pursuing possibility of additional power supply from Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) as the power from the Mozambican power utility is relatively cheaper than that of Eskom.

The agreement with the South African power utility is, however, not firm, meaning Eskom can reduce supplies to Zimbabwe if demand in that country goes up and there is little or nothing to spare. Power imports from South Africa also come with another challenge, as Eskom requires Zimbabwe to pay for the power in advance.

This partly explains why Government is keen on an MoU with Pretoria, such that future energy deals, especially power supply, are entered at Government level in order for Zimbabwe to secure lower tariff deals.

“That power is not coming cheap, it is more expensive than our locally generated power and one of the reasons why we need this MoU is to be able to enter into Government to Government negotiations about what we share and at what cost,” Mr Mbiriri said.

Zimbabwe is using the imported power from South Africa to meet its requirements during off peak periods and then take advantage of that to switch off Kariba South, which has had its generation levels reduced due to the low lake water levels this year. This allows Zimbabwe to conserve water allocation for Kariba South, which it can then use during periods of peak demand for power.

Mr Mbiriri said the decision to import power from South Africa was occasioned by the challenge at Kariba South, as “we had to fill up that gap, somehow”. “So, that arrangement, (of importing power from SA) still obtains. One of the things about the arrangement also is that we pre-pay for that power and sometimes it is not easy to pre-pay, you are talking about a couple of millions for it to be meaningful.

Zimbabwe has had to augment its limited locally generated power with imports, to bridge the deficit between demand and supply after years of no investment in new generation capacity since the mid 80s.

Currently, Zimbabwe generates an average of 1 050MW, but with peak period demand of 2 200MW, the country faces serious shortages, which is being met through imports from the regional utilities.