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Zimbabwean-born economist, Gareth Horsfield, says the recent introduction of a new currency, Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) to replace the Zimbabwe dollar, is akin to putting the cart before the horse as the country does not have the conditions to sustain it.
Horsfield said that Zimbabwean authorities should first restore confidence in the financial system, put in place strong economic fundamentals, and increase production to reduce dependence on imports which drain foreign currency, among other things for a new currency to have any chance of success. He wrote:
<blockquote>
<h2>Zimbabwe’s New Structured Currency: Putting the Cart Before the Horse</h2>
Introducing a new currency in a country comes with a complex set of challenges and considerations, particularly in an economy like Zimbabwe, which has faced significant financial instability over the years.
There are several reasons why introducing a new currency in Zimbabwe may not yield the expected outcomes or could potentially exacerbate existing economic issues.
<h2>Historical Context and Economic Instability</h2>
Zimbabwe has a history of hyperinflation, most notably from 2004 to 2009, which led to the abandonment of the Zimbabwean dollar in favour of a multi-currency system that included the US dollar and the South African rand.
This history plays a crucial role in understanding the scepticism surrounding the introduction of a new currency.
Hyperinflation led to a loss of confidence in the local currency, making recovery and re-establishment incredibly difficult.
<h2>Lack of Confidence in the Financial System</h2>
Confidence in the financial system and the stability of a currency is crucial for its acceptance and functionality.
Given Zimbabwe’s history of hyperinflation, the public’s trust in any form of local currency has been severely eroded.
Introducing a new currency requires building this trust anew, a process that can take years, if not decades, of stable economic policies and practices, something Zimbabwe has struggled with.
<h2>Economic Fundamentals</h2>
For a new currency to be successful, there needs to be a strong and stable economic foundation. This includes a stable inflation rate, robust fiscal policies, and strong governance structures to manage the economy effectively.
Zimbabwe’s economy has faced challenges such as high unemployment, a decrease in industrial production, and governance issues that undermine the potential success of a new currency.
<h2>Dependency on Imports and Foreign Currency</h2>
Zimbabwe’s economy is heavily dependent on imports for basic goods and services, which necessitates a strong demand for foreign currency.
Introducing a new local currency could lead to a devaluation against stronger foreign currencies, increasing the cost of imports and potentially leading to inflation.
This reliance on imports and the need for foreign currency make it difficult for a new currency to establish itself as a stable medium of exchange.
<h2>Social and Political Challenges</h2>
The introduction of a new currency is not just an economic issue but also a social and political one. It requires the buy-in from various stakeholders, including businesses, the general public, and international partners.
In Zimbabwe, where political tensions and social unrest have been prevalent, achieving this consensus is challenging.
Political instability can further undermine confidence in any new currency, making its adoption and acceptance more difficult.
<h2>Comparative Examples</h2>
Looking at other countries that have successfully introduced new currencies, it is clear that certain conditions need to be met, such as political stability, strong economic fundamentals, and public confidence.
These conditions are not easily met in Zimbabwe’s current context, making the successful introduction of a new currency more challenging.
In conclusion, while the idea of introducing a new currency in Zimbabwe might seem like a potential solution to its economic problems, the realities on the ground present significant obstacles.
Historical economic trauma, lack of confidence in the financial system, unstable economic fundamentals, dependency on imports, and social and political challenges all contribute to the scepticism around the success of such a measure.
For a new currency to have any chance of success, Zimbabwe would need to address these underlying issues comprehensively and convincingly, a task that requires time, political will, and economic stability.
</blockquote>
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"Zimbabwe Lacks Fundamentals To Sustain New Currency"

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has been urged to promptly present fiscal measures that complement the monetary policy announced by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor John Mushayavanhu last week.
The 2024 Monetary Policy Statement outlines key strategies and measures aimed at achieving currency stability. These include the introduction of a structured currency called ZiG, backed by reserves and royalties.
Economist Gift Mugano suggests that Minister Ncube should not delay presenting his mid-term budget review in July or exclusively favour the use of USD over ZiG. He said:
<blockquote>
The Minister of Finance must address the following:
1. Directing all local payments by the GOZ to be in ZiG;
2. Directing all duties, taxes, levies and fees including government services such as passports, birth certificates, death certificates, etc to be in ZiG;
3. Directing fuel stations to accept both ZiG and USD – this must enforced in line with the spirit of the use of a multi-currency regime;
4. Recalibrating the financing model for the public infrastructure with a view to moving away from using cash to long-term finance e.g., diaspora bonds;
5. Setting aside a budget for the liquidation of the 25% export retention surrender requirement view a view to stop the RBZ from printing money;
6. Present a new budget statement in ZiG – this budget must include a supplementary budget with a view to accommodate the exchange movements as the current has been eroded by exchange rate upheavals. This submission is grounded on the fact that the fact that the exchange rate shot from ZWL$6,000/US$1 when the 2024 budget was presented to ZWL$33,882.72 as of 5 April 2024.
7. Downward review of taxes and elimination of some tax heads such as the sugar tax – the current tax regime is causing inflation in USD which means that inflation in ZiG will be massive.
</blockquote>
The annual inflation rate in Zimbabwe has recently risen, reaching an over-one-year high of 55.3% in March 2024. This increase follows a rate of 47.6% in February.
The depreciation of the now-discarded Zimbabwe dollar played a role in this surge. Since the beginning of the year, the Zimbabwe dollar experienced a decline of more than 70% against the US dollar before being replaced by ZiG last week.
The introduction of ZiG marks Zimbabwe’s sixth attempt at creating a new currency since 2008.
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Mthuli Ncube Urged To Present Fiscal Measures To Complement Monetary Policy

Opposition politician, Nelson Chamisa asserts that Zimbabwe requires political transformation rather than mere currency adjustments.
In response to the introduction of the new Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor John Mushayavanhu, Chamisa said that the nation requires systematic political reforms rather than focusing solely on currency restructuring.
He pointed out that currency reforms in the past have been unsuccessful, and he cautioned that the ZiG currency is likely to face challenges due to underlying issues such as “broken politics,” disputed elections, and contested national processes.  Said Chamisa:
<blockquote>
A currency is a bundle of trust and confidence. A currency is not a currency without confidence and value.
Money represents a collective trust in the stability and reliability of the government. Its value is derived from the amalgamation of this confidence.
Instead of introducing a structured currency, we need a conversation that produces a Citizens-backed structured political change and new government.
A bond note by another name will not fix our challenges. A currency is a bundle of confidence. Confidence is a product of good politics and good leadership.
Currency change has failed before. And it surely will fail again. All this, is because of broken politics, disputed elections and contested national processes.
In recent years, all these currencies failed because of bad politics: ZW$, USD, Bond note, RTGS, ZWL$, Gold coins, and ZiG. It is given that the new currency will fail again because of BAD POLITICS.
Currency reforms will not guarantee currency stability but good politics will lay the foundation for currency stability
Zimbabwe needs a political and democratic leadership change, not a currency change.
No amount of currency change will pivot the nation into prosperity and boom.
</blockquote>
Chamisa asserted that Zimbabweans’ trust in the ZANU PF-led government has eroded, leading to a broader lack of faith in all aspects of the government’s functioning.
He advocated for a transformation in the country’s political landscape and encouraged citizens to seek the face of God as a remedy for Zimbabwe’s economic hardships. Said Chamisa:
<blockquote>
The citizens have zero confidence in the leader of the country. Once the citizens lose confidence in an administration they automatically lose confidence in all that it stands for or represents. Nothing short of a TOTAL CHANGE and seeking the face of Our God will rescue the nation’s fortunes.
</blockquote>
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ZiG Is The Bond Note By Another Name - Chamisa

Zimbabwe’s newly-introduced structured currency, known as ZiG, short for Zimbabwe Gold, failed before it was even launched, an economic commentator has said.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor John Mushayavanhu on Friday, April 05, announced the introduction of ZiG, which replaced the worthless Zimbabwe dollar.
However, economist Gift Mugano said the new currency failed before it was launched mainly because it was not backed by sufficient reserves.
Mugano said the genesis of Zimbabwe’s currency crisis started on 14 November 1997 when the ZW$ crashed – the Black Friday.
Since then, the ZANU PF-led Government moved from the Zimbabwe dollar (the currency adopted at independence in 1980) to USD (in 2009), Bond (in 2016), RTGS (2019 – February), ZWL$ (2019 – June), back to USD in 2020 and now to ZiG, although the latter is part of a multi-currency system. Said Mugano:
<blockquote>
At each and every point when these currencies were introduced, we witnessed massive disagreements clearly drawn on political lines and serious disregard for the experts’ views.
Like now, we are telling you that ZiG will fail dismally and you are busy defending a currency which was dead before it was announced.
So, we haven’t learnt anything in the last +26 years of the currency crisis?
</blockquote>
One Nyasha Musandu said the introduction of ZiG will not succeed as the Government lacks sincerity. She wrote on X:
<blockquote>
It worries me how many people actually think the government is being sincere with this ZiG thing. I see so much analysis and justification, and I just think to myself, we have been here before so many times. What are we failing to learn?
</blockquote>
Meanwhile, in a post on X, Mugano outlines seven factors which he believes will undermine ZiG namely (1) a large informal sector (+80% of the economy); (2) drought of confidence; (3) drought of production; (4) printing of money &amp; excessive liquidity caused by treasury; (5) lack of national cohesion and consensus; (6) lack of policy clarity; and (7) external shocks (drought &amp; subdued commodity prices). He added:
<blockquote>
The MPS presented by the new Governor today reminds me of the MPS which was presented by Dr JP Mangudya on 20 February 2019 where the later introduced the RTGS as the new currency with a starting exchange rate of ZW$2.5: US$1 (interbank rate/market).
Immediately, the exchange rate started to run away and today the ZW was trading at ZWL$40,000: US$1.
This is exactly what is going to happen to ZiG!
Over and above the 7 points raised above, the existence of the USD in the market (although unavoidable), is the worst enemy of ZiG. ZiG can’t compete with the USD in the market. 
As long as ZiG is not accepted/used exclusively at fuel stations, passport offices, ZIMRA (payment of duties &amp; taxes), schools, tuckshops, etc then forget about ZiG.
Most importantly, if individuals/anyone can’t walk into a bank and buy /sell foreign currency the same way they do in the informal market/black market at an attractive rate, then forget about ZiG.
Another serious threat to ZiG which requires special attention is excessive liquidity from the Ministry of Finance going towards payment of contractors &amp; civil servants salaries. The approved 2024 budget stood at ZWL$58.2 trillion albeit it is eroded by inflation &amp; exchange rate spiral.
The RBZ in its MPS presentation, placed emphasis on the fact that the total reserves in its coffers amount to US$285 million are more than 3 times the current reserve money, i.e., ZW$2.6 trillion (equivalent of US$90 million). This is a correct assessment.
However, the RBZ is obviously not factoring in the impact of the excessive liquidity from the Treasury. Obviously, with the exchange rate movement which has seen the official exchange rate slipping from ZWL$6K from the day when the 2024 budget was launched to ZWL$25K as of this week, it means that our budget shrunk by more than 4 times in 3 months.
The converse is true – it is implied that the budget has moved from ZW$58.2 trillion by four (4) times – so we may be talking of a realistic budget of ZWL$240 trillion.
The question which arises is that when RBZ is presenting its MPS, isn’t prudent that it must also raise a point of advice to the Treasury (as an advisor to GOZ) on the possible implications of liquidity on the exchange rate.
Likewise, isn’t it fair to request the RBZ to give us a balanced assessment of the impact of reserve money &amp; excess liquidity from the treasury on the exchange rate rather than concentrate on the reserve money supply only?
I would like to argue that the national budget has always been and will always be the biggest threat to the exchange rate stability – more than money supply.
The question which arises again is whether the US$285 million is enough to cover USD demand (demand for value preservation) from civil servants &amp; contractors. The answer is a big no!
ZiG = bond note = ZWL = RTGS = FAILURE
</blockquote>
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"ZiG Failed Before It Was Launched"

Economist Gift Mugano remains steadfast in his assertion that the gold held by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is inadequate to support the newly introduced structured currency, ZiG, even in light of anticipated forex inflows from exports, diaspora remittances, and credit, among other sources.
Governor John Mushayavanhu, on Thursday, April 4th, stated that the country possesses 2.5 tonnes of gold and substantial cash reserves to anchor ZiG. However, during a subsequent address to journalists in Harare on Friday, Mushayavanhu clarified that ZiG’s foundation rests on a composite basket of reserves, including foreign currency and precious metals stored in the central bank’s vaults.
Despite this, Mushayavanhu criticized economic commentators who, via social media, expressed doubts about the sufficiency of gold reserves to bolster ZiG. Said Mushayavanhu:
<blockquote>
ZiG shall at all times be anchored and fully backed by a composite basket of reserves comprising foreign currency, and precious metals mainly gold received by the reserve bank as part of in-kind royalties and kept in the vaults of the bank.
Foreign currency balances will be accommodated through market purchases from the 25 per cent surrender as well as the sale of some precious metals that may not have been received in the form of gold, for example, platinum.
As of today, the 5th of April 2024, the Reserve Bank’s reserve asset holdings comprise plus or minus 100 million US dollars in Nostro balances. This is the foreign exchange that we already hold.
We also have 2,522 kilogrammes of gold worth US$185 million of which one tonne of that gold is held offshore and the balance is onshore.
Those of you who were here yesterday would have seen that out of the need for transparency, and also for me to confirm to His Excellency that I have taken over what Dr [John] Mangudya left in the central bank, we opened the vaults of the central bank and you were able to see the gold that we are holding.
I saw that on social media some of you were saying, “Oh, you have 2.5 tonnes of gold”, you were converting it and coming up with a number and converting it to import cover.
And then I said to myself, “Are these people real economic analysts? Don’t they know that Zimbabwe is 80% to 85% dollarised?”
Therefore, we already have 85% of the money circulating in this country as foreign exchange, before we even factor what is going to be converted to ZiG.
</blockquote>
Below is Mugano’s full response to Mushayavanhu:
<blockquote>
I still insist that the US$285m is a drop in the ocean. I listened to the Governor’s response with much respect. However, I would like to argue my case as follows:
The submission by the Governor narrowly focuses on the view that the economy is dollarised. Yes, from a definition point of view, the economy is dollarised. 
However, the fact of the matter is that the statistics we are using as indicators of dollarisation such as total deposits in the bank in USD vs ZWL and loans in USD/ZW (which is +96% in USD in terms of loans) are not a correct yardstick of the intensity of dollarisation because the informal sector is not banked – only 20% of the economy is banked.
</blockquote>
In addition, credit to the private sector as a share of GDP is merely 8.8%. In essence, 96% of 8.8% of the economy is the total loans in USD which have been given out by banks. This is a small share of the total currency in circulation. Hence, using the USD/ZW loan ratio is somehow misleading.
<blockquote>
For argument’s sake, if the economy is +96% dollarised, why was the rate running away in recent weeks? Is the chaos in the foreign exchange market caused by 4% of ZWL? The answer is a big no.
Alternatively, are we saying that the national budget which runs into tens of trillions of ZWL plus private sector own budgets in ZWL constitutes 4% of total cash in circulation? No.
I believe there is a significant share of ZWL in circulation, which may be in the region of 30% of the total currency in circulation due to the budget factor. 
There is so much excessive liquidity which is being pumped into the market by the Treasury through payment of contractors and civil servants. In addition, the private sector also makes payments in ZWL (e.g., for salaries &amp; services/goods)
The recipients of the ZWL payments dump the ZWL on the black market to preserve their earnings or secure the USD which is required at passports, fuel stations, ZIMRA, tuckshops, schools, etc. This trend will continue as long as ZiG is not accepted at passport offices, fuel stations, ZIMRA, tuckshops, schools, etc.
In addition, in his MPS which he presented today, the Governor emphasised that the RBZ has more than 3 times reserves to cover the reserve money supply which is ZW$2.6 trillion (equivalent to US$90 million). 
He was obviously trying to assure the market that there were enough reserves to meet forex demand. However, his submission is narrowly focusing on money supply as the main driver of the exchange rate volatility which is wrong.
Excessive liquidity coming from the budget is the major destabilising factor of the exchange rate instability in Zimbabwe.
Again, for argument’s sake, is our Governor by any chance insinuating that the runaway exchange rate witnessed in the last few weeks is the ZW$2.6 trillion? I would like to argue that the disbursements from the ZW$58.2 trillion budget are a big factor.
Again, the question which arises is whether the US$285m is enough to guarantee demand for forex, that is, for both import and value preservation. The answer is a big no.
What I am sure of is that in the coming few days, the Governor will understand that beyond managing money supply, he must worry about excess liquidity from the Treasury. Verily, verily, he will appreciate that I am a real economic analyst.
Let me end by asserting that if the budget is in USD, my view that we need at least 6 months on import cover would be invalid.
In view of the fact that the budget is in ZWL, we need at least US$4.5 billion in reserves so that anyone who walks in the bank can change money the same way we do in the black market.
Crazy as it may look, it is the only way to kill the black market and restore confidence. Liberalising the exchange rate without allowing people &amp; anyone who wants USD to access it from the formal banks, will not guarantee the success of ZiG. In addition, ZiG must be exclusively used at passport offices, fuel stations, ZIMRA, tuckshops, schools, etc.
It is my prayer that the Governor will have an open door policy like his predecessor @DrJPMangudya so that we continue the dialogue.
Ndaedza kutaura semunhu mukuru kuti tivake nyika yedu. Nyaya yemari chokwadi yanesa. Tave kufanirwa kuikunda hondo yekuti mari ive nesimba.
Hatingaiti mari inochinja chinja kakawanda gore risati rapera hazviendesi nyika mberi kana kukurudzira vaya vanoda kuita ma investments muno. Saka ngative nemweya wakanaka wekuonesana murugare.
Ndatoona Governor vakutotanga nekuda kubatwa nemweya we social media kuda kutinyomba haiwa hazvinzwarwo ivo ndiGovernor hofisi yavo haubvumiri izvozvo ngavasashoropodza maprofession edu asi vatambe nenyaya iri mudariro chete.
Pamwe chokwadi vanogona kunga vari right pakuti mari iri mudura rayo inokwana. Hazvina kuipa vanongotiudza murungare ndokuti nyika ivakike. Hakuna muziva zvose.
Isu mapurofesa chedu kubvonga chete anodyawo wadya kushata kana nhapitapi vachadudzira ivoooo sekuimba kwakaita Baba Shero @alickmacheso3.
Kunyangwe hedu tichifanirwa kuudzana murugare, hofisi yedu yakati sunungukei kuti titambanuke (flexibility) pakutaura kwedu kupfuura Governor wedu.
</blockquote>
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Mushayavanhu, Mugano Clash Over ZiG & RBZ Gold Reserves

In an apparent response to Government spokesperson Nick Mangwana, who accused unnamed individuals of undermining Zimbabwe’s currency and sabotaging efforts to stabilize the economy, economist Professor Gift Mugano suggested that it is the government’s actions that undermine the Zim dollar.
Posting on X, Mangwana, who serves as the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services, stated that some citizens are on a “crusade” to undermine all government efforts aimed at stabilizing the economy. <a href="https://x.com/nickmangwana/status/1775499882066833542?s=20">He said</a>:
<blockquote>
Why would anyone doggedly make it their mission to fight Zimbabwe’s currency? Why would they turn themselves into a crusader in an effort to sabotage all the endeavours to stabilize things in Zimbabwe? Rank Treachery.
</blockquote>
In a separate post, Mugano asserted that excessive printing of money and the unresolved confidence crisis emanating from actions of monetary authorities are among the enemies of the Zimbabwe dollar and the yet-to-be-introduced structured currency. <a href="https://x.com/gift_mugano/status/1775597088241328624?s=20">He said</a>:
<blockquote>
The enemies of our currency &amp; the so-called structured currency are:
1. Excessive printing of money &amp; excess liquidity caused by command agriculture; wrong financing model on roads &amp; key infrastructures;
2. A dominant informal sector which is governed by informal rules &amp; has no regard for govt policies – the informal sector has its own governor, mattress bank, minister of finance, etc
3. devastating drought &amp; subdued commodity prices which have a combined effect of reducing the availability of USD liquidity
4. unresolved confidence crisis caused by loss of capital/pensions/savings/insurance/investments as a result of incessant currency collapse &amp; currency crisis
5. lack of policy clarity – our economic problem is centred around structural rigidities which require structural policies (industrial, trade and agricultural policies). We haven’t seen much activities &amp; media coverage on these policies in the same way we have seen visibility &amp; pronouncements on monetary &amp; fiscal policies. In short, our structural policies are not up to scratch.
6. drought of production – the best way to defend our currency is to institute policy measures and conditions that promote a productive economy (e.g., sound structural policies, working markets, market-led economy, sound financial sector, stable political environment powered by rule of law, constitutionalism and strong institutions).
7. Broken politics – we have invested so much energy in disunity &amp; hate speech instead of fostering peace, unity, tolerance and love. We are allergic to national dialogue, social contracts, divergent views, etc. Ironically, we expect to see flawless implementation of public policies and attainment of the desired economic goals when we are divided.
Structured currency = bond note, gold coins/gold token/ZiG. Bond note &amp; ZiG were/are local currencies backed by USD &amp; gold, respectively but failed dismally because of the reasons I mentioned above.
This is why I am convinced that a local currency or structured currency will always fail as long as the factors raised above are not adequately addressed.
</blockquote>
Businessman Kuda Musasiwa characterised the structured currency as a “mubobobo” currency, referring to a traditional medicine acquired by men that allegedly enables them to rape women without any physical contact. He wrote:
<blockquote>
I have never physically touched a $50 note in Zimbabwe. I’ve seen it on Twitter. I ain’t never seen a real gold coin from RBZ. I saw it on Twitter.
Not even when I jumped on a combi from Hatcliffe to Helensvale did I see anyone pay in a local note? I’m in tech and I have NEVER experienced a ZiG.
I tell you NOT one lie, PaDust in Hatcliffe, when we pick up our daily cash from the ladies who horder from the Fresh Farm every morning, not ONE has offered to pay in ZWLs in the whole of 2024 and we are now 4 months in.
I can admit that sometimes in the Trade centre some guys will offer to “swipe” for me when shopping … Offering a better “rate”. But my maths is bad and can’t be fucked most of the time to even bother.
Don’t even know how they work. 🤣These are fictional currencies. Like the one coming. How are our leaders so out of touch?
Mubobobo currencies.
</blockquote>
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Enemies Of Zimbabwe Dollar, Structured Currency - Prof Mugano

According to prominent Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, Zimbabwe’s poverty is not inherent; rather, it stems from inadequate governance. This perspective emerged after President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa declared a state of disaster in response to the drought that severely impacted the 2023/24 summer cropping season on Wednesday, April 03.
Zimbabwe becomes the third African country to declare the current drought a national disaster, following Zambia and Malawi.
On his social media platforms, the prominent government critic Hopewell Chin’ono pointed out the irony of President Mnangagwa allocating trucks to traditional chiefs and ZANU PF social media propagandists while the nation grapples with a severe cereal deficit. He wrote:
<blockquote>
The President of Zimbabwe has declared a state of national disaster, a euphemism in this case for saying there isn’t enough food to feed the nation.
This ironically comes after the president distributed 100 trucks to traditional chiefs, and has started distributing cars to ZANU PF social media propagandists who helped in his election campaign.
A surrogate close to the president, convicted criminal, Wicknell Chivhayo, has also been distributing high-end cars to greedy musicians who support the ruling party, ZANU PF.
It is indeed strange that after this obscene public display of misplaced extravagance, the president is now asking ordinary citizens both at home and abroad to donate money towards something caused by his government’s lack of planning, yet he has been splurging on cars.
</blockquote>
Chinon’o boldly exposed the ZANU PF-led government’s deception, revealing that their claim of sufficient grain reserves in the country was far removed from reality. He said:
<blockquote>
The severe impact of the ongoing drought would have been mitigated by maize reserves, but the government lied that it had enough reserves when it didn’t, only to be exposed that it was buying maize weekly from South Africa by that country’s Head of International Diplomacy on Twitter.
Mnangagwa stated that over 2.7 million Zimbabweans need food aid. He added that Zimbabwe will face a grain deficit of 680,000 tonnes.
Zimbabwe’s agricultural industry collapsed when ZANUPF removed land tenure and embarked on its never-ending removal of commercial farmers, both black and white, from farms and handed them over to ZANU PF cronies who couldn’t farm.
</blockquote>
Chin’ono has emphatically stated that Zimbabwe currently grapples with the world’s highest inflation rate. 
Furthermore, the local currency has been rendered virtually worthless due to corruption within the central bank and the glaring incompetence attributed to ZANUPF’s legendary inability to govern, said Chin’ono, adding, “Zimbabwe is not poor, it is only poorly governed!”
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Declaration Of State Of Disaster: Zimbabwe Is Not Poor, But Poorly Governed - Chin'ono

Economist Professor Gift Mugano has broken his self-imposed silence on Zimbabwean economic matters, and this time he dismisses the government’s proposed “structured currency” as merely a revival of previously unsuccessful initiatives.
In January this year, Mugano said he would no longer comment on Zimbabwean economic matters after he was repeatedly labelled an “anti-economic progress” person by ZANU PF.
However, in an interview with <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/nothing-new-here-economic-problems-will-persist-expert-slams-introduction-of-new-structured-currency/">NewZimbabwe.com</a>, Mugano pointed out several fundamental weaknesses of the government.
In response to inquiries about whether the structured currency could mitigate the currency crisis, Mugano emphatically rejected the idea, asserting that the new currency would not contribute to stability.
Mugano underscored the shortcomings of past endeavours, including gold coins, gold tokens, and the bond note supported by the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank). He said:
<blockquote>
Does the structured currency help us to address the currency crisis, the answer is no, and that is the V11.
Why didn’t these gold coins, gold tokens succeed in guaranteeing stability? Then why is a bond note that is backed by AFRI-EXZIM bank failed to guarantee 1:1?
So there is nothing new about what they are talking about, they are just regurgitating the same things they are doing vocabulary nice terms but in reality that is just nothing.
They are not going to be launching anything new, the problems are going to continue full stop.
</blockquote>
Mugano asserted that the solution to Zimbabwe’s currency crisis is increased production, investments and savings. He said:
We have solutions there are measures, the first thing which we need to address is that a currency is dependent on production, so if you don’t produce as a country you can’t defend the currency.
<blockquote>
So the strength of the currency in any country is a reflection of the country’s production capacity, so the big elephant now is what do we need to do to raise production, we need savings and investments because the savings are identical to savings.
So then the second question is why do you need to have savings? If you are not saving you have no money you can’t create creation, in 1996 the savings GDP ratio was 25 per cent right now we are in negative 11% because the people are not saving money, right?
</blockquote>
Online publication, The Newshawks, reported the new currency will likely be launched by outgoing Reserve Bank governor John Mangudya this Friday.
Mangudya was officially replaced by John Mushavanhu who officially took over last week.
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Structured Currency Will Not Address Currency Crisis - Mugano

Top lawyer Fadzayi Mahere has raised concerns over the Government’s plans to introduce a “structured currency.”
She argues that the lack of public education and the absence of a legal framework pose significant challenges to its implementation.
In February, President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced that the Government was actively working on a structured currency as part of their efforts to enhance currency and economic stability.
Reports indicate that the launch of this structured currency is imminent, coinciding with the appointment of John Mushayavanhu as the new Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor.
Fadzayi Mahere, sharing her thoughts on social media, advises the public to exercise caution. She points out that previous currency introductions in recent years have all faced challenges and ultimately failed. She said:
<blockquote>
Rule number one, if they mention anything to do with “1:1 gedye”, know we are heading for disaster. Last time they said that we ended up at 1:42000.
Rule number two, if they mention anything to do with “gold backing”, know it’s a scam. What happened to the gold-backed Ziggy jiggy? Did it stabilise the economy?
Rule number three, no legal framework, no legal tender. You don’t “launch” a currency like you’re launching a music album.
It is called “legal tender” for a reason. It must have the force of law. You can’t roll out something as important as money without a legal statute.
Rule number four, why the ambush? Why not give people notice of what you’re trying to do so you calm suspicion?
They have a knack for taking an economic idea and mangling it so it implodes – look no further than the forex auction that wasn’t an auction.
How many times do we need to learn the lesson that command economics does not work?
</blockquote>
Bulawayo Mayor David Coltart also warned that the proposed “structured currency” will face challenges unless the institutions overseeing its introduction and management regain public trust. He said:
<blockquote>
I have noted statements made recently that the current government intends to introduce a new currency this week with some alarm.
The solution to hyperinflation and a weakening currency does not lie in replacing it with a new currency.
The reason our present currency has performed so badly is that people DO NOT TRUST the institution responsible for regulating it.
The most important criterion in the running of any central bank is TRUST. Until TRUST is restored this new currency is doomed to fail as well.
TRUST is only created when those running the central bank are recognized professionals who have been appointed because of their integrity and demonstrable skills, not who they know.
TRUST is only created when there is total transparency and the central bank is demonstrably being run for the benefit of all, not just a small ruling clique.
</blockquote>
In recent years, the Goverment has introduced several currencies that include Bearer Cheques, Traveller’s Cheques, Agro-Cheques, Bond Coins, Bond Notes, RTGS, Zim Dollars, Nostro, Gold Token and ZiG.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Structured Currency: You Don’t Launch A Currency Like You’re Launching A Music Album - Mahere

Brighton Mutebuka, a UK-based Zimbabwean academic, asserts that the election of Bassirou Diomaye Faye as the President of Senegal underscores several critical factors that contribute to the success of young African politicians in elections. 
These factors include an independent electoral body, minimal intervention by the security establishment, and a populist political message.
Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a relatively unheralded 44-year-old opposition leader, secured an impressive 53.7% of the votes in Senegal’s presidential election held recently, making him the youngest elected president in Africa.
Faye’s victory reflects the youth’s frustration with high unemployment and concerns about governance in the West African nation.
Commenting on this development, Mutebuka acknowledges that while it remains uncertain whether the Pan-Africanism and anti-colonial sentiment that propelled Faye into office can extend to Southern Africa, the possibility of change exists when the electoral body operates independently and the military refrains from propping up incumbents. Wrote Mutebuka:
<blockquote>
<h2>Lessons From Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s Election As Senegalese President</h2>
1. In Africa, perhaps sub-Saharan Africa, age is no longer a barrier to ascendancy to the highest office.
2. Whilst there is no guarantee that what happened in Senegal can be replicated elsewhere, particularly pertaining to the strength of feeling vis-à-vis Pan-Africanism &amp; anti-colonial sentiment, it seems that there is a general trend in that direction which can be deployed to tap into young voters.
3. Perhaps the strength of feeling / relative radicalism is more pronounced in West Africa where we have witnessed wildly / radically anti-French coups which have achieved resonance with the rank &amp; file citizens in Mali, Burkina Faso &amp; Niger.
4. It is not clear at this point whether or not such sentiments can extend to the rough &amp; tumble of Southern African politics, especially in Zimbabwe.
5. @Julius_S_Malema has clearly been doing well by championing a populist pro-poor &amp; pro-Russia &amp; China agenda &amp; by definition, anti-West. What is clear is that he has not been doing well enough nationally to threaten to torpedo the prevailing political orthodoxy &amp; thus upend @MYANC’s dominance.
6. In Zimbabwe there’s an entrenched military-industrial complex in power and there are solid grounds that but for that interference in political matters, regime change would have taken place in elections which took place in 2002, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2018 &amp; 2023.
7. Zambia, Botswana, Namibia &amp; South Africa are, in comparison to Mozambique, Angola, Lesotho, Swaziland &amp; DRC, relatively stable democracies where the will of the people can roughly be expected to prevail, bar one or two considerations.
8. It would appear that the key ingredients for transition to take place are: an independent electoral body, lack of intervention by the security establishment and a sound / populist political message which galvanises the masses &amp; captures the prevailing mood / resonates with the grassroots.
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
Whilst it is clear that West Africa is a hotbed of anti-French political sentiments, it’s unclear whether or not such undercurrents also permeate the underbelly of Southern African politics. Democracy is still clearly a work in progress in the region – perhaps it could be said in retreat.
Liberation Struggle political parties still hold sway but largely through exploiting their struggle credentials via conflating / blurring the boundaries between party &amp; state institutions – which makes for unstable democracies, and fluid &amp; uncertain political futures.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Lessons From Bassirou Diomaye Faye's Election As Senegalese President - Mutebuka

Prominent Zimbabwean opposition politician Tendai Biti warned South Africans to use their votes wisely on May 29 to prevent South Africa from going the same way as other regional countries ruled by liberation movements, <a href="https://www.zimlive.com/biti-urges-sa-voters-to-stop-slide-towards-a-zimbabwe-style-failed-state/">reported ZimLive</a>.
South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Tanzania, Angola, Botswana, and Mozambique, are governed by former liberation movements.
Speaking at the Daily Maverick’s Gathering Twenty 2024 in Cape Town on Thursday, Biti, a former MP for Harare East, asserted that all six former liberation movements in Southern Africa share a common ethos: an unwavering focus on power rather than the development of their nations and citizens.
He warned that unless the governing party in South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) transformed itself, it was in danger of dying the way the United National Independence Party (UNIP), the independence movement of Zambia and KANU, the independence movement of Kenya, had died. Biti said:
<blockquote>
The liberation movement that fails to transform, the liberation movement that fails to democratise itself… atrophies, it disappears.
And I think you are seeing slowly here in South Africa the withering of the liberation movement.
</blockquote>
Biti noted the decline in ANC electoral support from the high levels under Mandela to May 2024, when “if they get 40% or 44%, they would have done very well.” He added:
<blockquote>
So the acceleration of South Africa towards a state of state failure is beholding and bewildering to many Africans who live north of the Limpopo because of the huge vast resources that your country has.
But the story of South Africa is a story that has been narrated and lived in much of Africa, where it’s been characteristic of state failure, of pseudo-elections, the ritual of elections that are held every five years.
</blockquote>
Biti said liberation movements were concerned with power for power’s sake instead of power to develop the economy.
He said due to their failure to enact meaningful transformation and create employment opportunities, these former liberation movements have fallen into a regressive pattern of entitlement.
They now adhere to a culture that asserts, “We deserve tenders and substantial contracts because we were the liberators.”
Biti claimed that in Zimbabwe, one could not get a job or a contract in the public service unless one had participated in the liberation struggle.
In all these countries, there was a rule of law for others and a rule by law — or impunity — for the leaders. He said:
<blockquote>
Firstly is the weaponisation of poverty, the weaponisation of harm.
Sixty-nine per cent of the poorest people in South Africa vote for the ANC.
In Zimbabwe, where I come from, the ruling party finds dominance in the rural areas where poverty is the order of the day.
So poverty is weaponised. Ignorance is weaponised.
</blockquote>
Biti said in Zimbabwe the constitution was no more than a worthless piece of paper.
In contrast, he commended South Africa’s judiciary for upholding its constitution, saying the courts in South Africa have played a crucial role in safeguarding constitutional principles and rights.
The CCC official noted that in regional countries where liberation movements were in control, citizens bear some responsibility for state failure.
However, in South Africa, he emphasized that citizens still have hope, but they must actively participate to reclaim control of their future.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Biti Urges South African Voters To Prevent A Zimbabwe-style Failed State

Pro-opposition social media influencer Solomon Harudzibwi said the alleged bomb scare at the Victoria Falls International Airport this Friday could be President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s strategy to eliminate those who may be opposed to his alleged third presidential term bid.
Reports suggest Mnangagwa’s supporters in ZANU PF have started campaigning for an eventual constitutional amendment to allow him to run for a third term in 2028, which is not permissible under the current Constitution.
On Friday, 01 March, Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba said the President suspended his trip to Victoria Falls after the government received “a ‘credible bomb/firearm threat’ targeting Zimbabwean airports.”
Posting on social media platform X, Harudzibwi claimed Mnangagwa has “faked” a security incident before to justify a certain course of action. He wrote:
<blockquote>
I actually don’t doubt the possibility of Mnangagwa faking this bomb scare to annihilate all possible threats to his 3rd term bid. He has done it before with Gukurahundi.
When a Hyena wants to eat its children, it first accuses them of smelling like goats…
Also the desperation to be believed is seen by publishing the email with the bomb scare before investigations have been concluded.
That email is the only piece of information linking them to the “attackers”
Anyone who understands security and intelligence would know that publishing the email address and the email would compromise investigations.
They know there are no investigations to happen cause no real threat happened. The most important thing is to be believed.
</blockquote>
It was left to Vice President Constantino Chiwenga to officiate at the Southern Africa International Renewable Energy Conference and Expo after President Mnangagwa cancelled his trip to Victoria Falls.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Pro-opposition Social Media Influencer Claims Vic Falls Bomb Scare May Be Linked To 3rd Term Bid

Former ZANU PF Mashonaland West chairman, Temba Mliswa, who is now a village head, said CCC parliamentarians who have forsaken former party leader Nelson Chamisa will never be forgiven by voters and should consider their current terms, the last in the August house.
Posting on X, Mliswa used former MDC MPs, Brian Dube, and Memory Mbondiya, who sided with Douglas Mwonzora against Chamisa, as examples of “brilliant” lawmakers who are now in political limbo due to wrong choices.
Mliswa, a former MP for Norton, challenged disputed CCC interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu to call for a meeting so that CCC MPs will publicly declare which side they are on. Said Mliswa:
<blockquote>
The reality for many who have gone against Chamisa is that politically they are done. For some, it’s their first and last term. This is notwithstanding how brilliant they may be. They will never be forgiven by the people for seeming to aid the ruling party in its agenda.
As it stands, Chamisa simply represents an idea which has momentum and no individual ability can withstand that. We can see with the likes of Brian Dube, a great legal mind and well-resourced person who went with Mwonzora. Same with Mbondiya. Their ability paled against CCC.
It’s the same with myself losing in Norton. I verily understand the dynamics which are that I actually lost to Chamisa and not Richard. People are so, fatally, hungry for change they will embrace anyone standing for the accepted opposition.
Equally, anyone identified with ZANU PF, directly or indirectly, is a goner! It would be proper for Tshabangu to call a meeting with all those who are adamant about being CCC, after Chamisa’s exit. This will allow the political field to be demarcated as we realize who is where.
Those who don’t attend can be recalled and those for Chamisa will simply go to his side. Tshabangu can’t be an SG of recalls only without giving directions to the party’s operations. There is no point taking over a Rolls Royce and failing to maintain it. It exposes you.
</blockquote>
Former Harare East MP, Tendai Biti recently declared that he was CCC vice president, days after Chamisa announced his resignation from the party.
Speaking during a recent interview with the army-run NRTV television channel, Biti affirmed his membership in the CCC and stated that he has no plans to leave the party.
Biti is a former MDC-T outcast who rejoined the party ahead of the 2018 general elections under the MDC Alliance coalition.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Voters Will Never Forgive CCC Officials Who Betrayed Chamisa - Mliswa

Political commentator Davis Laque says former Constitutional Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga was wrong to suggest that Chamisa’s decision to leave the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party was rushed.
This comes after journalist Hopewell Chin’ono posted on his social media pages a statement he attributed to Matinenga.
In the statement, Matinenga said Chamisa should have consulted “relevant critical stakeholders” and get their buy-in before quitting. He said:
<blockquote>
There are certain stakeholders and issues which must be addressed now if they were not addressed at the time of the decision to remove oneself from CCC.
Parliament sits on Monday, there is time before Monday for Nelson Chamisa to meet the true CCC members, interrogate issues in a no-holds-barred manner and come to a common way forward.
</blockquote>
Posting on X, Laque said Matinenga’s suggestion that CCC MPs write to Parliament disassociating from Tshabangu’s authority, that Chamisa writes a supporting letter to Parliament, and that CCC legislators collectively dare Tshabangu to recall them and not contest the recalls, is problematic. Below is part of Laque’s argument:
<blockquote>
The problem with that proposed intervention is that… [firstly] it suggests a repetition of an exercise in futility.
After the first batch of recalls, CCC engaged; wrote a letter to Parly and the Senate, clarifying this mess. Chamisa also wrote a series of other letters. All was ignored.
Secondly, all calls to alternatively bait and threaten Tshabangu to recall legislators who do not recognize his state-engineered authority puts CCC exactly where the regime wants it to be.
That is a state of perpetual infighting, at the expense of organizing against ZANU PF.
It’s not by chance that Tshabangu hasn’t recalled everyone associating with Adv Chamisa.
The plan is not to recall all of them anywhere, regardless of any bait.
The regime is just hell-bent on isolating Chamisa and keeping him in a state of unresolvable internal firefighting
All pretense of engaging state institutions and fighting Tshabangu only legitimises his shenanigans.
We already witnessed what will come out of this wait-and-see game during the MDC-A party fights. That approach limits what the legitimate leadership of the alternative can do.
Thirdly, suggesting that Chamisa requests CCC legislators to take certain actions in the name of “consultation” only serves to project him as demanding others to sacrifice for what appears to be his problem.
We’ve already witnessed some unfortunate excuses for staying put.
In any case, a view that CCC as a party rejects the 2023 election in totality was already shot down.
So was a call to abandon participating in the ensuing by-elections, which Adv Matinenga put forward as another strategy.
All this was debated within formal CCC forums.
Also, Adv Matinenga’s submission makes the grave assumption that Tshabangu is the only cancer ravaging CCC.
Regrettably, some within CCC have sensed opportunities to take advantage of this mayhem to wage a serious fight against what they perceive to be a wounded Chamisa.
Fourthly, Chamisa was correct to guard against what would’ve appeared as a renaming and rebranding of CCC.
Though his close and trusted allies are individually aware of what’s transpiring, it was strategic that he allows individuals to freely consult their conscience and voters.
In ending this, people are better off fighting from a position where they can dictate their own pace.
CCC ceased being such a platform. Any delay would just be a reluctance to accept the inevitable.
It’s time to focus energies on opportunities that have arisen now.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Matinenga's Proposal On The Course Of Action For CCC MPs Problematic - Davis Laque

Award-winning journalist Hopewell Chin’no says former CCC leader Nelson Chamisa should engage his MPs, explain his plans and also listen to their concerns following his departure from the party on Thursday.
This comes amid mounting pressure, especially on social media platforms, for CCC MPs to resign from Parliament to prove their loyalty to Chamisa.
Chin’ono claims that several CCC MPs told him that they were not disloyal to “the cause” that Chamisa is championing but need to be consulted on the way forward.
He said the concerned MPs claimed they incurred huge financial debts after funding their own 2023 election campaigns. Said Chin’ono:
<blockquote>
They also argue that the disengagement move was done without consultation, so they were not prepared for it.
Many of them say that the very root cause of not consulting others in the party is what led to this crisis.
They also felt that I and others were being unfair to them when we castigated them for not leaving parliament after Nelson Chamisa’s announcement without paying attention to their financial obligations as these obligations may ruin their lives.
They argue that they don’t even know what is coming after departing from parliament.
</blockquote>
Chin’ono said Chamisa has to engage the MPs to hear their concerns considering that they have publicly backed him since his resignation. He said:
<blockquote>
I think Nelson Chamisa must engage his MPs and make his case based on collective engagement, they are his MPs and they have publicly declared their loyalty to his leadership.
I think they can dump the toxic vehicle called CCC, and instead of walking away from parliament, they should force the regime to push them out, which has more political capital to them and whatever they become in the aftermath.
I also think that since Nelson Chamisa is fighting for democracy, he should encourage his supporters to be loyal to the cause and not just an individual, that way he will have more power to move the political needle where it matters.
We are fighting against ZANUPF’s big-man politics, the world shouldn’t see us replicating it in spaces where we have control.
He must also make an important introspective diagnosis to evaluate his own culpability in all this. 
He can form a dozen political parties, but if he doesn’t self-correct, they will all similarly fall.
He can do this privately and the results can be seen in his new actions without posting a sorry post about his mistakes.
</blockquote>
Chin’ono conceded that ZANU PF engineered the artificial crisis in CCC which forced Chamisa to quit, but he has to learn from the mistakes he made. He wrote:
<blockquote>
Yes, his adversaries Emmerson Mnangagwa and ZANU PF have everything to do with this crisis too, they are the main ingredient, but his political adversary exploited his strategic weaknesses… his Achilles Heel.
It would be extremely naive of him and his supporters to think that they are innocent victims without an iota of contribution to this mess.
A man or woman who doesn’t learn anything in 2 years of making mistakes would have lost 2 years of their lifetime, what is important is what we learn from our mistakes.
I also think that public shaming of these MPs online instead of engaging them in logical arguments creates a toxic environment.
Politics is more effective when you are more strategic than emotional, what I have seen on social media is more emotion and less strategy that looks into what every decision means in the positive and negative.
There are complex dynamics within CCC and its MPs stemming from financial pressures and a perceived lack of consultation.
Engaging MPs collectively, encouraging loyalty to the cause, and strategic planning are paramount for Nelson Chamisa and his group’s future success in whichever form or name they take.
Reflecting on internal weaknesses is a sign of strength, not weakness, emphasising the need for strategic thinking over emotional reactions in political discourse makes you emerge stronger, not weaker.
</blockquote>
Mt Pleasant MP Fadzayi Mahere and Masvingo Urban MP Martin Mureri announced they have resigned from CCC in solidarity with Chamisa.
Senior CCC leaders who allegedly back the party’s defacto secretary general Sengezo Tshabangu have hitherto opted to stay in the shadows.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Chamisa Must Engage CCC MPs, Explain His Plans And Listen To Their Concerns - Chin'ono

ZANU PF has abused State institutions since 2020 to derail Nelson Chamisa’s political ambitions by pushing him out of the political parties that he led, that is MDC Alliance and CCC, an X (formerly Twitter) user Gonzo Muduri has suggested.
Chamisa quit the MDC Alliance two years after the courts ruled that his ascension to the helm of the party violated the party’s constitution. He then formed CCC with the majority of former leaders in the MDC Alliance.
Two years later, Chamisa quit CCC after Sengezo Tshabangu, an obscure political figure who declared himself the CCC’s “interim secretary general”, grabbed the party. <a href="https://x.com/Gonzomuduri/status/1751104999751393332?s=20">Wrote Gonzo Muduri</a>:
<blockquote>
ZANU PF Modus Operandi On Chamisa
2018– Thokozani Khupe competes in presidential elections under the banner of MDCT. She garners 45000 votes and immediately congratulates Mnangagwa, who wins under controversial circumstances. Chamisa competes in the same elections under the MDC Alliance party which he leads.
2019– Chamisa’s party MDC Alliance holds an elective congress, which results in the election of Biti as Deputy president, Sikhala as vice chairperson and most importantly Charlton Hwende as secretary general. David Coltart is also elected treasurer general. Tshabangu is not anywhere near the top leadership of MDCA.
2020– captured courts rule that MDCA which Chamisa leads is not a political party and that the party should revert to MDCT 2014 structures which had Tsvangirai as president, Mwonzora as secretary general, Khupe as deputy president and Chamisa as organising secretary. After the court order and because Tsvangirai is deceased, Khupe takes the reigns of the MDCA party headed by Chamisa.
2020– Armed with the court order, Khupe goes on a charade, recalling MPs believed to be closer to Chamisa. Ridiculously, Khupe nominates herself as a senator under the MDC-Alliance, despite having competed in the elections as MDCT.
2020– Khupe is later ousted by Douglas Mwonzora who directly supports and endorses Mnangagwa under the banner of what he calls “politics of rational disputation”
2022– Chamisa forms a new political party CCC. His party competes in by-elections and performs extremely well, much to the disappointment of ZANU PF.
2023– Despite rigging elections, Zanupf fails to obtain a 2/3 majority which is required to change the constitution. In previous constitutional amendments, ZANU PF amended the constitution with the assistance of Douglas Mwonzora.
2023– ZANU PF deploys a proxy Sengezo Tshabangu who writes to parliament 2 weeks after general elections recalling CCC MPs. Among those recalled are charismatic @Cde_Ostallos Gift Siziba, Amos Chibaya, a guru in grassroots organising, and Binga’s most loved son Prince Dubeko Sibanda, who was previously recalled by Khupe in 2020 and won the seat again in a by-election in 2022 and again won in 2023, only to be recalled again by Tshabangu.
In all this Tshabangu claims he is the secretary general, a position that does not exist in CCC. He alleges that the same way Chamisa was appointed president of CCC is the same way he was appointed SG. True to their form, the speaker agrees with Tshabangu and recalls MPs belonging to Chamisa’s party.
2023– Chamisa’s party CCC challenges Tshabangu in courts. They tell the court that no such position of secretary general exists in their party. Ridiculously but not surprisingly, captured courts ruled in Tshabangu’s favour and effectively handed over Chamisa’s party to this imposter. The courts agree with Tshabangu that CCC rebranded from MDC Alliance YET it is the same court that ruled in 2020 that MDCA was non-existent. Even if one were to accept that MDCA rebranded to CCC, the secretary general of MDCA was Charlton Hwende and not Tshabangu.
2023– Tshabangu proceeds to obtain a court order barring all those recalled from competing under the CCC banner. The court order is delivered in the middle of the night a few hours before voting. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission laughably issues a press statement committing to abide by the court ruling.
In less than 4 hours to voting, ZEC dispatches ballot papers that do not have banned candidates. How ZEC manages to print and dispatch new ballot papers in less than 4 hours is a mystery, more so for the organization that failed to dispatch ballot papers in selected CCC strongholds in the past election. Let alone, taking days to “count” ballots and all electoral malpractices that have been condemned by SADC.
2024– Chamisa announces that he is disassociating himself from CCC which is now being run by Tshabangu, with the assistance of ZANU PF and captured institutions. Soon after, Tshabangu claims the leadership of the MDCA (which courts previously said was non-existent in 2020) will now take over the running of the CCC.
THE HAND OF ZANUPF IS VISIBLE IN THESE SHENANIGANS
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

ZANU PF "Abuse" Of State Institutions Against Chamisa "Exposed"

Renowned theologian, Reverend Kenneth Mtata, says Nelson Chamisa’s resignation as the leader of CCC may deepen the crisis of multi-party democracy in Zimbabwe.
In a statement in response to Chamisa’s unexpected announcement on Thursday that he was quitting the party, he helped form just two years ago because has been “contaminated” and “hijacked” by the ZANU PF-led government, Mtata said there are a lot of issues Chamisa did not address in his 13-page letter. Below is Mtata’s statement:
<blockquote>
Chamisa’s resignation: New beginning or beginning of the end?
Today the leader of the largest opposition party in Zimbabwe, Nelson Chamisa announced his dissociation with the CCC project: “officially, and under my hand, inform you, fellow citizens of Zimbabwe and the world, that, with immediate effect, I no longer have anything to do with CCC.” What are the implications of this announcement? 
On one hand, I sincerely sympathise with Nelson Chamisa, who had been quite innovative in trying to navigate an almost impossible political environment.
I hope this is a strategic retreat for renewal. On the other hand, I deeply worry that this could be the beginning, not only of the end of Chamisa’s political career as we know it, but also of the deepening crisis of multi-party democracy in Zimbabwe.
It is both cases, we may be in a CRISIS or an OPPORTUNITY. My views are informed by five observations below.
The MOMENT: The statement carries an important announcement whose magnitude seems to have been missed by the statement itself. The statement fails to name the current moment as a ‘kairos.’ It is indeed a ‘kairos’ moment because, for the first time in the 44-year history of Zimbabwe, we wake up to an upside-down political situation where we have the main opposition party in parliament which is leaderless. We have individual members of Parliament who have a common tag (CCC) but whose organisation is contested in the courts. Do we have two CCCs, one belonging to Tshabangu (with no MPs) and one belonging to Chamisa (who has disowned it)? This national crisis of multi-party democracy. It is more than what Chamisa said. This has huge implications.
The PARTY: The statement only mentions CCC 14 times out of 13 pages even though CCC is supposed to be the main subject. The statement does not say what has happened to the largest opposition party in the country except that “the CCC idea was an idea we prayerfully conceived…meant to place Our God and the Citizens at the centre of all decision making,” but has now “been criminally handed over to ZANU PF”, and “CCC cannot deliver a New Great Zimbabwe!” What exactly has happened to CCC as a party beyond these riddles and innuendos? Has the party been dissolved, or only the leader resigned? Is this statement the result of a decision taken by the party or by Nelson Chamisa alone? What came out of the recent citizens’ “consultations?” Whither CCC? This is the main question. Do we no longer have CCC? What happens to the MPs? Will they join Chamisa or stay in parliament?
The FUTURE: The statement does not say much about the future apart from “I call upon all citizens to rally behind fresh politics.” It says that Chamisa will “remain active in public service. I also remain a loyal citizen listener, freedom advocate, a citizens’ champion and leader”, “asserting your victory, honouring the citizens mandate and God’s calling to provide leadership.” There is a suggestion of some “fresh things we need to do”, and “Fellow citizens, you will be kept posted on the next step.” Who will keep citizens posted, Chamisa or someone else? If Chamisa forms a new party today, will it attract any following or become a major flop? Was CCC not a version of a political party to Chamisa just as MDC was Morgan’s version of a political party? Will any new model catch fire? Could a new focus be bedded? What could it look like?
NATION: Could a new focus be on national processes? A national process built through citizens who are actively engaged, not those waiting for a saviour or messiah? For people to fully engage, they need (a) a shared destination or vision of the Zimbabwe they want, (b) a common understanding of the main obstacles towards reaching it, (c) to know that all their skills, resources, capacities, competences, strategies and actions are required, and (d) what responsibilities, roles, and structures around which their contribution will be organized. Building this process, especially in a complex environment like Zimbabwe, takes a long time and requires collective leadership. This announcement creates an opportunity for collective and credible leadership, maybe not around yet another political party, but a PROCESS (a national re-imagination process). Such a process may attend to the party politics at some point, but what is urgent for most people today are bread and butter issues because of a struggling economy characterised by out-of-control inflation, resulting in increasing violent crime, and desperate citizenry. To address this, the nation needs unity of purpose. Without the cooperation of credible leadership outside the establishment, positive change will be difficult to achieve.
LEADERSHIP: Leadership thrives where the national CAUSE is owned by all people, where designing the COURSE of action is participatory and inclusive, where the COST or burden of the struggle is equally shared, where the CONSTITUTION forms the common ground of engagement and is respected by all. Only then can a new COMMUNITY called Zimbabwe begin to form despite the existing differences. That demands leadership, not to entrench the polarities but one that is humble in victory and gracious in defeat. I hope the ruling party does not see this as an opportunity for narrow power consolidation but as an opportunity to extend a hand to credible alternative voices for nation-building.
</blockquote>
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Chamisa's Resignation From CCC May Deepen Crisis Of Multi-party Democracy In Zim - Rev. Mtata

Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa says a political party is not necessary for a group of like-minded people to form the government of a country.
<a href="https://x.com/nelsonchamisa/status/1738117123249930354?s=20">Posting on X on Friday, 22 December</a>, Chamisa stated that he only needs a citizens’ mandate and to build a team comprising people from different political parties to govern effectively. He wrote:
<blockquote>
You don’t need a party to govern a country. You just need a Citizens’ mandate and build a team inclusive of everyone across the parties divide!
</blockquote>
Responding to Chamisa’s post, <a href="https://x.com/maximilianlion/status/1738427395592364378?s=20">Max Lion, a lawyer, said</a> the CCC leader’s “simplistic approach to politics” has created the chaos that is tearing the party apart. He wrote:
<blockquote>
Respectfully, your simplistic approach to politics is the reason why the opposition party is in a state of disarray.
It’s this thinking that created a party with no structures. You don’t seem to have learnt from the harm it caused your party and how vulnerable your MPs are.
Clearly, you don’t understand the purpose of power and the purpose of a political party. Could this be the reason why the opposition has not made progress in many years when opposing a government with no ideas?
You are free to think what you want but to go against well-established principles and conventions will make you look ridiculous.
You are peddling an untested form of politics which has already materialised to the detriment of your political party. To what end?
Could it be that you don’t want to be accountable? Do you want to lead a political party without adhering to a party constitution? You are coming across as a dictator.
Countries often attract investors and opportunities based on the state of their politics. When investors do their due diligence, they won’t be impressed by your thinking.
Your thinking will result in the country being deemed not safe to invest in and lacking democratic credibility.
A political party is the vehicle that will get you from opposition to government. You have to demonstrate your ability to lead and govern while in opposition.
This is a team enterprise and over and over again, you have been reluctant to build an organisation with checks and balances.
If you can’t be democratic in opposition, how are you going to be democratic in government? You are sending negative signals about your preferred style of leadership.
The country is suffering from unaccountable leadership and it is the reason why the government is dysfunctional.
Surely, it would be absurd to pursue a leadership style that has brought chaos to the country.
A party with structures and rules will protect you and everyone in the party. A party that cannot show that it can protect its people is a party looking for trouble.
If anyone were to get hurt in your party and it is proved you lacked sufficient structures expected of a political party, you could have the biggest lawsuit of your life.
Politics is about ideas. Invest in ideas and show the country what you are capable of. Show the country your vision, for without vision, people will perish.
</blockquote>
Since the launch of CCC on 22 January 2022, Chamisa has championed what he describes as “strategic ambiguity”.
The party has no structures and identifiable leaders except Chamisa himself, the so-called Change Champion in Chief.
Critics say “strategic ambiguity” allowed Sengezo Tshabangu to claim a powerful position for himself and take over control of the party, leaving all CCC elected representatives at his mercy.
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You Don’t Need A Party To Govern A Country - Chamisa

Pro-democracy campaigner and human rights activist Thandekile Moyo says fighting for freedom in Zimbabwe is a lost cause and Zimbabweans should focus on personal development rather than wasting their energy on politics and hoping that politicians will bring meaningful change to their lives.
Posting on X, Moyo argued that there is nothing to distinguish between ZANU PF and opposition politicians, and their supporters which not only makes the attainment of democracy difficult but also makes the political environment toxic. <a href="https://x.com/Mamoxn/status/1736686860284342327?s=20">She wrote</a>:
<blockquote>
The truth is it’s better to focus on personal development than to dedicate yourself to fighting for freedom in a country where politicians, CSOs and all purporting to be leaders are focused on personal power and personal wealth.
My advice is: go out there and learn about other contexts, build your capacity, further your studies, and prepare to be the person you want to be while also growing your career and making a living.
Fighting for freedom in Zimbabwe is a lost cause. Opposition and ZANU are cut from the same cloth, and so are opposition and ZANU supporters.
The ordinary Zimbabwean is screwed, left right and centre. #ZanupfMustGo yes but Zanuism has permeated into “all of us”.
</blockquote>
Some prominent Zimbabwean bloggers accuse Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) politicians of seeking political office to line their pockets and join ZANU PF on the feeding trough rather than the betterment of the lives of voters.
Between 2000 and 2020, the country’s main opposition MDC, experienced several splits that have been attributed to tribalism, personal ambitions and disregard of the party constitution.
The MDC’s successor, CCC, is on the verge of total collapse due to infighting reportedly emanating from a struggle for positions.
Opposition councillors have been accused of corruption in the allocation of stands in residential areas and this has disillusioned millions of citizens resulting in voter apathy.
As a result, there is a general perception that Zimbabwe’s opposition is not different from ZANU PF as both seek power that gives access to State resources for personal aggrandisement.
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Fighting For Democracy In Zimbabwe A Lost Cause, Says Pro-democracy Campaigner

A prominent member of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), Fadzayi Mahere says the party’s legislators are ready to withdraw from Parliament if the Citizens’ National Assembly instructs them to do so.
Mahere, who is the MP for Mt Pleasant, however, warned that if CCC withdraws its legislators from Parliament, ZANU PF will be able to amend the Constitution willy-nilly and create a one-party State. She wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
<blockquote>
I can assure you that if the @CCCZimbabwe’s Citizens’ National Assembly resolves that we should withdraw from Parliament, we will.
To put the matter to bed, in October, Parliamentarians and Councillors were ordered to disengage from Parliament pursuant to a resolution of the CNA. This was complied with by everyone.
Missing from the discourse, however, is a critique of the consequences of such a withdrawal. Are citizens prepared to hand Zanu PF a two-thirds majority on a silver plate?
Are we aware that they’ll be able to wantonly amend the Constitution including removing term limits for a sitting “President”?
Do we know this means ED could rule for life? What will the withdrawal mean for policymaking? Are we prepared for budgetary discussions to happen under the cover of night with no representation?
Will parliamentary committees be effective if politicians of the same party only are investigating each other’s work?
Will the threat of the whipping system not hamper the necessary oversight function? Would we be happy to have statutory instruments considered in our absence and deemed constitutional without scrutiny?
Are we happy to have legislation passed without any contribution from the citizens through committees or debates?
Are we okay with reports of national institutions being swept under the carpet? Would we be comfortable with Question Time being reduced to a box-ticking, choreographed exercise because nobody is there to ask the hard questions?
Are we happy to surrender to a one-party state? What would be the next step and how will be achieved?
Or are we prepared to fight hard under tough conditions for the citizens’ voices to be heard in spite of the odds?
I don’t know what the answer is but I know that being an MP is gruelling, time-consuming and requires a lot of hard work, thinking and service.
Some MPs can earn in an hour what Parly “pays” in three months. Many sacrifices are made.
May the voice and best interests of the people win as we all work towards a better Zimbabwe.
</blockquote>
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CCC Withdrawal From Parliament May Be Disastrous - Mahere

Political commentator Brighton Mutebuka said that the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) led by Nelson Chamisa should change its strategy before it loses credibility with its supporters.
Mutebuka argued that CCC should politically mobilise its support base to challenge Sengezo Tshabangu ” within the parameters of the Constitution” rather than seeking redress through “captured” courts.
This comes after Tshabangu, who claims to be CCC’s interim secretary general, won almost all court cases against his challenges within the opposition.
On Friday night, High Court judge Justice Isaac Muzenda granted an application by Tshabangu, confirming that recalled CCC MPs cannot stand in by-elections being held today.
This means that all the National Assembly candidates sponsored by the CCC party led by Chamisa were barred from running in the by-elections currently underway. Said Mutebuka:
<blockquote>
1. There comes a point when a line in the sand has to be drawn about the continued use or reliance on a strategy that is not yielding any dividend or playing to the strengths of your opponent.
2. Any further approaches to a captured Judiciary by CCC will either offend or bleed support or credibility. That door should be firmly shut for now!
3. Tshabangu’s fate should have already been sealed via politically mobilising the victims of his shenanigans within the parameters of the Constitution to challenge him!
4. It is them after all, and not the captured Courts who can tell whether or not he is an imposter or a genuine leader.
5. The situation has reached a point of severity where it is credible to ask why the opposition has failed, refused or neglected to mobilise their constituency/members/supporters to seek redress &amp; to voice their popular/mass discontent with the regime’s shenanigans!
6. Just in case there is something that our analysis has missed, @nelsonchamisa &amp; @CCCZimbabwe owe Zimbabweans an explanation as to why that route has not been pursued and how it is hoped in future the povo can be persuaded to risk it all &amp; go and vote again in the name of seeking political change or continue believing in the opposition cause when it appears to be struggling to modify its rules of engagement to address the unique threats that it faces from a ruthless &amp; uncompromising regime!
</blockquote>
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Chamisa Owes Supporters An Explanation Over Response To Tshabangu Onslaught - Mutebuka

Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono comments on the High Court judgement nullifying the nomination of recalled CCC candidates to contest in the 23 December 2023 by-elections:
What does today’s High Court judgement mean to Zimbabwean politics if it is not reversed?
Today’s High Court judgement against the recalled CCC Members of Parliament stopping them from using the party-political name “CCC” was predictable for those with a discerning political eye, and for those who fully understand the treacherous Zimbabwean political terrain and how ZANU PF has mastered it against its political opponents using a scary array of tools like State capture, repression, corruption, violence and even murder to retain power.
ZANU PF understands two things too well, Power and how to use it corruptly against its opponents and the ordinary citizens.
It sits down and strategies, and it executes using captured institutions that it ruthlessly controls through patronage or coercion.
Unlike the opposition CCC, people in ZANUPF work across factions for the survival of their corrupt project and ZANU-PF because they understand that politics is business and not necessarily personal, ZANUPF uses its best brains to execute its corrupt agenda.
Political decision-making is not about emotions but strategy, politics requires strategic thinking and decision-making grounded in practical political considerations rather than emotional impulses and reactions.
It involves navigating around complex political scenarios, anticipating contrived political and legal consequences, and formulating plans to achieve specific political goals, and in this case, legal outcomes too.
Embracing a strategic political mindset helps political parties respond effectively to political challenges thrown at them by their crooked and corrupt political opponents, and it also helps political parties to pursue their objectives in a well-calculated manner.
This is what is called SCENARIO PLANNING in organisational management, something that every political party should do when faced with a political crisis of monumental proportions like CCC faces today.
Balancing the importance of party names and the practicalities of navigating around a repressive and captured political system like what we have in Zimbabwe underscores the complex challenges faced by CCC and its legitimate leader, Nelson Chamisa.
The Rhodesian era historical context of these issues that I mentioned in the attached tweet which I put out on November 7, 2023, advising and warning the recalled CCC MPs to run as Independents in the December 9 by-election, highlighted the adaptive nature of political movements and parties when faced with suppression.
The most logical route for CCC to take was for its recalled MPs to run as Independent candidates because as I said in the attached tweet, what matters most are the principles you carry in your political heart, and not a political party name when you are in the middle of a mortal fight for your survival against an oppressive and crude opponent who controls the State and wants to destroy you.
After Sengezo Tshabangu illegally but successfully recalled the CCC MPs, I mentioned that CCC as a political party was finished.
It was clear to any average political thinker that there was a third hand taking advantage of the CCC leadership disharmony created by Nelson Chamisa’s so-called strategic ambiguity, the third hand is facilitating the destruction of CCC to the third hand’s advantage.
It therefore boggles the mind why someone would gift that third hand, which we know to be ZANUPF, a penalty kick instead of making things harder for ZANUPF by making its moves look more ridiculous even if it succeeds in its nefarious actions.
It is the equivalent of a thief coming to your home and asking you to open the door and you oblige arguing that you are doing so because you have done nothing wrong instead of fortifying your door.
Yes CCC is yours, yes the MPs are also yours and yes Tshabangu is playing a game, but don’t you have a logical obligation to protect the people’s right to democratic representation in councils and parliament at any cost including for you to run as Independents so that you block ZANUPF parliament capture?
What is the point of holding on to a name when you will lose it anyway, why play games as if you are on X-Box when it involves people’s lives and democratic political representation?
I have told you twice, I will tell you again for the third time, many in the diplomatic community and many important regional political actors are now asking if CCC is not a front for ZANUPF to calm citizens down.
They ask this pertinent question because of CCC’s many school-boy mistakes that it has continued to make since its formation last year.
Astounding, ridiculous and shocking mistakes one must add if you are going to be genuine and logical in your analytical discourse about the situation!
One of the senior team members of a Western election observer mission team said this to me; “I have covered more than 60 elections across the world, I have never seen a presidential candidate who has done everything possible in the book to lose an election like Nelson Chamisa has done.”
The election observer continued: “We went to see Nelson for a meeting, and yet he was alone, it has been the same with other observer missions,” the election observer said to me in astonishment.
If CCC is not a front for ZANU-PF, then its leader is thoroughly incompetent for having made all these avoidable but now talked about mistakes and for making traditional allies of the democracy movement in Zimbabwe doubt CCC and his political sincerity through his commissions and omissions.
This behaviour speaks to Nelson Chamisa’s disdain for teamwork, and his overreliance on advisors who are and were taking instructions before, during and after the sham elections from counter-intelligence folks who many believe deliberately misled them.
How can you get advice from your opponent under the guise of having so-called “insiders in the system?”
This has been a running joke in the diplomatic community, a community which has almost given up on Chamisa and is now saying that they will try and make things work with the Harare regime, a rogue regime now being seen as an alternative to what was supposed to be a democratic movement.
Diplomats come to Zimbabwe to represent the interests of their countries, if the opposition has failed to prove to them that it is a genuine alternative to the current ZANU PF corrupt order, that is a serious indictment on the opposition leadership.
The concerns about Nelson Chamisa and CCC’s actions and their potential implication for CCC’s credibility both at home and abroad are now extremely serious and shouldn’t be ignored by those genuinely fighting for change in Zimbabwe.
You can’t continue making catastrophic political mistakes and relying on only blaming your opponent for your continued self-evident failures to read the political terrain and get some gains here and there instead of always being on the receiving end of comical political failures.
Chamisa’s ardent supporters point towards CCC’s ability to stop ZANUPF’s two-thirds majority goal during the shambolic August 23 elections, but was that really citizens voting for CCC or it was fed up citizens voting against ZANUPF?
The delusional declarations reflect a tragic understanding of Zimbabwean politics, any main opposition leader would have made things tougher for ZANUPF during a general election, he just happened to be Nelson Chamisa.
Zimbabweans are suffering, Zimbabweans have no jobs, they have no healthcare, they have no clean drinking water, they have potholed roads, they have 20-hour electricity load shedding, they don’t have pensions, neither do they have savings, they only have ONE TV station, they have a captured judiciary and a corrupt government. So Why Would They Vote For Anyone Else Except The Main Opposition?
What has upset many serious Zimbabweans is the astounding move by CCC and Nelson Chamisa of not going into the by-elections as Independents, when they knew too well that all odds were stacked against them in captured courts, something that they correctly sing about daily.
When you know that the judiciary is captured, and when you know that the election board ZEC is also captured, why do you make decisions that play into the regime’s hands like insisting on going into by-elections using a contested name whose dispute will be adjudicated by your adversary’s judiciary poodles?
You can’t expect a Praise and Worship one-man decision-making outfit to remove a military-assisted political party like ZANUPF when it makes such ridiculous decisions and grand political delusions scaffolded by Bible verses and inspirational tweets.
ZANU PF is a corrupt political machinery, it controls the judiciary, it controls the elections management body ZEC, so the best thing which was a no-brainer was to remove any need for CCC to go to captured courts by simply running as Independents.
But someone’s ego was more important than a political strategy that would stop the desired ZANUPF two-thirds majority.
You can’t keep forming political parties and abandoning them and forming more new political parties because you say you are popular, and yet your popularity is leading to nothing except economic survival for yourself and a few others around you.
There are now serious apprehensions in the region about the political credibility of Nelson Chamisa and his ability to bring about any meaningful change to Zimbabwe, his leadership is questionable to many in the region.
Nelson Chamisa and his supporters can ignore those apprehensions at their peril, but he knows that they exist and many have told him face to face.
Only sycophants continue to pretend that there is no political crisis around his leadership style and skills.
Zimbabweans can continue cheering on this one-man decision-making muppet show at their own political cost, they will deserve the outcomes and consequences of such a political muppet show whose failures are now too many to mention in one sitting.
There is no doubt in my mind that Chamisa continues to be the best foot forward in terms of galvanising public support, but you need more than support to remove ZANUPF’s corrupt rule, you need a strong team with a cogent political strategy, and more importantly a political vision.
Sadly many serious regional political players are no longer feeling sorry for struggling Zimbabweans because they say that we are supporting the schoolboy antics of Nelson Chamisa which have emboldened ZANUPF, and that we insult those who call for reason and a sensible political approach to dealing with ZANUPF’s corrupt rule.
Now that Nelson Chamisa has predictably lost this battle to hold on to CCC against the captured political charlatan Tshabangu, there is no longer anything called CCC as Tshabangu can now do as he wishes.
It is sad to watch people’s democratic electoral rights being washed away illegally like what has just happened, but until the same people accept that Nelson Chamisa’s unbridled desire for absolute power has contributed to this, the same people will have learnt nothing at all and will deserve what they are getting.
As French philosopher Joseph de Maistre said, A People Get the Leadership That They Deserve.
Zimbabwe needs an opposition leader who is secure with himself and his talents, and who is not scared of the abilities of his colleagues.
It is in the nature of politics that some will be more talented than others, such talent differentials should not be the reason to shut the door on those more talented than you are.
Zimbabwe needs an opposition leader who is a team player, and not one who relies on advice from shadow and compromised characters, it needs an opposition party which is rooted in constitutionalism, and not Chinhu Changu Chete politics.
The later Dr Alex Magaisa warned the CCC on 24 April 2022 when he said: “I conclude by urging the CCC interim leadership to hasten the pace to establish the set of rules called the constitution, even on an interim basis. These debates and accompanying noises are a reflection of the unsureness that results from a constitutional void.”
This advice fell on deaf ears, and it is the reason that CCC finds itself in this mess, ZANUPF will always take advantage of any created own goals, it is a predatory political animal.
Today Zimbabweans have a choice, to either continue following the Alice in Wonderland opposition fairy-tale politics that define Chamisa, and always blaming ZANUPF, or to start demanding the opposition to be serious and to constitute itself into a solid and respectable alternative to the corrupt and incompetent ZANUPF regime.
Zimbabwe has many educated people whom regional leaders and the diplomatic community look up to, these regional leaders and diplomats have failed to understand why so many smart Zimbabweans remain under the spell of a failed opposition political leader whose signature is Bible verses and inspirational quotes every Saturday morning.
Human beings seek spiritual guidance from churches and not from politicians, they seek economic redemption from politics and not to be told that Joy is coming and given empty promises that are never fulfilled.
Zimbabweans have been stripped of their human and economic dignity, how about putting them first ahead of this unbridled desire for absolute power that has now come to define both the main opposition leader and Emmerson Mnangagwa to the detriment of the suffering citizens living in penury?
Mnangagwa wants a two-thirds majority to be followed by a third term, and Chamisa wants to get rid of all colleagues who are perceived to be competitors to be his crown.
It is all Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me! When will these leaders put people ahead of their desire for power, and when will they choose to lead instead of rule?
ZANU PF is the pits on any given day, but it remains emboldened by CCC’s failures. The sycophants will not want to hear this truth, but they will realise the truthfulness of these cols facts after another shambolic 2028 election.
P/s 
I encourage the youths to leave and better their lives elsewhere through good education or better jobs or both.
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Chamisa Is A Failed Opposition Leader; CCC As A Political Party Is Finished - Chin'ono

Journalist and Government critic Hopewell Chin’ono said that the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) led by Nelson Chamisa blundered in fielding its recalled MPs under the CCC banner.
Posting on X, Chin’ono said it was inevitable that the recalled CCC representatives would not be allowed to use the party’s name and symbols in by-elections, arguing that the recalls were initiated by ZANU PF in its quest to get a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Said Chin’ono:
<blockquote>
I have just read that Sengezo Tshabangu’s application to have the recalled CCC MPs removed from the December 9 by-elections has been granted by the High Court of Zimbabwe.
It means that those re-called CCC MPs will not run in this by-election unless CCC appeals against today’s ruling, and wins that appeal against the High Court judgement.
I and many others publicly gave open advice to these recalled MPs to run as Independent candidates because any average political analyst or reader of Zimbabwean politics would have told you that there is a third hand in this case.
I am astonished by the schoolboy antics and mistakes that CCC continues to make aware of the viciousness of the enemy it is fighting…
ZANU PF has a hand in all this and that should be expected, but the opposition should respond strategically and not just go into courts where could have avoided doing so by just running as Independents to outwit the regime.
</blockquote>
On 04 November, Chin’ono urged all CCC MPs to resign and trigger by-elections, and then contest as independent candidates. He said:
<blockquote>
The real test of commitment to the struggle against ZANU PF tyranny and corrupt rule would be a total withdrawal of all CCC MPs from parliament.
That would trigger by-elections which they would contest as INDEPENDENTS.
… it gives you 100% control over the business of opposing ZANUPF, without that you will have compromised MPs whose only survival is decided by Tshabangu.
</blockquote>
On Thursday, High Court judge Justice Never Katiyo barred the 22 recalled CCC Members of the National Assembly from contesting in the 09 December 2023 by-election after ruling that the move by the nomination court to accept their papers was unlawful. Read the judgement:
<blockquote>
It is ordered that the decision of the Nomination Court sitting at Harare, Bulawayo, Gwanda, Lupane and/or any other location around the country on 7 November 2023 to accept the nomination papers and candidature of first to 22nd respondents for election in the by-elections set to be conducted on 9. December 2023 is unlawful, of no force and effect and hereby set aside.
It is ordered that the respondents are not candidates for election in the by-elections scheduled to be conducted on 9 December 2023 and that 23rd and 24th respondents shall not include the names of first to 22nd respondents in the preparation of ballot papers to be used in the by-elections scheduled to be conducted on 9 December 2023.
It is ordered that the first to 22nd respondents are interdicted from representing or holding themselves out to the general public and electorate in the constituencies concerned or any other place in Zimbabwe, whether physically or through any form of media, as candidates for election in by-elections scheduled to be held on 9 December 2023 and that the respondents shall jointly and severally pay the applicants’ cost on the ordinary scale.
</blockquote>
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"Schoolboy Antics" Cost Chamisa's CCC - Chin'ono

National Patriotic Front (NPF) spokesperson Jealousy Mawarire says President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Government does not serve the interests of the public after Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube’s proposal in the 2024 National Budget to introduce new taxes.
Posting on X, Mawarire said the proposal to introduce a wealth tax is “silly”, adding the Government should find science-based solutions to challenges faced by Zimbabweans instead of making life harder for them. He said:
<blockquote>
If our government and its officers like Mthuli Ncube sought to “serve the interests of the public” and govern the country for the people, we were NEVER going to have absurd proposals to increase taxes on our impoverished citizens, instead, we were going to witness moves that reduced the burden of over-taxation on our poor citizens.
If @edmnangagwa wanted to govern the country “for the people”, silly proposals to reintroduce colonial hut taxes by different names, would never have been entertained.
What a people-centric presidency would have done was to advance policies which seek to develop the country scientifically, providing science-based solutions to our current problems rather than compounding our troubles through anti-people policies.
A president who serves the people would have taken President Xi’s 14th principle, “crackdown on corruption with zero tolerance” rather than promoting &amp; being at the centre of it.
If we are looking East, we certainly should be copying some of the principles that are aimed at growing China into a “world player”.
It’s never bad to learn from others &amp; the growth of the Chinese economy in the last 2 decades cannot be ignored.
</blockquote>
Ncube said the wealth tax will be levied at a rate of 1% of market values of residential properties with a minimum value of US$100 000.
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Mawarire Criticises Mthuli Ncube's "Absurd" Tax Proposals

Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Member of Parliament for Mt Pleasant, Fadzayi Mahere the new “wealth tax” proposed by Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion Minister Mthuli Ncube in the 2024 National Budget is a bad idea. <a href="https://x.com/advocatemahere/status/1730813036506513448?s=20">Mahere posted on X</a>:
<blockquote>
Of all the problematic announcements made during Mthuli Ncube’s Budget Presentation on Thursday, the wealth tax is arguably the most unsound. The Minister proposes to impose a 1% annual tax on all owners of a house worth US$100,000 or more because they have more income.
This means that the owner of a US$300,000 home would pay US$3000 in wealth tax annually.
The very premise of the tax is fundamentally flawed. In Zimbabwe, not all homeowners have an income.
A pensioner under 70 receiving a US$30 pension can own a home.
A divorced, unemployed person can own a home they attained through a divorce settlement.
A child can own a home bought for them by their parents.
An unemployed 19-year-old can own a home they inherited.
A retrenched person can own a home they bought when they were once employed.
A person can own a home but have lost all their savings or business under one of the three big economic crashes experienced since 2008.
Taxing these people for simply sitting in their homes and breathing is an injustice and offends the constitutional 
principle that the tax burden should be shared fairly. There is no doubt that a “wealth tax” of this nature in a distorted economy like Zimbabwe could never be administered fairly.
Pensioners, non-income earning homeowners and other poorly paid citizens who managed to purchase homes when the economy fared better decades ago persons cannot be described as “wealthy”.
Imposing a blanket tax on homeowners would result in the illegal double taxation on persons who already pay rates and property taxes on their homes, which rates they can in most instances barely afford.
What justification is there for taxing persons twice for water, local clinics and basic services?
Additionally, a wealth tax is difficult, expensive and inefficient to administer. In an economy like Zimbabwe, the immediate question that arises is – who would carry out the valuations, with what money and using which formula? The avenues for distortion and corruption would be boundless.
Imposing this ill-thought-out wealth tax will encourage tax evasion and has the potential to drive away property investors if imposed.
Persons with the means will opt to buy in Johannesburg or South Africa where the tax burden is less burdensome and one can get more bang for their buck.
Property is one of the few reliable stores of value in Zimbabwe’s broken economy where savings are not safe in financial institutions due to unsound and inconsistent economic policies. The proposed wealth tax will discourage property investment.
Moreover, by taking a fraction of people’s wealth each year, the tax reduces the return on investing and discourages saving. This can reduce growth because investing and capital accumulation are critical to innovation.
One can already see that, if imposed, such a tax will distort behavior in a way that is harmful to economic growth and national prosperity.
To put the matter to bed, a person who invests in 10 low-cost houses valued at US$98,000 each will avoid the tax while a divorced, self-employed single mother who was awarded a basic home in Waterfalls upon her divorce will be taxed for being “wealthy.”
The entire Budget is an anti-people mess. Pro-growth policies make sense, by making everyone better off.
Tax gimmicks don’t.
</blockquote>
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Why Mthuli Ncube’s “Wealth Tax” Is A Bad Idea - Fadzayi Mahere

Opposition legislator Fadzayi Mahere says the 2024 National Budget will harm small businesses after the Finance Minister proposed to reduce the Value Added Tax threshold to US$25 000 from US$40 000.
In his budget presentation on Thursday, 30 November, Ncube said only traders registered for VAT and with valid Tax Clearance Certificates can buy goods from manufacturers.
The VAT registration threshold will be cut from US$40 000 to US$25 000, or the local currency equivalent, starting in January 2024.
Posting on X, Mahere said this will result in a hike in the prices of goods and negatively affect overall demand. <a href="https://x.com/advocatemahere/status/1730463660043129273?s=20">She said</a>:
<blockquote>
The attack on small businesses in the new Budget is staggering.
The Value Added Tax threshold has now been reduced to US$25 000 from US$40 000.
In simple terms, this means that any small business that makes an average of $2100 per month or more will now have to register for VAT.
The impact on small businesses is that they will now have to increase the cost of their goods by 15% to enable them to collect the VAT.
The impact on a consumer is that the cost of goods will go up by at least 15% to accommodate this tax.
The impact overall is that demand will go down because the prices are too high.
Spending will go down and the economy will become even more comatose than it is now.
The VAT tax rate is at 15% despite calls from businesses for it to come down to 14.5%.
In a country where unemployment exceeds 85%, it is grossly irrational to propose a budget that taxes those trying to run a small business for survival.
The entire budget is anti-people. It’s a mess.
</blockquote>
However, responding to Mahere, one Mbonisi Siziba said nothing will change as producers already sell their goods with 15% VAT. He said:
<blockquote>
Manufacturers already sell their goods with 15% VAT, therefore tax is trickled down to the final consumer, nothing changes except that tuckshops will be charging the same prices as supermarkets.
VAT registration will also enable the SME to purchase directly from the manufacturer legally.
</blockquote>
Tafadzwa Marere concurred, saying small businesses don’t have to increase prices by 15%. He said:
<blockquote>
Not quite. They deduct the input tax on VAT on goods they buy so they don’t have to increase by 15%. If they use the same markup they should be fine.
What happens is that they start to have to remit that value added to Zimra. It’s only fair, isn’t it? Maybe the cost of compliance.
</blockquote>
Economa added:
<blockquote>
It doesn’t work like that Fadzi, the small businesses will be able 2 claim input tax on the purchases. If goods cost $10, the input tax is 1.30 which they claim from ZIMRA hence no need to increase by 15% coz the net cost is now $8.70. When they sell for $12 the tax is $1.57, therefore 0.27c tax.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Mahere Says 2024 National Budget To Harm Small Businesses

Economic commentator Professor Gift Mugano has implored Parliament to reject Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion Minister Mthuli Ncube’s 2024 National Budget to save the majority of Zimbabweans from further impoverishment.
Ncube announced the proposed 2024 National Budget in Parliament on 30 November 2023. The budget will be debated and adopted or rejected by Parliament.
Responding to the budget proposals, Mugano urged ZANU PF and CCC MPs to reject it and request Ncube 
redo the budget and produce a pro-poor budget. <a href="https://x.com/gift_mugano/status/1730484283041534383?s=20">Wrote Mugano on X</a>:
<blockquote>
Parliament must reject the anti-people and anti-industry budget that was presented by Mthuli Ncube yesterday.
The proposed tax hikes and the move to exclude informal traders from the mainstream economy will bring more pain to the already impoverished people.
The decision to exclude traders without VAT certificates is very harsh and insensitive considering that more than 6 million people thrives on trading in the face of 85% formal unemployment and drought of economic opportunities.
These people, in their individual capacities, don’t have annual sales turnover of US$25 000 which is required to secure the VAT certificate.
This measure is expected to impact on the manufacturing sector negatively because the informal sector helps them to push volumes especially in manufacturing industries such as food and beverages (bread, ice cream, drinks, etc).
In the bread sector, for example, the volumes are pushed by vendors and tuckshops (not supermarkets) which are now supposed to be excluded from the bread value chain.
This will result in drastic fall in sales which has a net negative effect on production and jobs.
Is Mthuli Ncube aware of these dynamics and possibilities?
The following increases in taxes, levies and fees are a thorn in the flesh for an already struggling population:
– more than 100% increase in toll fees will push up bus fares and transport cost for the commuting public. The rural folks and pensioners will suffer the most as the timing of this policy measure is coinciding with a devastating drought – they will have to bear with these new measures over and above their struggle to put food on the table.
– introduction of levies on beverages with sugar is again insensitive as these are the drinks of the poor and our children.
– passport and vehicle number plates fees hikes are again schemes put in place to milk the poor.
– the US$300 will be taxed come January 2024 – so insensitive to the underpaid civil servants who were expected a salary hike.
– wealth tax reminds of the Rhodesian government which introduced hut tax and Mthuli Ncube admires the very same exploitative tax regime and introduce it again in “independent” Zimbabwe.
If Parliament is going to act in the best interest of the public, they must reject this budget and request Mthuli Ncube redo the budget and produce a pro-poor budget.
It is my prayer that ZANU PF and CCC MPs unite on this one and reject this useless budget.
If ZANU PF uses their majority vote to support this useless budget and overpower CCC by virtue of their numbers they are voting for more poverty for their rural constituencies where they got most of their votes.
In the same way, they are punishing the 6 million people in the informal sector as they will be endorsing their exclusion from the manufacturing sector value chains.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Gift Mugano Urges Parliament To Reject Mthuli's 2024 National Budget

Political commentator Brighton Mutebuka says President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s alleged quest to push for a constitutional amendment to remove the presidential term limit will result in his overthrow by a ZANU PF faction opposed to the plan.
Mnangagwa won his second and final term in the 23 August 2023 elections, and only an amendment of the constitution will allow him to run for another term in 2028 and beyond.
Posting on X, Mutebuka argued that the ongoing recalls of CCC MPs by Sengezo Tshabangu are aimed at reducing the number of opposition legislators to give ZANU PF a two-thirds majority which will result in constitutional amendments. He wrote:
<blockquote>
The Tshabangu Saga Continues – Vindication of EUOM &amp; SEOM Reports &amp; The Beginning Of The End For ED!
1. It’s now clear that the strategy involved luring @CCCZimbabwe into fielding the same recalled candidates &amp; then barring them on a technicality prior to the by-election date to leave ZANU PF candidates uncontested.
2. ED &amp; his regime are clearly oblivious to the fact that the more these shenanigans continue the more they vindicate that the findings of the Electoral Observer Mission Reports were unimpeachable.
3. This makes the case for intervention much more compelling, not less.
4. This behaviour suggests utter contempt for the will of the people &amp; total control of all state institutions, with the appointment of CDF Sibanda to the Politburo (now reversed), saving to confirm that as well.
5. For a man in his 80s, ED has staked a lot on these recalls &amp; in trying to obtain a two-thirds majority in Parliament illegally. More importantly, this opens a second front for ED by provoking a faction in his party which will now accelerate secretly working against him in earnest!
6. An objective assessment of the situation would seem to indicate that, this amounts to political overreaching. His blind ambition is too far-fetched and ignores political realities/fundamentals.
7. Chiwenga’s political ambitions are not a secret. He has clearly gone out of his way to project himself as a loyal deputy, just like ED tried to do during Bob’s last days.
8. He will feel morally entitled to succeed ED given what he believes to have been the huge sacrifices he made by being the coup’s ultimate guarantor by personally putting his neck on the guillotine.
9. Unlike the opposition, he has enduring ties in the military and is capable of leaning on them to stir things up should it come to that or to frustrate ED’s inevitable play at amending the Constitution for a tilt at a 3rd term.
10. Lessons drawn from history suggest that neither ED nor state court jesters egging him on are likely to fully appreciate the true scale of the obstacles that are standing in his way. At the moment, they are caught up in a bubble &amp; believe that they are unstoppable! It’s that illusion that will be their greatest undoing! That is how the beginning of the end starts – by pursuing unrealistic goals!
</blockquote>
Responding to a follower who had asked why CCC leader Nelson Chamisa took a great risk by fielding recalled MPs using the name CCC, Mutebuka said:
<blockquote>
This is not about law but about politics. It’s beyond argument that Chamisa is the leader of CCC. Tshabangu is using ED’s borrowed robes and has even borrowed ED’s Lawyer if that needed spelling out to you. It’s that obsession with pursuing a 3rd term which will be his undoing!
</blockquote>
Meanwhile, Tshabangu’s lawyer Advocate Lewis Uriri on Monday confirmed that they were filing an urgent High Court application seeking to bar recalled CCC legislators and councillors who successfully filed their nomination papers to contest in the 09 December by-elections.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/2023/11/18/president-mnangagwa-reverses-the-appointment-of-general-valerio-sibanda-to-zanu-pf-politburo/">Pindula News</a>

ED's Obsession With Pursuing A Third Term Will Be His Undoing - Mutebuka

Top lawyer <a href="https://wiki.pindula.co.zw/Thabani_Mpofu">Thabani Mpofu</a> has described Solusi University, a private Christian institution of higher learning affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA), as a “criminal organisation”.
Posting on X, Mpofu said it is disgraceful for Solusi University to award <a href="https://pindula.co.zw/Kuda_Tagwirei">Kuda Tagwirei</a> an honorary doctorate degree after he made a donation to the institution. Said Mpofu:
<blockquote>
Solusi University gets a big donation from Kuda. In return, it awards him an honorary doctorate degree in something false and funny.
The SDA church-run college is a criminal organization, an abject disgrace, as base and abominable as it is disgusting. Its moral compass is totally off.
Good people, this is corruption at its stinkiest. I accept arguendo that he deserves to be honoured but he cannot be honoured by an institution that he donated to three moons ago.
This is wrong on all levels of wrongness. But then, some of you are useless and broken and so won’t see it.
</blockquote>
In November 2022, Tagwirei donated a 60-seater bus, 10-tonne and four-tonne trucks, and three tractors to the university.
Responding to Mpofu, ZANU PF activist <a href="https://pindula.co.zw/Rutendo_Benson_Matinyarare">Rutendo Matinyarare</a> said Tagwirei deserves the award not only for building “a billion-dollar empire in less than 20 years”, but also for his philanthropy. Wrote Matinyarare:
<blockquote>
Kuda is the most successful business person in Zimbabwe who came from nothing to having a billion-dollar empire in less than 20 years, without the aid of affirmative action that made the other black business people.
Sakunda, Sandra and Kuda’s company is the company with the biggest revenue in Zimbabwe at over $1.5 billion/year, yet it’s not even listed on the Zimbabwe stock exchange.
Kuda has made many other people multi-millionaires and his philanthropy dwarfs that of all other businesses in Zim.
So why then should the highest-grossing businessman with investments in mining, agriculture, banking, energy and construction not be given an honorary degree when he clearly is rewriting business case studies by making billions while under sanctions?
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/2023/11/18/president-mnangagwa-reverses-the-appointment-of-general-valerio-sibanda-to-zanu-pf-politburo/">Pindula News</a>

Solusi University Is A "Criminal Organisation", Says Top Lawyer

UK-based Zimbabwean lawyer Brighton Mutebuka said that Zimbabwe has entered the age of “Vene” whose guiding ideology is transactional politics.
“Vene” is a Karanga (one of the Shona dialects) word literally translated as “the owners”, that is the owners of the country and its wealth, and is used derisively to describe Zimbabwe’s ruling elite. Posting on X (formerly Twitter), Mutebuka <a href="https://x.com/BMutebuka/status/1723482386829070837?s=20">wrote</a>:
<blockquote>
The Age Of Vene – Zimbabwean Politics Redefined
a. Many Zimbabweans are in denial about the arrival of the age of Vene. This applies to both those in the ruling party &amp; the opposition movement.
b. Vene’s guiding “ideology” is transactional politics. They can work with anyone who submits to their rule.
c. The Rule of Law, Constitutions &amp; conventions are irrelevant. They apply to their rivals &amp; opponents &amp; not to them.
d. The law is what Vene says. If it’s inconvenient they either ignore or reinterpret it. If all fails they make new ones.
e. The people’s democratic preferences are not important. What is important is to control who counts, formally declares the winner, presides over complaints, arrests those who complain &amp; sends those who complain to jail!
f. Vene are so special that they even get to choose who “competes” against them and who to allocate state resources earmarked for successful contestants, so they can even create competition for their opponents as if it’s not hard enough to compete against them!
g. If Vene don’t like the outcome, they use proxies &amp; their control of levers of state power to change that outcome via recalls &amp; command by-elections until they get the outcome that they want.
h. Vene are not concerned with subtleties &amp; other diplomatic niceties. They like to project their power brazenly as a mark of unrivalled dominance over their subjects. They can mow you down in broad daylight.
i. So dazed and confused are Vene’s opponents by their antics that they subconsciously fall into the same trap over &amp; over again – and are then at the mercy of being repeatedly devoured by Vene, like generations of herds of helpless &amp; flailing Wildebeests attempting to cross the great Masai Mara River at the height of The Migration using the steep ends of the banks, only to end up between the jaws of the lying in wait Crocs!
j. Some critics will say, if you have a Constitution, structures, Voters Roll &amp; V11s &amp; you present these to courts you won’t be devoured. After you are devoured, some will say, only if you had stayed without those, maybe you wouldn’t have been devoured after all!
k. Yet others will say, if we create another united smart creature, we won’t be devoured. Others will also say, going into the River in great numbers to confront Crocs will hack it via the sheer weight of numbers!
l. All are in denial that the age of Vene is unlike any other. When it will finally dawn on them, it will be way too late! You see, Crocs have been perfecting their “art” for millions of years!
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

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