
CCC Member Assaulted Over Post-Election Land Dispute
Telling the other story
CCC Member Assaulted Over Post-Election Land Dispute
By Lorraine Ndebele and Marko Shoko
A member of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) recently suffered a broken leg after being heavily assaulted by alleged members of the ruling party (ZANU-PF) following a disagreement over land.
Munorwei Chinyangana from Ward 24 Chiredzi East was rushed to Mashoko Mission Hospital in Bikita, Masvingo Province for medical treatment after being attacked by three ZANU PF members who severely assaulted after he confronted them over the invasion of his farm.
Chinyangana says he has owned a farm in Lavanga Ward 1, Chiredzi East District since 2012. He got the farm through the land reform programme and has been occupying and utilizing it since then. However, following Zimbabwe’s most recent harmonized elections held on 23 August 2023, local land officials are said to have allocated Chinyangana’s farm to another person, Blessing Vheremu. Being concerned about reallocation the farm, Chinyangana approached Vheremu at the latter’s home suggesting that they go to the local Village Development Committee (VDCO) Chairperson to amicably resolve the issue.
Vheremu was not amused by Chinyangana’s visit and he angrily proceeded to his neighbor’s home where he mobilized two men and a woman to attack Chinyangana. As Chinyangana said, it was the woman who started the violent attack on him.
“As they attacked me, I insisted that we go and see the VDCO chairman for a peaceful resolution to the dispute”, Chinyangana said.
“However, they pushed me to the ground and started beating all over my body telling me that they don’t care about CCC people because this land is owned by ZANU-PF”, he said.
When his attackers eventually decided to go to Adam Hama, the VDCO Chairman, Chinyangana said he was already seriously injured and could neither walk nor drive his motorcycle. He said he called members of his family who took him to Mashoko hospital where he said was treated for injuries including…
Although he has been discharged from Mashoko hospital, Chinyangana says he is still unwell and is planning to go to Harare for further treatment.
Reached for comment, Vheremu denied assaulting Chinyangana. “His injuries may have resulted from falling on a motor cycle”, Chidoko said, adding: “It was the lady we were with who simply pushed him down.”
Vheremu also denied dispossessing Chinyangana of his land, saying he was allocated eighty (80) meters of the land by Cephus Marape who, he said, is the actual owner of the farm that Chinyangana claims to be his.
“I was given a piece of that farm by Marape who only gave me 80 metres and told me to farm there together with Chinyangana”, said Vheremu.
He also says that Chinyangana was already injured when he approached him which he suspects was a fall from a motorbike
Efforts to get a comment from the VDCO chairman of Chiredzi East, Adam Hama were fruitless as his phone was unavailable.
Development does not occur in a vacuum. Development planning, evaluation and monitoring at macro and micro levels are usually associated with dominant development thinking at the time. Over a period of time, such thinking crystallize into theoretical or policy traditions and paradigms. When we look at the past five decades, it is possible to see how such theoretical traditions and paradigms have been formulated, questioned, criticized and new constructions or formulations emerged.
By Cain Mnangwa
Development theories tend to grasp the development-underdevelopment realities in given countries and come up with prescriptions as to how to resolve specific development issues such as poverty alleviation, infrastructure development, agricultural and community development, health and education. The thinking around these has been changing, for example from earlier emphasis on modernization and dependency to current emphasis on community participation, capacity development and sustainability. There are also different conceptions of development such as those associated with modernity and post development.
Since the end of World War II, there have been distinct phases in the development thought, ideologies and policies adopted by international agencies and governments in the North. Griffin identifies three phases governing academic discussion and research as well as influencing public policy and action in the Third World (Griffin 1988) During phase one, the priority for development was economic growth to stimulate the stagnant economies and traditional societies of the underdeveloped countries. During phase two, the emphasis shifted to redistribution with growth. The issues of concern became employment, policies for the direct alleviation of poverty, improving the distribution of income, and the satisfaction of basic human needs. During phase three, the emphasis shifted to economic restructuring and major economic reforms brought on by declining living standards and economic decay in the Third World. Disenchantment with the state as a vehicle for promoting development led to the exploration of possibilities for greater government decentralization and local mobilization for development (Hope 1996: 10). This shows the shifting emphasis from growth to redistribution and then to economic restructuring and reforms where decentralization and greater mobilization of people for development were emphasized.
In addition, other authors provide different accounts of the changing nature of development thinking and theories as applicable to developing countries. For example, Tarapore (2001) provides a useful summary of various theories and principles that were dominant in international development since World War II.
There is consensus in the more recent historiography of post-war Europe that the foundations of economic life remained strong. Across Western Europe, the casualties of war were more than offset by natural population growth and post-war mass migration. Despite the scale of material damage, industrial equipment and plants survived the war remarkably intact. Even in Germany and Italy, the two main targets of Allied strategic bombing, industrial fixed capital grew by 20% and 30%, respectively, between 1936 and 1945. Power-generating capacity was also enlarged and needed little repair.
Industrial production had been brought to a halt by the demolition of the transport infrastructure, in particular bridges and railway hubs. But the maintenance of wartime command-economy controls and warlike labor mobilization swiftly eliminated these bottlenecks and avoided the acute shortages that might have fueled social unrest and runaway inflation, as Europe had experienced at the end of WWI (Boltho 2001). By 1947, industrial production was back at pre-war levels in at least the victorious powers and the non-belligerent economies.
Furthermore, continued revival and the resumption of economic growth were held back by institutional and geopolitical factors rather than the lack of productive capacity. The reconstruction of Western Europe required the abolition of the command economy and the liberalization of prices and wages, the elimination of the dollar shortage to enable countries ravaged by war to import the capital goods necessary to rebuild their infrastructure and restock their factories, the restoration of the European division of labor, and international cooperation to resolve the German question and remobilize German industry (Milward 1987, Eichengreen 2007).
These prerequisites were impossible to achieve without constructive American involvement in the rebuilding of the post-war order (Maier 1981). Recent scholarship has found the positive impact of the Marshall Plan not so much in the scale of material assistance, but rather in the political strings attached to it (Eichengreen 2007). Dollar aid enabled recipient nations to eliminate raw material shortages and invest in bottleneck industries, but only in exchange for trade liberalization. The resources afforded by the counterpart funds allowed governments to finance public investment projects without the need to cut back on welfare spending, but they were compelled to reintroduce free markets and lift wartime controls and rationing, despite fierce opposition from labor unions.
Perhaps most crucially, the Marshall Plan, passed in 1948, underpinned post-war political stability by marginalizing communist parties and supporting centrist governments, by forging a western alliance to contain Soviet expansionism, and by rehabilitating West Germany on the international stage. Indeed, it demonstrated a dramatic shift in Allied policy towards German economic recovery, which until 1947 was inhibiting, and it offered sufficient compensation for the leading claimants on German reparations.
Last but not least, in 1945, a series of agreements was created in the city of Bretton Woods (USA), known as the Bretton Woods system to facilitate international transactions and help countries affected by war. These agreements also establish a monetary system of fixed items, based on the convertibility into gold of money, which results in the dollar becoming a means of global payment since the Americans were the only ones who could guarantee their convertibility into gold. This has the consequence that the International Monetary Fund is created to ensure the rules and maintain the fixed exchange rates of the currencies. To help the areas affected by war, the World Bank is created. In 1948, the Marshall Plan was launched by the Americans, so that the European countries could carry out the reconstruction processes of the areas affected by the war.
Lastly, during this year, the European Economic Cooperation Organization was also created to manage the loans that the US offers to the countries of Europe. One of the characteristics of the development of the capitalist economy of the early twentieth century was the succession of periods of prosperity, followed by economic crises. But it is in 1945 when a new form of economic development known as free trade appears, which manages to create a great stage of expansion and continuous economic growth. This stage comes to an end in 1973. What characterizes this crisis is that there is at the same time a rise in prices and unemployment with a static growth of production, this is known as stagnation. In this way I could say that within this crisis can differentiate several moments, which are: in the 70 great crisis, in the 80 there is a small growth and at the beginning of the 90s we find a strong economic secession.
Covid 19 has been seen as an evil one of the most devastating pandemics of all time claiming lives as well as disturbing economies and also the normal functioning of societies around the world. However, this misery brought about changes that the world needed and can be called “benefits” when it comes to international trade as well as international diplomacy which refers to the interaction between states that is both in relations and the exchange of goods. In this writing, I will be looking at the other side of Covid 19 not as misery but rather as a mother of a new form of international diplomacy and also a catalyst in the trade of new and another set of trades between nations.
Covid 19 has brought about improvements in the science and technology sector. In this case, as a result of covid 19 countries and communities have resorted to lockdown measures as a way of curbing the spread of the virus. Thus this resulted in online lessons for schools and we’ll as meetings. For example, the 2020 G20 Riyadh summit held on November 21-22 was supposed to take place in the capital city of Saudi Arabia but however, due to covid 19, this meeting was done virtually. In this regard, we also see an upgrade of the African Union Headquarters by the Chinese whereby they inserted a technology whereby officials can attend their meetings in their respective countries. Thus this is another improvement to the diplomacy due to COVID-19
We also see a boost in the trading center during the COVID-19 era whereby we see the importing of some goods necessary for the pandemic. I’m this case a case study of Zimbabwe comes into light whereby there has been a lot of vehicle imports in the COVID-19 era Speaking during his delivery of the 2021 national budget in parliament on Thursday, Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube said about 800million U.S. dollars was spent on importing buses and light commercial and passenger vehicles from 2020 to September 2021. Due to the abolishing of an unregistered transport systems that is the Kombis and mushika Shika system. A lot of people in Zimbabwe had resulted in purchasing of private vehicles from abroad, also due to the taking over of the government transport system Zupco, it has put more pressure on the transport system since those with no private transport now depended on Zupco thus we saw The government of Zimbabwe under Zupco purchase more bases to cater for these needs. This improved trade between Zimbabwe and as well as other countries we traded in
Moreover, this period has brought peace around the nations. In this case, it has improved the living and working together concept as the whole world. Due to a common goal and a common enemy which is Covid 19 all states around the world has become one family and has set all the difference aside so as to focus on the problem at hand. As a result, we see countries joining hands to find a cure for Covid 19 in light of this we see the production of vaccines Where nations wherein a race to produce vaccines, and also the Free distribution of these vaccines. This issue is very critical in the diplomacy and trading corners at an international scale
It will also be unjust if it happens that Improvements in the medical and pharmaceutical arena. In this case, a rise in improvements in the medical arena is also seen during the Covid 19 era whereby nations now began to focus more on the medical field of their nations. For example, Zimbabwe the purchasing of ventilators and also the rise of infrared thermometers as and also surgical masks.
Last but not least the rise of the forgotten and underrated traditional medicines as helpers for Covid 19 as an illness. This has also brought another trading factor to light Which is traditional medicines for Example Madagascar came forward which is their traditional drink which they claimed that it cures Covid 19 though this was never approved. There is also the rise of traditional medicines like the Zumbani in Zimbabwe. This has now been available in supermarkets some pharmacies and well as is also being exported to other countries as far as Europe.
Though we are in agreement and trying to support the pandemic it was misery however, I had to look to the other side of the coin and accept that it is now among us and see what we had gained from its discovery those are some of the positive changes brought about by the Covid 19 era
Brighton B Chingwara
A Masters Student in International Trade and Diplomacy at The University Of Zimbabwe 2022
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By Matthew Jamu
Media Center in partnership with Hurungwe Community Radio held several interface and trainings with a deliberate bias towards equipping citizen journalists with basic journalistic skills. Citizen journalists were drawn from 26 rural wards in Hurungwe District and ten from Karoi urban giving a total of thirty six citizen journalists.
Furthermore, Media Center in partnership with Hurungwe Community Radio also held interface meetings with several Civil Society Organizations which included Chakanyuka foundation, Karoi urban residents associations and National Aids Council.
Interactive meetings with residents associations were meant to equip them with skills and knowledge pertaining to governance statutes of local authorities. The main thrust was to enable these organizations to hold local authorities accountable in so far as their operations are concerned.
The interactive meeting held with Chakanyuka Foundation was held in the midst of the first hard lockdown in 2020. The Chakanyuka Foundation is an organization whose main thrust is to assist orphans, the aged as well as the less privileged. The meeting also brought together some local leaderships in the form of village heads. Hurungwe Community Radio acted as a vehicle to disseminate information pertaining to raising awareness on Covid 19 especially in rural communities.
People living with HIV/Aids suffered the double tragedy of stigmatization and challenges in accessing anti-retroviral drugs during lockdowns. Media Center in collaboration with Hurungwe Community Radio provided the National Aids Council with a platform to alert people facing this predicament on how to overcome the challenges. It was refreshing to note that after the audio from NAC was aired on the Hurungwe Community Radio WhatsApp platform there was a positive change in attitude by members of the security forces who were allegedly denying these affected people.
By and large, the partnership between Media Center and Hurungwe Community Radio has been very fruitful notwithstanding some challenges faced some of our journalists especially on issues to do with gadgets and data so as to smoothly carry out their mandate. Going forward, it is our fervent wish and hope that Media Center will continue to play its collaborative role with our organization so as to improve access to information by marginalized communities and also bringing to the fore developmental issues which are hitherto kept under wraps due to unavailability of news outlets.
NaClaire Gumbo
Vagari vemudhorobha reKaroi vari kukumbira kanzuru kuti ivavakire zambuko remakumbo pakati pemusha weChikangwe, Claudia neChiedza. Mumwe mugari Douglas Rubaya anove mukomana wechidiki ati:
“Zvandaona panoyambuka vanhu kubva ku Chikangwe kuenda kuClaudia zvandirwadza uye kupisa tsitsi. Dai kanzuru yagadzira zambuko sezvo vanhu vari kutambura kuyambuka. Pane njodzi yekuti panogona kukuvarwa kana kufiwa sezvo matombo akaiswa sezambuko achitsvedza.”
Kushaikwa kwezambuko kwaro idambudzikowo kuvana vezvikoro avo vanoenda muzvikoro zvinoti Chikangwe High School, Champion Gwande kana Chiedza Karoi Secondary netsoka. Dambudziko iri rabuda musi weMuvhuro uno panayawo mvura yakati wandei mudhorobha reKaroi. Mai Rhoda Mukari vati madzimai nevana vaduku vatove panguva yakaoma.
“Kushaikwa kwezambuko munguva yezhizha idambudziko guru mudhorobha redu. Dai kanzuru yakasira pasati paita tsaona.”
Hurungwe Community Radio yakataura nemutauriri wekanzuru VaPrecious Nharara avo vakavimbisa kuti pane hurongwa hwekuvaka zambuko panzvimbo iyi. VaNharara vati,
“Zambuko pakati peClaudia neChikangwe inyaya iri muhurongwa hweKanzuru yenyu vagari zvichibva nekuti sepanguva ino yekunaya kwemvura vagari kusanganisira kunyanya vana vanoenda muzvikoro vanoomerwa zvakanyanya pakuyambuka.”
VaNharara vakati ivo pamusangano waitwa nezuro wekushandiswa kungaitwe mari yekuvandudzwa nharaunda (Devolution) zvakawiriranwa kuti imwe yacho mari iyoyo ishande kugadzira zambuko iroro. Vakawedzerawo kuti zvakazowiriranwa kuti nyangwe mari dzinowanikwa nekanzuru pachayo dzigadzirise dambudziko nekukasira.
Kunze kwevana vechikoro nzira iyi inoshandiswa navana mai vanenge vachienda kukiriniki nevana nevamwewo vanoda rubatsiro kukiriniki iri kuChikangwe. Ruzhinji runoshandisawo nzira iyi kufambirawo zvakasiyana siyana sezvo pasina motokari dzinotakura vanhu pakati pemisha iyi.
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Just as Zimbabwe is a land of political contradictions, so it is a land of economic paradox, for the nation is simultaneously both developed and underdeveloped. A developed economy can be seen through its industrial sectors, in the commercial farm areas, and in the mines. These sectors have relatively modern technology, excellent infrastructure, sophisticated management techniques, and a skills pool well above the average for the continent. But in the former tribal trust lands, where about 75% of the population lives, Zimbabwe is obviously a land of underdevelopment, if not of poverty. The shortages of arable land, clean water, schools, roads, farm implements, irrigation facilities, and fertilizers, combined with the generally poor quality of the land, make this side of Zimbabwe a candidate for “least developed” status.
BY MIRANDA MUNGATE
The government aims to correct this distortion and pull the underdeveloped segment out of its poverty. But it says that it does not want merely to transfer wealth from the rich to the poor, as it realizes that this could eventually cut incentives and reduce the economic pie to the detriment of all. The task then is to obtain sufficient growth in the developed sector to give a fair return on investment and to fund development in the neglected areas.
Can this essential growth be achieved? On the basis of Zimbabwe’s history, there is a good chance that it can. While the country is burdened with distortions between the developed and underdeveloped sectors, within the developed sector itself Zimbabwe is blessed with a level of diversification and therefore of economic balance that is the envy of Africa.
The economy is basically powered by three engines: mining (12% of GDP), agriculture (17%), and manufacturing (18,43). These sectors balance each other, with a bad year in one often compensated by a good year in another. And within each sector, there is again a surprisingly balanced variety of activities. Hundreds of crops can be grown, six main minerals are mined and manufacturers cover a wide variety of fields.
But a prosperous future is not automatically assured. Four things could sabotage it. First, overhasty or inappropriate government policies could scare off the white population which still possesses many skills essential to the economy. Such policies could also deter foreign investment that is essential for growth. Second, an international recession could depress prices for Zimbabwe’s exports, curtailing foreign exchange revenues. Since the pace of manufacturing expansion depends on the availability of foreign exchange for importing machinery and raw materials, a fall in commodity revenues would also slow manufacturing growth. Third, rapid manufacturing progress requires export markets and, if the lucrative South African market were closed, manufactures would suffer. Fourth, massive government social welfare spending, high wage policies, and international price rises could eventually spin inflation to levels that erode economic growth. Despite these dangers, Zimbabwe’s post-independence economic record encourages a moderately optimistic outlook. Certainly, Zimbabwe is far better equipped than virtually any other African country to withstand whatever economic storms the future brings.
According to Riddell R.C (1984), it was only in the first two years of Independence that Zimbabwe outperformed her neighbors. Economic performance in the second year of independence, 1981, was less stupendous than the 1980s but still entirely respectable. Economic growth was hindered by the fall in demand for minerals due to the international recession, transport problems associated with South Africa’s lack of cooperation on lending railroad stock, and difficulty in maintaining rail equipment because of the emigration of skilled repairmen. But even with these breaks, 1981’s current prices growth rate reached an estimated 23%, the same as the 1980s. It was only when the plateaued growth was combined with a two-fold increase in the inflation rate, up to about 16%, that 1981’s growth rate estimate fell to the 6% to 8% range. The slowdown was disappointing but it still left Zimbabwe with enviable figures far above most African, and indeed some European, indices.
Manufacturing fared moderately well for the first half of the year when 1980 revenues paid for increased foreign exchange allocations for manufacturing inputs. But the effects of decreased minerals’ revenues started to bite in the third quarter, forcing 10% to 15% allocation cuts in the last quarter of the year. The consequent shortages of inputs and equipment, combined with a steady, if not dramatic, erosion of skills, led manufacturing growth to slacken from the 1980s 15% to an estimated 12%.
But contrary to expectations, consumer demand did not fall simultaneously. An estimated 37% increase in government expenditure and the ongoing effects of increased wages and employment led to a 33% increase in the first four months of the year.
The combination of an estimated 22% fall in the volume of exports in 1981 and an escalating deficit in Invisibles caused Zimbabwe’s foreign reserves to fall from a post-independence peak of Z$212 million in October 1980 to only Z$150 million in September 1981, which is equivalent to just two months’ import cover. Consequently, the 1980’s trade surplus of almost Z$70 million moved to an estimated 1981 deficit. This, combined with an increased deficit in Invisibles only partially alleviated by aid-flows, led to an increase in the current account deficit, as yet unspecified but clearly above 1980’s Z$182 million (monthly digest of statics, November 1981). Furthermore, the government’s budget deficit grew from 9% to 11% of GDP. The government sought to ease the economic crunch by borrowing. World Bank figures showed Eurocurrency borrowings of US$27 with US$6 million in the final part of 1980 and US$116. 6 million in the first half of 1981. Other finance came from aid, which contributed 6% of 1981 total expenditure. The Zimcord donors’ conference, held in March 1981, brought pledges amounting to Z$1.3 billion which was to be used over the following three years for a variety of public projects.
The new borrowing pushed Zimbabwe’s debt service ratio from a low 7% at independence to nearly 12%. To control the money supply and bring down inflation the government almost doubled most interest rates in 1981. (The prime overdraft rate of the commercial banks went up from 7.5% to l3%.) . Furthermore, banks were “advised” to increase their liquid assets ratio from 35% to 40%, tightening credit still more. In the 12 months ending June 1981, the money supply grew 11.3%, a marked slowdown from the 1980 liquidity expansion.
But while the government was juggling with the economy in an effort to stimulate maximum growth and minimum inflation, it also had to continue to respond to the needs and demands of the black population. After all, the whole point of the exercise was to improve living standards for previously neglected sectors of the population.
Miranda Mungate is an MSc student at the University of Zimbabwe student and can be contacted on mirandamungate@gmail.com