Category: zimbabwe

SHAME MAKOSHORI
THE Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) has approached banks to inject ZW$5 billion (US$40,3 million) to revamp the country’s crumbling roads, new chairperson George Manyaya said, as he undertook to “revolutionise” a network that has been grounded by mismanagement and plunder.

Manyaya took over the hot seat this January with a mandate to arrest corporate governance decay at the multibillion dollar fund that until recently, had courted national outrage due to theft and pillage.

On Monday, the Zinara boss said he was aware of the huge responsibility ahead.

However, he pleaded with frustrated citizens not to judge him and his new team based on a history that has reduced Zimbabwe’s roads to near gullies.

Delinquent former executives, who would soon be hunted down and forced to account for profligacy, milked Zinara’s coffers dry, before walking out scot-free under unclear circumstances.

Even Parliament has kept a keen eye on how their cases would be handled.

“Judge us by our deeds, not omissions and commissions of the past,” Manyaya told reporters, promising a complete clean-up of the agency.

Zinara is doubling to ZW$17 billion (US$137 million) allocations to 93 roads authorities this year to quicken reconstruction efforts, which have become crucial following seven years of extensive destruction.

Last year, Zinara sent out ZW$9,5 billion (US$76,6 million) for the projects after President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared a state of disaster on the roads system.

The administration collects funds for repairing roads through its tolling system and gives the Department of Roads, the District Development Fund and urban and rural councils to carry out the work.

Zinara chief executive officer Nkosinathi Ncube is leading efforts to clinch deals with banks to save the country, Manyaya said.

There will be more headwinds along the way, however.

Even the combined effort of banks and Zinara will not be powerful enough to build a war chest that rebuilds roads in the short term to underpin the return of a flawless transportation system.

“We are not going to sugar coat,” Ncube told reporters.

“The road network is bad. We collected about 10% (in 2021) of what is needed for roads to be fully fixed. We are discussing with banks to give advance (loans) so that we can give roads authorities.

“These are the facilities that we are working on because if we wait to collect revenue (through toll gates) until November then we disburse to authorities the roads will be deteriorating further.

The banks that we are working with will give us ZWL$5 billion to ensure that continuous work is done,” Ncube added.

He was not at liberty to divulge the banks that Zinara is courting, or when a deal was likely.

However, so much work would have to be done to assure prospective lenders that extravagance is now history at Zinara, and that any funding deployed into the agency would never be diverted into constructing big houses or seaside mansions for bigwigs.

Tough questions would be piled on Manyaya and his team to explain, especially after the disclosures that even the US$206 million accessed from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) about a decade ago has fallen into arrears.

The new board has pleaded with Zinara to revisit the DBSA contract, which it says was heavily tipped into the regional lender’s favour.

For now, however, the road crisis is escalating.

After heavy rains tore through the country in the past two years, ripping off bridges and replacing swathes of the gravel and tar with gullies, motorists’ nightmares have escalated, frustrating recovery efforts.

Zinara projects to collect ZW$34 billion (US$274 million) this year, according to Manyaya.

He said ZW$17 billion (US$137 million) of this had been earmarked for the road rehabilitation programme.

“The state of our roads is not looking good,” Manyaya said.

“This is why the President launched the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme. From March 2021 we disbursed ZW$9,5 billion to roads authorities.

We have mobilised funds for 2022. Disbursements would be done in the next two weeks.

“Zinara is ready to disburse ZW$17 billion for road rehabilitation. We are looking at alternative funding with banks to give us facilities.

We call this the infrastructure revolution,” Manyaya said.

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TINASHE MAKICHI/SYDNEY KAWADZA
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is gunning for financial institutions, bank treasury employees and commodity brokers accused of manipulating the foreign currency auction as illicit deals taint the  platform.

The indiscipline, according to sources who spoke to the Zimbabwe Independent this week, has seen bank employees, dribbling systems to illegally access the greenback.

The central bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has been trying various tactics to address the indiscipline but lack of capacity and non-compliance by banks has made the auction platform a gold mine for rent-seekers.

The Independent is well-informed that some companies have been accessing millions of United States dollars on the auction but just basic investigations could not locate their physical addresses.

Some of the briefcase companies have accessed about US$15 million.

This culminated in the suspension of close to 170 companies from participating at the auction but investigations show that some of the firms have flocked back using different shelf companies.

Some companies whose type of business could not be ascertained make up the top 50 of those that accessed foreign currency on the auction in 2021.

The FIU, however, has been in a dilemma

on how to deal with the indiscipline as that will require a detailed investigation to locate all the paper trail but that has not been easy.

At one point FIU invited various companies to carry out the audit but the process proved costly.

“This has been a huge issue, unfortunately doing thorough investigation may require a detailed audit of paper trailing and trying to separate forged documentation from genuine ones. It is not easy. Close to 170 companies have since been banned from the auction but some of the shareholders of those companies go on to create new companies,” said an RBZ source. The situation has been compounded by the country’s companies registry system, which has made it difficult for FIU to track some of those shareholders involved in various cases of money laundering and externalisation. The alleged dribbling of systems has triggered the attention of Treasury and the government. There are indications that Treasury is pushing for an alternative system on foreign currency allocation.

“Treasury is not happy with the foreign currency auction platform. The indiscipline has been unprecedented and a lack of clear plan to address the indiscipline is unsettling Treasury bosses. There are efforts to find another sustainable foreign currency allocation system,” the source said.

RBZ through its arm, FIU is also targeting banks whose employees have been involved in foreign currency dealings through bringing their own companies to the auction.

“These foreign currency trading deals have also been happening in banks and that does not mean they are legal. Those employees, including some bank executives, are now bringing their own companies to the auction. The RBZ is aware of that and there is an ongoing investigation,” the source added.

The Reserve Bank Governor John Mangudya said yesterday the central  bank has put in place measures to enhance due diligence on bids coming to the forex auction system to minimise abuse of the system.

“We continue to encourage good behaviour in the forex market and to urge banks, as the gatekeepers in their capacity as authourised dealers, to ensure that there are no cracks within the banking system,” he said.

Meanwhile, the challenges facing the auction system have reportedly reached critical levels in the dairy production industry where manufacturers are failing to access forex for importing raw materials while third party importers of the same raw materials receive bigger allocations. In the end, the third party importers have been selling the raw materials to the manufacturers at a premium leading to an increase in prices of various dairy products. The same has been happening in the cooking oil industry and this justified the recent spike in cooking oil prices where cooking oil manufacturers are now getting crude oil from third parties due to the foreign currency shortage.

Cooking oil manufacturers are selling most of their products in local currency and have been battling to secure foreign currency on the auction.

The Independent is reliably informed that cooking oil manufacturers were recently summoned by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to explain the recent spike in cooking oil prices.  The manufacturer’s argument was centred on the failure to access foreign currency on the auction and an influx of third-party crude oil suppliers.

“The RBZ is looking at banning commodity brokers from the auction because this has been tantamount to importing inflation as well as fuelling rent-seeking behaviour. It is unfortunate that most commodity brokers have been the biggest beneficiaries of the auction,” the source said.

Mangudya last month confirmed to this publication that there was a syndicate of shadowy firms that have been systematically raiding the auction system of millions of dollars through raising fake invoices.

This has resulted in the externalisation of millions of United States dollars to South Africa, Dubai and China among other foreign jurisdictions. Zimbabwe’s auction system is reportedly under siege from politically connected socialites who have been mining the greenback without any detection from authorities.

Mangudya has on several occasions warned banks against deliberately ignoring KYC terms, highlighting that it was not the role of the central bank to do due diligence on individual bank clients.

The apex bank is currently monitoring a list of banks which are not complying, citing that funds are being externalised through this intricate scheme.

Last year, a local bank was fined ZW$40 million (US$322 000) over abuse of the auction and several matters of that magnitude are still under investigation.

Mangudya recently disclosed that some of the country’s largest corporates with a consistent appetite for foreign currency were fraudulently delegating a number of “aggregators”, who, in turn, also shop at the foreign currency auction market bidding for the limited United States dollars available.

“This created a fictitious shortage of foreign currency in the country. There are also instances where some of these companies might be bringing goods and equipment as stated on the invoices.”

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TINASHE MAKICHI
THE Joint Operations Command (Joc) has applied intense pressure on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s investigating arm, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to firmly deal with illicit financial transactions threatening to collapse the economy.

Well-placed government officials yesterday said a heated Joc meeting held recently in Harare described the financial situation as a “national security matter” that requires an urgent robust tackling to contain inflationary pressures.

Joc consists of securocrats drawn from the army, police, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and prison services. Over the years, the securocrats have proved to be a force to reckon with in decision making in important issues that affect the day-to-day running of the country.

The security chiefs’ concern over arbitrage and rent-seeking behaviour draining the foreign currency auction system of the scarce United States dollar is likely to witness a fresh clampdown.

The tumultuous behind the scenes events at the forex auction have contributed towards the continued depreciation of the local currency and fuelling inflation. The erosion of workers’ earnings poses a security threat, according to some of the thorny issues raised by Joc.

Having a disgruntled population during an election season could have attracted the hawks’ eye of Joc commanders as forex parallel rates skyrocket.

Black market forex rate has soared to US$1:ZW$240 while the official figures stand at US$1:ZW$124. The problem is that most retailers are pegging prices of goods and services at forex parallel market rates.

The intervention of Joc in the financial crisis matter will likely to culminate in the fining, freezing of more corporate bank accounts and arrest of high profile figures involved in foreign currency exchange-rate manipulation, sources warned.

A high level security official said Joc had no kind words for the FIU during the recent closed door meeting. The law enforcement agents’ bosses who attended the meeting suggested that the FIU be put under the CIO.

The CIO is considered sophisticated as it has the human capital with requisite investigative prowess to combat complicated white collar crimes.

A highly placed source close to the developments said: “Three weeks ago there was a Joc meeting. Joc basically called FIU to order.

“Intelligence demanded that FIU be moved to the President’s Office (CIO) because the forex black market is undermining the economy. Some quarters in government are saying it is becoming a potential security threat.”

He went on to say, “So Joc is saying if FIU is failing to deal with the companies and people manipulating foreign currency exchange, give us the powers to act. What this means is that FIU is going to become more brutal because they need to protect their reputation.

“They (CIO) wrote a position paper arguing for the take-over of financial intelligence from RBZ. They are saying FIU is not doing enough because these companies are committing crimes and no action is being taken. The security bosses sought to understand why the FIU was ineffective in executing its duties. There was an argument that the FIU has enough teeth guided by law to deal with the issue of financial indiscipline.”

The FIU this week froze bank accounts for four companies for alleged money laundering activities which are still under probe.

The affected entities are Transerv, Electrosales, Halsted Brothers Ltd and Enbee Store, who could be the first victims of a sting operation by FIU after being jolt into action by Joc.

The FIU has been engaged in running battles with unscrupulous businesses and bankers. This has seen the investigating arm of the apex bank penalising several big corporates.

Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga recently issued a chilling warning against foreign currency exchange-rate manipulators.

Chiwenga claimed that the government had honoured business demands but efforts to revive the economy were derailed by economic saboteurs.

He threatened to take action against those externalising funds.

Last week a Chinese restaurant, Shangri-La, was slapped with a US$30 000 fine for pegging prices way above official exchange rates.

The FIU has in the past frozen mobile money accounts to control the liquidity flow and root out currency saboteurs.

The majority of financial transactions were conducted on mobile platforms with Ecocash accounting for about 95% of the volumes and the remainder being NetOne’s OneMoney.

There are indications that transactions valued at more than US$75 million were executed on agent lines even though the nature of their businesses did not support such huge money movement.

The FIU last year cracked the whip on money remittance services in a move that led to the tightening of screws and limits on withdrawals.

A circular late last year announced financial controls aimed at ensuring that financial institutions are not used as conduits for money laundering, terrorism financing and other illicit transactions.

In doing so, RBZ through FIU set a maximum withdrawal threshold of US$500 per transaction and up to US$2 000 per calendar month for a customer with a bank account with the sending institution.

For walk-in customers with no account with the institution, the maximum withdrawal threshold has been set at US$250 per transaction, up to US$1 000 per calendar month.

To ensure sanity in this sector, FIU said domestic foreign currency remittance services were permissible for person-to-person transfers. Corporate entities are expected to use inter-account transfers for business payments.

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Source: Feature: Climate change-inspired coal seam fires a threat to human life – NewsDay Zimbabwe

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

SIX-YEAR-OLD Lincoln Martin Tom constantly scratches his severely burnt feet. He is visibly in pain.

Lincoln, from Hwange’s Number 3, saw his life turn into a nightmare after he accidentally stepped on coal seam fires while walking home from church in Madumabisa village with his grandmother in September last year.

“It was around 5pm after church when they were coming home and Lincoln accidentally stepped on the fire,” his mother Gloria Tom narrated.

“There was no sign that there could be fire beneath that ground. His feet were severely burnt and he is yet to recover from the burns.

Tom said her son was hospitalised for two months at the Hwange Colliery Hospital as doctors battled to treat his burns.

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Doctors had to graft skin from his thighs to repair the severe damage on his feet, but the wounds are yet to heal.

“I suspect that the burns went deep beyond his skin because the wounds are taking too long to heal,” she said.

The tragedy disrupted Lincoln’s early childhood development education as he is still struggling to walk despite being discharged from hospital on November 9 last year.

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His parents are struggling to pay his hospital bills and to buy medication because their sources of income are limited.

“We did not get help from Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) or anyone and I had challenges in footing the hospital bills and buying medication,” she said.

“Whenever they could, my siblings used to assist with medication, but we have not been able to buy all the medication that he requires. It’s painful to see my child in this condition because at times he wakes up in the middle of the night to scratch his feet, he will be in so much pain that my husband and I have to watch helplessly.”

A number of children and even adults in Hwange can relate to young Lincoln’s harrowing tale because a growing number of people are falling victim to the underground fires at the HCCL-owned coal mining concessions.

The coal seam fires have forced government to hire a German firm, DDT, to establish the causes of the fires and find a solution to the hazard.

According to Global Forest Watch, coal seam fires occur underground when a layer of coal in the earth’s crust is ignited.

The fires are often hard to detect because they spread underground and are even harder to extinguish.

Scientists say the underground fires are burning hundreds of millions of tonnes of coal globally every year and are contributing to climate change and increasingly becoming a threat to human life as witnessed in Hwange.

Experts say the coal seam fires may be contributing more than 3% of the world’s annual carbon dioxide emissions, which cause global warming.

Research by Stacher, which was published in the International Journal of Coal Geology, also says the fires release noxious chemicals into the air which condense to contaminate the soil and water with substances such as mercury, selenium and sulphides.

In Hwange, the underground fires are taking a toll on road infrastructure, with one major road now closed after it caved in, and they are also causing serious health complications for locals that accidentally step on them.

Scores of women and children are now nursing life-altering injuries like those inflicted on Lincoln.

Four-year-old Sihlobosenkosi Junior Nyoni from Madumabisa village was also severely burnt in the hands as he drove away a stray herd of cattle.

His distraught mother, Chipo Nyoni said the accident, which happened on September 2 last year, could have been avoided if the HCCL dumpsite at B Section was cordoned off.

Sihlobosenkosi, who was in the company of other children from the neighbourhood, was burnt while picking a stone close to the dumpsite.

“When we took him home, I was advised by others to apply a raw scrambled egg on his body to treat the burns,” Nyoni said.

“We kept applying the egg and some creams for several days, but his hands remained swollen and the skin was peeling off.”

Nyoni, a vegetable vendor in the coal mining town, said she failed to take her son to hospital because she could not afford the bills.

She fears one of Sihlobosenkosi’s hands would be permanently disfigured by the burns.

In December last year, eight-year-old Alisha Sekina Muzviti from Makwika village in Hwange died a month after she was burnt by the seam coal fires while relieving herself in a nearby bush.

A November 2021 Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) report titled Effects of Coal Seam Fires and Other Environmental Hazards on Children in Hwange draws a link between the raging fires and climate change.

CNRG said the fires had left some Hwange residents with near-death experiences and permanent disabilities.

It said several children had fallen victim to the coal seam fires and suffered a range of physical and psychological effects, which include post-traumatic stress disorder.

“In most mining regions in Zimbabwe, environmental laws are poorly implemented, resulting in creation of death traps for children who often find joy in playing with abandoned equipment and chemicals or use open pits, sometimes with toxic substances, as swimming pools,” the report said.

“Children, by their very nature, love playing and having fun. They are curious, experimental and adventurous. They have limited knowledge of the life changing dangers that surround them in mining compounds.”

HCCL managing director Charles Zinyemba told journalists during a recent tour that most people who get burnt by the fires would have trespassed into protected areas.

Zinyemba dismissed as “untrue” residents’ claims that they are forced to enter some of the unprotected areas to access water or ablution facilities.

“We have done everything to ensure that those residents have water, although at a rationed rate,” he said.

Speaking during the same tour, Mines and Mining Development minister Winston Chitando, said government was addressing the problem of coal seam fires in Hwange.

Chitando said the German firm, DDT, which was hired by HCCL to find a solution to the menace, would conclude its work next month.

“Afterwards, the government will ensure that serious action is taken to address the problem once and for all,” he said.

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But CNRG said lack of investment in recreational facilities by mining companies was one of the reasons that had resulted in children playing in dangerous zones, hence a need for more practical solutions and recreational infrastructure.

“In most mining regions in Zimbabwe, environmental laws are poorly implemented, resulting in creation of death traps for children who often find joy in playing with abandoned. Equipment, and chemicals or use open pits, sometime with toxic substances, as swimming pools,” the CNRG report read.

“It is, therefore, important for mining companies to put in place policies that protect and safeguard children from physical danger and dangerous sites must be properly secured to ensure children do not gain access. In places with underground fires such as Hwange, the company and the Environmental Management Agency have a duty to keep watch over these fires and warn the community accordingly.”

CNRG also recommended that companies that dig and leave open pits “must be heavily fined and banned from operating” as they posed risks to unsuspecting children.

It challenged the Health and Child Care ministry to carry out inspections on the safety and wellbeing of children in mining zones and make policy recommendations to government for tightening of laws to ensure children do not fall victim to mining hazards.

“The Department of Social Development should consider providing psychosocial support to all the victims and their families, including support for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. The government and mining companies should capacitate local health centres to deal with victims of coal seam fire disasters. Government need to come up with rehabilitation programs for victims coal seam fire victims and also how to manage the coal seam fires.”

CNRG also added that government needed to align its progressive climate change response strategy and policy to practical reduction in coal activities in Hwange.

Yet, for victims like Lincoln, the action might be a case of too little too late as they have to live with permanent scars and life-altering experiences.

• This story was produced under the WAN-IFRA Media Freedom African Media Grants initiative. The content produced reflects the author’s views and not those of WAN-IFRA Media Freedom, WAN-IFRA FR, or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark

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Source: Five-year-old girl drowns in Mukuvisi river – NewsDay Zimbabwe

BY GARY MTOMBENI / TAPFUMANEI MUCHABAIWA
A five year old Early Childhood Development pupil slipped and drowned in Mukuvisi river this morning on her way to school in Waterfalls, Harare.

She was in the company of her Grade 7 sister and maid.

Harare police spokesperson, Inspector Tendai Mwanza confirmed the incident.

“It is very unfortunate that life has been lost. We urge guardians and parents to ensure that children are accompanied whenever they are going to and from school,” Mwanza said.

“We also encourage members of the public not to cross streams and rivers were it is risky to do so. Safety should always be prioritised.”

A number of people have been swept away while crossing flooded rivers or streams.

Three days ago, brothers from Chinhoyi drowned in Angwa River while panning for gold.

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