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NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

Letters: Zim needs explanation on diamonds revenue

Opinion & Analysis
Zim needs explanation on diamonds revenue FORMER Finance minister Tendai Biti has always complained that the Zimbabwean-Chinese joint venture diamond mining company Anjin failed to remit revenue to government from its operations in the Marange fields. In 2012, he raised the possibility that there was a “parallel government” that was the recipient of the revenue. […]

Zim needs explanation on diamonds revenue FORMER Finance minister Tendai Biti has always complained that the Zimbabwean-Chinese joint venture diamond mining company Anjin failed to remit revenue to government from its operations in the Marange fields.

In 2012, he raised the possibility that there was a “parallel government” that was the recipient of the revenue.

On June 17, in parliamentary testimony reported by the media, a top government official confirmed that the Zimbabwean military, have a partnership with the Chinese-owned Anjin.

He said Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI) owned 40%  of the Anjin mining company. ZDI is a private company, but all of the shares are owned by the Defence ministry.

The State-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation also owns 10% of Anjin.

The remaining half of the shares are held by a Chinese military company, Chinese Defence Industries.

The suspicion was that the Defence ministry was the “parallel government” posited by Biti.

In 2012, the government of the time was a result of a power-sharing arrangement between Zanu PF and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) stitched together in the aftermath of Zimbabwe’s 2008 violent elections.

Biti was one of the founders of the MDC. The Defence ministry was controlled by then President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is now President, was the Defence minister at the time, and was widely seen as a leading candidate to succeed Mugabe.

Many believed it was not much of a stretch to see diamond money routed around the Finance ministry bankrolling Mnangagwa’s political agenda.-Campbell

Zim solutions must be homegrown THERE is little the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) can do to affect the crisis unfolding in Zimbabwe.

The best it can do is to try and use whatever little influence it can manage to persuade Zimbabwe to find solutions to her own problems.

There is a lot of paranoia about Chinese engagement in Africa.

The problem is that, unfortunately, there are so many people in the West who still think that Africans are like a group of children.

Africans should be able to choose for themselves what level of involvement they allow China.

Quite frankly, Sadc is responsible for economic integration and political development of economic issues.

Therefore, it is important to stay focused on those issues. Much as political issues are equally important because without stability and all these other things and political values such as democracy, good governance and respect for the rule of law are not possible.

One cannot, in other words, develop in an atmosphere of instability.

But the focus must be on development and economic integration; because that is the way we should go. We do not want to dissipate all our energies on political issues.

Sadc should try to assist Zimbabweans to get out of the situation in which they sadly find themselves in.

Neighbouring leaders should assist in mediating between and among the various political stakeholders in Zimbabwe to make sure that there is peace and stability.-Merafhe

Time to deflate Zanu PF hegemony bubble THE economy is in dire straits. Efforts to revive it are hitting a brickwall. Good economy will always follow good politics.

Our politics is too toxic, making it difficult to solve the country’s economic puzzle.

As long as we have the Zanu PF government in place, the economy will always scream.

People no longer trust the system because of its tainted history of abusing funds and failing to respect the rule of law.

During the Government of National Unity (GNU), the economy stabilised and it started bearing some  fruits.

When the GNU ended, the economy started nose diving, until President Emmerson Mnangagwa took over from Robert  Mugabe through a coup.

During that transformation period until the 2018 election, the economy reacted positively, but that quick change alone was not enough to put Zimbabwe on the recovery path.

Soon after a disputed election, Mnangagwa’s government found itself struggling to stand on its feet as the economy was back to its factory settings.

This should sink in people’s minds that the economy will forever play hide and seek with the Zanu PF government.

The current President has been a failure since the 1970s, one of the main architect of Mugabe failures and cannot be the right candidate to change the people’s fortunes next year.

Critical institutions like hospitals are operating under stringent budgets. The health system is in a crisis. Health workers are leaving in droves for greener pastures.

In an environment where there is an economic growth, one can notice the flourishing and booming of industries, construction of buildings, infrastructure, like houses, schools and hospitals. Economic growth is felt in people’s pockets.

This time, the people must unite and deflate the bubble of Zanu PF hegemony which has caused untold suffering to most Zimbabweans.

This oppressive political government and its rampant corrupt governing elite should not be trusted with any power, but should be simply voted out of power and pave way for new leadership with user-friendly sound economic policies.

We cannot expect a government which always thinks of incarcerating members of opposition political parties to fix the economy.

Despite Mnangagwa’s skulduggery, he must be shown that Zimbabweans can no longer be taken for a ride again.

People must put the proverbial last bullet in the chamber for Zanu PF to go for good.

We know this is the time when we hear and witness outright propaganda and manipulated videos and fake statements  claiming foreign support for Nelson Chamisa and his Citizens Coalition for Change party.

Mnangagwa’s political appetite to erode the democratic space for his political expediency must be rejected.

His idea of wanting to consolidate power and dominate and control the political narrative should be exposed and resisted  by whatever means.

He is always tightening the democratic space by introducing abusive laws to suppress the opposition.

The country is dead and with no hope to recover, especially with this current crop of clueless and visionless leaders who always think of fattening and lining their pockets.

Change must come.-Leonard Koni