Rebuilding Foundations Caring for People
Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe seized Mike Campbell’s highly productive family farm. When Mike and his son-in-law, Ben Freeth, took the Zimbabwe government to court at the regional court of justice, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal, Mugabe's thugs burned down their houses, kidnapped them, and fractured Ben’s skull during their night-time torture session at a militia camp . Ben joins Vivek Ramaswamy on the Truth Podcast in the United States to discuss the rise of tyranny, the importance of property rights, and the dangers of victimhood politics. He also discusses Lessons for America.
Zim loses US$124m Border Timbers appeal case
The UK Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by the Zimbabwe government to set aside the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award in the Border Timbers expropriation case claiming the government was immune from the Court’s adjudicative jurisdiction. Both justices found that sovereign immunity was displaced. The UK courts in January dismissed Zimbabwe’s application to set aside the order of October 2021. By an ICSID award dated 28 July 2015, Zimbabwe was ordered to pay the Claimants US$124 million plus interest, and a further US$1 million in moral damages and costs.
Cathy Buckle’s latest newsletter: Of comets, five dollar notes and tea bags
As always, in a country in crisis, there was much to think about as I sat waiting and watching [for Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (also known as Comet 2023 A3) to be visible in the night sky] and as usual my thoughts were about our economic absurdity. Out shopping earlier in the week I had handed over a five US dollar note, the exact price of the teabags I wanted to buy. The teller refused to accept my money saying it had a one-millimetre tear on the top right of the bank note and that I should change it at the bank. First you have to have an account at that bank. Second the bank charges a 10% fee to change a bank note….
Business community urges government to abandon failing ZiG Currency
Business leaders have urged the Zimbabwean government to ditch the local currency the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) from the basket of currencies as it is increasingly losing its value, reports Business Times. They argue that this devaluation is hurting businesses and threatening the viability of local companies. The value of ZiG plummeted in September this year, from ZWG13:US$1 dropping to ZWG27.44 to the US dollar on Thursday, 24 October. On the parallel market, ZiG is currently trading between ZWG40 and ZWG50 to the US dollar.
For better or worse, the Commonwealth and Zimbabwe’s fates align
The Commonwealth’s biennial summit – the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting – in Samoa (21-26 October) is a pivotal moment for Africa, notes the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, pointing out that “defending the Commonwealth Charter’s values of democracy, human rights, the rule of law and good governance should be fundamental to member states’ success.” However, with respect to Zimbabwe’s possible readmission, The Times (UK) comments that “The club of 2.5 billion citizens is at a crossroads “and asks “Should it readmit a country that has rigged elections and persecuted opponents?
Remembering Dr Jackie Stone – 1965-2024
Zimbabweans were shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the untimely death of Dr Jackie Stone on 3rd October 2024. Dr Stone devoted her life and career to patients. She will be remembered as a dedicated doctor facing the intense pressures of censorship because of saving lives during Covid. Her use of Ivermectin for prophylaxis and the treatment of Covid-19 resulted in a 10-fold reduction in mortality. Despite her achievements and the fact that Ivermectin had been used very successfully for a long time and was proven to be safe, she was disciplined by the Zimbabwean Medical Board and stripped of her licence to practice.
The sanctions lie: How Zimbabwe’s ruling elite is misleading the nation
As Zimbabwe moves towards the so-called "SADC Anti-Sanctions Day" on the 25th of October, the need arises again to unpack the shameful lies spread by the ruling establishment about these measures. There are no sanctions barring [the U.S.] from doing business with Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans. The only financial restrictions are on a few individuals and entities named under the US Global Magnitsky Act of 2016, namely President Emmerson Mnangagwa, his wife Auxillia, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, politician Owen Ncube, businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei, and six others. These have a very minimal direct impact on the economy.
The real story behind Britain’s withdrawal from Zimbabwe’s land reform: Exposing corruption and mismanagement
The real reasons for Britain’s decision to withdraw from funding Zimbabwe’s land reform lie not in an arbitrary betrayal but in serious concerns over corruption, mismanagement, and human rights abuses within Zimbabwe’s government,” writes Zimbabwean commentator Tendai Ruben Mbofana. “These issues are rarely, if ever, acknowledged by the Zimbabwean leadership when explaining the breakdown of the land reform process.” This article aims to demystify the propaganda surrounding the UK’s withdrawal from land reform funding and highlight the corruption that characterized the program during the time Britain was involved.
Zimbabwe’s moral conscience has gone
In Cathy Buckle’s latest newsletter from Zimbabwe she writes: “I can’t stop thinking about the most unbelievable news that has shaken Zimbabwe in the last week. Twenty-four and a half years after the Zanu PF government sanctioned the violent seizure of privately owned commercial farms, they have just announced that the people who got free farms as a result of the land seizures, would now be allowed to sell those farms to other black Zimbabweans who did not receive farms for free. How bizarre, talk about how to make money in Zimbabwe….” Terrorised and threatened with death, Cathy was forced to leave her farm.
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube, the law, and unchecked budget indiscipline
In each successive year since 2015, the government has exceeded its approved expenditure without seeking approval from Parliament as is required by the Constitution. The levels of unauthorised expenditure that have been declared so far in the abandoned Financial Adjustment Bills calling for condonation to 2022 are US$13.8 billion over the eight years that Parliament has not been fully apprised of and approved. The 2023 final figures aren’t available yet, but the trend of over-expenditure is likely to continue. The Minister had 60 days from the date that he knew he had gone over budget to approach Parliament for forgiveness.
Cathy Buckle’s latest newsletter: The Time Before the Rain
“In the blistering September heat in the midst of a devastating drought in Zimbabwe, I thought it was going to be hard to find the beauty in our country on a recent visit to the wild, but it just needed a bit more patience and a closer look,” writes Cathy Buckle in her latest newsletter from Zimbabwe. “Suddenly three towering giraffes appear from nowhere, their camouflage hiding them until the last minute and then they are gone again, slipping away between stunted, blackened, droughted trees. Again and again, we cross huge river beds which are dry, vast, sandy stretches littered with big balls of fibrous, brown elephant droppings.
Zimbabwe’s Water Crisis: Boreholes will cause more harm than good
“Just how sustainable is the drilling of boreholes all over the country as a way of resolving our country's water shortages?” asks Zimbabwean commentator Tendai Ruben Mbofana in one of his latest opinion pieces. He points out that, “As we grapple with the effects of climate change, outdated infrastructure, and unsustainable practices, it is clear that our reliance on borehole drilling alone is no longer tenable…. Over-extraction has led to groundwater depletion, land subsidence, and water quality degradation.” Given that the government has no solutions, “it is time Zimbabwe privatized its water management system.”
Centre for Natural Resources Governance – elephant cull statement
The Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) has learned with shock and deep concern a decision made by the Zimbabwean government to slaughter 200 elephants ostensibly to feed hungry citizens and reduce the elephant population, said to be way over the country’s carrying capacity. We argue that the decision is unsustainable and does very little to address the drought effects or the conservation cause. The move has the potential to open floodgates for poaching, especially bearing in mind that the poisoning of elephants and smuggling of ivory has been a continuous challenge over the years.
Do the Chinese come to Zimbabwe to invest or to pillage our resources?
President Mnangagwa has returned from China, where he attended the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). In a statement, he said: “This is the best time to invest in Zimbabwe.” However, commentator Tendai Ruben Mbofana questions the value of China’s investments given that their mining operations have resulted in displacement and appalling hardship to local communities, massive pollution of the environment which is causing cancer, cholera, typhoid, dental and skeletal fluorosis, as well as killing livestock, while the wealth generated flows into the coffers of foreign entities, notably China.
Newsletter from Cathy Buckle: “Come with me to the hand pump”
Come along with me to the borehole on the side of the road in urban Zimbabwe, a new part of my everyday life. Up soon after 03:30am I am getting ready to go to the nearest ‘hand pump’ long before dawn. Water hasn’t come out of my taps for many weeks and so I have to go and get it at the ‘hand pump’ on the roadside…. As I get my breath back, I think of the YouTube video of Zimbabwe’s grandiose new parliament and its long rectangular pool near the entrance to the building. Fountains and water overflowing down a wide stone stairway. The extravagance of it all [a gift from China costingUS$200 million] is an absurd.
Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe, not fit to lead SADC
Writing for The Namibian newspaper in Windhoek, the former seat of the SADC Tribunal Court of Justice, which was closed down at the instigation of Zimbabwe’s then president Robert Mugabe in 2012, social political commentator Vitalio Angula warns that “having [Zimbabwean president Emmerson] Mnangagwa as the [incoming] chair is an affront to the values of human rights and democracy that SADC nations believe in…. For heads of state of the 16-member regional bloc to agree to be led by a tyrant is an affront to the principles SADC leaders swore to uphold when they signed the treaty that created the regional bloc.
44th SADC Summit: SA’s Mmusi Maimane condemns human rights abuse in Zimbabwe
Mmusi Maimane, the leader of opposition party Build One South Africa (BOSA), has decried the failure of South Africa’s African National Congress party (ANC) to condemn the human rights abuses and brutal crackdown in Zimbabwe by its long-time ally, the ruling ZANU-PF party, headed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. This is ahead of the upcoming 44th Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit set to be held in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, on Saturday 17 August. Maimane stresses that: “We must play no part in enabling evil and make no mistake the Mnangagwa regime is evil. They lie, kill and destroy.”
STATEMENT: ALARMING ESCALATION OF STATE REPRESSION IN ZIMBABWE AHEAD OF 44TH SADC SUMMIT
Human rights and civil society organisations across the African continent are deeply concerned about the severe restriction of civic space and the systematic erosion of fundamental freedoms in Zimbabwe. The recent escalation in state-sponsored repression, characterised by abductions, arbitrary arrests and unjust denial of bail, torture, and harassment of human rights activists and opposition political members, represents a profoundly disturbing trend. This repressive environment is particularly concerning ahead of the 44th session of the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government scheduled for 17 August 2024.
