Taka Chiruka

love Zimbabwe

[Jamwanda @Jamwanda2]

Zimbabwean journalists, pre-eminently @zenzele and @rtapfumaneyi, @China_Amb_Zim has made this rare history find for you to follow through!!! Let’s get the old man’s story out!!!! Thank you @China_Amb_Zim👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

[BaShona. @BaShonaBaShona]

Like him or not, all the name-callings will never stop him. Dr. Tagwireyi is here to deliver and help those in need in every corner of Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 . He is taking a leaf from President Dr. ED Mnangagwa @edmnangagwa.
Well done, Chitova.

[TheNewsHawks @NewsHawksLive]

#HowTheChineseAreLootingZim
#ChinaInterestAgendaExplained
By Eddie Cross
I was astonished to hear the other day that there are now over 85 000 Chinese nationals living in Zimbabwe. I questioned this estimate and was told no, its real. What on earth are they doing here? They are not migrants; they all want to go home eventually. Many have their families back in China and go back regularly. They are here to work? Why?
Then it dawned on me, we are the new Australia. They have targeted us for raw materials for the industrial monster at home. We have lots of targets - the largest iron ore deposits in the world, plenty of limestone and coal so we can make steel. They need to move steel production away from China to avoid US and European trade restrictions and to move dirty, polluting industry to the pristine blue skies of Africa.
We have the best Chrome deposits in the world, 9 billion tonnes of it worth a conservative US$100 trillion. We have enormous Lithium reserves and they are loaded with other critical minerals that are in fact worth more than the Lithium and we do not understand what that means. We applaud them because shortly we will be exporting 5 million tonnes of lithium concentrate a year to China, worth perhaps US$4 billion in new export earnings, four times our famous tobacco crop, but missing the fact that it might contain other metals and minerals worth many times more.
A quarter of our gold output goes to China and we have no idea about how they are doing that or what is involved, but the evidence of open cast mining, large investments in milling and extracting machinery for the small-scale mining industry here which is among the most important in the world, is everywhere. They ignore environmental regulations and leave behind a moonscape of countryside that looks like a World War 1 battlefield.
They are exploiting our finest coal reserves for their smelters and steel production, even exporting their surplus.
It all started when we discovered the Marange diamond fields and they joined forces with our old army generals and created a company that was eventually responsible for 80 per cent of the production of raw diamonds there. I estimate that US$30 billion in raw diamonds has been produced between 2008 and today. At one stage we were larger than Botswana as a diamond producing State.
The Chinese company that was involved was a tiny, rural corporation in China, owned by the Red Army. Today it is a multinational corporation with a whole bevy of top-class hotels, a private Jet and headquarters for Africa in Mozambique. Our old Army Generals all benefitted greatly, just look at the homes many of them have built in this country, the physical evidence of Chinese owned real estate in Harare is everywhere. The people of Marange still wallow in poverty and the active diamond fields do not have a single kilometer of tarred road although they have an international standard airport which can receive large aircraft to fly product out and bring people and equipment in.
In the field of infrastructure to support all these large-scale investments, Chinese activity is focused totally on what they need to achieve their goals here. Power, water, railways, even Port capacity. Just to give you some idea of the scale of what they have in mind they plan an artificial Port on the coast of Mozambique capable of handling 200 million tonnes of cargo annually. That is four times the capacity of Maputo.
What concerns me, is that none of this activity has any application to the needs of Zimbabwe. When I investigated the Marange diamond fields in 2012, as a Member of Parliament, I was able, with relative ease, to get the production information I needed for 5 of the 6 mining companies involved. Why, because they all employed Zimbabweans and I got daily output figures and even quality data (19 per cent Gemstone quality) and even sales data. The last remaining miner was Chinese owned and operated and they employed no Zimbabwean staff. To estimate what they were doing I had to look at US sourced satellite images which clearly showed what was going on below.
The benefit to Zimbabwe of this level of Chinese activity here is evident. They buy the majority of our tobacco, our ferrochrome exports run to tens of millions of dollars a year. Drive past Hwange Colliery, owned notionally by the Government but in fact now largely a Chinese asset. The smoke stacks of coke batteries belching into the atmosphere. The queues of heavy-duty trucks carrying coal to local and regional markets. The road north and south now smashed and barely usable.
There is little or no value addition except for the primary production phase. There are no plans to invest in a Lithium refinery to produce a product suitable for use in the production of batteries. Even the steel plant is only producing steel billets for export to China for conversion into finished product. International sanctions may force them to produce steel for sale to manufacturers in the West but for the time being they are producing a product for export in primary form.
Right now, the decision by the Zimbabwe Government not to maintain power subsidies on electricity going to their furnaces, is forcing the Chinese companies to invest in coal-based power production.
They are doing so at a cost of US$600 000 per megawatt with the objective of meeting their own needs at about US$6 cents per Kilowatt, one third of the current ZESA tariff which is necessary because the new Chinese built power station at Hange cost three times per Megawatt than what their own plant will cost. To achieve those sorts of outcome they will have to secure coal at rock bottom prices, while they supply ZESA at three times the cost.
This is a very concerning situation and the question for us as a nation, is what do we do about it. First we have to recognise, that unlike Australia where privately owned and operated mines for coal and iron ore, mine these products for sale to China at a market related price. Australia has therefore been one of the main beneficiaries of the Chinese expanding economy. Australian criticism of Chinese human and political rights has evoked a very strong response leading to the sort of activity we see here.
The Belt and Road initiatives in African and many other developing States almost always involve overpriced infrastructure which has to be financed on commercial terms. Hwange Power Station is a prime example, the railway line in Kenya and Ethiopia is another example. In many respects the main reason for this is that the Western world has not been either active or supportive.
We in Zimbabwe need to recognise that China can be used to drive development but it must be on our terms. They must employ our people, their investments in infrastructure must serve out nation and not just their interests. We must get back full value of our exports to China. Our relationship with China must be carefully balanced, they must not be allowed to bribe our officials to secure benefits that are not in our national interests.
The rape and pillage of our resources for marginal results simply cannot be allowed to continue.

[Taka Chiruka @ChirukaTaka]

Bare fact is that USD pensions, with or without “defined” benefits have spectacularly lost value not once under the ZPF government. This goes for any form of retirement investment that may have been intended to cushion these former executives. HEARTBREAKING 💔

[Jess Geraldine @VaChivi_]

How many Zimbabweans right now, had senior positions in companies ? ZISCO, Renco, Shabani, Hwange, kuma Industry, are POOR POOR POOR !!!!

You think only he himself worked ? The people who retired and are selling chickens now 🐓 to fund retirement, to care for their families didn’t have assets?? Economic collapse is a REALITY only which the elite and thieves in the country have a luxury of dismissing.

[Science girl @sciencegirl]

A short story with a message
https://t.co/Z3rRWSLNi7

[@ZcmNap @ZdvNap]

#DearZimbabwe, The Zimbabwe that all of us expected in 1980 at the dawn of Independence. This is not it! It is time we reminded those privileged to hold Zimbabwe🇿🇼government positions, to remember who they work for. They work for us Zimbabwe🇿🇼citizens. It is our constitutional right to peacefully assemble and protest. Section 59! No one can take away that right from Zimbabwe citizens. None. No one! It is subversive to use Zimbabwe🇿🇼state security apparatus to illegally detain and torture Zimbabwe🇿🇼citizens. It is time! #ZimbabweAriseCampaign #ForZimbabwe #ForSadc #ForEveryone #StandUpForZimbabwe @SADC_News

[Peter Gift Mutasa @MutasaPeter]

They committed no crimes

They celebrated the Day of an African Child

Yet they are in prison

Those who looted the state dry are enjoying the fruits of their corrupt deals

This is the sad state of our country today

#FreePoliticalPrisoners

[Majaira Jairosi⚙️ @MJairosi]

President @HHichilema is one of the morally upright leaders to have emerged within Southern Africa region. A leader par excellence, whose forte is to see a peaceful & united region guided by @SADC_News principles. When such leaders like Hichilema emerge, Africans must rejoice.

[ZimLive @zimlive]

UN rights commission urges immediate release of Zimbabwe activists

'We are concerned by reports of arrests, harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders and political activists'

https://t.co/PSsAPXisAO

[Hopewell Chin’ono @daddyhope]

A Zimbabwean police officer amplifying Section 59 of Zimbabwe’s constitution!

This should be RETWEETED for other police officers to see!

[Rozvi Prince🇿🇼👑🫀⚙️⚖️ @rozvi_prince]

The most misunderstood tweet of the day. @nelsonchamisa never said let’s go for an election, he said Zimbabwe must have PROPER elections. The issue is in restoring public confidence. The question that should be asked is ‘how’.

[Takudzwa Ngadziore @ngadziore]

#EndImpunity_zw
A RETWEET to let the world know
🛑

[Protect Defenders Zw @ProtectHRDs]

Free All Prisoners of Conscience!

[Fadzayi Mahere🇿🇼 @advocatemahere]

🟣DAY 51.

The continued unconstitutional detention without trial of Senator @JamesonTimba and the #Avondale78 is a shameless example of the continued weaponisation of the legal system by ZANU PF to silence opponents. It’s not a crime to allow young people to have a private barbecue at your private residence to commemorate the Soweto Uprising.

Bail is a constitutional entitlement. They have not committed any crime but even if they had, they’d be entitled to the presumption of innocence and to be tried while residing at home.

Freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and the right to liberty are constitutionally-protected.

We must all speak out against this affront to our Constitution. We’ve seen this script over and over and it’s the best evidence of a regime that’s declared war on its people.

Is this the liberation that our forefathers and mothers died for? Why use colonial tactics against the very people for whom a war of freedom was fought? Why deem any person who disagrees a “dissident”?

The jailed young people should be in work, studying or making a living for their families yet they’re caged up in intolerable conditions because those at the top are afraid of shadows. Everyone of these political prisoners is innocent.

Every progressive Zimbabwean has a duty to speak out until they’re freed.

We need new leaders.🇿🇼

[Hopewell Chin’ono @daddyhope]

RETWEET

This is Jeremiah Bamu, the lawyer representing the three activists and a trade unionist who were dragged out of a plane last week and abducted by crooked Emmerson’s secret service thugs.

One of the four, trade unionist Robison Chete, was tortured so severely that doctors said his kidneys might be permanently damaged.

crookED Emmerson’s thugs have refused to let the trade unionist receive treatment.
In fact, he hasn’t been treated since the torture, this is how evil and cruel crookED Emmerson is!

It is important that the international community speaks out against these abuses and applies pressure on the Zimbabwean government to ensure the safety and release of these activists, and to hold those responsible for their mistreatment accountable.

Torture is an international offence, those responsible must be pursued and brought to justice in other countries if they happen to be in a country with a professional judiciary and not crookED Emmerson’s rag tag corrupt judiciary!

All these evil things are being done in the name of SADC, the regional board that should be promoting democracy, good governance and respect for human rights in Southern Africa.

These events in Zimbabwe, including the abduction and torture of activists, raise questions about the effectiveness of SADC's efforts to promote democracy and human rights in the region.
It is essential that SADC takes a strong stance against these abuses by crookED Emmerson and holds member states accountable for their actions.

[skilled rebhara @drjaytee87]

free namatai @namataik_

[Hopewell Chin’ono @daddyhope]

#EXCLUSIVE #REPORT

PLEASE RETWEET

This is evidence that crookED Emmerson is abusing the judiciary!
His secret service thugs arrested 25-year-old Namatai Kwekweza, tortured her and detained her on a trumped-up charge, alleging she committed a crime on 27 June 2024.

The travel agent who issued her airline ticket in June has written an email confirming that Namatai was in South Africa between the 25th and 28th of June.
So how could she have committed a crime in Zimbabwe when she was in South Africa?

crookED Emmerson’s thugs confiscated her passport which also has this evidence and are keeping it to sustain their lie.

This just shows how crookED Emmerson has destroyed state security, the police, and the judiciary, making all three accessories to his corrupt rule!

The state lawyers, known as prosecutors, should have investigated this when it was presented to them.
But they didn’t do it because crookED Emmerson uses the judiciary to punish anyone who exposes his criminality and failures!

The evidence in this tweet clearly demonstrates a case of abuse of power and manipulation of the judiciary by crookED Emmerson and his thugs.

The arrest of Namatai Kwekweza on trumped-up charges, despite clear evidence that she was not in Zimbabwe at the time of the alleged crime, is deeply troubling and highlights the lack of due process and political interference in the justice system that we have repeatedly exposed!

All this is happening in the name of SADC but because Zimbabwe has NO institutional opposition, all the so called opposition leaders are quiet as a mouse!
crookED Emmerson has paid off many of them to do his bidding, tragic!

So Namatai is in prison for a crime she didn’t commit, accused of having committed it on a day she was not even in the country!
crookED Emmerson is an evil man, Nakai is young enough to be his own grand daughter, but the guy is cruel!

[Dr Walter Mzembi @waltermzembi]

Izvi hazvina kunaka zvachose . Hatipembedze hutsinye. Mwanasikana uyu angakoromora
" Hurumende yakanaka kupfuura yekudenga " here maComrades ?
#FreeNamatai
@namataik_

[Jess Geraldine @VaChivi_]

The face of a HERO !!! If you ask me.

[Hopewell Chin’ono @daddyhope]

This is Namatai Kwekweza, a young Zimbabwean activist who was abducted from a plane last week by crookED Emmerson’s secret service thugs.
As you can see, she was beaten and held incommunicado for 8 hours at Robert Mugabe Airport.

She is accused of committing a crime in Zimbabwe on a day she was actually in South Africa.
crookED Emmerson’s secret service thugs hid her passport so she couldn’t prove her location on the day she is supposed to have committed the so called crime.

However, the South African travel agent who issued her ticket has confirmed that she was in South Africa.

The fact that she was arrested and tortured by state security thugs is deeply disturbing and highlights the challenges faced by activists and opposition figures in Zimbabwe.
It is crucial that her case be brought to light and that pressure be applied to ensure her safety and release, as well as that of other detained activists.

Zimbabwe has a president with a criminal mind who has looted public funds and plundered the country’s natural resources ruthlessly.
Whenever he is challenged, he abducts, tortures, arrests, and jails those who stand up to his criminality!

Namatai Kwekweza's story is a reminder of the importance of defending human rights and promoting democracy, even in the face of opposition and repression.
RETWEET her sorry so that the world understands what Zimbabweans are up against!