You can’t control what other people do, what they say, how they treat you, but you can control how you respond. I know sometimes we have to confront, the lion needs to roar, but most of the time, the lamb needs to come out. If that battle is not worth losing your peace, ignore it and move on.
I thought that I had seen it all with crazy presidential motorcades in Zimbabwe, then I watched this video of the Nigerian president’s motorcade🤣🤣🤣
It is a fact of life that many Africans love cars too much, and African presidents are even crazier about cars and their disproportionately huge motorcades.
But this motorcade takes the cake!
This particular motorcade for the Nigerian president has about 60 vehicles moving around serving just one man, the whole operation has hundreds of people in these cars.
The irony is the self-evident poverty in the streets where this motorcade is passing through.
The contrast between lavish motorcades and visible poverty raises issues about resource allocation of public funds, not just in Nigeria, but also across the African continent including in our beloved but crippled Zimbabwe.
Do African leaders ever reflect on the conspicuous consumption they indulge in using public funds at the painful expense of hospitals, schools, roads, jobs, pensions and social welfare responsibilities?
Do African leaders ever think about having a gold standard for responsible use of resources, and addressing socio-economic disparities that are clearly jumping out juxtaposed against the motorcade.
The failure to have a standard for the judicious use of public funds simply means that we are selecting or electing or allowing crooks to rule over us at the expense of having nations with dignified institutions and citizenry.
These huge Africa motorcades and the accompanying poverty around them reflect the failure to have equitable development across the continent.
With a GDP of US$3.1 trillion, the British Prime Minister moves around with only 4 cars including his and 4 motorbikes.
Do you want to know the total GDP for all African countries combined, it is US$3.1 trillion🤣🤣🤣
I am 52 years of age, and I have clearly lived more than half of my life, will I ever see a better Africa?
Maybe not, time will tell!
CHAMISA’S CCC REJECTS 2024 NATIONAL BUDGET, CLAIMING IT “FALLS SHORT OF REGIONAL, CONTINENTAL AND INTERNATIONAL BENCHMARKS”
IN A WHAT COMES ACROSS AS A POOR CASE OF BORROWING poor language from Nerves Mumba’s controversial Sadc Electoral Observation Mission on Zimbabwe’s 2023 harmonised general election, Nelson Chamisa’s CCC party has issued a shocking and embarrassing statement, signed by Gift Ostallos Siziva, on the 2024 National Budget Speech presented in Parliament yesterday by the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Prof Mthuli Ncube.
In an astonishing conclusion rejecting the budget, which is emblematic of the party’s lack of thought leadership and nuance, absence of structural capacity and lack of requisite skills; the statement, a copy of which is attached, claims that:
“The budget falls short of regional, continental, and international benchmarks.”
For ease of reading, the full statement is reproduced below:
CCC Statement on the 2024 National Budget
01 December 2023
The budget presented by the Minister of Finance, Professor Mthuli Ncube, on Thursday is anti- poor, as it places an excessive burden on citizens who are already suffering.
The budget falls short of regional, continental, and international benchmarks. While education received the highest vote allocation at Z$10.3 trillion, constituting 17.7% of the total vote allocations, it is still below the Dakar Declaration target of 20%. Similarly, health received Z$6.3 trillion (10.8%), which is a decline from the 11.2% allocated in 2023 and falls below the Abuja Declaration target of 15%. Agriculture received Z$4.3 trillion, which is 7.4% of the total votes and below the Maputo Declaration target of 10%. The Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare, responsible for social protection, received ZW$2.4 trillion, which is 4.1% of the total votes and 1.5% of GDP. According to the Social Policy for Africa Agreement (2008), African governments should spend at least 4.5% of GDP on social protection.
The country is currently facing a cholera outbreak, and addressing this issue requires significant public investments in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH). However, the allocated ZW$608.3 billion towards WASH represents just 0.4% of GDP, falling far below the 1.5% of GDP benchmark set under the eThekwini Declaration (2008). The Global Task Force on Cholera Control considers WASH investments as the foundation for achieving the goal of reducing cholera deaths by 90% by 2030.
Additionally, the budget introduces several taxes that clearly demonstrate the regime in Harare's anti-people stance and their lack of concern for the suffering of the masses. The Strategic Reserve Levy, toll fees, vehicle registration fees, passport fees, and the introduction of a sugar tax and wealth tax will increase the cost of living and doing business in the country. We firmly believe that shelter is a basic human right and should not be subject to taxation. The budget's decision to convert the COVID-19 and Cushioning allowance into pensionable emoluments will further reduce the real incomes of civil servants. The regime should have considered an upward review to compensate civil servants for the loss of income.
The taxation regime in the country is already onerous and burdensome, and the budget will only exacerbate this issue. It will lead to a significant increase in the cost of accessing public services, transportation, fuel, and overall business operations. This will result in reduced disposable incomes and erode the country's competitiveness. Additionally, high taxation is associated with high informality and low confidence.
The wealth tax on properties will make it harder, especially for first-time homebuyers, to purchase residential properties. The budget presented by Minister Ncube is clearly anti-poor due to the excessive taxation measures it contains.
Furthermore, the budget lacks direct employment creation incentives and strategies, which is concerning given the significant employment challenges faced by the country, particularly in the informal and vulnerable employment sectors. The National Budget should support and facilitate the transition from informality to formality, as integrating informal enterprises into the formal economy is crucial for effective domestic resource mobilization and expanding the tax base. Additionally, formal businesses often have strong linkages with informal enterprises, which can be leveraged for economic growth.
To this end, we strongly reject the budget presented by Minister Mthuli Ncube. It is anti-poor, fails to meet regional and international benchmarks, and lacks adequate measures for employment creation and support for the informal sector. We call on the regime to reconsider these budgetary decisions and prioritize the well-being and prosperity of the citizens of Zimbabwe.
Only a broad government reforms can ensure that Zimbabwe has access to long term financing so that it does not milk its citizens.
Gift Ostallos Siziba
CCC Communications
ONE PEOPLE ONE NATION ONE VISION
https://t.co/bO9pAPNsL4
WATCH: While HSF/SERI are fighting for Zimbabweans to be South Africans, the hard-working, highly educated Zimbabweans are scamming South Africans on the roads.
#SadcZimElectionsReport
The SADC election observer mission head Nevers Mumba has dismissed accusations by Zambian fellow opposition leader Fred M'membe, leader of the Socialist Party of Zambia, suggesting he is a running dog of Western imperialism after his team boldly refused to endorse Zimbabwe's sham elections.
By Nevers Mumba
TRUTH VS LIES
I have taken note of a number of statements, articles and interviews made by my dear brother, Dr. Fred M'membe of the Socialist Party. The statements are all based on our recent tour of duty to Zimbabwe under THE SADC ELECTORAL OBSERVATION MISSION.
I note that Mr MMEMBE, rather than comment on the actual emperical and scientific findings of our report, has gone to great lengths to issue unsupported, unsubstantiated, untrue, cunningly devised stories and conspiracy theories attacking the Integrity of myself, His Excellency the President of Zambia Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, and many other persons including SADC and the EU.
I wish to state that I will be responding to the many points he raises in the interest of defending the truth from the war of lies that he has chosen to wage.
I will specifically deal with the following issues:
1. LIE NUMBER 1.
Mr M’membe believes that anyone who does not agree with him on an exclusively socialist agenda should be labeled as "puppets and agents of westen imperialism"
2. LIE NUMBER 2
Mr. M'membe wishes to create an impression that certain Observer Mission Reports looked similar and so they must have been plagiarized or doctored by the same person. He forgets to mention that these things have standards. Just like in Accounting, different Audit firms will independently produce Audit Reports but they all look similar because accountants use similar templates to ensure that Financial Statements and the accompanying Audit reports are consistent and comparable between periods and countries and firms. Infact, this also holds true for laboratory reports, SPECIALIZED engineering reports, and legal reports have standards in how they are to be presented. This is perfectly normal. I am sure Mr. M'membe knows this well. But, he also has a dark, manipulative side to him that compels him to deliberately choose to misinform those who may not be too familiar with such reporting standards. He convincingly claims that the similarity in presentation between the EU report and the SADC report is "suspicious." Why has he removed the other two reports, which also followed the same or similar presentation style? Does Mr M'membe really find it strange that the SADC and EU reports BOTH give an Exception Report?. Anyone with experience in these things will tell you that the mere fact that there is a strong degree of agreement and correlation in the two reports and in all four shows that the findings must be objective. Again, he doesn't say this but he cleverly says the similarity in reports means they were doctored.
3. LIE NUMBER 3
Mr. M’membe is becoming desperate in selling a dangerous lie that the current President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema was in fact installed by agents of western Interests. But he forgets to deal with glaring facts such as, Did HH vote for himself? We all saw people turn out in huge numbers to cast their votes, and even then, the victory came through a very, very difficult process and series of challenges. Fred M'membe must not be allowed to steal the people's victory and effort and, in a perfect act of manipulation, turn the peoples victory into what he shamelessly refers to as an 'act of puppet installation by some invisible hand from the west"
4. LIE NUMBER 4
Fred M'membe has no data about this election. This is why he has failed to address any of the technical issues raised in the reports. Instead, he has taken advantage of the reading culture of our people, and started calling everyone who stands for freedoms and who stands for a fair electoral process as "puppets of the west." This is despite the fact that since 1991, Zambia maintains a clearly articulated position of enganging with all countries regardless of whether they are from the west, or the east in pursuit of our own Zambian Interest. We are not anyones puppets, but we are servants of the people.
But because Fred M'membe is himself a stooge and a puppet of Communist ideas and ideologies, he knows that the only way he can create political space for himself, and try to ressurect a dead political ideology like SOCIALISM is by painting everyone else as puppets of the west. Let him do Zambians a favor and also name and shame himself as a wannabe puppet of the Communists. We say wannabe because everybody knows Fred. Fred doesn't even believe in socialism himself. Fred is a product of free enterprise. Just check his own history in business. Fred wouldn't even remit taxes in the interest of the state, the poor and those in need of social support, but we all know how his greed and insatiable desire to hoard wealth brought him into trouble with the "Taxman."
5. LIE NUMBER 5
Mr. M'membe clearly has every right to congratulate the new government of Zimbabwe after their declared electoral win. That is everyone's prerogative. However in his broadcast interview, he peddles another very dangerous LIE. He claims that it is very difficult for ZANU PF to hand over power to the very people who colonized us for many years and since a number of leaders in government are still from that era, then they should never handover power. Surely, OUR PARTY, the MMD did not exist in vain. It is this type of thinking which we already destroyed in 1991 when Zambians retired UNIP through the ballot. Even the MMD was removed through the very democratic process they heralded, NO QUESTION. Even the PF was removed from power through the will of the people. Africa must never start to think that being a liberation movement or a Pan African movement means subverting the will of the people through Election manipulation, this is backward thinking and it tells you the kind of Leader Mr. Mmembe is.
These are just Five Lies I have picked up by combing through his recent outbursts, but I can assure you that there are many more lies and half'truths, creatively mixed by this editorial master and Father of Lies. In all honesty, when it comes to twisting and distorting facts to create a false story line, Mr. Fred M'membe is a master of his craft. Nonetheless, it is his narcissistic personality that worries me more. Mr. M'membe is a man with no conscience, no fear of God, no respector of historical facts, or figures, He is a man on a dangerous warpath to get to the top at all costs, and his weapons are numbers, figures, letters words, pictures and historical facts, which he twists cleverly to hoodwink the unsuspecting readers.
Zambia can never be socialist or communist and it shall never be.
Zambia can never go back to dictatorship and stronghandedness. Zambia remains a champion of liberty, of freedoms, and a beacon of hope to those who wish to freely pursue their life, enterprise, happiness and Conscience.
Trying to to advance a socialist agenda in a flourishing democracy which considers itself a Christian Nation is tantamout to trying to resurrect the dead using Hot Water. IT IS A LIE.
Socialism is Dead. Chimo Nowafwa! The Future is Neither East nor West. AFRICA AND AFRICANS MUST COME FIRST!!!
Please RETWEET so that all election observers see this!
Dear Election Observers,
I know that you all have translators/interpreters with you, so ask them to confirm for you what I am going to say here.
This is the type of rural intimidation going on in rural Zimbabwe as political parties campaign.
This is a ZANU PF prospective member of parliament for Zvishavane-Ngezi constituency.
He is intimidating rural voters instilling fear in them.
He says to them that their vote isn't a secret at all.
He tells them that ZANUPF will know who they voted for through tracking their ballot paper using the ballot paper serial number.
He said that they will all have their serial numbers taken down, and that this process will involve local village leaders.
This renders the election not Free and not Fair and it implicates the election commission officials because this can’t happen without their compliance.
Please RETWEET so that all election observers see this!
Villagers comply fearing violence and fearing not being given social welfare assistance during the next five years.
Justice Erica Ndewere z a hero
She bailed Hon Sikala,bcz bail z a right,against unlawful orders from the junta&WAS SACKED 😭
Retweet&like2make her famous4her principles,bravery professionalism&defending the constitution by defying unlawful orders from Ruka Malava&Ruka Chivende
They embarrassed this man publicly, called him rombe, mbavha and all sorts of names… sadly no one saw anything wrong with pictures and videos of him in cuffs 😢😭, NO ONE REBUKED ANYONE! Ofcourse tabata mbavha😭, but this is a Father of 7, nhamo haisekwani, i grew up poor i know it!
How the problem starts when his dignity is being RESTORED on the same platform they laughed and mocked him on😞 is BEYOND ME!
Is there any ubuntu in us guys…😩
Yes he committed a crime, but who is perfect, we all have messed up one way or the other… This act of love honestly is beyond me, I am blessed to bless and thats who i am.
I get trolled and dragged here everyday, I care less now…infact i am so motivated to do more…. dai ndaida kushamisira, trust me i was going to post how much the grocery alone costed…but yall have no idea… meaning this act and its pictures are meant to inspire others to also do good for no reason. Love heals hearts and conquers all.
Ladies and Gentlemen We all know our Lord Jesus good works because they WROTE and Publicized it in the most popular book on earth, clearly if cameras were there, they would have taken videos and pictures.
To me it is the intention that matters.
Zimbabwe, i swear my heart is at peace knowing i did my part, the words he said to me “ maita basa mukoma Mudiwa, handina mashoko…. Hupenyu wangu…….” he couldn’t even finish the statement….i still hear these words till now and i get emotional every time… Tukai henyu asi, Mwari ariko kudenga uko arikuona… This is real life not twitter likes and being liked here…
Did Mr Paradzai get help? is he eating food with his family now? are the fees paid, does he feel human again after such a mistake? does he feel appreciated for his efforts for making us dance to his music at one time?
Yes 👏
Zvimwe zvese hazvina basa…
Talk is cheap hama dzangu, parting away with your hard earned money for a stranger is not easy guys… it takes love and the spirit of God.
May God forgive you all…