TIME is running out for both two biggest political parties in Zimbabwe, the one led by Nelson Chamisa and the other by Emmerson Mnangagwa. Douglas Mwonzora is out of contestation.

I am not a political think-tank nor a political scientist, but my instincts and surveys are telling me that Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Chamisa will win resoundingly the 2023 election.

It seems Chamisa is the right foot forward to take Zimbabwe to the promised land. He might face a very big resistance from this current military-led government which believes that it has the prerogative to rule or thinks that it is the only anointed political entity fit to provide leadership to the people of Zimbabwe. But it looks like the army is also ready for change.

To be honest, Zanu PF is very much afraid of the newly-formed political party, hence it is refusing to implement reforms.

If government cannot change the people’s lives, then the people must change the government and that’s not a crime.

There is still a challenge that these elections are likely going to be held without reforms in both the media and the electoral system.

However, this has not dampened the spirit of changing this government by the opposition.

We still have government-controlled radio stations and one television channel.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, which is supposed to be independent and neutral, according to the laws of the land, is still controlled by the ruling party.

No matter how much resistance the opposition faces, the CCC leadership has proved to be political giants compared with the current cohort.

Chamisa and crew are far more visionary, intellectually astute, open to new ideas and far wiser.

Leadership is about the quality of an individual’s actions, behaviour and vision.

The new dispensation has struggled to change the people’s lives and has failed to prove that it has what it takes to lead the country, 42 years into independence.

However, there have been some little changes done by the ruling party, but still the speed and path to recovery has been so rocky and too slow that the people have now run out of patience and want Mnangagwa out.

What Mnangagwa promised when he took over power from the late former President Robert Mugabe is not what the majority were expecting. It seems an insurmountable task to carry.

In reality, CCC is representing the new, while Zanu PF is representing the old.

A lot of young people have been following the young and vibrant Chamisa more than Mnangagwa.

Most of the rallies being conducted by the yellow movement are being packed to capacity.

They are full of the young people than the old. Chamisa is buoyed with confidence in the most remote parts of the country, where he is gaining support and making inroads which were strongholds of the ruling party.

During Morgan Tsvangirai’s time, rural areas were a no go areas.

This is automatically giving an edge to Chamisa and his crew. The newly-formed party has no history of governing, but its performance and support is speaking of a government in waiting.

Many people have become downtrodden under the leadership of Zanu PF so much that they no longer have any hope or expectation of anything in their lives.

They have lost all hope and become so tired of eating the crumbs falling from the tables of their leaders.

Zanu PF is slowly losing the grip on power and its last hope is canvassing for support from the mujibhas (war collaborators) by giving some sort of inducement from this broke government.-Leonard Koni


War collaborators played significant role during liberation war

IT is totally hogwash to say war collaborators did not help during the war of liberation.

This is said by armchair critics who were in towns during the war.

The war collaborators would do reconnaissance and spy on how well armed Rhodesian forces were and the weapons they carried.

The collaborators would disguise as cattle herders or climb on top of trees to watch Rhodesian soldiers’ movements.

They would come up with code words to alert the presence of Rhodesian forces in the area.

At the height of the war, then Prime Minister Ian Smith devised a plan to ensure guerrillas did not get food by putting people into protected villages.

All local people were forced to enter into these protected villages and would be allowed to leave the camps after 0600 hours and were supposed to be back by 1800 hours.

The war collaborators devised plans, with the help of guerrillas, to put mealie-meal into drums  and pass security check points as if they were going to fetch
water.

The guerrillas would then be able to cook sadza using the mealie-meal.

The mujibhas and chimbwidos would cook food in such secrecy that they made sure the smoke billowing from the fires was not spotted by the Rhodesian planes that could bomb them.

A number of mujibhas were killed during contact by Rhodesian forces.

They were untrained and so when a base was under attack, instead of crawling, they would run and get shot.-Alexio Rashirai


The role of digitalisation in Africa’s energy mix

WHILE Africa seeks to maximise the exploitation of its estimated 125,3 billion barrels of crude oil and 620 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, global energy transition-related policies have made it difficult for the continent to attract the investments required to accelerate hydrocarbon production.

With global oil and gas firms prioritising decarbonisation, various digitalisation mechanism and technologies such as carbon capture and storage, artificial intelligence and machine learning provide an opportunity for the continent’s oil and gas sector to attract investments and maximise production, while at the same time reducing emissions.

A panel discussion titled Africa’s Future Energy Mix: The Role of Digitalisation and Technology hosted during the 8th African Petroleum Congress and Exhibition (Cape VIII) held in Luanda from May 16-19, 2022, explored technology adoption within Africa’s hydrocarbons market and the role digital tools play in helping address industry challenges.

The continent is still well behind other regions, a development that is restricting the growth of the market.

The oil and gas industry has access to various connectivity solutions, but does not fully use them.

Only 5% of oil equipment is connected and a very small fraction of data acquired is utilised to enhance operations. Advanced technologies can enable Africa to optimise drilling operations and can add up to US$250 billion in value to the industry.

The high costs associated with technology deployment and the overreliance by African companies on technology imports is to blame for the low penetration of digital solutions in Africa.

Africans need to do more in terms of developing technologies. At the moment, international oil companies are the ones coming with their technologies.

Governments need to create an environment that enables technology rollouts. For instance, regulation needs to be introduced to ease the trading of manpower, capital and technology.

Collaboration needs to be prioritised with technology providers and we cannot do much without the involvement of the private sector in terms of bringing big projects online. African countries also need to come together on business models and capacity development.

We need to pull the capital together in Africa to process our resources and develop our own solutions. We need to be strategic regarding how we can utilise technology to address oil, gas and other energy challenges.

Source Newsday