Cde Chinx (1955-2017): One of the last anti-imperialist artists to come from Zimbabwe

By Lenin Tinashe Chisaira

Cde Chinx (1955-2017)

The revolutionary artist and veteran of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle, Dickson “Cde Chinx” Chingaira breathed his last on 16 June 2017, a day when Africa commemorates the 1976 massacre of black school children by apartheid forces during the Soweto Uprising.

Cde Chinx was not only a veteran of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle, but a talented artist who chose to use music to advance the struggle against imperialism both before and after independence. It is not surprising that he was sidelined by the government. The post-independence Zimbabwean government had not hesitated to throw away a Leadership Code or to adopt the western-inspired Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) of the 1990s.

 His key songs highlight the victorious fight against colonialism and settler rule (Maruza Imi), the fight against a government that was losing the socialist way of the liberation struggle (Rojer Confirm) and the importance of united struggles against imperialism waged by the exploited people of Asia, Africa and Latin America (Vanhu Vese vemuno muAfrica).

In his personal life, he died almost a pauper without any social welfare benefits. He also could not get medical assistance of note in a country where the leaders rush to treatments in foreign destinations. The house he built was razed down as an illegal structure in independent Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe has seen the number of artists surging up, manly as a result of democratized production of music especially by the Zimdancehall movement. However, the lack of ideological clarity also has seen these artists initially singing pro-poor songs, but within a few days of success, these artists resort to singing nonsensical music about sexual and drug escapades as well as materialist aspirations like flashy cars, money and clothes. Cde Chinx never did that, although at certain times indeed he had to join the throngs of hapless artists who would praise-sing for the Zanu Pf government under the guise of anti-Western politics in order to get recognition and food on the table.

In nutshell, many obituaries will likely be written about Cde Chinx. however, it is worthwhile to note that he, alongside the self-exiled Thomas “Mukanya” Mapfumo, Leonard Zhakata and Hosiah Chipanga, have been the last voices of truly conscious revolutionary music in Zimbabwe. Adieu Cde Chinx.

(Lenin Tinashe Chisaira is a writer, lawyer and activist based in Harare. he blogs at www.cdetinashe.blogspot.com and www.africafightnow.org and tweets at @LeninChisaira) 

Boycottism is the new Patriotism at national commemorations.

By Lenin Tinashe Chisaira

On 18 April each year, since 1980, the Republic of Zimbabwe commemorates its Independence from colonial rule (and from a racist and fascist Rhodesian regime). The event is characterised by military parades, mass displays, the President’s speech and a soccer match at the National Sports Stadium in Harare. In any other county, a similar event would be characterised by wholesale patriotism. In Zimbabwe the event is mostly viewed with a partisan. A lot of Zimbabweans do not attend the Independence festive, rather they merely take advantage of the official designation of 18 April as a public holiday and they rest. The conscious ones willingly boycott the festive. In boycotting they seek to send a strong message that they are not complicit in the way the country is being run. To these, boycotting ‘national’ commemorations is a show of newfound patriotism.

 Patriotism, itself a not so progressive concept, relates to a one’s love or devotion to one’s country.  The concept can be observed when one celebrates the history, trials and triumphs of a nation. Zimbabwe’s dominant politics if jambajaism and insults results in a divided society based on one’s political party membership; people from the collective opposition are constantly denounced as unpatriotic and ‘sell-outs”. This denigration is accompanied by segregation when it comes to public processes such as Independence Day commemorations.

It was interesting that the President Speech at the 2017 Commemoration included the sentence that “every person has the right to a political; party of their choice”. The statements however remain hollow to a majority of urban based and working class Zimbabweans who chose to remain at home.

Indeed there is every justification for people to boycott national events. This will ensure that future governments and leaders will learn lessons and ensure that these events are not privatised for the benefit of a sole political party or class. However these boycotts should be organised and be pronounced. At the moment, the capacity of the ruling party to mobilise its supporters, by force or other means, and the resultant multitudes who attend the commemoration, can cover up the partisan nature of such commemorations to the untrained eye.

After over three decades of uhuru, Zimbabwe should be a more democratic, inclusive and participatory society. The fact that even the leader of the majority opposition party , Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC-T or the former Vice President Joice Mujuru who has been in government since 1980 until being purged recently, do not participate in the Independence Day commemorations, should be worrisome  to any organiser of such events.

As a final word, whilst the people should not be keen supporters of patriotism, since the concept doesn’t recognise the reality of class struggles and differences in a given society, the same people should oppose in every form, the dominance of partisanship and other divisions during the commemoration of past historic struggles and events such as the War of liberation, Unity Day, Independence day, Heroes Day and Defence Forces days.

 [Lenin Tinashe Chisaira is an activist and lawyer based in Harare, Zimbabwe. He tweets at @LeninChisaira and is interested in Economic Justice, Human Rights, Leftist Politics and Environmental Justice. He edits www.africafightnow.org and blogs at cdetinashe.blogspot.com ]

On Relations between Mines and Mining Communities in Zimbabwe (My Radio VOP interview transcript)

Lenin Tinashe Chisaira in the Radio VOP studio

The transcript is from a Radio dialogue focusing on “Relations between Mines and mining communities in Zimbabwe’ broadcast on 19 July 2016. The show features Lenin Tinashe Chisaira, an environmental lawyer and researcher representing the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association[1]. The interviewer’s name is Tafadzwa Muranganwa from Radio Voice of the People (VOP)[2], an independent radio station. Radio VOP broadcasts via satellite on the channel called ChannelZim.  The radio broadcasts on the internet as well, on www.channelzim.net. The audio of this interview recording can be accessed on these YouTube links [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzTGWG0V1-k  and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JogBxIPyryM ]

Tafadzwa (Radio VOP):       Welcome to the programme, Mr Chisaira. Sorry we delayed a little bit. We were failing to get connected, but now we are on. Thanks you, Mr Tendai [sic] Chisaira for gracing Radio VOP...Radio Voice of the People and we want to discuss the relations between mines and the mining communities. Of late we have had reports...I was reading The Manica Post[3] where there was suspected diamond miners who were nabbed. But we have seen over the years the mining communities who were around Chiadzwa[4] were crying foul that the government gave them a raw deal with the Community Ownership Trust that was launched, it never came to fruition…a whole array of problems they were saying they were facing even when we know that the diamond fields in Marange were so much richer and we suspect this US$15 billion which went missing was from Marange. Welcome to the program, Mr Chisaira.

L. T. Chisaira:     Thanks a lot, Tafadzwa. Well, this is a very interesting discussion especially if we look at our economic status as Zimbabweans. You know it's barely a month since the President of the nation himself faced the nation and informed them that up to $15 billion have been lost[5]. Most of it obviously was a result of illicit financial flows whereby money just leaves the country on channels that are not even known to the people who are responsible for the national budget, the national fiscus, and revenue collection. Some of the money gets lost through what are called transfer mispricing and trade mis-invoicing where they fake these amounts of prices that they would have sold their minerals to their fellow subsidies of the various multinational companies.

So it is a very interesting discussion, the issue of mines and mining communities because if we look at the issue in a very frank manner, basically our economic status, the mining economic environment in Zimbabwe is not divorced from the entire economic strata, from the entire economic system in our society whereby we have big business, we have multinational companies, we have big mining companies that are mostly focused on profit-making at the expense of people and environmental rights. So it is a very really... i don’t think I should say interesting, but it’s a very scary discussion to conduct in that whilst we are conducting this discussion, people are really suffering from environmental injustice, from economic injustice as a result of the faults of these mining companies.

Tafadzwa (Radio VOP):   But Mr Chisaira, there are some allegations from the mining companies' management where they are saying that some of the demands by these mining communities are not justified...where they want their own folk in the mining areas to be employed. And some of them would be saying the people do not have requisite skills so that they can be employed. If you heard from those clips from Marange, some were saying there are not giving them even those jobs that are for the less skilled. What’s your take regarding the management of some of these mining companies who are saying some of the demands are not justified?

L. T. Chisaira: I think that really is a very dishonest accusation coming from mining companies. Because when you see...most of the demands that come from mining communities may be classified mainly under three main demands. One, because we have this issues that we call Local content whereby as civil society, for example my own organisation, the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association, we really fight, we really campaign for these organisations to respect issues of local content development and this has three main components.

One is that mining companies should have... should adopt a policy of employing locals, which is local employment.

They should also develop a policy of procuring some basic items, you know a mining company has many workers but they can even go as far as buying their basic vegetables from far-away communities instead of the people who are in the immediate locality.

Then there is also the issue of infrastructure development , for example if you are a mining company in rural setting, you also needs to use roads which you use to transport your  minerals, your raw materials , your people etc. etc. So it’s just a matter of saying, if we have Murowa Diamonds in rural Zvishavane which uses a dust road to transport its minerals up to now, I think that’s really unfair. So by developing their own roads, it will also benefit the communities, so I don’t think these are not justifiable demands. Because when a company builds a road, it benefits the company itself as well as the community.

When a company employs locals, it also benefits in terms of maintaining good relations between the company itself and the people whom they would be neighbouring with. And most of these jobs that they demand or ask for from the mining communities. They are really maybe unskilled jobs or those that require very low levels of skills. Indeed when it comes to skilled labour or those that really need very much technical people or highly qualified or highly educated people...yeah the companies there have the liberty to, and I think the right to employ people who are from outside the communities. But for basic jobs, so the most important thing is that these companies should be able to provide records and justifications that shows that for these menial labourers we have taken people from the communities, but for those that require much technical or require much expertise, we have outsourced labour .So I don’t think the demands by mining communities are unreasonable.

Tafadzwa (Radio VOP): I don’t know from our listeners, what you think. You can do so by writing to us on our number 0774 214 539 or you can phone us via our landline number. If you are outside of Harare prefix that number with 04 748 766. If you are in Harare dial the number directly ...748766. But coming to you, Mr Chisaira, that impasse between the mines and the mining communities, I think the policy...the decision makers you know could be a factor in trying to bring that impasse. But what are your observations regarding the policy makers in making sure that there is a cordial relationship between the mines and the mining communities. So far as an organisation what do you make of policy makers in regards to this issue?

L. T. Chisaira: I think that's also in three phases because, first, I think...just in brief, there are some very painful personal stories especially from the communities we work with around Chiadzwa. There is this one lady who lost up to fifty head of cattle after they drank polluted water that had been polluted by these diamond mining companies. On top of that, you see that i itself is an example of an impasse between mines and mining companies.

                      Then when it comes to policy makers, recently[6] we were talking of the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill which is before parliament. One of the most unfortunate things about that bill, though it has some progressive provisions, the most unfortunate thing is that it doesn’t provide for adequate Free, Prior and Informed Consent whereby a mining company, when they intent to embark on a major project, the community members around that area are supposed to be informed freely, thy should be informed prior to the project takes place and they should be informed so that they don’t just go to meetings and be spoken down to but they also attend those meetings with some basic knowledge about what impacts the mining project will have on their environment, will have on their livelihoods, will have on their families. But that is not being done and the policy makers have not really done a good job with the Mines and Minerals Amendment Act.

Then on the other hand, we also have some policy makers who seem to know that they are doing, who seem to know their jobs very well. For example, recently we had the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee (on Mines and Energy)taking the Permanent Secretary , Prof Gudyanga over the way he was handling the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Mining Company issues[7] which is one of the most touchy issues for people in the diamond mining areas. They seem to be doing their jobs very well. Then also as the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association as an organisation we provide a platform each year, what we call the Zimbabwe  Alternative Mining Indaba , first we conduct them at provincial stage then at the national stage. The 2016 one will be held in Bulawayo. I’m sure you will be there.

Tafadzwa (Radio VOP): You are inviting me?

L. T. Chisaira: Yeah, we really partner with various radio stations. We have partnered with Ya FM[8], then with Diamond FM[9], when we conducted our provincial ones. But so, that’s another platform where we try to resolve that impasse, where we bring together community members, we bring together legislators, even up to cabinet members, Minsters and the mining companies themselves. We try to provide those platforms so that they engage. But you know very well that Mining companies are not really honest on their engagements with community members. They seem to look down upon them.

Tafadzwa (Radio VOP):     We have one comment from one of our listeners and she says, “Mining companies are unfair to community members.” I don’t think there is anyone…Most people are pointing accusations to the mining companies. But they are some communities where other people there are onto artisanal mining. Some are saying they are not willing to regulate their operations. What do you think about these?

L. T. Chisaira: About artisanal mining?

Tafadzwa (Radio VOP): Artisanal mining.

L. T. Chisaira: Well, artisanal and small scale mining in itself...it’s also a very strategic sector for the Zimbabwean economy. Because as you know, well, due to our economic situation...unemployment, drought, etc. The mining sector, especially artisanal and small scale mining can provide some adequate livelihoods for most of our people especially in the rural areas. But then the problem, like you have rightfully pointed out, the problem is lack of formalisation. It is a sector that has not been adequately formalised, though obviously this Mines and Minerals Act, for the first time provides some very little benefits for artisanal, sorry, for small scale miners but we still have problems with artisanal miners. Because at one time the government , the RBZ[10], they came up and said “We have a No Questions Asked Policy”[11] whereby if someone is an artisanal gold miner , he can approach gold buying centres and sell his gold without questions being asked about the legality of his operations, but still it’s not a clear field. As an organisation and as people we really need to urge the policy makers, the government, etc., to really look into the issue of artisanal miners with the seriousness it deserves.

Tafadzwa (Radio VOP):     The listener went on to say “You will be shocked to know someone from Victoria Falls getting a sweeping job in a mine in Mutare, but the locals can’t”. Listeners if you want to input into this program you can do so by texting us or Whatsapping. Our number is 0774 214 539. 0774 214 539. You can also place a call on our number 748 766. 748 766. If you are outside Harare, you can prefix that number with 04.

                        Thank you, Mr Lenin Tinashe Chisaira for gracing our radio. Time is not on our side. I think you did a wonderful job in trying to make sure some of our listeners get a picture of what’s really happening between mines and mining companies and we have seen that the picture is not looking good. Mines are being accused of failing to develop the mining communities. Thanks you, Mr Chisaira.

L. T. Chisaira:           You are welcome, Tafadzwa. Thanks you for inviting me to Radio VOP.

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[1] http://www.zela.org/

[2] http://www.radiovop.com/

[3] State-owned newspaper from Manicaland Province

[4] Diamond mining area

[5]The Herald, “Miners robbed us, says President” , accessed at  http://www.herald.co.zw/miners-robbed-us-says-president/

[6] Newsday, “Bill should plug leakages in mining sector: Zela”, accessed at https://www.newsday.co.zw/2016/05/21/bill-plug-leakages-mining-sector-zela/

[7] The Herald, “Parly Grills Gudyanga” , accessed at http://www.herald.co.zw/parly-grills-gudyanga/

[8] Radio station based in Zvishavane, Midlands Province

[9] Radio station based in Mutare, Manicaland Province

[10] Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe

[11]The Herald , “Artisanal miners embrace new RBZ policy” , accessed at http://www.herald.co.zw/artisanal-miners-embrace-new-rbz-policy/

Zimbabwe's interesting new role as a melting pot for political ideas

By Lenin Tinashe Chisaira

If one is asked about the best thing coming out of the current Zimbabwean question, one can confidently say it is the growing space for contestation of political ideas. Barely a day passes without one coming across a pointed comment on Facebook or Twitter alluding support for one of the various economic, political and social ideas being forwarded by certain individuals, institutions, social movement organisations like #Tajamuka, #ThisFlag, civil society, politicians, economists, activists and even by the public and ruling party characters.

Lenin Tinashe Chisaira

Some progressive commentators in Zimbabwe are taking debates beyond social media and embarking on the further energetic step of penning opinion pieces and articles in support of their ideas. Contestation of ideas is dominant in alternative media platforms such as blogs and diaspora media websites. In just this past week, one encountered thought-provoking writings from people like Takura Zhangazha, Miles Tendi, Munyaradzi Gwisai, Tamuka Chirimambowa and others.

 The exchange of radical and reactionary ideas is almost a reminder of the stories and pictures we have seen in history books about the political cafes that dominated revolutionary France in the 18^th and 19^th century.

The place for theory

Any serious movement for economic, social and/or political reforms should be backed by progressive ideas/theories otherwise the result would be senseless anarchy or fatal defeat. The Arab Spring remains a living reminder of the futility of movements that lacked clear ideological foundations.

 In the words of Vladimir Lenin, the Russian revolutionary leader, theorist and historical figure in his 1902 political pamphlet entitled What is To Be Done? Burning Questions of our Movement:

“Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement. This idea cannot be insisted upon too strongly at a time when the fashionable preaching of opportunism goes hand in hand with an infatuation for the narrowest forms of practical activity… the role of vanguard fighter can be fulfilled only by a party that is guided by the most advanced theory”.

Lenin is a man whose books, theories and tactics delivered the great October socialist revolution where for the first time the working class overthrew a tsar and took over the running of a society. It is such ideas that should be revisited in the Zimbabwean context where all leading formations are trying hard to capture the eternally relevant and potentially revolutionary urban and rural working class.

When people are focused on political debates, a small segment even argue for otherwise hidden ideas such as Marxist theories. Hence is encouraging for people like this writer who in other times barely comes across encouraging progressive content in the media. So it was highly interesting to read about classes once again in a recent article by Takura Zhangazha. it is a pity though that he identifies himself as a social democrat. He would make a good communist.

The good and the bad of political debate

The contestation of ideas is both healthy and bad. The good thing is that the environment opens up for debate and progressive ideas and even gives voice to some people who under ordinary circumstances prefer to be silent. The focus on ideas eventually leads people to seek opinions and writings in non-traditional mediums and this is a worthwhile pursuit.

The bad thing with political debates is when some cadres take things personal. For instance, there is a rising culture among some activists that says certain characters should not be criticised. These say we have reached a stage where some people should be regarded as sacrosanct in order to avoid the struggle being compromised. To them, criticism is unwelcome. Unfortunately, such sentiments are the bedrocks of a totalitarian society.  One of the features of a totalitarian society has been defined as “centralisation of power and values in the hands of the leader. This centralisation of power allows the decisions of the leader to reach and influence the people without checks or mediation from other institutions with their own political agenda or values.” These sentiments should not be a feature of the current wave of pro-democracy movement-building in Zimbabwe. Every idea and every person should stand the test of criticism and democratic debate.

The future

In a nutshell, the future of viable political ideas contestation in Zimbabwe should involve unfettered debate, even when such involves the criticism of some people’s heroes. There must be debate on social media and on the ground. Discussion forums initiated by residents’ movements, students’ unions, civil society and other groups have never been more necessary. There is need for this society to allow free debate and the testing of alternative theories, political ideas and ideological questions. Such debate and robust contestation of ideas can never be adequately exhausted on social media, moreover on Twitter with its 140-characters-per-tweet limitations.

Everyone, led by the intelligentsia, needs to effectively strengthen, initiate and participate in the current discourse on Zimbabwe’s economic, political and social future. That is genuine freedom of expression.

[Lenin Tinashe Chisaira is an activist, lawyer and researcher based in Harare, Zimbabwe. He tweets at @LeninChisaira and blogs at www.cdetinashe.blogspot.com]