Let not foul breath sway you

17 Dec, 2017 - 00:12 0 Views
Let not foul breath sway you Sunday Mail

The Sunday Mail

Mabasa Sasa Editor
I am sorely tempted to gloat. I’m human. The uncharitable urge grips us all from time to time and we want to strut like a peacock and ungraciously yell, “I told you so!”

But I will keep that nasty little imp in its bottle. Maybe I’ll whisper it, naturally in a very self-deprecating manner, to a few buddies who have taken upon themselves the burden of being my drinking mates.

It’s the cross they chose to carry. And carry it they shall. So rather than gloat about how the Congress that was supposed to seal a certain man’s fate actually became the one that proclaimed him numero uno, or about how the people who initially schemed to hold that Congress were instead watching it from South Africa and Kenya; I will instead draw attention to a story that appeared in the media a few days ago.

It was a little story, pushed into a corner, drowned by the momentous developments sweeping Zimbabwe to a brighter tomorrow. That’s the tragedy of print media: there simply isn’t enough newsprint and ink to accommodate everything under the sun; and the economics of the business, like any other, often elevate Mammon to the head of the altar.

Anyway, to the little story in question. There is a 33-year-old chap in Bulawayo who goes by the name of Andrew Zhou. He has no known claim to national fame. We don’t know where he works. We don’t know who his parents are. We know not where his umbilical cord is buried.

What we do know is that our Andrew Zhou is doing his bit for Zim-Asset by supporting tobacco. Before I am lynched by the anti-smoking lobby, let us consider these few stats ably supplied by a quartet of solid researchers who go by the names Ian Scoones, Blasio Mavedzenge, Felix Murimbarimba and Chrispen Sikune, as first published on April 27, 2017.

The four musketeers say, “Tobacco contributed about 11 percent to total gross domestic product in 2014, valued at US$685 million, with 106 456 registered growers . . .”

They also tell us that most of the tobacco is produced by small-scale farmers in highly labour-intensive operations that are not mechanised. The 2012 census by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency decrees that the average family size in the country is 4,2.

Simple extrapolation of the stats from Scoones et al tell us tobacco directly supports no less than 445 200 Zimbabweans. Before Professor Scoones and company usefully dished these numbers, the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa had dug up its own figures.

They concluded that, in Zimbabwe, the tobacco industry as a value chain employed 1,13 million Zimbabweans with 5,67 million dependants. And the industry is only growing.

So, our Andrew Zhou (33) of Bulawayo – employment, parentage and umbilical details unknown – is a vital cog in a major industry. Wait. Remember: tobacco is harmful to health.

Like a gun, a cigarette is one of the few things in this world that actually kills when it is used for the exact purpose for which it is created.

But when our Andrew Zhou falls ill, our fine doctors and nurses and the pharmaceutical industry will solemnly benefit from his patriotic decision to light up a cigarette. And when he, God forbid, bids this mortal orb a painful farewell, Doves, Nyaradzo or whoever, will likely perform the grim duty of returning him to the dust from whence he came, and pocket some dollars for its pains.

Our Andrew Zhou loves his country.

He is not a selfish man. He is sacrificing his own lungs, throat, oesophagus and other sundry body parts for Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans. He is the salt of the earth, a martyr-in-waiting.

Right? Well, not quite. You see, how we come to know the little of Andrew Zhou that we do is because he was hauled before a magistrate, Ms Rumbidzai Mkanga, last week.

Our Andrew Zhou was fined US$100 or two months in jail because on November 28 he beat up his wife, Melody Nyathi.

And, pray, what had the poor lady done?

She had asked our Andrew Zhou to brush his teeth because he was reeking of cigarettes. The fellow took offence.

“He stood up and went inside the bedroom. I then followed him and closed the door. He assaulted me with clinched fists on the forehead.

“He also threatened to kill me. I moved out of the bedroom to the dining room where he followed me and grabbed me by hand before dragging me back to the bedroom. He pushed me on to the bed and had sexual intercourse with me twice without my consent.”

Hey! She alleges two counts of rape.

Why was this not dealt with? Is it being handled separately? Did the magistrate address the allegations? Did the complainant withdraw the rape allegation and stick only to domestic violence? Was the newspaper reporter delinquent in that grave aspect while choosing to focus on the not-so-juicy matter of foul breath?

Which takes us to Zimbabwe.

In dealing with the economy, are we not concerned with the “juicy” bits of pursuing those who externalise money while neglecting the greater infrastructure that allows – maybe even encourages – such to happen?

We have to ask ourselves why people see the need to spirit money abroad (apart from ungovernable greed and criminal inclination) and address the superstructure that makes it a necessity for some businesses to keep hard currency offshore.

Is the multi-currency system still serving its initial purpose of stabilising matters economic or should we now seriously start looking at the reality of how difficult it is to run a national economy without a currency of our own?

Focus should start moving to addressing the fundamentals that are needed to support a stable, predictable local currency in the medium term, perhaps around 2019, so that we do not find ourselves eternally chasing illicit financial flows and the people behind them.

We need to create the conditions that foster disciplined, honest national economic conduct that stems externalisation and encourages domestic investment.

That can only be done by boosting local productive capacity, and through Command Agriculture we have seen that it is possible to do so.

Yes, it is important to chase criminals and bring back money that should be circulating locally. But let us not run the risk of making it a national preoccupation lest we become more concerned with the foul breath than the rape.

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