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There are mounting fears for Zimbabwe’s currency, with the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries warning that the Zimbabwe dollar is ‘in real peril’. In a letter to its members, it said that the greatest risk facing the economy was ‘an inappropriate response’ by the government.

Many currency traders have been arrested in recent weeks accused of manipulating the Zimbabwe dollar in trading on the black market. The Zimbabwe dollar has been changing hands for as much as 200 for one US dollar while the official rate is about 90 (see: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-12/zimbabwe-business-warns-currency-in-peril-urges-policy-response).

The American economist Steve Hanke, who has been tracking the Zimbabwean economy for many years, said the Zimbabwe dollar had depreciated by 93% since it was brought back into circulation two years ago. ‘President Emmerson Mnangagwa is not only corrupt but when it comes to economics is totally ignorant’, he said. ‘Zimbabwe’s currency is in a death spiral. Now the corrupt government is threatening to suspend all businesses using black market exchange rates to price goods. I’ve seen this movie before. It has a tragic ending.’ (see: https://www.newsday.co.zw/2021/10/mnangagwa-ignorant-of-economic-issues-us-economist/.)

The decline of the Zimbabwe dollar was not the only thing worrying the outside world. There has also been an anxious reaction to the Zanu PF violence against the MDC Alliance.

Senator Jim Risch of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee said the Zimbabwe government should take concrete steps to respect human rights if sanctions were to be lifted. ‘Political violence by Zanu PF against the opposition is unacceptable. There must be accountability’, he said. In the UK similar observations were made by Jonathan Oates of the House of Lords and Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Zimbabwe, who said he was deeply worried to hear of an attack by Zanu PF activists on opposition leader Nelson Chamisa’s convoy in Masvingo where Chamisa was to meet local leaders (see: https://www.newsday.co.zw/2021/10/mdc-alliance-claims-more-attacks/).

For his part, Chamisa appealed to Mnangagwa to ‘stop dividing people and destroying this beautiful country’. (See: https://www.newzimbabwe.com/stop-violence-chamisa-tells-mnangagwa/.)

Other points

• The acquittal of former Health and Child Care Minister, Obadiah Moyo on corruption charges has been greeted with derision. He was accused of illegally approving tenders of US$60 million for the procurement of Covid 19 personal protective equipment and test kits. Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, who was arrested for reporting on the case, tweeted: ‘As I told you when Obadiah Moyo was charged, the case by the State was made deliberately weak so that it failed. Even a first year law student would have told you that.’ (see: https://www.newzimbabwe.com/zimbabweans-fume-over-obadiah-moyos-acquittal/.)
• Unvaccinated government workers will not allowed to work from Monday according to an official announcement (see: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/zimbabwe-bars-unvaccinated-civil-servants-work-2021-10-15/).
• Headline of the week: ‘Can mopane worms save us?’ Fortune Moyo wrote a lovely piece about the value of these creatures which apparently are not worms at all but ‘leaf eating caterpillars of emperor moths’. Anyway, they are a valued food resource (see: https://www.newsday.co.zw/2021/10/can-mopane-worms-save-us/).
• Today was a virtual Vigil. For the moment we are meeting outside the Embassy every other week and our next gathering will be on 23^rd October. On the alternate Saturdays we will continue with the virtual Vigil. To be recorded as participating in a virtual Vigil your photo, taken with a poster with a message reflecting the situation in Zimbabwe, must be taken at one of the actual Vigils. There will be a small charge to cover admin costs, the ongoing upkeep of the Vigil and our support for the human rights work of ROHR, our sister organisation in Zimbabwe. The photos will then be labelled with your name, uploaded on our website, Flickr site and Facebook pages. For today’s photos, see: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/albums/72157720077709780. Our virtual Vigil activists today were Delice Gavazah, Babula Gwatiringa, Dambudzo Marimira, Amina Matewele, Joyce Mbairatsunga and Esther Munyira who all kindly contributed to Vigil funds.
• For all Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/. Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website.

Events and Notices:

• ROHR Bi-annual Conference. Saturday 23^rd October at 11 am. Venue Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. Among agenda items is 1) leadership renewal, 2) 2022 activity calendar, 3) immigration matters and 4) campaign strategy. For more information contact: Casper Nyamakura 07877666912, Patricia Masamba 07708116625, Rangarirai Chivaviro 07378429599 and Cynthia Chibanda 07449494539.
• The next Vigil. Saturday 23^rd October from 2 – 5 pm outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London.
• The Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s partner organisation based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil to have an organisation on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in Zimbabwe. Please note that the official website of ROHR Zimbabwe is http://www.rohrzimbabwe.org/. Any other website claiming to be the official website of ROHR in no way represents us.
• The Vigil’s book ‘Zimbabwe Emergency’ is based on our weekly diaries. It records how events in Zimbabwe have unfolded as seen by the diaspora in the UK. It chronicles the economic disintegration, violence, growing oppression and political manoeuvring – and the tragic human cost involved. It is available at the Vigil. All proceeds go to the Vigil and our sister organisation the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe's work in Zimbabwe. The book is also available from Amazon.
• Facebook pages:  

         Vigil: https://www.facebook.com/zimbabwevigil

         ROHR: https://www.facebook.com/Restoration-of-Human-Rights-ROHR-Zimbabwe-International-370825706588551/

         ZAF: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zimbabwe-Action-Forum-ZAF/490257051027515

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President Mnangagwa’s State of the Nation Address was delivered virtually from the comfort of State House. Everything is going well, he said, the economy is flying. (As to where it’s flying, read on.)

Zimbabwean exiles, gathered outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London to mark the nineteenth anniversary of the Vigil, were glad to be there in person today. We were not convinced by Mnangagwa’s virtual speech and were pleased to hear that the MDC T leader Douglas Mwonzora was critical, saying that Mnangagwa’s government had failed to address issues affecting the people.

Mwonzora complained that Mnangagwa had not talked about electoral reforms: ‘He did not speak on issues of corruption.  Zimbabwe is losing about US$3 billion per year because of illicit financial flows’, he added.

In this virtual parliamentary fiasco, where the MDC of Nelson Chamisa has been virtually excluded, it was encouraging to hear someone raising the key questions of corruption and electoral reform (see: https://www.newsday.co.zw/2021/10/mnangagwa-speech-hot-air/).

The massive leak of financial documents known as the Pandora Papers has exposed dodgy offshore transactions by powerful people all over the world. Among them of course are Zimbabweans.

They include what NewZimbabwe describes as ‘massive diamond plunder’ by Mnangagwa’s relative Martin Rushwayo, deputy chief secretary to the president and cabinet. Apparently he set up an offshore shell company in the Seychelles to trade in diamonds while serving as defence secretary (see: https://www.newzimbabwe.com/massive-diamond-plunder-exposed-in-leak/).

Mnangawa’s attempts to persuade the world that he is not just another tinpot dictator and Chinese lackey have failed, judging by the brush-off Foreign Affairs Minister Frederick Shava received from the European Union’s Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen.

The Commissioner insisted that Zimbabwe should fully implement political and economic reforms, including the recommendations made by the EU’s 2018 Observer Mission, before the next elections in 2023 (see: https://www.newsday.co.zw/2021/10/eu-demands-zim-reforms/).

Other points

• We had a good turnout at our nineteenth anniversary Vigil including Ephraim Tapa and Rose Benton who had been at the first Vigil in October 2002. There was a lot of interest from passers-by, drawn by the singing and drumming. They couldn’t help see our posters such as ‘Nineteen years of fighting for freedom for Zimbabweans’. It was stressed that we do not celebrate Vigil anniversaries - 19 years of human rights abuse and lack of democracy in Zimbabwe is not something to be celebrated. However we marked the occasion because we are proud of 19 years of committed protest against the oppression of the Zimbabwe people by the Zanu PF regime. Thanks to those who came today to help set up, look after the front table, hand out flyers and pack up at the end: Amina Matewele, Babula Gwatiringa, Casper Nyamakura, Dambudzo Marimira, Delice Gavazah, Dennis Benton, Ephraim Tapa, Esther Munyira, Jonathan Kariwo, Joyce Mbairatsunga, Kevin Wheeldon, Margaret Munenge, Mary Muteyerwa, Philip Maponga, Richard Munyama and Rose Benton,  Photos of today’s Vigil can be accessed here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/albums/72157719984176898.
• The Zimbabwe Peace Project says a woman, Sharai Mukaro, was tortured and killed by the police in Chivhu, Mashonaland East. She was being interrogated accused of concealing money stolen by her sister (see: https://www.newsday.co.zw/2021/10/female-suspect-succumbs-to-police-torture/).

• The widow of Robert Mugabe is challenging a fine of five cows and two goats imposed by a traditional leader for allegedly burying her husband’s body improperly (see: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/vigil-news/campaign-news/1172-grace-mugabe-fined-five-cows-and-two-goats-for-improper-burial-of-zimbabwe-dictator).
• Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, George Guvamatanga, is not short of money. He hired two South African entertainers to perform at his lavish 50^th birthday celebrations and was so pleased with their performance that he promised to pay then five times the agreed amount (see: https://iharare.com/top-zimbabwe-govt-official-pays-south-african-artists-5-times-their-bill/).
• Next Saturday (16^th October) will be a virtual Vigil. For the moment we are meeting outside the Embassy every other week and our next gathering will be on 23^rd October. On the alternate Saturdays we will continue with the virtual Vigil. To be recorded as participating in a virtual Vigil your photo, taken with a poster with a message reflecting the situation in Zimbabwe, must be taken at one of the actual Vigils. There will be a small charge to cover admin costs, the ongoing upkeep of the Vigil and our support for the human rights work of ROHR, our sister organisation in Zimbabwe. The photos will then be labelled with your name, uploaded on our website, Flickr site and Facebook pages.
• For all Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/. Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website.

Events and Notices:

• Virtual Vigil. Saturday 16^th October.
• ROHR Bi-annual Conference. Saturday 23^rd October. Among agenda items is 1) leadership renewal, 2) 2022 activity calendar, 3) immigration matters and 4) campaign strategy.
• The next Vigil. Saturday 23^rd October from 2 – 5 pm outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London.
• The Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s partner organisation based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil to have an organisation on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in Zimbabwe. Please note that the official website of ROHR Zimbabwe is http://www.rohrzimbabwe.org/. Any other website claiming to be the official website of ROHR in no way represents us.
• The Vigil’s book ‘Zimbabwe Emergency’ is based on our weekly diaries. It records how events in Zimbabwe have unfolded as seen by the diaspora in the UK. It chronicles the economic disintegration, violence, growing oppression and political manoeuvring – and the tragic human cost involved. It is available at the Vigil. All proceeds go to the Vigil and our sister organisation the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe's work in Zimbabwe. The book is also available from Amazon.
• Facebook pages:  

         Vigil: https://www.facebook.com/zimbabwevigil

         ROHR: https://www.facebook.com/Restoration-of-Human-Rights-ROHR-Zimbabwe-International-370825706588551/

         ZAF: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zimbabwe-Action-Forum-ZAF/490257051027515