Why Respina Ziyanyanduko should be removed as NRZ GM

By Linda Tsungirirai Masarira

22 June 2022

The starting point is to evaluate Respina Zinyanduko. Who is she?

She was born on 19 June 1979, she joined NRZ board in August 2020, whilst she was employed by ZPC as a mere Legal Officer. She was not even in ZPC's Management Executive. 

Upon joining NRZ's board she served for less than 6 months before being appointed Acting General Manager in March 2021. In December 2021, she was appointed substantive General Manager after attending interviews which were conducted by her fellow Board Members. Respina lacks the necessary experience at Management Executive level as well as the Board level to really lead a strategic institution like NRZ.

To safeguard her incapacity she has embarked on a holocaust of eliminating all Senior and Experienced Managers who understand the railwayway system. She has been using Security Branch (Lithini Ndlovu) and Internal Audit Branch (Gilbert Sukwe)  to raise fictitious charges and unprocedurally hire the services of her Legal friend Haggis Moyo to come and fire her perceived enemies. This process has been going on for the past 6 months now. The Railway core business has been shelved aside thus affecting railway operations tremendously. The Railways is now like a kangaroo Magistrates Court.

Her Plan is to;

1. Eliminate the current Board Chairman Advocate Martin Dinha. Respina apparently sent a false Audit Report to the VPs office to tarnish the image of the Board Chairperson. There is a plan to control the board so that she and her accomplices can do as they want.

2. Eliminate Joel Lunga the Acting Chief Finance Officer who has since written to the board exposing the unethical and corrupt conduct by Respina Ziyanyanduko  and have control over Finances.

3. Eliminate Nyasha Maravanyika, PR Manager, because he stands up and refuses to accept nonsense. He had previously exposed her shenanigans in the media.

4. Eliminate Eng Phillip Chifamba. Railways must ideally be led by an Engineer. Eng Chifamba is the most experienced and Senior Engineer. He is currently on suspension over fabricated stories.

5. She eliminated Maxwell Matende. He was in charge of Operations. Very experienced and well versed with running of trains. He was dubiously seconded to RMS. 

6. She eliminated Kashangura who is qualified and was supposed to be the Chief Internal Auditor. She instead appointed Gilbert Sukwe who she uses to write false reports as a basis of attacking and implementing her evil ambitions.

She is also abusing the NRZ Security branch. Respina uses Runhare to gather and intimidate people. She has daily briefs with him whilst the Security Services Manager is just sitting in his office. The recent retrenchment of 20 people was driven by Runhare to eliminate Trade Unionists and people who were passing negative comments about her on WhatsApp groups. Ndlovu the Security Manager is just a useless stooge. Remember the issue of the refund where he was instructed not to recommend payment. He cannot act independently.

Respina Ziyanyanduko misrepresented to the Board on retrenchment without going through the HR Committee so that she could fire 3 Union Presidents 

1. Kamurai Moyo - ZARWU President

2. Sikhumbuzo B. Moyo - RAU Prseident

3.F. Dambudzo -RAU S.G.

and other staff members percieved as her enemies.

NRZ conducted Interviews for Accountants. Respina refused to sign the score sheets. She directed her relative Chikwariro be appointed as the Recenue Accountant.

The panel comprised of 

1. Ms T  Maseko, HR

2. Mr J. Lunga, A/CFO

3. Mrs Zhou, Corporate Secretary 

4. Mrs Nyathi, Recruitment 

The person who was supposed to be appointed was P. Nhevera instead she appointed her known relative Mr Chikwariro. 

Her levels of nepotism are very alarming, she also employed Shepherd Mukanga her cousin as her driver and dubiously changed his grade from B4 to C4 which is a supervisory grade. Mr Chananukwa, her husband's young brother has also been given employment at the NRZ and given an altered grade. Security services is now full of her relatives as she continues with neptusm and unethical conduct within the NRZ.

Respina fired over 400 Short term Contract Workers ok n the grounds that there is no work, surprisingly she recruited her relatives into the Security Services branch. The burning question is why she did not offer the contract workers permanent contracts before recruiting permanent staff from outside? Shortly after retrenching several staff members in different departments under the guise of a restructuring and downsizing agenda, she went on a frenzy to recruit friends and relatives into permanent positions within the NRZ.

She has continously breached Procurement Regulations by getting the Services of Mr H. Moyo from Scanlen. There are no comparative quotes. All she does is get a quote and pay them USD4 900, air tickets, hotel bills, etc. How can Moyo come up with a fair determination on labour issues under such circumstances. Moyo is said to be her friend as well. Why hire Moyo when NRZ has a legal department and a full time employed Legal officer to deal with internal legal matters??? Food for thought!

Is if all this is not enough, Respina conducted Interviews for the Procurement Manager on a Saturday.

She excluded the Chief Financial Officer from the panel, despite recruitment policy which states that the GM must attend together with the CFO. It was employment corruption. Find attached a copy of the NRZ Recruitment policy.

For the avoidance of doubt. The recruitment of Mr. Gwaindepi as a Procurement Manager is null and void because the Procurement Board was not fully constituted. Read through NRZ's Selection Policy below.

She knew she was up to some mischief, she excluded the CFO who is a permanent member of the Board. She took Bowden and Mlambo her puppets to rubber stamp the recruitment of Gwaindepi, her brother.

The mind boggling question is;

How do you recruit a Procurement Manager without the Chief Finance Officer on the Recruitment Board. 

Procurement department has a huge impact on the Finances of an organisation. She recently allocated a vehicle to her Brother, Gwaindepi, a Toyota D4D ahead of other Senior Management members, Engineers who are in D5 and are working without vehicles. After the Acting CFO Lunga wrote to the Board alerting them of unethical conduct by the GM, she has since created malicious allegations against the A/CFO in a bid to get him fired ASAO to cover up her shenanigans. 

NRZ regulations state that when the GM flies, he/she flies in the economy class considering the financial quagmire the parastatal is facing. Respina flies herself in business class and has awarded herself many luxurious benefits which are outside her contract of employment as the General Manager.

Surely all the above clearly show that Respina Ziyanyanduko is not Executive Managerial material, lacks the necessary expertise to be a General Manager for a big institution like NRZ. My humble plea is for ZACC to investigate all the corrupt activities by Respina Ziyanyanduko, the NRZ Board to suspend her as NRZ GM until investigations are concluded and for the Ministry of transport to fully investigate the gross mismanagement of the parastatal.

CRISIS of PSMAS Card Members Failing to Access Healthcare in PSMI units and recommendations thereof

By Linda Tsungirirai Masarira 

Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) was formed in 1930 by the Government as non-monetary benefit to its employees to be utilised to access healthcare services.

Government has been contributing 80% whilst its employees contribute 20% towards this non-monetary benefit vehicle. The Society (PSMAS) has managed to grow over the years opening branches in every town and in 2006 managed to establish Premier Service Medical Investments (PSMI) a very important player in as far as provision of affordable health medical services is concerned. PSMI through PSMAS has grown to be the largest private healthcare service provider in the country catering for the majority of Government employees who are members of PSMAS through its hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and laboratories.

PSMAS and PSMI being a multimillion dollar business has not been spared from corruption which has to this very day threatened the existence of the two entities prompting the Government as the major contributor to the Society to intervene and arrest this anomaly as was witnessed during the Cuthbert Dube era and the recent public announcements by the Public Service Commission and the Honourable Vice President Cde CGND Chiwenga in his capacity as the Minister of Health.

These white collar crimes by PSMAS management of the entities and some of its board members has led to the formation of the Premier Service Holding Company (PSHC) through a 2015 Annual General Meeting (AGM) resolution which was fast tracked by the corrupt beneficiaries without the requisite terms of reference and guidance from the same AGM on operational funding and organisational structure.

PSMI and PSHC have been abused as vehicles of looting by this corrupt leadership which has renegaded from the core vision of the organisation of providing access to healthcare running their own peripheral vision engaging in gold buying and selling, microfinance and expansion beyond the country’s borders into Zambia. This has adversely affected the Government employee as funds have been abused and diverted away from healthcare with employees being charged a US dollar based shortfall to access service at PSMI units and chronic patients failing to access their medicines for various chronic illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes and those on dialysis missing sessions due to stock outs.

The recent efforts of intervention by the Government which is the major contributor of funds to the society for its beneficiaries has been attacked directly in the public by the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (ZCPSTU) an umbrella body of civil servant unions as a purported take-over of PSMAS by Government from its employees. It is noteworthy that the president of ZCPSTU, Cecilia Alexander and its vice president David Dzatsunga are current sitting board members of PSMI (vice board chair) and PSMAS (committee member) respectively thus conflicted in this very matter. It is even very disturbing to note that Cecilia Alexander a former member of the dissolved NSSA board has been getting benefits way beyond those stipulated in the Companies Act as a board member enjoying the luxury of a Mercedes Benz E300 registration number ADI-4658 fuelled and serviced at Zimoco by PSMI using public funds. Recently it was serviced at a cost of 1.5 million dollars yet pharmacies are empty and employees have gone for months without adequate salaries.

Amongst other beneficiaries of this rot in the board are Colonel Wellington Tutisa the PSMI board chair (defence representative) who has benefited a Toyota Fortuner AEN-0956 and Jeremiah Bvirindi the PSMAS board chair who has benefited a Nissan NP300 AEN-1787.

Currently PSMAS is failing to clear its arrears to third parties and PSMI is drowning in huge debt and its going concern status threatened by this opulent and reckless squandering and embezzlement of public funds yet efforts to revive and rescue PSMAS by Government are thwarted by soiled beneficiaries of the same flawed system in the name of trade unionism. Besides the tenure of the PSMAS board lapsed in May last year and these individuals despite having served two terms on the board continue to make executive decisions as they have become the defacto PSHC interim board and are hoping for renewal of their tenure by establishing a board of trustees in which they have ripped off Government adequate representation and voting powers. This rampant abuse of representative power by unionists with little business experience and exposure in a multi-million dollar business threatens the existence of the Society.

Statutory bodies are owed millions of dollars by PSMI debts which are not being serviced despite payment plans made with the concerned bodies hence majority of units are not regulatory compliant. Some have since garnished accounts to recover their dues. One dire example is Gweru City Council which is now contemplating legal action over a debt owed by Claybank Hospital (owned by PSMI) for millions of dollars of unpaid water bills covering a period of close to five years. The same story applies to other suppliers mainly for drugs, who are owed millions of dollars as well many of whom have since suspended supplies resulting in lack of stocks even the most basic drugs in all its pharmacies. List of creditors is endless.

What is worrisome is that the company is in this hopeless situation but its Directors and principal Board members are living in opulence. Their subterfuge is their purported main Debtor, PSMAS which they claim is not remitting funds to them. This is an incorrect position as there are many avenues through which PSMI may improve its revenues if management is willing but the real problem emanates from the management itself. A flawed management embedded on sordid avarice and misplaced priorities can never be expected to do better than plunder and destroy. Nepotism and abuse of office has seen board members children and relatives getting employment in key critical areas and even some running companies which directly supply the organisation with prepayments into their accounts with the PSMI board chair’s security company providing all security services in the organisation. 

The Zambian investments (Premier Service Medical Aid Society Zambia Limited and Health Shield Medical Services Limited) have never been clearly acknowledged in public with their financials and shareholding shredded in a mystery despite numerous year end audits confirming it to be running huge loses which cast material doubt on their going concern status. Moreover, twenty percent shareholding of these entities by former Group Chief Executive Officer Cuthbert Dube have been purported. Efforts for proper corporate governance through a forensic audit has been shot down since the Cuthbert Dube era in all PSMAS investment vehicles a quite worrisome development in a multi-million dollar business. 

Employees have expressed a vote of no confidence in the leadership and the entire board through their relevant structures but have been victimised and others fired for highlighting this stinking rot. A position clearly outlining employee incapacitation threatening service provision was submitted to the Public Service Commission efforts which management has attacked as being led by culture misfits and which they allege threatens the viability of their engagements on subscription review which they pinpoint as the only solution to the current quagmire. 

As a way forward in support of the sustenance of the non-monetary benefit of government employees, an Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Society has been proposed for the 30th June 2022 amongst which is an array of proposed interventions meant to arrest this decay and correct this wayward anomaly in PSMAS and its investments. Every PSMAS card carrying member has the right to attend and participate and cast their vote in this very important and strategic AGM of the Society to be held at the Rainbow Towers Hotel on the 30th June at 1000hours. The main purpose is correction of the previous hoodwinking and callous interventions that have been made by the flawed beneficiaries and management through;

i. Dissolution of Premier Service Holding Company (PSHC) and its Trust which are embezzling public funds and running a peripheral vision outside the Society’s core mandate of ensuring healthcare access to its Card Carrying Members

ii. Deliberations on the core mandate of the Society and its investments especially card acceptance and access to healthcare

iii. Invoking SI 330 of 2000 Subsection 26 which allows for the suspension of the Society’s Management and Board and pave way for an interim management to allow execution of the forensic audit without hindrance and interference

iv. Extension of Forensic Audit to all PSMAS investments including PSHC to safeguard public funds and their utilisation

v. Centralisation of all payments and payrolls at PSMAS for all its investment entities and ensuring viable and competitive remuneration of the healthcare workforce being threatened by brain drain 

vi. Restructuring of the investment vehicle management and workforce to a lean sustainable structure

In conclusion government should seriously consider prioritizing the revival of PSMAS as soon as yesterday as civil servants right to healthcare as enshrined in section 76 of the constitution is continuously violated as they fail to access healthcare. In the spirit of leaving no one behind, access to healthcare should be prioritized for every Zimbabwean.

Linda Masarira #AfricaDay2022 Message to Africa

25 May 2022

This morning, I celebrate Africa day with all Africans. I wish we could give this day more reverence as Afrikan people as we do to some holidays like Christmas and Easter. We are all Afrikans first before we belong to any nationality thus the importance of recognizing our Afrikaness first. 

We are at a stage in time were Africa is under siege, yet millions of us are not paying attention. The recolonization of Africa agenda is now on full throttle yet some of us still choose to side with the neocolonialism. Wake up Africa and save your continent.

The contentious question would be, how do we build the Africa we want, when we have the majority of the African populace ignorant of their culture and heritage. Our people have no self determination and still have a deep seated colonial mentality.

As the continent of Africa gathers today in celebration of our blackness and African heritage, Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) cries out over the complete vilification and downgrading of the African people by the ruthless white supremacy racists and Islamic terrorists.

More depressing is the reversal of the gains and vision of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The 25th of May is the day we remember the launch of the OAU which was later renamed to African Union (AU),  after seriously introspecting into the matter we have come to realize that not only was the organization renamed but it was also captured to run the white man's agenda at the expense of Africans.

Over the past 59 years  Africa focused on the decolonization agenda, the struggle against apartheid and attainment of political independence for the continent. On the occasion of The Golden Jubilee headed by the African Union (AU) the continent re-dedicated herself to the attainment of the Pan African Vision. It is in light of this that the Agenda 2063 was founded under the Pan Africanist guidelines. Fifty years after the first thirty-three (33) independent African states took a landmark decision to form the Organization of African Unity, we are looking ahead towards the next fifty years. This is the most painful thing that Labour Economists And Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) finds nothing to celebrate. The idea is good but the implementation worries as it proves lack of seriousness and the willingness to perform.

I urge my fellow African leaders from both ruling and opposition parties to stop being mere planners but rather start implementing the unity Agenda for the purpose of improving Africa. History demonstrated through the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland that unity is productive than anything else. The hallmark of foolishness is not merely the production of failed results but not learning anything from previous mistakes. Nkwame Nkrumah in a speech to the Ghanaian National Assembly made his views loud and clear when he said, “This new Africa of ours is emerging into a world of great combinations – a world where the weak and the small are pushed aside unless they unite their forces” (Webster Boahen and Tidy, 1967:383).

We must unite for economic viability, first of all, and then to recover our mineral wealth in Southern Africa, so that our vast resources and capacity for development will bring prosperity for us and additional benefits for the rest of the world. The war against exploitation and destruction of Africa was the pre-eminent in Nkrumah’s speeches and writings. He lamented about the division between African leaders and saw failure in division and success in unity for all African states and people. This clarion call for unity against imperialist and neo-colonialist interests fell on deaf ears and today, the IMF, EU, China, the United States of America and multinational corporations are wreaking havoc in Africa, without any regard for the peoples’ well-being.

Neo-colonialism is a monster that must be resisted if Africa is to make strides in its efforts to overcome its socio-cultural, economic and political predicaments. Many African leaders still strongly believe that the problems of Africa can solely be solved from outside Africa as epitomized by their reliance on former colonial masters thereby proving that they do not have an independent mind of their own. As LEAD we believe it’s high time that Africa seeks to harmonize her resources to move from being labelled as Third World.

We need to ask ourselves, “What have we contributed to the wellbeing of our countries and Mother Africa.” We need to remind ourselves that Africa is more important than us. When Africa is in shambles it discriminates not between Southern and Northern Africa or even individual countries as shown by the mass movement of people towards South Africa for better livelihoods thereby causing pressure on resources. We need to realize that we have an intergenerational duty to ensure that Africa is safe for generations to come and not only us so that those generations to come will not be forced to cry foul over our mismanagement of resources.

As the new breed of nationalism and Pan Africanism on the Zimbabwean Political landscape, LEAD is setting the record straight that as custodians of African Heritage we are disappointed by the way we continue to be treated as second class citizens in our own motherland. The way in which Africa is being governed is very retrogressive and breeds the spirit of self hate among citizens. 

Since parceling out of African land by foreigners in the new Scramble for Africa our continent has become the home of poverty and foreign manipulation. It worries all progressive African citizens how Libya was turned into a war zone in pursuit of foreign leadership principles defined and determined by American leadership through a bogus organization masquerading as United Nations (UN). 

How do we attain the Africa we want, when global bodies are working against Africa in cahoots with world super powers. As we commemorate Africa Day today, several African countries are in conflict, their citizens living in terror & insurgents running amok killing innocent civilians in cold blood.

The situation in Chad is heartbreaking. Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict which has led to thousands of civilian deaths and displacements and allegations of war crimes and ethnic cleansing hovering over the conflict. 

We are not even worried about the US expansionist agenda. The US continues to increase their military bases in Africa and some of us actually sing praises to the impending military invasion of most Afrikan states.

This week the US passed a bill to prohibit trade between African countries and Russia. The AU hasn't bothered to issue a statement on the matter. Today I am reminding the US that Africa is not their property. The US is an international criminal, it is actually in violation of international law. It is totally disregarding Afrikan states sovereignty & bullying Afrikan countries. This issue must be taken to the international court because the US no moral nor legal right to prohibit Afrikan countries from deciding who they want to trade with or deal with. It is illegal, it is immoral and grotesquely and canterkarously evil.

Since the turn of the millennia, Africa faces a severe threat of neo colonialism which is the reversal of the gains attained in the 1900s.

The new African leaders have over the years been brainwashed and are easily ushering back colonialism on silver platters.

Many African leaders are selling and repartitioning Africa and surrendering their souls and their countries to the hands of colonizers for pieces of silver.

Those who dare push for the unity of Africa and dare push for a new liberation trajectory that seeks to give Africans power and control over their means of production are vilified, their citizens are  brainwashed, paid and mobilized to revolt and overthrow them.

The West has over the years been working on strategies of keeping Africans divided and fighting over crumbs, pushed to the margins and retaining the third world status that survive at the benevolence of the rich countries who acquired their wealth through pillaging African resources, from slave trade to colonialism and to neo colonialism.

As such Africans are failing to find each other and have a common cause. Those who pushed the African dream have been eliminated and replaced by puppets.

Just next door we have the Mozambique islamist insurgency in the North Cabo Delgado province which has led to a refugee crisis which is also unfortunately funded by those who are now playing savior.

As we celebrate Africa Day we realize that after being sold a dummy we have nothing to write home about but every justification to curse our very own leadership. It is time we reshape our path as a people. Cultural degradation must stop forthwith if we are to prosper as a people.

The recent developments in Gaza are a sign that religion has been used a tool to pacify most Africans. Too much faith without practical and logical solutions to life problems is the hallmark of foolishness and must be dismissed. 

As was noted by the founding fathers of Africa at the inception of the OAU in Addis Ababa, the late great icon of Africa Kwame Nkrumah highlighted the need for a United States of Africa so that we could systematically defend the continent from neo-colonialism. In as much as it might seem as if it's too late, we have to follow the path. 

Today we remind ourselves that our voices will never be silent when our continent is under threat. We will not rest until Africa as a whole gains recognition of being an equal participant in the decisive boards determining the human agenda at international level. We need to rededicate ourselves particularly as young people to the African Agenda which our forefathers failed to achieve during their lifetime. History has demonstrated time and again that at critical moments in life it is the young men and women in every society who move societies. When the Ottoman Empire was under threat it is the young men and women who defended their society.

We need to remind ourselves as Africans that brothers should not rise against brothers, sisters should not rise against each other. Political conflicts should not be a matter of physical fights or wars but a battle of ideas that move society forward for the common good. We need to recognize that we can do something to save our continent. As Africans we seek social cohesion, political stability, economic emancipation just to mention but a few and to achieve these we need to introspect and realize that united we stand and divided we fall.

As Africans we need to be mentally de-colonized and take a firm stance by going back to our culture, which we inherited from our forefathers. It is a matter of fact that we should minimize eating the food that our colonial masters are exporting to us. We have to be mentally strong and refuse some of the food we are importing which may be unhealthy to us.

Before the advent of colonialism, Africans were living much healthier and longer lives without suffering from most of the diseases that we are now faced with today. As Africans in particular we have a moral obligation, to reflect our minds on the dangers some of these food might have on our health. We have to maintain our culture, diets, and traditions to make the West know that we are no longer in the era of colonialism and can now live independently.

The crisis of Africa can be therefore summarized in this observation. The citizens of Africa are incapacitated, firstly, in their endeavors to try and deal with the environment and secondly, in their effort to try and understand nature and carve out developmental tools. This incapacity is premised on and compounded by Africa’s colonial legacy. Going forward there should be a deliberate effort towards mental realignment whose objective is meant to change mind-sets to inspire new self-determinist social, economic and political perceptions.

To say Afrika is incapable of economic development without the involvement of foreigners is an insult to the whole Afrikan race. Afrika is in the current position because of its colonial legacy. A number of issues need to addressed and corrected if Afrika has to move forward. The focus of anyone who purports to champion Afrikan progress should invariably be on mental decolonization and realignment of our traditional value systems with modern political systems. Imperialism did not only alienate Afrikan resources but severely maimed the African thought process. It impacted on their perception of self and their ability to forge a sustainable, social, economic and political future. The assumed low self-esteem is the arch emery and prime impediment to Afrikan societal evolution. 

In a nutshell, Africa will not realize her potential unless we are united. As we celebrate Africa Day 2022 we have to be truthful to ourselves on how we can have meaningful development through home grown solutions.

#AfricanSolutionsForAfricanProblems

#TogetherWeCan

Linda Tsungirirai Masarira

LEAD PRESIDENT

Linda Masarira : Mother's Day Message

8 May 2022

Mother's day is a day that we honour mother's. This day has it's origins in the USA. The American incarnation of Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Jarvis would later denounce the holiday’s commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar. While dates and celebrations vary, Mother’s Day traditionally has become an international day to celebrate mother's. In our own calendar February is a women's month in our own culture that is why it is called Kukadzi. It would be imperative to have our own Zimbabwean way of celebrating women and mother's in the month of Kukadzi. 

Mother's love shapes cultures and individuals. While most mothers know that their love and emotional availability are vital to their children’s well-being, many of us do not understand the profound and long-lasting impact we have in developing our young children’s brains, teaching them first lessons of love, shaping their consciences and bringing them up into this harsh and cruel world. At a time when society urges women to seek their worth and personal fulfillment in things that take them away from their families and intimate bonds, I implore women to keep on nurturing love to their husbands and children and to keep on strengthening intimate bonds with the family. 

Motherhood has no manuals, no guidelines and no rewards & recognition which makes it the most difficult leadership role ever with a never-ending responsibility of planning, training mentoring, budgeting, decision making, delegating, communicating and a whole lot more. As we lead our families, let us #LetLoveLEAD and raise children that are gender sensitive who understand what equality is, children who are anti-violence who will understand the aspect of using dialogue as a means to resolve conflict. We can end violence in the world if we take up our natural role as peace ambassadors.

A Mother's love is unconditional

For a mother, a child always remains her baby even if he turns 60 or becomes a tycoon, a leader or a thinker. Mothers hold this strong aspect of loving their children in any phase of life or situation. This unconditional love of mothers is what makes them so special for every child.

As we celebrate mother's day today, my heart bleeds as I think of what Marry Mubaiwa is going through with no access to her children. With all due respect, I humbly and publicly appeal to the Vice President of Zimbabwe Dr Chiwenga to allow his ex wife access to her children. Children should never be used to fix the other parent in a conflict. Ndakumbirisawo Soko. 

There is a mother in every woman who manages the home as well as work all across the world. While making hard decisions, they drive a strong aspect of empathy and make it much more acceptable and sustainable, helping the organization in the longer run. We have seen our mothers eat last and sacrifice the best for the family.

By design every woman enjoys the quality to derive strong enduring values from their motherhood such as empathy, Diversity of Thinking and greater ability to multi-task, which is in their DNA and they carry that wherever they go. That is why women make great LEADers.

In conclusion, I celebrate my mother MaSiziba. A great woman who raised a beautiful Afrikan woman. Ndokudai Mai Linda. 

I celebrate all the mother's in the world today. As we breastfed life into our children, today I encourage everyone of you to breastfeed love, unity, tolerance and peace to the world.

No Woman No Cry

No Mother No Life

Happy mother's day

Linda Masarira Workers Day 2022 Statement

LEAD President Workers Day 2022 statement

1 May 2022

As the whole world celebrates Workers day today, my heart bleeds with sorrow about the current working conditions of the majority of workers in Zimbabwe who are struggling to make ends meet. One of the struggles that led to the Chimurenga liberation struggle was the worker's struggle, need for self determination, equal opportunities and land to all native Zimbabweans. 42 years after independence, workers are now in a worse off situation than they were in the colonial era. The gains of the liberation struggle have been reversed by a governance system that is anti-workers and leaders who are greedy, selfish and corrupt across the political divide. Politicians continue using the worker's struggle for their own political grandstanding at the expense of the worker. 

The struggle for emancipation by the Zimbabwean workers has its roots in the happenings of the 

late 19th Century. After obtaining the Rudd concession the whites did not stop but rushed to obtain the royal charter from the Queen of England. If one reads this colonial document together with the 

Rudd concession they will realize that it was these documents that stripped the Zimbabwean 

people of their right to own resources and turned them into labourers. The 1893 and 1896 rebellions were efforts by our ancestors to reject being reduced to second class citizens in their own land. THE First Chimurenga was not only a fascinating protest and African struggle rallying against colonialism 

but a rejection of the colonial socio-economic system. However due to superiority of fire power 

we lost and the whole nation was turn into a reserve of labourers for the emerging colonial state.

The Africans were forced into tribal trust lands (marginal farming areas characterised by poor climatic and soil conditions) while the whites not only took the best farming lands but also began to fashion out an agro based industry. The harsh economic conditions in the reserves

had few survival options and black people had no choice but to turn to the whites for wage labour. Gradually a new type of African man who depended on wage labour emerged. To keep the Africans coming 

the whites not only treated these workers as subhuman but offered them very low wages. As early as 1910 the Afrikans began to organize themselves to challenge not only the low wages but the 

whole idea of having to be treated as subhuman yet they were the means by which the white 

economy grew. In 1914, the Matabele National Home Movement became vocal in denouncing plans to reduce the size of reserves which was a means to further impoverish the Afrikans so that they could provide cheap labour to whites. 

In 1922, there was a referendum on whether to have ties with South Africa but only 60 out of the 900 000 African workers and their families were eligible to vote. In response, Abraham Twala, a Zulu 

Anglican teacher wrote: 

“Experience has taught us that our salvation does not lie in Downing Street.” Surprisingly that it’s now over 100 years and yet we the Afrikan workers are still yoked to the same forces that forced Twala to sound these words of protest.

Experience should be teaching us that our salvation does not lie 

at the factory door but it lies in parliament. Experience should be teaching us that our salvation does not lie at the tripartite negotiating table but lies in the August house that fashion the laws. We desperately need laws that are pro poor at the same time protecting the interests of the worker. 

The case of the Zimbabwean worker today is a sad story which has seen over 80% of the working 

class living below the living wage or the poverty datum line. The remainder of Zimbabwean workers have been forced to seek economic refugee in foreign lands where they not only sell their labour cheaply but work under 

conditions which can be referred to as modern day slavery. These gallant sons and daughters of the Zimbabwean soil are riling under xenophobic attacks in countries like South Afrika and 

Botswana. To make matters worse the agents of imperialism stripped Zimbabwe of its national dignity by taking away its investment power the Zimbabwean dollar. Without a local currency Zimbabwe is not able to create meaningful wealth to cause economic growth.

In the year 1999 we 

the workers formed what we thought was a workers’ party to try to avert a looming economic crisis. Unfortunately the neo-colonialists saw through our vision and sneaked into our ranks and again diverted our revolutionary efforts. Instead of championing the cause of the citizens the party

worked hard to advance the interests of our former colonisers until it split several times because of power struggles. This has been evidenced by its 

call for the imposition of sanctions on our motherland and the creation of an atmosphere of 

political intolerance and hate. It is also sad to realise that despite having given birth to the party

we, the workers and citizens no longer have a voice in the movement. 

We the workers and disadvantaged groups of Zimbabwe also realise the spirit of Pan Afrikanism which fueled the revolutions for political emancipation resulting the formation of the Organization 

of Afrikan Union has died. We therefore take it upon ourselves to work starting in Zimbabwe to 

rekindle this flame and push fellow workers throughout Afrika to redirect the Afrikan effort towards getting Afrika take her seat at the table of continents on an equal footing. In doing so we want to go into the world wielding our formidable resource and labour power which for years has been used to develop Europe and the United States of America. It’s no robbery for Afrikan labourers to demand the humane treatment of the Afrikan and the refusal by Afrika to be referred to as a third world. We have developed cultural values and technologies which have contributed 

immensely to the modernization of the world and demand fair treatment. As such LEAD will be advocating for reparations from Britain and other countries that benefited with our mineral resources and cheap labour during the colonial era.

We implore government to give priority to find lasting solutions to the plight of all civil servants, war veterans and workers in Zimbabwe. The government is on record stating that "Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo" which we agree to and also add that "Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo vakaguta, vanezvikwanisiro zvakakwana." In the spirit of "Leaving no one behind" which was this years National Independence theme, we humbly request the President of Zimbabwe Cde ED Mnangagwa not to leave the worker's behind as they are the key enablers of inclusive economic growth and achievement of NDS 1. A demotivated worker is unproductive. We demand decent salaries for all workers and safe working conditions.

To redirect our efforts to achieve full economic potential with a generational mandate we have decided to regroup under a new banner. In a show of resilience we are reorganized ourselves as Labour, 

Economists Afrikan Democrats (LEAD). In this renewed existence we are applying all our efforts 

towards reclaiming the worker's revolution for all Zimbabweans. 

• Experience has taught us that the issue is not about salaries. 

• Experience has taught us that the issue is note about the cost of living. • Experience has taught us that it’s not about prizes of goods. 

• Experiences has taught us that it’s all about governance. 

As long as we the workers are not in 

government nothing will change. We will not stop until all the means of productions are in the hands of a worker’s government. We will not stop until we have taken over government. We will not

stop until we have created a social democratic society directed by a workers’ government it’s time 

to LEAD!!!! Together we can achieve labour reforms united in our diversity.

Linda Tsungirirai Masarira

LEAD President

The Plight of NRZ workers and recommendations : Linda T Masarira

The plight of Nrz workers and recommendations thereto

25 April 2022

Our country has faced myriads of economic challenges for the past two decades consequent to the land reform program which sort to give economic to the native Zimbabweans. However, withdrawal of support by Bretton Woods instutions and sanctions has left Zimbabwe's economy swimming in deep, dark and murky waters. The Second Republic has however showed signs of economic stabilization which still need more commitment and national cohesion for us to be able to ensure sustainable human development and economic growth. 

With organic, homegrown solutions and a good buy in of the citizens, total economic stability is achievable.

NRZ workers have not been spared the wrath of economic hardships since 2008 as they have been victims of economic exclusion, retrenchment and marginalization. The railway sector is a strategic sector which needs to be prioritized as gravitate towards implementation of the National Development Strategy. Improving NRZ operations will go a long way in stabilizing the economy. We honestly can’t revive the NRZ with a demotivated and demoralized workforce. 

As a former NRZ worker and trade unionist, I therefore present the challenges my colleagues are facing and make recommendations hitherto.

1) Restructuring and change of management

Indeed, for a turnaround restructuring and change is a necessary “evil”, however it may have a negative impact on the operation of an entity especially one like the NRZ where there are certain specialised jobs. Movement of some of these key personnel may result in loss of the knowledge they have and may cause inefficiencies in the running of the entity going forward.

Recommendation

We therefore need to take stock of the system now and identify where possible key personnel were affected and reinstate them with the view of plugging inefficiencies

2) The Railway Family and culture

Railway employees and management for a long time have considered themselves a family and they have their own social cultures which they observe since most of them still live in the same previously railway townships, like Nguminja, Sizinda, Greenhill, Lochinvar, Rugare just to mention a few. Whatever that is affecting the company is reflected in the social livelihoods of these suburbs and it has the effect of even amplifying itself through non railway people leaving within the same areas. So far ever since the restructuring I am of the view management has alienated themselves from these communities and cultures.

Recommendation

Management needs to reengage itself with the community by improving the social welfare of all employees in the communities. For example, back then in Hwange there used to be a bus that would ferry workers to and from work, at the same time it would also carry their spouses and children to shopping and schools. This has ceased to happen. Another example is that of the GM Sports gala which were abolished without notice or reason. Some of these social programmes were important to workers and boosted their morale. Reintroduction of some of these social events will reflect well to the Railway community and award a good image to management, board and the second republic.

3) Motivation

The Nrz worker is the least motivated of all the parastatal workers in Zimbabwe because of the journey they have traversed through from hyperinflation period to non-payment of salaries and back again to inflation. However, most of them have been resilient throughout and never left the organisation because they put it at heart. The demotivation only prevents them to give it their all as they have been treated like second class citizens/workers for over a decade now.

Recommendation

Financially it is recommended that salaries keep up with the inflation. It may be wise also to follow the government policy changes for example civil service is now receiving part of the salaries in hard currency, so it be done for the railway workers. One financial motivation has been achieved it is then prudent to start on a lot non-financial motivational strategies, like training and betterment of certain job titles etc.

4) REC engagements and Litigations

Management has been hostile in its engagements with the trade unions. The recent dismissals of union leaders do not auger well the employees, other outside union federations, and international bodies like ILO. It also leaves gaps for the attack of the second republic by non patriotic opposition and other anti-government entities.

Recommendation

It is common cause that parties to a contest lose control to the contest as they escalate the matters from negotiations to arbitrations then appeals. It is therefore my recommendation that most cases should be concluded at the negotiation stage as this creates a big buy in of the unions and employees. A good rapport should be created between the management and union leaders. Management should show willingness of abandoning some litigation cases and opt for out of court settlements.

Conclusion

The human capital of NRZ is very essential for the achievement of the turn around as some of the skills and knowledge are only trained and cultured within the Railways. It therefore behoves on the board and management to identify the special skills and institutional memory banks with the view of tapping from them in the process of legacy retention.

Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo. Vene vayo vakaguta uye vachiwana zvikwanisiro zvizere kuti vavake nyika yavo nerudo.

Linda Masarira responds to President Mnangagwa SONA

8 October 2021

Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) appreciates the State of the Nation  Address (SONA) by President ED Mnangagwa yesterday. We feel that some issues expressed were over exaggerated and thus we respond on the contentious issues raised by the SONA. 

We applaud the efforts of road rehabilitation by the government and expect the project to be completed by mid 2022 all over Zimbabwe. Considering that Zimbabwe is a landlocked country, we expect commitment by government to prioritize 

Rail rehabilitation and restore NRZ to it's former glory of a fast, efficient and affordable bulk transporter of goods in Zimbabwe. Rail transport  has the capacity to lure the much needed forex if the rail regulations are followed according to the book as was before. Government must desist from appointing political or military people into the rail sector who have no understanding whatsoever about the operations of the once economic giant organization in Zimbabwe.

Expansion of Robert Mugabe International airport and Joshua Nkomo airport is not a priority at the moment. Funds should be injected into the health sector to ensure quality healthcare for all Zimbabweans as enshrined in section 77 of the constitution of Zimbabwe. For a country with nearly a quarter of the population suffering from chronic diseases priority should be allocation of funds to acquire state of the art machinery for public hospitals like CT scans, radiotherapy machines for cancer patients, dialysis machines, etc for all the referral public hospitals in Zimbabwe. Commitment by Government of Zimbawe should be on ensuring affordable quality healthcare in all public health facilities and sufficient stock of drugs and essential medical supplies.

Government has collected AIDS levy for decades yet it has failed to ensure total implementation of the new curriculum of education since inception by introducing an education levy. Instead of expanding airports funds should be used to upgrade schools and investing in quality education of all students regardless of background or class in society. 

Students in rural and Peri urban areas have been disenfranchised of quality education and prejudiced from knowledge of the new world fundamentals nowadays like ICT. The new curriculum of education made ICT a compulsory subject in primary and high school education yet no investment whatsoever has been made by government to ensure that every government school has a well equipped computer laboratory, qualified ICT teachers and Wifi. Teachers have complained time and again about shortage and non availability of the new curriculum text books which is making their work a mammoth task. These are the issues we expected the Honorable President Mr. Mnangagwa to address yesterday as they are issues affecting real people and the future of Zimbabwe. 

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is good for the country. We reiterate that government should create an enabling environment for Local Direct Investment (LDI). The Ease of doing business should be afforded to local people instead of giving tax exemptions to foreigners who are already milking our country dry. Opportunities for wealth creation should be afforded to native grassroots Zimbabweans first. 

President Mnangagwa stated that FOREX rates are stable and we must equivocally respond that, it was a slap in the face for the majority of Zimbabweans who have to endure exorbitant pricing of basic commodities which are pegged on the black market rate by both retailers and wholesalers in Zimbabwe. The multi currency system has brought immense suffering to the ordinary Zimbabwean who can nolonger transact in local currency because government prefers USD to our local currency, fuel companies prefer to sell fuel in USD other than ZWL, property owners don't want to be paid in local currency, healthcare providers use black market rate for local currency payments, in short every sector is pegging goods and services using the black market rate which means there is no FOREX stability at all. The is the real state of the nation Mr President and we should desist from putting lipstick on a frog.

Early this year we suggested that USD should be not be used for local transactions and as usual our suggestions fell on deaf ears because the government of the day is out of touch with the lived realities of ordinary Zimbabweans. To LEAD Mr President is to care for the livelihoods of the people you are in charge of as the President of this country. 

It has been 8 years since the new constitution was enacted and new, not so new, rather old constitution is not being observed as the supreme law of this land. We honestly can't speak of government being committed to aligning laws with the constitution of Zimbabwe 8 years later. The cabinet, Parliament and Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary affairs are sleeping on laurels. We demand the issue of alignment of laws to take precedence as a lot of people are being prejudiced by the inconsistent laws in this country. 

Indeed GMB must pay farmers on time. We condemn the paltry rates being paid by GMB to farmers and implore the relevant authorities to revise the rates of grains and stop shortchanging farmers. 

Condemnation of drug abuse is not enough Mr President. The way forward to help and save our youth is to establish public and affordable drug rehabilitation centres in all the ten provinces to save our youth. Chrystal methamphetamine (Mutoriro) should be criminalized and made illegal as soon as yesterday. Mutoriro is now a deadly pandemic in our country which has also increase crime rate as young people addicted to this deadly drug end up involved in crime to get funds to sustain this vice. 

Lastly, there is little effort  to ensure gender balance . Saying that government is committed to ensure gender equality is an understatement as it is not visible practically in all organs of the state, public sector, boards and parastatals. We demand gender equality to be a reality as it is a constitutional provision which should be adhered to.

Mr President, your predecessor the late former President Robert Gabriel Mugabe left a legacy of educating Zimbabweans and taking back land. What will be your legacy? What are you going to be remembered for? Make Zimbabwe comfortable for all Zimbabweans. Restore the dignity of all workers and be sincere in curbing corruption which is an evil that has destroyed the economy and potential of our great nation.