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These days, I spend the majority of my days working full-time at my bar exam coaching company, but I still moonlight as an adjunct professor of law (and sometimes even an adjunct professor of political science to college freshman, but that is a story for another day). 

Some of my students are required to take my classes for academic reasons and the mood in those classrooms can at times be tense, bordering on hostile. The students are angry because they are required to take a class they don’t believe they need and don’t think will help them. But on a deeper level, I believe they are upset with themselves and their perceived failure and I am the physical representation of all those things. It is much, much easier to be mad at me, their professors from last semester, the dean, and the school in general than it is to take a long, hard look at their own actions and responsibilities. 

While this situation sometimes creates a difficult-to-navigate classroom dynamic, I return to teach these classes again and again. This is not because I’m a masochist, but because I don’t view my classes as a manifestation of failure. Rather I see these classes as an opportunity to change, improve, and reach a different outcome than what these students are used to and expect.  

Through my teaching experiences, I’ve come to learn a lot about what law students perceive to be failure, such as getting “bad” grades, being placed in an academically mandated class, not getting on law review, not being in the top X percent of the class, not getting  a specific internship/externship/job, and the “ultimate” failure — failing the bar exam. 

Listen, I get it. Most law students are used to seeing all As and Bs in their undergraduate program, so it can be a real shock to the system to see a C on their transcript. It is a very humbling experience.  I can say this from firsthand experience… let’s just say you don’t want me to draft you a contract anytime in the near future. 

But, you might have noticed that I keep saying “perceived failures” instead of simply “failures.”  That is because basically every time I’ve “failed,” it has actually turned out to be one of the greatest things to happen to me.

Here are three “failures” just from my law school experience:

1. Getting a C in contracts → Forced me to reevaluate my study methods and actually learn how to study which allowed me to crush the rest of law school and pass three bar exams on my first try. I also uncovered the skill set that has led me to build a business and career that I love. 
2. I didn’t get a scholarship to cover living expenses in law school → Took a babysitting job working for two lawyers who helped me get amazing internships I otherwise probably wouldn’t have even gotten interviews for. 
3. Didn’t get the post-grad job I wanted → Started running my own business one year out of law school and enjoy complete freedom over my time, schedule, and life today. 

None of those things felt good when they happened, but I didn’t let the “failure” eat me alive. Instead, I used the following five steps to overcome the “failure” and persevere. I have also used these steps to help countless law students when they are up against their own perceived failure. 

Be reflective and accept personal responsibility 

This is the hardest step, in my opinion, so we may as well get it out of the way first. It is crucially important for you to be reflective of your situation and accept personal responsibility where appropriate. I am not saying that you’re never going to get screwed over in law school. Sure, you might have an unfair or difficult experience with a professor, and if that happens, I hope you take advantage of the resources available to you through your school.

But, for the most part, if things aren’t going the way you want, the only person who has real control over fixing that is you. If you didn’t see the grades you were hoping for last year, it might be an issue of motivation or effort. However, more likely, it is an issue of “law school is brand new and I’m trying really hard but I have no idea what I’m doing.” Admitting that doesn’t make you a failure, stupid, or unworthy. It just makes you new at this. The sooner you can determine that there is a gap in the skill set that you have and the skill set that you need to have, the sooner you can get working on acquiring it. 

While this step is necessary, don’t get stuck here. While some students have real difficulty facing the role they play in their own achievements or lack thereof, other students over-identify, take things way too personally, and get really stuck in their feelings. That is not a helpful approach either. This step is about being honest and self-aware, not beating yourself up 

Seek advice 

Once you’ve taken the time to sort out your own thoughts and feelings on things, the next step to take is to seek out advice. Your life will be much easier if you can talk to someone who has “been there” and “done that.” If you determine your needs are academic, seek out the academic success department. Their job is to help you figure out “how-to” law school. Are mental health or emotional issues holding you back? Inquire about counseling services. Really stressed out about finding a job? Call up career services. If you aren’t sure where to start, your office of student services is probably a good place. Let the experts give you an outside perspective on your situation and give you some advice on how to reach your goals. 

Make a plan 

Using your own reflections and the expert advice that you received, formulate a plan. At this point, you know where you are, where you want to be, and what went wrong, and you have some pointers on things to change. Now you have to decide what steps you will take to reach those goals. If your goal is to improve your GPA, your plan may include making changes to the way you read and brief cases, take notes, create outlines, and do practice questions among other things. Whatever the goal, figure out the steps and write them down. 

Execute 

All the planning in the world won’t help you if you don’t take action. You absolutely must put your plan into action in order for it to work for you. And, spoiler alert, it won’t be easy. Change is hard. You already learned how to make outlines a certain way and that was hard enough. Now you have to unlearn that and learn something new. But, continuing to do the same thing even though you now know it won’t give you the results you want and know that there is a better way, won’t help you and will result in unnecessary stress. If executing a plan is not your strong suit, get an accountability system in place and let others help to keep you on track. 

Follow up and adjust 

I hate to break it to you, but this “plan” that you created is probably not perfect! There is a lot of trial and error that goes into learning new skills and reaching new goals. Set specific times where you will check back with your plan to see if it is still serving you and make adjustments as necessary. 

Law school, like life, is tough. Things are not always going to go the way you want or anticipated. You’ll fail sometimes, but that doesn’t mean you’re a failure. And fortunately, you can do something about it. Use these steps to take back control over your situation and fight to overcome any obstacles in your way.

Kerriann Stout is a millennial law school professor and founder of Vinco (a bar exam coaching company) who is generationally trapped between her students and colleagues. Kerriann has helped hundreds of students survive law school and the bar exam with less stress and more confidence. She lives, works, and writes in the northeast. You can reach her by email at info@vincoprep.com.

The ever-hastening progress of legal technology continues to push law firms to a future where lawyers can do more than ever before, in a manner so efficient that the value being offered to clients is beyond compare. Although practice management, document management, and even legal research platforms have incorporated artificial intelligence and machine learning into their offerings, not all law firms have gotten on board with the new capabilities that this technology has made available to them.

Blue J Legal wants to help demystify the many ways lawyers can leverage AI and machine learning in their practices to improve results for clients. It’s unlikely that machines will ever replace lawyers, but one thing is becoming clear: lawyers who use artificial intelligence will replace lawyers who don’t.

Sign up below to join “Exploring artificial intelligence and the law,” an on-demand webinar hosted by Blue J Legal’s COO, Avi Brudner.

Here’s an odd prediction, and one about which I’m relatively certain:  Diversity will improve in litigation groups more quickly than it does in other legal practice areas.

Why?

When a case is going to trial, smart clients insist on a diverse trial team:  “You can put three people on the trial team.  But it can’t be three old white guys.  We need a trial team that looks a little bit like the jury.  You must find a decent trial lawyer who is not an old, white male, and that person must hold the third spot on the trial team.”

The partner at Bigg & Mediocre clears his throat and mumbles, but the client has spoken, and Bigg & Mediocre eventually finds a lawyer who fits the bill.

Client demands force law firms to become more diverse.

And those client demands are grounded in money: We are more likely to win this case — and thus profit — if the trial team looks like the jury.

In other areas of law, the profit motive for increasing diversity is less clear.  (That’s just the profit motive.  Other motives — such as fairness and doing what’s right — are a whole different story.)

Yeah, yeah: Studies show that diverse groups make better decisions, and diverse corporations are more profitable, and all that.

But the old, white guys who are running law firms don’t read, or don’t believe, those studies: “This firm will be most profitable if everyone at this firm went to my school, was on the same law review I was on, and clerked for the same judge that I did.  That doesn’t naturally make me choose from a diverse slate of candidates.  And the few women we hire ultimately choose less hectic lifestyles and leave the firm.  It’s not my fault; we simply can’t become diverse.”

In the tax, and corporate, and real estate departments at Bigg & Mediocre, these old predilections win.  Many of the old guys running the joints don’t care about diversity.  Those who do care have only their personal desire, and noble aspirations, to encourage them to move in the right direction.

Clients occasionally insist on diverse corporate or tax or real estate teams, but the clients aren’t insisting out of necessity.

Litigation is different: Clients want profits.  Profits require diverse trial teams.  And law firms must do want clients want.  Period.

So, for the corporate group, you have noble aspirations prompting diversity.

But in the litigation group, you have (1) noble aspirations and (2) money prompting diversity.

Which group is going to reach its goal first, I ask you?

Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and is now deputy general counsel at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Inside Straight: Advice About Lawyering, In-House And Out, That Only The Internet Could Provide (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.

Today brings us unfortunate news from North Carolina, where a longtime judge was found dead. A recent autopsy reveals that Chief Judge Tom Jarrell, 56, of the Guilford County district court, died from an opioid-related overdose.

Jarrell had served as a judge for more than 20 years, and created the first DWI traffic court in the state. The Tribune Media Wire has additional information:

According to the autopsy released Thursday, Jarrell’s official cause of death was “fentanyl and heroin intoxication.”

The judge was reportedly found unresponsive on the bedroom floor of his home during a welfare check.

Law enforcement found a plastic baggie with a powder substance in his pocket, as well as a pocket knife and a piece of paper containing a powder substance in the bathroom.

Cindy Jarrell had this to say about the loss of her husband: “Our family is still reeling from Tom’s sudden death. It has left a huge void in all our lives and in the community he loved. We have not had an opportunity to review the autopsy, but nothing it can tell us will bring him back or alter our deep love and affection for him.”

If you are a lawyer or a law student with alcohol and/or drug use or abuse issues and you’ve realized that you need help, there are many places you can turn to that will welcome you with open arms. If you or someone you know is in need help, call the lawyer assistance program in your state (don’t be fooled by the name; these programs also provide services to law students). Don’t be afraid to reach out for help. Alcohol and drug use disorders are treatable, and recovery from addiction is possible.

We here at Above the Law continue to extend our condolences to Chief Judge Tom Jarrell’s family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time.

North Carolina judge died of fentanyl and heroin intoxication, autopsy reveals [Tribune Media Wire]

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

It used to be that to even consider becoming a lawyer, you had to ace — or at least do pretty well — on the LSAT. But now that over 30 law schools accept the GRE in lieu of the LSAT, that’s not always true. And more law schools are hopping on the GRE train all the time.

The latest law school to offer students the opportunity to opt out of the LSAT is Seton Hall Law. In their statement on the admissions change, the school focused on the GRE’s ability to attract a broader base of students to law school. As Dean Kathleen M. Boozang said:

“Law can be a very welcoming field for those with interdisciplinary backgrounds, particularly those with STEM degrees, but the act of transitioning to law school can seem so daunting that the value of the law degree gets obscured. We hope that accepting an interdisciplinary test will allow more people to see that a law degree will enhance their careers, particularly those who may not intend to use the degree to practice law.”

For those keeping track at home, here are the 30+ schools that accept the GRE for admissions purposes:

And we are likely to only see this trend continue. According to a survey by Kaplan Test Prep, a full 25 percent of law schools have plans to accept the GRE. Another Kaplan study determined 49 percent of students surveyed support the move to the GRE.

Even though more and more law schools are on board with the GRE, the  body responsible for law school accreditation, the American Bar Association, hasn’t officially weighed in on using anything other than the LSAT in admissions. ABA accreditation Standard 503 currently mandates that law schools require admissions testing and that the test used be “valid and reliable.” Whether the GRE meets that standard, the ABA hasn’t officially said. But now that so many law schools have moved on the GRE, it might be impossible to put the toothpaste back in the tube.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

Ed. note: Please welcome Jordan Rothman to Morning Docket duty here at Above the Law.

* UNLV Law paid James Comey $54,000 for a speech and a stay at the Bellagio. It sure pays to get off the government dole. [Nevada Independent]

* A Rutgers student was arrested for sending a threatening email to law students and staff —looks like someone needs a refresher on true threats law. [Northjersey.com]

* The Justice Department is distancing itself from Rudy Giuliani… this was kind of expected. [New York Times]

* The Indiana Attorney General faces a disciplinary hearing today over allegations he groped four women at a bar last year. [The Hill]

* Netflix is fighting back against a lawsuit aimed at blocking its film on the Panama Papers. Meryl Streep shall not be silenced! [The Guardian]

* A Florida judge has temporarily blocked a law making it harder for ex-felons in that state to vote. [New York Times]

Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

Update on Statutory Instruments: Part 2

This bulletin continues where Bill Watch 52 of 16th October [“Statutory Instruments:  Part 1]” [link] stopped;  it will deal with Government Gazettes from SI 205/2019 of 20th September up to SI 221/2019 of 18th October.

But first we draw attention to Constitution Watch 8/2019 of 19th October [link] commenting on the implications of the High Court decision in the important case of Mlilo v Minister of Finance and Economic Development [link].  The judgment invalidated SI 2015 gazetted on 12th October 2018 – the statutory instrument that imposed the 2% transaction tax.  The government then made it lawful in the Finance No 2 Act gazetted on the 21st August 2019 and backdated it to the time the 2% tax was introduced.

This bulletin indicates three recent statutory instruments which amend Acts of Parliament  –their validity could be challenged in the High Court using the Mlilo decision as a precedent.

Gazette of 20th September 2019

Correction of maximum income tax rate to 40%

SI 205/2019 [link] which amends the Finance Act is the first of the statutory instrument that are open to challenge on the basis of Mlilo’s case.  The SI amends the income tax bands for the period 1st August to 31st December 2019, correcting the rate for the top taxable bracket to 40% from 45% specified in the Finance (No. 2) Act.  It has been plausibly suggested that the 45% may have been a typographical error in the Finance (No 2) Act, because the Budget Presentation itself specified 40%.  The change went undetected and uncorrected while the Bill was going through Parliament and a few days later appeared in the Finance (No. 2) Act.

Note: The Minister can easily resolve doubts about the SI’s validity by including in the next Finance Bill a clause confirming 40% as the highest income tax rate for the five-month period August-December 2019.  He will have the opportunity to do so when he presents the 2020 National Budget during November.

Insurance:  Increased minimum prescribed assets ratios for insurers

SI 206/2019 [link] is aimed at registered insurers.  It effectively doubles the minimum prescribed asset ratios, i.e., the proportions of an insurer’s total assets that must be held in “prescribed securities” such as stocks or bonds issued by the State, statutory bodies and local authorities [including, for non-life insurers, Treasury bills and similar short-term instruments] or other investments  approved by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development.  The SI replaces SI 24/2016, the previous SI on the subject and goes into far greater detail than its predecessor on the penalties that can be imposed by the Insurance and Pensions Commission [IPEC] for non-compliance.

Note: A “prescribed assets” mechanism for insurers is usually justified as protecting policy holders against the consequences of injudicious investments by their insurers.  Another view, however, is that these prescribed assets were increased so that the State has access to more financial resources that would not otherwise be available to the State from investors from the money market.

High Court civil cases fees: correction of error

SI 207/2019 [link] corrects an error in SI 187/2019 [link] by replacing item 2 of the Schedule of fees [item 2 deals with court fees chargeable for a summons in civil cases claiming payment of money.

Persons who may lawfully acquire, possess and supply industrial hemp

SI 208/2019 [link] is a set of regulations, made by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs in terms of section 161(g) of the Criminal Law Code, listing the following as persons who may lawfully acquire, possess and supply hemp:

• any “farmer” [the term is not defined] so authorised in writing by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement,
• the State or any of its organs on farms operated by the State or by any State organ,

as long as they are cultivating “industrial hemp” [there is a definition] for industrial purposes.  At least, that is how Veritas interprets the regulations, which could – and should – be much more clearly and tightly stated, given that the they are intended to create an additional class of persons exempted from the criminal penalties normally associated with possession of cannabis plants, prepared cannabis and cannabis resin.

Gazette of 23rd September 2019

New Standard Scale of Fines in ZWL dollars

SI 209/2019 [link] by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs amends an Act of Parliament – it repeals and replaces the First Schedule to the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.  The enabling provisions cited by the Minister – section 280 of that Act and section 24(1) of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 (No. 7 of 2019) – expressly confer the power to amend Acts of Parliament.  This SI, too, is open to challenge on the basis of Mlilo’s case.

It is important to remember that the new figures apply only to offences committed on or after the date the SI was gazetted, 23rd September.  Some examples of the new levels are: level 1 is ZWL$ 40, level 3 is ZWL$ 100 [the maximum fine to be imposed by a police officer for a petty offence under the admission of guilt procedure], level 14, the highest level, is ZWL$ 30 000.

Gazettes of 27th September 2019

ZWL dollar wages and allowances for Cotton Industry

SI 210/2019 [link] records a collective bargaining agreement fixing wages and allowances in the cotton industry, back-dated to 1st June.

Customs duty suspensions (1) disabled persons and (2) commercial tyres imported by approved importers

SI 211/2019 [link] fine-tunes the effect of the suspension of duty for motor vehicles imported for disabled persons by section 4 of the principal regulations, SI 257/2003.

It also modifies the suspension allowed on commercial tyres imported by approved manufacturers by section 9EE of SI 257/2003.

Prohibition on the use of forex in domestic transactions

SIs 212 and 213/2019 have already been covered in Bill Watch 50/2019 dated 29th September [link].

SI 213/2019, which amends the Exchange Control Act under the powers conferred on the President by the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, is the third recent SI open to challenge on the basis of Mlilo’s case.

Gazette of 4th October 2019

Annual registration fees for land surveyors

SI 214/2019 [link] – new fees, stated in ZWL, for land surveyors, land surveyors-in-training and land survey technicians.

Local authority by-laws

SI 215/2017 [link] – Chiredzi Town Council By-laws amending rents and refuse removal charges for the “incorporated area”, i.e., the high density township/s administered by the council.

Customs duty

SI 216/2019 [link] – amendment of the duty rebate for food, soap and cosmetics manufacturers.

SI 217/2019 – a lengthy set of Suspension Regulations giving effect to the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Community (EC) and Eastern & Southern Africa states (ESA).  Veritas is trying to obtain this to post in on the Veritas website.

Collective bargaining agreement: ZESA

SI 218/2019 [link] – temporary interim hardship allowances for ZESA Grades A1 to D2, January to March 2019.

Gazette of 11th October 2019

No statutory instruments were published in this regular Friday gazette.

General Notices

Those interested in the mining sector should note the 32 General Notices from the Mining Affairs Board.  These GNs notified applications to the Board for Exclusive Prospecting Orders for a variety of minerals in most of the country’s mining districts.  The Board has set a deadline of 1st November for receipt by the Board of any objections to the orders being granted.

Gazette of 18th October 2019

Statutory Instruments

Local authority by-laws – Masvingo RDC and Epworth Local Board

SI 219/2019 [link] – the Masvingo Rural District Council (Environmental and Natural Resources Conservation) By-laws, 2019 is a 32-page set of controls for many aspects of use of land and natural resources within the area of the council.

SI 220/2019 [link] – the Epworth Local Board (Dog Licensing and Control) By-laws, 2019 is marred by a meaningless final section 21 which assumes that section 4 restricts the number of dogs that an individual can own – but neither section 4 nor any other section contains such a restriction.

Defence Forces – Medical Professions Cadets

SI 221/2019 [link] – the Defence (Regular Force) (Nursing, Radiography, Pharmaceuticals, Physiotherapy, Laboratory Science, Veterinary Science and other Medical Professions) (Cadets) Regulations, 2019 is a brief set of regulations for the engagement of cadets studying to qualify for one of the professions listed.  Cadets will be engaged as privates, but be subject to specified provisions of the regulations applicable to Defence Force officers.  During university/college vacations they will be liable for military duty as determined by the Commander.  They will be responsible for all training, registration, living and other expenses incurred while studying.  On qualification they will be commissioned and be obliged to serve for a further five years.

General Notices

New Special Economic Zone in Selous for Karo Resources

GN 1838/2019 [link] notifies the declaration by the Special Economic Zones Authority as a special economic zone of “a portion of Selous covering 50 667 hectares located on land covered by special mining grants issued to Karo Zimbabwe Holdings (Pvt). Ltd.”

Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied.

Post published in: Featured

Both lines move slowly.

Zimbabwe has faced an acute fuel shortage since September 2018. But the shortage is just one of several challenges that drivers here now face.

Atop the list of drivers’ complaints is the Zimbabwean government’s mandate to blend ethanol, a renewable fuel made from plants, into regular unleaded fuel, called a petrol blend here. So while prices at the pump soar, drivers say that the blended fuel lessens engine efficiency, damages their cars and reduces mileage per tank.

Selling fuel that has not been blended with ethanol has been illegal here for years. Leaving drivers, like David Kamusingo, a driver in the fuel line, without an option.

“Ever since the government mandated fuel suppliers to blend unleaded fuel with ethanol, the fuel does not last long, but its cost remains high,” he says. “I used to use way less money on fuel than I do now. The fuel is diluted, it does not last long; and yet my earnings have not increased.”

Eddington Mazambani, the acting chief executive officer at the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority, says there were multiple motivations for the country to begin mandatory blending.

“Fuel blending was introduced for economic, social and environmental reasons, which include energy security, as ethanol blends increase the fuel pool of the country and reduces unleaded petrol imports into the country thus saving foreign currency,” Mazambani said in a written response to GPJ.

The government requirement to blend ethanol into fuel increased from 5% to 20% this year. Despite that adjustment, fuel continues to be scarce and its cost has risen nearly 750% in nine months, soaring from 1.32 Zimbabwean dollars (ZWL) (11 cents) to 11.55 ZWL (87 cents) per liter amid increases in prices of other basic commodities. Motorists say the increase in the percentage of ethanol has led to the fuel depleting at a faster rate.

Importers have a directive to sell fuel blended with 20% ethanol, although earlier this year the percentage blend was reduced to 5% due to the unavailability of ethanol. Effects of the rainy season, combined with high demand for fuel, has left Green Fuel, the country’s main ethanol producer, unable to harvest enough sugar cane to meet demand for ethanol, says Merit Rumema, the company’s corporate social responsibility and marketing manager.

Itai Mutadza, a petroleum technology lecturer at the Harare Institute of Technology, says there are pros and cons to fuel blending.

“Blending up to an optimum of about 20% improves fuel efficiency, efficiency in terms of the engine,” he says. “It burns better, it reduces gases that are released to the environment. The carbon footprint is reduced.”

On the other hand, “Once you go above 20%, eventually you will damage your engine in the long run,” he says.

Car manufactures agree. Most indicate that the percentage of ethanol should not be above 10%.

Zimbabwe does not have a local car manufacturing industry. Many used cars are imported secondhand from Japan. Nissan, a major car manufacturer based in Japan, reports that fuel with more than 10% ethanol can damage their cars.

Kelvin Moyo is a motorist who, like other drivers here, does not trust the efficiency of the blended fuel on his imported vehicle.

“There are theories that blended fuel is harmful to engines. I believe this to be true. These cars we are using are all imported from Japan and prior to their importation, they relied on unblended fuel,” he says.

Gift Bonzo, who has been a professional mechanic for 20 years, confirms drivers’ fears.

“In a negative way, blended fuel affects the cars we have now that are imported from Japan,” he says adding that catalytic converters and fuel injectors are compromised.

Drivers wait in long lines to refuel their vehicles. Regular, unleaded fuel is now illegal to sell; the only option is fuel that has been blended with 20% ethanol.

Linda Mujuru, GPJ Zimbabwe

Bonzo says fuel blending also decreases mileage per tank.

“Here, we blend with ethanol and ethanol has sugar content which at times clogs in injector pumps. We used to have cars that were manufactured locally which do not have electrical injectors, but those were more compatible with blended fuel,” he says.

“These cars are labeled so that they are compatible with unleaded fuel only, but because the consumer has no option, they just end up using the fuel that is available. I think people are supposed to be given a choice on the fuel depending on the value and the compatibility of the fuel with their car,” says Bonzo.

But that choice isn’t available to drivers here.

“It’s not a forcing matter,” says Kamusingo, the motorist in the line at the Waterfalls fuel station. “But one should have freedom of choice as alluded in the Zimbabwean constitution.”

Linda Mujuru, GPJ, translated some interviews from Shona to English.

Both wore black armbands at a 2003 Cricket World Cup match against Namibia in Harare to “mourn the death of democracy in Zimbabwe” under President Robert Mugabe.

“They decided as a team to do that,” the double Olympic swimming gold medallist Coventry told insidethegames. 

“I don’t want to speak on their behalf but obviously what happened after that with them, not necessarily playing for Zimbabwe, I think if they were to look back now, they would say maybe they would have done things slightly differently.”

Olonga and Flower fled the country after their gesture.

“I have had criticism in my career to say you should have acted the same way and my response has always been to say if I had done that I wouldn’t have been able to potentially continue doing what I loved,” Coventry, now the Sports Minister in Zimbabwe, said.

“What i was doing through my swimming was bringing an awareness to a situation to a country that didn’t have any light being shone on to it.”

Cricketer Henry Olonga wore a black armband during the 2003 World Cup to protest about the political situation in Zimbabwe under President Robert Mugabe – with devastating effects on his career ©Getty Images

Coventry added: “Myself, Henry and the Flowers, we have all had that conversation.

“We all agree that the way in which we all decided to do things achieved the same goal at the end of the day.”

The IOC Athletes’ Commission is drawing up guidelines for Tokyo 2020 in the wake of recent protests at sporting events.

Coventry, speaking at the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) General Assembly in Doha last week, revealed the IOC Athletes’ Commission had spoken to athletes through a variety of different channels.

She claimed a recent conference call had shown there was strong feeling among athletes that protests should take place away from medal ceremonies and the field of play.

“We have seen it happen at the FINA World Championships and we have seen it in Lima [at the Pan American Games] and athletes are talking about this,” Coventry said.

“To protest on a podium with people next to you who maybe don’t believe in what you are saying, we don’t really believe in that.

“How we are approaching the situation is to get athletes to understand if they have something they want to shine light on, they can do that using their social media and talking to the press.”

Post published in: Business