Fresh vigilance is needed to protect media freedom across Africa – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

A 2018 study found that only about four in 10 Americans had at least a “fair” amount of trust in the media. Also, in a June 2019 survey, a full third of respondents agreed with President Donald Trump that the news media are “the enemy of the people.”

Image source: Gallo/Getty.

The US isn’t unique in this respect. A study last year by the Reuters Institute and Oxford University found that, across 37 countries, trust in the media stood at only 44%. Countries that had particularly abysmal scores included Hungary, Greece and South Korea. And in Africa new data suggests citizens’ support for press freedoms is in sharp decline.

This news isn’t just bad for journalists’ self-esteem. Erosion in public confidence in the media could embolden leaders with autocratic tendencies. It could also provoke violence against journalists, limits on freedoms of expression, and an undermining of democracy more broadly.

Declining support for free media

Afrobarometer, an independent African research network, has been tracking African citizens’ attitudes on political, economic, and social issues since 1999. Its latest round of surveys, conducted between 2016 and 2018, included more than 45,000 respondents in 34 countries.

Most say they support democracy. But there are indications that confidence in institutions like elections and the media might be declining.

In surveys conducted between 2011 and 2013, a majority (56%) of people interviewed in 31 countries supported the media’s right to publish any views and ideas without government control. Only 39% said the government should have the “right to prevent the media from publishing things that it considers harmful to society”.

But in the intervening years, support for media freedoms has declined sharply. The most recent survey showed that only 46% supported press freedoms; 49% favoured some government censorship.

This marks the first time that Afrobarometer has found government restrictions to be more popular than media freedoms.

These declines are not limited to a few countries. Echoing trends elsewhere in the world, nearly every country in Africa has seen sharp declines in support for press freedom in the last decade. The biggest drops were in Tunisia (-21 points), Uganda (-21), Cabo Verde (-27), and Tanzania (-33).

These responses suggest that people are reacting to many of the same changes in media environments that are causing disenchantment around the globe. These include increasingly partisan outlets, social media that facilitate the spread of hate speech and “fake news”, and politicians who find it increasingly easy to downplay critical reporting by making reporters themselves targets.

Threats to free press

Across much of Africa, journalists and other media practitioners are finding it increasingly difficult to work. Governments in Uganda and Tanzania are enforcing new restrictions on media.

In addition, full and partial shutdowns of Internet and social media are becoming increasingly common. In 2019 such shutdowns occurred in Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. Chadians went without social media for 16 months before services were restored in June 2019. The government of President Idriss Déby, who has been in power since 1990, claimed the shutdown was necessary because some were using the Internet for “malicious purposes.”

Many of these countries have had broader problems with a lack of democratic accountability. But even Ghana, perennially rated as one of the continent’s most democratic countries, has seen serious threats to press freedom recently. In June 2019, two journalists – Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri and Emmanuel Yeboah Britwum – were arrested, apparently due to their reporting on a powerful government minister.

Why public support for free media matters

Declines in support for press freedoms are concerning. Increased support for government limitations on media doesn’t suggest that there is broad popular sentiment favouring Internet shutdowns, closures of television stations, and violence against journalists. And it does not mean that people in Africa generally support returning to the days of state-run monopolies of broadcast outlets and the heavy-handed censor’s red pen.

But it’s imperative that African leaders are called to account for any encroachments on media freedom. While rhetorical attacks on the press by leaders like Trump, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte, and Poland’s Andrezj Duda have received attention for stoking popular vitriol against journalists, these leaders are also taking advantage of deeper and long-evolving declines in popular support for the media.

In some African countries threatening words too often turn into action. Examples include Uganda’s “social media taxes” intended to squelch opposition voices, the teargassing of newsrooms in Zimbabwe, the criminalisation of reporting certain kinds of content in Burkina Faso, and impunity for violence against journalists.

A failure to denounce these actions could – even unwittingly – contribute to dismantling one of the most essential underpinnings of democracy: a free press.

How the fall of Mugabe allowed Zimbabwe to reclaim the future of its tourism – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

And then, 24 hours later, he was gone. The thing which so many people had hardly dared hope for, and certainly not conceived would come any time soon, was suddenly, miraculously, upon them.

Victoria Falls has been the centre of Zimbabwe’s tourism industry ever since the infamous Dr. Livingstone pitched up here in 1855. To the indigenous Tonga, this epic waterfall at the point where the Zambezi River crashes across the Zimbabwe-Zambia border is known as Mosi-oa-Tunya (“The Smoke that Thunders”). It’s a more suitable name. You hear the roaring of the water long before you see it, and the air is moist with the billowing clouds of spray.

Whatever chaos has gone on in Harare, it’s never really been felt in Victoria Falls. The UNESCO World Heritage falls and nearby town seem to exist in their own little bubble, far enough away. I, like many foreign visitors, had crossed the road border from Zambia on a dual country visa, and if it wasn’t for yet another stamp in my passport, I’d scarcely have known I’d entered Zimbabwe. Yes, there was a small police presence, but not more noticeable than in any of the surrounding countries, and the bus loads of package holiday makers were snapping away regardless.

The sight of one of the largest waterfalls in the world — twice the height of Niagara Falls and with a record of 700,000 cubic metres of water pounding over the cliff each minute — is more than enough to grab my attention

Victoria Falls is one of those curious small towns which seems to exist solely for tourism purposes. It’s necessary to pass through, but the town itself is no great attraction, save for one extraordinary building: the Victoria Falls Hotel. Built in 1904 and looking down the Second Gorge, to step over the threshold is to step back in time. It was intended to service first class travellers on Cecil Rhodes’ ill-fated Cape to Cairo Railway, and famous guests of note include King George VI and the future Elizabeth II.

I sat on the hotel’s Stanley’s Terrace overlooking the immaculate lawns, and felt quite the Edwardian lady. My high tea was served in a bone china tea service, of course, and the sandwiches were cut just so. Elegantly attired couples sat chattering at a politely low volume, and the staff moved gracefully from one table to the next with silver teapots and tiered stands of scones and cake. Every now and then a younger guest would surreptitiously slip out onto the grass to take a selfie with the hotel behind, but other than that, nothing here has changed for a century.

The Victoria Falls Hotel has its own path from the bottom of its gardens along the top of the gorge to the falls. It is an easy enough walk, and depending on the time of day, you will see bungee jumpers throwing themselves off the bridge, kayaks and rafts bouncing about on the white water rapids, and perhaps even a microlite or helicopter buzzing away overhead. The Zambezi River has an undeniable pull, and an entire adventure industry has grown up to cater for those adrenaline junkies who want to experience it from every appreciable angle.

I, however, was determined to keep both feet firmly on the ground. It’s not that I am unadventurous, but rather that the sight of one of the largest waterfalls in the world — twice the height of Niagara Falls and with a record of 700,000 cubic metres of water pounding over the cliff each minute — is more than enough to grab my attention.

The best views of Victoria Falls are from the Zimbabwean side of the border, where a footpath through the forest runs parallel to the falls on the other side of the gorge. There are more than a dozen strategically positioned viewpoints between Livingtone’s Statue and Boiling Pot, where you stare down into a seemingly steaming abyss.

Victoria Falls

It was mid-afternoon and it was hot and humid. Even keeping mostly to the shade, I was dripping in sweat and berating myself I hadn’t made it here for a cool sunrise. Still, the walk was good for me and, more importantly, as soon as I hiked past the Main Falls and Livingstone Island, I pretty much had the viewpoints to myself.

Bus parties, it appears, are lazy. They want to see the Devil’s Cataract and the central parts of the falls to say that the have been, and maybe they will capture a few pictures of the rainbows dancing in the spray, but they weren’t going to walk further afield. I could survey Horseshoe Falls unobstructed, and at the so called Danger Point (Viewpoint 15), right on the cliff edge and with an almighty drop below, I looked right across to Knife’s Edge and Rainbow Falls. No one else was there. At the closest points, the water spray enveloped me, a welcome cloud that cooled me even as it drenched my clothes.

Even before Mugabe’s fall from grace, tourism in Victoria Falls was booming, the spectacle of the falls proving a stronger draw than political misgivings. But with his presence lifted, Zimbabwe is poised to really fly as a destination for adventurous travellers. There’s been a sudden influx of investment, with two new luxury openings — Mpala Jena Camp and the Stanley and Livingstone Boutique Hotel — in 2018. There’s an expectation that the new visitors will want to push out beyond Victoria Falls and explore more of Zimbabwe. There’s an excitement in the air. With tourism comes money and jobs, two things which Zimbabweans desperately need. For too long, Mugabe crippled Zimbabwe economically, politically, and socially. His removal, though not the panacea to all the country’s ills, has heralded a new era of optimism, hope for what the future of Zimbabwe might be. The tourists are on their way.

Sophie travelled to Zimbabwe with bespoke tour operator Journeysmiths (journeysmiths.co.uk), who offer a seven night Zimbabwe safari, incl. three nights at Victoria Falls Hotel and flights, from £5,266 pp.

Zimbabwe can thrive with already laid infrastructure – The Zimbabwean

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Speaking at the customer service and service delivery symposium held by the Contact Center Association of Zimbabwe (CCAZ) in the capital yesterday Powertel Marketing and Cooperate Services manager, Prosper Mutswiri said there is need to leverage on the already laid infrastructure for eCommerce to boom and improve consumer satisfaction.

In his presentation which tackled how technology is an enabler for service delivery, Mutswiri said customer segmentation has been redefined to digital and millennial customers as brands now see beyond boundaries due to technology.

”It is the Age of the Customer- In an increasingly connected world. The modern customer demands to be treated as an individual; for their digital experiences and communications to be personalized and highly-relevant, and catered to match their specific needs, interests, and preference “, he said.

Digitalization has had a powerful impact on service delivery in this global era. This is because the larger part of the national population has a mobile phone. Now companies continuously re-invent processes to deliver simple, immediate, and individualized experiences.Companies making bold moves to build dynamic shared digital ecosystems shaped around customer needs.

Potraz sector performance reports show that since 2014 mobile penetration in the country has been far from below average and in 2017 has recorded the highest active subscribers with 14.09 million. Zimbabwe is among the countries with the highest mobile penetration in Sub-saharan Africa.

While the customer life cycle, in essence, has not changed significantly- the ways to achieve reach, acquisition, conversion, retention, loyalty, and advocacy have. With the high rate of mobile penetration in the country, brands can now have their customers be loyal due to the more personalized experience made possible by digitalization.

Mutswiri commended government’s effort in economic revival as anchored through the following:-agriculture, mining, and a robust digital economy. At the current rate of mobile penetration no just in Africa but across the world analysts predict that from 2019 to 2021 social media users will move from about 2,7 billion to more than 3 billion respectively.

Rural dwellers bear brunt of water woes in Zimbabwe

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Rural dwellers bear brunt of water woes in Zimbabwe – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

Now stranded with no access to water, Matavire, who is one of the village heads in Mwenezi rural district, said the entire Dinhe village has to scrounge for water from muddy water bodies, which have also not been spared by the marauding drought in the country.

“There is no more water in the village now, as many boreholes have broken down and wells are also drying up and we’re literally drinking dirty muddy water,” Matavire told Anadolu Agency.

Water woes have not only affected the Mwenezi district alone, but the entire country.

Earlier this month, the UN World Food Program (WFP) said about 2.3 million people in rural Zimbabwe were facing starvation due to an El-Nino induced drought and economic shocks.

Seeing this danger facing the country, the WFP increased its aid appeal for Zimbabwe to $331 million to help the southern African country recover from a devastating drought.

Besides contending with hunger, villagers like Matavire also have to bear the brunt of water scarcity.

Waterborne illness

In Maranda in the Mwenezi district, many other villagers like 29-year-old Sibusisiwe Mangari have to walk several kilometers to access the precious liquid.

“I have to carry a 20-liter container every day, walking 7 kilometers [4.3 miles] to find water in wells along the Mushawi River in the early morning hours,” Mangari told Anadolu Agency.

As the water crisis hit rural dwellers like Mangari, waterborne illnesses affected the country’s less privileged residents, as they depend on unsafe water sources.

A nurse at the Chirindi clinic in district’s Mazetese area said they have been attending to several cases related to waterborne diseases.

“We have since realized that villagers drinking water from contaminated water bodies are thereby falling sick, some from stomach pains resulting from unclean water,” said the nurse, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

According to humanitarian groups — including Human Rights Watch — over a decade after a cholera outbreak killed more than 4,000 people in Zimbabwe, the nationwide water crisis is risking conditions under which the epidemic could return.

Health officials have also voiced their concerns as rural dwellers bear the brunt of water woes in the country.

“The conditions people live in, with little access to water, violate their right to water, sanitation, and health,” Michael Gura, a government health officer, told Anadolu Agency.

Growing crisis

With villagers resorting to drinking dirty water from drying-up wells, civil society activists say the growing crisis is one that authorities seem to have long ignored.

“In many communities, both rural and urban, there is no water for drinking or bathing; sewage stains the streets, and there is diarrhea, typhoid, and threat of a cholera outbreak,” Claris Madhuku, director of the Platform for Youth Development, a civil society group in Zimbabwe, told Anadolu Agency.

Until the late 1980s, Zimbabwe boasted of having a nationwide functioning water system, with access to drinking water for 85% of the population.

But over the years, rural community boreholes and even the urban water-piped infrastructure have not been maintained.

“Authorities haven’t bothered to take into consideration the population growth in both the country’s remote and urban areas, which has added pressure to the few remaining water resources,” Gilbert Mhandu, a teacher based in the district, told Anadolu Agency.

According to Human Rights Watch, the government of Zimbabwe is obliged under international law to protect the right to water and sanitation.

In 2010, the country voted for a United Nations General Assembly resolution establishing the right to water and sanitation.

Zimbabwe can thrive with already laid infrastructure
Tesla Batteries Are Keeping Zimbabwe’s Economy Running

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Tesla Batteries Are Keeping Zimbabwe’s Economy Running – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

Zimbabweans are relying on Tesla Inc. to help them pay their bills.

Amid power outages of as long as 18 hours a day, Econet Wireless Ltd., Zimbabwe’s biggest mobile-phone operator, is turning to the Palo Alto, California-based automaker and storable-energy company for batteries that can keep its base stations running. The southern African country faces chronic shortages of physical cash, so almost all transactions are done digitally, and many via mobile phones.

“Telecommunications have become the lifeblood of the economy,” said Norman Moyo, the chief executive officer of Distributed Power Africa, which installs the batteries for Econet. “If the telecom network is down in Zimbabwe, you can’t do any transactions.”

The installation of 520 Powerwall batteries, with two going into each base station, is the largest telecommunications project in which Tesla has participated to date, Moyo said. With Econet having about 1,300 base stations in the country and two other mobile-phone companies operating there, Distributed Power intends to install more batteries and could eventually roll the project out to other power-starved countries in Africa, such as Zambia, Lesotho and the Democratic Republic of Congo, he said.

Base stations in Zimbabwe often use diesel-fired generators as backup, but fuel is also scarce in the country. The Powerwalls, which cost $6,500 each, will step in when solar panels aren’t generating enough electricity because it’s night or when heavily overcast. The lithium-ion batteries can power a station for as long as 10 hours, according to Econet. They are charged by the sun.

Tesla is working with a number of telecommunications companies around the world and sees a combination of solar panels and battery storage as a good opportunity to expand its business in countries and areas where electricity supply is erratic or non-existent, a company spokesperson said.

Econet’s mobile-money system Ecocash has 6.7 million active users in a country of 14 million people. It is used for everything from buying groceries to tipping waiters.

— With assistance by Godfrey Marawanyika, and Loni Prinsloo

(Adds expansion plans in third paragraph.)

South Africa’s land report: Zimbabwe lessons? – The Zimbabwean

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The report documents the sorry tale of land reform in South Africa since 1994. The misuse of funds, the corruption, the inappropriate technical designs, the focus on a misplaced ideal of ‘commercial’ farming, and the lack of focus on redistribution, with restitution taking up so much effort. The lack of a capacity of government, and the paltry funds allocated, as well as the reliance on often poorly equipped consultants, are also pointed to. The hopeless state of land administration systems outside freehold private property is also highlighted, as most South Africans still have no formal recognition of their rights. The report makes it very clear that action on land reform is long overdue, and that the failures to date lie substantially at the door of the state and the ANC as the ruling party over this period.

Expropriation and redistribution: new and old debates

Much of the public and media debate has been about the mechanisms of expropriation and in particular the recommendation that some redistribution should be without compensation. A couple of representatives of white commercial farming on the presidential panel did not sign up and issued an alternative report in protest. AgriSA and the usual suspects made a lot of fuss in the media on the report’s release. But, as many more level-headed commentators have noted, the debate about expropriation without compensation is a diversion. Expropriation was possible under existing rules; the issue was that the state had failed to act. The report recommends only ten circumstances where no compensation should be paid, including where land is not being used or being held for speculation. In other settings, compensation of different levels will be required. This makes complete sense.

Perhaps the most important element in the report in my view is the policy shift towards equity as a goal of land reform. Land reform is cast in its wider sense, as around justice as well as production, recognising the multiple social and economic roles of land in society. This is crucial. Leading from this is a recommendation for shifting the focus of land reform funding towards redistribution, and focusing on three groups: poor, smallholders, commercialising small-scale farmers and medium-scale commercial farmers. Only 10% of funds should be allocated to large-scale, black-owned commercial farming, the rest split between these three priority groups. This is a big, important shift, and could see meaningful land reform with a redistributive focus. Further, the report makes the case for substantial (at least half) allocations to women, and for a focus on urban/peri-urban land, a key issues for South Africa.

Adding to redistribution, restitution and land tenure reform, the report also recommends adding a fourth pillar to the land reform programme: land administration. Given the parlous state of land administration in South Africa, this is an important move, and will give rights to many marginalised people in ‘squatter’ settlements, as workers on farms, or farmers in the homelands. This will also provide an important route to assuring accountability, and insisting that the land reform programme is targeted properly. This will not be an easy undertaking, and must avoid a process of land privatisation, instead emphasising the allocation of rights, including communal rights to land.

There has been much bluster in the South African media and Twittersphere, since the report’s release, but for a good overview of the report’s findings, see this SABC interview from the brilliant Ruth Hall of PLAAS, one of the report authors, as well as some balanced commentaries in the South Africa press (for example here, here and here). International press coverage seems to have been muted, but, recalling its (mostly) appalling coverage of Zimbabwe, the BBC of course couldn’t resist the use of the words ‘land seizures’, even if qualified with ‘limited’!

Zimbabwe lessons?

What are lessons for and from Zimbabwe? Zimbabwe’s experience is not even mentioned in the report (even the bibliography, although it’s good that Mandi Rukuni is acknowledged as attending some meetings). This is rather surprising, given the lessons learned since 2000. Perhaps the fear of the Zimbabwe bogey-man being raised by opponents was the reason.

I think there are important lessons both ways, and regional neighbours really ought to collaborate on important issues like land. The equity focus has certainly been a central tenet of Zimbabwe’s land reform since 1980, but how to balance different interests, with different political clout remains a challenge. The importance of A1 resettlement in Zimbabwe is clear (encompassing the first two groups in the South African priorities) and the real potentials for providing food, employment and income, alongside welfare and support, are evident across the country. South Africans could learn a lot from the Zimbabwe experience for any new programme south of the Limpopo.

A lesson from Zimbabwe is that moving from land reform to wider agrarian reform is crucial – and this means changing the agrarian structure and with this the agrarian economy. This must be the ambition in South Africa, but through a more deliberate, slower process with less disruption. Redistributing land is only step, as the report recognises. However, Zimbabwe has so far failed to provide the post-settlement support that is required. This will be a big issue in South Africa, as, like Zimbabwe, technical capacities are not geared up to supporting this sort of farming.

The importance of medium-scale farms as a complement to the smallholder sector is also recognised in Zimbabwe, but again the tension between A1 and A2 farming has been an issue, and the failure to capitalise on the potential synergies between small and medium-scale farming as part of territorial development remains an issue. Redistribution of land in an area, seeking linkages and complementarities with on and off-farm based activity is vital, and remains a big unmet challenge for Zimbabwe, as I have long argued. Hopefully South Africa will think more strategically and invest for local economic development with land reform at the centre. These sort of practical, wider development questions are largely absent in the report, focused as it is on land, and in particular the legal ramifications of reform.

The highlighting of land administration is however a vitally important move in the South African report. Similar issues arise in Zimbabwe, as I have pointed out before. The dangers of aiming for comprehensive registration rather than a more flexible rights allocation is present too, and Zimbabwe and South Africa share the dilemmas, and long-inherited biases of the freehold tenure model.

So, yes, there are many important lessons for and from Zimbabwe. I hope the biases – even among progressives who should know more – about Zimbabwe that are deeply held in South Africa can be shed, and the region as a whole (including Namibia) can learn together about how to deal with the appalling inheritance of settler colonialism at last.

Beyond policy-speak to political action

What next? How to move beyond a well-argued report to action on the ground at scale? The report is full of legalistic proclamations and policy-speak in true South Africa style. Zimbabwe of course had many of these before 2000: well argued, costed, policy plans for reform. The faith in state action apparently remains in South Africa – perhaps surprising given the track-record. The report assumes implementation will follow forthcoming policy approval.

The report’s authors are not naïve, however. Many have struggled for action on land reform over decades. Everyone knows that political action – from diverse sources within and outside parliament – must follow. The big question will be: will the South African state, with pressure from big capital, international investment, influential ‘tribal’ leaders and political parties not committed to land reform, actually – at last – commits to land reform on the scale and with the support that is needed?

We will have to watch carefully as funds are allocated, and capacity built. It seems President Ramaphosa is committed, but he has also got other problems on his plate. There are plenty of routes to blocking progressive action, and civil society will have to be ready to put pressure to realise the vision of the report.

This post was written by Ian Scoones and first appeared on Zimbabweland.

Photo credit: The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa flickr library: https://www.flickr.com/photos/presidencyza/47841232031/

Tesla Batteries Are Keeping Zimbabwe’s Economy Running
Poison in Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe Vigil Diary

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Poison in Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe Vigil Diary – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

Mr Olkkonen told Newsday: ‘Corruption has had a huge effect; you have people talking about hundreds of millions, even billions, in terms of the Auditor-General’s report’ (see: https://www.newsday.co.zw/2019/08/corruption-hurting-zim-more-eu/).

It emerged at a parliamentary hearing this week that the Treasury is unable to account for more than a billion dollars paid under the Command Agriculture programme which is supposed to support farmers with irrigation and inputs.

The money was paid to Sakunda Holdings, a company run by the ubiquitous Kudakwashe Tagwireyi, who is said to be a key player in the country’s extortionate fuel supply cartel and a conduit for funds to the army and Zanu PF bigwigs.

The extent of state capture in Zimbabwe is shown by Energy Minister Fortune Chasi’s order to the country’s power supply company to reverse a decision to cut off the farms of Zanu PF leaders, including Mugabe’s Gushongo dairy farm, for unpaid bills. The minister said that, given the drought and food shortages, now was not the time to disconnect any farmer.

After nearly 40 years in power Zanu PF leaders have become accustomed to living off the state. They have never had to pay their bills. Like former Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, who is being sued for failing to pay a $311,000 electricity debt. The matter is yet to be set down for a hearing but no doubt Comrade Sekeramayi is busy dealing with ‘the drought and food shortages’.

Observers may well conclude that, with Generals Chiwenga and Moyo still off ill, there is certainly something poisonous going on in Zimbabwe. President Mnangagwa, himself a victim of Gushongo ice cream, may again have to stop his cavalcade to buy a safe burger on the street.

Other points

  • Last Sunday Vigil activists (Chido Makawa, Daizy Fabian, Dennis Benton, Ephraim Tapa, Esther Munyira, Hazvinei Saili, Heather Makawa, Isabell Gwatidzo, Margaret Munenge, Molly Ngavaimbe, Patricia Masamba, Rose Benton, Simbarashe Jingo and Theodora Mandishaya) attended spent a fundraising barbecue at Frinton-on-Sea. It was a very hot day and swimming in the sea was wonderful. But we were phoned by anxious relatives at the end of the day – Frinton had hit the headlines with reports of something causing swimmers to have coughing fits. Fortunately our group was unaffected. Special thanks to Daizy for salads, sadza and providing the barbecue stand, to Hazvinei for salads, to Simba for buying the meat and to Esther for organising the day.
  • It was good to have with us today David Wilkins, a courageous blind journalist, who has supported the Vigil over the years. He baked us some tasty olive bread.
  • Congratulations to Esther Munyira who has been appointed a Vigil co-ordinator. She has worked tirelessly organising recent events such as the walk on 27th July which was such a financial success and the beach outing to Frinton.
  • Thanks to those who helped set up the front table and put up the banners today: Nathan Chiyanja, Beaulah Gore, Heather Makawa, Dambudzo Marimira, Patricia Masamba, Farai Mutumburi, Hazvinei Saili, Pearl Shambare and Ephraim Tapa. Thanks to Hazvinei, Patricia and Philip Maponga for looking after the front table, to Heather, Farai and Tapiwa Muskwe for handing out flyers, to Hazvinei for drumming and to Hazvinei and Heather for photos.
  • For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimb88abwevigil/. Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website.

FOR THE RECORD: 16 signed the register.

EVENTS AND NOTICES:

  • ROHR general members’ meeting. Saturday 14th September from 11.30 am. Venue: Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre, Belvedere Road SE1 8XX. Contact: Ephraim Tapa 07940793090, Patricia Masamba 07708116625, Esther Munyira 07492058109.
  • ROHR Reading branch outreach and general meeting. Saturday 21st September. Community outreach from 11.30 am – 1.30 pm. Awareness campaign on deteriorating human rights in Zimbabwe. Venue: Broad Street, Reading. General meeting from 2 – 5 pm: Venue: The RISC 35-39 London Street, Reading, Berkshire RG1 4PS. Contact Nicodimus 07877386792, Josephine 07455166668, Shylette 07828929806, Josh 07877246251.
  • The Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s partner organization based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil to have an organization 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:

No blessings for government that steals from the elderly

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US increasingly disappointed with Zim government: report – The Zimbabwean

Posted on by TSA Press

“The disappointment just keeps getting worse and worse, unfortunately,” said the official, speaking on background to reporters. “The government seems to be getting even more violent in their response to any form of opposition.”

The official said Washington had made clear to the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa what it would take to improve relations between Zimbabwe and the United States.

US officials have previously called on Mnangagwa to change Zimbabwe’s laws restricting media freedom and allowing protests.

Mnangagwa’s government banned anti-government protests by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, which accuses the authorities of political repression and mismanaging the economy.

Police fired tear gas to disperse crowds and barred access to the MDC’s Harare offices.

Anger among the population has mounted over triple-digit inflation, rolling power cuts and shortages of US dollars, fuel and bread.

In March, President Donald Trump extended by one year US sanctions against 100 entities and individuals in Zimbabwe, including Mnangagwa, saying his government had failed to bring about political and economic changes.

Federal judge rules in favor of Sanofi, Regeneron in patent suit over cholesterol drugs – MedCity News

Posted on by TSA Press

A federal judge ruled against biotech giant Amgen in a patent-infringement lawsuit it had filed against Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi over the companies’ competing cholesterol drugs.

On Wednesday, Judge Richard Andrews of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware ruled against the Thousand Oaks, California-based company in its suit, which it originally filed in October 2014, against Paris-based Sanofi and Tarrytown, New York-based Regeneron. Amgen alleged that the latter companies’ drug, Praluent (alirocumab), infringed on patents protecting its product, Repatha (evolucumab). The ruling overturns a decision by a federal judge in Amgen’s favor two years ago and means Praluent can stay on the market.

In an emailed statement, Amgen said it planned to appeal.

“Protecting intellectual property is critical to our business since it allows for our investment in the research and development of new medicines,” the statement read. “Consequently, we are disappointed with today’s decision, and we look forward to presenting our case to uphold the jury’s verdict.”

Meanwhile, Regeneron and Sanofi welcomed the court’s ruling.

“Today’s decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware validates our position that Amgen’s patents are overly broad and invalid,” Regeron general counsel Joseph LaRosa said in a statement. “Praluent was developed using Regeneron’s proprietary science and technology, and the judge has confirmed our position by issuing this ruling.”

Earlier this year, in February, a jury had found in favor of Regeneron and Sanofi, that two other patent claims Amgen had asserted were also invalid. As such, it means that the two companies have invalidated all five of the patent claims Amgen had asserted, Regeneron said.

Both drugs have Food and Drug Administration approval for use together with cholesterol-lowering medications in patients with homozygous hypercholesterolemia who require addition lowering of LDL cholesterol. The drugs belong to a class known as PCSK9 inhibitors, which target a protein that reduces the liver’s ability to remove LDL cholesterol from the blood. Repatha had won approval in August 2014, and Praluent won approval the next year.

Praluent had global sales of $306.8 million in 2018, according to Regeneron. Meanwhile, Repatha’s global sales were $550 million during the same period. Both companies had previously moved to lower the prices of their respective products. In March of last year, Regneron and Sanofi lowered the list price of Praluent to $5,850 per year, a 60 percent reduction from its original price. And in October, Amgen said it would do the same for Repatha, also lowering the price by 60 percent, to $5,850 annually.

Photo: Getty Images

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include a statement from Amgen that was received subsequent to publication.