Category: News Feeds

MUREWA, Zimbabwe

The 46-year old Miranda Chihota’s life took a turn four years ago when her husband died in a tragic road accident.

When she was still convalescing from the tragedy, she was forcibly married to her husband’s brother, whose wife, she claimed, had succumbed to AIDS two years before Miranda’s husband died.

As a result, Miranda now shares the disease with her new husband due to the culture of spousal inheritance still practiced across Zimbabwe.

“I had no choice, because in our culture if one loses a husband or wife, he or she is inherited by the relative of the spouse,” Miranda told Anadolu Agency.

Miranda, from Murewa — a rural district approximately 80 kilometers (49.7 miles) east of the Zimbabwean capital Harare — said she also now bears the brunt of nursing an HIV positive child.

Meanwhile, Tinashe Chipako, a Zimbabwean legal expert, said women in most cases are the lead victims when it comes to inheritance.

“Men can choose to marry without necessarily being forced to inherit the wife of a dead relative, unlike women who are given no choice, so this inheritance culture is very unfair,” Miranda told Anadolu Agency.

There is no specific legislation in the southern African nation forbidding wife or husband inheritance.

Sithembiso Mlauli of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) based in Bulawayo — Zimbabwe’s second-largest city – said women are largely at the receiving end of the inheritance.

“A woman, the wife in particular, here in Zimbabwe, is being inherited like property after her husband dies even from AIDS, automatically becoming a wife of a husband’s relative who she never knew either had AIDS or not, thus putting herself at risk,” Mlauli told Anadolu Agency.

Cultural fanaticism behind AIDS spread 

Despite culture fanatics insisting to continue the norms of spousal inheritance in this country, HIV/AIDS activists have fought tirelessly against the custom.

“Inheritance of a wife or husband after either dies has contributed to the swift spread of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe, especially in rural areas,” Trynos Tirivavi, who has been living with HIV for the past 16 years and also a member of the Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV (ZNNP plus), told Anadolu Agency.

He got the disease at the age of 23 after he inherited his late brother’s wife. “People just wade into inheriting someone’s wife or husband with no knowledge about what led to the death of their spouse, which is dangerous,” he said.

Traditional leaders back inheritance 

Although many HIV positive individuals, like Trynos, testify about how they live their fate, some traditional leaders, including Elvis Mugumba from Maranda area in Mwenezi — a district in southern Zimbabwe – believes that the inheritance culture has to continue unhindered.

“Our forefathers lived and made sure the family continued to grow even after a husband died, by making sure his wife was inherited to keep bearing children with the help of the husband’s relative,” Mugumba told Anadolu Agency.

“One cannot, therefore, today tell us that this culture is responsible for spreading AIDS. People simply need to be faithful even in marriages resulting from an inheritance,” he said.

Yet, as traditional leaders like Mugumba maintain this stance, millions of Zimbabweans succumb to HIV and AIDS daily.

According to UNAIDS, an estimated 1.3 million Zimbabweans are currently living with HIV/AIDS.

In 2018 alone, 38,000 Zimbabweans were newly infected with HIV while 22,000 people died from an AIDS-related disease, it said.

This is despite the last year’s figures by UNAIDS, showing progress in the number of AIDS-related deaths since 2010, with a 60% drop from 54,000 to 22,000 deaths.

Even as cultural norms of inheritance threaten to thwart the gains made so far in combatting the sexually transmitted disease, UNAIDS last year also said the number of new HIV infections has fallen from 62,000 to 38,000.

AIDS activists against inheritance custom

For many HIV/AIDS activists like Tirivavi, “to stop further spread of AIDS in family circles, the culture of wife or husband inheritance should stop forthwith.”

“Imagine how HIV keeps spreading in family circles through inheritance simply because it is a culture that people ought to uphold,” he said.

Typically, therefore, according to HIV/AIDS activists like Tirivavi, “in this era of HIV/AIDS, the inheritance custom is extremely risky.”

An official from the National AIDS Council (NAC) who spoke to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity, because she was not authorized to speak to the media, said the organization does not condone or condemn the practice of inheritance.

”But we urge people to know their HIV status before they are inherited following their loss,” the official said.

“For as long as the inheritance cycle keeps going, so goes also the AIDS scourge in families that uphold the culture without precautions being taken,” said the NAC official.

NAC is a Zimbabwean organization enacted through an Act of Parliament in 1999 to coordinate and facilitate the national multi-sectoral response to HIV and AIDS. The organization is also mandated to administer the National AIDS Trust Fund collected through the AIDS levy.

Post published in: Featured

One African country that has been in the sanctions parameters of the news is Zimbabwe. The southern African country has in the last few years undertaken a series of efforts aimed at the lifting of western sanctions imposed against it since 2001.

In 2019 alone, the ruling ZANU-PF called for sanctions to be lifted early in the year. The government bemoaned the sanctions and declared a day of prayer and protest against sanctions. Harare also got regional bloc, SADC, to weigh in on the issue as did the African Union Commission chief shortly after SADC.

The most recent development on the issue being when the Chinese Foreign Minister called for lifting of the sanctions he described as all but illegal.

“The unilateral sanctions imposed by some countries and organizations on Zimbabwe have no basis in international law and they violate the legitimate development rights and interests of Zimbabwe,” Wang Yi, told reporters in Harare.

“China fully supports the just aspirations of Zimbabwe and African countries to remove those sanctions on Zimbabwe,” he stressed at a press briefing with his Zimbabwean counterpart, Sibususo Moyo. Zimbabwe was the final stop of Yi’s five-nation tour of Africa.

‘Western’ sanctions and how EU usually gets wrongly listed

The use of “western” in describing the nature of the sanctions have more often than not been in reference to the United States, U.S. and the European Union, E.U. But the European Union has stressed that as a bloc, it did not have any sanctions against Zimbabwe.

The BBC in an October 2019 publication under its Reality Check section wrote: “The United States and the European Union (EU) have both maintained sanctions, citing a lack of progress in democratic and human rights reforms as well as restrictions on press freedom. They both target specific individuals and companies.”

Reuters news agency also carried the EU sanctions claim during the October 2019 protests. The report read in part: Mnangagwa, like Mugabe, blames the sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union since 2001 for the economic ills and says they are intended to remove his party from power.

“Every part and sector of our economy has been affected by these sanctions like a cancer,” Mnangagwa told a sparse crowd in Harare’s 60,000-seater national stadium. “Enough is enough, remove them. Remove these sanctions now!”

EU ambassador to Zimbabwe reacts to non-existent sanctions

The E.U. ambassador in the country Tim Olkkonen in an interview with Trevor Ncube explained why the bloc did not have sanctions against Zimbabwe but clarified that they maintained restrictive measures on Zimbabwe principally the defense industry and on three high-profile individuals including former army chief turned veep Constantino Chiwenga.

The E.U. Ambassador to the African Union, A.U., Ranieri Sabatucci, in a tweet dispelled the issue of E.U. sanctions and reiterated the fact that the bloc was rather engaging Zimbabwe in the area of development assistance via grants.

“As reported many times, there are simply no EU economic sanction on Zimbabwe. On the contrary the EU is providing significant development assistance (grant not loans), he said.

Indeed over the course of 2019, the E.U. held two political dialogue meetings with the government in Harare. A statement from the second meeting held in November 2019 covered the essence of the meeting and efforts aimed at ameliorating the hydra-headed challenges Zimbabwe faced.

The exchanges centered on collaborative efforts in the areas of trade and investment, economic development, democratization, rule of law and good governance et cetera.

“The EU noted the existing economic and political reforms and expressed its wish to Zimbabwe’s economic and political reform agenda, including the fight against corruption. The two sides agreed on the importance of reforms and their benefits to the Zimbabwean people,” the statement read in part.

The EU support for Zimbabwe beyond the interaction with government also includes humanitarian aid and development support. The EU embassy in Zimbabwe reports of the following interventions:

• $11m in humanitarian aid to combat food insecurity signed in August 2019.
• $60m in development aid in partnership with UN and NGOs in areas of health and agric, signed in October 2019.

EU external action service on trade with Zimbabwe

The European External Action Service (EEAS) website on relations with Zimbabwe clarifies the issue of routinely reportedly sanctions. It states that relations between the two started in 1982, and it was governed by the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, better known as the Cotonou Agreement.

The Agreement has been ratified by 79 countries from the African-Caribbean-Pacific regions (ACP), including Zimbabwe, and the EU and its 28 Member States.

The specific area of trade relations reads: “Contrary to popular belief, the EU has never imposed what is often described as ‘trade sanctions’ on Zimbabwe. Even during the period of the appropriate measures, Zimbabwe continued to benefit from the preferential access to the EU market provided under the Cotonou Agreement.

“In 2009, Zimbabwe, together with Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles, signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which was ratified and entered into force in May 2012.

“The agreement provided the signatories, including Zimbabwe, immediately with entirely duty-free, quota-free access to the EU market (consisting presently of 28 Member States). It also foresees a gradual liberalisation of 80% of EU imports by 2022.

“After the period of hyper-inflation in 2008, trade between the EU and Zimbabwe has picked up again. This is in particular true for the export of high added value agriculture products, while the export value of mining products has declined in recent years.”

No E.U. sanctions but UK maintains sanctions

Note must be taken that during EU-Zimbabwe government talks, all E.U. envoys in the country joined the head of mission at the meetings except for the United Kingdom envoy. The U.K. maintains some sanctions on some interests under the Zimbabwe Sanctions Guide.

According to the UK government website in a March 2019 notice, subject to the UK’s leaving of the E.U. (Brexit), the sanctions that like in the case of the U.S. is pushing for good governance and respect for rule of law will kick in.

The main areas are financial, trade and immigration sanctions which will extend from the state to specific persons.

“The Regulations provide that the Secretary of State may designate persons for the purposes of financial or immigration sanctions if they are, or have been, involved in the commission or a serious human rights violation or abuse, the repression of civil society or actions, policies or activities which undermine democracy or the rule of law in Zimbabwe.

“The Regulations also impose certain trade restrictions in respect of military goods and technology and internal repression goods and technology.

“When these Regulations are in force a list of those persons designated under them and details of the sanctions in respect of which they have been designated, will be on GOV.UK.”

CFR on what economic sanctions are?

The Council for Foreign Relations, CFR, defines economic sanctions as the withdrawal of customary trade and financial relations for foreign- and security-policy purposes.

Sanctions may be comprehensive, prohibiting commercial activity with regard to an entire country, like the long-standing U.S. embargo of Cuba, or they may be targeted, blocking transactions by and with particular businesses, groups, or individuals.

Since 9/11, there has been a pronounced shift toward targeted or so-called smart sanctions, which aim to minimize the suffering of innocent civilians.

Sanctions take a variety of forms, including travel bans, asset freezes, arms embargoes, capital restraints, foreign aid reductions, and trade restrictions. (General export controls which are not punitive, are often excluded from sanctions discussions.)

Shaban Abdur Rahman Alfa
Digital journalist
@AlfaAfrican
[email protected]

“Give me my check, put some respect on my check / Or pay me in equity / Watch me reverse out of debt.” — Beyoncé

This week, I had the opportunity to catch up with Rukayatu Tijani, a former Quinn Emanuel associate and recent law firm founder. I first met Tijani a few years ago while serving on the Pipeline to Practice Foundation board.

Last November, Tijani decided to embark on the journey of entrepreneurship and founded Firm for the Culture. In accordance with my New Year’s resolution — of speaking with more attorneys on the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of their legal journeys — I was thrilled with the opportunity to cover Tijani’s journey from Brooklyn to the Valley, and from law school to entrepreneurship, for our audience.

Tijani’s passion and purpose are evident to anyone who has met or has been represented by her. And her advice to those who are thinking about Biglaw or hanging their own shingle is both inspiring and instructive. As she recently relayed to Pipeline to Practice:

In the projects of Brooklyn, New York, you quickly grow accustomed to choosing your battles. Some battles, frankly, can get you killed — speaking back to the wrong group of folks can set you up to become a target. So you learn to pick your words and actions wisely. This practical wisdom has helped me immensely as an attorney. In the high stakes world of litigation, every interaction with opposing counsel seems like a battle you want to fight to the death. But the most skilled lawyers know when to fight and when to simply fold; they concede some victories to win the ultimate war. I continue to see this strategy at play from the partners I work with; I hope to emulate this tried and true principal as well.

Without further ado, here is a (lightly edited and condensed) write-up of our conversation:

Renwei Chung (RC): Congratulations on the founding of your firm, Firm for the Culture, in November 2019. What prompted this move from Quinn Emanuel? 

Rukayatu Tijani (RT): I will forever be grateful for the amazing experience I had at Quinn Emanuel.  As the famous Quinn mantra says, there is truly “No Firm Like Ours.” But it’s funny how purpose chases you down. Since I was five years old, I knew I wanted to be an attorney.

And as I grew, my purpose grew with me. Purpose, which had been molded and shaped by my experiences at Quinn Emanuel and my Federal Judicial Clerkship, now required me to do something different. Something more. Something entirely out of alignment with the status quo. So I listened. And I built Firm for the Culture — an innovative virtual law firm designed to help social entrepreneurs trademark their brands as they scale their social impact.

And I’m excited to witness the immense impact the Firm will make.

RC: What inspired you to become an attorney and how did you choose Berkeley Law?

RT: The road to lawyerdom was pretty “interesting” for this Brooklyn girl, ha ha. I grew up in the projects of Brooklyn, N. Y., where there was often more “month” than “money.” Against this backdrop, it was audacious to want to be a lawyer. But the story of Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP encouraged me to live boldly and to make this goal for myself. In learning about the long arduous journey to what would eventually become Brown v. Board, my curious young mind latched onto the idea that I too could use the law to change the world.

Berkeley Law understood that. I chose Berkeley because of its amazing reputation for social impact, social justice, and intellectual rigor. It was not uncommon for my classmates and I to discuss intersectional feminism while studying torts. Berkeley Law encouraged me to always think of my place in the real world while I pursued greatness in the ivory tower.

I am a proud Golden Bear.

RC: As a first-generation law student and a second-generation American, any advice for others — who are new to the legal universe or whose families are new to this country — who are thinking about a career in law?

RT: I run an organization called the First Generation Purpose Project, which is an amazing initiative designed to help First Gen Professionals navigate corporate America, entrepreneurship, and life by utilizing the grit and tenacity that is already on the inside of them. In this capacity, I often tell my First Gen Rockstars this: you may be the first in your family to think a certain way, the first in your family to walk a certain way.

You may find yourself in the “in between,” in between the person you used to be and the person you’re meant to be. But keep going. Keep asking questions. Keep building community around you. Keep growing. Because there’s purpose attached to your journey.

RC: Can you share a bit about your law clerk experience with The Honorable Kimberly Mueller in the Eastern District of California from September 2015 to September 2017?

RT: A clerkship is an amazing opportunity to understand the inner workings of the court. And it’s hard work. My judge encouraged us to uphold a spirit of excellence with each case we received, including cases brought pro se. My judge also emphasized importance in making legal writing “accessible.” She’d say things like “because our case is for the public at large, it should be understood by the public at large.”

My clerkship also encouraged me to see myself as a powerful contributor to the law.  Subject to my judge’s decision, of course, my research and writing played an enormous role in a case outcome. Inner-chambers advocacy mattered. My thoughts mattered. My writings mattered. My clerkship really helped me understand all this and more.

RC: What advice do you have for others who are thinking about Biglaw or starting their own firm?

RT: Biglaw far too often gets a bad rap. Now, I’ll be the first to concede that Biglaw still has a way to go in terms of diversity and other equitable practices. But Biglaw has also been at the forefront of some of most monumental changes in our country.

It was in Biglaw that I helped draft an amicus curiae brief for Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark Supreme Court case extending the right of marriage to same-sex couples. And it is because of Biglaw that I have a work ethic that can hardly be beat.

To anyone coming into Biglaw, I’d encourage you to get really clear on the impact you want to make while you’re there. It’s great if you want to become a partner. And it’s totally fine if you have something else in mind. But having a sense of self and building support around this will be the touchstone of success in an institution as powerful as Biglaw.

For people starting their own law firm? Ha ha. Come back to me in a year and I’ll be happy to share more wisdom with you.  The only advice I have right now is community, community, community. Have a powerful community of people and advocates. When I considered starting my firm, I found support in relationships with brilliant women like Ticora Davis, Kimberly Bennett, and Sonia Lakhany. When you’re around women like them, it’s hard to believe you can’t soar, ha ha.

RC: How would you compare New York and California?

RT: Unfair question! Comparing New York and California is like comparing apples and oranges. I am a different person in each place, if I am being honest. I go to bodegas to talk to papi and dine at Caribbean food joints in New York. I go hiking, eat way too many avocados, and drink lots of green juice in California. And I feel like myself in each experience. I truly feel like I’m exposed to the best of both worlds. Because of this, I decided to take the bar in both states, ha ha.

Brooklyn is home. Cali is my love. And I’m grateful for both.

RC: What are you looking most forward to in 2020?

RT: More impact with Firm for the Culture. We have an exciting year lined up and I cannot wait to start working. I look forward to trademarking the brands of some of the biggest and most innovative social impact organizations and entrepreneurs in the world. I look forward to making intellectual property protection accessible to diverse founders.

I look forward to sharing more trademark tips on my Instagram, speaking at more conferences, writing more articles about the benefits of trademark protection, and stewarding my relationships with friends and family.

RC: Why is Firm for the Culture specifically aimed at social entrepreneurs?

RT: Social entrepreneurs are in a unique position to shift culture, and I want to support them in any way I can. According to the Stanford Social Innovation Review, “[n]early two-thirds of Americans believe companies should take the lead in driving social and environmental change,” and the new businesses of today are building their companies to address this.

Additionally, as a millennial, I am witnessing first-hand how my colleagues want more from the workplace than a fancy title and a paycheck.  I felt heard when I read the Deloitte Global Millennial Survey of 2019, which stated, in part, that “millennials and Gen Zs [tend to] start and stop relationships with companies for [reasons . . . often] related to a company’s positive or negative impact on society.” And we also are more likely to leave positions of power if we feel we can make a more positive impact on society.

As a social impact entrepreneur and attorney, my goal is to make sure businesses that seek to change the world are well positioned for investments by having a robust intellectual property portfolio, and are less vulnerable to lawsuit because of trademark infringement.

RC: It was great chatting with you. Is there anything else you would like to share with our audience?

RT: If you’re an organization with social impact as one of your bottom lines, you’re our ideal client.

There are several ways to keep in touch:

• Text CULTURE to 33777 to get a free infographic about the trademark application process for social entrepreneurs.
• Join us on Instagram @firmfortheculture
• Join us on Linkedin @firmfortheculture
• Join us on Facebook @firmfortheculture
• If you need a trademark, book a call with us to see if we’re a good fit at https://www.firmfortheculture.com/book

And thank you, Renwei, for the amazing chat. Be blessed.

On behalf of everyone here at Above the Law, I would like to thank Rukayatu Tijani for taking the time to share her story with our audience. We look forward to following her successes and wish her continued achievements in her career.

---

Renwei Chung is the Diversity Columnist at Above the Law. You can contact Renwei by email at projectrenwei@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter (@renweichung), or connect with him on LinkedIn. 

---

Olga V. Mack is the CEO of Parley Pro, a next-generation contract management company that has pioneered online negotiation technology. Olga embraces legal innovation and had dedicated her career to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive than before by embracing technology. Olga is also an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. Olga founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to participate on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. Olga also co-founded SunLaw, an organization dedicated to preparing women in-house attorneys to become general counsels and legal leaders, and WISE to help female law firm partners become rainmakers. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat and Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security. You can email Olga at olga@olgamack.com or follow her on Twitter @olgavmack. 

Why?

The Mütter Museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia collects a number of oddities from the twisted medical history of Philadelphia. If you’re touring the city, it’s a wonderful place to stop and grab lunch and then lose it checking out the exhibits. There’s a 40 lb. colon and a horn that a woman grew. It’s a cornucopia of horrors you can never unsee.

Earlier this week, Emily Kelchen wrote a piece for the Wisconsin Bar’s Nonresident Lawyers Blog about her adventure at the museum and how they pulled her aside to show her John Marshall’s kidney stones for some God awful reason.

The jurist responsible for Marbury v. Madison — the decision that, whatever Rudy Giuliani tells you, does not make impeachment unconstitutional — had some kidney stones removed in Philadelphia and these folks kept them for our entertainment. This is the best picture available.

Kelchen advises:

If you want to see the stones in person, I recommend calling ahead to make sure they haven’t been loaned out to another institution, and asking a staff member to show you where they are.

Which esteemed institution is going to be borrowing these exactly?

While this is all so very very gross, it drives home that as hard as it may be to believe, 200 years from now someone will be admiring curious artifacts from our current justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s broken hip or Sonia Sotomayor’s Yankee caps or Brett Kavanaugh’s booze calendars. What an era!

Legal Tourism: You Too Can See Chief Justice John Marshall’s Kidney Stones [Nonresident Lawyers Blog]

---

Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

When your accomplishments at a job can be summed up as “substantive engagement” composed of “many constructive comments and questions,” it might be time to move on. This is not to say it’s Robert Jackson’s fault that he’s got nothing of consequence to show for his two years as a Securities and Exchange commissioner—he is, after all, a Democrat on a regulator controlled by Republicans in Donald Trump’s America, who on their best day are determined to do nothing, and on their worst determined to undermine everything Jackson believes in. It’s just to say that commenting and questioning and yelling and writing impotent dissent after impotent dissent as your colleagues drag their feet or seek to take the democracy out of shareholder democracy or the money out of whistleblowing can be exhausting and disheartening. So Jackson’s going to go and do the next least important thing: teach at a law school, where he may not be making any more of a difference than as a member of the SEC’s minority, but at least gets to live in New York.

It really wasn’t that long ago that Rep. Devin Nunes was a co-sponsor of the Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act. Of course, since then, he’s been filing a whole bunch of frivolous lawsuits against news organizations, journalists, political operatives, critics, and, most famously, a satirical internet cow.

At times he’s admitted that these lawsuits are about fishing for journalist’s sources, but it certainly seems pretty clear that this is all an intimidation campaign, by a silly little man who is an elected representative in Congress and simply can’t handle criticism. Of course, as more evidence comes out that, at the very least, suggests that Nunes is somehow tied up with all of the mess around impeachment — including reports revealing that the indicted Lev Parnas spoke by phone with Nunes — he seems to be getting more and more upset with anyone calling him out.

The latest is that fellow California Representative Ted Lieu noted on Twitter that Nunes’ lawyer sent him a letter threatening to sue Lieu for saying “that Nunes conspired with Parnas.”

Unfortunately, Lieu hasn’t yet released that letter, but I’m hoping he does. I’d be curious to see if Nunes tries to sue Lieu in Virginia like most of his other lawsuits, rather than California. Also, I’d love to see how Nunes and his lawyer think they can get around the Speech or Debate Clause.

In the meantime, Ted Lieu, we really could use more people in Congress supporting a federal anti-SLAPP law. Seems like now might be a good time for you to support such a law, right?

Rep. Devin Nunes Now Threatening To Sue Fellow Congressional Reps

More Law-Related Stories From Techdirt:

Bad Ideas: Raising The Arbitrary Age Of Internet Service ‘Consent’ To 16
Judge Says Chicago PD Must Release Nearly 50 Years Of Misconduct Files Before The End Of This Year
Trademark Opposition Stupidly Prevents Indians Pitcher Shane Bieber From Telling Everyone He’s ‘Not Justin’

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi has pledged to strengthen cooperation with Zimbabwe despite a hitch in bilateral ties last year.

The two countries were at loggerheads after Zimbabwe’s government said it had only received $3.6 million in aid from Beijing in 2019 – 40 times lower than the figure claimed by China.

Yi met his Zimbabwean counterpart Sibusiso Moyo on Sunday during the final leg of an Africa tour that also took him to Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea and Burundi.

He did not mention financial assistance, but hailed China and Zimbabwe’s “win-win cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, and mining” and vowed to explore new areas of cooperation.

China’s relationship with Zimbabwe dates back to the liberation struggle of the 1970s, when Beijing supported some of the top guerrilla leaders.

After the end of white-minority rule in 1980, China was one of the first countries to establish a diplomatic mission in the capital Harare.

Beijing remained one of Mugabe’s most powerful allies and a major trade partner, even as the West shunned him over human rights violations.

Zimbabwe’s opposition parties are not excited with this renewed friendship. China’s influence and accused the government of giving away minerals and other natural resources in exchange for aid.

Chinese companies are alleged to abuse and underpay local workers.

Zimbabwe’s economy has been reduced to tatters by decades of mismanagement under Mugabe, who died of cancer in September last year.

Years of rampant hyperinflation have rendered life unaffordable for most and basic goods such as bread and fuel are hard to come by.

* Harvey Weinstein is attempting to move his criminal trial outside of New York City, citing the intense publicity of the matter. Fairly sure every community in America knows about Weinsten’s case. [Fox News]

* Lawyers in a class action against Aramark are getting more than just free food, filings provide for $5 million in cheddar as counsel fees. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

* The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that felons need to pay all costs associated with their sentences before having their right to vote restored. [CBS News]

* A attorney has been disbarred for continuing to practice law despite being suspended for failing to pay bar dues and neglecting to register with the New York Bar. This is a stern reminder for every lawyer to pay all bar dues. [Albany Times Union]

* A man serving life in prison has been granted a new trial because his lawyer was racist. [San Francisco Chronicle]

---

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.

Zimbabwe and China this week signed a currency swap deal aimed at strengthening trade between the two nations.

The swap arrangement will enable an investor in China to pay a Chinese business in Zimbabwe which is looking for foreign exchange. The Chinese-owned business in Zimbabwe would release the Zimbabwe dollar equivalent of the US dollar to a local bank account of the payer in China.

The local currency is the legal tender for all domestic transactions except for a few business operators particularly those in the tourism sector who can trade in US dollar.

Nonetheless, the monetary policies are not attractive to investors specifically when they want to remit their profits back to China as Zimbabwe is facing foreign currency shortages.

This currency swap deal, which follows a visit by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, will make it easier for Chinese businesses in Zimbabwe to move their funds out of the country. Yi was on an official visit to Zimbabwe and other four African nations including Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea and Burundi.

“The idea is those individuals (Chinese investors) will then swap (currency) so that those who are investing in Zimbabwe are able to give them a domestic currency-which they are bringing in for investment-to pay those who are exiting,” said finance minister Mthuli Ncube in an interview with journalists in Harare at the end of Yi’s visit.

The southern African nation, which is experiencing its worst economic crises in decades-with shortages of fuel and other basic commodities, is putting hopes on China to help turn around its struggling economy after efforts failed to have US and EU economic sanctions removed last year.

Zimbabwe has joined other nations in Africa including South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana that also have currency swap arrangements with China.

But economists in Zimbabwe believe the move will benefit the Chinese while starving the country of much needed foreign currency. This currency swap deal will simplify an exchange control procedure yet it will help the Chinese traders move their business proceeds out of the country but Zimbabweans who might have had access to that money before will not have any more.

The potential foreign exchange inflows from investment will be cancelled as the foreign currency does not get into any of the country’s economic systems as it is given to a Chinese company that remits its profits to China.

The Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) executive director Janet Zhou told Quartz Africa the only benefit that comes to Zimbabwe from the deal could have been access to foreign currency and external finances at competitive interest rates, however, currency swaps work best in stable economies.

“In the case of Zimbabwe where there is hyperinflation, the deal is not going to benefit the country considering that a fixed exchange rate is agreed upon at the beginning of the contract and given the rate at which the local currency is losing value, the principal amount would have lost value by the time the contract matures,” she said.

“Moreover, Zimbabwe is currently desperate for foreign currency and it is high likely that the government will offer friendly terms in order to attract the much-needed foreign currency and investment. In any case, China will have more bargaining power considering their global political economy position.”

She said ZIMCODD’s fear is the source of Zimbabwe dollar to effect the currency swap since the only available options will be either printing of money or issuance of treasury bills which are highly inflationary.

Soon after his meeting with president Emmerson Mnangagwa in Harare on January, 13 this year, Yi claimed China has been Africa’s largest trading partner for 11 years in a row and the former’s stock of “indirect investment has reached $110 billion, and more than 3 700 Chinese enterprises have invested and started business in various parts of Africa”, providing a strong force for a sustained economic growth on the continent.

Post published in: Featured