POOR old Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister Walter Mzembi.  He was “overcome by emotion” when presented with a portrait of the president at a ceremony to mark the official opening of the Africa Travel Association Congress at the Victoria Falls last weekend.

IT is eight  months since the Minister of Industry and Commerce Professor Welshman Ncube first stated that, as a matter of urgency, a fund would be set up to aid the recovery of ailing industries in Bulawayo.  He noted that 87 companies had ceased operations in the past few years. Some companies had relocated to Harare while others had markedly downsized their operations. 

Clive Mphambela/Herbert Moyo

HUGE inter-parastatal debts which have accumulated over the years are impeding the recovery and restructuring of state enterprises making it difficult to attract investment.

By Qhubani Moyo

NO one can dispute that at the time of the imposition of targeted sanctions on President Robert Mugabe, his cronies and selected entities by the European Union (EU) and the United States, Zimbabweans were under siege from rogue elements in government who were abusing their power and authority to suppress dissent. The country had become a pariah state and internal democratic processes to try to change the government were thwarted with brute force using the state security apparatus. Instead of being used to protect the citizens, the security machinery was used to bludgeon the masses.

By Maxwell Madzikanga

A HUNDRED years from today, how is the current Zimbabwe constitution-making process going to be judged by future generations? I see many scenarios and divergent camps emerging and innumerable focus groups regrettably deliberating a noble process that went terribly wrong; maybe a process that was shamefully manipulated by a selfish class of politicians.

MANY executives who try to embrace potentially disruptive technologies become dispirited when their genuine efforts to harness disruption fail dismally. This article references the case of the US newspaper industry’s strategic responses in the face of the disruptive online news technology. This will be done to explain the causal mechanism underlying the successful attempt to harness a disruptive technology by an incumbent.  

IN this 37th instalment, we explore the recent recognition of the nature and scope accorded to traditional knowledge (TKs) expressions of folklores (EoFs)  and genetic resources (GRs) as protectable intellectual property rights (IPRs).

Caleb Mucheche

AT the nerve centre of the legion of problems that bedevilled the ReNaissance Merchant Bank and Caps Holdings was the monster of the all-powerful executive chair-cum-major shareholder. The drama that unfolded at the two institutions gave credence to the adage that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

THE number of Tibetans burning themselves to death in protests against Chinese policy has grown very fast recently: the first self-immolation was in 2009, but 22 of the 30 incidents happened in the past year. And while at first it was only Buddhist monks and nuns who were setting themselves on fire, in the past month both a teenage girl and a mother of four have chosen to die in this gruesome way.

TESTIMONIALS are never full throttled football contests. Despite a galaxy of stars that will grace the National Sports Stadium on Saturday, football fans will not be treated to a highly charged competition, but what can be almost guaranteed on such an occasion is enthralling entertainment.

THE Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa has started buying land to build new churches as the property wrangle with ex-communicated Bishop Nolbert Kunonga continues, reports the Standard.

ALTHOUGH the economy grew by 9,7%, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in the first quarter of 2012 it was growth from an exceptionally low base. It follows a 15-year period of marked economic decline. 

Elias Mambo

WHILE Zimbabwe’s re-engagement team with the European Union (EU) was upbeat about the possibility of the bloc lifting sanctions after its trip to Brussels last week, analysts have warned that without meaningful reforms on the ground it would still be difficult to ensure the removal of the restrictive measures.

Blessing-Miles Tendi

ON April 29 2012, I participated in a panel discussion with Simon Bright, director of the film Robert Mugabe ... What Happened?, and McDonald Lewanika, the director of Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe (CCZ). This followed the showing of Bright’s latest film (Robert Mugabe ... What Happened?) in the Ultimate Picture Palace in Oxford.

BLESSING-MILES Tendi begins his review of my film Robert Mugabe … What Happened? by criticising the choice of Mugabe as an African villain when there are worse African villains to be found. Of course, he is right, but I chose the subject that interests me.

By Freedom Mazwi

POLITICAL developments in Zimbabwe over the past two months have been worrisome and yet revealing, providing an opportunity for democratic players, both in the civic society and progressive political formations, to start seriously thinking about the future of the country by rising above narrow partisan  interests.

SO, Webster Shamu chose World Press Freedom Day to threaten to take off his gloves if the independent media persisted with “an anti-African and anti-Zimbabwe frenzy”?

IN about two months, the Minister of Finance Tendai Biti is due to present his 2012 mid-year budget review.  It is yet again a most unenviable task, for not only must he valiantly (but inevitably unsuccessfully) try to ensure a balanced budget and results in tandem with budget, but he also has to persevere in his efforts to assure economic recovery and growth.  That is a virtually impossible task as long as his government “colleagues” continue to pursue diverse counter-productive and destructive policies. 

Elias Mambo

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe’s calls for an end to political violence and factionalism in Zanu PF ahead of general elections should be regarded with suspicion since he has immensely benefited from those problems to keep himself in power for 32 successive years.

Gideon Chitanga

IN the article, “Is Zimbabwe Poised on a Liberal Path? The State and Prospects for Parties’’, one of Zimbabwe’s top pro-democracy scholars, the late Professor Masipula Sithole recites views of a certain observer of the liberation struggle during the 1970s on the issue of factionalism.