Vaccine Commodification and Ramifications for Countries in the Global South

By Rawlings Magede

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed inequalities between countries in the Global North and those in Global South. While governments across the world have responded differently to contain the spread of the virus, vaccine hoarding and use of patent laws has crippled vaccine access and distribution in the Global South. Patent laws such as Intellectual Laws by pharmaceutical companies in the Global North makes it difficult for countries in the Global South to manufacture and distribute vaccines to their populations. The ring fencing of vaccine patents has created monopolies driven by profit and capitalism. The Covax scheme that was designed to bypass this has been plagued by inequity, funding shortfalls and a severe supply crunch. Its initial targets for the year 2021 were missed, partly as a result of the poor health infrastructure in many of the recipient country and partly because of vaccine hesitancy. Cultural and religious beliefs in most countries in the Global South have dealt a heavy blow to the attainment of herd immunity. Waiving of patents across the globe will culminate into better access of vaccines by countries in the Global South.

https://www.africaopl.org/publications/vaccine-commodification-and-ramifications-for-countries-in-the-global-south

The dilemma facing the Second Republic

By Rawlings Magede

President Emmerson Mnangagwa administration faces a huge dilemma going forwad. Distortions within the USD-RTGs rate have led to a spike in prices of basic commodities. The cost of living has seriously deteriorated in the first half of the year which has seen sharp increases in the price of fuel. Prices of basic goods have soared and the cost of living is not even comparable to the cost of labour. This rise has resultantly diminished disposable incomes for workers and the general populace who have already been dealt a heavy blow of unemployment. This has seen a serious decline in the standard of living and tremendously high levels of poverty.

The much touted rhetoric of a middle class economy that is anchored on National Development Strategy (NDS) 1 remains a farce.Overal funding for this ambitious strategy requires over US40 billion which the government does not have. Illicit financial flows, leakages and corruption have eroded government revenue that usually comes through tax. Underground economies particularly within the extractive industry which has   gained notoriety for tax evasions and smuggling of precious minerals such as gold continue to thrive. In 2021, corruption watchdog, Transparency International noted that Zimbabwe loses about 1 billion US dollars in revenue every year mostly because of political elites who engage in corruption. The report also indicated that the resulting institutionalization and systematization of corruption in Zimbabwean political and economic spheres has been extensive.

Most analysis of endemic corruption in Zimbabwe tends to focus on figures of financial resources lost through corruption but fail to give accurate statistics of the number of people who have been plunged into poverty through corruption. In understanding the dilemma facing the President Mnangagwa, we must do a run down from the 2017 coup and highlight what went wrong.

 

A neo-liberal agenda that failed to live to up to its billing

When President Mnangagwa took oath of office after the infamous 2017 military coup, his message was punctuated with hope and optimism. His message “Zimbabwe is open for business” soon became his clarion call to rally investors and international capital. So charmed were the Breton Woods institutions that in April 2019, a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced an agreement with the Zimbabwean government on macroeconomic policies and structural reforms that underpinned a Staff Monitored program (SMP).This monitoring programme would see the government and the IMF agreeing on policies to address the macroeconomic imbalances and tackle policy inconsistencies within government. This was then followed by removal of subsidies on fuel and other import subsidies. Even when citizens took to the citizens in January 2019 to register displeasure at the increase in the price of fuel, the president never took heed.

The IMF in 2020 also followed suit in registering displeasure in the administration of its SMP by government. It announced that the SMP program was “off track”. “Uneven implementation of reforms, notably delays and mis-steps in implementation and monetary reforms, have failed to restore confidence in the new currency,” the IMF said in a statement. The implementation of the SMP was beset by problems even before it even kicked off. While the government was keen to remove subsidies, over tax its citizens and partially privatize state institutions, it failed to demonstrate the willingness to arrest government’s insatiable appetite to spend. Throughout the SMP, spending especially by the Office of the President and Cabinet remained secretive. Added to this, in September 2019, the IMF even warned government that the state payouts to a partner of Trafigura group LTD undermined the country’s newly introduced currency. Payments to Sakunda Holdings in July 2019 owned by President Mnangagwa, Kuda Tagwirei under the command agriculture scheme were again secretive with most economists arguing that the payment made by the central bank were made after printing of more money. Such a disbursement led to an 80% surge in the amount of money in circulation compared with an IMF set target of between 8-10%.

Inconsistent policies

NDS1 presupposes that the US$40 billion needed for this ambitious programme will be sourced through traditional sources of finance, private sector and multilateral and bilateral creditors. One of the challenges of such an assumption is that no sane institution is willing to lend the government money because it is a bad debtor that still owes external creditors. In 2022, IMF resident representative to Zimbabwe, Patrick Imam remarked that public debt is an issue that has contributed significantly to the economic crisis facing the country. Three key drivers of Zimbabwe’s debt crisis are penalties on overdue external debt, budget deficit and the continued depreciation of the local currency. In June 2019 external debt stood at US$8.1 billion .Out of this chunk ,about US$5 billion is accumulated arrears, interest arrears and penalties, which constitute about 72.8% of external debt. Given this analysis, it means that the principal debt is around US$2.2 billion. In the face of distortions within the exchange rate, it becomes a mammoth task to service the external debt. Since government is a bad debtor, which institution (private capital included) is willing to lend money to bankroll NDS1?

One of the greatest undoing of President Mnangagwa’s administration has been policy inconsistencies. In May 2022 via a late-night broadcast, President Mnangagwa announced that banks would not be allowed to lend money to the government and the public sector. This announcement shook the market as a lot of companies suspended credit sales. Immediately, Tongaat Hulet, Zimbabwe’s largest sugar manufacturer announced that it was no longer making advance payments to farmers. In all these knee jerk reactions, the President is not firefighting alone. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube and Reserve Bank Governor, John Mangudya have also been complicit in the collapse of the economy. Basic economics dictates that you cannot direct banks to stop lending when the rate between the US dollar and RTGs is growing.

One would expect the administration to change tact and approach in dealing with the ailing economy. The high levels of corruption, illicit financial flows, smuggling and leakages have continued unabated. Those close to the ruling establishment remain untouchable in their arcane dealings. Those responsible for managing government’s public relations and image have become a big joke as the signs of failure are glaring. Social services such as education and health care have become a preserve for a few in  a country with an NDS1 that highlight that government is supposed to have invested at least US$723 966 864 million into healthcare and wellbeing by 2022!What a big joke!

Against such a mess, the President recently encouraged young people to “make money” and take charge of their destinies. Intellectual and professional pursuit of honest work have been shunned in favour of “hustling” which in practice for many means self-enrichment through  being “runner boys or fronts” for the ruling elites. The gospel of becoming a real middle income country or agenda 2030 that is being parroted everyday is the biggest joke of the century.

In the final analysis, the Second Republic has failed to inspire confidence in citizens. Those assigned to do public relations and re-inspire citizens have dismally failed and continue to embarrass themselves on various platforms. As the country prepares for the 2023 plebiscite, the days ahead will have more eyes.

Homeland or Death! Tinofa Tichienda!

Rawlings Magede is a Development Practitioner who writes here in his personal capacity. Feedback on  rawlingsmagede2@gmail.com

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Beyond ZEC, the country needs a credible Electoral Body

 By Rawlings Magede

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) turns 9 years this year having been established under Chapter 12 of the constitution in 2013. Its establishment was part of efforts by citizens to bring sanity to our electoral democracy especially after sham elections in 2002, 2005, and 2008 respectively. Since its establishment, the electoral body has done very little to inspire public confidence through its intents. After the 2013 elections that were generally peaceful, there were allegations that the electoral body had enlisted the services of an Israeli company, Nikuv to rig elections on its behalf. Though these allegations divided public opinion, they served to erode the little confidence citizens had in the new electoral body. As ZEC turns 9 years this year, has it fulfilled the aspirations of those that voted resoundingly in favour of the constitution in March 2013?

Our Electoral processes have always failed the test!

While the 2013 election was generally peaceful, reports of massive vote-rigging hampered the prospects of ZEC in presiding over free and fair elections. According to reports a complex confluence of factors accounted for the 2013 electoral outcome. In some cases, critics noted that the voters roll had ghost voters who ended up “voting” on Election Day. The term “ghost voters” became center stage after election results were released. In some constituencies, there were errors by the Commission which dealt a heavy blow to its credibility. Unlike the 2008 elections which were very violent, the 2013 elections exposed administrative gaps within the commission.

The 2018 elections, which were punctuated by a new President in Zanu Pf didn’t fare any better. Delays in the release of results exposed the commission's inability to be impartial. In constituencies such as Chegutu, the commission failed to vote-tallying of results and announced a losing candidate, Dexter Nduna as a winner. To this day, he represents this constituency in defiance of the principles of representative democracy. Former Zanu pf member, Jonathan Moyo has written a book dubbed “ExcellGate” that exposes how ZEC manipulated results using excel sheets. While allegations in this book must be taken with a pinch of salt, its contents must be seriously analyzed. Since the 2018 elections, a dark cloud of doubt and suspicion has engulfed our electoral democracy. A basic survey among citizens notes deep-seated problems of mistrust and suspicion by citizens over the inability of ZEC to preside over a free and fair election that meets international standards.

Enter March 2022 By-Elections!

The run-up to the elections was marred by a lot of inconsistencies on the part of ZEC. Electoral advocacy group Pachedu noted a lot of inconsistencies within the voters' roll that was to be used for the by-elections. In some instances, ZEC had either changed addresses or polling stations for some voters. On the day of the by-election, many voters failed to vote because their names were not on the voters' roll. This is besides that in the 2018 general elections, they managed to vote. Added to this, the by-elections were also marred by widespread violations of the Electoral Act mostly by the ruling party, ZANU PF. In Chivi South, for example, ZANU PF campaign vehicles were roving around polling stations soliciting votes on the day of the election. This violates Sections 160A (G, K) and 160A (7)(1e) of the Electoral Act.

Attempts by the newly formed Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) Secretary-General, Charlton Hwende to get a voters roll earlier before the day of the by-election hit a snag as he was violently stopped by armed riot police from accessing ZEC offices in Harare. Against all the numerous anomalies raised by Pachedu, ZEC did very little to restore public confidence but proceeded with the by-election. True to what Pachedu noted around irregularities and inconsistencies with the voters roll, many people across constituencies were turned away and failed to exercise their right to vote.

The recent by-election has put the final death nail on our electoral democracy and on the ability of ZEC to preside over free and fair elections. In Epworth constituency where I was an observer, many people who were turned away had proof that they were registered and voted in the 2018 general elections. Some even went a step further by utilizing the mobile ZEC platform for registration to check if they were registered.

2023 Elections

Disbanding ZEC is tantamount to rewriting the constitution. Given that we are just a few months to go before the next election, it will be premature to call for the disbandment of ZEC. One of the key reforms that opposition parties have been pushing for over the years is the Diaspora vote. While ZANU PF and ZEC have been unrelenting on this, the opposition must restrategize. In my view; they need to redefine the “Diaspora” target citizens in neighbouring countries such as South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia. Citizens in these countries stand a better chance of voting in next years’ election. It is estimated that over 2 million Zimbabweans reside in South Africa. For the opposition, it then becomes imperative to think around modalities on how these people can be registered to vote in the 2023 general elections. Although this has its own challenges the fact that some political parties have branches or structures in some of these countries makes it even easier.

In the final analysis, ZEC has failed to inspire confidence even in a new set of voters on the horizon. The way it administered the March by-elections and the inconsistencies in the voters' roll have eroded citizens’ confidence. The 2023 elections will be nothing different.

Homeland or Death, Tinofa Tichienda!

Rawlings Magede is a Development Practitioner, who writes here in his personal capacity. He tweets @rawmagede and is contactable on vamagede@gmail.com