EDITOR — THROUGH your popular and influential paper, allow me to share a few observations and views about very unfortunate, and self-destructive things or developments, which are not good for brand Zimbabwe.
Amid escalating hostilities against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government, which have been marked by serious misinformation campaigns, outright incitement of violence and other undesirable projects, a dangerous name-shaming culture and spewing of malicious rumours or untested allegations has taken hold of the republic.
These have not only been limited to public institutions and their respective leaders, but spilled over to neutral private sector players and citizens who always try to do their business – and help the country in various ways – quietly.
Through characters like Blessed Geza and other faceless social media trolls, people like businessman Kuda Tagwirei, Mutapa Investment Fund chief executive John Mangudya, Finance secretary George Guvamatanga and now Valley Seeds owner Themba Nkatazo have now borne the brunt of vicious maulings or attacks, with a risk of permanent reputational scars!
And as this unrelenting war – obviously informed by various socio-political developments in our country – continues, one such unfortunate incident and mainly driven by a cynicism and selfserving interpretation of events was the narrative around the so-called treasury-Valley Seeds loan guarantee debacle.
Firstly, l not only feel that Zimbabweans were being herded into a half-baked and one-sided semantics debate around whether Guvamatanga’s March 24 letter to the seed company’s bankers Ecobank Zimbabwe was really a ‘guarantee or just a support letter’ – as captured in the controversial dispatch’s subject section – but its promoters and scribes alike have also failed to give us an alternative view that any company’s debtors (by all manner of accounting theory) is considered an asset, which can be used to access credit or new loans.
And assuming that this was the case with Nkatazo’s group and in a scenario where it is owned nearly US$200 million, could it not be possible that the Harare businessman would have still been able to borrow from the pan-African bank using his own balance sheet?
In my view, this then not only helps to clear up any lingering conspiracies around this purported scam, but prove that Guvamatanga’s dispatch was nothing more than an acknowledgement of debt and – at best – a “comfort letter” in banking language to help a bonafide creditor in desperate need of a bridging facility.
“In light of the so-called Finance ministry-Valley Seeds scandal, my view is that the dispatch was nothing more than a ‘comfort letter’ and which is a standard practice or basic procedure really in banking the world over,” a commercial lawyer said, adding “any reckless pronouncements around these complex matters might result in legal nightmares for their punters”.
“As we all know with what happens in a toxic environment like Zimbabwe, everything not only tends to be politicised, mischaracterised and sensationalised – even by people who are supposed to know better – but there were some extremely defamatory statements made around pseudo corruption, and money laundering in this clearly political hatchet job,” she said.
While the ex-Barclays Bank chief’s letter partially alluded to a ‘guarantee and sureties’, the essence – and import – of it was just to vouch for a “distressed government supplier”. Considering the above – and probably in the minds of Treasury bureaucrats – the said arrangement by the ex-Barclays Bank chief did not warrant a classification as a guarantee and ultimate notification or publication in the government gazette (as is the norm with all sovereign guarantees).
Crucially, Valley Seeds – which has done its best in ensuring food security in the country for years – cannot be described as a ‘briefcase company’ when it employs 600- plus people across 24-hour factories in Ruwa, Murehwa, cotton ginneries in Glendale and Shamva.
“I really feel we are all – critics and sympathisers alike – getting bogged down in semantics because, if anything, there are obvious contradictions in Guvamatanga and Valley Seeds’ opponents’ statements that guarantees ought to be publicly declared by the minister and yet in this case there is no such listing, which not only meant it did not warrant that action or step, but a confirmation that this was not a guarantee or anything to be classified in that way or category,” said another senior barrister.
“From a proper banking perspective, this letter would not be accepted as a guarantee because there is nothing executable by the lending institution, which is Ecobank in this case and should the private borrower defaults on the loan.
In that vein and certain circumstances, this letter would even have been rejected and, therefore, l am even wondering what the hoo ha is all about,” he said. While Guvamatanga’s dispatch categorically states that Valley Seeds had supplied seed under the presidential pvumvudza/intwasa programme, the multi-million dollar company is made up of former American companies Pioneer and Pannar Seeds, Southern Colton and other entities.
Thus, the current ‘hoo haa’ around this issue is not only unwarranted and typical of many issues confronting Zimbabwe today, but risks further muddying a critical issue and debate in our country.
I am not vouching for anyone here, but just trying to make the point that we ought to be careful and more circumspect about what we consume – even as news these days – especially in the absence of a fuller, complete picture and recourse to basic business as well as accounting principles that outstanding invoices can be used as collateral for book debts’. As one of your recent contributors Forward Madyira said, journalists and Zimbabweans at large must be wary of this disinformation culture, and try to dig deeper into the causes of this disturbing trend! — Togarasei Nyika