SELL ME THE COW, SO THAT I CAN MILK IT MYSELF

SELL ME THE COW, SO THAT I CAN MILK IT MYSELF: How you assist another person speaks volumes to the kind of person you are. In my early 40’s I was on a roll charting new paths at supersonic speed. There was a sense of urgency. As a person who had given up on doctors finding out what was wrong with me, I thought I was going to die in my 40’s and therefore I wanted to accomplish so many things, in the shortest possible time. I have always understood the power of investment property, so I got myself three (3) mortgages/bonds. I was lecturing at Wits Business School and my salary could not cover payments for three bonds. But there were abundant consultancy assignments literally walking in, through the gate of the school and I was lucky, that some of that work, was parceled out to me. That was before I started opening my mouth, complaining about discrimination and exclusion (a long story for another day). At one time proceeds from the consulting assignments alone, were four (4) times the size of my monthly salary. That is why the Banks agreed to give me three (3) bonds. I had left my family in Zimbabwe, so I had all the time in the world, to burn the midnight oil, juggling lecturing, consulting assignments via Wits and other assignments I secured on my own. Although it was a time of abundance, it was also a time of scarcity, because I spread myself too thin, setting up consortiums and spearheading the set-up of the second black-owned Bureau de Change, Global Foreign Exchange (GFE). I think I made more than a dozen trips to the South African Reserve Bank, Foreign Exchange Dept in Pretoria, over a two (2) year period before we secured our provisional license to operate our first bureau, which was located at the Oriental Plaza in Fordsburg, Johannesburg. GFE has been operating at OR International Airport for more than ten (10) years now. I sold our 55% shareholding in this operation some time back, but this narration represents the context under which I was operating. In a nutshell I was overstretched and highly strung. I made money, but I spent it too, not in conspicuous consumption, but perhaps, in primitive accumulation. I am not sure whether having three (3) bonds funding the acquisition of investment properties can be referred to as primitive accumulation. For starters, the house you live in, is not an investment. The other two (2) bonds were for investment properties. There was this lady whom I thought I was building a strong business and social relationship with. She was a Zimbabwean woman married to a Tswana guy from Botswana. We had met at a consulting assignment with the same client. As our friendship grew, we agreed that in seasons of scarcity, when consulting assignments were few and far between, the other would give business to the one going through scarcity, business. It just so happened that when I was going through consulting assignments’ abundance, she was going through scarcity and vice versa. So, I would parcel out some of my assignments to her and she would take over the clients. We both had MBAs and our areas of competency and skill sets were more or less the same. Be that as it may, I started to notice a pattern. When I was going through a season of scarcity, she never gave me business. She would advance me bridging finance and made me sign an ‘I OWE YOU’. It started bothering me because when I assessed our track record, I had given her 4 clients and she had given me none, but she had given me bridging finance twice. She was breaking the essence of our verbal agreement. By doing that, she was giving me milk, not showing me where the cow is, so that I could milk as much as I would like from it myself. So I decided to exit the relationship without letting her know. She then called me when I was in Maputo on a consulting assignment. When I picked up the phone, she realized from my tone of voice that something was up. She enquired. I apologized to her for not telling her that I had decided, without her consent that, I was going to reduce our so-called friendship, to the size of a bonsai. When we started, I thought it would grow into a baobab but given what has been happening over the past three years, the bonsai level was even more generous. She started weeping on the phone and said, she did not realize that she was breaking our verbal agreement. She asked for forgiveness. To which I advised her that, the last time I checked, it was God and not me, in the forgiveness business. I am no forgiveness expert and it was better that she go to church and be forgiven by the Father of the Catholic Church, because she was a Catholic. That was the end of that friendship. What I took away from that interaction was the following: 1. TRANSACT BASED ON SHARED VALUES: When you do not share the same values, agreements, written or verbal, are never respected. 2. NEVER SELL YOUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CHEAP There are always early warning signs, of trouble ahead. One ignores the tell-tell signs at their own peril. My so-called friend, never saw the value of my intellectual property, yet she would come to my house with her computer and whilst she was sharing her marital problems, cleverly slip in business questions, open her computer and type whilst I dictated billable knowledge. I never did that with her. Her behavior was that of a leech and a fraud. All she needed to do was ask of help and I would have gladly provided it to her for free, since we were on an-enabling-each-other journey together. 3. IN BUSINESS MENTAL GAMES ARE A WASTE OF TIME Those who take from you, underestimate your ability to gauge what is going on as they think they are cleverly creating the impression that the value of your intellectual property is negligible and therefore, they must have it for free. 4. SOCIALIZATION NOT EDUCATION, DETERMINES HOW YOU SHOW UP IN BUSINESS Socialization is key. How you are socialized growing up, largely determines how you show up in the world of business. I believed her when she said, she did not realize that, that is what she was doing. Eventually, I had to choose my myself first, by refusing to be the intensive care unit, of an inadequately raised person. 5. PATRIARCHAL WOMEN AND MEN ARE PROBLEMATIC IN BUSINESS My experience has been that women are more problematic both socially and in business transactional relationships. I have found that they have failed to evolve and that leads them getting personal very quickly. Their reactions to other women in business, is markedly different to when they are responding to men in business. Men are affirmed and feared and women are disparaged and judged. There are men who personalize things too, when dealing with women, but the prevalence of this behavior is widespread amongst women. Whether these behaviors are attributed to women or men, this means that education as we know it, has failed to completely transform, some from amongst us, who continue to behave in inappropriate ways, to the detriment of what could have grown to be lasting business relationships.

ANOTHER RANT FROM HARARE

ANOTHER RANT FROM HARARE: Insomnia is a real threat to others and myself. Every time I am wide awake at 1am, there many others I notice are awake at the same time, with me. I know others, not necessarily all are working. I do burn the midnight oil oft times. But this morning I am not and many other mornings. When I wake up, I always assume I am being called to prayer, so I do so, for a bit or sometimes for a while, then wait the early morning out until 5am, when I wake up to take my morning walk. People say, "take it easy!". Please help me understand what exactly I must "take" and "make easy!". They also say "It is well." What is well, may I ask? What is it about my life, do you think is well? "It is well" is an over used phrase, quoted out of context. It is part of a Psalm which I can locate in the Bible. But what if it not well with my soul? This verse is a call to surrender to God and do the unthinkable and utter, that which is contrary to your soul. It is a call to have faith too. I have faith and I surrendered to God ages ago. But as an honest child, I reveal to him as my Heavenly, Dad, the Creator and the Almighty, that I will not parrot that verse and say, "it is well with my soul" when it is not. When people say, "it is well", they are shutting you down and out. They are saying, I hear you, but I have chosen not to hear you. So I am throwing you this verse, "it is well", hoping that you will shut up. Sorry I refuse to catch this "it is well" ball. Please throw it elsewhere. For me, hollow words and unconcerned utterances must stay where they belong - in File 13. What I know for sure, is that it is hard, to almost impossible to tame the mind, when it chooses to loose itself, on an overdrive of thought processes, whilst getting lost where it has wondered and cannot find its way back again, into your brain. It does not matter what time I sleep, 1am these days is my time to wake up. I cover myself up with a duvet. Switch almost everything off, except a lamp from a distance (total darkness freakes me out), hoping I will get back to sleep, but mind that says, hell to the N.O., not so fast my friend, we are not doing that right now! The mind is full in commandeering speed, opening the eyes and sending me running to the loo to pee. The mind then wonders away, leaving me mindless. I sheepishly jumps back into bed, now wide awake and start staring into the grains of wood on the ceiling. Then I pray and like this morning, proceed to playtime, by sharing a rant here, waiting the morning out to get broken, so I can start my day. Good morning folks. Have a better day than mine. NB. Please do not get me wrong, I am happier in Harare, than I am over there and yet I have not seen many outsiders I know. Maybe only two or three. I stay in my lane and very much minding my own business.

"OF DOING MISSIONARY WORK AND MOVING ON

"OF DOING MISSIONARY WORK AND MOVING ON: We are all missionaries, in way or another and in varying degrees, to all kinds of different people we come across in life. All of us. There are times when our deliberate actions are answers to other people’s yearnings and prayers. God puts you in front of those people so that you resolve a troublesome issue in their life. That is perfectly okay because I believe that, that is the essence of life. That which makes life beautiful, is the ability to put genuine smiles on other people’s faces. But after you have been a God send, move on. Do not wait around to receive endorsements and accolades from them. You must not expect to have a long-term relationship with them. That help you offered when those you helped needed it was transactional, a once off shot so view it as that. Do not linger around longer to have a relationship with everyone you have assisted in their time of need. You will end up unconsciously inviting all kinds of people who should not be in your life, because you are waiting to receive praises or probably expecting them to also help you out. Life does work like that. Oft times, those we assist are not the ones who will be our God sends when we become needy. The Shona saying, “Kandiro kanoenda kunobva kamwe”, literal meaning, “A saucer goes to where another saucer will be received from “, has been wrongly interpreted. Those you assist are not necessarily the ones that will assist you back and those who assist you, you might never find the opportunity to assist them, or you might not even have the capacity nor capability to assist them. So when you assist another, move on. When you are assisted by others, be grateful, but do not wait around to hero-worship them endlessly. The Creator crafted this life in a manner where your blessings always come from other places you least expect and not necessarily from the ones you opened doors for. I would even go further and call it a law of life. Once you master this law, you cease and resist grumbling about those you helped, but who never showed gratitude. It was transactional, finish and klaar! It was missionary work. Missionaries as we knew them growing up, never expected anything in return. We were grateful for all that they did for us, but very few of us, when we could, never returned any favours to the missionary movement. We moved on and in turn helped elsewhere. This realization is important because many of us are unequally yoked to people who should not be in our lives, because we are constantly delivering to a cohort of people, whom we are expecting to rave on endlessly about us. It a sign of the helpers’ flaw and degree of neediness. When this sort of fuel is denied the helper, they get bitter and grumble endlessly to those willing to hear. On the other hand, some from amongst us, are so resentful of those who have assisted us, because of the covert or overt reminders from the helper, that we must be endlessly grateful for the help they gave us and shout about to all and sundry. It is okay as a receiver to announce your gratefulness once and move on. Sticking around to always sing praises to the blesser will leave you aggrieved and splenetic, because you did not leave the relationship at the time you were supposed to. Have self-respect and self-preservation. Refrain from being that kind of missionary who expects something in return or the receiver who sticks around to deceive, through repeated insincere praise. The moment it becomes repetitive, it ceases to be sincere. In a nutshell, when you help, do not expect gratitude. Please just move on. It is okay. You were called by the Almighty, to serve and do your missionary duties. When you are helped, be grateful once and move on. The helper and the helped must both have the discernment to know that it was a mere transaction. A transaction has a beginning, middle and end. At the end of the transaction, both must move on, unless there are extenuating circumstances, demanding the relationship to carry on." **NB - The phrase - "We are all missionary workers" was coined by my beloved younger sister, the one who comes after me, Dr Tendai Daphne Ndoro, a professor in Public Policy and Strategy at Rutgers University in New Jersey (NJ) and the Managing Director of the Small Business Development .Corporation of NJ, in a private conversation I had with her. I have borrowed this phrase and expanded the concept of "missionary worker "here.

AN OBSERVATION PIECE - ZIMBABWE INDEPENDENCE, 18TH APRIL, 2023

Today the 18th April, 2023 is the day Zimbabwe celebrates its 43rd year of political Independence worn through blood, sweat, tears, trauma, amputations, decapitations, cold blood murder, etcetera. Many on both sides did not make it back home. Parents and siblings wept and broken-heartedness never left them. Many who left to fight the war of liberation were young and highly politicized, without fully understanding the implications, of the wrath of war. There was torture and rape of both young women and men, which has never been talked about, because some of the perpetrators of these hate crimes have been allegedly holding political office since Independence. Demobilization and demilitarization took place, but counseling after the war, did not take place. Many resorted to substance abuse and got caught up in its effects and eventually perished. A significant number are still alive and completely forgotten by their counterparts, the ones they fought the war with, side by side. A large chunk of them are poor, helpless, marginalized and bitter. A small connected clique represents the political power elite, gatekeeping with their handsomely paid goons, ensuring that no contender takes power, as their participation in the war of liberation, has become an entitlement for them to rule till they die. It is an unfortunate state of affairs. Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 is a mess. The messiness is well documented. Those in power are numbed with privilege. They are unflinching in their resolve to put down any form of political dissent. We are all wiser in hindsight. My kind of wisdom is that the fight for the land of Zimbabwe was an incomplete and inadequate narrative because no-one can uplift Zimbabwe's land to somewhere far away from Zimbabwe. It is our land and will always remain our land to use, within the artificial borders, demarcated during colonialism. What the war of liberation was actually all about to me, was the restoration of our Zimbabwean and African pride, cultures and human dignity. That for me encapsulates the ratio decidendi, the essence, of our quest for freedom. Across race, class, religious and political divides, we all want the same things - that is to be the genuine and authentic masters and mistresses of our destinies, without having to fork out anything to anybody, for that to happen. We want to be the champions of our own lives, without having to bow down to nobody nor asslick another human being. We want to achieve, on Zimbabwean land or off the land, in other economic spheres, without having to be aligned to any political party. That is the raison d'etre for achieving freedom. Do we have this freedom to champion our own destinies freely, without worrying that we will be targeted? No we don't. Many from amongst us, live with chronic illnesses like BP, because of the weight of the nation's problems we carry on our shoulders. Do we enjoy personal pride and dignity? Not in their totality. It is relative and incomplete. Cultures are not static. They are dynamic. In their dynamism, they are the thread that weaves all Zimbabweans to be one people. Do we have a collective uniformity of purpose as Zimbabweans? I don't know. I doubt it. I am yet to witness it. What I have observed is, it is one person for themselves and God for us all. That fragmentation as a people, has been preyed upon by the political establishment and used to further malign and disadvantage us. Where to now? I have no idea. What I know is, no one government, nor political party, has a monopoly on great ideas. No one generation possesses that either. We need fresh thinking, innovative ideas plus recognizable actions, so that Zimbabweans, who have been relegated to the chicken run, rife with meekness and fearfulness, can rise again, to be the great people they were meant to be. Mourn my beloved country, on this Independence Day!

Why I find the "strong" narrative problematic.

Not so long ago, I was having a whatsapp conversation with Dr Charlton Tsodzo and it dawned on me why I do not like the word, STRONG. When people say "you're strong", I personally believe IT IS NOT A COMPLIMENT. It is a mere remark. This is because oft times, we do not choose to be strong. It is the only option available to us. My Dad always said, Gloria, please try to live a life where you create choices and options for yourself. All my life thus far, I have tried to create a life abundant with choices. I have not always succeeded. When I do not have a choice, I get very insecure and vulnerable. For me, not having Plan B and Plan C and Plan D, constitutes failure. Therefore, to be strong is not a choice. For me, it constitutes a lack of options and therefore it is failure. It is failure because it is thrust upon you by circumstances beyond your control, so you have to be strong! Words like tough and hardy, fall in the same category. You just have no choice but to be tough and hardy. When people tell you that you're strong, be suspicious of them. It's a form of abandonment. They are saying, because you are strong, "you can take care of yourself, without the burden of us holding your hand". The "strong" narrative is twisted and loaded with innuendo. It is a separating position that says, strong is for people like you, who need to be. Some of us, do not need to be, because we have options. A person I know, once called me strong and to support her statement, she called me "njanji", a Shona word meaning railway line. In her mind, she thought equating my level of perceived strength, to that of a railway line was complimentary. I have never felt so offended in my life. I came out guns blazing🔫 . I do not want that kind of perceived "strength". It makes calculating people, want to run over you, over and over again, doing all sorts of nasty and unsavory things to you, testing that strength, wanting to establish your breaking point. It has happened to me far too many times, that is why I reject that word, strong, with every fibre in my body. I also sense a masked veil of pity, when people refer to you as "strong". I believe, many from amongst us, dislike to be pitied. Indestructible is an affirming word. The word resilient sounds to me more positive than the word strong. The word strong, like its antonym, "weak" is a word loaded with value judgements. It is okay to sometimes be fragile, delicate and vulnerable. When you reach these levels, there is no other way out, except towards the direction of traits like, unbreakable, tenacity, determination, perseverance, relentlessness, courage and chutzpah. Please call me anything else, but strong. I cannot stand that word. It says nothing positive about my state of affairs. It essentially takes options away from me, because most times, when I am so-called strong, I have been frogmarched by circumstances, to be!

Business landscape dynamics in Zimbabwe: Observations from an enterprise development activist.

Between 2006 to the beginning of 2008, I was seconded to Maputo on a UNDP/IFC/World Bank project. Besides the challenging and path-finding work I was executing, trying to institutionalize an existing business association, in a predominantly Portuguese speaking country, which had recently become a member of the Commonwealth, there were several business landscape issues I observed, as an outsider looking in, which issues where enablers or disablers for the business association I was assisting. There were subtle but important distinctions on how society was organized in Maputo. This organization had implications on business outcomes. The first grouping was of Mozambicans who never left the country to chart new paths elsewhere. Many Mozambicans left Mozambique during the reign of Samora Machel, due to predominantly economic and security reasons. Rhodesian and South African sponsored Afonso Dhlakama a Mozambican politician and the leader of RENAMO, an anti-communist guerrilla movement, wreaked havoc, fighting the FRELIMO government in the Mozambican Civil War during the period 1977 to 1992. Although the war was concentrated in the centre and north of Mozambique, those in the south, whilst relatively safe, felt insecure and hence the exit of sorts, to neighbouring countries and Portugal. Then there were the Mozambican returnees – these are the ones who had left the country, on self imposed exile and chose to come back, after Samora died and Joaquim Chissano, a FRELIMO politician, took over as the second President of Mozambique, from 1986 to 2005. Chissano’s reign was credited with transforming the war-torn country, into one of the most successful African democracies. The third grouping were the expatriates. These were predominantly expatriates who came to work in Mozambique and never left, settling in Mozambique, with many of them investing in business. This grouping included, the Lebanese, who had settled into the country as investors into the private sector. The fourth category, were the Portuguese from Portugal. This grouping, together with their Lebanese counterparts were allegedly the prime controllers of the economy. There were widespread allegations, that the government literally resided in their back pockets. The fifth cluster, the dealmakers, was the local political establishment, comprising the FRELIMO who is who. FRELIMO is the dominant party in Mozambique and has won a majority of the seats in the Assembly of the Republic since June 25, 1975, when Mozambique became an independent, single-party state led by Frelimo, with Machel serving as the first President and thereafter, in every election since the country's first multi-party election in 1994. In a nutshell, FRELIMO has ruled Mozambique since 1975, initially as the sole legal party in a one-party system and later from 1994, as the democratically elected government in a multi-party system. FRELIMO has been in power for 47 years. It was my observation that each grouping, was very distinct and from a business point of view, preferred to do business with members of that grouping, with the exception of course, of the fifth grouping, the government officials, who interacted with the rest of the groupings and also within other government departments. This meant that there were parallel micro-economies within the overall Mozambican macro-economy. The micro-economies were made up of the every other cluster, excluding the political dealmakers, were forever jockeying for power, to influence business outcomes, with the endorsement of the political establishment. The simplistic scenario described above is more or less true for Zimbabwe. For starters,’ ZANU-PF has been in power for 42 years, since independence in 1980, a mere 5 years short of Mozambique. The scenario for 2022-Zimbabwe, just like 2006-Mozambique, the business groupings, also appear subtle . But if you are keen-eyed and on the qui vive, the distinctions are hidden in plain sight, as follows: The first grouping are Zimbabweans who have never left the country for the so-called greener pastures in the diaspora. This is a group of people who have always understood that the grass is greener where you water it, not on the other side, as previously thought. They possess an, adapt or die attitude and a transformative mindset. So every day, they keep their ears to the ground, scanning for new opportunities and a change of financial and business regulations by the authorities. Because of the informalization of the economy by enacting disabling business policies by government, many operate in the informal sector, scheming, plotting and making risky but calculated moves. Its predominantly a cash market that is not necessarily visible because the USD cash is not banked. Because of the cash nature of the transactions, the black market thrives. This is a market that determines rates. On occasion, the Central Bank and business bigwigs participate in this market, to mop up the cash exchanging hands. When they do, rates move up north and a cash crunch ensues. The second grouping are white Zimbabweans, a large number who lost farms, but find it more lucrative to stay in Zimbabwe because, firstly, it is home and secondly, because they no longer have cropping nor livestock management risk, but through previous international lobbying by the Commercial Farmers Union, control foreign markets for agricultural produce in Zimbabwe and as a result have become middle-men, racking in profits and exploiting the new black landowners who benefitted from the fast track land reform programme. Many of these new farmers, whilst book smart and educated, are weak on farm costing, general record-keeping, smart procurement, management and cost containment on the farm. This second grouping of white Zimbabweans, possess minorities-in-majority-settings like and Rhodesian values, where solidarity is their unifying doctrine as they consciously choose to transact amongst their own white people, at the deliberate exclusion of black people, essentially keeping money within their white community. They control most value chains in industry, commerce and mining, all the way to retail operations. That is why most big retail outfits of a conglomerate nature, are owned by white establishments. The third grouping are the Chinese, who apparently and allegedly masquerade as investors, whilst extracting as much as they can within short periods of time and preferring to operate, particularly in mining, whilst displacing locals, from their ancestral land where they reside and where their fore-parents are buried. They privately extract and export far much more than they openly give and then the powers that be hold celebratory ceremonies, being thankful to them, for what Zimbabwean resources would have essentially funded. The recently completed Zimbabwe Parliament in Mt Hampden, is a case in point. There are widespread allegations that wherever they go to plunder in mining, they first name drop, the highest office in the land, and then proceed to extract unabated. Apparently they are highly networked within the political establishment. The fourth grouping are the Indians, mainly from Pakistan. Many are born and bred in Zimbabwe, but they go and marry in Pakistan and bring their spouses back home to Zimbabwe. They tend to keep a low profile, are highly networked in government circles and like the whites, see the majority of the black community as consumers only and not people worthy to do business with. The fifth block are diaspora groupings, predominantly black, living mainly in South Africa, the United Kingdom, United States of America and Australia. According to apanews.net, “In a Mid-Term Monetary Policy Statement, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) chief said, total international remittances amounted to US$1.372 billion as of June 30, 2022, which translated to an increase of 23 percent from the US$1.113 billion recorded during the same period in 2021.” A significant number of this grouping wants to go back home to Zimbabwe, to work, set up businesses and retire, but many are unaware what awaits them. The segmented business landscape, makes it difficult for them to penetrate profitable established networks. The sixth cluster, the dealmakers, like in Mozambique are the local politicians, comprising the who is who of ZANU-PF. It has become a profitable enterprise to be a politician in Zimbabwe. Even opposition politics pays well, as they allegedly receive handsome amounts from the donor community. Many successful businesspeople are in one way or another aligned to the political establishment. It is a strategic move, lest you get targeted for takeover or failure. So you sensibly keep your head down and nicodemously consort with them privately, away from the glare of the cameras. The white farmers who survived the fast track land reform programme are connected at the highest levels in ZANU-PF. Infact, many are card carrying members of ZANU-PF. It is calculated, intentional and a shrewd move for business survival. Afterall, as a so-called democratic country, they are exercising their right to freedom of association. It is has never been enough to know people in strategic places, where you want to transact. They must acknowledge they know you enough to want to give you the business. It is who says they know you, in a positive light, when you are not around, who matter. They are the ones likely to give you business. Without relevant networks, with the willingness to give you business, or access to people they know, facilitating you getting the business you want, you are doomed. In Zimbabwe, certain races reserve business for their own. They do not buy from certain races too, this is so that they keep money circulating in their own community. It is conscious and deliberate. It is business exclusion and it is happening under our noses. But even within the black community, there are certain places you will never get business. Others will exclude you for religious reasons, eg, you are not SDA, others because they do not know you. The truth is most people transact with people they are close to, like, know or they have been referred to by trusted family or friends. It is what it is, so try to break the barriers and literally barge into some of these closed clusters, that have been mentioned in this piece.

Financial freedom for women 101 – Do not pan for gold in an urban sewer.

 This article was first published in The Standard in Zimbabwe in November 2017.

Recently, I attended a prayer service for a late Aunt at the Willowvale branch of a leading funeral parlour. The Chaplain, a one Mr Ngwenya (if I remember the name correctly,) was leading the short service before we collected the remains of the deceased. His sermon was focused, surreal and unbelievably perplexing. With a great sense of confidence and finality, he rambled on about “how women were not human beings, that they were created to be helpers, and only to their husbands.” I thought, really, what is informing this man’s thinking? With emphasis, he repeated it twice. “Women are not human beings, they are not people, just mere helpers to men.” He quoted a verse in the bible to that effect and proceeded to mention that “women must not work and must just wait to be led and directed by their husbands.” His ramble included his distastefulness of women who go jogging in the avenues in the morning etcetera. As my Aunt’s body lay in that sealed white coffin, I got a clearer view of how sorrowful platforms like these, are hijacked by self – styled clergymen like him, for the sole purpose of propagating their offensive, misogynistic and patriarchal views. Behind me were women and men clapping and loudly agreeing to every mind - boggling disingenuous commentary he spewed about his perceived role of women in our society. 

Zimbabwe is generally a prayerful society. Close to 90% of the population believe in one form of religion or another. In chapels where people go to fellowship and hear the Word, the set up is often a monologue with one or several people talking to the attentive congregation about their understanding of the Word. Attendees are expected to listen from an hour to even as long as the whole day. Some of the sermons are clearly programming and brainwashing interventions, like the one at my Aunt’s funeral. There is no room for debate and often, afterwards, no one is allowed or musters the courage to interrogate preached narratives that they might not necessarily agree with.  

So as I sat quietly choking on my very own rage, it became obvious to me, why the majority of women, as they approach their fifties, find themselves either flat broke, financially dependent or financially vulnerable. Many women are unable to leave abusive relationships because they are financially disabled. It is part of Zimbabwe Incorporated ethos, to socialize and acculturate women to be completely dependent on a male figure, a father as a child (here all children have no choice) and then a husband as an adult. In a case where there is no husband, a brother, another person’s  husband or a partner is expected to foot the bills. No wonder many from amongst our young women today are searching for men “with resources” to partner with. It is risky and dangerous to depend on a man to deliver your standard of living. A balanced and more respectful relationship is when both partners contribute to that mutually agreed to standard of living. 

I have said this before and I will repeat this again now: if you are not demented, deaf, dumb, blind or disabled, you have no reason to be financially dependent on another human being. After all, many deaf, dumb, blind and disabled people across the country are economically productive, so should you.  Being financially dependent on another is like panning for gold in an urban sewer. It is settling for less. It is choosing the low road over the high road and as a woman, you will never achieve financial freedom.

In the last two instalments, I put forward a compelling case why it is a necessary imperative for women to achieve financial freedom. Financial freedom and the security it brings, can be achieved when the income from your assets and investments exceeds your cost structure. Whilst there are numerous ways of achieving financial freedom, below please find four (4) ways of starting your path towards financial security.

1. Eliminate debt and reduce your living expenses

It does not matter how much you earn, the point is, if you are not earning more than you are spending, you will never achieve financial security. The principles of personal money management are universal, maximize your income as you minimize your expenditure. As long as you borrow long term to finance recurrent expenditure, financial freedom is a pie in the sky. As long as you remain beholden to overdraft facilities, credit card debt, car loans, loans to finance consumption of household good and so on, you are not financially free. Your bank or the money lending institution that advances you loans, owns you. It is oft wise to spend what you have than you rely of short - term loans.

If you have given him a license to rule over you and agreed to languish at home, completely dependent being a woman who is clueless about the financial decisions that impact your household, please pay close attention to #2, below.

2. Be part of the financial decision - making process

As much as I would like to stand on top of Harare Kopje and shout out loud about financial freedom for women, the point is, all relationships are different and so are agreements in those relationships. Be that as it may, there is one issue that women ought to be top of mind about – the financial decision - making process. If you are in a matrimonial setting or in a long-term relationship, it is important to ensure that you embed yourself in the financial planning process. Not only is it vital for you to know where all the financial information about the family is kept, it is necessary that you be the gate keeper of the safe, including a clear understanding of what investments the family has, where, in partnership with whom, the location of title deeds, if under a trust, study the trust deed and seek understanding of the legal jargon, establish the presence of local and foreign accounts, knowledge of specific account numbers and in particular passwords. It is important to be part of discussions with financial advisers/planners locally or offshore that your partner intends or has already hired.

 

In the event there is secrecy around money matters and an argument ensues when you insist on being part of the financial decision - making process, then you are compromised. Get busy. Establish the reason for lack of full disclosure by your partner. What is being hidden? Why? Do not wait for surprises. Get up and go make your own money if you have not already wised up to it. It is never too late to work towards your financial security.

3. Create alternative income streams

Alternative income stream is income derived from secondary activities that you do not rely on for your day to day living expenses. They provide you with extra income to invest elsewhere. We live in a country where to have one income stream is as wise as mining for diamonds in a local municipal public pool. There is none. That one income stream used to be a day job, but with many people unemployed, spaces have been created for self - employment or new business creation. Many women I have had conversations with, whilst having multiple and alternative income streams, are actually living off those income streams. That strategy is a threat to financial freedom. If you are unable to set aside money to invest elsewhere so that investment makes money for you whilst you work elsewhere, you remain compromised and vulnerable. 

A good starting point is to look around your household, assess and unlock value in the excess assets you already have. Cars parked for long periods in your garage without use is depreciating steel. Dispose  of some of them. Have a garage sale; sell off excess household furniture, clothing, shoes and so forth. Recently, a neighbor got rid of excess items, and from the proceeds built a two bedroomed cottage she is now renting for $600 per month. That $7200 per annum would have been forgone had she not disposed of excess household items.

4. Be in a small network of girlfriends with financial freedom values

There is a reason why birds of the same feather flock together. It makes sense to be in a network of like - minded women that benefit from the sharing of their collective wisdom and are increasingly aware that marriage is no longer a safe haven for aging women, that understand that women tend to live longer than men and question what independent quality of life one would have when one gets good innings – without relying on the goodwill of millennial children, that money is a like a visitor – and therefore sometimes it visits in abundance and sometimes it does not – and therefore relying on one income, or the financial acumen of one person can be risky, that women ought to be financially independent regardless of their marital status, is the best thing you can do for yourself. Ideas and knowledge are far much more valuable than money itself. When you move around and within circles of financially independent women, they will share with you ideas on how to be financially free. If you are unable to find such grouping, start one.