(PHOTO CREDITS: Global Alliance for Tax Justice)

While most workers will not have the opportunity to take the streets and raise their challenges, we need to enforce a core message: the COVID-19 disruption is playing out along the lines of class, gender and wealth. And it is playing dirty, revealing a system that fuels inequality

By Caroline Othim and Joy Hernandez

The latest buzz word, COVID-19, depicts a disease that has ravaged many parts of the world, leaving millions of people globally infected and hundreds of thousands dead. The impacts of the global pandemic are not limited to health; it also affected peoples’ lives socially and economically.
While May 1st each year provides an opportunity for workers’ solidarity and protests to commemorate the International LabourDay, this year will be different. Workers will not have the opportunity to collectively and publicly take the streets to raise the challenges that they face everyday in the world of work. This comes in the backdrop of governments’ directives to enforce containment measures for COVID-19, including by imposing quarantines to those repatriated, closing schools, universities, restaurants, and shops; cancelling public and private events, including religious activities; shutting down of transportation services (internal and external); locking down of affected areas and in some places, imposing curfews to restrict movement and observe social distancing, frequent handwashing; and cancelling or banning flights.

(PHOTO CREDITS: Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment-CBEG)

It is no longer guess work, on the impact of the COVID19. The global recession is upon us and could get worse owing to the length of spread and containment of it. UN estimates USD 2 trillion shortfall in global income in 2020. The longer, the more protracted, the more likely an economic depression may manifest as households and businesses are expected to run into bankruptcies. At our hands, we have no vaccine in near time (1-2 years) and the confirmed cases growing still. As of 2nd April, the number of confirmed cases is expected to reach of 1 million by end of day, from just 182,000 confirmed cases on the 16th March. The deaths expected to reach nearly 40,000 from as low as 7200 over the corresponding period. Despite, the rapid response mechanisms seen all over, uncertainty on length of time it will take to yield successful control of spread predominates.

The health pandemic is indeed an economic plague. Unlike previous ones affecting one sector e.g. financial sector which had impact on consumer and firm behavior, COVID19 has shut down nearly all sectors and all regions. Unlike the past crisis where developing and emerging world were shielded in short term, the speed of transmission is accelerated this time round. The current lock down measures (in part and wholly across countries and borders) are a supply shock unlike previous crisis that were demand shocks. Even those with money cannot demand what they need. But at the other end, also lies a large share of population and firms risking bankruptcies even in developed economies as already seen in sharp decline in Purchasing Managers Index, Restaurant Indices, tourism sector and travel stagnation as well as other economic indicators. The current downsides of the pandemic will supersede the disease itself and have lasting effects, owing to lag effects on the associated current distortions to the economic flows, demand and supply factors.

As afore mentioned, no continent or country is spared from the economic or health effects of the pandemic. Africa as a continent has seen least confirmed cases of the Virus still less than 6% of global confirmed cases but number has been growing and virus in now nearly 50 of 54 African nations. The pace, is however, still lower than that of Europe in the first 50 days of the virus. On the economic front, external distortions are expected, and main link is with China (the OPEC of industrial intermediate goods), where sizeable production or supply disruptions have also already happened. For the first time, since 1976, China’s growth for the first quarter of 2020 is expected to be negative, largely also reflecting double digit declines (year on year) in January and February in industrial and service production, exports, retail sales, investment in fixed assets¹. The recent UN Economic Commission for Africa² estimated, that 1% reduction in growth in China, translates into 0.3% reduction in Africa’s growth. The direct correlation and impact is corroborated by other empirical studies. The impact, however, is expected to be more in crisis times.

(PHOTO CREDITS: University of Nairobi Research)

Why do Kenyan police mostly respond with brutality to many situations they are faced with? The images from Likoni in Mombasa County, of police beating citizens in line to board the ferry two hours before the 7PM -5AM curfew are a major disappointment. 

At the time of writing videos of officers bragging about how they were in control and “would show the public who’s the boss” could be viewed in comparison to visibly agitated Kibra residents, in Nairobi County, threatening violent exchanges with police in violation of the curfew.

The new measures have been put in place to boost self-isolation, quarantine and other containment measures to help break the chain of infections from Covid-19 as the country heads towards the critical period.

Early police justifications were that their actions were in response to individuals planning to stone officers of the law. However, considering the amount of force unleashed, especially on many innocent civilians, such actions are totally unnecessary and counterproductive to Covid-19 prevention measures, if not criminal. A time such as this demands effective communication, coordination plus collaboration between government agencies and the Kenyan citizenry.

Many observers point to police as victims or culprits of an inherited colonial mentality biased against indigenes, poor training, manifestation of poor recruits metastasizing in an inherently corrupt institution. Yet the problem is a combination of this and more. What Kenyans constantly witness, is the clash between the needs for state security and the demands of human security, placed on a government normally operating in a reactive manner. Continually the interests of regime sustenance are at loggerheads with those desirous of accountability, necessary for harmonised stability of a democratic state. 

Kenyan constitutional struggles, worked hard to create a new super structure guaranteeing citizen rights while maintaining democratic order. Nevertheless, the problem has been how to inculcate a new orientation for security agencies to act as a service to the people instead of an oppressive force. Back in 2014 one idea presented by Senator Kithure Kindiki was to create a new security agency named the National Security Emergency Service (NSES) through the National Emergency Security Bill to handle crisis situations. Still, this would not work if the orientation for implementation remains mostly reactive and mainly violates human rights in order to achieve security goals.

(PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy Facebook: St Johns Ambulance Kenya)

Why do Kenyan police mostly respond with brutality to many situations they are faced with? The images from Likoni in Mombasa County, of police beating citizens in line to board the ferry two hours before the 7PM -5AM curfew are a major disappointment. 

At the time of writing videos of officers bragging about how they were in control and “would show the public who’s the boss” could be viewed in comparison to visibly agitated Kibra residents, in Nairobi County, threatening violent exchanges with police in violation of the curfew.

The new measures have been put in place to boost self-isolation, quarantine and other containment measures to help break the chain of infections from Covid-19 as the country heads towards the critical period.

(PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy Fatuma’s Voice)

In Kenya, such measures are exposing the divide between the rich and the poor thanks to unequal living conditions driven by income inequalities.

While washing hands frequently is paramount to keeping the virus at bay, those living in informal settlements are forced to make a difficult choice; either use the limited funds they have to purchase water to keep the virus at bay or purchase food to keep hunger pangs at bay!

Be under no illusion, self-quarantine is impractical to achieve in a household of seven persons living in ten feet by ten feet room.

(PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy Tax Justice Network)

As economies crumble under coronavirus pandemic, powerful interests are hoping to get rich from huge government bailouts. A well-informed Washington D.C. insider described the latest U.S. bailout package, for instance, as a “corporate coup” to reshape the U.S. economy:

“it’s really really bad, and much of the bad stuff is not being included in the sleazy marketing materials . . [it is] a Christmas wish-list of corporate lobbyists.
. .
The bill establishes a series of boring-sounding slush funds [with] alphabet-soup names . . that’s where the real money is.”

Economist Gabriel Zucman has described it as literally a $170 billion tax cut for real estate tycoons.

With President Trump declaring that “I’ll be the oversight” for the bailout, and potentially receiving a personal bonanza from it, this looks bad. And the pandemic is giving other authoritarians elsewhere opportunities to erode political freedoms further.

But on the positive side, governments are having to throw out broken old orthodoxies and bring in progressive policies — such as versions of universal basic income, or nationalisations — that would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago. Everyone is scrambling for money.

(PHOTO CREDITS: (PHOTO CREDITS: Financial Transparency Coalition))

It seems like the donation made by the Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma, has given an adrenaline shot to government’s efforts to control the scourge of coronavirus. Without brushing off the significance of Jack Ma’s act of kindness to Africa and other parts of the world, in Zimbabwe, the knowledge that without this aid, we had nowhere to start is quite scary. If you want to look for evidence of resource curse, then look no further than this story of a country endowed with vast mineral wealth, with no internal capabilities to protect its citizens against pandemics. Yes, we have seen developed countries like Italy and Spain getting overwhelmed by coronavirus. So, one can argue easily, what more can a developing country like Zimbabwe do? At the surface, this line of thinking is compelling. Yet if we dig deeper, Zimbabwe has in the past struggled to contain medieval diseases like cholera. This is a country endowed with second largest known platinum deposits in the whole world after South Africa. Under explored, Zimbabwe has over 40 known mineral deposits like gold, lithium, diamonds and chrome. Even though annual surveys on investment attractiveness of mining sector jurisdictions conducted by Fraser Institute of Canada find our policy framework repugnant, they rate us highly on geological potential. Underlisted are critical points for government, industry and citizens to reflect on mineral resource governance reforms that are fundamental to safeguard the welfare of Zimbabweans,

• We cannot think of any better way to show that mining can deliver sustainable benefits to communities where resources are extracted than ring fencing mineral tax revenue to fight corona virus. After all, the Constitution, on national development issues, impels the State to put mechanisms to ensure communities benefit from resources in their localities. When a capital city, Harare, has no capacity whatsoever to handle corona virus, what more of remote, marginalized but resource rich rural areas like Marange.
• Government has a plan to grow annual earnings to US12 billion per year by 2023. An impressive figure constantly punctuating speeches delivered by policy makers. Just to placate the public, government isn’t rudderless on economic challenges, there is light at demise of Mugabe. Export earnings from mining are meaningless to citizens if figures for tax revenues to finance service delivery are unknown. Exactly why government must follow up on its commitment to join the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI). Globally, EITI is regarded as benchmark for promoting open and accountable governance of oil, gas and mineral sector. Nearly half (24) of EITI implementing countries are in Africa, and in the SADC region, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania and DRC are part of this initiative.
• Transparency is a genuine indicator for government that seeks to turn the corner under the mantra that “Zimbabwe is open for business” that government real means business. When deals are negotiated in secrecy, the International Council of Mines and Mining Development (ICMM) cautions on Minerals Taxation Regimes, the playing field becomes uneven, companies seek to bargain more. Corruption easily festers in such an environment. Our Constitution is clear, an Act of Parliament is required to guide negotiation and performance of mining agreement under Section 315 (2) (c) in order to promote transparency, honesty, cost-effectiveness and competitiveness. Therefore, all mega mining deals signed by government must be made public to nourish citizens with information on how the deals are constructed to deliver optimal benefits to citizens.
• The focus on mining sector benefit sharing in these hard times of the coronavirus pandemic intensifies easily because minerals are a finite natural resource, if they deplete without contributing to the welfare of citizens, then, we begin to question, where is the money going.
• This is an opportunity for a rethink of the whole mineral resource governance framework. How far has Zimbabwe aligned its mining policies and laws with the Africa Mining Vision? A blueprint adopted by African Head of States and Government in 2009. AMV envisages “Transparent, equitable and optimal exploitation of mineral resources to underpin broad-based sustainable growth and socio-economic development”
• Looking back, on how government faired in the management of the diamond find of the century, Marange diamond fields, we have a US$98 million modern defense college. If these finds were used to invest in modern health facilities, we could have been talking about aid as a complementary rather than being the mainstay support of fighting coronavirus. In 2006 and 2008, government took back platinum claims or mineral rights from Zimplats and Anglo-American owned Unki Mine valued at US$153 million and US$142 million respectively. Recently, we learnt that Mimosa Mines is keen to negotiate with Anglo-American owned Unki Mine to purchase or platinum rights. This proves that if competitive bidding, which is recommended by AMV is followed on disposal of known mineral rights acquired through use it or lose it, mining fiscal linkages can easily be enhanced.
• Government of Zimbabwe looks up to Rwanda as a success story. It is high time to learn from one of the most famous statements delivered by President Paul Kagame “I would rather argue, that we need to mobilise the mindsets, rather than more funding. After all, in Africa, we have everything we need, in real terms. Whatever is lacking, we have the means to acquire. And yet, we remain mentally married to the idea that nothing can get moving, without external finance.”

(PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy OPEN DEMOCRACY)

As the coronavirus spreads all over the world like fire, its impact on people with low or nonexistent income is being felt and will soon be severe. While we are reflecting on the consequences of COVID-19 on the world, we must note how they will dig even deeper the poverty hole for those who have limited access to social services/protection and have to earn an income on a daily basis to put food on their table, most of whom are women in the informal sector.

Governments are advising their citizens to stay at home, work from home where it is possible. How much more unpaid work will be taken up by women during these uncertain economic times? This would be a good time for governments to reflect and review their public health and social protection systems.

The health crisis coincided with the global campaign on Tax Justice for Women´s Rights. Organised by the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, together with its regional members and partners, the fourth edition happened from March 8th to 20th under the theme Make Taxes Work for Women.

(PHOTO CREDITS: Transparency & Accountability Initiative)

The phrase, “we are a learning organization”, is increasingly becoming popular. Is it just a buzz word or a cliché?  What does it really mean to be a learning organisation?

 ‘’A learning organisation is an organisation skilled at creating, acquiring, interpreting, transferring, and retaining knowledge. Then modifies its behaviour to respond to new knowledge and insights.’’ [1]

From this definition, any organisation purporting to be a learning organisation must first create knowledge. This leads to a critical question – “how can an organisation create knowledge”?

What it takes

At Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), we continue to grapple with not only what it means to be a learning organisation, but also what it takes to be a learning organisation.

It starts with the recognition that learning is continuous. Taking part in Jamboree organised by Open Society Foundations which brings together monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) staff from organisations working in the field of fiscal governance reignited the conversation of how to institutionalise learning at TJNA.

TJNA has found the three building blocks of learning organisation proposed by David A. Garvin, Amy C. Edmondson, and Francesca Gino to be useful; a supportive learning environment, concrete learning processes and practices, and leadership behaviour that provides reinforcement.

How can an organisation achieve supportive learning environment?

An environment that is free from fear and intimidation is safe for learning. The fear of not achieving results and the intimidation that comes from not achieving the results is a barrier to learning.

In most organisations, there is a vigorous process of recruitment that aims at identifying and hiring the best. While this is commendable, sometimes it creates the impression that only the best staff are hired and that they can handle all that pertains to their job description, leaving no room for failure.

(PHOTO CREDITS: Financial Transparency Coalition)

The changing face of illicit financial flows (IFFs) necessitates multifaceted approaches to detect, remedy and or mitigate risks associated with the phenomenon.  It is therefore paramount that civil society actors in developing countries are able to create and contribute to policy debates for the realization of financial and tax transparency and accountability. To achieve this, such actors need to actively engage and provide developing country perspectives informing the ongoing international debate on financial transparency issues, as well as contextualize global debates at national levels, thus promoting the development of national and regional rights-based narratives and movements on illicit financial flows and financial transparency in the Global South.

From the foregoing, the Financial Transparency Coalition’s (FTC) Southern Regions Program (SRP) aims at providing a platform civil society to shape the global discourse on illicit financial flows and financial secrecy. The SRP through research and advocacy activities seeks to inform norms and standards on illicit financial flows according to the differentiated realities of developing countries.

The FTC recognises the dearth of literature emerging from the Global South to effectively address issues of financial secrecy, enablers of illicit financial flows, the lopsided impact on domestic resources mobilisation due to the loss of revenue as illicit financial flows, adoption of tax transparency standards in developing countries and the much needed reforms in the international financial architecture.