Choose business partners with caution

Language: Shona
Publisher: Benaby Print and Publishers
Pages: 52
ISBN: 177926 011 3
Edition: Hardcover
IN the play Kutungana kwembudzi, Nicholas Mwanaka shows you how to pick out characteristics of people you want to go into business with.
“I know Hazvinei very well,” said Mandy. “He is a stranger to making deals involving large sums of money. For all I know it won’t be difficult for us to cheat him.”
Mandy made that comment to her partner in crime when she had come from seeing her lover with a proposal that he would not turn down.
The bank official, wanting to get rich quick, had ended up losing his job and his house in a plush suburb to the creditors that he owed $1 million.
Mandy, a cross-border trader had chided him for failing to think of going into business.
Hazvinei asked her to suggest a suitable partner for joint venture. The minx had done her homework.
There was an uncle of hers, Ray Ganya, who was a customs officer at Plumtree border post.
He was in Harare looking for somebody that he could go into business with.
The meeting between the two had taken place on a Monday. They agreed to see each other again on Thursday when Ray would be present.
Every child in Highfield knew that the fellow was on the police list of wanted people. He had made a name for himself in the underworld.
“This is the best news I’ve received,” said Hazvinei when he was alone.
“It will put a foundation for my success. My partner should be a worthy citizen. Only somebody who is educated and who is trustworthy can be a customs officer.
“People hating me will be ashamed when they see me in business.
“I can stand among men and be counted. I can’t get rich working for another person.
“I’ll die old without getting the money I want.
“I should make money from the knowledge I got at work. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
“There is no reason why the venture shouldn’t succeed if the two of us put our heads together.”
What Mandy said was sweet music in the ears of Ray. It had been a long time since he had pulled a big job. Time was ripe for him to stay in practice.
“I’ve done everything that needs to be done,” she said. “I weighed him up and found out that he is a soft target. He expects you to look like a businessperson. Don’t let me down. Okay?”
“Don’t worry about me,” said Ray. “You know that I can out-perform Mukadota himself. I’m a past master at this game.”
Mandy and Ray keep their Thursday appointment.
The two men assessed each other and Hazvinei was satisfied that he could go into business with Ray. He had the appearance of a tycoon.
Ray had found a supermarket with high turnover on offer in Harare. Hazvinei would use his experience as a banker to run their business while he manned his post in Plumtree.
He would rely on him to recruit staff; in fact he would give him a free hand in running the supermarket.
When he gets home in Chisipite, Hazvinei Tirivafi presented the proposal to his wife Abigail.
She made a perfunctory remark on whether Ray was the right man to go into business with.
Abigail, in spite of having heard the reputation of Ray, was tired of handling dead bodies at Parirenyatwa Hospital where she was a nurse.
She looked forward to managing the supermarket full-time. She would be sitting pretty.
The two men discussed their business venture in the hotel alone together.
Jeki pitched up.
“Have you forgotten me?” Jeki asks Ray.
“I meet many people in my work.”
“I’m the one who sold you a bottle with red stuff at Plumtree.”
“I’ve remembered you now,” said Ray. “I had forgotten you.”
“Did you manage to sell that bottle?” asked Jeki.
“I didn’t spend a day,” said Ray. “Somebody with lots of money bought it. He has tired me asking when I can get the stuff. He needs it very much.”
“I’ve some with me right here,” said Jeki. “Don’t let people see these two bottles. They might report us to the police.”
“I know that this stuff is dynamite,” said Ray. “We can get ourselves into trouble if we’re found out. All things worth a lot of money are hot.”
“So, those two bottles cost a lot?” asked Hazvinei.
“This is where there is money,” said Ray. “This is a gold mine. How much money do you want for one bottle, Jeki?”
“Only $1,5 million will do.”
“You charge that to people you don’t know,” said Ray. “I’ll want many bottles from you. Reduce the price for me, friend.”
“Since you’ll buy more bottles,” said Jeki, “I’ll charge you only $1 million per bottle. What about that?”
“That’s reasonable,” said Ray. “Keep these two bottles for me. I need them, but I want to consult the man I’ll sell them to first.”
“A friend in need is a friend indeed,” said Jeki. “I’ll keep them for you.”
“Don’t be tempted to sell them to peddlers who might offer you more money.”
“Having grown up in rural areas,” said Jeki, “I don’t want to hear about deals. I’ll keep my side of the bargain.”
“Let me have those bottles again,” said Ray. “My business partner here might want to see them also.”
Jeki obliged.
“Take a good look,” said Ray to Hazvinei. “That’s the stuff which has made many enterprising chaps rich throughout the world.
“I want us to do drugs together. The two of us are already into business. There is money in that stuff.”
“Will we find a buyer at a good price?” asked Hazvinei.
“I know where he is,” said Ray. “Don’t be afraid that we might have problems disposing of the stuff.”
“Let’s talk about this later,” said Hazvinei.
Jeki went away.
“This man knows what he is doing,” said Hazvinei. “He gets a lot of money from two bottles only.”
“Yeah,” said Ray. “With those two bottles, he is worth a lot of money. I had forgotten him when he came to us.”
“How much will we sell those bottles for?”
“We can sell each one for $10 million or more.”
“What? You said $10 million for each bottle!”
“To tell the truth,” said Ray, “the bottle he sold me last year went for $2 million. Now everything is expensive.”
“Eh! You made lot’s of money, friend. Who can buy them for the amount of money we want?”
“I know a rich man who will buy them,” said Ray. “He has millions of dollars.”
“Guys! Some people are lucky with money, yeah!”
“That rich bugger is called Mafuta,” said Ray. “Let’s find ways of making money. Dollars are there for those with courage.”
“Are you sure that he’ll buy from us?”
“We can go together and see him now. You’ll hear for yourself. We can discuss with him how much he’ll pay for each bottle.”
“So each one of us has to pay $1 million to Jeki?” said Hazvinei.
“Yeah! You’ll be afraid to count money from those bottles if we can sell them. . . Had I known, doesn’t come forward.
“Let’s go and see Mafuta straightaway. If he pays us we’ll give Jeki his peanuts.
“We can deliver the stuff to Mafuta while it is still available.”
The two men met Mafuta in a hotel and told him that they had two bottles of drugs which would cost him $20 million dollars.
He negotiated with them and they brought the amount down to $18 dollars.
He promised to give them the money when they had brought the bottles to him.
Hazvinei went home and told Abigail of the problem he encountered getting $500 000, which would go towards buying one bottle from Jeki.
He would get the same amount from the bank where he was working without the knowledge of his superiors.
He would put back the money into the bank when Mafuta paid them for the two bottles.
Ray had phoned him saying that he had given Jeki his $1 million. Hazvinei would go with the two bottles to Mafuta and collect the $18 million from him.
Mafuta had presented himself as a property magnet. Abigail encouraged her husband to go ahead with what he had planned to do.
“I’ve grown up with these things,” said Jeki to himself as he waited for Hazvinei to arrive.
“Today, the whole gang is waiting to see the stuff I’m made of. If this deal slips through my hands everybody will blame me.
“The chances of pulling this deal off will have gone to the dogs.
” Otherwise police will be hot on our trail. It’s better for police to worry us when we’ve something, than without.”
Jeki was worried whether Hazvinei would be able to locate him in the seedy hotel where he had instructed him on the phone to come.
Hazvinei had not indicated that he didn’t know the hotel.
That fellow was loaded with money. He didn’t sound like a person who could be telling lies.
Hazvinei found Jeki waiting for him with the two bottles which he would take to Mafuta. He gave him $1 million dollars.
The two of them agreed that Jeki would offer them any bottles that he would find before offering them to other peddlers.
Ray had gone on to arrange with his lawyer to have papers for the supermarket ready for signing.
Now, it became virtually impossible for Hazvinei to find Mafuta, Ray, Mandy and Jeki.
The author then moralises about the dangers of trying to get rich through illegal deals. He points out why crime doesn’t pay.
The moral which is in the play is:
l mind the ‘small house’ when she wants to renew the love that has gone cold;
l don’t go into deals on the spur of the moment;
l trust people you want to go into business with;
l insist that your lawyer be involved in drawing up the paperwork that has to do with the business you’re getting into; and,
l watch out for people in suits wanting to do business deals in hotels and trying to coax you into parting with huge sums of money.
Mwanaka has also contributed in many poetry anthologies which include Gwenyambira, Dandaro reNhetembo and Rujeko rweNhetembo.
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