Zim Standard
By
Foster Dongozi
ZANU PF and its allies in the Church have
cancelled the National
Day of Prayer which is held annually on 25 May and
replaced it with the
Zimbabwe Day of Prayer to be celebrated on 25
June.
The move has sent profound shock through the
Christian
community in the country which has denounced the marriage
between
sections of the church and a government which stands accused
of gross
human rights violations including genocide, torture, and
political
harassment and starving of political
opponents.
Zanu PF's moves against the church comes amid
growing fears in
the ruling party that some sections of the church
had become too vocal
against the government's repressive
rule.
The new day of prayer was proposed after pro-Zanu
PF church
leaders met officials from the ruling party's Commissariat
and
Information departments recently.
Reverend Andrew
Muchechetere, one of the key people
organising the prayers, said the
State-owned Zimbabwe United Passenger
Company, ZUPCO, would ferry
passengers from "the usual pick-up points".
Church
insiders said the State was expected to meet most of
the costs as it
tries to win the support of the Christian community.
The public address system for now is expected to come from
the
government, sources said.
In order to get as many Christians
to rally behind Zanu PF,
the church leaders are working with Minister
without Portfolio and
Zanu PF secretary for the Commissariat, Elliot
Manyika.
Ruling party supporters and church leaders
that support
Zanu PF are now expected to gather at Glamis Stadium in Harare
for the
Zimbabwe Day of Prayer on 25 June.
When asked why
they had been meeting Manyika he said: "I cannot
provide information like
that because there are people who might use it as
ammunition against
us."
According to an internal memo, circulating among
pro-government religious organisations, President Robert Mugabe will
attend the prayers and address the gathering.
A
similar event is being organised in Bulawayo where the city's
governor, Cain
Mathema, is expected to deliver the President's speech.
Other
gatherings to be attended by Zanu PF officials will be
staged in all the
country's major centres to try and win more supporters for
the ruling
party.
Since 1998, the National Day of Prayer has been held
under the
stewardship of the Intercessors for Zimbabwe, led by Reverend John
Chimbambo.
A new national prayer taskforce comprising
"politically correct"
church leaders was appointed and will now prepare for
the
government-sponsored Zimbabwe National Day of Prayer.
Reliable sources said the ruling party had successfully
infiltrated the
church after Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO)
operatives and war
veterans were trained as pastors with some of them
successfully rising to
lead religious groups.
The internal memo, written by
Muchechetere, reads: "We all
agreed to the need for such an event and the
modalities of holding the
event, including how government will
participate. One government
representative, who could be the State
President, will declare the nation
back to God."
Church
insiders said the National Day of Prayer was
postponed twice because
it clashed with Mugabe's schedule.
"The prayers were
supposed to be held on 25 May and later
postponed to 4 June because of
clashes with Mugabe's schedule.
But our fear as church
leaders is that it looks like people will
be worshipping Mugabe and not God.
It looks like the church has been
completely taken over by Zanu PF
politicians," said the insiders. "Remember
that 25 May was the day on which
some of our colleagues in church leadership
were singing the government's
praises at State House."
The decision to invite Mugabe for
the Zimbabwe Day of Prayer was
arrived at by a group of church leaders after
they were feted at State House
where they sang Mugabe's
praises.
However, the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, a grouping
of church
leaders around the country has attacked the outcome of the visit
to State
House led by the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the Evangelical
Fellowship
of Zimbabwe.
The Alliance says the church
leaders should have told Mugabe
that the country was in turmoil because of
bad governance, unjust laws,
corruption, lack of integrity, and the unfair
distribution of resources.
The Alliance questioned which
aspects of the Zanu PF government's
rule ZCC leaders Peter Nemapare and
Densen Mafinyane supported.
"Do they support the evils of
Gukurahundi, the violent land
reform, Operation Murambatsvina, cronyism,
State-sponsored violence, and
setting up concentration camps or corruption?"
the alliance asked.
When asked if they were going to engage
the opposition MDC in
the same manner they had Mugabe, one of the bishops
said there was nothing
definite yet as regards opposition political
parties.
Zim Standard
By
Gibbs Dube
BULAWAYO - The Speaker of Parliament and Zanu PF
chairman, John
Nkomo, has been ordered by the High Court to stop interfering
with the
running of a lucrative safari lodge in Gwayi, Matabeleland North,
owned by a
prominent Bulawayo businessman.
The
provisional order granted by Justice Nicholas Ndou on
Wednesday evening
comes after chaos erupted at Jijima Lodge when police,
allegedly under the
instructions of Nkomo, evicted four international
tourists who had visited
the lodge on a hunting safari.
In his ruling following an
urgent chamber application filed on
Tuesday by businessman Langton Masunda
seeking to block Nkomo from evicting
him through use of security forces,
Justice Ndou said Nkomo and his agents
should stop interfering with the
occupation and use of the lodge.
Justice Ndou said Nkomo, who
unsuccessfully sought a High Court
eviction order against Masunda, should
also not interfere with hunting
activities conducted by Masunda's
clients.
"Following the withdrawal by Nkomo of the previous
case wherein
he sought to evict applicant from Jijima Lodge, it is hereby
declared that
the applicant is entitled to the use and occupation of the
lodge. (Masunda
is also) entitled to conduct hunting operations in the area
allocated to him
until such a time as an order to the contrary is made by a
court of
competent jurisdiction or other competent authority," Justice Ndou
said.
On June 9, Nkomo in the company of his agent, Clifford
Sibanda,
two scouts and two other people, gave Masunda three days to leave
the lodge
and threatened to forcibly drive him off the farm and lodge using
government
soldiers if he defied their orders.
Sibanda,
slapped with a peace order by a Hwange magistrate who
ordered him not to
interfere with the running of Jijima Lodge, has further
been instructed by
Justice Ndou to heed the court order.
"Sibanda (should)
comply with the order granted by the
magistrates' courts sitting in Hwange
before he can file any opposition in
this matter," said Justice
Ndou.
A few hours before the provisional order was granted by
Justice
Ndou, there was drama at Jijima lodge when police, allegedly acting
on Nkomo's
instructions, evicted four tourists from Hungary and the Czech
Republic who
had paid US$30 000 (Z$10 billion) for a hunting
safari.
Although police declined to comment on the issue,
Masunda
claimed that his clients identified as Hungarians Adorkan Istvan and
Kovats
Jozsef and Caneelar Jiri and Vaclav Klaila of the Czech Republic were
given
three hours to leave the lodge.
"They packed their
belongings in frustration and I had to book
them at a lodge in Gwayi," said
a distressed Masunda.
"This definitely spells doom for the
tourism industry as they
were scared of being harmed. They will go back to
their respective homes and
tell this horrible story to other
tourists."
Nkomo could not be reached for comment as he was
said to be busy
in Harare.
Zim Standard
BY VALENTINE
MAPONGA
CIVIC organisations and the opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) yesterday blasted the government's decision to
extend the term
of office of the Sekesai Makwavarara-led Harare Commission
for another six
months.
The Minister of Local Government,
Public Works and Urban
Development Ignatious Chombo on Friday announced the
extension of the
Commission's tenure saying mayoral and council polls for
Harare will only be
held when the province's districts "are properly
defined".
However, civic organisations described Chombo's
explanation as
"flimsy".
Makwavarara's term of office has
been marred by controversy
owing to her extravagant lifestyle at the expense
of service delivery.
Combined Harare Residents' Association
(CHRA) spokesperson,
Precious Shumba, yesterday said they were outraged by
the government's
decision to extent the commission's
term.
"The move is a blatant disregard of the law. According
to the
Urban Councils' Act, a commission should not serve for more than six
months
before an election is held," Shumba said. "Commissions are stopgap
measures
and should not be there for life."
The Urban
Councils' Act empowers the minister of local
government to appoint a
commission but does not fix the number of times the
minister can do
so.
Shumba said: "We are going to urge residents to desist
from
paying rates to the commission in protest. The explanations from Chombo
are
just political. It's a deliberate ploy to delay holding elections in
Harare."
Sesil Zvidzai, the MDC anti-Senate faction's
secretary for local
government and mayor of Gweru, described the
government's decision to extent
the commission's term of office as
"unfortunate".
"It is best that decisions that affect people
at a local level
are best made by the people themselves. Government should
have called for
elections because the people in Harare are reeling under the
pain of
autocracy. As the MDC, we demand the democratisation of Harare,"
Zvidzai
said.
MDC pro-Senate faction's spokesperson,
Gabriel Chaibva, said the
commission was literary "doing nothing" to improve
service delivery.
"Services have deteriorated ever since the
commission took over
the running of the city in 2004. The government will
not want Harare to be
run by the MDC because it's their cash cow and they
are strongly opposed to
the holding of elections," Chaibva said.
Zim Standard
BY
GODFREY MUTIMBA
MASVINGO - THE son of Gutu South legislator,
Shuvai Mahofa, and
three Zanu PF supporters will languish in prison for the
next four years for
murdering a war veteran, Amos Maseva, over a farm-house
at the height of the
land invasions.
High Court Judge,
Justice Yunus Omerjee, last week slapped Ben
Mahofa, Junior Chingewe,
Rangarirai Chimbunde, and Miriam Mudyahoto with a
six-year jail term each.
Two years were wholly suspended on condition of
good
behaviour.
Chimbunde was with the Air Force of Zimbabwe and
was based at
Suri-Suri Air Base near Chegutu while Mudyahoto was sentenced
in absentia as
she is on the run.
Jatiel Mudamburi for
the state told the court that in June 2002
the four teamed up and assaulted
Maseva at Plot 20, Lithium farm in Gutu
over a farmhouse. The dispute pitted
Maseva and Shuvai Mahofa's daughter
Peritta Masendeke, who had been
allocated Plot 19 next to the deceased.
Masendeke, who is
also Ben's sister, was embroiled in the
farmhouse wrangle. They wanted
Maseva to move out.
After stiff resistance from Maseva, it is
alleged that Masendeke
sought her mother's political muscle to oust Maseva
from the farmhouse that
was left by a commercial farmer who fled the country
at the height of the
chaotic farm invasions.
The four, in
their quest to evict Maseva, assaulted him and left
him unconscious. He died
at Masvingo general hospital.
The case made headlines in the
country as relatives of the
deceased refused to bury him demanding
compensation of $2 million then and
40 head of cattle from Shuvai
Mahofa.
They only buried Maseva after heeding calls from the
late Vice
President Simon Muzenda, who had promised to broker the
compensation claim.
Mahofa, however, did not pay the
compensation.
The family then took the matter to the courts,
leading to the
imprisonment of the four.
Zim Standard
By Nqobani Ndlovu
BULAWAYO - A government
minister allegedly disrupted lessons at
a secondary school in Gwanda,
Matabeleland South, recently and dismissed the
headmaster for the school's
poor "O"(Ordinary) Level results.
The Deputy Minister of
Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare, Abedinigo Ncube (pictured), last
Friday allegedly blamed Ntepe
Secondary School headmaster, Litsietsi
Mangazha, for the poor pass rate and
accused him of being a member of the
opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC).
Ncube,
who is also the Gwanda South MP, allegedly convened a
meeting at the school
to address the issue of poor examination results.
Sources
said Ncube dressed down the headmaster who did not
attend the meeting due to
bereavement in the family. The headmaster was
accused of failing to
effectively run the school, giving rise to poor
results.
A reliable source said: "The minister was livid about poor
results and
accused Mangazha of the poor pass rate at the school. He phoned
an education
officer only identified as Jamela informing him that Mangazha
should go
because of the poor pass rate."
The source said Ncube and ruling
Zanu PF supporters were also
allegedly chanting party slogans while
denouncing the headmaster and the
opposition MDC.
"Ncube
told villagers that Mangazha was related to a retired
former top education
officer who was a well-known MDC supporter. He then
told the gathering after
talking to Jamela that he had sacked the headmaster
and replaced him with
one of the teachers, Mandla Mnkandla," said another
source who attended the
meeting.
Sources also alleged that two well-known ruling
party zealots,
Pius Maphosa and Never Ncube, also allegedly ordered all
teachers to leave
the school.
Ncube could neither confirm
nor deny the allegations when
contacted for comment.
"What about the meeting? Ulamawala (You are too forward).Why are
you
contacting me if you know what you want to write? You want to make a
fool
out of me? Uyisiwula (You are an idiot).
"Just write, don't
phone me next time. You are fond of writing
lies . The lies will one day run
out. You are wasting my time, you do not
even ask what I am doing, you just
ask questions. I am in a meeting," fumed
Ncube before switching off his
mobile phone.
Last week, sources said the School Development
Committee (SDC),
education officers and school authorities held numerous
meetings to find a
way forward after Mangazha reported for duty on
Tuesday.
However, he reportedly suffered a mild high blood
pressure
attack and went home. He could not be contacted for
comment.
Regional education officers refused to comment on
the issue and
referred The Standard to the Education Minister Aeneas
Chigwedere and his
Permanent Secretary Stephen Mahere, who could not be
reached.
Raymond Majongwe, the Progressive Teachers' Union of
Zimbabwe
(PTUZ) secretary general, confirmed receiving reports that a school
headmaster was told to leave Ntepe Secondary School.
He
said: "We have received numerous reports about Ncube who is
allegedly
threatening many teachers in that region. You cannot personalise
failure
within rural schools as conditions at the schools are
unacceptable."
Teachers are employed by the government
through the Public
Service Commission, which is the authority with powers to
hire or dismiss
educationists.
Zim Standard
BY our staff
THE Constitutional Amendment Number 17
disenfranchised thousands
of voters because of presumed foreign citizenship
and the Zimbabwe Election
Support Network (ZESN) says there is need for an
urgent review.
The amendment was pushed through Parliament
last year as
government sought to re-establish the Senate. The Upper House
has
accommodated many Zanu PF heavyweights who had fallen by the wayside
over
the years.
In a report on the Budiriro Parliamentary
by-election, ZESN said
the controversial amendment had made it impossible
for thousands of people
to exercise their right to vote.
ZESN said: "The relevant authorities should review provisions of
the
Constitutional Amendment (No 17) which have suddenly disenfranchised
thousands of Zimbabweans for their presumed foreign citizenship. Considering
that these people are contributing to the economic well being of the nation,
it is only proper and fair that they be allowed to vote."
The amendment also outlawed prospective voters from using their
drivers'
licences as a form of identification during polling.
"However, the manner in which ZEC (Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission) changed
the identity requirements without amending the Electoral
Act, and
subsequently informing the people prejudiced the electorate," ZESN
said.
It is not possible to determine the citizenship of
a voter from
a driver's licence.
The group also blasted
ZEC for failing to adequately offer voter
education ahead of the Budiriro
by-election, which was characterised by low
voter
turnout.
At Budiriro Clinic alone, ZESN said, at least 96
voters were
turned away because they had drivers' licences as proof of
identification.
"This clearly showed that there was
inadequate voter
information and education in the constituency, prior to the
Parliamentary
by-election. ZEC failed to clearly advise the electorate of
this change,"
ZESN said.
Out of 45 000 registered voters
in Budiriro constituency, only
12 480 people cast their ballots. "ZESN
proposes that a continuous and
intensive voter education exercise be carried
out in Zimbabwe by ZEC, both
civic and political organisations in
preparation for all future elections,"
said Zesn in the report released last
week.
Anti-Senate Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
faction's
candidate Emmanuel Chisvuure won the election.
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
EVERY working day
Letwine Moyana, a private secretary with a
Harare firm, carries a small
satchel to work.
In the satchel, Moyo carries neither books
nor work files, but
an assortment of commodities that she sells to fellow
workers to supplement
her monthly earnings.
"I sell
anything that comes my way. But today I have brought
sandwiches because they
sell faster. At times, I bring fruits and
vegetables," she
said.
Moyana is one of the thousands of poverty-stricken
Zimbabwean
workers who have turned into petty trading to supplement their
earnings in
an effort to make ends meet.
"If I don't sell
these commodities, I will not be able to
survive because my salary is not
enough to pay my rent, buy food and travel
to work for the whole month,"
said Moyana, who stays in Harare's Mufakose
high-density
suburb.
The ever-rising cost of basic necessities such as
food,
transport, education, health fees and accommodation, has condemned
more than
75% of the country's workers to living below the Poverty Datum
Line (PDL).
The increases are against a background of stagnant salaries and
wages for
most of the workers.
Many workers can no longer
afford to give their families three
square meals a day. Others workers walk
or cycle to work for distances of
over 10 kilometres because they cannot
afford the transport costs.
Another worker, Tendai Hungwe, a
father of six and a worker at
an engineering firm said fending for his
family had become an uphill battle.
"At times, my children go
to school after eating porridge
without sugar because I can no longer afford
it. Buying bread is now a
luxury," he said.
The Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the country's
largest labour representative
body, says more than 75% of the workforce is
living below the
PDL.
ZCTU acting secretary general, Japhet Moyo, said the
organisation was concerned with the impoverishment of
workers.
"That is why we insisted at the TNF (Tripartite
Negotiating
Forum) meeting that wages should be linked to the Poverty Datum
Line.
According to our calculations the PDL is around $42
million,"
Moyo said.
Figures released by the Central
Statistical Office (CSO) last
week indicated that a family of six now
requires $52,4 million a month to
live a normal life. However, the figure is
nearly four times above wages of
ordinary workers, which averages at $15
million a month.
Municipal Development Partnership (MDP)
programme officer,
Takawira Mubvami, estimated that urban poverty levels
have increased from
50% in 1995 to between 75 and 80% at the
moment.
Mubvami said rising inflation, which has pushed up
the prices of
basic commodities, has worsened the plight of the ordinary
urban worker
whose wages are reviewed once or twice a
year.
He said because of increasing poverty, workers in urban
areas
are now involved in petty trading at their workplaces selling basic
commodities such as sugar, cooking oil and soap.
With
inflation rising everyday while workers wages remain
stagnant, more people
are becoming poorer by the day. This can be evidenced
by the noticeable
increase in the number of workers involved in petty
trading and
moonlighting, Mubvami said.
The country's economy has
imploded, with acute shortages of
fuel, food and electricity, a dearth of
foreign currency, and the world's
highest rate of inflation at 1, 193% and
rising.
A United Nations committee last week recommended that
Zimbabwe
be "downgraded" to the status of least developed country, the
poorest of the
world's poor. However, the government has rejected the
recommendation.
Moyo said the ZCTU would soon stage crippling
demonstrations to
force government and employers to pay workers salaries
above the PDL.
"Currently, we are making consultations within
our structures as
to when to embark on the demonstrations. We cannot have
workers who live
like destitutes," Moyo said.
Perhaps, if
the ZCTU succeeds in pushing government and
employers to pay above PDL
wages, Moyana will stop "workplace vending" to
supplement her
income.
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
MOST prison farms in Zimbabwe are severely
underutilised despite
pervasive food shortages in the country's overcrowded
jails, a report by the
Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs reveals.
The committee noted that
malnourished prisoners are sometimes
fed porridge without sugar in the
morning, and sadza and vegetables for
lunch and supper.
"As a result of the unbalanced diet fed to prisoners," the
committee noted,"
many were suffering from pellagra, a skin disease caused
by malnutrition.
Even the vegetables they feed on every day are not adequate
because most of
the prison gardens can no longer flourish due to excessive
consumption."
It recommended that prisoners be fed
foodstuffs such as beans,
peanut butter, milk, fruit cooking oil and meat to
avoid
malnutrition-related diseases.
While prisoners were
starving, the committee noted, prison
farms, which could produce food for
them, remained underutilised.
According to the committee's
report Hwahwa Prison Farm in the
Midlands has the potential to feed its
inmates and those at Connemara Prison
have surplus produce for
sale.
The report added that Mutimurefu Prison Farm had a
potential for
more agricultural activities.
Chikurubi
Maximum Security Prison Farm in Harare, which has been
producing food for
the prisoners, is also severely underutilised. It has
been without tractors
and lorries for various farm activities such as land
preparation and
ferrying farm inputs.
"The committee recommends the crop
farming in prison farms
should not be rain-fed only but that all irrigation
schemes at prison farms
are resuscitated to enable all year round farming,"
the report said.
The report come at a time when there are
reports that senior
Zanu PF politicians, army, police and prison bosses are
using cheap prison
labour on their farms, some of which were grabbed during
the chaotic land
reform programme.
Zim Standard
BY OUR
CORRESPONDENT
MUTARE - Ruling Zanu PF party officials in
Manicaland are
pushing for the postponement of a crucial mayoral poll
fearing a landslide
victory of the opposition.
The MDC
enjoys massive support in Mutare and other major urban
centres in the
country.
Ignatious Chombo, the Minister of Local Government,
Public Works
and Urban Development, announced last Friday at a meeting held
in the city
that elections to choose an executive mayor and councillors will
be held on
19 August, much to the chagrin of Zanu PF officials in Manicaland
who fear
the MDC will have a field day at the poll.
Immediately after Chombo's announcement, Zanu PF officials in
the province
vowed to lobby their party's national leadership, including
President
Mugabe, to ensure the poll is postponed.
Mutare is being run
by commissioners who were appointed by
Chombo after he unceremoniously fired
the MDC-led council, accusing them of
"maladministration and corruption".
They deny the allegations as politically
motivated.
The
appointment of the commissioners, all Zanu PF activists,
sparked controversy
in the city resulting in a public showdown between
Chombo and Tinaye
Chigudu, the Governor for Manicaland, which almost
paralysed operations at
civic centre.
Chombo fired commissioners he had earlier
appointed and replaced
them with a new group - angering Chigudu who felt
such a move was
unwarranted and not based on consultations with the ruling
party's
provincial leadership.
But Chombo remained
adamant saying it was his prerogative to
appoint and fire commissioners when
he deemed it necessary, as provided for
under the Urban Councils'
Act.
This led to Chigudu seeking an audience with President
Mugabe.
Zanu PF sources said Chombo could have called for an
early
election in the city to frustrate Chigudu, since it is clear the MDC
will
retake control of the city.
Chigudu is also the Zanu
PF provincial chairman for Manicaland.
There are manoeuvres to unseat
Chigudu if the ruling party loses at the
local government poll in August. A
defeat at the polls could justify his
dismissal, Zanu PF insiders told The
Standard.
The insiders said this was the reason why Chigudu
and his Zanu
PF provincial executive members were eager to have the election
postponed.
"It's suicidal for us to go to the polls in Mutare
against the
MDC,"said a senior ruling party provincial executive member. "We
have no
choice but to lobby the national leadership to postpone this poll
because it's
like just handing over control of the city to the opposition.
We will be in
trouble."
Pressed by journalists to respond
to allegations that the motive
of calling an early election in the city was
to frustrate Chigudu, Chombo
was evasive saying he had done so in the spirit
of observing democratic
principles.
The MDC has already
indicated its desire to contest the local
government poll expressing
confidence it will wrestle control of the civic
centre. However, most
councillors from the previous council, which was fired
by government said
they were no longer interested in seeking re-election and
will rather pave
the way for other MDC members to contest.
Edwin Maupa, former
councillor for ward 11 said: "I am no longer
interested."
David Panganayi, former councillor for ward 10 said: "I will
leave others to
contest because I do not want to be frustrated again. As
long as Mugabe is
in power the government will meddle in the operations of
the council. These
people are very undemocratic."
Unlike in other provinces, the
splinter faction of the MDC led
by Professor Arthur Mutambara does not
exist, leaving the Morgan Tsvangirai
group the only dominant opposition
force. There was no immediate comment
from the ruling party provincial
spokesman Kenneth Saruchera.
Zim Standard
ZIMBABWE has many unsung heroes and heroines. The
Standard, the
country's leading private Sunday newspaper, is launching an
award to honour
many Zimbabweans, who through their strength and courage
have made a
difference to communities in this country.
Two people, among many others, immediately come to mind: the
late Jairos
Jiri, and Sithembiso Nyoni.
Jiri's case was an extraordinary
one in that it required
compassion, faith, courage and perseverance. In the
1950s he identified that
there was greater need among the country's disabled
to be educated and
trained in order for them to become respected and
independent members of
society.
To this end Jiri took
under his care the first group of disabled
persons thus establishing the
foundation for the Jairos Jiri Association,
whose dedication and commitment
was to nurture and empower disabled
Zimbabweans.
By the
time Jiri died on 12 November 1982, the organisation had
16 centres
countrywide where more than 1 500 people with various
disabilities received
treatment, care and education. As many as 10 000 other
people were being
served through an outreach programme, while another 13 000
people with
disabilities were being served annually through a
community-based
programme.
In 1980 Nyoni and others started the Organisation
of Rural
Association for Progress (ORAP) whose main thrust was to empower
rural
communities to identify their own needs and possible solutions. Orap's
major
area of focus was in Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces. As
co-ordinator of Orap, Nyoni received numerous international awards in
recognition of her revolutionary approach to empowering rural
communities.
The Standard is inviting readers throughout the
country with
effect from this month to suggest people (accompanied by a
brief resume)
they believe are the unsung Community / Nation Builders. These
can be sent
to: editor@standard.mweb.co.zw or The
Editor, PO Box BE1165, Belvedere,
Harare or Fax The Editor on 04 773854.
They should be marked "Nation
Builder".
At the end of
June and each subsequent month thereafter, a panel
will review the
submissions and decide who the Community/Nation Builder is.
The people
selected will be judged at the end of the year to determine the
winner of
the Nation Builder of the Year.
At the end of January 2007
The Standard will host a gala evening
during which the Community/Nation
Builder of the Year will be announced.
Davison Maruziva, the
Editor of The Standard, in announcing the
award said: "We are delighted to
make this contribution in recognition of
men and women whose vision,
strength and courage have made a lasting impact
on the lives of communities
in our country. It is important that we set
aside occasions to celebrate
these courageous men and women and their
legacies."
Zim Standard
BY OUR CORRESPONDENT
CHINHOYI - While
a lot of people living with HIV/AIDS, orphans
and vulnerable children
(OVC's) die while waiting for the much needed
treatment or replenishment of
home-based kits Mashonaland West Districts
Aids Committees (DAC) are failing
to make full use of funds allocated to
them.
Michael
Mafuso, the National Aids Council (NAC) provincial
co-ordinator made the
disclosure during a delayed evaluation meeting held at
St Peter's Catholic
Centre last week.
After presentation of the financial report,
it was noted that
most districts failed to exhaust all the funds - thanks to
the DAC members'
incompetence. Delegates were shocked to learn that
$6billion of the $14.9b
allocated to the province was not
used.
The figure represents only 57%
absorption.
Mafuso also criticised the Ministry of Health
officials whom he
accused of failing to implement the planned
activities.
He said the Ministry as the main stakeholder in
the
implementation exercise was not doing enough at ward, district and
provincial levels. They were only heard at national
meetings.
He also questioned what the money allocated to them
was being
used for as not much was evident, providing proof of what the
money was
being used for.
Mafuso said Zimbabwe receives
US $250 000 worth of drugs (ARV)
from UNICEF each month and thanked the
Global Fund that is providing help to
three districts - Kariba, Zvimba and
Nyaminyami - in the province. They also
provided two
vehicles.
Gertrude Usavihwevhu an HIV/ AIDS positive
activist, speaking at
the meeting blasted policy makers for sidelining them
during policy
formulation and implementation. She said as much as Zunde
Ramambo is a noble
idea it has many loopholes.
She
suggested that the inputs be given to village heads who know
people living
in their villages better.
Delegates at the meeting strongly
criticised the
government-initiated Zunde Ramambo concept. Under the
programme NAC no
longer distributes food packs to people living with AIDS,
orphans, and other
vulnerable groups such as disabled and children in rural
areas. Chiefs now
receive farming inputs for use by the needy and vulnerable
groups in their
areas.
But most people thought it was an
old Zanu PF government gimmick
of trying to feed its own supporters through
purported national projects.
During last planting season 24 chiefs planted
32,2 ha (22.4 ha maize 6 ha
Sorghum and 4 ha sugar beans) under the
programme, where each chief was
allocated $20.8 m for inputs.
Zim Standard
By Our Staff
THE Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe has announced that it will
introduce the Foreign Currency Accounts
scheme for tobacco farmers a move
that they may come a little too late for
an industry already battered by
viability challenges.
The
scheme will be the first of its kind for an industry, which
says past
experience has taught them cynicism.
RBZ Governor, Dr Gideon
Gono, told farmers that the introduction
of FCAs has been pegged for the
2006/7 season.
"We will in the next season reinstate the FCA
scheme. I am not
at liberty to say at what proportion it will be done. All I
can say is it
will be sufficient to be able to cushion yourselves from the
vagaries of
distortions. Custody of funds will be left to bankers who will
look after
FCAs for growers," Gono told farmers at an AGM held by the
Zimbabwe Tobacco
Association last week.
His announcement
could as well have been inaudible to farmers
who were crying foul over the
operational environment, which they said, had
wrestled control of the
industry from market forces to a government that
ignores their success
factors.
Outgoing ZTA president, James de la Fargue said
their "cynicism
was backed by raw experience" and added that the future of
the industry can
only be guaranteed by tackling grower issues linked to
confidence-building
and land ownership.
"The process -
our destiny .is now in the hands of the
authorities, initially the Ministry
of Agriculture, then the RBZ, now NERC
and taskforces. Our influence over
decisions that affect our future is
limited and while it stays like that,
any growth will be hampered. We cannot
talk about crop size unless we tackle
grower issues," De la Fargue said.
He said the exchange rate
differentials coupled with subsidies
were creating an undesirable dependence
syndrome among farmers who still had
to contend with a mismatch between
production costs and revenue.
"Growers have become debt
junkies - the tough weaning off
process lies ahead and quick changes in
policy could make this adjustment
brutal. With input pricing at rates now
over of 300 000: 1, the tobacco
framework is starting to show the same
cracks as its predecessor last year.
If this goes unchecked, the downward
trend in production will continue. Any
viability gap through exchange rate
differential will need to be filled by
ASPEF - this only perpetuates the
dependency syndrome," said the outgoing
president.
ASPEF
is the Agriculture Sector Productivity Enhancement
Facility introduced to
enable farmers to access concessionary funding at
rates of 20
%.
Production declined to 50 million kg this season from the
previous season's 73 million kg and so far 16.7 million kg have been sold.
Prices peaked to US$1,85 compared last season's peak of US$1,21. However,
the high prices have not given farmers any reason to smile with some
predicting worse to come.
A farmer, who declined
identification said: "I started farming
60 years ago and I have never been
as worried as I am now. I am not a
cry-baby but I am in a worse off position
now. Times are changing so fast
and with inflation going mad production
costs for the next season will be so
horrendous. Our worry is: Is there
enough funding for ASPEF and will it be
timeous? Banks are charging 700 %
interest and if nothing is done by this
time next year we will be holding a
wake for the industry."
Zim Standard
By Our Staff
THE National Social Security Authority
announced an increase in
its pensions last week, and says it is looking for
alternative funding to
finance the increase.
The
announcement coincided with the release of its 2004 annual
report which the
company said showed earnings above expectation. NSSA board
chairman, Edwin
Manikai, said at a press briefing that his organisation was
reviewing
pensions by an average of 500 % with effect from next month.
Accordingly, NSSA will be paying $2,2 million for survivors and
invalidity
pensions, up from $110 880, $5 million for retirement pensions up
from $252
000 and a funeral grant of $25 million from $2,5 million. The
increases
however are still below the poverty datum line of $50 million
Manikai said the pension increases necessitate a corresponding
review of the
insurable earnings ceiling from $5 million to $50 million to
enable NSSA to
raise funding to pay beneficiaries.
"The actuarial
recommended these adjustments and they have now
been made into law and will
come into effect on 1 July," Manikai said.
Net current assets
stood at $206,5 billion but only generated
cash amounting to $67,5 billion
in 2004. Manikai however said the
performance was "above inflation and its
peers".
He said his organisation will be "going all out" on
infrastructural development to boost the performance of the fund with
housing projects in five cities that include Marondera, Harare, Bulawayo,
Mutare and Masvingo expected to be completed in the next three
years.
Various projects in commercial centres of Victoria
Falls,
Chipinge, Kariba and Bindura are already underway with feasibility
studies
conducted in Chipinge.
$100 billion will also be
distributed to small and medium
enterprises at interest rates averaging 30
to 60%, said the board chairman.
Zim Standard
By Our Staff
LOCAL banks are
lobbying the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to have
their assets denominated in US
dollar to preserve capital as the fever
reaches high pitch ahead of the 30
September deadline for new minimum
capital requirements.
An official with the banking industry said proposals have been
made to the
central bank although there were no guarantees that something
substantive
would come out of the discussions.
"RBZ is going to use a US
dollar based criteria for minimum
capital for financial institutions in
Zimbabwe where currently most of the
banks assets and liabilities are
Zimbabwe dollar denominated, it would be
befitting to have US dollar
denominated instruments to hedge or preserve
bank capital. Certain proposals
have been discussed but these may or may not
result in anything substantive
by September 2006," the official said.
The capital
requirements were a cause for concern for banks
earlier in the year with
worries that some might not be able to meet the
deadline.
Zim Standard
BY GIBBS
DUBE
BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe should stop importing coal from
neighbouring
countries in order to redirect meagre foreign currency earnings
towards the
rehabilitation of Hwange Colliery Company and exploitation of
coal reserves
in various parts of the country, say economists and
industrialists.
In wide-ranging interviews, they were of the
view that companies
importing coal from South Africa and Botswana have been
forced to do so as
the sole coal manufacturing company in Zimbabwe cannot
meet their quality
and quantity demands.
Economist John
Robertson said although companies cannot be
blamed for importing coal, there
was need for a long-term recapitalisation
plan for Hwange Colliery,
currently operating at between 50 and 60% of its
capacity and investment in
exploiting coal deposits in other parts of the
country.
"Hwange Colliery cannot meet the demands of the local market and
this has
resulted in the draining of Zimbabwe's foreign currency inflows as
various
companies are purchasing coal from neighbouring countries. As a long
term
measure, the parastatal needs millions of dollars in foreign currency
to
operate at full capacity,"Robertson said.
He said this would
not be achieved in the short term due to the
country's crippling foreign
debt pegged at US$4 billion.
"There is need to find ways of
funding the Colliery in order for
the parastatal to earn foreign currency
through exporting coal. The major
hurdle is that we cannot borrow money from
international finance houses
because of our poor debt servicing record,"he
said.
Commentator, Eric Bloch, said the importation of coal
from
neighbouring countries had a serious impact on Zimbabwe's foreign
currency
reserves.
"We are using foreign currency we
desperately need to import
coal. In fact, this should be channelled towards
turning around the fortunes
of Hwange Colliery whose production levels have
declined over the years due
to financial constraints," Bloch
said.
His sentiments were echoed by the chief executive
officer of the
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), Cain Mpofu, who
said the
recapitalisation of the Colliery should be done concurrently with
the
re-orientation of the National Railways of Zimbabwe
(NRZ).
He said although the two organisations, recipients of
billions
of dollars under the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's Parastatals and
Local
Authorities Re-orientation Programme (PLARP) anchored on the
priorities set
out in the government's 2005/2006 macro-economic framework,
were failing to
rescue the declining coal industry.
"We
should spend our foreign currency on purchasing drugs, fuel
and other
essential commodities instead of buying coal when we have reserves
that can
last hundreds of years. It is government's responsibility to pool
resources
in order to rescue the coal industry," Mpofu said.
Importers
of coal from Botswana's Morupule Colliery Limited,
Palapye, have defended
their position saying Hwange Colliery Company has
failed to meet their
demands.
The group chief executive officer of Zimbabwe Sugar
Refineries
(ZSR), Patison Sithole, said his company was importing close to 3
000 tonnes
of coal due to inconsistent supplies from Hwange
Colliery.
"The problem is that the parastatal is inconsistent
in terms of
supplying coal. Whenever they are not in a position to supply
coal, we
resort to importing it from Botswana," he said.
A spokesman for ZIMASCO, one of the largest importers of coal
with 5 000
tonnes sourced from Morupule a month, said Hwange Colliery was
failing to
supply quality coal products to the company.
The parastatal's
Managing Director, Godfrey Dzinomwa, said the
company recently commissioned
the 3-Main Underground Mine and Chaba Open
cast mine which may turnaround
the operations of the organisation.
Coal exports increased to
13 647 tonnes in May 2005 but went
down drastically to 2 300 tonnes last
November owing to serious fuel and
foreign currency
problems.
Critics are concerned about the running of the
Colliery, once
considered one of the top coal producers in Africa.
Zim Standard
Comment
This country faced its worst period
under international
sanctions during the 1970s but consumers were never
subjected to
interruptions in energy supplies to the extent Zimbabweans are
now.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), it
appears,
has become adept at generating more excuses than electricity. Now
we are
being offered another song and dance about restructuring Zesa and yet
another Chinese "energy deal". We don't deserve this!
Restructuring Zesa could be an insidious plot to pacify
consumers,
frustrated by the incompetence at the power utility. Tragically
there
appears a belief within Zesa that their mandate is to focus on
provision of
electricity to new farmers for their winter wheat production.
Nothing could
be further from the truth. The power company's mandate is to
serve its
subscribers without prejudice, not to engage in populist
agendas.
Zimbabwe's current power crisis was anticipated but
of
significance to consumers, who have been reduced to reliance on candles
and
paraffin, are the specific measures Zesa has taken to lessen the impact
of
frequent power cuts.
Instead of implementing specific
measurable steps to bridge the
shortfall between demand and power
generation, consumers are being fed a
diet of promises of a return to
normality sometime in 2007. For a problem
that has been known for a long
time such negligence is intolerable!
What it simply
demonstrates is the unsuitability of the people
at the power utility
entrusted with spearheading developing electricity
generating strategies or
alternatives.
When it became apparent, as we are led to
believe, that there
would be problems in meeting demand, Zesa should have
engaged local experts
in power generation, industry and domestic consumers
in exploring
alternatives. That no such process took place is worrying.
Should such
people be entrusted to run the power utility a day
longer?
If ever evidence were needed of the incompetence that
now
pervades ZESA it is in its failure to ensure that the three smaller
thermal
power stations - Munyati among them - are operating to capacity at
this
critical moment. They are currently out of
commission.
There are parallels between management at Zesa
and the
commissioners who have successfully run down services in
Harare.
There is ample evidence why more heads should roll at
ZESA
because their contribution makes a mockery of attempts at turning
around the
fortunes of the economy.
The changes that are
taking place at Zesa are nothing more than
recycling the same characters.
The result will be no real change. What
benefit is there in recycling the
same characters responsible for our
present predicament? The suggestion that
personnel within the power utility
will be vying for the top posts under the
reconfigured Zesa is preposterous.
These people had their chance and all
they have shown us is unparalleled
failure.
In case the
picture is not clear, the problem of lack of
external investment coming to
Zimbabwe is linked to problems of electricity
supplies. In fact, domestic
industries are very docile in the way they have
put up with the havoc that
power cuts play because their losses in raw
materials and lost orders,
especially exports are huge.
The reason why the rot set in at
Zesa is simply failure to
enforce accountability. And like our
industrialists, we are at fault when we
unquestioningly swallow the string
of excuses that mask the incompetence at
Zesa. The moment we learn to refuse
to accept excuses and demand services
and value for money, many of the
problems afflicting this country will begin
to disappear.
Zim Standard
sundayopinion by Marko Phiri
POST-INDEPENDENCE Zimbabwe - or more specifically post-2000
Zimbabwe - has
inspired innumerable academic treatises and opinion pieces at
a level not
seen even during the "white years".
This could be because of
developments like the birth of
cyberspace and other factors that are beyond
the scope of this contribution.
Still, despite this proliferation, the
country finds itself rapidly heading
for depths unknown.
However, this deluge has been important in that it has helped
sit ourselves
on the couch, and in Freudian fashion, pour out what we think
will be
therapeutic and see the country back on its feet. But the getting
back has
many steeples that go beyond the obvious where the rulers of the
land have
ridden roughshod over all things humane. Despite the innumerable
treatises
running parallel with the economic gangrene, pointers to what has
engendered
this are, however, not as innumerable.
Since the year 2000
when the mayhem at the farms began, this
period marked the flooding of the
public sphere with social, political and
economic commentary about where we
are going as a nation. Naturally, amid
such analysis, not only is the
genesis of those problems dissected, but
fundamentally solutions are
proffered which are in good faith despite
divergent and sometimes violent
perspectives. As we journey further into a
future unknown by nobody but the
seers, clairvoyants and - for the
monotheists - the Creator God, what needs
to be asked is the contribution of
the people themselves to the state of the
nation.
From civic society to religious leaders to people of
various
opinions, they all collectively could be said to be in the fashion
of Atlas
in Greek mythology, carrying the globe on their shoulders. Of
course, the
argument would be that it is the oligarchs, the pseudo-democrats
who have
Zimbabwe on their shoulders and this perhaps based on first, them
occupying
the seat of power, and second having at their disposal state
instruments
which are euphemistically said to keep the
peace.
Political affiliation sometimes tends to resemble
cultic
devotion: though everybody else sees the self destruct button, the
cult
members themselves wonder why everybody else is not joining in the fast
track, they believe leads them to heaven. But this loyalty occurs within
even the brightest minds in our midst thus it brings in other dimensions
about that fervency.
The very fact that the oligarchs
thrive on patronage has meant
loyalty is rewarded by largesse such that
these cease to be matters of the
conscience, but rather matters of gluttony.
Because the stomach of a good
man will not take in stolen food, a glutton
will keep stuffing himself
though he knows he has had enough never, mind
that his amoral stomach is
complaining. Therefore any nation which has
leaders whose collective
conscience has been numbed naturally sees evil and
celebrates it.
While other pro-human rights and democracy
activists have
forfeited their lives to the post-independence struggle, that
self-proclaimed stalwarts of the nationalist movement insist that their
latter-day struggle was born from meddling outside this country's frontiers
points to a crisis with many accessories. Thus the day of judgement will not
have the men and women who ruled the country with reckless abandon on the
dock, but also foot soldiers who are your next door neighbours. They smile
and wave, but they still insist Zimbabwe is not ready yet for a new
political dispensation, and to prove it, will set ruling party war dogs on
the same neighbour they will ask salt from! That is the tragedy of
Zimbabwean politics.
Stories were told in Bulawayo during
the 2000 legislative
elections about father and son running battles because
the son had declared
his support for the opposition while the father
threatened to disown the son
because the father was a ruling party faithful.
Thus the analogy with cultic
devotion. The father still disregarded that the
son was unemployed; that the
so-called basics were unaffordable given his
miserable wages. These are the
people who gave the ruling party its bite
and, by logical progression,
staying power. These are the same men and women
who put on their Sunday best
and join you during the communion procession
and sing holy hymns until their
throats croak.
These are
the same parishioners, as a story I witnessed a few
years ago in Bulawayo,
who told ruling party activists their parish priest
was generously doling
out food. "Where did he get it? Must be working in
cahoots with the
opposition to demonise a democratically elected
government," was the
thinking that informed the informants.
This is the Zimbabwean
tragedy not even the Greeks would have
imagined. Interestingly within the
same vein of Greek reference, have
Zimbabweans taken the hardships like the
Stoics? Time will tell.