CLOSER to home, South African top model Zozibini Tunzi is still basking in the glory of being crowned Miss Universe 2019, proving to many — Zimbabweans included — that modelling as a profession has the magic to turn around people’s fortunes, particularly the girl child.

BY WINSTONE ANTONIO

Unlike in Zimbabwe, modelling has the potential to provide employment and turn around the economic fortunes of many local girls because it is considered a lucrative profession with rich pickings.

2019 has not been a good year for local pageantry as two national pageants, Miss World Zimbabwe and Miss Tourism Zimbabwe failed to take place. NewsDay Life&Style takes a glimpse of some of the major highlights on and off the ramp.

Miss World Zim licence holder Marry Chiwenga arrested

Marry Chiwenga

Former models and licence holder of the country’s flagship pageant Miss World Zimbabwe, Marry Mubaiwa, the estranged wife of Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga is in remand prison after she was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission on allegations of fraud after allegedly misrepresenting to court officials that her husband had consented to a marriage ceremony when, in fact, he had not because he was bedridden at the time. She is also facing allegations of attempting to kill her husband while he was on life support at a South African hospital. She is also being charged for contravening the Exchange Control Act by externalising more than US$1 million to South Africa and China between October 2018 and May 2019.

Zim pulls out of Miss World 2019

Zimbabwe failed to send a representative at this year’s Miss World pageant held at the ExCeL Arena in London after the pageant organisers Miss Zimbabwe Trust cancelled the local event due to the country’s economic challenges. According to the pageant spokesperson Tendai Chirawu, hosting of the glamorous pageant was a difficult undertaking because it comes with a huge budget, adding that Miss World Zimbabwe pageant was not a business, but a charity initiative.

The reigning Miss World Zimbabwe queen, Belinda Potts had her tenure extended to next year.

Miss Tourism Zim finalists in accident

This year’s edition of the Miss Tourism Zimbabwe grand finale that was scheduled for the first week of December at Montclair Hotel in Nyanga failed to take place and was postponed indefinitely after the finalists were involved in an accident at the 13km peg along the Vumba-Mutare highway on their way to Eden Lodge. In confirming the accident, Manicaland provincial police spokesperson Tavhiringwa Kakohwa said the driver of the bus lost control of the vehicle which then overturned once and landed on its left side. Ten of the 19 finalists, who were scheduled to battle for honours at the pageant were injured and some of them were initially admitted at Murambi Gardens (Hospital) in Mutare.

Luzaine crowned Mister Zim

After almost five years hosting Mister Zimbabwe pageant online, Zim Gossip Models agency founder Mercy “Catwalk” Mushaninga this year decided to host the pageant live at Dreams Night Club in Harare on Saturday.

Gweru-based model Devson Takudzwa Luzaine was crowned Mister Zimbabwe King after shrugging off stiff competition from 14 other models. Bernard “BenChest” Ndlovu of Bulawayo was crowned Mister Zimbabwe Brand Ambassador, while Tatenda Njunike of Harare was crowned Mister Zimbabwe People’s Choice, with Ishmael Muragandi being capped Mister Zimbabwe Prince.

Zimbabwe has had a long list of successful models including Jonathan Denga, Jefferson Muserera, Lungani Mkwebu and Tichaona “Tich” Maruziva.

Teen model flies national flag high

Miss Teen Zimbabwe Wadzanai Muzvongi (19) raised the country’s flag high in July when she was adjudged the first princess after giving a good account of herself on the ramp during this year’s edition of the Miss Teen Continentals pageant finals held in Las Vegas, the United States. Muzvongi, who is a spoken word artist, was beaten to the crown by South African teenage beauty Chace Collett, who was crowned the new Miss Teen Continentals.

Model sues minister, ZRP boss, PG

Harare-based model, Tafadzwa Mushunje, who was awarded a US$45 000 compensation by the court following her arrest and prosecution over charges of assault and deliberately infecting her lover’s child with HIV, is suing three government officials in their official capacities, for contempt of court.

Following the granting of an order in her favour by High Court judge Justice Edith Mushore in August last year, Mushunje has been making frantic efforts to compel Home Affairs minister, the Police Commissioner-General and Prosecutor-General (PG) to pay her, but without success. Despite having been censured by the court, the law enforcement agents and the PG have failed to comply with the court order, prompting the model to approach the court again for recourse.

Super model basks in parenthood

Samantha Tshuma

Former Miss Tourism Zimbabwe, Samantha Tshuma, affectionately known as Sammy, in February boasted that she was enjoying motherhood and seeing her daughters grow. The former supermodel gave birth to a daughter, Alaina Matipoa Lungile, her second child, after Stephanie April Mhlanga, who was born in South Africa five years ago. The beauty queen rose to fame when she was crowned Miss Tourism Zimbabwe in 2010.

She is running a modelling agency, Open Eye Studio, located at Bradfield shops in Bulawayo. The studio trains and manages models and also offers image consultancy, events management and photography.

Zim model crowned Pan-African Queen

Pauline Marere

Zimbabwean model Pauline Marere last month added another feather to her crown after she was capped Miss Pan-African Queen at the continental pageant’s 2019 grand finale held in Lagos, Nigeria. Her winning package included US$3 000 prize money, a vehicle, a film acting deal and a trip to Dubai.

Despite having lost the Miss Heritage Global title in Ghana in August this year, Marere remained optimistic that she would bring the Miss Pan-African title home, and her dream has come true.

Manyange crowned Miss Lumiere International World 2019 Goodwill

Tapuwanashe Allin Manyange

Local beauty model, Tapuwanashe Allin Manyange, was this month crowned Miss Lumiere International World 2019 Goodwill at Forest City in Malaysia. Manyange, who is originally from Hwange, has a colourful modelling resume that includes Ms Africa Continental 2019 (second runner-up), Ms Africa Zimbabwe 2019, Face of Africa 2019 (second runner-up), Miss Ambassador for Peace Africa (Third runner-up), Best Petite Model 2018 at the Zimbabwe Models Awards, Miss Legacy Zimbabwe 2017, Miss Summer Victoria Falls 2017 and Miss Summer Midlands 2014. Having always been passionate about helping society’s less privileged people, Manyange has also been involved in several charity events.

The year 2019 will come to an end tomorrow, opening the curtains for 2020. In normal countries, the previous year tends to set the foundation for the new year, but not in our case. We live in a highly unpredictable environment where belief is the most common basis for forming opinions and planning the future.

Develop Me
By Tapiwa Gomo

We are a nation that believes in anything that comes from anyone in position of political, economic or religious power. We believe in any prophet, economist or politician who finds a microphone.

We believe elections are the road to change even when history proves its futility. We believed Mthuli Ncube would help President Emmerson Mnangagwa to turn around the economy.
The current administration has done its first full calendar year after the controversial election in 2018. There was a growing belief among Zanu PF supporters, with elections out of the way, President Emmerson Mnangagwa was going to exert his shrewd character to instil discipline in government and bring back normalcy into the economy.

Alongside this belief was that corruption was going to be rooted out the same way they deal with opposition activists. But the administration has proven that corruption is a much safer and thriving trade than opposition politics.

While the administration wants all and sundry to believe sanctions and opposition politics are the major impediments to our progress, it is corruption by those in power and their mismanagement of everything in government that has kept the country lagging behind.

The nature of corruption in Zimbabwe is more corrosive, dangerous and destructive than in other countries. In other countries, corrupt government officials steal and invest in their countries causing minimal capital flight.

But here, they steal and send the money out of the country, just like that person who steals the remaining mealie meal from the house and keeps it at a hungry neighbour’s place. This is how this country is being run.

Zimbabwe has never been poor in terms of natural resources. The same wealth that attracted colonialists in the late 1880s and helped them build a solid economic foundation handed over to a black administration in 1980 remains, if not increased given the new mineral discoveries.

The difference between the current and the colonialist administrations lies in that the former are intent on feeding their insatiable “tummies” while citizens and public institutions suffer.

As long as they can do so unhindered, their personal economies are thriving. It is about them. They believe poverty is an effective tool of oppression.

The colonialists, despite being foreign, believed in establishing systems and public institutions as vehicles to facilitate economic growth. They believed that the little money earned locally was the seed to invest into the economy in order to grow it.

They also believed that one way of keeping peace was to ensure that everyone feels they are benefitting or will one day benefit from their growing economy. This is why during the war of liberation, there were some among black people who believed the war was not necessary and destructive. While these voices were labelled traitors, it turns out that they were right. The nation was duped.

Enough of the illusion that this government will one day perform. Another major illusion in 2019 was the Nelson Chamisa factor. After he lost elections and the court case in 2018, there was an unfounded belief among his supporters that President Emmerson Mnangagwa must handed over power to Chamisa on the grounds that he won the elections.

Oh, what a huge fuss! Under what section in the Constitution would President Mnangagwa just wake up and call Chamisa to give him the national reigns?

The moderates from this stable of illusions believe that President Mnangagwa needed to accommodate Chamisa in his government.

This idea has also been promoted by Pentecostal prophets calling for a government of national unity. In their mode of thinking, it is not corruption and mismanagement that is causing the suffering in the Zimbabwe.

They believe that the economy is not performing because some spirits are unhappy that Chamisa is not in government. And once Chamisa is invited to be part of the government, all things will be stable, so they have preached.

There are unconfirmed reports that Chamisa also believes in this and that there will be no solution in sight unless he is either handed over power or given a role to play in government.
These reports state that this is why Chamisa has been dodging and avoiding political dialogue thinking that the spirits will make it worse, thereby arm-twisting the establishment to yield to his pressure.

Let’s hope for a better 2020 where logic prevails over beliefs and illusions. Corruption and mismanagement are our number one enemy and it is not sanctions or spirits. People in power are stealing and not building the country.

Let’s fix that. As long the situation does not improve, the government must expect opposition activists to remain in the streets and that can only be avoided by fixing the economy.
Equipping the security sector to quell dissent, without addressing the basics is not the solution. Our locally earned money is the foundation for building our economy and donor support can only complement that. Happy New Year!

AS the year of all manner of troubles and tribulations, 2019, draws to a close – and as always – all hope for better 2020 and beyond is abound.

NEWSDAY COMMENT

It is this hope that should carry us throughout every new year, but for the past two decades or so that hope for a brighter new year has faded with each passing interval as the country’s enduring political and socio-economic misfortunes have weighed down spirits. For example, this year in January Zimbabweans were greeted by a 150% fuel hike that led to deadly protests that claimed nearly two dozen innocent souls.

That incident effectively cursed 2019 and the southern African nation, which for months to follow saw it slide into a major recession characterised by serious shortages of food, fuel, cash, water and electricity among a host of other commodities and essentials that included freedom of expression and association.

Notwithstanding efforts by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to shore up the socio-economic situation, things just went from bad to worse with the ruling party and government increasingly getting wary of the possibility of civil disobedience.

Fearing a possible internal revolt, the ruling party and government have been closing up all democratic space by, for instance, stifling the opposition and civic society activities after they upped the ante on authorities to act on the flagging state of affairs.

While this is probably the only solution the ruling Zanu PF and its government have to ameliorate the situation, it would be most prudent on their part not to maintain their confrontational attitude in 2020 because this has already proved to all that hostility will not save the situation. We keep reiterating that Zimbabwe does not belong to Zanu PF and its supporters alone.

This country was won through much sacrifice by every citizen, despite Zanu PF having played a leading role mobilising the masses for a common goal, which was to unseat the racist Ian Smith regime.

But 40 years after that sacrifice it is now disheartening that the ruling party wants to monopolise the freedom that we all fought for. Frankly, it is this tendency by Zanu PF to want to dictate things — even if its policies have failed each passing year — that keep destroying hope for a better future.

We, therefore, hope and pray that in 2020 we will all treat each other as brothers and sisters, as fellow country folk because this is the only way we can all be united for a common and inclusive future. As it is, the future only belongs to only those connected to Zanu PF.

But sadly all these people will not enjoy peace as long as the majority of people are not happy with their status quo. As the nation slogs into 2020, it would be foolhardy to think that the hardships that dogged the southern African nation will be blasted away by the New Year celebration fireworks.

Far from it; already parents are cracking their heads on the future of their children, given the astronomical rise in school fees.

The country is facing a catastrophic summer cropping season after the rains stayed away during the first half of the season leading to widespread crop failure for a second year running. This means 2020 — though offering new opportunities — will likely be one hell of a hard slog.

ZIMBABWE is set for a tougher year ahead if political leaders fail to find common ground and tackle the socio-economic crisis that has left the country on a cliff-edge, observers have said.

BY MOSES MATENGA

The country witnessed one of the worst Christmas holidays in memory as many endured the day without water, electricity and cash.

Observers say Zimbabwe’s only hope was for a political solution to the crisis, starting with talks between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa.
Political analyst Alexander Rusero said 2020 would be a defining year for Zimbabwe and the political leaders must do the right thing for the country.

“2020 is a defining year on whether Zanu PF will sink itself and Zimbabwe with the crisis or whether it shall rise to the task and do what everyone expects it to do, reach out to the MDC Alliance and its leader Nelson Chamisa to map the way forward. All realities are pointing to serious negotiations and dialogue desperately needed to rescue Zimbabwe from the current precipice, regardless of pontification and bravado that Zanu PF protagonists otherwise display in public,” Rusero said.

Another analyst Phillan Zamchiya wrote that Mbeki may need to be broad in his push for talks and include civic society and the military.

“I hope when (former South African President Thabo) Mbeki completes his power analysis, he will find the wisdom to include in his dialogue framework civil society and representatives of the commissioned commanders of the Zimbabwe National Army, who wield immense power behind the scenes,” Zamchiya said.

“Most party hardliners across the MDC and Zanu PF will view leaders who compromise with mistrust in such a polarised polity. Not to compromise is seen as improving one’s political profile among die-hard members of the party. Contrary to this is that most of the general supporters who bear the day-to-day suffering of the Zanu PF misrule see democratic compromise as a source of strength, not as a sign of surrendering and signifying end-of-life.”

Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions secretary-general Japhet Moyo last week said 2019 has been tough for workers and there were no indications that 2020 would be better.

“We are not sure if the majority of workers will be able to pay their fees come January. We have already seen shocking figures coming from schools on what is going to be the fees,” he said.

Mbeki was recently in Zimbabwe to meet all political players and other stakeholders to help break the impasse.

He promised another visit before year end to try and bring the warring parties together, but ever since his departure, Mnangagwa and Chamisa have taken turns to bring lists of conditions before dialogue could commence.

The future remains bleak for university students after their fees were raised from $800 to around $12 000, far beyond the reach of many.

Many who spoke to NewsDay yesterday said there was no option, but to drop out of college.

Mnangagwa has insisted that no dialogue will be held outside the Political Actors Dialogue platform (Polad), while Chamisa has said he will never agree to join the group.

Opposition vice-president Tendai Biti said one of the biggest fights in 2020 would be to stop Zanu PF from amending the Constitution to give more power to the President.

“One of 2020’s biggest fights will be against Zanu PF’s pernicious attempts to amend the Constitution. The creation of an imperial president should be resisted. Presidential authoritarianism and first past the post has failed Africa from Togo, Kenya, Cameroon to Zambia,” he charged.

LOCAL retail giant, OK Zimbabwe has admitted to frequently increasing its prices as a result of the fall in the value of the local currency.

BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA

In the retailer’s recent financial results for the six months ended September 30, 2019, OK Zimbabwe chairman Herbert Nkala said the trading environment had become progressively more unstable towards the end of the period under review.

“The group’s stores remain reasonably stocked for the festive season and beyond. While price increases have been frequent because of the instability in the market, the group will continue in its efforts to deliver the best possible value to its stakeholders,” he said.

“The scarcity of foreign currency slowed down the importation of goods and this, combined with high prices of goods that were available, slowed down consumption, particularly in the second half of the reporting period. Resultantly, volume sales declined by 23% compared to the same period last year.”

Nkala said since the reintroduction of the Zimbabwe dollar, in June, the currency had depreciated markedly and contributed significantly to price increases in the period under review.

With the Zimbabwe dollar being the sole legal tender, businesses are increasing their prices to raise enough money to buy foreign currency to import more stock.

As a result, OK Zimbabwe’s financial performance for the period was inflationary.

Nkala said the group’s revenue for the half year improved by 237,4% to close the reporting period at $1,1 billion, having increased from $330,1 million in the comparative period.

“Profit before tax of $185 million was 1 498% up on prior year’s $11,6 million, while profit after tax increased by 1 463,5% to $131,9 million from $8,4 million in prior year. Overheads growth was restricted to 229,1% which is below the revenue growth of 237,4%,” the retail outlet chair said.

“Overheads increases were attributable to, among others, fuel for generators and vehicle fleet, repairs and maintenance costs, staff costs, bank charges, contingent rentals and interest on lease liability arising from the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standard 16 (IFRS 16), Leases.”

Nkala said the cost lines that increased most significantly were those corresponding directly with sales generated as well as those that have import components.

“Capital expenditure for the period was $51,5 million, up from $7,5 million for the comparative period as the group continued with its refurbishment programme,” he added.
Consumers have been struggling to buy from retailers as the devaluing Zimbabwe dollar has eroded disposable incomes and wages.

VICE-PRESIDENT Constantino Chiwenga is back in China for treatment just over a month after returning from the Asian country, where he underwent a life-saving operation on an undisclosed illness.

BY NQOBANI NDLOVU/PRAISEMORE SITHOLE

Chiwenga returned to Zimbabwe on November 24 after a four-month-long stay in China, where he was receiving treatment over suspected food poisoning.
The VP had also spent time in South Africa and India receiving treatment for the ailment.

Mnangagwa told congregants attending a thanksgiving and prayer day in Bulawayo yesterday that the former army general, who led a coup which toppled the late Robert Mugabe in November 2017, was back in China.

“As we pray, let us remember our Vice-President, Constantino Chiwenga in prayer, who went back to China for review,” Mnangagwa said.

Chiwenga is among a number of government officials trekking to neighbouring countries or overseas to seek medical attention following the collapse of the country’s health sector.
Doctors have also been on strike since September 2 demanding better salaries and working conditions.

The government fired 448 doctors.

Dilapidated infrastructure, lack of equipment and drugs, brain drain and inhibitive costs are some of the challenges bedevilling the health sector.

Mnangagwa also urged citizens to be united because this was key to the development of the nation.

“As Zimbabweans, we should work. After man got in touch with sin in the Bible, he was told he will eat from his sweat, so I encourage Zimbabweans to work so that we can achieve our vision,” Mnangagwa told the congregants.

The event, held under the theme Counting our Blessings: Let us, through Home-Grown Unity, Affirm Work and Pray to Achieve our National Vision, was organised by the Faith for the Nation Campaign, a group of various church denominations.

Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi said solutions to fix the nation’s problems were supposed to come from within the country.

“We will resist any solutions that come from other countries, the solutions must come from this country. We will continue to talk and emphasise the issue of dialogue, but we will, however, exclude the outsiders,” Mutendi said.

THE United States Agency for International Development food security department, FEWS NET, says typical livelihoods for this time of year are being severely impacted by the negative macroeconomic environment.

BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA

In its new food security update, FEWS NET reported that the macroeconomic environment has continued to witness food bartering in some communities as most villagers struggle for cash.

“Typical livelihood activities for this time of the year are severely being impacted by the negative macroeconomic environment, last season’s below normal harvests and poor progression of the 2019/20 rainfall season. On- and off-farm cash and in-kind casual labour opportunities are very limited and payment rates are below normal, taking away a significant seasonal income source,” part of the update reads.

“Petty trade has increased. However, household incomes are very low and unpredictable due to poor demand as a result of poor disposable incomes on the markets. Bartering for grain or other basic food commodities is being reported in some communities, involving, for instance, livestock (large and small), household assets and garden produce. Some household members are migrating for labour as a coping strategy to purchase food and other basic needs.”

This comes as FEWS NET has noted continued inflationary pressures as prices of most goods and services further increase, some in United States dollar terms, as the end of 2019 approaches.

“The new Zimbabwe dollar (ZWL) notes and coins as well as bond notes and coins remain in short supply in the formal markets. Parallel market exchange rates and interbank market rates for the US dollar increased by about 10% in December from the November rates, averaging ZWL$21 and ZWL$16,5 (electronic or mobile transfers) to the US dollar, respectively,” part of the update further reads.

“The (Zimbabwe dollar) in the parallel market is selling between 40% and 55%, affecting most poor households whose incomes are very low and quickly depreciating.
The demand for cash is high as cash payments for goods and services are generally cheaper than electronic and mobile money payments (especially in the informal markets).”

According to the food security department, some goods and services are only available for cash, despite its scarcity.

Meanwhile, coins that are less than $1 are increasingly being rejected in the formal and informal markets as inflation increases.

“Fuel and electricity shortages continue, contributing to the high pricing of goods and services. The government re-introduced the maize meal subsidy in early December following the near doubling of prices at the end of November after the government had indicated plans to remove the subsidy starting January 2020,” FEWS NET
said.
“Though some outlets have reduced maize meal prices, others have not yet done so in response. Maize meal shortages are being reported across most markets following the announcement to remove the maize grain subsidy.”

As a result, FEWS NET reported that most markets are without maize grain at a time imports are slow as a result of foreign currency shortages.

In its outlook, FEWS NET said some poor households will experience challenges accessing food due to significantly below average incomes.

Two weeks ago, the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme (WFP) in Zimbabwe completed its last cash distribution of 2019, which supported some 19 000 vulnerable residents in Harare’s dormitory town of Epworth.

According to WFP, 2,2 million people of the eight million who are facing severe hunger live in urban areas, which is why for the first time the UN agency is disbursing cash to urban areas.

“WFP’s revised emergency response plan hopes to provide mobile cash transfers to 200 000 of them. Currently, funding for 100 000 has been secured. WFP is seeking funds to assist an additional 100 000 people,” WFP said in a statement.

The funding is coming from the UK’s Department for International Development and the European Union’s branch of European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.

THE Parliament of Zimbabwe sessions in 2019 were chaotic and less productive due to continuous electioneering mode by MPs, and partisan interests taking precedence over serious issues affecting the suffering Zimbabweans, who live on less than US$1 per day.

While Parliaments the world over have spats that turn nasty along political lines, in Zimbabwe, the economy in comatose, people expect Parliament to be more proactive in suggesting solutions to the country’s economic malaise.

Despite MPs lacking industriousness in 2019, they, however, successfully lobbied for an increase to their sitting allowances from $75 to $700 per sitting.

The lowest paid civil servant earns $1 000, so by Zimbabwean standards, their $700 per sitting allowance is quite a lot for MPs who spent time squabbling throughout 2019.

Death threats at Mines Committee

The worst squabble of 2019 in Parliament was by members of the Mines Portfolio Committee.

MPs were captured on video threatening each other with death. The video circulated worldwide.

The embarrassing scenes happened in February when MPs from the Mines Portfolio Committee nearly engaged in a fist fight, quarrelled in front of acting Mines minister Joram Gumbo and other mining officials, traded very damaging insults and death threats over the Hwange Colliery Company Limited alleged $400 000 bribe scandal.

Chegutu West MP Dextor Nduna (Zanu PF) traded barbs with Norton MP Temba Mliswa (independent) and they nearly went into a fist fight as he threatened Mliswa after he (Mliswa) alleged that Nduna was involved in an $11 million Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) scam when he was Transport Portfolio Committee chairperson during the Eighth Parliament.
In his threats to Mliswa, Nduna claimed that he had murdered people before.

“Don’t call me a thief, I am saying this for the last time, don’t call me a thief, I have people who I killed who I don’t even know,” he said.

Before Nduna threatened Mliswa, there was also trading of barbs between Chiredzi North MP Royi Bhila (Zanu PF) and Mliswa.

Bhila had suggested that Mliswa be recused as chairperson of the Mines Committee.

Bhila’s suggestion angered Mliswa, who hit back by referring to him as “dull”, adding that he was hallucinating because he (Bhila) did not take his anti-retroviral medication.

This incident cost Mliswa his chairmanship of the Mines Portfolio Committee. Nduna was also removed from sitting as a member of the Mines Committee.

Analysts viewed this as a ploy by Zanu PF to disrupt sittings of the Mines Committee during the chairpersonship of Mliswa, who was exposing bigwigs by investigating the diamonds saga and the Hwange Colliery saga.

MDC Alliance snubbing of Presidential addresses

The hostilities between Zanu PF and MDC that ended up disturbing the committee sittings began during the official opening of the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament in October 2019 when the opposition refused to recognise President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

As per Parliament decorum, they did not stand up as Mnangagwa’s procession walked into the House. As soon as the President began to deliver his State of the Nation Address (SONA), they walked out as a show of disdain towards him.

This was purely a political decision by the MDC which was decided during their congress that they will not recognise Mnangagwa as President.

It was based on the premise that they felt he stole the 2018 elections from their party president Nelson Chamisa. MPs from the MDC where then whipped into snubbing Mnangagwa’s addresses in Parliament.

To punish them, Speaker of the National Assembly, Jacob Mudenda then made a ruling that Finance minister Mthuli Ncube must not pay the opposition legislators five months’ worth of sitting allowances.

This translated to the opposition MPs losing almost $15 000 each.

This ruling has been challenged in the courts by the opposition. However, to add fuel to the fire, Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi then refused to take questions from opposition MPs in Parliament, which further derailed progress in debates in the House and affected questions time.

However, for progress’ sake, Ziyambi later allowed MDC MPs to pose questions to ministers during question-and-answer sessions.

Portfolio and Thematic Committee disruptions

Parliamentary committees were in different stages of investigating different malpractices by government departments as part of their oversight roles when they were disrupted by Zanu PF and MDC political squabbles pertaining to the opposition’s refusal to recognise Mnangagwa as President.

Of note was the disruption of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) led by Harare East MP Tendai Biti, which undertook an investigation into the 2017/18 Auditor-General’s audit report on the Ministry of Finance, which misappropriated billions of dollars without Parliament’s approval.

The other notable investigation by PAC was on Zinara’s malpractices pertaining to ignoring tender procedures and poor crafting of contracts which cost the company millions of dollars.

All these investigations were derailed due to Zanu PF and MDC’s political squabbles. Zanu PF then decided to hit back at the MDC by disrupting portfolio and thematic committees chaired by the main opposition.

On November 22, the ploy by Zanu PF to disrupt committees chaired by MDC Alliance legislators was successfully implemented by Nduna, assisted by Mberengwa North MP Tafanana Zhou (Zanu PF).

The two disrupted the PAC meeting which had summoned Fertiliser, Seed Grain boss Steve Morland, Croco Motors and Pedistock bosses to give oral evidence on how they benefited from the Command Agriculture and Presidential Input Scheme funding programmes.

Nduna and Zhou were in 2018 also instrumental in disrupting the sitting of the Mines Committee when it was investigating the mismanagement of the Hwange Colliery Company. The committee was then disbanded.

Nduna and Zhou did not allow Morland to finish his oral evidence before PAC as they demanded that Biti and MDC legislators must first recognise Mnangagwa as President of the country.
Disruptions of sittings by Zanu PF MPs then permeated to other committees chaired by the opposition, such as the Environment Portfolio Committee, Health Portfolio Committee, Energy Portfolio Committee, Information and Media Portfolio Committee and the HIV/Aids Thematic Committee.

The disruptions were at times done in the presence of witnesses. Some of the witnesses would have travelled long distances to avail themselves for questioning in Parliament, but had to be turned back due to the MPs’ squabbles.

Waste of taxpayers’ money

The disruptions have cost taxpayers as MPs travel to Harare and are booked at hotels for Parliament sittings. They also draw allowances for attending committee meetings.

Many witnesses had travelled to Harare at their expense to avail themselves to give oral evidence before committees, but were turned away after MPs began to shout at each other.

Independent power producers from different parts of the country were some of those who availed themselves before the Energy Committee, but they were turned away due to the MPs’ squabbles.

Generally, before the squabbling began, the MPs were well behaved during committee sittings and would grill witnesses without taking a partisan stance. At committee meetings, MPs have been very vibrant than during sittings of the House.

Infamous rulings on the opposition by the Speaker

After the main opposition continued to walk out or snub Mnangagwa whenever he availed himself before Parliament and Mudenda made a ruling to cut MDC Alliance MPs’ sitting allowances for five months, the Standing Rules and Orders Committee then instituted a nine-member Privileges Committee made up of eight Zanu PF MPs and one MDC-T MP Priscilla Misihairabwi Mushonga (proportional representative), who, however, refused to be part of the committee to investigate the MDC Alliance MPs for snubbing Mnangagwa. The committee is now composed of eight Zanu PF legislators only.

The MDC Alliance on December 17 then confronted the Speaker of the National Assembly Mudenda in the House and accused him of being biased in favour of Zanu PF legislators in his rulings, which have been very hard-hitting on opposition MPs.

Nkulumane MP Kucaca Phulu (MDC Alliance) bluntly told Mudenda that he would not be subjected to appear before a privileges committee set up to investigate MDC MPs for snubbing and walking out on Mnangagwa because the committee was unfairly made up of Zanu PF MPs.

Mutare Central MP Innocent Gonese (MDC Alliance) accused Mudenda of bias, saying: “I will refer to Parliament conventions, practices and procedures that when a person occupies the office of Chair, Speaker or President, that person — for the duration or period they are in occupation of that office, is supposed to be impartial. I am making this point as I feel that my rights are infringed in the manner that the Chair has been responding to issues with bias in favour of ruling party MPs.”

Mudenda responded: “Let me remind you that I and my team of presiding officers have to observe balance in this House, where the ratio is 3:1. On a more serious note, we need to observe that ratio. You must understand the numerical ratios. You must know that when you have four wives, there is a senior wife and three others. Polygamy is a problem.”

Bills

While MPs have been squabbling a lot, they were serious in terms of crafting of Bills and they contributed immensely. However, not all MPs are vocal in the House. One can say that almost the same MPs who are vocal have been contributing to debate on motions and Bills while the rest are just bench warmers.

Dzivarasekwa MP Edwin Mushoriwa (MDC Alliance) can be credited for being very vocal during debate on the 2020 budget, whereby he scrutinised different clauses. That is not to, however, say that other MPs did not take part in the budget debate, but Mushoriwa showed commitment to his duties of budget oversight as an MP.

Most Bills brought before Parliament for scrutiny by MPs in 2019 were to do with aligning laws to the Constitution. MPs were very industrious in crafting of Bills in both Houses.
Some of the laws that are in different stages of being crafted include the Freedom of Information Bill, Marriages Bill, International Treaties Bill, Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Bill, Constitutional Court Bill, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Amendment Bill, which was later withdrawn and the Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill.

Motions

On debate on motions, the performance of MPs in 2019 was very disappointing. For instance, the National Assembly Order Paper was awash with several new motions that MPs moved that they would introduce in the House, but they were never introduced, while in most cases, the House adjourned by 5pm.

Most of these motions that were never discussed were supposed to discuss the economic problems affecting the country.

The motion that was extensively discussed was one in reply to the Presidential Speech during the official opening of the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament and the SONA. This motion was debated by Zanu PF MPs in the National Assembly and the Senate.

Disappointingly, the quality of debates to this motion was largely poor because of ruling party MPs’ tendency to sing praises only to the President without meaningfully scrutinising his speech.

The MDC Alliance snubbed debate on the Presidential address. However, although they also did not attend the 2020 National Budget presentation, they attended the Victoria Falls jaunt, where MPs were booked at the luxurious Elephant Hills Hotel, which costs US$248 per night and they dined with Zanu PF MPs during the pre-budget seminar.

Gender-based violence (GBV) rampant in Parliament

During Parliament sittings, some of the remarks by male MPs have been quite distasteful, particularly pertaining to degrading females in Parliament by labelling them prostitutes.

There are some Zanu PF legislators who sit at the very far back benches in the National Assembly who have been identified by female MPs as notorious for the labelling female MPs as prostitutes.

The worst affected female MPs who have suffered GBV attacks in Parliament include Jasmine Toffa (MDC Alliance Proportional Representation), the youngest legislator Joanna Mamombe (Harare West) and MDC vice-president Lynette Karenyi.

The identified male MPs who have said unprintable words disgracing these women include Zanu PF legislators Tafanana Zhou (Mberengwa North) and John Paradza (Gutu West).
On December 6, Chirumanzu MP Barbara Rwodzi, seconded by Toffa, raised the issue of GBV in Parliament to deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Tsitsi Gezi.

“Women in this Parliament are now becoming unproductive due to GBV suffered here and, as such, we ask your office to protect us and take stern measures against all male MPs that use verbal GBV against us,” Rwodzi

said.
Toffa added: “For example, there is an incident happening to myself whereby last week in the presence of the Justice minister Ziyambi, an MP abused me and he shouted alleging that my man was snatched from me by Mamombe. As I speak, I am actually looking at those MPs. It ends up attacking the confidence of female MPs.”

FINANCE minister Mthuli Ncube says Zimbabwe’s agriculture must be climate proofed so that it depends more on irrigation than weather patterns.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

Ncube said this recently in the Senate during debate on the Finance (No. 3 Bill) on the 2020 budget.

He said in order to climate proof agriculture, there was need to invest more on irrigation, adding that a budget of $500 million was allocated towards that. In 2020, Ncube allocated $11,3 billion towards agriculture.

“We have set aside a budget of the order of $500 million for irrigation because we wish to climate proof our agriculture,” Ncube said.

“We have also set aside a budget of the order of $250 million to deal with dam construction, but also to acquire meteorological equipment for us to track weather patterns. Everyone knows that the drought has been severe and it has depressed agriculture by as much as 18% of gross domestic product (GDP) and overall GDP of minus 6,5%,” he said.

The Finance minister said financing agriculture could be through partnering with banks, and also crowd sourcing in the private sector.

“To achieve this we need to deal with the issue of the 99-year leases which have not been accepted by banks,” he said.

Rejoice Timire (Senator representing people with disabilities) then asked Ncube to explain what he will do to ensure that there is enough water in the country to support agriculture.
“Dams are a long term relief to irrigation, but Zimbabwean people are suffering because there is no water. Women are suffering because they are getting water from faraway places. Even in urban areas there are long queues of people trying to look for water,” Timire said.

Ncube said to alleviate water problems, the 2020 budget allocates $233 million to the District Development Fund (DDF) for the purpose of drilling boreholes, mainly in the rural areas.
“We have another budget for about $45 million for the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) to do likewise because they have different capacities. Zinwa is capacitated to drill deeper boreholes, especially in the drier areas, but we are aware that the Chinese have also given us aid for drilling boreholes where they pay contractors to drill boreholes,” he said.

On perennial water crisis in the urban areas, Ncube said: “In the budget we have allocated resources for chemicals and for upgrading the infrastructure in the urban areas,” adding that some of the devolution resources must focus on funding water and sanitation.

A POLICE officer was on Saturday bludgeoned to death, while his colleague was injured in an attack by machete-wielding artisanal miners who had invaded Good Hope Mine in Kadoma.

BY SIMBARASHE SITHOLE

Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said they were still investigating the incident. “We are still gathering facts surrounding the case,” he said.

According to a leaked Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) memorandum seen by NewsDay, Constable Wonder Hokoyo (27) fell victim to the machete wars on December 28.

Hokoyo was among four officers guarding the mine and were armed with two FN riffles, but were over powered by the gold panners who were armed with axes and machetes.

Three suspects only identified as Mike, Kwedaz and Givy were apprehended while other miners are still at large.

“On December 28 at around 1400 hours, the accused persons, with many others who are still at large, proceeded to the vicinity armed with machetes, catapults and axes and forcefully took control of the mine shafts there by dispersing the genuine miners who were extracting gold ore,” the memo read.

“The police details reacted to the accused persons approach and fired some warning shots into the air to scare away the accused persons, but they did not take heed, instead the accused persons advanced towards the police in a bid to attack.

“One of the accused persons attacked Constable Hokoyo from behind and struck him once at the back of the head using a (wood) log and disarmed him leaving the police officer with no option rather than (sic) to escape from the attack.”

The memo further read: “The accused disarmed Constable Kamhuka before he escaped from the scene after being assaulted all over the body, the rest of the police officers managed to escape after noticing that their lives were under threat.

“The accused made a frantic chase to (sic) Constable Hokoyo and struck him all over his body using machetes and axes leaving him lying lifeless, Constable Hokoyo later died due to injuries sustained as a result of the attack (sic).”

The matter was reported at Battlefields Police Station under RRB number 41295128. Constable Kamhuka is currently admitted at Kadoma hospital.

Mashonaland West police spokesperson Inspector Clemence Mabweazara could not be reached for comment.

The memo also states that former legislator for Muzvezve Constituency Peter Haritatos, who is the owner of Brompton Mine, Battlefieds Kadoma gave mining claims to Zanu PF provincial secretary for Mashonaland West Philmon Ndushu in 2010. The claims include Maglass, Goodhope, Alexander, Musakanene, Moddi, Ngangana, Bongola and Copper mines.

Since August, over 105 people have died in machete wars.

The majority of the machete hit squads, infamously known as MaShurugwi and the Al-Shabaab, come from President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s home province of Midlands and have invaded claims in Mashonaland Central, West, Matabeleland provinces and Manicaland to terrorise locals.