LORRAINE MUROMO/TAFADZWA MHLANGA

THE Dutch embassy has urged government to ensure transparency and policy consistency, especially on land to encourage more local small-scale farmers to venture into horticulture farming.

Speaking at a media briefing in the capital yesterday, Dutch ambassador to Zimbabwe, Barbara Van Hellemond said government should introduce more security on 99-year land leases.

“We will keep pushing the Zimbabwean government for progress on the 99-year bankable leases, a new land governance policy and respect of property rights in all of Zimbabwe.”

Hellemond encouraged the government to create a politically and economically conducive environment to fully revive the agricultural sector to its fullest potential.

She added that the fair practice of transparent making and execution of these policies will attract Dutch investors in the future.

In a joint statement, Zimtrade and PUM also said the horticulture project will be replicated all over the country.

“The role of the Zimbabwean government is to assure consistent policymaking and transparency execution of policies so that the initiative will come to life. It is important that government supports and makes sure that the farmers will know that they own the land.”

“The project, which will be replicated in other provinces across the country is designed to improve market access for small-scale farmers to grow their contribution towards export earnings,”

‘‘The MoU will cover collaboration on infrastructure, improvement on identified farms, technical skills development, logistics management and market development,” the statement read.

It will also cover the diversification of horticulture export products. The Netherlands government will spearhead and finance the project.

The two companies said under the four-year pilot project, three model farms will be capacitated to onboard small-scale farmers as their out-growers.

Netherlands is highly dependent on horticulture and has reduced the use of water by 90% and it has almost stopped the use of pesticides in its greenhouses.

Despite the country being 10% the size of Zimbabwe, Netherlands is the second biggest exporter after United States and it exports 65 billion Euros worth of vegetables, fruits, flowers, meat and dairy products each year.

It is estimated that 10% of its GDP is generated from agriculture.

Dutch organisation, PUM has organised business linkages for local and Dutch farmers in a bid to increase exports from Zimbabwe to the Netherlands.

BY MOSES MATENGA/RICHARD MUPONDE/NQOBANI NDLOVU

THE opposition MDC is ganging up with citizens, civic society, churches and labour to launch a spirited campaign to remove President Emmerson Mnangagwa from power through an initiative they say will be driven by Zimbabweans hard-pressed by the economic and political crisis in the country, it has emerged.

Impeccable sources said the campaign has gathered momentum and the MDC has dropped its dialogue calls with Zanu PF to end the economic and political logjam and were now going for a push led by citizens.

In separate briefings by the opposition, labour and civic society over the weekend, meetings have since been rolled out and the next action to happen will be coming from the people.

“You will not hear us talking about dialogue. That time is over and we now want to takeover,” a source close to the developments said.

“We are for the convergence platform, a citizen-based initiative with the MDC also part of that because they remain the biggest opposition political party in Zimbabwe and have the people.

“The initiative is by the people and it should belong to the citizens, the churches, labour and everyone. It’s about citizen issues. There are citizens in Zanu PF affected by the current situation, there are citizens everywhere affected by this and this kind of platform is needed.”

Another source said the platform would soon be rolled out and would include prayer sessions across the country, civil disobedience, peaceful protests in Mnangagwa’s presence and solid engagement with the international community.

“This is no longer an MDC struggle. It is now the people’s struggle. No one has not been affected by this dictatorship, the traditional leadership, journalists, comedians,” the source said.

MDC national chairperson Thabitha Khumalo yesterday said citizens in Zimbabwe and Africa had reached a point of saying “enough is enough”.

“If you look at the trend, citizens, global citizens or African citizens, have reached a stage where they have said to themselves if we don’t do anything we die, we do something we die,” she said.

“So they have taken it upon themselves to demand democracy from governments that are ruling them. So Sadc and the African Union sooner or later, the countries that are members of these institutions, their citizens will reach a stage where they will stand up and say no.

“It’s a matter of time, let’s give it time. Things are going to change and these regional and international statutory bodies where our governments are members will smell the coffee.

This time around, it will not be from individual opposition parties, but it will be from African citizens and their own citizens in their own countries.”

Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo dismissed Khumalo as a dreamer who was unfit to lead the country.

“As a party, we believe in the rule of law, not lawlessness and anarchy. If that’s what she is encouraging, she can as well leave politics to those who mean well to the people of this country. We are not going to be led by a dreamer,” he said.

Information deputy minister Energy Mutodi said government would deal with “anarchists” and those working to destabilise the country through whatever means.

“A civic movement or a civic society demonstration must have roots in the whole population of Zimbabwe. If it is being originated or sponsored or promoted by certain power-hungry people who are calling themselves presidents when they are not presidents, who have unbridled ambitions without grassroot support, it remains a futile exercise, it remains a non-event, and it remains a nullity,” he said.

“We need to realise that government is not a child play. If anyone wants to take the law into their own hands, and engage in violent activities to disturb government, the law will take its course. Even if they are leaders of political parties or whatever, the law will be applied. My only advice is this is the last warning and we are working tirelessly to ensure government is not disturbed throughout its five-year mandate.”

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said they had not heard any plot to that effect and, therefore, could not comment.

Political analyst Ibbo Mandaza said Zimbabwe was crying out loud for change.

“It is back to the drawing board. That is why we are talking about a national dialogue and my position has always been about a national transitional authority,” he said.

“The current establishment has no capacity to turn things around. The last election was invalid and there is need for a return to constitutionality and political, electoral and economic reforms before the next elections.”

Mandaza said the proposed National Convergence Platform (NCP) would be launched on December 13 in Harare.

Zimbabwe Council of Churches programmes manager Tinashe Gumbo said they were consulting stakeholders in Chinhoyi, Marondera, Bindura and Harare ahead of the NCP signing ceremony.

BY MOSES MATENGA

THE ruling Zanu PF party is one of City of Harare’s biggest debtors and owes the MDC-dominated local authority more than $1,2 million in unpaid rates, NewsDay has learnt.

Other debtors who owe the local authority huge amounts are the Walter Magaya-led Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries Church, which is yet to pay close to $400 million, the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport ($101 250 000), the National Social Security Authority (NSSA), Norton Town Council, Chitungwiza Urban Council and the National Railways of Zimbabwe — whose total debt adds up to more than $2 million.

A debtors’ list seen by NewsDay shows that Zanu PF’s holding company M&S Syndicate (Pvt) Limited, owed the local authority $1 189 768,30 in unpaid water bills at the 15-storey building located in the capital.

Zanu PF national secretary for administration Obert Mpofu said just like any other utility, the party was bound to have debts and urged council to “remind the party” of its obligations.

“They should approach the party. Like any other utility, we have to meet our obligations, but if we are not reminded about that, it is difficult to do anything. We are just users of their services like any other utility and if they want to be paid, they should approach us,” he said.

Ironically, Zanu PF has been at the forefront of accusing the local authority of failing to provide services that include potable water, quality roads and refuse collection, among others.

Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga recently castigated the MDC-dominated council of failure, saying it had done nothing for the people since coming into office.

His comments last week drew the ire of the MDC, who accused the Vice-President of being out of touch with reality.

Among the 500 debtors is Chitungwiza Town Council, which owes the local authority $414 292 856,77, with Norton Town Council coming third, owing the local authority close to $4 million.
Government entities which include NSSA and NRZ and Telecel are also owing the city millions of dollars.

Other firms that owe the local authority include Zupco, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, Crest Breeders, Irvine’s Day-Old Chicks, Simon Muzenda Housing Co-operative and Caps (Pvt) Ltd.

The District Development Fund is also part of the debtors, together with the Forestry Commission, Amalgamated Motor Corporation, TN Harlequin Luxaire t/a TN Bank Mall Nelson Mandela.

Harare is owed more than $1 billion by business, government and residents and has been battling to deliver services in the city due to the ballooning debt.

Ahead of the 2013 harmonised elections and as part Zanu PF’s political campaign strategy, the then President, the late Robert Mugabe, instructed then Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo to write off millions of dollars in debt owed to local authorities.

The move was widely viewed as populist and crippled the country’s local authorities, which have since failed to recover from that heavy knock.

editorial comment

Indications by Zanu PF secretary for administration Obert Mpofu that the party was considering tampering with the national Constitution to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s tenure beyond the stipulated two five-year terms is a clear demonstration that there is no appetite within the ruling party to break from its dark past.

The ruling party should actually be pushing for a culture of leadership renewal rather than use the governance charter to serve individual interests at the expense of the good of the nation. This is similar to what we witnessed with the late former President Robert Mugabe who eventually had to be forced out through the barrel of the gun after 37 years in power. This seems to be a vicious cycle that Zanu PF is too keen to repeat. The party needs to discard its culture of turning leaders into demi-gods and ensure that presidents come and go regularly as happens in other normal democracies.

The fact that Zanu PF has got a two-thirds majority in Parliament should not be used to tamper with the Constitution at their whim because that is akin to abusing their majority in Parliament. Doing so is a demonstration that they clearly have no regard for the people who voted for that Constitution during the referendum. In fact, this defeats that democratic process through which governance charters are crafted.

While everyone appreciates that Zanu PF can use its parliamentary majority to change the Constitution, doing so at their whim will only portray them as a dictatorial party that has no interests of the population at heart, but is just there to serve its parochial interests of hanging on to power at all costs, regardless of their gross failure to fulfil promises which they made during the last elections.

Quite clearly, some in Zanu PF have a nauseating sense of self-entitlement that makes them behave and act as if Zimbabwe is their party property. This kind of behaviour does not make them appeal even to neutrals who may consider voting for them in future. All it does is portray them as a power-mongering party lacking a democratic culture through which new leaders are raised and given the opportunity to lead.

Mnangagwa once he has done his two terms if voted back in 2023, he should feel obliged to make way for a new leader. This is the only way he can prove to the nation that he has indeed broken away from Mugabeism. But as of now, all the signs are there that he was raised in Mugabe’s shadow, and has just continued from where his late predecessor left. There is nothing new. In fact, many Zimbabweans are of the belief that they are now worse off than they ever were under Mugabe. Make no mistake, Mugabe destroyed the country due to his prolonged and aimless stay in power and this could result in any new government taking longer to reverse the late former President’s effects of misrule. Therefore, Mnangagwa must be smarter if he is to turnaround the economic fortunes of the country by embracing and entrenching democratic tenets in all spheres including in his Zanu PF party.

BY SIMBARASHE SITHOLE

A CHEEKY 19-year-old Bindura tout was yesterday fined $400 for mounting an unlawful roadblock to stop commuter omnibuses from operating after a fellow tout had died.

Kudakwashe Rwodzi forced passengers to disembark from kombis and later drove one of the vehicles to the funeral of his late colleague, only identified as Courage. The court heard that Rwodzi stole $420 from the vehicle.

Bindura provincial magistrate Tinashe Ndokera ordered Rwodzi to pay $400 fine, failing which he would serve a 30-day jail term.

Another 30-day imprisonment sentence was wholly suspended on condition he restitutes the stolen $420.

The court heard that on October 15 this year, Rwodzi and his three accomplices, who are still at large, ordered all kombis in the town to stop operating in honour of their fallen
colleague.

The quartet conducted an unlawful roadblock and directed all kombis to the funeral.

A driver, Takudzwa Makunde, drove to the roadblock and was ordered to reimburse passengers’ money and drive to the funeral, but he refused and he was assaulted by the quartet using open hands. Passengers disembarked and Rwodzi drove the kombi to the funeral before stealing $420 which was stashed in the dashboard.

Makunde called the commuter omnibus owner and together they searched for the vehicle and found it parked at the funeral, with the money missing.

A police report led to Rwodzi’s arrest. Vincent Marunya represented the State.

BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA

AS the 2019 league title race reaches a tipping point, the Premier Soccer League (PSL) has postponed the weekend games to next week to accommodate defending champions FC Platinum who are involved in the Caf African Champions League.

Log leaders Caps United are involved in a fierce tussle for the championship with FC Platinum and third-placed Chicken Inn with just two rounds of matches left in the campaign.

The Harare giants lead the table with 58 points, two ahead of closest challengers FC Platinum, while Chicken Inn are on 53 points.

FC Platinum will play Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia in the Caf Champions League group stage match on Saturday and the PSL has scheduled the league matches only after the weekend so that title-chasers’ matches will kick-off at the same time.

“With FC Platinum playing in the Caf Champions League this weekend, we decided to postpone the matches so that the teams, especially those fighting for the championship play at the same time. We want to make sure no one is disadvantage,” PSL spokesperson Kudzai Bare said.

Caps United’s match against Ngezi Platinum Stars scheduled for Saturday in Mhondo-Ngezi will now be played next week. The Green Machine will then round off the campaign with a home clash against defending champions FC Platinum – a match which could turn out to be the title decider.

FC Platinum will face off army side Black Rhinos before a potentially explosive encounter with the current log leaders.

Chicken Inn, still smarting from a shock 3-1 defeat to city rivals Bulawayo Chiefs, travel to Harare to face Herentals.

The Students, as they are affectionately known, are still battling for survival, sitting on sixth position from the bottom with 38 points. They desperately need a victory to be sure of safety.

The GameCocks will then wind off their league programme with a home clash against TelOne who are also fighting for dear life.

Caps look poised to win the championship for the second time in four years after they lifted it in 2016 under the guidance of Lloyd Chitembwe.

Should they go on to win it as is highly likely, it will be a major milestone for coach Darlington Dodo as it will be his first championship in the top-flight league.

BY NHAU MANGIRAZI

Local Government principal director Erica Jones on Thursday barred Karoi Town Council housing director Sibongile Mujuruki from entering the local authority’s premises until she is cleared of abuse of office allegations being levelled against her.

Mujuruki, who was on November 19 officially sent on leave by town secretary Wellington Mutikani, had reportedly continued reporting for duty and was at one time seen burning some documents believed to be containing incriminating evidence against her.

The housing director and other officials are being probed following an internal audit that exposed dodgy stands deals conducted by the housing department.

Council chairperson Abel Matsika confirmed that Mujuruki surrendered her office keys on Thursday following Jones’ directive.

“It is true that there was official communication from the ministry that Mujuruki must not be coming to work after she was officially told to go on two months leave pending investigations,” Matsika said.

According to sources, Karoi town councillors sought the district co-ordinator’s assistance to bar Mujuruki from her office.

“This has been a major concern. After town secretary Mutikani gave her a letter to go on leave, she has been coming to work as usual. However, director Jones gave a directive to stop this through an email to Mutikani on Thursday. He was given a directive that Mujuruki must surrender her office keys forthwith as she has been dragging her feet to leave office putting council operations into disrepute after she was given the letter to go on leave,” a source privy to the goings-on
said.

Mujuruki is among some top officials under the spotlight since July this year after Auditor-General Mildred Chiri revealed that Karoi Town Council had no housing database, while State obligations for payments were not being done on time, fuelling
corruption.

Karoi residents have also been complaining over delays in releasing a report produced by a five-member government probe team deployed in July to investigate council rot.

BY PATRICIA SIBANDA

Zanu PF in Bulawayo has kick-started fundraising activities for the party’s annual conference, with the province expected to contribute $500 000 towards the event to be held at Goromonzi High School, Mashonaland East, next week.

Central committee member and chairperson for the fundraising committee in Bulawayo, Charles Chiponda last week said they were making efforts to raise their portion.

The conference budget was initially pegged at $3m for the 7 000 delegates.

“Our budget (Bulawayo) for the conference sits at half a million dollars. Not all members of the party to be there, but a few selected ones will attend the conference. We are looking forward to having 7 000 delegates from all provinces in the country,” he said.

Chiponda said they would host a fundraising event this week at a venue yet to be announced.

“The fundraising event will be on the first Friday of December and everyone is invited including the Press,” he said.

“We are quite happy with the response from Bulawayo province because they have contributed an outstanding 30 to 40% of the budget we are expecting. We would really appreciate if there are any well-wishers to contribute in cash or kind — food for the delegates,” Chiponda said.

Fundraising committee spokesperson, Khumbulani Mpofu said it was traditional that all the provinces contribute towards the conference.

“All the provinces have to give something every year and remember we are having 7 000 delegates from all provinces. This is not new because we always do these fundraising events,” Mpofu said.

BY TAFADZWA MHLANGA

GOVERNMENT has issued yet another $300 million Treasury Bill (TB) tender to mobilise funds for its programmes, a development likely to further increase money supply in the market.

With government planning on increasing its expenditure by nearly 143% to $63,6 billion next year from an estimated $26,2 billion this year, Treasury is under pressure to fund its budget as it aims for a 3% recovery growth next year.

The latest TB tender is the 10th to be issued ever since the re-introduction of the TB auction system with an estimated $1,7 billion tendered from July to date.

“The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) on behalf of the government of Zimbabwe hereby invites commercial banks, building societies, Peoples Own Savings Bank and Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe to subscribe to a government Treasury Bill tender amounting to three hundred million dollars
($300 000 000),” part of the RBZ notice reads.

Applications must be for a minimum amount of $1 million, with the number of bids per investor restricted to two.

The offer opens today.

However, this has raised fears that the increase in TB issuances could increase domestic debt from just under $8 billion.

Government has used TBs and the RBZ’s overdraft facility to fund its ballooning expenditure which has increased domestic debt.

From 2016 to 2018, TBs grew to nearly US$8 billion during the multi-currency regime, at least 85% of the domestic debt of US$9,6 billion debt as at the end of last year.

After government reintroduced the Zimbabwe dollar as the sole legal tender in June, the authorities effectively wiped about US$7 billion through the conversion of the United States dollar debt into the local currency.

Financial expert Persistence Gwanyanya said: “Government is already in deficit on its 2020 budget and it has created an overdraft window to the RBZ. If the TBs will not be able to cover the debt, then the government is in trouble because the debt will be out of control. Government will then be forced to print more money, then that’s when the money supply will increase.

“If the $2 billion matures, they will be rolling over the maturing bill and it has no significant impact on inflation. These TBs only have impact on the government’s debt. What needs to be done is to manage the money supply against the debt government has.”

Despite the central bank moving to an auction system for TBs to control their issuance, most of these auctions have been held in secrecy.

Research economist Prosper Chitambara warned government to exercise discipline in the issuance of TBs to avoid increasing money supply which might lead to another episode of hyperinflation when the economy is set to contract.

DONNING a blue work suit, matching helmet and cement-spattered gumboots, 32-year-old Mateline Mangari heaved a wheelbarrow of bricks over the deep mud cratering the building site.

One of two women working alongside a dozen men, Mangari could barely cross the site, a scrap of land near Chegutu, a farming town in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West province. Accounting had never prepared her for this.

“I have no choice,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“I have looked everywhere for employment and failed to find any befitting job. So I settled for this construction job after a short course as a brick layer at a local vocational training centre,” said Mangari, a trained accountant.

She is one of millions of women taking on the hard, physical jobs once associated with men as traditions break under the strain of a failing economy and working men have migrated elsewhere.
Building was the only way Mangari could weave a way through Zimbabwe’s chaotic economy and eke out a basic living.

A third of the nation’s 300 000 construction workers are now women, says the Zimbabwe Building Contractors’ Association.

Mangari’s only other female colleague on the Chegutu site, 24-year-old Thandi Sibalo, became a labourer two years ago when she felt death had left her with no other option.

“While I was in college, training to become a teacher, I lost my parents and my husband in a horrific road accident,” she said. “My husband was responsible for my college fees, so his death shattered my dream — and that’s why I’m here.”

Two decades after farm grabs slashed agricultural output and sent investors packing, the country’s official unemployment rate topped 80%. In response, men chased opportunities across the border, leaving women to pick up the slack at home.

“They (men) migrated in their millions to … work as labourers on thriving farms in neighbouring countries like South Africa and Zambia,” labour relations expert Denford Hwangwa, who works for the government, said.

“Women left behind by their migrating husbands have had to fill up the gaps,” he added.
Making ends meet is hard in a country where inflation hovers near 300%, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Food prices routinely jump, shortages are rife and opportunities few. Incessant power cuts have cost manufacturers more than $200 million in lost production since June, according to the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries and Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, darkening the bleak jobs picture.
Genie out of the bottle

The result is a new generation of working women, with no turning back to the strict, old gender lines, said Thembi Dhlela of Women of Zimbabwe Arise, a women rights organisation.
“We all have to generate money, men and women, through whatever jobs (are) available. As women, we are breaking those barriers,” she said.
Up to a point, said Catherine Mkwapati, a civil society activist.

“Women have dived into men’s jobs, but back in their homes, the women still toil on their own, carrying out a litany of … domestic chores,” she said. “Yet men, even when they are available, rarely chip in with help.”

Either way, women are now key to many sectors of the economy, filling roles once dominated by men.

The government says “women have now taken up jobs on farms as operators of cultivators, some farm supervisors and some even drivers of tractors used on farms”.

The International Labour Organisation’s statistics for September show that women make up 72% of the agricultural workforce, up from 66% in 2015.
Mining — once a lynchpin of the Zimbabwean economy given the country’s rich mineral resources — is now open to women, too.

The US-based Pact Institute says women make up 10% of workers in the country’s 535 000 artisanal and small-scale mining sector, mostly run by individuals or small groups of people rather than the giants who control most mines.

“In Zimbabwe, tough jobs once known to be men’s jobs, are the ones easily available,” Ratidzai Maungwe, an independent labour expert, said.

“Despite the tough economy, people are building homes, and shopping malls are being constructed and women have sought job opportunities in these areas,” Maungwe said.

For Sibalo, college seems like a lost cause given her current job. Plus, she must still perform all the traditional domestic chores that are routinely assigned to women.

“I hope one day I will have money to return to college,” Sibalo said. “I wish to become a top educationist living a better life, teaching in South Africa, because teachers are poorly paid here.”

— Thomson Reuters Foundation