BY TATENDA CHITAGU

MASVINGO City Council says it needs US$60 million to ease perennial water shortages that will see the country’s first urban settlement increasing pumping capacity from about 30 megalitres to 60 megalitres per day to match rising demand.

Speaking at a one-day water and sanitation conference organised by Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Alliance (Murra) on Tuesday, council engineer Tawanda Gozo said the water pumping infrastructure was obsolete and had been overwhelmed by demand due to rural-urban migration as well as the population boom in the city, estimated to be now above 100 000 residents.

“Our infrastructure is now obsolete and demand has increased over the years. The pumping capacity matches about 60 000 residents at 24 megalitres per day, but at the moment the population has risen to plus 100 000 residents. The rising demand means we have to pump around 45 megalitres per day,” Gozo said.

He said the local authority carried out a feasibility study to assess the need to upgrade the pumping infrastructure and they require US$60 million to increase pumping capacity to 60 megalitres per day for the next 20 years.

“We are urgently seeking a US$60 million loan to increase our pumping capacity and ease water shortages,” Gozo said.

He also said apart from the old infrastructure, the city’s water tariff was uneconomic and frequent and long power cuts at the main water pump station, Bushmead Waterworks, cut water supply to 15 megalitres.

“Inflation has eroded our budgets for all the services, leading to difficulties in providing services. We charge rates and tariffs in the local currency, but chemicals, consumables and repairs are indexed to the foreign currency exchange rate of the day. We also did a supplementary budget, but by the time it was approved, the prices of goods had already shot up and it was eroded by inflation.

Gozo said the council also once considered turning to generators and solar to power the pump station, but the costs were not sustainable.

“We thought of generators, but they are not a viable option for our pump station due to the capital costs of running the pump which is very big. While we need three generators, each costs US$1,5 million. On top of that, each generator would consume 150 litres of diesel per hour, yet the nation is facing fuel shortages, while the cost of fuel is also high.

He said a solar plant costs US$6 million and council does not have capacity to carry out that project.

Gozo said council was engaging Zesa for exemption from load-shedding at the waterworks.

Murra director Anoziva Muguti said the conference demystified the mistrust among stakeholders.

“It is good that we managed to bring the stakeholders together and they heard it for themselves and also gave their input on how best they want their city to be run. We hope that from the recommendations which came out, we will get lasting solutions to the myriad of challenges that is facing the city and its residents,” Muguti said.

guest column:Miriam Fris/Agnes Binagwaho/

Seven countries around the world – three of them in Africa – have made faster than expected progress over the past 15 years in reducing deaths among children younger than five. These seven countries, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nepal, Peru, Rwanda and Senegal, were selected because they have all performed unexpectedly well in improving childhood health relative to their economic growth.

There are many factors at the root of their achievements, most notably, a strong integrated and coordinated health system built on primary health care. However, one cross-cutting factor stands out that we believe allowed them all to achieve significant health gains, but which, so far, tends to be always overlooked: trust. This is clear from a report, published by the Wellcome Trust and the Gallup Institute earlier this year. It surveyed 140 000 people in 140 countries to find out how they felt about science and health.

A study on public attitudes to science and health on a global scale, the survey covered topics such as whether people trust science, scientists and information about health; the levels of understanding and interest in science and health; the benefits of science; the compatibility of religion and science; and attitudes to vaccines. There’s a remarkable overlap between countries that have achieved progress in health goals such as reducing under five mortality, and those that ranked high in the trust survey. All seven were among the highest ranked globally when it came to their populations’ belief in the importance of vaccines while six out of the seven ranked highly in their trust in hospitals and health clinics. There’s logic in this. With greater population trust in health systems, health uptake and health outcomes improve. People are more likely to understand the benefits of health services and place a high value in receiving these services. This includes trusting in vaccinations which would lead people to placing a high value on vaccinating their children. Rwanda in particular has done well in building population trust. According to the survey, the country reports the highest levels of confidence in hospitals and health clinics in the world; and the largest proportion of the population who agree that vaccines are effective. Rwanda also comes out on top in the world in terms of how much of its population believes that vaccines are important for children and in the percentage of children who are vaccinated. This is the result of the work the Rwandan government has done over the past 25 years to build a strong health system and foster an inclusive approach to health coverage, starting at a community level. These actions can serve as a model for other countries to replicate.

Crucial steps

It is 25 years since Rwanda was destroyed by the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Since then, the country of more than 12 million people has developed a strong, decentralised health system and addressed many of the major financial and geographic barriers that vulnerable populations face in accessing healthcare services.

l Some of the steps have included:

l Prioritising programmes that leave no one out.

Building a decentralised health system: There are 15 000 villages in Rwanda. By 2018, each one had four community health workers. These community health workers are elected by their peers and are highly respected, trusted members of their communities who are spending sleepless night to keep their peers healthy. The trust that is been built between community health workers and the people they represent has provided a strong foundation in developing broader trust in health systems and in the government that created the system.

l Promoting the uptake of health services and vaccination service delivery: Community health workers, among other tasks, ensure that all pregnant women in their village attend antenatal clinics and deliver in a health facility, that every child gets vaccinated, that community members are educated about the importance of vaccines and other preventive and curative treatments.

l Offering universal access to a range of treatments: For example, HIV prevention care and treatment services, including the use of antiretroviral treatment.

All these measures contributed to growing the population’s trust in the health system. People feel more comfortable in seeking out healthcare at health facilities and they trust the advice given to them by health professionals.

More work remains

There have been tangible benefits to this rebuilding. Life expectancy has doubled. Immunisation coverage rates also increased from less than 30% in 1995 (with five kinds of vaccines administered) to 94% in 2015, with 10 vaccines administered to boys and 11 administered to girls, including the HPV vaccine.

This is not to say that Rwanda does not have more work to do. That is also true of the other six countries that performed well in the Wellcome Global Monitor.

Education remains a critical gap. The Wellcome Global Monitor reported that the seven countries had some of the highest population proportions with little to no knowledge of science, especially among older people.

Rwanda university sets out to teach doctors medicine and management

A lack of science education is a major barrier to improving health outcomes and achieving and sustaining universal health coverage. Strong education systems that are training our scientists, clinicians and health professionals are crucial to ensuring countries have enough skilled professionals to provide high quality care to everyone.

This is a gap we are trying to fill at the University of Global Health Equity in the rural north of Rwanda: To train future clinicians to have the tools to effectively address inequities in healthcare and to build and maintain health systems that leave no one out.

guest column:Alex T Magaisa

This month, the month of November, marks two years since Zimbabwe’s former leader, the late Robert Mugabe lost power to his long-time ally and lieutenant Emmerson Mnangagwa in a coup which was orchestrated by military commanders. We shall be doing a series of papers based on thematic areas to assess the performance of the Mnangagwa regime for the past two years.

The first area of assessment is the protection of human rights. The analysis proceeds on the view that by most credible accounts, human rights were seriously imperiled under the Mugabe regime and it is a good point to assess whether there has been any improvement.

The Mnangagwa regime started with bright promises of a new era. It touted itself as a “new dispensation”, attempting to contrast and disentangle itself from the Mugabe regime. It also described itself rather ambitiously as “the Second Republic” as if to summon good omens from the propitious gods of politics.

However, there is nothing on a balance of probabilities to support the grand claims of novelty and difference from the Mugabe regime. Instead, there have been a series of continuities from the old regime over the course of the two years. The promise of a new dispensation has been nothing more than a mirage.

Failure to reform

The Mnangagwa regime had a great opportunity to demonstrate its willingness and commitment to uphold and respect human rights by swiftly repealing draconian legislation. The symbols of such repressive laws were the Public Order and Security Act (Posa) and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Aippa), both products of the Mugabe regime with Posa having longer roots in colonial legislation. It replaced the Law and Order Maintenance Act (Loma) which ironically had been inherited at independence and used by people who had been its victims during the colonial era.

However, two years after the coup, both laws are still on the statute books. The regime’s recent claims to the world that they have been repealed are patently false. As a matter of fact, Posa has been repeatedly used by the regime to ban demonstrations by members of the opposition and trade unions.

The pace of legal reforms in these areas have been slow. Furthermore, the so-called amendments are no more than a fraud. For example, in place of Posa, the regime is proposing a new law called Maintenance of Order and Peace Act, which in substance is no different. It is just like in 2002 when the Mugabe regime repealed the 1960s repressive Loma and replaced it with Posa. The net effect is that colonial-style legislation continues decades after independence.

Political rights

The continuation of repression is also evident in the area of political rights. These include the rights to demonstrate and petition, free speech and the freedom of assembly. These specific rights enable people to participate freely in a democratic society and to hold their leaders to account. However, as already pointed out, Posa and Aippa still stand in the way of the enjoyment of these rights.

Indeed, when the government invited the United Nations to assess Zimbabwe’s human rights situation, the world body sent a special rapporteur, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule. His report was damning. It demonstrated that the rights to assembly, demonstrate and free speech were heavily restricted.

More ominously the repressive use of these laws has been supported by the judiciary. When the official opposition party tried to hold demonstrations in August, the police banned them at the eleventh hour.

When the opposition party challenged the bans, the courts threw out the legal challenges effectively supporting the government ban.

When a junior doctors’ union leader, Peter Magombeyi, led his members demanding better working conditions, he was abducted and held incommunicado for nearly a week. The young doctor was only released after relentless pressure from fellow doctors, including senior consultants who joined the protests.

Leaders of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe have been arrested on spurious charges for daring to stand up for their members’ rights. Even their lawyer, Douglas Coltart has also been abused and arrested in the course of representing his clients.

More recently, the courts have also backed government bans on attempts by civil servants’ unions to demonstrate for decent wages. With government being the political referee on the rights issue, dissenting voices have very limited scope and space.

Deployment of the military

Two events illustrate the perilous nature of human rights in Zimbabwe. The first was the killing of civilians by members of the military and police on August 1, 2018 during election-related protests. The second episode was the protests in mid-January 2019 when soldiers were also deployed on the streets of Harare. Human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch reported that 17 people were killed after security forces used live ammunition against protesters. In both cases, the government took the drastic step of deploying soldiers ostensibly to assist the police to quell demonstrations..

A commission of inquiry established by Mnangagwa to investigate the events of August 1, 2019 found that the military and police were responsible for the killing of civilians.

However, no action has been taken to hold the perpetrators to account. When the State does not prosecute or punish offenders, it encourages them to do the same in future. It promotes impunity. Given the length of time that has passed since the Kgalema Motlanthe Commission presented its report (December 2018), there is no appetite to implement its recommendations, notwithstanding the regime’s claims to the contrary.

After the expensive show of the Motlanthe Commission, which was established to pull wool over the eyes of a shocked international community, the regime did not even bother to investigate the killing of civilians during the January protests. These two episodes demonstrated the worst excesses of State power and the fact that the regime which had promised much was in reality unreformed and unrepentant.

De facto amnesty

Under the Mugabe regime offenders got protection from prosecution through general amnesties and presidential pardons. More often than not, the protection was through the Attorney-General’s deliberate failure to prosecute offenders. In this regard, very little has changed. Failure to prosecute offenders is tantamount to giving a general amnesty without declaring one.

It’s a de facto amnesty extended to offenders. It makes them beholden to the regime, while also giving them an incentive to re-offend knowing very well that they will not be held accountable for their misdeeds. It’s not surprising that after the killing of civilians in August 2018, they did not hesitate to kill again in January 2019.

It has to be said that the regularity with which soldiers have been deployed by the regime is another signal of its inclination towards repressive instruments. Authoritarian regimes tend to resort to coercion when they are unable to have their will through consent. The frequent resort to the military is consistent with repressive regime’s proclivity towards coercion as an instrument of control.

Property rights

When the regime started, Mnangagwa pledged a new era in which property rights would be protected. He was keen to distinguish himself from his predecessor who had earned a reputation for disregarding property rights through the controversial fast-track land reform programme that he led from 2000. While making it clear that he would not reverse the land reform, he pleaded to compensate the dispossessed white farmers and carry out a land audit to ensure fairness and effective use of land.

However, two years down the line the land audit remains a pipe dream. Vast tracts of land remain unused or under-utilised in the hands of absentee landlords who hold multiple farms individually or though family members and associates. Underutilising land has added to the woes caused by drought resulting in poor levels of production. A country that used to feed itself and others is still begging for food.

Neighbours who have also experienced droughts including Zambia and South Africa are selling food to Zimbabwe, a sign that some of the food shortages are man-made.

There has been some effort at setting aside money to compensate the white farmers, but it is only a modest sum; more an act of symbolism than substantive compensation. The regime may have hoped that this symbolism would find recognition among the Western Powers and buy it some favours in the re-engagement drive. It was not a bad idea but it got drowned in the maelstrom of the killings of civilians and clampdown in political rights.

The ghost of farm invasions

More recently however there have been cases of further dispossession of land. Earlier when a coffee farmer in Manicaland was affected by an invasion the government intervened following an outcry over the invasion. The intervention came in favour of the white farmer. This week, another white farmer was evicted from his farm in Chinhoyi. In this case, the government has not intervened. What has changed?

Perhaps the government was desperate for inclusion and re-engagement when it intervened in the coffee farmer’s case. Prospects of successful re-engagement existed. It’s failure to intervene over the Chinhoyi farmer comes in the wake of increasingly frosty relations with the West exacerbated by the clash over sanctions and a diplomatic row with the US. It’s possible that the government does not care anymore the same way it did at the time of the coffee farmer’s situation.

But the images don’t help the regime’s cause. To be seen condoning dispossession in this day and age, something that should have been part of the past is self-defeating. There is so much unused land in Zimbabwe that it makes no sense whatsoever to take over a productive farm.

It’s a gross failure of leadership that a country which is importing food at high cost is busy dispossessing productive farmers when there is an abundance of under-utilised land across the country. This is why it is true that while drought is a natural phenomenon, famine is a man-made calamity.

Spurious charges and detentions

The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act became the favoured piece of legislation to persecute political rivals during the Mugabe regime. One of the more notorious offences was insulting the president. Many were detained under the presidential insults provisions. Two years after Mugabe fell, the law is still in use, reminding people to tread with caution.

Another common charge is attempting to subvert a constitutionally elected government, a statutory relation to treason. Prominent politicians and political activists were detained for allegedly breaching these provisions under the Mugabe regime.

In the two years that Mnangagwa has been in power, there has been a flurry of arrests and detentions for breaching these provisions. The prosecutions invariably collapse and sink into the quick-sands of the justice system, but not before political opponents and activists have been immobilized and sufficiently harassed.

A more insidious phenomenon is the spate of abductions and torture of political activists. The regime has blamed a “Third Force” for these abductions, which ironically exposes it as weak and lacking control of the country’s security situation.

This year alone, a number of political activists and civil society campaigners have been abducted and tortured. No one has been held accountable. This has extended to comedians and musicians who are regarded as promoting an anti-government narrative. This spreads fear among the citizens, causing them to recoil and avoid challenging or criticising the government.

Real threat or paranoia?

The state of insecurity among citizens is reflected by Mnangagwa’s own fears for his own safety. His security arrangements have become visibly enhanced ever since he took power.

Indeed, it seems he has a bigger human fortress than his predecessor ever had. Perhaps it is a circumstance of the manner in which he ascended to the presidency which created many enemies and unhappy people.

Oddly enough, while there was an alleged assassination attempt at a political rally in Bulawayo last year, there has not been a single arrest or public prosecution of offenders. This leaves a yawning gap as to what is going on within the upper echelons of power. It seems more likely that there is mistrust among members of the establishment.

Conclusion

For years, Zimbabwe’s reputation regarding human rights has been abysmal. The fall of Mugabe was seen by some as a landmark moment which would represent a break with the past. These were misplaced hopes. It should have been clear that a coup would not represent serious change.

The authors of the coup were motivated by a desire to wrest power from a rival faction and to protect their interests. It was not intended for major transformation.

The coup would also strengthen the militarisation of the State ,which was already in motion long before Mugabe was forced out. A militarised State relies upon coercion and it is not amenable to the protection of human rights.

When Zimbabweans marched freely before Mugabe’s removal, one question that a few of us asked was how long the honeymoon between the military and the citizens would last. As it turned out, it was very brief. It has been a terribly unhappy marriage; a fallacious union built on the blessings of men in fatigues; an unholy union which has left citizens utterly flummoxed and traumatized.

In the next piece we will look at the regime’s performance in respect of the economy.

WaMagaisa
wamagaisa@me.com

BY BLESSED MHLANGA

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared G40 an enemy of the State, warning any Zanu PF members interacting with its members would be dealt with.

Addressing journalists after a Zanu PF politburo meeting last night, party spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said Mnangagwa warned Zanu PF members against getting into bed with G40, the faction that allegedly engineered his ouster from power in 2017 at the height of factional politics.

“He challenged the politburo leadership to be more visible at the grassroots and associate with programmes of government, always giving people a message of hope, those hobnobbing with G40 elements stand warned,” he said.

Zanu PF youth league has accused leaders appointed by Mnangagwa into government and party structures of sabotaging him and failing to attend important meetings because they belonged to G40.

Moyo, however, said the warning by Mnangagwa was targeting all Zanu PF members.

“He never classified at what level. Anybody, doesn’t matter at what level if they are hobnobbing with G40 then they stand warned,” he said.

“G40 is not a threat to Zanu PF. It’s a threat to the country including the MDC. It’s a threat to security and security affects everyone.”

The politburo also agreed to make two constitutional changes which include making the war veterans a wing of the party and also restore the district co-ordinating committees into the party constitution.

“These amendments are subject to the ratification of the central committee although the politburo has made a resolution on them,” Moyo said.

Zanu PF also discussed its December conference which will be held in Goromonzi next month with Mnangagwa demanding it should be a success.

“The President told the meeting that the culture of the second republic was servant leadership and there was no room for armchair leaders.”

The Editors

JOHANNESBURG — Africa, where close to half of its 1,2 billion people have access to electricity, is set to become a world leader in renewable energy.

As global business and development leaders met in Johannesburg, South Africa, to attend the Africa Investment Forum (AIF), one of the key focuses of the deals being discussed was around sustainable, renewable energy.

Organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and its various partners, the forum is expected to see US$68 billion in deals closed over the next few days.

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame says there is a lot of progress in Africa as a whole.

“I have always thought it was Africa’s time. We African’s have let ourselves down, we are now realising it has always been our time. And we are now seize every opportunity and be where we should be by now,” Kagame said.

Kagame was the driver of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) during his time as chair of the African Union in 2018. The agreement had not been in existence during the first AIF last year.

Established in March 2019, the AfCFTA has now been signed by 54 of the 55 African member states.

Alain Ebobisse, CEO of Africa 50, the Pan-African infrastructure investment platform capitalised by the AfDB, said that there was a consensus from African leaders that they needed to do whatever they could to attractive more private investment. He said that the AIF attendance showed that there was a changing narrative for investment on the continent.

Earlier figures had been revealed by the South African premier of Gauteng province, David Makhura, that over 2 000 delegates were in attendance from 109 countries.

Of this, only 40% where from Africa with the majority of investors attending from Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Gauteng is South Africa’s wealthiest province and includes the financial centres of Johannesburg and Sandton, as well as the seat of government in Pretoria.

Ebobisse said that a lot was already happening on the continent and while the media focused on the challenges there were huge success stories too — like the 1,5GW Benban Solar Park in Egypt, which is the world’s largest solar photovoltaic plant.

“I’m sure that people are not talking enough about this major achievement which is the Benban Solar Programmer, 1,5GW of solar that was invested mostly by the private sector in a record time,” he said.

Africa 50 invested in 400MW in that project and completed it from design to commercial operations in two and a half years.

Ebobisse went on to highlight Kenya’s opening this July of the Lake Turkana Wind Power project, which at a generation capacity of 300MW makes it the largest wind power project on the continent.

“It was funded by the private sector,” Ebobisse said. “So there is a lot that is happening. We need to also widely understand the challenges and understand what is happening on the ground. And people are actually making good money in this investment. And there is nothing wrong about that. Let’s celebrate those successes”

A few weeks ago, the Governors of the AfDB met in Cote d’Ivoire’s capital Abidjan, approving a historic $115 billion increase to the bank’s authorised capital base to US$208 billion.

“This is the highest capital increase in the history of the bank since its establishment in 1964,” AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina said.

During the October announcement Adesina had said that a significant portion of funding would be invested in climate change.

Adesina further explained that the bank had doubled its investment in climate finance from US$12 billion to US$25 billion by 2020.

Climate mitigation is the actions taken to reduce or curb greenhouse gases, thereby addressing the causes of climate change to prevent future warming.

However, climate adaptation addresses how to live with the impacts of climate change.

“I believe that coal is the past. I believe that renewable energy is the future and we as a bank are investing in not in the past, but in the future in making sure that we are investing in solar energy, in hydro energy, in wind, all types of renewable energy that Africa needs,” Adesina said.

He said one of the projects was the AfDB’s Green Baseload Facility, which according to the bank, aims “to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable baseload power generation options and prevent countries from locking themselves into environmentally damaging and potentially economically costly technologies”.

“It’s a US$500 million facility that we have set up to support countries that want to shift out of fuel-based energy into renewable energy and providing access to finance at a cheaper rate to be able to make that transition,” Adesina said.

The bank’s biggest investment is the Desert to Power project, which was announced in December at the United Nations’ climate conference in Katowice, Poland.

The initiative plans to supply 10 GW of solar energy by 2025 to 250 million people across 11 Sahelian countries.

The AfDB has always stated “a lack of energy remains a significant impediment to Africa’s economic and social development”.

Africa is facing climate change impact with rising temperatures and reduced rainfall.

The Sahel, which lies between The Sahara and the Sudanian Savanna, offers a blaze of sunlight with little rain as it is the region where temperatures are rising faster than anywhere else on Earth, according to the Great Green Wall initiative, a project that aims to reverse desertification and land degradation in the area.

During the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in 2015, all countries committed under the Paris Agreement to “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C”.

Siby Diabira, regional head for Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean for PROPARCO, a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement (AFD) focused on private sector development, told IPS that last year the group did US$1,76 billion in investment deals, half of which was in Africa.

The AIF was still in its early stages to make a pronouncement on the success of the deals, Diabira said, but “so far so good”.

Diabira said the French development agencies aimed to be 100% compliant with the Paris Agreement and hence were investing heavily in renewable energy.

She explained that PROPARCO was involved in “all types of renewable energy from hydro to solar to wind”, adding that there was a need for a mix of both traditional and renewable energy generation.

“We have been present in financing the first few rounds of renewable energy projects in South Africa and our idea is also as a DFI [Development Financial Institution] to be able to contribute to create this market for the commercial banks to come with us on those types of projects,” Diabira said.

Admassu Tadesse, president of the Trade and Development Bank, also pointed out that partnership agreements among the various banks and partners had strengthen their position in deals.

He said they expected to soon sign a deal with the European Investment Bank that will again strengthen their position.
— IPS

BY STEPHEN CHADENGA

A 35-YEAR-OLD Harare man, who terrorised women in and around Kwekwe by robbing and raping them, has been arrested.

Simbarashe Munyaradzi Muwaniki, of no fixed residential address in Harare, yesterday appeared before Gweru regional magistrate Pathekile Msipa facing unlawful entry, robbery and rape charges.

The complainant, who resides in Redcliff and whose name has been withheld for ethical reasons, identified the accused after he was arrested by Kwekwe police for similar offences where he used the same modus operandi against his victims.

The State case is that on April 30 this year at around 3am, Muwaniki allegedly broke into complainant’s house using an iron bar.

He went to the complainant’s bedroom and ordered her to remove the password from her mobile phone after threatening to kill her with the iron bar.

Muwaniki stole US$20 and $12 from a wallet in the wardrobe and later raped the complainant.

The complainant immediately narrated her ordeal to her sister and a tenant.

A report was made to the police and she was referred to Kwekwe General Hospital for medical examination.

Muwaniki denied the charges and the trial continues tomorrow.

by MOSES MATENGA

TRANSPORT and Infrastructural Development minister Joel Biggie Matiza has thrown suffering Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) workers under the bus and defended mass resignations that have rocked the parastatal under his watch.

Matiza said he was not moved by the chaos at the company triggered by mass resignations of senior personnel.

He chose to describe the developments as a cleansing process at the parastatal despite alleged irregularities in the manner workers’ disciplinary cases were being handled.

The minister has been accused of being part of the chaos that has hit Zinara and has seen his board interfering with operations and victimising workers allegedly to remove long-serving ones and replace them with people linked to him and the board chairman, Michael Madanha.

Madanha is Matiza’s deputy in the Zanu PF Mashonaland East structures and the two are accused of wanting to use Zinara to consolidate their power base in the province.

“Zinara was burdened with corruption and when the new dispensation came in it meant to correct things and that is what is happening. If people are resigning, it is fine, it is their right to do so and we take on board those who want to work with us,” Matiza said.

On allegations that his board was victimising workers and was keen to push out long-serving employees and replace them with their cronies, Matiza said: “It is a process of renewal at Zinara, people have been arrested and some are in court and it is a process and before year end, we must come to stabilisation.”

Madanha lost to recently appointed Youth deputy minister Tinoda Machakaire in the Zanu PF Hwedza South primary elections and has served as Matiza’s deputy in government before.

“The workers are going through processes not linked to the minister. I appoint people on boards based on merit and I believe the chairman is very well qualified. You are saying things about him being my deputy in the party. That is not the issue, we are talking of merit,” Matiza said.

“From these resignations, you can see there is a problem and he is solving the problem.”

However, worker representatives alleged Zinara management has failed to prove some allegations of fraud by workers with a committee constituted to deal with the charges exonerating them of any wrongdoing. It emerged that after finding most of the accused persons not guilty and recommending their reinstatement, Zinara acting chief executive officer, Saston Muzenda allegedly said the committee should find them guilty and recommend their dismissal.

Muzenda argued in one of the letters that the move was a directive from the board; a position frowned upon by the workers.

Zinara workers told NewsDay morale was very low at the parastatal and more resignations were coming.

At least 12 senior executives in the finance and tolling division, audit, ICT, administration and other departments tendered their resignations this week.

BY TAFADZWA MHLANGA

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya says the push for 100% foreign currency retention by players in the mining industry would not be considered by Treasury because the revenue was needed to fund other arms of government.

On June 24, 2019, the central bank gazetted thresholds of 55% to the producers and 45% to RBZ, but players are advocating for a review of the retention to 100% to the producers.
“The retention issue will certainly be put under review, but a 100% retention will not be possible (because) these minerals are not owned by the miners, but by the government. Several of you miners have been coming to us giving us the challenges you are facing due to the 55%:45% retention thresholds. We understand the position you are coming from in terms of the fact that you are paying all of the services rendered to you in US dollars. What I can say now is that we are willing to review this issue of retention,” Mangudya told miners at the $12 billion mining function in Harare yesterday.

Last month, President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched a strategic roadmap to propel the country’s mining sector to a US$12 billion mining industry by 2023.

Under the mining roadmap, gold is expected to contribute US$4 billion, platinum US$3 billion, while chrome, iron, steel, diamonds and coal will contribute US$1 billion.

Lithium is expected to contribute US$500 million and $1,5 billion will come from other minerals.

Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe president Elizabeth Nerwande said certain issues, which include provision of adequate power, allocation of ideal tax and adequate foreign exchange to sustain mining operations and the generation of capital, still need to be addressed for the $12 billion roadmap to be successful.

“Some of these challenges that need to be addressed are provision of adequate power, the optimum tax and adequate foreign exchange allocations are needed to sustain mining operations that will not undermine investment and need of capital generation for the expansion of our current production and the retention thresholds on the mining industry,” she said.

“Power outages have been our major risk at the moment, where we can go up to five hours for some mines without electricity. Once we do not have electricity, we do not have any production and it is very detrimental for the industry and its operations. We are hopeful that the Finance minister (Mthuli Ncube) will address this issue in the 2020 national budget.

Behind the scenes, we have been engaging the ministry and we have had so many success stories, so we are very hopeful that this will come through. We are opening closed mines and we need to develop new mines.”

Miners are advocating for 100% retention in order to cover production costs because they say the interbank market is not providing adequate forex to acquire imported raw materials.
Nerwande added that the mining industry also needs a good operating environment for it to unlock its potential.

“The resource base is available and the technical know-how is available. Therefore, with necessary capital and correct environment, we can easily unlock the potential for our resources.
Urgent attention is needed to be placed at identifying success factors needed to achieve this vision. Attracting and retaining critical skills to match the rapid expansion of the mining industry will also improve the working environment for the industry,” she said.

BY KENNETH NYANGANI

MUSHOWANI STARS . . . . . . .0
CHICKEN INN . . . . . . . . . . .(0) 1;
MANICA DIAMONDS . . . . . . .0
FC PLATINUM . . . . . . . . . . (1) 2

Chicken Inn moved to the top of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League at least for 24 hours after beating Mushowani Stars at Trojan Mine yesterday, to blow the title race wide open again.

Innocent Mucheneka scored the all-important goal, which will keep the 2015 league champions top of the standings until Caps United play their match this afternoon.

If Caps United beat ZPC Kariba at Rufaro Stadium today, they will reclaim the top post with just four games remaining.

Any other result in today’s match will see the Joey Antipas-coached side maintaining their position at the summit, and with a very good chance of snatching the title away.

Chicken Inn have 52 points, the same number of points as second-placed FC Platinum, whom they edge on goal difference.

United have 51 points, but have a game in hand.

At Vengere Stadium yesterday, champions FC Platinum put their title challenge back on track after a comfortable win over Manica Diamonds.

After a surprise defeat to Bulawayo Chiefs at the weekend, FC Platinum desperately needed this victory to keep pace with rivals, and they didn’t take time to assert their dominance in the match when Gift Mbweti scored the opener 16 minutes into the match.

Reigning Soccer Star of the Year Rodwell Chinyengetere sealed the win with a wonder strike just after the hour mark.

Coach Lizwe Sweswe was excited by the win, which put his side back on course of defending their title for the third time.

“It was a crucial win against a good side,” he said.

“We are now back on track to win the title, but I believe the race is now wide open. What we only need to do now is to win our remaining four matches and see what happens at the end. We just to continue to work hard and taking each game as it comes.”

Manica Diamonds gaffer Johannes Nhumwa was disappointed with the defeat, but believed they were safe from relegation threat.

“I am disappointed with the defeat, but I believe that we will survive relegation. We are hoping to collect maximum points in our remaining matches,” he said.

Manica Diamonds were the first to probe, with Last Jesi causing anxious moments for the Zvishavane-based side.

Jesi controlled the midfield department and almost gave his side a lead after five minutes into the match, but his low shot was saved by the impressive goalkeeper Francis Tizayi.

However, FC Platinum refused to be cowed into submission and they were duly rewarded in the 16th minute through former Hwange player Mbweti.

After the goal, play switched from one end to another, with FC Platinum stoutly defending their slender lead going to the breather.

Chinyengetere then ended any hopes of Manica Diamonds getting an equaliser when he fired a hard and low shot from a tight angle.

He almost scored again late in the match as the visitors threatened to run away with the match.