BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA

A 35-YEAR-OLD man, who went on a raping spree in parts of Harare, yesterday appeared in court charged with robbing and raping three women after allegedly luring them into nearby maize fields.

The suspect, Farai Denga, who is of no fixed abode was not asked to plead when he appeared before magistrate Bianca Makwande who remanded him in custody to November 4, 2019 for possible trial.

It is the State’s contention that sometime in February this year, Denga came across his first victim, a 21-year-old woman, who was selling bananas along Willowvale Road and pretended that he wanted to buy the fruit for his colleagues.

Denga asked the woman to accompany him to where his “colleagues” were doing some plumbing on the pretext that he wanted to buy the bananas for them and the woman agreed. However, Denga allegedly led the woman into a maize field where he robbed her of some cash and raped her once.

On March 20, 2019, Denga is alleged to have approached another woman who was selling doughnuts at Munhenzva complex along Willowvale Road and pretended that he wanted to buy the snack.

Denga allegedly asked his victim to accompany him to his “workplace” near Rugare railway line and the woman agreed. However, Denga is then said to have led the woman through a maize field and raped her once.

He also allegedly robbed her of two cellphones and cash.

Later that month, Denga allegedly pounced on yet another woman who was selling fish in Crowborough suburb.

The State alleges Denga led his victim to a nearby maize field where he pulled out a knife and raped her once.

All his victims reported their abuses to police and when an identification parade was conducted, Denga was fished out as the assailant.

BY NQOBANI NDLOVU

THE MDC Bulawayo province has begun a process of dismantling its ward and district executive committees to replace them with polling-based structures as part of a restructuring exercise.

Provincial chairperson James Sithole said the restructuring exercise was in line with resolutions adopted at the party’s elective Gweru congress held in June this year. In Bulawayo, the restructuring exercise comes at a time the province is fraught with divisions emanating from the pre-congress days. To date, the province is still trying to douse the factional flames.

“In pursuant to our congress resolution, we are doing away with district and ward committees and replacing the structures with constituency coordinating committees or put simply polling-based committees,” Sithole said.

“Incumbent district and ward executives are being redeployed to the branches … branches will now have more powers and more superior than other structures with the provincial executive now playing more of an oversight role.”

Sithole said the restructuring exercise will also assist the provincial executive co-opt some members who lost the provincial congress into some structures in the hope of uniting the warring factions in the city.

“These changes are meant to strengthen the party. As a party, we have realised that it is an advantage to craft polling station-based party programmes (that target) where the voters are,” Sithole said, adding this will benefit the party “to reach all registered voters per polling station in every constituency”.

MDC Magwegwe district executive committee member Nicholas Moyo Godlwayo recently petitioned the party leadership to address simmering tensions in the city to avert electoral drubbing in 2023 or in by-elections. Infighting in the MDC in the city has been blamed for the party’s loss of the Cowdray Park local government seats to Zanu PF in a recent by-election.

BY ELINERA MANYONGA

AN attempt to impersonate a Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) official has earned a 34-year-old Harare man 10 months imprisonment.

Harare magistrate, Rumbidzai Mugwagwa suspended two months of the sentence on condition that the convict, Paddington Kadzungura does not commit a similar offence in the next five years.
It was the State case that Kadzungura was employed by an unregistered company called National Anti-Corruption Association of Zimbabwe.

The complainant, a member of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, was in February last year allocated a case of fraud which was reported by Athurnatious Shonayi against one Tichaona Chari.

While the complainant was investigating the matter, Kadzungura called him on March 19 using an Africom number.

The convict introduced himself as an official from Zacc investigating the complaint made by Shonayi.

Kadzungura ordered the complainant to immediately arrest and detain Chari over the alleged fraud charge.

But the complainant referred Kadzungura to his senior Detective Assistant Inspector Grace Kanokunda.

Kanokunda spoke with Kadzungura who repeated that he was from Zacc and investigating a complaint made by Shonayi.

Kanokunda became suspicious and called a Zacc official who discovered that Kadzungura was bogus, resulting in his arrest.

BY BLESSED MHLANGA

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa have shifted their rivalry to the constitutional front after the Zanu PF leader moved to remove a clause on presidential running mates set to kick-in in 2023.

The MDC said the move by Mnangagwa’s Cabinet to amend the Constitution to scrap the running mates clause was a step backwards, and would be resisted by the country’s opposition.

Former Constitution Select Committee of Parliament (Copac) co-chair and now MDC deputy secretary for international relations, Douglas Mwonzora (pictured), said the resolution made by Cabinet last week should be resisted.

“The resolution by the Zimbabwean Cabinet to initiate key amendments to the Constitution represents a long march backwards. The current Constitution represents an incremental gain in Zimbabwe’s democratisation agenda. We have to resist these selfish amendments,” Mwonzora said.

Mwonzora said the clause Zanu PF wanted to scrap off the Constitution was meant to deal with succession and bring stability to the country in the event of death or incapacitation of a sitting President.

“Under the running mate clause a presidential candidate chooses a Vice-President before elections. In the event of the President failing to complete his term for any reason that Vice-President automatically becomes President, this ensures smooth succession and stability of the country,” he said.

Mwonzora, who co-chaired Copac alongside Zanu PF’s Paul Mangwana and David Coltart (of the MDC-M) said government’s move was only meant to handle volatile and poisonous succession politics in the ruling party.

“By removing the running mate clause, Zanu PF is trying to deal with its succession conundrum due to its complex internal dynamics. It is wrong to manipulate a national Constitution to suit partisan agendas. Zimbabweans must defend their Constitution,” Mwonzora said.

But Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the clause which was a centre of contestation during the Constitution-making process, created two centres of power in the Executive. He added that the idea was foreign and would not work in Zimbabwe.

“You all recall that it was one of the contentious issues in the Constitution and it was deferred for 10 years, because it’s a borrowed concept from America,” Ziyambi said.

“It’s not even international best practice. Where we have a President who is given Executive authority, you would not want ordinarily to create a parallel centre of power. So we believe that it’s not desirable in our constitutional dispensation to create several centres of power. We would rather have a President elected by the people and then he appoints his team, the Vice-President and the Cabinet. It is what is practiced in southern Africa and in several other countries.”

Currently, the President has powers to appoint and fire his deputies. But if the deputy comes in through the running mate clause, he or she can only be removed from office through Parliament.

Respect Gwenzi

News about a pending currency coming to the market in a fortnight made headlines on Tuesday even as it abated confusion over the reintroduction of the currency in question. The confusion pertains to whether the currency is a new currency different from the one introduced in June or in February, whichever point one prefers. Some believe the currency has been there since three months ago, while others are of the view that it has been there since February and some say it was there since October 2018. Interestingly my view is far off from all those that are conventionally shared, and in later parts of this article I will share my view on the not so new ‘new currency’s origins. On Tuesday, the central bank governor who is also the chairperson of the Monetary Policy Committee briefed the media following a two-day sitting by the Monetary Policy Committee, a first since the committee was set up.

In his brief, the governor said the b ank will soon (in a fortnight) issue new notes and coins different from the bond notes to supplement cash supply which he had long singled out as being in short supply. A frenzied media, could not find the right words and should be forgiven for running headlines such as new currency in two weeks or Zimdollar coming in a fortnight. Indeed, the staggered approach by the bank is very confusing to the average citizen as well as the media given that barely three months ago, media carried the same line having run with the same again in February. However a sober review of actualities reveal that these different pronouncements at varying points were all interlinked but signified different stages in the reintroduction of the local currency. My views, however, stretch beyond the common eye and establish empirically that the Zimdollar was unofficially with us for at least, the last five years.

Some like regional companies, notably Old Mutual and Standard Bank and Pick and Pay SA have long accounted for Zim earnings at a discount to the US dollar, as far back as October 2018. In their earnings report they used an average exchange rate of 1:3. They argue that this is the exact point Zimbabwe officially dollarised because that is when FCAs were separated to show disparity in value and based on market forces, the demand for US$ has been relatively higher resulting in a weaker exchange rate for the emerging currency then loosely referred to as RTGS$. On February 22, 2019, government introduced an interbank market for the trading of forex. This meant that forex held in FCAs could be changed at a market rate. An introductory exchange was pegged at 1:2,5.

The liberalisation was a clear subjection of exchange price discovery to market forces, although this was only partial and companies were compelled through a statutory instrument to convert US$ valued assets within their balance to RTGS$ at the respective rate of 1,2,5. The official reporting currency for companies effectively changed to RTGS. It is therefore argued by some that the Zimdollar returned at this stage and not earlier in October 2018 and there is partial truth to either assertions.

However, on June 23 through SI142, the Minister of Finance officially announced the reintroduction of the Zimdollar, which was to be effected through the conversion of a currency bundle previously known as the RTGS$.

The currency bundle was made up of electronic RTGS balances, bond notes and coins. At the same time the 10-year multi-currency system was scrapped. Again, technically, some refer to this point as the Zimdollar return date. Much of the assertion is driven by the fact that, this was the period transactions in other currencies were officially banned and for the first time in 10 years, the name Zimdollar was attributed to a currency. In principle, it would be justified that this would be the actual point of the Zimdollar return.

The latest dynamic is, however, interesting in that although all these successive pronouncements and manoeuvres were made, a physical note referencing the new “currency” was not brought into the picture. Well this sounds confusing because all this while we have been referring to different possible points the currency was purported to have been reintroduced. I have put the word currency in quote to demonstrate that, what the ordinary street folk refers to as currency is the physical note, ignore that which funds the withdrawal of those respective funds, an RTGS (electronic) funded Zimdollar account. So to a common man the physical copy is the ultimate currency and its pronouncement as was done by the RBZ governor on Tuesday signified a return of the Zimdollar currency at that point, and not the previous two instances. While this seems funny, it is not.

The ordinary folk has a significant influence on the confidence matrix. This class of citizens relates more to physical copies of money than to RTGS electronic balances. Their perception of a currency’s strength is determined by the physical copy and this is largely because over the lost decade (1998-2008) Zimbabwe had low utilisation levels of electronic channels compared to the ensuing decade. Cash was the money and given how Gono made it very unpopular through rabid and untamed printing, it became so unliked and distasted by ordinary Zimbabweans.

This is why news of a new paper currency is a big deal and why most journalists have referred to it as new currency introduction, to relate with their readers and common men appreciation. The underlying question of when the Zimdollar currency returned officially or otherwise runs deep and some refer to November 2016, that is around the period the bond note was introduced. An acute cash shortage was already prevailing at that point. The forex queues at the RBZ were growing and bottlenecks deepening. A tiered pricing model was now evident in the market.

The RBZ, however, continued to clear foreign currency transactions at 1:1 although the pace was very erratic. My own submission is that the local currency came a bit earlier than that and as is my typical style I will support this assertion with empirical evidence. I would pick 2014 as the defining moment for the local currency return. Seeing the outcome as it is today, one will be persuaded to believe that the return of the Zimdollar was premeditated by the Zanu PF government when it won the 2013 election. This is so because after winning the election, the government went on a borrowing spree on the local market through Treasury Bills (TBs) and by August 2018, the TBs balances were at $7,8 billion as shown below. TBs are an instrument used by RBZ to control liquidity in the market. Government, however, uses the instrument only to borrow money from the local market and this money has largely been channelled to off-budget financing, that is projects and other expenditures which were not covered by the budget,
Command Agriculture ranks on top of these expenses.

So by creating off-budget needs government found a justification for seeking off-budget financing. It sounds ridiculous but suppose government felt otherwise, there was room to forgo these projects simply because they were not budgeted for. Even as that happened, the fiscus remained bloated with significant allocations being channelled towards recurrent expenditure, mainly salaries. On top of that, corruption, incompetence and inefficiencies weighed on the public service, thereby draining the fiscus. The government thus found the TBs route convenient. In just under five years it had a accrued over $8 billion in TBs and given that these are short-term instruments, roll-overs and discounts in secondary market sped the rate of growth in money supply. In just under five years money supply grew from $4 billion to $10 billion. But was this growth backed by real US$ cash? No it wasn’t, as shown below from a high of 49%, hard cash ratio, which is the ratio between system deposits and FCA nostro added to physical US$ and bond notes and coins, has crushed to a low of 3% as of December 2018. Given further growth in money supply in 2019, it follows that the ratio of hard cash to deposits has further dissipated.

This clearly shows that from 2015 onwards, Zimbabwe had begun using a local currency as deposits were not backed by hard cash. Loosely, the difference between hard cash and system deposits above refers to a new currency that was being created, which has manifested in different ways to become the Zimdollar of 2019. This ratio is not the same as cash ratio which the governor says has to be moved from 4% to 15%. It speaks to the underlying cash-flow and its nature. The underlying cash-flow created from TBs was not US$ (production) denominated in practice and this explains why RBZ struggled for years to clear the forex queue because the market was no longer a US$ market in practice. So many things are going on right now at the central bank which would shock the market in not-so-distant a future.

The citizenry need to stay awake and vigilant and call authorities to account even as companies shape own survival strategies to avoid another possible 2008.
 Respect Gwenzi is the managing director and lead analyst at research firm, Equity Axis

BY KENNETH NYANGANI

MANICA DIAMONDS…(0)1
DYNAMOS ………………..(0)1

IT IS eight straight draws and 15 in total for Dynamos this season as the Harare giants gave away a goal lead to settle for another stalemate this time against Manica Diamonds at Vengere Stadium in Rusape yesterday.

Their 15 draws are only equalled by Herentals, a run that has seen them surrendering in the title race and now fighting to finish inside the top four.

DeMbare are currently on fifth position and had they won half of the matches that they have drawn this season, they could be top of the log standings at the moment.

But for a team that struggled early in the season, they would probably be happy with what they have at the moment and hope to build from there next season.

“We are in a transitional period and our current draws show where we are as a team and most of my players are youngsters and they are still learning the ropes,” said Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya.

Just like they have done in most of the matches which they eventually drew, Dynamos went ahead through Sean Gona on the 55th minute, but allowed their opponents to equalise, with Last Jesi levelling the scores for the hosts 13 minutes later.

Manica Diamonds coach Johannes Nhumwa rued the many missed chances.

“It was another match where we missed chances. We could have won at least 2-1, but my boys missed chances. We have to continue to work on that aspect if we want to finish in the top-eight,” he said.

The match started on a rather snail’s pace and the visitors were the first to threaten when defender Munyaradzi Mawadza forced an acrobatic save from veteran shot-stopper Tafadzwa Dube.
The home side created a chance of their own moments later and Mawadza was again called into action, clearing on the line a goal-bound shot.

Both teams continued to exchange blows going into the second stanza.

Dynamos upped the tempo in the second half and were duly rewarded when Gona capitalised on a defensive mix-up.

Nhumwa responded to the setback by introducing Ishmael Lawe for Kudakwashe Gurure on the hour mark.

The substitute changed the complexion of the match as he started to dictate the pace in the middle of the park.

Lawe won a free-kick on the edge of the box and outstanding Manica Diamonds player this term, Jesi, jerked off fans from their seats with a David Beckham-esque free-kick from outside the box that left Warriors goalkeeper Simba Chinani rooted to the spot.

Manica Diamonds should have sealed the points three minutes later when Stanley Ngala was sent through by Jesi only to shoot wide.

Lawe then dazzled the Dynamos defence late on before crossing to Rodrick Mufudza who skied his shot over the bar.

Delegates from 10 countries pose for a group photograph while attending a UNODC regional training of rainers’ workshop addressing issues of HIV and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in prison last week.

By Moses Magadza

WINDHOEK – A regional training of trainers’ workshop addressing issues of HIV and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in prison settings ended in Namibia last week with a call to safeguard the health of people in prison in order to protect public health.

The training workshop drew about 60 participants from 10 countries: Angola; Kenya; Lesotho; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; Eswatini; Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Delegates were staff of prisons including medical doctors, Ministry of Health staff, staff of national

AIDS authorities and representatives of organizations that provide SRHR and HIV services in prisons.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) convened the training with financial support from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). UNODC is supporting member states to implement a regional programme titled: “Supporting Minimum Standards for HIV, Health and Rights in Prison Populations of Sub-Saharan Africa”. The project seeks alignment of SRHR with UN regional standards. Specifically, it strives to help member of states makeSRHR services available to women and adolescent prison populations.

To this end, UNODC has supported the development of a module to build the capacity of non-medical staff of prison or correctional services to deliver comprehensive SRHR and HIV services to inmates under their care.

Speaking at the beginning of the three-day training, the Commissioner General of the Namibian Correctional Service (NCS), Raphael Hamunyela, argued that prisons or correctional services should provide health care that is similar or better than is found in the general community because of the unique vulnerabilities of people in incarceration.

“We believe in the principle that good correctional health is good public health. Since those under our care often come from backgrounds of higher exposure to a variety of diseases and unhealthy conditions, there is need for correctional services, prisons or penitentiary services to deliver equal or better health care services than are in the community,” he said.

He hailed the training and expressed optimism that it would throw a light on HIV and SRHR issues that need attention in prisons as member states strive to comply with the Nelson Mandela Rules which prescribe a minimum package of services that Member States should make available to people in prisons or correctional services. The Nelson Mandela rules acknowledge the rights of inmates. Hamunyela said NCS was also implementing the regional programme on supporting minimum standards for HIV, health and rights of offenders and called for integration of relevant services.

“We must acknowledge that HIV and SRHR should be integrated within our policies plans and operations,” he said.

He said NCS would this year integrate the new SRHR and HIV module in its training curriculum to ensure that all officers gain relevant skills and knowledge.

Also speaking at the start of the training, Signe Rotberga, the Regional Coordinator for UNODC in Southern Africa, said the training was timely given that UNODC was implementing a regional project on promoting compliance with international standards for HIV and SRHR services and rights.

“Recently, we did an assessment in 10 countries that are participating in this project. This survey identified several gaps that need to be addressed. Other gaps are related to policies and laws. In some countries, certain behaviors such as those of commercial sex workers, people who use drugs or engage in same sex relationships are still criminalized. This drives some people underground and away from essential health services at a time when the world has set targets to end HIV and AIDS,” she said.

She said due to criminalization, many members of key populations end up in correctional facilities. She hoped that the training would provide an opportunity for exchange of views on how best to meet the needs people in custody and to embrace best practices such as the use of non-custodial sentences for non-violent crimes.

Rotberga said that the UNODC-initiated survey had shown, also, that there was insufficient training on human rights related issues and SRHR in most of Member States.

The training took place against the backdrop of reports that the world is grappling a growing prison population. The International Center for Prison Studies reports that approximately 10 .35 million prisoners are behind bars at any given day, leading to chronic overcrowding of prisons in some countries.

Many other authoritative peer-reviewed sources say that prisoners, who form part of key populations, remain extremely vulnerable to infectious diseases. Additionally, prisoners must contend with stigma, denial and violence. The Lancet and other sources report that the population of female inmates has increased by 50% since the year 2000 globally in the face of lack of integration of prison health care into public health systems.

Professor Heino Stover from Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences was one of the facilitators during the training. He said women inmates bear a disproportionate burden of infectious diseases in many prison settings and thus require targeted interventions.

“Women are highly susceptible to infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in prison as they often come from socially marginalized groups and are vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation in the prison environment,” he said.

Discussions during the highly interactive training touched on a variety of issues that included mental health; the use of uniforms by staff and inmates; prevention of harm; continuity of care; human rights;

Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDGs 3, 5 and 16; global commitments to prison health; HIV and AIDS prevention in prison; as well as sexually transmitted infections.

Among the highlights of the training was a visit by participants to the Windhoek Correctional Service in Namibia where UNODC helped set up a clinic in the female section of that facility.

In separate interviews, participants expressed gratitude for the training and said they had acquired knowledge and skills for use in their various workplaces to improve the welfare of inmates under their care.

Magren Paul, a registered nurse and an inspector at the Malawi Prison Service’s headquarters in Zomba, described the training is an eye-opener.

“The training had a positive impact on me. I had never attended training on SRHR and HIV. It became clear that we have been neglecting issues related to the health of female inmates. During the training, it struck me that there are many issues that I did not properly consider in the past. I feel empowered,” she said.

Olivia Obell, the Director of the AIDS Control Unit in the Kenya Prisons Service, also hailed the training and called for more similar capacity building initiatives.

“The prison communities – inmates, staff members and families- are currently witnessing unprecedented challenges implementing effective interventions in HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. There are new cases of HIV and TB infections. Besides, the prison fraternity is witnessing increased new cases of missing TB patients who should have been screened and put on treatment. This is mainly because of inadequate understanding and skills in screening, management and support for these particular patients,” she said.

She added that prison conditions such as poor infrastructure, inadequate medical infrastructure, low funding and inadequate skills may thwart the attainment of desired outcomes.

She added: “This training came in handy and will likely capacitate prison administrators including healthcare providers and practitioners with relevant skills and knowledge to reduce new infections and provide care for those already affected. All prison officers interact with inmates and fellow employees and with the skills that the training provided, they are now crucial in providing and strengthening services and removing barriers.”

-Moses Magadza is the Communications Officer for the Pretoria-based UNODC Regional Office for Southern Africa.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has claimed that the Finance ministry “passed a live snake” to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya after instructing him to issue more Treasury Bills (TBs) amounting to US$202 million to different companies without seeking legislators’ approval.

Mangudya last week appeared before Parliament where PAC, led by Tendai Biti, quizzed him over TBs that were unprocedurally issued as bailouts to different companies in 2017 and 2018.

PAC member Edwin Mushoriwa (MDC Alliance) asked Mangudya to explain some of the TBs that were issued for the Presidential Input Scheme with no supporting letters showing that the RBZ was given authority by the Finance ministry to issue them.

“There were US$202 million TBs with no proof or authorisation letters,” Mushoriwa said.

“For the FSG (Fertiliser Seed and Grain), there were six TBs of US$9,3 million, US$8,1m for Quton, US$8,8m for Windmill, US$132m for Sedco and another US$12m for Windmill, US4,3m for Sable Chemicals and US$8,9m for ZFC, and US$12,8m for Hwange Colliery, among others,” he added.

“The ministry spent money outside the blue book and they said it is not their problem and then they passed the live snake to you. US$2,1 billion was spent in 2017 and US$1,5 billion in 2018 and it means that the bulk of the money was spent outside Parliament approval and outside the Appropriation Act.”

On Monday, the PAC members said they were also keen to grill FSG managing director Steve Morland over US$400m his company allegedly got from Command Agriculture.

Mangudya confirmed that all TBs were authorised by the Finance ministry.

“I would like MPs to learn and understand the role of the central bank because sometimes I think it is blurred. The central bank is a banker to government through the Finance ministry and it is adviser to all banks. It is adviser and fiscal agent to the State and once you (MPs) know the definition it will be easy to understand who gives what.

“Section 6 (1) (g) of the RBZ Act defines our functions, which is the stability of the exchange rate. Section 8 of the RBZ Act says the bank shall act as vendor to the State and carry transactions in such a manner that the State may require and make necessary arrangements. So all the instructions were authorised by the Finance minister,” Mangudya said.

The committee has re-summoned the Finance ministry to appear again before it, as well as FSG, Sakunda and Croco Motors which benefitted from the funds.

BY BLESSED MHLANGA

SENIOR doctors at public hospitals have accused government of committing a silent genocide by refusing to accede to their junior counterparts’ salary demands which has culminated in a two-month-long strike.

In a letter dated October 24 and addressed to Health minister Obadiah Moyo, Senior Hospital Doctors Association (SHDA) said the stand-off was likely to drag on as long as the government continues to persecute junior doctors and cast a blind eye to the current incapacitation at health institutions.

In their letter copied to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the doctors said there was no justification for government to refuse to pay them United States dollar-benchmarked salaries when the cost of most services and goods were pegged in the same currency.

“Goods and services are pegged in US dollars, making our demand reasonable in order to sustain service delivery,” the letter read.

“It is our view that the government is currently committing a silent genocide by casting a blind eye to the current incapacitation in hospitals. May we remind you of the constitutional mandate of the government as spelt out in section 29 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe of 2013.”

The two-month-long strike by members of the Zimbabwe Hospitals Doctors’ Association (ZHDA) has effectively forced hospitals to shut down.

“As doctors, we work as a team, we need junior and middle-level doctors to be able to function. We are against victimisation of our junior colleagues through hearings and threats of suspensions, yet they are finding it difficult to come to work because of poor earnings. Their incapacitation must be resolved,” the letter added.

Government has withheld salaries of all doctors who have been on strike, saying they will not be paid unless they return to work.

“The SHDA finds the withholding of the paltry salaries to be a joke. If there was a salary to talk about, we would have reason to worry. We hope you shall use the withheld cumulative amounts to capacitate hospitals,” SHDA said.

Nurses have been allowed to work flexible hours by coming to work at least two days a week to ensure that they avoid incapacitation, but SHDA said this arrangement was not good for the health delivery system.

“The flexi hours for nurses and other hospital staff system must be abolished with immediate effect as it is detrimental to patient care, causing avoidable morbidity and mortality. No hospital can function and be able to offer services under such arrangements. Senior doctors are not returning to work in flexi-hours system,” the letter read.

BY SIBONGINKOSI MAPHOSA / PRAISEMORE SITHOLE

INDONESIAN ambassador to Zimbabwe, Juniarta Sastrawan and his delegation yesterday met Bulawayo Metropolitan Affairs minister Judith Ncube to deliberate on the Asian country’s plans to resuscitate and capacitate the struggling National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).

Sastrawan held a closed-door meeting with Ncube at the NRZ Bulawayo main station offices before a tour of the premises.

After the meeting, Sastrawan told NewsDay that his country wanted to revive NRZ, describing the parastatal as a low-hanging fruit because it has its own machinery and manpower.

“My mission here is to strengthen the economic co-operation and the railway industry is one of the low-hanging fruits that I can do. I want to see how we can partner with Zimbabwe and contribute to the blueprint of the economic reform,” he said.

Sastrawan has been an adviser to his country’s Transport and Infrastructure minister and is well-versed in transport and infrastructure planning.

“We are making a more detailed plan on capacity-building. Hopefully, by next year, we can start something, a concrete plan on the capacity-building that we have,” he said.

Sastrawan also said they were not in the country only as investors, but also as partners with NRZ.

NRZ board chairperson Martin Dinha said they were excited to engage Indonesia in the resuscitation of the parastatal, a move that comes at a time the country is facing a serious economic meltdown.

“We have been having active engagements for the past months with the Indonesian ambassador and we are happy our engagements are yielding positive results, as evidenced by this event that we are having today,” he said.

Dinha said their delegation visited Indonesia in preparation for a long-standing relationship in industrial infrastructural development during the Africa Indonesia summit.

“We went to Indonesia last month to attend the Africa-Indonesia summit and during that summit, we mapped a way forward on infrastructural development in Zimbabwe precisely,” he said.

NRZ general manager Lewis Mukwada said the parastatal boasts of having the second largest railway workshop in the southern region after South Africa.

“NRZ has huge and fantastic facilities that we can work on from end to end, meaning that it’s not that we can have capacity-building on the operation of railway, but also on the production of railing stock,” Sastrawan said.

Indonesia’s interests in partnering Zimbabwe come after government recently cancelled NRZ’s US$400 million contract with Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group (DIDG)/Transnet under unclear circumstances.

The US$400 million deal was meant to cover only the first phase of NRZ’s restoration.

To get back on track, NRZ needs US$2 billion in investment, according to an Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe assessment report.

Last year, as part of a temporary agreement, DIDG delivered 13 locomotives, 200 wagons and six passenger coaches on a lease arrangement to the NRZ.

In cancelling the deal, government gave inconsistent excuses and retendered.