Canisio Mudzimu

The pace at which Zimbabwe’s socio-economic situation is deteriorating is quite terrifying and a long-lasting panacea is urgently needed. I am afraid that we might be heading towards the precipice of doom or, if you may allow me to use the word, “Armageddon”.

The insane at which prices are escalating that is not matched with commensurate increases in salaries for workers, has resulted in the rapid erosion of disposable incomes, leaving most Zimbabweans pauperised and living from hand to mouth.

Prices of fuel, food, transport, accommodation and most basic necessities are now beyond the reach of many and what is saddening and frightening is that there seems to be no indication from the powers-that-be whether there are any strategies being crafted to extricate the country from the tentacles of debilitating poverty that is indelibly inscribed on the faces of the majority of desperate Zimbabweans.

Shortages of electricity, fuel, foreign currency and even ideas to resolve the crisis have become the order of the day.

Load-shedding is the new norm and the tradition of nocturnally waiting for electricity reconnections has made life in this country hellish such that the pathetic scenario cries to the heavens for reparations.

The majority of people in all spheres of life are suffering in one way or the other, with students at tertiary institutions shouldering the burden of the economic meltdown through starvation, pensioners have been reduced to destitutes, and most workers are living on a shoe-string budget, thanks to the moribund economy.

The euphoria and excitement that characterised the November 2017 debacle has now died down and in its place is utter exasperation and anguish. For the umpteenth time in the history of this country, everyone is singing the same dreary anthem on the worsening situation. It is a pity that the country once epitomised as the “New Canaan” is fast-tracking towards annihilation and the million dollar question that begs for an answer is: Will there be any immediate solution to this socio-economic and political morass?

At the rate at which prices are galloping while incomes are dwindling, coupled with shortage of electricity and foreign currency, amid world record unemployment and inflation levels, one is left to wonder what Father Christmas has in store for Zimbabwe. Bread, mealie-meal, beverages (yes, beer included), rice, sugar and other essential commodities that normally make the Festive Season memorable seem to be beyond the reach of many and expectations are that if nothing is done immediately, by December the situation will even be worse.

As days draw closer for the second anniversary of the New Dispensation, it makes sad reading that the difference between the “new” and the “old” dispensations has become so obfuscated that one wonders what kind of curse Zimbabwe is under. What makes the misery worse is that those in the echelons of power have not shown any seriousness to address the lacuna, and in case they have shown it and I missed the demonstration, they have a funny way of showing it.

The state of affairs in the country is so deplorable that Zimbabweans in the diaspora are not even dreaming of returning to their motherland, while those stuck in the country are looking with prying eyes for the slimmest of opportunities to jump from the sinking Titanic. It has become a cocktail of confusion and the game of poly-tricks is inflicting unbearable harm on the ordinary Zimbabwean, who just wants three modest meals a day, as the late iconic orator Dr Martin Luther King Junior put it thus: “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture of their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.”

What is critical at the moment is to make sure that people are fed and as the full belly doctrine stipulates, no amount of sloganeering and political grandstanding will do this country any good as long as there is no food on the national table.

The time to tame the crisis is now because perpetuation of the status quo will not only make Zimbabweans suffer more, but has the unintended consequence of creating a generation of people who have nothing more to lose.

When people reach a stage where, in the words of Abraham Maslow, they think nothing else, but food, emote only food and yearn for food, then you know that you have reached the zenith of monumental failure as a nation.

The way forward lies in selflessness where national leadership puts partisan politics aside and focuses on what is good and just for the country.

An end to the appalling paucity of ideas to curb Zimbabwe’s economic turmoil and comatose is long overdue.

There comes a time in life when you have to realise that you cannot solve problems by using the same mentality that was responsible for giving birth to the challenges. Time is now to put political and factional differences aside.

Now is the time to dump pride and vie for patriotic manoeuvres that will truly emancipate the people of this nation from acute poverty, biting starvation, incessant shortages, skyrocketing unemployment, political uncertainty and national shame.

It is unequivocally clear that the Zimbabwean ship is heading towards the cliff-edge of doom and if no action is taken promptly, the ship will plunge headlong into quagmires of oblivion.

It is my fervent belief, and the prayer of many Zimbabweans alike, that action — short of a miracle — should be taken now to save our beautiful country and reclaim the nation’s glory that is fading fast with the passage of each minute.

The Herculean task that each and every Zimbabwean has is to appreciate that, to use the words of the late former President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe (may his soul rest in peace): “Iwe neni tine basa”. Asante sana! I rest my case.

editorial

GIVEN the dire state of Zimbabwe’s economy which is currently desperate for everything, from its very own currency to fuel, one would have imagined that the country’s leadership would jealously guard and nurture every source of livelihood that is helping keep the troubled nation’s head above the water.

But this is just one big fat chance when one looks at the case of the premier resort town of Victoria Falls which is currently experiencing one of its worst water shortages in ages. Victoria Falls’ water shortages are not only humiliating, but a major indictment to all the country’s purported efforts to achieve middle income status by 2030.

That the major resort town, made famous by one of the world’s seven natural wonders, the Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-tunya — the Smoke that thunders, lies on the banks of Africa’s fourth longest river, the Zambezi, is more than perplexing that it can be said to be experiencing such serious water challenges to the point of being threatened with a cholera outbreak.

Reasons being given that the resort town is failing to supply enough water to its 30 000 odd population and the hordes of tourists because of power outages and a rising population are flimsy if the country’s authorities really appreciated that this tourism gem is one of the country’s top foreign currency earners. It is said, the town requires $15,7 million to sort out its water crisis. And we are not convinced that government is failing to find that money to alleviate the crisis. If government is not prioritising the upkeep of places such as Victoria Falls, then we wonder what exactly is on its to do list? And, by the way, what happened to government’s promise that the town would be exempted from load-shedding?

It’s high time our government matured and weaned itself from prioritising petty and kindergarten machinations of always laying the blame on the MDC for poorly running councils. It is for its own good that places such as Victoria Falls are kept pristine because they shore up its currently battered image. Besides, these places are gooses that are laying the golden eggs. So it is quite confounding that government appears disinterested in the state of a prime place such as Victoria Falls, which has over the years kept tourists coming despite the country having been declared a pariah State following serious human rights violations.

It is quite sad and disheartening that millions, if not billions, of dollars have vanished and continue to disappear from government coffers without anything to show for it, while places like Victoria Falls that are propping government’s foreign currency reserves are being left to rot.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

MINISTRY of Energy secretary Gloria Magombo was yesterday grilled by Parliament over issues of rebundling of Zesa with MPs questioning why an institution that was recently unbundled was now being rebundled.

Magombo had appeared before the Joel Gabbuza-led Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Energy to speak on her ministry’s 2020 budget proposals.

Gabbuza also asked her to explain the $8,6 billion loss by Zesa which was attributed to exchange rate losses and low electricity tariffs.

“After the $8,6 million loss which was attributed to exchange rate losses you were now given a new tariff and calculations show that this will enhance your revenue by $800 million per month, and it shows that you should be able to offset this loss within three months,” Gabbuza said.

Magombo admitted that the sharp increase in Zesa tariffs will boost the company’s balance sheet.

“We were operating in a situation where our tariffs were low, as well as issues of inflation – and because of this background Zesa has been operating in an almost impossible situation with revenues amounting to $98 million against expenditure of $1,2 billion,” Magombo said.

“The major issue that was causing the net loss were the sub-economic tariffs that were previously charged,” she said.

Bikita West MP Elias Musakwa then asked Magombo to explain the rationale of unbundling and then rebundling Zesa, and why she would need to get outside consultants to rebundle Zesa.

“You said you will engage consultants to re-bundle Zesa, but is this country suffering from lack of consultants? Do we not have technocrats in this country who can do that exercise without us paying all that money to foreign consultants?” asked Musakwa.

Magombo then responded: “The issue sounds simple, but rebundling means there are people who are going to lose jobs. There is a vested interest and the role of a consultant is to do an independent structure which is not based on individuals and personalities.”

Uzumba MP Simbaneuta Mudarikwa said unbundling of Zesa was done by consultants, and now they wanted to hire other consultants to rebundle. He said Zesa was concentrating on wrong issues instead of focussing on ensuring that the country had enough power.

“The unbundling exercise was the work of a consultant and we need to know if they were competent enough. The only things we see is the expansion of the Zesa car park. You are generating 1 300 megawatts with three boards. While the sizes of your vehicles are improving, there is no generation of power. Our focus must be on generation of power,” Mudarikwa said.

MPs suggested that Magombo should look at the issue of hiring local consultants — even at universities to look at the issue of the Zesa rebundling.

NOIC acting chief executive officer Godfrey Ncube said the major challenge affecting non-availability of fuel was foreign currency.

“We had 104 million litres up to August, but we only sold 76 million litres. On capital projects, we developed four projects in Mabvuku, Bindura, Warren Park and Masvingo. The major challenges that we are facing which are causing shortages of fuel is foreign currency, but in the short term I think it will be better because of pricing, and we also hope that in the long term there will be proper functioning of public transport,” Ncube said.

BY PRAISEMORE SITHOLE

President Emmerson Mnangagwa (pictured) yesterday urged companies and producers to export 20% of their produce to the foreign markets, but retain 80% for local markets.

Mnangagwa made the remarks while officially opening the ZimTrade’s 2019 Exporters’ Conference at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo.

The conference saw the President launch the Zimbabwe national trade policy vision and export promotion strategy.

“I urge every local producer, at every level, to aim to have a minimum component of their total output going towards exports, for example, through the ratio of 80% for local markets and 20% for export markets,” Mnangagwa said.

“I urge all stakeholders to embrace the new Zimbabwe national trade policy vision and export strategy roadmap towards the exports target of US$7 billion by 2023 and US$14 billion by 2030 in order to facilitate the attainment of the national vision of an upper middle income economy by 2030.”

Mnangagwa said they had moved ZimTrade from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs because as government they saw that, although there could be internal trade, it was critical to engage with the international community.

“In line with the theme rethink, reform and export, provinces must identify strategies for economic activities in their regions to ensure everyone participates in growing our exports and the economy at large,” Mnangagwa added.

The President indicated that the Zimbabwe national trade policy vision and export promotion strategy towards 2030 agenda sought to propel the country’s industrialisation towards a transformed and internationally competitive economy, driven by robust, free and fair domestic and international trade.

He said the vast natural and human resources that Zimbabwe is endowed with require policy strategies that will enable the country to build production capacity and generate the much-needed foreign exchange earnings through exports.

Mnangagwa said the country has largely relied on exporting primary commodities, with exports of value-added goods and services having remained subdued due to a number of factors.

“On Monday, I launched the mining development strategy roadmap, where value addition and beneficiations are key. My government expects all sectors of the economy to draw lessons from the mining sector and begin to develop, set targets and milestones to pursue with regards on increasing our exports,” Mnangagwa said.

“In this regard, provincial ministers are urged to tap into ZimTrade confidence, let us take export targets for our companies. By 2023 our exports should be $7 billion and in 2030 $14 billion. This can only be achieved when all of us realise that we have a role to play to achieve those standards, it’s not the business of one company, one province, but it is the business of all of us.”

“In line with our county laws, all companies must insist on the use of local currency for all local transactions,” he added.

The President, however, expressed disappointment that in Japan last month exhibitions did not show the best of Zimbabwe, but just showed a few pictures and books, but elsewhere, where ZimTrade was showcased in Egypt, Germany and Spain, he received rave country reports.

He further indicated that Zimbabwe’s trade potential had not been fully exploited to enable the country to meaningfully gain from trade.

BY Respect Gwenzi

Cassava Smartech, an Econet spinoff, recently launched Sasai, a mobile application which mirrors China’s WeChat. Of course, it is a first by Africa, but odds are highly-staked against its success.

There is already intense competition in the chatting space, with statistics showing that South Africa and Nigeria, WhatsApp usage is now entrenched, so is the rest of Africa.

Opportunities are ready in the payments space, but MTN, which is due to launch its own version of WeChat, stands a better chance of gaining traction and market dominance due to scale and brand equity. Even so, WeChat has intensified own efforts to expand and increase its value proposition on the continent.

Broadly, internet adoption on the continent remains very low compared to the rest of the world. These are some of the key factors which will militate against Sasai’s success.

Sasai is an African region-focused instant messaging application, but with much more functionalities most notably, a payments and an exploration platform. The payments functionality allows users to transfer money to and from users on the same platform, withdraw money on selected payments platforms, as well as make payments for goods and services.

The exploration functionality partially interlinks with the payments functionality as users can purchase applications, books, pay for online streaming services, download apps within the app, among other services.

The application was launched in Zimbabwe a few months ago, a country which gave parent Econet, the clout it commands in the mobile telecommunications space, even as some of its off-springs such as EcoCash and Steward Bank, now all housed under Cassava, have outshone the market.

But, of course, the Econet group has suffered defeats before, especially on products that tend to focus on the continent and not the micro-market of Zimbabwe.

In 2018, Econet was forced to shut down loss-making and uncompetitive pay TV Kwese, which had ambitiously sought to dethrone Naspers’ DStv as market leader on the African continent.

Although it amassed a fair share of subscribers, it fell short on numbers, which is what defines a pay television channel. The case may now be different with Sasai, which is in-house built and has relatively lower running costs, with minimal limitations such as payments regulations and integration costs.

However, the aspect of scale is still paramount to increase value proposition. Messaging applications thrive on suction effect and the larger the ecosystem the quicker the growth.

To generate numbers, there has to be a fair share of early adopters and these are normally drawn by either brand equity or a strong value proposition. For example, one will ask what incremental value do they accrue, if they have to forgo an application such as WhatsApp, where most of their friends are, on jumping to Sasai.

If payments is the value proposition, it also has to be more clear what savings one makes from transacting within Sasai compared to say direct EcoCash transacting on mobile wallet. Either way, the value proposition has to be very strong because chatting on its own ranks on top in terms of hierarchy of subscribers needs.

Sasai’s success will be tested on the domestic front in Zimbabwe, where it enjoys strong brand equity and leverages on group synergies. Zimbabwe has a more favourable internet penetration level compared to the region.

It equally has a higher mobile internet and specifically high social media usage. High adoption of mobile money has catalysed financial inclusion in light of cash scarcity, positing the market as fertile for escalated online payments.

Traditional brick and mortar banking is dwindling even before the rural market is saturated. But smartphone adoption among the rural folk will continue to increase at a very slower rate, while affordability is dampened by a worsening economic environment, thus dampening the expected growth rate, although this may only be a short-term constraint.

The local economic landscape may tilt in the mid-term, but the timing of the product’s release was also very wrong.

Data cost is going up frequently beyond affordable levels, forex scarcity has intensified, meaning topping one’s international credit or debit cards gets to be more difficult.
The same can be said for local currency scarcity, which has limited EcoCash’s services to only a money transfer platform. The Econet magic of 1998, which saw the company going for a listing, despite the emerging economic turbulence, cannot be replicated here.

Times have changed and the underlying conditions also very different. Back then, Zimbabwe had no effective mobile telco offering, which meant there was a strong propensity for growth. The same can be said for EcoCash in 2011.

On the continent, parent Econet has a foothold on broadband via Liquid Telecoms, but lags in terms of mobile telco due to limited geography coverage. Mobile telecom companies with dominance in Africa’s most populous and industrious economies of Nigeria and South Africa are better placed to take a lead in the combined chatting and payments market and one provider, MTN, is already making headway in that space.

MTN announced plans to launch the instant messaging app in March 2019, which was expected to roll first in its West African markets before expanding to other 17 markets, where it has ready presence through mobile money and voice. In these markets, which include South Africa, Nigeria and Asia, MTN has a combined 235 million subscribers.

Global leader, WeChat’s success was curved on China’s closed economy, which restricts other popular Western applications such as WhatsApp as well its high population, factors that are not inherent in Sasai.

As internet adoption increases, payments as a solution, is highly becoming sought after and players such as Paypal, Alipay are reaping big.

Facebook’s Libra, if it sees the light of the day, could be very disruptive. Sasai had better chances of succeeding had it focussed more on the payments space in isolation, integrating all payment systems in Zimbabwe, including API’s for banks, EcoCash and even remittance services, but the chatting space is always tempting, given its ability to lure customers.

There is a clear ambition on Strive Masiyiwa’s side to bring in a block buster product that could shutter the global space and position it as a game player among the giants, but Sasai will not be the one.

BY MISHMA CHAKANYUKA

RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) deputy governor Jesimen Chipika has urged banks to focus on savings deposits in order to enhance financial support to the productive sectors.

Productive sectors of agriculture, mining, manufacturing, construction and mortgages are financed by local banks through long-term loans.

As at June 30, 2019, local banks had total deposits valued at $16,9 billion, three quarters of this amount was used to finance the productive sector.

“Our hope is that we can shift the nation to the savings mode — that is very key and critical. It is the savings deposits that banks can use to loan, on a long-term basis, to the productive sectors. Our deposits are such that you can come and demand your money any day and any time and that makes it difficult for financial institutions,” Chipika said.

She said this in an address at the Zimbabwe Independent Banks and Banking 2019 Survey awards ceremony in Harare yesterday.

“There is high demand for loans in the country, particularly because we are trying to move every micro project, small projects, and media businesses and so on to look for formal financing. So far, we are happy with the sectorial distribution of the loans, because almost three quarters of the loans are going to the productive sector, mainly agriculture and manufacturing. We are also seeing quite a big chunk going to mortgage.”

Chipika added that the private sector was key to the growth of the country’s economy and government had laid a sustainable foundation for the private sector economic transformation.

According to government’s 2019 mid-year review and supplementary budget, credit to the private sector remained subdued, growing by 16,20%, from $3,80 billion in May 2018 to $4,4 billion in May 2019.

Chipika advised financial institutions and people in general to put efforts in minimising the adverse inflation expectations and protect the local currency in order to stabilise the economy.

“As long as the people of this country and even the foreigners that we want to attract to come and work with us do not have confidence in what we are doing, the macro-economic environment cannot stabilise,” she said.

BY MISHMA CHAKANYUKA

ECOBANK emerged the overall winner at this year’s edition of the Zimbabwe Independent Banks and Banking Survey ceremony which was held in Harare yesterday.

The main aim of the event, organised by Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), is to award banks that have done exceptionally well over a given period. AMH are the publishers of NewsDay, The Standard and Zimbabwe Independent and also runs an online radio station HSTv.

POSB emerged as the first runner-up, while NMB was the second runner-up.

The event came at a time banks are reeling from excess constraints which include liquidity challenges, shortage of foreign currency, slow foreign direct investment inflows, high interest rate rates, adverse economic evolution and a suppressed performance of banks’ loan portfolios.

This year’s survey is themed Return of the Zimdollar Transition to Normalcy? It was sponsored by First Capital Bank.

The survey revealed that the banks under review performed well under the prevailing economic conditions, with most of them performing positively.

The awards for the 2019 half year were based on the findings by an independent research house, Equity Axis.

Overally, all the banks registered huge growth in their balance sheets due to property revaluation processes and exchange gains, while income performance for the banks was also good.

Stanbic had the biggest market share by balance sheet size which stood at $3,1 million followed by CBZ at $3,09 million and CABS at $2,1 million.

The survey showed that banks were increasing their loaning platforms and it also looked at banks ratios and earnings.

This year the survey incorporated some awards that are in line with the changing times.

Below are the citations by Equity Axis for the awards:

Overall winner — Ecobank

Barely nine years ago, this bank was at the brink of collapse before a reputable international bank came in to breathe a new lease of life into it. Eight-and-a-half years later, after following a restructuring exercise, the bank is now one of Zimbabwe’s top performers. It has curved a niche in trade financing leveraging on the parent and taking advantage of dwindling correspondence banking to spur its non-funded business. This bank has recorded superior returns ahead of the market and is on course to complete a two-year run on strong earnings growth.

Second runner-up — NMB Bank

The bank has emerged from a volatile past and it has stood the test of time.

The bank is among the few speeding up innovation in Fintech and its results have been showing. Its latest earnings results show a bank that is already reaping early gains from digitisation through a very low income to OPEX level.

First runner-up — POSB

This bank has shown a consistent growth pattern in earnings over the last four years, defying a past of losses and low capitalisation. At one point it was the only profitable parastatal entity and this was achieved through an internal reformation of the bank.

business reporter

THE battle over a US$400 million deal to recapitalise the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) could be headed to the courts, further delaying plans to fix the country’s collapsed rail network.

After government said it had cancelled the contract with the Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group (DIDG), claiming the consortium had failed to show it had the financial backing to complete the project, DIDG says it “strictly reserves its rights” and describes the cancellation as one driven by “malice”.

According to a statement released Tuesday via Information secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana, government rejected the DIDG because it had shown funds sourced internationally, but excluding South Africa rail company Transnet, whose participation had been a factor in the consortium winning the tender. The tender would now be re-issued to other potential partners, government announced.

“The exclusion of Transnet had a legal impact on the tender, which had been awarded to them as a consortium. In light of the foregoing, government took a position to issue a new tender. If any of the former members of the consortium want to compete, they are still eligible to make bids and will be adjudged fairly,” Mangwana said.

But reacting on Wednesday, Donovan Chimhandamba, head of DIDG, hinted that his company could take legal action.

“We have noted the official statement from a few government authorities. We have been dealing with such malice for the last 18 months and they had managed to hide behind various issues. Last week it was about funding, now it’s about Transnet. None of these parties has communicated anything to us, which we find disturbing. However, we remain resolute to our cause and strictly reserve our rights,” Chimhandamba said.

In 2018, as part of a temporary agreement, DIDG delivered 13 locomotives, 200 wagons and six passenger coaches on a lease arrangement to the NRZ. The delivery was touted as one of the early successes of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s efforts to attract investment and repair the country’s decayed infrastructure. However, with the deal now in trouble, questions will emerge about how the deal went wrong and what government plans to do next to revive the NRZ.

At its peak, NRZ moved 18 million tonnes of freight per year, according to data from the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ), which has been involved in efforts to refurbish the national railway system. In the first half of 2019, according to an NRZ report, the company moved just 1,3 million tonnes of freight, 8,5% down on the same period last year.

The US$400 million deal was meant to cover only the first phase of NRZ’s restoration. To get back on track, NRZ needs a total of US$2 billion in investment, according to an IDBZ assessment report. The needed refurbishment comprises rehabilitation of the railway line network, construction of new railway lines, replacement of signalling equipment, new rolling stock — the locomotives, coaches and wagons — plus repairs to bridges, buildings and other supporting infrastructure.
— newZWire

BY ALLIEWAY NYONI

A FRESH human-wildlife conflict is looming in Chivi North and Zvishavane following reports by village heads that a parade of four elephants was seen at Takavarasha village before two crossed Runde River to Mazvihwa.

Rangers from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) from Mushandike confirmed the development and advised the public to notify the police or relevant authorities if they come across the jumbos.

“Tracking ZimParks rangers have picked spoor of four jumbos at Murowa-Buchwa area in Zvishavane and another spoor has been discovered at Chitowa in Chivi North, with prints indicating that other two jumbos are heading towards Shurugwi area,” said one of the ZimParks rangers.

“It is not known which direction the other two took in Mazvihwa area upon separating from others,” said Zvishavane-Runde Member of Parliament Cuthbert Mpame, who was assisting rangers in search of the dangerous animals.

ZimParks Ngezi cluster manager Trumber Jura advised the public to spread information and avoid a tourist approach in trying to view the animals.

“Let’s keep our people informed about the presence of these straying elephants to save life. Elephants can cover very long distances in a short space of time. If encountered they can pound their target to death.

“Imagine the little ones, especially those unsuspecting schoolchildren, who are likely to take a touristic approach seeing the jumbos as big toys and tamper with them, therefore, inviting an obvious horrific death,” he said.

Jura said his department was working tirelessly to apprehend the jumbos and place them into safety.

Chief Madyengove in Chivi said the animals were suspected to have moved from conservatives in Chikombedzi and were travelling upstream along the Runde River and were first spotat Takavarasha.

BY STEPHEN CHADENGA

GWERU mayor, Josiah Makombe on Wednesday said the local authority would soon identify land for the relocation of the Gweru Sports Club and other recreational facilities to allow for the expansion of the Midlands city.

Stakeholders have, however, castigated council for trying to sell land around the sports club to private developers as part of efforts to expand the central business district, (CBD), saying such a move would deprive the city of recreational facilities.

“As city fathers we have resolved that we need to identify alternative land to relocate the recreational facilities before they are sold to private developers,” Makombe said.

“We take cognisance of the need to ensure that recreational facilities are available for our residents, hence we are going to identify suitable land for the relocation of existing facilities before we repossess that land for the city’s expansion drive.”

Early this year, Gweru Residents Forum director, Charles Mazorodze urged council to “rescind the proposed sale of Gweru Sports Club in the public interest and look for alternative space for the so-called investor”.

Last year, council chamber secretary Vakai Chikwekwe indicated that the municipality would not renew lease agreements on premises located behind the Government Complex to pave way for the establishment of an industrial park that will extend to Fairmile Motel, along Bulawayo Road.

Chikwekwe said council had given the two institutions until January 31 this year to wind up operations.

The proposed disposal of the sports facility has drawn widespread condemnation from the Sports and Recreational Commission, among other stakeholders.