BY TAFADZWA MHLANGA

Banc ABC says it has set aside funds to benefit farmers in the 2019/20 farming season.This comes after the 2018/19 farming season was greatly affected by poor rainfall, resulting in a serious drought. Lack of funding for irrigation and horticulture also contributed to the poor harvests.

“We are very aggressive in providing funding in various sectors and we are going to fund the agricultural sector more, so that the country recovers from the drought that we experienced in the previous farming season,” Banc ABC managing director Lance Mambondiani said, without disclosing the amount.

According to the 23rd Southern African Regional Climate Forum, the country is expected to receive normal rainfall from October to December and normal to below normal rainfall between January and March next year.

Due to this forecasted rainfall pattern, farmers have been encouraged to consider irrigation in order to avoid another crop failure.

Mambondiani said the bank had already started funding some agricultural projects in a bid to improve the country’s imports and revive the economy.

“We have also started funding the agricultural sector and other sectors that we feel require assistance for them to go to the next level. We are funding them especially for the reasons of improving the country’s exports to revive the country’s economy,” he said.

“If you know the Chiredzi sugarcane farm, where sugar cane production is done, we are already working with them, funding their operations among other projects. We believe more in impact rather than profit, profit will always come after impact. We use the little opportunity that we have to be a key player in this sector,” he added

Zimbabwe was for many years known as the breadbasket of Africa, exporting wheat, tobacco, and corn to the wider world, especially to other African nations and is yet to return its former glory.

In the past, farmers have struggled to access credit, risk mitigation products and well-functioning farming machines because they have had no collateral security, among many other requirements by financial institutions.

Mambondiani said the bank was taking advantage of being part of the pan-African banking institution by using their financial strengths to fund institutions that are lagging behind in this economic environment.

“We are privileged to be part of the pan-African banking institution and we are building in several other markets. We kind of leverage on the strengths of our colleagues in the region to give us the strengths we require to become the strong financial institution we are,” Mambondiani said.

The managing director said the bank believes in partnerships with like-minded organisations to cut operational costs in this harsh economic environment.

“It’s extremely tough operating in this environment, not only for this bank, but for all businesses that are operating in this environment, but we strongly believe in partnerships. We believe that when things are hard you don’t have to build anything on your own. Make sure that you are holding hands and partner with like-minded people who kind of allow us to reduce costs a little and scale-up as quickly as possible, (instead of building) things on our own,” he said.

The financial institution also partnered with the Harare City Council to help solve the water and refuse collection problems in the capital and improve service provision.

BY MTHANDAZO NYONI

WORKERS in the general agriculture sector have been awarded an 84,62% salary increment, which will see the lowest paid employee getting $360 a month.

According to the collective bargaining agreement seen by NewsDay Business last week, the highest paid employee would now get $720 from $390.
Before the adjustment, the least paid employee was earning $195.

However, the new wage adjustment, which became effective on October 1, has been described as too little to cushion workers from the prevailing economic hardships.

Inflationary pressures have seen the cost of living rising beyond the reach of many in the southern African nation as prices of basic commodities have more than quadrupled in recent months, resulting in the poverty datum line for an average family of five skyrocketing to $1 617 in July.

The wage agreement, signed on October 18, was reached by the parties which included Zimbabwe Agricultural Employers Organisation, Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union, Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union, Commercial Farmers’ Union, Zimbabwe Tobacco Association, General and Plantation Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe and Horticulture General Agriculture and Plantation Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe as well as Horticulture General Agriculture and Plantation Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe.All amounts were rounded off to the nearest $1, the agreement reads.

“An establishment or employees may apply to the National Employment Council within 14 days for an exemption of partial exemption or review from paying wages as set up in the above schedule, stating the reasons why that application should be considered,” reads part of the memo.

Progressive Agriculture and Allied Industries Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe general-secretary Raymond Sixpence accused workers’ unions, who took part in the negotiations, of conniving with the employers to impoverish workers.

“It’s still the same wine in a new bottle. There is nothing to cheer or celebrate. We are going to negotiate for a living wage on the farms with each individual employer. These unions are betraying the workers. They are sleeping in bed with employers,” Sixpence said.

“None can survive with this paltry wage. We are allowed to negotiate in terms of the Labour Act chapter 28:01,” he added.

At its peak, Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector used to provide 45% of the country’s exports, 60% of all raw materials used by local industry and 70% employment.

But now the figures have plummeted, due to a combination of challenges such as recurrent droughts that have preceded chaotic land reform programme in the wake of unavailability of cheap agriculture funding, among other constraints.

BY CHARLES LAITON

Women’s Comfort Corner Foundation (WCCF) director Rita Marque-Mbatha has petitioned President Emmerson Mnangagwa, seeking his intervention in a matter in which a Chitungwiza woman, who scalded a six-year-old girl with hot water causing her first degree burns, was sentenced to 210 hours of community service despite the gravity of the injuries inflicted on the victim.

WCCF raised the issue after Pamela Chipile was sentenced to perform 210 hours community service by a Chitungwiza magistrate following her conviction on charges of physical abuse and negligently causing serious bodily harm.

Chipile scalded the minor following a verbal showdown with the girl’s mother.Marque-Mbatha, who is also the vice-president of the International Alliance of Women (IAW), which advocates for the elimination of violence against women and children, also wrote to the Prosecutor-General (PG) Kumbirai Hodzi complaining about Chipile’s “lenient” sentence.

“Reference is made to a plethora of letters written to you (PG) by Ms Rita Marque-Mbatha and to date we have not received any update. We still aver that the sentence (community service) meted out to Ms Pamela Chipile the accused was grossly disproportionate to the offence committed considering that the doctor averred that the first degree burns on the six-year-old child were very serious and a possibility of a permanent damage abounds,” WCCF said in a letter dated October 11, 2019, addressed to Hodzi.

Marque-Mbatha accused the PG of delaying responses, yet Mnangagwa, despite his busy schedule had promptly responded to her letter.

“A letter written to His Excellency, the Honourable President of Zimbabwe, but despite his busy schedule, he responded to the letter within three days and same delivered to our offices in Hatfield,” Marque-Mbatha said.

“In working with professionals inside and outside the criminal justice system, we seek to improve outcomes for victims and pursue accountability for their assailants. Our goal is to protect the victims and prevent future attacks, counselling and to keep our communities safe thus communication is of paramount importance and we are concerned about the inordinate delay in responding to the concerns of our client in the instant matter.”

On July 30, 2019, Mnangagwa’s principal private secretary, one W Gwatiringa assured the women’s organisation that the President had referred the matter to Hodzi for possible appeal.

“Thank you for writing to his Excellency the President on the above subject. Kindly be advised that His Excellency the President referred the matter to the Prosecutor-General for a possible appeal,” Gwatiringa wrote.

BY FORTUNE MBELE

CHICKEN INN have opted to host league pacesetters Caps United at Barbourfields (BF) Stadium for the blockbuster Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) match on Wednesday in a bid to maximise on revenue from gate-takings.

The match had previously been pencilled for Luveve, Chicken Inn’s traditional home ground.“We looked at a number of issues. It is a big game and it is an opportunity for us to maximise on revenue so we wrote to the PSL to have the match moved to BF which is our second home ground and the league acceded,” Chicken Inn spokesperson Tavengwa Hara said.

“It is a mid-week fixture and we considered BF’s proximity to the city centre and said that would minimise on travelling by the spectators,” he added.

Chicken Inn have lost some ground on the leading teams and will be hoping to close the gap on log leaders United with a win in this one.

They are third on the log with 43 points, and will reduce the gap to four if they can get the victory.

Their coach Joey Antipas, who is on national duty away in Lesotho, is expected back home today to take charge of this match.

Victory for the Green Machine though, would see them urging ever closer to the title while pushing Chicken Inn further away from the title race.

The cheapest ticket for the game will be $20 for the rest of the ground, $50 for the wings and $100 for the VIP.

In another big match for Wednesday, Dynamos host reigning champions FC Platinum at Rufaro.

FC Platinum are on the second spot on the log-table on 45 points, five behind Caps United with eight games to the end of the season and apart from concentrating on their own match, the champions will also have another eye on what would be happening at Barbourfields.

ZPC Kariba, also hoping to mount challenge for the title, are sitting on position four on the log-table with 41 points and host resurgent Highlanders at Nyamhunga Stadium, in what should be another enthralling encounter. Bulawayo Chiefs seek to escape from the relegation zone when they hit the road to Baobab to face Ngezi Platinum Stars on Wednesday.

Guest column: Miriam T Majome

THIS week the normally invisible Gender Commission was in the news for all the wrong reasons. It was widely reported and circulated that one of its officials had suggested the formulation of a dress code for female students in tertiary institutions to protect themselves from being sexually violated by men.

It was inconceivable how a public official this side of the 60s thought it was a good idea to think it, let alone say it, at a public forum. Due to the unwanted attention and public pressure the Gender Commission subsequently gave a lukewarm, but nevertheless, welcome denial of the statement. But like all bad news, it had already dashed out into the world like a plague. Even major international news sources like the BBC picked it up and beamed it for the world to see our latest national antics. We were embarrassed and disappointed by the Commission because the statement minimised all the work that has been done to stop blaming women for their sexual assault. The Commission’s officials will be very careful what they say from now on and avoid being loose cannons. The faux pas also helped to cast back into the public discourse the never ending debate about the perceived link between women’s clothes and sexual violation. From the time they are toddlers young girls are taught to dress “decently” to protect themselves from being sexually abused by men. All little girls are taught that skirts should never be too far above the knee, otherwise they will be inviting trouble. They are taught that they have no one to blame, but themselves if they “provoke” men because men are unable to control themselves. But how true exactly are these assertions? Is there any scientific basis for these widespread beliefs or they are just well preserved time honoured myths? These myths and beliefs are not limited to Zimbabwe and are as commonplace here as they are worldwide.

Research findings presented in an academic paper titled Sexy Dressing Revisited: Does Target Dress Play a Part in Sexual Harassment Cases? Researcher Theresa Beiner revealed that there is no truth to the assertion of the link between sexual assault and dressing. More importantly, the research showed that people believe that women’s dressing is a major contributor in sexual assault, despite unavailability of statistical evidence to back this up. There is no observable link between reported incidence of sexual assault and the way the victims were dressed when they were sexually assaulted. Beiner says the belief is strong and very important because it plays a big role in the adjudication and outcomes of sexual offence cases. She quotes evidence which shows that judicial officials are influenced by this belief when determining cases before them. Those who hold this view personally believe that the victims had some responsibility for their own violation because of their “provocative” dressing, thus were complicity in their own violation. Therefore, the perpetrator cannot be held fully responsible because the victim forced him to violate her. Even though the official position is that the victim’s dressing is not a factor it does not stop defence lawyers from asking accusatory questions about dressing and sneaking in evidence to that effect to try and attribute some of the blame to her. These practices and beliefs play out throughout the world in almost all rape criminal cases. In 2018 a defence lawyer in Ireland argued that the lacy underwear worn by a 17-year-old rape victim was a sign of consent so he argued that the assailant had acted reasonably by raping her. In India, where rape is extremely common, especially gang rape, an 11-year-old girl victim of a gang rape was blamed for having invited it.

Many different studies do not show dressing as a factor in sexual offence cases. What is consistent in the various statistics is that rape victims tend to be young single women of lower socio-economic status.

Sexual violence, such as sexual harassment, assault and rape, is widely agreed to be about power rather than sexual attraction. Young single women feature more on the statistics because they are more vulnerable than other groups as they are less capable of defending and protecting themselves from violence and physical dominance. They are the least likely to have the physical and economic resources to pursue justice after they have been assaulted compared to older more assertive and economically better off women. This is the reason rape is more common in poorer and disadvantaged communities where there are more chances of getting away with sex crime. Rapists, like all criminals, target victims who offer the least resistance and the least trouble. Rape has nothing to do with sexual attractiveness and provocation.

If dressing was a factor, women in predominantly Islamic countries would not experience sexual violence. Muslim women in head to toe covering are commonly sexually harassed and violated as much as other women in other parts of the world. The hijab is not a deterrent to men who want to rape women. In Egypt the United Nations Women conducted a study of masculinity and gender relations in Islamic countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The study revealed that 43% of Egyptian men believe that women like to be sexually harassed because they enjoy the “attention.” Two-thirds of the male respondents admitted to have sexually harassed women. More than 75% of the men blamed their behaviour on the “women’s provocative clothing.” Just how provocative are Islamic dress forms for women like burkas, hijabs and niqabs, is anyone’s guess. This supports Beiker’s findings outlined above that the belief of the existence of a link between sex crimes and dressing is more prevalent than the reality itself.

In August, in another predominantly Islamic country, Malaysia, Member of Parliament was forced to apologise and retract a motion after unexpected public backlash. He had moved a motion seeking legal protection for male sexual assailants if the women victims wore what were deemed to be provocative clothes. Moving the motion he said: “Due to what women wear, we are seduced and end up breaking the country’s laws and face prosecution”.

In tandem with this is the equally common and unfortunate notion that men are incapable of controlling their sexual urges so they are forced into committing sexual crimes against their will. It is believed that it is in their nature and they cannot help themselves whenever they perceive that a woman “wants it” and is openly “inviting it”. The Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte disgraced himself earlier this year by inadvertently showing his inner untamed beast.

He foolishly thought it was wise to speak off the cuff while giving a speech on sexual harassment. He said “as long as there are many beautiful women, there will be more rape cases.” After the widespread condemnation that ensued his spokesman was quick to say that the President had been trying to crack a joke. It is good practice for politicians to stick to their prepared speeches because they rarely ever make good comedians.

The encouraging thing is that there are many men who detest sexual violence and reject the myths and stereotypes surrounding it. Victim blaming is done equally by both women and men. There are many women who believe that women ask to be raped because of their dressing because they believe men cannot control their sexual urges. It was heartening to note that the majority of men who responded to the Gender Commission’s guffaw on social media condemned the statement. They highlighted everything that was wrong with the Commission’s dress code suggestion. Many men do not subscribe to the notion that they are out of control primal sex maniacs who are always ready to ravage women if they think the woman is ‘asking for it’. This is encouraging in the fight against sexual violence and the myths that sustain it.

 Miriam Tose Majome is a legal officer for Veritas Zimbabwe. She writes in her personal capacity. She can be contacted on mtmajome@gmail.com and Twitter @MajomeMiriam

Opinion: Peter Cunliffe-Jones, Laura Zommer, Noko Makgato and Will Moy

ACCORDING to fact-checkers at the Washington Post, United States President Donald Trump has made more than 13 000 false or misleading claims since his inauguration. It is no wonder some people doubt that the fact-checking of politicians’ claims is an answer to the problems of this misinformation age.

When politicians and journalists from Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia met at the Global Conference for Media Freedom in London in July, they acknowledged that the rise of misinformation has contributed to declining public trust in politicians and the media. But effective solutions have not been forthcoming. When Europe’s political and business elite met the same month for the conference Les Rencontres Économiques d’Aix-en-Provence 2019, they, too, saw few options for renewing trust.

But that does not mean that there are none. As the leaders or founders of fact-checking organisations in Africa, Latin America and Europe, we know that our work can play a powerful role in countering the effects of misinformation and restoring faith in reliable sources.

Fulfilling this duty requires, first and foremost, a comprehensive understanding of the challenges we face. Most of the world’s almost 200 fact-checking organisations operate on the assumption that presenting the public with corrected information will generally convince them to update a false view.

Not surprisingly, most academic work on fact-checking has aimed at testing this assumption. The results are promising. While nobody could claim that presenting people with correct information guarantees that they will adjust their views, repeated studies have shown that fact checking helps the public revise their understanding of claims, even when the finding contradicts a firmly held belief.

But simply publishing fact-checks is not enough. For starters, even with the greatest resources, it would not be possible to trace all those who have seen the misinformation being corrected and put our fact-check in front of them. And there is simply too much misinformation circulating online and in public debate to fact-check every false claim made.

That is why, beyond identifying and correcting important misinformation, fact-checkers must engage with politicians, the traditional media, social-media platforms and other relevant institutions to reduce the supply.

This means reaching out to public figures to request on-the-record corrections, lodging complaints with standards bodies and providing training to media organisations. It also means working with tech companies to find ways to prevent the wider circulation of misinformation, including across international borders.

At the same time, fact-checking organisations should not simply focus on tackling false information, but also on identifying sources of reliable information and pointing their readers and followers to them.

And we should work with schools and other educational platforms to help teach people to identify false or misleading claims. This is the approach taken by our organisations, and as small and under-resourced as they are, the impact is already apparent.

For example, in January, Ibrahima Diouf, the economist in charge of writing the manifesto for one of Senegal’s major political parties, Parti de l’Unité et du Rassemblement, told a University of Dakar researcher that, because of the Africa Check team’s work, writers of political-party manifestos paid more attention to the accuracy of their figures.

Similarly, in South Africa, Febe Potgieter-Gqubule, the general manager of the ruling African National Congress, declared in a public meeting that Africa Check “plays an important role” in keeping political parties and their leaders accountable. A few months earlier, the South African Police Service officially revised the national crime statistics, following an Africa Check intervention, admitting that the data were worse than they had initially reported. Reducing the supply of misinformation by engaging with those in power works.

At the same time, in Argentina, the fact-checking organisation Chequeado has created the country’s first programme to teach critical thinking and nemews literacy skills to young people.

The results of this effort to inoculate the young against the harm caused by misinformation mirrored those of a 2016 study, which showed a huge leap in the ability of school-age children in Uganda to distinguish good and bad health information after being taught similar skills.

Finally, effective fact-checking requires efforts to improve public access to reliable information. In the United Kingdom, for example, Full Fact has worked with the Office of National Statistics not only to open up its data to a wider audience, but also to ensure that it is delivered in a form the public will understand.

While we shouldn’t underestimate the scale of the threat posed by misinformation and declining trust, or the complexity of their causes, the problem is not nearly as intractable as some seem to believe.

By addressing not only the symptoms of misinformation and mistrust, but also the systemic problems that underlie them, fact-checking organisations, media, government, and business can resist these worrisome trends.

 Peter Cunliffe-Jones is the founder of Africa Check. Laura Zommer is executive director of Chequeado. Noko Makgato is executive director of Africa Check. Will Moy is chief executive of Full Fact.

Editorial Comment

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s presidency continues to deflate ordinary people’s hopes as he appears completely out of touch with what is happening on the ground as seen by the unwarranted threats he issued to business.

Zimbabwe is currently an unfavourable place to do business because of Mnangagwa’s “trial and error” economic policies that have not done anything to improve the country’s economy, which is now far worse than when he swept to power on November 27 after a military coup that ejected the late long-time ruler, the late Robert Mugabe.

Business people do not just wake up and arbitrarily increase prices, as these are determined by market fundamentals. The threat to “whip business into line” is not going to improve the economic situation in the country. It will, in fact, worsen it. The Mnangagwa administration needs to depart from its “command” approach because it will not work — just like it never worked under Mugabe, but only impoverished the population more.

Mnangagwa’s admission that he did not understand why there was continuous rise in prices, simply shows he is either lights out on economic fundamentals or his ministers are misleading him.
Prices are determined by market forces. If those selling goods have to import them and cannot access foreign currency from the banks, they will do so on the black market to keep their business afloat, and that consequently means they would factor the cost of the foreign currency in their pricing models.

Government simply needs to admit that the local currency has failed, just like they were warned when they first introduced the bond note. And as long as they do not attend to the fundamentals, threatening business will only trigger shortages of basic commodities. Business will simply close shop because they cannot be forced to sell their goods at sub-economic prices for political expediency.

Confidence plays a huge part in people making business decisions and it is without doubt that Zimbabweans from all walks of life have no confidence in the local currency or this administration’s ability to deal with the current economic crisis. All this means Zimbabweans have to pay for the risks businesses are taking to do business in this country. It means higher prices.

It is common knowledge that corruption has been a major drain on the economy, and government efforts so far to fight it have not proved genuine, especially because some of those fingered have very close ties to the President.

It is strange that Mnangagwa’s presidency is associated with threats and the striking doctors are his latest victims. It is now obvious that the government’s failure to grasp basic economics stems from Mnangagwa’s inability to understand that he doesn’t have the power of God to perfect situations by command and that he needs the finesse of a diplomat.

Every day and with each new crisis, Mnangagwa’s reformist mask slips away and the true colours come out. Doctors do not need external forces to incite them to demonstrate for what they think is right.

We do hope Mnangagwa’s forthcoming meeting with the business community will help him appreciate the challenges they are facing and that the buck stops with him.

TODAY we conclude our mini-series on fighting corruption. I hope you have been reading each week, but if you missed you can find any article on the Newsday website by searching Ashley Thaba. As our final article, I want to share the “trump card” to fighting corruption. The 100% guarantee solution.

Selfishness comes easy. Watch a toddler steal the toy or cry when she doesn’t get his/her way. No one has to teach us to do what feels good for us, even if it hurts others. God gives us hope for a different style of life — the strength within and the wisdom to choose a life of selflessness, a life of sacrificial love, a life of serving. The most amazing thing is He doesn’t just command us to do this; He first modelled it by doing it Himself in the life of Jesus. By that same Spirit of Christ living in us, we can find the strength and even experience a change of heart where we actually want and have the ability to do the right thing. Speaking from experience, after surrendering myself and asking God to take over, I frequently will start to do something or say something that I know, in my mind, goes against the Word of God, but my flesh wants it so I do it anyway. Then, I have this strong sense of conviction where God’s Spirit clearly speaks to my inner being saying: “Don’t do this. You will hurt someone. Don’t do this. It is wrong. You will regret it. This will get you into trouble…”

It is like an internal moral compass always guiding me to the Truth. Whether I follow, it is up to me, but I can testify that if you ask him to take over the reins of your life, he is faithful to guide and direct and be that still small voice saying this is the way — walk here. His word truly becomes a lamp to your feet illuminating the way — one step at a time, one day at a time… until you look back and realise it has been a week since you did that action or thought; that thought which you never imagined you could stop! Freedom is available. In Christ, you do not have to continue to do things which later make you ashamed or later hurt yourself and others.

Many people know “Freedom in Christ” to be a sermon they have heard at church, but they haven’t experienced that type of release from bondage of anger, sexual immorality, greed and depression, among others.

They know these types of thoughts and actions are not healthy. They can see what they are doing isn’t giving them the internal peace, love and joy they deeply desire, but it is like they are a slave. Despite good intentions, they fall back into the same bad habits.

Romans 7:15-25 talks about this destructive cycle.

The only hope in becoming victorious is by choosing to surrender control of your life to your creator and saviour and truly trust Him no matter what. Study His word, His guide book: The Bible.
This outlines exactly what to do. Ask his Spirit to whisper to you to stop whenever you are doing; something he knows isn’t His will for you. Don’t be deceived by your feelings! Let Him be in control! Don’t allow yourself to justify why you shouldn’t be obedient. Just trust Him.

Let me give an example. As a parent, I frequently give my children commands such as: “Do your homework when you get home from school. Don’t eat too many sweets.” As their mother, who deeply loves them, I am convinced that these are good rules meant to protect them and will ultimately help them to enjoy their lives more! If they learn how to manage their time and be responsible students. I believe this will set a foundation for them to be productive in the workforce one day.
I believe, if they eat healthy, it will help them avoid many preventable diseases which will plague their lives.

In theory, they understand why I am saying what I say. I can even ask them to explain it to me and they can! I always try and explain to my children why I want them to do what I say.

However, in reality, any given day, despite their head knowledge, they would quickly ditch homework and go play with friends and eat so many sweets they would get sick! Why? Our nature leads us to do whatever feels good to us in the moment! My only hope is that they will learn to trust me over their own thoughts! This isn’t because I am on a power trip! It is because I deeply love them and have been around longer than them and want their best! I know their own thoughts can trick them and end up leading them to make decisions which will hurt them and lead them to make choices they will regret in their future.

God has been around longer than us. If we can submit to His leadership and listen to His guiding words, despite our desires to do the contrary, we would find tremendous joy, peace and love! In fact, imagine this… if you lived your life the way your creator intended, you would lead the fullest most abundant life possible because that is how you were created to live!

On those days where it is so tempting to participate in actions you know are wrong, for example, to get ill-gotten financial gain, let me leave you with this verse. “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:36

Ashley Thaba is a popular life-coach, team-building facilitator and motivational speaker. She is also the author of Conquering the Giants and Dive In. You can view some of her works on her YouTube channel: Ashley Thaba.