guest column Learnmore Zuze

IF truth be said, there is no political leader who takes comfort in realising that the people they lead are scrounging for survival.

Currently, it is easier to hail accusations of mismanagement and self-enrichment against the government at large, but it must be factually borne in mind that even the most corrupt and callous of leaders do not take joy in the suffering of the masses.

Former Libyan dictator and authoritarian Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, for all his reputation for heartlessness, ensured that economically, Libya was a distance ahead of most countries.

The same is true for most countries that may be branded autocratic; there remains that sense of realisation that the
citizenry ought to afford the basics and necessities of life.

Even at a time when all else was crumbling before ex-President Robert Mugabe, as he waged a verbal joust against
President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair early in 2000, the geriatric tried to come up with incentives, freedom trains and the infamous scheme, Basic Commodities Supply Side Intervention.

It was upon this realisation by the Mugabe regime that its people needed to live, that the programme was introduced. I will repeat that it would be a lie of elephantine proportions that the present government is having a field day while fuel prices go up almost fortnightly. It would be untrue that all is well within the corridors of power when the government worker is earning a paltry salary incapable of sustaining a family of three.

Further, it cannot be accurate to say the government rejoices over the prices of basic goods which have now gone haywire.

I have to repeat the need for objectivity in this matter and avoid being a critic for the sake of the word. No
government, no matter how irresponsible, takes joy at the pains suffered by citizens. Against this background it must,
therefore, be acknowledged that the incumbent government intends to mend the economy, but they desperately lack the
critically-needed knowledge to shift the economic fortunes.

It’s correct to say they wholly desire to lower inflation and halt the immense hardship visited upon the people, but they lack the requisite knowledge. This relates specifically to the economy and probably it could be easier to forgive a person who desires something, but lacks the knowledge.

The scorching question which is the focal point of this piece has nothing to do with the economy, but everything to do with human rights. While it can be understood that there are many factors that govern the economy, the same cannot be said towards the upholding of human rights.

It does not take ingenuity to ensure that the freedoms of citizens are protected by a government. There is no expenditure
incurred in upholding the rule of law; the very thing that would boast confidence in investors. It is quite disquieting that the current government seems to be falling way below the radar on both the economy and human rights scale.

The mere upholding of human rights could, at least, convince people on the commitment of the present government.

Surely, the handling of the Job Sikhala case, which had the world’s eyes fastened on it, does very little to prove that this era is any different from the previous one. Sikhala becomes the 21st person to be charged with treason, this year alone.

Reports of torture of suspects in this day and age are quite a blow on human rights efforts. Sikhala’s lawyers allege the
Zengeza West MP was tortured and blindfolded, right through the Bikita journey.

It is further reported that Sikhala’s lawyers were locked outside and at first not allowed to talk to their client.

Facts presented indicate the suspect was denied food and medication.

Surely, this is where the plot is being lost. The very economy the government wishes to mend and the massively required investor confidence stems from nowhere, but the upholding of constitutional provisions.

Where the Constitution evinces the need for the rights of suspects and prisoners to be observed, the opposite happens. Is it any wonder that America, to date, has called for the arrest of the killer soldiers of August 1?

Without these critical reforms, it’s an outright lie that an iota of economic improvement can be witnessed in the country.

Outside the Sikhala saga, it is reported by the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) that the Zanu PF leadership and traditional leaders are marginalising rural dwellers in dire need of food aid by distributing handouts along partisan lines.

The ZPP notes that even under this new government, there are countless cases where destitute and marginalised citizens are being unlawfully denied social welfare assistance because of their political affiliation, in clear contravention of section 77(b) of the Constitution Amendment (No 20), which states that every person has the right to sufficient food, with the State having the responsibility of ensuring that reasonable legislative measures are taken to realise this right.

Even the resurrection of the draconian Public Order and Security Act (POSA) under the guise of Maintenance of Peace and Order Bill (MOPA) to quell public demonstrations and crush dissent does very little to inspire the confidence terribly needed for Zimbabwe.

As long as there is a dearth of knowledge regarding the link between the economy and an acceptable human rights record, then the country hasn’t even started on the path to recovery.

If the economy is proving too difficult to handle, at least be seen to be upholding the rule of law. It would appear Zimbabwe has some time before a new day arrives.

BY CALVIN MAHACHI

MISS Teen Zimbabwe Wadzanai Muzvongi (pictured) was adjudged the first princess during this year’s edition of the Miss Teen Continentals pageant finals held in Las Vegas, the United States, on Thursday last week after giving a good account of herself on the ramp.

Muzvongi, who is a spoken word artist, was beaten to the crown by South African teenage beauty Chace Collett, who was crowned the new Miss Teen Continentals.

The 19-year-old Zimbabwean model said although she missed the crown, she was happy that she had represented her country well, as she outclassed several other contestants from other countries, including Canada and the US.

She expressed gratitude to Miss Teen Zimbabwe organisers and other stakeholders who afforded her the opportunity to represent the country at the global catwalk.

“I am so honoured to have gotten the opportunity to represent my country at the Miss Teen Continentals pageant. I am so happy I was able to fly Zimbabwe’s flag high,” she said.

“I owe so many thanks to many people because it really took a village to get me to where I am today. Thanks to all my sponsors that willingly gave me everything at a time when I had nothing.”
Muzvongi said her family as well as her coach, Emily Kachote, also made significant sacrifices for her to reach the
finals.

“Thank you to my family because they really sacrificed a lot to get me to where I am and also the Miss Teen Zimbabwe Pageant and definitely my director and coach Emily Kachote for training and teaching me everything I know about modelling,” she said.

Miss Teen Zimbabwe administrator Clara Matenga told NewsDay Life & Style that they were over the moon following
Muzvongi’s successful representation of the country at the beauty contest.

“We are excited with Wadzanai’s victory. It shows that as Miss Teen Zimbabwe, we have all that it takes to groom and
train top-notch models that meet world standards,” she said.

Matenga said they were now looking forward to training and grooming more young models across the country.

guest column Emmanuel Zvada

Job-hunting has radically changed. The advent of computer technology has paved way for one to apply for job positions via sites like the Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter, just to name a few.

Nowadays, job seekers use computers to reach out to relatives, former friends and classmates, including colleagues and fellow schoolmates.

Social media is a very useful tool to discover available positions, by establishing relationships with contacts who can give recommendations even on social media. The internet is a gold mine for those hunting for jobs, but you have to know how to use it.

It is a known fact that one of the most challenging tasks in one’s professional life is getting a new job.

The internet has a lot of job-posting websites where you can search and even apply to different companies easily, but you might also consider broadening your search to Facebook, Linkedin and other social medial platforms.

There are so many people competing for a limited number of positions that it seems impossible for an average person to get one if they do not have job hunting skills. If you go on google, jobs are offered almost everywhere. But despite the overwhelming number of available jobs, it is difficult to land one.

The way people look for jobs has rapidly evolved over the last few years.

The days of perusing through the “jobs available” advertisements of local newspapers are things of the past as many are now utilising social media jobs platforms.

The best thing about these jobs portals is that you can filter or search in a specific industry, or a specific position in every industry.

The success of using social media in job hunting is in networking. The more friends you have, the higher the tendency to meet friends of your friends, thus increasing chances of finding good contacts.

Whether you are a recent college graduate looking for your first job or a seasoned professional looking for a new opportunity, social media is incredibly useful for job hunters. Below are tips and tricks to enhance your job search via social networking sites:

What you are supposed to do

Eliminate all unprofessional posts and pictures

Even if you don’t want to leverage social media to help your job search, make sure your online profiles are not hindering your chances of getting employed.

Before you apply for any job, take a look at all of your online photos and posts and ask yourself if this is honestly something you’d want a potential employer to see.

It should also be known that the first thing an employer does when he sees your name as a potential employee is to check applicants’ social media profiles.

It will be a good advice if you delete, hide, untag, or make private anything that could be considered offensive or controversial so that you won’t ruin your employment opportunities.

Update your profile photo

Make your profile look like how recruiters would want it to look. Use a professional profile photo and cover photo as you want to look professional and experienced.

Post a recent, decent, and suitable photo for the position.

Never post vulgar pictures, as it is easy for people to grab them onsite.

More so, you must include your location on your profile, because many recruiters use it to search for any information they might want.

Carefully craft your brand statement if possible to capture your work ethics, character, special skills, depth of experience, and exceptional strengths.

List both professional and volunteer experiences if any, but put of a professional nature first.

More than half of hiring managers will look at an applicant’s social media profiles, so be very aware of the pictures you post.

List your top skills and qualifications.

Write all your qualifications, including all awards received and positions held.

If you are on Linkedin, don’t just list your education qualifications, but focus on your top skills that you want endorsed and ask former employers or professors to endorse that specific skill, but keep in mind that not all recruiters look at this section.

If you are job searching, let Linkedin know by turning-on “open candidates” from your preferences and recruiters will know you are quietly looking for a job.

All of your social media accounts that you plan to job-search on need to be private and professional. You need to keep it professional online because you never know who is watching and you never know how people may seriously consider your posts.

Build professional networks

Just as businesses are using social media to promote their brand and engage with prospects, you should use social media to promote your personal brand and form connections.

Your connections can exponentially increase your exposure and access to other connections.

Linkedin makes it easy to connect with people you know by importing your contact lists from sites such as gmail.

Engage with professionals not just on Linkedin, but on other platforms as well.

Talk on Twitter with influencers in your field; become an active voice on professional forums and Facebook groups. Connect with other professionals, spend time improving your profiles, and make sure your accounts always have your most recent contacts and professional information.

Proofread your entries before posting.

Make sure there are no errors in grammar or spelling. Show that you have good communication skills.

Post only positive comments.

Proofreading can play a vital part in any organisation, no matter its size; whether you work for yourself or for a company, protecting the brand is definitely important.

Misspelled words, poor grammar and inconsistent information, among a host of other things, can all have a negative effect on the brand and the company.

Maintain a solid online presence

It is important to keep your social media accounts updated, polished and professional. In other words, you are better off remaining online all the time by posting anything related to your profession than taking much without being noticed online.

Apart from that, you also have to make sure that you can be reached and the only way employers can reach you is if your number contact number is included on your profile.

Do not assume they will want to contact you online; make it easy for prospective employers contact you the way they want.

Provide your land-line and cell phone numbers, including your email address so that in case prospective employers want to get in touch with you, they can do so at any given time.

What you must not do

Mixing professional and personal online accounts

One downside of using social networking sites is when you fail to separate your personal and professional accounts.

This is very dangerous because your potential recruiters will be able to read private conversations or unflattering comments of friends who are just trying to be funny.

I would advise that you use Linkedin for your professional site as it is targeted specifically for professional purposes, especially job hunting. Facebook is currently the king of the social networking sites and you will do best to use this for your personal networking activities, mainly because you are likely to meet more friends there.

Do not discuss politics and other controversial topics.

Avoid showing your position on sensitive issues.

Politics is probably a more volatile topic than any other.

Politics always begins arguments; even if you and the person you are speaking with have similar views. Not everyone has the same opinion, and this goes for many different topics. So, it is not encouraged that we post our political sentiments online.

Lastly, keep in mind that when utilised correctly, social media can be your secret weapon in the job search. It may open doors, but in the end you still have to prove yourself because recruiters will judge you during your face-to-face interview.

BY FREEMAN MAKOPA

RENOWNED film writer and producer of the popular Gringo cartoon and television character, Enock Chihombori, yesterday said he was frustrated by the lack of funding which he said was the cancer eating away the industry.

The Botswana-based Chihombori, told NewsDay Life & Style that the absence of funding needed to be addressed to resuscitate the industry.

“I think the first thing that needs to happen is to identify real and serious professionals in the industry and somehow have funds injected to create tangible projects, which can compete internationally in terms of quality and substance,” he said.

He said Zimbabwe had huge potential in light of past successful projects, including Neria, More Time and Yellow Card.

He said producers were working under very difficult circumstances so they could not be blamed for many of the substandard
projects.

“Blame cannot be put on practitioners who are deemed to be producing substandard work because they are possibly doing the
best they can under the worst of conditions,” he said.

“In hard times, films are easily catagorised as unnecessary luxury commodities and hence the numbers willing to spend
their hard-earned money on films dwindle.”

Chihombori said there was also need to revamp the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation so that more focus is placed on
quality local content.

“I don’t know much about the current programming schedules or the quality of local dramas being produced, but I know
Zimbabweans never used to rely on outside products to replace local content as feature attractions on prime-time
television. Our local broadcaster needs to invest more on quality local content, with no overdose of programmes with
obvious political connotations and undertones,” he said.

The award-winning creative, who is currently working at a mine in Botswana, said the lack of independent broadcasters has
greatly affected the film industry as there was lack of competition.

BY TAFADZWA KACHIKO

BINDURA University of Science Education (BUSE) ended Midlands State University’s dominance in the Enactus national competitions on Friday.

Enactus BUSE, which presented a project titled Agriplus during competitions held at Celebration Centre in Harare, walked away with ZWL$2 500 sponsored by Delta Corporations Limited and is set to represent Zimbabwe at the World Cup penciled
for Silicon Valley in the United States, from September 16 to 18.

The winning team’s president, Alvin Munzara, told NewsDay Life & Style that he was “too excited” by the development.

“It’s something that we have been longing for. We worked very hard for it. We went an extra mile,” he said.

Team adviser Dorothy Murasi, who won the Faculty Adviser of the Year Award, said the victory was a testimony and she was grateful for the financial support they received from the university’s alumni.

“I am so excited. I am so grateful for the financial support that came from our alumni and our institution because things were tough,” she said.

UZ president Brian Samanyanga, however, felt his team should have been crowned the champions, arguing that their projects
were “original” and expressed “innovativeness.”

Enactus Zimbabwe president Cleopatra Makoni described every team as winners.

“This is a beautiful day that we celebrate the hard work and achievements of the teams. The 25-minute presentations were
just an eclipse of what happened during the whole year. As much as we have one winner, we are all winners. We win in
changing lives,” she said.

MSU came third, with the Women’s University in Africa emerging fourth.

MSU was awarded ZWL$1 000 while newcomers Lupane State University got the Team Spirit Award.

BETWEEN THE LINES Beniah Munengwa

Title: Two Weeks in November Author: Douglas Rogers

Publisher: Short Books (2019) ISBN: 978-1-78072-369-3

The book, Two Weeks in November, has helped many of us understand in finer detail the circumstances around the ouster of former President Robert Mugabe through a “bloodless coup” in November 2017.

The book is centred on events that unfolded during the two weeks from the plotting to remove Mugabe from power up to the time he was eventually shown the door, including the flushing out of the “Generation 40” elements from both Zanu PF and government.

Impressive and compact details emerge on not only how discordant forces in the name of human rights activists and lawyers worked together with Central Intelligence Organisation operatives to dispose Mugabe as well as President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s escape from the country after he was ejected from his job as Vice-President amid accusations of hatching a plot to remove Mugabe from power.

Works like these can be considered as useful in bridging some historical gaps.

The absence of such literature can be attributed to dangers associated with failure to dig deep into national issues as a lot of writers appear afraid to venture into the treacherous waters that usually go with deep political issues.

The game of politics, like Rogers details so well, is often dirty.

You never know who you are dealing with and it is a constant recurrence of the process of doubling tasks and bypassing the institution of trust.

The late founding MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai was a victim of such a system.

It only turned out years later that his South African logistics manager was a spy, doubling as Mugabe’s informer.

This shows that the African intelligetsia remains without control of the manufacturing and moving forward of its knowledge systems.

The developmental praxis of the continent remains as shaky as its capacity, or lack thereof, to decode its own historical events.

From the reading of the text, one realises that former Information minister Jonathan Moyo’s claims that Christopher Mtsvangwa was working alongside Mnangagwa to dispose Mugabe were true, even if no one was prepared to give him an ear.

The process had begun unrolling from as far back as 2015, with the operation being headquartered in Johannesburg.

Essentially, Two Weeks in November details what was happening on the Lacoste faction’s side.

What is, however, evident is that the G40 was rather inaccessible as the author was collecting data.

Rogers had to rely on second and third hand information, but his tact remains outstanding.

Although carrying a story of guns, near-death experiences, humiliation, terror, deaths and rage, the book is not without its apportionment of humour, such as the description of Jonathan Moyo, the exited G40 think-tank: “Tall and thin, with an egg-shelled head that rests large and unsteady atop his lanky frame…”

The text, however, is rosy on the part of its presentation.

It, like the operation that led to the disposal of Mugabe, sounds like a project intended to purify the man, Mnangagwa, and his system and the complete erasure of the term “coup” in “the coup that was not a coup”.

It is reported and also anticipated that the likes of Saviour Kasukuwere and Moyo will come out of the blues with books giving accounts of how all that happened made them opt for exile, leaving at home million-dollar estates that they had accumulated in the years of G40 “looting”.

Over a year after the coup that was anticipated to rescue the country from the brink of collapse following almost three decades of Mugabe’s misrule and economic mismanagement, public disillusionment has set in as the country is now worse off than when Mugabe left it, but at least life is still going on.

Liverpool — The first ever Test meeting between the sides pitted Group B winners New Zealand against Zimbabwe, who finished as runners-up in Group A after a nail-biting 51-49 victory over Northern Ireland yesterday afternoon.

Zimbabwe, who handed a tournament debut to Adelaide Muskwe, once again brought their flair and enthusiasm to the M&S Bank Arena as the Gems sang and danced their way onto court, delivering the vibrancy that has captured so many hearts in the tournament so far.

The Gems translated their pre-game energy into the early stages of the contest as they matched New Zealand, and the score was tied at 5-5 after four minutes, as the Gems’ Pauline Jani and Sharon Bwanali combined to convert their first five goal attempts.

The back-and-forth contest continued as both sides traded goals, but with the scores tied at 8-8, the Silver Ferns scored eight of the next nine goals to build a seven-goal advantage as Maria Folau and Ameliaranne Ekenasio began to find their shooting range.

Despite Zimbabwe’s Pauline Jani and Sharon Bwanali shooting a perfect 10 from 10 in goal attempts, scoring opportunities decreased as the quarter went on as New Zealand stepped up their defence. By the end of the quarter, the Silver Ferns had increased their lead to 21-10.

As has been the case throughout the entire tournament, New Zealand coach Noeline Taurua continued to tinker with her attacking combinations as Bailey Mes entered the game to partner Folau. Together, they scored seven goals in the opening stages of the second quarter to build the Silver Ferns’ lead.

Offensively, Zimbabwe continued to stutter, struggling to create many scoring opportunities. When they did, however, Jani
— who finished the half with her 100% record in tact — and Ursula Ndlovu kept the scoreboard ticking over.

At the other end, New Zealand continued to dominate the Zimbabwe defence as Mes and Folau scored 19 of their 22 goal
attempts to extend their team’s lead to 40-18 at half time.

Both sides made attacking changes to begin the third quarter as Ta Paea Selby-Rickit replaced Mes for New Zealand and
Joice Takaidza, the top goalscorer in the competition entering stage two, came on for Jani for the Gems. Both players
converted their opening goal attempt.

New Zealand continued to capitalise on any slight Zimbabwe error and the Silver Ferns were clinical in their attacking
play as both Selby-Rickit and Folau shot at 100% before Folau was replaced by Ekenasio.

Taking a 59-26 lead into the fourth quarter, New Zealand continued to control proceedings and despite Sharleen Makusha
keeping the Zimbabwe score moving, the Silver Ferns were never in any trouble as Selby-Rickit and Ekenasio shot a
combined 95% in the final period.

The victory for New Zealand takes them to eight points as they look to secure their place in the top two of Group F and
advance to the semi-finals. Zimbabwe will be determined to get back to winning ways when they take on Barbados in their
next game today.

“It was a nice experience to play against New Zealand. We learned a lot, because these girls are good. We are ranked 13 in the world, so we learned a lot from New Zealand,” Jani said.

nwc

BY HENRY MHARA

WARRIORS star Marvelous Nakamba failed to pitch up at Club Brugge’s training ground yesterday with reports from Belgium suggesting that he is trying to force a move away amid interest from English Premier League returnees Aston Villa and German’s Bundesliga side Cologne.

Villa, who are returning to the Premiership this season after winning promotion, are understood to have made an £8 million offer to Brugge for the midfielder, which the Belgian league side turned down. They want more.

But Nakamba, who was due at training yesterday wants to make the deal happen and has reportedly stayed away to force a transfer.

It is not clear yet where he is heading, with media reports in German suggesting that he was close to joining Cologne, while in England they are saying he will be a Villa player soon.

German’s largest tabloid newspaper Bild yesterday carried an interview with the former Bantu Rovers star, where he is confirming his desire to play for Cologne.

“I want to leave Bruges and prove myself in the Bundesliga with FC Cologne,” Nakamba is quoted saying.
But despite the Cologne confession, Nakamba yesterday followed Aston Villa on its Instagram, in addition to the official
Premier League channel, which fuelled speculation in England that he was heading for the Birmingham-based club.

Aston Villa are said to have made a €10m offer for the midfielder and he feels the Belgian side have “disrespected” him by not accepting it.

Aston Villa signed Wesley Moraes from Club Brugge earlier this summer, and soon after that deal there were claims in Belgium that the Premier League new boys could return for his former teammate.

The reports say Nakamba “will do everything” to make the transfer happen, and that possibly includes going on strike.

The 25-year-old arrived at Club Brugge for just £3 million from Vitesse Arnhem in the summer of 2017, and instantly made
a mark by helping the club to the league title, and qualification into the UEFA Champions League.

An impressive show followed in the Champions League with solid performances, particularly against Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid.

Inevitably, teams from major leagues came knocking for his signature. Premiership giants Liverpool were linked with him last year, while reports suggest that Crystal Palace and Watford made offers which were turned down by Club Brugge who promised their player could only move this summer if a good offer came.

Now that another offer has come through, Nakamba feel the Belgians are “flip-flopping” their stance on the transfer. He is one of several high profile footballers this summer not to have turned up for preseason as they look to force transfers.

Meanwhile, Warriors striker Nyasha Mushekwi has left Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang, now coached by former Liverpool and Newcastle United boss Rafa Benítez, to join Zhejiang Greentown in the Chinese Division One league.
Mushekwi (31), spent three successful seasons with Dalian Yifang, finishing as the team’s top goalscorer in every campaign.

He made 91 league appearances for Yifang, scoring 53 times, while registering 12 assists. Reports from China yesterday suggested that Mushekwi has been dropped down a division for Newcastle striker Solomon Rondon, who is expected to reunite with his former boss Benitez.

Both Nakamba and Mushekwi played for the Warriors at the Africa Cup of Nations, but their campaigns were ravaged by injuries, which saw the former playing in one game, the opening match against hosts Egypt.

Mushekwi limped off the opener and then missed the second match against Uganda. He came back as a second half substitute against the Democratic Republic of Congo, but could not help his side who were hammered 4-0 to crash out of the competition in the group stage.

BY FORTUNE MBELE

FC PLATINUM coach Norman Mapeza is not happy with the composition of his squad as they head to another Confederation of African Football (Caf) Champions League campaign and has warned that the team needs to add quality.

The 2019-20 Caf Champions League kicks off in just under a month with preliminary games set to start on the weekend of August 9-11.

But once the club of choice in recent years for local players due to their generous wages, things have drastically
changed at FC Platinum amid reports that they are failing to convince key players whose contracts end this month, to
stay.

“We need to have (good) players. In August the Champions League starts and if we are going to start in this situation, I can foresee disaster,” Mapeza said.

The Moyo twins Kelvin and Elvis are away in South Africa and are reportedly on the verge of joining Chippa United, while Ali Sadiki and Godknows Murwira have not been part of the squad of late with the latter said to be close to a return to Dynamos this month.

“It is always difficult. We are in mid-season now and if you look at the majority of the players they all have contracts which run to the end of December. We will keep looking around and if we find some players who are free and want to join us then we will have to make some deals,” Mapeza said.

Injuries have also rocked the squad so much that they only had 13 players available for their match against Manica Diamonds last week. This week, they managed to assemble a full squad for their match against Highlanders on Sunday, which
ended in a 1-1 draw. But three of the players in the final squad were youngsters Hagiazo Magaya, Keith Madera and Panashe Matimbanyoka, who were making their premier league debut.

FC Platinum, for all their dominance on the local front, have struggled in the African Safari and failed to go beyond the first round in their last participation this year.