BY TERRY MADYAUTA

TELONE technical manager Joel Lupahla says the next eight games have the potential to break or shape his men’s fate in their mission to avoid relegation at the end of the season.

The Wi-fi Boys started the season with a bang, picking four points in their first two matches, but have been struggling of late.

Two points from their last four matches have left them just above the relegation zone, on 13th position, and their supporters are beginning to get worried.

Their next fixture line-up is not appealing either, with some tough matches coming up, including against champions FC Platinum, Caps United, Highlanders, Harare City and Triangle.

TelOne host FC Platinum at Luveve Stadium in Bulawayo, a venue they are temporarily using as their home ground as Ascot Stadium in Gweru is under renovations.

This will be followed by a trip to the Lowveld for a date with Manica Diamonds.

They then take on Bulawayo giants Highlanders on week nine followed by a date against cross-town rivals Chapungu.

Matches against Black Rhinos, Caps United, Harare City and Triangle are also on the horizon; and if they can pick at least 16 points from those matches, they would have done extremely well.

Speaking to NewsDay Sport yesterday, Lupahla conceded that they face a herculean task, but remains optimistic his side will triumph.

“We face a difficult period, but to gain experience, you need to be playing such games and hope our boys will come through these fixtures with their heads high up,” Luphahla said.

“We have been playing good football, but we are not scoring much and I hope soon enough the boys will start hitting the target. We are a new team, so in every match we learn and we respect the champions we are facing on Sunday, for what they have achieved. But we go to battle for three points just like them, hence we have to take this task without fear,” Lupahla said.

Castle Lager Premier Soccer League week seven fixtures:

Saturday: Harare City v Bulawayo Chiefs (Rufaro), Mushowani Stars v Black Rhinos (National Sports Stadium), Chicken Inn v Highlanders (Barbourfields), ZPC Kariba v Ngezi Platinum (Nyamhunga)

Sunday: Triangle v Caps United (Gibbo), Herentals v Manica Diamonds (National Sports Stadium), Yadah FC v Dynamos (Rufaro), TelOne v FC Platinum (Luveve), Hwange v Chapungu (Colliery)

Wednesday: Black Rhinos v Bulawayo Chiefs (National Sports Stadium)

Thursday: Caps United v Chapungu (National Sports Stadium)

BY KUDZAI MUCHENJEKWA

Gender and Media Connect (GMC); a local non – governmental organisation is set to launch a photobook entitled Counting the Gains on 16 May this year which profiles the Zimbabwe Women 8th Parliamentary Caucus.

For many Zimbabweans it remains blurry as to whether female parliamentarians serve a purpose in the politics of the country, we have had female parliamentarians before, but their work in the parliament has not been well documented or shared with the nation.

GMC is gender and media advocacy and representative organisation that seeks to empower women in various sectors to engage with the media, and works not only to promote the rights of women but also rights of women in accessing media both as a source of information as well as platforms for free expression.

GMC produced the photobook; under a collaborative project with Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) and with the support from Embassy of Sweden, Parliament of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwean Women Parliamentary Caucus (ZWPC) with the aim of bringing out the unrecognized work that women in parliament have been doing in the background to light.

National Director for GMC Abigail Gamanya highlighted that the stories and interviews in the photobook were compiled from women parliamentarians who were part of the 8th parliament across Zimbabwe, across political parties, across generations and spread across interests.

“Counting the Gains highlights the successes, the challenges and the global aspirations of Zimbabwean women in politics– from local grassroots development projects to the formulation of regional and international laws to promote social justice and a fair world.” said Gamanya

Zimbabwe is known for its political polarization however women parliamentarians through the ZWPC have conquered the enmity among political parties and have worked together to bring positive results.

According to Inter-Parliamentary Union; Zimbabwe is ranked number 41 out of 193 countries with 85 women constituting 31.5 % of parliament, which is a big achievement in the politics of Zimbabwe.

BY BBC

Iran has suspended commitments under the 2015 international nuclear deal, a year after it was abandoned by the US.

President Hassan Rouhani said he would keep enriched uranium stocks in the country rather than sell them abroad.

He also threatened to resume production of uranium enriched to a higher level in 60 days.

The accord was aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief. Iran-US tensions have risen since Washington quit.

Iran’s economy has since been hit by renewed US sanctions.

Iran informed the remaining parties to the deal – France, Germany, Russia, China and the UK – of its decision on Wednesday morning.

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Iran was acting within its rights under the deal and it was up to the three European powers to act.

Presentational white space
In response, French Defence Minister Florence Parly told French media that the European powers were doing everything they could to keep the deal alive but there would be consequences and possibly sanctions if the deal was not adhered to.

China and Russia both blamed Washington’s withdrawal from the deal for the current situation.

Under the deal Iran is required to sell its surplus enriched uranium abroad, rather than keep it.

This is important as the material, which is a by-product of Iran’s civilian nuclear power generation, can be used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons.

By selling it abroad, Iran can continue to generate nuclear power and the parties to the agreement can be sure it is not building nuclear weapons.

Anti-US mural in Tehran – 7 May

NAIROBI (Reuters)

Kenyan manufacturers are largely operating below capacity and say economic growth prospects are dim due to a cash crunch, drought and corruption, a survey by their umbrella association showed.

The survey, called the Manufacturing Barometer, was carried out by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers in the first quarter of this year.

It found that 47 percent of those surveyed operated at about half capacity, 33 percent operated at 75 percent of installed capacity and a fifth operated near full capacity.

President Uhuru Kenyatta said the sector was one of his top four priorities when he started his second term in 2017, due to its potential to create jobs.

But the government has struggled to boost the sector due to high electricity tariffs and illicit imports of goods such as sugar and cigarettes.

A Markit Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)survey released on Monday showed activity in Kenya’s private sector contracted for the first time in 17 months in April, hurt by drought and strained cash flows.

The manufacturing sector grew by 4.2 percent in 2018, official data showed, and contributed 7.7 percent of the country’s annual economic output of about $80 billion, down from a share of 8 percent in the previous year.

The sector’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) has been falling gradually since 2014, when it stood at 10 percent.

Kenyatta’s government aims to raise the contribution of manufacturing to 15 percent of GDP by 2022.

The outlook for the sector this year could worsen due to persistent dry weather, the association said in the report.

“The agricultural sector slowed down on account of the delays in rains. This will have an effect on the industry,” it said. “Due to the current cash crunch and runaway corruption, the metrics are not looking promising.”

Private sector credit growth has slumped since the government capped commercial lending rates in September 2016 to lower the cost of credit.

Delays by the Kenya Revenue Authority in processing tax refunds were likely to hurt manufacturers’ cash flow, the report said.

Some survey respondents said delays in clearing cargoes at the Mombasa port were leading to lost sales and higher demurrage charges.

The survey also found 76 percent of respondents planned to freeze hiring of new full-time employees, or reduce their numbers.

The manufacturing sector covers a range of businesses, including food and beverage production, metal products fabrication, pharmaceuticals and cement production.

Editing by Dale Hudson and Mark Potter

BY BBC

Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé met with Gabonese President Ali Bongo in Libreville, Gabon on Tuesday, May 7 to exchange views on “terrorist” threats that have begun spreading across African countries.

The meeting which took place at ‘Palais du bord de mer’ in Libreville discussed the need for countries to raise their guard in the face of rising terrorism, which according to the Presidents, has sown desolation and pain in the hearts of families and put peace policies implemented by African states to the test.

President Faure Gnassingbé disclosed that he and his Gabonese counterpart also discussed the current situation of the Sahel region was on the menu.

We mentioned the difficult situation in the Sahel region, which unfortunately is starting to affect countries much further south, notably Togo. We ourselves have dismantled a few terrorist cells, unfortunately there were the two French tourists taken hostage in Benin. The threat is getting closer to our country, so it

“We mentioned the difficult situation in the Sahel region, which unfortunately is starting to affect countries much further south, notably Togo. We ourselves have dismantled a few terrorist cells, unfortunately there were the two French tourists taken hostage in Benin. The threat is getting closer to our country, so it has been necessary – as I said – that we strengthen regional cooperation.

“When it started in Mali, no one thought that a country like Togo or Benin could be affected. So it is not out of the question – for the countries of Central Africa – that these countries could be affected in the future, it is absolutely essential that we can be able to anticipate.”

Gnassingbé was meeting face-to-face with Bongo for the first time after the Gabonese head of state’s health scare in October 2018.

“I have come in response to an invitation from my brother and friend President Bongo. I myself was quite impatient to see him, as since his health problem I had been able to have a telephone conversation with him, which had already reassured me, but it is always nice to be able to come and I thank him for giving me this opportunity. I was relieved and reassured to see him in good health.”

Bongo’s prolonged absence due to ailing health stoked concern about power vacuum, apparently sparking a brief attempted coup by renegade soldiers on January 7.

Bongo took office after an election in 2009 that followed the death of his father, former president Omar Bongo, who took office in 1967.

EVEN though Zanu PF officials vehemently denied unethically taking over control of the distribution of relief aid donated for Cyclone Idai survivors recently, the evidence of Zanu PF-branded vehicles waiting to collect relief items was there for everyone to see.

By Kennedy Kaitano, Our Reader

That is the way Zanu PF had been taught by none other than President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

An authentic video that has emerged that was taken while Mnangagwa was Vice-President exposes him as the chief architect of the Zanu PF nefarious practice of denying MDC supporters any form of assistance.

Mnangagwa is seen ordering Zanu PF officials gathered at a formal party meeting to deny MDC supporters any form of assistance, saying loudly and clearly that MDC supporters’ needs should be addressed at Harvest House.

Mnangagwa, therefore, is only pretending when he says all Zimbabweans should have access to resources because even in his election campaign, food donations and agricultural implements were distributed along partisan lines.

MDC legislators Morgen Komichi and Tabitha Khumalo recently stormed out of a meeting to distribute the cyclone relief aid in Chiredzi when a parliamentary team they were part of came face-to-face with the reality that only Zanu PF supporters had been gathered to receive the aid.

Zimbabwe just needs leadership that is different from Zanu PF to get the country moving again, and the international community should know the kind of “leadership” that the people of Zimbabwe are having to deal with.

With his soiled past, Mnangagwa is just not the right person to take Zimbabwe out of this mess.