BY FORTUNE MBELE

ZIMBABWE junior squash ace Ryan Gwidzima grabbed silver at the boys Under-15 silver event two final of the Dunlop Manchester Junior Open, losing to England Junior champion Alexander Broadbridge at Grove Park Squash Club on Sunday.

Gwidzima (14) won his first game 11-2, before losing the second and third 11-9, 11-5 respectively and squared it up on the fourth with a narrow 13-11 triumph and then succumbed to the English junior champion 11-9 in the last game of the final to lose 3-2.

The teenage squash sensation, who is on scholarship at Wycliffe College in England, courtesy of the Ryan Gwidzima Trust, had accounted for another Briton Bilen Malik 3-1 (10-12, 11-8, 13-11, 11-0) to make it to the final.

A post on the trust’s Facebook page after the final yesterday read: “After saving a couple of match balls in the fourth game, Ryan (Gwidzima) battled hard and unfortunately lost 11-9 in the fifth! Well done to his opponent (Broadbridge) and thank you to the organisers of the event.” Up next for Gwidzima is a national schools event where he will be representing Wycliffe College and the German Junior Open, where he will be representing Zimbabwe.

“Ryan will be playing in the national schools second round event this week for Key Stage 4 for Wycliffe College, and then looking forward to the German Junior Open at the end of February in Hamburg,” the trust added.

In his first tournament of the year, Gwdzima, a product of Suburbs Squash Club in Bulawayo, was humbled in the Dunlop British Junior Open early in January losing to England’s Rishi Srivastava 11-4, 11-6 and 11-5 (3-0) at the University of Birmingham in the second round after being drawn in the competition on a bye.

Tayne Turnock, another Zimbabwean also took part in the Dunlop British Junior Open, crashing out in the first round with a 3-0 (11-4, 11-8 and 11-3) defeat to Scottish John Meehan in the boys Under-19 category.

Turnock is the Safeguard Zimbabwe Open Squash champion after he beat Zambian Ken Mwape 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-8) in the final at Suburbs Squash Club in Bulawayo last year in August.

BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA

INDEPENDENT electoral watchdog, Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (Zesn), has expressed concern over growing voter apathy after less than half of registered voters turned out for Kuwadzana and Mwenezi by-elections over the weekend.

In the elections held over the weekend in Kuwadzana, Adonia Shoko of MDC won the by-election with 1 517 votes against Zanu PF candidate Lloyd Makuwe’s 718 votes.

Zanu PF’s Samuel Kwinika, however, walloped MDC’s Shepherd Dzuda in Mwenezi, garnering 1 811 votes against a humiliating 27 votes for the opposition party.

Although Zesn observed that the elections were generally peaceful, a departure from the history of past violent elections, the dwindling number of voters was a worrying trend.

Zesn observed that voters shunned the by-elections with the number of votes decreasing drastically, particularly in Kuwadzana.

“As with many other by-elections held before, Zesn observed worrying voter apathy in the by-elections, voter population dropped by 55 in Kuwadzana from 11 180 to 11 125, voter turnout was 20% in Kuwadzana,” Zesn said in statement yesterday.

It noted that in Kuwadzana there was a decrease of over 7 000 votes between the total votes cast in the harmonised polls and by-elections for both parties.

“There was a decrease of over 7 000 votes between the total votes cast in the harmonised elections and the by-election in Kuwadzana. Votes for Zanu PF decreased by 1 324 while for the MDC Alliance there was a decrease of 5 353 votes between the 2018 harmonised elections and the by-election.”

In Mwenezi, the MDC Alliance lost to Zanu PF by a margin of 1 784 votes. The seat was uncontested in the 2018 harmonised elections. Turnout was comparatively higher in Mwenezi where 50% of the registered voters cast their vote.

Zesn applauded voters for a peaceful election.

“The network commends voters in Mwenezi and Kuwadzana for casting their votes in peace, but is nevertheless dismayed by the voter apathy during municipal by-elections which continues to persist in the country”.

The electoral watchdog urged political parties to encourage their supporters to take part in by-elections to reduce voter indifference.

“Political parties should encourage their supporters to participate in municipal by-elections so as to address voter apathy.”

BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA

FORMER Dynamos and Warriors coach Kalisto Pasuwa (pictured) is causing anxiety among the Nyasa Bullets ranks as he delays signing a new contract the Malawian club has tabled after the two parties agreed in principle.

According to Malawi newspaper, The Nation, while the Malawian football giants’ chief administration officer Albert Chigoga said the two parties had signed a new deal, Pasuwa’s representative in Malawi, Felix Ngamanya Sapao insisted the ex-Warriors gaffer was yet to append his signature as negotiations were still going on.

“We have finalised the deal and he (Pasuwa) has signed a two-year contract extension,” Chigoga was quoted as saying.

But Sapao said negotiations were still on-going and he was yet to sign the deal. He also disclosed that the Zimbabwean had since returned to his native home as he pondered his next step.

He said: “Pasuwa has not signed the contract yet. There are some issues that need to be sorted out first.”

The paper, which quoted an unnamed source, said Pasuwa returned to Harare on Saturday in frustration after failing to agree on some terms of the contract having spent more than a week in that country hoping to sign a new deal after which he would get down to business.

“Initially, Pasuwa committed to sign the contract, but changed his mind upon noticing that some terms had been changed.

“He was here for the past 10 days to conclude the deal and was supposed to get down to work on Tuesday (today) for pre-season training, but he has since returned to Zimbabwe,” the source said.

Pasuwa is also understood to be weighing his options with reports suggesting his success as coach has attracted the interest of a number of teams in the region including those in Tanzania.

His local representative, Gibson Mahachi could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The former Warriors coach won back-to-back TNM Super League titles with Big Bullets having also shepherded the Zimbabwe senior soccer team to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Gabon.

He led Dynamos to four straight league titles between 2011 and 2014.

BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA

THE Pensions and Provident Fund Bill, to be presented to Parliament before June, will allow pension funds to invest 20% of their assets offshore as the industry pushes for protection against recurrent inflation.

During an inaugural insurance and pensions industry breakfast meeting yesterday, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube (pictured) said Parliament would receive the Pensions and Provident Fund Bill, the Insurance Act and the amendments of the Insurance Commission Act soon.

“In the first half of the year, all three Bills will come before Parliament . . . It is going to be contained in one of the Bills (Pensions and Provident) that eventually what we are saying is that for now we are transacting in the domestic currency, but we’re allowing a window into foreign-denominated investment assets,” he said.

“The ministry is seized with legal reforms targeted at the legislation governing insurance and pensions. I understand the Bills took long at drafting stage”
He said this window was one way of dealing with the inflationary environment and encouraged the industry to come up with products that were long term in terms of inflation.

“For me, it should not be about ‘let us invest in US dollars’, it should be about diversification of your portfolio through foreign currency exposure or acquisition of foreign assets,” Ncube said.

With inflationary pressure eroding assets, the pension funds are seeking for protection against the current climate by turning mainly to properties and equities.

However, of late, pension funds have been pushing to invest into the offshore market to allow them to access foreign currency and prevent the continued loss in asset value.

Some of the offshore investments being discussed includes the Afreximbank’s Depositary Receipts, financial instruments for the equities market that offer investors on the continent a chance to get shares into the bank.

As at September 2019, the pension industry had an asset base of ZWL$9,45 billion.

Zimbabwe Insurance and Pensions Apex Council chairperson, Tassius Chigariro said when Statutory Instrument 142 of 2019 was announced, they thought they were protected, but later realised that they were not, which is why they needed access to foreign currency.

“Even though we all want our local currency, we understand the benefits of our own local currency, we must support it until it stabilises, we are committed to supporting it, but we are also not oblivious to the fact that even a 90-year-old in Guruve, still thinks in US dollar terms. We do not believe we must fight the thinking with directives,” he said
“The greatest fear of our industry is that the informal market, which is growing at incredible speed, will completely dollarise, while the financial institutions that we so need to help recovery of our nation, are formally de-dollarised, but completely taken out of the financial system. We are your joint partner in attracting FDI (foreign direct investment), please honourable minister (Ncube) do not watch us dying.”

BY BLESSED MHLANGA

THE opposition MDC has accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of leading diplomats down the garden path, after he told them during a luncheon last week that government was already implementing the recommendations of the Motlanthe Commission.

Party deputy spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka told NewsDay yesterday that the statement was false and evidence that Mnangagwa had no appetite to reform, but was just happy to play public relations while the country burns.

“The report found the police and the military to have been responsible for the murders that took place on August 1, 2018. We have not seen heads rolling in either the police or the military,” Tambarinyoka said.

The MDC wants to see those responsible for the shootings which left six dead and 22 injured, some who still have bullets logged in their bodies, arrested and jailed for the acts.
Tambarinyoka said Mnangagwa should also be sanctioned for his role as he was head of the army and responsible for its deployment on the day.

“As Commander in Chief of the rogue soldiers who killed innocent citizens, Mnangagwa himself is the chief culprit and if proper action is to be taken, Mnangagwa himself has to go.

Anything else is cheap drama with no substantive action being taken. We have not even heard of any action having been taken against the individual soldiers and police officers who callously murdered innocent citizens. If any action was taken, it was important to have mentioned names and made the information public. To the extent that that has not happened, ED thinks he can take diplomats for a ride. They are not fools and they know he is the chief culprit of what happened on August 1, 2018,” MDC said.

The family of one of the victims, Ishmael Kumire from Matope village, Mawanga, in Domboshava who was shot dead during the demonstrations is struggling to raise money to feed or send his children to school.

Kumire’s widow, who identified herself as Mrs Kumire, said they had not received any help from government and she was struggling to take care of her three children.

The Motlanthe Commission recommended, among other things, that government should compensate victims of the shootings.

Justice permanent secretary Virginia Mabiza, said compensation of victims and provision of support was now opening through the Department of Social Welfare.

“I am aware of the Kumire case and it has since been forwarded to social welfare which is supposed to help process the compensation, but we have said that when they face any challenges they can come to us as the secretariat of the commission and help facilitate,” she said.

European Union (EU) head of mission Timo Olkkonen in an earlier interview with NewsDay said they were waiting keenly on action on the soldiers who shot and killed civilians and implementation of political reforms.

“We passed the anniversary of the report of the Motlanthe Commission and we still very much hope to see follow-up on that account for example electoral reforms, for example, the recommendations from various observer groups. So we hope to see momentum on those issues in 2020,” he said.

The EU, the United States and the United Kingdom have insisted on political and economic reforms saying outside these not much support will come to the country.

The US is even looking to add more names on the sanctions list after noting that the Mnangagwa regime is not wringing any reforms.

BY Kevin Mapasure

The Zimbabwe national cricket team’s quest for glory in their only Test match against Bangladesh away from home starting on February 22, has suffered a blow following the withdrawal of batsman and part-time spinner Sean Williams, from the squad that leaves Harare on Friday.

Williams is expecting the birth of his first child on February 20 and he will only travel to Bangladesh for the three one-day international (ODI) and the T-20 series.

Zimbabwe selectors named a largely unchanged side from the one that took on Sri Lanka in the two-match Test series in Harare recently with Kyle Jarvis, recovering from a back injury and Williams being the only absentees.

Chris Mpofu has been called up to replace Jarvis in the squad.

Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) confirmed in a statement yesterday that Williams will miss the lone Test while Craig Ervine will be the stand-in skipper.

“Captain Sean Williams will miss Zimbabwe’s Test match against Bangladesh as he will remain home to be with his wife for the birth of their first child,” the statement read.

“In his absence, Craig Ervine will captain the team for the one-off match scheduled for February 22-26 in Dhaka. Apart from Williams, Zimbabwe will also have to do without experienced seamers Kyle Jarvis and Tendai Chatara who are still recovering from injury.”

Kevin Kasuza, who suffered concussion during the Sri Lanka series, having been struck on the helmet twice, has retained his place in the squad.

It is the absence of Williams that comes as a big blow for Zimbabwe considering he is one of the best players of spin in the squad as they confront spin-friendly conditions in the sub-continent.

He would have also come in handy with the ball, but it is his batting that will be missed the most.

In the last series against Sri Lanka, Williams scored the highest number of runs from the Zimbabwe side after contributing 217 runs over the two matches.

Having scored 18 and 39 runs in the first Test which Zimbabwe lost by ten wickets before his century (107) as well as his unbeaten half tone (53) in the drawn second Test.

Williams said he was confident the team could still go on and do well in Bangladesh despite his absence.

“We have a lot of experienced guys that can lead the way in Bangladesh, I am sure the boys can still go and do well that side,” he told NewsDay Sport.

“Unfortunately, I will miss the Test match as my wife and I are expecting our daughter on February 20. I will then travel for the ODIs.”

Zimbabwe Test squad
Sikandar Raza Butt, Reguis Chakabva, Craig Ervine, Kevin Kasuza, Tymcen Maruma, Prince Masvaure, Chris Mpofu, Brian Mudzinganyama, Carl Mumba, Tino Mutombodzi, Ainsley Ndlovu, Victor Nyauchi, Brendan Taylor, Donald Tiripano, Charlton Tshuma

BY EVERSON MUSHAVA

NATIONAL Peace and Reconciliation Commission deputy chairperson Lillian Chigwedere said political polarisation was hampering her commission’s efforts to engage stakeholders to bring the much-needed healing to the country.

Chigwedere told NewsDay on Friday on the sidelines of the third edition of the reparations dialogue organised by the National Transitional Justice Working Group (NTJWG).

She said the commission was finding it difficult to do its work in a society where they are viewed with political lenses using the ruling Zanu PF and the opposition MDC binaries.

“We are appealing to politicians and civil society organisations to help depolarise the country,” Chigwedere said.

“We receive a lot of criticism from the same people who are supposed to be assisting us. (Another challenge is) we will be working with the communities that are not forthcoming to speak because of polarisation. People are scared of what will happen to them after they open up.”

The NPRC is a constitutional body responsible for spearheading national healing and reconciliation after years of violent conflicts resulting in the death of many people.

Gukurahundi, which tops the list of atrocities in post-independent Zimbabwe, has been a thorn in the flesh of government with the people in the Midlands and Matabeleland, where over 20 000 people were butchered by the North Korean trained Fifth Brigade, have been pushing for reparations.

Millions of victims of violence in Zimbabwe have been denied access to the truth and reparation process, a situation that resulted in the formation of NTJWG six years ago to lobby for transitional justice.

“When we do things, people will be trying to interpret what we are doing along political lines and this affects the whole peace and healing programme,” Chigwedere added.

Innocent Gonese, MDC justice and legal affairs secretary, said polarisation could only be ended by the implementation of political reforms in the country.

“Without reforms, our politics will remain polarised. That is why as a party we clamour for political and economic reforms. We should emulate the Colombian situation where the people put aside political differences,” Gonese said.

Reverend Ray Motsi, a member of the NTJWG said: “Political polarisation is affecting national transition work, even the NPRC is affected and as a country, we should work together to put an end to these political binaries.”