BY Brenna Matendere

Dialogue between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and MDC leader Nelson Chamisa over the disputed 2018 presidential elections is the only way to rescue the country from the worsening economic gridlock, a top opposition official has said.

The southern African country is facing its worst economic crisis in a decade underlined by shortages of foreign currency, fuel and medicines while a drought has left over five million people in need of food aid.

Speaking at Mkoba Stadium in Gweru on Wednesday during Workers’ Day commemorations led by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), MDC vice-president Welshman Ncube said the issue of legitimacy will haunt Mnangagwa throughout his term unless he sits down and talk to Chamisa.

“I understand this year’s theme for the ZCTU on this Workers’ Day urges people to unite and fight neo-liberalism and austerity. However, I want to tell you that all these small fights will not yield your desired results. The nation must just unite to fight a single battle which is the illegitimacy crisis of the current government led by Mnangagwa,” Ncube said.

“To that end, I want to reiterate that Mnangagwa’s all other efforts to restore economic prosperity will not succeed as long as the legitimacy crisis of this country that was given birth by stolen elections last year is not resolved. Mnangagwa must set aside all the other efforts and sit down with Chamisa to resolve this illegitimacy crisis. That is the only way things can start moving and that is the only way the other hardships, especially the economic problems can be put to rest.”

Mnangagwa, who was voted into power after long-time ruler Robert Mugabe was overthrown in November 2017, is superintending over a country with deep macro-economic imbalances, large fiscal deficits and distortions in foreign currency exchanges that are hampering the economy and responsible for regular price hikes and fuelling inflation.

When government raised the fuel prices in January, it sparked protests across the country during which 20 people were killed and nearly 200 were left nursing gunshot wounds, according to human rights groups. The country is also struggling to respond to the devastation from Cyclone Idai which killed nearly 400 people and affected 270 000 others, according to aid agencies.

Ncube called on workers to confront the government and demand an end to the hardships they were facing on a daily basis.

“Zanu PF supporters are suffering, just like any other person in this country. Their colleagues say ED pfee during the day, but go back home to face tables without food in the evening.
So I am saying to Zimbabweans, please set aside your party affiliations and join hands to fight the bad governance – it does not matter whether you are Zanu PF or MDC,” Ncube added.

But Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said the issue of legitimacy was now water under the bridge after the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) confirmed Mnangagwa as the winner of last year’s presidential polls.

“I do not know why some people just want to confuse the nation. That issue of legitimacy was resolved by the ConCourt. We have to move on. What dialogue on legitimacy can there be when the highest court has decided?” he asked.

Khaya Moyo said dialogue between Chamisa and Mnangagwa can only happen inside the already running platform which includes other opposition parties.

“However, if Chamisa wants special treatment, he must write to the President saying so. But I don’t know what the President will say. All I can say is that the President cannot meet all the other party leaders this week and then meet Chamisa next week, who is he?” Khaya Moyo added. The Zanu PF spokesperson blamed the economic crisis on Western economic sanctions which he said were “invited by the MDC”.

BY XOLISANI NCUBE

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Zanu PF has issued a chilling warning to MDC leader Nelson Chamisa and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) leadership over their threats to unleash demonstrations over the deteriorating economic situation.

Addressing a Press conference in Harare yesterday, Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said Chamisa and the ZCTU leadership’s utterances should not be tolerated because they could lead to anarchy and disorder.

“These careless statements are not taken lightly, especially coming from the pronouncements by Home Affairs and Culture Heritage minister Cain Mathema which disclosed the ulterior motives and intentions by these regime change agents who are bent on making the country ungovernable,” Khaya Moyo said.

During his address at the May Day celebrations organised by ZCTU on Wednesday, Chamisa and the labour leaders warned that poverty and the worsening economic crisis will push people onto the streets to demonstrate against Mnangagwa’s administration.

Chamisa said since time immemorial, protests by the labour unions were an early warning system to the incumbent government.

But Zanu PF said people should be patient with Mnangagwa’s administration as he had a correct prescription to the economic crisis facing the country.

“The law will indeed take its course on those found wanting in that regard. Zanu PF will not stand and watch innocent citizens being used for political expedience under its watch. The party also calls upon the nation to be patient as the government put its shoulder to the wheel as it tackles the economic quagmires of the day with a view of ushering in a better Zimbabwe during our lifetime and for our posterity,” Khaya Moyo said.

Zimbabwe has been experiencing endless challenges, largely driven by hikes in prices and closure of companies due to a collapsing economy.

The opposition has threatened to take to the streets like what happened in January when Mnangagwa announced hikes in fuel prices.

The three-day national stay-away turned violent after the State unleashed armed military personnel on civilians, resulting in the death of 20 people while hundreds others were arrested.
The opposition and labour accuse Mnangagwa’s government of being blanketed by corruption and has shown no clear agenda to revive the economy.

The ZCTU and MDC have all demanded that workers be paid in United States dollars because the local RTGS dollar-denominated salaries had been eroded by inflation and endless price hikes.

Costa Nhamoinesu

BY KEVIN MAPASURE

Defence stalwart Costa Nhamoinesu dropped a bombshell on Wednesday evening, announcing that he had called time on his Warriors career at a time that the technical team of the Zimbabwe senior men’s national football team was finalising on the training squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals.

Nhamoinesu, who had been ignored in the qualifiers after he fell out with the technical team, was in the frame for a recall to the side ahead of the finals that will be played in Egypt, starting on June 21 and ending on July 19.

The Sparta Prague captain used his Twitter handle to announce that he had quit the Warriors.

“Calling it a day at international level. Thank you God for the opportunity. Thank you Zimbabwe,” he wrote.

The tweet attracted several responses from Warriors fans, with a number expressing shock, while others pleaded with him to walk away only after the Afcon finals.

Others thanked Nhamoinesu for his time with the Warriors and the effort that he put in.

Mathew Rusike, who played with Nhamoinesu in the national team, paid tribute to the defender via Twitter.

“Thank you for your service. Your leadership. Your guidance. Most of all, your patriotism,” he tweeted.

Warriors team manager Wellington Mupandare was as shocked as anybody by the bombshell and was by yesterday afternoon making frantic efforts to get in touch with the player.

“I think somebody must have misinformed him that he is not part of the squad that is going to the finals, because the timing of the move is quite surprising. I cannot say whether he was part of the squad or not, but what I can say is that he is one of many players that the coaches were considering as they draw up their squad,” he said.

“It seems he has already made his decision and it seems it’s final, but as a manager, I will try to speak with him. He never told us that he no longer wants to be considered for the national team. We also read it that he had quit.”
The defender played a key part in the Warriors qualification to the 2017 Afcon finals that were staged in Gabon.

But since that tournament, he has not featured for the Warriors after he failed to make the trip back home for the first 2019 Afcon qualifier against Liberia in Harare due to injury.

FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza was in charge.

Nhamoinesu is reported to have fallen out of favour with the current technical team after he declined to travel by road to South Africa for the Cosafa Cup tournament last year.

The tournament was staged in Polokwane and Zifa decided that the team travels by bus, as opposed to flying to Johannesburg then making a road trip back to Polokwane.

Following his snub, Nhamoinesu has not been called up to the Warriors, but after qualifying for the finals, the technical team had a change of heart, considering the steely defender.
Zimbabwe will face Egypt in the opening match of the tournament in June and will also face the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

A friendly match against the Super Eagles of Nigeria has already been confirmed, while there is also a possibility of playing Ghana or South Africa, or even both.

BY MTHANDAZO NYONI

CEMENT producer PPC Zimbabwe has, in the last five years, spent over US$140 million in plant refurbishments and it aims to invest some of its dividends in government bonds to increase local procurement.

The company’s general manager for sales and marketing Nkosana Mapuma told a business meeting in Bulawayo recently that the cement maker was committed to the country’s economic development.

“We have an asset base which is quite huge. In terms of refurbishment, it’s actually world-class because we have spent, in the last five years alone, over US$140 million refurbishing our plants and also building a brand new factory in Harare,” Mapuma said.

“We believe that we are still the market leader in Zimbabwe with a highest capacity to produce over 1,4 million tonnes of cement per annum . . . We have a product portfolio which is quite huge, currently with six products and very soon we will be launching a seventh product which I am sure the engineering community is going to benefit a lot from,” he said.

“We are aiming also to invest some of our dividends in government bonds so that at least we can lobby them in there and increase local procurement, and also increase our exports.”

Mapuma said they had managed to secure sources of clinker from outside Zimbabwe, to add to their capacity.

PPC operates three plants in the country, including the new $82 million plant in Harare, which was commissioned in 2016 and produces 700 000 tonnes of cement per annum.

The other two plants are in Bulawayo and Colleen Bawn near Gwanda, with a combined annual production of 700 000 tonnes, bringing the total annual production of the company to 1,4 million tonnes of cement per year.

“We have been exporting into Malawi, a little bit into Mozambique and also Zambia and Botswana. Currently, 60% of our exports in the last financial year went to Malawi from the factories in Bulawayo and Harare.”

“Seventy percent of our inputs now are being sourced locally, so we are really moving towards achieving imports substitution and also trying to create jobs locally,” he said.

BY MTHANDAZO NYONI

PROSPECT Resources (Prospect) says it is currently reviewing multiple financing strategies for its Arcadia lithium project in Zimbabwe.

The project is one of the largest hard-rock lithium resources in the world, with about 808 000 tonnes of the resource.

In its first quarter report, the company said it had scaled down exploration activities to focus its resources on securing finance for Arcadia and progressing the project from financing through to production.

“During the quarter, Prospect continued to focus its resources on securing a project finance facility for Arcadia and has, therefore, scaled back exploration activities,” the report read in part.

“The company is currently undertaking continuous improvement and value engineering initiatives to further reduce Arcadia’s technical risk and improve its economics,” the company said.

“The strategies are focused on providing funds at a low cost of capital and minimising dilution to existing shareholders,” it said.

In anticipation of development, Prospect said it was undertaking numerous continuous improvement initiatives in order to further de-risk the project technically, and to improve project economics.

During the quarter, Prospect introduced the use of high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR) technology to replace the tertiary and quaternary crushers.

The use of a HPGR is expected to reduce capital expenditure by 1,4% to US$163 million; operating expenditure by 2,46% to US$278 per tonne, while maintaining or improving metallurgical recoveries, the company said.

It also expects to increase project net present value (NPV10) by US$22 million to US$533 million as well as average annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation by US$3 million to US$109 million.

The company was awarded special economic zone (SEZ) status for the Arcadia project, which will grant it generous tax breaks and other concessions.

“With Arcadia now securing SEZ status, Prospect can hold and transact in foreign currency. This simplifies Prospect’s ability to make payments to and from suppliers and customers, as well as providing financiers confidence that the company can manage its currency freely in order to meet its operational and capital management requirements,” it said.

Arcadia is Africa’s second-largest undeveloped lithium project. It is estimated to contain 610 500 tonnes of lithium oxide and 11,3 million pounds of tantalite pentoxide. It has an ore reserve of 26,9 million tonnes.

The company also operates Sally Gold Mine and Prestwood Gold Mine in Gwanda.

Ngahan Claude Junior a.k.a Neymar

By Kevin Mapasure

Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya has attributed the injuries that have hit the team to low fitness levels, which he said shocked him when he took over following the departure of Lloyd Chigowe slightly over a week ago.

The new technical team, which also includes Biggie Zuze and Gift Muzadzi, conducted fitness tests for the players on Tuesday as they started their first full week of training in office.
Ndiraya said the results were shocking and they had started to work on the fitness of the players.

On Sunday, DeMbare take on ZPC Kariba in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Rufaro and they will be without Claude Junior Ngahan, popularly known as Neymar, as well as Herve Mbega, who are both nursing injuries.

Neymar is struggling with an ankle injury, while Mbega limped out of training yesterday with a suspected hamstring strain.

“We have had some of our key players getting injured. Neymar is injured, he has an ankle injury. He tried to come back, but on Tuesday, we had some fitness tests, which he failed,” Ndiraya said.

“We have Mbega, who also limped out of training with a suspected hamstring injury. He is still to be assessed, but I think it will be difficult for him to play this weekend.

“We had fitness tests on Tuesday. From that exercise, we got shocking results.”

He said the fitness levels were “way below standard” and they had immediately started working on the players’ levels of fitness, “particularly those we want to improve in certain areas”.

“Some of the players are picking up injuries because of the low fitness levels. We are doing what we can, but acquiring fitness will take time,” Ndiraya said.

“We are pushing the boys to the limit. Because of the intensity of the training sessions, some of the players are picking injuries, a clear sign that the fitness levels were not up to scratch.”

Having overseen the draw against TelOne on Sunday, Ndiraya said he was pleased with the improvements.

“There is a huge improvement in attitude, mentality and competition. We are trying to create competition among players so that we get some bit of quality from them. It’s looking promising, though I should say we have a long, long way to go,” he said.

“This weekend, we are expecting some improvement because of what we have done. But the whole process takes time, I must stress.”

The club will take action against vice-captain Godfrey Mukabi, who earned what Ndiraya termed an unnecessary red card in the last match and will miss the weekend action.

“We have lost Mukambi because of the red card that puts us in a difficult position. Senior players should not miss matches because of such unnecessary bookings,” Ndiraya said.

“We have made it clear to the whole team that we will not accept such nonsense. We will not tolerate it and for that reason, we are going to sanction Mukambi, we have made it clear to him.”

BY PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI

THE late music superstar and national hero, Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi’s children may find it difficult to challenge his will and testament lodged with the Master of the High Court early this week, as there is no legal provision that entitles adult children to benefit from their father’s estate, NewsDay Life & Style has established.

In the will, Tuku bequeathed his entire estate to his widow Daisy, leaving all his children — Selmor, Samantha, Sandra and Selby — and other relatives who were probably expecting to get something in the cold.

“I hereby bequeath all my properties, share and shares in any company or companies or entities to my wife, Daisy Kudzai Mtukudzi born on the second of February 1959,” reads the will.

Although Selmor and Sandra’s sympathisers felt the daughters could challenge the will and also get a share of their father’s wealth, a legal expert who deals with the administration of deceased estates yesterday said chances of such a legal challenge succeeding were virtually nil.

The expert — who declined to be named for professional reasons — said there was no legal provision that entitled adult children to their father’s wealth upon death.

“All adult children, even minors, can be part of the beneficiaries, but there is no provision in the law that they should benefit. But the advantage of minor children is that they can have recourse to the law if the deceased had the legal duty to provide for them,” he said.

“Selmor and others are self-supporting adults so the chances of successfully challenging the will are very remote, unless if there are allegations of some form of interference (in the drafting of the will), but they need to prove that,” he said.

The legal practitioner said while it was within anyone’s right to challenge a will, the doctrine of freedom of testation gave Tuku the liberty to draft his will as he saw fit.

He admitted that the will may not have been updated as it was drafted at a time when Tuku was at loggerheads with his daughters with former wife Melody Murape — Selmor and Sandra — after the former made damaging claims of neglect and ill-treatment against Tuku.

The legal expert said it would have been more prudent and responsible for Tuku to award something to his children because by default, Daisy’s children, Samantha and Faith, stand to be the biggest beneficiaries.

“That was not proper and progressive estate planning,” he said.

Immovable properties declared by Daisy in the inventory included several original deeds of transfer, offer letters for subdivision 5 of Bloemfontein, Mazowe, in favour of Oliver Mtukudzi, while movable properties included a Land Rover Discovery, Nissan NP200, Tata bus, Tata truck and a Challenger trailer.

BY Phyllis Mbanje /Farai Matiashe

Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa)-Zimbabwe has cautiously welcomed steps taken by the government through three draft Bills to shore up commitment and pledges to implement the long-overdue media law and policy reforms.

In a statement to mark today’s World Press Freedom Day, Misa-Zimbabwe chairperson Golden Maunganidze said the envisaged reforms should not be “piece-meal, hurried and nebulous, but extensive and underpinned by democratic values and best practices”.

“The process cannot end with the repealing of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (through the Freedom of Information Bill), Broadcasting Services Amendment Bill, Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill and Data Protection Bill,” he said.

Misa-Zimbabwe said a range of other laws whose provisions infringe on free expression, media freedom and access to information such as the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Interception of Communications Act, Official Secrets Act and Censorship and Entertainment Controls Act also needed to be relooked at.

“The obtaining situation demands wide consultations and active citizen participation, moreso when the relevant Bills are subjected to public hearings and scrutiny. Parliament should fulfil its oversight role with a sense of greater national responsibility,” Maunganidze said.

“Parliamentarians should, therefore, be well-versed and knowledgeable on the importance of the relevant regional and international instruments and constitutional provisions in entrenching democracy.”

Panos Institute Southern Africa urged media houses and media practitioners to position themselves to become conduits of information that advances democracy.

Director of the regional media organisation, Lilian Saka Kiefer said the theme for this year’s World Press Freedom Day commemorations Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation brings to fore the role of the media in advancing democracy, peace and reconciliation.

“At a time when there has been a proliferation of disinformation through fake news and false news, the need for the media to be more responsible cannot be overemphasised.

“Panos is aware of the numerous challenges that the media face in carrying out its duties. These include financial, technical and human resources constraints, which hinder the media from effectively informing and educating citizens on important development issues, such as participation in democratic processes. We are also aware that some stakeholders have made it their hobby to infringe on the media’s freedom to seek and disseminate information to the public,” she said.

Kiefer said the challenges have caused some media houses to either scale down or completely shut down, condemning many journalists and other media workers to unemployment. A number of media houses and practitioners have been threatened, suspended, arrested, convicted, imprisoned, fined or censored.

Misa-Zimbabwe criticised telecommunications companies for hiking data tariffs by more than 100%, saying the adjustments were unjustifiable.

“These recent increases ignore the fact that even before the official devaluation in February, internet service providers and mobile network providers had already implemented several data cost increases again in the name of coping with rising inflation and service delivery costs,” Misa-Zimbabwe said.

“According to howmuch.net, a gigabyte of data costs US$70 in Zimbabwe. This figure does not take into consideration the official inter-bank exchange rate. The actual average cost of mobile data in United States dollar terms is around US$15 to US$20, which translates to between ZWL$45 to ZWL$70, depending on the value of the exchange rate used. Local internet service providers and mobile network operators have capitalised on this same confusion to continuously and unjustifiably increase data costs.”

BY TERRY MADYAUTA

FC PLATINUM gaffer Norman Mapeza has warned his players not to take their clash against Herentals for granted, when the two sides face-off in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League encounter at Mandava Stadium tomorrow.

The reigning champions sit at the top of the log table with 13 points having gone for the first five games unbeaten with four wins and a draw.

In their last assignment, Pure Platinum Play narrowly beat Chicken Inn 1-0, but despite the morale-boosting win away from home, Mapeza has remained grounded warning his charges not to underestimate the so-called league light weights.

“For now the most important thing is to be consistent, we are playing a very good side on Saturday (tomorrow).

“Morale will be very high in their camp after they collected four points in their two games against Dynamos and Ngezi Platinum, so we know the challenge we are going to face.

“But like always, we have to put everything in this game if we really need to get maximum points.

“It is very important for us to collect maximum points in each game we play because for me, there is no game in our league that I can pin-point and say this one looks very much easier.

“All the coaches and teams have been doing their best, so we should give them the respect they deserve and not underestimate anyone because we are still in the early stages of the league,” he said.

The miners welcome Gift Mbweti who had been out due to injury while the quartet of William Stima, Kelvin Madzongwe, Wallace Magalane and Rapheal Muduviwa remains on the sidelines.
“We still have the same players out due to injury but we are welcoming Gift Mbweti who has been out for some time.

“The majority of the players are pushing. I just hope to have a full squad at my disposal because that gives us confidence.”

Herentals on the other hand will be looking forward to keep their momentum after an impressive record in their last two assignments where they collected maximum points against Dynamos before sharing spoils with Ngezi Platinum on Sunday.

By Rutendo Matanhire/Xolisani Ncube

LABOUR and Social Welfare minister Sekai Nzenza says the establishment of a tripartite negotiating forum (TNF) would assist in addressing the plight of workers and in solving the economic crisis.

Addressing journalists on Workers Day yesterday, Nzenza said while waiting the enactment of the TNF law, social partners to the forum should start dialogue to better the welfare of workers.

“I wish to commend the social partners for the engagement that resulted in the tabling of the TNF Bill in Parliament. I have great hope that the august House will pass it when it resumes its business this month,” she said.

The minister did not attend the Workers Day celebrations organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions at Dzivarasekwa Stadium, saying she was due to travel to Chimanimani and Chipinge districts.

Trade unions have demanded that government convenes an all-stakeholders’ meeting to address the economic crisis, which has seen companies closing down and those still in operation failing to fairly remunerate their workers.

“The TNF Bill, which is before Parliament, will provide the necessary legislative framework to ensure greater accountability and effectiveness in the work of the TNF. Accordingly, the TNF will emerge as a strong and vibrant institution capable of greater contribution to the development of the country,” she said.

The TNF is a voluntary social dialogue platform which brings together government, business and labour to discuss socio-economic progress constituted in 1998, but has not been operational because it does not have a regulatory framework.

“Fellow Zimbabweans, it is in this spirit that we continue to strengthen our democracy in the world by giving high regard to the tripartite negotiating forum. We believe that this social dialogue platform affords the social partners a genuine opportunity to exchange ideas that can facilitate growth of the economy, through greater investment, productivity and innovation,” she said.

Nzenza said the envisaged national dialogue with TNF partners will assist in the implementation of the International Labour Organisation commission of inquiry findings on the future of work in an environment of the informal sector.

“Indeed, in our country, we need to understand and respond effectively to these envisaged new challenges regarding the future of work in the scheme of an inclusive development for Zimbabwe with decent work at its heart,” she said.