BY XOLISANI NCUBE

President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday met members of the Presidential Advisory Council (PAC) amid the deteriorating economic situation in the country which has seen prices of basic goods skyrocketing.

Addressing journalists after a closed-door meeting, Mnangagwa said several issues affecting the country were discussed in the meeting which lasted more than two hours.

“We are concerned about the current situation in our country and we are putting our heads together to ensure we move our country,” he said.

Mnangagwa promised to convene a tripartite negotiating forum soon to collectively discuss ways of tackling the challenges facing the country.

PAC spokesperson Joe Mutizwa said the discussions were candid and as council members, they expect action from government to deal with the prevailing crisis.

“Some members had the opportunity to express themselves very clearly and we expect that some action will be taken and it can only be in the interest of the country,” Mutizwa said.

The PAC meeting was also attended by Vice-Presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi, some Cabinet ministers, including Finance minister Mthuli Ncube and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya, among other senior government officials.

Meanwhile, Cabinet on Tuesday pleaded with the business sector to stop wantonly increasing prices and directed that foreign currency be made available to industry for the manufacture of basic commodities.

Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa told journalists that Cabinet was seized with the issue of price increases.

Turning to the recent Cyclone Idai, Mutsvangwa said Mnangagwa is set to visit traditional leaders in Chipinge tomorrow and discuss the way forward in the aftermath of the violent tropical storm which left more than 350 people dead and 16 000 displaced.

Mutsvangwa said after Chipinge, Mnangagwa will also visit Mozambique to thank the Mozambican government and its people for giving decent burials to more than 100 Zimbabweans whose bodies were washed into the neighbouring country.

“His Excellency, the President shall, on behalf of government and the people of Zimbabwe, commiserate with the people of Mozambique, who were worse affected by the Cyclone Idai than ourselves through the provision of some relief assistance,” Mutsvangwa said.

Cabinet members are each mobilising at least $1 000 each towards support of those affected by the cyclone.

BY MTHANDAZO NYONI

THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) says price hikes currently obtaining in the country are a reflection of government’s anti-export policies and not the fault of industry.

CZI president Sifelani Jabangwe told a recent business meeting in Bulawayo that prices were moving in tandem with the prevailing exchange rates.

“Exchange rates move when there is increased demand for forex. Industry only responds to the conditions on the ground and industry is right at the back of the cost-value chain,” Jabangwe said.

“When there are policies that discourage the generation of exports then the rate runs and so do prices, thus industry is not to blame. Prices are a mere reflection of policies and conditions, blaming industry for price issues is similar to blaming the dam wall for siltation.

“True, the siltation is made more visible on the wall, but the siltation will have been caused by other activities up stream,” he said.

Prices of basic commodities have been rising since last October when the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe instructed banks to ring-fence foreign currency from Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) balances.

The situation worsened after authorities did away with the fixed 1:1 exchange rate between the local currency and the United States dollar and government has been quick to accuse business of profiteering and sabotage.

Jabangwe noted that the continued pressure on pricing was dampening aggregate demand in the economy.

“Currently, there is a mismatch between incomes growth and prices and many of the companies, including government, do not have capacity to accommodate increase in wages and salaries,” he said.

“This has a negative effect on aggregate demand. Inflationary pressures emanating from the recent review of producer prices of cereals such as maize/small grains, wheat and soyabean, among others.”

Jabangwe said pricing of foreign currency has always been at the centre of the economic stability challenges of the country.

“The pricing has always been affected by supply and demand. The economy has a high propensity to consume imported goods. In 2018 the economy imported $19 million worth of water,” he said.

He said savings could have been achieved in fertilizer and other sub-sectors, but the country’s inability to deal with imports which could be substituted with local goods was worsening economic instability.

“We have to take some hard actions on these unnecessary imports, otherwise we will then have conflicts on pricing of goods after we have drained the economy of forex while importing trinkets,” he said.

“We believe the trade deficit is at the heart of our challenges, particularly relating to price instability. It is not the root cause because there are causative factors which need to be unpacked. Since 2009 we have been running trade deficits annually,” the CZI boss said.

BY WINSTONE ANTONIO

CHINESE ambassador to Zimbabwe Guo Shaochun said China was prepared to partner with the government in the establishment of a Chinese Culture Centre in Harare, where the two countries’ diverse cultures would be taught under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Shaochun made the remarks on Monday evening at the official opening of the five-day Belt and Road Afro-Sino Cultural Exchange exhibition at the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) in Harare.

The BRI is an initiative that the Chinese government put forward in 2013 in order to encourage greater global policy co-ordination, infrastructure connectivity, investment and trade co-operation, financial integration, cultural and people-to-people.

“To further deepen cultural relations and to promote more cultural exchanges, we hope we could work with the Zimbabwean government to build a Chinese Cultural Centre here in the near future,” Shaochun said.

The Chinese ambassador said the centre would facilitate cultural exchange programmes which will see an increase in the number of trips by Zimbabwean and Chinese artistes to both countries.

Shaochun said China and Zimbabwe enjoyed great partnership, including co-operation in major projects under the BRI framework meant to foster an appreciation of each other’s cultural diversities.

“Our co-operation in culture, arts, health and education has been fruitful in recent years. The Dream Star Talent Show has helped talented Zimbabwean young men and women to discover themselves. Each year, we have multiple wonderful artistic troupes who visit China and Zimbabwe, respectively,” he said.

Shaochun applauded Zimbabwean artists and the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) for their hard work that he said had popularised Zimbabwean art around the globe.

Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation acting minister Kazembe Kazembe said the close relationship between NACZ and NGZ had improved the working relationship among local artists.

“We hope this new programme will become a permanent feature on our national gallery’s calendar of events every year. It enhances their (artists) visibility, entrenches them in international co-operation and, indeed, widens their market,” Kazembe said in a speech read on his behalf by the ministry’s principal director Benson Dube.

Kazembe said the platform helped create opportunities for artists to interrogate parallels in their working processes and strategies.

Meanwhile, the curtain will come down on the Belt and Road Afro-Sino Cultural Exchange programme today.

BY XOLISANI NCUBE

Zifa (Pvt) Limited have challenged the annulling of the sale of one of their properties to a company called Olive Touch Investments, following a court challenge by businessman Maxwell Ndudzo on behalf of his company, Max Haivo Electrical Hardware, who had bought the house through the sheriff of the High Court.

The property had been attached after Zifa lost court battles against some of its debtors and Ndudzo bought the house following a public auction.

But upon initiating the process of changing the ownership of the property, he discovered that the house had since been transferred to Olive Touch, who had bought it from Zifa.

It is that transaction which was annulled by the court that Zifa are currently challenging together with two other interested parties.

Zifa’s special purpose vehicle had been ordered by High Court judge Justice Priscilla Munangati-Manongwa to cancel its deal with Olive Touch because the property had been placed under judicial administration.

Ndudzo is accusing Zifa of double dealing after the football governing body sold a property that had already been sold by the sheriff of the High Court.

But Zifa through their lawyer Advocate Thabani Mpofu have challenged the High Court decision to rescind the acquisition made by Olive Touch.

In the appeal filed on the same day together with that of Olive Touch Investments, Zifa (Pvt) Ltd through Mpofu stated that Justice Munangati-Manongwa erred in allowing Max Haivo Electrical Hardware to have their way when the court reversed the transaction on claims that it was done fraudulently.

Mpofu claimed that the judge exercised academic jurisdiction and erred to grant the order sought by Max Haivo Electrical and Hardware as the company had no legal right to be involved in the matter.

“The court aquo erred in granting first respondent (Max Haivo Electrical and Hardware) relief which opened proceedings to which he was not party, had no legal interest and in which he could not legitimately participate,” the grounds of appeal prepared by Mpofu read.

Advocate Lewis Uriri has been engaged by Olive Touch to challenge the High Court decision to reserve the deal struck with Zifa (Pvt) Ltd, which was then represented by Marshal Jonga, a staffer at former Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa’s Investments at the time.

Court documents suggest that Zifa, through Zifa Private Limited, sold and transferred ownership of a house in Kensington to a questionable entity; Olive Touch Investment, at a time the sheriff had lawfully attached the property and sold it to Ndudzo on behalf of the association’s creditors.

Among the creditors who were supposed to benefit from the sale of the house included Led Travel and Tours and Lazarus Mhurushomana, a former Zifa employee.

But documents suggest that Led withdrew its claims to Zifa, but court papers have revealed that one of its directors, Bernard Gwarada was linked to Olive Touch Investments.

In the latest appeals against Justice Munangati-Manongwa’s ruling, Led Travel and Tours also filed their own papers on the same day challenging the decision to reverse the sale of the property to Olive Touch and raised similar arguments as those raised by Zifa (Pvt) Ltd.

According to a deed of transfer prepared by Ngarava, Moyo and Chikono Legal Practitioners in April 2017, Jonga, as documents at hand also suggest, illegally sold the house on behalf of Zifa Private Limited because the association tried to evade its creditors.

The court documents state that proceeds from the sale of the house were supposed to pay Mhurushomana and other Zifa creditors, but Jonga entered into an illegal deal with Olive Touch, a company that had no known operating address.

Fredrick Gijima, a lawyer representing Ndudzo stated in court papers that the sale of the house to Olive Touch by Jonga was fraudulent since his client had already paid for the same property through the sheriff.

BY KENNETH NYANGANI

A Mutare man, who was being accused of raping his seven-year-old daughter, was yesterday acquitted by Rusape regional magistrate Livingstone Chipadze after the State failed to prove a prima facie case against him.

Chipadze told the court yesterday that the mother of the complainant fabricated the rape charges and coxed her daughter into filing trumped-up rape charges after their relationship had broken down.

He said there was evidence that the seven-year-old complainant’s parents were going through serious matrimonial problems.

Chipadze said the complainant’s mother tried to manipulate a maid by increasing her pay to falsely testify in court against the man.

The accused was represented by prominent Mutare lawyer Chris Ndlovu.

The court noted that the complainant was a clearly coached witness and her evidence was rehearsed.

“The complainant’s mother showed the court that she is clearly a bitter person against the accused and in court did not dispute that her own sister had at one time used or raised false allegations of rape against her husband,” the magistrate said.

The complainant’s mother was also discredited by the maid as an alcoholic and an individual who had attempted to manipulate her to falsely testify against the accused.

In the application for discharge at the close of State case, the accused lawyer Ndlovu said the woman attempted to sway the maid, who testified in the matter, to lie to the police that she had heard the complainant screaming in the bedroom.

“She, the complaint’s mother had promised a pay increase of $30 if she falsely testified against the accused, such an unstable and manipulative mother and is capable of doing anything, faced with the prospect of losing custody of the children, she concocted the allegations,” he said.

BY XOLISANI NCUBE

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has ordered a Chinese company to stop its planned quarry mining activities in Domboshava, following an outcry by over 20 000 villagers who had already been ordered to vacate the area and pave way for mining operations.

Information deputy minister and local MP, Energy Mutodi confirmed the development yesterday, saying Mnangagwa had declared the area a tourism resort, where mining activities were prohibited.

“President Emmerson Mnangagwa has come to the rescue of Domboshava villagers, who were facing eviction by a Chinese quarry mining firm, Aihua Jianye. The President has ordered that the firm stops mining activities in the area known for its rock art and as a tourist attraction,” Mutodi said.

The Chinese company was reportedly planning to evict 20 000 people from their land after it was granted mining rights to extract quarry stones from a hill in the area.

On Saturday, Mutodi met with the affected villagers and they resolved to resist the order and accused an MDC councillor identified as Tapiwa Murima and the district administrator, Prisca Dube of illegally allowing the Chinese firm to mine at Garimo Hill.

Aihua Jianye sought to mine quarry near Mverechena Shopping Centre and this would have seen people who are located within the five-kilometre radius being removed to create space for the project.

This comes as communities in Mutoko in Mashonaland East province and other parts of the country where mining operations take place often cry foul over the manner in which investors treat locals and the environment without compensation.

In Mutoko, where there is heavy mining of black granite, villagers are said to be impoverished with no jobs and their environment ravaged, yet the mining firms pocket huge profits.

According to the Environmental Management Act, before a mining operation commences, it has to get an environmental impact assessment (EIA) certificate which details how nature and its inhabitants would be protected by the firm.

The Domboshava villagers are questioning how the firm got the licence and right to establish the concern without an EIA certificate.

By Freeman Makopa

Zimbabwe will this month host the inaugural Wines of South Africa (WoSA) Sommelier Cup Zimbabwe semi-finals in Victoria Falls, with the winner set to represent the country at the fourth grande finale in Cape Town, South Africa in September, alongside other 11 invited countries from across the globe.

A sommelier or wine steward is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specialises in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing.

Eighteen participants have registered so far for the local semi-finals, with the registration deadline set for May 6.

WoSA agent for Zimbabwe, Kuda Hove said the competition is held every three years and the next event would be in 2021.

“Wine tourism is now a recognised growth factor for tourism internationally and we stand a very good opportunity to make Zimbabwe a consumptive wine destination through selection of product and experience through food and wine pairing and knowledgeable service personnel,” Hove said.

Hotels Association of Zimbabwe Victoria Falls chapter chairperson, Farai Chimba said human skill development was a key component that WoSA is providing through various initiatives in the country.

“As a prime destination for connecting to the wine lands of the Cape, it is a great opportunity for us to be also geared to serve and provide high quality wines, which the clients can enjoy,” he said.

From January 2019, WoSA has been running semi-final competitions in the invited countries until August. Other invited countries include Canada, China, Germany, Ghana, Kenya, Netherlands, Sweden, UK and the US.

After the semi-final competition, the finalist from each country will be hosted in South Africa for a tour of the winelands. They will visit some of the Cape’s most prestigious wineries, meet and taste wines with award-winning wine-makers, dine in some of South Africa’s iconic restaurants and explore the wonderfully diverse cuisine on offer – all against the backdrop of some of the world’s most breathtakingly beautiful winelands.

The final will be organised in collaboration with the South African Sommelier Association, who have established themselves as an integral part of the food and wine industry in South Africa.

WoSA is a fully inclusive body, representing all South African producers of wine who export their products. WoSA, which was established in its current form in 1999, has over 500 producers on its database, comprising all the major South African wine exporters. It is constituted as a not-for-profit company and is totally independent of any producer or wholesaling pacompany. It is also independent of any government department, although it is recognised by government as an export council.

BY KENNETH NYANGANI

The MDC-Alliance says it expects to retain the Mutasa Rural District Council’s (MRDC) ward 10 seat in a by-election set for May 11 after High Court judge Justice Isaac Muzenda dismissed an application by the deposed councillor seeking to stop the poll.

Mutasa Central ward 10 Frank Chitembwe had made the application seeking to stop the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) from going ahead with the poll.

Chitembwe filed an urgent High Court application early this month, seeking an order to set aside Zec’s decision to hold the by-election next week.

Mutasa Rural District Council chief executive officer Tonderai Bandura opposed the application.

Chitembwe was slapped with a two-year jail term for public violence during the January 14-16 fuel price hike protests before he successfully applied for bail pending appeal early this month.

But a nomination court had already sat with three candidates successfully filing their nomination papers to contest the election.

In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, Mutasa Central MP Trevor Saruwaka said they were ready to win the by-election.

MDC candidate Rose Mukodza will lock horns with Justice Chirimo (NCA) and Magret Tindika of Zanu PF.

“I want to make it clear that ward 10 of Mutasa Central is a strong Zanu PF area, which has been successfully won by MDC candidates since 2008 to date and Zanu PF is going to (again) lose hands down,” Saruwaka said

“This is the ward I come from, so it is going to be easy for me to campaign. Other opposition stalwarts like Mutasa South MP Regai Tsunga comes from the same ward and has already indicated that he would be helping in the campaign.”

Saruwaka added: “Ironically, the current Zanu PF candidate is a former MDC member, who switched parties after being walloped at the 2013 primary elections by the outgoing MDC councillor Frank Chitembwe.”

BY John Ward

Many old-timers, including his captain the late David Lewis, will aver that Don Arnott, who died in Harare on April 11 2019 at the age of 83, was arguably the finest wicket-keeper ever produced by the country.

In his brief career for Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, he played in only 28 first-class matches between 1954/55 and 1961/62, but came very close to playing Test cricket for South Africa.

Don attended Plumtree School, where his excellent wicket-keeping won him a place in the strong school team when he was still an Under-15 player. In his final two years at school he was selected for the Rhodesian Schools team that played in the South African Nuffield Week, in 1954 and 1955, and in the second year he was chosen for the South African Schools team that played against the Western Province Currie Cup team in Cape Town.

He had scarcely left school when he was drafted into the national team on its tour to South Africa, after the last-minute withdrawal of Cecil Harris. Unfortunately, he missed the first match against Border after being hit while standing up to the bowling of Joe Partridge in the nets, an accident that also cost him a tooth.

He made his début against Griqualand West in Kimberley, a quiet match for him, but he did well enough to be an automatic selection for the national team after that when available.

He quickly won the admiration of South African experts too, so much so that when, in the 1956/57 Test series against England, the regular South African wicketkeeper Johnny Waite was doubtful for the third Test match, Don was called up as a stand-by in case he did not recover in time — which he, however, did. As Waite was the much better batsman, Don was unable to challenge for his place when fit.

He was credited with having a perfect wicket-keeping technique and, despite his experience in the nets with Partridge, he often stood up to his fast-medium bowling and effected some remarkable leg-side stumpings off his inswingers.

Don was a capable batsman in club cricket, where he played for the then Salisbury (now Harare) Sports Club, but was never able to score heavily in first-class matches. He had an excellent temperament and a sound defence, hard to dismiss and he never flinched from the fastest bowling, so he became the team’s regular night-watchman. It was in this role that he scored his only first-class fifty, an innings of 58 against the touring New Zealand team in 1961/62, his final season. But often he was able to stand in the gap when a collapse threatened and hold up the opposing bowlers with a solid innings that was worth far more than the runs it actually produced.

Unfortunately, his career came to a premature end. In the days when all national cricketers were amateurs, he began his working life in insurance, but in the late 50s decided to go into tobacco farming near Raffingora, in Mashonaland West, far from Harare. He found it increasingly difficult to play for his country, although he continued to play cricket in the country districts for many years. He also played hockey for the Districts.

Don was quoted in the Herald newspaper in 1967 as saying: “I never really retired from first-class cricket. I just faded out of the picture when I went farming.”

There was some talk at that time of his making a serious comeback, but it never materialised – the paper said that he was “still rated by some as the best wicketkeeper in South Africa for sheer technical brilliance”. Fortunately, for the country, he had an outstanding replacement in the late Tony de Caila.

In 1964 he was a member of the Mashonaland Country Districts team to tour England, playing mainly against strong club teams and county second elevens. His wicket-keeping was a major feature of the tour.

When he retired from farming and returned to live in Zimbabwe, he took up umpiring, with as much success as he had keeping wicket — and similar brevity. For several years he umpired in Zimbabwe’s first-class matches during the 1980s against touring teams, mainly A teams, from Test-playing countries and was very highly rated. Unfortunately, before Zimbabwe gained Test status, he felt his eyesight was declining and he retired.

Don went into cricket administration, managing several Zimbabwe touring teams; and in 1994 he was appointed the first chief executive officer of the then Zimbabwe Cricket Union after it gained Test status and needed to develop its administration. This was probably his most difficult job in cricket, as in the days before big television coverage, lack of finance was a serious problem. He ran a tight ship and kept the organisation solvent, but making progress was a great struggle for him, causing him much stress. He was no doubt, relieved in 1998 to hand over the job to Dave Ellman-Brown on the latter’s retirement from Coopers and Lybrand.

He was not altogether finished with the game, as he was sometimes appointed match referee, including during the Under-19 World Cup matches of 2001/02. He was elected a life vice-president and was for some years a Zimbabwe Cricket board member until his resignation in 2004.

As a man he was tall for a wicketkeeper, well built and described as being generally of a retiring and unassuming nature, a man of impeccable character.

His son, Kevin, also played cricket for Zimbabwe, opening their batting in their first four Test matches with an average of 43 and a Test century against New Zealand. He too retired prematurely, due to his legal practice and frequent hand injuries.