BY PRECIOUS CHIDA

MISS Ireland International (2019) Blessing Mutamba (pictured) yesterday said the country provided limited opportunities for young people despite their high educational qualifications and literacy levels, so there was need to amplify their achievements.

The Mutare-born beauty queen said she embarked on her homecoming tour to explore prospects to work with the local business community and young people seeking opportunities.

Mutamba, who arrived in the country on January 30, told NewsDay Life & Style that Zimbabwe needed to celebrate the achievements of young people which could help in inspiring others.

“I feel we are lacking as Zimbabweans in celebrating the achievements of young people. Sometimes it is very easy to forget that Zimbabwe is one of the most educated nations, not just in Africa but the whole world. We have the highest literacy rate and people are resourceful and we thrive as a nation no matter what gets thrown at us,” she said.

“However we forget to celebrate and embrace that and encourage our young people to always keep working harder and keep shining, hence we are not amplifying their achievements wild enough to make sure that other young people pay attention. As a result, their accomplishments are easily forgotten.”

The beauty queen has since hosted modelling masterclasses with both established and aspiring models in Victoria Falls and Mutare. She will be in Harare today.

Mutamba, who also took time to visit high schools in Mutare including her former school, Hillcrest said although the experience had been nerve-wracking, she was happy that the tour gave her an opportunity to contribute to the growth of other people in society.

“My experience so far has been nerve-wracking because you always have one chance to make a good first impression. However it has been fulfilling because I didn’t realise how much my words or actions would impact other people. I didn’t think people would pay so much attention to me, so I am happy that I am one of the few people who are contributing something that can change other people’s lives,” she said.

The model said the tour had given her a huge task going forward as she has to present herself in a way that will inspire other people since she is a strong believer in practising what she preaches.

Mutamba said her passion for her country has compelled her to consider making positive contributions to its development, and she was both excited and overwhelmed by the journey she has embarked on.

She is expected to leave Zimbabwe on February 12.

BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA

The Postal and Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) has warned of stiffer penalties on mobile network operators who increased tariffs without approval from the regulator.

This follows an outcry from consumers after some mobile network operators announced an adjustment to their promotions that have affected their charges.

Potraz director-general Gift Machengete yesterday said mobile network operators will be dealt with if they go ahead to increase tariffs without approval.

“We have not authorised any tariff increase and if, at all, they are increasing above their threshold, we will penalise them for such a move. There are no approved increases so far. We have requested the mobile networks to submit information pertaining to their costs for us to feed the information into the TPI, which then informs us if there is any need for tariff increase. Our decisions must be informed by facts,” Machengete said.

He said while consumers must expect an increase within network providers’ promotions, there was no general increment in tariffs above what was approved last year.

Machengete said Potraz was urging mobile network providers to submit their cost structures to justify their demand for tariff increases.

He said service providers have cut down some promotions which they were offering to their clients in order to be competitive which resulted in adjustments.

Service providers have been battling to convince the regulator to approve tariff increases without success with Potraz insisting on charges that are friendly to the consumers.

Last year, the regulator only approved three tariff increases with the last increase issued through regulatory notice circular number 3 of 2019 in August 2019, where mobile tariffs were reviewed by a telecommunications price index.

Meanwhile, Potraz will from today hold its inaugural Hackathon in Kadoma under the theme #Hack4SmartSustainableCities.

In a statement, Potraz said participants for the hackathon have been drawn from nine local universities with each nominating a team of three students, who will represent them in the hackathon competition.

The hackathon concept has been adopted in line with the recommendations of the report prepared by the Zimbabwe delegation to the World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2019.

Hackathon comes from blending the words marathon and hack, where marathon refers to performing a long or difficult activity in a short period, and hack, refers to exploratory computer programming. During a hackathon, participants spend a short period of time, usually between 24-48 hours, building, creating and delivering an information communication solution to a specified problem.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

ZIMBABWE’s latest Ordinary-Level examination results reveal that the pass rate has been improving over the past five years despite the fact that more than half of the students failed, the local public examinations body has said.

In a statistical analysis for the past five years’ O-Level results, Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) spokesperson Nicky Dhlamini said the pass rates over the past five years had improved from 22, 38% in 2014 to 33,86% in 2019.

While the pass rate graph over the past five years shows a drop in 2017, there, however, has been a cumulative progression in pass rates.

Zimsec said in 2014, the O-Level pass rate stood at 22,38%, in 2015 it was 27,86%, in 2016 it was 29,96, in 2017 it dropped to 28,70%, but it jumped up to 32,83% in 2018 and 33,86% in 2019.

He said there was an upward movement in performance for the 2019 November cohort of 1,03% compared to the 2018 November cohort.

Dhlamini also said the results showed that girls in the country were taking education seriously, with the number of girl candidates in the November Zimsec O-Level examination surpassing that of boys.

“The recorded number of female candidates who sat for the November O-Level examination was 152 389, compared to 144 075 which was the number of boys who sat for the same examinations,” the Zimsec analysis said.

In the November Zimsec A- Level examinations, girls also attained better passes than the boys after 19 877 girls sat for the examination and 89% passed two or more subjects. For males, 22 666 boys sat for the examinations and 84,5% passed two or more subjects.

On the issue of leakages of examination papers, Zimsec said the creation of more cluster centres had helped in securing the question papers which schools collect on a daily basis before the examination is written.

“The majority of school/centre heads have also been instrumental in assisting with the maintenance of integrity systems by alerting Zimsec authorities of any malpractices within the system. The tip-offs anonymous is a platform where the public is able to raise alarm of fraud and malpractice before, during and after the examinations cycle.”

Dhlamini said the platform is toll-free and protects the whistle-blower. He said the whistle-blower remains anonymous which has resulted in more people using the platform to assist Zimsec in curbing the malpractice.

BY TAFADZWA KACHIKO

THE Zimbabwean adaptation of the Vagina Monologues — an Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo production — was recently staged at the Jasen Mphepo Little Theatre in Harare and took the audience on a roller-coaster emotional ride with its no-holds-barred exploration of sexual issues, demystifying the notion that women in menopause do not enjoy sex.

Staged in a very sarcastic way by the quartet of Musawenkosi Sibanda, Sithabile Ndubiwa, Agnes Ncube and Lady Tshawe (pictured), the play questioned claims that older men cheated on their wives because the later no longer enjoyed sex as a result of menopause.

A commissioner with the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, Naome Chimbetete — who watched the play — told NewsDay Life & Style that a lot of men with wives on menopause cheated on them out of ignorance.

“They managed to bring out key issues that women battle with regards to sexual reproductive health and rights, but I find that there is a gap when it comes to addressing elderly women’s sexuality, especially those going through menopause,” she said.

“It’s a myth that elderly women no longer want sex, and that their female sexual organs are dry. Consequently, a lot of men start cheating because they think that their spouse’s sex organs are now tired and need rest. Even if they are dry, there are lubricants. We need conversations around this.”

Although the play was criticised by some within the feminist movement in its exploration of consensual and non-consensual sexual experiences, body image, genital mutilation, direct and indirect encounters with reproduction, care, menstrual periods and sex work, one of the participants, Tshawe, defended it.

She argued that it was wrong to conclude that women should just serve their men on the bed when the relationship should be reciprocal.

Play producer Chipo Mawarire said she was pleased by the high turnout.

“Thank you for coming through. It’s amazing to see a full house. Thank you for engaging in a great conversation. We found it befitting because it’s a conversation that was long overdue,” she said.

“It’s time for women to take full ownership of their sexuality. It explains that the female sex organ is not only meant to please men but women as well. We want men to hear our stories, appreciate and respect our sexuality.”

The original play was written by Eve Ensler and premiered in 1996 at HERE Arts Centre, Off Broadway in New York, United States.