BY RICHARD MUPONDE/EVERSON MUSHAVA

UNITED States senators have proposed to add more Zimbabweans on the sanctions list, a move likely to pile misery on embattled President Emmerson Mnangagwa (pictured)’s government desperate to re-engage with the West to shore up its free-falling economy.

Just when Zimbabwe had roped in the whole of Sadc and the African Union to amplify its calls for the removal of sanctions imposed in 2001, the US has upped the ante by insisting on further tightening the restrictive measures until Zimbabwe makes the necessary political reforms and stop human rights abuses.

Senators Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Chris Coons, a member of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, on Wednesday wrote to Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo requesting that the US Department of the Treasury update the list of sanctioned people in Zimbabwe.

“While the United States has been the top provider of humanitarian and development aid to meet the needs of Zimbabwe’s people, the government of Zimbabwe has implemented a misinformation campaign blaming the country’s woes on targeted sanctions programmes implemented by the United States,” the senators said in the letter dated January 29.

“It is important that the United States communicates to the people of Zimbabwe that our sanctions programmes are aimed at deterring
human rights abuses, public corruption, the undermining of democratic processes or institutions, and political repression in Zimbabwe. They are not aimed at the Zimbabwean people.”

Mnangagwa’s government, like his predecessor the late Robert Mugabe, have blamed the US on the country’s economic crisis through its sanctions imposed under the Zimbabwe Economic Recovery Act (Zidera) of 2001.

Zidera came as a response to Mugabe’s chaotic and violent land reform programme of 2000 and a series of violent elections marred by gross human rights abuses.

Mugabe, blaming the sanctions for the economic meltdown, in May 2016 addressed a one-million-man march against the sanctions.

His successor, Mnangagwa, last year on October 25 addressed a Sadc solidarity march against the embargoes, blaming the sanctions for the deteriorating economic situation.

Apart from roping in Sadc and the whole of Africa, Mnangagwa has hired three public relations consultants, two of them American and another one from London to try to spruce up the administration’s image and bring back Zimbabwe into the community of nations after years of international isolation.

But State-sanctioned human rights abuses back home have militated against his global charm offensive.

US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Brian Nichols has been challenging Mnangagwa administration’s narrative that sanctions were hurting the economy. He said corruption and bad governance, not sanctions, were the reason the country’s economy was spectacularly collapsing.

Foreign Affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo recently censured the US envoy, but the superpower has insisted on reforms for the sanctions to be lifted.

On Monday, US ambassador to Botswana, Craig Cloud, met Sadc executive secretary Stergomena Lawrence Tax and claimed he clarified that the sanctions on Zimbabwe were imposed because of the anti-democratic practices by the country and human rights abuses.

The fresh calls by the US senators are likely to see the superpower update the sanctions list to include more Zanu PF bigwigs, a worrying development for Mnangagwa who has been desperate to engage with the West in order to get lines of credit to resuscitate the collapsing economy, which has become the biggest threat to his two-year rule.

The senators said they were irked by the government of Zimbabwe’s misinformation to the world that problems devilling the country were as a result of sanctions imposed by the US and not because of abuse of human rights, corruption and bad governance.

They said while the targeted sanctions have been in place, the US has continued to invest in humanitarian and development aid for Zimbabwe, channelling more than $2 billion over the last 10 years.

“Given the developments in Zimbabwe over the last two years, we urge you to consider enhancing the tools at your disposal, including the use of targeted sanctions, to incentivise changes in behaviour by the government of Zimbabwe,” the senators added.

“An update to the list of the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list should incorporate a balance of new designations with appropriate removals.”

Joyful Praise Choir

SNEAK PEEK: CHELSEA USAFARE

EXCITING praise and worship music outfit, Joyfull Praise Choir (JPC) which recently rose to fame with their hit song Ngoro Yeminana was recently nominated for an African award at the Maranatha Africa Continental Awards. Band spokesperson Rudo Tania Madhindi said the move was motivated by their endeavour to be effective preachers through music. NewsDay (ND) Life & Style reporter Chelsea Musafare caught up with Madhindi (RM), who gave insights into the choir among other issues.

ND: What inspired you to set up this choir?

RM: This is a vision given by God to (group founder) Gamaliel Blessing Madhindi. He is a person with music at heart. He is passionate about it and he breathes and eats music. He has been seeing most gifted people around, mostly in Gweru and he realised that these people have been failing to exhibit the talent they have because they do not have a platform to showcase it. He then decided to start an association that would help people bring out their gifts, be it dancing, comedy, singing, writing songs or playing instruments.

ND: Mass choirs have become a popular concept in Zimbabwe. What distinguishes yours from other choirs?

RM: We are proud of our sound as it is unique from any other choir that has ever existed. Our sound gives us a definition as we reveal a joyful character, tone and feeling. Secondly, we can fuse two genres in one song, for example Ngoro Yeminana; it was a reggae song and we put in a fusion of dancehall. Ehekaka is a version of jazz and traditional, we can do rhumba and fix it with kanindo. We can do any kind of genre in our songs and there is no other choir which does that, hence it is different.

ND: What do you intend to achieve as a choir?

RM: We hope to build legacies and unlock destinies. In JPC we have solo artistes, people that we are grooming and branding so we are aiming to build them and expand them from the circles of being in a choir. It is an association that trains musicians how to handle themselves as solo artistes. Some people even come not to join the choir but to get information and tutorials as solo artistes. As a Zimbabwean group, we want to put our country on the international map as gospel musicians. We want to impact people globally, make people know that there are Zimbabwean musicians that are good and convey the message of Christ through gospel music. We aim to bring souls to Christ through gospel music.

ND: You have been nominated for the Best Live Ministration award at the Maranatha Africa Continental Awards. How do you feel about this nomination? What does it mean to you?

RM: This came as a surprise. It was an overwhelming experience because we did not think we would be recognised at that level yet. It is something that is telling us that God is taking us somewhere. He is doing beyond our expectations. This is also pushing us to do more.

ND: How does one qualify to be a member? What are the processes they go through?

RM: We recruit through auditions and one’s ability and availability qualifies them to the choir.

ND: Do you offer additional refresher courses or training for members already in the group, or their individual talents are sufficient?

RM: There is additional training for all members. We do not only have musicians in the association, but all artistes who possess different gifts. Therefore, there is personal development that we do, musical, vocal, how you speak to your audience as an MC, how to tackle and present an amazing comedy show etc.

ND: You have featured other top gospel artistes including Takesure Zamar Ncube. How has this helped to add value to your brand?

RM: Value has been added by the collaborations we have done which includes variety in genres, different feel of play, relationships and good connections too.

ND: Ngoro Yeminana seems to be your most popular track. Do you feel the same? What inspired it?

RM: The hit song Ngoro Yeminana was inspired by the love for Zig Zag band that our executive president had. When the lyrics were written for the song to be recorded, it was all for the fact that we want to bring the old people who have listened to the band. The fusion of reggae and dancehall was then used as bait to get the youth. So we hit two birds with one stone.

ND: There have been reports in some big mass choirs that sometimes members have to offer the leader certain favours to get slots to sing. Have you encountered such problems? How have you dealt with them?

RM: In JPC, your ability gets you to the top. You can be new today but surpass the one who has been in the group since 2014. The only favour one can give to our executive president is being committed to the group music and your gift. That being said, there has never been anything outside of ability that has taken members to the level of lead singing.

ND: You were voted the Best Newcomer at last year’s PERMICAN awards, how did you feel about the win?

RM: Winning PERMICAN was one surprising gift we got from God. Those were the first awards we got and we scooped four of them by the grace of God. We believe it opened doors for more.

ND: One of the distinguishing features of the group is its army fatigue, what inspired that choice?

RM: We are soldiers in the army of God, hence the army green uniform. However it is not our complete identity. We vary in uniforms due to the theme we have and the feel of the songs we have. We wear the unique and unusual.

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa and his opposition counterpart MDC leader Nelson Chamisa have gone on parallel diplomatic offensive campaigns in pursuit of their diametrically opposed positions regarding the resolution to the Zimbabwean crisis.

BY MOSES MATENGA

Chamisa is in South Africa, where he is also seeking to capitalise on the neighbouring country’s taking over of the African Union chairmanship to push for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s intervention and mediation to end the Zimbabwean conundrum.

Mnangagwa will, meanwhile, be sending his emissaries under the Political Actors
Dialogue (Polad) platform to several countries in and out of Africa with a “clear briefing” from Foreign Affairs ministry on what to sell.

“The role (of government) is facilitating international engagements that Polad members will have across our borders. When they go out, they need (Ministry of) Foreign Affairs briefings so that they know the playground wherever they are going,” Foreign Affairs deputy minister David Musabayana said yesterday.
Polad has been dismissed by Chamisa’s MDC as “Mnangagwa’s runners” and their venture into the global arena is being viewed as bidding for the Zanu PF leader.

The dialogue platform, comprising the MDC-T led by Thokozani Khupe, the National Constitutional Assembly led by Lovemore Moyo and other obscure political parties, has since met officials from the United States embassy in Harare as part of their diplomatic offensive.

On his part, Chamisa yesterday said there was fresh evidence on how the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) allegedly flouted the law and procedures in their conduct during and after the July 31, 2018 elections, adding that Sadc together with the African Union must urgently intervene to resolve the political contestations arising from that disputed poll.

“2023 is out of the question. We will not be able to have 2023 until we resolve modern day questions. Today’s questions are so pertinent to be resolved. So what we need to do is to resolve the unresolved 2018 elections so that we pave way for any future elections. Otherwise we will have the recycling of same old problems,” Chamisa told SABC Digital News.

“We now have new evidence, fresh evidence after the Constitutional Court determination of the dispute between ourselves and Mr Mnangagwa. Particularly the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) report that was put in Parliament, where the commission is indicating that they flouted the law and procedures of holding elections in announcing the results.

“That evidence has to be at the doorstep of Sadc, the AU and, of course, South African President Ramaphosa, to show and validate that these elections in Zimbabwe were rigged and stolen and what we need to do going forward, in the context of Sadc and Zimbabwe, is to make sure that we have comprehensive reforms and we have free and fair elections so that we do not have a repeat of 2018 in 2023.

“Otherwise we will continue to have Zimbabwe on the table of Sadc, on the table of South Africa if not at the doorstep as a nuisance, which is not what we desire.”
Chamisa said it was sad that he last met Mnangagwa before the 2018 elections.

“We have not met since the days of Parliament. It is now two years, which is quite sad because under normal circumstances, people who compete in an election are supposed to have a conversation, post an election to find a way forward for the country. This is one of my saddest moments, I am very disappointed,” he said.

“That is why we thought that (former South African) President (Thabo) Mbeki, when he came (last month), he would facilitate for a conversation. As you know in Africa, whenever there is a negotiation, there has to be a negotiator because that is our nature as a people for us to be able to deal with the disharmony: The misunderstanding between ourselves and Mr Mnangagwa, it will be useful to have a credible negotiator and we think the avenue and platform created by President Mbeki will go a long way in creating this kind of conversation.”

Chamisa said Mbeki should be returning to Zimbabwe anytime to try and unlock the deadlock on dialogue between the two leaders.
“The situation is even more urgent now than ever before because the situation now in the country is really taking a nose-dive and things are really going down in many ways. As I speak, people’s salaries are being eroded, people do not have electricity, the situation has gone out of hand. Unemployment hitting almost 98%,” he said.

Chamisa said the MDC was being treated like a banned organisation, with their programmes being prohibited and the police ransacking and searching the party offices for weapons of banditry and insurgence.

“So you can’t blame the victim for your own misfortunes. We are victims of dictatorship, victims of a failed State and arrested development in the country,” he said.

In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, the MDC leader said: “A crisis in Zimbabwe will set ablaze the entire Sadc. There can’t be a successful South Africa with a failing Zimbabwe. There can’t be a successful South Africa, Mozambique and Botswana with a sick Zimbabwe.

“Fixing Zimbabwe is fixing the continent. There should be a sense of urgency because the crisis has gone out of hand.

“We are not asking Sadc, the AU and South Africa to support the MDC, but to stand in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe in their hour of need. Zimbabwe is a ticking time bomb and there is need to deal with the situation before it deals with us. There should be solidarity with the people, not Zanu PF or MDC. We must give peace a chance.”

Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga has been accused of trying to arm-twist the Judiciary by threatening Judge President Justice George Chiweshe and accusing him of allegedly leaking to the media a ruling on his messy divorce with his estranged wife, Marry Mubaiwa, before it was handed down in court.

By Richard Muponde /Everson Mushava

Last week, Chiwenga was ordered by the High Court, which falls under Justice Chiweshe, to surrender three minor children he illegally took from his embattled wife after engineering her arrest on allegations of trying to kill him.

But Chiwenga immediately appealed against the ruling, which also chastised him for being a threat to the constitutional order, by abusing his position as Vice-President to use the military to settle his divorce dispute.
Marry’s lawyers have already been invited to inspect the record of appeal, a few days after the notice of appeal was filed, a process that normally takes long.

Chiwenga, through his lawyers Manase and Manase Legal Practitioners, have written to Justice Chiweshe accusing him of being compromised as Marry’s relative, although the Judge President was not handling Chiwenga’s divorce case.
“Our client advises us that you are related to the applicant (Ms) Marry Mubaiwa, and she has made numerous bald assertions in public that you are related and have sorted and influenced all matters involving her in her favour to the prejudice of our clients,” part of the letter read.
“We, with respect, wish to register our client’s concern over allegations emanating from the said relationship with the applicant and complaining over the conduct of the applicant in accessing court judgments and orders before they are handed down to both litigants.”

Chiwenga accused Judge Chiweshe of leaking the ruling to the media before it was delivered to him, querying how the judgment was reported on by the media before it was handed down.
Chiwenga’s lawyers gave Justice Chiweshe 48 hours to respond to their concerns.

But Chiwenga’s complaint was viewed by political analysts as an attempt to usurp the independence of the Judiciary.
Former ZimRights director and political analyst Okay Machisa said Chiwenga had misdirected his complaint and was trying to interfere with the independence of the Judiciary.

“Let’s go to the basics. We have the three pillars of the State: The Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary. These are three independent bodies which don’t interfere with each other. Unfortunately, there’s now interference from the Executive,” Machisa said.

“What’s given is actually the breach of the law. To have the Executive interfering, it’s fundamentally wrong for the VP to do so. If you look at Justice (Christopher) Dube-Banda’s judgment, it’s clear on how the VP should behave, not to use the military in his personal divorce case.

“What he is doing is to arm-twist the Judiciary, especially Justice Chiweshe to resign. These are threats being given to the Judiciary. Let’s not talk of the Judge President, but the Judiciary which has been dented. Let’s observe the independence of the Judiciary and not force it to dance to our gallery. We are perpetually denting our Judiciary in the eyes of the world.”

Another analyst Eldred Masunungure concurred, saying Chiwenga’s military relationship with Justice Chiweshe was above all most important than that of the judge with Marry because of the judge’s military background.
“The judge’s relationship with Marry is superseded by the connection he has with the military, where he was an attorney and reporting to Chiwenga, where he has that allegiance to the military,” Masunungure said.

“You and I couldn’t have used that same avenue of going straight to the Judge President. On the other hand, is it not a matter of one’s lofty office being used to advance a personal household matter? Is he not overlapping the limits on which as a citizen he has the right to lodge a complaint?” he further queried.

When President Emmerson Mnangagwa returned from his brief exile in South Africa in 2017, he famously declared that the “voice of the people is the voice of God”, promising a new era of responsive governance.

Among other things, he promised to be a “listening President”, a far cry from the ivory tower kind of leadership that Zimbabwe had been subjected to for almost four decades.

When he first came to power, Mnangagwa made the right noises, said what was expected and the world, for a brief moment, thought he was a refreshing break from Zimbabwe’s very toxic past.

However, just over two years into his presidency, Mnangagwa has shown that he is anything but a “listening President” and that the haloed voice of the people is nothing more than a shout into the wind.

In one of the most brazen assaults on our move to create a democracy, Mnangagwa and his lieutenants have gone about proposing amendments to the Constitution, which will see more power vested in him instead of the people, whose voice is supposed to be the voice of God.

Zimbabwe’s Constitution was only adopted seven years ago by a majority of citizens at a referendum and it really boggles the mind why Mnangagwa and his party are so hell bent on amending such a young charter.

Among others, they want to dispense with the running mate clause before it is even implemented.

That clause was only supposed to kick in at the next elections, but before it has even been implemented, Zanu PF apparatchiks think they should get rid of it and we wonder why they even bothered going through the Constitution-making exercise.

The government is also getting rid of a provision that calls for public interviews for the Prosecutor-General, in favour of a murky process where the President, in consultation with the Judicial Services Commission, appoints the country’s top prosecutor.

Remember the one centre of power notion that was popular in Zanu PF around 2013 to 2017? It is being reincarnated in the most brazen way.

To ensure that the government just does not get international loans as it pleases, there is a provision that Parliament must approve such deals, but guess what, the new amendments want to get rid of this.
What we have here is a government that is increasingly running away from public scrutiny and accountability, preferring to literally work in the shadows.

All of a sudden, the voice of the people, and by extension their eyes, are no longer equivalent to those of God and instead have been relegated to an insignificant whisper.

Just look at the ministers that Mnangagwa appointed, particularly Finance minister Mthuli Ncube, who is the most tin-eared and obtuse of the lot.

Just last week, Ncube was in Davos, where he told an interviewer that the Zimbabwean government was investing in healthcare before incredulously claiming that our “health systems are strong”.

Really?

Junior doctors have been on strike for more than three months and are only beginning to troop back to work thanks to a donation from private citizens, Econet Wireless founder Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa’s Higher Life Foundation.

If our health systems were strong, there would never have been a strike in the first place and a fuming First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa would not have bothered visiting NatPharm — in borrowed robes — to issue threats to the company’s executives to start dispensing drugs to hospitals.

If our health sector was any strong, our leaders would not be spending so much time seeking medication in foreign lands, while ordinary people would not be sent home to die after visiting hospitals, where there are barely any doctors and the nurses look like they wish they were elsewhere.

Ncube is the epitome of an ivory tower dweller, who finds comfort in an echo chamber and is thoroughly detached from reality.

In 2019, he spent half the year with a megaphone, parroting his so-called budget surplus, which in the end turned out to be a massive deficit.

Suddenly, he is quiet about this.

When inflation figures did not suit his ends, he jettisoned them for a year, but that did not mean the prices started going down.

Teachers are unhappy and are demanding more money, but instead of listening to them, the old-age cliche of regime change is rehashed and we are told that some union leaders are puppets of the West.

Then there are the likes of Defence and War Veterans deputy minister Victor Matemadanda, the embodiment of a hired goon, who spends half his time threatening to crush demonstrations against the government.

Our Constitution permits such demonstrations against the government, that is the very essence of the voice of the people, but Matemadanda believes that his job is to muzzle this voice, without for a second considering that it is the voice of God, at least as per Mnangagwa.

When all else fails, instead of owning up and being honest, Zimbabweans are served with copious amounts of propaganda from probably the most incompetent Information ministry in recent times.

The propaganda is crass and does not serve any purpose.

We are told daily about mega deals, a roller meal taskforce and how the energy situation will improve, but nobody is being honest about what really is going on.

Honesty goes a long way in times of crisis, listening to people’s concerns goes even further, but this lot seems to be more interested in only the sound of their own voices and are not prepared to listen to anyone else.

The country is burning and Mnangagwa and his government ought to live by the mantra that they promised us: the voice of the people is the voice of God.

This entails listening to our concerns, no matter how uncomfortable and acting on them.

Right now Zimbabwe is in a terrible position and no amount of propaganda, half truths about investments and mistruths about growth will bring it back on track.

 Nqaba Matshazi is AMH’s head of digital. He writes in his personal capacity. Feedback: nmatshazi@alphamedia.co.zw. Twitter: @nqabamatshazi

THE hordes of vendors who have besieged Harare’s oldest suburb of Mbare to sell all manner of goods are a clear indication that Zimbabwe’s formal economy is now on life support, a situation which does not augur well for a government that largely survives on taxing formal businesses.

NewsDay Comment

Also, more fundamentally, the growing army of vendors is a serious indictment to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s 2018 “jobs, jobs, jobs” promise. If the informal sector jobs are, by any chance, the promised jobs, well and good; but they will do little to shore up government coffers because the informal economy is too grey to be regulated.

More worryingly, it is not only Mbare that has been overrun by vendors. All the country’s urban areas are swarming with vendors as millions try to eke out a living in an economy that is offering very few options.

Many are wondering why, two years into the new dispensation, no tangible jobs have been created in the formal sector. Where is government missing it? For all its former glory, Zimbabwe can surely not be turned into a vendors’ paradise.

While a lot has been said about the challenges facing the country as far as foreign direct investment (FDI) is concerned, some wish to argue that although FDI is critical in Zimbabwe’s overall economic revival, domestic investment should be the first issue the so-called new dispensation should attend to. The Zanu PF government appears to be completely oblivious to the fact that the country it inherited from racist former ruler Ian Smith was anchored by domestic companies.

Once upon a time, the country had locally-based giants which employed thousands. And these include Ziscosteel, Zimasco, ZimAlloys, ZimGlass, Lancashire Steel, the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), Sable Chemicals, Dunlop, the Cold Storage Company (CSC), Hunyani Pulp and Paper, Mutare Board and Paper Mills, Bata Shoe Company, David Whitehead, Kadoma Glass and many others into agriculture and mining. But all these were run down over years of poor government policies and downright economic mismanagement.

There is absolutely no justification why all those companies were allowed to disappear. Others are still around, but have become a pale shadow of their former selves. There is absolutely nothing stopping Zimbabwe from rebooting its former economic glory via domestic investment.

But corruption and downright economic mismanagement have dampened the domestic investor’s appetite as government has floundered at every turn when opportunities come knocking on the door for the local companies to partner foreign investors to revive the firm’s operations.

Examples of government blunders are plentiful. For decades, successive Cabinets have stalled construction of the Chirundu-Harare-Beitbridge Highway for strange reasons. For decades, successive Cabinets have dilly-dallied on the revival of iron maker Ziscosteel. For decades, successive Cabinets have stalled the revival of the NRZ after stitching several deals and unceremoniously ditching them. For decades, successive Cabinets have told the nation about the revival of such entities as CSC and Kadoma Glass, but all has come to naught. For decades, successive Cabinets have failed to revive the country’s economic mainstay of agriculture whose restoration will undoubtedly have profound ripple effects on the overall economy.

So is it any wonder that the country is turning into a vending nightmare with mostly imported goods on sale simply because the country has failed to reboot its productive sector to create real jobs? The biggest tragedy is that successive leaders have no guts to admit failure or actually do something about it.

LOCAL music promoter Samuel “Boss Werras” Saungweme (pictured) yesterday said his heart bled over the stifled growth of the creative industry in light of the high cost of music production and distribution.

BY WINSTONE ANTONIO

The Werras Entertainment boss told NewsDay Life & Style that he was pledging resources to help artistes across genres to deliver their music to the nation for free in the wake of expensive data for fans to download music from online platforms.

Technology has become an important platform for artistes as they share their music with fans as well as link them to their followers and new markets although Zimbabwe is yet to catch up with the rest of the world.

The internet has become a crucial tool for artistes as the new working space for those seeking to keep abreast with new trends in the industry, sharing their productions on different social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Itunes and YouTube.

Boss Werras said he was so passionate about the arts and culture industry that he was committed to contribute to its growth.

“As the masses are unable to download music online because of the ever-rising costs of data, as Werras Entertainment we are devoted to working with artistes across genres to deliver their music to the nation on CDs for free like we used to do before,” he said.

“I want to thank all the artistes who are releasing new stuff in this current harsh economy. Let’s stop dividing artistes and the industry and to my fellow promoters I say we have a challenge to deliver music to the people through various platforms.”

Boss Werras said his involvement in the arts sector was driven by passion and he did not expect rewards from the artistes he worked with.

“As Werras Entertainment, we are open to partnership with other artistes. We do it out of passion. We do not expect much or rewards from the artistes. We don’t get stressed like other promoters when they fail to get rewards from the artistes,” he said.

Werras Entertainment in partnership with National Arts Council of Zimbabwe and several musicians have been part of an initiative to educate people, mainly the youths on the HIV and Aids pandemic through music.

They have also organised several concerts across the country as edutainment to raise awareness on, and tackle, social issues affecting ghetto youths such as drug abuse, abortion and child marriages.

Sally Mugabe Central Children’s Hospital (formerly Harare Central Children’s Hospital) is set to receive from the Government of Japan a 300 million yen grant (US$2,75 million) for the procurement of critical equipment.

BY VANESSA GONYE

Speaking at the signing of the exchange of notes for the programme, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said the initiative would help reduce infant mortality rate as well as provide healthcare to mothers and their children.

He said government had set up a plan that would see proper documentation of the urgent needs at the children’s hospital.

“The intervention by the government of Japan is in line with our national priorities as enunciated in the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP). The project also assists in achieving Social Development Goal number 3, which focuses on good healthcare and well-being,” Ncube said.

“I am pleased to advise that government has committed itself to a 90-day rapid plan, which will look into the urgent and immediate requirements of Harare Hospital through an allocation amounting to US$5 million.”
He applauded Japan for its continued support in complementing government’s efforts to provide and improve healthcare delivery in Zimbabwe.

Japan’s assistance to Harare Children’s Hospital dates back to 1998 with the construction of Harare Hospital Paediatric Unit/Harare Children’s Hospital, which it co-founded and equipped together with the Canadian government.
Japan, through JICA, is also currently providing technical assistance to the hospital staff to ensure efficient management of the hospital and a cleanly organised environment.

Japanese ambassador to Zimbabwe, Toshiyuki Iwado said his government prioritised the health sector in its strategy of development co-operation with Africa and Zimbabwe.

“At the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD7, held in August last year, African countries and Japan committed to promoting universal health coverage,” he said.

“Japan is also determined to improve access to primary healthcare for three million people in Africa. And for Zimbabwe to achieve further development in a sustainable manner, the strengthening of the health sector is vitally important.”

Iwado bemoaned the deteriorating standards in the country’s health sector.

“Zimbabwe used to have a well-established health sector, through its well-organised hospitals like Harare Children’s Hospital. However, it goes without saying that in recent years, those high standards have become compromised,” he said.

The hospital is set to receive medical equipment ranging from an X-ray system, bedside CCU monitors, an ultrasound scope, operation and examination equipment, among others.

ZIMBABWEANS should brace for extreme and unmitigated hardships this year due to a looming drought and economic meltdown, the National Consumer Rights Association (Nacora) has said.

BY MTHANDAZO NYONI

Nacora co-ordinator Effie Ncube told NewsDay Business that all indicators are pointing towards the wrong direction.

“As to expectations going forward, unfortunately all indicators are pointing towards the wrong direction.

Zimbabweans must therefore, brace themselves for a fight or for extreme and unmitigated hardships in 2020. It is auto-pilot into poverty and hunger,” he said.

“The economy is expected to contract by at least 15% or worse. Disposable incomes will collapse further. The cost of living will skyrocket. Unemployment will rise even further. Business and consumer confidence will decline even more,” he said.

Ncube said the Zimbabwean dollar would tumble to even catastrophic levels.

The Zimbabwe dollar has plunged more than 85% since it was reintroduced as legal tender last year, while the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth, according to the latest Economist Intelligence report, is expected to contract -12,9%.

“The little left of the manufacturing industry will disappear. Balance of payments will go deeper into the negative. Protected corruption will worsen,” Ncube said.

Ncube said the economic collapse of the country occasioned by political and economic confidence deficits had produced a huge erosion of standards of living not witnessed this decade.

Data from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency indicates that year-on-year inflation accelerated to 481,05% in November last year from 440,18% in the previous month.

“In the history of this country, only 2008 surpasses this collapses. Poverty, hunger, malnutrition and unemployment have worsened. More than any time since 2008, more households are living below the poverty datum line and millions are food and nutritionally insecure,” he said.

The country is reeling under economic hardships characterised by hyperinflation, low salaries, excessive power cuts, dire shortage of maize meal and low production, pushing citizens and businesses to the edge.

“Children are going to school and bed without food. More people than ever before need food aid this year. Thousands of children who were supposed to enrol for early child development this year will not because of poverty.”

“Thousands will drop out of school because parents cannot afford to pay school fees. The quality of education has declined due to lack of learning and teaching aides and low staff morale. Incomes across the board have been eroded to nothing. Healthcare has collapsed. The cost of living is just unbearable,” he said.