By Business Reporter

CBZ Insurance has reintroduced its international travel insurance set to benefit policy holders on matters of personal safety, baggage damage and other unforeseen financial losses going away for trips.

The programme covers business or recreational travellers.

Under the insurance initiative, CBZ Insurance undertakes to ensure those covered receive immediate and direct assistance right at the time one encounters a problem.

What the Travel Insurance covers shall depend on one’s budget, type of trip, activities while one is abroad, their destination as well as trip duration.

The cover includes International Medical and Hospitalisation expenses, Medical Evacuation, Repatriation expenses in case of death as well as compensation for luggage incidents.

In terms of baggage, the travel insurance programme covers loss of passport, driving license, national id card abroad.

In the case of flights, compensation shall be payable upon loss of checked-in baggage, delay in luggage arrival of luggage well as location and forwarding of baggage and personal belongings.

The programme cover shall exclude those with pre-existing and chronic conditions, one engaging in dangerous-considered sports and any kind of professional sport practices.

Among activities excluded from the travel insurance cover are manual labour related activities involving working with one’s hands using both mechanical and non-mechanical devices.

Also excluded are services contracted without the previous authorisation of the assistance operators, fragile baggage or electronic items carried in the checked-in baggage, acts of Go, pregnancy and accidents due alcohol abuse.

Insurance benefits will ensure you are compensated after your trip ends.

Meanwhile, assistance services will ensure you receive immediate and direct assistance at the moment the problem arises.

Many investors need equity returns to build wealth over the long term. Unfortunately sometimes investors find it difficult to endure the sharp declines and volatility that is often experienced in the capital markets. As an investor, one should understand that risk is necessary to pursue higher returns. However, the correlation between risk and reward illustrates that higher returns, more often than not, experience higher volatility. This leads to the important subject of how to react in a turbulent environment.

For an investor safety is as important as growth. Prudent risk management therefore requires that one addresses the possibility that a “Bull” market could turn “Bearish” at any time. One’s portfolio needs to be
prepared should unfriendly market conditions occur. During turbulent times in stock markets investors are looking for answers about what they should do. The answers however, depend upon just who is asking the questions. If the questioner is a speculator who buys and sells stock with the focus on their momentary prices then it may be difficult to offer a solution as successful market timing is near impossible. If on the other hand, the question is coming from a long term investor, there are quite a number of ways to prepare for turbulent times.

It’s important not to let market uncertainties affect financial planning for the years ahead. Individuals who stop their investment planning, particularly during market downturns, can often miss out on opportunities to invest at lower prices. Nobody has all the answers to why the market takes a nosedive, but it’s often useful to take a look at the economic precursors that may play a role in market turbulence.

Uncertainty is a constant, and downturns happen frequently. But market setbacks have typically been followed by recoveries. An investor should stay disciplined as trying to time the market has proven challenging and costly. An investing approach built with one’s goals and situation in mind may help one cope with short-term volatility. Instead of being worried by volatility, be prepared. A well-defined investing plan tailored to one’s goals and financial situation can help one be ready for the normal ups and downs of the market, and to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

Attempting to move in and out of the market can be costly and the decisions investors make about when to buy and sell can cause investors to perform worse than they would have, had the investors simply bought and held the same investments. If one invests regularly over months, years, and decades, short-term downturns will not have much of an impact on the ultimate performance.

If one keeps investing through downturns, it won’t guarantee gains or that they will never experience a loss, but when prices do fall, they may actually benefit in the long run. When the market drops, the prices of investments fall and the regular contributions allow one to buy a larger number of shares.

Finally, if the movement of the markets have changed your mix of large-cap, small-cap or the mix of stocks, may need a rebalance to get back to the target asset mix. That could provide a disciplined approach that helps one take advantage of lower prices.

Rather than focusing on the turbulence, wondering whether you need to do something now or wondering what the market will do tomorrow, it makes more sense to focus on developing and maintaining a sound investing plan. A good plan can help you ride out the peaks and valleys of the market and may help you achieve your financial goals. You can battle quick sand with quick thinking.

These strategies can be complex, and you may want to consult a professional before making any investment decisions.

Raunchy dancer and singer Beverly “Bev” Sibanda, who has over the years entertained local men with her sexually-charged dances, yesterday tied the knot with a United Kingdom-based medical doctor Chambuka Mupudzi at the Harare Magistrates Court.

BY WINSTONE ANTONIO

Bev and her husband Chambuka Mupudzi exchanging wedding vows at the Harare Magistrates Court yesterday

A source close to the development confirmed to NewsDay Life & Style that Bev’s marriage to Mupudzi was solemnised at the court after the latter paid lobola at Bev’s family village in Silobela two weeks ago.

“She is no longer the same Bev we used to know after lobola was paid about two weeks ago in Silobela. The guy is a doctor in the United Kingdom and was in the country for the better part of the festive season,” the source said.

He highlighted that Bev’s new husband was well aware of her profession and it was something that he had accepted, so it was highly unlikely that the marriage would crumble for that reason.

“Her fiancée is aware of her lifestyle and he fully understands the nature of her profession because when he entered into the relationship, he knew very well that Bev was an artiste so there are no problems likely to crack the marriage,” the source said.

Bev’s manager, Harpers Mapimhidze, who also confirmed the wedding, congratulated the dancer.

“We say congratulations to Bev; she has done something appreciable in the showbiz industry. I urge fellow dancers to follow suit since this is something good,” he said.

“Those promoters who had booked Bev in advance, we are going to fulfil all contractual agreements because she will not be exiting the dance floor anytime soon.”

Many people had dismissed the Sexy Angels leader as unlikely material for marriage, and with Bev herself having earlier indicated that marriage was not a priority as she wanted to take her time to find new love.

NewsDay Life & Style understands that the groom will fly back to his UK base in a few days’ time, while Bev will remain behind sorting out her travel documents so that she will be able to join her husband.

“The husband will be travelling back to work soon in UK, so Bev will be visiting him frequently before maybe she relocates as what has been said by the husband,” said another source. Before walking down the aisle yesterday, the mother of one had previously been associated with a number of men who included popular South Africa-based Kwekwe businessman, arts promoter Boss Agrippa, national team footballer Khama Billiat and fellow singer Andy Muridzo.

EUROPEAN Union ambassador to Zimbabwe, Timo Olkkonen, has said only urgent political dialogue between the country’s main political actors will rescue the country from the humanitarian crisis, which has resulted in over seven million people in need of food aid.

BY SIBONGINKOSI MAPHOSA

Addressing a Press conference in Bulawayo on Wednesday, Olkkonen said the country would not go anywhere unless the political actors sat together to dialogue for the benefit of the people.

“Zimbabwe has experienced a lot of issues on the economic front. In the social sector, there are concerning stories about how the economic crisis is having a negative influence on the social fabric. There is an urgent need for political parties to dialogue for the benefit of the people,” he said.

Olkkonen blamed the crisis on a polarised political set-up.

“We have a humanitarian crisis and in order to address this, we must first correct the polarised political situation in the country,” the top EU diplomat said.

Olkkonen said the European bloc could not prescribe how the process takes place.

“We are in favour of having a dialogue going on and that it is comprehensive. But exactly how, we cannot be prescriptive. We will not tell Zimbabweans or their government exactly how they should be doing that,” he said

Opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa on Tuesday said he was committed to genuine dialogue between him and President Emmerson Mnangagwa in order to take Zimbabwe out of the economic quagmire.

Chamisa also said the dialogue should include the military, which is often accused of dabbling in partisan politics.

However, Mnangagwa has refused to dialogue with Chamisa outside the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) platform comprising fringe political parties which lost the 2018 elections, among them Thokozani Khupe’s MDC-T and Lovemore Madhuku’s NCA.

The EU envoy also urged the Zimbabwean government to implement recommendations of the Kgalema Motlanthe commission of inquiry into the August 1, 2018 post-election violence.

“We are encouraging the government to follow up on the Motlanthe Commission recommendations because they will be pertinent to subsequent events that have been happening in the country,” Olkkonen said.

Among the recommendations is the prosecution of soldiers who fatally shot six civilians in post-election violence on August 1, 2018 as well as the implementation of electoral and political reforms.

He said the government should also respond to the 2018 electoral observer missions recommendations, which he described as low-hanging fruits.

“The recommendations are there. Many of these recommendations are not contested, but it’s been more than a year since the Motlanthe Commission report came out. As EU, we strongly believe that these are low-hanging fruits,” he said.

The EU warned Mnangagwa’s administration that it was running out of time as the next election was by the corner before meeting the recommendations.

“The clock is ticking towards the next election and many of these recommendations require time before implementation,” Olkkonen said.

Several electoral observer missions condemned the July 2018 elections as flawed in various ways, especially the manner in which police officers voted ahead of official polling date and how results were transmitted to the national command centre.

FORMER Zanu PF Harare provincial commissar Shadreck Mashayamombe has opened the lid on how the ruling party used land to buy votes ahead of national elections.

BY MOSES MATENGA

Mashayamombe is one of the key members of the G40 cabal that had coalesced around the late former President Robert Mugabe and his wife, former First Lady Grace, and was involved in massive campaigns for the ruling party in the capital.

Amid suspicion of vote-buying by Zanu PF using land, Mashayamombe confirmed yesterday that the ruling party won some seats in and around Harare in previous elections using land as a bait.

This corroborates a report by the land audit chaired by Justice Tendai Uchena that also confirmed use of State land for votes.

“My biggest question about the land commission is that why is the report not published properly so that every interested person can access it? This is political and it exposes how our institutions are captured because some of those accused were never summoned by the commission to give their side of the story,” Mashayamombe, who is reportedly facing arrest over land issues, said.

“All those 137 co-operatives’ leadership who are being sacrificed today were used to mobilise votes for Zanu PF in peri-urban areas. Now they are being dumped.”

President Emmerson Mnangagwa last year instituted a commission to probe the issue of land in the country and was presented with a report by Justice Uchena that said government lost more than $3 billion in potential revenue to land barons.

The report implicates several former Zanu PF bigwigs, including Mashayamombe, former Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo, Grace, among others who are reportedly facing arrest.

Zanu PF national commissar Victor Matemadanda yesterday said he was not involved when land was used as a vote-buring gimmick.

“I was not part of that. I wouldn’t want to comment on what I don’t know and what I was not part of. You need to ask those who were sending them,” he said.

Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya-Moyo was not picking calls yesterday.

Observers have often accused Zanu PF of creating land barons while pushing to garner votes, particularly ahead of the 2013 harmonised elections.

The Justice Uchena report read in part: “The commission established with serious concern that most new residential estates on urban State land throughout the country have no services such as roads, water reticulation, sewage reticulation and amenities, yet these settlements are already occupied.

“The identification and occupation of farms in and around urban areas was a complex process which involved creation of new urban settlements by aspiring or sitting Members of Parliament as a way of mobilising political support, abuse of political office in the allocation and appropriation of urban State land.”

The report further stated that there was use of names of top ruling party leadership to exert undue influence on government institutions and processes.