By Mfundo Mlilo- The SOCA is an important event in the calendar of any progressive city that seeks to engage its key constituents and build collective understanding of the successes made and challenges they are facing. Given that Mayor Herbert Gomba has hit the one-year mark of his 2018-2023 term, this is a critical time to take stock of the work already achieved and challenges ahead.

Mayors and cities have become important players in solving the ‘perilous challenges’ of local and global governance given that the nation-state is increasingly democratically and administratively dysfunctional. Benjamin Barber a prominent scholar of governance in his seminal work, “If Mayors Ruled the World”, cites the, “unique qualities cities worldwide share: pragmatism, civic trust, participation, indifference to borders and sovereignty, and a democratic penchant for networking, creativity, innovation, and cooperation”.

They have become political protagonists and important centres of global value chains. But is the City of Harare up to this task? The Mayor presented a long but detailed address signifying both the great work achieved and the challenges that lay ahead.

The title of the Mayors address is, “New Hope: Towards a Smart City” but What hope? and what smart City? is the question that the Mayor sought to unpack. Given the economic and political challenges facing Zimbabwe, it is notable that at the very least the Mayor and his team have kept the City afloat despite massive challenges facing local authorities.

His honest engagements and understanding of the problems at hand have been his key weapons. On assuming office the Mayor has been implementing the 100 day plan initiatives which have seen several projects being undertaken key among which have been, performance based contracts for senior management and the appointment of a substantive town clerk after nearly 3 years, audits into land sales and markets which have unearthed serious financial leakages, construction of the Glen Eagle/High Glen traffic circles, improvements in revenue collection to an 68% efficiency, replacement of the old billing system, clearing an 8 months’ salary backlog, City beautification program which is changing the outlook of Harare, completion of the Tariro Hopley Clinic and Kuwadzana library.

The Mayor announced much to the celebration by residents that the City will no longer fund its football team; Harare City Football club owing to unsustainable costs. This is a great move and allows the City to streamline its resources and focus on core service delivery issues. Listening to the litany of projects the City is engaged in. There is hope that- Indeed Mayor Gomba and is team are at work to deliver services.

The proposed comprehensive urban renewal program is set to change the City of Harare and already the response by the private sector has been pleasing. Econet Zimbabwe has adopted First street for an urban concept remake as part of the City strides to boost tourism and investment. This has been tied with enterprise reform of council business.

The creation and commercialization of City parking is bearing fruit as the entity has already remitted about RTGS 1.3 million in dividends. In its basic form a smart city is one that incorporates information and communication technologies to enhance the quality of its urban services. These technologies are applied in transportation, energy generation, healthcare, buildings, water and public safety.

The City is therefore smart when investments into human and social capital, together with ICT infrastructure, leads to sustainable growth and enhances quality of life. There is a lot of work that needs to be done in this direction.

The city’s traffic management strategy, solar powered clinics and traffic lights fall into this category. However, the City of Harare could benefit its residents with quality service if they fully embrace technology (smart city) initiatives in its work. For starters, the City loses over 60% of treated water each day due to non-revenue water a problem technology could address.

A computerized lease management system will also go a long way in improving revenue collections. The Mayor must nudge council to adopt the full spectrum of technology and smart projects at its disposal to improve service delivery.

But it is not all rosy. There are massive problems facing Harare resulting both from poor policy making to internal organizational issues. The City of Harare faces serious water shortages largely due to high purification costs needed to clean sufficient amounts to cater for the City’s needs at its main source, lake Chivero.

The response by the Mayor has been pleasing. For the first time in years the City declared a state of emergency on the water crisis which allows it to mobilise local and international support. The Ministry of Finance responded to this call and allocated RTGS 37,4 million dollar financial bailout.

At least RTGS 6,1 million dollars in intergovernmental fiscal transfer has been received to date and being utilized for water projects. The City has procured 9 water bowsers, 5 delivered and 4 under production, to be utilized in areas that do not access water.

The short term solution in terms of Council is to procure a mobile modular water treatment as part of its 2020 budget year plans. In the long term, construction of Kunzvi dam is an urgent priority that the national government must invest in.

But there are big challenges that lay ahead. At a global scale these challenges emanate from the reality that the City is not spared by the challenges facing Zimbabwe. The shortage of foreign currency has meant that local authorities are unable to discharge their mandate and provide reliable services.

Water services have been hard hit and it seems the problem will continue to expand. In an era of diminished revenue collections and no foreign currency the City must devise new strategies for raising funds. Without these strategies Harare will ground to a halt.

The City must plug loses and avoid wasteful expenditure and dealing with corruption must be high on the agenda for the next annual cycle. Land is an important assert of the City. I am aware that the City currently does not have a credible land bank which it can use as part of land sales and leases.

This is unacceptable and as recommended by a special committee on land sales in August 2019 Harare, loses millions of dollars each because of illicit land deals. The City must follow up on its un-serviced debts and leases.

Currently, the city of Harare has nonperforming leases running into millions of dollars. This is the critical revenue it needs to function and boggles one’s mind why these have not been followed. Some of the challenges require central governmental intervention.

The City has proposed a 20% infrastructure development fund to support purchase and maintenance of public infrastructure. This proposal must be tied with the speedy implementation of devolution. Devolution provides several opportunities for local economic development and comprehensive City planning.

In the final analysis, the one year in office by Mayor Gomba and his team has been about laying the groundwork for a working City. There are clear successes as well as challenges. The Mayor is lucky to work with a sober and professional Town Clerk geared towards delivering a service. If City of Harare is to be a successful global city, it must certainly change path.

What has taken it here cannot certainly move the City forward. Key decisions in revenue collection, combating corruption and strategy planning and reform of its bureaucracy are needed. So far everything is work in progress.

Mfundo Mlilo is an Urban Planner based in Harare and works with the Zimbabwe Transition Initiatives.

By A Correspondent- The Combined Harare Residents Association has said that it will soon name and shame Harare City Council Officials who are approving illegal residential stands deals.

The remarks come when the local government authority has in the past been demolishing “illegal” structures leaving residents stranded.

The council has also been issuing statements alerting land seekers of fraudsters who would allocate them land at undesignated places.

The involvement of city officials makes it difficult for residents to distinguish between bogus and genuine land developers. 

Posting on Facebook, the association said:

CHRA has unearthed a massive housing stands scandal in Warren Park 1. The scandal involves senior council officials who are approving infill stands at undesignated areas and residents have been up in arms with the officials.

MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW AS WE NAME AND SHAME

Last Friday, ZOL announced new pricing for Wibroniks packages, they’ve followed that up with a new price list for fibre subscribers.

Package	Data Allocation	Pricing
Fibroniks Lite	40GB	$268
Fibroniks Basic Essentials	50GB	$360
Fibroniks Family Essentials	100GB	$822
Fibroniks Come Alive	150GB	$914
Fibroniks Family Entertainment	Uncapped	$1,513
Fibroniks Modern Family	Uncapped	$2,021
Fibroniks Turbo Pack	Uncapped	$3,443

We’ve had a problem with ZOL’s communication before and it seems that doesn’t change much. In their official communication to customers, ZOL chose not to write down the actual data allocations for each of the capped packages instead of opting to fill the data column for these with “Pay as you go”. Pay as you go isn’t data but the duration of the packages – sometimes you just can’t shake your head enough as you see these official communications. Instead of filling the columns with Pay as you go, we put in the data that comes with these packages at the present moment. We’re not sure if that will remain the case come November 1 but you have ZOL to thank for the slight confusion.

Anyway, Office packages for Fibroniks users will similarly be getting price adjustments:

Package	Data Allocation	Pricing
Wibroniks Nano Office	Unlimited	$1,800
Wibroniks Micro Office	Unlimited	$2,264
Wibroniks Small Office	Unlimited	$4,249
Fibroniks Micro Office	Unlimited	$2,520
Fibroniks Small Office	Unlimited	$3,960
Fibroniks Office	Unlimited	$7,129
Fibroniks Large Office	Unlimited	$10,441

Finally, Wibroniks top-ups also got adjusted:

VIDEO LOADING BELOW

https://youtu.be/0oX3XKXEPow

Correspondent|Zimbabwe’s central bank will introduce some notes and coins in the Zimbabwe dollar currency in the next two weeks, the latest step towards restoring the domestic currency, central bank governor John Mangudya said on Tuesday.

The new money, consisting of 5 dollar notes and 2 dollar coins, will be introduced gradually to avoid driving up inflation, Mangudya said. It will circulate alongside the bond notes and coins introduced in 2016 as a surrogate for US dollars, which the country was then mainly using in lieu of its own currency.

The central bank unexpectedly reintroduced the Zimbabwe dollar on June 24, ending a decade of dollarisation.

Zimbabwe had abandoned its own currency in 2009 after it was wrecked by hyperinflation.

“We thought of being conservative (in introducing low denomination notes and coins) and we will graduate with time,” Mangudya told reporters after a two-day monetary policy committee meeting.

It was the first meeting of the MPC since finance minister Mthuli Ncube appointed its members last month.

Zimbabwe is grappling with the worst economic crisis in a decade, marked by shortages of foreign exchange, fuel and medicines, three-digit inflation and 18-hour daily power cuts.

Just less than two weeks after the upward review, the minimum amount for an electricity token you can buy over EcoCash has gone up again.

This time by 150%.

So yeah, it has gone up from $20 to $50.

In essence what that means that you will not be able to purchase electricity for less than $50 when transacting on the platform which represents a 1,000% increase in just a few weeks.

In essence, we’re a bit screwed aren’t we?

CHIMURENGA guru Thomas Tafirenyika Mapfumo has announced that his days of live performances are numbered as he now wants to rest after a career that has spanned over six decades and over 25 music albums.

Mukanya, as he is affectionately known, is currently on a tour of South Africa and held his first show at Ekurhuleni Boksburg Hotel on Saturday night.

“There is a time for everything.
Izvi zve ma live performances very soon tirikumira. We will do one last world tour to say farewell.

We will only be performing here and there on special occasions asi toramba hedu tirimo mu music industry but zve stage we will not be doing so. This will happen very very soon, as soon as next year,” said Mapfumo, speaking alongside his manager Sam Mataure.
The Oregon-based Mapfumo is currently working on a new album which he says is going to be different from the usual Chimurenga beat.

“Music evolves and in our upcoming album we will fuse in new things never heard before. We are not completely dumping our beat but will enhance it. Just wait and see in the coming few months,” he added.

On who he thinks will succeed him he said Zimbabwe has a lot of talent that can take the baton from the older generation and run with it into the future.

“There are a number of young men and women who are doing well in Zimbabwe. They must remain original. Pane anonzi Andy Muridzo akatuma vamwe amai kuti vandifonere. Aiti anoda collaboration ndakatomumirira izvozvi . That way we can pass on what we know to the younger generation.”H-Metro

THE European Union (EU) and United States (US) have scoffed at the anti-sanctions march held by government on Friday, saying the restrictive measures would remain in place until President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration has fulfilled its reform pledge.

Mnangagwa on Friday led a poorly attended Sadc-brokered march demanding the unconditional lifting of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe, saying they were stifling economic growth and hurting ordinary citizens. The sanctions were imposed by the West at the turn of the century in reaction to government’s gross human rights violations and electoral fraud during the late former President Robert Mugabe’s rule.

But EU ambassador to Zimbabwe Timo Olkkonen and US foreign relations committee chair Senator Jim Risch challenged Harare to spend more energy on addressing the key issues which invited the sanctions than on protest marches.

“(The) EU is looking at what is on the ground, what is the actual situation on the ground and these are the kind of issues that can come into play for us to lift the sanctions,” Olkkonen told HStv on Friday while Mnangagwa was addressing his followers at the National Sports Stadium.

“Lifting of the sanctions is not decided on street marches or social media campaigns; this will not divert attention on the situation on the ground. Frankly speaking, there are a lot of other issues challenging Zimbabweans that would warrant attention than the EU restrictive measures.”

He added: “We are not moved by the march at all. A stadium event would not be in any way decisive.”

Olkkonen said the bloc was contesting the narrative by Mnangagwa that the sanctions were behind the economic meltdown.

“I strongly disagree. Zimbabwe is not where it is because of the so-called sanctions, but years of mismanagement of the economy and corruption, but that blame has shifted to the EU, I disagree.”

The US, which slapped Zimbabwe with sanctions under the Zimbabwe Democracy and Recovery Act, also responded to Mnangagwa’s march by adding State Security minister Owen Ncube on the sanctions list, for leading State-sanctioned human rights abuses under the new dispensation.

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Jim Risch also accused Mnangagwa of trying to deflect blame for the country’s economic crisis by blaming Western sanctions, advising the Zimbabwean leader to focus on improving his governance record.

“The ruling party should focus on the needs of the Zimbabwean people instead of their bad governance, corruption and State capture,” Risch said, blasting Sadc’s solidarity as misdirected energy.

“Regional institutions should also focus their energies on supporting democracy, not kleptocratic regimes.”

The regional bloc resolved at its last summit in Tanzania in August to campaign in solidarity with Zimbabwe for the removal of the sanctions.

Olkkonen denied that sanctions were part of the Western governments’ regime change strategy, claiming the EU was working with civic organisations and through United States organs for advocacy and human rights, nothing more.

“We don’t give material and financial support to anyone for regime change agenda. We work with everyone, government and the opposition; it is my right as a diplomat. We are supporting NGOs (non-governmental organisations) on their advocacy work on human rights issues and it is not a regime change agenda.”

He said funding from the bloc was normally supposed to be distributed in full consultation with the host government, but due to problems regarding how the Zanu PF government has mismanaged public funds, aid to Zimbabwe was now being channelled via United Nations organs and other civic organisations.

Olkkonen also denied the sanctions were a response to the land redistribution programme that saw commercial white farmers being displaced, insisting human rights issues and democracy were at the centre of the embargoes.

In his address at the National Sports Stadium, Mnangagwa said the land reform programme triggered the sanctions, but vowed it was an irreversible process.

Olkkonen said he appreciated that the programme was irreversible, but insisted that the way it was implemented created problems for the country, resulting in a lot of productive land lying fallow and half the population in need of food aid.

“How to move forward, it is a politically sensitive issue in Zimbabwe and we cannot dictate what government should do,” he said, revealing how the bloc has been working with the Zimbabwean government in the development of a new land policy and ownership.

-Newsday

Farai Dziva|Former Vice President Joice Mujuru held a crucial meeting with the Director General of the Central Intelligence Organization, Isaac Moyo.

It has emerged the ruling party trying to convince Mujuru to “return home.

“Situations change and some may say ‘never, over my dead body’. However, when you are in a position such as mine, you can never say never. I am no longer looking at Zimbabwe alone but beyond Zimbabwe and even myself.

I have to think outside the box. Solutions (for the country) come from different persons. We have to meet as one and come up with the solutions. If we meet to discuss, we can come up with all the solutions to our problem,” Mujuru told Daily News.

In 2015, Mujuru was fired from ZANU PF alongside her allies who were identified as the Gamatox faction.

Fuel Prices effective 28 0ctober 2019 pic.twitter.com/HGdp0gqoaI

— ZERA (@zeraenergy) October 29, 2019

By A Correspondent- ZIFA has not officially requested the Government of Zimbabwe to expedite the issuance of passports to the British brigade players called up by the Warriors technical team.

Once that request has been done, the Government will then assist, Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Cain Mathema has said.

Minister Mathema was speaking during an interview with the state media on Monday evening.

The Warriors have been struggling to acquire travel documents for the players and ahead of the 2018 Total Africa Cup of Nations finals in Egypt, the squad had to drop in-form Macaulay Bonne after being frustrated by the registrar general’s department in acquiring the travel document.

This time around coach Joey Antipas called up seven Britain and Germany based players who don’t have a Zimbabwean passport as part of his 32 men squad for the upcoming Afcon qualifiers against Botswana and Zambia.

This is a developing story. More to follow….

-StateMedia

Zimbabwean authorities have charged an opposition legislator with
public violence which allegedly happened early this year during an
anti-government protest held in January to demonstrate against the
unilateral hike in fuel price.

Zimbabwe Republic Police officers last week summoned Allan Norman Markham, the legislator for Harare North constituency to stand trial at Harare Magistrates Court on Monday 28 October 2019 on charges of
public violence as defined in Section 36 of the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act.

The State claims that Markham disturbed the peace, security or
order of the public when he on 14 January 2019 together with some
unknown people drove his vehicle to Dust Hatcliffe market in Hatcliffe
high-density suburb, where he allegedly addressed some people in Shona
stating that; “Yava nguva yedu yekudzorera mapurisa nemasoja
arikunyanya kutirova,” which was translated to mean; “It’s now our
time to revenge police and soldiers who are beating us.”

The State charges that Markham, who is represented by Obey Shava
of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights left the marketplace, where some
unknown people burnt some flammable materials and the legislator was
seen by one Ketai Mashuta burning a carpark in Hatcliffe suburb before
fleeing.

On Monday 28 October 2019, Markham’s matter was postponed to 12
November 2019, where his trial is expected to commence.

-ZLHR

THE European Union (EU) and United States (US) have scoffed at the anti-sanctions march held by government on Friday, saying the restrictive measures would remain in place until President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration has fulfilled its reform pledge.

Mnangagwa on Friday led a poorly attended Sadc-brokered march demanding the unconditional lifting of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe, saying they were stifling economic growth and hurting ordinary citizens. The sanctions were imposed by the West at the turn of the century in reaction to government’s gross human rights violations and electoral fraud during the late former President Robert Mugabe’s rule.

But EU ambassador to Zimbabwe Timo Olkkonen and US foreign relations committee chair Senator Jim Risch challenged Harare to spend more energy on addressing the key issues which invited the sanctions than on protest marches.

“(The) EU is looking at what is on the ground, what is the actual situation on the ground and these are the kind of issues that can come into play for us to lift the sanctions,” Olkkonen told HStv on Friday while Mnangagwa was addressing his followers at the National Sports Stadium.

“Lifting of the sanctions is not decided on street marches or social media campaigns; this will not divert attention on the situation on the ground. Frankly speaking, there are a lot of other issues challenging Zimbabweans that would warrant attention than the EU restrictive measures.”

He added: “We are not moved by the march at all. A stadium event would not be in any way decisive.”

Olkkonen said the bloc was contesting the narrative by Mnangagwa that the sanctions were behind the economic meltdown.

“I strongly disagree. Zimbabwe is not where it is because of the so-called sanctions, but years of mismanagement of the economy and corruption, but that blame has shifted to the EU, I disagree.”

The US, which slapped Zimbabwe with sanctions under the Zimbabwe Democracy and Recovery Act, also responded to Mnangagwa’s march by adding State Security minister Owen Ncube on the sanctions list, for leading State-sanctioned human rights abuses under the new dispensation.

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Jim Risch also accused Mnangagwa of trying to deflect blame for the country’s economic crisis by blaming Western sanctions, advising the Zimbabwean leader to focus on improving his governance record.

“The ruling party should focus on the needs of the Zimbabwean people instead of their bad governance, corruption and State capture,” Risch said, blasting Sadc’s solidarity as misdirected energy.

“Regional institutions should also focus their energies on supporting democracy, not kleptocratic regimes.”

The regional bloc resolved at its last summit in Tanzania in August to campaign in solidarity with Zimbabwe for the removal of the sanctions.

Olkkonen denied that sanctions were part of the Western governments’ regime change strategy, claiming the EU was working with civic organisations and through United States organs for advocacy and human rights, nothing more.

“We don’t give material and financial support to anyone for regime change agenda. We work with everyone, government and the opposition; it is my right as a diplomat. We are supporting NGOs (non-governmental organisations) on their advocacy work on human rights issues and it is not a regime change agenda.”

He said funding from the bloc was normally supposed to be distributed in full consultation with the host government, but due to problems regarding how the Zanu PF government has mismanaged public funds, aid to Zimbabwe was now being channelled via United Nations organs and other civic organisations.

Olkkonen also denied the sanctions were a response to the land redistribution programme that saw commercial white farmers being displaced, insisting human rights issues and democracy were at the centre of the embargoes.

In his address at the National Sports Stadium, Mnangagwa said the land reform programme triggered the sanctions, but vowed it was an irreversible process.

Olkkonen said he appreciated that the programme was irreversible, but insisted that the way it was implemented created problems for the country, resulting in a lot of productive land lying fallow and half the population in need of food aid.

“How to move forward, it is a politically sensitive issue in Zimbabwe and we cannot dictate what government should do,” he said, revealing how the bloc has been working with the Zimbabwean government in the development of a new land policy and ownership.

Newsday

By A Correspondent- The number of people requiring food aid has grown by 11 percent from the same period last year, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Dr Sekai Nzenza has said.

Poor harvests for most families due to drought and Cyclone Idai have exposed many to food insecurity.

“Our projection of the number of people who will need food aid has gone up by 11 percent from last year and this number has gone up to 2,4 million,” said Dr Nzenza.

She said Government was providing food aid to over 700 000 people, adding that they were working with donors to provide food assistance.

“The Government through my ministry has mandated us to provide food aid to needy communities,” said Dr Nzenza.

“Currently, we are providing 756 980 households with food aid, but we estimate that there are about 900 000 households in need of food aid.”

Dr Nzenza said the ministry had also started distributing aid to urban areas, with the programme presently being implemented in Harare and Bulawayo. Plans are underway to spread the programme to other urban centres.

Dr Nzenza said poor rains in the last summer cropping season due to El Nino resulted in poor urban families that engage in urban agriculture failing to get meaningful yields.

“I want to appeal to the councillors that if we are in a situation where we can’t deliver aid to the most remote areas, that is where you come in,” she said.

An estimated 5,3 million people in the country are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection during the 2018/2019 lean season (October to April), of which 3,8 million are in rural areas.

Binga, Mudzi, Buhera and Kariba are hardest hit, with their situation categorised as an emergency.

-StateMedia

By A Correspondent- The ruling ZANU PF party is reportedly trying to woo former Vice President Joyce Mujuru and G40 bigwigs back into the fold. Asked if she will consider rejoining ZANU PF, Mai Mujuru gave a cryptic response. She said

Situations change and some may say ‘never, over my dead body’. However, when you are in a position such as mine, you can never say never. I am no longer looking at Zimbabwe alone but beyond Zimbabwe and even myself.

I have to think outside the box. Solutions (for the country) come from different persons. We have to meet as one and come up with the solutions. If we meet to discuss, we can come up with all the solutions to our problem.

Mai Mujuru revealed to the publication that she had recently met with the director-general of the Central Intelligence Organisation, Isaac Moyo, where they deliberated on the state of affairs in the country.

In 2015, Mai Mujuru was expelled from ZANU PF alongside her allies who were identified as the Gamatox faction. She was accused of corruption, witchcraft and incompetence.

-DailyNews

SOCIAL media users have been comparing two of the most popular and influential female socialites in Zimbabwe Pokello Nare  and  MisRed.

It has emerged on one of the social media platforms that Pokello Nare and MisRed have their different followers due to their style, beauty and charisma that has divided the opinions of people who follow them.

Some of the social media audiences were preferring one over the other in terms of beauty which they defined in their own way.

Those who favoured MisRed argued that she is more beautiful than Pokello and the latter is only smart, stylish and has resources when it comes to fashion.

Those who were supporting Pokello said she is beautiful and a total package in everything.

The debate showed how the two women are making progress in terms of being outstanding because of their fashion sense and beauty.

However, H-Metro reached MisRed for a comment on what she thinks about people who compare popular figures on their looks and style.

MisRed said people should cherish and celebrate the differences that we have as human beings rather than trying to be divisive.

“To be honest people should stop comparing people against one another and rather embrace how much they have done in any way.

-State Media

By A Correspondent- The government has announced an ambitious plan to churn out 100 000 passports by December this year following the delivery of passport paper and consumables.

The development is expected to considerably cut the passports backlog of more than 300 000.

Plans are also underway to start rolling out a cross-border outreach programme that will see the issuance of birth certificates and national identity documents to Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora.

Addressing a press conference at Mukwati Building in Harare yesterday, the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Ambassador Cain Mathema, said they had taken delivery of “three state-of-the-art high capacity passport printers”, which have since been installed.

This has given them capacity to make headway in clearing the passports backlog while at the same time attending to new applications.

“Further steps have been taken to take delivery of passport paper and consumables as well as material for the production of synthetic identification cards to make sure that all those requiring our services get them in line with our client service charter.

“While the impact of the measures taken so far are considerable in that about 100 000 people who applied for passports will take delivery of such documents by the end of December 2019, with the arrival of the additional material on order at the end of November 2019 or early December 2019, we expect to double the number of people getting passports within two months of taking delivery,” Minister Mathema said.

He said in line with their decentralisation programme aimed at ensuring that identity documents were available closer to the people, the Murehwa District Registry is almost complete.

Minister Mathema said significant progress has also been made in the completion of Wedza District Registry.

“Plans for the year 2020 Ministry’s infrastructure programme should see the completion of these two registries and work proceeding in earnest to construct the Goromonzi, Kadoma and Insiza registries,” he said.

Minister Mathema said completion of the registries was important as that enables the ministry to bring computerised services “nearer to the people”.

He said the process is expected to continue until it reaches the sub-district level to make it possible for citizens to apply and collect documents at their “nearest administrative district”.

In a related matter, the Ministries of Home Affairs, together with Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, have agreed that an outreach programme by the Central Registry Department should be embarked upon in the near future to provide vital registration documents, including birth certificates and national identity documents, to selected countries where Zimbabweans are working.

Minister Mathema said the purpose of the outreach programme would be to issue birth certificates and national documents as well as receive passport applications for processing back home.

“After agreement with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development it will be possible for people in the Diaspora to pay the fees for these documents the equivalent of the approved fees in currencies of their host countries,” he said.

Minister Mathema said on a more permanent basis, the Ministries of Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs have agreed to regularise the movement of the Diplomatic bag to allow people in the Diaspora to apply and pay for passports at the embassies near them.

Diplomatic bag refers to a container in which official mail is sent to or from an embassy, which is not subject to customs inspection.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will then submit the applications through their head office to the external section of the passport office under the Central Registry department.

“The passport office will then expeditiously process the applications within a period of approximately 10 working days and send them back to the Diaspora through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade,” he said.

-StateMedia

In a very disturbing incident, a Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University (ZEGU) student was brutally murdered in Bindura over the weekend by a Mutare man in a suspected love triangle wrangle.

NewsDay reports that the suspect, Chengetai Trinity Jimu (24) of Toronto Forestry Commission in Mutare, has since gone into hiding after he fatally stabbed Hugh Chivingwa Makumbe (24), of Bindura’s Chiwaridzo high-density suburb, twice with an unknown object.

Mashonaland Central acting police spokesperson Tonny Nyandoro confirmed the incident.

” I can confirm a murder case in Bindura, where a ZEGU student was reportedly killed in a love wrangle by Mutare man who is still at large. Investigations are still in progress,” Nyandoro said.

A witness, Koga Gstsi, told the publication that the now deceased was stabbed on the forehead and neck after he was found seated with his girlfriend, Rumbidzai Mangandu (21), by the suspect, who accused him of snatching her from him.

According to some unconfirmed reports circulating on social media, the deceased is alleged to have been having an affair with Mangandu who is engaged to the accused, Trinity Jimu.

Online

By A Correspondent- The border town of Beitbridge was recently gripped by the news of a well-known taxman and a married cop who allegedly got stuck during se_x at a local lodge.

The names of the two have been supplied and efforts to get a comment from them were futile.

However, the story did not just get the serious attention of ordinary residents but councilors and senior Police officer were also gripped by it. Some councilors actually drove around the town in a bid to establish the truth.

The case happened at a lodge in the Medium Density Suburb. Sources said the two booked in the morning and were whisked away from the lodge by friends just before midday.

Officer Commanding Beitbridge District, Chief Superintendent Tichaona Nyongo said he heard the story.

“Yes I heard about the matter in the morning but am yet to get finer details,” said Nyongo.

The two were taken to the hospital and later to a local surgery and they have not been separated.

It is alleged that the taxman stays with a second wife and his first wife is staying in the rural areas.

More details to follow…

— Mirror

State Media|According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe in its mid-term Monetary Policy Statement, activity on the interbank foreign exchange market has increased  since its introduction in February 2019. The central bank said foreign currency reforms, which started with the separation of accounts in October 2018 and the introduction of the local currency in June 2019, have now been fully achieved.

“The introduction of the Zimbabwean dollar together with the fine tuning of the interbank market resulted in increased foreign currency trading in the formal system and narrowing of the premiums between interbank market and parallel market foreign currency rates,” reads the apex bank’s statement.

The interbank exchange rate stood at ZWL$15,59/US$ as of yesterday, compared to ZWL$2,50/US$ when it was floated on February 22.

The accompanying graphs (above and below) show movements in the interbank exchange rate since the introduction of the interbank market in February 2019.

In his 2020 pre-budget strategy paper Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube said Government will work on stabilising the macro-fiscal environment to pave way for initiating the outstanding steps in completing the mono-currency (use of the local dollar for all local transactions) reforms.

Minister Ncube suggests that a stable  macro-fiscal environment will help resolve the prevailing cash shortages and also boost confidence in the local currency.

Consequently, the RBZ will continue implementing a tight monetary policy regime that anchors inflation expectations and stabilises the exchange rate.

Reserve money growth will therefore be maintained at a target of 10 percent per annum.

Other currency stabilisation measures include  supporting the interbank market through initiatives such as the USD denominated savings bonds currently at 7,5 percent interest rate. This will also involve curbing speculative borrowing through appropriate interest rates adjustments.

Measures will also include regulating unethical practices on the Stock Exchanges and Bureau de Changes (eg placed a vesting period of 90 days for dually listed shares) as well as strengthening the recently established Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee and new RBZ Board.

Minister Ncube has since appointed a nine-member monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), which is chaired by central bank governor Dr John Mangudya. The MPC’s functions entail determining the monetary policy of Zimbabwe but its immediate task entails stabilising the local currency exchange rate, which has been on a free fall since being floated in February this year.

Meanwhile the central bank says swift foreign currency payments decreased by 5 percent to US$0,69 billion for the quarter ending June 2019, from US$0,72 billion in the quarter ending March 2019.

“During the same period, SWIFT foreign currency receipts decreased by 6 percent to US$0,69 billion from US$0,74 billion, in the previous quarter.

Net foreign currency inflows amounted to US$9,55 million in the quarter ending June 2019, from a net inflow of US$22,42 million recorded in the first quarter of 2019.

By A Correspondent- The border town of Beitbridge has today been gripped by the news of a well-known taxman and a married cop who allegedly got stuck during se_x at a local lodge.

The names of the two have been supplied and efforts to get a comment from them were futile.

However, the story did not just get the serious attention of ordinary residents but councilors and senior Police officer were also gripped by it. Some councilors actually drove around the town in a bid to establish the truth.

The case happened at a lodge in the Medium Density Suburb. Sources said the two booked in the morning and were whisked away from the lodge by friends just before midday.

Officer Commanding Beitbridge District, Chief Superintendent Tichaona Nyongo said he heard the story.

“Yes I heard about the matter in the morning but am yet to get finer details,” said Nyongo.

The two were taken to the hospital and later to a local surgery and they have not been separated.

It is alleged that the taxman stays with a second wife and his first wife is staying in the rural areas.

More details to follow…

— Mirror

By A Correspondent- There was chaos at an Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) church in Domboshawa after a furious husband confronted a pastor who was having an adulterous affair with his wife.

Congregants were left shell shocked after Amos Mapisa exposed that Pastor Maizivei Padzinza had been having an illicit adulterous affair with his wife, Tracy Tsitsi Mutengezanwa, running for over 5 years.

Mapisa stumbled upon the illicit affair after the couple’s 4-year-old child unlocked the mothers’ phone when she was away.

Speaking to a local publication, Mapisa said:

“I found out that my wife has been cheating on me after I went through her phone. She was dating Pastor Padzinza and two other men. All that I am saying can be supported by these chats which are in this phone.

I have come here to let the church know the kind of a pastor they have. This will help other men know what their wives are doing at church and maybe he is not only doing it with my wife but with other women in church too.

Pastor Padzinza has been picking her up in town without my knowledge and they met several times. They were also exchanging love messages.

I want an apology from the church and also from the Pastor.
I also found out that my wife was also in a relationship with Lucky and another man by the name of Shoes.

There are also chats to show she went to lodges and other different places for lovemaking. From the chats in this phone, you can see for yourself that she has been going out on dates with these three men.

There was a public fight in the church after the some women who were protesting against the Pastor’s behaviour were attacked by other women who were loyal to Pastor Padzinza.

One of these ladies was heard shouting,

Pastor Padzinza hatidi navo uye murume semi anonyengawo saka ibvai pano.

Pastor Padzinza was unreachable for comments.

-StateMedia

According to Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, eleven street vendors were arrested on the 12th October for assaulting a police officer, having taken refuge in the cellar of a building in the centre of Harare in which a large number of old police helmets were found. 

The vendors were later taken before a magistrate, who remanded them in custody pending consideration of their applications for bail.

One of their number, a young man named Hilton Tamangani, was found dead in his cell in the Harare Remand Prison on the 18th October.  His death was announced by the Ministry of Information in a statement which read in part:

“The individual was remanded in a condition of unwellness and immediate medical care was sought for him and he was hospitalised.

“He was attended to by doctors.  All deaths in custody are thoroughly investigated.  We now await the result of a post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death.”

Mr Tamangani’s lawyers claim that he was severely beaten by the police.  They have released a copy of a letter they wrote to the Officer in Charge of the Harare Remand Prison, in which they said:

“Our client has advised us that he has developed a fatal infection whilst being medically attended to at your premises, Harare Remand Prison Clinic.  In the premises, we are approaching your office to request that our client be attended to by a private doctor of his choice.  Our client undertakes to pay the requisite medical costs.”

The prison authorities, the lawyers say, refused to accept the letter and so Mr Tamangani was not examined by his own doctor before his death.

Violation of Constitutional Rights of Prisoners

Whatever the cause of Mr Tamangani’s death, the events surrounding it show a deplorable disregard for his constitutional rights as a prisoner.

Section 50(5)(c) of the Constitution provides that anyone who is detained has the right to communicate with, and be visited by, their relatives, their chosen religious counsellor, their chosen lawyer and their chosen medical practitioner.  The right to be visited by all these people is important, but it is particularly important for prisoners to be allowed to see their medical practitioners, as Mr Tamangani’s case so tragically demonstrates.

There are at least three reasons this right is so vital:

1.   Prisoners are in the custody of the State which means the State is responsible for ensuring their health and well-being.  If medical facilities in prisons are inadequate ‒ and it is notorious that they are basic at best and rudimentary or non-existent at worst ‒ then the prison authorities must take prisoners to hospitals outside their prisons or allow them to receive care and treatment from their own medical practitioners.

2.   Prisoners may be in poor health and need medication or treatment which their own medical practitioners can provide more readily than prison doctors.

3.   Prisoners who claim they have been assaulted by the police or prison authorities may need to be examined by their own doctors in order to establish their claims.

Above all, prison authorities must remember that prisoners have rights.  Prisoners are deprived of much of their freedom of movement ‒ they cannot leave their prison whenever they want to ‒ and they may be deprived of other rights and freedoms so far as it is necessary to prevent them escaping and to maintain discipline in prisons. 

But apart from that they have all the fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed them by the Constitution, including the right to be seen by their chosen medical practitioner which, as we have pointed out, is specifically given to them by section 50(5)(c) of the Constitution. 

This is particularly so in the case of awaiting trial prisoners who have not been convicted of any criminal offence.

Even prisoners who have been found guilty of the most heinous crimes remain human beings entitled to their basic human rights.  And it must be remembered that Mr Tamangani was an awaiting trial prisoner who had not been tried for, let alone found guilty of, any crime at all.

Prison authorities, in brief, have a duty to care for their prisoners and respect their rights.  In the case of Mr Tamangani, it seems, they failed in this duty ‒ and they compounded their failure terribly by refusing to allow him to be seen by his own doctor even after being requested to do so by his lawyers.

Post Mortem

In the event Mr Tamangani has died.  All the authorities can do now is to ensure that his death is properly investigated at a public inquest and that those responsible for his death are brought to justice. 

The underlying purpose of an inquest, as explained by a court in 1990, is to promote public confidence, to reassure the public that all deaths from unnatural causes will receive proper attention and investigation so that, where necessary, appropriate measures can be taken to prevent similar occurrences and to bring persons responsible for the deaths to justice. 

For an inquest to achieve this purpose a post-mortem examination should be conducted on the body of the deceased to establish the cause of death, and the post-mortem examination should be such as to promote public confidence in its thoroughness and impartiality. 

In this case, regrettably, public confidence may be lacking since a magistrate turned down a lawyers’ request to have an independent medical practitioner present when the post-mortem was conducted.

Mr Tamangani’s family might have been able to push more effectively for a proper post-mortem if an effective and independent complaints mechanism had been established under section 210 of the Constitution. 

Unfortunately the Government has not carried out its duty to establish such a mechanism, and the Constitutional Court has failed to order the Government to establish one, despite an application brought by Veritas in early 2016 requesting it to do so.

-Veritas

THERE is palpable anger in the country against President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his inept government. 

People are bitter that their standard of living has plummeted to laughable levels in the past two years since Mnangagwa came into power via a military-civilian supported putsch against the late former strongman, Robert Mugabe.

The economic situation is getting worse by the day and it appears the country is on auto-pilot. Prices of basic goods and services are beyond the reach of many. Power blackouts of up to 18 hours and fuel shortages have constrained the operations of the few companies still in existence.

What is worrying is that Mnangagwa’s government seems to have no inkling on how to resolve the myriad problems the country is enduring. Hollow policies and statements of intent, at times camouflaged as strategies, are pontificated as the panacea to the diseased economy.

The Zimbabwe is open for business mantra no longer makes sense as the country is slowly becoming closed for business due to disastrous policy inertia and outright incompetence. The level of incompetency is staggering!

Last Friday’s anti-sanctions march in the capital terribly exposed Mnangagwa. The people of Zimbabwe used the day to protest against poor governance and failure to extricate the country from its economic quagmire. The people simply did not turn up at the 60 000-seater National Sports Stadium.

At maximum there were about 10 000 people at the giant stadium despite that the state had made available buses throughout the country to transport citizens

to Harare for the march. The turnout showed that the citizens are angry about the state of affairs in the country and cannot continue to stomach the nonsense being spewed by their government.

When Mnangagwa assumed power, he made a commitment that despite the embargoes he would turn around the economy. He was categorical that with or without sanctions Zimbabwe would prosper under his leadership.

He promised change and a new way of governance, but so far there is nothing to show that the country will ever emerge from the quagmire. Instead, the country is slowly and surely sliding back to Mugabeism, which was characterised by gross human rights abuses and dictatorship.

The only difference is that it appears Zimbabweans have awakened from a deep slumber and no longer swallow hook, line and sinker government social engineering.

On Friday, they sent an unequivocal message that gone are the days of blindly attending useless marches and rallies. The snub must have been a wake-up call to Mnangagwa not to take people for granted.

People need food on the table, not tales. If the situation in the country does not change for the better in the near future, the danger is apparent that the people will horse-kick ED again.
– dailynews

Paul Nyathi|The family of a 25-Year-Old Marondera female ZRP police CID detective who died under unclear circumstances last week has accused the police of murdering her.

Detective Constable Antonete Silopa, who was stationed at Marondera Central Police Station made headlines last week when it was reported that she died at her boyfriend Artwell Mafukidze (38)’s house in Elmswood Park.

According to the report, the two had gone for a night out of drinking at Cosco Sports Diner before she dropped Mafukidze at his house later that night.

The report claimed that at around 11pm Mafukidze heard a crashing sound outside his house and went to investigate then he discovered Silopa had crashed into a water tank.

She reportedly staggered out of the car and told him she had drunk poison before collapsing.

She was pronounced dead upon arrival at Marondera Provincial Hospital.

At the weekend during her burial, more than 60 police officers who were bussed all the way from Marondera to Mucheke Suburb in Masvingo were chased away by the family after the deceased’s parents accused some senior officers of having a hand in the death of their daughter.

Two post-mortems carried out at Chitungwiza and Parirenyatwa Hospital both failed to establish the cause of Antonate’s death.

The family ordered a third post mortem whose results will be out in a month’s time.

The deceased parents became suspicious after the police refused to open a docket on the inquest of her death.

“There is queer behaviour by the Police. We as the deceased’s family suspect that Antonate was probably murdered for a sensitive case that she was investigating but whatever the issue is, we believe that there are senior officers involved and there is a lot of determination to sweep the matter under the carpet,” said the deceased’s mother Florence.

Florence totally rejected that her daughter died at her boyfriend’s place.

“If she did why did the Police not bring forward the boyfriend? Why did they not open a docket? Why are they not investigating the matter?” asked an emotional Florence.

She said even the way that the death was announced to her was unprofessional and she was instructed not to tell anyone else but speak to the superior.

She said that her daughter was brought to hospital by one Artwell Mafukidze and two others who claimed that they didn’t know her and they picked her on the streets.

She also said that her daughter had no bra or blouse when she was brought to hospital but these were later found thrown into the deceased’s house well after her death.

She also said her daughter’s house had been ransacked and her money was missing as well.

She accused the senior officers of trying to stop the family from getting an independent post-mortems.

THE Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) has warned members of the public against high and searing temperatures ranging from 30 to 35 Degrees Celsius to be experienced in most parts of the region this week.

This comes at a time when the Meteorological Services Department has warned of extreme temperatures above the average for October saying some parts of Zimbabwe may experience record-breaking highs.

In a statement yesterday, SADC said parts of central southern Africa would experience temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius over a consecutive period of three days and there are occasions when temperatures would exceed 40 degrees Celsius.

“Extreme south-eastern Angola, north and eastern most parts of Botswana, eastern half of Eswatini, south- eastern parts of Madagascar, southern Malawi, most of Mozambique, extreme north eastern Namibia, eastern fringes of South Africa, south and eastern Zambia, northern fringes and southern half of Zimbabwe will have a high probability to experience a heatwave during the period of 25 to 31 October 2019,” read the SADC statement.

“Most of the central parts of the SADC region stretching from southern Angola through eastern Namibia, Botswana, most of Zambia, Zimbabwe, southern Malawi to northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania are in a Heatwave WATCH category. Western Madagascar is also in a WATCH category for a potential heat wave during the forecast period of 25 to 31 October 2019.”

SADC also advised members of the public to adhere to all the health advisories provided by local institutions in Member States.

“For parts of the region where there is a high probability for a heat-wave to be experienced, there is a need to adhere to precautions to avoid heat related health problems, such as heat stroke among others. Users are encouraged to consult the National Meteorological and Hydrometeorological Services (NMHSs) in the SADC Member States interpretation and the relevant National Institutions.”

Paul Nyathi|The Zimpapers Group has appointed former Herald Editor William Chikoto as the interim editor of the flagship daily with immediate effect following the long expected sacking of Tichaona Zindoga.

Zindoga has been acting editor since the beginning of this year.

The Newspapers Group sacked Zindoga on Monday, 10 months after he stepped in to replace Joram Nyathi, who lasted just over a month in office.

In a post on Facebook, Zindoga said: “So you don’t get it from anyone else… Colleagues, friends, comrades, countrymen. The dance with The Herald has come to an end. It was good while it lasted, and I’m certainly happy for it, as with the end itself.”

From day one, it was an uphill struggle for Zindoga: he was internally seen as too young, inexperienced and lacking the capacity to run the government’s information and propaganda flagship.

Besides, he was also an unpopular figure at Zimpapers. He was accused of irrationally undermining colleagues, including sending senior reporters to the provinces, and being arrogant. He also lacked the minister’s confidence.

Sources say he tried to lobby first lady Auxillia Mnangagwa for support in vain as his exit looked imminent.

A source said: “In the history of the newspaper, no editor has acted for so long. There were real doubts within the organisation about his capacity and that’s why his confirmation never came through.

“Then there was his rather dramatic move to demote senior reporters and send them to the provinces, which did not endear him with the newsroom.

“Finally, there are whispers about his trip to South Africa last week where it is said he met an undesirable character. I don’t know who, but it clearly appears to be the trigger. And don’t forget there’s a new board chaired by Tommy Sithole, a former Herald editor himself, who really does not rate the guy for starters.”

Zindoga would have been surprised at the decision to sack him entirely from Zimpapers, but executives are keen to give the next editor a clean berth.

Chikoto edited The Herald from 2009 to 2012 before being appointed Editorial Executive.

In that position, Chikoto was in charge of convergence of content across all Zimpapers platforms — newspapers, online and radio.

He was also responsible for training journalists to write across the three platforms and overseeing the group’s content strategy.

State Media|CIVIL servants need retraining as some of them, including senior officials, are still stuck in the past and failing to deliver in line with the objectives of the Second Republic, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, Dr Elasto Mugwadi, has said.

Addressing a Press conference at the end of hearings on access to national documentation in Bulawayo on Friday, Dr Mugwadi said while the public hearings exposed failings by some officials from the Registrar-General’s Office and Department of Social Welfare to perform their duties, the problem cuts across all Government departments.

He said civil servants needed re-orientation and his office would soon engage the Public Service Commission over the issue.

“So, we are expecting training and retraining of members of the public service and others who are also giving public service,” said Dr Mugwadi.

“We are going to have engagements with the employer who is the Public Service Commission.

“We have had informal discussions, but we are saying it’s not only the Registrar-General’s Office which requires re-exposure through retraining.

“It’s almost the entire public service, all of the public service institutions, we talk about them. You will find individuals who are really up to scratch, but there are others, including seniors who are only interested in gate-keeping which should be a thing of the past and we are going to continuously get this addressed.”

Dr Mugwadi said ZHRC doubled as the Public Protector or Ombudsman with responsibilities for overseeing operations of Government departments.

He said civil servants should have a human face in their operations.

Dr Mugwadi said the commission observed that some of the civil servants were still maintaining the culture of the old regime, whereas they should be guided by supreme law of the country.

“In our engagements with them and other Government officials, we are saying they should now adopt a human rights-based approach which places the interest of the customer as a priority,” he said.

“It is the top most issue they should be looking at. Mind you, we’re moving from one generation of administration, the old administration to the new dispensation.

“It has policies which are linked to implementation of the Bill of Rights in our Constitution, which is only a 2013 people-driven Constitution.”

Dr Mugwadi said the national inquiry into challenges resulting in some members of the public failing to access important documents was part of many that ZHRC as the Public Protector will carry out to ensure citizens got the best service from Government departments.

State Media|The Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts yesterday directed Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda to issue a warrant of arrest against Fertiliser Seed Grain managing director Mr Steve Morland for failing to appear before it.

The committee also gave the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development the last chance to attend the committee’s hearings, failure of which Mr Chokuda will be directed to issue a warrant of arrest.

Briefing journalists in Parliament yesterday, the committee chairman Mr Tendai Biti said they were disturbed by the absence of the FSG and the Ministry of Finance.

“Today, we were supposed to receive evidence from a company called FSG,” he said.

“This company has been the recipient of millions of dollars under the Presidential Inputs Scheme. Consistently, FSG alongside Sakunda are key to the work that we have been doing in the last three months.

“We are therefore directing the Clerk of Parliament Mr Chokuda to issue a warrant of arrest against Mr Steve Morland the managing director of this company for default in attendance on October 14, 2019 and today October 27.

“We are extremely disappointed that while FSG has been quick to avail itself to another committee of Parliament on agriculture, they have avoided attendance at this meeting.

“We are summoning the same company to appear before our committee on November 22, 2019 together with another company that was a recipient of monies under the unallocated reserves that we are pursuing for 2017 to 2018, a motor vehicle supplier called Croco.”

Mr Biti said the committee was not happy that the Ministry of Finance had not availed itself before the committee.

“First, they insisted that they were attending a workshop at the Wild Geese Resort and on the second occasion they pretended that they did not know that they were supposed to appear before Parliament,” he said.

“We have insisted and we have made it very clear in our first report on the Ministry of Finance that the business of Parliament supersedes anything else that they may be doing.

“We enjoy a unique position, the privilege of pursuing every dollar that comes into the Consolidated Revenue Fund and every dollar that goes out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund in terms of section 298 and 299 of the Constitution.

“We are saddened by the continuous disrespect for Parliament so we are giving the Ministry of Finance one more chance before we direct the Clerk of Parliament to issue a warrant of arrest.”

The Ministry of Finance was asked to appear before the committee on November 15.

State Media- Government is moving to clear the passport backlog by producing 100 000 copies by December following the delivery of paper and other consumables, while a facility is being put in place for people in the Diaspora to apply for the travelling document from their bases.

The move is expected to considerably reduce the backlog of over 300 000 passports.

Under a cross-border outreach programme, birth certificates and national identity documents will be issued to Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora.

Addressing a Press conference at Mukwati Building in Harare yesterday, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Ambassador Cain Mathema said they had taken delivery of “three state-of-the-art high capacity passport printers”, which have since been installed.

This has given capacity to make headway in clearing the passports backlog, while at the same time attending to new applications.

“Further steps have been taken to take delivery of passport paper and consumables, as well as material for the production of synthetic identification cards to make sure that all those requiring our services get them in line with our client service charter,” said Minister Mathema.

“While the impact of the measures taken so far is considerable in that about 100 000 people who applied for passports will take delivery of such documents by the end of December 2019, with the arrival of the additional material on order at the end of November 2019 or early December 2019, we expect to double the number of people getting passports within two months of taking delivery.”

Minister Mathema said in line with the decentralisation programme aimed at ensuring that identity documents were available closer to the people, the Murehwa District Registry was almost complete.

He said significant progress had been made in the completion of the Wedza District Registry.

“For plans for the year 2020, the ministry’s infrastructure programme should see the completion of these two registries and work proceeding in earnest to construct the Goromonzi, Kadoma and Insiza registries,” said Minister Mathema.

He said completion of the registries would enable the ministry to bring computerised services “nearer to the people”.

Minister Mathema said the process was expected to continue until it reached the sub-district level to make it possible for citizens to apply and collect documents at their “nearest administrative district”.

In a related matter, the ministries of Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, have agreed that an outreach programme by the Central Registry department should be undertaken to provide vital registration documents, including birth certificates and national identity documents, to selected countries where Zimbabweans are working.

Minister Mathema said the purpose of the outreach programme would be to issue birth certificates and national documents, as well as receive passport applications for processing back home.

“After agreement with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development it will be possible for people in the Diaspora to pay the fees for these documents, the equivalent of the approved fees in currencies of their host countries,” he said.

Minister Mathema said on a more permanent basis, the ministries of Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs have agreed to regularise the movement of the Diplomatic bag to allow people in the Diaspora to apply and pay for passports at the embassies near them.

Diplomatic bag refers to a container in which official mail is sent to or from an embassy, which is not subject to customs inspection.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry will then submit the applications through their head office to the external section of the passport office under the Central Registry department.

“The passport office will then expeditiously process the applications within a period of approximately 10 working days and send them back to the Diaspora through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade,” he said.- state media

By Pafungeyi Gore

Farai Dziva|Political Activist Pafungeyi Gore believes the MDC is failing to win by-elections in rural areas due to lack of motivation.

See Gore’s argument:

The walls of Jericho are falling …

Babylon is not at all burning but there is indeed dust sweeping across the city because of wind.

To starters, they want to portray Zimbabwe as a mature democracy.

Zimbabwe is an autocratic country where the ruling party is not separable from state institutions.

There is indeed a symbiotic relationship between ZANU PF and the State. The state represented by both the repressive and ideological state apparatus.

The alternative government represented by the MDC is not at all losing the so-called by-elections. A damn is being sold to the MDC and a narrative of the MDC provinces in chaos.

A by-election will be held in Mashonaland East where the trend of losing will continue.

Counter accusations will be thrown at each other as if the MDC provinces control securocrats running the elections.

Firstly, the MDC is facing difficulties winning rural by-elections. Apart from outright rigging there is no motive for voters to vote in large numbers in a by-election especially for the opposition because there are no chances to take power through by-elections.

So voters take lightly the significance of by-elections other than maintaining the status quo.

People living outside wards and conatituencies but voters in those areas would find it not so vital to travel and vote in a by-election because of not so powerful compelling reasons.

The MDC should never be swayed by these cooked results. The whole state machinery will be focusing on one by-election.

Without comprehensive reforms, the MDC will fight internally whilst the problem at the centre is the need for an even ground.

State security especially the CIO have been at the centre of intimidation in most rural constituencies and wards where by-elections are held or were held.

The rural voters know very well these unmarked vehicles and the victimisation they witnessed in the past from people who should rather protect all despite political affiliation.

People are threatened of reprisals and the MDC would find it difficult to counter this because of lack of state power. Even if they try to match ZANU PF resource wise those who would have been seen receiving goods from the MDC will be threatened with reprisals.

ZANU PF wants to create a narrative that they are winning despite the hanging legitimacy issue.

As long as DDF is abused for political expediency, an uneven ground will create difficulties for the MDC.

As long as the traditional leaders are dabbling in politics it will be difficulty for the MDC to gain political traction in rural areas.

Most people in rural areas are not all out activists they will not sacrifice their life especially for the sake of politics.

And ZANU PF is abusing the character of rural voters by keeping on reminding them of the aftermath, especially without a healing plan dating back from the Gukurahundi atrocities, early 2000 killings, the blood March 2008-December 2008 killings of opponents.

MDC provinces are doing their best to win power in rural areas. The MDC as a whole should continue fighting for reforms.

There no way through Democratic means that the party will win power if their are no reforms.

Reforms should cut across the whole spectrum of institutions key in elections.

Elections are not being won through democratic strategies but thuggery and the MDC without security sector support can match ZANU PF thuggery behaviour.

Security sector reforms key to end disputed elections in Zimbabwe. The CIO should never be abused to advance or extend ZANU PF hegemony on power.

The intimidation of traditional leaders is also key to a free and fair election. Even during the White settler minority rule traditional leaders were abused and they are still being abused which needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

Media coverage is key to a free and fair election.

The reason why EU and America are keeping sanctions in place is because there is no improvement in human rights issues in the country.

So those bent on creating a narrative that MDC provinces are in chaos whilst we have a raft of issues that need to be addressed before criticising the MDC are playing into a ZANU PF trap of propaganda detached from reality.

Reality will never change and reality points to the need for reforms.

Pafungeyi Gore is social scientist and political activist he writes in his own personal capacity.

Farai Dziva|The MDC Organising Department has released a report on the Chiredzi South By-election held at the weekend.

Below is the report:

Good day leadership , I would like to express my experience and lesson in the just ended by-election In Chiredzi South ward 12.

As a leader who was on the ground I would like to thank the entire provincial leadership under the provincial chair Mr Gumbi.

The team contributed resources for our door to campaign from their personal coffers may the spirit persist.

My lesson was that Zanu-pf won’t win an election in masvingo in a free and fair environment.

In ward 12 Chiredzi south Zanu PF used several state institutions to support their campaign
• They used DDF to lie about borehole drilling, saying they will drill a borehole for each and every farmer in the ward.

• A grader from DDF was brought though they managed to grade less than 300m of the 30km road that link the two polling stations.

• High presence of state security intimidating the farmers during the night.

• Each and every farmer was given 50kg bag of rice of which is believed to be the once meant for donation to cyclone Idai victims.

• Prior to the voting day they were moving around the farms between 10pm -12pm giving additional 10kg rice as well as they continue to threatens them

• Targeted mdc alliance supporters were threatened and were told not to go and cast their votes , if they oppose their demand they will be dealt with by members of the intelligence.

Masvingo Provincial
Deputy organ
Chikutu

VIDEO LOADING BELOW. ..

Mawere is asked, what beef do you have with Strive Masiyiwa?@mmawere says Masiyiwa has beef on me….a team was appointed by the Finance Minister Mr Herbert Murerwa to investigate if the allegations (financial miisconduct) were true, and I was the head of that investigation. pic.twitter.com/B8QZ2Wb4GT

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) October 28, 2019

https://youtu.be/CMoExR2WpgU

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

MUTUMWA MAWERE ON THE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEWED BY MELI OF MVENGEMVENGE https://t.co/tb6Y2sTU1D

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) October 28, 2019

https://youtu.be/CMoExR2WpgU