President Magufuli’s blunder is increasingly deepening as the Coronavirus puzzle becomes more and more complicated in Tanzania.
It is a blow for Tanzania to receive more bad news on the discovered 23 additional cases in Zanzibar. The news which are trending on social media have raised alarm in and out of Tanzania as President Magufuli remains silent on way forward on possible lockdown or closure of public gatherings like church services.
The realization of the additional 23 cases poses more challenging to both Tanzania and East African countries in her neighborhood.
Several sources have confirmed these reports as in the below photos:
BBC have already confirmed the news.
The confirmation of this brings the total Cases in Tanzania to 170 Coronavirus positive patients.
The virus have affected nearly every country in Africa, raising concern of a collaborative approach between the countries to deal with the pandemic.
The victory against the virus shall purely depend on the willingness of the government’s to collaborate with the members of public and other countries, as one will be assured of safety if the other person is safe.
MR. VILKAS: Good morning, and welcome to the IMF virtual spring meetings. My name is Gediminas Vilkas, and I am with IMF Communications Department. We are rolling out for you different press briefings, and now this is time for a briefing on the African region. This is also a special briefing because we are launching a regional economic outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa. I am pleased to announce to introduce Mr. Abebe Aemro Selassie, IMF African Department Director who will be giving introductory remarks and presenting the main outcomes, the main results of the outlook. Now, after the introduction we will have some time for questions and answers.
As this is somewhat different press briefing, a virtual one, we will be taking your questions online. We have some, but will be encouraging you to send those questions online. So, without further ado, I give the floor to Mr. Selassie, please.
MR. SELASSIE: Gediminas, good morning, and thank you so much. Good morning. Before taking your questions, I would like to briefly summarize some of our, some aspects of the outlook that as we see them today.
First, thank you for joining us remotely for the launch of our regional economic outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa. Unsurprisingly, the outlook this spring is tightly focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the region, an unprecedented crisis which is threatening to reverse the region’s recent development and policy gains.
To summarize briefly, the impact that this crisis is having on the region and the policies that are needed to protect lives, and allow a swift recovery, I would like to make a few points. First, outlook in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to contract by 1.6 percent in 2020, and highest, you know, in per capita terms, this would be higher still at close to 4 percent. This is the lowest growth number that we can find for the region going back at least to 1970.
The possibility that growth could be contracted more still is quite high, and even if the contraction is limited to this level, it is worth nothing that it represents a 5 percentage points downward revision since last October. And it is, as I noted, the worst performance that we’ve seen going back at least to 1970.
The hit to growth reflects a poisonous cocktail of shocks that is affecting livelihoods and economic activity. Swift and decisive measures, closing borders, shattering businesses, requiring people to stay at home have had to be adopted to halt the advance of the virus before it overwhelms already stretched health services, but will also disrupt production and reduce demand sharply.
Of course, worth bearing in mind is that these measures will have the greatest impact on the region’s most vulnerable. People, who in many cases, have to go out every day to earn income to put food on the table are now being required to stay at home now.
Coupled to this plummeting global demand will exacerbate the economic impact greatly by reducing demand for the region’s goods and services, tourism, remittance flows, tighter global financial conditions have already triggered significant capital outflows from the region, and will also adversely impact the prospect for investment going forward. And commodity exporters, will suffer from an additional sharp decline in key commodity prices adding significantly to the region’s difficulties.
As a result, no country will be spared. As elsewhere, the region faces a synchronized and deep economic downturn with less diversified economies. All exporters’ tourism dependent economies set to be very hard. Against this difficult backdrop, several urgent and decisive measured are needed to limit the humanitarian and economic cost of this crisis. The immediate priority is to do whatever it takes to protect people’s health, boosting health spending as needed regardless of fiscal space concerns.
We also see a significant role for fiscal policy in this crisis to mitigate the impact of the crisis. Targeted cash transfers and similar measures to support people whose livelihoods are being upended by the containment and mitigation measures government’s adopted are needed. Where feasible, consideration also needs to be given to temporary and targeted support for hard-hit small and medium scale enterprises.
It is only when the health and acute part of the economic crisis have subsided that fiscal policy can revert to medium-term past consistent with debt sustainability considerations.
Critically, the ability of the countries to mount an adequate response will depend on assistance from the international community. With domestic savings and financing options severely limited, as countries have been shut out of capital markets, excellent financing on concessional and grant terms has an inordinate important role to play.
Looser monetary policy can complement these fiscal efforts and financial measures can help minimize credit or liquidity disruptions for businesses. Countries with flexible exchange rates can consider a combination of currency movement and the drawdown on reserves, while countries facing sizeable and disorderly outflows might consider temporary capital flow measures as part of a wider policy package. This crisis is unprecedented and equally calls for bold and decisive support from the international community.
I will stop here Gediminas.
MR. VILKAS: Yes, thank you very much. So, I would encourage journalist to submit questions online. Some of them are coming in. We also had some questions that’s sent by email. So, I will start with Simon Ateba from Today News Africa, and he has a question on outlook. He is quoting IMF projection for Sub-Saharan Africa and saying that the continent’s lowest growth record in 2020 coming from additional forecast of 3.6 percent before the corona pandemic hit the world to -1.6 percent from now on. So, he is asking in terms of losses, what does that translate into. He also added to that the projection is somehow bigger for the growth of about 4 percent in 2021; and he also wants to know in terms of gains, what does that translate into. Thank you.
MR. SELASSIE: Good question. So, as I noted in my opening remarks, contraction in the size of the economy means that there’s less income that’s being generated, and that will translate into a decline in standard of living. Now, going back to at least 1970, we have not seen the region’s economy contracting because the region, you know, has a lot of potential growth possibility because there’s been a lot of catch-up growth. In general, throughout the last 40 or more, 50 years, we’ve seen positive growth for the region as a whole. So, the fact that the region’s economy is contracting, itself, means that, you know, there’s less income; and per person, per capita terms because population is growing very rapidly, fairly rapidly each year of the order of 2-1/2 percent for the region as a whole, what it will mean is that per person in the region income levels are going to be dropping by around 4 percent. So, it really is a grave, as bad a economic hit as the region has had, has seen for decades.
Now, for next year, our projection is, indeed, for growth to recover to around 4 percent. This is subject to a lot of uncertainty. It will really depend on how the pandemic plays out through the region. Our assumption now is that the impact on the region will be limited to the closed, you know, the shutdowns that we’ve seen in the region, mitigation measures that countries have adopted will be limited to about 1 quarter, about 12 weeks or so, followed by a gradual recovery into next year, and this is what the reason behind our expected pickup in growth next year. That will still not mean that the losses this year will be made up for but, at least, you know, subject to this crisis being behind us, we can see some recovery and growth over the medium term.
MR. VILKAS: Thank you. There is still one more question on positive outlook for some of the countries. Jean-Pierre Boris from Radio France International, he’s asking why African countries such Ethiopia, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Uganda have positive trade growth for the year 2020 in spite of a current world economic crisis.
MR. SELASSIE: I think that’s a very good question. Important to note that the economies that were mentioned were all growing very robustly until very recently, growing of the order of 7-8 percent in some cases. So, a decline to 1-2 percent is still a very, very sharp deceleration in activity.
A second factor is having a betting on these countries having somewhat positive growth is that they have sizable subsistence farming sectors, which we hope will not be impacted as much by the pandemic. So, this will also contribute to a somewhat positive growth.
Again, for these economies too, the hit will be as bad because, you know, whereas they were growing at a fairly rapid clip, now growth is going to be slumping down to 1, 2, 3 percent, and that will feel like, really, a recession for these countries that have growing at this rapid pace also.
MR. VILKAS: Thank you. Now I go to a different set of questions. What policy advise IMF is offering for the countries. Question from Kemi Osukoya from Africa Bazaar Magazine – within the current latest decades alone African countries, particular those in Sub-Saharan Africa Region have experienced multiple strikes to their economies: climatee-related disasters, Ebola outbreak, now we have COVID-19 pandemic — also, slowdown in commodity prices, which affect all exporting countries like Congo and Nigeria, and all the different things that relates to that.
Based on this uncertainty, what top long-term monetary and fiscal policy measures would cushion against unexpected return on external shocks, and what short-term actions can we take now during this current crisis that can be leveraged later on? Thank you.
MR. SELASSIE: Thank you. I think it’s important to note, I mean, what differentiates this particular crisis from the previous ones that were cited, commodity price declines, or the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa which impacted Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and the like, is the fact that no country is going to be left untouched by this crisis. Every country in the region will be impacted.
In previous cases we’ve often seen countries that have commodity exporters, or you know, Ebola, those being impacted by the outbreak of Ebola, or natural disasters like Mozambique last year, it’s been country-specific, or impacting a handful of countries.
Even the global financial crisis really largely impacted those countries that were much more integrated into the global capital markets, into global supply chains, and there were still quite a lot of countries that continued to sustain reasonable growth.
This time, however, because the shock is so widespread — because beyond the external impact on the region, we are also seeing domestic supply and demand being disrupted — the shock will be, really, quite widespread.
That’s why to deal with this shock, I think extraordinary type of policy interventions are needed, including the ones I laid out earlier: very supportive fiscal stance, resources being put on the health aspect of the crisis — this is really, really, very important.
Then, once the crisis is behind us is when policies can be recalibrated to more medium-term considerations.
I think, going forward, these are going to have to include deep thinking about how to have more resilient economies to the more medium-term threats that our economies face also, like climate change.
So, how do we build an economy that’s going to be resilient to more detail events, I think, is going to be one of the policy issues that are going to have to be discussed and thought through in the coming days.
MR. VILKAS: Thank you very much. And thank you for the journalists submitting their questions online, it is much appreciated. And we will try to answer to them as much as possible.
So, this is a follow-up question to this one, and this comes from Eleni Giokos of CNN International. So, she is adding to that, should countries consider capital controls? Are you concerned about liquidity crunches in oil production countries, and others who are reliant on commodities for forex earnings?
MR. SELASSIE: So, just to tackle the second question first, indeed, in addition to the measures countries are having to take to contain the pandemic — the domestic measures, which as I noted earlier are quite disruptive to economic activity — plus the decline in external demand for the region’s goods and services, oil exporting countries are also facing, you know, really, one of the sharpest declines in oil prices that we’ve seen in many decades.
The hit to those economies is going to be much more severe, still, and they will face a much bigger challenge.
In terms of policy measures, both for these countries and others, really, you have to go back to, first and foremost, focusing on what’s required to put this threat — the mortal threat, really — to many of our economies behind us. And that’s devoting whatever resources are needed to get the crisis behind us.
Over and above this, in those instances where capital outflows could, indeed, engender imbalances, or exacerbate the crisis, there could be scope for that. But the first thing I would stress is that sound macroeconomic policies are the best way, really, to forestall a crisis.
If macroeconomic policy settings are sufficient, are supportive, and still you’re seeing pressure for capital outflows, it’s only then that you want to be thinking about these kinds of extraordinary measures.
MR. VILKAS: Thank you. We also are getting a lot of questions on the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust, that was adopted this Monday. We have a question from Mathew Lee from Inner City Press, from Eleni Giokos of CNN International, from Jeune Afrique, all of them asking about this trust.
And, their questions are concentrating on, so how did you come up with the list of those countries? What are the criteria that certain countries got into the list, others are not, maybe out on this list?
And so, they are citing countries like Zambia, Burundi, Zimbabwe, which are not on the list, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire. They are asking to explain what are the reasons for that?
And also, what are the members contributing to this trust, if you can name them? And is it realistic that this trust could be expanded for the two years debt relief? Thank you.
MR. SELASSIE: Thank you. So, indeed, one of the measures that the IMF is supporting countries at this particular time in two ways.
First and foremost, of course, is the financing we’re providing to countries to be able to pursue the supportive policies that I highlighted earlier; have more resources to spend in health, have more resources to provide social protection to populations. And I’m happy to say that in the next 6-8 weeks, we will be — for the 32 countries that have already made requests and we are processing those requests — we will be providing of the order of about $11.5 billion for those 32 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that are in the process of — the discussions are well underway.
Over and above this, what we have done is to look for resources that would allow us to provide grants to countries that have debt service payments falling due to the IMF for the remainder of this year. And these grants will offset the debt service payments that would otherwise have had to be made to countries.
So, what this will do, of course, is create more fiscal space for countries to devote to higher health spending, higher social protection, that needs to be spent.
So, whether you’re a beneficiary of this grant depends, first and foremost, on countries — you know, we have enough resources for the poorest, most vulnerable countries; 25 or so countries — so, a per capita income threshold. And then second, whether you have debt service payments due falling this year.
Should we be able to generate more money in the coming months, we hope to extend the horizon. But right now, we have enough resources, really, to provide this debt relief for this year. And the resources for this have come from donations from member countries of the IMF, including the United Kingdom and Japan, amongst others.
MR. VILKAS: Thank you very much. Now, maybe we will go to the questions on different countries.
So, we will touch upon on Zimbabwe, and Simba Chikanza from ZimEye news network is asking, does the IMF now uphold Zimbabwe’s credit worthiness seeing that it has cleared its arrears, or it still needs to work on it?
MR. SELASSIE: So, unfortunately, Zimbabwe continues to have arrears to the World Bank and African Development Bank, which is a constraint on our abilities to lend to the country.
This hasn’t stopped us, of course, from engaging on policy dialogue, and we are also actually having discussions on other means in which Zimbabwe can be helped by development partners, including grant support.
We’ve been very much highlighting the complexity of the policy environment and the tremendous policy constraints that the government has in terms of being able to mount the kind of response that other countries, to whom we will be able to lend, can.
So, it is a case which we worry about and are doing our utmost to get the support that Zimbabwe needs from development partners.
MR. VILKAS: Thank you. We go now to Nigeria. There are a lot of questions on Nigeria, and one of those is from Leah Katung-Babatunde from the Nigerian Television Authority, and she’s asking, what do you see as Nigeria’s most critical solution to the economic impact of the pandemic as it affects the people and government resources? And, is our country self-sufficient enough to address COVID-19 as the borders are closed?
And, if I may also add, there’s one more question coming on Nigeria online now — and thank you very much journalists, for submitting those questions.
It is from Oluseyi Awojulugbe, from The Cable. So, he’s asking us, Nigeria’s economy is projected to rebound by 2.4 percent in 2021. What are the risks to these growth projections?
And also, one more question from him, The Fund has talked about Nigeria removing fuel subsidy and raising tax revenues. Both has been done by the government, what next should be done by the Nigerian government? Thank you.
MR. SELASSIE: Thanks. So, Nigeria very much falls into the category of countries that are going to be hit the hardest as a result of the outbreak of the pandemic, plus the sharp decline in oil prices.
Already, their economy was contending with the decline in oil prices that we saw in 2015. So, over and above that, of course, oil prices have declined further, complicating policy making environment.
I think the challenges are, really, well-known and articulated really well in the government’s economic growth and recovery plan.
So, for the medium-term, the challenge for Nigeria, we feel, is really prioritizing revenue mobilization. The government has enough resources that it can devote, really, the infrastructure; building the network of universities, and public education entities, that Nigeria so badly needs. So, that really is the number 1 medium-term priority.
So, the focus, we feel, has to be over the next 4 or 5 years to try and put Nigeria in a position where the Federal government has sufficient revenues to address the development spending needs the country has.
In the near-term, of course, no resource should be spared to be able to put the health crisis, the health threat, that Nigeria faces from the COVID-19 pandemic. So, we see scope for more supportive policies.
In the fiscal side, Nigeria has requested for support under the rapid financing instrument. So, this is a very quick dispersing resource that government can use to strengthen health spending to provide social protection to people.
There’s also scope for having a monetary exchange rate policy framework that will be supportive of the fiscal stance. So, we look for those policies to be adopted to support Nigeria put this crisis behind it.
MR. VILKAS: Thank you. We go to a little bit different question on the China and Africa angle. And we have a question from Kemi Osukoya from Africa Bazar Magazine. And the question goes about how do you think the pandemic will affect China/Africa relations in terms of financing and loans. Thank you.
MR. SELASSIE: So I think time will tell how this will play out. My strong sense is that, you know, the relations between China and Africa really go a long way back, not just financial, but also exchange of, you know, know-how, policy advice that China’s been providing to countries from the micro — I mean, how to build better bridges and roads, you know, transfer of knowledge that happens when Chinese enterprises open factories in the region. So I think those kind of exchanges are going to continue going forward.
China’s the second largest economy. It historically had very large surpluses that it has needed to invest. And, of course, Africa is a very important and attractive business destination. So I think those ties will continue, but will they change and could they take some time to revive to recent levels? Possibly. But I do over the medium term see those ties continuing and maybe even strengthening.
MR. VILKAS: Thank you. Now we go to a different country, Kenya, and David Herbling from Bloomberg, he’s asking about when is the board meeting to consider Kenya’s request for emergency funding for COVID-19 is scheduled? And then you also can add the Simon Ateba question from Today’s News Africa on how the pandemic affecting this country?
MR. SELASSIE: So Kenya, we are discussing with the authorities on how we can be of help, and as soon as we’re able to finalize those discussions, we’re happy to present that case to the Board.
In recent weeks, we really have been moving requests extremely rapidly. Just to cite one example, in the case of Madagascar, we received a request on March 19 and we had disbursed resources, you know, by April 4. So we are moving requests as rapidly as possible, so just a matter of having the discussions that we need to have with the Kenyan authorities, and as soon as those are finalized we can go to the board relatively quickly.
Second question was?
MR. VILKAS: It was on the pandemic impact for Kenya.
MR. SELASSIE: Yes, I mean I think, again, Kenya, because it relies significantly on tourism, exports, you know, things like flowers to Europe, it’s going to be impacted, you know, quite sharply, quite adversely by the pandemic. And many of the policy discussions, the policy recommendations that I applied earlier will be important to strengthen the Kenyan’s economy resilience to this crisis.
MR. VILKAS: Thank you. A question on Congo from Laura Gardner from Debt DebtWire. And she would like to know the latest related to the Republic of Congo. Have all traders and SNPC reached a debt agreement that is satisfactory to the IMF? And if not, what’s the timeline from them? And she just wants updated information on the latest IMF and Congo relations.
MR. SELASSIE: So, you know, with Republic of Congo, we, of course, had agreed on a program and disbursed some funds to support the country, but the debt level needs to be brought back to a sustainable level. And this is not so much to please the IMF, but really to avoid the burden of adjustment falling on the people of Congo. This burden of adjustment needs to be shared by the creditors also who extended those loans. So we are awaiting the outcome of those discussions and as far as I’m aware, there’s been no agreement to date.
MR. VILKAS: From the same journalist, a question on South Africa, and she would like to know about the IMF financing discussions. Are there any financing discussions being held with South African government? Thank you.
MR. SELASSIE: There are no discussions on financing with South African government. You know, South Africa has always had pretty good international capital access. Over and above that though, the country’s, you know, big strength is, of course, the fact that it has very deep and liquid domestic capital markets. Relative to most emerging market countries, actually, it generates its financing need for the government largely domestically and its own currencies. So that is really a major source of strength that South Africa has.
Of course, debt levels have been going up and, you know, the access to international markets right now has been disrupted for a broad suite of countries. But I think the resilience that South Africa has should see it through a while, subject to policies, of course, being recalibrated to take into account medium term growth and sustainability considerations as soon as this crisis is behind us.
MR. VILKAS: Thank you. We have a question of IMF assistance and different tools that we are applying there. And it is from Prinesha Naidoo from Bloomberg News. Thank you for submitting the questions on line. He is asking, the IMF will provide 11 billion to 32 countries in the region. Is this part of that 100 billion emergency assistance, and does it include the debt relief announced this week, or is a separate provision?
MR. SELASSIE: So, indeed, it is part of the — you know, a lot of the financing that we are providing is through rapid disbursing facility. For countries that are eligible, we provide this resource at zero interest and payable over ten years. And, therefore, countries above that cutoff also is fairly low interest rate. So the 11 1/2 number that I mentioned I, indeed, the sum that we’re providing through new financing and debt relief to the tune of around $300 million dollars, I believe, for the remainder of this year that would due to be repaid to The Fund.
MR. VILKAS: Thank you very much. Still a question on debt from Eleni Giokos CNN international. So she’s asking, many countries have issueD Eurobonds over the last few years. That debt will be unsustainable, she says. What is your message to other bond holders and creditors? While IMF is able to offer debt relief should other creditors do the same? Are you at all worried about the defaults?
MR. SELASSIE: So, you know, debt sustainability, first and foremost, has to be undertaken on a country by country basis. You know, you don’t do debt sustainability assessments continent-wide. As well, of course, really is important to note that this assessment various from country to country.
What is true is that going into the crisis, the region had elevated debt level, many countries had elevated debt levels, and the crisis, the affect this is going to have on growth, on fiscal accounts is going to see debt levels rise further for many countries across the region.
Which is why, kind of, we were very proactive in indicating that any debt relief that official bilateral creditors could provide would give countries room, at this exceptional time, to be able to devote resources that would otherwise go to servicing this debt to be devoted to address really pressing health and other spending needs.
We’re very happy that this is being taken on by the G-20 and discussions are underway. And happier still that private sector creditors are also considering such relief to countries that are being most impacted. You know, again, these are exception times. Really, I cannot express how significant the threat to the region is, as elsewhere really. So whatever support the international community can provide to give countries room to maneuver at this difficult time I think is welcome.
And it’s also with that frame of mind that we have done what we can with the CCRT and the debt relief that we announced earlier this week.
MR. VILKAS: As we are pressed by time, I think we’re going to take one or two last questions and wrap us this press briefing. So now is a question also submitted online on Mozambique. And this question comes from Mario Batista from Lusa News Agency So he’s asking, why is a prediction unchanged from last year forecasting 2.2 growth? So he just wants to know about the latest figure for Mozambique.
And then he asks, why doesn’t the IMF support a debt pardon from the bond creditors? IMF supports only the official creditors, but why not private investors? I think he just wants to know what the latest discussions on IMF and Mozambique on this.
MR. SELASSIE: Okay. So in the case of Mozambique, prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, we were actually in discussion on the medium term program that the government had requested to be able to support the country, but those discussions were likely to take, you know, a few months. So when the pandemic hit, what we have done is to switch to our rapid disbursing facility, rapid credit facility. And we’re holding discussions under that, and we’ll be publishing the outcome of our discussion projections in the next couple of weeks, once we’ve processed that request.
Of course, before proceeding with lending to Mozambique, we have to ascertain that debt is sustainable. And that is, of course, a factor that we will take into account in our discussions with the government in the coming days.
MR. VILKAS: And the last question will be on Ghana, so a general question. Just a comment on how this pandemic will affect the Ghanaian economy.
MR. SELASSIE: Again, you know, Ghana’s economy was growing robustly before the pandemic. You know, macroeconomic health of the economy had been restored, inflation trending downwards. A lot of the issues in the banking sector had been addressed, and fiscal accounts were, by and large, you know, under control.
So this pandemic really comes at a very difficult time for the economy as it was trying to move forward after, you know, the last five, six years of macroeconomic pressures. So it will have abetting on growth. It will impact the fiscal accounts also.
But, you know, Ghana has been through a lot. And, really, as elsewhere in the region, it will also put this behind it. And, you know, I’m hopeful it’s a resilient economy, a resilient country. And I think, you know, we’re providing some support to allow the government to be — to have it support the fiscal stance. And I’m sure that in the coming years the economy will recover from this.
MR. VILKAS: Thank you very much. Thank you very much for taking all these questions and presenting the main outcome, the main result of the regional economic outlook of Sub Saharan Africa. We have still some press briefings lined up for you, so thank you for watching and thank you for submitting the questions online.
China has been warned that Africa would retaliate inhumane treatment being meted out on its people in different Chinese cities. African diplomats have threatened to shut down their consulates after it was evident that China no longer welcomes Africans into its major cities such as Guangdong Province, Beijing and others.
In a protest letter to the Chinese Government, African Consuls-General noted that Africans were being denied hotel accommodation upon arrival in Guangzhou.
It also noted that Africans were subjected to an additional 14-day quarantine at various isolation centres after being cleared and issued an appropriate certificate of release by the Centralised Quarantine and Medical Observation.
The Consuls-General warned China that their home countries might retaliate against Chinese nationals living and doing business in Africa if the stigmatisation was not speedily resolved.
While accusing Chinese officials of discriminating against their nationals, African diplomats warned that the situation could degenerate if not properly handled.
In line with Article 5 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963, they called on the Chinese Foreign Affairs Office to intervene and address the complaints.
The Consuls demanded a prompt reversal of Guangdong’s policy on “the selective attack on Africans as well as unannounced visits to homes after the working hours.”
The diplomats stated,
“In the consequence that the issues are not properly resolved promptly, the African Consulates-General will be left with no option but to communicate to our home country the racial bias and discrimination against Africans in China.
The diplomats stated,
“In the consequence that the issues are not properly resolved promptly, the African Consulates-General will be left with no option but to communicate to our home country the racial bias and discrimination against Africans in China.
“We would also bring the same to the attention of the international community-United Nations, International Criminal Court, International Court of Arbitration, World Health Organisation, Amnesty International, African Union, among others.”
“We would have no option but to retaliate the same ill-treatment meted out on our nationals to the Chinese nationals in our various countries; close all the African Consulates in Guangzhou until further notice and engage in general street protest by the African Consulates-General and nationals,” the diplomats warned.
By A Correspondent | Legal expert, Obert Gutu has ditched his former boss, Thokozani Khupe, who is currently on cloud nine, celebrating the Justice Bharat Patel Supreme Court verdict that passes a presumption that she is now the Acting MDC T President.
Gutu makes his position clear in full in the below detailed response, printed in his own words from back to end. He says:
“For purely personal and private reasons, I will not be offering my candidature for the office of President although I am absolutely convinced that I have got what it takes to contest for the party’s Presidency if I wanted to.
“I shall also not continue to occupy the position of National Spokesperson /Secretary for Information & Publicity, again, for purely private and personal reasons.”
Commenting on the development is another expert, Jacob Mafume who joins ZimEye on Monday. Advocate Mafume is also the MDC Alliance Secretary for Elections.
By Obert Gutu|Since the Supreme Court judgment was handed down on Tuesday, March 31, 2020, I have been inundated with numerous inquiries from MDC cadres, friends, relatives, colleagues and, of course, members of the Fourth Estate, wanting to know whether I am going to be actively involved in politics and proceed to participate in the forthcoming MDC extraordinary congress to elect a substantive President to replace the late iconic founding President Morgan Richard Tsvangirai.
The main purpose of this press release is to clear the air regarding my position in active politics, more particularly, my continued association with the MDC. On Saturday, January 18, 2020, I resigned from the MDC-T led by Hon.Dr.Thokozani Khupe for purely private and personal reasons. As a direct consequence of the Supreme Court judgment aforementioned, the MDC-T Congress that was held at Stanley Square, Bulawayo, in April 2018, was declared null and void. Mutatis mutandis, the MDC Congress that was held in Gweru in May 2019 was also declared null and void. In the interim, the MDC is currently led by Hon.Dr.Thokozani Khupe as Acting President pending the holding of an extraordinary congress within the time limit ordered by the Supreme Court. As a firm believer in the rule of law and constitutionalism, I would like to fully associate myself with and also recognize and hereby unequivocally and unreservedly accept and uphold the decision of the Supreme Court. For the avoidance of doubt, I do hereby accept that an extraordinary congress of the MDC shall be held solely for the purpose of electing a substantive President. For purely personal and private reasons, I will not be offering my candidature for the office of President although I am absolutely convinced that I have got what it takes to contest for the party’s Presidency if I wanted to. I shall also not continue to occupy the position of National Spokesperson /Secretary for Information & Publicity, again, for purely private and personal reasons. Going forward, I am not going to be involved in any political party politics. I will remain an independent activist and analyst in addition to, of course, practising law and pursuing other private business interests.
Let me take this opportunity to warmly wish my comrades in the struggle a peaceful and successful extraordinary congress. Aluta Continua !! Victoria Acerta!! Obert Chaurura Gutu
The community of Beitbridge, Zimbabwe, has acknowledged that it is not able to accommodate returnees who are supposed to come from South Africa any time now.
The returnees are trapped in South Africa where most of them were economic refugees, and feel the heat of the lockdown that was put on that country to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
Beitbridge Coordinator for District Development Sikhangezile Mafu, who briefed the National Theme Committee on Ports of Entry to ensure the readiness of the border town to receive returning residents, said:
“At local level we have nothing. We have no resources to talk about. There is no water at the facility and it is being connected.
” The area will not be able to hold the anticipated numbers and we are speaking to lodges and other hotels to be able to host some of the returnees,” a statement reads
The national thematic ports of entry committee is tracking the readiness of border posts to manage and retain returnees.
South Africa has the highest number of reported cases of coronavirus in Africa making repatriation of people living in that country a risky step that involves extracare at the entry points.
South Africa Basic Education is making proper arrangements to open South African schools, a report has revealed.
New rules are being mapped out in this regard especially in line with the recommendations of the Department of Health. The Health Department will also set out standard for classroom seating to maintain a social distance among learner’s during class interaction/learning.
Among the proposed new rules, learners will have to keep a distance of 1.5m between chairs. What this means is that no learners will be allowed to share a desk during and after class learning.
On the part of the teachers: Teachers are expected to carry out more responsibility and ensure that all rules are strictly followed by learner’s.
They will also have to maintain a social distance, avoid hugging, shaking hands and having direct contact. This is going to be a tough nut to crack, as many schools in the country are already overcrowded.
While it might be easy to maintain a social distance in classroom cause a teacher is there, who will ensure that the social distance is maintained after school or during break and lunch. This will still pose some challenges.
The issue of sanitizers is still a imperative task, if all classes can have hand sanitizers this will help. It will be wisdom therefore for the department of basic education to supply sanitizers under strict control to schools.
In summary, the schools will reopen in phases, firstly it will be the grade 7 and matrix. The other grades will also be reopened in phases.
Serie A side AS Roma’s players and coaching staff have agreed to give up their wages for four months to help the club during the coronavirus pandemic.
Football action in Italy has been suspended since March 9, causing a sharp decline in revenue.
Roma’s chief executive Guido Fienga said their players will also top up the salaries of club employees placed on the Italian government’s job retention scheme to ensure they received their regular monthly income.
“We always talk about unity at Roma and in volunteering to cut their salaries for the rest of the season, the players, the coach, and his staff, have all proved that we really are in this together,” said Fienga.
“(Club captain) Edin Dzeko, all the players and (coach) Paulo Fonseca have demonstrated they understand what this club stands for and we also thank them all for their superb gesture towards the employees at this club.”-Soccer 24
A man was arrested at a roadblock in Gauteng when he attempted to “smuggle” his girlfriend out of Gauteng, MEC for safety and community Faith Mazibuko said.
Mazibuko said the car was stopped and searched at a roadblock on the N12 on Friday.
When officers asked the man to open his boot, they found the woman inside, she said.
He was travelling without a permit.
Mazibuko said the woman was also arrested because “she consented to be smuggled”.
Eden Hazard is recovering well from an ankle injury sustained in February, Belgium’s coach Robert Martinez has said.
The Real Madrid forward underwent surgery last month in Dallas, USA, and was set to spend a lengthy spell on the sidelines, but the suspension of football due to the coronavirus crisis means he could still play some games this season.
“I know he is recovering well. He is not far from running again and there are no complications,” Martinez told Belgian media on Sunday.
“Everything went well with the operation, but you also hope that everything goes well in the four to five weeks afterwards without complications, and there were none.
“We know he will return stronger. We were also fortunate, of course, to have his surgery take place just before the coronavirus outbreak.
“Otherwise he would not be able to travel or be treated outside of Madrid. I have a positive feeling that Eden will be back soon.”
The 29-year-old Belgian has endured a difficult first season in Spain, scoring only once in 15 appearances. -Soccer 24
Norman Mapeza says Wieslaw Grabowski played a critical role in shaping his career both as a player and a coach.
The former Warriors boss is one of the early local players in post-independence era to feature in the Uefa Champions League after moving to Europe in the 90s.
The move was facilitated by Grabowski who owned and coached Darryn Textiles (DT) FC which played in the top-flight.
In an interview with Daily News on Sunday, Mapeza lauded the Poland-born gaffer nurturing him and other yesteryear big names such as Lloyd Chitembwe, Edelbert Dinha, Alois Bunjira and Shingirai Kawondera.
“Grabowski did a lot for so many players, for instance, Chitembwe and Dinha, both at one point of their careers played in Poland and a whole lot of other players, so I really want to thank him because he gave us an opportunity,” he said.
“Going to Europe was one of my best moments and playing for Zimbabwe…
“Some of the players that I played with are into coaching as well which means we had proper grooming and mentorship.”
Mapeza says his biggest regret is failing to win a league title as a player. He has achieved that feat as a coach, winning it three times – first with Monomotapa in 2008 and then with FC Platinum from 2017-18.
“Perhaps my only regret is that I didn’t manage to win a league as a player, but I’m grateful to God that he gave me a career and I’m grateful for my family,” he added.-Soccer 24
16 years after one of the most controversial decisions ever made in Zimbabwean broadcast history, self exiled former canibet minister Proffessor Jonathan Moyo has denied ever firing veteran commentator Charles Mabika after the Warriors-Nigeria game.
Zimbabwe took on a star-studded Super Eagles side in an AFCON 2006 qualifier in front of a packed National Sports Stadium with all eyes on the legendary Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha.
Mabika, who was in commentary for the national broadcaster ZBC TV that afternoon, used every superlative in the book to describe the Nigerian captain, much to the annoyance of Moyo, who was the Minister of Publicity then, leading to Mabika’s dismissal for being ‘unpatriotic’.
Moyo however demystified that theory on microblogging site Twitter while responding to a follower’s question.
“No. I did not fire Mabika not could I as I was not his employer. But I strongly & unapologetically disapproved of his conduct.
He was on a national, not private channel which he abused to sing praises for players of a foreign team playing against his national team.(It was) Unacceptable.” noted Moyo.-Soccer 24
By Olivia Nyamakura| It is over two years since Mugabe was dethroned and almost a year since he departed this world. Many people still can not believe he is gone. Whatever his earlier achievements, Mugabe left Zimbabwe, now 40, in distress.
At 40, Zimbabwe reels in economic turmoil. There are no jobs for the youths coming from tertiary schools. Education has simply become an anathema.
We used to think a good education is a ticket to a good job and life but to the contrary it is not. Many graduates are finding comfort in the informal sector.
Many surbubs are without running water. Boreholes have become a commonplace. People are experiencing power outages for more than 18 hrs a day.For power, people have now resorted to gas (which many cannot afford) and firewood. One can only dream of street lights.
Hospitals are understaffed, ill-equipped with doctors and nurses doing work half heartedly because of low incomes and lack of personal protective equipment (PPE).
We see political rivalries between the major parties Zanu PF and MDC Alliance reaching crescendo peaks disregarding the welfare of citizens. This won’t restore goodwill in the country but rather cause more harm than good.
This Golden Jubilee, Zimbabweans should unite and find common ground. At least that resonates with the founding ethos of our fallen heros. Unity, respect, love and hard work
The region has witnessed an influx of millions of Zimbabweans migrating because of an unhinged economy. Globally, Zimbabweans are popular for diligence and hard work. My heart always cry for the skills and expertise that is scattered around the world.
The brain drain to greener pastures has left Zimbabwe dry and desperate for an injection of new blood in leadership positions. If fortunes continue on the negative what will become of Zimbabwe in the next 40 years. My prayer is for a Zimbabwe that is flourishing.
We have heard of sanctions. We have also heard of corruption. Prayer sessions, fastings have been done for Zimbabwe but nothing seems to be moving. Only God can transform Zimbabwe. It’s only a matter of time, when the time is right, God will make it right.
Had it not been the world pandemic , covid-19, people should have gathered at different centres on Independence day, 18 April, celebrating our fallen heros. I grew up to such activities. Independence Day celebrations were big mass gatherings known for extravagant feasts. Beasts would be slaughtered and drinks would flow galore commemorating our fallen heroes.
Nevertheless, our hearts and spirits salute them.
As Zimbabwe turns 40, we might as well pose to ponder the road we have travelled. Is it worth writing home about? Would fallen heroes be happy if ever they were to wake up from mass graves scattered in Mozambique and Zambia to see the Zimbabwe that is today? The likes of Samora Machel, Leopold Takawira, Joshua Nkomo, Josiah Tongogara. The list of our fallen heroes is just endless.Hopefully I will still be alive in the next forty years, writing a different note about Zimbabwe.
Olivia Nyamakura writes in her personal capacity. feedback: [email protected]
By A Correspondent- The High Court has granted MISA Zimbabwe relief order interdicting police from harassments, arrests and detentions of journalists while carrying out their lawful duties.
The court has also ordered police to recognise 2019 press cards and to not interfere with the work of journalists on the basis that their press cards were issued in 2019.
MISA Zimbabwe had filed an urgent chamber application with the High Court seeking an order interdicting police officers and other law enforcement agents responsible for implementing the COVID-19 lockdown from interfering with the work of journalists on the basis that their press cards were issued in 2019.
Home with the kids? Try taking 20 minutes a day doing something that they choose – play a game or read with them. Quality time will make them feel safe and loved.
Praise is powerful. Try praising your child or teenager for something they have done well. They may not show their appreciation, but you’ll see them doing that good thing again.
Routine up! A structured day helps kids feel secure and makes it easier to manage them. Try making a timetable, with schoolwork, games, free time, exercise, and handwashing.
Kids at home driving you crazy? Feeling like you are going to scream? Give yourself a 1-minute pause. Breathe in and out five times. Then respond.
Crowded house? Stressed out? Share your feelings. Take a break. Looking after kids 24-7 during COVID-19 isn’t easy. Remind yourself of what you did well today. Think about the good moments.
Take care of yourself so you can take care of your children.
Credit: World Health Organization
Inserted by Zimbabwe Online Health Centre
For more information like/ follow our Facebook page:
By A Correspondent- Uganda has procured two mobile polymerase chain reaction (PCR) laboratories to accelerate COVID-19 tests on cross-border cargo drivers.
This was announced by that country’s Health Minister Ruth Aceng who said that the PCR laboratories will be useful for onsite testing and they will also shorten the time to transport samples to the country’s top laboratory Uganda Virus Research Institute.
In a televised address, Aceng said:
They will be deployed at congested border points to quicken testing and return of results.
This vigorous approach to screening, testing and tracking of cargo transporters at the border entry points is adopted after three cross-border cargo drivers tested positive for coronavirus within less than five days.
The Ministry of Health claims that an average of 2 500 trucks enters Uganda every day. Uganda has, as of April 20, 2020, 12:48 GMT, recorded 55 coronavirus cases including 28 recoveries.
Home with the kids? Try taking 20 minutes a day doing something that they choose – play a game or read with them.
Quality time will make them feel safe and loved.
Praise is powerful. Try praising your child or teenager for something they have done well. They may not show their appreciation, but you’ll see them doing that good thing again.
Routine up! A structured day helps kids feel secure and makes it easier to manage them. Try making a timetable, with schoolwork, games, free time, exercise, and handwashing.
Kids at home driving you crazy? Feeling like you are going to scream? Give yourself a 1-minute pause. Breathe in and out five times. Then respond.
Crowded house? Stressed out? Share your feelings. Take a break. Looking after kids 24-7 during COVID-19 isn’t easy. Remind yourself of what you did well today. Think about the good moments.
Take care of yourself so you can take care of your children.
Credit: World Health Organization
Inserted by Zimbabwe Online Health Centre
For more information like/ follow our Facebook page:
Congratulations Zimbabwe for adding another year to make it forty.
Independence is a day to remember the resilience that the gallant sons and daughters endured under the york of racial discrimination, segregation, blatant violation of human rights.
This is a time we are supposedly required to unite as Zimbabweans and salute the selfless dedication that those who took up arms against the white minority made.
A plethora of demands forced the majority blacks to take up arms against the white regime.
Chief among them was the land question as blacks were forcebly removed from arable land and resettled in infertile sand soils like the Gwai and Shangani reserves.
Workers were also exploited at the workplace with certain positions reserved for the white race and this first led to several workplace related demonstrations which did not yield the intended results.
Several tax regimes were introduced which resulted in resentment of the white settler regime. And this led to unity between the guerrilla fighters and the peasants as the Smith regime spared no one in it’s dictatorship tendencies.
Pungwes were definitely introduced across the length and breadth of Zimbabwe as a way of educating the mass about the reasons for waging the armed struggle and the promise of a better Zimbabwe.
This created a crisis of expectation of the better days that await a new Zimbabwe.
And on the 18th of April 1980 a new Zimbabwe was born. New in terms of new faces that never changed the dictatorial system up to this day.
People expected fundamental reforms but alas those who dared to challenge the system were even threatened with beatings, killings as if they were talking of something out of this world.
To show his ruthlessness, the then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe waged a war of attrition with the minority Ndebeles as a way of silencing dissent which resulted in more than 20000 deaths.
The freedom of association, assembly have just been a pipedream for peace loving Zimbabweans as the regime continue to abuse the fact that some of them were old when the whites were fought.
Nothing has changed 40 years on, it’s just old wine in a new bottle. And in infact if truth could be told Zimbabweans are worse off than they were in 1978 under the white minority regime in terms of economic front.
Instead of growing the economic cake Zanu PF continues to act like a wife waiting for divorce. The looting spree is just something going out of proportion.
A once thriving economy which was number five in Africa in 1980 with 23% manufacturing sector has been reduced to just a retail case where imported goods make the bulk of products in our shops. What a sorry state Zanu PF has superintendented over the past 40 years.
Zimbabweans remain optimistic of better days in the future and they are indeed resolute in pursuit of an egalitarian society.
And indeed an egalitarian society is possible within our lifetime…
My sincere condolences to Mrs Phiri, family and the entire media fraternity.
In April 2001 when my friend, businessman Obert Sibanda a past ZNCC president and I, then Controller ZBC Montrose Studios established the first journalism training college in Bulawayo namely BES School of Journalism housed at BES College, Beverley building near Haefelis food court, Gift Phiri was in the pioneer class(see attached first register in my own handwriting).
When, a few months after opening he attempted to drop Journalism studies altogether and take up culinary management training at Innscor’s Chicken Inn Victoria Falls, Sibanda, his friends and I persuaded young Gift to rejoin class and complete the two year diploma course. He agreed after almost two months absence but quickly caught up with others very fast.
Long after completing his Journalism studies and working for different media houses, scooping awards of excellence and getting promoted, I would always tease ‘Givy’, as I affectionately called him, about his yester-year AWOL (absence without leave) at college and he would just laugh it off saying ‘No more of that, my teacher, I am now a grown up.I thank you’ Gift excelled extremely well especially in Print courses where his lecturers were Miriam Madziwa Sibanda(then Sunday News), Loughty Dube and Busani Bafana (then with Zimbabwe Independent) among other guest tutors.
Tula Dlamini (then ZBC) now lecturing Journalism at Monash University in South Africa, Sihlangu Dlodlo of Amakhosi Theatre Production taught Television Production, Selina Chitsiga Moyo (then ZBC Montrose) taught Radio and TV News Reporting while Tapfuma Machakaire(then ZBC bureau chief) was a great course content resource person from a distance.
I taught Radio Production in addition to managing the entire journalism school.
Sam Mkhithika(then ZBC Radio 2 Chief Producer) assisted when I was not available and was to take over when I relocated back to Harare permanently.
Last Madiwa Moyo (Nust, later Wits) and Thabani Mpofu (of Sunday News & later Nust…not to be confused with the two prominent lawyers) taught Media Law and Ethics as well as Creative Writing & Authorship. Mr Kanengoni (BES staffer) taught Public Relations and Advertising. Another Mr Moyo, Selina’s husband made available his music production studios near NRZ main station and a dear friend (I am forgetting, remind me please Useni Sibanda & Thabang Makwati Nare Dumisani O Nyongolo Nkomo, since you guys were my excellent fixers) provided television production equipment and facilities which enabled us to be easily licensed by ZIMDEF as a fully fledged skills training college.
I last interacted with Gift, who was currently with ANZ’s Daily News for a number of years early this year when I facilitated a Zimbabwe National Editors Forum (ZINEF) organised training workshop on Development Journalism held at the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) Kodzero/Amalungelo House in Harare. I repeated our usual two decades old ‘awol’ greetings joke, but alas, little did I know that I was saying my last good byes to an affable, trendsetting, gifted former student.
Arriving after the course, arranged by Zinef coordinator Njabulo Ncube aka JB had already started,Gift got a massive approval via all sorts of official and unofficial sign languages from those already in class to show that he was a man of the people. One colleague even loudly asked “Gift why are you not wearing one of your designer suits today?” to which Gift responded with his usual captivating and approving smile, waiving.
In mourning Gift Phiri, who joins another 2001-2002 classmate Qonda Senda-Moyo who died in Ireland a fews ago, I join hands with BES College owner Obert Sibanda aka Vodloza and those journalists from our BES pioneering journalism class, most of who have risen quite admirably in the profession including Mqhele Tshuma, now heading ZBC Classic263, Dumisani Sibanda,heading another ZBC station in Gweru, Ntungamili Nkomo (Anchor Studio 7, VOA,Washington DC), Sifiso Mpofu, ZBC news bureau chief in Gwanda, Matebeleland South, SA-based Simba Nembaware former Radio VOP reporter and Coordinator of satellite television radio channel Channel Zim, Davison Mohlomi Mudzingwa now a top film producer behind feature ‘Lost Tongue’, Tichaona Mezah who joined ZBC News,Valentine Mabhugu a top Classic263 anchor, Albert Ncube – Mazhale (Newsday and VOA Studio 7 reporter),Jessie Bore (Kwekwe),Hilton Mavise (Classic 263) and Mayenziwe Ndlovu now a top customer care official in the eSwatini Kingdom civil service.
I have lost touch with our pioneer students I did not mention.
I shall also include Thandazani Zimbwa although he did not complete the course with BES but was an inspiration to the ‘fresh ones’ due to his excellent sports reporting at the time.
Zimbwa also reported about the official opening ceremony on radio and television at which guest speakers were the late grey haired Mr Dube who had worked for the 1950s African Daily News and UNESCO in Addis Ababa as well as Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu who worked for the Chronicle, Lonrho’s Observer and was with the ZAPU information department in Lusaka during the liberation struggle.
Pindai Dube Nqobani Ndlovu Magugu Nyathi Linda Mpofu Busi Ndlovu aka Mamjapani and many other alumni of later BES journalism streams that followed Gift Phiri and the 2001 pioneers I extend my deepest condolences to you as well.
Fare thee well Gift Phiri my brother, former student and colleague
By A Correspondent- An Air Zimbabwe special charter flight from China with approximately 30 tonnes consignment of Covid-19 combat supplies has landed at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare.
The consignment is believed to include personal protective equipment (PPEs), Covid-19 test kits, gloves, ventilators and other equipment needed to treat Covid-19 patients.
According to State-owned media, the consignment was bought by Government and other private partners to ensure treatment centres and laboratories were equipped.
However, some of the materials is believed to have been sourced funding provided by Sakunda Holdings.
China went into full production of Covid-19-related equipment and supplies and factories are now supplying many countries, including the United States.
Air Zimbabwe spokesperson Ms Firstme Vitoria had confirmed a few days ago that the airline was concluding clearance logistics for the charter plane to leave.
“Air Zimbabwe is finalising a cargo charter flight to China scheduled to depart early Friday morning,” she said.
“Once all clearances are granted the charter flight shall position in Beijing to collect cargo towards Covid-19 in Zimbabwe.”
Government has expanded the criteria for those who qualify for Covid-19 testing to include all patients with fever in hospitals, while all people working during the 21-day national lockdown would also be subjected to mandatory testing.
Zimbabwe currently has 25 cases of the coronavirus, including three deaths. The arrival of more supplies is believed to lead to much wider testing and a rise in the number of confirmed cases. –statemedia
Farai Dziva|The media community has been plunged into mourning following the death of two seasoned journalists, Gift Phiri and Muzambiringa Ray Matikinye over the weekend.
It was a catastrophic weekend for the country’s media fraternity following the painful departure of two scribes.Gift Phiri worked as reporter for The Zimbabwean, Daily News and several media organizations while Matikinye worked for ZIANA and was the editor of Masvingo Provincial Star in 2001.
In a Facebook journalist Loughty Dube said:
First it is Gift Gift Phiri and on the same day another journalism great Ray Matikinye breathes his last, shattered to learn of your passing, your laughter Muzambiringa was infectious, you helped a lot of young men climb the journalism ladder, ‘Njaninjani’ you had a lot of advice for me when was leading the Zimbabwe Independent Bureau. Go well big man, go well.”
Luke Tamborinyoka wrote: Gift Phiri believed in telling truth to power.
Gift had a gift in writing. He waa a gifted wordsmith who loved his profession.
He was passionate about media freedom and democracy. Rest in peace, brother.”
By Farai Dziva|The media community has been plunged into mourning following the death of two seasoned journalists, Gift Phiri and Muzambiringa Ray Matikinye over the weekend.
It was a catastrophic weekend for the country’s media fraternity following the painful departure of two scribes.Gift Phiri worked as reporter for The Zimbabwean, Daily News and several media organizations while Matikinye worked for ZIANA and was the editor of Masvingo Provincial Star in 2001.
In a Facebook journalist Loughty Dube said:
First it is Gift Gift Phiri and on the same day another journalism great Ray Matikinye breathes his last, shattered to learn of your passing, your laughter Muzambiringa was infectious, you helped a lot of young men climb the journalism ladder, ‘Njaninjani’ you had a lot of advice for me when was leading the Zimbabwe Independent Bureau. Go well big man, go well.”
Luke Tamborinyoka wrote: Gift Phiri believed in telling truth to power.
Gift had a gift in writing. He waa a gifted wordsmith who loved his profession.
He was passionate about media freedom and democracy. Rest in peace, brother.”
By Jane Mlambo| High Court has granted the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA Zimbabwe) relief order interdicting police from harassments, arrests and detentions of journalists while carrying out their lawful duties.
The court has also ordered the police to recognise 2019 press cards and not to interfere with the work of journalists on the basis that their press cards were issued in 2019.
Farai Dziva|Zanu PF’ s Pupurai Togarepi has accused the United States of America of “hypocrisy.”
Below is Togarepi’s statement: ON Saturday Zimbabwe marked the four decades of Independence, 40 years to savour our hard won freedom, albeit the celebrations were muffled by the diabolical novel coronavirus that has killed three of our compatriots.
The shadow of the novel virus, that has wrecked world economies, infected more than 2 million people and killed more than 140 000 worldwide made it impossible for us to gather as is customary around the country to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and indeed some of our heroes who have been preserved by time to be with us to present day.
We salute the gallant sons of the soil who include our President Emmerson Mnangagwa who made it possible for us to be where we are today, content with intentions of scaling dizzy heights and ensuring that we achieve our Vision 2030.
As we introspect we prospect that the next decade will be a defining decade that will see Zimbabwe improving the welfare of its populace.
It was indeed heart warming that even under the sullen shadow of the callous coronavirus the world took note of our country’s 40th Independence Day that is celebrated each year on April 18.
World leaders, our celebrities and patriots sent their heartfelt felicitations which inspired us even as we navigate the horrors of the coronavirus that has separated us from our loved ones and left some among us with little for sustenance, yet there is always a silver lining in every dark cloud.
Together, arm in arm we will confront whatever challenges that are strewn in our way.
However, some wolves in sheep clothing, hypocrites masquerading as friends, people and nations who wish us doom and ill wanted to use the momentous occasion to lecture us on human rights and democracy.
Isn’t it ironic that countries imposed illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe like the United States of America would want to lecture us about democracy and economic reform, they might as well as keep their insincere felicitations.
We cannot be hectored by archbishops of violence and human rights violations to do pander to their whims and caprices.
Lest Uncle Sam forget, the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice fighting for the independence of Zimbabwe did so to achieve self-determination.
Because of the blood of Zimbabweans we are now free and free to determine our destiny. If the US really wishes us well then they should remove the sanctions they imposed on us and that have stymied growth of Zimbabwe.
And to Pompeo, is Tendai Biti the people of Zimbabwe?
By Jane Mlambo| International Monetary Fund (IMF) African Department Director, Abebe Aemro Selassie has predicted that the shock on the economies of Sub-Saharan Africa countries will be severe due to the fact that unlike previous natural disasters and outbreaks which hit a handful of countries, COVID-19 is sweeping across all nations.
In a press briefing held today, Selassie said African countries needed to put extra-ordinary policy interventions to overcome the shocks caused by COVID-19.
He also appealed to Sub-Saharan Africa countries to have more resilient economies to medium-term threat to their economies
“In previous cases we’ve often seen countries that have commodity exporters, or you know, Ebola, those being impacted by the outbreak of Ebola, or natural disasters like Mozambique last year, it’s been country-specific, or impacting a handful of countries.
“Even the global financial crisis really largely impacted those countries that were much more integrated into the global capital markets, into global supply chains, and there were still quite a lot of countries that continued to sustain reasonable growth.
“This time, however, because the shock is so widespread — because beyond the external impact on the region, we are also seeing domestic supply and demand being disrupted — the shock will be, really, quite widespread.
“That’s why to deal with this shock, I think extraordinary type of policy interventions are needed, including the ones I laid out earlier: very supportive fiscal stance, resources being put on the health aspect of the crisis — this is really, really, very important,” said Selassie.
Then, once the crisis is behind us is when policies can be recalibrated to more medium-term considerations.
I think, going forward, these are going to have to include deep thinking about how to have more resilient economies to the more medium-term threats that our economies face also, like climate change.
So, how do we build an economy that’s going to be resilient to more detail events, I think, is going to be one of the policy issues that are going to have to be discussed and thought through in the coming days.
If there were some doubts about who exactly is behind the country’s snail pace character on critical developmental issues, election results announcement delays and rigging, then all that has been erased by Emmerson Mnangagwa’s lockdown extension speech.
Typical of ZANU PF fraudsters, delay and keeping people in suspense on issues of national interest has become a habit.
Remember March 2008 elections that took a month to be announced!
In 2018 too, the elections were announced as a last minute resort after growing impatience from masses who threatened to take to streets.
The lockdown extension announcement has all but cleared doubts about the crook behind all these delays in announcement of election results!
The culprit behind election results announcement delays and rigging since 1980 has unmasked himself.
Either Emmerson is slow on critical issues or rather he is just careless when it comes to issues of national interest.
Stephen Sarkozy Chuma MDCYouthAssemblyNationalSpokesperson
Farai Dziva|Two prominent human rights activists have challenged the government to stop, with immediate effect, harassment of civilians and partisan distribution of Coronavirus Relief Aid.
In a joint statement, the two human rights defenders, Blessing Matasva and Tatenda Maposa, expressed concern at the persecution of citizens by security forces.
The two also condemned the politicisation of aid.
Read full statement below:
The government of Zimbabwe joining the rest of the world in fighting covid-19, introduced prevention measures to curb the spread of this pandemic.
While the lockdown is a very good measure, as human rights activists we feel the government is not prepared enough for this initiative, given the current status of our economy which is 90% informal.
The majority of citizens in Zimbabwe, particulary in Masvingo Province survive on informal trading (hand to mouth).
This shutdown has exempted essential service provision- such as grocery shops, a welcome move, given our economic status.
Since the start of the lockdown on the 30th of March, we have witnessed numerous human rights abuses.
Police brutality has been the song on ordinary citizens.
We urge the government to respect human rights and they should have a robust disaster preparedness plan for such incidents.
It is also disheartening to note that some Members of Parliament and District Administrators in the province are politicizing Covid-19 rapid response food distribution programmes.
Mealie meal is being distributed on political basis.
As human rights defenders we castigate such mischievous behaviour from some politicians who are seeking to gain political mileage during such a time.
Food items must be fairly distributed regardless of one’s political affiliation, age, race, creed, disability or gender.
Now that the lockdown has been extended, we implore the government to respect citizens’ rights at all levels.
We strongly feel citizens should not be denied access to medication, food – among other basic needs.
Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."@LynneStactia@DuchessTalithapic.twitter.com/hMQCKElY4Z
By A Correspondent- The IMF has revealed that the organisation is doing its best to ensure that Zimbabwe gets funding from development partners despite that the Southern African nation continued to have arrears to the World Bank and African Development Bank, a development that made it difficult to extend further lending to the country.
Find excepts of the IMF’s response following an inquiry by ZimEye’s Simba Chikanza.
Recently, Zimbabwe was not among the 25 African nations that received the latest IMF funding.
Question: So, we will touch upon on Zimbabwe, and Simba Chikanza from ZimEye news network is asking, does the IMF now uphold Zimbabwe’s credit worthiness seeing that it has cleared its arrears, or it still needs to work on it?
MR. SELASSIE: So, unfortunately, Zimbabwe continues to have arrears to the World Bank and African Development Bank, which is a constraint on our abilities to lend to the country.
This hasn’t stopped us, of course, from engaging on policy dialogue, and we are also actually having discussions on other means in which Zimbabwe can be helped by development partners, including grant support. We’ve been very much highlighting the complexity of the policy environment and the tremendous policy constraints that the government has in terms of being able to mount the kind of response that other countries, to whom we will be able to lend, can. So, it is a case which we worry about and are doing our utmost to get the support that Zimbabwe needs from development partners.
Watch the video below…
IMF: …we will touch upon on Zimbabwe, and Simba Chikanza from ZimEye is asking, does the IMF now uphold Zimbabwe’s credit worthiness seeing that it has cleared its arrears, or it still needs to work on it? MR. SELASSIE: So, unfortunately, Zimbabwe continues to have arrears… pic.twitter.com/BlLiO3Gx7D
By Own Correspondent| The US$3 million Sakunda Holdings’ equipment and supplies meant to fight COVID-19 has arrived in Harare as preparations for the opening up of Arundel Hospital gathers momentum.
The arrival of the equipment is a timely boost as rennovations at the hospital, which will be open to every Zimbabwean, have also been completed.
Part of the $US 3 million equipment will be donated to public hospitals fighting the pandemic.
A refreshing look inside one of the medical centres set up for COVID-19 response
The supplies, which include ventilators and rapid testing kits, came aboard Air Zimbabwe’s chartered plane this morning at the Harare international airport.
Sources close to the private initiative by Sakunda said all was set for the opening of Arundel Hospital popularly known as Rock Foundation Medical Centre.
An inside picture of one of the medical facilities
“Sakunda Chartered an Air Zimbabwe plane to ferry a cargo of PPEs, Automatic spraying machines, ultrasound scan, ventilators and rapid testing kits from China worth about usd 3 million including the cost of the chartered plane,” said the source at the airport.
The cargo also included some materials meant for donation by Sakunda to public health centres.
Sakunda Holdings also freely gave space in the aircraft to Friends of China who were also bringing in their supplies to fight the virus.
“The cargo is 30 tonnes and a small part will be used at Arundel while most of the equipment will be donated to public hospitals. It must be noted that Sakunda also gave Friends of China free space to bring in their equipment,” the source explained.
Sakunda Holdings came up with a multi million dollar initiative to resuscitate and equip Arundel Clinic (Rock Foundation Medical Centre) as a way of complementing Government efforts in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
an outside view of one the facilities renovated by Sakunda
The virus has so far claimed three people in Zimbabwe while 25 have tested positive to the pandemic.
President Mnangagwa has already put the country under lockdown for a further 14 days after the initial 21 days lapsed yesterday as a way of limiting the spread of the disease.
Zimbabwe has implemented raft of measures to curb and control the outbreak of the disease albeit under tough economic circumstances.
By Olivia Nyamakura- It is over two years since Mugabe was dethroned and almost a year since he departed this world. Many people still can not believe he is gone. Whatever his earlier achievements, Mugabe left Zimbabwe, now 40, in distress.
At 40, Zimbabwe reels in economic turmoil. There are no jobs for the youths coming from tertiary schools. Education has simply become an anathema. We used to think a good education is a ticket to a good job and life but to the contrary it is not. Many graduates are finding comfort in the informal sector.
Many surbubs are without running water. Boreholes have become a commonplace. People are experiencing power outages for more than 18 hrs a day.For power, people have now resorted to gas (which many cannot afford) and firewood. One can only dream of street lights.
Hospitals are understaffed, ill-equipped with doctors and nurses doing work half heartedly because of low incomes and lack of personal protective equipment (PPE).
We see political rivalries between the major parties Zanu PF and MDC Alliance reaching crescendo peaks disregarding the welfare of citizens. This won’t restore goodwill in the country but rather cause more harm than good.
This Golden Jubilee, Zimbabweans should unite and find common ground. At least that resonates with the founding ethos of our fallen heros. Unity, respect, love and hard work
The region has witnessed an influx of millions of Zimbabweans migrating because of an unhinged economy. Globally, Zimbabweans are popular for diligence and hard work. My heart always cry for the skills and expertise that is scattered around the world.
The brain drain to greener pastures has left Zimbabwe dry and desperate for an injection of new blood in leadership positions. If fortunes continue on the negative what will become of Zimbabwe in the next 40 years. My prayer is for a Zimbabwe that is flourishing.
We have heard of sanctions. We have also heard of corruption. Prayer sessions, fastings have been done for Zimbabwe but nothing seems to be moving. Only God can transform Zimbabwe. It’s only a matter of time, when the time is right, God will make it right.
Had it not been the world pandemic , covid-19, people should have gathered at different centres on Independence day, 18 April, celebrating our fallen heros. I grew up to such activities. Independence Day celebrations were big mass gatherings known for extravagant feasts. Beasts would be slaughtered and drinks would flow galore commemorating our fallen heroes. Nevertheless, our hearts and spirits salute them.
As Zimbabwe turns 40, we might as well pose to ponder the road we have travelled. Is it worth writing home about? Would fallen heroes be happy if ever they were to wake up from mass graves scattered in Mozambique and Zambia to see the Zimbabwe that is today?
The likes of Samora Machel, Leopold Takawira, Joshua Nkomo, Josiah Tongogara. The list of our fallen heroes is just endless.Hopefully I will still be alive in the next forty years, writing a different note about Zimbabwe.
By A Correspondent-A man was arrested at a roadblock in Gauteng when he attempted to “smuggle” his girlfriend out of Gauteng, MEC for safety and community Faith Mazibuko said.
Mazibuko said the car was stopped and searched at a roadblock on the N12 on Friday.
When officers asked the man to open his boot, they found the woman inside, she said.
He was traveling without a permit.
Mazibuko said the woman was also arrested because “she consented to be smuggled”.
A man was arrested at the N12 roadblock on Friday, 17 April, for attempting to smuggle his girlfriend out of GP to MP, without a permit.
Law enforcement asked the man to open the boot to search, they found a lady inside. She was also arrested, she consented to be smuggled. pic.twitter.com/QuONdyDz0p
By Jane Mlambo| The Judicial Services Commission has set new dates for all pending criminal cases due to the extension of the national lockdown by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Yesterday, Mnangagwa announced that the national lockdown which was set to end today had been extended by a further 14 days as the country works to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a communication from the JSC yesterday, the new remand dates for those who were supposed to appear in court on the 30th of March will now appear on the 4th of May while those who were appear on 30 April will now appear on the 4th of June.
Today at 19,29 pm I made a call to the Town clerk of the city of Harare Eng Hosea Abraham Chisango asking him to implore government,the municipal police and any other stakeholders to stop the current wave of demolitions in and around the capital city .
The Town clerk assured me that he will address all concerns coming to council from the affected vending community .
The Town clerk as the head of municipal administration has also agreed to issue a statement addressing issues raised by the vendors and the press pertaining to the demolitions.
I have also asked the committee that deals with informal sector to meet with all relevant stakeholders to formulate a comprehensive policy that addressed issues to do with space Barons ,revenue collection , registration of vendors ,introduction of technology in the sector ,refurbishment of municipal markets .
By A Correspondent The World Health Organisation has said there is no evidence that COVID-19 survivors are immune to the disease and they cannot pass the disease to others.
This was revealed by the head of WHOs emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, Maria Van Kerkove who said the serologic tests that look for antibodies in a person’s immune system to clarify the number of people who have been exposed to the virus may not be able to provide the information researchers are looking for.
Said Maria Van Kerkove:
Right now, we have no evidence that the use of a serologic test can show that an individual is immune or is protected from reinfection. What the use of these tests will do will measure the level of antibodies and it is a response that the body has a week or two later after they have been infected with this virus
Government across the world were pinning hopes on the serologic tests hoping they would reveal if survivors could be sent back to work without infecting others.-VOA
Bindura-based artiste Tsitsi “Culture Galore” Masawi has released a track titled Paita Mhute to conscientise people on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Masawi is a member of Institute for Young Women Development (IYWD), which has partnered Mashonaland Central provincial COVID-19 command centre in raising awareness of the deadly pandemic in the province.
“When I heard the news of the deadly pandemic, my heart bled and I saw that the pandemic has confused the whole world, hence the inclusion of mhute (mist) in the title, to sensitise people and give awareness in the province,” she said.
Masawi performed the track at Dandamera in Concession, where IYWD had its maiden COVID-19 awareness campaign on Wednesday last week.
“I am taking the song to remote areas like Guruve, Shamva, Bindura rural and peri-urban Mazowe district under the banner of IYWD,” she said.
The 27-year-old musician has one album Hunhu Huripi, with 12 tracks mainly centred on women empowerment.
IYWD team leader Glanis Changachirere hailed Masawi saying she had always taken a leading role in spreading awareness on important issues.
“We are very proud of our member. She is someone who always takes a leading role in raising awareness through music in all programmes that we take to young women,” Changachirere said.
By A Correspondent- Masvingo Province’s biggest isolation center Chikombedzi Mission Hospital doesn’t have running water. The 34 beds facility has no mortuary either.
This was revealed by the publication that shed more light on the hospital and said the hospital mortuary broke down and it was never fixed because of lack of resources.
According to the publication:
Work at most COVID-19 isolation centres in Masvingo remains unfinished.
The biggest isolation centre in Masvingo province at Chikombedzi Mission Hospital with 34 beds has no mortuary and running water.
According to the hospital administrator, Enias Zava, the mortuary broke down 10 years ago, but was not repaired because of lack of resources.-Newsday
By A Correspondent- A 28-year-old actress who starred in local production Tunga, Patience Chimhavi has died, Newsday reports. Patience who played the role to Merjury in Tunga died on Friday after a short illness and was buried at Zororo Memorial Park in Chitungwiza.
Patience’s uncle Enias Chengaose said Patience suffered an Asthma attack on Tuesday and was in the hospital till her death:
Further tests revealed her kidneys were not functioning properly. Her condition deteriorated rapidly on Thursday night and she passed on yesterday (Friday) Anemia was also cited as the other major reason which made her to succumb
Chenagose also spoke about the actress’s talent and said:
She was an extremely talented young woman. I would like to believe that she was born an actress because she could just gel into any role without any difficulties. I encouraged and supported her all the way in every endeavour she embarked on.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) has bemoaned government’s haphazard response to COVID -19 and lack of preparedness.
In a statement, CiZC regional co-ordinator Blessing Vava lamented the poor state of the public health institutions and government’s failure to fund the fight against COVID-19.
“It is disappointing to note that the government’s response to COVID-19 has been haphazard, with lots of misinformation while the out of sorts President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been running all over like a headless chicken. It seems there is no strategy and a clear roadmap, on how the nation is going to progress post lockdown,” he said.
“The Health ministry has been reduced to giving statistics on the number of infections without adequately proffering practical solutions to curb the spread of COVID-19. Despite imposing a lockdown which has rather failed due to the socio-economic structure of our society, many Zimbabweans continue to be at risk as the struggle for economic survival is a daily reality. Over 70% of Zimbabweans are living in poverty. A lockdown that is not supported by a rigorous COVID-19 testing programme will unfortunately just be a tick-box exercise.”
Human rights lobby group, National Transitional Justice Working Group also challenged government to strive to improve citizens’ welfare without being coerced by courts or external forces.
Government was recently ordered by the court to provide protective clothing to healthcare workers and security officers enforcing the lockdown order after being taken to court by the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights.
“Government does not have to wait for court orders or external pressure for basic measures to be rolled out, as the High Court had to order in the case of Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights v Minister of Health and others.”
Terrence Kudakwashe Nemukuyu says then we do u think we aill get with someone lk parrafin in statehouse
Andz Andile says So is this a political campaign or what?
Bazooka Mzilikazi says:Ndazvitadza ini,hanyari here shuwa kutsvaga popularity nepanhamo.Branding is even more expensive than the product itself apo vanhu varikufa nenzara1
Maps says: Pane akatora humambo parufu chaipo akada kutopisira President chaivo (SC) mumba parufu! Do you stil remember that?1
Manjenjenje says : This is a serious crime against humanity Here is the evidence of politicking with people’s lives. Zanu pf must go.
Sheep in wolf’s clothing says: And you wonder why we do not get proper aide funding
By A Correspondent- Urban Tete Zuva Habane apologized to her followers on social media for being a bad influence to her followers and has vowed to stay off social media until she can give a positive influence.
This comes days after Shadaya, a meme writer and social media entertainer listed Zuva Habane as one of the negative role models in Zimbabwe.
It is not clear if this would have been the reason behind Zuva Habane withdrawing from Social media.
Below is Zuva Habane Post:
GOOD MORNING ZUVA NATION, FRIENDS & FOLLOWERS..
IT IS WITH A HEAVY HEART THAT I WRITE THIS TEXT YOU YOU. FROM THE MOMENT I STARTED THIS JOURNEY, YOU HAVE STOOD BY ME AND WITH ME, SUPPORTING ME EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. I AM HUMBLED BY YOUR UNWAVERING SUPPORT AND FOR THAT I’M FOREVER GRATEFUL. WITHOUT YOU THERE WOULD BE NO ZUVA URBAN TETE. THANK YOU FROM THE DEPTHS OF MY HEART.
IT IS IN THIS VEIN THAT I COME TO YOU, ASKING YOU TO PLEASE ACCEPT MY HEARTFELT APOLOGIES FOR THE DIRECTION ZUVA URBAN TETE HAS TAKEN LATELY.
I’M SORRY FOR MY ABHORRENT BEHAVIOR AND I TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY ACTIONS AND THE NEGATIVITY THAT HAS RESULTED FROM THEM. I REALIZE THAT MY FAMILY, MY FRIENDS AND MY FOLLOWERS HAVE BEEN AFFECTED BY IT AND THAT GRIEVES MY HEART.
BEING IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA BUSINESS, IT IS EXPECTED THAT ONE HAD TO HAVE A THICK SKIN. BEING THAT AS IT MAY, I AM HUMAN AND THE NEGATIVITY TOOK ITS TOLL ON ME. UNFORTUNATELY, I LASHED OUT AT THE WRONG PEOPLE IN THE QUEST TO RETALIATE ON THOSE THAT I FELT WERE ATTACKING ME. I UNDERSTAND SOCIAL MEDIA AND HAVE HAD THE ABILITY TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN SOCIAL MEDIA AND REALITY, SADLY THE NEGATIVITY AND THE NEED TO RESPOND TO IT HAD ME MIXING UP THE TWO.
WHEN I JOINED SOCIAL MEDIA MY INTENTION WAS TO SHARE AND LEARN NEW THINGS AND ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE. I APPRECIATE THAT LOTS OF WOMEN AND MEN LOOK UP TO ME AS AN INFLUENCER AND I NEED TO BE RESPONSIBLE IN MY ACTIONS. MY BEHAVIOR ONLINE LATELY HAS BEEN INEXCUSABLE AND WILL I PROMISE YOU, I AM WORKING ON FIXING MYSELF FOR YOU.
LASTLY, I APOLOGIZE FOR ABUSING MY PLATFORM TO ATTACK INDIVIDUALS AND OTHER SOCIALITES. THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR AND MY ACTIONS WERE REGRETTABLE. I GOT CAUGHT UP IN A STICKY WEB THAT I SHOULD HAVE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS.
MY APPEAL TO ZUVA NATION AND VISITORS TO PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH ME WHILE I WORK ON MYSELF. I PROMISE TO BE BETTER. I’M TAKING THIS STAND BECAUSE OF MY LOVE AND RESPECT FOR YOU. I HAVE LOVED MY JOB AND ALL THE INTERACTIONS WITH YOU. I WANT US TO CONTINUE LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER AND GROWING. MY GOAL IS TO BE THE BEST VERSION OF ZUVA URBAN TETE AND WITH YOUR FORGIVENESS AND PATIENCE I KNOW IT’S POSSIBLE.
I HAVE DECIDED TO STAY OFF SOCIAL MEDIA UNTIL A TIME I FEEL I CAN ADD VALUE TO YOU AS OPPOSED TO BEING TOXIC TO YOU. LIKE I ALWAYS TELL YOU: ALWAYS STRIVE TO BE THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELVES. KEEP THOSE WORDS WITH YOU TILL I BOUNCE BACK. ALSO, REMEMBER TO FORGET WHAT YOU GIVE AND NEVER EXPECT ANYTHING IN RETURN AND NEVER FORGET TO FORGIVE.
By A Correspondent- Nurses affiliated to the Zimbabwe Nurses Association (Zina) have accused their executive of unilaterally increasing monthly subscriptions from $5 to $100, thus impoverishing them at a time their salaries have been eroded by inflation.
The new subscription fees come into effect this month, although Zina members claimed they were not consulted over the increases.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Zina president Enock Dongo demanded that the disgruntled members should identify themselves.
“Do not hunt me down. We are used to people who want to spoil other people’s names. We are already soiled and what can only surprise us is being considered clean,” he said.
Nurses who spoke to NewsDay said they were not happy with Dongo’s administrative decisions, which went against the constitutional provisions of their association.
“They did not consult the members when they increased and this is despite that in 2019, they failed to hold the annual general meeting (AGM).”
“It only means they are cushioning themselves with our money and this is not in the interests of the members,” a Zina member based in Gwanda complained.
“An increase of subscription fees can only be approved by 75% of the members at an AGM. Not even the courtesy to make a consultation, but just taking all that money,”another nurse from Hwange said.-Newsday
By A Correspondent- After inspecting facilities in the ongoing government health facilities inspection, Defense Minister and COVID-19 taskforce member Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri said she was not impressed by the lack of PPE for Chiredzi Polyclinic Frontline workers.
Addressing journalists after the tour Muchinguri Kashiri said:
I am impressed with the facelift the isolation centre is getting courtesy of Tongaat Hulett. I have also seen that people are complying with the lockdown. That is recommendable. I am not, however, impressed with the situation at Chiredzi Polyclinic. The frontline workers had no gloves or face masks
Chiredzi Polyclinic has been identified as the towns’ COVID-19 isolation centre.-Newsday
HARARE –Harare mayor Herbert Gomba on Sunday ordered a halt to the demolition of informal market stalls following a public outcry.
The City of Harare and the government have used the cover of the coronavirus lockdown to tear down illegal market stalls in poor neighbourhoods.
Council officials, with the help of police and soldiers, were on Saturday and Sunday demolishing makeshift stalls used by informal traders in Mbare and Highfield.
The move was strongly criticised by citizens in the country where more than 80 percent of the working population have no formal jobs and eke a living from informal markets.
“Today, at 7.29PM I made a call to the town clerk of the City of Harare Hosea Abraham Chisango asking him to implore the government, the municipal police and any other stakeholders to stop the current wave of demolitions in and around the capital city,” Gomba said in a statement late Sunday.
He said he had also directed a council committee that deals with informal traders to consult the various interest groups and present a “comprehensive policy that addresses the issue of space barons, revenue collection, registration of vendors, introduction of technology in the sector and the refurbishment of municipal markets.”
City authorities had earlier defended the demolitions saying they were necessary to restore order in the city, and that informal traders would be relocated to new and better facilities.
Demolition men … Bulldozers take down an informal market in Mbare on Saturday
The action was triggered by the local government ministry which, in an April 8 letter to the MDC-run council, said a Cabinet resolution had directed that local authorities must use the relative quiet of the lockdown to “clean up and renovate small and medium enterprise and informal traders’ workspaces so that these areas will be more conducive to operate from when business reopens.”
City of Harare spokesman Michael Chideme said: “The people who were trading on this site (Mbare Magaba) will be put in a new complex, so on Monday our teams will be working on the new complex, flattening out, pouring concrete and then marking the vending bays.
“The overflow from this market, will be absorbed at the market under construction at Coca-Cola. You will also realise that we have people who are selling here who had abandoned the Mupedzanhamo market and some who had abandoned the other markets at Mbare Musika. They will go back to their original vending sites.”
In a statement on Sunday, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) accused authorities of carrying out a “thuggish act that is insensitive to the plight of the poor.”
“Only stupidity can lead a council or government to demolish sources of livelihoods without a plan on how to feed the nation during the lockdown and post Covid-19,” the ZCTU blasted.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Sunday extended a lockdown to contain the spread of the new coronavirus by two weeks.
Mnangagwa said the lockdown would continue because the country had not yet met conditions set down by the World Health Organisation to lift the measures.
Zimbabwe began a 21-day lockdown on March 30, which has confined most people to their homes. But in poor townships, people are venturing out in search of staples like maize meal, leading to long queues at the shops.
The lockdown has left many citizens without an income and food at a time the country is grappling with the worst economic crisis in a decade, marked by shortages of foreign exchange, food and medicines.
Opinion|Last week we got a glimpse into the denialism that drives policy at the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe when their “draft” de-dollarisation strategy found its way onto social media. It showed how, despite promising us a month ago, that they would be liberalising the exchange rate, they intend to keep it fixed.
It was such a worrying and disheartening document that had people shaking their heads in disbelief but the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had comforting news. The document was just a draft and not supposed to be for public consumption:
Ignore the document at your own peril
If you are a business or individual whose operations will be impacted on by some of the contents of this draft document-in fact everyone in Zimbabwe is affected-then its good advice to take everything in this document as the truth. Experience has shown how even crazy suggestions such as the government demanding duty in foreign currency have turned out to be true.
Also, the fact that the government has fixed the exchange rate at 25:1 USD despite promising the opposite a month ago should be a harbinger of things to come. Leaked or not the document shows the prevailing denialism, hubris and arrogance that has dominated policy at the Reserve Bank. It would be very unwise to ignore the document in its entirety.
The RBZ was caught with it’s pants down this time around but it does not mean for a second they are not going to go through with measures outlined in there. They would prefer to spring them upon you as nasty surprises.You will thank me later.
Hours after Daily News’ Gift Phiri succumbed to cancer at Harare hospital yesterday, a former editor at the same publication Ray Matikinye reportedly collapsed and died at his home in Bulawayo.
Gift Phiri, The Daily News’ assistant editor, succumbed to cancer early on Sunday.
He was 44.
Matikinye’s death was confirmed by his daughter who said Matikinye had earlier in the day gone to the shops to buy some beer and came back and everything was normal:
He came back looking fine and jovial, but suddenly collapsed and died
Stanley Gama described Matikinye as a good mentor who taught him everything he knows:
“The journalism fraternity has lost a gentle giant. His speciality was feature writing and analysis. He was well researched and liked teaching young journalists the art of the trade. Ray taught me a lot of things in journalism.”
THE Postal Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) says there is no scientific link between fifth generation (5G) cellular mobile technologies and Covid-19 or any clinical evidence linking the technology to the novel virus.
Potraz has further assured Zimbabweans that only standardised network equipment would be allowed for deployment into the country.
This followed conspiracy theories linking the 5G to the spread of Covid-19. Fifth Generation is the latest wireless mobile phone technology first deployed in 2019.
In various countries, 5G and communication infrastructure had been subjected to vandalism and acts of arson and sabotage as people were being misled to believe that there is a link between the two.
In a statement, Potraz director general, Dr Gift Machengete, said: “There is no scientific link between 5G and Covid-19 or its spread. There is no clinical evidence linking 5G and Covid-19 or its spread. 5G operates in the non-ionising portion of the electromagnetic field and there are no 5G deployments in Zimbabwe.
“All network deployments in Zimbabwe are done in accordance with ITU based international standards and under Zimbabwe law, network vandalism or intentional damage to critical information infrastructure is a criminal offence which upon conviction carries a minimum of 10 years in jail.”
Dr Machengete said unlike its predecessors, 5G will be more human and environmentally friendly as it will employ beam-forming antennas to focus signals more efficiently towards the device in use rather than having the signal spread in broad directions as in current base station antennas.
He said no adverse health effect has been causally linked with exposure to wireless technologies.
“Health related conclusions are drawn from studies performed across the entire radio spectrum including those to be used for 5G,” he said.
“Tissue heating is the main mechanism of interaction between radiofrequency fields and the human body. Radio frequency exposure levels from current technologies result in negligible temperature rise in the human body.”
State Media|Government continues to monitor the state of hospitals which will accommodate Covid-19 patients, with a view to ensuring that everything is place and the country is ready to deal with any surge in positive cases.
Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Dr John Mangwiro yesterday toured Parirenyatwa Hospital, Corporate 24 and St Anne’s as part of ongoing tours.
He was in Marondera and Hwedza on Saturday, as part of a delegation led by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga assessing the facilities’ preparedness.
“We picked a lot of weaknesses in some areas and we are moving around to assess and help them out in what they are doing,” said Dr Mangwiro after touring Parirenyatwa yesterday.
“In Marondera yesterday (Saturday) we found out that they can have a potential of 10 intensive care unit (ICU) beds. We are emphasising that any place which is going to be handling Covid-19 cases, all frontline health workers must always be protected.
“Where there is an ICU, the ventilators sort of breathe out lots of the Covid from the patient, so that area is very sensitive in that nurses and doctors will walk in.
“Other workers like dieticians and physiotherapists will also walk into that room full of Covid.
“The most important thing we are advising people to do is to have negative pressure where this air which is contaminated is sucked out, but is not thrown necessarily in the atmosphere.”
Heaters that suction air from coronavirus patients could heat up to 80 degrees Celsius, making it difficult for the virus to
To protect health workers and everyone, Dr Mangwiro said they saw it necessary to introduce air curtains, which means no air comes out of treatment rooms into corridors.
At both Marondera and Mahusekwa hospitals, the assessment team saw it necessary to introduce taps that could be switched on and off using elbows.
Mahusekwa has a potential of 10 ICU beds, and already has four ventilators, while Marondera has two ventilators.
Massive work is being undertaken at Parirenyatwa where engineers assured the Government that the facility would be ready for use soon, with painting of the wards expected to start on Wednesday.
Parirenyatwa has potential for 28 beds in the ICU and 425 beds in total to accommodate Covid-19 patients.
Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital has potential of 10 ICU beds and can take up to 160 people.
Vice President Kembo Mohadi (left), who also chairs the Inter-Ministerial Taskforce on Covid-19, Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Techology Professor Amon Murwira (right) and other stakeholders tour Lupane State University which is set to be used as a quarantine centre on Saturday. Picture: Eliah Saushoma
Dr Mangwiro applauded the private sector for participating in the fight against Covid-19.
He said Corporate 24 has capacity for two ICU beds and five ordinary beds and they were almost ready to take in patients.
St Anne’s is at an advanced stage and has seven machines and potential for 10 ICU beds.
The facility can take up to 100 patients.
“We want to thank them for their efforts and as a ministry we are making sure that they abide by the strict rules recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO),” said Dr Mangwiro.
“Our biggest weakness in the provinces is that people were using oxygen cylinders, so we need to have proper installation of huge tanks which can take up to 20 to 30 tonnes of oxygen because we understand that Covid patients need lots of oxygen for them to be able to recover quickly.”
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) has bemoaned government’s haphazard response to COVID -19 and lack of preparedness.
In a statement, CiZC regional co-ordinator Blessing Vava lamented the poor state of the public health institutions and government’s failure to fund the fight against COVID-19.
“It is disappointing to note that the government’s response to COVID-19 has been haphazard, with lots of misinformation while the out of sorts President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been running all over like a headless chicken. It seems there is no strategy and a clear roadmap, on how the nation is going to progress post lockdown,” he said.
“The Health ministry has been reduced to giving statistics on the number of infections without adequately proffering practical solutions to curb the spread of COVID-19. Despite imposing a lockdown which has rather failed due to the socio-economic structure of our society, many Zimbabweans continue to be at risk as the struggle for economic survival is a daily reality. Over 70% of Zimbabweans are living in poverty. A lockdown that is not supported by a rigorous COVID-19 testing programme will unfortunately just be a tick-box exercise.”
Human rights lobby group, National Transitional Justice Working Group also challenged government to strive to improve citizens’ welfare without being coerced by courts or external forces.
Government was recently ordered by the court to provide protective clothing to healthcare workers and security officers enforcing the lockdown order after being taken to court by the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights.
“Government does not have to wait for court orders or external pressure for basic measures to be rolled out, as the High Court had to order in the case of Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights v Minister of Health and others.”
“Today, we come face to face with the consequences of a socio-economic and rule of law infrastructure that does not conduce to the best possible response to a disaster of COVID-19 proportions, the lobby group said.
Zimbabwe @40, Independence Message from Independent Member of Parliament for Norton Constituency, Hon. Temba P. Mliswa (MP)
Greetings Fellow Zimbabweans.
Life begins at 40…..
Today Zimbabwe celebrates its Independence under a cloud of uncertainty. Uncertainty that has led us unable to mark the occasion in our traditional manner. 40 is a milestone year which should have seen companies pouring in money countrywide to celebrate.
Whilst such funding will not be used for celebrations, companies should activate that same spirit of giving and channel it towards COVID-19 precautionary, preventative and preparedness strategies, it was budgeted for after all and simply requires redirection.
Yes we have witnessed companies coming to the fore, but have all of the white monopoly capital concerns come to the party with contributions commensurate to their turnovers? Whilst national efforts are appreciated, what are these concerns like Innscor Africa, Delta etc doing in their communities nationwide? It is not the time to have the wool pulled over our eyes by receiving pittances, the fight against Coronavirus is real and requires real donations, not just in Harare, but countrywide if we are to overcome. Yes we can blame Government, but blame will not save us now.
As we mark 40 years of Independence, the health sector is finally receiving the face lift it so desperately requires. COVID-19 is not something that we would wish for but in its morbid way, the virus has seen what we look forward to being the beginning of better for the sector.
This Independence, let us be independent of COVID-19, we are warriors. We won the struggle as Zimbabweans, now there is no looking back. We can win this war against the virus by staying at home, washing our hands and social distancing. You, me, we are in this together, we can all play our parts by being responsible.
Let 40 mark the beginning where Zimbabwe overcomes its challenges, the beginning that sees us coming out the other side triumphantly.
One thing that will never die is hope, hope in the great nation of ours, Zimbabwe. I thank you.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday announced that the country’s lock-down had been further increased by 14 days and gave the green light for the mining industry to resume full-scale operations.
The highly anticipated decision brought relief to the Mining industry and miners who had not been exempted have already started preparing to return to work. The resumption of operations, however, is on condition that miners stay at their respective accommodation at their mines and are pre-tested ahead of the commencement of operations.
“I have now directed the Ministries of Health and Child Care, and that of Mines and Mining Development to work closely to ensure the workforce in the mining sector is immediately screened and tested ahead of resumed operations,” said Mnangagwa.
On enquiring, if Miners will need some clearance to begin operations Zimbabwe Miners Federation President Ms Henrietta Rushwaya said, “We stand guided by our Mines and Mining Development Minister Hon Winston Chitando on way forward after the announcement of the 2-week lockdown Extention by His Excellency”.
Mining Zimbabwe sent enquiries to the Mines Minister and by the time of publishing this article he had not responded.
Miner and Mining Consultant Edward Shakemore Fundira said, “Well, the President in his lockdown address has automatically exempted all miners to continue or to resume mining operations. We now await to hear guidelines of operations from the Ministry responsible for mines in conjunction with the Ministry of Health then we comply”.
“Also the President in his speech today highlighted that miners must be confined to their mining location, so we the mine owners are to provide decent accommodation for our employees at the mining locations in order to limit movements. There is need for miners and their employees to thoroughly observe W.H.O guidelines such as social distancing, practising good hygienic practices and also putting on Personal Protective Equipments all the time to prevent the spread of the disease”. Fundira concluded.
A CHITUNGWIZA woman died after consuming home-baked bread prepared with an ant-pesticide that had been mistaken for sugar by her child while baking.
Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident, saying police were investigating the case of a woman who succumbed to food poisoning.
“We received a report of a 44-year-old woman in Zengeza 3, who succumbed to food poisoning,” he said.
“We heard reports that a family in Zengeza 3 mistakenly used insecticide as baking ingredients. We urge members of the public not to put food and poison at the same place.’’
The incident, which has left local residents in shock, occurred last Wednesday night, with the woman dying the following day around 2am.
A neighbour who requested anonymity said: “I stay in Zengeza 3 where my neighbour, Mai Chidhau, died around 2am after eating home-baked bread that contained an ant-pesticide. Her child mistakenly mixed the ant-pesticide with flour when she was baking bread.
“Unfortunately, family members, including the husband and the child, ate the food.”
The neighbour said while asleep, family members started vomiting, leading to the death of Mrs Chidhau.
Residents, relatives and friends sent messages of condolence on various Chitungwiza social media platforms.
By Douglas Togaraseyi Mwonzora| On the 31st of March, 2020, the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe delivered two judgements concerning the Movement for Democratic Change. One judgement related to the challenge lodged by the party on the legality of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment No.1 of 2019. In that judgement the Supreme Court ruled that the passing of the amendment to the Constitution of Zimbabwe to allow the President to appoint judges without them going through public interviews had not been regularly passed and therefore was null and void. The second judgement related to a dispute principally between MDC Gokwe District organising secretary, Elias Mashavira, and MDC president, Nelson Chamisa. In this case the Supreme Court ruled that the assumption of party presidency by Nelson Chamisa was ultra-vires the MDC constitution. It proceeded to order the party to convene its Extraordinary Congress for purposes of electing a substantive president to replace the late Morgan Tsvangirai, within a maximum of 4 months. It reinstated the leadership of the MDC as elected at its 4th Congress in 2014 to run the affairs of the party pending the holding of the Extraordinary Congress.
The MDC leadership was sharply divided on the judgement. One group urged the party to accept the judgement and hold the Extraordinary Congress in terms of the constitution. This way the party would deal with the party leadership question once and for all. The other group argued that the court was biased and had made a political judgement. At any rate the judgement did not affect them because the party had morphed into the MDC Alliance, so went the argument.
The reaction to the suggestion that the party obeys the court judgement was an avalanche of hate and a torrent of intolerance. The leaders in question were immediately labelled as state agents who had infiltrated the party to destabilize it. They were called charlatans, nincompoops, sell-outs and Judas Iscariot and summarily “expelled” from the party. On top of the hate language directed at them, attempts were made to recall these leaders from the Parliament of Zimbabwe where they are serving as Senators.
Death threats and other threats of violence have been made against these leaders with gangs reportedly hunting them down in Harare. The greater Zimbabwe body politic has also been sucked into this matter with opinion sharply divided on what the party should do in view of this judgement.
It must never be lost that the harsh reaction to the three senators emanate from the opinions they expressed in the aftermath of the judgement that touched on the legitimacy of the president of the party. The cruel and sad lesson is that while the national constitution and the party constitution provide for democracy, freedom of expression and freedom to make and hold opinion, these freedoms do not internally exist in political parties if that opinion or expression is not favourable to the leaders of the parties. This shows the general dearth of democracy in political parties. Some years back Dzikamai Mavhaire suggested that President Mugabe had outlived his usefulness and that he must step down. He was instantly expelled from Parliament and from Zanu PF. Sometime ago, Prof Jonathan Moyo and his colleagues organized a meeting at Dinyane High School in Tsholotsho where they expressed their preference of Emerson Mnangagwa to take the position of vice president of Zanu PF and therefore of the country ahead of Joyce Mujuru. A ruthless and humiliating purge ensued resulting in Prof. Jonathan Moyo losing his cabinet post and party membership. Yet in the USA, for example, some legislators from President Trump’s Republican Party have openly differed with him without suffering any prejudice. In the UK for example some Labour Party MPs openly differed with their leader Jeremy Corbyn over some issues recently. They were not called names nor were they recalled from Parliament. The sad picture painted is that the democracy bar has been set very low for Africa. Yet, I dare say there is nothing African about impunity and dictatorship!
The second phenomenon to emerge in this matter is how far political parties are willing to stand by the very principles enshrined in their founding documents. In the case of the MDC its values and culture are set in articles 3 and 4 of the constitution. These values include freedom, justice, equality, solidarity and democracy. Over the years the MDC has been known to stand for constitutionalism and the rule of law. These are values that officials sing at rallies, press conferences and other public fora. However, this case has betrayed the disconnect between the values which are enshrined in the founding documents of the party and the actual practices within the political party.
It is submitted that for true democracy to thrive parties must stand by their founding values irrespective of the inconveniences to the leadership. Democracy is a painful enterprise which must not be a mere ideal but a way of life.
The Supreme Court did not dictate to the MDC on who the party should elect as its leader at the Extraordinary Congress. It left that duty to the MDC members themselves. However in the rancour and acrimony that followed the ruling, most members failed to realise that the Supreme Court had in fact confirmed their sovereign right to elect their own leaders. They failed to realize that the effect of the Supreme Court judgement was to set in motion a process through which the party would resolve the legitimacy question which is an albatross around the neck of its leader once and for all. It is obvious that some of the leaders fear this Congress because their candidate or candidates might lose.
However, true democrats must never fear to practice democracy on the basis that it could yield unfavourable results to them. This judgement also shows the sickness that has afflicted Zimbabwe’s body politic. The level of tolerance to divergent views is very low while the levels of hate and acrimony are too high. The net effect therefore is to discourage people from airing their true views for fear of reprisals from political leaders. Unfortunately this retains power in the rulers instead of power being in the hands of the masses which is an affront to real democracy.
The other interesting dimension is the “small man” and “big man” dichotomy in our politics. In this case, a district organizing secretary challenged the president of the party on a matter which he believed had a bearing on his right to choose a leader of his party. This as we have seen was at great personal risk. On two occasions, first in the High Court and second, in the Supreme Court the district organizing secretary won over his more powerful opponent. Instead of honouring his victory the party leaders were condescending towards him. There were suggestions that someone “bigger and more intelligent” had conceived this case for some political benefit. This attitude betrayed the patronage which has afflicted our political system. Assuming that people will become ignorant of their rights by virtue of their station in life is simply wrong. This explains why in dictatorships the masses are never respected. In a democracy the masses must always be respected.
The case underscores the distrust with which our judicial system is viewed by many people. Many people believed that the judiciary had been manipulated to pass a judgement not favourable to the appellants. What the proponents of this “manipulation view” temporarily chose to forget was that the entire hearing of the matter had been televised. It was objectively clear all along which way the judgement would go. Looking at this case, there was very little option on the judges but to make the judgement in the manner that they did. Sometimes litigants who lose fairly on the merits exploit the distrust that people have in the judicial system to explain away their loss or incompetence. This is buttressed by the fact that the other judgement in which the MDC won its case against a constitution amendment Act was conveniently ignored.
Having said this, there is a lot of work to be done to bring confidence in our institutions. It turns out that the three Senators’ argument that the MDC Alliance was not a political party but a group of independent and separate political parties, and that the Gweru Congress had not been an MDC Alliance Congress was later corroborated and vindicated by empirical evidence. This evidence included the Alliance agreement itself, the advertisement convening the Gweru congress, the campaign posters by various candidates, the resolutions of the congress, and the presidential statement made immediately after the congress. This evidence rebuffs the existence of what they now refer to as the MDC Alliance party not affected by the Supreme Court judgement.
It is submitted that in the noble march towards democracy, political values including constitutionalism and the respect court judgements must never be avoided. Lawlessness, anarchy and violence can never define a democratic revolution. The road to true democracy is long, thorny, odious and full of unpleasantness. Yet a democracy founded on true values is what forms the essence of the democratic struggle for which the Movement for Democratic Change was founded.
Police in Chinhoyi have arrested four suspected drug dealers and recovered mbanje satchets.
Seventy-four bottles of Chibuku Super beer and 26 Castle Larger quarts were also recovered from the house where the drugs and alcohol were allegedly being sold illegally.
Charles Mafuriranwa (27), Muchaneta Machemera (49), Mashiri Chrismore (28) and Prince Karima (22) were arrested when police raided their house in Ruvimbo suburb.
Their arrest followed a tip-off by informants.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the arrests.
Police were informed that four suspects were unlawfully dealing in drugs at a house in Ruvimbo 1 and officers from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Drugs and Narcotics obtained a search warrant, reacted to the tip-off and raided the house.
“Two and half full sealed plastic bags of dagga, 74 sachets of dagga, 74×1,2 litres of super Chibuku and 26 castle quarts were recovered,” said Asst Comm Nyathi.
The weight of the mbanje and its street value were yet to be ascertained.
Recently, police in Manicaland separately intercepted two trucks ferrying 6,7 tonnes of mbanje, believed to have been smuggled from neighbouring countries.
A haulage truck carrying 4,7 tonnes of mbanje was intercepted along the Nyanga-Nyamapanda Road, while another with over 2 tonnes was stopped by alert Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) officers after leaving Forbes Border Post near Mutare last Wednesday.
The truck ferrying 2 tonnes of mbanje was on its way from Malawi and headed for Zimbabwe.
Its driver who disappeared when Zimra officers started searching the vehicle had declared it empty.
The mbanje was hidden in a false compartment specifically created for that purpose.
The Nyanga-Nyamapanda Road incident occurred last Wednesday around midnight when police manning a roadblock at the 75-km peg along the Nyanga-Nyamapanda Road discovered 53x90kg bags of mbanje loaded in a containerised truck around midnight.
Four people were arrested for allegedly possessing the 4,7 tonnes of the illegal drug.
MOST grocery shops in Bulawayo’s western suburbs are selling basic commodities at exorbitant prices taking advantage of the lockdown regulations that confine consumers to buy from shops within a 5km radius from their residential areas.
A survey conducted by Chronicle yesterday confirmed that basic commodities were very expensive in shops in western suburbs compared to prices at retail shops in the central business district (CBD) and eastern suburbs.
In some cases, the shops in the western suburbs are charging more for those using electronic payment such as Ecocash and swipe.
A 2kg packet of sugar is selling for up to $95 in some shops in the western suburbs compared to $70 or less in the CBD while a 2- litre bottle of cooking oil is selling for $180 compared to $140 in the CBD.
A 2kg packet of flour is selling for $105 in the western suburbs yet it’s going for $80 or less in the CBD.
Most shops in the western suburbs are selling a 2kg packet of rice for $100 while the same packet is selling for $90 or less in the CBD.
Residents said the exorbitant prices in their areas were forcing them to buy from town thereby violating lockdown regulations.
Mrs Sizalobuhle Tembo from Nkulumane suburb said the price madness at local shops was forcing her to walk to Nkulumane Shopping Mall where prices were cheaper.
“Prices of basic commodities are very outrageous here. A 2 litre of cooking oil is selling for nearly $200 yet in some big retail shops it is far less than that.
“How do we observe lockdown regulations when we are being fleeced by shops taking advantage of this 5km radius regulation? To make matters worse we are being charged more for Ecocash or swipe,” said Ms Tembo.
She said Government should seriously consider introducing price controls during the lockdown to protect consumers.
Mr Ndumiso Nyoni from the same suburb said what the local shops were doing was tantamount to fleecing consumers.
“What is the justification for such pricing. It is as if these guys want us to suffer. We know there is a national lockdown and this is the time we expect shops to be reasonable given that many people are not reporting for work,” said Mr Nyoni.
He said the conduct by some local shop owners can fuel criminal behaviour.
Another resident Mr Collen Dube from Nketa 8 suburb said Government should act on the errant shops.
“Their prices are just too high and because of the lockdown we have nowhere else to go. Some of the shops do not accept EcoCash or swipe and those that accept charge more,” said Mr Dube.
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe Matabeleland regional manager Mr Comfort Muchekeza said his organisation has noted with concern the unjust pricing of basic commodities by shops in the western suburbs.
“We are trying to engage stakeholders including Government over the exorbitant prices of basic commodities charged by these shops,” he said. Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers Association (CZRA) president Mr Denford Mutashu said it was expected that prices of commodities in smaller shops are more expensive compared to prices of big retail shops.
He said the smaller shops do not enjoy the same privileges of getting products directly from manufacturers.
“They buy from wholesalers and they also have to factor in transport costs but the margins should not be too high,” said Mr Mutashu.
He said it was unacceptable for shops to reject electronic payments as manufacturers were accepting all modes of payments.
Mr Mutashu said given the challenges of the national lockdown, manufacturers should consider delivering their products to small shops in the western suburbs to reduce the cost of the products to consumers.
World Gold prices fell 2 per cent as investors opted for riskier assets following news of US President Donald Trump’s plans to restart the US economy and promising early data related to a potential COVID-19 treatment. Gold was down 1,8 per cent at $1,686.45 an ounce. Earlier this week, it scaled a seven-year peak on concerns over the worst recession in decades.
“The latest sentiment drift to the positive side and narrative that a plan to return to normal is now afoot are seeing spot gold trading back through $1,700-an-ounce technical support,” Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said.
Global financial markets drew comfort from Trump’s plans for a gradual reopening of the US economy, overshadowing anxiety over data showing China that suffered its worst quarterly economic contraction on record. — Reuters.
A member of the medical personnel works as patients suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
Senior World Health Organization officials say there is no evidence that people who have survived a bout of coronavirus become immune from the deadly disease and cannot pass the infection on to others.
The coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the world with breathtaking speed and no immediate end in sight.
Anxious governments increasingly are grabbing on to the hope that those who have become sickened by this infectious disease will become immune and not pass it on to others.
They are pinning their hopes on serologic tests that look for antibodies in a person’s immune system to clarify the number of people who have been exposed to the virus. Knowing this, they argue, would allow them to send these people back into the workforce without risk of their getting infected or of infecting others.
But head of WHOs emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, Maria Van Kerkove said these serologic tests may not be able to provide the information governments are seeking.
“Right now, we have no evidence that the use of a serologic test can show that an individual is immune or is protected from reinfection. What the use of these tests will do will measure the level of antibodies and it is a response that the body has a week or two later after they have been infected with this virus,” she said.
These tests will be able to measure the level of antibodies, but Van Kerkove said that does not mean that somebody with antibodies is immune to the disease.
Executive Director of WHO health emergencies, Michael Ryan, cautions countries to be prudent and not fix on these tests as a way of establishing the status of an individual. He said there is a lot of uncertainty about the effectiveness of the available tests.
“Nobody is sure whether someone with antibodies is fully protected against having the disease or being exposed again. Plus some of the tests have issues of sensitivity; they may give a false negative result and we may actually have someone who believes they are seropositive or they are protected actually in a situation where they may be exposed and in fact they are susceptible to the disease,” he said.
Ryan said a lot of work still lies ahead to standardize the tests and make sure they are validated. He said great care must be taken to ensure they are not misused but are used in ways that enhance public health.
BOTSWANA has dismissed reports circulating on social media alleging that the neighbouring country has embarked on forceful deportations of more than 200 Zimbabweans from its territory as part of efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19.
In a statement posted on its official Twitter Page, Botswana’s International Affairs and Cooperation Ministry said the recent repatriation exercise was undertaken jointly with Zimbabwe following requests by Zimbabweans who wanted to be assisted to return home when the neighbouring country imposed lockdown measures.
“The Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation notes with deep concern the misinformation and distorted reports on social media platforms purporting that the Government of Botswana has embarked on forceful deportation of Zimbabwean nationals. The assertion being made is completely inaccurate and the fact of the matter is that the recent repatriation exercise was undertaken jointly with the Government of Zimbabwe, following requests from Zimbabwean nationals who wanted to be assisted to return home amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and the lockdown measures put in place,” read the statement.
Botswana said the latest group of 255 returnees brought into the country on Thursday last week through Ramokgwebana Border Post were voluntarily repatriated by road and received by Zimbabwean authorities.
The statement said Botswana and Zimbabwe enjoy excellent relations dating back to the days of the liberation struggle.
“In appreciating the consequences of the lockdown on movement restrictions and in keeping with the spirit of the exercise, none of the repatriated individuals was charged for breaching immigration rules,” reads the statement
The Ministry said Botswana and Zimbabwe remain committed to working closely together in responding to the Covid-19 outbreak and mitigating its impact on both countries as well as on the livelihood of their nationals.
MOSI-oa-Tunya High School in Victoria Falls, which has been turned into an isolation centre for Zimbabweans returning from Botswana and Zambia as part of measures to curb the spread of Covid-19, last Friday received three deportees.
It now holds eight people after the first group of five arrived last Wednesday.
The five women and three men have been housed in two separate classrooms after being screened for the coronavirus at Kazungula Border Post.
Authorities said they will be accommodated at the isolation centre for 14 days.
Matabeleland North Provincial Social Welfare officer Mr Macnon Chirinzepi said all the deportees from Botswana and Zambia will be quarantined at the school which can accommodate up to a 100 people.
Social Welfare department will be catering for their welfare with the help of other stakeholders including the private sector while police and the Zimbabwe National Army will provide security.
“Mosi-oa-Tunya was identified as the quarantine centre for those deported through ports around here.
“We have managed to mobilise most of the basics they will need such as food, toiletries, blankets and some clothes,” he said.
The deportees are from Victoria Falls, Hwange, Binga and Kadoma.
Below is a video of Supreme Court Judges as they said MDC-T leader, Thokozani Khupe is dancing on an empty, moot legal argument against her former boss, Nelson Chamisa.
The video is from the hearing which has led to Khupe celebrating that she is now the leader of the same party she deserted 6 months before the death of the late MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
By A Correspondent| The MDC renegade Thokozani Khupe has pulled back from taking over Nelson Chamisa’s leadership mantle right up to the legal challenge over the 2018 election rigging.
Khupe who nearly 3 years ago removed herself from the MDC Harvest House offices half a year before the late MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai’s death, had been hoping to take over the same, saying she is the rightful successor of the same man she deserted, way before his passing away.
Khupe was hoping that Justice
Bharat Patel’s Supreme Court verdict will grant her legal powers of a real MDC leader.
Her comments came as Chimurenga music lion Thomas Mapfumo scoffed at the court verdict she is relying on, and mkanya speaking on ZimEye warned against “playing with people’s lives.”
There's no govt at all, there is no rule of law so. They say the courts are shut but then they suddenly open them for an MDC case; What type of ruling is that? Let us not play with people's lives, says @ThomasMapfumo – @Chiefsvosve1@nelsonchamisapic.twitter.com/SplHt7NyqH
But Khupe on the same day spoke to ZimEye in a no holds barred interview when she was asked if she is going to inherit Nelson Chamisa’s challenge against Mnangagwa over the election rigging in 2018, and the killing of people using the Army so to change election results. Below was her response:
Are you going to inherit @nelsonchamisa's challenge against @edmnangagwa over the 2018 elections? Khupe replies:"why would I challenge when I don't have evidence? He challenged and was asked to produce evidence…why should I waste my time? Unfortunately I'm not understanding…" pic.twitter.com/PiuNUNAvft
Commenting on this, legal expert Dr Tapiwa Shumba said:
There is no reason for any confusion. It is the MDC trading politically as MDC Alliance. Its been like that ever since. We were MDC trading as MDC-T and noone ever asked why everything about us was still MDC. Noone has ever seen an MDC-T constitution. We always celebrated MDC Anniversary and used MDC in our communications. It has always been MDC but MDC T started as far back as 2008 (before elections).
It’s a choice we make to connect to our history and traditions as we continue to renew, transform and grow on the other hand. It is the transacting name, which is the most relevant in Zimbabwe political context, that changes depending on the electoral market and dynamics. That’s why there is nothing trading as MDC currently. There is no MDC Councillor or MP. Many people don’t understand that MDC is now almost like our nickname or better still mutupo/totem in the Zim political context. Riri pachitupa now is MDC Alliance – it used to be MDC-T. Where our identity is requested for official reasons i.e ZEC and Parliament, Council we use the official name for the electoral cycle – now MDC Alliance. Hakuna chinhu chinonzi MDC kwese ikoko.
I say this because I see people asking. 1) Where is the MDC Alliance Consitution saka? (In fact you are not required to have any constitution in Zim). 2. Why did you celebrate 20 years Anniversary? 3. Why did you have 5th Congress? 4. Why are you stil using Harvest House HQ.
Until you understand that in Zimbabwe a Party only exists at ZEC, Parliament and Government you will continue to get confused about the MDC and MDC Alliance, the former being a street name at the latter being an official name. We will always officially transform to adapt to the political and electoral realities of the day but the soul will remain MDC, yet officially speaking, the MDC (our MDC) ceased to exist as an official electoral entity in 2008. The official MDC-T was abandoned when Thokozani Khupe abused it.
The transformation that takes place with the MDC in every electoral cycle is the fundamental reason why it is first class nonsense for anyone to say the Party must revert to a pre-electoral state. Pre-electoral state of the MDC are footsteps, hakuna chinhu, kunosara mutupo iwoyu unonzi MDC chete. That’s why there is this confusion, yet in truth, there is nothing new in the transformation of political parties. Consider this question – how old is ZANU-PF – and what is ZANU in all this – does ZANU-PF say it started in 1987 – but why do they claim and celebrate the 70s heroes and victories of ZANU when ZANU-PF started in 1987? Lastly, don’t be stupid.
file picture of the deportees arriving in the country.
THE Victoria Falls Rapid Response Team has sent samples to the National TB Reference Laboratory in Bulawayo for confirmation after one of the eight deportees from Botswana tested positive for suspected Covid-19 symptoms following Rapid Diagnostic Testing (RDT).
The deportees are isolated at Mosi-oa-Tunya High School in Victoria Falls which was identified as a quarantine centre for Matabeleland North for all returnees from Botswana, Zambia and Namibia.
Matabeleland North Provincial Medical Director Dr Purgie Chimberengwa said the Rapid Response Team collected RDT samples of one of the deportees who tested positive after the RDT.
This comes as DNA and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) results of two other suspected cases that had tested positive on RDT in Umguza and Tsholotsho came out negative.
“One of the returnees at the quarantine centre tested positive after RDT and the Rapid Response Team has taken samples for DNA PCR testing and we are waiting for results,” said Dr Chimberengwa in an interview.
More deportees are expected in Victoria Falls, according to officials.
Dr Chimberengwa said a sample from Nyamandlovu, Umguza district and another from Tsholotsho that had initially tested positive after RDT tests came out negative after DNA PCR tests.
“The province is doing RDT and sending samples to Bulawayo for confirmation. We did RDT tests on a family of five in Umguza and another person in Tsholotsho. The Umguza suspected case was linked to Case Number 14 who had visited friends in Nyamandlovu before knowing his status. The whole family of five was tested and one tested positive. We sent the samples for confirmation and results came back negative which meant it was a false positive result.
“The Tsholotsho case is that of a TB patient who was unwell and visited the hospital where he tested positive on RDT but the DNA PCR results came back negative hence he was cleared,” said Dr Chimberengwa.
Meanwhile, two Hwange residents died after a short illness in separate incidents last week after complaining of flu-like conditions which the Rapid Response Team treated as suspected cases of Covid-19, but results show that they did not die from the virus.
Dr Chimberengwa said results showed that the deceased, a woman aged 34 from Cinderella and a 62-year-old man from Madumabisa died of other health complications.
“The deaths were not Covid-19 related but everyone was panicking. We had to follow procedure to treat every sudden death as a suspected positive case so that we follow all procedures but the samples tested negative,” said Dr Chimberengwa.
He said a St Mary’s woman also from Hwange who died at home early last week did not die from Covid-19.
The Covid-19 national lockdown has been extended by another 14 days to May 3, but with Government taking a major step to restart the economy by allowing the mining and manufacturing sectors to reopen under rules set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and public health authorities.
Zimbabwe has now recorded 25 Covid-19 confirmed cases and three deaths from 2 851 tests.
Announcing both the extension and the reopening of two major production sectors yesterday, President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe was yet to meet the conditions for lifting a lockdown announced by the WHO, which in any case wants all countries to preserve lockdowns at present.
In his address at State House yesterday, the President acknowledged that the decision to extend the lockdown was hard to make, but was necessary under the present circumstances.
He appealed to the nation to cooperate as fully as it had done for the initial 21 days that ended yesterday.
“Government has reviewed the situation obtaining in the country, around us in the region and worldwide. As I have already indicated, incidences of infection in our country to date have risen to 25. This figure comprises both imported and local transmissions, with the trend clearly showing that more and more we are now dealing with in-country transmissions. We are also facing a new situation where more and more of our citizens are coming back home, including from countries heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. This presents an unavoidable, but growing threat to our nation, as we must accommodate all our returning citizens,” he said.
The country, the President said, was yet to meet the conditions for lifting the lockdown that were recently announced by WHO and key among these conditions was the need to have in place health systems that were capable to test, isolate, treat and trace every contact.
Highlights of President’s address – Lockdown extended to May 3. – Covid-19 confirmed cases now 25. – More health personnel needed. – Mining sector resumes within WHO parameters. – Limited operations for manufacturing sector to start. – Tobacco auction floors to be decentralised. – Reprieve for manufacturers in informal, SMEs sectors. – Essential services continue as before. – President to visit more places to assess lockdown impact.
The need to lift the lockdown, he added, was when the transmission of the virus was fairly under control.
“I have now directed the Ministries of Health and Child Care, and that of Mines and Mining Development to work closely to ensure the workforce in the mining sector is immediately screened and tested ahead of resumed operations.
“Further, to the extent possible, I have directed that workers in the mining sector remain within the precincts of their accommodation at workplaces for the duration of the lockdown,” he said.
With respect to the manufacturing sector, the President said he had directed that limited operations resume in the national interest. However,mindful of the public health safeguards, inspectors would be visiting all operations to ensure the safeguards were being strictly adhered to.
“This reprieve covers our manufacturers in our informal sector and SMEs as well, who have to use these two weeks to rebuild their capacities and stocks. The responsible ministry is also directed to work closely with the health authorities to ensure there is order and safety in that sector, so critical to livelihoods,” said the President.
He added that essential services will continue operating within designated times and parameters as already announced.
President Mnangagwa said the Government had now embarked on expanded tests covering the whole country and this gave room to gauge the magnitude of the problem, while promptly isolating cases early enough.
All health institutions, he said, should become testing centres, which called for an increase in the number of laboratories countrywide to ensure results of tests would come soon enough to allow for timeous interventions.
“This means more recruitments, more specialised training and retraining so our hardworking health workers know how to play their part in the fight against Covid-19, without putting themselves in harm’s way. Our industries and tertiary institutions must be repurposed so they can make significant contributions to this new thrust,” said the President.
President Mnangagwa said the provision of personal protective equipment for health personnel had been prioritised.
The number of COVID cases continues to rise. There are 2.3 million confirmed cases around the world, with more than 160,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
U.S. President Donald Trump said several U.S. states will begin opening some businesses this week while observing coronavirus-related precautions.
Texas and Vermont will allow certain businesses to reopen Monday, with Montana beginning on Friday, Trump said during a coronavirus briefing Saturday at the White House.
“We continue to see a number of positive signs that the virus has passed its peak,” he said, adding, “our testing is getting better and better,” but offered no concrete evidence.
Hundreds of people in several cities around the U.S. have protested against the lockdown measures put in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The protesters are angry at the economic cost of the confinement orders.
Some governors, however, have warned they will not act prematurely to reopen their economies until there is more testing so as not to increase coronavirus infections.
“This has been the number one stumbling block in America, the lack of availability of testing,” Larry Hogan, the Republican governor of Maryland told NBC last week. “You really can’t get to any point where you can reopen the country until, not just in my state, but across the country, until we can do much, much larger-scale testing.”
Harvard University researchers have warned that the U.S. cannot reopen the economy without endangering lives unless it triples the number of tests it is currently conducting. The researchers estimate the number of tests performed each day until mid-May should be between 500,000 and 700,000, far greater than the current average daily of 146,000.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization says there is “no evidence” that people who have endured COVID-19 are immune to it, dashing hopes of the creation of an antibody COVID tests.
Senior WHO epidemiologists say there is no proof that people who have endured COVID cannot be re-infected. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 163 people who had the coronavirus have been re-infected.
A report Saturday on CNN said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention coronavirus test was contaminated in manufacturing, causing widespread delays. A Food and Drug Administration spokesperson told the news organization that the test was made in one of the CDC’s laboratories instead of a manufacturing facility. “CDC did not manufacture its test consistent with its own protocol.”
Washington and Beijing have repeatedly clashed over the virus. While Trump praised the Chinese response to the virus at first, he and other high-level U.S. officials have since become more critical, sometimes calling the pathogen the “Chinese virus.” They also have shot back at Chinese efforts to link the U.S. military to the virus’ origin.
The president’s critics in the U.S. say that although China still must be more forthcoming about how it has fared against the new coronavirus, Trump is now trying to use Beijing to distract from missteps his own administration has made.
On Sunday, Australia also urged China to be more transparent about the virus and called for an international investigation into the development of the virus and how it spread around the world.
In line with Chinese government and Communist Party officials, the director of Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory has aggressively dismissed claims that it could be the source of the coronavirus outbreak, calling it “impossible” and labeling the claims as “conspiracy theory.”
In an interview Saturday with the English-language state broadcaster CGTN, Yuan Zhiming said “there’s no way” the virus spread from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, specifically its P4 laboratory, which handles dangerous viruses.
Wuhan is where the virus first emerged.
A report in The Washington Post said in January and February of this year that Washington encouraged U.S. companies to send masks and personal protective gear, or PPE, to China to help in the COVID battle. The newspaper account said the White House failed to recognize the impending threat the virus posed to the U.S. and the rest of the world.
Meanwhile, a group of 13 countries has called for global cooperation to reduce the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, as infections and fatalities continue to climb worldwide.
The countries, which include Britain, Indonesia, Germany, Singapore, Turkey and Canada, said in a joint statement released Saturday that “It is vital that we work together to save lives and livelihoods.”
The collective, which also includes Italy, Brazil, France, Mexico, South Korea, Morocco and Peru, vowed to “work with all countries to coordinate on public health, travel, trade, (and) economic and financial measures in order to minimize disruptions and recover stronger.”
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa said the pandemic could claim 300,000 lives in Africa this year. But the World Health Organization estimates there are fewer than 2,000 ventilators available for the hundreds of millions of people in 41 African countries, fueling concerns that chronic shortages of ventilators and other essential supplies could be catastrophic.
The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder were among the celebrities and entertainers who participated in a worldwide television broadcast Saturday to honor health care workers who are battling the contagion, often at great risk to their lives.
Global Citizen, a nonprofit organization, planned the event with the WHO.
State Media|Harare City Council teams over the weekend demolished vendors’ illegal cabins and stalls in Mbare and Highfield, but vendors complained that the destruction was done before the promised new market areas had been developed.
While council announced that it would start developing new market areas today, and that it had no intention of destroying livelihoods, the vendors said it would have been better to have allowed them to move to the new sites first.
On Saturday, council workmen descended on Mbare and yesterday visited Machipisa and other places in Highfield.
Commenting on the issue to Zimpapers TV Network on Saturday, spokesperson for Harare City Council Mr Michael Chideme said the municipality was taking advantage of low human traffic during the lockdown to move the stands to properly designated sites.
“The people who were trading on this site will be put in a new complex, so on Monday (today) our teams will be working on the new complex, flattening out, pouring concrete and then marking the vending bays.
“The overflow from this market, will be absorbed at the market under construction at Coca Cola. You will also realise that we have people who are selling here who had abandoned the Mupedzanhamo market and some who had abandoned the other markets at Mbare Musika. They will go back to their original vending sites,” Mr Chideme said.
When The Herald arrived at Machipisa Shopping Centre yesterday, hundreds of vendors were salvaging materials from the destroyed cabins.
Most of them had no kind words for the city fathers and said council should have provided alternatives first before destroying the existing cabins.
A Machipisa resident, Mrs Tabeth Rungano who had her cabin demolished, said her source of income had been destroyed.
“Yes we are aware that our cabins were illegally built but these were our source of income. We do not have any formal employment and we earn our living through informal trading.
“Now that our source of income has been destroyed, we have nowhere to turn to for survival. It was better for council to regularise our cabins, or prepare some strategic sites, before destroying our tables,” she said, while shedding tears.
Mr Trymore Nelson, a vendor at Mapuranga in Highfield, also bemoaned the move by the city fathers saying they should have been considerate of the state of the country’s economy before carrying out the operation.
“A big percentage of the Zimbabwean population, particularly the urban dwellers survive on vending and informal trading. This is how we survive. Our industry is not fully functional and the only way to feed our families is through informal jobs. The council should have considered all that. They should also have created alternative places where we can do our business. Yes, they said there are places where we will be allowed to do business, but the places are not ready,” he said.
The Herald witnessed many residents helping themselves to roofing sheets, timber and other materials from the destroyed structures
By Dorothy Moyo| Faced with a sharp rise in COVID infections among black Zimbabweans, Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri, who once said the disease is God’s punishment against western countries, has begun panicking to the point of urging businesses to start producing personal protective equipment (PPEs) and sanitisers.
1/2 -Oppah: This Coronavirus is a result of sanctions. These are sanctions brought by nations that impose sanctions on us. God is punishing them. They’re now trapped inside their houses. Nowhere to go. Their economies are now screaming, the same way they are making ours suffer. pic.twitter.com/SbzEB8cXMA
Muchinguri-Kashiri, who is the Covid-19 Inter-Ministerial Taskforce deputy chairperson, said this on Saturday as she toured the Chiredzi district’s preparedness.
Chiredzi produces around 24 million litres of ethanol, which is the key ingredient in the production of sanitisers.
Muchinguri said Covid-19 had caused distress across the world and governments were battling to fight it, making it necessary for the private sector to intervene.
“As you can see, there is pressure on the need for personal protective equipment and sanitisers, among other things,” she said.
“You, the people of Chiredzi, have ethanol at your disposal and you must make use of it in the production of sanitisers even for the export market.”
“They are in compliance with all the regulations that we have put in place.
“We did not see any people roaming around; it was very quiet. The only challenge I observed is that of vendors who are selling vegetables who are not wearing protective clothing and they have no sanitisers.”
Muchinguri said nurses at the Chiredzi Polyclinic were not trained, yet this was the port of call for many people.
The total number of Zimbabweans killed after Africa's most powerful woman, Oppah Muchinguri said Coronavirus is God's punishment. She said @realDonaldTrump must be squeazed until he feels the pain. To date, at least 10 Zimbabweans have been infected, 5 have been killed… pic.twitter.com/P4SFxbgUDn
By Wilbert Mukori| ZANU PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa has just announced that Zimbabwe’s total lockdown will be extended by a further 14 days. This came as no surprise given the number of corona virus cases had gone up from 10 to 25 during the 21-day lockdown which was due to end midnight tonight.
indepth…Wilbert Mukori
It would have made no sense to end the lockdown when the corona virus infection is going up.
There is every reason to believe that the virus is spreading and therefore the number of confirmed corona virus cases will increase considerably. If the government keeps its promise of carrying out 1 000 corona virus tests per day, up from 40 tests or so per day, especially testing of all those with flu like symptoms and track and all those tracked after coming in conduct with an infected person; then number of known infected people will double very week.
So, with confirmed 25 corona virus cases today and we can expect 100 or so cases at the end of this 14-day lockdown; it will be mad to end the lockdown then. The lockdown will be extended again and again as the corona virus numbers will continue to increase.
Whilst the lockdown has proven an effective tool in stopping the spread of corona virus is countries like Italy, it is not such an effective tool in Zimbabwe for the following reasons:
a) The first step before imposing the lock down is to do everything possible to stop the virus being brought into the country, quarantine all new arrivals. Zimbabwe did not have quarantine facilities for all new arrivals even those suspected of having the virus. All new arrivals were advised to self-isolate and no effort was made to ensure this was practical and that the advice was followed. In the case of the late Zororo Makamba, immigration officials tried to detain him because he had corona virus symptoms. He complained to a senior government official and the officials were instructed to let him go.
b) The second line of defence is encouraging personal hygiene especially when there is any possibility of picking the corona virus from someone else. People were advised to wash their hands regularly with soap or an alcohol-based disinfectant. To stay at home, work from home, and exercise physical distancing, 2 metres, whenever possible. In Zimbabwe most people in urban cities and towns have no access to regular clean running water and in the crowded high-density suburbs physical distancing is near impossible. The situation is even worse for those in the rural areas.
c) The decision to impose a lockdown; stopping all activities, except those deemed essential; must be evidence based. There must be evidence the virus is spreading with suspected epicentres and that a lockdown will stop the virus spreading beyond the epicentres. The lockdown works in conjunction with other measures such as testing, tracking, isolating and/or treating. Those in the frontline, dealing with corona virus cases must wear appropriate protective equipment. To have imposed a nationwide lockdown on the basis of 10 confirmed cases premature, to say the least. It was criminal negligence on the part of the government to be carrying out a misery 40 tests per day and none of the other follow up measures when it was clear the dreaded corona virus had touched down in Zimbabwe.
d) Extending the initial 21-day lockdown by another 14 days and increasing the number of targeted tests from 40 to 1 000 per day will go a long way in moving decision making from the present a shot in the dark to informed. Still, it must be restated that improved testing regiment alone will not stop the virus spreading. Government must ensure there is supply of clean running water, there are facilities to effectively isolate those with the virus, etc. And, most important of all, government must provide food and shelter for the millions forced into abject poverty or it will be near impossible to enforce and sustain the lockdown.
So, the first 21-day lockdown has failed to slow down the spread of corona virus, the number of confirmed cases has gone up from 10 to 25 in the three weeks. Government failed to take the necessary measure to stop the corona virus getting into the country and then spread.
This newly announced 14-day lockdown extension will not stop the virus spreading either because there is not even one concrete measure government has adopted to stop the virus spreading. Not even one!
The lockdown has forced millions into abject poverty and government has not honoured its repeated promise to provide them with food and shelter. They face the rock or deep blue sea choice of adhering to the lockdown demands and die of hunger. Or to ignore the lockdown and risk dying of corona virus.
There are reports of people in SA queuing for 14 hours for food packages from government. When the food failed to materialise they rioted and looted shops. The Mnangagwa government must know it too cannot extend the lockdown without risking social unrest.
If Zimbabwe was to finally bite the bullet and put an end to the wholesale looting of the nation’s diamonds and other resources, Zimbabwe will certainly raise significant money to ease the financial hardships throughout these hard times.
What is more, by finally stamping out the curse of corruption; IMF, WB and other institutions will stop viewing Zimbabwe as a wasteful pariah state and treat it as a democratic nation worthy of their trust and assistance.
So, what is the way out of this hell? Well there no denying that corona virus is spreading like a wildfire and having this corrupt and incompetent Zanu PF regime will only make a desperate situation even worse. Zanu PF’s failure to implement even the common-sense measures, such as the failure to enforce the quarantine measures at the outbreak of the corona virus, failure to test, etc. is criminal negligence. The way forward for Zimbabwe is therefore obvious; the country needs a competent and accountable government. Now! – SOURCE: zimbabwelight.blogspot.com
Norman Mapeza’s agent Gibson Mahachi has confirmed that Absa Premiership club AmaZulu has enquired about the availability of the coach.
Mapeza is currently without a club after leaving Chippa United in early March, having taken charge of the team for just five months.
Speaking to the Standard, Mahachi confirmed that there are also other foreign clubs interested in his services, though he didn’t name them.
“So far, nothing has materialised for a new deal for the coach,” the agent said.
“Amazulu have, of course, made an inquiry together with several other foreign clubs which I’ll not reveal by their names at this stage.
“But for the moment, Mapeza is resting until a better offer comes and in the meantime, we are open and listening to offers coming our way.
“There is no need for us to rush. When the right offer comes we will embrace it but for the moment we are waiting and looking forward to it.”
Amazulu are currently without a head coach after sending their Slovakian tactician Jozef Vukusic on special leave following a string of poor results.- Soccer 24
By Dr Masimba Mavaza | Last week I tabulated the painful death of a family friend, Jane. She left behind a son and her loving husband who is my dearest friend and a fellow Zimbabwean. I was more humbled by the pouring of grief from all over the world. It is difficult to explain but all those who got in touch with me seriously believed it was my wife who had passed on. I received heart wrecking messages.
I literally wept, my eyes could not stop pouring tears as I read a number of emails, text and whatsapp messages which were written from the heart. Some people I do not know shared my friend’s grief even though they thought it was my wife who had passed on. I am grateful for the out pouring of love and messages of comfort by friends and those pushed by the Holy Spirit. I shared these messages with the bereaved; he cried uncontrollably over the phone. It is more painful that I cannot be with him as we are in locked down, even after the state helped him to bury his wife. He was placed on self quarantine in their home. He understands the pain of loosing a partner; and he begged me not to come.
I told him about the phonecalls I received. My pastor contacted me from Zimbabwe as he was shocked about the news, but I had to accept the condolences and explain that it was not my wife; and still I felt the grief. My brother in-law who lectures in Leicester called me early morning – he was prepared to break the lock down rules to come and be with me. I explained again that it was not my wife. The fact that it was not my wife who passed on does not make my grief any less. I then had to deal with redirecting the compassion to where it was supposed to go to. As I write I am pausing in between sentences to accept condolences and redirecting them to my friend. Once again I thank you all for the genuine grief you have shown to my friend through me. I ask my God to bless you all – please it is very comforting to know that there are still people who can still feel for you even if you do not know each other. May your compassion and humanity be the same for all.
In the midst of this I have shared a thought for my friend in his grief. When your spouse dies, your world changes. You are in mourning —feeling grief and sorrow at the loss. You may feel numb, shocked, and fearful. You may feel guilty for being the one who is still alive. At some point, you may even feel angry at your spouse for leaving you. All of these feelings are normal. There are no rules about how you should feel. There is no right or wrong way to mourn.
I saw my friend through a video call crying and he said “all I hoped for was a closure. I had wanted a decent burial for my wife I had hoped to have a proper religious funeral but God has His own way which I am not qualified to challenge.”
These are the words of my friend not mine.
When you grieve, you can feel both physical and emotional pain. People who are grieving often cry easily and can have trouble in sleeping no appetite problems with concentration or a hard time making decisions.
In addition to dealing with feelings of loss, you also may need to put your own life back together. This can be hard work. Some people feel better sooner than they expect. Others may take longer.
As time passes, you may still miss your spouse. But for most people, the intense pain will lessen. There will be good and bad days. You will know you are feeling better when there are more good days than bad.
My friend does not see any purpose for living and he is seriously lonely. I told him that there are many ways to grieve and to learn to accept loss. I begged him not to ignore his grief. There is available support until you can manage your grief on your own. It is especially important to get help with your loss if you feel overwhelmed or very depressed by it. But the Corona period is something else. The world is concentrating on the dead and the dying but no one is giving a thought for the bereaved.
Family and compassionate friends can be a great support. They are grieving, too, and some people find that sharing memories is one way to help each other.
My friend felt free to share stories about the one who is gone. Sometimes, people hesitate to bring up the loss or mention the dead person’s name because they worry this can be hurtful. But, people may find it helpful to talk directly about their loss. You are all coping with the death of someone you cared for, so my friend requested his story to fly out so that we all see the cruelty of the Corona virus. It kills the infected and destroy the lives of the living.
For some people, mourning can go on so long that it becomes unhealthy. This can be a sign of serious depression and anxiety. While it is to early to forget it is true that sadness keeps you from carrying on with your day-to-day life. But you have a child to be strong for.
We have organised online grief counseling to make it easier to work through his sorrow. They provide Regular talk therapy with a grief counselor or therapist we hope it will help people learn to accept a death and, in time, start a new life.
There are also support groups where grieving people help each other and we have introduced my friend to such groups.
We might know that grief affects how you feel emotionally, but you may not realize that it can also have physical effects. The stress of the death and your grief could even make you sick.
Even if one can Accept offers of help or companionship from friends and family the times we are in are punctuated with fear of infections. My friend went through a controlled funeral.
Let us all Remember that his child is grieving, too. It will take time for the whole family to adjust to life without a spouse or a mother. You may find that your relationship with your children and their relationships with each other will change.
Mourning takes time. It’s common to have rollercoaster emotions for a while.
I do not wish any of us to go through what most families are going through this Corona period. When your government calls for a lock down it is entirely for your safety and that of your family. You are responsible for your neighbour and your self. The experience my friend had is still haunting all of us.
This can happen to any of us. No one is immune to this virus. This virus is a very new virus anything coming to us as an advice from experts let us follow it. Maybe we will stop the virus. Lock down is to save you oneday even if through hunger and suffering you will turn back and thank the authorities for saving your life. Let us all unite in and submit to the advice from the experts and fight Corona. Above all let us ask God to come and help us. Alone we will not win. God bless you all once again thank you for your thoughts towards my friend through me.
THE various strategies being employed in the ongoing fight against the novel coronavirus will continue even after the pandemic has been contained in order to improve the country’s readiness to deal with any similar outbreaks in future.
Vice-President Dr Constantino Chiwenga said this yesterday at Chipindura High School in Bindura, Mashonaland Central, while assessing the province’s readiness to handle Covid-19 cases.
The Mashonaland Central tour followed a similar assessment mission in Mashonaland East on Friday.
The country’s top leadership is assessing the level of preparedness across the country.
“Even when this pandemic is over we are going to continue with such awareness programmes, and even the resources we have gathered will not be taken away so that in the future when we have such pandemics, our people will be better prepared and we are not found wanting,” said VP Chiwenga.
While well-wishers from all over the world could assist the country in fighting the virus, he said, the onus to defeat the disease lay with Zimbabweans.
“We may receive donations from outside, which is appreciated, but we should know that we are our own liberators, we must deal with this situation as Zimbabweans.”
He thanked ordinary people, corporates and other organisations that have contributed in cash and kind towards efforts to curb the spread of the disease.
Returning residents, citizens or other foreign visitors should be quarantined on entry at Government-controlled facilities to stem the spread of the disease, he said.
The Vice-President also censured fake prophets who were profiting by making false healing claims.
In his remarks, Mashonaland Central Provincial Medical Director Dr Clemence Tshuma said some of the materials the province needed include personal protective equipment (PPE) and food for frontline workers, ambulances and the setting up of an ICU (intensive care unit) at Mvurwi General Hospital, which has been designated as the province’s Covid-19 centre.
VP Chiwenga toured Chipadze Isolation Centre in Bindura, Suwoguru Clinic in Mvurwi, Mvurwi General Hospital and other facilities in Mt Darwin and Guruve.
He was accompanied by Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Tsitsi Gezi, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe and Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs Minister Monica Mavunga.
Separately, VP Chiwenga also said Zimbabweans should continue celebrating the sacrifices made by freedom fighters in liberating the country from colonial bondage despite foregoing the national festivities.
“Those who will come after us will be told that this year’s celebrations were unusual because we could not have our usual festivities due to Covid-19.
The celebrations were supposed to be held in Bulawayo in line with our devolution principle; however, we will celebrate our independence in our hearts and minds and remember those who perished or were maimed during the liberation struggle,” he said.-State media
The Health and Child Care Ministry has issued the following statement updating the nation on COVID-19 cases.
Today(April 18) a total of 133 tots were done as detailed in the table I below, giving a total of 2 626 screening and diagnostic tests done to date.
All PCR tests done in Bulawayo today, were negative for COVID-19, whilst one of the PCR tests done in Harare today was positive. This case involves a client with a history of travel from Europe. More details to follow.
Therefore to date Zimbabwe now has twenty-five confirmed cases, including two recoveries and three deaths.
In line with the Ministry’s plan to build the capacity of health care workers on COVID-19 epidemic preparedness and response, a total of 90 clinicians from Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, Chitungwiza Central Hospital, Sally Mugabe Central Hospital and the private sector in Harare completed training in COV1D-19 case management at the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre.
This training was conducted with technical and financial support from the World Health Organisation.
The trained clinicians will cascade the training at their institutions, and among fellow Private practitioners.
Case management training in the remaining nine provinces is scheduled this week.
Additionally, training of health care workers in enhanced surveillance across all provinces is in progress, in line with our intensified surveillance strategy for COVID-19.
The Ministry continues to be on II IGII alert to the COV1D-19 pandemic and would like to remind the nation that, the most effective ways to protect yourself and others against COVID-19 are to practise good personal hygiene and exercise social distancing. For assistance, please call the COVID-19 tollfree hotline number: 2019.
The Health and Child Care Ministry has issued the following statement updating the nation on COVID-19 cases.
Today(April 18) a total of 133 tots were done as detailed in the table I below, giving a total of 2 626 screening and diagnostic tests done to date.
All PCR tests done in Bulawayo today, were negative for COVID-19, whilst one of the PCR tests done in Harare today was positive. This case involves a client with a history of travel from Europe. More details to follow.
Therefore to date Zimbabwe now has twenty-five confirmed cases, including two recoveries and three deaths.
In line with the Ministry’s plan to build the capacity of health care workers on COVID-19 epidemic preparedness and response, a total of 90 clinicians from Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, Chitungwiza Central Hospital, Sally Mugabe Central Hospital and the private sector in Harare completed training in COV1D-19 case management at the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre.
This training was conducted with technical and financial support from the World Health Organisation.
The trained clinicians will cascade the training at their institutions, and among fellow Private practitioners.
Case management training in the remaining nine provinces is scheduled this week.
Additionally, training of health care workers in enhanced surveillance across all provinces is in progress, in line with our intensified surveillance strategy for COVID-19.
The Ministry continues to be on II IGII alert to the COV1D-19 pandemic and would like to remind the nation that, the most effective ways to protect yourself and others against COVID-19 are to practise good personal hygiene and exercise social distancing. For assistance, please call the COVID-19 tollfree hotline number: 2019.
Farai Dziva|MDC president, Advocate Nelson Chamisa has described the announcement of the lockdown extension at the “eleventh hour” by Emmerson Mnangagwa as reckless.
Mnangagwa has announced the extension of the lockdown by a period of two weeks.The lockdown is now expected to end on May 3.
“Leadership,planning and timeous communication always key.
It is totally reckless and unacceptable to keep the nation guessing on the lockdown until the very last minute.
Elsewhere leaders value citizens and give advance notice on any key decisions.
Leaders must be considerate and allow people time to plan, order, and organize their lives! It’s leadership, simple,” argued Chamisa.
Farai Dziva|Two prominent human rights activists have challenged the government to stop, with immediate effect, harassment of civilians and partisan distribution of Coronavirus Relief Aid.
In a joint statement, the two human rights defenders, Blessing Matasva and Tatenda Maposa, expressed concern at the persecution of citizens by security forces.
The two also condemned the politicisation of aid.
Read full statement below:
The government of Zimbabwe joining the rest of the world in fighting covid-19, introduced prevention measures to curb the spread of this pandemic.
While the lockdown is a very good measure, as human rights activists we feel the government is not prepared enough for this initiative, given the current status of our economy which is 90% informal.
The majority of citizens in Zimbabwe, particulary in Masvingo Province survive on informal trading (hand to mouth).
This shutdown has exempted essential service provision- such as grocery shops, a welcome move, given our economic status.
Since the start of the lockdown on the 30th of March, we have witnessed numerous human rights abuses.
Police brutality has been the song on ordinary citizens.
We urge the government to respect human rights and they should have a robust disaster preparedness plan for such incidents.
It is also disheartening to note that some Members of Parliament and District Administrators in the province are politicizing Covid-19 rapid response food distribution programmes.
Mealie meal is being distributed on political basis.
As human rights defenders we castigate such mischievous behaviour from some politicians who are seeking to gain political mileage during such a time.
Food items must be fairly distributed regardless of one’s political affiliation, age, race, creed, disability or gender.
Now that the lockdown has been extended, we implore the government to respect citizens’ rights at all levels.
We strongly feel citizens should not be denied access to medication, food – among other basic needs.
Farai Dziva|MDC president, Advocate Nelson Chamisa has described the announcement of the lockdown extension at the “eleventh hour” by Emmerson Mnangagwa as reckless.
Mnangagwa has announced the extension of the lockdown by a period of two weeks.The lockdown is now expected to end on May 3.
“Leadership,planning and timeous communication always key.
It is totally reckless and unacceptable to keep the nation guessing on the lockdown until the very last minute.
Elsewhere leaders value citizens and give advance notice on any key decisions.
Leaders must be considerate and allow people time to plan, order, and organize their lives! It’s leadership, simple,” argued Chamisa.
Samson Choruwa says he lost interest in football when Dynamos mistreated him following a long lay-off with an injury he sustained in a league match against Masvingo United in 2002.
The former midfielder suffered a nasty knock on his leg which took two years to recover and the club didn’t help him pay for his medical.
Well-wishers such as Sporting Lions manager James Maridadi tried to assist but were frustrated by Dynamos who feared their player could be lured and leaves the club.
Twine Phiri who was the president of CAPS United at that time then intervened and helped the player.
After recovering, Choruwa’s services were deemed surplus by Dembare’s new coach Keagan Mumba and Makepekepe moved to sign him.
But a wrangle between the two Harare giants began over the ownership of the player.
In an interview with Herald, the retired player recalled how this pushed him out of football at a tender age.
“It (the injury) was so mysterious. Surprisingly, no one cared to take me to a hospital…”
“After Dynamos neglected me at a time that I needed their help the most, I decided it was time for me to join the club I had always wanted to play for, CAPS United.
“I tried to talk to Twine Phiri (then CAPS president) to secure my clearance but Dynamos would have none of it.
“But, after considering all my parents went through, I decided to quit football rather than return there. That’s how I left. I had lost interest.”
Both CAPS United and Dynamos attempted to get him back in the following seasons but Choruwa turned down the offers.
He later tried coaching in 2016 at now-defunct Budiriro Gunners in Division Two before securing a new job at a leading tobacco sales company.-Soccer24
By A Correspondent- A Catholic priest was charged in a Kenyan court on Thursday with spreading the coronavirus, the second person to face such charges, it has emerged..
Kenya, which has 234 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 11 deaths, has banned all public gatherings, limited the number of mourners at funerals, imposed a daily curfew and restricted movement in and out of four regions most affected.
Catholic priest Richard Onyango Oduor was charged with having “negligently spread an infectious disease” after authorities said he failed to adhere to coronavirus quarantine rules following a visit to Italy.
He denied the charges in a Nairobi court, and was freed on a Kshs 150,000 Kenyan (about Shs 5.3 million) bond. He was ordered to spend another 14 days in quarantine and reappear in court on May 2.
Archbishop Anthony Muheria, in charge of the Catholic dioceses of Nyeri and Kitui, told Reuters he could not comment on the case, and it was up to the authorities to determine whether the priest was at fault.
Last week, another court charged Gideon Saburi, the deputy governor of the coastal region of Kilifi County, with spreading the coronavirus by going out in public without taking precautions. He also denied the charges as was freed on bond while being ordered to self-quarantine.
Some African countries have had trouble persuading citizens to comply with restrictions imposed to curb the virus. Kenyan media have been awash with stories of people trying to circumvent restrictions, holding parties in their houses and parks due to bar closures. A lawmaker was arrested for holding a party at a restaurant in the capital on Easter weekend.
Last week, some Botswana lawmakers were put in supervised quarantine after failing to observe an instruction to self-isolate. All of the country’s parliamentarians and President Mokgweetsi Masisi were asked to quarantine for 14 days after a health worker screening them tested positive.
In South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa last week put his Communications minister on leave for two months, one of which will be unpaid, for breaking the rules of a countrywide lockdown and having lunch with a former official. online
By A Correspondent- Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Nick Mangwana, has clarified the position that media practitioner Acie Lumumba was recently given in the fight against COVID-19.
There was a furore from Zanu-PF supporters Saturday after it emerged that Lumumba, real name Gerald Mutumanje, had landed top Government job as a director at the national COVID-19 call centre.
The Zanu-PF youths, led by a prominent supporter of President Emmerson Mnangagwa called Jones Musara, had complained that Lumumba was not supportive of the President’s programmes and did not deserve the government job aheas of loyal and more consistent party cadres.
Responding to the complaints, Mangwana said: “Acie works for Innscor and is leading their Corporate Social Investment. He was not employed by Govt or offered a job. They are refurbishing a number of clinics around the country among other CSI.”
Pictures of Acie Lumumba standing next to President Mnangagwa, coupled with videos of Health and Child Care Minister Obadiah Moyo openly praising Lumumba’s “great communication skills” emerged on social media, angering some hard-line Zanu-PF Varakashi who insist they have been way more loyal but haven’t been recognized.
Jones Musara literally got his knickers in a twist over Lumumba’s appointment.
“We are going to tell Minister Obadiah Moyo that he has been misled to reward disloyal elements. Live and direct. Make no mistake about that. Enough of this nonsense of rewarding disloyal elements whilst blocking loyalists!” Musara fumed.
He added that Lumumba has been Lumumba has been “handed a post” despite evidence that he has been bashing President Emmerson Mnangagwa and openly supporting fugitive G40 frontman Saviour Kasukuwere’s political project.
Jones Musara went on: “Kana kurakasha President ED kusina basa, then let us know! (Let us know if bashing the President no longer worries Zanu-PF)
“It’s wrong to reward vanorakasha President ED. Very wrong. Very wrong. Very wrong. Very wrong.”
Musara went further and distanced President Mnangagwa from Lumumba’s comeback, pinning it squarely on those who are around the Head of State.
Only stupidity can lead a council or government to demolish sources of livelihoods without a plan on how to feed the nation during lockdown & post covid19 @edmnangagwa & @nelsonchamisa whose party is in charge of this thuggish act that is insensitive to the plight of the poor? pic.twitter.com/YoV3gwGmIC
This is Zanu PF, President Chamisa @nelsonchamisa would always act on the side of care and solidarity. He is a Social Democrat.
— Citizen Nkululeko Sibanda zw (@DrNkuSibanda) April 19, 2020
Looking at government and not ZANU/MDC, When was murambatsvina? When will they construct a complex for vendors when it (government) can't even provide PPE? How many fulfilled promises has the government met? By e way murambatsvina was 5-6yrs ago
Commercial sex workers have cried foul over the ongoing 21-day national lockdown which has seen most of them losing all their business.
The thigh vendors have appealed for government intervention asking to be prioritised when the authorities distribute funds set aside for the poor and the vulnerable.
Some enterprising and resourceful thigh vendors have now taken to advertising their services by posting their phone numbers on road signs, trees and walls in an attempt to entice randy man for hookups.
Maidei Magodi, the chairperson of the Sex Workers Advocacy Group (SWAG) has appealed for government assistance for her constituents who she says have been the worst affected by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and the subsequent 21-day mandatory national lockdown. President Emmerson Mnangagwa instituted the national lockdown in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus, much to the dismay of the ladies of the night.
Magodi said:
“We appeal to President Mnangagwa to consider our profession under the Covid-19 Fund because we are vulnerable and hardest hit. We have run out of food and we have children to look after,” she said
Magodi said that her organisation has over 15 000 registered members. She also added that this number is growing because the organisation is registering 50-60 new members a day through the clinics provided by the Centre for Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS (CeSHHAR Zimbabwe).
Magodi called for the government to prioritise her members when if finally distributes the ZWL$600 million fund set aside for the vulnerable for the national lockdown. Last week, the government announced that it has set up the ZWL$600m to cater for vulnerable families for the next 3 months, which each family expected to receive ZWL$200.-MavingoMirror
By A Correspondent- South Africa’s Health minister, Zweli Mkhize has revealed that the number of coronavirus cases in the Southern African country has risen by 251.
According to Mkhize, positive cases have increased from 2 783 on Friday to 3 034 on Saturday, with 108 021 tests conducted.
Two more deaths have been recorded, bringing the total to 52.
Gauteng now has 1 101 confirmed cases, the Western Cape 836, KwaZulu-Natal 604, Eastern Cape 270, Free State 100, Limpopo 26, North West 24, Mpumalanga 25, Northern Cape 16, and 32 cases were unallocated.-Online
The gentleman of journalism. Sleep well my brother, legend and the master of turning the phrase. @giftphiri lived his life the way he wanted and he wrote his stories the way the people respected. Words are loved in heaven. Keep writing my man. RIP pic.twitter.com/pW236djC59
I am very saddened by the passing on of Gift Phiri, a passionate and outstanding journalist. Indeed a gift to our nation. From him, I learnt that a good journalist makes his biggest story from attempted answers to carefully thought out questions. MHSRIP.
1. Saddened to hear that one of the country’s finest journalists of our time, Gift Phiri is no more. I worked with Givy for a long time, he was my News Editor at the Daily News and I must say he was one of the most hard working journalists I have ever come across. pic.twitter.com/tlwo8XFFxu
Sad to learn about the passing on of Gift Phiri, a senior journalist with @DailyNewsZim . Gift was a brother and a colleague. We were together in Highschool. Shall forever cherish all we had. Rise In Power chief.@misazimbabwe@mdczimbabwe
The gentleman of journalism. Sleep well my brother, legend and the master of turning the phrase. @giftphiri lived his life the way he wanted and he wrote his stories the way the people respected. Words are loved in heaven. Keep writing my man. RIP pic.twitter.com/pW236djC59
I am very sad to hear the news of Gift Phiri's death. I deal with journalists around the world. Gift was up there with the very best. ZImbabwe should be proud they had him. And a true gentleman whenever we met. A total professional. And always kind. I shall miss this man. pic.twitter.com/qRez4cMuD3
Sad to receive news on the death of journalist Gift Phiri of @DailyNewsZim who passed on this morning. He will be missed by many. Deepest sympathies to his family.
By Prince Njagu- The declaration of independence in 1980 marked the start of a new era for many Zimbabweans, but 40 years later many of these dreams and hopes have been shuttered.
April 18 2020 marks Zimbabweans 40th independence anniversary. This day four decades ago was a jubilant day as Zimbabweans looked forward to a brighter and fruitful future.
Zimbabweans had hopes for a brighter future, but this has slowly turned to hopelessness. A rundown economy, high inflation, political squabbles and human rights violations have been the norm of the day in the country.
A conflict of generation has since emerged in Zimbabwe and the younger generation is trying to fight the authoritarian rule. The liberation war heroes continue to dominate the political arena whilst the post liberation generation feels that development is being stalled by this older generation which is clinging onto power for too long.
Independence in 1980 marked the end to colonial rule, but it has been characterised with oppression and human rights violations. The ZANU PF government has seen to the shuttering of dreams and aspirations for the vast of the Zimbabwean populace.
A country once termed the “breadbasket” of Southern Africa, Zimbabwe has been reduced to begging for food aid year-in year-out. Though drought in recent years has played a part in worsening the food shortages in the country, the unplanned land grabbing exercise executed by ZANU PF in 2000 has been the root cause.
Properties which were confiscated comprised of nearly a quarter of the country’s large-scale farms and the commercial farming sector provided about 40% of the country’s export earnings.
The land grabbing exercise disguised as a land reform programme by ZANU PF was a political gimmick to win votes and forcefully take over farms by the ZANU PF top dogs. Only those who were identified as being politically “correct” benefited from this ill planned land reform.
In 2000 the then Foreign Office minister, Peter Hain, described the situation as being very “irresponsible” given the volatility of the country.
15 years late, this unplanned land reform programme saw Zimbabwe been reported as one of the poorest countries on the globe. In 2015 News media reported that Zimbabwe was the poorest country in the world after the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Tobacco exports declined in the country and jobs were also lost during the same land reform. All this meant a decline in the inflow of forex and increased unemployment.
“A global business magazine has ranked Zimbabwe one of the two poorest countries in the world in a damning verdict of President Robert Mugabe’s 35-year-rule,” wrote New Zimbabwe in 2015.
These sentiments tell a lot about how Zimbabwe has transformed over the past four decades and how the situation has worsened since the attainment of independence.
Robert Mugabe was accused of gross human rights violations and sentiments by former Tourism minister Walter Mzembi tell a lot about the character of the now Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mzembi said that Zimbabwe was now worse off under Mnangagwa.
Mzembi and Mnangagwa both served under Mugabe. These were amongst Mugabe’s top lieutenant, these two used to wine and dine together. They benefitted from the ZANU PF administration before the falling out which saw Mzembi skipping the country in 2018.
As Zimbabwe celebrates 40 years from colonial rule, a look into the past 40 years will show a true conflict of generations for many Zimbabweans. From more than three decades of Mugabe rule, to a military coup which saw the once celebrated stateman Mugabe ousted from office.
Zimbabwe had built an excellent medical and education system which was an envy of the continent, but all this has crumbled to the ground.
As Zimbabwe celebrates its independence today, it is worth to note that true independence goes beyond the flag and national anthem; and Zimbabweans should also appreciate what the war veterans did in liberating the country.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on Sunday evening that the number of coronavirus infections stands at 3158. 19 April 2020:
The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in South Africa now stands at 3158 – an increase of 124 cases since the last update on Saturday.
The number of deaths has risen by two, bringing the number to 54.
Minister Mkhize said 114 711 tests have now been conducted throughout the country.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has increased the Coronavirus Lockdown in Zimbabwe by another two weeks.
Explaining his decision to extend the lockdown, Mnangagwa said current infection rates and local transmission point to what he called “a growing threat to our nation”. He said there was a “grim” projection that confirmed cases will rise.
“Once the cases begin to grow exponentially, the strain on our health facilities will be huge. We should thus do our best now to ensure the pandemic levels off at these low, manageable numbers we currently have recorded,” he said.
On contact tracing, Mnangagwa said: “Experts tell me that an ideal situation is devoting one contact tracer to every four infected cases. Tracing and isolation limits the multiplier effect of the pandemic. We have to ginger up our infection surveillance systems for speedy detection and contact tracing. Again, government is addressing this critical area.”
Government, he said was always aware that the lockdown alone was never the solution, and that it had a huge impact on the economy.
“But we chose the route of abundant caution, whatever costs and discomforts this route brings upon our whole society. Nothing is more important than life saving.”
Last week, the WHO said governments must only lift lockdowns when:
Disease transmission is under control
Health systems are able to “detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact”
Hot spot risks have been minimised in vulnerable places, such as nursing homes
Schools, workplaces and other essential places have established preventive measures
The risk of importing new cases has been managed
Communities are fully educated, engaged and empowered to live under a new normal
Mnangagwa conceded that Zimbabwe, like most other countries, is yet to meet these conditions, and hence had to extend the lockdown.
“As I have already indicated, worldwide cases of infections continue to gallop, with the WHO counselling against relaxing lockdowns currently adopted by almost all counties of the world. Guided by these realities, and to allow ourselves greater leeway to prepare for worse times which are likely ahead, Government has decided to extend with immediate effect the national lockdown by a further fourteen days,” he said.
Tobacco auctions, due to start this week, will be decentralised while there will be limits on the numbers of farmers allowed at the auction floors.
By Dr Masimba Mavaza | Last week I tabulated the painful death of a family friend, Jane. She left behind a son and her loving husband who is my dearest friend and a fellow Zimbabwean. I was more humbled by the pouring of grief from all over the world. It is difficult to explain but all those who got in touch with me seriously believed it was my wife who had passed on. I received heart wrecking messages.
