Week 2
A weekly selection from Zimbabwean newspapers
Rights groups say a brutal attack on Zimbabwe opposition supporters was clearly intended to harass and intimidate them ahead of elections expected later this year.
Amnesty International called on Zimbabwe to fully investigate a video showing ruling-party youth beating and kicking older supporters of the Citizens Coalition for Change (Triple C).
IRAN and Zimbabwe share a very rich culture made stronger by common interests, the Iranian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Abbas Navazani, has said.
Speaking at a prize presentation ceremony held at the Cultural Centre of the Iranian Embassy in Harare yesterday, Ambassador Navazani said co-operation was only possible if there was understanding of each other’s culture.
HUMAN Rights watchdog, Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe (CiCZ) says Zimbabwe is not ready to hold free, fair and credible elections given the escalating incidents of politically-motivated violence, among other factors.
Events so far have since shown that chaos and violence will be the order of the day as the polls, whose date is yet to be announced, draw closer.
In an interview with a South Africa-based radio station recently, Cicz national director Blessing Vava said current events do not point to a country ready for fair elections.
China continued to spread its footprints across Zimbabwe in 2022, with major investments in infrastructure, mining and industry taking place on a huge scale, further cementing the bilateral relations.
China has stood by the mantra “actions speak louder than words” and rallied behind the Zimbabwean Government’s efforts to uplift the livelihoods of its citizens.
While many projects were undertaken through platforms such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), others were done through private enterprises attracted by the vast opportunities Zimbabwe presented.
AN UNIDENTIFIED official, purporting to be a Zanu PF functionary says the party has declared war on the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) as the ruling party and CCC “trade blows” and counter accusations over the assault of several Murewa villagers over their links to the opposition.
In a leaked audio posted on one of the ruling party’s many WhatsApp groups, the Zanu PF official is heard vociferously defending the Murehwa violence that took place in Chirowa Village, Murewa North.
“Do you know what war is? War is winner takes all and there is collateral damage. We are at war and we are going to war with CCC. These elderly wanted to go to a meeting at their age. Don’t they know the ruling party?” the Zanu PF official is heard saying.
GOVERNMENT health workers can no longer embark on industrial action lasting more than three days, and even during any such job action, must continue to provide emergency services after President Mnangagwa signed into law the Health Services Amendment Bill.
Health workers are now independent of the Public Services Commission and that autonomy, shared by the judiciary, defence forces and police, means their conditions of service can be more easily tailored to fit their work.
GOVERNMENT is rehabilitating the most affected sections of the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Highway before embarking on a large-scale fixing of the road.
The Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway is an important route connecting Zimbabwe with other Sadc countries. The road has outlived its lifespan resulting in some of the sections of the highway being littered with potholes. The rains being experienced have worsened the situation.
GOVERNMENT’s recent move to introduce free education beginning this term has been dismissed by analysts and opposition politicians as “political banter” meant to hoodwink the electorate ahead of this year’s polls.
The analysts said the programme was unsustainable as Finance minister Mthuli Ncube’s 2023 national budget statement did not make provisions for it.
TURKISH Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu arrived in Harare yesterday on a visit expected to deepen bi-lateral and economic relations between his country and Zimbabwe.
He was received at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Ambassador Frederick Shava.
His visit should help highlight Zimbabwe’s attractive investment policies as set out by President Mnangagwa and comes as part of the progress in relations, particularly on the back of Zimbabwe opening an embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara in 2021 which was tasked with pursuing economic diplomacy for the betterment of people’s lives back home.
In its latest report, Famine Early Warning Systems Network says prices of basic food and other commodities in Zimbabwe are likely to continue rising in 2023, further reducing the market access of poor households. Zimbabwe’s inflation rate is currently sitting at 243.8 percent, the highest in the world.
What has again become the nightmare of life in Zimbabwe in January 2023. Electricity cuts which last 18-20 hours a day, food going rotten in hot fridges and freezers, water which only comes out of taps every two or three weeks, internet cables dug up and stolen in the darkness of power cuts leaving communications for hundreds of homes gone for days and weeks at a time. We thought we had left all this behind us with the exit of Robert Mugabe but now, a few months before our next elections, we are back exactly where we were. Time, it seems, goes backwards in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe continues to lead the 10 countries with the highest food price inflation globally, a World Bank report has revealed.
According to its latest report on food price inflation, there was an increase in almost all low- and middle-income countries, with Zimbabwe clinching first position. Domestic food price inflation measured as year-on-year change in the food component of a country’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) remains high.
Zimbabwe’s figures on year-on-year nominal food inflation and real food inflation were 321 percent and 52 percent respectively.
