Week 30
A weekly selection from Zimbabwean newspapers
USAid unveils US$2m urban food aid
THE United States Agency for International Development (USAid) has availed US$2 million to support citizens in urban areas with emergency food aid as many sink into poverty due to the prevailing harsh economic climate.
The funding will be distributed through the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to build resilience among urban communities.
“The United States is renowned all over the world for its humanitarian commitment. Through this event, we announce that WFP has received a US$2 million contribution to support more than 2 000 vulnerable families in three urban areas over the next year,” WFP’s country director, Francesca Erdelmann, said recently.
President honours liberation struggle luminaries… Cash, cars for ZPRA, Zanla stalwarts: Ex-VP Mphoko among recipients The Sunday News (state owned)
THE Second Republic has rolled out brand new set of wheels to surviving members of the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZPRA) and Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (Zanla) High Command as President Mnangagwa’s government continues to recognise efforts and sacrifices of former freedom fighters.
The veterans from the two liberation military wings were each gifted with top of the range Ford Ranger Wildtrak vehicles and cash as part of ongoing benefits meant to appreciate their sacrifices. A total of 18 war veterans benefited with 11 from ZPRA, the military wing of PF Zapu during the war. Zanla was the military wing of Zanu-PF. The ZPRA list was made up of former Vice-President, Cde Phelekezela Mphoko, Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, General Philip Valerio Sibanda, Zanu-PF Politburo member and former Cabinet Minister, Colonel (Retired) Tshinga Dube, Colonel (Retired) Thomas Ngwenya, Brigadier-General (Retired) Tjile Dubhu Nleya who served as ZPRA Deputy Commander to the late National hero General Lookout Mafela Masuku, Cde Jack Mpofu, Cde Benoni Dube, Cde Conary Gava, Cde Jeffrey Ndlovu (Kenneth Murwira), Cde Peter Ndebele (Toddy Mpisi) and Brigadier-General (Retired) Abel Mazinyane.
Pupils exposed to diseases
Pupils at Bulawayo’s Lobengula Primary School are exposed to water borne diseases because of raw sewage flowing at the institution’s entrance
Pupils at Bulawayo’s Lobengula Primary School are exposed to water borne diseases because of raw sewage flowing at the institution’s entrance.
According to residents, the problem has been recurring over the past 10 years with council failing to permanently fix the issue.
“Honestly, I think we have subconsciously made it a part of us,” Nokuthula Sibanda who stays adjacent to the school, said.
“What is the logical explanation for this outburst to be recurring over so many years?”
A teacher at the school echoed similar sentiments.
“Besides it being an obvious danger to public health, the smell is unbearable.
“I used to get headaches, but now I am used to it,” said the teacher.
UK Opens Another Job Opportunity For Zimbabweans
The UK government has opened another sector for foreigners to apply for and get work permits.
London has added Bricklayers, plasterers and other construction jobs to the government’s “shortage occupation list”, making it easier for foreign builders to come to Britain amid labour shortages partly caused by Brexit.
The UK government has relaxed visa restrictions for a number of sectors that face severe worker shortages, and has added bricklayers and masons; roofers, roof tilers and slaters; carpenters and joiners; plasterers and other construction workers to the list. Fishing jobs have also been added to the list.
The Home Office said that this would “aid the delivery of key national infrastructure and stimulate growth for related industries”.
Controversial Borehole Drilling Tender Raises Accusations and Concerns: ZINWA Under Scrutiny
In a recent development, there are accusations surrounding the awarding of a borehole drilling contract to Paul Tempter Tungwarara’s Prevail International company.
It is alleged that the contract was awarded without following proper tender procedures and there are claims of inflated prices for the project.
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) is at the center of this controversy, with concerns being raised about the Prevail Group company’s capacity to handle such a large-scale project.
Prior to the donations by Dubai based billionaire who was duped by Tungwarara, Prevail International was not into borehole drilling.
According to reliable information, Tungwarara’s company was granted a contract to drill 4000 boreholes in villages.
Rimuka suburb sitting on health time bomb
Residents in Kadoma’s oldest suburb — Rimuka — are sitting on a health time bomb.
Overcrowding, poor water reticulation, obsolete sewer systems, uncollected refuse and old inhabitable homes are the order of the day in this high-density suburb, particularly in the areas called Single Quarters and General Barracks (SQ/ GB).
The houses in the area were built in the 1950s to accommodate male employees who were working at the now defunct David Whitehead textiles company.
Residents in the area have raised alarm over a possible cholera outbreak in the wake of the disease having wreaked havoc in some parts of the country.
According to the Health ministry, the country had recorded 3 368 suspected cholera cases and 61 suspected deaths as of July 21 from 38 districts.
Zimbabwe: EU Election Observers Commence Zim Mission With Focus On Campaign Environment, Tabulation of Results
THE European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to the 2023 harmonised elections has started its work and will impartially assess the entire electoral process in Zimbabwe.
In a statement this week, EU EOM chief observer Fabio Massimo Castaldo said the observer mission will assess the extent to which the electoral process complies with Zimbabwe’s national law and international and regional standards for democratic elections.
“The deployment of this mission is a strong sign of Zimbabwe’s and the EU’s commitment to supporting genuine and transparent elections. We are here to achieve common goals with the people and the institutions of Zimbabwe.
SADC Preps For Zimbabwe 2023 Elections
Windhoek, Namibia – Zimbabwe, represented by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Ambassador Frederick Shava, yesterday briefed the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on the country’s preparedness for the forthcoming harmonized elections scheduled for August 23. Minister Shava, leading a Zimbabwean delegation at SADC’s 25th Ordinary Meeting of the Ministerial Committee for the Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation, pledged that Zimbabwe would hold free, fair, and credible polls.
Zimbabwe election offers regime a last chance to end financial isolation | Financial Times
Jeffries Ncube looks around Zimbabwe’s second city and fallen industrial heartland and observes that, for all President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s promises to resurrect a ruined economy, many of Bulawayo’s factories have turned into places to pray for the next life, not to profit in this one.
“If you go around the industrial area you notice that several companies have closed down and some are now being used as churches,” said Ncube, 55, who formerly worked at a large garment factory.
Bulawayo used to supply food as far afield as Europe, as its warehouses and railheads knitted Zimbabwe into supply chains across southern Africa. All this was destroyed amid decades of economic chaos under the late Robert Mugabe, with little improvement since Mnangagwa overthrew his former boss six years ago.
The Cowdray Park blueprint for urban leadership. . . President to open health centre as neglected suburb rises The Sunday News (state owned)
WITH President Mnangagwa set to commission the Cowdray Park Health Centre on Friday, strides made in the suburb by the Second Republic, including infrastructural development and the provision of basic services not seen in the suburb for the past two decades have been praised as a shining example of the servant leadership that is possible in the country’s urban areas if the ruling party is given full rein.
A fully equipped modern health centre, tarred roads and access to the internet in Cowdray Park have been taken to signal the inception of a smart city in a suburb that has often been regarded as an afterthought by its elected representatives.
Piped water scheme brings joy in Mangwe
MANGWE — Pens and notebooks in hand, people from Silima village in Matabeleland South’s Mangwe district discuss the maintenance and security of a piped water scheme that is changing lives in the arid area.
“The European Union paid for it, but it is ours; it is our duty to take good care of this facility,” said Richard Nkomo, the headman for Silima village.
After agreeing on maintenance and security modalities, women and men sprung from their plastic chairs and wooden stools to break into song and dance. After enduring severe water scarcity for decades being worsened by climate change, people were celebrating the construction of a piped water scheme that now provides tapped safe water to 197 children and 10 members of staff at Silima Primary School and the 97 households in the community.
Pfumvudza targets 3,5m households The Herald (state owned)
The distribution of Pfumvudza/Intwasa inputs is currently underway in all provinces and the programme will be extended to 3,5 million households for the summer cropping season
Permanent Secretary for Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Dr John Basera said this year farmers are getting inputs on time so that they embark early on farming; this will improve their preparedness and ensure early planting.
He said this is a very important programme since 61 percent of the population reside in the rural areas and also most of them earn their living from agriculture, especially crop production. To boost their incomes they need to achieve higher yields and ensure that they grow the right crops and varieties to ensure that they have a harvest.
UK Parliament Grinds to A Standstill As CCC Leader Exposes CoS Exploitation by British Zim Employers
London, July 16, 2023 – In a shocking turn of events, Barbara Gwangwara Tanyanyiwa, a leader in the Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC), brought a UK parliamentary committee session to a standstill as she exposed widespread exploitation by Zimbabwean British employers against employees classified under the CoS (Certificates Of Sponsorship) cluster. The incident occurred on Tuesday during a highly anticipated session titled “How To Fix The UK’s Crisis Of Care,” which drew a cross-section of peer leaders from across the country. The parliamentary committee meeting took place in the House Committee.
Controversial Borehole Drilling Tender Raises Accusations and Concerns: ZINWA Under Scrutiny
In a recent development, there are accusations surrounding the awarding of a borehole drilling contract to Paul Tempter Tungwarara’s Prevail International company.
It is alleged that the contract was awarded without following proper tender procedures and there are claims of inflated prices for the project.
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) is at the center of this controversy, with concerns being raised about the Prevail Group company’s capacity to handle such a large-scale project.
Prior to the donations by Dubai based billionaire who was duped by Tungwarara, Prevail International was not into borehole drilling.
According to reliable information, Tungwarara’s company was granted a contract to drill 4000 boreholes in villages.
