Week 32
Een wekelijkse selectie artikelen uit Zimbabwaanse kranten
Health authorities fret over Beitbridge water cut
HEALTH authorities in Beitbridge have warned of a potential health hazard after the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) cut water supplies to the border town on Monday over unpaid bills.
District medical officer Linos Samhere told NewsDay on Wednesday that he had put his teams on high alert for possible disease outbreaks.
The town’s over 60 000 residents have been without running water since Monday as Zinwa insisted on payment of ZiG2 711 362. 80 million (AN: USD 200,000) in unpaid bills.
“We had problems of dysentery when they initially closed water and a repeat of this is possible and can degenerate to cholera. We were celebrating victory over cholera and then there is this development. I have already written to our province advising them of this,” Samhere said.
Zim set to add 600MW to ease power cuts
Zimbabwe is set to gain an additional 600 megawatts (MW) of electricity at the completion of Hwange’s Deka Upgradation Project, a landmark energy infrastructural development aimed at boosting power generation.
The Hwange project, implemented at a cost of US$48,1 million, was made possible through co-operation between the governments of Zimbabwe and India, with funding provided by the Indian Exim Bank.
The project includes the construction of a 42km pipeline which will supply water to Hwange Thermal Power Station and surrounding communities.
The pipeline will see an increase in water supply from 3 500 to 6 000 cubic metres per hour.
The project started in October 2021.
Speaking during the handover ceremony of the project yesterday, Energy and Power Development minister Edgar Moyo said the Deka Upgradation Project is a significant step towards enhancing electricity generating infrastructure for the benefit of citizens.
Parirenyatwa steep decline intensifies
Zimbabwe’s largest health institution, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, is facing a severe crisis due to a crippling shortage of essential drugs and medical equipment, putting millions of lives at risk as most patients cannot access private medical care, the Zimbabwe Independent reports.
A survey of the country’s major hospitals this week exposed the grim reality confronting the sick. Many patients waited in agony in long queues, only to be directed to buy medicine from private pharmacies.
Last May, NewsDay reported that a vital machine for early breast cancer detection at Parirenyatwa broke down 15 years ago, highlighting the challenges facing its cancer treatment unit.
Govt commits to continue road rehab
Transport and Infrastructural Development minister Felix Mhona has assured the nation of the government’s commitment to the ongoing road rehabilitation projects across Zimbabwe.
He dismissed reports that the projects were solely meant for the upcoming Sadc Heads of State and Government Summit.
Mhona said the improvements were aimed at enhancing the overall well-being of Zimbabwean citizens.
Deka Water Pipeline upgrade commissioned
Government has commissioned the 42km Deka Water Pipeline connecting the Hwange Power Station and Deka High Lift Pump Station on the Zambezi River.
The project was financed through an Indian Line of Credit of to the value of US$48.1 million and the completed project was handed over to the government of Zimbabwe through Zimbabwe Power Company.
Initiated on October 1, 2021, the main component of the project involved the construction of a 42km long pipeline of 960mm diameter, which provides water to the Hwange Thermal Power Plant and the town in general.
The project also included upgrading of the Zimbabwe National Water Authority pump station and the creation of three outlets along the way to supply communities with potable water.
Cash programme reaches 31 000 women, youths
The World Food Programme (WFP), in partnership with Dutch Christian Aid, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation, launched an urban cash grants and resilience programme to support vulnerable populations in Bulawayo during the current famine.
The programme aims to empower women-headed households and youths to start small-scale businesses.
According to Valerie Guarnieri, WFP assistant executive director, the initiative began in 2019 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many people lost their jobs and remittances dwindled.
“We intensified programming in urban spaces, including cash-based transfers (CBT) and urban resilience building, as well as nutrition support for children under five,” Guarnieri said.
The CBT programme has reached 31 000 people, with a current caseload of 15 000.
ZIDA attracts US$1,8bn investment The Herald (state owned)
Zimbabwe attracted investments worth US$1,8 billion during the second quarter of the year, with US$745 million in manufacturing, US$282,7 million in mining and 154 licences issued to investors.
This comes as the Second Republic’s policies continue to inspire confidence in local and international investors.
While the manufacturing sector had the highest projected investment value, the mining sector had the largest number of licensed projects. In the last few years, Zimbabwe witnessed unprecedented growth in its manufacturing and mining sectors owing to policy interventions by President Mnangagwa and his Government.
Govt delivers food to 7m vulnerable people The Herald (state owned)
It was also attended by the Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Daniel Garwe, who is the chairperson of the Cabinet committee, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Development Dr Anxious Masuka, WFP and United Nations Climate Crisis officials.
“We have done our logistics planning, and we did our assessment which produced 6,1 million people in the rural areas and 1,7 million in the urban areas. This was done in January. It was a community-based assessment, and we have over 35 000 village heads who helped to indicate those who are in need. We used the assessment to deliver the food as they are the ones with knowledge of their people meaning that we were close to reality,” he said.
‘Invest in climate change in underdeveloped countries’
The United Nations (UN) Assistant Secretary-General — Climate Crisis Co-ordinator for the El Niño Response Reena Ghelani has challenged investors to invest in climate change in underdeveloped nations to stop millions of people from migrating to countries with better food security and incomes.
Zimbabwe, historically vulnerable to the detrimental effects of El Niño, is currently grappling with a severe food insecurity crisis which the government estimates will impact more than six million people.
The 2024 El Niño-induced drought resulted in widespread crop failures, with 40% of crops performing poorly and 60% completely written off.
Families skip meals as drought bites
Most families in rural areas are skipping meals as a coping mechanism as the effects of drought take its toll, global provider of early warning and analysis on acute food insecurity has shown.
Zimbabwe is currently grappling with one of the worst droughts in years and President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the country needed over US$2 billion worth of food aid.
“In July, most households continue to employ consumption-based coping measures such as skipping meals, reducing meal portions or prioritising the feeding of children and the ill, which are usually characteristic of the peak of the lean season,” the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FewsNet) said.
Govt. Cracks Down On Dissent
The seizure from a plane, and detention and torture of some of Zimbabwe’s four human rights activists in Harare yesterday has a chilling effect on opposition and dissenting voices, while it highlights renewed political repression sweeping through the nation, human rights groups say.
This comes as government is cracking down on dissent ahead of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) summit in Harare in just over two weeks’ time.
Government usually descends on human rights activists before important summits to prevent them from protests or talking about the current political and socio-economic problems in Zimbabwe, including egregious violations of civil and political liberties amid economic woes.
Sino-Zimbabwe escalates military ties
Zimbabwe and China have shared a strong bond since the liberation struggle, with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army playing a pivotal role in training and equipping Zimbabwean combatants, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri highlighted that the Asian giant was an unwavering partner in Zimbabwe’s journey towards independence and its subsequent development after independence.
The minister said the partnership between Zimbabwe and China had endured with 68 Zimbabwean military personnel currently undergoing training in the Asian country, while seven PLA instructors are at the Zimbabwe National Defence University and Zimbabwe Staff College.
