Week 37
A weekly selection from Zimbabwean newspapers
Govt refuses to declare Byo a water disaster area, cites council mismanagement
The government has refused to declare Bulawayo a water disaster area, attributing the city’s water crisis to mismanagement by local authorities rather than a national emergency.
Minister of Justice, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi, who also serves as the leader of government business in Parliament, revealed this stance on Wednesday while responding to questions from legislators.
Unlike other cities, Bulawayo has faced a severe raw water shortage for decades, a situation that residents and local leaders say requires immediate attention. The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) reported that the city’s supply dams are down to just 29% capacity, intensifying calls for government intervention and external funding to address the crisis.
Mayor Coltart warns water thieves
Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has issued a stern warning to individuals and companies who steal water, citing that they will face criminal charges of theft and malicious property damage.
This was said by city mayor, Cllr David Coltart while addressing councillors during the latest Full Council Meeting.
Cllr Coltart said the council must work with the Zimbabwe Republic Police to effect these arrests, and that the perpetrators must not only be fined for breaching by-laws but must be criminally charged for theft and malicious damage of property.
PVO Bill does not ban NGOs: Minister Ziyambi
The Private Voluntary Organisation Bill does not ban political parties from forming any organisations to fundraise for them but outlaws those that stray from their mandate to dabble into politics, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi told the National Assembly yesterday.
The Minister added that NGOs must do their work in an unbiased manner.
“NGOs must do their work in a non-partisan manner and that will be allowed and for these NGOs, it doesn’t matter which political party they are affiliated to, for as long as they don’t comply with provisions of the Act they will fall foul of the Act,” Minister Ziyambi said.
He urged the NGOs to stick to the mandate they applied for when they were registered, adding that Government had no problem working with such organisations as long as they operate within the dictates of the law.
Power shortages cost Zimbabwe 6.1 percent of GDP annually, says World Bank
Zimbabwe’s efforts to achieve high economic growth and attain upper-middle-income status by 2030 are being hindered by unreliable power supply. The country faces frequent and prolonged power outages, which are stifling businesses and costing the economy an estimated 6.1 percent of GDP each year, according to the World Bank.
Poverty hinders health seeking behaviour
Health economist Albert Makochekanwa says the country’s dire economic status is forcing people to seek cheaper and sometimes untested medical alternatives, thus compromising their health.
Makochekanwa said medical services in Zimbabwe are extremely expensive compared to other countries. “When we have a serious medical issue, like one’s operation, some of our hospitals provide the hospital. They are capable to add equipment but we cannot afford. We go to South Africa, we go to India though some of those things can be done here in Zimbabwe.
“The prices, locally you get a quotation of US$20 000. You go to India, you get it for US$2 500. These are realities with our medical system in Zimbabwe,” he said.
‘Zimbos the biggest ambassadors of local tourist destinations’
Zimbabweans have been challenged to embrace their role as ambassadors of local tourist destinations to promote domestic and international tourism in the country.
The sentiments were shared by senior tour guide Champion Ndigunei, while speaking to journalists visiting the Great Zimbabwe Monuments.
Local journalists are currently on a media tour in Masvingo province organised by the Tourism and Hospitality Industry ministry in partnership with the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority.
The tour comes just days ahead of the Sanganai/Hlanganani Tourism Expo set for the ZITF Grounds in Bulawayo from September 12 to 14 this year.
Zim scientists claim major cancer discovery
Zimbabwean scientists and partners have discovered a drug that can cure Alzheimer’s disease among other cancers in a groundbreaking discovery that comes at a time when the world is plagued by a rise in cases, with Zimbabwe being flagged in the red zone recently.
The scientists are working with the University of the Witswatersrand, in collaboration with Harare Institute of Public Health and University of Johannesburg.
Chairperson of the Academic Council of HIPH and Head of School of Mathematics Professor Simon Mukwembi said they developed a digital technology that was based on artificial intelligence, machine learning and mathematical formulas and he called it RUTAVA.
The Law Abandons its Children – Again
It is appalling that children should be left unprotected in this way. Last year, according to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, over 4 500 girls dropped out of school after falling pregnant – and 134 of them were primary school pupils. No doubt many of them were impregnated by fellow pupils but at least some of them must have been victims of sexual predation by older men. Those victims were not protected by the criminal law as a result of the Government’s inaction following the Constitutional Court’s order. Now teenagers are again left unprotected as a result of inaction, this time the Government’s failure to bring remedial legislation into force.
Poverty hinders health seeking behaviour
Health economist Albert Makochekanwa says the country’s dire economic status is forcing people to seek cheaper and sometimes untested medical alternatives, thus compromising their health.
Makochekanwa said medical services in Zimbabwe are extremely expensive compared to other countries. “When we have a serious medical issue, like one’s operation, some of our hospitals provide the hospital. They are capable to add equipment but we cannot afford. We go to South Africa, we go to India though some of those things can be done here in Zimbabwe.
“The prices, locally you get a quotation of US$20 000. You go to India, you get it for US$2 500. These are realities with our medical system in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Zimbabwe needs $1.6bn to lift crop output after El Nino induced drought
Zimbabwe suffered its worst drought in more than four decades in the season just ended as the El Niño weather phenomenon curbed rainfall and scorched crops across the country and the wider southern African region.
That increased food insecurity, prompting President Emmerson Mnangagwa to declare a state of national disaster in April, a step also taken by a number of neighboring countries.
The planting season that starts next month is expected to benefit from the La Niña weather phenomenon, which typically brings normal- or -above-normal rainfall.
Human rights abuses surged during Sadc Summit: Heal Zim
Zimbabwe recorded an unprecedented surge in human rights abuses, attributed mainly to suspected State security agents, ahead of the 44th Sadc Heads of State and Government Summit held in August this year, a new report has revealed.
According to the report produced by Heal Zimbabwe Trust, the country witnessed an increase in human rights violations in August, with the State and its agencies perpetrating the majority of abuses prior to the summit hosted in Harare on last month.
According to the report, the crackdown on dissent was meant to shut down any prospects of citizens exercising their right to protest during the Sadc summit.
“The period preceding the Sadc summit was punctuated by arbitrary arrests, pretrial detention, abductions, intimidation and a litany of human rights violations targeting human rights defenders, prodemocracy voices, opposition activists and government critics.
Mashayamombe nominated for global award
Women rights defender Nyaradzo Mashayamombe has been nominated among three change-maker finalists for the 2024 edition of the UN SDG Action Awards.
Mashayamombe is expected to travel to Rome, Italy, for the awards ceremony to be held on October 29 this year.
The UN SDG Action Awards, a signature programme of the UN SDG Action Campaign, champions initiatives and committed individuals who are wielding the power of creativity and innovation to bring closer to a more sustainable, equitable and peaceful world.
According to the organisers, this year’s selection process was highly competitive, with more than 5 500 impactful and innovative applications and nominations received from 190 countries.
