Week 48
Een wekelijkse selectie artikelen uit Zimbabwaanse kranten
Be compliant, adhere to Zim laws, NGOs told
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should be compliant and adhere to Zimbabwe’s laws and regulations in their operations to avoid conflict with authorities, a senior government official has said.
Speaking during the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (Icaz) NGOs conference in Kariba recently, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare ministry secretary Simon Masanga said the NGOs complemented government’s work in society.
The conference was held under the theme Re-Imagining NGO Innovation, Optimisation, Sustainability and Governance, Fostering Accountability in Building NGO Professional Stronghold.
The NGO sector has been apprehensive since the introduction and passing of the Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill in Parliament, which is awaiting President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s signature to become law.
Tsholotsho man battles for life after hippo attack
A Tsholotsho man under Chief Tategulu, Matabeleland North province, is battling for life at Mpilo Central Hospital after he was attacked by a hippopotamus at a local dam.
According to villagers, the victim was identified as Lathi Nyathi.
Ward 21 councillor Felix Tshuma confirmed the incident.
“I have heard about the attack at the dam this week, we will go and visit him on Friday (yesterday) at Mpilo Hospital. I am not sure what really transpired, but the challenge is that there is a serious shortage of water and villagers end up sharing water with animals,” he said.
Embrace values of discipline, resilience: First Lady . . .Hosts special Gota/Nhanga/Ixhiba session for Southern African learners (The SundayMail, state owned)
Children must embrace the values of discipline, resilience, hard work and obedience to realise their dreams, First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa has said.
She made the remarks while addressing hundreds of primary and secondary school learners from Southern Africa, whom she treated to a special Gota/Nhanga/Ixhiba session on the eve of the Regional World Children’s Day commemorations in Victoria Falls.
The children were from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.
World Children’s Day is commemorated annually on November 20.
Colonial powers tried to stifle traditional healing in Zimbabwe. They failed and today it’s a powerful force for treating mental illness
In Zimbabwe’s Shona language, mental illness is known as chirwere chepfungwa or kupenga. Before British colonial settlers arrived in 1890, traditional healers (n’anga) played an important role in helping people to manage their mental as well as their physical health.
But, from the late 19th to the mid 20th century, the British colonisers, particularly Christian missionaries, cracked down on the work of the n’anga. They insisted that communities should abandon their traditional beliefs and healing practices. Instead, people were cajoled and threatened to embrace western biomedicine, relying on its psychiatric and psychological methods to treat mental illness.
Anticipating impacts before disaster in Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe | ReliefWeb
Anticipatory Humanitarian Action, a project pioneered by Welthungerhilfe (WHH) and partner Farm Community Trust of Zimbabwe (FCTZ) in Mbire, combines indigenous knowledge systems and scientific data analysis as indicators of drought. Often, humanitarian action is an emergency response to a disaster, but the anticipatory approach aims to reduce the impact of a disaster and relies on the community as sources of knowledge rather than solely recipients of aid.
So far, the Welthungerhilfe Anticipatory Humanitarian Action Facility (WAHAFA) has been launched in nine African countries where humanitarian approaches are fused with local knowledge to create a custom solution to mitigate risks before they become disasters.
David Coltart calls for investigation following arrest of Bulawayo councillors
Bulawayo Mayor David Coltart has called for a comprehensive investigation following the arrest of Deputy Mayor Edwin Ndlovu and Finance and Development Committee Chairperson Mpumelelo Moyo on corruption charges. The arrests, executed by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) last night, are linked to allegations that the officials demanded a US$20,000 bribe from Labenmon Investments in exchange for facilitating land approval for a cement mixing plant.
Sadc Extraordinary Summit begins today (The SundayMail, state owned)
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Extraordinary Heads of State and Government Summit begins today, with 10 member states having confirmed their participation.
The meeting will focus on the region’s political and security challenges, including the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC), whose mandate expires this year.
The four-day event will take place at the new Parliament building in Mt Hampden, the same venue for the 44th SADC Summit that was held in August. “The meeting will basically discuss the political situation in the region, but since it is an extraordinary summit, it will specifically focus on the SADC Mission to DRC, whose mandate expires in December this year,” he said.
NSSA pledges continued support for SMEs
The National Social Securities (NSSA) says it will continue to support its sub bank National Building Society (NBS) as they embark on the journey to uplift the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which are often excluded in the financial inclusion movement, with a cushion of US$1 million funding from NBS to SMEs to elevate the sector.
Speaking during the SME fund launch yesterday, NSSA acting general manager Charles Shava said they were committed to funding SMEs through NBS.
“NSSA has taken a deliberate decision to fund SMEs through NBS in perpetuity, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to empower and capacitate NBS. In the same breathe, we invite all SMEs to register with NSSA, enabling access to financial facilities and enrolling in the mainstream banking system with NBS, which is essential for gaining financial capacitation,” Shava said.
Govt, CSOs urged to unite against malaria
In recent years, Zimbabwe has been experiencing a surge in incidences of malaria, with some areas, which were once malaria free zones, also reporting cases of the disease.
Health advocates have challenged the government and civil society organisations (CSOs) to work together in promoting malaria control and prevention in Zimbabwe.
Mashonaland West provincial health promotions officer George Kambondo made the call on Thursday during an orientation of CSOs on Malaria Strategies and Gender Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (GEDI) in Kadoma.
Zimbabwe’s night orchestra – Cathy Buckle
When you live in a country in a state of continual crisis and turmoil, it seems to be a need for self-preservation that stops people from following the news, ignoring the alarm bells and not speaking out. When all you can think about is surviving from one day to the next, democracy, freedom of speech and integrity fall by the wayside. As the end of the year draws nearer it’s appropriate to look back. Here’s what happened in 2024
We started the year with 1024% inflation, the highest in the world, calculated by Johns Hopkins Economist, Steve Hanke. At that time our largest denomination bank note was one hundred dollars and you needed 133 of them to buy a single loaf of bread. Teachers were still on a rolling go- slow because their salary wasn’t enough to even cover the transport cost to get to work. The alarm bells had been ringing for a long time and then came the inevitable news that only 29% of Zimsec O’ level candidates had managed to pass five subjects.
Govt despatches team to tackle Kariba cholera cases
The government has deployed personnel to the fishing town of Kariba, where 21 cases of cholera have been confirmed while one person has died from the disease.
The cases were recorded from November 6, 2024 from the Gache Gache fishing camp.
Zimbabwe had in July this year declared the end of a cholera outbreak that began in February 2023.
In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, Health and Child Care deputy minister Sleiman Kwidini said the government was making efforts to contain cholera in Kariba.
Zimbabwe’s economy is resilient despite drought, says minister Ncube
Zimbabwe‘s economic fortunes are looking up, despite the nation having to contend with a crippling drought and being shunned by capital markets since a 1999 debt default, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said.
“We’ve learned to manage our affairs properly” and are “living within our means and it’s showing,” he told Bloomberg TV in an interview in Johannesburg on Thursday. “The economy is set to grow 2% and is showing lots of resilience even with the worst drought in 40 years.”
This year’s anticipated expansion contrasts with a 7% contraction in 2019, when the southern African nation also confronted a dry spell. A budget deficit of 1.4% of gross domestic product is expected by year-end, which Ncube said is among the lowest it has posted.
