Week 49
Een wekelijkse selectie artikelen uit Zimbabwaanse kranten
Malaria kills 254
Malaria transmission is seasonal and unstable, causing sickness and death across all age groups.
Over 250 people have died and 153 661 people infected in a malaria outbreak that is afflicting Zimbabwe, statistics from the Health and Child Care ministry have revealed, amid calls for more investment in malaria prevention.
According to the ministry’s Weekly Disease Surveillance report, the provinces that reported the highest number of cases were Manicaland at 148 and Mashonaland Central (143).
Water challenges push Harare women to brink of poverty
According to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), unsafe water as well as lack of toilets at home robs girls of their potential while compromising their well-being and perpetuating the cycles of poverty.
The report says the challenges made the implementation of water, sanitation and hygiene programmes difficult.
The programmes are critical to reaching universal access to water and sanitation and achieving gender equality and empowerment.
It further indicated that globally, 1,8 billion people live in households without water supplies, with women and girls aged 15 and older primarily responsible for water collection in seven out of 10 such households, compared with three in 10 households for their male peers.
WHO said in most cases, women and girls made longer journeys to collect water, losing time for education, work and leisure, and putting themselves at risk of physical injury and other dangers on the way.
Judgment on recalled MPs reserved
HIGH COURT Judge Justice Never Katiyo yesterday reserved judgment in a case in which self-proclaimed Citizens Coalition for change (CCC) interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu is seeking to bar recalled legislators from contesting the Saturday by-elections.
Tshabangu recalled 14 legislators and 17 councillors belonging to the CCC saying they had ceased to be members of the party.
The recalled legislators, however, successfully filed their nomination papers to contest the by-elections.
Race for Zimbabwe — EV battery hub of the future | Business Insider Africa
Amid the escalating global endeavors to confront the climate crisis, Zimbabwe, a landlocked Southern African nation, is strategically positioning itself as a pivotal player in the global energy transition, fueled by an unprecedented surge in demand for renewable energy technology.
With a rich history of lithium mining spanning six decades, Zimbabwe is swiftly emerging as a contender in the burgeoning race to meet the soaring demand for electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The government estimates that the Bikita Minerals, situated 300 kilometers south of the capital Harare, harbors approximately 65.43 million metric tonnes of lithium resources, underscoring the nation’s significance in the rapidly evolving landscape of sustainable energy.
A lot of gas discovered in Zimbabwe
Australian minnow, Invictus Energy, has moved from citing “encouraging signs of hydrocarbon”, in its drilling campaign in Zimbabwe, to formally declaring a hydrocarbon discovery.
The company is on the sidetrack to the Mukuyu-2 well, (Mikuyu-2STK), its fourth hole on the Mukuyu prospect, in the Caborra Basa project, onshore Zimbabwe.
“We are delighted to declare a gas discovery from the Mukuyu-2 sidetrack well in the Upper Angwa formation”, Scott Macmillian, Invictus’ Managing Director, declared in a statement. “The discovery represents one of the most significant developments in the onshore Southern Africa oil and gas industry for decades”.
Zimbabwe: EU allocates €1 million to support humanitarian response to cholera outbreak – Zimbabwe | ReliefWeb
The EU announced today new funding of €1 million to Zimbabwe, to support the country in its response to the ongoing cholera epidemic, which places more than 10 million people at risk.
The funding comes from the EU’s Emergency Toolbox used to respond to sudden-onset crises.
The current cholera epidemic broke out in February 2023, and has since affected all 10 provinces of Zimbabwe. Until 20 November 2023, there had been nearly 10,000 cases and 206 people had lost their lives. There is thus a high case fatality rate of 2.6%.
The current epicentres are in Manicaland, Harare (Chitungwiza), and Masvingo.
UK tightens screws on Zim caregivers
THOUSANDS of Zimbabweans hoping to work in the United Kingdom’s health and social care sectors face an uncertain future after the British government announced new visa restrictions to stem the flow of migrants into that country.
In recent years, the UK has relied heavily on foreign workers, especially from Zimbabwe, India, and Nigeria, to fill critical staffing shortages in its healthcare system.
However, a recent surge in immigration has prompted the British government to tighten the screws.
Ministry stalls BCC recruitments
BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) is seriously understaffed and efforts to recruit professionals to fill vacant posts have hit a brick wall as the Local Government ministry has ignored the local authority’s request.
This emerged during a meeting organised by the Public Policy and Research Institute of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on Monday under the theme: Post-electoral political and economic landscape in Zimbabwe: Implications on service delivery.
Ward 23 councillor Ntombizodwa Khumalo told participants that council was battling a serious brain drain at a time when it is understaffed.
“We are losing the health professionals, especially nurses. Every month each and every meeting there is a report of resignations due to poor remuneration among other reasons,” Khumalo said.
Khumalo said the mass resignations impacted negatively on service delivery.
“As a local authority we are understaffed. We need about 1 452 employees but we cannot employ them. We are just waiting for approval from central government,” Khumalo said.
Cholera is wreaking havoc in Harare’s poor suburbs
Two men struggle to push a rusty wheelchair over quarry stones into one of the tents at a clinic in Kuwadzana phase 4, one of Harare’s densely populated suburbs.
In the wheelchair is an elderly woman only identified as Mai Chimunda. She is unconscious.
Chimunda’s tenant Christopher Chibupwe, one of the men wheeling her into the clinic says his landlord’s case is a culmination of over 48 hours of sickness with symptoms of cholera.
“Two days ago, she stayed in her bedroom without coming out as she normally does.
“We then knocked on her door trying to inquire if she was alright and that was when we realised she was not feeling well,” the middle-aged man explained.
Like most people, Chimunda, a hypertension patient, thought her running stomach would get better with time, but her health deteriorated dramatically as time progressed.
Shocking rise in GBV deaths, cases
ZIMBABWE has recorded a staggering 16 444 cases of gender-based violence (GBV) and 31 deaths since January this year with men cited as the main perpetrators.
Speaking during a media workshop organised by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Zimbabwe on 16 days of activism against GBV in Harare yesterday, national police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said there was urgent need to address the scourge.
“In the year 2022, we had 26 females who were killed by their partners. This year, we have 31 killed,” Nyathi said.
Bulawayo supply dams at 44,43%
BULAWAYO supply dams are currently at 44,43% with the total volume of all dams at 184 208 617 cubic metres while the drawable volumes are at 167 623 509 cubic metres (m³), underlining the crisis the city is facing in supplying water to residents.
There are, however, fears that Umzingwane Dam may be decommissioned anytime this month if weather conditions remain dry.
According to Bulawayo City Council’s data, all dams are actively supplying the city but Umzingwane is in a precarious state.
Umzingwane Dam is currently at -20,540m³.
Passport Office extends operating hours amid the rising demand of the traveling document
The Civil Registry Department has extended operating hours at its e-passport section in response to the rise in the number of people applying for the travel document.
This comes at a time when the government announced a 100% hike in passport fees from January 1, 2024.
In a statement, the Civil Registry Department said the passport offices will be open from 0700 – 1900 hours during weekdays and from 0800 to 1500 hours on Saturdays, with immediate effect.“The festive season is the busiest period for the department. With industry and schools closed, and returning citizens from the diaspora taking advantage of their visit to have their documents processed, the department witnesses an influx of clients visiting its passport offices.
