There has been in recent years a sharp rise in the number of fatal road traffic accidents involving animals, according to figures from the Police and the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ).

THERE is so much to think about when driving: Other cars, your speed, pedestrians, poor roads and reckless drivers.
It hardly seems fair that we have to worry about animals too; but it is a danger we cannot ignore any longer.
Wandering farm animals, particularly on country roads, often turn into deadly hazards.
Hitting large animals can cause severe injuries to drivers and passengers as well as extensive damage to vehicles.
Worse still, in trying to avoid direct impact, motorists may fall into ditches, crash on trees or other objects, resulting in serious accidents.
Death and permanent injuries are often the tragic results of such accidents.
After the horrific fatal road traffic accident involving two heavy vehicles and a donkey along the Masvingo-Beitbridge road in the wee hours of last Friday, road traffic safety is taking centre stage once again.
Tragedy struck along the infamous highway when a Beitbridge bound MB Transport bus carrying 51 passengers, mostly cross border traders, hit a donkey about 45km from the border town before it swerved and encroached into the opposite lane where it collided head-on with a haulage truck headed for Harare, killing a dozen people.
Forty-five others were injured, 19 of them critically.
There has been in recent years a sharp rise in the number of fatal road traffic accidents involving animals, according to figures from the Police and the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ).
The latest accident has revived debate on how to safeguard road users against the latest scourge, which accounts for a major share of over 200 deaths recorded in the country every year through road traffic accidents.
The Beitbridge crash came hard on the heels of another accident in which a bus plunged into a head of cattle near Chegutu two weeks ago, killing 18 cattle.
No human fatalities were recorded, although scores of passengers escaped with injuries.
Incredible pictures of this accident went viral on social media.
Stakeholders in the transport sector have called on government to act to try and curb animal-related road carnage.
And as expected of it, the cash-strapped government has only responded with promises that have never seen the light of day. These promises have been repeated every time tragedies happen on the country’s roads.
Government has promised to come up with strong legislation that forces livestock owners to take control of their animals and see to it that they do not stray onto the roads.
This is probably the single most effective measure that can significantly reduce the carnage, but it has only received little attention.
Another suggestion has been to put reflectors on livestock so that motorists would be able to detect animals on the road from a good distance.
Again, this has not been followed up on, with the only meaningful action in that direction coming from two schoolgirls from Gumbonzvanda High School in Wedza who were recently in the news for inventing the reflector which has since been embraced by TSCZ.
The council has since started an awareness programme to promote the idea.
Government has also repeatedly promised to fence off major highways to prevent animals from straying onto the roads, but has failed to implement the plan due to shortage of funds.
Only recently, the issue popped up again in Parliament, with legislators taking Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister, Joram Gumbo, to task as they sought assurance on what was being done by the State to prevent these accidents.
According to records from Parliament, during a recent question time in the National Assembly, Bulawayo Central legislator, Dorcas Sibanda, asked Gumbo to explain government policy regarding animals causing accidents on the roads.
“We have had numerous accidents and people have died because of animals like cattle and donkeys on our highways. What is the government doing to remove these animals?” she asked.
Gumbo’s response was far from convincing.
“What we are doing as a ministry is that we are going to come up with an arrangement with the locals so that we fence off the road to make sure that there are no stray cattle roaming on our roads. We have already started doing that in Somabula area,” he said.
Somabula area along the Harare-Bulawayo highway has been one of the most dangerous spots in terms of road traffic accidents caused by animals in recent years.
Most notably, national hero and former army chief, Mike Karakadzai, died when his car hit a stray cow in that area; it rolled several times before landing on its roof.
Gumbo went on to blame cattle farmers for not taking good care of their animals.
“Some people do not look after their animals and at the end of the day when their animals are involved in accidents where people die, they cannot even come and claim those beasts or carcasses. The owners know that if they are identified, they will be fined,” he said.
What should be borne in mind is the fact that very few farm people consider their livestock as a source of danger, even despite a number of serious injuries and deaths occurring every year as a result of animal-related accidents.
What therefore could save the situation is to find multiple solutions, not least targeting the farmers and drivers themselves who need thorough awareness.
Some critics feel not much effort is being done to educate drivers on dangers of driving through livestock zones.
This is when defensive driving skills become handy.
The case of the MB Transport bus could be a perfect example whereby the driver completely failed to exercise his defensive driving skills, which are mandatory for public passenger drivers at law in Zimbabwe.
In this respect, it would be imperative to educate drivers on the behaviours of different animals they could encounter on the road.
This could be achieved through engaging animal behaviour experts to educate drivers.
Anyone who has worked with livestock would agree that each animal has its own way of behaving, making it important for drivers to know how to react when suddenly confronted with any animal.
Animals’ senses differ a great deal according to species.
Cattle, goats and donkeys see and hear things very differently, and they react very differently too.
For example, according to one study, cattle have close to 360 degree panoramic vision, meaning a quick movement behind them may confuse them and cause them to run straight into the vehicle.
Donkeys are easily bamboozled by light and sound and as such, they hardly make a movement when a vehicle moves towards them. They completely freeze when you decide to sound the horn.
Another study done in the United States suggests that all domestic animals see things in black and white, not in colour.
They also have difficulty judging distance.
These factors help explain why these animals are often balky and skittish, particularly in unfamiliar surroundings.
Aside from identifying direct responsibility for the crash, authorities also need to investigate bus operators’ practices to see if passenger safety is being compromised in by tight competition for passengers on the roads.
A police probe so far suggests that the driver may have been speeding well beyond the limit and lost control of the bus as soon as he hit the donkey on the pothole-riddled road.
Last month, a Pfochez bust travelling to Gweru was involved in a head-on collision with a minibus just outside Kwekwe, killing 32 passengers.
Last year, there was an outcry when a ZUPCO and a Pioneer bus collided head-on along the Harare-Nyamapanda highway, killing 27 people.
If these horror accidents do not cause authorities to sit down and come up with measures to contain the situation, one would wonder what else can.
The MB Transport bus crash, whose victims were poor traders trying to fend for their families during these trying times, should provide an occasion for authorities to reconsider whether current safety regulations are adequate and being properly followed.

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MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai

LOCAL Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has threatened to evict Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) leader Morgan Tsvangirai from a State mansion in Highlands, Harare over the appointment of Harare town clerk, James Mushore, which is being fiercely contested between ZANU-PF mandarins and officials from the country’s main opposition party.
Kasukuwere, who doubles up as ZANU-PF’s national political commissar, had given the MDC-T leader an ultimatum to ensure the dismissal of the former NMBZ Holdings chief executive officer from the Harare City Council (HCC), failure of which he would be chucked out of the property acquired for him during the era of the Government of National Unity (GNU), which ended in 2013.
The Financial Gazette can exclusively reveal that government “inspectors” have visited the property on two occasions to assess the mansion, reinforcing fears of an imminent eviction of the MDC-T leader who served as Prime Minister during the subsistence of the GNU.
The development has prompted a flurry of activities within the opposition party, as MDC-T heavyweights sought to prevent their party leader from being humiliated by Kasukuwere, whom they said has directly communicated with Tsvangirai about Mushore’s appointment.
Tsvangirai was given the mansion, which was mired in controversy after allegations he had bloated costs for the renovation and upgrade of the property in 2012.
The MDC-T leader has lived in the mansion for the past six years, despite calls from opposition party allies that he should move out to avoid being compromised by the ZANU-PF government.
The eviction threat by Kasukuwere is seen within the MDC-T as evidence that with the 2018 general elections beckoning, ZANU-PF may be planning to go for broke to secure re-election.
It is said that high ranking MDC-T officials are unhappy with Tsvangirai’s continued stay in the State mansion but they do not have the guts to confront him.
The former trade unionist, who has a number of personal properties in the capital that he could occupy, has stayed put in the government property, insisting government still owes him substantial amounts in pensions and other perks which he can use to pay for the property.
With the MDC-T leader presently financially crippled, government is aware that Tsvangirai would not be able to raise the cash required to pay for the loan used to buy the property as well as the interest.
The feeling within the MDC-T is that Tsvangirai might not be able to stand up to ZANU-PF as long as he continues to stay in the Highlands mansion at the benevolence of President Robert Mugabe, who has the final say on the issue.
He is already seen prevaricating on the Mushore deadlock, an indication that ZANU-PF is well aware that Tsvangirai could do anything to prolong his stay in the up-market property.
Sources in the MDC-T this week said a day before Kasukuwere suspended Manyenyeni, he had sent communication to Tsvangirai, warning that he would have him evicted from the house unless he forces his councillors to dismiss Mushore.
Following Kasukuwere’s threat, a panicky Tsvangirai called for an emergency caucus meeting, which was held at the party’s headquarters at Harvest House in Harare on Saturday. The meeting was attended by MDC-T secretary general, Douglas Mwonzora; party spokesman, Obert Gutu; shadow minister for local government, Jameson Timba; MDC-T Harare provincial chairman, Erick Murai; and HCC councillors led by acting mayor, Chris Mbanga.
Mbanga was imposed acting mayor by Kasukuwere following the suspension of Manyenyeni. This, apparently, gave a sense of déjà vu: former Harare mayor, Elias Mudzuri, was fired by former local government minister, Ignatius Chombo, in 2004 and was replaced by Sekesai Makwavarara, who later defected from the MDC-T to join ZANU-PF.
Tsvangirai himself did not attend the caucus meeting. He is, however, understood to have instructed the caucus to direct Mbanga that Mushore, who had been reporting for duty, should go on indefinite “voluntary leave” on full salary and benefits.
Sources said Tsvangirai was regularly updated about proceedings over the phone by his lieutenants in the meeting, with MDC-T insiders saying party bigwigs were initially reluctant to accept his directive, and had attempted to convince him that the party’s position that Mushore remained the legitimate Harare town clerk was the correct one at law.
Some party members felt that the former Prime Minister was holding them to ransom for selfish reasons. This is likely to expose the jittery Tsvangirai as a very weak leader easily cowed by ruling party members.
“This created a deadlock which necessitated us to meet again on Sunday to resolve the matter,” said a senior MDC-T official who attended the meeting.
Another source said: “They spent the whole day on Sunday trying to persuade him (Tsvangirai) to accept that the party was keen on defying and standing up to Kasukuwere but he would not listen, and at the end of the meeting, Mbanga was tasked to go and relay the message to Mushore.”
According to sources, Mbanga on Monday called Mushore to his office in the company of councillor Herbert Gomba and two other unidentified councillors and officially requested Mushore to go on voluntary leave.
Mushore, sources said, asked Mbanga to explain if the decision to send him on leave was a council decision or an MDC-T decision.
“He openly told Mbanga that if it was a party decision, then he would not oblige since he was not a party employee; if it was a council decision, he would want it communicated to him in writing and he would comply,” a source close to proceedings said.
Mbanga, who had not expected Mushore’s reaction, was reportedly taken aback by the former banker’s demands and asked Mushore to call Tsvangirai himself if he needed any further clarification, clearly exposing the MDC-T leader as the source of the directive.
Mbanga is also said to have declined to commit himself to any written communication.
Mushore then called Timba, but the former minister failed to give a satisfactory answer.
Timba was not available for comment.
Gutu confirmed the caucus meetings this week but said the official party position remained that Mushore was the legitimate HCC town clerk.
“I can confirm that the caucuses did take place and the official party position is that James Mushore’s appointment as the town clerk of the city of Harare was done in a lawful and above board manner,” he said.
He, however, appeared to cautiously skirt issues related directly with Tsvangirai.
“What I have told you is the official party position. Anything else different from this is really something I cannot substantially comment upon,” he said.

Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere

Tsvangirai’s spokesman, Luke Tamborinyoka, ignored questions sent to him on the issue.
Mbanga, who is understood to have travelled to Bulawayo for the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, was not answering calls to his mobile phone. Councillors are entitled to hefty allowances for such travels.
He also did not respond to messages sent to his mobile number.
However, sources said Kasukuwere had developed a very cordial relationship with Mbanga.
They allege that on the night of mayor Bernard Manyenyeni’s suspension, the two had dinner at a local restaurant where Kasukuwere reportedly asked him to act on Mushore.
Mbanga would assume the mayoral office the following day, April 22, and immediately ordered Mushore out of town house, triggering an outcry from colleagues who called him a sell-out.
Kasukuwere denied meeting Mbanga for dinner when contacted by phone on Tuesday.
“That’s sub judice comrade. Dinner with Mbanga, why and where?” he asked.
He declined to entertain further questions.
The Financial Gazette understands that some MDC-T executive members were beginning to question Mbanga’s loyalty. There was a possibility that they could move a motion in the National Executive Council for disciplinary action against him.
Mushore was appointed last month after a rigorous selection process involving reputable consultancy firms as well as councillors and stakeholders.
Harare had been without a town clerk since the sacking of Tendai Mahachi in June last year.
But the appointment of the former banker to the US$10 000 per month job  triggered a political storm, with Kasukuwere demanding the reversal of the process on account of the fact that the Local Government Board had not been consulted in terms of the Urban Councils Act.
Council, dominated by members of the MDC-T, Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, had made the appointment based on provisions of the new Constitution which gives them the independence to make executive appointments without interference from government or any of its organs.
An embittered Kasukuwere had then moved to suspend Manyenyeni, after council defied his directive to sack Mushore.
Manyenyeni is challenging the suspension at the High Court; he is also challenging the Urban Councils Act, which he says is clearly ultra vires the Constitution.
High Court Judge, Justice Mary Dube, reserved judgement when she heard the case in her chambers on Tuesday.
Contacted for comment this week, Mushore said the impasse at Town House was due to the lack of clarity as to which laws to follow: Whether it is the Urban Council’s Act which gives sweeping powers to the Minister or the Constitution which devolves powers to the local authorities to manage their own affairs.
“I have an opinion as does the next man. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Given the position I think that it is up to the judiciary to guide us as to which laws have supremacy. In the meantime, I have a contract with City of Harare which obliges me to tender my services at Town House. I will continue to do just that in fulfilment of my obligations,” he said.
 newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw
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But judging by the poor attendance, it is hard to persuade anyone to believe that any of those buses came to the stadium even half full.

MAY 2 will go down in history as the day government tried to play trade union and failed dismally.
A headline in a State-owned daily screamed on Monday — All roads lead to Rufaro as workers snub ZCTU sideshow!
This was in anticipation of a huge crowd at the 35 000 capacity football stadium to commemorate a government-organised Workers’ Day celebration.
The same daily claimed workers had snubbed the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) May Day commemorations held at Gwanzura stadium the day before as they preferred to attend the ‘official’ commemorations.
Alas, the ‘official’ turned out to be a complete flop, which probably left the organisers spectacularly embarrassed.
Workers’ Day, also known as May Day, is commemorated on May 1 every year to recognise the importance of workers as well as reflect on the issues that affect them.
The event was hosted by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare led by Prisca Mupfumira and had all the imaginable dignitaries present, from Members of Parliament, Cabinet ministers to Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa who was the guest of honour.
That impressive line up, however, failed to draw crowds to the stadium, even with much publicity and freebies on offer.
Not even the line-up of top notch entertainers, including man-of-the-moment, Mukudzei Mukombe (popularly known as Jah Prayzer) and Sulumani Chimbetu could attract meaningful attendance.
So paltry was the turnout that, in all fairness, ZCTU had the axiomatic last laugh; its own figures the previous day were, despite being equally low compared to previous events, impressive compared to the charade at Rufaro Stadium.
At Rufaro, terraces that had been filled to capacity by paying fans a day before when two of Harare’s most popular football clubs, Dynamos and Caps United, played each other, were deserted throughout the occasion.
This writer, despite his difficulties in maths, could easily count the number of people at the popular Mbare Musika end bay against his fingers without having to cross to the other hand.
This was quite clearly a reality check for government, which for years has been taunting the ZCTU as a spent force for failing to attract the numbers it used to.
It was a reality check for a government which had all along denied that unemployment in the country has reached more than 80 percent.
Government has been claiming that it is actually the employment rate which stood at over 80 percent.
If it wanted a true barometer to measure the catastrophe that this country is enduring in terms of employment, then it was amply supplied.
But it also was, in a way, a big howler which led to an on-goal and it would be a very safe bet that Mupfumira has had a lesson and she will probably refuse to repeat the terrible experiment again, bringing the Vice President of a nation to address an empty stadium.
In fact, if the truth is to be told, the better part of the small crowd that came to Rufaro on Monday consisted of little school children from around the populated suburb who had to maximise on the last day of the schools holiday playing inside the stadium, whatever event was taking place.
The writer observed some small boys enjoying a rare treat of having a whole bay to themselves, racing along the rows with uninterrupted liberty.
It also consisted of men and women around Mbare who needed to help themselves to free branded T-shirts and a lunch pack which had buns and a cold juice — a real treatment for the impoverished citizens who are either out of employment or, if working, are not getting their salaries.
This writer overhead women rushing towards the point where the T-shirts and drinks were being dished out, with one of them saying: “Let’s just go and get the T-shirts and leave.”
And, of course, there is one constituency that is sure never to miss such events — the ZANU-PF sympathiser who does not inquire on what the event is about: it is his/her duty and right to be there for as long as his/her seniors in the party are coming.
Take Mbare Chimurenga choir for example, which filled several rows in the VIP enclosure, partly obscuring members of the Police band who were part of the official entertainers; they made their customary bum-shaking dances even though the event so clearly did not warrant such a performance.
There are also many other dimensions that serve to expose the event as a complete farce.
For example, only three of the five organisations that had been billed to give solidarity messages turned up and they had to, as an afterthought, rope in chairman of the Harare Municipal Workers Union, Cosmas Bungu, a well known ZANU-PF sympathiser who just happened to have perfected those bootlicking antics, just in time.
The ZCTU and the Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe both snubbed the event.
The International Labour Organisation, which had attended the ZCTU event, attended by virtue of the demands of its role.
The Apex council, the umbrella body for civil servants, was also at Gwanzura for the ZCTU event.
Therefore, the only true exclusive support this ‘official’ event got was from the Joseph Chinotimba led Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions, which was created to undermine the ZCTU.
Interestingly, government had hired, probably at a handsome cost, buses from the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company to ferry civil servants across Harare to Rufaro.
But judging by the poor attendance, it is hard to persuade anyone to believe that any of those buses came to the stadium even half full.
So it is the story of a government not even attracting the interest of its very own employees.
No doubt Mupfumira should have walked — oh, she drove — out of the football stadium swearing never to try such a self-defeating (mis)adventure again.
newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw

James Mushore

DEAR Zimbabweans, lo and behold … the Constitution you voted so overwhelmingly for in the June 2013 referendum is being trembled underfoot!
And at the forefront of it is the government, voted into power on the basis of that national charter.
The latest episode playing out involves Local Government Minister and ZANU-PF national political commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere, who a fortnight ago, rushed to suspend Harare mayor, Bernard Manyenyeni, arguing he violated provisions of the Urban Councils Act (UCA) in the controversial appointment of a new town clerk for the capital city.
Kasukuwere said he and the Local Government Board (LGB) were not consulted when ex-banker, James Mushore, was given the US$10 000 per month job in March following a rigorous selection process.
Kasukuwere had earlier rescinded Mushore’s appointment but the latter kept reporting for duty.
In making that move, Kasukuwere had used section 132 of the UCA, which states that when hiring a town clerk, urban local authorities should consult the LGB and the minister.
That section is, however, ultra vires the Constitution.
The Constitution gives local authorities absolute autonomy to run their affairs on their own and in circumstances whereby any law, custom or practice is in conflict with the national charter, that piece of legislation becomes invalid and cannot be referred to.
The very opening chapter of the Constitution, which logically cannot be lost to anyone, much less a Cabinet minister, who is also a law student, casts that in stone when it states: “The Constitution is the supreme law of the land and any law, practice, custom or conduct inconsistent with it is invalid to the extent of the inconsistency (Chapter 1:2).”
In this case, if the law was to be followed to the letter, as Kasukuwere wants, he should not meddle with the appointment of Mushore by vetoing it and much worse suspending the mayor.
It is therefore outrageous that a Cabinet minister can choose to relegate the national charter so blatantly, and now that Manyenyeni has filed an urgent chamber application challenging the constitutionality of his action, it would be interesting to see how he would respond in his opposing affidavit.
But we know it runs in ZANU-PF veins to disregard the law when its interests are at stake.
As for Kasukuwere, this is the second time he finds himself violating the Constitution after High Court judge, Justice Francis Bere, flagged him offside last year when he ruled that he had erred in suspending the entire Gweru council.
The court nullified the suspension of the Gweru council but the minister decided to defy the ruling and to date, the councillors there remain suspended.
Justice Bere referred to section 278(2) of the Constitution in arriving at the ruling which does not give the minister power to suspend mayors and the councils they lead.
The section specifies that:
(2) An Act of Parliament must provide for the establishment of an independent tribunal to exercise the function of removing from office mayors, chairpersons and councillors, but any such removal must only be on the grounds of :
(a) inability to perform the functions of their office due to mental or physical incapacity;
(b) gross incompetence;
(c ) gross misconduct;
(d) conviction of an offence involving dishonesty, corruption or abuse of office; or
(e) wilful violation of the law, including a local authority by-law.
(3) A mayor, chairperson or councillor of a local authority does not vacate his or her seat except in accordance with this section.
In the absence of the independent tribunal, as is the case at the moment with the UCA completely out of touch and crying out for alignment with the Constitution, it is the national charter which takes course.
This means Kasukuwere has never learned from his earlier gaffe and thinks he can continue violating the national charter willy nilly.
Aren’t the law lectures he is attending at the University of Zimbabwe helping him to understand and respect the law?
The best service that Kasukuwere can render to the nation is to expend the energies he professes to possess to expedite the alignment of the UCA to the Constitution so as to iron out similar and like conflicts in future.’
When the Constitution was adopted in June 2013 as a negotiated settlement, government promised to align more than 300 laws to the new national charter by 2015, but they still speak differently from the supreme law three years on.
It becomes even more disturbing when senior government officials go at forefront of this deliberate assassination of the national charter, for even in its existence; they still prefer to use the old laws, rendering it useless.
One can therefore say Zimbabwe could still be using the old Lancaster House Constitution concurrently with the new charter because the old laws that the likes of Kasukuwere want us to believe are still operational can only work in reference to the 1979 settlement.

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George Charamba

… new threats to press freedom

ON February 3 this year, Zimbabwe’s media community celebrated the nullification of the criminal defamation law under which scores of journalists had been arrested.
The Constitutional Court had ruled that the notorious law was ultra vires the Constitution and therefore should be struck off statute books.
A few days after the ruling, the media fraternity was crying foul after a journalist from Chiredzi, a sugar town on the southern tip of the country, was jailed by a lower court for running a community newspaper without a licence.
It was a rude awakening for media personnel.
The celebration was premature as the field is still littered with laws that have been dismissed as draconian by media activists and opposition party lawmakers.
For example, there has been serious lobby for the repeal of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), the single biggest threat to press freedom in Zimbabwe.
It is under AIPPA that the journalist from Chiredzi was arrested and convicted just because he was practising journalism without accreditation.
From President Robert Mugabe down to ministers and lower ranking members of his ZANU-PF party, threatening speeches have been churned out, signalling a serious intent to supress the media.
And not only are they targeting the conventional media; they also seek to control social media, borrowing from repressive nations such as China and North Korea.
The renewed hostilities against the media come after a bright phase that started soon after the 2013 general elections.
The uneasy relations obtaining today between government and the media render the latter a target.
There are examples to show that the media in Zimbabwe has, in one way or another, been placed in a state of siege and on the defensive.
Operating under the new Constitution which promised so much hope for press freedom, especially as espoused in the Bill of Rights, the then minister of information, Jonathan Moyo, established the Information and Media Panel of Inquiry (IMPI) to lay the foundation towards improving the media landscape. The findings were never acted upon and the report has been shelved, along with the renewed hope that had become palpable in all newsrooms.
In October last year, President Mugabe strongly criticised privately-owned newspapers, labelling them “opposition press” and dismissing them as “rubbish newspapers”.
First Lady, Grace Mugabe has also labelled journalists foolish, hungry, bitter and uneducated.
Rubbing salt to the wounds, George Charamba, who is President Mugabe’s spokesperson, gave the clearest indication yet that government was keen to introduce more repressive laws.
“I will recommend most effective ways of controlling errant behaviour in the newsroom. So you will have a piece of legislation that seeks to restrain rather than to enable media practices,” he recently said.
Charamba has also threatened to cause the arrest of journalists who report on the security sector if they refuse to disclose their sources.
This is despite the fact that the Constitution clearly guarantees reporters their right to protect their sources.
These threats have been followed up by action, with scores of journalists getting arrested, this reporter included, while doing their job.
Presently, three journalists from Alpha Media Holdings are facing charges of publishing falsehoods.
Even those from the State-controlled media who have been enjoying qualified immunity over the years, have been at the receiving end of the State’s heavy handedness.
Sunday Mail editor, Mabasa Sasa, and two reporters were arrested last December after publishing a story alleging a senior police officer was involved in a poaching syndicate which left 22 elephants dead.

Former minister of Information Jonathan Moyo

It is not surprising therefore that Zimbabwe continues to fare badly on the Reporters Without Boarders World Press Freedom Index.
The 2016 World Press Freedom Index reflects the intensity of the attacks on journalistic freedom and independence by government, ideologies and private-sector interests during the past year and describes the operating environment as “very difficult”.
Seen as the most dependable benchmark throughout the world, the index also includes indicators of the level of media freedom violations in each region.
The free press concept is derived from Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which reads: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
In theory, the free press concept thrives on the backdrop of a legal and regulatory environment that allows for an open and pluralistic media sector to emerge; political will to support the sector and rule of law to protect it; laws ensuring access to information, especially information in the public domain as well as the necessary media literacy skills among news givers and consumers to critically analyse and synthesise information to use it in their daily lives and to hold the media accountable for its actions.
“These elements, along with media professionals adhering to the highest ethical and professional standards designed by practitioners, serve as the fundamental infrastructure on which freedom of expression can prevail. On this basis, media serves as a watchdog civil society engages with authorities and decision-makers, information flows through and between communities,” argues media academic, Alexander Rusero.
Whereas other countries are moving to embrace these necessary conditions, there is just too much weight of law, custom and precedent pushing back the other way in Zimbabwe, leaving many to wonder if the country will ever have a truly free press.
A fresh convergence of ideas is emerging among media practitioners, academics and activists who continue to mull over the liberty and standing of the press in this young millennium.
“Verbal attacks on journalists by senior politicians which is often followed by arrests, harassment and even death threats against the targeted journalists is a sad development which should not be tolerated in this century. We note that government continues to use the financial and other leverage it holds over media owners to influence coverage of politically sensitive issues. Even the IMPI report acknowledges that journalists increasingly have to operate in a climate of increasing self-censorship and media polarisation,” said Forster Dongozi, secretary general of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists.
Academics, critics and practitioners agree that there are many threats to press freedom today and that the future of the press is more uncertain now than ever before in these hi-tech times.
“The era of handheld publishing and a million blogs blooming calls us to question the old role and authority of the dead-tree press,” said chairman of the Zimbabwe National Editors Forum, Njabulo Ncube.
Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe director, Loughty Dube said the jailing of a journalist from Chiredzi for operating an unlicensed community newspaper was a clear indication that government still has a host of other laws to suppress journalists.
“That criminal defamation has now been outlawed is a reason to celebrate, but people should not over celebrate because there are still six or seven more laws that can be used to arrest and jail media workers,” he said.
Academic and political scientist, Ibbo Mandaza, said: “Zimbabwe’s media is under siege. We have been taken back to the Rhodesian period. The State is now ruling without being accountable to people.”
The ZANU-PF government has a history of clamping down hard on the media.
In the early 2000s, for instance, when ZANU-PF’s political dominance was being challenged more than ever before, critical news outlets were accused of being opposition mouthpieces and journalists were targeted.
The privately-owned Daily News was bombed twice — in 2000 and then again in 2001 while its editor was arrested repeatedly.
This media repression continued through most of the 2000s.

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MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai

THE Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) is moving to forestall Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere’s attempts to weaken its influence on the remaining urban strongholds under its dominion as the country’s political parties brace for a gruelling encounter at the 2018 general elections.
Since his appointment to the ZANU-PF commissariat and as Minister of Local Government, Kasukuwere has wreaked havoc in urban areas that are still dominated by the MDC-T, at times in ways criticised as unconstitutional.
So far, he has scored a succession of victories in his war with the MDC-T, having dismissed the entire Gweru council and shaken the Mutare municipality to the core.
Only last week, he seemed to have succeeded in blocking the appointment of City of Harare town clerk, James Mushore.
In a bid to silence MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, Kasukuwere last week went for the jugular, threatening to evict the former trade unionist from a government mansion in Highlands, Harare, if he fails to influence his party members to capitulate to his demands at Town House.
While Tsvangirai’s spokesperson this week denied any eviction threats against his boss, MDC-T insiders said Kasukuwere’s threats had resulted in jostling within the party.
Tsvangirai has found his entire MDC-T national executive defiantly resolute in supporting the appointment of Mushore.
Radicals in the MDC-T have now successfully cajoled their leadership to confront Kasukuwere.
The MDC-T dominates the Harare City Council which employed Mushore without Kasukuwere’s approval, triggering the confrontation which saw the Local Government Minister suspending mayor, Bernard Manyenyeni.
The Financial Gazette can now report that Tsvangirai has since somersaulted and given in to pressure from his lieutenants, led by the now-increasingly aggressive secretary general, Douglas Mwonzora.
Sources said the country’s main opposition party tasked Mwonzora last week to lead an all-out assault on Kasukuwere in the battle to retain control of Harare.
Mwonzora’s first action was to call for a meeting of the party’s top brass which was held at the MDC-T headquarters on Saturday.
The meeting was meant to discuss several issues, among them Mushore’s appointment and the audits which Kasukuwere has ordered in Harare, Bulawayo and Chitungwiza.
The meeting, source said, came up with four resolutions: to stand by suspended Manyenyeni, noting Kasukuwere had no power to suspend the mayor; to stand by Mushore’s appointment; to direct acting mayor, Chris Mbanga, to stop victimising Mushore; and to block Kasukuwere’s proposed audit of the City of Harare.
They also resolved to file an urgent Constitutional Court  (ConCourt) appeal seeking to repeal at least 12 provisions of the Urban Councils Act (UCA), particularly section 314, which compels councils to consult the Minister of Local Government when making senior appointments and section 114 which gives the minister power to fire mayors.
Both these provisions are inconsistent with the new Constitution, adopted overwhelmingly at a referendum in 2013, and therefore are invalid. They are only applicable when read with the discarded Lancaster House Constitution of 1979, the MDC-T said.
Mwonzora confirmed the development in an interview with the Financial Gazette this week.
“Kasukuwere must be stopped,” he charged, saying he had filed the ConCourt application soon after the Saturday meeting which he chaired.
“I filed the application on behalf of the party. We are asking the court to nullify all the offending provisions of the Urban Councils Act to cover the whole country because we know Kasukuwere’s strategy is to go from municipality to municipality. After Harare, he plans to go to Chitungwiza and then Bulawayo making spurious allegations against our councillors,” he said.
“The application is now before the court and we are seeking to have about 12 provisions of the Urban Councils Act nullified,” he added.
He also confirmed that he had taken charge of the anti-Kasukuwere crusade.
“I chaired the first meeting on Saturday where we came up with several resolutions. I am happy that everyone in the party is now of the same opinion that we should stand by the appointment of Mushore and that we stand by Manyenyeni.
“The so-called audits which Kasukuwere has ordered will also be blocked. It’s not an audit targeting money or abuse of money but it includes looking at our councillors’ curriculum vitaes, looking at the educational backgrounds of our councillors and their personal suitability. We said no to that. It is our duty as a party to do those assessments. We held primary elections and presented them to the electorate and were voted for. Now he says he wants to audit their skills. They can audit the skills of ZANU-PF councillors, not ours. If it was an audit of finances, it can always be done, we have got no problems with that but he should not touch our councillors,” he retorted.
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, this week appeared to confirm that his boss was now moving with the rest of the party leadership.
“We reiterate our position that Kasukuwere must stop his continued interference with autonomous councils as that is no longer permissible under the new Constitution. President Tsvangirai’s position on the saga at Town House is a matter of public record where he even took it upon himself to chastise the excitable Kasukuwere for his unconstitutional interference in the affairs of an autonomous council,” he said in response to a report in the Financial Gazette last week suggesting that Tsvangirai had been cowed into supporting the dismissal of Mushore by Kasukuwere.
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Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) leader Morgan Tsvangirai

THE Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) is planning to hold its second protest on the country’s economic decline in Bulawayo on May 28, following a successful demonstration in Harare last month.
Tsvangirai spent the better part of last week in the Matabeleland region in preparation for the demonstration.
He addressed the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions Workers Day commemorations in the second city, while Douglas Mwonzora, the MDC-T secretary general, spoke on his behalf at May Day commemorations held in the capital.
Mwonzora confirmed the plans, saying: “It is true. We are having the demonstration in Bulawayo on May 28. What I can promise you is that it will be bigger than what happened in Harare last month. We are expecting more than 20 000 people to turn up for that event.”
The MDC-T has said it will be moving around the country as it seeks to rejuvenate itself ahead of the much anticipated 2018 general elections.
Its brand suffered a major setback after it took a heavy pounding from ZANU-PF in the 2013 elections, which preceded a messy split that resulted in former secretary general, Tendai Biti, forming a breakaway party now called the People’s Democratic Party.
But the split in the MDC-T was followed by intense factional fights in ZANU-PF, which resulted in the expulsion of former vice president Joice Mujuru and tens of her allies in 2014.
Mujuru and her allies early this year formed a new party, Zimbabwe People First (ZPF).
The formation of ZPF led to many suggesting that an obituary of the MDC-T leader was imminent, especially after several key members from provinces defected to join the Mujuru-led political outfit.
The demonstration in Harare, which the MDC-T said was meant to protest against a deteriorating economy and the theft of US$15 billion from diamond mines in Chiadzwa, has shown that Tsvangirai, who led from the front, still has the calling to lead any opposition against President Robert Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party.
Tsvangirai won against President Mugabe in the 2008 elections, but did not get enough votes to be declared the winner.
He withdrew from a runoff presidential election after alleged violence against his supporters, which he said had led to 200 deaths.
President Mugabe went on to win the runoff election, but a confidence crisis forced him into a coalition with Tsvangirai’s party as well as a breakaway MDC party then led by Arthur Mutambara but now led by Welshman Ncube.
It was during the subsistence of that coalition government that Tsvangirai and his party were to suffer from heavy defeat from ZANU-PF and President Mugabe, resulting in the dissolution of the coalition government.
But ever since ZANU-PF formed its government after the 2013 polls, the economy has degenerated, and President Mugabe admitted government had lost US$15 billion from diamonds mined in Chiadzwa by companies controlled by its party members and their cronies.
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Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Lazarus Dokora

FROM the dreadlocked Patrick Zhuwao, who is so keen on exposing his frailties, to Josiah Hungwe, that forlorn character that runs a ministry which is practically about nothing, President Robert Mugabe’s Cabinet is studded with excitable figures who dare try the most ridiculous adventures to keep their jobs.
It is quite a good list.
There is Nyasha Chikwinya, the drama queen who caused a furore when she was so young in Cabinet by distributing sex enhancement pills to women at a ZANU-PF meeting in Gokwe last year.
There is Oppah Muchinguri who last week jumped to announce the ban of domesticated quail bird breeding, only to be whipped back into line by her superior, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, in Parliament.
Mnangagwa said Muchinguri had jumped the gun.
There is Walter Chidhakwa whose premature banning of diamond mining companies early this year only served to worsen an already scandalous situation.
We do not want to even attempt to go to the provincial ministers to try and look at the likes of Mandi Chimene, Miriam Chikukwa and Shuvai Mahofa.
But then, there is another small cast of “wiser” ministers who have realised that they do not have much work to do and have decided to retreat from the limelight so that they can enjoy the super privileges of high office, rolling in chauffeur-driven top-of-the range vehicles, mansions and monetary benefits they get for warming Cabinet seats.
There you have your Simon Khaya Moyos, your Obert Mpofus and your Abednego Ncubes.
But one minister beats them all, even when all the other ministers’ acts are put together.
His name is Lazarus Dokora, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education.
Whenever this man opens his mouth, you bet he has conjured up yet another controversial and provocative idea.
If he is to leave any legacy, it would be his insatiable thirst to poke other people in the eye!
Here is a man who has mastered the art of remaining in the limelight at all costs.
Since his appointment to the portfolio in 2013, he has made it a point that each school term begins and ends with a new provocative idea.
In the not so distant past, he scrapped teachers’ incentives; banned holiday lessons; banned sporting activities by school children during weekdays; plans to increase the number of primary school subjects to seven; and wants levies to be controlled directly by his ministry.
All of his ideas have met stiff resistance, but not as much as his latest two instalments — the banning of scripture union in schools and the introduction of the so-called national pledge which has angered everyone save for that pseudo-patriot.
Dokora’s excuse this time (in introducing the pledge) is that “we want to inculcate patriotism in our children”.
He then rushes to use examples of the American national pledge to argue his case.
But the minister needs a reminder that one’s love for their country comes from what they see and what leaders do to better their lives and not from a mere recital of some words mixed up by a well-fed adult of means.
How, for example, is a child from a remote village, who daily goes to school barefooted, hungry and malnourished expected to be a proud inheritor of the country’s resources?

Women’s Affairs Minister Nyasha Chikwinya

In normal circumstances, this should be treated as scorn of the highest order.
But beyond the harsh oratory directed at Dokora and his ministry from all angles, a very dangerous scenario is obtaining.
Firstly, the national pledge, which appears and sounds very much like a prayer to some god, is resisted chiefly by Christians, some of whom have already lodged court applications to get it banned since it violates their constitutional freedom of worship.
Secondly, banning scripture union in schools is a terrible decision which has stirred some edgy Christians.
Some radical Christians have been circulating messages on the social networks, claiming Dokora is a Muslim and that is why he is introducing an ungodly pledge which worships objects such as a flag.
No, some have said, Dokora is not a Muslim, but a traditionalist who believes in the occult and some spirits.
Now the Zimbabwean Muslim community feels highly offended and obliged to reply.
On Sunday, a local state weekly published the sentiments of two prominent Islamists, Sheikh Ishmail Duwa and Jameel Asani whose pieces openly showed undercurrents running deep within the faith.
Asani, for example, feels there is Islamophibia (hatred of Ismamism) which is being promoted latently by Dokora’s newest offering.
There is one line from the article which should tell a real big story:
“The Muslim community of Zimbabwe will stand firm against any acts of Islamophobia.”
Everyone, Dokora included, needs to be warned against making pronouncements that promote religious hatred.
The honourable minister should be wary of the fact that some of the deadliest wars in the world today and in history have emanated from religious conflicts.
Segregation of a religious grouping has the potential to harden some of the believers who could, in turn, use any means to defend their faith.
Religion is probably the only issue people are prepared to lay down their lives and kill for.
The dear minister can do himself and the nation a great deal of favour by studying the origins of the Boko Haram terror group in Nigeria which came about as an offspring of the fights between Christians and Muslims.
Any religion in the world has the potential to have radical followers who can go on the offensive if provoked beyond the limits of their faith.
Better take heed!
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ZANU-PF deputy secretary for youth affairs, Kudzanai Chipanga

LED by religious leader, Louis Farrakhan, of the Nation of Islam (NOI) movement, more than a million black men gathered in Washington, DC, in the United States to declare their right to justice, to atone for their failure as men and to accept responsibility as family heads.
The day produced a spirit of brotherhood, love, and unity like never before experienced among black men in the US.
All creeds and classes were present: Christians, Muslims, Hebrews, Agnostics, nationalists, pan-Africanists, civil rights organisations, fraternal organisations, rich, poor, celebrities and people from nearly every organisation, profession and walk of life.
It was a day of atonement, reconciliation and responsibility.
That day, the one million men march phrase was coined.
And 26 years later, thousands of miles away from the US capital, there is a group of young men and women trying a million men march, albeit for a completely different reason, if at all there is one.
These are ZANU-PF youths attempting to emulate the great American feat without being necessarily sure about what the march is really for.
At the fore is ZANU-PF deputy secretary for youth affairs, Kudzanai Chipanga.
The day of the march is conveniently set for May 25 to coincide with Africa Day commemorations.
“What is the agenda of your march, sir,” asked one of the curious journalists at a press conference last Friday.
“To reaffirm the youth league’s loyalty to His Excellency, the first secretary of ZANU-PF and the executive President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Cde Robert Mugabe, as our sole presidential candidate come 2018,” Chipanga beamed.
Gathering a million hungry souls for just that?
Is it even possible to achieve that feat?
One million people is a massive figure, much more in a country where many citizens feel so much disaffected.
There is one question which Chipanga and his fellow organisers need to answer: Does President Mugabe need a march to endorse his election candidature when party structures have already cast that in stone?
Did they not agree on that at the December 2014 ZANU-PF congress and reaffirmed it at last year’s annual conference, as much as they will do at the next two annual conferences before the 2018 elections? What more reaffirmation is needed, or could it be that someone in the ruling party has other plans to the contrary?
One is tempted to make reference to expelled former ZANU-PF Mashonaland Central provincial youth chairman, Godfrey Tsenengamu, who now leads an outfit known as Save ZANU-PF campaign.
The outfit is opposed to the march.
Tsenengamu had this to say: “We all voted for President Mugabe in the 2013 elections and he is safely there and there is no threat to his position. If there is, then the security of this country must urgently stand up and thwart that and it requires no youth to sing and dance to deal with a threat to a sitting president. We are tired of this politicking. We just need answers to an ailing economy and the youths are concerned.”
Interestingly, the march is not about any of the issues affecting the youths despite them being at the forefront of organising it.
War veterans have attempted to march before for almost similar reasons and they dismally failed.
They obviously learnt their lesson.
War veterans spokesman, Douglas Mahiya said: “It must be understood that things like this have no impact in mobilising masses. All you need is to go on the ground and be able to organise people into a formidable unit. Just a march does not tell a story. What is needed is to politicise the people in a proper manner because that way, we are assured of victory in 2018. You don’t demonstrate where politicisation has not been done.”
War veterans, though they were invited, have made it clear that they will not participate in the march.
One thing which boggles the mind is just how the youths plan to carry out the logistics for the event.
Presently, it is claimed each of the country’s 10 provinces will supply at least 100 000 people. But this will be monstrous in terms of the money needed for transport alone.

President Robert Mugabe

Millions of US dollars will be required for purposes of endorsing a presidential candidate, which process has already been done at other platforms that are more ideal for that?
That money can be used to help develop and empower youths than gathering them for the sake of abusing them.
But where will all such money come from?
The party itself is so broke that it cannot pay its own employees as we have reported previously.
Where will the buses that are to transport the people to Harare come from?
Even if all bus companies are to direct their coaches to this programme on the day, they will not be enough.
Elementary mathematics would show that at least 13 000 buses with a carrying capacity of 75 each would be required to carry a million people to Harare.
Maybe if the National Railways of Zimbabwe was still fully operational, just maybe, it could help.
Political scientist, Ibbo Mandaza, said while ZANU-PF had the potential to gather masses, there was nothing amazing about the march.
“There was a similar march against sanctions a few years ago and people were bussed from all over the country. So they can bring people, but there is nothing really amazing about the march,” he said.
“This is just politics. There is so much competition for political space in the party and given the intense rivalry, someone should be seen to be doing something to gain favour with authorities,” he added.
Political commentator, Alexander Rusero said: “Obviously there is no way one million people can be at one place at the same time in Harare, but we know politics is a game of numbers and they will inflate whatever figure to one million. Aside from the numbers, there is nothing much to say about the march.”
While ZANU-PF might want to paint the picture of a nation on the freeze, awaiting a great day which is showing over the fictitious horizon, the situation on the ground paints quite a different story.
On the streets of Harare or of any other town or city, for that matter, there is serious lack of anticipation for the “mammoth” event.
In all fairness, one can safely say the events organised previously by mega churches such as Emmanuel Makandiwa’s United Families International, or Walter Magaya’s Prophetic Healing and Deliverance church have attracted more enthusiasm than the looming million men march.
But, of course, the mainstream media in Zimbabwe and media outlets from around the world will be watching to share the story with those who, by geography and design, will not be there.
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Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere

THE Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) dominated Harare City Council (HCC) will be dissolved in the coming weeks to pave way for the appointment of a special commission led by current acting mayor, Chris Mbanga, the Financial Gazette can report.
Highly-placed ZANU-PF insiders revealed this week that combative Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, who is now working closely with Mbanga, was waiting for the MDC-T to recall the Highlands councillor before dissolving council and unleashing a commission sympathetic to the ruling ZANU-PF party to preside over the capital city’s affairs.
Mbanga has been a thorn in the MDC-T’s backside ..
Ever since his appointment as acting mayor last month, he has been complying with the Local Government Minister’s directives despite these flying in the face of positions communicated to council by the country’s main opposition party.
Last week, Mbanga sent town clerk James Mushore on unpaid forced leave in spite of an MDC-T directive instructing councillors to stand by the ex-banker.
Mushore’s appointment in April has become the source of serious intrusions by Kasukuwere into the running of the capital city — deep in the throes of a deterioration in service delivery.
Within two hours of his appointment, Kasukuwere rescinded the decision, alleging violation of the Urban Councils Act (UCA).
The Act compels municipalities to consult the Local Government Board (LGB) when making senior appointments, although the new Constitution now gives them autonomy to make those decisions on their own.
Council has been adamant that Mushore’s appointment would not be reversed because it was constitutional. Kasukuwere responded by sending mayor Bernard Manyenyeni packing and in the process, transmitting clear signals to other councillors that he would not spare the axe if anyone stood in his way.
And last week, the city fathers had to trade their masks of bravado for a humble coat as they hurried to send Mushore on unpaid leave at the behest of Mbanga.
Mbanga has now attracted the wrath of the MDC-T top brass, which is contemplating to recall him.
The MDC-T Harare Province made the first step this week by recommending Mbanga’s recall from council. It is now up to the top echelons of the party to either endorse or decline the recommendation. Insiders say Mbanga will not survive a recall.
Mbanga, according to council insiders, is not losing any sleep over his possible recall as he would respond by joining ZANU-PF, sources said.
Council insiders said Mbanga has been assured by the Local Government Minister that when a commission is instituted, he would take over its chairmanship.
Asked for a comment, Kasukuwere had this to say: “We will cross the bridge when we get there. I cannot pre-empt what government will do at the moment. We handle each situation at the necessary time.”
Section 80 of the Urban Council’s Act empowers the minister to dissolve council and appoint a commission to act as council for an initial period of six months.
“The minister may appoint a commission to act as council if at any time there are no councillors or all councillors for a specific council area have been suspended or imprisoned or are otherwise unable to exercise their functions as councillors,” reads sub-section 1 of Section 80 of the Act.
Sources said the commission, which will operate at Kasukuwere’s mercy, is meant to pave way for the engagement of a new town clerk favoured by the ruling party.
Indications are that ZANU-PF has already identified current Bindura Municipality town clerk, Shangwa Mavesera, for the job, although he was not among the 140 people who applied for the post late last year.
Kasukuwere has, previously intimated that the job would go to anyone who is approved by the LGB, adding that “even if Mushore succeeds at the Local Government Board, he will be town clerk”.

Harare Town House

In the coming days, the ZANU-PF political commissar is seen exerting pressure on the spineless city fathers to accept a forensic audit of council’s businesses that include farms, nurseries, real estate and parks as part of a plot to find something amiss that would justify his actions.
Kasukuwere also wants a skills audit for councillors.
History could repeat itself if Kasukuwere proceeds to appoint a Mbanga-led commission.
In 2004, the then Harare executive mayor, Elias Mudzuri, was fired by Ignatius Chombo, then local government minister, and was replaced by his then deputy, Sekesai Makwavarara, who led a commission that was set up soon after Mudzuri’s ouster.
Makwavarara would be expelled from the MDC and defected to ZANU-PF immediately afterwards.
The MDC-T, which parents HCC, has hit out at Kasukuwere, saying his moves were nothing but attempts by ZANU-PF to regain control of Harare by dismissing an elected council and replacing it with pro-ruling party commissioners.
The MDC-T is banking on the new Constitution to prevent Kasukuwere’s manoeuvres, particularly section 278 of the charter, which states that a minister can only suspend councillors after proven cases of gross incompetence, mental or physical incapacity, gross misconduct, criminal conviction and wilful violation of the law.
“In terms of section 278 of the Constitution, Kasukuwere has no power to unilaterally dissolve any local authority.
“An act of Parliament is yet to be enacted that will harmonise the existing Urban Councils Act to the new Constitution. So in the event that Kasukuwere decodes to subvert the Constitution, as he is apparently fond of doing, the MDC-T will take appropriate legal action.
“We have in fact filed a Constitutional Court application in which we are seeking to have 12 provisions of the law repelled,” said MDC-T spokesman, Obert Gutu, a practising lawyer.
Since his appointment to the Local Government portfolio, Kasukuwere has not made a secret of his intention to break up councils that do not capitulate to his demands.
He has not let a single council decision pass without poking his nose into it.
It is understood that ZANU-PF did not want Mushore for the job as he is closely related to the late former army general, Solomon Mujuru whose widow, former vice president Joice Mujuru was expelled from the ruling party on allegations of plotting to unconstitutionally unseat President Robert Mugabe from power.
The former vice president is now leading her own opposition party, Zimbabwe People First, and has vowed to dislodge President Mugabe from power come 2018 general elections.
Kasukuwere is understood to be under ZANU-PF instruction to make sure Mushore doesn’t return to Town House.
In an interview, Mushore appeared to suggest that he was being treated unfairly for his relationship with the Mujurus.
“If he (Kasukuwere) has issues with me, he should just tell me,” he said.
“You don’t choose your relatives. I was related to the late general Mujuru, something which I have great respect for. I had a good relationship with him, but that doesn’t mean I supported his politics.
“Being in this job, one is serving all the residents of the city and not members of just one party. I am not a member of any party and my own personal politics has nothing to do with this job,” he said.
But Kasukuwere said the issue was being needlessly politicised.
“People should not dramatise and politicise the situation. Let’s just respect the processes we have,” said Kasukuwere, who ironically is already regarding Mbanga as leading a commission.
“We are happy that the Mbanga commission has done the right thing (suspending Mushore),” said the abrasive minister.
He said he was closely following events at Town House and would make sure the law is followed.
“The law is the law,” he said, adding: “The process (of hiring the town clerk) must be carried out in terms of the law.
“There is no way as the Executive we can allow them to disregard the laws of the country. If they chose to defy the law, as they are intending to do, then we will meet them along the way.”
He insisted that his actions were done legally and that the UCA, on whose premise he rescinded Mushore’s appointment, remains operational until it is annulled by the Constitutional Court.
He also contended that individual interpretations of the Constitution are not valid unless there is a Constitutional Court verdict to that effect.
The MDC-T has since filed a Constitutional Court application seeking to have at least 12 provisions of the Act, particularly those giving the minister sweeping powers to interfere with the affairs of local authorities, nullified.
Kasukuwere has become infamous for taking decisive action against councils that disobey his orders.
Last year, soon after his appointment as Minister of Local Government, he gave marching orders to the entire Gweru council for resisting his demands.
Although the High Court later ruled that Kasukuwere had no powers to fire councillors as it is the duty of an appeals committee which is yet to be put in place, the Hamutendi Kombayi-led Gweru City Council has never set foot at the Midlands Town House.

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Two unidentified beekeepers captured at their newly erected bee hive in Chimanimani recently. The hives are strategically located at river banks to help protect trees, preserve and regenerate forests.

AROUND the world, bees are adored for the honey they make and feared for their fatal stings.
But a rural community in the mountainous district of Chimanimani in eastern Zimbabwe has found a new use for the teeming insects.
Villagers there are using bees to help them save trees in an area still regarded as the country’s green heart.
Of late, environmentalists and conservationists have been expressing concern over unprecedented tree felling in the country, which was triggered mainly by the government’s post-millennium land reform programme which saw villagers settling along the fertile valleys of Chimanimani, often at the expense of surrounding forests.
Chimanimani is probably one of the few places left in Zimbabwe where pristine forests are still intact, with both flora and fauna life gloriously blooming.
But, as human settlements pop up, some of the forests have disappeared as people clear land for agriculture.
Veld fires have also been the order of the day, threatening the biodiversity that has been thriving there since time immemorial.
Poverty stricken villagers have also been rampantly cutting down trees for firewood, which they sell in nearby urban areas for income.
In this gruelling survival race, one life has to give for the other to continue and in this case, it is the greenbelt which is capitulating.
Crop fields are also being established on river banks, threatening water sources.
However, there is newfound hope for the endangered forests, thanks to this often under-appreciated insect, the bee.
A beekeeping initiative spearheaded by World Vision, an international humanitarian organisation, is making a difference in the area.
The initiative is an offshoot of the United States Agency for International Development’s Enhancing Nutrition, Stepping up Resilience and Enterprise programme, under which many development projects are being undertaken in Manicland and Masvingo provinces.
The programme encourages and incentivises villagers to keep honeybees along river basins. Beehives are also being put up at fenced off river sources to protect them from cultivation so as to maintain their biodiversity and ability to recharge rivers.
World Vision is also facilitating training programmes to allow enthusiasts to become master beekeepers.
This is a new forest regeneration approach known as the Farmer Managed Natural Forest Regeneration being tried following the failure of the Agroforestry programme, which was aimed at planting indigenous trees using saplings.
World Vision natural resources mananger, Takunda Ruvharo, who is fronting the initiative, said they were using beekeeping as a climate smart approach to minimise the effects of climate change through forest preservation.
He said bees are a natural member of the ecosystem and they can use their pollination ability to help regenerate dwindling forests.
“We are using beekeeping as a way of uplifting the villager’s livelihoods through utilisation of river basins, while at the same time latently helping to protect the environment. If we put beehives, it means people will stop cutting down trees since they use them to habitat the insects,” he said.
“Instead of cutting down trees to sell as firewood, we are telling them to start beekeeping so that they sell honey instead and get an income… So it is actually a way of diverting their attention from harvesting wood products to using bees as a way of uplifting livelihoods,” he added.
“We previously had an approach called agroforestry, which was about planting trees, but it lacked buy in since communities did not see immediate benefits. But we are highly encouraged by this innovation, which generated a lot of enthusiasm among the same communities. We are employing sustainable ways of managing the environment so that we save the forests for the future. We are telling people that in order to harvest more money, they will need to regenerate forests and so they are now planting more trees by mainly using cuttings,” said Ruvaro.
Fredy Muriwoga, one of the Chimanimani beekeepers interviewed by the Financial Gazette in the Mhakwe area said: “We have realised that we can make money out of these forests without destroying them. I have since taken it upon myself to educate people here on the importance of preserving trees and I can assure you that we are going to witness massive tree regeneration in the coming years if this programme continues.”
The initiative has also attracted the interest of traditional leaders who have been fighting a losing battle to protect trees.
“In the recent past, we have had to resort to stringent measures like fining offenders a goat for any tree cut and five goats for setting veldt fires. But since this programme started, we have seen a lot of improvement in behaviour from people here and it is so encouraging,” said Makweye village head, Amon Bvundu.
Besides working to incentivise villagers to combat desertification by limiting forest clearance, bees — probably the most prolific pollinators on earth, have a tremendous ability to help in the natural regeneration of forests and improve biodiversity.
To illustrate their importance, research has shown that bees are responsible for pollinating about one-sixth of the flowering plant species worldwide and approximately 400 different agricultural types of plants.
Pollination is the act of transferring pollen grains from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma in order to create offspring for the next generation.
A recent study in the United States shows that honeybees and the other pollinators help produce approximately US$19 billion worth of agricultural crops in the US alone every year, which is equivalent to one-third of all the food eaten in that country.
If implemented well, forest regeneration would allow for evapotranspiration, leading to improved rainfall and increased food production.
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Permanent secretary in the Ministry of ICT, Sam Kundishora

IT is a frosty morning in Mbare, a densely populated suburb in the capital, Harare.
As the sun heats the sticky air, pillars of black smoke swirl above the vast, busy Mbare Musika market, floating overhead fresh farm produce traders.
Nearby hunched men take turns to bash old car bodies for secondary use.
Fine black ash, speckled with glints of sharp broken bits of different electrical gadgets, litter the surroundings.
The smoke issues from many small blazes.
Dozens of ghostly figures trudge in the pungent miasma, some rousing flames with sticks. Others, mostly children, are laden with armfuls of junk.
A boy from the neighbourhood, in his teens, wreathes his thin frame in the choking smoke which would ordinarily send one huffing and reaching for a piece of cloth to cover the noses.
“I have been tending such fires for three years,” he told the Financial Gazette.
To protect names of the innocent we shall identify him as Tapiwa.
He pokes at one heap, his upper torso disappearing as he bends into the wafting soot from which he emerges with a tangle of copper wire whose insulation has been burned off using a burning old tyre.
A smile lights up his sullen face.
Despite the bouquet of poisons and toxics that the burning tyres, he uses as fuel to expose the copper, Tapiwa’s focus is on the US dollar the wire might get him from a scrap-metal buyer.
Nearby, hulls of broken gadgets gather on the banks of the Mukuvisi River, while other discarded old appliances float in a pond.
In the summer, the rain will wash them into Lake Chivero, Harare’s sole source of portable drinking water which has been condemned for its high level of pollution.
And Tapiwa’s “factory” is one of the many places where high tech toxic trash causing horrendous pollution in Zimbabwe is deposited.
The country is seriously lagging behind in terms of managing electronic waste.
Electronic waste, or e-waste, is a term for electronic products that have become unwanted, non-working or obsolete, and have essentially reached the end of their useful life.
Experts contend that a dedicated policy and legislative mechanism should be in place to offer clear guidelines and steps for collection, dismantling, pre-processing and end-processing of e-waste.
This is important as developing economies generate tonnes of e-waste over the coming years.
Because technology advances at such a high rate, many electronic devices become trash after a few short years of use.
At Tapiwa’s junk “factory” they break up gadgets, littering the ground with shards containing lead, a neurotoxin; and cadmium, a carcinogen that, according to health experts spoken to by the Financial Gazette, damage lungs and kidneys.
They strip resalable parts such as drives and computer memory chips. Then they rip out wiring and burn the plastic.
To them, the key to making money is speed, not safety.
“The smoke gets into your nose and you feel something in your head,” Tapiwa says.
“Then you get sick in your head and your chest, but we do not mind, we survive on this,” he added.
After extracting what is saleable Tapiwa takes it to Gazaland shopping centre in Harare’s Highfield high density suburb where a 48-year-old scrap metal buyer, Simon Mauto, accepts scrap from sellers from all over the city.
The buyer accepts all sorts of wares, comprising TV parts, computer accessories and several types of wires that the 21st Century is discarding as its development hurtles on.
Particularly marking developments in the 21st Century has been the impact of information and communications technologies (ICTs) on social and economic development, which digital revolution has led to explosive production and extensive use of electronic equipment, making today’s information society possible.
However, this has also meant that ICTs have become commodities, and have over time been designed to reach their end of life sooner as users move with the lightning pace of innovation.
In turn, this is creating a massive amount of e-waste globally, presenting challenges of dealing with toxic materials in ICTs that harm lives and the environment.
What worsens the situation, perhaps also helping to explain why to date Zimbabwe has no e-waste management policy, is the fact that e-waste is not that topic which dominates discussions on technology, most probably because it does not have the pull of innovation and progress typical of advances in ICT.
The word waste itself jolts people to just relegate this type of talk to any other time, but now and to some other people, not us.
Research has shown that e-waste is one of the fastest growing solid waste streams today and it is growing at three times the rate of municipal waste globally.
And with the ICT industry projected for further phenomenal growth in the coming years, environmental experts warn it is expected to generate 100 million tonnes of e-waste by 2020.
A mere 12 percent of this e-waste mass is recycled, even so much of it without adequate safety procedures.
What Zimbabwe needs urgently is a sweeping e-waste management policy which would address the obtaining non-existent e-waste management situation.
The country has not even legislated against e-littering despite it being a major threat to people’s health.
Effective e-waste management, environmentalists argue, would help to significantly cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere, thereby enabling countries and regions to combat climate change — singled out as the biggest environmental catastrophe the world is facing.
So in properly managing e-waste, nations would make giant steps towards the success of the climate change agreement signed by world leaders at Paris in December last year and ratified in New York in April this year.
It is, however, encouraging that at least government is in the process of formulating an e-waste management policy which, according to the permanent secretary in the Ministry of ICT, Sam Kundishora, will be published soon.
“This policy is meant to outline the roles of various stakeholders in e-waste management, how the public and private sector will work together, and the opportunities that can be explored by anyone who wants to provide a solution for the growing e-waste challenge,” he told the Financial Gazette.
Kundishora said the policy is hinged on the waste recycling and reuse principle, borrowing heavily from other models that have worked elsewhere.
One example, which could help the policy drafters, is that of the United States which last year reported that it had recycled up to 10 million tonnes of electronic equipment, 18 percent of which were old television sets; 10 percent being mobile phones.
Some 9,3 tonnes of e-waste was recycled in the European Union during the same period. With limited access to e-waste data in developing countries like India and China, estimated figures are linked to sales figures for consumer electronics.
Greenpeace, an international environmental awareness organisation estimates that four million computer PCs are discarded each year in China.
But the complication for Zimbabwe, like any other African country, is that the continent remains a consumer and, in many cases, a dumping site for ICT products, thus complicating the e-waste recycling process because there is no manufacturing happening.
An investigative report by a United Kingdom (UK) media house on dumping sites in Ghana and Nigeria tracked electronic devices that belonged to UK’s leading public institutions including councils, the police department and health services.
Experts agree that modern electronics, in their usefulness, pose a threat to humanity.
“Modern electronics can contain up to 60 different elements. These devices are manufactured mainly from man-made chemical materials. The most complex mix of substances is usually present in the printed wiring boards. When toxics are exposed, potential human impacts include lung cancer and damage to the heart and liver. Some could also lead to brain swelling and muscle weakness. For example, Chromium VI and lead may also cause DNA damage,” said medical practitioner and Harare city health director, Prosper Chonzi.
He added: “We are very much alive to the complications arising from it and we hope to make positive contributions to that policy when it comes for consultations.”
University of Zimbabwe environmental science professor, Sam Magadza, said burning of e-waste aggravates the environmental threat already existing.
“The burning of e-waste is very common in developing countries and it can leave high levels of toxins like lead present in soils and water,” he said.
International best practices on e-waste management emphasise the need for recycling.
According to a recent report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), recycling offers several considerations of the hidden environmental impact of electronic devices.
“Besides the impact on people’s lives, one important reason to encourage the proper recycling of technology is the impact that the production of ICTs from scratch has on the environment and on crucial resources. Mining plays the most important role in the supply of metals for electrical and electronic equipment, since supply from recycling is very limited and it cannot meet the industry’s demand. Vast lands are used for extracting natural resources for ICTs, which also use up other precious resources such as water and energy in production, resulting in tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions,” says part of the UNEP report.
Magadza also said: “Billions of pounds of electronic waste are destined for landfills and incinerators in the next few years. Computers, cellphones, and other electronics contain metals such as mercury, cadmium, and lead, as well as brominated flame retardants that are in the plastics that encase each machine. Studies have repeatedly shown that these metals and chemicals to be toxic to our environment and public health. Some states have begun to classify computer monitors as hazardous waste, banning them from landfills.”
But one aspect, which complicates e-waste regulation, is that it is a subject dealt with by individual states, even though the movement or dumping of e-waste often transcends state boundaries.
In order to address the trans-border issue, the United Nations introduced the Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (1989).
So far 134 countries have recognised this convention. Nevertheless, ratification of the Basel Convention has not necessarily led to policy or legislative responses.
In some countries where legislation has been developed, the success has been mixed.
For instance, despite all legislative efforts to establish sustainable e-waste recycling in many developed countries, these laws often lack effective implementation.
So on this basis, it is hardly conceivable that if and when it is finally formulated, that the Kundishora policy would effectively serve its purpose.
As it is, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate, which is at the forefront of championing environment awareness and regulation in the country, is playing second fiddle to the ministry of ICT, which already jeopardises even the implementation of the planned policy.
A recent UNEP study that analysed policy and legislation mechanisms to assess barriers for sustainable e-waste in eleven countries namely South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Morocco, Senegal, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, India and China showed that no country — with the exception of China with a poor record of implementation — has dedicated policy and legislative mechanisms to deal with e-waste.
In the absence of strong legislative practices in Zimbabwe, the job of managing e-waste is left to the country’s incapacitated Environmental Management Agency (EMA), which relies heavily on voluntary community actions to guide waste management.
“These initiatives are important good practices, but corporate or individual voluntarism alone cannot provide solutions to e-waste,” says EMA spokesman, Steady Kangata.
“Policy and legislative mechanisms should actively hold producers to account, especially in creating infrastructures and systems to collect e-waste and ensure its proper delivery to approved dismantling units,” Katanga further pointed out.
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President Robert Mugabe

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe is understood to have directed the ZANU-PF main wing to take over the organisation of the Youth League’s “million man” march, set to take place next week to avert a potential crisis after the event became a new frontier for factional hostilities simmering in the ruling party.
Events leading to the march took a surprise turn at the weekend with members of the main wing from various provinces suddenly announcing their interest.
Before the change of tact, the march was being organised by ZANU-PF youths ostensibly to reaffirm the league’s support for President Mugabe.
The planned march had initially been proposed as a vote of no confidence in Vice President Emmerson Munangagwa, thought to be positioning himself to succeed President Mugabe.
Youths belonging to Generation 40 (G40), a faction comprising youthful politicians seeking to renew ZANU-PF from within, had appeared to gain an upper hand over youths from Team Lacoste, another faction reportedly rooting for Mnangagwa to succeed President Mugabe.
The squabbles had left Mnangagwa’s camp heavily decimated after Pupurai Togarepi, who is Mnangagwa’s chief lieutenant in the youth league, had a vote of no confidence passed on him at the instigation of his deputy, Kudzanai Chipanga, a purported G40 supporter.
Chipanga has since taken over the reins of the youth league in the interim and has been the face behind the march.
Mnangagwa backers have been alleging victimisation, claiming that the march was targeted at Mnangagwa.
Other key forces in the ruling party such as war veterans, who have openly declared their dislike for G40, had threatened to boycott the march.
But last week, President Mugabe reportedly ordered the ex-combatants to join the march.
This was confirmed last week by Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) national spokesman, Douglas Mahiya, who told the press that war veterans would attend the march only because the president had ordered them to do so.
“It is no longer a million-man march, but a parade that has been called by the President. Now as military people, we have decided that we will take part because it is our leader who has called on us and not some ideologically bankrupt group with ulterior motives,” a local daily quoted Mahiya as having said on Wednesday last week.
However, war veterans would appear to sing a different chorus at their retreat in Chinhoyi three days later on Saturday, with some of them saying the ex-combatants were still not interested in taking part.
The former freedom fighters, numbering more than 500, gathered in Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West province, on Saturday and stressed that they were unhappy with the tension between them and the youth league, particularly Chipanga who recently declared war on them and mocked them publicly as old and sickly.

ZANU-PF national spokesman, Simon Khaya Moyo

ZNLWVA secretary general, Victor Matemadanda, reportedly told the gathering that they would not be taking part in the march, describing it as poorly mobilised and ill conceived.
But ZANU PF sources said given the new scenario whereby President Mugabe has intervened, war veterans were now torn between attending the event and boycotting it.
“They are undecided now. They do not want to appear to be rallying behind the G40 initiative, but again they do not want to appear to be sabotaging the President who has said they should be there,” said a top ZANU-PF official who did not want to be named.
Tight lipped senior members of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) told the Financial Gazette confidentially that they were still undecided about their participation in the march.
“We are peaceful people who went to war to fight the enemy and we have been with the product of that war effort for the last 36 years. What more demonstration of solidarity with the President can be asked of us,” queried one high ranking ZNLWVA member who declined to be named.
“We do not want to be seen participating in a march when there is no harmony. This is nothing but G40 to show the President how many they can mobilise to give the impression that he can do without the other faction. Given this deadlock, we do not find a space to participate. The hostility that has been directed at us makes it difficult for us to participate,” added the member.
Matemadanda was not answering calls on his mobile phone this week while Mahiya simply said: “I am not commenting on that.”
Chipanga insisted youths were still in charge of the march.
“There is nothing like that,” he declared when asked to comment on the reports.
“It remains a youth organised event but everyone is invited,” he added.
Asked to explain the sudden interest by members of the main wing, Chipanga said: “All the other organs of the party are in support of the event.”
“We just had a meeting of the national executive of the youth league today (Tuesday) and we are having the last one tomorrow,” said Chipanga.
ZANU-PF national spokesman, Simon Khaya Moyo said: “What I know is that the youths are organising it, but they are answerable to party elders and they will report to the leadership of the party from time to time and seek guidance there.”
ZANU-PF has since directed all its provincial structures to mobilise enough resources to transport 100 000 party cadres per province.
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Chris Mbanga (L) and Morgan Komichi (R)

AT the helm of Harare is acting mayor, Chris Mbanga.
The city, Zimbabwe’s capital, is a metropolitan that seems to be sinking, each day, under the weight of garbage piling up in the central business district and suburbs.
The unbearable stench from the refuse heaps bears testimony to a tragedy of unmanageable proportions, and one which indicts, not only the city council, but also the ineffective and meddling central government.
It took the death of then deputy mayor, Thomas Muzuva, who succumbed to colon cancer last year, for Mbanga to start his rise to the helm of Town House.
He was elected deputy mayor late last year following Muzuwa’s passing on, before being thrust onto the position of acting mayor last month by Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere following the suspension of mayor, Bernard Manyenyeni.
And, if truth be told, nothing good has happened at Town House ever since Manyenyeni left; and this is not to mean that the suspended mayor was doing a sterling job — far from it.
The past month or so of Mbanga’s leadership have reduced the establishment called council into an empty casing.
Life has long departed; and along with it, serving delivery.
There has been so much litter on the streets of Harare ever since Mbanga’s appointment, while the city has been running out of water every weekend, with some suburbs going for weeks without water.
Staff morale is at an all-time low, more so given that the Town Clerk James Mushore, the city’s principal boss, is, at present, heavily constrained and cannot perform his duties.
The situation is being made worse by a strained working relationship between Mbanga and Mushore, whom he unsuccessfully tried to get rid of on three occasions, apparently just to appease Kasukuwere, with whom it is understood he has a very good friendship.
Mbanga’s relationship with his party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) on whose ticket he landed the council seat, is also strained.
The party’s Harare province last week recalled him from council as announced by the chairman thereof, Eric Murai, accusing him of insubordination and defiance.
Still, he holds on to his job without any qualms, knowing for sure he has the blessings of Kasukuwere.
Mbanga is accused by the MDC-T of not adhering to the party’s directive to leave Mushore alone.
He has had that difficult task of having to skilfully navigate the complex terrain of trying to avoid Kasukuwere’s axe and at the same time satisfy party demands. Talk of a man trapped between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
But lacking that necessary skill, he blundered in handling the matter, feloniously (as in the eyes of the MDC-T) siding with Kasukuwere.
His resistance to the recall, say his party colleagues, smack of a man who knows where his legitimacy is anchored: The Minister.
And already, conspiracy theories are being peddled around.
His curriculum vitae shows that he was once a Member of Parliament shortly before the country’s independence in 1980, representing the late Abel Muzorewa’s United African People’s Council when this country became Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, albeit shortly.
Suddenly the MDC-T’s top brass have discovered that he is not the most loyal member of the party.
Lacking the support of the party, in general, and support of councillors, Mbanga is a sitting duck under the circumstances.
For a man whose public relations skills also leave a lot to be desired, as evidenced by his lack of appreciation of the press, Mbanga may as well be meat for the vultures.
Despite his shortcomings and precarious situation, Mbanga has starkly refused to come out of his shell and open up to the media, leaving the City of Harare’s acting communications manager, Michael Chideme, to deal with members of the Fourth Estate even in situation where matters might require his exclusive attention.
Mbanga is simply always unavailable to all stakeholders, except, of course the Minister.
His preferred responses to the press is always either that he cannot comment or just dead silence.
Only last week, scores of vendors stormed Town House demanding an audience with him. Instead of meeting them, he sneaked out of his office through the back door and “nicodemously” drove away.
This is the man in whose hands government has entrusted the lives and livelihoods of the city’s over three million residents.
Here is a perfect example of how not to be a mayor.
It is therefore not surprising that almost the entire council is still solidly behind Manyenyeni.
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Protests against Education Minister Lazarus Dokora’s banning of Scripture Union clubs in schools.

“EVEN a worm will turn,” is a proverb used to convey the message that even the meekest or most docile of creatures will retaliate if pushed against the wall.
The phrase was first recorded in a 1546 collection of proverbs by English writer, John Heywood.
It was later used in William Shakespeare’s play, Henry VI, Part III.
In the play, the phrase is uttered by Lord Clifford, killer of Rutland as: “To whom do lions cast their gentle looks? Not to the beast that would usurp their den. The smallest worm will turn being trodden on, and doves will peck in safeguard of their brood.”
Worms could surely be turning in Zimbabwe as the world follows recent events in the southern African nation where street protests, solo demonstrations and social media protests are becoming the in thing.
The first worn to turn may have been Itai Dzamara, who has since disappeared without trace after some unknown people drove away with him from a barbershop near his house in Harare’s Glen View high density surbub.
Then much later came the Kariba pastor, Patrick Mugadza, who staged a one man demonstration against President Robert Mugabe’s administration.
Mugadza hoisted a poster which read: “Mr President, the people are suffering Proverbs 21:13,” as the ZANU-PF leader made his way to address delegates attending the party’s annual conference in Victoria Falls in December last year.
For that daring exploit, he earned himself a fortnight stay, over the festive season, in police cells in the resort town, rising to national stardom in the process.
Then came theatre producer and actor, Silvanos Mudzvova, who last month staged a one man play outside Parliament building as legislators trooped in, using his artistic talent to protest over missing US$15 billion diamond revenue.
Mudzvova also got arrested, but unlike the Kariba pastor, he was released on the same day without charge.
Before that, hundreds of war veterans had converged in Harare to protest against their alleged ill-treatment by ZANU-PF leaders. They were violently dispersed by truncheon-wielding riot cops who used water canisters to disperse them.
But the biggest street protest so far came from the Morgan Tsvangirai-led Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) opposition party. Tsvangirai led close to 10 000 party faithful who swarmed Harare’s central business district, with police officers standing at every street corner like statues to maintain order.
Tsvangirai will take his crusade to Bulawayo tomorrow, where at least 20 000 MDC-T adherents and sympathisers are set to march through the country’s second largest city, protesting over the mismanagement of the country’s affairs by the current government.
Interestingly, on Wednesday, the nation saw ZANU-PF staging a cmillion man march in Harare to express confidence in President Mugabe’s administration.
Whether or not the march really attracted a million people, as the party hoped is not an item for this discussion.
Only last week on Wednesday, Christians, for long the symbol of humble servitude, swarmed central Harare, marching across the city centre in protest over the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Lazarus Dokora’s National Pledge which is being forced down the school children.
The protests were also against Dokora’s banning of Scripture Union clubs in schools.
They chanted various anti-Dokora psalms as they headed towards his offices where they found the place cordoned off by riot police details armed to the teeth.
As this protest ended, another was starting, this time angry vendors stormed City of Harare head offices to protest against their harassment at the hands of municipal police officers.
Add to these the march carried out in March to commemorate the first anniversary of the disappearance of political activist, Dzamara, which attracted popular opposition party faces, the nation is surely in the grip of a mini-revolution.
All these marches were curiously followed from a healthy distance by an admiring but as yet spineless population, which could slowly be getting some encouragement from the bolder folk.
It is this rate of protests, carried out in many various forms, which has stoked debate countrywide.
Even in the public places, caution is being thrown out of the window with hot political debates becoming the order of the day.
Could it be that these oppositions herald the emergence of a new valiant people readying to take on its failing leadership? Do these sporadic protests signal the end of the docility of the Zimbabwean people which has made them the scorn of the world? Or is it a series of flukes lacking the necessary traction and destined for that natural death?
While there are no easy answers to these questions, nonetheless, the message which is clear to all and sundry, ruler and ruled alike, is that people are now demanding solutions to many of the country’s problems.
There has been rampant corruption, even admitted by the highest office in the land; there has been miserable service delivery; and there has been mismanagement — all plausible pretexts for an uprising — and yet those in power have until now seemed unbothered, riding high on the backs of the silent masses.
In the light of the new protests, University of Zimbabwe political science professor, Eldred Masunungure, said sustained civil disobedience is the only way of registering displeasure with the State.
But he rues the fact that Zimbabwean civil society has itself lost the way and was going with the political tides.
“The civil society should ideally provide the impetus,” he said.
“We don’t seem to have the culture of sustained civic activism. There is political activism here and there but generally Zimbabweans have apathy and withdraw at the slightest hint of danger. People in this country do not engage in civic activism outside political processes,” Masunungure added.
Political commentator, Alexander Rusero, said: “I think people are slowly beginning to understand that change does not come on its own accord. Collective action, which has been missing, is one thing which is critical in bringing about change. But it would be premature to jump from the admiration of the current events to conclude that that change is finally at hand. If it can be sustained, which itself also owes a great deal to how the State will respond, then, people might start talking.”
Indeed, as the nation trudges towards the potentially defining general election due in two years, it will be interesting to observe the intriguing pattern events are to take.
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According to USAID, more than 300 000 people who are in greatest need of food aid from the two provinces will benefit under ENSURE until March next year.

A FLEET of all terrain four-wheel drive vehicles raced down the Mutare-Chipinge highway, giving their occupants a comfortable country ride.
But soon the comfort was lost in dramatic fashion as the reality of the rugged roads of rustic Manicaland province dawned.
At Tanganda Tea Estates, the vehicles took an abrupt northward swing, abandoning the smooth tarred road to take on a rough dirt road which seemed to tear into nowhere.
Suddenly, the beautiful countryside gave in to an unforgiving terrain.
The road, curved on the mountain sides, meandered like a discarded old ribbon.
The road snaked the once lush mountain sides that have been reduced to jagged and uninspiring slopes by an El Nino-induced drought which has robbed the area of its green liberty.
The only vegetation to talk about included sporadic tufts of acacia, baobab, thirsty shrubbery and brittle grass.
Drivers sweated as they negotiated the steep slopes, skirted on either side by occasional basalt outcrops.
At one point, the cars suddenly halted while scaling a hill: Large outcropping of bundled roots from the remains of a dead baobab tree had broken free from the hard pack alongside the road and needed to be skilfully negotiated.
The first sign of human life in this outback came in the form of ecstatic singing which drifted into the ears once the vehicles were on the verge of completing yet another steep slope along the narrow and rocky descent.
The singing was from villagers who had gathered to welcome their guests for the day.
The visitors’ arrival was signalled by a cloud of fine dust tossed over the hazy horizon by the vehicles.
Few cars ever come to Birirano, this far flung settlement situated, by both geography and sociology, far from modernity.
Forgotten by both politicians and government bureaucrats, Birirano, in Chipinge Central, is one area whose people have had to live with nagging poverty and hunger for most of their lives.
The drought experienced during the past farming season further condemned villagers to the worst hunger in living memory.
Last week, they had gathered at a plateau to welcome delegates from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), an organisation which has funded the construction of a small dam in the area.
The dam was erected over the Chidzadza River which flows through the dry part of Chipinge from wetter Chimanimani further north.
The dam is to usher in irrigation, with at least 120 initial small-scale farmers already completing land preparation as they wait for the completion of the on-going piping.
The Chidzadza irrigation scheme is one of the many corporative developments rolled out under a programme code named Enhancing Nutrition Stepping Up Resilience and Enterprise (ENSURE), funded to the tune of US$56 million for the next five years.
The initiative is being spearheaded by several partners, including humanitarian and aid development non-governmental organisations such as World Vision, Plan International, Christian Care and the Netherlands Development Organisation, which are part of ENSURE.
Government also comes in to assist in technical areas such as agricultural extension and veterinary services, while the private sector is supporting small-holder farmers with inputs and finance.
ENSURE is a multi-dimensional approach twining an immediate response to the obtaining famine with long term resilience programmes rolled out to help communities withstand future calamities long after the programme is gone.
It is mainly targeting six of Zimbabwe’s districts that are hardest hit by El Nino in Manicaland and Masvingo provinces.
The districts are Chimanimani, Buhera, Chipinge, Chivi, Zaka and Bikita.
The main implementing partners are World Vision (Manicaland) and Christian Care (Masvingo).
According to USAID, more than 300 000 people who are in greatest need of food aid from the two provinces will benefit under ENSURE until March next year.
Lactating mothers and pregnant women are also getting exclusive supplementary feeding.
But, by far the biggest development which has excited these drought prone areas is the investment in water infrastructure.
An additional US$56 million is being channelled to resuscitate irrigation schemes such as Nyanyadzi which has been left desolate for the past 16 years.
Under the same programme, some irrigation schemes are being expanded while new ones are coming up.
Chidzadza irrigation scheme, to be fed by the newly constructed dam, is one of the new irrigation schemes that have been established.
USAID, along with World Vision, its implementing partner, is targeting to boost small-holder farming in dry Manicaland, adding at least 24 000 new small-scale farmers to the list by end of year.
Nyanyadzi irrigation scheme is now operating at full capacity following rehabilitation of its canals and piping.
Driving past the area, one is greeted by a belt of lush fields which appear like an oasis in the Sahara.
Only two years ago, the irrigation scheme lay in waste.
“When we came here the whole system was desolate and we undertook to revamp and upgrade the entire water systems. What this area needed was someone who could help improve the water infrastructure so that they could resume operations,” said World Vision programme manager, Kenneth Munyaradzi.
“We are pleased that we had a hand in repairing the canals and reconstruction of storm drains that had been damaged by storms in 2000,” he added.
World Vision also had Mhakwe and Mutema irrigation schemes expanded to accommodate new farmers, who, in a new partnership forged with Cairns Foods, are growing Michigan pea beans on contract.
Before that enterprise, Cairns used to wholly import the beans from Ethiopia.
“In their first year (2015) after the partnership, they harvested 3,3 metric tonnes of Michigan pea beans and we expect the figure to grow as the farmers learn more and improve their farming methods. We have had to manage them well because people had a tendency of becoming dependant if you specialise in providing them with food rations. What you need is an investment which will sustain them long after ENSURE is gone,” said USAID Zimbabwe mission director, Stephany Funk, who toured projects in Chimanimani and Chpinge last week.
“Its (ENSURE) a way of helping them adapt to the change that is certainly coming. It demands that all people get involved. The situation requires us to rethink the way we have been doing business. We realised that we needed to tailor our responses so that they take care of the obtaining environment. It is that environment which dictates what we should do,” she added.
She said 11 dams will be completed by 2020 under the food for assets programme, which is specifically designed to address water challenges in Buhera, Chimanimani and Chipinge.
Interestingly, these communities have starved perennially yet they trail Zimbabwe’s biggest inland river, Save.
The irrigation schemes that were set up along the river during the colonial era were neglected and allowed to crumble over the years, forcing communities to largely depend on donor assistance.
Said USAID humanitarian assistance officer, Jason Taylor: “Giving people food aid will relieve them for a day or a week, but they need to be empowered and prepared for future disasters and this is why we have said we need to invest in water infrastructure.”
New dams are being constructed at Changazi, Chikukute, Dzotiro, Bangwe, Chinamira, Gurupa, Manyanga, Chinyamazizi and Tarwira, all of which are areas with tributaries feeding into Save River.
These facilities are expected to cater for at least 80 000 households by 2015, including those from Masvingo provinces where ENSURE is also taking hold.
Presently, it is benefitting 24 000 households in Manicaland province alone.
“Our projects are community-driven and that is why they have received so much buy-in. They identify with the people,” said Ability Charlie, the World Vision civil engineer who is behind the massive dam construction and irrigation rehabilitation.
Currently, most of the irrigation schemes are growing different varieties of beans under the Cairns contracts.
“We realised that we needed to capacitate them into becoming our regular customers. We are trying to balance that with the profit making matrix so that we grow together. You develop them and they become passionate about the programme. We have now managed to significantly reduce our Michigan beans import because of this programme,” said Cairns’ Mutare general manager, Joseph Mavhu.
He added that the contracts have encouraged farmers to do much more because they grow crops which they know have a ready market.
There is renewed hope in the communities who are seeing a saviour.
“We are in trouble here because of hunger. The rains have stopped falling in our area and we do not have money to start our own projects to improve our lives and so when we see people coming to help us like this, we are most grateful,” said Chief Steven Gudyanga of Chimanimani.
The ever sceptical government of Zimbabwe has previously had an uneasy relationship with Western-sponsored non-governmental organisations (NGOs), accusing them of being agents of regime change.
Previously, NGOs have been blocked from operating in some parts of the country after being accused of politically interfering with communities.
But with the biting effects of El Nino, government has made an indiscriminate passionate appeal to the international community to come and rescue people from starvation.
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ZANU-PF supporters march during the million man march on Africa Day.

PLACARDS were held aloft, and the city centre exploded as tens of thousands of supporters, young and old, took part in ZANU-PF’s million man march.
They played the late Simon Chimbetu’s music, accompanied by cheers and ululation.
The crowd, from all corners of the country, shouted, “Long live Gushungo”, chanting praises to President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s leader since independence in 1980, as they marched to what the ruling party named Robert Mugabe Square in 2014.
Ironically, it was the same venue which the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T), led by Morgan Tsvangirai, named “Freedom Square”, as the country’s main opposition party sought to wrest power from ZANU-PF in 2013.
The MDC-T had sought to gain inspiration from events in the former Soviet Union where Erivan was named Freedom Square in 1918 during the foundation of the First Georgian Republic following the collapse of the Russian Empire.
As fate would have it, the MDC-T was thoroughly embarrassed by ZANU-PF, when it lost the 2013 elections by a wide margin.
President Mugabe, for whom this million-man march was organised, must have left the Square, an open space adjacent to the Rainbow Towers Hotel, a hugely satisfied man due to the bumper crowd.
“This was the best act of all the acts that the party was capable of, done by the youths of the party; the youths performed well. It was well organised,” said a visibly elated President Mugabe, who punctuated his lengthy address with unusually generous tributes to Kudzai Chipanga, the ZANU-PF Youth League deputy secretary who was the brains behind the gathering.
If anything was achieved by the march, it was that President Mugabe, now 92 years old, should rule the country for life.
President Mugabe, his wife Grace and Chipanga were the only people to address the crowd and reiterate this message.
The President himself declared he was not going to leave office unless the “people said so”, and warned that any discussion about his departure amounted to treason.
“There should never be little groups to promote so and so. Those little groups are treasonous groups,” he thundered to the amusement of the crowd.
Chipanga swore by the gods that the youths would do anything possible to make sure President Mugabe does not leave office unless by death.
He said ructions in the party were being fomented by older members who have fed at the President’s trough for a long time, and now want him to go at the expense of the party youths who have just set themselves at the king’s table.
He even produced a US$20 note, inviting bets from anyone who would dare challenge the idea that President Mugabe would die in office.
And, as expected, no one came forth, prompting Chipanga to chant: “President Mugabe will rule till death do us part.”
The First Lady went even further to suggest that President Mugabe was so irreplaceable that he would practically rule the country even after death.
“We want you to lead this country from the grave, while you lie at the National Heroes’ Acre,” said the First Lady, to thunderous applause from the audience.
A few were, however, visibly shocked.
Their speeches were carefully coordinated and complemented each other.
This was a big statement considering the jockeying for his job from both within and outside ZANU-PF.
Within the party, factions have been fighting to position themselves to take over from him.
Outside, opposition parties, including the one now being led by his former long-serving lieutenant, Joice Mujuru, are circling overhead like a swarm of hungry vultures, ready to pounce.
There is now danger from all directions, and the million man march was meant to send a message that President Mugabe remained invincible, and there to stay.
It followed a protest march by the MDC-T that attracted about 2000 people.
The MDC-T still poses the biggest possible threat to President Mugabe’s presidency.
The party has planned another protest march in Bulawayo tomorrow, while others would be held in the coming months in different places leading to the crunch 2018 general elections. But they are currently without Tsvangirai, who is hospitalised in a South African hospital.
It can be argued that with the million man march, President Mugabe has sent a message to the world that he is still ahead of the game when it comes to mobilisation of the masses.
Whether or not the march or rally on Wednesday sounded the trumpet for the next general election, is a matter for another day, but President Mugabe’s fighting tone at the event was a clear sign that he is definitely readying himself for the big contest, be it from within or outside ZANU-PF.
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President Robert Mugabe

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe’s administration could be preparing for a major security sector shake-up after gazetting new defence regulations that set fresh retirement ages for personnel serving in the uniformed forces, the Financial Gazette can report.
The Ministry of Defence, working in consultation with the Defence Forces Service Commission, has recommended amendments to the Defence Act, which will see all soldiers now retiring at the age of 50 years, down from the previous 60 years, unless if one has been asked to continue serving at the recommendation of the defence minister.
That ministerial approval only comes at the request of the commander of the defence forces.
This is likely to affect scores of top army chiefs and their subordinates who are still serving after attaining the new retirement age.
Last week, government gazetted Statutory Instrument (SI) 50 of 2016 titled Defence (Regular Force) (Officers) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (No. 7).
The SI repeals the Defence Regulations SI 135 (No.6) of 2014.
The SI serves as much as the law for six months, subject to its renewal or annulment.
It’s gazetting could be one of the many cost-cutting measures being employed by President Mugabe’s financially hamstrung administration.
Government is currently grappling with an unsustainable wage bill taking away more than 80 percent of its income.
The civil service is seeking to lay off a significant chunk of its bloated workforce, totalling an excess of 550 000 employees, at the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
IMF Zimbabwe chief of mission, Domenic Fanizza, has warned government that it would need to balance its primary accounts, chiefly by cutting the wage bill to below 52 percent of expenditure.
Government has responded to the advice by instituting a civil service audit to weed out ghost employees.
Public Service Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Prisca Mupfumira, claimed last week that the audit was already bearing fruit, with government now expected to save about US$300 million this year from job cuts.
Until now, government has ca refully avoided tempering with the security sector, preferring to hit softer targets such as teachers, nurses and other organs of the civil service.
But it appears there would be no sacred cows this time around for a government desperately seeking fiscal space from anywhere to wiggle out of the socio-economic muddle it finds itself in.
Reads the notice published in the Government Gazette: “The Defence (regular force) Regulations, 1988, published in Statutory Instrument 152 of 1988, is amended in section 15 (retirement) by the repeal of subsections 4, 5, 6 and 7.”
The amendment to subsection 4(a) reduces the retirement age for all army officers to 50 from 60.
“A permanent service officer shall, whatever the length of his or her pensionable service, retire on attaining the age of 50 years. If the minister (of defence), on recommendation of the commander, considers that it is desirable in the public interest, he or she may allow that officer to continue for a period of five years until she attains the age of 55,” reads the amendment.
Thereafter, the officers would serve at the mercy of the commander and the minister and can be dismissed on notice immediately after being reappointed.
“If that officer is allowed to continue to serve, the commander may, on giving 12 months written notice to the officer of his or her intention to do so, require him or her to retire before he or she has served that period,” it further reads.
Those who would have attained the age of 55 will only be allowed to continue serving on presidential approval.
An amendment to subsection five of the Defence Act reads: “A permanent service officer who has continued to serve in terms of subsection 4(a) (that is after attaining the age of 50) shall retire on attaining the age of 55 years unless if the President, on recommendation of the minister, considers that it is desirable in the public interest. He (the president) may allow that officer to continue to serve for a period of five years until he or she attains the age of 60 years.”
Under the new regime, only war veterans will be allowed to serve after attaining the age of 60.
“If the President, on recommendation of the minister, considers that it is desirable in the public interest, he or she may allow an officer who is a war veteran as defined in the War Veterans Act (Chapter 11:15) to continue to serve for a period of five years until he or she attains the age of 65 years.”
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Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere

THE commission set up by government to regularise Caledonia, a slum settlement on the outskirts of Harare, is having a torrid time containing land barons who continue to brazenly work in the area despite a blanket ban on their operations.
Chaired by local government expert, Percy Toriro, the commission was put in place by government following revelations that Caledonia’s over 100 000 residents were losing millions of United States dollars to cunning land barons that were illegally parcelling out residential stands.
It was first appointed by then local government, public works and national housing minister, Ignatius Chombo, for an initial six months period before current Minister, Saviour Kasukuwere, extended its tenure to allow it to complete its work.
While the commission has been able to regularise much of the vast settlement, where people had been settled without any regard to local government statutes, work is being undermined by the continued proliferation of land barons operating parallel to the authority.
In an interview this week, Toriro said the barons were allocating stands in the dead of the night.
“There are still some elements causing us problems almost to the point where you think they are being anti-development. We believe they are in the minority, but their influence is certainly very negative,” Toriro said.
“These are the same people who were implicated in the past in selling land, so practically we are talking about land barons who continue to live in the past and not get along with the times,” he said, adding that he had delegated the commission’s deputy chairman, Air Commodore Innocent Chiganze, to handle the land barons.
Chiganze said: “When we came in, it meant the end of a cash cow for some people, so they are bitter because they are not collecting money as they used to since we got there. They think we should get permission from them to do what we were asked by government to do. If we put people on the ground, they say we were not informed and yet they are not part of our structure and have nothing to contribute to it.
“We have a full database of people who were in Caledonia before we came and we have had the land fully surveyed, but you still see them trying to smuggle names onto our list. Some people have come to us as recent as last week saying they were being made to pay monies. They are told that nothing happens without us (the land barons). They do allocations during the night. They threaten our officials.”
Chiganze also said they were facing difficulties trying to bring the land barons to book as they claim to have strong political connections.
“What complicates matters is that the barons claim to have been sent by people in high office.”
Toriro also bemoaned the lack of co-operation by law enforcement agents to weed out the land barons.
“We have reported them to the police, but no arrests have been made. The local police are compromised because they have not helped on this issue. Many times we have had to seek services of police officers from other stations. One is forced to think that the local police officers have in a way benefited from operations of the land barons,” he said.
The situation at Caledonia mirrors the woes of urban development in Zimbabwe where mass slums without social amenities have been allowed to mushroom on the peripheries of cities and towns.
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President Robert Mugabe

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has threatened to take severe action against disparaging veterans of the 1970s liberation war, likening their behaviour as that of dissidents.

The warning, at a Central Committee meeting in Harare, Thursday, follows recent resolutions by ex-combatants in which they declared that only Vice President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was suitable to succeed him.

Currently, there is a nasty war raging between two factions – Team Lacoste (rooting for Mnangagwa) and Generation 40, which is reportedly against Team Lacoste’s plans.

Members of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), who are openly supporting Mnangagwa, recently gathered in Gweru where they resolved that there would be bloodshed if Mnangagwa’s succession plan is to be frustrated.

But President Mugabe warned that stern measures would be taken against the former freedom fighters for their shenanigans.

“The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association was formed to cater for the welfare of our veterans. This was its primary objective which we have since given greater validity by creating a whole ministry to serve them. It is thus with utmost consternation that we see attempts at turning this welfare organisation into a pressure group against the party. That cannot be allowed. It was not formed to champion politics. Dissidents tried it, they were war veterans too, and you know what happened,” he chillingly warned.

“No war veterans association, that is not your function, it is not your business to choose who should succeed and who should not, worse doing so under the pretext that there will be bloodshed if our preferred person doesn’t succeed. You want to shed blood? That is dissident behaviour and we will not allow it. Steps are going to be taken,” he further said in his rebuke.

He flatly told them to leave alone political commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere, ICT secretary, Jonathan Moyo, Manicaland Provincial Affairs Minister, MandiChimene and her Bulawayo opposite Number, Eunice Sandi Moyo, whom they had said should be expelled from the party.

“Those persons are appointed by the President and first secretary of the party and thus carry about them the weight of the appointing authority. We expect them to be respected by all and sundry, unless there are other motives and intentions,” he said.

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