Govt should make all pensioners equal
THIS is an open letter to all pension fund companies. Government is paying US$50 every month to its pensioners.
Pensioners under other pension funds are not getting this money.
Every month end, I watch government pensioners filling their trolleys with groceries, but I cannot even afford to buy a 10kg bag of mealie-meal.
We are also affected by the rising cost of living. At one time, we were also loyal and hard workers in those companies we helped to build, but now we are starving.
Some of us lost out to these companies because over the past 20 years, they were not paying us when we were still at work and now we are retiring in abject poverty.-Furious
Ban use of gas at household levels
GOVERNMENT should ban the use of gas at household levels. Many people are losing their lives due to gas explosions in
homes.
There is no known safe use of gas. Gas is air, gas is invisible. You cannot see it when it leaks, so how do you use it safely? The only solution is to ban the use of gas in homes.-P Vhunze
Reduce age one qualifies to get pension
GOVERNMENT should reduce the age at which one qualifies to be paid the National Social Security Authority (Nssa) benefits to 55 years.
I am 55 years old. I left employment five years ago. I worked for a company for 30 years. I paid monthly contributions to Nssa for 25 years.
Up to now, I have not managed to get another job. I am surviving on vending.
The little money I get from vending is not enough for me to buy food, pay rent and electricity.
Now I cannot afford to pay contributions to Nssa, yet it is saying I will only get my monthly payout when I am 60 years old. I am struggling to survive. How am I supposed to survive-Broke Already
Buhera villagers seek to end human-wildlife conflict
A COMMUNITY Peace Club (CPC) established by communities working with Heal Zimbabwe in Buhera has made strides towards ending human-wildlife conflicts.
On March 31, 2022, the CPC engaged authorities from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) for a community dialogue to deliberate on cases of human-wildlife conflict that are on the rise in Buhera.
ZimParks has a mandate to manage Zimbabwe’s wildlife resources through an Act of Parliament known as the Parks and Wildlife Act of 1975.
It is also mandated with the protection, management and administration of wildlife in Zimbabwe.
The meeting comes after CPC has been engaging various stakeholders and learnt that stray animals from Devuli Game Park were destroying crops.
It is for this reason that the CPC engaged officials from ZimParks to create an interface platform for the community to raise concerns around human-wildlife conflict.
The meeting was attended by 105 community members, including traditional leaders and officials from ZimParks.
Participants noted that human-wildlife conflicts were on the increase in the area and this was threatening food security as animals were destroying
crops
The dialogue meeting also noted that there was need for the community to be vigilant and knowledgeable on how best to deal with wild animals.
In light of this, the dialogue meeting provided an opportunity for the human and wildlife and conflict management committee set up by locals to meet with officials from ZimParks.
As part of ensuring that communities participate effectively in dealing with human-wildlife conflicts, ZimParks will train the committee in wildlife conservation through effective, efficient and sustainable utilisation of natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations and stakeholders.
The meetings are spearheaded by Heal Zimbabwe as part of efforts to create dialogue among citizens as this helps to guard against human rights abuse and also helps to build peaceful communities.
Heal Zimbabwe utilises various strategies to address conflicts in local communities.
One of these ways is the use of community dialogues, an initiative for communities to discuss and collectively identify ways through which they can proffer solutions to problems in their communities.
Such platforms also facilitate local level conversations on pertinent issues affecting communities as well as create socially-cohesive communities.-Heal Zimbabwe
We need new leaders, not new notes
THE country’s inflation continues spiralling under President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government and the imminent introduction of a $100 note by the central bank will see the local currency plunging into economic abyss.
The centre is not holding.
If we really had the strongest currency, surely we wouldn’t be introducing a higher denomination annually.
The country’s economy is again spiralling downwards without any hope of recovery.
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube is always blowing hot and cold and does not even have an iota of idea on how to fix the problem.
The biggest scam of our generation was to believe that Ncube was the best candidate for the Finance portfolio.
The so-called strongest currency has become a curse to the nation.
The appetite for looting the country’s resources is out of this world.
All these economic challenges we are facing today were authored by this bogus government that is masquerading as the Second Republic.
It’s unfortunate that we are slowly being thrown to the deep end of former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Gideon Gono’s hit and run economic policies.
There are no signs of life in the economy. There are not even plans to set aside money to refurbish or modernise our dilapidated infrastructure and hospitals around the country.
Some of our hospitals were built during the Ian Smith era and are in a sorry state.
The economic crisis does not listen to party sloganeering, neither is it moved by party regalia, it needs a leadership which puts all the hands on the deck and confront the challenges.
It does not need political hallucination from the likes of Obert Mpofu, who say Zanu PF would never surrender power, and would rule forever.
It is not about introducing new notes, but about introducing new inclusive policies through embracing other people’s ideas and building a strong democracy that instils confidence on the market.
The Zanu PF government has no capacity to steer the country out of the abyss and make it an economic powerhouse. This government is averse to stability.
Zimbabwe has a lot of emerging vibrant leaders fit for global hegemony, but the country is being dragged backwards by political leaders who think they hold the right to the title deeds to this nation.-Leonard Koni
