IT is quite unfortunate that Zimbabwe’s army and police personnel find themselves in this very sorry state whereby they are reportedly practically starving while wearing faded uniforms and using antiquated guns and equipment. ...
A FEW days after the release of the 2020 national budget statement, the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (Zela) received an invitation from the Clerk of Parliament, to share its insights from a mineral resource governance lens. The mining sector’s economic footprint has been growing over the years. Its significant contribution though has been magnified by the shaky performance of other economic sectors — agriculture and manufacturing. Part of Zela’s mission is to influence policy and practice reforms that help to deliver greater transparency, citizen participation and accountability in the management of public revenue generated through mining. ...
To help citizens to appreciate the impact of tax incentives, the national budget missed the opportunity to disclose what has been earned by the mining sector per revenue head since January 2011 against tax revenue forgone per each revenue head. On a positive note, the Treasury hinted “…. government, going forward, will streamline incentives with a view to prioritise the development of local value chains and exports.” This falls into line with Africa Mining Vision’s thrust to ensure that where necessary, tax should be used as a tool to promote local value addition and beneficiation as well as mining linkages with other economic sectors. ...
HEALTHCARE delivery remains a major concern in Zimbabwe and recent events in the public hospitals exposed a weak infrastructure and systems as well as inadequate medicines and personnel. The chronicles of patients suffering should now herald an urgent need to build a sustainable healthcare system which is pro-poor. ...
IN the aftermath of Finance minister Mthuli Ncube’s budget that sounded more like was crafted in some Western world capital and delivered in Harare, many people may have missed the assault on our parliamentary democracy by Zanu PF. ...
Never in my 46 years of existence have I been exposed to such an ignorant and arrogant government as that of Zimbabwe. Never in my life have I encountered a group of people who are divorced from reality, whose perception of the real world is skewed and distorted that they fail to comprehend, with any measure of seriousness, the gravity of the plight of the impoverished people of Zimbabwe in general, and civil servants in particular. ...
Is (human resources) HR going to be on the crossroads this coming year? HR is in danger of becoming a general function, but its fate is in its own hands. In order to respond to the changing employment landscape, HR needs to collaborate and upskill, embracing new technologies and disruptive innovations. ...
TWO years ago, on November the 18th, 2017, hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans took to the streets in the spirit of peace, unity and hope, calling for a new start. For a New Zimbabwe. ...
EARLY this year, on March 15, the vagaries of nature afforded Zimbabwe a brief, but memorable snippet into a possible future of what the climate may have in store for the southern African nation. A powerful tropical cyclone, Idai tore through the Indian Ocean at neck-breaking speeds, making landfalls in Mozambique’s port of Beira. The violent storm, deemed the most devastating in this part of the world in centuries tore through the defenceless port, ripping apart everything in its path. Such was its intensity that it ploughed more than 300km inland, slamming into Zimbabwe’s Eastern Highlands: Precisely Chimanimani and Chipinge, where it left hundreds dead and thousands homeless. Weather experts had foreseen the cyclone weeks before, but none, including authorities in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi were prepared for a storm of this magnitude. And two months into another rainfall season, there are tell-tale signs of yet another violent summer ahead after high-speed winds and hailstorms destroyed homes, injured and killed people in their wake in Beitbridge and Mashonaland West. ...
THE animosity between the two political adversaries, the ruling Zanu PF party and the opposition MDC, who have perpetually been trading barbs in Parliament, has now degenerated into ...
Judging from the current and previous climate trends, Zimbabwe and the southern African region appears to be vulnerable to extreme weather events and climate related impacts. These may ...
FINANCE minister Mthuli Ncube, in presenting his 2020 National Budget on Thursday, which he said marked the end of “austerity measures”, missed an opportunity to indeed pave the way for real relief for a burdened population battling to make ends meet as the economy continues on its downward spiral. ...
IN the Bible, there is a story of the prodigal son who demanded his share of his father’s estate, which the father gave him. Shortly after being given ...
AS always, each time one wakes up in Zimbabwe, they are treated to intriguing and curious circumstances that send either the heart or brain racing at life-threatening speeds. ...
Black Twitter is fuming and a petition carrying over 60 000 signatures, titled Reinstate African Union Ambassador Arikana Chihombori-Quao, is demanding the return of the permanent ambassador of ...
The transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energies is a global pursuit. But it is faster and more intensive in some countries than others. Take the case of ...
Seven countries around the world – three of them in Africa – have made faster than expected progress over the past 15 years in reducing deaths among children younger than five. These seven countries, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nepal, Peru, Rwanda and Senegal, were selected because they have all performed unexpectedly well in improving childhood health relative to their economic growth. ...
This month, the month of November, marks two years since Zimbabwe’s former leader, the late Robert Mugabe lost power to his long-time ally and lieutenant Emmerson Mnangagwa in a coup which was orchestrated by military commanders. We shall be doing a series of papers based on thematic areas to assess the performance of the Mnangagwa regime for the past two years. ...
I PASSED a billboard on Friday which said Government fires hundreds of doctors. My gut reaction? How stupid that is! We spend tens of thousands of dollars giving a child a primary and secondary education over a period of 16 years. ...
NEARLY a year after the Zimbabwe government realised that the country would be facing serious hunger this year, it comes as a great shock that it did not plan on how to avert this very inevitable crisis, except to vigorously thrust out its begging bowl to international donors. Revelations that government has reduced by 40% grain supplies to millers at this critical moment has exposed the authorities’ apparent laissez-faire attitude towards otherwise very serious matters. That government’s grain reserves at the Grain Marketing Board would sooner or later run out in the wake of poor harvests following an El Nino-induced drought was inescapable, internal plans should have been put in place for grain imports as soon as the country realised that the harvest would be too low to sustain the nation to another harvest. All we recall is just the much ado about nothing rhetoric that the government had everything under control and had secured supplies of the staple food from as far afield as Tanzania. The State even assured us that the largely defunct National Railways of Zimbabwe would be up and running to timely bring us the food relief. But alas, it looks like we were sold bottled smoke. ...
By Monday morning there was chaos in the Warriors camp that emanated from the Premier Soccer League’s ill-advised and shocking decision to force through a full programme between today and tomorrow as well as another round of matches on Saturday and Sunday. ...
MONDAY, November 11, marked the 54th anniversary of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) by then Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Douglas Smith, a move that severed the white colony from the British empire and earned it United Nations economic sanctions for 13 years. However, these were the economic boon years of Rhodesia despite a raging bush war. ...
IT comes as a seriously embarrassing affront to the Zimbabwe nation State that we are condemning hundreds, if not thousands, of fellow brothers and sisters to Statelessness simply because one or both their parents are unknown to them, which makes it impossible for them to obtain identity documents (IDs) under the country’s very strange laws that unashamedly trample on basic human rights. Having an ID is one of the most basic human rights that should not be so complicated and made to appear to be so sacred that a whole nation conspires to deny fellow citizens the right to belong somewhere. ...
This has been one of the most deluded period for the Zimbabwe government - even by its own inherently schizophrenic standards — firstly claiming that providing low salaries to workers was economically prudent as it attracted foreign direct investment (FDI), since companies preferred investing in countries with cheap labour, then later announcing that it intended inviting back foreign-based specialist doctors — yet, clearly failing to adequately care for its own local contingent of medical practitioners. ...
Whenever you are asked whether or not you are ready to retire, you will laugh and say “Of course not”. I have met a lot people who are in their late 50s and still working and whenever l bring up the topic on retirement, they often shudder. In fact, just the mere mention of the word makes their mood shift to “down”. They have acquired many skills and knowledge, but still those nearing 60 years of age feel more than agitated about the mere thought of retirement. I think it’s an old belief that being 60 years of age means being “old and tired”, the reason is that people should retire to something, not just retire from something. ...
It is simple: The tragedy of the over two-months doctors’ strike is that Zimbabwe has two finely distinct groups; those who feel (the majority) the impact of the strike and those who talk (the minority) about it. ...
MUCH as we should be rejoicing and dancing mad in the streets that government will, starting today, drip-feed a billion dollars of our already inflation-gnawed currency into the ...
THE year will soon be over and we will be doing a stock take that's if you haven't already started. A substantial number of us have missed opportunities in life. ...
While the rest of the country was still wondering what the government was thinking when it fired 77 doctors working at public hospitals which now resemble ghost buildings, it went ahead and dismissed 134 more, bringing the total to 211. ...
AFTER her ouster from the chair of her committee, Concilia Chinanzvavana commented that her ouster had been unconstitutional, not procedural and contrary to Parliament’s Standing Rules and Orders. ...
SEVERAL months after Chief Bere was installed in his motherland, the Bere people are still waiting for the promised land and are being haunted, divided, harassed and traumatised by illegal settlers who took advantage of their displacement about 100 years ago. ...
