Newsday 11 June 2014

US$1/R10 Wednesday, June 11, 2014 

Everyday News for Everyday People 

Vapostori 

apologise to 

Chihuri 

Zvimba chiefs 

reject Chombo 

‘favourite’ 

www.newsday.co.zw 

Carl Joshua in 

groundbreaking 

tour 

Page E03 

Jonathan Moyo 

Page 2 

Page 2 

7 miners perish 

in horrific 800m 

underground fall 

stays put 

MOSES MATENGA/PHYLLIS MBANJE 

INFORMATION, Media and Broadcasting 

Services minister Jonathan Moyo is likely 

to continue with his work in government 

amid indications that he is not going anywhere 

despite vitriol directed at him by 

President Robert Mugabe, it has emerged. 

Mugabe made the scathing attacks at the 

funeral wake and burial of national hero 

Nathan Shamuyarira last week. 

Moyo, despite being accused of dividing 

Zanu PF using the public media and with 

many speculating over his future in the 

ruling party, observers said the party spin 

doctor was staying put and continuing with 

his government work programme as usual. 

Yesterday Moyo reportedly attended 

Cabinet chaired by Mugabe and is expected 

to give a keynote address at a Voluntary 

Media Council of Zimbabwe workshop in 

Kadoma tomorrow. 

The Zanu PF politburo member is this 

morning expected to tour the British American 

Tobacco manufacturing plant in Harare 

while on Friday he will tour Chisumbanje 

Ethanol Plant. 

Although no comment could be obtained 

last night from Moyo as he was not 

reachable, it is understood that a millitary 

helicopter has reportedly been provided for 

the minister’s tour of Chisumbanje. 

The Chisumbanje ethanol project is 

jointly owned by Zanu PF-aligned businessman 

Billy Rautenbach’s Macdom Investment 

and government through the Agriculture 

and Rural Development Authority. 

Rautenbach is also reportedly linked to 

Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. 

Mnangagwa and Vice-President Joice 

Mujuru reportedly lead factions angling 

to succeed Mugabe in the Zanu 

PF succession matrix. 

Analyst Alexander Rusero said 

it was highly likely that Moyo 

would not be chucked out of 

Cabinet and Zanu PF as he was 

“useful” to Mugabe and the 

ruling party. 

“I don’t think they can 

deal with him. If you are a 

strategic leader like Mugabe 

in a party riddled with factionalism, 

it is necessary to 

chide at a faction that 

is getting an upper 

hand,” Rusero said. 

He said Moyo was 

the chief strategist in 

the last elections and 

even the MDC-T agreed 

that his Bhora Mugedhi 

(loosely translated “score 

for the party, not against it”) 

message had power and 

appealed to the masses. 

“That message and 

manifesto was authored 

by Moyo and I don’t 

• 

think Zanu PF can 

TO PAGE 2 

Information minister Jonathan Moyo 

STAFF REPORTER 

SEVEN miners died at Golden Valley Mine 

in Kadoma on Monday when operators lost 

control of the mine skip that was hoisting 

them out of the mine resulting in it plunging 

some 800 metres underground. 

The National Mine Workers’ Union of 

Zimbabwe (NMWUZ) confirmed the accident 

which happened about 18km outside 

Kadoma along Sanyati Road. 

The accident also left 11 other miners injured 

and hospitalised at Kadoma General 

Hospital. 

“The accident happened around 10pm on 

Monday night when 19 workers were being 

hoisted from the mine shaft and were about 

to go home. The hoist lost control of the skip 

resulting in it going backwards without any 

brakes from Level 1 to Level 23, some 800m 

underground,” NMWUZ president Tinashe 

Mugwira,who was at the scene of the accident, 

said. 

“It only stopped when it plunged into a 

body of water on Level 23 drowning some of 

the miners and injuring the others.” 

Attempts to get a comment from the police 

were fruitless with Mashonaland West 

provincial police spokesperson Inspector 

Clemence Mabgweazara saying he was attending 

a series of meetings. 

Golden Valley human resources manager 

Charles Msimanga confirmed the accident, 

but referred all questions to mine manager 

Frank Taderera. Taderera’s secretary, who 

identified herself as Shanon, said he was 

busy attending to the accident and would get 

back to NewsDay once he was back in the 

office. Mugwira said his union was shocked 

by the accident, especially given that it was 

the duty of the National Social Security Authority 

(NSSA) to continually inspect mine 

machinery without notice. 

“We have breadwinners in this accident 

which should not have happened, especially 

given that we have NSSA inspectors and 

modern technology which has the capacity 

to detect failings on equipment before 

• TO PAGE 2

2 

NewsDay wednesday june 11, 2014 

NEWS 

Zvimba chiefs reject 

Chombo ‘favourite’ 

Vapostori apologise 

to Chihuri 

SENIOR REPORTER 

A HARARE magistrate yesterday heard 

that members of the Johanne weChishanu 

Apostolic Church wrote a letter 

of apology to Police Commissioner– 

General Augustine Chihuri after they 

violently clashed with police officers 

at their sect’s shrine in Budiriro two 

weeks ago. 

Several police officers, officials 

from the Apostolic Christian Council 

of Zimbabwe (ACCZ) and journalists 

were left injured. 

The police officers had escorted 

ACCZ leader Johannes Ndanga to announce 

that the sect had been banned 

over human rights violations. Violence 

broke out after Ndanga ordered the 

arrest of one of the sect members 

who allegedly continuously interjected 

his speech. Magistrate Donald Ndirowei 

heard that the letter, however, led 

to the arrest of one of the sect members, 

David Shamuyarira, after he was 

linked to the violent clashes. 

Shamuyarira, who was represented 

by lawyer Tawanda Takaindisa, was 

not asked to pleaded when he appeared 

in court yesterday. He was remanded 

to today for bail application. 

Meanwhile, the High Court yesterday 

postponed the bail appeal hearing 

for the other 24 sect members to June 

12 after the State indicated that it had 

received the application late. 

7 miners perish in 

horrific accident 

• From Page 1 

such accidents happen,” Mugwira said. 

In another related tragedy, three people 

died yesterday when a bus they 

were travelling in burst its front left 

tyre and overturned several times near 

Mvuma along the Harare-Beitbridge 

Road. 

National police spokesperson Chief 

Superintendant Paul Nyathi said two 

people died on the spot while one 

died on admission at Mvuma District 

Hospital. The bus belonging to Quapar 

Bus Services had 50 people on board. 

Everson Mushava 

Chief Reporter 

HARARE provincial administrator 

Alfred Tome was yesterday nominated 

for the Zvimba chieftainship 

amid allegations that Local Government 

minister Ignatius Chombo 

was artificially creating the 

leadership wrangle in President 

Robert Mugabe’s backyard for his 

own political expediency. 

At an emotionally-charged 

meeting at Murombedzi growth 

point yesterday, Chief Zvimba, 

Stanley Mhondoro, accused 

Chombo’s office of having “a special 

interest” in the affairs of the 

Gushungo clan which was fighting 

for the chieftainship. 

The meeting was allegedly organised 

by Chombo to “iron out” 

sticky issues in the selection of 

Chief Beperere. NewsDay was also 

at the meeting that was attended 

by almost 100 family members. 

The chiefs and other clan 

members who attended the meeting 

said Chombo’s interest in the 

Zvimba chieftainship had caused 

confusion with the minister, 

who is also Zvimba North MP, attempting 

to sideline Tome, the 

clan’s preferred candidate, in favour 

of Matheas Matare from the 

Dutsa family for the post of Chief 

Beperere. 

The meeting started with Chief 

Zvimba and the Zvimba family 

spokesperson Stanley Chikambi 

demanding minutes of the previous 

meeting and why the Local 

Government ministry had called 

the meeting when the clan had 

agreed that Tome was the preferred 

candidate in the presence 

of Mugabe on April 4. 

Chombo’s team included 

Zvimba district administrator Andrew 

Tizora, Masvingo provincial 

administrator Felix Chikovo and 

Mashonaland Central provincial 

administrator Josphat Jaji, among 

others. 

The timid Local Government 

team claimed they had been sent 

by Fanuel Mukwaira, a director in 

Chombo’s ministry responsible 

for the appointment of chiefs, to 

consult and formalise the Beperere 

chieftainship. 

The team had to ask everyone 

to get out of the hall except members 

of the Beperere family after 

tempers flared. 

“The family is unsettled because 

the Local Government ministry 

is now an interested party. 

You cannot take us for a ride. The 

ministry is trying to manipulate 

the chieftainship against chosen 

candidates,” Chief Zvimba said. 

He claimed that the situation 

was degenerating into chaos and 

most decisions about the appointment 

were being done in his absence 

yet he was the paramount 

chief of the family. 

He claimed that he had been 

chased away by some family 

members at some meeting 

to deliberate on the selection 

staff REPORTER 

THE Bulawayo High Court yesterday 

ordered MDC-T youths 

who hijacked a vehicle used by 

ousted Matabeleland North chairperson 

Sengezo Tshabangu’s 

driver Lameck Ndlovu to return it 

forthwith, saying their action was 

unlawful. 

Ndlovu, who was the first applicant 

along with second applicant 

Zacharia Nkomo, Sage 

Mguni (third applicant) and Tshabangu 

as the fourth applicant, 

had approached the court seeking 

it to compel Witness Dube and 

Kudakwashe Muchemwa to return 

the Isuzu registration number 

ADA1568 to Ndlovu upon service 

of the order. 

Dube and Muchemwa were 

cited as the first and second respondents 

respectively. 

The applicants were represented 

by Phulu Ncube Legal 

Practitioners and alleged that the 

vehicle was violently taken by 

Dube, who is a driver for MDC-T 

vice-president Thokozani Khupe, 

and Muchemwa in the company 

of some other people. 

Justice Andrew Mutema granted 

an interim relief and said failure 

by Dube to surrender the vehicle 

would result in the Sheriff 

being directed and “authorised to 

seize the vehicle, an Isuzu registration 

number ADA1568, on sight 

of a candidate for the Beperere 

chieftainship. 

“You are taking us back. We 

have selected Alfred Tome and 

now you ask us to choose another 

one. That is why I said you have a 

special interest in our chieftainship. 

And we are worried about 

that,” Chief Zvimba said. 

He sensationally claimed that 

some chiefs across the country 

had confided in him at a meeting 

in Victoria Falls in March that they 

had had similar problems with the 

Local Government ministry over 

the appointment of chiefs. 

Chikambi weighed in: “You are 

assembling us to ask us who we 

are to choose. Do you want to do 

away with what we decided in the 

and deliver the same to first applicant 

(Ndlovu) or his designated 

agent”. 

Justice Mutema said the vehicle 

should remain in the custody 

of Ndlovu until the matter was 

finalised. 

In his founding affidavit, Ndlovu 

said on May 26, he parked the 

vehicle that had been given to 

him by Tshabangu at the intersection 

of 1st Avenue and Joshua 

Mqabuko Nkomo Street waiting 

for Exmas Chinounyi who was 

supposed to give him money to 

fuel the car. 

Ndlovu said he was in the 

company of Nkomo and Mguni 

when Chinounyi gave them $70 

presence of President Mugabe?” 

Jaji said they had not come to 

impose the chief, but to set the record 

straight. 

Zunzapfumo Tome said Matare, 

popularly known as Dununu, had 

been handpicked by Chombo’s 

office without the consent of the 

family. 

“We approached Minister 

Chombo when we heard Matare 

would be appointed. He said no 

name had been given to him yet. 

When we checked, we later found 

out that the name had already 

been given to President Mugabe 

and Attorney-General Johannes 

Tomana and we objected,” Tome 

said. 

• feedback@newsday.co.zw 

MDC-T looses vehicle case to ex-chair 

Jonathan Moyo stays put 

• From Page 1 

be blind not to see how important 

he is to the party,” Rusero said. 

He said Moyo came to Mugabe’s 

rescue in 2000, 2002 and 2013. 

“Whenever he is called, he 

delivers. He is a reliable contract 

worker. On accusations that he 

wants power, you can’t be in politics 

to remain in the shadows. All 

this means nothing to his future. If 

they wanted to deal with him, he 

would have been fired at the politburo 

meeting way before Shamuyarira’s 

death,” Rusero said. 

“I don’t see anything happening 

to him, Zanu PF needs him 

more than he needs Zanu PF.” 

University of Zimbabwe political 

science lecturer Eldred Masunungure 

also said the attack on 

Moyo only served as a warning. 

“This just shows the depth of 

the ongoing factional fights within 

Zanu PF which is desperately 

trying to stay in power by practicing 

pendulum politics to appease 

the warring sides,” Masunungure 

said. 

Masunungure said Mugabe’s 

remarks were a sign of deep anger 

not only directed at Moyo, but other 

high-ranking officials who were 

seemingly lukewarm in their approach 

to the opposition MDC-T. 

“This was a warning to Moyo 

and those considered to be pro- 

MDC to observe the parameters 

that govern them,” Masunungure 

added. “He (Mugabe) is obviously 

unhappy, but it was just a question 

of defining parameters that govern 

party members.” 

Legal expert Chris Mhike added 

the chaos within the ruling Zanu 

PF party had resulted in the current 

witch-hunt and fault-finding 

game which would target the 

“good guys”. 

“There can be no doubt that 

Zanu PF as an organisation, is in 

disarray on many fronts; especially 

regarding governance aptitude, 

policy direction, and organisational 

cohesion. Under these circumstances, 

someone or some people 

were, at one point or the other, 

bound to be blamed for the raging 

commotion,” Mhike said. 

On whether or not the attack 

marked the second political 

demise of Moyo who has been 

Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo 

President Robert Mugabe 

dubbed “turncoat”, Mhike said it 

was just but a stern warning. 

“It would not be surprising to 

see in a few months’ time, that 

this rebuke from the President was 

nothing but a storm in a teacup.” 

He, however, said Moyo might 

be demoted to a lesser influential 

post. 

Media Institute of Southern 

Africa national director Nhlanhla 

Ngwenya expressed regret at 

Mugabe’s utterances and said he 

should not judge journalists based 

on their previous employment. 

“It is unfortunate that the President 

has given them political la- 

for fuel, but before they could 

drive off, Dube and Muchemwa 

blocked their way with another 

vehicle, alighted and attempted to 

forcibly take away the Isuzu keys 

from ignition. 

Ndlovu said he resisted and in 

the process injured his right hand 

as Dube twisted it. 

He said Nkomo, Mguni and 

himself jumped out of the vehicle, 

but Dube, Muchemwa and 

several “other male persons” 

started assaulting them with fists 

and booted feet until Dube managed 

to wrestle the keys from him. 

Ndlovu said Dube and Muchemwa 

dragged him into the car and 

drove with him inside. 

bels simply based on the media 

outlets they worked for in the past. 

If that is as simple as that, one can 

also assume that those working 

for the State media are all Zanu PF 

supporters or activists. That is not 

necessarily the case,” Ngwenya 

said. 

The Media Monitoring Project of 

Zimbabwe (MMPZ) said the attack 

on Moyo was confirmation of Zanu 

PF’s abuse of the State media. 

“MMPZ expresses its concern 

over comments by Mugabe at the 

funeral of the late veteran nationalist 

and former Information minister 

Nathan Shamuyarira, which 

all, but confirmed fears that Zanu 

PF was in charge of the government-controlled 

State media,” 

MMPZ in a statement said. 

“But the implications of his 

comments are a source of grave 

concern, particularly his insinuation 

that the State media should 

exclusively serve his party’s political 

interests. Mugabe was 

also reported to have criticised 

Moyo’s appointment of some editors 

at these institutions on the 

basis of their previous employment 

or their perceived political 

affiliation.” 

• feedback@newsday.co.zw

NEWS NewsDay wednesday june 11, 2014 3 

MP’s firm contests 

$3m tax demand 

HCC set to save $16m a year from job cuts 

MOSES MATENGA 


HARARE City Council says it expects 

to save in excess of $16 million 

a year through its ongoing job 

cuts which have so far seen 1 300 

workers laid off. 

The local authority is battling to 

pay its workforce currently estimated 

at above 9 000 employees. 

The council’s human resources 

committee chairperson Wellington 

Chikombo confirmed that 

more than 1 383 workers had been 

retrenched since the programme 

was launched early this year. 

“The workforce should actually 

be bigger, but we are failing to 

pay the workers. This will help us 

save money and will save millions 

of dollars,” Chikombo said. 

Impeccable council sources 

yesterday said the rationalisation 

process was going on well although 

they had faced resistance 

from the chamber secretary Josephine 

Ncube’s office who allegedly 

wanted to shield two of her 

employees from the programme. 

Ncube had been given until 

Monday to ensure the two employees 

leave office or else the axe 

could fall on her and yesterday, 

Town House officials confirmed 

she had taken heed of the call 

from her superiors. 

The sources said Ncube was told 

during a stormy meeting at Town 

House that she must stop protecting 

workers above 60 who were 

earmarked for rationalisation. 

Harare is engaged in a rationalisation 

exercise that would 

see several of its old staff being 

axed. 

The move has, however, been 

widely criticised by other workers 

and their representatives who feel 

it was tantamount to “condemning 

workers” to destitution. 

Chikombo said council was 

working to ensure the affected 

workers received their severance 

packages. 

The city’s failure to meet its salary 

obligations on time had given 

rise to corrupt activities. 

Justice Mayor Wadyajena 

PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI 


GOKWE-NEMBUDZIYA MP Justice 

Mayor Wadyajena’s company, 

Mayor Logistics (Private) Limited, 

has filed an urgent chamber application 

with the Constitutional 

Court (Concourt) seeking to interdict 

the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority 

(Zimra) from garnishing its 

bank account over alleged tax evasion 

involving over $3 million. 

In the application, filed under 

case number CC241/14, Wadyajena’s 

lawyer Dzikamai Machingura 

said his client disputed Zimra’s 

assessment that the firm owed it 

$1 619 161,32 in value-added tax 

(VAT) and $2 066 652,84 in income 

tax, including penalties and 

interest. 

“Applicant (Mayor Logistics) 

also seeks that respondent (Zimra) 

be interdicted from collecting VAT 

and income tax pending the outcome 

of its appeal which is now 

before the Fiscal Appeal Court as 

any such collection would effectively 

destroy applicant’s business 

especially in light of the colossal 

amounts being claimed by the respondent,” 

the application read in 

part. 

Machingura said the dispute 

emanated from the fact that there 

was a misunderstanding on Zimra’s 

part regarding his client’s business 

transactions at the time. 

“Applicant (Mayor Logistics) 

has all along disputed that the 

amounts are legally due and owing 

to the respondent (Zimra) for 

the reason that respondent failed to 

understand the true essence of the 

business transactions which applicant 

was involved in during the 

period of the tax review,” read the 

application. 

“In fact, applicant has since filed 

an appeal with the Fiscal Appeal 

Court challenging the respondent’s 

aforesaid tax assessment.” 

Machingura said Mayor Logistics’ 

constitutional right to “reasonable 

administrative justice” had 

been violated through Zimra’s “arbitrary 

decision” to collect the tax 

ahead of a pending determination 

of the applicant’s fiscal appeal. 

“Whilst the need for respondent 

to be able to collect taxes efficiently 

and effectively is acknowledged, 

it is equally more important that a 

taxpayer’s constitutional rights as a 

taxpayer should also be considered. 

The prospect that an eventual successful 

appeal in the Fiscal Appeal 

Court might reverse the situation 

is no answer to the actual infringement 

which endures until then,” 

he said. 

Following the tax assessment, 

the applicant has argued that Zimra 

misunderstood the nature of Mayor 

Logistics’ transactions with an undisclosed 

third party. 

The company subsequently 

filed its objection with Zimra, but to 

no avail, forcing Mayor Logistics to 

file an appeal with the Fiscal Court. 

A determination is yet to be 

made. 

Traditional healer jailed 27 years for rape 

Wadzanai Madhibha 

OWN CORRESPONdent 

A 49-YEAR-OLD Goromonzi 

traditional healer, Allen Matare, 

was on Monday slapped with a 

27-year jail term by Marondera 

magistrate Clever Tsikwa after 

he was convicted on two counts 

of rape. 

Matare will, however, serve 

an effective 22-year jail term after 

five years were set aside on 

condition of good behaviour. 

Circumstances into the matter 

were that on February 26 last 

year, the complainant, who is a 

married woman (name withheld), 

travelled from South Africa 

to Zimbabwe and went to 

Matare’s residence where her 

sister was being treated for mental 

illness. 

She stayed at Matare’s residence 

until it was late and was 

given a room to sleep. The court 

heard that Matare later sneaked 

into the room and raped her. 

Two months later, the woman’s 

15-year-old sister also went 

to visit her mentally-challenged 

sister who was still in the custody 

of Matare. 

The juvenile went to sleep 

with two of Matare’s wives. At 

midnight, Matare sneaked into 

the room and raped the juvenile 

in the presence of his wives. 

The matter came to light when 

the two victims narrated their 

ordeal to another traditional 

healer from the same area, leading 

to Matare’s arrest. 

In passing judgment, the court 

noted that cases of women being 

raped by prophets, traditional 

healers and pastors were on the 

increase, hence a lengthy custodial 

term would act as a deterrent 

to would-be-offenders. 

Tariro Shirichena represented 

the State. 

Abt Associates Inc. currently implements the USAID-funded Africa Indoor 

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Spraying (IRS). 

The Africa IRS Project is currently seeking a qualified Office Assistant for the 

project’s operations in Zimbabwe. Brief descriptions and qualification 

requirements for this position are listed below. 

Mutodi stole from housing trust: Court hears 


THE trial of prominent musician-cumproperty 

developer Energy Mutodi over 

a $2 million fraud charge opened at the 

Harare Magistrates’ Court yesterday 

with former National Housing Delivery 

Trust (NHDT) projects manager Chandafira 

Pasipamire alleging that the 

housing projects collapsed because his 

boss, who was the sole signatory to 

the trust, would collect beneficiaries’ 

subscriptions and convert them to his 

personal use. 

Mutodi is the director of NHDT, 

which developed housing stands for 

mostly civil servants in different parts 

of the country. 

Pasipamire, however, said over 300 

Bulawayo families benefited from the 

scheme and managed to build houses 

as Mutodi was afraid of tampering with 

funds of the scheme in that city after 

members had insisted that their funds 

should not be diverted to Harare. 

“Mutodi was the sole signatory of 

the company and would withdraw 

money deducted from SSB (Salary 

Service Bureau) willy-nilly for personal 

use,” Pasipamire told regional magistrate 

Hosea Mujaya. 

“Bulawayo members were committed 

and vigilant, wanting to know how 

their money was used. Mutodi had no 

access to the Bulawayo housing project’s 

money because the members 

wrote a letter instructing him that their 

money was not to go to Harare,” he said. 

Pasipamire said the company’s 

housing project in Gweru collapsed due 

to alleged mismanagement by Mutodi’s 

younger brother who also helped 

himself to the subscriptions together 

with his elder brother. 

He said when he joined the trust 

in 2006 and was subsequently transferred 

to Harare on promotion, he 

established that $345 000 was paid 

for Caledonia Housing Project. 

“I realised that there was no paper 

work and I started digging deeper into 

the issue. Mutodi cautioned me that he 

had not employed me to carry an audit, 

but manage his housing projects,” 

he said. 

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In the subject line of the email, write Office Assistant. If you wish to apply for 

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4 

NewsDay wEDNESDAY JuNE 11, 2014 

NEWS 

Pswarayi declared 

liberation war hero 

FELUNA NLEYA 


THE late former Health deputy minister 

Edward Munatsireyi Pswarayi has been declared 

a liberation war hero and is to be buried 

at the family farm in Beatrice tomorrow. 

Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo 

yesterday confirmed Pswarayi’s status, saying 

the late former freedom fighter would 

get a State-assisted funeral. 

Pswarayi died aged 87 at a private hospital 

in Harare on Sunday. 

“He is going to be given a State-assisted 

funeral as he has been declared a liberation 

war hero,” Gumbo said. 

But several Zanu PF insiders questioned 

how the ruling party had failed to recognise 

the former liberation movement’s former 

chairman’s contributions during the armed 

struggle when his juniors like national hero 

Rwizi Ziyenge’s remains were interred at 

the national shrine. 

Family spokesperson Nathaniel Pswarayi 

said burial would take place at the family 

farm in Beatrice. 

“Burial has been slated for Thursday (tomorrow) 

at 2pm at Tondori Farm in Beatrice,” 

Nathaniel said. 

“The body will lie in state at the farm on 

Wednesday (this) evening in preparation 

for the burial the following day (Thursday).” 

Pswarayi worked closely with several 

nationalists among them President Robert 

Mugabe, the late Vice-President Joshua 

Nkomo, James Chikerema, Herbert Chitepo 

and Samuel Parirenyatwa. 

Although he did not go to the war front, 

he contributed immensely to the liberation 

struggle back home by offering his personal 

resources for use by nationalist leaders. 

His home in Mbare was used as a meeting 

point by the Zanu leadership and as 

chairman of the People’s Movement, he 

was critical in the clandestine operations 

of the party when it was still banned by the 

Rhodesian regime. 

The late Edward 

Munatsireyi Pswarayi 

At the height of the liberation war, 

Pswarayi’s surgery at Machipisa in Highfield, 

Harare, was burnt twice by the colonial 

regime while his Mbare house was 

raided on several occasions. He was arrested 

in 1978 and detained at Chikurubi and 

Whahwa prisons. 

Pswarayi is survived by wife Mabel, 

19 children, 37 grandchildren and five 

great-grandchildren. 

Man punches 

magistrate over 

‘wrong’ judgment 

Vimbai Marufu 

OWN CORRESPONDENT 

A 29-YEAR-OLD Chitungwiza resident, Swedias 

Chirenda, appeared in court on Monday 

charged with assaulting Harare magistrate Elijah 

Makomo, who he allegedly accused of giving 

him an unfavourable ruling nine years ago. 

Chirenda of Zengeza 3 denied the assault 

charge when he appeared before Chitungwiza 

magistrate Lazarus Murendo. 

Circumstances into the matter were that on 

June 1 this year, Chirenda met Makomo at a bar 

in Zengeza 5, and allegedly accused him of convicting 

him for a crime he had not committed. 

Chirenda allegedly punched the court official 

on the neck and on the ear before the complainant’s 

colleagues intervened and stopped 

the fight. 

Chirenda was remanded in custody to tomorrow 

for trial. 

Girlfriend stalks 

school head 

OWN CORRESPONDENT 

SEKE 8 Primary School headmaster Samuel 

Matibiri is being stalked by his ex-girlfriend who 

is demanding money from him after he promised 

to cater for the welfare of her children, a 

Chitungwiza magistrate heard. 

Matibiri, who was seeking a protection order 

against Margaret Nota, told magistrate 

Marehwanazvo Gofa on Tuesday that his exgirlfriend 

was in the habit of coming to his 

workplace insulting him and demanding money 

to pay fees for children from her previous 

marriage. 

“I am a married man and she is now causing 

problems in my marriage. She always calls 

and stalks me even at work where she comes 

demanding money for her children’s upkeep,” 

he told the court. 

Nota, however, denied ever insulting 

Matibiri, saying he made promises to her that 

he was going to pay fees for her children after 

he forced her to get into a relationship to secure 

a place for them at Seke 8. 

“I approached him last year, seeking places 

for my children. He told me that he could secure 

a place for them, but only on the condition 

that I accept his love proposal, which I accepted. 

He then promised to pay the school fees 

as well,” she said. “Trouble only started when 

he went to a witchdoctor and gave me some 

herbs which he said I should take so as not to 

get pregnant and after taking those herbs, I fell 

ill and he started ignoring me.” 

Magistrate Gofa granted Matibiri the protection 

order.


Zhanda in 

court over 

$200K debt 

Feluna Nleya 

Staff Reporter 

PT Zhanda and Sons, a company owned by Deputy 

Minister of Agriculture (Livestock Production) Paddy 

Zhanda’s family has been taken to court over a 

$200 000 debt owed to BancABC Botswana. 

According to papers filed at the High Court in 

May, the bank also cited Tolima Investments, Zhanda’s 

family members Shailot Sheila Zhanda and 

Paddy Tongai Zhanda as some of the respondents. 

Part of the application reads: “Plaintiff (African 

Banking Corporation of Botswana) claims from defendants 

jointly and severally one paying the other 

to be absolved payment of $204 515, 22 being capital, 

$5 123,49 being interest. 

The bank said around July 2012, it entered into an 

agreement with PT Zhanda and Sons to have a revolving 

credit facility of $327 000 in which interest 

was to accrue on the facility at the rate of 15% per 

annum subject to change from time to time. 

“Any monies borrowed under the agreement 

were payable to plaintiff together with interest 

thereon by 31 July 2013,” read the plaintiffs particulars 

of claim. 

The respondents allegedly bound themselves 

jointly and severally as sureties and co-principal 

debtors for payment of any and all monies due to 

bank. 

“First defendant defaulted on making due and 

punctual repayments under the agreement and as at 

the 31st of March 2014 was in arrears in the sum of 

$209 638, 71. 

“Despite demand, defendants have failed or refused 

to pay to plaintiff the sums of $204 515,22 and 

$5 123, 49 interest.” 

Fear, uncertainty grip diamond workers 

Edgar Gweshe 

own CORRESpondent 

WORKERS at diamond-mining firms 

in the Marange area of Manicaland said 

they feared for the security of their jobs 

as they were no longer receiving regular 

salaries while their workers’ unions are 

not recognised by the mining companies. 

Zimbabwe Diamonds and Allied 

Workers Union president, Cosmas Sunguro, 

alleged that most of the companies 

in diamond mining in Marange were 

reneging as far as timely payments of 

workers’ salaries were concerned. 

The development, he said, had relegated 

most of the workers into abject 

poverty as some of them are going for 

months without pay. Sunguro said that 

the situation had been compounded by 

victimisation of workers which has made 

workers’ committees redundant. 

“At the moment, diamond workers 

in the country are gripped with fear and 

uncertainty due to a number of reasons,” 

Sunguro said. 

“Some of the diamond companies are 

not honouring their obligations to pay 

workers on time. At Anjin Investments, 

some workers have gone for almost two 

months without pay while at Marange 

Resources, workers only got paid at the 

end of May after having gone for almost 

three months without pay. 

“The workers were only paid half of 

what they were being owed.” 

He said at Anjin Investments, some 

workers were sent on forced, unpaid 

leave two months ago. 

This, he said, had created uncertainty 

among the workers on whether they 

would be able to get their outstanding 

salaries from the company. 

Sunguro said government’s recent announcement 

planning to scale down on 

the number of diamond mining companies 

in Chiadzwa after most of them 

failed to account for revenue realised 

from the sale of diamonds, had created a 

high sense of uncertainty. 

The companies have also come under 

attack for failing to honour their obligations 

to the Marange-Zimunya Community 

Share Ownership Scheme. 

“The other problem is that the employers 

are failing to honour their obligations 

to pay their workers yet victimisation 

is very high. This has forced many 

workers to keep quiet while their rights 

at the workplace are being violated. 

“Workers’ unions are very much ineffective 

at most of the companies and 

in some instances, you have a situation 

whereby the workers are addressed as 

individuals. So workers are living in fear 

and that is why their rights are being 

continuously violated,” Sunguro said. 

Gokwe appoints new secretary 

Loud Ramakgapola 

StaFF Reporter 

FORMER Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) group human 

resources manager Loud Ramakgapola has 

been appointed Gokwe town secretary. 

Ramagkapola left AMH in February this year 

after a seven-year stint dealing with human resources 

issues for the company. 

He had joined AMH in May 2008 after working 

for several companies as a human resources 

administrator. 

Ramagkapola is former principal administrative 

officer with the Ministry of Local Government 

and acting district administrator for Beitbridge between 

2004 and 2006. Some of his areas of experience 

include seven-and-a-half years working 

experience with local authorities, rural communities 

and development agencies. 

He also worked extensively with organisations 

that spearheaded developmental programmes 

such as drought mitigation, HIV and Aids and 

community mobilisation. 

Ramagkapola was born 43 years ago in Beitbridge 

and is currently working on a dissertation 

for a Masters in Public Administration at the University 

of Zimbabwe. 

He holds a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree 

in Politics and Administration from the University 

of Zimbabwe and a Diploma in Personnel Management 

from the Institute of Personnel Management 

(IPMZ).

6 

NEWSDAY WEDNESDAY JUNE 11, 2014 

NEWS 

Teenager steals 70 cellphones 

BLESSED MHLANGA 


KWEKWE – A 17-year-old teenager who 

last year escaped jail due to his age after he 

was convicted by the Gokwe regional court 

on charges of kidnapping the child of a 

Kwekwe businessman is back in court. 

This time, Don Chimimba is facing 

charges of stealing 70 cellphones from a 

car. 

Chimimba pleaded guilty when he appeared 

before Kwekwe resident magistrate 

Taurai Manwere facing charges of stealing 

cellphones worth $5 004 from Takunda 

Chaduka on May 25. 

It is the State’s case that Chimimba, together 

with Clayton Mhlaba (21), went to 

Reubens Supermarket in Kwekwe and 

found Chaduka loading the cellphones 

which included Nokia Lumia and Sumsang 

Galaxy Note 3 handsets into his car from the 

shop for overnight safekeeping. 

(Incorporated in Zimbabwe on the 2nd day 

of March 1981 under registration number 

252/81) 

Head Office: Insurance Centre, 30 Samora 

Machel Avenue, P.O Box 1256, Harare, 

Zimbabwe 

Directors: A.J Nduna (Chairman), 

T.C Mazingi (Vice Chair), P.R Brien, 

B. Campbell, J. Karidza, R.P Kupara, 

B. Matongera, G. Muradzikwa*(Managing 

Director) 

The State alleges that Chaduka left his 

car unlocked while he went back to the 

shop to collect more phones. But as he was 

going back Mhlaba intercepted him and 

started talking to him in an attempt to delay 

him from returning to the vehicle. 

“It is during that time that Chimimba 

opened the car and took the phones with 

him and upon getting a signal that the plan 

had worked, Mhlaba then left Chaduka and 

went away,” read the State outline. 

Mhlaba, who pleaded not guilty, also 

appeared separately before Manwere and 

was remanded in custody to June 17 for 

trial, while Chimimba was referred to the 

probation officer for evaluation before 

sentencing. 

Chimimba made headlines when together 

with his sister Rumbidzai and 

brother-in-law Andrew Musarurwa kidnapped 

a four-year-old girl and demanded 

$40 000 ransom. 

JOINT CAUTIONARY STATEMENT 

The ransom was paid and the child released, 

but the trio were three days later 

nabbed in Bulawayo 

while on a shopping 

spree having bought 

a kombi, plasma 

television sets and 

expensive household 

furniture while 

sleeping in hotels. 

Tinashe Mhonda 

appeared for the 

State. 

Further to an earlier cautionary announcement, the Directors of Zimre Holdings 

Limited and Nicoz Diamond Insurance Limited wish to advise shareholders that 

the companies are still engaged in negotiations for the disposal and acquisition, 

respectively, of a business, which if successful, may impact on the value of their 

shares. 

Shareholders are thus advised to exercise caution in the trading of their Zimre 

Holdings Limited as well as Nicoz Diamond Limited shares. 

By order of the Boards 

(5 June 2014) 

Sponsoring Brokers: 

MMC Stockbrokers 

(Members of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange) 

(Incorporated in Zimbabwe on the 17th day of 

March 1998 under registration number 

2873/98) 

Head Office: Zimre Centre, Cnr L. Takawira 

St/K. Nkrumah Ave, P.O Box 4839, Harare, 

Zimbabwe 

Directors: B.N Kumalo (Chairman), 

J.M Matiza, J. Maguranyanga, E. Zvandasara, 

R. Chizema, S.V. Hwacha, I. Mvere, A.J Nduna*, 

S. Tembo*, T. Nyika* (*Executive) 

Govt urged to set up 

specialist centres 

countrywide 

FELUNA NLEYA 


THERE is a need to set up specialist health centres 

in Zimbabwe to reduce the number of cases 

being referred outside the country for specialist 

health care, a Cabinet minister has said. 

Speaking to journalists in Harare recently, 

Health and Child Care minister David Parirenyatwa 

said the ministry’s vision was to have 

specialist centres set up in the country. 

“We have the issue of trying to put up specialist 

centres in the country,” Parirenyatwa 

said. 

“It is one of the big visions that we should 

have a cardiology centre and a cancer centre 

which are not attached to a hospital so that 

we do not keep on sending our people out. 

We need this big orthopaedic centre because 

we have a problem with our people from many 

accidents, arthritis and so on and so forth who 

need surgery for legs.” 

He said a paediatric surgery centre for kids 

was also needed. 

“We are seeing a lot of children being born 

with abnormalities, for example holed hearts, 

we want that expertise to be here and have a 

specialised unit for that,” Parirenyatwa said. 

The minister said such a development would 

entail the return of professionals and specialists 

who left the country. “We are also appealing 

as usual to our medical professionals outside 

to now come back and help us,” he said. 

“But for them to come back, the equipment 

must be there so we have programmes 

to strengthen that area through our China programme 

where we will get a big loan, it is a big 

agreement and it will greatly change that.” 

Most Zimbabweans resort to other countries 

for some of the specialist treatment. 

Recently President Robert Mugabe was 

spotted at a specialist centre in Singapore 

where he had gone for a “routine check-up of 

his eyes”. 

Children born with defective hearts and 

other complicated ailments also travel outside 

the country for surgery. The country has also 

seen specialist doctors coming into Zimbabwe 

with their equipment to conduct surgeries on 

Zimbabweans. 

Recently a group of volunteer doctors came 

into the country to conduct cleft lip and palate 

operations on children and adults born with the 

deformity. 

US avails disease outbreak 

reporting software 


INFORMATION on disease outbreaks in Zimbabwe 

is set to be easily available after the United 

States and its partners provided computer 

equipment to support the Health and Child Care 

ministry. 

The computer technology support will 

strengthen the ministry’s public information 

systems to facilitate timely reporting of disease 

outbreaks, health programme data and disease 

surveillance. 

The new software system is an upgraded 

version of the District Health Information System 

database (DHIS-2.0) and has been successfully 

rolled out in all 63 districts representing 

eight provincial and four city health information 

offices. 

It is said to enable timely production of key 

reports such as the national health profile, basic 

services trends reports and quarterly monitoring 

reports capturing information about HIV and 

Aids, WDSS, psychiatric, malaria, IMMIS, the village 

health worker form and the electronic early 

infant diagnosis information systems. 

In a statement, US ambassador to Zimbabwe 

Bruce Wharton said the health public information 

systems were essential in disease control 

and surveillance. 

“The US is committed to collaborating with 

Zimbabwe to strengthen data collection and 

research capacities in order to provide data for 

evidence-based decision making,” Wharton 

said.


Zuma misses 

cabinet 

meeting to rest 

SOUTH AFRICAN - South African 

President Jacob Zuma missed Cabinet 

meeting yesterday as he continues 

to rest after being admitted to 

hospital for health checks over the 

weekend, the presidency said. 

“President Jacob Zuma continues 

to rest at home this week and will not 

attend the Cabinet Lekgotla,” a presidency 

statement said, adding that 

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa 

would chair the June 10-12 meeting. 

Zuma was admitted to hospital for 

tests on Saturday and was released 

the following day as doctors were 

satisfied with his condition, government 

officials said. 

The hospital stay followed an 

announcement from his office on 

Friday that the 72-year-old would 

take a few days off from public appearances 

after a tiring campaign 

for a May 7 election in which he was 

elected for a second term. -Reuters 

LUSITANIA PRIMARY SCHOOL 

ESCOLA "LUSITANIA" PORTUGUESA 

MAKOROKOTO AMHLOPHE 

CONGRATULATIONS PARABENS ´ 

Lusitania Primary School invites the Portuguese Community and 

Parents to celebrate 

Portuguese National Day 

˜ 

at 

Lusitania School 

on 

Friday 13 June at 10:00am. 

A Escola Lusitania tem o prazer de convidar toda a Comunidade 

Portuguesa e 

¸˜ 

pais para a comumeracao 

do 

Dia de Portugal, de Camoes e da Comunidades Portuguesas 

na 

Escola Lusitania 

Sexta feira, 13 de Junho de 2014 

Obrigada pela vossa presenca 

South African President Jacob Zuma 

¸ 

Sexual violence 

in war: Summit 

begins in London 

LONDON - A four-day summit on sexual violence 

in war has begun in London, hosted by UK 

Foreign Secretary William Hague and UN Special 

Envoy Angelina Jolie. 

The event - the largest-ever of its kind - is the 

result of an intense two-year campaign to raise 

awareness. 

Hague said rape was one of the “great mass 

crimes” of modern times. 

He has called on the 140 nations attending the 

summit to write action against sexual violence 

into their army training. 

The summit aims to: 

• Launch a new international protocol for 

documenting and investigating sexual violence 

in conflict, and encourage countries to strengthen 

domestic laws to enable prosecutions 

• Urge countries to train all soldiers and peacekeepers 

to prevent sexual violence 

• Increase funding to support survivors of sexual 

violence 

• Change attitudes towards rape in conflict 

Organisers want the event to be the moment 

the world wakes up and declares that sexual violence 

is not an inevitable part of war. 

Angela Atim, one of the speakers at the conference, 

was kidnapped as a 14-year-old school 

girl by Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in 

Uganda. 

She told the BBC: “These people who are accountable 

for the sexual violence in armed conflict, 

they have to be brought to justice.” 

Nations taking part in the summit include Bosnia, 

the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia 

- countries where sexual violence has happened 

“on a vast scale”, Hague told the BBC. 

Sexual violence was systematically being used 

as a weapon of war in the 20th and 21st Centuries, 

he noted. 

Hague cited the estimated 50 000 women who 

were raped in Bosnia two decades ago, virtually 

none of whom have received justice. 

ZainabBangura, the UN’s Special Representative 

on Sexual Violence in Conflicts, told the BBC: 

“In a lot of countries sexual violence is still not a 

crime.” 

“The biggest challenge is denial and the culture 

of silence,” she added. 

On Thursday, Hague will also host a security 

meeting focused on Boko Haram, a militant Islamist 

group in Nigeria. Ministers from Nigeria and 

neighbouring countries will attend. - BBC 

Fresh militant attack 

near Karachi airport 

PAKISTAN - Security forces at Pakistan’s busiest 

airport in the city of Karachi yesterday came under 

attack, a day after militants stormed one of its 

terminals. 

Officials say gunmen on motorbikes shot at a 

security training camp just outside the airport and 

fled. 

Subsequent firing which lasted for up to an 

hour was shots fired by the army and police at the 

scene, officials say. 

Flights at the airport are resuming. The Pakistani 

Taliban say they carried out both attacks. 

The gun and bomb attack on the airport's cargo 

terminal on Sunday left at least 38 dead, including 

the attackers. 

Reports say the attack began after militants 

pulled up a vehicle and began firing. Officials 

said the gunfire was directed towards their camp, 

but no gunmen penetrated the airport security 

perimeter. 

The heavy weapons and sustained gunfire 

seems to have been the concerted army response 

so close to the scene of the airport attack. 

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said 

the attackers should be "pursued and eliminated". 

The military has sealed off the area and are conducting 

intensive search operations in the area. 

-BBC

8 

NewsDay wednesday June 11, 2014 

EDITORIAL 

everyday news for everyday people 

Health sector collapse 

cause for concern 

Reports that the collapse of the health services sector 

is a result of lack of political will to effectively address 

serious deficiencies that have left millions of people 

exposed to killer diseases are a cause for concern and 

should be dealt with forthwith. 

While the disclosures cited Zimbabwe’s heavy dependency on 

donor funding to support the health sector as a ticking time bomb, 

it is important for government to use available financial resources to 

develop the sector as a way of cushioning the majority poor. 

It is the poor who always do not have the means to get treatment 

elsewhere like the politicians, hence the need for government to 

take a keen interest in reviving the health services sector. The obtaining 

situation signals what is happening across all sectors of the 

economy. 

The fact that existing clinics and hospitals are failing to provide 

quality service is a violation of the provisions of the new Constitution 

that guarantees the right to health. Unfortunately, those provisions 

are only on paper and yet to be enjoyed by the majority of the 

population that depends on public health delivery. 

With almost 80% of the population relying on agriculture, the 

economic spiral has left the majority exposed to killer diseases 

while their children have dropped out of school for lack of money 

to pay school fees. It is true that it’s a huge a challenge for both 

government and local authorities to build hospitals in the current 

economic environment when most of the hospitals and clinics are 

in a dilapidated state with obsolete equipment in urgent need of replacement, 

but with little resources the public health system could 

function again. 

What is revealing is that on Monday, government dampened 

hopes of a quick fix to the faltering economy through its fiveyear 

economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable 

Socio-Economic Transformation, warning it could take a lifetime to 

achieve the programme’s objectives. 

A liquidity crisis that has held the economy back since dollarisation 

in 2009 shows no signs of easing with cash-squeezed companies 

forced to shut down, throwing hundreds onto the already huge 

jobless heap. This, coupled with lack of political will, is the reason 

why the country’s leadership always travels outside for treatment 

including a simple check-up yet they are failing to develop a vibrant 

public health system. 

Recently another NGO accused public hospitals of allowing imported 

drugs to expire on their shelves when many patients were 

failing to access medication due to prohibitive costs. 

Government is urged to swiftly come up with systems to ensure 

that all parts of Zimbabwe are adequately covered in terms of availability 

of drugs instead of having a higher concentration of drugs at 

certain hospitals while others do not have anything in their stocks. 

Last week, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and 

Child Care heard that a number of drugs at Ingutsheni Mental Hospital 

in Bulawayo had been incinerated after they expired. 

One wonders whether Health and Child Care minister David 

Parirenyatwa and deputy Paul Chimedza’s priorities must be reset 

or they have failed to turn around the health services sector. 

Most of the major health services projects have remained on the 

drawing board years after the ideas were mooted. One wonders 

what is stalling the turnaround of the health services sector. 

Parirenyatwa must wake up and revive the public health system. 

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The genesis of the Madzibaba syndrome 

Guest Column 

James Maridadi 

Things fall apart is an apt 

description of the recent 

Budiriro trinity of 

madness featuring apostolic 

faith sect members, 

Zanu PF youths and the Zimbabwe 

Republic Police (ZRP) 

Panoramic media images of 

our “revered” ZRP members in 

their full riot paraphernalia, being 

violently tossed to the ground and 

whacked by “men of God” in full 

regalia were received with revulsion 

and confounded incredulity. 

Just as the nation was getting 

to grips with this callous foolishness, 

Zanu PF youths decided to 

outshine themselves in their usual 

“wisdom”. 

In a demonstration of sublime 

arrogance buoyed by their political 

parentage, they went on a rampage 

in Budiriro in Harare, destroyed 

Madzibaba Ishmael Mufani’s shrine 

and declared the high-density suburb 

“no-worship zone” for the sect. 

As if getting a hiding the previous 

day was not enough on their 

reputation already in tatters over 

unrelated matters like taking bribes 

at roadblocks, the ZRP decided to 

join Zanu PF youths on this ill-advised 

show of solidarity. 

One of their (ZRP) own was 

captured on camera grinning in excitement 

in front of the marauding 

youths. And Hatfield MP Tapiwa 

Mashakada, who once called for 

the retraining of ZRP officers, was 

vindicated. It’s true our security 

forces need training. 

The Budiriro debacle is a manifestation 

of the political construct of 

Zanu PF’s social and administrative 

disorder authored by our country’s 

feeble leadership. It is sadly replicated 

across society and vividly 

so within the corridors of power. 

There can be no chaos worse than 

government ministers disagreeing 

on policy interpretation and engaging 

in mortal verbal combat or 

law enforcement officers getting 

beaten by the public in full glare of 

the media or worse still the same 

law enforcers joining hands with a 

bunch of clueless youths on a sordid 

escapade. 

Talking of a legacy of chaotic 

discord, this is how it is unfolding. 

It started with Foreign Affairs 

deputy minister Chris Mutsvangwa 

calling his boss Simbarashe Mumbengegwi 

“hopelessly incompetent 

and not befitting of a man through 

whose person Zimbabwe could 

possibly fruitfully re-engage the 

international community”. 

Next was Tourism minister Walter 

Mzembi characterising his Cabinet 

colleague Saviour Kasukuwere 

as an excitable and overzealous 

busybody incapable of articulating 

government policy. 

Hardly a week later, Indigenisation 

minister Francis Nhema said 

his counterpart Jonathan Moyo was 

given to thinking aloud and as such 

should not be taken seriously. This 

was after Moyo had pontificated 

about latter-day wisdom on the 

controversial indigenisation policy. 

As if the above was not embarrassing 

enough, the best was 

served for the last. Chimanimani 

Senator Monica Mutsvangwa came 

out guns blazing, vowing to teach 

good old Zanu PF secretary for administration 

Didymus Mutasa a 

“big lesson”. 

But what are the origins of all 

this lunacy that has driven an entire 

nation into a cul-de-sac of desperation, 

deprivation and pervasive 

crises? 

I proffer the regrettable genesis 

as follows. In a bid to consolidate 

its political hegemony, Zanu 

PF created a State administrative 

framework that fused government 

structures with those of the party 

in which the former is essentially 

subservient to the latter. This political 

architecture is modelled in 

such a manner that it is an inescapable 

frame of reference permeating 

all facets of life and activity in the 

country. One cannot possibly be 

in opposition politics and hope to 

be able to do anything worthwhile 

with their life. Businessmen must 

simply toe the party line for survival. 

In order to get some permit or 

licence for any form of economic 

activity, one must go through Zanu 

PF party structures camouflaged as 

government bureaucracy. Belonging 

to any other political formation 

with a divergent view to that of the 

ruling party is akin to a declaration 

of war. 

Everything in Zimbabwe is defined 

politically. It is for this reason 

that our sport is in the doldrums, 

agriculture is in intensive care and 

health care, health insurance and 

education are in a state of paralysis. 

The apostolic sect who attacked 

law enforcement officers 

has known relationships with the 

ruling Zanu PF. They are allocated 

transport to ferry them to State or 

Zanu PF-organised functions to 

boost attendance numbers. They 

are part of the Vapostori crowd 

strategically seated for cameras and 

dutifully break into song and dance 

and wave flags when convenience 

demands. This un-wholly 

alliance based on patronage bred 

arrogance and impunity which 

made leader Madzibaba Ishmael 

believe that he was untouchable. It 

is highly unlikely that any religious 

group without links to the ruling 

party would have behaved in that 

manner. 

The same Madzibaba Ishmael’s 

impunity was sumptuously displayed 

by Zanu PF youths who decided 

to take it upon themselves to 

“bring order” to Budiriro in wanton 

violation of public order. 

In any case, police clearance is 

a prerequisite before staging such 

a demonstration. Who issued the 

clearance for such an illegality? 

We all remember that just a few 

weeks ago, the same ZRP denied 

journalists their right to march 

peacefully in commemoration of 

the World Press Freedom Day celebrated 

globally. The flimsy excuse 

was that the police force could not 

muster enough manpower to man 

the demo and yet they had enough 

such manpower to allow for a violent 

Zanu PF youth demonstration 

to go ahead. 

These are the same Harare 

youths who erected tollgates at Harare 

municipal bus ranks and collected 

thousands of dollars daily 

from hapless commuter omnibus 

operators whilst those in authority 

looked the other way. The same 

thing prevails at Mupedzanhamo in 

Mbare. 

Deserving people operating 

businesses at municipal stalls are 

not the registered owners. A few 

party officials who include known 

government ministers own the 

stalls which they sub-let to the 

poor who in turn pay rentals of up 

to 10 times that remitted to City of 

Harare by these shameless greedy 

sharks. Shameless entitlement and 

impunity as recently proved by 

Madzibaba Ishmael and the Zanu 

PF youths caused by their links to 

the ruling party has gone to their 

heads. 

I rest it for today 

•James Maridadi is MDC-T Mabvuku-Tafara 

MP

eaders' feedback NewsDay wednesday june 11, 2014 9 

Avoid explosive end to this growing anger 

IN France during the period that led to the 

outbreak of the French Revolution, the majority 

of the population at that time (The 

Third Estate) were facing many grievances of 

which the economic one topped the list. 

If we take a close look at the events, the 

people were hungry, jobless, without money 

as well as tired of the ailing system of 

government. 

These were the ideal ingredients for a 

revolution. 

They were tired of the incompetence of 

Mugabe is 

cement that 

holds nation 

together 

Biti’s team will fall by the wayside 

Write to us at NewsDay 

e-mail:letters@newsday.co.zw 

Our Bulawayo Offices 

Amtec Building, Corner Robert Mugabe and 12th Avenue, Bulawayo. 

Postal Address: P.O Box AC 558, Ascot, Bulawayo 

Dokora, desist from destructive path 

The Rural Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe 

(RTUZ) is dismayed and baffled by Education 

minister Lazarus Dokora’s continued sham, 

archaic and directionless policies and ministerial 

directives. 

The minister is said to have called for deployment 

of secret agents to spy on teachers 

conducting their duties as reported by the 

State media on June 8 2014. 

We would like to make it clear that this 

directive of spying on teachers makes it difficult 

for a teacher to fully commit to work 

under such an environment where he/she is 

being pried upon. 

It is also shocking to note that the ministry 

has resources to fund such a sinister motive 

the Ancièn Regime and its system of unfair 

privileges of the Nobility. 

With all this occuring, the privileged 

classes were sitting on a time bomb and it 

was only a matter of time until the whole of 

France revolted and the nation was thrown 

into a melting pot. This eventually brought 

about changes that have benefited France, 

thus their revolution paid off remarkably. 

With the current situation in Zimbabwe, 

particularly the economic meltdown as well 

as the political decay, it is only a matter of 

•In response to Tsvangirai labels 

rivals ‘opportunists’ seeking own 

enrichment: Myopic thinkers assume 

that because President Robert 

Mugabe has failed, so will MDC-T 

leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Just because 

Mugabe personalised Zanu PF 

and the liberation struggle, so will 

Tsvangirai do at MDC-T. Well, we are 

not moved by the empty, baseless 

accusations against innocent Tsvangirai 

by Zanu PF and the sellout MDC 

Renewal Team. Zimbabwe does not 

need a plethora of opposition parties 

just to show that we are a democratic 

lot. Let’s see Tendai Biti handing 

over to Elton Mangoma, then Jacob 

Mafume and Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, 

among others, to demonstrate their 

meaningless democracy. Unlike Zanu 

PF, MDC-T will never die with Tsvangirai. 

Those backing Biti may go 

while we keep our Tsvangirai as long 

as he continues in this direction. The 

struggle for true freedom is obviously 

long, tiresome and gruesome, hence 

traitors will always fall by the wayside 

Zimbabwe’s flame of national 

unity should continue to burn 

bright and strong and not let tribal, 

regional or ethnic rivalries blight 

it. Ordinarily, people seem not 

to value what they possess until 

they have lost it, and this seems 

to be the attitude of some sections 

of the Zimbabwean community 

who seem not to appreciate the 

unity that traverses the length and 

breadth of our beloved country. 

The liberation struggle and 

hard-won independence the 

country enjoys today came as a 

result of the unity of purpose that 

the founding nationalists had. 

The unity of purpose was not 

only a clarion call made by the 

Zimbabwean founding nationalists, 

but was echoed across the 

whole of the African continent. 

During a debate over the motion 

to ask for independence in 

1959, Nigeria’s first Prime Minister 

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa said: “I 

am confident that when we have 

our own citizenship, our own national 

flag, our own national anthem, 

we shall find the flame of 

national unity will burn bright and 

strong.” 

Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea 

also shared similar sentiments in 

the same year as he declared: “In 

three or four years, no one will remember 

the tribal, ethnic or religious 

rivalries which, in the recent 

past, caused so much damage to 

our country and its population.” 

Despite such nationalist proclamations, 

some of Africa’s countries 

such as Nigeria have not enjoyed 

that unity they long envisioned. 

They remain entrenched 

in the divisive politics of tribe and 

regions. 

To borrow Martin Meredith’s 

words in his book The State of Africa: 

A History of the Continent 

Since Independence, most African 

States at independence “possessed 

not ethnic, class or ideological cement 

to hold them together, no 

strong historical and social identities 

upon which to build”. 

But fortunately for Zimbabwe, 

the situation has been different 

despite the political disturbances 

that the country witnessed in the 

before the ultimate objective has 

been reached. 

SANDO DZOGA 

early 1980s. This was quickly redressed 

through the 1987 Unity 

Accord, a landmark decision taken 

by the political leadership of 

the country in pursuance of religiously 

upholding the doctrine of 

unity. 

To this effect, President Robert 

Mugabe, speaking at the burial of 

national hero Nathan Shamuyarira 

last week, explained that the then 

Zapu and Zanu were never rivals, 

but brothers in the same struggle, 

only differing in the methodology 

and leadership in the struggle, 

that’s why the parties managed to 

time before the citizens explode into a frenzy. 

The wrong button will be pushed on us 

poor Zimbabweans and the whole nation 

will be thrown into revolution. 

History will no doubt repeat itself and the 

majority will fight to eradicate the challenges 

they are facing. 

My sincere warning to the leaders of Zimbabwe 

is make right the wrongs of the political 

and economic intsitutions of our beloved 

country to avoid a repetition of 1789 France. 

DISgruntled STUDENT 

reunite in 1987 to form one party. 

Both Zapu and Zanu nationalist 

leaders successfully exploited 

a variety of grievances among the 

rural and urban populations across 

the tribal and regional divide to 

galvanise support for the liberation 

struggle. More importantly, both 

liberation movements were made 

up of people from across the tribal 

and regional divides. 

Today, the ruling Zanu PF — a 

merger of Zanu and Zapu — under 

the leadership of Mugabe, 

has strived to maintain a regional 

and tribal balance. In his current 

Cabinet, Mugabe, who hails from 

Mashonaland, gave some of the 

important portfolios to the Matabeleland 

region. 

These include the Ministries of 

Transport, Home Affairs, Sports 

and Culture, Small and Medium 

Enterprises and Information. 

Above all, the Senior Minister in 

the Office of the President is from 

the same region. 

These ministers from Matabeleland 

should not enjoy their Thursday 

and Monday flights between 

Harare and Bulawayo, but should 

remember that they represent 

a constituency that is expecting 

them to deliver in as much as that 

is a national responsibility. 

These are the people that have 

been entrusted by Mugabe at this 

point of history to work for their 

region, in as much as they would 

work for the country. Their individual 

failures should not be interpreted 

to mean marginalisation. 

Mugabe’s distaste for divisive 

politics makes him the cement 

that holds the country today, a 

legacy that has to be protected by 

all means necessary. 

The people of Matabeleland 

should not let go their belief in 

Zanu PF as they did in the 2013 

general elections in the rural Matabeleland 

provinces. There should 

be no place for the so-called 

Mthwakazi Liberation Front as it 

represents retrogressive forces. 

TAWANDA MUSEVE 

meant to deprive both the teacher and pupil 

just to appease some ego, yet the very same 

ministry poorly remunerates its employees. 

It’s a shame that Dokora’s conduct, if not 

misconduct, violates the fundamental rights 

and freedoms of teachers. 

That that the directives or policies are 

made without even consulting stakeholders 

like teachers’ unions, Civil Service Commission 

and parents also exposes the minister’s 

shortcomings when it comes to crafting 

policies. 

RTUZ strongly feels that the minister’s behaviour 

(if not misbehaviour) ever since assuming 

office, has been inconsistent with the 

purposes and objectives of the Public Services 

Act , Labour Act and general principles of 

leadership. 

Dokora has demonstrated disrespect for 

Zimbabwean teachers, exposing a thirst to 

rule than a readiness to serve them. 

Lastly, RTUZ would like to urge the Honorable 

Minister to take a leaf from his predecessor, 

David Coltart, who was recently 

quoted in The Standard advocating for an increase 

in teachers’ salaries instead of curtailing 

their freedoms at work. 

A mistake of a teacher ended in the street! 

Teachers deserve some respect, minister 

Dokora! 

RURAL TEACHERS’ UNION OF ZIMBABWE 

INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY DEPARTMENT 

SMS 

letters 

SMS to 0778 140 91 6 

Forty words 

maximum 

Combine 

teams to 

save 

Chiredzi 

football 

• In response to Chunga U-turn: I 

won’t leave my ‘baby’ Chiredzi: For the 

good of football and with the Chiredzi 

community at heart, the stakeholders 

in Chiredzi should pull together and 

combine these two teams into one. At 

least then, they will combine their efforts 

and resources and maintain one 

football team in the Premier Soccer 

League (PSL). Sell one franchise. Otherwise, 

the Chiredzi community will 

kiss PSL football goodbye. Now who 

will lose at the end of it all? 

MADZIDADDY ISH 

• in response to Mugabe, Moyo: A 

case of much ado about nothing: A 

very good assessment, I must say. 

President Robert Mugabe will never 

let Information minister Jonathan 

Moyo out this time around. There are 

no other individuals who can think like 

Moyo. His strategies have been the 

mainstay of Zanu PF for quite a long 

time now. Other members of the party 

are all talk, but with baseless ideas like 

Psychology Maziwisa. Mugabe is trying 

to ring a bell to Moyo that he has gone 

too far with his anti-corruption crusade 

as it is now lowering the party’s 

reputation. But it must be stressed 

that Moyo is slowly becoming a hero 

day-by-day. If Mugabe kicks Moyo 

out, he might well become his fiercest 

foe and given his intelligence versus 

Mugabe’s age, Moyo might just 

trounce him. 

hkm 

• in response to Mugabe, Moyo: A 

case of much ado about nothing: I love 

President Robert Mugabe’s approach, 

he doesn’t keep non-firing plugs even 

though they were the best before. He 

will simply get rid of them. Information 

minister Jonathan Moyo will never be 

spared by the good things he did in the 

past. If he starts becoming a pest in 

Zanu PF, he should duly be removed. 

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10 

NewsDay wednESday jUne 11, 2014 

SA’s central bank says economy facing 

‘enormous headwinds’/ 11 

BUSINESS 

Govt gazettes RBZ’s 

Debt Assumption Bill 

TARISAI MANDIZHA 

BUSINESS REPORTER 

GOVERNMENT has gazetted a Bill 

that will ensure it takes over the 

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) 

debt as part of reforms at the central 

bank. 

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe 

(Debt Assumption) Bill was 

contained in the extraordinary 

Government Gazette published 

last week. 

Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa 

will present the Bill when 

Parliament resumes sitting next 

month. 

The gazetting of the Bill would 

bring relief to companies and individuals 

that have been waiting 

to get their dues for years. 

RBZ has a debt of $1,35 

billion. 

The Bill seeks to provide 

settlement of certain liabilities 

incurred by the bank. 

In terms of the Bill, the 

State will assume the 

debts which were incurred 

by the RBZ before 

December 31 2008. 

“Under this clause, 

the Minister of Finance 

and Economic 

Development 

Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa 

on behalf of the State will assume 

the responsibility for the discharge 

of outstanding obligation 

of the RBZ under agreements and 

instruments of prior debts which 

are subject to validation and reconciliation,” 

the Bill read. 

According to the Bill, the Debt 

Management Office, a department 

of the Ministry of Finance 

which was set up in 2010, would 

validate and reconcile the bank’s 

debts which the government has 

proposed to assume. 

“All claims arising from prior 

debts shall be subjected to validation 

and reconciliation by the 

Debt Management Office and 

consequently, no 

claims will be 

settled unless 

it is so 

validated 

and reconciled. 

All prior 

debts that 

are not 

assumed 

by the 

State will 

continue to 

be the debts 

of the Reserve 

Bank,” the Bill 

read. 

Clause 

8 of the Bill states that after the 

Minister of Finance has been satisfied 

that all prior debts have 

been settled in terms of the Bill, 

“he or she will advise the President 

to repeal this law by notice in 

the Gazette”. 

According to the Bill, the prior 

debts of the RBZ that are subjected 

to validation and reconciliation 

totalled $1 122 276 923,83 inclusive 

of arrears. 

Some of the creditors whose 

debt subject to validation and 

reconciliation include NMB 

($2,34 million), Zimplats 

($34,1 million), Mimosa 

($57 million), corporates Foreign 

Currency Accounts ($131 million), 

Anglo American ($103 million), 

parastatals Foreign Currency Accounts 

($99 million), gold bonds 

($43,7 million) and Non-Governmental 

Organisations Foreign 

Currency Accounts (25,77 million) 

among others. 

According to the Bill, the government 

had taken over RBZ 

debts amounting to $265 million 

as at September 30 2013. 

To date, the government has 

repaid $111 million leaving a balance 

of $154 million 

RBZ debts accelerated at the 

height of quasi-fiscal activities 

when the central bank assumed 

the role of Treasury dishing out 

money to meet pressing government 

commitments. 

Under the multi-currency regime, 

some creditors obtained 

writs of execution and attached 

the assets of the central bank. 

Government had to invoke the 

Presidential Powers (Temporary 

Measures) Act, to protect RBZ’s 

assets from being attached by various 

creditors after obtaining writs 

of executions. 

Allied Bank workers go on unpaid leave 


NINETY percent of Allied Bank’s 

employees have been sent on 

voluntary unpaid leave for four 

months as the financial institution 

embarks on cost-cutting 

measures. 

The bank acting chief executive 

officer Florence Gowora said staff 

costs contributed significantly 

to operational expenses and the 

bank has considered shortterm 

measures to deal with the 

situation. 

“The bank offered all its employees 

an offer to take up “voluntary 

unpaid leave” for the period 

June to September 2014 as part 

of the many measures being implemented 

to cut costs. Under this 

scheme, employees would only 

accrue 50% of their salary as they 

work for two weeks only during 

the month. This has already been 

implemented and uptake to date 

is 90% across all grades,” Gowora 

said. 

She said the process to implement 

short time working arrangement 

was also underway. 

But the Zimbabwe Allied Bankers 

Workers’ Union secretarygeneral 

Peter Mutasa said the move 

by Allied Bank was unlawful. 

“The employer is going down 

to individual workers and asking 

them to go for four months unpaid 

leave. 

“The employees are being given 

50% overdrafts of one’s salary that 

would be repaid by the employees. 

The action is unlawful,” he 

said. 

Mutasa said according to the 

Companies Act any company that 

would embark on a special measure 

to avoid retrenchment was 

obliged to pay workers’ salaries. 

He, however, said some workers 

have agreed to take the money 

being offered by management as 

they were desperate. 

“Workers are desperate because 

they do not have money. 

The money is expected to be paid 

between (last) Friday and Monday 

this week,” he said. 

Mutasa said the banker’s union 

lawyers were preparing 

summons for Allied Bank to pay 

the two months outstanding salaries 

for workers. Mutasa said the 

bank employs over 100 workers. 

EU head of delegation to Zimbabwe Aldo Dell’Ariccia 

European Investment 

Bank brings relief to 

private sector 

VICTORIA MTOMBA 


A DELEGATION from the European 

Investment Bank (EIB) is 

expected to arrive in Harare today 

for a three-day visit which will 

culminate in the sealing of deals 

with private sector players in 

the country, a spokesperson has 

said. 

The team, led by Diederick 

Zambon — who is responsible for 

EIB lending in Southern Africa— 

is scheduled to meet Finance and 

Economic Development minister 

Patrick Chinamasa and executives 

from the private sector. 

EIB is the European Union’s 

long-term lending institution. 

The bank’s spokesman for 

Africa Richard Willis said restrictions 

on European Union engagement 

in Zimbabwe continue to be 

suspended following decisions 

made by the bloc’s ministers this 

year. 

“Following this decision, the 

European Investment Bank is 

evaluating possible financial engagement 

to support private sector 

investment in Zimbabwe and 

during this visit the EIB delegation 

will meet with government officials, 

EU Ambassadors and private 

sector representatives,” Willis 

said. 

The EU head of delegation 

to Zimbabwe Aldo Dell’Ariccia 

confirmed the visit to NewsDay 

recently. 

Dell’ Ariccia said Zimbabwe’s 

arrears to the EU were about 

$272 million and was the major issue 

that was making it difficult for 

the country to attract EU funding. 

According to the Finance 

Ministry, Zimbabwe owes EIB 

$302 million. 

Dell’Ariccia said the EU has 

been working with the private 

sector and the Zimbabwe National 

Chamber of Commerce, Bankers’ 

Association of Zimbabwe, Chamber 

of Mines of Zimbabwe and 

other sectors in the economy. 

He said through various cooperation 

and development initiatives 

€1,3 billion (about $1,7 

billion) has been channelled to 

Zimbabwe through the EU and its 

member states since 2009. 

Zimbabwe has a huge 

debt overhang estimated at 

over $6,1 billion owed to the 

International Monetary Fund, 

World Bank, African Development 

Bank (AfDB), EIB and other 

financiers. 

That debt overhang came at a 

time sanctions against the country 

were militating against Zimbabwe’s 

access to cheap financing. 

However, the private sector has 

managed to get lines of credit from 

lenders after providing bankable 

projects. 

The coming in of EIB executives 

would be a relief for local companies 

that have been struggling to 

access long-term loans with institutions 

offering financing on expensive 

short-term basis. 

EIB is headquartered in Luxembourg 

and funds its operations 

by borrowing on the capital markets 

rather than drawing on the 

EU budget. It is owned by the 28 

member states of the EU.

BUSINESS NEWSDAY WEDNESDAY JUNE 11, 2014 11 

SA’s central bank says 

economy facing 

‘enormous headwinds’ 

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s economy 

faces “enormous headwinds” caused 

largely by self-inflicted domestic problems, 

including a crippling strike in the 

platinum sector, but a recession is unlikely, 

Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus said on 

Tuesday. 

Africa’s most advanced economy contracted 

in the first quarter of the year as 

output from the key manufacturing and 

mining sectors shrank, the later hit by a five 

month long strike in the platinum sector. 

The first quarter contraction has raised 

fears of a recession, the first since 2009, 

which was largely triggered by the global 

financial crisis. However, the latest economic 

dip stems mostly from domestic 

problems, Marcus says. 

“While the global backdrop remains 

difficult as the advanced economies 

emerge from the very deep financial crisis 

of the past seven years, it is no longer the 

main cause of South Africa’s weak domestic 

economic performance,” she said. “The 

slowdown we have experienced is domestically 

driven, largely self-inflicted and we 

cannot blame external factors alone.” 

Marcus also told a business meeting 

in Johannesburg that the era of abundant 

portfolio flows to emerging markets 

appeared to be over and the outlook for 

the region was fragile, comments which 

pushed the rand weaker. 

While a recovery in the United States 

was “good news” for the global economy, 

this had implications for emerging markets 

that have benefited from massive asset 

purchases by the Federal Reserve to prop 

up the world’s largest economy. 

“The era of abundant flows to emerging 

markets appears to be over: the volume of 

flows is likely to be lower and more discriminating 

than was the case in recent 

years,” Marcus said. 

“This applies more strongly to countries 

Egypt annual 

consumer 

inflation slows 

CAIRO — Egypt’s annual urban consumer 

inflation rate slowed to 8,2% in May from 

8,9% in April, official statistics agency 

CAPMAS said on Tuesday. 

Annual inflation reached its highest rate 

in nearly four years in November, but has 

been falling back since then. — Reuters 

Kenya central 

bank to mop up 

11 billion shillings 

such as South Africa, where sustainability 

of current account deficits are perceived to 

be an issue.” 

The rand, which tends to bear the brunt 

of bouts of global risk aversion because of 

a stubbornly wide current account deficit, 

presently at 5,1% of gross domestic product, 

fell to a session low of 10,7115 to the 

dollar after Marcus’ comments. 

The South Africa Reserve Bank has 

kept interest rates on hold at its last two 

policy meetings to give the economy some 

breathing space, after raising them by 50 

basis points in January. — Reuters 

South Africa Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus 

NAIROBI — Kenya’s central bank sought 

to drain 11 billion shillings ($125,5 million) 

of excess liquidity from the money market 

yesterday by using repurchase agreements 

(repos). 

The bank has regularly soaked up excess 

liquidity from the money market since last 

year, which has lent support to the shilling 

by making it more expensive for banks to 

hold long dollar positions. — Reuters

THE CENTRE spREad 

12 NewsDay wednesday june 11, 2014 13 

Crushing stones for a living as job market crashes 

BLESSED MHLANGA 


HARDLY putting effort, 

17-year-old Talent 

Musasa lifts a 

14-pound hammer 

above her head. Mechanically 

and seemingly without 

feeling the burden of the hammer’s 

weight she pounds the solid surface 

of hard quarry stone in an effort 

to break the rock into manageable 

pieces. 

The first strike yields no result so 

does the second and the third. But 

Musasa, who has a baby strapped on 

her back, is as stubborn as the rock 

that resists her, pounding and in 

equal measure resists the rock’s resistance 

until it gives in and breaks. 

She is just one of many women 

who are earning a living from crushing 

rocks into quarry stones for sale 

to the construction industry which 

against all odds appears to be flourishing 

while the economy burns. 

Her story is no different from 

that told by many poor and suffering 

Zimbabweans. The job market is 

shrinking by each day while today’s 

husbands are not as responsible as 

they run away from their families 

soon after siring offspring. 

It is no secret that company closures 

and retrenchments in what 

was once known as the industrial 

hub of the Zimbabwean economy, 

Kwekwe to be precise, has forced 

thousands into illegal gold mining, 

flea-market vending and scavenging 

to eke a living. 

Gold panning is, however, not for 

the faint-hearted with mine collapses 

and run-ins with the law enforcement 

agents, but is only for those 

brave enough to risk life and limb 

everyday by remaining in the game 

which sometimes rewards very little. 

Illegal gold panners known as 

makorokoza have been sent to prison 

— a mandatory five years for illegal 

possession of gold and two years 

for prospecting without a licence. 

Musasa’s husband is doing jail 

time after he was caught with five 

grammes of gold without a licence 

leaving his young wife to fend for herself 

and their three-year-old-son. 

“I have been left with no choice, 

but to ensure I put food on the table 

for myself and the child. My relatives 

are also struggling and they can’t 

help me,” she says. 

Joining the once lucrative gold 

panning industry is a complete no, 

WOMEN AT WORK . . . Quarry stones are now the new gold not only in Kwekwe, but elsewhere around the country’s major urban centres, sustaining over hundreds of families who now rely on quarry-crushing which provides an alternative to both employment and product 

because she has seen and heard that 

some of her husband’s colleagues 

who are not in jail have been buried 

alive as they worked in unsafe mine 

shafts while others are maimed for 

life. 

These risks have led to a new 

craze in the hunt for the elusive 

US dollar — the hand-crushing of 

stones to quarry for the construction 

industry. 

Quarry stones are now the new 

gold not only in Kwekwe, but elsewhere 

around the country’s major 

urban centres, sustaining over hundreds 

of families who now rely on 

quarry-crashing which now provides 

an alternative to both employment 

and product. 

Spiwe Njanji (45) also sits under a 

small tree crushing small stones into 

quarry with a four-pound hammer 

after Musasa’s 14-pound hammer 

has done its bit. 

Njanji’s left hand has missing fingernails 

— wounds from the trade — 

because as she crushed the quarry 

into three-quarter pieces which are 

used for concrete mixture, her fingers, 

without any protective clothing 

met the wrath of an angry hammer. 

“I don’t cry, it is the hazard of the 

trade. My son, knowing that if I don’t 

crush these stones I will be left with 

no money to pay rentals is medicine 

enough to heal the wounds,” she 

averred. 

Not far away is her three-yearold 

Tapiwanashe playing with his 

friends, some of them old enough 

to be in school, but because of the 

hardships that their parents face 

owing to the economic meltdown 

they wonder aimlessly while their 

mothers concentrate on the work at 

hand. 

Tapiwanashe has had his eye 

stitched after being hit by a flying 

piece of stone which had escaped 

the wrath of the harmer. 

His mother Musasa said she had 

to spend a few weeks away from 

work nursing her son at home, but 

now she was back with her child to 

face the same vulnerabilities. 

Twelve wheelbarrow loads of 

what is known as three-quarter 

quarry stones cost $120 and it takes 

almost an entire week for one person 

to crush and almost a month to 

get customers who are now scarce 

because of tight competition. 

They also sell by-products like 

quarry dust which sells for $1 for a 

20-litre. 

Some of the stone-crushers normally 

work in gangs with women 

bundled under some trees which 

provide shade against the harsh sun 

while a few men go up the little hills 

dotted in the suburbs to haul boulders 

down to the women. 

John Maturo, who leads one such 

gang of five mostly family members, 

says he lost his job when explosive 

manufacturing company Dyno Nobel 

collapsed and has failed to secure 

a job in the formal sector forcing him 

into crushing quarry for a living. 

“I have five children, a wife and 

other siblings who need school fees, 

food and other basics like shelter 

and I have to provide for them,” he 

said. 

Rentals for a room in Mbizo, 

Kwekwe, range from $50 to $70 per 

month excluding utility bills; while 

school fees at primary level in nearby 

schools attract around $40 per 

term and $80 for secondary level. 

Maturo said he would need over 

$300 a month to afford his close 

and extended families, just the 

basics such as food, shelter and 

accommodation. 

But Maturo is not alone as many 

people lost their jobs when sole Ammonium 

Nitrate fertilizer producer, 

Sable Chemical embarked on a voluntary 

retrenchment exercise aimed 

at streamlining operations at the 

loss-making firm. 

Hundreds others will join the long 

list of the unemployed from Zimasco 

following another offer of voluntary 

retrenchment as the mining company 

was also shedding jobs. 

Alice Levi, a widow with children 

to look after, laughs at suggestions 

that instead she should go out there 

and hunt for a formal and safer job. 

She even feels sorry for people 

who report for formal work every 

single day saying even after toiling 

for the whole month some don’t 

even get their salaries. 

“Apart from the fact that I don’t 

have any academic qualifications, I 

feel sorry for those who are formally 

employed because these days most 

companies are not paying salaries. 

You work and get nothing at the end 

of the month,” she added. 

Tendai Yagondo, who calls stonecrushing 

the new women industry, 

is a bitter woman because for a very 

long time she has participated in 

council, parliamentary and presidential 

elections as a voter. 

Yet none of the people she has 

voted into power seem to remember 

her plight or even care to come 

and help the poor after getting into 

office. 

“I won’t stop voting though because 

the councillors have left us in 

peace doing our work. Nobody has 

come to stop us from doing our work 

and maybe that is the reason I will 

be in a queue to vote in next elections,” 

she said. 

Yagondo hoped that at least one 

day the government would fund 

them to ensure that they get machinery 

which will see them crushing 

stones in a healthy and safe 

environment. 

“This business is lucrative because 

the construction sector is growing 

and we have clients every day coming 

to buy from us. Things will only 

be better for us if government funds 

us so that we can get stone crushing 

equipment,” she added. 

Kwekwe municipality councillor 

Weston Masiya also believed that 

stone-crushing was big business 

which should be supported to alleviate 

poverty. 

“I can tell you that over a thousand 

of our people are supported by 

this business, you have those crushing 

the stone, then some who transport 

and others who use quarry dust 

to mould bricks. These people after 

getting income from stone crushing 

then manage to pay their water 

bills,” he said. 

Council has deliberately turned 

a blind eye on the stone-crushers 

who do not pay any operating 

licences to the local authority. 

Building inspectors have also allowed 

the use of the homemade 

quarry stones for construction especially 

in the populous Mbizo high 

density area. 

Through physical counting News- 

Day counted 95 individuals involved 

in stone crushing in Mbizo alone all 

with an average of six family members 

to look after. 

Another 40 individuals who 

also have families benefit from the 

stone crushing “industry” by using 

wheelbarrows and man-powered 

scotch carts to transport the quarry 

stones at $30 per load depending on 

distance. 

Garikai Matava, who is constructing 

a house in Mbizo 15 said it would 

have been difficult for him to do his 

slab had it not been for the help he 

got from the hand stone-crushers. 

“Their terms are flexible and you 

can negotiate the price unlike say, 

buying from big companies who are 

by the way a distance from the construction 

site,” he said. 

Independence means little to 

them because they have remained 

stuck at the bottom of the food chain 

dangling and hoping one day the 

ruling Zanu PF party’s much touted 

economic blueprint the Zimbabwe 

Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic 

Transformation (ZimAsset) 

will also cascade to them. 

Sadly, Vice-President Joice Mujuru 

on Monday this week dampened 

hopes of a quick fix to Zimbabwe’s 

faltering economy through 

ZimAsset, warning it could take a 

lifetime to achieve the programme’s 

objectives. 

The Zanu PF government is under 

pressure to deliver on its election 

promises which include some 2 million 

new jobs at a time the economy 

is widely accepted to be going south. 

A liquidity crisis that has held the 

economy back since dollarisation in 

2009 shows no signs of easing with 

cash-squeezed companies forced to 

shut down, throwing hundreds into 

the already huge jobless heap. 

Aware of the potentially explosive 

situation, the government now 

appears to have decided to dampen 

expectations. 

“Five years is too soon to achieve 

the objectives of ZimAsset. It is the 

beginning of a lifetime and can take 

up to 30 or even 40 years,” Mujuru 

told a gathering in Victoria Falls on 

Monday. 

After winning a new five-year 

term in office last year, Zanu PF 

launched ZimAsset — October 2013 - 

December 2018 — vaunting the plan 

as the cure for Zimbabwe’s economic 

woes. So-called quick wins under 

the five-year programme were 

to be implemented between 2013 

and 2015, whilst the second phase 

would cover the period 2016 to 2018 

by which economic growth was expected 

to top 9,9%. 

But some hardly 10 months after 

the July 31 vote it was clear that 

Zanu PF was a tight corner by failing 

to stimulate the faltering economy 

hence diversionary politics. 

Hence, while some mothers enjoyed 

the comfort of manicured finger 

nails and flowers from their children 

on Mother’s Day this rare breed 

of women with no finger nails to talk 

about toiled like slaves to put food on 

their tables. 

It is really sad! 

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14 


opinion 

PAINONA 

Chibhende: To be taken 

off the agenda? 

TAPIWA NYANDORO 

It helps to be proficient in 

Chibhende if your career is 

to blossom in certain party 

organs, some corporate 

boardrooms and in Zimbabwean 

politics in general. Chibhende 

is that cryptic language 

cynical people used to discuss a 

slow witted colleague, usually a 

bully’s shortcomings in his/her 

presence in the 1960s. 

Mothers used it to discuss 

troublesome children. It seems to 

have made a remarkable comeback 

among the cognoscenti in 

Zimbabwe. 

Indeed it may be a requirement 

to have five Ordinary Level 

passes, including a distinction in 

Chibhende in certain ministries, 

particulary the Ministry of Chibhende 

and Propaganda. 

One retired editor of a major 

weekly newspaper, posted 

sentiments totally atypical to his 

known persona on his Facebook 

wall soon after (forced?) retirement. 

He consoled troubled colleagues 

and family members who 

Chiadzwa diamonds have gone into foreign hands while the Marange people have been left with dummy cheques 

dared question the authenticity 

of the Facebook entry, and if true 

his sanity, that he was now “free”. 

He needed not speak Chibhende 

anymore. 

Recently, a senior banker, 

speaking in deep classic Chibhende 

said there was no deflation 

in Zimbabwe. Any falling prices 

ZimStat notices were simply 

“price corrections”. 

It was an observation the party 

faithful, especially the dimwitted 

ones, welcomed. He was 

a banker to be listened to, never 

mind the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe 

could be thinking otherwise. 

“Ask the man on the street 

what a central banker’s main 

job is, and he will say something 

like “keeping a lid on inflation”, 

so wrote The Economist (November 

9 2013), in an article titled 

correctly The perils of falling 

inflation. 

This view, the paper concluded, 

is “dangerously outdated”. 

“The biggest problem facing 

central bankers today is that “inflation 

is too low”. 

But not so to our senior banker 

who may have been singing for 

his supper. His “noble” sentiments, 

though misleading to the 

gullible masses and a greater 

section of the political class, buy 

time, and give the powers-thatbe 

the space to craft some new 

strategies. 

On a positive note, the beleaguered 

banker could have been 

doing the nation a “favour”, as 

“once people expect prices to 

keep falling, they put off buying 

things, weakening the economy 

further”. Thus it may have been 

“forward guidance” as central 

banks do when they hint at future 

policies, but here of course, 

it is couched in Chibhende. (“ . . . 

If any economy with high unemployment 

grows too slowly for too 

long, prices and wages are eventually 

likely to fall.”) 

Zimbabweans are not alone 

in having such cryptic language. 

They may, however, just be the 

masters. 

According to The Economist 

(December 9 2013): “Japanese 

culture places great stress on distinguishing 

the honne, one’s genuine 

feelings, from the tatemae, 

what one must say publicly”. 

One Hiromasa Yonekura, the 

head of the Keidanren, Japan’s big 

business lobby revealed his honne 

about Abenomics, the current 

Prime Minister’s bold strategy to 

revive the Japanese economy and 

pull it out of deflation. The businessman 

said the call for a radical 

loosening of monetary poly was 

“reckless”. 

Sensing danger when Abe was 

then elected into power, Yonekura 

backtracked, but has been given 

the cold shoulder ever since. In 

certain environments, speaking 

your mind has consequences. 

It has taken the cognoscenti 

close to a year now to recognise 

that some sections of the Zimbabwe 

Agenda for Sustainable 

Socio-Economic Transformation, 

ZimAsset are written in Chibhende. 

The more they tried to implement 

it the more the opposite 

happen. Instead of job creation, 

more jobs were lost. Instead of 

being empowered, people were 

disempowered. 

Indigenous Chiadzwa diamonds 

are now exotic gems in 

foreign hands, while the people 

of Marange hold a $50 million 

dummy cheque, to get salt to injury 

handed over to them by none 

other than their Head of State. 

De-indigenisation, the exact 

opposite of what was intended, 

has taken centre stage. 

According to the Executive 

Summary of the United Nations 

Development Programme’s Comprehensive 

Economic Recovery 

Working Paper (Series) 10 of 

2010: “The destruction of domestic 

savings, [be they] corporate, 

institution and household, and 

the decimation of Bank balance 

sheets [due to hyper inflation and 

past policies] means that Industrial 

recovery will depend heavily 

on foreign savings and foreign investment. 

The likely consequences 

will be the restructuring of 

manufacturing [and mining and 

agriculture] by foreign businesses 

that will involve the dilution of 

domestic ownership and control, 

and in effect, the de-indigenisation 

of the economy.” 

The ball is now in the court of 

the relevant Ministry of Chibhende 

and Propaganda as the 

policy review is now being 

undertaken. 

The wool has come off the eyes 

of the leadership. The cryptic language 

has to be discarded from 

official documents, particularly if 

they are going to be shared with 

foreign investors, who get lost in 

the depth of the “specialty”. 

The language has done much 

harm both at home and abroad. 

Simple, straight forward English 

will do. 

• nyandoro.osbert1@gmail.com 

or feedback@newsday.co.zw


FEATURE 15 

Children battle 

to access HIV 

testing in Zim 

HARARE — Young people 

living with HIV are 

increasingly dying at a 

time when HIV-related 

deaths are declining 

for all other age groups. They are also 

less likely to get tested for the virus, 

as concerns about guardianship and 

privacy can discourage clinics from 

testing children, according to a recent 

study. 

Research conducted in Zimbabwe 

by the London School of Hygiene 

and Tropical Medicine found that 

older children—aged between six 

and 15 — who might have acquired 

HIV at birth, received inadequate 

access to provider-initiated HIV 

testing and counselling by primary 

health care givers. The main reasons 

that health-care workers gave 

for not offering tests were the child 

was accompanied by a guardian not 

appropriate for providing consent, 

and lack of availability of staff or HIV 

testing kits. 

Children who were older, or that 

visited the clinic with a male or a 

younger guardian were less likely to 

be offered HIV testing. 

In addition, health-care workers 

were also reluctant to offer testing as 

they feared that a child might experience 

abuse if he or she tested positive. 

According to the study, lengthy 

waiting periods endured by guardians 

and older children also hindered 

routine testing and counselling. 

About 200 000 Zimbabwean 

children aged between 0 and 14 

years live with HIV, according to the 

United Nations Programme (UNDP). 

More than 90% of the children who 

were tested during the study and 

found positive had failed to get tested 

before, a trend that, according to 

the authors, reflected “suboptimal” 

counselling and testing in Zimbabwe. 

The study was carried out between 

January and May 2013 by interviewing 

primary health caregivers 

at six clinics in Harare, the capital 

and sampled over 2 000 children. 

Healthcare workers did not 

help matters, said the report, as 

they sometimes refused to attend 

to willing guardians and children, 

and failed to understand regulations 

guiding counselling and testing 

procedures. 

“They expressed confusion about 

the age at which a child could choose 

to test him/herself, what type of caregivers 

qualified as legal guardians, 

and whether guardians had to undergo 

testing themselves first.” 

Eight-year-old Theresa Mpofu*, 

from Chitungwiza, 30km south of 

Harare, could be living with HIV, but 

it might be a while before she gets to 

know her status. Her mother died of 

Aids-related pneumonia two years 

ago but, even though she was aware 

of the possibility that Theresa could 

have been born with HIV, she did not 

get her daughter tested, according 

to relatives. Theresa has in the past 

year suffered numerous health complications 

that include a persistent 

skin rash and sores, and when her 

grandmother with whom she lives 

took her to a public hospital, the minor 

could not be tested because the 

nurses insisted that her father be 

present to give consent. 

“Her (Theresa’s) father is still 

alive even though he had divorced 

my daughter when she died. However, 

he does not want to come and 

authorise Theresa’s testing, yet the 

nurses say I cannot do that as long 

as the father is still alive,” the grandmother, 

who cannot be named, told 

IRIN. 

The girl abandoned school when 

her health problems became more 

frequent and is only receiving treatment 

for her symptoms, but only 

when the grandmother, who depends 

on relatives and well-wishers 

for their upkeep, gets money for 

hospital expenses. 

“Since her mother died of Aids, 

it is possible that she might have 

passed the disease to Theresa. Something 

should be done to determine 

what exactly is causing her illnesses, 

otherwise she will also die,” added 

the grandmother. 

Zimbabwean national guidelines 

for testing and counselling require 

that a child below 16 be accompanied 

by a consenting legal guardian, 

but also provides that proxies like 

doctors or government social services 

staff can do so when it is considered 

to be in the best interests of 

the child. 

As a result, “children were often 

sent away to seek additional permissions, 

and frequently did not return” 

while, according to one female head 

nurse who the researchers interviewed, 

“very few (children) come 

with their parents or legal guardians 

. . . You will always need consent. 

Even if you see a sick child, you have 

to encourage the person who came 

with the child to get consent.” 

Caregivers would also refuse to 

test children whose parents lived 

outside the country as there was 

no eligible person to consent, only 

providing treatment to evident 

symptoms. 

The researchers urge Zimbabwe’s 

government to develop clear testing 

policies and guidance on consent 

and guardianship, provide legal authority 

to caregivers to consent on 

behalf of children needing testing 

and increase awareness of the high 

prevalence of HIV among older children. 

In addition, there is need to 

train healthcare workers on counselling 

and fight stigmatisation and 

discrimination through laws, and 

improve testing resources. 

Martha Tholanah of the International 

Committee of Women Living 

with HIV (ICW-Zimbabwe), told 

IRIN that the low levels of providerinitiated 

HIV testing and counselling 

to older children showed that stigma 

was still high in the country. 

“Our communities are closely 

knit and it is difficult to keep the status 

of an individual a secret once he 

or she is tested. This is one fear that 

guardians have. Testing of a child 

will not only expose his or her status, 

but that of the guardians too,” 

she said. 

“Many children are probably dying 

because testing is left for too late 

or does not take place at all yet this 

could be avoided if there were proper 

guidelines on how to attend to 

these girls and boys.” — IRIN 

*Not her real name. 

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16 


FEATURE 

Shona: Local language takes on 

urban grooves, gets street cred 

HARARE — “Ndipei sando dzangu,” (give 

me my hammers) sings Zimbabwean artiste 

Winky D. 

He may be singing in Shona, the local 

language spoken by some 80% of Zimbabweans, 

but his Shona is different. It’s 

Street Shona. 

So what he really means, loosely translated, 

is that someone is exceptionally good 

at what they do and therefore needs to be 

recognised for this. 

This Southern African nation’s local language, 

Shona, has taken on an artistic form 

which has seen the language transform. 

Shona has its origins in the Bantu languages 

and is both a written and spoken 

language with dialects that include Zezuru, 

Korekore, Ndau and Manyika. 

The evolution of Shona as a street language 

in Zimbabwe has become synonymous 

with urban grooves, a Zimbabwean 

music genre which became popular when 

this country introduced a policy that compelled 

all broadcast stations to air 75% of 

locally-produced material. 

“Wotoshaya kuti zviri kufamba seyi” 

(not sure why things are going the way they 

are going) — a popular phrase believed to 

have been started by local comedian Richard 

Matimba 

“Our language, Shona, is now advanced. 

We are at a different level,” Tazvitya Kaseke 

of from Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, tells 

IPS as he describes the evolution of Shona 

into a form of art. 

Although urban grooves is a form of 

music that has a largely youthful following, 

terms derived from this genre are not 

unique to the youth. Older people have also 

been known to use these terms. 

An example is the current phrase “wotoshaya 

kuti zviri kufamba seyi” (not sure 

why things are going the way they are going), 

which has become popular in Harare. 

This phrase is believed to have been started 

by local comedian Richard Matimba. 

Stanley Maniste, a youth based in Chitungwiza, 

a satellite town south of Harare, 

says street language here may have been 

made more popular by urban grooves, but 

it was actually born on the streets. 

“Music is just a vehicle that makes the 

current affairs of the street more popular. 

Street language is actually born in the 

Musician Winky D has taken advantage of the 

new wave of Shona terminology 

streets of townships like Chitungwiza and 

Mbare,” Maniste told IPS. 

McDonald Nyathi, a budding artist also 

based in Chitungwiza, attributes the evolution 

of Shona to society itself and adds that 

music and the media create a platform for 

society’s views to be aired. 

“I believe that this is a two-way street. 

Society creates and then artists and the 

media air the creation of society. But sometimes 

artists also create and these then become 

popular on the streets,” Nyathi told 

IPS. 

Music producer Lloyd Goredema links 

the increase in colloquial words and phrases 

to the economic slump in Zimbabwe. 

“When the economy hit rock bottom 

people had to find ways of sustaining their 

livelihoods. This caused an increase in the 

number of artists, popularly known as urban 

groovers,” he told IPS. 

“This is also a result of the government’s 

75% local content policy, which was introduced 

in 2002. The country didn’t have 

money for importing music by international 

artists, hence the airwaves were inundated 

with music that showed street and 

township life in Zimbabwe,” Goredema 

said. 

Nyathi says that street language may not 

have been obvious prior to 2002, but it existed 

prior to this. 

“Now that the channels have opened up 

it appears as if street language has suddenly 

increased,” Nyathi said. 

Street language is also commonly derived 

from other sources like the ever increasing 

number of touts (popularly referred 

to as mahwindi) who work around 

taxi ranks in Zimbabwe’s major cities. 

Businesses that advertise using both 

print and broadcast media have also added 

to the hype. A colloquial term “zvaa zvinhu” 

(these have become good things) has been 

made popular by a bread advertisement. 

A study titled What’s new in Shona 

street lingo? conducted by Shumirai Nyota 

and Rugare Mareva, shows that street 

language in Zimbabwe exists because of a 

number of factors. 

“Shona lingo consists of highly informal 

words or phrases which have been coined 

or formed by mixing languages. Speakers 

of Shona lingo use it in their informal discussions 

on any subject matter, especially 

on topical issues in Zimbabwe, such as politics, 

socio-economic issues and HIV. The 

vehicles or channels used to transmit street 

lingo include, emails, cellphone text messages, 

Shona lingo chat forums and urban 

groove music,” the study reveals. 

Street language is not unique to Harare 

or the major cities of Zimbabwe. Youth and 

middle aged people in the rural areas of 

Zimbabwe also use the same kind of street 

language. 

“The language starts in the streets and 

backyard recording studios of the major 

cities, especially Harare. It’s easy for the 

language to get to the rural areas because 

people travel regularly and because of the 

various technology which enables a lot 

of the language and trends to travel,” Tawanda 

Huhlu, an aspiring musician from 

Harare, said. 

— IPS

FEATURE NEWSDAY WEDNESDAY JUNE 11, 2014 17 

Better child TB diagnosis on the horizon 

NAIROBI/ KISUMU 

— Accurate diagnosis 

of tuberculosis 

among children is 

notoriously difficult 

because the bacteria causing the 

disease tend to be detectable in 

the sputum only of adults, and because 

the clinical symptoms used 

to diagnose TB in children are also 

present in other conditions. 

This leads to false positives and 

consequent inappropriate treatment 

and increased drug resistance; 

and to false negatives, which 

means a correct diagnosis is only 

possible when it’s too late, after 

the disease may have spread from 

the lungs to the brain, or other 

organs. 

In many poor countries, health 

staff using a standard test fails to 

detect TB in children up to 93% 

of the time, according to medical 

charity Médecins Sans Frontières. 

According to new research — 

published in the New England 

Journal of Medicine — involving 

2 800 children hospitalised in 

South Africa, Malawi and Kenya, 

the key to better TB diagnosis 

could lie in 51 genes found in the 

blood of infected children. 

During the seven-year study, 

researchers determined which of 

these genes were activated and 

suppressed among infected children. 

Using this information to 

develop a “TB risk score”, the 

method was found to be accurate 

Accurate pediatric TB diagnosis remains a challenge in poor countries 

in more than 80% of cases. 

The hope is that the discovery 

of such a “signature” will lead to a 

cheap and effective test for childhood 

TB. 

“Childhood TB is a major problem 

in African hospitals. An accurate 

test for childhood TB would 

be an enormous breakthrough, 

enabling earlier diagnosis, reducing 

long hospital admissions for 

investigation of TB suspects, and 

limiting the number of children 

treated inappropriately,” Brian 

Eley from the University of Cape 

Town, who led the clinical study 

in South Africa, said. 

Joseph Sitienei, head of Kenya’s 

national TB programme, said 

that while more effective diagnosis 

would be welcome, the challenge 

layin ensuring “that they are 

quickly available in poor countries 

where they are most needed”. 

“Being able to accurately diagnose 

TB in children means reducing 

TB related deaths among 

them,” Sitienei said. 

Laura Guay, head of research 

at Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric Aids 

Foundation, EGPAF, and a professor 

at the George Washington 

University, told IRIN that “additional 

efforts must be made to ensure 

that governments, organisations 

that focus on eradication of 

TB, and those that fund research 

in these areas devote sufficient attention 

and resources to addressing 

the unique challenges facing 

the diagnosis and treatment of 

children with TB.” 

Other than hampering treatment, 

analysts also fear poor diagnosis 

have led to an underestimation 

of the burden of the disease 

among children even in countries 

where it is endemic. 

In 2011 for instance, up to 1,3 

million deaths in children from 

TB-endemic countries were attributed 

to pneumonia yet the 

cause of the deaths were never 

verified. 

Children who live with TB often 

live in poor conditions with limited 

access to healthcare. 

Across the world, there are 

some 16 current or scheduled 

clinical trials for new drugs to treat 

TB among children and expectant 

mothers. 

There are also “several research 

groups that have devoted considerable 

time and effort to the search 

for better TB diagnostics for children, 

including in many research 

centers throughout Africa,” EG- 

PAF’s Guay, said. 

Better diagnosis is one of the 

key elements of a roadmap aimed 

at reaching zero tuberculosis 

deaths among children drawn up 

in 2011 by a group of major international 

health organisations. 

— IRIN

18 


FEATURE 

Nature is talking, Africa’s 

legislators are listening 

MEXICO CITY — Africa’s climate 

change legislative frameworks, 

though a step in the right direction, 

have come under fire for 

not being ambitious enough to 

meet the challenge of a changing 

climate. 

The Democratic Republic of 

Congo (DRC), an emerging global 

actor in Reducing Emissions from 

Deforestation and Forest Degradation 

(REDD+), has been criticised 

because its REDD+ projects are 

not supported by a legally binding 

framework, leaving forest communities 

in a legal void and vulnerable 

to economic exploitation. 

But Jean-Claude Atningamu, 

a legislator in the DRC, admitted 

that while his country may 

have strategies and policies in 

place, a law on REDD+ is yet to be 

developed. 

“We have just begun these processes 

and we are grappling with 

many challenges,” he told IPS. 

He said that although indigenous 

communities were not 

benefiting from climate change 

financing, it was not because of a 

Slash and burn agriculture and charcoal are the main causes of greenhouse 

gases emissions in the Democratic Republic of Congo 

lack of political goodwill to do so. 

“We do not have the full support 

from the international community 

who are not providing 

the funding necessary to help the 

people of the DRC meet the economic 

challenges that they are 

facing,” he said at the conclusion 

of the Global Legislators Organisation 

(Globe International) summit 

that was held in Mexico from 

Jun. 6 to 8. 

He said that while the DRC has 

the second-largest forest cover in 

the world “we are yet to receive 

REDD+ financing.” 

“We are expecting to receive 

the first $60 million from REDD+. 

With our expansive forest cover 

we should be receiving at least 

one billion dollars in a year. 

“We need to have mechanisms 

set up by Parliament to help African 

countries to access REDD+ 

financing. Without access to this 

fund, we cannot implement the 

policies that we are discussing at 

this Globe Summit,” Atningamu 

added. 

He pointed out that in Africa 

the forest was the wealth of the 

people, “we need it to feed our 

people, to get heat, to cook. You 

cannot tell your wife to stop using 

firewood and not provide an 

alternative source of energy.” 

But a lack of access to climate 

financing is not the only issue of 

concern for the African block of 

legislators. 

The resolutions agreed upon at 

the summit also raised concerns. 

These include an agreement to 

deliver robust legislation in support 

of sustainable development, 

particularly climate change, natural 

capital and forest/REDD as 

well as strengthening legislators´ 

capacity to effectively exercise 

their oversight responsibilities, 

especially over the executive. 

Simon Asimah, chair of the 

African block at the summit and 

also Globe International vicepresident 

for Africa, said that the 

resolutions were not comprehensive 

enough to meet the legislative 

gaps that Africa is facing. 

The Ghanaian legislator said 

that “a few clauses will be added 

to the final resolution to ensure 

that the African region the position 

of Africa in climate security is 

fully represented.” 

These recommendations were 

accepted and clauses include the 

suggestion that all countries in 

Africa should have Globe chapters 

in their respective national legislatures 

and establish an African 

regional secretariat at Globe International 

to be founded in one 

of the countries of Africa. There 

are currently only four globe international 

chapters in Africa – 

in Ghana, Nigeria, the DRC and 

South Africa, 

This is key for coordination 

purposes, as well as to enhance 

the sharing of best practices on 

climate change mitigation and 

adaptation across Africa, according 

to the legislators. 

Although the summit resolutions 

encouraged the development 

of legislation on natural 

capital, Asimah said that the African 

block had pushed to have 

“all countries, particularly those 

in Africa, to legislate on effective 

climate change laws, and in these 

laws, recognise and incorporate 

natural capital accounting concepts 

in accounting for their natural 

resources as part of their total 

national capital.” 

Joyce Laboso, Kenya’s deputy 

speaker in the national assembly, 

also raised concerns over 

changing global perspectives and 

the impact they were having on 

Africa. 

The Ghanaian delegation emphasised 

that developed nations 

such as the United States and 

emerging economies like China 

and Mexico were emitting the 

most carbon yet Africa was not 

expected to exploit its forests and 

become industrialised in the same 

way Brazil had. 

Asimah said that Africa was 

also not being compensated 

enough or in some cases not at all 

for its efforts to keep people from 

exploiting the forests. 

“Africa must find a way to 

develop. But this is not a blame 

game, climate change is a global 

problem and it requires global solutions,” 

he said. 

But Jacob Mudenda, speaker 

of Zimbabwe’s national assembly 

said: “Industrialised countries 

must submit themselves to climate 

change conventions, without 

which there will not be any 

global synergies.” 

The African legislators from 

countries including, Nigeria, Cape 

Verde Islands, Sudan and Uganda, 

said that they were considering 

making significant financial 

demands on multinationals that 

were exploiting Africa’s natural 

wealth without impacting significantly 

on their gross domestic 

product. 

In Zimbabwe, Mudenda said 

that environment laws have now 

been anchored in the constitution 

as human rights “anyone who 

feels that they are being exploited 

can file a case at the constitutional 

courts.” 

Mudenda further said that 

besides Zimbabwe, other countries 

like Botswana are learning 

from Norway and imposing revenue 

clauses on multinationals 

investing in their countries that 

they must improve the wealth of 

these African countries through a 

51% to 49% benefit sharing ratio 

where the host takes the majority. 

In spite of the concerns raised, 

African legislators have said that 

the summit was a step in the right 

direction. 

— Inter Press Service

Neymar goes down in training session / 20 

Ayew treble fires Ghana to victory / 21 

SPORT 

NewsDay 

wednesday june 11, 2014 19 

‘Mercedes must be bulletproof in F1’ 

Briefs . . . 

Gilmour passes away 

MONTREAL — The twin Mercedes 

of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton 

have so dominated the Formula 

One circuit this season that 

even a second-place finish that 

extended Rosberg’s lead in the 

championship standings left them 

disappointed. 

“We need to make sure that 

we’re bulletproof,” Rosberg said 

after Daniel Ricciardo passed the 

hobbled Silver Arrow with two 

laps to go to win the Canadian 

Grand Prix on Sunday. 

“Having lost the win, that’s 

very, very disappointing, definitely, 

and also disappointing for 

us as a team. We have such speed 

and such a great car, to not win 

the race and even just finish with 

one car and come second is hugely 

disappointing for us, definitely. 

“Our ambition is to finish onetwo 

so we need to make sure that 

we get back there again next race 

in Austria.” 

Mercedes had won every race 

in the series heading into Montreal, 

with Rosberg posting two 

victories and four second-place 

finishes. Hamilton won the other 

four races, finishing second in 

Monaco last month; he had engine 

trouble and did not finish the season 

opener in Melbourne. 

That’s pretty much what it 

takes to knock the Mercedes off 

the top spots of the podium, and it 

happened again this week on the 

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. 

Both Rosberg and Hamilton 

had the same problem, at about 

the same time — the midpoint of 

the 70-lap race. 

When Rosberg radioed in for a 

solution, he was told, “We don’t 

‘Rose repeat would 

be fantastic’ 

PINEHURST — Justin Rose, trying to 

become the first golfer in 25 years to 

defend the United States Open title, 

would be a fantastic repeat winner, 

says the last man to do it. 

Curtis Strange, who captured US 

Open titles in 1988 at The Country Club 

and 1989 at Oak Hill, said on Monday 

he would not be cheering against the 

British standout who won last year at 

Merion to repeat the feat this week at 

Pinehurst. 

“Do I want to see somebody do it? 

Not particularly. But I’m not rooting 

against him,” Strange said. “If Justin 

would happen to win Sunday night, I 

would be the first phone call to congratulate 

him. That would be fantastic. 

I don’t want to see anybody do it, but 

I’m not rooting against them.” 

The 114th US Open tees off Thursday 

with England’s Rose saying the 

scrub brush and lightning-fast greens 

of Pinehurst are as welcome a challenge 

as the dense rough and tight 

shotmaking areas of Merion were last 

year when he took his first major title. 

Every other major has featured 

back-to-back winners more recently 

than the US Open, but Strange can 

offer no reason why no one has been 

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg 

think we can resolve it.” 

Rosberg said the problem put 

more pressure on the rear brakes, 

causing them to overheat. 

“I think it surprised us, yes, 

because the pace Mercedes has 

had all year,” Ricciardo said. “Obviously, 

I’m still going to take the 

victory, don’t get me wrong. But 

they had their issues today, which 

allowed us to really make an attack. 

But it’s nice that we capitalised 

on that. I think it would have 

been disappointing if they had 

their issues and they were able to 

still get the best of us.” 

The second-place finish — his 

seventh podium in seven races — 

gives Rosberg 140 points of a possible 

175 on the season; Hamilton 

is second with 118. 

Ricciardo moved into third 

with 79 after his first career Formula 

One victory, passing Ferrari’s 

Fernando Alonso (69 points), 

and Ricciardo’s Red Bull teammate 

Sebastian Vettel, the fourtime 

defending world champion, 

finished third and is fifth in the 

standings with 60 points. 

“We are fully aware that Red 

Bull is still an amazingly strong 

team and pushing like crazy to 

catch us,” Rosberg said. 

“We are well aware of that and 

we are always concerned and always 

making sure that our drive 

remains exactly the same as it was 

last year when we were half-asecond 

behind them. We’re really 

pushing to even extend the gap.” 

Vettel said he is feeling better 

about his car, but he won’t 

let the two spots on the podium 

mask the fact that the Mercedes 

has been faster all year. And he’s 

not counting on more mechanical 

problems for Rosberg and Hamilton 

in the future. 

“Today, I think we got lucky,” 

said Vettel, the 2013 Montreal 

winner. “Obviously, it feels great 

and it’s a great reward for the 

whole team after such a painful 

winter and a very difficult start to 

the season. To get both cars on the 

podium and to beat at least one 

of the Mercedes, I think that’s a 

very, very positive day for us.” 

Ricciardo has two third-place 

finishes, two fourth-place finishes 

and a win in his last five races. 

He crossed the finish line second 

in the season opener in his homeland, 

but was later disqualified 

for an illegal fuel flow. Still, the 

24-year-old Australian said it is 

too soon to the Grand Prix of Austria 

on June 22. — Reuters 

Neesham century puts NZ in control 

KINGSTON — All-rounder Jimmy 

Neesham became the first New 

Zealander, and just the eighth 

player overall, to score centuries 

in each of his first two cricket Tests 

as the tourists ended the second 

day of the first Test against West 

Indies with a huge first innings 

lead. 

Neesham, who scored 137 not 

out on debut against India in February, 

was dismissed for 107 after 

sharing a 201-run partnership 

with wicketkeeper BJ Watling 

(89) to take the visitors to 508 for 

seven declared at Sabina Park in 

Kingston. 

West Indies openers Chris 

Gayle (eight) and Kieran Powell 

(11) safely guided the hosts to 19 

without loss at stumps, still 489 

runs in arrears, though Powell 

should have been dismissed on 

eight when he was dropped by 

Peter Fulton at second slip off Tim 

Southee. 

Neesham and Watling resurrected 

New Zealand’s innings 

when the Kiwis lost three wickets 

for 20 runs in the first session on 

Jimmy Neesham 

Monday after they had resumed 

on 240 for two. 

First day centurion Kane Williamson 

failed to pick a Sulieman 

Benn arm ball and was bowled 

without playing a shot for 113 to 

leave the visitors on 259 for three 

before Ross Taylor (55) was deceived 

by a Shane Shillingford 

flighted delivery and spooned 

an easy catch to Kirk Edwards at 

midwicket. 

Captain Brendon McCullum 

then fell for seven when he was 

caught by Gayle at first slip to 

leave the hosts on 279 for five and 

in danger of undoing their good 

work on a slow and low pitch. 

Neesham and Watling guided 

their side through to lunch and 

accelerated in the middle session, 

scoring 129 runs in 28 overs to put 

New Zealand in the box seat. 

The 23-year-old Neesham 

brought up his hundred with a 

cover drive for two runs off Jerome 

Taylor before he was Benn's 

third wicket when he got a faint 

edge to a delivery that was taken 

by Denesh Ramdin. 

Watling was the last wicket 

to fall, hitting out in an effort to 

reach his fourth test century when 

he was caught in the deep off Shillingford 

to trigger the declaration. 

The only other players to score 

hundreds in their first two tests 

are Mohammad Azharuddin, who 

also scored a century in his third 

test, as well as Bill Ponsford, Doug 

Walters, Alvin Kallicharran, Greg 

Blewett, Sourav Ganguly and Rohit 

Sharma. — Reuters 

MELBOURNE — Swing bowling allrounder 

Gary Gilmour, who played 15 

cricket Tests for Australia between 1973 

and 1977 and was one of the stars of the 

inaugural World Cup in 1975, died yesterday 

at the age of 62. 

Cricket officials said Gilmour battled 

health problems for several years and 

complications escalated after a recent 

fall. The left-armer took figures of 6-14 

against England in the 1975 World Cup 

semifinal. The then 23-year-old also 

claimed 5-48 in the final, which Australia 

lost to the West Indies. — Reuters 

Nadal back on grass 

HALLE — Newly-crowned French Open 

tennis champion Rafael Nadal was 

quickly back in training on Monday, but 

this time on the grass courts of Halle, 

Germany, as the preparations for Wimbledon 

swung into top gear. 

Nadal took his ninth Roland Garros title 

in Paris on Sunday when he defeated 

Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 in a 

bruising final that saw him bothered by 

leg cramps in the fourth set. — Reuters 

Felix back in hunt for 

200m domination 

OSLO — Allyson Felix will seek out a 

further step towards recovery after an 

injury-plagued 2013 when she races 

her preferred 200m at today’s Diamond 

League in Oslo. 

A four-time Olympic gold winner, 

Felix has been one of the dominant 

figures over the distance, winning 

three consecutive world titles, the first 

coming in Helsinki in 2005. Last season, 

however, was one to forget, the 

American winning only two Diamond 

races before crashing out of the Moscow 

world championships 200m with a 

hamstring injury. — Reuters 

Three greats in Hall of 

Fame 

NEW YORK — Oscar de la Hoya called 

for unity in the sport when he was inducted 

into the International Boxing Hall 

of Fame on Sunday. 

The now 41-year-old Mexican- 

American earned his place in the boxing 

shrine in Canastota, New York, during 

a professional career that included ten 

“world” titles in six weight divisions. 

He went into the Hall as part of an All 

Star class that included Felix Trinidad 

of Puerto Rico and former undefeated 

super-middleweight champion Joe 

Calzaghe of Wales. — Reuters 

Swim boss apologises 

to abuse victims 

WASHINGTON — US Swimming chief 

executive officer Chuck Wielgus apologised 

to sex abuse victims in a blog 

posting more than four years after he’d 

said he had nothing to apologise for. 

“Today, four long years later, I can 

truthfully say how sorry I am to the 

victims of sexual abuse,” Wielgus said. 

“Going back in time, I wish I knew long 

before 2010 what I know today. I wish 

my eyes had been more open to the individual 

stories of the horrors of sexual 

abuse.” — Reuters

20 


SPORT 

‘Opening match as important as final’ 

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil are 

looking to send a message to supporters 

and rivals in the World 

Cup football finals’ opening 

match, right-back Dani Alves 

said on Monday, raising the stakes 

for the clash against Croatia. 

A lacklustre 1-0 win over 

Serbia in last Friday’s warmup 

game brought jeers from the 

home crowd and raised doubts 

about the heavily favoured Brazil 

team, which Alves was quick to 

dismiss. 

He said the host nation’s players 

would be at their best when 

the tournament begins tomorrow. 

“The moment of truth is starting 

now,” he told reporters, turning 

the focus to the opener. 

“It’s not just about three 

points, it should also send a message 

to future rivals. 

“I think it’s the most important 

game of the World Cup, along 

with the final.” 

The national team has long 

had a testy relationship with Sao 

Paulo fans at the Morumbi stadium, 

where they struggled against 

Serbia. 

But Alves was confident of a 

different mood across town at the 

Brazil right-back Daniel Alves 

new Corinthians arena that will 

host the opening match. 

“Because we’re playing at 

home . . . I’m certain the people 

will be on our side,” Alves said. 

“That will confirm that the 

Brazilian team is the favourite.” 

Support for the team has grown 

at their training ground north of 

Rio de Janeiro with a crowd of 

about 1 000 fans greeting them 

on their return from Sao Paulo on 

Sunday. 

That contrasted with two 

weeks before, when a group of 

teachers circled the team bus 

to protest over spending on the 

World Cup as part of a strike. 

Anger over the amount spent 

on the finals and broken promises 

ahead of the tournament contributed 

to a wave of demonstrations 

last year. 

“For us it’s a gift to see the fans, 

our people, now understand that 

the Cup has arrived in Brazil and 

it’s going to be an amazing moment,” 

Alves said. — Reuters 

Suarez centre stage in 

heavyweight battle 

SAO PAOLO — Luis Suarez’s spectacular 

season for Liverpool went 

a long way to restoring his tarnished 

image among English fans, 

but the Uruguayan will again be 

public enemy No 1 for a game that 

could decide World Cup football 

finals Group D. 

With England and Italy making 

it three former world champions 

in the group and Costa Rica containing 

enough talent to at least 

worry their rivals, every match 

looks enticing and it is a tough call 

to predict who will go through, 

let alone find a one-two finishing 

order. The fitness or otherwise of 

Suarez, who underwent keyhole 

surgery on a knee injury on May 

22, could decide whether Uruguay 

can match their 2010 achievement 

of reaching the semifinals. 

Suarez was key to their progress 

in every sense, teaming up 

impressively with Diego Forlan 

in attack and preventing a certain 

defeat by handling Stephen 

Appiah’s header on the line in 

the last minute of extra-time in 

their quarter-final classic against 

Ghana. Vilified around the world 

and certainly throughout Africa, 

Suarez was consequently banned 

from the semi-finals, but returned 

home to a hero’s welcome 

from his compatriots. 

His club persona is similarly 

schizophrenic with bans for biting 

and racism and a history of 

theatrical diving making him an 

easy target for opposition fans and 

touchline philosophers while his 

extraordinary talent, work rate 

and team ethic make him hugely 

popular among his own. 

This season, the talent has 

overcome the problems andhe 

was voted England’s Player of the 

Season both by his fellow professionals 

and the country’s journalists. 

Suarez, who scored 11 goals in 

Uruguay’s qualifying campaign, is 

likely to miss their opener against 

Costa Rica on Saturday, but all 

the indications are that he will be 

ready to face England in Sao Paulo 

on June 19. 

— Reuters 

A picture collage of how Brazilian forward Neymar went down with injury in a training session on Monday 

Neymar goes down in training session 

SAO PAOLO — The whole of Brazil 

had their hearts in their mouths as 

star forward Neymar went down 

with an ankle injury during training, 

sparking doubts about his 

World Cup football finals fitness. 

The Barcelona star rolled his 

ankle during the Selecao’s training 

session outside Rio de Janeiro 

forcing him to receive treatment 

on the pitch. 

However, after spending some 

time on the floor, the World Cup’s 

poster-boy was able to pick himself 

up and walk gingerly away. 

Neymar was soon able to resume 

training and looks set to be 

fit to take his place in the starting 

line-up against Croatia tomorrow. 

Brazil have been paying extra 

attention to their defence ahead 

of the opening game. 

Manager Luiz Felipe Scolari 

spent part of the team’s training 

session on Monday making 

adjustments to his defensive 

set-up, stopping practice several 

times to reposition players until 

he was satisfied. 

Although Brazil didn’t concede 

a goal in their two warm-up 

matches, Scolari said he was not 

completely satisfied with how his 

squad played defensively. 

One of the coach’s main goals 

in the last week of preparations 

was to make sure the team ready 

defensively in time for the opener. 

“We know that if we don’t 

concede goals, our chances to win 

matches increase, because we 

know the kind of talent we have 

in attack,” Scolari said. 

“It’s important we are well 

prepared on defence so we are not 

caught by surprise.” 

Right back Daniel Alves acknowledged 

that Brazil’s defence 

isn’t perfect, but said the team is 

working to improve before the 

opener. 

When told that Croatia striker 

Ivica Olic said he saw spaces in 

Brazil’s defence during the warmup 

matches, Alves acknowledged 

that adjustments still have to be 

made. 

“Obviously, if we didn’t make 

mistakes, we would be a perfect 

team and that’s not possible,” the 

Barcelona defender said. 

“If Olic saw spaces, then we 

have to make sure we fix that so 

he can’t find them anymore.” 

The last time Brazil conceded a 

goal was in a 2-1 win over Chile in 

a friendly last November. 

Brazil beat Panama 4-0 and 

Serbia 1-0 last week in the last 

two matches before for the opening 

match in Sao Paulo. 

“Physically, we are ready, but 

tactically, we still have to adjust a 

few things,” Scolari said. 

The coach’s other main focus 

during Monday’s training 

was on set pieces — another area 

where he said Brazil still needs to 

improve. 

Brazil practiced again at its 

training camp outside Rio de Janeiro 

yesterday before traveling 

to Sao Paulo later in the day for 

the opener. 

— Daily Mail

SPORT NEWSDAY WEDNESDAY JUNE 11, 2014 21 

Ayew treble fires Ghana to victory 

RIO DE JANEIRO — Jordan Ayew 

scored three goals and Asamoah 

Gyan netted another on Monday 

in his return to the starting lineup 

as Ghana beat South Korea 4-0 

in a World Cup warm-up match. 

Ayew opened the scoring in the 

11th minute, followed with another 

goal in the 53rd minute and 

completed the hat-trick in the 

89th minute. 

Gyan, the former Sunderland 

striker, scored in the 44th minute. 

He had been among reserves earlier 

in Ghana’s World Cup tuneups, 

but was among 10 players 

moved into the starting line-up 

for the Black Stars. 

Ghana will open World Cup 

Group G play on 16 June against 

the United States. The Black Stars 

knocked the Americans out of the 

World Cup in the round of 16 in 

2010 in South Africa and claimed 

a group-stage victory over them 

in 2006 at Germany. 

Ghana will also face Germany 

and Portugal in other Group G 

matches in Brazil. 

South Korea will try to bounce 

back from the drubbing in Brazil, 

with a Group H opener on 17 June 

against Russia. The Koreans will 

also meet Algeria and Belgium in 

first-round matches. 

—Reuters 

Joseph Yobo 

Eagles happy 

with NFF W/Cup 

bonus plan 

SAO PAULO — Super Eagles captain, 

Joseph Yobo says the players 

of the Nigeria national team are 

satisfied with the proposal of the 

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) 

over bonuses for the 2014 Fifa 

World Cup finals in Brazil. 

Yobo and Chelsea midfielder 

John Obi Mikel had earlier met 

with the top NFF members to demand 

an appearance fee for the 

2014 World Cup. 

This is outside the match bonus, 

which starts at $10 000-aman 

for a first round match win, 

announced for the players for Brazil 

2014. 

Yobo said the meeting to demand 

an appearance fee for the 

players was “peaceful and normal 

as players need to demand for 

their rights. 

“That’s very true. I haven’t 

been around for a while. When I 

came, I heard about several issues 

that were going on. 

“I have to make sure my players 

are happy. I am the captain of 

the national team and if the players 

are not happy, there is no way 

I can be happy,” he said. 

The Nigeria captain said the 

meeting was important to ensure 

that the Super Eagles put up a 

creditable outing at the World Cup 

finals in Brazil. 

Yobo, however, expressed unhappiness 

that the development 

was reported by the media. 

“This was a very peaceful and 

quiet meeting. I am very disappointed 

that it came out in the 

media because it was very peaceful 

and everybody was very happy 

about it,” he said. 

“You can’t deprive players 

from asking for their rights. This 

is normal. We play for our country 

and there are certain things that 

the players are entitled to. 

“As the captain of this team, I 

am privileged and proud and honoured 

to represent my country. 

“The players are all happy and 

they know the task ahead. Like I 

said, there was a meeting and the 

meeting will still continue. 

“There’s no problem. We just 

need to agree on what we want 

to do. We are ready to play for Nigeria 

and we don’t represent our 

country because of money,” he 

said. 

Nigeria will already earn more 

than $9 million for qualification 

and participation in the first 

round of the 2014 World Cup 

and they will get more if they 

reach the knockout stages of the 

competition. 

For the World Cup warm-ups 

against Scotland, Greece and USA, 

each player received an appearance 

fee of $3 000. 

Fellow World Cup finalists 

Ghana are on an appearance fee of 

$75 000-a-man for the 23 players 

who made the final cut to Brazil 

2014. 

It would be recalled that a row 

over such a fee derailed the Super 

Eagles at the 1998 World Cup 

in France as players and officials 

were locked in lengthy meetings 

to resolve the impasse. 

Most recently, another pay 

row almost caused the country to 

miss out on the 2013 Fifa Confederations 

Cup in Brazil, before the 

presidency intervened to avoid 

an international embarrassment. 

This has led to the introduction of 

a code of conduct for the Eagles. 

The squad arrived in Sao Paulo, 

Brazil yesterday. 

—Reuters 

Alex Song 

Cameroon finally arrive in Brazil after bonus row 

RIO DE JANEIRO — Cameroon 

have finally arrived in Rio de Janeiro 

for their World Cup campaign 

after originally refusing 

to board an earlier flight in a 

strike over their payment for the 

tournament. 

The team stayed back at their 

hotel in Yaounde on Sunday 

while reporters camped outside 

the Cameroon Football Federation 

headquarters for further 

information. 

A charter plane was due to 

leave Yaounde on Sunday morning 

for Brazil, where Cameroon 

play their opening game of the 

tournament against Mexico on 

Friday. 

Cameroon players had last 

week threatened to go on strike 

until they received promised 

payment for participating at the 

World Cup but suspended the 

strike ahead of their international 

friendly against Germany last 

Sunday, the French sports paper 

L'Equipe reported. 

But Chelsea man Samuel Eto’o 

and Barcelona midfielder Alex 

Song looked in good spirits as they 

exited the plane at Galeao Aerial 

Base. —Daily Mail

22 


SPORT 

Africa supports Fifa 

boss Blatter 

SAO PAOLO — Africa’s soccer chiefs 

launched an attack on the media — “notably 

British” — for what it called “repeated, 

deliberately hateful, defamatory and degrading 

attacks” on the integrity of the Confederation 

of African Football (Caf) “and the 

entire African continent”. 

In a resolution posted on its website following 

Monday’s general assembly meeting, 

Caf hit out at reports placing the region’s 

soccer administrators at the centre 

of allegations of bribery to secure the 2022 

World Cup for Qatar. 

Zimbabwe was represented at the general 

assembly by Zifa president Cuthbert 

Dube, his deputy Omega Sibanda and chief 

executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze. 

Yesterday, the trio was also part of the 

opening day of the Fifa Congress. 

The congress ends today with the World 

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Your submission should reach The Zimbabwe Power Company not later than the closing date. 

Late submissions will not be accepted. 

Cup set to start tomorrow. Zifa has benefitted 

from Fifa’s funding and were recently 

given $500 000 to construct a new headquarters. 

On Monday, Blatter also promised 

increased funding for the football associations 

from the World Cup profits. 

The governing body criticised “the persistent 

manipulation aimed at portraying 

to the international community that Africa 

played a preponderant role in voting the 

candidature of Qatar 2022” and urged its 

Executive Committee to take legal action, 

if necessary, against “the authors of this 

smearing and defamatory campaign”. 

Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper has 

over the last two weekends printed what it 

says are leaked documents showing bribes 

were paid to secure the event for Qatar. 

Qatar denies any wrongdoing. 

Former United States prosecutor Michael 

Fifa president Sepp Blatter 

Garcia, leading Fifa’s internal investigation, 

is due to report in July, around a week after 

this year’s World Cup final. 

The issue is casting a huge shadow over 

the 2014 World Cup which kicks off on 

Thursday in Sao Paulo, with leading sponsors, 

who pay hundreds of millions of dollars 

to associate their brand with the event, 

calling on soccer’s rulers to deal thoroughly 

with the allegations of bribery. 

Caf declared its “total and unreserved 

support” for its president Issa Hayatou, and 

expressed its gratitude to Fifa president 

Sepp Blatter for his “continuous involvement 

in the development of football in Africa 

and his personal commitment to the 

fight against racism”. 

Speaking in the lobby of Sao Paulo’s 

Grand Hyatt hotel, Hayatou told Reuters 

that: “I am very happy at the way the congress 

went, and of our continued support 

for Blatter.” — Reuters /Sports Reporter 

Struggling ZC not 

replacing Flower 

DANIEL NHAKANISO 

SPORTS REPORTER 

ZIMBABWE Cricket (ZC) will not replace 

former batting coach Grant Flower after 

the association’s decision to abolish specialist 

coaching roles in the national team’s 

technical set-up as part of their on-going 

streamlining exercise, NewsDay Sport has 

learnt. 

Flower, a former national cricket team 

opening batsman, was last month appointed 

the new Pakistan batting coach, leaving 

his post with the national side vacant. 

A week later, former national team 

bowling coach Heath Streak, who was not 

replaced after his contract was not renewed 

last year, also signed a two-year deal as 

Bangladesh bowling coach. 

Sources within ZC told NewsDay Sport 

that there were no plans to replace 43-yearold 

Flower as the financially-troubled association’s 

cricket committee resolved to 

abolish specialist coaching roles way back 

in 2012. 

“You remember when Streak’s contract 

was not renewed? It was part of the ZC 

committee review following the national 

team’s poor showing at the 2012 ICC World 

Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. 

“That review recommended the streamlining 

of the technical set-up, which means 

doing away with the specialist posts of 

bowling and batting coaches,” said the 

source. 

Another source said Flower was lucky to 

remain in his post as batting coach as ZC’s 

cricket committee had also recommended 

for his post to be abolished before the board 

decided to renew his contract. 

“The ZC leadership later had a change 

of heart and decided to renew his contract, 

but effectively he should have left the same 

time when Heath Streak left. So now that 

he has taken up the same role in Pakistan, 

the post of batting coach is no longer in the 

national team’s coaching structure and he 

won’t be replaced,” said the source. 

ZC’s decision not to replace Flower 

comes at a time when the financiallytroubled 

association has been on a nationwide 

restructuring exercise. 

After reducing the number of franchises 

from five to four, ZC also cut the number of 

provincial contracts to nine players per each 

of the four franchises. 

And as part of the cost-cutting measures, 

ZC has also trimmed the number of 

development coaches while also deciding to 

abolish chief executive posts of the domestic 

franchise system, replacing them with 

an administrator. 

As a result, Vimbai Maiswa and Jon Brent, 

CEOs of Mashonaland Eagles and Manicaland 

Mountaineers, have not been offered 

new contracts.

SPORT NewsDay wednesday june 11, 2014 23 

Mahachi off to France after 

World Cup 

PSL trials 

e-ticketing 

FORTUNE MBELE 


MAMELODI Sundowns attacking midfielder 

Kudakwashe Mahachi is heading for his 

much-talked-about trials with French topflight 

football club AS Monaco next month 

after the Fifa World Cup, the South African 

side has confirmed. 

Mahachi signed for the Brazilians in January 

and is yet to join the South African Premier 

Soccer League champions, who loaned 

him to Highlanders. 

Sundowns’ communications co-ordinator 

Thulani Thuswa yesterday confirmed 

to the South African media that the nimble 

left-footed Mahachi would be going to 

France after the World Cup where Brazilians 

have approved the trials. 

“The trial has been set for after the World 

Cup when the pre-season kicks off. Mahachi 

is a good player and we all know that 

it shouldn’t take more than a week before 

they make a decision,” Thuswa told Kick 

Off. 

The World Cup starts tomorrow with the 

opening match featuring hosts Brazil and 

Croatia, and will end on July 13. 

Mahachi will play against Triangle this 

weekend before next Sunday’s big match 

against Dynamos at the National Sports Stadium 

in Harare. His last game is likely to be 

at home against Black Rhinos in Week 13. 

If he does not leave via Sundowns, who 

will have begun their pre-season training on 

June 23, he will feature in two more matches 

against How Mine and Bantu Rovers. 

Highlanders chief executive officer 

Ndumiso Gumede said they met with Sundowns 

manager Peter Ndlovu last week, 

who sought an update on Mahachi’s ankle 

injury. 

Mahachi sustained the injury at training 

with Sundowns when the South African 

side went on an end-of-season tour in 

Namibia for the inaugural Dr Hage Geingob 

Cup on Africa Day. 

“We met with Peter Ndlovu on Thursday 

and he wanted to find out how their player 

Mahachi was responding to the ankle injury. 

He advised us that if there anything serious, 

we should not hesitate to refer the player 

to Sundowns. He (Ndlovu) said Sundowns 

had already established a relationship with 

Highlanders after their tour of Zimbabwe 

last year and he was actually magnanimous 

saying we should use their facilities and if 

there any players that are seriously injured 

Kudakwashe Mahachi 

and need attention that side, we should not 

hesitate to approach them,” Gumede said. 

Mahachi played for Bosso on Sunday in 

the 1-1 draw against FC Platinum. 

Meanwhile, with the South African PSL 

clubs starting their pre-season training on 

June 23 for the 2014-15 season, Gumede 

said there had been no communication 

from the clubs regarding Bosso players that 

have reportedly signed with the South African 

clubs. 

Attacking midfielder Milton Ncube 

penned a two-year contract with Ajax Cape 

Town in January during the African Nations 

Championships (Chan) tournament while 

Mpumalanga Black Aces have also confirmed 

signing midfielder Peter “Rio” Moyo 

on a long-term contract. 

Gumede yesterday said he was not aware 

when the players would be leaving. 

“As we speak, there has been no communication 

from the South African clubs 

on those players. Nothing! We only read it in 

the newspapers and we don’t know where 

you get it from,” Gumede said. 

Moyo is also nursing an ankle injury 

sustained in Bosso’s league match against 

Buffaloes on May 25 and he also missed 

the Warriors-Tanzania Africa Cup of Nations 

qualifier game and was ruled out of 

the league match against FC Platinum on 

Sunday. 

THANDIWE MOYO 

SPORTS CORRESPONDENT 

THE Castle Lager Premier Soccer 

League will this weekend introduce the 

electronic ticketing system (e-ticketing) 

on a trial run for league matches 

to be played in Harare and Zvishavane. 

E-ticketing is a system for online 

ticket sales where a user can book and 

order tickets for an event, pay them 

online, print at home and go directly 

to the event. There is no need to wait 

in queues to get tickets just before an 

event. 

The system communicates with the 

terminals at location and can check 

validity of each ticket in real time. The 

system is based on barcodes. 

PSL chief executive officer Kennedy 

Ndebele said two companies would 

take part in the trial run. 

Caps United play Shabanie Mine 

at the National Sports Stadium, Harare 

City take on Bantu Rovers at Rufaro 

while ZPC Kariba have a date with 

Chapungu at Gwanzura Stadium. FC 

Platinum will be at Mandava against 

Black Rhinos. 

“We are starting a trial run of the 

e-ticketing system at the weekend 

in Harare and Zvishavane. We have 

identified two companies that will do 

the trial run. The two companies that 

were identified from the tender that we 

flighted will do the demonstration,” he 

said. 

“We cannot mention the names of 

the companies yet because there are 20 

companies that tendered. At the moment 

we are starting with two after 

which we will pick another two until 

we get to the final stage,” he said. 

Ndebele said for a start the e-ticketing 

would be done outside the stadium. 

“We want to make it easy for fans to 

get into the stadium. The e-ticketing 

system is faster and secure. We only 

chose the two places (Harare and Zvishavane) 

for the trial run. We want 

to change from manual to digital,” he 

said. 

The system is meant to make the 

manual process which includes verifying 

the ticket is correct for the event, 

that the ticket is genuine, the number 

of admissions per ticket that is has not 

been used yet, easier. 

DANIEL NHAKANISO 


ZIMBABWE’S preparations for the 2015 

Rugby World Cup qualifiers in Madagascar 

later this month were dealt another major 

blow following the withdrawal of an unnamed 

major sponsor and the subsequent 

cancellation of their planned tour of South 

Africa. 

The Sables had earmarked two preparatory 

matches in South Africa against Limpopo 

Blue Bulls and their academy side 

before heading for Madagascar they will 

play the hosts, Namibia and Kenya from 

June 26 to July 6. 

The winner of the four-team contest 

will automatically qualify for the 2015 

Rugby World Cup in England next year. 

“Zimbabwe Rugby has recently had 

the misfortune of a sponsor withdrawing 

their support for the Sables in late stages of 

negotiation,” the Zimbabwe Rugby Union 

(ZRU) said in a statement. 

“Previous efforts with other corporates 

have not come to fruition for the Rugby 

World Cup Qualification programme. 

Zimbabwe Rugby has subsequently come 

to the decision that they will revert to a 10 

Sables blow: SA trip cancelled 

day camp in Harare prior to the qualification 

tournament and not travel to Messina 

for two scheduled warm up matches for 

the team. 

“Further compounding the issue has 

been the fact that the local union are not 

in a financial position to cover the hosting 

expenses of the Zimbabwe team during 

the four days in Messina. 

“Plans to strengthen the relationship 

with the home union are now directed towards 

playing a series of matches in February 

and June 2015. 

The Sables’ latest setback in their bid 

to secure enough game time before the 

World Cup qualifiers comes at a time 

when their rivals Kenya and Namibia are 

intensifying their preparations. 

Kenya, who played in the Vodacom Cup 

competition in South Africa early this year 

continued with their preparations when 

they hosted South African Currie Cup side 

Western Province for a high profile international 

friendly in Nairobi last weekend. 

They narrowly lost the highly competitive 

match 28-32 after conceding a last 

minute try. 

Limpopo Blue Bulls will now head to 

Namibia – Zimbabwe’s other rival for a 

World Cup slot - for another international 

friendly in Windhoek this weekend. 

ZRU, however, remained optimistic 

saying said they would now channel the 

resources they had towards holding a 10- 

day camp in the capital next Monday. 

A top South African scrummaging expert 

is expected to assist them in their 

preparations which will also consist of an 

inter-squad trial match next Friday. 

“Funding that has been raised for the 

Sables efforts will subsequently be directed 

towards player assembly and a camp in 

the nation’s capital from the June 16 to 26. 

“During this camp a possibles v probables 

match will be held on Friday 20th 

June. A high-profile scrumming coach 

from South Africa is also expected to join 

the camp to assist with technical assistance 

in this area as well as providing assistance 

to local referees in the officiating 

of scrums in the country,” said ZRU. 

Meanwhile, foreign-based players have 

started arriving ahead of next week’s camp 

with Europe-based forwards Denford Mutamangira, 

Michael Passaportis and Kingsley 

Lang arriving from their bases last 

weekend. 

The rest of the foreign-based contingent 

is expected to jet in at the weekend 

while other foreign based players such as 

Andrew Rose, Graeme Lawler and Gerald 

Sibanda are already in the country. 

Sables’ Preliminary Squad 

Forwards: Jacques Leitao, Fortune Chipendu, 

Jan Ferreira, Schalk Ferreira, Lambert 

Groenewald, Piet Joubert, Graeme 

Lawler, Matthew Mandioma, Tapiwa Mangezi, 

Keith Murray, Denford Mutamangira, 

Royal Mwale, Njabulo Ndlovu, Kevin 

Nqindi, Michael Passaportis, Andrew 

Rose, Sanele Sibanda, Nick Winwood. 

Backs: Daniel Hondo, Tafadzwa Chitokwindo, 

Stephan Hunduza, Shayne 

Makombe, Tichafara Makwanya, Hilton 

Mudariki, Gardner Nechironga, Tangai 

Nemadire, Lenience Tambwera, Riaan 

O’Neill, Gerald Sibanda, Danny 

Robertson.

24 


 

www.newsday.co.zw 

SPORT 

Mahachi off to 

France after 

World Cup 

Page 23 

 

 

PSL summons 

Chiredzi FC 

. . . We can’t work with Chunga anymore — club executive 

Charles Muchatukwa 

Moses Chunga 

TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA/ 

KENNETH NYANGANI 

THERE seems to be no end to the 

Chiredzi Football Club saga as the 

team’s executive yesterday declared 

they were no longer in a 

position to work with coach Moses 

Chunga, who is listed in the 

club’s books as a director. 

Two players — Norman Maroto 

and Fidelis Mangezi — have also 

been dragged into the melee, 

leading to the club being summoned 

to appear before the Premier 

Soccer League (PSL) in Harare 

today to explain the ownership 

structure of the club. 

Yesterday, impeccable sources 

said the Chiredzi executive felt 

Chunga was overstepping his 

mandate. 

“The executive is no longer 

prepared to work with Chunga, 

their differences are unsolvable. 

The issue of ownership is at the 

centre of everything. The executive 

believe that Chunga is overstepping, 

he wants to be everything 

— the coach, treasurer, secretary 

— he just wants everything, 

I don’t know why,” the source 

said. 

“They have been summoned 

by the PSL tomorrow (today) to 

explain their differences, but I just 

believe that ownership will be 

one of the issues. The invitations 

have been sent to Zifa Eastern Region 

chairman Piraishe Mabhena 

and Chiredzi chairman Charles 

Muchatukwa.” 

A Chiredzi FC executive member, 

who, however, refused to be 

named, said their relationship 

was no longer workable. 

“Perhaps he [Chunga] is the 

director, but in what capacity? 

This is a community team and the 

executive signed a memorandum 

of understanding with Hippo Valley, 

but tomorrow (today) we are 

going to meet the Premier Soccer 

League management in the capital,” 

he said. 

“The worrying trend is that 

some of the players such as Norman 

Maroto and Fidelis Mangezi 

interfere in the welfare of the 

team.” 

When the team was ceded by 

Hippo Valley to the community, 

a memorandum of understanding 

for the community was signed by 

Muchatukwa and secretary-general 

Reason Dube. 

Both Muchatukwa and Chunga 

were not available for comment 

yesterday. 

Some of the members who 

are in the Chiredzi FC executive 

are vice-chairman Joel Sithole, 

treasurer Norman Sharara, secretary-general 

Dube and committee 

member for marketing Isaac 

Matsilele. 

Problems at the club emanated 

from the $4 000 gate-takings that 

Chunga is alleged to have taken to 

pay the players after the Dynamos 

league match at Chishamiso 

Stadium. 

The Muchatukwa-led executive 

threatened to make it a police 

matter, but Chunga told this publication 

that he was “ready for the 

war”. 

The problems worsened after 

their one-all draw against 

Hwange last Saturday as players 

demanded their dues from 

the club’s executive. Police were 

called in to cool tempers prompting 

them to take the money for 

safekeeping. 

Muchatukwa was forced to 

call an emergency meeting the 

following day to iron out their 

differences. 

Chunga abruptly resigned from 

his post in the heated meeting, 

but on Monday he make a spectacular 

mid-air somersault saying 

he would not leave the club as it 

was his project. 

It seems the Chiredzi FC executive 

does not want to be taken 

for granted. 

PSL chief executive Kenny 

Ndebele said today’s meeting 

would also be attended by the 

Footballers’ Union of Zimbabwe. 

Ndebele said the problems affecting 

the club go back to the issue 

of club licensing whereby all 

clubs were required to have fulltime 

office bearers including media 

liaison officers. 

“We have called up the executive 

of Chiredzi FC to a meeting 

tomorrow (today) to try and help 

them iron out their differences. 

The purpose of the meeting is to 

establish who does what in the 

club, so we have asked them to 

bring with them their constitution. 

It is a very important document. 

At the beginning of the year 

we asked all clubs to submit these 

documents, but the response has 

not been encouraging. A constitution 

is a founding document 

and gone are the days when people 

can just sit down under a tree 

and say they constitute a club,” 

Ndebele said. 

“We have noticed from the list 

of names which have been given 

to us at our request that Moses 

Chunga is listed as a board member 

of the club, but it appears as 

if he took that money as a coach. 

We feel this endangers the league 

and affects the welfare of players. 

The Footballers’ Union of Zimbabwe 

is also concerned with the 

welfare of the players and we 

have called them to this meeting. 

This is also the same club which 

has registered 34 players and is 

now failing to pay them.”

Newsday 11 June 2014

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