Category: zimbabwe

Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Correspondent

THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) has seized corruptly acquired assets worth more than US$50 million as the organisation steps up efforts of hunting down proceeds of corruption.

The assets, Zacc said, include 38 vehicles and 11 immovable properties, some outside the country. Zacc chair Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo told parliamentarians at a Transparency International Anti-corruption training workshop in Bulawayo on Friday that a request for Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) has been made for seizure of properties in South Africa.

“Since 2020, the Commission has seized a cumulative figure of nine immovable properties including one property in South Africa and 38 motor vehicles. Requests for MLA have been made for further two properties in South Africa and we are expecting a seizure of the said properties,” she said.

She said Zacc has also referred 283 dockets to the National Prosecuting Authority for further action. Of note, said Justice Matanda-Moyo, since President Mnangagwa appointed Mr Nelson Mutsonziwa, as the Acting Prosecutor-General following the resignation of Mr Kumbirai Hodzi recently on medical grounds, at least 150 cases have been prosecuted.

“To date 29 case files for asset confiscation and unexplained wealth applications have been referred to the National Prosecuting Authority valued at US$25 million. One civil confiscation order has been confirmed by the Supreme Court for civil forfeiture of an immovable property valued at US$100 000,” she said.

Justice Matanda-Moyo said an analysis of reports showed that most of the corrupt cases were in government ministries and parastatals. Some of the ministries that have been identified include Transport and Infrastructural Development, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Finance and Economic Development, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Development, Primary and Secondary Education, Health and Child Care and Defence and War Veterans Affairs.

She said cases have also been reported in State Enterprises such as Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara), Air Zimbabwe, Allied Timbers, Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), National Social Security Authority (Nssa) and even among some parliamentarians. The private sector has also recorded some cases, she added.

It is estimated that the country is losing billions of US dollars annually due to corruption, smuggling, tax evasion and avoidance, money laundering practices, illicit financial flows and externalisation of foreign currency among other corrupt conducts. Justice Matanda-Moyo said through the Compliance Unit, Zacc has conducted 92 desk compliance research to evaluate the level of compliance in local authorities, 27 investigations with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works to probe mismanagement at urban local authorities countrywide. 

She said Zacc has also initiated the development of the Nations Corruption Perception Index that is meant to identify the actual status of corruption in the country. 

“Having our own corruption perception index will help the country to establish home-grown strategies and solutions. Results are expected in a few months,” she said. To expedite reporting and handling of cases, Justice Matanda-Moyo said Zacc has also devolved to various areas across the country. She said the body now has offices in Bulawayo, Gweru and Masvingo while offices in Chinhoyi and Mutare will be opened soon. Zacc, she added, has established digital media platforms to increase visibility and access to its services.

“We have developed an Electronic Case Management System and we are in the process of operationalising the system. Officers are currently receiving training.”

Justice Matanda-Moyo said Zacc has also signed several Memorandum of Understanding with various stakeholders including the Immigration Department and neighbouring countries. This, she said, has helped the body to engage Southern African Anti Corruption Agencies to assist in providing information and technical support to ensure that the country does not continue to lose resources. 

“Zacc has signed 24 Memoranda of Understanding with various national stakeholders and four with local, regional and international stakeholders. As we all know, Zimbabwe is a rich country with abundant natural resources, especially minerals and wildlife but the benefit from these resources is not enjoyed by the citizens due to corruption. Minerals smuggling including wildlife products into foreign countries is rampant and is an indicator that we need to plug the loophole as a country. Hence the importance of the MoU signed with Botswana and Zambia as we can collaborate to curb such activities,” she said.

She, however, said her organisation has also faced a number of challenges that include delays in prosecution of cases as well as lack of adequate whistle blower and witness protection. 

However, legislation has been put in place to curb these challenges. Cabinet recently approved principles for the whistle blower legislation and awaits the bill to be expedited. 

The two-day workshop was attended by the Speaker of Parliament, Advocate Jacob Mudenda, parliamentarians, Minister of State for Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Judith Ncube, among other dignitaries. 

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Tapiwanashe Mangwiro
Senior Business Reporter

African Development Bank (AfDB) president Dr Akinwumi Adesina is heading to Zimbabwe next month for talks on the debt repayment strategy with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.

This comes after the head of the Ivory Coast-based regional pan-African bank volunteered to be the principal monitor of Zimbabwe’s plans on expunging its debt overhang.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube revealed this after meeting the AfDB president in the United States of America, where the Treasury chief was attending the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings last week.

Early this month, AfDB reaffirmed its support for Zimbabwe on its debt and arrears clearance strategy, which will be bolstered by the scheduled visit from Dr Adesina.

The commitment was made by an AfDB delegation led by acting vice president (regional development, integration and business delivery) Ms Yacine Fal, which was in the country recently. “The president of the AfDB will be in the country next month as he has put himself forward as a candidate to help the country come up with good staff-monitored programmes, which also include (those of) the International Monetary Fund,” Minister Ncube said on Friday.

Zimbabwe’s debt stood at US$19 billion, according to updates given by the IMF at the conclusion of the Fund’s Article IV consultations in March this year.

Of that amount, public and publicly guaranteed debt stood at US$17,6 billion, with US$13,1 billion representing outstanding arrears for the unpaid interest.

Minister Ncube said Zimbabwe was working on a debt clearance plan with creditors, which entailed staff-monitored programmes meant to find a sponsor who can help the country repay its debts. Debt sponsorship is when a country finds another country to assist it to pay off its debts to international financial institutions (IFIs) through soft loans it can use to repay the sponsorship debt or part of it.

This can give a country access to reasonably priced loans instead of taking punitively expensive loans such as funding options extended by bilateral lenders. Minister Ncube also had re-engagement meetings with various foreign lenders on the sidelines of the meetings in Washington, including the 17 members of the Paris Club, a grouping of major creditors.

Speaking from Washington DC, he said: “The country has been making token payments to its creditors, who have expressed their gratitude to the gesture, but our hope and wish is to expunge the total debt.”

Zimbabwe is making token payments to the Paris Club creditors, in addition to similar payments being made to the World Bank and AfDB.

“We are now making token payments to the 17 members of the Paris Club. This means that we are now servicing all our creditors, and payments are being made quarterly for the past nine months.”

Zimbabwe is presently ineligible to get loans from the IFIs due to its external debt and economic sanctions from the US, which excluded it from the Covid-19 debt relief extended to countries such as South Africa and Zambia by the IMF.

“Zimbabwe has been a member of the IMF in good standing since it repaid arrears outstanding in late 2016. However, Zimbabwe has external arrears to multilateral development institutions (World Bank, AfDB and European Investment Bank). As a general rule, the IMF is prevented from lending to any member country that has arrears to other international financial institutions,” the IMF said in November 2021.

Experts say servicing of huge debts diverts money meant to finance public expenditure, resulting in poor access to basic services — health, education, water, and sanitation – while  local industry cannot access affordable loans from international funders due to the country’s debt profile, which would be deemed risky.

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Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls
AS the country celebrated the 42nd Independence Day last Monday, a group of former Chinotimba Primary School students who are based in the United Kingdom chose to celebrate the day by donating learning material worth close to $300 000 to the school they attended in the 1980s in Victoria Falls.

The donation comprised new competence-based curriculum Grade Seven Mathematics, Agriculture, English and Information and Technology textbooks as well as teachers’ books. The group calls itself “The Class of 80s” and invited some of the teachers who taught them between 1980 and 1986 to witness the donation.

The former students pursued different professions ranging from tour operators to professional tour guide, human resources management, teaching, nursing and technicians among others and also used the occasion as a career guidance session.

The former students mobilised each other and started a go-fund initiative to mobilise funds which eventually bought the books.

Ms Lindani Sibanda, a human resources manager based in UK and is the team leader said they started a reunion drive in July 2020 and that culminated in the donation with the aim of giving back to the community they grew up in.

“We started Grade One in 1980 at Chinotimba Primary School and we wanted to do a reunion. So we formed a WhatsApp group on 16 July 2020 when we started talking and connected more than 40 former students who settled in different parts of the world. We wanted to meet in December 2020 and in 2021 but we failed because of Covid-19.

When we finally met this year we also invited teachers who taught us from 1980 to 1986 and unfortunately only five are still surviving. All of us as former students will be turning 50 next year,” said Ms Sibanda.

The reunion resulted in the plan to donate to the school. Ms Sibanda said they approached their former school and enquired about its challenges and text books were a priority.

“As we started mobilising we opened a Go Fund Me page where mostly former students donated. We are hoping to donate books every year to the school and we also plan to start a foundation for that purpose and it will be in place soon so we help the school complete all its projects. We are not looking back, this is just the beginning.

These books are worth $262 312, we know they are not enough but they will cushion our learners,” she said.

Chinotimba Primary deputy head Mr Victor Sibanda thanked the former students for the gesture.

School Development Committee chair Mr Bhekimpilo Tshongwe said the donation came at the right time to boost Grade Seven classes that have inadequate reading and learning materials.

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Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor
THE Bulawayo City Council is set to “look East” in its development trajectory as it has since instituted talks with the port of Mombasa for a twining arrangement with the Kenyan city.

The local authority which already has twinning arrangements with the city of Aberdeen in Scotland and the city of EThekwini in South Africa noted that they will take advantage of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) set to take place in the city starting on Tuesday to engage with officials from Kenyan with the hope of creating synergies, partnerships and trade corridors.

This year’s trade showcase is set to be officially opened by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

President Kenyatta will also be honoured by having one of the city’s road renamed after him, with the unveiling set during this week. According to a council report, BCC officials noted that Mombasa is an important economic centre in Kenya and is home to the most important seaport in East Africa hence Bulawayo could benefit immensely from this partnership.

“Of note, the City of Bulawayo is yet to engage in twinning arrangements with African cities outside the Southern African region. This is despite the opportunity to exploit the gains emanating from implementing the African Continental Free Trade Zone, in order to consolidate the African economy.

Therefore, the City of Bulawayo seeks to re-imagine and look East, and take the opportunity to discuss twinning arrangements with the city of Mombasa during or after the ZITF 2022 to develop tourism and trade corridors. The engagement is important, since the President of Kenya will visit Bulawayo to officially open ZITF,” reads the report.

The local authority further noted that the memorandum of understanding with the city of Mombasa will help foster and promote sound socio-economic relationships where opportunities for networking and partnerships of tourism synergies among many opportunities.

“The cities of Bulawayo and Mombasa can establish a common platform for engagement on various issues affecting their cities.

The parties may discuss the twinning arrangements during and/or after the ZITF, and later sign a memorandum of understanding. The MoU will foster and promote sound socio-economic relationships whereby opportunities for networking and partnerships are developed and enhanced. Of particular interest would be the establishment of tourism synergies, trade opportunities and Special Economic Zones,” reads the report.

BCC also noted that Mombasa was already a sister to the City of EThekweni, which therefore creates a tripartite trade arrangement, which will benefit Bulawayo to access the two biggest sea ports in the African continent.

“Furthermore, it is anticipated that the co-operation of two cities will promote the aims and objectives of the city of Bulawayo corporate strategy, National Development Strategy 1, Vision 2030, African Development Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The two cities will among other things, share best practices in technical expertise on trade, logistics, services, tourism and cultural exchanges. A draft MoU can be developed and agreed upon by the officials from the two cities,” reads the report.

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Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor

BULAWAYO could be forced to re-introduce a stringent water shedding schedule as one of its major supply dams faces decommissioning due to low inflows.

The city has over the past years been forced to resort to water shedding as a means of ensuring that they conserve the available supplies in their dams. It has since emerged that the local authority could be forced to re-introduce the dreaded water shedding as Umzingwane Dam faces decommissioning as it received minimal inflows during the rainy season.

Initially, the dam was expected to have been decommissioned on 31 March but the local authority had to defer it after minimal rains that were recently experienced in the country. Bulawayo City Council corporate communications officer Miss Bongiwe Ngwenya said the minimal inflows to the dam had seen council not decommissioning the dam.

“Umzingwane Dam has not yet been decommissioned because it still has some water that was received from the minimal rains that were experienced in the catchment area, however, as soon as we know that it now has to be decommissioned, we shall communicate,” said Miss Ngwenya.

According to the latest council report, the local authority noted that the decommissioning of the dam will result in a reduction of daily water use by 35 megalitres a day.

“Umzingwane Dam was projected to be de-commissioned by 31 March 2022 if no significant rainfall occurs that would result in sizeable inflows to the dam. The decommissioning would result in reduced available abstraction by 35 megalitres a day thus affecting total available raw water for delivery to Criterion. Whereas Criterion would receive more than 110 megalitres a day of raw water and produce an average of 100 megalitres for the city reservoir levels to be stable and ensure continuous water supply.

In the event that the decommissioning of Umzingwane occurs, the department proposed an incremental shedding regime to be determined at the time of decommissioning vis-à-vis the would be remaining available abstraction from other dams,” reads the report.

According to the latest dam statistics, as supplied by the local authority, in total the dams are 58.12 percent full with Insiza Mayfair having the most at 78.1 percent full, the dam has a carrying capacity of 173.4 million cubic metres.

Mtshabezi, with a carrying capacity of 51.9 million cubic metres being 75,67 percent full, Lower Ncema, with a carrying capacity of 18,2 million cubic metres is 75,39 percent full and Inyankuni with a carrying capacity of 80,7 million cubic metres is 51,9 percent full. 

Upper Ncema which has a carrying capacity 45,5 million cubic metres is 14,58 percent full while Umzingwane which has a carrying 44,6 million cubic metres is 8,3 percent full. According to the statistics, Upper Ncema is expected to be the next dam to be decommissioned with its depletion date set for 18 August 2022.

The Zimbabwe National Water Authority also recently revealed that an increase in vandalism of power infrastructure feeding in Nyamandlovu’s Rochester water works was also affecting water delivery to the city.

The Government is working on completing the Gwayi-Shangani pipeline by year-end, a move that will give a permanent solution to the city’s perennial water challenges.

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