Category: zimbabwe

Source: Kamambo, executive committee members in court | The Herald

Felton Kamambo

Nyore Madzianike Senior Court Reporter

SUSPENDED Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) president Felton Kamambo and four executive committee members- Philemon Machana, Stanley Chapeta, Joseph Mamutse, Briton Brighton Malandule are expected to appear in court today on allegations of abusing the soccer body’s letterheads and when they wrote letters of suspension to ZIFA congress members.

The five are expected to appear at the Harare Magistrates Court on fraud charges.

The post Kamambo, executive committee members in court appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has dismissed claims by a local pressure group alleging it [...]

The post ZEC Dismisses Vote Rigging Claims appeared first on The Zimbabwe Mail.

Source: New broadcasting chapter dawns | The Herald

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Senator Monica Mutsvangwa and Chief Tshovani (partly obscured) cut a ribbon marking the commissioning of Avuxeni FM radio station in Chiredzi yesterday. The community radio station that will be broadcasting in the local Shangani language was the first of 14 licensed by the Government to go on air.

George Maponga in CHIREDZI

A new community radio station, Avuxeni FM, was commissioned in Chiredzi yesterday by Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, who indicated that Zimbabwe is on course to a new exciting era in information access and dissemination under the Second Republic.

Zimbabwe has opened up the airwaves by licensing community radio stations and commercial television companies, as it fulfils the promise of broadening access to information for the benefit of citizens.

The licensing of community radio stations, said Minister Mutsvangwa, is aimed at narrowing the urban-rural divide in accessing information.

Minister Mutsvangwa was speaking in Chiredzi where she first commissioned Avuxeni FM community radio before presiding over World Radio Day commemorations at Tshovani Stadium.

Minister Mutsvangwa said President Mnangagwa’s administration fully supports media diversity, saying the nation was on the cusp of a new era in the sphere of information dissemination and access.

Addressing the media after officially opening Avuxeni FM, where she toured the studio and briefly went on air to mark the new milestone, Minister Mutsvangwa said the opening of the Chiredzi-based community radio station was a harbinger for exciting times ahead.

She said the opening of community radio stations in remote parts of the country was in fulfilment of President Mnangagwa’s declaration that “no place and no-one should be left behind” as Zimbabwe gravitates towards an upper middle income economy by 2030.

“We have been working under the Second Republic to make sure that we develop our country and this is exactly what the President of the country, His Excellency Dr ED Mnangagwa, has been working hard for, so that no-one and no place is left behind,” she said.

“We are saying information should reach all corners of Zimbabwe in real time, be it information about disasters or other things happening in the country.

“We will continue to allocate more resources to improve transmission in remote areas so that all our people can access radio and television services.”

Minister Mutsvangwa said community radios play a key role in promotion of local languages and traditional values.

Government deliberately issued community radio licences to remote parts of the country where minority languages are dominant to give communities there an opportunity to tell their own stories and contribute to development of their areas through access to information.

Minister Mutsvangwa said: “We are ready to fly and the challenge is now on, for other community radio stations in other parts of the country that were licensed to also start operating now that we have the first one (Avuxeni FM) that has now gone on air.”

She challenged traditional leaders and other societal leaders to take advantage of the advent of community radios to spearhead development in their communities.

Further, Minister Mutsvangwa said community radios were incubation centres for talent, and young journalists would use them to hone their skills before going out to conquer the world.

Community radios stations are also sources of content for national broadcasting companies as they will be sources of news that take place in grassroots areas.

Minister Mutsvangwa later on joined a procession from Avuxeni FM premises in the town centre to Tshovani Stadium where thousands of people converged to celebrate World Radio Day.

At the stadium, she toured various stands where companies with a bias towards radio and television broadcasting were exhibiting.

Among the companies was Zimpapers Radio, ZBC, Transmedia, Great Zimbabwe University, Hevoi FM, and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe.

In her address, Minister Mutsvangwa said the Second Republic under President Mnangagwa deserved to be commended for moving with speed to promote diversity and plurality in radio and television broadcasting.

She said out of the six commercial television broadcasting stations so far licensed, one of the stations would soon go on air, marking a milestone in the history of broadcasting in Zimbabwe.

Minister Mutsvangwa said days where only ZBC used to dominate in the television broadcasting arena would soon be over with the coming of new players to create competition.

“Competition is coming and no one and no place will be left behind and this shows that President Mnangagwa is serious about developing this country into an upper middle income economy.”

However, she cautioned on the need to make sure that radios and televisions were not abused, warning that recklessly disseminating information can harm and destroy societies or nations.

She rallied Zimbabweans not to allow differences in opinion to divide them, saying in the event of differences, dialogue was always the best foot forward.

Present at the celebrations were various organisations and bodies with an interest in media, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Deputy Minister Kindness Paradza and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Mr Nick Mangwana.

The post New broadcasting chapter dawns  appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: RBZ capacitates industry with US$70m | The Herald

In a statement yesterday, RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya said 576 beneficiaries were allocated US$58 301 775 under the main foreign exchange auction while 1 022 entities were allocated US$11 340 273 under the SMEs foreign exchange auction.

Farirai Machivenyika–Senior Reporter 

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)in January allocated approximately US$70 million to companies through the foreign currency auction system, with 60 percent of the funds channelled towards importation of raw materials to boost local production.

The foreign currency auction resumed for the year mid-January.

In a statement yesterday, RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya said 576 beneficiaries were allocated US$58 301 775 under the main foreign exchange auction while 1 022 entities were allocated US$11 340 273 under the SMEs foreign exchange auction.

“The bulk of the funds allotted at the auctions during the month (68 percent) went towards payment for raw materials (US$28 688 860) and machinery and equipment (US$18846 575), with the remaining 32 percent of the total allotments going towards payment for consumables (US$6 436 011), services (US$5 823 657), retail and distribution (US$4 554 772), pharmaceuticals (US$3 776 634) and packaging (US$1 465 287),” he said.

The RBZ has disbursed US$2 666 022 861 since the auction began in 2020, in a development that has contributed towards stabilising inflation and ensuring increased local production of goods.

However, there have been challenges pertaining to disbursements of the allotted funds.

Yesterday, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries chief executive officer, Ms Sekai Kuvarika, said it was imperative that money be disbursed timely to ensure companies continue to operate unhindered.

“The desirable situation is where the auction gets up-to-date with payments,” she said. 

“As things stand, it is not (up-to-date). We have companies with bids from as far back as November 2021 still not paid. 

“It is important that the amount availed for bidding considers retiring this backlog so the market can run as a proper Dutch auction that is making available amounts known and auctioning only that amount and settling the bids in two days as was the case when the auction started.”

Last month, the RBZ met industry players where they resolved to develop strategies to enhance the attractiveness of the local currency and strengthen its demand in the context of the multicurrency system currently in place.

In addition, the RBZ encouraged everyone to exhibit good leadership and exercise restraint on the volatility of the foreign exchange rate while relevant authorities were urged to monitor use of funds obtained through the auction and punish those who submit fake documents.

Other resolutions include continued efforts by the RBZ to refine the foreign exchange auction system and to timely fund auction allotments in line with the auction rules. 

The bank was also urged to continue fighting inflation through restrictive monetary policy and building foreign exchange reserves as a way of augmenting the defence of the value of the local currency.

The post RBZ capacitates industry with US$70m appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: We have a role to play in development: President | The Herald

President Mnangagwa

Africa Moyo-Deputy News Editor

Every citizen has a role to play in the economic transformation that is underway, for the improvement of national living standards which should result in the attainment of an empowered and prosperous upper middle income society by 2030, President Mnangagwa has said.

He said this in Epworth on Saturday while addressing an oversubscribed star rally ahead of the March 26 National Assembly and council by-elections.

The President said while the country remains under sanctions imposed by the West over two decades ago, the national leadership has not folded hands and stopped thinking of ways to sidestep the economic embargo, resulting in various projects such as roads and dam construction, and massive support for the mining, agriculture and manufacturing sectors of the economy, using locally generated funds since the coming in of the Second Republic in 2017.

The Government has declared that the country’s development is behind by about two decades compared to its regional neighbours, hence the decision to locate avenues that could help Zimbabwe to generate resources required for national development.

Presently, all 10 provinces either have a dam being constructed or that was completed, and roads that are being constructed or have been concluded, all of them using locally generated funds, with a view to ensure no person or place is left behind.

Arguably the biggest project being done using local resources is the modernisation of the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge highway, which has seen almost 300km completed and opened to the motoring public.

But President Mnangagwa wants all citizens to participate in their various ways in national development, starting at the family level.

Those that wished to be supported by Government in the quest to ensure household and national food security, are already getting free inputs under the Presidential Pfumvudza/Intwasa Programme that started last season, with over 2,3 million households participating resulting in massive maize production last year.

The Pfumvudza/Intwasa Programme has been extended to cotton, with about 100 000 households subscribing to the programme.

Said the President Mnangagwa: “You must ask yourself, ‘what am I contributing to economic development’? Do something that helps your family, that helps your community, that helps the country. 

“Don’t just be a destroyer while others are constructing. If you do so (economic sabotage) and we identify you, the day you die and we bury you, we will tell future generations that ‘here is where a person that sold out their country is buried and we will beat your grave. But if you worked well for your country, we will say here is where a person who worked well for their country is buried.”

The President added that no one must look down upon any economic activity that someone ventures into, as it has a bigger role to play in the development matrix.

“Every job must be respected, what you do at your homestead, in the community; do your work well. No one must look down upon what you do,” he said.

Already, the Presidential Pfumvudza/ Intwasa Programme have directly improved the lives of over 500 000 rural households that elected to adopt it.

The scheme has created over 4 000 jobs and is expected to generate up to US$60 million in foreign currency this year. 

Since his maiden statement on November 24, 2017, President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe was going to create a conducive environment for a private-sector led economic growth that has a bias towards production, focusing on mining, agriculture and manufacturing, to ensure more foreign currency was generated from exports.

Many companies, especially new ones owned by young people, are now involved in the production of various goods for local consumption and export.

Over 70 percent of goods sold in Zimbabwean shops are locally made, an indication that many people are embracing the culture of hard, honest work to develop their country.

Some youths are involved in agriculture focusing on tobacco, wheat, cotton and horticulture for export, while others are into gold mining and are contributing to forex generation.

Last year, Zimbabwe generated its highest ever foreign currency receipts of US$9,7 billion, a 53,5 percent rise from the previous year, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Dr John Mangudya said in the 2022 Monetary Policy Statement.

Export proceeds contributed US$6,194 billion dollars, Diaspora remittances US$2,405 billion dollars and loan proceeds US$876,06 million dollars.

The post We have a role to play in development: President  appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.