Source: Double candidates: A sign of bigger problems for Chamisa’s party – #Asakhe – CITE By Rodrick Fayayo There is so much excitement about the new Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party, and the double allocations serve as early signs that there are things that the new party has to deal with if it is to […]
There is so much excitement about the new Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party, and the double allocations serve as early signs that there are things that the new party has to deal with if it is to last the mile.
Otherwise, it will suffocate from its potential. While there is a celebration that out of 143 candidates there were only 3 cases of double candidates, a serious party with respect for its systems and processes would have avoided all that.
To be sure the CCC party was under no obligation to carry out any process. They could have simply decided that all the recalled members of the party go back and become candidates. Cdes like (Alex) Magaisa actually wrote to advance a suggestion that the party should just confirm all the recalled candidates for standing with the party.
But perhaps learning from the past that if you are a preferred candidate for the people in 2018 it does not necessarily mean that in 2022 you are still the preferred candidate, the party decided for an open process. Probably it was about testing their system in a smaller election as testing this in a harmonised election might have had serious challenges as shown.
The party went for an open process, and as is the norm with open processes some of the recalled cadres of the party fell. What is very instructive is the way the party then handled those falls. For the purposes of clarity, I will give examples. I choose to use 4 examples in Bulawayo for reasons that will be clear.
But before that, I delve into the signature arrangements. I am informed by a number of party leaders that they were 4 party signatures submitted to ZEC. Charlton Hwende and Job Sikhala were the Harare signatories and Welshman Ncube and Siphiwe Ncube were the Bulawayo signatories. It seems as if the plan was to have Welsh and Siphiwe covering Matabeleland and then Hwende and Job to look at the other provinces. However, all nomination papers were sent to Harare. From Harare, forms from Mat North and Mat South were not signed and the reasons can only be speculated. They were signed by the Bulawayo signatories. It was only Bulawayo that was signed by the Harare signatories. That is why others are asking what interest Harare has in Bulawayo that is not there in other provinces. Some have even suggested that it is about council tenders but we will deal with that in another piece.
So what happened in the concerned wards?
a) In ward 26 my councillor Norman Hlabano did not even come to the party during the confirmation process. He was simply disinterested. And unsurprisingly a new candidate was nominated. However, when the signed nomination form came back from Harare it was his name that was in the signed form. No one knows what criteria Harare used to ignore all other processes and install Hlabano as the sole nominee. I am sure even Cllr Norman Hlabano himself was surprised.
b)In ward 3 there was definitely going to be double candidates but the party was saved by the court processes. Officially my brother and friend Tinashe Kambarami had lost the nomination and at least one person nominated for the position. Again without any explanation when the nomination forms came back from Harare it was Kambarami who was the candidate. But also to ensure that he is covered after participating in a process and losing Kambarami decided that it was either going to be him or no one else. Wahle wapontshisa ibhora (he sabotaged the whole process). So he lives to fight another day. But sadly ward 3 remains without representation.
c)In Ward 14 Njube Mrs Lillian Mlilo only got her forms later. Someone who received the forms in Bulawayo from Harare decided to keep the forms and probably released them later under pressure. One would think that the idea was to try and change candidates again. The system was that flexible.
d) In Ward 9 my brother Themba Nyathi was never the nominee. And he is wrong to take advantage of the confusion. But the interesting fact of the matter is that the official party nominee Donaldson Mabutho was suspended from the party for giving out or selling party information. Even when people raised these questions no one in the leadership was willing to listen. It says a lot about the security of the party. What however is very telling is his willingness and bravery as a council candidate to go to the press and say things about the Vice President of the party. Ordinarily, there is no difference between the office of the President and the office of the Vice President. If a mere council candidate, once suspended from the party for selling information about the party to Zanu PF, can raise those unsubstantiated allegations against a president it simply means that he either has the support of powerful people in the party or the organisation is free for all.
But the above seems to be miniatures of bigger systemic and process problems. I conclude that:
1) These seem to be imported problems. There are people that are loud in talking about devolution and yet in their bone marrow, they only know about centralisation. They only talk about it because it is fashionable.
2) 26 March 2022 has been said to be a dress rehearsal of 2023 for political parties. What is also clear is that internally in the CCC potential candidates are also aligning and strategically positioning themselves for 2023.
3) While the political head of the party is strong, the strength is not matched by its administrative arm. A level headed, non-factional, non-tribal head of administration would have ensured that these unnecessary problems happen.
4) Clearly the leadership at the top level is not pulling in one direction. There is a lot of undermining each other. You can tell who is where based on the candidates. The impression given is that these are individual leaders candidates and not party candidates. Leaders are positioning themselves for control and resultantly the party is suffering.
5) The internal squabbles in the party are distracting it from focusing on the work that they are supposed to do ie fighting Zanu PF. Much time is being spent fighting themselves. As it is for the next few weeks or months the focus will be on who was wrong? Who caused the double candidates, internal factions will realign and swords will be crossed.
6) The bigger picture should never be Local government or Parliamentary seats for our friends, it should be the Presidency. That is what is at stake. And for that, a cohesive unit is needed.
Given that 2023 is not very far it is important that the focus is on voter registration, building the party brand and stopping these infantile distractions.
Source: Police worry over spike in drowning incidents – #Asakhe – CITE Police in Matabeleland North province have expressed concern over the increase in deaths by drowning cases especially involving minors. This follows the drowning of a 7-year-old boy in Lubimbi, Binga last week. The juvenile was attempting to cross a flooded river when he […]
Police in Matabeleland North province have expressed concern over the increase in deaths by drowning cases especially involving minors.
This follows the drowning of a 7-year-old boy in Lubimbi, Binga last week. The juvenile was attempting to cross a flooded river when he was swept away.
The provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Glory Banda told CITE that they had intensified awareness campaigns to avoid a repeat of last year. 2021 saw more than 20 people losing their lives to drowning most being children.
“As ZRP Matebeleland North, we have been carrying out awareness campaigns from the onset of the rainy season advising parents and guardians to look after and monitor their children so that they don’t play near water bodies such as rivers and dams. It’s sad that last year we lost more than 20 people through drowning so this time around that remains our thrust to advise the public to see to it that they monitor their children. We don’t want a repeat of what happened last year,” said Insp. Banda.
He said since the province received almost the same rainfall the incidents patterns were similar.
“Since the province received almost the same rains issues of drowning were registered in different places. I wouldn’t say the high frequency of these was high or exclusive to some areas but across the province, we registered these cases.”
Recently a juvenile drowned in Lupane after falling into a canal as he attempted to jump over. Another drowned in the Deka river after slipping into the deep end as she was attempting to take a bath while her mother washed a few metres away.
Insp. Banda said the police were rolling out a program to train members of the public survival techniques in the event of a drowning incident.
“We would like to advise members of the public that we have the sub-aqua unit which is mandated with the task of rescuing victims of drowning accidents. Other than that the sub-aqua unit offers survival techniques training such that in the event of a drowning incident somebody can try something to rescue. The lessons can only be offered on arrangements so community leaders can spearhead this program.”
Meanwhile, the body of the 7-year-old Binga boy who drowned while trying to cross a flooded river was retrieved on the banks of the river.
Circumstances are that on 19 January 2022 at around 1500hrs the now deceased from Bumbutu village, Lubimbi in Binga was seen by a 13-year-old juvenile from the same area trying to cross Bukutu river which was in flood.
He advised the boy who wanted to visit his grandmother on the other side to return home and wait until the flood had receded. However, the deceased defied the order and went upstream. After a while, the juvenile saw a pink slipper floating in the river and identified it as belonging to the deceased. He retrieved it and went on to inform the other villagers including the deceased’s father.
A search was conducted leading to the discovery of the deceased’s body on the river bank. Dete police attended the scene.
Source: Zimra scales up automation – NewsDay Zimbabwe BY PATRICIA SIBANDA ZIMBABWE Revenue Authority (Zimra) says it will beef up its automation systems to ease pressure at the country’s border posts and introduce drones to monitor smuggling at unauthorised entry points. “Zimra has, indeed, scaled up its automation drive to create a culture that embraces […]
BY PATRICIA SIBANDA ZIMBABWE Revenue Authority (Zimra) says it will beef up its automation systems to ease pressure at the country’s border posts and introduce drones to monitor smuggling at unauthorised entry points.
“Zimra has, indeed, scaled up its automation drive to create a culture that embraces the use of digitised information by creating a business ecosystem characterised by databases that provide flexible and convenient technologically-based services through innovative initiatives,” said Zimra acting commissioner-general Rameck Masaire in Bulawayo during the commemoration of World Customs Day yesterday.
“We continue to increase our automation footprint, not only from a strategic planning perspective geared towards modernisation, but also as a direct response to COVID-19 threats, with measures aligned to social distancing, limited office staff presence, telecommuting, and the need for business continuity within COVID-19 restrictions.”
He said Zimra had embraced online banking to curb face-to-face interaction.
“ICT products and systems enabling these interventions include, among others: cargo and baggage scanners as well as sniffer dogs at ports of entry, electronic cargo tracking systems for transit management and increased online usage covering declaration processing, applications for registration of various customs products, applications for tax clearance certificates, dispute resolution and information dissemination to internal and external stakeholders,” he added.
Speaking at the same function, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said: “The solutions that customs have availed to the needs of all stakeholders, chief among them, importers, exporters, transporters, clearing agents, and the general public have seen a significant transformation from complex and cumbersome manual processes to simplified digital solutions, most of which are accessed remotely via the country’s robust digital platforms for effective trade facilitation.”
Minister of State for Bulawayo province Judith Ncube applauded Zimra for “efficiency and good tax systems” that she said had improved economic performance.
Source: Health stakeholders bemoan suspension of elective surgery – NewsDay Zimbabwe BY VANESSA GONYE HEALTH stakeholders have bemoaned the suspension of elective surgery at some health institutions in the country as a result of critical staff shortages, describing it as a dent on the sector which was already struggling due to brain drain, shortages of […]
HEALTH stakeholders have bemoaned the suspension of elective surgery at some health institutions in the country as a result of critical staff shortages, describing it as a dent on the sector which was already struggling due to brain drain, shortages of equipment and medicines.
Elective surgery is planned surgery that can be booked in advance as a result of a specialist clinical assessment.
Community Working Group on Health executive director Itai Rusike yesterday told NewsDay that the suspension of elective surgery was a recipe for disaster on the country’s health sector.
“The suspension of elective surgeries at some central hospitals because of the shortage of health workers due to brain drain is very unfortunate as it will worsen the health situation in the country where the majority of the poor people have to rely on public sector hospitals,” he said.
“Most people in the country do not have medical insurance to seek treatment at private health institutions. The suspension of elective surgeries shows that there is need for government to urgently address the issue of brain drain in the health sector before it totally collapses.”
Rusike blamed poor salaries and working conditions in the public health sector for the brain drain.
“Working conditions in the public health sector are made worse by poor grievance procedures. There should be speedy, fair and impartial procedure for resolving disputes and long-standing grievances should not be allowed to build up,” he said.
“Government should sit down on the round table with the health workers and have a proper and genuine dialogue to discuss their issues.”
For example, he said nine City of Harare clinics had to be closed due to shortage of health workers.
“We need to find a solution as there is a ticking bomb in the public health sector,” he said.
Sally Mugabe Central Hospital clinical director Hopewell Mungani said his hospital was not affected by the brain drain.
But some patients told NewsDay that operative surgeries at public health institutions had to be shifted due to a massive backlog caused by the mass exodus of medical personnel.
Last year, government set up a committee to look into the mass exodus of healthcare workers who were leaving the country for greener pastures.
Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa told journalists during a post-Cabinet media briefing last year that government would consider offering free WiFi, transport and food in canteens to its health staff.
But health workers said they wanted their remuneration to be in United States dollars, an improvement in working conditions, as well as equipment and other medical sundries.
Source: African Sun pledges to support tourism recovery – NewsDay Zimbabwe BY WINSTONE ANTONIO HOSPITALITY giant African Sun Limited (ASL) has pledged to collaborate with the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) to strengthen the tourism sector after it was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. ASL chief executive Peter Saungweme said this on Tuesday soon after […]
HOSPITALITY giant African Sun Limited (ASL) has pledged to collaborate with the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) to strengthen the tourism sector after it was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
ASL chief executive Peter Saungweme said this on Tuesday soon after meeting with ZTA acting chief executive Givemore Chidzidzi to discuss the recovery of the sector.
“I am looking forward to African Sun Limited’s contribution to the recovery and growth of the tourism sector. We will work together with the ZTA to ensure that tourism scales greater heights,” Saungweme said.
Chidzidzi said tourism operators such as ASL were critical to achieving government’s objective of a
$5 billion tourism economy.
“This is heavily anchored on lucrative and mutually beneficial public-private partnerships,” he said.
Tourism has been identified as a critical pillar of economic development in the National Development Strategy 1, as well as towards attainment of vision 2030.
COVID-19 lockdowns and the ban on inter-city travel and conferencing, as well as international travel restrictions affected the country’s tourism sector, with an estimated total loss pegged at US$1 billion.
In an unrelated matter, ZTA spokesperson Godrey Koti said the recently appointed Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry deputy minister Barbara Rwodzi’s approval of domestic tourism under the ZimBho campaign would be a critical pillar in ensuring that the sector recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. Domestic tourism has been viewed as the lifeblood of the sector since the outbreak of the COVID-19 scourge.
