Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

Source: MCAZ partners SA health services regulator -Newsday Zimbabwe

THE Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has partnered with the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to ensure the provision of effective health products within the two countries.

In a statement, MCAZ director-general Richard Rukwata said the move will ensure the detection and curbing of substandard and falsified health products moving between the two countries.“This landmark event marks a significant step towards strengthening the regulatory frameworks of both Zimbabwe and South Africa in the pharmaceutical sector. The MoU is designed to facilitate cooperation and collaboration between the two countries in the areas of medicines regulation, quality control, and pharmacovigilance,” he said.

SAHPRA CEO Boitumelo SemeteMakokotlela said “the forging of partnerships such as this MoU with the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe, a fellow African National Regulatory Authority, is key to further enhancing and building capacity on the continent. ”Currently, there is rampant smuggling of substandard health products between the two countries’ porous borders.

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Source: Hunger stalks Kariba villagers -Newsday Zimbabwe

VILLAGERS in rural Kariba’s Makande area are appealing for food aid as hunger stalks them.

Ward 11 councillor Pedzisai Majoni told NewsDay Weekender that hunger is ravaging villagers and called for immediate intervention by both government and well-wishers.

“I confirm that villagers here are facing starvation. There is not enough food for the majority of villagers and it is a challenge for community leadership. We appeal to the government to help us with food aid as a matter of urgency to avert deaths through hunger,” said Majoni.

“We have 2 800 households that are facing starvation in my ward. School kids are not spared either and it will affect their pass rate in the long run.”

Makande is under Chief Musampakaruma within Kariba rural district.

“We did not get enough rain last season and this affected our grain harvests which did not last us long,” added Majoni.

Headman Robson Magunje of Chebere village confirmed that the drought has affected communities and urged the government to speed up the borehole drilling exercise to avert acute water shortages.

“We do not have enough water for both humans and animals. Our area is drought-prone and we call on the government to help us so that we can irrigate some crops to avert starvation. We need boreholes to be drilled at strategic points like schools and health facilities. These must be accessible. Government must work on dams as part of solutions to avert hunger challenges in these communities ,” said Magunje.

 Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs minister Mariam Chombo said efforts are underway to help villages facing food insecurity.

“We had a meeting with the minister of social welfare (July Moyo) in Mutare and the food aid programme will be rolled out soon. I can confirm that Kariba rural is the worst affected in terms of food security within the province according to our findings. Government is working on modalities to feed all the affected communities facing hunger challenges in the country,” said Chombo.

Kariba constituency has 12 rural and nine urban wards.

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Source: Parents kick up dust over exam levy –Newsday Zimbabwe

PARENTS with children who wrote their Advanced and Ordinary Level science examinations last year are up in arms with authorities at St Anthony’s High School in Masvingo after the school threatened to withhold results of learners who did not pay their examination levies.

The parents argue that the examination levies, paid to cover examination administration costs, were too steep and unjustified.

In a letter dated December 15, 2023, seen by NewsDay, the school applied to the Primary and Secondary Education ministry for approval of the levies.

“We hereby apply for approval of a levy to cover science chemicals and equipment used in the Zimsec November 2023, O and A level exams. Quotations were used to make a comparative schedule and total amount for O Level was $20 246,50 and for A Level was $4 392,20. The following are the fees: Combined science O Level, US$29, physics US$27 (O Level and US$28 for A Level,” part of the letter read.

O Level candidates who sat for Biology pay a further US$22, Chemistry Paper 1, US$6, and Paper 2, US$10, respectively.

A Level candidates will pay US$34 for Biology, Chemistry US$36, Computer Science US$34, Crop Science US$38 and US$11 for Computers.

All students are expected to pay an additional US$3 for examination answer sheets.

St Anthony’s headmaster, Joram Mawana, advised parents in December last year that learners would only collect results on payments of the examination levy.

A parent who spoke to NewsDay on conditions of anonymity said the school administration had already issued a warning that failure to pay the full amount would prevent them from accessing their children’s exam results.

“As parents, we still need the invoices from Zimsec so that we see how much we owe the Commission just like the school did when they were informing us about the exam fee.

“They should send us the invoices for stationary as well as for the chemicals for those who were doing sciences,” the parent said.

Mawana referred NewsDay to the school development committee chairperson Joseph Gumbire who said he did not have enough information on the issue.

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Source: Cheeky robbers attack police roadblock, steal uniforms -Newsday Zimbabwe

POLICE in Masvingo have launched a manhunt for four armed robbers who committed a series of robberies in the district, including attacking law enforcement agents at a roadblock along Nemwmwa-Muchakata Road on Thursday night and stealing their uniforms.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the suspects who were driving a  stolen Honda Fit vehicle, stole two cellphones, one pair of riot trousers, a grey shirt, an STU cap, and a pair of brown shoes during the attack.

They drove off after severely injuring one of the officers and later abandoned the car along the way.

“After the robbery incident involving the police officers, the suspects went to Gurutsime business centre near Rnecho Mine where they boarded a Toyota Fun Cargo claiming that they wanted to go to Chiredzi. Upon reaching Renco turn-off, the complainant disembarked from the vehicle and tried to run away after allegedly suspecting that he was carrying armed robbery suspects. Subsequently, one of the suspects shot the complainant in the chest with a pistol and drove towards Chiredzi along the Ngundu-Tanganda Road. The complainant later died at Masvingo General Hospital,” Nyathi said in a statement.

The suspects have been linked to a series of robberies and attempted robberies that occurred in the district on the same night.

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Source: ED guns for sex predators -Newsday Zimbabwe

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has evoked the presidential powers to protect children against rape after amending some sections of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act on rape and indecent assault.

The amendments were announced in a Statutory Instrument (SI) 2 of  2024 referred to as the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Criminal Laws (Protection of Children and Young Persons)) Regulations, 2024.

The amendment also defines young persons as people below the age 18 years.

In the new law, anyone having an extra-marital affair with a young person, including physical contact, soliciting or enticing a person below 18 years for extra-marital sexual intercourse would be found guilty and liable to a fine not exceeding level 12 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years or both.

“It shall be no defence to a charge of sexual intercourse or performing an indecent act with a young person to prove that he or she consented to such sexual intercourse or indecent act,” the new regulations indicate.

Where sexual intercourse or an indecent act takes place between young persons below the age of 18 years, whose age difference is not more than three years, no charges would be preferred.

“It shall be a defence to a charge under subsection (1) for the accused person to satisfy the court that he or she had reasonable cause to believe that the young person concerned was of or over the age of 18 years at the time of the alleged crime,” the SI reads.

The law further states that the apparent physical maturity of the young person concerned shall not, on its own, constitute reasonable cause.

It notes that a person who has sexual intercourse or physical contact with a girl below the age of 12 years would be charged with rape, while one commits on a female or male person below the age of 12 years any act that involves penetration would be charged with aggravated indecent assault.

Anyone who has sexual intercourse with a girl below the age of 12 years would be charged with rape, while engaging in physical contact with a girl above 12 years, but below 18 years, would be charged with indecent assault.

A person below the age of 18 will not be deemed to have consented to having sexual intercourse.

The law also indicates that anyone who permits a person to commit sexual intercourse or indecent act with a young person, sodomy, bestiality or sex within a prohibited degree of a relationship would be charged for complicity in sexual crimes.

The person would be charged with being an accomplice or accessory to a crime concerned or kidnapping or detention.

The law also prohibits procuring any other person for purposes of unlawful sexual conduct, to become a prostitute in or outside Zimbabwe or to leave the country or their home to become an inmate of a brothel will also face prosecution.

If a property owner allows a young person to enter or be in a place for the purpose of engaging in unlawful conduct, including children under the age of 12, they would be caged for up to 10 years

If the young person is above the age of 12, the property owner would be fined or sent to jail for seven years.

The person can, however, use as defence to prove that he or she had reasonable cause to believe that the young person was of or above the age of 18 years.

In 2022, constitutional lawyer Tendai Biti successfully lobbied for the review of the age of consent from 16 to 18 at the Constitutional Court.

Government was given 12 months to craft a law to protect children from sexual exploitation.

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