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The ‘Iron General’ and the Throne: Inside Zimbabwe’s High-Stakes Succession Battle and the CIO Reshuffle HARARE – In the high-stakes theatre of Zimbabwean politics, the most dangerous games are played in the shadows. The Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) has recently witnessed one of the most far-reaching reshuffles of senior staff at a time when President […]

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From Jet-Set Lifestyle to Courtroom Drama: The Unravelling of a Businesswoman’s Empire Harare – A celebrated businesswoman, once lauded for her entrepreneurial prowess and globe-trotting lifestyle, now finds herself embroiled in a colossal fraud scandal, facing allegations of defrauding numerous individuals of a staggering US$624,000 and ZiG1,275,878. Hazel Mafu, the director of Hezy Motors Logistics, […]

The post Female MBINGA who celebrated her 35th birthday in France finally arrested over shocking US$624,000 and ZiG1.2 Million fraud first appeared on My Zimbabwe News.

Source: President launches UZ incubation hub, specialist medical centre today – herald

Zvamaida Murwira zvamaida.murwira@zimpapers.co.zw

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa is today expected to commission the University of Zimbabwe Industrial Incubation Hub as well as the Specialist Medical Centre as the institution of higher learning moves to drive innovation, support product development and facilitate the transformation of ideas into tangible solutions.

This is in fulfilment of its mandate under the Heritage-Based Model Education 5.0 to produce goods and services.

The incubation hub is located at the Msasa Industrial Park while the Medical Centre is located in Avondale.

The launch of the industrial incubation hub marks an important milestone for the UZ to commercialise proto-type innovation ideas and skills conceived from the institution’s innovation hub by students.

In an interview, Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Permanent Secretary, Professor Fanuel Tagwira said the two centres will commercialise innovation ideas by students.

“This is an important milestone. It was His Excellency, the President who encouraged us to have Education 5.0. We are now on another step where we are commercialising the projects. We are now seeing the full circle of His Excellency the President’s idea of Education 5.0,” said Prof Tagwira.

“The incubation hub is there to help young people whose projects have gone through the innovation hub and are ready for commercialisation. It is more of an industrial hub. They will commercialise their proto-type. It is a start- up place. They can start small businesses where industry can come and interact with them.”

Prof Tagwira said the Specialist Medical Centre is for those students specialising in different medical disciplines and the centre will expose them to the real equipment that they had been learning in lecture rooms.

“It’s a specialised hospital to train specialist medical students. Apart from getting skills and knowledge they will use real equipment for either eye specialists or dental equipment for example, using the latest and modern equipment,” said Prof Tagwira.

The UZ Special Medical Centre is a multi- disciplinary centre providing oral health, eye health, assisted reproduction and emergency care services. The four main units provide primary health care, specialist health care and community care services. This in addition to teaching, learning and research to meet Government’s education policy.

The oral health centre provides comprehensive oral health services and is the main national referral centre in Zimbabwe.

It will provide routine examinations, preventive care and restorative treatment, prosthodontics, oral surgery and orthodontics.

The eye centre is a one stop unit providing both optometry and specialist ophthalmology clinical care services

Assisted Reproduction Unit will provide comprehensive assisted reproduction services including in vitro Fertilisation (IVF). The assisted reproduction and IVF centre activities include patient consultations, ovarian stimulation monitoring and laboratory fertilisation procedures. The specialization will guide patients through structured medical journeys to help achieve pregnancy.

The Incubation centre in Msasa was established to technically support, nurture and mentor UZ linked start-up companies through industry collaboration and market participation strategies towards commercialization of products, goods and services.

The centre currently hosts 11 start-up companies ranging from agriculture, cosmetology, education, energy, engineering, ICT, pharmaceutical, health and transport.

In the last five years, President Mnangagwa has commissioned 10 impactful projects from the UZ’s ecosystem that include the agro- processing plant at the Agro Industrial Park, National Transtech Solutions Centre which now produces vehicle number plates for the country.

In addition, Future Foods Private Limited, an innovation hub start-up and students bus terminus among others, have been commissioned.

Today’s event will draw delegates from the academia, captains of industry, students and diplomats accredited to Zimbabwe.

President Mnangagwa officially launched the University of Zimbabwe Innovation Hub on August 5, 2019, marking a key milestone for the Education 5.0 heritage-based model aimed at promoting industrialization, modern technology, and practical skills development across Zimbabwean tertiary institutions.

The Education 5.0 model seeks to shift the academic focus from traditional job-seeking to teaching, research, community service, innovation, and industrialisation.

The Government has funded innovation hubs in different institutions of higher learning and President Mnangagwa has challenged students to “dream” about their innovation as part of deliberate effort to encourage research and innovation.

The idea was to bridge the gap between academia, state enterprises, and commerce to foster local manufacturing and economic growth under national development goals.

The Vehicle Registration Plate/Tag Facility, on the other hand, demonstrated the country’s ability to develop its own vehicle registration system, reducing the reliance on imported solutions and contributing to the broader goal of self-sufficiency and import substitution.

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Source: Contractors propose new cotton production model – herald

Edgar Vhera Specialist Writer – Agribusiness

COTTON contractors have proposed a new seed cotton production model for the 2026/27 season to rescue the sector from continual decline as intake slumps 15 percent to 20 million kilogrammes this year from 23 million.

Statistics from the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) show that the average national seed cotton yield has been on continual decline from a peak of 1,8 tonnes per hectare in 1980 to the lowest of 93 kilogrammes per hectare in the El Niño-ravaged 2024 season.

The AMA market update report dated July 17 disclosed that stakeholders in the cotton value chain are proposing new cotton production and marketing models to revamp the industry.

The stakeholders proposed zoning wherein a contractor is given a particular district to operate from, which gives them the liberty to fully support their farmers.

A maximum of two contractors can be given a licence to operate in a particular district.

While acknowledging the importance of the Presidential Inputs Programme (PIP), the merchants want a level playing field with all contractors benefiting from the scheme.

“The merchants also want a return to the full credit scheme to recover all inputs advanced to farmers.

“This allows contractors to increase their input support levels with a guarantee of recovering all their inputs,” read the report.

The contractors are also mooting a price incentive scheme to support growers with more money above the prevailing market prices.

“This allows farmers to source their own inputs and get rewarded at delivery time.

“Tied to this should be the announcement of pre-planting prices for seed cotton by August,” continued the report.

Private contractors are planning to contract 113 000 hectares in the upcoming season while the main contractor Cottco is yet to reveal its target.

Farmers have so far earned US$4,8 million and ZiG54,3 from current sales that are expected to end in a week.

The largest merchant, Cottco, has bought 53 percent of the crop (10 300 000kg) sold thus far, followed by Agri Value Chain (AVC) at 16 percent (3 218 188kg) and Alliance Ginneries with 14 percent (2 800 000kg).

Southern Cotton came fourth after purchasing 11 percent (2 207 628kg), with Cangrow at five percent (905 000kg) and Zimbabwe Cotton Council (ZCC) coming last at one percent (136 395kg).

Meanwhile, speaking on the Zimbabwe Agricultural Think Tank (ZATT) — Cotton Council Discussion Forum, a cotton expert who requested anonymity said the only thing which can resuscitate the sector was competitive/fair pricing.

A competitive pricing regime will ensure that only serious actors (growers and buyers) will remain in the industry.
“In Sub-Saharana its only Tanzania still ticking because right now they are paying US$0,49 per kg on free inputs, weeding cost low at US$15 per hectare, tractor tillage as low as US$25 per hectare.

“Their Ginning Out Turn (GOT) is 36 percent while Zimbabwe is 44 percent,” he said.

GOT refers to the percentage ratio of usable cotton lint produced from a total weight of raw seed cotton.

Zimbabwe ginners are getting more lint to sell than Tanzania ginners.

A University of Zimbabwe lecturer, Dr Kingston Mujeyi, weighed in, saying cotton can be viable if the benefits derived from marketing the crop outweigh the costs of production and marketing.

Waiting for prices to increase and acting as a stimulus for increased production and productivity will not bring the desired outcome in the near future

“Profitability increases if productivity increases, costs of inputs decline and producer price increases.

“However, under the prevailing circumstances, cotton farmers have very limited power and influence over all of the above,” he said.

Dr Mujeyi said the narrative can change if farmers are vertically integrated along the value chain and take control of backward (inputs supply) and forward (processing and value addition) nodes.

“Local value addition (farmgate ginning, seed crushing, oil processing and stockfeed formulation) seems to be the most viable option,” he pointed out.Edgar Vhera

Specialist Writer – Agribusiness

COTTON contractors have proposed a new seed cotton production model for the 2026/27 season to rescue the sector from continual decline as intake slumps 15 percent to 20 million kilogrammes this year from 23 million.

Statistics from the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) show that the average national seed cotton yield has been on continual decline from a peak of 1,8 tonnes per hectare in 1980 to the lowest of 93 kilogrammes per hectare in the El Niño-ravaged 2024 season.

The AMA market update report dated July 17 disclosed that stakeholders in the cotton value chain are proposing new cotton production and marketing models to revamp the industry.

The stakeholders proposed zoning wherein a contractor is given a particular district to operate from, which gives them the liberty to fully support their farmers.

A maximum of two contractors can be given a licence to operate in a particular district.

While acknowledging the importance of the Presidential Inputs Programme (PIP), the merchants want a level playing field with all contractors benefiting from the scheme.

“The merchants also want a return to the full credit scheme to recover all inputs advanced to farmers.

“This allows contractors to increase their input support levels with a guarantee of recovering all their inputs,” read the report.

The contractors are also mooting a price incentive scheme to support growers with more money above the prevailing market prices.

“This allows farmers to source their own inputs and get rewarded at delivery time.

“Tied to this should be the announcement of pre-planting prices for seed cotton by August,” continued the report.

Private contractors are planning to contract 113 000 hectares in the upcoming season while the main contractor Cottco is yet to reveal its target.

Farmers have so far earned US$4,8 million and ZiG54,3 from current sales that are expected to end in a week.

The largest merchant, Cottco, has bought 53 percent of the crop (10 300 000kg) sold thus far, followed by Agri Value Chain (AVC) at 16 percent (3 218 188kg) and Alliance Ginneries with 14 percent (2 800 000kg).

Southern Cotton came fourth after purchasing 11 percent (2 207 628kg), with Cangrow at five percent (905 000kg) and Zimbabwe Cotton Council (ZCC) coming last at one percent (136 395kg).

Meanwhile, speaking on the Zimbabwe Agricultural Think Tank (ZATT) — Cotton Council Discussion Forum, a cotton expert who requested anonymity said the only thing which can resuscitate the sector was competitive/fair pricing.

A competitive pricing regime will ensure that only serious actors (growers and buyers) will remain in the industry.

“In Sub-Saharana its only Tanzania still ticking because right now they are paying US$0,49 per kg on free inputs, weeding cost low at US$15 per hectare, tractor tillage as low as US$25 per hectare.

“Their Ginning Out Turn (GOT) is 36 percent while Zimbabwe is 44 percent,” he said.

GOT refers to the percentage ratio of usable cotton lint produced from a total weight of raw seed cotton.
Zimbabwe ginners are getting more lint to sell than Tanzania ginners.

A University of Zimbabwe lecturer, Dr Kingston Mujeyi, weighed in, saying cotton can be viable if the benefits derived from marketing the crop outweigh the costs of production and marketing.

Waiting for prices to increase and acting as a stimulus for increased production and productivity will not bring the desired outcome in the near future

“Profitability increases if productivity increases, costs of inputs decline and producer price increases.

“However, under the prevailing circumstances, cotton farmers have very limited power and influence over all of the above,” he said.

Dr Mujeyi said the narrative can change if farmers are vertically integrated along the value chain and take control of backward (inputs supply) and forward (processing and value addition) nodes.

“Local value addition (farmgate ginning, seed crushing, oil processing and stockfeed formulation) seems to be the most viable option,” he pointed out.

The post Contractors propose new cotton production model appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Khoza, Siziba burials today – herald

Lovemore Dube lovemore.dube@chronicle.co.zw

FORMER Highlanders vice chairman Fiso Siziba and board member responsible for finance Nkani Khoza will be buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery today.

The two Bosso executive members were in the company of chairman Kenneth Mhlophe and Mbalenhle Sibanda, a Highlanders member who was known to travel to most of the club’s home and away matches.

A memorial service for the four will be held at Barbourfields Stadium this morning.

Minister of State for Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Judith Ncube will preside over the two’s funerals today.

Acting club chairman Kindman Ndlovu confirmed the news last night to Zimpapers Sports Hub alongside fellow elected board member Morgan Dube.

The Highlanders members died on Thursday evening 60km out of Bulawayo along the Gweru-Bulawayo Highway after their vehicle hit a beast and collided head-on with a bus that was Gweru-bound.

“Tomorrow (today), there will be a combined service for the four of them. We are bringing together the four families, Highlanders and its members, supporters, national football leadership, PSL, the region and province, political and civic leadership to the service,” said Ndlovu.

He acknowledged the Government’s support during the difficult period for the club.

On Saturday morning, President Mnangagwa accorded the four Highlanders members State-assisted funerals.

Minister Ncube delivered the news to the club and then visited the four families to convey the President’s condolences and announcement.

Ndlovu disclosed that Siziba and Khoza would be buried immediately after the Barbourfields Stadium service.

“After the service, Siziba and Khoza will be buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery while Mbalenhle’s family will drive straight away to Hlatshwayo section of Insiza District where her remains will be interred on Tuesday,” said Ndlovu.

Mhlophe, a retired army officer, will be buried tomorrow and his body will be taken to district army headquarters for military rites befitting his rank and stature to be performed.

The former Highlanders chairman will be buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery tomorrow.

This is the biggest tragedy to befall the club.

Highlanders’ 100-year celebrations have been dampened by the death of the quartet.

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