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Source: Acute water crisis hits Shurugwi | Newsday (News)

BY BRENNA MATENDERE

RESIDENTS of Donga suburb at Shurugwi South’s Chachacha growth point have resorted to unprotected water sources after going for three months without running water.

The residents are also facing a serious sewerage reticulation crisis that has seen them build blair toilets in their compounds — structures that are outside their housing engineering plans.

In separate interviews yesterday, the residents expressed anger and accused Tongogara Rural District Council of ignoring the crisis while collecting money for water and sewer bills every month.

“We are now living precariously because the council is not taking action at all to address our water challenges. We have reported the matter several times to the RDC, but no action is being taken,” said Matilda Shava, while queuing
for water at an unprotected well.

A businessperson who operates a sports bar and shop at Chachacha said the water crisis had gone out of hand.

“In our shops, we do not have water. This is a place where we have over 50 retail shops, and it is just unheard of that we must operate without water. We also have a fruits and vegetable market at this centre, but the water crisis is again a big challenge. There is now fear that a serious outbreak of either cholera or typhoid can hit us,” he said.

Tongogara RDC chief executive Brian Rufasha told Southern Eye that he was aware of the water crisis, but shifted the blame to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa).

“That is correct; there are water problems at Donga. Water management at Donga Tongogara rural service centres is under Zinwa,” he said.

Asked whether council was not concerned with the potential outbreak of diseases due to the water crisis, Rufasha said: “Well, I tasked our engineer to assess the problem and also engage Zinwa on the issue. His preliminary findings show that pipes from the water source to Donga township were vandalised by the villagers from Marira.”

However, residents challenged Rufasha to urgently act on the crisis since the RDC is the overall regulating authority.

Villagers from Marira, who spoke to Southern Eye, said allegations that they vandalised pipes had no basis and challenged council to provide proof of the damage, saying the local authority was playing blame games to avoid taking responsibility.

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Source: RBZ pledges to release US$10m for electricity – The Zimbabwe Independent August 23, 2019

THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) this week pledged to release US$10 million to Mozambican power company Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) as part payment for a US$35 million debt owed to the company by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) for power imported from that country.

LISA TAZVIINGA

The payment will be made ahead of next week’s visit by a Zimbabwean government delegation led by Energy and Power Development minister Fortune Chasi to the neighbouring country to negotiate a 400-megawatt (MW) power import deal to alleviate a devastating load-shedding crisis which has paralysed the country over the past four months.

Government hopes the part payment will appease the Mozambican authorities and lead to a new deal, which, if successful, will see Zesa importing 400MW per day from HCB, up from the current 50MW. Zimbabwe has been struggling to generate enough power following a sharp drop in water levels at Lake Kariba which has necessitated the strict rationing of water meant to turn the power-producing turbines at the Kariba hydro-electric power plant. Last month, government clinched a 400MW-per-day deal with South Africa’s Eskom.

Internally, Zimbabwe is producing 782MW per day at Kariba, as well as the Hwange thermal power station and smaller plants which feed into the national grid.

This means Zimbabwe has 1 182MW per day in the national grid, leaving a 618MW-per-day deficit, against a daily requirement of 1 800MW.

A 400MW-per-day deal with HCB is expected to significantly cut the deficit and ensure an almost uninterrupted supply of power. However, Maputo has been reluctant to negotiate with Harare because of Zesa’s massive indebtedness.

Zesa’s acting chief executive Patrick Chivaura told the Zimbabwe Independent this week that government had pledged to pay 29% of the total debt to HCB before negotiations kick off in Maputo next week.

“We were supposed to have left the country this week but there has been a deferment to next week. We will meet the Mozambicans next week. From the Zimbabwean side, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is providing tremendous support and the governor actually has already offered to pay US$10 million before we go. There is also the weekly arrangement that he also proffered for payment of US$500 000 on a weekly bases,” Chivaura said.

“Currently we are getting 50MW at the moment and sometimes we were getting 200MW we hope to negotiate for more. It all depends on how we deal with the debt and how they view themselves, they will call the shots.

“Should we get additional power from Mozambique, that will beef up what we are getting from South Africa. It will reduce (load shedding) significantly, but not quite to zero . . . If we get 400MW from Mozambique, then that will sort out the problem. So if we get 400 from Mozambique and 400 from South Africa, then we are home and dry.”

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Source: Zacc in drive to pounce on offshore properties – The Zimbabwe Independent August 23, 2019

THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) has engaged some European ambassadors seeking co-operation in efforts to identify and repatriate offshore investments from proceeds of corruption by locals, it has emerged.

ANDREW KUNAMBURA/ TINASHE KAIRIZA

Zacc chairperson Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo met with ambassadors from some EU member states on Thursday last week and struck an agreement to assist in locating properties owned by individuals involved in corrupt activities.

Officials who attended the meeting said the ambassadors agreed to engage their respective governments in the process.

Zacc wants all those convicted of corruption by the courts to have their offshore investments repatriated by the state. Zacc spokesperson John Makamure confirmed the meeting, but declined to give details.

“It is true, the chairperson met with those ambassadors, but I cannot give you the details yet since I have not received a briefing,” he said.

Diplomats who attended the meeting told the Zimbabwe Independent this week that Matanda-Moyo sought assistance from the ambassadors after the explosion of the National Social Security Authority (Nssa) corruption scandal in which those accused of pillaging the pension fund are suspected to have used the money to acquire real estate in Europe, particularly Britain.

“A senior UK diplomat attended a diplomatic briefing with Zacc chairperson Loice Matanda-Moyo. Any request for assistance in this regard would go through the appropriate legal channels in the UK,” a British embassy spokesperson said.

“There was a meeting where we were exploring how we can co-operate in the country’s anti-corruption drive. I can say the mood was very cooperative and we will see how their operations proceed but, basically, everyone agreed to help where they can,” one of the diplomats said.

Sources said although Zacc had initially targeted property in Britain said to be owned by former cabinet minister Prisca Mupfumira, who is accused of fleecing Nssa of more than US$95 million during the time she was Labour and Social Welfare minister, the issue had opened a can of worms as some people living in the United Kingdom have come forward and offered to appear as witnesses in many other cases.

As such, sources said, Zacc will now also investigate corruption cases dating as far back as 2003.

“The chairperson met with the EU ambassadors on Thursday last week where she sought their assistance in the forfeiture and repatriation of those properties upon the conviction of the accused persons. In fact, the issue is now not only limited to Nssa,” a source said.

“There are many other cases being investigated, (with some of them) dating as far back as 2003. The investigation will also involve those who were named in WikiLeaks files, so it has become wider and there are many people offering to stand as witnesses.”

Matanda-Moyo requested for more time with the top British diplomat after other diplomats had left.

The Independent also understands that Zacc has engaged a London-based Zimbabwean national to trace some of the properties allegedly owned by Mupfumira and others.

The investigator, who is currently checking on a company in which Mupfumira is believed to have interests, will then be able to stand as a witness.

The investigator has been viewing files lodged at the Companies House and in particular with respect to a company in which one Priscah Chidavaenzi is named as a director, sources said.

The company, Priscah C Limited, was registered on August 14 2015 in Leicester.

“What is interesting about this company is that it has a board of directors who appointed Priscah Chidavaenzi as a director, yet there is a small amount of funding. What are they hiding? When the agent in London entered Mupfumira on the website, it came up with Priscah Chidavaenzi,” the source revealed.

One of the cases on Zacc’s radar is a long-standing Grain Marketing Board (GMB) scandal involving two businessmen accused of corruptly exporting maize which cost the country US$26 million.

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