Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

Source: Reviving NRZ key to guaranteeing road quality: Matiza | Sunday Mail (Local News)

Sunday Mail Reporter

Nursing the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) to health will help guarantee the quality and durability of the country’s roads as it would help ease pressure on this overburdened mode of transport, a Cabinet Minister has said.

Addressing Government officials, local authorities and engineers in Masvingo during a tour of roads in the province last week, Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Joel Biggie Matiza said an unreliable rail transport system has led to a disproportionate flow of traffic on local roads.

“As far as rail is concerned, there are lots of opportunities in rail. We have so many suitors coming in with so many programmes. Certain loads should not move on our roads because it’s detrimental, it damages the road, so we need the rail to take over,” said Minister Matiza.

“So we are seized with these issues in terms of upgrading our rail because it is fundamental; it is a backbone of our economy. Our roads are also backbones of the economy and they have to be taken care of.”

The exclusivity agreement between Government and DIDG/Transnet Consortium – which won tender to resuscitate the ailing national railway company – expired on February 14 this year.

Essentially, an exclusivity agreement tries to ensure that the other party to a prospective deal negotiates solely with the client for a period of time.

Minister Matiza says he will soon brief Cabinet on progress in the ongoing negotiations with the rail investors.

“We have been negotiating with an outfit called DIDG/ Transnet. We had an agreement which ended on the 14th of February, which gave them exclusivity to negotiate, to recapitalise the NRZ. The issue is that we want to recapitalise our rail system so that it becomes the best in the region.

“But, however, we still have certain things to address, and I am due to present a report to Cabinet on the outcome of this framework agreement – how far we have gone and the way forward. But the passion and the thrust is to have our rail network moving,” he said.

North-South Corridor

He also expressed satisfaction on current road works on the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge highway, which is a key arterial road for the North-South corridor.

Government is confident that the first phase of the major project – which involves expanding and rehabilitating the existing road up to 12-metres wide – will be completed within the set three-year timeline.

“We have started now with the 10-kilometre stretch from Chivhu. . . and also the 10 kilometres from Beatrice. We have already tendered for local engineers; in fact, it has already been done.

“We are also starting now to do the tendering for our local contractors into nine segments.

Masvingo province road engineer Peter Robert Mukome said there was need for more funding for roads in the province it had 13 percent of the country’s total network.

“Our provincial road infrastructure is the fulcrum of the transport system, keeping the population connected and the economy flowing. Furthermore, the network is in a strategic location of Southern Africa and is interconnected to Mozambique, through Sango Boarder Post; South Africa, through Crooks Corner, and Beitbridge Boarder Post. It also shares boundaries with four provinces,” he said.

“The province boasts some of the oldest roads within the country, with ridding quality ranging from fair to poor due to little or no maintenance for the past 20 years. Continued under investments in our roads infrastructure over the past years have, however, significantly reduced its quality,” he said.

 

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Source: Welcome to a weird hotch-potch shrine | Sunday Mail (Local News)

Veronica Gwaze

SITUATED at the heart of Parktown suburb in the capital Harare, is an unusual replica of the mighty Victoria Falls.

So many unusual things happen at this small “Mosi-oa-Tunya.”

It’s a assemblage of different religions converging at the weird shrine for all sorts of rituals including deliverance from tormenting spirits. At one end of the shrine is an apostolic sect leader surrounded by a group of women – young and old – who are seeking spiritual help for various problems.

A stone’s throw away is a half-naked dreadlocked elderly woman clad in pink apparel conducting some kind of exorcism on an individual. A lot of weird things happen during the day and at night.

Some of those seeking help to save their troubled marriages are ordered to source dog faeces for ‘central lock’ rituals. In all this drama, there is an interesting group of three girls in their early twenties who use African tradition religion to solve life problems.

One of the self-proclaimed healers is 20-year old Tendai Ngara who left her parents’ home in Chiredzi over a year ago.

“I discovered that I had a gift in Grade Five but my Christian parents wouldn’t have any of it. I was forced to drop out of class because what was happening to me spiritually wouldn’t allow me to continue with my education,” she said.

“I was told in a dream to stay at the Parktown waterfall.”

Tendai left Chiredzi in 2017 and lied to her parents that she was working as housemaid in Victoria Falls.

“There are scary stories about this place but I am brave as I sleep in the open,” she added.

She is being nurtured into a full time traditional healer by older mentors. Her other colleagues – Bridget Matthew and Caroline Mukumba from Chiredzi also are undergoing the initiation process into bona fide healers. Bridget has a had a rough patch as she was married at 15 years. She divorced and two years later entered into second marriage at 17 years.

“After my third marriage collapsed, I sought spiritual help and it came to light that I had a gift to solve spiritual problems. My parents didn’t take it and they chased me away from home,” she said.

“I then came to this Waterfalls shrine and I have been receiving spiritual help from senior traditionalists.”

The mentor of these young girls who preferred to be identified as Blacky said he has been in the business for six years. Like the young girls he is mentoring, his three marriages also collapsed.

“I used to work in one of the security arms but I resigned after I realised that I had to serve this purpose. I would sometimes fall into a trance and prophecy to my mates and my superiors. Then one Tuesday morning in 2006, I had to pack my belongings. I resigned and went home to Mount Darwin. When I got there, in a trance, I exposed some of my family members’ evil doings,” narrated Blacky.

Religion experts have always accused prophets and traditional healers of milking desperate people of their hard earned cash.

Dr John Ringson, a researcher at the University of Johannesburg said there is need for people to draw the line between religion and constitutional provisions.

“In this regard, despite most of these congregants moving out of their homes willingly but it should be considered that it is the tensions and lack of peace in these homes that forces them. It is everyone’s right to worship under a religion of their choice,” he said.

“While it is not safe for them to stay in such places (shrines), constitutionally they are entitled to their choices meaning it’s a violation to force them to go back to their homes.”

A Harare based sociologist Methuseli Ngwenya said religion induces fear in some people.

“It sometimes brings up superstition beliefs which make people believe that gods interfere with the living world. With current economic and social problems, religion has thrived to push humanity to the extremes although the issue of people abandoning their homes to live at shrines is not a new issue; it goes way back into time.”

Ngwenya said it was now commonplace that some people were consulting all sorts of powers to save their marriages.

“There are some processes that were meant to teach about marriage but a lot has been distorted. This is why weird rituals are being conducted,” he said.

 

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Source: Govt confident of vaccinating 900K girls | Sunday Mail (Local News)

Carren Mushonga

At least 86 percent of the targeted girls between 10 and 15 years have been vaccinated under the ongoing HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) vaccination programme, which ends in May this year.

Essentially, HPV vaccines prevent infection by certain types of human papilloma virus, which is the major cause of cervical cancer in women.

Director of epidemiology and disease control in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Portia Manangazira told The Sunday Mail last week that Government was confident of vaccinating the targeted 900 000 girls within the next three months.

“The mop-up campaign targeted 900 000 girls and so far we have achieved 86 percent coverage. And by the end of the campaign, we would have reached the targeted number,” said Dr Manangazira.

She said Government was particularly targeting those between the ages of 10 and 15 as they were not sexually active.

In addition, the vaccines that were secured with the support of Gavi (the vaccine alliance) were specifically for the identified age groups.

Gavi is an international organisation that brings together the public and private sector to create equal access to new and underused vaccines for children in developing countries.

“We had to come up with the correct age that would meet with the requirements of the vaccine that was provided by Gavi, which states that the girls should not be sexually active,” she said.

Schools have been the most efficient and resourceful to carry out the campaign, she added, and in future the programme will be part of schools’ health programmes.

From 2020, vaccinations will target Grade Five girls only.

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of death among Zimbabwean women, accounting for 15 percent of all cancer cases reported by the Zimbabwe Cancer Registry in 2012.

The 2010 Zimbabwe HPV and Related Cancers Summary Report says it is responsible for 1 286 deaths annually, with 2 587 new cases and 1 772 deaths projected by 2025.

HPV affects the skin and body’s moist membrane linings, mainly genitalia, mouth and throat.

Continued exposure to HPV 16 and 18 through intercourse could lead to pre-cancerous lesions that later develop into cancer if untreated.

Other HPV types are, however, harmless, often clearing without medical intervention.

In 2014, the World Health Organisation played a key role in the Health and Child Care Ministry’s HPV vaccination pilot programme, which targeted over 4 000 girls from Marondera and Beitbridge.

 

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Tragedy has struck the Mungoshi family again. Exactly 7 days after award-winning author Charles Mungoshi died, his mother, Mbuya Mungoshi passed away today. Confirming the news on his Facebook page, journalist Hopewell Chino’no wrote; “Sad news. I have just spoken to Amai Jesesi Mungoshi the wife of the recently departed novelist Charles Mungoshi, Mbuya Mungoshi […]

Source: Editorial Comment: Zimbabwe needs genuine dialogue – The Standard February 24, 2019

Editorial Comment

The dialogue between some of the political parties that took part in last year’s disputed presidential elections is fast turning into a farce because of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s determination to forge ahead despite lack of consensus on the way forward.

Mnangagwa early this month invited candidates that took part in the disputed July 30, 2018 presidential elections to a meeting that was meant to set the framework for the dialogue, but his strongest opponent in those polls, Nelson Chamisa, refused to attend.

Chamisa argues that any genuine dialogue must be convened by a neutral person and should address the election dispute.

On the other hand, Mnangagwa insists that his legitimacy should not be part of the agenda.

Last Friday, a second meeting was convened and another two candidates, Noah Manyika of Build Zimbabwe and Daniel Shumba of the United Democratic Alliance, announced that they were pulling out of the talks.

Manyika demanded a “neutral and credible convenor” for the dialogue and also pointed out that the absence of the country’s main opposition party — Chamisa’s MDC Alliance — in the negotiating table rendered the talks pointless.

Shumba also described the dialogue as a circus. He was not happy that Mnangagwa did not bother to attend last Friday’s meeting or to apologise for his absence.

The parties that remain committed to the dialogue do not have any significant representation in Parliament or local governance structures except for Zanu PF.

Any agreements that might be reached in these negotiations would not do anything to end the polarisation that has arrested Zimbabwe’s economic progress and deepened divisions among the people.

The invitation extended by Mnangagwa to the presidential candidates raised hopes among longsuffering Zimbabweans that politicians were finally prepared to put the country first.
However, the two meetings held so far have exposed the dialogue as an exercise in futility.

The need for genuine dialogue between the main protagonists in the political contest — Mnangagwa and Chamisa — can never be over-emphasised.

Zimbabwe cannot afford to be in a perpetual election mode like it was the case during Robert Mugabe’s reign, a situation that cost the economy dearly.

Mnangagwa, as the president, has a responsibility to show leadership and create an environment conducive for genuine dialogue.

The efforts the president is putting in place to attract investment and end Zimbabwe’s isolation from the international community will go to waste as long as citizens are pulling in different directions.

It will take leadership for Mnangagwa and Chamisa to realise that the dialogue is not about egos and point-scoring, but an inescapable route to pulling Zimbabwe from the abyss.

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