Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

Source: NPA seeks to improve conditions of service | The Herald March 25, 2019

Minister Ziyambi

Fidelis Munyoro Chief Court Reporter

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is making frantic efforts to improve conditions of service for its workforce to ensure effective prosecution of crimes and combating corruption.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and Prosecutor General Mr Kumbirai Hodzi last Friday held a meeting regarding the plight of members of the NPA.

In a statement after the meeting, Mr Hodzi said the NPA is one such institution which plays a pivotal role in the fight against corruption and maintenance of the rule of law.

In a bid to quickly resolve the matter, both NPA and the ministry agreed to engage the Treasury in response to urgent need to deal with plight of the prosecution staff.

“There has been hue and cry over the conditions of service at the NPA for too long and as the Justice Minister and the Prosecutor-General we believe that the current situation must be addressed forthwith with finality,” he said.

“We have decided to revisit the conditions of service for members of the NPA. We want to put in place measures and policies that will ensure that the conditions of service are favourable enough to retain all personnel and to attract qualified and experienced personnel.”

Mr Hodzi said they would endeavour to continuously engage the members of the NPA over their expectations.

This effort, he said, would go a long way in ensuring that the NPA which has long lagged behind in terms of resources and capacitation was enabled to meet the demands of Second  Republic.

Mr Hodzi also underlined that the fight against corruption was the first priority in the Second Republic.

Mr Hodzi

“Vision 2030, which is our national agenda foe economic transformation and sustainable economic development provides an opportunity for the justice delivery sector to play a significant role in reshaping the prevailing economic landscape through elimination of corruption in the justice delivery system,” he said.

“It is an open secret that the elimination of corruption will boost investor confidence and foreign direct investment.”

The PG also underscored that his office and the ministry were committed to uphold the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity in the NPA and the justice delivery sector.

“In this regard we want to ensure that the NPA of Zimbabwe is a robust, dynamic well-resourced efficient information technology driven institution ready to meet the demands of the Second Republic and beyond,” he said.

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Source: HIV law gets thumbs up | The Herald March 25, 2019

Paidamoyo Chipunza Senior Health Reporter
Stakeholders in the HIV and Aids sector have described the latest move by Government to decriminalise wilful transmission of HIV as a progressive step, which will go a long way in effective national response.

Responding to the latest stance taken by Government to repeal the legal provision that criminalises wilful transmission of HIV, National Aids Council acting chief executive Mr Raymond Yekeye said the current law perpetuated stigma leading to people shunning testing services.

“The current law has caused a lot of stigma on whoever knows their HIV status first especially women. Most women have fallen victims of this law because in most cases they are the ones who know of their statuses first through antenatal care,” said Mr Yekeye.

Mr Yekeye said science has also shown that chances of a person living with HIV and Aids taking medication religiously transmitting HIV to another person are low as the virus would have been suppressed.

“This law, if repealed will therefore, go a long way in encouraging people to seek services and disclose their statuses without fear especially adolescents who were born with HIV,” he said.

Asked on diverging views from other sectors that repealing the law might actually lead to increased cases of wilful transmission of HIV, Mr Yekeye said each individual had a right to get tested .

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Source: Tax rebate for health staff | Herald (Top Stories)

Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
Government has gazetted a tax rebate to be enjoyed by health services staff under the health services loan scheme as the employer implements non-monetary incentives aimed at cushioning its employees.

This is contained in a Statutory Instrument of a Government Gazette published last Friday by Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube in terms of the Customs and Excise Act.

“Subject to this section, with effect from 1 January 2019, a rebate of duty shall be granted in respect of one motor vehicle imported or taken out of bond by a serving Public Health worker below the Deputy Director grade in Zimbabwe who is employed by the Health Service Board and grant aided health facilities for a period of not less than two years and is not under any disciplinary proceedings or on full Manpower Development leave, if such motor vehicle is (a) procured using loan availed under the Health Service Vehicle Loan Scheme managed through CMED Private Limited and (b) intended solely for the private use of the serving health worker and not for commercial or trade purposes,” read the regulations.

The regulations also empowered Government through Secretary for Health and Secretary for Finance and Economic Development to approve granting of a rebate of duty to junior doctors who had been in service for a period of less than two years. Maximum amounts to be obtained to the serving workers is also stipulated in the regulations with the highest being US$30 000 for those in Grade F, while US$15 000 for those in Grade E4 and E5.

Those in Grade E2 and E3 have a threshold of US$7 500 with the minimum being for those pegged at US$3 500 for those in Grade E1 and below.

For one to enjoy the rebate, a number of procedural requirements should be satisfied which include an application letter to be considered as a beneficiary, recommendation letter from the secretary responsible for Health confirming employment.

Other requirements include approval letter from secretary responsible for Finance and Economic Development and a copy of the intended beneficiary’s driver licence and a pro-forma invoice and a bill of landing for the motor vehicle being imported and approval letter from CMED Private Limited for the loan in the case of funding from the CMED Health Service Loan Scheme.

Last week Government said it would refund businesses for extra costs incurred in buying fuel at new prices that became effective on January 13, raising expectations that this might positively impact on prices.

The rebates for excise duty on fuel — which cover the manufacturing, agriculture, mining and transport sectors — were announced through Statutory Instrument of a Government Gazette.

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Source: ‘Byo restructuring on course’ | Herald (Top Stories)

Nduduzo Tshuma Bulawayo Bureau
ZANU-PF Second Secretary and Vice President Kembo Mohadi says  the ongoing restructuring exercise of Bulawayo Province is well on course although there will be need to extend its deadline to attend to all structures.

VP Mohadi is in charge for the restructuring of Bulawayo province following the decision by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to dissolve the structure along with Harare province.

His counterpart VP Constantino Chiwenga is in charge of the restructuring of Harare province. Speaking during a meeting to get an update from the teams on the ground led by Politburo member Cde Munyaradzi Machacha at the party’s Davis Hall offices in Bulawayo last week, VP Mohadi said the province had gone for too long with shambolic structures and disunity resulting in poor performance in elections.

Referring to Cde Machacha’s update, VP Mohadi said: “He lamented that there were no cells in Bulawayo, I once (years ago) came here to verify structures and I reported that there was only one urban cell in Bulawayo and I was taken to task by guys here, you tore me to pieces and called me a sellout.”

He said he was vindicated when the province performed badly in the elections.

“We are going to reinvigorate the party by coming up with structures, so far I’m told that 104 structures have been done but I’m told that the target is that it should be 1 240 but we are very far from the target so it is indeed plausible that we extend it so that we can get the cells.

“We can’t win an election if we don’t have the cells. I don’t know what has gone wrong. What is the problem? Zanu-PF has been there since 1957. . .it doesn’t matter whether it changed names to what is called Zanu-PF today but our political movement started long back,” said VP Mohadi.

“We are still the same people, what happened, a Mafikizolo has come and taken the people in Bulawayo and we have nothing. There must be something wrong, we should reflect on ourselves, we are not doing our work.”

VP Mohadi acknowledged that Bulawayo was the hardest hit province in the country during the recent destructive demonstrations instigated by the opposition.

He said people should not be swayed but emboldened and not deviate from the principles of the revolution that inspired the country’s war of liberation and subsequent Independence.

“Let’s go and talk to the people, people will not come to Zanu-PF if we don’t talk to them, we have to engage them,” the VP said.

VP Mohadi said the new dispensation was working towards achieving the country’s economic turnaround but the process would not happen overnight.

“When we say this economy will achieve middle income status by 2030, we mean it and we have already put things in place,” he said.

VP Mohadi reiterated the Government’s call for investors to come into the country based on a mutually beneficial relationship.

The Vice-President said the devolution of power implemented by the Government would empower provinces in planning for their respective development.

“You are going to have your provincial councils, you will have to come up with your priorities towards your development. If you develop then the whole country develops,” said VP Mohadi.

“Let us not be intimidated by smoke screens, you have to be brave otherwise we would not been able to liberate this country.”

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Source: Natpharm given 48hrs to procure supplies | The Herald March 25, 2019

(File pic)

Fradreck Gorwe
The State-appointed agent for the procurement, storage and distribution of medical supplies, the National Pharmaceutical Company of Zimbabwe (Natpharm), has been given 48 hours to approach the local market to procure the required medicine and sundries using RTGS dollars in a move meant to speed up the procurementprocess.

The resolution followed recommendations of a meeting held on March 19, 2019, between the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ), the Ministry of Health and Child Care, and Natpharm, in direct response to media coverage following a news clip by Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals’ Paediatrics Division head Dr Azza Mashumba.

Doctors alluded to tender processes slowing procurement according to PRAZ.

“The Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) noted with concern the news story pertaining to the limited resources in the health sector as covered in the media recently. Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals’ Paediatrics Division head, Dr Azza Mashumba, indicated in the news clip that the health officials were operating under very difficult circumstances.

Dr Mashumba alluded to tender processes as contributing to acute shortage of medicine and sundries,” said PRAZ in a statement.

After rummaging through the issue for an in-depth appreciation of the actual challenge, it emerged that Natpharm, failed to procure the required items in time due to several pending US dollar-based nostro contracts at its disposal.

“Due to the shortage of foreign currency contracts could not materialise,” said PRAZ.

Failure to service the nostro accounts resulted in the shortage of medicine and sundries in public hospitals, leading to an outcry by hospital officials. Exploiting an outcry by hospital officials, a certain company tabled an unsolicited offer amounting to RTGS$76 million worth of medicine and sundries before Natpharm.

The offer which was brought for usual review by PRAZ’s Special Procurement Oversight Committee (SPOC) failed its eligibility test after being found at odds with a section of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act which calls for cost-effectiveness, fairness, honesty, transparency, and competitiveness.

“The Special Procurement Oversight Committee on review noted that the procurement process was not as according to Section 4 (a) of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act (Chapter 22:23) to “ensure that procurement is effected in a manner that is transparent, fair, honest, cost-effective and competitive”.

PRAZ together with the Ministry of Health and Child Care observed at the meeting that competitiveness cannot be assessed with a single bid as the assessment entails having many bids for comparison purposes. In light of the observation the $76 million RTGS offer could not be the means to an end “given the nature of the pharmaceutical market that is mature and has many players”.

“The meeting then resolved that in view of the emergency situation in the hospitals Natpharm be given 48 hours to approach the local market to procure the required medicine and sundries using RTGS dollars in a move to speed up the procurement process,” said PRAZ.

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