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Source: Sparks fly within Chamisa's MDC | Daily News

HARARE- With just under three months to go to the MDC’s eagerly-anticipated elective congress in May  where a new substantive party leader will be chosen — sparks are flying within the country’s main opposition outfit, the Daily News can report.

Emotions have been further ventilated after mischievous Zanu PF “agents provocateurs” backed the party’s well-regarded secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora to beat the current popular leader, Nelson Chamisa, in the fast-approaching polls. This comes as MDC’s senior leadership has openly accused the ruling party of working frantically to destabilise the opposition party again, ahead of its

May 24-26 congress where Mwonzora is expected to contest Chamisa. As a result, a lot of flak has been directed at Mwonzora — particularly following a mischievous tweet by Zanu PF deputy youth leader, Lewis Matutu, who “predicted” the fall of Chamisa come May.
MDC vice chairperson Tendai Biti, whom many are tipping to contest for one of the party’s vice president posts, angrily reacted to the suggestions that Mwonzora was likely to emerge as the new party leader after the May congress.

He said the party would not accept to be led by “a ruling party chosen half-wit”. “We will reject any nincompoop given to us by Zanu PF. We already have a candidate in … Chamisa. So, we will not tolerate that. “Our duty is to protect the legacy of our dear leader Morgan Tsvangirai and we know with Chamisa we will be able to do that,” Biti thundered.

A senior member of the MDC national standing committee, who refused to be named for fear of victimisation, told the Daily News yesterday that Mwonzora was thus likely to be rejected by party supporters as perceptions grew that he was allegedly a Zanu PF ‘Trojan Horse’. “This does not augur well for our SG (secretary-general) because he will now find it difficult to campaign in the structures as he is now being viewed as a Zanu PF project, which is very sad.

“He could even be booed at rallies, like what happened to (one of Chamisa’s deputies Elias) Mudzuri, as unfair as this will be because the SG is a man of impeccable integrity,” the party official said.
“There always existed a feeling in the party that Mwonzora is no longer with us after he apologised to Luke Malaba when he (Malaba) was booed in Parliament by MDC MPs … and so the Matutu issue is a kiss of death for him,” said another senior party official.

The MDC youth assembly also claimed that Zanu PF wanted a “weaker candidate” to emerge as the party’s leader in May “for obvious reasons” — vowing that this would not happen.
“It is saddening that Zanu PF wants to give us a leader and we know why. We are, however, clear as youths and other organs of the party that we have Chamisa as our leader and the decision is ours not Zanu PF’s,” said Lovemore Chinoputsa, the MDC youth assembly secretary-general.

Matutu threw the cat among the pigeons when he poisonously said Chamisa would receive a heavy shellacking from Mwonzora at the May congress, because “he did not have support in the MDC party structures”. “Mwonzora is likely to become the new MDC … president because the majority of Chamisa’s hooligans are not in the structures of their party and they don’t form part of the congress delegates,” Matutu said in his controversial tweet.
Matutu went on to defend his statement yesterday saying it was “an honest analysis” of what was happening in the country’s largest opposition party.

“What I said was not informed by my liking for Mwonzora, because I don’t like him as well as Chamisa. If I could have it my way, I would prefer Mudzuri. “I am saying this based on what I see. They also comment about Zanu PF saying bad things about our leaders, and so there is nothing wrong in us giving our views on them as well,” Matutu told the Daily News.

MDC Masvingo provincial chairperson, James Gumbi — who is thought to be backing Mwonzora — said there was nothing wrong with Zanu PF endorsing the Harare lawyer. “Does it really matter? I don’t know,” he said curtly. Meanwhile, political analysts have warned both Chamisa and Mwonzora to be wary of people seeking to cause divisions in the MDC, ahead of its crucial congress.

“While Zanu PF may have an interest in the MDC congress, it maybe far-fetched to suggest that Mwonzora is a Trojan Horse for Zanu PF,” rights lawyer and political analyst Dewa Mavhinga, said.
On Tuesday, Mwonzora hinted that he was ready to contest for the MDC’s highest position during an interview with the Daily News.
“I will be giving you a statement regarding what I will be standing for … there are key processes that must happen first and these include the nomination process.

“Within the MDC set-up, people are nominated by the structures. I want to emphasise that I am a full member with full rights including the right to contest any position,” he said.
Chamisa was last weekend given a huge boost ahead of the make-or-break congress when two provinces and key sections such as the youth and women’s assemblies endorsed his candidature.
Well-placed sources have said the result of the congress is likely to be “too close to call” given the profiles of both Chamisa and Mwonzora.

They said this was especially so given that Chamisa was defeated by Mwonzora in 2014 for the secretary-general’s post — who was, at the time, considered a rank outsider in those elections.
Chamisa then held the powerful post of MDC organising secretary, a position which was said to have given him the opportunity to revamp party structures in his favour — and which structures were expected to give him an overwhelming victory against Mwonzora who was the party spokesperson then.

Mwonzora scored a shock and unexpected crushing victory over Chamisa — which saw him getting 2 464 votes against his rival’s 1 756. This subsequently left Chamisa as an ordinary card-carrying member, before he was rescued by the party’s revered and now late leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, who appointed him to the MDC national executive as secretary for policy and research.

There were even unconfirmed suggestions at the time that a stunned Chamisa, unwilling to stomach the results of those internal polls, was even contemplating resigning from the MDC altogether — which never happened. In an ironic turn of fate, Chamisa was to later assume the reins of the country’s main opposition party ahead of his rivals following the death of Tsvangirai last year — albeit, under controversial circumstances.

A titanic leadership battle subsequently ensued in the party, which eventually led to Thokozani Khupe forming a breakaway faction which went on to perform dismally in last year’s elections.
Chamisa ultimately prevailed over his party competitors after a consultative meeting of the MDC, which was held at its Harare headquarters — and which was attended by 639 delegates from 210 party districts — endorsed him as Tsvangirai’s successor and the party’s presidential candidate in the 2018 poll

The post Sparks fly within Chamisa’s MDC appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Harare mulls selling stands in US dollars | Daily News

The Harare City Council is mulling selling selected residential and commercial stands in foreign currency. Mayor Herbert Gomba told the Daily News that council was looking at getting maximum gain from the land sales in forex.

The move to sell in foreign currency comes as council is struggling to provide adequate services owing to a dollar shortage crunch stifling its service delivery mandate. “We have revised the pricing of most of our stands with the cheapest going for $15 per square metre. We had noticed that people were buying the stands from as little as 50 cents a square metre and reselling them for the equivalent in United States dollars and that was disenfranchising council,” Gomba said.

He said he had tasked the directors of housing and community services as well as finance to look into the matter. Gomba said council was still looking into the feasibility of going the foreign currency route and which stands were to be sold that way.
“The matter is not yet finalised as we have to look into it even from a legal stand-point.

The money raised will not be for salaries but will be channelled towards service delivery. All our endeavours are to ensure that residents get value for their money,” he said. According to council minutes, stands in high density areas would be $15 per square metre, for medium density it would be $20 while low density areas council was yet to get a set price.

The move to sell stands in foreign currency comes barely two months after the city suspended land sales arguing real estate was being sold for a song.

During a November full council meeting, the city fathers resolved that any land sales that would be approved had to be commensurate with the prevailing economic conditions of the country.

The post Harare mulls selling stands in US dollars appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Civil servants demand $3k salary | Newsday (News)

BY VENERANDA LANGA

TEACHERS’ unions yesterday said they were planning to go on strike if government does not urgently revise their salaries, as frustrated civil servants demanded a minimum of $3 000 per month after the central bank last week introduced a new virtual currency, which it devalued by 60% to the United States dollar.

Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Raymond Majongwe yesterday warned that teachers planned to cripple the education sector if their salary demands were not met.

He said the introduction of the real time gross settlement dollar (ZWL$) had further impoverished teachers and left them struggling to survive.

Majongwe blasted the pegging of the consumer bread basket for a family of six at $800 per month by the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ), which he said was understated.

The unionist said this exposed the CCZ as an institution dancing to the whims of government.

“If anything, the RTGS$ pegged at 1:2,5 has further impoverished teachers, and further, the current CCZ family of six bread basket pegged at $800 is a fraud. We feel, as a union, that the figure cannot be less than $2 000 after we made our calculations,” Majongwe said.

“The truth is that six people cannot survive on $800 per month, and that is a scandal, which shows that the CCZ is dancing to the whims of government and is not telling the truth and is lying to the people.”

Contacted for comment, CCZ executive director Rosemary Siyachitema could not entertain questions on the issue, saying: “I am driving from Mutare and I need to get to Harare.”

Majongwe said the PTUZ made their calculations and came up with a family of six bread basket figure of $2 000 based on the rises in fuel prices, goods and services such as education and health and hikes in food prices.

He said the $340 salary being paid to teachers was reached using the 1:1 rate, and it was pegged in United States dollars, which later suddenly changed into bond notes.

“This $340 salary was pegged in 2013, and now six years later, you cannot say that RTGS$500 is enough for teachers. Government must realise that if there is no pay, there will be no work and they must engage the teachers now,” Majongwe said.

He said the October 2018 demand of $1 700 had already been superseded by last week’s monetary policy statement, which introduced the new rate of 1:2,5 and it now meant that teachers needed to be paid a salary of more than $3 000 per month.

“If they do not accede to this demand of $3 000, then government must realise that they are killing education because teachers will be moonlighting and doing other things, instead of teaching and definitely there will be another strike,” Majongwe said, adding that the educators now needed to speak with one voice and restrategise, instead of unions betraying each other.

In an earlier statement, PTUZ demanded an urgent meeting with government and a stop to victimisation of teachers by the Public Service Commission.

“We can promise that this school term will not end on good terms if the government continues to bury its head in the sand and declares war on its workers. Teachers are suffering and they have been patriotic enough. Forewarned is forearmed,” the union said.

“We expect government and its functionaries to be humane, sober and honest. We did not suspend our strike from a position of weakness, and government should not test our resolve. We have the capacity to cripple the education sector.”

Zimbabwe Teachers’ Union (Zimta) chief executive officer Sifiso Ndlovu also concurred that teachers now needed a minimum salary of $3 000.

“We deserve to have an increment and restoration of our purchasing power. This means we are now going back to the negotiation table with a figure of more than $3 000. We were told that in April, they will increase salaries by $120, which is not enough and will not motivate employees,” he said.

He said the $800 peg as the family bread basket was erroneous and probably calculated using the old rate of 1:1 ratio.

“Unless the CCZ says that they pegged the family basket at $800 in US$, then it would make sense,” Ndlovu said.

But unlike PTUZ, Ndlovu said Zimta would need to consult its membership before entertaining any thoughts of a fresh strike.

Apex Council organising secretary Charles Chinosengwa said civil servants would hold an urgent meeting on Monday to discuss the issue of erosion of their salaries and to come up with new demands.

He also said they would not settle for anything less than $3 000.

“We are also working on figures for our family of six bread basket taking into cognisance the price hikes. The $1 700 minimum wage we suggested in October last year is no longer realistic,” he said.

“We will be suggesting different allowances like head of department allowance, senior master, infant school teachers, teachers specialising on students with disabilities, sports, workshop and examination, and several other allowances.”

Chinosengwa said it was high time government considered incentivising civil servants by including them in programmes like command agriculture.

The post Civil servants demand $3k salary appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.

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Source: UN launches US$234m aid appeal for Zim | Newsday (News)

BY OBEY MANAYITI

The United Nations yesterday launched a US$234 million international aid appeal to help Zimbabwe tackle a drought that has left a third of its population in need of relief over the next six months.

Visiting UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock also allocated US$10 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), saying more was required, with 5,3 million people in need of assistance following drought and prolonged economic crisis.

The under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief co-rdinator said the CERF allocation would help to rapidly provide critical food and livelihood support, education, health, and protection services for the most vulnerable people who are hardest-hit during crises.

These include children, women, the elderly, and people who are chronically ill or living with disabilities.

“But the $10 million represents only a fraction of what is needed to meet the level of need across the country,” Lowcock said.

UN ambassador Bishow Parajuli and senior government representatives launched the appeal.

According to the UN, an estimated 2,9 million people in rural areas and 1,5 million in urban areas are already severely food insecure, including one million facing emergency levels of food insecurity.

A further 900 000 people risk reaching crisis food insecurity levels if the humanitarian assistance they are receiving does not continue.

In many areas across the country, there are acute shortages of essential medicines, and rising food insecurity has also heightened the risk of gender-based violence, particularly for women and girls.

Earlier, Lowcock met President Emmerson Mnangagwa and promised to mobilise sufficient funds to alleviate the looming humanitarian disaster in the country.

Addressing journalists after meeting Mnangagwa and some of his ministers, Lowcock said he was happy with the discussion with the country’s leadership.

“I want to express, on behalf of the United Nations, our total solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe in coping with the current economic challenges and I was able to inform His Excellency that we will today (Thursday) be launching a flash appeal to the international community to provide assistance to Zimbabwe and I will make the announcement it later,” he said.

Foreign Affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo said government was always doing food assessment programmes to see areas where there are gaps on food insecurity.

“As you are aware that there is the food assessment programme that is always taking place within the country and we are taking cognisant of the gaps which are going to appear in that exercise, so that we are able to ensure that no one dies of hunger,” Moyo said.

The post UN launches US$234m aid appeal for Zim appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.

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Source: Allow Mwonzora to challenge Chamisa | Daily News

There is a credible challenge to MDC Alliance president Nelson Chamisa ahead of the May congress. Douglas Mwonzora — who retains a solid core of support and whose campaign paved the way for him to beat Chamisa in the watershed 2016 congress — has said he might run for the MDC presidency.

There is a sense that Chamisa enjoys extremely high approval ratings among the MDC faithful, and a sense they are not likely to desert him for anyone else, but Mwonzora must be allowed to run freely and fairly without vilification, innuendo or attempts to brand him a Zanu PF Trojan Horse.

Elias Mudzuri, who has long set his sights on the presidency, is not interested in being a sacrificial donkey and is seemingly disclaiming interest if his silence is anything to go by. He knows the opprobrium he endured from challenging Chamisa, the rally boos, the “tengesa uone mashura” threats. If the MDC Alliance upholds democracy, Mwonzora must be allowed to run without all this unnecessary controversy.

There is no need for all this maximum anger being conveyed against Dougie, a name his allies call him with, which in some instance is carrying with it an implicit threat to harm him.
The venom being directed against Mwonzora will certainly create the type of distractions that the MDC Alliance does not need. It will lead to disaster.

Of course, a challenge for Chamisa is a cold shower of sorts. But if Chamisa is indeed a democrat, he must call off his dogs. If Chamisa is strong enough, there is nothing to fear.
There is absolutely no need to marginalise Mwonzora.  The Zanu PF youth leader Lewis Matutu, who did some scenario-building about the election in the MDC, was just giving his opinion, which for all we care, has nothing to do with Dougie.

Of course, Chamisa’s predecessor, the legendary Morgan Tsvangirai, never faced intra-party challengers since he founded the movement in 1999. But there is absolutely no need for this unnecessary moment of frisson in the race. Also weighty is the principle of fear: there is no need to threaten Dougie.

Challenging Chamisa must be acceptable. The MDC leader must keep a close watch on his political activists.
Mwonzora is a credible candidate. All he needs to do is to come up with a convincing argument why he thinks he is the best man to take the party forward

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